The Totality of a Man's Experience Makes Him Who He Is

 The will is first and original; knowledge is merely added to it as an instrument belonging to the phenomenon of the will. Therefore every man is what he is through his will, and his character is original, for willing is the basis of his inner being. Through the knowledge added to it, he gets to know in the course of experience what he is; in other words, he becomes acquainted with his character. Therefore he knows himself in consequence of, and in accordance with, the nature of his will, instead of willing in consequence of, and according to, his knowing, as in the old view." - Arthur Schopenhauer, The World as Will and Representation, Page 292 and 293

One of the problems with some of the rationalist philosophers is that they often become combatibilist.

Arthur here is teaching that our being is the will. We are who we are in eternity past. When we enter this life which is time and space, we go through life in successions. Thus as we learn more and more we get to know ourselves. Thus who we are and what we chose in eternity past becomes clear to us as time goes on.

It is similar to Leibniz thoughts.

G.W. Leibniz says, "Since this is so, we can say that the nature of an individual substance or of a complete being is to have a notion so complete that it is sufficient to contain and to allow us to deduce from it all the predicates of the subject to which this notion is attributed. An accident, on th other hand, is a being whose notion does not include everything that can be attributed to the subject to which the notion is attributed. Thus, taken in abstraction from the subject, the quality of being a king which belongs to Alexander the Great is not determinate enough to constitute an individual and does not include the other qualities of the same subject, not does it include everything that the notion of this prince includes. On the other hand, God, seeing Alexander's individual notion or haecceity, sees in it at the same time the basis and reason for all the predicates which can be said truly of him, for example, that he vanquished Darius and Porus; he even knows a priori (and not by experience) whether he died a natural death or whether he was poisoned, something we can know only through history. Thus when we consider carefully the connection of things, we can say that from all time in Alexander's soul there are vestiges of everything that has happened to him and marks of everything that will happen to him and even traces of everything that happens in the universe, even though God alone could recognize them all." - Discourse on Metaphysics, Page 8

In other words some qualifiers can be given to several different people. Such as King can be given to Alexander and David. However, what makes up Alexander is the sum total of his parts.

Regulative Principle

 The regulative principle of Scripture whether in worship or every day life is:

6Brothers, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us not to go beyond what is written. Then you will not take pride in one man over another. - 1 Corinthians 4

Who were Paul and Apollos but servants of God, men not to be worshiped or trusted but in so far as they were called of God to preach and teach the gospel alone which the Bible alone has declared to us, we head their writings.

What is the Bible? It is the 66 books it contains. These books alone are the words of God. God by his power dictated the words to his Prophets and Apostles.

We are not to go beyond what is written. What has been revealed by special revelation is what we head.

What did the Apostle Paul believe about his writings?

Peace and mercy to all who walk by this rule, even to the Israel of God. - Galatians 6:16

He considered his writings as part of Canon. The term for rule is a term where we get the term Canon from.

That is right, the Apostle consider his writings as part of the Holy Bible, the Scriptures, that is what is written.

To deny Paul's writings is to deny the Bible alone is the word of God.

The Gospel alone is our Mother

 Galatians 4:23 talks about the wives of Abraham. The one was a slave, the other was a free woman.

Then in v. 24 and 25, Paul says that these women were allegorical to the realities they represented, for they represented two covenants. Agar represented Mt. Sinai, and it's bondage of the law.

In v. 26, Jerusalem which above is free, which is the mother of us all. This is the covenant of grace. In other words, this is the gospel that has begotten us. God in Christ is our Father, who alone teaches us all things necessary for our salvation, and the gospel alone is our mother who makes us alive with Christ, and sits us with him in the heavenly realms.

John Murray makes repentance necessary for salvation

 John Murray writes on union with Christ in Chapter 9, in Redemption Accomplished and Applied. You would think that such an important subject as he says on Page 171 would have been addressed earlier in the book. Bit instead he deals with the subject after discussing Faith and Repentance, Sanctification, and Perseverance. None of these things are conditions for salvation.

No one is saved by their Repentance, whether thay be the narrow or wide sense of the word.

John Murray also writes that union with Christ is a spiritual matter (Page 176). What does this mean? "'Spiritual' in the New Testament refers to that which is of the Holy Spirit. The spiritual man is the person who is indwelt and controlled by the Holy Spirit and a spiritual state of mind is a state of mind that is produced and maintained by the Holy Spirit."

It's not that Murray's views are necessarily wrong, they are necessarily unclear. What does he mean by being controlled by the Spirit unless he believes in mysticism? How can he discern a life that isn't lead by the Spirit? Would he agree with not by sight but by faith? But if faith includes repentance as even Schreiner says then I suppose he could say such.

The Bible does talk about walking according to the Spirit and by this it means to walk by faith, by the Bible, by the Gospel doctrine. What does a man bring before other men? What do they speak of (Matthew 7). We judge a prophet by the fruits of their words. Unfortunately if we follow Murray we would not know what to say.

John Murray's Process of Justification

 John Murray's book Redemption Accomplished and Applied makes Redemption a process. For instance in his book in Chapter 8 on Perseverance he writes that one thing saints do is persevere. Of course, he says this act of perseverance is of God (Page 169). The saints are kept (Page 164). But with all this being said, he makes our Perseverance an application process of Redemption. The question then becomes how do you know you are saved? What are the grounds for which we may deduce we are saved? For some people it is that they give to charity, or go to church, or so Christian things. However, again others as long as they persevere they shall be assured.

The Bible however tells us that salvation is found in no other name but the name Christ Jesus. Saints know and are assured of their salvation because He died for the sins elect alone and propitiated the wrath of God and was buried and was raised again 3 days late. This is how we know the love of God (Ephesians 3).

John Murray's Final Justification

 John Murray, although he wrote years before Schreiner, and Murray's views are not quite as evident as Schreiner's, in Redemption Accomplished and Applied it is interesting he writes on sanctification and his views are quite the same as Schrieners. He says it is process (Page 157) and on the same page he says we are active.

He uses Philippians 2:12-13 to refer to the eschatology salvation. Remember in Schreiner's book, he writes on Final Justification?

Well John Murray says, "The salvation referred to here is not the salvation already in possession but the eschatology salvation."

What exactly does this mean? Again this book should be about Redemption we have in Christ and by Christ alone. Instead, Murray writes about what we do. Again is our justification a process? Does it involve my repentance from sins? Note the topics. Sanctification is one. He wrote on Faith and Repentance prior to Justification.

Our justification before God is complete. It is finish. We need not worry about attaining heaven. The only thing not yet is that we are still waiting for the new heavens and the new earth. We wait by faith in Christ cross work alone.

The Double-Justification of John Murray

 John Murray's book Redemption Accomplished and Applied is none other than Double Justification.

Redemption is an Accomplished fact. It is not an on going process. Because we are bought we have assurance.

Regeneration is not an added step towards Justification

 It is often difficult to critically analyze a popular teacher let alone a common belief system. People who follow these people or hold so close to these ideas, who have not thought any other way before, often hear the criticism and are immediately filled with hatred and disdain the criticism.

John Murray, for example, says Regeneration is the prerequisite of adoption. It is the same Holy Spirit who regenerates who is also sent into the hearts of the adopted, crying Abba Father. But adoption itself is not simply regeneration, nor is it the Spirit of adoption - the one is prerequisite, the other is consequent." - Redemption Accomplished and Applied, Page 141

What is wrong with this statement? What is wrong with saying that regeneration is prerequisite to adoption? The primary issue is that one makes what happens in us the basis of adoption, justification.

The simple critique that shall be given is that according to Scripture the basis of being called a son is the cross of Christ. Romans 5:1 "Therefore being justified, by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."

Or John 5:24 or John 6:46 "verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life."

Life precedes knowledge and assent. One must have life before they believe

We do sing songs that refer to this truth at the cross at the cross. Ones sins must be expiated and God's wrath propitiated before one is regenerated. One must therefore be adopted before they can posses belief in Christ alone.

The general flows out of the principle. Regeneration is not the difference maker, Christ is.

Or again like Luke 5:20 says, "And when he saw their faith, he said unto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee."

This man believed because his sins were forgiven. The result of this forgiveness was that he believed. He was converted in other words because of the principle doctrine.

Poets know man profoundly

 "Therefore it has been observed that a poet may know man profoundly and thoroughly, but men very badly; he is easily duped, and is a plaything in the hands of the cunning and crafty." - Arthur Schopenhauer, The World as Will and Representation, Page 194

Great thinkers are often thought of as Mad

 "Even Aristotle as quoted by Seneca (De Tranquillitate Animi, XV, 16 [xvii, 10]), is supposed to have said: There has been no great mind without an admixture of madness. Plato expresses it in the above mentioned myth of the dark cave (Republic, BK. 7) by saying that those who outside the cave have seen the true sunlight and thr things that actually are (the Ideas), cannot afterwards see within the cave any more, because their eyes have grown unaccustomed to the darkness; they no longer recognize the shadow-forms correctly. They are therefore ridiculed for their mistakes by those others who have never left that cave and those shadow-forms. Also in the Phaedrus (245 A), he distinctly says that without a certain madness there can be no genuine poet, in fact (249 D) that everyone appears mad who recognizes the eternal Ideas in fleeting things." - Arthur Schopenhauer, The World as Will and Representation, Page 190 and 191

Elpizo and Pisteo and Pepoithotes are one and the same

 There are probably other things I could post about John Murray's views in Chapter 4 of Redemption Accomplished and Applied, such as his tripartite views of faith. I believe however faith is bipartite. The assurance, or confidence the believer has is delegated not to a third element of faith but rather to the object. Christ is our hope. The Greek word is Elpizo which comes from Pisteo which means to believe. To hope is to believe upon Christ. To believe upon Christ is to believe upon his words. To believe in Christ is the same as to believe that Christ has made sufficient atonement by expiation of sins and thereby God is propitious. Colossians 1.23 talks of Hope of the Gospel. Or the other word is Pepoithotes which means Confidence. Again this comes from Pisteo. Peitho is the root for Pistis they are the same words.

John Murray, says, "We see, therefore, that the emphasis which the Scripture places upon faith as the condition of salvation is not to be construed as if faith were the only condition. (Page 121)" If this is true then what else is necessary for our salvation? Murray tacks on repentance. However, none of the reformers ever taught that repentance in the strict or general sense ever saved anyone. In thr strict sense it causes contrition by the law, to which after the comforting news of the gospel is given causing our conversion. In the general sense it results in a life long change of the mind to which we grow in knowledge of the gospel. But in all this what saves is belief of the gospel doctrine.