The Counsel of the Westminster: Q. V

The Church of Christ cannot be creedless and live.
Especially in an age of doubt and confusion,
it is her duty to define the Christian faith and proclaim it to the world.

What do the scriptures principally teach?

The scriptures principally teach, what man is to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of man.


Hold fast to the form of sound words, which you have heard from me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus (2 Tim. 1:13).


This has been a very helpful question and answer for me. How important for the Christian to have a structured answer for what the Bible principally teaches. The Westminster claims it teaches who God is, and what He commands us to do.

Let's think about some of the things that would apply under these two catagories:

What we are to believe about God: Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, Holiness, Justice, Grace, Wrath, Mercy, God's relationships and covenants with mankind, God's decrees, God's heart.

What we are to believe about what God requires of us: keeping the law, faithfulness, repentance toward God, faith in Jesus Christ, holiness.

All the great things can be put under these two categories. Considering the historical books of the Bible (Kings, Chronicles, Ezra...etc), the confession is claiming that God is teaching us who He is and what He requires of us - which is why I went on a spill about Christians desperately needing to read the whole Bible my last post. It's easy to assume we understand God, but God is too big. Mankind (Christian or not) cannot possibly just naturally learn these things, who God is and what He requires of us, through personal feelings and life's experiences. We, as Christians, are to carefully search and submit to all that we find in His Word. Anything outside of the Word of God will only lead to confusion, danger, and in the end, death.

The Counsel of the Westminster: Q. III & IV

The Church of Christ cannot be creedless and live.
Especially in an age of doubt and confusion,
it is her duty to define the Christian faith and proclaim it to the world.

It's been a while! Sorry about that, I just got really busy (at least emotionally-busy) trying to get set up for school again and many other things.

Let's take the next two questions since they are very closely related.

What is the word of God?
The holy scriptures of the Old and New Testament are the word of God, the only rule of faith and obedience.

How does it appear that the Scriptures manifest themselves to be the word of God?
The scriptures manifest themselves to be the word of God, by their majesty and purity, by the consent of all the parts, and the scope of the whole, which is to give all glory to God; by their light and power to convince and convert sinners, to comfort and build up believers unto salvation: but the Spirit of God bearing witness by and with the scriptures in the heart of man, is alone able fully to persuade it that they are the very word of God.

2 Tim. 3:16
All scripture is given by inspiration of God.

2 Peter 1:19
We also have a more sure word of prophecy; where you would do well to take heed of, as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day of dawn, and the daystar arises in your hearts.

(the Westminster quotes a few pages worth of verses for these two questions. Hehe, if you wanted to look it up, feel free too, but I don't think I'll type them all up!)

If there's one thing I would say that myself and my Christian brothers and sisters desperately need, perhaps it would be this: We must be convinced that the Bible is the Word of God and it all still applies or relates to us one way or another! And we become convinced, not by the testimony of other men, but by our own knowing of it and experiencing it in our life through faith.

Are you so convinced? This question doesn't require a verbal answer, but an action. If it is your bread, then eat it. And eat it will all diligence, fear, and reverence that you have within your soul. My generation is a New Testament generation, and to their shame. I would say the bigger mistake this generation has made is in the very moment they ignored the Old Testament and all that it teaches, they lost the context the New Testament was written in. Why else is there such an unexplainable lack of depth and understanding of God's character and how He relates to mankind? The golden phrase of this generation is "God wouldn't do that", when God had already done that in history past and promises to do that in the future.

Churches and pastors are moving away from holiness, because they don't pay attention that God's name is Holy (something defined hard and clear in the OT) - and that will never change. There is big problem in the church today were men divide the times of history up into dispensations, to the effect of basically teaching that the character traits of God in the Old Testament don't apply to us in the New Testament because He deals with us a different way now. And great magnificant truths that were laid out clearly in the Old, like the fear of God, are still applicable today. God's character has not changed at all. The God who is a God of love in the New Testament (1 John 4:8) is a God of love in the Old Testament (Deut. 7:9), and the God who is a God of wrath in the Old Testament (Nah. 1:2) is still a God of wrath in the New Testament (John 3:36; Eph. 5:6).

This generation finds the Old Testament dry and boring. But whoever reads this, please don't let what God said to the hypocrites be true of you, "I have written to him the great things of My law, but they were counted as strange things" (Hosea 8:12).

The Counsel of the Westminster: Question II

The Church of Christ cannot be creedless and live.
Especially in an age of doubt and confusion,
it is her duty to define the Christian faith and proclaim it to the world.

Question 2
How does it appear that there is a God?
The very light of nature in man, and the works of God, declare plainly that there is a God; but only His word and Spirit sufficiently and effectually reveal Him unto men for their salvation.

Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse. (Romans 1:19-20)

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament teaches His handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night teaches knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard. (Psalms 19:1-2)

Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for those who love Him. (1 Cor. 2:9)

...The holy scriptures, which are able to make you wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. (2 Tim. 3:15)


Christian, do you believe people when they say you can't know there's a God? Do you ever wonder in your own spirit how you can know it to be true? But if you are to trust your eternal soul to God you need desperately to be convinced that He exists. This question askes "can mankind know there is a God?" In other words, is there a single soul that can deny to his fullest being God's reality?

Of course not. But people "suppress the truth in unrighteousness" as Romans 1:18 says. People know there is a God, but they don't know His character or will to any saving decree by natural revelation. But through the special revelation of the Bible through the Spirit people come to know the danger they are in, and how to be reconciled to God.

The Counsel of the Westminster. Question I.

The Church of Christ cannot be creedless and live.
Especially in an age of doubt and confusion,
it is her duty to define the Christian faith and proclaim it to the world.

---

Question 1

What is the chief and highest end of man?
Man's chief and highest end is to glorify God, and to fully enjoy Him forever.

For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things; to whom be glory forever. Amen. (Rom. 11:36)

Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
(1 Cor. 10:31)

Whom have I in heaven but Thee? And there is none upon earth that I desire beside Thee. (Psalm 73:25)

Man's purpose - his highest quality of life. Every single human being born needs to know what his ultimate purpose is; apathy on purpose will lead to apathy on every other thing in life. In the book of Ecclesiasties, King Solomon searched for the answer to life. He, being rich and powerful, tried everything that a rich and powerful man could do under the sun. He built gardens, hired musicians, drank wine, built houses, learned, and much more. But in the ends of his search, he wrote,

Of the making of many books there is no end, and much study is wearisome. So let us hear the end of the matter: Fear God and keep His commandments for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.

It is no different for you, Christian. You're highest aim in life is to fear God and keep His commandments. Jesus Christ never came to abolish this solid foundational truth.

The Counsel of the Westminster.

The Church of Christ cannot be creedless and live. Especially in an age of doubt and confusion, it is her duty to define the Christian faith and proclaim it to the world.

Well. After thinking about it for a while, I decided continue the Order of Salvation series in another way. It would be great education for me to not simply write about what's already in my heart, but to learn and study what men older than me have written about these things of God. So we'll still cover the order of salvation... it's just going to take a lot longer, haha - because I really want to go through the Westminster Larger Catechism. A catechism is a written document instructing men in the form of question and answer. I've been reading the Larger Catechism and I'm just too eager to sit down and dissect it. If you wish to follow along, as always I'll record my ventures on this blog. My blog posts will be just as much for me as it is for you.

But to make a clear point right away: The Westminster Catechism is not Scripture. It is, though, a summary of Scripture, and it scripturally defends every single sentence contained within. So it would not be correct to think of this study as a study of the Catechism itself; no, this is a study of the Word of God with the help of the Westminster divines' writings. I'm not interested in what these divines had to say about God; I'm interested in what God has to say about Himself, and these men dedicated their life in organizing the Scripture into very nice categories.

And something interesting to think about before we start. Yes, the Westminster Confession and Catechism is the confession of the Reformed Presbyterian Church; but you might not know that it was also adopted by the Baptist denomination as well. Truly, the churches who claim to be Baptist are suppost to teach and agree with this confession (except on the few things that the Baptist denomination changed whenever it adopted it, namely, a change in the area of worship of God and a change in the area of baptism. But appart from that, it is idenitcal). But most Baptist churches today don't even acknolwedge that this is a part of their confession - which is half the reason I quoted the first sentence in this blog.

The Westminster Catechism is divided into three parts:

I. An Introduction to the Scriptures
II. Questions about What Man is to Believe Concerning God
III. Questions about What is the Duty that God Requires of Men

An Introduction to the Scriptures
God tells us to always be ready to answer those who ask for the reason of the hope within us (1 Pet. 3:15). The catechism starts with five wonderful questions that every Christian is commanded by God to be able to answer. These questions and answers are:

Q1. What is the chief and highest end of man?
A1. Man's chief and highest end is to glorify God, and to fully enjoy Him forever.

Q2. How does it appear that there is a God?
A2. The very light of nature in man, and the works of God, declare plainly that there is a God; but only His word and Spirit sufficiently and effectually reveal Him unto men for their salvation.

Q3. What is the word of God?
A3. The holy scriptures of the Old and New Testament are the word of God, the only rule of faith and obedience.

Q4. How does it appear that the Scriptures manifest themselves to be the word of God?
A4. The scriptures manifest themselves to be the word of God, by their majesty and purity, by the consent of all the parts, and the scope of the whole, which is to give all glory to God; by their light and power to convince and convert sinners, to comfort and build up believers unto salvation: but the Spirit of God bearing witness by and with the scriptures in the heart of man, is able fully to persuade it that they are the very word of God.

Q5. What do the scriptures principally teach?
A5. The scriptures principally teach, what man is to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of man.


I hope you look forward to testing and proving these statements with scripture in time to come. Lordwilling, I'll type up a concise post for each question as the weeks go by.

The Order of Salvation. Birth.

Born Dead: The Headship of Adam

----
We're covering the order of salvation. The order laid out is this:

I. Election
II. Birth
III. The Call
IV. Regeneration
V. Conversion
VI. Justification
VII. Adoption
VIII. Sanctification
IX. Perseverance
X. Glorification

----

We're on birth in our Ordo Salutis. Have you ever thought about your birth being a part of your salvation? Of course, if you were never born you could never be saved, nor would need to be saved because you weren't born. It's that second part that we're going to look at: If you were not born, you would not need to be saved. Because I'm really saying "because you are born, you are in need of salvation". All men are. But why do all men everywhere have this need?

Headships
There's a truth in the Bible that should not go unnoticed, but often does. It's a truth that makes us uncomfortable and conflicts with our thoughts of fairness and justice. It's the idea of Headship. Now... 'headship' is what I call it - I'm not sure what Church History calls it (I had forgotten); but it's the idea that is important. To make my point, I'm going to ask you a question. Don't pass by this question. I want you to be confronted with this problem, so that everything else I say will make sense. Apart from you seeing this in the Bible yourself, I don't know if you would believe me.

The Bible tells a story about a certain man. It can be found in Joshua 7. It goes,

God commanded the people of Israel to devote a certain town and everything in it to destruction. He commands specifically that they take nothing, but burn it all. A certain man named Achan broke the command of God and took with him some of the spoils of the city. Then God punished all of Israel for this sin whenever they went up to Ai to destroy it, they lost the battle sole because of what Achan had done. Israel suffered from this one man's mistake. God then confronts Joshua to find the man who has sinned greatly, and Achan was found and confessed. Then all of Israel takes Achan, his wife, and little ones, and stones them all with stones.

There is another similar story that is found in Numbers 16,

A Levite named Korah opposed Moses and Aaron saying, "We all are holy and the Lord is with us all! Why then do you lift yourself up above us?" So truly he was rebelling against God's election of Moses and Aaron to be Israel's leaders, thus rebelling against God's authority. So this great wickedness was recompensed by God. He made it clear that He had indeed chosen Aaron to be High Priest. Then Moses prays that God judges Korah and He respects his prayer. At that time the Lord says, "separate yourselves from them that I may consume them in a moment." Then Korah and his friend who was with him, both their wives, and all their children were consumed in the earthquake that God created.

So here's my question: Why were the wives and the children judged because of their fathers' sin?

The word I'm using to describe this topic is Headship. In the case of a family, the headship is the father. The family suffers and is brought into judgment according to the father's sins. There's a lot to say about this so be patient with me; don't "turn off" just yet. Rather, do you see that this is an issue? Our Holy God sees this as a just thing. Do we agree in it's justice? Now on to the main topic about our birth.

The Headship of Adam over Mankind
But there's a reality here that the Bible takes great pains to repeat, and we've simply got to submit to it. I'll put it simple, Adam was the headship over all mankind. This means that when Adam fell in the garden, we fall with him. We didn't commit the actual Original Sin but we still suffer the consequences. Questions about the fairness and justice of this has been attacked severely by the unbelieving world - so much so, that the Church many times cowers away from this truth, and de-emphasizes its importance. For some who might be reading my blog, this could be the very first time you've ever heard of this concept before.

God's defense on His justice in this is never quiet explained in Scripture because God doesn't have to answer to any man. So we are left simply to accept it and move on. The Biblical teaching of this is found in Romans 5.

Sin entered the world through one man (Adam), and death through sin,
and so death spread to all men because all have sinned...
so death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning
was not like the transgression of Adam....
Therefore one trespass led to the condemnation of all men...
for by one man's disobedience the many were made sinners.
(various parts of verses from Romans 5)

We can see from this chapter that we suffer sin because it entered the world through Adam, and then we suffer the consequences of sin, death (v. 12). But not only do we suffer sin and death because of Adam, we also suffer condemnation, judgment and hell for our sin (v.18). There's the temptation to say it's Adam's fault, so judge him; and in a sense, that's exactly what happens. But we are found in Adam! When we are born, we are born in Adam. We are united to him because we are his offspring. Being united with him means we also receive his sin in us from birth. We are born in the fallen image of Adam,

Adam fathered a son in his own likeness, after
his image, and named him Seth.
(Gen. 5:3)

That is why David is able to call himself a sinner at birth,

Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
and in sin did my mother conceive me.
(Psalm 51:5)

A younger man from my church brought up the argument that if you don't charge that our being united with Adam at birth and receiving his fallen nature as unfair, then you must just as well charge that our receiving Jesus Christ's alien righteousness because we are united with Him as an unjust thing too. And if you go that far, you have charged God as an unjust God and a liar.

So being 'in Adam' means that we inherit his sin nature within ourselves, even from birth. I'll try to qualify that last sentence in my next post when we talk about The Nature of Man from Birth.

The Order of Salvation. Election (Part 5 - Final).

God's Decree: To Predestine a People to the Image of Jesus Christ

Alright! I've been a little unorderly about it, but my conscience is finally free to talk about what predestination actually is! I wouldn't have been able to do this satisfactory to my own conscience, had we not clearly gone over why God predestines people, and addressed the incorrect answer that popular opinion gives to that question. But here it is, a very beautiful thought indeed: our destiny set to be made into the image of Christ by Almighty God Himself.

Our destiny is a sure thing because He who predestined it is powerful enough to fullfil His decree.

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.
(Eph 1:11)

What is our destiny?
The defintion of destiny is insteresting. Dictionary.com said it is "inevitable course of events in a man's life". Webster 1828 says it is a "future state or condition". The Greek for destiny had to do with "being placed", or put in a certain spot. All these defintions are very similiar. Our destiny in the end is the place, state, and condition in which we end up at and the course of events that led us there.


To what were we destined since the beginning of the world?
What does our future life hold? What will be our end? Well, that question was answered even before you were born. For those who were in Christ, for us who are in Christ, and for those who will be Christ, the course of our life is one that conformes us to the image of Christ, and it's end, salvation. This course of events and end were planned by God and then empowered by God to take place. Scripture puts it this way,

For those whom God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, in order that Christ might be the firstborn among many brothers. Those whom He predestined He also called, and those whom He called He also justified, and those whom He justified He also glorified.
(Romans 8:29-30)

Foreknew Predestined Called Justified Glorified

The course of events for our lives is that we are conformed to the image of Christ in this life through being called and justified in Christ, and it's end is glorification - to see and be with Jesus Christ our God forever (and we'll continue to be conformed to the image of Christ). In light of observing the predestined, notice that this salvation of ours was so sure before the foundation of the earth that God even writes it to us here in Romans in the past tense! Even glorification, which hasn't happened yet, is spoken of as if it already had happened!

I've answered why this is important to acknowledge for our Christian walk in past posts, but anyone who is honest can probably see several things that this dramatically changes in the life of believer if he accept it. So I'll leave you to ponder that.


What about Human Responsibility?
Because this question excists, many have denied the clear teachings of predestination. The quesiton is, if God truly saves a man, then what right does He have in condemning men, seeing that He doesn't save them.

This very question comes up in the Bible actually. The answer is offensive, human-degrading, and God-glorifying. The answer is so harsh that it might even make people's head turn red. After Paul said, "God has mercy on whomever He wants to show mercy, and He hardens whomever He wants to harden" (Rom. 9:18), the question was asked, "Why does God still find fault? For who can resist the will of God?" (v.19). How does Paul, or to be more correct, God Himself, answer this question? He writes,

"But who are you, O man, to answer back to God?"
(Rom. 9:20)

This answer hurts our human pride! We see very clearly that God holds us responsible for our sin, yet takes full responsibility for saving a man! How unfair? How terrible of God? Is that how you react to these things? We are thrown into the dirt, helpless and in desperate need of God's power... but, that's really where we're supposed to be anyway, right?

The Westminster Confession of Faith speaks on this issue very wonderfully by saying,

"God, by the decision of His own will, and with infinite wisdom and holiness, from all eternity freely and unchangeably ordained everything that happens. Yet He ordered all things in such a way that He is not the author of sin, nor does He force His creatures to act against their will; so that ordinary processes of cause and effect are not nullified but are instead established."

Eph. 1:11; Rom. 11:33; Heb. 6:17; Rom. 9:15, 18; Jas. 1:13, 17; 1 Jn 1:5;
Acts 2:23; Mt. 17:12; Acts 4:27-28; John 19:11; Prov. 16:33



We are nothing to answer back to God. We have indeed chosen sin. We have indeed rejected Him. But thank our Eternal God, who choose before the foundation of the world, to save His Church in Jesus Christ through faith in Him.

The Order of Salvation. Election (Part 4).

God's Decree: To Predestine a People to the Image of Christ

God set His love upon His people before the foundation of the world. But now what? Will He allow sin to come and seperate these beloved people from Himself forever? The Bible teaches us that God sets these peoples' destinies to salvation before the foundation of the world.

Those whom He foreknew, He also prdestined to be conformed to the image
of His Son, in order that He might be the firstborn among many brothers.
(Romans 8:29)

We Christians should bask in this thought. We should talk about it, rejoice in it, and rest in this awesome love that God has for us.

A good analogy for this kind of love that God bestoys upon us would be:

If the sheep go astray, the shepherd goes and finds him, and brings him back. If the sheep were to resist, the shepherd fights harder and strikes the sheep with his rode. The shepherd, with all his strength, will not allow the sheep to utterly run away and become a lost sheep with no shephard. God loves us so much that He uses all His mighty power to even overcome ourselves and sets our destiny to become Christians, regardless of our wills.

Therefore this doctrine teaches that it isn't man's will that saves himself, but God's foreordaining and predestining a man unto salvation. Not to be too repetitive, but Scripture again puts it this way,

It [salvation] then does not depend on human will or exertion,
but on God, who has mercy.
(Romans 9:16)

What about Israel? Were they not the people of God, yet they are seperated from God.

It would be completely fair and honest to ask this question! It's a good question. The Scripture says things like,

But of Israel he says, "All day long I have held out my
hands to a disobedient and contrary people."
(Rom 10:21)

There are all kinds of questions possible here!
If God held out His hands to them, why didn't He simply predestine them to repentance?
If God loved Israel so much, then why didn't He save them by giving them a new heart (Eze. 11:19; Deut. 29:2-4)?

So in the face of these questions, let's hold fast to one thing that is for sure so far: God DID predestine a people to be conformed to the image of Christ (Rom. 8:29). Of this we can have no doubt. Now here's the danger were we can get into extra biblical ideas to answer these questions, and oh how many people do!

The Wrong Answer
One wrong answer that seems to satisfy these questions is that God looks into the future, sees who will choose Him, and then He predestines them. Again, that does sound reasonable, don't get me wrong! That sounds very reasonable! But... now where in the Bible is that taught even once? Referring back to my post on Foreknowledge, the Bible is very open that "no one seeks God" (Rom. 3:11), and that's only one of the many verses like it that we looked at. Consider all the men of the Bible:

Who chose who first?
Did Abraham choose God first, or did God choose Abraham first?
Did Isaac choose to be the promised child, or did God choose Isaac to be the promised child?
Did Moses choose God first, or did God choose Moses first?
Did David choose God first, or did God choose David first (Psa. 78:70)?
Did Jeremiah choose God first, or did God choose Jeremiah first (Jer. 1:5)?
Did the Apostles choose God first, or did God choose them first (John 15:16)?
Did Paul choose God first, or did God choose Paul first (Gal. 1:15-16)?

Paul's a great example. If God were to look into the future of Paul's life, what would He have saw? He would have saw Paul murdering His church. If God sat back and continued to look within the years, do you think Saul would have stopped murdering the church without God's intervention on the road to Damascus?

Now for you. If God looked into your life to see what you would do, what would He have saw? Do you accept Ephesians 2:1-3 as your condition outside of Christ or not? And if so, then what hope does Ephesians 2:1-3 offer that you would just suddenly turn to God some day apart from God initially making you spiritually alive from the dead (v. 4)?

We're starting to run out of excuses to explain away God predestinating us because of something we did. The Bible simply does not teach it. You will drive yourself mad twisting verses to get that kind of result (2 Pet. 3:16).

Scripture on Israel
Paul addresses this exact issue in Romans 9. In fact, the whole chapter is about this problem. If you've never read Romans 9, please do. This is hard to believe, but Paul starts out this chapter swearing with God as witness that he himself would go to hell if Israel would be saved! What passion and love Paul had for them! But what does Paul say after that? He assures all that God has not failed in His promises.

But it is not as though the word of God has failed.
For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel.
and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring,
but "Through Isaac shall your offspring be named."
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.
(Romans 9:6-8)

His explination continues until the end of the chapter, so read Romans 9 sometime. But look at how the Spirit introduces the argument for God not saving Israel but condemning them at this time! He basically says, "they are not really Israel". In other words, God is saying "You have misunderstood Israelites! My promise of salvation wasn't to the promise of the physical offspring of Abraham, but the spiritual, the children of promise." If we Christians don't get this one point, then we will be confused about the rest of Paul's explination in this chapter. We, Jews and Gentiles, who believe in Christ are the children of promise (Gal. 4:28)!

So this answers the problem we addressed at the very beginning. That problem was, Why did God not predestine the people of Israel unto salvation? The physical tribes of Israel being brought out of the bondage of Egypt is a picture, a shadow, of the true things to come - just like the sacrifices of lambs were a shadow and picture of the Cross of Christ. However, the physical tribes of Israel were not all the actual children of promise, which God promised to Abraham. The Christians, and only the Christians, were the promised children. Old Testament Jews who trusted in Christ were the elected, promised, predestined children of God, but the others who rejected Christ where not.

There's so much to talk about on this subject - my goal is to get taste buds longing to study this out further. But if this sounds completely foreign to you; then you need to read the OT yourself, and you need to read Hebrews along side it. Also, check out Romans 9. These things should not be strange things to you; because as Christians, this is our heritage, our history. We need to understand these things.

Lordwilling, we'll talk about what being predestined to the image of Christ means, and then we'll move on to the next step of our salvation!

The Order of Salvation. Election (Part 3).

God's Decree: A People Chosen, Foreknown, and Predestined

In my fellowship with other Christians, one of the saddest and strangest things I've come across is the completely unexplainable neglect given to the topics of the Election, Foreknowledge, and Predestination of God. There are even whole churches that reject it. And even if some churches acknowledge these truths, they change the meaning of the words. Actually, what I find sad isn't that people deny election (because I really haven't ran across that many at all), but that they don't define it biblically - and worse yet, they don't even talk about it! I find it hard to imagine not talking about this subject, as anyone who knows me knows. I know I'm speaking for many people cries throughout history when I say these topics should in no way be controversial. God very carefully gave us plenty of Scripture to get'em right. Lordwilling, I can get whatever audience I have to wipe off the dust on these topics.

Election: God chooses out of all mankind some of them to be His people.
Foreknowledge: God sets His love unconditionally upon this chosen people.
Predestination: God sets these chosen and loved peoples' destinies to be saved in Christ.

Church Error
I think right away we can see offense in these definitions for these words. Where's faith in this picture? Where's man's will in these definitions? What role do we play in becoming elect, foreknown, and predestined? Because of this offense, a lot of circles wrongly define these terms as follows:

Foreknowledge: God looks into the future and sees who will believe in Him.
Election: God chooses those, whom He foresaw to believe in Him, as His people.
Predestination: God sets these chosen peoples' destinies to be saved in Christ when they, by faith, give their destiny over to God.

And these definitions come from looking at Romans 8:29, "Those whom God foreknew He also predestined...". And looking at that verse, sincere people say, "Ah! God looks into the future and sees who are faithful and predestines them!" So why did/do so many men faithful to studying the Scriptures reject this logic?

I hope to accomplish two things:
1. To show why the second set of definitions are not biblically possible
2. To biblically argue why the first set of definitions are correct

1) So if God truly looked into the future to see if you had faith or not, would He ever find you in a state of belief?

Apart from God's predestinating grace, these verses explain what would happen,

The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth,
and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
(Genesis 6:5)

The LORD looks down from heaven on the children of man,
to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God.
They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt;
there is none who does good, not even one.
(Psalm 14:2-3)

So if God looked into the future He would only see that "every intention of the thoughts of man's heart was only evil continually," and that "all have turned aside", and that "there are none who do good." So is there anything good in you that God would have saw? Again, Scripture says,

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins
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--
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.
(Eph. 2:1-3)

One must acknowledge that this was his condition outside of Christ. Or do you suppose that apart from God's predestinating grace (that "but God" that comes in verse 4) you would by your own will not be "dead in trespasses" or not "follow the prince of the power of the air" or not "live in the passions of your flesh" or not be by nature "children of wrath, like the rest of mankind"? Would God look into the future and see you naturally being a child of faith and forsaking your sin for Christ?

Conclusion: There is nothing in you that God would foresee that would cause Him to choose and predestine you.

But Praise God!
2) Considering our fallen condition, praise Him that that's not what being foreknown means! I hope now to argue that God foreknowing a people has more to do with setting His love upon them before they were even created! It would only be fair to say this much though, yes the word foreknown means "to know beforehand". But to understand the word 'know' as to mean God looked into the future to see what you would do would only be torturing the meaning here, right? When the Bible speaks of someone knowing someone, what does it often mean? Perhaps you thought of when Adam knew Eve (Gen. 4:1) and then it says "she conceived and bore a son." So it's completely fair to say that 'knowing' someone has more to do with an intimate passion, not simply having knowledge of a fact about someone.

Look at how God describes His love for Israel, His chosen people, the people God foreknew (Rom. 11:2),

The LORD appeared to him from far away.
I have loved you with an everlasting love;
therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.
(Jeremiah 31:3)

God's love for them was everlasting, but now the question arises: did Israel do anything to earn or deserve this love? One fair reading through the Old Testament should answer that question. Now a more personal question: Did you do anything to deserve the love of God?

God's Foreknowledge is not a Common Thing
And then also added to that a final question: Does God foreknow all men? In other words I'm asking is this intimate saving love that God sets upon His people a common thing that all men everywhere have?

Consider Jacob and Esau. When looking at both their lives, did not Esau seem to be more righteous than Jacob? Nevertheless, God did not foreknow Esau as He did Jacob (Rom. 9:13). Even if you want to translate that "loves less" the word literally means to detest and to persecute, just look at how much less God loved Esau (Malachi 1:2-4). The people that God loves less are judged in eternal hell.

Are all men saved?

And someone said to him, "Lord, will those who are saved be few?"
And he said to them,
"Strive to enter through the narrow door.
For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.
When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door,
and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying,
'Lord, open to us,' then he will answer you,
'I do not know where you come from.'

Then you will begin to say, 'We ate and drank in your presence,
and you taught in our streets.'
But he will say, 'I tell you, I do not know where you come from.
Depart from me, all you workers of evil!'
In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth,
when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob
and all the prophets in the kingdom of God
but you yourselves cast out.
(Luke 13:23-28)

God's choosing and foreknowing a people unto Himself is not universal. Why is it important as Christians to acknowledge this? As Hebrews 10:29 (depending upon your translation) says it is offensive to God to count His Son's blood an unholy thing, which means to count it as a common thing. Not that we are to limit the Gospel and not invite all men to partake of it, but that we should consider that God's grace we Christians have is a very rare thing that the world knows nothing about. You shouldn't count it as something so common that just any and everyone can walk down an aisle and receive it by chanting a prayer. No, salvation requires grace and faith in the heart - there is no simple 3 step plan that people can perform, it requires an Almight God to circumcise a man's heart (Deut. 30:6), and He chooses when and when not to do it (example, Deut. 29:2-4). Grace and faith are much bigger than that! Many people are called to come to Christ, but only a few are foreknown and drawn by God. You should rejoice in God with fear and trembling.

For many are called, but few are chosen.
(Mt. 22:14)

No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws Him.
And I will raise him up on the last day.
(John 6:44)

Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.
(Psalms 2:11)

So next Lordwilling we'll look at God's Election and Predestination.

The Order of Salvation. Election (Part 2).

God's Decree: A People Given to Jesus Christ

God very intimately ordained Jesus' coming and dying on the cross. Everything Christ did and went were direct commands straight from the Father (John 5:36). So Christ's works were all organized and layout by the Father surely before time began as well.

So here's our question:
Seeing that God frame worked Christ's life and death so carefully, then He then just stop this fame working and planning when it comes to our lives?

We're asking divine questions here, so the only answer could truly be found in a divine book - not in man's conventional wisdom.

Yes, yes, this is a difficult subject on a practical level because it hits as close to home as anything can hit; but on an intellectual level (where you should start first anyway), the Bible has plenty to say in regards to our question. I would also like to say that this subject is very important to God. This isn't some simple side-track of Christian pursuit; this is seeking out the main dish that God would have us partake. This dish I'm talking about is that God saves us, not we ourselves. There are a lot of views out there. There are a lot of men older than me out there that teach different things. And if the Bible wasn't so clear on this issue of Election, I wouldn't think to stand up against them; but here's what historical Christianity used to believe, and more importantly, what the Bible teaches:

Jesus, in a portion of John's Gospel, speaks of Him being a Shepherd and flocks of sheep. In this imagery he says,

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.
(John 10:27)

The Sheep have three blessings - they hear the voice of Christ, Christ knows them, and the sheep follow after him. These sheep are also given eternal life that cannot be lost (10:28). But where did these sheep come from? In Jesus' imagery everyone both against our Lord and for Him are called sheep here. However, our Lord's sheep hear and follow! Those who are not His sheep do not hear and follow (v. 25-26). So are we Jesus Christ's sheep because we simply hear Him and follow Him? But the unbelieving Jews were told not that they weren't Christ's sheep because they didn't hear, but that they didn't hear because they were not His sheep (v. 25-26). He talks even more strong in telling us were these sheep that do obey come from,

My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all,
and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.
(John 10:29)

This idea of God giving men to Christ is not just mentioned by Jesus one time, it's a repeated theme:

All that the Father gives me will come to me,
and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.
For I have come down from heaven,
not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.
And this is the will of him who sent me,
that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.

(John 6:37-39)

I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world
but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours.
(John 17:9)

And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world,
and I am coming to you.
Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me,
that they may be one, even as we are one.
While I was with them, I kept them in your name,
which you have given me. I have guarded them,
and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction,
that the Scripture might be fulfilled.
(John 17:12)

We see the Bible speaks of a people given to Christ, and people that doesn't belong to Christ. The wheat and the tares (Mt. 13:30, see 24-30). The good fish and the bad fish (Mt. 13:47-50). The good trees and the bad tree (Mt. 7:17-19). Each of these are found inside the Visible Church. Within those who have been called, those who acknowledge the Word of God, there are still yet the True Church who have been chosen by God (Mt. 22:14). A little difficult to think about, I know. A little eerie, I know. When I was a child the world was a beautiful and cheerful place, where everyone was happy and no one got hurt. But when I grew up, I started to seriously learn that sin is a lot more serious then I thought, and that everything isn't as pretty as it once was. Those in the Church that rebel against God (and thus have no faith) will end in death, always, just as the Bible says (Rom. 6:16) even though they believed themselves to have had faith in Christ (Mt. 7:21-23). I had to learn that God always means exactly what He says. No one who believes denies God with his life (1 John 3:6), oh but please don't misunderstand, I'm not saying a Christian can't and won't sin (1 John 2:1).

But we all need to grow to adulthood at some time. I think everyone would agree they wouldn't want to be ignorant children forever. Truth is what's important, so let's hold fast to this. I would love to spend a lot of time on why God gave us to Christ from before the foundation of the world, but the Bible only says one thing about that. It doesn't say God did it because we deserved it, earned it, were going to do something in the future, because we had faith, or anything like that. The Bible only says He does it "according to His counsel" (Eph. 1:11), "His good pleasure" (Lk. 12:32, Phil. 2:13), and "according to His grace" (Eph. 1:7). It's not according to anything we've done.

This topic is no where finished. We'll look at

God's Decree: Foreknowing and Predestinating a People to the Image of Jesus Christ

The Order of Salvation. Election (Part 1).

The Bible is an amazing book; not only does it reveal to us the future, but it gives us knoweldge about the past. The past shouldn't be neglected or counted unimportant. God designed His creation to have a cause and effect relationship. What happened in the past affects the future. The first two points actually have to do with things that happened in one's past, which absolutly affect his historical life, and life eternal.

Historically, when the Church talked about God's work, it was divided into three parts:

Decree
Creation
Providence

Each term is very useful.

Decree speaks of God's purposed plan before creation. From eternity past God produced blueprints of the creation and history of the world. These designs were created solely according to God's counsel, good pleasure, and purpose.

Creation speaks of the six days where God crafts out of nothing everything we see and know. God's blueprints now have a foundation to begin buidling the finished building. In order to get things started God creates man and places him in the garden with a certain tree. He gives Him one Law - do not eat of this certain tree - and allows Satan to approach Eve.

Providence speaks of God sovereignly, and very carefully, guiding the events that take place in order to accomplish His purpose. "Things happen", but they don't just happen; they happen because God's mysterious and awesome purpose is being unfolded.

It's important to acknowledge each of these aspects about God. First that He had a plan. God wasn't taken by suprise, or accidently let things get out of control. He knows and orchestrates all things. Two) that God created all things out of His power with a purpose. Three) that God is sovereign, and has all things in control. As the pilgrims would say, history is an unfolding of God's decree.

Right now we're talking about God's decree. This decree happend far before your birth, and even before the foundations of the earth. This decree affects, in every way, your life. The Bible allows us to journey to the void of eternity past where God alone sits in His own counsel.

God's Decree: Jesus Christ
In the Revelation we find the there was a Book of Life. This book of life belonged to one called the Lamb. Everyone who's name was written in this book will be saved, and all who are not perish. So when was this book written? Is it being written as the pages of history turn? As men come to Christ, do their names get eternally inked onto the pages of this precious book of the Lamb?

Also the beast was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation, and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb that was slain.
(Rev 13:7-8)

God shows us that something more than ourselves is going on here. Our names, us who are in Chrsit, had our names written down on this book even before the world excisted. This is no small truth to pass over unimpressed! Who wrote it there? Why was it written there? What does it mean to have it written in this book? What's the purpose of this?

Moreso, this verse doesn't just speak of us, but shows us that this Lamb too was forordained to undergo a certain task in order to accomplish the High One's great purpose.

Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know-- this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.
(Act 2:22 -25)

The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed'-- for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.
(Act 4:26-28)

So here we see that God's decree was for this Jesus Christ, the Lamb, to die a horrible death. But why? Well, the answer to God's purpose in this will lie in our next session, where we'll look at

God's Decree: A People Given to Jesus Christ

The Order of Salvation Series

It seemed profitable to me to go over the order of salvation. My small group is going over this currrently, and it'll be good for me to write about it so that it remains familiar in my head. Let's just quickly introduce the order of salvation, and then we'll get into depth and why it's ordered the way it is.



Why go over the order of my salvation?

Well the answer, I believe, can be very simple: 1) Scripture takes the time to teach it, and 2) it shows us the great depth of God's love for us, and 3) it is greatly profitable for our discerning salvation itself.

So let me just give you the order for now to chew on, and lordwilling, we'll take each part and see what God's word teaches about it.


I. Election
II. Birth
III. The Call
IV. Regeneration
V. Conversion
VI. Justification
VII. Adoption
VIII. Sanctification
IX. Perseverance
X. Death
XI. Glorification

Slight Change, Big Difference (Pt. III)

A Slight Change Creates a Great Difference (Part 3)
Changing "Savlation by Grace, through Faith"
to "Salvation by Faith, through Grace."

I know this might not be an enjoyable subject for many, and you might be tired that I keep writing about it; but, in truth, that's the reason I keep writing about it - I'm literally begging whatever audience I have to consider the subject of God's sovereign role in salvation. There's a lot at stake here; it isn't a minor theological argument that has no impact on your life. From personal experience and the testimony of many others throughout history and today, I know that this one point changes everything! It changes your worship, worldview, evangelistic practices, perspective on prayer, praise toward God, and very simply your joy. Those aren't just random things I chose to say, I really mean that it effects each one of those - and I could write an 'article' on each one of those. So bear with me as I lay the final nail to this coffin.

When Paul talkes about our salvation, he writes,

For it is by grace you have beend saved, through faith,
and this is not from yourself, it is the gift of God,
not of works, lest anyone should boast.
(Eph. 2:8)

I wanted to focus in on the "by grace, through faith". It's very important to break this up and think about it. There are several points to draw from this:

1. We are saved by grace.
2. We are not saved through grace.
3. We are not saved by faith, but through faith.

Let's cover these three really quick.

Number One: We are saved by grace. This verse is telling us what it is that actually saves us. To our suprise, it isn't our response of faith that is saving us here, but the grace of God. Paul defines that a little when right before this verse he writes,

You were dead in your trespasses and sins 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--
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.

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us,
even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--
by grace you have been saved.
(Eph. 2:1-5)

So the "by grace you have been saved" is referring to the fact that God mercifully made us alive with Christ "even while we were dead in our trespasses." Paul repeats this just a few verses down in 2:8 as quoted from the beginning. We're born again into Christ by God's doing while we are by nature "children of wrath", or in other words, we were saved by grace.

Number Two: We are not saved through grace. This is important to make note of. This verse does NOT say we are saved through grace, but by it. As it is often taught today, God gives all men a "common grace", and then waits patiently for them to respond in faith. So they make the grace of God a passive thing, and turn our response of faith into the active. In other words they are saying salvation is by faith through grace. But that isn't what the verse says.


Number Three: We are not saved by faith, but through faith. Our faith is not the object that saves us, but it's the instrament, the door, in which God chooses to save us. He chooses to save us through giving us the gift of faith. As greek scholars will point out, there is absolutly no grammical reason to insist that the "gift of God" is merely grace. The greek allows that the whole thing (the grace and the faith) could be the gift of God and not of works. But let's go to some other texts. Hebrews calls Jesus the "founder and perfector of our faith". It's hard to argue that this verse isn't saying that Christ is the one who works in us faith. The greek word for 'founder' literally means "chief leader". Think about that! Christ being the chief leader of our faith simply makes us lowly followers of our faith; in other words, we don't lead ourselves to faith. He says something related in His Gospel,

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.
(Mt. 11:27; Lk 10:22)

But there's another solid verse that teaches us that faith is a gift from God,

...think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith
that God has assigned.
(Rom. 12:3)

Looking up the greek word here translated 'assigned' brought up 'apportion' or 'bestow'. God apportioned His chosen with faith.

Scripture also plainly says in another place,

So then it (salvation) depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.
(Rom. 9:16)

The context of this verse won't allow much room to believe that this is simply talking about the "common grace" most pastors talk of. Previous to it, the Spirit teaches us that God chose to hate Esau even before he was born and had done any good or evil. This "common grace" wasn't alloted to Esau it seems. Also, the verse just after explains that Pharaoh was raised up by God for the sole purpose of hardening and destroying him. It ends with the phrase, "So then He has mercy on whomever He wills, and He hardens whomever He wills" (9:18). Verse 18 allows no room for the theory of common grace. We are saved through faith, not by it. No one would ever dare say that one can be saved apart from faith, for that is the channel God has chosen to justify a man.



I hope this wasn't too confusing. Please carefully consider these things. I encourage you to be like the Jews of Berea who "received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so" (Acts 17:11). Yes, many questions will and should be brought up, but that doesn't change the truth of the matter. And the truth of this is truly a freeing reality, that allows a person who is in Christ to 1) rest that his salvation never depended on himself in the first place, and that God will complete the work He began (Phil. 1:6), and 2) that when witnessing, our sole responsibility is to preach the word in simple language, and not to be cunning and crafty in convensing people to belive because that's for God to decide (1 Cor. 3:6).

Slight Change, Big Difference (Pt. II)

A Slight Change Creates a Great Difference (Part 2)
Replacing "Repentance and Faith" with "Decision"

To continue off of what I talked about last post, I wanted to give some real modern day examples of the danger of the Modern Free Will doctrine.

You can check out this article I'll be quoting from HERE
It is a very neat article; do read it if you have time!

The article shows the contrast of the old-time ministers of the Gospel vs. the current ones. The old preachers took years and years of carefully teaching and preaching the Bible to people (which is in obedience to God's command [1 Tim. 4:16; 2 Tim. 4:2] ). After, with sweat and tears, this long process - they would receive only a few converts. One missionary waited seven years before he saw a single convert.

However, today, the article brings up, people everywhere are claiming thousands of converts in single days, yes some claim even a million (yes, even in a single day). These conversions don't happen because the Gospel was clearly and efficiently taught and preached to the people; but because the music was playing, because the emotion was stirring, because of the pressure, because a half-gospel that has no cost was offered, no repentance from sin, no following of Jesus, no Lord Christ. In these claims, they say that a movie, or a band concert, or some two-day retreat is responsible for leading the people to Christ at that event. It makes sense to me though, that when a person believes, he simply believes. I don't understand the philosophy today that music and 'opportunities' and altars are necessary for convertion - though I know nobody directly says that. But the wrong impression left at these types of events is that everyone can just approach Christ anyway and in any manner they want. I wonder if the Bible really teaches that... "Christ, I don't hate you, but that's only because I don't know you; and yeah, it's true, that if I did know you I would hate you, because you do not allow me to live the way I want to live. Nevertheless, the pastor never told me that, and I'm gonna play innocent as if you haven't given me a conscience teaching me to repent of my sins. This justification thing sounds pretty cool, so why don't you just hook me up, and I'll continue living the way I want because, in truth, my heart despises everything you stand for."

Brothers and sisters, there are the verbal prayers of the mouth, and there are the verbal prayers of the heart. Preaching, by God's design, is meant to change the heart. If the prayer of a man's heart is such, then the verbal prayer will be rejected by God, because as Scripture says it is an 'abomination' to Him (Proverbs 28:9). When we say God is Holy, this is exactly what we mean - he is seperated for wickeness and sin!



Here's a part of the article:

Going back in church history, we see a more discerning attitude, that resisted making immediate conversion claims. George Whitefield, who was a leader in the 18th century Great Awakening, made it a practice to delay judgment until months or years down the road. Whitefield's reasoning for this was, you simply can't know right away. He said:

"There are so many stony ground hearers, who receive the Word with joy, that I have determined to suspend my judgment till I know the tree by its fruits. I cannot believe they are converts till I see fruit brought back; it will never do a sincere soul any harm".

A century later, Charles Spurgeon was also very outspoken against potentially boastful and self-validating conversion claims, saying:

"Do not, therefore, consider that soul-winning is or can be secured by the multiplication of baptisms, and the swelling of the size of your church. What mean these dispatches from the battle-field? "Last night, 14 souls were under conviction, 15 were justified, and 8 received full sanctification". I am weary of this public bragging, this counting of unhatched chickens, this exhibition of doubtful spoils. Lay aside such numberings of the people, such idle pretence of certifying in half a minute that which will need the testing of a lifetime".

He had the same common-sense that Whitefield had a century earlier.
It's a common-sense that seems to be very much lacking today:

"It very often happens that the converts that are
born in excitement die when the excitement is over".

Amen.

Here's what I'm asking all Christians reading this to consider: Changing your mind about quick-fix gospel ideas, and setting your hearts on teaching and preaching the long-term, hard to believe, Gospel message. Also changing your perspective about these incredible claims of salvations, when the Gospel usually has never been sufficiently preached and with the evidence that most of these nominal converts fall away. Please do not deceive yourself nor anyone else on this matter of salvation!