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Great advice from Rick Hogaboam on “Ten Reasons Why Calvinists Should Show More Humility”. I especially loved his insight in item number 6, “It’s His beauty that attracted us, not our intellect.”
As a Calvinist one of my goals in loving my Arminian brothers and sisters is breaking the stereotypes that all Reformed types are intellectual snobs who would rather argue doctrine than worship Jesus. Doctrine is very important, but the point of doctrine is the worship of Christ.
So for my Reformed brothers and sisters give Rick’s post some thought in regards to our humility, and for my Arminian brothers and sisters just know some Calvinists (By God’s Grace!) are working hard towards not being jerks. :~)
A direct link to the post.
http://endued.wordpress.com/2008/03/31/top-10-reasons-why-calvinists-should-show-more-humility/
Faith is the evidence that we have been born of God. We do not make ourselves born again by deciding to believe. God makes us willing to believe by causing us to be born again. - John Piper “Future Grace”
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”
(1Peter 1:3-5 ESV)
1John 2:29 If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.
“And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.”
(1John 3:3 ESV)
When we are sovereignly born of God we see Jesus as such a treasure that it causes us to walk in newness of life. We don’t get the Treasure because we walk in newness of life, but instead, we walk in newness of life because we have seen the Treasure. Quite simply, there is something about seeing Jesus that makes us a holy people.
While listening to Mark Driscoll on my Ipod this evening I was deeply moved by how he related predestination to a story about his daughter being almost hit by a car. The story went something like this, apologies to Mr. Driscoll in advance if don’t get it exactly right.
Marks daughter was about two years old and they lived by a very busy street and while they where outside getting into their car his daughter bolted in the direction of the busy street but was quickly caught by her mother and father who loving warned their young daughter that the street was full of fast moving cars and very dangerous. They told her that if she ran into the street again should would be hit by a car and die. Sometime later when Mark was outside with his young daughter she looked him square in the eyes and then turned and ran directly for the street! Mark pleaded with her to stop, but she just ran faster. What Marks daughter didn’t see and what Mark could see because of his adult scope of vision was that a large truck was barreling down the street at 45mph. At any moment the young child would be killed unless Mark intervened on her will and stopped her in her tracks. And he did! Just in time Mark pulled his daughter from the path of the truck with his strong arms. Mark didn’t ask if he could rescue her first and then wait for a positive response. He rescued her in spite of her rebellion!
I know that stories like this are imperfect when trying to describe things as great as the love of God, but bare with me just of moment. For anyone that has children this question will hit home the hardest. If you had a child who was in open rebellion and you knew for certain that if they persisted on their current path they would be killed. To what lengths would you go to stop them? Would you be willing, if it where in your power to change their desires so that they would, instead of running away from you, leading certain death, turn and run to you and thereby be saved? Would you give them a new heart so that they could obey and be saved, if it where in your power?
This is what God has done to you if you are a Christian. Jesus died to fulfill the new covenant with his blood so that we would have new hearts given us through the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus pursued us in our rebellion and grabbed us from the clutches of the destruction that we so greatly wanted. Some might call this a violation of our free will, I call it Mercy, I call it Grace, I call it The Sovereign Love of God.
Follow this link to hear Mark Driscoll’s sermon on Predestination. Probably one of the most powerful I have ever heard.
Heaven is not a place where good people go when they die. It is a place for those, who by God’s sovereign miracle of the new birth love Jesus more than anything else.
Sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. A case for Calvinism.
A fairly strange title to be sure, but something I hope in the end will be helpful no matter where you stand on this doctrine.
Most non calvinist folks probably see calvinism as non-biblical at worst, or a cold hearted and purely intellectual exclusive doctrine. But I hope my unpacking of the story of the demoniac changes that, or at least helps you see things in a different light. I hope to leave you seeing calvinism not as an unjust God turning away people who really want to follow him, but a merciful, loving God doing everything necessary to heal and save His people. This is a humble attempt to be sure, and there are those far better equipped to describe these glorious doctrines. But by God’s grace I hope to be of some help and glorify God.. Before proceeding please read and meditate on the following text found starting in Luke 8:26-39 (You can also find parallels in Mark 5 and Matthew 8 )
“Then they sailed to the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. When Jesus had stepped out on land, there met him a man from the city who had demons. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he had not lived in a house but among the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him and said with a loud voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me.” For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many a time it had seized him. He was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the desert.) Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion,” for many demons had entered him. And they begged him not to command them to depart into the abyss. Now a large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, and they begged him to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. Then the demons came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned.
When the herdsmen saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country. Then people went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. And those who had seen it told them how the demon-possessed man had been healed. Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked him to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned. The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him.”
(Luke 8:26-39 ESV)
Some questions now for you to ponder. Please take your time and think and pray. Even if you think I’m all muddle headed and confused in my doctrine. Please, think and pray.
Is there any possibility that Jesus when he set out to free the man possessed with thousands of demons, that he would fail in his mission? Could Jesus have healed the man from his great bondage only later to allow him to perish?
Did the demon possessed man bring anything to Jesus other than great need? Did the demon possessed man appear willing to be saved? Was he hostile to the idea of being delivered?
Was the demoniac insane? And what was his state of mind after Jesus healed him?
Here are my thoughts on the questions and why I hold the calvinistic view of salvation.
Is there any possibility that Jesus when he set out to free the man possessed with thousands of demons he would fail in his mission?
Answer: No! For Jesus to free the man from the power of thousands of demons only to know full well that later he would return to sin and deny Christ and perish is insanely brutal! There would be no reason for Christ to deliver the man if in the end, Christ did not have the right and the power to deliver him fully into God’s glorious kingdom. The truly delivered man will persevere till the end.
Did the demon possessed man bring anything to Jesus other than great need? Did the demon possessed man appear willing to be saved? Was he hostile to the idea of being delivered?
Answer:
I see a man in total moral bondage and not the slightest bit willing to repent. I see someone so bound that they are bent on destruction, hurting themselves and other people. I see a dangerous sinner on the road to hell, I see myself, and I see you. I don’t see a pretty nice guy with a few moral defects in need of correction. I see total depravity and complete bondage.
Was the demoniac insane? What was his state of mind after Jesus healed him?
Answer:
I believe that the man’s demonic possession had driven him completely insane. He wore no clothes and lived in the cemetery and could not be bound by men. Any restraints put on him where quickly broken by the evil within. He mutilated his body by cutting himself with stones. (Mark 5) And after Jesus had healed him he was sitting at Jesus feet and clothed and in his right mind. Notice this. In his right mind!
Calvinism briefly defined.
Something we need to understand in order to glorify God for our salvation as we should, is that we where in the demoniacs state before we became Christians. I don’t mean that we where all demon possessed before coming to Christ, but some might have! My point is, that by nature we where hostile towards God, even in our most noble moral moments in which we praised ourselves! We lived our lives worshiping images and created things and ourselves, by nature we where rebels and had no more desire for Jesus than the demonic did. Maybe we wore a suit and tie, went to church and didn’t hang out in grave yards or strip clubs, but all the same, we where just as insanely in love with our sin as he was. It took a miracle for us to come to Christ, and that miracle was sovereign grace. Not “a pretty good person + grace = saved” and not “a pretty smart person + grace = saved”. We are saved by grace through faith, and faith itself is a gift of grace! As C.H Spurgeon put it. “It’s all of grace” From top to bottom and from front to back. Until Jesus sets our wills free, we won’t worship him, because until our wills are freed from the bondage of sin we are just like the demonic, we love the darkness. But when by God’s grace we have our wills freed and our insanity cured, we do what any cured sane person would do. We fall head long in love with the great physician who healed us! The infinitely beautiful Christ becomes our supreme treasure! We do what we most want to do, imperfectly for sure! We follow Christ and obey his commands because we love him. Our wills are set free at last to choose Christ, we desire for the first time in our lives what we should desire, Jesus Christ.
Some Ramifications of this Belief:
Believing this view of God’s grace in salvation should make us very humble, it should stun us, it should make us the most merciful people on the planet! It should cause our hearts to sing in worship! When we see sinners trapped in the chains of sin we don’t puff out our chest and say, “just get with the program!” or “God has done his part its up to you now!” Instead, we weep and pray over the souls of lost men and women. We pray for the most hardened sinner and ask God to raise the dead, to take out the heart of stone and replace it with a heart of flesh, we pray that spiritually blind eyes and ears be opened to the beauty of the cross and the glory of the gospel! We know that if Christ can change the demoniac and change us, he can change anyone he pleases! Calvinism doesn’t remove the need for evangelism as some have claimed, but in fact is a great source of confidence in all our efforts.
Conclusion:
When Jesus got out of the boat on that day long ago he was on a mission to shower His sovereign love upon that man that was bound in sin and there was no chance he would fail. And when Jesus hung on that cross long ago he was on a mission to shower His sovereign love on his elect and there was no chance he would fail. The death of the Son of God didn’t just make our salvation a possibility, he made it a rock solid reality!
I probably haven’t convinced anyone that wasn’t a Calvinist already to become one. And thats probably OK. This isn’t something you should be convinced of by a piece as short as this, or by any one man. It is up to the Holy Spirit and God’s word. But I do hope I’ve got you thinking and thinking hard. Read your bible, and think over those hard passages where God appears to be sovereign over the salvation of men just like in the story of the demoniac, and ponder often how it is you became a Christian.
Sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in my right mind. By God’s sovereign grace.
Todd
Some links you might find useful.
http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/TopicIndex/105_The_Doctrines_of_Grace/
One of my all time favorite quotes from Matthew Henry. I keep it by my desk at work as a reminder of the power of God’s grace and the efficacy of the Cross.
“We must rest ourselves upon his power; we must be confident of this, that Christ can make us clean. No guilt is so great but that there is a sufficiency in his righteousness to atone for it; no corruption so strong, but there is a sufficiency in his grace to subdue it. - Matthew Henry
An amazing testimony to the power and love of our sovereign God. You can find more info about their testimony here.
To become a Christian not only entails what we confess and believe, although most assuredly we must do both. But at the most profound level it is something God does for us and to us.
“because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
(Rom 10:9 ESV)
“Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again* he cannot see the kingdom of God.””
(John 3:3 ESV)
“ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,”
(1Pet 1:3 ESV)
“since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God;”
(1Pet 1:23 ESV)
To become a Christian is to have a supernatural event transacted for us and in us. We must will and do, but it is God working in us that brings us to faith and brings about our willing and doing.
“ Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”
(Phil 2:12-13 ESV)
What God does through the finished work of His Son in the lives of His children is supernatural, it is effectual, it is irrevocable, and it is wonderful.
“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”
(Phil 1:6 ESV)
“But the one who endures to the end will be saved.”
(Matt 24:13 ESV)
“who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
(1Cor 1:8 ESV)
I have just finished reading a book titled “Chosen for Life - The Case for Divine Election” by Sam Storms that I would like to commend to you all. If you are looking for an honest, readable, humble description of what Calvinist actually believe, this book is for you. Whether you agree with (as I do) with Dr. Storms points or not, you will be challenged and educated. I had the privilege of meeting Dr. Storms last year and was very impressed with his humility and teaching abilities. Thank you Dr. Storms for an excellent book.
A couple of links for those interested in picking up a copy of the book.
Directly from Enjoy God Ministries(I got mine here, autographed too, very cool!)
http://www.enjoyinggodministries.com/books/chosen-for-life
Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Chosen-Life-Case-Divine-Election/dp/1581348436
The Doctrines of Grace have become very precious to me over the last few years. This post will deal briefly with two areas, gratitude and confidence.
To know that you have been chosen of God not because of anything you have done or for qualities that you where born with, causes the heart to sing with gratitude. To feel God’s transforming sovereign mercy brings great joy.
To know that my salvation was brought about completely by God’s sovereign power gives great confidence in the fight against self and Satan. To know that what God has started in my heart he will by His omnipotent power finish, brings fresh waves of joy and confidence each day.
