I’m thankful for the fresh flowers beside me.

I’m thankful for hot water and, while I’m at it, clean water and running water. I’m thankful for the good gift of plumbing.

I’m thankful for God’s provision and protection through another year, a year that has at times been a difficult one, but also joyous.

And bear with me while I repeat myself: I’m thankful for good health. Not everyone reaches my age without major health problems. So yes, I’m thankful for another year of good health.

Come to think of it, not everyone reaches my age. I’m thankful for another year of life.

I’m thankful for promised cake yet to come. 

On Thursdays throughout this year, I plan to post a few thoughts of thanksgiving along with Kim at the Upward Call and others.

Another daily devotional from the little book Opened Treasures written by Frances Ridley Havergal.

And they shall know that I am the Lord (Ezekiel 6:10).

It is one of the shining threads that run all through the Bible, a supply indeed for the heart’s desire of those who delight in the Lord. It is never long out of sight, judgments and mercies being alike sent for this great purpose. For this the waters of the Red Sea receded and returned again; for this the Jordan was dried up; for this Goliath was delivered into David’s hand; for this 185,000 of the Assyrians were smitten by God’s angel; and many more instances. Throughout Ezekiel it seems to be the very key-word, recurring seventy-five times as the divine reason of divine doings, that they may “know that I am the Lord.” Is there not a peculiar solace in this?

It Demonstrates Love and Justice (Update, March 11: and Wisdom)
Quoting Sinclair Ferguson at Pure Church.

• God’s love
  

  When we think of Christ dying on the cross we are shown the lengths to which God’s love goes in order to win us back to himself.

• God’s justice

  Sometimes when we explain the message of the gospel to others we say something like this: ‘God has laid aside his justice.  He no longer deals with us as sinners; he forgets our sin, and accepts us.’  But when we say this we distort the biblical teaching.

• Update, March 11: God’s Wisdom

It Doesn’t Just Make Salvation Possible
But actually saves, effectually, particularly, and perfectly. (Kevin DeYoung)

It Was to Secure Forgiveness for Others
Lorraine Boettner on the significance of Christ’s death.

And There’s More
There’s no better time to read a book on the meaning of the cross than in the days leading up to the commemoration of Christ’s death and resurrection. Here are two that I’ve reviewed and recommended previously.

• The Atonement: Its Meaning and Significance by Leon Morris.
  

  I have a very short list of books that I’d put in the must-read category for every Christian, and this book is on it. Of course, there are many excellent books and many important books, but what sets The Atonement apart from many other worthwhile books is that I can recommend it to you and know that no matter who you are, you’ll learn something valuable from it, and at the same time, you won’t find it too difficult. 

  Read the whole review.


• Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die by John Piper.
  

  What John Piper has done in this book is take fifty of the results of Christ’s death given in scripture and listed them for us as fifty reasons why Jesus came to die. … I’d call Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die an introductory level book—there’s nothing difficult in it—and yet I’d say almost everyone will learn a thing of two from it. And who among us doesn’t need a reminder of the infinite wisdom of God in the cross of Christ? Read the whole review.
  

Scandalous: The Cross and Resurrection of Jesus (RE: Lit)There’s also a new book on the cross of Christ by D. A. Carson. I haven’t read yet, but I’m betting Scandalous would make good pre-Easter reading, too. Update: John Bird recommends it.

From Crossway.blog. 

Christians around the world are preparing to celebrate one of the year’s biggest holidays—and as author D. A. Carson writes, one of history’s biggest scandals. Nearly two thousand years ago, a Galilean hung on a cross, died, and rose from the dead three days later. In the midst of an event that may seem familiar, Scandalous: The Cross and Resurrection of Jesus introduces the ironies and scandal involved, and its implications for those who follow Jesus.

They are letting us preview all of chapter 1 (pdf).

special revelation
God’s self-disclosure in direct, supernatural revelation, disclosing truths, including the good news of salvation, that could not be known through general revelation.

• From scripture:

  Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son…. (Hebrews 1:1-2a ESV)

  Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:1-3 ESV)
  

• From The Belgic Confession, 1561, Article 2:

  The Means by Which We Know God
  
  We know him by two means:
  
  …Secondly, he makes himself more clearly fully known to us by his holy and divine Word, that is to say, as far as is necessary for us to know in this life, to his glory and our salvation.

• From ESV Study Bible, Biblical Doctrine: An Overview: The Bible and Revelation:

  …[G]eneral revelation does not provide knowledge of the only true solution to man’s guilt before God: the forgiveness of sins that comes through Jesus Christ. This means that general revelation does not provide personal knowledge of God as a loving father who redeems his people and establishes covenants with them. For this, one needs special revelation, which God has provided in his historical supernatural activities, in the Bible, and definitively in Jesus Christ.

  The Bible is God’s God’s written revelation of who he is and what he has done in redemptive History. Humans need this divine, transcendent perspective in order to break out of their subjective, culturally bound, fallen limitations. Through God’s written Word, his people may overcome error, grow in sanctification, minister effectively to others, and live abundant lives as God intends.

• From The Starry Firmament on High by Robert Grant: 

  The starry firmament on high,
  And all the glories of the sky,
  Yet shine not to Thy praise, O Lord,
  So brightly as Thy written Word.

  The hopes that holy Word supplies,
  Its truths divine and precepts wise,
  In each a heavenly beam I see,
  And every beam conducts to Thee.

  Almighty Lord, the sun shall fail,
  The moon forget her nightly tale,
  And deepest silence hush on high,
  The radiant chorus of the sky.

  But, fixed, for everlasting years,
  Unmoved amid the wreck of spheres,
  Thy Word shall shine in cloudless day,
  When Heaven and earth have passed away.

Learn more:

1. Don Stewart: What Is Special Revelation?
2. GotQuestions.org: What is general revelation and special revelation?
3. Christian Research and Apologetics Ministry: What is general and special revelation?
4. Christianity 101 (Gospel Outreach Ministries Online):  Special Revelation
5. J. Hampton Keathley III: The Bible: The Written Word of God

Do you have a a theological term you’d like to see featured here as a Theological Term of the Week? If you email it to me, I’ll seriously consider using it.

I’m also interested in any suggestions you have for tweaking my definitions or for additional (or better) articles or sermons/lectures for linking. I’ll give you credit and a link back to your blog if I use your suggestion.

Clicking on the Theological Term graphic at the top of this post will take you to a list of all the previous theological terms organized in alphabetical order or by topic.

What do Christians mean when they say the Bible is inerrant? The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy tells us what leading inerrantist mean by inerrancy. I’ll be posting a section of this statement each week until I’ve posted the whole thing.

You can read previously posted sections of this statement in by clicking here. After a preface and a short statement, the Chicago Statement contains a section called Articles of Affirmation and Denial.

Article III.

We affirm that the written Word in its entirety is revelation given by God.  

We deny that the Bible is merely a witness to revelation, or only becomes revelation in encounter, or depends on the responses of men for its validity.

Back in October I posted a piece on the doubtful authenticity of the oft-quoted last words of Jan Hus.

You, this day, burn a goose, but a hundred years hence a swan will arise, whom you will not be able to roast or boil.

These words, some say, were a prophesy of the coming of Martin Luther roughly one hundred years after Hus was martyred. I looked at things from the Hus side of history and came to the conclusion that the quote was probably not genuine.

James Swan has posted a bit from an article by Robert Scribner that traces the quote back to a fusing of two quotes—one from Hus and one from  Jerome of Prague—perhaps by Luther himself.

The upshot is that this goose quote is dead.

Here, O My Lord

Here, O my Lord, I see Thee face to face;
Here would I touch and handle things unseen;
Here grasp with firmer hand eternal grace,
And all my weariness upon Thee lean.

This is the hour of banquet and of song;
This is the heavenly table spread for me;
Here let me feast, and feasting, still prolong
The hallowed hour of fellowship with Thee.

Here would I feed upon the bread of God,
Here drink with Thee the royal wine of Heaven;
Here would I lay aside each earthly load,
Here taste afresh the calm of sin forgiven.

I have no help but Thine; nor do I need
Another arm save Thine to lean upon;
It is enough, my Lord, enough indeed;
My strength is in Thy might, Thy might alone.

I have no wisdom save in Him Who is
My Wisdom and my Teacher both in One;
No wisdom can I lack while Thou art wise;
No teaching do I crave save Thine alone.

Mine is the sin, but Thine the righteousness:
Mine is the guilt, but Thine the cleansing blood;
Here is my robe, my refuge, and my peace;
Thy Blood, Thy righteousness, O Lord my God!

Too soon we rise; the symbols disappear;
The feast, though not the love, is past and gone.
The bread and wine remove; but Thou art here,
Nearer than ever, still my Shield and Sun.

Feast after feast thus comes and passes by;
Yet, passing, points to the glad feast above,
Giving sweet foretaste of the festal joy,
The Lamb’s great bridal feast of bliss and love.

—Horatius Bonar

Other hymns, worship songs, sermons etc. posted today:

• Lord, Who Throughout These Forty Days at The Happy Wonderer
• Lord’s Day 10, 2010 at The Thirsty Theologian
• Jesus Paid It All at Whatever Is Good
• Lord, Like the Publican I Stand at Hiraeth
• All Glory Be to Thee, Most High at Field Stone Cottage
• That Will Be Glory at Whatever Things
• Joys Are Flowing Like A River at Jam and Books
• Your Weekly Dose of Spurgeon at Pyromaniacs: On Reimagining the Gospel Afresh for Every Age
• Update: Heart Aflame - March 7, 2010 at The Upward Call

Have you posted a hymn (or sermon, sermon notes, prayer, etc.) today and I missed it? Let me know by leaving a link in the comments or by emailing me at the address in the sidebar and I’ll add your post to the list.

Emily’s Story
Take time out of your day to watch both of these. Juanita and Terry Stauffer of Edson, Alberta, whose teenaged daughter Emily was murdered a year and a half ago, were interviewed by a reporter from 100 Huntley Street, a Canadian Christian TV program. In these two videos, they share how God prepared them for their loss and continues to uphold them day by day.



The Keys to Death
In God-orchestrated serendipity, Nancy Guthrie is also talking about losing children and our big God. “[N]o one goes through the door of death unless and until he opens that door,” she says. (The Gospel Coalition Blog)

[W]hen we begin to think that “the God I know would never allow this,” we have taken our first step toward discovering that God is not who we think he is. That is when we can begin to explore the wonder of his sovereignty seeking to know him as he is and not as we have reduced him to be.

Though God’s sovereignty can be initially hard to accept, ultimately it is the only solid ground to stand on in this broken world, and eventually we realize that it is really a soft place to land. His sovereign power to redeem the suffering we experience in this sin-sick world is our only true hope and comfort. Without confidence in God’s sovereign oversight of the universe, life becomes meaningless, hope for justice fades, and everything seems random. The truth is, if God is not sovereign, then we’re in trouble.

I’m thankful that human beings see colour. Colour is a good gift.

I’m thankful for vegetables in all varieties. I can’t think of one I don’t enjoy. That the vegies I love provide good things to keep me healthy is an added bonus.

And while I’m thinking of it, I’m thankful for good health.

I’m thankful that God’s prepares his people for suffering, upholds them in it, sanctifies them through it, and gives them joy because of it. I’m thankful that Jesus endured the suffering of the cross for the joy set before him, and that we can consider his example when we need courage to endure.

On Thursdays throughout this year, I plan to post a few thoughts of thanksgiving along with Kim at the Upward Call and others.