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Post by Admin on Jan 8, 2024 9:55:44 GMT -5
Beginning with this post, “Saved by Grace,” an exposition of the Five Points of Calvinism (TULIP), also called the doctrines of grace, will again be serially published. This rerun is necessitated because of the subject's inestimable value and importance regarding salvation. Another reason is to fill in the reading public's interest in the subject as evinced in past presentations, and also to address contrary views and positions. The joint-authors of the book, Rev. Ronald Cammenga and Rev. Ronald Hanko, have seen the need to provide a systematic and thorough presentation and treatment of each of the Five Points in a format and order as the following: A. The Doctrine B. Scripture Proofs C. Difficult Passages D. Objections E. Denials of the Doctrine F. Practical Importance and G. Relation to the Five Points. So with that following now is the first installment. ____________________ SAVED BY GRACE (TULIP) 1st INSTALLMENT CHAPTER I - SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD 1. God's sovereignty affirmed. One truth distinguishes what is known as the Reformed faith, or Calvinism. That truth is the sovereignty of God. Many people suppose that the heart of Calvinism is its teaching of predestination. When they hear of Calvinism or that someone is a Calvinist, they immediately think of election and reprobation. Now certainly, it is true that the doctrine of predestination has an important place in the teaching of Calvinism, as it did in the teaching of John Calvin himself. Nevertheless, predestination is not the central truth of the Reformed faith. The heart of Calvinism is not the doctrine of predestination, or, for that matter, any one of the other Five Points of Calvinism. The central truth proclaimed by Calvinism, Calvinism that is faithful to its heritage, is the absolute sovereignty of God. Calvin saw the essential place that the confession of the sovereignty of God has in relation to the whole body of biblical truth: "Unless we fully believe this (i.e., God's sovereignty) the very beginning of our faith is periled, by which we profess to believe in God Almighty" (Calvin's Calvinism, "The Eternal Predestination of God," p. 43). The distinguishing feature of the Reformed faith is unquestionably its conception of God. What we believe about God matters most. Everything else that we believe stands connected to and is affected by what we believe about God. The most important question that any man faces is the question "Who is God?" It is true, as Calvin writes in the opening paragraph of his Institutes, that all "... true and sound wisdom, consists of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves" (I, 1, 1).1 But as he goes on to say, "... it is certain that man never achieves a clear knowledge of himself unless he has first looked upon God's face, and then descends from contemplating him to scrutinize himself" (I, 1, 2).2 Not only is the knowledge of God of great importance, it is also the chief end of man. The opening question of the Westminster Shorter Catechism asks: "What is the chief end of man?" The answer is: "Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever." But man cannot glorify God or enjoy Him, if man does not know God. Man's chief end and calling, therefore, is to know God. Not only is the knowledge of God man's highest calling, it is also his greatest good. Jesus teaches that in John 17:3: "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." Salvation itself consists in knowing God. Those who have eternal life possess a right and saving knowledge of God. The God Whom we must know is a sovereign God. Knowledge of God begins with the affirmation of faith that God is and that God is sovereign. Since God is, He is sovereign. If He is God, He must also be a sovereign God. If God is not sovereign, the inescapable implication is that He is not God. This is the great issue that divides true religion and false religion! This is the great issue that separates the true church of Jesus Christ in the world from the false and apostate church! This is the issue that distinguishes faith from unbelief: the sovereignty of God! The confession of God's sovereignty is gladly made by every believer. It is the teaching about God set forth in the infallible Scriptures, the source of our knowledge about God. And this is the truth confessed about God by Reformed Christians. A. The Doctrine God's sovereignty is His absolute authority and rule over all things. To say that God is sovereign is to say that God is God, and that because He is God He does as He pleases, only as He pleases, and always as He pleases. That God is sovereign means that He is the Lord, the Ruler, the Master, the King. The one who confesses the sovereignty of God confesses that God is Almighty, Omnipotent, the One Who exercises all power in heaven and on earth. To confess the sovereignty of God is to confess that nothing is outside of God's control, but that all things take place according to His will and appointment. Two fundamental truths stand at the basis of God's sovereignty. The first of these truths is the oneness of God. God is God alone; and there is no other god than the Lord God. Obviously, two cannot be almighty. Two cannot be omnipotent. Two cannot be sovereign. God is sovereign because He and only He is God. In the second place, the sovereignty of God rests on the truth that He is the Creator. God has made everything that exists. By His almighty power He brought everything into existence in the beginning, "... call(ing) those things which be not as though they were" (Rom. 4:17). The entire universe owes its existence to God. By virtue of the fact that He is the Creator, God is sovereign over all things. Parents have the right to rule over their children. God gives them that right because they are their children. They have conceived them; they have brought them forth; they have given them their life and existence. If this is true of earthly parents in relationship to their children, how much more is this not true of God in relationship to the universe! God's sovereignty is an absolute sovereignty. By this we mean that God's sovereignty is over everything and everyone - nothing is excluded from God's sovereign control. God rules in the realm of the natural, exercising His power over inanimate creatures as well as the brute creation. God rules over men and angels, time and history, the world and the church. God's rule extends not only to those circumstances we regard as good, but also to the bad: sickness, famine, tornadoes, floods, hurricanes, and earthquakes. Beyond this, God is sovereign even over sin and sinners, the devil and the demons of hell. They do nothing apart from His sovereign will. Not only is God absolutely sovereign in the realm of the natural, but He is sovereign also in salvation. God's sovereignty in salvation means that God saves whom He wills to save and there is no power able to frustrate the sovereign power of God at work in the saving of the sinner. Not the natural obstinacy of the sinner himself, not the power of the devil, formidable though it is, not the opposition of the wicked world, intense though it may be, are able to stand in the way of the sovereignty of God. Not only can none of those frustrate the sovereign power of God in salvation, but under the sovereignty of God they actually serve the ultimate salvation of God's people. Rev. Ronald Cammenga and Rev. Ronald Hanko This extract from “Saved by Grace” is posted with permission from its publisher, Reformed Free Publishing Association, Grandville, Michigan Next: Chapter I The Sovereignty of God - B. Scripture Proofs
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Post by Admin on Jan 8, 2024 9:56:37 GMT -5
SAVED BY GRACE (TULIP) 3RD INSTALLMENT CHAPTER I - SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD C. OBJECTIONS Historically especially two objections have been lodged against the Reformed teaching of the sovereignty of God. It has been charged that to teach God's sovereignty is to make God the author of sin. And it has been charged that to teach God's sovereignty is to deny man's responsibility. 1. If God is sovereign, He is the author of sin. This is the contention of the enemies of the Reformed faith. The argument is that if God has willed and by His almighty power brings about the evil, God is to blame for the evil in the world. Since God is perfect, completely without any sin, He cannot be sovereign. There are some who have attempted to reconcile this seeming contradiction by teaching that God in His sovereignty only permits sin. Although He actively wills the good, He only passively allows the evil to take place. This is an unsatisfactory explanation. For one thing it does not resolve the problem. If I permit someone to be run over by a truck, when I could have warned that person or prevented him from being run over, I am as responsible for his injury as if I had deliberately run over him myself. The point is that if God permits sin, when He could prevent it, the same charge can be brought that God is responsible for sin. But besides not solving the difficulty, to speak of God only permitting sin and evil does not do justice to the teaching of the Scriptures with regard to the sovereignty of God. God did not simply permit the devil to afflict Job, but, says Job, "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away." God did not simply permit the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, but Christ's crucifixion took place according to the "determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God" (Acts 2:23). Our answer to the objection is that God is sovereign, sovereign even over sin and evil, but sovereign over sin and evil in such a way that He is not the author of nor can be charged with the sins that wicked men commit (Ezek. 18:25-30; Acts 2:23, 24; Rom. 9:10-18). Although God is sovereign over sin, the sinner sins willingly, desires to sin, delights in sin, and actively commits the sin. He is not compelled against his will to sin. He is not forced to sin although he does not want to sin. God effects the evil in such a way that Satan and wicked men willingly perform it. As James says in James 1:13, 14, "Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed." That God is not to be charged with being the author of sin is further evident from His purpose in decreeing sin. In distinction from Satan and wicked men, God's purpose with sin is a good purpose. His purpose is His own glory through the demonstration of the glorious perfections of His Being. His purpose is the demonstration of His power that is able to make even sin and the sinner subservient to His will. His purpose is the demonstration of His righteousness which demands and accomplishes satisfaction for sin. His purpose is the demonstration of His free grace that saves not good people but unworthy sinners in the cross of Christ. God's purpose in decreeing sin is the revelation of His Son Jesus Christ, the Savior from sin. 2. If God is sovereign, man is not responsible for his sin. This is the second objection that is often made against the teaching of the sovereignty of God. The argument is that if God sovereignly wills and brings about sin and evil, man cannot be held accountable for the evil that he does. After all, since God sovereignly willed that he sin, what else could he do but sin? The apostle Paul deals with this objection to divine sovereignty in Romans 9. In verse 19 the objection is brought: "Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he (God) yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?" What is Paul's answer to this objection? Does he concede the objection? Not at all. Listen: "Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?" (v. 20). God is sovereign, sovereign even over sin and the sinner. But God is sovereign over sin and the sinner in such a way that the sinner himself always remains responsible before God for his sin. Yes, the Son of Man goes to the cross as it was determined by God: "But woe unto that man by whom he is betrayed" (Luke 22:22). To be sure, Christ is delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, but it is also true that "wicked hands" are responsible for His being crucified and slain (Acts 2:23). Nor is this ever a real problem for the sinner. In our everyday life we experience no tension between God's sovereignty and our own responsibility. Although we believe that all things are under the sovereign control of God, we know that when we do wrong, we are responsible for the wrong we have done. We feel the guilt and must also face the consequences. In a way that surpasses our ability to comprehend it, God is absolutely sovereign and man is responsible for his sin. Rev. Ronald Cammenga and Rev. Ronald Hanko This article extract from “Saved by Grace” is posted with permission from its publisher, Reformed Free Association, Grandville, Michigan. Next: Chapter I Sovereignty of God - D. Practical Importance
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Post by Admin on Jan 9, 2024 10:18:54 GMT -5
JESUS CHRIST’S TWO NATURES: THAT OF BEING FULLY-GOD AND FULLY-MAN It has been the observation of this writer that lack of proper understanding of the TWO NATURES of Jesus Christ—of His humanity and divinity—as among the chief reasons why many could not seem to grasp and accept the doctrine of the Trinity. True, if Christ were just a man (and nothing more than being such), there could not be a Trinity; for then the one only God in three distinct persons in one single essence would be untrue and untenable. This same lack of proper understanding, it can’t be denied, has continually been the cause of seemingly endless debates, arguments, quarrels, and so forth, and has also seemed to be the “bone of contention” common in most Bible discussions and forums. This despite the numerous and incontrovertible proofs set forth and taught in the holy Scriptures. Having said that, and in keeping with some writing ethics and rules (e.g., to give credit to whom credit is due)—let it be said that the arguments espoused and presented in this post, generally, are not original but merely borrowed and echoed doctrinal proofs taken from extant historic church documents, and from writings of those who this commentator considers to be faithful Scripture exegetes and authorities. Let me now explain, as briefly as possible, by making reference to some biblical accounts to support the above proposition regarding the two natures of Christ which (very importantly) have corroborative bearing on the doctrine of the Trinity. For example: when we read about Christ’s getting hungry, getting tired, bleeding at the cross of Golgotha, praying to and commending His spirit (which is human) to the Father—the Godhead (which consists always of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), and eventually dying— then, what is definitely being manifested is the HUMANITY of Christ. When we read in the Scripture that the glorified Jesus, who is now in heaven and is sitting at the right hand of God, is coming back to this earth for His church, at a time appointed—then, it (the coming back) presupposes that He is not omnipresent. We don’t need further proof here. Just these couple of weaknesses and limitations suffice that they cannot be attributed to God, but to the MAN Jesus. On the other hand, if we read in the Scripture, as for examples: Jesus’ stilling the storm and walking on the sea, healing the sick, feeding thousands—then, there is unquestionably a manifestation of His DIVINITY and of His being very God. In addition, the man Jesus did NOT become divine in His glorification, and will remain human even in His glorified state, but by virtue of His being closely UNITED with the divine second person of the Trinity, and His being given all power in heaven and on earth, the glorified human Jesus, has been made able to do and to exercise all these given powers in heaven and on earth. And, as only the second person of the Trinity assumed human nature, it follows that ONLY Jesus Christ is both human and divine. These distinctions of Christ’s two natures are very clearly treated in the church’s creeds and confessions (which, hopefully, I shall also be able to present in my future posts). But in the meantime, let me further prove to you from the Scriptures the divinity of Jesus Christ by quoting a historic church document. In the Belgic Confession of Faith, Article 10, the confession speaks about the THE DEITY OF CHRIST. It states: ____________________ “We believe that Jesus Christ, according to his divine nature, is the only Son of God – eternally begotten, not made nor created, for then he would be a creature. He is one in essence with the Father; coeternal; the exact image of the person of the Father and the "reflection of his glory (Col 1:15, Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature), being in all things like him. He is the Son of God not only from the time he assumed our nature but from all eternity, as the following testimonies teach us when they are taken together. Moses says that God "created the world" (Gen 1:1, In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth); and John says that "all things were created by the Word" (John 1:3 All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made, which he calls God). The apostle says that "God made the world by his Son" (Heb 1:2, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom he also made the worlds). He also says that "God created all things by Jesus Christ" (Col 1:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him). And so it must follow that he who is called God, the Word, the Son, and Jesus Christ already existed when all things were created by him. Therefore the prophet Micah says that his origin is "from ancient times, from eternity" (Micah 5:2, But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting). The apostle says that he has "neither beginning of days nor end of life" (Heb 7:3, Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually).” So then, he is the true eternal God, the Almighty, whom we invoke, worship, and serve. Finally, in brief: Jesus Christ, the second person of the Trinity, alone, has two natures closely united in ONE person—one very God, the other very man. The advent of the incarnation (John 1:14) was necessary in order that Christ could die (as only man could die) and serve God’s purpose in salvation via a substitutionary sacrifice. The divine Jesus by virtue of being God is unchanging, one in essence with the Father (the Godhead), so that when He took on the form of human flesh His specific place in the Trinity, as second person, was not without Him—it was NOT rendered vacant. The man Jesus, on the other hand, in His human nature, though given immortality by His resurrection, will retain and continue to be human even in His glorified state, and to exercise all power given Him in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18). HENCE, IN VIEW OF THE PRECEDING, THE DEITY AND HUMANITY OF CHRIST; THE SECOND PERSON OF THE GODHEAD—THE TRINITY. —Rod Bongat
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Post by Admin on Jan 9, 2024 13:31:32 GMT -5
“ORIGINAL SIN” The controversy over the doctrine of "original sin" goes as far back as the times of the church fathers in the fourth and fifth century A.D. It was hotly contested between Augustine and Pelagius. Augustine taught that by the "disobedience" of Adam, sin had been extended to the entire human race. He maintained that the sin that Adam committed was infectious and hereditary. Pelagius on the other hand held onto his position that Adam's fall into sin had nothing to do with the sinful nature of man, and held on as well to a view that the infant’s sinful nature is a state or condition not from the womb but a matter acquired through imitation. WHAT IS THE TRUTH? WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY? Among other numerous textproofs, there are two passages in the Bible that shed much light, especially as regards this doctrine of “original sin,” and as to why the doctrine is essential to Christian understanding. These passages are found in Romans 5 and Romans 7. Verse 12 of Romans 5 says, “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” The passage is explicit. It says that Adam’s breaking God’s command in Genesis 2:16-17: “And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” This disobedience of Adam, needless to say, occasioned the entrance of sin into the world and the meting out of God’s death sentence—physically and spiritually, as God warned Adam; which God immediately carried out. Continuing, verses 13 and 14 state, “(For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come...).” The text is saying that prior to the giving of the moral law at Sinai, though there was no imputation of sin as yet (anent the Mosaic law), yet the death sentence was already enforced—already being administered—from Adam to Moses, upon the entire human race, exactly according to God’s divine purpose and perfect justice. This account in the Scripture has been unabatedly challenged by the Pelagians and the semi-Pelagians (the Roman Catholic) as well as by those who cannot accept the hereditary nature of the original sin; as well as by those who hold on to the belief that “the son cannot be held responsible for the sins of the parents.” At this point, it’s fitting and proper that the questions: Didn’t Adam sin alone? How can one be held responsible for a sin that he or she didn’t do? Isn’t that unjust of God and cruel of Him to have meted out besides a condemnation even upon infants yet unborn? These are valid questions which is the purpose of this article to answer. At creation, Adam, being the first man created, was mandated by God to be the head and ruler over all His creation. Says Genesis 1:28, “And God blessed them (Adam and Eve), and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.” Having been so charged, Adam served as God's representative and father of mankind, and was made responsible for all his actions, so that when he sinned, the entire humankind sinned in him. To illustrate further man’s changed nature–from the original state of rectitude to the state of its total corruption and depravity–a human government may be used as an example. In human government, politicians make laws for the regulation of the life of their people. These laws when so enforced, say, in the waging of war against a particular nation, are the government's responsibility alone; that is, with whatever the outcome. Although the subject has not broken any law at all, but merely are submitting to the actions and decisions of the government, and they are, nonetheless, made to suffer the consequences. The same is true in the case of Adam in relation to man. Because of the sin of one man, the whole humankind was counted and made to suffer the consequences of Adam’s disobedience. The same doctrine of “original sin” applies to infants even yet unborn. Even yet in the womb, God’s condemnation of Adam is already passed on to them. This fact is attested to in numerous parts of the Scripture. In Psalm 51 verses 5 and 7, David declared, "Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin DID MY MOTHER CONCEIVE ME. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow." In verse 5, David acknowledges that he was already tainted with sin even before he was born; and in verse 7 acknowledges his total sinful nature, so that he was asked to be purged with hyssop in order for him to be clean; and to be washed so he could be whiter than snow. In Isaiah and Job, man's corrupt and sinful nature are taught and exposed; and also in many other parts of the Scripture. Says Isaiah 48:8, "Yea, thou heardest not; yea, thou knewest not; yea, from that time that thine ear was not opened: for I knew that thou wouldest deal very treacherously, and wast called a transgressor FROM THE WOMB." Isaiah here is affirming that being a transgressor or lawbreaker has its root in the womb. Job 14:4, "Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one." The reference here is to man from whose being nothing clean can come out. Rom. 3:10, "As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one." This is an absolute statement, none is righteous, no one. Ephesians 2:1-5 "And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; 2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: 3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.” The whole passage here speaks about every man’s original sinful nature prior to regeneration. And now in the second important passage in Romans 7, the passage says, “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. 19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. 20 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. 21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. 22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: 23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. 24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? 25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.” The whole passage, clearly, is speaking about Paul’s totally corrupt and depraved nature, a nature which he confirmed in saying, “no good thing dwelleth in him.” This is also confirmed in other passages yet, such as in Galatians 5:19-21. The passage, says, “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” And so on and on we can quote more texts proving man inheriting Adam's corrupt nature because of Adam’s disobedience, which universally and consequentially brought about the whole human race to be infected with a totally depraved nature. In summary: The doctrine of "Original Sin" is a biblical doctrine. It was the consequence of the first Adam's fall into sin which infected and corrupted totally man's nature; which nature was extended to the entire human race. All sins spring from that original sinful state of man. It serves as the root underneath the ground and from which all sins are produced. It’s only CURE Paul himself declared, in answering his own question, and in reference to the second Adam: WHO SHALL DELIVER ME FROM THE BODY OF THIS DEATH? "I THANK GOD THROUGH JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD." Romans 7:25. —Rod Bongat
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Post by Admin on Jan 11, 2024 9:37:35 GMT -5
SAVED BY GRACE (TULIP) 4TH INSTALLMENT CHAPTER I - SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD D. DENIALS OF GOD'S SOVEREIGNTY The denial of the truth of the sovereignty of God takes many forms. There are theological denials and more practical denials. 1. Communist totalitarianism. According to Communist theory, the state and the idea of the state is sovereign. The state owns everything. The state controls every area of life. The interests of the state are the only interests that are of any importance. This is a fundamental attack on the sovereignty of God. It is giving to the state those things that belong only to God. Given this teaching of Communism, it is not surprising that the Communist states have shown themselves hostile to Christianity. Communism is, in fact, inherently anti-God and anti-Christian. 2. Evolutionism. The teaching of evolution is that the world came into existence by mere chance. The continued existence of the world is due to the outworking of fixed natural laws and blind fate. Evolution is a fundamental denial of the sovereignty of God. It denies His sovereign power in creating the heavens and earth. It also denies the sovereignty of God in the upholding of the universe and the directing of the course of the world's history. There can be no compromise between the Reformed faith and evolution. The god of evolution, if there is one, is not the sovereign God of the Bible. Those who today are attempting to compromise these two are guilty of attacking the very heart of the Reformed faith - the sovereignty of God. If concessions are made to the theory of evolution, the truth of God's sovereignty is bartered away for a mess of humanistic pottage. 3. Pelagianism, Semi-Pelagianism, Arminianism, the free offer of the gospel, and free will. All of these false teachings, which will be discussed in more detail in the following chapters, have in common that they deny the sovereignty of God, particularly His sovereignty in the salvation of lost sinners. According to all these views, although God sincerely desires the salvation of all men, He is unable actually to accomplish the salvation of anyone. Although God wants to save a man, that man is in himself powerful enough to resist God's saving grace and frustrate God's intention to save him. Even after God has begun to save a man, regenerated him, given him His Holy Spirit and the gift of faith, it is possible for the man to fall away from grace and salvation, a falling away which God is unable to prevent. This is a blatant denial of God's sovereignty in salvation. It is no surprise that where these untruths have been accepted, there the teaching of the absolute sovereignty of God is no longer heard. 4. Deism. This teaching, more philosophy than religion, arose about the time of the American Revolution, especially in France. It taught that God exists and that He created the world but that He has at present no relation to the world. In other words, it denied that God is everywhere present in the creation and that He is the God of providence, upholding and ruling all things in creation by His almighty power. Over against the truth of God's sovereignty, then, it taught that though God may be sovereign, His sovereignty has no significance in time and history and for man's life, but that all things develop according to natural laws, and that it is up to man to determine his own destiny. This denial of God's sovereignty needs to be mentioned because it was the "religion" of the men who were the leaders of the American Revolution and who wrote the Declaration of Independence and the American Constitution, men like Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and James Madison. So it is that the American Constitution and other documents connected with the history of the United States of America are founded on deist principles rather than on the biblical teaching of God's sovereignty. This is clear especially from the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence: We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. So also it is this view that lies at the basis of the proud statement with which the Preamble to the American Constitution begins: "We the people...." Apart from the fact that it simply is neither true nor biblical that all men are created equal and have certain unalienable rights (Deut. 7:6; Dan. 2:21; Luke 1:52; I Cor. 1:26), it is a blatant denial of God's sovereignty to teach that government derives its power from the consent of he governed and not from God (cf. Rom. 13:1-7), and, as the Declaration goes on to say, that "it is the right of the people to alter and abolish it (government), and to institute new government" as they see fit (paragraph 13). The idea, then, that is so common today, that the American Constitution and Declaration are "Christian" documents is utterly false, and the simple fact that God is mentioned in them should not mislead us. Along these same lines, we must condemn every form of rebellion and resistance against God-instituted government as a denial of the sovereign power and right of God as outlined in the first part of Romans 13. 5. Feminism. The "heresy" of feminism which has swept through both human society and the church is also a denial of God's sovereignty, for it denies not just the headship of the man over the woman, but the headship of God, which is reflected in the man's headship over the woman, and which is the foundation for his headship. Nor is it surprising that this feminism has gained such a hold in the church, when the church for the most part no longer believes in the sovereignty of God. That feminism is a denial of God's headship and thus also of His sovereignty is clear from those passages which show that the woman in submitting to the headship of the man submits also to God in Christ (I Cor. 11:3; Eph. 5:22, 24; Col. 3:18). 6. Our practice. We are also, from a practical point of view, tempted to deny the sovereignty of God. It is one thing to confess this truth intellectually and abstractly. It is quite another thing to acknowledge this truth when the sovereignty of God touches our own lives personally. It is one thing to confess that God sovereignly rules over all things so that nothing takes place by chance but according to His appointment. It is another thing to confess God's sovereignty when our crops have been devastated, our home destroyed, or we have lost our job. It is one thing to confess that the evils of this life are included in the sovereignty of God. It is another thing to confess the sovereignty of God at the graveside of a loved one. It is one thing to confess the sovereignty of God in salvation. It is quite another thing to confess the sovereignty of God when we see His sovereignty in salvation being worked out in our own congregation, our own families, and even among our own children. It takes the grace of God to confess and to submit to the sovereignty of God. It takes grace to confess that all things, and our own lives too, are under His control and subject to His will. It takes grace to confess, "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." Apart from sovereign grace, no man will ever confess the sovereignty of God. That a man does confess the sovereignty of God is itself due to God's sovereignty. Rev. Ronald Cammenga and Rev. Ronald Hanko This extract from “Saved by Grace” is posted with permission from its publisher, Reformed Free Publishing Association, Grandville, Michigan
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Post by Admin on Jan 11, 2024 22:13:32 GMT -5
“ORIGINAL SIN” The controversy over the doctrine of "original sin" goes as far back as the times of the church fathers in the fourth and fifth century A.D. It was hotly contested between Augustine and Pelagius. Augustine taught that by the "disobedience" of Adam, sin had been extended to the entire human race. He maintained that the sin that Adam committed was infectious and hereditary. Pelagius on the other hand held on to his position that Adam's fall into sin had nothing to do with the sinful nature of man, and held on as well to a view that the infant’s sinful nature is a state or condition not from the womb but a matter acquired through imitation. WHAT IS THE TRUTH? WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY? Among other numerous textproofs, there are two passages in the Bible that shed much light, especially as regards this doctrine of “original sin,” and as to why the doctrine is essential to Christian understanding. These passages are found in Romans chapters 5 and 7. Verse 12 of Romans 5 says, “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” The passage pronounces clearly to Adam the dreadful consequence should God’s command in Genesis 2:16-17 be broken: “And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatesthereof thou shalt surely die.” But Adam disobeyed. His disobedience, needless to say, occasioned the entrance of sin into the world and the meting out of God’s death sentence—physically and spiritually, as God warned Adam; which God immediately carried out. Continuing, verses 13 and 14 state, “(For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come...).” The text is saying that prior to the giving of the moral law at Sinai, though there was no imputation of sin as yet (anent the Mosaic law), yet the death sentence was already enforced—already being administered—from Adam to Moses, upon the entire human race, exactly according to God’s divine purpose and perfect justice. This account in the Scripture has been unabatedly challenged by the Pelagians and the semi-Pelagians (the Roman Catholic) as well as by those who cannot accept the hereditary nature of the original sin; as well as by those who hold on to the belief that “the son cannot be held responsible for the sins of the parents.” At this point, it’s fitting and proper that the questions: Didn’t Adam sin alone? How can one be held responsible for a sin that he or she didn’t do? Isn’t that unjust of God and cruel of Him to have meted out besides a condemnation even upon infants yet unborn? These are valid questions which is the purpose of this article to answer. At creation, Adam, being the first man created, was mandated by God to be the head and ruler over all His creation. Says Genesis 1:28, “And God blessed them (Adam and Eve), and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.” Having been so charged, Adam served as God's representative and father of mankind, and was made responsible for all his actions, so that when he sinned, the entire humankind sinned in him. To illustrate further man’s changed nature–from the original state of rectitude to the state of its total corruption and depravity–a human government may be used as an example. In human government, politicians make laws for the regulation of the life of their people. These laws when so enforced, say, in the waging of war against a particular nation, are the government's responsibility alone; that is, with whatever the outcome. Although the subject has not broken any law at all, but merely are submitting to the actions and decisions of the government, and they are, nonetheless, made to suffer the consequences. The same is true in the case of Adam in relation to man. Because of the sin of one man, the whole humankind was counted and made to suffer the consequences of Adam’s disobedience. The same doctrine of “original sin” applies to infants even yet unborn. Even yet in the womb, God’s condemnation of Adam is already passed on to them. This fact is attested to in numerous parts of the Scripture. In Psalm 51 verses 5 and 7, David declared, "Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin DID MY MOTHER CONCEIVE ME. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow." In verse 5, David acknowledges that he was already tainted with sin even before he was born; and in verse 7 acknowledges his total sinful nature, so that he was asked to be purged with hyssop in order for him to be clean; and to be washed so he could be whiter than snow. In Isaiah and Job, man's corrupt and sinful nature are taught and exposed; and also in many other parts of the Scripture. Says Isaiah 48:8, "Yea, thou heardest not; yea, thou knewest not; yea, from that time that thine ear was not opened: for I knew that thou wouldest deal very treacherously, and wast called a transgressor FROM THE WOMB." Isaiah here is affirming that being a transgressor or lawbreaker has its root in the womb. Job 14:4, "Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one." The reference here is to man from whose being nothing clean can come out. Rom. 3:10, "As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one." This is an absolute statement, none is righteous, no one. Ephesians 2:1-5 "And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; 2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: 3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.” The whole passage here speaks about every man’s original sinful nature prior to regeneration. And now in the second important passage in Romans 7, the passage says, “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. 19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. 20 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. 21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. 22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: 23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. 24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? 25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.” The whole passage, clearly, is speaking about Paul’s totally corrupt and depraved nature, a nature which he confirmed in saying, “no good thing dwelleth in him.” This is also confirmed in other passages yet, such as in Galatians 5:19-21. The passage, says, “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” And so on and on we can quote more texts proving man inheriting Adam's corrupt nature because of Adam’s disobedience, which universally and consequentially brought about the whole human race to be infected with a totally depraved nature. In summary: The doctrine of "Original Sin" is a biblical doctrine. It was the consequence of the first Adam's fall into sin which infected and corrupted totally man's nature; which nature was extended to the entire human race. All sins spring from that original sinful state of man. It serves as the root underneath the ground and from which all sins are produced. It’s only CURE Paul himself declared, in answering his own question, and in reference to the second Adam: WHO SHALL DELIVER ME FROM THE BODY OF THIS DEATH? "I THANK GOD THROUGH JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD." Romans 7:25. —Rod Bongat
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Post by Admin on Jan 12, 2024 21:08:58 GMT -5
SAVED BY GRACE (TULIP) 5TH INSTALLMENT CHAPTER I - SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD E. PRACTICAL IMPORTANCE The practical importance of the truth of the sovereignty of God cannot be over-emphasized. 1. God's sovereignty and worship. Belief in God's sovereignty underlies the true worship of God. In the very first commandment of God's law we are confronted with the truth of God's sovereignty. Since God is God and God alone, He ought to be worshipped by us. Since God alone is sovereign, He alone ought to be worshipped. And if our worship is to be proper worship, worship that exalts His greatness and acknowledges our unworthiness and inability, it must be worship at the heart of which is the confession of the sovereignty of God. And God's sovereignty not only demands that He be worshipped, but determines as well the way in which we are to worship Him. If God is sovereign, He must not and cannot be represented by dumb images that cannot think, speak, or perform one action. If God is sovereign, the almighty "I AM THAT I AM," our worship of Him must be reverent. The lack of reverence in so much of what passes for worship today is symptomatic of the loss in the churches of the doctrine of God's sovereignty. 2. God's sovereignty and the glory of God. Certainly the importance of the truth of God's sovereignty is that it glorifies God. If the almighty power of God stands behind all that takes place in the world and is the cause of salvation besides, God is to be glorified. None of the glory belongs to man, or to any other creature. Glory to God alone! This is man's great calling. Why has he been put on this earth? Why has God saved him? Why has God given him all that he has? So that he will glorify God. And He deserves that glory because He is sovereign. 3. God's sovereignty and history. An understanding of the truth of God's sovereignty is important for a proper view of history and so is of great importance for Christian education. History is only properly understood and properly taught when history is viewed as the outworking of the sovereign counsel of God. God is in control and God is executing His will. God sets up kings and casts kings down from their thrones. God brings nations to power and causes their overthrow. God raised up Pharaoh, used him for His own purpose, and when He was finished, drowned him in the Red Sea. Similarly God brought Hitler to power, was sovereign over the blood-shed and devastation he perpetrated, and in the end, after Hitler had served God's purpose, brought his Third Reich to ruin. In the truest sense of the word, history is His story. 4. God's sovereignty and assurance. The truth of God's sovereignty is the foundation of the comfort of the people of God. Only if we know that God is in control, our God, the God who is our Father for Jesus' sake, can we have the assurance that all is well. If there is some other power in this world besides the almighty power of our God, some power over which God does not have control, we must be fearful and afraid. But there is no such other power. God is sovereign, absolutely sovereign, sovereign even over sin and evil, the devil and wicked men. That gives us the assurance that "all things work together for (our) good" (Rom. 8:28). Then we may be "persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Rom. 8:38, 39). 5. God's sovereignty and our preservation. Belief in the sovereignty of God is necessary for the assurance of the Christian's preservation in salvation and for the assurance of the final salvation of the church as a whole. If God is not sovereign, we must always be in doubt concerning our personal salvation, as well as the salvation of the entire church. In fact, if God is not sovereign, the salvation of even one child of God is impossible. Only the sovereign power of God is able to defend the Christian from the power of the devil, the world, and his own sinful flesh. Because God is sovereign, absolutely sovereign, the church's salvation is secure. The sovereignty of God gives the believer the assurance that "He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Phil. 1:6). Rev. Ronald Cammenga and Rev. Ronald Hanko This extract from “Saved by Grace” is posted with permission from its publisher, Reformed Free Publishing Association, Grandville, Michigan Next: Chapter I Sovereignty of God - F. Relation to the Five points
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Post by Admin on Jan 13, 2024 22:51:16 GMT -5
SAVED BY GRACE (TULIP) 2ND INSTALLMENT CHAPTER I - SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD B. SCRIPTURE PROOFS
1. God's sovereignty affirmed. a. Job 42:2. I know that thou canst do everything, and that no thought can be withholden from thee. Job acknowledges that God can do everything, in other words, that God is sovereign. He goes on to state the implications of this, namely, that no one can "withhold" or prevent from being realized any thought in the mind of God. What God wills and plans He is able always to bring to pass. b. Psalm 115:3. But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased. God's sovereignty is affirmed here by the statement of the psalmist that God is "in the heavens." He is not an earthly creature, finite and limited. This affirmation is strengthened when he adds, "He hath done whatsoever he hath pleased." What God pleases, that is, what He wills, He does. With us men it is different. It is very well possible that we will something but are unable to bring it to pass. We deal with this frustration daily. I want to go somewhere, but if my car is broken down, I am prevented from carrying out what I will. What God wills, He is able to accomplish. Nothing is able to frustrate His will because He is sovereign. c. Isaiah 14:24, 27. The Lord of heaven hath sworn, saying, surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand. For the Lord of Hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? And his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back? What God thinks comes to pass; what He purposes stands. Nothing is able to contravene God's sovereignty. When Isaiah asks, "Who shall disannul it?" the obvious answer is "No one!" And when he asks, "Who shall turn it back?" the implied answer again is "No one!" d. Isaiah 49:9, 10. Remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure. God's counsel stands, that is, comes to pass just as He has willed it. God does all His good pleasure, everything He pleases. This happens because "... there is none else, ... there is none like me...." e. Daniel 4:34, 35. And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the Most High, and I praised and honored him that lives for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation: and all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou? In His sovereignty God does as He wills in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. Heaven and earth - all things - are included in His sovereign control. What makes this such a striking confession of the sovereignty of God is that it is a confession made by an unbelieving man - King Nebuchadnezzar. Even such a wicked man is forced, not only to see, but also to acknowledge God's sovereignty. Nebuchadnezzar had experienced that sovereignty of God in his own life. In His sovereignty God had taken Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom away from him and humbled that proud king as a beast of the field. Nebuchadnezzar had gloried in his own power and fancied himself the master of his own destiny: "Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honor of my majesty?" (Dan. 4:30) He had denied and defied God's sovereignty. And God had demonstrated His sovereignty to Nebuchadnezzar, demonstrated it to him in a way that he would not soon forget, as He often does to those who deny His sovereign prerogatives. f. Ephesians 1:11. In whom we also have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will. This text is speaking about Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As the Son of God, He works all things according to His will. g. I Timothy 6:15. Which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords. God is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. He is exalted over the rulers of this world. And if God rules over the rulers of this world, the highest earthly dignitaries, He rules over everything in this world. h. Revelation 11:16, 17. And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God, saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned. In this passage God's sovereignty is taught in two ways. First, He is called "Lord God Almighty." That God is Lord and that He is Almighty indicates His sovereignty. Secondly, it is said about Him that He has taken to himself "great power and hast reigned." That God takes to Himself "great" power, the greatest power, and that He reigns, reigns alone, and reigns notwithstanding the defiance of His enemies means that He is sovereign.
2. God's sovereignty over the brute creation. a. Genesis 1, 2, the creation account. The fact of God's creation of the heavens and the earth demonstrates His sovereignty over the creation. When God said, "Let there be light," there was light. When God said, "Let there be a firmament," the firmament appeared. When God called forth the animals they did not begin a long evolutionary development of several million years, but they came forth into existence. And so it was with every creature God made. b. Miracles like the Flood ( Gen. 7), the ten plagues sent by God on Egypt (Ex. 8-12), Israel's crossing of the Red Sea ( Ex. 14), the sending of the manna ( Ex. 16), the standing still of the sun ( Josh. 10), and other similar miracles all point to God's sovereignty over the creation and every creature in the creation. This is why it is necessary for the church today to defend the miracles that are recorded in the Holy Scriptures. To deny the miracles is not only to deny the infallibility of the Bible but it is also to deny the sovereignty of God. Because the Christian believes the sovereignty of God, he has no difficulty accepting the miracles taught in the Bible. Because he believes the sovereignty of God, the Christian looks forward eagerly to the miracles prophesied in the Bible: the second coming of Jesus Christ, the resurrection of our dead bodies, and the creation of a new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness shall dwell. c. Psalm 103:19. The Lord hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all. Since God's throne (the symbol of power) is in the heavens and His kingdom rules over all, the entire creation is subject to His sovereign control. d. Psalm 135:6, 7. Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did he in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and all deep places. He causeth the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; he maketh the lightnings for the rain; he bringeth the wind out of his treasuries. God's sovereignty, according to this passage, extends to heaven, the earth, the seas, and all deep places. Dew, lightning, rain, and the wind are under the controlling hand of God. "It" does not rain; God causes it to rain. "It" does not blow; God sends the wind. That it rains, where it rains, how much it rains - all are determined by God. e. Matthew 10:29, 30. Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. The sovereign rule of God extends to the (what we would call) insignificant sparrows, and even (who would think of it!) the hairs of our heads. If sparrows and hair are under the sovereignty of God, it is safe to conclude that everything is under His sovereign rule.
3. God's sovereignty over men and the affairs of men's lives. a. Proverbs 16:9. A man's heart deviseth his way: but the Lord directeth his steps. Man may set goals and make plans, but God "directeth" the course of man's life. What a man does, where he goes, what he accomplishes, are determined by a sovereign God. b. Proverbs 16:33. The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord. In Bible times issues were often decided or people chosen by means of the casting of lots. For example, when the children of Israel came into the land of Canaan, each tribe received its specific portion of the land of Canaan by the casting of lots: "Notwithstanding the land shall be divided by lot: according to the names of the tribes of their fathers shall they inherit. According to the lot shall the possession thereof be divided between many and few" (Num. 26:55, 56). The outcome of the casting of lots might appear to be random, purely arbitrary. Solomon says in Proverbs 16:33 that that is not the case. The "disposing," that is, the result of the casting of lots, is under the control of God. Clearly, God rules over men and the activity of men. c. Proverbs 21:1. The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water; he turneth it whithersoever he will. Not just the king's actions, but the very heart of the king is in the hand of God. The heart in the Scriptures is the center and seat of man's entire life. If God controls the king's heart, He controls the king. And if God controls the king, the greatest of men, He controls all those who are under the king. In other words, all men, high and low, great and small, mighty and insignificant, are subject to the sovereign will of an Almighty God. d. Jeremiah 10:23. O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps. Man, Jeremiah says, does not direct the course of his own footsteps. His way in life is not "in himself." He walks, he lives an active life in the world, but ultimately it is God who directs the course of man's life.
4. God's sovereignty in salvation. a. Matthew 11:25, 26. At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight. By these words Jesus teaches clearly the sovereignty of God in salvation. God hides the things of the kingdom of heaven from certain men, with the result that they are not saved. God reveals the things of the kingdom to other men, with the result that they are saved. Both the hiding and the revealing take place according to the sovereign will of God: "... for so it seemed good in thy sight." b. Acts 16:14. And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul. Lydia was saved. Although she was saved by means of the preaching of the apostle Paul, it was not Paul who saved her. Although Lydia believed Paul's preaching, Lydia did not save herself by the power of her own free will. Lydia's salvation was due to this, that the Lord opened her heart, as He does the heart of every sinner who is saved. c. Romans 9:18. Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth. The apostle Paul teaches here that God shows mercy to those men and women to whom He wills to show mercy. Since God's mercy is the cause of our salvation, we may understand Paul to be teaching here that God saves whom He wills to save. Not only that, but those who are not saved, are not saved because God hardens them in their sin and unbelief: "... and whom he will he hardeneth." God's sovereignty in salvation is also clearly taught in a multitude of Scripture passages that speak of God efficaciously saving sinners. God does not just try to save sinners, all the while depending on their willingness to be saved. He does not attempt to save them but stand helplessly when they do not cooperate with Him by using their free will to be saved. He does not do His best to save sinners, always facing the real possibility that His best is not good enough and that the sinner may effectively resist His efforts to save him. No, God saves sinners, sovereignly, efficaciously, irresistibly. This is always how the Scriptures describe salvation. d. Matthew 1:21. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins. e. I Corinthians 1:21. For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. f. Ephesians 2:4, 5. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved). g. II Timothy 1:9. Who saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. h. II Timothy 1:12. For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. That which Paul has committed to God is his soul's salvation. He is confident that God is able to keep that which he has committed to Him. What explains the confidence of Paul? How can he be sure that he will be kept in salvation notwithstanding the devil, the wicked world, and his own sinful flesh? He can have that confidence only because of his belief in God's sovereignty. Because God sovereignly brought him to salvation, he can be sure that God will also sovereignly preserve him in salvation.
5. God's sovereignty over the evils and adversities of earthly life. There is a popular misconception today that only that which is good comes from the hand of God and is under the control of God. The bad things, the trouble, and earthly distresses, it is supposed, are the work of the devil. Health and prosperity come from God, while the sudden death of a young mother or the disaster caused by an earthquake are from the devil. The Bible teaches quite differently. a. Genesis 50:20. But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive. Great calamity had befallen Joseph. He had been thrown into a pit, sold as a slave to Egypt, separated from family and friends, and even in Egypt imprisoned for a time. In his afflictions, Joseph never lost sight of the truth of the sovereignty of God. God, he says, was the One Who brought all those calamities to pass. And God did it for good. Not only did Joseph confess God's sovereignty, but it is plain that he enjoyed the comfort of the sovereignty of God. b. Job 1:21. And Job said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord. Job 2:10. But he (Job) said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips. Job spoke these words at a time in his life when he was enduring extreme suffering. He had lost all his earthly possessions, his cattle, his servants, and even his ten children. Satan and Job's enemies had been the instruments to bring this suffering into his life. But Job understood the truth of the sovereignty of God. Behind Satan and the wicked Sabeans and Chaldeans, Job saw the mighty hand of God. He does not say: "The Lord gave, and the devil and my enemies have now taken it all away." Oh no! "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away." Not only had Job received good at the hand of God (riches, cattle, servants, and children), but he had also received evil (the loss of all these things) from the hand of God.
6. God's sovereignty over sin and the sinner. a. Genesis 45:7, 8. And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and ruler throughout all the land of Egypt. Not only was it great suffering for Joseph that he was sold as a slave into Egypt, but his being sold was due to the sinfulness of his brothers. Yet, Joseph was able to see the sovereignty of God ruling even over the sinful deed of his brothers. Very really it was the brothers who had sent Joseph down into Egypt. But Joseph, because he understood the truth of God's sovereignty, teaches that it was God Who had sent him down to Egypt. b. II Samuel 16:10. And the king (David) said, What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah? So let him (Shimei) curse, because the Lord hath said unto him, Curse David. Who shall then say, Wherefore hast thou done so? At the time David spoke these words, he was fleeing from his own son Absalom who had usurped the throne. Added to his suffering of having to flee for his life from his own son, he was also made to suffer the reproach and blasphemy of wicked Shimei. Two of David's faithful captains, the brothers Joab and Abishai, wanted to kill Shimei for his wicked reproach of David. But David forbade them because "... the Lord hath said unto him, Curse David." Behind the sinful deed of Shimei, David saw the sovereign hand of God. David was content that the sovereign God would avenge the sin of Shimei in His own time and in His own way. c. Isaiah 45:7. I form the light and create darkness: I make peace and create evil: I the Lord do all these things. In this passage the Lord Himself is speaking. He affirms His sovereignty over evil: "I ... create evil." If the Lord creates evil, certainly He is sovereign over the evil. d. Amos 3:6. Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? Shall there be evil in the city, and the Lord hath not done it? As certainly as the blowing of the warning trumpet made the inhabitants of a city afraid of the attack of the enemy; so certainly when there is evil in a city, that evil is brought by the Lord. The Lord appoints the evil, brings the evil, and controls the evil. e. Luke 22:22. And truly the Son of Man goeth, as it was determined: but woe unto that man by whom he is betrayed. Acts 2:23.Him(Christ)being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain. Both of these texts teach the sovereignty of God over the very worst sin ever committed - the crucifying of Jesus Christ. Wicked men crucified Him and were to blame, to be sure, for their sinful deed. But even Christ's crucifixion took place according to the sovereign appointment and under the almighty control of God. If God was sovereign over the worst sin, certainly He is sovereign over all sin. Rev. Ronald Cammenga and Rev. Ronald Hanko This extract from “Saved by Grace” is posted with permission from its publisher, Reformed Free Publishing Association, Grandville, Michigan. Next: Chapter I Sovereignty of God - C. Objections
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Post by Admin on Jan 16, 2024 12:21:50 GMT -5
SAVED BY GRACE (FIVE POINTS OF CALVINISM) 8TH INSTALLMENT - LETTER “T” OF TULIP CHAPTER II - TOTAL DEPRAVITY B. SCRIPTURE PROOFS 1. References to total depravity. a. Genesis 6:5. And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Notice here the emphasis on the totality of man's depravity. When Scripture says that man's wickedness is "great," it explains this to mean "total." And this is God's own judgment of man's condition ("God saw ..."). It may not be our judgment and we may not agree with it, but that makes no difference.
b. Genesis 8:21. And the Lord smelled a sweet savour; and the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done. Scripture once again here records God's judgment of man's spiritual condition and this time shows that man's depravity is not merely something that belongs to his maturity but characterizes his life from its beginning. c. Job 15:14-16. What is man, that he should be clean? and he which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous? Behold, he putteth no trust in his saints; yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight. How much more abominable and filthy is man, which drinketh iniquity as water. Here the Word of God reminds us that man's wickedness is as natural to him and as much a part of his life as drinking water. And once again the emphasis is on God as the standard by which man is judged, even when in his own sight he may be clean. d. Psalm 14:1-3. The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good. The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Here depravity is described as something that characterizes the whole human race. In that respect also it is total. Notice the fivefold emphasis on the fact that no one does any good. This too is the judgment of God when He looks down on the human race. Here also, then, our thinking must be shaped by the Word of God and not by what we ourselves or anyone else may think. e. Jeremiah 4:22. For my people is foolish, they have not know me; they are sottish children, and they have no understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge. Depravity, according to this passage is so great that even God's people of themselves do not know how to do good. But this passage is also valuable because it reminds us that man is depraved not only in his actions, but even in his mind, knowledge, and understanding. f. Jeremiah 13:23. Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to evil. It is as impossible for man, in his own strength, to do any good as it is for him to change the color of his skin. That is the truth of total depravity - not just that man does not do good but that he cannot. Thus, this passage also teaches us that man's depravity is natural to him. g. Jeremiah 17:9, 10. The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? I, the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give to every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings. God asserts here His right as judge and also gives His judgment telling us that our depravity does not merely consist in outwardly wicked actions but that it is finally a matter of our hearts, which are the fountain of all our life (Prov. 4:23), so that the fountain itself being impure it is impossible that anything clean or good should come forth from it. h. John 3:3, 5. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.... Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Jesus tells Nicodemus and us here that we cannot even see (understand) the kingdom of God except by a miracle and that miracle must be the miracle of a whole new life. As far as the life we now live is concerned, there is no hope. This, of course, is the application of the doctrine of total depravity that must be made. It is not just a doctrine but a description of our hopeless condition. i. John 6:44. No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. This passage is concerned with faith, described here as "coming to Jesus." This coming to Jesus or believing, Jesus says, is impossible except by the power of God. No man has that power of himself. This passage is especially important because so many Christians have the mistaken idea that believing is the one good action that sinful man can do. The Word of God here says that it is not so. j. John 12:37-39. But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him: that the saying of Esaias (Isaiah) the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? Therefore they could not believe, because that Esaias said again, He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them. Here again the emphasis of the Scriptures is on man's total inability to believe apart from the grace of God, but we also find here that this depravity of man is the direct result of God's judgment upon man and does not just happen to be the case with him. His depravity is, then, the death with which God threatened him in the beginning. k. Romans 1:28-32. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind to do those things that are not convenient; being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them. Here the Word of God establishes the fact that man's will is not at all inclined toward God ("they did not like to retain God in their knowledge"), but toward evil. In fact, we read here that men not only do evil but delight in it, even though they know the judgment of God. And the preceding context supports this fully by showing that the worship of the heathen is not a seeking after God, or longing for him, but a changing of the truth of God into a lie. l. Romans 3:9-19. What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles that they are all under sin; as it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: there is none that understands, there is none that seeks after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are all together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: their feet are swift to shed blood: destruction and misery are in their ways: and the way of peace they have not known: there is no fear of God before their eyes. Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. The apostle Paul is quoting here from eight different Old Testament passages to prove the depravity of man. That, in itself, is a powerful testimony to the fact that all the Scriptures teach this doctrine. But he shows especially both that all are under sin and that this is due to the fact that all are guilty before God. He also shows from the Scriptures that both in relation to God and to men, in understanding, speech, and deeds, man is wicked. That is the third aspect of total depravity of which we spoke above. m. Romans 6:16-19. Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey: whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to unrighteousness and to iniquity unto iniquity: even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. Here Paul describes man's inability to do good as a kind of spiritual slavery, which indeed it is, for in sin we not only refuse to have God as our Master but give our members, that is, ourselves, to the service of sin and Satan, nor can we serve God any more. n. Romans 8:7, 8. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. Once again the Scriptures show that man does not just do evil, perhaps without even intending it, but that he is evil and that his evil-doing is always conscious, active rebellion ("enmity") against God. And again, not only is he not subject to God and not pleasing to God, but he cannot be. He has no ability to do or be good. o. Galatians 3:22. But the Scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. Here is proof that sin is slavery, that depravity is total in the sense that it is true of all men, and that this is not our judgment of ourselves and others, but Scripture's judgment. p. Ephesians 2:1, 5. And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins.... Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved). This time our depravity is described as a spiritual death to help us understand that no more than a dead man can think, will, understand, speak, or act can we think, will, understand, speak, or act in a way that is pleasing to God - not without grace and salvation. This passage is proof, therefore also that total depravity and spiritual death are one and the same. q. Colossians 2:13. And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses. This passage reproduces almost word for word Ephesians 2:1, 5, but we should also note the emphasis on the word "you" in both passages. Paul is reminding us that total depravity does not apply just to the heathen or to savages, but to civilized, educated members of the church, such as these Colossians and such as we. r. Titus 3:3. For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. Once again the emphasis lies on the fact that we must confess the truth of total depravity not just of men in general or of other men, but of ourselves. Otherwise it is not total depravity.
2. References to original sin. a. Genesis 5:3. And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth. What a testimony this is against man who was created in the image of God but who now begets children, not in God's image, but in his own! We have seen in all the preceding passages what that image is! b. Job 14:4. Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one. Not only does this passage teach that it is impossible for a sinner to produce anything good as far as his own words, thoughts, and actions are concerned, but it shows that he cannot even produce offspring who are any different from himself. As the Canons of Dordt say: "A corrupt stock produced a corrupt offspring." c. Psalm 51:5. Behold I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me. Here, once more, is the truth that wickedness is not something learned but hereditary and original, attaching itself to the infant still within the womb. Also, we should note that "in sin" does not mean that the act of procreation and conception are sinful but that we are conceived and born utterly sinful, slaves of Satan - that our whole lives are "in sin." d. Psalm 58:3. The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies. This text proves that even the depravity of infants is not just a lack of good but an inclination to evil action. And indeed, one has only to observe small children to see that they know how to lie naturally and go astray from God naturally. In fact, they can be taught to speak the truth and follow God only with great effort crowned with the grace of God. e. Romans 5:12. Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. This passage not only teaches that spiritual death or depravity is hereditary but that it is hereditary because all men have sinned and therefore are guilty in Adam. That is the essence of the doctrine of original sin and a reminder that man cannot be in any worse condition than he now is before God. There are, of course, many other passages that could be quoted, but these are the principle passages, and they show that whatever people may think of the doctrine of total depravity, it is, unmistakably, the teaching of the Scriptures. Rev. Ronald Cammenga and Rev. Ronald Hanko This extract from “Saved by Grace” is posted with permission from its publisher, Reformed Free Publishing Association, Grandville, Michigan Next: Chapter II Total Depravity - C. Difficult Passages
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Post by Admin on Jan 28, 2024 23:39:03 GMT -5
OUR ONLY COMFORT Rev. Carl Haak What is your comfort in life? In death? Comfort is something that everyone wants to have in life. To have peace of mind, to be relieved from misery, to possess contentment and inner calm -- certainly everyone desires that! But comfort is something few people possess. For some, comfort is when things go well in life, when I have all that I want, good health and few problems. Others would say that comfort is the ability to brush away the bad, to have a strong will, to take the bitter with the sweet. Still others say that comfort is to escape the realities of life, whether that be done by vacations, pills, or liquor. Comfort is something we need. Take, for instance, if someone is in the hospital suffering from the pain of cancer. If you were to ask such a person, "What is your comfort?" then he might answer that his friends have overwhelmed him with gifts and visits, or that he has the best doctors money can buy. What would you say to comfort this person: "Things could always be worse?" "Cheer up, there will be better days ahead"? Take another example: a funeral home. What words of comfort would you speak there? Some say that comfort is looking at all the good the person did in his life. Others might say that death is natural, and what matters is only that we enjoy life and use it while we have it. And still others, weighed down with sorrow, would frankly admit to you that there is no comfort to be found in this life, no place where men do not weep. What consolation would you give to someone who said that? In opposition to all worldly ideas of comfort and man's attempts of consoling a person in grief, the Christian, no matter what his life may be, has the only comfort in both life and death. His comfort rests upon the Bible, the Word of God. One could even say that the Bible is God's word of comfort to His people. Isaiah the prophet is commanded to proclaim God's word in Isaiah 40:1 and 2, "Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned, for she hath received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins." There the comforting word is that Jerusalem's iniquity is pardoned, her warfare is over, for she has received from God the forgiveness of her sins. Isaiah voices that same soothing word in chapter 52:9, "Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem, for the Lord hath comforted His people, He hath redeemed Jerusalem." There, again, the Scripture identifies comfort with redemption, that is, with the forgiveness of sins by the grace of God. The apostle Paul in II Corinthians 1:3, 4 gives us the same message of comfort, "Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort, who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God." There God is identified as the "God of all comfort," that is, all comfort proceeds from Him and is to be found only in fellowship with Him. He is the one able to comfort us in all our tribulation. And the purpose for which God comforts us is that we might be able to comfort them which are in any trouble. If we were to summarize what the Bible teaches about comfort, we could give the following definition: Comfort is knowing that I am not my own but belong in body and soul to Jesus Christ, Who has purchased me with His blood so that my sins are forgiven and I am given eternal life. That is comfort! How wonderful! That I, in life or in death, belong to Jesus, or as Romans 14:8 puts it, "For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord; whether we live, therefore, or whether we die, we are the Lord's." That comfort which proceeds from God consists of two parts. First, Christian comfort is the knowledge that I am not my own. I am neither independent nor self-reliant. Paul writes in I Corinthians 6:19, "What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost that is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?" That means that the child of God does not rely upon himself or any product of man's wisdom for his comfort. This is, of course, contrary to what we would like to think. In pride we can think at times that our own mind or strength will be able to see us through our troubles. But Christian comfort is the confession, "I am not my own." For you see, if I were my own, then I would be personally responsible for an enormous debt of sin which I could never wipe out but only increase daily. Secondly, true comfort is the knowledge that I do belong to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ. This is true because Jesus purchased me with His blood shed on Calvary where He redeemed me from my sins and made me His possession. I Peter 1:18, 19 says this so beautifully: "Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot." Because Jesus by grace purchased me with His blood upon the cross, I belong to Him. What does it mean to belong to Jesus? Belonging to Christ means that I am united inseparably to Him by faith. It means that I am His property, that He owns me and is also accountable for me, both body and soul, in life and in death, in time and eternity. It implies that He is responsible for every part of me, and He must keep me and lead me to the eternal glory of His kingdom. More, it means that He rules me by His Spirit and grace, and as my Lord He gives me all that I need for body and soul. I may, therefore, rely upon Him, casting all my cares upon Him, knowing that He cares for me (I Pet. 5:7). Belonging to Jesus means that I may say with the inspired Paul in Galatians 2:20, "I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." All things are now controlled by Christ Who is at God's right hand, and all the events of my life are used by Christ for my good and spiritual profit. All the problems and pains of this present life cannot crush me or sever the blessed union that Christ by grace has established with me. It was in the full consciousness of belonging to Jesus Christ that caused Paul to utter the beautiful words in Romans 8, "Who will separate us from the love of Christ? For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Jesus Christ our Lord." Notice two things in conclusion. First of all, this is an exclusive comfort. There is nothing else in the whole world that can comfort you. It is not the highest comfort, or the best comfort, or the chief comfort. But it is the only comfort. Comfort is not that I belong to Jesus and that I am healthy, wealthy, or strong. Comfort is not that I belong to Jesus and have a good insurance policy. To have anything along side this exclusive comfort is to forfeit this comfort. The only comfort is to belong completely to Jesus in life and in death. In the second place, this is also an all-sufficient comfort. It is sufficient for every circumstance of life and for all the horrors of death. No matter what evil may enter my life, belonging to Jesus means that He comforts me and sends it for my profit. Comfort is knowing that I am never out of the hands of Jesus and that all things serve, in one way or another, my good. No, we don't always know how that is, nor can we always explain how the evil is for our good. Comfort is to believe it! When evil things befall us, comfort is knowing that God sent it for our good, and, in Christ, also gives us grace to bear it in thanksgiving. This is what the Holy Spirit means in Romans 8:28. "For we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose." Is your only comfort found in this, that you belong not to yourself but to the faithful Savior Jesus Christ? Then sincerely live unto Him in thanksgiving all the days of your life! _________________________
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Post by Admin on Jan 29, 2024 0:13:52 GMT -5
SAVED BY GRACE (FIVE POINTS OF CALVINISM) 15TH INSTALLMENT - LETTER “U” OF TULIP CHAPTER III - UNCONDITIONAL ELECTION C. Difficult Passages 1. Certain passages of Scripture speak of God’s “foreknowledge.” Examples are Romans 8:29, “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren,” and I Peter 1:2, “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.” The Scripture passages most often used against the doctrine of sovereign unconditional election are those passages which speak of God's foreknowledge and indicate that foreknowledge is before election. The argument, then, is that election is not unconditional, that is, without any regard for what we are or would be but is conditioned on God's prior knowledge of what we would be or do. In other words, God chose certain people because He had already foreseen that they would repent and believe, and their foreseen faith was the condition on which God chose them. Now apart from the fact that this is a denial of God's sovereignty, inasmuch as it makes God's choice dependent on man's (even though only foreseen), it does not at all reflect the biblical idea of foreknowledge. For one thing, foreknowledge in the Scriptures is not just a kind of predicting of the future but is causative, that is, foreknowledge as much as election does not just foretell our believing but actually brings it about (cf. Acts 2:23). For another thing, foreknowledge in the Scriptures is also much more than mere foresight in that it is actually God's love before time. This becomes very clear when one studies the way in which the Scriptures use the word knowledge in such passages as Genesis 4:1; Amos 3:2; and Galatians 4:9. That means that insofar as foreknowledge does indeed precede election (this we cannot deny) it is the deepest reason for election, but then the deepest reason for election is not our foreseen faith but God's eternal love. 2. Deuteronomy 7:6,7: “For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth. The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people.” 3. Deuteronomy 14:2: “For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God, and the LORD hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth.” Such passages as these which speak of Israel's election are sometimes used to deny that election (and reprobation) are personal and therefore also sovereign and unconditional. Some teach by these verses that God chose only a nation in the Old Testament and that He chose them only to receive certain privileges. Similarly it is taught that as far as New Testament people are concerned, God did not choose persons either but only an indefinite number. Understand, if God has chosen certain persons and chosen them to salvation as the Scriptures so clearly teach, then election is effective and unconditional. But if He has chosen only an indefinite number of persons or a nation, then election is neither effective nor unconditional, for then those who are saved are not saved because of election but because of their own works or faith. Especially valuable in this connection is Romans 9:10-13 which speaks so clearly of a personal election and reprobation way back in the Old Testament. This passage along with those that speak of "names" being written in the Book of Life (Luke 10:20; Phil. 4:3; Rev. 13:8; 17:8) conclusively shows that election is indeed personal and therefore also effective, sovereign, and unconditional. Rev. Ronald Cammenga and Rev. Ronald Hanko This extract from “Saved by Grace” is posted with permission from its publisher, Reformed Free Publishing Association, Grandville, Michigan Next: Chapter III Unconditional Election - D. Objections
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Post by Admin on Jan 29, 2024 21:21:58 GMT -5
Why Christians Who Love Their Gay And Trans Neighbors Won’t Attend Their Weddings BY: ROBERT GAGNON JANUARY 29, 2024 7 MIN READ two men's hands with wedding bands stacked on top of each other IMAGE CREDIT NICK KARVOUNIS/UNSPLASH If Christians want to convey love, there are other — and truer — ways of doing so than attending a celebration of sin.
Author Robert Gagnon profile ROBERT GAGNON MORE ARTICLES SHARE Share Article on Facebook Share Article on Twitter Share Article on Truth Social
Copy Article Link Share Article via Email Alistair Begg, a 71-year-old evangelical Scottish pastor of Cleveland’s Parkside Church, who has an influential radio ministry called “Truth For Life,” should repent of the dangerous advice he gave on his program.
In response to a question from a grandmother as to whether she should attend her grandson’s wedding to “a transgender person,” Begg said that, so long as the grandson knows that she “can’t countenance … the choices that he has made in life,” she should “go to the ceremony” and “buy them a gift.” The context of Begg’s advice indicates it applies also to gay unions. Indeed, a wedding involving transgenderism invariably entails a homosexual component, for the “transgender person” is either the same sex as the spouse or pretending to be so.
Not an Agree-to-Disagree Issue From a biblical perspective, attendance at a gay or transgender wedding is no more an agree-to-disagree point of practice than is a Christian attending the marriage between a man and his mother, or a Christian going to an idol’s temple as a non-worshipper to maintain contacts. There is no faithful early Christian leader who would have advocated such attendance. Remember that in a transgender or gay union, the parties declare their intent to sin without remorse as long as they live and invite attendees to celebrate that commitment with them.
Nor is it loving to attend such a ritual event, since the attendance speaks louder than any words claiming disagreement. Attendees are expected to offer expressions of joyful affirmation at the ritual and reception: applaud, smile, congratulate in a receiving line, lift one’s glass repeatedly with others to toast the couple, share in a festive meal, and likely dance. The whole atmosphere conveys the celebration of a good, which one’s presence and participation acknowledge tacitly, if not directly. By attendees lending tacit acceptance, those engaged in this sacrilegious parody of a true wedding are led further down the path of sexual self-degradation and ultimately destruction.
Given Begg’s status as an elderly and trusted spiritual leader, his advice is a sign of how deeply LGBT rot has seeped into the evangelical house. It shows the degree to which many Christians are ill-informed about clear scriptural guidance on a homosexual or transgender wedding, unskilled at analogical reasoning, and so captivated by cultural influences that they balk at the scriptural view that homosexual practice and transgenderism are worse than even adult-consensual incest.
Misguided Justification of Future Evangelism Begg justified his response by appealing to an alleged evangelistic hope:
Your love for them may catch them off guard, but your absence will simply reinforce the fact that they said, ‘These people are what I always thought: judgmental, critical, unprepared to countenance anything.’ And it is a fine line, isn’t it? … We’re going to have to take that risk a lot more if we want to build bridges into the hearts and lives of those who don’t understand Jesus and don’t understand that He is a King.
If Christians want to convey love, there are other — and truer — ways of doing so than attending a celebration of sin. Contact can be continued after the event in shared meals and expressions of concern for well-being that do not entangle the Christian in the formal endorsement of immorality.
Yes, Jesus ate with sexual sinners and tax collectors who were interested in his message. Yet that’s a world of difference from attending a ritual celebration of the tax collectors’ economic exploitation or going to a ritual celebration of an immoral and unnatural sexual union where the participants are committing themselves to engage in this immorality lifelong.
Even apart from the first and foremost concern of offending God, attendance at a gay or trans wedding is far more likely to have a negative effect on the Christian attending than to have a salutary effect on those tying the knot to accept a true gospel.
In the case Begg cites, although the grandson “knows” his grandmother doesn’t agree with the marriage, her attendance at the ceremony and reception conveys she can’t be that opposed to what is happening. Else, she would be weeping at the ceremony, not making merry.
This then becomes the basis for the grandson to extort from the grandmother acceptance of the relationship in the future. Knowing the grandmother has already caved on her “principles” by attending their celebration, the grandson can presume further concessions by using her desire for a continuing relationship as a form of blackmail.
Sadly, the grandmother is more likely to be influenced to accept the validity of the union than the grandson is to be influenced to renounce his immorality. Through her attendance, she has become desensitized to the idea of a homosexual or transgender union. Her conscience has been seared to some extent.
Finally, the grandmother would be stumbling other believers, especially the young, for they can see that attendance implies limited acceptance, whatever the grandmother might say. Those peddling such an evangelistic or missionary justification, knowingly or not, have become partners (koinonoi, 2 Cor. 6:14) to evil, compromised Christian morality, offended God, and stumbled the weak.
Biblical Analogy The closest analogue to a trans or gay wedding would be an adult-consensual incestuous wedding. Incest is a comparably severe offense, and both involve people who are too much formally or structurally alike (one as regards kinship, the other as regards sex or “gender”). Can anyone imagine Paul giving Begg’s advice to the situation described in 1 Corinthians 5, where a self-professed “Christian” man is sleeping with his stepmother?
To claim Paul gives us no advice in 1 Corinthians 5 about attending an incestuous wedding, just because it isn’t explicitly discussed, would be misplaced. It is inconceivable that Paul would countenance attendance at an incestuous wedding as a means to building an evangelistic bridge, after demanding “in the name of the Lord Jesus” that they cease to associate with the incestuous man, noting how abhorrent the behavior is to God, and insisting that they mourn rather than celebrate an unrepentant sinner facing eternal exclusion from God’s kingdom. Telling the Corinthians to “flee sexual immorality (porneia)” (1 Cor. 6:18) is antithetical to attending the ritual celebration of incest.
Homosexual practice and transgenderism are worse than incest because they violate what Jesus defined as the foundation upon which all other sexual standards are predicated: “male and female [God] made them” (Gen. 1:27) and, “For this reason a man … will become joined to his woman, and they [later: the two] shall become one flesh” (Gen. 2:24).
Granted, Paul is dealing with a self-professed Christian engaged in the behavior. But Begg doesn’t even inquire whether the grandson is a self-professed Christian. Not that the Christian profession of the offender would make any difference in Paul denouncing the celebration of sin.
Evangelical leaders who seek to persuade fellow believers that it is permissible to attend a transgender or gay wedding have, at least on this particular point, been influenced more by their culture than by God’s Word. This is especially true of an elder statesman of the evangelical world like Alistair Begg. His ministry should not be supported until he repents of this well-intentioned but sinful advice.
Robert A. J. Gagnon, PhD, is the author of "The Bible and Homosexual Practice" (Abingdon) and co-author of "Homosexuality and the Bible: Two Views" (Fortress). For 24 years he was a professor of New Testament at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. He is currently professor of theology at Houston Baptist University and Theological Seminary. BIBLE CHRISTIANITY GAY GAY MARRIAGE JESUS LGBT
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Post by Admin on Feb 2, 2024 18:05:49 GMT -5
THE REFORMED WITNESS HOUR "The Bible is the Word of God" Rev. Carl Haak Dear Radio Listeners, This program of the Reformed Witness Hour is brought to you out of the unashamed conviction that the Word of God is the power to work faith and holiness. There are many Christian churches and many Christian organizations which no longer make that unashamed confession. There are some who deny the inspiration and the authority of the Bible; they do not believe that the Bible is, word for word, the Word of God without error. They point to supposed errors and contradictions in God's Word and believe that God's Word is perhaps true in some respects but not all respects. The result of this is that, instead of using the Word of God to build faith and holiness, these turn more and more to gimmicks and to drama and to other things to build faith and holiness. There are others who believe that faith and holiness is within the power of men. These would say, "Yes, we believe the Bible is word for word the Word of God, but we believe in the doctrine of free will and that man must make his own decision to have faith and to be holy." There are still others who are indifferent and complacent and have no affection whatsoever for the truth of God's Word and do not care to bother themselves with these things. The truth is this: The Bible is word for word God's Word. And it is the Bible, which is brought to the heart by the Holy Spirit, which is able to build faith and holiness. It is the power of God unto a true Christian life. The Word of God, as it is to be preached from the pulpit, sound, biblical preaching; the Word of God which is to be brought in catechism classes whereby children of the church are instructed in the truths of God's Word; the Word of God which is to be taught in your home as a parent to your children; the Word of God which is to be read in your home and to be read by you personally-you are to open and to read that Word of God. The Word of God is the power to build the kingdom of Jesus Christ. It is the power unto faith and holiness. This is the teaching of Jesus Christ. This is the teaching that Christ gave repeatedly. He spoke it in word and in parable. One of those parables is recorded in Mark 4:26-29. We call this parable the parable of the Invincible Seed-that the Word of God is an invincible power and will cause true Christian faith and holiness in the hearts of God children, in the hearts where the Holy Spirit has implanted the seed of God's Word. This parable that we find in Mark 4 was spoken to a multitude by the seaside while Jesus was in a boat. It was spoken to a general audience (not simply to His disciples). It is recorded for us only in Mark. And it is not interpreted by the Lord. As to its place, we find that it is a wonderful complement to the parable of the sower, or better, the four different kinds of soil. In that parable which Jesus spoke, the man went forth to sow seed in his field. Some of these seeds fell on the wayside; others on stony ground; some among the thorns; and some on good ground. In that parable Jesus taught our responsibility to embrace the Word of God with a believing heart and to guard against all who would make that Word of God unfruitful in our lives (whether that is the false, subtle suggestions of Satan; whether that is the persecution of an unbelieving world; or whether that is the cares and the lusts of this present time). Now the parable that we consider today, the parable of the invincible seed, teaches us the sovereign power of God, the power of God's Word, to accomplish God's purpose in His children. God will certainly and surely, through the invincible power of His Word, bring His children to faith and to holiness. In this parable Jesus sets forth an aspect of the kingdom of God. We read, "And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; and should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come." As I said, this parable was meant to teach us an aspect of the kingdom of God, the kingdom which Jesus Himself had come to establish and was establishing in His ministry. What is the specific principle of that kingdom which Jesus teaches us? It is this: Jesus is teaching us the invincible power of the Word of God when it is brought to a prepared heart. In the parable we read of three times: the sowing time, the growing time, and the harvest time. Jesus speaks to us first of the sowing time. The picture is that at the proper time of the year the farmer, taking a bag upon his shoulders, casts forth his seed and sows the seed. That is all that is said. Then we read of the growing time. And of that growing time, we read of two activities. The activity of the farmer-that activity is described as sleep: he rises night and day, he goes about his normal business, and he sleeps. He does not arise every three hours, take a candle, get down on his knees, and dig around in the earth to see if the seed is doing anything. No, with the growth of the seed he has nothing to do. He has sown the seed and now he does nothing. But we also read of the activity of the seed. The seed sprouts and lengthens and grows into an ear and a blade and brings forth fruit. This totally transcends the ability of the farmer to comprehend how that little seed grows. It first sprouts through the earth as a little blade, and there is a hue of green across the field. Then it turns into an ear, swelling forth in a bud, a kernel of wheat or corn. It does this of itself. The farmer does not know how this happens. He simply stands before it and praises God. Then we read of the harvest time. Immediately, straightway, the farmer will thrust in his sickle because the harvest is come. No matter what other projects he may have around on the farm, he knows that the field is ripe for harvest, everything is prepared, and he sends forth reapers into his harvest because the harvest will be damaged if he waits too long. There you have it. And the point of the parable is this: the invincible power of the Word of God to work in the heart of God's children to bring forth growth and maturity, to bring forth faith and holiness, until at last, being ripe, they are ushered into heaven. The seed which is sown is the Word of God. That is very plain from the parable of the sower and from Jesus' own words that the sower soweth the Word of God. That Word of God is compared to a seed. It is a living Word. And when it is implanted in the heart of faith it must bring forth repentance and holiness. Now the kingdom of God is like that. It is like a seed which is sown in a field which sprouts and brings forth a fruit. So in the kingdom of God the Word of God is sent forth and, by the Holy Spirit, brought to the heart of God's children. That Word of God sprouts and brings forth the visible life of faith. That is the meaning of the parable. The Word of God is the invincible power of God to produce faith in the life of His children. That is very important. That vividly underscores the origin by which the kingdom of God is established from its very beginning to its culmination. The kingdom of God, said Jesus, is advancing. It is expanding. And it does so by the Word of our God. From the point of view of men we would expect to read the following. "So is the kingdom of God, like a king gathering nobles to plan his conquest." Or, "So is the kingdom of God, as a brilliant man gathering together counselors, bringing them into a 'think tank' to plot the expansion of his business." No. We read the simple, faithful, tireless proclamation of the Word of God: this is the way the kingdom of God comes, at the heart of which is the preaching of the gospel by the church. By this means the kingdom of God shall be established and extended on this earth-through the preaching and teaching of God's Word. And this is the Word of God throughout. This is not only the formal teaching of the Word of God, but this is also the record of what happened in the early church in the book of Acts. The kingdom expanded from Jerusalem out into the Gentile world. And what was the means of this expansion? How did this take place? Not by the coming together of great lords and great minds to plan the expansion of this new religion. But by humble men who preached and taught the Word of God. The Word of God preached and taught and witnessed-hat is the means whereby the kingdom is built and established. Do you understand that? If you understand this, then you will not simply tolerate church services centered in the preaching of the Word, but you will defend that to the death. You will understand that God has willed that the worship of the church find its center in the preaching of the Word. For it is that Word and the preaching of that Word which is the primary means for the building of faith. If you understand this, then you will teach your children the Word of God. And you will do your utmost to see to it that they are taught it. You will see that in the catechism classes of the church or in the Christian school. Still more, if you understand this, you will be jealous for the expansion of the Word of God. You will do all, according to your gifts and your talents, to speak of that Word of God to your neighbor. And still more, if you understand this, then you will be those who support a solid seminary where men may be taught, according to God's Word, to be faithful preachers and teachers. Not brilliant scholars who are able to show their learning merely by writing articles for journals, but sowers of the Word, good farmers, men who preach the Word of God. Yet still more. This parable then assures us of a certain growth of God's kingdom by the means of the Word even unto the moment of harvest. No mention was made of a drought, or of any seeds which do not germinate, or of fowls or stony ground or of tares among the wheat. Rather, Christ wishes to emphasize the certainty of the link between the sowing of the Word and the final harvest. We read in verse 29, "When the fruit (not if the fruit) is come." The Lord wants us to understand the certainty, the invincibility of the Word to accomplish in His children all that God intends to accomplish. By the Word He brings us to the blade, that is, to the first apprehensions of God and of sin. But He brings us, more, to the ear, to the growth in grace and an understanding of the Christian life. Then He brings the full corn and the ear-maturity of faith and dependence upon God. But God uses that one Word of God from the very beginning to the end to accomplish His purpose. Jesus said, "I will build My church." Jesus said, "All that the Father gives to Me shall come to Me." The apostle Paul says, in I Corinthians 3:7, "The Lord shall give the increase." By what means? By the Word of God. That means that the church which preaches the gospel and sees to it that the gospel is preached faithfully on the Lord's day is not on a fool's errand. When the Word is preached, that Word will never return in vain. When we pray for the gospel causes, when we desire the gathering of the church, when we pray for the conversion of all those whom God has given to Jesus Christ, we are not speaking in the air. We are not exercising ourselves in futility. But we may have confidence. The Word of God is able to gather the kingdom from the very beginning even unto the end. Still more. Jesus is underscoring the mighty operation of grace in the establishing of the kingdom. In this parable we read that the farmer knows not how. It is not in his knowledge to understand the way whereby the seed germinates and grows into a harvest. The power of the seed is in the hand of God. Why does a seed do what it does? It does it because God made it that way, by the active providence of God. The farmer understands these three things: he is impotent-he cannot do it; he is ignorant of exactly how this happens; he stands in the expectation that nevertheless the seed will sprout and grow. The seed of the Word of God is sown. How is it that the word of the gospel gets beyond the ear and into the heart and opens the eyes? God does that. The Holy Spirit does that. God works, and God's is the power to make that Word of God powerful and effective. What a beautiful truth we have. This is the understanding that the church must have; this is the understanding that a minister of the gospel must have. He must do all in his power to make the Word of God, as he preaches is, clear and understandable, personal and applicable. But, at the same time, he realizes that he is impotent to make this Word fruitful in the lives of the people; he is, ultimately, ignorant-that is, he does not see the work of the Holy Spirit actually bringing that Word to the heart; but, nevertheless, he is confident that God will do it. Through the preaching of His Word, God will build His church. And that is the confidence we have also in teaching and reading the Word of God, and of witnessing the Word of God. Do you believe this? The Lord has shown us that one of the most significant indicators that someone has been brought into His kingdom is that he reverences the Word of God. What is the indication of being brought into the kingdom? An emotional response? Shivers up and down your spine? Feelings, deep affections, being drummed up into a powerful emotional state in which you cry? Is that the evidence? No, the indication is this: when a person takes the Word of God seriously. Are you in the kingdom? How do you know? Simply that you can point to a moment in your life? No. This is how you know. Do you take the Word of God seriously? Has the Word of God come with power in the Holy Ghost and with joy? Has God opened your eyes so that you say, "God is not the God I thought Him to be. God is not simply as I want Him to be. But He is as He has revealed Himself to be in His Word. I am not a little independent kingdom off on my own to do my own thing with everything revolving around me. But I fell in Adam. I am a sinful person. My heart is such that apart from divine intervention I would never believe; I would go to hell." Do you take the Word seriously, personally? Do you acquaint yourself with that Word so that the Word lives, sprouts, and grows in your life? This is the indication of passing into the kingdom of God. The Word of God is reverenced in a person's life. The Word of God follows that person. That person hears that Word of God. That person has that Word of God echoing in his heart. It is with him wherever he is; at home, at work, at school, wherever he is. That is the message of the Lord to us. Let us be jealous. Let us be faithful. Let us be diligent. Let us sow the Word of God in home, in church, and in our lives. And let us be confident. For this Word of God, above all human powers, abides unconquered. It will establish God's kingdom. It will tear down and it will build up. It will work faith and holiness. The Word of God will work these in the heart of God's children even until the day of the harvest when Jesus Christ appears to take His own to Himself. Now he that hath ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Let us pray. Father, we thank Thee for the mighty power of Thy Word. We pray that we may reverence it in our hearts. We pray that we may have a thirst to hear it preached to us. And give Thy church ever, O Lord, that zeal and obedience to preach the Word of God and to believe that it is Thy Word which is the power unto faith, the power unto holiness, the power to build the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. In His name do we pray, Amen. Rev. Carl Haak RWH March 8, 1998; No. 2879 _________________________
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Post by Admin on Feb 9, 2024 12:03:12 GMT -5
How Romans 9 Anticipates Objections to Unconditional Election AUGUST 19, 2020 | JUSTIN DILLEHAY © Lightstock SHARE POST EMAIL
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Martyn Lloyd-Jones once said if no one ever accuses you of preaching antinomianism, then you probably aren’t preaching justification the way Paul did. Why not? Because Paul anticipates this very objection in Romans 6:1: “What shall we say then—shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?” So if people make the same accusation against our preaching, it’s a good indication we’re preaching the gospel like Paul did.
The same could be said of the doctrine of election in Romans 9. Twice in this chapter, Paul raises what appear to be natural objections against his teaching on election (Rom. 9:14, 19). I say “natural” because these are the same objections people still make when election is taught a certain way. You can read them in books and hear them in sermons. In fact, before Romans 8 helped make me a Calvinist, I leveled these same two objections against the doctrine of unconditional election.
Twice in [Romans 9], Paul raises what appears to be natural objections against his teaching on election.
So here’s my claim: in Romans 9, Paul teaches the (Calvinist) doctrine of unconditional election—the teaching that God chooses to save some and not others, not based on anything in them (whether faith or fruit, present or foreseen), but based solely on his sovereign will and purpose. Evidence for this view comes in two steps: first, Paul addresses two of the same objections still raised against Calvinistic doctrine; and second, he doesn’t answer the objections the way an Arminian would.
So what are the objections?
1. Unconditional Election Makes God Unjust We see this objection in verse 14. Paul has just been discussing two Old Testament case studies in election. First, God chose Isaac over Ishmael (Rom. 9:6–9); second, he chose Jacob over Esau (vv. 10–13). Paul stresses that Jacob was chosen and loved over Esau unconditionally—“though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad, in order that God’s purpose of election might continue” (v. 11).
To which the natural human response is, “But that’s not fair! To claim God chooses and rejects people without any regard to their character, whether good or bad, would make God unjust!”
Which is exactly why Paul raises that objection in verse 14: “What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part?” As with Lloyd-Jones’s quip about antinomianism, the mere fact that Paul predicts this objection indicates that he’s teaching unconditional election. After all, how often does the Arminian teaching of conditional election based on foreseen faith provoke such a response?
The mere fact that Paul predicts this objection indicates that he’s teaching unconditional election.
But though this argument favors unconditional election, it doesn’t settle the matter. After all, Arminians also deny God is unjust in election. So we need to listen to Paul’s explanation for why this charge is “by no means” true before we declare victory for either side. Perhaps the objector has misunderstood Paul. If so, we should expect some clarification.
So, how does Paul respond to the objection? Does he say, “By no means! For though God may have chosen Jacob before they were born, that doesn’t mean he didn’t foresee that Jacob would be a believing man and Esau a profane man”? Does he say, “And just to be clear, I’m not talking about the election of individuals to salvation, but only of nations to special service”?
Answer: no, he doesn’t.
Instead of responding like an Arminian, he doubles down on God’s sovereign right to show mercy and compassion to whomever he wills (Rom. 9:15). It’s true that Scripture presents Esau as wicked and Jacob as believing. And it’s certainly true God foresaw all this (since he foresees everything). But this can’t be the basis of God’s choice, since it would defeat the whole purpose of announcing the choice “when they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad.”
Instead of responding like an Arminian, Paul doubles down on God’s sovereign right to show mercy and compassion to whomever he wills (Rom. 9:15).
Of course, there are verses that say “With the merciful you show yourself merciful” (2 Sam. 22:26; cf. Matt. 5:7). But that’s not what Romans 9:15 is addressing. Romans 9:15 is addressing the deeper reality of why some people are merciful to begin with. Romans 9:15 (“God has mercy on whom he wills”) is pointing to a more profound reality than 2 Samuel 22:26 (“God has mercy on those who show mercy”). To say God’s mercy ultimately originates as a response to foreseen faith or mercy is to affirm election does depend on human will and exertion, rather than on God (contrary to v. 16).
In short, God chose Jacob not because Jacob was any better than Esau, and God rejected Esau not because Esau was any worse than Jacob. God’s choice had nothing to do with anything in them, foreseen or otherwise. This teaching provokes the objection in verse 14 and the explanation in verses 15–16.
Which bleeds over into the second objection.
2. Unconditional Election Destroys Human Responsibility We see this objection in verse 19. As an additional example of God’s sovereignty, Paul cites Exodus 9:16 and claims that God raised up Pharaoh for the purpose of showing off his power and making a name for himself in all the earth (v. 17). From which Paul draws the inference: “So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills” (v. 18).
This language of “hardening,” though not present in Exodus 9:16, comes from the broader Exodus narrative in which God commands Pharaoh to let Israel go while simultaneously hardening Pharaoh’s heart to keep him from letting them go. God’s “purpose” in this repeated hardening was to drag out the process so as to allow him to “get glory over Pharaoh” in a way that would spread his fame abroad (Ex. 14:4; Josh. 2:8–11).
The idea of God sovereignly hardening Pharaoh in accord with his own purpose, rather than as a response to Pharaoh’s (evil) willing and running, provokes the objection in verse 19 and still provokes it today: “You will say then, ‘Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?’” (Rom. 9:19). How can God blame Pharaoh for refusing to let his people go (and he does, Ex. 9:34) if Pharaoh is simply fulfilling God’s purposes? If the idea of unconditional election is offensive (“he has mercy on whomever he wills”), then the idea of unconditional hardening is doubly offensive (“and he hardens whomever he wills”).
The idea of God sovereignly hardening Pharaoh in accord with his own purpose . . . provokes the objection in verse 19, and still provokes it today.
Again, the fact that this objection is even raised suggests our interpretation is on the right track. But as before, this doesn’t settle the matter. We must first listen to Paul’s response to see if the objector has misunderstood him.
And once again, Paul’s response is telling. Does he respond by arguing, “But remember, God only hardened Pharaoh’s heart after Pharaoh had hardened his own heart”?
Answer: no, he doesn’t. Instead, he questions the critic’s right to even lodge the objection (Rom. 9:20). He then doubles down on God’s sovereign right, as the potter, to make vessels for whatever uses he sees fit (vv. 20–21)—whether for “dishonor,” “wrath,” and “destruction” (vv. 21–22) or for “honor,” “mercy,” and “glory” (v. 23).
It’s not that God fashions vessels arbitrarily. It’s simply that his choice isn’t based on anything in the vessels themselves. Moses and Pharaoh were “from the same lump” (Rom. 9:21), just as Jacob and Esau were from the same man (v. 10) and had lived in the same womb at the same time. The type of vessels they became was rooted not in their will or exertion, but in God’s purpose to “show his wrath and make known his power.” And what’s his ultimate goal? To make known “the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy” (v. 23)—vessels who wouldn’t fully appreciate the glory of that mercy unless seen against the backdrop of his wrath (vv. 22–23).
Preaching Election Like Paul John Piper acknowledges,
[Given that the] theological issue at stake [in Romans 9] reaches to the heart of our understanding of God . . . there is great value in being willing, if the grammatical and historical evidence demands it, to let Paul say something different from what we would initially prefer” (172).
As you read Romans 9, do your thoughts on election sound more like Paul’s, or like those of his objector?
As you read Romans 9, do your thoughts on election sound more like Paul’s, or like those of his objector? Romans 9 offers a rare opportunity for Christians to test their theological positions. It’s not often that common objections to biblical doctrine get explicitly raised in Scripture, much less answered. Given how difficult the doctrine of unconditional election is for fallen humans to submit to, this probably isn’t an accident.
So don’t let such a rare gift go to waste. Test yourself. Because if you’ve never been accused of making God unjust and man a puppet, then you’re probably not preaching election the way Paul did.
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Justin Dillehay (MDiv, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) is a pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Hartsville, Tennessee, where he resides with his wife and their four children.
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Post by Admin on Feb 21, 2024 12:27:15 GMT -5
Most people do not know what expository preaching and teaching is all about. In my opinion, pastors and churches should be presenting the Bible most of the time in this way when they teach and train their people. Please see this article: Expository Preaching - Expository preaching means making God’s Word plain. In an expository sermon the preacher simply tries to explain what the Bible teaches. The main points of his sermon are the points made by a particular text in the Bible. The minister not only begins with Scripture, but also allows the Scripture to establish the context and content for his entire sermon. The way he decides what to say is by studying what the Bible has to say, so that the Scripture itself sets the agenda for his interpretation and application. This kind of preaching is most helpfully done when a minister follows the logic of the Scriptures, systematically preaching chapter by chapter and verse by verse through entire books of the Bible. This helps ensure that a congregation hears what God wants them to hear, and not simply what their minister thinks they ought to hear. But expository preaching is not so much a method as it is a mind-set. A minister who sees himself as an expositor knows that he is not the master of the Word, but its servant. He has no other ambition than to preach what the Scriptures actually teach. His aim is to be faithful to God’s Word so that his people can hear God’s voice. He himself is only God’s mouthpiece, speaking God’s message into the ears of God’s people, and thus into their minds and hearts. To that end, he carefully works his way through the Scriptures, reading, explaining, and applying them to his congregation. On occasion he may find it necessary to address some pastoral concerns in a topical fashion, but even then his sermons come from his exposition of particular passages of Scripture. Rather than focusing on his own spiritual experience, or on current events, or on what he perceives as his congregation’s needs and interests, the minister gives his fullest attention to teaching what the Bible actually says. —Philip Graham Ryken, City on a Hill: Reclaiming the Biblical Pattern for the Church in the 21st Century, (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2003) THANKS DAVID ASH FOR THE ARTICLE!
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