One of the greatest and most damning lies today is how we evangelize the lost. We must not simply come up to people and ask them if they have accepted Jesus into their hearts! For what Jesus did they accept: the Hindu Jesus, the Buddhist Jesus, the Muslim Jesus, the Mormon Jesus, the Jehovah's Witness Jesus, the Evolutionist Jesus, or some other false god that enslaves men?
On the contrary, let us proclaim to men everywhere to repent of their sin and cast themselves upon the mercies of Jesus Christ the Son of the Living God, Who is King of kings and LORD of lords, and what He did on the cross for wretched sinners!
God is Holy, Holy, Holy! He is not an idol forged by the wicked hearts of men! Amen! Father, forgive us when we preach a gospel that caters to the sinful flesh, for that is no gospel at all! God does not compete against the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life; He is God Almighty and not a creation of man! Amen!
When men ask us how to be saved, we must tell them to repent, which is to turn from sin, and turn to Christ putting all of their trust in Him alone for salvation! When asked if someone is a Christian, many people say they are Christians because they said a sincere prayer a long time ago asking Jesus into their heart and then got baptized, yet they live like devils who chase after the vanities and myriads of idols of the world! That is not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, and Father forgive us if we ever believe and preach such lies as that, lest we breed wolves who seek to destroy the sheep of God! O God, strike us down if we tell such lies! Amen!
When a man wants to know how he can be sure he is saved, we must do as Paul declared to Corinthians. We are to examine ourselves and see that we are in the faith lest we not be in the faith! A true believer will bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit as is written in Galatians 5:22, and those that see no fruit in their lives don't know God and shall be gathered and cast into the everlasting fire of eternal Hell!
We as mere men cannot declare a man to be saved, for only the Holy God of all creation knows the heart. All we can do is command men to repent as God has said in His Word and then tell them to examine their lives. A true believer loves God and hates his sin! A true believer, though he struggles and wars against the sinful flesh, wants Christ and nothing else! Amen!
I want Christ and to know Him more everyday! He who saved me from my sin and made me into a new creature is worthy of all my praise and worship and nothing else!
To Him be glory! Amen!
Showing posts with label Doctrines of Grace. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Doctrines of Grace. Show all posts
Monday, July 5, 2010
Monday, April 12, 2010
Faith: What does that mean?
Faith is the assurance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen (Heb 11). What then does that entail? Contrary to popular opinion, faith in Christ is not a blind leap into oblvion, which is like a 'hope for the best' kind of theology. On the contrary, this assurance is based on a historical event, and that event is Christ's bodily resurrection from the dead. What was not seen from of old, as detailed in Heb 11, was how God was going to make good on His promise to the woman in the Garden of Eden. It was not until Christ came, died, and raised from the dead that what was once concealed became revealed. Even so, those who are not eyewitnesses (like us who live well beyond that era) trust those who were eyewitnesses. We trust their accounts of the fulfillment of One who was to come and that Christ will make good on His promises to raise us as He has been raised.
Therefore, our faith in Christ today is based on the fact that we trust Christ at His Word that He will make good on His promise to raise us from the dead (that is those who trust in Him). This is why His resurrection from the dead is so critical and thus is so vehemently attacked. Just as He made good on His promise to rise from the dead on the third day, we have no reason not to take Him at His Word in future promises. For this reason, our faith in Him is assured because though we (being those who have lived past that era) have not seen Him, we believe/trust/have faith in Him because He made good on His promises. This then gets into the reliability of the text itself
The crediblity of the NT text is magnfied in the transformed lives of the Apostles who were able to testify to His resurrection and thus document that He made good on His promise to rise from the dead because they were eyewitnesses. They cowered in fear until they saw Him raised; it was then that their courage was renewed and had no reason to doubt His ability to them raise them from the dead and fulfill all which He declared.
The next fundamental issue is then how one becomes empowered to accept the Scriptures that document His Resurrection as being reliable. Obviously, many refuse to do this, so they fabricate other reasons to explain Christianity, etc. However, when one does that one then faces an incredible burden of proof in explaining why Christ was crucified, the fact that even his opposers never denied his miracles (except the resurrection) only the power by which He did them, that He raise from the dead and was seen by many, the incredible growth of the early Church, etc.
It is important to point out that the burden of proof is on the person who wants to reject the claims in the same way that one is innocent until proven guilty (otherise any claim about even the most mundane thing is suspect thus skepticism--which men claim but don't actually live out). For example, one can deny the resurrection, but, if one is going to be intellecutally honest, then one has to explain the immediate and tremendous growth of the Church itself in a cogent and coherent way. If that is denied, then one has to deny extrabiblical texts that attest to this also. To then denies these as well leads to further and further denial until any and all texts on any matter are shown to be unreliable and dubious.
This puts the assailant between a rock and a hard place. If he accepts the NT accounts and the resurrection documented therein, then he is commanded to repent and trust in Christ, something He does not want to do. On the other hand, if he rejects the text and ends up rejecting the reliablity of all human texts as explained above, then he is forced into a position whereby He must reach into absurdity to even accept that George Washington was a real man and that he was the First President of the United States. If he decides to reach into absurdity so as to 'cope' and not end up as mental patient in the local insane ward, then his position is exposed as extremely shaky and unsubstantiated. One then either repents, ends up as a patient in an insane ward, or reaches into the absurd so as to 'cope' but all the while realizing the extreme foolishness that one must take to deny the Resurrection from the Dead.
The desire to reach into the absurd is the Post-modern answer, and this magnfies the depravity of man, for He will willingly submit to that which is absurd before repenting before a Holy God. The truth is that he states he is reaching for abusrdity, but what He is really doing is stealing from Biblical Christianity under a disguise of 'absurdity' in order to justify his suppressing the truth in unrighteousness. This is demonstrated by the fact that he wants his position to be accurately represented, but this cannot be done if rationality cannot be undergirded. He is boxed in and his position is shown self-destructive. This is why his presuppositional bias must be exposed.
For this reason, the Holy Spirit (Jn 3) must change a man's heart so as to empower him to receive the Bible as authoritative and be set free of all this madness. Only by the Agency of God Almighty will a man ever submit to Him as He has commanded in His Word.
Glory to Him Who sets men free when He was certainly not obligated to do so! Faith in Christ then is far from absurd; on the contrary, denial of Him leads to absurdity! Amen!
Therefore, our faith in Christ today is based on the fact that we trust Christ at His Word that He will make good on His promise to raise us from the dead (that is those who trust in Him). This is why His resurrection from the dead is so critical and thus is so vehemently attacked. Just as He made good on His promise to rise from the dead on the third day, we have no reason not to take Him at His Word in future promises. For this reason, our faith in Him is assured because though we (being those who have lived past that era) have not seen Him, we believe/trust/have faith in Him because He made good on His promises. This then gets into the reliability of the text itself
The crediblity of the NT text is magnfied in the transformed lives of the Apostles who were able to testify to His resurrection and thus document that He made good on His promise to rise from the dead because they were eyewitnesses. They cowered in fear until they saw Him raised; it was then that their courage was renewed and had no reason to doubt His ability to them raise them from the dead and fulfill all which He declared.
The next fundamental issue is then how one becomes empowered to accept the Scriptures that document His Resurrection as being reliable. Obviously, many refuse to do this, so they fabricate other reasons to explain Christianity, etc. However, when one does that one then faces an incredible burden of proof in explaining why Christ was crucified, the fact that even his opposers never denied his miracles (except the resurrection) only the power by which He did them, that He raise from the dead and was seen by many, the incredible growth of the early Church, etc.
It is important to point out that the burden of proof is on the person who wants to reject the claims in the same way that one is innocent until proven guilty (otherise any claim about even the most mundane thing is suspect thus skepticism--which men claim but don't actually live out). For example, one can deny the resurrection, but, if one is going to be intellecutally honest, then one has to explain the immediate and tremendous growth of the Church itself in a cogent and coherent way. If that is denied, then one has to deny extrabiblical texts that attest to this also. To then denies these as well leads to further and further denial until any and all texts on any matter are shown to be unreliable and dubious.
This puts the assailant between a rock and a hard place. If he accepts the NT accounts and the resurrection documented therein, then he is commanded to repent and trust in Christ, something He does not want to do. On the other hand, if he rejects the text and ends up rejecting the reliablity of all human texts as explained above, then he is forced into a position whereby He must reach into absurdity to even accept that George Washington was a real man and that he was the First President of the United States. If he decides to reach into absurdity so as to 'cope' and not end up as mental patient in the local insane ward, then his position is exposed as extremely shaky and unsubstantiated. One then either repents, ends up as a patient in an insane ward, or reaches into the absurd so as to 'cope' but all the while realizing the extreme foolishness that one must take to deny the Resurrection from the Dead.
The desire to reach into the absurd is the Post-modern answer, and this magnfies the depravity of man, for He will willingly submit to that which is absurd before repenting before a Holy God. The truth is that he states he is reaching for abusrdity, but what He is really doing is stealing from Biblical Christianity under a disguise of 'absurdity' in order to justify his suppressing the truth in unrighteousness. This is demonstrated by the fact that he wants his position to be accurately represented, but this cannot be done if rationality cannot be undergirded. He is boxed in and his position is shown self-destructive. This is why his presuppositional bias must be exposed.
For this reason, the Holy Spirit (Jn 3) must change a man's heart so as to empower him to receive the Bible as authoritative and be set free of all this madness. Only by the Agency of God Almighty will a man ever submit to Him as He has commanded in His Word.
Glory to Him Who sets men free when He was certainly not obligated to do so! Faith in Christ then is far from absurd; on the contrary, denial of Him leads to absurdity! Amen!
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Exposition Thursdays: 1 Peter The 24/7 Christian--1 Peter 1:1-2
1Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,To those who are elect exiles of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you. (ESV)
Peter is writing to a persecuted Chruch through Asia minor--the area we call modern day Turkey. Like all of Scripture, this is not written in a vacuum; on the contrary, these Christian believers are suffering and even dying for the faith.
In stating who he is, the recipient can know that the message is authoritative because it comes from Peter, who is and Apostle of Christ. Notice that the Greek word reguarlarly translated as 'Church' is used next as 'elect'. This is not insignficant and is usually passed over. Church means 'called out ones', 'elect ones', or 'chosen ones'. These Christians are 'the called out ones' or 'the elect ones'. This kind of language would have immediately brough comfort as it still ought to today because, in being chosen/called, the believer knows that He is secure in Christ.
After listing the specific regions his letter is to go to, Peter continues with a glorious Trinitarian passage that is loaded with eternal significance and comfort. He then concisely explains how they were chosen, sanctified, and justified. It is according to the Foreknowledge of God the Father, the Sanctifying Work of the Spirit, and the Sprinkling of the Blood of Christ.
First of all, this foreknowledge is not foreseen faith; rather this is forelove, which is the same verb used in 1 Peter 1:20 regarding the foreknowledge of Christ. This knowledge is of intimacy and not mere data; otherwise the passage in 1 Peter 1:20 about Christ makes no sense. In light of this, one can see how comforting it is to be chosen by God; because it was not by my strength that I chose Him neither shall it be through my weakness that I will lose Him.
Secondly, The sanctifying work of the Spirit is how they were changed from death to life, and now each day they are made into the likeness of Christ as we are empowered to be obedient to Christ. This in particular ushers in a spirit of endurance and joy because the old self is being crucified as its vanities are being put off day by day. Oh that the Christian might relish in the freedom we have in Christ, for now we are free to do what we were created to do: worship God in spirit and in truth!
Thirdly, by the sprinkling of the blood of Christ (remember how Moses sprinkled the people, which was a foreshadow of Christ), they were justified before a Holy God! Christ did not merely make his sheep saveable; on the contrary, he declared them not guilty and saved them on the cross, and not one shall be lost! Amen!
Now in light of all that Peter has said, this grace and peace that He commends to them from the Lord is not some cheezy greeting; rather, this grace and peace is what they need and are longing for in the midst of heavy persecution and difficulty. Let us abide in this same grace and peace.
Peter is writing to a persecuted Chruch through Asia minor--the area we call modern day Turkey. Like all of Scripture, this is not written in a vacuum; on the contrary, these Christian believers are suffering and even dying for the faith.
In stating who he is, the recipient can know that the message is authoritative because it comes from Peter, who is and Apostle of Christ. Notice that the Greek word reguarlarly translated as 'Church' is used next as 'elect'. This is not insignficant and is usually passed over. Church means 'called out ones', 'elect ones', or 'chosen ones'. These Christians are 'the called out ones' or 'the elect ones'. This kind of language would have immediately brough comfort as it still ought to today because, in being chosen/called, the believer knows that He is secure in Christ.
After listing the specific regions his letter is to go to, Peter continues with a glorious Trinitarian passage that is loaded with eternal significance and comfort. He then concisely explains how they were chosen, sanctified, and justified. It is according to the Foreknowledge of God the Father, the Sanctifying Work of the Spirit, and the Sprinkling of the Blood of Christ.
First of all, this foreknowledge is not foreseen faith; rather this is forelove, which is the same verb used in 1 Peter 1:20 regarding the foreknowledge of Christ. This knowledge is of intimacy and not mere data; otherwise the passage in 1 Peter 1:20 about Christ makes no sense. In light of this, one can see how comforting it is to be chosen by God; because it was not by my strength that I chose Him neither shall it be through my weakness that I will lose Him.
Secondly, The sanctifying work of the Spirit is how they were changed from death to life, and now each day they are made into the likeness of Christ as we are empowered to be obedient to Christ. This in particular ushers in a spirit of endurance and joy because the old self is being crucified as its vanities are being put off day by day. Oh that the Christian might relish in the freedom we have in Christ, for now we are free to do what we were created to do: worship God in spirit and in truth!
Thirdly, by the sprinkling of the blood of Christ (remember how Moses sprinkled the people, which was a foreshadow of Christ), they were justified before a Holy God! Christ did not merely make his sheep saveable; on the contrary, he declared them not guilty and saved them on the cross, and not one shall be lost! Amen!
Now in light of all that Peter has said, this grace and peace that He commends to them from the Lord is not some cheezy greeting; rather, this grace and peace is what they need and are longing for in the midst of heavy persecution and difficulty. Let us abide in this same grace and peace.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Monday, January 25, 2010
Blind Eyes and Hard Hearts
The Spirit alone opens the eyes and softens the hearts. In an unregenerate state, man will always grasp for the realm of the absurd to substantiate reality, yet his concsience bears witness that God alone can do this. The latter is hard to accept in an unregenerate state because it requires submission, the very thing the hard heart detests.
Therefore, let us rejoice when anyone comes to know the Lord! It is truly impossible without the work of the Spirit regenerating the heart (John 3). With this in mind, as beleivers let us not become bitter cynics when our circumstances become difficult, for freedom in Christ will always surpass the trials we face in this life.
To Him be the glory! Amen!
Therefore, let us rejoice when anyone comes to know the Lord! It is truly impossible without the work of the Spirit regenerating the heart (John 3). With this in mind, as beleivers let us not become bitter cynics when our circumstances become difficult, for freedom in Christ will always surpass the trials we face in this life.
To Him be the glory! Amen!
Friday, April 17, 2009
Perseverance of the Saints
"13 In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation--having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of His glory." (Eph 2:13-14). Those who are in Christ cannot lose their salvation as this text is very clear to point out. Another well known passage is in John 10:28-29 where Christ declares that none can snatch us out of His hand nor the Father's hand. This is not because of our work but because of what God has done through Christ, for we did not choose Him but He chose us, that is His sheep.
In light of these marvelous passages, some have hijacked and distorted this great doctrine. This does not mean that someone can make a flippant confession of faith and then totally dismiss the commands of Christ. Truly, a changed born-again heart will be made evident by a transformed life. Those who have the Spirit of God indwelling them will bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Gal 5:22-23). Some will bear more fruit than others (Matt 13:23), but all believers will bear fruit. Not only will His sheep bear fruit, but they also despise their sin. Christ came to set men free from the power of sin and death (Rom 6), and He is not merely Hell insurance. He came to empower men to do what they were created to do, and that is to worship God in spirit and in truth (Jn 4:24). When that is understood rightly, then any notions of flippant confessions without true heart change are thrown out the window! Amen!
To know that we are sealed by the Spirit and empowered by Him to live a godly life is without doubt one of the greatest assurances a believer can ever have. Oh what grace God has shown to His Elect! "Unworthy! Unworthy!" we cry out. God was not obligated to bestow such blessings upon anyone, yet by His grace He has poured out such unending grace to mere men. We are so vile compared to Him, yet we who believe in Christ, "He who was delivered over because of our transgressions and was raised because of our justification," (Rom 4:25) are set free from this bondage to sin and death! Amen!
In light of these marvelous passages, some have hijacked and distorted this great doctrine. This does not mean that someone can make a flippant confession of faith and then totally dismiss the commands of Christ. Truly, a changed born-again heart will be made evident by a transformed life. Those who have the Spirit of God indwelling them will bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Gal 5:22-23). Some will bear more fruit than others (Matt 13:23), but all believers will bear fruit. Not only will His sheep bear fruit, but they also despise their sin. Christ came to set men free from the power of sin and death (Rom 6), and He is not merely Hell insurance. He came to empower men to do what they were created to do, and that is to worship God in spirit and in truth (Jn 4:24). When that is understood rightly, then any notions of flippant confessions without true heart change are thrown out the window! Amen!
To know that we are sealed by the Spirit and empowered by Him to live a godly life is without doubt one of the greatest assurances a believer can ever have. Oh what grace God has shown to His Elect! "Unworthy! Unworthy!" we cry out. God was not obligated to bestow such blessings upon anyone, yet by His grace He has poured out such unending grace to mere men. We are so vile compared to Him, yet we who believe in Christ, "He who was delivered over because of our transgressions and was raised because of our justification," (Rom 4:25) are set free from this bondage to sin and death! Amen!
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Irresistible Grace
What do we mean by irresistible grace? This needs to be qualified. Men reject the grace of God all the time. Those who are set on the flesh are hostile to God, and such men are not even able to submit to the Law of God (Rom 8:5-8), so it is very clear that men do resist God's grace. One must remember that men reject the grace of God because they are blind to the gospel and are dead in trespasses and sins (Eph 2:1). Men inherently desire sin and are not seeking after God (Rom 3:11). For this reason, God must intervene; otherwise, men will never seek God, much less be saved.
In the context of speaking to His disciples, Christ is explicit in that they did not choose Him, but rather He chose them, and He did so in order that they would bear fruit for God; even more so, He made this statement after Judas left to betray Him, so Judas is not considered among the chosen sheep of God (Jn 15:16). Remember, Satan entered Judas (Lk 22:3), and Satan desired to sift Peter like wheat, yet Jesus prayed for Peter (Lk 22:31). Jesus prayed for Peter because he was His sheep and not because there was something better about Peter than Judas. If this does not speak of God's Sovereignty in Election, then one is totally denying the plain teaching of Christ here. Therefore, we can say dogmatically that God chooses, and none resist His will (Rom 9:19).
When the eyes of men are opened to believe the gospel, this is not done through kicking and screaming. May it never be! Amen! On the contrary, when a man is born of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit gives the man power to repent and put his faith in Christ because such a man, for the first time, now possesses both the desire and will to repent (Jn 3:3-8). The man whose eyes have been opened by the Holy Spirit is confronted with an incredible conviction of sin as he sees clearly, for the first time, just how wretched of a man he is against the infinite backdrop of God's Perfect Holiness. This grace is then irresistible because the man now no longer attempts to justify himself based on his own vile self-righteousness (Is 64:6). Rather, he weeps at His sin and flees to Christ. The Apostle Paul is a vivid illustration of this in Act 9:1-19. Paul went from an incessant desire to kill Christians to fleeing to Christ for salvation! The Spirit made Paul born anew by the will of God, and the same thing happens to each of God's sheep, though not necessarily in the same fashion as Paul (i.e. a visible bright light and such).
Let us be thankful for such irresistible grace when our eyes were opened by the Spirit of God. When a man's eyes are opened to the light of the gospel, he is never the same again; he is changed forever as he now despises his sin and hungers and thirsts for righteousness (Matt 5:6). To Him be the glory forever! Amen!
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Limited Atonement
What did Christ accomplish on the Cross? Was anyone actually saved on the cross, or were sinners just made savable if they could just conjure up enough strength on their own to believe in Christ? Man has a will, yet it was corrupted at the fall and seeks only evil. Man is dead in his trespasses and sins (Eph 2:1), and thus cannot choose good. No one is righteous and none are seeking God in the first place (Rom 3:10-18), and the mind set on the flesh is hostile towards God, for it does not subject itself to the Law of God, for it is not even able to do so (Romans 8:5-8). Man has a will, it's just literally hell bent in rebellion and incapable of doing good, and the greatest good is choosing Christ, of which no man can do in an unregenerate state. Man must be born again in order to repent, which is accomplished by the Spirit (John 3:5-8). Therefore, man is not born again because he repents; rather, He repents because He is born again by the Spirit.
Christ specifically laid down His life for His sheep (John 10:15-17), and in what has been called The High Priestly Prayer, Christ prayed on behalf of the sheep, and not the world (Jn 17:9)! That is a powerful statement, that this present Christian era has either overlooked because of ignorance or willfully ignored in rebellion! Amen! Oh how I love that text! Christ charged to the cross with great power and Divine will, so that He might save His beloved sheep which the Father gave to Him! "It is finished!" he cried out (Jn 19:30). The penalty for sin has been paid indeed, and the sheep were justified on the cross. They have been declared not-guilty solely by God's grace alone, so that none should boast (Eph 2:8-10). The Father chose, the Son died, and the Spirit brings life to the sheep.
To those who would declare that the doctrine of limited atonement to be heretical, I boldly declare that it is their position of universal atonement that is devastating because it only made sinners savable. Man is then left to his own flesh to choose God, of which none would choose Him because it is God who seeks us and not the other way around (Jn 15:16). Even more so, if Christ atoned for everyone, then the goats and wolves should make it in as well because unbelief is just as much a sin as anything else. This leads to universal salvation, which is totally opposed by the Scripture, and is blasphemous, for the impenitent shall surely be cast into everlasting Hell. He is just and will never wink at sin! Amen!
Ultimately then, everyone limits the atonement. One either limits its extent or its power. There is nothing unjust about Christ dying for the sheep alone! It is by His grace that He even died for them! God is Sovereign, and He does as He pleases, for He moves the hearts of kings wherever He pleases (Prov 21:1). "But our God is in the heavens, He does whatever He pleases." (Ps115:3) He has chosen to die for the sheep and save sinners from all tribes, nations, and tongues, not from Jews only but Gentiles also. That was His prerogative to die for the sheep alone! He was surely not obligated to do that in the least! Amen! Who are we to answer back to God and charge Him? (Rom 9) Have we lost the fear of God so much that we treat Him with disdain and arrogance acting as though He owes us something when what we really deserve is everlasting damnation?!
Rather, let us bow down before Him in absolute worship! Thank you O Lord, that we who are your sheep were justified on the cross. You did not merely make us savable, but you accomplished salvation for us as you took the wrath of God bearing the penalty due us! Wretch that I am, yet I am saved by Christ alone in an act of unprecedented power and grace! Unworthy, unworthy I cry out! May all my love be set upon Him who died in my place to give me eternal life to His Glory! Amen! Amen!
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Unconditional Election
Throughout the Scripture, God shows special grace to both Jews and Gentiles. Abraham, among many others were sinners as all the rest, yet God chose to make a great nation out of Abraham through which the Messiah would come. Not only did a great nation come from Abraham, but all the nations are blessed through His Seed, which is Jesus Christ. Abraham lived by faith and so did all of the others in the Hebrews 11 "Faith Hall of Fame". So then, was this because God knew facts about Abraham in that God knew Abraham was going to choose God? This is the predominant theme in evangelical life today, but that was not the case during and after the Reformation, of which much of that was reclaiming sound doctrines taught before the advent of the Roman Catholic Church.
Scripture explicitly states that believers were chosen based solely on grace before the foundation of the world (Eph 1) and not based on foreseen faith. Foreseen faith was taught because there was and is an incessant desire to preserve 'free-will'. Man does have a free-will, but he only exercises that according to his nature, which is rebellion, for all people are considered children of wrath until the Spirit moves upon the hearts of the saints of God (Eph 2:1-3). This work is impossible for man because man would never choose God because He does not desire God. Romans 3 clearly states that none are righteous and none are seeking God. To the carnal mind, we think it is unfair that God would choose some and harden the rest (Rom 11:7), yet who are we, the thing molded, to answer back to the One who molded us (Rom 9:14-24). God sets eternal destinies, and the sinful flesh abhors that because we want control, yet it is God who has overriding authority and not us. "The king's heart is like channels of water in the hand of the LORD; He turns it wherever He wishes." (Prov 21:1)
The critical texts to look at are in 1 Peter 1:20 and Romans 8:29 with the word 'foreknowledge' being the focus of the controversy. 1 Peter 1:20, speaks of Christ being foreknown before the foundation of the world. To say that this is speaking of facts about a decision the Son was going to make about the Father is absurd obviously. Rather, it is speaking of the eternal covenant love that the Father gives to the Son. This is the same word used in Romans 8:29 when speaking of believers in Christ. Foreknowledge is clearly meant to be taken as covenant love and not merely facts about something that will come to pass in the future. Throughout the Old and New Testaments, there are many occasions where God knew Israel or where a man knew his wife. This 'knowing' has do with intimate love and not merely facts.
This is quite humiliating to sinful man because it gives him no room to boast, and especially not in salvation (Eph 2:8-10). Life, especially and including salvation, is all grace. We like to think that we are in control of our destiny, yet it is God who is in absolute control, and apart from His electing grace, none would enter the Kingdom of Heaven. This seems so unfair to us at first, yet the fair thing for God to do is to elect no one and condemn all, yet the fact that He elected anyone is solely by grace alone. In doing that, He receives all the glory. People come into this world dead in trespasses and sins (Eph 2:1) thus spiritually dead. There are none out there trying to find God apart from the Spirit breathing new life into someone, which is how men are 'born again'. Men are born again and then are able to exercise faith in Christ by the will of God and not the will of the flesh (John 3:5-8). It is quite true that God commands all to repentance and whosoever would believe will be saved. However, the hardness of man's heart and his rebellion against the Lord magnifies the need for God's grace to save sinners, of whom I am chief.
Because it is all of grace, why then do we evangelize? That is because God ordains both the ends and the means, and the means is through weak men to spread the good news to all tribes, nations, and tongues, for the elect are from all over the map. Actually, the word Church is derived from the Greek word meaning 'called out ones'. Believers are called sheep, elect, saints, and other such terms. All of these terms carry the meaning of a special love that God has given to believers in Christ by grace alone! This is totally humiliating, and so Christians ought to be the most humble people, for apart from His grace all of us would be bound for Hell! Oh what grace He has shown to us! Amen!
I am first and foremost unworthy to be called a saint of God, yet He has chosen me by His grace to bring His good news to the nations. Oh what joy that is! May we thank Him each day as we meditate upon His goodness upon those who know Him and have been known by Him from before the foundation of the world! Amen!
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Total Depravity
"And you were dead in your trespasses and sins," (Eph 2:1) This verse, among many others, magnifies the devastating consequences of sin in the Garden of Eden. Man in this life is not as bad as he could be, for God does restrain evil all the time, yet this verse does reflect our inability to choose God apart from Sovreign Grace.
The problem is that an unregenerate man seeks only sin, and never seeks God on his own. He is given wholly to his sin and has erected idols in the place of worshipping God (Rom 1:22-25). Even more so, "... the mind set on the flesh is death ... because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God." (Rom 8:6-8) In an unregenerate state, none are seeking God (Rom 3:11), and this fact asserts just how polluted man is. The straw-man scenario that there are people out there searching for God and just can't find Him is simply not true. In the same way, the other straw-man scenario that people are searching for God and He just won't show Himself to them because they are being "... prepared for destruction?" (Rom 9:22) is just as foolish. Truly, none are seeking God apart from the work of the Holy Spirit.
The reality of physical death existing all around us reflects the spiritual death that is already within those who do not know Christ, as was once the condition of we who now believe. Nevertheless, with God all things are possible! Amen! God in His great power breathes life into 'dead men walking' (the status of the non-believing one could say), empowering them to believe the gospel. What great glory this is, and may we who have been born again by the Spirit of God rejoice! (Jn 3:8) I say rejoice! To Him alone be the glory alone for such an awesome act of Loving Grace! Amen!
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