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!

Bible Study: Romans 3:21-26

Romans 3:21-26 The Just & The Justifier Through Faith

I. The Righteousness of God Manifested (3:21-22a)

• Besides the purity of the Law, His righteousness is also shown apart from the righteousness required in the Law. Truly, the Law is righteous, but only Christ satisfied the Law’s Requirement. (3:21a)
  
• The way in which the Law and the Prophets testify to God’s righteousness is through the prophecies contained in them about Christ and the need for Christ. The Law & the Prophets magnify sin against the backdrop of God’s Holiness and thus declare the absolute demand for salvation apart from a works based righteousness. They are a foreshadow of God’s Revelation in Christ.  (3:21b)
  
• Ultimately, God’s Righteousness is made manifested in the Life, Death, Burial, Resurrection, and Ascension of Jesus Christ.  It is through faith in Him alone that a man is made righteous before God.  He is the One that all of Divine Scripture pours into and out of. (3:22a)
  

II. All Under Sin & Need Justification by Grace in Christ Alone (3:22b-25a)

• There is no distinction, for both Jew and Gentile are all under sin and thus fall short of the glory of God.  Paul is reemphasizing what He has already laid in verses prior when He quoted the Old Testament at length. (3:22b-23)
  
• Therefore, there is the need to by justified in Christ because He satisfied the requirement of the Law (Rom 8:4).  This gift of redemption through Christ alone is solely by the Grace, and none can boast because of this (Eph 2:8-10). (3:24)
  
• Christ was displayed publicly, so that the righteousness of God would be clearly shown in the propitiatory sacrifice of Christ.  Propitiation is a key word here because it indicates that Christ paid the penalty for sin by taking the wrath of God.  God’s righteousness was satisfied on the cross because Christ became sin (2 Cor 5:21), and God unleashed His full fury upon the Son.  Christ did not merely suffer; He accomplished salvation for His sheep on the cross, and it is His sheep that He laid His life down for (Jn 10:15).  In time, the Spirit would make the sheep born-again empowering them to have faith in Christ, something that they do not have in and of themselves in a prior spiritually dead state (Eph 2:1). (3:25a)
  

III. Punch-line: Demonstrating His Righteousness as both Just & Justifier (Rom 3:25b-26)

• God showed much forbearance with man’s sin over thousands of years, which is His patience by withholding His wrath until the proper time, and now in Christ that righteousness has been demonstrated on the Cross because sin as been dealt with. (3:25b)
  
• Just & the Justifier (3:26)
  

             1. He is found Just because He did not merely overlook sin and let it go unpunished.  He must deal with sin, lest He be charged as UnJust. (3:26a)

             2. He then is also made the Justifier and glorified through that because He alone could punish sin while at the same time redeem His beloved Sheep. (3:26b)

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!

Charging Onward For The Glory of Christ

The ESL was awesome tonight!  We had a mix of ethnic backgrounds with mostly Hispanics. Approximately 35 adults were there this week, and virtually everyone who was there last week was there this week, so we see solid trend in those returning.  We are so amazed at the Lord's work in this. We keep it fun but productive at the same time; the mock market was especially exciting as we role-played in our creation of a supermarket.

The Spanish/English Bible study went incredibly well also.  We had about 8 adults attend, and most were Hispanic and some with a Hindu background.  The Lord opened up some enormous doors with that.  We are still in awe at how many folks

 showed up.  Even more-so, they were quite receptive, and I believe some will come back to the Bible study next week.  Where words were few, drawing pictures helped out--Chris is good at drawing sheep and stick men we found out:) We focused on four questions regarding the Passion Week: Why did Jesus have to die on the cross? What did Jesus accomplish on the cross? What did Jesus Christ conquer in His Resurrection from the dead? Who receives the glory for salvation?

Truly, we charge forward desiring to bask in the presence of the great prize who is Christ our Lord!  This world is fleeting away, yet Christ remains, and we passionately desire more of Him each day!  Let us therefore bow before Him in Absolute worship!  Holy! Holy! Holy is the Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world from both Jew and Gentile! Amen!