Thomas Goodwin on Christ's Headship

Perhaps we are all familiar with the Reformed way of categorizing the work of Christ into the three offices of Prophet, Priest and King. Thomas Goodwin has some beautiful insight into the relation of Christ’s headship over the Church to the three offices.

I have often had many discussions with myself, whether that this relation of headship should not import some distinct office from that of king, priest, and prophet, to which three all divines do reduce the offices of Christ. But I have at last resolved my thoughts thus: that this relation of headship doth import all his offices, but with that peculiarness, and with that eminency, as no other relation is Scripture doth. For -

First, to begin with his kingly office; there is this difference between a king and a natural head of a body, that a king ruleth only externally by commands, and by laws, and by proclamations declared; but the rule of a head is natural. Therefore now, if you reduce it to the kingly office of Christ, it is with an eminency, with a peculiarity. It is our advantage that we are not ruled by Christ as a king simply considered, so far as that similitude will carry it, by external laws revealed, or by way of promises or rewards; but we are ruled by Christ naturally and inwardly, as the members are ruled by the head, which of all rules is the best and most eminent. So that it noteth out the peculiarity of his kingly office.

Secondly, come to his prophetical office. His headship noteth that too, and that with a peculiarity. The head doth not teach the members by outward dictates, or by way of doctrine; but it doth teach the members by way of impression, a secret impression, carrying them on to do the thing teacheth. So Jesus Christ, as a head, doth not only teach by way of doctrine, but by efficacy. I need not write unto you, saith he, for you are all taught of God to love one another. And this is the most glorious teaching in the world.

Thirdly, go to his priestly office, and his headship importeth that too. There are two parts of his priestly office. There is, first, offering of sacrifice; secondly, there is intercession, a pleading of that sacrifice before God for us. And of the two, intercession is the most eminent part of the priesthood of Christ; for that part of his priestly office was resembled by Melchisedec, who, we never read, offered sacrifice, but he blessed Abraham, as Christ doth us from heaven, and now intercedeth for us.

Now, intercession is noted out by headship, for it is natural to the head to speak for us members; the tongue speaks, if speaking will prevent any danger; the head takes care of the members by intercession and by pleading. It noteth out therefore, his priestly office, and that with an eminency and by a peculiarity.

Thomas Goodwin, on Ephesians 1:22, 23 (Sermon XXXVI, Works, Vol. 1)

Augustine on "Free-Will"

it pleased God, the Creator and Governor of the universe, that, since the whole body of the angels had not fallen into rebellion, the part of them which had fallen should remain in perdition eternally, and that the other part, which had in the rebellion remained steadfastly loyal, should rejoice in the sure and certain knowledge of their eternal happiness; but that, on the other hand, mankind, who constituted the remainder of the intelligent creation, having perished without exception under sin, both original and actual, and the consequent punishments, should be in part restored, and should fill up the gap which the rebellion and fall of the devils had left in the company of the angels. For this is the promise to the saints, that at the resurrection they shall be equal to the angels of God. (Luke 20:36) And thus the Jerusalem which is above, which is the mother of us all, the city of God, shall not be spoiled of any of the number of her citizens, shall perhaps reign over even a more abundant population. We do not know the number either of the saints or of the devils; but we know that the children of the holy mother who was called barren on earth shall succeed to the place of the fallen angels, and shall dwell forever in that peaceful abode from which they fell. But the number of the citizens, whether as it now is or as it shall be, is present to the thoughts of the great Creator, who calls those things which are not as though they were, (Romans 4:17) ordereth all things in measure, and number, and weight.

But this part of the human race to which God has promised pardon and a share in His eternal kingdom, can they be restored through the merit of their own works? God forbid. For what good work can a lost man perform, except so far as he has been delivered from perdition? Can they do anything by the free determination of their own will? Again I say, God forbid. For it was by the evil use of his free-will that man destroyed both it and himself. For, as a man who kills himself must, of course, be alive when he kills himself, but after he has killed himself ceases to live, and cannot restore himself to life; so, when man by his own free-will sinned, then sin being victorious over him, the freedom of his will was lost. “For of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.” (2 Peter 2:19) This is the judgment of the Apostle Peter. And as it is certainly true, what kind of liberty, I ask, can the bond-slave possess, except when it pleases him to sin? For he is freely in bondage who does with pleasure the will of his master. Accordingly, he who is the servant of sin is free to sin. And hence he will not be free to do right, until, being freed from sin, he shall begin to be the servant of righteousness. And this is true liberty, for he has pleasure in the righteous deed; and it is at the same time a holy bondage, for he is obedient to the will of God. But whence comes this liberty to do right to the man who is in bondage and sold under sin, except he be redeemed by Him who has said, “If the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed?” (John 8:36) And before this redemption is wrought in a man, when he is not yet free to do what is right, how can he talk of the freedom of his will and his good works, except he be inflated by that foolish pride of boasting which the apostle restrains when he says, “By grace are ye saved, through faith.” (Ephesians 2:8)

St. Augustine, Enchiridion, 29. 30

William Farel on Marriage

"God created woman to be a help meet for man, especially in the holy state of matrimony. To help is the aim of love. Marriage binds the parties to a strict outward union; but how much more should it promote that unity of spirit which rests upon affection and true friendship! We clearly see in those married persons who live according to the Divine law, how the affection of the one sympathizes with the comfort or discomfort of the other. The man rejoices in the welfare of his wife, and the woman in the welfare of her husband. Her sorrows trouble him; while she not only grieves for his sufferings, but, if her spouse be absent, joy departs till he returns to her. What sacrifices are too great for her to make, if he is ill; and what will he regard as too great, if he can thereby restore health to her? So strong is their love, that they would with joy endure for each other the sharpest sufferings. To those who wish to make progress in every virtue, what opportunities for the performance of the most sacred duties does this state present! What joy is felt, when progress is made in true goodness, and how it stirs up to constant and mutual improvement! If anything unpropitious occurs, how does the most active and tender sympathy develop itself! So true it is, that the duties of love cannot be performed in any state so completely as in that of holy matrimony. He, who himself 'is love' instituted, honored, and commanded it; but he who was a murderer from the beginning, and hatred itself, has (as far as lay in his power) annulled, disgraced, and forbidden it."

Jacob's Pleading Grounds In Prayer

I am not one for “secrets” in the Christian life. The word smacks of Gnosticism. There are no secrets in the Christian life. We have been given all that we need for life and godliness. Secrets regarding prayer are especially troubling. Countless books have been published on the subject of prayer that purport to give us methods of guaranteeing success in prayer, as if God is bound by laws of physics that force Him to respond the way we want once we get the formula right. The Prayer of Jabez comes to mind. Millions of people were led to believe that by simply repeating this prayer in a mantra-like manner, they were certain to get untold blessings, most of which were financial.

Having said that, Scripture does give us models of prayer. These are prayers that were mighty. Mindlessly repeating them today does not guarantee an answer for us any more than a mindless speaking of them would have guaranteed anything when the prayers were originally uttered. However, these prayers do exhibit attitudes that please God.

An example of such is Jacob's Prayer at Mahanaim, which is found in Genesis 32:9-12. The prominent features of Jacob’s prayer are the grounds on which he pleads with God.

First of all, he pleads with God on covenantal grounds. He says, “God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac."

Secondly, Jacobs pleads on God's command and promise – He says, “Who said unto me, ‘Return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will do thee good.’”

Thirdly, Jacob pleads on the pure grace and mercy of God. – Jacob prays, “I am not worthy of the least of all the lovingkindnesses, and of all the truth, which thou hast showed unto thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I am become two companies.”

Fourthly, Jacob pleads on the grounds of God’s deliverance. Relying solely on the unmerited mercy of God, he asks, “Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he come and smite me, the mother with the children.”

And finally, Jacob pleads with God based on His past faithfulness. Jacob casts his eye back, not just to God’s faithfulness to him, but all the way back to his father and grandfather’s life. He says, “And thou saidst, ‘I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.’”

This is no claim to a secret to success in prayer, but it is certainly a model of a God-honoring prayer and one from which we can learn much.

Divine Sovereignty Over Men's Evil

When Calvinists defend the Reformed doctrine of Divine Sovereignty, it is common to cite 1 Samuel 2:26 as a Scriptural example of God’s sovereign control over everything, including the so-called free-will of men. Genesis 50:20 is another passage to which appeal is made to demonstrate this doctrine. In both cases we see men freely doing evil acts, yet Scripture claiming that God Himself worked in such a way that these evil acts would be freely done, yet He would overrule them for His righteous purposes.

Without a doubt, the sovereignty of God in the reprobation of sinners is a thorny issue. But when I look at Scripture, I find examples of God’s sovereignty of evil men’s actions that are more compelling than the aforementioned two passages.

First, of course is the Samson and Delilah incident. Samson may have been self-absorbed, but he wasn’t stupid. So how do we account for the fact that he continued to live with Delilah as she “vexed him to death?” She tried to have him assassinated on many occasions, yet he finally confides in her regarding the secret of his strength. He had no reason to believe that she had any noble intentions for asking such a question. She had the gall to say, “You don’t love me,” to a man she had tried to get rubbed out! Samson should’ve been the one saying that. Yet in the face of a mountain of evidence that she wanted him dead, despite days of nagging and betrayal, Samson willingly tells her the secret he cannot doubt that she wants to use for his destruction. If this doesn’t demonstrate God’s sovereignty, nothing does.

Next, there is the infamous dividing of Israel into two kingdoms. When Solomon was still alive and reigning, the prophet Ahijah and the seer Iddo had warned that Jeroboam would lead Israel in a revolt that would divide the kingdom, leaving only a remnant to David’s descendants. Rehoboam gets faced with an opportunity to use his free-will to override this dire prophecy. He could say what the people wanted to hear and thus maintain rule over the whole nation. What does he do? Does he listen to the elders, thus averting certain disaster? Does he force God to regroup and implement Plan B? No. He listens to the stupid advice of his buddies and causes Israel to revolt against him exactly as God had said.

Thirdly, there is the story of Ahab and Micaiah in 1 Kings 22. Micaiah gives a clear, unmistakable prophetic message from God that Ahab will be killed in battle Ramoth-gilead. Not only that, but he explains that a lying sprit in the mouths of false prophets will tell Ahab to go out into battle. Moreover, Ahab knows that his prophets are merely yesmen and that Micaiah is a true prophet of God. In the face of all of this, what does Ahab do? Does he stay home to show that he is the master of his own destiny? Does he stay home to show that his will is free enough to make God change His plans? No. He goes into battle and gets killed, just as God said.

When Arminians wax eloquent about so-called free-will, or when Open theists speak of God being forced to guess about man’s acts and regroup when we catch Him off guard, I wonder if they have ever read their Bibles.