Kenneth L. Gentry Jr. > Quotes

“As goes the family, so goes the faith; as goes the faith, so goes the culture.”
― Kenneth L. Gentry Jr., The Greatness of the Great Commission: The Christian Enterprise in a Fallen World

“God’s Law is redemptive only in Christ’s keeping it in our behalf so that he and he alone might secure our salvation. Salvation is and always has been by grace through faith alone. Modern Judaism and Islam, along with liberal Christianity, are moralistic religions which promise salvation to those whose good deeds outweigh their bad. Biblical Christianity is a redemptive religion which promises to those who truly believe in Christ that they will be saved by his redemptive work alone.”
― Kenneth L. Gentry Jr., God's Law Made Easy

“Here we must recognize that the ceremonial law by design is never intended to be an end in itself. It always is prophetically and typically forward-looking, anticipating the coming of the Redeemer and the finalization of salvation through his work. The ceremonial law foreshadowed the eternal truths of Christ’s work.”
― Kenneth L. Gentry Jr., God's Law Made Easy

“Some decry the law as an imposition of religion. But all law imposes religion in that law is necessarily religious, for all law is an expression of morality.”
― Kenneth L. Gentry Jr., God's Law Made Easy

“The Law does not have the power to sanctify; that is the Holy Spirit’s ministry as he operates in the gospel. But the Law sets forth the God-ordained pattern of righteous behavior thereby providing an objective standard for the Spirit-filled Christian so that he might know what God expects of him. Sanctification is not guided or governed by warm feelings, cultural mores, or doing-the-best-I-can. It is guided by the moral character of God revealed in his Word.”
― Kenneth L. Gentry Jr., God's Law Made Easy

“Reformed theology has been the clearest and most vigorous proponent of God’s Law, whereas most other evangelical theologies either overlook it altogether or studiously discount it as a viable option in ethical and legal discourse.”
― Kenneth L. Gentry Jr., God's Law Made Easy

“So we see that God created man as a dominion-oriented creature who is commissioned with the “Cultural Mandate” (Gen 1:26) to subdue the earth to the glory of God.[21] The question arises then: Will man subdue the earth to God’s glory as God intended? That is, will God’s creational purpose for man be realized — in history?”
― Kenneth L. Gentry Jr., Postmillennialism Made Easy

“The Reformation principles of sensus literalis has been hopelessly confused. To interpret the Bible “literally,” strictly speaking, is to interpret the text according to how it is written. It allows, nay demands that symbols be treated as symbols, images as images, and plan indicative statements as indicative statements. The problem rests in correctly identifying the literary genre of each passage.”
― Kenneth L. Gentry Jr., Perilous Times: A Study in Eschatological Evil

“Since our problem is primarily ethical, and since our sin blinds us to righteousness, God’s Law is essential to our struggle against sin because the Law defines it. Indeed, “where there is no law, neither is there violation” (Rom 4:15). That is, without God’s Law we cannot properly understand what sin is: how can there be an ethical violation if there is no known ethical standard?”
― Kenneth L. Gentry Jr., God's Law Made Easy

“In the New Testament the Lord Jesus Christ appears in order to fulfill the Old Testament hope of the Messiah. He presents himself as the king who has come to establish his kingdom in anticipation of his universal rule.”
― Kenneth L. Gentry Jr., Postmillennialism Made Easy

“in Romans 11 Paul speaks of Christianity’s future glory: the Jewish failure will eventually bring “riches for the world” (Rom 11:12), resulting in “the reconciling of the world” (Rom 11:15), leading to “the fulness of the Gentiles” (Rom 11:25). All three references point to massive, worldwide conversions. All three underscore the postmillennial hope. Then added to that is the conversion of the Jews themselves — apparently en masse over a relatively brief period of time. 1”
― Kenneth L. Gentry Jr., Postmillennialism Made Easy

“So we see that God created man as a dominion creature who is commissioned with the “Cultural Mandate” (Gen 1:26) to subdue the earth to the glory of God. The question arises then: Will man subdue the earth to God’s glory as God intended? That is, will God’s creational purpose for man be realized — in history? Postmillennialism declares that it will.”
― Kenneth L. Gentry Jr., Postmillennialism Made Easy

“When the Law is properly understood and its threats heard and feared, it exercises a restraining power within the souls of sinners, which is the end result of true conviction of sin.”
― Kenneth L. Gentry Jr., God's Law Made Easy

“Here Jesus is speaking of his sending forth his messengers to trumpet the gospel of salvation. The fall of the old covenant economy is the sign that the gospel of God’s saving grace is spreading to all the world, overflowing the boundaries of Old Testament Israel (cp. Psa 147:19–20; Amos 3:2; Eph 2:11–12). God is finished with sacrifices and human priests (Heb 8:13); he will no longer focus his grace kon a single nation (John 4:20–24; cp. Isa. 2:3–4; 19:19–25). So now the gospel will go to all nations (Matt 28:18–20).”
― Kenneth L. Gentry Jr., Postmillennialism Made Easy

“Church history begins with his legal victory at the cross-resurrection-ascension, continues progressively as he subdues all of his other enemies, and ends finally at the eschatological resurrection, which conquers the final enemy, death.”
― Kenneth L. Gentry Jr., Postmillennialism Made Easy

“The immediate contextual setting of Paul’s statement suggests he is dealing with “the Law” as that which separates the Jewish race from the Gentiles. In the very verse in question Paul states: “to the Jews I become as a Jew.” This idea of “becoming a Jew” indicates ceremonial distinctives are in view rather than moral ones. No one “becomes a Jew” by not killing, not committing adultery, or not coveting (keeping the moral aspects of the Law). They do “become a Jew” by undergoing the ceremonial distinctives which marked the Jews off from the Gentiles (circumcision, food laws, cleansing rituals, and so forth).”
― Kenneth L. Gentry Jr., God's Law Made Easy

“The Christian must see God’s Law as a guide for his own personal behavior. God’s Law is law, not suggestion. It is fundamentally obligatory, not merely recommended.”
― Kenneth L. Gentry Jr., God's Law Made Easy

“Because of this, Zion becomes an image of God’s rule in the world. In the New Testament the images of Zion and Jerusalem transcend Old Testament realities, reaching to heaven itself (Gal 4:25–26; Heb 12:22; Rev 14:1). Thus, the New Testament sees the center of divine rule being transferred to heaven, where Christ currently rules over his kingdom (John 18:36; Rev 1:5).”
― Kenneth L. Gentry Jr., Postmillennialism Made Easy

“Here we must recognize that the ceremonial law by design is never intended to be an end in itself. It always is prophetically and typically forward-looking, anticipating the coming of the Redeemer and the finalization of salvation through his work. The ceremonial law foreshadowed the eternal truths of Christ’s work. God intended it to be superseded: Now if perfection was through the Levitical priesthood (for on the basis of it the people received the Law), what further need was there for another priest to arise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be designated according to the order of Aaron? For when the priesthood is changed, of necessity there takes place a change of law also. (Heb 7:11–12) Secondly, as the ceremonial laws expects, Christ’s coming confirms their essential meaning and eternally validates their redemptive truth. Christ is the reality of which they are but the shadow. Thus, for us to keep the ceremonial laws today in the same way ancient Israel keeps them in the old covenant would actually breach them. To continue engaging in the ceremonies would effectively deny that they point ahead to their expiration through fulfillment.”
― Kenneth L. Gentry Jr., God's Law Made Easy

“The old covenant structure and ceremonial obligations, which included the sacrificial system and various ritual and typological features, is established only with Israel. Yet it was established on a moral substructure rooted in the unchanging righteousness of God which promoted perpetually obligatory commandments of God.”
― Kenneth L. Gentry Jr., God's Law Made Easy

“as Clowney well notes, “we must recognize that this is not spiritualization in our usual sense of the word, but the very opposite. In Christ is realization. It is not so much that Christ fulfills what the temple means; rather Christ is the meaning for which the temple existed.”[139”
― Kenneth L. Gentry Jr., Postmillennialism Made Easy

“Note that his enemies become his footstool while he is seated at God’s right hand (where he appears after his ascension: Acts 2:33–35; 5:31; 7:56; Rom 8:34; Eph 1:20; Col 3:1; Heb 1:3, 13; 8:1; 10:12; 12:2; 1 Pet 3:22) — not after leaving that place and returning to earth at his Second Coming. Again, his victory will occur in contemporary history as Christ presently rules from heaven.”
― Kenneth L. Gentry Jr., Postmillennialism Made Easy

“This idea of “becoming a Jew” indicates ceremonial distinctives are in view rather than moral ones. No one “becomes a Jew” by not killing, not committing adultery, or not coveting (keeping the moral aspects of the Law). They do “become a Jew” by undergoing the ceremonial distinctives which marked the Jews off from the Gentiles (circumcision, food laws, cleansing rituals, and so forth).”
― Kenneth L. Gentry Jr., God's Law Made Easy

“Christ’s coming not only establishes the kingdom but initiates its growth to victory through time: it dynamically grows like a mustard seed to a great plant dominating the garden (Matt 13:31–32). Its growth is secured by God’s grant of “all authority” to Christ and his commissioning of his disciples to “make disciples of all the nations” (Matt 28:20). Truly, Jesus is Lord and rules over   his conquering kingdom now.”
― Kenneth L. Gentry Jr., Postmillennialism Made Easy

“the apostasy laws in God’s Law are not laws against mere unbelief or misguided worship. Those laws were designed to protect the legal integrity of the nation (criminalizing such actions as treason, conspiracy, seditious revolt, and espionage) and to bring judgment against wicked idolatry (criminalizing such actions as cultural subversion and public mayhem).”
― Kenneth L. Gentry Jr., God's Law Made Easy

“We must recall that the new covenant does not bring with it a new Law, but rather the power to keep the same Law.”
― Kenneth L. Gentry Jr., God's Law Made Easy

“The Law thereby prohibits three contemporary monetary phenomena that have contributed so heavily to the economically precarious position of modern nations: fiat money, fractional reserve banking, and deficit spending.”
― Kenneth L. Gentry Jr., God's Law Made Easy

“This presentation is dealing the question of the modern relevance of God's Law today. What I propose to do is defended the notion of the applicability of God's Law; when the law is properly interpreted according to its Old Testament setting, and adapted to new covenantal conditions.

-Theological Bootcamp II, The Intention of God's Law”
― Kenneth L. Gentry Jr.

“So then, the end of history is contingent: it will come whenever it may be that Christ delivers up the kingdom to his Father.[41] But this will not occur until “after He has destroyed all dominion, authority and power” (see also: ESV). Consequently, the end will not occur, and Christ will not turn the kingdom over to the Father, until after he has abolished all opposition.”
― Kenneth L. Gentry Jr., Postmillennialism Made Easy