Geerhardus Vos (1862-1949) is rightly considered\nthe \u201cFather of Reformed Biblical Theology.\u201d \nPrinceton Theological Seminary established a chair in biblical theology\nin 1893 and sought Vos to fill it. He\naccepted the invitation and would serve for thirty-nine years until his\nretirement in 1932. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In speaking for myself, Vos is unparelled as an exegete and theologian. This is not to take away from the great insights of so many other gifted individuals, but his commitment to the Scriptures and understanding of Christ at the heart of redemptive history was life-changing. There is no hedging with Vos, just as there is no hedging in the Bible. Your life is either found in Christ or it is not. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In exegeting Genesis 1\u20133 and 1 Corinthians\n15:42-50, Vos believed that the Reformed faith had not errored in proclaiming\nthat the Bible taught that God created Adam and Eve upright in righteousness\nand holiness. He also believed that the\nReformed faith was correct in arguing that perpetual life in this original\nestate of innocence was not the goal set before Adam and Eve. In Genesis\n2:16\u201317, God extended to Adam and Eve the prospect of life with God in an\nestate of Glory. In Vos\u2019s words, \u201cMan had been created perfectly good in a\nmoral sense. And yet there was a sense in which he could be raised to a still\nhigher level of perfection\u201d (Biblical Theology<\/em>, 22). The prospect of leaving the probation state\nbehind and entering into a higher estate was because of God\u2019s condescension,\nnot anything inherent in man\u2019s creation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Appealing to Revelation 2:7, Vos understood further that the tree of life was reserved for the overcomer, that is, the one would pass the probation. If Adam and Eve had obeyed the word God spoke in Genesis 2:16\u201317, the higher, unchangeable life marked by full communion with God and symbolized in the tree of life would have been secured. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But, Adam and Eve failed\nthe probation. The question connected with the probation eating from the tree\nof the knowledge of good and evil was whether they would obey for the sake of\nGod and God alone. When Eve eats the forbidden fruit, she exchanges the truth\nof God for a lie. She places the Tempter\nin the place of God, calling good (the Word of God) evil and evil (the word of\nSatan) good. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Going back then to the beginning, Adam and Eve were created immortal in the sense that they were created upright with souls that would last forever. In this estate of innocence, however, they did not possess immortality in the sense of possessing unlosable communion with God. After the fall into sin, they are mortal as death works in them. Immortality only comes to them and their offspring as a result of the coming of Jesus Christ, the promised one who will crush the head of the serpent. The story of the Bible from beginning to end is about Christ, promised in the Old Covenant, realized in the New Covenant. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In his inaugural address at Princeton, \u201cThe Idea of Biblical Theology as a Science and as a Theological Discipline,\u201d Vos stated that the only legitimate object of theology is God. But, God is the object of theology only in so far as he has supernaturally revealed himself in Scripture. Biblical Theology seeks to examine how God has revealed himself in Scripture as parts and products of a divine work, applying no other method of grouping and arranging these part and products than is given in Scripture itself. I\nbelieve that he would emphasize the Old Testament is a book of redemption that\nbears an organic connection to the salvation that has come in Jesus Christ. There\nis no separation between the Old Testament work of God and the work of Jesus.\nThe two constitute a singal body of supernatural revelation and redemption.\nThere is unity between the Old Testament promises and Jesus\u2019s fulfillment of\nthe promise in the New Testament. Further, the church unfolds and fulfills the\nprophetic program of the Old Testament that centers around the Messiah. The\nchurch is the fulfillment of the Old Testament hope, but not bound to Old\nTestament types and shadows for the day of fulfillment and reality have come\nthrough the person and work of Jesus Christ. <\/p>\n\n\n\n He would\nalso stress that the Old Testament being a shadow of what was to come must be\nturned verticially. For example, what is linear in the Old Testament, say the\nDay of Atonement in Leviticus 16, must be understood vertically, heavenly, in\nlight of the coming of Christ. He is our\nheavenly high priest who has entered into the holy of holies before us. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Still, Vos would want us to affirm the validity of faith of those who lived in the Old Testament. Participation through shadow was a participation in the reality of that which was above, validation of the genuineness of their faith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Vos was adamant that the Bible teaches that\nbelievers are justified by faith alone in Jesus Christ. The question that he\nasked, however, was whether that was centerpiece of the Apostle Paul\u2019s\nteaching. In his book Pauline Eschatology<\/em>, Vos wrote, \u201cWe hope presently\nto show that, as a matter of fact, not only the Christology but also the\nSoteriology of the Apostle\u2019s teaching is so closely interwoven with the\nEschatology, that, were the question put, which of the strands is more central,\nwhich more peripheral, the eschatology would have as good a claim to the\ncentral place as the others\u201d (28\u201329). <\/p>\n\n\n\n Eschatology must not be understood here in a\nnarrow sense, but as \u201cthe doctrine of last things\u201d that deals with the teaching\nor belief that the world is moving to a definite final goal, a new state of\naffairs, heaven, that partakes of the permanent character of the eternal. In\nother words, eschatology brings into view the goal set before Adam and Eve in\nthe garden, full communion with God on a higher estate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Apostle Paul recognized that the eschatological process had been set in motion through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. The result for Paul is that his thinking reflects a philosophy of history into which the soteric and theological are slotted, every development construed in light of its starting point and terminus. Unfolding the Apostle\u2019s eschatology, then, is unfolding his theology. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The context of the statement was the proposed\nrevision of the Westminster Confession of Faith that would eventually take\nplace in 1903 in the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A. Vos believed that the revision effort was not\nonly devoid of Scripture support, but also that it exhibited a failure to\nrecognize between God\u2019s general benevolence for humanity and God\u2019s special love\nfor his own. Vos said, \u201cThe divine love for the elect is different not only in\ndegree but specifically from all other forms of love, because it involves a\npurpose to save, of which all the other forms fall short.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Now, undoubtedly, according to Vos, the teaching of the love of God occupies a central place in the teaching of the New Testament, but the New Testament never denies the other attributes of God\u2019s divine character. Vos said, \u201cWhile Jesus invites us to love the heavenly Father, He, on the other hand, also exhorts us to fear the God who is able to destroy both body and soul in hell.\u201d Vos believed that as long as the church faithfully confessed the doctrine of eternal punishment for sin as an essential part of Jesus\u2019s message, then it would also have to admit that biblically there is a relation between God and man determined by the principle not of love, but of justice. The Bible teaches that the love and righteousness of God are not mutually exclusive. He wrote, \u201cOn Christ as the substitute of sinners the love and righteousness of God terminated in perfect harmony.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n There are two sides that comprise the covenant\nrelationship in the Bible, what God is for man and what man is for God. This is what is behind Vos\u2019s proclaimation in his sermon, \u201cThe\nWonderful Tree,\u201d that true religion is not doom and gloom but a supreme feast and sabbath of the soul.\nThe text for that sermon is Hosea 14:8, \u201cI am like a green-fir tree; from me is\nthy fruit found.\u201d Here Hosea teaches that \u201cthe possession of Jehovah himself by\nhis people will be of all the delights of the world to come the chief and most\nsatisfying, the paradise within the paradise of God.\u201d The great marvel, \u201cthe\nheart-miracle of all true religion, the great paradox underlying all God\u2019s\nconcern with us\u201d is that the all-sufficient God, forever rich and blessed in\nhimself, should give himself to fallen creatures without reserve. The covenant\nrelation into which it pleases God to receive Israel to himself \u201chas in it a\nsublime abandon; it knows neither restraint nor reserve.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n This redemptive self-communication of God is what Hosea had in mind in recording the promise of the text. Vos declared, \u201cWhen Jehovah, entering into covenant with Israel, says, \u2018I will be unto you a God, and ye shall be unto me a people,\u2019 this means infinitely more than the trite idea: henceforth ye shall worship me and I will cultivate you. It is the mutual surrender of person to person.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n What Hosea saw as in a glass darkly through the imagery of the green olive tree will one day resolve itself into the spiritual realities of the life to come. Believers experience a taste of that spiritual reality today because of the person and work of Jesus Christ. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I love it all. It is the mind of God. At the center of it stands Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith <\/p>\n\n\n\n The gospel is that Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, became flesh, and did what we did not\u2014he lived a perfect life of obedience, and yet, he took our place on the cross, enduring the eternal wrath and curse of God which our sins deserved and rose again from the dead for our justification. The Apostle Paul puts it this way in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, \u201cFor I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance to the Scriptures.\u201d The \u201cgood news\u201d is not about a moral worldview or a religious experience. It is about Jesus Christ. He is the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but now has been made manifest and known. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I cannot improve upon the definition of sin found in the Westminster Shorter Catechism 14, \u201cSin is any want of conformity unto or transgression of the law of God.\u201d We are all those who have missed the mark. In the words of Apostle Paul, \u201cAll have sinned and fall short of the glory of God\u201d (Rom. 3:23). In our sin, we rebel against God\u2019s glory and Lordship over us. But, as Paul puts it in 2 Corinthians 5:21, \u201cFor our sake [God] made him [Christ] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Again to quote the Westminster Shorter Catechism, the chief end of man is to glory God and to enjoy him forever. The goal put before humanity made in God\u2019s image is to be in God\u2019s presence forever in an environment of holiness glorifying and enjoying him in full. The realization of this goal is tied to the work of Jesus Christ in history. As Savior, he is the author and perfecter of our faith. As Second Adam, he is the leader of a new humanity. His death is unto the end of establishing righteousness in us, which is life to God. His resurrection is our resurrection. When we are raised on the last day, there will be a glorious transformation as our bodies are made fit for fellowship and full communion with God forever. The totality of his work means that we have been crucified with him. We no longer live, but Christ lives in us and the life that we now live in the flesh we live by faith in the Son of God (Gal. 2:20). <\/p>\n\n\n\n Herman Bavinck rightly proclaimed, \u201cGod and God\nalone is our highest good.\u201d Brought into\ncovenant with the living God, we have been joined to the crucified and risen\nChrist. He is the Lord of the covenant and to him we owe all glory. In his\ncovenant Lordship, Christ claims us for God. \nWe are his possession. Whatever we eat or drink, or whatever we do, we\nare to do all for the glory of God. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But, he is also the Servant of the covenant. In\nhis covenant Servanthood, Christ claims God for us. Joined to Jesus Christ by\nfaith, we enjoy communion with God and and forevermore. We are being called to\nbecome what we already are in Christ. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Joined to Christ by faith and experiencing already the blessings of heaven, suffering and self-sacrifice for Christ become the opportunity for glory. The mode of our life as believers is modeled after Christ\u2019s life on this earth, which was a movement from humiliation to glory. The life of faith is not just Christ for us, it is also Christ by his Spirit in us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Every day in the life of the believer is one of repentance and faith. We confess our sins to the holy God, but we rest in the assurance that Christ has died for our sins and has been raised for our justification. When God sees me, he sees the one to whom I am joined by faith. He does not count my sins against me, but sees the righteousness of Jesus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In the Great Commission in Matthew 28, the church is given the tasks of making disciples of all nations, and baptizing in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Those who carry out this task are the ordained officers of the church. What is needed is for the church to be the church, faithful in the exercise of the mark of the church\u2014reading and preaching the Word of God, administering the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord\u2019s Supper, and administering discipline.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Vos would emphasize the Old Testament is a book of redemption that bears an organic connection to the salvation that has come in Jesus Christ. There is no separation between the Old Testament work of God and the work of Jesus. The two constitute a single body of supernatural revelation and redemption… The church is the fulfillment of the Old Testament hope, but not bound to Old Testament types and shadows for the day of fulfillment and reality have come through the person and work of Jesus Christ. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2014,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,16,10,104],"tags":[82,83,81,57,84],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nVos is the father of \u201cBiblical Theology\u201d, what is that?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Such an approach to Biblical Theology, where the supernatural character of God\u2019s self-revelation is recognized, recognizes the historical progression of Scripture. God\u2019s revelation of the knowledge of the truth is interwoven with and conditioned by the supernatural redeeming activity of God in history. In the words of Vos from the same address, \u201cGod has not revealed himself in a school, but in the covenant; and the covenant as a communion of life is all-comprehensive, embracing all the conditions and interests of those contracting it.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\nMany Christians stay away from the Old Testament because it’s obscure, seems difficult to \u201capply\u201d, and so we stay on the New testament. We like the feel-good one-liners and the instant \u201capplication\u201d we glean there. What would Vos have us concern ourselves when we read the Old Testament?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
You mentioned that Vos \u201cdeparted from the traditional consensus that Paul\u2019s primary interest was justification by faith\u201d. In other words he was saying that the New Testament is NOT mainly about \u201cJesus dying for our sins so that we can go to heaven when we die\u201d, instead, the primary focus was on the \u201crealization of history\u2019s purpose through the death and resurrection of Christ\u201d. Can you explain that for us? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
You said that \u201cSadly, in the modern church there had developed a widespread demand that God\u2019s love, and nothing but God\u2019s love, shall be made the keynote of every message Christianity has to bring to the world.\u201d – why have we resolved that this is the optimal message, and what is the complete message?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Many people think Christianity is mere sin-management and a suppression of the things\/sins that they like to do, and that Christianity is just a boring but necessary ticket to heaven – but then we read Vos when he says in a sermon \u201cSo far from being a matter of gloom and depression, religion in its true concept is an exultant state, the supreme feast and sabbath of the soul\u201d – what is Vos seeing that many of us don’t?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
For you personally, what has been the most compelling or powerful aspect of the story of the Bible that you delight in, has come to you fresh, and resulted in you loving God more and being excited to be a part of God\u2019s story?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What is the \u201cGospel\u201d and what practical implications does the Gospel make in my everyday life? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What is \u201csin\u201d and what is so terrible about it when I do sin? And what is my motivation to not sin? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What is God\u2019s end goal for this world, all humans of this world, and me personally? Where is He taking it and what does it look like for me to be a part of that goal, and how can I have a role and purpose in that goal, and find meaning, and value, and my joy in that goal? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
How can I, as a Christian who believes the Gospel and affirms orthodoxy, be compelled to genuinely desire God and the kingdom of God enough to become a true disciple, one who is willing to consider all things loss in comparison with knowing and loving Jesus? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
As a Christian, at the end of a long day (when I have done what I ought not to have done – and not done what I ought to have done) what are God\u2019s thoughts of me when I lay down my head at at night and fall asleep? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What is God\u2019s mission given to us and how do I fulfill it without it becoming a feeling of another thing I have to do for God? And based upon that, What is needed at the personal, and church level to shape culture and to be on strategic mission? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n