The latest Master’s Seminary Journal has been posted online, with some interesting-looking essays. Individual articles are available from here, from where a pdf of the issue can be downloaded.
Editorial
John D. Street, James Street, Jay Street
One Living Sacrifice: A Corporate Interpretation of Romans 12:1
Romans 12:1 is not only a well-known verse among Christians; it is also a highly cherished text about personal sanctification. However, is an individual perspective the only component of sanctification in Romans 12:1? Is there a corporate element to sanctification that has been overlooked by much of evangelical scholarship? This article will examine the corporate dimension of Romans 12:1 in four parts. First, it will set the stage with a survey of the background of the book. Second, it will examine the context of the first eight chapters of the book to pave the way for the meaning of Romans 12:1. Third, it will explore the context of the three chapters leading up to Romans 12:1, chapters 9–11, in order to demonstrate how an international subject leads to corporate sanctification. Fourth, it will analyze the syntax and grammar of Romans 12:1 and its surrounding context, in order to provide a complete and thorough interpretation of the verse.
Carl A. Hargrove
Implication and Application in Exposition, Part 3: Four Historical Examples of Application – John Calvin, William Perkins, Charles Simeon, D. Martyn-Lloyd Jones
A significant concern for the expositor is navigating the relationship of interpretation and application. A part of the navigation is understanding the complement of the implications of a given text to the proper application. Teachers and expositors who want to make meaningful application of the passage or verse must bear in mind appropriate principles if they are to navigate from the ancient context to their contemporary audiences; if not, there will be misapplication on the one hand or not using the Scriptures to bear on the actions of listeners on the other.
Kevin D. Zuber
Martyn Lloyd-Jones on “Unity”
This is Part One of a two-part article that surveys several of the Doctor’s messages on unity in order to gain a clear idea of his views on “unity.” In Part One the Doctor’s messages from his regular pulpit ministry in the early 1960s as well as an extended article from 1962 – The Basis of Christian Unity – will be analyzed to establish ML-J’s view on unity prior to his watershed message in October of 1966. In Part Two particular attention will be paid to the message delivered at the meeting of the National Assembly of Evangelicals in October 1966 – a message that by all accounts marked a watershed moment in twentieth-century British evangelicalism. Other of ML-J’s messages on unity after 1966 are also examined. This survey and examination will demonstrate that ML-J’s message on unity in 1966 was consistent with his views on unity before and after 1966. The article concludes with suggestions for why the Doctor’s teaching on unity has value and application for twenty-first-century evangelicalism.
Chris Burnett
Toward a Dispensational Missiology: Eschatological Parameters for the Global Task
The vast majority of publications which influence overseas mission practitioners today either diminish the centrality of Scripture in engaging cultures, or approach Scripture with ill-defined interpretive parameters and unchallenged theological presuppositions. Conservative missionaries who apply a literal, historical-grammatical hermeneutic to their ministry of the Word must address such puzzling problems in order to raise up grassroots disciples with a conservative understanding of biblical doctrine. The article will evaluate the teachings of key New Testament passages, with the goal of understanding how Israel, the church, and future events necessarily factor into the ethos and practice of missions today. On the basis of these teachings, the article aims to highlight the importance of adopting and implementing a “dispensational missiology” in the work of global evangelism and discipleship, demonstrating the need for the conservative, biblical teaching of ecclesiology and eschatology in the global church.
David L. Beakley
The Sons of God and “Strange Flesh” in Genesis 6:1–4
The “sons of God” text in Genesis 6:1–4 often receives nothing more than a brief comment from the pulpit or commentary. Coming right before the great deluge and God’s covenant with Noah, the passage seems to be a minor glimpse into antediluvian history. There have been several major views proffered over the past two millennia, and the view that the “sons of God” were demonic angels who cohabitated with human women is one. In 1981, William VanGemeren proposed a re-examination of the “ungodly angel view” as the identity of the “sons of God” in Genesis 6:1–4. This article intends to answer this call for further exegetical scrutiny by examining the text through the lens of a biblical-theological and exegetical methodology. By viewing the text using this methodology, and the understanding of a specific center, or constant theme throughout the corpus of Scripture – which is the idea of God’s grace given in the midst of judgment – then the answers to difficult questions such as the reason for the Flood, identity of the sons of God, and the purpose of the Nephilim become much more clear and harmonize with the immediate context of Genesis 1–11.
Benjamin G. Edwards
The Reality of the Kingdom and the Ministry of the Church in Acts
The role of the kingdom in relation to social work has emerged as a central concern among evangelicals. Within a growing consensus that there is a present form of the kingdom, many are calling churches to reconsider their role in relationship to society in light of the kingdom’s presence. Much of the discussion focuses on Christ’s teaching about the kingdom and his ministry of word and deed as recorded in the Gospels. Due to the focus on Jesus’ earthly life and ministry, it may be easy to overlook how the early church viewed and carried out their responsibility in relationship to the kingdom. In order to ascertain the role of the kingdom in relation to social work for the church, one must consider the account of Acts. This article will survey the passages in Acts that pertain to the early church’s understanding of the kingdom. In conjunction with that, the portions of Acts that deal with activities often associated with social work will be evaluated followed by a discussion of related theological issues. This study will seek to demonstrate that the account of the church in Acts provides no evidence for the idea that the kingdom serves as a basis for the church to express the rule of Christ in society at large.
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