Andy Naselli

Thoughts on Theology

A Former Slave-Trader’s Sanctified Self-Assessment

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John Newton (cf. Google books):

I am not what I ought to be. …

Not what I might be …

Not what I wish to be. …

I am not what I hope to be. …

[But] I am not what I once was, a child of sin, and slave of the devil. …

I think I can truly say with the apostle, ‘By the grace of God I am what I am.’

D. A. Carson: “That encapsulates Christian sanctification in pithy statements better than anything I know.”

Update (8/17/2015): Tony Reinke explains Newton’s statement in his book Newton on the Christian Life: To Live Is Christ, Theologians on the Christian Life (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2015), 267–69:

newtonTo explain the riddle of the Christian life in all its shortcomings and its hopes, John Newton penned what has possibly become the most famous sermon outline in church history. He had been asked to preach a little homily in the home of a friend, which he happily obliged. He chose for his text 1 Corinthians 15:10: “But by the grace of God I am what I am.” All that remains of Newton’s living-room message is an outline, written down by a nameless note taker in attendance. Over time, the sermon outline morphed and merged into this remarkably concise summary of the Christian life on earth:

I am not what I ought to be. Ah! how imperfect and deficient. Not what I might be, considering my privileges and opportunities. Not what I wish to be. God, who knows my heart, knows I wish to be like him. I am not what I hope to be; ere long to drop this clay tabernacle, to be like him and see him as he is. Not what I once was, a child of sin, and slave of the devil. Though not all these, not what I ought to be, not what I might be, not what I wish or hope to be, and not what I once was, I think I can truly say with the apostle, “By the grace of God I am what I am” (1 Cor. 15:10).

[Note 5: My paragraph blends the two published versions of what Newton reportedly said. …]

The parallels and contrasts within Newton’s statement become clearer when decorated with visual cues to highlight corresponding clauses:

I am not what I ought to be.
Ah! how imperfect and deficient.

Not what I might be,
considering my privileges and opportunities.

Not what I wish to be.
God, who knows my heart, knows I wish to be like him.

I am not what I hope to be;
ere long to drop this clay tabernacle, to be like him and see him as he is.

Not what I once was,
a child of sin, and slave of the devil.

Though not all these,

not what I ought to be,
not what I might be,
not what I wish or hope to be, and
not what I once was,

I think I can truly say with the apostle,

“By the grace of God I am what I am.”

Related:

  1. John Piper wrote the foreword to Reinke’s book.
  2. Tim Challies interviews Reinke about his book.

Bob Bell’s Magnum Opus

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I’ve eagerly anticipated this 500-page book for several years:

Robert D. Bell. The Theological Messages of the Old Testament Books. Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press, 2010. Amazon | BJU Press

It revises Bob Bell’s biblical theologies of each book of the OT that he has been working on for forty years. The table of contents is simple: an introduction to biblical theology and book theologies followed by thirty-three chapters on each book of the OT (Bell combines Judges-Ruth, treats 1–2 Samuel, 1–2 Kings, and 1–2 Chronicles as single chapters, and combines Obadiah-Joel-Zephaniah.) The book is

Dedicated to the scores of Advanced OT Theology students, who since 1970 have been writing outlines and papers on the book theologies of the Old Testament; especially to those OT PhD students who wrote book theologies as their dissertations [Read more…] about Bob Bell’s Magnum Opus

Differences between You and Others That God Uses to Reveal and Change Your Heart

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  1. “personal hardwiring that the Creator has formed in each of us”
  2. “viewpoints, instincts, and tastes that have been formed in us through the experiential, cultural, and relational influences that we have lived in and which have formed the way we see the world and respond to it”
  3. “personal sin and weakness” and “our growth in grace”

Paul Tripp lists those “tools of difference” with reference to marriage, but they apply more broadly to any relationship (What Did You Expect? Redeeming the Realities of Marriage , p. 215).

Malcolm Gladwell

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I recently listened to four fascinating audiobooks by Malcolm Gladwell, and it was time well spent. Gladwell writes well and offers accessible yet penetrating insights about human nature and the world we live in.

From his bio:

Malcolm Gladwell has been a staff writer with The New Yorker magazine since 1996. His 1999 profile of Ron Popeil won a National Magazine Award, and in 2005 he was named one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People. He is the author of four books, The Tipping Point: How Little Things Make a Big Difference (2000), Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking (2005), and Outliers: The Story of Success (2008), all of which were number one New York Times bestsellers. His latest book, What the Dog Saw (2009), is a compilation of stories published in The New Yorker.

Amazon | Summary | Wikipedia [Read more…] about Malcolm Gladwell

How Should We Interpret the New Testament’s Graphic Descriptions of Hell?

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I attempt to answer that question in the latest 9Marks eJournal: Hell: Remembering the Awful Reality [PDF | HTML].

“Hellfire and Brimstone: Interpreting the New Testament’s Descriptions of Hell.” 9Marks eJournal 7:4 (September–October 2010): 16–19. [PDF | HTML]

Introduction:

The New Testament graphically and horrifically describes hell. And that raises a thorny question: How should we interpret those dreadful images? May we simply label them “metaphors” to soften their bite?

Outline:

  1. How does the New Testament describe hell? [five ways]
  2. How do people interpret the New Testament’s horrific descriptions of hell? [three ways]
  3. How should we interpret the New Testament’s horrific descriptions of hell? [two of the three ways are plausible]

Conclusion:

We may disagree about some finer nuances of our literal and metaphorical interpretations of hell’s darkness, fire, and suffering, but we should agree that, at the very least, the New Testament teaches that hell is eternally miserable, terrifying, and painful. It’s certainly no better than being cast into literal “outer darkness” or being tormented with literal “fire and sulfur.”

More.

Preaching Christ in a Postmodern World

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I just listened to “Preaching Christ in a Postmodern World,” a D.Min. course that Tim Keller and Ed Clowney co-taught at RTS about a decade ago. It’s 22.4 hours long, and it’s stimulating, especially the Q&A and the lectures by Keller.

Related: “Tim Keller: Preaching to the Heart“

Introducing Biblia.com

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Biblia.com = Bible Study Online.

The president and CEO of Logos Bible Software explains:

  • Biblia.com is “a super-simple Bible for the web that’s backed up by the incredible technology (and massive library!) of Logos Bible Software.”
  • “Logos 4 users can access their library online, complete with synchronization of ‘last read’ position between Logos 4, the iPhone/iPad, and Biblia.com!”
  • “With shared licenses between Logos Bible Software 4 for Mac, Windows, iPhone, iPad, Mobile Web, and Biblia.com, your content is available wherever you are.”