The Extent of God’s Love

The Extent of God’s Love

Unconditional Election and the Misnomer of “Free Will”

This past week I preached on the topic of God's Unconditional Election.  I know that topics such as this can really get the brain juices flowing (along with emotions as well).  My desire is not to be controversial, but biblical; not antagonizing but affirming of the truth of Scripture.

As the Scottish engineer and inventor, William Symington once noted, “Our object should not be to have scripture on our side but to be on the side of scripture; and however dear any sentiment may have become by being long entertained, so soon as it is seen to be contrary to the Bible, we must be prepared to abandon it without hesitation.”  

When it comes to the "reason" or "reasons" as to why God chose anyone, we must appeal to Scripture and thus the revelation of God's own heart rather than to our our forms of human logic; logic that has been adversely affected by the Fall.  As a summary follow up to this past week's message, I submit to you the words of S. Lewis Johnson, beloved pastor of Believers Chapel of Dallas through the 1960's to the 1990's.  

Be a Berean (Acts 17) and see whether these things be so. As S. Lewis Johnson wrote:

What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be! For He says to Moses, “I WILL HAVE MERCY ON WHOM I HAVE MERCY, AND I WILL HAVE COMPASSION ON WHOM I HAVE COMPASSION.” So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy"  (Romans 9:14-16).

God is not responsible for humanity's predicament. Human beings, because of the disobedience in the garden of Eden, are responsible for their condition in sin, disobedience, and coming judgment. Further, it is important to remember that God does exercise mercy with absolute freedom. Therefore, it is not unjust for him to do so, for God is not unjust. In fact, whatever he does is right. God himself is the standard of right and wrong. Election and reprobation are both divine prerogatives.

Since his audience recognized the authority of Scripture, Paul turned to the Word of God for evidence of the truth of his message. He cites the words that God spoke to Moses in Exodus 33:19, "I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion" (cf. v. 15). Even though Israel had failed abysmally before Yahweh, he nevertheless acted in mercy toward them, and he acts in mercy sovereignly.

Thus, the apostle concludes, "It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy" (cf. v. 16). If ever a text indicated the unscriptural nature of "free will," this one does. "It is not of him that wills," the apostle says in the original Greek. The doctrine of free will—that it is in the power of a man to turn to God by himself—is contrary to the grace of God. Salvation becomes, then, the work of God and the work of man, and the purity of the grace of God is compromised. Salvation is only of the Lord.

Man is unable to come to God of and by himself. Jesus put it as strongly as anyone in Scripture: "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day" (John 6:44). We are unable to make a decision of the will for God and salvation until God has first worked in our wills to make us willing. Salvation is first of his willing (cf. James 1:18), and only then, of our response of faith.

— S. Lewis Johnson, Discovering Romans: Spiritual Revival for the Soul, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2014), 158.

 

The Three-fold Task of the Preacher

The simple, straight-forward, three-fold task of the preacher...

1 Timothy 4:13

Until I come, give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching.

Thus, the preacher is to...

• READ the Word ("public reading of the Scripture" - communication of  the Gospel) 

• DECLARE the Word ("exhortation" - call to godliness effected and produced by the Gospel)

• EXPLAIN the Word ("teaching/doctrine" - clear exposition and explanation of the Gospel)

 This is what is meant by "Expository Preaching"

Free Will - the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

This past Sunday, April 29, we spoke during our second hour concerning the issue of the “free will” of man. This discussion was not recorded and was handled more as a spontaneous explanation as opposed to a well-delineated lesson. I had prepared to share some simple definitions and thoughts and I share them here now for your reflection and edification.

At its core, the term “free will”, when used by theologians who embrace it, means that a person is fully able to perform some other action in place of the one that is actually done, and this is not predetermined by any prior circumstances, desires or even affections. In other words, a person has to be “free” to choose against his own nature, desires and inclinations, uninfluenced by anything in himself or even outside himself. This presents both a logical absurdity, for I may will to fly like a bird, wanting to do something other then simply walk, but since it is not in my nature to do so, as soon as I jump of the roof and flap my arms, I am going to come down with a crash. It is also contrary to the teaching of the word of God.

The only way in which a person can claim to have free will is be redefining what is meant by the choosing of good or evil. Since the bible teaches that no on does does (Romans 3:10) and it is impossible for a person to go against this nature (Jeremiah 13:23), humanity and even some Christians specifically, must redefine what is meant by good.

Definitions

Good, humanly speaking, is anything that is not harmful or hurtful and is relatively helpful to someone.

Evil, from a human perspective - is defined as anything hurtful, harmful and not helpful to another person.

However, such a definition of “good” does not live up to God's standards.

Good, from God's perspective, is anything done by the power of God for the glory of God. Such a definition of good leaves out any human good that seeks to serve a neighbor if that good is not done in the power of God for the glory of God, but is merely for the benefit of the other person or perhaps for the accolades that come as a result.

Essentially, humanity defines good as anything that is less evil than those things which are deemed clearly evil. Thus, the philanthropist is seen as good when he gives his money to a worthy cause, even though he has no desire to do it for the glory of God, which, by definition, is an evil act. Adolf Hitler is seen as bad because of all the harm he did to millions of people.

By way of example concerning the human condition as bound by sin, prison guards on Alcatraz knew that every one of their prisoners were “bad” and evil people for the crimes they had committed. Yet, some of those men were “good” in comparison to others and were allowed certainly privileges that other bad prisoners did not get. This is humanity's condition. We are all condemned as criminals, we are all evil, just some express that evil more than others, making some of the others look “relatively” good.

Thus the gospel is more glorious as God graciously transforms a person who is by nature “bad and evil” and grants them the true good and righteousness of Christ. It is not our own righteousness, but a granted, righteousness of Christ. Then, being no longer slaves to sin; no longer bound to have each one of our actions tainted by sin, we become slaves of righteousness and, by God grace, have a proper motivation to do thing by the power of God to the glory of God.

Romans 6:15-18; 20-23

15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be! 16 Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, 18 and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.

20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 Therefore what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death. 22 But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Affirmation of Faith for Sunday, January 15, 2012

We believe that by his obedience and death, Christ fully paid the debt of all those who are justified. He endured in their place the penalty they deserved. By this sacrifice of himself in his bloodshed on the cross, he legitimately, really, and fully satisfied God's justice on their behalf. Yet their justification is based entirely on free grace, because he was given by the Father for them, and his obedience and satisfaction were accepted in their place. These things were done freely, not because of anything in them, so that both the exact justice and the rich grace of God would be glorified in the justification of sinners. (11.3)

Christianity is Discipleship

If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, 

and take up his cross daily and follow Me. (Luke 9:23)

There can be no doubt from reading the New Testament that definition of Christianity is "discipleship" - a submitting to and following after Jesus Christ as Lord.  While we will all struggle with following Jesus perfectly due to our sin nature, the genuine desire and overall characteristic of the Christian life is a seeking and striving to be like Jesus.  Any profession of being a Christian without an ongoing practice of being a Christian is deficient mutation of genuine, biblical Christianity.

James M. Boice articulated this well when he wrote:

There is a fatal defect in the life of Christ’s church in the twentieth century: a lack of true discipleship. Discipleship means forsaking everything to follow Christ. But for many of today’s supposed Christians—perhaps the majority—it is the case that while there is much talk about Christ and even much furious activity, there is actually very little following of Christ Himself. And that means in some circles there is very little genuine Christianity. Many who fervently call Him ‘Lord, Lord’ are not Christians (Matthew 7:21)...There are several reasons that the situation I have described is common in today’s church. The first is a defective theology that has crept over us like a deadening fog. This theology separates faith from discipleship and grace from obedience. It teaches that Jesus can be received as one’s Savior without being received as one’s Lord...Discipleship in not a supposed second step in Christianity, as if one first became a believer in Jesus and then, if he chooses, a disciple. From the beginning, discipleship is involved in what it means to be a Christian....Is ‘faith’ minus commitment a true biblical faith?...If faith without works is dead—how much truer is it that faith without commitment is dead...True faith involves these elements: knowledge...heart response...and commitment, without which ‘faith’ is no different from the assent of the demons who ‘believe...and shudder’ (James 2:19) (James Montgomery Boice, Christ’s Call to Discipleship (Chicago: Moody, 1986), pp. 13, 14, 16, 21).

The Word of God teaches us that Christianity is discipleship, a learning and following the precepts and practices of our Lord Jesus Christ.  May we apply the great desire of the Psalmist who wrote in Psalm 119:34-38:

34 Give me understanding, that I may observe Your law And keep it with all my heart. 35 Make me walk in the path of Your commandments, For I delight in it. 36 Incline my heart to Your testimonies And not to dishonest gain. 37 Turn away my eyes from looking at vanity, And revive me in Your ways. 38 Establish Your word to Your servant, As that which produces reverence for You.

Blessings!

Ed

A Unique Definition for Man's Sinful Condtion

Here is a unique definition for man's radical depravity and therefore his need for the grace of God to mend him:

...and Heaven have mercy on us all - Presbyterians and Pagans alike - for we are all dreadfully cracked about the head and desperately in need of mending.

Herman Melville Moby Dick

Jeremiah 17:9
The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?

Ezekiel 36:26-27
Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.  I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances. 

Thank You, Lord for saving my soul from my own "dreadfully cracked" condition!

SDG

Glory to God in the Highest - a praise of salvation!

As a Christmas present, my mother-in-law gave me a book of Spurgeon Sermons. The first series of sermons were, in fact, Christmas messages and the first message, which set the tone for the book, was based on Luke 2:14, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."

What I find so wonderfully amazing about Spurgeon's preaching is how easily he understands and links the glory of God and the gospel in his messages. Spurgeon's concern is always that God be recognized as Almighty Sovereign, particularly in salvation, and that man recognize his own need of all-grace, all-mercy, and all-effort on the part of this benevolent God to even have the hope of eternal life. In other words, if God did not act on His own for His own, His "own" would never have believed, would never have repented, and would never experience the bliss of salvation in Jesus Christ. All glory to God who first loved us and first opened our eyes to behold the beauty of Christ as Savior and who first instilled in us the very faith to come to Christ (John 6:44).

The following excerpt so firmly communicates what is at stake if we undermine the truth of Jonah 2:9, that salvation comes from the Lord. May I remind you again that this was found in a Christmas message entitled "The First Christmas Carol." This is no side issue for even in the Incarnation of Jesus Christ we find the sweet doctrines of grace, of God's goodwill toward man so evident. Please be in awe of the great truths communicated here as well as wary of any system of thinking or theology that undermines these biblical truths. May our longing be that God receives all the glory for salvation, for as the Scriptures say of God...

Revelation 4:6

Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.

And of Jesus it says:

Revelation 5:9

"Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.

Spurgeon spoke:

But, let me say one word here before I go away from this point. We must learn from this, that if salvation glorifies God, glorifies him in the highest degree, and makes the highest creatures praise him, this one reflection may be added—then, that doctrine, which glorifies man in salvation cannot be the gospel. For salvation glorifies God.

The angels were no Arminians, they sang, "Glory to God in the highest." They believe in no doctrine which uncrowns Christ, and puts the crown upon the head of mortals. They believe in no system of faith which makes salvation dependent upon the creature, and, which really gives the creature the praise, for what is it less than for a man to save himself, if the whole dependence of salvation rests upon his own free will?

No, my brethren; there may be some preachers, that delight to preach a doctrine that magnifies man; but in their gospel angels have no delight. The only glad tidings that made the angels sing, are those that put God first, God last, God midst, and God without end, in the salvation of his creatures, and put the crown wholly and alone upon the head of him that saves without a helper. "Glory to God in the highest," is the angels' song.

May we sing with the angels and give all glory to God for so great a salvation as found in Jesus Christ our Lord!

A Synopsis on God's Sovereignty

There is no reason to reinvent the wheel and so, as I have been asked about this very issue by several people, I found it providential to have such a great synopsis concerning how God can be sovereign over all things and at the same time man held responsible for his sin. The following was posted on Grace Community Church's “Shepherds Fellowship” - This is the direct link, however I have posted the entire article here for both your own as well as for my convenience:

http://www.shepherdsfellowship.org/pulpit/posts.aspx?ID=4144

Our Sovereign God
(By John MacArthur)


No doctrine is more despised by the natural mind than the truth that God is absolutely sovereign. Human pride loathes the suggestion that God orders everything, controls everything, rules over everything. The carnal mind, burning with enmity against God, abhors the biblical teaching that nothing comes to pass except according to His eternal decrees. Most of all, the flesh hates the notion that salvation is entirely God’s work. If God chose who would be saved, and if His choice was settled before the foundation of the world, then believers deserve no credit for their salvation.

But that is, after all, precisely what Scripture teaches. Even faith is God’s gracious gift to His elect. Jesus said, “No one can come to Me, unless it has been granted him from the Father” (John 6:65). “Nor does anyone know the Father, except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him” (Matt. 11:27). Therefore no one who is saved has anything to boast about (cf Eph. 2:8, 9). “Salvation is from the Lord” (Jonah 2:9).

The doctrine of divine election is explicitly taught throughout Scripture. For example, in the New Testament epistles alone, we learn that all believers are “chosen of God” (Titus 1:1). We were “predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will” (Eph. 1:11, emphasis added). “He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world . . . He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will” (vv. 4, 5). We “are called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son . . . and whom He predestined, these He also called; and whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified” (Rom. 8:28–30).

When Peter wrote that we are “chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father” (1 Peter 1:1, 2), he was not using the word “foreknowledge” to mean that God was aware beforehand who would believe and therefore chose them because of their foreseen faith. Rather, Peter meant that God determined before time began to know and love and save them; and He chose them without regard to anything good or bad they might do. We’ll return to this point again, but for now, note that those verses explicitly state that God’s sovereign choice is made “according to the kind intention of His will” and “according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will”—that is, not for any reason external to Himself. Certainly He did not choose certain sinners to be saved because of something praiseworthy in them, or because He foresaw that they would choose Him. He chose them solely because it pleased Him to do so. God declares “the end from the beginning . . . saying, ‘My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all My good pleasure’” (Isa. 46:10). He is not subject to others’ decisions. His purposes for choosing some and rejecting others are hidden in the secret counsels of His own will.

Moreover, everything that exists in the universe exists because God allowed it, decreed it, and called it into existence. “Our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases” (Ps. 115:3). “Whatever the Lord pleases, He does, in heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deeps” (Ps. 135:6). He “works all things after the counsel of His will” (Eph. 1:11). “From Him and through Him and to Him are all things” (Rom. 11:36). “For us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things, and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him” (1 Cor. 8:6).

What about sin? God is not the author of sin, but He certainly allowed it; it is integral to His eternal decree. God has a purpose for allowing it. He cannot be blamed for evil or tainted by its existence (1 Sam. 2:2: “There is no one holy like the Lord”). But He certainly wasn’t caught off-guard or standing helpless to stop it when sin entered the universe. We do not know His purposes for allowing sin. If nothing else, He permitted it in order to destroy evil forever. And God sometimes uses evil to accomplish good (Gen. 45:7, 8; 50:20; Rom. 8:28). How can these things be? Scripture does not answer all the questions for us. But we know from His Word that God is utterly sovereign, He is perfectly holy, and He is absolutely just.

Admittedly, those truths are hard for the human mind to embrace, but Scripture is unequivocal. God controls all things, right down to choosing who will be saved. Paul states the doctrine in inescapable terms in the ninth chapter of Romans, by showing that God chose Jacob and rejected his twin brother Esau “though the twins were not yet born, and had not done anything good or bad, in order that God’s purpose according to His choice might stand, not because of works, but because of Him who calls” (v. 11). A few verses later, Paul adds this: “He says to Moses, ‘I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.’ So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy” (vv. 15, 16).

Paul anticipated the argument against divine sovereignty: “You will say to me then, ‘Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?’” (v. 19). In other words, doesn’t God’s sovereignty cancel out human responsibility? But rather than offering a philosophical answer or a deep metaphysical argument, Paul simply reprimanded the skeptic: “On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, ‘Why did you make me like this,’ will it? Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use, and another for common use?” (vv. 20, 21).

Scripture affirms both divine sovereignty and human responsibility. We must accept both sides of the truth, though we may not understand how they correspond to one another. People are responsible for what they do with the gospel—or with whatever light they have (Rom. 2:19, 20), so that punishment is just if they reject the light. And those who reject do so voluntarily. Jesus lamented, “You are unwilling to come to Me, that you may have life” (John 5:40). He told unbelievers, “Unless you believe that I am [God], you shall die in your sins” (John 8:24). In John chapter 6, our Lord combined both divine sovereignty and human responsibility when He said, “All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out” (v. 37); “For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him, may have eternal life” (v. 40); “No one can come to Me, unless the Father who sent Me draws him” (v. 44); “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life” (v. 47); and, “No one can come to Me, unless it has been granted him from the Father” (v. 65). How both of those two realities can be true simultaneously cannot be understood by the human mind—only by God.

Above all, we must not conclude that God is unjust because He chooses to bestow grace on some but not to everyone. God is never to be measured by what seems fair to human judgment. Are we so foolish as to assume that we who are fallen, sinful creatures have a higher standard of what is right than an unfallen and infinitely, eternally holy God? What kind of pride is that? In Psalm 50:21 God says, “You thought that I was just like you.” But God is not like us, nor can He be held to human standards. “‘My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,’ declares the Lord. ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts’” (Isa. 55:8, 9).

We step out of bounds when we conclude that anything God does isn’t fair. In Romans 11:33 the apostle writes, “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became His counselor?” (Rom. 11:33, 34).

(Today’s post was adapted from John’s book Ashamed of the Gospel published by Crossway Books.)

Regeneration, Repentance, the Love of God and a Local Church

No matter how much we try to resist His love, try to ignore it, run from it, or hide from it ... we can't. God's love will never exhaust in the pursuit of chasing you. The moment you embrace it God's love becomes irresistible. He proves to you it has no limits, no conditions nor does it account for how much we have failed or misrepresented Him.

This is a statement made by a local, technologically savvy church on a web page designated as their campaign to reach Northwest Arkansas with the truth and love of God. It is interesting to note above that “God’s love will never exhaust in the pursuit of chasing you…He [God] proves to you that it has no limits…” No limits save one. Did you catch it? Man is sovereign – “The moment you embrace it God’s love becomes irresistible.” Man must first embrace the love of God before this love becomes irresistible. Sounds like a limit to me.

And just in case you think am making a mountain out of a molehill, consider this statement made by this church’s “Beliefs” –

Repentance is the commitment to turn away from sin in every area of our lives and to follow Christ, which allows us to receive His redemption and to be regenerated by the Holy Spirit. Thus, through repentance we receive forgiveness of sins and appropriate salvation (Acts 2:21, 3:19; I John 1:9).

Repentance “allows us to receive His redemption and to be regenerated by the Holy Spirit.” Again, salvation is about what man does with something God provided. God is now passive while man is active. In this view, repentance (clearly a necessary spiritual work of man) precedes regeneration (clearly the necessary work of God making us alive in Christ). The only problem with this is that it is not what Scripture teaches. The Scripture teaches that regeneration precedes faith.

Let me quote from Steve Lawson who wrote:

One of the distinguishing features of the biblical view of the new birth is what theologians refer to as monergism. The prefix "mono" means “one.” The Greek word "erg" refers to “a unit of work”; it is from this root that we get the English word energy, which describes a powerful working. Monergism, then, refers to one agent doing a work, and monergistic regeneration communicates the truth that only one agent is active in the work of regeneration, that one being God.

John Owen (1616-1683), the great prince of the Puritan preachers and regarded as one of the eminent theologians of all times wrote:

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 faith of the universal church in all ages.

As Alan Cairnes noted, “…regeneration is the work of the Holy Spirit unaided by human effort or cooperation.”

Charles Hodge, the great Princeton theologian also taught:

No more soul-destroying doctrine could well be devised than the doctrine that sinners can regenerate themselves, and repent and believe just when they please…As it is a truth of both Scripture and of experience that the unrenewed man can do nothing of himself to secure his salvation, it is essential that he should be brought to practical conviction of that truth. When thus convinced, and not before, he seeks help from the only source whence it can be obtained.

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The view offered by this local church I referred to above, is teaching a synergistic (meaning a working together) view, claiming that regeneration involves not one but two agents, God and man, placing each in a place of equal power. As Lawson noted, in this view, “man must cooperate with the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit must cooperate with man. In the end, man has the power of veto. It is touted that lowly, impotent man can resist the work of the omnipotent, sovereign Holy Spirit in salvation.”

Such a view inverts the biblical teaching of regeneration which teaches that the new birth (regeneration) precedes faith. Only when God first acts upon the spiritually dead soul will it ever be enabled to respond to the love of God. Again, as Lawson noted, “Regeneration precedes faith because regeneration produces faith.” He goes on to say, “…man cannot cooperated with God in his spiritual birth any more than he does in his physical birth. In both cases, God is powerfully active and man is feeble…Telling a sinner to chose to be born again is like urging a corpse to choose resurrection.”

Is this the teaching of Scripture? Clearly so. Let me cite just a few examples, the first of which here emphasize the solitary work of God in causing this regeneration unto faith.

Jeremiah 31:33
I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it…

Ezekiel 11:19-20
19 And I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them, and I will take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, 20 that they may walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances and do them.

Ezekiel 36:26-27
26 Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.

Please do not think I am propping up just a few vague verses. Start with these, pray and ask the Lord to reveal the truth of this matter to your heart. In Ephesians 2 we have one of the clearest expressions of man being dead in sin, being regenerated by God, experiencing grace with the result of faith and salvation.

Ephesians 2:1
And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,

Ephesians 2:4-5
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ ( by grace you have been saved),

Ephesians 2:8-9
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.

So, while I commend this local church’s enthusiasm to reach the lost with the love and truth of God, their theology is greatly deficient and their approach is to entice with slick advertising and clever slogans rather than preach the full counsel of God’s Word, and believe that “salvation is from the LORD” (Jonah 2:9). May the Lord give us all discernment in such matters to proclaim the glory of God in salvation.

Soli Deo Gloria,

Pastor Ed

God Is Not "mostly" Sovereign

There is a fallacy in the thinking of those who want to subject the Sovereignty of God to some kind of dependence upon man and man's own choices. Consider this small sampling of Scriptures:

Deuteronomy 4:24
For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

Deuteronomy 4:31
For the Lord your God is a compassionate God;

1 Chronicles 17:2
Then Nathan said to David, "Do all that is in your heart, for God is with you."

2 Chronicles 30:9
For the Lord your God is gracious and compassionate…

Job 36:5
Behold, God is mighty…

Psalms 47:7
7 For God is the A King of all the earth; Sing praises with a skillful psalm.

Psalm 73:1
Surely God is good to Israel…

John 3:33
He who has received His testimony has set his seal to this, that God is true.

1 Corinthians 1:9
God is faithful…

1 John 4:8
for God is love.

Additionally we know that God is truth, God is holy, God is omnipotent (all-powerful) and omnipresent (everywhere present). We also know that God is Sovereign.

Now, here is the point, let’s take each of these attributes of God mentioned above and add the word “mostly” and see if the statement is true according to Scripture.

• For the LORD your God is “mostly” a consuming fire; “mostly” a jealous God.
• For the LORD your God is “mostly” a compassionate God.
• Nathan to David, God is “mostly” with you.
• God is “mostly” gracious.
• God is “mostly” mighty.
• God is “mostly” good.
• God is “mostly” true.
• God is “mostly” faithful.
• God is “mostly” love.
• God is “mostly” holy.
• God is “mostly” omnipotent.
• God is “mostly” omnipresent.

These are absolutely absurd statements, none of which line up with Scripture. So then how is that there are some who would say of God that He is only “mostly” sovereign? How can God be only “mostly” sovereign with diminishing Him?

For those who think the sovereignty of God robs man of something, their alternative is to rob God of something. Even an earthly king was called “sovereign” meaning that everything in his kingdom was subject to him. Did this rob his subjects of any of their responsibility and duty? Not at all. In fact, they had a great duty to respond to their king. Such and earthly monarch is but a small and limited picture of the great King of heaven, who rules, reigns and directs all things from His throne. Does the Scripture give us the teaching that God is sovereign, not merely “mostly” sovereign?

Isaiah 14:24-27
24 The Lord of hosts has sworn saying, "Surely, just as I have intended so it has happened, and just as I have planned so it will stand, 25 to break Assyria in My land, and I will trample him on My mountains. Then his yoke will be removed from them and his burden removed from their shoulder. 26 "This is the plan devised against the whole earth; and this is the hand that is stretched out against all the nations. 27 "For the Lord of hosts has planned, and who can frustrate it? And as for His stretched-out hand, who can turn it back?"

If God were only “mostly” sovereign, then it would be possible for the LORD’s plans to be frustrated.

Isaiah 46:8-11
8 Remember this, and be assured; Recall it to mind, you transgressors. 9 "Remember the former things long past, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me, 10 Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things which have not been done, Saying, 'My purpose will be established, And I will accomplish all My good pleasure'; 11 Calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of My purpose from a far country. Truly I have spoken; truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned it, surely I will do it.

God doesn’t intend to accomplish “most” of His good pleasure, but all of it. These are just two of so many verses that reveal God to fulfill all that He desires, even using nations and individuals to such an end. This does not negate man’s responsibility, rather man is responsible in light of the sovereignty of God.

1 Timothy 6:15-16
He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen.

God is not "mostly" sovereign - He is completely and ultimately sovereign.

Soli Deo Gloria,

Pastor Ed