Regeneration Precedes Faith

One of the most dramatic moments in my life for the shaping of my theology took place in a seminary classroom. One of my professors went to the blackboard and wrote these words in bold letters: “Regeneration Precedes Faith.”

These words were a shock to my system. I had entered seminary believing that the key work of man to effect rebirth was faith. I thought that we first had to believe in Christ in order to be born again. I use the words in order here for a reason. I was thinking in terms of steps that must be taken in a certain sequence. I had put faith at the beginning. The order looked something like this:

“Faith - rebirth -justification.”

I hadn’t thought that matter through very carefully. Nor had I listened carefully to Jesus’ words to Nicodemus. I assumed that even though I was a sinner, a person born of the flesh and living in the flesh, I still had a little island of righteousness, a tiny deposit of spiritual power left within my soul to enable me to respond to the Gospel on my own. Perhaps I had been confused by the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church. Rome, and many other branches of Christendom, had taught that regeneration is gracious; it cannot happen apart from the help of God.   Continue at R. C. Sproul

10 Reasons Believers are Sovereinly Sealed!

Thank You to airocross.com for this excellent series.

A couple of weeks ago I began a series on the doctrines of grace (Calvinism) in an attempt to systematically show how salvation is a work of God alone and why this must be so.  These articles have been outlined with overwhelming Scriptural evidence revealing the sovereignty of God in His plan of redemption.  The following topics were covered:

1. 10 Reasons Man Needs a Sovereign Savior
2. 10 Reasons God Sovereignly Elects
3. 14 Reasons Christ Sovereignly Redeems (a)
4. 14 Reasons Christ Sovereignly Redeems (b)
5. 10 Reasons the Holy Spirit Sovereignly Draws Men to Salvation

We will now take a look at 10 reasons or evidences proving the security of the born again believer, or “P” of the Calvinistic acronym “TULIP” known as “perseverance (or preservation) of the saints”.  Though a display of God’s love, grace, mercy, and compassion for His people, this doctrine is controversial between Arminians, Calvinists, and folks supposedly in between.

Some believe that Christians must hold on to God to maintain their salvation.  While many who hold to this view would deny they have to work to keep their salvation, this is indeed what this view posits.  It is no different than the view of the Roman Catholic Church that we must remain in the grace of God by our good works (see Romans 9:6).

Others believe that one can walk away from the faith by apostatizing, or by renouncing the essentials of the faith or faith altogether.  This view has a couple of distinctions.  On the one hand, some may say one can lose their salvation by renouncing the faith.  Yet on the other hand, others believe if one renounced their faith they would still be saved because “once saved always saved”.  Neither view, however, is biblical.    Continue at Bob Banks

A Place for Weakness

One of the things I appreciate about Michael Horton is that he writes both for the academy and also the congregation. It’s a mark of a good theologian to do both well. Horton is a professor of apologetics and theology at Westminster Seminary California. Some of his outstanding titles include Putting Amazing Back Into Grace, People and Place, We Believe, and A Better Way. He is also the publisher of the indispensible monthly journal Modern Reformation and host of the White Horse Inn radio program.

This relatively slim volume was originally published with the title Too Good to Be True: Finding Hope in a World of Hype, which I rather liked. Zondervan has released it with a new title and a new cover, and I am glad that new attention is being given to this outstanding book.

A Place for Weakness is driven along by an unrelenting but refreshing realism. There are no false promises here. There are no clichés or newly discovered secrets for “living in victory.” Horton helps us understand suffering as unromantic but deeply purposeful. In other words, we do not have to pretend that suffering does not hurt and cause dismay. At the same time, we are confidently pointed to the mysterious comfort that everything that comes our way passes through the hands of our good and sovereign God. “The unity of God’s sovereignty and goodness that will be finally disclosed on the last day has already dawned decisively in the work of Christ” (45).    Keep Reading...

Horton defines “the bottom line of this book” in this way:

The gospel is good news for losers, that in fact we are all losers if we measure ourselves by God’s interpretation of reality rather than our own. The demand for glory, power, comfort, autonomy, health, and wealth creates a vicious cycle of craving and disillusionment. It even creates its own industry of therapists and exercise, style, and self-esteem gurus—and churches—to massage the egos wounded by this hedonism. When crisis hits, the soul is too effete to respond appropriately. We become prisoners of our own felt needs, which were inculcated in us in the first place by the very marketplace that promises a “fix.” We become victims of our own shallow hopes. We are too easily disappointed because we are too easily persuaded that the marketplace always has something that can make us happy (26).

The Futility of Control and Your Reason to Rest

As a pastor, I learned the hard way that my ministry was either propelled by hope-motivating rest in God’s sovereignty or fear-inducing belief that success would be the result of me controlling everything. In my early morning waking moments, in those quiet moments in the car or as my body gave way to sleep, I would pepper myself with a long list of “what ifs” and “if onlys.” This habit never produced greater courage or rest. It only tempted me to wonder if I had what it takes and pushed me to try to control things that I could not control. But over and over again in grace my heavenly Father came to me through his Word and the ministry of others and remind me of the only place rest could be found.

I did the same thing again and again when our children resisted our instruction and correction. I did it again and again when they debated a command or questioned our plans. I did it again and again when they opposed our authority and quested for self-rule. I did it again and again for two good reasons.

To begin with, my wife and I brought children into this world who thought they didn’t need us! Each of them at some point fell into believing they were far more knowledgeable and capable than they really were. They all assumed that their intentions were noble and their plans sound. They all thought they were capable of determining what was best, even when they lacked important information and experience. They simply felt they were in possession of a better way.   Keep Reading...

All Always Means "ALL", Right?

Question: I understand the following to be a brief summary of Jesus’ words regarding God’s Sovereign purpose in election from John 6:35-45: Unless it is granted, no one will come to Christ. All to whom it is granted will come to Christ, and all of these will be raised up to eternal life on the last day. So, this being the case, can you please explain to me the meaning of John 12:32, where Jesus said: “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.”?

 

Answer: What I will say here may surprise you, but the word “all” has a number of different meanings in the Bible. We tend to assume that when Jesus speaks of drawing “all men” that He is referring to every last person on the planet. Well, that may or may not be true, but it is in the CONTEXT where we find the phrase that tells us if this assumption is correct or misplaced. 

Even today we use the words “all” or “every” in many different ways. When a school teacher asks the people in his classroom, “Are we all here?” or “is everyone listening?” we understand he is not talking about every one of the 6.5 billion plus folk on the planet, but all the students who have signed up for the class. Context determines the proper interpretation or meaning of words. When the word “all” is used, it is used within a context. 

In this illustration, the “all” had a context of the school classroom, which did not include “all” the hockey players in Iceland, “all” the dentists in Denmark, or “all” the carpet layers in Atlanta, Georgia. To rip the word “all” out of its setting and say that the teacher was referring to all people everywhere, would be to totally misunderstand and misinterpret how the word was being used. Again, it is context that determines correct interpretation.    Keep Reading...