This website exists to testify to the glorious fact that this unworthy sinner has been conquered and captivated by Jesus Christ. I pray that whatever is written or spoken here will therefore be expressions of a soul gripped by that grace. The following two poems illustrate the difference between words of hope that arise from confidence in Christ and words of despair that arise from confidence in self. William Henley wrote his poem first and Dorothea Day gave us her poem as a redemptive replacement.
CONQUERED VS. “UNCONQUERABLE” (INVICTUS)
A Poem by Dorothea Day A Poem by William Henley
Out of the light that dazzles me, Out of the night that covers me,
Bright as the sun from pole to pole, Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank the God I know to be, I thank whatever gods may be
For Christ – the Conqueror of my soul. For my unconquerable soul.
Since His the sway of circumstance, In the fell clutch of circumstance,
I would not wince nor cry aloud. I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the rule which men call chance, Under the bludgeonings of chance,
My head, with joy, is humbly bowed. My head is bloodied, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of sin and tears, Beyond this place of wrath and tears,
That Life with Him and His the Aid, Looms but the horror of the shade,
That, spite the menace of the years, And yet the menace of the years,
Keeps, and will keep me unafraid. Finds and shall find me unafraid.
I have no fear though straight the gate: It matters not how straight the gate,
He cleared from punishment the scroll. How charged with punishments the scroll
Christ is the Master of my fate! I am the master of my fate:
Christ is the Captain of my soul! I am the captain of my soul.
John Piper points out that Timothy McVeigh left behind only one thing: a handwritten copy of Henley’s poem. One wonders whether McVeigh had ever heard of Day’s poem and the hope of the gospel that she not only shared, but celebrated. My prayer for this website is that every page will share and celebrate this great gospel of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
That prayer puts my life into perspective. My name is Jason Meyer and I am the Dean of Chapel and Assistant Professor of New Testament at Louisiana College in Pineville, LA. I am currently serving as the interim pastor at Parkway Baptist Church in Natchez, MS. I have been married for ten years to the love of my life, Cara Meyer. We have two beautiful, precious daughters, Gracie and Allie. We are also in the process of adopting two boys from Ethiopia. The most important thing about me is that I have been conquered as a joyful slave of Christ. I exist to declare the glory of the Master who bought me. May He be forever praised.
Dr. Meyer!
I’ve just found your website here, thanks to a tweet on the SBTS Twitter about your review on Dr. Moore’s book, which I read and enjoyed.
I look forward to reading!
Blessings brother,
-Daniel
Hi Daniel. Thanks for checking it out. I am so glad you are going to Southern. I am thrilled to see how the Lord will continue to sharpen you and use you in His service for His glory.
Jason,
I received your book, The End of the Law. I am already very thankful for it. I begin Romans in a couple of weeks and this will be such a help to me.
I was delighted to see that you had considered my old professor, Carl Hoch’s thought. I think he would have found your book a blessing.
Chris,
Thank you for your kind words. Carl Hoch was one of the few scholars that wrote about the theme of newness and I appreciated his thoughts. Thanking for taking the time to share your thoughts with me. May the Lord bless you as only He can.
Dear Jason,
I’m up to page 135 of your “The End Of The Law” and up this point I’m rejoicing in the fact that God in mercy has moved one of His kids to address the subject head on. We need more writers as yourself who will work towards furthering our understanding of this great and glorious New Covenant.
Thanks a big bunch!
Isaiah 42:6; 49:8
thank you
Moe!
Is you the same Jason C Meyer who went to the SBTS in Louisville, KY and worked at UPS?
Jason, Are you intending to pick where you left off in “The End of the Law” and moving on to consider just how the saints under the New Covenant are to derive their ethic from the “Spirit” given the weight of 2Co 3? Are there any works out there that address this shift? – Thanks again – Moe
Moe, I am planning to do some follow up work on these concepts and try to flesh them out more in practical application. I am under contract for a book with Crossway on preaching and then i hope to turn my attention to a practical theology of the new covenant.
Jason Meyer
Jason,
I’ll be looking forward to reading your take on the practical implications so hurry up and get that other obligation out of the way so you can get down to business. (grin)
If you haven’t read T.J. Dediun’s “New Covenant Morality in Paul” then please give it serious consideration. Though the man has some serious baggage apart from this work his book is worth its weight in gold. http://books.google.com/books?id=WJrzHrKelggC
Another good work to consider is by Dr. Gys Loubser. Here are the links to his book. You’ll find it here in several sections.
http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-05152006-100351/unrestricted/00front.pdf
http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-05152006-100351/unrestricted/01part1.pdf
http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-05152006-100351/unrestricted/02partII.pdf
http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-05152006-100351/unrestricted/03partIII.pdf
http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-05152006-100351/unrestricted/04back.pdf
I hope the work of both authors will serve you well.
In His love,
Moe Bergeron
Moe, I really enjoyed T. J. Deidun’s New Covenant Morality in Paul. I think he is right on the mark many times. I will look at Dr. Loubser’s work. Thank you for the information and the encouragement concerning the practical theology of the new covenant book. I will be sure get down to business as soon as I can!
Jason, I am not finished reading your book just yet, but appreciate much what you have written so far (as well as making it available electronically). Thank you.
I would also agree with Moe that it would be encouraging to see you embark on an effort to write about the nature and source of ethic (basically lawfullness) in the NC if it is not from codes. We’re told that the NC ethic is ‘be perfect as the heavenly father is perfect’, and that seems to infinitely exceed any ethic shadowed in the OC Law.
There seems to be very little, if any, scholarly work that fleshes this out with regard to Isaiah’s reference to the Suffering Servant (Christ) himself being given as a New Covenant for the people. (Isa 42:6,49:8) It would seem that much fruit could come from examining how Christ as Incarnate Covenant might relate to and shed light on our understanding of a)His people becoming actually perfect as the Heavenly Father, b) His purpose to ‘fulfill’ such perfection in us, c) the Promise having always been God putting His own Spirit within us to cause us to walk in His ways (Ezek 36 etc), and d) whatever the ‘Law of Christ’ is.
In other words, If Christ IS our Covenant, AND He fully manifests The Father’s perfection, AND the Promise referenced in ‘Children of the Promise’ is God’s Spirit indwelling them, AND we are indwelled by Christ Himself, AND the purpose of Spirit indwelling is causing us to walk in his ways (Ezek 36), AND the mystery now revealed is ‘Christ IN us’ (Col 1:26-7), AND we are circumcised and serve by Spirit as opposed to Letter/codes (Rom 2:29,7:6), AND the letter of Christ is written on hearts with Spirit rather than on Stone or with Ink (2 Cor 3:3), AND the NC is of the Spirit not the Letter (2 Cor 3:6), AND the ministry of righteousness (lawfullness) is a ministry of the Spirit abounding in so much glory it renders the ministry of the Letter (Law code) without glory by comparison (2 Cor 3:8-10),
What then IS the Law of Christ within this incarnate NC?
Food for thought brother.
In His Grace – Steve
Steve,
Thanks for your comment. You have obviously given these issues considerable thought! I agree that there is not much scholarly work on practical aspects concerning this topic. I have some preliminary “soundings” for practical application in the last chapter that I want to develop further. Maybe once you read the last chapter you can give me some feedback. It would help me begin to come to grips with where I need to go from here. Thanks again.
I’d be delighted to. Now, I just need to finish reading….
Keep up the good work, for as Paul says: “Your work in the Lord is never in vain.”
Jason,
I have a question that I’m hoping is acceptable to ask here, but if you’d prefer an alternate avenue, please let me know.
At the end of Ch 1 you make the comment: “Rom 9:32 appears to affirm that the law would lead to Christ if they pursued it by faith and not by works.”
Clearly Paul elsewhere points out that the law and prophets pointed to/lead us to Christ, but is that what he’s saying about the law in this context?
The previous verse and this one discuss the pursuit or lacking pursuit of righteousness/legal righteousness (which was promised btw). The Gentiles arrived at it and Israel did not. It doesn’t seem to me to say in this verse that the Law would have lead them to Christ if they had pursued the law by faith, but that if they had pursued legal righteousness by faith in the coming Messiah they would have arrived at the promised legal righteousness.
In other words, Christ would have gotten them there, not that the law would have gotten them to Christ.
The law already pointed to Him, but they didn’t see Him bc they were focused on becoming righteous by practicing righteousness rather than by trusting He would make them righteous.
In pursuing righteousness via practicing it they not only failed to become righteous, but they didn’t even see the source and cause of their promised righteousness right in front of them, and they tripped over him – Christ – the stumbling stone.
So then, is ‘pursuing legal righteousness by faith’:
a) pursuing righteousness via the Christ, or
b) a means of finding the Christ?
Am I wrong that the Rom 9 context seems to indicate a) rather than b)?
Sincerely in Grace brother,
Steve
Steve,
I have a lengthy discussion of this text on pages 210-216. See if that discussion answers your question about why I read that the text the way that I do. I think I used to read it the way that you do until I did that study. I would love to follow up with you on this issue. thanks for the question!
Jason, Would it be possible to have a real telephone chat with you?