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celibacy, encouragement, glennon doyle melton, paul, singleness

Joy in Singleness, part 2: Gifted to live singly for Jesus

Posted on April 10, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Joy in Singleness part 1
Joy in Singleness, part 3: Famous biblical singles
Joy in Singleness part 4 conclusion: Personal Note and Opinion

While some singles are waiting impatiently for God to change their circumstance,
other singles are not walking in a fog of depression but joyfully serve from His gift

Singleness in the church today. Singleness in the Body Christ is forming for His glory. Though there is a heavy focus on married couples in preaching, ministering, and fellowship life, there are single people in the church. We know this by the data the Census and the Christian church demographics. Yet as the number of singles in the church increases, churches are increasingly either unable or unwilling to minister effectively to this normal segment of the family of Christ.

Many single people report that they feel left out, overlooked, or worse, are treated as second-class citizens in church life.

This is part two of a three part series on being single in today’s Christian church. I’d said yesterday in part one that we can drill down even further into examining what the Bible has to say about being single. In my view, there are two branches of singles. Some people are single because they are going through a life phase in God’s timing where marriage hasn’t happened for them yet, or they were married and are now widows or widowers, perhaps to marry again. Others are temporarily single as spouses serve in the military, work far away, or are incarcerated. I’m not discussing these singles, these precious folks who know that God will provide a mate for them.

The other type of single today are men and women Jesus calls and ordains as single permanently. It’s the divinely ordained singles I’ll discuss. These are modern-day ‘eunuchs’, as Matthew 19:12 illustrates. The Bible directly teaches the gift of singleness, the status whereupon Jesus is forming people for His glory who will never marry, or if they were married, will never marry again. Rarely does preaching, ministry, or church fellowship reflect this biblical reality.

In this part I’ll look at what the scriptures have to say generally about singleness. In part 3, the last part, I’ll look at specifically named single individuals in the Bible and their work for the glory of Jesus.

In dividing singles into the two branches, the temporarily single as a phase of life and the sovereignly, ordained single as a permanent status, it allows churches to edify each by uniquely focusing on their special gift or need. Teaching about the gift of singleness also honors the Word of God as we preach or teach about this segment of our family demographic from scripture. The Bible specifically addresses the ordained single- but these verses seem to be invisible in today’s preaching and as a result, these folks are often invisible also.

But this demographic certainly was not invisible in the Bible! Yet with article titles like these,
–Why So Many Singles?
–Surviving Church as a Single
–Are Singles the Lepers of Today?

Is it any wonder many permanent singles wonder where and how to minister to the Body and honor Jesus in church?

Julia Stager at Randy Alcorn’s Eternal Perspective Ministries wrote,

I’ve always felt encouraged by how singleness is addressed from the pulpit. I hear how, being single, I have the opportunity to love and serve God in a way that’s undivided and different from how I can do it when I’m married. But things get a little more challenging in the foyer. It’s there I hear things like, “So, have you started dating anyone?” Or, “Whatever happened with you and that guy?” Or, “You’re so great. I can’t believe you’re not married!” These questions, though well-meaning, can come across as invalidating my singleness or as insinuating that the only goal of singleness is to end it.

John Stott, Wikipedia photo

The entire chapter of 1 Corinthians 7 focuses on marriage, singleness, lust, celibacy, and the duties of each person whether married at the time or not. Above all, one should understand that some people today in the body of Christ have been gifted with singleness. God has given a gift to the person and by extension to His Son’s Body. Acknowledging this is paramount, an important step in puncturing church conceptions about permanent singles. Not to say some singles are better than anyone else, but simply to say that their lifestyle has been given them by Holy God and that ministering through this gift will bring blessing to His body of believers that seems uncommon today.

The great preacher John Stott was single for 90 years. His period in office was 1945–2010. He was interviewed specifically about singleness, in this article appearing just after his death in 2011.

We must never exalt singleness (as some early church fathers did, notably Tertullian) as if it were a higher and holier vocation than marriage. We must reject the ascetic tradition which disparages sex as legalized lust, and marriage as legalized fornication. No, no. Sex is the good gift of a good Creator, and marriage is his own institution.

If marriage is good, singleness is also good. It’s an example of the balance of Scripture that, although Genesis 2:18 indicates that it is good to marry, 1 Corinthians 7:1 (in answer to a question posed by the Corinthians) says that “it is good for a man not to marry.” So both the married and the single states are “good”; neither is in itself better or worse than the other.

We know marriage is a gift from God. In 1 Corinthians 7:6-7, Paul specifically addresses singleness as a gift for some.

Now as a concession, not a command, I say this. I wish that all were as I myself am. But each has his own gift from God, one of one kind and one of another.

John MacArthur said in his commentary on 1 Corinthians 7:6-7,

His comments were not meant as a command for every believer to be married. Marriage was instituted by God and is the norm for man-woman relationships, and it is a great blessing to mankind. But it is not required for believers or anyone else. His point was, if you are single, that is good, if you are married or get married, stay married and retain normal marital relations for that is of God. Spirituality is not determined by marital status.

This biblical truth is countered and overshadowed by “Christian” writers who unfortunately have much influence, especially over young women. Mommy bloggers like Glennon Melton who claim to be a ‘truth teller and hope spreader’ wrote in her oddly titled “Ways to Secure your Happyish Ever After“,

“Marriage is still the best chance we have to become evolved, loving people.”

Source

Of course it is not true, as we see in the scripture above. Sadly, Melton’s insinuation is not uncommon, that if one is not married, one cannot become “evolved” or become loving. Yet it is the Spirit Who grows us (if that is what is meant by ‘evolved’). Further, it is the Spirit Who delivers the spiritual fruit of love. (Ephesians 5:9, Galatians 5:22). Marriage is a God-given institution but it is not the marriage itself that grows a Christian into maturity. MacArthur commentary continues,

The attitude among Christians today about singleness, however, is often like that of the Jewish tradition in Paul’s day. It is looked upon as a second class condition. “Not so,” says the apostle. If singleness is God’s gift to a person, it is God’s will for that person to accept and exercise the gift. If that person is submissive to God, he can live in singleness all his life in perfect contentment and happiness.

Yet sadly it’s often other believers who seem discontent for the content single, a concern that deepens the more the contented single asserts his or her state of unmarried peace. Jesus spoke acceptance of singleness in Matthew 19:12.

For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let the one who is able to receive this receive it.

Here, Jesus classifies the 3 kinds of single/celibate persons. There is the one who was born with congenital deformities or other diseases which make marital relations impossible and conceiving children nonviable. Others have been made that way by men. In the Bible times, men were purposely castrated if they were destined to work in a harem, for instance, or as a court administrator, as we read in 2 Kings 20:18, Esther 2:3, or Acts 8:27. The Lord’s care for those who were born or made eunuchs was stated in Isaiah 56:3b-5, where God welcomes all believers, without distinction of persons, under the new economy of salvation-

Philip & the Ethiopian Eunuch. Source

and let not the eunuch say, “Behold, I am a dry tree.” For thus says the Lord: “To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose the things that please me and hold fast my covenant, I will give in my house and within my walls a monument and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.

dry tree—barren (compare Lu 23:31); not admissible into the congregation of Israel (De 23:1–3). Under the Gospel the eunuch and stranger should be released from religious and civil disabilities. (Source: Jamieson, Fausset, Brown, Commentary)

How comforting God is when announcing that those who are not by their own choice unmarried, childless, celibate eunuchs will be given a monument and a name. Their marital and family status were a lament to them but they still sought God’s glory and chose the things that pleased Him. What comfort and care He gives to the person who is made eunuch through no act of their own. What a Godly example given to show that no matter what the physical state of a person or their marital status, one can and should seek the things that please the LORD.

Singleness is not my identity. I don’t want to be separated from the Body of Christ based on my marital status.” SourceThe New Testament verse in Matthew 19:12, Jesus said there was a third kind of eunuch, “and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let the one who is able to receive this receive it.“

What kind of single/celibate person is this? MacArthur explains in his commentary,

Unlike the other two forms, this one is not physical…Jesus is speaking of voluntary celibacy of those to whom the gift has been granted by God (v. 11). In that case, celibacy should be used for the sake of the kingdom of God and be pleasing to Him and used by Him. Paul had the gift of celibacy and strongly exhorted others who had the gift to be content with it and use its obvious advantages for Gods glory. (1 Corinthians 7:32-34).

You may have noticed I shifted from discussing divinely given permanent singleness to the topic of celibacy. That is because the two are entwined. One cannot be without the other. If you are single, you are to be celibate. Outside of marriage, celibacy is a mandate from God. We are NOT to be fornicators. (1 Corinthians 6:9, Hebrews 13:4, 1 Corinthians 5:9, 1 Timothy 1:10, 1 Corinthians 5:10, Revelation 21:8). Whether young or old, virgin or widowed or divorced, we are to be chaste. (1 Timothy 2:2, 1 Timothy 5:2, 1 Timothy 4:12, Galatians 5:23, 2 Corinthians 6:6

God provides. God sustains. If He gives to some the gift of singleness, would He not also provide the strength to refrain from lust and remain chaste for His name? MacArthur’s commentary again,

Although celibacy us good for Christians who are not married, it is a gift from God that is not given to every believer. Just as it is wrong to misuse a gift we have, it is wrong to try to use a gift we do not have. For a person who does not have the gift of celibacy, trying to practice it brings moral and spiritual frustration. But for those who have it as God’s gift, singleness, like all His gifts, brings great blessing.

Both Jesus and Paul make it clear that the celibate life is not required by God for all believers and that it can be satisfactorily lived only by those to whom God has given it.

These folks are a great blessing to the church. I don’t say that because I am one, lol. I am single, childless and have a job where I have time to focus on kingdom work to a degree other church members may not be able to. This is both my choice and God’s ordination. It’s a chicken and egg situation. Yet my married brethren are rearing children for His name and leading and teaching us, so their kingdom work is equally valuable as mine or anybody else’s! We are a body, each formed uniquely as a snowflake, spiritually given gifts in unique hues to benefit each other and most importantly, Jesus.

God’s care for the celibate, permanent single is obvious from scripture. Singles of any kind are not second class citizens, nor are they in a waiting room for marriage (read: maturity and acceptance). Jesus does not look at us that way and nor should the church. Celebrate His diversity in installing people in the Body from all demographics to labor for His good and glory.

Final part: looking at named and unnamed singles in the Bible and their work for God. And lots of quotes from S. Lewis Johnson!

Joy in Singleness part 1
Joy in Singleness, part 3: Famous biblical singles
Joyful in Singleness part 4 conclusion: Personal Note and Opinion

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Joy in singleness, though you’d never know it by Christian social media or church life. Part 1

Posted on April 9, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Joy in Singleness, part 2: Gifted to live singly for Jesus
Joy in Singleness, part 3: Famous biblical singles
Joyful in Singleness part 4 conclusion: Personal Note and Opinion

I am currently reading through and studying 1 Corinthians. In 1 Corinthians 7, Paul outlines responsibilities of life to marrieds & singles, and mentioning young men, virgins, and widows. It is a great chapter. Paul is specific, loving, and clear, focusing on marriage, lust, and conjugal duty.

Marriage is the foundation block of society, procreation is strongly urged, (Genesis 1:28, Genesis 9:7, Psalm 128:3, Proverbs 31:27), and divorce is considered a violent act, (Luke 16:18; 1 Corinthians 7:15; Matthew 5:32; Matthew 19:6,8; Genesis 2:24). As a matter of fact, unauthorized divorce prohibits men from serving in leadership capacity, (1 Timothy 3:2) so it is no wonder that churches spend a good deal of time preaching to and discipling marrieds. There are many marriage retreats, books, Sunday School curricula, and sermons given over to the subject. This is a good thing.

Marriage, the Bible tells us from the beginning of the Book of Genesis, is a divine institution. That is, it is something established by God. It is a covenant that is given by God and for that reason it is traceable to him. It has also been consecrated by him, for he has blessed the marriage relationship. And, of course, it’s the means of the preservation of the human race. ~S. Lewis Johnson, Marriage Counsel, part 1

However oftentimes so much attention is given to married couples and their issues, that an overly myopic focus descends upon any given church that leaves the other half of the population out. There are young unmarried men and women, honorably divorced folks, and widows and widowers. Because of the excessive focus on marriage and married Christians’ concerns, one would be led to believe the entire church was composed of couples. But it is not so.

Census data from 1970 show that 70 percent of American households contained a married couple. The 2006 report from the Census Bureau disclosed that fewer than half of American households are now maintained by married couples. Eye on Unmarried America

In this series I’ll focus on singleness, its joys, benefits, church life, and ministry and civic opportunities. There are several kinds of singles: singles who are frustrated in the waiting for what they know will be God’s gift of marriage to them, or who have had that gift and are now widows or widowers and are grieving the loss. Some in today’s world are temporarily single also by the fact that their spouse is serving overseas, working far away, or are incarcerated. (Yes it happens). For these singles, a different kind of ministry is needed. Many of these people desire comfort and love and support as they yearningly await a change in their marital status.

Those aren’t the singles I am discussing. I’ll address the fact that even if some singles are acknowledged and gasp! ministered to, not all singles are in a waiting room for marriage. Some, like me, know they will be single forever, and are happy with that gift. Yes, gift. Rarely is the gift of singleness discussed in the church, or even preached about, looked upon as an enhancement to the Body, let alone acknowledged as a normal segment of the family He is creating.

Churches are so committed to the idea of a family-centered church that they’re just not sure how to handle rising rates of singleness. “Are Single People the Lepers of Today?”

Further, I’ll reject the subtle cloud that usually attaches to a discussion of singles: depression, sadness, longing. There are singles out there which God has granted a life of joy and fulfillment, with nary a search for the soul mate in sight but only having eyes for the Groom.

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Joy in Singleness, part 2: Gifted to live singly for Jesus
Joy in Singleness, part 3: Famous biblical singles
Joyful in Singleness part 4 conclusion: Personal Note and Opinion

brethren, commentaries, encouragement, gift

Look what came all the way from California today! Updated

Posted on April 8, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

I like to study the Bible. I like history, culture, commentaries, natural history, dictionaries, Greek and Hebrew lexicons…anything to help me understand God’s word better.

Of course, there is no substitute for studying God’s word directly in submission to the Spirit who illuminates it…in prayer and in a spirit of truth and repentance.

I found two large boxes leaning against my door.
So glad I am on vacation and could retrieve them immediately.
There is no covering or porch to deliver them to and weather is a factor.

However God raised up men throughout each age to help us. Some were preachers, some were scholars, some were professors, some were students…but God raises up men to help us learn His word. We are grateful to the Apostles, Augustine, Hus, Calvin, Luther, Edwards, Clarke, Gill, Henry, Spurgeon, Warfield, S. Lewis Johnson and many, many more who have left behind a written legacy of a lifetime of depth in God’s scripture. We know we benefit from their evangelical and pastoral labors, but we also benefit from their scholarly labors too.

One of these men God has raised up for this generation is John MacArthur. After 35 years of writing and a decade beyond that of preaching, Dr MacArthur completed his New Testament Commentary Series. Upon completion of verse-by-verse explanations of each book of the NT, he and his team have made the commentary available for an incredible price for a limited time.

A lot of books!

A dear, generous brother in the faith contacted me and offered to subsidize part of the sale price, and after thinking about it and prayer, I said yes. Otherwise I’d never have been able to purchase this resource for my own study.

It arrived today, 33 volumes, 3 feet 4 inches of towering knowledge. I live in a 400 square foot apartment and my four bookcases are full. When I ordered the set, I figured I’d cross that bridge when I came to it, and now that day is here. After pondering and looking around and re-arranging, I will later install these wonderful books onto my bookshelves, readily accessible and waiting to be absorbed into my daily studies.

The brother who sent me the donation said it was an investment. We are a body, united through Christ and His blood, death, and resurrection, our old men have been put to shame and death and the new man is growing in each of us. When we all use our gifts to the good of the Body and the glory of Christ, we all benefit. He believed it would benefit the body to ensure I had access to this study aid. How encouraging to be thought of. How wonderful to be given a gift.

I’m humbled by this, and I also take the responsibility seriously. I’m grateful for the opportunity to deepen my study and to be reminded every day when I look at the books, that we are not alone, none of us. What one person does affects us all, to the bad and to the good. I pray I use this gift wisely to the good and glory of the Name who made it possible to be in His body at all, and to have the mind of Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:16).

Sorry kitties, your hidey-hole has got to go.
I need the space now

UPDATE

It took some doing and a bit of culling but I fit it all. I moved several bookcases of books around and had to put away my rocks, gems, geodes and fossils that had been displayed on the shelves of a smaller bookcase. That was not too sad because I’d had to put them all in jars anyway and push them to the back of the shelf because in the wee hours Murray flung them off their decorative dishes and bashed them all around the house. A fossil shell survived the Flood but not the cat. I put them up until he gets older. That freed four shelves and it was just enough.

But in so doing I had an opportunity to re-group my books by subject and size. (Yes, I’m that way). I also cleaned the bookcases since they were emptied. Amazing how much dust collected. All my theological and bible books are together and grouped by subject. I know I’m going on about this but change is hard, even for a good thing. I sit in my wing chair sometimes and simply look at my books on the shelves. (Yes, I’m that way).

Of the half shelf of new MacArthur Commentaries I could fit all my older commentaries on the rest of the shelf. I’ve got commentary on Ecclesiastes, three on Revelation, Daniel, Corinthians, Peter and a few others. Here is how it looks now.

The top shelf is Italy, Renaissance, Art and poetry. The rest is given over to theology, dictionaries, and Christian/missionary biographies.

On my other shelves I’ve got Native American and Border issues, Mythology, classics such as The Peloponnesian war, Socrates, and Tacitus, some medieval diaries and castle stuff, and half a shelf on natural history including field guides to mammals and shells, Stephen Jay Gould and Farley Mowat. A few novels round out the newly freed up shelves with some favorites including “How Proust Changed My Life”, Isabel Allende, etc.

Spring break is here, but summer’s coming! Plenty of time to read and study. Time Enough at Last

genesis 3, prophecy, satan

A wonderful prophecy: satan’s defeat

Posted on April 7, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

I can’t wait for the day when satan and his demons howl in pain and anguish, knowing they are finally, completely defeated.

architecture, church, encouragement, new testament, temple

Of church buildings and temples

Posted on April 6, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

I’m reading 1 Corinthians 6. The verses at the end of the chapter, 19-20 are as follows:

EPrata photo

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

We are familiar with that passage and no doubt can quote it. In this portion of the chapter Paul is urging the sexually aware and culturally lascivious Corinthian believers to forgo sexual immorality. He said that because the Holy Spirit is inside us, and that we are living temples of Christ, when we sin sexually we make Christ complicit in it in a way that no other sin does. (1 Corinthians 6:15).

In reading my commentary by John R. Rice, he went further in explaining. His focus in this paragraph is not on the body in which the Spirit dwells, making it the temple of God, but on buildings.

What’s in a church building? If you’re an Old Testament worshiper, everything, absolutely everything. If you are a New Testament worshiper, nothing. Absolutely nothing.

EPrata photo

We know that God spent an inordinate amount of ink and inspiration in the Old Testament recording the specifics of the Tabernacle, and later, the Temple’s construction. We have an excellent idea of what they both looked like because of the monumental meticulousness in the OT regarding its dimensions, specifications, and adornments. Some of this information can be read in 1 Kings 5-6, 2 Chronicles 2, Exodus 38, and so on.

The Disciples looked upon the temple in Mark 13:1 and exclaimed over its majestic beauty. There is even much ink given to the construction, location, and adornments of the Temple in the Millennium Age (Ezekiel 40-41), even down to the number of cubits wide each door will be. Revelation 11:19 even mentioned God’s temple in heaven opened up and the ark of the covenant being there.

But did you ever wonder why in all the New Testament, no specificity or even reference is given over to the construction, location, adornments of any church building? None whatsoever?

Here is John R. Rice:

It is significant that not a single church building is mentioned in the New Testament. Were there any church buildings? If so, God was particularly careful that no one should revere or honor them. God does not live in church houses. Many a home where Christians pray and read God’s word and delight in His presence is more nearly a house of God than the church house. It is wrong, then, “to speak of reverence for the house of God.” We should respect the rights of other people. We should see that services are decent and in order, without confusion. We should respect the man of God. But God has no temple on earth but a human body… ~John R. Rice, The Church of God at Corinth: Commentary in 1 and 2 Corinthians, 1973

EPrata photo

We note that the disciples met in the Upper Room after the crucifixion (Acts 1:13, Acts 20:8). When Apollos was expounding in the synagogue, Priscilla and Aquila took him aside to explain the Way more accurately. The verse doesn’t say where they took him, just “aside.” In Acts 19:1 Paul arrived at the interior of Ephesus and found some believers there. The verses don’t say where. We know that early believers initially met in massive numbers in the outer court of the temple. (Acts 2:46). After Paul’s discipleship grew, he quit the synagogue and reasoned “in the lecture hall of Tyrannus” for two years. (Acts 19:9).

We read in Acts 11:25-26 that

And he left for Tarsus to look for Saul; 26and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. And for an entire year they met with the church and taught considerable numbers; and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.

EPrata photo

Here Paul stayed a year, but again, no big deal is made of the building or place where they met. The church grew hugely, in fact this was where the followers of the Way were first called Christian, and yet…biblical silence on the building or specific location where this happened.

There were house churches. Peter stayed with Simon the Tanner in Joppa (Acts 10:6), believers were gathered at Mary’s house to pray (Acts 12:12), Lydia had a house church, (Acts 16:40), and so did Aquila and Priscilla (Romans 16:3,5; 1 Corinthians 16:19). Nympha hosted a church at her house, (Colossians 4:15). Philemon and Apphia had a house church. (Philemon 1:1-2).

We have absolutely no idea as to the size of these house churches, how regularly they gathered, what their gatherings were like.

EPrata photo

What we do know is that the early believers met in homes, lecture halls, the great outdoors, stadiums, synagogues, wherever they could. Even at the end of the New Testament when Jesus dictates His letters to the seven churches at Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea they must have had a known building since presumably the letter-carrier would have known where to bring the letter. Yet we do not have any specificity of the 7 churches’ size, dimensions, adornments, etc., unlike the Old Testament’s attention to the details of the worship house.

This is because WE are the temple.

Churches today meet in rented school gymnasiums, storefronts, homes, brick buildings with steeples, clapboard structures large and small, majestic buildings, traditional edifices with bell towers, or simple square humble dwellings. It doesn’t matter what the building looks like as long as the temple of people that are gathered are holy and worshiping in spirit and in truth.

Or own church was founded in 1892 and is brick with bell tower, with solid wooden pews, hymn-holders, red carpet, tin ceilings, a pulpit and other traditional architecture. I love it. I’m comfortable there. I love the tradition and solidity of the permanent location of a place that’s immediately recognizable as “worship place.” Yet our church voted to move to a larger facility down the road which is currently a factory by day. The Youth meet there every Wednesday night, and we hold special events intermittently there as we make the transition.

The Old Testament is loud and noisy about the Tabernacle and the Temple. The New Testament is silent on church houses. The obvious variety of the structures in which they met isn’t the point. The point is that they, being the temple of God, met. And they did so continuously, joyously, even when persecution came. They gathered, prayed, baptized, learned, exhorted and proclaimed the Good News from lecture halls, homes, stadiums, hillsides, and temple courts. They met, these people who are the temple of God, they met. The building does not matter. We are His temple. This is what matters-

And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith. (Acts 6:7)

grace, mighty, prophecy, resurrection, risen

He is risen!

Posted on April 5, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

The Righteous Reign of the Branch

There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,

and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.

And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,

the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,

the Spirit of counsel and might,

the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

Isaiah 11:1-2

arminianism, calvinism, doctrines of grace, easter, resurrection

Understanding the Doctrines of grace in the face of the death, burial, & resurrection of Christ

Posted on April 4, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

This Holy weekend we focus on the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I offer these thoughts and this sermon by Phil Johnson which is actually a brief overview of church history with a focus on the doctrines of grace, which most people know as ‘Calvinism’. Initially one may wonder how these two streams of thought are intertwined, but as you will see, they are intertwined so tightly that a clearer understanding of Jesus and the faith he secured for us through His death, burial, and resurrection will be made manifest.

Perceiving that Christ is in total control of each and every salvation, through understanding these biblical doctrines, will hopefully do several things in the reader’s and listener’s heart. One, is that the dear reader will never, ever again use the terrible phrase, “decisions for Christ.” We do not decide to become a Christian. The author and finisher of our faith is Jesus Christ. (Hebrews 12:2).

Secondly, on this most precious of weekends, understanding the biblical doctrines of grace will offer a clearer view of Jesus and His love for humanity. Here is a very good teaching by Phil Johnson. He gives an overview of church history which illustrates when the eruption between the two camps originated. It was 410AD. The two camps are: we decide for Jesus vs. God’s sovereignty in salvation AKA Pelagianism vs. Calvinism. Hopefully, you will understand that the opposite camp, Pelagianism, minimizes the seriousness of sin and nullifies the need for Divine grace. This weekend is about grace!

Pelagianism was declared heresy in 430 AD. Yet its ideas remained, modified somewhat, and then was called Semi-Pelaginaism. This also was declared heresy in 529 at the Council of Orange. Still not firmly stamped out, strains of Semi-Pelagianism ideas advanced and nowadays modern Arminianism is the result of those debates from earlier centuries. If you hear the phrases walk the aisle, pray a prayer and decide for Christ, it’s from Arminianism.

The synopsis of Johnson’s teaching is below. I’m sorry, I was not able to find a transcript. It is audio only with powerpoint slides.

I want to emphasize, WE DO NOT DECIDE FOR CHRIST. On this most important of weekends, understand who Jesus is and what His death, burial and resurrection means, by understanding the full expression of His work in authoring and finishing our faith. Phil Johnson biblically lays this out.

Calvinism is not some quirky anomaly in the history of Christianity. It is not a recent departure from the mainstream that is headed off in some bizarre direction. The truth is these ideas have always belonged to the mainstream of sound theology throughout church history. It is one of the distinctive doctrines of Christianity itself. It is the anchor of sound doctrine that our faith is the result and not the cause of God’s work in our hearts. ~Phil Johnson

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Synopsis of the teaching-sermon: The Christian doctrine of ‘Election’ has caused more difficulties to believers than any other. It is indeed one of the most frequently misunderstood of all Biblical teachings. Many have been distressed by what they think this teaching means. But rather than causing Christians concern, this doctrine is actually one that should fill believers with comfort and a much better grasp of the great and sovereign God that they serve. … a very helpful overview of Calvinism and its history, which actually sets the doctrine of election in the context of the Biblical teaching with which it is most commonly associated. Once correctly understood, election is seen to be actually a demonstration of the Lord’s love for his people. These two recordings will be a great help to those who are struggling to understand this most difficult, yet wonderful, doctrine.

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Guest introduction by R. Craig Fulford:

Given it is Easter weekend you might expect me to post a tremendously dynamic sermon on the resurrection. But I’m not!

Instead I have chosen to share with all of you a sermon delivered by Phil Johnson entitled “The Story of Calvinism”. Now before you run screaming for the exits, allow me to explain.

For the most part, in today’s Church environment, any mention of the term Calvinism is met with an almost automatic response of “thrown up hands” and criticism. And that has been the result of many years in Biblical doctrine being compromised in favor of the belief that somehow man is in control and can make his own decision about whether or not he will accept God’s grace and His gift of salvation. The belief that a lost and spiritually dead man somehow has the “free will” to control his own salvation is now epidemic.

Phil does a tremendously effective job of diffusing the animus which exists between those who adopt the Arminian (Synergistic) view and those who are committed to the Monergistic (Reformed) view. Or at least he makes a strong attempt in trying to accomplish that goal without sacrificing Biblical truth.

Monergism says that the Holy Ghost acts independently of the human “will” in the work of regeneration. Monergism is the position in Christian theology that God, through the Holy Spirit, works to bring about the salvation of individuals through spiritual regeneration without any cooperation (interference) from the individual.

Synergism is the position of those who hold that salvation involves some form of cooperation between divine grace and human “free will”. Synergism is upheld by the Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches and by the Methodist, Episcopal, Charismatic and Pentecostal traditions of Protestantism. It is an integral part of Arminian theology and is simply the belief that the human can and might choose to cooperate (influence) with the Holy Ghost in His “work” of regeneration.

It’s important to note that “free will” is never once mentioned in Scripture nor is the concept. I know, neither is the “Trinity” but the truth of that concept is unmistakably taught.

So, you must be asking yourself, are there born again believers in churches that have adopted the Arminian doctrine? And if God has already pre-destined those who will be born again, why should Christians ever bother to witness? I mean, “What difference does it really make”?

Listen to Phil’s message and see the slides to have these kind of very serious questions answered! It only seems appropriate, while our minds are on His resurrection this weekend, to examine what it means to us as sinners in need of a Savior. It is too important that we understand what His sacrifice and victory over death represents to get it wrong!

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Particular atonement: Christ’s death had a particular purpose, and a special reference for the elect, so that God’s design was first of all to save them, and Christ’s death secured the guarantee of their salvation. Christ’s death accomplished everything God designed it to accomplish. ~Phil Johnson

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Further Reading:

Altar Calls: Why You Should Refuse to Walk the Aisle part 1, and 2, and 3.

What is ‘decisional regeneration?’

A holy Saturday

prophecy, resurrection, scripture

He will not let His Holy One see corruption!

Posted on April 4, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Vyrso Verse of the Day

For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One see corruption.

(Acts 2:27, Psalm 16:10)

He describes his resurrection: God loosed the pains of death, because it was impossible that he should be holden of it; ōdinas—the sorrows of death; the word is used for travailing pains, and some think it signifies the trouble and agony of his soul, in which it was exceedingly sorrowful, even to the death; from these pains and sorrows of soul, this travail of soul, the Father loosed him when at his death he said, It is finished. Thus Dr. Godwin understands it: “Those terrors which made Heman’s soul lie like the slain (Ps. 88:5, 15) had hold of Christ; but he was too strong for them, and broke through them; this was the resurrection of his soul (and it is a great thing to bring a soul out of the depths of spiritual agonies);

this was not leaving his soul in hell; as that which follows, that he should not see corruption, speaks of the resurrection of his body; and both together make up the great resurrection.” Dr. Lightfoot gives another sense of this: “Having dissolved the pains of death, in reference to all that believe in him, God raised up Christ, and by his resurrection broke all the power of death, and destroyed its pangs upon his own people. He has abolished death, has altered the property of it, and, because it was not possible that he should be long holden of it, it is not possible that they should be for ever holden.”

Henry, M. (1994). Matthew Henry’s commentary on the whole Bible: complete and unabridged in one volume (p. 2069). Peabody: Hendrickson.

crystal cathedral, deception, hour of power, robert schuller

Robert Schuller – Dead today

Posted on April 3, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Robert Schuller, Crystal Cathedral megachurch, founder, dies

The Rev. Robert H. Schuller, a California televangelist and author who beamed his upbeat messages on faith and redemption to millions of followers from his landmark Crystal Cathedral only to see his empire crumble in his waning years, has died. He was 88. Schuller died Thursday at a care facility in Artesia, daughter Carol Schuller Milner said. He was diagnosed with terminal esophageal cancer in 2013.

Schuller had a bigger effect on CHristianity than many are aware. The effect was assuredly negative. Mr Schuller taught many false things, wrapped in positivity, self-esteem, and church growth strategies. Rick Warren is a spiritual child of Schuller. See links at bottom.

For now, here is a Guest Post by R. Craig Fulford in which he encapsulates my sentiments exactly. It is printed with permission

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Today was the DOD for Robert Schuller. Many probably said, “Well now he will get what he deserves”! Or something close to that.

But my reaction was very different. I actually found myself with tears in my eyes because his death reminded me that none of us “deserve” God’s Grace and the fact that Schuller lead so many people down the road leading to destruction while knowing that Pastors are subject to even a higher standard regarding the truth means that Schuller is particularly suffering God’s wrath. And that is no cause for joy nor is it a cue for born again believers to say he deserved what he got.

It is, however, especially significant that his death occurred on the weekend that Jesus paid the price for his sins and yet Schuller never came to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ’s sacrifice. To the contrary, he was one of the most heretical teachers in recent history and laid a foundation for other false teachers to follow.

So today we see an epidemic of “seeker sensitive”, universalistic, easy believism churches that teach “relativism” as the accepted norm and totally misrepresent God’s word in favor of the doctrine of “pragmatism”. And that false doctrine is not just limited to the Charismatic and Pentecostal churches. The same liberal influences have infected the traditional mainline denominations as well.

And yet another less publicized beneficiary of all of this liberal and non-Biblical heresy are those who look at what is now considered to be Christianity and understandably view it as something closely akin to the “Twilight Zone”. And who can blame them?

Biblically sound Churches are becoming almost impossible to find and many “wanna be believers” are settling for doctrines they believe are close enough. But as Spurgeon so famously said:

Schuller’s death could very well be the catalyst born again believers need to realize the spiritual consequences both our friends and even members of our family face. It’s indeed ironic that Schuller died close to three days before Jesus was resurrected. Just saying!

Schuller’s death has caused me to pray, with a new conviction, that those I know and love who are deceived and don’t realize they are, will be convicted unto regeneration by the Holy Spirit. And that God will enable me to speak to them under the control of the Holy Spirit.

I know that my efforts are not sufficient in any way shape or form. But I also know that I’m commanded, not asked, to make sure His word is heard because faith comes by hearing. The rest is up to God!

HE IS RISEN

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What happens when we can no longer trust the mass transportation drivers who carry us?

Posted on April 2, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Source

Yesterday while on break I was speaking with the teacher with whom I share a classroom, about the Germanwings co-pilot who drove the passenger airliner into the ground. I have been mulling the sea-change his act ushers in.

We have seen hijackers, terrorists, and suicide bombers rush in to kill and destroy. That is horrific. Yet now, the stealthiness of one who is inside, trained to protect lives because they are precious, also killing and destroying, is even more heinous because of the trust that is broken. The very people into whose hands I place my life and assume they will regard it as worthy of protection, have become the ones who treat it as least and worthless. Being trapped on a rapidly moving mass transport and totally helpless to protect myself, get to safety, or help any other person, doesn’t bear thinking about.

I thought of the self-centeredness of the co-pilot Andreas Lubitz, wanting to take his own precious life that God gave him, but also 150 others’. I thought about the Costa Concordia, the largest cruise ship ever wrecked, (in 2012) and its Captain Francesco Schettino’s inattention and series of ridiculously amateur decisions and as a result stoving in his ship on a rock. As the vessel was sinking, the captain abandoned ship, leaving 4200 passengers and crew to their fates. He did not assist in the evacuation or the rescue in any way. The confusion caused by a 6-hour evacuation resulted in 32 deaths and trauma for the rest. Vanity Fair has an excellent article on the event.

“We’ve abandoned ship,” Schettino told him.
De Falco was startled. “You’ve abandoned ship?” he asked.
Schettino, no doubt sensing De Falco’s dismay, said, “I did not abandon the ship … we were thrown into the water.”
When De Falco put down the phone, he stared at the officers beside him in amazement. This violated every tenet of maritime tradition, not to mention Italian law. “The captain had abandoned ship with hundreds of people on board, people who trusted him,” says De Falco’s boss, Cosma Scaramella. “This is an extremely serious thing, not just because it’s a crime.” For a moment he struggles to find a word. “This,” he goes on, “is an infamy. To abandon women and children, it’s like a doctor who abandons his patients.”

Costa Concordia nestled on a rock, site of cowardice, bravery, and death

I thought about the Santiago de Compostela rail disaster in 2013 and the conductor driving the train at twice the posted speed, resulting in Spain’s worst rail disaster in 40 years, the deaths of 79 people and injuring scores of others. The driver had previously boasted of how fast “his” trains would go. The driver was later charged with homicide by professional recklessness and numerous counts of causing injury by professional recklessness.

Derailed cars at the site of a train accident near the city of Santiago de Compostela

Like the Dutch pilot who ‘predicted’ Germanwings crash in article about returning to a locked cockpit door weeks before disaster, saying, “I seriously sometimes wonder who’s sitting next to me in the cockpit. How can I be sure that I can trust him? Perhaps something terrible has just happened in his life and he’s unable to overcome it” I was also thinking about who I can trust with my life. There is a funny scene in Woody Allen’s 1977 movie Annie Hall that I never forgot. It shows Allen, Christopher Walken and then Diane Keaton in a car after Walken’s confession. It’s 1:27 minutes long.

I was thinking all these things and discussing them yesterday, deciding to write about it. But Tim Challies beat me to it.

And I’m glad he did. He wrote a piece called The Way The World Works and he discusses the things I’d been pondering: putting ourselves in the hands of others for our safety and our lives, life is precious, the broken trust. Challies did a very good job – much better than I would have done of course – and I commend the piece to you. Here is a taste:

And it is not just our own life that we regard as precious, but all life. Just as we make decisions to protect our own lives, we make decisions to protect others’. We tighten our children’s seatbelts. We put the knives up high. We pay the salaries of police officers. We stop and help when we spot even a stranger in distress.

Life is the most precious thing. The world only works when we maintain this tacit agreement that life is precious, that I will do all I can to preserve both mine and yours, that you will do all you can to protect both yours and mine. Both civilization and civility stand or fall on this simple agreement.

The alternative is unthinkable. The alternative is cars swerving to meet oncoming traffic, bicycles drifting out of the bike lane, toddlers roaming at will, hospitals empty and unstaffed. The alternative might even be a pilot setting his aircraft so that it gradually coasts straight into the ground.

The world reacted with horror—justified horror—when they learned that Andreas Lubitz had deliberately crashed Germanwings flight 9525, taking his own life and the lives of the other 149 passengers and crew members. The reason for our shock is that he violated the agreement. He chose to take life instead of preserve life.

Life is precious. We are made in His image. He formed us in the womb. God is intimately involved with us. Reckless, wanton abandonment of even the most basic precepts of our neighborly co-existence with one another, that we agree life is precious, is just so sad.

“You created every part of me; you knit me together in my mother‛s womb. When my bones were being formed, carefully put together in my mother‛s womb, when I was growing there in secret, you knew that I was there – you saw me before I was born. The days allotted to me had all been recorded in your book, before any of them ever began. Psalm 139:13-16