He is Risen!
He is Risen Indeed!
That is the refrain that our church repeated yesterday, as we celebrated our Lord’s resurrection. And in fact, it is this truth that undergirds the whole ministry of Christ Over All. Because Jesus is raised from the dead and seated at God’s right hand, our Lord rules over heaven and earth. All things have been put under his feet. And on the earth, he is sending us with his Word and his Spirit to bring salvation and judgment to all creation.
While every Lord’s Day recalls the exaltation of Christ, there is something special about Easter Sunday, as churches from all traditions and denominations join together to say, “Jesus is not here, for he has risen, as he said” (Matt. 28:6). Indeed, the universal testimony of the resurrection is a glorious reminder that the sin and suffering of the world is not the final word or the ultimate reality. Rather, as Christ died and rose again, so he offers forgiveness to those dead in sin and eternal life to those facing death.
The Contested Nature of Proclaiming Christ
Such good news is contested today. In fact, Joe Biden marked this Easter Sunday as a day to see transgender Americans.
Issuing a proclamation for Transgender Visibility, the White House Administration took aim at Resurrection Sunday. While offering platitudes to Good Friday and Easter Sunday, as well as César Chávez, Biden’s support of Transgender Visibility reminds us how a nation shaped by Christian ideas has become a nation increasingly inhospitable to Christians.
While some have objected to criticizing the president, saying that March 31, 2024 was not a direct attack on Christians or Easter Sunday, we should know better. There are at least three reasons why such a defense of the president’s actions is untenable.
First, transgender visibility is not lacking today; it’s just the opposite. It is nearly impossible to not see the debauchery of Drag Queens and Trans advocacy in all areas of public life. And at the White House itself, the annual Easter Egg tradition has eliminated any religious symbols. So, it seems that what is lacking today is not trans visibility, but Christian visibility. And yet, our president proclaims a day to see trans Americans, which will soon be followed by Pride month (June), and a whole liturgical calendar that spotlights sexual perversion.
Second, the Trans Day of Visibility, which began in 2009, was always going to transgress Easter. As Easter moves its date from year to year, March 31 would sooner or later be a point of conflict. And, if we have learned anything from the architects of the sexual revolution, competition with religion that opposes them has always been one of their strategies. By putting this date on the calendar, they would make Easter run into it, and then blame Christians for complaining. We should know better, and not be steered by their manipulative tactics.
And this leads to a third observation. Namely, the fact that Barack Obama did not issue a similar proclamation when he served as president. Indeed, in 2013, Easter also fell on March 31, but Obama’s pre-Obergefell Whitehouse did not issue a transgender proclamation in March 2013. Why? The timing was not ripe; the winds had not yet fully changed. Since 2015, however, the sea has changed and Transgender ideology is everywhere, so much so that a day of visibility is lauded by the White House (even as it is wholly unneeded).
Again, I point all of this out to say that proclaiming “Christ is Risen” is no longer uncontested in America. Instead, Easter is a day of Christian proclamation that takes courage and conviction to say out loud and in public. And more, it is a day that must not only affirm the empty tomb, but also deny every false religion that seeks to impose itself over and above Christ.
Ironically, in his statement on March 29, Biden used the words “in the year of our Lord.” This vestige of Christian speech is a reminder that our nation, like all nations, exists under the Lord’s dominion—a fact that our nation once embraced.
Equally, Christ’s lordship is a truth that has marked all of Western history and one that we should continue to bring into the public square. If our governing leaders forget who gives them authority to serve as God’s ministers (Romans 13:1–7), we must remind them.
At the same time, we should also remind them what God’s Word actually says when they misuse for their own nefarious purposes. For instance, when Biden told the Trans community that he saw in them the image of God, he literally appealed to the place in Scripture (Genesis 1:26–27) where God’s identifies the image of God as male and female—nothing else!
In this way, Biden and all our governing officials cannot rail against God without depending on him for their life and their logic. As the Creator of all things and the source of all wisdom, goodness, and justice, God stands behind all of creation. This means that when Biden and his White House lackies attempt to celebrate the sins of transgenderism, they must appeal to moral arguments that steal from and twist God’s Word.
“Christ is Risen” Means Rejecting Falsehood
What does this phrase mean for Christians today?
In a word, we can no longer proclaim “He is risen” and expect the culture, shaped by Christianity, to respond, “He is risen indeed.” And this means we must learn how to affirm the truths of God’s Word and to deny every falsehood. Sadly, many Christians only do the former. Trained to share Christ in the positive world, where being a Christian was a cultural good, many proclaim the resurrection in merely positive ways.
And yet, we need to realize that affirming the faith today means denying every other competing religion. As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 10:5–6, “we destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.”
In this day, we need bold witnesses for Christ, who not only say “Christ is risen,” but who live like it. Going against the grain and inviting the opposition of governors and governments who hate Christ, we need to remember that all things have been put under Christ’s feet. And with his authority, we have been sent out to proclaim judgment on the nations and salvation to all those who take refuge in Christ.
Indeed, by celebrating the sexual perversion of transgenderism on Resurrection Sunday (not to mention the erasure of manhood and womanhood), the White House invites the judgment of God. And it is the church’s responsibility to announce this judgment before it comes. Sadly, there remain leaders of ethical and religious coalitions who refuse to make such judgments. Convinced that gentle persuasion is more effective than public rebuttal, they affirm the faith but are reticent to condemn sin. Scripture, however, teaches us something else. To be faithful witnesses of Christ’s resurrection means that we must also reject falsehood publicly.
As Paul puts in Acts 17:31, Jesus was raised from the dead to judge the world. And we must not shy away from wielding the sword of the spirit to make such proclamations in public too. For without announcing the realities of God’s judgment, there is no impetus for lost sheep to seek salvation in Christ. But when we rightly affirm the resurrection of Christ and deny every argument and lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, then we fulfill our duty as witnesses and by obedience to Christ’s command, we bring into the public the Lordship of Christ.
That conviction is most needed today. And we pray that Christ Over All might be helpful in spurring you on to that good work.
Creeds, Confessions, and Cooperation: The Basis of Unity
One way that we have helped the church to fulfill its calling of being a faithful witness is by spending the last month on the goodness and necessity of creeds and confessions. Indeed, in preparation for the Southern Baptist Convention in June 2024, we have spent ample time on this subject, because of the way that fruitful cooperation depends upon a firm confessional foundation.
Accordingly, I would urge all Southern Baptists to consider the following articles. At the same time, this month engaged creeds and confessions that spread beyond the friendly confines of Baptist churches. And so, everyone who wants to see their church, association, or denomination grow in health would be helped by these articles.
So take up and read and share them with others (longform essays in bold)
- “Baptists, A Confessional People: by Michael A.G. Haykin • Longform Essay • Historically, Baptists have been a people committed to the authority of Scripture. This very commitment to the Bible has also led Baptists to be a confessional people. READ ESSAY
- 3.10 “Baptists, A Confessional People” by Michael A.G. Haykin • Podcast Reading • Historically, Baptists have been a people committed to the authority of Scripture. This very commitment to the Bible has also led Baptists to be a confessional people. LISTEN TO PODCAST
- “Triage in the Trenches: When do Second-Tier Issues Divide”? by Joe Rigney • Article • Baptism and the roles of men and women in the church are both second-tier issues. Yet, when it comes to cooperation, we should not think of these issues equally. A refined understanding of theological triage helps us see why. READ ARTICLE
- “A Time-Tested Compass Pointing to True North: The 1689 Second London Baptist Confession” by James Renihan • Written in response to heterodox teaching, the 1689 London Baptist Confession is still a faithful guide for the church today. READ ARTICLE
- “The Perils of Procrustean Triage: Redefining the Debate on Women’s Ordination” by David Attebury • Theological triage is a helpful category for considering cooperation amongst friends. However, we also need other categories to guard against destructive doctrine. READ ARTICLE
- 3.11 Michael A.G. Haykin, David Schrock, Stephen Wellum • “Baptists, A Confessional People” by Michael A.G. Haykin, David Schrock, Stephen Wellum • Podcast Interview • Listen in as David Schrock and Stephen Wellum interview church historian Michael Haykin on his longform essay “Baptists, A Confessional People.” LISTEN TO PODCAST
- “Can the Cooperation Continue? What the End of the BSA Means for the Future of the SBC” by Jon Whitehead • A series of poor decisions led to the collapse of the Boy Scouts of America. What can the SBC learn from their mistakes to avoid the same fate? READ ARTICLE
- “‘The Power and Duty of An Association’ (1749): What an Old Treatise Can Teach Today’s Baptists” by Caleb Morell • In his 18th-century treatise, pastor Benjamin Griffith gives a timely lesson for Baptists today on cooperation and disfellowship. READ ARTICLE
- “The Good Confession: Why Southern Baptists Would Do Well to Embrace Their Confession” by Tom J. Nettles • Longform Essay • Why should Southern Baptists embrace their confession? Here are four good reasons. READ ESSAY
- 3.12 “The Good Confession: Why Southern Baptists Would Do Well to Embrace Their Confession” by Tom J. Nettles • Podcast Reading • Why should Southern Baptists embrace their confession? Here are four good reasons. LISTEN TO PODCAST
- “Why Southern Baptists Would Be Blessed by Stronger Confessionalism” by Chad Van Dixhoorn • If the reformers were asked, “should we dumb down our statements of faith?”—what would they say? READ ARTICLE
- 3.13 “Creeds and Confessions” by Carl Trueman, David Schrock, Stephen Wellum • Podcast Interview • Listen in as Carl Trueman joins David Schrock and Stephen Wellum to discuss the importance of creeds and confessions in the church. LISTEN TO PODCAST
- “Not a Freelance Club: Identity, Association, and Confessionalism in the SBC” by Colin Smothers • What’s in a name? When it comes to Southern Baptists, hopefully a clear confession of faith that defines our identity and governs our association. READ ARTICLE
- “Complementarian Confessional Conflagration” by Denny Burk • The Law Amendment will be voted on at the SBC Annual Meeting in June 2024. There aren’t five reasons to oppose it. There isn’t even one. READ ARTICLE
- “Excerpt From Carl Trueman’s Crisis of Confidence” by Carl Trueman • Carl Trueman helps us to understand how our age of expressive individualism defies confessionalism in hopes that we might recover a worldview friendly to such ideas. READ ARTICLE
- “The SBC in a Crowded Theater” by Mark Coppenger • Amidst the chaos of purported abuse in the SBC, we’ve heard many voices crying out. Before joining in the alarm, however, we should listen with careful discernment. READ ARTICLE
- “’The Power And Duty of An Association’: Have Baptist Associations Historically Disfellowshipped Disorderly Churches?” by Caleb Morell • Longform Essay • Is local church autonomy at odds with Baptist associations disfellowshipping churches from their membership? This historical study clearly demonstrates that the answer is no. READ ARTICLE
- 3.14 “‘The Power and Duty of an Association’: Have Baptist Associations Historically Disfellowshipped Disorderly Churches?” • Caleb Morell • Podcast Reading • Is local church autonomy at odds with Baptist associations disfellowshipping churches from their membership? This historical study clearly demonstrates that the answer is no. LISTEN TO PODCAST
- “Four Vital Areas of Doctrine for Clear Christian Confession” by Tom J. Nettles • A faithful confession requires clarity in at least four areas: historic biblical orthodoxy, soteriology, the necessity of confessing, and ecclesiology. To remove any of these foundational blocks risks toppling the tower. READ ARTICLE
- “Combatting Self-Salvation: An Insight into the Early Creeds” by Jim Knauss • When theological questions regarding the trinity and the deity of Christ arose in the early church, they responded with written creeds, and it was these statements of orthodoxy which guarded the gospel of grace. READ ARTICLE
- 3.15 “The Good Confession: Why Southern Baptists Would Do Well to Embrace Their Confession” by Tom J. Nettles, David Schrock, Stephen Wellum • Podcast Interview • Listen in as Tom Nettles joins David Schrock and Stephen Wellum to discuss his longform essay “The Good Confession: Why Southern Baptists Would Do Well to Embrace Their Confession.” LISTEN TO PODCAST
- “The SBC Isn’t Drifting, It’s Being Steered: A Sober-Minded Response to Emotional Sabotage” by Michael Carlino • Emotional sabotage has steered and shaped many of the major decisions of the Southern Baptist Convention from the early 2020s to the present. How? Keep reading. READ ARTICLE
- “On Secondary Issues and Cooperation in the SBC” by Jason Gray • Should we really take such a strong stance on complementarianism since it’s only a secondary issue? Yes. In fact, our convention is defined by agreement on secondary issues. READ ARTICLE
- “Is Roman Catholicism a Creedal Faith?” by Leonardo De Chirico • Does reciting a creed make a church creedal? It depends on what they think the creed means. READ ARTICLE
- 3.16 “‘The Power and Duty of An Association’: Have Baptist Associations Historically Disfellowshipped Disorderly Churches?” by Caleb Morell, David Schrock • Podcast Interview • Called Morell joins David Schrock to discuss his longform essay “‘The Power and Duty of An Association’: Have Baptist Associations Historically Disfellowshipped Disorderly Churches?” LISTEN TO PODCAST
One Passion, Four Gospels
In the next month, our pace will lessen but our passion will not. In April we will devote the month to examining the cross of Christ in the four Gospels.
Every Spring, we set our calendar to assist the church to prepare for Good Friday and Easter Sunday. We realize that this month looks back to those events as occurring in March, but we trust that the cross of Christ is a timeless feature of your faith. And so, for the whole month we will look at key ideas related to the cross—things like the theme of exile, the cup Jesus’s drank, and the Day of Atonement.
Additionally, we will look at how each Gospel presents the cross. And we will do some comparisons across the Gospels too. For book lovers, Crossway has generously offered a free PDF of Andreas Köstenberger and Justin Taylor’s The Final Days of Jesus. And, for those who want to dig deeper into a New Testament theology of the cross, we will also point to George Smeaton’s (1814–1889) two classic volumes.
In all, this month will be far less polemical and far more devotional. May the Lord give us great joy in seeing Christ and his cross in the Gospels, so that when we proclaim judgment upon sin, we do so for the purpose of bringing the good news of salvation found in the cross of Christ.
Christ Over All News and Notes
As I close, let me update a couple items that you should know about.
First, Christ Over All will host its monthly video call on Friday, April 26. Trent Hunter will lead that time of discussion as we think about the cross of Christ in the Gospels and/or anything that you would like to talk about. If you want to join us, sign up here.
Second, Christ Over All depends upon thoughtful contributions of faithful writers. At present we have our next two months filled out (in bold), but we are beginning to plan for the second half of the year (in italics). If you are interested in writing something on an area of research or interest, please share your idea with us.
- May – What Has God Wrought? Artificial Intelligence and Our Brave New World
- June – Great Books Throughout the Ages: Works that Have Stood the Test of Time
- July – Plato in the Hands of an Almighty God
- August – Getting into the Book of Hebrews
- September – Voting to the Glory of God
- October – Today’s Leviathan: Globalism, Environmentalism, Big Ed, and Totalitarianism
- November – The Kingdom of God
- December – Handel’s Messiah
Finally, we at Christ Over All continue to give thanks to God for the ways he has supplied this ministry and enlarged our network of friendships. If you would like to know more about how you or your church can support Christ Over All, please reach out to us. We’d love to hear from you or for you or your church to join our team of donors.
Until next time, let us all remember that Christ is Lord and all things are under his feet, so in all things let us exalt Christ.
Soli Deo Gloria!
