Category Archives: Evangelism

Eisegesis Unplugged – Deuteronomy 30:19

Posted by Dan C. on

The Passage

“I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live,.” – Deuteronomy 30:19

This passage is often used in the context of witnessing/evangelism to offer someone who has not received Christ as Lord and Savior the promise of a better life now and eternal life after death, if he/she would only choose Christ. It often used to ‘prove’ that those who are living apart from Christ have the natural ability, in and of themselves, to choose Christ and live for Him. I have heard it a lot lately in the latter context.

And guess what? It works. Everyone wants a better life down here, and the witness/evangelist can avoid the uncomfortable topics of sin, the wrath of God, and judgment.

But is that what it really means? Let’s look at it again

The Passage in Context

Deu 30:15 “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil.

Deu 30:16 If you obey the commandments of the LORD your God that I command you today, by loving the LORD your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it.

Deu 30:17 But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them,

Deu 30:18 I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish. You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess.

Deu 30:19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live,

In context, we have God laying out, through Moses, the terms of the Covenant of Works based on the Law previously given to the Israelites, who are already God’s covenant people. The terms of the covenant are these – divine blessing and long life in the promised land for obedience, but cursing and loss of life in the promised land for disobedience to God’s Law. The rest of the story of the Israelites in the OT describes quite clearly the latter, due to Israel’s continued disobedience and idolatry. The passage was not addressed to ‘outsiders’, but to God’s chosen people!

The same is true about the other favorite “choose this day” passage, Joshua 24:15:

“And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

This passage, spoken by Joshua, Moses’ successor, is also directed toward children of the covenant. Both scriptures had in mind calling God’s children to a life of obedience, not converting anyone to the religion of the Israelites or invite outsiders to worship the one true God.

We evangelicals have long used these passages to invite people to Christ, often with promises of blessings for this life and the next, but omitting the harsh topics of God’s hatred of sin, divine wrath poured out against it, and eternal punishment. We think that man has the natural ability to choose Christ and find it a far easier task to offer the promise of blessings designed to ‘attract’, than address the ‘uncomfortable’ problem of sin and its consequences.

If anything, we should use them to call believers to lives of obedience, but not obedience to obtain favor with God, but obedience because of the gracious mercy of God extended to us through Christ when were by nature God hating children of wrath.

So What?

If using these passages obtains decision for Christ, what does it matter?

It matters a great deal. If they are used to attract people to Christ with promises of a better life down here, but the matter of sin is not addressed, we are being unfaithful to the genuine gospel message. In fact, what we think is great news for those to whom we witness is no good news at all!

If we are not addressing the central issue of sin, repentance and belief in Christ as having borne our just punishment, we might obtain decisions for Christ, but unless the Holy Spirit is working behind the scenes to convict of sin and grant the gift of repentance and faith, conversions are false, ‘still lost’ souls think they are now saved, and we have disgraced the Name of Christ.

If we use these passages for anything, we should use them to call believers to lives of obedience, but not obedience to obtain favor with God instead of divine curses as with the Israelites, but obedience because of the gracious mercy of God extended to us through Christ when were by nature God hating children of wrath.

Our duty is to present the truth in love, with all the ugliness of the problem of sin, and leave the ‘converting ’to God.

Worldviews and Conversations

Posted by Dan C. on

“In its simplest terms, a worldview is a set of beliefs about the most important issues in life. The philosophical systems of thinkers such as Plato and Aristotle were worldviews. Every mature rational human being…has his or her own worldview just as surely as Plato did.” – Ronald H. Nash, Worldviews in Conflict

One’s worldview contains thoughts about God (a spiritual element), along with concepts about ultimate reality, knowledge, ethics, and humankind in general. Many deny that they are completely non-spiritual, or non-theists, but that is still a thought about spirituality, and therefore represents a ‘worldview’.

Understanding the concept of worldviews and applying that concept to the art of conversation can be very beneficial to the dialogue, whatever the subject under consideration. With certain topics (God, for instance), discussing in terms of ‘wordviews’ can take the conversation out of the personal opinion arena and place it on a completely non-personal playing field. In fact, two people with opposite worldviews can assume the other’s worldview, much like a debater being assigned a position he or she does not actually agree with.

Making a claim that all men know of the existence of God, with reference to a passage of scripture that says exactly that, is not a personal accusation that the atheist is a liar, but a statement about the knowledge of God from a Christian worldview. It’s like saying, ‘According to Richard Dawkins, religious people are stupid idiots.’ That is not necessarily a personal accusation. A Christian, who obviously wouldn’t believe that, could even make the statement!

Unfortunately, many atheists/non-theists, if not most of them, accuse Christians of proselytizing for just talking about God. Some Christians might bring up the topic of God in order to proselytize, or to try and convert someone, but we are also capable of objective conversation about God – of expressing the ‘Christian’ worldview without trying to convert anyone. Some of us even believe that we can’t actually convert anyone, but we can only present the God ‘option’ and the gospel message of the Bible and leave the rest in God’s capable hands.

So why are so many atheists convinced that we are intentionally proselytizing when we talk about God?

‘Eisegesis’ Unplugged – Revelation 3:20

Posted by Dan C. on

Revelation 3:20

Might as well begin with an “oldie but a goodie’, and possibly a ‘greatest hit’ and future member of the Eisegesis Hall of Fame (EHF). It used to be one of my favorites!

The passage:

“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.“ (NIV)

This single passage might just be the inaugural member of the EHF! It has been used in gospel presentations for years, most often after the “Romans Road” is travelled. If you are unfamiliar with it, The Romans Road to Salvation consists of 6 6-10 passages from the Book of Romans that accurately present the problem we all face (sin) and God’s solution to the problem. Once the prospective convert knows the problem and God’s solution, all that is left is how to appropriate the solution. Rev 3:20 is the perfect verse! The explanation goes like this:

clip_image002‘Jesus is standing forlornly at the door of your heart, wanting to come in and dine with you, but you must open the door! There is but one door latch and it’s on the inside, where you live, and Jesus can’t enter no matter how desperately He wants to!

I even heard a local pastor, whose sermon was about Nehemiah and the rebuilding of the Jerusalem wall and city gates, tell the congregation of several hundred that there was one gate that God could not open, the door to the human heart. I also cannot dispute that there have been many genuine decisions for Christ after hearing about the ‘one-way door’.  But we still ask the question:

“Is that what the passage really means? Lets take a look.

Revelation Chapter 3 is a continuation of Chapters 1 & 2, in which the Apostle John, in a vision on the Lords day, was commanded to record what he saw and write letters to seven churches of what he saw about each of them. Our passage is from one of those letters to a Christian church:

“To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:

These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.

Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and he with me. (vv 14-20, NIV)

The text immediately preceding ‘The Greatest Invitation for Salvation Ever Written’ clearly depicts Christ standing at the door of a church that appears to have shut Him out. Jesus plea is that if even one member of that church would open the door, He would enter and dine with him.

The picture we paint in our ‘invitation’ is not the picture painted in the context of the passage of scripture from which it was extracted. I have no idea who first changed the meaning of this passage or when it happened. But I do know that the picture of Jesus standing at a one-way door and asking to be let in supports the idea that after all God has done to make salvation possible through the death of His Son, human decision is the ‘determining’ factor in anyone’s actual salvation.

I won’t jump into ‘that’ particular debate here. Nor will I begin a discussion about ‘evangelical ethics’. I’ll just say that there was a time when I thought it was a really great invitation, and if the passage really meant what we would like it to mean in our zeal to see souls saved, I would still be using it! At some point though, the fact that the a passage of scripture was often ‘quoted’ and given meaning not in the original text. That bothered me.

Will it bother you who read this, or will it seem like this is an ‘how many angels can dance on the head of a pin” moment? I don’t know. Am I saying that it should bother you? Nope. But it should say ‘something’. What exactly it does say  is between you and God.

The Main Thing is Still the ‘Main Thing’

Posted by Dan C. on

Well, 2011 is here now and like many others, we’ve spent some time looking back at 2010. There are a lot of good memories of our children and grandchildren, supporting cancer foundation efforts, hosting Colorado College international students, and having room in our home for ‘sojourners’ of various sorts. Perhaps two of the most significant ‘recollections’ of 2010 were the following:

Our son Daniel, who had confronted his condition apart from Christ and met his Savior the year before, was married to a wonderful girl here in Colorado Springs last April. They live not far from us, and it is a delight to watch them grow together as a married couple, as well as spiritually.

Our six year old grandson was only recently riding in the car with his Mom and Dad in Virginia, and broke out in tears over ‘bad things’ he had done. His Mom and Dad lovingly explained to him why none of us ‘deserve’ heaven, also explaining Christ’s perfect life and sacrifice for our sins, and a six-year old trusted in, and professed Jesus as his Savior!

We noticed a common thread in both our son’s and our grandson’s meeting with the Savior. They both faced their ‘bad things’ (sin); realized their condition before a Holy God, and in the spirit of repentance, received God’s provision through the death of His Son, on their behalf. The only difference between them is the depth of understanding a thirty-something might have and that of a six year old. Whatever that might be, they both dealt with the most fundamental issue at stake in the salvation of fallen people, the issue of ‘sin’.

Way back in 1973, a psychiatrist, Karl Menninger, authored a book titled ‘Whatever Became of Sin?’ (New York: Hawthorn Books). After an extensive survey of the ills of human kind, the doctor concluded that something basic must be wrong with the human race, whether one uses such terms as sin, crime, wrongdoing, mental illness, etc. There was then, and there still is a tendency in psychiatric circles to blame all the ‘bad things’ people do on external issues or society in general. He found such complacency toward the idea of “sin” that he thought the question should be the title of his book.

While we don’t find it particularly surprising that the issue of ‘sin’ has been largely removed from secular arenas, it should be absolutely startling to find the topic of sin and the dreaded “S” word omitted, or treated lightly, from many ‘pulpits’ across America, and virtually taboo in many ‘Christian’ small group discussion venues.

What does all that have to do with reminiscing about our son and grandson? Maybe not much to readers of this blog, but to its author it’s a really BIG deal, and a great comfort to know that the central issue of the message of the gospel, the main reason Christ was sent to earth, to die for the sins of men, was the central issue of their meeting their Savior and professing faith in Him.

You see, as we look across the landscape of evangelical Protestantism in America these days, the central issue of the gospel message appears to have changed. We hear all sorts of things presented as ‘fundamental’ to the gospel message; meeting our temporal needs, fulfilling our desire for meaning, transforming society, lifting up the poor, and even making us rich and healthy.

Admittedly, all of these ideas about the gospel latch onto a perceived problem and say, “That’s what the gospel is all about!” But are any of those things what the gospel is really all about? Are any of those things the fundamental problem the gospel addresses?

The Bible says “No, none of them.” The Bible clearly teaches that humanity’s fundamental problem is our sin and God’s wrath against us because of our sin.

God’s wrath against our sin is the fundamental problem the gospel addresses. Jesus died on the cross as a propitiation, a sacrifice that turns away God’s wrath (Rom. 3:23-25; 1 Jn. 2:2, 4:10) in order that we would be saved through faith in him.

  • “Who can stand before his indignation? Who can endure the heat of his anger? “His wrath is poured out like fire, and the rocks are broken into pieces by him” (Nahum 1:6)
  • “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men” (Rom. 1:18).
  • “Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience” (Eph. 5:6)
  • “Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” (Rev. 6:15-17).

I wish I knew the number of hours I spent last year discussing with professing Christians, both in online forums and face-to-face, the fact of the issue of ‘sin’ being at the center of the message of the gospel. There was a time in the Christian church when that was a ‘given’. I fear that time is long gone. When Paul’s very specific definition of the gospel (1 Cor 15:1-4), “that Christ died for our sins” is called ‘personal opinion’, we have a very serious problem in the church. When a professing Christian, who has claimed to have read the Bible, states that sin is ‘part’ of the gospel and the plan of redemption, but NOT central to its message, we either have a serious problem in the church, or a complete failure of our schools and learning institutions to teach us how to read a book and pick out its major theme.

I will proclaim on my deathbed, as I sometimes do now, that the duty of a Christian to share the gospel, the ‘good news’ of Jesus Christ , is by far the greatest privilege bestowed upon the children of God by their eternal Father! We must do so faithfully and accurately, whether people like the message or not, trusting God to do His work and save His people. If I, or you, ‘lead’ someone to Christ with ‘secondary’ promises pertaining to this life the main focus, but without making the main thing THE ‘main thing’, all we are doing is helping lost friends and loved ones think they are saved while still bound for Hell. Will their blood be on our hands?

Food for thought for the New Year. . .

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The above was adapted in part from a Q&A section of 9Marks ministries.

What are the essential elements of the gospel?

Posted by Dan C. on

Whenever we talk about the gospel, it is helpful and important to remember the four essentials: God, Man, Christ, Response.

God is both our sovereign Creator and our righteous Judge.

  • You alone are the Lord. You have made the heavens, the heaven of heavens with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to all of them and the heavenly host bows down before You (Neh 9:6).
  • Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy before the Lord, for He is coming to judge the earth; He will judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with equity (Ps 98:9).
  • God therefore has the right of ownership over us by virtue of creating us, and he has the right to punish or reward us by virtue of his royal, judicial office. And because God is both our Creator and Judge, we are doubly accountable to Him for all our behavior – word, thought, and deed.

Man was created by God, in God’s image, to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. But man sinned against God by disobeying His holy law. Man therefore separated himself from God’s holy and satisfying presence, and incurred His wrathful displeasure.

  • God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them (Gen 1:27).
  • For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23).
  • For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness (Rom 1:18).

Jesus Christ’s death was the substitute payment for the penalty that we deserved for our sin. His death is God’s only provision for the forgiveness of man’s sin and the appeasement of God’s wrath against him.

  • All we like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him (Isa 53:6).
  • He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him (John 3:36).
  • And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12).

We are called to respond to this good news in repentance and belief – turning away from our sin and self-sufficiency toward God, and trusting in the shed blood of Jesus Christ as the substitute penalty that we deserved for our sin.

  • The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel (Mark 1:15).
  • Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem (Luke 24:46-47).

Provided by 9Marks.org.

The Old v. The New Gospel

Posted by Dan C. on

The following is a quote from Dr. J. I. Packer, from his Introduction to John Owen’s “The Death of death in the death of Christ”:

There is no doubt that Evangelicalism today is in a state of perplexity and unsettlement. In such matters as the practice of evangelism, the teaching of holiness, the building up of local church life, the pastor’s dealing with souls and the exercise of discipline, there is evidence of widespread dissatisfaction with things as they are and of equally widespread uncertainty as to the road ahead. This is a complex phenomenon, to which many factors have contributed; but, if we go to the root of the matter, we shall find that these perplexities are all ultimately due to our having lost our grip on the biblical gospel. Without realising it, we have during the past century bartered that gospel for a substitute product which, though it looks similar enough in points of detail, is as a whole a decidedly different thing. Hence our troubles; for the substitute product does not answer the ends for which the authentic gospel has in past days proved itself so mighty. The new gospel conspicuously fails to produce deep reverence, deep repentance, deep humility, a spirit of worship, a concern for the church. Why?

We would suggest that the reason lies in its own character and content. It fails to make men God-centred in their thoughts and God-fearing in their hearts because this is not primarily what it is trying to do. One way of stating the difference between it and the old gospel is to say that it is too exclusively concerned to be “helpful” to man—to bring peace, comfort, happiness, satisfaction—and too little concerned to glorify God. The old gospel was “helpful,” too—more so, indeed, than is the new—but (so to speak) incidentally, for its first concern was always to give glory to God. It was always and essentially a proclamation of Divine sovereignty in mercy and judgment, a summons to bow down and worship the mighty Lord on whom man depends for all good, both in nature and in grace. Its centre of reference was unambiguously God. But in the new gospel the centre of reference is man. This is just to say that the old gospel was religious in a way that the new gospel is not. Whereas the chief aim of the old was to teach men to worship God, the concern of the new seems limited to making them feel better. The subject of the old gospel was God and His ways with men; the subject of the new is man and the help God gives him. There is a world of difference. The whole perspective and emphasis of gospel preaching has changed.

From this change of interest has sprung a change of content, for the new gospel has in effect reformulated the biblical message in the supposed interests of “helpfulness.” Accordingly, the themes of man’s natural inability to believe, of God’s free election being the ultimate cause of salvation, and of Christ dying specifically for His sheep, are not preached. These doctrines, it would be said, are not “helpful”; they would drive sinners to despair, by suggesting to them that it is not in their own power to be saved through Christ. (The possibility that such despair might be salutary is not considered; it is taken for granted that it cannot be, because it is so shattering to our self-esteem.) However this may be (and we shall say more about it later), the result of these omissions is that part of the biblical gospel is now preached as if it were the whole of that gospel; and a half-truth masquerading as the whole truth becomes a complete untruth. Thus, we appeal to men as if they all had the ability to receive Christ at any time; we speak of His redeeming work as if He had done no more by dying than make it possible for us to save ourselves by believing; we speak of God’s love as if it were no more than a general willingness to receive any who will turn and trust; and we depict the Father and the Son, not as sovereignly active in drawing sinners to themselves, but as waiting in quiet impotence “at the door of our hearts” for us to let them in. It is undeniable that this is how we preach; perhaps this is what we really believe. But it needs to be said with emphasis that this set of twisted half-truths is something other than the biblical gospel. The Bible is against us when we preach in this way; and the fact that such preaching has become almost standard practice among us only shows how urgent it is that we should review this matter. To recover the old, authentic, biblical gospel, and to bring our preaching and practice back into line with it, is perhaps our most pressing present need.

Of What are We to Persuade Men?

Posted by Dan C. on

Walk into many evangelical churches these days and we hear preachers trying to persuade unbelievers sitting in the pews to become ‘Christ followers’, the latest and most popular term for ‘Christian’. The underlying assumption in that everybody is a ‘follower’ of something or someone, whether that means someone/something outside of themselves or just ‘themselves’ period.

Methods of persuasion seem to mostly about why life can be so much better by following Jesus instead of whatever/whoever else you might be following. Jesus is presented as the best ‘life changer’. If the person charged with the persuading has done a good job, many decisions are made for Christ, to the delight of the ‘salvation’ bean counters.

We have favorite passages of scripture to give Biblical support to our ‘persuasion’ efforts, to include all of the ‘interesting’ methods we use. Specifically, there are two instances in which the term ‘persuade’ is used in connection with the Apostle Paul. The first is found in a letter to the Corinthian church:

“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience.” – 2 Cor 5:10-11.

We remove a few words from their context, say that we also should be about the work of persuading others, and then devise ways to do the persuading that would be appealing to our hearers, that would secure a better life for them.

But is that what Paul was appealing to in those passages? Let’s take another look:

“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience.”

Then we have the example of King Agrippa saying to Paul, while Paul was on trial:

“And Agrippa said to Paul, ’In a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian?’” –Acts 26:28

We take that verse out of the context of Paul mounting a defense at his trial (with a testimony of his conversion thrown in), and dash off down ‘Evangelism’ street everyone we meet how Jesus changed our lives for the better.

Let’s again take another look and see how Paul described his ‘changed life’:

“Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance. For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me.” – Acts 26:19-21

Paul’s message of sin and the need for repentance (also implying impending judgment) nearly got him killed! If we have read in our Bibles about Paul’s ministry, we also know that Paul’s post-conversion was quite the opposite of a ‘better’ life than the one he had as a Jewish religious leader.

So What?

Questions for the ‘evangelical’ believer, in light of Paul’s definition of the gospel message.

1. Where in scripture are we given permission to, or is it suggested that sometime in the future we might need to, change the contents of the gospel message?

2. IF we have not been explicit permission to change it, why did we change it?

Something to think about. . .

"Chosen before the foundation of the world" and "whosoever will" are BOTH true!

Posted by Dan C. on

This is a mystery far too grand and glorious for the puny human mind. However we humans, and even we who proclaim Christ are often much too enamored with our own wisdom and forget it is God who stated through the Apostle (1 Cor 3:19) that the wisdom of this world, is utter foolishness to God! The demands of human logic seem to overpower the plain fact that both are equally emphasized in Scripture! The result of our ‘foolishness’ is sometimes a ‘brother against brother’ conflict that makes the Civil War in that regard seem rather pale. At heart, this is not about doctrines attributed to men (John Calvin and Jacob Arminius), but rather it is about God, whose ways are not our ways and whose ways are sometimes beyond human comprehension.

One of the chief claims made concerning the doctrines of sovereign grace is that they render evangelism unnecessary. If God has chosen before the foundation of the world those He would bring to salvation, evangelism is not only unnecessary, but it is a waste of time! J. I. Packer, in his 1961 book, Evangelism & the Sovereignty of God, provides some valuable insight concerning the relationship between the two. What follows in this post is excerpted from that gook and concerns what belief in God’s sovereign grace does not affect in matters of evangelism.

The belief that God is sovereign in grace does not affect the necessity of evangelism. Whatever we may believe about election, the fact remains that evangelism is necessary, because no man can be saved without the gospel. . . . They must be told of Christ before they can trust Him, and they must trust Him before they can be saved by Him. Salvation depends on faith, and faith on knowing the gospel. God’s way of saving sinners is to bring them to faith through bringing them into contact with the gospel. In God’s ordering of things, therefore, evangelism is a necessity if anyone is to be saved at all. . . .

The belief that God is sovereign in grace does not affect the urgency of evangelism. . . . The world is full of people who are unaware that they stand under the wrath of God: is it not similarly a matter of urgency that we should go to them, and try to arouse them, and show them the way of escape? . . . The non-elect in this world are faceless men as far as we are concerned. We know that they exist, but we do not and cannot know who they are, and it is as futile as it is impious for us to try and guess. . . . Our calling as Christians is not to love God’s elect, and them only, but to love our neighbour, irrespective of whether he is elect or not.

The belief that God is sovereign in grace does not affect the genuineness of the gospel invitations, or the truth of the gospel promises. . . . The fact remains that God in the gospel really does offer Christ and promise justification and life to ‘whosoever will’. ‘Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’ As God commands all men everywhere to repent, so God invites all men everywhere to come to Christ and find mercy. . . .

The fact that the gospel invitation is free and unlimited—‘sinners Jesus will receive’—‘come and welcome to Jesus Christ’—is the glory of the gospel as a revelation of divine grace. . . . Some fear that a doctrine of eternal election and reprobation involves the possibility that Christ will not receive some of those who desire to receive Him, because they are not elect. The ‘comfortable words’ of the gospel promises, however, absolutely exclude this possibility. As our Lord elsewhere affirmed, in emphatic and categorical terms: ‘Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.’ . . .

The belief that God is sovereign in grace does not affect the responsibility of the sinner for his reaction to the gospel. . . . A man who rejects Christ thereby becomes the cause of his own condemnation. . . . The unbeliever was really offered life in the gospel, and could have had it if he would; he, and no-one but he, is responsible for the fact that he rejected it, and must now endure the consequences of rejecting it. . . . The Bible never says that sinners miss heaven because they are not elect, but because they “neglect the great salvation”, and because they will not repent and believe.

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I pray that this short excerpt from a wonderful book has been useful to you, and I encourage you to add it to your library if it is not already there.

The God of All Comfort

Posted by Dan C. on

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.” – 2 Corinthians 1:3-7

Certainly the chief significance of Paul’s description of God, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, is in the context of suffering for the name of Christ whom he preached unceasingly, as well as the similar suffering of the saints in the church at Corinth. There is, in these few verses, a picture of suffering for the name of Christ, the experiencing of the comfort that only God can bestow upon his children, and the sense of God’s sovereignty over even the ‘not so comfortable’ circumstances of suffering saints, in order that they (we) might be able to credibly minister to others in similar circumstances.

The Apostle Paul sees his afflictions and persecutions being for the express purpose of the comfort of other suffering saints, as he experiences the comfort of God and because of that experience, being able to comfort the believers in Corinth.

Can we not extend the cycle of suffering, finding comfort, and comforting others ‘with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God’, to the ordinary ‘stuff of life’ that we endure as believers in a fallen world? Personally, I think that Paul has delivered a serious blow to the thought (and sometimes taught) notion that as believers we somehow deserve ‘special’ treatment in this life.

In these verses, Paul does not specifically describe the impact of our going through all the ‘stuff of life’ on the unbelieving world around us, but it cannot be denied. As believers we are able to, and ought to, go through the adversities of life quite differently than even the most ‘positive’ of unbelievers with whom we live, work, and breathe. ‘How’ we go through the same adverse circumstances of life speaks volumes and is at times one of the greatest ‘wordless’ expressions of the gospel of grace we possess. Those wordless expressions are used of God as He arranges ‘divine appointments’ in which we have the great privilege of adding the ‘words’ of the Gospel, as God draws those for whom the Son died to the foot of the Cross, culminating in much rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents!

So take heart, brothers and sisters, knowing that God is indeed sovereign over the affairs of our lives, both the good and not so good, and that God’s purposes in all of them will stand for eternity!

Wisdom from J.I. Packer

Posted by Dan C. on

“All devices for exerting psychological pressure in order to precipitate ‘decisions’ must be eschewed, as being in truth presumptuous attempts to intrude into the province of the Holy Ghost. Such pressures may even be harmful for while they may produce the outward form of ‘decision,’ they cannot bring about regeneration and a change of heart, and when the ‘decisions’ wear off those who registered them will be found ‘gospel-hardened’ and antagonistic.” -A Quest for Godliness, JI Packer

Found that at a friend’s blog and had to share it!