TheosGuy

The following reading, Christ’s Passion,
is from F.E. Marsh’s 1000 Bible Study Outlines¹.

The passion of His atoning death is ever the secret and soul of
the Gospel. It speaks of:

1. Sin’s hindrance removed—Heb. 9:26.
2. Sin’s guilt answered for—Heb. 2:17.
3. Sin’s author overthrown—Heb. 2:14.
4. Sin’s gulf spanned—Heb. 10:19-20.
5. Sin’s pollution removed—Heb. 10:10.
6. Sin’s power broken—Heb. 10:16-18.
7. Sin’s victory destroyed—1 John 3:8.

1. 1000 Bible Study Outlines, Marsh, F.E., Reading number 175.

Tags: Christ, Marsh, Salvation, Teaching Ideas

The following reading, Christ’s Message on Being Saved,
is from F.E. Marsh’s 1000 Bible Study Outlines¹.

The pages of the New Testament ring with the word “saved. ”

1. Christ’s message was, “That ye might be saved“
   (John 5:34).
2. He said those who entered into the shepherd fold of His
   grace should “be saved” (John 10:9).
3. His commission to His disciples was that those who
   believed should “be saved” (Mark 16:16).
4. He assured a woman who came in penitence to Him,
   “Thy faith hath saved thee” (Luke 7:50).
5. He declared that Satan’s machinations were to keep men
   from receiving His Word, lest they should “believe and be
   saved” (Luke 8:12).
6. He revealed that God sent Him into the world that it
   might “be saved” (John 3:17).

1. 1000 Bible Study Outlines, Marsh, F.E. Reading number 171.

Tags: Christ, Marsh, Salvation, Teaching Ideas

Following is a quote from Spurgeon in the May 15th morning devotion (from Morning and Evening):

The believer in Christ receives a present justification. Faith does not produce this fruit by-and-by, but now. So far as justification is the result of faith, it is given to the soul in the moment when it closes with Christ, and accepts Him as its all in all.

I quote this as further exhortation to not chronologically separate salvation and faith. I believe the Bible unequivocally links justification as a result of the exercising of personal faith. And I do not see how one can speak of salvation apart from justification.

I believe the heated battle of which precedes which when talking of regeneration and faith is quite heated but with little benefit. For regeneration apart from salvation doesn’t mean a lot to me. Every single writer of the New Testament with the exception of Matthew exhorts us to believe (or have faith) to receive justification (in a narrow sense) or salvation (in a broader sense). By “in the broader sense” I mean that while we all know that salvation encompasses more than justification, it does seem strange to think of salvation without justification.

We seem to argue over things that are not significant. To speak of salvation as anything but grace from God would seem to be unwarranted. To speak of receiving salvation apart from human exercising of faith would be unbiblical. Which precedes which is not as important to me as to know who is responsible for what. God is responsible for providing salvation, and man is responsible for receiving it.

As I urged you when I went into Macedonia–remain in Ephesus that you may charge some that they teach no other doctrine, nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than godly edification which is in faith. Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, [from] a good conscience, and [from] sincere faith, from which some, having strayed, have turned aside to idle talk, desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say nor the things which they affirm. (1 Tim 1:3-7 NKJV)

Tags: Faith

John Piper has a new book, Finally Alive on various aspects of regeneration. Piper has made some startling comments (at least to me) on the relationship between faith and regeneration. Why are they startling? Because knowing Piper’s strong Calvinism theology, he has made some strong statements regarding the necessity of faith in regeneration.

Here is how John puts them together in his First Epistle: “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith” (1 John 5:4). “Born of God” is the key to victory. “Faith” is the key to victory. Both are true because faith is the way we experience being born of God. Being born of God always brings faith with it. The life given in the new birth is the life of faith. The two are never separate.

Or consider how John says it in 1 John 5:11-12: “This is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life, whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.” Therefore, when Jesus says, “It is the Spirit who gives life” (John 6:63), and, “You must be born of the Spirit” (John 3:5, 8), and, “Believing you may have life” (John 20:31), he means: In the new birth, the Holy Spirit supernaturally gives us new spiritual life by connecting us with Jesus Christ through faith. For Jesus is life.

Therefore, when answering the question What happens in the new birth? never separate these two sayings of Jesus in John 3: “Unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God” (v. 3), and, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life” (v. 36). What happens in the new birth is the creation of life in union with Christ. And part of how God does that is by the creation of faith which is how we experience our union with Christ.[1]

Immediately preceding this section, Piper wrote the following:

And from our side, the way we experience this is that faith in Jesus is awakened in our hearts. Spiritual life and faith in Jesus come into being together. The new life makes the faith possible, and since spiritual life always awakens faith and expresses itself in faith, there is no life without faith in Jesus. Therefore, we should never separate the new birth from faith in Jesus. From God’s side, we are united to Christ in the new birth. That’s what the Holy Spirit does. >From our side, we experience this union by faith in Jesus.[2]

To me there is not really anyway to get around the fact that Piper is saying faith and regeneration are simultaneous. God is the initiator, Yes! Man responds, Yes! But if there is no separation of time, then by definition they are simultaneous. I agree, or I should say Piper finally agrees with me!

You might think I would say that we have no involvement in it [regeneration], because we are spiritually dead. But the dead are very much involved in their resurrection—after all, they rise! Here is an example of what I mean. When Jesus stood before the grave of Lazarus who had been dead four days, Lazarus had no part in imparting his new life. He was dead. Jesus, not Lazarus, created the new life.

In John 11:43, Jesus says to the dead Lazarus, “Lazarus, come out.” And the next verse says, “The man who had died came out.” So Lazarus takes part in this resurrection. He comes out. Christ causes it. Lazarus does it. He is the one who rises from the dead! Christ brings about the resurrection. Lazarus acts out the resurrection. The instant Christ commands Lazarus to rise, Lazarus does the rising. The instant God gives new life, we do the living. The instant the Spirit produces faith, we do the believing.

So that’s why I am asking two questions, and not just one question, when I ask How are we born again? I am asking: What does God do in our new birth? How are we born again from God’s side? And I am asking: What do we do in our new birth? How are we born again from our side? [3]

Consider verses 23-25: “You have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God.” Notice: The new birth happens through the word of God. Verse 25 says that this word of God “is the good news that was preached to you.” [4]

And when the Spirit connects you to me by faith, you experience new birth. [5]

The answer continues like this: Your act of believing and God’s act of begetting are simultaneous. He does the begetting and you do the believing at the same instant. And—this is very important—his doing is the decisive cause of your doing. His begetting is the decisive cause of your believing.[6]

(Eph 1:13 ESV) “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.”
(Col 1:5 ESV) “because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel.”[7]

It is our new birth. It involves our believing in the gospel of Jesus Christ. That’s why I say that my new birth does not take place without me believing. In believing we are acting out the new birth, we are breathing in the new life.[8]

What then does this mean for us?…
1. It means that we must believe in order to be saved. “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved” (Acts 16:31). The new birth does not take the place of faith; the new birth involves faith. The new birth is the birth of faith.[9]

Footnotes:
[1] Piper, John. Finally Alive. (Fearn: Christian Focus), 2009), 33.
[2] Ibid., 32.
[3] Ibid., 79.
[4] Ibid., 83.
[5] Ibid., 92.
[6] Ibid., 102.
[7] Ibid., 104, footnote 14.
[8] Ibid., 105.
[9] Ibid., 107.

Tags: Faith, Salvation

Dr. Bruce Ware postulates a position on the extent of the atonement which he calls Un/limited Atonement or Multiple Intentions View . Dr. Ware represents this as the Four Point Calvinist Position.

God’s intentions in the death of Christ are complex not simple, multiple not single:

1. Christ died for the purpose of securing the sure and certain salvation of his own, his elect (John 10:11, 15; Eph. 5:25).
2. Christ died for the purpose of paying the penalty for the sin of all people making it possible for all who believe to be saved (1 Tim 4:10; 1 John 2:2; 2 Cor. 5:14-15).
3. Christ died for the purpose of securing the bone fide offer of salvation to all people everywhere (Matt. 28:18-20; Acts 1:8; John 6:35, 40; Rom 10:13).
4. Christ died for the purpose of providing an additional basis for condemnation for those who hear and reject the gospel that has been genuinely offered to them (2 Pet 2:1; John 3:18b).
5. Christ died for the purpose of reconciling all things to the Father (Rom. 8:20-23; 1 Cor. 15:24-28; Col. 1:19-20).

Tags: Salvation, Ware

Here are some verses that indicate that faith is a gift from God.

For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, –The just shall live by faith.— (Romans 1:17 NKJV)

looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2 NKJV)

He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. (1 Peter 1:20-21 NKJV)

For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake, (Phil 1:29 NKJV)

One of the most often quoted verses for support that faith is a gift is Ephesians 2:8-9.

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; [it is] the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9 NKJV)

However, there are some grammatical issues that for me make it a less than stellar support for the argument. The basic issue is that the gender for the word “it” (pronoun for the word “gift”) does not agree with the gender of the word “faith.” When you get down to it, the word “it” is referring to the overall concept of salvation, as opposed to the specific word “faith.”

Tags: Faith

Following are some Scriptures indicating the necessity of belief for salvation. I do not believe this applies to those individuals who for mental or physical reasons cannot exercise faith, for example, mentally incapable, infants, etc.

(Jhn 1:7 KJV) The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.

(Jhn 1:12-13 KJV) But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

(Jhn 3:14-16 KJV) And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

(Jhn 3:18 KJV) He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

(Jhn 3:36 KJV) He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

(Jhn 4:39-42 KJV) And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I did. So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them: and he abode there two days. And many more believed because of his own word; And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.

(Jhn 4:48 KJV) Then said Jesus unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe.

(Jhn 4:53 KJV) So the father knew that it was at the same hour, in the which Jesus said unto him, Thy son liveth: and himself believed, and his whole house.

(Jhn 5:24 KJV) Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.

(Jhn 5:38-40 KJV) And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not. Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.

(Jhn 5:43-47 KJV) I am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive. How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only? Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust. For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me. But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?

(Jhn 6:28-30 KJV) Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. They said therefore unto him, What sign shewest thou then, that we may see, and believe thee? what dost thou work?

(Jhn 6:35 KJV) And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.

(Jhn 6:40 KJV) And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.

(Jhn 6:47 KJV) Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.

(Jhn 6:64-65 KJV) 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. And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.

(Jhn 6:66-71 KJV) From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil? He spake of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon: for he it was that should betray him, being one of the twelve.

Tags: Faith, Salvation

I was listening to John MacArthur’s sermons on The Certainty of Assurance (Part 1, Part 2) and he made a comment near the end of Part 1 that was thought provoking.

To know God, to know Christ is to be compelled on the inside to obey the Law that God wrote there. People have said actually to me, “I don’t go to your church, too legalistic.” My first concern is they’re not Christians because they see the Law of God as something imposed on them on the outside. I would be more prone to say, “Boy, I can’t go to your church because you don’t love the Law of God from the heart. I couldn’t be in a church like that.” You see, that’s where the law was written in the New Covenant, it was written in the heart.

He was referring to the Scriptural statement of what the New Covenant is.

But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more. (Jeremiah 31:33-34 NKJV)

The implication here is that if the Law of God is written by God upon our hearts and minds, then we should love the Law of God. Jesus said:

If you love Me, keep My commandments. (John 14:15 NKJV)

I do not believe that Jesus is referring here to the Mosaic Law, especially not the ceremonial and theocratic laws. For Jesus expounds on His words:

If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love…This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you…These things I command you, that you love one another. (John 15:10, 12, 17 NKJV)

Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ (Matthew 22:37 NKJV)

And Paul tells is of the law of Christ.

Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. (Galatians 6:2 NKJV)

So it would seem that the commandments of Christ relate to our loving of the LORD our God and our neighbors.

Tags: Assurance, Salvation

Four times we are told in scripture that “the just shall live by faith.” Faith on the finished work of Jesus Christ as our one and only true sacrifice.

Behold the proud, His soul is not upright in him; But the just shall live by his faith. (Hab 2:4 NKJV)

For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith. (Rom 1:17 NKJV)

But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for “the just shall live by faith. (Gal 3:11 NKJV)

Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him. (Heb 10:38 NKJV)

Tags: Assurance, Faith, Living

Following are the generally recognized systems that define the decretive work of God. The first two are generally considered to be Reformed.

Supralapsarian (Before the Fall)

1. God’s decree to glorify Himself through the election of some to salvation and some to reprobation.
2. God’s decision to create the universe.
3. God decrees the fall into sin.
4. God’s decision to provide a savior for the elect in the mediatorial work of Christ.

Note: in the supralapsarian system:

• The elective work is before the decree of the fall into sin.
• God’s decretive will begins with predestination.
• Election and reprobation are God’s primary work prior to creation.
• The 2nd-4th decrees are means toward realization of the 1st. Creation is for the sake of election and damnation. The fall serves God’s elective purpose.
• This decretive order seems to suggest that God is responsible for the fall since some humans are created expressly for damnation.

Much of the Reformed Church do not hold to this system of decrees developed by Theodore Beza. Generally, they hold to infralapsarianism.

Infralapsarian (After the Fall)

1. God’s decision to create the world.
2. God’s decision to allow man to fall into sin through his own self-determination.
3. God decrees to elect some to salvation in Jesus Christ.
4. God determines to pass by and leave the non-elect to their just fate and condemnation.

Note: in the inralapsarian system:

• The elective work is after the decision to allow the fall into sin.
• Follows the Scriptural order: creation, fall and salvation.

Sublapsarian

1. Creation of human beings
2. Permit the Fall
3. Provide salvation sufficient for all
4. Election to salvation and reprobation

Arminian Decretive Order

1. God’s decision to be gracious toward sinful human beings by providing a Savior in Jesus Christ.
2. God decrees to accept those who repent and believe in Christ, but to leave the unrepentant and unbelieving in their sin and to hold them responsible for the wrath of damnation.
3. Appointment of the proclamation of the Gospel as the means necessary to call people to salvation.
4. God decreed to save and damn particular persons based upon His prescience of their decision to repent and believe.

Tags: Election, God