Captive 2 Reason

You were in Eden, the garden of God; You were an anointed guardian cherub. I placed you; you were on the holy mountain of God; in the midst of the stones of fire you walked. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created, till unrighteousness was found in you. In the abundance of your trade you were filled with violence in your midst, and you sinned; so I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God, and I destroyed you, O guardian cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. Your heart was proud because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. I cast you to the ground.
-Ezekiel 28:13-17

And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. ”
-Luke 10:18

And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb…but nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false…
-Revelation 21:23,27

I continue to be amazed at how much the doctrine of God’s absolute sovereignty over the wills of His creatures makes so much sense of the Bible. So many things that used to be “mysteries” to me…things that used to perplex me to the point of frustration…are now amazingly “solved problems”. Consider this example…

I used to be perplexed over how it could be that angels…holy angels standing in the presence of God…could have ever turned to rebel against God. How could this be possible?? The answer I used to entertain was this: angels have free will, just like we do.

Ok, fine. There is just this one very disturbing thing: If angels, created perfect but with “free will,” could suddenly turn and rebel against God while standing in His very presence, what is there to reassure me that I won’t do the same thing one day, while a citizen of heaven? Have you ever thought about it? The Bible says that Satan was “blameless” from the day he was created until “unrighteousness” was found in him.

If the reason Satan sinned is rooted in his “free will” (a quality we all presumably share with him) then how could God say that in the age to come, “no unclean thing will ever enter” the holy city? If Satan profaned the mountain of God in the past by his own free will, how is it that millions of new free-willed creatures will live on for an eternity and not one of them will ever take the path that Satan and one-third of the angels did? What is there to prevent us from apostatizing just like them? Dare we say that God will prevent this? I doubt your average “free-willer” would be quick to affirm that. In their minds, God’s hands are tied. He can neither prevent nor cause any kind of decision in the “free wills” of His creatures. To those who think as much, I deliver this bad news: If you are right, then we can have about as much assurance that we will be permanent citizens of heaven as Satan has of getting back in.

Fortunately, those who affirm man’s free will are wrong, and the solution to this dilemma is simple and logical. Were it not for the affects that our fallen natures have had on our minds, we would all see it immediately. Notice: Every proposition in this proposed dilemma is directly asserted by Scripture except one. Scripture asserts that Satan was created perfect. Scripture asserts that we will one day be perfect. Scripture asserts that sin arose in Satan’s heart and that he was cast out. Scripture asserts that he who comes to Jesus for salvation will never be cast out. Scripture asserts that no sin will ever profane the holy city in the age to come. The only thing in the dilemma that Scripture does not directly affirm is that God cannot or does not control the wills of His creatures. That is where the problem lies.

When the reality of this hit me today, I had to go for a walk to praise God. What comfort in believing that God controls my will!!! Unlike those who affirm man’s free will, I can meaningfully sing…

Change my heart, oh God.
Make it ever true.
Change my heart, oh God.
May I be like You…
You are the potter, I am the clay
Mold me and make me
This is what I pray…

Not only can I sing this, I can believe it can be done. I can believe that although God, for His own glory, determined the fall of Satan and his angels, He has just as certainly determined that His chosen elect people will never stumble…ever. Now heaven feels safe again…safe from being afflicted by Satan and safe from the possibility of following in his footsteps.

If you believe in “free will”, rid yourself of the double-mindedness and take what I am saying to heart. If God cannot affect our wills, then you ought not to pray for Him to change your heart or anyone else’s for that matter. Stop praying for God to draw people or open their eyes, since according to you it isn’t up to Him. No longer comfort yourself in the fact that heaven will be a place where sin cannot enter, since you will be just as capable of sinning once you are there as Satan was.

If, however, you find within yourself a willingness to embrace the doctrine of divine, absolute sovereignty, you can skip out on all this confusion, grab your Bible, scale your house to its roof top, and shout the following with all your might…

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.
-Jude 1:24-25

This sermon comes from a missionary, Paul Washer, who passionately uncovers a deadly error common among those who call themselves Christians.

Sermon by Paul Washer
Director, Heart Cry Missionary Society
July 26-27, 2002
Youth Evangelism Conference
Montgomery, AL

Click here for sermon

Question: I was a little surprised that Daniel thinks God is not interested in those who are not interested in Him. I was not interested in God for about 20 years when I was an atheist. If He was not interested in me during the time I would never have come to know Him. Maybe what he means is different from what I understand.

I do not mean to say that God isn’t interested in His elect (those He has predestined to believe in Christ). Surely God is interested in them so much that he will “leave ninety-nine” of them to find that “one lost” one. Thus, in this sense, God can be interested in you while you are for some time not interested in Him.

What I do mean to say is that God’s interest in bringing some people to Himself can only be fulfilled when a true desire for Him is birthed in their hearts. If that never ultimately happens in a person, then that person remains lost. God seeks for those who worship in spirit and truth. He does not seek for those who are drawn to church because they have great friends there, or because they have great activities for the kids, etc…

Establishing this priority, Jesus purposefully offended a large group of people in John 6 because they were following Him for the wrong reason. They were following Him because he fed them bread and fish. Contrary to modeling Jesus, and insisting that a person come for the right reasons, many modern churches think the priority is getting people through their doors. Many churches offer food and other give-aways exactly for this purpose. These churches don’t realize that even if they succeed in getting people to come to church on the basis of their desire to eat food, they have still miserably failed to produce or promote what God is actually interested in… that is, an earnest desire for and reverence of Him.

Some people wrongly think that using appeals rooted in elementary, worldly interest to get people to church is justified by the fact that those people are then “exposed to the gospel”. They fail to understand that the gospel itself teaches that being motivated by such interests is wrong and sinful. How then does it make sense to appeal to people on the basis of their sinful motives only to then tell them it was wrong of them to be so motivated? This is as idiotic as advertising free marijuana to attract people to a “Say No to Drugs!” campaign. It may be effective to drawn in the numbers, but it is self-defeating.

On our local Christian radio, there is a commercial that has gotten a lot of play which was aimed at motivating people to go to church. An interviewer asks the question, “Why church?”. Then a number of responses are played. Over and over, the responders enthusiastically talk of how they have great friends there, how they feel supported in the hard times, how they feel part of a family, etc. This advertisement is a direct appeal to the very basic desire to be loved, honored, and accepted by men…a desire and motivation that our Lord, Himself, condemns…

How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? -John 5:44

Again, when I say that God is not ultimately interested in those who are not ultimately interested in Him, I mean that God has no regard for our outward acts when there is no motivation from the heart toward God that drives it…

This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me…
-Matthew 15:8-9

I do not mean that God has no interest in some sinners who, before regeneration, are not interested in God. If that were true, no one could be saved.

Finally, consider why I made the statement in question originally. It was in response to a hypothetical person who might say that if you preach the truth about money and possessions, you will offend people or fail to “win” them. My point in response to that mindset is this: If you fail to represent the true gospel and thereby “win” people, you have not succeeded; you have failed. God is not pleased; He is enraged. God is not interested in their false worship; false worship is all you will have achieved.

The other day, a fellow believer and I were discussing a Biblical passage that presents some interpretational challenges. When I offered to do a more thorough research of the matter and write about it, the believer’s response was something like this….

“Well, I’ve been getting a lot from you, recently. Give me some time to work on it myself…”

Upon reflection, I believe there are some concerns to be raised over this comment.

First, we should never think it necessary for us to figure something out on our own. Solid reasoning is solid reasoning, whether it orginated from us or someone else. We weren’t the first to hear the things of the Lord or to speak them to others and we won’t be the last. The Lord has made available to us provisions for aiding our understanding of truth, and among those provisions are His revelation and His preachers and teachers.

Was it from you that the word of God first went forth? Or has it come to you only? - 1 Cor. 14:36

If we resist those provisions while holding up in our closets, praying for truth from heaven, how are we not like the preacher who drowned in a flood after passing up chances to escape by boat and helicopter because he was “trusting God” to save him?…

Second, we should not resist hearing what others think about a passage as if it might somehow taint our own abilities to think about the passage ourselves. There is no such thing as independent thinking in this sense. If merely being exposed to ideas taints our abilities to think for ourselves, we can never think for ourselves. This is because we can never shut out all the thoughts of others to which we have been exposed that come to bear on any question we might face. Instead of worrying about being influenced by the thoughts of others, we should concern ourselves with learning how to think correctly. We must discipline ourselves to think logically, and we may well learn even how to do this from others. When we learn how to discern when there are and are not logical connections between ideas, then we can examine anyone’s ideas without fear. Either their reasonings are sound or they aren’t. Thus, the Bible teaches us to not shut ourselves off from the prophetic utterances of others, but to examine everthing….

Do not despise prophetic utterances. But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good. -1 Thess. 5:21

Notice, the focus of scripture is not on developing an ability to pre-emptively determine when someone might negatively affect our ideas, but rather the focus is on our ability to examine ideas themselves.

Of course, once you have examined a person’s teaching and found their doctrine to be false, you are under no obligation to continue to expose yourself to their teachings…

I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. - Romans 16:17

Finally, with the above concerns expressed, I grant that it could be that my fellow believer wants only a little chance to independently test his interpretational skills on the passage in question, and then get back to me. I see nothing wrong with this possible motivation, so long as what is written above is understood.

I have been entertaining an email discussion for some time now. I decided to publish it on the website here after changing the names of the people involved. It is a long discussion which covers multiple topics. Primarily, the topics revolve around the nature of God’s love and sovereignty.

The original motivation for the discussion has dissolved a bit, but I intend to finish it and complete the task of answering all the objections which were raised in the process, because there are quite a few people who are interested in it. I intent to post additional entries to this discussion here on the blog, so stay tuned. May it be edifying to God’s beloved ones.

Click here to go to the discussion.

The following is an edited email correspondence…

How can you forgive someone when you honestly believe they are not really sorry and that they enjoy tormenting you?

The obligation to forgive is not directly related to whether or not you judge the person as being sorry. Being sorry is an emotional and intellectual response of a person to what they did. Asking for forgiveness is a request made by the person to the person they harmed. Let us examine this relevant passage.

“Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, `I repent,’ forgive him.” – Luke 17:3-4

First, Jesus does not deny the need to confront someone over how they have sinned against you. In this sense, it is not being judgmental or hypocritical to confront someone over the wrong they have committed against you. However, once this is done, if the person “repents”, our Lord obligates you to forgive him. To drive home the point, so there is no confusion, the Lord adds that even if he does this seven times in a single day, and simply comes to you and says “I repent”, you are to forgive him. The implication is unavoidable. We are obligated to forgive every time we are genuinely asked. We are not to try to weigh or judge their level of sincerity or sorrowfulness over what they have done. Rather, we must grant the benefit of the doubt. If we do not, we are subject to this judgment by our Lord…

“But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.” – Matthew 6:15

—

If I apologize to him, doesn’t that validate his behavior as ok and disavow my status as the injured party? Even if it doesn’t, isn’t that what everyone will think?

If you apologize, you will not validate his evil behavior. The reason is simple. By apologizing for your evil behavior, you are saying that such behavior is unacceptable. The obvious implication of this is that his evil behavior is also unacceptable. To state this another way: so long as you do not apologize for what you have done wrong, you indeed give him occasion to think his behavior is equally exempt from requiring his sincere apology to you. As to your question of what others might think, the same logic applies. It is true that some may draw different and irrational conclusions from your decision to apologize, but they are responsible for their own thinking. The best you can do is give testimony to the truth by condemning evil actions as evil, even if those actions were your own.

This following is part of an email correspondence…

I just read this this morning from my New Geneva study bible which is on the same page as Psalm 148.. It’s part of an essay on God the Creator. “The act of creation is mystery to us; there is more in it than we can understand. We cannot create by a mere act of the will, and we do not know how God could. To say that He created “out of nothing” is to confess the mystery, not explain it. In particular, we cannot conceive how a dependent existence can be distinct, or how angels and people in their dependent existence can make free decisions and be morally accountable to their Maker. Yet scripture everywhere teaches us this truth.”

Thank you for your thoughts and concern. I would have to disagree with the comments in your study bible. Sometimes, even people who are in the Reformed camp shrink back from fully affirming what the Bible actually affirms. It is not possible for me to believe that we make “free” decisions which are “free” from God. Please see the post “Do not incline my heart” below.

As far as “mystery”…why should we say a thing is a mystery which the scriptures do not say is a mystery? I don’t want to shrink back to the shroud of ambiguity on this point. Paul does not shrink back from saying “Who are you to answer back to God. Doesn’t God have the right….” [Rom. 9] Well, doesn’t He? Doesn’t He have the right to control our destinies? Who will bring a charge against Him? I understand that under the pressure of people’s scorn, we are often tempted to think this view is too hard. However, if we go back to the scriptures, our resolve will be strengthened.

The person who says we have a “free will” must adequately deal with where the Bible affirms the contrary, must refute what Jonathan Edwards has written in “The Freedom of the Will”, and must explain what, in their view, “will” is and how the Bible supports their view. Besides, to affirm both the “free will” of man and the absolute sovereignty of God is really to make a mockery of both ideas. If they can both be true, then my wife can be both a whore and a virgin, you can be both sane and insane, and your Geneva study bible can be both the paragon of virtuous truth and the embodiment of error and falsehood. Frankly, if we embrace contradictions in our thinking, then all becomes subject to “mystery” which would be another word for “unintelligibility”.

Incidentally, I am not aware of anywhere in the Bible where the word mystery is applied to the notion of two seeming contradictory things. The term is applied to things yet unrevealed or only partially understood, but not to irreconcilable, logical opposites. Anyway, much more could be said on this point, but suffice it to say that I would need to see more than a passing comment from a study bible to begin to understand this subject to be a mystery.

Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, were listening to all these things and were scoffing at Him. And He said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts; for that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God. ” - Luke 16:14-15

Jesus had just taught about proper attitudes towards money in the life of the believer. The Pharisees scoffed. Have you ever wondered what these very religious men might have said to “justify” themselves? The following comes to mind…

“God wants His children to be happy. ”
“Money means nothing to God, it’s His children that mean everything.”
“So, what you are saying is that God wants us to be bums!!!”
“That may be true, but that won’t win people. ”
“You can become so spiritually minded that you cease to be practical and helpful to others .”
“I worship God by enjoying the things He has made. What is wrong with that?”

Do any of these statements strike a nerve with you? Have you ever heard them coming out of your own mouth? Have you ever wondered what is at the heart of what is “highly esteemed among men”? I’d like to offer you the answer. It’s humanism. Dictionary.com defines humanism in this way…

humanism: A system of thought that centers on humans and their values, capacities, and worth.

Humanism, my friend, is detestable to God. Humanism redefines everything. It redefines love, mercy, peace and the objects of joy. For a defense of this and a better understanding of what biblical love, mercy, and peace are, I recommend reading Vincent Cheung’s commentary on the Sermon on the Mount. Click it! It’s free.

Let us rise up and attack humanism at its root by exalting God as the sole object of value, joy, and affection in the human heart. Let us deny humanism and affirm a Theo-centrism…a God-centeredness in all of our thinking. To exemplify God-centered, God-valuing thinking, I will briefly comment on the justifications I listed earlier…

“God wants His children to be happy. “
God wants His children to be happy in Him. Not in church, in relationships, in money, in entertainments, or in any other self-interests.

“Money means nothing to God, it’s His children that mean everything.”
First, not everyone is God’s child. Second, what matters most to God is His own worth and holiness. God made you to glorify, esteem, love, cherish, and value Himself. You are not God’s pet or His ultimate object of affection. Don’t forget that the branches which do not bear fruit will be cut off and burned.

“So, what you are saying is that God wants us to be bums!!!”
What Jesus is saying is sell all you possess to buy the pearl…to buy the field with the treasure buried in it. Sell all your heart’s possessions. Sell them all! Become poor in spirit. Count all as loss. Regard all as dung in comparison to your regard for God. [Matthew 13:46; Matthew 13:44; Matthew 5:3; Philippians 3:8]

“That may be true, but that won’t win people. “
God is not ultimately interested in those who are not ultimately interested in Him. Futhermore, the Bible and the Spirit win people…not your pandering to their “felt needs”.

“You can become so spiritually minded that you cease to be practical and helpful to others .”
Says who? Says the Bible, or says you? Do you really think being practical and helpful to others should be anything more than a spiritual discipline born out of your love for God which is fostered by your excessively spiritual mindset?

“I worship God by enjoying the things He has made. What is wrong with that?”
What is wrong with it? It is idolatry, not worship of God.

Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; Keep watch over the door of my lips. Do not incline my heart to any evil thing, To practice deeds of wickedness With men who do iniquity; And do not let me eat of their delicacies. - Psalm 141:3-4

Here is a clear indication from scripture that God indeed controls the inclinations of our hearts for good or for evil. The psalmist asks God to do what only He can do and incline his heart away from evil. One might object to this by saying the psalmist is only asking God to physically prevent him from doing evil. This would be the only way to preserve any notion that God doesn’t touch our mythical “free-will”. The problem with this notion is that it doesn’t agree with Jesus’ emphasis on the heart as the origin of evil. He tells us if our hearts are inclined to lust, then already adultery has occured in the heart. Therefore, it would seem a bit strange for the psalmist to ask God to prevent him from physically committing the act since God is concerned with so much more…

It has recently come to my attention that writing is an essential tool for refining myself in the knowledge of the Lord. Furthermore, the body of Christ is in desperate need of its teachers to rise to the task of educating the body of Christ. May the Lord use this blog as an instrument to such ends.