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A Biblical Theology of Discipleship in the Context of a Christian (Covenant)

Secondary School

by

Ryan Huber

Submitted to Dr. Neil Skjodal in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the

Master of Arts in Christian Studies

Trinity Evangelical Divinity School,

April 19, 2009

Davie, Fl

A Biblical Theology of Discipleship in the Context of a Christian (Covenant)

Secondary School

Thesis
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Effective, authentic discipleship in the context of a covenant secondary school must be

founded upon a theology of discipleship characterized by Biblical understandings of theology,

Scripture, God, Christ, man, sin, salvation, the Holy Spirit, and the Church.

Introduction

There is and has been debate surrounding the concept of Christian education for

centuries. Questions as to what should be taught, who should be instructed, in what setting, for

how long, according to what model, supported by what theological system, et cetera, have been

asked and answered time and again, and answered differently by each scholar, pastor, teacher,

student, parent, priest, and king. There has even been the question as to whether or not private

Christian education (K-12 and even postsecondary) is even a good thing, the right course, the

Biblical model. We will not and cannot address in this project most of the questions historically

asked as mentioned above. We will not even deeply consider the important question of whether

Christian education should exist in any of its current forms. We will assume, for the sake of

brevity, that Christian education should exist. We will also address, for the same reason, only the

schools whose context is one commonly referred to as a Christian Covenant context, which we

will define shortly. Our focus will be on traditional American secondary school ages and grades,

particularly high school, meaning in this discussion grades 9-12 and ages 14-18 will be part of

the frame of the discussion. Finally, we will limit the discussion to the biblical/theological

foundations of discipleship (the assumed goal of Christian education) as opposed to

administrative concerns or curricular particulars within the established context. Essentially, the

underlying theme of the argument is that ideas have consequences, and theological ideas,

particularly the ones discussed, have enormous consequences as they are worked out in and

through a covenant discipleship community, particularly in a Christian (covenant) high school.


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Before we move on to particular discussions, we must establish certain definitions,

among them Biblical Theology, Discipleship, and Christian (Covenant) School.

Biblical Theology- Biblical theology can be defined as “the Theological content of the Old and

New Testaments, or the theology found within the biblical books”.1

Discipleship-The process of accepting the teachings of and seeking to be identified with (in this

case) Jesus Christ and imitating the patterns set forth by Jesus and his disciples2

Christian (Covenant) School- A Christian covenant secondary school will be for our purposes

defined as a private School, in the contemporary American K-12 sense, whose standards of

enrollment and conduct include a covenantal statement agreed to by each student (if the student

is of appropriate age), at least one parent or legal guardian of each student, and the school

(including faculty and staff). This statement of beliefs, rules, and standards is based on biblical

principles which are based on scripture itself. Essentially, a covenant school is operated on the

assumption that the primary goal is discipleship as opposed to evangelism within the community.

Stated another way, a covenant school “ought to be” a community of Christian students,

teachers, parents, and other staff, all united in the goal of seeing Christian students conformed

through discipleship to the image of Jesus Christ.

Secondary- By secondary we mean that the school is or includes students enrolled in grades 6-

12, our focus being especially grades 9-12, who can be considered adolescents or young adults,

usually ages 12-18, more specifically (in our project focus) high school ages typically in the

range of 15-18.

Topics of Focus

1 Millard J. Erickson, Christian Theology (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2006), 26.

2 Richard N. Longnecker, Patterns of Discipleship in the New Testament (Grand Rapids:


Eerdmans, 1996), 2.
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Having settled on some basic definitions within our context, we will move forward in the

discussion of nine topics/doctrines/issues which are critical to a biblical theology of discipleship.

This theology of discipleship is the bedrock of an authentic “program” or activities of

discipleship. Each topic will be introduced and any critical aspects of the topic will be

highlighted, including a brief overview of the historical formation of the doctrine or issue if

appropriate, and a discussion of relevant biblical foundations of the doctrine, followed by the

application of the topic or doctrine to our particular context, including an assessment of what

happens when we as a discipleship community “get it wrong”, or fail to instill that particular

doctrinal reality in our students’ minds and lives. When we speak of faulty theology, we speak of

a failure to properly understand and communicate and adequately model our understanding of

the nine theological topics discussed here, and the essential components thereof. The topics were

selected because of their critical importance to the spiritual formation of a disciple of Jesus

Christ. For this reason, important but not critical topics such as eschatology, Genesis/creation

studies, a thorough handling of the Calvinism/Arminianism debate, and others were not included

in the limited scope of the project.

Theology

This project is an integrative theological study. Because the project itself is an act of

theology, it is critical to define and explain certain aspects of the concept or doctrine of theology

itself, including a brief discussion of theological method. Millard J. Erickson, in his landmark

work on Christian Theology, defines theology in the Christian context:

Theology in a Christian context is a discipline of study that seeks to understand the God
revealed in the Bible and to provide a Christian understanding of reality. It seeks to
understand God’s creation, particularly human beings and their condition, and God’s
redemptive work in relation to humankind. Biblical, historical, and philosophical
theology provide insights and understandings that help lead toward a coherent whole.
Theology has practical value in providing guidance for the Christian life and ministry.3

3 Erickson, 17.
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Based on this holistic understanding of theology in the Christian context, we will move to an

important aspect of Christian theology, methodology. We must keep in mind that our

methodology will influence our basic definitions and understandings, and therefore theological

methodology has an impact not only on the topic of theology, but on the entire scope of this

project.

In his essay on the meaning of inerrancy (discussed below), Paul D. Feinberg claims that

in order to define a word that is also a doctrine, that doctrine must be constructed, formulated,

and justified. In order to understand how any doctrine is defined, we must know how the doctrine

is constructed, formulated, and justified. In order to do this part of theology with any of the

following topics, we must discover the method by which any doctrine or term is formulated and

justified. This necessarily makes the subtext of the entire discussion a matter of theological

method.

In the discussion of theological method, there are at least three camps, according to

Beegle 4. The inductive, deductive, and classical approaches have been identified as the major

methodological approaches. Inductivists use specific evidence to formulate doctrines, while

deductivists use general principles to construct their doctrines. The classical approach advocated

by R.C. Sproul incorporates aspects of both. Feinberg is critical of “lumping” all proponents of

Biblical inerrancy into the deductivist camp, as Beegle does. He makes the point that there are

various degrees and types of induction and deduction, and that neither is the best way to proceed

with theology.

Retroduction or abduction is what Feinberg and Montgomery advocate as the best way to

construct or formulate a doctrine (methodology). Informal utilization of deductive and inductive

4 Paul D.Feinberg, “The Meaning of Inerrancy” in Inerrancy ed. Norman Geisler ( Grand
Rapids: Zondervan, 1980), 270.
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methodologies takes place in this particular methodology. The process involves the development

and testing of a paradigm or phenomenon, using both specific evidence and general principles to

test and refine the hypothesis or doctrine in question. Feinberg shows that not only is this method

the best way to “do” doctrine, but there is agreement (although not in all terminology) among

many who have studied the subject that this is so. Among the proponents of this basic method are

Norman Geisler, Montgomery, and Holmes.

Using the methodology of retroduction or abduction, we will utilize elements of both

deductive and inductive reasoning. Citing specific areas of scripture, utilizing general laws of

reality, and hopefully finding a balance between the two will allow us to define and discuss each

area of importance to the topic of discipleship in our context.

Theology in general can be basically defined as thoughts or words (logos) about God,

gods, or the divine (Theos). In this general sense, then, the vast majority of people in the scope of

world history have had some sort of theology. In the context of Christian theology, the practice

and concept would be necessarily limited to the history of Christianity itself.

Methodology is important in the process of formulating doctrines and discussing

theology, and our methodology in doctrinal or theological formation for each topic will include

examination of primary Biblical texts as foundational truths on which our claims will rest.

Application to the Context

Our students must both understand the importance of theology in their daily lives and be

able to practice theology at a basic level. This is critical to the formation of a Biblical world

view, Godly habits, and Christian Character. Knowing God (theos + logos) is a key element in

effective discipleship, and the disciple must be equipped with basic tools of theological study, an

elementary understanding of doctrinal thought and formation, and a foundation on which they

can build a healthy understanding of reality. We must equip our students with the skills to
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discern what is real, what is true, and what is good. In our view, theology must play a part in

answering those fundamental questions in the life of a disciple of Jesus Christ.

Consequences of Faulty Theology

If our students do not learn basic theological skills and concepts, if they cannot articulate

the importance of theology in their lives, if they do not study and think about God, then they will

not and cannot be disciples of Jesus Christ. They will go on to study other world views,

philosophies, theologies, and they will fail to understand and apply properly the thoughts and

ideas and words necessary to know God in a real and practical way.

Scripture

Within Orthodox (Evangelical) Christianity, differences abound. Arguments are

common. Doctrines on salvation, free will, church government, and the gifts of the Holy Spirit

are varied and can fuel contentious debate. Despite all of the differences among Evangelical

believers, one area of general agreement is the authority and importance of scripture. Scripture

here will be defined as the cannon of Protestant Christianity, normally referred to as the Old and

New Testaments, but not including the Catholic Apocrypha. This includes the writings of the

Hebrew Bible as well as the Gospels and Apostolic writings. Despite a general agreement within

Evangelical circles as to what writings are considered Scripture, scholars have struggled to

properly grasp the trustworthiness of Scripture, and a particular debate has risen over the concept

of the inerrancy of Scripture. Paul D. Feinberg has written a helpful discussion which helps us to

properly grasp and communicate the authority and trustworthiness of Scripture.

A specification of the term and doctrine of inerrancy, Paul Feinberg writes, is the first

step to a resolution of the proper handling of the doctrine. Another way to state the issue is
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“Without a proper understanding of the question, one has little hope of arriving at the right

answer”5

The author speaks of various positions on inerrancy held by evangelical and other

scholars, and seeks to answer several questions regarding a high view of scripture, and whether

the word/position of inerrancy is the only one that supports such a high view. He questions the

“all or nothing” mentality of a narrowly defined inerrancy versus neo-orthodox or liberal

interpretations of the Bible. He seeks to find the criterion for a high view of scripture, and

whether that is necessarily tied to the two extremes. He also seeks to discover whether other

Christian doctrines will necessarily fall by the wayside when inerrancy is not upheld.

Feinberg examines language in his attempt to find a definition of inerrancy. Other words

closely approximating or related to this word are “inspiration, indefectibility, infallibility,

indeceivability, and…without error”6 Despite the differences inherent in each term, most are

referring to some type or degree of the absence of error from scripture. He states that most

evangelical scholars can live with the statement that the Bible is “without error in all that it

affirms”7 .

The problem, as Feinberg sees it, is in defining error. He treats error with no special

connection to authorial intentionality, which would weaken or undermine the doctrine of

inerrancy by watering it down to a lack of “willful deception” on the part of the author. He wants

a doctrine of inerrancy which actually does justice to the Biblical claims on truth and freedom

from (moral, logical, linguistic) error.

Ultimately, Feinberg wants a term that conveys truthfulness. He argues for a refined and

sharp definition of inerrancy, rather than an entirely new word. He proposes this definition:
5 Feinberg, 267

6 Feinberg, 287.

7 Feinberg, 288.
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Inerrancy means that when all facts are known, the Scriptures in their original autographs
and properly interpreted will be shown to be wholly true in everything they affirm,
whether that has to do with doctrine or morality or with the social, physical, or life
sciences.8

The author cautions us with two observations. First, “no doctrine of inerrancy can determine in

advance the solution to individual or specific problem passages”. Second, “Inerrancy is a

doctrine that must be asserted, but which may not be demonstrated with respect to all phenomena

of Scripture”.9 Some other qualifications are made. The first is that inerrancy applies to the

Scripture as originally written (autographs). The second is that inerrancy is ultimately tied up

with hermeneutics. The third is that inerrancy is related to scripture’s intention.

The doctrine of Scripture is critical to other major doctrines of Christianity. The key to

the climate that God creates in order to empower humans to freely choose or not choose Him is

the Truth of His revelation, especially His special revelation, or His Word. The revealed Truth of

God creates an opportunity for men and women to respond to the call to salvation and repentance

that God sounds to all men everywhere

For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same {Lord} is Lord of all,
abounding in riches for all who call on Him; For ‘WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE
NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.’ How then will they call on Him in whom
they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And
how will they hear without a preacher… So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by
the word of God.
Romans 10:12-14, 17 NKJV
Scripture is critical to salvation and discipleship, but does claim to be reliable and free

from error? We must consider the exegetical evidence from scripture in order to formulate a

doctrine of the inerrancy (truthfulness, trustworthiness) of scripture. This includes the Biblical

teaching on inspiration, the Biblical teaching on the accreditation of God’s word, the Biblical

teaching of the authority of the Bible, the teaching on God’s character, and the way scripture

8 Feinberg, 294.

9 Feinberg, 295.
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utilizes scripture. Feinberg affirms that scripture is indeed God-breathed, using scripture to prove

his point. He then proves the truthfulness of the prophets who wrote the Bible. He shows that

Jesus established the authority of the Bible in His teaching. He illustrates the care with which

Jesus and others quoted, debated about, and rested upon scripture, even down to the very words

spoken by the OT prophets. The Bible does affirm that it is truth (Psalm 33:4), it affirms that it is

useful and God speaks through it (2 Timothy 3:16), Jesus affirmed the authority of scripture

(John 17:17), and the Bible affirms that God is the source of truth. He concludes this section with

evidence supporting the characteristic of God only speaking the truth. Because He cannot lie

(Hebrews 6:18), and the word is His word, His word must be true.

Application to the Context

The bottom line is that what the Bible affirms is true. Students must understand and have

confidence in the trustworthiness and effectiveness of the Word in their lives. Inerrancy isn’t a

bad word to use to describe this aspect of the Bible, it just needs to be properly defined and

agreed upon before people argue about it. Disciples will understand that God has given us

enough light in this world to see, and enough darkness to be blind. If someone wants to find

errors in the Bible, we won’t be able to stop them. If we approach scriptures with the analogy of

faith, defining terms carefully is helpful, but not necessary. Our covenant communities should be

populated by disciples of Christ who, in faith, look to the Word of God for standards of moral,

historical, and theological truth.

Consequences of Faulty Theology

Scripture is the primary source of most of the truth and information discussed in this

project. It is our primary basis of knowing God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. If we don’t have

scripture, or can’t believe it, we can’t be disciples of Jesus, or even Christians in a broader sense.

In order for students to become disciples, they must read the scriptures, apply them, study them,
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believe them, and build their lives upon them. If we can’t do this, we can’t even discuss any of

the topics at hand in a Christian context, because, once again, our entire context rests on scripture

for its authority, authenticity, and practical application to life.

God

So much has been written and spoken concerning God, or the gods, or the Divine. There

have been and still are countless gods worshiped and followed by humanity, in every era, in

every language, and throughout every nation which has ever existed. Here when we speak of

God, we refer to the Deity of the monotheistic religions, particularly Judaism and Christianity.

Among these religious traditions there are vast areas of disagreement as to the nature, character,

activities, and source(s) of revelation of this one true God. Our positions tend to fall firmly

within the Orthodox (fundamental, evangelical) tradition of Christianity, which incorporates and

builds upon pre-Christian Orthodox Judaism.

The historical origins of the Judeo-Christian God known as YHWH, among other names,

start with one nation of people, the descendents of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, known

collectively as Israel. The writings which today are called the Old Testament or Hebrew Bible

were written by various prophets and scribes of this ancient people. The central theme of these

writings is the relationship of this people group to YHWH, the God who created them, adopted

them, rescued them from slavery, and gave them a land in which to dwell.

Christianity is an offshoot of Judaism, and as such concurs with many of the central

beliefs that Jews hold about YHWH. Although there was much debate about Jesus Christ and the

Holy Spirit, many doctrines about who God is and what He is like are agreed upon by Jews and

Christians, and are rooted in the Hebrew Bible.


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Following our chosen theological/hermeneutical system, we rely heavily on the special

revelation of scripture, as well as the general revelation of the witness of the Universe without

and the almost universally recognized conscience of man within.

The beginning is the place to start. In Genesis chapter 1, we read that “In the beginning

God created the heavens and the earth. And the earth was formless and void, and darkness was

over the surface of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.

Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light.” This first part of the creation epic

reveals a great deal about who this God is supposed by His people to be. God is light, God is the

giver of life, and everything that is good comes from this God. He is the uncaused Cause, the

unmoved Mover, the un-sourced Source.

The Shema was and is a central mantra of the Jewish faith. It can be found in

Deuteronomy chapter 6, verses 4-5, and was to be repeated several times daily as a reminder to

God’s people of what He was like, and what their response should be. It reads “Hear, O Israel!

The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! And you shall love the LORD your God with all your

heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” This great God is One, He is a perfect

unity. He also demands a full measure of love and devotion from His people. We know that

whatever else God is, and it is revealed as Scripture speaks of Jesus and the Holy Spirit, God is a

perfectly unified, powerful, creative, loving giver of light and life.

We can see from these foundational passages alone that God is great, and that

God is good. In other words, two of the very most important things the Bible has to say about

God are that He is powerful, and that He is perfect. He is all, and He is a person whose image is

in all. The Triune nature of the Christian God will be more fully addressed in the sections on

Jesus and the Holy Spirit, and in the section on Man.

Application to the Context


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Realizing that we are limited in our ability to mold the individual student as well as the

covenant community, there must be a focus on how our theology translates into practical

applications/acts of discipleship as well as the doctrine we advocate and attempt to instill. In the

case of the doctrine of God, we believe two critical aspects for focus in the context are the omni-

ness, or all-ness, of God, and the ultimate personality, or person-ness, of God. A Biblical

understanding of how present, powerful, and knowing God is is absolutely fundamental both to a

student’s worldview and a community’s plan and actions of discipleship. Equally important is

the understanding of and response to God’s personality, what have been called his natural and

moral attributes10, such as justice, love, patience, and holiness.

Consequences of Faulty Theology

The consequences of a lack of understanding of God in our community, of a less than

appropriate response to God in our discipleship efforts, will include a student population without

a proper center, without a foundation on which to build. Their lives will be characterized by

spiritual disinterestedness, and they will be distracted by cheap imitations, little gods, like sex,

drugs, and wealth. If the greatness and the goodness of God, as Millard J. Erickson put it, are not

present in out faith community, then we cannot expect to make disciples in a way which is

authentic or effective. Students must emerge from the discipleship process with a healthy awe of

the majestic greatness and absolute personal perfection of the Judeo-Christian God YHWH.

Christ

It is interesting to think that not only is Jesus a person of the Trinity, but as a human (God

made flesh), He also perfectly reflected the image and likeness of God. It seems evident that the

spirit of Christ was and is identical to the Holy Spirit of the Trinity, that His body was not

corrupted by sin, and that His will, intellect, and emotions were perfectly in line with those of the

10 Erickson, 293.
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Father. Even when, in His humanity, His emotions, intellect, and will were overcome by the task

at hand, He submitted Himself to the will of the Father. He also presented His body as a living

sacrifice, and gave up His spirit to the Father. So then, the way in which Jesus lived and died was

a perfect reflection (image and likeness) of the Trinity.

Jesus’ death on the cross was the central event in Christian history, and has developed

into the doctrine of atonement. The Bible claims that mankind is sinful and separated from God.

Romans 3 and 6 say that man is dead and enslaved in his sin. All have sinned and fallen short of

the glory of God. Romans 5 claims that just as sin entered the race through one man named

Adam, so much more did grace enter the human race through the second Adam, Jesus Christ.

This view of atonement is known as recapitulation, and was espoused by Irenaus.11 He believed

that Jesus re-headed the human race as the perfect man and as God, and was the only one capable

of delivering men from their own sin and death. He believed that Christ won a victory over sin

and death (Christus Victor) and that that victory allows us not to be captives of Satan any more.

A more contemporary theologian who holds to something similar to recapitulation is Karl Barth,

who said that Jesus is the crux of atonement.12 He said that Jesus was the redeemed and the

Redeemer, that He was the embodiment of the human race and God, and thus was the only one

capable of redeeming humanity. Jesus was humanity, and he was God, and thus He reconciled

the two.

Peter Abelard held to a different view on the atonement. In his view, the

atonement was a moral influence of Christ on humanity.13 He was the ultimate example of what

11 Hans Boersma, Violence, Hospitality, and the Cross (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic,
2004), 112.

12 Boersma, 178.

13 Boersma, 115.
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humans should be, and at the same time was the perfect example of divine love. He humbled

Himself to death on a cross, and we should follow his example.

Anselm held a view that has been prominent in reformed circles. He held a

forensic or judicial view of the atonement.14 God is a perfect Judge, and we have broken his law.

We stand guilty and condemned in his courtroom, and our sentence is death. Jesus Christ stepped

into our place, took the punishment that we deserved upon Himself, appease and propitiated the

wrath of the Father, and paid our penalty. We are now justified with Him, because He has legally

transferred His righteousness to us in a double exchange of sin for righteousness.

The Biblical witness of the atonement points to a propitiation of the wrath of a

righteous God, an expiation of sin from the sinner, a victory of Jesus over sin and death, and the

ultimate example of what it means to love. Jesus the God/man came and took our place, freed us,

cleansed us, restored our relationship with the Father, and showed us how to live. Irenaus,

Anselm, Abelard, and Barth are all right, each in their own way.

It is important to look to Scripture for our understanding of the atonement. We know that

God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us (2 Corinthians 5:21). We know that while we

were still sinners, Christ died for the ungodly (Romans 5:8). We know that there is no greater

love than to lay down ones life for ones friends (John 15:13). We know that we were captives to

sin, slaves to sin, and that Jesus set us free from that captivity (Galatians 5:1). We know that

Jesus has set us free from this body of death (Romans 7:24-25). We know that He is the

propitiation for our sins (1 John 2:2). We know that He is the Lamb of God who came to take

away the sins of the world (John 1:29). He is the Lamb who was slain (Revelation 13:8). But He

also conquered hell and death and made a spectacle of them (Revelation 1:18).

Application to the Context

14 Boersma, 153.
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Students in Christian schools hear about Jesus Christ on a daily basis, in so many

contexts and settings, and can become overexposed to the word Jesus and become numb to the

reality of who Jesus is and what he has done. We must not make Jesus seem ordinary, trite, or

make Him the answer to every question in every setting. Taking this into consideration, three

things that our students must know about Jesus are related to his atoning work on the cross. First,

Jesus has won victory for mankind over sin and hell and death through the atonement. Second,

Jesus has given us the perfect example of love, sacrifice, and servanthood through his work in

the atonement. Lastly, Jesus is the payment for our sins, the legal satisfaction of God’s righteous

wrath against us that places us in good standing with God the Father, our perfect Judge. This

translates into the practical aspects of the life of the covenant community in several ways.

Students can rest in the knowledge that through their relationship with Jesus, they are in a right

standing with God. They don’t have to constantly worry about hell, eternal death, or damnation;

they are secure. They can also draw on that relationship with Christ their Victor, who can help

them defeat sin and death in their own lives. In addition to this, the example of Jesus in death is

one that serves as a powerful reminder and challenges the way students live and love one

another.

Jesus, the love of Jesus, and a relationship with Jesus are the center and life blood of

authentic Christian discipleship. He is the vine, and we are the branches. If we are connected to

Him, we will bear much fruit. He should be the focus of our discipleship efforts, because being a

disciple means being conformed to the image of Jesus through the words of Jesus and the

example of Jesus, based upon the saving work that Jesus performed on the cross for the

remission of sins and ultimate victory over hell and death.

Consequences of Faulty Theology


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If our students do not know Jesus, they cannot be disciples. If they can’t appreciate Jesus

as their victorious King, they will not worship Him. If they do not study his example, they will

not live like Him. If they are unaware of his sacrifice and substitutionary death, taking our place

and absorbing the righteous wrath of God for our sakes, securing salvation and right standing

before the Father for us, then they will not love Him the way he should be loved. We must

glorify Jesus as our hero, example, and the payment for our sins, or our students will take the

name and person and work of Jesus for granted and use them in vain, without even

understanding the true power, significance, and critical importance of Jesus to our very lives and

souls. As we will discuss in detail under the topic of salvation, it is our understanding that no one

is a Christian (disciple of Christ) who does not embrace Jesus gladly as his most valued treasure,

and pursue the fullness of joy in Christ that honors Him.

Man

Every Religion, every philosophy, every worldview struggles to answer the question:

what does it mean to be human? The central and fundamental truth about the nature of man is

that men and women have been made in the image of God. Scripture also seems to

overwhelmingly support the truth that humans have been given a real kind of free will (by

particular scriptures and reason applied to scriptural revelation) as a result of man being made in

the image of the Triune God.

For God to create persons in His own image (Genesis 1:26), He must have meant the fact

that this crown of creation was a reflection of His personal attributes, since He is Spirit, and not

flesh (John 4:23).15 The attributes that we see reflected in Adam and Eve are not His greatness

(immutability, omniscience, omnipresence, omnipotence, eternality, etc…) but His personal

15 Erickson, 521.
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attributes of emotions, intellect, and will.16 Saint Augustine himself attested to the pre-fall free

will of Adam.

Augustine stated that the image of God in Adam and his offspring has been

compromised, marred, and twisted. Original (inherited genetic) sin as well as learned behavioral

sin is a part of every human being in this fallen world. Our ability to reason, to decide, and to

experience pure and genuine emotions has been compromised (Romans 6). We are totally

depraved (dead and enslaved) apart from the grace and truth of God.

Fortunately for humanity, God has given us common revelation and grace, such as those

mentioned by Paul to the Greeks on Mars Hill (Acts 17:22-31) and in his letter to the Romans

(1:20). God has revealed Himself enough in nature and through the vestiges of man’s conscience

so that man is without excuse. If man is without excuse, then God must reach each of us enough

to give us a fair shot at seeking Him or running from Him, receiving Him or denying Him,

choosing to love and know Him to the extent He reveals Himself or choosing to shun, hate, or

ignore Him (John 1:12).

God is clearly three persons and one God, and acts in history as such. God is personal,

and stoops to personally commune with humans. He, as a person(s), talks, walks, wrestles, eats,

suffers, argues, reasons, and lives with His creation in increasingly intimate ways. From the

Abrahamic relationship, to the Mosaic (tabernacle then temple) relationship, to the Incarnation

(Emmanuel, God with us), to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in and among and through us as

the Church, God has demonstrated that He, as a personal being, wants to have relationship with

us, humanity, His creation in His own image.

The Trinity is not only the example of what humans and their relationships should be, but

(as previously mentioned), the Triune God created man to specifically reflect and resemble the

16 Erickson, 532.
19

Trinity (Genesis 1:26). The way that we understand the relationship and essence of the Father,

Son, and Holy Spirit will influence how we view those made in His image and likeness.

Just as God is three in one, so is man made in his image. Man is not dichotomous (two-

part), trichotomous (three-part), or monist (one-part). Man was made to be and live triune.

According to this line of thought, man is made of physical substance (the dust of the ground),

spiritual substance (the ruach of God), and man has what some would call a soul, which is the

seat of the intellect, will, and emotions. So, then, man acts as a triune being, with the body, soul,

and spirit interacting and relating to one another in a way similar to the Holy Trinity. The body is

not the soul, the soul is not the spirit, and the spirit is not the body, but the person is the body and

the soul and the spirit. The spirit empowers the soul to manifest itself physically through the

various systems of the body (nervous, endocrine, muscular, reproductive, etc.). The body

provides stimulus to the soul, and acts as an interface with the physical world. The intellect,

emotions, and will of the soul must be translated into electrical and chemical reactions in the

body to impact the physical world. Therefore, not only is the person triune, but the soul itself is

triune within the person.

The problem with this way of thinking is that it only works for humanity as created

before the fall (Adam and Eve), or the person Jesus of Nazareth. When sin enters the picture, the

spirit is subject to separation from the Holy Breath of God, or death (Gen 4:22-24). Without the

power of the spirit in connection with the Holy Spirit, the soul is weakened and enslaved by sin,

which twists the intellect, will, and emotions.17 This manifests itself in the body as well, as

sinful acts, words, and emotions. The mechanisms in the body that were meant to provide

stimulus to the soul are now corrupted, and they overpower the captive soul with the help of sin.

17 Cornelius Plantinga, Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1995),
31.
20

The impulses of the flesh now control the soul, instead of the soul controlling the actions and

chemical reactions of the body.18 Thus, as Calvinists will attest, humanity (each person) is totally

depraved, enslaved, and spiritually dead as a result of sin.19

Jesus lived, died, and freely willed as a perfect example of humanity in God’s image, but

what about the rest of us? How can we really have free will if we are corrupted, enslaved, and

spiritually dead (as previously discussed)? Once again, we look to the Trinity and man as the

image and likeness of the Trinity. If the source of the corruption and enslavement of man’s body

and soul is the separation from God and the death of the spirit, then the gap must be bridged and

the spirit must be regenerated. But how can the spirit be regenerated without violating free will

and advocating unconditional election, irresistible grace, and the logical conclusions of

determinism that follow? The answer is that the grace of God, manifested through the wooing

and working of the Holy Spirit of God, particularly through the preaching of the Word of God, as

enabled by the propitiation and expiation of the sins of the whole world by Jesus Christ the Son

of God, meets each person who encounters the revelation of God and in that moment empowers

them to accept or reject the offer of a relationship with God which is by that grace through faith.

It is reminiscent of the fresco on the ceiling of the Sistine chapel, where we see the hand of God

reaching out to touch the hand of man.

So the free will of man is restored by the grace of God through the power of the Holy

Spirit revealing the truth that set men free, that Jesus Christ died as a ransom for many. Man has

been met by an infinite and holy God in the most dramatic of ways. It is as if a father travels

1000 miles and requires his disgraced child to take only one step toward him. All that man, in

this moment of grace, must do is receive this gift of grace by faith (Eph 2:8). This is the one step.

18 Plantinga, 62.

19John N. Oswalt, Called to Be Holy: A Biblical Perspective (Napanee, IN.: Francis Asbury
Press, 1999), 112-118.
21

This is the act of will that man is responsible to perform. This is the moment that God sees in His

foreknowing, the moment in which he predestines, calls, and chooses based upon this one grace-

enabled act of free will. It is almost laughable to confuse this line of thinking with a work-

righteousness model of salvation. There is no merit here, no earning of salvation. There is a God

who descended to the greatest extent possible to rescue His creation, and stops only at the point

which would violate His own image and likeness, and show that he is a God with violence, not

hospitality, at His heart.20 He does not violate the free will that He has in His sovereignty given,

because He chose to create persons in His own image and likeness, and He will not violate that

image.

Application to the Context

Our students struggle with what it means to be human on a daily basis. Many walk

around with a helpless or victim mentality, and cannot answer biblically the question of why

suffering and evil and hardship exist. They desperately need to understand the connection

between God’s decision to create free moral agents, and the staggering consequences of every

decision that has chosen something other than God’s prescriptive will, starting with the decision

of Adam and Eve to eat the forbidden fruit.

The bottom line is that although God is sovereign over history, and we are in bondage to

sin before God rescues us from it, the decisions that Christians and non-Christians make matter.

To be human is to make decisions, to exercise will, and to live with the consequences of the

exercised will of self and others, and hopefully, the exercised will of Jesus Christ resulting in

salvation for those who believe.

Consequences of Faulty Theology

20 Boersma, 54-68.
22

One of the very real consequences of failing to instill a proper understanding of what it

means to be human, to have the opportunity to accept or reject the free gift of salvation, to make

the eternal choice between heaven and hell, is the failure of students to grasp the gravity of that

choice.

Hell is a state of being as much as it is a place. Hell, and damnation, is separation from

God. When a person dies, having rejected God, that person has chosen (of their own free will) to

live apart from God eternally. That person is made in the image of God, remember, so their will,

intellect, and emotions are intact, and they are an eternal creature. The God who created them

will not violate His own image in them by forcing heaven on them, by forcing Himself on them,

or by simply destroying their eternal soul in order to cut short their misery. Hell is a choice made

by persons to deny to sovereign Lord who bought them.

God’s decision to create persons in His image introduced finite moral agents into the

story, and with that free moral will, the possibility of sin entered as well. With sin came evil,

death, pain, suffering, bondage, and the need for a savior. With that Savior came grace, truth,

love, justice, mercy, propitiation, victory, and life. Thus, hell is not a place made by a creator for

a determined and damned creation. Hell is chosen separation from a loving Triune God by a

person made in the image of that God. Evil is the result of personhood. Love is a choice made by

persons to act toward another person in a certain relational way. God is glorified, not in some

abstract way, but by persons who have chosen to love Him because He first loved them and gave

Himself for them. Our students will not be properly aware of this ultimate destiny of man if we

fail to teach them, and that may contribute to lives lived in ignorance of this great truth.

Sin

One of the most uncomfortable and controversial topics of conversation in any context is

sin. The image of a stern, stuffy evangelical preacher telling young people that they are sinners
23

comes to mind, or an old nun rapping a student on the hand with a ruler because she spoke out of

turn. The word ‘sin’ carries with it cultural, emotional, and religious baggage with many, and

that is one of the many reasons why it must be properly defined, understood, and actively

engaged in the lives of our students.

Our definition of sin will rely heavily on Orthodox (Evangelical) Christian notions of sin

as derived from Scripture and centuries of doctrinal debate and discussion. Cornelius Plantinga

defines sin (or evil for that matter) as “any spoiling of shalom, either physically, morally,

spiritually, or otherwise.”21 Shalom? If sin is shalom-breaking, then shalom must be very

important. Shalom is the Hebrew word that communicates the concept of “how things ought to

be”22 Since shalom is the way God intended it to be, whatever ‘it’ is, whenever God’s intentions

are broken, sin is there. When we break a promise, we break shalom. When we cheat on a test,

we break shalom. Any time a relationship, classroom, nation, family, business, or church does

not line up with how God made it to function, there is sin.

What is the Biblical basis of sin? What texts most clearly and completely demonstrate

what sin is and how it affects us? Both the Old and New Testaments give clear standards of right

and wrong, holy and sinful, good and evil. In the Old Testament, we can look to the first instance

of sin, found in Genesis chapter 2. We can see from this passage that sin involves disobeying

God, not trusting that what God commands us is for the best, and that when we choose to sin,

there are dire consequences.

In addition to the Genesis 2 account, the most iconic definition of sin in the entire Jewish

Bible (what are commonly known as the Ten Commandments) can be found in Exodus 20, and

delineate for us some common ways that we violate our relationships with God and others. These

21 Plantinga, 14.

22 Plantinga, 10.
24

breaches of relationship include worshiping other Gods, taking from others, adultery, and lying

to others. These commandments help establish for us the kinds of things that displease God and

hurt our own person and the lives of other people.

In the New Testament, the ultimate standard of right and wrong is found in the person

and work of Jesus Christ. Jesus reaffirmed every one of the Ten Commandments except the

keeping of the Sabbath, and practically redefined several of the commandments, including those

prohibiting adultery and murder. Jesus stated that He was the fulfillment of the Law (Matthew

5:17), which is a way of referring to the commands of the Old Testament.

The Apostle Paul confronted the topic of sin in a robust way, especially in the book of

Romans, a letter he wrote to the church in Rome primarily concerning the basics of the Christian

faith. In the seventh chapter of Romans, Paul talks about sin in terms of slavery, bondage, and

death. He speaks of the powerful desire to sin in his body as a war on his soul. For Paul, sin was

the antithesis of everything that is good. Sin is bondage over against freedom, flesh over against

spirit, evil over against good, and death over against life.

James, the half brother of Jesus, understood the progressive, almost personal qualities of

sin. In the first chapter of his apostolic letter, James exhorts

Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be
tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when
he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives
birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.

So then, temptation combined with personal desire leads to sin, and sin leads to death. This is

very important, and clearly delineated in this passage, which allows us to understand a very

important aspect of sin and its consequences.

Application to the Context

In a Christian high school, the discussion of sin is almost constant. Sin is rampant in

every area of society, but no where is it more apparent, observable, and dramatic than high
25

school. The context of a Christian covenant school makes this even more complex and crucial.

The critical component of the sin discussion in this context is the progressive, chronological,

devastating consequences of sin. For high school students who have not begun to reap the full

consequences of their sin, the very real nature of sin and its consequences must be emphasized

both through curricular discussions and discipleship activities, such as mission trips, outreach to

the oppressed, and ministry to those in bondage.

In addition to this, the reality of sin’s impact on current relationships, including those

between students and their God, their parents, their friends, the opposite sex, and their school

community, must be illuminated. Also important is the specific nature of sin as an offense to

God, whose job it is to judge sin, and who is faithful in all that He does.

It’s not enough to unmask sin and its consequences in our covenant communities. We

must equip our students, empower them to stand against it, and teach them practical ways to

defeat sin in their daily, weekly, yearly lives. Obviously parts of the solution encroach on the

topics of God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and other topics, but sin must be confronted directly in the

context of those other important realities.

Consequences of Faulty Theology

If sin in a covenant secondary school community is not confronted, understood, and

judged for what it is, a breaking of God’s intended shalom, then the consequences in our

students’ lives will be disastrous. They will not fear sin, its consequences, or God’s judgment of

it. They will not fully understand the importance of decisions that they make, habits that they are

in bondage to, or the eternal realities underlying all of those actions. Without teaching students

what sin is, how it impacts them, and how to fight against it, we will fail to equip or disciple

them in any practical way.

Salvation
26

In the language of contemporary Evangelical Christianity, there is a question that

surpasses most other questions in importance; “Am I saved?” Maybe it’s in a different context

and the question is asked of another, “Are you saved?” Some related questions are “How do I

know if I’m saved?” or “What does it mean to be saved?” or even “What do I need to be saved

from?” This topic of Salvation is of the highest importance in the mind of anyone who takes the

Evangelical worldview seriously. It seems to determine whether you are in or out, good or bad,

headed for heaven or destined for damnation. These questions are focusing on only one aspect of

salvation, when in reality there are three aspects; justification, sanctification, and glorification.

When people ask questions concerning salvation, most of the time they are only talking

about justification. Justification essentially means that you are in a right eternal standing with

God. You will “go to heaven when you die”, you are a Christian, you are saved, you are “born

again”. Many people don’t understand that the biblical notion of salvation is far more holistic

than simply being made right before God in a “going to heaven” sense. Sanctification and

glorification are not optional components of salvation, they are incredibly important and tied

together with justification in an integrated and interdependent whole. Sanctification is the

ongoing process by which God is molding us into the image of Jesus Christ by the power of the

Holy Spirit. Glorification is the eschatological (end time) hope that we will be made glorified

with God, renewed creations, with new bodies, without even the possibility of sin or death. So,

then, it has been said that Jesus in the past justified us, in the present the Holy Spirit is

sanctifying us, and we will dwell glorified with God in the future.

We cannot investigate every aspect of salvation here; it is simply beyond the scope of the

work. The focus of this project is the discipling of students in the here and now, and thus we will

delve deeper into the second, present tense aspect of salvation, sanctification. If our students

consider themselves Christians, or followers of Jesus Christ, then they should be experiencing
27

sanctification here and now in their everyday lives. So, then, the matter at hand is the question of

sanctification, which is nestled in between the knowledge of justification and the hope of

glorification. What exactly does sanctification mean, consist of, and look like?

Sanctification is the present tense of salvation, and it is built upon justification. We can

only answer the question “How do I know if I am (or any other person is) saved?” by observing

the present tense sanctification of a person, because we cannot know if they were justified or if

they will be glorified by any other means. There are, I’m sure, many different articulations of

sanctification within Christianity, answers to the questions asked above. One of the perspectives

that rings most true is that of John Piper.

Piper presents a cohesive and coherent argument for salvation and sanctification as what

He calls “Christian Hedonism” in his book entitled Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian

Hedonist. Just what this means, the importance of it, and instruction in it, are the primary

discussions of the book.

John frames the discussion by summing up the doctrine or theory or definition of

“Christian Hedonism” in 5 points:

1. The longing to be happy is a universal human experience, and it is good, not


sinful
2. We should never try to deny or resist our longing to be happy, as though it were a
bad impulse. Instead, we should seek to intensify this longing and nourish it with
whatever will provide the deepest and most enduring satisfaction.
3. The deepest and most enduring happiness is found only in God. Not from God,
but in God.
4. The happiness we find in God reaches its consummation when it is shared with
others in the manifold ways of love.
5. To the extent that we try to abandon the pursuit of our own pleasure, we fail to
honor God and love people. Or, to put it positively: The pursuit of pleasure is a
necessary part of all worship and virtue. That is: The chief end of man is to
glorify God by enjoying Him forever.23

23 John Piper, Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist (Colorado Springs, CO.:
Multnomah, 2003), 28.
28

The most important chapter to our discussion focuses on those who can participate in

Christian hedonism, through the process/event Piper calls “conversion”. He attacks the notion

that “believing” or claiming to believe in Jesus makes you a loyal, passionate, committed Christ

follower. He instead asks the question “Is Jesus your treasure?” to pierce the heart and determine

where a person stands in relation to God. He contends that “no one is a Christian who does not

embrace Jesus gladly as his most valued treasure, and then pursue the fullness of that joy in

Christ that honors Him.”24

Through six truths Piper summarizes our need and God’s provision. God created us for

His glory; therefore it is the duty of every person to live for the glory of God. Yet all of us have

failed to glorify God as we ought, therefore we are subject to eternal condemnation by God.

Nevertheless, in His great mercy, God sent forth His Son, Jesus Christ, to save sinners by dying

in their place on the cross and rising bodily from the dead, and the benefits purchased by the

death of Christ belong to those who repent and trust in Him.25 These are established almost

exclusively by NT scripture.

Piper describes those who participate in relationship with Christ as those who participate

in conversion, which is made up of repentance and faith. This conversion, Piper argues, is the

creation of a Christian hedonist.

The scriptural basis for the crux of this theory (Jesus as our treasure and joy) is sound.

We hear God declare through His Word the reality that He is to be our “all in all” (1 Corinthians

15:28), our “treasure” (2 Timothy 1:14), the object of our worship and affection (Exodus 34:14).

The denial of self in scripture is always connected to a greater reality, reward, or pleasure. Jesus

teaches us to have a mind like His, to see the “long run”, to value those things which will never

24 Piper, 54.

25 Piper, 56-63
29

rust or fade. (Matthew 6:19-20) We are commanded in the scriptures to use our affect to worship,

love, glorify, and serve God. When we are happy in Him, it fulfills the greatest command

(Matthew 22:37).

Piper also heavily uses the Westminster Shorter Catechism in his argument for “Christian

Hedonism”. The Westminster Catechism rests on Scripture for the answers to its questions, and

has been widely used and accepted as a Biblically-based document for hundreds of years.

Application to the Context

The primary question here for those who consider themselves “born again” Christians is

this: what does it mean to be a Christian? Put differently the question could read “What does a

Christian look like?” or “how can I (or anyone) know if I (or anyone else) is really saved?” This

is a matter of critical importance in the context of a Christian secondary school. Sometimes it

seems very simple-confess and believe. Sometimes it seems very complex-bearing fruit, faith

and works, perseverance, being conformed to the image of Christ, etc. How do we approach a

student whom we love that claims to be a Christian but is exactly the same as people who we

know don’t know Christ at all? How do we minister to students, who attend a Christian school,

who just don’t seem to “get it”? This isn’t just a theological discussion, but a practical matter of

the heart.

Piper does an admirable job in outlining conversion as an experience and as a

phenomenon. He basically shares the gospel, using six points of our need and God’s provision,

as his own augmented version of the “four spiritual laws” approach that is so familiar to many

evangelicals. He shows the roles of repentance and faith in conversion, and he demands

evidence. At times as Christian disciplers we want to use the “lowest common denominator”

approach to salvation and conversion. This approach is the “he walked the aisle” or “she prayed

the prayer” or “he got baptized” approach. This view of conversion/salvation is comforting,
30

because of all the people who “get saved” but don’t persevere or bear lasting fruit. It makes us

feel better, but Piper and others argue for a more biblical standard. We are reminded that

salvation is more than justification, but also includes sanctification and glorification. We should

not accept the claim of belief as proof of genuine Christianity. Again, the argument is that “no

one is a Christian who does not embrace Jesus gladly as his most valued treasure, and then

pursue the fullness of that joy in Christ that honors Him.”26 That sentiment both frees and

imprisons those who seek to disciple students. It frees us to stop feeling bad about “judging”

others who don’t seem to care about Jesus at all (despite claims of belief), but it obligates us to

pray for them, minister to them, share the gospel with them again, and continue to hurt for them.

Consequences of Faulty Theology

If we hold a false standard of salvation, and particularly observable sanctification, we are

failing our students. If we isolate and define salvation simply as claims of justification, disciples

will not be made in our community. The consequence of a faulty theology of salvation may very

well be the lack of genuine opportunity for genuine salvation in our covenant communities, and

most likely many of our students will walk around with a false sense of security and salvation,

being unaware of the standards of sanctification set forth in Scripture.

Piper’s standard of the Christian Hedonist is a better standard than claims of belief or

saying a prayer. To expect a Christian to actually delight in Christ is logical and fair. To seek and

encourage others to seek ultimate joy and fulfillment in the glorification of God is a great vision.

This confirms what I have feared for years: there are most probably fewer truly converted people

than we think. This is a sobering and a challenging sentiment, and it should stir us on to be those

whose chief end is to glorify the triune God by enjoying Him forever.

The Holy Spirit

26 Piper, 54.
31

The Holy Spirit is the most mysterious and controversial person of the Godhead. The

nature of the Person and Work of the Holy Spirit has been (and is still) hotly debated among the

different sects of (contemporary) Christianity. Interestingly enough, the Word is the primary

source of information for this study of the Spirit, and the conservative Christian view of the

Word is that it was written through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

It was historically debated whether the Holy Spirit was a person or something else.

As late as 380, Gregory of Nazianus reported in a sermon that a variety of


beliefs regarding the Holy Spirit existed. Some…consider the Holy Spirit
to be a force; others perceive Him as a creature; still others think of Him as
God. 27
To this day, there are views among Christian (and non Christian) sects that classify the Holy

Spirit as a force, a substance, or a manifestation of the will of God. We will address that concern.

For our purposes then, we are essentially focusing on what (or who) the Holy Spirit is, and what

the work of the Holy Spirit is.

Biblical Foundation

In the Bible the Holy Spirit is referred to as a person, has the attributes of a person, and

acts as a person.

In the 14th chapter of John’s gospel, we read Jesus’ own words, telling His disciples of

the promised Holy Spirit. “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My

name, He will teach you all things…” (John 14:26 NASB) Notice the personal pronoun “He” in

that sentence. In his book Living Water, Chuck Smith writes that “…the Greek pronoun for the

Holy Spirit is echeinos, which means ‘he’, a pronoun in the masculine gender.”28 So the Holy

Spirit is a He, not an it.

27 Erickson, 867

28 Chuck Smith, Living Water (Santa Ana: The Word for Today, 1996) 17.
32

The attributes of a person have been said to be intelligence, will, and emotion. The Holy

Spirit of the Bible has all of these attributes. In Acts 15:28 the letter from Jerusalem to Antioch

states that it “seemed” good to the Holy Spirit not to burden them. Something that can evaluate

and analyze goodness undoubtedly has intelligence. In Ephesians 4:30 we see Paul cautioning

believers not to “grieve” the Holy Spirit. Only persons can grieve, and the Holy Spirit can be

grieved. In 1 Corinthians 12:11, Paul speaks of the Spirit determining and giving as He wills.

The Spirit has a will, He has the attributes of personality, and He is a person.

The Holy Spirit acts like a person. He teaches (John 14:26), helps and intercedes

(Romans 8:26), speaks (Acts 13:2), guides (Acts 16:6,7), and in other ways acts as a person. The

Spirit is a person.

Just as some have declared the Spirit to be a non-person, many throughout history have

claimed that the Holy Spirit is not God. He has been called an angel, a creation, a spirit, a force.

The Bible is full of references and indirect statements that make it clear that the Holy Spirit is

God. His name is used interchangeably with God’s, He has certain attributes that only God has,

and He does certain things that only God does.

The name of the Holy Spirit is used interchangeably with God’s name. In Acts chapter 5,

two members of the early church are dishonest with their giving. Peter, the leader of the church,

asks them how they could have lied to the Holy Spirit. He then tells them that they have lied not

to men, but to God. (Acts 5:3-4) In 1 Corinthians Paul does the same thing, repeatedly referring

to God and the Holy Spirit as if they are interchangeable. In chapter 3, verse 16 he writes “Do

you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” (NASB)

He goes on in later chapters to make similar statements, but the meaning here is clear: If you are

a temple of God, then the Spirit dwells in you. God’s temple is the Holy Spirit’s temple. The

Holy Spirit is God.


33

The Holy Spirit has certain attributes that only God has. When we read 1 Corinthians

2:10-11, we see that He knows “all things”, the “thoughts of God”, and He is God’s Spirit just as

a man has a spirit. In Hebrews 9:14 the Bible refers to Him as the “eternal Spirit”, but we know

that only God is eternal. God is the Alpha and Omega, only God was there in the beginning, and

thus, the Holy Spirit is God.

The Holy Spirit does things only God can do. We know from 2 Peter 1:21 that the Holy

Spirit was responsible for the inspiration of the Word, and we know that “All scripture is

inspired by God…” (2 Tim. 3:16 NASB) Some translations say “God-breathed”, which is

interesting because the Greek and Hebrew words for “breath” and “spirit” are the same; pneuma

in the Greek, and Ruach in the Hebrew. Thus the Spirit breathed into the scriptures, and that is

what makes them God-inspired. The Spirit has power, and many times that power is displayed in

the human heart. He convicts (John 16:8-11) and regenerates (John 3:5-8) the human heart. In

Matthew 19:26, He says that things like this are impossible with men, “but with God all things

are possible”. Only God can change the heart of a man, and the Holy Spirit can change the heart

of a man. The Holy Spirit is God. Two of the most miraculous things that ever occurred were the

Virgin conception of Jesus and the resurrection of Christ from the dead. The Bible attributes both

of these events to the Holy Spirit. (Luke 1:35, Rom. 8:11) The Holy Spirit has power that only

God has, and this is because He is God.

When we observe the most miraculous creative events in the Bible, the Holy Spirit is

always present. We can observe His presence and creative power in the creation of the Earth,

Man, the Incarnation of Jesus, and in the regeneration of dead human beings who are brought

back to life by His power through the cross of Christ.

In Genesis 1, the Spirit is hovering over the surface of the water as the Universe and

Earth we know come into existence. We know that by God’s Holy Spirit the heavens were made
34

fair (Job 2:13). God breathed into dust to make man, and remember that the Hebrew words for

breath and spirit are the same (see above).

When Mary was found pregnant, it was by the power of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 1:18).

The Holy Spirit was responsible for the conception of Jesus of Nazareth. This is an amazing fact

to meditate on, for the Holy Spirit was the agent that enabled our Savior to be miraculously

manifested in the flesh.

Not only was the life of Jesus Christ made possible by the creative power of the Holy

Spirit, but the life of every regenerate believer is the direct result of that same creative power.

The Holy Spirit dwells in us (Romans 8:11), making it possible for us to even exist as living

spiritual entities. The propitiation of God’s wrath by Jesus on the Cross saved us, but it was the

power of the Holy Spirit that raised Him (and us) from the dead.

As previously mentioned, The Holy Spirit helps us understand by teaching us (1 Corinthians

2:13), He helps us persevere by encouraging us (Romans 15:13), He helps us to be righteous by

convicting us (John 16:8), He helps us to witness and minister by empowering us (Acts 1:8). He

helps us to live as Christ lived so that we can be the Body of Christ on Earth, just as He had a

body while He was living as the Incarnate God made flesh. Remember, Jesus calls Him “another

helper” for a reason.

The Holy Spirit supplies power like no other. His power was used at the conception of

Jesus (Luke 1:35), His power was used to raise Christ from the dead (Romans 8:11), it was only

after He empowered Christ that Jesus’ ministry truly began (Matthew 3:16). Jesus even said that

He cast out demons by the power of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 12:28). Jesus promised that the

Holy Spirit would empower His disciples, allowing them to be witnesses for Him (Acts 1:8). The

Holy Spirit inspired the Gospel writers and others to record Holy Scripture. He empowered the

disciples at Pentecost, allowing them to do miraculous things (Acts 2). I submit that all truly
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miraculous and God honoring activity performed by human beings in the Bible was by the power

of the Holy Spirit. Samson’s strength (Judges 14:6), David’s leadership and great feats (1 Samuel

16:14), Jesus’ miracles, the Apostles’ miracles, and many other supernatural feats all point to or

directly acknowledge the empowering of the Holy Spirit. Even today, Christians draw upon the

Holy Spirit to do the miraculous.

Application to the Context

The work of the Spirit as discussed above is absolutely critical to us as Christians today.

Without the Spirit, we could not have the hope of the resurrection, we would not be regenerate,

we would not have to power to resist the flesh, we would not be able to overcome the enemy and

be witnesses to Christ. Christianity without the Holy Spirit is Christianity without power,

creativity, or the help we need so desperately in our daily struggle to follow Christ. We need the

Holy Spirit, we need to know Him, we need Him to dwell in us, and we need to walk in Him

every day. Our students need to grasp these truths and live in them, so that our communities can

be a part of the Church that God can use to be salt and light, a spotless bride, and the living Body

of Christ.

Consequences of Faulty Theology

Many students who call themselves Christians walk around without a sense of guidance,

comfort, or power. Many may be Christians who simply do not know who the source of those

gifts is. This powerless form of Christianity, lacking a sense of connection to God, progressive

sanctification, emotional expressions of personal love for Jesus, or supernatural strength in the

midst of trials, evinces a lack of understanding of and fellowship with the Holy Spirit. The

consequences of not acknowledging and illuminating the doctrine and reality of the Holy Spirit

(fully one third of the Trinity) will be a two-thirds Christianity at best. This should motivate us
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the actively remind our students of the power of the Holy Spirit and help them to engage him in

active, vibrant relationships through spiritual disciplines and in-depth study.

The Church

The word church has been used in a multitude of ways by various people and institutions

throughout the history of Christianity. Even in the infancy of the movement, the Apostle Paul

devoted space in several of his letters in an attempt to answer the question of who belonged in

the family of God, what the criteria were for entering the Body of Christ, and just what the

identity and composition of the church would be. The word ‘church’ comes from the Greek word

ecclesia, which means ‘called out ones’ or ‘ones who are sent’. It basically refers to the role of

the Church of Christ as carriers of the good news, the gospel of Christ, sojourners in the world

around them, entrusted with the ‘words of life’ which Christ preached and lived out. The

Christian Church started from that community of apostles and disciples who witnessed the

ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus, and those who believed the message of those called

out ones upon hearing it. Eventually, the Church would grow into a world-changing force of

former Jews and Gentiles, now brothers and sisters in Christ, carrying on the message and

ministry of the son of God. One effective way to observe the developement of the definition and

membership of the Church is to examine the early creeds, which were statements of faith and

standards of belonging to the catholic (universal) Church.

Apostles’ Creed (2nd Century)

I believe in God Almighty

And in Christ Jesus, His Son, our Who was born of the Holy Spirit and
Lord the Virgin Mary
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Who was crucified under Pontius Whence He comes to judge the


Pilate and buried living and the dead
And the third day rose from the dead
Who ascended into heaven
And sits on the right hand of the And in the Holy Ghost
Father
Nicene Creed (325 AD)
The holy church

I believe in one God, the Father


Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of
all things visible and invisible. The remission of sins
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the The resurrection of the flesh
only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the The life everlasting
Father before all worlds; God of God, Light
of Light, very God of very God; begotten, glory, to judge the quick and the
not made, being of one substance with the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.
Father, by whom all things were made.
Who, for us men for our salvation,
came down from heaven, and was incarnate And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the
by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and Lord and Giver of Life; who proceeds from
was made man; and was crucified also for us the Father [and the Son]; who with the
under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was Father and the Son together is worshipped
buried; and the third day He rose again, and glorified; who spoke by the prophets.
according to the Scriptures; and ascended And I believe one holy catholic and
into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the apostolic Church. I acknowledge one
Father; and He shall come again, with baptism for the remission of sins; and I look
for the resurrection of the dead, and the life
of the world to come. Amen
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The two creeds are strikingly similar. The first, called the Apostles’ Creed or the Old

Roman Creed, appeared first as a baptismal confession in second-century Rome.29 The second is

the Nicene Creed, which emerged from the council of Nicea convened by Constantine in 325

AD.30 The distance of time between the two is roughly two centuries, and the structure

remarkably similar. There is very little doubt that the Nicene Creed was derived from the

Apostles’ Creed or at the very least the same source or tradition which was utilized to formulate

the earlier creed.

The two creeds have the same general outline, with the Nicene Creed echoing and

“fleshing out” phrases or ideas from the Apostles’ Creed. Almost every point or phrase from the

Apostles’ Creed is expanded upon in the Nicene Creed. The simple phrase “I believe in God

Almighty” becomes “I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and

of all things visible and invisible”, 200 years later. The amplification, modification, and

specification of many of the earlier ideas and phrases seems to indicate that conflicts, heresies,

and disagreements in the church had forced the doctrine to become more carefully and robustly

defined as time passed.

Some of the additions and clarifications in the Nicene Creed seem very pointed, as if they

emerged from particular disagreements that arose. Why would the leaders of the church feel the

need to go into such detail at every point if there had not been challenges or disagreements? If

we look at the dialogues and conflicts recorded in history, we can gain some perspective on these

changes. The word “one” was added in 3 places, denoting one God, one Lord Jesus, and one holy

catholic Church. This seems to indicate questions or challenges regarding the actual number of

those particular entities. Why was the role of God as creator emphasized in the later creed?

29 Bruce L. Shelley, Church History in Plain Language (Dallas: Nelson, 1995), 54.

30 Shelley, 101-102.
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Perhaps the Hellenistic influence of Gnostics and others who claimed that the material world was

evil and that a good God could not have created it led the orthodox Church to reinforce that

creative role.

Another controversy that seems to have been addressed between the creeds is whether or

not Jesus Christ is God in the same way that the Father is God. Whether Arianism or another

challenge to the divinity of Christ, the matter was settled in the mind of the orthodox Church by

the time the Nicene Creed was codified. Jesus is God.

It is also interesting to note that the adjectives “catholic” and “apostolic” were added to

the section about the holy church. In addition to this, baptism is specified as the means of

remission of sins. We can see ecclesiological developments here, as the sacraments became

normalized and as conflicts with heretics continued to define what the holy church was and from

whom the authority of the church came.

Not only is the Apostle’s Creed a source or precursor of the Nicene Creed, but there can

be little doubt that the additions and modifications to the former sprang from issues and conflicts

that arose within Christianity over the two centuries that bridge the two creeds. The central and

critical beliefs are not changed over time, but amplified and specified as needed by the “holy”

and “catholic” church. This most probably helped to preserve and develop orthodox doctrine, as

the creeds were often recited and memorized by the members of the church. To this day, the

Nicene Creed is still recited in many Christian churches throughout the world on a weekly basis,

reminding us of the stream of believers of which we are a small part.

Another important way to define the Church is to look back at practical standards of

behavior expected of coverts to Christianity. One early church document that highlights such

standards is called the Didache. The Didache, which means “teaching”, is an ancient church

catechism or instruction to converts and members of the catholic church. It has been dated to the
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early second or late first century. The title is appropriate, because it is primarily a teaching

document. The first chapter of the Didache reads:

1 There are two ways, one of life and one of death; but a great difference between the
two ways.
2 The way of life, then, is this: First, you shall love God who made you; second, your
neighbour as yourself; and all things whatsoever you would should not occur to you, do
not also do to another.
3 And of these sayings the teaching is this: Bless them that curse you, and pray for your
enemies, and fast for them that persecute you. For what thank is there, if you love them
that love you? Do not also the Gentiles do the same? But do ye love them that hate you;
and you shall not have an enemy.
4 Abstain from fleshly and worldly lusts. If one give you a blow upon your right cheek,
turn to him the other also; and you shall be perfect. If one impress you for one mile, go
with him two. If one take away your cloak, give him also your coat. If one take from
you your own, ask it not back, for indeed you are not able.
5 Give to every one that asks you, and ask it not back; for the Father wills that to all
should be given of our own blessings (free gifts). Happy is he that gives according to the
commandment; for he is guiltless. Woe to him that receives; for if one having need
receives, he is guiltless; but he that receives not having need, shall pay the penalty, why
he received and for what, and, coming into straits (confinement), he shall be examined
concerning the things which he has done, and he shall not escape thence until he pay back
the last farthing. (Matthew 5:26)
6 But also now concerning this, it has been said, Let your alms sweat in your hands, until
you know to whom you should give.

This teaching seems to be a basic outline to living the Christian life. It is not heavy on doctrine or

theology, but praxis, the things that followers of Jesus are to do. These instructions are in the

form of commands, and when the verbs are examined, the scope of the teaching can be more

fully grasped. The verb commands appear in this order; love, bless, pray, fast, abstain, turn, go

give, give, sweat. These are very practical commands, and they would apply to the intellectual as

well as the humble peasant. If a Christian’s life is characterized by loving, blessing, prayer,

fasting, abstention, turning, going, and giving, then that life will be effective for the Kingdom of

God.

Chapter two of the Didache comes in the form of negative commands, as opposed to the

positive commands of chapter 1;


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1 And the second commandment of the Teaching;


2 You shall not commit murder, you shall not commit adultery, Exodus 20:13-14 you
shall not commit pæderasty, you shall not commit fornication, you shall not steal,
Exodus 20:15 you shall not practice magic, you shall not practice witchcraft, you shall
not murder a child by abortion nor kill that which is begotten. You shall not covet the
things of your neighbour, Exodus 20:17
3 you shall not forswear yourself, Matthew 5:34 you shall not bear false witness, Exodus
20:16 you shall not speak evil, you shall bear no grudge.
4 You shall not be double-minded nor double-tongued; for to be double-tongued is a
snare of death.
5 Your speech shall not be false, nor empty, but fulfilled by deed.
6 You shall not be covetous, nor rapacious, nor a hypocrite, nor evil disposed, nor
haughty. You shall not take evil counsel against your neighbour.
7 You shall not hate any man; but some you shall reprove, and concerning some you
shall pray, and some you shall love more than your own life.

There are a number of important actions which Christians are not to take part in, including

murder, adultery, child molestation, theft, magic, abortion, coveting, lying, speaking evil, bearing

a grudge, gossiping, hypocrisy, prideful attitudes, and hatred. Once again, these are not

commandments to combat heresy, but practical standards of holiness which were expected of a

convert.

Chapter 3 helps to explain the nature of vice. The way that sins tend to support and lead

to one another is explored and explained. Anger, lust, idolatry, and lying all lead to other, even

greater, sins. The practical relationships between sinful actions should lead the Christian away

from any and all of them, to avoid destruction and perdition. This chapter closes with

instructions to accept what life brings, knowing that God is in control.

Chapter 4 addresses right relationships between Christians and others, such as respect for

pastors, raising children, proper treatment of slaves, and church mores. The section is summed

up with the phrase, “this is the way of life”.

The way of Death is basically a review of previously mentioned sins to be avoided with a

few additions. There is a strong condemnatory tone for those who do not defend the oppressed

and the fatherless, and for those who treat the rich better than the poor.
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It is clear from the two ways of the Didache that very early on in the history of the

Church, the moral standards of Christianity were established. Less than a century after Christ, a

set of ethical and moral codes and commands were in place which were designed to reflect the

Word of God and preserve the saints by sanctification. To this day we strive over issues and sins

directly confronted by this first century document.

So then, the two principle characteristics of the Christian Church were, and still are, the

beliefs of the Church and the actions or behavior of the Church. The things that we believe and

the things that we do are not only important, but connected to one another. The Church, the Body

of Christ, is made up of people who believe and do what the Bible says is true and right. This is

obviously tied together with the topic of Scripture.

One area of Scripture which is extremely important in understanding how the Church is

to be practically defined is 1 Corinthians chapter 5. It shows us that there are indeed standards of

behavior, certain doctrines and mores that believers must be held accountable to live by. Paul

argues that we must judge those within the Body in order to remove sin from within our midst.

He makes a distinction between the people of the world, who we are not to judge, but love

unconditionally, and those who claim to be disciples of Jesus, who we are expected to judge for

Christ’s sake. It is important to remember that it doesn’t matter who a person was before entering

the Church (Galatians 3:28), it is the beliefs a person holds and the actions resulting from those

beliefs that define a person as a member of the Church of Christ.

Application to the Context

Our communities are filled with students (and parents and teachers) who claim to be

followers of Jesus Christ. Determining who should be admitted to a covenant school, who should

stay, who should be asked to leave, and the qualifications for student leadership is very difficult,

if not impossible. Defining who really is part of the Body of Christ is impossible, but there are
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standards of belief and behavior that are observable and can help us answer those difficult

questions. The Bible identifies these patterns of belief and behavior that characterize the lives of

people who have encountered God through Jesus Christ, calling it ‘fruit’ among other analogies.

We must hold the students in our covenant communities accountable to the Biblical standards of

belief and behavior which have historically defined people as either Christian or not, disciples of

Jesus, or not. The 1 Corinthians 5 passage shows us the seriousness of a failure to judge sin and

maintain standards of conduct in the Church, in what has been called the Bride of Christ. The

Body of Christ is so interdependent, so integrated, and so connected that we cannot allow any

‘disease’ in our communities to stay for long. Holding students to Biblical and historical

standards of the faith community is a healthy thing to do, and the more we do it, the more fruit

our communities will bear. In addition to this, the students who are separated or asked to leave

will have an opportunity to be ministered to in their real context, as a person who displays no

real connection or resemblance to Jesus Christ, not as a nominal Christian who fails to meet

many or all standards of conduct set forth by the Word of God and by the Body of Christ. It has

always been important throughout the history of the Church to define the Church in terms of

these standards, and we should examine ourselves and the other members of our covenant

communities to determine whether or not we are allowing God to conform us to the image of

Christ by the daily working of the Holy Spirit in our lives. If we are, or anyone else is, in a

pattern of unrepentant violation of Biblical standards, then we are identifying ourselves as

outside the Christian Church, and should be ministered to as such. Many times we fail ourselves

and our schools by ignoring this particular doctrinal truth.

Consequences of Faulty Theology

The consequences of failing to properly understand and integrate a Biblical doctrine of

the Church into our covenant schools is a lack of real discipleship or authentic fruit. Our student
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communities will be plagued by “wolves in sheep’s clothing”, “bad apples”, students who simply

do not belong in a Christian covenant school. Not only will the students around them suffer, but

the students in question will suffer from a perception of them (and perhaps a self perception) as

Christians, when in fact they are not, or at least they do not appear to be disciples of Jesus in any

discernable way. The most loving and appropriate thing to do in our schools is to be

straightforward with standards of historical and Biblical Christianity, and to teach the students

what it means to be part of the Christian Church, the Body of Christ. To the extent that we do

not, we will be an unhealthy body, a compromised witness, and an inefficient training ground for

disciples of Jesus.

Conclusion

Every person has a theology, whether they know it or not. Every Christian has a theology

which is based at least in part of their knowledge of and from Scripture. This knowledge includes

beliefs about the Trinity, namely YHWH the Father, Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit. For

reasons unknown to us, the Triune God decided to create, and the jewel of that creation was

humanity. The primary characteristic of that humanity was that he and she were made in the

image of the Triune God. Unfortunately, the freedom that came with that personhood resulted in

sinful choices that plunged the created universe into chaos and death. Fortunately, God had a

plan to rescue and redeem all of creation, starting with the souls of men, from the consequences

of sin. Jesus and His work on the cross, along with the empowering of the Holy Spirit which

raised Christ from the dead, can be found at the center of that redemption. Any person can be

saved by being brought into the Church, the Body of Christ, a result of receiving Jesus

personally, accepting His work on the cross, and committing to follow Christ as a disciple, or

Christian. All of this is accomplished according to the plan of the Father, rests on the work of

Christ, and is powered by the Holy Spirit.


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These truths are critical to the life and discipleship of any Christian. Detailed knowledge

of each doctrine and practical exercises/acts of discipleship/spiritual disciplines based upon that

knowledge must be put into place in the lives of students in a Christian covenant school.

Everything that we do should help students to think on and apply these central truths to their

lives. The fruit of failure in any area will result in disciples who are incomplete, inauthentic,

undisciplined, ignorant, powerless, or worse-not disciples at all. The purpose of this project isn’t

to outline a plan for discipleship or recommend activities or curriculum, but to establish the

foundational Biblical criteria, doctrinally speaking, for a student to be trained as a disciple of

Jesus Christ in a Christian school. Ideas have consequences, and if these ideas are embedded into

the curriculum, spiritual activities, and programs of a covenant community, the consequences-

the fruit, will be disciples of Jesus Christ.


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Bibliography

Boersma, Hans. Violence, Hospitality, and the Cross. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic,
2004.

Erickson, Millard J. Christian Theology. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2006.

Feinberg, Paul D. "The Meaning of Inerrancy ." In Inerrancy, by Norman Geisler.


Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1980.

Longnecker, Richard N. Patterns of Discipleship in the New Testament. Grand


Rapids: Eerdmans, 1996.

Oswalt, John N. Called to Be Holy: A Biblical Perspective. Napanee, IN: Francis


Asbury Press, 1999.

Piper, John. Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist. Colorado Springs, CO:
Multnomah, 2003.

Plantinga, Cornelius. Not the Way It's Supposed to Be. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans,
1995.

Shelley, Bruce L. Church History in Plain Language. Dallas: Nelson, 1995.

Smith, Chuck. Living Water. Santa Ana: The Word for Today, 1996.

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