SAET Blog

Chris Wright Posts

  • September 20, 2011 by Jason Hood

    Jesus, Relationship, and the Law

    Part of finding Jesus in the OT is noting the way in which his approach to God’s law reflects that found in the OT. Notice what’s happening in these verses quoted by Chris Wright (taken from Psalm 119:57-64):

    You are my portion, O LORD; I have promised to obey your words.

    I have sought your face with all my heart; be gracious to me according to your promise.

    I have considered my ways and have turned my steps to your statutes.

    I will hasten and not delay to obey your commands.

    The earth is filled with your love, O LORD; teach me your decrees.

    “[T]he Psalmist interweaves his wonder at the promise, the grace, the goodness, love and salvation of God with his determination to live according to God’s law.  He delights in the law because it enables him to please the God he loves.

    There is much in the life and teaching of Jesus which reflects the ethos of Psalm 119 - a Psalm which rejoices in the law, but rejoices more in the richness of relationship with God himself which is then expressed through diligent obedience.”

    Christopher J. H. Wright, Knowing Jesus through the Old Testament, 194-5.

    Categories: Chris Wright | General | Jason Hood | Psalms

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  • September 2, 2011 by Jason Hood

    Mission is God’s Mission Before It Is Ours

    Chris Wright, in his very useful commentary on Deuteronomy (NIBC), comments on the “missiological significance” of Deuteronomy (page 8):

    Deuteronomy is a book for people on the move, literally at first, spiritually and morally thereafter.  It sets Israel on the boundary of the land and looks beyond that boundary to what lies in store for Israel as it moves into the future with God.

    Furthermore, it is a book addressed in the name of a God on the move–Yahweh, the God who has been dramatically involved in Israel’s past movements, and indeed also in the movements of other nations on the great chessboard of history.

    It presents, therefore, a God of sovereign worldwide purpose and a people with a sharp spiritual mandate and moral agenda.

    Earlier Wright fleshes out some of the dynamics between God’s mission and our mission:

    [T]he detailed requirements of God on Israel are all founded upon the grace of God manifested in their history.  This is not only a structural matter but is also reflected in the way the very vocabulary of Israel’s response to Yahweh in chapters 12-26 mirrors that of Yahweh’s actions toward Israel in chapters 1-11.  This [is the] priority of grace and divine action within the covenant framework…

    Categories: Chris Wright | General | Jason Hood | grace | mission

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