Election: Grace and Glory

In Isaiah 48:11 God says, “For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another.”

We’re going to encounter some difficult doctrines in the book of Romans.  Total Depravity, Election, Predestination.  But the glory of these difficult doctrines will begin to appear to you when you understand that God does everything for the sake of his name.  The gospel is not ultimately the gospel of salvation, it is the gospel of God, it’s all about his glory among the nations.

Here’s some examples of how Paul puts it in Romans

3:4 let God be found true, though every man be found a liar, as it is written, “That Thou mightest be justified in Thy words, And mightest prevail when Thou art judged.”

Paul will seek to convince us in the first three chapters of the depravity and wrath deserving demerit of all mankind so that, in the words of 3:19, “every mouth may be stopped and the whole world may be held accountable to God.”  No one under any circumstances may accuse God of injustice, for in the words of Shakespeare, “if justice be done, none of us would see salvation.”

So in chapter 9 Paul will teach us about God’s election with these words

Romans 9:10-15  when Rebecca had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad- in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of his call-  she was told, “The older will serve the younger.”  As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”  What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means!  For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”

Now that’s a quotation from Exodus 33, which tells the story of Moses going up on the mountain to intercede for the salvation of idolatrous Israelites and to receive the new tablets of the law.  And while he’s up there enjoying God’s presence he makes a bold request.  Exodus 33:18-19  Moses said, “Please show me your glory.”  And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The LORD.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.

Now get this.  Moses asked for glory, and God showed him election.  I hope that you will like Moses ask to see the glory of God.  And when you do, you’d better get ready to hear about election.  For election is at the heart of what it means to be God.  It’s the Godhood of God.  He chooses.  He decides.  His will is determinative of who lives and who dies.  Man’s will, to be sure, is regenerated and responds to God’s grace, but it does not depend upon the will of man, but on God who has mercy. 

Salvation is by grace alone, so that all the glory goes to God alone.  What we see in Romans 1:5 we will see over and over again.  It begins in grace and ends in glory.  Grace and glory are the Alpha and the Omega of God’s plan of salvation.  It begins in the grace of God and ends in the glory of God.  For, as Paul says in Romans 11:35 who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?”  For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen. 

Is your Calvinism about God, or are you just a punk?

Y’know, when I use the term “God-centeredness” as a euphemism for Calvinism, it’s not just a sneaky way to get Arminians across the goal line.  It really is all about God.  Here’s a good post over at Mark 5’s blog that provokes us to make sure our Calvinism is really all about God.

Matthew 6

It’s official, this is my favorite chapter.  It’s the chapter I was reading the hour I first believed in February of 1986.  And when I read it again last Thursday, I perceived the unity of the chapter as never before.  You’re probably going to need an open Bible to follow this.

The first half of the chapter is about living for the “reward” of the Father (see vv. 1,2,4,5,6,16,18) The second half of the chapter tells us to lay up for ourselves “treasure” in heaven.  That’s pretty much the same thing.  Duh, right?  I hadn’t seen it before.

I noticed a few other connections.  In 6:22 Jesus tells us that our eye needs to be “single”, and in verse 24 he tells us that we can’t serve “two” masters.   So having a “single” eye means an eye fixed on things above, an eye fixed on the heavenly reward, not earthly reward, and eye fixed on God, not money.

Then when Jesus teaches us at the end of the chapter not to be anxious, he tells us that the Gentiles search after food and clothing, but our Father knows our needs, just as he said up in verse 7 that we should not pile up empty phrases in prayer like the Gentiles do because our Father knows our needs.  

And in verse 33 he tells us to seek first God’s kingdom, as he told us to pray in verse 10 for God’s kingdom to come.  So in one sentence the unified message of the chapter is…

You write it.  An earthly reward, a corruptible treasure, for the best entry.  Game on! 

Booker T. Washington

On Friday I was driving home from the office, struggling again with hateful thoughts about Fundamentalist and Reformed Christian bloggers, when God used a bumper sticker in my life.  Yes, a bumper sticker.  It was a quote by Booker T. Washington

I will permit no man to narrow and degrade my soul by making me hate him.

If you want to know more about Booker T. Washington, click here.

This man was born into slavery and yet he refused to let those who once enslaved him degrade his soul by making him hate them.   So despite the fact that many Fundamentalists would act like spiritual slaveholders by attempting to bind my conscience and the consciences of those I love with human commands, I must not allow them to make me hate them.  Rebuke them, yes.  Excommunicate them if they do not repent, yes.  Anathematize them if they teach a false gospel, yes.  But never hate them.

Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you.

If you want some more Booker T. Washington quotes, click here.  His autobiography, Up from Slavery is available online free for download.  I may start reading it soon.

Free Life Bible Church

Our church name isn’t real snappy.  Whenever someone asks me what church I pastor I have make sure there’s adequate oxygen in my lungs before I begin to answer.  Then if they’re filling out a form, I have to spell it for them.  Then there’s the fact that no one, including me, is sure what evangelical means anymore. 

So I propose the name “Free Life Bible Church”.  You blog readers can be the first focus group.  What do you think?

Reality Check

Great comment on the blogosphere:

It’s perfectly understandable when political junkies and box office watchers conclude that web buzz augurs big things, but it’s also perfectly backwards. We look at the humming activity of the blogosphere and assume the cadre of online enthusiasts behind it constitutes the tip of an off-line iceberg….

 Reality is just the opposite. People go to the blogosphere because they can’t find a sizable number of people in their everyday, off-line lives that are as enthusiastic as they are. The blogosphere gathers together atypical fans and brings them together in what quickly becomes a broadband echo chamber. The louder and more intense the online community gets, the farther it’s likely drifting from what is happening offline.

ht:IMonk

full article

Sufjan Stevens

So I heard my first Sufjan Stevens song yesterday.  It was playing in the Corkscrew and someone else asked the manager what it was and he said “Sufjan Stevens.”  I liked it.  I’ve heard of this guy before.  I hear he’s a hit among furry Emergent types.  (That’s not a curse, I’m being playful, I like furry Emergent types).  Anyway, since I’m not cool anymore, I don’t know anything else about him but I’m sure some of you out there do.  Thoughtful reviews are sought from you.

Jesus on Cussing and Cursing

Matthew 5:22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.

“Raca” is an Aramaic word meaning emptyheaded fool, bonehead, imbecile.  It was a term of strong abuse, says the lexicon.  It was a term offensive enough to get you hauled before the Sanhedrin if you used it.  And yet, Jesus in his condemnation of using the term, doesn’t mind using the term.  He doesn’t say “Don’t say the R-word.”  He comes right out and says “Raca”.  That must have got his audience’s attention.

But then, as he does repeatedly in the sermon on the mount, he intensifies the moral demands of the law.  He demands even more righteousness than the scribes and Pharisees.  If you say Raca, you’re in trouble with the Sanhedrin, but I tell you that if in anger you even call someone a fool, you are in danger of hell.

Now fool isn’t a bad word.  This isn’t cussing, this is cursing.  And cursing people in anger, with or without strong language, puts you on the brink of the fires of hell.

So you see, my point in insisting that our ethics of obscenity needs to be more culturally nuanced is not to give you an excuse to use more obscenity.  Most of the times we use obscenity it is sinful because it is being used to strengthen our expression of anger or cursing. 

My concern is to say to those Pharisees, who would never use one of the seven dirty words, that you are still guilty of cursing people and if you do not repent and declare war on this sin, you are in danger of the fires of hell.

Thanks to God’s grace given to me through a Piper semon at the Together for the Gospel conference, I have a new habit.  When I become aware of something in my character that is egregiously unChristlike, I pray about it every morning and evening with my wife. 

Luke 18:7-8 will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night?, Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. 

I commend this habit to you, I have never felt such strength of spirit since I began praying like this.  And this issue of cursing is the new front lines for me about which I purpose to pray morning and evening. 

If you too have been convicted, perhaps you would like to join me in memorizing these verses:

Psalm 50:19-21 “You give your mouth free rein for evil, and your tongue frames deceit. You sit and speak against your brother; you slander your own mother’s son. These things you have done, and I have been silent; you thought that I was one like yourself. But now I rebuke you and lay the charge before you.

James 3:9-10 With [the tongue] we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.

On Cussing and Cursing

In English the words once meant the same thing.  But in common usage (it seems to me) cussing refers to the use of obscene words considered inappropriate for polite company, while cursing means speaking evil of someone, putting them down. 

I really wish I could let this issue go, but I can’t.  I remain bewildered and troubled at how many people strain out the gnat of cussing and swallow the camel of cursing.  Cussing is defined by cultural standards and is not that big a freakin’ deal.  Cursing people is a terrible sin that is rebuked by God on page after page after page of Scripture. 

It is not my desire to promote the widespread use of profanity.  See my earlier post on this matter.  But I must show you that the Bible does in fact use strong language that most of us would consider inappropriate in polite company.

2 Kings 18:27 But Rabshakeh said unto them, Hath my master sent me to thy master, and to thee, to speak these words? hath he not sent me to the men which sit on the wall, that they may eat their own dung, and drink their own piss with you?

Ezekiel 23:3 They played the whore in Egypt; they played the whore in their youth; there their breasts were pressed and their virgin bosoms handled.

Philippians 3:8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung

The BAGD Greek English lexicon gives this rendering of that last phrase: “It’s all crap.” 

What, you ask, about Colossians 3:8? “But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.”  The word for obscene talk is literally “shameful words”.  Now, I ask you, what makes a word shameful?  Is it not that it expresses anger, wrath, malice, or slander?  Look at how the NASB translates this verse, “But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth.”  Must a word be obscene to be abusive?  Are all obscene words abusive?  Is Paul’s use of “crap” in Philippians 3:8 abusive?

How about Ephesians 5:3-4 But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.

Again I ask, how do you decide which words are filthy?  Words that glorify or make light of sexual immorality are filthy.  Those words don’t have to be four letter words.  You can make light of sexual immorality in very refined language. 

The word for crude joking is “eutrapelia”  If you know a little Greek, you know that the prefix “eu” means good, as in eulogy, or euphemism.  Why then is this word for jesting translated coarse jesting?  The context requires it, but it is worth noting that the word was usually used in earlier Greek in a postive way.  It just means “wit”.  Calvin writes, “The Greek word eutrapelia is often used by heathen writers in a good sense, for sharp and salty pleasantry in which able and intelligent men may properly indulge.  But as it is exceedingly difficult to be witty without becoming biting…Paul very properly recalls us from it.”  We must be careful about using our wit for the evil ends of cursing others.

I know, I know, I’m so totally busted.  I am beginning to pray regularly for God to change me in this regard.   And this is why we must not let the Pharisees dumb this verse down into just a prohibition of potty words.  I want the real holiness of a tongue that blesses others and is a fountain of life, not the counterfeit holiness of a tongue that seldom says the seven dirty words.

Marc Driscoll is a pastor who sometimes gets into hot water for saying words that some regard as profane.  One angry reformed blogger responded by calling Driscoll a theological lightweight and that no one (including John Piper who invited him to speak as his conference next month) would be paying attention to him if he didn’t have 5000 people coming to his church.  Now I ask you, would that statement be any more sinful if he had called Driscoll a freakin’ lightweight?  I don’t think so.  And what is he insinuating about John Piper’s discernment by such a comment? 

He didn’t use any profanity, but that kind of talk is freakin’ reprehensible.

Coming soon to newsstands near you!

I’m guessing you’ll be wanting to buy this one at the bookstore.  Should be there next week.