Prayer...

Prayer is a funny thing
though always done with somber face.
From its lips most praises ring
or weeps for more extended grace.
Prayer is a mighty thing
yet so oft neglected.

Prayer is a curious thing

no man can know its function

Though God promises to heal the sting

if truly prayed with unction.

Prayer is a forgotten thing

our jeans not worn through.

Yet how often forgotten

when time and again God pulls us through the slough.

I write this post to remind my Christian brothers and sisters of the importance and power of prayer. It cannot be neglected. I write this as an exhortation to myself mostly. I pray at a maddeningly inconsistent rate. I find it most difficult to pray when there is seemingly nothing going wrong in life. But to even think that there is nothing going wrong in life means that my view of everything is so near-sighted and self-serving that sometimes I feel I must vomit. How convenient it would be to live in a self-centric universe. Often times I find myself even when I do make the time to pray falling into a state of distraction and lack of focus. I guess this is why we are commanded to fix our eyes on Jesus.

As I write this post I find myself wondering what it meant to pray without ceasing. What does it mean?

Does it mean that every hour of every day we must pray? I'm not so sure about that. Not that I'm saying that that is wrong, I'm just interested in what that actually means. 

Jesus often times departed from company and made a point to pray alone to His father. But was Jesus praying without ceasing? Well if Jesus is a fulfillment of the Scripture, then He must have fulfilled the whole Scripture including the writings of Paul. So what then is praying without ceasing?

Is it prayer all the time? Perhaps.

But I believe that praying without ceasing is a constant focus on the will and person of God. This is the same way that Jesus himself lived and died and rose again.

My challenge to you my friends, and myself is this, pray without ceasing.

Philippians 4:6 "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

 8 Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things."

Prayer is a funny thing

though always done with somber face.

From its lips most praises ring

or weeps for more extended grace.

Prayer is a mighty thing

yet so oft neglected.

Prayer is a curious thing

no man can know its function

Though God promises to heal the sting

if truly prayed with unction.

Prayer is a forgotten thing

our jeans not worn through.

Yet how often forgotten

when time and again God pulls us through the slough.

Pursue holiness.

Fiat justitia et pereat mundus,
Ross

Salvation is of the Lord

This is a paper I wrote for my freshman year, New Testament Survey class at Calvary Bible College for Dr. Miller. The topic is Lordship Salvation as presented in the Bible to the best of my ability. Footnotes are at the bottom! May it bless you just as the study of it blessed me.

Salvation is of the Lord

Introduction

            The issue of lordship salvation has turned into a rather controversial issue over the years. The predominant issue of it all stems from a very real disagreement over true faith. Through this paper, this author will try to prove the pro-lordship position as stated in Scripture. This paper will prove what lordship salvation is not, what its biggest questions are, and what it actually is. This is not a simple doctrinal statement that can be brushed aside as an irrelevant issue with no bearing on the soteriological landscape. This author will prove that this issue is relevant and important.

What Lordship is Not and Its Common Grounds.

            While advocates of either belief will rally around conflicting points, it must be understood that there are some meeting grounds for the two. They are as follows:

            1. The death of Christ and its redeeming eternality in salvation.

            2. Justification through faith in Christ alone.

            3. Sinful man cannot gain the favor of a righteous God.

            4. God requires no preparatory works or pre-salvation reformation.

            5. Eternal life is a gift.

            6. Believers are saved before their faith produces any righteous works.

            7. Christians sin, sometimes horribly.[1]

---

[1] John F. MacArthur Jr, Faith Works: The Gospel According to the Apostles, (Dallas, London, Vancouver, Melbourne: Word Publishing, 1993,) 26.

That is where the similarities end for both camps. The following are points that only the advocates of non-lordship hold to:

            1. Repentance is a change of mind about Christ. Repentance in regards to the gospel invitation is nothing more than a synonym for faith. No turning from sin, no pursuing of righteousness is necessary.

            2. Salvation as a whole is a gift of God. Faith might not last though. A true Christian can completely cease believing.

            3. Saving faith is simply being convinced or giving credence to the truth of the gospel. It is a confidence that Christ can remove guilt and give eternal life, not a personal commitment to Him.

            4. Some spiritual fruit is inevitable in every Christian’s experience. The fruit, however, might not be visible to others. Christians can lapse into a state of permanent spiritual barrenness.

            5. Only the judicial aspects of salvation such as justification, adoption, imputed righteousness, and positional sanctification are guaranteed in this life for believers. Practical sanctification and growth in grace require a post-conversion act of dedication.

            6. Submission to Christ’s supreme authority as Lord is not germane to the saving transaction. Neither dedication nor willingness to be dedicated to Christ are issues in salvation. The news that Christ died for our sins and rose from the dead is the complete gospel. Nothing else must be believed for salvation.

7. Christians may fall into a state of lifelong carnality. A category of “carnal Christians,” or Christians who live in the church are born again despite their worldly living. This then gives rise to the spiritually indifferent and the “Sunday Christians” who sit on their pews every Sunday morning and do nothing for Christ.

            8. Disobedience and prolonged sin are no reason to doubt the reality of one’s faith.

            9. A believer may utterly forsake Christ and come to the point of not believing. God has guaranteed that He will not disown those who thus abandon the faith. Those who have once believed are secure forever, even if they turn away.[1]

            Now that the similarities and differences have been presented, this author will now do his best to tackle every issue.

The Big Questions

            As can be seen, there are major doctrinal issues at stake here. Gospel accuracy must be held in high regard. The issue of lordship is not a battle over works plus faith salvation or faith only. If a biblically illiterate man is stuck in a room with a Bible and told to read through the gospels literally, he would come out of that room knowing that salvation is works free.

As stated earlier, this is a battle over what faith really equates to. The non-lordship follower believes that “faith in Christ” is merely a belief in a set of facts about Christ.

            Lordship salvation does not teach that Christians are perfect. No true Christian would ever think this. The key issue is that obedience rather than disobedience becomes the defining trait in the life of the believer. It is a matter of imitation and emulation (Rom 8:29), not just reception and appreciation. Christians will sometimes do what they do not want to do.[2] Christian’s will fail in attempts to live perfectly (Phil 3:12-15). That is a fact of flesh. God will chasten and, if the believer is truly born again, will change his ways (Heb 12:5-11).[3] One has but to look at the lives of these men in the Bible. Abraham failed many times but as God worked in his life he changed into a spiritual stalwart. Jacob began his life as a trickster and deceiver and slowly but surely his life changed towards a theocentric lifestyle.

            The main issue in lordship salvation is most assuredly not the role the sinner plays in the salvific process. The crux of the issue is the extent of God’s redemption of the elect. Rebirth (John 3:3, 7; 1 Pet 1:3, 23), freedom from bondage in sin (Rom 6:6), partakers of God’s divine nature (2 Pet 1:4), being a new creature (2 Cor 5:17), being a slave of righteousness (Rom 6:18) are all wrapped up in this. God’s work in salvation begins with His elective decision and ends with glory.[4]

            The question lies not with the fact that Christians are saved by grace. The question is what role does that grace play in their salvation?

            When it comes to the issue of grace, it must be known that grace is not just a license to sin. Grace is the present and determinable work of God in your life.[5] Jesus wants His children to be a people of His possession predestined to fulfill and perform His specific works for them (Eph 2:10; Titus 2:14). John MacArthur states, “Grace that does not affect one’s behavior is not the grace of God.”[6] This can only give the “Christian” the idea of doing whatsoever they wish because God will grant His grace anyway.

            Repentance is integral to the gospel (Acts 2:38; 3:19; 17:30). True Christians will respond to this call for repentance.[7] What is the point in a man raising his spiritual flag of allegiance to Christ if he himself is unwilling to change his lifestyle? The reborn Christian is called to go out and act and live righteously. This is a matter of godliness! This is a matter of holiness! This is a matter of doing the will of God and doing what is acceptable and good and true because God says it is right (Acts 26:20)! The natural and driving bent of man is and always will be for evil. God wants no part of the “carnal Christian.” Paul Washer once said, “If you really are a child of God, then He will break you down into a million pieces and remake you into His image, and HE WILL NOT SHARE YOU WITH THE EARTH AND ITS VANITIES!”

Proponents of non-lordship rally around the fact that the teaching of repentance adds to biblical doctrines of salvation something that is not there. If the enemies of God cannot be His children, how can they be His sans repentance (Rom. 5:10)? Even in Scripture wherever repentance is not directly stated, it is most assuredly implied in salvation. John MacArthur states, “If someone is walking away from you and you say ‘Come here,’ it is not necessary to say ‘Turn around and come.’ The U-turn is implied.”

            It must be clearly understood that the Epistles most definitely do not teach a gospel different from the one of Jesus Himself. A faith that is not lazy, but lively; it is a repentant, submissive, believing, persevering faith that works.[8]

            One of the biggest discussion points posed by the proponents of non-Lordship is the belief that Christians must live perfect lives if they subscribe to the lordship position. As stated before, this is a matter of imitation and emulation. All Christians fail. Some fail horribly. But all Christians seek to, and do, obey. It is a matter of a genuine heartfelt desire to do that which is right.

            Lord willing, this has made sense to the reader. The similarities of the lordship and non-lordship stances have been expressed. The questions posed by the proponents of non-lordship have been answered in a detailed way hopefully. From here, this author will now move on to describe exactly what the lordship salvation belief is in great detail.

What Lordship Is

Lordship can best be defined as a beckoning of faith from the gospel whose prerequisite demands sinners must repent of sin and kneel before Christ. God follows His gift of faith(the instrument of our justification) with the gift of persevering faith and repentance(the fruit of justification).[9]

            Faith is belief IN Christ, not faith ABOUT Christ. This faith is not in facts about Christ but rather faith in His person as both Lord and Savior. This author holds very strongly onto Rom.10:9 as a flagship verse for the defense of this belief for it speaks not only of a verbal acknowledgment of Jesus’ lordship since even demons believe that. What it is asking for is a surrendering of the will and a commitment to following the sovereignty of Christ. All wrapped up in this verse is the soteriological belief of repentance, faith in Jesus for salvation, and submission to Him as Lord.[10]

            The next step in understanding lordship salvation is learning the key foundations or tenets to it. They consist of the inseparable nature of justification and sanctification, the special and incredibly unique nature of true faith, and the massive payment for salvation.

            First, sanctification is a progressive process where the believer emulates Christ more and more. All those truly saved will over time become more and more sanctified. Though never perfect here, lordship believes that the believer will persevere.

            The union between saving faith and works that justify it are most intricate. This then, proceeding in logic from the preceding statements, would say that faith without works is not true salvation (James 2:26).

            The freedom of salvation is just as amazing as how costly it is. Just as Abraham sacrificed his will, wisdom, and self-centeredness on Isaac’s altar on Mount Moriah, so also must the believer take up his cross and follow Jesus, dying to self, and living for the glory and furthering of Christ. This payment is not meant to discourage man but rather to encourage. Count the cost! If it is true then a person’s service will most surely be joyous.

            This is lordship salvation. “A faith that, in the New Testament, was not an intellectual assent, but rather a moral element of personal trust.”[11]

Conclusion

            Is this issue relevant? Yes it is. Any doctrinal stand regarding the salvation process is immensely important. Is Jesus Lord of the Christian’s life? If He is truly a believer then the answer must clearly be yes! Why then would that fact of lordship be any different through the conversion process? There is no difference. Can believers sin in their spiritual priorities? Yes, Christians can place things before Christ. The factor that sets true Christians apart though is the integral traits of obedience and repentance. Repentance in conversion, and repentance during conversion, is a staple of this belief.

            This author prays that the pro-lordship side of salvation was accurately presented, and that no harmful or “well-poisoning” was done towards the non-lordship camp. Is the Christian’s faith directed at the actions of Christ? Or is it directed at the character of Christ and who Christ is as a person?

            What the issue comes down to is this:

            Lordship Christians are not perfect, do not hold the key to their salvation, are changed by the workings of God’s grace in their lives, and a repentance at and after conversion.

            Rom 10:9  “If you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord…

            John 3:16b  “…that whosoever believeth in Him…”

            Time to evaluate; Is Jesus Lord or license?

---

[1] Ibid., 27-28.

[2] Ibid., 30

[3] Ibid., 31

[4] Ibid., 32

[5] Ibid.

[6] Ibid., 33

[7] Anthony A. Hoekema, Saved by Grace (Grand Rapids, Michigan, Wm. B. Eerdsmans Publishing Company, 1989), 71

[8] John MacArthur., Faith Works, 35.

[9] Michael S. Horton, Christ the Lord: The Reformation and Lordship Salvation (Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 1992), 20.

[10] John MacArthur. The MacArthur Study Bible, NASB-U (La Habra, California: Thomas Nelson, 2006), 1680.

[11] Grudem, Wayne, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine (Grand Rapids: MI: Zondervan Publishing, 2000), 710.

Stick to your Guns!

This is not a hate post. This is an exhortation to all my Christian brothers and sisters. Recently I have been studying Dispensationalism. I study it because I need to know what it is. I study it because I believe its methodology to be right. There are 4 key tenets to Dispensationalism. They are as follows:

1. A literal, historical, grammatical hermeneutic.

2. Discontinuity - the church is not the continuance of Old Testament Israel.

3. God is not done with Israel. They are still His chosen nation. This would include a Premillennial position as well as both are driven by #1. 

4. An Old Testament to New Testament interpretive grid. Meaning, we(Dispensationalists) interpret the Bible as it was revealed, from OT to NT. Therefore we interpret the NT thru the lenses of the OT not vis-a-versa. 

I will take questions on this in the comments if necessary. I simply wanted to get my presupposition out there in the open.

I have noticed lately that many people have either shed labels, or are shedding labels in their doctrinal alignment in search of "greener pastures." Granted, sometimes it's for very valid reasons. Sometimes it is necessary. Sometimes people restudy Scripture and find something that they had never seen before to actually be truth when compared with the rest of the Bible. This is good!

Here is the downside though. More often than not, it is reactionary. Almost every person I've ever talked to that has changed their stance on most doctrinal issues is because of such a trivial thing....people.

It almost never fails. I ask what changed someone, and it always goes back to "some dude at 'X' church said this," or "my old friend 'Y' failed in this area." How easy is it to write people off when they make one mistake?! By that logic the apostle Peter himself would be anathema. What are we commanded to do? Run from trouble? Run from arguments? or Fight?! Are to we pull up stakes at the first sign of inconsistency and head for something new, or be the accountable church goers we are supposed to be? People have forgotten how to exhort and reprimand for holiness! People will willingly sit idly by as "Z" elder or "P" pastor drives their church into spiritual shipwreck and then simply gripe behind closed doors to their friends and neighbors. Be unpopular! Step up and say what needs to be said! Take someone to task for once! 

Tell me what's more wrong? False teaching, or the coward who sits idly by and says nothing to rescue his wayward comrade?

 I was talking with my good friend Jacob last night. I expressed my concern on this very issue which prompted this blog post.

There is never going to be a side that gets everything right. There never will be. And there will always be people we don't like or agree with at church. But the thing is, we still have to put up with them. This isn't facebook. You can't just close a chat window, or "go-offline" when people start to annoy you. The body is supposed to be able to heal itself right? From the inside, right? Why not the body of Christ? I don't have time to sit and argue with people on which denomination is full of more hypocrisy.

I spend a lot of time defining what my doctrinal stance is. I will proclaim it here. I am a Fundamentalist holding to Dispensationalism and an Amyraldian.

Fundamentalists in recent years have come under horrible attack(granted, sometimes warranted). Just because there is inconsistency, doesn't mean I will abandon what I believe, when executed properly, to be truth. When something you love is dying, you don't just abandon it. You seek to give it life! You want it to live! As John Piper once said, "You're talking to dead people. They need to live! Speak the words that cause them to live!"

As I said, this is not an angry post. This is an exhortation.

Sometimes, we need to pull out our spiritual dictionaries and redefine what once used to be honorable labels. I challenge you my friends, not to abandon. Redefine, and don't let what you love and hold dear die.

Fiat justitia et pereat mundus,

Ross

The Delusion of the "good" God.

God is good. At least that's what most people want to believe. In fact, most people believe that God is so good, that He could not possibly have a condemnation planned for sinners. Not just any condemnation mind you. But an eternal condemnation. One surely must wonder, "How can a just God, a fair God, a loving God, and a merciful God save just a few people while millions and millions of other people spend an eternity in hell. 

This is where any matter of understanding the Bible and any theological issue must begin: with the character of God.

So much of what we even understand about God has become so skewed in American Christianity that it's at the point where terms must be re-stated. When I say re-stated, I do not mean coming up with a new meaning for these terms, but rather reminding the reader of what these things really mean. 

We live in an age of subjectivity in America, and it permeates almost every fiber of our ethical pretenses. Possibly the most abstract and subjective concept to grasp is the word "good." What is good? One of the first things that pops into my head when I hear the word good is standing on a grassy field with 21 other people and playing a game of soccer, whereas to some people that same idea would be about as palatable as slashing your wrists and doing pushups in alcohol.

Does "good" then become an ethical question as far as say, for example, wars. Whatever country we live in, we automatically believe that we are the good guys right? Of course. With that in mind, if every side believes that they are the good guys, who really is right? Each side then becomes malum prohibitum meaning that they are wrong just because a governing body says it is. A sliding scale like this is far too arbitrary for the God of the Bible. 

3 John 11 "Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not seen God."

So now, based on the Bible we have one stipulation that defines what good is. We must first of all, imitate and emulate this "good." Those who do good are of God, and the one who doesn't is the opposite.

So we must better define this "good." How do we imitate this "good?"

James 1:17 "Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow."

So now we have stipulation #2. All good things given, and every perfect gift is from God. As Malachi 3:6 and 1 John 1:5 state to back up this verse, God does not change. He IS light, and in Him is no darkness at all. 

So we are to imitate that which is good. All good things come from God. God does not change, and He is light.

Nahum 1:7  "The LORD is good, A stronghold in the day of trouble, And He knows those who take refuge in Him."

God is good. We must imitate that which is good. Good, can only come from that which is Good. Therefore, from the Bible, we can determine that God is in fact good.

But we still have these nagging questions: How can a loving God condemn people to a life lived in hell for all eternity? To this I repeat the great quote from Pastor Paul Washer which says, "How can a righteous God let sinners stand before Him?" 

If you were standing in a court of law, and a judge decided to let all serial rapists and murderers go free with irrefutable evidence to prove their guilt, and absolutely no ramifications for their past crimes, would that judge still be considered a good judge? Of course not. That judge would be dragged through the streets and kicked out of any court. Why then does the standard of excellence change when it comes to God as judge?

God created everything as stated in Genesis 1-2. He formed the earth the first three days, and filled it in the second three. In Genesis 1-2 we have complementary, not contradictory, accounts of the creation. Since God created it, it is therefore His. In Genesis 18:25 Abraham states, "Far be it from You to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly?”

It is not the unrighteous who gain special treatment, but the righteous. What is the fate of each group then? First the unrighteous: What condemns them, and what is their punishment?

Romans 6:23a "For the wages of sin is death..."

Romans 10:9 "If you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

Revelation 20:10 "And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

Revelation 20:15 "And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire."

A grisly fate indeed. Mankind's sin and unbelief in the risen Christ is what will condemn him in the end. Man is malum in se or inherently evil. 

I'm sure the next question is, why must this punishment be eternal then? Shouldn't there be a completion of payment for all the bad things that people do eventually?

As stated in the above verses, the punishment must be forever and ever. God does not change. For there to be post-judgement forgiveness would be an altering of his character. To borrow an analogy from Pastor Jon Stephens of Ease Side Bible Church in Chicago, think of the lake of fire as a debt prison. When people who could not repay their debts they were forced to enter into prison until their debts were repaid. Obviously, when they were in prison, they couldn't exactly hold a job. Therefore, repaying of the debt was impossible. When an unbeliever is sent to hell they have no means of making their righteousness high enough to enter into the glory of God's presence, for they have not been declared as such by Christ.

What makes the others then righteous and what is their end?

Philippians 2:9-11 "So then God highly exalted Him(Jesus), and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name. That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess to the glory of God the Father."

Romans 10:9 "If you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart the God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved."

Christians live their lives in subjection to Christ. He is the Lord of Christians. That doesn't change in the salvific process either. Christians must always remember and submit to Christ's Lordship.

In the gospels alone, a call for repentance for all is mentioned at least 9 times, and at least 40 times throughout the whole Bible. 

If your salvation is true, then a life lived for Christ will evidence itself in your every action.

This is what makes mankind righteous before God. When we respond to His calling in faith. Now what is the end of the righteous?

Revelation 22:3-5 "There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him; they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever."

Quite a difference eh?

This is by no means "good works" salvation. This is saving faith! Romans 5:1-2 "Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God." Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me."

This faith is best pictured, in the life of the tax collector in Luke 18:13 "“But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’

It is when man realizes that he CANNOT save himself, just like this wealthy(most likely according to historical records of tax collectors) man could not save himself. When the cry of help to God, is coupled with a penitent heart and a desire for repentance, then and only then, is the sinner declared righteous before God by Christ who died for man's sin. 

A good God must be just. For Him to accept the presence of unrighteous peoples would be a violation of His holiness. I do not flaunt my position as a proverbial merit badge to my own wisdom. May it never be! I on the other hand, boast in Christ for His choosing of me to be His child. He saved me! I will never forget that! I pray that He will save you too! Jesus died for the sins of mankind to provide a way for salvation to those that repent and place themselves beneath the Lordship of Christ.

When all is said and done, Matthew 19:17 rings most true: And He said to him, “Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good;

God is good, God is just, and God is holy. And you can live on that.

Fiat justitia et pereat mudus,

Ross