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The Old Gray Dog Blog

Your weekly devotional blog

 

"Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.
"I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours.

John 17: 2-9

 

        Some persons love the doctrine of universal atonement because they say, "It is so beautiful. It is a lovely idea that Christ should have died for all men; it commends itself," they say, "to the instincts of humanity; there is something in it full of joy and beauty." I admit there is, but beauty may be often associated with falsehood. There is much which I might admire in the
theory of universal redemption, but I will just show what the supposition necessarily involves. If Christ on His cross intended to save every man, then He intended to save those who were lost before He died. If the doctrine be true, that He died for all men, then He died for some who were in hell before He came into this world, for doubtless there were even then myriads there who had been cast away because of their sins.
     Once again, if it was Christ's intention to save all men, how deplorably has He been disappointed, for we have His own testimony that there is a lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, and into that pit of woe have been cast some of the very persons who, according to the theory of universal redemption, were bought with His blood. That seems to me a conception a thousand times more repulsive than any of those.Christ's Limited Atonement
Charles Spurgeon

From My Mail-bag

I personally dislike Calvin's conclusion that God only loves the elect, and not everybody He created.  Calvin was not a particularly warm-hearted person, and I'm sure he was not troubled at all about the problem his doctrine of double-predestination would create in viewing God as loving all people.

 As for the passages below, in my opinion, Paul's first thought in his writings is his defense of his ministry to Gentiles.  I don't believe he was intentionally creating doctrine - he was showing the magnificence of God's grace to Gentiles, who had previously been excluded from the Kingdom, from Paul's point of view as a strict Jew.  To Paul, this was a wonderful new revelation.
 
John writes as a mystic, almost from a Gnostic point of view in some of his writings.  Again, I'm not sure he would agree with Calvin's conclusions - in some of his passages, he seems to suggest the opposite (such as John 3:16).
 
One thing for sure - Paul and John did not get together to write a doctrine.  They may or may not have known each other and perhaps were not even aware of each other's writings.  Calvin obviously takes the Bible in total, which is a different viewpoint.  For those who view the Bible as infallible (which would not include me, although I regard it as authoritative), there is still room for disagreement with Calvin.
 
I suppose I'm more of an Armenian than Calvinist, despite being a Presbyterian.
 
    Why do two people hear the same Gospel message and one's heart is convicted and the other dismisses it as foolishness?
 
Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left.  Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left.  Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming.
Matt. 24: 40-42
 
    Is God not free to make of His creation what He will?
 
And not only this, but when Rebecca also had conceived by one man, even by our father Isaac  (for the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls),  it was said to her, “The older shall serve the younger.”  As it is written, “Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.”
Rom. 9: 10-13
 
    Why do some hear His voice, and others do not?
 
Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father’s name, they bear witness of Me.  But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you.  My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.  And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.  My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.  I and My Father are one.”
John 10: 25-30
 
    For whom did Christ die?
 
“I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You. For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me. 
“I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours.
John 17: 6-9
 
    Universalism -- "God loves everybody;"   "Everybody has the chance to go to Heaven if they choose Christ" -- is more comfortable to believe than "God chose some, and then Christ only died to save those."  But that is NOT what the Bible teaches. Because some do not understand what the Scriptures teach, and consequently are not sure themselves that they are numbered among the elect, they corrupt the Gospel with a doctrine of universalism which denies God's sovereignty, and makes salvation a matter of human choice (free will).
 [Let us slay the "straw man" of double predestination once and for all.  All humanity deserves God's wrath. This is not His choice; we choose to sin because we are sinners by nature. God unconditionally, according to His own good pleasure, to accomplish His purpose, chose to show His grace to some.
 
He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.  And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
John 3: 18-19
 
If by double predestination, one means that God condemns some people to Hell, that is wrong.  By not receiving Christ, they stand condemned already.  If by double predestination, one means some are unconditionally chosen and others are not, then that is correct.  Every election is a choice of one and not another. To say that God chose some but did not leave others condemned in their total depravity, is both un-Scriptural, and illogical.]
 
 
I. God hath endued the will of man with that natural liberty, that is neither forced, nor by any absolute necessity of nature determined to good or evil.
 

 
II. Man, in his state of innocency, had freedom and power to will and to do that which is good and well-pleasing to God; but yet mutably, so that he might fall from it.
 

 
III. Man, by his fall into a state of sin, hath wholly lost all ability of will to any spiritual good accompanying salvation; so as a natural man, being altogether averse from that good, and dead in sin, is not able, by his own strength, to convert himself, or to prepare himself thereunto.
 

 
IV. When God converts a sinner and translates him into the state of grace, he freeth him from his natural bondage under sin, and, by his grace alone, enables him freely to will and to do that which is spiritually good; yet so as that, by reason of his remaining corruption, he doth not perfectly, nor only, will that which is good, but doth also will that which is evil.
 

 
V. The will of man is made perfectly and immutable free to good alone, in the state of glory only.
Westminster Confession
 
    Teaching universalism may be "politically correct," but it does not give Christians the confidence and assurance which is rightly ours. 
 
        *How could I be certain that I would be the one taken and not the one left behind?
        *How could I be certain that I was the one God loved, and not the one He hated?
        *How could I be certain that I was one of Jesus' "sheep?"
  
  Universalism sounds "nicer" than predestination only to those who do not understand Scripture.
 
Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.  In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.
John 14: 1-3
 
    All Christians deserve to know that Christ's promise is for each and everyone of us.  How could it be, IF universalism were true?  How could Christ prepare a place for people who have not yet made the free will decision to accept Him as Lord and Savior?
 
    The doctrines of God's grace, expressed in the acronym TULIP provide Christians with the only Biblical, logical, explanation of how lost sinners become eternally secure saints.
 

    TULIP is not a "formula" devised by Calvinists, but a didactic for understanding the Bible.  To understand the message of God's redemptive work, from Genesis to Revelation, certain tenets must be understood.

 

        1. Is humanity basically good or totally depraved?  If it is basically good, the concept of Savior is irrelevant; all we need is a guru with a self-improvement plan.  (When you study Liberal theology, this is really what they are teaching.  An infallible Bible, Virgin Birth, literal resurrection are not really important to their theology.)

 

        2. Is God sovereign?  If He is, then His covenant people must have been chosen by unconditional election.  If He isn't, then it is really our will which determines providence. (Many people really think, God helps those who help themselves is in the Bible.)

 

        3. What happened on the Cross?  Did Christ pay the one, all-sufficient price for the sins of the covenant people, or did he merely make redemption a possibility for whomever might choose to accept the offer, or did He pay the price for everyone, regardless of faith? The meaning of the celebration of Easter is determined by how we answer this.

 

        4.  Do we choose God or does He choose us?  If grace is irresistible, then God draws to the Christ all His covenant people, no one will be lost; if it is not, then if we don't "save souls for Jesus" some who might have gone to go to Heaven won't.

 

        5. Can we lose our salvation?  If God is not able to equip His covenant people to persevere, then He cannot really offer eternal life. Confident Christians are more fruitful.

 

    A few years ago, a Regional Manager of Xerox told me about the problems one of his sales reps was having.  The rep had a degree in engineering, but after 6 months on the job, had not placed one copier.  The Regional Manager asked if he could "tag along" on a few calls.  At the first stop, a drug store, the pharmacist asked how the copier worked.  The "engineer" took over and laid of the schematics and showed the pharmacist exactly how the copier worked. The pharmacist was impressed, and said he would think about getting the copier.

    The same scenario played out at the next two stops.  The proprietors were impressed, but no copiers were sold.

    The Regional Manager, who had only a BA in Business, asked if he could take the next call.  When the business owner asked how the copier worked, the RM said, "Great!" He copied a document and handed it to the owner.  "Looks good; I'll take it!" 

 

"The meanest peasant, once called of God, felt within him a strength stronger than the might of kings. In the mighty elevation of the masses embodied in the Calvinistic doctrines of election and grace, lay the germs of the modern principles of human equality." 

John Richard Green

 

Conclusion

 

Calvinists won't be the only ones in Heaven;

Just the only ones who understand why they are there.

 

    More than 27 percent of hiring managers say they are skeptical of employees’ excuses for showing up late. It turns out their doubt is warranted: 24 percent of all employees decide to make up a fake excuse rather than tell the truth.

    What does this mean to you?

    If you're sitting in a traffic jam watching the minutes tick away and you've decided honesty isn’t the best policy for you, think of a believable and acceptable reason you're walking in late. After all, if you were a hiring manager who heard any of these 10 real-life excuses for being late, you'd be suspicious, too.


 

Top 10 Worst Excuses

1. While rowing across the river to work, I got lost in the fog.

2. Someone stole all my daffodils.

3. I had to go audition for American Idol.

4. My ex-husband stole my car so I couldn’t drive to work.

5. My route to work was shut down by a Presidential motorcade.

6. I have transient amnesia and couldn’t remember my job.

7. I was indicted for securities fraud this morning.

8. The line was too long at Starbucks.

9. I was trying to get my gun back from the police.

10. I didn’t have money for gas because all of the pawn shops were closed.

 

    Would you really want to leave something as important as the eternal destiny of your soul to human will?  Fortunately, God won't let that happen!

 

 

    Those of us in the Reformed tradition -- Calvinists -- believe it is God's grace that makes every Christian eternal secure.  Jesus said:

 

And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.

John 10: 28

 

    Arminians believe that it is human free will which has made them Christians.  They boast:

 

No one will snatch Jesus out of my hand!

 

 

    When the "people-in-the-pews" understand the basic tenets of God's grace, they are better equipped to understand the deeper mysteries of our faith and to do the good works for which we were created.  TULIP really is the only logical, Biblical explanation of how lost sinners become eternally secure saints.

 

 

O holy God,

encourage this soul of mine.

Inspire all my thoughts.

  Pervade all my imaginations. 

 Suggest all my decisions. 

Direct my will and order my actions.
Manifest Chris through me in my silence and in my speech,

 in my haste and in my leisure, in company and in solitude,

in freshness of new day and weariness of evening and

give me grace at all times to rejoice in Thy blessed companionship.
In Jesus' name, I pray.
Amen

 

 


The Old Gray Dog
James E. Tuckett