WE NEED TO EMBRACE THE GREATNESS OF GOD

I am convinced that many of our doctrinal differences arise because we conceive of our Lord too narrowly. For example, Arminians and Calvinists might be opposed more than necessary. 

Is it possible that they both can be true - that we are both the product of our efforts and choices and yet we are still the product of God's plan for our lives?

I think that our view of Scripture embodies both perspectives. For example, we observe that Paul's letters reflect his style, interests, vocabulary, choices, experiences, and personal associations. Meanwhile, Paul asserted that Scripture is still entirely the Word of God (1 Thess. 2:13).

Perhaps this point can be illustrated even more clearly by the Psalms. While they cry out with accusations against God (and are often followed with words of repentance), they are still the Word of God, as even Jesus had often asserted:

·       Then he said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled." (Luke 24:44)

I think that this says something about God that we have to accept. He can work through our free choices, even the sinful human outbursts, to fully accomplish His purposes. This means that our efforts and freewill choices are compatible with God’s sovereignty and plan.

In fact, we see evidence of this perplexing association throughout the range of Scripture. For example, Paul declared that he had worked hard, but even his efforts were the result of the grace of God:

·       But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. (1 Corinthians 15:10)

Somehow God’s plan is married to our efforts. Elsewhere, Paul held us responsible for working out our salvation, but explained that it is actually God’s work:

·       Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. (Philippians 2:12-13)

In contrast, we have a tendency to dismiss one aspect of the marriage in favor of the other. If we are discussing sanctification, we (Calvinists) tend to leave our responsibility out of the equation and simply declare that it is God who sanctifies. Meanwhile, we (Arminians) tend to conceive of God as passively offering all the same thing, making us the key agents in our holiness or sanctification.

Both sides are able to supply verses to support their position. However, God’s truth seems to be more mysterious. We even find this same tension between our respective roles in the Hebrew Scriptures:

• Keep my statutes and do them; I am the LORD who sanctifies you. (Leviticus 20:8)

Did you notice the overlap expressed here? We have to keep ourselves holy by avoiding sin, by keeping His commandments, but it is God who makes us holy (“sanctifies”).

We find the same tension or overlap also in the area of salvation. We are told to believe and to have faith, but we are also taught that it is God who provides faith as a gift (Eph. 2:8-9). Which is it? It is both – our responsibility but, first of all God’s. He has to give us a new heart so that we can believe.

Admittedly, it has to begin and end with God, but we cannot dismiss our biblically prescribed role.

Instead, we strenuously try to squeeze God into our zip-locked understanding, and we should try to do this, but we also must appreciate our limitations. We only see in part. Consequently, we fail to appreciate the magnitude of God and His Word. If this is true, we have to view ourselves as servants of the Word and not its masters.

Our belief in the Trinity exemplifies this. We believe in the Trinity even though we cannot fully understand this revelation. I think that the same is true about our freedom of choice, culpability, and responsibility in view of God’s sovereignty. We have to embrace both. To do otherwise is to put our understanding (theology) above God’s revelation, His Scriptures. Also, to do otherwise is to create needless divisions within the body of Christ.

APOLOGETICS, WARFARE, AND CHALLENGING FALSE IDEAS

Should we be actively contending for the faith (Jude 3)?

J. Gresham Machen was the Professor of New Testament at Princeton Seminary, 1906 – 1929. However, he led a conservative revolt against modernist theology at Princeton and formed Westminster Theological Seminary where he taught New Testament for the rest of his earthly stay.

In response to the steadily encroaching liberalism, he argued that Christians had to retake contemporary thinking so that it would be amenable to the reception of the Gospel:

·       “It should be ours to create, so far as we can, with the help of God, those favorable conditions for the reception of the gospel. False ideas are the greatest obstacles to the reception of the gospel. We may preach with all the fervor of a reformer and yet succeed only in winning a straggler here and there, if we permit the whole collective thought of the nation or of the world to be controlled by ideas which…prevent Christianity from being regarded as anything more than a harmless delusion. Under such circumstances, what God desires us to do is to destroy the obstacle at its root.” (Machen’s 1912 address at Princeton Theological Seminary)

Should this be our goal – “to destroy the obstacle [to the Gospel] at its root?” Instead, isn’t salvation of the Lord and not our argumentation? Must not God grant faith (Ephesians 2:8-9) and repentance (2 Tim. 2:25-26)? If so, why should it be our responsibility to destroy the false ideas that oppose the Gospel?

In response to this challenge, I want to argue that although salvation is of the Lord, He calls upon us to participate in this process. Let’s first look at the fact that faith is “gift of God and not a work” (Eph. 2:8-9) and that God “grants repentance”:

·       And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps GRANT THEM REPENTANCE leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will. (2 Timothy 2:24-26; ESV)

Notice that although it is God who “grants…repentance,” this doesn’t mean that God does not use our efforts. Rather, He commands them. The minister of the Word must be “kind…able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting…with gentleness.”

The same is true about God’s gift of faith. This doesn’t exclude us from the process. This is why we are called to evangelize and even to persuade through argumentation:

·       And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.” And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women. (Acts 17:2-4)

Paul persuaded them to believe, but, of course, God had to also be at work to open their hearts and minds to receive Paul’s reasoning.

This brings us back to our original question. If reasoning at the synagogue brought faith, why not also reasoning at even a greater arena – our culture?

There are so many examples, even in the Hebrew Scriptures, that teach us that even though God is at work in a certain area, whether in salvation or sanctification, this doesn’t mean that we then throw up our hands and say, “Well since God is responsible here, I have no role to play in this matter.” Instead, we see that both parties are in play, as this verse demonstrates:

·       Keep my statutes and do them; I am the LORD who sanctifies you. (Leviticus 20:8)

While Israel had to keep themselves holy by obeying God’s commandments, God also declares that it is He who sanctifies them.

All of this demonstrates that although it is God who saves and sanctifies, we too must play our part. This also pertains to our responsibility for the thought-life of our society. We have a responsibility to challenge unbiblical thinking, which has taken captive society and even our churches:

·       For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:4-5)

Our God requires us to be engaged in warfare. What kind of warfare? We are required to “destroy arguments and…opinions” which challenge “the knowledge God” and the Biblical worldview.

I am thankful for the vision that our Lord had given Machen. As a result, he was instrumental in founding a seminary which has trained up servants to glorify God through His Word for 87 years.

How can we be Fully Forgiven if Confession of our Sins is always Required?

Clearly, Christ paid for all of our sins on the Cross:

• “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more." (Hebrews 8:12 quoting Jeremiah 31:34)

• By one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. (Hebrews 10:14)

• Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:1-2)

On top of this, our Savior has utterly removed our sins from us:

• Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea. (Micah 7:18-19) 

If this is so, why then do we still need to confess our sins?

• If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:8-9)

• And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. (James 5:15-16)

Hasn’t our Savior completely eradicated our sins and promised to “remember” them “no more?” Why then the ongoing requirement to confess?

Not only is confession necessary for healing, it is also necessary for forgiveness! But hasn’t forgiveness already been accomplished? If so, why then do we need to continue to confess in order to receive His forgiveness? How can we reconcile these paradoxical teachings?

This seems to be the most biblical answer: God has entirely forgiven us and has irrevocably written our names in the Lamb’s Book of Life. However, He must complete the process through the entirety of our lives (Phil. 1:6; Romans 11:29).

Martin Luther affirmed the vital and ongoing role of confession and forgiveness in this process:

• Unless God constantly forgives, we are lost. Thus this petition really means that God does not wish to regard our sins and punish us as we daily deserve but to deal graciously with us, to forgive as he has promised, and thus to grant us a joyful and cheerful conscience so that we may stand before him in prayer.

This agrees with my own experience. When I confess my sins, I know that He has forgiven them and feel unburdened and relieved. But why should this be if He has already resolved my sin problem?

He has resolved it, but He continues to apply His forgiveness as we confess! He will remember our sins “no more” because He is constantly at work applying what He has accomplished at the Cross to our stained lives.

It is also because our Lord is continually at work in our lives that we continue in faith unto salvation. In God’s mind, all of these blessings are done-deals, but they must be worked out, and this includes our participation.

Do we have to continue in faith, repentance, and confession? Yes! We have to remain faithful to the end:

·           All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. (Matthew 10:22)

·           But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation-- if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant. (Col. 1:22-23)

·           We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first. (Hebrews 3:14)

Some reject this simple and direct teaching because it seems like it adds to us a work or requirement, which contradicts salvation-as-a-gift and will enable us to boast. However, continuing in faith, repentance, and confession is part of the guaranteed gift of God. The gift of faith is an ever-flowing fountain bringing us to eternal life (John 4:14; 1 Peter 1:5). However, even though salvation is a gift, we too have our role to play:

• Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed--not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence--continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. (Philippians 2:12-13)

Paul claimed that even though salvation is God’s doing, it is also ours. However, God gets the credit for even our obedience:

• But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them--yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. (1 Corinthians 15:10)

Paul credited God for even his strenuous labors. Why? Weren’t these labors a matter of Paul’s initiative and effort? Yes and no! They did represent Paul’s efforts, but Paul recognized that God was even responsible for His efforts and initiative. So He gets all the credit.

Do we understand this? I don’t! We have a fancy theological name we attach to it. We call this the doctrine of compatibilism. Somehow, our contributions are compatible with God’s plan and sovereign workings in our lives. How???

Although I don’t understand this, the compatibility of God’s sovereignty with our responsibilities is mirrored throughout Scripture. For example, we have been saved, but we are being saved as we cooperate with God (Hebrews 4:11; 6:10-11; 1 Tim. 4:16). This paradox is something we just need to accept. We make responsible, free, and weighty choices, but at the end of the day, God’s will is done.

Let’s now apply all of this to the issue at hand – confession and forgiveness. Must we confess our sins? Definitely! Nevertheless, our forgiveness is assured (Jeremiah 31:34)! How? God has assured it:

• No one who is born of God will continue to sin [and also not confess], because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. (1 John 3:9; 5:18)

Our Savior will not allow us to go in the wrong direction. He will lead us into confession so that He can complete His work of forgiving our sins and cleansing us.

Let’s bring this lesson back to Jesus’ teaching on forgiveness:

• For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. (Matthew 6:14-15) 

Here’s what is clear about this teaching:

1. Our forgiving others is inseparable from God forgiving us.
2. Our refusal to forgive others, God will not forgive us.

Must we forgive others to be saved? Yes! This is related to the issue of whether we must continue in faith. We must! But is our salvation uncertain? No! It is guaranteed by the God who promised to keep us. But how? Our Savior will work in our heart to produce the necessary requirements, including forgiveness (Phil. 2:12-13; Eph. 2:10).

Besides, a living faith will produce obedience. If I trust in my doctor, I will take the pills she prescribes. If I trust in God, I will do what He wants me to do.

We demonstrate our faith through obedience. This is why James could say:

• But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. (James 2:18)

A real faith will lead to obedience and the forgiveness of others. If we refuse to forgive, it means that we refuse to trust our Lord. It also means that we have failed to grasp the Gospel and to realize how badly we need forgiveness.

Scripture informs us that God not only guarantees our salvation but also guarantees that He will keep us through the entire process:

• Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 1:6)