Monday, March 31, 2008
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Paul Washer - HeartCry - Our Theology
THE SCRIPTURES. The Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments were given by inspiration of God, and are the only sufficient, certain and authoritative rule of all saving knowledge, faith, and obedience.
GOD. There is but one God, the Maker, Preserver and Ruler of all things, having in and of Himself all perfections, and being infinite in them all; and to Him all creatures owe the highest love, reverence and obedience.
THE TRINITY. God is revealed to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, each with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being.
PROVIDENCE. God, from eternity, decrees or permits all things that come to pass, and perpetually upholds, directs, and governs all creatures and all events; yet not in any way as to be the author or approver of sin nor to destroy the free will and responsibility of intelligent creatures.
ELECTION. Election is God’s eternal choice of some persons unto everlasting life–not because of foreseen merit in them, but of His mere mercy in Christ–in consequence of which choice they are called, justified, and glorified.
THE FALL OF MAN. God originally created man in His own image, and free from sin; but, through the temptation of Satan, man transgressed the command of God, and fell from his original holiness and righteousness; whereby his posterity [i.e. descendants] inherit a nature corrupt and wholly opposed to God and His law, are under condemnation, and as soon as they are capable of moral action, become actual transgressors.
THE MEDIATOR. Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, is the divinely appointed mediator between God and man. Having taken upon Himself human nature, yet without sin, He perfectly fulfilled the law, suffered and died upon the cross for the salvation of sinners. He was buried, rose again on the third day, and ascended to His Father, at whose right hand He lives forever to make intercession for His people. He is the only Mediator, the Prophet, Priest, and King of the church, and Sovereign of the Universe.
REGENERATION. Regeneration is a change of heart, wrought by the Holy Spirit, who makes alive those who are dead in trespasses and sins, enlightening their minds spiritually and savingly to understand the Word of God, and renewing their whole nature, so that they love and practice holiness. It is a work of God’s free and special grace alone.
REPENTANCE. Repentance is an evangelical grace, wherein the Holy Spirit makes a person aware of the manifold evil of his sin, so that he humbles himself with godly sorrow, detesting sin, and abhorring [i.e., hating] self, with a purpose and endeavor to walk before God so as to please Him in all things.
FAITH. Saving faith is the belief, on God’s authority, of whatsoever is revealed in His Word concerning Christ; accepting and resting upon Him alone for justification and eternal life. It is wrought in the heart by the Holy Spirit, and is accompanied by all other saving grace, and leads to a life of holiness.
JUSTIFICATION. Justification is God’s gracious and full acquittal of sinners who believe in Christ, from all sin, through the satisfaction that Christ has made. It is given not for anything wrought in them or done by them, but on account of the obedience and satisfaction of Christ, they receiving and resting on Him and His righteousness by faith.
SANCTIFICATION. Those who have been regenerated are also sanctified by God’s Word and Spirit dwelling in them. This sanctification is progressive through the supply of Divine strength, which all saints seek to obtain, pressing after a heavenly life in cordial [i.e., willing] obedience to all Christ’s commands.
PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS. Those whom God has accepted in the Beloved, and sanctified by His Spirit, will never totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace, but shall certainly persevere to the end; and though they may fall, through neglect and temptation, into sin, whereby they grieve the Spirit, impair their graces and comforts, bring reproach on the Church, and temporal judgments on themselves, yet they shall be renewed again unto repentance, and be kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.
THE CHURCH. The Lord Jesus is the Head of the Church, which is composed of all His true disciples, and in Him is invested supremely all power for its government. According to His commandment, Christians are to associate themselves into particular societies or churches; and to each of these churches He has given needful authority for administering the order, discipline and worship which He has appointed. The regular officers of a church are Bishops (or Elders) and Deacons.
BAPTISM. Baptism is an ordinance of the Lord Jesus, obligatory upon every believer, wherein he is immersed in water in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, as a sign of his fellowship with the death and resurrection of Christ, of remission of sins, and of his giving himself up to God, to live and walk in newness of life.
THE LORD’S SUPPER. The Lord’s Supper is an ordinance of Jesus Christ, to be administered with bread and wine, and to be observed by His churches till the end of the world. It is in no sense a sacrifice, but is designed to commemorate His death, to confirm the faith of Christians, and to be a bond, pledge, and renewal of their communion with Him, and of their church fellowship.
THE LORD’S DAY. The New Testament Church gives the example of assembling on the Lord’s Day (i.e. Sunday) for the reading and teaching of the Word of God, worship, prayer, and mutual encouragement – stimulating one another to love and good deeds. It is fitting to view the Lord’s day as a celebration of Christ’s resurrection and the redemption of His people.
THE RESURRECTION. The bodies of men after death return to dust, but their spirits return immediately to God - the righteous to rest with Him; the wicked, to be reserved under darkness to judgment. At the last day, the bodies of all the dead, both just and unjust, will be raised.
THE JUDGMENT. God has appointed a day, wherein He will judge the world by Jesus Christ, when every one shall receive according to his deeds: the wicked shall go into everlasting punishment; the righteous, into everlasting life.
Other Essential Convictions
1. Missions is an Impossibility apart from the Power of God. All men of every culture are born radically depraved, at enmity with God, and restraining the truth. The conversion of a man and the advancement of missions are an absolute impossibility apart from the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit in regeneration. Modern church growth strategies and many new mission methodologies often overlook this essential truth.
2. A True Gospel must be Proclaimed. The Gospel is the power of God for salvation (Romans 1:16) and the preaching of the Gospel is the great “means” and “methodology” of missions. The Gospel is, first and foremost, God in Christ reconciling the world to Himself (II Corinthians 5:19). It answers the eternal question of how a just God can rightly justify wicked men (Romans 3:26). It points to Christ alone, who bore the sins of His people upon the cross, was forsaken of God, and crushed under the full force of His just wrath against sin. The Good News of the Gospel is that through Christ’s death, the justice of God was satisfied, and salvation was won for a great multitude of people. This is evidenced by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead - “He who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification” (Romans 4:25).
3. The Gospel Transcends Culture. The greatest need of all men of every culture is the clear proclamation of the Gospel. Men are saved through the Gospel and continue in sanctification through continued growth in the full counsel of God’s Word. Although differences in culture are to be considered, it is more important for the missionary to be biblically sensitive than culturally sensitive. A missionary was once asked how he preached the Gospel to a certain remote tribe. He declared, “I do not preach the Gospel to a remote tribe. I preach the Gospel to men!”
4. Incarnational Missions is Essential. Although there may be some effective non-personal means of communicating the Gospel, there is no substitute for one man living among a people, teaching the Gospel to them, and living out his faith before them. God sent his own Son, and He became flesh and dwelt among us ( John 1:1,14; 3:16).
5. Superficial Evangelism is one of the Great Obstacles to Missions. Non-theological preaching, entertaining skits, and Gospel films are no substitute for the biblical exposition of the Gospel. Inviting men to raise their hands and pray a prayer is no substitute for the biblical call to repentance, faith, and personal discipleship. Biblical assurance of salvation does not flow from a past decision or a prayer, but from the examination of one’s enduring lifestyle in the light of Scripture.
6. Church Planting is the Primary Work of Missions. There are many gifts and callings in the body of Christ, but all of them are to work together on the mission field with the primary goal of planting a biblical church. It is one thing to do mass evangelism and to boast of the numbers of decisions; it is quite another to establish a biblical church.
7. True Missions is Costly. Amy Carmichael explained that missions is no more and no less than an opportunity to die. We live in a fallen world that is at enmity with God and opposes His truth; therefore, missions and suffering go hand in hand. Any advancement of the kingdom of Christ into the dominion of the devil will be met with warfare. There are many countries and people groups where martydom cannot be avoided.
End of post.
Paul Washer - HeartCry - Mission & Methodology
God Centeredness - “Man’s chief and highest end is to glorify God, and fully to enjoy Him forever” (Larger Catechism). We have been created and redeemed by God and for God, therefore, our chief desire is to know Him, and promote His glory in every circumstance of life and among all the peoples of the earth.
Expository Bible Preaching - The Scriptures must be carefully exegeted and powerfully proclaimed. The preacher must strive to be biblical, didactic, and prophetic. The pulpit is indispensable to the church’s growth in knowledge, holiness, love, and devotion. It cannot and should not be replaced or diminished.
Biblical Worship - The music department strives to lead the church family to glorify God and to edify one another through singing and musical instruments, ministering with spiritual passion and doctrinal integrity, while maintaining high standards of musical excellence. The worship is to reinforce the faith through song, and to express congregational praise and worship to Christ, our Audience.
Shepherding - The elders, staff, and small group leaders are passionate about and devoted to being on guard for “all” the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made them overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood (Acts 20:28).
Congregational Government - A New Testament church is an autonomous local congregation of baptized believers. Church government is congregational in context and, therefore, the final word in matters pertaining to the congregation must come from the congregation itself (Matthew 18:15-17; Acts 6:2-5; I Corinthians 5:4-5; II Corinthians 2:6).
Elder Led - The church has a body of elders/pastors who teach and shepherd the flock. In accordance with Hebrews 13:17, they keep watch over the congregation as men who must give an account to God. According to the same text, the congregation is to obey them and submit to their authority so that their work will be a joy and not a burden. The elders must meet the qualifications set forth in I Timothy 3:1-7, and they exercise authority over the church only to the degree that they teach and lead according to the Scriptures.
Deacon Served - According to the teachings of Jesus, the life of every Christian is to be marked by service (Mark 9:35). However, the New Testament also speaks of the specific office of deacon. The word deacon (gk: diákonos) denotes a helper or servant who serve (gk:diakonéo). Before a man may be appointed as deacon, he must be tested for the qualifications found in I Timothy 3:8-13. The tasks of a deacon are primarily that of meeting the physical and material needs of individual believers and the congregation as a whole. If the deacon serves faithfully, he “obtains for himself a high standing and great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus” (I Timothy 3:13).
Compassionate Church Discipline - Although church disciple is a foundational doctrine in Baptist history, it is now almost non-existent among “contemporary” Baptists. This forgotten and often misunderstood Bible doctrine is still practiced at First Baptist. We believe that if we truly seek to honor God and if we truly care for the well-being of His people, we will obey Christ’s commands to practice church discipline. When practiced biblically and compassionately, it is a powerful tool to restore the fallen and to preserve Christ’s honor in the church and the unbelieving world.
Biblical Evangelism - It is the duty of every believer to evangelize the lost. We adamantly stand against hyper-calvinism on the one hand and easy-believism on the other. We are committed to preach the Gospel to every creature, and to implore men to repent and believe. At the same time, we recognize that neither repentance nor faith can be produced by manipulating the emotion or coercing the will. They are the result of the supernatual work of the Holy Spirit.
Biblical Conversion and Assurance - A biblical understanding of regeneration and conversion is absolutely essential to the Christian faith. We believe that salvation is a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit ( John 3:5), that it is enduring (Philippians 1:6), and that it is evidenced by the bearing of fruit (Matthew 7:16-20). The man who walks in a continual state of carnality with no divine discipline can have no assurance of sonship (Hebrews 12:8) no matter how adamantly he professes his allegiance to Christ.
Discipleship - The purpose of First Baptist Church is to glorify God by obediently making and equipping disciples of Christ in the Shoals and throughout the world, by the power of the Spirit. The primary means employed to disciple believers are expository preaching, small group interaction and accountability, and personal one-on-one discipleship.
The Local Congregation - We believe that meaningful and enduring fellowship in a local congregation is absolutely essential to the Christian’s life and ministry. Media ministries can never take the place of the local church and its ministers. We are commanded not only to congregate, but to do so for the purpose of encouraging one another and stimulating one another to love and good deeds (Hebrews 10:24-25).
Every-Member Ministry - Every Christian in the local congregation without exception has been given spiritual gifts which they are commanded to employ for the edification of the entire congregation. The administration of such gifts by every member is necessary for the proper growth and ministry of the church.
Small Groups - One of the outlets for every- member ministry is our small group ministry. Such fellowships are employed to evangelize the lost, equip the saved, and minister to the individual needs in the body. Christianity is not a spectator sport.
Parent-Led Children Ministry - Parents are primarily responsible for the discipleship and discipline of their children. The church should not usurp the authority of godly parents, nor assume the responsibilities of parents who are lax in their duties. The church should give itself to teaching the biblical principles of parenthood and to holding parents accountable to carry them out in the context of their families.
Biblical Youth Ministry - Our youth ministry is not designed around the presumed unique needs or desires of young people, but is centered around God’s will for young people as revealed in His Word. Our goal is to strengthen parents in their God-called responsibility to “bring up their children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4). The so-called “generation gap” and the “adolescent years” are a result of sin and should not be encouraged by the church or youth ministries. Our youth ministry is not centered on music, drama, comedy, or other entertainments, but on the faithful preaching of God’s Word. While other activities may be allowed, they must never take the place of or de-emphasize the preaching of the Word.
Biblical Courtship - We believe that dating as it is practiced in our contemporary culture is an unbiblical practice that has led to untold misery among the people of God. Although the Scriptures do not specifically address courtship in every aspect, they do give us countless sound principles by which our young men and women may guide their relationships with the opposite sex and discover God’s will for marriage.
Personalized World Missions - The Great Commission is a great command. Personal involvement in world missions is not a suggestion or an option, but is demanded of every true believer. The entire local church family should be personally and strategically involved in world missions, mobilizing laborers, prayer, and finances to the end of glorifying God among all peoples. We are either called to go down into the well (be a missionary) or to hold the rope for those who are going down (support missionaries). Either way our dedication must be costly and enduring.
End of post.
Friday, March 28, 2008
Pastor Steven Anderson Refutes Calvinism and Predestination
What Pastor Anderson does not understand is that Calvinists do in fact believe in the free agency and responsiblity of man. And before God regenerates us, we all freely choose to sin and rebel against His Will and Word. In other words, we freely choose our sin. When God regenerates a soul, He is creating light in that person where there was once darkness. In our regenerated state, we freely choose to love God.
Election
I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh: Who are Israelites; to whom pertains the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen. Not as though the word of God has taken no effect. For they are not all Israel, who are of Israel: Neither, because they are the descendants of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall your descendants be called. That is, They who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the descendants. For this is the word of promise, At this time will I come, and Sarah shall have a son. And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac; (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calls;) It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For he says to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that wills, nor of him that runs, but of God that shows mercy. For the scripture says unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore has he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardens. You will say then unto me, Why does he yet find fault? For who has resisted his will? Nay but, O man, who are you that replies against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why have you made me thus? Has not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonor? What if God, willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had before prepared unto glory, Even us, whom he has called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? As he says also in Hosea, I will call them my people, who were not my people; and her beloved, who was not beloved. And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, You are not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God. Isaiah also cries concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved: For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth. And as Isaiah said before, Except the Lord of hosts had left us a descendant, we had been as Sodom, and been made like unto Gomorrah. What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, who followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith. But Israel, who followed after the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness. Why? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling stone; As it is written, Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense: and whosoever believes on him shall not be ashamed. - Romans 9:1-33
For by grace areyou saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest anyman should boast. - Ephesians 2:8-9
End of post.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Predestination for God's Glory: A Study of Ephesians 1:3-14
Today's study focuses on the sovereignty of God revealed in the salvation of His people.
Question: Why are we ultimately saved?
To escape the torments of hell?
To be like Christ?
To be with God eternally and to be His people!
All of these are correct answers! However, Ephesians 1:1-14 sets the focus of our salvation ultimately on the God who saves us!
The ultimate reason for our salvation is God's Glory!
In our study of Ephesians 1:3-14, and particularly the biblical doctrine of our salvation in Christ, let us always have the correct God-centered perspective as we begin.
If we begin with merely focusing on ourselves, our understanding of our salvation might be blurred and become out of focus for us. In fact, we might completely misunderstand the reason for which we are saved as his people.
We might be tempted to think that the gospel is somehow something we do for God rather than something he graciously does for those who cannot do!
Ephesians 1 teaches the predestination and electing love of Our Sovereign God in our salvation. Our Sovereign God desires to glorify Himself in redeeming a people for himself. God desires to redeem a people who cannot earn, merit, desire or will their salvation, but those who will trust in Christ alone for help (John 1:9-11).
In this study on Ephesians 1:1-14 we will focus on this aspect of God's work in our lives, what it means to us today, and we will glimpse the reality of our Sovereign and Trinitarian God in the salvation of our souls for His glory!
Ephesians 1:1-14
Ephesians 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus: 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.
7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. 11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 12 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. 13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
By way of introduction, allow me to say a few things about God’s sovereign predestination and electing love of his people in Christ (that I will attempt to show from our biblical passage):
1) Predestination is Biblical; 2) All Christians who believe the Word of God, believe in predestination; 3) Predestination should humble all sinners to the dust and develop in the redeemed an attitude of grateful obedience in their lives; 4) Man has free will, but God's free will is “free-er”; and 5) Predestination should promote evangelism as we reach out with the gospel to those whom the LORD already knows are his (but those whom we do not know are his)!
Predestination is biblical (Ephesians 1:3-11; Romans 9:7-22; Romans 8:28-32; John 10:28-30; 17:5-14; Matthew 11:25-30).
Simply stated: There are some chosen and some who are not and this is “according to the purpose of his will” and “to the praise of his glorious grace”.
Ephesians 1:4b-6…even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved
Why are some chosen and some are not? For God's glory alone (Eph. 1:6)! We must be satisfied that there are some things God does not reveal to his people in Scripture (Deut. 29:29). But we should teach what Scripture teaches even if we do not understand it; this will keep us humble, ever relying on God’s Holy Spirit to teach and guide us (1 Corinthians 2:11-16; 1 John 2:20-29).
Humility in Our Understanding of God’s Revelation
Predestination should humble all of us to the dust; it should never cause some to be proud or puffed up of their election (if they are, then they might not be elect!).
We should not only be overwhelmed by the fact that God chooses some to be saved and redeemed when all deserve death, but some people God chooses to adopt in Christ (Eph. 1:5) and have complete mercy upon (Romans 9:7-23). Why?
Because it is for his glory alone, according to the purpose of God’s will!
Or as Ephesians 1:6 says: “To the praise of His glorious grace!” Our salvation is indeed all of grace!
Grace humbles the sinner, because the more one hears about the atoning death of Jesus Christ and the mercy God has displayed in one’s salvation, the more one is humbled by the reality of what he or she truly deserves in wrath and punishment from God and the fact that he/she graciously gets forgiveness and adoption because of Christ!
It is important to remember the gospel of good news that changes us: “Jesus became sin for us so that we might be the righteousness of God in Christ.” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
The doctrine calls for humility—not pride for being elect- -but gratitude toward God and patience and confidence toward others.
Be careful with this doctrine- you can know all about this doctrine and look down upon your “spiritual noses” at others who do not know it.
Be Scriptural concerning this doctrine: Speak only where Scripture speaks…
John Calvin on Two Kinds of Men concerning Predestination: Human curiosity renders the discussion of election/predestination, already somewhat difficult of itself, very confusing and even dangerous. No restraints can hold it back from wandering into forbidden bypaths and thrusting upward to the heights.
If allowed, it will leave no secret to God that it will not search out and unravel…Let this, therefore, first of all be before your eyes: to seek any other knowledge of predestination than what the Word of God discloses is not less insane than if one should purpose to walk in a pathless waste (cf. Job 12:24), or to see in darkness. And let us not be ashamed to be ignorant of something in this matter, wherein there is a certain learned ignorance…
There are others who, wishing to cure this evil, all but require that every mention of predestination be buried; indeed, they teach us to avoid any question of it as we would a reef (in a ship)….Therefore, to hold to a proper limit in this regard also, we shall have to turn back to the Word of the Lord, in which we have a sure rule for the understanding.”
God’s Sovereign Grace and the Goal for the Elect in Christ
Predestination is a Biblical Doctrine- whether we can fully understand it or not, the teaching of predestination and election in Christ is God’s revelation in Scripture and because of that we must submit to it if we say we are Christians.
It is important to remember this: ALL CHRISTIANS WHO BELIEVE THE WORD OF GOD BELIEVE IN PREDESTINATION.
We are not predestined or elected based on some supposed foreknown or foreseen faith- -the only thing God would have known or seen would have been our unbelief.
We are not elected because of our faith, but we have faith and believe upon Jesus in real time because we have been elected.
Read carefully Romans 9:6-16 where the Apostle Paul is explaining how God’s electing purposes in Israel (Deut. 7:7) have not failed. In fact, the Apostle Paul is one of the elect believers who make up the Israel of faith and is writing this often misunderstood letter to the Roman church (cf. Galatians 6:16).
Romans 9:6-16: But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, 7 and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but "Through Isaac shall your offspring be named." 8 This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. 9 For this is what the promise said: "About this time next year I will return and Sarah shall have a son." 10 And not only so, but also when Rebecca had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac,
11 though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad- in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of his call-
12 she was told, "The older will serve the younger." 13 As it is written, "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated." 14 What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God's part? By no means! 15 For he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." 16 So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.
It is clear that this passage teaches predestination and election before one’s birth (Rom. 9:10), in order that God’s purpose in election might continue, not because of works but because of God’s call (Romans 9:11), because of God’s mercy and compassion (Rom. 9:15)!
BUT…
“What About Man’s Free Will?”
Some say: “What about man’s free will?” Doesn’t man have free will? Modern man has truly made an idol out of his free will. Free will is so important to some, that they are willing to discount clear Biblical revelation of Holy Scripture in order to uphold their own doctrine of free will.
Jonathan Edwards said it best with regards to man’s free will after the fall:
Man does as he pleases, but he cannot please as he pleases!
What this means is man has free will to do what he wants to do, but he cannot please God with willing what he wants to do, for he will not will to please God, because he cannot (cf. Romans 7:17ff and the conflict of Christians even after they are redeemed).
We should be reminded that prior to the Fall man truly had “free will”. However, since the Fall recorded in Genesis 3, man’s will has been in bondage to sin. Adam freely chose, or used his free will to do what he wanted to truly do and sin against God.
Only in Christ can one be set free truly to choose what one should choose or will: the glory of God in Christ.
Christ himself said: “You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free!”
“That’s Not Fair!”
Some say in response to this teaching or predestination: “That’s not fair of God!” (Read Romans 9 – that was how the Apostle Paul under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit knew the people would respond!).
If you ever say "that seems unfair" then you are beginning to understand the Biblical teaching. How can I say that?
Read Romans 9:18-25 very carefully. The Apostle Paul teaches the truth of predestination very clearly, then he says implicitly: "Then you will say to me 'That's not fair'" (these are not his exact words, but his gist)! Read below:
Romans 9:18-25: So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills. 19 You will say to me then, "Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?" 20 But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, "Why have you made me like this?" 21 Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honored use and another for dishonorable use? 22 What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, 23 in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory- 24 even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? 25 As indeed he says in Hosea, "Those who were not my people I will call 'my people,' and her who was not beloved I will call 'beloved.'"
Prayerfully notice a few things: In v. 18, he establishes that God has mercy on some because he wants to simply out of his good pleasure (Matt. 11:25-29), but hardens others.
In v. 19, he says in essence "That's not fair" as many would say when first hearing this teaching. In v. 20, he reminds us that God is God and we shouldn't question him, and then in verses 21-25 he explains that all deserve God's wrath and justice, but he gives to some (who do not in any way deserve it)- -mercy and grace! That's predestination!
Carefully read again: For he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." 16 So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. 17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth." 18 So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.
19 You will say to me then, "Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?" (translated “That’s not fair!”)
20 But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, "Why have you made me like this?"
“Why Does God Get All the Credit in Our Salvation?”
We must remember that this teaching addresses and reveals the depravity of our nature. We don’t like God getting all the credit in our salvation! But we must remember what the Apostle Paul says:
No one seeks after God (Romans 3:10ff)…No one would ever choose for God.
As depraved people, we deserve God’s wrath: the soul who sins shall die (Ezekiel 18)! As depraved people, God sovereignly by his grace chooses some for his glory so that he might extend mercy!
No one in his right mind likes to say that he/she is depraved (especially as we understand the deep implications of this and the way our hearts so desperately deceive us and want to sin- Jeremiah 17:9; Hebrews 3:12ff), but the Bible declares depravity to be our condition.
If we do not realize and confess our true depravity and sinful plight then what good is the “good news” or gospel of Jesus? Jesus came to save the sick; it is not the “well” who need a doctor. Jesus came to seek out the lost sheep, not the sheep who are “found”.
I remember my former mentor and pastor Grady Love used to say:
“You cannot be found until you realize how desperately lost you are.”
He would say this with reference to the gospel of Jesus. His point was that the more you realize your condition, the more you desire and long for God to graciously invade your heart, save you, redeem you, and continue to work in you what is good and pleasing to his will!
Man’s depraved nature is the reason why the Apostle Paul says that we are “dead in trespasses and sins until God makes us alive in Christ”
Ephesians 2:1-5: And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience- 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ- by grace you have been saved-
The Apostle Paul’s point above in Ephesians is that the grace revealed in Ephesians 2:5b is the grace exegeted in Ephesians 2:1-4. What this means is that the declaration of Paul that “by grace you have been saved” (also in Eph. 2:8-10) is defining or revealing what Paul says about while we were dead in trespasses in sins, following the prince of the power of the air, being disobedient, living in the passions of our flesh, and by nature children of wrath.
Paul is saying that while this described our lives, God who is rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us made us alive with Christ!
This is the grace by which we are saved! Grace that is revealed to us while going on in our sinful condition, dead, apathetic and carelessly unaware of the glorious revelation of God in Jesus Christ!
According to Ephesians 2:1-8 and Romans 9:7-18 and John 1:9-11 and John 6:37-44 (see 6:55-57 as well) man CANNOT COME TO GOD BECAUSE HE IS DEAD IN TRESPASSES AND SINS.
Therefore, no one can (has the ability) to choose God if he doesn't first choose them. Remember that we love him because he first loved us (1 John 4:10).
Romans 3:10-23: as it is written: "None is righteous, no, not one; 11 no one understands; no one seeks for God. 12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one." 13 "Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive." "The venom of asps is under their lips." 14 "Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness." 15 "Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16 in their paths are ruin and misery, 17 and the way of peace they have not known." 18 "There is no fear of God before their eyes." 19 Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.
21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it- 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God...
According to Romans 3:10-11: None is righteous...and no one understands, and no one seeks after God! Therefore God must seek after them, and who does he seek after? Those whom he knows to be his from the foundation of the world:
2 Timothy 2:19 Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, "The Lord knows those who are His," and, "Let everyone who names the name of the Lord abstain from wickedness."
Predestination is a Comforting Teaching of Scripture…
Romans 8:28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. 31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
One of God’s glorious goals in predestination and election is so that his people might be conformed to the image of His Holy Son!
Predestination is a Teaching of Scripture that Promotes Evangelism….
Acts 13:48 And when the Gentiles heard this [the gospel], they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed.
Acts 18:9 And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, "Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, 10 for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people." 11 And he stayed a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.
2 Timothy 2:10 Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.
We can be confident in our evangelism, as we rightly teach and declare the Word of God, that God will save his people from their sins. We should be reminded of the Apostle Paul’s confident pastoral claims in 2 Corinthians 5:14-21:
For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; 15 and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. 16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Good Pleasure of God’s Will More than Our Free Will!
God predestined us who believe…
God elects, he chooses by his free will that he will extend some who he chooses in Christ to be given grace and mercy! Not what we so desperately have earned and deserved!
To adoption as sons…
Because He wanted to!?
The ground, or foundation, or ultimate reason for our being chosen was not based on anything God foresaw in us (Deut. 7:7ff), but was because he wanted to do it (according to his good pleasure and will).
Remember: it is more about God’s free will than it is about our free will. The more men speak of the free will of man outside of the context of thinking of God’s free will, the more men will seek to be God!
MAN DOES INDEED CHOOSE GOD AFTER HIS REGENERATION.
Think of John 3. Jesus says to Nicodemus that no one can see or enter the Kingdom of God unless he be born again. Well, when a person is born again by the Sovereign act of the Holy Spirit, then that person will believe and see and enter the Kingdom of God through faith in Jesus.
It is indeed by faith that one is saved. But until one is born again, regenerated or acted upon by God first- - then that person can do nothing but remain in unbelief. Remember Lazarus in John 11? Before Jesus called Lazarus (personally and by name as he does for those he loves and has chosen), Lazarus could not respond because he was dead!!
After Jesus called Lazarus he couldn't NOT respond (double negative for theological emphasis!).
Jesus helps us to understand man's faith from man's point of view in Matthew 11:25-30. Carefully read it below, then allow me some comments:
Matthew 11:25-30: At that time Jesus declared, "I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; 26 yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. 27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. 28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."
In the above passage, Jesus makes clear in verse 25 that the gospel is hidden from some and revealed to others. In v. 27 he says more clearly that no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
Jesus has just taught us that he takes the initiative to reveal the Father to all people. No one can know the Father, unless Jesus chooses to reveal him.
But then notice in verse 28-30, Jesus calls all who can hear. What is so important about this? Well many who debate the issue of predestination think that those who believe it are saying man has no free will. But that is not what is being said or taught. What we find here clearly revealed in this passage is that Jesus calls all who can hear to come to him. His yoke is easy and his burden is light.
What does this teach us? Well, although man is free and is invited to come by the Savior to himself, only those whom the Son chooses to reveal himself to can actually come- -they are the one's with the abililty to respond and come. Yet all in the world are called to come and choose Christ!
What this teaches us then is that man has free will, but God’s will is free-er. Man has free will, but because of the fall his free will has been subjected to bondage to sin and therefore until the Holy Spirit comes and releases that person's will, they cannot come and choose Christ!
We want to focus on both aspects. From God's perspective he delivers those whom he loves from the bondage of the will in order that they might believe and come to Jesus to find rest. Others who he does not know, he calls, but they do not respond because they do not will to come. They do not want to.
No one can say God is unfair! He is God and we all deserve death and hell and judgment for our sins. Yet God in his grace, has mercy on some. In other words, he gives some what they do not deserve- - salvation, and he gives some what they do deserve- - justice and wrath. Some receive mercy, some receive justice. God is still the Sovereign God of the Universe and good that he would send his Son to die for any one of us!
Glory of God’s Grace
“To the praise of the glory of His grace”. God elected and predestined us to glorify himself! The chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever; the chief end of God is to glorify God and to enjoy Himself forever! He is the sovereign King!
Freely bestowed on us in the beloved…No merit or demerit of our own whatsoever…nothing that we have done! Costly to Christ, freely bestowed upon those whom God shows his mercy and grace!
Romans 11:33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! 34 "For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?" 35 "Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?" 36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.
All of us must realize that predestination and election by God in our salvation is a wonderful biblical doctrine that must be handled humbly and carefully. We should be suspect of those who would in any way undermine or incorrectly teach what Scripture teaches concerning this!
However, as the Apostle Paul instructed his “son in the faith” Timothy, we must be patient as we teach those who do not understand.
2 Timothy 2:24-26: And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, 25 correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, 26 and they may escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.
I believe many have been deceived and have abused and misused this important and biblical doctrine. We should be reminded that when men teach this doctrine carelessly or incorrectly, they are being “snared by the devil” (as our text warns above), even when they are doing so unintentionally (there is only one truth of God!). We should be prayerfully cautious in attempting to see and to teach the whole counsel of God in Scripture (Acts 20:27-28) –even when we might not fully understand it.
This teaching of Scripture is a beautiful display and revelation of God’s glorious salvation in Christ. Let us hold firmly to the truth of what Scripture teaches, and by God’s grace never fluctuating or changing with regard to the revelation of God. It is not ours to understand fully all teachings, but it is our responsibility and privilege to declare it and make it known to everyone!
One time when I preached from this text of Ephesians as a pastor, I had some people leave the congregation who I thought were friends and I haven’t heard from them since. If you are a pastor and worry about what some might think about this teaching, then be reminded of the strong and precious words of the Apostle Paul to Timothy.
2 Timothy 4:1-5: I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. 3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. 5 As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
No matter how many people may react to biblical teaching, be faithful as a preacher or teacher and run the race with perseverance, striving to tell the truth- - no matter what may come! Paul reminds Timothy that the time will come (not merely in his own ministry, but in yours as well) when people will not endure sound teaching!).
You are not called to preach in order to preach what you or your people like or fully understand, you are called to teach and preach the truth of Scripture by God’s grace and to the best of your ability! Be encouraged!
CRB
www.aplacefortruth.org
www.sermonaudio.com/kcpc
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Monday, March 24, 2008
George Whitfield - Are You At Peace With, Or Under The Wrath of God?
"But what shall I say to you that have got no peace with God? — and these are, perhaps, the most of this congregation: it makes me weep to think of it. Most of you, if you examine your hearts, must confess that God never yet spoke peace to you; you are children of the devil, if Christ is not in you, if God has not spoken peace to your heart. Poor soul! What a cursed condition are you in. I would not be in your case for ten thousand, thousand worlds. Why? You are just hanging over hell. What peace can you have when God is your enemy, when the wrath of God is abiding upon your poor soul? Awake, then, you that are sleeping in a false peace, awake, ye carnal professors, ye hypocrites that go to church, receive the sacrament, read your Bibles, and never felt the power of God upon your hearts; you that are formal professors, you that are baptized heathens; awake, awake, and do not rest on a false bottom.
Blame me not for addressing myself to you; indeed, it is out of love to your souls. I see you are lingering in your Sodom, and wanting to stay there; but I come to you as the angel did to Lot, to take you by the hand. Come away, my dear brethren fly, fly, fly for your lives to Jesus Christ, fly to a bleeding God, fly to a throne of grace; and beg of God to break your hearts, beg of God to convince you of your actual sins, beg of God to convince you of your original sin, beg of God to convince you of your self-righteousness beg of God to give you faith, and to enable you to close with Jesus Christ.
O you that are secure, I must be a son of thunder to you, and O that God may awaken you, though it be with thunder; it is out of love, indeed, that I speak to you. I know by sad experience what it is to be lulled asleep with a false peace; long was I lulled asleep, long did I think myself a Christian, when I knew nothing of the Lord Jesus Christ. I went perhaps farther than many of you do; I used to fast twice a-week, I used to pray sometimes none times a-day, I used to receive the sacrament constantly every Lord's-day; and yet I knew nothing of Jesus Christ in my heart, I knew not that I must be a new creature _ I knew nothing of inward religion in my soul. And perhaps, many of you may be deceived as I, poor creature, was; and, therefore, it is out of love to you indeed, that I speak to you. O if you do not take care, a form of religion will destroy your soul; you will rest in it, and will not come to Jesus Christ at all; whereas, these things are only the means, and not the end of religion; Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to all that believe. O, then, awake, you that are settled on your lees; awake you Church professors; awake you that have got a name to live, that are rich and think you want nothing, not considering that you are poor, and blind, and naked; I counsel you to come and buy of Jesus Christ gold, white raiment, and eye-salve.
But I hope there are some that are a little wounded; I hope God does not intend to let me preach in vain; I hope God will reach some of your precious souls, and awaken some of you out of your carnal security; I hope there are some who are willing to come to Christ, and beginning to think that they have been building upon a false foundation. Perhaps the devil may strike in, and bid you despair of mercy; but fear not, what I have been speaking to you is only out of love to you _ is only to awaken you, and let you see your danger.
If any of you are willing to be reconciled to God, God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, is willing to be reconciled to you. O then, though you have no peace as yet, come away to Jesus Christ; he is our peace, he is our peace-maker _ he has made peace betwixt God and offending man. Would you have peace with God? Away, then, to God through Jesus Christ, who has purchased peace; the Lord Jesus has shed his heart's blood for this. He died for this; he rose again for this; he ascended into the highest heaven, and is now interceding at the right hand of God. Perhaps you think there will be no peace for you. Why so? Because you are sinners? Because you have crucified Christ _ you have put him to open shame _ you have trampled under foot the blood of the Son of God? What of all this? Yet there is peace for you. Pray, what did Jesus Christ say of his disciples, when he came to them the first day of the week? The first word he said was, `Peace be unto you;' he showed them his hands and his side, and said, `Peace be unto you.' It is as much as if he had said, Fear not, my disciples; see my hands and my feet how they have been pierced for your sake; therefore fear not. How did Christ speak to his disciples? `Go tell my brethren, and tell broken-hearted Peter in particular, that Christ is risen, that he is ascended unto his Father and your Father, to his God and your God.' And after Christ rose from the dead, he came preaching peace, with an olive branch of peace, like Noah's dove; `My peace I leave with you.' Who were they? They were enemies of Christ as well as we, they were deniers of Christ once as well as we.
Perhaps some of you have backslidden and lost your peace, and you think you deserve no peace; and no more you do. But, then, God will heal your backslidings, he will love you freely. As for you that are wounded, if you are made willing to come to Christ, come away. Perhaps some of you want to dress yourselves in your duties, that are but rotten rags. No, you had better come naked as you are, for you must throw aside your rags, and come in your blood.
Some of you may say, We would come, but we have got a hard heart. But you will never get it made soft till ye come to Christ; he will take away the heart of stone, and give you an heart of flesh; he will speak peace to your souls; though ye have betrayed him, yet he will be your peace. Shall I prevail upon any of you this morning to come to Jesus Christ? There is a great multitude of souls here; how shortly must you all die, and go to judgment! Even before night, or to-morrow's night, some of you may be laid out for this kirk-yard. And how will you do if you be not at peace with God _ if the Lord Jesus Christ has not spoken peace to your heart? If God speak not peace to you here, you will be damned for ever. I must not flatter you, my dear friends; I will deal sincerely with your souls. Some of you may think I carry things too far. But, indeed, when you come to judgment, you will find what I say is true, either to your eternal damnation or comfort. May God influence your hearts to come to him! I am not willing to go away without persuading you. I cannot be persuaded but God may make use of me as a means of persuading some of you to come to the Lord Jesus Christ.
O did you but feel the peace which they have that love the Lord Jesus Christ! `Great peace have they,' say the psalmist, `that love the law; nothing shall offend them.' But there is no peace to the wicked. I know what it is to live a life of sin; I was obliged to sin in order to stifle conviction. And I am sure this is the way many of you take; If you get into company, you drive off conviction. But you had better go to the bottom at once; it must be done _ your wound must be searched, or you must be damned. If it were a matter of indifference, I would not speak one word about it. But you will be damned without Christ. He is the way, he is the truth, and the life. I cannot think you should go to hell without Christ. How can you dwell with everlasting burnings? How can you abide the thought of living with the devil for ever? Is it not better to have some soul-trouble here, than to be sent to hell by Jesus Christ hereafter? What is hell, but to be absent from Christ? If there were no other hell, that would be hell enough. It will be hell to be tormented with the devil for ever. Get acquaintance with God, then, and be at peace. I beseech you, as a poor worthless ambassador of Jesus Christ, that you would be reconciled to God.
My business this morning, the first day of the week, is to tell you that Christ is willing to be reconciled to you. Will any of you be reconciled to Jesus Christ? Then, he will forgive you all your sins, he will blot out all your transgressions. But if you will go on and rebel against Christ, and stab him daily _ if you will go on and abuse Jesus Christ, the wrath of God you must expect will fall upon you. God will not be mocked; that which a man soweth, that shall he also reap. And if you will not be at peace with God, God will not be at peace with you. Who can stand before God when he is angry? It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of an angry God. When the people came to apprehend Christ, they fell to the ground when Jesus said, `I am he.' And if they could not bear the sight of Christ when clothed with the rags of mortality, how will they hear the sight of him when he is on his Father's throne? Methinks I see the poor wretches dragged out of their graves by the devil; methinks I see them trembling, crying out to the hills and rocks to cover them. But the devil will say, Come, I will take you away; and then they shall stand trembling before the judgment-seat of Christ. They shall appear before him to see him once, and hear him pronounce that irrevocable sentence, `Depart from me, ye cursed.' Methinks I hear the poor creatures saying, Lord, if we must be damned, let some angel pronounce the sentence. No, the God of love, Jesus Christ, will pronounce it. Will ye not believe this? Do not think I am talking at random, but agreeably to the Scriptures of truth. If you do not, then show yourselves men, and this morning go away with full resolution, in the strength of God, to cleave to Christ. And may you have no rest in your souls till you rest in Jesus Christ!" - George Whitfield
End of post.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Paula White - Outrageous Heresy! Part 1 of 2
From Christian Research Net:
The video below has to be seen to be believed. It was produced by A Little Leaven and shows the latest heresies being spread by ‘Pastrix" Paula White. In this video Paula outright DENIES that Jesus is the Only Begotten Son of God AND tells us not to pray to Jesus. She also mangles the Biblical teaching of Christ’s Atonement on the cross for our sins and turns it into a teaching about prosperity.
John Piper on the prosperity gospel...
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Monday, March 17, 2008
Worship is Neither Evangelism or Entertainment
From Jim Bublitz over at Old Truth:
Quoting Robert Godfrey...
"The call for entertainment in worship in our time is often cast in a particularly seductive form. Entertainment is often sold in the name of evangelism. We are told that we must make worship interesting and existing for the unconverted so that they will come to church and be converted. At first glance that argument is very appealing. We all want to see many brought to faith in Christ. Who wants to be against evangelism? But we must remember: entertainment is not evangelism, and evangelism is not worship. People are evangelized, not by a juggler, but by the presentation of the Gospel. And while evangelism may occur in worship as the Gospel is faithfully proclaimed, the purpose and focus of worship is that those who believe in Christ should gather and meet with God.
In 1 Corinthians 14:24-25 the apostle Paul comments on the presence of an unbeliever in a worship service. He does not call for the church to entertain the unbeliever or make him feel comfortable. Rather, in the clear and understandable articulation of the truth, the unbeliever should be convinced that he is a sinner. "So he will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, 'God is really among you!'" Faithful worship, where the primary purpose is the meeting of God with his people through his Word, may well have the secondary result that unbelievers will come to faith. But worship must not be constructed for the unbeliever. Rather, it is for God and the church.
The whole service in the church, then, must not be shaped for either entertainment or evangelism. Instead, it must serve to unite the people of God for their meeting with God."
End of post.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Rob Bell’s Abstract “Elvis”
- By Bob DeWaay
Rob Bell is a very articulate spokesman for the postmodern theology characterizing the Emergent Church. Having watched two of his videos, I can testify that his communication skills are superb. His book Velvet Elvis is creative and imaginative both in content and layout. But there are serious problems with his theology. I will begin with a description of the basic premise that lies beneath the title of Bell’s book. Then I will discuss several of Bell’s theological claims.
In Search of the Real “Elvis”
The literal “Velvet Elvis” is a particular portrayal of velvet-crafted Elvis Presley that Bell owns. The artwork serves Bell’s book as an analogy to the Christian faith. Bell claims that all versions of Christianity are paintings or portrayals, just as his velvet Elvis is a portrayal of Elvis. Since that version of Elvis is not the only one ever created, it would be just as absurd to expect there to be only one “painting” of Christianity—it can be viewed and captured from many angles. Bell’s book fashions one for his readers.
The problem with the analogy is that an actual Elvis lived and still can be seen in photos and on videos and thus can serve as an objective standard by which to judge artistic portrayals of Elvis. Someone could use abstract art that employed a collage of images that bear no resemblance to a human being and call it “Elvis” but everyone would know it was not Elvis.
In historical Christian theology, the inerrant Bible interpreted according to a valid hermeneutic that sought to know the Biblical author’s meaning was the standard “picture” of the real thing. That meaning gave “artists” (it’s a bad analogy but I will interact with it because it is Bell’s) the standard by which they made their “portrayal.” Various systematic theologies with creeds and definitions can and should be judged as to how well they portray the truth of Scripture. The postmodern approach of Bell and others claims that objectivity is impossible, therefore to judge a theology to be “biblical” or not is impossible and futile.
Unfortunately Bell has created a piece of abstract art and called it “Christianity.” He lets us know early on that his masterpiece is abstract by explaining his view of the object: “Jesus took part in this process [of constant change] by calling people to rethink faith and the Bible and hope and love and everything else, and by inviting them into the endless process of working out how to live as God created us to live.”1 This idea of a Christian faith that is “morphing” (Bell’s term on the same page just cited) is a recurrent theme in Emergent/postmodern theology. But Jesus in a process that is still happening rules out the “once for all” statements in the Bible.
The Bible says the faith was “once for all delivered” (Jude 3) where “the faith” means the content of God’s verbal, inerrant revelation. The Bible describes Jesus in terms precisely opposite to what Bell uses: “God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world” (Hebrews 1:1, 2). The God of the Scriptures spoke authoritatively and with finality.
Bell claims that people in church history (he gives Luther as an example2 ) were involved in “rethinking.” I don’t deny that. But when he says that we have no objective means to determine whether Luther’s teachings or those of the Council of Trent are in closer agreement with the teachings revealed once for all in the Bible—there I strongly disagree. In fact Bell rejects “Scripture alone” on principle:
This [that the canon was not settled until the 4th century] is part of the problem with continually insisting that one of the absolutes of the Christian faith must be a belief that “Scripture alone” is our guide. It sounds nice, but it is not true. In reaction to abuses by the church, a group of believers during a time called the Reformation claimed that we only need the authority of the Bible. But the problem is that we got the Bible from the church voting on what the Bible even is. 3
He thereby takes the same position that the Roman Catholic Church took against the Reformers: That since the Church (guided by the Holy Spirit) gave us the Bible, the Church (guided by the Holy Spirit) is authoritative over the Bible. Bell’s version simply expands that idea beyond Rome to any Christian group anywhere struggling with the meaning of the Bible. Rather than to rely on a grammatical/historical approach to determine the author’s meaning, he trusts that in some manner the Holy Spirit is “enlightening us.” 4
I believe that inspired, authoritative revelation was given once for all and is contained in the Scriptures. The Holy Spirit gave us the Bible by inspiring the Biblical authors, not by inspiring 4th century clerics. They merely recognized the evidence that pointed to the true apostolic source of writings Christians had cited as authoritative since the death of the apostles.5 Therefore revelation is not an ongoing process.
Bell, on the other hand, likens his view to the fluidity of jumping on a trampoline and calls the views of theologians like me, “brickianity.” This [brickianity] he claims is not good news but bad news about walls that keep people out.6 Incidentally, this brick wall metaphor is Bell’s way of repudiating systematic theology—a practice he shares with every Emergent/postmodern writer I have studied (which are many).
In place of the doctrines of systematic theology7 that needed to be justified biblically, Bell’s “Elvis” is based on a mysterious original: “The Christian faith is mysterious to the core.” 8 His misuse of the term “mysterious” results in a semantic sleight of hand that confuses readers through a major category error. “Mystery” in the Bible means that which could not be known had God not chosen to reveal it. For example, Paul claims God revealed to him the “mystery” that God was saving Jews and Gentiles through the gospel and making them co-heirs in Christ. Once this is revealed, it is no longer mysterious or unknowable. But Bell means something entirely different. Bell writes “The mystery is the truth.”9 This comes in a section where he poses what he considers unanswerable questions. Rather than using the term as Paul did to mean, “what would not be known had God not revealed it to His apostles and prophets” (Ephesians 3:3-6), Bell uses it to mean “that which cannot be fully known or answered, the ‘mysterious.’” That is equivocation, and it is not acceptable.
The Leap of Faith
Rather than to search the Scriptures to find a valid doctrine that God has revealed through the Biblical authors (systematically taking into account ALL God has spoken on a given topic), Bell jumps on a theological trampoline and invites others to join in the experience. His “jump” turns out to be the very “leap of faith” that was proposed by 20th century existential theologians who had, like Bell, given up on the belief that truth about God that comes from God can be validly known. Bell says, “It’s not so much that the Christian faith has a lot of paradoxes. It’s that it is a lot of paradoxes. And we cannot resolve a paradox.”10 So the “jump in the air” turns out to be a leap into the dark—the unknown and unknowable. Paradoxes are like square circles: you can talk about them but such talk reveals precisely nothing.
Having established that we cannot validly know enough to build a wall or foundation with theological bricks, Bell invites us on a journey. But how do we know that a Christian journey is a better one than a Muslim one? For Bell, we don’t. We know that Christian ethics and social action are very good things, and if we engage in these practices our Muslim neighbors will be better off—even if they stay Muslim. Says Bell, “Another truth [remember this means “mystery” for Bell] about the church we’re embracing is that the gospel is good news, especially for those who don’t believe it.”11 This is the very problem that all versions of neo-orthodoxy run into. If faith cannot be grounded in inerrant Scripture properly interpreted (and they assume it cannot), then we have no reason to assume a Christian “leap” is better than a Hindu “leap.”
Since Christianity is mystery and paradox (according to Bell’s thinking) we cannot build a foundation with any theological bricks because they are too inflexible. That is where he brings in his trampoline analogy:
A trampoline only works if you take your feet off the firm, stable ground and jump into the air and let the trampoline propel you upward. Talking about trampolines isn’t jumping; it’s talking. Two vastly different things. [sic] And so we jump and we invite others to jump with us, to live the way of Jesus and see what happens. You don’t have to know anything about the springs to pursue living “the way.”12
How do we know that a Christian jump (in the absence of any a priori knowledge of truth) is better than jumping on a trampoline and living the way of Ghandi or the Dali Lama? The answer is we do not, other than possibly by pragmatic means which always fail as tests for truth.
Francis Schaeffer warned against what Bell and other postmodern writers are now doing back in 1968. What he says is directly applicable to Bell’s “jump”:
If we think that we are escaping some of the pressures of the modern debate by playing down propositional Scripture and simply putting the word ‘Jesus’ or ‘experience’ upstairs, [where nothing can be verified] we must face this question: What difference is there between doing this and doing what the secular world has done in its semantic mysticism, or what the New Theology [neo-orthodoxy] has done? . . . If what is placed upstairs is separated from rationality, if the Scriptures are not discussed as open to verification where they touch the cosmos and history, why should one then accept the evangelical upstairs any more than the upstairs of modern radical theology? . . . Why should it not just be an encounter under the name Vishnu?13
Schaeffer asks a good question: why not Vishnu? There is no answer once we reject the Reformation affirmations about the Scripture, such as its authority and clarity.
That is precisely where Schaeffer directed his readers from an earlier generation: “The Reformation and the Scriptures say that man cannot do anything to save himself, but he can, with his reason, search the Scriptures which touch not only ‘religious truth’ but also history and the cosmos. He not only is able to search the Scriptures as the whole man, including his reason, but he has the responsibility to.”14 This, Schaeffer wrote to rebut religious existentialism with its religious leap with “no point of verification.” Rob Bell is taking thousands of people who were not yet born when Schaeffer issued his warnings right back into the neo-orthodoxy that destroyed so many churches during the 20th century.
Bell never uses the term “neo-orthodoxy,” but his position on Scripture echoes it. Like those who call the U.S. Constitution a “living document” to escape its meaning, neo-orthodox theology uses similar terminology to do the same with the Bible. So does Bell: “When you embrace the text as living and active, when you enter its story, when you keep turning the gem, you never come to the end.”15 You also never arrive at a binding meaning. Bell uses the typical postmodern argument that because documents (like the Bible) must be interpreted, that therefore they can have no fixed meaning (the author’s). Says Bell, “The Bible has to be interpreted. Decisions have to be made about what it means now, today.” 16
If, however, meaning is determined by the author, the meaning will never change and is not different today. There may be new applications, but not new meaning. Claiming the sort of fluidity, mysterious nature, and ambiguity that Bell does creates the scenario where the readers of the Bible determine its meaning. This implication is not escaped by claiming, as Bell does, that the Holy Spirit is involved in the process. The Bible claims that the Holy Spirit inspired the Biblical authors. By so doing, the meaning was fixed, “once for all” and delivered to the saints. But Bell takes the neo-orthodox position: “The authority is God who is acting in and through those people [1st century Christians] at that time and now these people at this time.”17 This solves no problems and makes it impossible to make exclusive truth claims. The Mormon Church could just as well say that God was working through Joseph Smith and now he is working through their apostles. (In fact they do claim that.) So is Bell willing to say that his Mars Hill Church is valid and the Mormon Church down the street is not? I cannot see what grounds he would have to do so. 18
When the readers (however pious and well meaning they may be and however committed to some community) determine the meaning, there is no valid binding and loosing. They are only bound to the ideas of their own minds. That is not how Bell sees it: “This is why binding and loosing is so exhilarating. You can only do it if you believe and see God at work now, here in this place.”19 No! We are bound by the teachings of Christ and His authoritative apostles, not an existential experience we interpret as “God at work now.” Without a priori clear, binding revelation from God about God we cannot know what is or what is not “God at work”. Otherwise we might interpret anything that strikes our fancy as “God at work.”
The Ultimate Role Reversal: Man is the Object of God’s Faith
The most egregious error in Velvet Elvis is found in the section where Bell offers many details about the nature of rabbinical instruction and discipleship in Jesus’ day. Much of his information about Jewish practices is interesting and accurate. But his application of the material is shockingly unbiblical. His error is to assume that since Jesus was Jewish and was a rabbi, that therefore almost everything that was descriptive about Jewish rabbis of His day is true about Him. This is a de facto denial of the uniqueness of Christ.
For example, in a section where Bell describes Jewish education and educational techniques, Bell misquotes a Scripture: “Jesus later says to his disciples, ‘Remember, everything I learned I passed on to you’” (emphasis his; he footnotes John 15:15).20 He then asks, “Did Jesus go to school and learn like the other Jewish kids his age?”21 That is not the point of John 15:15! Here is what the passage says: “No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you” (John 15:15). The Greek said “heard” not “learned.” Furthermore, his learning was from the Father with whom John claimed Jesus pre-existed (John 1:1). Jesus was no typical Rabbi.
Furthermore, Bell assumes that Jesus’ relationship to His disciples must be also of the same sort that was typical between rabbis and disciples of that day. But that assumes too much and fails to account for what the Bible teaches. For example, in the narrative where Jesus tells them to “drop their nets,” Bell assumes that therefore Jesus sees some sort of ability in them: “Of course you would drop your net. The rabbi believes you can do what he does. He thinks you can be like him.” 22 That is a very man-centered interpretation that assumes that Jesus believes in innate human ability rather than His sovereign power to transform. Because ordinary rabbis took the best students based on certain criteria does not mean that Jesus did the same. For example, the commission to be made “fishers of men” in Luke 5 came after a miraculous catch of fish caused Peter to say, “Depart from me for I am a sinful man.” This is likely an allusion to Isaiah’s call in Isaiah 6. Isaiah saw God’s glory and was convicted of his sinfulness. Peter followed suit. This was no ordinary rabbi that Peter encountered.
One of the videos I saw of Bell preaching was about this topic of rabbis and disciples. After a very well articulated discussion of rabbinic practices, Bell came to the conclusion that the main point is that we must have faith in ourselves because Jesus believes in us. WHAT? Man is the object of God’s faith? Bell makes the same point in his book, discussing the incident of Jesus walking on the water and Peter starting to do the same. Here is Bell’s interpretation: “And Jesus says, ‘You of little faith, why did you doubt?’ Who does Peter lose faith in? Not Jesus; Jesus is doing fine. Peter loses faith in himself.”23 That is very bad exegesis. Furthermore, Peter did have faith in himself later on and it was a bad thing: “Peter said to Him, ‘Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You’” (Matthew 26:35a). We all know what happened.
Throughout the gospels, “great faith” or “little faith” had to do with people’s belief about Christ. For example, the centurion who did not consider himself “worthy” for Christ to come to him had a very high estimation of Jesus’ authority (Luke 7:2 – 10). He had “great faith” according to Jesus. His faith was in Christ, not himself.
According to Bell, what frustrates Jesus is “When his disciples lose faith in themselves.”24 Bell makes a serious error when he assumes that when an ordinary rabbi chooses disciples based in his perception of their own abilities and potential to be like the rabbi himself that, therefore, Jesus must have had faith in the abilities and capabilities of His disciples. But this is not the case. No one will ever be conformed to the image of Christ because of his own innate human abilities. Bell’s humanistic teachings disregard the Biblical doctrine of human sinfulness and inability.
Bell makes it clear that we are not misunderstanding his point:
God has an incredibly high view of people. God believes that people are capable of amazing things. I have been told that I need to believe in Jesus. Which is a good thing. [sic] But what I am learning is that Jesus believes in me. I have been told that I need to have faith in God. Which is a good thing. [sic] But what I am learning is that God has faith in me. 25
Is man the object of God’s faith? Here is God’s testimony about man:
What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin; as it is written, "There is none righteous, not even one; There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God; All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, There is not even one. (Romans 3:9 – 12)
In John 2:24, 25 it says this: “But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all men, and because He did not need anyone to bear witness concerning man for He Himself knew what was in man.” The word “entrusting” is pisteuo_ in the Greek, the word “to believe.” John 2:23 shows that this lack of faith that Jesus had in man is applied to believers. The reason for not trusting or believing in men was Jesus’ knowledge of the inner nature of man (anthro_pos, humanity). So most decidedly Jesus does not have faith in man.
We have to conclude that Bell is leading people away from the faith once for all delivered to the saints and toward a man-centered faith that believes in self as the appropriate object of faith and not to God Himself as the ONLY object of faith.
Bell’s “Heaven” and “Hell” Come to Earth
In Velvet Elvis, Bell asserts that all people are already forgiven, reconciled, without having to respond to the Gospel in the manner Jesus said in the Great Commission: “and that repentance for forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem” (Luke 24:47). Here is Bell’s claim: “So this reality, this reconciliation, is true for everybody.”26 His proof text is Colossians 1:20 which he assumes teaches universalism. But the passage includes humans, spirits and the material world. Wicked spirits will never be reconciled to God, and Christ has triumphed over them and disarmed them (Colossians 2:15). Elsewhere Paul “begs” people to be reconciled to God (2Corinthians 5:20). People who are not reconciled to God are ultimately consigned to the lake of fire (Revelation 20:15). But, having eschewed systematic theology, Bell’s trampoline jump does not require consideration of those passages that call into question his use of a favorite proof text.
Bell sees that forgiveness and reconciliation are already true for all people, and the problem is that some have not accepted that particular telling of their story. He says, “The fact that we are loved and accepted and forgiven in spite of everything we have done is simply too good to be true. Our choice becomes this: We can trust his retelling of the story, or we can trust our telling of our story.” 27This obscures the demands of the law and the promise of the gospel. Believing a story where we are reconciled to God even if we are not Christians is not the Biblical message. We are wicked rebels who abide under God’s wrath unless we repent and believe the gospel. Never in the Book of Acts did any of the apostolic preachers proclaim, “Believe you are loved and accepted” as the terms of the gospel. They preached repentance as Christ told them to.
Bell writes, “When we choose God’s vision of who we are, we are living as God made us to live.”28But God’s vision of who we are is that unless we have repented, we are hopeless, wretched, without God in this world, dead in sin, and storing up wrath: “But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God” (Romans 2:5). Bell’s version is much more attractive: “And as we live in this life, in harmony with God’s intentions for us, the life of heaven becomes more and more present in our lives. Heaven comes to earth.” 29
Bell makes it clear that he is more concerned with “hell on earth” than with what happens after this life: “What’s disturbing then is when people talk more about hell after this life than they do about hell here and now.”30But in the Bible the term for “hell” is Gehenna. Hades is where the ungodly go when they die to await the final judgment after the resurrection of the wicked. Here is what the Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (TDNT) says:
This distinction [between Gehenna and Hades] is a). that Hades receives the ungodly only for the intervening period between death and resurrection, whereas Gehenna is their place of punishment in the last judgment; the judgment of the former is thus provisional but the torment of the latter eternal (Mk. 9:43 and par. 9:48). It is then b). that the souls of the ungodly are outside the body in Hades, whereas in Gehenna both body and soul, reunited at the resurrection, are destroyed by eternal fire (Mk. 9:43 and par., 45, 47 and par., 48; Mt. 10:28 and par.). 31
Bell’s teaching that heaven and hell come to earth depending on how we live now simply is not biblical. He says, “As a Christian, I want to do what I can to resist hell coming to earth. Poverty, injustice, suffering – they are all hells on earth, and as Christians we oppose them with all our energies.” 32But the term for hell, Gehenna, is used 12 times in the New Testament, 11 of them by Jesus. Not once did He use the term to describe something that is now on earth or now coming to earth. He used it in this manner: “And if your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off, and throw it from you; for it is better for you that one of the parts of your body perish, than for your whole body to go into hell” (Matthew 5:30). In Bell’s usage, losing body parts would be hell on earth. But Jesus’ point was that it would be better to go through this life (which is temporary) maimed than to have a perfect body that is cast into hell (which is permanent). But Bell says, “For Jesus, this new kind of life in him is not about escaping this world but about making it a better place, here and now. The goal for Jesus isn’t to get into heaven. The goal is to get heaven here.” 33 Really? But Jesus said, “And do not fear those who kill the body, but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28).
The gospels simply do not teach Bell’s ideas about heaven and hell coming to earth now depending on certain actions. They teach the importance of eternity and the relative unimportance of our status now other than in how it affects us in eternity. But Bell continues to explain his “repainting” of “Elvis”:
True spirituality then is not about escaping this world to some other place where we will be forever. A Christian is not someone who expects to spend forever in heaven there. A Christian is someone who anticipates spending forever here, in a new heaven that comes to earth. The goal isn’t escaping this world but making the world the kind of place God can come to. 34
To do this, according to Velvet Elvis, we need to become our “true selves”: “And Jesus calls us to return to our true selves. The pure, whole people God originally intended us to be, before we veered off course. Somewhere in you is the you whom you were made to be.” 35 This embracing of our identity and trusting we are loved supposedly brings heaven to earth: “That is what brings heaven to earth.”36 These types of statements, issued universally to all people, are not the universal call of the gospel. Bell’s message, unlike the gospel found in the New Testament, is not how God has chosen to make dead sinners alive. A dead sinner is not going to bring heaven to earth by believing such things about himself or returning to his “true self.” The fact is that our “true selves” are wicked rebels who deserve hell.
Conclusion
In the world of art, there is nothing wrong with being abstract. People are free to paint as they wish. But the gospel claims to reveal truth that is necessary for salvation. Where we spend eternity rests on understanding and believing the gospel. Abstractions cannot declare God’s unchanging revelation. As we have seen, Bell’s painting bears no resemblance to the Biblical original.
It turns out that “Elvis” painted in abstract art could serve just as well to be JFK, Ronald Reagan, Marilyn Monroe or Janice Joplin. Since paradoxes cannot express meaning, a theology of paradox can mean anything the reader’s mind wants it to mean. Bell’s “Christian” painting, done as it is in abstract art, serves merely to tickle the mind and the imagination, not to reveal anything in particular. So we must ask ourselves, should we consult the original that God’s authoritative spokespersons gave us or should we embrace the abstract version of “Elvis” and hope that God is pleased with it? For anyone wishing to know the truth, the answer is obvious. We should trust God’s authoritative spokespersons.
Rob Bell “Undefines” Holiness
- By Bob DeWaay
In Velvet Elvis, Bell lists a number of transcendent experiences that he claims overwhelmed him to be in awe of God. The first one for Bell happened as a teenager at a concert performed by Irish rock group U2, where he was “overwhelmed with the word true.”1 These extraordinary experiences he also describes as “holy” and “sacred.” The problem is that his usage has nothing to do with the Biblical meaning of the terms “holy” or “or sacred.”
The Bible uses the term “holy” to refer to God and whatever He sets apart for His purposes. In the Old Testament, for example, the Sabbath was “holy” because God had designated it as set apart for Him, using terminology like, “holy Sabbath to the Lord” (Exodus 16:23). Items for sacred use in the tabernacle where designated as “holy.” God is holy (Isaiah 6:3) and whatever things, places or people that God designates as holy are so because God declared them to be or caused them to be by some special action.
By definition, if something is holy it is separate from its opposite, the profane: “Moreover, they shall teach My people the difference between the holy and the profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean” (Ezekiel 44:23). God’s holy name could be profaned, which is very sinful (Leviticus 22:32 and many other passages). Jerusalem is called the “holy city” in Old Testament and several times in gospels and Revelation.
In the New Testament, the term “holy” is not used to designate things or places other than usages that are tied to the Old Testament, such as the temple and its services mentioned in Acts and Hebrews. The scriptures are called both “holy” and “sacred” (hieros is used for “sacred” only once -- 2Timothy 3:15 “sacred Scriptures”; elsewhere it means temple or temple service). But this designation refers not to pages with ink on them per se, but to the content of the inspired writings. All other uses of “holy” have to do with the church: God, Christ, the Holy Spirit, the holy law, redeemed persons, faith, prayer, and our holy calling. The term under the New Covenant does not refer to things and places other than when referring to those so designated under the Old Covenant, like Jerusalem and the temple.
Therefore, under the New Covenant there are no holy things or places. A church building is not a sacred space. Hymnals, candles, pews, or a communion table (items that might be used in a church) are not holy. No ground or land is “holy” compared to other places (other than God’s continued plans for Israel, but that has to do with past promises and their fulfillment). No special location exists where one is going to meet God like Moses did at the burning bush. And one cannot go to a Christian store and buy a holy object. God makes people holy by redeeming them through the blood atonement and cleansing them from their sins. If someone meets God in a saving way, it will be because they heard and believed the gospel, not because of some “transcendent moment” like Bell describes.
For example, Bell describes a memorable meeting with some friends in a restaurant: “And I’m sitting in this restaurant looking around the table, soaking it in, totally overwhelmed with the holiness of it all. The sacredness of the moment.” [sic] 2 Bell then describes other experiences, such as being in a dirt-floored shack in Rwanda or at a funeral that he ends with “The ground was holy.” 3 There was nothing uniquely Christian about any of the experiences he describes. He further describes conducting the wedding of a couple who wanted nothing to do with God, Jesus or the Bible. So they were married in a natural, beautiful place. Bell explained to them that whatever brought them together also holds all things together. They agreed to, “Call this glue, this force, ‘God.’”4 The resultant ceremony Bell describes as, “one of the most sacred things I have ever been a part of.”5
The problem here is that only Bell’s subjective impressions distinguish the holy and sacred. When Bell uses the term spiritual (which he also used to describe how the couple wanted the non-Christian wedding to be) he uses it in the secular manner as an Oprah Winfrey would use it. He justifies his use of the term by saying that “God is present” everywhere in the world.
However, the doctrine of God’s omnipresence does not imply that “everything is spiritual” or “everything is holy.” Bell over emphasizes God’s immanence in a way that is in danger of crossing over into panentheism. God must be understood to be transcendent over and separate from the creation. The Bible says that Jesus is “separated from sinners” (Hebrews 7:27), and that before conversion we were separate from Christ and without God (Ephesians 2:12). Everything is not holy, everything is not sacred, and everything is not spiritual in the sense the Bible uses the terms. But Bell says that it is: “We throw ourselves into our work because everything is sacred.” 6
In my opinion, Bell is confusing common grace with saving grace. We can look at a sunset on a beautiful day and see that “the heavens declare the glory of God.” But the heavens speak this way to all people whether or not they recognize the true creator God. Paul says that this general revelation shows “God’s invisible attributes” (Romans 1:20). But Paul said that in the midst of a long litany about universal human sinfulness. Having a “transcendent moment” in which one realizes that some spiritual force exists that holds everything together, cannot save anyone and therefore cannot create holiness. Holiness only comes through the cleansing of the conscience by the blood of Jesus (Hebrews 9:14). That only happens for those who repent and believe the gospel. Bell’s teaching obscures the difference between the holy and the profane. Common grace (that God shows kindness even to His enemies and sends rain on the just and unjust) does not create universal holiness.
To demonstrate how Bell confuses the Biblical idea of holiness, let me show you how he interprets the “holy ground” incident at the burning bush. Here is the Velvet Elvis version:
God tells Moses to take off his sandals, for the ground he is standing on is holy. Moses has been tending sheep in this region for forty years. How many times has he passed this spot? How many times has he stood in this exact place? And now God tells him the ground is holy? Has the ground been holy the whole time and Moses is just becoming aware of it for the first time? Do you and I walk on holy ground all the time, but we are moving so fast and returning so many calls and writing so many emails and having such long list to get done that we miss it? 7
In the context of this chapter Bell intends his readers to take these questions as rhetorical with the implied answer “yes.” But his exegesis of the Exodus account is inaccurate. He confuses general revelation with special revelation. At the burning bush Moses was the recipient of special revelation. God’s theophany made the ground holy compared to any other particular ground, not some heightened awareness on Moses’ part. That God created the world can be seen through general revelation. That Moses was called by God to be the mediator of the Old Covenant could only be known by special revelation. Slowing down to figuratively “smell the roses” will not reveal “holy ground.”
This is not the end of this serious category error. Using strange terminology about Jesus being the “life force” of nature and existence, Bell concludes that the wedding planners who did not want anything about Jesus or God are “resonating with Jesus whether they acknowledge it or not.”8 He explains,
Jesus was up on that cliff with us that day. It is not that God is over here and real life is over there. If it is real, then it’s showing us God. It is not that passion and love and exhilaration are in one place and Jesus is somewhere else. Where you find those, you are finding God. 9
These statements are false, because the Bible says that if we have not been made alive from the dead through a special work of grace through the gospel, we are “without God in the world” (Ephesians 2:12). God is not found on a cliff through resonating with nature and the “spiritual.” He is found through faith in the finished work of Christ.
So, by broadening terms like, “holy, sacred, and spiritual,” Bell has made them vacuous. His usage is not Biblical and implies a heightened sense of immanence at the expense of God’s transcendence that is reminiscent of theological liberalism or panentheism. In the Bible, God’s immanence and transcendence are both preserved: “For thus says the high and exalted One Who lives forever, whose name is Holy, "I dwell on a high and holy place, And also with the contrite and lowly of spirit In order to revive the spirit of the lowly And to revive the heart of the contrite” (Isaiah 57:15). But we only experience God’s holiness in a saving way by becoming repentant sinners who are “contrite and lowly in spirit.” If we proudly go our own way and reject God’s offer of salvation, the transcendent, Creator God will be our judge at the end of the age.
J. I. Packer To Be Suspended
In June 2002, the synod of the Anglican Diocese of New Westminster voted to authorize a service to bless same-sex unions. J. I. Packer was among the synod members who walked out in protest...
Same Sex Blessing
First Order
Implications For The Church
The Future Of The Church
Saturday, March 08, 2008
Friday, March 07, 2008
Thursday, March 06, 2008
Monday, March 03, 2008
Paul Washer - The Great Privilege
I am not going to post anything new this week. My hope is that each one of you will take the time to watch this powerful sermon by Paul Washer...
Sunday, March 02, 2008
Paul Washer - The Greatest Words in All of Scripture
This is one of my all-time favorite sermons by Paul Washer...
Saturday, March 01, 2008
Paul Washer - Are You Going To Share This Clip Like Your Sports Trivia?
Are you as anxious to share this clip with your friends as you are the sports trivia you share? If not, why? You can watch this entire sermon on my next blog post.
