In Pursuit of the True Gospel, Part 1

June 22, 2007

I am responding to an article in the June 07 Banner of Truth magazine. It was written by Solano Portela and is entitled “A Sin That Threatens Calvinists-Spiritual Pride.” In reality, while I am responding to his article, I am also responding to Reformed theology as set out and practiced today and Evangelicalism as a whole.

What does it mean to be tolerant? Some of the synonyms for it are interesting. The word means liberal, broadminded, open-minded, forbearing, understanding, and charitable. Some of the meanings of the word are not acceptable to the believer, but we can settle on charitable. However, we must be very careful. We must never take our practice of being charitable to being broadminded or open- minded in regards to the Gospel. The Gospel is that which all who do not believe it in truth will be damned. It is that vital. Are we to be charitable in regards to many different issues? Of course we are, but that must never extend to the Gospel itself.

Let us think through this issue again and with a little more provocation. What is the real issue between Arminianism and Reformed theology in terms of the Gospel? That is the real and vital question. If there is a difference at that point, then it is a major point regardless of what other differences there are. Are we to be tolerant on the issue of the Gospel? Do we remember Paul’s toleration of different gospels in Galatians 1:6-10? If we hold what Scripture teaches us about the nature of Scripture, then what we have is the level of God’s tolerance toward other gospels as well. As seen from quotes I gave from Luther in the June 21 newsletter, Luther said that the issue revolved around the nature of free-will. In the mind and writings of Luther free-will was directly opposed to a true Gospel of grace and so was opposed to the Gospel.

Let us wade into this issue without trying to water things down. Martin Luther thought that Arminianism and Pelagianism were different gospels than that of the Bible. Let us not pretend that he did not. The real question was whether he was right or wrong on that. Another real issue is what the different theological positions really meant and really mean. It is my position that many that go under the banner of “Arminian” actually operate with Pelagian principles and theology in terms of the gospel. We will never be faithful to the Gospel of Jesus Christ unless we stand up and say that Pelagianism is heresy and against the Gospel. So this is one point that the Banner article is woefully inadequate on. We cannot go around and extend charity to people until we know what they really believe.

Arminians have slipped into the principles of Pelagianism, but what has filled the void that Arminians have once held? It is my contention that some if not many within the Reformed community are actually more in line with historical Arminianism. What would Luther say about many people in the Reformed community today? I believe he would think that they had more in common with Erasmus than with himself (Luther). Theological precision and biblical fidelity have given way to a weak form of sentimentality and fear of the opinions of men. In Galatians 1:10 Paul noted that if we fear men we do not fear God. The practice of being tolerant, gracious, and winsome can be nothing more than a fear of man and not standing for the Gospel. Let us not use those terms to avoid being ostracized and mocked for the Gospel.

Let a few more words from the historical introduction to Luther’s Bondage of the Will sink in: “Justification by faith only is a truth that needs interpretation. The principle of sola fide is not rightly understood till it is seen as anchored in the broader principle of sola gratia” (p. 59). If the Gospel of Jesus Christ is centered on justification by faith alone, then we need to be sure that we have the correct understanding of justification. If we don’t understand justification, we don’t understand the Gospel and so do not believe it. This does not mean that we have to understand every part perfectly, but we must understand the essentials. If we are going to say that Luther was correct on the Gospel, then we need to understand what Luther said about the Gospel. It is not enough to have an academic understanding of the issue if we are going to understand it like Luther, but we must see what grace really means in order to know what he meant by the Gospel. I fear that we have little understanding of grace in our day. By that I mean a real experiential understanding of grace that only comes from the depths of the heart when the soul learns it by the experience of a sinful and broken heart. But again, we must take note that justification by faith alone (sola fide) cannot be understood apart from justification by grace alone (sola gratia). Modern Arminian teaching as a whole denies what Luther taught about grace and the will. It is not the same Gospel. Is that intolerant? Luther was intolerant of false gospels and so was John Knox. More importantly, Jesus and Paul were.

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Reformed Theology & Pride

June 20, 2007

In the June 2007 issue of The Banner of Truth magazine an article moved me enough to take a week break from the Beatitudes. We all admit that pride is a problem with those who hold to Reformed theology. But the reason is not the theology but that we are all born with a heart full of pride. The author was Solano Portela and the article entitled “A Sin That Threatens Calvinists-Spiritual Pride.” A main problem with the article is not that the author is wrong about pride being a problem, but with his identification of what that problem is and what it looks like. To put it bluntly, in our day too many Reformed people are watering down the importance of Reformed theology and stressing tolerance and graciousness. While we must be gracious, we must also stand for the truth. Scripture must guide us and not aspects of the ecumenical movement. It is no true sign of humility to be tolerant of teaching that opposes the Gospel.

The heart of the issue is over what the Gospel is and what it means to be converted. It is not one system of theology over another; it is over what the Gospel is and the character of God. Spurgeon has been quoted by many as saying that Calvinism is simply stating the Gospel. If Calvinism is stating the Gospel, then it also defines that which is not the Gospel. That statement was and is either true or false. If false, then let us stop quoting him in defense of a particular theology. But if it is true, then let us defend the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We cannot have it both ways. If what he said is true, then it is not pride to defend Calvinism, it is defending the Gospel. Am I trying to say that Calvinism in all of its manifestations is the Gospel? No, but I am trying to say that whatever the Gospel is we must defend it at all costs.

In the article it is simply assumed that there is a Gospel and that all stripes of Arminians and Reformed people believe it and simply differ on the particulars. That is a naïve approach that is ecumenical at heart and a retreat from what the Reformers defended as the Gospel. In the article spiritual pride is defined: “Spiritual pride ever appears in a despising attitude toward other brothers and sisters in Christ. It harbours the thought that we possess a superior vision. It is the rejection of any need for further learning from others. It does not show the humility of life that God requires of others.” He goes on to say that “spiritual pride has generated many movements within the churches and those often add another category of people, although this is not always openly stated.”

First, in the article a believer in Christ is never distinguished from a non-believer and the Gospel is never distinguished from all other gospels. There are proud people who are Reformed and there are proud people who are Arminian. There are also unbelievers in both of those theological camps. It is not pride to believe that a theological system that sets out the Gospel is better than one that does not. It is not pride to believe that Reformed theology is better than Mormonism, Roman Catholicism, or Greek Orthodoxy. To get closer to home, it is not pride to believe that Reformed theology is better than Pelagian theology. If so, are we so sure that professing Arminians today are not really Pelagians? Are we so sure that many professing Calvinists today are not historical Arminians?

Without clear distinctions and parameters, the waters are muddied before we begin. For example, in a fairly recent so-called debate Paige Patterson and Al Mohler discussed a few issues. They started out with some glowing remarks about each other personally and professionally. They then discussed some differences, but they never really got to the real issues. They were more concerned with being gracious and tolerant than they were with setting out what the Gospel is and the different approaches to it. They were more concerned with saying that both practiced evangelism and that indeed it was important to practice evangelism. But they never talked about the differences that they might have about the Gospel and how to proclaim that Gospel. It was assumed that since both evangelized and that both talked about the Gospel that they both had the same Gospel and both truly evangelized. The assumption was that the differences were not about the Gospel and true evangelism. They should not have assumed those things.

As quoted above, the author of that article believes that spiritual pride does not show the humility of life that God requires. Indeed, that is a correct statement. But true humility before God stands for the truth. Was Martin Luther proud or humble when he stood before the Diet of Worms and stood against the whole world in order to hold to the Gospel? Was he proud when he wrote The Bondage of the Will? To those he opposed it appeared so. Erasmus thought Luther was proud when he said that Arminian or Pelagian thought was not Christian. But if Luther was correct in what he said, then those who opposed him at the Diet of Worms and then Erasmus were the proud ones. He was simply in all humility holding to the Gospel and was ready to die for it. The issue that defined Luther was the Gospel and his being willing to defend it at all costs. He was concerned with the Gospel and not with being tolerant.

In the modern world we are concerned with being gracious, tolerant, and winsome. On the one hand we must be those things, but those things themselves can be a sign of pride. We can be proud of how gracious, tolerant, and winsome we are without knowing that those can be the fear of man in disguise. We can be proud of those that we are tolerant of and proud of how we appear in doing so. But at that point our pride might be blinding us to our pride in actually not holding to the Gospel. If pride is seen in holding to a view too tightly, pride is also seen in not holding to the Gospel tightly enough. If it is pride that judges others, then what of the pride that is quick to judge that others are believers? Both are actually judgments passed. What is it that distinguishes pride from humility at this point? It is the state of the heart before God in terms of why the person is standing for the truth and if what the person is standing for is the truth.

In Galatians 1:6-10 Paul wrote this: “I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; 7 which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! 9 As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed! 10 For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ.” Was Paul proud in standing up and saying that there was only one Gospel and that he taught it? Was Paul proud in refuting Peter over the Gospel? Was Paul proud in seeking the favor of God over that of men? In biblical reality what would have been pride for Paul would have been for him to be tolerant and gracious in the modern sense of heresy.

Those who are more tolerant, gracious, and winsome than Paul and Luther should examine themselves. Notice the difference between Paul and Peter. We see Peter drawing back over a legalistic stance and not eating with certain believers. Paul drew the line at the Gospel. Peter was in error and should be charged with pride, but surely Paul should not be. He was setting out the Gospel of Christ and not deviating from that in doctrine or life. He was not willing to please men by being more tolerant or gracious. When pleasing men becomes that important, then we are no longer pleasing God. Could it be that when we are so concerned with how others view us that our tolerance and graciousness actually flow from pride? Could it be that our delight in being winsome is not pleasing to God and is from pride? In reality pride is defined in relation to who God is first and foremost. Humility is the proper stance of the creature before its Creator. Humility before human beings is then defined by how we stand before God. Humility before God always stands for the truth of the Gospel despite how it appears to other humans, though it should strive to be gracious in that if possible. The appearance of humility before men may actually be pride in the face of God.

I would like to give three quotes with remarks from the historical introduction to Luther’s Bondage of the Will. It shows the essence of Luther’s thinking on the issue. “The denial of free-will was to Luther the foundation of the Biblical doctrine of grace, and a hearty endorsement of that denial was the first step for anyone who would understand the gospel and come to faith in God” (pp 44-45). If Luther is correct about what the Bible teaches on this issue, then we must be very careful about those we think are believers and those we accept as brothers in Christ. Arminian teaching denies what Luther believed was a foundation of the Gospel. Can Reformed people believe this with a “hearty endorsement” of that denial if they are more concerned to be tolerant and gracious than to stand for the Gospel? Again, I am not denying that some who claim to be Arminian are converted. I am simply saying that we must be very careful about the Gospel and of what the Gospel is. Are we really Reformed in the historical sense if we are allowing such a wholesale departure from the Gospel and still think it is Christian?

“The man who has not practically and experimentally learned the bondage of his will in sin has not yet comprehended any part of the gospel; for this is the hinge on which all turns, the ground on which the gospel rests” (p. 45). Again we see Luther’s onslaught against “free-will” in terms of the Gospel. The revival that burst throughout the world with the Gospel taught by Luther and the Reformers is precisely the Gospel that denies “free-will” and says that the Gospel itself rests on the denial of “free-will.” We are not children of the Reformers when we accept as Christians those that emphatically deny what the Reformers said was against the Gospel. We must go back to Scripture and see if this is correct. “Whoever puts this book down without having realized that evangelical theology stands or falls with the doctrine of the bondage of the will has read it in vain” (p. 58). If Luther is correct, then we must be careful not to assume that Arminians teach the Gospel. We must also be careful not to assume that people who are Reformed teach the Gospel as well. After all, we stand before God and not a system of theology. I will continue writing on this subject on the Spurgeon Blog which can be found at: http://www.sbaoc.org/blog/.

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Man’s Chief End: God vs. the Pharisees

June 19, 2007

Last time we ended on how the Church is like the Pharisees in many ways in focusing on the outward actions and thinking that is love for God rather than the inward motivations and intents of the heart. We looked at how the Pharisees used the instrumental means that God has given yet they removed them from the terminal end that God as set out for them. Boiled down what that means is that God has created all things to be a reflection of His glory and He has given means for humanity to use in order to do that. Yet men want to use the means God has given and keep the terminal end in their own power or perhaps even change it whether on purpose or by deceit.

God has not given Himself or anything else into the hands of men to glorify Him in their own power. The means are to be used as means of grace but the means must also be empowered by grace if they are to be used to manifest the glory of God and not just be used the way the Pharisees used them. In other words, a Pharisee could use the means of grace just as well as many if not all conservatives can. The Pharisee used the means for his own terminal end which was to gain honor for himself and that out of self-love. However, the Pharisee claimed to be holy and to be keeping the Law of God. Many conservatives say the same things and do the same things as the Pharisees. Reformed people are certainly not immune to that charge as well. The Pharisee believed in predestination too.

The Church is full of people that are like the Pharisees in many ways. As long as people believe or at least live as if they have the power of holiness and love in their own power things will not change. As long as people believe or practice the lie that God has given them the means and it is up to them to use them and apply them as they please, things will not change. The means of grace cannot bring grace in and of themselves. The Bible is to be studied as the way God has revealed Himself rather than as a way to live better. Prayer must be practiced as a means of seeking God and His glory rather than a way to exalt self and seek things for self. Preaching must be practiced as a means of seeking and meeting with God rather than a duty to be performed.

While there may be other aspects to this, no one will ever study Scripture and pray as God has intended them until that person seeks God as God and for His glory rather than for a selfish reason. A selfish reason would also include a way to make me look holy or a way to obtain a favor for something for God, and it would also include virtually all religious reasons as well. The terminal end that God has created all things for and has given several means as ways to seek Him is that of His own glory. But it is not in the power of a human being to glorify God. God alone can make His internal glory shine outward and that through human beings. It is only when a human being is seeking God and His glory out of a pure love (which must come from God as well) that what that human being does is then a shining forth of the glory of God.

What I am trying to get at is that no one can glorify God in his or her own power as that is something that resides in the mere pleasure and will of God. It is only when God resides in a human being and is expressing Himself through that human being is His glory being displayed. Until we get that basic point we will be living in a way of works thinking that we are living to the glory of God. I Corinthians 10:31 tells us this: “Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” That is how a person lives if one loves God. However, unless the life of Christ is in a person and the Holy Spirit is working His fruit of love in that person it is beyond a person to do so. Living to the glory of God in all things is the Greatest Commandment. As the Law was given to show us that we must have Christ, so the command to glorify God shows us that we must have the life of Christ.

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Chief End 24 – God vs. the Conservative Church

June 17, 2007

Last time I ended with these words: “God has given us His terminal purpose for all things and that includes the Church. He has also given the Church instrumental means on how to seek the terminal purpose. But the Church has taken His instrumental means and used them for Her own terminal purposes. This is humanism.” I would like to expand on this idea in this BLOG.

There are many conservatives that will take those within the liberal camp and knock them for replacing the instrumental means of God for humanistic ones. While they use differing language, I am using this type of language for illustrative purposes. They will wax eloquent on how liberals have replaced preaching with nice talks and have replaced Bible study with meetings which do nothing. While those things are true, we must also be careful not to miss something that many conservatives have done. They have replaced God’s terminal purpose with other things. While this is perhaps not as bad as the liberals, this is still using God’s instrumental means for other purposes. In other words, many conservatives and liberals do the same thing in different ways.

Let me use one example to set this out. Preaching is very important in the Bible and in true churches. Preaching the Bible is what should be preached. We are commanded to “preach the Word.” We are never commanded to preach something other than the Word. But what is God’s purpose in preaching and then in preaching the Word? Does He just want men to stand up and teach the Bible? There are many conservatives that thing that preaching the Word is nothing more than to take a text and teach it using what is in the text. That is one style of preaching, but does that kind of preaching really fit with the terminal purpose of God?

It is possible to think that preaching the Word is God’s terminal purpose in preaching, but in fact we know that God has an eternal purpose. If preaching does not have as its goal the glory of God, it misses God’s terminal goal in preaching. The terminal goal of Scripture is also to shine forth the glory of God and so preaching that does not use the text to set out the glory of God also misses the real purpose for preaching. A liberal might think that he or she is to preach in order to make the people feel good about themselves or to move people to social action. That person has missed the whole point of preaching. A conservative might think that he is to preach in order to inform people of the Word of God. Yet if the conservative misses the real purpose of the text he is in the same boat as the liberal. Both have missed the real issue and that is the glory of God.

We can now see clearly how the Church is using the instrumental means that God has given Her and yet is not using them for the terminal end that God has purposed. If the terminal end or purpose is not the goal and the reason that the instrumental means are being used, those means turn to legalism or humanism. The Pharisees used the means that God provided. They prayed, but their prayers were meant to be seen by men. They gave alms, but that was in order to be seen by men. They fasted, but again that was for the purpose of being seen. In the Old Testament God deals sternly with the Israelites because they did the outward actions but they had no love for Him in what they did. They would do the outward sacrifices and the outward forms of worship, but their hearts were far from Him. They had their own version of formalism. The modern Church has Her own formalism. We apply the means and do many activities, but we do not know God. We have replaced love for God to doing something for God. We have lost the true idea of worship and what it means to love and glorify God. We are an impoverished group continuing on with our outward forms of worship thinking we are doing well and yet God is not present.

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Beatitudes 31: Purity 8

June 16, 2007

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” (Matthew 5:8)

Last week we tried to look some at how to pursue a pure heart. This is most likely strange to think about and many think that the important thing is simply the outward life, so they wonder why we even bother talking about things like this. They need to read Matthew 5:8 (above) and then I Timothy 1:5: “But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.” Whatever instruction a pastor or teacher gives, it is to be with a goal of love from a pure heart. We might note that love is not possible from a heart that is not pure. We can teach love and more love and then even more love, but if there is not a pure heart love is not possible. Love only flows from hearts that are pure. This means that a pure heart is one of the most vital things in all of Christianity since nothing that a believer does without love is acceptable to God (I Corinthians 13).

In the newsletter this week we will look at how utterly vital it is to focus on the heart. Scripture tells us that the heart is easily deceived (Jer 17:9). “He feeds on ashes; a deceived heart has turned him aside. And he cannot deliver himself, nor say, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?” (Isaiah 44:20). It is a deceived heart that turns people aside. Today we focus on the exterior and think all is well when the exterior is well. The exterior was fine with the Pharisees as well. True Christianity deals with the heart as that which is utterly vital. It is the heart that we must deal with if we are going to do evangelism or grow in sanctification. It is the heart that we must deal with if we are going to seek true revival in our day.

The heart is selfish and focused on self because of its pride and self-love. The Pharisees prayed, gave alms, and fasted for selfish and prideful reasons. In other words, their religion consisted of duties and outward performances. Inwardly, however, their selfish hearts were focused on themselves. They were never moved from their central focus on self and being a god to themselves. They were children of the devil in that they lived for themselves even in religious things. That is what happens to religious people when they are not moved from love for God and instead have just transferred their self-love from worldly things to religious things.

Scripture tells us to watch over the heart with all diligence. The text gives us the reason for saying that in the next part of the verse: “For from it flow the springs of life” (Prov 4:23). In other words, what we do comes from the heart. If we have the springs of life in the heart, from that heart will flow springs of life. “The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil” (Matthew 12:35). All that we desire, intend, think, say, or do come from the heart. If the heart is pure, then what comes from that heart is pure. If the heart is impure, then all that comes from that heart is impure. We must guard and watch the heart so that our hearts will be pure and what comes from that heart will be pure.

We will find that to maintain a pure heart we will need a lot of self-examination before the Word of God. But again, it is so easy just to read a verse of Scripture and look at the external life and think that we have executed a proper self-examination. However, let us remember what Scripture says about that: “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). It is the heart that must be examined in light of Scripture. In other words, we cannot just look at the externals and make a determination that all is well if we want the truth of Scripture.

The following two passages show us the sham of examining the outward man and not the inward. “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts” (Psalm 139:23). “Wash your heart from evil, O Jerusalem, That you may be saved. How long will your wicked thoughts Lodge within you?” (Jeremiah 4:14). A person that is interested only in behavior that is external will not be interested in the thoughts and in watching or washing the heart. But the heart must be cleansed from evil if a person is going to be saved according to Jeremiah 4:14. We also have James 4:8 teaching us how to draw near to God and that is by purifying the heart: “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” The person and professing believer that does not spend time examining the heart should consider Proverbs 16:2: “All the ways of a man are clean in his own sight, But the LORD weighs the motives.” The Lord looks at the heart in His evaluation of us, so to be accurate we must do the same.

We must remember that those that are blessed have pure hearts. While the pure heart cannot be obtained by work, we have been given the means of grace. We must be praying and seeking the Lord for grace as we use the means of grace. Any degree of purity in the heart we have is by the grace of Christ. So why do we have pride? Pride is that which hides itself in the heart by itself. A person that has an exalted view of self will not see that it is an exalted view of self because s/he is blinded by that exalted view that comes by pride. That person sees self as needing a bit of grace but does not see the need of grace every moment and for everything. Pride also does not see its need of grace to give the strength to do anything truly good.

Look in your heart and ask how much you really rely on grace. Do you see your need of grace before you act? Do you see your utter spiritual weakness and frailty before you do something? Do you truly seek wisdom and strength from the Lord before you do something or do you at best mutter a prayer and do it? We must know that our best works need Christ and for a work to be righteous it must have the life of Christ in us to do it. We truly have nothing to boast about but the glory of God and the cross. But down deep do you really want people to admire you for your good works and/or righteousness? To the degree that you do have that desire, your heart is not pure.

Have you arrived at the point where you are sick of self and desire Christ to live in and through you? When you do something that is outwardly good, do you have a sense of pride about it? Then know that your heart is impure at that point and that the work was either motivated by pride or you are trying to steal the credit from Christ. We know that Scripture teaches us that “from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries” (Mark 7:21). This might lead us to a great deception if our thoughts and actions are not really bad. We must begin to view the heart in a way that those texts pierce us as well. Outwardly good works can also proceed from evil thoughts as well. Spiritual adultery against God can proceed from evil thoughts too. Spiritual murder can come from the heart of man. Many spiritual idolatries and deceptions flow from the heart and also fall under the condemnation of theft, murder, and adultery. The heart must be pure if we are to see the glory of God shining through us in what we do rather than the nauseating stench of self and pride.

Have you reached the point of seeing through your own perpetual disguises? Do you see that your pride wants you to appear to others and yourself in a certain way? Do you see that you are wearing a mask in hopes of sustaining a self-righteous appearance before God, others, and self? Know that at least some others see through it and certainly God does. When will you drop the disguise and deal honestly with your own heart? Those that are truly and in reality pure in heart are blessed and will see God. It is not those that continue a façade of self-righteousness that will see God. If your heart is hidden beneath a veneer of self in some pretense of righteousness, know that your wall must either fall now or in eternity. That wall does not hide who you really are before God and will not hide anything in the final day and for eternity. You must have a pure heart or you will perish. Do not be deceived.

How many people want the outward doctrines of the Reformation without having the truths of the Reformation sink to the depths of their hearts? Do you desire to be Reformed because of your friends or for some other reason? Do you desire to be Reformed in doctrine or would you rather be broken of heart before God? Another way to put this is to say that it appears that many want to believe a doctrine but do not want the brokenness of heart that goes with the inner belief of the doctrine. The doctrine of total depravity may be believed in an external way, but until it is believed from the depths of the heart and the heart is broken of its pride and self-righteousness, that person does not really understand the doctrine even if s/he has finished a doctoral dissertation on depravity.

Do you believe in the sovereignty of God? Do you teach about sovereignty or do you proclaim a really sovereign God from the depths of your heart? Is the sovereignty of God a doctrine or do you bow in submission to a sovereign God in the hard things too? Do you teach about the cross or about the cross of Christ that has broken your heart and set up the reign of Christ in your heart? We don’t have space to continue in this vein, but I hope the point has been made. We must all examine our hearts and begin to seek grace in reality rather than grace in name. We must all desire and obtain a pure heart before God if we truly desire fellowship with Him and to see Him in His glory. If we are not willing to be broken from our pride in the depths of the heart, we can forget it. Nothing but a pure heart will see God. That requires a brutal honesty and the corresponding inner pain rather than self-deception. Do you really desire a pure heart? You will see if you are honest with yourself and with God.

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Chief End 23 – God vs. the Church

June 15, 2007

This BLOG will continue to look at the purposes of God for the Church and evangelism in light of what human beings have done in regards to developing their own purposes. We see all over the place of certain writers and their purposes for the church. However, what must be determined is what God’s purpose is. If the purposes of mankind are different than God’s, then man’s purposes are going to be idolatrous. Even if human beings do biblical things they must be doing those things in accordance with God’s purpose or they will be doing biblical things in an idolatrous way. That is what the Pharisees did in all that they did.

Ephesians 1:11 points out that we have obtained an inheritance and have been predestined according to His purpose: “also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will.” We also see from that text that God works all things after the counsel of His will. God’s purpose and the counsel of His will work together. This is buttressed with Romans 8:28: “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” Those who are converted are called according to the purpose of God.

The same thought runs in Romans 9:11 as well: “for though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose according to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls.” The same thought is also found in 2 Timothy 1:9: “who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity.” As we look with wonder at the beauty and symmetry found in those texts, we must admire the glory of a God so great that His purpose and grace are granted to people “in Christ Jesus from all eternity.” But we must notice that continued use of the word “purpose” in relation to God. He has a purpose and it is all found in Christ.

How utterly fabulous and glorious it is to admire what these texts and the texts from the last BLOG declare to us. What a God it is that works all things after the counsel of His will and that in accordance with His eternal purpose. This God reveals His word and His mysteries as He pleases and to whom He pleases. This God gives grace to whom He pleases and He is pleased to reveal Himself to infants (humble, poor in spirit). He has granted this grace to all those who are and will be in Christ from eternity. This God has a purpose and He works all things in accordance with that.

Now as we look at the Church, we see something entirely different in most cases. God has a terminal end or primary purpose that He has set out, but churches seem to have their own purposes and goals. But God only saves according to His own pleasure and His revealing Himself in accordance with His own pleasure. What happens when the Church begins to operate according to its own pleasure and has purposes that are not according to God’s purposes and pleasure? When the Church does that, it is actually operating as the enemy of God.

I hope that this approach will sink in. The Church of today has bought into methods, purposes, and practices that are not according to what God has set out in Scripture. The Church of today will also use biblical methods but in ways that are not according to the purposes of God. God has given us His terminal purpose for all things and that includes the Church. He has also given the Church instrumental means on how to seek the terminal purpose. But the Church has taken His instrumental means and used them for Her own terminal purposes. This is humanism.

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Chief End 22 – Biblical Evangelism

June 13, 2007

The last BLOG was an effort to show that for true evangelism to occur it must have the message of the glory of God in it to be true evangelism. This is in the context of trying to show that the Church as a whole must go back to the very basics of God’s purpose and intent for the Church in order to be the Church. No matter if a church is being biblical if it misses God’s terminal end or primary purpose for its existence it misses what is utterly vital about the church. If a church is focusing on evangelism and leaves out the primary message of the Gospel and the intent God has in saving sinners, it is not being evangelistic in a truly biblical way.

To recap for just a moment, we need to remember Paul’s words in Ephesians 3:8-11: “To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ, 9 and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things; 10 so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places. 11 This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord.” We must have it driven into our minds and hearts that God has an eternal purpose for all things and that means that He has one for the Church. Whatever purpose He has for the Church is the purpose that all things must be in accordance with. Since evangelism is what the Church is commanded to do, the way that is done must be done in accordance with the purpose that God has for the Church.

What was God’s eternal purpose? We see that in Ephesians 1 in many places. “Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love 5 He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved” (Eph 1:4-6). In these verses we see that God chooses before the foundation of the world. That surely points to an eternal purpose. We see that in love He predestined some to adoption as sons through Christ. What was that in accordance with? The text says “according to the kind intention of His will,” but the more literal rendering would be “according to the good pleasure of His will.” And then we see that His predestining work was “to the praise of the glory of His grace.” In other words, God’s eternal purpose had to do with the exalting of His glory. God does all to the glory of His name and that includes the whole of salvation.

We then see in Ephesians 1:9 that “He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him.” Again the words “kind intention” is better translated “good pleasure” which means that God makes known the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure “which He purposed in Him.” This should remind us of Matthew 11:25-27 where Jesus praises the Father for hiding “these things” from the “wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants.” What did He say after that? “Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in your sight.” The Greek word for “well-pleasing” is the same word used in both Ephesians 1:4 and 1:9 that is translated (NAS) as “kind intention.” The revelation of the truth and glory of God is at His good pleasure.

For evangelism to be biblical, then, it must take into account that it is God that must reveal spiritual things to people. He does so according to His eternal plan and purpose for the Church. Evangelism must take this into account and realize that the Gospel is according to a grace that is uncaused in and by human beings but is according to the pleasure of the self-existent God. Anything less sure appears to be a form of humanism.

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Chief End 21 – The Church & Evangelism

June 11, 2007

I hope that by now it will be seen that the Church is in a great crisis. The Church has been given over to programs, morality, and basic practices. But it has abandoned its terminal end or purpose as set out by God. I would imagine that I am speaking as if in a foreign language to many. But surely it is self-evident that if a church is doing what it does apart from the purpose that God has assigned all things to be done and that from eternity, that what it is doing is being done from wrong motivations and for the wrong reasons. The topic we are dealing with is that vital.

Last time we were dealing with evangelism. I hope that anyone reading this will get a knot in the stomach when they see the importance of this. That knot would arise because the person might begin to see that so many of the activities and ministries that are done in the name of evangelism are simply done for the wrong reasons and perhaps that means that the evangelism is done improperly. Evangelism is not something that is to be done just because the church is to be involved in it. It is not to be done because it gives people something to do. It is not something to be done because the church needs people to keep it going. No, no, and a thousand times no. Evangelism is to be done because it fits with God’s eternal purpose for the Church and it is to be done in a way that is in accordance with that. Evangelism is not even to be done as a terminal purpose or primary purpose because souls are saved when it is done with the truth of the Gospel.

One thing that might show the importance in this is to imagine that people go out preaching a Gospel or gospel with a terminal purpose in mind. If the gospel that is preached has the purpose of getting a person to pray a prayer, then what is said and done will be focused on that. If the gospel that is preached has the purpose of getting a person to come to a church building at a stated time, then everything will be focused on that. In other words, a terminal end or goal always determines the way we do things and what we try to do. Having the true and biblical terminal end or goal is that important. Without it everything else will be done incorrectly even if it is done to some degree as the Bible says. The terminal end or purpose is utterly vital to doing things as Scripture sets out.

I can only hope that once again at least a few people are getting knots in their stomachs. The evangelism practiced today is to be judged by what it does and how it does it by the terminal end or goal as set out in Scripture. If it is not in accordance with that goal, it is wrong and is deceiving people. It is not that God cannot save people if enough of the truth is presented, but simply that many are being deceived in and out of the Church today by false methodologies that are because the terminal purpose of Scripture is not understood or perhaps ignored. It is easier to go out with a message than it is to be guided by the purposes of God.

Without question the whole tenor of Scripture is that God has created all things for His own glory and pleasure (Rev 4:8-11). God created things as a means to manifest His glory. When Adam sinned and the fall occurred man began to live apart from that purpose. Now all that man does is to sin which is to fall short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23). The Gospel is the restoration of man back to where man is saved and then enabled to live for the glory of God. In fact, the whole reason for salvation is said to be “to the praise of the glory of His grace” (Eph 1:6). If this theme is not in the message of evangelism, then the main them of sin and of the Gospel has been missed. There is no true evangelism apart from the message of the glory of God in Christ. When humanity is set out to be the main focus of evangelism, it has missed the real point of it all and what is really good news is not set out and declared. That negates the Gospel.

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Chief End 20 – Church’s Purpose 2

June 9, 2007

Last time we began to look at what it would mean for the Church (and a church) to have a terminal purpose assigned to it by God. We looked at Ephesians 3:8-11: “To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ, 9 and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things; 10 so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places. 11 This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord.” There is no doubt whatsoever that God has created all things and that He has a purpose for all things. He has an eternal purpose for the Church and anything that it does that is not in accordance with that purpose is simply not doing what it is supposed to do.

If the purposes that we set out for the church are from the Bible, we think we are being biblical. However, if the terminal end is not biblical, then the other purposes that we set out are at odds with Scripture. If the terminal or chief end is not from Scripture and is not what God has set out for the Church, then even if the stated purposes are biblical they will be used in an unbiblical way. We can see this by way of illustration in preaching. A sermon may be biblical and orthodox in its content and theology. However, if the preacher’s terminal desire is to impress people or to gain fame for his preaching, the sermon is not out of love for God. In fact, to the preacher it is an act of idolatry in that his terminal desire is himself and not God.

If a church or minister desire to grow in numbers, that is not in and of itself bad. However, if the church or minister desires to grow in numbers apart from the biblical terminal end, then the desire to grow in numbers is bad. If the church desires to grow apart from a biblical terminal end, it will choose methods and goals that are not according to the biblical terminal end. In doing that, though outwardly noble and good, it is nothing less than the practice of idolatry. Let us examine this according to some purposes that are biblical. We have looked at worship in a previous BLOG in this light and so we will not look at it again.

First, we will look at evangelism. Within the SBC this is a hallowed purpose. It is given primary importance and is thought to be why the Church is on earth. However, even a superficial look at Ephesians 3:8-11 should dispel that myth. The Church has a greater purpose than evangelism on earth. It is not the terminal end or primary purpose of the Church. But surely it is obvious that if we begin to plan evangelism and do evangelism in a way that is not in accordance with the terminal end or primary purpose of the Church that it will lead to great problems. If we view evangelism as the greatest purpose of the Church and in fact it is not, then all that the Church does will be pointed to evangelism and evangelism itself will be an idol. Not only that, but evangelism might also be viewed from a business model and be seen as a way to fill a church with people.

We should also note the dangers of having churches where evangelism is seen as the greatest purpose within a local church. People would be trained to do evangelism apart from spiritual growth and apart from a biblical evangelism which can only happen within the framework of a church that is committed to the terminal purpose that God gave it. Let me repeat that thought with different words. True evangelism can only happen within a church that is committed to its terminal purpose or chief end as set out by God. This is why it is so vital to gain an understanding of the Church (and each church) and what it does and for it to be in accordance to God’s purpose.

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Chief End 19 – The Church’s Purpose

June 7, 2007

“To avoid all confusion in our inquiries concerning the end for which God created the world, a distinction should be observed between the chief end for which an agent performs any work and the ultimate end. These two phrases are not always precisely of the same signification, and though the chief end be always an ultimate end, yet every ultimate end is not always a chief end. A chief end is opposite to an inferior end; an ultimate end is opposite to a subordinate end. A subordinate end is what the agent aims at, not at all upon its own account, but wholly on the account of a further end of which it is considered as a means.”

– Jonathan Edwards

Note: I use the term “terminal end” to refer to what Edwards referred to as a person’s chief end as that which all other ends are for. This is the person’s greatest goal or greatest desire. The “instrumental end” is that which a person desires something but desires it to obtain a higher or greater desire or goal.

We have been looking at how different things look when we begin to look at the purpose for which God created them. We have looked at prayer, Bible study, worship, and in some ways the church. But let us look at the Church and its purpose. The Church is so weak and anemic today that it is hardly recognizable when we see what it was meant to be in Scripture. The Church is not here in terms of its primary purpose in order to provide help and relief to hurting people, it is here to be the dwelling place of the glory of God and therefore to manifest His glory. The Church is not here in terms of its primary purpose as a social program or even for evangelism, but it is here for one primary purpose or terminal purpose or end. It is that which God has set out for it to do.

Paul sets this out to us in Ephesians 3:8-11: “To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ, 9 and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things; 10 so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places. 11 This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

We can see from this text that God has had a plan that was according to His wisdom from all eternity. God has had an eternal purpose for the Church and I doubt that it has changed. Paul said that he was given grace “to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ, and to bring to light what us the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things.” Now we must stop, humble ourselves, and pray for those words to sink in. The apostle Paul was given grace to preach and through that preaching to bring to light a mystery which was hidden in God for ages. In other words, for all eternity this was hidden from the angels. For all of human history no one ever really understood this. But now God brought it to light.

We see in v. 10 that God had hidden something for ages and now Paul is going to bring it to light so that God’s manifold wisdom “might now be made known through the church.” The Church is God’s vehicle to bring forth this truth that He had hidden from eternity. We may be closing in on the eternal purpose of the Church. But notice that His wisdom would be made known “to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.” This text tells us that God has a purpose for the Church that is not of this world. It is to shine forth His wisdom to beings that we know nothing about. That purpose is ‘in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Again those words are weighty and will pass right over us if we do not stop and pray for the Lord to cause them to sink deep into our souls.

As we think of what God’s terminal purpose for the Church might be, that is, the purpose for the Church that all other purposes have their purpose in it, we should stress again that this is an eternal purpose. We must also see that this eternal purpose was carried out by God Himself in Christ Jesus. The text does not say that Christ carried this purpose out, but that God carried it out in Christ Jesus. As we reflect on these weighty words, let us come back and reflect what is going on in our day. We see books being written about purposes of the church and purposes in life. Fine, but if those purposes are not in accordance with the main purpose that is the eternal purpose of God, then there is a huge problem with that methodology. Let us also know that if people write and speak about the purposes of the church in a way that is somewhat biblical and yet they are not applied in a way that is in accordance with God’s terminal end or eternal purpose in the church, then those things are not according to the wisdom of God. They reflect humanism.

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