Pride and Humility

"Pride pushes us away from God; humility draws us toward God. Humility puts us on God's side, so to speak, where we agree with God about our true condition and our true need for Christ."
                   -  Randy Alcorn www.epm.org

Trusting in God

Do we really know what it means to trust in God? I mean when it really matters. It's very easy to trust God for all of our needs when the bills are all up to date, your marriage is great, and the kids are all angels.
But what about when you are behind in your bills, your marriage is on the rocks, and your children are far from God? Can we trust in the sovereignty of God then? Do we really believe He holds the future in His hands?
The promise of Philippians 4:13 holds true in any situation. In context, it calls us to be content whatever the circumstances. Our contentment and satisfaction comes from our identity in Christ, not from our circumstances in this world. "I can do all things through Christ" how? through His strength. Not through any way of me trying harder, or working harder, or leaning in my own understanding. Many times in the Bible we are told to trust. Abraham, Moses, and David are just a few of the people in the Bible that are told to trust. Are we any better than these giants if the faith?           We also need to trust in the same God that rescued the Israelites, and raised David up to be king. The same God who sent His son to die on the cross for all of our sins, past, present and future.
Regardless of our own feelings of anxiety, we need to trust in the sovereignty of God, and know that He is still on the throne. If He is indeed Lord of our life, then we have nothing to fear, and everything to look forward to.

Philippians 4:13

"You can see there, that when the apostle says, I can do all things through Him who strengthens me, he is speaking about contentment. In any circumstance, he had learned to be content by depending on Christ who gave him the strength to persevere in any situation.

And that is a perspective that we are called to emulate. In fact, immediately before the verses cited above, Paul writes in verse 9:

(9) The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

He tells his readers to follow his example, and then he immediately talks about contentment. Clearly, the attitude that Paul possessed is one that should characterize us as well."
   -  Nathan Busentitz

More A. W. Pink

"There is a safe and sure criterion by which the Christian may gauge his inward impulses, and ascertain whether they proceed from his own restless spirit, an evil spirit, or the Spirit of God. That criterion is the written Word of God, and by it all must be measured. The Holy Spirit never prompts anyone to act contrary to the Scriptures. How could He, when He is the Author of them! His promptings are always unto obedience to the precepts of Holy Writ.....Therefore, if one claimed "guidance" in assuming an unequal yoke by marrying an unbeliever, 2 Corinthians 6:14 would prove conclusively that it was not the "guidance" of the Holy Spirit."~ Arthur Pink, "The Holy Spirit"

Fighting for Certainty

"God and truth are inseparable. . . . That is why God incarnate--Jesus Christ--is called the truth (John 14:6). . . .the existence of absolute truth and its inseparable relationship to the person of God is the most essential tenet of all truly biblical Christianity. . . . A biblical perspective of truth also necessarily entails the recognition that ultimate truth is an objective reality. Truth exists outside of us and remains the same regardless of how we may perceive it. Truth by definition is as fixed and constant as God is immutable. . . . Amazingly, Christians in our generation need to be reminded of these things. Truth is never determined by looking at God's Word and asking, 'What does this mean to me?' Whenever I hear someone talk like that I'm inclined to ask, 'What did the Bible mean before you existed? What does God mean by what he says?' Those are the proper questions to be asking. Truth and meaning are not determined by our intuition, experience, or desire. The true meaning of Scripture--or anything else, for that matter--has already been determined and fixed by the mind of God. The task of the interpreter is to discern that meaning. And proper interpretation must precede application" (John MacArthur, The Truth War: Fighting for Certainty in an Age of Deception, p.xv,xx, xxi). KS

Monergism

"Monergism simply means that it is God who gives ears to hear and eyes to see. It is God alone who gives illumination and understanding of His word that we might believe; It is God who raises us from the dead, who circumcises the heart; unplugs our ears; It is God alone who can give us a new sense that we may, at last, have the moral capacity to behold His beauty and unsurpassed excellency. The apostle John recorded Jesus saying to Nicodemus that we naturally love darkness, hate the light and WILL NOT come into the light (John 3:19, 20). And since our hardened resistance to God is thus seated in our affections, only God, by His grace, can lovingly change, overcome and disarm our rebellious disposition. The natural man, apart from the quickening work of the Holy Spirit, will not come to Christ on his own since he is at enmity with God and cannot understand spiritual things. Shining a light into a blind man's eyes will not enable his to see, since, as we all know, sight requires new eyes or some restoration of his visual faculty. Likewise, reading or hearing the word of God itself cannot elicit saving faith in the reader (or hearer) unless the Spirit first "germinates" the seed of the word in the heart, so to speak, which then infallibly gives rise to our faith and union with Christ. Like unto Lydia whom "the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul," (Acts 16:14) He must also give all His people spiritual life and understanding if their hearts are to be open and thus turn (respond) to Christ in faith.

The following are some Christians in the history of the Church who believed and taught monergism:

Jonathan Edwards, Charles Spurgeon, Martin Luther (who considered this doctrine the heart of the Reformation), John Calvin, John Owen, the Puritans of the 17th century, Augustine, George Whitefield, and some contemporary pastors and theologians such as Martyn Lloyd-Jones, John Piper, Wayne Grudem, R.C. Sproul, D.A. Carson, Michael Horton, J.I. Packer, James Montgomery Boice, and signatories to the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals."
- from monergism Facebook group

What is our nature?

"The reason no one can come to Jesus (John 6:44) is that it is not our nature to come. It is our nature, and therefore our will, to flee from Christ, not come to him. The fact is, and a sad fact at that, we do not want to come. We are delighted not to come. We willingly and freely and voluntarily choose to stay in our sin and unbelief, because we find nothing at all in Jesus that is alluring, appealing, truthful, or in any way an improvement on what we already are and have on our own. Were we ever to come to the point of wanting to come to Christ for life, we could do so. Indeed, Jesus says we most assuredly will (John 6:37)! But such "wanting," such "coming," is not of our own making. It is of God. It is of the Father who in eternity past "gave" us to the Son and now in time "draws" us to faith. Simply put, no one, of himself or herself, wants to be saved. But whoever, by God's power, is made willing shall be saved!"

~ Sam Storms, Chosen for Life, A Case for Divine Election

It started in the Garden

"It started in the garden of Eden ... You see, when you've done something wrong, it's not natural to look inside yourself for the cause. Sin makes us all shockingly self-righteous ... Somehow, some way, we all buy into the delusion that our biggest problems live outside us, not inside us ... Because accepting blame is not natural, it takes rescuing, transforming grace to produce a humble, willing, broken, self-examining, help-seeking heart ... Only grace can decimate your defenses and lead you to confess. Only grace can cause you to quit pointing your finger and to run to your Redeemer for his forgiveness and delivering power. Only grace can enable you to forsake your own righteousness and find your hope and rest in the righteousness of another. " Paul Tripp

Five Solas of the Reformation

The Five Solas of the Reformation by James Montgomery Boice

1. Scripture alone. When the Reformers used the words sola Scriptura they were expressing their concern for the Bibles authority, and what they meant is that the Bible alone is our ultimate authority"not the pope, not the church, not the traditions of the church or church councils, still less personal intimations or subjective feelings, but Scripture only. Other sources of authority may have an important role to play. Some are even established by God"such as the authority of church elders, the authority of the state, or the authority of parents over children. But Scripture alone is truly ultimate. Therefore, if any of these other authorities depart from Bible teaching, they are to be judged by the Bible and rejected.

2. Christ alone. The church of the Middle Ages spoke about Christ. A church that failed to do that could hardly claim to be Christian. But the medieval church had added many human achievements to Christs work, so that it was no longer possible to say that salvation was entirely by Christ and his atonement. This was the most basic of all heresies, as the Reformers rightly perceived. It was the work of God plus our own righteousness. The Reformation motto solus Christus was formed to repudiate this error. It affirmed that salvation has been accomplished once for all by the mediatorial work of the historical Jesus Christ alone. His sinless life and substitutionary atonement alone are sufficient for our justification, and any gospel that fails to acknowledge that or denies it is a false gospel that will save no one.

3. Grace alone. The words sola gratia mean that human beings have no claim upon God. That is, God owes us nothing except just punishment for our many and very willful sins. Therefore, if he does save sinners, which he does in the case of some but not all, it is only because it pleases him to do it. Indeed, apart from this grace and the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit that flows from it, no one would be saved, since in our lost condition, human beings are not capable of winning, seeking out, or even cooperating with Gods grace. By insisting on grace alone the Reformers were denying that human methods, techniques, or strategies in themselves could ever bring anyone to faith. It is grace alone expressed through the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit that brings us to Christ, releasing us from our bondage to sin and raising us from death to spiritual life.

4. Faith alone. The Reformers never tired of saying that justification is by grace alone through faith alone because of Christ alone. When put into theological shorthand the doctrine was expressed as justification by faith alone, the article by which the church stands or falls, according to Martin Luther. The Reformers called justification by faith Christianity's material principle, because it involves the very matter or substance of what a person must understand and believe to be saved. Justification is a declaration of God based on the work of Christ. It flows from Gods grace and it comes to the individual not by anything he or she might do but by faith alone (sola fide). We may state the full doctrine as: Justification is the act of God by which he declares sinners to be righteous because of Christ alone, by grace alone, through faith alone.

5. Glory to God alone. Each of the great solas is summed up in the fifth Reformation motto: soli Deo gloria, meaning to God alone be the glory. It is what the apostle Paul expressed in Romans 11:36 when he wrote, to Him be the glory forever! Amen. These words follow naturally from the preceding words, For from him and through him and to him are all things (v. 36), since it is because all things really are from God, and to God, that we say, to God alone be the glory.

-James Montgomery Boice, Whatever Happened to the Gospel of Grace? (Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway, 2001), pp. 65-149.

Arminian vs. Calvinism

The Arminian believes that God knocks on the door to man's heart and man decides to answer or not. The Calvinist believes that anyone whom the Holy Spirit regenerates is saved. This is because God's grace works effectually only on the elect. He never wastes His effort or is frustrated in His design. If you are one of God's elect, He will bring you to Himself sometime in your life. His desire for you will never be quenched until you are one of His.

~ Craig R. Brown, The Five Dilemmas of Calvinism

Good Works

"Human efforts, good deeds, works of merit, avail nothing to procure salvation. None of these will unbar the gates of Paradise. If all the good works of men, from Adam to the present time, could be collected and concentrated in one individual — it would avail nothing! Jesus is the only way to Heaven." - William Nicholson, 1862 (Christ, the Way to Heaven)

Irresistible Grace

"C.H. Spurgeon preached the doctrine of irresistible grace, which teaches that all who are called by God to come to faith in Jesus will ultimately do so. it is important to state that it does not teach that all who hear a Gospel message or receive an invitation to trust Christ will believe. These examples of a 'general call' can be ignored and resisted. We are instead referring to the work of the Holy Spirit in calling an individual to repent and believe the Gospel.

We see in Scripture that no one is able to come to Christ unless he is first drawn by God to do so. John 6:44 states, "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him." Being totally depraved, we will not and cannot choose God on our own. So it is clear that those who come to Christ are first drawn by Him.

Spurgeon summarized this truth by saying, "You cannot look to Christ before he has looked to you. If you are willing to be saved, He gave you that will." [1]

While this is an important aspect of irresistible grace, it is not the entire scope of the doctrine. Irresistible grace further teaches that while some may resist this calling of God for a time, His will in saving those whom He calls cannot be thwarted (John 6:37; Romans 8:30). Spurgeon emphatically made this point:

You yourselves say, "we won't come;" God says, "You shall come." Yes! There are some here who are laughing at salvation, who can scoff at Christ, and mock at the gospel; but I tell you some of you shall come yet. "What!" you say, "can God make me become a Christian?" I tell you yes, for herein rests the power of the gospel. It does not ask your consent; but it gets it. It does not say, will you have it? But it makes you willing in the day of God's power. [2]

This doctrine does not speak of merely overriding man's will, but of changing it supernaturally. Says Spurgeon:
A man is not saved against his will, but he is made willing by the operation of the Holy Ghost. A mighty grace which he does not wish to resist enters into the man, disarms him, makes a new creature of him, and he is saved. [3]

When God calls sinners to come to Him, they will come; "And nought in heaven, nor on earth, nor in hell, can stop them from coming." [4]

God's will in electing sinners unto salvation cannot be thwarted, though His calling may be resisted for a season. Those whom He calls will ultimately be saved."

---------

[1] Steven Lawson, The Gospel Focus of Charles Spurgeon, (Reformation Trust Publishing), 54.

[2] C.H. Spurgeon, "Effectual Calling," (March 30, 1856), accessed January 28, 2015. http://www.spurgeon.org/sermons/0073.htm.

[3] The Gospel Focus of Charles Spurgeon, 52-53.

[4] Ibid., 55.

Article by Clay Kraby

Irresistible Grace

"The result of God's Irresistible Grace is the certain response by the elect to the inward call of the Holy Spirit, when the outward call is given by the evangelist or minister of the Word of God. Christ, himself, teaches that all whom God has elected will come to a knowledge of him (John 6:37). Men come to Christ in salvation when the Father calls them (John 6:44), and the very Spirit of God leads God's beloved to repentance (Romans 8:14). What a comfort it is to know that the gospel of Christ will penetrate our hard, sinful hearts and wondrously save us through the gracious inward call of the Holy Spirit (I Peter 5:10)!

Salvation is accomplished by the almighty power of the triune God. The Father chose a people, the Son died for them, the Holy Spirit makes Christ's death effective by bringing the elect to faith and repentance, thereby causing them to willingly obey the Gospel. The entire process (election, redemption, regeneration) is the work of God and is by grace alone. Thus God, not man, determines who will be the recipients of the gift of salvation."

God's Sovereign Will

"No one can act outside of God's sovereign will or against it. Centuries ago, Augustine said, "Nothing, therefore, happens unless the Omnipotent wills it to happen: he either permits it to happen, or he brings it about himself." Philip Hughes said, "Under God, however, all things are without exception fully controlled— despite all appearances to the contrary." Nothing is too large or small to escape God's governing hand. The spider building its web in the corner and Napoleon marching his army across Europe are both under God's control."

~ Jerry Bridges, Trusting God: Even When Life

Election

"But, after all, is the doctrine of Election plainly stated in Scripture? This is the whole question which an honest Christian has to do with. If it is not in the Book of God, let it be forever discarded, refused, and rejected by man, no matter who propounds it. If it is there, let us receive it with reverence, as a part of Divine revelation, and humbly believe, even where we are not able to understand completely or explain fully. What then is written in the Scriptures? "To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." (Isaiah. viii. 20.) Is Election in the Bible, or is it not? Does the Bible speak of certain persons as God's Elect, or not?
Hear what our Lord Jesus Christ says: —
"For the Elect's sake the days shall be shortened." (Matt. xxiv. 22.)
"If it were possible they should deceive even the Elect." (Mark xiii. 22.)
"He shall send His angels, and they shall gather together His Elect." (Matt. xxiv. 31.)
"Shall not God avenge His own Elect?" (Luke xviii. 7.). -   J. C.  Ryle

A Genuine Christian

"A genuine Christian would be horrified at giving place to the delusion that the redemption of Christ is imperfect and inadequate, that His atoning blood is not sufficient to cleanse from sin, that it must be plussed with something from the creature.

And ought he not to be equally horrified at calling into question the reality and efficacy of the Spirit's work in regeneration, supposing it is not to be credited unless it is regularly confirmed by certain feelings of which we are the subjects?

Is it any less a sin to deny or even doubt the work of the Holy Spirit than it is to deny or doubt the sufficiency of the finished work of Christ?"
                   -  A. W. Pink

A visit to a college campus, 30 years on

Last Tuesday I took my 20 year old daughter with me back to visit my college alma mater. I hadn't been back on campus for 30 years. I was not prepared for my reaction. All of the professors that I would have known have either retired or passed away. I hadn't thought about that until after I arrived. For some reason I thought time had stood still, and the same people would be there. A fellow alumni is an engineering professor, one of the few people I knew on campus. I hadn't seen him in person for 30 or so years either,  but we had recently connected via Facebook. Most of the buildings were the same, but things had changed around them. A major re-routing of a highway, new walkways, upgrades and internal changes. I knew my way around somewhat. But someone else was living n my old dorm room and the house I lived in my senior year, was torn down years ago. Other people were in my world.                 

  We had lunch in the dining room where I could see myself 30 years ago in these kid's eyes. Life has continued here, students and faculty eating meals here for the past 30 years, every 4 years a new group of students. This was their time.  I had my time here. I never wanted to be that guy that "never left" after he graduated. The guy who was always hung around and kept coming back to campus. I looked around at lunch and saw the couple sitting off to one side, and I wanted to walk up to them and say "you know you probably won't be getting married like you think, because she's going to marry that guy over there." And to the group of guys acting goofy over on the other side, "you need to grow up before you get  a girlfriend."

And I wanted to stand up on the tables and tell all of them, "All of this stuff that seems so important to you now, its not going to mean anything  5 years from now and it will mean even less 20 and 30 years from now." I guess I have the advantage of hindsight. Looking back, I would of course do some things differently. I was trying to understand what I was feeling, was it jealousy? My own mortality? Or just feeling intimidated? Why were all of these feelings coming up now? Maybe it's a yearning to return to academics. A return to learning, where your biggest problem is what to have for lunch.  A lot of fun times, a lot of work, and growing up happened here for me.This place has continued to educate students and I spent 4 years of my own life here. I arrived a teenager, and left a young adult.  

   I used to walk across campus and wave to people and people knew me too. Now, no one knows me here, and I know no one. Life has gone on here. I have to get back to reality, I have hopefully matured in the process. Growing up can be a harsh reality. Everyone on campus was nice, polite, smiling, and courteous. I wanted to tell them the world is not that way. There are rude, obnoxious, and vulgar people out there in this world. And after you graduate, you will experience them, in your bosses, fellow coworkers, or at the grocery store. I wanted to tell them to enjoy their time here. Savor the moments, keep the friendships, make memories, take pictures. Be a full time student, this is your job right now. Remember your time here, and 30 years later, you will come back and tell all this to the next generation.

                               -  T. Meiers

Grace

"Grace distinguishes its possessors by their joy. The good news proclaimed in the Bible neither slights the seriousness of sin nor shades the wonders of the pardon and power God provides his people. This full gospel message must also characterize the attitudes of God's people, because those with whom we share Christ's living water will be affected by the springs from which we drink. If we are guilt-driven, then so will be our spouses, children, and coworkers. If we pretend to be guiltless, then we will encourage shameless behavior. However, if we exhibit joyful gratitude for the grace of God that pardons our guilt, then we will reproduce grateful spouses, children, and fellow believers who are zealous for God's purposes."

~ Bryan Chapell, Holiness by Grace

Works are Inadequate

"When I face the reality of the inadequacy of my works to merit God's favor, then I recognize that I must depend on his goodness and not on mine. At times this dependence is scary because it lifts control from me, but there is no other choice when I recognize the true character of my good works. According to Scripture even my best works are only "filthy rags" (Isa. 64:6). There is too much of human imperfection and mixed motives in my best deeds to have them obligate God to do as I wish."

~ Bryan Chapell, Holiness by Grace

"We are big on praying for answers, but not big on waiting for them."

"We are big on praying for answers, but not big on waiting for them. We figure if we've prayed about something, it's been heard and blessed. But God so often asks us to wait for his timing, and this waiting hurts. It's so hard to be patient when you want something now. The world, and the prosperity gospel, teach us to seize opportunities and chase after our dreams. But the Bible says, "Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart" (Ps. 37:4). Become pliable to the Lord, submit yourself to him, and then will give you the desires of your heart. Why? Because his desires will have become your desires, not the other way around."
                 - from The Gospel Coalition

Gotta Serve Somebody

"Man will glory either in himself or in God. Man will live either to serve and please himself, or he will seek to serve and please the Lord. None can serve two masters."

~ A.W. Pink, also by Pink – The Attributes of God

8 Lies Christians Believe About Success | TGC | The Gospel Coalition

http://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/8-lies-christians-believe

Repentance

"Repentance is not a one-time act. The repentance that takes place at conversion begins a progressive, lifelong process of confession (1 John 1:9). This active, continuous attitude of repentance produces the poverty of spirit, mourning, and meekness Jesus spoke of in the Beatitudes (Matt. 5:3-6). It is a mark of every true believer." ~ John MacArthur, "The Gospel According to Jesus,"

The Promises of God

"How precious are the promises which the Bible contains for the use of those who love God! There is hardly any possible emergency or condition for which it does not have a word of hope and encouragement. And it tells people that God loves to be put in remembrance of these promises, and that if He has said He will do something, His promise will certainly be fulfilled. How blessed are the hopes which the Bible holds out to the believer in Christ Jesus! Peace in the hour of death—rest and happiness on the other side of the grave—a glorious body in the morning of the resurrection—a full and triumphant acquittal in the day of judgment—an everlasting reward in the kingdom of Christ—a joyful meeting with the Lord's people in the day of gathering together—these, these are the future prospects of every true Christian. They are all written in the book—in the book which is all true."

- JC Ryle

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Great Lessons on the Five Points

http://www.genevaninstitute.org/articles/five-challenging-bible-facts/

One Reason People are Leaving the Church

"Your Sunday productions have worn thin.

The stage, and the lights, and the bands, and the video screens, have all just become white noise to those really seeking to encounter God. They're ear and eye candy for an hour, but they have so little relevance in people's daily lives that more and more of them are taking a pass.

Yeah, the songs are cool and the show is great, but ultimately Sunday morning isn't really making a difference on Tuesday afternoon or Thursday evening, when people are wrestling with the awkward, messy, painful stuff in the trenches of life; the places where rock shows don't help.

We can be entertained anywhere. Until you can give us something more than a Christian-themed performance piece—something that allows us space and breath and conversation and relationship—many of us are going to sleep in and stay away."
                         from faith it.com

Private 'revelations'

"If private 'revelations' agree with Scripture, they are needless, and if they disagree, they are false."

~ John Owen

Why Study God's Word

"We study God's Word not to be thought wise, but to learn what fools we are."
                           -  R. C. Sproul Jr.

Dependence on God

"God's ultimate purpose is to make us more and more like Jesus in faith and character (Rom. 8:28-29). Our ultimate need to trust in things eternal and not earthly is served as we experience undeserved earthly blessing. But this need is also refined in the difficulties we face that lead us (and those who observe our faith) to greater dependence on, and satisfaction in, God alone (Ps. 73:26; 2 Cor. 4:17; 1 Pet. 1:7)."

~ Bryan Chapell, Holiness by Grace

The Heart of Fallen Man

"By nature the heart of fallen man is as hard as sun-baked ground after a long drought. Its possessor is quite unconcerned about his eternal destiny, utterly indifferent whether God's smile or God's frown be upon him: thoroughly in love with sin, he is a total stranger to any grief occasioned by having displeased and dishonoured the Most High.

But when a work of Divine grace is begun in him, all this is changed. It is like plentiful showers of rain falling upon and moistening the earth. His heart is softened and chastened.

In consequence, he is deeply exercised as to his eternal destiny, greatly troubled over his past carelessness and wickedness, fearful that he has so sinned away his day of grace that he is beyond the reach of mercy.

His heart is sore wounded at the realization he has offended so grievously against God..... A work of grace must be wrought before the heart desires, seeks after, delights in God."

~ Arthur Pink, "Internal Salvation"

Comments on Romans 8:28

"How really secure are we? Well, here is the extent of our security in one simple statement, "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good." That is the extent of our security. That is a tremendously comforting and reassuring statement. There could not be a more reassuring statement than that. No statement made to a believer could contribute more hope, more happiness, more freedom and more joy in the heart than that statement because what it says is that no matter what pain, no matter what problems, no matter what failures, no matter what difficulties, no matter what disasters, no matter what sin, no matter what suffering, no matter what temptation, all things work together for good. The extent is emphasized in the word pantain the Greek, meaning all things. It is a comprehensive promise. And the context has no limits, the context puts no limits on it. There's nothing that qualifies the "all things," nothing. It means absolutely what it says, all things work together for good. God takes anything and everything that occurs in a believer's life and rather than it potentiating the believer's loss of salvation, rather than it potentiating the believer's condemnation, God makes it work together for the believer's ultimate good. This is the greatest promise that we can have in this life. There are absolutely no limits on this statement in this context. It is limitless."
                     -  John MacArthur
www.gty.org

Just Tell the Truth

"Look, all I can do is tell the truth. All I can do is speak the truth. I can't take care of the results. I can't give life. It's mysterious, just like to the farmer to us. The only human act is to plant the seed and wait…and wait, go to sleep, it's all God's work. First Corinthians 3 says, "God gives the increase." Life and growth is a divine operation. You must be born from above, John 3. Not of the will of a man…of men, not of the will of flesh, John 1:12, but of God. Listen to it this way, no human being contributes to the regeneration, conversion, justification, salvation process. All we can do is tell the truth. The seed is potent, the gospel is the power of God unto salvation, Romans 1, the soil when prepared by God will receive it and once God makes it grow, I love this part of the little parable, when it begins to grow, it does not stop until it is harvested…first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head and then the harvest. What God begins He completes, right? Philippians 1:6, "Whoever begins a good work in you will perform it until the day of Christ."

This is a critical lesson, by the way, to all evangelical manipulators and clever marketers who think they can make people believe. No human being no matter how persuasive, no matter how clever, makes a contribution to regeneration, conversion or justification. All we can do is give the truth. We can't change hearts and we can't produce life from dead people. That's something the Lord alone does. "No man comes to me except the Father draws him." And once He begins to draw him, then it's the blade, then it's the ear, then it's the full grain. It needs to be drummed into the heads and hearts of all Christians who have been seduced by the contemporary lies, that if we just get better at marketing the gospel, we can be more convincing and we can convince people to be saved. Just tell the truth."
                      -   John MacArthur

The Challenge

"The challenge before us as Christian witnesses is whether we will offer Jesus Christ as the key to fulfilling our narcissistic preoccupation or as the redeemer who liberated us from its guilt and power."

- Michael Horton

Leviticus 18:22. 20:13 homosexuality, shellfish, mixed fabrics | CARM | Homosexuality

https://carm.org/leviticus-homosexuality-old-testament-law

Arminianusm defined

"In the early years of the seventeenth century Jacobus Arminius, a Dutch preacher, propounded an unscriptural concept of salvation which has affected the thinking of millions of Christians around the world. To recount his views in briefest and most simple form, Arminius said: "Yes, God must provide salvation. God sent his Son into the world to pay the price of sin. And God remained in control of the redemptive work until the death of Christ had been accomplished on the cross. But there God stopped! From that point on God put the matter of salvation in the hands of man. A man must choose whether he will believe or not, and there is nothing that God can do concerning the man's decision." Ever since that time this view, which denies that God is not only the author but also the finisher of our salvation, has been called Arminianism.
The surprising consideration is that anyone could arrive at such a view while professing to accept the whole Bible as the inspired Word of God."
                -  Rev. Gordon Girod

Leviticus 18:22. 20:13 homosexuality, shellfish, mixed fabrics | CARM | Homosexuality

https://carm.org/leviticus-homosexuality-old-testament-law

Visitors at Bethlehem

"We might have thought that the Scribes and Pharisees would have been the first to hasten to Bethlehem, on the lightest rumor that the Savior was born. But it was not so. A few unknown strangers from a distant land were the first, except the shepherds mentioned by Luke, to rejoice at His birth. "He came unto his own, and his own received him not." What a mournful picture this is of human nature! How often the same kind of thing may be seen among ourselves! How often the very people who live nearest to the means of grace are those who neglect them most!"

~ J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on Matthew

Man's Good Works

"Fallen man's many good works, even though in accord with God's commands, are not well pleasing to God when weighed against His ultimate criteria and standard of perfection. The love of God and His law is not the unbelievers' deepest animating motive and principle (nor is it his motive at all), so it does not earn him the right to redemptive blessings from a holy God. The Scripture clearly implies this when it states "...without faith it is impossible to please Him." (Hebrews 11:6a, NASB) and "whatever is not from faith is sin." (Romans 14:23)"                                           
           -   from monergism.com

Free Will?

"The fact that no man can choose to live a sinless life is proof positive that he has no free will. He is held captive under the yoke of sin and thus he sins willingly and of necessity ... and he cannot do otherwise.".          -  John Hendryx

Gospel and Pride

"The gospel destroys pride, because it tells us we are so lost that Jesus had to die for us. And it also destroys fearfulness, because it tells us that nothing we can do will exhaust his love for us.".      -   Timothy Keller

I believe in God

"Those who believe in God believe everything written about God in Scripture. They dare to believe this in life and in death. This faith makes them true Christians and gives them everything they desire from God. A person with an evil, hypocritical heart can’t have this type of faith, for it’s a living faith, as described in the first commandment: “I am the LORD your God. . . . You shall have no other gods” (Exodus 20:2–3).

Therefore, the little word in is well placed and should be carefully noted. We don’t say, “I believe God the Father,” or “I believe about God the Father,” but “I believe in God the Father, in Jesus Christ, in the Holy Spirit.” Only God can give us this type of faith."

Martin Luther; James C. Galvin, Faith Alone: A Daily Devotional

The Duty of the Church

"The duty of the church is not only to teach saints but also to warn men of God's standards. We've got to proclaim that man is a sinner, that he's separated from a holy God, and that in the eyes of God he's an object of God's judgment—he's a child of wrath, as Paul says in Ephesians 2:13. To boldly proclaim the truth about Jesus Christ and the truth about man in his sin is to divide.".            -   John MacArthur

Jesus Never Fails

"Everything in this fallen world will fail you at some time and in some way, but Jesus is with you always and will never fail.".               -  Paul David Tripp

The Gospel of Christ

"If the love of Christ for us is to be the motivating force for a life of discipleship, how then can we come to the place where we are acutely conscious of His love? The answer is, through the gospel. It is, of course, the Holy Spirit who pours out His love into our hearts (Romans 5:5), but He does this through the message of the gospel. The good news of the gospel is that Jesus paid for all our sins on the cross and that we are thereby forgiven. As we continually reflect upon that gospel, the Holy Spirit floods our hearts with a sense of God's love to us in Christ. And that sense of His love motivates us in a compelling way to live for Him."

~ Jerry Bridges, The Discipline of Grace: God's Role and Our Role in the Pursuit of Holiness

Marriage

"Marriage itself is founded on the principle of mutuality. Don't imagine for a moment that the husband's God-ordained headship relegates the wife to some secondary status or destroys the essential oneness of the marriage relationship. Marriage is a partnership, not a private fiefdom for dominant husbands. That truth is woven into everything Scripture teaches about the principles of marriage and the husband's headship." - John MacArthur
www.gty.org

We need thinking Christians

"I am convinced the great problem in America today is that people are not thinking. It's a cultural phenomenon that has spilled over into the church. It is not just that there is a lack of a Christian way of thinking-a "Christian Mind"-but there is hardly a mind at all. In our day and age people, Christian and non-Christian alike, just do not think. We act and we react, but we do not consider and contemplate. There are many ways to explain this phenomenon: secularism, relativism, materialism, or just the fast pace of our lives. But we cannot overestimate the fact that our society has become so obsessed with entertainment that it has never learned to think. And this is because we have embraced a television culture rather than the print-based culture of our ancestors."
    -  James Montgomery Boice, Modern Reformation Magazine, July 1994

And, how much more so now. This was written 21 years ago, and we have gone so much further into non-thinking. Entertainment has reached so far even into the church that we feel a worship service must be entertaining for people to attend. Or so watered down that we don't want to offend anyone. Just come for the coffee and donuts and hear a little talk about being nice to people and sing some songs and go home. In a lot of churches there is no teaching, no challenge, no conviction, no talk of sin, lest someone be offended.  The Bible is offensive to sinful man. It is an offense to the pride of man. It points out man's condition and his need for a Savior and needs to be preached from our churches.  -  T. Meiers

Pelagianism

"Pelagianism is an ancient error built on man's self-righteousness. Though roundly condemned when it began, it's still with us."
-  R C Sproul Jr.

Calvinism Fact Sheet

Calvinism Fact Sheet
BY JOEL BARNES

Below are explanations of TULIP (an acronym representing Calvinism's main tenets) followed by supporting biblical texts. Remember that not all supporting texts will explicitly teach a given tenet. In such instances, the tenet of Calvinism in question will be, to borrow from an old confession, "by good and necessary consequence deduced from" the supporting texts.

Total Depravity (or Total Inability)

When Calvinists speak of man as being totally depraved, they mean that man's nature is corrupt, perverse, and sinful throughout. The adjective "total" does not mean that each sinner is as totally or completely corrupt in his actions and thoughts as it is possible for him to be. Instead, the word "total" is used to indicate that the whole of man's being has been affected by sin. The corruption extends to every part of man, his body and soul; sin has affected all (the totality) of man's faculties - his mind, his will, etc.

As a result of this inborn corruption, the natural man is totally unable to do anything spiritually good; thus, Calvinists speak of man's "total inability." The inability intended by this terminology is spiritual inability; it means that the sinner is so spiritually bankrupt that he can do nothing pertaining to his salvation. The natural man is enslaved to sin; he is a child of Satan, rebellious toward God, blind to truth, corrupt, and unable to save himself or to prepare himself for salvation.

Spiritual Deadness

Genesis 2:16-17; Psalm 51:5; Psalm 58:3; John 3:5-7; Romans 5:12; Ephesians 2:1-3; Colossians 2:13.

Darkened Minds and Corrupt Hearts

Genesis 6:5; Genesis 8:21; Ecclesiastes 9:3; Jeremiah 17:9; Mark 7:21-23; John 3:19; Romans 8:7-8; 1 Corinthians 2:14; Ephesians 4:17-19; Ephesians 5:8; Titus 1:15.

Bondage to Sin and Satan

John 8:34; John 8:44; Romans 6:20; Ephesians 2:1-2; 2 Timothy 2:25-26; Titus 3:3; 1 John 3:10; 1 John 5:19.

Universal Bondage

1 Kings 8:46; 2 Chronicles 6:36; Job 15:14-16; Psalm 130:3; Psalm 143:2; Proverbs 20:9; Ecclesiastes 7:20; Ecclesiastes 7:29; Isaiah 53:6; Isaiah 64:6; Romans 3:9-12; James 3:2; James 3:8; 1 John 1:8; 1 John 1:10.

Inability to Change

Job 14:4; Jeremiah 23:13; Matthew 7:16-18; Matthew 12:33; John 6:44; John 6:65; Romans 11:35-36; 1 Corinthians 2:14; 1 Corinthians 4:7; 2 Corinthians 3:5.

Unconditional Election

It would have been perfectly just for God to have left all men in their sin and misery and to have shown mercy to none. God was under no obligation whatsoever to provide salvation for anyone. It is in this context that the Bible sets forth the doctrine of election.

The doctrine of election declares that God, before the foundation of the world, chose certain individuals from among the fallen members of Adam's race to be the objects of his undeserved favor. These, and these only, he purposed to save. God could have chosen to save all men (for he had the power and authority to do so) or he could have chosen to save none (for he was under no obligation to show mercy to any) - but he did neither. Instead, he chose to save some and to exclude others. His eternal choice of particular sinners for salvation was not based upon any foreseen act or response on the part of those selected, but was based solely on his own good pleasure and sovereign will. Thus, election was not determined by, or conditioned upon, anything that men would do, but resulted entirely from God's self-determined purpose.

Those who were not chosen for salvation were passed by and left to their own evil devices and choices. It is not within the creature's jurisdiction to call into question the justice of the creator for not choosing everyone for salvation. It is enough to know that the judge of the earth has done right. It should, however, be kept in mind that if God had not graciously chosen a people for himself and sovereignly determined to provide salvation for them and apply it to them, none would be saved. The fact that he did this for some, to the exclusion of others, is in no way unfair to the latter group, unless of course one maintains that God was under obligation to provide salvation for sinners - a position which the Bible utterly rejects.

The act of election itself saved no one; what it did was to mark out certain individuals for salvation. Consequently, the doctrine of election must not be divorced from the doctrines of human guilt, redemption, and regeneration, or else it will be distorted and misrepresented. In other words, if the Father's act of election is to be kept in its proper biblical balance and correctly understood, it must be related to the redeeming work of the Son, who gave himself to save the elect, and to the renewing work of the Spirit, who brings the elect to faith in Christ.

A Chosen People

Deuteronomy 10:14-15; Psalm 33:12; Psalm 65:4; Psalm 106:5; Haggai 2:23; Matthew 11:27; Matthew 22:14; Matthew 22:22; Matthew 22:24; Matthew 24:31; Luke 18:7; Romans 8:28-30; Romans 8:33; Romans 11:28; Colossians 3:12; 1 Thessalonians 5:9; Titus 1:1; 1 Peter 1:1-2; 1 Peter 2:8-9; Revelation 17:14.

Election Not Based on Foreseen Responses

Mark 13:20; John 15:16; Acts 13:48; Acts 18:27; Romans 9:11-13; Romans 9:16; Romans 10:20; 1 Corinthians 1:27-29; Philippians 1:29; Philippians 2:12-13; Ephesians 1:4; Ephesians 2:10; 1 Thessalonians 1:4-5; 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14; 2 Timothy 1:9; James 2:5; Revelation 13:8; Revelation 17:8.

Election Precedes Salvation

Acts 13:48; Romans 11:7; Ephesians 1:4; 1 Thessalonians 1:4; 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14; 2 Timothy 2:10.

Election Based on Sovereign Mercy

Exodus 33:19; Deuteronomy 7:6-7; Matthew 20:15; Romans 9:10-24; Romans 11:4-6; Romans 11:33-36; Ephesians 1:5.

Limited Atonement (or Particular Redemption)

Historical or mainline Calvinism has consistently maintained that Christ's redeeming work was definite in design and accomplishment - that it was intended to render complete satisfaction for certain specified sinners, and that it actually secured salvation for these individuals and for no one else. The salvation which Christ earned for his people includes everything involved in bringing them into a right relationship with God, including the gifts of faith and repentance. Christ did not die simply to make it possible for God to pardon sinners. Neither does God leave it up to sinners to decide whether or not Christ's work will be effective. On the contrary, all for whom Christ sacrificed himself will be saved infallibly. Redemption, therefore, was designed to bring to pass God's purpose of election.

All Calvinists agree that Christ's obedience and suffering were of infinite value, and that if God had so willed, the satisfaction rendered by Christ would have saved every member of the human race. It would have required no more obedience nor any greater suffering for Christ to have secured salvation for every man, woman, and child who ever lived than it did for him to secure salvation for the elect only. But he came into the world to represent and save only those given to him by the Father. Thus, Christ's saving work was limited in that it was designed to save some and not others, but it was not limited in value, for it was of infinite worth and would have secured salvation for everyone if this had been God's intention.

The Arminians also place a limitation on the atoning work of Christ, but one of a much different nature. They hold that Christ's saving work was designed to make possible the salvation of all men on the condition that they believe, but that Christ's death in itself did not actually secure or guarantee salvation for anyone.

Since not all men will be saved as the result of Christ's redeeming work, a limitation must be admitted. Either the atonement was limited in that it was designed to secure salvation for certain sinners, but not for others, or it was limited in that it was not intended to secure salvation for any, but was designed only to make it possible for God to pardon sinners on the condition that they believe. In other words, one must limit its design either in extent (it was not intended for all) or in effectiveness (it did not secure salvation for any). As Boettner so aptly observes, for the Calvinist, the atonement "is like a narrow bridge which goes all the way across the stream; for the Arminian it is like a great wide bridge that goes only half-way across."

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Jesus Actually Saves

Matthew 1:21; Luke 19:10; Acts 5:31; Romans 3:24-25; Romans 5:8-9; Romans 5:10; 1 Corinthians 1:30; 2 Corinthians 5:18-19; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 1:3-4; Galatians 3:13; Ephesians 1:3-4; Ephesians 2:15-16; Ephesians 5:25-26; Philippians 1:29; Colossians 1:13-14; Colossians 1:21-22; 1 Timothy 1:15; Titus 2:14; Titus 3:5-6; Hebrews 9:12; Hebrews 9:14; Hebrews 13:12; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 Peter 3:18; 1 John 1:7.

Jesus Fulfills the Eternal Covenant

John 6:35-40; John 10:11; John 10:14-18; John 10:24-29; John 17:1-11; John 17:20; John 17:24-26; Romans 5:12; Romans 5:17-19; Ephesians 1:3-12.

How Jesus Died for "All" and Yet for a Particular People )

These texts speak of Christ's saving work in general terms: John 1:9; John 1:29; John 3:16-17; John 4:42; 2 Corinthians 5:14-15; 2 Corinthians 5:18-19; 1 Timothy 2:4-6; Hebrews 2:9; 2 Peter 3:9; 1 John 2:1-2; 1 John 4:14.

One reason for the use of these expressions was to correct the false notion that salvation was for the Jews alone. Such phrases as "the world," "all men," "all nations," and "every creature" were used by the New Testament writers to emphatically correct this mistake. These expressions are intended to show that Christ died for all men without distinction (i.e., he died for Jews and Gentiles alike), but they are not intended to indicate that Christ died for all men without exception (i.e., he did not die for the purpose of saving each and every lost sinner).

These texts speak of Christ'ss saving work in definite terms and show that it was intended to infallibly save a particular people, namely, those given to him by the Father: Matthew 1:21; Matthew 20:28; Matthew 26:28; John 10:11; John 11:50-53; Acts 20:28; Romans 8:32-34; Ephesians 5:25-27; Hebrews 2:17; Hebrews 3:1; Hebrews 9:15; Hebrews 9:28; Revelation 5:9.

Irresistible Grace (or the Efficacious Call of the Spirit)

Although the general outward call of the gospel can be, and often is, rejected, the special inward call of the Spirit never fails to result in the conversion of those to whom it is made. This special call is not made to all sinners, but is issued to the elect only. The Spirit is in no way dependent upon their help or cooperation for success in his work of bringing them to Christ. It is for this reason that Calvinists speak of the Spirit's call and of God's grace in saving sinners as being "efficacious," "invincible," or "irresistible." The grace which the Holy Spirit extends to the elect cannot be thwarted or refused; it never fails to bring them to true faith in Christ.

The Spirit Saves

Romans 8:14; 1 Corinthians 2:10-13; 1 Corinthians 6:11; 1 Corinthians 12:3; 2 Corinthians 3:6; 2 Corinthians 3:17-18; 1 Peter 1:1-2.

The Spirit Gives New Birth

Deuteronomy 30:6; Ezekiel 11:19; Ezekiel 36:26-27; John 1:12-13; John 3:3-8; John 5:21; 2 Corinthians 5:17-18; Galatians 6:15; Ephesians 2:5; Ephesians 2:10; Colossians 2:13; Titus 3:5; 1 Peter 1:3; 1 Peter 1:23; 1 John 5:4.

The Spirit Reveals the Secrets of God

Matthew 11:25-27; Matthew 13:10-11; Matthew 13:16; Matthew 16:15-17; Luke 8:10; Luke 10:21; John 6:37; John 6:44-45; John 6:64-65; John 10:3-6; John 10:16; John 10:26-29; 1 Corinthians 2:14; Ephesians 1:17-18.

The Spirit Gives Faith and Repentance

Acts 5:31; Acts 11:18; Acts 13:48; Acts 16:14; Acts 18:27; Ephesians 2:8-9; Philippians 1:29; 2 Timothy 2:25-26.

The Spirit Effectually Calls

Romans 1:6-7; Romans 8:30; Romans 9:23-24; 1 Corinthians 1:1-2; 1 Corinthians 1:9; 1 Corinthians 1:23-31; Galatians 1:15-16; Ephesians 4:4; 2 Timothy 1:9; Hebrews 9:15; Jude 1:1; 1 Peter 1:15; 1 Peter 2:9; 1 Peter 5:10; 2 Peter 1:3; Revelation 17:14.

Salvation Given by a Sovereign God

Isaiah 55:11; John 3:27; John 17:2; Romans 9:16; 1 Corinthians 3:6-7; 1 Corinthians 4:7; Philippians 2:12-13; James 1:18; 1 John 5:20.

The Perseverance of the Saints (or the Security of Believers)

The elect are not only redeemed by Christ and renewed by the Spirit, but also kept in faith by the almighty power of God. All those who are spiritually united to Christ through regeneration are eternally secure in him. Nothing can separate them from the eternal and unchangeable love of God. They have been predestined to eternal glory and are therefore assured of heaven.

Isaiah 43:1-3; Isaiah 54:10; Jeremiah 32:40; Matthew 18:12-14; John 3:16; John 3:36; John 5:24; John 6:35-40; John 6:47; John 10:27-30; John 17:11-12; John 17:15; Romans 5:8-10; Romans 8:1; Romans 8:35-39; 1 Corinthians 1:7-9; 1 Corinthians 10:13; 2 Corinthians 4:14; 2 Corinthians 4:17; Ephesians 1:5; Ephesians 1:13-14; Ephesians 4:30; Colossians 3:3-4; 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24; 2 Timothy 4:18; Hebrews 9:12; Hebrews 9:15; Hebrews 10:14; Hebrews 12:28; 1 Peter 1:3-5; 1 John 2:19; 1 John 2:25; 1 John 5:4; 1 John 5:11-13; 1 John 5:20; Jude 1:1; Jude 1:24-25.

Footnotes

(1) From this point onward, unless stated otherwise, the explanations of TULIP and corresponding biblical text arrangements have been adapted from David N. Steele, Curtis C. Thomas, and S. Lance Quinn, The Five Points of Calvinism (Second Edition), P and R Publishing, 2004, pp. 17-71.

(2) Further explanation adapted from James R. White, The Potter's Freedom, Calvary Press Publishing, 2000, pp. 135-151:

A set of three verses is often used as evidence that God wants to save all men without exception, but is unable to do so outside of their freely willing it. The three verses - the Arminian "big three" - are: Matthew 23:37; 1 Timothy 2:4; 2 Peter 3:9.

Matthew 23:37

This passage comes in the midst of the proclamation of judgment upon the leaders of the Jews. Matthew 23 contains the strongest denunciations of the scribes and Pharisees in all of the gospels.

Who, then, is "Jerusalem"? It is assumed by Arminian writers that "Jerusalem" represents individual Jews who are, therefore, capable of resisting the work and will of Christ. But upon what warrant do we leap from "Jerusalem" to "individual Jews"? The context would not lead us to conclude that this is to be taken in a universal sense. Jesus is condemning the Jewish leaders, and it is to them that he refers here. This is clearly seen in that:

1. It is to the leaders that God sent prophets.
2. It was the Jewish leaders who killed the prophets and those sent to them.
3. Jesus speaks of "your children," differentiating those to whom he is speaking from those that the Lord desired to gather together.
4. The context refers to the Jewish leaders, scribes, and Pharisees.

A vitally important point to make here is that the ones the Lord desired to gather are not the ones who were not willing! Jesus speaks to the leaders about their children that they, the leaders, would not allow him to gather. Jesus was not seeking to gather the leaders, but their children. This one consideration alone renders the passage useless for the Arminian seeking to establish freewillism. The children of the leaders would be Jews who were hindered by the Jewish leaders from hearing Christ. The "you would not" then is referring to the same men indicated by the context: The Jewish leaders who were unwilling to allow those under their authority to hear the proclamation of the Christ. This verse, then, is speaking to the same issues raised earlier in Matthew 23:13.

1 Timothy 2:4

The key to this passage, again, is the context: 1 Timothy 2:1-6.

The first appearance of the phrase "all men" comes at the end of 1 Timothy 2:1, and its meaning is unambiguous. Paul is not instructing Timothy to initiate never-ending prayer meetings where the Ephesian phone book would be opened and every single person listed therein would become the object of prayer. The very next phrase of the sentence explains Paul's meaning: "…for kings and all who are in authority." Why would Paul have to given such instructions?

We must remember that the early Christians were a persecuted people, and normally the persecution came from those in positions of power and authority. It is easy to understand why there would have to be apostolic commandments given to pray for the very ones who were using their power and authority to persecute these Christians.

Who are kings and all who are in authority? They are kinds of men, classes of men. Paul often spoke of "all men" in this fashion. For example, in Titus 2:11, when Paul speaks of the grace of God which brings salvation appearing to "all men," he clearly means all kinds of men, for the context, both before and after, speaks of kinds of men. In the previous verses Paul addresses such groups as older men (Titus 2:2), older women (Titus 2:3), younger women (Titus 2:2), older women (Titus 2:3), younger women (Titus 2:4), young men (Titus 2:6), bondslaves (Titus 2:9-10), and rulers and authorities (Titus 3:1). No one would suggest that in fact Paul is speaking of every single older man, older woman, etc.; he speaks of kinds of people within a particular group, that being the fellowship of the church. Likewise, "rulers" and "authorities" are obviously generic classifications that everyone would understand needs to be applied to specific locations in specific times.

The same kind of usage (all kinds of mean being in view) is found elsewhere in Paul, such as Titus 3:2. This should be connected to the fact that in the very commissioning of Paul, this phrase is used in a way that cannot be made universal in scope (Acts 22:15). Of course, Paul would not think that these words meant that he would witness of Christ to every single individual human being on the planet. Instead, he would have surely understood this to mean all kinds and races of men. Likewise, the allegation against Paul was that he preached to all men everywhere against the Jews and the Law and the Temple (Acts 21:28). Paul speaks of kinds of people in other places as well (Galatians 3:28; Colossians 3:11). So it is perfectly consistent with the immediate and broader context of Paul's writings to recognize this use of "all men" in a generic fashion.

Returning to 1 Timothy 2, Paul then states that such prayers for all kinds of men is good and acceptable "in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." If we are consistent with the preceding context we will see "all men" here in the same manner as "all men" of the preceding verses: All kinds of men, whether rulers or kings (yes, God even saves people who used to persecute Christians, a fact Paul knew all too well). But thereis much more reason to understand Paul's statement in this way.

Almost invariably, proponents of Arminianism isolate this passage from the two verses that follow. This must happen of necessity for the questions that can be asked of the non-Reformed position based upon 1 Timothy 2:5-6 are weighty indeed. 1 Timothy 2:5 begins with the word "for," indicating the connection between the statement made in 1 Timothy 2:3-4 and the explanation in 1 Timothy 2:5-6. Why should Christians pray that all men, including kings and rulers, be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth? Because there is only one way of salvation, and without a knowledge of that truth, no man can be saved. Paul says, "…there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all." This immediately takes us into the meat of the discussion of the atonement, but for now just a few points should be made.

First, if one takes "all men" in 1 Timothy 2:4 to mean "all men individually," does it not follow that Christ of necessity must be mediator for all men as well? If one says, "Yes, Christ mediates for every single human being," does it not follow that Christ fails as mediator every times a person negates his work by their all-powerful act of free will? One could hope that no biblical scholar would ever promote such an idea, for anyone familiar with the relationship between atonement, mediation, and intercession in the book of Hebrews knows well that to make such an assertion puts the entire argument of Hebrews 7-10 on its head. For the moment, we simply point out that it is far more consistent with biblical theology to recognize that Christ mediates in behalf of the elect and perfectly saves them than it is to assert that Christ mediates for all (but fails to save all).

The second point is closely related to the first: The ransom that Christ gives in his self-sacrifice is either a saving ransom or a non-saving ransom. If it is actual and really made in behalf of all men, then inevitably all men would be saved. But we again see that it is far more consistent to recognize that the same meaning for "all men" and "all" flows through the entire passage, and when we look at the inarguably clear statements of Scripture regarding the actual intention and result of Christ's cross-work, we will see that there is no other consistent means of interpreting these words in 1 Timothy.

2 Peter 3:9

This is surely the most popular passage cited (almost never with any reference to the context) to "prove" that God could not possibly desire to save a specific people but instead desires to save every single individual person, thereby denying election and predestination.The text seems inarguably clear. But it is always good to see a text in its own context: 2 Peter 3:3-13.
Immediately one sees that unlike such passages as Ephesians 1, Romans 8-9, or John 6, this passage is not speaking about salvation as its topic. The reference to "coming to repentance" in 2 Peter 3:9 is made in passing. The topic is the coming of Christ. In the last days mockers will question the validity of his promise. Peter is explaining the reason why the coming of Christ has been delayed as long as it has. The day of the Lord, he says, will come like a thief, and it will come at God's own time.

But the next thing that stands out upon the reading of the passage is the clear identification of the audience to whom Peter is speaking. When speaking of the mockers he refers to them in the third person as "them." But everywhere else he speaks directly to his audience as the "beloved" and "you." He speaks of how his audience should behave "in holy conduct and godliness," and says that they look for the day of the Lord. He includes himself in this group in 2 Peter 3:13, where "we are looking for a new heaven and a new earth." This is vitally important, for the assumption made by the Arminian is that when 2 Peter 3:9 says the Lord is "patient toward you" that this "you" refers to everyone. Likewise, then, when it says "not wishing for any to perish" but "all to come to repentance," it is assumed that the "any" and "all" refers to anyone at all of the human race. Yet, the context indicates that the audience is quite specific. In any other passage of Scripture the interpreter would realize that we must decide who the "you" refers to and use this to limit the "any" and "all" of 2 Peter 3:9. For some reason, that simple and fundamental necessity is overlooked when this passage is cited.

2 Peter 1:1-3 tells us the specific identity of the audience to whom Peter is writing. Peter writes to a specific group, not to all of mankind. "To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours." This surely limits the context to the saved, for they have received this faith "by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ". There is nothing in 2 Peter 3 that indicates a change in audience, and much to tell us the audience remains exactly the same.

Since this is so, it becomes quite clear that the Arminian is badly misusing this passage by ignoring what Peter is really saying. The patience of the Lord is displayed toward his elect people (the "you" of 2 Peter 3:9). Therefore, the "not wishing any to perish" must be limited to the same group already in view: The elect. In the same way, the "all to come to repentance" must be the very same group. In essence Peter is saying the coming of the Lord has been delayed so that all the elect of God can be gathered in. Any modern Christian lives and knows Christ solely because God's purpose has been to gather in his election down throughthe ages to this present day. There is no reason to expand the context of the passage into a universal proclamation of a desire on God's part that every single person come to repentance. Instead, it is clearly his plan and his will that all the elect come to repentance, and they most assuredly will do so.

Printable Version

Related Resources
The Five Points of Calvinism PDF by R L Dabney
The Five Points of Calvinism by W J Seaton
What the Bible Says About the Doctrines of Grace (eBook) by Nathan Pitchford
The Doctrines of Grace - MP3 Series + Manuscripts  by John Macarthur
What We Believe About the Five Points of Calvinism by Johin Piper
The Doctrines of Grace (MP3 Series) by Dr. Arturo Azurdia III
The Five Points of Calvinism (MP3 Series) by Albert Martin

Humility

"Above all, let us daily strive to copy our Savior's humility. Pride is the oldest and commonest of sins. Humility is the rarest and most beautiful of graces. For humility let us labor. For humility let us pray. Our knowledge may be scanty. Our faith may be weak. Our strength may be small. But if we are disciples of Him who "lived in Nazareth," let us at any rate be humble."

~ J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on Matthew

The foundation of marriage

"For all the noise over defending traditional marriage, this fundamental point is rarely mentioned: God's design for marriage and family starts with a right relationship with Him. Apart from a firm foundation in the Lord, no marriage can achieve what God intends for it."
                      -  John MacArthur

In the beginning

"We can never take God by surprise. We can never anticipate him. He always makes the first move. He is always there 'in the beginning'. Before we existed, God took action. Before we decided to look for God, God had already been looking for us. The Bible isn't about people trying to discover God, but about God reaching out to find us."
             -  John Stott, Basic Christianity

The Bible

"One of the greatest gifts that God gave mankind was the Holy Bible because the Bible is literally God revealing Himself, and communicating Himself to mankind in written word. Anything and everything that we know about God comes from these Holy Scriptures, and they contain the totality of what we need to know about becoming a Christian, and everything that we need to know about living the Christian life."
                - www.alreadyam.com

Trusting God

"How shall we respond to the fact that God is able to and does in fact move in the minds and hearts of people to accomplish His will? Our first response should be one of trust. Our careers and destinies are in His hands not the hands of bosses, commanding officers, professors, coaches, and all other people who, humanly speaking, are in a position to affect our futures. No one can harm you or jeopardize your future apart from the sovereign will of God. Moreover, God is able to and will grant you favor in the eyes of people who are in a position to do you good. You can entrust your future to God."

~ Jerry Bridges, Trusting God: Even When Life Hurts

Apologetics

"We need to help people be aware of the important issues with which they will need to contend. In the area of apologetics, we must give reasons for why we believe. We see so many believers who have only a superficial understanding of Scripture and have no basis for saying why the Christian faith is true and or why he is not a Hindu or a Muslim. Without that awareness of an objective foundation for belief, they will buy into books like the Da Vinci Code and will be much more vulnerable to the tactics of new religious movements like Mormonism or Jehovah Witnesses. Because they are not biblically or theologically founded they can become more easily confused and rattled when they read a book like Richard Dawkins's The God Delusion. They just have not thought deeply about their own faith; so they become swayed by anti or non-Christian perspectives." —Paul Copan (from, Starting Right Where I Am)

Irresistible Grace

"The doctrine of irresistible grace simply recognizes that the Bible teaches God is sovereign and can overcome all resistance when He wills to. What God decrees or determines will come to pass. This truth is seen throughout Scripture. In Daniel 4:35, we see that "He does according to His will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay His hand!" Psalm 115:3 declares, "Our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases." God's grace in salvation is irresistible because when God sets out to fulfill His sovereign purpose, no person or thing can successfully resist Him.

The doctrine of irresistible grace accurately summarizes what the Bible teaches about the nature of saving faith as well as what must happen to overcome man's depraved nature. Since natural man is dead in his trespasses and sins, it stands to reason that he must be regenerated before he can respond to the outward call of the gospel. Until that happens, man will resist the gospel message and the grace of God; however, once he has been "born again" and has a heart that is now inclined toward God, the grace of God will irresistibly draw Him to put his faith in Christ and be saved. These two acts (regeneration and faith) cannot be separated from one another. They are so closely connected that we often cannot distinguish between them. "
                            -  got answers.org

Pelagianism

"Pelagianism is an ancient error built on man's self-righteousness. Though roundly condemned when it began, it's still with us."
-  R C Sproul Jr.

The Word of God

"If we do not humbly accept the Word of God planted in us, which can save us...we will be hardened by it." -Alistair Begg

What Do we drift to?

"People do not drift toward holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayer-lessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated."
- D.A. Carson
A Call to Spiritual Reformation: Priorities from Paul and His Prayers

In But Not Of the World

"It is only as we separate ourselves from the world and walk in the path marked out for us by God that we reach the place where strength is to be found, and, it is only thus that we can enter into fellowship with and learn from Him in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."~ Arthur Pink, "Gleanings in Genesis"

Dependent on God

"We are entirely dependent upon God to come and reveal Himself to us." -Alistair Begg

Sovereignty of God

"It is God who is sovereign, not man. This sovereignty is never limited by human freedom. Rather, human freedom is always limited by God's sovereignty."

~ Craig R. Brown, The Five Dilemmas of Calvinism

Family

"Even in the church, professing believers are shifting away from the biblical models for marriage and family and embracing the indiscriminant openness of the world. Many others attempt to appease all sides through aggressive ambiguity. But that's what happens when you prize relevance over truth, and treat the Bible as nothing more than a 2,000 year-old book.".
                         -  John MacArthur

True Worship

"Worship is not about you and me. Not about "getting our needs met." Not about a performance from the pastor and singer and choir and musicians. Not in the least,
On the contrary, worship is about God."
                                 -  Joe Mckeever

Propitiation

"That word propitiation speaks of an offering made to satisfy God. Christ's death was a satisfaction rendered to God on behalf of those whom He redeemed. "The Lord was pleased to crush Him" (Isaiah 53:10, emphasis added). God the Father saw the travail of His Son's soul, and He was satisfied (v. 11). Christ made propitiation by shedding His blood (Romans 3:25; Hebrews 2:17).

It was God's own wrath against sin, God's own righteousness, and God's own sense of justice that Christ satisfied on the cross. The shedding of His blood was a sin offering rendered to God. His death was not merely a satisfaction of public justice, nor was it a ransom paid to Satan. Neither Satan nor anyone else had any right to claim a ransom from God for sinners. But when Christ ransomed the elect from sin (1 Timothy 2:6), the ransom price was paid to God. Christ died in our place and in our stead—and He received the very same outpouring of divine wrath in all its fury that we deserved for our sin. It was a punishment so severe that a mortal man could spend all eternity in the torments of hell, and still he would not have begun to exhaust the divine wrath that was heaped on Christ at the cross."
                               -  John MacArthur

God is Holy

"It is an essential understanding of God that he is holy, that his nature is holy, that he is infinitely and perfectly just, that he is morally flawless and perfect, that he is perfection.  Everything in him and of him and for him and from him and by him is perfect.  And so whatever he says is just is what justice is."
                                       -  John MacArthur

Sovereignty of God

"It is ignorance of doctrine which is mainly responsible for thousands of professing Christians being captivated by the numerous fallacies of the day. It is because the time has now arrived when the bulk of our churches 'will not endure sound doctrine' (2 Tim. 4:3) that they so readily receive false doctrines. Of course it is true that doctrine, like anything else in Scripture, may be studied from a merely cold intellectual viewpoint, and thus approached, doctrinal teaching and doctrinal study will leave the heart untouched, and will naturally be 'dry' and profitless. But, doctrine properly received, doctrine studied with an exercised heart, will ever lead into a deeper knowledge of God and of the unsearchable riches of Christ."
~ Arthur Pink, "The Sovereignty of God"

Spurgeon for today

"It would make us leap upon our feet in astonishment if we did but understand this thoroughly- the wonderful mystery of the transposition of Christ and the sinner! Let me put it so plainly that everyone can understand: Christ was spotless; sinners were vile. Says Christ, 'My Father, treat me as if I were a sinner. Threat the sinner as if he were Me. Smite as sternly as Though pleases, for I will bear it. Thus the heart of Thy love may overflow with grace, and yet Thy justice be unsullied, for the sinner is no sinner now.' He stands in Christ's stead; and with the Savior's garments on, he is accepted."
C.H Spurgeon- From a sermon delivered July 19, 1857

The new moving picture show - from 1912

"The manager of a successful motion picture house in New England recently said: "Every day I open my picture house I am exercising an influence upon hundreds of homes in the city. The workingman comes here and looks at pictures which show homes much more beautiful than his own; he watches men and women meeting according: to the forms of polite society, the man tipping his hat upon the street, or removing It when he enters the house, or stepping aside that the ladies may pass before him: he becomes an observer of the world of good manners (and then tomorrow as he goes to his loll, where his hands and his feet are occupied but his mind is free to roam, he unconsciously lives over again those scenes which he watched in my playhouse). Soon he thinks of points at which he can Improve his own conduct, of ways in which he can modestly beautify his own home, and before the weeks have passed there is a touch of color or an increase of cleanliness In his tenement due to the unconscious instruction which he received at the motion picture show." - From Harvard Divinity School publication 1912.

Interesting quote from the early days of "talkies" We have come a long way in 100 years, and not in a good way. There are very few movies that viewers can "think of ways they can improver their own conduct." Instead they see violence, profanity, and debauchery.
When our minds are free to roam do we still think of the observance of good manners? What is the "influence of hundreds of homes" now? And these hundreds have increased to thousands and millions of homes. Comments welcome - T. Meiers