Don't Waste a Perfectly Good Controversy

I admit it, I love a good controversy. I love it! I love a good Biblical controversy. Not because I like to argue, not because I enjoy schism and division but because controversy is often the only thing that prompts people to think. In a fallen world where sin has radically damaged our or ability to think Gods thoughts controversy is absolutely necessary to promote truth and righteousness.

Despite the prevailing attitude of many professing believers, controversy itself is not a bad thing (at least not in a sinful world). The problem is that we often take a good thing (controversy) and make it bad by letting our sinful pride, arrogance and ignorance interfere in the discussion. But handled in a humble Christ-like manner a little controversy is a wonderful thing. Controversy is not divisive; people’s ungodly handling of it is divisive.

In fact, because sin is always dragging us toward unrighteousness, avoiding controversy is a sure way to promote unrighteousness and falsehood. Avoid deep thought and debate and lies will quickly ascend the throne. Christians ought to be some of the most peaceable and yet controversy loving people in this sinful world.

That being said, one of the most reprehensible things we can do in a controversial situation (besides refusing to hear a matter) is to distort the views of others, create straw men out of them and then proceed to show how those views are wrong. Such trafficking in deceitfulness is a scourge in the Church, and a roadblock to true, thorough Biblical reformation.

If we are going to handle controversy Biblically then shouldn’t we try to thoroughly understand others thoughts before throwing up arguments against them? Shouldn’t we try to get inside their heads, so to speak, hear them out and compare their thoughts very carefully to Scripture before answering back? Just think of how many errors and disagreements in the Church might be avoided if we would handle controversial matters in just such a manner.

Whether it be done out of conniving dishonesty or just careless misunderstanding, misrepresenting those on the other side of a controversial issue has no place in the church and in the long run it completely discredits those who do such things. I once belonged to a church that did this on a fairly regular basis and when I began to study both sides of one particular issue for myself and began to see what they were doing I was devastated and began to question everything they had ever told me. This was good in one sense because I learned never to jump to a conclusion after hearing the argument from just one sides point of view but sadly I have never been ably to take those teachers seriously ever sense. They have made themselves completely irrelevant in my eyes because I just can’t trust what they say.

So brethren, lets not waste a perfectly good controversy by mishandling it! The fruit of a Biblically handled controversy is truth, and the fruit of truth applied is righteousness and righteousness is the desire of every true believer.

Some More Fun in the Snow

The Last Blast of Winter?

We started out with a little rain yesterday morning, here in the mid-western United States, which soon began to freeze and then turned to sleet.

It turned to snow a short time later

and we ended up getting a good 6 to 8 inches by the time it was over.

The combination of the snow and ice looked absolutely beautiful in the early morning sun this morning.

Reformed Doctrine of Predestination

Speaking of the Doctrines of Grace, if you are interested in some further reading on this subject, this book is by far one of the best in writing (in my own opinion). Its a "must read" if you're going to give the subject of Calvinism any serious study. Its full of Scripture, long, in depth and yet fairly easy to read.

There is also a superb chapter at the very end of the book entitled 28. Calvinism in History which traces the influence of Calvinistic thought from before the time of the Reformation through to the founding of America and looks at its fruit in matters such as education and forms of government. Some excellent history!


Reformed Doctrine of Predestination
By Loraine Boettner / P & R Publishing

Includes the Five Points of Calvinism explained in detail, objections against the doctrine of predestination, the importance of the doctrine, Calvinism in history, and index of subjects and authors.

While I would personally much rather read a book you can also find this book in its entirety at Christian Classics Ethereal Library by clicking here.

All of the Sins of Some People

As I have mentioned on another occasion there are really only four ways in which to view the atonement.

1) Jesus died for some of the sins of all people.

2) Jesus died for some of the sins of some people.

3) Jesus died for all of the sins of all people.

4) Jesus died for all of the sins of some people.

The first two of these views can be immediately rejected for if Jesus did not die for all sins, then no one could be saved at all for none of us can atone for our own sin.

The third view is by far the most common in the church today, but if it is true that Jesus died for all of the sins of all men, then why would anyone be sent to Hell? The common answer to this question is this: “People don’t go to Hell because of their sin; they go to Hell because they reject Jesus Christ.”

But there are two problems with this answer: 1) It creates a god who sends people to Hell for something that isn’t even a sin. And 2) The Bible is unmistakably clear, rejecting Jesus Christ is called unbelief and unbelief is a sin. And if Jesus died for all of the sins of all men, then He died for the sin of unbelief also and that leads us right back to our question; if Jesus died for all of the sins of all men, then why would anyone be sent to Hell?

At this point it is commonly answered that “Jesus died for all sins except unbelief.” But this leaves us in another conundrum: if Jesus did not for unbelief, how can any of us ever be saved? For before we believed we were all in the state of unbelief.

The third view of the atonement, the common one in our own day, is a logical impossibility and is never taught to us in Scripture. While God does do things that are certainly beyond our ability to fully comprehend, He does not do things that are contrary to one another such as send a person to Hell for their sins when their sins have been entirely erased and forgiven.

The widespread and almost overwhelming acceptance of view number three is a testimony to the confusion of modern evangelicalism, and the scary thing is that this confusion surrounds a subject that lies at the very heart of the gospel; the atonement.

That leaves us with view number four; Jesus died for all of the sins of some people. This breathern is the only logical and indeed Scriptural view of the Atonement. Christ lived and died as a substitute, in the sted of His chosen race. He, and He alone can save us and He saves us entirely from the sin that had enslaved us!

The Terrors of Hell

New @ Polemos
Eternal Punishment /Wrath of God
Articles, Sermons and Other Writings

• The Terrors of Hell
  By William Nichols

"So it will be at the end of the age; the angels shall come forth, and take out the wicked from among the righteous, and will cast them into the furnace of fire; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth" (Matthew 13:49-50).

The doctrine of hell is one of the most neglected doctrines in all of Scripture. When hell is mentioned today, it is generally ridiculed, as if the whole idea of hell were so old-fashioned that only the naive and ignorant would really believe that such a place actually exists. This is not hard to understand. Natural men hate the idea of being held accountable for their lives to a holy God, because they love sin and do not wish to part with it. The carnal mind throws up objection after objection to the idea of hell because it does not want to face the reality of it. Men live their lives thinking that maybe if they ignore a difficulty long enough, it will go away. Even conservative religious leaders are now attacking hell. Let men do what they will, the frivolous objections of the foolish will not do away with hell.

Amid the clamour to annihilate hell, those who believe the Bible to be true must stand and speak. Your consideration of the terrors of hell may be one of the most important things you can do in this life. "Then he who hears the sound of the trumpet, and does not take warning, and a sword comes and takes him away, his blood will be on his own head" (Ezekiel 33:4). Please, I implore you, invest the time it takes to read this chapter and book to the end.

Read More.....

A Two Edged Sword

We found these Nerf swords on clearance at Target and I talked my wife into buying a few of them (against her better judgment of course).

And now Ive found myself saying strange new things that Ive never said before, like "No weapons at the dinner table!" or "Quit swordfighting in the back seat!"

Now the kids have combined the uncombinable; trampoline bouncing and fencing. At least they were only a dollar, so when I have to take them back and throw them away I haven't lost much.

What have you limited?

Those who disagree with “Limited Atonement” will often object to the “Limited” part. They will often say something to this effect: “How can you put limits on the work of the Son of God? He’s infinite and His work is infinitely worthy! How dare you try to put limits on Christ’s atonement?”

But one thing that is often overlooked by the opponents of “Limited Atonement” is the fact that all Christians limit the atonement is some manner. Only the Universalists, who teach that all men are going to heaven and don't qualify as Christians, have an “atonement” without limits.

While the Calvinist limits the intention or scope of the atonement (Christ dies to secure the salvation of his elect), he does not limit the efficacy of the atonement (it actually and completely saves them).

The Arminian, on the other hand, does not limit the scope or intention of the atonement (Christ dies for all men generally but no one in particular) but he does limit the efficacy or power of the atonement (Christ’s death does not actually secure the salvation of anyone but waits upon man to make it effective).

The Calvinist limits the scope while the Arminian limits the efficacy.

This is no minor disagreement, we are striking at the very core of Christianity here. We have here two different views of the atonement setting forth two different answers to the question “What is comprehended in the atoning work of Christ?” Could we even ask a more important question?

Integral to the Calvinistic atonement is the securing of the new heart that the Scriptures say we so desperately need and the new birth we must undergo in order to believe. Christ’s death secures it all for His elect and the Spirit applies it to them whensoever He wishes (John 3:7, 8).

The Arminian view of the atonement is much more limited; it doesn’t go all the way! It doesn’t secure a new heart, it doesn’t secure faith and according to most of them it doesn’t even pay for the sin of unbelief. It stops short and waits for the feeble little man to make the Saviors work really effective. It waits for man to take that final most glorious step and produce fruit from the atonement. What kind of atonement is that?

In the Calvinistic view the atonement cannot and will not fail! Our prayers for the salvation of others will be answered and our evangelistic efforts will succeed. Christ will save those whom He has purchased! Now there's a reason to share the gospel!

Qwirkle

My family and I recently received this game (Qwirkle) as a gift and we've had a blast with it. It's vaguely similar to dominoes but a lot more fun (in my own opinion). You have to line up tiles according to colors and shapes and you gain points by the various ways that you do it; the one with the most points at the end of the game wins. If you happen to be looking for a good family game, you might like to try this one!

TULIP

New @ Polemos
Doctrines of Grace (Calvinism)
Audio Links

1. TULIP, Part 1
   Introduction
   John Piper
2. TULIP, Part 2
   Assumptions - Irresistible Grace
   John Piper
3. TULIP, Part 3
   Irresistible Grace - Total Depravity
   John Piper
4. TULIP, Part 4
   Total Depravity - Unconditional Election
   John Piper
5. TULIP, Part 5
   Unconditional Election
   John Piper
6. TULIP, Part 6
   Unconditional Election
   John Piper
7. TULIP, Part 7
   Limited Atonement
   John Piper
8. TULIP, Part 8
   Perseverance of the Saints
   John Piper
9. TULIP, Part 9
   Ten Effects of Believing the Five Points of Calvinism
   John Piper

Particular Redemption and the Free Offer of the Gospel

Once again it seems that there is a great deal of controversy brewing in some parts of the church over the Doctrines of Grace or what is sometimes called Calvinism. The controversy seems to be revolving around the doctrine of Particular Redemption or Limited Atonement (the belief that Christ died with the sole intention of securing the salvation of His elect) and its relationship to evangelism. The objection to Calvinism usually goes something like this:

“Calvinism destroys evangelism! If Christ did not die for all men then we cannot call all men to come to Christ. How can we preach the gospel freely to all men if Christ did not die for all men? What if we tell them to believe that Christ died for them when maybe He did not, aren’t we lying to them? If the Bible tells us to invite all men to come to Christ then Christ must have died for all men.”

Personally I don’t see the problem.

First of all, Christ’s death is sufficient to pay for the sins of all men, no one is arguing with this point.

Secondly, all men have the parts necessary to entrust themselves to Christ. They have minds, hearts, intellects, wills, volition; there is no physical want or defect in men. The problem is not a physical problem.

Thirdly, we should invite all men to come to Christ. In fact, it is their duty as Gods creature to love Him, obey Him, trust Him, rely on Him and to fully submit to Him. We would be entirely Biblical to command all men everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30).

Fourthly, the gospel message is not “Christ died in your place”, you never find this said to all men without exception anywhere in Scripture! The gospel message is this: “Christ has provided a way of redemption for sinners, entrust yourself to His atoning work! Believe on Him!” We can freely say this to anyone and it is their duty as a creature of God to do so.

For these reasons we may freely invite all men to come to Christ. If they did come Christ’s death would be sufficient to cover their sin. And if they did come Christ would freely forgive them and heaven would rejoice in their repentance. But, at last, they will not do it.

The only reason in the world that men do not come to Christ is because they will not. Scripture even goes so far as to say that they cannot (John 6:44; Romans 8:7, 8). Why can’t they? Because they will not do it. The problem is an ethical problem; they’re at enmity with God and will always refuse to submit to him (Romans 3:10-12; 8:7). It's not as if men were trying to come to Christ but they just aren't allowed because Christ didn't die for them.

As A.W. Pink put it the gospel message is as free as air, we can invite any man and all men to come to Christ. But only those to whom the Spirit applies the atonement, removes the enmity of their heart and causes them to be born again will believe and trust in Christ. This is the only grounds of true hope, for without the electing work of God and the application of the Son’s atonement by the Spirit we would all go to Hell by our own free choice.

Particular Redemption does not relieve men of the duty to trust Christ but rather highlights the problem with men; their wills are corrupt and at enmity with God. Men desperately need a full atonement that provides them with a new heart. Particular Redemption does not stop anyone from coming to Christ; they have refused to do so. Rather it has ensured that Gods elect will come when He so chooses to overcome their resistance.

“O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!” Romans 11:33

The Heart of the Gospel!

Some excerpts from The Heart of the Gospel preached by C.H. Spurgeon on the morning of July 18th 1886.

“For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”—2 Corinthians v 20,21.

He was "made sin." It is a wonderful expression: the more you weigh it the more you will marvel at its singular strength. Only the Holy Ghost might originate such language. It was wise for the divine Teacher to use very strong expressions, for else the thought might not have entered human minds. Even now, despite the emphasis, clearness, and distinctness of the language used here and elsewhere in Scripture there are found men daring enough to deny that substitution is taught in Scripture. With such subtle wits it is useless to argue. It is clear that language has no meaning for them. To read the 53rd chapter of Isaiah, and to accept it as relating to the Messiah, and then to deny his substitutionary sacrifice is simply wickedness. It would be vain to reason with such beings; they are so blind that if they were transported to the sun they could not see. In the church and out of the church there is a deadly animosity to this truth. Modern thought labours to get away from what is obviously the meaning of the Holy Spirit, that sin was lifted from the guilty and laid upon the innocent. It is written, "The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." This is as plain language as can be used; but if any plainer was required, here it is,—"He hath made him to be sin for us."

The Lord God laid upon Jesus, who voluntarily undertook it, all the weight of human sin. Instead of its resting on the sinner, who did commit it, it was made to rest upon Christ, who did not commit to it; while the righteousness which Jesus wrought out was placed to the account of the guilty, are treated as righteous. Those who by nature are guilty, are regarded as righteous, while he who by nature knew no sin whatever, was treated as guilty. I think I must have read in scores of books that such a transference is impossible; but the statement has had no effect upon my mind. I do not care whether it is impossible or not with learned unbelievers: it is evidently possible with God, for he has done it. But they say it is contrary to reason. I do not care for that, either: it may be contrary to the reason of those unbelievers, but it is not contrary to mine; and if I am to be guided by reason, I prefer to follow my own. The atonement is a miracle, and miracles are rather to be accepted by faith than measured by calculation. A fact is the best of arguments. It is a fact that the Lord hath laid on Jesus the iniquity of us all. God's revelation proves the fact, and our faith defies human questioning! God saith it, and I believe it; and believing it, I find life and comfort in it. Shall I not preach it? Assuredly I will.

"E'er since by faith I saw the stream
His flowing wounds supply,
Redeeming love has been my theme,
And shall be till I die."

Christ was not guilty, and could not be made guilty; but he was treated as if he were guilty, because he willed to stand in the place of the guilty. Yea, he was not only treated as a sinner, but he was treated as if he had been sin itself in the abstract. This is an amazing utterance. The sinless one was made to sin.

"He made him to be sin." Look into the words. Perceive their meaning if you can. The angels desire to look into it. Gaze into this terrible crystal. Let your eyes search deep into this opal, within whose jewelled depth there are flames of fire. The Lord made the perfectly innocent one to be sin for us: that means more humiliation, darkness, agony, and death than you can conceive. It brought a kind of distraction and well-nigh a destruction to the tender and gentle spirit of our Lord. I do not say that our substitute endured a hell, that were unwarrantable. I will not say that he endured either the exact punishment for sin, or an equivalent for it; but I do say that what he endured rendered to the justice of God a vindication of his law more clear and more effectual than would have been rendered to it by the damnation of the sinners for whom he died. The cross is under many aspects a more full revelation of the wrath of God against human sin than even Tophet, and the smoke of torment which goeth up for ever and ever. Who would know God's hate of sin must see the Only Begotten bleeding in body and bleeding in soul even unto death: he must, in fact, spell out each word of my text, and read its innermost meaning. There, my brethen, I am ashamed of the poverty of my explanation, and I will therefore only repeat the full and sublime language of the apostle—"He hath made him to be sin for us." It is more than "He hath put him to grief"; it is more than "God hath forsaken him"; it is more than "The chastisement of our peace was upon him"; it is the most suggestive of all descriptions—"He hath made him sin for us." Oh depth of terror, and yet height of love!

As Christ was made sin, and yet never sinned, so are we made righteousness, though we cannot claim to have been righteous in and of ourselves. Sinners though we be, and forced to confess it with grief, yet the Lord doth cover us so completely with the righteousness of Christ, that only his righteousness is seen, and we are made the righteousness of God in him. This is true of all the saints, even of as many as believe on his name. Oh, the splendor of this doctrine! Canst thou see it, my friend? Sinner though thou be, and in thyself defiled, deformed, and debased, yet if thou wilt accept the great Substitute which God provide for in the person of his dear Son, thy sins are gone from thee, and righteousness has come to thee. Thy sins were laid on Jesus, the scapegoat: they are thine no longer, he has put them away. I may say that his righteousness is imputed unto thee; but I go further, and say with the text, "Thou art made the righteousness of God in him." No doctrine can be more sweet than this to those who feel the weight of sin and the burden of its curse.

How to start the day with a smile

I saw this this morning and had to smile -

How to start the day with a smile.

1. Open a new file on your Desktop.

2. Name it "Barack Obama."

3. Send it to the Recycle Bin.

4. Empty the Recycle Bin.

5. Your computer will ask you, "Do you really want to get rid of 'Barack Obama?'"

6. Firmly click "Yes."

Biblical Thinking for Courtship and Marriage

New at Polemos
Courtship
Audio Links

1. Part 1 Biblical Thinking for Courtship and Marriage
   Scott Brown
2. Part 2 Biblical Thinking for Courtship and Marriage
   Scott Brown

Biographical

New at Polemos
Biographical
Puritans, The

1. The Family Life of Philip and Matthew Henry
   Scott Brown
2. The Multigenerational Vision of the Mather Family
   Scott Brown

Biographical
Reformation, The

1. Calvin's Piety: The Heartbeat of the Reformation
   Dr. Joel Beeke
2. Luther - The Monk Who Shook the World
   Rev. John Greer

Puritans and Reformers

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

After a long dry winter we finally got a little snow here in the mid-western United States.

It started out a brisk 6.8 degrees Fahrenheit Sunday morning but it warmed up to a balmy 37 later in the afternoon.

So needless to say we got the sleds out and hit the slopes.