A Gospel That is Inadequate and Attributes to Apostacy

What is Predestination and Why it is Biblical Truth

My 2 teen boys are taking an English course at their school called Biblical Worldview. They go to a school called Providence and I just found out that they are the only ones in their class that believe in the Doctrine of Predestination.

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, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestine, according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. 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, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory."--Ephesians 1:3-14

...the doctrine of election simply means that God, uninfluenced and before creation, predetermined certain people to be saved.--John MacArthur

When the Bible speaks of predestination, it speaks of God's sovereign involvement in certain things before they happen. He chooses in advance certain things to take place. For example, he predestined creation. Before God created the world, he decided to do it.

Usually when people think of predestination, they think about whether or not somebody was hit by an automobile on a given day because God had decided ahead of time that that should happen on that day.

Theologically, the principal issue of predestination in the Bible has to do with God selecting people for salvation beforehand. The Bible clearly does teach that somehow God chooses people for salvation before they're even born. Virtually every Christian church believes that, because this concept is so clearly taught in Scripture.

Paul refers to Jacob and Esau. Before they were even born, before they had done any good or evil, God decreed in advance that the elder would serve the younger: "Jacob have I loved; Esau have I hated." The point there is that God had chosen certain benefits for one of those two before they were even born.

The real debate is, On what basis does God predestine? We know that he predestines, but why does he predestine, and what is the basis for his choices? Many Christians believe that God knows in advance what people are going to do, what choices they're going to make, and what activities they're going to be involved in. As he looks through the corridor of time and knows what choices you will make, for example, he knows that you will hear the gospel. He knows whether you will say yes or no. If he knows that you are going to say yes, then he chooses you for salvation on the basis of his prior knowledge. I don't hold that position. I think that God does this sovereignly, not arbitrarily, not whimsically. The only basis I see for predestination in the Bible is the good pleasure of his own will. The only other reason is to honor his only begotten Son. The reason for his selection is not in me and not in you and not in some foreseen good or evil, but in his own sovereignty. - R. C. Sproul

If you don't start with the total depravity of mankind, and understand that we are dead in our sins and trespasses, you'll never get unconditional election as the Bible teaches it. And it's one of the reasons, just as I was thinking through it today, some of the imagery that's used of salvation is, one, that we're born again; and two, that we've been resurrected. And how many dead people caused their own resurrection? And how many babies, before they were conceived, did something to lead to their birth? The answer is absolutely nothing. And I think that's why those analogies or pictures of life are used, because it points to all of humanity; dead in their sins and trespasses, personally culpable before God for their sins, deserving of nothing, and if God had only exercised His justice and His righteousness, only God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit and the angels that didn't fall would be in heaven. God could have done that if He wanted to.

But John's done a great job with the little passages before time in the Titus 1, and pointing out God's desire to redeem a portion of mankind for Himself. So people fall over the total depravity of man, and there are all kinds of varieties....

The second one -- and it's really fresh in my mind 'cause I've been working on the openness of God issue in writing an article for our journal -- is we have a very hard time as human beings believing that we can't think on the same level as God. And it's deifying the human mind and humanizing the divine mind. And if we think we can understand everything that's in the mind of God, which we can't, we will then come to the conclusion that it's unfair, not right, for God to do what He does, because that makes Him a cosmic puppeteer, and all we are is people who go through life and everything we do and say and everything -- we have nothing to be involved in. And so the argument of free will issues -- and I could only find one passage in my New American Standard today -- where anything that has to do with man's choice was translated "free will." And it was in the context of Philemon 14. And all it meant was Paul said I'd like you to do this not out of compulsion, not that I've sort of jammed this down your throat, but I'd rather you do this out of the kindness of your heart. And I would suggest, maybe for discussion among us or for your thinking, that nowhere in the Bible does it suggest that man has a free will and that he acts independent of outside sources, conditions, people, et cetera. Man has a will. But Luther said it was a "will in bondage." And the Bible says that our will is always a slave. It's either a slave to sin, or a slave to righteousness.

So we need to park our pride on our humanity -- the ability to think and see ourselves as sinners, lost forever apart from God's unmerited favor and His grace, unconditionally bestowed by election -- and see ourselves as Isaiah saw the mind of God in Isaiah 55 ... that just clearly says you don't need to know Hebrew to get the point; that God's thoughts are so far above our thoughts that it's the difference between the distance from heaven, which we can't measure on earth... --Dr. Richard Mayhue

...we bring the Gospel as beggars...

...the point of the exclusiveness of Christianity is not to show the rest of the unbelieving world that Christians are better or more moral than others. Christians are not better. Rather, the purpose is to communicate that we all share the same alienated condition as human beings and so we bring the gospel as beggars pointing other beggars to the only bread. Jesus does not point to some innate goodness in yourself. You have none. I have none. He is a Savior who comes from the outside to save those who acknowledge themselves sinners in need of a Savior.--John Hendryx "Is Jesus the Only Way"

Do You Pass this Testing of Your Faith?

Go take a listen to a sermon about persecution that will cause you to rightly and purposefully examine your faith in a way that you may have not thought to do according to 2 Corinthians 13:4-6. Do you pass the testing of your faith in light of this sermon?

Do not merely sit in your closet and look at yourselves alone, but go out into this busy world and see what kind of piety you have. Remember, many a man's religion will stand examination that will not stand proof. We may sit at home and look at our religion, and say, "Well, I think this will do!" It is like cotton prints that you can buy in sundry shops; they are warranted fast colours, and so they seem when you look at them, but they are not washable when you get them home. There is many a man's religion like that. It is good enough to look at, and it has got the "warranted" stamped upon it; but when it comes out into actual daily life, the colours soon begin to run, and the man discovers that the thing was not what he took it to be. ... the question now is not whether you believe the truth—but whether you are in the truth? ...all the orthodoxy in the world, apart from its effect upon the heart as a vital principle, will not save a man. ...God will not take his gold and silver by appearance, but every vessel must be purified in the fire.--C.H. Spurgeon

* If you cherish chastity, your life will be an attack on people's love for free sex.

* If you embrace temperance, your life will be a statement against the love of alcohol.

* If you pursue self-control, your life will indict excess eating.

* If you live simply and happily, you will show the folly of luxury.

* If you walk humbly with your God, you will expose the evil of pride.

* If you are punctual and thorough in your dealings, you will lay open the inferiority of laziness and negligence.

* If you speak with compassion, you will throw callousness into sharp relief.

* If you are earnest, you will make the flippant look flippant instead of clever.

* And if you are spiritually minded, you will expose the worldly-mindedness of those around you.

...You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. ...If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember the words I spoke to you: 'No servant is greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the One who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now, however, they have no excuse for their sin. He who hates me hates my Father as well. If I had not done among them what no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have seen these miracles, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: 'They hated me without reason.' --Jesus Christ (John 15:16-25)

Still Corrupted? or Positionally Perfected?

It will always give a Christian the greatest calm, quiet, ease, and peace, to think of the perfect righteousness of Christ. How often are the saints of God downcast and sad! I do not think they ought to be. I do not think they would if they could always see their perfection in Christ. There are some who are always talking about corruption, and the depravity of the heart, and the innate evil of the soul. This is quite true, but why not go a little further, and remember that we are "perfect in Christ Jesus."

It is no wonder that those who are dwelling upon their own corruption should wear such downcast looks; but surely if we call to mind that "Christ is made unto us righteousness," we shall be of good cheer. What though distresses afflict me, though Satan assault me, though there may be many things to be experienced before I get to heaven, those are done for me in the covenant of divine grace; there is nothing wanting in my Lord, Christ hath done it all. On the cross He said, "It is finished!" and if it be finished, then am I complete in Him, and can rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory, "Not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith."

You will not find on this side of heaven a holier people than those who receive into their hearts the doctrine of Christ's righteousness.
When the believer says, "I live on Christ alone; I rest on Him solely for salvation; and I believe that, however unworthy, I am still saved in Jesus;"
Then there rises up as a motive of gratitude this thought, "Shall I not live to Christ? Shall I not love Him and serve Him, seeing that I am saved by His merits?"

"The love of Christ constraineth us, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves but unto Him which died for them."

If saved by imputed righteousness, we shall greatly value imparted righteousness.

Wednesday, January 31, 2007
This Morning's Meditation
C. H. Spurgeon
"The Lord our Righteousness."
Jeremiah 23:6

My Gaurdian and My Guide: God’s Sovereignty in Providence

Strange Baptist Fire posted the following excerpt from Octavius Winslow. It prayerfully brought to mind some very dear people in my life as I read it. My dear friend being pressed on every side whose husband is in a blatant affair and is unrepentant, even to the point of blindly justifying this sin. The elderly lady in the hospital that I was privileged to share the Gospel with that is rooming with my sweet friend who is suffering from seizures. My mother. My neighbor whose husband left her and their son so that he could pursue a homosexual relationship. (Consider reading why marriage isn't about MY "happiness", but it IS fundamentally about God)
There are so many others that come to mind as I read the following words...

Read and be encouraged...
“My times are in your hand.” Psalm 31:15

Our times of adversity are also in God’s hand. As every sunbeam that brightens, so every cloud that darkens, comes from God. We are subject to great and sudden reverses in our earthly condition. Joy is often succeeded by grief, prosperity by adversity. We are on the pinnacle today, tomorrow at its bottom. Oh! What a change may one event and one moment create! But beloved, ALL is from the Lord.

Afflictions do not spring from the soil, nor does trouble sprout from the ground. Sorrow cannot come until God bids it. Until God in His sovereignty permits-health cannot fade, wealth cannot vanish, comfort cannot decay, friendship cannot chill, and loved ones cannot die. Your time of sorrow is His appointment. The bitter cup which it may please the Lord that you shall drink this year will not be mixed by human hands. In the hand of the Lord is that cup! Some treasure you are now pressing to your heart, He may ask you to resign. Some blessing you now possess, He may bid you to relinquish. Some fond expectation you now cherish, He may will that you should forego. Some lonely path, He may design that you should tread.

Yes, He may even bereave you of all, and yet all, ALL is in His hand! His hand! A Father’s hand, moving in thick darkness, is shaping every event, and arranging every detail in your life! Has sickness laid you on a bed of suffering? Has bereavement darkened your home? Has adversity impoverished your resources? Has change lessened your comforts? Has sorrow in one of its many forms crushed your spirit to the earth? The Lord has done it! In all that has been sent, in all that has be recalled, and in all that has been withheld-His hand, noiseless and unseen has brought it about!

Ah! yes, that hand of changeless love blends a sweet with every bitter-pencils a bright rainbow in each dark cloud-upholds each faltering step-shelters within its hollow-and guides with unerring skill, His chosen people safe to eternal glory! Dear child of God, your afflictions, your trials, your crosses, your losses, your sorrows, all, ALL are in your heavenly Father’s hand, and they cannot come until sent by Him!

Bow that stricken heart-yield that tempest-tossed soul to His sovereign disposal, to His calm, righteous sway, in the submissive spirit and language of your suffering Savior, “May Your will, O my Father! not mine, be done. My times of sadness and of grief are in Your hand.” Beloved, all is in your Father’s hand! Be those times what they may-times of trial, times of temptation, times of suffering, times of peril, times of sunshine or of gloom, or times of life or death, they are in your Father’s hand!

Has the Lord seen fit to recall some fond blessing, to deny some earnest request, or painfully to discipline your heart? All this springs from a Father’s love as fully as though He had unlocked His treasury and poured its costliest gifts at your feet! All of our times are in our Redeemer’s hands! That same Redeemer who carried our sorrows in His heart, our curse and sins on His soul, our cross on His shoulder; who died, who rose again, and who lives and intercedes for us, and who will gather all His ransomed around Him in glory, is your Guardian and your Guide! Your times are in the hands of Him who still bears the print of the nails!

Please don't pass the butter

On Sunday evenings, the men of our church are teaching through the Psalms. Last night my pastor taught through Psalm 12.

Continue reading "Please don't pass the butter" »

A Biblical "New Year's Resolution"

My Pastor recently sent the following e-mail to our congregation regarding our church Bible Reading Plan. I mentioned on another blog this Bible reading plan for our church and it's purpose being to further encourage one another to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord as we encourage one another to read God's precious Word as a congregation. I then received several e-mails, including some from pastors, requesting that I inform them when the links to this plan were available on our church website. HERE THEY ARE. After you click that link, you will need to scroll down to the bottom to find both the entire plan on .pdf and also .pdf's of the plan broken down into the 10 sections.

Here is that e-mail from Pastor Ed Godfrey:

As many of you may have heard, the Board of Elders is pushing a Bible reading campaign for 2007. It is our desire that our congregation would commit to reading through the Scriptures together. Our approach is a little bit different this year. While it is our hope that each one will seek to read through the entirety of the Word, we realize that some may fall behind and get discouraged, giving up altogether. To address this, we have broken down the Bible reading into sections. Now some sections are longer than others, but there are ten such sections we are asking the congregation to read through. The first section is entitled, "The Life of Christ" and covers the gospels of Matthew, Mark and John and takes us from January 1 to January 31. Would you prayerfully commit to reading through the life of Christ with the rest of the congregation?

Then, starting in February, we will take on one of the longer sections, "OT Chronology" which will cover Genesis, Exodus, and Numbers. This will be followed by "Christ and His Church" - covering the gospel of Luke and the book of Acts - and so on and so forth.

Again, we are doing this "section" approach so that if anyone does "fall behind" - he might get back on pace with the rest of the congregation at the start of a new section. Additionally, one of the Elders will spend 10 minutes or so at the beginning of our Fellowship Group ... on Sunday Mornings to touch base, ask questions and encourage the congregation to continue reading.

Please remember that you might consider listening to the Word of God in conjunction with this Bible reading campaign. If you have an audio copy of the Bible, take some time to simply have the Word read to you. As noted in Romans 10:17 -

So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.

Famine... Enemies... Plagues...

I have been studying 1st and 2nd Samuel for awhile and just finished it up this morning. I have to admit there were times in the process of reading and studying this book I was fighting boredom and would find myself praying for the Lord to help me through it. He did and I was most certainly blessed by this time in His Word.

Continue reading "Famine... Enemies... Plagues..." »

Do Not Be Ashamed and Do Not Give Up

Please watch this to the end. It was sent to me by a dear friend.

Chris Allen wrote this about the video: True story of one man on George street who witnessed faithfully. Most on this earth may not know him, but I tell you that in heaven, he is more famous than any celebrity, and I admire and respect what he has done while alive on this earth. Mr. Genor from Sydney, Australia.
Before we start praising this man too much, we have to remember the sovereign providence and Grace of God. As marvelous a story this is about one man reaching people for Christ all around the world from George Street in Australia. We must realize that far more marvelous is God delivering these people to this man to use Mr. Genor to reach every tribe and tongue and nation. Remember, Jesus said "I will build my church". So, whether the rest of us do our part or not... whether we tithe, evangelize, or study our bibles... No matter how lame we are as a church in our country.... God will still go on building His church. And God gets all the Glory. Mr. Genor wasn't trying to do anything but be faithful. He only wanted to show his gratitude to God by telling as many people as he could about Jesus Christ his Savior (Make sure you pop over to his site.)