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!

Bible Study: Romans 3:27-31

Romans 3:27-31 Boasting In God Alone: The Law of Faith

Vanity of Boasting in Works (3:27-28)

• Paul anticipates the question about boasting in good works and assertively rejects any such misconceptions about the gospel. (3:27a)
  
• Boasting is excluded because it is not by a law of works that a man is saved but only by the law of faith in Jesus Christ. In this way, God is made the both the Just and the Justifier to His glory and not to man (3:27b).
  
• Paul maintains that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the Law because all have fallen short of the glory of God. (3:28)
  

One God Who Justifies both Jews & Gentiles by Faith (3:29-30)

• In order to quell any ideas about there being two different gods who govern Jews and Gentiles or even One God who operates differently between the two, Paul brings up an important anticipated question regarding the this reality. (3:29a)
  
• Paul then dogmatically states that the One True God is the God of both Jews and Gentiles. (3:29b)
  
• Not only is there One God over all, but He justifies both by faith--(the different prepositions here do not connote a difference in how they are justified, by vs through; rather, it is just another way of saying the same thing--William MacDonald Believer’s Bible Commentary, 1995, p1691).  Both are just as sinful as the other and stand condemned without Christ. (3:30)
  

Law Established Through Faith (3:31)

• Paul now brings up the anticipated question about the value of the Law.  Some would try to charge the gospel as nullifying the Law if it is all of faith. (3:31a)
  
• Paul emphatically declares that by faith the Law is established. The purpose of the Law was to magnify man’s sin against the backdrop of God’s Holiness. (3:31b) This then immediately leads man to the need for salvation outside of himself which comes By God’s Grace Through Faith In Jesus Christ Alone. (Eph 2:8-9) 
  
• We must be thankful for the Law, for it leads us to Christ, and Christ takes the burden that we could not bear on our own. (Matt 11:28-20)  
  
• Because He takes the burden that we could not, He therefore deserves all the glory that we do not!  Praise Him that we are not left in sin!  Amen!
  

ESL Tonight

The ESL was quite interesting tonight. We had abut 30 people again with over half being from Nepal!   We pray for the Nepalese as most are probably here as refugees, and they have probably heard little or no gospel, so we have a tremendous opportunity with them.  As the numbers from this people group have increased in our ESL, we are at a crossroads regarding strategy, so we welcome all prayers and suggestions in this.  

There were less Latinos tonight, though the same ones who were there originally in the first two weeks have been consistent in coming. I do intend on, Lord willing, beginning the Intermediate class next week, so that should help regarding the Latinos interested.  I have had to slow things down the last couple of weeks because of the large number of Nepalese, so, hopefully, an intermediate class will help to prevent the Hispanics from dropping out.

The Bible study was a bit nil tonight, but we are still pressing on.  Ultimately, the Lord is sovereign in all of this, and the Lord will open hearts as he sees fit.  "So then He has mercy on whom He desires and He hardens whom He desires." (Romans 9:18)  That's a tough verse to stomach, but He is in control of all things and does as He sees fit according to His purpose (Romans 9:11).  We must submit to His authority and Divine will in all things.  May He be praised and not us!  "For from Him and through Him to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever! Amen." (Rom 11:36)

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!

Children, Anxiety, & Idolatry

In Matthew 6:25-34, Jesus Commands us not to worry.  "25For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26"Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? 27"And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? 28"And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, 29yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. 30"But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! 31"Do not worry then, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear for clothing?' 32"For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33"But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34"So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

As a father, I am especially prone to have anxiety over my children, which is sin.  They are a bit sick at the moment, and we've had to take both to the doctor and one to the ER in the last few days.  We live in a fallen world, and calamity is going to occur.  Our love for our children can easily become idolatrous, which is why anxiety sets us.  Because we can set our love for them above our love for God, we do everything we can do preserve this idol.  However, our children are not our own, and, is not God more grieved at this fallen world than we are?

Sometimes we think that God is apathetic to our calamaties, yet Christ experienced such things on a regular basis.  He was grieved over the death of Lazarus and the effects of sin in a fallen world.  Because the world is fallen, Lazarus, would taste death (twice actually), and Christ wept over the calamity that sin had brought into the world since Adam, even though He was about to raise Lazarus from the dead! 

In Romans, 8:28-30, we read "28And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. 29For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; 30and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified."  God is not going to forsake His beloved sheep, and when we experience hardship, He is not vindictive against us.  He does discipline us when we need it, but He does not hate His sheep.  He is the Good Shepherd, and laid down His life for the sheep (Jn 10:11-18).  

He not only loves His sheep, which don't deserve it, but He is also in absolute control of all things.  Even the hearts of kings are ultimately subjected to His divine will. Proverbs 21:1 states,"The king's heart is like channels of water in the hand of the LORD; He turns it wherever He wishes."  God is Sovereign in all things, and we must rest in that.  We are commanded to do so, and we reflect that from the heart when we are not anxious.  God is God, and we rest in Him.

Therefore, we humbly bow before the Risen Christ, and submit to the will of our Triune God! Amen!  Anxiety stems from our desire to be in control, and that control stems from pride, and where pride is, the burden is immense.  Let us give Him the burden that we can't handle and thus the glory that we don't deserve.  He reigns, and we rest in Him! Praise Him who is in control of all things! To Him be the glory forever! Amen!