Just a thought here...
We are used to hearing a man appeal to people to "invite" Jesus into their hearts. But is that an accurate depiction of both God and us?
We don't "invite" the Judge of the Universe into our hearts. We rather plead, beg, and cry for the living God to receive us, for Him to be our Savior.
We don't let Him be Lord of our lives, He already is, over every living and non-living thing in the universe. We just have to come to the point where we will throw away our "sovereignty," bow the neck and plead for forgiveness.
But that message is not as palatable for our self-inflated egos.
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Tuesday, September 29, 2009
16 oz. to the pound from Gary North
"The road to the comprehensive peace of God begins with the transformation of the covenant-breaking heart. Personal regeneration must precede comprehensive social reconstruction...But we must begin this process of reconstruction with confident faith in the gospel; we must be confident that God's salvation is as comprehensive as sin is....
It is the unwillingness of Christian commentators and social theorists to return to the biblical record of Old Covenant that is the heart of the problem. Because they will not look at biblical law as the model, Christians are left without specifics for organizing society. This leaves them in the difficult position of denying the continuing validity of judicial standards set forth in the Old Testament, yet simultaneously claiming that 'the Bible has answers for all of life,'a claim which disintegrates on contact as soon as someone asks a specific political or judicial question regarding civil government."
It is the unwillingness of Christian commentators and social theorists to return to the biblical record of Old Covenant that is the heart of the problem. Because they will not look at biblical law as the model, Christians are left without specifics for organizing society. This leaves them in the difficult position of denying the continuing validity of judicial standards set forth in the Old Testament, yet simultaneously claiming that 'the Bible has answers for all of life,'a claim which disintegrates on contact as soon as someone asks a specific political or judicial question regarding civil government."
Monday, September 28, 2009
An Israel within an Israel
Is there still an Israelwithin an Israel?
I am speaking of the reality of the people of God, the Church, the community of faith or even the "elect" I might dare to say, who still don't really knowthe Lord. There is still a faith-filled people within a faith-less people of God in the broader scope.
Might there be an elect within an elect? In the NT, the "elect" were the marked out ones by baptism and the Spirit who professed faith in Israel's Messiah. The new thing was twofold. God was doing something big in redemptive history by separating the sheep from the goats (if you will) by bringing a fundamental choice to the people of God, the Jews in the 1st Cent. The choice was this: Either repent and receive the promise of your Messiah, or enter a definitive judgment--AD 70. The second new thing was the extraordinary inclusion of the gentiles. The "elect" were these believing gentiles and the remnant of the largely apostate Jewish nation.
In other words, we have to be careful of injecting meanings to Scriptural words that they don't fully possess. Does the word elect in the NT mean a person who is "once saved, always saved?" Or does it mean a person who is a part of God's new people in the New Covenant administration?
Now, this is important.. I do believe strongly and passionately that the Bible teaches eternal security for the believer. The rub comes when we try to read hearts and peg who is truly elect and not.
The Bible doesn't teach us to go around and try to find these people. To do so, creates mayhem and great sin in a church.
Rather, God has given us the very clear and gracious covenant in which to relate and hold people accountable. Baptism, fruit, obedience and perseverance are all the ways in which we go in and come out with one another on these matters.
Any tradition that tries to peg a person's assurance on a static event in their life put their trust in something shaky. Christ is the One that we look to, in enduring trust, upon His faithfulness. We can't trust in our "incredible testimony," the card we signed, or even mere baptism without the reality in which it is all about. Paul said that circumcision or the lack thereof is nothing, but a new creation.
So, the Q. is how can we know the truly elect from the generally elect New Covenant people of God? The answer?
We don't worry about it. God is for us and our children, we have so much evidence for that, that I am not going to take the time to argue that point. "Well, what happens if I commit the unpardonable sin? Or if I'm really not the truly elect?" Don't worry..God is not a hyper-Calvinist. If you really are brazen and rebellious in your sin, your elders will come and find you out. You are not going to wake up in the morning suddenly falling out of God's favor, like He's in a bad mood one day.
No, we are the elect of God biblically. But what of all the Calvinist teaching of predestination and perseverance of the saints? I think it's wonderful. I love that and I love them. I am a Calvinist. But I do believe that the Calvinistic system can be taken too far or misunderstood to the point that it itself becomes the primary way we relate to others on the q. of their eternal security. Has God given us the glasses to see who's predestined to heaven and who's not? No. Does the truth stand then? Yes. I am comforted that I am in this persevering category because I know God is for me, and my children. I rest in grace, so I obey. I can say, with confidence that I am the elect.But I can never say that by waving anything BUT a life that obeys because of what Christ did..This means that no matter how many Calvinist books I read and write, great feats of faith that I might accomplish or anything--nothing can be a sure sign of my eternally elect status if I don't take up my election by the horns and trust God to carry me through. I hope I've made it clear that any notion of perseverance by works without faith is ridiculous and misguided.
We still have to let Scripture balance itself with its own internal witness. John 10:28 has to be harmonized with the parable of the sower, and John 15:1-6. Scripture is content to play out the longevity of a person's spiritual health in terms of organic growth. See John 15, Rom 11, and Heb 6. This doesn't mean that we can't believe in the Calvinist reading of Scripture, it's simply that the Calvinist system must be attended with a strong covenantal theology. What does that mean? It means that the doctrine of eternal security is grounded in God's objective favor towards believers and their children, not an impersonal system of random and arbitrary choosing.
We have to hold the tension between those that believe in God, thus being children of God in one sense, and those that have faith for a time, who are children of God in another sense. I believe the whole Scriptural testimony gives full credence to the Calvinist reading and the covenantal reading both. Those who truly fall away (apostasy is always a dark mystery) were children of God in a very important sense but not in the sense that persevered. I am not arguing that an apostate covenant member was a child of God in the same exact sense as one that didn't apostasize. It just doesn't do justice to Scripture's own terminology and teaching to hold that the warning passages for apostasy are for those who really weren't in the Church, or even in Christ, in some sense--see John 15 again. This is covenant language, see Ps 128 and how it speaks of wives and children. So my argument is that we have to hold the nuance~between what it means to be a child of God. When a person says elect these days, they usually mean the eternally elect person. I think we just need to speak of those that are in the church in covenantal language. It is right, proper and even mandated to speak to the collective church on a Sunday as the elect of God. We are not to narrow more than God does. And it is also okay to speak of them that are eternally elect, we are to believe that all around us are such. "Let God be true and every man a liar." Even a Calvinist has to hold the tension...God looks over some, but somehow, someway, they also choose volitionally and carefully to rebel. The person who falls from grace who had a relationship with Christ (though not saving) did so on purpose.
There are three people out there in the world therefore. The faithful covenant member, the unfaithful covenant member (who will know great judgment) and the pagan. That is my understanding of Scripture. A covenantal Calvinism is what I've found to be most consistent with the Bible.
The reality is the older covenant is still in continuity within the newer covenant. The difference is that there is much greater blessing in the new covenant and there is also much greater judgment-Heb 12:22-29.
Jesus spoke of the danger of removing the tares because of the possible destruction of the wheat.
Heb 6:1-8 speaks of those who are in more than a mere "general" covenant with God but who have been partakers of the Holy Spirit, and yet have fallen away (v.6).
In summary, we don't fear. We trust. And our trust proves itself by working out our salvation with fear and trembling. But we know that Christ is the One that is faithful, who will also do it, as Scripture says.
I know the post is long, I'm just trying to be helpful.
Blessings.
I am speaking of the reality of the people of God, the Church, the community of faith or even the "elect" I might dare to say, who still don't really knowthe Lord. There is still a faith-filled people within a faith-less people of God in the broader scope.
Might there be an elect within an elect? In the NT, the "elect" were the marked out ones by baptism and the Spirit who professed faith in Israel's Messiah. The new thing was twofold. God was doing something big in redemptive history by separating the sheep from the goats (if you will) by bringing a fundamental choice to the people of God, the Jews in the 1st Cent. The choice was this: Either repent and receive the promise of your Messiah, or enter a definitive judgment--AD 70. The second new thing was the extraordinary inclusion of the gentiles. The "elect" were these believing gentiles and the remnant of the largely apostate Jewish nation.
In other words, we have to be careful of injecting meanings to Scriptural words that they don't fully possess. Does the word elect in the NT mean a person who is "once saved, always saved?" Or does it mean a person who is a part of God's new people in the New Covenant administration?
Now, this is important.. I do believe strongly and passionately that the Bible teaches eternal security for the believer. The rub comes when we try to read hearts and peg who is truly elect and not.
The Bible doesn't teach us to go around and try to find these people. To do so, creates mayhem and great sin in a church.
Rather, God has given us the very clear and gracious covenant in which to relate and hold people accountable. Baptism, fruit, obedience and perseverance are all the ways in which we go in and come out with one another on these matters.
Any tradition that tries to peg a person's assurance on a static event in their life put their trust in something shaky. Christ is the One that we look to, in enduring trust, upon His faithfulness. We can't trust in our "incredible testimony," the card we signed, or even mere baptism without the reality in which it is all about. Paul said that circumcision or the lack thereof is nothing, but a new creation.
So, the Q. is how can we know the truly elect from the generally elect New Covenant people of God? The answer?
We don't worry about it. God is for us and our children, we have so much evidence for that, that I am not going to take the time to argue that point. "Well, what happens if I commit the unpardonable sin? Or if I'm really not the truly elect?" Don't worry..God is not a hyper-Calvinist. If you really are brazen and rebellious in your sin, your elders will come and find you out. You are not going to wake up in the morning suddenly falling out of God's favor, like He's in a bad mood one day.
No, we are the elect of God biblically. But what of all the Calvinist teaching of predestination and perseverance of the saints? I think it's wonderful. I love that and I love them. I am a Calvinist. But I do believe that the Calvinistic system can be taken too far or misunderstood to the point that it itself becomes the primary way we relate to others on the q. of their eternal security. Has God given us the glasses to see who's predestined to heaven and who's not? No. Does the truth stand then? Yes. I am comforted that I am in this persevering category because I know God is for me, and my children. I rest in grace, so I obey. I can say, with confidence that I am the elect.But I can never say that by waving anything BUT a life that obeys because of what Christ did..This means that no matter how many Calvinist books I read and write, great feats of faith that I might accomplish or anything--nothing can be a sure sign of my eternally elect status if I don't take up my election by the horns and trust God to carry me through. I hope I've made it clear that any notion of perseverance by works without faith is ridiculous and misguided.
We still have to let Scripture balance itself with its own internal witness. John 10:28 has to be harmonized with the parable of the sower, and John 15:1-6. Scripture is content to play out the longevity of a person's spiritual health in terms of organic growth. See John 15, Rom 11, and Heb 6. This doesn't mean that we can't believe in the Calvinist reading of Scripture, it's simply that the Calvinist system must be attended with a strong covenantal theology. What does that mean? It means that the doctrine of eternal security is grounded in God's objective favor towards believers and their children, not an impersonal system of random and arbitrary choosing.
We have to hold the tension between those that believe in God, thus being children of God in one sense, and those that have faith for a time, who are children of God in another sense. I believe the whole Scriptural testimony gives full credence to the Calvinist reading and the covenantal reading both. Those who truly fall away (apostasy is always a dark mystery) were children of God in a very important sense but not in the sense that persevered. I am not arguing that an apostate covenant member was a child of God in the same exact sense as one that didn't apostasize. It just doesn't do justice to Scripture's own terminology and teaching to hold that the warning passages for apostasy are for those who really weren't in the Church, or even in Christ, in some sense--see John 15 again. This is covenant language, see Ps 128 and how it speaks of wives and children. So my argument is that we have to hold the nuance~between what it means to be a child of God. When a person says elect these days, they usually mean the eternally elect person. I think we just need to speak of those that are in the church in covenantal language. It is right, proper and even mandated to speak to the collective church on a Sunday as the elect of God. We are not to narrow more than God does. And it is also okay to speak of them that are eternally elect, we are to believe that all around us are such. "Let God be true and every man a liar." Even a Calvinist has to hold the tension...God looks over some, but somehow, someway, they also choose volitionally and carefully to rebel. The person who falls from grace who had a relationship with Christ (though not saving) did so on purpose.
There are three people out there in the world therefore. The faithful covenant member, the unfaithful covenant member (who will know great judgment) and the pagan. That is my understanding of Scripture. A covenantal Calvinism is what I've found to be most consistent with the Bible.
The reality is the older covenant is still in continuity within the newer covenant. The difference is that there is much greater blessing in the new covenant and there is also much greater judgment-Heb 12:22-29.
Jesus spoke of the danger of removing the tares because of the possible destruction of the wheat.
Heb 6:1-8 speaks of those who are in more than a mere "general" covenant with God but who have been partakers of the Holy Spirit, and yet have fallen away (v.6).
In summary, we don't fear. We trust. And our trust proves itself by working out our salvation with fear and trembling. But we know that Christ is the One that is faithful, who will also do it, as Scripture says.
I know the post is long, I'm just trying to be helpful.
Blessings.
Friday, September 25, 2009
One kingdom or two kingdoms?
I believe a significant juncture point in the debate on whether or not America is a "Christian nation" lies precisely in what constitutes for a binding relationship with God.
The living God is king over all the nations. They are His by right. He still deals with nations and their corruption. He hasn't checked out of the business of settling matters with them and us.
I am studying Is 7-9 this am and God is prophesying through Isaiah that He will bring judgment on Damascus and Samaria part. because they belonged to God by covenant. They were God's people in the sense that mattered for particular judgment. They were not God's people in the sense that they were the remnant, or the truly faith-filled and faithful ones.
We have to maintain those two senses throughout Scripture--there is a way to be God's child and be held in special judgment for spurning His great gifts, and then there is a way to be a child of God and get it. If we try, as many Christians do, to abandon the concept of people belonging to God who yet fall away, then we aren't in accord with Scripture. On the other hand, if we try and abandon that God does preserve that remnant or those truly saved, then we are out of accord with Scripture too.
The biblical answer, like so many things, lies in the middle. "Once saved, always saved baby." Amen. But who is truly saved? Ah, be careful here. Let the secret things be God's and let us take up the signs and seals (baptism, fruit, repentance etc) in which to evaluate others and ourselves.
We don't have reason to doubt for us and for others. God is not capricious. His "bar" is low. Salvation is simply by faith in the gospel. What matters is our present and persevering faith by grace alone as believed on in demonstrated works by us. Our faith's actions are built on Christ's faithfulness. We prove that we really have genuine faith by working it out. This is the way God's world works.
So, tying this back to America as a Christian nation.. God can and does deal with special judgment on America precisely because so many belong to God through baptism, active profession, and attendance to His binding covenant meal--The Lord's Supper. In this sense, we are still a Christian nation.
God judges the household of faith first (I Peter 4:17).
Famine, disease, and poverty will come a plenty if we Christians in this nation do not repent and cast our idols away. The curses of the covenant apply to us because we outnumber the pagans in this nation by baptism, profession and all the hypocritical connection by covenant breakers within the church.
The living God is king over all the nations. They are His by right. He still deals with nations and their corruption. He hasn't checked out of the business of settling matters with them and us.
I am studying Is 7-9 this am and God is prophesying through Isaiah that He will bring judgment on Damascus and Samaria part. because they belonged to God by covenant. They were God's people in the sense that mattered for particular judgment. They were not God's people in the sense that they were the remnant, or the truly faith-filled and faithful ones.
We have to maintain those two senses throughout Scripture--there is a way to be God's child and be held in special judgment for spurning His great gifts, and then there is a way to be a child of God and get it. If we try, as many Christians do, to abandon the concept of people belonging to God who yet fall away, then we aren't in accord with Scripture. On the other hand, if we try and abandon that God does preserve that remnant or those truly saved, then we are out of accord with Scripture too.
The biblical answer, like so many things, lies in the middle. "Once saved, always saved baby." Amen. But who is truly saved? Ah, be careful here. Let the secret things be God's and let us take up the signs and seals (baptism, fruit, repentance etc) in which to evaluate others and ourselves.
We don't have reason to doubt for us and for others. God is not capricious. His "bar" is low. Salvation is simply by faith in the gospel. What matters is our present and persevering faith by grace alone as believed on in demonstrated works by us. Our faith's actions are built on Christ's faithfulness. We prove that we really have genuine faith by working it out. This is the way God's world works.
So, tying this back to America as a Christian nation.. God can and does deal with special judgment on America precisely because so many belong to God through baptism, active profession, and attendance to His binding covenant meal--The Lord's Supper. In this sense, we are still a Christian nation.
God judges the household of faith first (I Peter 4:17).
Famine, disease, and poverty will come a plenty if we Christians in this nation do not repent and cast our idols away. The curses of the covenant apply to us because we outnumber the pagans in this nation by baptism, profession and all the hypocritical connection by covenant breakers within the church.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Parenting
I am reading a great little book called, The Things You'll See: Notes to my children on how they were raised. Our children are worth our studying to love them skillfully aren't they? "Discipline your son, and he will give you rest; he will give delight to your heart." Prov. 29:17 "Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap." Gal. 6:7
"Pistachio trees need seven years before they'll bear a commercial crop. That's seven years of pruning, watering, and feeding. It's seven years of fighting pests and disease. Seven years of paying attention and seven years of work, tending to matters when they call for it instead of when it's convenient. Farmers go through this for one reason: to bring in crops.
Raising children takes longer and it takes more. More diligence, more feed, more care. It takes more of ourselves. It can't be hired out. But the fruit? No crop compares.
Distinguish between your rules and God's, remembering His are more important.
Don't be petty.
A tyrant rules to please himself.
Say 'yes' often."
All this is from this great little gem of a book. Our children are worth any amount of energy, prayer, thought, study and disciplined training on our part to be a blessing to them!
"Pistachio trees need seven years before they'll bear a commercial crop. That's seven years of pruning, watering, and feeding. It's seven years of fighting pests and disease. Seven years of paying attention and seven years of work, tending to matters when they call for it instead of when it's convenient. Farmers go through this for one reason: to bring in crops.
Raising children takes longer and it takes more. More diligence, more feed, more care. It takes more of ourselves. It can't be hired out. But the fruit? No crop compares.
Distinguish between your rules and God's, remembering His are more important.
Don't be petty.
A tyrant rules to please himself.
Say 'yes' often."
All this is from this great little gem of a book. Our children are worth any amount of energy, prayer, thought, study and disciplined training on our part to be a blessing to them!
Thursday, September 17, 2009
America the Beautiful ~ Ben's edit
Bold is my edit.
O beautiful, for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America! God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with mercy, from sea to shining sea.
O beautiful, for pilgrim feet
Whose stern, impassioned stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America! God mend thine ev'ry flaw;
Confirm thy soul in self control, thy liberty in law!
**This 2nd verse is frequently omitted from versions that we sing! I didn't edit anything in it.
O beautiful, for Christians proved
In liberating strife,
Who more than self or country loved
And mercy more than life!
America! America! May God thy gold refine,
Till all success be nobleness, and ev'ry gain divine!
O beautiful, for Puritan dream
That sees beyond the years,
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America! God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with repentance, from sea to shining sea!
O beautiful, for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America! God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with mercy, from sea to shining sea.
O beautiful, for pilgrim feet
Whose stern, impassioned stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America! God mend thine ev'ry flaw;
Confirm thy soul in self control, thy liberty in law!
**This 2nd verse is frequently omitted from versions that we sing! I didn't edit anything in it.
O beautiful, for Christians proved
In liberating strife,
Who more than self or country loved
And mercy more than life!
America! America! May God thy gold refine,
Till all success be nobleness, and ev'ry gain divine!
O beautiful, for Puritan dream
That sees beyond the years,
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America! God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with repentance, from sea to shining sea!
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Stubborn
Proverbs 28:13,14
“He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper,
But he who confesses and forsakes them will find compassion.
14How blessed is the man who fears always,
But he who hardens his heart will fall into calamity.”
Stubbornness is a great evil……Anybody can be stubborn and excuse it for some notion of righteousness.
I am not fond of the idea that says, "Oh your stubborn? That's okay, being stubborn is a good thing sometimes. You know, sometimes we need to put our foot down about things, to be resolute you know?"
I think we need to call being resolute and determined, just that. We need to set our face like flint when it comes to obeying God. But being stubborn and most of the behavior usually described as being stubborn is just plain pride.
In fact, don't even call the behavior of being stubborn, "stubborn," call it, "Oh, I'm being obstinate today." One definition of obstinacy is: " perversely adhering to an opinion, purpose, or course in spite of reason, arguments, or persuasion."
It doesn't take very long to practice this discipline before you are either a) are forced to lie to people or b) shape up and call your actions what they really are.
Here's an illustration:
“Hey Jim, how's that project coming that your employers are teaching you? Oh, to be honest, I am being immature, petty, cocky, arrogant and a prideful ignoramous about it. Oh...okay.. Well, thanks for sharing there Jim, I am just gonna go down the hall here and get a drink of water alright?"
It doesn't take very long of being honest and doing that, to get you serious about pulling up your spiritual pants. "Hey Philip, how are you? I'm strugglin'….. I am so frustrated about what I need to do. Oh..... you mean you are feeling sorry for yourself about lifting up your nose up at obeying God and you're angry at Him for controlling your life? Uhh, no man.... I am just strugglin'. Yeah right, you don't even know what a hard providence is. Now shut your trap, pull up your socks and see with wisdom."
Now, I'm not saying we go around with each other like this! But we need to argue with ourselves like this the next time we want to call ourselves stubborn or that we are “struggling” with something.
Let's commit to not using soft and morally neutral labels to excuse sin. For example: "I am very annoyed today, I've had many irritating things happen to me." Can irritating and bothersome things happen to us? Of course. But saying, "That's annoying, stop it!" Or "He annoys me," needs to be restated as "He angers me," or "you are making me angry." Ah, but it doesn't seem as self-serving to say, "he angers me," or "I'm just arrogant." And yes, it is not self-serving to call sin sin, it is self-condeming, and that is the point. Rather we should say, "I am arrogant, and bent on my haughty attempts to justify myself" which doesn't sound like you're trying to elicit everyone's pity for your tough time with your own sin, it is calling a spaid a spaid.
If we force ourselves to use biblical terminology as much as possible we will be more careful to cut off excuses for our sin.
“He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper,
But he who confesses and forsakes them will find compassion.
14How blessed is the man who fears always,
But he who hardens his heart will fall into calamity.”
Stubbornness is a great evil……Anybody can be stubborn and excuse it for some notion of righteousness.
I am not fond of the idea that says, "Oh your stubborn? That's okay, being stubborn is a good thing sometimes. You know, sometimes we need to put our foot down about things, to be resolute you know?"
I think we need to call being resolute and determined, just that. We need to set our face like flint when it comes to obeying God. But being stubborn and most of the behavior usually described as being stubborn is just plain pride.
In fact, don't even call the behavior of being stubborn, "stubborn," call it, "Oh, I'm being obstinate today." One definition of obstinacy is: " perversely adhering to an opinion, purpose, or course in spite of reason, arguments, or persuasion."
It doesn't take very long to practice this discipline before you are either a) are forced to lie to people or b) shape up and call your actions what they really are.
Here's an illustration:
“Hey Jim, how's that project coming that your employers are teaching you? Oh, to be honest, I am being immature, petty, cocky, arrogant and a prideful ignoramous about it. Oh...okay.. Well, thanks for sharing there Jim, I am just gonna go down the hall here and get a drink of water alright?"
It doesn't take very long of being honest and doing that, to get you serious about pulling up your spiritual pants. "Hey Philip, how are you? I'm strugglin'….. I am so frustrated about what I need to do. Oh..... you mean you are feeling sorry for yourself about lifting up your nose up at obeying God and you're angry at Him for controlling your life? Uhh, no man.... I am just strugglin'. Yeah right, you don't even know what a hard providence is. Now shut your trap, pull up your socks and see with wisdom."
Now, I'm not saying we go around with each other like this! But we need to argue with ourselves like this the next time we want to call ourselves stubborn or that we are “struggling” with something.
Let's commit to not using soft and morally neutral labels to excuse sin. For example: "I am very annoyed today, I've had many irritating things happen to me." Can irritating and bothersome things happen to us? Of course. But saying, "That's annoying, stop it!" Or "He annoys me," needs to be restated as "He angers me," or "you are making me angry." Ah, but it doesn't seem as self-serving to say, "he angers me," or "I'm just arrogant." And yes, it is not self-serving to call sin sin, it is self-condeming, and that is the point. Rather we should say, "I am arrogant, and bent on my haughty attempts to justify myself" which doesn't sound like you're trying to elicit everyone's pity for your tough time with your own sin, it is calling a spaid a spaid.
If we force ourselves to use biblical terminology as much as possible we will be more careful to cut off excuses for our sin.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Charles Spurgeon-a postmillennialist?
"I myself believe that King Jesus will reign, and the idols be utterly abolished; but I expect the same power which turned the world upside down once will still continue to do it. The Holy Ghost would never suffer the imputation to rest upon His holy name that He was not able to convert the world."
Spurgeon believed in Hell.
So what does this "convert the world" mean?
That the nations (collectively,not head-for-head)would be converted all of a sudden when Jesus returns? No. This is not how the Kingdom ever comes in the Bible. It is always slow, steady, and sure. I don't think Spurgeon had the idea that it would be all in an instant either.
Where does that leave us with the great Baptist's comment?
A closet Post-mill or more post-mill than folks would like to admit?
Spurgeon believed in Hell.
So what does this "convert the world" mean?
That the nations (collectively,not head-for-head)would be converted all of a sudden when Jesus returns? No. This is not how the Kingdom ever comes in the Bible. It is always slow, steady, and sure. I don't think Spurgeon had the idea that it would be all in an instant either.
Where does that leave us with the great Baptist's comment?
A closet Post-mill or more post-mill than folks would like to admit?
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