Titus 2:11 - For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men,
Message: Is Grace Cooperative?
Time: Paul is the author, written in AD 63. Paul went with Titus to the island of Crete and evangelized there before Paul left Titus there in a position of leadership. The book speaks of living right as guided by Truth.
What the Lord is Saying:
The issue: How free is the human will after the fall of Adam.
Humans beings are free to make choices. But our freedom is limited by our desires. Freedom is doing what we most want to do. Apart from God's grace, the only thing that we want to do is sin. In order to do what is truly good and pleasing to God, grace must change our hearts. It is only the regenerate person that understands the things of God.
I go back to an idea that I have been focusing on: the horizontal and the vertical. The horizontal is our life lived with one another and the life I live for myself. In this life there is freedom: each day there are choices to engage in good acts and bad acts as they relate to man's relationship to man. Much good has been done by men and women on this horizontal level. We should not ever diminish these acts. But there is the vertical - man's relationship with God. Without God's grace there is no vertical, only a horizontal. Grace brings the vertical into my life because sin removed the vertical. Without grace, I will only live on the horizontal. With grace, I can carry out the things of God. Thus, today's text states in Titus 2:11 - For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men. Salvation is a God thing and it is needed to make me right vertically, right with God.
The debate that I have been looking at is - can man get to God on his own or must God intervene? And is this intervention completely by God or is man involved?
RC Sproul Message - Is Grace Cooperative - In this message RC Sproul begins his lecture by reciting a quote by Joseph Arminius in which he upholds the lost condition of man following Adam's sin or his sin and mentions that the only way man can be brought to salvation is through the act of grace into that person's life. He mentions that Arminius began as a pure Calvinist and Augustinian but then he got wrapped up in a debate with someone and in that process began to move further and further away from the reformed doctrine.
Early on he speaks of preventing grace and prevenient grace. "Pre" means before and "venient" - coming before so this is 'grace that comes before something." Grace comes before conversion. There are also those who look at internal grace and external grace. External grace is something that happens outside of ourselves, outside of our soul. Internal grace would be something that God does inside of us. For Arminius, grace is not limited to an external operation of the Holy Spirit, but also God's internal operation. However, he then goes to say that all persons have their own will and can refuse the call of the Holy Spirit. So even though it is internal (God doing something inside of us), it is not irresistible. He says the grace of regeneration is sufficient to convert. It is all a person needs to be liberated from spiritual bondage. The grace is enough. But it is not inherently efficient as it does not always affect conversion or regeneration. Thus, prevenient grace or grace that comes before man's choice to then choose whether or not he wants that grace.
Calvin however speaks that the calling of God is effectual. Here the Spirit effects what it intends and thus, it cannot be rejected. Thus, grace is internal and effectual. But for Arminius it is internal but can be rejected. Arminius says that if man does not submit to the grace, the fault lies with man. Pelagius would though deny this for Pelagius believes that God does not have to help a person be saved. But Arminius says that God does have to help, but man can reject. Arminius seeks to not make God accountable to people rejecting Him whereby with Calvin the onus is completely on God as to man being saved or not saved. While Arminius believes that the rejecting by man means that the fault rests on him, he also does not believe that the acceptance of man does not rest on man being virtuous. To believe this would mean that man has something to boast about and this would contradict what Paul says in Ephesians 2:9.
Arminius gave a famous example of a rich man coming to a beggar to offer him a gift. The beggar does nothing to earn the gift, and to receive it simply reaches out his had to accept the gift. But the beggar can also not reach out his hand and therefore be content in his position of being poor. Billy Graham even stated that God does 99% and man does 1% whereby reformers would say that for the drowning man, the person would drown and then God would pull him out of the water and resuscitate him to life.
After Arminius died in 1609, some of his disciples in the Synod of Dort were called upon to consider the five articles of Remonstrance. It was in response to these five articles that we received the five points of Calvinism.
[I was thinking of this question - most of the proof text I think about Calvinist thought, namely whether man is involved at all in salvation, comes from Paul's writings (and also Hebrews). Is it possible that Augustine and Calvin concluded their points on man having no place in saving man from Paul alone or is that line of thinking consistent throughout the Bible? Stated another way, is Jesus a Calvinist? Is God and the Old Testament writers Calvinist? This is a side-note question of mine. Some people have made the assertion that if we only follow the red letters or Jesus' words then we won't come to the conclusion of grace alone.]
RC Sproul Message - Born to Sin - In this message RC Sproul begins speaking about Jonathan Edwards and his book, Freedom of the Will, written in 1754. That book is very theological and philosophical and technical. It was written after Edwards had been removed from his church in Northampton and began a ministry to the Indians at Stockbridge (both in Massachusetts).
Edwards deals with the question - "What is the will anyway?" Philosophers often looked at the mind, the affections, and the will OR the mind, the heart, and the will. Edwards felt it was important to distinguish between the mind or thinking and the will or choosing. He says they are interrelated. In analyzing the will, the making of human decisions or choices, he looked first at the law of causality. Causality is every effect must have a cause. Thus, he analyzed human choices as effects with causes. The choices we make are made for a reason and the mind supplies the reason. Thus, the choices we make are what we deem to be good for us, though, Edwards use of the word good isn't necessarily morality, but rather good is what is pleasing to us. Thus, the good is what is most pleasing to me, at this moment, and to choose what I want. Thus, this is the role of desire in the making of choices. The mind deems a particular action to be good and pleasing to us. For example, when one is hungry, those hunger pains alert the mind and then the mind through choosing decides to eat, in order to meet the need of hunger, in order to please himself.
Edwards states that all choices are caused by something. They don't just happen. And what causes choices are inclinations. Thus, choices are motivated or driven by inclinations. Edwards understood that as humans we are complex. At times, we have very complex desires and motives within our lives. Paul reverberates this idea in Romans 7:19 - For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do. What Paul seems to be saying that in him are competing desires and competing inclinations. In Christ is the desire to always do those things that honor God, but in his flesh is desires contrary to the Spirit and sometimes I follow these desires. Edwards might say to Paul that at the time of your choice to sin, you have a stronger desire to not do what is pleasing to God than you have in yourself to please God. Thus, there is a conflict of inclinations. Thus, Edwards states that we always choose according to the strongest inclination at the moment.
This is not determinism which is being controlled by external forces that coerce us, such as our environment and place in which we live and grow up. Atheists believe in determinism, meaning we are a product of our environment. What Edwards is focused on instead is self-determination in which the choices we make are determined by us. What Edwards is getting at is our choices are determined by us and my desires and what my mind deems to be most good for me at the moment. There is a desire continuum we have. Some desires are strong while others are mild. Thus freedom is the power to choose according to your inclinations.
For example, the doctor may recommend and I may agree that I need to lose 30 pounds as losing pounds has a myriad of positive outcomes. But, my desire to lose those pounds varies from moment to moment. After eating a thanksgiving meal I have no desires to eat more and want to lose pounds, but when I am hungry and a chocolate sundae is presented before me, my desire for that sundae is greater than my desire to lose weight. Thus, the desire continuum. We have different degrees of desires, but without an inclination there wouldn't be a choice is what Edwards argues.
Yet, Edwards is arguing with pagan philosophers and even other theologians which might say that the will is not indifferent, but has a prior bent, disposition or inclination. To be really free it would have an equal means to go to the right or the left. Edwards says an indifferent choice is an irrational concept. If I choose one thing over another for no other reason whatsoever, like choosing which way to go at a fork in the road with no reason to choose either way, how would that have any moral significance. Intent is essential to a moral decision, to a voluntary act. To be a moral decision, there has to be a reason or intent. But he says the idea of an indifferent choice is a nonsensical concept.
What Edwards is most famous for is his distinction between our natural ability and our moral ability. This is similar to Augustinian's distinction between free will and liberty. Edwards says, "We have the natural ability to make choices." We have natural ability that is not coerced by outside forces. What we lack, according to Edwards, is the moral ability to choose the things of God. Because in the fall, we lost our disposition, our desire, our inclination for God. We don't choose God because we don't want him. We cannot choose what we do not want. We have no natural inclination for the things of God until the Holy Spirit creates that in our soul. Thus back to the vertical, Edwards is stating that we lack, on our own, the ability to see that God is what we need the most in our lives, and in turn meets us on the vertical, on our own. The only way our heart is inclined to the things of God is God coming to us and once God comes, we cannot resist Him. Thus, grace is not cooperative.
Summary: On the horizontal, man is capable of making choices, based upon his inclinations and desires. The problem is that apart from grace, we only desires the things of this world, the things that do not save us, that are not of salvation, that therefore are not of God. To do the things of God, God must intervene in our lives and this intervention is not resisting. If God calls us, we will respond.
Promise: Paul says that the grace of God has brought salvation to all people, thus God has saved all sorts of people. The gospel must be preached to all people.
Prayer: Father, your word is alive and true. I seek truth. Even as I spend time talking to people that are coming from a myriad of faiths, I want to make sure that the truth of who you are and how salvation happens or how I am made to be free from sin happens. Guide me into truth always. Thank you for saving me and making me whole and giving me new life. I live now in obedience to You and I do not want that to ever be muddy or unclear. You are my God and I am yours. You love me and in response I love You and others and want You to be in the life of all others I am near. Save. Save people. Keep on saving people.
Showing posts with label Atheism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Atheism. Show all posts
Thursday, January 16, 2020
Monday, February 25, 2019
Ecclesiastes 1:5 - Science and Hermeneutics
Ecclesiastes 1:5
Also, the sun rises and the sun sets;
And hastening to its place it rises there again.
Message: Science and Hermeneutics
Time: Solomon's authorship is not stated. Solomon's reign as king of Israel lasted from around 970 B.C. to around 930 B.C. The Book of Ecclesiastes was likely written towards the end of his reign, approximately 935 B.C.
What the Lord is Saying:
As has been discussed previously, God is the first cause of all motion in our universe. Aristotle, a Greek philosopher and scientist, who lived from 384 BC to 322 BC spoke of the idea of an "unmoved mover" in life and he said the unmoved mover in life is God. He said that to be this mover, the mover can not include the contingent affairs of individual human beings. Thomas Aquinas, an Italian friar and Catholic priest, who lived from 1225-1274, took Aristotle's idea of an unmoved mover and expanded on it to describe God as prima cause or first cause. Thomas Aquinas asserts that God is the first cause of all things. He said that nothing can cause itself, but there must be a first cause. Thus, God is eternal. Conversely, atheism believes the universe is eternal and things can happen with a cause or things can just happen. To the atheist, it could be that the universe began with a big bang or it simply began.
I would say that both atheism and theology don't have complete understanding for all of the events and things and causes of life. We don't know how God works, but we trust that He works. The atheist also doesn't have complete understanding of all of life, but they believe that as time marches on, it will be discovered how things work.
For me, as I study God's sovereignty and look at life, I see a very complex life. The human body is so complex and to believe that it simply evolved or came together over the years is hard for my brain to fathom. Yes, man is fallible and therefore, has not always done a good job in managing life and even religious thought. Yet, I can also understand how someone might think that life is somewhat ordered by chance or that there is determinism or the thought that today's actions occur because of yesterday's actions.
Many believe that scientists are all atheists as science and theology are often stated to be at odds with one another. This is not so as many of our greatest scientific discoveries have come from those that believe in God as creator and first cause. Scientific discoveries are thus secondary causes which quite simply is how God goes about in accomplishing his work.
I believe that God cannot err and so the Bible is infallible and all true. Psalm 12:6 says - The words of the Lord are pure words;as silver tried in a furnace on the earth, refined seven times. I have seen that the truth of God and His attributes is revealed through His creation.
The Bible can help is interpret science and science can help us to interpret the Bible. The text that is mentioned today is from Ecclesiastes 1:5. Currently, people who believe in a flat earth state that this verse supports that view - the sun rises and the sun sets; and hastening to its place it rises there again. Yet, Galileo helped us to see that this language is simply what it looked like to Solomon at the time. The Bible is not necessarily a scientific book.
In addition, Scripture can help illuminate creation and show the err in science in attempting to view science, the universe from only an atheistic or naturalistic worldview.
Promise: We need to be slower to speak and quicker to learn from all the disciplines of life. We need to better understand each other's area of study.
Prayer: Lord, illuminate my thinking. Help me to see value in what other people think. I get so caught up in my bubble sometimes and think life can only be defined narrowly. Often when I speak to people this is the perspective they give. Lord, help me to not be a chameleon and look like whatever I hear. But, instead help me to be defined by Your Holy Spirit and what information you are giving me. Lord, in our world there is such a quest to be right and correct. Thank you that we can have faith and believe in You. Keep us close to this thinking. Thank you for your truth and that it can be understood and that it makes sense always. Keep my mind open and other people's minds open to Your truth and Your ways.
Note: I follow the readings from the Tabletalk Magazine devotional, though I am a little behind and working through 2017 devotionals. 2017 is a study of key biblical doctrines with March being about the sovereign providence of God and looking at how the Bible reveals His control over all things.
Also, the sun rises and the sun sets;
And hastening to its place it rises there again.
Message: Science and Hermeneutics
Time: Solomon's authorship is not stated. Solomon's reign as king of Israel lasted from around 970 B.C. to around 930 B.C. The Book of Ecclesiastes was likely written towards the end of his reign, approximately 935 B.C.
What the Lord is Saying:
As has been discussed previously, God is the first cause of all motion in our universe. Aristotle, a Greek philosopher and scientist, who lived from 384 BC to 322 BC spoke of the idea of an "unmoved mover" in life and he said the unmoved mover in life is God. He said that to be this mover, the mover can not include the contingent affairs of individual human beings. Thomas Aquinas, an Italian friar and Catholic priest, who lived from 1225-1274, took Aristotle's idea of an unmoved mover and expanded on it to describe God as prima cause or first cause. Thomas Aquinas asserts that God is the first cause of all things. He said that nothing can cause itself, but there must be a first cause. Thus, God is eternal. Conversely, atheism believes the universe is eternal and things can happen with a cause or things can just happen. To the atheist, it could be that the universe began with a big bang or it simply began.
I would say that both atheism and theology don't have complete understanding for all of the events and things and causes of life. We don't know how God works, but we trust that He works. The atheist also doesn't have complete understanding of all of life, but they believe that as time marches on, it will be discovered how things work.
For me, as I study God's sovereignty and look at life, I see a very complex life. The human body is so complex and to believe that it simply evolved or came together over the years is hard for my brain to fathom. Yes, man is fallible and therefore, has not always done a good job in managing life and even religious thought. Yet, I can also understand how someone might think that life is somewhat ordered by chance or that there is determinism or the thought that today's actions occur because of yesterday's actions.
Many believe that scientists are all atheists as science and theology are often stated to be at odds with one another. This is not so as many of our greatest scientific discoveries have come from those that believe in God as creator and first cause. Scientific discoveries are thus secondary causes which quite simply is how God goes about in accomplishing his work.
I believe that God cannot err and so the Bible is infallible and all true. Psalm 12:6 says - The words of the Lord are pure words;as silver tried in a furnace on the earth, refined seven times. I have seen that the truth of God and His attributes is revealed through His creation.
The Bible can help is interpret science and science can help us to interpret the Bible. The text that is mentioned today is from Ecclesiastes 1:5. Currently, people who believe in a flat earth state that this verse supports that view - the sun rises and the sun sets; and hastening to its place it rises there again. Yet, Galileo helped us to see that this language is simply what it looked like to Solomon at the time. The Bible is not necessarily a scientific book.
In addition, Scripture can help illuminate creation and show the err in science in attempting to view science, the universe from only an atheistic or naturalistic worldview.
Promise: We need to be slower to speak and quicker to learn from all the disciplines of life. We need to better understand each other's area of study.
Prayer: Lord, illuminate my thinking. Help me to see value in what other people think. I get so caught up in my bubble sometimes and think life can only be defined narrowly. Often when I speak to people this is the perspective they give. Lord, help me to not be a chameleon and look like whatever I hear. But, instead help me to be defined by Your Holy Spirit and what information you are giving me. Lord, in our world there is such a quest to be right and correct. Thank you that we can have faith and believe in You. Keep us close to this thinking. Thank you for your truth and that it can be understood and that it makes sense always. Keep my mind open and other people's minds open to Your truth and Your ways.
Note: I follow the readings from the Tabletalk Magazine devotional, though I am a little behind and working through 2017 devotionals. 2017 is a study of key biblical doctrines with March being about the sovereign providence of God and looking at how the Bible reveals His control over all things.
Wednesday, February 4, 2015
Romans 12:3-5 - The Sober Judgment of the Members
Romans 12:3-5 - 3 For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith. 4 For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, 5 so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.
Message: Our response to being transformed: A sound mind
Time: Written in AD 57 from Greece, to the Christians, both Gentile and Jewish in Rome.
What the Lord is Saying:
Don't think more highly of oneself
Because of grace, and because I have a renewed mind, I am to realize that my condition in Christ is not due to my own special doing. Grace is a gift. Ephesians 2:8 says, "it is by grace you have been saved." Now here in Romans 12:3 is a similar message, "for through the grace given to me." Therefore, I need to be very careful not to think of myself, and my position in Christ, as something that I have earned or even deserve. Paul previously spoke out against the Jewish people. Paul spoke against the Jews declaration that it was their heritage or their lineage or their circumcision or their handling of the Scriptures, that then gave them some sort of special exemption before God. That because of these things anything God prescribed they did not necessarily have to adhere to. Yes, they were God's chosen people but this did not mean that they did not have to submit and surrender to Him.
This is a very difficult practice in life. I think it is very difficult for the Christian to see himself as higher than others either in the faith or out of the faith. As Christians, we are called to live in the world and yet not be of the world. The world sees this and sees how we separate ourselves from the world and therefore, they think we are making ourselves out to be better than anything in the world.
I think this is such a hard line to draw. Take the issue of homosexuality. The Christian, evangelical church has clearly put forth that homosexuality is a sin. Much has been made of this because the focus of homosexual activists is to conform people to the view that homosexuality is not only okay, but people are born like this. And therefore, any message that is contrary to this is viewed as narrow. And then when the Christian states disagreement in this, they are said to be judging these people. And there is also the feeling that the Christian sees there way as superior. And then suddenly the Christian looks at themselves as more highly positioned than those that don't agree with their ways.
With the issue of homosexuality there are huge problems on both sides of the fence.
I was speaking to my atheist friend recently and thought that my focus and position before him should be expressed that I don't believe I am any better than him. I need to believe and think that I don't think of myself as being any better than him. Sure, I might think I am better off for eternity, but I can't for a moment let it seep in that I think I am more of a person than he is.
A measure of faith
Now this is interesting because I wonder if we do think that faith is something we bring to the table with God. That I am saved by my faith through the grace of God. And therefore, God is somehow waiting for me to have faith in him. I think that is an application of this verse. God has allotted to each a measure of faith. He provides us with the faith that we need. He allows the temptation, but also provides the way out. He is the hand of providence in our life. In no way does he only have a certain amount of faith and I get one piece, but rather faith is allotted or given to me.
But, also faith has been given, now what will I do with it? And what stands out about me is the influence of faith on my minds. I am so quick to judge myself by the tangible things I have. I often thing, "Wow, I am glad God has placed me here rather than there." Is that because I feel blessed here and I wouldn't feel blessed if he had placed me in a hut in Africa with no running water, toilet, or refrigerator? Therefore, is my faith really in God or is it more in the creature comforts that I find all around me. Do I really have a faith in things?
So faith has been measured to me, but what have I done with it? How is that I really live by faith?
Members of the Body of Christ
Paul takes this message of being no better than anyone else and presents the Body of Christ. And i should see that what he is saying is no one person in the Body is better or more of a significant part than another member. I believe I have sometimes placed certain people like a lead pastor or elder above others in the church, but the body, whether it be a nursery worker, a person maintaining the church, a greeter, a teacher, all carry some level within the Body of Christ. In addition, "we are members one of another" and so there is a connection between all of us and what we are doing in the Body.
Sometimes I think the church really struggles with this as it differentiates between the work of paid staff and non-paid staff. Paid staff becomes the leaders that direct the flock and the non-paid staff become the support. There is just a danger in having ourselves look no different from the world where the ones getting made are making the decisions for the ones not getting paid.
As in many areas of scripture, we need to "be careful." We must be careful in how we apply this scripture, making sure the application is not just a mirror of the application in our worldly professions.
Promise: There are no disctinctions when it comes to our signifcance in the church and before God (Galatians 3:27-29) - Tabletalk, September 10, 2014
Message: Our response to being transformed: A sound mind
Time: Written in AD 57 from Greece, to the Christians, both Gentile and Jewish in Rome.
What the Lord is Saying:
Don't think more highly of oneself
Because of grace, and because I have a renewed mind, I am to realize that my condition in Christ is not due to my own special doing. Grace is a gift. Ephesians 2:8 says, "it is by grace you have been saved." Now here in Romans 12:3 is a similar message, "for through the grace given to me." Therefore, I need to be very careful not to think of myself, and my position in Christ, as something that I have earned or even deserve. Paul previously spoke out against the Jewish people. Paul spoke against the Jews declaration that it was their heritage or their lineage or their circumcision or their handling of the Scriptures, that then gave them some sort of special exemption before God. That because of these things anything God prescribed they did not necessarily have to adhere to. Yes, they were God's chosen people but this did not mean that they did not have to submit and surrender to Him.
This is a very difficult practice in life. I think it is very difficult for the Christian to see himself as higher than others either in the faith or out of the faith. As Christians, we are called to live in the world and yet not be of the world. The world sees this and sees how we separate ourselves from the world and therefore, they think we are making ourselves out to be better than anything in the world.
I think this is such a hard line to draw. Take the issue of homosexuality. The Christian, evangelical church has clearly put forth that homosexuality is a sin. Much has been made of this because the focus of homosexual activists is to conform people to the view that homosexuality is not only okay, but people are born like this. And therefore, any message that is contrary to this is viewed as narrow. And then when the Christian states disagreement in this, they are said to be judging these people. And there is also the feeling that the Christian sees there way as superior. And then suddenly the Christian looks at themselves as more highly positioned than those that don't agree with their ways.
With the issue of homosexuality there are huge problems on both sides of the fence.
I was speaking to my atheist friend recently and thought that my focus and position before him should be expressed that I don't believe I am any better than him. I need to believe and think that I don't think of myself as being any better than him. Sure, I might think I am better off for eternity, but I can't for a moment let it seep in that I think I am more of a person than he is.
A measure of faith
Now this is interesting because I wonder if we do think that faith is something we bring to the table with God. That I am saved by my faith through the grace of God. And therefore, God is somehow waiting for me to have faith in him. I think that is an application of this verse. God has allotted to each a measure of faith. He provides us with the faith that we need. He allows the temptation, but also provides the way out. He is the hand of providence in our life. In no way does he only have a certain amount of faith and I get one piece, but rather faith is allotted or given to me.
But, also faith has been given, now what will I do with it? And what stands out about me is the influence of faith on my minds. I am so quick to judge myself by the tangible things I have. I often thing, "Wow, I am glad God has placed me here rather than there." Is that because I feel blessed here and I wouldn't feel blessed if he had placed me in a hut in Africa with no running water, toilet, or refrigerator? Therefore, is my faith really in God or is it more in the creature comforts that I find all around me. Do I really have a faith in things?
So faith has been measured to me, but what have I done with it? How is that I really live by faith?
Members of the Body of Christ
Paul takes this message of being no better than anyone else and presents the Body of Christ. And i should see that what he is saying is no one person in the Body is better or more of a significant part than another member. I believe I have sometimes placed certain people like a lead pastor or elder above others in the church, but the body, whether it be a nursery worker, a person maintaining the church, a greeter, a teacher, all carry some level within the Body of Christ. In addition, "we are members one of another" and so there is a connection between all of us and what we are doing in the Body.
Sometimes I think the church really struggles with this as it differentiates between the work of paid staff and non-paid staff. Paid staff becomes the leaders that direct the flock and the non-paid staff become the support. There is just a danger in having ourselves look no different from the world where the ones getting made are making the decisions for the ones not getting paid.
As in many areas of scripture, we need to "be careful." We must be careful in how we apply this scripture, making sure the application is not just a mirror of the application in our worldly professions.
Promise: There are no disctinctions when it comes to our signifcance in the church and before God (Galatians 3:27-29) - Tabletalk, September 10, 2014
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