Posted in Uncategorized

We will not know the day nor the time

This essay was first published on The End Time in June 2009. Both blogs are administered by Elizabeth Prata.

Matthew 24 is a major area in the bible that foretells the conditions at the time of the end. Jesus is answering His disciples’ questions about when the end shall be and what the end time conditions will be like. It is called the Olivet Discourse.

1. Jesus declined to answer the first question as to when. Mt 24:36But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.” And He repeats this in verse 42: “Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming…

There are many other instances in the bible where it is stated explicitly the exact time is not revealed. Likely to keep us faithful as much as to throw satan off. However, despite the clarity with which the verse is stated, there are some who still choose to interpret it as something else. “We didn’t know then, but we will know now” kind of interpretations. The bible interprets the bible and where it is clear (non-parable or allegory) it means what it says!

That did not stop Steve Coerper from predicting that on Pentecost, Sunday May 31 2009 we would be raptured. His take spun off many others and there was a mini-ripple of excitement among those who decided to believe twisted interpretations of the bible rather than the bible itself. Of course Mr Coerper wrote an addendum on June 1, to all of us who are still here and of course, not raptured. (Ed Note: since 2009, many others have predicted rapture, the Tribulation, down to the day and time. Of course, all have been incorrect.]

While I agree it is exciting to think the Lord may come in the next second, and I credit people for being a watchman and doing his best to alert us to imminence, it is folly in my opinion to interpret it to the time and day! We do know the seasons, and there is much scriptural support for being watchmen and commandments to understand the times of the signs, but we will NOT KNOW THE DAY.

2. We focus on the signs in Matthew but often forget this part: verse 13: “But he that shall endures unto the end, the same shall be saved. ” What hope!!!!

We can endure, we have all the strength of the Eternal God under our feet to support us. Think of the surface simplicity of those words: ‘he shall be saved.’ SAVED! What blessings await! What glory and honor we can offer our Lord in person! What an eternity He offers us, glorified in body and soul! SAVED means saved from hell, from sin’s judgment, from everlasting darkness, pain, tribulation, torment that the chains of sin hold us under.

Psalm 40:1-3
I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD.

It matters not that the we are witnessing His efficient dismantlement of earthly and carnal idols. Because we are saved, we sing in the midst of chaos! “Many will see and put their trust in the Lord”. If you’re saved and you know it, act like it. Your confidence will be a blessing to someone!

Posted in Uncategorized

Potpourri: should women teach men, writer’s block, common false Gospels, & more

Patrick Deenan discusses How a Generation Lost its Common Culture
The essay discusses how the educational system has contributed to a massive and widespread ignorance in today’s youth, a dearth of critical thinking, and wide-eyed panic when asked simple questions about history.

A good reference to Common False Gospels, with scripture included to refute them

Sunny Shell with an oldie but a goodie on What Do Beth Moore, Ann Voskamp, and Sarah Young have in common?

Being missionally legalistic? Desiring God discusses.

God’s Big Work and Your Little Mission

Many people wrongly believe that Christianity is simply a new set of rules and guidelines for how to behave. More recently, due to the widespread emphasis on missional living, it’s the “missional to-do list” that now determines our personal righteousness. In both cases, people find themselves feeling more like spiritual slaves than gospel-freed children of God.

I posted this the other day in a stand-alone piece but it’s too good not to post again. Here is Kevin DeYoung with 15 discernment diagnostics

The false teachers like Beth Moore, Christine Caine and others have provided a poor example to women in terms of how far they can go with teaching men, and when they stand in for pastors at the Sunday Pulpit. Christianity Today articulated this trend in an unfortunate article stating, What Happens When We See Women Teach the Bible, because “a figure like Beth Moore shows evangelical women what’s possible”.

Yes, Moore does show us what’s possible, but not what’s biblical. A generation of younger women have now been inoculated against the prohibition of women teaching men in church and other orthodox settings. Recently Housewife theologian Aimee Byrd started the downhill slide, while Mary Kassian still seems to be holding to biblical truth. Here are two articles on the subject.

I agree with the second, by Kassian, (except for #7, that bullet point I disagree with). I do not agree with Aimee Byrd’s overall stance, sadly.

Aimee Byrd: What is Sunday School? What Does it Appear to Be? And Who Can Teach It?

Mary Kassian: Women Teaching Men- How Far is Too Far?

And then Wendy at Practical Theology for Women has a response to Kassian’s piece. Good food for thought in all.

Tony Reinke is a Christian who writes about writing. He noted this week the difference between writing as a prose/novelist and writing non-fiction as a journalist. Having been both, I liked his comparison. He said the following in the piece titled Writers Block and Research,

You never want to solve a research problem with language. You never want to become such a fine writer that you can thread the needle and get through a thin patch in your research because you’re such a great prose artist.

I thought about how pastors do this with writing sermons … and then about how bloggers do this…and prayed I never fall into that trap! Anyway, I recommend his blog.

Robin Schumacher is a great writer who produces substantive pieces. He offers this piece in the wrongs of the charismatic movement, saying,

I wasn’t necessarily upset that nothing supernatural occurred to me that night, but it did cause me to start researching the whole idea that the miracle gifts described in the New Testament were still active today. What I discovered many years ago needs to be understood – I think now more than ever – by all Christians, especially those involved in charismatic assemblies.

Go to Real Wrongs of the Charismatic Movement for more.

Sonnet 18, often alternatively titled Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?, is one of the best-known of 154 sonnets written by the English playwright and poet William Shakespeare. My favorite quote from that sonnet is

And summer’s lease hath all too short a date:

In Maine, where I lived for 30 years, this is truer than true. Summer was fleeting and rather almost mournful because as soon as you began to relax and enjoy it, summer was over. I’m in Georgia now, and for me, the length of summer is just right. Even though there are false teachers, wayward theologians, charismatic chaos, and all the rest, birds still sing, gentle warm air wafts, children play, teachers educate, and life goes on. God made a beautiful world and for me, summer highlights its beauty more than any other season. (Except maybe spring, lol).

Whether you live in Arizona or Maine or Florida, summer is here with the opening threshold of Memorial Day upcoming in just a few days. I hope you have a safe and enjoyable summer. For me, this means school is over and my labors as a teacher’s aide will cease for a spell. I don’t think anyone looks forward to summer more than educators…unless perhaps it’s the kids!

Posted in Uncategorized

List of links warning why Jen Hatmaker should not be followed

But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep. (2 Peter 2:1-3).

I’m taking a cue from Michelle Lesley and making a list of links that point you to credible women who warn us against the influence of false teachers. This list warns about the negative influence of author, blogger, and speaker Jen Hatmaker.

Jen Hatmaker’s Messiah Complex
Timothy J. Hammons writes of Hatmaker regarding “her lack of discernment, lack of understanding, lack of conviction, and the fact that she thinks that by being overly dramatic and emotional in her appeals, it all must be OK.”

Christine Pack wrote on her Facebook page of four specific concerns with Hatmaker’s teaching.  4 concerns with Jen Hatmaker’s teachings.

I view Jen Hatmaker as the “heir apparent” to Beth Moore’s mantle. Hatmaker has made a career out of her charismatic personality, and her ability to garner followers through social media. This (the social media aspect) is something of a new phenomenon: popular bloggers (like Hatmaker) can post something to social media, and have literally hundreds of thousands of people see it in just a few minutes.

Hatmaker is so involved with the IF:Gathering that several articles below wind together their concerns with both the gathering and Hatmaker, who is one of the founders of that particular social justice/feminist movement.

Sola Sisters gives a strong warning about the IF:gathering and included is a solid section warning against Jen Hatmaker

Who is Jen Hatmaker? I’ve just started looking at her myself, but already, I’m seeing typical emergent double-speak for “I reject the authority of God’s word and bend with the culture.” But don’t take my word for it.

IF:Gathering…is it a movement of God?
This author asks readers to “Consider how Hatmaker poses and then answers a fictitious problem of faith” and, “Hatmaker explains that faith does not erase doubt, insecurity, or fear, it just helps to overcome them. However, faith and doubt are so antithetical to each other that where one exists, the other does not exist. Faith eliminates doubt as light eliminates darkness. If faith cannot remove doubt, it is completely incapable of victory over it. Teaching that the existence of faith and doubt as both/and is eastern thought. God’s word is clear that the existence of faith and doubt are either/or. (Matthew 14:31 and James 1:6).”

The Bible has many warnings regarding false teachers and the destructive heresies they bring. Note the verse posted at the opening does not say they will bring minor mistakes, or easily overlooked oopsies, or honest errors from a sincere heart. The word that the Holy Spirit inspired Peter to write is “destructive”. In the Greek, that word is apóleia and it means-

destruction, causing someone (something) to be completely severed – cut off (entirely) from what could or should have been.

Ultimately, people following Hatmaker or any false teacher will end up completely cut off from Christ and destroyed as the false teachers will be destroyed. This certainty is affirmed in another verse which promises the same thing. In Revelation 2 there was a false prophetess Jesus metaphorically called Jezebel. Though He gave her time to repent of her heresies, she would not. So Jesus promised to kill her and also those who followed her. (Revelation 2:20-23).

False teaching is a serious, serious thing. It will destroy your witness and ultimately your soul. No wonder Paul says,

I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. (Romans 16:17)

Posted in Uncategorized

Divine personal encounters with God?

Charlatan: A false teacher who claims to have had a personal visitation with Jesus and/or God, such as Beth Moore, Jesse DuPlantis, Mike Bickle from IHOP, Kim Walker Smith and others. The next appearance of Christ will be seen by the entire world, not by a few, in secret.

Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. 24For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. 25See, I have told you beforehand. 26So, if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it.” (Matthew 24:23-26).

Please watch this 2-minute short video from the folks at ministry WWUT. It’s startling to see how many people claim direct visitation and how eerily similar their stories are.

 

WUTT stands for When We Understand The Text, and their website and Youtube channel is a great resource rebutting common false teachings and fallacies in Christianity these days. Their videos are usually 2 minutes or under but are clear and verse-packed.

In addition, for 10 to 12 minutes a day, Monday to Friday, WWUTT studies the Bible and they also answer e-mail questions in these longer videos. Subscribe on iTunes here or on Podbean here. For questions and comments, send an e-mail to whenweunderstandthetext@gmail.com.

Posted in Uncategorized

Praise Jesus, the Person

My favorite, favorite passage.

The Word Became Flesh

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (John 1:1-5, ESV)

I find this passage even more moving in the King James Version

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

Martyn Lloyd-Jones said in his great sermon, “Christianity: The Only Hope” that, and I paraphrase,

Christianity is not a belief as in men who believe this philosophy or that philosophy. Christianity is a fact. It is about the Person of Jesus Christ, what He did and what He said, and the meaning of His Person. Those who say in these modern times to focus only on the teaching and that it doesn’t matter if Jesus was a man or a man-God or a teacher or whatever that we’ve got the teaching and that’s what matters. “They’ve got it all wrong,” MLJ said.

Christianity is a Person. This was the theme of the first century Church. It is the theme of the Gospel according to Luke, and it is the theme of Luke’s book Acts of the Apostles. It is about the PERSON of Jesus Christ and all that He began to do and teach.

In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach,  (Acts 1:1)

We are witnesses to the person of Jesus Christ. We are not witnesses to a teaching, but to a person. The Apostles consistently talked about Jesus, they never started with the social situation or the political situation but spoke of Jesus and the Resurrection. They went to people and spoke of the Person.

For the full effect of the sermon go to the link above. On this Sunday and then every day, re-orient your thinking toward Jesus as Person, who He is and why He came. This Psalm of David speaks of WHO.

Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and all that is within me,
bless his holy name!
2 Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits,
3 who forgives all your iniquity,
who heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit,
who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
5 who satisfies you with good
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
(Psalm 103:1-5)

Lars Justinen, “Robe of Righteousness”
Posted in Uncategorized

My husband has cheated. Now what?

“Mawwiage, the blessed arrangement, the dweam wifin a dweam”, or so said “The Impressive Clergyman”, if you remember the funny scene from the classic film The Princess Bride.

Though the scene is funny, it is true that marriage is a blessed arrangement. God created the institution of marriage to be a picture of His loving, intimate relationship with His people. In the Old Testament, His people were Israel, and then after Pentecost, also the Church.

However, God knew that man is faithless, fickle, and adulterous. Many times, Israel strayed from her one true love- The One True God. Israel’s departure from their covenant with God pained Him many times.

Wives, as with everything in life, if we are in a situation where our husband has strayed, the Bible comforts us and informs us of how to go on. Let’s look at the Old Testament first.

Jeremiah 3:14Return, O backsliding children,” says the Lord; “for I am married to you. I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion.”

Jeremiah 31:31-33 Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah-not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

He even told the Prophet Hosea marry an adulterous woman, as a picture of His relationship with Israel.

Hosea 1:2 When the Lord began to speak through Hosea, the Lord said to him, “Go, marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her, for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the Lord.

Thank God His love and promises are true and sure.

Hosea 2:19-20I will betroth you to Me forever; yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and justice, in lovingkindness and mercy; I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness, and you shall know the Lord.

New Testament: In His incarnation, Jesus was the God-Man come to preach righteousness and repentance and to teach disciples who would declare His name and His glory among the Gentiles. He is gathering members for His church, and those who are given entry will participate in the Wedding Feast of the Lamb. In Revelation 19:7–9, John had a vision of the heavenly multitudes praising God because the wedding feast of the Lamb. Again we see the picture of Marriage in His relationship with us, this time, virginal betrothal of His Bride (Church) to Himself.

As a Man, Jesus was also betrayed by those closest to Him. Not by a wife, as Hosea was, but by one of His closest friends, who sold him to death for 30 pieces of silver. Peter betrayed Jesus three times, and even fled from Him. Judas was the world’s biggest betrayer, having been with Jesus from the beginning, seeing His miracles, and learning from Him, yet sold Jesus for thirty pieces of silver.

Though man has acted adulterously with God, Jesus still loves His elect. Moreover, Jesus is our High Priest and can sympathize in every way with those who have been betrayed, because he has been betrayed.

If you are a wife who is struggling to overcome a similar situation in your marriage, do not feel like your prayers go no higher than the ceiling. They rise to the ears of our Priest who intercedes for us, and to His heart. How own heart was wounded and betrayed but He forgave and and is King and Groom to those who betrayed Him. He loves you, a sinner, and He loves your husband, a sinner. He shows no partiality.

Hebrews 4:15-16 For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.

Psalm 103:10-12 He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.

Galatians 6:1 Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.

Luke 17:3-4 Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”

So…HOW does one go on after a betrayal? Only through the righteous strength of the Holy Spirit. Only through His Word, and prayer, and choosing to behave in ways that are consistent with holy living [no matter what the spouse is doing or what we think he is doing] can we overcome our sinful tendencies toward bitterness, jealousy, suspicion, and anger if a betrayal unfortunately occurs in the marriage.

I know it’s painful. I know. The academic and theological tone of this essay is grounded in a close-up knowledge and experience of the devastation of adultery. It’s the worst feeling to know your husband has sought after another. It is a direct violation of his body and your body. I’ve also seen that specific despair on the face on friends who have undergone the grievous process of adultery revealed. And yet, with God, restoration and forgiveness is possible.

Here are some articles that may help.

Who is an Adulterer?

Healing From the Pain of Adultery

Forgiving Your Spouse after Adultery

Picking up the Pieces

Posted in Uncategorized

Trump or Hillary? How believers should look at the 2016 Election

I love America but to be honest, in my lifetime the political process has often failed to produce a candidate for President in whom my vote would not feel like a failure of conscience.

So I’ve always voted my conscience. I often vote third party or simply write-in. Others have told me that doing so “is a waste of my vote”, because “they’ll never get elected.” But that’s lemming thinking. I am not voting numerically, I’m voting the heart, conscience, and issues. I have one vote and I treasure it. I feel that throwing my vote into a numerical pot simply to “go along” is a waste of my vote.

The Master’s Seminary published this short video offering a biblical perspective to those Christians struggling with the obvious quandary this year’s Presidential Election presents. Here is their lead-in:

It’s election season! So how should believers look at the 2016 race? Jesse Johnson, Associate Dean of the Master’s Seminary’s Washington D.C. location talks about it in this video. Jamie Jackson talks to Jesse Johnson about a Christian perspective on the 2016 US presidential election. How do Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton factor into the conversation? How should believers think about the current political landscape?

The video is at this link.

The video is just four and a half minutes long. I hope its concise but potent advice blesses you and gives you either food for thought or confidence in your own voting decisions.

Posted in Uncategorized

Beth Moore bible twisting now includes “binding prayers”

I appreciated my friend Seth Dunn’s warning about Beth Moore. He wrote on Facebook,

 

Here is what Moore wrote on Twitter, a bit larger,

Moore is referring to the following verses,

Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst. (Matthew 18:18–20)

These are verses which are frequently abused by the charismatic crowd, of which Moore is part. Benny Hinn and Joyce Meyer also frequently refer to binding and loosing in the same vein as Moore did on Twitter, this is noted in the below linked essay. Moore’s theology is often wrong on many counts, and incorrectly referring to binding/loosing is another example. The sad part is the number of “likes” her references have already garnered. Hence, the warning from Mr Dunn. Women, be wary of Beth Moore. She is a false teacher.

These verses from Matthew 18 about binding and loosing are so frequently abused that Dr John MacArthur included them in a blog series titled appropriately “Frequently Abused Verses Can Believers Manipulate the Power and Presence of Christ?” Of binding and loosing, we see from this excerpt from the blog’s author Cameron Buettel,

As with previous posts in this series, the first thing we should check is the context of our passage. What do the surrounding verses tell us about the meaning of our text? In this case, the preceding verses are likely just as familiar as the passage in question:

If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. (Matthew 18:15–17).

Just a simple reading of the text makes it clear that the focus is not spiritual warfare, unity in marriage, or empowering your prayer meetings. Instead, verses 15–17 speak exclusively about church discipline.

Therefore, all of Christ’s instructions about binding and loosing, unity, and the promise of His presence come in the context of church discipline. In other words, Matthew 18:18–20 means that when church leaders gather together to deal with unrepentant sinners, they have heavenly backing.

Please read the rest of the essay for an excellent explanation of exactly what binding and loosing are about.

And, it doesn’t take much thought to see that the manner in which Moore used the binding prayer is faulty. As she said in her tweet, If she “often” has to deal with spine pain, one must ask why didn’t her binding prayer against her pain “work”? The Word/Faith crowd will tell you that it’s because you do not possess enough faith. From there, the downward spiral of incorrect interpretations continue.

Think about it, Paul didn’t pray “binding prayers” against his own continuing pain from the thorn in his side (AKA messenger from satan). He instead prayed to Jesus to remove it. (2 Corinthians 12:5-10). Timothy didn’t pray “binding prayers” to remove his nausea and frequent illnesses. (1 Timothy 5:23). As a matter of fact he was told by Paul to stop drinking only water (bacteria laden) and to take wine (antiseptic). Binding prayers are not mentioned in either remedy. Just those two quick examples reveal an absence of binding prayers from the actual Apostles, and another Jenga slab comes out of the wobbly charismatic doctrinal tower.

At root, what people who speak prayers to bind their pain are really believing is that they have power over demons, and that they have power to manipulate God, (i.e ‘if I have enough faith then God HAS to perform this for me’).

Pretty “audacious” if you ask me.

Posted in Uncategorized

Name above all names

Did you ever know how often the book of Acts refers to “the name”? A search on BibleGateway results in 62 times where the word ‘name’ is in a verse. Only a few of them are verses where the word is used to record the actual name of someone. The bulk of the verses in Acts refer to the name of Jesus. We are told Saul will suffer for His name, power is given in the name, they tried to stop preaching in His name, being baptized in His name, preaching the Good News in His name…THE NAME. Below is one of my favorite verses from Acts:

And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. (Acts 4:12)

We read this from Philippians 2:9

Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name
,

Pondering the name and the fact that Jesus’ name is the most highly exalted name in all the universe, led me to visualize this.

Praise Him today that you know His name in love and gratitude as a person not only professing Jesus but possessing Jesus in faith, as RC Sproul would say. We love the Name because we know the Person who revealed Himself to us in that name. He is high and lifted up. May the name of Jesus resound in your heart in faith, love, gratitude, and awe.

—————————–

Fact:

We will receive a new name:

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.’ (Revelation 2:17)

Fact:

Hagar was the only Bible person to name God. She named Him El Roi, The God Who Sees.

She gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.” (Genesis 16:13)

Further Reading:

You are not alone- Jesus sees you!

We have a God who sees! You do not have to feel alone. You do not have to feel like He is distant from you. You do not have to feel like an insignificant speck, alone in your troubles.

Posted in Uncategorized

Calvinism: The Continental Divide of Theology

By Steven Lawson, Ligonier

Through the western regions of North America, there runs an imaginary geographic line that determines the flow of streams into oceans. It is known as the Continental Divide. Ultimately, precipitation falling on the east side of this great divide will flow into the Atlantic Ocean. Likewise, water falling on the western slopes of this line will surge in the opposite direction until it finally empties into the Pacific Ocean. Needless to say, a vast continent separates these immense bodies of water. It is seemingly far-fetched to ponder that a raindrop falling atop a mountain in Colorado will flow to the Pacific, while another drop, falling but a short distance away, will flow into the Atlantic. Nevertheless, once the water pours down on a particular side of this great divide, its path is determined and its direction is unchangeable.

Geography is not the only place we find a great divide. There is a high ground that runs through church history as well—a Continental Divide of theology. This great divide of doctrine separates two distinctly different streams of thought that flow in opposite directions. To be specific, this determinative high ground is one’s theology of God, man, and salvation. This is the highest of all thought, and it divides all doctrine into two schools. Historically, these two ways of thinking about God and His saving grace have been called by various names. Some have identified them as Augustinianism and Pelagianism. Others have named them Calvinism and Arminianism. Still others have defined them as Reformed and Catholic, while others have used the terms predestination and free will. But by whatever name, these streams are determined by the Continental Divide of theology.

This metaphorical divide differs from the geographical Continental Divide in one key respect. Whereas streams flowing west and east of the Rocky Mountains descend gradually to the plains and lowlands where they meet the oceans, the terrain on the two sides of the doctrinal divide is quite different. On one side we find solid highlands of truth. On the other side there are precipitous slopes of half-truths and full error.

Over the centuries, seasons of reformation and revival in the church have come when the sovereign grace of God has been openly proclaimed and clearly taught. When a high view of God has been infused into the hearts and minds of God’s people, the church has sat on the elevated plateaus of transcendent truth. This lofty ground is Calvinism—the high ground for the church. The lofty truths of divine sovereignty provide the greatest and grandest view of God. The doctrines of grace serve to elevate the entire life of the church. The great Princeton theologian Benjamin Breckenridge Warfield, writing more than a century ago, perceptively noted, “The world should realize with increased clearness that Evangelicalism stands or falls with Calvinism.” At first glance, this stunning statement may appear to be an exaggeration, even hyperbole. But the more it is weighed, the more one discerns that evangelicalism—that part of the body of Christ that rightly adheres to the inerrancy of Scripture, the total depravity of man, and the sovereignty of God in all aspects of life—always needs the doctrines of sovereign grace to anchor it to the high ground. For without the theological teachings of Reformed truth concerning God’s sovereignty in man’s salvation, the church is weakened and made vulnerable, soon to begin an inevitable decline into baser beliefs, whether she realizes it or not.

Whenever the church becomes increasingly man-centered, she begins the downhill slide, often without recovery, and always to her detriment. Once yielding the high ground of Calvinism, a self-absorbed church puts its full weight onto the slippery slope of Arminianism, resulting in a loss of its foundational stability. Tragically, however, the descent rarely stops there. Historically, man-centered doctrine has served only as a catalyst for an even greater fall.

 

Rappelling down the slippery slopes of Arminianism, one is soon to find the church sinking deeper and deeper into a murky quagmire of heretical ideas. Such a descent inevitably gives way to liberalism, the utter rejection of the absolute authority of Scripture. From liberalism—given enough time— the church always plunges yet lower into ecumenism, that deadly philosophy that embraces all religions as having some part of the truth. Continuing this downward spiral, the church plummets into universalism, the damning belief that all men eventually will be saved. Yet worse, universalism gives way to agnosticism, a degenerate view that one cannot even know whether there is a God. Finally, the church falls into the deepest abyss—the hellish flames of atheism, the belief that there is no God.

Never has the need been greater for the truths of sovereign grace to be firmly established in the church. Her thinking about God desperately needs to be flowing in the right direction. As the church thinks, so she worships; and, as the church worships, so she lives, serves, and evangelizes. The church’s right view of God and the outworking of His grace gives shape to everything that is vital and important. The church must recapture her lofty vision of God and, thereby, be anchored to the solid rock of His absolute supremacy in all things. Only then will the church have a God-centered orientation in all matters of ministry. This, I believe, is the desperate need of the hour.

This excerpt is adapted from Foundations of Grace by Steven J. Lawson.

Resource The Continental Divide of Theology (http://www.ligonier.org/blog/continental-divide-theology/), Copyright 2016 by Steven J. Lawson, Ligonier Ministries (http://www.ligonier.org)