FORGIVENESS AND STEWARDSHIP

Ethics case: I submit that Biblical Forgiveness between sheep is not synonymous with restored entrustment of stewardship and responsibilities. One example, you entrust a 16 year old to babysit your 2 year old while you are 2 hours away visiting an ICU patient. You come home and suddenly the 16 year old pulls in behind you, you look to find your child is still in the house alone. The babysitter says, "I was only gone 30 minutes, I wanted to visit a friend to see her new jacket."; Biblical Forgiveness does not mean God requires you to entrust your toddler 7x70 to someone who has been negligent 1x, or 10x, 100x, 490x. But I often here persons mixing the two concepts up, and accusing me of beign unforgiving for not also granting persons previous levels of stewardship/responsibility that they have constantly failed to display. Your thoughts?

Gordon Clark, Sanctification, page 60

(page 54-55: Deals with the QUESTION ONE: BAPTIZE WITH WATER OR SAND) [I have not included]
(page 56-60: Deals with the QUESTION TWO: THE MODE OF BAPTISM) [I have not included]


THIRD QUESTION:
(page 60, beginning halfway down the page)

The third of the four questions now is: To whom should baptism be administered? This question divides in two. Should unbelievers be baptized or believers only? And, should infants be baptized or adults only.

In the New Testament, so far as adults are concerned, the practice and the teaching were to baptize on confession of faith: Repent and be baptized. The Philippian jailer and all his family were baptized straightway after he asked, "What must I do to be saved?" This is a far cry from the Romish practice of baptizing the heathen in crowds, as for example upon the conversion of Clovis, or apparently upon the conversion of no one in Buddhist lands.

At the same time, it must be noted that the apostles gave very little instruction. The Jews at Pentecost knew the Old Testament and needed only to learn that Jesus was their Messiah; but the jailer surely knew little if anything, yet he and his household were baptized after one sermon. The next day Paul left the city. Later in church history there were catechetical classes, lasting a few months or even a few years. Though this bears the

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appearance of wisdom, it was not the practice of the apostles. Yet they certainly required a profession of faith.

The second half of this sub-question also divides into two: Should infants ever be baptized, and if so, which infants?

The basic authority for baptizing infants is found in the terms of the Abrahamic Covenant. Infants, male infants, were circumcised. Now, as the Lord's Supper grew out of and replaced the Passover meal, so baptism replaced circumcision. The most definite passage on the subject is Colossians 2:11,12 where baptism is called the circumcision of Christ. The less definite but more pervasive material concerns the continuance of the Abrahamic covenant, as found in Galatians 3:15ff.

In this connection one should note that it is not necessary to find explicit New Testament justification for every Christian doctrine. The Old Testament is a part of the Bible also. To be sure, the Mosaic ritual was a temporal expedient. To continue the sacrifice of lambs today would be to deny the efficacy of Christ's sacrifice. But while the ritual is fulfilled, the covenant of grace remains the same in all ages. A relatively minor, though for that very reason pertinent, point concerns the condemnation of incest as 1 Corinthians 5:1ff. The New Testament gives no details concerning the limits of consanguinity and affinity in marriage. They are found in Leviticus 18. See I Corinthians 1:19, 31; 2:9, 16; 3:19, 20; 6:16; 9:9, 10:7 and others, plus frequent verbal allusions that cannot be called quotations in the modern sense. In chapter five, however, Paul does not quote Leviticus but clearly Leviticus is the only place that affords Paul a basis for his condemnation. The correct principle of interpretation is not the Baptist one of discarding everything in the Old Testament not reasserted in the New; but rather the acceptance of everything in the Old not abrogated by the New Testament teaching.

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Therefore to be more explicit, be it noted that the Old Testament church and the New Testament church are the same church. Not only does Acts 8:38 , "the church in the wilderness" so assert, but even clearer is Romans 11:17-24. There as a root; one of its branches was Israel; this branch was broken off; a Gentile branch from a wild olive tree was grafted into the good root; and God can and will at some future date graft back the natural branches into their own olive tree. The whole, as Galatians 6:16 indicates, is the Israel of God. Since, now, children were members of the ancient church, and were given the sign of the covenant, so also now.

Anyone who wishes to exclude infants from the church is under obligation to show that the New Testament alters the procedure that dates back at least to Abraham. It is the Baptist who must bear the burden of proof. He must explain how it comes about that children, who were members of the church before the time of Christ, are now excluded from the church. All other Christians aer satisfied with the household baptisms of Acts 16:15, the jailer in Acts 16:33, and the household of Stephanus in I Corinthians 1:16.

The other subdivision of the QUESTION is a more difficult one: Whose children should be baptized? It is not at all difficult to show that a child of two believing parents should be baptized, nor even that a child of only one believing parent should be. I Corinthians 7:14 is sufficient. The difficulty arises when one considers the case of a child whose parents were perhaps baptized infancy, who attend church services with some regularity, and who want their child baptized, even thought they themselves have never become communicant members. Today in the United States the very large majority who are in regular attendance are communicant members. But it so happens that regular attendants who are not communicants want their children baptized. Should the church acquiesce?

(page 63)

In Europe and in early America the children of baptized but non-communicant members were regularly baptized. Robert Ellis Thompson, in "A History of the Presbyterian Churches in the United States (1895, p.14) reports: "The absence of regularly constituted sessions for the administration of church discipline, and the refusal of baptism to the children of baptized persons who were not communicants marked the local congregation as un-Presbyterian." That is, communicant membership was not essential for the parents of infants to be baptized; and the author notes that this was the rule in all Reformed churches.

The argument was that there is a visible and an invisible Church. The members of the latter are precisely God's elect; but many members of the former are not. Ishmael and Esau were both circumcised. Furthermore, since the promise and the covenant extended to a thousand generations, the visible church today may and ought to baptize infants of unbelieving parents who want them baptized, on the basis of their ancestor's faith. Surely not every Israelite, at any period of its disappointing history, was regenerate; yet no priest would have hesitated to circumcise the children of such parents. But in New England, as was not true in Europe, an inference drawn with respect to the Lord's Supper deserves mention at his point. Like baptism, the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, came to be regarded as a sacrament of the visible church. The grandfather of Jonathan Edwards argued that regeneration is not a necessary qualification for admission to the Lord's Supper. In fact the sacrament itself is a converting ordinance. Increase Mather opposed this view; Jonathan Edwards in time came to oppose it also, for which cause he was dismissed from the pastorate he had inherited from his grandfather. Presbyterians generally followed Mather and Edwards in this regard.

(page 64)

Now, even if it be granted that baptism may properly be administered to children of non-professing parents, the inference to a similar stance on the Lord's Supper is fallacious. The two sacraments should be distinguished. The distinction is this: Admitting for the sake of argument that the covenant extends to thousands of generations, one must still remember that the apostle commanded each person to examine himself and so let him eat, on pain of eating and drinking damnation to himself. Obviously Paul did not intend the Supper to be a converting ordinance. The radical individualism of regeneration prevails.

But now, beyond admissions for the sake of argument, what must be said on the substantial question? Does the Bible require or prohibit baptisms to the thousandth generation? If it does, and if a generation is roughly thirty years, a thousand generations from the time of Christ would include just about everybody in the western world. Then the church should have baptized the child of an intensely Talmudic Jew whose ancestor in 50 B.C. was piously looking for the Messiah; Or, George Whitefield should have baptized Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and Tom Paine, as children, because one of the their ancestors played a small role in the Reformation. Strange as this may seem to many, it ought to have been done if the Bible so teaches.

Some very eminent theologians have so held. The strictest view has not been universal; it is more American than European. The view that only the children of professing parents should be baptized seems to have been the result of colonial revivalism. An historian might care to determine whether Tennant was its originator. In those days, as also in the early twentieth century, the Presbytery of New York was lax in doctrine, while the Philadelphia Presbytery was noted for orthodoxy. Gilbert Tennant, pastor in New Brunswick, New Jeresy, too vigorously

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castigated the Philadelphia ministers for their dead orthodoxy. This led Synod to condemn Tennant on charges of slander and to exclude him with one of his associates from the Synod. Tennant eventually repented, but at the moment the New Brunswick Presbytery withdrew from the Synod and the New York Presbytery followed them. The Synod then tightened its ordination vows, which from the Adopting Act of 1729 allowed candidates for ordination to state their scruples or disagreements with the Confession. The Synod now required unconditional subscription.

There was a strange mixture of ideas in the minds of these revivalists. In theology they were more lax than the Philadelphia ministers were; but they were more strict with reference to baptism. But though strange, it is understandable. Their pietism and evangelistic zeal led them to place great emphasis on conversion as a traumatic experience. Zeal in preaching false doctrine was better than preaching truth without zeal. Let it be noted that this was not the case with Whitefield. He preached the truth with zeal. He did not, however, use a mourner's bench or a sawdust trail. Tennant, on the other hand, can be called the forerunner of Finney --- that disaster which Christianity suffered in the next century --- though of course, being a century earlier, Tennant was far more orthodox than Finney.

This emotional pietism, as it demanded a particular type of experience for regeneration, tended to view the ideal church as consisting entirely of regenerate persons sharing such an experience. The logical result is the Baptist position; but in Presbyterianism it stopped short at requiring faith of the parents who wanted their children baptized. But if it did not result in Baptist practices, it involved a change in the theology of baptism.

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This now is the FOURTH QUESTION: What is the meaning of baptism and what does the rite accomplish? The Presbyterian position is neither Baptist, nor Anglican, and of course not Romish. The discussion of the older view, that of baptismal regeneration will come first.

One of the verses used to support baptismal regeneration is John 3:5: "Unless one is begotten of water and Spirit he cannot enter the Kingdom of God." Does this mean that the rite of baptism produces regeneration and that no one without water baptism can enter into heaven? An examination of the context can alone give the answer.

Point one: Nicodemus was a Jew, honestly seeking the truth. Therefore Jesus, in explaining the earlier phrase "unless a man is born over again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God," had to appeal to what Nicodemus already knew. i.e, the Old Testament. Jesus could not assume that Nicodemus knew something foreign to the Old Testament. This is not the surmise of a modern theologian: It is the planing meaning of verse 10: "Art though the [outstanding] teacher of Israel and knowest not these things?" Jesus was basing his teaching on the Old Testament.

Point two: Therefore the meaning of "water" must be determined by the Old Testament. In the Christian era water might suggest baptism, Christian baptism, but in the historical circumstances the preceding usage is what was meant, not something later about which Nicodemus had had no opportunity to learn. Now, the previous usage differs from the later in several respects: It was not Trinitarian; it could be repeated, even several times, whereas Christian baptism is administered just once.

Point three: In the Old Testament baptism or washing with water symbolizes cleansing from sin. In Isaiah 4:4 the Lord 'washed' away the filth of the daughters of Zion; Zechariah 13:1 mentions a 'fountain' for sin and impurity; Malachi 3:2 predicts a purification, by fire indeed, but also by 'soap', which no doubt requires water. Then further, the

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combination of water and spirit in John has its background in many Old Testament passages. Psalm 51:2,7,10 combine the washing, a clean heart, and a right spirit. Isaiah 44:3 also.

Point four: The Kingdom of God is also something Nicodemus should have understood. It is an Old Testament idea, for God is King. The term itself does not occur in I Chronicles 29:11, but the idea is emphatic. Explicit are:

Psalm 22:28 For the kingdom is the Lord's: and he is the governor among the nations. Psalm 45:6 Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre. Psalm 145:11 They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy power;

To these add Isaiah 24:23, Daniel 2:44 and many other references. Since such passages teach about the Kingdom, one can at least hope to find, in the Old Testament, the conditions of membership in that Kingdom. The conditions are repentance, faith, trust, sacrifice, redemption, the new heart, the Spirit --- all gospel terms. Is it then peculiar that 'water' should be there also?

The conclusion is that Jesus was teaching the Old Testament to Nicodemus, and that therefore there is no reference in John 3 to Christian baptism, and therefore again no theory of baptismal regeneration.

Another New Testament verse requires mention in this connection. Baptismal regeneration is sometimes supported by an appeal to Titus 3:5: "By the washing of regeneration and the renewing of [or,by] the Holy Spirit."

The Anglican and Romish argument is that washing regenerates. But this interpretation causes grammar to suffer. The second half of the quotation, in which 'the Holy Spirit' is in the genitive case, obviously means that the Holy Spirit renews us. The Holy Spirit is a subjunctive genitive.

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The Holy Spirit renews us; neither we nor anything else renew the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit cannot be the objective genitive. Similarly it is regeneration that does the washing; it is not the washing that was regeneration. To get anything like baptismal regeneration out of these words, it would be necessary to rearrange them so as to say, "the regeneration of washing." This would mean that regeneration is produced by washing. But this is the reverse of what the Apostle wrote. Therefore the Reformed churches in baptizing adults assume, even if mistakenly, that they have already been regenerated. On this understanding regeneration cannot be conceived as produced by the rite of baptism.

If the preceding is a sufficient refutation of baptismal regeneration, the Baptist position will not so much require a formal refutation as a positive statement of the Presbyterian view. Baptists regard baptism as a sign of regeneration; and regeneration is to be recognized by a profession of faith. Presumably most Baptists would admit that the Holy Spirit can regenerate infants, and some no doubt concede that He does. Luke 1:44 says that the babe in the womb of Elizabeth leaped for joy when the mother of the Lord came to visit them. Contemporary murderous abortionists do not like this verse. Of course a newly born infant cannot express his faith. No matter, say Lutherans, infants can and some infants do have faith because some infants are justified and justification is by faith alone. This is an impressive argument; but Presbyterians, thinking of a theological expression of faith, allow other means of justification for the incompetent exceptions such as infants and the insane. The Baptists do not allow for faith in infants, and hence they will not bapitze them.

Some Presbyterians claim to bapitze infants on the basis of "presumptive regeneration." "Presumptive election" would be a better basis. But this is only a partial answer to the main question.

(page 69)

That baptism, the sign of washing and purification, is somehow related to regeneration should not be denied; but the Baptist view of that relationship is untenable. They rebel at the apparently empty formalism of the established churches in Europe. They observe that too many 'baptized' infants give no later evidence of regeneration or election, which is unfortunately true. But neither Tennant's ideal of regenerate ministry, much less that of a regenerate membership, is possible. If this is true of churches that baptize infants, it is equally true and equally regrettable of churches that immerse adults. There are millions of apostate Baptists, with their champion of a generation ago, Harry Emerson Fosdick. Every church, with the possible exception of a few very small congregations, has its black sheep. This was the case in the churches of the New Testament and remains true today. Therefore it is impractical to operate on the belief, and impossible to operate on an asserted fact, that all church members are regenerate. Adult baptism does not avoid the difficulty.

The problem is solved by insisting that the New Testament gospel is the same as that given to Abraham. Baptism is the circumcision of Christ. The terms of the Abrahamic covenant provide the rules for the administration of baptism. The New Testament application of the covenant cannot be more restricted that than of the Old. In fact, it is wider, for girls are now baptized. Since therefore it is wider, not narrower, and since infants were then included in the covenant, they must not be excluded now.

That some or even many remain dead in sin after receiving the sign of the covenant, is no greater an objection to infant baptism than it is to circumcision. Ishmael and Esau bore the sign of the covenant. So too did Simon Magnus and Hymenaeus, presumably unregenerate, or Diotrophes, Demas, Alexander, and others who made shipwreck of the faith.

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In spite of the fact that they are criticizing the divine provisions of the Abrahamic covenant, so definitely said to be operative today (Galatians 3:7ff), Baptists and others will ask, "But then, what good is baptism?" Of course, one might ask in return, "What good is adult immersion?" It does not regenerate, and some of you deny it is a means of grace. What then is left?"

Now, Presbyterians can answer these questions better than Baptists can. To repeat, baptism has all the value of circumcision.

Romans 2:25 For circumcision verily profiteth, if thou keep the law: but if thou be a breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision.

Romans 3:1-2 What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision? [2] Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God.

Romans 4:11 And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised: that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed unto them also:

Doubtless this is not so much value as some might expect. But if so, these expectations are not Scriptural. Perhaps the Calvinist must say that while baptism symbolizes internal blessings, it guarantees only external.

However, this is still a means of grace, i.e. something God uses to show us his favor. For one reason, the rite, entered into sincerely, helps to fix the Word in the convert's mind. The Word is necessary. Baptism is not a magical incantation.

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It does not exercise "physical causality," as the 'Catholic Encyclopedia' describes it, referring to Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica (3a62); a physical causality such that "the sacramental rite is directly involved in the infusion of grace in a manner analogous to that in which an instrument, such as a pen or brush, is said to be the cause of an effect, the written page or picture." No, the rite of baptism though a visible performance, requires understanding, intelligence, mind.

When God made his covenant with Abraham, in Genesis 17, he explained its terms. There are approximately nine verses of explanation before circumcision is mentioned. then follow five verses explaining circumcision. to this is added the promise of a son to Sarah. Here something peculiar appears: The covenant will be established in his son Isaac, not in Ishmael; nevertheless Abraham circumcised Ishmael, along with servants who had been bought with money and were not of his family. Thus at the initation of the rite there was explanation.

In Joshua 5:2-9 where the uncircumcised second generation are circumcised, there is no explicit explanation to these people; the book explains the events to its reader; but it is almost impossible that Joshua would or could do this on a nation-wide scale without giving them an explanation. Thus the minister today must explain its significance ot those who present themselves. Even the Philippian jailer, baptized so suddenly, recieved some instruction; and what was lacking in time was more than compensated for by the preceding miracle. Baptism pictures the washing away of sin by Christ's blood. We are baptized in to his death, as the Baptists are fond of repeating. This is true; but it is incomplete: We are baptized in the name of the Trinity, not just Christ's death alone. Thus must be explained. The rite itself presents the promise of the covenant in the form of an action. As a picture of the washing away of sin, baptism is a "visible word." Now, the difference between the audible

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and the visible Word is this: The word is preached in general terms to everyone. Baptism is administered to this one individual person here and now, showing him that the convenant is not merely some corporate arrangement in general, but showing him that God gives to him individually the promises of the covenant. This is absent when baptism is not accompanied by the Word, or where the words are Latin which th people do not understand.

The Protestant Reformation was a tremendous break with the encrusted superstitions of a thousand years. It is no derogation to the Reformers to suggest that they did not completely wipe out every last trace of so enrenched a superstition. The Second Helvetic Confession seems to retain a bit in its words, "Nam intus regeneramur---in it we are regenerate." The French Confession of 1559 is better: "parce que la nous sommes entes au corps de Christ, a fin d'etre laves et nettoyes par son sang...by it we are rafted into the body of Christ, so as to be washed and cleansed by his blood..." And then, "Ainsi nous tenons que l'eau etant un element caduc, ne laisse pas de nous testifier en verite le lavement interieur de notre ame au sang de Jesus-Christ." In English: "Thus we hold that the water, though a powerless element, nevertheless truly testifies to us the internal washing of our soul by the body of Jesus Christ."

The less important QUESTION of who may properly administer baptism can form a concluding paragraph on this subject and serve also as a transition to the discussion of the Lord's Supper.

<....he address this in his next 2 pages, concluding the issue of Baptism; then moves to the topic of the "Lord's Supper" >

MY BIO

This biography is to introduce myself to friends online, and yet not be self-absorbed and self-centered. I am also concerned about online privacy issues of how liars might try to pose as me or pose to know me based on this material. I will try to be as succinct as possible, though we all have hundreds of episodes we would like to convey (those interchanges can happen as our friendship deepens).

I grew up in the parsonage of an SBC congregation, being the son of an SBC pastor. This parsonage was connected to the church parking lot and within 20 yards of the fellowship hall. I stayed in this parsonage from the age of 3 months to 19 years and something. The church attendance ranged from 120 to 180.

MY MUSIC HERITAGE

Even from Kindergarten years I was involved in the music program with such programs as "Down by the Creek Bank", needless to say our congregation had a strong music program relative to it's county. I always saw a 12 youth ensemble perform on Sunday Mornings, and in yearly concerts; Soon I joined a junior high ensemble, and then high school ensemble, along with the all inclusive youth choir; then also joined the adult choir around 16 or 17. Our high school also had a very gifted chorus director and I sang in that in 11th and 12th grade, both in the choir form and ensemble form; We put on a dinner theatre each year, and created a lot of great memories.

I went to a small SBC supported college, and majored in Music; singing in the chorus class, ensemble class, and had solo lessons; After two years I switched majors because I simply could not hang with the discipline demanded of my piano professor. Practicing 2 hours everyday with 18 hours of college credit is just not happening for this college guy; So I completed a degree in Communications; though I maintained my love of music and piano; I also on ocassion sang with the local church choir; Our CSU (Christian Student Union) had a singing ensemble and we sang for a few churches and also a football half-time;

My last semester of college I felt (had) an inward desire to become a pastor and attend Seminary. I knew nothing of Seminarys or my options, but was directed to SEBTS, and accepted. I started out with a general pastoral track, but of learning of a nice ensemble, auditioned, and was accepted, thereafter I changed my track to Music Ministry.
Again I sang in Open Chorus, Ensemble, and Solo Lessons. I eventually spent 2 years as a music director for a congregation; After three years in this track, I was convicted that God's primary means of transforming people was through Scripture, not song, so I switched from Music Track to Pastoral; needless to say, I had used up all my electives on music, and barely squeaked out of my aloted credit hours; In fact had to take several J-terms and summer terms to make up the time;

In Seminary I began to take up guitar, and made some gains, but nothing to brag about; I even taught piano and guitar in 4 homes. 1 home and a son and daugther taking lessons, a 2nd home had 3 kids taking lessons, another home actually had 7 kids taking piano from me at the same time, and that all sat in the room and dry erase board learning the musical terms and concepts.

That is about all of my music heritage, after graduating Seminary, I began preaching, and had little time for music, and that has been for the most part, the pattern for the last 12 years. I will close this section by saying, overall, I am not a great musician, I still struggle in reading rhythms and coming across natural, but I enjoy singing with large choirs regardless;

MY RELIGIOUS HERITAGE

This will be short. I was at church 4 days a week. Sunday School, Church, PM Service, Wednesday Service. VBS, January Bible School, 5-6 week long youth camps, 4-5 ski trips, 4-5 Carowinds trips, travelling to the mountains for apples with the seniors, yearly revivals, 4-5 lock-ins, some RAs (Royal Ambassadors); All SBC, all an unstated Arminian viewpoint, all for 19 years. Even so, many wonderful parents and friends who treated me like their own son and nephew. I was very blessed at a level, despite the theological famine.

I went to an SBC funded college. I was not pleased with the lax policy and lax voice of the school. I cannot say I was a stellar soul either, but I didn't have much help either. In one class, a student brought forth my first ever experience with "Arminianism vs. Calvinism" discussion, I never heard this for 20 or so years, I quickly dismissed it off, being a pastor's son with such a heritage I would have surely heard of Calvinism if it were true, so begone I thought, and my hands were clean of it all.

At Seminary a few students were Calvinists, my typical response was, "I don't have time for debates, I am simply going to build friendships with the loss and be an impact, not get bogged down in all this in-fighting and discussion of history; I don't have time to read through all these issues, I want to go help people"...However, I can note 3 persons who really befriended me and took the time to (in a warm and friendly way) challenge me, expose the issues to me, follow-up with me about the Doctrines of Grace; I continued to reject it, but nevertheless they planted a seed that I could not shake off;

MY ATHLETIC HERITAGE

Bottomline: I wasn't much of an athelete. I did play tennis in 9,10,11 grades; and hung out at a tennis camp for 2 summers; (but was never that great) I ran cross-country in 12th grade; (and my times were horrible); I often played basketball in the church parking lot on Sundays, but was never a good player, despite being 6"3 I rarely ever touched the rim. I never touched a weight bench and was one skinny, scrowny dude;

After being mocked for my weakness through high-school and my first weeks at college, I decided to bury myself in the gym; My first week I could barely bench press 85 lbs; my progress was extremely slow and in retrospect laughable, but I at least became very defined in my upper body; The end of my senior year I think my max was 225, certainly not more; It was funny because my roommate would always start with 225 for 8 reps on his first set; but he was always positive and supportive in my efforts;

I worked out in Seminary for two years, and made great gains in that short time; My best bench was doing 265 for 3 reps, I tried that night to do 285 for 1, but got stuck half way up. After that school and life got busy, and I got burned out, so I didn't touch weights for another 12 years. I never in college or Seminary worked out my lower body, which all my friends said would help my overall weight gain and strength gain, but I found it simply too draining to squat, so I didn't.

MY MINISTRY EXPERIENCE

This spans 12 years and could easily take 120 pages to share, but let me share the mainpoints.

1st Ministry: Interim Pastor and I was still Arminian. Had a Secretary; Studied from 8-12, Visited from 1-5; loved the ministry; Congregation wanted to call me, Search Committee did not. Search Committee resigned, new committee was appointed and approached me, I declined, seeing the tension with the 5 previous families that would create;

2nd Ministry: Pastor: Small Country church; Was Arminian for a year; God changed my heart through Scripture, A.W. Pink's "Sovereignty of God", JM Boice's "Doctrines of Grace", John Owen's Death of Death. I became a militant Calvinist; On a side note, I was able to speak at a jail 10-12 times during this ministry, and that was fun.

I also created enemies by preaching on the Masonic Lodge, and 3 key members were Masons, I also preached against Santa coming down the aisle, which they still did despite my direct sermon addressing. On a Sunday I preached that "God does not love everyone since Jesus did not die for everyone." Tuesday all the deacons came to my parsonage after giving me 10 minutes notice, arriving in the church van with one united voice that I resign immediately; I agreed.

3rd Ministry: Interim Pastor, following a closet Reformed Pastor. Search Committee interviewed me, but called someone else; I don't think the leader of the Search committee was Reformed; I will not share all the reasons why.

4th Ministry: Interim Pastor, search committee approached me. I declined; because I already knew it had too many Masons; 7 months later I preached on the Masonic Lodge and reaped a storm, but they were within 2 months of calling their pastor;

2 years without a ministry: Courted My wife, and got married;

5th Ministry: This is 20 pages of problems. After following the tradition of singing Happy Birthday every solitary week before the Doxology for four months, I ended the tradition, and created major relentless enemies; After a 3 year old came up on the pulpit for 8 weeks straight during the middle of singing, and prayer, and sermons, I mentioned it was a distraction to the deacons (of whom one is the grandparent), and created more enemies, when I merely said it was a distraction, as numerous families agreed with me. 2 Deacons never came, never heard one deacon pray, one rarely brought his bible, one only talked about sports; One Sunday Night Service a man had his cellphone ring aloud, and he even answered it and talked to the phone for a solid minute; There were 2 Masons there, and possibly 4, and I told a man my concerns which of course he passed on to his cohorts;

I got two anonymous letters given to me, and an anonymous note; I had deacon's meetings pointed at me, and not "ministering to the people"; One Night I get a phone call saying, "we need you in the fellowship hall." I show up to see 14 persons of the Church Council all in agreement to ask for my Resignation, though these persons never came on PM or Wednesday, nor ministry efforts; I agreed, but gave a 15 page resignation letter that Sunday exposing their evils of breaking the by-laws and failures in the last 18 months; Early that year I voluntarily submitted a 20% pay cut, but that didn't matter to them.

I have more battles to share, that have occured; one with my father who is an Arminian pastor, and at odds with my ministy, but that is a painful 20 page report; and also numerous battles with peer pastors who are Arminian;

I have not been in the pastorate for 2 years. I have sent my resume out numerous times, but realize I will never accept a congregation that I cannot be openly Reformed with to the search committee or congregation, which lowers my options dramatically. We also have committed to not attend a congregation that cannot openly preach Reformed Theology, exposing the errors of Arminianism; Thus we have to drive 38 miles one way (mostly interstate) to find such a ministry. It is only 5-6 families, but it has solid preaching, solid focus, and very warm and loving leadership.

I have failed to indicate the many, many blessings and strengths that I enjoyed at each ministry; There were positive encounters and wonderful friendships at each ministry, even while surrounded by opposition;

I have failed to convey my own failures at each ministry; I have several areas of weakness to grow in, and mistakes made; (albeit, none in my opinion warrant being fired and isolated...and their opposition has revolved around Arminianism, Masonic Lodge, Santa Claus, Church Growth, Singing Happy Birthday, irreverence, and Tradition;)

I have failed to convey the daily, weekly, monthly thanksgivings of God's goodness, mercy, grace, and overflow, that has constantly been present;

I have also failed to include issues around my conversion; but as it is, what I typed is lengthy already; I guess it just takes time to get to know someone;

IN CLOSING

There is tons more to share, but these are the basics. I have been staying home with my 2.5 year old son. Though I deeply desire to be in the pulpit, and also desire to be the breadwinner for the family; I have searched for jobs, but have not found any that would allow my wife to quit her job and us avoid major debt; I am against having both of us work to merely pay a babysitter; If I am making 8 an hour then all my money is going to a babysitter, and I have lost time with my son.

I am really torn now, wanting to preach, but feeling my hands are tied; I have applied to 4-5 Reformed ministries, but none responded; In the past 12 years I have also filled served numerous pulpit-supply opportunties and found trials with their either Arminian or Masonic theology. I have two good friends who share similiar and even harder trials.

I am afraid that this has been too self-centered and self-absorbed, but it may convey more about my mindset in addressing future topics of discussion.

You can get to know more about me by:

> surveying my "Beliefs" page,

> interacting with my Facebook Info and Facebook Chat,

> I have also kept an on-going Quote Blog;

Now...how can I get to know you???

God's Glory

A friend wrote: Hey, brother. I wanted to ask you a few questions regarding God's decree and His desires. God has decreed all that has come and will come to pass. Yet, it seems to me, that God gets angry, or upset when Israel fails to do obey Him. What do we do with something like that? Seems to me, that God, decreed their disobedience, which they did willingly, and God gets angry. Is it safe to say that God decrees His displeasure? Do i have this right?

MY RESPONSE:

1. God issues Decrees. (Let there be light). All His Decrees Infalliably come to pass precisely as He Wills; And all are that which He desires and all please Him. God is not angry nor displeased at His decrees.

2. God issues Moral Prescriptions. (Do not lie). All His Moral Prescriptions please Him and are as He desires. His moral Prescriptions only come to pass through Jesus, his elect angels, and as He sanctifies his elect; but never through the unregenerate, and only in the regenerate as He himself empowers and fulfills. God is never angry nor displeased with His Moral prescriptions;

3. As stated, the unregenerate never keep his Moral Prescriptions something is always corrupt either external in action, or internally in motive; God is always angry and displeased with the rebellion of the unregenerate to His moral prescriptions.

4. God has purposed to display His Glory and Glorify Himself above all. His Glory is manifest and will be manifested in many ways including: Displaying the glory of His grace to His Creation, and Displaying the glory of His justice and Holiness and Truth to His Creation. God always takes pleasure in Displaying the glory of his grace and always takes pleasure in displaying the glory of his justice. He is God and does all that He pleases, and who shall say what are you doing (Daniel 4:35)

5. The glory of His grace includes pouring His wrath on His Son in mediation to His objects of grace (sheep),

6. The glory of His justice and Holiness includes pouring His wrath on rebelious souls who have no mediator.

1b. God decreed the death of His Son, and was pleased in the decree;
2b. God made Moral prescription not to reject or murder his Son, and was pleased with that prescription.
3b. All men in their unregenerate state fail that Moral prescription and do reject and murder His Son
5b. God is pleased to purpose the death of His Son to glorify Himself and save His sheep. (God's motive's are Holy).
6b. God is pleased to purpose the punishment of men who with unholy motive murdered Jesus, so this punishment glorifies Himself and judges the goats in wrath (God's motive is Holy).

God is pleased to save the Sheep for His Glory.
God is pleased to display His wrath on the goats for His Glory.

God is pleased to put Jesus in bruising, lashes, mockery, crucifixion, and death for His Glory to display the perfection of Jesus: perfect in the Law, perfect on the outside, Perfect on the inside, Perfect in obedeince even to the point of the DEATH ON THE CROSS. (Philippians 2:8), showing himself to be a perfect High Priest and Mediator, unlike Moses who halted and murmured;

Though Jesus who is fully God experienced real "pain" physical and otherwise....(your point of displeasure)

A. Hebrews 12:2 JESUS....who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

B. Also note what Romans 9 says, God has not failed, but designed the hardening of the Jews in order that He might show mercy to the Gentiles; The hardening of the Jews was not "accidental" that God merely reacted to with a plan B, but intentional; God is displeased with the motive of the Jews in their rebellion, but yet pleased with His own motive in leaving them to their own devices in that it would serve His purpose to display His glory in His grace.

C. In Isaiah 6, God sent Isaiah to close eyes, close ears!

D. In Exodus, God sent Moses to Harden Pharaoh, who is still accountable for his pride and rebellion. God's motive to Glorify God....Pharaoh's motive to glorify Pharaoh. God was displeased with Pharaoh's motive, but pleased with Hardening His heart for God's motive in doing so was Holy for His own glory.

E. God meant Joseph's slavery for good, the brothers meant Joseph's slavery for evil. Genesis 50:20. God was displeased with them, but pleased with Himself.

F. Jonah meant his rebellion for evil, God decreed Jonah's rebellion to foreshadow someone being buried for 3 days and being raised: Christ. God was displeased with Jonah's moral failure, but God was pleased with His own design to point to Jesus.

G. The Serpent lifted up in the wilderness was to point to Christ, God's motive for the event was pure and Holy to display Jesus, man's motive in rebelling was evil and not designed to give God an opportunity to point to Jesus via looking to a snake;

There are several other examples that could be given;

I would say in closing, that God's anger and displeasure is real.... as it is His wrath and justice and Holiness being presented in contrast to man's injustice, rebellion, and unholiness....yet God takes pleasure in displaying this wrath, justice, and Holiness; Man's motive was to evil...to rebel, God's motive in their disobedience was to voice His righteous wrath in contrast. (whether it be wrath and justice on the Cross, or wrath and justice to goats in Hell);

Much could be said about the close connection between God's wrath being a manifestion of God's L-O-V-E for His Holiness His Righteousness, His Glory.

2nd, We must always look at the ULTIMATE END of God's joy in the justice being fulfilled.

This is a bad illustration, but....I've heard plenty of TV COPS say, "I am glad I was able to get drug dealers off the streets" and society echoes, "I am glad cops are able to get drug dealers off the streets" and yet Cops are angry that drug dealers are on the streets, and society is angry that drug dealers are on the streets. They are angry at them, and glad to remove them. God is angry and displeased with sinners, and is glad to judge the goats;

Did God decree His displeasure? God did not decree rebellion, rebellion is a manifestation men are breaking His moral prescription, God is displeased with this rebellion, but God did decree that His Holiness, Justice, and Glory will be manifest in judging the rebels...and in that decree being manifest He takes great pleasure.

God enjoys crushing the head of the serpent, despite the pain of having the heel bruised. God designed the bruising to manifest His Own Glory in crushing the head; God put the serpent in the Garden for Holy Motives, the Serpent's motives in the garden were unholy.

Romans 9:21-23 Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? [22] What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: [23] And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,

There is so much there.
1. Made a pot of dishonour.
2. Willing to show His wrath.
3. Make His power known.
4. Endured with much longsuffering; ***YOUR POINT JULIO*** Suffering Long;
5. Vessels of wrath....fitted to destruction.
6. Why??? That he might make known (ULTIMATE END AND DESIGN)
6B. The Riches of His GLORY....on the vessels of mercy.
7. which he had AFORE PREPARED unto GLORY.

Hope this helps....(but there is even more examples if time permitted).

QUOTES ON FREEWILL

01 Quotes on Free Will

1) God’s Word

Psalm 33:10: "He maketh the devices of the people of none effect."

Psalm 81:12: "So I gave them up unto their own hearts’ lust: and they walked in their own counsels."

Proverbs 21:1: "The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will."

Proverbs 28:26: "He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool."

Ecclesiastes 7:20: "For there is not a just man upon the earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not."

Jeremiah 4:22: "For my people is foolish, they have not known me … they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge."

John 1:13: "Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."

John 3:27: "A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven."

John 6:44: "No man can come to me except the Father, which hath sent me, draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day."

John 6:65: "Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father."

John 15:5: "I am the vine, ye are the branches: he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit; for without me ye can do nothing."

John 15:16: "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you."

Romans 3:10-12: "As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is no that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one."

Romans 5:6: "For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly."

Romans 7:18-19: "For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do."

Romans 8:7: "Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be."

Romans 9:16: "So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy."

Romans 10:20: "I was found of them that sought me not."

Ephesians 2:1: "And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins."

Ephesians 2:5: "Even when we were dead in sins, hath he quickened us together with Christ; (by grace ye are saved.)"

Philippians 2:13: "For it is God which worketh in you, both to will and to do of his good pleasure."

Colossians 2:13: "And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses."

Titus 3:3-5: "For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost."



2) Before the Reformation

Augustine: "I once laboured hard for the free will of man, until the grace of God at length overcame me."

Bradwardine: "What multitudes, O Lord, do this day join hands with Pelagius in contending for free will and in fighting … free grace."

Waldensians: "Whosoever upholds free-will absolutely denies predestination and the grace of God."



3) Luther

"Free will is an empty term."

"Free-will cannot will good and of necessity serves sin."

"This is plainly to ascribe divinity to ‘free will.’"

“I frankly confess that, for myself, even if it could be, I should not want ‘free-will’ to be given me, nor anything to be left in my own hands to enable me to endeavour after salvation; not merely because in face of so many dangers, and adversities and assaults of devils, I could not stand my ground …; but because even were there no dangers … I should still be forced to labour with no guarantee of success … But now that God has taken my salvation out of the control of my own will, and put it under the control of His, and promised to save me, not according to my working or running, but according to His own grace and mercy, I have the comfortable certainty that He is faithful and will not lie to me, and that He is also great and powerful, so that no devils or opposition can break Him or pluck me from Him. Furthermore, I have the comfortable certainty that I please God, not by reason of the merit of my works, but by reason of His merciful favour promised to me; so that, if I work too little, or badly, He does not impute it to me, but with fatherly compassion pardons me and makes me better. This is the glorying of all the saints in their God” (The Bondage of the Will).



4) Calvin

"The Papists … hold that man, through his own free will, returns to God; and on this point is our greatest contest with them at this day."

"Concerning that this clown babbleth of free will, it is sufficiently rejected throughout the whole scripture."

"Faith is a special gift of God, which proceedeth not from our free will."

"Let that ethical philosophy therefore of free-will be far from a Christian mind."

"No free will of man can resist Him that willeth to save."



5) Reformation Confessions

Thirty-Nine Articles, X: "The condition of Man after the fall of Adam is such, that he can not turn and prepare himself, by his own natural strength and good works, to faith, and calling upon God. Wherefore we have no power to do good works pleasant and acceptable to God, without the grace of God by Christ preventing us, that we may have a good will, and working with us, when we have that good will."

Heidelberg Catechism, Q. & A. 8: "Are we then so corrupt that we are wholly incapable of doing any good, and inclined to all wickedness? Indeed we are; except we are regenerated by the Spirit of God."

Belgic Confession, XIV: "… we reject all that is taught repugnant to this, concerning the free will of man, since man is but a slave to sin; and has nothing of himself, unless it is given from heaven. For who may presume to boast, that he of himself can do any good, since Christ saith, No man can come to me, except the Father, which hath sent me, draw him? Who will glory in his own will, who understands, that to be carnally minded is enmity against God? Who can speak of his knowledge, since the natural man receiveth not the things of the spirit of God? In short, who dare suggest any thought, since he knows that we are not sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves, but that our sufficiency is of God? And therefore what the apostle saith ought justly to be held sure and firm, that God worketh in us both to will and to do of his good pleasure. For there is no will nor understanding, conformable to the divine will and understanding, but what Christ hath wrought in man; which he teaches us, when he saith, Without me ye can do nothing."

Canons of Dordt, III/IV:3: "Therefore all men are conceived in sin, and by nature children of wrath, incapable of saving good, prone to evil, dead in sin, and in bondage thereto, and without the regenerating grace of the Holy Spirit, they are neither able nor willing to return to God, to reform the depravity of their nature, nor to dispose themselves to reformation."

Westminster Confession, IX – Of Free Will:

Man, in his state of innocency, had freedom and power to will and to do that which is good and well-pleasing to God; but yet mutably, so that he might fall from it.

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.

When God converts a sinner, and translates him into the state of grace, he freeth him from his natural bondage under sin, and by his grace alone enables him freely to will and to do that which is spiritually good; yet so as that, by reason of his remaining corruption, he doth not perfectly nor only will that which is good, but doth also will that which is evil.

The will of man is made perfectly and immutably free to do good alone in the state of glory only.



6) 16th Century

William Tyndale: "they go and set up free-will with the heathen philosophers and say that a man’s free will is the cause why God chooseth and not another, contrary to all scriptures."

Robert Ferrar (Welsh Bishop of St. David's martyred in Carmarthen on 30 March, 1555) with ten other reforming ministers: "... we disallow papistical doctrines of free will, of works of supererogation, of merits, of the necessity of auricular confession, and satisfaction to God-wards."

John Knox: "… the general consent of all that sect is that God (by his foreknowledge, counsel, and wisdom) has no assured election, neither yet any certain reprobation, but that every man may elect or reprobate himself by his own free will, which he has (say they) to do good or evil … [All these things are] forged by their own brains, and polished by the finest of their wits, when yet in very deed they are but the rotten heresies of … Pelagius, long ago confuted by Augustine …"

John Knox: "Ye [Anabaptists] be proud contemners of the free grace of God offered to man in Christ Jesus. For with the Pelagians and Papists ye are become teachers of free will, and defenders of your own righteousness" (An Answer to a Great Number of Blasphemous Cavillations Written by an Anabaptist and Adversary to God's Eternal Predestination [London: Thomas Charde, 1591], p. 121).

Jerome Zanchius: "No free will of the creature can resist the will of God" (quoting Augustine).



7) 17th Century

Henry Ainsworth: "we grant evil freewill (or freewill to evil) is remaining in all natural men: we believe that freewill to good, is from grace and regeneration."

Daniel Featley: "many men have too much Free-will, and take to themselves too free liberty now a days to advance and maintain free will."

John Preston: "not by the power of free will but by the infused grace of His spirit."

Peter Moulin: "It is proved out of the holy scriptures that an unregenerate man is altogether destitute of the power and liberty of his will, in those things that pertain to faith and salvation."

John Owen: "the whole Pelagian poison of free-will … a clear exaltation of the old idol free-will into the throne of God … That the decaying estate of Christianity have invented."

John Owen: Free will is "corrupted nature's deformed darling, the Pallas or beloved self-conception of darkened minds" (Works, vol. 10, p. 150).

William Jenkyn: "The bending of men's hearts to believe and persevere are the supernatural fruits of God’s eternal decree, and not the natural fruits of man’s depraved and frail free will."

John Trapp: "The friends of free will are the enemies of free grace."

Thomas Watson: "This crown of free will is fallen from our head" and "If it be God’s purpose that saves then it is not free will."

Francis Turretin: "The word "freewill" (as also "self-determining power" [autexousiou] used by the Greek Fathers) does not occur in Scripture … I Cor 7:37 does not mean freedom of the will."



8) 18th Century

Matthew Henry: "The counsels and decrees of God do not truckle to the frail and fickle will of man."

Augustus Toplady: “A man’s free will cannot cure him even of the toothache, or a sore finger; and yet he madly thinks it is in its power to cure his soul.”

George Whitefield: "Man is nothing; he hath a free will to go to hell, but none to go to heaven, till God worketh in him" and "you dishonour God by denying election. You plainly make salvation depend, not on God’s ‘free grace’ but on Man’s ‘free will.’"

William Huntington: "This brought me out of the free-will fog, and truth shone in my heart like a comet … from that moment I waged war against free will."



9) 19th Century

J. N. Darby, early leader of the Plymouth Brethren: "This re-appearance of the doctrine of freewill serves to support that of the pretension of the natural man to be not irremediably fallen, for this is what such doctrine tends to. All who have never been deeply convicted of sin, all persons in whom this conviction is based on gross external sins, believe more or less in freewill" (Man’s So-called Freewill, p. 1).



10) Charles Spurgeon

"I will go as far as Martin Luther, where he says, ‘If any man ascribes anything of salvation, even the very least thing, to the free will of man, he knows nothing of grace, and he has not learned Jesus Christ rightly.’"

"Free-will doctrine—what does it? It magnifies man into God. It declares God’s purposes a nullity, since they cannot be carried out unless men are willing. It makes God’s will a waiting servant to the will of man, and the whole covenant of grace dependent on human action. Denying election on the ground of injustice, it holds God to be a debtor to sinners."

"His will cannot be neutral or ‘free’ to act contrary to his nature."

"Free will has carried many souls to hell, but yet never a soul to heaven."

"I do not come into this pulpit hoping that perhaps somebody will of his own free will return to Christ. My hope lies in another quarter. I hope that my Master will lay hold of some of them and say, "You are mine, and you shall be mine. I claim you for myself." My hope arises from the freeness of grace, and not from the freedom of the will."



11) 20th Century

Arthur W. Pink: "if the will is their servant then it is not sovereign, and if the will is not sovereign, we certainly cannot predicate ‘freedom’ of it."

Louis Berkhof: "Freedom of the will is a psychological fiction."

John Gerstner: "We have already shown that there is no such thing as free will. That’s a will-o’-the–wisp. You never make choices without reasons, not as a responsible or a rational person" (A Primer on Free Will, p. 11).

W. E. Best: "God’s character is maligned by every person who believes in free will."

Gordon H. Clark: "the Bible consistently denies free will."

Donald S. Fortner: "The false Christ of Arminianism cannot regenerate and save anyone who does not first choose to be saved by him. We are told that man has a freewill, but that Christ's will is bound by and must wait upon man's will because it would not be right for him to violate man's will! The true, saving Christ does violate man's imaginary freewill; and I am very thankful that he does. Had he not violated my freewill, I would be lost or in hell now! The same is true of you. He sovereignly regenerates and saves every chosen, redeemed sinner. His operations of grace are totally independent of the will and choice of the sinner. Apart from his work of grace in us, spiritually dead sinners never would or could believe on him and come to him in faith. Faith is not our contribution to the work of salvation. Our faith in him is the result, not the cause of God's saving operations. 'Let God be true, but every man a liar'" (John 3:3-7; 6:44, 65; 15:16; Acts 11:18; Rom. 2:4; 9:16; Eph. 2:1-4, 8-10; Phil 1:6, 29; Col. 2:12; Heb 12:2).

R. C. Sproul: "The neutral view of free will is impossible. It involves choice without desire."

James White: "Then why do you embrace Christ, and your moral Buddhist neighbour across the street does not? Are you smarter than he is? More spiritually sensitive? Better, in any way? What makes you to differ? Is the Holy Spirit working just as hard on him as He did on you? If so, why do you believe, and he does not? No matter how hard you try, you can’t avoid coming to the conclusion that, in a 'free will' system of salvation, those who believe do so because there is something different about them. If the Spirit is bringing equal conviction to bear upon each individual, the only deciding factor, given equality in everything else, is something in the person himself. I believe the only possible difference between the redeemed in heaven and the guilty, condemned, punished sinner in hell is a five-letter word ... It’s called 'grace.'"

Steven Houck: "This free-willism is a serious error which is contrary to the Holy Scriptures."

DECEMBER EVENTS

Christmas

by A. W. Pink



"Thus saith the Lord, Learn not the way of the heathen...for the CUSTOMS of the people are vain."

Jeremiah 10:1-3



Christmas is coming! Quite so; but what is "Christmas?"



Says someone, 'Christmas is the time when we commemorate the Saviour's birth.' It is? And who authorized such commemoration? Certainly God did not. The Redeemer bade His disciples "remember" Him in His death, but there is not a word in Scripture, from Genesis to Revelation, which tells us to celebrate His birth. Moreover, who knows when, in what month, He was born? The Bible is silent thereon. Is it without reason that the only "birthday" commemorations mentioned in God's Word are Pharaoh's (Gen. 40:20) and Herod's (Matt. 14:6)? Is this recorded "for our learning?" If so, have we prayerfully taken it to heart?



And who is it that celebrates "Christmas?" The whole "civilized world."Millions who make no profession of faith in the blood of the Lamb, who "despise and reject Him," and millions more who while claiming to be His followers yet in works deny Him, join in merrymaking under the pretense of honoring the birth of the Lord Jesus. Putting it on its lowest ground, we would ask, Is it fitting that His friends should unite with His enemies in a worldly round of fleshly gratification? Does any truly born-again soul really think that He whom the world cast out is either pleased or glorified by such participation in the world's joys? Verily, the customs of the people are vain; and it is written, "Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil" (Ex. 23:2).



Some will argue for the "keeping of Christmas" on the ground of "giving the kiddies a good time." But why do this under cloak of honoring the Saviour's birth? Why is it necessary to drag in His holy Name in connection with what takes place at that season of carnal jollification? Is this taking the little ones with you out of Egypt (Ex. 10:9,10) a type of the world, or is it not plainly a mingling with the present-day Egyptians in their "pleasures of sin for a season?" (Heb. 11:25). Scripture says, "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." (Prov. 22:6). Scripture does command God's people to bring up their children "in the nurture and admonition of the Lord" (Eph. 6:4), but where does it stipulate that it is our duty to give the little ones a "good time?" Do we ever give the children "a good time" when we engage in anything upon which we cannot fittingly ask the Lord's blessing



There are those who do abstain from some of the grosser carnalities of the "festive season," yet are they nevertheless in cruel to the prevailing custom of "Christmas" namely that of exchanging "gifts." We say "exchanging" for that is what it really amounts to in many cases. A list is kept, either on paper or in memory, of those from whom gifts were received last year, and that for the purpose of returning the compliment this year. Nor is this all: great care has to be taken that the "gift" made to the friend is worth as much in dollars and cents as the one they expect to receive from him or her. Thus, with many who can ill afford it, a considerable sum has to be set aside each year with which to purchase things simply to send them out in return for others which are likely to be received. Thus a burden has been bound on them which not a few find hard to bear



But what are we to do? If we fail to send out "gifts" our friends will think hard of us, probably deem us stingy and miserly. The honest course is to go to the trouble of notifying them — by letter if at a distance — that from now on you do not propose to send out any more "Christmas gifts" as such. Give your reasons. State plainly that you have been brought to see that "Christmas merry-making" is entirely a thing of the world, devoid of any Scripture warrant...and that now you see this, you dare no longer have any fellowship with it (Eph. 5:11); that you are the Lord's "free man" (I Cor. 7:22), and therefore yourefuse to be in to a costly custom imposed by the world.





What about sending out "Christmas cards" with a text of Scripture on them? That also is an abomination in the sight of God. Why? Because His Word expressly forbids all unholy mixtures; Deut. 22:10, 11 typified this. ...By all means send cards, preferably at some other time of the year, to your ungodly friends, and [at] Christmas too, with a verse of Scripture, but not with "Christmas" on it. What would you think of a printed program of a vaudeville having Isa. 53:5 at the foot of it? Why, that it was altogether out of place, highly incongruous. But in the sight of God the circus and the theatre are far less obnoxious than the "Christmas celebration" of Romish and Protestant "churches." Why? Because the latter are done under the cover of the Holy name of Christ; the former are not.





"But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day." (Prov. 4:18) Where there is a heart that really desires to please the Lord, He graciously grants increasing knowledge of His will. If He is pleased to use these lines in opening the eyes of some of His dear people to recognize what is growing evil, and to show them that they have been dishonoring Christ by linking the name of the Man of Sorrows (and such He was, when on earth) with a "Merry Christmas," then join with the writer in a repentant confessing of this sin to God, seeking His grace for complete deliverance from it, and praise Him for the light which He has granted you concerning it.



Beloved fellow-Christian, "The coming of the Lord draweth nigh." (Jas. 5:8) Do we really believe this? Believe ...because God says so — "for we walk by faith, not by sight." (2 Cor. 5:7) If so, what effects does such believing have on our walk? This may be your last Christmas on earth. During it the Lord may descend from heaven with a shout to gather His own to Himself. Would you like to be summoned from a "Christmas party" to meet Him in the air? The call for the moment is, "Go ye out to meet Him" (Matt. 25:6) out from a Godless Christendom, out from the Christ —deserted "churches," out from the horrible burlesque of "religion" which now masquerades under His name.



"For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad." (2 Cor. 5:10) How solemn and searching! The Lord Jesus declared that "every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment." (Matt. 12:36) If every "idle word" is going to be taken note of, then most assuredly will be every wasted energy, every wasted dollar, every wasted hour! Should we still be on earth when the closing days of this year arrive, let writer and reader earnestly seek grace to live and act with the judgment-seat of Christ before us. His "well done" will be ample compensation for the sneers and taunts which we may now receive from countless souls.



Does any Christian reader imagine for a moment that when he or she shall stand before their holy Lord, that they will regret having lived "too strictly" on earth? Is there the slightest danger of His reproving any of His own because they were "too extreme" in "abstaining from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul." (1 Peter 2:11)? We may gain the good will and good word of worldly religionists today by our compromisings on "little (?) points," but shall we receive His smile of approval on that Day? Oh to be more concerned about what He thinks, and less concerned about what perishing mortals think.



"Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil." (Ex. 23:2) Ah, it is an easy thing to float with the tide of popular opinion; but it takes much grace, diligently sought from God, to swim against it. Yet that is what the heir of heaven is called on to do: to "Be not conformed to this world" (Rom. 12:2), to deny self, take up the cross, and follow a rejected Christ. How sorely does both writer and reader need to heed that word of the Saviour, "Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thou crown." (Rev. 3:11) Oh that each of us may be able to truthfully say, "I have refrained my feet from every evil way, that I might keep Thy Word." (Psa.. 119:10





Our final word is to the pastors. To you the Word of the Lord is, "Be thou an example of believers in word, in deportment, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity." (1 Tim. 4:12) Is it not true that the most corrupt "churches" you know of, where almost every fundamental of the faith is denied, will have their"Christmas celebrations?" Will you imitate them? Are you consistent to protest against unscriptural methods of "raising money," and then to sanction unscriptural "Christmas services?" Seek grace to firmly but lovingly set God's Truth on this subject before your people, and announce that you can have no part in following Pagan, Romish, and Worldly customs.

SHORT OVERVIEW

Calvinism is split up into five points with each point expanding on the previous points. Calvinism is the view of Salvation held in Reformed Theology.



Total Depravity: At the fall, man fell completely. Every aspect of man is corrupted by sin; his mind (Genesis 6:5), emotions (Jeremiah 17:9) and will (Ephesians 2:3), the non-Christian is a slave to sin (John 8:34). Man’s will is in bondage to his sinful nature which cannot understand spiritual things (1 Corinthians 2:14), please God (Romans 8:7-8) or choose God (Romans 3:10-12).



Because no one can choose God, the only way someone can believe is if God draws them (John 6:44). People are born again by the will of God (John 1:12-13), belief is the work of God (John 6:28-29) and no one can come to God (John 6:65). God chose man; man did not choose God (John 15:16).



Unconditional Election: God predestined whom he would save before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4-5). This is called election. God’s choice is based solely on His sovereign will (Romans 9:15-16), not on any faith or virtuous quality (Romans 9:11) foreseen in man. Those God sovereignty elected (2 Thessalonians 2:13), He brings through the power of the Holy Spirit to a willing acceptance of Christ (Titus 3:5). If you have questions like ‘isn’t it unjust to only choose some people’, I suggest reading Romans 9, additionally Paul Washer deals with the issue here.



Limited Atonement: Christ died for only the elect (John 10:11, 15) - those chosen before the foundation of the world. Christ’s blood is sufficient to save everyone, in that if he wanted to save anyone else he wouldn’t need to die again, but Jesus only died for the elect so his death is only effective for the elect (Acts 20:28, Ephesians 5:25-27). Jesus death is a propitiation (Romans 3:25, Hebrews 2:17, 1 John 4:10) which means ‘a sacrifice that turns God’s wrath into favour’. If Christ died for everyone, His wrath would be satisfied against everyone, so everyone would be saved, contracting John 3:36.



Irresistible Grace: To the elect, God sends an internal call (2 Corinthians 1:21-22) to believe which cannot be resisted (John 6:37, Romans 9:19-21, Ephesians 2:4-5) because God is omnipotent (Acts 13:48, 1 Corinthians 1: 23-25). This call is by the Holy Spirit who regenerates the elect bringing them to repentance whereby they come to God (Ezekiel 36:26, Titus 3:5, Romans 9:16).



Perseverance of the Saints: You cannot lose your salvation (Jeremiah 32:40, Hebrews 6:11). Because salvation is entirely the work of God (Ephesians 2:8-9), those saved are eternally secure in Christ (John 6:37, Revelation 3:5). By the power of God you will preserve in faith from being sealed by the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13-14) to the end (John 10: 27-28. 1 Corinthians 1: 8-9, Philippians 1:6).



Conclusion: In my opinion the following point should convince all Christians of Calvinism. Are not the words choose and believe verbs (actions)? So if one believes that they choose God, they actually believe salvation by human works. John 6:28-29 states faith is a work, and Philippians 1:6 refers to both faith and perseverance as works. If man plays any part in salvation, we have a works gospel.



Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not you own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”



(C), J. Williams, 2008.

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Atonement

Take from http://nwbingham.com/2009/11/11-arguments-for-limited-atonement/

11 Arguments for Limited Atonement
Dr. Robert Shaw offers 11 arguments for limited atonement as he comments on WCF 8:8:

The sacrifice of Christ derived infinite value from the dignity of his person; it must, therefore, have been intrinsically sufficient to expiate the sins of the whole human race had it been so intended; but, in the designation of the Father, and in the intention of Christ himself, it was limited to a definite number, who shall ultimately obtain salvation. This important truth may be confirmed by the following arguments:

1. Restrictive terms are frequently employed in Scripture to express the objects of the death of Christ: “He bare the sin of many.” “He gave his life a ransom for many.” (Isa. 53:12; Matt. 20:28). Does not this intimate that Christ died, not for all men, but only for many?

2. Those for whom Christ died are distinguished from others by discriminating characters. They are called the sheep, John x 15; the church (Eph. 5:25); God’s elect (Rom. 8:33); the children of God (John 11:52).

3. Those whom Christ redeemed by his blood are said to be “redeemed from among men” (Rev. 14:4), which, if Christ had redeemed all men, would be an unmeaning and inconsistent phrase; they are also said to be “redeemed out of every kindred,” &c. (Rev. 5:9), which certainly implies that only some of every kindred are redeemed.

4. The redemption obtained by Christ is restricted to those who were “chosen in him,” and whom the Father gave to him to redeem by his death (Eph. 1:4, 7; John 17:2).

5. Christ died in the character of a surety, and therefore he laid down his life only for those whom he represented, or for his spiritual seed (Isa. 53:10).

6. The intention of Christ in laying down his life was, not merely to obtain for those for whom he died a possibility of salvation, but actually to save them—to bring them to the real possession and enjoyment of eternal salvation (Eph. 5:25, 26; Tit. 2:14; 1 Pet. 3:18; 1 Thess. 5:10). From this, it inevitably follows, that Christ died only for those who shall be saved in him with an everlasting salvation.

7. The intercession of Christ proceeds upon the ground of his atoning sacrifice; they must, therefore, be of the same extent with regard to their objects; but he does not pray for the world, but only for those who were given him out of the world; his sacrifice must, therefore, be restricted to that definite number (1 John 2:1, 2; John 17:9).

8. An apostle infers from the greatness of God’s love in delivering up his Son to death for sinners, that he will not withhold from them any of the blessings of salvation; we must, therefore, conclude that Christ did not die for all mankind (Rom. 8:32).

9. The same apostle infers the certainty of our salvation by the life of Christ, from our reconciliation to God by his death; now, since all are not saved by his life, we must conclude that all were not reconciled by his death (Rom. 5:10).

10. Christ, by his death, procured for his people not only salvation, but all the means leading to the enjoyment of it; consequently, his intention in dying must be limited to those who do repent and believe, and not extended to the whole human race.

11. The doctrine that Christ died for all men leads to many absurd consequences, such as: That Christ shed his blood for many in vain, since all are not saved; that he laid down his life in absolute uncertainty whether any of the human race would be eventually saved; that he shed his blood for millions who, at the very moment of his death, were consigned to the pit of everlasting destruction; that he died for those for whom he does not intercede; that he died for those to whom he never sent the means of salvation, yea, to some of whom he even forbade his gospel to be preached (Matt. 10:5; Rom. 10:14); and that God acts unjustly in inflicting everlasting punishment upon men for those very transgressions for which he has already received full satisfaction by the death of Christ. To affirm any of these things, would be blasphemous in the highest degree, and, therefore, that doctrine which involves such consequences must be unscriptural.

Taken from The Reformed Faith: An Exposition of the Westminster Confession of Faith (pp. 158-59)

Evidence#1

This is all mankind before the grace of regeneration, despite whatever external shells of morality, religion, piety, and restraint. This is the nature of the "old man". This is the "choice" of idolaters of self and pleasure. This will not be fixed by a quick Billy Graham crusade, nor 2 hour youth concert with lights..., powerpoint, and comedy. This will not be fixed by a church ski trip. This will not be fixed by a 28 minute sermon and 7 verses of "Softly and Tenderly Jesus is Calling."

By Sara Sidner, CNN
March 16, 2010 10:25 a.m. EDT

Port-au-Prince, Haiti (CNN) -- Carine Exantus should be sitting in her college communications class. Instead, the 22-year-old is teaching herself how to avoid being attacked by the men who live in her new neighborhood -- a maze of makeshift shelters spaced so close together that it is hard to get between them but easy to get inside.

"I, like everybody else, live in a very precarious situation," said Exantus, who was forced to make her own shelter when her home was crushed in Haiti's January 12 earthquake.

"As a young woman," Exantus said, "I am afraid because I notice a lot of young men being aggressive toward women at night."

In her camp, there has already been trouble. The camp leaders told CNN that two cases of attempted rape have been reported in the past few days and one suspect has been arrested.

"When the guys don't have no money, their brain is not good," said camp leader Jean Joseph Rudler. "When they have no work or food and just sit around, it is bad. When a guy is drunk, he will do anything [to a woman]."

Women can be easily preyed upon when their four walls consist only of bed sheets or thin tents. But camp conditions, a government official said, isn't the underlying problem in Haiti when it comes to violence against women.

"I'm gonna be blunt," said Aby Brun, a member of Haiti's Commission for Reconstruction. "Promiscuity resulting in absolutely condemnable violence and abuse against women is something that has been going on in the slum areas and other levels of society for years. It's a cultural problem."

Exantus says she is often jarred awake by what she hears through the thin shelter wall. "There are some men who beat their girlfriends at night," she said.

During the day, women from the camp bathe topless in an outdoor fountain, their naked children trying to make a game of bath time by skidding around on the wet tiles in the blinding sun. Men sit nearby -- watching and sometimes make lewd comments.

Before the earthquake, Haiti was in the midst of implementing what the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) called an impressive five-year plan to curb violence against women and change the culture.

"It was a very ambitious achievement for Haiti to create a five-year plan," which began in 2006 and was to be complete by 2011, said Lina Abirafeh, the UNFPA gender-based violence coordinator in Haiti. "It looks at response to cases, data collection, monitoring and prevention. It really is a very robust plan."

Abirafeh says the quake destroyed many of the services for women, such as rape counseling centers and Haiti's Ministry for Women's Affairs. It also took the lives of three of Haiti's most revered female leaders.

Steps are being taken to safeguard women in the camps now. Solar flashlights are being handed out, proximity to bathrooms and lighting are being worked on, and security patrols increased.

Authorities point out that rape is by no means an epidemic in the camps. Citywide, police say, they have received 20 reports of rape and made 10 arrests. But it is common knowledge among experts that most of these types of incidents go unreported.

"Figures for sexual violence are underreported everywhere in the world. Every country has an issue with this, and the figures are only the tip of the iceberg. They tell us very little," said Abirafeh. "As far as I'm concerned, even one rape is one too many."

Whatever the numbers, young women like Carine Exantus say it's hard to sleep well at night.

"We have to be afraid," she said, "because we don't know when somebody may have bad intentions."

BELIEFS

LEVEL ONE: NON-NEGOTIABLE

Christian

Paedobaptist

Calvinist in Soteriology, Supralapsrian, Double-Predestination.

thus: Total Depravity.

Unconditional Election

Particular Redemption, Definite Atonement

Effectual Grace to Regenerate

Preservation of the Saints

Five Solas: Scripture Alone, Grace Alone, Faith Alone, Christ Alone, God's Glory Alone

Women are not to be Elders, nor Deacons,yet a Woman's Servant-Ministry Group is presented in Scripture.

Elder, Deacon Ecclesiology.

A True Jew is one who is a Jew inwardly, a converted Gentile is no-longer a gentile, but a true son of Abraham.

The True Arminian follows a "different" Jesus and teaches a "different" Gospel.

Christ is Head of the Church, Head of the Husband, Husband is Priest and Head of the Family; Mutual Submission.

Freemasons & Order of the Eastern Star (and related brances) should not be members in a local Church until recanting Lodge Membership.

"Tongues" is hearing a human language, not a mysterious new divine gibberish.

Scripture never teaches having Santa-Claus on church property or at any Church event.

Scripture never teaches having Christmas Trees on Church property or at any Church event.

The Regulative Principle is good and should be examined and applied more often.

Gambling is a sin, and should not be viewed as a game or form of entertainment.

The Education Lottery is Scam, Sham, and Shame upon Mankind.

Strongly Prefer Weekly Communion, but at least Monthly.

Pro-Life, Anti Infant Genocide.

Lord's Day is not observed like the OT Sabbath, but more resembles Acts 2:42-47 as each day should.

LEVEL TWO: FIRM, BUT NOT FORCED UPON

Presuppositional Apologetics

Christian Home-Schooling is the best option, true Christian schooling is the 2nd best option,

Scripture does not indicate sending kids to Egypt, Babylon, or Rome for nurture.

We are not under a New Testament Tithe; rather, we submit all that we are stewards over to the Kingdom of God.

Tentative Amillenial in Eschatology.

Head-Coverings are to be "Cloth" and not merely "hair" and should be observed in Corporate Worship.

Alcohol is not Forbidden, but Drunkenness is.

Remarriage is Adultery unless the spouse has deceased.

Adultery is not permission to Divorce.

Offerings should be in Remembrance of Jesus Christ, not Annie Armstrong nor Lottie Moon.

The Best Bible is the Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, not the King James of 1611.

The Gospel is a command to all mankind to "repent from sin and self-reliance and believe in Jesus Christ", it is not "an offer".

The most Scriptural and ideal setting is for the mother to stay at home with the children, if circumstances really deter then at least one parent should be home with the children.

Prayer and having the Ten Commandments in School is only deistic hypocrisy, not help.

God does give a "oiktirmon" mercy in Luke 6 to the reprobate, yet which only hardens them.

For Capital Punishment.