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About the Book
"The Radical Cross" by A. W. Tozer explores the true meaning of the cross in the life of a Christian. Tozer emphasizes the importance of embracing the cross as a central aspect of faith, surrendering oneself fully to Christ. He challenges readers to live a life of radical discipleship, fully committing to following Jesus and taking up their own crosses daily. Through insightful reflections and powerful teachings, Tozer inspires readers to seek a deeper relationship with God through the radical message of the cross.
George Eldon Ladd
Ever used the phrase âAlready / Not Yetâ to describe the timing of Godâs kingdom? If so, youâre indebted to George Eldon Ladd, longtime professor at Fuller Seminary and one of the most influential evangelical scholars of the 1900âs.
Ladd broke through the sterile debates about whether the kingdom of God was a present, spiritual reality or a future, earthly reality. He popularized a view of the kingdom as having two dimensions: âalready/not yet.â Ladd was also one of the first solid evangelical scholars to go outside the fundamentalist camp in order to interact with liberal scholars in the academy, men like Rudolph Bultmann.
For a biographical overview of Laddâs life and work, I suggest A Place at the Table: George Eldon Ladd and the Rehabilitation of Evangelical Scholarship in America. See my review of this book here:
A Place at the Table is much more than a biographical sketch of Laddâs life. DâElia cautiously enters into the theological discussion he describes in order to spotlight Laddâs contributions to evangelical scholarship and his interactions with scholars from outside the evangelical world. Those who read DâEliaâs book will receive an education, not merely regarding the historical aspects of Laddâs interesting life, but also regarding the theological debates of the time.
Iâve also interviewed Laddâs biographer, John DâElia, about his work and his legacy:
Laddâs legacy within evangelical scholarship is hard to overstate. I argue in the book that he carved out a place for evangelicals in what was then the threatening and bewildering world of critical biblical scholarship. By demystifying the methods of critical scholarship, Ladd made them available to evangelicals who wanted to use them in their study of the Scriptures. Historic premillennialism, then, is really an incidental part of Laddâs story. The real achievement in Laddâs career can be found in the wide range of biblical scholars who sat at his feet and then went on to make their own mark. Those scholars are as diverse as John Piper and Robert Mounce on the
one side, and Eldon Epp and Charles Carlston on the other.
If youâre going to start reading Ladd, let me suggest his book, The Gospel of the Kingdom: Scriptural Studies in the Kingdom of God. Check out my review here:
The Gospel of the Kingdom is illuminating, clarifying and (thankfully) brief. It is amazing that Ladd manages to fit all of this great theological teaching into 140 pages.
There is a reason this book is still in print. It is unmatched in its clarification of what the kingdom of God is, and how the kingdom of God can be already present but not yet here in its fullness.
Iâll close this post with Ladd himself. Here are two ways Ladd defined âthe gospel,â one personal and the other in light of Godâs kingdom:
âI can only bear witness at this point to what Heilsgeschichte means to me. My sense of Godâs love and acceptance is grounded not only in the resurrected Christ but also in the Jesus of history. He taught something about God that was utterly novel to his Jewish auditors: that God is not only gracious and forgiving to the repentant sinner but is also a seeking God who, in Jesusâ person and mission, has come to seek and to save the lostâŚ
God has shown me that he loves me in that while I was yet a sinner, Christ died for me (Rom. 5:8). This is not faith in history; it is not faith in the kerygma; it is not faith in the Bible. It is faith in God who has revealed himself to me in the historical event of the person, works and words of Jesus of Nazareth who continues to speak to me though the prophetic word of the Bible.â
â George Eldon Ladd, âThe Search for Perspective,â Interpretation 25 (Jan. 1971), 56 and 57.
âThis is the good news about the kingdom of God. How men need this gospel! Everywhere one goes he finds the gaping graves swallowing up the dying. Tears of loss, of separation, of final departure stain every face. Every table sooner or later has an empty chair, every fireside its vacant place. Death is the great leveller. Wealth or poverty, fame or oblivion, power or futility, success or failure, race, creed or culture â all our human distinctions mean nothing before the ultimate irresistible sweep of the scythe of death which cuts us all down. And whether the mausoleum is a fabulous Taj Mahal, a massive pyramid, an unmarked spot of ragged grass or the unplotted depths of the sea one fact stands: death reigns.
âApart from the gospel of the kingdom, death is the mighty conqueror before whom we are all helpless. We can only beat our fists in utter futility against this unyielding and unresponding tomb. But the good news is this: death has been defeated; our conqueror has been conquered. In the face of the power of the kingdom of God in Christ, death was helpless. It could not hold him, death has been defeated; life and immortality have been brought to life. An empty tomb in Jerusalem is proof of it. This is the gospel of the kingdom.â
â from The Gospel of the Kingdom
what would judas do
Wednesday plants the suicidal seed of Holy Week: betrayal. Before there could be a Garden, there had to be a seed â the inception of insurrection. Jesus gloriously paid for our redemption with blood, but his blood was murderously bought with money. The promised Savior sold for just thirty pieces of silver. Jesus had taught his disciples, including the one who would betray him, âNo one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and moneyâ (Matthew 6:24). No one. Not Judas. Not you or me. The Love of Money Murdered Jesus The Pharisees loved money (Luke 16:14), feared men (Matthew 26:5), and hated Jesus (Matthew 26:4). That formula may be lived out before you more than you realize. The love of money often looks merely practical. The fear of men can hide behind masks. But the Bible is clear: If you love money and fear men, you cannot love God or escape hell (Luke 16:13; John 5:44) â and you become a card-carrying member of the crowd who crucified the Author of life (Acts 3:15). The cross â that horrifying drama of hatred â was only a symptom of the Phariseesâ craving for money, approval, and power. It was as if they bought a billboard to advertise their love for money, and set on a hill for all to see. But they would never do something so obvious. What would the people say? They âfeared the peopleâ (Luke 22:2). In fact, the peopleâs love  for Jesus was half the reason the religious leaders hated him so much. The authorities were cowards with cravings. They had to find a way to kill him quietly (Matthew 26:3â5). They had to find a way to murder an innocent man without losing any esteem or influence. First they needed an insider â someone close enough to Jesus to betray him, but far enough from Jesus to betray him. In other words, they needed a perp dressed like the Pope. âThen one of the twelve, whose name was Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, âWhat will you give me if I deliver him over to you?ââ (Matthew 26:14â15). âWhen they heard it, they were glad and promised to give him moneyâ (Mark 14:11). They found their man, someone who loved money as much as they did, someone who was willing to offend and ostracize even his closest friends for a pay day. The market had opened against the Messiah, and Judas was there to profit. As Randy Alcorn writes, âSatan works on the assumption that every person has a price. Often, unfortunately, he is right. Many people are willing to surrender themselves and their principles to whatever god will bring them the greatest short-term profitâ ( Money, Possessions, and Eternity , 41). Judas sold out the Savior, and for just thirty pieces of silver (Matthew 26:15). The Love of Money Makes a Name If you love money â value money and what it can buy above all else â you cannot love God. You will hate him, maybe quietly or privately and hypocritically â but you will hate him. And that hatred will mark you and follow you everywhere. That kind of divine rejection and betrayal renames a person. It defines you. For example, look at how Judas is talked about in the Gospels. â . . . Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him .â (Matthew 10:4) âJudas, who would betray him , answered, âIs it I, Rabbi?â He said to him, âYou have said so.ââ (Matthew 26:25) â . . . and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him .â (Mark 3:19) â . . . and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor .â (Luke 6:16) âBut Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples ( he who was about to betray him ), said,â (John 12:4). âHe spoke of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the Twelve, was going to betray him .â (John 6:71) âJudas, who betrayed him , was standing with them.â (John 18:5) Instead of being a faithful disciple guiding people to follow Jesus, he âbecame a guide to those who arrested  Jesusâ (Acts 1:16). What will be the testimony of your life â of your spending and giving? Will it be clear to others that you used what God had given you to lead others to  his Son, or will it be plain that you surrendered to the gods of the material and drew people away from  Jesus? Did you guide the blind to sight, or help blind them to death? The Love of Money Leads to Regret Judasâs affair did not fair so well for him. âThen when Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he changed his mind and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the eldersâ (Matthew 27:3). Drowning in shame, he screamed for a refund. Confronted with the horror of his exchange, the money had lost its allure. What have I done?! What awful trade have I made?! Take it all back, and give me Jesus! There was no turning back for Judas, no return policy on this rejection. He killed himself in the overwhelming waves of regret and remorse (Matthew 27:5). However, there is time to turn back for you. Luke quotes Jesus for the greedy today, âTake care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for oneâs life does not consist in the abundance of his possessionsâ (Luke 12:15). When life begins to seem like one long mission to make more money, someone is lying to you. Wake up and give back the silver before it crucifies you. John Piper writes, âWhen you are dying . . . money walks away from you. It abandons you. It will not go with you to help you. And nothing that you bought with it can go eitherâ ( Money, Sex, and Power , 65). And again later, â[The love of money] substitutes a dollar bill for the divineâ (71). The love of money leads only to regret and loss. Reject Judas, Receive Joy Ask yourself what Judas would do in your situation. How would he feel about your current income, shopping habits, and retirement savings? How uneasy would he be about your generosity? Does your budget begin to look like his, just two thousand years later? Refuse to follow Judas in his betrayal, and reject all that money promises to be in place of God. Find your security and satisfaction in something supernatural, eternal, and free. Piper goes on, reflecting on Paul in Philippians 4:11â13, When the stock market goes up or he gets a bonus, he says, I find Jesus more precious and valuable and satisfying than my increasing money . And when the stock market goes down or he faces a pay cut, he says, I find Jesus more precious and valuable and satisfying than all that I have lost . The glory and beauty and worth and preciousness of Christ is the secret of contentment that keeps money from controlling him. ( Money, Sex, and Power , 65) When our joy is no longer in our money but rather is in God . . . our money becomes the visible extension of joy in God, directed toward others. . . . Treasuring God above all things turns money into the currency of worship and love. ( Money, Sex, and Power , 123) Instead of surrendering to our cravings for more, letâs pour ourselves, every penny, into telling the world God  is our treasure â right now, later in retirement, and forever in eternity â and spending whatever it takes to bring others into that joy and security with us.