Saturday, January 30, 2010

ONLY TO DIVINE MAJESTY

More by Luther on free will...

""free-will" is obviously a term applicable only to Divine Majesty; for only He can do, and does (as the Psalmist sings) "whatever he wills in heaven and earth" [Psalms135:6]. If "free-will" is ascribed to men, it is ascribed with no more propriety than divinity itself would be - and no blasphemy... See More could exceed that! So it befits theologians to refrain from using the term when they want to speak of human ability, and to leave it to be applied to God only."

--Martin Luther

WHY MOPE

Maybe lack of motivation stems from an absence of humility and thankfulness. If you gave me a million dollars I'd jump, shout, hollar, "wow this is great, this is too much." But if God gets me out of bed, I merely whine, "ho-hum, nothing to do" Do I deserve the health to walk and live? Life is more important than a million dollars, and God sustains that each day. So why mope???

Morgan State Univ. Choir - Come Thou Fount Of Every Blessing

Morgan State Choir "The Lord Be Praised"

Friday, January 29, 2010

ONLY IF

Apart from Christ, we are dead in sin (Eph. 2:1) and wholly disposed to hate God. We only want darkness, and so we freely choose to reject Him. We freely choose to love and to serve Jesus only if the Spirit changes our hearts (John 3:1-8). Otherwise we remain lost.

- Tabletalk, Feb 23, 2007

EARLY CHURCH

"The early church was married to poverty, prisons and persecutions. Today, the church is married to prosperity, personality, and popularity."

- Leonard Ravenhill

I am not sure that Ravenhill held to Reformed theology, but this particular quote is true nonetheless.

DRIVEN MAD

"If any man could see his own heart as it is by nature, he would be driven mad: the sight of our disease is not to be born unless we also see the remedy."

~CH Spurgeon.

The remedy is not man himself but Christ Alone. from Shawn Waugh

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

QUICKENS

"Christ quickens none but the dead. Why do not the papists attain to this grace of justification? They never see themselves wholly dead, but join some life to the natural estate of man. Therefore Christ quickens them not."

- Richard Sibbes

ALL THINGS

"Has God decreed all things that come to pass? Then there is nothing that falls out by chance, nor are we to ascribe what we meet with either to good or ill luck and fortune. There are many events in the world which men look upon as mere accidents, yet all these come by the counsel and appointment of Heaven."

-Thomas Boston

GIVES YOU

"I frequently hear persons exhorted to give their hearts to Christ...But that is not the Gospel. Salvation comes from something that Christ gives you, not something that you give to Christ."

~Charles Spurgeon

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

I DID.

Puzzling. How were you born again?

God told me to repent. I did.
God told me to believe. I did.
God told me to be baptized. I did.
God told me to trust Jesus. I did.
God told me to confess my sins. I did.
God told me to accept his offer. I did.

How were you born again? Because of what I did.

Pieces all fit together: Works Salvation.

Does 2 Peter 3:9 Make God Schizophrenic?

WHOSOEVER

Whosever is sinless needs not a redeemer, says nothing to man's ability to be sinless. Whosoever is in hell is hurting, it says nothing more than describe the results; Believers do not perish, that is the point, jew or gentile. Can dead men believe on their own?

Some hide behind this word, "Whosoever"; and I fully agree, "whosover" bears X, gains Z. However, the term says nothing about who ever can bear X. Whosoever gets pregnant gains weight, this does not indicate that men can get pregnant. So the usage in the Bible does not entail man's ability.
For Arminians, I would assume, that Noah's Message in and Peter's Message at Pentecost, are fundamentally the same in the fact that the Holy Spirit is making offers to both generations, it just so turns out more men say yes during Peter's message.

LIGHT AND HEAT

We are light to the world, but yet to a blind world. So we shine for Him, not for them. They may be warmed by the light, and benefit in that regard, yet clueless on whom we are shining towards. Truly light (a candle) can dispel the darkness of a room, but never has darkness dispelled the light of the candle. Our light cannot be put out by the scoffing of the dark.

EYE UPWARD AND INWARD

"He who would walk aright must have one eye upward to Jesus Christ, and another inward to the corruption of his own nature. It is not enough that we look about us, we must also look within us."

-Thomas Boston-

Monday, January 25, 2010

LITTLE ENOUGH

When God wants to do His great works He trains someone to be quiet enough and little enough, then He uses that person."

--J. Hudson Taylor

OUT OF NOTHING

"God creates out of nothing. Therefore, until a man is nothing, God can make nothing out of him."

--Martin Luther

NOT IN SELF

"God is not looking for brilliant men, is not depending upon eloquent men, is not shut up to the use of talented men in sending His gospel out into the world. God is looking for broken men who have judged themselves in light of the cross of Christ. When He wants anything done, He takes up men who have come to the end of themselves, whose confidence is not in themselves, but in God."

--H. A. Ironside

Sunday, January 24, 2010

If God Left Us (Thomas Watson)

CLASSIC OWEN

"The Father imposed His wrath due unto, and the Son underwent punishment for, either: 1. All the sins of all men. 2. All the sins of some men. 3. Some of the sins of some men. In which case it may be said: a. That if the last be true, all men have some sins to answer for, and so none are saved. b. That if the second be true, then Christ, in their stead suffered for all the sins of all the elect in the whole world, and this is the truth. c. But if the first be the case, why are not all men free from the punishment due unto their sins? You answer, Because of unbelief. I ask, Is this unbelief a sin, or is it not? If it be, then Christ suffered the punishment due unto it, or He did not. If He did, why must that hinder them more than their other sins for which He died? If He did not, He did not die for all their sins!"

- John Owen

Saturday, January 23, 2010

NO FEAR OF GOD

Romans 3:9-18 is not merely a description of those without the OT and those without a prophet sent from God to explain things in voice and text and time; but even of the Jews with a text, prophet, voice, and time; Even so these things were true of their mind and heart, and the fruit of their decisions:

Romans 3:Romans 3:9-18 (ESV)
What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under the power of sin, [10] as it is written:
"None is righteous, no, not one;
[11] no one understands;
no one seeks for God.
[12] All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
no one does good,
not even one."
[13] "Their throat is an open grave;
they use their tongues to deceive."
"The venom of asps is under their lips."
[14] "Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness."
[15] "Their feet are swift to shed blood;
[16] in their paths are ruin and misery,
[17] and the way of peace they have not known."
[18] "There is no fear of God before their eyes."

Jesus Christ's Limited Atonement?

WHY RAINBOWS

The question is not "Why Haiti?" the question is "Why Rainbows?" Gen 8:21, Gen 9:12-17;

Friday, January 22, 2010

NO BASIS

God made man upright the first time by His own power. Adam has no basis to think his own decision was the basis of his standing. God makes the sheep new creations the second time by His own power. Sinners have no basis to think their own decision was the basis of their new standing, [rather, so much the less (basis).]

GARMENTS OF SKIN

Gen 3:21 And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.

What did Adam do to deserve this skin covering? Some good work? Some response to an offer? Make a Decision?

RAINBOW

Gen 8:21 And when the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma, the LORD said in his heart, "I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done. //

What did men do to deserve this mercy of continued life? Make a Decision? Accept an offer? Do a Good work?

CAIN

Gen 4:15 Then the LORD said to him, "Not so! If anyone kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold." And the LORD put a mark on Cain, lest any who found him should attack him. // What did murderous Cain do to deserve this protection from God??? Some good works??? Some response to an offer of God???

NO HELP NEEDED

If man has a free-will, then he should not need ANY help from the Holy Spirit, not regeneration, not illumination, not a divinely transmitted offer, and not even a divinely inspired book.

LINE OF GLORY

The focus is not on the object of grace, but the Author of Grace, and if the Author has reflected His Glory from Himself, to an object, and back to Himself, then it is fitting to follow that line of glory from beginning to finish;

EVIDENCE OF EQUAL

The Arminian cannot say God is trying "equally" to each individual to elicit their faith in Jesus. This would mean each individual would "equally" get the 3 years of visual, physical exposure to Jesus just like Thomas, and then also an evening to see the nail prints in his wrist, like Doubting Thomas was graced with.

Explain what Joshua showed the gentiles in the conquest that is equal to the effort of Jesus to Thomas;; If you come up with a scenario at all, then even so, you have killed evangelism, because God has already assured equal effort and any lack on our part cannot undermine that real fair balance to all 6 billion plus (on top of previous generations.)

Thursday, January 21, 2010

God saves whom He will, when He will, and where He will. I feel persuaded that I shall never fathom the depths of my own natural depravity–nor climb to the tops of the mountains of God’s eternal love. I feel constrained day by day to fall flat down upon His promises, and leave my soul in Jesus’ safe keeping.

~.C.H. Spurgeon

IRRELEVANT

6900 languages spoken on planet Earth; 2393 languages have no Bible translated into their language;;

Question for those rejecting Calvinism: Overall is it not irrelevant since Man's free-will cannot be hampered by the fact, since God is ensuring to try equally to each individual to save them and make them an offer?

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

MAKES YOU DIFFER

The only thing that makes you differ (Octavius Winslow, "Jesus, Full of Grace") "But by the grace of God I am what I am." 1 Cor. 15:10 Christian! the only thing that makes you differ from the vilest being that pollutes the earth, or from the darkest fiend that gnaws his chains in hell, is the free grace of God!

Faith is a Gift! (Jim McClarty)

FALSE PREMISE

Andrea Pia Yates (born July 2, 1964) a former Houston, Texas resident, is known for killing her five young children on June 20, 2001 by drowning them in the bathtub in her house.[1]--- God flooded the world in Noah's day; It must be safe to say either Yates loved her children, or else God is also insane. Neither is true, because the premise is false.

POINTLESS

But it is pointless to claim and hold fast to the promises of God as given in his Word, if they are made by One who is in fact not sovereign, and therefore not sure to keep them, being bound by the free-will man has been given, which God will never invade. No!...we claim them because their Author is our sovereign Lord himself.

-- Cheeseman/Gardner/Sadgrove/Wright.

Saturday, January 16, 2010

G96 adokimos

G96 ἀδόκιμος adokimos (ad-ok'-ee-mos) adj.
1. unapproved, i.e. rejected
2. (by implication) worthless
{literally or morally}
[from G1 (as a negative particle) and G1384]... See More
KJV: castaway, rejected, reprobate

Occurs at least 7x in the bible, and the concept is taught more than the specific word usage.

Jeremiah 6:30 Reprobate silver shall men call them, because the LORD hath rejected them.

Romans 1:28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;

2 Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?

2 Corinthians 13:6 But I trust that ye shall know that we are not reprobates.

2 Corinthians 13:7 Now I pray to God that ye do no evil; not that we should appear approved, but that ye should do that which is honest, though we be as reprobates.

2 Timothy 3:8 Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith.

Titus 1:16 They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.

World Watch North Korea Trailer

HIS JOY

"Our joy in Him may be a fluctuating thing: His joy in us knows no change."

~Hudson Taylor

Friday, January 15, 2010

GREATEST GOOD

Look as our greatest good comes through the sufferings of Christ, so God's greatest glory that He hath from His saints comes through their sufferings.

-- Thomas Brooks.

from: APuritan At Heart

ENDURE; ONLY GOD;

During a time of discouragement due to not seeing anyone converted despite best efforts Jim Elliot says this, "It would be easy to slip into the business world and just be a good guy with a lot of religion rather than a producing son of God in enemy territory."

We all face the same type of discouragements if we truly seek to be used of God in bringing souls to Christ. Let us take heart that men of God in the past have face the same discouragements - but did not give into them. They kept praying and pressing in. Some of them (like Jim Elliot) did not see the fruit in their own lifetime. "Except a corn of wheat fall into the earth and die ..."

I believe God allows us to face these discouragements to make us realize that we cannot accomplish anything in our own strength. We must be brought to an end of ourselves (and this is usually a painful process), so that we can begin to experience the life and power of the Holy Spirit flowing through us bringing deliverance to the captives, sight to the blind, healing to the brokenhearted and LIFE to those who are DEAD in trespasses and sins.

Preaching the gospel requires the same sort of supernatural power attending to the spoken word as what was evident when Jesus said "Lazerus come forth!" Our commission is to raise the dead. That is why Paul said "our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction". ONLY GOD can accomplish this!

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Passion, Truth, Love.

Passion on a topic is not an attempt to be rude, but an attempt to emphasize the importance of the matter. Yet hopefully in sharing my view, I can highlight the importance of the matter with passion...yet without being rude. As the Bible says, Speak the truth in love, and..... whatever we do, do heartily.

TWO ISSUSES

Jesus did not die for fallen angels. Fallen angels do not have an offer of redemption. They have no choice to be redeemed. Jesus did not die for the goats. Goats do not have an offer of redemption. They have no choice to be redeemed. God can command Holiness and Honor to Jesus of any creature regardless if redemption is provided or not.

The elect angels were never put in the garden with an option of things they could eat and a command of what they could not to eat; Adam was never placed in the realm of elect angels and kept from ever being in a Garden thus to avoid the cirucmstance of having a choice of the allowed food and forbidden fruit-- as granted to the elect angels.

God can command Holiness and Honor to Jesus of every creature, even if that creature has not been provided a Redeemer. God's right to command Holiness and Honor to Jesus of every creature is not derived from first providing a Redeemer to that creature, but is derived from being Holy God.

God is Free

God is free to kill and not be a sinner, for it is righteous judgment. Man is not free to kill and be declared not a sinner, for man does not know righteous judgment. If man had a free-will he could kill and not be a sinner, just as God has a free-will and can kill any time he wants.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Titus 3

Titus 3:10 As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, 11 knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.

False Converts

I am more afraid of a false revival, than I'm afraid of no revival. False Gospel, False Evangelists, False Converts, False Joy. I'm more afraid of that, than I am of no revival. We'd be better off with no revival a' tall, than the wrong kind. And you had better have your eyes open for that because some of it will seem so genuine as to decieve the very elect if they could. Church leaders will endorse it, and other good people were not there to oppose it, for fear they'll be fighting against God. And the farther we get from reality the more we go even in the Church into make-believe, that's why drama will flourish. The more the church goes into drama the farther away she gets from real religion. Because not having the real thing she specializes on pretending. That's why some of 'em have become glorified night-clubs. And others they worship the great god enterntainment. And how frantically we plunge in all directions today trying popularize the gospel.

Vance Havner

Atonement post 1.13

Jesus justifies, the Holy Spirit regenerates, Jesus atones, Jesus forgives, Jesus resurrects, Jesus judges. The timing and application of those things are various, but still selective in purpose and recipients. Jesus died not for sinners, but for the Father. Jesus did not satisfy the will of sinners, but the will of the Father. Now either Jesus satisfied the will of the Father or He didjn't. If he didn't, then what must we add to make the difference

Jesus died in place of the sheep, even though the sheep are not all born yet. Atonement is not needed for the righteous, but for the unrighteous. So the sheep are unrighteous and dead in trepasses and sins, and thus need atonement, and do recieve atonement from Christ which is presented to the Father. The Father accepts the atoning work of Christ for the Sheep because of Christ's identity, merits, and blood, and decision, not because of man's decision.

The blood on the door post was effective without the response of the infant. And there was no message about a lamb or blood ever given to the Egyptians or slaves across the globe. Moses doesn't deserve a burning bush, yet Pharaoh is not given one. Saul doesn't deserve a blinding light, yet Pilate is not given one. Doubting Thomas does not deserve the nail scarred wrist, yet Herod is not given them. The gloomy on the Emmaus Road did not deserve a meal with the resurrected God-Man, yet Felix is not given one. Isaac did not deserve to be the son of Abraham, yet Goliath was not Abraham's child.

Exodus Atonement

Exodus 29:37 Seven days thou shalt make an atonement for the altar, and sanctify it; and it shall be an altar most holy: whatsoever toucheth the altar shall be holy.

Don't "try" to atone, atone.
Don't "intend" to atone, atone.
Don't make atonement "possible", atone.... See More
Don't defer the atonement's effect on the decision, response of the altar, atone.
The altar was atoned, not by the choice of the altar, but by the work of the Priest, the sheep are not atoned by the choice of the sheep, but by the work of THE High Priest.

Rom 5:11 And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.

It can be clearly shown that the "we" in Romans 5, is only the saints, not all mankind.

Will God accept "I tried to Repent, I tried to obey, I intended to Repent, I intended to obey, I intended to believe." Nor will Jesus say, "I tried to save all, I intended to save all" Nor will the Holy Spirit say, "I tried to regenerate all, I intended to regenerate all."

Redemption

Holding to Particular Redemption, or Definite Atonement, I will stop using the characterization of another positon as "General Atonement" but rather from hence forth "Universal Atonement". Either Christ Atoned or He did not. Since Christ did Atone, it must be either Universal or Particular.

IRONY OF JUDGING

It seems maybe you are continually judging him for juding someone else, have you considered stop judging him. Everytime you bring it up to constantly tell him to stop, is everytime you are judging him for judging someone else; If you can repeatedly tell him to stop judging since it is a sin, then he can repeatedly tell someon to stop fornicating since it is a sin.

Monday, January 11, 2010

NEITHER NOR

"But the gospel is neither moralism nor relativism and so it is equally offensive to the moral and the irreligious. So Christ calls us to repent of both our good and bad works, for we have no righteousness of our own."

- John Hendryx

GOOD CONFLICT

"Avoiding conflict is not always the right thing. Sometimes it is downright sinful. Particularly in times like these, when almost no error is deemed too serious to be excluded from the evangelical conversation, and while the Lord’s flock is being infiltrated by wolves dressed like prophets, declaring visions of peace w...hen there is no peace (Ezekiel 13:16)."...Even the kindest, gentlest shepherd sometimes needs to throw rocks at the wolves who come in sheep’s clothing."

- John MacArthur

The God Centered Gospel vs. a Man Centered Gospel

Sunday, January 10, 2010

NONSENSE

"An honest belief in the sovereignty of God in salvation would bring an end to a lot of the nonsense that is going on in the church."

—John MacArthur

Saturday, January 9, 2010

CERTAIN

A person is upset that I am so certain about my theology, yet at the same time is himself so certain about theology being so uncertain. Is it not a double standard that he grants himself certainity in asserting everything is uncertain, but then certainly denies me the right to be certain that some things are certain.

TAKE NOTE

It seems that Jesus brings about events in our lives that will reveal our insufficiency so that we might find Him. For as long as we pridefully think all we can help ourselves He remains hidden. But take note, it is by the grace of God we are what we are, which means that even the very humility needed to recognize the truth and excellency of Jesus does not come naturally. It is a gift of grace.

John Hendryx

Friday, January 8, 2010

HIGHER PURPOSE

"His saving of sinners is not an end in itself, for God would have been no loser had every one of them eternally perished. No, His saving of sinners is but a means unto an end—"to the praise of the glory of His grace!" (Eph. 1:6)."

~ A.W. Pink

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Proverbs for the Week

Proverbs 17: 10 ​​​​​​​​A rebuke goes deeper into a man of understanding than a hundred blows into a fool.

Proverbs 26: 16 ​​​​​​​​The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who can answer sensibly.

God Predestined

God predestined the fall, and though, as Supreme Ruler, he executes his plan even by means of sin; nevertheless, he remains holy and righteous; of his own accord man falls and sins: the guilt is his alone. “Man falls according to the appointment of divine providence, but he falls by his own fault.”

-Herman Blavinck

God may and God does

So then, God may reprobate, may suffer the reprobate to sin, may fore-determine his infallible damnation, through the pro-consideration of him in sin, and may also forbear to work that effectual work in his soul that would infallibly bring him out of this condition, and yet neither be the author, contriver, nor means of man’s sin and misery.

-John Bunyan

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

BE READY

When you have overcome one temptation, you must be ready to enter the lists with another. As distrust, in some sense, is the mother of safety, so security is the gate of danger. A man had need to fear this most of all, that he fears not at all. --

-Thomas Brooks


(source: Covenanted Reformation on FB)

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

ATONED ONCE AND FOR EVER

"If God has laid your sins upon the Son of His love, you may rest assured that He will never lay them a second time upon you; since, if Christ has borne them and atoned for them to Divine justice, they never again can be found."

- Octavius Winslow

Monday, January 4, 2010

Nothing

Quoting Aashik Rao:

To evolutionists, I say: You are all gigantic blobs of carbon and oxygen. Your words are random vibrations produced by a random vocal chord. Your atheist manifestos, are random movements of your randomly made hands. Your scientific observation is just the random movement of chemicals through random synapses into a random brain. Sure, you can say you believe in evolution - but that means nothing. Belief is random too.

Sunday, January 3, 2010

A Denial

"Anything which claims to be Christianity without having Christ at the beginning and the center and the end is a denial of Christianity, call it what you will."

Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Saturday, January 2, 2010

RELYING ON SELF

In particular, the denial of free will was to Luther the foundation of the Biblical doctrine of grace, and a hearty endorsement of that denial was the first step for anyone who would understand the Gospel and come to faith in God. The man who has not yet practically and experimentally learned the bondage of his will in sin has not yet comprehended any part of the Gospel" (44-45,).

"Justification by faith only is a truth that needs interpretation. The principle of sola fide [by faith alone] is not rightly understood till it is seen as anchored in the broader principle of sola gratia [by grace alone]; . . for to rely on one’s self for faith is not different in principle from relying on one’s self for works" (59,).

"[John] the Baptist's word means that man can receive nothing unless given him from above; so that free-will is nothing!" Martin Luther,

Martin Luther, Bondage of the Will

OVERTHROW

“To say that we are able by our own efforts to think good thoughts or give God spiritual obedience before we are spiritually regenerate is to overthrow the gospel and the faith of the universal church in all ages.”

- John Owen