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Musings 131

December 9, 2016

But who is sufficient for these things? Is all this change a small matter? And is it in the power of man thus to renew his heart, and change the whole bent of his affections—i.e. to new make himself? No, no more than it was to make himself at the first. And therefore the Scripture tells us plainly, “that it is God who works in us both to will and to do;” that “without him:–without Christ, “the wisdom of God, and the power of God,” enlightening our understandings, and renewing our wills; “we can do nothing.” And those who think they can do great things for themselves, either never tried, or else they are ignorant of their case, and do not know the work that is before them. Dear brethren, if we mistake here, we lost all. We expect light where there is nothing but darkness; strength from weakness; and look for health and salvation where there is nothing but corruption and death. We are self-sufficient, and can only be self-saved, i.e. miserable, and left to perish by the work of our own hands. (Thomas Adam, 1701-1784)

This point is so important and yet so unknown and ignored in our day that it is necessary to go over and over it. For some reason the Puritan approach to this was set aside and the teaching of Finney took over and in our day the basic teaching of Finney is rampant. Not only did Finney think that man had the power to choose and be saved as he pleased, but Finney thought he had the power to convince men to believe. In this we see a denial of the doctrine of man as dead in sin and the doctrines of total depravity and inability. In this we see that man is given the power to apply salvation to himself and thus man was able to overcome his own sinful heart and do what was needed to finish saving himself. Underneath the modern teaching and evangelism of conversion and of spiritual growth, we see the teaching of Charles Finney and his Pelagianism. The teaching of sovereign grace (grace alone, free-grace) have been changed and adapted so that Pelagianism lurks and even controls the thinking and practice at this point.

“This false idea of ‘free-will’ is a real threat to salvation, and a delusion fraught with the most perilous consequences” (Luther).

“So these truths are published for the sake of the elect, that they may be humbled and brought down to nothing, and so saved. The rest of men resist this humiliation; indeed, they condemn the teaching of self-despair; they want a little something left that they can do for themselves. Secretly they continue proud, and enemies of the grace of God” (Luther).

“Again, ‘tis a disposition of soul natural to all men to have a high thought of their own righteousness. And hence, they are pone to reject those doctrines that teach man’s absolute dependence on the free and sovereign grace of God and salvation by the righteousness of Christ” (J. Edwards).

“Till you feel yourself in this extremity of weakness, you are not in a condition (if I may say so) to receive the heavenly help. Your idea of remaining ability is the very thing that repels the help of the Spirit, just as any idea of remaining goodness thrusts away the propitiation of the Savior. It is your not seeing that you have no strength that is keeping you from believing” (Pink).

Luther said so clearly in the first quote of his above that this false idea of free-will “is a real threat to salvation, and a delusion fraught with the most perilous consequences.” Why should people read on this and think on this so much? It is because this is a real threat to salvation. It is because this is a delusion that is fraught with the most perilous of consequences. It is not just that the thought of free-will is such a threat to salvation and such a delusion that it is fraught with the most perilous consequences, but even the teachings that deny free-will in this and yet depend on it in the way evangelism is done and the way sanctification is to be sought. If this is so dangerous then we must flee from it and all forms of it and all the things that it touches.

People want to leave something for themselves to do which is really resisting that broken heart and deep humiliation of the soul that God must work in the heart for it to trust in Christ alone. How can one trust in Christ alone while one still trusts in self? How easy it is for Reformed preachers not to stress these things and so they reject the doctrines of grace in practice while they speak highly of them in words. This is not just a teaching that must reach the mind, this is a teaching that must sink into the heart and God must work them in the heart.

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Musings 130

December 8, 2016

But who is sufficient for these things? Is all this change a small matter? And is it in the power of man thus to renew his heart, and change the whole bent of his affections—i.e. to new make himself? No, no more than it was to make himself at the first. And therefore the Scripture tells us plainly, “that it is God who works in us both to will and to do;” that “without him:–without Christ, “the wisdom of God, and the power of God,” enlightening our understandings, and renewing our wills; “we can do nothing.” And those who think they can do great things for themselves, either never tried, or else they are ignorant of their case, and do not know the work that is before them. Dear brethren, if we mistake here, we lost all. We expect light where there is nothing but darkness; strength from weakness; and look for health and salvation where there is nothing but corruption and death. We are self-sufficient, and can only be self-saved, i.e. miserable, and left to perish by the work of our own hands. (Thomas Adam, 1701-1784)

Adam points out something that we should take care to focus on. “If we mistake here,” all is lost. This is seemingly a forgotten point in the modern day. The historians focus on historical things and preachers focus on getting money for bigger buildings and plan and preach to fill those bigger buildings. The huge problem, however, is that those buildings are filled with people who are being deceived. Even if preachers are orthodox and have orthodox creeds, the issue of numbers will be there as long as preachers are paid salaries. It is easy to be orthodox and it is easy to preach basic orthodoxy, but it is difficult to preach in a way that strips people of their self-sufficiency and self-righteousness. It is difficult to preach in a way that drives people to see their utter and absolute need of Christ. It is difficult to preach in a way that sets forth Christ and Christ alone as what is necessary for all things in salvation and sanctification, and that includes faith and repentance.

Adam understands that the doctrine of depravity, that is, of man’s total inability in spiritual things as a vital issue. Adam understands that the soul that looks to itself for faith is looking in the wrong direction and is mislead, even greatly deceived. Adam understands that the soul without Christ can do absolutely and utterly nothing in terms of what is spiritual and truly good. Adam understands that even believing souls must have Christ to do anything spiritual or truly good as well. The question, however, is that is biblical. If Adam is right about these things, and he does stand in the Puritan tradition as well as Luther and Calvin, then our present generation has missed the mark. What was understood as standard practice from Luther until the time of Finney has been rejected and Finney (his type of teaching that was based on Pelagian doctrine) has won the day.

But again, “if we mistake here, we lost all.” This is not just an intellectual discussion with people who can calmly discuss things that matter little, this is truly a vital point at a vital area. Following the thought of Adam on this, those who disagree with him have people looking for spiritual strength from those who have no spiritual strength at all. Those who disagree with him have people looking for health and salvation where there is nothing but open graves and death. Those who disagree with him look to people to be self-sufficient and to help out in their own salvation, but instead they will perish by the work of their own hands.

We must not pass by this vital issue with a simple sneer as if it is Hyper-Calvinism or something. The older writers thought that the heart of man must be emptied of self and pride (broken) in order for that heart to be able not to trust in self. It is as sinful to trust in self to trust in Christ as to trust in idols. When we trust in self that is our idol. When we trust in self to trust in Christ we have no idea of what it means to trust in Christ alone. The Lord Jesus not only purchased salvation, He procured it and He must apply it by the Spirit. The Gospel was not purchased for sinners and left up to them to apply it to themselves, but instead the Gospel is so fully procured that nothing is left for the sinner to do (in this sense) but look to Christ for a new heart, faith, repentance, and all things necessary. There is a reason that the Reformers spoke of Christ alone. It is because Christ saves from beginning to end and leaves nothing to chance and nothing left to do. Christ alone means Christ alone. May God open the eyes of people to see that they cannot trust in Christ until they have been turned by His grace from trusting in themselves.

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Musings 129

December 7, 2016

But who is sufficient for these things? Is all this change a small matter? And is it in the power of man thus to renew his heart, and change the whole bent of his affections—i.e. to new make himself? No, no more than it was to make himself at the first. And therefore the Scripture tells us plainly, “that it is God who works in us both to will and to do;” that “without him:–without Christ, “the wisdom of God, and the power of God,” enlightening our understandings, and renewing our wills; “we can do nothing.” And those who think they can do great things for themselves, either never tried, or else they are ignorant of their case, and do not know the work that is before them. Dear brethren, if we mistake here, we lost all. We expect light where there is nothing but darkness; strength from weakness; and look for health and salvation where there is nothing but corruption and death. We are self-sufficient, and can only be self-saved, i.e. miserable, and left to perish by the work of our own hands. (Thomas Adam, 1701-1784)

Salvation is set out to men (today) as if they could give themselves a new heart and change themselves from being an enemy of God in their natures, affections, desires, and thoughts to one that loved God with all of those things. How can one read the Scriptures without seeing just how Scripture is dead set against that idea. Men must be born from above by the power of the Spirit rather than made new by the work of their own hands. This is as far from the biblical teaching as the east is from the west.

Why is it that the vast majority (seemingly all) of preachers never come to the point of showing men how dead they are and their utter insufficiency in these things? How can a man look to Christ alone unless he has been turned from trusting in himself in all ways? How can a man change his own heart and give himself a new nature? Again, it is utterly preposterous to even think that and yet that thinking has seemingly overwhelmed the professing churches in our day. How can the Gospel of Jesus Christ be truly preached if man does not see something of the way Christ is saving sinners? How can men look to the power of Christ if they do not see their own utter impotence? How can men know that their affections must be changed if they never hear from the pulpit that their present affections are wicked, evil, and opposite to all true good?

Could it be that the professing churches (many or most) have their pulpits filled with people ignorant of the basic issues of the Gospel? How can it even be considered that the Gospel has been preached until men have been shown the depths of their need of Christ? How can men think that they are faithful to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ until they have opened the Scriptures and have shown men that they are utterly powerless and need Christ to save them? How can men even imagine that they have preached the Gospel if they have not shown men how their own wisdom is foolishness to God so that they will see that Christ is the wisdom of God?

It is not acceptable to just show men the positive things of Christ and of Christianity, but instead there is a whole message to set forth in order that the positive would be seen in its true light. How criminal it is when preachers will not set forth the true nature of the depravity of man in such a way that men can see that they have no power and no ability to save themselves in the slightest. Jesus Christ is not the Savior of men who have some power to save themselves, but He is the Savior of those who are dead in sins and trespasses. He is Savior of those who have no power to save themselves. He is the Savior of those who are utterly helpless and completely impotent and they are so helpless that they can do nothing in the slightest way to contribute to their own salvation.

As Adam says above, if we are mistaken here, we are lost. This is a point that would be hard to emphasize beyond its level of importance. Until men see and feel the depths of their lostness, they will not understand what it is to hunger and thirst for Christ. Jesus called those who were weary and heavy-laden to Himself. Until men are indeed weary of themselves and of their sin they will not know the burden of it. If they are not weary and heavy-laden, then they are not called to Christ. The Gospel is not for those who trust in their religion or in their morality, it is for lost sinners who are burdened with their sin.

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Musings 128

December 6, 2016

Exodus 33:13 “Now therefore, I pray You, if I have found favor in Your sight, let me know Your ways that I may know You, so that I may find favor in Your sight. Consider too, that this nation is Your people.” 14 And He said, “My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest.” 15 Then he said to Him, “If Your presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here. 16 “For how then can it be known that I have found favor in Your sight, I and Your people? Is it not by Your going with us, so that we, I and Your people, may be distinguished from all the other people who are upon the face of the earth?” 17 The LORD said to Moses, “I will also do this thing of which you have spoken; for you have found favor in My sight and I have known you by name.” 18 Then Moses said, “I pray You, show me Your glory!” 19 And He said, “I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the LORD before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion.”

What Moses had in leading the people was a heart for God and His honor and glory. What Moses wanted in order to lead the people was God and His glory. He did not have a plan to grow the number of the people and he did not have a plan to build a large and elaborate church in order to draw the people in. He did, however, receive plans (not in this text) from God on how to build the Tabernacle. The difference between the Tabernacle and a church building is enormous. The church building is meant to house people and to many today it is meant to attract people. The Tabernacle was a place for the slaughter of animals and to be a dwelling place for God. It was also where the High Priest offered the blood of a sacrifice for the sins of the people.

The Tabernacle was a place for God and a place to show forth the Gospel and the glories of God. Perhaps we should learn something from the Old Testament pictures. The Tabernacle was centered upon God, His glory, and how His people would be acceptable to Him. In our day it seems as if we try to make God acceptable to people. This is not only backwards, it is idolatrous. But we can see quite clearly that Moses wanted the presence of God with him and the people. Moses longed to see the glory of God, and this was what he cried out for. He hungered and desired to behold the glory of God. He sounded like the Psalmist who longed for God more than his daily food. He also sounded like the Psalmist in thirsting after God like a hunted deer in the desert.

It is not until the professing Church gives up all of its business ideas on how to numerically grow and gives up on the plans of the experts on all of what it does and begins to seek the Lord that it will then become the true Church. A true church must preach the true Gospel, but in order to preach the true Gospel the preachers and the people must long for and seek the presence and the true glory of God. If the true Gospel is all about the glory of God shining forth and being seen in Christ, then there is no true preaching of the Gospel unless the preachers begin to preach that way. Preachers cannot preach that way unless their hearts have been broken from self and pride and they give up on being good preachers and they long for God themselves.

Churches must give up on being big churches, rich churches, and this or that kind of church and actually become a church that seeks the face of God. They will have to become churches that have prayer meetings where God is actually sought rather than a meeting to pray about the physical, financial, and “emotional” issues of people. This is not to say that praying for those things is wrong, but it is to say that praying for the presence of God in order to behold His glory and manifest His glory is the chief end of the prayer meeting. Churches must not just pray as if using God to get things that it wants as such, but it should pray for God to change the hearts of the people where people pray for the presence of God because He is the chief desire of their hearts.

The modern professing Church is in utter shambles because it trusts in almost everything rather than God Himself. The professing Church wants to grow, it wants to get more money, and perhaps it wants a good creed. All of those things are virtually worthless unless God Himself shows His glory to the Church and unless God is present with His people. Each converted human soul is a temple of the living God and the converted souls together make up the dwelling place of God in a different sense. The only sacrifice we have is Christ and it is in His name and for His glory that we are to approach the throne of grace. Only the humble and the broken have a place at the throne of grace, so instead of building each other up (in one sense) we should seek broken hearts, self-abandonment, and humility in order to seek Him. But of course those things will only come by His grace. We must truly seek the true God or we are simply playing church.

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Musings 127

December 5, 2016

Exodus 33:13 “Now therefore, I pray You, if I have found favor in Your sight, let me know Your ways that I may know You, so that I may find favor in Your sight. Consider too, that this nation is Your people.” 14 And He said, “My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest.” 15 Then he said to Him, “If Your presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here. 16 “For how then can it be known that I have found favor in Your sight, I and Your people? Is it not by Your going with us, so that we, I and Your people, may be distinguished from all the other people who are upon the face of the earth?” 17 The LORD said to Moses, “I will also do this thing of which you have spoken; for you have found favor in My sight and I have known you by name.” 18 Then Moses said, “I pray You, show me Your glory!” 19 And He said, “I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the LORD before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion.”

In this passage we see many things. We see the heart of Moses which was a heart that sought God. We see what it means to have a heart for God. We see the longings and the desires of a man who seeks after God. We see what a true leader wants for Himself and for His people. We see in many ways what is to be the focus of the churches and the focus on each human heart. The cry of our hearts must be for God Himself. We should long to know His ways so that we may know Him. We should not want God to come down and give us our sinful desires or our desires that are apart from Him and for His glory, but our hearts are made for Him and they should long for and desire Him. Instead of being caught up with the world and the things of the world, we are to be caught up with God Himself and the things of God.

This is far different than being caught up with self as self does the rituals and morality of religion, but all that this heart does is seek after God. This heart longs for the presence of God and it longs for God to be glorified, but it longs for God to be glorified for His own sake and for the sake of His people. This is a heart that knows how futile it is to plan things and plan church things without God. Sure, people use the name of Jesus as they plan what they are going to do, but that is far from the same thing as seeking God for what the church should do if anything. It is better to be still before God than it is to go our and do many things without His leading or blessing.

The person or the local church that longs for God knows that it is His free-grace that makes any spiritual distinction between the local church or the person. That person or that church will seek the Lord for His presence and if He does not grant His presence then there is no sense in going out. When people get engaged with busy work and they are satisfied with that rather than God Himself, there is a great deception among the people. This business seems to the deceived as working for God but they are working for self-righteousness rather than for God Himself. They are also working in the strength of self rather than the strength of grace.

The churches of our day sure seem to have the idea that if they build new buildings and have enough programs then the people will come and fill the building. Even if the people do come and fill the buildings, that does not mean that God is blessing the work. The blessing of God on a church or a person is when God Himself gives the person Himself and dwells with them and communicates Himself to them. The Regulative Principle of Worship (RPW) is a very helpful principle, but just because people or churches follow it to the letter does not mean that the people or churches worship. Following the RPW is not a guarantee for worship. It is only when God by His free-grace grants people His presence and hearts to worship that they will then worship.

When will the churches wake up to see that going through the motions on Sunday morning is not the same thing as seeking the living God from hearts that desire Him? When will the churches wake up and understand that their meeting together is not doing God any favors? When will the churches wake up and understand that they are to seek the Lord from the heart out of love when the people come together? When will the churches wake up and understand that as the nation of Israel thought that their outward sacrifices and keeping of the Temple pleased God so the churches have fallen into that same trap and think that their external acts and rituals please God? When will the people get sick and tired of all the trappings and seek Christ Himself for the grace to repent of pride, self, and religiosity and seek Him in all that they do? They will not seek Him until they are awakened by grace to see that they are helpless sinners and need grace to seek God. Only then will they seek Him and His presence.

When will the preachers wake up and realize that just because they are giving an exposition of Scripture is not the same thing as seeking God in true worship? When will the preachers wake up and seek the Lord for understanding that they may learn to preach rather than just lecture? When will the preachers learn that they must die to self and pride (which only happens by grace) before they can truly preach Christ and the Gospel of Christ? When will the preachers learn that they are to be taught in the heart to taste of Christ so that they may preach Christ rather than talk about Him? Oh what a shallow day we live as we are so easily satisfied with the externals of religion.

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Musings on Sovereignty 15

December 3, 2016

We do not forget the words of one long since passed away, namely, that “Denunciation is the last resort of a defeated opponent.” To dismiss this book with the contemptuous epithet—“Hyper-Calvinism”! will not be worthy of notice. For controversy we have no taste, and we shall not accept any challenge to enter the lists against those who might desire to debate the truths discussed in these pages. So far as our personal reputation is concerned, that we leave our Lord to take care of, and unto Him we would now commit this volume and whatever fruit it may bear, praying Him to use it for the enlightening of His own dear people (insofar as it is in accord with His Holy Word) and to pardon the writer for and preserve the reader from the injurious effects of any false teaching that may have crept into it. If the joy and comfort which have come to the author while penning these pages are shared by those who may scan them, then we shall be devoutly thankful to the One whose grace alone enables us to discern spiritual things. (A.W. Pink, The Sovereignty of God)

In thinking through just how sovereign God is, it is easy to find many people who want to think of God as sovereign and yet limit Him and His work to a mere persuasion. When people have that mindset, it is very easy to look at those who hold to a stronger view of sovereignty and think of them as Hyper-Calvinists. As Pink notes, something like that is really not worthy of notice. In our day it appears that men who are in reality Arminians or perhaps practical Arminians think of consistent Calvinists with the sneering term “Hyper-Calvinist.” That is a term of contempt, but it may also reflect more on those who use it rather than those it is used against.

Pink’s original book on Sovereignty had a chapter on reprobation, but when Banner of Truth published his book they took that chapter out as well as sections from other places. The question is not who is this or that, but who is biblical. Was Pink leaning toward Hyper-Calvinism or is the Banner of Truth leaning toward a practical Arminianism? Phillip Johnson clearly thinks of Pink as being a Hyper-Calvinist in one area of six indicators that he believes makes a person a Hyper-Calvinist. On the other hand, despite a claim to be a Calvinist it may be that Johnson and others who make that claim have accepted certain presuppositions that in reality make them practical Arminians. The issue has been argued for centuries and will not be settled at any point in the near future, but the simple point at the moment is that these things are not so easy and clear as some try to say.

The doctrine of God’s sovereignty is more important than many (if not most) realize. Apart from God’s sovereignty there is no true Christianity. It is that important. Any attempt to minimize or categorize the sovereignty of God is an attempt to conceptually free men from their bondage and deliver them into their own hands. When men are left in their own hands and they think that they are free to do in accordance with their own wisdom and desires, the reality of the matter is that be described as Arminianism. While men stress the responsibility of man, they should not stress that in a way that minimizes sovereignty. They should also not just throw out the word “responsibility” as if there are no parameters for it and just basically assume (to speak directly) the same position as Pelagians do. Just because God has commanded something does not mean we have the ability to obey.

The “contemptuous epithet” of being termed a Hyper-Calvinist is usually used in a way that assumes more ability for man that man has and less sovereignty for God than He has. Some shy away from holding to the sovereignty of God when it is taught with clarity and strength, yet others flee to those who shy away because it leaves them in control of their lives (they think). It is far better to be biblical in the matter rather than line up on sides and bash away at each other. Like it or not, the Christian Church has not figured out everything and even its boldest Reformers were not perfect either. As long as God is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent, He will be and cannot be other than perfectly and completely sovereign. As long as God is infinitely wise, no one can figure a way out of His complete sovereignty. Until those things happen, and they never will, it would be wise of men to be careful of throwing out the term “Hyper-Calvinist” to others. While Hyper-Calvinism is a real thing, it is perhaps quite rare. The Bible must be our guide and not these epithets which are not accurate.

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Musings on Sovereignty 14

December 2, 2016

In addition to the widespread effects of unscriptural teaching, we also have to reckon with the deplorable superficiality of the present generation. To announce that a certain book is a treatise on doctrine is quite sufficient to prejudice against it the great bulk of church-members and most of our preachers as well. The craving today is for something light and spicy, and few have patience, still less desire, to examine carefully that which would make a demand both upon their hearts and their mental powers. We remember, also, ‘how that it is becoming increasingly difficult in these strenuous days for those who are desirous of studying the deeper things of God to find the time which such study requires. Yet, it is still true that “Where there’s a will, there’s a way,” and in spite of the discouraging features referred to, we believe there is even now a godly remnant who will take pleasure in giving this little work a careful consideration, and such will, we trust, find in it “Meat in due season.” (A.W. Pink, The Sovereignty of God)

It might be important to call to our attention why the sovereignty of God is so vital to basic Christian doctrine. It is true that shallow and superficial teaching will not dive to the heart and reveal the corruption of the hearts nor will it dive to the bottom of the teaching of the real and true God. Shallow and superficial study and teaching will not move people to go beyond what appears to be obvious to the senses and obvious in light of the world. Shallow and superficiality will never see beyond the surface to see the depths and reality of the glory of God.

The sovereignty of God is at the very foundation of God and His kingdom. His kingdom cannot be seen with physical eyes, but instead it is seen with spiritual understanding. There is no doctrine that the sovereignty of God does not touch because God is the very center and the realest reality (so to speak) of all things. When we think of the attributes of God, not one of them can be understood beneath the surface unless we understand them as sovereign. The world was created by a sovereign God and as such it was created because He was pleased to create it and as a way of manifesting or expressing His glory. There is no room for such nonsense as God creating people because He was lonely. That is a terrible heresy if one cares to look beyond the surface.

The Gospel itself cannot be understood in truth apart from the sovereignty of God. He does not save sinners because all of a sudden they decide that they want to be saved, but He saves because He has sovereignly chosen to save. He saves sinners to the praise of the glory of His grace and not because they think they want to at some “random” moment and in order to deliver them from some horrible fate. The grace of God is always sovereign and must be sovereign or it is no longer grace at all. We will either look to Christ as God’s grace or we will look to Christ thinking we move Him because of something we do.

A superficial people in a superficial age will not study their own hearts and they will not want to understand the true nature of God. People do not want to take the time or effort to study, meditate, and pray over the great truths of the faith, yet that is what it will take. People do not want to humble themselves and seek the face of God for Himself; they only want God to the degree that they can get something from Him. A sovereign God, however, knows the hearts of men and as a sovereign and holy God He will not be sought and found by the selfish hearts of people. Until men learn that they are opposed to God in themselves and in their desires, they will not get past their superficiality and seek Him for humility and light.

There is no God but a sovereign God. There is not grace but a sovereign grace. There is no love but a sovereign love. We cannot earn those things and we cannot move God to give them. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is how a sovereign God who sovereignly loves and sovereignly shows grace saves sinners. It is a different God altogether that is waiting on man who thinks he is sovereign. We live in such a superficial day that those things are barely comprehended rather than people seeing those things and seeking Him who alone can show them the depths of their sin and then the depths of His glory. Biblical Christianity rests upon a sovereign God and the Gospel He has sovereignly worked and sovereignly applies. A shallow version of “Christianity” knows virtually nothing of true Christianity though it has the Bible and uses some of the same language.

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Musings on Sovereignty 13

December 1, 2016

It would be foolish for us to expect that this work will meet with general approval. The trend of modern theology—if theology it can be called—is ever toward the deification of the creature rather than the glorification of the Creator, and the leaven of present-day Rationalism is rapidly permeating the whole of Christendom. The malevolent effects of Darwinianism are more far reaching than most are aware. Many of those among our religious leaders who are still regarded as orthodox would, we fear, be found to be very heterodox if they were weighed in the balances of the Sanctuary. Even those who are clear, intellectually, upon other truth, are rarely sound in doctrine. Few, very few, today, really believe in the complete ruin and total depravity of man. Those who speak of man’s “free will,” and insist upon his inherent power to either accept or reject the Savior, do but voice their ignorance of the real condition of Adam’s fallen children. And if there are few who believe that, so far as he is concerned, the condition of the sinner is entirely hopeless, there are fewer still who really believe in the absolute Sovereignty of God. (A.W. Pink, The Sovereignty of God)

If God is truly sovereign, then He is sovereign over all things at all times and in all ways. The idea of “free-will” cannot truly be reconciled with the biblical doctrine of Divine sovereignty. The will can never be free of God and of His sovereign will and pleasure. The will can never be free from the wisdom of the Supreme Governor of the world. The will can never be free from the omnipotent power of God in ruling His creation as He pleases. The concept of a “free-will” can only be conceived of when the sovereignty of God has been diminished.

While it is true that the “free-will” can only be conceived of when the sovereignty of God has been diminished, it is also true that one can only assert that human beings have “free-will” if they deny the depravity and helplessness of man. Man is born dead in sin, so clearly if the whole man is dead (spiritually dead) then the will is dead as well. There is nothing free about a will that is dead in sin. The will that is dead is a will that is in bondage to death and has no freedom from that bondage at all. It may be said (to some degree and in some limited ways) that the will is free in sin, but that is not freedom at all. The will that is dead in sin is not forced to choose sin, but all of its choices are sinful.

We also have to consider another aspect of what it means to be dead in sin and a slave to sin. Since God judges all sin, He will judge the sin of those who are dead in sin. But what does God judge sin with? He judges them by hardening their hearts and turning them over to more sin. The punishment for sin is more sin. We can think of it as with Noah when God shut the door. When God shuts a door no one can open it. Well, when God hardens a heart no one can soften it but Him. In other words, when God hardens a heart and turns it over to sin, that heart is not free from the sin that God has turned it over to. All who are born dead in trespasses and sin are not free from the deadness of sin and are not free from judgment regarding their sin. It is impossible to think that a person who is in that condition has a “free-will) in any meaningful way.

Those who are born dead in sins and trespasses are also by nature children of wrath. Now this is a condition that a person has by nature. This includes at least two important concepts. First, what a person is by nature is what a person is unless that nature is changed. Second, a person is helpless in the nature that s/he was born with. The doctrine of regeneration tells us that a change of heart or a change of nature must occur for a person to believe. This should instruct us that a person that is dead in sin and by nature a child of wrath cannot believe until his or her nature is changed in regeneration. This destroys the idea of “free-will” since the will cannot carry out what it chooses if indeed it would ever truly choose in any way. A person dead in sin would not want to be anything but a sinner unless God opened his or her eyes to that sin. But again, a person dead in sin cannot open his or her eyes to that sin and even if the eyes are opened to some degree a person will never desire to be changed apart from God giving that desire.

It should be clear that a person that is dead in sin and by nature a child of wrath is helpless to do anything spiritual or spiritually good and is not free to change self. How free is a person to free himself from the wrath of God? That person is not free at all and so cannot change his or her nature and cannot defeat the power of God who is pouring out His wrath on that person. The doctrine of the depravity and helplessness of man runs parallel to the sovereignty of God. As man can do nothing in his deadness and his nature, so God cannot deny His wisdom and power in order not to be sovereign. It is true that it appears that in our day very few seem to believe the truth of who man is and that means that very few really believe that God is sovereign from the depths of the heart. It is one thing to have a creed that says God is sovereign, but it is quite another to live like God is sovereign. It takes free-grace (which is sovereign grace) to live as if God is sovereign.

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Musings on Sovereignty 12

November 30, 2016

Who is regulating affairs on this earth today—God, or the Devil? That God reigns supreme in Heaven, is generally conceded; that He does so over this world, is almost universally denied—if not directly, then indirectly. More and more are men in their philosophizing and theorizing, relegating God to the background. Take the material realm. Not only is it denied that God created everything, by personal and direct action, but few believe that He has any immediate concern in regulating the works of His own hands. Everything is supposed to be ordered according to the (impersonal and abstract) “laws of Nature”. Thus is the Creator banished from His own creation. Therefore we need not be surprised that men, in their degrading conceptions, exclude Him from the realm of human affairs.

Throughout Christendom, with an almost negligible exception, the theory is held that man is “a free agent”, and therefore, lord of his fortunes and the determiner of his destiny. That Satan is to be blamed for much of the evil which is in the world, is freely affirmed by those who, though having so much to say about “the responsibility of man”, often deny their own responsibility, by attributing to the Devil what, in fact, proceeds from their own evil hearts ( Mark 7:21-23).

But who is regulating affairs on this earth today—God, or the Devil? Attempt to take a serious and comprehensive view of the world. What a scene of confusion and chaos confronts us on every side! Sin is rampant; lawlessness abounds; evil men and seducers are waxing “worse and worse” ( 2 Timothy 3:13). Today, everything appears to be out of joint. Thrones are creaking and tottering, ancient dynasties are being overturned, democracies are revolting, civilization is a demonstrated failure; half of Christendom was but recently locked-together in a death grapple; and now that the titanic conflict is over, instead of the world having been made “safe for democracy”, we have discovered that democracy is very unsafe for the world. Unrest, discontent, and lawlessness are rife every where, and none can say how soon another great war will be set in motion. Statesmen are perplexed and staggered. Men’s hearts are “failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth” ( Luke 21:26).

Do these things look as though God had full control? But let us confine our attention to the religious realm. After nineteen centuries of Gospel preaching, Christ is still “despised and rejected of men”. Worse still, He (the Christ of Scripture) is proclaimed and magnified by very few. In the majority of modern pulpits He is dishonored and disowned. Despite frantic efforts to attract the crowds, the majority of the churches are being emptied rather than filled. And what of the great masses of non-church goers? In the light of Scripture we are compelled to believe that the “many” are on the Broad Road that leads to destruction, and that only “few” are on the Narrow Way that leads unto life. Many are declaring that Christianity is a failure, and despair is settling on many faces.

Not a few of the Lord’s own people are bewildered, and their faith is being severely tried. And what of God? Does He see and hear? Is He impotent or indifferent? A number of those who are regarded as leaders of Christian thought told us that, God could not help the coming of the late awful War, and that He was unable to bring about its termination. It was said, and said openly, that conditions were beyond God’s control. Do these things look as though God were ruling the world?

Who is regulating affairs on this earth today—God, or the Devil? What impression is made upon the minds of those men of the world who, occasionally, attend a Gospel service? What are the conceptions formed by those who hear even those preachers who are counted as “orthodox”? Is it not that a disappointed God is the One whom Christians believe in? From what is heard from the average evangelist today, is not any serious hearer obliged to conclude that he professes to represent a God who is filled with benevolent intentions, yet unable to carry them out; that He is earnestly desirous of blessing men, but that they will not let Him? Then, must not the average hearer draw the inference that the Devil has gained the upper hand, and that God is to be pitied rather than blamed?
But does not everything seem to show that the Devil has far more to do with the affairs of earth than God has? Ah, it all depends upon whether we are walking by faith, or walking by sight. Are your thoughts, my reader, concerning this world and God’s relation to it, based upon what you see?

Face this question seriously and honestly. And if you are a Christian, you will, most probably, have cause to bow your head with shame and sorrow, and to acknowledge that it is so. Alas, in reality, we walk very little “by faith”. But what does “walking by faith” signify? It means that our thoughts are formed, our actions regulated, our lives molded by the Holy Scriptures, for, “faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God ” ( Romans 10:17). It is from the Word of Truth, and that alone, that we can learn what is God’s relation to this world. (A.W. Pink, The Sovereignty of God)

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Musings on Sovereignty 11

November 29, 2016

It would be foolish for us to expect that this work will meet with general approval. The trend of modern theology—if theology it can be called—is ever toward the deification of the creature rather than the glorification of the Creator, and the leaven of present-day Rationalism is rapidly permeating the whole of Christendom. The malevolent effects of Darwinianism are more far reaching than most are aware. Many of those among our religious leaders who are still regarded as orthodox would, we fear, be found to be very heterodox if they were weighed in the balances of the Sanctuary. Even those who are clear, intellectually, upon other truth, are rarely sound in doctrine. Few, very few, today, really believe in the complete ruin and total depravity of man. Those who speak of man’s “free will,” and insist upon his inherent power to either accept or reject the Savior, do but voice their ignorance of the real condition of Adam’s fallen children. And if there are few who believe that, so far as he is concerned, the condition of the sinner is entirely hopeless, there are fewer still who really believe in the absolute Sovereignty of God. (A.W. Pink, The Sovereignty of God)

Pink thought it was foolish for him to expect that his work would meet with general approval. While there were a few who thought his book was a great statement of an essential truth, it was not met with widespread approval. In his own day people told him that it was not balanced and that it was overly harsh, and in our day the same things are being said but even worse. When Banner of Truth published Pink’s work on sovereignty they cut out his chapter on reprobation and sections of other chapters as well. In other words, the harder teachings of sovereignty are not acceptable and do not meet with the approval of those who think of themselves as being Reformed.

Indeed the trend of modern “theology” is the exaltation of man at the expense of exalting the living God, which means that the heart of all theology is lost. Pink asserts that “few, very few, today, really believe in the complete and total depravity of man.” If that was indeed true in his time, then it is worse (perhaps far worse) in our own day. It is true that people give lip-service to the doctrine of depravity, but in a very practical and real way they deny it. They treat men, even unregenerate men, as if they had the power to do what they were supposed to and the power in themselves to come to Christ. This is simply false theology and is part of the exaltation of man at the expense of the sovereignty of God.

The total depravity of man teaches us that man cannot keep the commands of God in his own strength and that man is dead and cannot make himself alive. If man truly had the power in himself to keep the commands of God and to make himself alive in the spiritual realm, then indeed man would be sovereign and God would be relegated to efforts regarding moral persuasion. It is impossible to hold to God as really and truly sovereign and yet hold that men have power in themselves in the spiritual realm. All good gifts come from God and nothing good can come from the flesh and self of man. Jesus said that apart from Him we can do nothing, and whatever else nothing may or may not mean it should teach us that there is not one thing spiritual or good that a human being can do unless s/he receives it from Christ first.

The total depravity of man teaches us that all the religion in the world cannot give a person a better standing before God as all that the unregenerate man does is outside of Christ and as such is not acceptable to God. Not only is it the case that all the so-called good works of men are nothing but filthy and damnable in the sight of God, but all the good that a person does comes from Christ. Really and truly human beings have nothing to be proud of in themselves and nothing to be proud of for what they have done. Human beings are born dead in sin and are by nature children of wrath (Eph 2:1-3). As dead in sin they can do nothing but act in accordance with that deadness. Since they are by nature children of wrath they cannot change their nature and will always have that nature unless God by His grace changes that nature.

All of the religion of men, and that includes all that “Christianity” has to offer apart from the sovereign God, cannot change men’s nature and cannot produce any good in them. The unregenerate man cannot please God with his orthodox preaching because he is not doing it out of love for God and is not doing it with spiritual insight. The most religious people cannot please God by all of their devotion because their devotion is really to self and all of their acts are from their sinful flesh. Despite all the outward good and despite all of their external religion, they are worthy of nothing but the eternal wrath of God. The externals of Christianity are utterly worthless apart from teaching the sovereignty of God and the depravity of man. These are two truths that are something like the one coin with two sides.

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