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The Gospel of the Kingdom (8)

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:15:37-05:00June 7th, 2013|Categories: American Evangelicalism, Biblical Theology, Discipleship, Evangelism, Faith, Gospel/Good News, Kingdom of God, Lordship of Christ, Missional Church, The Church|

The Gospel writers plainly want us to see that faith trumps force. The cross exposes Rome as “en evil bully who uses death as a weapon of fear and terror to dominate its subjects” (Heaven on Earth, 201). On the cross, in his horrific death, Jesus secures a real, cosmic and earthly victory over the kingdoms of this world without lifting a finger to defeat man’s greatest enemies–Satan and death.

On the day of Jesus’s death Rome believed it had prevailed against this Jewish “false” King. The disciples were defeated and discouraged. The resurrection was “the” great surprise and by it Jesus proclaimed his complete victory! The resurrection accounts, and especially the epistles of the New Testament, reveal a great change that came about as Spirit-filled disciples witnessed to the power of God working through the exalted and enthroned Jesus.

Streett is insightfully on target when he concludes his chapter on the present reign of Christ with these moving words:

When we think of King Jesus and his kingdom, we must avoid the mistake of separating his death […]

The Gospel of the Kingdom (7)

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:15:37-05:00June 6th, 2013|Categories: American Evangelicalism, Biblical Theology, Discipleship, Evangelism, Faith, Gospel/Good News, Jesus, Kingdom of God, Lordship of Christ, Missional Church, The Church|

What we have seen, especially in Matthew 16, is that the church and the kingdom are not the same thing. The church preaches the kingdom. In the words of a 20th century theologian the church is the outpost of the kingdom in a neighborhood or community. The church serves the kingdom’s mission. As a messianic voluntary association the church “carries our Messiah’s agenda, just as other voluntary associations carried out Caesar’s agenda” (Heaven on Earth, 176). But what are the “keys” that are mentioned here in Matthew 16 with regard to the gospel of the kingdom that is entrusted to the church?

Streett correctly suggests that Jesus is “not specific [but] they [the keys] likely represent the good news of the kingdom, which calls on people to repent and believe” (Heaven on Earth, 176). The church is “at the center of Christ’s kingdom plans from the time of his ascension to his return at the end of the age. He uses people to carry out his mission” (Heaven on Earth, 177). Binding and loosing relates to being bound […]

The Gospel of the Kingdom (6)

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:15:37-05:00June 5th, 2013|Categories: American Evangelicalism, Biblical Theology, Church History, Church Tradition, Discipleship, Evangelism, Faith, Kingdom of God, Lordship of Christ, Missional Church, The Church|

When Jesus spoke about the church, right in the middle of his teaching about the kingdom of God (Matthew 16), what did he mean when he used the word “church”? Before you answer too quickly consider the importance of biblical words and how we have become accustomed to use them thoughtlessly in many instances. This is genuinely true when it comes to the English word church.

Alan Streett understands the word church to refer to what we should call a voluntary association. Most biblical scholars believe that the first church was much like a synagogue. It functioned much like a synagogue if one viewed it as a messianic movement within Judaism. In time the church (congregation/assembly) became a behind-the-scenes gathering of people who voluntary submitted to Jesus and to one another in faith and baptism and then meet regularly for prayer, the hearing of the Word of God and the receiving of the sacred meal, the Lord’s Supper. This church was built by Jesus and it belongs to him, not to us or a human agency. He calls […]

The Gospel of the Kingdom (5)

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:15:38-05:00June 4th, 2013|Categories: America and Americanism, Biblical Theology, Discipleship, Evangelism, Faith, Gospel/Good News, Jesus, Kingdom of God, Lordship of Christ, Missional Church, The Church|

Last week I began a series of blogs that grew out of my reading of Professor Alan Streett’s excellent new book, Heaven on Earth: Experiencing the Kingdom of God in the Here and Now (Eugene, Oregon: Harvest House, 2013). I believe this is a perfect study aimed at everyday evangelical Christians who need to grasp the centrality and importance of Jesus and his kingdom. It could not be more timely given the abysmal absence of kingdom theology in most American churches. Pastors would also profit from this book and could easily build a study around it. (Elders, deacons, councils, etc. could all read and discuss it very profitably.) But I’ve also said that ordinary Bible readers, people who want to better understand the central message of the Bible, would genuinely benefit from this book.

Only twice, in the written record of the New Testament, does out Lord Jesus Christ speak about the church by name (cf. Matthew 16 and 18). Any serious Bible reader will soon discover that Jesus spoke about his kingdom far more than about his […]

Christ Our Center – The Lausanne Conversation at Mundelein Seminary

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:15:38-05:00June 3rd, 2013|Categories: ACT 3, Christ/Christology, Incarnation, Jesus, Missional-Ecumenism, Protestantism, Roman Catholicism, Unity of the Church|

The past two Monday blogs (May 20 and 27) have included information about our April 18 public meeting, “Christ Our Center.” This event was held at the University of St. Mary of the Lake, Mundelein Seminary. This event was a small part of the first ever Lausanne Catholic-Evangelical Conversation, a private dialogue between twenty-five leaders. ACT3 Network worked with our partner, the Lausanne Committee, to jointly host and sponsor this event. This video gives you the opportunity to now join with us in hearing and following what transpired that historic Thursday night.

Today I post the third, and final, video of that special evening. This is a dialogue with all four of us participating: Fr. Edward T. Oakes, Dr. Hans Boersma, Fr. Robert Barron and me. It also includes responses, comments and a discussion of some of the topics and questions of that evening. The audience also asked questions. Some of these questions were asked by participants from the private conversation and some by guests who were only present for this evening meeting.

Again, I hope the work that we put into making this video available proves to […]

The Gospel of the Kingdom (4)

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:15:38-05:00May 31st, 2013|Categories: American Evangelicalism, Discipleship, Evangelism, Faith, Gospel/Good News, Kingdom of God, Lordship of Christ, Missional Church, Prayer, The Church|

Alan Streett’s book, Heaven on Earth: Experiencing the Kingdom of God in the Here and Now (Eugene, Oregon: Harvest House, 2013), is nicely laid out along canonical lines. By this I mean that he surveys his subject following the arrangement of the biblical canon, starting with Genesis, and then working his way through the mountain tops of the Old Testament. After surveying the Gospels, and addressing his theme in the epistles, he lands on the heavenly heights of the Apocalypse.

Streett shows the reader that the kingdom of God was first revealed in Genesis 1:28 by the command to: “Fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion . . . over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” The kingdom of God is first revealed in the opening chapter of the Bible! Here is the foundation of all theology, including kingdom theology. (Time and again I am amazed, so much so that I am no longer amazed, at how every central theme of the Bible is revealed in the narrative of Genesis 1-3!)

Following this proper beginning […]

The Gospel of the Kingdom (3)

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:15:38-05:00May 30th, 2013|Categories: America and Americanism, Church Tradition, Discipleship, Evangelism, Faith, Kingdom of God, Missional-Ecumenism, The Church|

Alan Streett is Senior Research Professor of Biblical Exegesis and holds the W. A. Criswell Endowed Chair of Expository Preaching at Criswell College in Dallas, Texas. I discovered Alan’s work, decades ago, through a book titled, The Effective Invitation. At the time I was reacting quite strongly against all forms of evangelistic invitation, having become an ardent Calvinist and having also accepted the idea that every form of “public invitation” was biblically questionable. His book raised enough questions, even in my state at that time, to make me a lot more cautious about my rigid conclusions about this subject. (My views on this subject have moderated considerably over the years. I believe an “effective” invitation can and should be used in the right context.) I say all of this because when I met Dr. Streett last year I was not particularly prepared to meet such a gracious, capable, Christ-like scholar. He had no obvious agenda except to love me and welcome me into his fellowship. I know, I know, I was biased by one title and by […]

The Gospel of the Kingdom (2)

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:15:38-05:00May 29th, 2013|Categories: American Evangelicalism, Discipleship, Evangelism, Kingdom of God, Missional Church, The Church, The Future|

The kingdom of God is not a “unique” theme in the teaching of Jesus, though it is, quite likely, the major theme in both his life and teaching. The idea of the kingdom runs from Genesis to Revelation. What is “unique” in Jesus is that the kingdom is “fulfilled” in God’s timing in him and thus brought to fruition in history in a unique way. Mark 1:14-15 says, “Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand.’” What should be noted here is that John the Baptist and Jesus both preached the same message–the good news of the kingdom of God. But in Jesus “the kingdom was no longer merely close by. Time was up. This intensified the kingdom message” (Heaven on Earth, 14).

Alan Streett is right when he says:

We might compare John’s and Jesus’ messages of the kingdom to an announcement of a pregnancy. A woman desires a child but seems unable to get pregnant. One day, she […]

The Gospel of the Kingdom (1)

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:15:38-05:00May 28th, 2013|Categories: Discipleship, Evangelism, Gospel/Good News, Kingdom of God, Lordship of Christ, The Church, Theology|

Every Christian I know agrees that the gospel is essential to Christianity. It is “the power of God to salvation” (Romans 1:16). We know the word gospel means “good news” but what is this good news really about? And what is salvation? Is it escape from earth, life in heaven, missing hell, having our sins forgiven, or inviting Jesus into my heart? Likely we’ve all heard one of more of these answers given to that question.

The problem is not that there is no truth in these standard, simple answers but rather that this minimal truth is inadequate, even peripheral to the correct biblical answer.

Mark’s Gospel begins with words that I frankly missed the first thirty years of my life: “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God” (Mark 1:1). Whatever the gospel is the record of this message is what the writer will give to his reader in the Gospel of Mark. (Of course, it is also to be found in the other three Gospels, which together give us the rich, full and […]

Christ Our Center – Dr. Hans Boersma

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:15:38-05:00May 27th, 2013|Categories: ACT 3, American Evangelicalism, Evangelism, Gospel/Good News, Missional Church, Missional-Ecumenism, Protestantism, Roman Catholicism, The Church, The Future, Unity of the Church|

When twenty-five Catholic and evangelical Protestant Christians gathered for the first ever “Lausanne Catholic-Evangelical Conversation” at Mundelein Seminary on April 18 we held an evening session on the first day that was open to the public. Our desire was to have a Catholic theologian present a paper on the centrality of Christ to true faith and life. Last Monday, May 20, I posted the first of three parts of the video we made of this event. Fr. Edward T. Oakes’ presentation on “Christ Our Center” can be seen if you go back to last Monday’s blog or to our ACT3 Network website.

Today I present part two of the three videos that we made from this event. In part two you will see Dr. Hans Boersma, J. I. Packer Professor of Theology at Regent College, Vancouver, British Columbia. Dr. Boersma read the paper by Fr. Oakes in advance of our meeting but he agreed with Fr. Oakes so profoundly, as you will clearly see at the beginning, that he took a different direction from a response and […]