The Master's Seminary Journal Volume Four (1993)

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Volume 4, Number 1 (Spring 1993)

• Perseverance of the Saints (5-24)
  by John MacArthur
  
  Peter's life exemplifies what the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints means in the life of a faltering believer. Christ's present intercessory prayers assure that genuine believers will be saved to the uttermost. This is the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints. Those with true faith will not lead perfect lives, though some have attributed such a claim to proponents of working-faith salvation. The teaching of "once saved, always saved" may carry the false implication that after "accepting Christ" a person may live any kind of life and still be saved. That leaves out the doctrine of perseverance, which carries with it the need for a holy life. Peter in his first epistle furnishes six means through which God causes every Christian to persevere: by regenerating them to a living hope, by keeping them through His power, by strengthening them through tests of faith, by preserving them for ultimate glory, by motivating them with love for the Savior, and by saving them through a working faith. Quantification of how much failure the doctrine of perseverance allows is impossible, but Jesus did prescribe a way for the church to deal with a professing believer whose life sin had seemingly come to dominate.
  
  
• Premillennialism in the Book of Daniel (25-44)
  by Kenneth L. Barker
  
  Among six passages in Daniel that pertain to a promised future kingdom, three are most relevant to premillennialism: 2:31-45; 7:1-27; 9:24- 27. By means of Daniel's interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream-vision of a statue, 2:31-45 prophesies about five kingdoms that will appear in sequence, the last of which comes in the form of a Messianic stone that will crush the ones before it and and fill the whole earth. Daniel 7:1-27 covers the same ground from a different perspective. Here Daniel receives a two-part vision, the former part including four beasts that represent kingdoms and the latter, the Ancient of Days and the Messianic Son of Man. Subsequent interpretation details the Son of Man's subjugation of these kingdoms to Himself after a period of tribulation. The prophecy of the seventy "weeks" in 9:24-27 supplies additional data regarding a premillennial return of the Messianic ruler to set up an earthly kingdom. These data include such things as the time-frame of the Messianic ruler's first and second advents and the purposes of the two advents. All three passages correlate most easily with what is taught throughout Scripture about a premillennial return of Christ.
  
  
• The Structure of the Apocalypse: Recapitulation or Progression? (45-66)
  by Robert L. Thomas
  
  The number of divisions of the Apocalypse, a longstanding problematic issue, finds its best resolution in allowing for the structural dominance of the numbered series in the book. Though a theory of recapitulation in dealing with those series has its merits, stronger evidence militates against such a system. A telescopic form of progression is not without its difficulties, but stronger evidence in its favor leads to the conclusion that it is the best solution. Attempts to combine recapitulation and progression fail because of the procedure's hermeneutical shortsighted-ness. A number of chronological considerations bolster the conclusion that the telescopic explanation is correct. Recapitulation does play a supporting role in some of the book's sections of intercalation, but the overall scheme of the book is that of progression, not repetition.
  
  
• OT Commentaries for Biblical Expositors: 1987-92 (67-94)
  by James E. Rosscup
  
  Recent years have witnessed the publishing of an abundance of commentaries on OT books of the Bible. A survey of such volumes published from 1987 through 1992 can be quite beneficial to one's study of the Bible for either public presentation or personal use. An annotated bibliography noting the books' purposes and evaluating how well the authors have provided comments to help expositors is a good way to look quickly at a large number of sources. After a survey of the individual works, a classification and ranking of books on Genesis illustrates a good way to compare the volumes with each other by dividing them into categories according to their types of treatment and rating them according to the quality of their explanations.
  
  
• Book Reviews for Volume Four #1

• False Prophets and the Deceiving Spirits (135-64)
  by Richard L. Mayhue
  
  First Kings 22:19-23 occasions the herculean challenge of identifying "the spirit" in a way that best accounts for the reality of false prophecy in 1 Kgs 22:6. From six suggested possibilities, a personified spirit of prophecy, a demon, and Satan are initially deemed the most reasonable identifications and thus merit further inquiry. Considering the philological, hermeneutical, and theological factors of the three interpretations, Satan best fits "the spirit" in 1 Kgs 22:21. Demonic activity, initiated and superintended by Satan, is the most probable and immediate dynamic responsible for the false prophecy in 1 Kgs 22:6 and explained by 1 Kgs 22:19-23. Finally, God did not ordain this event; however, He did permit it.
  
  
• The Modeling of Ministers (165-86)
  by George J. Zemek
  
  An often neglected part of leading a local church is the element of providing an exemplary lifestyle for the flock to follow. Modeling has its origin in the creation of man in God's image, but through the fall and new creation of man in Christ, it has assumed a renewed importance. NT usage of the t/ypow (tupos, "type") and mimht/hw (mim~et~es, "imitator") word-groups provides a good idea of the responsibility of church leaders to live as good moral examples before those whom they lead. Only when they do so can pastoral ministry fulfil the biblical standards of that office.
  
  
• 1 Corinthians 13:1 Revisited: An Exegetical Update (187-202)
  by Robert L. Thomas
  
  About twenty years have passed since this author advanced the interpretation that t tleion (to teleion, "the complete," "the mature") in 1 Cor 13:10 referred to the mature body of Christ and that a stage of maturity in the growth of that body marked the termination of revelatory and sign gifts in the ancient church. With a fresh focus on 1 Cor 13:11, he now updates the discussion in light of various responses that have questioned the validity of that position. He elaborates on why the substantive cannot mean "the perfect," why it must mean "complete" or "mature," why the context requires such, and answers objections to the view.
  
  
• NT Commentaries for Biblical Expositors: 1987-92 (203-26)
  by James E. Rosscup
  
  The following is a continuation of the annotated bibliography begun in the Spring 1993 number of The Master's Seminary Journal. This listing treats NT books in much the same way as the earlier one dealt with the OT. A sample ranking of commentaries in different categories closes the article.
  
  
• Book Reviews for Volume Four #2