The restraining grace of God

"It was I who kept you from sinning against me." - Gen 20:6

The restraining grace of God in keeping me from sinning against Him through providential distraction (and other means) never ceases to amaze me. He and I alone know the iniquity I harbour in my heart, and what I would be capable of, if left to my own devices.

This is one of the reasons why I believe the Bible with all my heart when it says that He is able to save to the uttermost (Heb 7:25). I have seen this principle at work in my own life!

May He never give me up to my stubborn heart, to follow my own counsels (Psa 81:12).

"You shall call his name Jesus, for He will save his people from their sins." - Matt 1:21

- not just from the penalty of sin, but also from the pleasure and power of sin, and finally from the very presence of sin!

What a wonderful God we serve!

Something to keep in mind when discussing doctrine

A guide to godly disputation - by John Newton

"There is a principle of SELF, which disposes us to despise those who differ from us; and we are often under its influence, when we think we are only showing a fitting zeal in the cause of God.

I readily believe that the leading points of Arminianism spring from and are nourished by the pride of the human heart! But I would be glad if the reverse were always true; and that to embrace what are called the Calvinistic doctrines was an infallible token of a humble mind!

I think I have known some Arminians, that is, people who for lack of a clearer light, have been afraid of receiving the doctrines of free grace, who yet have given evidence that their hearts were in a degree humbled before the Lord.

And I am afraid there are Calvinists, who, while they account it a proof of their humility, that they are willing in words to debase the creature and to give all the glory of salvation to the Lord—yet are of a prideful, harsh and bitter spirit.

Whatever it is that makes us trust in ourselves, that we are comparatively wise or good, so as to treat those with contempt who do not subscribe to our doctrines, or follow our party—is a proof and fruit of a self-righteous spirit!

Self-righteousness can feed upon doctrines—as well as upon works! A man may have the heart of a Pharisee, while his head is stored with orthodox notions of the unworthiness of the creature, and the riches of free grace!"

To be with Christ

For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.
(Phil 1:21-23)

It's interesting how you can read a verse and identify with it for many years, and not really "get" it, because you have applied your own eisegesis to it.

Fearing death

I've never really been afraid of death, perhaps because I was exposed to it at a young and tender age. My stepmother died when I was 4, my father when I was 10, my mother when I was 12, and both my maternal grandparents shortly thereafter.

When I started reading the Bible in earnest after I was saved at the age of 15, this was one of the passages that resonated within my heart. Death did not seem a very big deal to me, especially since I knew I was saved. I sincerely desired to "depart" - but I realise now that it was for all the wrong reasons: the hope of going to heaven, being with the heavenly Father (something that obviously appealed to me very much, given my background of having lost my earthly father at a young age), escaping suffering and pain on earth, and not having to struggle with sin.

It's all about Christ!

When I re-examined this passage last Saturday during cell group meeting, I was struck by how, all these years, I had missed Paul's message by a very wide mark. One thing was very conspicuously absent - and that was the person of Jesus Christ!

Paul's whole life was about Christ and dedicated to Him - "for me to live is Christ"; and "to die is gain" - why? Because to die would be to depart to "be with Christ" - the culmination of all his desires. He did not wish to depart in order to escape from suffering or the struggle with sin - that would be a Buddhist outlook! His main reason for wanting to depart was simply so that he could be with Christ and enjoy His presence!

It's a truth that God is bringing to my attention again and again, and which I still have a problem translating from my head to my heart - Salvation is a Person!

Remaining in the flesh (staying alive)

It is enlightening for me to note that Paul didn't mind staying alive, rather than how I had subconsciously misread it as a young Christian - that he had wished to escape from this earthly life, and couldn't wait to go to heaven (it's amazing how carelessly I read things sometimes). And his reason for staying alive? So that he could continue in fruitful labour for the sake of his Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and the sake of the people he was ministering to.

That's a healthy rebuke to me. The only reason I should desire to stay on earth is not so I can enjoy more of life, but so that I can be engaged in fruitful labour for my Lord!

Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
(Psa 73:25-26)

But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.

That I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.

Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
(Phil 3:7-14)

A very angry man

I met a very angry man today last week.

I had simply asked him casually: "Have you heard of the name Jesus Christ before?"

He replied: "Jesus Christ? Jesus Christ!?! Oh, you're trying to preach to me!" and for the next 20-25 minutes he ranted and raved against Christianity, without much of a chance for me to get a word in edgewise. This was in Mandarin, mind you, so I'm sure I missed a large part of it.

He had had a bad experience in Anglican High School when he was a teenager there many years ago. The discipline master then - a notorious fellow who nevertheless professed himself to be a fervent Christian - had accused him of sending a letter threatening to kill him (something which he denies to this day). His parents had been informed that if he (the discipline master) was ever found murdered, their son would be the prime suspect.

At that time he had been introduced to the rudiments of Christianity and prayer, and so he had prayed earnestly every night that the discipline master would not be murdered (apparently he was hated enough for this to be a distinct possibility) - but that he would be killed in a traffic accident instead! Imagine his shock and horror when it actually happened about three months later - the discipline master indeed got knocked down by a car and died!

He reasoned that if God was evil enough to answer such an evil prayer, he did not want to believe in such a God! It did not occur to him to condemn the one who had made such a prayer in the first place, nor the fact that God has every right to destroy a sinner at any time - whether someone prayed for it or not!

He is also very angry with his younger brother, who is a Christian. He had sacrificed much for his younger brother to do well in school and succeed in life, despite which his younger brother had apparently announced one day that he believed it was God who had provided for him and his success. He had felt very hurt and angry that his sacrifices were not acknowledged nor any gratitude shown for them. He believes very strongly that blood is thicker than water, but his younger brother would rather give to the church rather than help with the family finances.

[Incidentally, this is not the first time I am hearing this sort of story. I am sure it is an unfortunate spinoff from prosperity preaching and the need to "sow into the work of the Lord". Matt 15:4-6 is quite clear that charity should begin at home!]

"I am not against any religion!"

The interesting thing is that he kept making disclaimers, insisting over and over again that he wasn't against any religion, that they are all the same, that they teach people to do good. Having said that, he went on an all-out attack on Christianity, talking about the evil of the Crusades and especially the hypocrisy of many professing Christians he knew who do not follow what the Bible teaches (he had studied Bible Knowledge in school!), and the dubious practice of deathbed conversions, among many other things.

I kept trying to interject, to tell him that there were so many things he was saying which I agreed with, but that they had nothing to do with the the message of Christianity, which is one of free grace and not of works - but he was not interested in listening. Truly, "our gospel is veiled only to those who are perishing, for the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God." (2 Cor 4:3-4).

Personally speaking

This episode resonates strongly with me because my own older adopted brother, who is unsaved, is also dead-set against Christianity because of an experience in Anglican High School! Apparently when he was there as a teenager, the then-principal (also a fervently professing Christian) was embroiled in some sort of a sexual scandal and had to resign as a result.

Law and Grace

I find that these two examples serve to illustrate the failure of a Christianity that emphasises precepts - do's and don'ts - rather that the message of grace and forgiveness, redemption and sanctification. God's law is good, and we should preach it - but only to prepare the way for grace, because it is our schoolmaster to lead us to Christ, once we realize that we will never meet up to its perfect standard - until our hearts are changed. Then it will be our delight to obey the law of God. Even then, it is only by being clothed in Christ, with a righteousness not our own, that we can hope to stand before the judgement seat of God and not be condemned.

There is no excuse, of course, for Christians to sin - we were saved to be holy and blameless before Him. But we will inevitably fall at times, and if the emphasis of our message is not one of grace, but of law and works, those who look at us will see hypocrisy, and we will be guilty of what the Jews were accused of in Rom 3:23-24 - "The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you."

John Wesley - the messed up Calvinist

On a day that falls between Aldersgate Day and John Calvin's birthday (a person who, for some strange reason, Methodists hear very little about!), it bemuses me to recall Phil Johnson - in one of his sermons - describing John Wesley as a "messed-up" Calvinist. What he meant is that Wesley sought to give God all the glory - yet inadvertently he stole some of it for himself through his Arminian beliefs.

This underlines an important distinction in understanding what Calvinism is all about. It's not so much about predestination (which is the mental pigeonhole most people assign it to) as it is about the glory of God. Calvin's greatest goal was to demonstrate the glory of God in everything - in vocation, in salvation, in election, in all of life. In this sense, John Wesley was a Calvinist as well as he, too, sought the glory of God in all that he did - it was just that he didn't think election and reprobation and limited atonement demonstrates the glory of God (it does). He had too low a view of God's glory and sovereignty.

In the end, Wesley's Aldersgate experience proves the truth of God's electing sovereignty: God met him and took hold of him, not the other way around!

In the evening I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate-street, where one was reading Luther's preface to the Epistle to the Romans. About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation; and an assurance was given me that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.

Did John Wesley CHOOSE to believe and trust in Christ? Methinks not. He simply found that he did!

The Barrier of Language

I've just finished reading "A Different Gospel" by D R McConnell. One of the interesting things he mentions is the barrier of language - how the Word of Faith teachers quote extensively from scriptural "proof-texts" and use Christian jargon while meaning something completely different.

Paris Reidhead correctly said that definitions are very important, because "we think with definitions". If two people talk about something without defining the terms they use, they may be comparing apples and oranges without realizing it. Or, as the Chinese would say, it would be like a chicken and a duck talking to each other.

For instance, the more charismatic folk in a congregation would accuse a conservative pastor of "quenching the Spirit", if the pastor is not open to "allowing the Spirit to move." First and foremost, the Holy Spirit will move where He wants to, whether we allow Him to do so or not (John 3:8, 1 Cor 12:11). He does not need our permission!

More importantly, no true Christian would desire to hinder the operation of the Holy Spirit. But what do we MEAN when we say we want to see the Holy Spirit moving and working? One believer would think in terms of hearts being changed - convicted of sin and being led to repentance, being opened up to the reception of the Word. Another would envision miraculous healings, signs and wonders and people being "slain in the Spirit".

Another example would be when we talk about the Word of God speaking to us. Those who adhere to sola scriptura would be very clear what that means to them - the written word of God and what it reveals. On the other hand, those brought up in "rhema" teachings would have something completely different in mind when they say something like that, listening deeply inside themselves for some impression of the Spirit on their hearts (forgetting what Jer 17:9 teaches!)

Of course, everyone wants to see the Holy Spirit moving, and everyone wants to have the Word of God speak to them. But what do we MEAN when we say that?

So... yes. Definitions are important. Very important.

What must I DO to be saved?

I came across this interesting quote by someone named Francis Turretin (a new dead author to discover!) in this paper by my brother Daniel.

For the Gospel which is preached to those who are called, does not declare that, in the eternal decree of God, it has been ordained that in Christ redemption has been procured for each and every man, It rather announced to sinners a divine command, with a promise annexed, and teaches what is the duty of those who wish to be made partakers of salvation.

There's that word, in the last sentence. Duty. "What must I DO to be saved?"

If salvation is all of grace, and only through faith, then why should there be a duty appended to it?

The simple answer is that this is what God has ordained - faith and repentance as the required response to the offer of salvation made to all men, and rightly so, as this is what is most glorifying to Him.

But here's the catch - we are not capable of faith and repentance on our own. We are dead in our trespasses and sins, and the carnal mind is enmity against God.

The answer to this quandary is stated very simply by Augustine in AD 397 in his Confessions: "Give what Thou commandest; Command what Thou wilt."

In other words, God Himself will supply the means by which He has ordained salvation is to be received. And He will give these to those He has chosen to save from before the foundations of the world (Eph 1:4-5). "The Lord knows those who are his." (2 Tim 2:19)

And if God requires faith and repentance so that we may be saved, He will give faith and repentance - to His elect.

Phil 1:29 tells us: "For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake."

Acts 5:30-31 says: "The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins."

2 Tim 2:25, in speaking of false teachers: "God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth."

And this is why Francis Turretin also says:

Christ is not revealed in the Gospel as having died for me in particular, but only as having died in general for those who believe and repent. Hence I reason from that faith and repentance which I find actually to exist in my heart, that Christ has, indeed, died for me in particular. I know that He died for all who fly to Him, I find that I have fled to Him, hence I can and should infer that He died for me.

What must we do to be saved? We simply need to believe and repent, and even the ability to be able to do these things has to be given to us by God, which is why salvation is all of grace. And when we are saved, our duty as Christians is simply to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, and our neighbour as ourselves, which is none other than the whole law of God.

And this we will do willingly, because His people will be willing in the day of His power (Psa 110:3), and we will have been given new hearts of flesh to replace our hearts of stone (Ezek 36:26), His spirit will be within us (Ezek 36:27), and His law will be written on our hearts (Heb 8:10). He will be in us, and we in Him.

And this is all of God.