Voddie Baucham at the 2006 Desiring God conference explains the question “if God is all powerful why does He allow suffering” with clarity and Biblical focus.
“Again, the grace of God is sovereign. By that word we mean that God has an absolute right to give that grace where he chooses, and to withhold it when he pleases. He is not bound to give it to any man, much less to all men; and if he chooses to give it to one man and not to another, his answer is, “Is thine eye evil because mine eye is good? Can I not do as I will with mine own? I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy.” Now, I want you to notice the sovereignty of Divine grace as illustrated in the text: “I was found of them that sought me not, I was made manifest to them that asked not after thee.”
You would imagine that if God gave his grace to any he would wait until he found them earnestly seeking him. You would imagine that God in the highest heavens would say, “I have mercies, but I will leave men alone, and when they feel their need of these mercies and seek me diligently with their whole heart, day and night, with tears, and vows, and supplications, then will I bless them, but not before.”
In a culture where everything in most churches is man-centered the way that we interpret Scripture is often focused primarily on us. What we must realize is that all of Scripture points to Christ. The only way to correctly interpret Scripture is to have a Christ-centered focus on the text - for no other reason than that is exactly what Scripture does - it points to Christ!
Jesus most clearly taught that “you search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.” (John 5:39-40)
Hendryx comments in his paper that “Jesus never condemned a Pharisee for taking Moses too seriously. They take him far less seriously than they should. For Jesus says, “If you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for He write of Me. But if you don’t believe His writings, how will you believe My words. Your accuser is Moses.” (John 5:46). So to understand Moses is to come to know Christ when He is revealed. Likewise, Abraham saw Jesus’ day and was glad, the Bible testifies. And “…foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “ALL THE NATIONS WILL BE BLESSED IN YOU.” (Gal)”
“The Scriptures should be read with the aim of finding Christ in them. Whoever turns aside from this object, even though he wears himself out all his life in learning, he will never reach the knowledge of the truth.” - John Calvin
I ran across an excellent article by John Hendryx entitled “Five Errors that Arise from Christ-Replacements” and it’s a must read. He outlines five examples of doctrinal errors that arise when Christ is unBiblically removed as the key focus of Scripture (which is so terribly common today).
Take some time to read this excellent article over at monergism.com.
“It is not faith that saves, but faith in Jesus Christ… It is not, strictly speaking, even faith in Christ that saves, but Christ that saves through faith. The saving power resides exclusively, not in the act of faith or the attitude of faith or in the nature of faith, but in the object of faith.”
- B. B. Warfield
First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and to the Gentiles also, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds.” Acts 26:20
“I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus.” Acts 20:21
There is a divergence of viewpoints on this topic that, recently, has led to quite a bit of contention among evangelicals. This has also been known as the Lordship, no-Lordship debate. After we strip away the bark what is left is the difference between the Reformed and a dispensational view of salvation. After doing some serious personal contemplation over this I have personally come to the conclusion that the difference lies in each camps’ understanding of the doctrine of regeneration.
There has been a trend in American Christianity lately to focus on the confession of sin. If this was a focus that was Biblical I would be rejoicing but what we are seeing is a trend that focuses on confession of sin outside of the only basis for that confession - the cross of Christ. Do a cursory search on the internet for online confessionals and you’ll find that most if not all are encourage people to confess their sins, often anonymously, in an effort to help the sinner feel better - all without ever mentioning the only way forgiveness of sins is offered… through the substitionary atonement of Christ on the cross.
One such site boasts in bold print 1 John 1:8-9. Here is that beautiful verse of Holy Scripture…
“If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (ESV)
This verse, used out of context alone on a web site that allows people to confess their sins by posting them on a site, one may easily believe that since they have openly confessed their sins that God will forgive them. There is one problem - God is not obligated to forgive your sins. In fact, God cannot just forgive you of your sins by your confessing them. A satisfaction must be made to God for our sin against our Holy God. The doctrine of penal substitution as the Bible clearly teaches concerning Christ’s sacrifice on the cross continues to be attacked being labeled blasphemously as “cosmic child abuse”.
OK… I’ve gone quote “happy” here on the blog this week (first Spurgeon, now Washer) but as I continue to hear and run across statements from men of God I can’t help but to post them here. Paul Washer of HeartCry Missionary Society is one passionate man of God and he hits the nail right on the head…
“There are so many people, especially in my own denomination . . . because of the pathetic theology and pathetic preaching . . . on church membership rolls—and they are as lost as they can be. Because we have forgotten that salvation does not cometh by praying and asking Jesus to come into your heart; salvation does not come by going through four spiritual laws and saying a prayer at the end; salvation does not come by all these silly little mechanisms we’ve developed. It comes as a supernatural work of God through which God regenerates, makes the heart alive, He gives the man repentance, He gives the man faith, the man repents, he believes and is saved. And it is a supernatural work of God that manifests as much if not more of the power of God than when God stood on the first day and said, “Let there be light.” - Paul Washer
“There is no attribute of God more comforting to his children than the doctrine of Divine Sovereignty. Under the most adverse circumstances, in the most severe troubles, they believe that Sovereignty hath ordained their afflictions, that Sovereignty overrules them, and that Sovereignty will sanctify them all. There is nothing for which the children of God ought more earnestly to contend than the dominion of their Master over all creation—the kingship of God over all the works of his own hands—the throne of God, and his right to sit upon that throne.
On the other hand, there is no doctrine more hated by worldlings, no truth of which they have made such a foot-ball, as the great, stupendous, but yet most certain doctrine of the Sovereignty of the infinite Jehovah. Men will allow God to be everywhere except on his throne. They will allow him to be in his workshop to fashion worlds and to make stars. They will allow him to be in his almonry to dispense his alms and bestow his bounties. They will allow him to sustain the earth and bear up the pillars thereof, or light the lamps of heaven, or rule the waves of the ever-moving ocean; but when God ascends his throne, his creatures then gnash their teeth; and when we proclaim an enthroned God, and his right to do as he wills with his own, to dispose of his creatures as he thinks well, without consulting them in the matter, then it is that we are hissed and execrated, and then it is that men turn a deaf ear to us, for God on his throne is not the God they love. They love him anywhere better than they do when he sits with his scepter in his hand and his crown upon his head. But it is God upon the throne that we love to preach. It is God upon his throne whom we trust.”
- Charles Spurgeon
I live right down the street from this amazing used books store that is a treasure chest of books for any theologian. Upon checking out, the owner also included a freebee titled How Do We Glorify God?, by John D. Hannah. This little book is a part of a Series about the Basics of the Reformed Faith.
With Romans 11:36 as its central focus. I found that this book was very helpful in narrowing a basic understanding of what any reformed theologian finds to be dear. With a clear cutting tone. The author holds nothing back about the current status of the church and the need for a “radical perspective”
Many churches have fallen prey to cultural assimilation. They have degenerated into self-serving enterprises whose primary celebration is to exalt God as giver and to validate a message of cultural narcissism and personal advantages. Such churches have accommodated themselves to things that are not eternal. Genuine worship is not like that. It realizes the worth of God and our dependence on him. It is not a celebration of a favored socioeconomic status within a decadent capitalistic state.
Offering several key thoughts about why the church has lost it’s God-Centeredness. Hannah offers the stark contrast of what it means to be God-Centered, placing a spot light on the five solas: Scripture alone, Christ alone, Grace alone, Faith alone and Glory to God alone. This again is an affirmation of Romans 11:36 “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.” After laying this foundation Hannah offers a few answers to the radical reformed questions such as: What is the chief end of man? What is the chief end of God?
The very nature of God’s being, that is, he alone, is the cause of his creative activities. it might be explained this way: God values himself above all else, and because he does, he is himself the end of creation. When the world is consumed in the final judgment and time no longer exists, the ultimate end of God’s handiwork will be known. It will be evident then that God is the final end of all his activities.
One of the most amazing things he points out is how the chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever. (Does John Piper ring a bell?) To live out life in such a way that indicates our love for the father. “True virtue is rooted in an inward perception of the holiness and beauty of God… Only a Christian can have true virtue because only a Christian can delight in God for who he is alone.” This means that all the “good” done in society apart from God is not rooted in him it is grounded in “self-love and the desire to enjoy pleasant circumstances.”
Moreover Hannah forms His thoughts around one question each day. “Will you (God) grant me the privilege of glorifying you today?” His focus isn’t; What are my duties today? His desire and focus is glorifying God through the vehicle of his tasks at hand. Rather than focusing on the tasks themselves. God desires “that he would see himself in me each day.” Hannah points out. To have a radical, God-centered perspective in a self-centered, self-loving culture is to live forth and shine forth Him for who He is and not as a mere giver of pleasing circumstances.
How marvelous a transformation this requires in the lives of believers and how marvelous is the creator who will see to its end. To God alone be all the glory!
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