Tag: gospel

A Brief Look at Total Inability

pastortravislv

Calvinism is often represented by the acronym T. U. L. I. P. Those five letters stand for five points which are the five doctrines that opponents of Calvin’s teachings could not tolerate, but which students taught by Calvin proclaimed to be biblical and thus true. They are by no means the only things Calvin taught. They are, instead, the points of controversy related to the doctrines of grace, of salvation.

The T in TULIP  stands for total depravity, or sometimes total inability. The point of the doctrine is that mankind, without God enacting a change in the sinfully dead heart will never desire God. The doctrine states that, apart from a supernatural work done by God on the heart of a person, that person will never desire to come to God, they will not want God.

One passage that speaks to this doctrine is one I read this morning in my daily reading. In Romans 8, Paul says a few things that show us that lost man does not come to God on his own.

Romans 8:7–9 –  7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.

Notice three things in this little section. First, what does the word of God say about how a person will desire to come to or know God? The heart set on the flesh is hostile to God. An unconverted heart is by its very nature hostile to God. This is not God pushing the unconverted person away. It is the person rejecting God and running from him because their desire is the flesh, an all-encompassing term for the sinful life. The lost heart desires not God but what opposes God.

Second, notice that the mind set on the flesh will not submit to the law of God. Why not? Paul says that it cannot. Cannot here is a word that clearly indicates a lack of ability. This is not because God is commanding the impossible. It is not as if the Lord is telling a man to leap over the Grand Canyon. Instead, it is a total lack of ability to submit to God because the unconverted person quite clearly does not desire to do so.

Thirdly, and this is the part that I think is often skipped in this discussion, note what is required for a person to have this inability, this hostility to God that leads to them not even being able to want him, changed. It is the Spirit of God that is required to make this change. Paul points out that those who are not described by the inability of verse 7 and 8 are changed, not because they changed themselves, but because of the work of the Spirit of God. It is the supernatural work of God’s Spirit that moves a person from hostility against God, from inability to submit to God, to a desire for God, for salvation, and for the things of God. The cause of this change is God, not the man who cannot desire such a change because of his enslavement to sin and hostility to the Lord.

Do not be confused by the term total depravity. That phrase does not mean that men who do not know God are as totally evil as they could be. What the phrase means is what the Bible teaches us here. When we are unconverted, we are in the flesh. Our hearts are hostile to the things of God so that we cannot submit to him. Why can we not submit? We cannot submit to him because, as we already saw, our fleshly hearts are hostile to him and his ways. We cannot submit because of our own choice of sin. For that to change, a work of the Spirit of God must bring to life a dead heart, turning our desires from being hostile to God to desiring God. And then, when the Spirit does that work, when he moves our hearts to wanting God, we will come to the Lord because of the new desire he has given us just as surely as we could not submit to him earlier because of our old desires against him.

A Resurrection Focus

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It seems that, in modern church culture, we focus much on the sacrifice of Jesus, maybe on his life, and seldom on his resurrection. When I hear gospel presentations or apologetic discourses, I hear a good deal about Jesus’ claims and his crucifixion, I even hear a good deal about the prophecies that Jesus fulfilled in his life, but it seems that those are often followed up with the resurrection as an, “O, by the way…,” afterthought.

But the writers of Scripture, inspired by God’s Holy Spirit, are most certainly focused on the resurrection. It is the fact that Jesus walked out of the tomb that is the key to their being convinced of the true identity of Jesus and the fact of his promises.

Look here at Paul’s greeting in Romans.

Romans 1:3-4 – 3 concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh 4 and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,

How does Paul know that Jesus really is who he says he is? Jesus was declared to be the Son of God in power through his resurrection. The fact that Jesus rose from the grave proves that all the other claims about Jesus are true. The fact of the resurrection is at the core of our belief.

 

I wonder, then, why we do not spend more of our energy in modern discussions talking about the resurrection. I have debated with people the morality of predestination, the righteousness of God’s commands, the philosophical rationale for belief in a Creator, the significance of the age of the universe, the historical reasoning for the reliability of Scripture, and so many other things. And in general, I believe those discussions to be good things. But at the end of the day, whether talking to a struggling believer or a disinterested agnostic, there is really one truth that is at the center of our belief. The important question is, “Did Jesus rise from the dead?”

 

Did Jesus rise from the dead? If he did, then what do you do with him? If Jesus walked out of the tomb, then he is different than any other human being. In fact, if Jesus walked out of the tomb, he is the very God he claims to be. If Jesus walked out of the tomb, he is the Son of God who gave his life as a sacrifice for the sins of God’s children. If Jesus gave his life as the only sacrifice for sins that can make a person right with God, then we are responsible to get under that grace or be lost. We are responsible to obey God’s command to repent of sin and believe in Jesus. We are responsible to call Jesus our Lord and find our life in him.

 

Perhaps, the next time a friend or family member wants to debate religion with you, it would be good to start with the question of the resurrection. Ask them what they do with the fact that Jesus rose from the dead. The resurrection is the proof of Jesus’ identity and authority. 

A Warning from Judges

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When my annual Bible reading plan takes me through Judges, I cannot say I am excited. This book is dark and painful to read. WE watch as the nation of Israel turns their back on God time and time again. No matter how great are his warnings, the people keep fighting against him.

What hit me, as I began this reading for this year, is the fact that this dark feeling, this pressing warning, is just as much for us today as it was for the people who originally read it. No, I do not expect that we should think a lot about the land promises discussed in the book. But we are to live as the people of God and be careful not to turn from him.

Judges 2:10-13 – 10 And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel.

11 And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals. 12 And they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed down to them. And they provoked the Lord to anger. 13 They abandoned the Lord and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth.

It was only 1 generation after Joshua when the people abandoned God and began to worship idols. IT took only one generation for those who should have followed the Lord to turn their backs. One generation, and the people provoked the Lord.

Before we take this and try to make some sort of political statement about our nation, how about we take this and see in it the need for intense warnings in our own families. Our children will worship someone or something. That is simply true. And it is wise for us as parents to help them to see that the only acceptable way to worship is to worship the Lord. The only way to worship the Lord is to come to him in faith and repentance, believing in Jesus and turning our backs on our sin in this life. We must trust Jesus and yield ourselves to him.

And we should warn our families that, to turn away from Jesus and ignore him is really the very same thing we see in Judges. To turn against Jesus is to bow to one idol or another. This is to provoke the Lord and to dishonor his name.

I don’t know if I’m getting across the depth of emotion that needs to come here. We either worship the Lord, or we bow to Baal, figuratively speaking. We either surrender to Jesus, or we do war against the Lord our God. This is an extremely significant truth, and I wonder if, in our desire to be kind and gentle and to appear open-minded, we might be softening the blow of this hard truth. May we not do so. May we find the grace of Jesus, a sweet Savior and gentle Master. May we not instead turn against him and find him the holy Judge.

A Dangerous and False Imitation of Christianity

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Issues of the true faith are issues of great importance. We are dealing here with the honor and glory of God. We are dealing here with the eternal souls of men and women. It matters a lot.

Sadly, there are many who would claim the faith who are misled, either intentionally or unintentionally, to a kind of faith that uses the Bible, that claims to be Christian, but which is an almost exact opposite of the true faith. People who follow this faith meet in buildings they call churches. Sometimes they sing the same songs that other Christians sing. They speak prayers. But their ultimate belief system is a perversion of the faith.

I am speaking here of the believers in versions of what is often called the prosperity gospel. This might be followers of Joel Osteen and his ilk, or it might be embracers of a sort of liberation theology. Either way, we are here talking about people who take Scripture out of context, who rip from the Bible the heart of the meaning of the words of God, and who pollute any form of the genuine faith with a superstitious claim to health, wealth, and prosperity. It involves people who think Christianity promises them worldly wealth, and it includes people who think that Christianity will allow them, as an oppressed people group, to rise up and conquer. But neither of these views is biblical.

Often prosperity preaching people will claim a verse like Deuteronomy 28:12-13a as their promise.

Deuteronomy 28:12-13a – 12 The Lord will open to you his good treasury, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hands. And you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. 13 And the Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you shall only go up and not down…

Boy, that all sounds good! If we belong to God, we get good all the time. We go up and never down. We lend but never borrow. We are the head and not the tail. We are rich. We conquer. We rule!

Before even pointing out the interpretive error, let me say that such a view is a way to play on mankind’s most sinful desires and to mask it as a form of the faith. Adam and Eve sinned in the garden by rejecting the rule and authority of God for selfish rule. All human sin, at some point, is the intentional throwing off of the authority of God for my own desires. And every human-centered, godless religion out there tells us all to focus on self, to fulfill our own desires, to see ourselves as great.

But look again at the verses, this time with the incredibly important clause at the end of verse 13.

Deuteronomy 28:12-14 – 12 The Lord will open to you his good treasury, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hands. And you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. 13 And the Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you shall only go up and not down, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today, being careful to do them, 14 and if you do not turn aside from any of the words that I command you today, to the right hand or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.

Yes, God told a particular people that he would promise them prosperity. But he told them that they could have this prosperity if, and only if, they would fully obey his commands. They could have prosperity if and only if they would have God as their God, their Lord, their Master. And, to let you in on a little secret, the people to whom God spoke these words never really obeyed. Instead, they proved that humanity, left to ourselves, will always rebel against the ways of God and bring to ourselves destruction.

Here is the truth. Mankind is naturally rebellious against God and destined for destruction. In the Old Testament of the Bible, we proved that we would not obey God, not even for clear promises of blessing. And we proved that we will not obey God, not even in the light of promises of terrible punishments for disobedience (see all of Deuteronomy 28-30.

Deuteronomy 30:19-20 – 19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, 20 loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”

That is the promise God made to Israel through Moses. Obedience and faithfulness would be met with unbelievable blessing. Rejection of God and his ways would be met with similarly unfathomable cursing. And Israel did not obey.

But what about the modern Christian? Should we claim half of the Deuteronomy verses as our own? Should we say that we get all the blessings if we just speak positive words and think positive thoughts? Of course not.

The Lord has given us a different kind of promise. The Lord has promised us in this life his presence and his blessing. He has also promised us hardships and persecutions. God calls us to believe in Jesus and turn from sin. God calls us to obey his word in the here and now. And God calls us to set our minds and hearts, not on earthly reward in this life, but on the eternal life that he has promised us and proved to us through the resurrection of Jesus.

If your church is telling you to “claim” a promise of health and wealth in this life, your church is misleading you. If your church is telling you that God has promised you an easy life of any kind this side of the resurrection, your church is misleading you. If your church is telling you that, if you just believe, you can have all the money you want and live in selfish luxury in Christ, your church is misleading you. If your church is applying to you partial Old Testament promises without any sort of biblical context, your church is misleading you.

Yes, there is glory and joy in Christianity. There is life, blessing, peace, and hope. But these are part of a life that is also a battle for sanctification, a battle through persecution and sorrow and suffering. The promise of God is that he will sustain us in this life with the joy of his glory as we press on in obedience to his word toward the ultimate prize of being conformed to the likeness of Christ. That promise is not that we will win an election, that our particular people group will prosper, or that we will have a nice house or a healthy body. The promise is eternal life in Christ as we bow to him in faith and yield to him as Lord.

What is Good about Good Friday?

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Is it not strange that the single most evil thing ever done by human beings is an event we call “Good?” On Good Friday, the only perfect man ever to walk the earth was murdered. On Good Friday, the Son of God was brutalized by sinful men. On Good Friday the merciful and kind Lord Jesus was tortured and crucified. How can this be good?

2 Corinthians 5:17-21 – 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Mankind, because of our sin, is separated from God. We all have rebelled against the Lord and earned his judgment. The wages of such sin is death, the eternal infinite wrath of a holy God (cf. Rom. 6:23). In our sin, we separated ourselves from God, battling against him and attempting to throw off his rule.

On Good Friday, God worked the work of reconciliation between God and man. Jesus voluntarily substituted himself for all those God will forgive. God the Father laid on Jesus, God the Son, the full weight of his wrath. God the Father justly punished our sin in Jesus so that we would not have to spend eternity suffering the wrath we deserve.

God also did the work to accomplish a glorious trade on Good Friday. Jesus, God the Son, had lived an absolutely perfect life. Jesus had obeyed the word and will of God so that the Father was well pleased. Where you and I have failed, Jesus succeeded. Because of Good Friday, God can grant us the most unbelievable of gifts. God will trade us Jesus’ righteousness for our own failings. Where our record is blemished and calls us to judgment, God gives us Jesus’ perfect righteousness as a gift. Good Friday is good, because there God moves to be able to give us the perfect righteousness without which none of us could ever enter the presence of God.

If you have not come to Jesus for this gift of grace, why not do so today? Believe that Jesus is the Son of God who died and rose again to save your soul. Confess your sin against God and need of a Savior. Commit your life to follow Jesus. Ask God for his mercy because of Jesus. If you turn from sin and trust in Christ, God’s word promises you eternal life and perfect forgiveness because of the finished work of the Son of God.

For us all, pray: Take a moment to pray. Confess your rebellion against the holy God who made you. Thank him for punishing Jesus in your place. Thank him for making a way for you to be reconciled to God. Thank him for giving you the gift of the perfect record of Jesus in place of your own. Ask God to empower you to worship him and to rightly yield your life to him out of gratitude and love for the Savior.

Did Sacrifices Work?

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In the book of Leviticus, the Lord set forth for the people a system of sacrifice, offerings for a variety of purposes. When the people sinned against the Lord, he gave them particular things to do in order to be forgiven. And the forgiveness of sin never came about without the death of an animal. A substitute was put to death in the place of the sinful person. And, hopefully, the people saw that sin is an ugly, bloody, deadly business.

 

And some might wonder why this would work. Why would God allow the blood of an animal to be shed in place of the blood of a sinful person who, according to God’s own law, ought to die for his own sin? How can a bull or a goat or a lamb or a bird be enough to take away my guilt?

 

Hebrews 10:4 – For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

 

Then we read the book of Hebrews, and we see that it is impossible that the blood of such animals could take away sin. There is no way that a bull’s blood is sufficient payment for the wrongs that I have committed before the Lord. There is no way that a sheep’s life can substitute for my own, not really. There is no way that a finite animal could ever make up for my falling infinitely short of God’s perfection.

 

So, obviously the offerings didn’t work, right?

 

Leviticus 4:20 – Thus shall he do with the bull. As he did with the bull of the sin offering, so shall he do with this. And the priest shall make atonement for them, and they shall be forgiven.

 

Note that last phrase, “they shall be forgiven.” Moses did not tell the priests that the offering would not work. In fact, he makes it clear that the sacrifice, the blood, the transference of guilt, the substitution, all of it would lead to forgiveness. This was not a pretend forgiveness. God said they would be forgiven of their sin if they went through this system.

 

So, what gives? How do we understand the sacrifice? Hebrews says that the blood of the animal is not enough. Leviticus says they will be forgiven.

 

Romans 3:23-26 – 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

 

Look at Paul’s explanation for a few of the reasons for the death of Jesus on the cross. Paul tells us that Jesus died to accomplish something glorious. Jesus died for propitiation. He died as an offering for sins in order to take away the wrath of God and turn God’s face of favor toward the saved.

 

We know all that pretty much instinctively if we grew up in a gospel-preaching church. But the next phrase in verse 25 is not one many dwell on: “This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.” That sentence tells us another reason for the death of Jesus. It says that this, this sacrifice, this propitiation, was for a purpose. It was to prove the righteousness of God. It was to prove that God had never and would never wink at sin and just let it go. The death of Jesus was to prove that God always rightly, justly, and perfectly punishes all sin, all of it. God had, in the time before Jesus, not perfectly punished all sin. He had passed over former sins. How? He had forgiven people who had made the offerings like those in Leviticus, even though the blood of those animals and the lives of those animals were nowhere near enough to be a just and right substitute for the sins of men. Jesus died to show that God is perfectly righteous.

 

In verse 26, Paul further says, “It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” God is just and must be just. God also desires to demonstrate his grace. The sacrifice of Jesus allows both to happen, as God is proved to be just, rightly dealing with sin with no tolerance for evil, and at the same time the one who justifies, who makes right in his sight, the one who has faith in Jesus. So God is both perfectly and totally just as he is also perfectly and justly merciful, facts proved by the blood of Jesus.

 

But what about those sacrifices of old? Did they work? Yes and no. The blood of those animals never took away sin. But the blood of those animals pointed to Jesus whose blood would pay the price for sins. It was as if God was reminding himself that all sins would be perfectly punished. Either the sinful man would be justly judged in hell for his sin, or he would be justly forgiven, not because of the blood of the animal, but because of the infinitely perfect sacrifice of the Son of God.

 

Then, were the saved in the old Testament saved by works? No, at least not by their own works. They were saved by God’s grace through faith. They believed God enough to obey his commands to make the sacrifice that would ultimately point to Jesus. They were saved, not by the action of the offering of the bull, nor by the blood of the bull, but by faith in the God of the promise who commanded the offering of the bull, the offering that points all to Jesus.