Thursday, December 31, 2015
God is the one who is the determiner of all things
You see the problem with the Arminian interpretation of Genesis 45:4 and Genesis 50:20 is that their interpretation does not deal properly with the text of Scripture. It is one thing to say that these are the ONLY text in which we see that " ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good." But, it is not and the things leading up to this point present to us that God not only was working within this situation but was Himself the cause AND determiner of it all (including the acts of evil men).
God determined them to that which is good
All those whom God hath predestinated unto life, and those only, he is pleased, in his appointed and accepted time, effectually to call, by his Word and Spirit, out of that state of sin and death, in which they are by nature, to grace and salvation, by Jesus Christ; enlightening their minds spiritually and savingly to understand the things of God, taking away their heart of stone, and giving unto them a heart of flesh; renewing their wills, and, by his almighty power, determining them to that which is good, and effectually drawing them to Jesus Christ: yet so, as they come most freely, being made willing by his grace.
The Westminster Confession of Faith Chapter 10 section 1
This is really interesting because those whom God predestined unto life at the appointed time they were effectually called by the word and Spirit enlightening their minds taking away their heart of stone and giving a heart of flesh by his almighty power, in which they were determined to that which is good.
Today we have many who profess Calvinism and yet still hold to a theory of free will. But not the WCF. It says that God determined them to that which is good.
The Westminster Confession of Faith Chapter 10 section 1
This is really interesting because those whom God predestined unto life at the appointed time they were effectually called by the word and Spirit enlightening their minds taking away their heart of stone and giving a heart of flesh by his almighty power, in which they were determined to that which is good.
Today we have many who profess Calvinism and yet still hold to a theory of free will. But not the WCF. It says that God determined them to that which is good.
The Calvinist Non-Lordshiper are the one's who really do count the cost.
The funny thing is while the Lordshipers are touting their horns "count the cost" "it will cost you everything" those who really have lost everything for the sake of the gospel are those who are of the sovereign free grace of God camp.... Those who believe that salvation is by the effectual and accomplished death of Christ alone received by assent alone. As far as it goes friends I once considered friends no longer are friends with me. It isn't because I pushed them away. I try and attempt to keep up with some of them, but with no avail. I had one tell me the other day that I can be friends with him on Facebook at least if I didn't say anything or post anything on his wall. This same guy asked me if I had down syndrome or was molested as a child.
David Bishop says, "Had LS stopped at saying Christians should strive to bring every area of their life into logical alignment with the truth of the gospel, then I would not have had a problem with them. I would have said amen. But they didn't stop here. Instead they went on to say you're not even saved unless you're doing this, and you have no right to the assurance of your salvation unless you're doing this. Now, that's bad. Very, very bad, because it obliterates the cross of Christ alone as the only foundation of repentance from dead works. It substitutes the cross with my striving to bring my life into alignment with Christ's authority as the foundation of repentance from dead works"
David Bishop says, "Had LS stopped at saying Christians should strive to bring every area of their life into logical alignment with the truth of the gospel, then I would not have had a problem with them. I would have said amen. But they didn't stop here. Instead they went on to say you're not even saved unless you're doing this, and you have no right to the assurance of your salvation unless you're doing this. Now, that's bad. Very, very bad, because it obliterates the cross of Christ alone as the only foundation of repentance from dead works. It substitutes the cross with my striving to bring my life into alignment with Christ's authority as the foundation of repentance from dead works"
Wednesday, December 30, 2015
On the Trinity
The doctrine of the Holy trinity simply stated is that God is one in essence but three in person. These persons are completely God, coeternal, coexisting. The Father never became the Father nor did the Son ever become the Son likewise the Spirit... Neither of them became what or who they are as the Mormons and Jehovah Witnesses teaches.
17Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. -2 Corinthians 3
To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen. - Romans 9
Does Jesus have to say only for us to know that He only died for the elect alone?
Once debated some Arminians who, when quoted John 10 concerning Christ's effectual death on the cross limited to the elect alone, said that the passage at hand didn't say only.
John Gill responds: wer to this,
1. It is observed,[1] that “in none of these places it is said that Christ died only for his sheep, for hisfriends,or for his church;and, therefore, none of them say anything in contradiction to our assertion” of general redemption. I reply, this objection is much like... what the Papists make against the doctrine of justification by faith. They own the Scriptures say, that we are justified by faith, but not by faith only.Now it may with as much propriety be said, that other, besides those which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham, because the Scriptures do not say that they which be of faithonly are blessed with him, or that there are more gods and more mediators than one, because the text does not say, there is only one God, and only one Mediator; yea, it might be urged with equal strength, that men may love other women besides their own wives, in the same manner they love them, because it is not said, husbands love your wives only,as it may that Christ loved others, and gave himself for others, besides his church; because it is not said, he loved his church only and gave himself for his church only. But, though this restrictive word is not expressed, it is evidently implied; for, if Christ laid down his life, and gave himself for every individual man, these peculiar and discriminating characters would be utterly unnecessary. And, after all, it is owned by our opponents,[2] that “eventually Christ is the Savior of his body, and died only for his sheep and friends.”
John Gill responds: wer to this,
1. It is observed,[1] that “in none of these places it is said that Christ died only for his sheep, for hisfriends,or for his church;and, therefore, none of them say anything in contradiction to our assertion” of general redemption. I reply, this objection is much like... what the Papists make against the doctrine of justification by faith. They own the Scriptures say, that we are justified by faith, but not by faith only.Now it may with as much propriety be said, that other, besides those which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham, because the Scriptures do not say that they which be of faithonly are blessed with him, or that there are more gods and more mediators than one, because the text does not say, there is only one God, and only one Mediator; yea, it might be urged with equal strength, that men may love other women besides their own wives, in the same manner they love them, because it is not said, husbands love your wives only,as it may that Christ loved others, and gave himself for others, besides his church; because it is not said, he loved his church only and gave himself for his church only. But, though this restrictive word is not expressed, it is evidently implied; for, if Christ laid down his life, and gave himself for every individual man, these peculiar and discriminating characters would be utterly unnecessary. And, after all, it is owned by our opponents,[2] that “eventually Christ is the Savior of his body, and died only for his sheep and friends.”
2. The argument is retorted upon thus;[3] “He that died for his friends, and for his enemies, for the church of God, and for the unrighteous, that he might bring them to the church of God; for the sheep that heard his voice, and for the lost ones that did not hearken to his voice, died for all. But Christ died for his friends, etc., therefore he died for all.” The fallacy of this argument will easily appear, when it is observed, that they are, the same individual persons who are styled the enemies and friends of Christ, the unrighteous, and the church, the lost sheep, and such as hearken to Christ's voice; being the former as considered in their unregenerate estate, and the latter through the power of his grace upon them. - The Cause of God and Truth
My friend David Bishop also says,
In other words, the word "only" is unnecessary in view of the context; especially of verse 26. Shepherds shepherd sheep. They don't shepherd goats, cows, dogs and horses. Hence the title shep(sheep)herd. Therefore, He doesn't need to say the shepherd came to lay down his life ONLY for the sheep in order for his words to mean exactly that.
My friend David Bishop also says,
In other words, the word "only" is unnecessary in view of the context; especially of verse 26. Shepherds shepherd sheep. They don't shepherd goats, cows, dogs and horses. Hence the title shep(sheep)herd. Therefore, He doesn't need to say the shepherd came to lay down his life ONLY for the sheep in order for his words to mean exactly that.
Christ is our High Priest
Just reading through Leviticus. I am in chapter 8 and so far I am seeing the tedious tasks of the levitic priesthood to make atonement of sin on behalf of the people.
As the Hebrew writer makes this so clear. Christ is the great high priest who actually atoned once for all by his effectual death on the cross for the sins of the elect alone.
"If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron? 12For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law.13For he of whom these things are spoken pertaineth to another tribe, of which no man gave attendance at the altar. 14For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Juda; of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood. 15And it is yet far more evident: for that after the similitude of Melchisedec there ariseth another priest, 16Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life.
17For he testifieth, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.
18For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof. 19For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God. 20And inasmuch as not without an oath he was made priest:
21(For those priests were made without an oath; but this with an oath by him that said unto him, The Lord sware and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec:)
22By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament.
23And they truly were many priests, because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death: 24But thisman, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood.25Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.
26For such an high priest became us,who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; 27Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people's: for this he did once, when he offered up himself. 28For the law maketh men high priests which have infirmity; but the word of the oath, which was since the law, maketh the Son, who is consecrated for evermore."
As the Hebrew writer makes this so clear. Christ is the great high priest who actually atoned once for all by his effectual death on the cross for the sins of the elect alone.
"If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron? 12For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law.13For he of whom these things are spoken pertaineth to another tribe, of which no man gave attendance at the altar. 14For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Juda; of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood. 15And it is yet far more evident: for that after the similitude of Melchisedec there ariseth another priest, 16Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life.
17For he testifieth, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.
18For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof. 19For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God. 20And inasmuch as not without an oath he was made priest:
21(For those priests were made without an oath; but this with an oath by him that said unto him, The Lord sware and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec:)
22By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament.
23And they truly were many priests, because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death: 24But thisman, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood.25Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.
26For such an high priest became us,who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; 27Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people's: for this he did once, when he offered up himself. 28For the law maketh men high priests which have infirmity; but the word of the oath, which was since the law, maketh the Son, who is consecrated for evermore."
Tuesday, December 29, 2015
Christians should encourage knowledge of truth
For many Christians, or those who say they are any way, knowledge is well despised. Of course this is nothing new people have despised knowledge since the beginning of the first sin. However, the Bible encourages understanding and knowledge of the truth. Philippians 2:5; 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5, 5:1-3; Colossians 1:9; Ephesians 1:9, 17-18, 4:23-24. In fact this seems to be the purpose of the Exodus that the Egyptians might know God (and also the Jewish people no doubt) - Exodus 14:4, Deuteronomy 4:35-36. Of course God's people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. 1 Thessalonians 4 seems to make the effect of our sanctification in knowledge.
On Covenant Presbyterian Church in Fort Worth
I had the opportunity to attend an OPC church and it was interesting to say the least. There were three elders and one of the elders was the Pastor. The congregation seemed to have revered the pastor. The hymns were also interesting. They all sang a Charles Wesley hymn. After the service I asked the pastor several questions pertaining to Arminians and the Gospel. "Arminians are well intended" says the false pastor who also commingled the law and the gospel by saying that the gospel begins with bad news. Further notes pertaining to the sermon is can we not know the reason why Christ died and can we not know the glory of God in Christ? Overall this pastor and the church denies revelation and accepts idolatry as a form of worship.
1 Peter 1 is about the holiness that comes from Christ's imputed righteousness
1 Peter 1 talks of the holiness that comes by the blood of Christ alone. It is because of him (by his death which he took our sins and by his imputed righteousness to us) that we know and believe the gospel.
Thursday, December 10, 2015
What to teach? The Bible alone is the word of God
Just considering what Genesis 37 says truth is not what others think or how others perceive you but it is what God has revealed in his word. Though a mountain of people are against you the standard is the Bible alone; the word of God. In it God shows us what is truth.
The victory in Christ is our faith that has overcometh the world
"Finally, the impotence of all human strength in the spiritual conflict is briefly demonstrated by John when he says, 'Whosoever is born of God cannot sin; for his seed remaineth in him' and in another place he adds the reason, that 'this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.'" - John Calvin, the Institutes, 2. 5. 11.
The school system ignores God and by this they are not neutral
"Let no one fail to see the point: The school system that ignores God teaches its pupils to ignore God; and thus is not neutrality. It is the worst form of antagonism, for it judges God to be unimportant and irrelevant in human affairs. This is atheism." - Gordon H. Clark, A Christian Philosophy of Education, pg. 73
Without revelation there are no ethics
"Ethics depends on revelation, and more emphasis should be placed on the necessity of revelation. A God who told man nothing would not be a satisfactory basis for ethics." - Gordon H. Clark, A Christian Philosophy of Education, pg 109
Tuesday, November 24, 2015
Isaac Chauncy view of election in predestination is before consideration of the fall
"LV Was not Election out of the fallen corrupted Mass of Mankind foreseen?
A. No, for these Reasons 1st, Is Man was so considered by the same Reason Angels should, but Angels were not considered so. This is most evident, because the elect Angels were never in a corrupted State, and the fallen Angels never elected. 2ndly, Christ was elected 1 Peter 1:20. And the first born of Election Eph 1:4. But Christ was never chosen under the consideration of being Part of the corrupted Mass of Mankind in any Respect; therefore Election could not pass upon the corrupt Mass, because Christ must then be chosen out of it, and if so, the other Elect could not be chosen as such in him Eph 1:4. 3rd, If Men were elected out of the corrupt Mass, Election would be an Act of Mercy, whatever Reprobation is, for if a Person that is looked at as miserable among others be chosen and called out from among them as such and designed to Salvation, this is an Eye of Mercy, Pity, and Commiseration, when others in the same Condemnation or Misery with them are left to perish. When as Election is no Act of Mercy, nor Reprobation of Justice, but both of mere Sovereignty Rom 9:21-22." - Isaac Chauncy, The doctrine, which is according to godliness, grounded upon the Holy Scriptures of truth, Pg. 63
A. No, for these Reasons 1st, Is Man was so considered by the same Reason Angels should, but Angels were not considered so. This is most evident, because the elect Angels were never in a corrupted State, and the fallen Angels never elected. 2ndly, Christ was elected 1 Peter 1:20. And the first born of Election Eph 1:4. But Christ was never chosen under the consideration of being Part of the corrupted Mass of Mankind in any Respect; therefore Election could not pass upon the corrupt Mass, because Christ must then be chosen out of it, and if so, the other Elect could not be chosen as such in him Eph 1:4. 3rd, If Men were elected out of the corrupt Mass, Election would be an Act of Mercy, whatever Reprobation is, for if a Person that is looked at as miserable among others be chosen and called out from among them as such and designed to Salvation, this is an Eye of Mercy, Pity, and Commiseration, when others in the same Condemnation or Misery with them are left to perish. When as Election is no Act of Mercy, nor Reprobation of Justice, but both of mere Sovereignty Rom 9:21-22." - Isaac Chauncy, The doctrine, which is according to godliness, grounded upon the Holy Scriptures of truth, Pg. 63
Thursday, November 19, 2015
Arminianism is the doctrine of demons
". . . The doctrines of the apostles were revived, and supernatural Theology once more lift up its head; the reformed churches published their confessions of faith, and many eminent men wrote common places, and systems of divinity; in which they all agreed in the main, to support the doctrines of revelation; as of the Trinity, and the Deity of the divine Persons in it; those of predestination and eternal election in Christ, of redemption by him, pardon of sin by his blood, and justification by his righteousness.
But Satan who envied the increasing light of the Gospel, soon began to bestir him-self, and to play his old game which he had done with so much success in the first ages of Christianity; having been for a long time otherwise engaged, to nurse up the man of sin, and to bring him to the height of his impiety and tyranny, and to support him in it: and now as his kingdom was like to be shook, if not subverted, by the doctrines of the Reformation; he, I say, goes to his old work again; and revives the Sabellian and Photinian errors, by the Socinians in Poland; and the Pelagian errors, by the Arminians and Remonstrants in Holland; the pernicious influence of which has been spread in other countries; and, indeed, has drawn a veil over the glory of the Reformation, and the doctrines of it." - John Gill, Introduction to the Body of Divinity, Pg. XXXiX
But Satan who envied the increasing light of the Gospel, soon began to bestir him-self, and to play his old game which he had done with so much success in the first ages of Christianity; having been for a long time otherwise engaged, to nurse up the man of sin, and to bring him to the height of his impiety and tyranny, and to support him in it: and now as his kingdom was like to be shook, if not subverted, by the doctrines of the Reformation; he, I say, goes to his old work again; and revives the Sabellian and Photinian errors, by the Socinians in Poland; and the Pelagian errors, by the Arminians and Remonstrants in Holland; the pernicious influence of which has been spread in other countries; and, indeed, has drawn a veil over the glory of the Reformation, and the doctrines of it." - John Gill, Introduction to the Body of Divinity, Pg. XXXiX
The Bible alone is the word of God alone and so the story of Noah's Ark is true
The Bible and Noah’s Ark
By
Monty L. Collier
Of all the books you can read, the Bible alone is the Word of God. “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works” 2 Timothy 3:16-17. The teachings of sinful men and their churches are neither above the authority of Scripture, nor are they equal to Scripture, for they are merely the fallible products of uninspired and sinful minds. “And these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and to Apollos for your sakes; that ye might learn in us not to think of men above that which is written” 1 Corinthians 4:6.
The only persons who ever wrote infallible and inspired truth were those individuals selected by God to author the 66 Books of the Protestant Bible. Since the Bible is perfect, men no longer receive special revelations from God in the form of dreams, visions, etc. “But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away” (1 Corinthians 13:10). The Bible alone is the perfect Word of God.
The Bible alone is true. Scripture alone has the monopoly on truth. Apart from Scripture, God has given man no other source of truth. The Bible is not merely a scripture of truth, but, to the contrary, the Bible self-identifies itself to be “the Scripture of truth” Daniel 10:21. The Bible alone is true. All other competing systems, such as Islam, modern empirical science, Roman Catholicism, Cartesian rationalism, to name a few, are not based on Scripture alone—and so they are all necessarily false.
My friend and teacher John Robbins, who passed in the Summer of 2008, correctly wrote the following in the foreword to Louis Gaussen’s excellent book on the divine inspiration of Scripture: “God not only controlled which words, phrases, sentences, and paragraphs were to be set down as Scripture, but also controlled all human history so that at the exact time chosen, the author of those words would be properly prepared and available to write the words that God dictated to him. The result is an exact statement of God’s thoughts in human language, language perfectly adequate to express divine thoughts” (God Breathed: The Divine Inspiration of the Bible, page 9).
You should read and study your Bible daily. “Seek ye out of the book of the Lord, and read” Isaiah 34:16. You are not to rely on some minister, elder, seminary, public school teacher, parent, wife, husband, confession, Hollywood movie, popular author (alive or dead), pope, priest, or any other sinful person / institution to tell you what the Bible teaches. You are to search the Bible for yourself: “Search ye the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me” John 5:39.
When it comes to what the Bible teaches, men are not to be trusted, especially ministers, elders, seminary teachers, and preachers. 17th Century Calvinist Francis Turretin states the following: “Thus in the church the judgment of pastors can be admitted only so far as it agrees with the Scriptures” (Institutes of Elenctic Theology, Volume I, page 158). Why did this Calvinist theologian say this? Because, Turretin knew that all men by nature are sinful, prone to err, and inclined towards evil. Hence, their teachings must be carefully examined in light of Scripture alone. We are to test all things. “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good” 1 Thessalonians 5:21.
Bible believing Christians should not mindlessly accept the teachings of any minister or elder. “These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so” Acts 17:11. All men naturally descending from Adam are born evil, totally depraved, and inclined to lie. “Take ye heed every one of his neighbor, and trust ye not in any brother: for every brother will utterly supplant, and every neighbor will walk with slanders. And they will deceive everyone his neighbor, and will not speak the truth: they have taught their tongues to speak lies, and weary themselves to commit iniquity. Thine habitation is in the midst of deceit; through deceit they refuse to know me, saith the Lord” Jeremiah 9:4-6.
Not only is it a logical fallacy to think the teachings of a pastor are correct simply because he is a pastor, but, it has been recorded in the infallible Bible that pastors have a history of messing things up. “Many pastors have destroyed my vineyard, they have trodden my portion under foot, they have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness” Jeremiah 12:10.
Do you not see the importance of knowing the Bible for yourself? Those who do not know the Bible can only be in a state of error, and they cannot know the power of God. “Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God” Matthew 22:29.
★☆★Absolute Predestination★☆★
Did you know the God of the Bible has determined whatsoever comes to pass? It’s true. “In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will” Ephesians 1:11. From Noah’s ark, which we will discuss later, to the writings of Martin Luther, which we will also discuss later, all events have been determined by God.
Did you know the Bible itself was predestined? Each inspired and infallible Word of the Bible, every sentence of Scripture, each command, and every proposition of Holy Writ was determined for me to read before the universe was ever created. “For ever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven” Psalm 119:89. Indeed, I would have never read a single line of Scripture, if God had not purposed it from eternity. “The Lord of hosts have sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand” Isaiah 14:24.
If God had determined for me never to have come into contact with the Bible, then I would have never been exposed to it. “For who hath resisted His will?” Romans 9:19. When I was a small child, I did not by chance hear the Bible being read, but God caused me to be present when my parents read Scripture to me; God made them read Scripture to me, and at the appointed time God illuminated my mind with His Word and Spirit: “Remember the word unto thy servant, upon which thou hast caused me to hope. This is my comfort in my affliction: for thy word hath quickened me” Psalm 119:49-50.
★☆★Noah’s Ark★☆★
There have always been wicked people who think the Bible is false, or who think that some parts of the Bible are false—but they are greatly deceived. The entire Bible is absolutely true, all 66 Books of the Protestant Bible. From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible is perfect, infallible, and completely true. “Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever” Psalm 119:160.
Consider Noah’s ark. The Bible’s infallible history of Noah’s ark is true. Of course, this part of the Bible infuriates many nonbelievers today. Noah’s divinely inspired history tells us of an ancient world filled with wicked men, who despised God’s Word—ancient men who loved evil and who loved to strive against the God of the Bible. “And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh” Genesis 6:3.
Today, our own population is cursed with gross ignorance of the Bible, and it celebrates a plethora of abominations. We have a people who proudly publish and support activities so vile that modesty prevents us from speaking of them. Can one view media today without having the most sinister evils boldly paraded before one’s eyes and ears? Can one sit in a classroom today and not hear from the teacher how the most abysmal wickedness is actually good? Like the ancient days of Noah, our population seems to be courting God’s destruction. “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that he had made man on earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them” Genesis 6:5-7.
★☆★Faith Alone In Christ Alone★☆★
Although most will never believe the Gospel, God has determined that some will. “Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace” Romans 11:5. Many people throughout history never came into contact with Scripture, and of those who did, only some were converted. Today, in our own land, many have come into contact with the Bible, but the conditions of our churches and government testify that few have been converted. “Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?...for many be called, but few chosen” Matthew 20:15-16.
In the days before God destroyed the world with the great deluge, the Lord converted Noah. “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord” Genesis 6:8. Like all Christians, Noah was justified by faith alone in Christ alone. “Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified” Galatians 2:16. Noah’s faith in God’s promise to send the Messiah to atone for his sins saved him. “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel” Genesis 3:15.
Today, the Gospel is God’s promise fulfilled. Jesus saved His people from their sins with his substitutionary life and death. Christ paid the ransom to God for us; the blood of Jesus satisfied the Law of God for us. Because of Christ’s definite atonement, our sins are not imputed to us, for they were imputed to Christ, while His righteousness is imputed freely to us and received by faith alone. The Lord’s amazing promise has been fulfilled for almost 2,000 years! This is good news. Those today, who are convicted of their sins by God’s moral Law, and who flee to God’s promise by faith alone, are saved! “But the Scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe” Galatians 3:22.
Like all sinners today, Noah was unable to believe God’s promise, for Noah was born in sin, totally corrupted, and his will wholly inclined towards evil. “There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God” Romans 3:11. Left to himself, Noah was incapable of believing the Gospel. Noah was dead in his sins, but God loved Noah from eternity. “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins” Ephesians 2:1.
Not only did God determine to save His people, but the Lord promised to give all of us, like He gave Noah, both understanding and belief in His Gospel. “And I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the Lord: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they will return unto me with their whole heart” Jeremiah 24:7. God gave Noah the faith he needed to be saved, and God freely gives this saving faith to all the elect today, too! “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast” Ephesians 2:8-9.
As a believer, like all believers, Noah’s sins were not charged to his account. “Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin” Romans 4:8. Noah’s sins were laid upon Jesus Christ, who is the Surety for all of the elect. “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all…by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors” Isaiah 53:5-12.
Not only was Noah’s sins charged to Christ, but the righteousness of Christ was imputed to Noah, and to all of us that believe the Gospel. “(For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification. For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ) Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous” Romans 5:13-19.
By faith alone did Noah receive the free gift of Christ’s imputed righteousness. Faith in God’s Word also saved Noah in a temporal sense, too—for he believed God’s promise to destroy the world with a great flood. What did God say to Noah? “And God said to Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Make thee an ark of gopher wood;…And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh,…But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons’ wives with thee. And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female” (Genesis 6:13-19.
Noah built an ark, for he believed the Lord. “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith” Hebrews 11:6-7.
★☆★What Does Noah’s Ark Represent?★☆★
This is an interesting question. Some Catholics have thought that Noah’s Ark represents the Virgin Mary. These pagans wish us to think that we must go to Mary for salvation. Obviously, this contradicts the Bible, which plainly states that salvation is found in none but Christ alone. The Bible never recognizes any mere man in general, let alone the Virgin Mary in particular, to be our savior. “I, even I, am the Lord; and besides me there is no savior” Isaiah 43:11.
Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who is perfect God and perfect man, will allow none to share his exclusive position of savior: “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” John 14:6. It is in Christ alone that salvation is to be sought and found. “Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” Acts 4:10-12.
★☆★Martin Luther★☆★
Shame on you, if you do not know the history and writings of Martin Luther! Luther is the great German Reformer, who took on pope and emperor with Scripture alone and set off the Protestant Reformation! The Protestant Reformation did what the Renaissance could not do—it ended the Dark Ages and ushered in modern civilization.
Do you know what Luther thought Noah’s Ark represented? In the following, I quote five paragraphs from Luther’s Lectures on Genesis. In these paragraphs, Luther discusses God’s absolute predestination of all things, why Christians need not fear death, and what Noah’s ark actually represents. Check this out!
“Just as the Deluge and the Red Sea are helpers, as it were, to deliver Noah and Israel from death and to preserve their life, so our own death, if we abide in the faith, is clearly the opportunity for life. When the children of Israel were in extreme peril, the sea suddenly opened and stood to the right and to the left like an iron wall, so that Israel passed through without danger. Why did this happen? Manifestly in order that in this manner death might serve life. For this is the divine power by which the assaults of Satan are overcome, as was the case in Paradise. There, too, he was endeavoring to kill the entire human race with his poison. But what happens? Through what was truly a “happy guilt,” as the church sings, it was brought about that the Son of God came down into our flesh and delivered us from such great evils.
“Accordingly, this allegory teaches, comforts, and encourages us in an excellent manner. As a result, we fear neither death nor sin but disdain all dangers while we give thanks to God for calling us and dealing with us in such a way. Death itself, by which the entire world perishes, is compelled to serve life, just as the Flood, in which the rest of the world perished, was the occasion to preserve Noah; and the Red Sea, by which Pharaoh was destroyed, served the welfare of the Children of Israel.
“This must be applied also to other trials. We must learn to disdain dangers and to have hope even when no hope appears to be left, so that when death or any other danger befalls us, we may encourage ourselves and say: “Behold, here is your Red Sea, your Flood, your baptism, and your death. Here your life—as a philosopher used to say about those who were going to sea—is barely a handbreadth away from death. But do not be afraid. This danger is like a handful of water, whereas through the Word you have a flood of grace. Therefore death will not destroy you but will be a thrust and aid toward life.” Far from being able to destroy the Christian, death is the most immediate escape from death. For the death of the body immediately precedes the liberation of the spirit as well as the resurrection of the flesh. Similarly, in the Flood it is neither the earth nor the trees nor the mountains that carry Noah; it is the Flood itself, even though it kills the rest of the human race.
“Therefore the prophets have reason for their frequent praise of the wonderful deeds of God, such as the passage through the Red Sea, the exodus from Egypt, and the like. For there the sea, which by nature cannot do otherwise than overwhelm and destroy man, is compelled to stand still and protect him, lest he be covered by its waves. Hence that which by its nature is nothing but wrath becomes grace for those who believe; that which is nothing but death becomes life. Thus, whatever misfortunes there are, of which this life surely has countless numbers and by which our bodies and goods are beset—all this will be turned into salvation and joy if you are in the ark, that is, if you believe and lay hold of the promises made in Christ; for death which carries you away, must be turned into life, and hell, which engulfs you, into a way to heaven…
“In order to comfort and strengthen our hearts, allegories must be directed toward the promises and toward the teaching of the faith, as the example of Peter teaches us. Because he sees that Noah is delivered in the midst of death and that the ark is the means of life, the ark is properly made to signify Christ. For it takes a divine power to save in the midst of death and to carry across to life. Thus in Ps. 68:20 Scripture calls God the One who delivers from death and makes death an occasion or even an aid to life.”
(Luther’s Works, Volume 2, page156)
★☆★Thomas Goodwin★☆★
Thomas Goodwin was born in the year 1600 near Yarmouth. He was an English Puritan, who was chosen in 1643 to be a member of the famous Westminster Assembly. He was a Congregationalist (he identified with the independent party, for he was one of the “dissenting brethren”). In 1649 he was appointed President of Magdalan College, Oxford. It was during this time that Thomas Goodwin and John Owen took turns preaching to the students of that University! Later, Goodwin was a chaplain to the great Oliver Cromwell. Below is a quote from The Works of Thomas Goodwin. In this quote, Goodwin explains what Noah’s ark typifies. Check this out.
“Christ our Savior typified by Noah’s ark.—As Noah was instructed by God to enter into the ark for his safety, so God in the covenant of grace teacheth us to know Christ, and to come to him for salvation…The ancient writers of the church, the fathers (as they call them), say, that by ark is meant the church. Now, it is true that one and the same type often signifieth two or three things; as, for example, the temple signified the body of Christ—‘Destroy this temple,’ saith Christ—it signifieth the church universal, the body of Christ mystical; it signifieth every particular soul: ‘Ye are the temple of the Holy Ghost,’ 1 Cor. Vi. 19. But this let me say, when you shall find a parallel made between the thing and the thing signified, and in particular applied to one thing, you must only understand it so, and there you must not understand it as a type of the other. In 1 Peter 3:20-21 you have Noah’s ark made a type of Christ, as he is administered to us in baptism: ‘The like figure whereunto’ (having spoken of the ark) ‘wherein few, that is, eight persons were saved through water.’ The like figure is baptism, whereby we are saved; but here baptism, signified by the ark, bears not the figure of the church, and that plainly for this reason, because the ark is the figure of that wherein we are saved (‘wherein few were saved, eight persons’). Now, eight were the persons saved, and saved in the ark, and they bare the resemblance of the church in being saved; but it is the ark that bears the resemblance of that wherein we are saved, who is Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, signified and applied to us in baptism.”
(The Works of Thomas Goodwin, Volume 8, pages 164-166)
In other words, like Martin Luther, Thomas Goodwin is teaching that we are saved from eternal death by being in Christ alone, just as Noah was saved from temporal death by being in the ark. Noah’s ark is a representation of salvation in Jesus Christ alone. Those that believe the Gospel are in Christ and have eternal life.
★☆★John Gill★☆★
Who is John Gill? He’s the greatest Baptist preacher and theologian in the history of the English speaking people. Gill was extremely Calvinistic, and he was a prolific writer, too. He taught in the 1700’s in England. If you have not read Gill’s major writings, then make a point to obtain hard copies and carefully read them. Below is what John Gill thought Noah’s ark represented:
“The ark was a type of Christ, into whom whoever enters by faith, or in whom whoever believes, shall be saved: but as they that entered into the ark were but few, so are those that enter in at the straight gate, or believe in Christ; and that they went into the ark were saved by the water bearing up the ark, even by that by which others were destroyed; as the very same thing, for different reasons, is the cause or means of destruction and salvation; so Christ is set, for the fall and rising of many, is a stumblingblock to some, and the power and wisdom of God to others; and the Gospel, and the ministers of it, are the savour of life unto life to some, and the savour of death unto death to others…the ark, and deliverance by it, as it was a type of Christ and salvation by him, so it was a figure of baptism, and baptism was the antitype of that…Christ only is the Cause and Author of eternal salvation; and as those only that were in the ark were saved by water, so those only that are in Christ, and that are baptized into Christ, and into his death are saved by baptism; not everyone that is baptized, but he that believeth.”
(Gill’s Commentary, Volume VI, page 835)
★☆★Conclusion★☆★
The Bible alone is the Word of God. The history of Noah found in Scripture is absolutely true. Noah’s ark represents salvation in Christ alone, received by faith alone, all by God’s sovereign grace alone, and according to Scripture alone!
By
Monty L. Collier
Of all the books you can read, the Bible alone is the Word of God. “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works” 2 Timothy 3:16-17. The teachings of sinful men and their churches are neither above the authority of Scripture, nor are they equal to Scripture, for they are merely the fallible products of uninspired and sinful minds. “And these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and to Apollos for your sakes; that ye might learn in us not to think of men above that which is written” 1 Corinthians 4:6.
The only persons who ever wrote infallible and inspired truth were those individuals selected by God to author the 66 Books of the Protestant Bible. Since the Bible is perfect, men no longer receive special revelations from God in the form of dreams, visions, etc. “But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away” (1 Corinthians 13:10). The Bible alone is the perfect Word of God.
The Bible alone is true. Scripture alone has the monopoly on truth. Apart from Scripture, God has given man no other source of truth. The Bible is not merely a scripture of truth, but, to the contrary, the Bible self-identifies itself to be “the Scripture of truth” Daniel 10:21. The Bible alone is true. All other competing systems, such as Islam, modern empirical science, Roman Catholicism, Cartesian rationalism, to name a few, are not based on Scripture alone—and so they are all necessarily false.
My friend and teacher John Robbins, who passed in the Summer of 2008, correctly wrote the following in the foreword to Louis Gaussen’s excellent book on the divine inspiration of Scripture: “God not only controlled which words, phrases, sentences, and paragraphs were to be set down as Scripture, but also controlled all human history so that at the exact time chosen, the author of those words would be properly prepared and available to write the words that God dictated to him. The result is an exact statement of God’s thoughts in human language, language perfectly adequate to express divine thoughts” (God Breathed: The Divine Inspiration of the Bible, page 9).
You should read and study your Bible daily. “Seek ye out of the book of the Lord, and read” Isaiah 34:16. You are not to rely on some minister, elder, seminary, public school teacher, parent, wife, husband, confession, Hollywood movie, popular author (alive or dead), pope, priest, or any other sinful person / institution to tell you what the Bible teaches. You are to search the Bible for yourself: “Search ye the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me” John 5:39.
When it comes to what the Bible teaches, men are not to be trusted, especially ministers, elders, seminary teachers, and preachers. 17th Century Calvinist Francis Turretin states the following: “Thus in the church the judgment of pastors can be admitted only so far as it agrees with the Scriptures” (Institutes of Elenctic Theology, Volume I, page 158). Why did this Calvinist theologian say this? Because, Turretin knew that all men by nature are sinful, prone to err, and inclined towards evil. Hence, their teachings must be carefully examined in light of Scripture alone. We are to test all things. “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good” 1 Thessalonians 5:21.
Bible believing Christians should not mindlessly accept the teachings of any minister or elder. “These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so” Acts 17:11. All men naturally descending from Adam are born evil, totally depraved, and inclined to lie. “Take ye heed every one of his neighbor, and trust ye not in any brother: for every brother will utterly supplant, and every neighbor will walk with slanders. And they will deceive everyone his neighbor, and will not speak the truth: they have taught their tongues to speak lies, and weary themselves to commit iniquity. Thine habitation is in the midst of deceit; through deceit they refuse to know me, saith the Lord” Jeremiah 9:4-6.
Not only is it a logical fallacy to think the teachings of a pastor are correct simply because he is a pastor, but, it has been recorded in the infallible Bible that pastors have a history of messing things up. “Many pastors have destroyed my vineyard, they have trodden my portion under foot, they have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness” Jeremiah 12:10.
Do you not see the importance of knowing the Bible for yourself? Those who do not know the Bible can only be in a state of error, and they cannot know the power of God. “Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God” Matthew 22:29.
★☆★Absolute Predestination★☆★
Did you know the God of the Bible has determined whatsoever comes to pass? It’s true. “In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will” Ephesians 1:11. From Noah’s ark, which we will discuss later, to the writings of Martin Luther, which we will also discuss later, all events have been determined by God.
Did you know the Bible itself was predestined? Each inspired and infallible Word of the Bible, every sentence of Scripture, each command, and every proposition of Holy Writ was determined for me to read before the universe was ever created. “For ever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven” Psalm 119:89. Indeed, I would have never read a single line of Scripture, if God had not purposed it from eternity. “The Lord of hosts have sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand” Isaiah 14:24.
If God had determined for me never to have come into contact with the Bible, then I would have never been exposed to it. “For who hath resisted His will?” Romans 9:19. When I was a small child, I did not by chance hear the Bible being read, but God caused me to be present when my parents read Scripture to me; God made them read Scripture to me, and at the appointed time God illuminated my mind with His Word and Spirit: “Remember the word unto thy servant, upon which thou hast caused me to hope. This is my comfort in my affliction: for thy word hath quickened me” Psalm 119:49-50.
★☆★Noah’s Ark★☆★
There have always been wicked people who think the Bible is false, or who think that some parts of the Bible are false—but they are greatly deceived. The entire Bible is absolutely true, all 66 Books of the Protestant Bible. From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible is perfect, infallible, and completely true. “Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever” Psalm 119:160.
Consider Noah’s ark. The Bible’s infallible history of Noah’s ark is true. Of course, this part of the Bible infuriates many nonbelievers today. Noah’s divinely inspired history tells us of an ancient world filled with wicked men, who despised God’s Word—ancient men who loved evil and who loved to strive against the God of the Bible. “And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh” Genesis 6:3.
Today, our own population is cursed with gross ignorance of the Bible, and it celebrates a plethora of abominations. We have a people who proudly publish and support activities so vile that modesty prevents us from speaking of them. Can one view media today without having the most sinister evils boldly paraded before one’s eyes and ears? Can one sit in a classroom today and not hear from the teacher how the most abysmal wickedness is actually good? Like the ancient days of Noah, our population seems to be courting God’s destruction. “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that he had made man on earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them” Genesis 6:5-7.
★☆★Faith Alone In Christ Alone★☆★
Although most will never believe the Gospel, God has determined that some will. “Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace” Romans 11:5. Many people throughout history never came into contact with Scripture, and of those who did, only some were converted. Today, in our own land, many have come into contact with the Bible, but the conditions of our churches and government testify that few have been converted. “Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?...for many be called, but few chosen” Matthew 20:15-16.
In the days before God destroyed the world with the great deluge, the Lord converted Noah. “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord” Genesis 6:8. Like all Christians, Noah was justified by faith alone in Christ alone. “Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified” Galatians 2:16. Noah’s faith in God’s promise to send the Messiah to atone for his sins saved him. “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel” Genesis 3:15.
Today, the Gospel is God’s promise fulfilled. Jesus saved His people from their sins with his substitutionary life and death. Christ paid the ransom to God for us; the blood of Jesus satisfied the Law of God for us. Because of Christ’s definite atonement, our sins are not imputed to us, for they were imputed to Christ, while His righteousness is imputed freely to us and received by faith alone. The Lord’s amazing promise has been fulfilled for almost 2,000 years! This is good news. Those today, who are convicted of their sins by God’s moral Law, and who flee to God’s promise by faith alone, are saved! “But the Scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe” Galatians 3:22.
Like all sinners today, Noah was unable to believe God’s promise, for Noah was born in sin, totally corrupted, and his will wholly inclined towards evil. “There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God” Romans 3:11. Left to himself, Noah was incapable of believing the Gospel. Noah was dead in his sins, but God loved Noah from eternity. “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins” Ephesians 2:1.
Not only did God determine to save His people, but the Lord promised to give all of us, like He gave Noah, both understanding and belief in His Gospel. “And I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the Lord: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they will return unto me with their whole heart” Jeremiah 24:7. God gave Noah the faith he needed to be saved, and God freely gives this saving faith to all the elect today, too! “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast” Ephesians 2:8-9.
As a believer, like all believers, Noah’s sins were not charged to his account. “Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin” Romans 4:8. Noah’s sins were laid upon Jesus Christ, who is the Surety for all of the elect. “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all…by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors” Isaiah 53:5-12.
Not only was Noah’s sins charged to Christ, but the righteousness of Christ was imputed to Noah, and to all of us that believe the Gospel. “(For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification. For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ) Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous” Romans 5:13-19.
By faith alone did Noah receive the free gift of Christ’s imputed righteousness. Faith in God’s Word also saved Noah in a temporal sense, too—for he believed God’s promise to destroy the world with a great flood. What did God say to Noah? “And God said to Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Make thee an ark of gopher wood;…And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh,…But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons’ wives with thee. And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female” (Genesis 6:13-19.
Noah built an ark, for he believed the Lord. “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith” Hebrews 11:6-7.
★☆★What Does Noah’s Ark Represent?★☆★
This is an interesting question. Some Catholics have thought that Noah’s Ark represents the Virgin Mary. These pagans wish us to think that we must go to Mary for salvation. Obviously, this contradicts the Bible, which plainly states that salvation is found in none but Christ alone. The Bible never recognizes any mere man in general, let alone the Virgin Mary in particular, to be our savior. “I, even I, am the Lord; and besides me there is no savior” Isaiah 43:11.
Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who is perfect God and perfect man, will allow none to share his exclusive position of savior: “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” John 14:6. It is in Christ alone that salvation is to be sought and found. “Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” Acts 4:10-12.
★☆★Martin Luther★☆★
Shame on you, if you do not know the history and writings of Martin Luther! Luther is the great German Reformer, who took on pope and emperor with Scripture alone and set off the Protestant Reformation! The Protestant Reformation did what the Renaissance could not do—it ended the Dark Ages and ushered in modern civilization.
Do you know what Luther thought Noah’s Ark represented? In the following, I quote five paragraphs from Luther’s Lectures on Genesis. In these paragraphs, Luther discusses God’s absolute predestination of all things, why Christians need not fear death, and what Noah’s ark actually represents. Check this out!
“Just as the Deluge and the Red Sea are helpers, as it were, to deliver Noah and Israel from death and to preserve their life, so our own death, if we abide in the faith, is clearly the opportunity for life. When the children of Israel were in extreme peril, the sea suddenly opened and stood to the right and to the left like an iron wall, so that Israel passed through without danger. Why did this happen? Manifestly in order that in this manner death might serve life. For this is the divine power by which the assaults of Satan are overcome, as was the case in Paradise. There, too, he was endeavoring to kill the entire human race with his poison. But what happens? Through what was truly a “happy guilt,” as the church sings, it was brought about that the Son of God came down into our flesh and delivered us from such great evils.
“Accordingly, this allegory teaches, comforts, and encourages us in an excellent manner. As a result, we fear neither death nor sin but disdain all dangers while we give thanks to God for calling us and dealing with us in such a way. Death itself, by which the entire world perishes, is compelled to serve life, just as the Flood, in which the rest of the world perished, was the occasion to preserve Noah; and the Red Sea, by which Pharaoh was destroyed, served the welfare of the Children of Israel.
“This must be applied also to other trials. We must learn to disdain dangers and to have hope even when no hope appears to be left, so that when death or any other danger befalls us, we may encourage ourselves and say: “Behold, here is your Red Sea, your Flood, your baptism, and your death. Here your life—as a philosopher used to say about those who were going to sea—is barely a handbreadth away from death. But do not be afraid. This danger is like a handful of water, whereas through the Word you have a flood of grace. Therefore death will not destroy you but will be a thrust and aid toward life.” Far from being able to destroy the Christian, death is the most immediate escape from death. For the death of the body immediately precedes the liberation of the spirit as well as the resurrection of the flesh. Similarly, in the Flood it is neither the earth nor the trees nor the mountains that carry Noah; it is the Flood itself, even though it kills the rest of the human race.
“Therefore the prophets have reason for their frequent praise of the wonderful deeds of God, such as the passage through the Red Sea, the exodus from Egypt, and the like. For there the sea, which by nature cannot do otherwise than overwhelm and destroy man, is compelled to stand still and protect him, lest he be covered by its waves. Hence that which by its nature is nothing but wrath becomes grace for those who believe; that which is nothing but death becomes life. Thus, whatever misfortunes there are, of which this life surely has countless numbers and by which our bodies and goods are beset—all this will be turned into salvation and joy if you are in the ark, that is, if you believe and lay hold of the promises made in Christ; for death which carries you away, must be turned into life, and hell, which engulfs you, into a way to heaven…
“In order to comfort and strengthen our hearts, allegories must be directed toward the promises and toward the teaching of the faith, as the example of Peter teaches us. Because he sees that Noah is delivered in the midst of death and that the ark is the means of life, the ark is properly made to signify Christ. For it takes a divine power to save in the midst of death and to carry across to life. Thus in Ps. 68:20 Scripture calls God the One who delivers from death and makes death an occasion or even an aid to life.”
(Luther’s Works, Volume 2, page156)
★☆★Thomas Goodwin★☆★
Thomas Goodwin was born in the year 1600 near Yarmouth. He was an English Puritan, who was chosen in 1643 to be a member of the famous Westminster Assembly. He was a Congregationalist (he identified with the independent party, for he was one of the “dissenting brethren”). In 1649 he was appointed President of Magdalan College, Oxford. It was during this time that Thomas Goodwin and John Owen took turns preaching to the students of that University! Later, Goodwin was a chaplain to the great Oliver Cromwell. Below is a quote from The Works of Thomas Goodwin. In this quote, Goodwin explains what Noah’s ark typifies. Check this out.
“Christ our Savior typified by Noah’s ark.—As Noah was instructed by God to enter into the ark for his safety, so God in the covenant of grace teacheth us to know Christ, and to come to him for salvation…The ancient writers of the church, the fathers (as they call them), say, that by ark is meant the church. Now, it is true that one and the same type often signifieth two or three things; as, for example, the temple signified the body of Christ—‘Destroy this temple,’ saith Christ—it signifieth the church universal, the body of Christ mystical; it signifieth every particular soul: ‘Ye are the temple of the Holy Ghost,’ 1 Cor. Vi. 19. But this let me say, when you shall find a parallel made between the thing and the thing signified, and in particular applied to one thing, you must only understand it so, and there you must not understand it as a type of the other. In 1 Peter 3:20-21 you have Noah’s ark made a type of Christ, as he is administered to us in baptism: ‘The like figure whereunto’ (having spoken of the ark) ‘wherein few, that is, eight persons were saved through water.’ The like figure is baptism, whereby we are saved; but here baptism, signified by the ark, bears not the figure of the church, and that plainly for this reason, because the ark is the figure of that wherein we are saved (‘wherein few were saved, eight persons’). Now, eight were the persons saved, and saved in the ark, and they bare the resemblance of the church in being saved; but it is the ark that bears the resemblance of that wherein we are saved, who is Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, signified and applied to us in baptism.”
(The Works of Thomas Goodwin, Volume 8, pages 164-166)
In other words, like Martin Luther, Thomas Goodwin is teaching that we are saved from eternal death by being in Christ alone, just as Noah was saved from temporal death by being in the ark. Noah’s ark is a representation of salvation in Jesus Christ alone. Those that believe the Gospel are in Christ and have eternal life.
★☆★John Gill★☆★
Who is John Gill? He’s the greatest Baptist preacher and theologian in the history of the English speaking people. Gill was extremely Calvinistic, and he was a prolific writer, too. He taught in the 1700’s in England. If you have not read Gill’s major writings, then make a point to obtain hard copies and carefully read them. Below is what John Gill thought Noah’s ark represented:
“The ark was a type of Christ, into whom whoever enters by faith, or in whom whoever believes, shall be saved: but as they that entered into the ark were but few, so are those that enter in at the straight gate, or believe in Christ; and that they went into the ark were saved by the water bearing up the ark, even by that by which others were destroyed; as the very same thing, for different reasons, is the cause or means of destruction and salvation; so Christ is set, for the fall and rising of many, is a stumblingblock to some, and the power and wisdom of God to others; and the Gospel, and the ministers of it, are the savour of life unto life to some, and the savour of death unto death to others…the ark, and deliverance by it, as it was a type of Christ and salvation by him, so it was a figure of baptism, and baptism was the antitype of that…Christ only is the Cause and Author of eternal salvation; and as those only that were in the ark were saved by water, so those only that are in Christ, and that are baptized into Christ, and into his death are saved by baptism; not everyone that is baptized, but he that believeth.”
(Gill’s Commentary, Volume VI, page 835)
★☆★Conclusion★☆★
The Bible alone is the Word of God. The history of Noah found in Scripture is absolutely true. Noah’s ark represents salvation in Christ alone, received by faith alone, all by God’s sovereign grace alone, and according to Scripture alone!
Nothing is outside of God's governing control He does as he pleases
Does God Determine Sin?
by
Monty L. Collier
Whenever we discuss God’s absolute predestination of all things, the following question is often raised: Did God determine sin?
The Bible answers this question very clearly.
Let’s begin with the worst sin ever created, then, let’s move on to the rest.
If you have read your Bible, you know the worst sin ever committed was determined by God. The murder of Jesus, which is simultaneously the vicarious sacrifice for God's elect, was determined by God almighty!
"For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done."
(Acts 4:27-28)
If the worst sin was determined by God, then what of all other sins?—were they also determined by God?
The Bible says: "I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things" (Isaiah 45:7).
No evil deed is done without God's absolute predestination! Consider the following rhetorical question from Scripture:
"Out of the mouth of the most High proceedeth not evil and good?"
(Lamentations 3:38)
"Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord hath not done it?"
(Amos 3:6)
Job knew that God determined both good and evil deeds:
"What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips."
(Job 2:10)
Consider false prophets; they are not merely deceived by chance, but rather: God causes them to believe lies!
"And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the Lord have deceived that prophet."
(Ezekiel 14:9)
"Now, therefore, behold, the Lord hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the Lord hath spoken evil concerning thee."
(1 Kings 22:23)
In short, God determines all the events of history, both good and bad, and if you don't like it, too bad. The Bible says:
"Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonor?"
(Romans 9:19-21)
So, let us remember, when we say the God of the Bible is sovereign, we are claiming the God of the Bible determines all things. From the smallest and seemingly unimportant events to the greatest events in history, God determines them all. Old School Primitive Baptist Gilbert Beebe correctly stated:
“By the term sovereign, as it applies to God, we are not to understand an arbitrary or tyrannical being, but quite the reverse; an all-wise disposer of all events, an independent, self-existent, and omniscient God; one who holds the eternal destiny of his creatures in his own almighty grasp, working all things after the counsel of his own will, even as he has ordained all things for his own glory; and being independent of and superior to all beings in heaven or on earth, has an incontestable right to do his pleasure in heaven and among the inhabitants of earth; having a right to make one vessel to honor and another to dishonor; to have mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will to harden; to reveal his gospel unto “babes and sucklings,” and to hide the same from the “wise and prudent,” to love Jacob and to hate Esau, to save his people with an everlasting salvation, and to turn the wicked into hell, with all the nations that forget God.”
(Editorials of Gilbert Beebe, Volume 1, pages 13-14)
Consider how God is independent of and superior to all beings. Sinful man may dream of being independent of God, but God alone is self-existent and independent. While commenting on Psalm 50:9-13, John Calvin stops to discuss Isaiah 66:1-2. These two verses from Isaiah read: “Thus saith the Lord, the heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? And where is the place of my rest? For all those things hath mine hand made” (Isaiah 66:1-2). Calvin comments:
“In these words God asserts his absolute independence; for while the world had a beginning, he himself was from eternity. From this it follows, that as he subsisted when there was nothing without him which could contribute to his fullness, he must have in himself a glorious all-sufficiency.”
(Calvin’s Commentaries, Volume V, page 269)
Hence, it is impossible for man to ever be independent from God. Man would cease to exist, if he could become free from God. The Bible says:
“For in Him we live, and move, and have our being.”
(Acts 17:28)
Obviously, all of this implies that God has free-will, while man does not. The comprehensive teaching of the Bible is clear: at no point has man’s will ever been free from God’s determination. Martin Luther correctly wrote the following:
“For if we believe it to be true, that God fore-knows and fore-ordains all things; that He can be neither deceived nor hindered in His Prescience and Predestination; and that nothing can take place but according to His Will, (which reason herself, there can be no “Free-will”—in man, in angel, or in any creature!
“Hence: if we believe that Satan is the prince of this world, ever ensaring and fighting against the kingdom of Christ with all his powers; and that he does not let go his captives without being forced by the Divine Power of the Spirit; it is manifest, that there can be no such thing—as “Free-will!””
(The Bondage of the Will, Section 167, page 241 [Henry Cole Translation])
But does not God’s absolute predestination of all things imply that men are not responsible for their thoughts and deeds?
No, for the Bible teaches there are two primary things which make men responsible before God:
1) God's sovereign ability to call men to give a response for their thoughts and deeds (see Romans 9:19-21)
2) Man's knowledge of God's moral law, which makes him / her responsible (see Luke 12:47: "And that servant, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.")
Finally, even our conversational English has been determined to reflect basic Calvinism, for parents tell their children: "You’re going to be punished, for you KNEW not to do that." No parent says: "Now, Johnny, you have free-will, and you will be punished for using your arbitrary-power-of-contrary-choice incorrectly"--LOL!
by
Monty L. Collier
Whenever we discuss God’s absolute predestination of all things, the following question is often raised: Did God determine sin?
The Bible answers this question very clearly.
Let’s begin with the worst sin ever created, then, let’s move on to the rest.
If you have read your Bible, you know the worst sin ever committed was determined by God. The murder of Jesus, which is simultaneously the vicarious sacrifice for God's elect, was determined by God almighty!
"For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done."
(Acts 4:27-28)
If the worst sin was determined by God, then what of all other sins?—were they also determined by God?
The Bible says: "I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things" (Isaiah 45:7).
No evil deed is done without God's absolute predestination! Consider the following rhetorical question from Scripture:
"Out of the mouth of the most High proceedeth not evil and good?"
(Lamentations 3:38)
"Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord hath not done it?"
(Amos 3:6)
Job knew that God determined both good and evil deeds:
"What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips."
(Job 2:10)
Consider false prophets; they are not merely deceived by chance, but rather: God causes them to believe lies!
"And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the Lord have deceived that prophet."
(Ezekiel 14:9)
"Now, therefore, behold, the Lord hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the Lord hath spoken evil concerning thee."
(1 Kings 22:23)
In short, God determines all the events of history, both good and bad, and if you don't like it, too bad. The Bible says:
"Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonor?"
(Romans 9:19-21)
So, let us remember, when we say the God of the Bible is sovereign, we are claiming the God of the Bible determines all things. From the smallest and seemingly unimportant events to the greatest events in history, God determines them all. Old School Primitive Baptist Gilbert Beebe correctly stated:
“By the term sovereign, as it applies to God, we are not to understand an arbitrary or tyrannical being, but quite the reverse; an all-wise disposer of all events, an independent, self-existent, and omniscient God; one who holds the eternal destiny of his creatures in his own almighty grasp, working all things after the counsel of his own will, even as he has ordained all things for his own glory; and being independent of and superior to all beings in heaven or on earth, has an incontestable right to do his pleasure in heaven and among the inhabitants of earth; having a right to make one vessel to honor and another to dishonor; to have mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will to harden; to reveal his gospel unto “babes and sucklings,” and to hide the same from the “wise and prudent,” to love Jacob and to hate Esau, to save his people with an everlasting salvation, and to turn the wicked into hell, with all the nations that forget God.”
(Editorials of Gilbert Beebe, Volume 1, pages 13-14)
Consider how God is independent of and superior to all beings. Sinful man may dream of being independent of God, but God alone is self-existent and independent. While commenting on Psalm 50:9-13, John Calvin stops to discuss Isaiah 66:1-2. These two verses from Isaiah read: “Thus saith the Lord, the heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? And where is the place of my rest? For all those things hath mine hand made” (Isaiah 66:1-2). Calvin comments:
“In these words God asserts his absolute independence; for while the world had a beginning, he himself was from eternity. From this it follows, that as he subsisted when there was nothing without him which could contribute to his fullness, he must have in himself a glorious all-sufficiency.”
(Calvin’s Commentaries, Volume V, page 269)
Hence, it is impossible for man to ever be independent from God. Man would cease to exist, if he could become free from God. The Bible says:
“For in Him we live, and move, and have our being.”
(Acts 17:28)
Obviously, all of this implies that God has free-will, while man does not. The comprehensive teaching of the Bible is clear: at no point has man’s will ever been free from God’s determination. Martin Luther correctly wrote the following:
“For if we believe it to be true, that God fore-knows and fore-ordains all things; that He can be neither deceived nor hindered in His Prescience and Predestination; and that nothing can take place but according to His Will, (which reason herself, there can be no “Free-will”—in man, in angel, or in any creature!
“Hence: if we believe that Satan is the prince of this world, ever ensaring and fighting against the kingdom of Christ with all his powers; and that he does not let go his captives without being forced by the Divine Power of the Spirit; it is manifest, that there can be no such thing—as “Free-will!””
(The Bondage of the Will, Section 167, page 241 [Henry Cole Translation])
But does not God’s absolute predestination of all things imply that men are not responsible for their thoughts and deeds?
No, for the Bible teaches there are two primary things which make men responsible before God:
1) God's sovereign ability to call men to give a response for their thoughts and deeds (see Romans 9:19-21)
2) Man's knowledge of God's moral law, which makes him / her responsible (see Luke 12:47: "And that servant, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.")
Finally, even our conversational English has been determined to reflect basic Calvinism, for parents tell their children: "You’re going to be punished, for you KNEW not to do that." No parent says: "Now, Johnny, you have free-will, and you will be punished for using your arbitrary-power-of-contrary-choice incorrectly"--LOL!
Christ death for the elect alone and of their assurance
God does not love all sinners, nor did Jesus Christ die for all sinners.
by
Monty L. Collier
God loves some of the sinful humans in this world, but He does not love all of them. God loves some sinners, but He hates the rest. The Bible says: "As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated" Romans 9:13. Those persons loved by God are chosen in Christ to be saved. They are God's elect and He will save them all. Nothing in this universe can prevent God's love from saving us. The Bible says:
"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, for thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord"
Romans 8:35-39
God's love is an omnipotent love that cannot fail to save His elect. Election is based on God's love, while reprobation is based upon God's hate. God is not merciful to reprobates. God does not desire to save reprobates. Jesus Christ did not die for any of the reprobates. All reprobates are left in in their sins and justly condemned to eternal damnation by God's Law. Election and reprobation are not based upon anything in men or done by men. Election and reprobation are based on God's sovereign judgment alone. The Bible says: "(For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;) It was said unto her, the elder shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated" Romans 9:11-13.
Election and reprobation took place in eternity, before the creation of the universe. In eternity, God the Father chose God the Son to be the federal head of the elect. The elect were predestined in Christ to be saved, while God chose not to be merciful to the rest of mankind. God did not choose the elect from a fallen mass of people. The Bible says: "Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonor?" Romans 9:21. God's decrees to elect and reprobate logically precede the decrees to create man and have Adam fall, plunging the human race into sin.
God loves the elect and Jesus Christ died for their sins alone, saving them. Jesus Christ did not die for the reprobates. The redemption of Christ is limited to the elect alone. Jesus does not pray for all men, does not intercede for all men, for Jesus is the Savior of His people, which are the elect alone. Jesus says: "I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine" John 17:9.
When men wrongly claim that God desires the salvation of every sinful human and that Jesus died for every sinner, they will appeal to a variety of verses for support. However, context and logic easily defeat these arguments for what is called "universal salvation." So, for example, in an attempt to refute Particular Redemption, a Roman Catholic may appeal to 1 Timothy 2:3-6, which reads: "For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior; who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time."
Let's consider this passage. If God will have all men to be saved, that is, every fallen human, then all of them will be saved. Not a single one of them will be condemned, for God is omnipotent and accomplishes all of His desires. The Bible says: "But he is one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth" Job 23:13. However, it is clear that many will not be saved, but condemned (Matthew 7:21-23). Since there are no contradictions in Scripture, for God is logical, not insane, it therefore follows that God does not desire the salvation of all sinners. So, when 1 Timothy 2:4 speaks of "all men," then it is speaking of all elect persons. It is not speaking of reprobates. Likewise, when 1 Timothy 2:6 speaks of Christ giving himself a ransom for all, it is speaking of all of the elect. If Christ died for the reprobates and their sins, paying their ransom, freeing them from the demands of the Law, satisfying the Law for them, then none of them would be condemned. It would be unjust for God to condemn them for sins Christ has already expiated. But God is just, and the reprobates are condemned justly for their sins. It therefore follows that Christ did not die for their sins.
Let's now talk about you. How can you know if Christ died for your sins? That's easy, for the Bible says that all of those who believe the Gospel were elected unto salvation. The Bible says: "And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed" Acts 13:48.
Do you believe the Gospel?
Do you believe Christ died for your sins? If you do, then you are one of the elect, whom God loves, whom Christ died for. If you are afraid of going to hell, if you desire to be saved by Jesus Christ alone, then know you are justified before God. No reprobate desires to be saved by Jesus Christ alone. Reprobates trust in themselves, not in Christ alone. The one who believes the Gospel responds as Peter did:
"Then said Jesus unto the twelve, will ye also go away? Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God" John 6:68-69.
Amen.
by
Monty L. Collier
God loves some of the sinful humans in this world, but He does not love all of them. God loves some sinners, but He hates the rest. The Bible says: "As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated" Romans 9:13. Those persons loved by God are chosen in Christ to be saved. They are God's elect and He will save them all. Nothing in this universe can prevent God's love from saving us. The Bible says:
"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, for thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord"
Romans 8:35-39
God's love is an omnipotent love that cannot fail to save His elect. Election is based on God's love, while reprobation is based upon God's hate. God is not merciful to reprobates. God does not desire to save reprobates. Jesus Christ did not die for any of the reprobates. All reprobates are left in in their sins and justly condemned to eternal damnation by God's Law. Election and reprobation are not based upon anything in men or done by men. Election and reprobation are based on God's sovereign judgment alone. The Bible says: "(For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;) It was said unto her, the elder shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated" Romans 9:11-13.
Election and reprobation took place in eternity, before the creation of the universe. In eternity, God the Father chose God the Son to be the federal head of the elect. The elect were predestined in Christ to be saved, while God chose not to be merciful to the rest of mankind. God did not choose the elect from a fallen mass of people. The Bible says: "Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonor?" Romans 9:21. God's decrees to elect and reprobate logically precede the decrees to create man and have Adam fall, plunging the human race into sin.
God loves the elect and Jesus Christ died for their sins alone, saving them. Jesus Christ did not die for the reprobates. The redemption of Christ is limited to the elect alone. Jesus does not pray for all men, does not intercede for all men, for Jesus is the Savior of His people, which are the elect alone. Jesus says: "I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine" John 17:9.
When men wrongly claim that God desires the salvation of every sinful human and that Jesus died for every sinner, they will appeal to a variety of verses for support. However, context and logic easily defeat these arguments for what is called "universal salvation." So, for example, in an attempt to refute Particular Redemption, a Roman Catholic may appeal to 1 Timothy 2:3-6, which reads: "For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior; who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time."
Let's consider this passage. If God will have all men to be saved, that is, every fallen human, then all of them will be saved. Not a single one of them will be condemned, for God is omnipotent and accomplishes all of His desires. The Bible says: "But he is one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth" Job 23:13. However, it is clear that many will not be saved, but condemned (Matthew 7:21-23). Since there are no contradictions in Scripture, for God is logical, not insane, it therefore follows that God does not desire the salvation of all sinners. So, when 1 Timothy 2:4 speaks of "all men," then it is speaking of all elect persons. It is not speaking of reprobates. Likewise, when 1 Timothy 2:6 speaks of Christ giving himself a ransom for all, it is speaking of all of the elect. If Christ died for the reprobates and their sins, paying their ransom, freeing them from the demands of the Law, satisfying the Law for them, then none of them would be condemned. It would be unjust for God to condemn them for sins Christ has already expiated. But God is just, and the reprobates are condemned justly for their sins. It therefore follows that Christ did not die for their sins.
Let's now talk about you. How can you know if Christ died for your sins? That's easy, for the Bible says that all of those who believe the Gospel were elected unto salvation. The Bible says: "And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed" Acts 13:48.
Do you believe the Gospel?
Do you believe Christ died for your sins? If you do, then you are one of the elect, whom God loves, whom Christ died for. If you are afraid of going to hell, if you desire to be saved by Jesus Christ alone, then know you are justified before God. No reprobate desires to be saved by Jesus Christ alone. Reprobates trust in themselves, not in Christ alone. The one who believes the Gospel responds as Peter did:
"Then said Jesus unto the twelve, will ye also go away? Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God" John 6:68-69.
Amen.
Free Will the doctrines of demons as taught by Aliester Crowley and Van Til
Aleister Crowley and Cornelius Van Til:
“Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law”
by
Monty L. Collier
Satanism, and I do mean the religion of Satan, teaches that the will of man is independent from God. Satanism teaches that man has free-will. Satanism teaches that man should do whatever he wants, rather than what the Bible alone says. The inescapable implication of this teaching of Satanism is man himself is God.
Satanism teaches that man should not believe in God, but rather, man should believe in himself. This evil is sometimes called humanism. The person who does not believe in God, but trusts in himself, is echoing Protagoras’ ancient maxim: man is the measure of all things. This satanic notion is the ideological father of the many different forms of pragmatism, which all sing the praises of phenomenological relativism.
A more recent rendering of Protagoras’ ancient maxim can be found in the teachings of Satanist Aleister Crowley, who taught the following: Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. Crowley’s maxim permeates Hollywood and the music industry like a bad rash. The messages of Hollywood movies and popular music are anything but Biblical, and each year these evil messages grow incrementally worse. Not surprisingly, T-shirts depicting popular rappers and actors can be found advertising the satanic slogan “Do what thou wilt.”
Not only does Satan control the media, but Satan also controls most of the so-called Christian organizations, too. For example, satanic teachings have been part of the curriculum at Westminster Seminary, Philadelphia for decades. Enter the teachings of Cornelius Van Til. The teachings of Van Til dominate Westminster Seminary and the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, but they also influence quite a few other Presbyterian denominations. Although slightly disguised, Cornelius Van Til also taught Alister Crowley’s Satanic doctrine (Do what thou wilt) in a series of published statements. Check out the following quotes from Van Til:
“Now since God is not fully comprehensible to us we are bound to come into what seems to be contradiction in all our knowledge. Our knowledge is analogical and therefore must be paradoxical.”
(The Defense of the Faith, page 44)
Of course, the Bible never says all human knowledge is paradoxical, nor does any Reformed confession, but heretics disregard such things. In another work, Van Til denied there was any difference between an actual contradiction and an apparent contradiction (paradox). Van Til writes:
“Shall we then follow Karl Barth in saying that contradictions in Scripture do not matter in the least because what the gospel is really all about takes place in a real ‘above’ ordinary history? Or shall we with Gordon Clark say that the ‘contradiction’ that we think we ‘see’ is no real contradiction at all? We cannot follow any of these ways.”
(Toward a Reformed Apologetics, page 4)
In yet another work, Van Til explains why his followers do not and should not attempt to reconcile any paradoxes they might find in the Bible. He writes:
“It is precisely because they are concerned to defend the Christian doctrine of revelation as basic to all intelligible human predication that they refuse to make any attempt at “stating clearly” any Christian doctrine, or the relation of any one Christian doctrine to any other Christian doctrine. They will not attempt to “solve” the “paradoxes” Involved in the relationship of the self-contained God to his dependent creatures.”
(An Introduction to Systematic Theology, chapter 13, page 172)
For Van Til, the Bible is filled with irreconcilable paradoxes, and so he thinks none of his followers should even bother to teach clearly. Van Til’s satanic teaching (the Bible is full of contradictions) is ferociously opposed by Martin Luther. Consider what Luther wrote:
“Nevertheless, it is impossible for Scripture to contradict itself except at the hands of senseless and stubborn hypocrites.”
(Luther’s Works, Volume 26, page 295)
John Calvin was Luther’s greatest student. Calvin completely rejected the heresy of Van Tilianism. Calvin constantly labored to show the logical consistency of Scripture, by publishing entire harmonies of Scripture. Unlike Van Til, Calvin believed that Christians should make every effort to teach clearly. When it came to paradox, which Roman Catholics have always passionately embraced, John Calvin stated:
“I abhor paradox.”
(John Calvin: Tracts & Letters, Volume 3, page 149)
Even so, few people today read Martin Luther and John Calvin. This is one reason men like Van Til can infiltrate Presbyterian seminaries and dispense their poison so easily. The Bible says:
“For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.”
(Jude, verse 4)
Once a person comes to believe Van Til’s teaching (all human knowledge is hopelessly self-contradicting), then it doesn’t matter what one believes or does—for, according to Van Til, there is no truth—THERE IS NO KNOWLEDGE! So, when it is all said and done, Van Til’s response to Francis Schaeffer’s profound question “How should we then live?” is: Do what thou wilt shalt be the whole of the Law! Cornelius Van Til was teaching Satanism.
I thank God for His Word, which completely contradicts the satanic teachings of men like Van Til and Crowely. Although these Satanists did not believe in truth or knowledge, the Holy Scripture states:
“The Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed”
(1 Samuel 2:3)
“He (God) that teacheth man knowledge, shall not he know?”
(Psalms 94:10, emphasis mine)
“His (God’s) truth endureth to all generations”
(Psalms 100:5, emphasis mine)
Satanic principles, whether from Aleister Crowley or Cornelius Van Til, assert a disregard, not only for Holy Scripture in particular, but for all people in general. These hellish teachings breed psychopaths, who operate on the old Jesuit maxim: the end justifies the means. Of course, none of this is coincidental, and this is why Satanism leads directly to Roman Catholicism.
To conclude, when we Calvinists say the pope is Antichrist, we are testifying that the Roman Catholic Church is Satan’s church.
Let us never forget:
The Bible alone is the Word of God!
“Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law”
by
Monty L. Collier
Satanism, and I do mean the religion of Satan, teaches that the will of man is independent from God. Satanism teaches that man has free-will. Satanism teaches that man should do whatever he wants, rather than what the Bible alone says. The inescapable implication of this teaching of Satanism is man himself is God.
Satanism teaches that man should not believe in God, but rather, man should believe in himself. This evil is sometimes called humanism. The person who does not believe in God, but trusts in himself, is echoing Protagoras’ ancient maxim: man is the measure of all things. This satanic notion is the ideological father of the many different forms of pragmatism, which all sing the praises of phenomenological relativism.
A more recent rendering of Protagoras’ ancient maxim can be found in the teachings of Satanist Aleister Crowley, who taught the following: Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. Crowley’s maxim permeates Hollywood and the music industry like a bad rash. The messages of Hollywood movies and popular music are anything but Biblical, and each year these evil messages grow incrementally worse. Not surprisingly, T-shirts depicting popular rappers and actors can be found advertising the satanic slogan “Do what thou wilt.”
Not only does Satan control the media, but Satan also controls most of the so-called Christian organizations, too. For example, satanic teachings have been part of the curriculum at Westminster Seminary, Philadelphia for decades. Enter the teachings of Cornelius Van Til. The teachings of Van Til dominate Westminster Seminary and the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, but they also influence quite a few other Presbyterian denominations. Although slightly disguised, Cornelius Van Til also taught Alister Crowley’s Satanic doctrine (Do what thou wilt) in a series of published statements. Check out the following quotes from Van Til:
“Now since God is not fully comprehensible to us we are bound to come into what seems to be contradiction in all our knowledge. Our knowledge is analogical and therefore must be paradoxical.”
(The Defense of the Faith, page 44)
Of course, the Bible never says all human knowledge is paradoxical, nor does any Reformed confession, but heretics disregard such things. In another work, Van Til denied there was any difference between an actual contradiction and an apparent contradiction (paradox). Van Til writes:
“Shall we then follow Karl Barth in saying that contradictions in Scripture do not matter in the least because what the gospel is really all about takes place in a real ‘above’ ordinary history? Or shall we with Gordon Clark say that the ‘contradiction’ that we think we ‘see’ is no real contradiction at all? We cannot follow any of these ways.”
(Toward a Reformed Apologetics, page 4)
In yet another work, Van Til explains why his followers do not and should not attempt to reconcile any paradoxes they might find in the Bible. He writes:
“It is precisely because they are concerned to defend the Christian doctrine of revelation as basic to all intelligible human predication that they refuse to make any attempt at “stating clearly” any Christian doctrine, or the relation of any one Christian doctrine to any other Christian doctrine. They will not attempt to “solve” the “paradoxes” Involved in the relationship of the self-contained God to his dependent creatures.”
(An Introduction to Systematic Theology, chapter 13, page 172)
For Van Til, the Bible is filled with irreconcilable paradoxes, and so he thinks none of his followers should even bother to teach clearly. Van Til’s satanic teaching (the Bible is full of contradictions) is ferociously opposed by Martin Luther. Consider what Luther wrote:
“Nevertheless, it is impossible for Scripture to contradict itself except at the hands of senseless and stubborn hypocrites.”
(Luther’s Works, Volume 26, page 295)
John Calvin was Luther’s greatest student. Calvin completely rejected the heresy of Van Tilianism. Calvin constantly labored to show the logical consistency of Scripture, by publishing entire harmonies of Scripture. Unlike Van Til, Calvin believed that Christians should make every effort to teach clearly. When it came to paradox, which Roman Catholics have always passionately embraced, John Calvin stated:
“I abhor paradox.”
(John Calvin: Tracts & Letters, Volume 3, page 149)
Even so, few people today read Martin Luther and John Calvin. This is one reason men like Van Til can infiltrate Presbyterian seminaries and dispense their poison so easily. The Bible says:
“For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.”
(Jude, verse 4)
Once a person comes to believe Van Til’s teaching (all human knowledge is hopelessly self-contradicting), then it doesn’t matter what one believes or does—for, according to Van Til, there is no truth—THERE IS NO KNOWLEDGE! So, when it is all said and done, Van Til’s response to Francis Schaeffer’s profound question “How should we then live?” is: Do what thou wilt shalt be the whole of the Law! Cornelius Van Til was teaching Satanism.
I thank God for His Word, which completely contradicts the satanic teachings of men like Van Til and Crowely. Although these Satanists did not believe in truth or knowledge, the Holy Scripture states:
“The Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed”
(1 Samuel 2:3)
“He (God) that teacheth man knowledge, shall not he know?”
(Psalms 94:10, emphasis mine)
“His (God’s) truth endureth to all generations”
(Psalms 100:5, emphasis mine)
Satanic principles, whether from Aleister Crowley or Cornelius Van Til, assert a disregard, not only for Holy Scripture in particular, but for all people in general. These hellish teachings breed psychopaths, who operate on the old Jesuit maxim: the end justifies the means. Of course, none of this is coincidental, and this is why Satanism leads directly to Roman Catholicism.
To conclude, when we Calvinists say the pope is Antichrist, we are testifying that the Roman Catholic Church is Satan’s church.
Let us never forget:
The Bible alone is the Word of God!
The PRC teaches a conditional gospel
This small essay is by Red Beetle (Monty Collier) taken from the Red Beetle group page with permission.
A Letter from David J. Devilsma (PRC)
Greetings, my name is David J. Devilsma. I have been a pastor and seminary professor for decades in the Papist Romish Churches (PRC for short), which are headquartered here in Michigan. Since I am a pastor and seminary professor, you can trust me.
Now that I have dazzled you with my titles and years of service, let me piously come to the point of this letter. It has come to my humble attention that there are individuals scattered across the globe who profess faith in the gospel, but who are not members of any institutional church that teaches our dogma. Some of these professing individuals have no institutional church at all in their area. This individualism must be crushed.
These individuals who trust in Christ alone for their salvation are not Christians, for they are not members of any institutional church. These men who rely merely upon the righteousness of Christ (rather than their own good works) are not just before God, for there is no salvation outside the institutional church. Lay people and commoners need to understand this: there is no salvation outside the institutional church. Trust me: I teach seminary.
Before one can even have a chance of being justified before God, one must do the following works: join an institutional church like those found in the PRC, obey the church's elders, support the church with your money, and never leave or get excommunicated. Oh, and if you do not live near one of our churches, you will need to leave and move to Michigan--you don't want to miss heaven due to being stuck outside of Michigan!
Once our reverend, holy priests, um, I mean "elders," accept you into our church, you can cease trusting in Christ alone and put your trust in your very own church membership! Hey, you can trust me: I'm a pastor.
Some complain about moving away, but wait: if you have the money, we would be delighted to come to your nation and minister to you. Of course, if you don't have the money, or, heaven forbid, if the money runs out, you will have to find your own way to Michigan (if you are one of the elect, you will get to Michigan and join one of our congregations). Now, we are not saying that your salvation depends upon you having money, were just saying you're going to hell if you don't have enough money to get here. If you're confused, don't worry, I teach seminary: these things are mysterious!
Oh, some of you may be thinking that the Bible alone is effectual and sufficient for salvation...well, it's not! Look, I have been a pastor for years, and I can tell you that no one has ever been saved by merely reading the Bible. One can only be saved by sitting under the preaching of an officially ordained PRC minister. This is because the Bible only becomes the Word of God when our priests pick it up and tell you what it means. The Bible is nothing without our ministers! So, if you want to witness one of our ministers transform the Bible into God's Word so you might have a chance to be saved, you better move here and join one of our churches.
A few critics, probably lay people, have claimed the Bible has many instances of people being converted, while not having membership in any institutional church--and while not being under the preaching of any officially ordained elder. Some have pointed to places in the Bible where people are converted by merely reading Scripture, or hearing it read by one who was not an officially ordained elder. Some have even pointed to Martin Luther's conversion and how Luther was converted merely by reading the Bible alone in a tower by himself. "Luther was not converted by the preaching of any officially ordained man," say some. Disturbing as these claims are to us at the PRC, time forbids us from dealing with such remarks. Like all, we are puzzled. Trust me, these things are mysterious!
Oh, and finally, a word to those critics who point out all the dogmatic identities between the Roman Catholic Church and the PRC when it comes to how men are justified before God. Look, just because the Roman Catholic Church and we at the PRC both teach that the gospel demands our obedience, which implies our good works are necessary for our salvation, thus mixing Law and Gospel, while proclaiming justification by faith and works; and just because we both teach that there is no salvation outside the institutional church--or that the Bible alone is ineffectual to save apart from the Church's official preaching/interpretation of it--none of this indicates that we at the PRC hold to a Roman Catholic view of the gospel. After all, you can trust me: I'm a pastor and seminary teacher.
A Letter from David J. Devilsma (PRC)
Greetings, my name is David J. Devilsma. I have been a pastor and seminary professor for decades in the Papist Romish Churches (PRC for short), which are headquartered here in Michigan. Since I am a pastor and seminary professor, you can trust me.
Now that I have dazzled you with my titles and years of service, let me piously come to the point of this letter. It has come to my humble attention that there are individuals scattered across the globe who profess faith in the gospel, but who are not members of any institutional church that teaches our dogma. Some of these professing individuals have no institutional church at all in their area. This individualism must be crushed.
These individuals who trust in Christ alone for their salvation are not Christians, for they are not members of any institutional church. These men who rely merely upon the righteousness of Christ (rather than their own good works) are not just before God, for there is no salvation outside the institutional church. Lay people and commoners need to understand this: there is no salvation outside the institutional church. Trust me: I teach seminary.
Before one can even have a chance of being justified before God, one must do the following works: join an institutional church like those found in the PRC, obey the church's elders, support the church with your money, and never leave or get excommunicated. Oh, and if you do not live near one of our churches, you will need to leave and move to Michigan--you don't want to miss heaven due to being stuck outside of Michigan!
Once our reverend, holy priests, um, I mean "elders," accept you into our church, you can cease trusting in Christ alone and put your trust in your very own church membership! Hey, you can trust me: I'm a pastor.
Some complain about moving away, but wait: if you have the money, we would be delighted to come to your nation and minister to you. Of course, if you don't have the money, or, heaven forbid, if the money runs out, you will have to find your own way to Michigan (if you are one of the elect, you will get to Michigan and join one of our congregations). Now, we are not saying that your salvation depends upon you having money, were just saying you're going to hell if you don't have enough money to get here. If you're confused, don't worry, I teach seminary: these things are mysterious!
Oh, some of you may be thinking that the Bible alone is effectual and sufficient for salvation...well, it's not! Look, I have been a pastor for years, and I can tell you that no one has ever been saved by merely reading the Bible. One can only be saved by sitting under the preaching of an officially ordained PRC minister. This is because the Bible only becomes the Word of God when our priests pick it up and tell you what it means. The Bible is nothing without our ministers! So, if you want to witness one of our ministers transform the Bible into God's Word so you might have a chance to be saved, you better move here and join one of our churches.
A few critics, probably lay people, have claimed the Bible has many instances of people being converted, while not having membership in any institutional church--and while not being under the preaching of any officially ordained elder. Some have pointed to places in the Bible where people are converted by merely reading Scripture, or hearing it read by one who was not an officially ordained elder. Some have even pointed to Martin Luther's conversion and how Luther was converted merely by reading the Bible alone in a tower by himself. "Luther was not converted by the preaching of any officially ordained man," say some. Disturbing as these claims are to us at the PRC, time forbids us from dealing with such remarks. Like all, we are puzzled. Trust me, these things are mysterious!
Oh, and finally, a word to those critics who point out all the dogmatic identities between the Roman Catholic Church and the PRC when it comes to how men are justified before God. Look, just because the Roman Catholic Church and we at the PRC both teach that the gospel demands our obedience, which implies our good works are necessary for our salvation, thus mixing Law and Gospel, while proclaiming justification by faith and works; and just because we both teach that there is no salvation outside the institutional church--or that the Bible alone is ineffectual to save apart from the Church's official preaching/interpretation of it--none of this indicates that we at the PRC hold to a Roman Catholic view of the gospel. After all, you can trust me: I'm a pastor and seminary teacher.
Sunday, November 8, 2015
God who not only knows all that will happen but also causes it to happen by his will
In order not to quote too much of Clark in one little segment, not that it would be bad to quote him fully, I will give a synopsis of what he wrote in the last chapter of Religion, Reason and Revelation - subtitled God and Evil on Pg. 160.
On this page Clark speaks of Omniscience and presents a case of an observer from far off watching two cars about to collide. As far as the observer knows and sees these cars will in fact collide. However, his knowledge of such things does not actually cause the accident. From this view the Arminian-Romanist attempts to explain that God knows the future without causing it to happen.
Clark responds,
In other words God's knowledge of the event from eternity past makes it certain that the event will in fact occur. This is a deathblow to the Arminian and also to the Molinist who want to assert that God does not know for certain whether something would in fact take place. God's knowledge is certain because God's knowledge is perfect.
Clark, continues,
Sorry I don't want to quote too much of Clark. If one is interested in Clark's argument I would suggest that you go and buy the book preferably at the Trinity Foundation. But, Clark's argument thus far has been to show the irrationalism of those who say that God simply knows what will happen without actually causing it to happen. If God was like the observer he certainly could not know what would happen and if God was not the one causing all things to happen then someone else is and hence God could not know exactly what would happen. But, this is exactly what many Calvinist revert back to in their arguments about God's relation to evil.
Clark, says,
Many Calvinist say the very same things that Augustine says with regards to God's relation to evil. R.C. Sproul for instance also speaks to Reprobation being a negative decree and not a positive one. The point that Augustine says is that God merely removes his grace from the situation. In which case the question is properly asked, 'why?' If God was concerned for the greater good then why in fact does evil exist? Could God not have created a world in which there was no evil? This is where the supposedly Christian philosopher tries to respond to the question of God and evil. This is where I will say as a Christian and as Calvinist that God wanted evil to occur and he does so for His own purpose. Yes evil glorifies God. God is equally ultimate what happens in this world.
John Calvin says,
On this page Clark speaks of Omniscience and presents a case of an observer from far off watching two cars about to collide. As far as the observer knows and sees these cars will in fact collide. However, his knowledge of such things does not actually cause the accident. From this view the Arminian-Romanist attempts to explain that God knows the future without causing it to happen.
Clark responds,
The similarity, however, is deceptive on several points. A human observer cannot really know that collision will occur. Though it is unlikely, it is possible for both cars to have blowouts before reaching the intersection and swerve apart. It is also possible that the observer has misjudged the speeds, in which case one car could slow down and the other accelerate, so that they would not collide. The human observer, therefore, does not have infallible foreknowledge.
No such mistakes can be assumed for God. The human observer may make a probable guess that the accident will occur, and this guess does not make the accident unavoidable; but if God knows, there is no possibility of avoiding the accident. A hundred years before the drivers were born, there was no possibility of avoiding the accident. There was no possibility that either one of them could have chosen to stay home that day, to have driven a different route, to have driven a different time, to have driven a different speed. They could not have chosen otherwise than as they did. This means either that they had no free will or that God did not know. [Pg. 160]
In other words God's knowledge of the event from eternity past makes it certain that the event will in fact occur. This is a deathblow to the Arminian and also to the Molinist who want to assert that God does not know for certain whether something would in fact take place. God's knowledge is certain because God's knowledge is perfect.
Clark, continues,
Suppose it be granted, just for the moment, that divine foreknowledge, like human guesses, does not cause the foreknown event. Even so, if there is foreknowledge, in contrast with fallible guesses, free will is impossible. If man has free will, and things can be different, God cannot be omniscient. Some Arminians have admitted this and have denied omniscience, but this puts them obviously at odds with Biblical Christianity. There is also another difficulty. If the Arminian or Romanist wishes to retain divine omniscience and at the same time assert that foreknowledge has no causal efficacy, he is put to it to explain how the collision was made certain a hundred years, an eternity, before the drivers were born. If God did not arrange the universe this way, who did?
If God did not arrange it this way, then there must be an independent factor in the universe. And if there is such, one consequence and perhaps two follows. First, the doctrine of creation must be abandoned. . . . Then, second, if the universe is not God's creation, his knowledge of it - past and future - cannot depend on what he intends to do, but on his observation of how it works. . . . And, finally, on this view God's knowledge would be empirical, rather than an integral part of his essence, and that he would be a dependent knower. [Pg. 160 - 161]
Sorry I don't want to quote too much of Clark. If one is interested in Clark's argument I would suggest that you go and buy the book preferably at the Trinity Foundation. But, Clark's argument thus far has been to show the irrationalism of those who say that God simply knows what will happen without actually causing it to happen. If God was like the observer he certainly could not know what would happen and if God was not the one causing all things to happen then someone else is and hence God could not know exactly what would happen. But, this is exactly what many Calvinist revert back to in their arguments about God's relation to evil.
Clark, says,
Plato in his Republic attempted to account for evil by the assumption that God is not the cause of everything, but only of a few things - few because our evils far outnumber our goods. In the Timaeus he was not quite so pessimistic, but he still held that there is an eternal and chaotic Space which the Demiurge cannot entirely control. To the end, therefore, it must be said, Plato retained an unreconciled dualism.
Aristotle, because his philosophy is so completely irreligious, is somewhat an exception in antiquity. He conceived God in such a way that his relation to evil, or to the moral endeavors of men, hardly mattered. The Unmoved Mover is in a sense the cause of all motion, but instead of being an active cause, he causes motion by being the object of the world's desire. He exercises no voluntary control over history. Though he is constantly thinking, he does not seem to think about the world, or, at most, he knows only a part of the past and nothing whatever of the future.
Naturally, the great Christian philosopher Augustine grappled with the difficulty. Under Neoplatonic influence he taught that all existing things are good; evil, therefore, does not exist - it is metaphysically unreal. Being non-existent, it can have no cause, and God therefore is not the cause of evil. When a man sins, it is a case of his choosing a lowest good instead of a higher good. This choice too has no efficient cause, although Augustine assigns to it a deficient cause. In this way God was supposed to be absolved. Augustine, admittedly, was a great Christian and a great philosopher. Later in the chapter more will be said about him. But here he was at his worst. Deficient causes, if there are such things, do not explain why a good God does not abolish sin and guarantee that men always choose the highest good. [Pg. 145]
Many Calvinist say the very same things that Augustine says with regards to God's relation to evil. R.C. Sproul for instance also speaks to Reprobation being a negative decree and not a positive one. The point that Augustine says is that God merely removes his grace from the situation. In which case the question is properly asked, 'why?' If God was concerned for the greater good then why in fact does evil exist? Could God not have created a world in which there was no evil? This is where the supposedly Christian philosopher tries to respond to the question of God and evil. This is where I will say as a Christian and as Calvinist that God wanted evil to occur and he does so for His own purpose. Yes evil glorifies God. God is equally ultimate what happens in this world.
John Calvin says,
Let us suppose, for example, that a merchant, having entered a wood in the company of honest men, imprudently wanders from his companions and, pursuing a wrong course, falls into the hands of robbers, and is murdered. His death was not only foreseen by God, but also decreed by him. For it is said, not that he has foreseen to what limits the life of every man would extend, but that he 'hath appointed bounds which he cannot pass.' Yet, as far as our minds are capable of comprehending, all these circumstances appear fortuitous. What opinion shall a Christian form on this case? He will consider all the circumstances of such a death as in their nature fortuitous, yet he will not doubt that the providence of God presided, and directed fortune to that end. Institutes. I. XVI. IX.
Saturday, November 7, 2015
Those who say emotions should be added give emotions the controlling position
"The quotations the complainants offer in their protest to prove their contention are very unconvincing. In fact, they frankly admit
And again, they admit: 'Calvin, who so clearly gives intellect a control over will, though not by virtue of that a primacy over will,' etc. (9). But they insist that 'the more recent theologians, however, seem to agree in large measure on the threefold distinction of intellect, emotions, and will' (8).
We may note here that the complainants express themselves very carefully: 'the more recent theologians seem to agree in large measure.' But even so the complainants are in error. It is far nearer to the truth to state that Reformed theologians have, generally speaking, been strongly opposed to the threefold distinction of intellect, will, and emotions, and have often expressed their fear of the danger of this distinction. The danger of this distinction, to which they usually pointed, is that the emotions in that case gradually assume a dominating and controlling position in the soul of man, and that, according to this trichotomous psychology, such experiences as love and hatred, sorrow and joy, repentance and remorse, in fact, all religion and morality are relegated to the emotions or feeling. And that would exactly be the deathblow to all true religion. Reformed theologians were, therefore, usually in favor of the dichotomous distinction of intellect and will, and ascribed the emotions partly to the intellect, and partly to the will. And again, it may be stated without fear of possible contradiction that Reformed theology usually favored the 'primacy of the intellect.'
I thought, and still think, that this was so well known that I could only be amazed when I discovered that some theologians of Philadelphia took the opposite stand." -Herman Hoeksema, The Clark-Van Til Controversy, Pg. 30 - 31
From the viewpoint of abstract psychology, it is perfectly true that Reformed theologians have not been in complete agreement as to the number and names of the faculties of the human soul. In speaking specifically of the faculties of the human soul, Calvin mentions by name only the intellect and will (Institutes, Bk. I, Chap. XV, Sect. 6). Augustine refers to the perception, understanding, and will [The Text of a Complaint, 8].
And again, they admit: 'Calvin, who so clearly gives intellect a control over will, though not by virtue of that a primacy over will,' etc. (9). But they insist that 'the more recent theologians, however, seem to agree in large measure on the threefold distinction of intellect, emotions, and will' (8).
We may note here that the complainants express themselves very carefully: 'the more recent theologians seem to agree in large measure.' But even so the complainants are in error. It is far nearer to the truth to state that Reformed theologians have, generally speaking, been strongly opposed to the threefold distinction of intellect, will, and emotions, and have often expressed their fear of the danger of this distinction. The danger of this distinction, to which they usually pointed, is that the emotions in that case gradually assume a dominating and controlling position in the soul of man, and that, according to this trichotomous psychology, such experiences as love and hatred, sorrow and joy, repentance and remorse, in fact, all religion and morality are relegated to the emotions or feeling. And that would exactly be the deathblow to all true religion. Reformed theologians were, therefore, usually in favor of the dichotomous distinction of intellect and will, and ascribed the emotions partly to the intellect, and partly to the will. And again, it may be stated without fear of possible contradiction that Reformed theology usually favored the 'primacy of the intellect.'
I thought, and still think, that this was so well known that I could only be amazed when I discovered that some theologians of Philadelphia took the opposite stand." -Herman Hoeksema, The Clark-Van Til Controversy, Pg. 30 - 31
There are two faculties in the soul according to Calvin and Clark
"The second main point of the Complaint against Dr. Clark concerns, in the words of the complainants, 'his view of the relation of the faculty of knowledge, the intellectual faculty, to other faculties of the soul.' I have re-read the material the complainants offer on this point, and also its refutation in The Answer. I think that the points of difference between Dr. Clark and his accusers may, in the main, be summarized as follows:
1. The complainants hold to the trichotomous diviation or distinction of the human soul into its faculties, and apply this also to God. In the human soul they distinguish between intellect, emotion, and will. Dr. Clark prefers the dichotomous distinction of intellect and will, refuses to speak of emotion as a separate faculty, and considers the emotions as aspects of the intellect and will. And he, too, applies this distinction to God. . . .
The Answer makes plain that Dr. Clark does not dney the reality of emotions in God, but gives them a different connotation from that of the complainants, and assigns to them a position different from that which the latter assign to them, in relation to God's intellect and will. The complainants make of the emotions in God a separate faculty, next to, and on a level with intellect and will. Dr. Clark gives them a subordinate position, and explains them as aspects or functions of God's intellect and will. From The Answer we quote:
Dr. Clark never made any 'forthright denial of anything that might be called emotion in God.' Love or wrath 'might be called an emotion.' Dr. Clark did not deny love and wrath to God. He holds that while some people might call God's love and wrath emotions, it is better to classify them as volitions. In this Dr. Clark is in accord with a large section of theology and of literary usage [27].
It would seem, then, that the chief point of difference between the complainants and Dr. Clark may be stated thus, that the former hold to the trichotomous, the latter to the dichotomous, distinction as applied to human and 'divine psychology.' (I must not be held responsible for the latter term.)" -Herman Hoeksema, The Clark-Van Til Controvery, Pg. 24 - 26
John Calvin in his Institutes also says that man has two faculties consisting of intellect and will. There might be some out there who may want to discredit what I teach and say along with what Dr. Clark also taught and said in his writings. So I will quote Calvin himself.
"We are constrained to depart a little from the mode of instruction, because the philosophers, being ignorant of the corruption of nature proceeding from the punishment of the fall, improperly confound two very different states of mankind. Let us, therefore, submit the following division - that the human soul has two faculties which relate to our present design, the understanding and the will. Now, let it be the office of the understanding to discriminate between objects, as they shall respectively appear deserving of approbation or disapprobation; but of the will, to choose and follow what the understanding shall have pronounced to be good; to abhor and avoid what it shall have condemned. Here let us not stay to discuss those subtleties of Aristotle, that the mind has no motion of itself, but that it is moved by the choice, which he also calls the appetitive intellect." - John Calvin, The Institutes, I. XV. VII.
1. The complainants hold to the trichotomous diviation or distinction of the human soul into its faculties, and apply this also to God. In the human soul they distinguish between intellect, emotion, and will. Dr. Clark prefers the dichotomous distinction of intellect and will, refuses to speak of emotion as a separate faculty, and considers the emotions as aspects of the intellect and will. And he, too, applies this distinction to God. . . .
The Answer makes plain that Dr. Clark does not dney the reality of emotions in God, but gives them a different connotation from that of the complainants, and assigns to them a position different from that which the latter assign to them, in relation to God's intellect and will. The complainants make of the emotions in God a separate faculty, next to, and on a level with intellect and will. Dr. Clark gives them a subordinate position, and explains them as aspects or functions of God's intellect and will. From The Answer we quote:
Dr. Clark never made any 'forthright denial of anything that might be called emotion in God.' Love or wrath 'might be called an emotion.' Dr. Clark did not deny love and wrath to God. He holds that while some people might call God's love and wrath emotions, it is better to classify them as volitions. In this Dr. Clark is in accord with a large section of theology and of literary usage [27].
It would seem, then, that the chief point of difference between the complainants and Dr. Clark may be stated thus, that the former hold to the trichotomous, the latter to the dichotomous, distinction as applied to human and 'divine psychology.' (I must not be held responsible for the latter term.)" -Herman Hoeksema, The Clark-Van Til Controvery, Pg. 24 - 26
John Calvin in his Institutes also says that man has two faculties consisting of intellect and will. There might be some out there who may want to discredit what I teach and say along with what Dr. Clark also taught and said in his writings. So I will quote Calvin himself.
"We are constrained to depart a little from the mode of instruction, because the philosophers, being ignorant of the corruption of nature proceeding from the punishment of the fall, improperly confound two very different states of mankind. Let us, therefore, submit the following division - that the human soul has two faculties which relate to our present design, the understanding and the will. Now, let it be the office of the understanding to discriminate between objects, as they shall respectively appear deserving of approbation or disapprobation; but of the will, to choose and follow what the understanding shall have pronounced to be good; to abhor and avoid what it shall have condemned. Here let us not stay to discuss those subtleties of Aristotle, that the mind has no motion of itself, but that it is moved by the choice, which he also calls the appetitive intellect." - John Calvin, The Institutes, I. XV. VII.
Sunday, October 25, 2015
What the OT ascribes to God alone, the NT transfers to Christ
"Whenever mention is made of the Deity, therefore, there must no opposition be admitted between the Father and the Son, as though the name of the true God belonged exclusively to the Father. For surely the God who appeared to Isaiah, was the only true God, whom, nevertheless, John affirms to have been Christ. He likewise, who by the mouth of Isaiah declared that he was to be a rock of offence to the Jews, was the only true God; whom Paul pronounces to have been Christ. He who proclaims by Isaiah, 'As I live, every knee shall bow to me,' is the only true God; but Paul applies the same to Christ. To the same purpose are the testimonies recited by the Apostle - 'Thou, Lord, has laid the foundation of the earth and the heavens;' and 'Let all the angels of God worship him.' These ascriptions belong only to the one true God; he contends that they are properly applied to Christ. Nor is there any force in that cavil, that what is proper to God is transferred to Christ, because he is the brightness of his glory." - John Calvin, The Institutes, I. XIII. XXIII.
Friday, October 16, 2015
God is good to those who LOVE Him and is a punisher of the wicked
"I do not yet allude to the peculiar covenant which distinguished the descendants of Abraham from the rest of the nations. For in receiving, by gratuitous adoption, those who were his enemies into the number of his children, God even then manifested himself as a Redeemer, but we are still treating of that knowledge which relates to creation of the world, without ascending to Christ the Mediator. But though it will be useful to cite some passages from the New Testament, (since that also demonstrates the power of God in the creation, and his providence in the conservation of the world,) yet I wish the reader to be apprized of the point now intended to be discussed, that he may not pass the limits which the subject prescribes. At present, then, let it suffice to understand how God, the former of heaven and earth, governs the world which he hath made. Both his parental goodness, and the beneficent inclinations of his will, are every where celebrated; and examples are given of his severity, which discover him to be the righteous punisher of iniquities, especially where his forbearance produces no salutary effects upon the obstinate." - John Calvin, I. X. I.
In one sense I read this and it seems to speak against the conclusion of common grace in Calvin. Especially when in Book 1 he is speaking about the general knowledge of God and how we derive such knowledge.
In one sense I read this and it seems to speak against the conclusion of common grace in Calvin. Especially when in Book 1 he is speaking about the general knowledge of God and how we derive such knowledge.
Wednesday, October 14, 2015
The Spirit uses the word of God alone to speak to his people.
"How diabolical, then, is that madness which pretends that the use of the Scripture is only transient and temporary, which guides the sons of God to the highest point of perfection! I would also ask them another question - whether they have imbibed a different spirit from that which the Lord promised to his disciples? Great as their infatuation is, I do not think them fanatical enough to hazard such an avowal. But what kind of Spirit did he promise? One, truly, who should 'not speak of himself,' but suggest and instil into their minds those things which he had orally delivered. The office of the Spirit, then, which is promised to us, is not to feign new and unheard of revelations, or to coin a new system of doctrine, which would seduce us from the received doctrine of the Gospel, but to seal to our minds the same doctrine which the Gospel delivers." - John Calvin, The Institutes, I. IX. I.
"But in the same place the Apostle also calls his preaching 'the ministration of the Spirit;' doubtless intending, that the Holy Spirit so adheres to his own truth, which he hath expressed in the Scriptures, that he only displaces and exerts his power where the word is received with due reverence and honour. Nor is this repugnant to what I before asserted, that the word itself has not much certainty with us, unless when confirmed by the testimony of the Spirit. For the Lord hath established a kind of mutual connection between the certainty of his word and of his Spirit; so that our minds are filled with a solid reverence for the word, when by the light of the Spirit we are enabled therein to behold the Divine countenance; and on the other hand, without the least fear of mistake, we gladly receive the Spirit, when we recognize him in his image, that is, in the word. This is the true state of the case." - Ibid. I. IX. III.
There is no separating the agency of the Holy Spirit from the knowledge of the truth. To know the truth is life eternal; and this life is begun and supported by the Spirit of Christ. On the other hand, all who resist the truth, and do not admit its evidence, are expressly said to resist the Holy Ghost. We ought not, then, to imagine, with the popular preachers that the gospel can in any respect be considered as a dead letter, or destitute of Divine power. For being the voice of God, it is unchangeably powerful to save all who believe it, and to destroy all who oppose it. Believers are said to grieve the Holy Spirit, when they neglect to hearken to the words of the gospel, and their consciences are answerably grieved, when they are brought to repentance. - Robert Sandeman, Letters on Theron and Aspasio
"But in the same place the Apostle also calls his preaching 'the ministration of the Spirit;' doubtless intending, that the Holy Spirit so adheres to his own truth, which he hath expressed in the Scriptures, that he only displaces and exerts his power where the word is received with due reverence and honour. Nor is this repugnant to what I before asserted, that the word itself has not much certainty with us, unless when confirmed by the testimony of the Spirit. For the Lord hath established a kind of mutual connection between the certainty of his word and of his Spirit; so that our minds are filled with a solid reverence for the word, when by the light of the Spirit we are enabled therein to behold the Divine countenance; and on the other hand, without the least fear of mistake, we gladly receive the Spirit, when we recognize him in his image, that is, in the word. This is the true state of the case." - Ibid. I. IX. III.
There is no separating the agency of the Holy Spirit from the knowledge of the truth. To know the truth is life eternal; and this life is begun and supported by the Spirit of Christ. On the other hand, all who resist the truth, and do not admit its evidence, are expressly said to resist the Holy Ghost. We ought not, then, to imagine, with the popular preachers that the gospel can in any respect be considered as a dead letter, or destitute of Divine power. For being the voice of God, it is unchangeably powerful to save all who believe it, and to destroy all who oppose it. Believers are said to grieve the Holy Spirit, when they neglect to hearken to the words of the gospel, and their consciences are answerably grieved, when they are brought to repentance. - Robert Sandeman, Letters on Theron and Aspasio
Tuesday, October 13, 2015
We are persuaded of the authenticity of Scripture by God alone
"Let it be considered, then, as an undeniable truth, that they who have been inwardly taught by the Spirit, feel an entire acquiescence in the Scripture, and that it is self-authenticated, carrying with it its own evidence, and ought not to be made the subject of demonstration and arguments from reason, but it obtains the credit which it deserves with us by the testimony of the Spirit. For though it conciliate our reverence by its internal majesty, it never seriously affects us till it is confirmed by the Spirit in our hearts. Therefore, being illuminated by him, we now believe the divine original of the Scripture, not from our own judgment or that of others, but we esteem the certainty, that we have received it from God's own mouth by the ministry of men, to be superior to that of any human judgment, and equal to that of an intuitive perception of God himself in it. We seek not arguments or probabilities to support our judgment, but submit our judgments and understandings as to a thing concerning which it is impossible for us to judge; and that not like some person, who are in the habit of hastily embracing what they do not understand, which displeases them as soon as they examine it, but because we feel the firmest conviction that we hold an invincible truth; nor like those unhappy men who surrender their minds captives to superstitions, but because we perceive in it the undoubted energies of the Divine power, by which we are attracted and inflamed to an understanding and voluntary obedience, but with a vigour and efficacy superior to the power of any human will or knowledge." - John Calvin, The Institutes, I. VII. V.
The Church is built on the foundation of the Scripture alone and not the other way around
The Apostle ". . . testifies that the church is 'built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets'. If the doctrine of the prophets and apostles be the foundation of the Church, it must have been certain, antecedently to the existence of the Church. Nor is there any foundation for this cavil, yet it remains doubtful what writings are to be ascribed to the prophets and apostles, unless it be determined by the Church. for if the Christian Church has been from the beginning founded on the writings of the prophets and the preaching of the apostles, wherever that doctrine is found, the approbation of it has certainly preceded the formation of the Church; since without it the Church itself had never existed. It is a very false notion, therefore, that the power of judging of the Scripture belongs to the Church, so as to make the certainty of it dependent on the Church's will. Wherefore, when the Church receives it, and seals it with her suffrage, she does not authenticate a thing otherwise dubious or controvertible, but, knowing it to be the truth of her God, performs a duty of piety, by treating it with immediate veneration." - John Calvin, The Institutes, I. VII. II.
Monday, October 12, 2015
Nature does not give us knowledge of what God is
"The mystical theology of the Egyptians also shows that they all sedulously endeavoured to preserve the appearance of reason in the midst of their folly. And any thing apparently probable might at first sight, perhaps, deceive the simple and incautious; but there never was any human invention by which religion was not basely corrupted. And this confused diversity emboldened the Epicureans, and other gross despisers of piety, to reject all idea of God. For, seeing the wisest of men contending with each other for contrary opinions, they hesitated not, from their discussions, and from the frivolous and absurd doctrines maintained by the different parties, to infer, that it was vain and foolish for men to torment themselves with investigations concerning God, who does not exist. And this they thought they might do with impunity, supposing that a compendious denial of any God at all would be better than feigning uncertain gods, and thereby occasioning endless controversies. they reason very ignorantly, or rather endeavor to conceal their own impiety behind the ignorance of men, which not at all justifies any encroachment on God. But from the general confession, that there is no subject productive of so many dissensions among the learned as well as the unlearned, it is inferred, that the minds of men, which err so much in investigations concerning God, are extremely blind and stupid in celestial mysteries. Others commend the answers of Simonides, who, being asked by Hiero the Tyrant what God was, requested a day to consider it. When the tyrant, the next day, repeated the inquiry, he begged to be allowed two days longer; and, having often doubled the number of days, at length answered, 'The longer I consider the subject, the more obscure it appears to me.' He prudently suspended his opinion on a subject so obscure to him; yet this shows that men, who are taught only by nature, have no certain, sound, or distinct knowledge, but are confined to confused principles, so that they worship an unknown God." - John Calvin, The Institues, I. V. XII.
We are stupid apart and derive no advantage of the testimony of God in nature
"But, notwithstanding the clear representations given by God in the mirror of his works, both of himself and of his everlasting dominion, such is our stupidity, that, always inattentive to these obvious testimonies, we derive no advantage from them. For, with regard to the structure and very beautiful organization of the world, how few of us are there, who, when lifting up their eyes to heaven, or looking round on the various regions of the earth, direct their minds to the remembrance of the Creator, and do not rather content themselves with a view of his works, to the total neglect of their Author! And with respect to those things that daily happen out of the ordinary course of nature, is it not the general opinion, that men are rolled and whirled about by the blind temerity of fortune, rather than governed by the providence of God? Or if, by the guidance and direction of these things, we are ever driven (as all men must sometimes be) to the consideration of a God, yet, when we have rashly conceived an idea of some deity, we soon slide into our own carnal dreams, or depraved inventions, corrupting by our vanity the purity of divine truth. We differ from one another, in that each individual imbibes some peculiarity of error; but we perfectly agree in a universal departure from the one true God, to preposterous trifles. This disease affects, not only the vulgar and ignorant, but the most eminent, and those who, in other things, discover peculiar sagacity." - John Calvin, The Institutes, I.V.XI
The elect were chosen by the grace and mercy of God alone
19Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? 20Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? 21Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? 22What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: 23And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, 24Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? - Romans 9
The argument goes something like this that God cannot be merciful to vessels that are unfallen, because mercy presupposes fallenness. But is this true? When one considers the end to which God chose the elect and the non - elect one ought to see that it was God's grace and mercy to save some and to damn others before they had done anything good or wrong.
Ultimately, God could have chosen to save person a rather than person b. But, He did not. Mercy and Grace are undeserved favors from God because those who are chosen to be saved had nothing in themselves for why God decided to save them.
Unlike, Molinism which says that their god knows all things whether what will happen or what could happen, God in Scripture knows all things before they happened and that he had also predestined those things to happened. For God to know something is for God to predestinated it. Nothing happens outside of His knowledge. Whatever happens in this life happens because God knows it will happen. So those whom He did Predestined, He Called, Justified, and Glorified.
The argument goes something like this that God cannot be merciful to vessels that are unfallen, because mercy presupposes fallenness. But is this true? When one considers the end to which God chose the elect and the non - elect one ought to see that it was God's grace and mercy to save some and to damn others before they had done anything good or wrong.
Ultimately, God could have chosen to save person a rather than person b. But, He did not. Mercy and Grace are undeserved favors from God because those who are chosen to be saved had nothing in themselves for why God decided to save them.
Unlike, Molinism which says that their god knows all things whether what will happen or what could happen, God in Scripture knows all things before they happened and that he had also predestined those things to happened. For God to know something is for God to predestinated it. Nothing happens outside of His knowledge. Whatever happens in this life happens because God knows it will happen. So those whom He did Predestined, He Called, Justified, and Glorified.
The only grounds of acceptance before God is the death of Christ alone imputed to the elect alone
When the Bible says in 1 John 3 that believers in Christ does not commit sin it does not at all say that believers do not continue to sin either by habit or accident. But what it is saying is simple the Bible tells us how to please God. It also tells us that no one has pleased God and that God will one day judge the nations on account of their sins. Now it also tells us the only ground of acceptance before God which is in Christ alone. For after the sin of the first parents who were our representatives all of us also fell in them. Because of this the law demanded our death for lack of perfect obedience. No one is righteous but that one that gave his life on the cross for the sins of the elect alone. It is this death that is now imputed to the elect so that in Him they live.
Sunday, October 11, 2015
What makes a Christian is not one's external works, but one's conscience
"Dr. Karlstadt has fallen from the kingdom of Christ and has suffered shipwreck with respect to faith. Therefore he wants to get us out of the kingdom right into works and simply make Galatians of us also. For take note, dear reader, what gross blindness it is to fight as he does. 'If anyone circumcise himself, should he not in all fairness be called a Jew? Thus, whoever elevates is rightly called one who brings a sacrifice, etc.' You poor, miserable spirit, where on earth have you read that he is rightly called a Jew who circumcises himself? Did not Paul circumcise Timothy, when he was already baptized and a Christian? (Acts 16[:3]). Does not Paul declare circumcision a matter of free choice (1 Cor. 7[:19]), 'Neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision,' that is, one may circumcise himself or not have a foreskin or not. And this spirit pits his judgment blithely and boldly against that of Paul, saying it is not a matter of free choice, but makes one a Jew. he ought rather say that whoever circumcises himself as though he were compelled to do so by law and for conscience's sake, he is rightly a Jew. For circumcision does not make a Jew, since one does find those who due to illness or on account of an infection must be circumcised. Should they therefore be called Jews?
He, however, is a Jew who, compelled in his conscience by law, feels he must be circumcised. This Jewish disposition and conscience makes one a Jew, even if he never externally circumcised himself or could circumcised himself. The foreskin thus makes no one a Jew. But if he thinks in his conscience, he must have a foreskin, this one is a gentile, even if he permitted himself to be circumcised a thousand times externally. Similarly, since he thinks it necessary to have the foreskin and to condemn circumcision without leaving it free choice as Christ would have it, Dr. Karlstadt actually is a gentile and has lost Christ. Here one sees clearly how this man is completely swallowed up in works and drowned in external appearance, so that he is not able to give one single right judgment in spiritual matters of conscience. For it is impossible that a spark of Christian understanding should still be found in him, since he holds that an external work makes a Jew or Christian, gentile or Turk, and does not judge according to the conscience, but according to semblance and appearance, which even reasonable people do not do." -Martin Luther, Against the Heavenly Prophets, Pg. 217-218
He, however, is a Jew who, compelled in his conscience by law, feels he must be circumcised. This Jewish disposition and conscience makes one a Jew, even if he never externally circumcised himself or could circumcised himself. The foreskin thus makes no one a Jew. But if he thinks in his conscience, he must have a foreskin, this one is a gentile, even if he permitted himself to be circumcised a thousand times externally. Similarly, since he thinks it necessary to have the foreskin and to condemn circumcision without leaving it free choice as Christ would have it, Dr. Karlstadt actually is a gentile and has lost Christ. Here one sees clearly how this man is completely swallowed up in works and drowned in external appearance, so that he is not able to give one single right judgment in spiritual matters of conscience. For it is impossible that a spark of Christian understanding should still be found in him, since he holds that an external work makes a Jew or Christian, gentile or Turk, and does not judge according to the conscience, but according to semblance and appearance, which even reasonable people do not do." -Martin Luther, Against the Heavenly Prophets, Pg. 217-218
Those who do not speak clearly and do not attempt to do so have not the Spirit
"The Holy Spirit speaks well, clearly, in an orderly and distinct fashion. Satan mumbles and chews the words in his mouth and makes a hundred into a thousand. It is an effort to ascertain what he means." -Martin Luther, Against the Heavenly Prophets, Pg. 196
God alone is our teacher and we do not go beyond what he has commanded.
"Teaching and doing are two things. I say, furthermore, that one should separate teaching and doing as far from each other as heaven from earth. Teaching belongs only to God. He has the right and the power to command, forbid, and be master over the conscience. However, to do and refrain from doing belong to us so that we may keep God's commandment and teaching. Where doing or to refrain from doing is in question, and concerning which God has taught, commanded, and forbidden nothing, there we should permit free choice as God himself has done. Whoever though goes beyond this by way of commandments or prohibition invades God's own sphere of action, burdens the conscience, creates sin and misery, and destroys all that God has left free and certain. In addition he expels the Holy Spirit with all his kingdom, work, and word, so that nothing but devils remain." - Martin Luther, Against the heavenly Prophets, Pg. 207
"Now, dear sirs, we are speaking of minor matters, insofar as the doing is concerned. For what does it mean to elevate the sacrament? But when the teaching is taken into account we are dealing with the most important matters. The factious spirit is too frivolous and meddles all too impudently in this matter. He has such a low regard for teaching and such a high regard for the doing that he does not see the beam in his own eye, and is too much concerned with the splinter in our eye [Matt. 7:5]. For with teaching he manhandles conscience, which Christ has won with his own blood, and kills souls, which God has dearly purchased, with commandments and sins. For thereby the kingdom of Christ will be destroyed and everything that the gospel has brought us exterminated. For Christ cannot remain in the conscience that goes whoring after alien teaching and the commandments of men. There faith must perish. Therefore let everyone know that Dr. Karlstadt has a spirit which is hostile to faith and to the whole kingdom of God, which be in turn would destroy with his conceit and human nonsense, as you may well understand from this part of the discussion and concerning which you will hear more later." - Ibid, Pg. 209
"Now, dear sirs, we are speaking of minor matters, insofar as the doing is concerned. For what does it mean to elevate the sacrament? But when the teaching is taken into account we are dealing with the most important matters. The factious spirit is too frivolous and meddles all too impudently in this matter. He has such a low regard for teaching and such a high regard for the doing that he does not see the beam in his own eye, and is too much concerned with the splinter in our eye [Matt. 7:5]. For with teaching he manhandles conscience, which Christ has won with his own blood, and kills souls, which God has dearly purchased, with commandments and sins. For thereby the kingdom of Christ will be destroyed and everything that the gospel has brought us exterminated. For Christ cannot remain in the conscience that goes whoring after alien teaching and the commandments of men. There faith must perish. Therefore let everyone know that Dr. Karlstadt has a spirit which is hostile to faith and to the whole kingdom of God, which be in turn would destroy with his conceit and human nonsense, as you may well understand from this part of the discussion and concerning which you will hear more later." - Ibid, Pg. 209
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