White as Snow

A few days ago I walked  to the center of our town (our town is very small so it was only about 3 blocks down the road).

Walking along I saw a couple boys playing in the snow. They had been building a snowman but got sidetracked, or tired...

Yesterday's stroll by this spot revealed their finished product

The leaves add a nice touch :)

When the snow first fell last week it was a beautiful white blanket that made everything look so clean and pure. It reminded me of the verse in Isaiah:

Isaiah 1:18 (KJV) Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

 But after only a few days the leaves and dirt ruin the beautiful white.

In my discussions with legalists the discussion always turns to ourselves needing to keep ourselves white through our works and our repentance. I agree that we need to repent of our sinful missteps, but is it our work of repenting that cleanses us, or is it Jesus? The Bible tells me that repentance is a gift:

2Ti 2:24-26  (KJV) And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient,  In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;   And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.

Our walk in a sinful world makes our feet dirty in our walking...Jesus said to Peter that He had to wash only his feet after the rest of him had already been washed clean.

 John 13:10a (KJV)  Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean

When I was a Seventh day Adventist we observed the ceremony of foot washing. It was to remind us that we serve each other, but it became a legalistic ritual that lost it's meaning in the doing and often there were those members who would remain home on the day they knew the ritual was to be performed. Now when I look back on that, it is a perfect object lesson for me to understand that serving the Lord and serving each other has nothing to do with performing righteous acts to make ourselves to look holy and pious to our fellow believers. What service we do is not to reveal our goodness and righteousness, it IS to reveal God's goodness and righteousness.

Why do we keep turning these things back toward ourselves, to serve our own vanity? That is the question, isn't it?

Richard Bennet

Richard Bennet was an Irish Catholic priest for 22 years before realizing from his Bible that the Catholic church has it all wrong. In this video he discusses the blasphemy of Catholic teachings and touches on the "Emergent Church" and it's blasphemous teachings, and he doesn't stop there! He talks about Pope Francis and the Jesuit teachings and how they tie in with the Emergent church. You can see his love for the Lord, he's truly inspiring. I hope you will make time to be blessed by this dear brother in Jesus.

Fruit

Today I needed to walk down into town (2 blocks) and decided to walk a bit further...it's a gorgeous day! The sun is out, and there is just enough breeze, not too hot, not too cold, just right!

On the way I decided to see if someone was home, for a nice surprise visit)... I saw....

...an apple tree full of apples!...

...many apples had already fallen to the ground! :(

How can I refuse such a generous offer???

...and they are so delicious too!

I picked them from the tree, not from the ground....I hate waste but not enough to chance picking up bad fruit.

The apple situation got me thinking about Eve in the garden of Eden, and I know, I know, it probably wasn't an apple...(how many other traditions are probably all wrong?)...still...I pondered, the tree, the forbidden fruit, the snake, the beautiful garden, what a tragic loss....and yet, the Lord in His goodness provided a means of recovering what was lost....!!! Yet so many would rather have their forbidden fruit of seeing it their own way, rotten fruit, what a waste!

Genesis 3:8-14 (KJV) And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.   

And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him,

 Where art thou?   

And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.   

And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? 

 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.  

 And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? 

And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.   

And the LORD God said unto the serpent, 

Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life...

 They both knew they had done wrong, their guilt caused them to hide from the Lord, and then pass on their guilt to their companions when confronted with it. We still do the same today, even blaming the Lord for our guilt, saying like Paul said we would: "Why did you make us this way, it isn't our fault because you, God, made us to be this way". 

Romans 9:20 (KJV) Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?

 And yet the Lord doesn't argue the point with us, though clearly we are wrong. 

Whether it was an apple, or a banana, or an apricot, is not the point...we often look at things in such a manner that we miss the entire lesson that is there for us. No matter what excuses we may come up with to excuse our sin, it is still sin, and there are consequences, and God by His grace and mercy will save some (many?) forgiving sin by His blood shed on a cross, a most cruel punishment, so that we might live forever with Him.

Powerfully Saved

So much has been happening in the news lately, of course the much anticipated Supreme Court decision is being talked about everywhere, many on Facebook are altering their profile pictures to show their support of the same sex marriage decision...I was considering altering my profile picture on Facebook to have a Bible or a cross or perhaps an open tomb, but decided to keep my profile pic the way it is. I don't want to cause people to jump to conclusions from a picture before hearing me out, and it all seems like a childish "whose side is bigger" game to me. It doesn't matter what people (including Supreme court justices) decide or do, it is what God has done, does, and will do that matters most.

Looking around on youtube on the topic of LGBT I found a wonderful testimony by a former lesbian activist. She has many insights into the "lifestyle" and the LGBT movement, how they infiltrate, the truth about LGBT tactics, and the difficulties that plague those caught in this way of life from behind the scenes, and how the Lord saved her and changed her "ministry".

Charlene is not a pastor, but she does mention a woman pastor that spoke words of life to her. I hope you won't get sidetracked on the woman pastor issue.  True that the office of pastoral leadership should not be held by women, however I also know from scripture that God can even use a donkey to keep a person from heading for destruction.

Also she mentions that it was her choice to allow Jesus to save her, yet she mentions  that the Lord saved her when she was 12 years old...the Lord obviously had a plan for Charlene's life and He brought it to completion. It doesn't matter if we think we chose Him, what makes anything we do real or not is if God ignites and infuses His Spirit into whatever decisions we make. Many think man's power to decide is what saves us and of course we can do nothing unless the Lord first grants us the ability to see that choice and then give us His power to choose the right thing. She might be a bit confused about who chose whom, but I can see that she has been powerfully saved by the Lord truly intervening in her life.

This video is about 25  minutes in length. Please have a very uplifting and inspirational coffee break time out with Charlene:

God's Timing, and God's Will Vs. Man's Will

 photo link

A recent discussion in the comments section of a blog post from a few months ago ....
 http://susanflutterbys.blogspot.ca/2015/03/another-post-on-hell.html
 had me marinating over the topic of God's will and man's will...again...I mean it is a topic that I often think about, and it had me go to that place once more.

The Bible likens the believer's relationship to a child and a Father. A child can demand all kinds of things at every whim or fancy, but does that obligate the father to give in to the child at that moment of the request? I think of the people that Jesus healed...some had been waiting for a healing for many years, begging that God would relieve their misery. Why didn't He? When Lazarus, beloved by Jesus, died, Lazarus's sister Mary complained that if Jesus had been a little bit sooner her brother would not have to have died. Why was He late? Or was He?

We have a timetable of when we think things should happen. There are many charlatans who will promise you that God will give you everything you want IMMEDIATELY and if He doesn't, it is because your faith is lacking, so show your faith by sending in all your money to the ministry....blahblahblahblahblah....

When looking for an image for this post, I found the one above, and interestingly, the story of the Doomsday Clock dovetails nicely with my thoughts about God's timing, God's will, and man's (and woman's...that is, mine included) impetuous nature. God answers when He does and the way He chooses to show us that it is His will, not ours, that causes what He does in our lives at the appropriate times, which often is not when we wanted it (immediately, whether it was yesterday, a week ago, or 20 years ago). Joseph had to wait in prison in Egypt MANY YEARS, having been falsely imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit. When he explained a dream to two fellow inmates the one who lived promised to tell Pharaoh about Joseph's plight, but then it wasn't until another 2 years passed before he remembered Joseph when Pharaoh had a dream. How mean of God to keep Joseph in jail all that time for a crime he did not commit!!! How dare He! What an evil God! No, actually, it ended up all being for good (if you know the rest of the story, I know you would agree with me). But God could have done things differently. Why did people have to suffer in order for God's good to have to come so late? Ahh, is it to teach us patience? Perseverance perhaps? Maybe...but it is for God to do what He does for the reasons He knows are the correct ones. We would only be guessing, but a good God who has the welfare of His chosen ever in mind, does what He does for those who love Him.

This is a quote I ran across yesterday, it sort of tells part of this equation:

" Now God sometimes allows people to treat us unjustly. Sometimes He even allows their actions to seriously affect our careers or our futures viewed on a human plane. But God never allows people to make decisions about us that undermine His plan for us. God is for us, we are His children, He delights in us (see Zephaniah 3:17). And the Scripture says, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31). We can put this down as a bedrock truth: God will never allow any action against you that is not in accord with His will for you. And His will is always directed to our good. "
Jerry Bridges, Trusting God: Even When Life Hurts

The Bible says the fiery trials purge us and refine us like gold in fire. The book of Job explains it beautifully.  God has made available all these things: warnings, rebukes, admonishings, wisdom, explanations, comforting passages, praises, love, and much more, and we can foolishly find ways to discredit what He says to us, or we can take it to heart and pray for His timing in the performance of His will in our lives. His will is to save the lost. Are you lost?

 Oh, and regarding the Doomsday Clock article...it's an old article...the time has been moved up to 3 minutes to midnite. The closest it has ever been to midnite was when they put the time at 2 minutes to midnite, and then after the cold war it was reset to 17 minutes to midnite....but God knows what time it is by His timetable. The disciples in Jesus day thought that the end of the world would be in their lifetime, and look at the patient endurance of God who is waiting for more people to save. He is patient...but are you patient, to the saving of your soul, with Him?

The Gospel

 http://tractleague.com/tracts/the-gospel--good-news/

 

What is the gospel?

According to the Strong's the word that has been translated "gospel" is from the Greek word meaning "good message" ...I've always seen it translated as "good news"...

The gospel is the good news of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ that provides full and free deliverance from the power and penalty of sin according to the grace of God alone through faith in Jesus Christ alone. Why is this such wonderful news?

You and everyone else have been born with a fatal condition. This condition is called sin. Why is this condition so serious? Because God is sinless and hates sin, for sin is rebellion against His perfect and righteous standard. And your sinful actions makes you an enemy of God (Romans 3:23; James 4:4). God made man imperishable, in His own image (Genesis 1:27). He made man so that he may have continual fellowship with Him. But when sin came, the intimate fellowship between man and God changed.

 http://www.gospeloutreach.net/gospel.html

Things can be faked. We are all wicked, self-serving, self-loving above all others...we want to think that we are "good", but the truth is when push comes to shove, we will shove those who shove us and shove harder. Many times we see those who have a form of godliness yet deny His power (2 Timothy 3:5), and Jesus said they are difficult to tell apart without having His discernment, and even then, only after the wheat (true) and tares (false) grow into maturity (Matthew 13), because while these are yet immature they look very much alike....it is only after they bear fruit that we can see the difference.True godliness truly and honestly (perfectly? no, only God is perfect) loves others more than self. None of us have it truly....unless we have the Spirit of God making that true in our lives.

The word "gospel" first shows up in scripture here:


 Matthew 4:23-25  And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.   And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them.  And there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judaea, and from beyond Jordan. (KJV)

This is really the first time that I'm noticing that this good news went out beyond the borders of Israel during the time of Christ's ministry on earth....

Anyway, the good news is that we were doomed to hell, doomed in our sin, forever outcast from the presence of a holy and righteous God. The good news (gospel) is that God is merciful. He made a way out of this mess through the shedding of His Son's blood as payment for the ransom that needed to be paid for our transgressions.

When I watch the Investigative Discovery channel, the family of victims which were raped, tortured, and/or murdered are relieved when the perpetrator of the crimes is apprehended and sentenced to his just punishment. While he is not yet found, they worry that justice will not be served. But we fail to realize that because of our sinful nature we are all guilty before the perfect law that God demands to be able to stand in His presence. While we yet love sin (and face it we all do, it is part of our fallen human nature to love sin...even if it seems that we only love minor sins to a small degree, we are guilty to the full extent of the law), we do not want to stand in the presence of a holy God. I know that prior to being saved I hated anyone who told me the truth about my sin. Therefore how could I  stand before a perfectly holy God who would see every glaring but secret sin I ever committed that went without His punishment?....however He provided His Son to pay that debt! That's good news! It is like getting a reprieve from the governor while on death row.

A day or two ago DebbieLynne touched on the topic of "the gospel" while I was considering doing a post about it. She has some beautiful insights on this subject. Do take a look and meditate further on this blessed gift of God:

http://debsheadstick.blogspot.ca/2015/03/why-did-he-do-that.html

What is Meant by Total Depravity

 And now...(drum roll )
             the topic of depravity of unregenerate man...

http://asatisfiedspirit.com/2013/04/30/i-believe/

What Presbyterians really mean by terms such as "Original Sin," "Total Depravity," and "Inability of the Will" is defined by our Confession of Faith, Chapter 10, Section 3: "Man, by his fall into a state of sin, hath wholly lost all ability of will to any spiritual good accompanying salvation; so as a natural man being altogether averse from that good, and dead in sin, is not able, by his own strength, to convert himself, or to prepare himself thereunto." http://www.spurgeon.org/~phil/dabney/5points.htm

 And from the CRTA (Center for Reformed Theology and Apologetics) website:

 

Total Depravity is probably the most misunderstood tenet of Calvinism. When Calvinists speak of humans as "totally depraved," they are making an extensive, rather than an intensive statement. The effect of the fall upon man is that sin has extended to every part of his personality -- his thinking, his emotions, and his will. Not necessarily that he is intensely sinful, but that sin has extended to his entire being.
The unregenerate (unsaved) man is dead in his sins (Romans 5:12). Without the power of the Holy Spirit, the natural man is blind and deaf to the message of the gospel (Mark 4:11f). This is why Total Depravity has also been called "Total Inability." The man without a knowledge of God will never come to this knowledge without God's making him alive through Christ (Ephesians 2:1-5).
 http://www.reformed.org/calvinism/index.html

I really appreciate the distinction the CRTA link makes about the unregenerate state of depravity being extensive rather than intensive. This is a crucial point and where most get hung up on the truth of this aspect of our relationship with our Creator/Redeemer. The fact that the fall has effected and infected every part of our being and extensively so is the very reason we are unable to turn to Jesus, unable to be sincere in our quest of Him, and unable to hear and/or understand His calling out to us.....UNLESS He intervenes and causes it to be so. 

 Everything about us, our understanding, our will or desire, our emotions, are self-directed NOT God-directed prior to salvation. Even if we are religious while unregenerate we cannot please God in this condition (I was very religious while unregenerate as a Seventh day Adventist, and then later as a Mormon, and then further into that regression in my unregenerate faith I was absolutely on fire for paganism in the new age movement) therefore our religion is to effect ourselves some credit for doing good out of our self-appropriated "goodness" rather than a true seeking of redemption from the hellfire we ought to know we are headed for (which we all deserve for the fact that we do not attain to the holiness required to avoid such a fate) without redeeming grace to assist us. This knowledge, this understanding does not enter into the unregenerate mind UNLESS it enters into it by the Lord's intervention, opening the understanding to the true hopelessness of our own situation without Christ's intervening and redemptive love. The fact that not all are redeemed some will say, reveals that God lacks love, however it reveals the fact that it is His love, not ours, that redeems us. Our love comes only in response to the love that is activated in our hearts which, prior to His intervention, is incapable of the agape love, the truly selfless love, spoken of in scripture...a love that continues even when rejected and martyred for the truth. 

The question: If God is so loving, forgiving and merciful, why does He send many to hell?

The two seem incompatible in our way of thinking, but we still think of things with our fleshy understanding of what is right and what is wrong. If we can come to grips with the truth about what depravity is, that we all truly deserve hell, than one person not getting what he/she deserves proves the point about God's unlimited mercy. He doesn't have to prove anything. He is God. But however, He chose to prove to His creation those things that are true about Himself through the means He has given. The Bible puts it this way: If a pot is constructed poorly does the pot then say to the potter "why did you make me this way?" ...we know that pottery has no way of addressing a potter, and likewise, unregenerate man has no way of addressing God. The Bible states that we were dead in our trespasses and sins. This is talking about a spiritual condition and we know this because it is talking about our sinful state, that sin caused us to be spiritually dead. Dead means dead. There was NO means of communicating with a living God because there was a huge chasm of separation (or a barrier, if you like that mental image better) between us where nothing, no communication of any kind, was able to cross over....but God made a way of crossing over...by a cross....and even then He has to communicate  it to us, and spark that life and light into our understanding to  bring us over that chasm or through that impenetrable barrier.

If we think we are somehow able to credit ourselves with being good enough to enter into God's presence, we are still deceived with the notion that there is some inherent goodness which is able to gain God's respect, that somehow we can choose to force God's hand to give us what we want for ourselves. Many are deceived by that. There is absolutely nothing in us that is deserving of anything of God. If we can truly come to understand that, it is only by God's grace because our vanity won't penetrate that truth unless we have divine help...and once understanding it, then Jesus supplies us the ability to trust and to believe that Jesus is making the way for us out of our dire situation.
 
If this somehow helps someone, praise the Lord...I know that I can change no one,I can help no one unless it is the Lord Jesus intervening on your behalf, sparking His truth into your being. I can hope and pray that He may use these words to touch and heal someone of their separation from Him, to bring them out of their total depravity, and into the kingdom of His holiness and perfection and love.


 

Chosen by God

Yesterday's post about the reformation and what we now call Calvinism barely scratched at the surface of the issues regarding how we regard God's sovereign rule over us. Before reading this offering please read the previous post, and links provided would also be a good read in preparing to approach the topics that I hope to touch on.

In debating with "anti-Calvinists" three things that irritate them the most come up, and I'll try to talk a little about them in separate posts. The three things are:

1. God not giving us the choice of being saved or not

2. Universal atonement vs. limited atonement

3. Perseverance of the saints (or what it has degraded into with "OSAS")

We'll start with #1.
Did God leave the saving power on our side? To choose or not to choose, that is the question....

I recently had a discussion over this with a couple of men who vehemently oppose Calvinism and promote the idea that John Calvin is a "pope of the Calvinists". One man boasts that he is very knowledgeable on the topic of evil Calvinism, stating that he has researched this for 40 years, yet in my discussions with him he acknowledged that he has never read anything written by John Calvin, or even Charles Spurgeon, stating that he doesn't want to poison his brain with such things. He said some other quite remarkable things that left me wondering why anyone was still giving his comments "likes" and calling me some kind of heretic for trying to tell others to go to the sources to read these things for themselves. I was going to share some of these characters' comments which reveal just how little they understand about this subject, but the one with the most ridiculous comments has deleted them all. Therefore we will look at what Mr. P has to say regarding unconditional election:

 First I'll start with a very brief overview of how God saved me in answer to his question:

Mr. P: "Susan did God force you to love him Or did you see God and run to him and love him because he first loved you"

Me:  "I was brought up "religious" in SDA, reading the Bible, asking and not receiving, yet God did it later after I went through all kinds of paganism and witchcraft, and He got me while I was on drugs and not able to help myself. That is grace"

Mr. P:  "I was brought up in catholics then I read the bible and saw the truth and make the free will choice to love my God who saved me"

 Me: "Believe whatever you want to Mr. P, I'll take God at His word in what He says in His word to me. He chose me and I take full comfort in it, you can thank yourself for choosing Him, I'll thank God for choosing me."

then he says

Mr. P: "Your God a raper and Calvinism just as bad as all the other false stuff you were in.. Susan get save ask Jesus to forgvie (sic) your sins he will .He ask you he does not force you to love him .He not a rapist .God seek ALL to be saved . Love does not force itself bible says plainly"

hmmm, alrightythen...yeah, I can see where Mr. P found THAT in scripture.

Me: "You choose to see a Sovereign God as a rapist because you still judge with the "eyes of the flesh", if you don't see it I cannot force you to understand things of the Spirit because you still judge by your lusts of your flesh. Take care, I'm done"

Mr. P:  "Susan did God force souls to go to hell . .God cannot judge someone he force to sin and force to reject him"

Me:  "the fall of man in the garden of Eden caused all to be destined for hell, but grace of God allows some to not receive justice instead receive mercy, gift, not earned through choosing, God chooses some, His word is everywhere but not all choose because most have not been given that ability, even many who hear the word preached cannot hear because the gift of hearing is not given, those who repent are given sight to see the truth about their utter depravity and are given the gift of repentance. We have nothing that hadn't been given to us by God."

The difference, bottom line, is that Mr. P thinks the person being saved is the primary object of importance, when in fact the Bible reveals that everything that happens is not for man's sake but to reveal the truth and mercy of God. The problem with most "Christians" today is they do not admit or understand what complete and utter depravity is. They believe there is still a little bit of their own innate goodness that gives them the freedom to choose God. The Bible reveals that we all are utterly hopeless and slaves to sin, worse than that, we are "dead in our trespasses" (Ephesians 2:1; Colossians 2:13) which is....well, dead is dead. Dead people don't make choices any more than Lazarus "chose" to come forth when Jesus called to the dead man Lazarus and said "Lazarus! Come forth!" (John 11:32-43)

So in the next episode I will explore the utter depravity of our natural condition prior to the saving power of God who transformed us by the power of His will.

Choices and Faith

A brief background: 
Arminians (those who argue that we have or lose our salvation by our choice) vs. "Calvinists" (only more recently attributed with this name, more accurately they should be named "Dutch Reform", but at the time of John Calvin they would have simply been called "Protestants" (protesting the Church at Rome) and "Christians".

Pelagians: (at the time of Augustine) did not believe in "original sin"
Semi-Pelagians: believed we are tainted by the "original sin" but not to the point that we are unable to cooperate with God to the saving of our soul.
http://www.gotquestions.org/Pelagianism.html

Today's Christian (professing to be Bible believing) churches have become tainted by the same arguments that plagued the reformers at the time of John Calvin. 

The Arminian argument presented to Synod of Dort:

1. election conditioned on foreseen faith;
2. universal atonement (that Christ died for all men and for every man, so that He merited reconciliation and forgiveness of sins for all through the death of the cross; yet so that no one actually enjoys this forgiveness of sins except the believer);
3. the need for regeneration if man is to be saved (here they seemed to be orthodox enough, but, as it later appeared, this was understood in such a way as seriously to underestimate the depravity of human nature);
4. the resistibility of grace ('but with respect to the mode of this grace, it is not irresistible'); and
5. the uncertainty of the perseverance of believers (in respect of this article the Arminians shortly came openly to deny such final perseverance) 


compared with the "5 points of Calvinism" particularly the points of total depravity, limited atonement, irresistible grace, and perseverance of the saints (also called "once saved always saved", though this term does not give an adequate understanding, it muddies up the water of what perseverance entails) :

Total Depravity (Total Inability)

Total Depravity is probably the most misunderstood tenet of Calvinism. When Calvinists speak of humans as "totally depraved," they are making an extensive, rather than an intensive statement. The effect of the fall upon man is that sin has extended to every part of his personality -- his thinking, his emotions, and his will. Not necessarily that he is intensely sinful, but that sin has extended to his entire being.
The unregenerate (unsaved) man is dead in his sins (Romans 5:12). Without the power of the Holy Spirit, the natural man is blind and deaf to the message of the gospel (Mark 4:11f). This is why Total Depravity has also been called "Total Inability." The man without a knowledge of God will never come to this knowledge without God's making him alive through Christ (Ephesians 2:1-5).

Limited Atonement (Particular Redemption)

Limited Atonement is a doctrine offered in answer to the question, "for whose sins did Christ atone?" The Bible teaches that Christ died for those whom God gave him to save (John 17:9). Christ died, indeed, for many people, but not all (Matthew 26:28). Specifically, Christ died for the invisible Church -- the sum total of all those who would ever rightly bear the name "Christian" (Ephesians 5:25).
This doctrine often finds many objections, mostly from those who think that Limited Atonement does damage to evangelism. We have already seen that Christ will not lose any that the father has given to him (John 6:37). Christ's death was not a death of potential atonement for all people. Believing that Jesus' death was a potential, symbolic atonement for anyone who might possibly, in the future, accept him trivializes Christ's act of atonement. Christ died to atone for specific sins of specific sinners. Christ died to make holy the church. He did not atone for all men, because obviously all men are not saved. Evangelism is actually lifted up in this doctrine, for the evangelist may tell his congregation that Christ died for sinners, and that he will not lose any of those for whom he died!

Irresistible Grace

The result of God's Irresistible Grace is the certain response by the elect to the inward call of the Holy Spirit, when the outward call is given by the evangelist or minister of the Word of God. Christ, himself, teaches that all whom God has elected will come to a knowledge of him (John 6:37). Men come to Christ in salvation when the Father calls them (John 6:44), and the very Spirit of God leads God's beloved to repentance (Romans 8:14). What a comfort it is to know that the gospel of Christ will penetrate our hard, sinful hearts and wondrously save us through the gracious inward call of the Holy Spirit (I Peter 5:10)!

Perseverance of the Saints

Perseverance of the Saints is a doctrine which states that the saints (those whom God has saved) will remain in God's hand until they are glorified and brought to abide with him in heaven. Romans 8:28-39 makes it clear that when a person truly has been regenerated by God, he will remain in God's stead. The work of sanctification which God has brought about in his elect will continue until it reaches its fulfillment in eternal life (Phil. 1:6). Christ assures the elect that he will not lose them and that they will be glorified at the "last day" (John 6:39). The Calvinist stands upon the Word of God and trusts in Christ's promise that he will perfectly fulfill the will of the Father in saving all the elect.

Today's Bible believing churches that maintain some form of orthodoxy are either "Reform" or "Arminian" with some Pelagian or Semi-Pelagian doctrines in their mix. Even those members attending Reform congregations can hold to the false doctrines of Arminius and Pelagius. To understand these in full would take many many hours, days, and years of study and I'm only still at the beginning of that journey. There are websites and books available that can get one started on that road. I will provide links at the bottom of this post which I used to provide the information I give in this post.

One that I found very helpful is one that gives an overview of what happened at the Synod of Dort.
The concluding remarks given:


Yes, we should get excited about the Synod of Dort! Because of this Synod, the Reformed Churches received a valuable confession, an authoritative exposition of scriptural Calvinistic theology. In essence, the Arminian Controversy represented an attack upon the sovereignty of God in the matter of man's salvation, and exalted instead the role of man in his own salvation. The Canons of Dort acknowledged, reaffirmed, and glorified God's sovereign grace. If we truly understand what happened so long ago in that old Dutch city of Dort, we will do the same, thankfully acknowledging that it is our faithful Saviour who gathers and defends His church, in spite of all heresies. Then in thankfulness we will also live and abide by those confessions, to the praise of His glory. (emphasis and underscoring mine)

Let us carefully guard our true understanding of our terrible depravity prior to the Sovereign good and perfect will of our God to save us by His power and preordained will to save us who were so depraved in our slavery to sin that He had to heal our blind eyes, convert our stoney heart, open our deaf ears so He could draw us to His marvelous gospel of completely undeserved grace.  

 "I am a ten-thousand-talents debtor to God and have not a penny with which to discharge it, and therefore unless His sovereign grace takes pity upon me and gives me everything for nothing there is no hope whatever for me" - A. W. Pink

 http://spindleworks.com/library/vandergugten/arminian_c.htm
 http://www.reformed.org/calvinism/index.html
 http://www.calvinistcorner.com/tulip.htm

When a "Believer" Stops Believing

I enjoy listening to John MacArthur and Phil Johnson. I do not always agree with every word, I do agree with most of what they share and approve of the fact that they back up what they say with where to find what they are talking about in the Bible so one can read these things in the proper context and thereby form one's own opinions on the things discussed.

This morning I found an audio broadcast on the topic of apostasy given by both Pastor Johnson and Pastor MacArthur in an interview style, Pastor MacArthur being the interviewee with Pastor Johnson asking the questions.

The topic of the falling away or apostasy was a topic that I viewed with slight interest in an academic sort of way. I was aware that people that said they believed in Jesus were (and are currently) falling away from their faith, but in my immediate circles people either believed in Jesus or they didn't. They either do or they don't...and it made it easy to feel that I had a handle on it...the falling away is something that happened "out there" somewhere and had nothing to do with me or anyone I was directly involved with. When it did involve someone that I knew directly (through the internet community that is), the apostasy became more relevant to me. It no longer hovered "out there" far away from me, a topic for research and detached discussions which involved statistics and involved knowing the Bible verses that spoke on the topic. It used to be safe.

When it finally did touch someone that I knew, someone who I discussed Jesus with as a fellow believer, someone I trusted and enjoyed fellowship with, it involved me in such a way that it immersed me into the problem. It was no longer just about knowing the Bible verses and the statistics and the reality of it "out there somewhere". It involved me and now it had a face and a person that I knew, or thought I knew.

Pastor Johnson and Pastor MacArthur explore this phenomenon in light of people they were acquainted with and explore the questions that I had, discuss the same scriptures that I sought out regarding this issue, and came to the same conclusions about this as I had come to see. I tell about it in "A True Story" in the tabbed page next to my testimony at the top of my blog. Their discussion again reiterates the fact that Jesus knows what is going on with these persons more than we know, and more than those persons (like Judas) know about themselves. Their discussion digs a little deeper, giving their own insights from their having handled the scriptures faithfully for many many years. They discuss the difference between the person who struggles with moments of doubt and the person who rejects Jesus and the Bible...and if there is any hope for the person that rejects Jesus while having a full understanding of what and Who he/she is rejecting.

It is a discussion that is important and needed for this time...many changes are taking place these days, we need to be awake, aware and in prayer, and we need to know what it is we need to be in prayer about. Please take the time to listen, and if you wish to comment on this, know that I would love to know your thoughts regarding the topic at hand, however be mindful of the commenting guidelines. Thank you.

http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=111510129269

The Issue of Biblical Inerrancy

On the topic of Biblical inerrancy I'll only talk about the problem I've seen many have with the two (three?) sabbaths of the holy week of Jesus' crucifixion.

This would require understanding the various sabbaths that occur during the Jewish holidays and a very detailed knowledge of the laws of the Old Testament. I admit that I have read the O.T. but don't have the same kind of knowledge that someone who paid attention in seminary would have.

This link explains the situation that occurred during the holy week providing the O.T. passages that you would need to understand in order to make sense of what actually happened.

Rather than just taking the atheists pat and superficial answer that "this proves the Bible is not inerrant", I hope those who sincerely want to know the truth dig deeper for the answer.

Horticulture

Update on my garden: it is still blooming and looking wonderful.

Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of the LORD, for wheat, and for wine, and for oil, and for the young of the flock and of the herd:
        and their soul shall be as a watered garden;
               and they shall not sorrow any more at all.
                          Jeremiah 31:12 (KJV)

I've been thinking about this verse. When I go outside to water, all the thirsty plants drink in the water and make me so glad and uplifted. Lately we've been getting some rain so I haven't had to water them as much. I just go out and enjoy their beauty.

Many of my annuals are forming seeds so I've been gathering them to try to start them from seed in the spring. I have some flowers that I haven't seen that particular color variety before so it'll be wonderful if I am successful.

I'm also experimenting with trying my hand at starting new plants from cuttings...

I started these about a week ago and they are still green...it's a good sign. :)

The packets next to the plants are all of my seed gatherings.

I've also been thinking about the parable of Jesus when He related hearers to four soils. If I wasn't around to have prepared the ground it would have been rocky and weedy and trampled by careless passersby,  and it wouldn't have gotten the water it needs. It makes me aware of the fact that I'm thankful the Lord prepared me to hear Him, and since that time I've continually sought Him to help keep the weeds at bay and water me in times of drought. There was a time I was very stubborn and thought I knew better for myself than anyone else. I am thankful that I was able to lay down that arrogance and self-pride. God showed me a much better way.

Hear the parable of the sower of the four soils:

And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, 

Behold, a sower went forth to sow;   And when he sowed, 

some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up: 

Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. 

And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them: 

But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.

 Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. 

And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?  

He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.  For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.  And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:  

For this people's heart is waxed gross, 

and their ears are dull of hearing, 

and their eyes they have closed; 

lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.  

But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.  For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.  

Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower.

  

 When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side. 

But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it;  Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended. 

  

He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful. 

But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
Matthew 13:4-23 (KJV)

At one time or another I was all of the above soils. I had a praying grandmother when I was a small child, so perhaps this is why the Lord never gave up on me. I also remember hearing the parable of the four soils preached by our Seventh day Adventist pastor when I was about 11 years old, and I remember there coming a silent unspoken response in me, a thought that came to me that said: "I hope that I am that good soil, God please make me the good soil"...and I believe He heard my heart and began even then preparing my "ground". However I was still going to go through the other phases of poor soils and I still would mock those who believed in Jesus thinking myself so much more superior than those poor, silly, superstitious morons. I would still go through many terrible situations and if I would have died then I know I would have gone straight to hell, and yet I didn't die at that time, and believe me when I say that there were several times that I could have and absolutely should have, and yet somehow He kept me from killing myself through my blind stupidity. He prepared my soil during this time, answering the silent prayer of a little girl in a heretical "church" and yet He was able to get through to me in this church that taught heresies because He spoke to me through that portion of the sermon when the pastor read actual words from the Bible.

I'm not recommending this as a good procedure.
Not at all.
It just proves the fact that God can even use a talking donkey to do His work.
It wasn't overnight.
It took MANY years in developing.
He was faithful even when I wasn't.

I just hope I am half as good a gardener as the Lord is (even that I think would be exceedingly abounding), and can grow a successful garden next year from my cuttings and seedlings. 

<3

Guard Your Heart

 Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.   But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called "today," that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. Hebrews 3:12-13  (ESV)

Hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. The worst sin is pride. It caused satan to think he was superior to God Himself, and cause others to come with him and join him in his falling from grace.

If a person is truly saved, changed from the inside, born again, it is impossible for such a one to lose their salvation (Jesus said so)...and some may lose their way temporarily, but will return to Him because He draws His own to Himself (John 6:44) however there are those who have an "appearance of godliness", they appear "good" but it isn't the goodness that comes from God because they deny His power, and we are to turn away from those.

2Ti 3:1  But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty.
2Ti 3:2  For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,
2Ti 3:3  heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good,
2Ti 3:4  treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
2Ti 3:5  having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.
2Ti 3:6  For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions,
2Ti 3:7  always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.

However there are warnings in the Bible. There are things to avoid, just as we would avoid anything icky and disgusting and horrid. In the Old Testament there were rules for how to deal with lepers. They had their own area that they had to be in so the healthy would not be in contact with them. They had to remain "outside the camp" until they were deemed cleansed.

I have been reading the Old Testament beginning from the beginning. I'm now in the book of Numbers. There is a scene in the text where Aaron and Miriam stand against Moses, and God punishes Miriam (I wonder why not Aaron? oh well) with leprosy. Moses pleads for Miriam but God says she has to endure the disease for 7 days after-which she

But This Is How I Feel...

Have you heard that one before? Of course you have if you are living on this planet. I hear that one, and read about it, every day...whether the topic is abortion, atheism, homosexuality, or even simply facing the hardships of every day life and death of loved ones being sick, committing suicide, getting murdered, being lied to, etc, etc, etc. I believe it is why "the love of many is growing cold" (Matthew 24:12). People are more concerned about "personal rights" and "personal agendas" than they are about what God has to say about it. It doesn't fit in with their feelings or their plans and "it is all about me" after all...

Maturity in Christ Part 1

 This is also part of the "Falling Away" series, so I have "apostasy" in the links below this post.

Since I brought up the topic in the last post, I think now is as good a time as any to dive in a little deeper into this aspect of the Christian's life.

In the scriptures (I'm talking about the Bible) there are many word pictures given (by Jesus and by Paul mainly) of what a Christian's spiritual relationship with our Heavenly Father and Redeemer is. Often the analogy that is presented is that of a plant/vine or a tree, and it gives us the understanding that it is living and growing. When we read of the wheat and tares, we see that they look very similar in the beginning, so similar in fact that, well....

Should We All Evangelize?

image link

This has been a dialogue that has gone on with me to Jesus since I was saved in 1988. At first it was "no" for me, because I wasn't ready, I was too immature in the faith and I knew that I would do more damage than good...or at least that is how I felt at the time, also going by the fact that not everyone is gifted with the same spiritual gifts...not everyone is an eye, an ear, or a mouth.

So are we supposed to all evangelize for Jesus? Should we all be shouting the news from the rooftops? Shouldn't we all be uber-concerned about saving people from the fate we all deserve? Or....do we just leave it up to God? He is all powerful, after all...isn't He? If He wants to save someone, He will do it. He proved that with the Apostle Paul/Saul of Tarsus. He chooses whomsoever He wills just as He chose Jacob over Esau.......and yet...

What of Christmas?

As a teenager my father "got religion", and his religion of choice was Seventh day Adventism. We were taught that Christmas had Roman Catholic beginnings which were rooted in paganism, and for proof we were taught that the passage in Jeremiah chapter 10 referred to the Christmas tree. Perhaps, perhaps not. It may be referring to how they carved wooden statues of their "gods" and "goddesses" even then, and that they decked them with gold and silver, much like Roman Catholics adorn statues of Mary today.

Last Sunday our pastor talked about his run ins with legalism regarding the Christmas holiday and it's pagan roots, and they seemed to be similar to the kinds of difficulties I had encountered regarding "dos and don'ts" of our worldly involvements. He summed his final thoughts about the subject in a way that I find consistent with the bottom line that the Apostle Paul gives. We shouldn't use our freedom for an occasion to sin, or to trouble our weaker brothers, however, this season can bring some people who otherwise might never think about Jesus, to contemplate the amazing fact that God came to earth to be adorned in flesh, to live like us and among us, to reveal Himself to us. Pastor Clark cautioned us to not "throw out the baby (Jesus) with the bath water". Pastor Clark told us: "I have no use for Christmas trees or Santa Clause, but I love every opportunity to tell others about Jesus". Amen, pastor, amen. :)

Not Everyone Who Says "Lord, Lord"...

Mat 7:21  Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Mat 7:22  Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
Mat 7:23  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
Mat 7:24  Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
Mat 7:25  And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
Mat 7:26  And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
Mat 7:27  And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.(KJV)


These are hard words. Does a "Loving God" reject those who come before Him and say: "Lord, Lord"? Apparently He will and He does, if you believe what Jesus says, and if you don't believe it and yet say you are saved, you are exactly the one He is talking about here, who is only speaking empty words, and pretends to love Him and believe Him, and yet loves himself and the things of this world more than His words, His love, His price at His terms. Those are the ones who say they love Him and yet Jesus can see into their hearts, He knows the truth, and if they confess the truth of their error, and truly submit to the truth of the fact that no one comes to the Father unless they have left all (their love of the things of this world that they loved more than God) to follow Jesus, then Jesus gives us a hundred fold of what we thought we had to give up.

But there are many who hang on to this world, who want to straddle the fence, and love this world and Jesus equally. Jesus said it cannot be done. He said "You cannot serve God and Mammon".

Luk 16:13  No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
Luk 16:14  And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him.
Luk 16:15  And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God. (KJV)

When Jesus taught the multitudes, many followed Him to get stuff, to get a healing, to get food, and Jesus understood that, and He provided, but when He confronted them about the truth of the selfishness of their seeking, many stopped following Him:

 Joh 6:26  Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled.
Joh 6:27  Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.
Joh 6:28  Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?
Joh 6:29  Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. (KJV)

Their hearts were not changed, they didn't actually see the true miracle of who Jesus was and is, but only wanted to satisfy their belly and their curiosity, and their flesh. Jesus then tells them about Himself being the bread of Life, (this passage is completely misunderstood by Roman Catholics, sorry), and then the Bible tells us:

Joh 6:61  When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you?
Joh 6:62  What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before?
Joh 6:63  It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
Joh 6:64  But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him.
Joh 6:65  And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.
Joh 6:66  From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.
(KJV)

Sobering words, it is a gift, and to say "That isn't loving" doesn't understand true love. He gives abundantly, but many reject it, and then blame Him for their rejection of Him. It is a gift, who throws a gift back at the giver and says "This isn't the kind of gift I wanted! This isn't the way I wanted it to be!"?

 His gift is given to all, but not all want it, in fact no one wants it, at first, because it is contrary to our flesh. But God will draw His own to Himself, and they won't be able to boast that they did anything, even the choosing of Him is done by Him, so we have nothing to boast before Him. He chooses the lowest, the beggars, also there are the Josephs of Arimethea (which aren't low beggars, but respected people in the community, but their heart is lowly and truly humble)...He sees our hearts, He knows who are His because He created us, He breathed life into us.

The ones who do boast:

Mat 7:22...."Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? "
Mat 7:23  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

I struggled with this one because I knew that I could do nothing to attain it. I felt it was horrible that I was on the outside unable to come in of my own self, that it was only by God's invitation. I begged the Lord to save me. Even my begging seemed to go nowhere, and I knew that my heart was bad through and through, and that God could not listen to someone as selfish and evil as I, and I like the Caananite woman begged for crumbs from the master's table  (Matthew 15:22-28) or like the woman with the issue of blood who only sought to touch the hem of His garment (Matthew 9:20-22) and was persistent in my looking and seeking for that opening, that day that He would hear me, not because I was good or anything, but seeking His mercy (Luke 18:2-9)...

And yet, if I am sent to hell and it's fires and torments to be there for eternity, I would only be getting what I deserve. If I do find myself there it is just. What is unjust is His mercy. It is true what His enemies say "It is UNFAIR that some don't go to hell and many do"...however it is the upside-down of the fleshy reasoning. It isn't unfair that anyone goes to hell at all, we all deserve no more than hell. The unfair part is that any escape it at all, and that is GRACE.