Article XIII of The Baptist Faith & Message 2000: Stewardship

Following is another in a series of columns on The Baptist Faith & Message 2000.

The very idea of stewardship may be traced to the garden of Eden, where God commands Adam and Eve, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it” (Gen. 1:28).

Article XIII of The Baptist Faith & Message 2000 reads:

“God is the source of all blessings, temporal and spiritual; all that we have and are we owe to Him. Christians have a spiritual debtorship to the whole world, a holy trusteeship in the gospel, and a binding stewardship in their possessions. They are therefore under obligation to serve Him with their time, talents, and material possessions; and should recognize all these as entrusted to them to use for the glory of God and for helping others. According to the Scriptures, Christians should contribute of their means cheerfully, regularly, systematically, proportionately, and liberally for the advancement of the Redeemer’s cause on earth.”

Stewardship is not ownership. Good stewards faithfully manage what belongs to someone else and readily understand they are accountable to the owner. 

The Bible makes this clear. A steward is responsible for something that belongs to another (Gen. 43:19; 44:4; Matt. 20:8). Often, stewards are servants placed over other servants, as well as over their owners’ property (Luke 16:1). 

Regarding spiritual matters, the apostle Paul refers to himself, Apollos, and Peter as “servants of Christ and managers of the mysteries of God” (1 Cor. 4:1-2). Pastors are overseers of “God’s household” (Tit. 1:7). And in a broader sense, all Christians are to be “good stewards of the varied grace of God” (1 Pet. 4:10).

The very idea of stewardship may be traced to the garden of Eden, where God commands Adam and Eve, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it” (Gen. 1:28). Although the first humans rebel and plunge creation beneath the curse of sin, God continues to entrust mankind with stewardship of the earth. All of this is grounded in the truth that God owns everything and that human beings will give an account for our use and protection of all he has delegated to us.

Christians bear an even greater privilege in stewardship, for we are citizens of God’s kingdom and trustees of the gospel. We are “bought at a price.” Therefore, we belong to Christ, and everything we have – including our bodies – is at his disposal (1 Cor. 6:19-20).

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The angel of the LORD in the New Testament (conclusion)

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Galatians 4:14

Paul expresses deep concern for the Galatians, whom he fears are on the cusp of falling back into the false doctrine of salvation by works. He then reminds them how tenderly they cared for him when he fell ill, perhaps as a result of injuries from his stoning in Lystra (cf. Acts 14:19), malaria contracted in the lowlands of southern Asia Minor (cf. Acts 13:13-14), his divinely sent “thorn in the flesh” (2 Cor. 12:7), or some other ailment.

Galatians 4:14 reads: “You did not despise or reject me though my physical condition was a trial for you. On the contrary, you received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus himself” (emphasis added).

Paul is not equating an angel of God with Jesus. That is, he’s not using parallelism to say an angel and Jesus are the same person. Rather, he’s gratefully acknowledging the compassionate treatment the Galatians afforded him in his illness. They received Paul as God’s own messenger, worthy of the highest respect. Further, Paul commends them for bestowing on him the same treatment they would have afforded Jesus if he had come to them in the flesh.

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Article XII of The Baptist Faith & Message 2000: Education

Following is another in a series of columns on The Baptist Faith & Message 2000.

It’s good for us to study the arts and sciences, because in them we see the beauty, magnitude, divine wisdom, and glory of the creator.

Article XII of The Baptist Faith & Message 2000 reads:

“Christianity is the faith of enlightenment and intelligence. In Jesus Christ abide all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. All sound learning is, therefore, a part of our Christian heritage. The new birth opens all human faculties and creates a thirst for knowledge. Moreover, the cause of education in the Kingdom of Christ is co-ordinate with the causes of missions and general benevolence, and should receive along with these the liberal support of the churches. An adequate system of Christian education is necessary to a complete spiritual program for Christ’s people. 

“In Christian education there should be a proper balance between academic freedom and academic responsibility. Freedom in any orderly relationship of human life is always limited and never absolute. The freedom of a teacher in a Christian school, college, or seminary is limited by the pre-eminence of Jesus Christ, by the authoritative nature of the Scriptures, and by the distinct purpose for which the school exists.”

God’s word instructs us to pursue knowledge and wisdom. And since all truth is God’s truth, education must be grounded in what God has revealed to us. We are to embrace truth, teach it to our children, model it in our lives, proclaim it in our churches, and share it with the world. 

God has revealed himself to us in at least four significant ways. First he has revealed himself in creation. “The heavens declare the glory of God,” writes the psalmist, “and the expanse proclaims the work of his hands,” (Ps. 19:1). 

The apostle Paul adds that the unbelieving world stands condemned for rejecting God’s self-revelation in the physical realm: “For his invisible attributes, that is, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood through what he has made. As a result, people are without excuse” (Rom. 1:20).

It is good for us to study the arts and sciences because in them we see the beauty, magnitude, divine wisdom, and glory of the creator. Christians, above all, should promote and pursue the revealed truths of God accessible through telescopes and under microscopes.

Second, God has revealed himself in conscience. Paul writes that unbelieving Gentiles “show that the work of the law is written on their hearts. Their consciences confirm this. Their competing thoughts either accuse or even excuse them on the day when God judges what people have kept secret” (Rom. 2:15-16).

In other words, moral absolutes are gifts of God, designed to point people to the divine lawgiver.

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The angel of the LORD in the New Testament (continued)

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Acts 7:30-36

As Stephen continues his defense before the Sanhedrin, he recalls Exodus 3, where Moses encounters both Yahweh and the angel of the LORD in the burning bush:

After forty years had passed, an angel [the angel of the LORD] appeared to him [Moses] in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in the flame of a burning bush. When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight. As he was approaching to look at it, the voice of the Lord came: I am the God of your ancestors ​— ​the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob. Moses began to tremble and did not dare to look.

The Lord said to him: Take off the sandals from your feet, because the place where you are standing is holy ground. I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt; I have heard their groaning and have come down to set them free. And now, come, I will send you to Egypt. 

This Moses, whom they rejected when they said, Who appointed you a ruler and a judge? ​— ​this one God sent as a ruler and a deliverer through the angel who appeared to him in the bush. This man led them out and performed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, at the Red Sea, and in the wilderness for forty years.

Acts 7:30-36; cf. Exod. 3:2-15

As we explored earlier, Moses’ experience at the burning bush involves both the LORD and the angel of the LORD, each of whom claims the divine name. Stephen’s purpose in directing the members of the Sanhedrin back to Exodus 3 is to show them that just as the Israelites rebelled against Yahweh’s chosen leader (Moses) in ancient times, they are repeating the error by rejecting Yahweh himself in the person of Jesus of Nazareth – the very one who spoke to Moses from the burning bush.

The angel of the LORD is unlike any other messenger, since the essence of Yahweh dwells in him. Thus, the angel anticipates an Israelite belief in a Godhead – the view that God comprises more than one person, each of whom is identified as the presence of Yahweh. That’s why Jewish theologians prior to the New Testament era, observing texts like Exodus 3, developed a theology of two Yahwehs – one visible and the other invisible – or two powers in heaven.

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Article XI of The Baptist Faith & Message 2000: Evangelism and missions

Following is another in a series of columns on The Baptist Faith & Message 2000.

“Those who have received the gospel are to share it. This obligation God placed upon redeemed men, not upon angels. If men do not tell the story, it will not be told.”

– Herschel Hobbs

Article XI of The Baptist Faith & Message 2000 reads:

“It is the duty and privilege of every follower of Christ and of every church of the Lord Jesus Christ to endeavor to make disciples of all nations. The new birth of man’s spirit by God’s Holy Spirit means the birth of love for others. Missionary effort on the part of all rests thus upon a spiritual necessity of the regenerate life, and is expressly and repeatedly commanded in the teachings of Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ has commanded the preaching of the gospel to all nations. It is the duty of every child of God to seek constantly to win the lost to Christ by verbal witness undergirded by a Christian lifestyle, and by other methods in harmony with the gospel of Christ.”

Evangelism and missions are the duties and privileges of every Christian in obedience to the command of Jesus to make disciples of all nations (Matt. 28:18-20). They are grounded in the authority of Jesus, and they find their source in the heart of God, who loves all people and desires them to repent and believe the good news (John 3:16; 2 Pet. 3:9). 

Simply stated, evangelism is sharing the gospel with the goal of leading others to repentance and faith in Jesus. The word evangelism comes from the Greek noun euaggelion (a good message) and the verb euaggelizo (to announce, declare, or preach this good news).

Notice that the Greek word for angel – aggelos – is tucked inside. An angel in Scripture is a messenger, sometimes heaven-sent and sometimes human. As Jessica Brodie writes, “Those who practice evangelism are indeed delivering a message: One of extraordinarily good news, life-giving and transformative, with eternal ramifications.” 

In Matthew 28:1-7, the Lord sends an angel to roll away the stone from Jesus’ tomb – not so Jesus may get out, but so the first eyewitnesses of his resurrection may see the empty grave. The angel tells the women, “Don’t be afraid, because I know you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here. For he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has risen from the dead and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; you will see him there .…’” (vv. 5-7).

These are the last recorded words of the angel on that day. He has fulfilled his mission. From that time forward, redeemed people bear the responsibility to proclaim the good news.

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