Tag: Providence Reformed Church

An Example of the Danger of Silence

pastortravislv

The sons of Eli were wicked men. During the days of the judges, when Israel was decaying morally, Eli served as priest. But Eli refused to rein in his children.

The Sons of Eli violated the word of God even as they played the roles of priests in the temple. They committed sexual immorality. They stole offerings that should have been given to the Lord. They threatened people with violence. They dishonored the Lord.

And the Lord made it plain that his judgment, a very strong judgment, was going to fall on Eli and his household because of the sins of the sons as well as for Eli’s refusal to stand against what his sons were doing.

1 Samuel 2:11-14 – 11 Then the Lord said to Samuel, “Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel at which the two ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. 12 On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. 13 And I declare to him that I am about to punish his house forever, for the iniquity that he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them. 14 Therefore I swear to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever.”

We certainly see that the judgment of God is strong against what Eli had done. And we should also think well to understand why. What Eli did, what his sons did, these are sins that are prominent in our world today. We know God hates these things, and we need to be sure to avoid them.

Simply put, Eli’s sons violated the word of God and used the guise of religion to exercise their sinful desires. Instead of submitting to the word of God, these men abused their position, using a portion of the word of God to dishonor God. And Eli, as a man who knew the word of God, was too weak to put a stop to it. He complained about his boys, but he would not stand against them.

Today, in our land, we have men who have risen to positions of power in religious communities. Some of these men are prosperity preachers on brightly lit stages. They may hold a Bible in their hands as they make false promises of worldly blessings and bilk their followers out of their savings. God hates this.

Others may be conference speakers who appear conservative, but who eventually step away from the word of God to press forward their own agendas. They get caught up in a cause, and suddenly the faithful exegesis of the text of the word of God, what they were originally known for, takes second place to the speaker’s new pet cause. This cannot please the Lord.

How about a local pastor who simply refuses to handle the word of God faithfully? There are men in pulpits who rip Scripture verses out of context so that they can shape the local church to their own design. They will pull texts about the victory of Israel’s armies or the building of the temple, and they will make those texts the slogans for the building of fancy church buildings. In doing this, the local church believers will suddenly find that their giving and their serving to fund a building is as important as their worship and study and fellowship and the rest. This cannot please God.

Or perhaps we see men who will simply refuse to allow the Scripture to say what it really says. Leaders, authors, seminary professors, or local pastors suddenly find in the Scripture a loophole to participate in sinful behavior that is clearly, explicitly, unconditionally forbidden. These will pretend that they are compromising the word of God out of love for sinners. But in truth, they are neither loving God, whose standards are violated, nor the sinners, who are facing the judgment of God for their sin.

And many of us will say that we agree. We do not want men like this to have a platform. We do not want pastors who compromise the word of God. We do not want pastors who can give preaching short shrift. We do not want to see men tolerated who lie and bully and manipulate to shape the local church to fit their vision. Nor do we want to see famous denominational leaders or conference speakers allowed to get away with dishonoring the word of God with their preaching.

But, will we be like Eli? Eli complained. Eli did not like what he saw. But Eli simply sat back, bemoaned the sins of his sons, and did nothing to change the situation. Eli did not speak out in public against the evils of his sons. Eli did not rock the boat. Eli did not stand up, even if doing so would cost him friends or reputation. Eli, by his passivity, earned the judgment of God.

Christian friends, we must be willing to stand and speak. We must be willing to address and correct wrongs. We must be willing to oppose false teaching. We must be willing to hold pastors and elders and conference speakers and denominational leaders accountable for their words and their actions.

Do not get me wrong. Every leader has feet of clay. No pastor will preach every sermon or every series with perfection. And you and I should be gracious. We want to believe the best of our pastors. We want to encourage them. And we certainly do not start firing off nasty emails at the first sign of our local leader not being as thorough as a John Piper, a John MacArthur, or an R. C. Sproul.

But when we see a leader compromise Scripture—not just preach it in weakness, but actually turn it upside-down—we have to speak. When we see a leader living in sin through deceit, through intimidation, or through other forms of immorality, we have to stand. When we see a man or woman ignoring the word of God or using the word in a false way to get away with sin, we are guilty if we remain silent.

This is all hard. It requires love and wisdom to know how to speak. But the word of God shows us that tolerating sin in others, especially in those who are sinning with the word of God, is a big deal. Let us pray for our leaders. Let us love our leaders. Let us talk with our leaders privately if we see issues. But when a leader walks away from the word of God or begins to use his authority to abuse others, let us stand strong against that for the glory of God and the good of others.

A Proverb and Plurality of Elders

pastortravislv

While the biblical understanding of elder plurality seems to be becoming more popular and more understood, there are still many churches whose leadership has simply never thought through the issue. Sadly, many of us simply do things the way we have always seen them done, and we may well miss a design of God for the structure and leadership of the body.

I thought of that issue in my daily reading which recently took me through Proverbs 24.

Proverbs 24:5-6

5 A wise man is full of strength,

and a man of knowledge enhances his might,

6 for by wise guidance you can wage your war,

and in abundance of counselors there is victory.

Wise people win battles. How? Wise people win battles with the aid of an abundance of counselors. It takes many wise heads to be sure that one myopic vision does not lead to disaster.

Such wisdom in the Old Testament reminds us of the wisdom of God in the New Testament. As the Lord has given us some important truths about the leadership of the church. What we see, on every occasion, is that churches are led by elders. In each case, the wording is plural, more than one elder is involved in leading each congregation.

Titus 1:5- This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you—

If the term elder is unusual to you, understand that the word for elder is often interchanged with the word for pastor or overseer. Those words all refer to the same office in the church, describing it with different terms. So, an elder is a pastor is an overseer. If you have one pastor, you have one elder. If you have 2 pastors, you have 2 elders or overseers.

Elder is a word that hints at age, experience or wisdom. Pastor is a word that means a shepherd of the flock. Overseer, also sometimes bishop, indicates watching over, keeping, or perhaps even exercising authority over the body.

1 Peter 5:1-2 – 1 So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: 2 shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly;

Note in those verses that Peter talks to the elders. He urges them to shepherd the flock of God. Shepherd as a verb there is the same as the word that, as a noun, we use for pastor. Peter tells them to exercise oversight, which is the third term which we often make overseer or bishop. In 2 verses, Peter uses all 3 words to speak to the leaders of the church, the elders. You can find the same interchange in Acts 20:17 and 28 where we see elders and overseers watching the flock, a shepherd term.

In case you are curious, the other office in the church is that of deacon. The word for deacon does not indicate authoritative leadership, but is a word for servant. Deacons are servants in the church who take care of important needs in order to free up the elders of the church for their role of prayer, Bible teaching, and spiritual oversight.

Our church is also congregational in its structure. That means that, though we are led by a plurality, a group, of elders, the leadership of those elders is subject to the affirmation of the church. Our elders do not have the authority to force any major decision on the body. The congregation, as a unit, outranks the elders. But, as the elders lead biblically, the congregation will affirm that leadership and follow faithfully.

The beauty of this structure is seen in multiple ways. First, it is biblical. This matches the things we see in the New Testament about the local congregation. Second, this structure allows for deacons to really serve as deacons rather than serving as a committee watching over a solo pastor. And, this structure requires a plurality of elders, more than one counselor to take on the tasks of leadership.

In Proverbs 24, we see that many counselors help. But if a church is structured with only a solo pastor wielding the authority, there is a problem. And if the church has a set of pastors, but one man forces his agenda on the rest, again, there is a problem. The way to have many real counselors is to have a genuine plurality of elders. This plurality must be a true mix of godly men, none of whom has authority over the others, who can work together, counsel each other, keep each other in check, and lead the congregation faithfully. Even then, the congregation under the word of God must affirm the leadership of the elders and not be simply run over by bullies who build their own kingdom for their own glory. Only when we put this all together are we shaping our churches most wisely, most effectively, and most biblically.

Ethnic Reconciliation in Ephesians 2

pastortravislv

open with coffee and notebook

Paul’s letter to the Ephesians contains in it gospel glories that are rich and wonderful. Paul writes of God’s predestining grace, the promise of an eternal inheritance for all Christians, the way we were dead in sins before God made us alive in Christ, and so much more.

Paul also is clear to note that what God has done in the gospel accomplishes some amazing things, things that many in the past would have seen as impossible. Paul sees that the gospel of Jesus Christ, the predestination and salvation of Jews and gentiles, has brought about an ethnic reconciliation that is so amazing, so stunning, so wonderful that the plan to do such a thing is referred to as the mystery of God.

Ephesians 1:9-10 – 9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

Ephesians 3:1-6 – 1 For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles— 2 assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you, 3 how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. 4 When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5 which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. 6 This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

Notice that the profound mystery of god, the mystery hidden in the Old Testament, is that God in Christ would reconcile to himself believing Jews and gentiles. The mystery is that the people in the Old Testament days did not understand that their entire national religious system was a pointer to a profound work of God whereby he would make a people for himself that is not a Jewish or a gentile nation, but a united family of believers.

And look at how Paul speaks of this reconciliation at the end of chapter 2. What is said here is tremendously important to Christians today.

Ephesians 2:11-13 – 11 Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— 12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

This section says what I have already been pointing out. It is a biblical glory that God has united two different ethnic groups, two peoples who had been violently separated in times past.

Ephesians 2:14-16 – 14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.

What does the word of God say has happened? Because of the work of Christ, the two have become one people. The wall of hostility has been broken down. The ethnic division has been abolished. How? This division was not overcome through special events focused on celebrating diverse cultures, nor through political maneuvering, nor through repeated apologies for wrongs done by any group’s forefathers. No, the reconciliation is effected by the glorious and mysterious work of Christ. The cross of Christ reconciles what had been divided. The blood of Christ makes one what others could have never imagined as less than two. The work of God in Christ, as Paul says, kills the hostility.

Ephesians 2:17-22 – 17 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

Christ comes and brings peace. Christ unites people of diverse ethnic and historical backgrounds through his cross and his eternal plan. Christ builds us all into one household, one living temple of God. Christ is our reconciliation. All who are reconciled to Christ have become one family, no matter what the history of our lives beforehand.

Why point all this out? There is much talk about reconciliation in the broader Christian community. And I fear that this talk, this emphasis, is doing far more to undermine the work of Christ that God highlights in Ephesians than it is doing to strengthen the body. When a person comes into the family of God, our identity is changed. We become, not American or Japanese, not Chinese or Jewish, not black or white or any other color; we become Christians. Christian is now our identity. What had formerly been utterly divided through the actions of evil and selfish men is now united in a way that the world cannot understand. We are not united, however, by focusing on our differences and putting together events of false reconciliation. Instead, we are united when we see one another as blood relatives, family in the blood of Christ.

One beauty that I have in my life is that I see no skin color, none at all. I’m blind. If a person stands before me, I have no idea if they are lighter than me or darker than me. I have no idea if they have eyes of a different shape or hair of a different texture. I do not know, and I do not care. And, by the grace of God, I can call any Christian brother or sister, because God has broken down any walls that would divide our ethnic groups because of the finished work of Christ.

Do I have ancestors who were evil? Probably. So too do you, regardless of where you come from. Should we pretend that evils and wrongs in the past did not occur? Of course we should not. We should learn from the past and realize that great harm has been done when Christians attempt to define humanity as if different races exist. There is one race—human. Skin color or accent is no longer relevant under the blood of Jesus.

But if we continue to attempt to develop a form of reconciliation through event after event, highlighting differences and ignoring that the Bible now calls us one, we do not honor the reconciliation that Christ has already accomplished.

Note as well that, when Paul speaks of the unification of ethnicities in Christ, the breaking down of the dividing wall between groups, Paul does not suggest that either group attempt to redress past wrongs. Surely the gentiles to whom Paul was writing had wronged Jews. Surely, in other times past, the Jews had wronged the gentiles, even ancestors of gentiles in Ephesus. But Paul did not even look at those issues. Why? Paul did not touch those things, because Paul saw that a miracle had been done whereby divided groups, separate ethnicities, have become one family under the blood of Jesus. And Paul would command nothing be done that would highlight the differences when such a miracle of actual, spiritual, familial reconciliation and unification had taken place.

Christians, may we see that, in Christ, all ethnicities are reconciled. We ought now seek to magnify and proclaim that reconciliation rather than seeking to highlight divisions. May we honor the work of Christ better by embracing one another as family. May we be able to declare to the world that God has killed any past hostility between us and broken down any dividing wall that ever existed through the finished work of Christ. Yes, let us learn from past mistakes of previous generations. Yes, let us see to it that, as far as we are concerned, unfairness and racism be removed from our society. But let this be done because we are already reconciled in Christ.

 

An Odd Blessing

pastortravislv

At the end of the book of Ruth, many things that once were wrong and sad appear to be set right. A family line that has nearly failed has been restored, redeemed by a kind man provided by God. A dedicated young lady, a foreigner to Israel, has become part of the nation in truth.

But Ruth is far more than a sweet little love story. The book of Ruth is about a very strange blessing on a very strange family tree. Consider what is said to Boaz just after the legal issues surrounding his marriage to Ruth are finalized.

Ruth 4:12 – and may your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring that the Lord will give you by this young woman.”

How strange is it to see the names Perez and Tamar in a line of blessing? If you do not know the ugly story of Genesis 38, you will miss how odd this blessing really is.

Judah had found a Canaanite wife for his eldest Son. Her name was Tamar. Tamar’s first husband died. His younger brother then married Tamar, and he died too. And Judah was unwilling to allow Tamar to marry his third son and perpetuate the family line.

Tamar took matters into her own hands. She vailed herself like a prostitute, and placed herself in Judah’s path. Thus, Tamar became pregnant by her father-in-law, Judah. And she had twins. In an odd little miraculous turn of events, Perez was born first, and God showed his sovereignty as he built the family line of Judah.

But nothing about that story is nice. It really is an ugly story of the Lord using human scoundrels to accomplish his will. And this is the story that the elders of Jerusalem use to pronounce a blessing on Boaz.

Of course, one way that this story and Genesis 38 look alike is the fact that both bring into the family of God’s promised one a lady from a foreign nation. God uses this to remind us that his plan is to build for himself a people from every nation. There is, in the kingdom of God, now no room for division based on ethnicity, skin color, or line of descent.

But the blessing is also a hint at what God is doing in a larger way. You see, the book ends with a genealogy, the family line of ten generations. And that is a clue to the whole purpose of the book of Ruth. Yes, it is a beautiful story. Yes, it shows us the glory of redemption. Yes, it shows us kindness in the middle of very dark days. Yes, it shows us the way that God welcomes people into his family who could be rejected. But the story of the book is the fact that God moves to keep alive a very particular line, the line of promise.

You see, the genealogy at the end of Ruth shows the ten generations that lead to the birth of King David. We get to see how the tribe of Judah, the tribe that carries the promise of the Messiah to come, gets to the person of King David, the King from whose family line the Messiah will come. Every step in this book is about God preserving the promise to send the Savior.

So, when we think of this book, we need to remember that it hints to us of the fact that, though humanity is fallen, and though we twist things quite badly, God has also always been at work bringing about his eternal plan for his glory. God promised the coming of Jesus. God used scoundrels like Judah and questionable ladies like Tamar to accomplish something we could never have foreseen. God raised up godly men like Boaz during the dark days of the Judges to bring about a glorious rescue of a family line. God welcomed a Moabite woman, a strong lady from a people who were often enemies of the Lord, into his chosen family line, and she became great grandmother to the greatest king of Israel other than Christ himself.

When we see the odd blessing at the end of Ruth, we see the fact that God is sovereign over us. We see that God uses people, sinful people whom he has rescued, to serve him in glorious ways. We find hope that our own lives may be used by God to accomplish great things, even if we have never been great people. We see redemption, mercy, grace, and sovereignty. We see signs that point us to Jesus, and we find hope.

An Anticipated Argument Pointing to Predestination

pastortravislv

Romans 9 is one of those chapters of the Bible that carries with it a ton of theological weight. This is true especially regarding the doctrine of election. In the middle of his conversation about the people of Israel and how some are saved while many rejected the Messiah, Paul begins to talk about the sovereignty of God in some fairly radical terms.

Paul talks in Romans 9 about God choosing Jacob and rejecting Esau, even before either had been born. The point was that God made his choice of which twin would carry the line of blessing and promise, and that choice is not based on the relative goodness or badness of either boy. God picked Jacob. God let Esau go his own way.

Then Paul talked in even stronger terms about Pharaoh in the Exodus. Pharaoh’s heart was against God. God hardened Pharaoh’s heart as well. A look back at chapter 1 of this book would remind us that God has, in times of judgment, handed people over to their own desires and allowed them to become as evil as they wanted to. This is a great example of what hardness would look like.

As the argument builds, it looks more and more like what Paul is saying is that God elects some to follow him, predestining them to salvation. It also looks like God hardens some, leaving them to their own sinful ways that will turn them more and more against him. It looks like Paul is telling us that all who are saved are saved because God chose to save them and acted on their hearts. It looks like those who are not saved are not saved because they opposed God and God left them to themselves. It looks, well, Calvinistic.

What is most convincing to me that Paul is teaching the doctrine of election here the way that reformed believers claim is what comes next. Paul anticipates the objection to what he has just written. This is something that Paul has done a couple of times already in Romans. Paul will write for a bit, and then he will show you what those who oppose biblical teaching will claim.

So, watch the objection Paul anticipates. Ask yourself if Paul’s anticipated objection and his response to that objection tells you that Paul is turning away from a doctrine of sovereign election or if he is in fact telling us, “Yes, that is what I’m saying.”

Romans 9:19-24 – 19 You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” 20 But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” 21 Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? 22 What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, 23 in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory— 24 even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles?

Look at the objection Paul anticipated. People will ask how sovereign grace can possibly be fair. After all, nobody can overpower God. Nobody can resist God’s will. So how can it be right for God to judge people for rejecting him if he never elected them to eternal life?

Paul anticipates that objection. And if Paul was not teaching sovereign election, Paul would have said, “No, you misunderstand me.” But Paul does not say this. Instead, Paul responds with a reminder that we, as sinful creatures, have no right to question the way of salvation and sovereignty of the Lord. We are clay, and the potter who shapes the clay is the one who has the final say so as to what the clay will be. The potter does not exist for the clay, but the clay exists for the potter. And if there is any question as to who must be more free, the potter must be more free than the clay that the potter is using to shape things for the potter’s glory.

My point is not to remove all discomfort from this passage. Nor is my point to unpack its implications. But, I believe that it is important that we see that the anticipated objection that Paul speaks in verse 19 is a proof that what he was saying in the prior verses is exactly what it looks like; it is the doctrine of sovereign election. And we need to see that Paul’s response to the objection does not turn away from sovereignty to emphasize human autonomousfree-will. Instead, Paul doubles down on the fact that the freedom of God is ultimate.

If you want to put all this together, there are two truths you have to hold. If any person is saved, they are saved because God elected them, converted them, and saved them. If any person is lost, they are lost because they, in their sin, have never wanted to love and follow God. For the saved, God moves to overcome their natural rebellion against him, changing their desires so they come to him. For the lost, God allows them uninterrupted freedom, and they will always use that freedom to choose against God. In no case does God do anything here to treat any human being unjustly. In every case, every human life will glorify the Lord by either demonstrating his sovereign mercy or his perfect justice.

The Golden Chain and Foreknowledge

pastortravislv

The Bible teaches election and predestination. No Bible-believing Christian can deny this, since the words are used in multiple texts. What Christians often disagree on is how God elects.

Many Christians have been taught that God elects people to salvation based on his knowledge of their future choices and actions. These believe that God elected people to salvation before they were born by looking forward, seeing whether or not they would choose to follow Christ, and then electing those he foresaw would do so. But others would say that God elects based on his own will and not based on his knowledge of future right choices in people.

Interestingly, we sometimes see both groups attempt to explain predestination or election with the same passage.

Romans 8:29-30 – 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

If Romans 8:29 stood alone, it would appear that God predestined people to salvation, perhaps simply based on his knowledge of their future choices. Foreknowledge in that verse could be taken as simple information that God possessed beforehand. But, when these two verses are kept together, when the passage is handled fully, we see that such cannot be the case.

This passage is called by some the Golden Chain of Redemption. These two verses establish a set of unbreakable links that lead from God’s foreknowledge to eternal glory. But notice, and be sure to take seriously, the fact that the verses are clear that from step to step in this chain, all who were part of each prior step are also part of the next step. No person, not a single one is lost in the flow.

It will help if we start at the end, “and those whom he justified he also glorified.” Is there any possibility that God might justify a person, granting them total forgiveness because of Christ, and not ultimately glorify that same person? Can God lose a fully and clearly saved person? By no means. Later in this chapter, Paul will point out that nothing at all can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus.

Stepping back, “those whom he called he also justified.” Who are justified? Those whom God called are justified. Be careful here. Paul does not say that some of those he called are justified any more than he said that some of those who were justified are glorified. No, this is all-inclusive. The call here seems to be a call that is effective. The called are justified.
None are dropped from the chain.

 

Who are called? Paul tells us, “those whom he predestined he also called.” Again, this has not proved whether or not predestination is based on the choices of the saved or the choice of God primarily. But we see that all who are predestined are called. All who are predestined are called in an effective way so as to see all of them justified so as to see all of them glorified.

 

So, who is predestined? Verse 29 says, “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son.” Who is predestined? Those God foreknew are predestined. All of those God foreknew are predestined. There is no reason to see a break in the chain here. The Golden Chain tells us that all God foreknew are predestined, are called, are justified, are glorified.

 

But if this chain is all-inclusive on every step, then the word foreknew cannot be a reference to simple information had by God beforehand. Why? God foreknows every human being in that way. God knows all people who will exist. God knows all who will come to him and all who will not. But the text indicates no break from those he for knows and who will be predestined for salvation. Thus, if the word foreknowledge here only means data, then it would suggest that all people will be saved because all are foreknown.

 

However, a more faithful and biblical understanding here would be that to foreknow here is to know in a special way. It is to know so as to place his love upon certain people. It is for God to elect based on God’s desires and not based on simple data that he had beforehand.

 

If you study Scripture thoroughly, you will find that, when God talks about knowing someone, it is synonymous with a relationship and not merely with data. In Amos 3:2, God said that Israel is the only nation he has known. How could that be? God knows all nations intellectually. But, in the Old Testament, Israel is the only nation God chose for himself.

 

In Matthew 25, Jesus says he will tell the lost to depart from him. Why? He says he will tell them, “I never knew you.” How could that be. There is no human being about whom Jesus does not have data. But there will be people who never entered into a saving relationship with Jesus. Those he says he never knew.

 

The Golden Chain uses foreknew in the same way that those verses use knew. All God chose beforehand for a relationship with him are predestined, are called, are justified, and are glorified. There is no break in the chain. This is the only way to allow these verses to say all that they intend to say. Yes, there are implications. Yes, we who are focused so much on man’s independence will naturally balk here. But at the end of the day, this verse simply shows us that God is more sovereign than man and God’s purposes are not thwarted. God has chosen to save a people for himself, and he will accomplish his design.

Suffering and an Eternal Mindset

pastortravislv

In Romans 8, Paul speaks to us about hardships. He knows that people in this present age are suffering. Christians are facing and will face persecution. Believers will, at different seasons of history, be impoverished by their inability to participate in sinful activities in the lands in which they live. And, of course, believers, like all other people, face the hardships of living in this world: crime, disease, natural disasters, war, poverty, etc.

How are we to deal with knowing that this life is often so hard? Note what Paul said in his letter.

Romans 8:18 – For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

One answer to surviving the hardships of this life is what we see Paul say right here. The suffering we face, sufferings that are real and tremendously painful, are not worth even comparing to the glories to come. We have here a simple analysis of the pain of the present as compared to the glory and peace of the future. And Paul tells us, God tells us through Paul, that the glories to come will so far outstrip the pain of today that there is simply no comparison.

If your pain could be measured on a scale, it might reach some pretty high numbers. Let us pretend that there is a scale for human suffering that tops out at 100 points. You may have experienced some 75 point pains. Some of you may have reached something near the top of the scale. Others of you may have barely hit a 10.

Now imagine that there is a glory scale where one point of glory is equal in value to a point of suffering. What would it mean, when you look at your suffering score, to know that a million points of joy and glory are yours in the future? What would it mean that the score is even greater, a billion, a trillion, an infinity worth of joy and peace and life? This is what God wants you to get. No matter how much pain you face in the here an now, that pain will be dwarfed by the immeasurable joy and life you will have with God.

Christians are a supernatural people. When we think properly, we have our minds set on the eternity to come far more than on the pain of the present. We do not pretend that pain in this life is not real. But, when we get it right, we also remember that there is no pain in this life that can even put a dent in the joy of eternity. We live for the joy of the infinite glory of God. We are promised that we will experience his heart-filling, joy-inducing, perfect presence forever as we live lives of absolute bliss after this life is over. Our hope is there, not here. And when we have our minds properly set there, the pains of this life, though very real, fall into perspective and we survive in hope of what is to come.

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.

You Need Friends in the Church

pastortravislv

Do you have friends? No, I do not mean to ask you if you have people who know your name and will smile at you as you pass by. Do you have real friends? Are there people to whom your life is tightly connected? Are there people in your local church who know you inside and out, who speak truth into your life, who encourage you when you hurt, and who kick you in the pants when you need it?

When Paul wrote to the Romans, he shared a particular desire with them that speaks to us about our need for the church.

Romans 1:11-12 – 11 For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— 12 that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.

Paul was an apostle. IN so many ways, we think of Paul as the apostle. Paul is the man who God used to take the gospel to the gentiles. In Acts, it appears that Peter fades into the background as the ministry work focuses on Paul as the book moves forward. Paul personally wrote 13 of our New Testament letters. Paul’s influence is clear in the life of Luke, and thus Paul’s fingerprints are on Luke-Acts. And though I do not think Paul wrote the letter to the Hebrews, his teaching oozes from the pores of that book too. If there was a titan of the early church, a man used by God to shape the growing body of believers in the first century, it would be hard to settle on any single figure more than Paul.

Thus, it is no surprise to us that Paul would want to get to the Christians in Rome so that he could encourage them. Of course he would want to do this. Of course Paul would know that those folks needed his teaching.

What is a surprise, however, is that Paul said that he wanted to be mutually encouraged. He wanted to be strengthened by the faith of the Romans as much as he wanted to give of his own faith to the Romans. Paul saw both that he needed to go to Rome for the good of that church and he needed the Romans for the good of his own soul.

Let me say to you, dear Christian, that you are not wiser or stronger than Paul. And if Paul needed the church, so do you. If Paul needed to get himself to be with other believers for two big reasons, so do you.

You need the church in two big ways, no matter how strong and self-sufficient you think you are. You need the church to encourage your soul. You need the people of the church to challenge your thinking, to teach you truth, to encourage your heart, to test your patience, to bring about your repentance, to prod at your sanctification, to show you love, to help you to forgive, to live out the biblical “one another” commands, and so much more. You cannot live the Christian life that God commands you to live without the help of the other believers you find in a local church.

And you need to be a part of a local church so that you can do for others the very things you need others to do for you. If you are a brainy Christian, you need to help other believers understand the truths that God has gifted you to learn. You need to encourage the weak. You need to give kindly to others. You need to show compassion. You need to train up believers who are younger than you in the faith. You need to encourage and strengthen older believers. You need to grow the church as you love others in Christ with truth, mercy, compassion, grace, love, joy, and so much more.

You cannot be a faithful Christian and not connect in the church. You cannot be a faithful Christian without friends in the church. You need friends in the church whether you think you do or not. You need people that you can hurt with your words so that you can learn to temper your words and seek forgiveness when you fail—this is good for your humility. You need other Christians who will drive you nuts with their weaknesses, as this will teach you to love them as Christ loves them and gave himself for them. You need Christians who are smarter than you to remind you that your thoughts are not the best thoughts ever thought by thinking thinkers. You need Christians who can barely make themselves read a book but who put you to shame with their deep seasons of prayer and their gloriously sweet hearts to serve others, hearts you would do well to learn to imitate.  You need kind Christians who teach you not to be a jerk. You need jerky Christians to help you to be compassionate toward sinners as God has been compassionate toward you even as you participate in their sanctification.

At the end of the day, if you are a believer, you need the church. So do not disconnect. Find a body of believers. It will not be perfect. Find a place where the gospel is preached faithfully. Find a place where believers walk through life together, sometimes getting it right, often getting it wrong, but always wanting to glorify God. Find a local church and dive in. Love the people. Care for the people. Help the weaker grow. Learn that you are also the weaker and people help you grow. Obey Christ and love his church. You need this.

A Resurrection Focus

pastortravislv

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.