Dear Daddy, My Father, My Precious Jesus,
As I sit back and reflect on 2009 one word echoes deep within my soul, faithful. I can’t begin to express my gratitude to you for the year that you have blessed me with, but thank you, thank you Jesus.
My heart aches as I realize more and more each day the depravity of my own soul, the wickedness of my own heart, and the evil thoughts of my mind; I am astonished by the reality of it all despite the understanding of your Word that you have imparted to me, despite the reality of the cross of Christ, and the hope that I cling so tightly to. It is so easy to compare myself to the Christians around me, or even the spiritual “giants” of the faith rather than to the only measure we are held to, that of Jesus Christ. I so often rely on my own strength and my own willpower to overcome the sin that so easily entangles me rather than on yours. I find myself in despair and shame as I ponder the sin that wraps my heart and the intentions that cultivate and breed actions that are far from pleasing to you, your grace at times seems far too much to comprehend. I read a quote recently by Jerry Bridges that said, “Remember that your worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of God's grace, nor are your best days ever so good that you are beyond the need of it”, the reality of that hit me hard. I am fully dependent on you Father, FULLY DEPENDENT on you no matter what season, what circumstance, or what kind of day I find myself in. A wretched sinner I am, but a wretched sinner that has been mercifully bought at a price and who stands under the grace of a gracious Savior. Oh thank you Jesus!
This year has been one full of surprises, a season of growing in ways that were so needed in my pursuit of you, and trials that have brought me to my knees in surrender consistently. I am humbled by the work of you sovereign God, you God who made the stars and the trees are the same God that formed me while I was in my mother’s womb and who planned out each step I would take long before the world even existed; that blows my mind! To say I have been humbled this year is a truth that I am thankful for despite the pain that it brought. Why is it Jesus that in the times of our breaking we find your love to be so acute? Why is it Father that when the fire is all around us we find peace? It is your ever present Spirit and the hope that you have provided that has pulled me through the dark times this year, it is that hope that I cling so tightly to today and long for to unfold into sight.
On top of the trials have been a multitude of blessings that I can’t even begin to count, blessings that have enabled me to see God’s hand like never before. I am astounded by your working oh God, amazed. I am undeserving of any of the blessings you have given me both temporal and eternal and more importantly grateful for the opportunities to be used by YOU. What a deep-seated irreplaceable joy I find in working for You God, a joy that never fades. Thank you for that.
As 2010 is right around the corner and as I embark on yet another very new and surprising season of my life I am certain of one thing my God, and that is what you have taught me this year, I am certain that you are FAITHFUL. From generations past to the present day and into eternity future you are immutable, never fading, faithfully dependable, you ARE. The faithfulness I have seen displayed this year in my life and the lives around me brings me to my knees in humble adoration of a God who despite our inadequacies, despite our failings, despite our lack of trust, IS ALWAYS FAITHFUL.
Thank you daddy for 2009 and I trust you wholly for 2010, for as you say in Psalm 46:10 we can BE STILL AND KNOW THAT YOU ARE GOD!!
Love,
Your Daughter
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Tuesday, December 08, 2009
Chewing on the Truth Part 7
My own spiritual journey towards Truth brought me to my knees for years after salvation in a humbling realization that I had never fully grasped the meaty truth of the weight of what God had done for me. What I mean is that for four years I had believed that I had some part in my salvation and the repurcussions of that caused my behavior to be different in other areas. Although my salvation wasn't based off of the full understanding of unconditional election or how the culpability of my sin and the sovereignty of God reconcile, it is a part of our sanctification to grow in the knowledge of TRUTH, and the more we understand it the more we fall in love with our Savior. Piper said, "It is possible to believe all these things in your head and go to hell. So easily deceived and hypocritical are we by nature! Therefore our concern in writing these things is not merely to convince the mind but also to win the heart. We want for others the sweet experience of resting in the massive comfort of these truths. We want others to feel the tremendous incentive for righteousness and for missions flowing from these truths. We want for others the experience of knowing and trusting the sovereign grace of God in such a way that He and He alone gets the glory."
Chewing on the Truth Part 6
PART SIX: His electing grace gives us the strength to persevere to the end.
The following verses make it really clear that God WILL persevere to the end and not be lost. If they are predestined, he Will conform them to the likeness of His Son, and if He predestined them He claled them and He will justify the called and glorify ultimately the justified. Romans 8:28-30 says, " And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. "
Piper does what I think is an excellent job at explaining this so I am going to use His reasoning, but ultimately the Bible for that!
A) Our faith must endure to the end if we are to be saved
"But he who endures to the end will be saved"- Mark 13:13
"Now I would remind you brethren in what terms I preached to you the gospel which you received, in which you stand, by which you are saved, if you hold it fast--unless you believed in vain."- 1 Corinthians 15:1, 2
The Word of God is the instrument by which we will presevere. There is a fight of faith to be fought.
B) Obedience, evidence of inner renewal from God is necessary for final salvation
"Strive for peace with all men, and for the holiness whithout which no one will see the Lord."- Hebrews 12:14
"If you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live." -Romans 8:13
"And by this we may be sure that we know him, if we keep his commandments..." - 1 John 2:3
The New Testament demands an internal transformation.
C) God's elect cannot be lost
Romans 8:28-30 says, " And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. "
John 10:26-30 "But you do not believe because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father are one.""
Those whom He has chosen for eternal salvation will be enablled by HIM to persevere in faith to the end and to by the Spirit's power fulfill the requirements for obedience.
D) There is a fallin gaway of some believers, but if it lasts or persists, it shows that their faith was not genuine and that they weren't truly born of God
1 John 2:19 "They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us."
The fact that this is possible gives the church reason to admonish the congregation against this.
E) God justifies us first at salvation, the moment we are saved bt in doing so he has in view to all subsequent acts of faith contained, as it were, like a seed in that first act
Our faith enables us to stand righteous/justified before God because of Christ's work, BUT we must also realize that our final salvation is made contingent upon the subsequent obedience which comes from faith. The way these two truths fit together is that we are justified through our first act of faith because GOd sees in it, the embryo of a life of faith.
F) God works to cause His elect to persevere
Jude 24-25 "To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy- to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen."
We are not left to ourselves and our assurance is very largely rooted in the sovereign love of God to perform that which he has called us to do.
G) We should be zealous to make our calling and election sure
2 Peter 1:10 "Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall"
It is He who will keep you through it all and unto the end, what a precious promise!!
The following verses make it really clear that God WILL persevere to the end and not be lost. If they are predestined, he Will conform them to the likeness of His Son, and if He predestined them He claled them and He will justify the called and glorify ultimately the justified. Romans 8:28-30 says, " And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. "
Piper does what I think is an excellent job at explaining this so I am going to use His reasoning, but ultimately the Bible for that!
A) Our faith must endure to the end if we are to be saved
"But he who endures to the end will be saved"- Mark 13:13
"Now I would remind you brethren in what terms I preached to you the gospel which you received, in which you stand, by which you are saved, if you hold it fast--unless you believed in vain."- 1 Corinthians 15:1, 2
The Word of God is the instrument by which we will presevere. There is a fight of faith to be fought.
B) Obedience, evidence of inner renewal from God is necessary for final salvation
"Strive for peace with all men, and for the holiness whithout which no one will see the Lord."- Hebrews 12:14
"If you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live." -Romans 8:13
"And by this we may be sure that we know him, if we keep his commandments..." - 1 John 2:3
The New Testament demands an internal transformation.
C) God's elect cannot be lost
Romans 8:28-30 says, " And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. "
John 10:26-30 "But you do not believe because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father are one.""
Those whom He has chosen for eternal salvation will be enablled by HIM to persevere in faith to the end and to by the Spirit's power fulfill the requirements for obedience.
D) There is a fallin gaway of some believers, but if it lasts or persists, it shows that their faith was not genuine and that they weren't truly born of God
1 John 2:19 "They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us."
The fact that this is possible gives the church reason to admonish the congregation against this.
E) God justifies us first at salvation, the moment we are saved bt in doing so he has in view to all subsequent acts of faith contained, as it were, like a seed in that first act
Our faith enables us to stand righteous/justified before God because of Christ's work, BUT we must also realize that our final salvation is made contingent upon the subsequent obedience which comes from faith. The way these two truths fit together is that we are justified through our first act of faith because GOd sees in it, the embryo of a life of faith.
F) God works to cause His elect to persevere
Jude 24-25 "To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy- to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen."
We are not left to ourselves and our assurance is very largely rooted in the sovereign love of God to perform that which he has called us to do.
G) We should be zealous to make our calling and election sure
2 Peter 1:10 "Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall"
It is He who will keep you through it all and unto the end, what a precious promise!!
Chewing on the Truth Part 5
Part Four: The saved realizes that we are unconditionally elected by God
This whole idea of unconditonal, meaning that we didn't have a condition that had to be met to be saved is one with widespread controversy. As humans we can't seem to wrap our minds around the thoughts and ideas that the cross was only intended for the saved and even more that somehow we were chosen by God from before the foundation of time...I mean it must have been because He saw that we would choose Him right?? But think about it for a second, think about the pride in that statement...why were you good enough, or intelligent enough, or righteous enough to choose God on your own when the person next to you wasn't? If man is really dead in His sin and transgressions before a holy God then there is no life and therefore there cannot be any choosing to save oneself. Faith is not a condition for election rather election is a condition for faith. It is only by God's grace that you are awakened to new life and can exhibit faith; it is then that no man can boast and He alone receives all the glory.
I believe that the story of Esau and Jacob as repeated in Romans 9 is a great example of this unconditonal election; prior to their belief in anything, in fact prior to their birth God said, the elder will serve the younger and Jacob I have loved and Esau I have hated. In v 15-16 of Romans 9 we read that "I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion. So it depends not upon man's will or exertion but upon God's mercy". Many say this is not the God they believe in? But this is the God of the Bible, this is the Truth! It is humbling to say the least, but when you start to think of it...is this fair? No! In fact, if God were fair we would all be going to hell, that would be fair. It wasn't fair that He would give up His precious, perfect, only Son for you or for me, that wasn't fair...I am glad that we don't serve a fair God.
John Piper says, "God does not foreknow the free decisions of people to believe in him because there aren't any such free decisions to know. IF anyone comes to faith in Jesus, it is because they were quickened from the dead by the creative Spirit of God. So the foreknowledge of Romans 8:29 is not the mere awareness of something that will happen in the future apart from HIS predetermination. Rather it is the kind of knoweldge referred to in OT texts like Genesis 18:19 and Jeremiah 1:5. God really accomplishes the complete redemption of His peopel from start to finish. He foreknows, elects a people for himself before the foundation of the world, he predestines this people to be conformed to the image of His Son, He calls them to himself in faith, he justified them through that faith, and he finally glorifies them--and nothing can ever separate them from His love (Romans 8:39). And then to HIM ALONE be all the glory and praise!"
This whole idea of unconditonal, meaning that we didn't have a condition that had to be met to be saved is one with widespread controversy. As humans we can't seem to wrap our minds around the thoughts and ideas that the cross was only intended for the saved and even more that somehow we were chosen by God from before the foundation of time...I mean it must have been because He saw that we would choose Him right?? But think about it for a second, think about the pride in that statement...why were you good enough, or intelligent enough, or righteous enough to choose God on your own when the person next to you wasn't? If man is really dead in His sin and transgressions before a holy God then there is no life and therefore there cannot be any choosing to save oneself. Faith is not a condition for election rather election is a condition for faith. It is only by God's grace that you are awakened to new life and can exhibit faith; it is then that no man can boast and He alone receives all the glory.
I believe that the story of Esau and Jacob as repeated in Romans 9 is a great example of this unconditonal election; prior to their belief in anything, in fact prior to their birth God said, the elder will serve the younger and Jacob I have loved and Esau I have hated. In v 15-16 of Romans 9 we read that "I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion. So it depends not upon man's will or exertion but upon God's mercy". Many say this is not the God they believe in? But this is the God of the Bible, this is the Truth! It is humbling to say the least, but when you start to think of it...is this fair? No! In fact, if God were fair we would all be going to hell, that would be fair. It wasn't fair that He would give up His precious, perfect, only Son for you or for me, that wasn't fair...I am glad that we don't serve a fair God.
John Piper says, "God does not foreknow the free decisions of people to believe in him because there aren't any such free decisions to know. IF anyone comes to faith in Jesus, it is because they were quickened from the dead by the creative Spirit of God. So the foreknowledge of Romans 8:29 is not the mere awareness of something that will happen in the future apart from HIS predetermination. Rather it is the kind of knoweldge referred to in OT texts like Genesis 18:19 and Jeremiah 1:5. God really accomplishes the complete redemption of His peopel from start to finish. He foreknows, elects a people for himself before the foundation of the world, he predestines this people to be conformed to the image of His Son, He calls them to himself in faith, he justified them through that faith, and he finally glorifies them--and nothing can ever separate them from His love (Romans 8:39). And then to HIM ALONE be all the glory and praise!"
Chewing on the Truth Part 4
Why did Christ have to die? The death of Christ was a necessity because God is just and there had to be recompense for sin. Therfore the cross was the necessary vindication of the righteousness of God in justifying the ungodly by faith. So Jesus goes to calvary and bears the curse for sin which we were supposed to bear so that we can be justified before a holy God and vindicated, not held accountable.
All Christians can agree that Jesus paid it all as the song sings but who did He pay it all for? For everyone? I have to again steal what Piper says about this Truth of Scripture because it is put so clearly:
If you say that he died for every human being in the same way, then you have to define the nature of the atonement very differently than you would if you believe that Christ only died for those who actually believe. In the first case you would believe that the death of Christ did not actually save anyone, it only made men savable. It didn't actually remove God's punitive wrath from anyone, but instead created a place where people could come and find mercy--IF they could accomplish their own new birth and bring themselves to faith without the irresistible grace of God.
If Christ died for all men in the same way then he did not purchase regenerating grace for those who are saved. They must regenerate themselves and bring themselves to faith. Then and only then do they become partakers on the benefits of the cross. So if you believe that Christ died for all men in the same way then the benefits of the cross can't include the mercy b which we are brought to faith because then all men would be brought to faith, but they aren't. But if the mercy by which we are brough tot faith is not part of what Christ purchased on the cross, then we are left to save ourselves from the bondage of sin, the hardness of heart, the blindness of corruption and the wrath of a holy God.
In the cross God had in view the actual redemption of his children. And we affirm that when Christ died for these, He did not just create the opportunity for them to save themselves, but really purchased for them all that was necessary to get them saved, including the grace of regeneration and the gift of faith. We do not deny that all men are the intended benefciaries of the cross in some sense, but we do deny that all men are intended as the beneficiaries of the death of Christ in the same way. All of God's mercy toward unbeleivers from the rising of the sun to the worldwride preaching of the Gospel is becuase of the cross of Jesus Christ.
The answer is that Christ's death so clearly demonstrates God's just abhorrence of sin that he is free to treat the world with mercy without compromising his righteousness. In this sense He is the savior of all men. He did not die for all men in the same sense. The intention of the death of Christ for the children of God was that it purchase far more than the rising sun and the opportunity to be saved. The death of Christ actually saves from ALL evil those for whom Christ died...
"I lay down my life for the sheep...you do not believe because you do not belong to my sheep." -John 10:15
The "whole world" as talked about in many passages is referring to the children of God who are scattered throughout the world. John 11:51-52 says, "He prophesied that Jesus should die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad". If we really believed that in verses like 1 John 2:2 "He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world" that the whole world was referring to EVERY INDIVIDUAL in the entire world, we would have to believe that John thinks/taught everyone would be saved, which obviously isn't what He teacehs at all. Sins that were propitiated can't be punished. IF He died and propiated all sins then we would say John taught universialism, which He didn't. We must realize that it was rather for some that He gave His life, as Mark 10:45 says, "For the Son of man came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life for many". In fact JESUS Himself said, "This is my blood of the covenant which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins" (Matthew 26:28).
If that doesn't make it clear enough look at Ephesians 5:25-27 where Paul says that the intended beneficiary is the church! "Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her!" Think about this for a moment from Piper, "If God gave His own Son for unbelievers who in the end are lost then he cannot as Romans 8:32 says, say that the giving of the Son guarantees all things for those for whom he died. But this is what he does say. If God gave His son for YOU, then He most certainly will give you all things. The structure of Paul's thought here is simply destroyed by introducing the idea that Christ died for all men in the same way. If Christ died for the sin of all men then is unbelief not a sin that is covered by the blood of Jesus? Then people must be saved without having all their sins atoned for in Jesus. He died for the unbelief of th eelect so that God's punitive wrath is appeased toward them and HIs grace is free to draw them irresistibly out of darkness into His marvelous light."
All Christians can agree that Jesus paid it all as the song sings but who did He pay it all for? For everyone? I have to again steal what Piper says about this Truth of Scripture because it is put so clearly:
If you say that he died for every human being in the same way, then you have to define the nature of the atonement very differently than you would if you believe that Christ only died for those who actually believe. In the first case you would believe that the death of Christ did not actually save anyone, it only made men savable. It didn't actually remove God's punitive wrath from anyone, but instead created a place where people could come and find mercy--IF they could accomplish their own new birth and bring themselves to faith without the irresistible grace of God.
If Christ died for all men in the same way then he did not purchase regenerating grace for those who are saved. They must regenerate themselves and bring themselves to faith. Then and only then do they become partakers on the benefits of the cross. So if you believe that Christ died for all men in the same way then the benefits of the cross can't include the mercy b which we are brought to faith because then all men would be brought to faith, but they aren't. But if the mercy by which we are brough tot faith is not part of what Christ purchased on the cross, then we are left to save ourselves from the bondage of sin, the hardness of heart, the blindness of corruption and the wrath of a holy God.
In the cross God had in view the actual redemption of his children. And we affirm that when Christ died for these, He did not just create the opportunity for them to save themselves, but really purchased for them all that was necessary to get them saved, including the grace of regeneration and the gift of faith. We do not deny that all men are the intended benefciaries of the cross in some sense, but we do deny that all men are intended as the beneficiaries of the death of Christ in the same way. All of God's mercy toward unbeleivers from the rising of the sun to the worldwride preaching of the Gospel is becuase of the cross of Jesus Christ.
The answer is that Christ's death so clearly demonstrates God's just abhorrence of sin that he is free to treat the world with mercy without compromising his righteousness. In this sense He is the savior of all men. He did not die for all men in the same sense. The intention of the death of Christ for the children of God was that it purchase far more than the rising sun and the opportunity to be saved. The death of Christ actually saves from ALL evil those for whom Christ died...
"I lay down my life for the sheep...you do not believe because you do not belong to my sheep." -John 10:15
The "whole world" as talked about in many passages is referring to the children of God who are scattered throughout the world. John 11:51-52 says, "He prophesied that Jesus should die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad". If we really believed that in verses like 1 John 2:2 "He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world" that the whole world was referring to EVERY INDIVIDUAL in the entire world, we would have to believe that John thinks/taught everyone would be saved, which obviously isn't what He teacehs at all. Sins that were propitiated can't be punished. IF He died and propiated all sins then we would say John taught universialism, which He didn't. We must realize that it was rather for some that He gave His life, as Mark 10:45 says, "For the Son of man came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life for many". In fact JESUS Himself said, "This is my blood of the covenant which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins" (Matthew 26:28).
If that doesn't make it clear enough look at Ephesians 5:25-27 where Paul says that the intended beneficiary is the church! "Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her!" Think about this for a moment from Piper, "If God gave His own Son for unbelievers who in the end are lost then he cannot as Romans 8:32 says, say that the giving of the Son guarantees all things for those for whom he died. But this is what he does say. If God gave His son for YOU, then He most certainly will give you all things. The structure of Paul's thought here is simply destroyed by introducing the idea that Christ died for all men in the same way. If Christ died for the sin of all men then is unbelief not a sin that is covered by the blood of Jesus? Then people must be saved without having all their sins atoned for in Jesus. He died for the unbelief of th eelect so that God's punitive wrath is appeased toward them and HIs grace is free to draw them irresistibly out of darkness into His marvelous light."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
