In other words, to extend the pleasure that God has in His own name, He calls out a people to enjoy and praise and proclaim that name. The Bible calls these people "the elect," "the chosen."
John Piper
Thursday, April 30, 2009
For His Pleasure
It is God's pleasure to magnify the glory of His free & sovereign grace in choosing a people that they might be for Him "a name, a praise, and a glory (Jeremiah 13:11).
Some resources on election
some resources:
Wayne Grudem
John Piper - Divine Election and God's Desire for All to Be Saved
C. J. Mahaney (.pdf)
R.C. Sproul
Longer than ther've been fishes in the ocean...
Ephesians 1:4to6 says:
He chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy & blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption thru Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.
He chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy & blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption thru Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.
Here is Commentary by John Stott.
Paul reaches back in his mind *before the foundation of the world*
(verse 4), before creation, before time began, into a past eternity in
which only God himself existed in the perfection of his being.
In that pre-creation eternity God did something. He formed a
purpose in his mind. This purpose concerned both *Christ* (his only
begotten Son) and *us* (whom he proposed to make his adopted sons and
indeed daughters, for of course the word embraces both sexes). Mark
well the statement: *he chose us in him*. The juxtaposition of the
three pronouns is emphatic. God put us and Christ together in his
mind. He determined to make us (who did not yet exist) his own
children through the redeeming work of Christ (which had not yet taken
place). It was a definite decision, for the verb *he chose
(exelexato)* is another aorist. It also arose from his entirely
unmerited favour, since he chose us *that we should holy and blameless
before him*, which indicates that we, when in his mind he chose us,
were unholy and blameworthy, and therefore deserving not of adoption
but of judgment. Further (Paul repeats the same truth in different
words), *he destined us in love (1) to be his sons through Jesus
Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his
glorious grace which he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved (verses
5-6).
Now everybody finds the doctrine of election difficult. 'Didn't I
choose God?' someone asks indignantly; to which we must answer 'Yes,
indeed you did, and freely, but only because in eternity God had first
chosen you.' 'Didn't I decide for Christ?' asks somebody else; to
which we must reply 'Yes, indeed you did, and freely, but only because
in eternity God had first decided for you.'
Scripture nowhere dispels the mystery of election, and we should
beware of any who try to systematize it too precisely or rigidly. It
is not likely that we shall discover a simple solution to a problem
which has baffled the best brains of Christendom for centuries. But
here at least in our text are three important truths to grasp and
remember:
a). The doctrine of election is a divine revelation, not a human speculation.
It was not invented by Augustine of Hippo or Calvin of Geneva. On
the contrary, it is without question a biblical doctrine, and no
biblical Christian can ignore it. According to the Old Testament, God
chose Israel out of all the nations of the world to be his special
people (e.g. 'you shall be my own possession among all peoples.
Ex.19:4-6; cf.Dt.7:6ff.; Is.42:1 and 43:1). According to the New
Testament he is choosing an international community to be his 'saints'
(verse 1), his holy or special people (cf. 1 Pet.2:9-10). So we must
not reject the notion of election as if it were a weird fantasy of
men, but rather humbly accept it (even though we do not fully
understand it)as a truth which God himself has revealed. It seems
natural that at this point we should seek help from Calvin. He
preached through Ephesians, from the pulpit of St Peter's church,
Geneva, in forty-eight sermons beginning on 1 May 1558. Here is one of
his comments: 'Although we cannot conceive either by argument or
reason how God has elected us before the creation of the world, yet we
know it by his declaring it to us; and experience itself vouches for
it sufficiently, when we are enlightened in the faith'.
----------------------------- Note -------------------------
(1). AV, RV, and NEB put the expression 'in love' immediately after
'holy and blameless before him', because they understand it as
referring to the love which God wants to see in us. Thus holiness is
defined in terms of love. This may well be the correct translation
since the words 'in love' occur in five more contexts of Ephesians and
in each case describe Christian people (3:17; 4:2, 15, 16; 5:2). RSV,
however, attaches the words to the verb 'destined us' because it
understands them as referring to God's love, not ours. I myself favour
this interpretation because the context appears to be emphasizing love
as the source rather than the result of our election.
--John Stott, in his commentary on Ephesians
(The other 2 truths in the text will be posted later)
Benefits
..It is His delight to remember them. The
Lord always did think upon his people: hence their election and the
covenant of grace by which their salvation is secured; he always will
think upon them: hence their final perseverance by which they shall be
brought safely to their final rest. In all our wanderings the watchful
glance of the Eternal Watcher is evermore fixed upon us-we never roam
beyond the Shepherd's eye. In our sorrows he observes us incessantly, and
not a pang escapes him; in our toils he marks all our weariness, and
writes in his book all the struggles of his faithful ones.
Lord always did think upon his people: hence their election and the
covenant of grace by which their salvation is secured; he always will
think upon them: hence their final perseverance by which they shall be
brought safely to their final rest. In all our wanderings the watchful
glance of the Eternal Watcher is evermore fixed upon us-we never roam
beyond the Shepherd's eye. In our sorrows he observes us incessantly, and
not a pang escapes him; in our toils he marks all our weariness, and
writes in his book all the struggles of his faithful ones.
Spurgeon
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
13 Shifts
I'm enjoying thinking through and reading thru some stuff Don Miller wrote. I'm going to post the 13 in segments.
Thirteen Paradigm Shifts we encountered doing Christian ministry in a pagan environment…
1. Other People Exist: Simply coming to the understanding that the world does not revolve around “me” but that everybody is having an experience, created by God, loved by God, and that we needed to repent of showing partiality…
2. Nobody will listen to you unless they know you like them: We began to understand that people, subconsciously, merit a religious or philosophical idea not on logical conclusions, but on whether or not the idea creates a “good person”…the definition of a good person being whether or not a person is kind to them, tolerant and understanding, able to listen without arguing and so on.
If you simply can't be patient, here's the pdf
Thirteen Paradigm Shifts we encountered doing Christian ministry in a pagan environment…
1. Other People Exist: Simply coming to the understanding that the world does not revolve around “me” but that everybody is having an experience, created by God, loved by God, and that we needed to repent of showing partiality…
2. Nobody will listen to you unless they know you like them: We began to understand that people, subconsciously, merit a religious or philosophical idea not on logical conclusions, but on whether or not the idea creates a “good person”…the definition of a good person being whether or not a person is kind to them, tolerant and understanding, able to listen without arguing and so on.
If you simply can't be patient, here's the pdf
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Redeeming Love
Electing love has selected some of
the worst of men to be made the best.
Pebbles of the brook Grace turn into
jewels for the Savior's crown. Worthless
dross he transforms into pure gold.
Redeeming love has set apart many of
the worst of mankind to be the reward
of the Savior's passion and death.
Effectual grace calls forth many of the vilest
of the vile to sit at the table of mercy."
Spurgeon
Reprobation
Reprobation is the name given to God’s eternal decision regarding those sinners whom he has not chosen for life. His decision is in essence a decision not to change them, as the elect are destined to be changed, but to leave them to sin as in their hearts they already want to do, and finally to judge them as they deserve for what they have done. When in particular instances God gives them over to their sins (i.e., removes restraints on their doing the disobedient things they desire), this is itself the beginning of judgment. It is called “hardening” (Rom. 9:18; 11:25; cf. Ps. 81:12; Rom. 1:24, 26, 28), and it inevitably leads to greater guilt.
Reprobation is a biblical reality (Rom. 9:14-24; 1 Pet. 2:8), but not one that bears directly on Christian behavior. The reprobates are faceless so far as Christians are concerned, and it is not for us to try to identify them. Rather, we should live in light of the certainty that anyone may be saved if he or she will but repent and put faith in Christ.
We should view all persons that we meet as possibly being numbered among the elect.
--JI Packer, read the whole article here
Grace, Sovereign & Free
For [God] says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” It does not, therefore, depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy. ROMANS 9:15-16
The verb elect means “to select, or choose out.” The biblical doctrine of election is that before Creation God selected out of the human race, foreseen as fallen, those whom he would redeem, bring to faith, justify, and glorify in and through Jesus Christ (Rom. 8:28-39; Eph. 1:3-14; 2 Thess. 2:13-14; 2 Tim. 1:9-10).
This divine choice is an expression of free and sovereign grace, for it is unconstrained and unconditional, not merited by anything in those who are its subjects. God owes sinners no mercy of any kind, only condemnation; so it is a wonder, and matter for endless praise, that he should choose to save any of us; and doubly so when his choice involved the giving of his own Son to suffer as sin-bearer for the elect (Rom. 8:32).
read full article here
A Higher Dignity Than Created
Comments on Eph 1:
God destined us in love to be his sons. This expression seems to be key to our understanding of the present consequences of our election. Election is with a view to adoption. Indeed, when people ask us the speculative question why God went ahead with the creation when he knew that it would be followed by the fall, one answer we can tentatively give is that he destined us for a higher dignity than even creation would bestow on us. He intended to 'adopt' us, to make us the sons and daughters of his family. And in Roman law (part of the background to Paul's writing) adopted children enjoyed the same rights as natural children. The New Testament has much to say about this status of 'sonship', its rich privileges and demanding responsibilities. --John Stott
God destined us in love to be his sons. This expression seems to be key to our understanding of the present consequences of our election. Election is with a view to adoption. Indeed, when people ask us the speculative question why God went ahead with the creation when he knew that it would be followed by the fall, one answer we can tentatively give is that he destined us for a higher dignity than even creation would bestow on us. He intended to 'adopt' us, to make us the sons and daughters of his family. And in Roman law (part of the background to Paul's writing) adopted children enjoyed the same rights as natural children. The New Testament has much to say about this status of 'sonship', its rich privileges and demanding responsibilities. --John Stott
Stott on election
Let no one say that the doctrine of election by the sovereign will and mercy of God, mysterious as it is, makes neither evangelism or faith unnecessary. The opposite is the case. It is only because of God's gracious will to save that evangelism has any hope of success and faith becomes possible. The preaching of the gospel is the very means that God has appointed by which he delivers from blindness and bondage those whom he chose in Christ before the foundation of the world, sets them free to believe in Jesus, and so causes his will to be done.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Fling Wide!
Fling wide, then, the portals of your soul.
He will come with that love which you long to feel; he will come with
that joy into which you cannot work your poor depressed spirit; he will
bring the peace which now you have not; he will come with his flagons of
wine and sweet apples of love, and cheer you till you have no other
sickness but that of "love o'erpowering, love divine. --Spurgeon, Evening April 25
He will come with that love which you long to feel; he will come with
that joy into which you cannot work your poor depressed spirit; he will
bring the peace which now you have not; he will come with his flagons of
wine and sweet apples of love, and cheer you till you have no other
sickness but that of "love o'erpowering, love divine. --Spurgeon, Evening April 25
What I meant to say
Today in the 10:45 service I poorly told a story from my week.
In the telling I wrongly made it sound like I thought it was a bad thing that all the 2nd graders in my son's class were protective of creation. That is not a good thing.
In the telling I wrongly made it sound like I thought it was a bad thing that all the 2nd graders in my son's class were protective of creation. That is not a good thing.
I was blown away by the vigor these kids showed. It was obvious that they are growing up in a day and setting where this is front and center and "accepted by all".
I meant to say that we as humans regularly adopt values without checking them with Scripture...and did NOT mean to communicate that 2nd graders being "green" was to be shunned.
Other resources
Westminster Confession of Faith, chapter 6
W'minster Shorter Catechism, 13-19
W'minster Larger Catechism, 21-29
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Abraham Kuyper
this is one of those quotes that i read and realize, "this resonates with what I experience"; i saw it in a ken meyers article called "christianity, culture, and common grace":
. . . the unbelieving world excels in many things. Precious treasures have
come down to us from the old heathen civilization. In Plato you find
pages which you devour. Cicero fascinates you and bears you along by
his noble tone and stirs up in you holy sentiments. And if you consider
your own surroundings, that which is reported to you, and that which
you derive from the studies and literary productions of professed infidels,
how much more there is which attracts you, with which you sympathize
and which you admire. It is not exclusively the spark of genius or the
splendor of talent which excites your pleasure in the words and actions
of unbelievers, but it is often their beauty of character, their zeal, their
devotion, their love, their candor, their faithfulness and their sense of honesty.
Yea, we may not pass it over in silence, not infrequently you
entertain the desire that certain believers might have more of the
attractiveness, and who among us has not himself been put to the blush
occasionally by being confronted with what is called the “virtues of the heathen”?
--A. Kuyper
(I actually had this type of experience earlier this week, and wrote about it here)
. . . the unbelieving world excels in many things. Precious treasures have
come down to us from the old heathen civilization. In Plato you find
pages which you devour. Cicero fascinates you and bears you along by
his noble tone and stirs up in you holy sentiments. And if you consider
your own surroundings, that which is reported to you, and that which
you derive from the studies and literary productions of professed infidels,
how much more there is which attracts you, with which you sympathize
and which you admire. It is not exclusively the spark of genius or the
splendor of talent which excites your pleasure in the words and actions
of unbelievers, but it is often their beauty of character, their zeal, their
devotion, their love, their candor, their faithfulness and their sense of honesty.
Yea, we may not pass it over in silence, not infrequently you
entertain the desire that certain believers might have more of the
attractiveness, and who among us has not himself been put to the blush
occasionally by being confronted with what is called the “virtues of the heathen”?
--A. Kuyper
(I actually had this type of experience earlier this week, and wrote about it here)
Death, Slavery, Condemnation
Stott on Ephesians 2
Death, slavery and condemnation: these are the three concepts which Paul brings together in order to portray our lost human condition. Is it too pessimistic? Well, we must agree (as he would have done) that this is not the whole truth about mankind. He says nothing here about ‘the image of God’, in which human beings were originally created and which - now grievously damaged - they retain, although he certainly believes it and speaks of our redemption in terms of a re-creation in God’s image (verse 10 and 4:24). He says nothing either about different degrees of human depravity, although again he would have accepted this. For the biblical doctrine of ‘total depravity’ means neither that all humans are equally depraved, nor that nobody is capable of any good, but rather that no part of any human person (mind, emotions, conscience, will, etc.) has remained untainted by the fall. Nevertheless, despite this necessary qualification which affirms the continuing dignity of man on account of the divine image which he has not altogether lost, Paul’s diagnosis remains.
Death, slavery and condemnation: these are the three concepts which Paul brings together in order to portray our lost human condition. Is it too pessimistic? Well, we must agree (as he would have done) that this is not the whole truth about mankind. He says nothing here about ‘the image of God’, in which human beings were originally created and which - now grievously damaged - they retain, although he certainly believes it and speaks of our redemption in terms of a re-creation in God’s image (verse 10 and 4:24). He says nothing either about different degrees of human depravity, although again he would have accepted this. For the biblical doctrine of ‘total depravity’ means neither that all humans are equally depraved, nor that nobody is capable of any good, but rather that no part of any human person (mind, emotions, conscience, will, etc.) has remained untainted by the fall. Nevertheless, despite this necessary qualification which affirms the continuing dignity of man on account of the divine image which he has not altogether lost, Paul’s diagnosis remains.
Outside Christ man is dead because of trespasses and sins, enslaved by the world, the flesh and the devil, and condemned under the wrath of God.
It is a failure to recognize this gravity of the human condition which explains people’s naive faith in superficial remedies. Universal education is highly desirable. So are just laws administered with justice. Both are pleasing to God who is the Creator and righteous Judge of all mankind. But neither education nor legislation can rescue human beings from spiritual death, captivity or condemnation. A radical disease requires a radical remedy. We shall not on that account give up the quest either for better education or for a more just society. But we shall add to these things a new dimension to which non-Christians are strangers, namely that of evangelism. For God has entrusted to us a message of good news which offers life to the dead, release to the captives and forgiveness to the condemned. --John Stott
CONVERSATION IN THE LAS VEGAS AIRPORT
brief excerpt that NAILS much of what i (Rob) think & feel about issues we're doing in the coming 5 weeks:
In the movie, Hardcore, Jake Van Dorn, a pious Calvinist elder played by George C. Scott, is sitting in the Las Vegas airport with a thoroughly pagan young woman named Niki. Jake's teenage daughter has run away to California and gotten involved in the pornography business, and he has set out to find her. His initial efforts thus far have failed, but he has managed to enlist the help of Niki, a young prostitute who knows his daughter. They have just followed a lead in Las Vegas, but having discovered that the wayward daughter is no longer there, they are moving on in their search.
As they are sitting in the boarding area, waiting for their plane, Niki informs Jake that she considers him to have a very negative outlook on life, and it is obviously connected, she thinks, to his religious beliefs. "What kind of church do you belong to?" she asks. "It's a Dutch Reformed denomination," he responds, "-a group that believes in TULIP." The conversation continues: read it here
Common Grace as Shade
Especially because of the common curse, common grace is necessary. Laboring
under the physical, spiritual, and emotional strains of a fallen world, without any
shade in the scorching sun of God’s wrath, man’s suffering would be, well,
hellish. But human experience is not hellish. In fact, considering what he
deserves, human culture is an amazing gift. But that doesn’t make it the Kingdom of God.
--Ken Meyers
under the physical, spiritual, and emotional strains of a fallen world, without any
shade in the scorching sun of God’s wrath, man’s suffering would be, well,
hellish. But human experience is not hellish. In fact, considering what he
deserves, human culture is an amazing gift. But that doesn’t make it the Kingdom of God.
--Ken Meyers
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