The following words were quoted in the last two BLOGS. They are from the published writings of Arminius in which Peter Bertius gives an assessment and overview of Arminius. Right after that I made a few comments of which I will also include. “Because he condensed and applied them in such a manner as to make them combine in one grand and harmonious scheme, in which all the attributes and perfections of the Deity are secured to him in a clearer and more obvious manner than by Calvinism, and in which man is still left in possession of his free-will, which alone places him in the condition of an accountable being.” Notice that in the view of Bertius, the attributes and perfections of God are secured to him in a clearer and more obvious manner than by Calvinism. Why does Bertius think that is true? Because man is still left in possession of his free-will. This is of utter importance and we must note that this seems to be the most important issue in Arminian theology.
This is a chilling quote. It should serve as a call to awaken all who are interested in the glory of God and His Gospel. We are to be more interested in knowing and loving God than we are in anything else. All of our doctrines should be a reflection of His character and a manifestation of His glory through Christ in the world. If we start with man, or at least camp out on a doctrine of man, we have started or have stayed in the wrong place. One basic rule of interpretation is that when we come to the Scripture we will either be conformed to Scripture or we will twist it to conform to us. When we do this we are guilty of conforming God to our image and then worshipping our own image. But we are to be conformed to God rather than twisting Him to conform to ourselves.
Romans 1:18-25 shows how this is done. We must be careful not to think of this practice as only happening among professing heathens, but must look in our own hearts and ask if these things are being practiced by us. All of the time we hear people say things like: “God will never send me to hell for His is a God of love.” What they have done is defined a god from their own imagination. So many seem to love a god that they have dreamed up and might even weep over what he has done for them. But the truth of the matter is that their little god does not resemble the sovereign God of Scripture and those people worship idols. The very heart of legalism, formalism and antinomianism is the same thing. It always begins with a wrong conception of God and a wrong conception of God always begins with the god that I dream up or one that must be in agreement with principles that I think must be held to. But Scripture is the revelation of God and not anything that man can dream up.
“18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse” (Romans 1).
What is God’s wrath revealed against? It is against all the ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. We can accept that and we will declare that. It is easy to believe that God’s wrath is revealed against the wicked behavior of human beings who obtain abortions and steal and kill. But notice that God tells us that His wrath is against those who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. God’s wrath is against the ungodliness and unrighteousness of those who suppress the truth.
What truth is it that they were suppressing? “21 For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.” Instead of honoring God as He really is, they became futile in their speculations. God punished them by giving them a darkened heart. What happened then? “22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.” Surely, one might say, we don’t do this. We don’t have idols erected in our church buildings. But notice that the text does not have to exclude other forms of idolatry. When we reject the glory of God for something like fallen man, whether physical or spiritual, that is idolatry. Any time we twist the revelation of God Himself and try to say He is like us, we are guilty of this as well. What did God do? “24 Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. 25 For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.” Why did He punish them? “Because they exchanged the truth of God for a lie.” What was the result of that lie? They worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator.
Look at this utterly startling text of Holy Writ. God turns people over to sin because they exchange the truth about Him for a lie. What lie is that? Evidently the lie was something that turned the revelation of who God is to something about man because man now worships and serves the creature. But isn’t that exactly what we do when we change the truth of who God is for something that is more comfortable to us? Isn’t that exactly the trouble within Christendom today? Churches have become user friendly and are more concerned with man being comfortable than they are of seeking the living God. Evangelism has become a method of filling the church building rather than proclaiming the glories of God by means of the Gospel of grace. Theology has now become more of a form of apologetics instead of declaring the truth of who God is. Why do I say apologetics? For it seems as if many theologians are almost apologizing to men for how God has revealed Himself and giving reasons for why it appears as if He did something or is a certain way. When theology reaches that point, theologians have become more ashamed of God before men rather than ashamed of how men are before God.
God Loves... Himself 
Leave a comment