"Hyper-Calvinism is all house and no door. Arminianism is all door and no house."
John 'Rabbi' Duncan
June 8, 2010
June 7, 2010
No (Il)logical Leaps
‘If you believe that, you’ll be as cold-hearted as a stone. If you take that to its logical conclusion, you’ll never share the gospel with anyone.’ That is what is often said when someone begins unpacking the argument that Paul lays out in Romans 9. He says there that God can show compassion on anyone He chooses, and that He can also harden anyone He chooses (v.18). He says that men, women, boys, and girls are saved, not ultimately as a result of something they do with their wills (v.16), but because of something God does with His will (v.11). He implies that we only ever choose God because He first chooses us … and says flatly that God does not have to choose us (v.21)! That is Romans 9. And that is the doctrine which is often the target of statements like the ones with which this article began.
‘If we really believe that God chooses people for salvation’, the argument goes, ‘and that all that He chooses will ultimately be saved (John 6.37); and if the salvation of certain people was already decided “before the foundation of the world” (Ephesians 1.4) … then why do we need to go out and preach the good news? God is going to save whom God is going to save. It has already been decided! So why preach? Why share with your co-workers? Why even pray for souls, really?’
Now those are valid questions! And some people, who wholeheartedly believe the doctrine taught in Romans 9, come to just those conclusions … and do, indeed, sit on their hands evangelistically. And then there are other people (who do not believe Romans 9 means what I just said it means) who use the above ‘logical conclusions’ to dissuade others from believing what Romans 9 says: ‘If you believe that stuff, you’ll lose your soul-winning edge, brother! You’ll become a member of the frozen chosen!’
But both groups, while believing that they are taking the doctrines of election and predestination to their logical conclusions, are actually making a leap that the Bible emphatically does not make! For, after Paul devotes an entire chapter (Romans 9) to the sovereignty of God in saving whom He chooses … he follows immediately with another whole chapter (Romans 10) on the responsibility of man … to pray for the lost; to witness to the lost; and to believe the gospel, each of us for ourselves!
Did you ever notice that? Paul believed, as strongly as anyone, that God elected people for salvation “before the foundation of the world”. He’s the one who wrote those words! But he also said, of his unbelieving kinsmen: “My heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is their salvation” (Romans 10.1). He longed to see people saved … even though he knew that it was already as good as done! And it was this same Paul, who believe strongly in God’s predestining grace, who gave us those famous lines about evangelism and world mission: “How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?” (verse 14). That doesn’t sound like a frozen chosen to me! It sounds like someone who understood that, while God is sovereign in salvation, He uses human means to achieve His ends … which requires us to be involved praying, sharing, going, giving, sending, preaching, and so on!
And notice also that Paul turned to the sinner, in Romans 10.13, and said, famously: “Whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved”! These are the words of the same man who just finished saying that salvation “does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy” (Romans 9.16)! And now he says “Whoever will …”? Yes! Why? Because he was unwilling to make the so-called logical leaps that we are so often tempted to make. He understood that, just because man’s willing and running are not the ultimate cause of his salvation, does not mean that missionaries (and lay-people) don’t need to run with the gospel; nor does it mean that sinners don’t need to will to believe!
So let’s not jump to our own ‘logical’ conclusions! Let’s follow, rather, the logic of Paul and of the Holy Spirit! “It does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy” … and yet, at the same time: “how will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?” That is the logic of the gospel … and must be the logic of the Christian, too!
‘If we really believe that God chooses people for salvation’, the argument goes, ‘and that all that He chooses will ultimately be saved (John 6.37); and if the salvation of certain people was already decided “before the foundation of the world” (Ephesians 1.4) … then why do we need to go out and preach the good news? God is going to save whom God is going to save. It has already been decided! So why preach? Why share with your co-workers? Why even pray for souls, really?’
Now those are valid questions! And some people, who wholeheartedly believe the doctrine taught in Romans 9, come to just those conclusions … and do, indeed, sit on their hands evangelistically. And then there are other people (who do not believe Romans 9 means what I just said it means) who use the above ‘logical conclusions’ to dissuade others from believing what Romans 9 says: ‘If you believe that stuff, you’ll lose your soul-winning edge, brother! You’ll become a member of the frozen chosen!’
But both groups, while believing that they are taking the doctrines of election and predestination to their logical conclusions, are actually making a leap that the Bible emphatically does not make! For, after Paul devotes an entire chapter (Romans 9) to the sovereignty of God in saving whom He chooses … he follows immediately with another whole chapter (Romans 10) on the responsibility of man … to pray for the lost; to witness to the lost; and to believe the gospel, each of us for ourselves!
Did you ever notice that? Paul believed, as strongly as anyone, that God elected people for salvation “before the foundation of the world”. He’s the one who wrote those words! But he also said, of his unbelieving kinsmen: “My heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is their salvation” (Romans 10.1). He longed to see people saved … even though he knew that it was already as good as done! And it was this same Paul, who believe strongly in God’s predestining grace, who gave us those famous lines about evangelism and world mission: “How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?” (verse 14). That doesn’t sound like a frozen chosen to me! It sounds like someone who understood that, while God is sovereign in salvation, He uses human means to achieve His ends … which requires us to be involved praying, sharing, going, giving, sending, preaching, and so on!
And notice also that Paul turned to the sinner, in Romans 10.13, and said, famously: “Whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved”! These are the words of the same man who just finished saying that salvation “does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy” (Romans 9.16)! And now he says “Whoever will …”? Yes! Why? Because he was unwilling to make the so-called logical leaps that we are so often tempted to make. He understood that, just because man’s willing and running are not the ultimate cause of his salvation, does not mean that missionaries (and lay-people) don’t need to run with the gospel; nor does it mean that sinners don’t need to will to believe!
So let’s not jump to our own ‘logical’ conclusions! Let’s follow, rather, the logic of Paul and of the Holy Spirit! “It does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy” … and yet, at the same time: “how will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?” That is the logic of the gospel … and must be the logic of the Christian, too!
June 2, 2010
May 31, 2010
It Depends
“So then” Paul wrote, famously, in Romans 9.16, “it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.”
What does not depend on man’s willing or running? Well, exactly the thing Paul has been writing about all along in this book – namely, our salvation from sin; our right standing with God; our forgiveness; our hope of eternal life. None of that, ultimately, depends upon us! O yes, we must repent and believe. Make no mistake about that! But, Paul says here in Romans 9, our repentance and faith is not the crux of the issue. The crux of the issue; the very bottom line reason why we are saved; indeed, the very reason why we are able to repent and believe in the first place … does not depend upon us! Not on our running, or working, or striving to make ourselves right with God. And not even upon our wills! We repent and believe; we are saved from our sin, ultimately, because God wills it; because God reaches down, in His “mercy”, and opens our hearts to believe!
That is the bottom line! And I realize that it is sometimes a controversial bottom line. Our sinful human natures are not very comfortable with the fact that our destinies could be completely out of our hands. We are, by nature, all little Frank Sinatra’s running around (not in voice, of course, but in worldview). We want to be able to say, at the end of the day, that ‘I did it myyyyy way’! And so the idea that our eternal destiny might ultimately rest upon our own decision making capacity appeals to us. We would like Romans 9.16 to read: ‘So then, it depends upon the man who wills. God has done everything that He could do. And now it’s up to you and your decision.’ Indeed, that is how the gospel is often preached in our country. But it’s not exactly biblical is it?
No, the Bible says (in many more places than just Romans 9!) that our salvation does not, ultimately depend upon our wills! Yes, our wills come into play! We do (and we must) repent of our sins and believe! A decision is required! Don’t misunderstand that! But the reason any of our wills ever make the right decision is, ultimately, because God willed to have mercy on us. God willed to open our hearts to believe (see Acts 16.14). God appointed that we would believe and be saved (Acts 13.48).
And why should that idea really be controversial? For, when someone asks us: ‘Why are you so different? How did you change? How can you be so certain that you are going to heaven?’ … surely we don’t respond: ‘Well, you know, it really all boils down to my free will. I just made a really good choice. It was really all up to me.’ Of course that is not what the Christian says! When someone asks what happened to us to make us so different, and so assured of God’s love, our answer is: ‘O, what mercy God has shown me in Jesus! What a blessing that I once was lost, but now I am found. He found me! He saved me! That is why I am different today. It’s God, not me!’
It’s like we know, by a Holy-Spirit-given instinct, that “it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.” So let’s not allow the old, sinful man to rob us of what the new, spiritual man knows to be true. If we are different, if we are forgiven, if we are bound for heaven … the reason is all of God and none of us!
What does not depend on man’s willing or running? Well, exactly the thing Paul has been writing about all along in this book – namely, our salvation from sin; our right standing with God; our forgiveness; our hope of eternal life. None of that, ultimately, depends upon us! O yes, we must repent and believe. Make no mistake about that! But, Paul says here in Romans 9, our repentance and faith is not the crux of the issue. The crux of the issue; the very bottom line reason why we are saved; indeed, the very reason why we are able to repent and believe in the first place … does not depend upon us! Not on our running, or working, or striving to make ourselves right with God. And not even upon our wills! We repent and believe; we are saved from our sin, ultimately, because God wills it; because God reaches down, in His “mercy”, and opens our hearts to believe!
That is the bottom line! And I realize that it is sometimes a controversial bottom line. Our sinful human natures are not very comfortable with the fact that our destinies could be completely out of our hands. We are, by nature, all little Frank Sinatra’s running around (not in voice, of course, but in worldview). We want to be able to say, at the end of the day, that ‘I did it myyyyy way’! And so the idea that our eternal destiny might ultimately rest upon our own decision making capacity appeals to us. We would like Romans 9.16 to read: ‘So then, it depends upon the man who wills. God has done everything that He could do. And now it’s up to you and your decision.’ Indeed, that is how the gospel is often preached in our country. But it’s not exactly biblical is it?
No, the Bible says (in many more places than just Romans 9!) that our salvation does not, ultimately depend upon our wills! Yes, our wills come into play! We do (and we must) repent of our sins and believe! A decision is required! Don’t misunderstand that! But the reason any of our wills ever make the right decision is, ultimately, because God willed to have mercy on us. God willed to open our hearts to believe (see Acts 16.14). God appointed that we would believe and be saved (Acts 13.48).
And why should that idea really be controversial? For, when someone asks us: ‘Why are you so different? How did you change? How can you be so certain that you are going to heaven?’ … surely we don’t respond: ‘Well, you know, it really all boils down to my free will. I just made a really good choice. It was really all up to me.’ Of course that is not what the Christian says! When someone asks what happened to us to make us so different, and so assured of God’s love, our answer is: ‘O, what mercy God has shown me in Jesus! What a blessing that I once was lost, but now I am found. He found me! He saved me! That is why I am different today. It’s God, not me!’
It’s like we know, by a Holy-Spirit-given instinct, that “it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.” So let’s not allow the old, sinful man to rob us of what the new, spiritual man knows to be true. If we are different, if we are forgiven, if we are bound for heaven … the reason is all of God and none of us!
May 24, 2010
God's Earnest Payment
I wonder if you have ever made a purchase in which you had to put down earnest money. Maybe a down payment on a house, or a deposit on an apartment. Earnest money is money plunked down to demonstrate that you are serious about completing the deal. So serious that you are willing to advance the cash … and willing to forfeit it if you renege on the deal. Earnest money. In earlier times, it wasn’t always money. Sometimes a person would hand over a prized milk cow, or maybe pledge a year’s wheat crop as earnest that he would fulfill a promise, or pay off a debt.
Now what would it say to you if you were a poor, unemployed worker – desperate and unable to provide for yourself and your family … and what if a wealthy man came up to you in the unemployment line and said, ‘I’d like to draw up a contract in which I will pledge to give you as much food, as many hours, and as many resources as it will take to keep your family afloat from now until the end of time. I am going to promise – and put it in writing – that I will “freely give you all things.”’ That’s a pretty big pledge, is it not? Not even the federal government can do that (although they are getting closer)! It’s an amazing promise! So much so that you would probably laugh the man out of the building! ‘Come on, buddy. Nobody makes promises like that. Get real.’
But then imagine that that man went out to his car and came back inside with his little boy – with his only son. And what if he put him forward and said: ‘You aren’t sure that I am serious? I’ll tell you what I am going to do. To prove how serious I am about giving you everything you need … let me start by handing over my own son. Let me start by giving you my little boy. He is here to help you. He will work alongside you. And more than that, He will be proof that I am serious about this. If I am lying, or if I renege, well then I will have handed over my son to total strangers negligently, and for no good purpose.’
Now you know the man is serious. But of course it would never happen in the human realm, would it? I am not sure that it should happen on that level. But it has happened on the spiritual plane, has it not? “He who did not spare His own Son” (Romans 8.32), “but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?”. Do you hear what God is saying there? ‘You want proof that I will really give you everything you need? If, because I love you, I would hand over My only Son; My most prized loved one – to be beaten, spat upon, mocked, tried, and crucified – don’t you think I am more than willing to give you the money for next month’s rent? Don’t you think I am more than willing to heal you if that would be best? Don’t you think I will help you through your fear of sharing Jesus with that neighbor? Why would I give you My very best – My only Son – and then withhold something so small from you?’
Do you see? Jesus is, in a sense, God’s earnest. We say it reverently. And we realize, of course, that He is much more than that. He is the sacrifice for our sins. He is our high priest. He is our teacher. He is our example. He is our friend. He is our King. But, in addition to all these things, Jesus is also God’s earnest; God’s good-faith deposit; God’s proof that He will fulfill His contract with those who believe. Jesus is the yes to all God’s promises. If God would go so far as to give us His Son, then He would surely give us anything that would be for our good! That’s what Paul is saying. And I hope that is what you believe … for yourself. “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give [you] all things?”
Now what would it say to you if you were a poor, unemployed worker – desperate and unable to provide for yourself and your family … and what if a wealthy man came up to you in the unemployment line and said, ‘I’d like to draw up a contract in which I will pledge to give you as much food, as many hours, and as many resources as it will take to keep your family afloat from now until the end of time. I am going to promise – and put it in writing – that I will “freely give you all things.”’ That’s a pretty big pledge, is it not? Not even the federal government can do that (although they are getting closer)! It’s an amazing promise! So much so that you would probably laugh the man out of the building! ‘Come on, buddy. Nobody makes promises like that. Get real.’
But then imagine that that man went out to his car and came back inside with his little boy – with his only son. And what if he put him forward and said: ‘You aren’t sure that I am serious? I’ll tell you what I am going to do. To prove how serious I am about giving you everything you need … let me start by handing over my own son. Let me start by giving you my little boy. He is here to help you. He will work alongside you. And more than that, He will be proof that I am serious about this. If I am lying, or if I renege, well then I will have handed over my son to total strangers negligently, and for no good purpose.’
Now you know the man is serious. But of course it would never happen in the human realm, would it? I am not sure that it should happen on that level. But it has happened on the spiritual plane, has it not? “He who did not spare His own Son” (Romans 8.32), “but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?”. Do you hear what God is saying there? ‘You want proof that I will really give you everything you need? If, because I love you, I would hand over My only Son; My most prized loved one – to be beaten, spat upon, mocked, tried, and crucified – don’t you think I am more than willing to give you the money for next month’s rent? Don’t you think I am more than willing to heal you if that would be best? Don’t you think I will help you through your fear of sharing Jesus with that neighbor? Why would I give you My very best – My only Son – and then withhold something so small from you?’
Do you see? Jesus is, in a sense, God’s earnest. We say it reverently. And we realize, of course, that He is much more than that. He is the sacrifice for our sins. He is our high priest. He is our teacher. He is our example. He is our friend. He is our King. But, in addition to all these things, Jesus is also God’s earnest; God’s good-faith deposit; God’s proof that He will fulfill His contract with those who believe. Jesus is the yes to all God’s promises. If God would go so far as to give us His Son, then He would surely give us anything that would be for our good! That’s what Paul is saying. And I hope that is what you believe … for yourself. “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give [you] all things?”
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