The question of election (God’s sovereign choice to save some), and especially reprobation (the corresponding consequential responsibility for effectively choosing to damn others) is a difficult position. Especially as some would argue that you cannot hold this position and believe that God honestly desires all men to repent and be saved. (As 1 Timothy 2:4, 2 Peter 3:9, Ezekiel 18:23 and a few others indicate).

And yet I do hold this position. Rather than attempting an article explaining how I can hold this, I will use the words of John Piper and Robert L. Dabney, who are vastly superior authors. I realize that this will have the immediate effect of loss of credibility of the argument for some (which is unfortunate). Let me assure you that this is the conclusion I have come to, prior to reading these men, and they simply state things more eloquently than I could.

From Are There Two Wills of God by John Piper:

If, as Calvinists say, God deems it wise and good to elect unconditionally some to salvation and not others, one may legitimately ask whether the offer of salvation to all is genuine. Is it made with heart? Does it come from real compassion? Is the willing that none perish a bona fide willing of love?

The way I would give an account of this is explained by Robert L. Dabney in an essay written over a hundred years ago. His treatment is very detailed and answers many objections that go beyond the limits of this chapter. I will simply give the essence of his solution which seems to me to be on the right track, though he, as well as I, would admit we do not “furnish an exhaustive explanation of this mystery of the divine will.”

Dabney uses an analogy from the life of George Washington taken from Chief-Justice Marshall’s Life of Washington. A certain Major André had jeopardized the safety of the young nation through “rash and unfortunate” treasonous acts. Marshall says of the death warrant, signed by Washington, “Perhaps on no occasion of his life did the commander-in-chief obey with more reluctance the stern mandates of duty and of policy.” Dabney observes that Washington’s compassion for André was “real and profound”. He also had “plenary power to kill or to save alive.” Why then did he sign the death warrant? Dabney explains, “Washington’s volition to sign the death-warrant of André did not arise from the fact that his compassion was slight or feigned, but from the fact that it was rationally counterpoised by a complex of superior judgments . . . of wisdom, duty, patriotism, and moral indignation.”

Dabney imagines a defender of André, hearing Washington say, “I do this with the deepest reluctance and pity.” Then the defender says, “Since you are supreme in this matter, and have full bodily ability to throw down that pen, we shall know by your signing this warrant that your pity is hypocritical.” Dabney responds to this by saying, “The petulance of this charge would have been equal to its folly. The pity was real, but was restrained by superior elements of motive…”

Ironically, the Arminian also holds this position. That God is restrained by “superior elements of motive” is held by both camps. The question is simply “what is that superior element of motive? In the Arminian position, preservation of human self-determination (free will) and the possible resulting love relationship with God are more valuable than the salvation of all people. In the Calvinist position, the greater value is the God’s revelation of the full range of His glory in wrath, justice, mercy, compassion, love, grace, patience and kindness.

The question is, which of these (if any, or is there another?) does the scripture teach? Most of us in the West, affected by current contemporary enlightenment-based thinking assume free will, to say that our will is not free seems simply wrong. But this was not always assumed, and in some cultures, still is not assumed. I posit that we (thankfully!) lack an accurate understanding of slavery, and this affects our thinking on the freedom of the will.

Today when watching Cinderella for approximately the 347th time, my 3.5 year old daughter asked me about the wicked stepsisters: “Daddy, why do they do bad things?” What an excellent question! I paused for a moment, gathering my thoughts on how to communicate to a three year old the psychological factors of bad parenting, possible child abuse, lack of discipline, absentee fathers, etc, that would lead to their abhorrent behavior, but a simpler and more correct answer occurred to me.

“Because they are bad.” I told her. Proudly recalling one of my recent favorite Piper sermons.

And then a moment later, in the scene where Anastasia hits Drizella over the head with her flute, at which the Stepmother reminds them “Girls! Remember. Above all, self control!” (Parenting advice that had produced the two monsters in the first place) it occurred to me:

“And we are just like them.”

As a proud daddy, it is often difficult to place my daughter in any other part of that story than Cinderella herself. However, the more a recalled the story, the more I realized how wrong my perspective was.

Cinderella is perfect in every way: cheerfully, humbly, selflessly, and lovingly serving those who despise her, though by rights she is the one that deserves to be served! Cinderella is a sort of Christ figure in the story.

Now I’m thinking about how I can use my daughter’s absolutely thorough understanding of the storyline to help her see her need for Christ.

We are not the would-be-princess in dire circumstances, bound by some unhappy twist of fate to an undeserved life of repression. We are the stepsisters doing the binding, coldly usurping the place of the rightful ruler of our house by our selfish pettiness.

In our house, the message of Cinderella will no longer be “If you keep on believing, the dream that you wish, will come true.” The message will be that we are wicked and ugly like the stepsisters, but God loves us in spite of this he proved it by sending his Son to die for our sins and give forgiveness to all who would trust him.

The third assignment for the class was to take a first crack at writing what you believe to be the central message of the Bible. I thought I’d share my third draft at this attempt here for posterity, criticism, and perhaps a little humor looking back at my naive self.

The central message of the scriptures is the (partial and unfolding revelation of the) Glory of the One True God, as shown by His interaction with all His creation; namely: His love, concern, and kindness toward it, wrath at and judgement of the rebellion of it, and the grace (i.e., justice, patience and mercy) toward it, manifested ultimately in the life, work, teaching, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus as foretold, foreshadowed, and promised by the Prophets in the Old Testament and proclaimed, clarified, and explained by the Apostles in the New Testament.

I’m quite pleased with it right now. We’ll see what I think in 8 weeks.

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” – Hebrews 11:1

Faith is not a thing that can be placed. It is not a commodity that we possess, like so many chips at a casino, to place on a specific number in hopes that the roulette wheel lands on our guess…

Faith is a perception of reality. An “assurance” and a “conviction”.

Faith and belief are the same concept, as used in the new testament.

Faith does have an object. You believe in something. More accurately, having faith is accepting as reality, a concept, truth, statement of fact, etc.

When you faith something, (believe something), you aren’t choosing to acknowledge one reality over the next arbitrarily. Your reality shifts to include the thing you have faith in.

It is an “enlightenment” of sorts, though not in the buddhist sense, but in the “fumbling around in a dark room until someone flips the light-switch on” sense.

We are not told to “place our faith”, we are told to “have faith in God!” or another way to put it “believe God!”. It is also my conviction that this is not something an individual can do on their own. This sort of belief is a work of the Holy Spirit.

Do a word study on Faith with this lens. See what you come up with.

This is a thought in process and I’d be interested in hearing what you have to say about it. It is unrefined and needs help, which is why I posted it. Help.

(this post originally appeared at MattAndNancy.org, I am slowly moving my theologically oriented posts from there to here.)

The pronouns “my” and “mine” look innocent enough in print, but their constant and universal use is significant. They express the real nature of the old Adamic man better than a thousand volumes of theology could do. They are verbal symptoms of our deep disease. The roots of our hearts have grown down into things, and we dare not pull up one rootlet lest we die. Things have become necessary to us – a development never originally intended. God’s gifts now take the place of God, and the whole course of nature is upset by the monstrous substitution.

Brad’s intro:

Is a believer in Christ secure in his relationship with God? If so, does it matter how we live? Our passage today is a challenging one that has generated much discussion and even controversy over the centuries. Yet this passage holds an inspiring and motivating message for all.

Read Hebrews 5:11-6:12 first.

Historically, there are four common interpretations of this passage:

1. A true believer in Christ who rebels and rejects Christ, then loses his salvation.
2. A so-called believer who rejects Christ, but was never truly saved.
3. A hypothetical situation, that if a true believer could lose his salvation, he could never be saved again. So the believer is warned to not rebel.
4. A true believer who turns his back on Christ, rejecting him and returning to a life of sin, and then comes under the severe discipline of the Lord.

We hold that Scripture clearly denies argument 1 above, because a person who is truly saved — born again, regenerated, adopted and chosen by God — cannot lose his salvation. Eternal life is eternal. Some Scriptures on this are: Ephesians 1:4-5, 13-14; Romans 8:29-30, 37-39; John 6:37-39, 10:27-29.

And then the questions:

1. Discuss the topic of security. Study some (or all) of the passages above. How is eternal security alluded to or clearly stated?

Wonderful scriptures, handily defeating the idea that a believer can fall away. The very definition of believing the Gospel precludes the idea of falling away from it.

We were predestined, chosen, adopted, given by God to Jesus, given eternal life by Jesus.

How did he chose? “According to the purpose of his will.” That is, for His own reasons, which He hasn’t told us.

Why did he chose? “To the praise of his glory.” That is, he chose you (if he chose you) and me, because it will bring Him glory to have chosen us. Example: people will see that he chose me and realize the depth of his patience and mercy. (Because one would have to be eternally patient to put up with my pride and arrogance and eternally merciful to put up with the depth of my depravity.)

When did he chose? “Before the foundation of the earth.” That is, before creation…

Again from Brad:

The other three possible interpretations all have some merit and some demerit. Let’s look at the entire passage. (Consider other passages in Hebrews as well.) Remember that a very important principle of proper biblical interpretation is to study the entire context.

2. In 5:11-6:3, what was the spiritual condition of the church? What does it mean to be spiritually dull? Spiritually immature?

They were spiritually weak, dull of hearing, not understanding, and immature. This, I think, is imminently applicable to the church at large today.

Spiritually dull and immature is a result of lack of practice. Not giving attention to the Christian life. Not intently consuming the Word of God (not learning, studying, seeking to understand, being content to just remain oblivious to it). And especially not obeying that which they do understand. This stunts their spiritual growth and is the reason why this chapter was written.

Hebrews 6, I believe, is ultimately a warning that if you are not “earnest” in reading, studying, seeking to understand and obey the Word of God, you may not be a believer and so are destined for Hell.

3. Re-read 6:4-8. How do interpretations 2, 3, and 4 fit or not fit the passage?

First, the scripture reference:

For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.

For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned.

I am personally of the opinion that this scripture is talking about “so called believers” or, rather, simply unbelievers. People who hang around with the church, but are not actually part of it. They are around for reasons other than worship of Jesus. Perhaps to have an emotional, social, or other need met. There is no sweeter place on earth than in the company of Jesus’ people, so this is understandable. The person mentioned here is around for what they can get out of it.

This line fits very well with the rest of scripture which talk the fruit born by someone’s life. Matthew 7 comes to mind (and Brad mentioned it on Sunday. Read verses 15-23. This is a sobering passage. The scriptures that speak of crops speak in the same terms as Hebrews 6. A believer will produce good fruit.

Hebrews 6 is a warning to examine your life. If you are not bearing fruit, you are not a believer.

So, what is the purpose of warning someone they may not be a believer if belief is a predestined thing? This is an obvious question but it touches on the very nature of time, and how an eternal God interacts with it. This is a long conversation and not the topic of this post, but a simple statement is this: Faith comes through hearing, and hearing through the word of God (Romans 10). God had Hebrews 6 written as a means of showing our need and inspiring belief. I will probably post more on this later.

“Option” 3 is a logical possibility though an unnecessary one. It fits with option 2 to strengthen the argument that this is speaking about an unbelieving, nominal (in-name-only) Christian.

“Option” 4 causes me to scratch my head. If it is speaking of a believer who will be saved and inherit the promises of scripture, then how is it that “their end is to be burned”? This does not fit from the scripture here.

When you see someone who seemed to be a believer “fall away”. That is, deny Christ, they were not a believer in the first place, no matter what miracles they performed in Christ’s name (see Matthew 7), no matter what prayer they prayed, what kind of life they lived prior to “falling away”. They may have even been a great preacher who lead thousands to Christ.

This is because it is not any of these things (miracles performed, a good life, a prayer, evangelism) that makes one (or proves one to be) a believer. The presence of the Holy Spirit in one’s life is what makes (and proves) one to be a believer.

4. Even though the true believer cannot lose his salvation, he still has plenty of motivation to follow Christ wholeheartedly all of his life. As you think through the Scriptures and your own life, what are motivations to live for Christ to the very end, as described in vs. 9-12?

The passage we are examining starts in Hebrews 4:14 with this statement: “Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.”

A believer’s motive is always and only love for Jesus. We follow Christ wholeheartedly because we love him and it brings us joy and pleasure to be with him. A picture of this is in a good marriage. Why do you love your wife (or husband)? If you start listing character traits (which is a natural and gut-level reaction) you will soon run out and feel awful for running out. A little deeper reflection should always lead you to a statement something like “…well, because I just DO!” This is the correct reaction.

There are many benefits to following Jesus, and He has many lovable traits, but these are not why we follow. It would be offensive to say we married our spouse for the sex, economic benefit, or so that we have someone to do our dishes or earn an income for us. These are all real, tangible, and proper benefit, but they are not a good reason for marrying.

So what IS Hebrews 6 saying?

Hebrews 6 is a warning, an exhortation, and a test. I believe it also to be a segue from the first several chapters of Hebrews to the next four, and not meant to stand on its own. The author is calling believers to persevere, and earnestly continue on in the faith, to take it seriously and make it the central feature of their life.

This all comes with a warning that if your faith is not the central thing in your life, if you do not seem to have time for it because of your career, hobbies, or ANYTHING else, that you might not be a believer at all, and you need to repent and believe, because the end of an unbeliever is eternal punishment in the fires of hell.

It is a call to action and away from apathy. We have the most important message on the planet, that Jesus has come into the world and accomplished salvation for all who would believe. We have been given a mission to spread this message. Apathy about this message is a signal of lack of belief in it.

Believe! Live in light of this news!

“The minister got up and said we would talk about sex. He took a red rose, smelled it, and threw it out in the crowd and told them to smell the rose. He then began one of the worst, most horrific handlings of what sex is and isn’t that I ever sat through.”

(Via Adrian Warnock.)

This last week ChristianAudio announced that they were giving away the audiobook for free for the month of November. Get it get it get it! You can also read it online for free.

I have just finished listening to it. Oh my is it a gold mine. This particular piece nailed me to the floor. From chapter 7:

What about the Lake Home?

So what does a pastor say to his people concerning the purchase and ownership of two homes in a world where 2,000 people starve to death every day and mission agencies cannot penetrate more unreached peoples for lack of funds ? First, he may quote Amos 3: 15-”I will smite the winter house and the summer house; and the houses of ivory shall perish; and the great houses shall come to an end.” Then he may read Luke 3:11, “He who has two coats, let him share with him who has none.”

Then he might tell about the family in St. Petersburg, Florida, who caught a vision for the housing needs of the poor. They sold their second home in Ohio and used the funds to build houses for several families in Immokalee, Florida.

Then he will ask, Is it wrong to own a second home that sits empty part of the year? And he will answer, Maybe and maybe not. He will not make it easy by creating a law. Laws can be obeyed under constraint with no change of heart; prophets want new hearts for God, not just new real estate arrangements. He will empathize with their uncertainty and share his own struggle to discover the way of love. He will not presume to have a simple answer to every lifestyle question.

But he will help them decide. He will say, “Does your house signify or encourage a level of luxury enjoyed in heedless unconcern of the needs of others? Or is it a simple, oft-used retreat for needed rest and prayer and meditation that sends people back to the city with a passion to deny themselves for the evangelization of the unreached and the pursuit of justice?”

He will leave the arrow lodged in their conscience and challenge them to seek a lifestyle in sync with the teaching and life of the Lord Jesus.

I get asked occasionally, “What did faith look like in the Old Testament? If they didn’t have Christ, what did God want them to have faith in?”

I think that Psalm 119 in general, and these two lines from it specifically, reflect that kind of faith very well.

My soul longs for your salvation; I hope in your word.
My eyes long for your promise; I ask, When will you comfort me?

Psalm 119:81-82

We can still pray this today. We know that God’s Word and his promise IS Jesus! Psalm 119:81-82 would read something like this today:

My soul longs for your salvation; I hope in JESUS.
My eyes long to see Jesus, When will you comfort me?

This post originally appeared on the author’s personal site mattandnancy.org

“Your money flows most effortlessly toward your heart’s greatest love.”

It is (I believe) a beautiful mediation on Matthew 6:21.

“…where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

These words of Christ are powerful. That seems like a no-brainer statement, but let’s think through a few of the implications. If you are having a hard time “connecting with God” or “feeling close” to him or in general having a hard time believing the Gospel, I urge you to take a look at your bank register. Two exercises are often very telling for me.

First, where do your expenses line up, percentage wise? How much money do you tend to spend on each category? How many of these categories benefit you directly? How many of them benefit others. The two aren’t always mutually exclusive, but you know what I mean.

Percentages aren’t the greatest measure, though. More telling would be a quick (or prolonged) reflection on each individual expenditure. How easy was it for you to part with your money in that circumstance? How easy was it to hand over the cash, write the check, or swipe the credit card?

Think on these things, and repent.

Here’s a bigger point though.

On reflecting on the Matthew 6 passage, something struck me. Probably not a new or exceptionally profound thought, but it hit me hard. Why is Christ concerned with our money here? Does heaven need cash? What’s going on?

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

The point is this: Christ isn’t concerned primarily with our treasure, he is concerned with our heart. If your heart lies with the stuff of this world, it will be stolen and destroyed. You will die. If your heart is in heaven, which is evidenced (not determined) by how you use your money and possessions, it will be kept safe.