Sin

 Are we sinners because we sin, or do we sin because we're sinners?

We sin because by nature we are totally deprived from God.  Our natural state is to sin.  I can’t remember the reference, but there is a verse that says something like “just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, thus death came to all men because all have sinned.”  All have sinned. 

The reason we sin is because on our own, our rebellion against God is total. Apart from the grace of God there is no delight in the holiness of God, and there is no glad submission to the sovereign authority of God.  Of course totally depraved men can be very religious. They can pray and give alms and fast, as Jesus said (Matthew 6:1-18).  (I’ll go easy the issue of those who aren’t saved doing “good” because that can lead into election, predestination, and other things that we’ve already tackled.)  But their very religion is rebellion against the rights of their Creator, if it does not come from a childlike heart of trust in the free grace of God. Religion is one of the chief ways that man conceals his unwillingness to forsake self-reliance and bank all his hopes on the unmerited mercy of God (Luke 18:9-14; Colossians 2:20-23).

The totality of our rebellion against God is seen in Romans 3:9-10 and 18. "I have already charged that all men, both Jews and Greeks, are under the power of sin, as it is written: None is righteous, no not one; no one seeks for God....There is no fear of God before their eyes."  No one seeks God.  It doesn’t say, “After the first sin humans commit, they are then under the power of sin.”  No, from conception on our hearts are corrupt and sinful.

I would even contest that in mans total rebellion from God, everything man does is sin (apart from God).  I think of Romans 14:23 when Paul says, "Whatever is not from faith is sin." Therefore, if all men are in total rebellion, everything they do is the product of rebellion and cannot bring honor to God, but only part of their sinful rebellion. If a king teaches his subjects how to fight well and then those subjects rebel against their king and use the very skill he taught them to resist him, then even those skills become evil.  Follow?

Because of that, man does many things which he can only do because he is created in the image of God and which in the service of God could be praised. But in the service of man's self-justifying rebellion, these very things are sinful.

In Romans 7:18 Paul says, "I know that no good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh." This is a radical confession of the truth that in our rebellion nothing we think or feel is good. It is all part of our rebellion. That also makes grace all that much sweeter and the Ultimate gift given to us all that much more central.  It creates complete and utter reliance on the atoning work of Christ.

Our rebellion is totally deserving of eternal punishment. On our own, there is nothing we can do to reach God and nothing we can do that is “good.”  Ephesians 2:3 goes on to say that in our deadness and separation, we were "children of wrath." That is, we were under God's wrath because of the corruption of our hearts that made us as good as dead before God.

The reality of hell is God's clear indictment of the infiniteness of our guilt. If our corruption were not deserving of an eternal punishment God would be unjust to threaten us with a punishment so severe as eternal torment. But the Scriptures teach that God is just in condemning unbelievers to eternal hell (2 Thessalonians 1:6-9; Matthew 5:29f; 10:28; 13:49f; 18:8f; 25:46; Revelation 14:9-11; 20:10). Therefore, to the extent that hell is a total sentence of condemnation, to that extent must we think of ourselves as totally blameworthy apart from the saving grace of God.

I’d be very interested in hearing your response to this.  I know we have some conflicting views on this subject.  I just hope and pray that both of us will be able to be humble enough to realize any possible error in thinking.  It’s hard to sharpen iron if it doesn’t want to be sharpened, right?  Let’s be sharpenable.

Lemme know what you think.  Can a non-believer do good with pure intentions?

Because of Him,

Joe Hylander

Predestination, Prayer, and Confusion (on my part)

Dear Mr. Nack,

First off I would like to apologize for not keeping up with replying to you.  The past several weeks have been exhausting for me; however, that is a poor excuse not to reply.  

I love your introduction to your post.  That verse from 1 Corinthians is one that is true of myself.  Your argument is well taken.  As with much of theology, it is wrong for one to become too dogmatic regarding their beliefs.  That is not to say that we should hold on to our beliefs loosely, as they could be wrong in some regard.  I consider myself a Calvinist, but not to the point where it would be an unhealthy belief.  Obviously, we are children of Christ and followers of God.  Let’s make sure that that is the center of our thought process, not Calvinism.  Does that make sense? 

I feel like you may have misinterpreted my position on predestination.  I believe that God sovereignty and justly choose those who will be saved.  However, I do not believe that we have our ever move dictated to us by God.  Any sense of “free will” (however you define it) is under God’s sovereign control.  How could there be anything in existence that is outside of God? 

I found your argument compelling, but it did not persuade me (it would be boring if we agreed on everything right?  What would we write about?).  Your argument seemed to be too heavy on the philosophy and reason and less on theology (I could be wrong though…obviously).  Sometime I would like to have the time to be able to pick apart each of the passages both of us used in presenting our side of thinking.  Maybe some other time, eh? 

As for now, I would like to take apart Romans 8:29 a bit.  The following breakdown is borrow from John Piper (http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Sermons/ByDate/1985/512_Those_Whom_He_Foreknew_He_Predestined/): 

1.    The connection with verse 28.

“FOR whom he foreknew…”

2.    The meaning of God’s foreknowledge.

“For whom he FOREKNEW, he also predestined…”

3.    The aim of predestination for our good.

“…to become conformed to the image of his Son…”

4.    The aim of predestination for Christ’s glory.

“…that he might be the first-born among many brethren.” 

…I encourage you to read the rest of the outline to his message.  Perhaps the area of predestination is something that we’ll have to agree to disagree on.  To be honest, I haven’t thought much about predestination as of late.  I’ve been studying the purpose of prayer again…to which I am thoroughly confused. 

If you don’t mind, could we change gears to discuss prayer a bit?   I know I’ve already talked to you a bit about it in person and the likes, but I am still confused as to the purpose (speaking mainly of petitionary prayer).  I believe that to a degree, predestination and prayer are connected.  However, I don't know where that degree is.  I found this “conversation” once and find it fascinating; I want to know what you think about it: 

Prayerless: I understand that you believe in the providence of God. Is that right?

Prayerful: Yes.

Prayerless: Does that mean you believe, like the Heidelberg Catechism says, that nothing comes about by chance but only by God's design and plan?

Prayerful: Yes, I believe that's what the Bible teaches.

Prayerless: Then why do you pray?

Prayerful: I don't see the problem. Why shouldn't we pray?

Prayerless: Well, if God ordains and controls everything, then what he plans from of old will come to pass, right?

Prayerful: Yes.

Prayerless: So it's going to come to pass whether you pray or not, right.

Prayerful: That depends on whether God ordained for it to come to pass in answer to prayer. If God predestined that something happen in answer to prayer, it won't happen without prayer.

Prayerless: Wait a minute, this is confusing. Are you saying that every answer to prayer is predestined or not?

Prayerful: Yes, it is. It's predestined as an answer to prayer.

Prayerless: So if the prayer doesn't happen, the answer doesn't happen?

Prayerful: That's right.

Prayerless: So the event is contingent on our praying for it to happen?

Prayerful: Yes. I take it that by contingent you mean prayer is a real reason that the event happens, and without the prayer the event would not happen.

Prayerless: Yes that's what I mean. But how can an event be contingent on my prayer and still be eternally fixed and predestined by God?

Prayerful: Because your prayer is as fixed as the predestined answer.

Prayerless: Explain.

Prayerful: It's not complicated. God providentially ordains all events. God never ordains an event without a cause. The cause is also an event. Therefore, the cause is also foreordained. So you cannot say that the event will happen if the cause doesn't because God has ordained otherwise. The event will happen if the cause happens.

Prayerless: So what you are saying is that answers to prayer are always ordained as effects of prayer which is one of the causes, and that God predestined the answer only as an effect of the cause.

Prayerful: That's right. And since both the cause and the effect are ordained together you can't say that the effect will happen even if the cause doesn't because God doesn't ordain effects without causes.

Prayerless: Can you give some illustrations?

Prayerful: Sure. If God predestines that I die of a bullet wound, then I will not die if no bullet is fired. If God predestines that I be healed by surgery, then if there is no surgery, I will not be healed. If God predestines heat to fill my home by fire in the furnace, then if there is no fire, there will be no heat. Would you say, "Since God predestines that the sun be bright, it will be bright whether there is fire in the sun or not"?

Prayerless: No.

Prayerful: I agree. Why not?

Prayerless: Because the brightness of the sun comes from the fire.

Prayerful: Right. That's the way I think about the answers to prayer. They are the brightness, and prayer is the fire. God has established the universe so that in larger measure it runs by prayer, the same way he has established brightness so that in larger measure it happens by fire. Doesn't that make sense?

Prayerless: I think it does.

Prayerful: Then let's stop thinking up problems and go with what the Scriptures say. Ask and you will receive. You have not because you ask not.

 

Let me ask you, what is the purpose of prayer?  I’m sure things are popping to mind about how we pray to give thanks to God and to offer Him praise.  I wholeheartedly agree with that; however, my confusion comes in the area of petitionary prayer.  This type of prayer is in which I request something from God.  Don’t get me wrong, I pray (although not enough) and ask that God give me things or that God will give me safety, or that God will bless a friend or something. 

My question is this: what is the point of praying if God already has a plan in mind for us? Why interject our own desires into prayers of petitions if we are expected to pray for His will to be done? If I pray for something so earnestly all my life and it is not what God has in mind for me, then I have wasted thousands of prayers in vain. What I desire may or may not be what God has in mind for me; I have no way of knowing. So I ask, why bother? 

I’ll offer 3 possible thought processes:

1.    We pray and then we ask and receive (Luke 11:10) or we do not ask and do not receive.  I do not contest that the purpose of prayer is to use God as our servant boy to do whatever we ask.  It says that He only hear the prayers of the upright and those earnestly seeking Him (Philippians 4:6-7; Matthew 6:5-8; 2 Chronicles 7:14) 

2.    If God will do His will, than the purpose is lacking for us ask.  If he will accomplish His will in his own time and way, why would we ask Him to do something our way?  Or do we ask and due to us asking, He changes His mind?  If He changes His mind, does He really know the future?  Or does He base His decisions on our requests or lack of requests?  What makes us think that we know better than God in some area to ask the Creator of the world to change his plans for us?

3.    C.S. Lewis once stated that he prayers not to change God, but to change himself.  This is the view I hold to.  We know that our thoughts are not God’s thoughts (Isaiah 55:8), but shouldn’t it be our daily intent of making our thoughts those which God would have us think?  We are told to be transformed by the renewal of our minds so that we can test and know what God’s will is (Romans 12:1-2)

Because of Him,

Joe

“He chose us in him before the foundation of the world…”

Predestination is the biblical teaching that God predestines certain events and people to accomplish what He so desires.  It is often used in the same way as the word “election.” Wayne Grudem, in his book Systematic Theology lays out the process of salvation as the following: 

1.         Election (God’s choice of people to be saved)

2.         The gospel call (proclaiming the message of the gospel)

3.         Regeneration (being born again)

4.         Conversion (faith and repentance)

5.         Justification (right legal standing)

6.         Adoption (membership in God’s family)

7.         Sanctification (right conduct of life)

8.         Perseverance (remaining a Christian)

9.         Death (going to be with the Lord)

10.      Glorification (receiving a resurrection body) 

As with any doctrine or any teaching about the Bible, it should definitely not accepted as the truth just because a pastor, a guy with a Ph.D. said so, your dad, or because I said so (you’d have to be desperate to believe everything I say).  In light of that, I would like to point out specific messages in the New Testament that seem to affirm quite clearly that God ordained beforehand those who would be saved.  For example, when Paul and Barnabas began to preach to the Gentiles in Antioch in Pisidia, Luke writes, “And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of God; and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed” (Acts 13:48).  Here is an abbreviated list of passages that seem to point to an idea of predestination or election: 

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.  For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.  And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.”  (Romans 8:28-30) 

"…to do whatever Thy hand and ^Thy purpose predestined to occur."  (Acts 4:27) 

"…but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom, which God predestined before the ages to our glory."  (1 Corinthians 2:7) 

“He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will…”  (Ephesians 1:5) 

“…also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will."  (Ephesians 1:11)  

"I do not speak of all of you. I know the ones I have chosen; but it is that the Scripture may be fulfilled, ‘He who eats My bread has lifted up his heel against Me.’" (John 13:18) 

"He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him."  (Ephesians 1:4) 

In chapter nine of Romans, when talking about God’s choosing Jacob and not Esau, Paul says it was not because of anything that Jacob or Esau had done, but simply in order that God’s purpose of election might continue.  Here is that verse:

“Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad—in order that God's purpose in election might stand: not by works but by him who calls—she was told, "The older will serve the younger."  Just as it is written: "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated." 

Many people refuse to accept this teaching of Scripture because it apparently does not offer human choice in the matter of salvation.  However, that is false.  According to this objection, the doctrine of election or predestination denies all the gospel invitation that appeal to the will of man and ask people to make a choice in whether to respond to Christ’s invitation or not.  Our choices are voluntary because they are what we want to do and what we decide to do (Paraphrase: Grant R. Osborne, “Exegetical Notes on Calvinist Texts”).  This also does not mean our choices are absolutely free, because, God can work sovereignly through our desires to that he guarantees’ that our choices come about as he has ordained.  This, however, can still be understood as a real choice because God has created us and he ordains that such a choice is real. Basically, God causes us to choose Christ voluntarily.  What do you think of that reasoning? 

Another objection that is commonly expressed is that the idea of election is unfair since it teaches that God chooses some to be saved and passes over others, deciding not to save them.  This objection is not a strong case for objection of this doctrinal view.  Why would the maker of the universe save ANY lowly humans?  Romans 9:18 says that God “has mercy upon whomever he wills, and he hardens the heart of whomever he wills.”  It is unjust of us to criticize God for choosing others and for not choosing others.

One more thing:  I do not believe that Jesus died for the entire human race.  If He did, all of humanity would be saved.  By condemning the non-believer to Hell, wouldn’t it be that he is paying DOUBLE for not accepting Christ?  If Christ died for all, the price has already been paid!  It would be unnecessary for a human to die again for a price that has already been paid by Jesus at Calvary.  Thoughts?

Alright, this is getting wicked long.  So I’m gonna end it.  Take care bud! 

Because of Him,

J. Hylander

 

To Jason

Hey Nack.  So I have a question for you.  What do you think is the number one thing that the church as a whole is not doing and should be.  Open-ended, I know...I'm curious as to what you think.  Thanks bud.

Psalm 20:7

Lately I’ve been learning more about dependence on God.  You always hear people talking about how we need to give God everything in our lives and not hold on to anything.  Lately that has really been sinking in.  Don’t you love it when a truth that you’ve known for a long time finally sinks in and actually changes stuff in you?

Almost without realizing it, I put my trust more in men than I would like to admit.  Growing up I would make my family, AWANA, youth group, friends, and church a place where I find out who I am.  And who did I become?  I became a guy who knew what to say and when to say it.  I became a guy who put his identity in those things I listed…making decisions based on what I knew would be in line with the values of those groups.  I wouldn’t say that I lived one way in one group of people and a complete different way in a different group of people, but I would say that I made a large amount of decisions based with how I was being perceived by those in those groups in mind.  What would my faith look like with just my Bible?  No Christian friends, no church, no Northwestern, nothing except God’s Word?

As some of you know, this year at Northwestern has been a struggle in some areas.  Last spring I was elected to Student Government.  From what I knew of Student Government, I was just going to have a fun year of leading dumb activities and being popular.  However, this year has been far from that (obviously being popular was never within my grasp though, so I expected it).  This year of Student Government has been questioning the integrity of brothers and sisters in Christ, hearing two sides to issues of morals (while desiring to respect and look up to both sides of people), but most importantly this year has been about the truth.  As it turns out, there are a lot of sinners in the church and the community of believers (note the tongue in cheek).  There will be conflict.  But how we deal with that conflict is what differs between secular society and the church (ideally).  I am proud of Northwestern College; I love how people are concerned about ideas of theological drift.  Those are things that we should be concerned regarding!  The biggest thing that I have learned through all of the uncertainties that are in my life is that I need to trust God with my ENTIRE life.  Not just the areas I find easy to leave up to Him.  If it’s God’s will…I’ll get into medical school…I’ll get married…heck, I’ll even graduate from college…and the list goes on.  It’s my job to entrust Him and allow him to do WHAT HE WANTS.

Lately I’ve found myself slipping into the mold of doing and saying things for the praise and appreciation of others.  I hate that about myself.  Lately verses such as Psalms 18:2 have been great reminders to me.  This verse states, “The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge.”  What a great reminder for me and anyone for that matter.  Who is our “rock”?  Who is our “fortress”?  Who is our “refuge”?  Is it a relationship we cherish more than God, a status we desire more than God, or an opportunity we strive toward more than we strive to know God more?  Do we care more about the praise of man or of God?  I don’t know about you, but I’m sick of trying to please.  Isn’t it easier to put ourselves in the hand of God?  At least he promises to “never leave nor forsake you.”  Let's cling to that promise by someone who will never let you down.

Because of Him,

J. Hylander

Generation that Seeks Your Face

After reading the last post by Jason, it really made me think about how I might portray my own faith and in how I tell others about it. Too often within the church people attempt to give the illusion that they are on fire for the Lord and that everything is perfect. The place where we are to bear each other’s burdens, we give off the perception that everything is fine. Is this an issue of trust within the church? Or is it an issue of lack of faith? The inability of the church? I don’t know, but it’s wrong. I just wish we could be more the church from the book of Acts.

I also loved the part of Jason’s essay regarding suffering. Paul said that there is a problem if we do not receive persecution for our faith. The world will hate us, but we need to remember to be “in the world but not of the world.” We are called to proclaim the truth boldly. We are not called to sit back and be comfortable in an attempt to not offend anyone by imposing our beliefs on them. This is something that I struggle with at times. If I know the truth and I know of others who do not…why do I passively sit by and say nothing? As Jason pointed out, the prosperity gospel feeds this type of lukewarm behavior. Those that buy into this heresy are self-centered people who do not care about the furtherance of the gospel, but only for the blessings of Christ in their own life.

Isn’t that a great excerpt from John Piper’s message? What a great man of the faith. Between his preaching, his writing, his speaking around the world, his podcasts, and his discipleship, that man is actively pursuing to know of the sovereignty of God. I am forced to ask myself if I am willing to go to those lengths to know Christ? Too often I become content at where I am…reading the Bible inconsistently, at times unfocused during sermons, and simply not being the “hands and feet” of Christ. It is my prayer to daily become more of a Micah 6:8 Christian, to “…act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with my God.”

In his book Confessions by Augustine (which I haven’t read in completion yet), he said that he did not become a Christian based on feelings or emotions, he became a Christian because he believed it to be the truth. How often do we present the Gospel like that? Not enough! Instead we feel that in order to make the Gospel more appealing, we must add our own touches…our fog machines, our contemporary music, our own sense of being culturally relevant. Instead of adding to the Gospel presentation, we cloud it and muddle it. We dirty the true Gospel with our pathetic attempts at spreading it. Why can’t I be more like D.L. Moody? Once I read a book on D.L. Moody and was astounded by his faith. How he would walk the streets and gather kids up and go to teach them about Jesus. Would I be willing to do that (granted, that might be a bit odd if I walked around town rounding up kids)? Why don’t we have faith to rely on the moving of the Holy Spirit? Why don’t we present the truth of the Gospel and allow the Holy Spirit to prompt the hearts of people? Apparently we (including myself) feel that we need to do our own thing to get other people to believe. That is where the prosperity gospel is derived from, an attempt at making Christianity more appealing. Attempting to make the church “cool” is a dangerous place to be. Ever since the Noah, following God has never been easy, comfortable, or free from trials. We are told by James to consider it pure joy when we face trials. These trials build our faith.

Thanks for writing that, Jason. It was a great reminder and also quite convicting. You’re a great man and I’m blessed to know you.

Because of Him,

J. Hylander