Luther on Repentance and the importance of the study of the original languages of Scripture

I missed this video by Dr. Rob Plummer (Professor of Greek and New Testament at Southern Seminary) on Oct. 31, 2015, but just saw it yesterday, and thought it worth posting.  It is a good reminder of the importance of the Greek word for repentance instead of the Latin, which was wrongly translated and contributed to the wrong understanding of repentance in the middle ages as "do penance", which grew into an emphasis and a focus on the external outward act or ritual that one had to do that the priest would assign, in order to gain satisfaction for full forgiveness.

Dr. Plummer goes over the first three of the 95 theses and how important that is, regarding true repentance.  True inward repentance results in fruit and good works and, as Luther says,  results in "various mortifications of the flesh".  (see Acts 26:20; Matthew 3:8; Luke 3:8; 2 Corinthians 7:7-10)

The "mortifications of the flesh" was a convicting comment, in light of the ongoing battles against "remaining sin" (James 1:19-21) like sinful anger, lust, gluttony, laziness, pride, complaining, worry, sinful fears, etc. (see Colossians 3:5; Romans 8:13; and 1 Corinthians 9:27)



Dr. Plummer's videos of "The Daily Dose of Greek" are very good for reminders; and helping those of us who had NT Greek in seminary, but have become rusty by not being in it so much every day.  I was keeping up with this in 1 John and Mark off and on pretty good until the last 3 months.  Life is like that; the Lord is good to give opportunities and grace, so we can start back again in our desires for good disciplines.

The quote that Dr. Plummer cites from Luther about the importance of the original languages - I remember reading that somewhere.  Dr. Plummer does not cite the source, but I found some references to it in John Piper's book, The Legacy of Sovereign Joy, (about Augustine, Luther, and Calvin), on page 97, (which I highly recommend), and he cites that as coming from W. Carlos Martyn, The Life and Times of Martin Luther, 1866, pp. 474-475.  (It is a slightly different translation from the one that Dr. Plummer cites.)  Maybe James Swan has cited this before or done an article on this before; I did not search a lot, but some, and could not find it here.

I found the 1866 W. Carlos Martyn book The Life and Times of Martin Luther, here.

Prayer, Repentance, Brokenness, Humility

In our apologetics and debating; it is helpful to come back to basics, such as prayer, repentance, brokenness over sin, humility.



"The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise."  Psalm 51:17

"For thus says the high and exalted One
Who lives forever, whose name is Holy,
“I dwell on a high and holy place,
And also with the contrite and lowly of spirit
In order to revive the spirit of the lowly
And to revive the heart of the contrite."  Isaiah 57:15


"The Place for Repentance in the Gospel" by John McArthur

Luke 15:7; Luke 15:10
Luke 3:8
Luke 13:1-5
Luke 5:32
Luke 24:46-47
Acts 17:30
Acts 2:38
Acts 3:19
Acts 20:21
Acts 26:20
2 Corinthians 7:7-10
2 Timothy 2:24-26
Acts 11:18
Psalm 32
Psalm 51

"The message of salvation, by the way, can be fatally compromised by what is left out, by what is not said."  John McArthur

This also reminded me of the fact that the issue of the true meaning of repentance was Luther's very first point in the 95 Theses, against the Roman Catholic emphasis of centuries of "do penance" - doing an external act of dead ritual.

The Case Against Ergun Caner

See over at my other blog, I embedded Dr. White's video on the Case against Ergun Caner, and other links with the documentation; and also another video done by a Muslim, who made a video of news reports about Caner going to Brewton-Parker College in Mount Vernon, Ga. The discussion in the combox is also interesting so far, as it is with a Muslim concerning the doctrines of the Trinity, the Incarnation, and the Qur'an's mistakes about those doctrines and also the Qur'an's mistkae about the crucifixion and death of Christ as established historical fact, which the Qur'an denies. (Surah 4:157)

When the Lord stops him, that'll be it !! Too late . . .

I don’t care what anyone says, this is a great song! (From 1976-1977)  I don’t exactly know where Phil Keaggy is spiritually today, but he seems like a mild Charismatic Christian.  I like his music and sometimes he has some great music with really good Biblical words and concepts. His pro-life song, "Who will speak up for the little ones?" is also really great and beautiful.   Last time I posted a song of his, some one commented that they thought he had converted to Roman Catholicism.  I cannot find substantial evidence of that; although he seems to lean to a more “ecumenical” type of thinking when the issue comes up. 

I am not Charismatic nor third wave nor a Reformed "continualist" on miraculous sign gifts (Wayne Grudem, Samuel Storms; John Piper to a lesser emphasis, it seems to me), but I do like good classic Rock n Roll music (stuff like this would be great for a Friday night outreach to youth with Biblical preaching of the gospel; but no, I don't want this on Sunday morning); and I wish there was more of it, in quality that is; of it with Christian words.  Keith Green was another really good classic rock Christian song writer and singer.   I don't want heavy Rock for worship; but I like good hymns that have been updated with acoustic guitars and flutes; and I also like the good hymns of worship with just piano.  Lots of variety with quality performance and making a joyful noise is good.  If we don't update a little, we loose young people.  (Just my opinion, as I see worship leaders now using 70s and 80s praise choruses that were considered anathema by them at that time, that are using them today.  (30 years too late!)  

Anyway . . .

This is a great rock n roll song that communicates the truth of Hebrews 9:27 – “and in as much as it is appointed for men to die once, and after this comes the judgment.”

Time is running out for all of us; one day each one of us will die, and we will have to face God, the Holy One, in the judgment.   One day, time will stop; “When the Lord stops him, that’ll be it!” – God is sovereign and controls time, and one day He will bring it to an end. 

Repent and believe in Jesus Christ, before it is too late.  (Mark 1:15; Matthew 3:8; 2 Corinthians 6:1-2; Isaiah 55:6; Acts 17:30-31; Psalm 90)

Time

By Phil Keaggy

Well He hasn't always been around
And He won't always be.
But He's on the move at this moment
Measuring life for you and me.

I fear we all submit to him
Existing anxiously,
And no one is able to turn him off
Except the Lord who holds the key.

When the Lord stops him, that'll be it,
Too late for apologies.
Too late to forgive your brother,
Too late to get on your knees.
When the Lord stops him, that'll be it,
Too late to help the needy
And worst of all it's too late to turn
You must face eternity.

His name is time and he's coming to an end.
His name is time where will you be my friend?
His name is time and he's coming to an end.
His name is time where will you be my friend?

Most people think he'll never stop
He'll go on perpetually,
But old man time is running out
And he'll cease eventually.

When the Lord stops him, that'll be it,
Too late for apologies.
Too late to forgive your brother,
Too late to get on your knees.

When the Lord stops him, that'll be it,
Too late to help the needy
And worst of all it's too late to turn
You must face eternity.

His name is time and he's coming to an end.
His name is time where will you be my friend?
His name is time and he's coming to an end.
His name is time where will you be my friend?

Addendum:
I fully agree with James and Steve Camp's assessment of the Contemporary Christian Music Industry - artists need to be in submission and membership of a good evangelical Biblical Church and have accountability. 

Remembering the beginning event of the Reformation

A good reminder to us all, as we celebrate the Reformation (October 31, 1517):

Here is an excellent article by Dan Phillips on Repentance and mortifying sin, and an excellent discussion in the comment boxes, especially comments by Terry Rayburn (though I cannot tell completely where he is coming from), Dan Phillips, and Mary Elizabeth Tyler (the truth is somewhere in the middle of all that discussion; both sides make some excellent points) :


As John Owen wrote years ago:

Do you mortify;
do you make it your daily work;
be always at it while you live;
cease not a day from this work;
be killing sin or it will be killing you (p. 47, Overcoming Sin and Temptation; Crossway Books: 2006, John Owen, edited by Kelly M. Kapic and Justin Taylor [emphases added]) (Cited and emphasized by Dan Phillips at his article at Pyromaniacs.)




In his article, Dan links to Luther’s 95 Theses, especially the first one.



The first 3 points that Luther makes are especially good. Also, important was no. 6, 8, 27, 32, 81-82, as James Swan reminded us all earlier of the historical context and meaning of the 95 theses and that Luther was still in process at the time of posting them; but that “they got the ball rolling” toward justification by faith alone and the whole Reformation of the church.

Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences Commonly Known as The 95 Theses
by Dr. Martin Luther

1. When our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, said "Repent", He called for the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.

2. The word cannot be properly understood as referring to the sacrament of penance, i.e. confession and satisfaction, as administered by the clergy.

3. Yet its meaning is not restricted to repentance in one's heart; for such repentance is null unless it produces outward signs in various mortifications of the flesh.

We cry out to God, as Augustine said in his Confessions several times, which is what made Pelagius angry:

“O God! “Give me the grace to obey Your commands, and command me to do what You will.!” Confessions, Book 10:29 (twice); 10:31; 10:37

Calvin and others would come a little later and write: "We are justified by faith alone, but that faith does not remain alone." (John Calvin, The Acts of the Council of Trent, 3:152, cited in R. C. Sproul, Faith Alone, Baker Books, 1995, page 128.) See also, The Westminster Confession of Faith, On Justification, chapter 11, verse 2.

True faith in Christ alone does not stay alone, it results in change, fruit, hatred of sin, deeper levels of repentance, good works, zeal for evangelism and missions, deeper love for God and His word; constant growing and moving and active service, humility, putting to death the deeds of the flesh.

Rain

Rain. We try not to go out in it or drive in it if we can help it. We put on special water proof clothes and use umbrellas to keep from getting wet from it. But at the same time we can't live without the water it brings. Water is a sustainer of life and even the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ gives "living water" which brings eternal life. Like many here in the U.S. land of plenty who take this living water for granted dare I say we also take our everyday water even more for granted.

How often do we think about taking a long hot shower or excessively running the kitchen or bathroom water in light of water conservation? Probably not much. We're in the U.S. we can' t run out of anything. Normally, water is pretty much plentiful, however, not at this time. God has seen fit in His providence to limit our water supply in certain areas.

Psalm 147:8 Who covers the heavens with clouds, Who provides rain for the earth, Who makes grass to grow on the mountains

We must repent and pray that God has mercy on us. I refer to the need for God's grace in the current state of drought here in Atlanta and the other areas affected on the east coast as well as the fires in California. This plea has further implications than just this particular time of need. This speaks to the whole of the Christian life to call upon God and praise Him in all we have and don't have. To live a life of repentance for His glory.

Even though it's a different kind of trial Paul writes to believers showing us what we should do during these times. Pray for each other, trust in the Lord.

2 Corinthians 1:8 For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life; 9 indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead; 10 who delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us, He on whom we have set our hope. And He will yet deliver us, 11 you also joining in helping us through your prayers, so that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the favor bestowed on us through the prayers of many.

James tells us also.

James 1:2 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

Some of us can be thankful that we still have water left though not much. It's been devastating for those involved in the California fires. Let us pray for our brothers and sisters there and pray God may bring unbelievers to Himself through those events. A hard message both for us to tell and for unbelievers to hear are Jesus' words in Luke 13. To tell someone out of love that "unless you repent, you will likewise perish" using those who've died in a disaster as the example is tough. But we are called to share the Gospel and thank the Lord we live in a country were we can.

We have to understand that we are only in believers in Christ because of God's grace. And we continue to need God's grace to trust in Him and not worry about our lives. Though we continue to fall short He will provide for us.

Matthew 6:25 For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26"Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?

I also want to thank Gene, Tom and Frank for the exhortations to pray and repent for the grace of God in a major time of need.

Many times it's the simplest things in life we forget to be thankful for whether it be the water He provides or the next breath we take.

Forgive us,

Mark