Category reformed theology

May 16 2013

Desiring God’s “Love Letter to a Lesbian” Disappoints

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John Piper’s Desiring God ministry put the story of a young Christian who struggles with lesbianism in a place where it does not belong.  The Front Page (here).

Delight in Truth’s disappointment is not with the story of conversion, and her declarations about God and His redemption.

Also, there is no disappointment in the correct theology described in this well written article.

I am also not disappointed with the attempt at evangelizing those who are in open rebellion toward God, and who practice lesbianism.

I am disappointed with the fact that Desiring God is promoting a person who apparently came to Christ, but who has not yet mortified her desires for the same-sex as prescribed by Romans 8:13.

“For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.”

She provides Scripture supporting the idea that homosexuality is wrong, sinful and abominable, but admits a struggle with it.  This young woman has not yet been completely set free, while the possibility of being set free exists! Quote:

“There was a time in my walk with Christ where I experienced a lot of temptation about falling back into lesbianism. These temptations caused me to doubt God’s word. My temptations and desires began to become more real to me than the truth of the Bible. As I was praying and meditating on these things, God put this impression on my heart: “Jackie, you have to believe that my word is true even if it contradicts how you feel.” Wow! This is right. Either I trust in his word or I trust my own feelings. Either I look to him for the pleasure my soul craves or I search for it in lesser things. Either I walk in obedience to what he says or I reject his truth as if it were a lie.

The struggle with homosexuality is a battle of faith.”

She continues to struggle with these “lesser things” and feelings while she understands that they contradict God’s word.

Mortification of the flesh is not easy.  Anyone who struggles with this level of flesh desire should not be promoted as an example in what is otherwise an exemplary ministry by John Piper.

When a compulsive liar who lies and exaggerates everyday, one who cheats every year on his income taxes, one who lives a continuous lie experiences the new birth, he will put to death the old tendencies of his nature and not want to commit them again.

When a heavy smoker quits smoking after Christ becomes the center of his life, he no longer desires the old cravings.  Same with drug and alcohol addicts.

The solution for mortification of homosexual desire is found in the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. There are many examples of those who have achieved this, not on their own, but through God’s supernatural work in their lives.

These are the ones who should be promoted as examples of the complete work of regeneration by the Holy Spirit.

Apr 22 2013

John Piper on “Once Saved Always Saved”

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“Once saved, always saved” has become an evangelical cliché which grossly misrepresents the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints. It has unfortunately been used by immature Christians and perhaps even unsaved “Christians” as a license to sin.

Here’s what John Piper has to say about the subject in his book Future Grace (via Delight in Truth friend Gabe Bogdan):

“A few years ago I spoke to a high school student body on how to fight lust. One of my points was called, “Ponder the eternal danger of lust.” I quoted the words of Jesus–that it’s better to go to heaven with one eye than to hell with two–and said to the students that their eternal destiny was at stake in what they did with their eyes and with the thoughts of their imagination…

After my message… one of the students… asked, “Are you saying then that a person can lose his salvation?”

…This is exactly the same response I got a few years ago when I confronted a man about the adultery he was living in…

I pled with him to return to his wife. Then I said, “You know, Jesus says that if you don’t fight this sin with the kind of seriousness that is willing to gouge out your own eye, you will go to hell”…

As a professing Christian he looked at me in utter disbelief, as though he had never heard anything like this in his life, and said, “You mean you think a person can lose his salvation?”

…So I have learned again and again from firsthand experience that there are many professing Christians who have a view of salvation that disconnects it from real life, and that nullifies the threats of the Bible, and puts the sinning person who claims to be a Christian beyond the reach of biblical warnings.

I believe this view of the Christian life is comforting thousands who are on the broad way that leads to destruction (Matthew 7:13)…

The main concern of this book is to show that the battle against sin is a battle against unbelief. Or: the fight for purity is a fight for faith in future grace.

The great error that I am trying to explode is the error that says, “Faith in God is one thing and the fight for holiness is another thing… The battle for obedience is optional because only faith is necessary for final salvation.” (John Piper, Future Grace pg. 330-331 and 333)

It is a grave error to separate obedience to the Word from an initial conversion type event. Disobedience, lack of striving for holiness, and lack of perseverance in the faith may be indicative that the professing Christian is not saved.

Feb 14 2013

The Gospel in One Minute

Reformed (and slightly charismatic?) ministry Desiring God led by John Piper put this video on their front page under the heading “The Gospel In One Minute.” I think the message is theologically correct overall but a bit skewed.  While there is an overemphasis on God’s love… repentance, obedience and sanctification are notably absent.  To Lecrae’s defense, this may have been a spontaneous recital. 🙂

What do Delight in Truth readers think?  Does rap have a place in spreading the gospel?

Feb 11 2013

“I Did Not Eat the Sprinkles”

The little 3-year-old Johnny is too cute when faced with the evidence of his actions.  Despite a face full of sprinkles he insists he did not eat any!  He does not budge, he does not blink, he does not flinch while lying. He believes it! 🙂

Delight in Truth will take this opportunity to demonstrate that sin is inherent to human nature from birth, and we are not immune from it even at an age before we can discern between right and wrong.

It is evidently clear that no parent in his or her right mind will instruct their toddler to lie.  Even those without Christ have a moral code which typically includes moral laws against lying; whether they follow those laws is a another matter.

This begs the question… if we do not teach our children to lie how do they learn to lie as early as age 2? Why do they exhibit unholy qualities such as shame, anger, jealousy, and revenge as early as 3 years old?

The answer is that these qualities do not have to be taught, they are inherent to our human nature. For this reason I disagree with many philosophers who along the centuries have taught either that humans are basically good, or humans are neutral, neither bad nor good.

Besides the evidence we see in children who are capable of cruelty and evil acts which have not been specifically taught to them, the Bible also holds that human nature is depraved in the worst possible way.

This depravity begins at birth as Psalm 51:5 tells us “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me” (NIV).  The LORD declares in Genesis 8:21 “every inclination of [man’s] heart is evil from childhood.” And specifically for lying, Psalm 58:3 “The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray from birth, speaking lies”

And this continues into adulthood as Paul teaches in Romans 7:18 “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.”

But I do not want to make a cute little video into a damper for your day… Lets end on a positive note!

Despite our sinfulness and depravity we have the opportunity to become righteous by faith in Jesus Christ.  Ephesians 2 :4-5 “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.”  Amen!

Dec 27 2012

Theology 101: What is Double Predestination?

A Presbyterian theologian has the following conversation with his colleague:

“You believe in the absolute sovereignty of God, correct?”

“Of course”

“And you believe everything exists and happens for His glory, correct?”

“Yes, I’m a 5-point Calvinist.”

“Then would you be willing to be dammed to reprobation for His glory?”

“…hmm, no”

This absurd and funny conversation embodies some difficulties presented by the doctrine of double predestination. In perhaps the best description of Calvinistic essence, John Calvin defined double predestination in the following statement:

“God preordained, for his own glory and the display of His attributes of mercy and justice, a part of the human race, without any merit of their own, to eternal salvation, and another part, in just punishment of their sin, to eternal damnation.”

What this doctrine basically says is that before the foundations of the world were constructed, before time was created, in His eternal council, God decided that certain humans will be ordained for damnation due to sin while others will be ordained for salvation through grace despite their sin, and nothing will change this.

Everyone wants to know if this is really true. I honestly do not know. Theologians are split on whether God actually and actively predestines humans and angels for hell and each camp provides Scripture to support their position. Famous theologian JI Packer calls such difficult issues a “divine mystery” which may not be meant for us to figure out.

The problem is that extremely difficult questions rise connected to predestination when studying the Word of God in-depth. For example:

“If salvation is absolutely exclusive through faith in Jesus via hearing the Gospel, and it is, then is it possible for a person who lives and dies without access to the Gospel to be saved?”

“If no, and that appears to be the case, then was such a person destined for such an outcome?”

I will provide two passages from the book of Isaiah, the first makes Isaiah look like a double predestinarian, while the second appears to contradict this controversial doctrine. Both are in the context of Israel’s turning away from God:

63:17 “O LORD, why do you make us wander from your ways and harden our heart, so that we fear you not?

And God answers placing responsibility on Israel, highlighting His effort to save Israel, and lamenting over Israel:

65:1 “I was ready to be sought by those who did not ask for me;
I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me.
I said, “Here am I, here am I,”
to a nation that was not called by my name.

2 I spread out my hands all the day
to a rebellious people,
who walk in a way that is not good,
following their own devices;

3 a people who provoke me
to my face continually,
sacrificing in gardens
and making offerings on bricks;”

On the other hand, in Romans 9 Paul alludes to the real possibility that certain people are created for damnation (keep in mind that he prefaces with a “what if”):

22 “What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, 23 in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory— 24 even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles?”

However, in perhaps the most powerful passage appearing to contradict predestination to damnation, Jesus laments over those perishing in Jerusalem due to unbelief.

Why would He lament over the outcome of His eternal council if He predestined them to damnation?

37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not!”

To attempt to understand this dichotomy would mean that we must understand the mind of God, and that is not possible. It is perfectly acceptable not to form a strong opinion or any opinion on the issue of double predestination.

Wherever one stands on this doctrine one must clearly understand that human responsibility is found on every page of the Bible regardless of predestination. Even if God predestines, man is 100% responsible.

I do not understand this antinomy so I resign to leave it in the realm of divine mystery.

Dec 17 2012

Is Human Free Will Really Free?

Which pill will you swallow?

Which doctrine will you embrace?

The one which teaches that God is sovereign in all details including the deepest crevices of the human soul?  Or the teaching that human free will is ultimately responsible for our decision to follow Christ?

I would argue using the Bible that for believers, their freedom and free will is hidden in God’s sovereignty.  Paul tells Christians in Colossians 3:3: “For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”  Discussing the “when” this happens is a matter of technicality… we know that from God’s perspective the past, present and future matter not.  From His point of view, which ultimately is the only point of view of importance, our choices, our decisions, and final outcomes are hidden with Christ in Him.

When it comes to free will, I believe that absolute human free will is not found on the pages of the Bible.  But interestingly, human responsibility is found on every page of the Bible.  If absolute free will were found in the Bible, then we would also find our ability to NOT sin.  If a man or woman had absolute freedom of choice, they should be able to choose to NOT sin!  But sadly this is not the case.

There is a multitude of biblical texts showing that while unregenerated by the Holy Spirit, we are enslaved to sin, captured and bound by our sinful nature, and the only freedom we have IS to sin.  Any attempt to rid ourselves of sin is unsustainable.  That is biblical truth.  Then how can anyone say that they have absolute free will?

I personally know people who live in sin and cannot stop sinning even though they know the depravity of their actions.  They know the truth to a large degree.  Paul tells us in Romans 1 that such people know the truth but they are suppressing it.   No matter how much these people want to give up sin in theoretical terms, they are unable to do it.  They do not have the absolute freedom to do it because they are not free.  They are chained.  Their will is not free at all.

What the children of God have is not an absolute free will but a will that is subordinate to God.  Paul teaches this in Philippians 2:13 “it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.”  And the previous verse implicates the human responsibility: “continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling…”

Our free will is subordinate to God’s sovereignty while maintaining personal human responsibility.

So, the next time you think that your own freedom of choice lifted you out of sin and unto salvation, meditate on our incontestable inability to break the chain of sin on our own.

This is the mystery of all ages, the way God the Father draws his children unto Him through the work of God the Holy Spirit, all made possible by the death and resurrection of God the Son.  And to see that He found it appropriate to reveal to us this great mystery of salvation makes us stand in awe.

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Dec 6 2012

At Christmas We Remember God’s Eternal Plan

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The most profound, the most mysterious, the most wonderful plan ever conceived has to do with God’s intra-Trinitarian counsel to create and redeem humanity. The incarnation, death and resurrection of God Himself into the person of Jesus to save believers onto His glory is the center of this plan.

This mystery of human redemption is so great that under the guidance of the Holy Spirit apostle Peter writes in 1 Peter 1:12 that even angels “long to look” into this matter. These majestic, pure, and unfallen beings who live in the presence of God, long to observe the unraveling of this mystery, that is God’s redemptive plan for us.

Imagine the greatest movie ever produced, one that took many years to complete, the one with perfect ratings across the board, the one which everyone in the country awaits to see… That anticipation pales in comparison with the anticipation that heavenly creatures have in observing God’s redemption of humanity. That is why we, the subjects of this great salvation, must always keep in mind this eternal plan, especially when we celebrate Christ’s incarnation.

Before this world was corrupted by sin, before Satan and his angels fell, before the foundations of creation were laid, and before time became a dimension… in the greatest mystery ever conceived, God installed this plan of creation and redemption for His Glory. He knew that His beloved creation will fall and will need to be redeemed. In His omniscience, God foresaw this as revealed to the prophet Isaiah:

“The Lord saw it, and it displeased him that there was no justice. He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no one to intercede; then his own arm brought him salvation, and his righteousness upheld him.” (Isaiah 59:15-16)

It is a special treat for believers to get a glimpse into God’s counsel as we observe past tense language used in this verse for a future event! Past, present, future… these are human considerations… God is not bound by time, therefore His counsel stands eternal.

Consider what Paul writes:

“7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 12 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.” (Ephesians 1:7-12)

As the born-again believer is faced with this realization, he or she is overcome by an awesome desire to worship the Redeemer, to give Him the all glory, to thank Him and to serve Him.

Let us remember God’s mysterious and eternal plan for us as we celebrate His incarnation this Christmas.

Nov 21 2012

Modern Hymn

In an environment where contemporary Christian music has suffered from the absence of deep theological and lyrical quality, David Crowder Band comes through with a great modern hymn on their 2012 album Give Us Rest.  Jesus is the focus of the song as it paints His sacrifice for us.

The red of blood hit the dirt
And the whole earth mourned and the whole world shook
As we watched them nail Him to a tree
Oh the wretched souls of sinners like me

God you came
God you came
My God you came down

God you came
God you came
My God you came down

Faint and weary you have sought me
Oh my Saviour God through the cross you have bought me
What a love, your Son for my salvation
What a cost, your wondrous incarnation

God you came
God you came
My God you came down

God you came
God you came
My God you came down

Nov 13 2012

Which Person of the Trinity Should We Pray to?

Christian believers are required to have a continuous life of prayer, and we pray to God and address Him as Lord in our prayer.  If we are to understand the way God is revealed in Scripture, we must realize that God is revealed in three persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, each being fully God and all three one God.

A logical question then follows, does it matter which person of the Godhead we pray to?  Or should we mainly pray to God as Lord?

Pastor and theologian John Piper answer as follows:  “the pattern that you find almost uniformly – I say almost uniformly – throughout the New Testament is to pray to the Father in the name of the Son by the power of the Holy Spirit.”  Reformed believers pray almost exclusively to the Father because the other persons of the Trinity facilitate our access to the Father.  The Holy Spirit glorifies the Son, and the Son, thru His sacrifice brings us to the Father.  Jesus also prays to the Father and this serves as the ultimate example for us.

But I also believe it is biblical to pray to Jesus and to the Holy Spirit.  Consider the following verses about praying to Jesus:

John 14:13-14 “Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do… If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.”

1 Cor 1:2 “in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ”

1 Tim 1:12 “I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord…”

With respect to the Holy Spirit, we must understand that the Holy Spirit facilitates our worship and prayer.  He points to the Son as the only way to the Father.  But since the Holy Spirit is fully God, we may address the Holy Spirit directly in prayer, for example: “come, Holy Spirit.”

Prayer is essentially communication, and when we have fellowship with someone, we communicate with that person.  Paul tells us in 2 Cor 13:14 that we partake in “the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.”  Therefore it is not wrong to communicate in prayer with the Holy Spirit.

Piper, concludes: “So my bottom line answer – and I’ve been asked this a lot – is to follow in general the pattern of the Bible, namely, pray to the Father in the name of Jesus by the power of the Spirit, that is, in reliance upon the help of the Spirit.”

Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/does-it-matter-which-person-of-the-trinity-we-pray-to-84697/#XryEmI7Sd0EpxOXq.99