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Professor Joseph Lau

The Means of Grace

During the Age of Enlightenment in the 18th century an insidious philosophy – namely, rationalism — spread throughout Europe and America. Rationalism’s proponents asserted that human reason, unaided by divine revelation, is the sole guide to all attainable religious truth.

Means of GraceHuman reason became the new god. The idea put forth was that if the human brain could not figure something out, it could not be true.

People began to turn away from the “other-worldly” focus of the Middle Ages toward the more worldly focus so prevalent in our day.

The Bible, however, speaks of a whole different concept of attaining truth.

The “carnal mind is enmity against God” (Romans 8:7). Without God’s Spirit, people walk in darkness, unable to find truth. “The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14).

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On the 12th Day of Christmas…

The twelfth day of Christmas is January 5th,

the last day of the traditional Christmas season. It serves to usher in the next church season — that of Epiphany. Historically, Epiphany was much more widely celebrated in Christian churches than was Christmas.

Epiphany is not a word used in the Bible, but it does convey a  Biblical concept. Epiphany (from the Greek word epiphaneia) means “manifestation” — or a “showing forth.”

This season of the church year varies in length but lasts until the Sunday before Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent.

During the Epiphany season Christian churches often communicate three events in Christ’s life in particular: the visit of the Magi, His baptism, and His first miracle at the wedding of Cana.

The Magi Visit

In what way was the visit of the Magi an epiphany?

The Magi were “wise men” belonging to a priestly sect from the East. Contrary to what is often depicted, they were not present at Jesus’ birth. Rather, they followed a star to Jesus’ house and there knelt down to worship the “young Child” and presented Him with precious gifts from their homeland.Read More »On the 12th Day of Christmas…

Thanks, But No Thanks

“Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations.” — Psalm 100:4-5

I invite you to consider with me two common expressions with the word “thanks” in them, and to apply them to spiritual matters.

The first is “Thanks, but no thanks.”

This expression is used in our society as a polite way of acknowledging the generous offer of someone but then for whatever reason declining the offer. Perhaps we don’t want the contents of the offer or we may think that the offer is too much and we are undeserving of it.

During this month our country as well as many others set aside a specific day to remember to give thanks for what we have been given.

Thanksgiving was declared a holiday by our government in 1863 during the Civil War, and a fixed day—the fourth Thursday in November–was set by Congress in 1942 during World War II.

Surely there is nothing wrong with a day devoted to giving thanks, although for a Christian it is appropriate to do so every day. And certainly there are many reasons for Americans to be thankful–food, shelter, family, freedom, and so on.

But this holiday, like many others, would be empty without the main reason for giving thanks to God. That reason is Jesus’ sacrifice for our sins. “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” (Rom. 8:32)

Unfortunately, many people are blind to this true reason for giving thanks. Perhaps they don’t want what Jesus has to offer. Perhaps they feel the offer of forgiveness of sins is too much and they are undeserving. For them it is “Thanks, but no thanks.”Read More »Thanks, But No Thanks