The Riddleblog

Gifts of the Spirit and Subjective Experience

As A. C. Thiselton (the author of a well-regarded commentary on 1 Corinthians) points out, “it is almost universally agreed that reference to modern Pentecostal and charismatic phenomena cannot be used as an exegetical test for interpretations of Paul and Corinth.”[1]

This is very important to keep in mind, because there is a tendency among many to experience something they consider “miraculous” (e.g., an unexpected new job, deliverance from temporal danger, an unexplained healing of bodily illness, or an ecstatic experience of speaking in tongues) and, based on such experiences, attempt to define the nature of the charismata (gifts of the Spirit) mentioned by Paul in his Corinthian letter.

It is simply misguided to do something with no biblical precedent—such as televangelists boasting about receiving “words of knowledge”—and then claim that they are exercising the same “word of knowledge” to which Paul refers in 1 Corinthians 12:8. Someone may experience an ecstatic utterance in private and then claim they have the gift of tongues, urging others to seek the same experience.

But this is not the proper method for understanding spiritual gifts.

To read the rest, follow the link below

Pauline Studies, Biblical Events, Biblical TheologyKim RiddlebargerMay 7, 2025Pentecostal PhenomenaComment

A New Pope Is Coming -- Time to Review Papal Fashion!

A Riddleblog reader sent this picture to me with the following caption:

"The man on the left, wearing a fabulous vintage chiffon-lined Dior gold lame gown over a silk Vera Wang empire waisted tulle cocktail dress, accessorized with a 3-foot beaded peaked House of Whoville hat, along with the ruby slippers that Judy Garland wore in The Wizard of Oz, is worried that The Da Vinci Code might make the Roman Catholic Church look foolish."

My favorite comments from the original post:

“There's no place like Rome, there's no place like Rome, there's no place like Rome...”

"To Rome, to Rome ... it's off to works we go..."

“Whoever wrote that know TOO MUCH about the fashion industry :-)”

"I suppose a scarecrow reference would be considered ad hominem. So I'll refrain. I thought that would be the strawman fallacy...”

“The Pope (meaning “father”) dresses like mother . . .”

From the “best of the Old Riddleblog” (June 2006/and re-posted on October 2021)

Current Events, Ecclesiology, Just having some funKim RiddlebargerMay 5, 2025Papal fashion Comments

Books Which Changed My Mind

I don’t remember when I first read Arthur Lewis’s short monograph on the presence of evil in the millennium—it was sometime during my journey from dispensationalism to Reformed amillennialism. But I’ll never forget how the force of Lewis’s argument finally struck me. The presence of evil in the millennial age was a serious error and the fatal flaw in all forms of premillennialism (whether historic or dispensational). Ignore this unintended consequence as they might, it is—and remains—the Achilles' heel of premillennialism. If evil is present on the earth during a millennial age after Jesus returns to raise the dead, judge the world, and usher in the new creation, then people must somehow pass through Christ’s return in natural bodies with sinful natures and repopulate the earth in a manner completely contrary to Jesus’s words in Luke 20:34–36.

To read the rest, follow the link below

Biblical Theology, Book Reviews, Reformed ResourcesKim RiddlebargerMay 3, 2025Books which changed my mind, Children of Promise, Dark Side of the Millennium Comments

The Forgotten Apologist – Edward John Carnell (Part Two) "Soul Sorrow and Systematic Consistency"

Carnell – A “Combinationalist”?

One of the earliest treatments of Carnell’s apologetic method came from Gordon Lewis, whose analysis is insightful. As noted previously, Lewis contends that Carnell’s method is a synthesis of the methodologies of Cornelius Van Til, Gordon Clark, E. S. Brightman (an eminent philosopher from Boston University who focused on God’s dynamic relationship with the world), as well as a number of contemporary concerns shaped by Carnell’s doctoral studies of Niebuhr and Kierkegaard. Lewis explains:

From Cornelius Van Til at Westminster Theological Seminary [Carnell] took his starting point—the existence of the triune God of the Bible. However, this tenet is not an unquestioned presupposition for Carnell, but a hypothesis to be tested. His test is three-fold. At Wheaton College, in the classes of Gordon Clark, Carnell found the test of non-contradiction. The test of fitness with empirical fact was championed by Edgar S. Brightman, where Carnell earned his Ph.D. [Boston University]. The requirement of relevance to personal experience became prominent during Carnell’s Th.D. research at Harvard University in Søren Kierkegaard and Reinhold Niebuhr.[14]

Given these varied influences, Carnell is often considered a “combinationalist”—that is, one who combines various apologetic methodologies.[15] In Carnell’s apologetic, we can indeed find elements from the sources identified by Lewis, Sims, and Morley, but we should not think that Carnell merely borrowed from others and replicated their distinctive apologetic emphases. Rather, he synthesized these influences into a distinct apologetic method, much like Francis Schaeffer did. This becomes clear upon reading his An Introduction to Christian Apologetics, which, as Lewis describes, presents a “single picture,” or a consistent methodology.[16]

The Universal Human Experience of “Soul Sorrow”

Carnell begins with a compelling (though now somewhat dated) account of the universal human condition and experience, which he identifies as “soul sorrow.” This predicament arises from our awareness of human limitations—we are created as both body and soul (with the limitations of each), and we are certain to die. Awareness of this condition and the ills that accompany it precedes Carnell’s discussion of how to defend the Christian faith to those who are not believers.

To read the rest, follow the link below

ApologeticsKim RiddlebargerMay 2, 2025Carnell on Soul Sorrow, Carnell on systematic consistencyComment

“By a Single Offering” Hebrews 10:1-1 8 (An Exposition of the Book of Hebrews–Part Fourteen)

There is a very good reason why we often speak of the distinction between the law and the gospel, and the fact Christ’s death upon the cross can save even the guiltiest of sinners. Christ’s righteousness (his obedience) is received through faith alone and is the ground of our justification before God. The reason why we talk about these things so often is that these things are taught throughout the pages of Scripture, and they are repeatedly emphasized in the Book of Hebrews. In this epistle we read that it is because of Jesus’s obedience to the will of God in offering himself as the once and for all, final, and perfect sacrifice for sin, that we have the forgiveness of our sins, a clean conscience before God, that we are being sanctified, and that we already have an eternal redemption. It is because Jesus has done all of this for us as our great high priest, that we live in the new covenant era where there are no more sacrifices for sin, no priests to make them, and no holy places in which God dwells in the midst of his people, protecting us from his wrath and from his glory.

We now take up the author’s discussion of Christ’s sacrifice for sin in chapter 10–concentrating (as we have done in the previous installment in this series) on the “once for all” and the “how much more” descriptions of our Lord’s redemptive work on behalf of sinners. In this section of Hebrews we find some of the most important teaching in the entire New Testament about the purpose and the meaning of the death of Jesus Christ. This is why it is wise that we take our time as we work through this section of Hebrews, and why we should digest this material carefully and prayerfully.

In order to understand why the unknown author of Hebrews emphasizes the particular theological points that he does, we need to keep in mind that he is writing to an unnamed church (likely a house church in Rome or Alexandria) which is made up of recent converts from Judaism to Christianity. Apparently, a number of the people who originally founded this church had renounced Jesus Christ and returned to that religion in which they had been raised. The author of Hebrews composes this epistle to demonstrate the absolute superiority of Jesus Christ to all things, effectively removing any reason or justification to return to Judaism. The result is this letter in which we learn a great deal about the eternal priesthood of Jesus Christ, the nature of his sacrifice upon the cross, as well as how our Lord’s priesthood gives us a clean conscience before God, confidence to approach God in prayer, and a solid hope that our eternal priest will return to deliver his people at the end of the age.

To read the rest, follow the link below

HebrewsKim RiddlebargerApril 30, 2025Hebrews 10:1-18, Once for allComment

“The Way God Gives Faith” -- Article Fourteen, The Third and Fourth Main Points of Doctrine, Canons of Dort

Article 14: The Way God Gives Faith

In this way, therefore, faith is a gift of God, not in the sense that it is offered by God for man to choose, but that it is in actual fact bestowed on man, breathed and infused into him. Nor is it a gift in the sense that God bestows only the potential to believe, but then awaits assent—the act of believing—from man’s choice; rather, it is a gift in the sense that he who works both willing and acting and, indeed, works all things in all people produces in man both the will to believe and the belief itself.

________________________________________

In article eight, the Canons introduced the subject of effectual calling—the objective call of God through the preaching of the gospel. This gospel call is sincerely offered to all, but only realized in God’s elect. In article ten, we saw that conversion (a person coming to faith and its fruit, repentance), is the result of a prior act of God enabling them to believe and trust in the Savior. Article eleven assigned the work of conversion to the Holy Spirit, not to an act of the fallen human will, as taught by the Arminians. It is the Holy Spirit who “makes us alive with Jesus Christ when we were [formerly] dead in sins and trespasses.” Finally, in article twelve, the Canons set out in a bit more detail the fact that the Holy Spirit works regeneration in God’s elect, and that this subconscious regeneration, or “new birth”, precedes the exercise of faith, logically, if not temporally. We are born again, and then exercise faith and repentance.

In article fourteen, the Canons turn to a discussion of the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit in calling, converting, and regenerating those same sinners whom God has decreed to save from before the foundation of the world, and for whom Christ has died. It is to these individuals that God gives faith. The Reformed speak of this as redemption decreed, redemption accomplished, and here, as redemption applied.

To read the rest, follow the link below

The Canons of DortKim RiddlebargerApril 28, 2025Faith is God's giftComment

Calvin On Prayer -- Jesus Is Our Mediator and Intercessor

As Calvin begins to wrap up his discussion of prayer, he points out that all proper Christian prayer depends upon the intercession of Jesus, who ensures that our prayers are heard by the Father. This is why we are to pray to the Father only in the name of Jesus.

17. Prayer in the Name of Jesus

Calvin reminds us that in light of Christ’s intercession for his people, we can pray without shame or fear.

Since no man is worthy to present himself to God and come into his sight, the Heavenly Father himself, to free us at once from shame and fear, which might well have thrown our hearts into despair, has given us his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, to be our advocate [1 John 2:1] and mediator with him [1 Tim. 2:5; cf. Heb. 8:6 and 9:15], by whose guidance we may confidently come to him, and with such an intercessor, trusting nothing we ask in his name will be denied us, as nothing can be denied to him by the Father. And to this must be referred all that we previously taught about faith. For just as the promise commends Christ the Mediator to us, so, unless the hope of obtaining our requests depends upon him, it cuts itself off from the benefit of prayer.

To read the rest, follow the link below

John CalvinKim RiddlebargerApril 25, 2025Christ the Mediator, Christ the intercessorComment

The Forgotten Apologist – Edward John Carnell (1919-1967) Part One

Who Was E. J. Carnell and Why Does He Matter?

My guess is that most readers of the Riddlebog will not know the name of Edward John Carnell. Carnell was one of the most innovative apologists of his time but dared to walk the razor’s edge between a scholarly defense of the Christian faith and the fundamentalism of his youth which he felt compelled to defend. He possessed a brilliant mind, was an excellent lecturer, as well as a prolific writer–with a significant number of books published by his early thirties.

But in the end, Carnell found that the razor’s edge he walked was exceedingly sharp and he was unable to keep his balance–feeling the deep cuts which the razor inflicted. His efforts pleased neither the evangelicals nor the fundamentalists. His attempt to gain intellectual credence for evangelicalism among progressive theologians and critical scholars failed to impress either group, and his efforts only brought harsh criticism from several of his friends who felt he conceded too much to modernism.

Carnell was a troubled soul, and the damage done by years of herculean effort without seeing any positive results, all the while coming under constant criticism from allies during the tail-end of the fundamentalist-modernist controversy, eventually brought about a severe emotional crisis which led to his early death at the age of 47 under questionable circumstances. Carnell found himself caught between his desire to see a more intellectually defensible form of Christianity and the feud between fundamentalism and those theological progressives who were too willing to give up the essentials of the faith in exchange for social relevance. The conflict eventually broke him.

This essay will focus upon Carnell’s efforts to formulate an apologetic which builds upon Gordon Clark and Cornelius Van Til’s presuppositionalism, but which is tweaked for application to the controversies facing the new evangelicalism. Carnell’s work in this regard is still worth our consideration. In part one, we will consider Carnell’s life and work, and how this set the stage for the formulation of his unique apologetic methodology.

To read the rest, follow the link below

ApologeticsKim RiddlebargerApril 23, 2025E J Carnell Comments

That's a Wrap! Last Episode of Season Three Posted! "Be Watchful! Stand Firm!” (1 Corinthians 16:1-24)

Episode Synopsis:

Episode 29 of Season Three of the Blessed Hope Podcast brings our deep dive into 1 Corinthians to its conclusion. As we come to the end of our study of this remarkable letter and take a moment to look back at the ground we have covered, it quickly becomes apparent how truly important this letter is for those of us living in the 21st century in the midst of an increasingly pagan and hostile culture. There is, perhaps, no letter in the New Testament which speaks as directly to the pressing issues we face as Christians as does 1 Corinthians.

Paul’s final words to the Corinthians are both poignant and straightforward. The Corinthians are people Paul knows well, yet who are struggling with the challenges of a new church in the midst of a city like Corinth–a thriving multi-national seaport, thereby ensuring that the temptations of the flesh are ever present. So too, Corinth was a thriving center of pagan religions and practices ensuring an inevitable collision between Christianity and pagan religion and philosophy. Corinth was a difficult place for a church to flourish, but of great strategic significance to Paul’s Gentile mission.

Paul concludes this letter by making it clear that he has not abandoned them, that he is sending help, he explains the situation regarding Timothy and Apollos, and he describes his plans to return when the Lord wills. The apostle details the offering he hopes to send from Corinth back to the Jerusalem church in order to provide relief during a severe famine. He extends a series of commands regarding the things which the Corinthians are to do in the meantime, before concluding with the apostolic benediction–Maranatha, Lord come! This is indeed a truly remarkable letter and should be studied carefully in churches today.

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

Blessed Hope PodcastKim RiddlebargerApril 21, 2025Gift for Jerusalem, 1 Corinthians 16:1-24, Timothy and ApollosComment

Easter 2025 — He Is Risen! He Is Risen Indeed!

A Reading for Easter -- John 20:1–25 (ESV)

1 Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. 2 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” 3 So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. 4 Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, 7 and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. 8 Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 9 for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead.

10 Then the disciples went back to their homes. 11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. 12 And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. 13 They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” 14 Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”—and that he had said these things to her. 19 On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”

24 Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.”

A Collect for Easter (URCNA Forms and Prayers):

Holy Father, giver of all perfect gifts, we join the heavenly choir to herald the news that you have defeated the powers of sin, death, and condemnation by the victory of Jesus Christ your Son over the grave. We confess that the circumstances of this present age often rise up to testify against the promise that you have declared in your Word. Nevertheless, we bring the experience of our hearts under your judgment: You have raised Jesus Christ from the dead as the first fruits of the whole harvest at the last day. As in his resurrection you have brought the new creation into this passing evil age, raise us up and seat us with Christ—in this life, through faith, and in the next, beholding with our own eyes the resurrection of our bodies in life everlasting. All of this we pray, with joy and thanksgiving, in Christ’s name. Amen.

Lord’s Day 17 (from the Heidelberg Catechism)

Q 45. How does Christ’s resurrection benefit us?

A. First, by his resurrection he has overcome death, so that he might make us share in the righteousness he obtained for us by his death.

Second, by his power we too are already raised to a new life.

Third, Christ’s resurrection is a sure pledge to us of our blessed resurrection.

Biblical EventsKim RiddlebargerApril 20, 2025Easter 2025, John 19:1-25Comment

Good Friday 2025 — Golgotha

For Good Friday, a reading from John 19:1-42 (ESV)

1 Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him. 2 And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe. 3 They came up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and struck him with their hands. 4 Pilate went out again and said to them, “See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him.” 5 So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold the man!” 6 When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him.” 7 The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God.” 8 When Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid. 9 He entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. 10 So Pilate said to him, “You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?” 11 Jesus answered him, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin.” 12 From then on Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar’s friend. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.” 13 So when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Stone Pavement, and in Aramaic Gabbatha.

14 Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, “Behold your King!” 15 They cried out, “Away with him, away with him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.” 16 So he delivered him over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus, 17 and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. 18 There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them. 19 Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” 20 Many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek. 21 So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but rather, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’ ” 22 Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.”

23 When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier; also his tunic. But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom, 24 so they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.” This was to fulfill the Scripture which says, “They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.” So the soldiers did these things, 25 but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” 27 Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.

28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” 29 A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. 30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. 31 Since it was the day of Preparation, and so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. 32 So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him. 33 But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34 But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. 35 He who saw it has borne witness—his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth—that you also may believe. 36 For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken.” 37 And again another Scripture says, “They will look on him whom they have pierced.”

38 After these things Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away his body. 39 Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight. 40 So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. 41 Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. 42 So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.

A Collect for Good Friday (URCNA Forms and Prayers):

Our Father, who so loved the world that you gave your only-begotten Son, we acknowledge and marvel at your mercy. Even while we were enemies, you reconciled us; even while we were strangers, you made us co-heirs with Christ of all eternal blessings; even while we stood condemned, you redeemed us; even while we were imprisoned, you delivered us from the tyranny of sin, death, and the devil. On this solemn occasion, we loathe our miserable estate and celebrate your marvelous grace. Beneath the cross of Christ, we come to know that ours is the guilt, but yours the forgiveness; ours the condemnation, but yours the gift of justification; ours the bondage, yet yours the freedom of adoption and new obedience. Even the faith with which we confess our dear Savior’s sacrifice was won for us by his death. Therefore, we cry out to you in sorrow for our sins and in thanksgiving for your gift. Give us the grace, we pray, to receive again this word of the cross which alone can refresh us on our pilgrim way, and send us out again into the world as witnesses to “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).

The Collect for Good Friday (The Book of Common Prayer):

Almighty God, we ask you now to graciously look upon your people, for whom our Lord Jesus was betrayed and given over into the hands of wicked men, to suffer death upon the cross for us and for our sins. Lord you have made all men and women and do not desire the death of a sinner, but rather that they should turn from their wickedness and live, have mercy upon all those who neglect your gospel, and especially have mercy upon your ancient people Israel; take from them ignorance of the gospel, hardness of heart and contempt from of your word, return them to Christ, so that all Israel may be saved; and so that they, together with believing Gentiles, might be joined together into one flock, under one shepherd, Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray, Amen.

Biblical EventsKim RiddlebargerApril 18, 2025Good FridayComment

“Once for All” Hebrews 9:11-28 (An Exposition of the Book of Hebrews–Part Thirteen)

God Is Holy

The animal sacrifices and the purification rites of the old covenant served a number of very important purposes. The very need for such sacrifices demonstrates that our sins are a great offense to a holy God, and that satisfaction must be made to his holy justice in order to turn aside his wrath. That the sacrifices were offered by a high priest who alone could enter the Most Holy Place after making sacrifices for his own sins is a graphic illustration that our sin separates us from the presence of God. And while providing a provisional and temporary relief from sin, ultimately, the nature of these sacrifices demonstrates that they were intended to teach God’s people and prepare the nation of Israel for the coming of Jesus Christ.

As the author of Hebrews continues to make his case for the superiority of the priesthood of Jesus Christ and the new and better covenant, he now describes how Jesus offers a sacrifice that is much superior in every way to the types and shadows of the old covenant, thereby rendering it obsolete, and establishing the new covenant in his blood. This is why Christianity is not primarily a religion of morals and ethics. Christianity is a religion centering around shed blood, a Roman cross, and an empty tomb.

Christ’s Superior Priesthood

As we continue our series on the Book of Hebrews, we are working our way though that section of the author’s extended argument for the superior priesthood of Jesus Christ, and the nature of the once for all sacrifice for sin made by our Lord, the great high priest. One of the remarkable things about the Book of Hebrews is that the author keeps building his case by adding additional arguments to those made in the earlier chapters.

In chapter 7, the author described how Jesus is an eternal priest after the order of Melchizadek, tying our Lord’s priestly office to this mysterious figure to whom Abraham paid tithes. Then, in chapter 8, we saw that with the coming of Jesus Christ the new covenant era is now a reality, and the old covenant is no longer in force. Jeremiah’s well-known prophecy of a new and better covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-34), was the fulfillment of the covenant promise God made to Abraham, so that all those who are Christ’s are also the children of Abraham.

Throughout both of these chapters, the author has shown that everything in the Siniatic covenant (the law, the tabernacle, and the priesthood) was designed to teach the people of God about the superior priesthood of Jesus Christ whose once for all sacrifice for sin puts an end to the Old Testament sacrificial system. Jesus is the better priest with the better sacrifice (himself), and his death alone, once and for all, turns aside God’s wrath toward all those for whom he dies.

To read the rest follow the link below

HebrewsKim RiddlebargerApril 16, 2025Christ's death necessary, Hebrews 9:14-29Comment

“The Incomprehensible Way of Regeneration” -- Article Thirteen, The Third and Fourth Main Points of Doctrine, Canons of Dort

Article 13: The Incomprehensible Way of Regeneration

In this life believers cannot fully understand the way this work occurs; meanwhile, they rest content with knowing and experiencing that by this grace of God they do believe with the heart and love their Savior.

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Article Thirteen of the Canons of Dort reminds us of the fact that God does not fully explain the mechanics of the way in which he gives new life (regeneration) to people who are dead in sin. Scripture simply speaks of the fact that God does regenerate sinners, and ties this to the work of the Holy Spirit through divinely appointed means–the preaching of the gospel.

The Canons echo very loudly what our Lord told Nicodemus as recounted in John 3:7-8, “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.”

If regeneration is an act of God which occurs at the level of the subconscious, and in which the believer is strictly passive (God acts upon us while we were still dead in sin), then we may not “experience” the new birth at all, even though we may have received it, and cannot enter heaven without it. If we are looking to Jesus Christ alone to deliver us from the guilt of our sin, we are thereby assured of the fact that we are justified by his death and resurrection and that we will spend eternity in heaven because this is the sign that regeneration has already taken place. People who are dead in sin do not trust in Jesus Christ until they have been given the new birth. And once given the new birth they cannot but believe the gospel. What is important here is not that we may have had a “conversion experience,” but that we presently trust in Jesus alone for our salvation and repent of our sins. Therefore, it is not the experience of the new birth which matters, but the fact that it has occurred.

To read the rest, follow the link below

The Canons of DortKim RiddlebargerApril 14, 2025Regeneration precedes faithComment

Paul on the “Elementary Principles of the World” in Galatians 4:3 -- Occult Powers or Legalism?

In verse 3 of Galatians 4, Paul applies the legal analogy of heir and an estate mentioned in Galatians 4:1-2 to the situation at hand—Jewish legalism in Galatia. No doubt, Israel’s history is in Paul’s mind when making this analogy. He’s thinking of Israel’s liberation from their bondage in Egypt under cruel task masters.[1] “In the same way we also, when we were children, [we] were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world.” The Greek term translated “elementary principles” is stoicheia (στοιχεια), which refers to the “rudimentary principles of morality and religion, more specifically the requirements of legalism by which people lived before Christ.”[2] When we were children [in Paul’s illustration], we were enslaved to the basic “principles of the world.”

A number of commentators contend the term refers to “angelic powers” or cosmic forces–spiritual and occult forces.[3] But as one writer points out, the connection of the stoicheia with immaturity, as well as the fact that the law is an instrument of bondage, supports the argument that the reference is more likely referring to, “elementary imperfect teaching . . . . To accept the Jewish law or some equivalent system is to come under slavery to some imperfect doctrine. But if stoicheia denotes elemental spirits, then it has to be explained how submitting to the regulations of the Jewish law is tantamount to being enslaved by these spirits.”[4]

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Pauline StudiesKim RiddlebargerApril 11, 2025Galtians 4:3, Stoicheia Comments

Warfield on the "Alien Righteousness"

In a Sunday afternoon Chapel Talk at Princeton Theological Seminary, Warfield spoke on Philippians 3:9, giving an address entitled The Alien Righteousness. Here are some gems from that address.

No human element can be the basis for our salvation

What [Paul] says—whatever he means is obviously that our own righteousness in every item and degree of it—is wholly excluded from the ground of our salvation; and the righteousness provided by God in Christ is the sole ground of our acceptance in His sight. According to his express statements, at least, we are saved entirely on the ground of an alien righteousness and not at all on the ground of anything we are or have done, or can do,—be it even so small a matter as believing.

Warfield on Paul’s conflict with the Judaizers in Galatians

The conflict with the Judaizers was not first with Paul and his doctrine of salvation second, either in time or importance; but, on the contrary, his doctrine of salvation was first and his controversy with the Judaizers both subsequent and consequent to it. He did not hold this doctrine of salvation because he polemicized the Judaizers, but he polemicized the Judaizers because he held this doctrine of salvation. He did not attain this doctrine of salvation then in controversy with the Judaizers, but he controverted the Judaizers because their teaching impinged on this precious doctrine. Though, therefore, the forms in which he states the doctrine in these epistles take shape from the fact that he is rebutting, the assaults on it and the subtle undermining of it derived from the conceptions of the Judaizers, the doctrine stated is prior in the order of time and thought in his mind to the rise of the danger to it which he is repelling in these expressions. The interest and importance of this to us is that it thereby is brought to our clear consciousness that Paul’s fundamental interest in this matter turns not on the violence of his conflict with the Judaizers but on the profundity of his conviction of the truth of his position. Whenever he replies to the Judaizers’ assault in whatever sharpness of rebuke and keenness of polemic thrust, his primary interest is not in silencing his opponents but in upholding his teaching.

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B. B. WarfieldKim RiddlebargerApril 9, 2025Philippians 3:9, The Alien RighteousnessComment

"Christ's Victory Over Death and the Grave!" -- (1 Corinthians 15:35-58) A New Episode of the Blessed Hope Podcast !

Episode Synopsis:

At the end of chapter 15 of First Corinthians, Paul describes what is truly the greatest triumph in the long history of the human race–Jesus Christ’s glorious victory over death and the grave. Our greatest enemy (death) was defeated that first Easter when Jesus was raised bodily from the dead as the firstfruits of a great harvest yet to come. And when Jesus returns on the last day, the trumpet will sound, the dead in Christ will be raised imperishable, and his victory will become ours. Just as Jesus was raised in a glorified body of flesh and bones, so too shall we. But what will such a body be like? How is it both the same, yet different from the bodies we presently have? Paul answers this and related questions in his defense of Jesus Christ’s bodily resurrection from the dead in the last part of 1 Corinthians 15.

Paul speaks of a spiritual body suited for eternal life in the presence of the holy God. It will be the same kind of body Jesus possessed after his resurrection. Such a body is unlike our present existence, in that once transformed, this body will reflect the glories of the new creation, the age to come, and the final consummation. It will be a body free from sin, sickness, and death. We will be raised to experience the unspeakable glories of the new heaven and earth, a renewed creation, and live forever in the presence of the Lord. Although we see dimly now, on that day we shall see face to face. We will experience the wonder of eternal life and receive all the blessings of our promised inheritance.

Paul ends this chapter in triumph, mocking death. When Jesus returns on the last day, we shall be instantly changed (in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye) and given that resurrection body which Paul describes as a transformation from the perishable (and therefore certain to die) to an imperishable body which is suited for eternal life. The sting of death gives way to the glorious victory earned and won for us by Jesus himself. As Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 15:57, “But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

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Blessed Hope PodcastKim RiddlebargerApril 7, 2025The resurrection of the body, Christ's victory over deathComment

A Whole Lotta Musings (April 4, 2025)

Riddleblog and Blessed Hope Podcast Updates:

Since the current Blessed Hope Podcast series on 1 Corinthians has but one more episode to record, a word about the future schedule for the Blessed Hope Pod. I’ll be taking a break to work on a book project, before picking back up with 2 Corinthians—one of the most overlooked but profound letters in the New Testament. Then, Lord willing, it is on to Romans!
I’m trying to make access to resources easier, so here’s a new Riddleblog page with collected Pauline Studies and Resources. I’ll be adding to it regularly, so check back.

Thinking Out Loud:

Corey Booker probably should not have watched Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. All his 25 hour filibuster stunt accomplished was a sleepless night and hoarseness. Voters are sick of stunts and performative politics. Good thing there are no preaching filibusters. Too many preachers think the longer the sermon, the better. I’ll bet several could go 25 hours like Booker.
Love the torpedo bat! But it is not new however. Several hitters used them last year and they’ve been used in Spring training and minor league games. The Yankees have been hitting a ton of home runs to start the season, but that might be because half the Milwaukee Brewers pitching staff was on the DL, and their replacements (in their first three games against the Yanks), let me say it kindly, stunk.
People who put up the decorative ten foot tall plastic skeletons in their yards for Halloween, might want to take them down soon after. We’ve still got several standing in our neighborhood. Putting a Santa hat on the skeleton, was clever when left up through Christmas (the first year), but still doesn’t let you off the hook for being too lazy to take it down over a year later.
Just tried the new Chick-Fil-A Roadhouse BBQ chicken sandwich. It was really good!
There was a Joe Biden sighting recently. I can’t help but wonder if in his lucid moments he misses being president. Dr. Jill, on the other hand, probably misses being president in all her lucid moments.
No surprises in the recent JFK files dump. The CIA was up to no good in Cuba, presidential historian Arthur Schlesinger warned JFK about the CIA’s growing influence in Washington, the CIA had a file on Oswald since he was Marine who defected to the Soviet Union, and JFK didn’t like Mossad or the fact that Israel was building an atomic weapon. But no evidence has surfaced which raises any doubt whatsoever about Oswald being the lone gunman and the assassin of JFK.
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MusingsKim RiddlebargerApril 4, 2025Ware on 1 Cor 15, Trump's tariff mythology, torpedo bats, Trueman on the bleak future, Reagan versus Trump Comments

“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 RiddlebargerApril 2, 2025The Holy Place, Hebrews 9Comment

“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.

_______________________________________

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 RiddlebargerMarch 31, 2025Regeneration, 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)

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 RiddlebargerMarch 28, 20251 Cor 15:29, Baptosm on Behalf of the DeadComment