The Controversial Doctrine of Limited Atonement

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Sovereignty, Free Will, and Salvation - Limited Atonement from Robin Schumacher

Come My Soul, Thy Suit Prepare

Come, my soul, thy suit prepare:
Jesus loves to answer prayer;
he himself has bid thee pray,
therefore will not say thee nay.

Thou art coming to a King,
large petitions with thee bring;
for his grace and pow'r are such,
none can ever ask too much.

With my burden I begin:
“Lord, remove this load of sin;
let thy blood, for sinners spilt,
set my conscience free from guilt.

“Lord, I come to thee for rest,
take possession of my breast;
there thy blood-bought right maintain,
and without a rival reign.

“While I am a pilgrim here,
let thy love my spirit cheer;
as my guide, my guard, my friend,
lead me to my journey's end.

“Show me what I have to do,
ev'ry hour my strength renew:
let me live a life of faith,
let me die thy people's death.”
_________________________
Text by John Newton, 1779

Israel is Essentially The Church

HT: Facebook Friends

Glorifying God

Here are some quotable quotes on glorifying God:

"We glorify God when our service comes from faith in His strength, because the one who gives the strength gets the glory"(Piper, The Pleasures of God , 219).

"One who is truly saved looks far above man, to Jesus, and says, 'To Him be glory.'"(McCheyne, The Believer's Joy, 69).

"The exercise of true religion and virtue in Christians is summarily expressed by their glorifying God"(Edwards, Works, 108).

"God is not glorified by self-generated righteousness or human will power. He is glorified when we both make it our aim to glorify Him and depend on Christ through His Spirit to enable us to do so"(Bridges, The Joy of Fearing God, 223).

"We cannot glorify God--either by our lives or by worship--unless we are enjoying Him"(Bridges, The Joy of Fearing God, 253).

"You do not glorify God as God unless you come into His presence with much fear and reverence of His great name. Fear in worshipping God is so necessary that many times in Scripture we find that the very worship of God is called the fear of God"(Burroughs, Gospel Worship, 124).

"A fearer of God steers the rudder of his life according to the compass of the Word"(Watson, Religion Our True Interest, 30).

"God sometimes accepts of willingness without the work (1Kings 8:18; 1Chr.28:9), but never of the work without willingness"(Watson, Religion Our True Interest, 114).

HT:  Glorifying God

Why Catechize?

 

 

Here is a slightly modernized version of "A Preliminary Discourse to Catechising," taken from A Body of Divinity (1692), A COLLECTION OF176 SERMONS ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM by Thomas Watson.

"I intend next Lord’s day to begin the work of catechetical preaching.
It will not be amiss to give you an introductory sermon to show you how necessary it is for Christians to be well instructed in the grounds of religion. My text is Colossians 1:23, "If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled." I have two points.

First, it is the duty of Christians to be settled in the doctrines of the faith.

It is the apostle’s prayer, "The God of all grace stablish, strengthen, settle you" (1 Pet. 5:10). That is, that they might not be meteors in the air, but fixed stars. The apostle Jude speaks of "wandering stars" in verse 13. Now, such as are not settled in religion, will at one time or other show themselves to be wandering stars. They will lose their former steadfastness, and wander from one opinion to another. Such as are unsettled are of the tribe of Reuben, "unstable as water" (Gen. 49:4). They are like a ship without ballast, overturned with every wind of doctrine. Beza writes of one Belfectius, that his religion changed like the moon. Every year the Arians had a new faith. These are not pillars in the temple of God. They are reeds shaken every way. The apostle calls them "damnable heresies" (2 Pet. 2:1). A man can go to hell for heresy as well as for adultery.

To be unsettled in religion demonstrates lack of judgment. If their heads were not giddy, men would not reel so fast from one opinion to another. It demonstrates lightness. As feathers will be blown every way, so will feathery Christians. Therefore, such are compared to children. "That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro" (Eph. 4:14). Children are fickle, sometimes of one mind, sometimes of another. Nothing pleases them long. So unsettled Christians are childish. The truths they embrace at one time, they reject at another. Sometimes they like the Protestant religion. Soon after they have a good mind to turn Papist.

(1) It is the great goal of the preaching of the Word to bring us to a settlement in religion. "And he gave some evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:  that we henceforth be no more children" (Eph. 4:11-14). The Word is called a hammer (Jer. 23:29). Every blow of the hammer is to fasten the nails of the building. Likewise, the preachers’ words are to fasten you all the more to Christ. They weaken themselves to strengthen and settle you. This is the grand design of preaching. Not only for the enlightening, but for the establishing of souls. Not only to guide them in the right way, but to keep them in it. Now, if you are not settled, you do not reflect God’s goal in giving you the ministry of the Word.

(2) To be settled in religion is both a Christian’s excellence and his honor. It is his excellence. When the milk is settled, the cream rises to the top. Now he will be zealous for the truth and walk in close communion with God. It is his honor. "The hoary head is a crown of glory, if it be found in the way of righteousness" (Prov. 16:31). It is one of the best sights to see an old disciple; to see silver hairs adorned with golden virtues.

(3) Those who are not settled in the faith can never suffer for the faith. Skeptics in religion hardly ever prove martyrs. They that are not settled hang in suspense. When they think of the joys of heaven, they will espouse the gospel. But when they think of persecution, they desert it. Unsettled Christians do not seek what is best, but what is safest. Tertullian says that the apostate seems to put God and Satan in the balance. After weighing both, he prefers the devil’s service and proclaims him to be the best master. In this sense, the apostate may be said to put Christ to open shame (Heb. 6:6). He will never suffer for the truth. He will be like a soldier who turns coat and runs over to the enemy’s side. He will fight on the devil’s side for pay.

(4) Not to be settled in the faith is provoking to God. To espouse the truth and then to fall away brings an ill report upon the gospel, which will not go unpunished. They "turned back, and dealt unfaithfully. When God heard this, he was wroth, and greatly abhorred Israel" (Ps. 78:57, 59). The apostate drops as a windfall right into the devil’s mouth.

(5) If you are not settled in religion, you will never grow. We are commanded to "grow up into the head, even Christ" (Eph. 4:15). But if we are unsettled, there is no growing. "The plant which is continually removing never thrives." He who is unsettled can no more grow in godliness than a bone which is badly broken can grow in the body.

(6) There is great need to be settled because there are so many things to unsettle us. Seducers are abroad. Their work is to draw people away from the principles of religion. "These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you" (1 John 2:26). Seducers are the devil’s agents. They are of all others the greatest felons who would rob you of the truth.
Seducers have silver tongues which can palm off bad wares. They have a sleight to deceive (Eph. 4:14). The Greek word there is taken from those who are skilled at throwing dice for the best advantage. So seducers are impostors. They can throw dice. They can so counterfeit and spin the truth that they can deceive others. Seducers deceive by wisdom of words. "By good words and fair speeches [they] deceive the hearts of the simple" (Rom. 16:18). They have fine, elegant phrases and flattering language. By these they work on the weaker sort.

Another trick is pretending extraordinary piety so that people may admire them and suck in their doctrine. They seem to be men of zeal and sanctity, and to be divinely inspired, and they pretend to new revelations.

A third cheat of seducers is laboring to vilify and nullify sound, orthodox teachers. They would eclipse those who bring the truth. They are like dark clouds which shut out the light of heaven. They defame others in order that they themselves will be more admired. Thus the false teachers cried down Paul, that they might be received (Gal. 4:17).

The fourth cheat of seducers is preaching the doctrine of liberty as though men are freed from the moral law (the rule as well as the curse), and Christ has done all for them in such a way that they need do nothing whatsoever. Thus they pretend that the doctrine of free grace is a key to open the door to all licentiousness.

Another means is to unsettle Christians by persecution (2 Tim. 3:12). The gospel is a rose that cannot be plucked without prickles. The legacy Christ has bequeathed is the cross. While there is a devil and a wicked man in the world, never expect a guarantee of exemption from trouble. How many fall away in an hour of persecution! "And there appeared  a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns and his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven" (Rev. 12:3-4). The red dragon, by his power and subtlety, drew away stars, or eminent professors, who seemed to shine as stars in the firmament of the church.

To be unsettled in good is the sin of the devils (Jude 6). They are called "morning stars" (Job 38:7), but they are "falling stars." They were holy but changeable. As the vessel is overturned with the sail, so their sails swelled with pride and they were overturned (1 Tim. 3:6). By unsettledness, men imitate fallen angels. The devil was the first apostate. The sons of Zion should be like Mount Zion, which cannot be removed.

Second, the way for Christians to be settled is to be well grounded.

"If ye continue grounded and settled." The Greek word for "grounded" is a metaphor which alludes to a building that has the foundation well laid. So Christians should be grounded in the essential points of religion and have their foundation well laid. Here let me speak to two things:

1. We should be grounded in the knowledge of fundamentals. The apostle speaks of "the first principles of the oracles of God" (Heb. 5:12). In all arts and sciences, logic, physics, mathematics, there are basic rules and principles that must necessarily be known for the practice of those arts. So, in divinity, the first principles must be laid down. The knowledge of the grounds and principles of religion is exceedingly useful.

a. Otherwise, we cannot serve God aright. We can never worship God acceptably unless we worship him rightly. And how can we do that if we are ignorant of the rules and elements of religion? We are to give God a "reasonable service" (Rom. 12:1). If we do not understand the basics of religion, how can it be a reasonable service?

b. Knowledge of the grounds of religion greatly enriches the mind. It is a lamp to our feet. It directs us in the whole course of Christianity as the eye directs the body. Knowledge of fundamentals is the golden key that opens the chief mysteries of religion. It gives us a whole system and body of divinity, exactly drawn in all its lineaments and lively colors. It helps us to understand many of those difficult things which occur in the reading of the Word. It helps to untie many Scripture knots.

c. It furnishes us with armor of proof—weapons to fight against the adversaries of the truth.
d. It is the holy seed from which graces are formed. It is the seed of faith (Ps. 9:10). It is the root of love. "Being rooted and grounded in love" (Eph. 3:17). The knowledge of principles promotes the making of a complete Christian.

2. This grounding is the best way to get settled: "grounded and settled." In order that a tree may be well settled, it must be well rooted. So, if you would be well settled in religion, you must be rooted in its principles. Plutarch wrote of someone who tried to set up a dead body, but it would not stand. "Oh," said he, "there needs to be something inside." So, that we may stand in shaking times, there must be a principle of knowledge inside. First grounded, and then settled. That the ship may be kept from overturning, it must have its anchor fastened. Knowledge of principles is to the soul as the anchor to the ship. That holds it steady in the midst of the rolling waves of error, or the violent winds of persecution. First grounded, and then settled.

Practical Considerations

1. Consider the reason why so many people are unsettled. They are ready to embrace every new opinion. They dress themselves in as many religions as fashions. It is because they are ungrounded. See how the apostle joins these two together, "unlearned and unstable" (2 Pet. 3:16). Such as are unlearned in the main points of divinity are unstable. The body cannot be strong which has the sinews shrunk. In the same way, neither can that Christian be strong in religion who lacks the grounds of knowledge. They are the sinews to strengthen and establish him.

2. Consider how very necessary it is to lay down the main grounds of religion by means of catechizing. In this way, the weakest conscience may be instructed in the knowledge of the truth. It may be strengthened in the love of it. Catechizing is the best expedient to ground and settle people. I fear one reason why more good has not been done by preaching is because the chief heads and articles in religion have not been explained in a catechetical way. Catechizing is laying the foundation (Heb. 6:1). To preach and not to catechize is to build without foundation.

This way of catechizing is not a new invention. It is apostolic. The primitive church had their forms of catechism, as those phrases imply, a "form of sound words" (2 Tim. 1:13), and "the first principles of the oracles of God" (Heb. 5:12). The early church had its catechumens, as Grotius and Erasmus observe. Many of the ancient fathers urged it, like Fulgentius, Austin, Theodoret, Lactantius, and others. God has given great success to it. By thus laying down the grounds of religion catechetically, Christians have been clearly instructed and wondrously built up in the Christian faith. This was so evident that Julian the Apostate [a Roman emperor who sought to turn the empire away from Christianity and back to paganism], seeing the great success of catechizing, outlawed all schools and places of public literature and instructing of youth.

It is my plan, therefore (with the blessing of God), to begin this work of catechetical preaching next Sabbath day. And I intend each following Sabbath, in the afternoon, to make it my whole work to lay down the grounds and fundamentals of religion in a catechetical way. If I am hindered in this work by men, or taken away by death, I hope God will raise up some other laborer in the vineyard among you who may complete the work which I am now beginning."

 HT:Why Catechize?

A Summary Not A Substitute

A Summary not a Substitute from David Murray on Vimeo.

Calvin the Murderer

In August of 1553, Michael Servetus was arrested for the crime of heresy in Geneva, Switzerland, home of the reformer John Calvin. Two months later he was executed. To read many internet articles, Calvin systematically stalked and slaughtered any person who dared oppose him. This picture of Calvin painted by his critics is a caricature greatly distorting the truth.

Before harshly judging Calvin a heartless tyrant, let us first hear the facts of the case. Here are a few things to consider:

Heresy was a capital crime in Geneva. Unlike the modern, Western separation of church and state, the world Calvin inhabited was one in which no such division existed. To be guilty of theological error was to be guilty of criminal offense. This political system existed as the norm for the vast majority of the world. Indeed, all the Protestants and Roman Catholics who were consulted at the time agreed with the execution.

1. Calvin was not the ultimate authority in Geneva. He certainly was no dictator as he is often portrayed by the misinformed. The magisterial council (who formally decided the case) opposed Calvin (who was not a citizen of Geneva) and used the trial to demonstrate their authority over him. Calvin did not have final power to condemn or save Servetus.
2. Servetus was not condemned for Arminianism, but for Pelagianism (the denial of original sin), Modalism (an anti-Trinitarian heresy), Pantheism (a rejection of the fundamental distinction between Creator and creation) and other serious theological errors. To read most internet sensationalism, Calvin opposed anyone who opposed Calvinism. In truth, he opposed anyone who opposed the gospel.
3. Nearly two decades earlier, Servetus asked Calvin to leave the safety of Geneva to discuss their differences. Though Calvin was wanted by the authorities in the area in which they were to meet, he went at the risk of his own life to reconcile Servetus to the truth of the gospel. Servetus never showed.
4. Calvin corresponded with Servetus before and during his imprisonment, imploring him to recant. One letter read, “I neither hate you nor despise you; nor do I wish to persecute you; but I would be as hard as iron when I behold you insulting sound doctrine with so great audacity.” Reflecting later, Calvin wrote, “I reminded him gently how I had risked my life more than sixteen years before to gain him for our saviour. I would faithfully do my best to reconcile him to all good servants of God. Although he had avoided the contest I had never ceased to remonstrate kindly with him in letters. In a word, I had used all humanity to the very end, until he being embittered by my good advice hurled all manner of rage and anger against me.”
5. Calvin visited Servetus in prison and prayed with and for him. J.I. Packer stated, “Calvin, for the record, showed more pastoral concern for Servetus than anyone else connected with the episode.”
6. As Bruce Gordon wrote, “Heresy was a capital offense, but Calvin did not want Servetus to die.” When the council ordered execution by burning at the stake, Calvin alone intervened to appeal for a more merciful beheading. The council refused.

Of Calvin’s role in the Servetus affair, the historian Paul Henry writes:

...a nearer consideration of the proceeding, examined from the point of view furnished by the age in which he lived, will completely exonerate him from all blame. His conduct was not determined by personal feeling; it was the consequence of a struggle which this great man had carried on for years against tendencies to a corruption of doctrine which threatened the church with ruin. Every age must be judged according to its prevailing laws; and Calvin cannot be fairly accused of any greater offence than that with which we may be charged for punishing certain crimes with death.

While we might disagree that Calvin is completely exonerated from all criticism in the case, the actual circumstances should greatly temper the rabid accusations which are often leveled at him.

Calvin and the leading reformers of his day approved the death of a heretic. But does this blemish invalidate the whole of their teaching? Do David’s actions regarding Bathsheba and Uriah nullify the Psalms? Does Peter’s cowardice and prejudice negate his epistles? There is only One Who has ever perfectly passed the litmus test of character. Such unfortunate failures and flaws in His people highlight all the more the grace God lavishes on such dreadful sinners as us.

Years later, on the verge of death, Calvin wrote, 

"With my whole soul I embrace the mercy which [God] has exercised towards me through Jesus Christ, atoning for my sins with the merits of his death and passion, that in this way he might satisfy for all my crimes and faults, and blot them from his remembrance...I confess I have failed innumerable times to execute my office properly, and had not He, of His boundless goodness, assisted me, all that zeal had been fleeting and vain...For all these reasons, I testify and declare that I trust to no other security for my salvation than this, and this only, viz., that as God is the Father of mercy, he will show himself such a Father to me, who acknowledge myself to be a miserable sinner."

Recommended Resources

• A balanced panel discussion can be found here.
• Calvin by Bruce Gordon contains an entire chapter devoted to the circumstances surrounding Servetus.
• The Legacy of Sovereign Joy by John Piper contains an appendix entitled “Calvin’s Barbaric World – The Case of Michael Servetus.”

HT: Village Church

Note: This post is a re-blogged purposely to dispel falsehood and slander against the godly Pastor of Geneva.

I TIMOTHY 4:10

WHAT ABOUT 1 TIMOTHY 4:10?

This is a verse which is often raised as an objection to God’s Sovereignty in election.

“For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.”

It has had many interpretations. Here are a few of them:

(1) UNIVERSALISM – Universalists interpret the phrase that God is “the Savior of all people” to mean that all will be saved. This is contrary to all sound doctrine and, in fact, has always been viewed as heresy by the Church. The proponents of this idea emphasize the love of God as God’s chief and most important attribute, to the exclusion of all others, such as His holiness and His justice. This heresy is very easily refuted because the Bible makes it very clear that some people will end up in hell, forever. (Rev 14: 9-11; 20:15; Matt 5: 21-22, 27-30; 23: 15, 33; 25: 41, 46)

If the phrase “the Savior of all people” was seeking to teach universalism, the rest of the verse would have no meaning when it says “especially of those who believe.”

(2) ARMINIANISM – Arminians would normally interpret the verse to say that God wants to save everyone but His desire is many times thwarted by the obstinate free will of man. Note though that the passage does not say He wants to save, but that He actually saves: He is actually the Savior (in some sense at least) of all people, not merely a potential Savior.

Also, according to Isaiah 46:10, God’s will is never frustrated. He accomplishes all He sets out to do.

(3) A VARIATION OF ARMINIANISM - God is able to save all people, but though all can be saved, only believers actually are. Again, this is not what the text says.

(4) THE REFORMED VIEW – God is the Savior of all people (in one sense) and especially of those who believe (in another sense). Why would this be considered the correct interpretation?

Well, as we study the terms “salvation” and “Savior” in the Bible we find many nuances – many different ways God saves. The most important aspect of salvation is to be “saved” from the wrath of God (Romans 5:6-9), but salvation also includes the idea of rescue from enemy attack (Psalm 18:3); preservation (Matt 8:25); physical healing (Matt 9:22; James 5:15) etc. God “saved” not only Paul but everyone else on board ship with him in Acts 27:22, 31, 44. There are numerous ways that “salvation” takes place, but that’s a complete Bible study all in itself.

When we study the word Savior (Greek: soter) in the LXX version (Greek translation of the Old Testament) we see the word used in a way that is far less grandiose than that which we generally think of the word. One example is Judge Othniel is called a Soter (Savior) or deliverer because he delivered the children of Israel from the hands of the king of Mesopotamia (Jud 3:9). 2 Kings 13:5 talks of God giving Israel a “Savior” so that they were delivered from the hands of the Syrians. The judges of Israel were “saviors” as Nehemiah 9:27 states, “… in the time of their suffering they cried out to you and you heard them from heaven, and according to your great mercies you gave them saviors who saved them from the hand of their enemies.” (see also Psalm 36:6)

A great deal more could be said to substantiate this idea of a savior, but I think the above makes the point. God provides food (Psalm 104:27, 28) sunlight and rainfall (Matt. 5:45), as well as life and breath and all things (Acts 17:25), for “In him we live and move and have our being.” (Acts 17:28)

God preserves, delivers and supplies the needs of all who live in this world, and it is in this sense that He extends grace to them, saving them from destruction every day they live. God is also gracious in allowing many to hear the proclamation of the Gospel.

All of these mercies are referred to as “common grace.” As I pointed out in the chapter “The Place to Start: Amazed by Common Grace” it is common only in the sense that every living person gets it. This grace should actually shock and amaze us because God is under no obligation whatsoever to give it to anyone. God sustains the lives of His sworn enemies, often for many decades! However, as wonderful as it is, it is only a temporal grace because all unregenerate people eventually die and will face the judgment. (Heb 9:27)

I believe then that 1 Timothy 4:10 teaches that God is the Savior (soter – preserver, sustainer and deliverer) of all people (showing mercy to all, each and every day they live), especially of those who believe (who receive full salvation from His wrath and everlasting life).

-Excerpt from Twelve What Abouts by John Samson

HT: monergism.com