Some Things I've Noticed

What a Summer! What a Summer....

I recently decided to stop fellowshipping at the same church I've been at for the last two years. You know compromise seems like such a good idea... but think about the whole debt ceiling thing in the USA. They've just come to some, non-specific, compromise that will let them stick their heads in the sand until 2013.. when (if the Lord tarries) they'll have the same "crisis" all over again and they'll have all the same issues to deal with.

Compromise isn't always helpful. Do you compromise in life? Sure, about desires... about wants... about schedules... but not about TRUTH. You can't "compromise" about TRUTH because then TRUTH becomes compromised - and does not remain TRUE.

I'm truly sick of the Lordship Salvation movement.  So here are a couple of things I've noticed about it that really make me scratch my head.

When I hear a Lordship Salvation proponent talking about repentance being turning over a new leaf, changing direction, turning from sin, forsaking sin, stopping sin, feeling remorseful enough to never want to sin again, hating sin, changing from disobeying God to seeking only to obey Him, submitting one's self to the mastery of Christ over all areas of your life... or any number of other definitions that go beyond what the Scriptures say.... well I almost invariably suggest that the person take a listen to a very good, very complete study of all the usages of "repentance" in the OT and NT in the form of a course freely offered online by the Bible Believers Network Bible Institute. I always note that the course is about 5 hours long.

You know what response I get? Consistently, actually without exception, the Lordship Salvation proponent will balk at taking a free 5 hour course on repentance that goes through the Bible passage by passage. I cannot tell you the motivation of the person - only God knows a person's heart - but I can tell you about how hypocritical it looks to me, every single time. You see the person will have been telling me how "true" Christians are sold out for God and seek to obey Him at all times in all ways, that they have completely submitted their will to that of God. Yet they balk at spending 5 hours on the fundamental doctrine they preach.... Seriously? How am I supposed to react to this?

Consistently, I react by telling that I understand that 5 hours is quite an investment (while trying to keep from either sighing or sounding sarcastic - sometimes neither is at all easy) and so I suggest that they pick up a copy of HA Ironside's Unless You Repent. You can get it from Amazon.com and Amazon.ca and in many GOOD Bible stores. It costs about $12... Guess what? That's too much apparently... or they don't want to order from Amazon.. or they have some other excuse. OK I understand that sometimes money is tight, and one might not be too sure of the validity of the work of a Canadian. ;) So how do I respond?

Well there is a free version of this work online but it is in older King James English. It can be found at Wholesome Words (PDF). At this point the one I'm speaking with will sometimes tell me they will "take a look at it" however, I have yet to ever have a single person come back to me to tell me that they have actually done so.

So what am I to think about all of this? Well I think you know what I think about all this. I also have a deep, deep dislike of how some people will preach to others that they must be sold out for Christ in order to qualify for Salvation, that they must forsake all in order to attain Eternal Life, and that if they haven't submitted every area of their life to the mastery of Jesus Christ that they will spend eternity in the Lake of Fire - and yet the preacher is himself very worldly.

You know, the Lord did say that you can tell a Prophet by his fruit. Do I believe the gospel you preach? Not much chance if I must first ask you; do YOU?

A Christian in Canada Presents: E101 Episode 1: Introduction

Here is the first episode of my new video series on Evangelism. I'm still working on the quality of the video, and there is a compatibility issue with the mic I'm using. So there is a bit of hiss, and my skin tones are way over the top. None the less I must move forward! So here ya go!

John 16:5-11

Make sure you watch it in HD


UPDATED TO NEW EDITED VERSION

A Christian in Canada Presents

So while the sun has been shining I've been working away at a project that has been tugging at my heart for over a year. A series of videos made freely available to the Church, and the Lost, about Evangelism, the Bible and Salvation. I have been passionately learning as much as I can about videography, Final Cut Pro X and a few other things in order to be able to produce the series. Here's the title sequence for the upcoming video series.

Make sure to watch it in HD.

Faith Submission Service

FAITH RECEIVES 

SUBMISSION OFFERS

SERVICE GIVES 

ROMANS 4:16

Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all

It takes trust

There can be no denying that it takes trust to obey God when He is growing you.  Hebrews 11 tells us of God's heroes of faith, or those He calls the "elders." It is sometimes called the "faith" chapter. I think I may start calling it the "by faith" chapter. 


Heb 11:1-2 tells us what faith is. 

¹ Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. ² For by it the elders obtained a good testimony.

God says that these elders obtained a good testimony BY faith. Does this match what the Lordship Salvation(LS) proponent says about faith? They say that one will persist in good works, in submission to the Lordship of Christ (obedience) and good Christian character if they have true faith. 


One might say that the LS proponent says that one obtains a good testimony IF (or because) they have faith. 


See my previous articles Testing the Test and 'But' Theology for examples of LS proponents saying that IF you have faith you will have a good testimony. In fact they use a person's testimony as a test to determine if the person has faith. 


The question is this: Does God explain faith this way in His chapter on faith? In every example given God states that "by faith" (or through faith) a person (including all believers today in verse 3) DID something amazing. God then closes the chapter (though there were no chapters or verses in the original manuscripts) with these two verses. 


Heb 11:39-40 

³⁹ And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise,⁴⁰ God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.

Now it would do the LS proponents some good to study the lives of these people and consider if they are truly good examples of their theology. What is evident is that these people trusted God and obeyed in these instances and that this had amazing results - yet God did not leave us out. He did not simply save them, He also has saved us and will save all who trust Him now. 


I started out by saying that it takes trust to obey God when He's growing you, and it does. But does trust = obedience? Or can you subtract obedience from my life and still have trust remaining? If I have trust will I automatically have obedience? If I don't have trust will I then be unable to obey? 


These are all huge questions!! 


I retired from the Canadian Forces recently. Military service is all about obedience. For a large portion of my career I could find few people in my Chain of Command whom I actually trusted, yet my obedience was full. I had to obey people I didn't really trust because they were in command of my service.  I believe this shows how trust and obedience are not intrinsically linked. I obeyed because of my desire for a paycheck, and because of my fear of punishment. I obeyed out of desire and fear - not out of trust. 


There are some UNSAVED people in the Bible like that you know, read John 6 to see what happened to the people who followed Jesus, obeyed Jesus in many things, feared Jesus, and desired the rewards of following Jesus - they were not saved because they could not put their faith in His broken body and shed blood. They were like hired servants, like slaves- they had no faith or trust but they obeyed. 


When I was a child I trusted my sister deeply. I had faith in her that she would look out for and provide for me. We were tight, and I needed her. However, I didn't seldom obeyed her even when she was caring for me. I didn't obey because I didn't fear her, and she had nothing to offer me for my obedience. I trusted her completely, but I did not often obey her. 


There are some SAVED people like that in the Bible too. Read 1st and 2nd Corinthians for some excellent examples. 


Sometimes my wife, whom I trust completely and whom I am head over heals in love with, will ask me to do something - and yet I won't obey. Usually there is something I would rather do, a competing desire. Sometimes I don't obey because of what other people might say - "look at Kevin, he does whatever his wife tells him heheheh."  Sometimes I just don't think the effort is worth it - I won't be recognized enough.. I won't get that new computer that I want anyway.... whatever it is - I don't obey because I don't value the return, or I have competing desires. 


There are SAVED people in the Bible just like this too! Peter comes to mind prominently. There is also several people who feared what other people would do and say so they only followed Christ in secrete.


It TAKES trust to obey God when He is growing you because God is going to tell you to do things you can't do. This idea that God will never give you more than you can handle is BUNK. It is nothing more than new age religion and man's evil self-glorification at play. Read the "by faith"statements in Hebrews 11 and see how many of those were things that those people could "do for God."

Obedience, when God is calling you to do something you can't do, takes trust and God calls you to do those sorts of things when He is growing you up in the faith - when He is perfecting your faith. James 2:22

But obedience doesn't happen because of faith, it is not the substance of faith. No! God says that faith is the substance of a good testimony, NOT that a good testimony is the substance of faith!

A person can have faith (trust) and yet be distracted by competing desires and so not obey. A person can have faith but not fear and so not obey. A person can have faith and not desire for God's reward and so not obey.

A person who trusts God, and is discipled (taught in the ways of God, corrected, inspired, motivated and empowered and so on..) will obey God when He tells them to do something they can't do. You can't obey God in that situation without first trusting Him - so by faith you obey. But a person may trust God but have some other lacking as detailed above and not obey Him. Not because they don't have faith or trust, not because they have a false profession of faith or trust, but because they have a matter of disobedience going on.

I do not see anywhere in Scripture where God says that one obeys BECAUSE they have faith, but I see in many areas that one must have faith to do the sorts of things that God tells us to do when He is growing us up in the faith.

This is already a long article, but I need to ramble just a bit more. I believe this is why we have such a problem with Evangelism (or the lack there of) in the Church today. Not because people don't love and trust God - but because they don't have the proper motivation. This is the number one task for the Church and it is hardly being done by anyone who believes. The LS proponent must then say that only about 2 - 5 percent of people who claim to believe are actual believers - or they ought to go back and read the Bible again.

Denying

When I'm interacting with someone who preaches Lordship Salvation I often get asked how one can be saved while "denying" Christ's lordship. Of course by "lordship" the person means the mastery of Christ over all aspects of one's life.

The conversation often degenerates from there. The person will often use this as the pivot point in the conversation and will stop listening while declaring a philosophical victory.  I have yet to find a single LS advocate who is able and willing to show in the Scriptures where submission to the mastery of Christ over your life is required to become saved in the Scriptures, but even if they would or could very few will continue the conversation after their philosophical victory.

They characterize my clear, and unchanging, statement that the Bible does not require this kind of submission for a person to become saved in the most philosophically offensive way they can manage and then take the distaste of their statement as an indication of victory.

So I would like to ask the three following questions, given that not requiring submission to something is equivalent to denying that thing.

Question 1. Where does the Bible explicitly state that one cannot be saved while denying Christ's mastery over all aspects of one's life?  Ref:http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/explicitly

Question 2. What of the following things may one "deny" and still be saved? Please include an explicit reference in your answers.

Advocate ( 1 John 2:1 )
Almighty ( Rev 1:8 Mt 28:18 )
Alpha and Omega ( Rev 1:8 Rev 22:13 )
Amen ( Rev 3:14 )
Apostle of our Profession ( Heb 3:1 )
Atoning Sacrifice for our Sins ( 1 John 2:2 )
Author of Life ( Acts 3:15 )
Author and Perfecter of our Faith ( Heb 12:2 )
Author of Salvation ( Heb 2:10 )
Beginning and End ( Rev 22:13 )
Blessed and only Ruler ( 1 Tim 6:15 )
Bread of God ( John 6:33 )
Bread of Life ( John 6:35 John 6:48 )
Bridegroom ( Mt 9:15 )
Capstone ( Acts 4:11 1 Pet 2:7 )
Chief Cornerstone ( Eph 2:20 )
Chief Shepherd ( 1 Pet 5:4 )
Christ ( 1 John 2:22 )
Creator ( John 1:3 )
Deliverer ( Rom 11:26 )
Eternal Life ( 1 John 1:2 1 John 5:20)
Gate ( John 10:9 )
Faithful and True ( Rev 19:11 )
Faithful Witness ( Rev 1:5 )
Faithful and True Witness ( Rev 3:14 )
First and Last ( Rev 1:17 Rev 2:8 Rev 22:13 )
Firstborn From the Dead ( Rev 1:5 )
Firstborn over all creation ( Col 1:15 )
Gate ( John 10:9 )
God ( John 1:1 John 20:28 Heb 1:8 Rom 9:5 2 Pet 1:1 1 John 5:20 etc.)
Good Shepherd ( John 10:11 John 10:14 )
Great Shepherd ( Heb 13:20 )
Great High Priest ( Heb 4:14 )
Head of the Church ( Eph 1:22 Eph 4:15 Eph 5:23)
Heir of all things ( Heb 1:2 )
High Priest ( Heb 2:17 )
Holy and True ( Rev 3:7 )
Holy One ( Acts 3:14 )
Hope ( 1 Tim 1:1 )
Hope of Glory ( Col 1:27 )
Horn of Salvation ( Luke 1:69 )
I Am ( John 8:58 )
Image of God ( 2 Cor 4:4 )
Immanuel ( Mt 1:23 )
Judge of the living and the dead ( Acts 10:42 )
King Eternal ( 1 Tim 1:17 )
King of Israel ( John 1:49 )
King of the Jews ( Mt 27:11 )
King of kings ( 1 Tim 6:15 Rev 19:16 )
King of the Ages ( Rev 15:3 )
Lamb (Rev. 13:8)
Lamb of God (John 1:29)
Lamb Without Blemish (1 Pet. 1:19)
Last Adam (1 Cor. 15:45)
Life (John 14:6; Col. 3:4)
Light of the World (John 8:12)
Lion of the Tribe of Judah (Rev. 5:5)
Living One (Rev. 1:18)
Living Stone (1 Pet. 2:4)
Lord (2 Pet. 2:20)
Lord of All (Acts 10:36)
Lord of Glory (1 Cor. 2:8)
Lord of lords (Rev. 19:16)
Man from Heaven (1 Cor. 15:48)
Mediator of the New Covenant (Heb. 9:15)
Mighty God (Isa. 9:6)
Morning Star (Rev. 22:16)
Offspring of David (Rev. 22:16)
Only Begotten Son of God (John 1:18; 1 John 4:9)
Our Great God and Savior (Titus 2:13)
Our Holiness (1 Cor. 1:30)
Our Husband (2 Cor. 11:2)
Our Protection (2 Thess. 3:3)
Our Redemption (1 Cor. 1:30)
Our Righteousness (1 Cor. 1:30)
Our Sacrificed Passover Lamb (1 Cor. 5:7)
Power of God (1 Cor. 1:24)
Precious Cornerstone (1 Pet. 2:6)
Prophet (Acts 3:22)
Rabbi (Mt. 26:25)
Resurrection and Life (John 11:25)
Righteous Branch (Jer. 23:5)
Righteous One (Acts 7:52; 1 John 2:1)
Rock (1 Cor. 10:4)
Root of David (Rev. 5:5; 22:16)
Ruler of God’s Creation (Rev. 3:14)
Ruler of the Kings of the Earth (Rev. 1:5)
Savior (Eph. 5:23; Titus 1:4; 3:6; 2 Pet. 2:20)
Son of David (Lk. 18:39)
Son of God (John 1:49; Heb. 4:14)
Son of Man (Mt. 8:20)
Son of the Most High God (Lk. 1:32)
Source of Eternal Salvation for all who obey him (Heb. 5:9)
The One Mediator (1 Tim. 2:5)
The Stone the builders rejected (Acts 4:11)
True Bread (John 6:32)
True Light (John 1:9)
True Vine (John 15:1)
Truth (John 1:14; 14:6)
Way (John 14:6)
Wisdom of God (1 Cor. 1:24)
Word (John 1:1)
Word of God (Rev. 19:13)

Question 3 is intended to be humorous.

Question 3: If the LS advocate comes to the conclusion that there is no Biblical authority given to allow anyone to "deny" any of these and still be saved, then how long is the ACTUAL LS Gospel then??? Do you schedule weeks or months to present it?

"No Sir! You cannot be saved and deny that Jesus is the Stone that the builders rejected!"   

"But what does that even mean???"  

"Submit!" 

To return to seriousness we could all take up a position called "Bridegroom Salvation" and argue it with all the same arguments that we hear about LS theology...

LS is about philosophy, not Scripture.

Interview with Textual Critic William Warren

Dr. William Warren

Brother Liam has an interview with William Warren at his Into This Grace blog about his work in Textual Criticism on the Scriptures. This is an important topic that I just recently realized has been greatly ignored in the Church to our own detriment.

Here's a snippet of one of the questions Warren answers that should show anyone who is concerned with the accuracy of their understanding why this field is worthy of our attention.

Question: How does textual criticism affect the translation process?

Dr. Bill Warren: Whenever someone picks up an English translation (or one in any other language for that matter), they become the recipients of a huge amount of "hidden" work that has been done to make that translation feasible. First, the manuscripts had to be studied to compile their data. Then that data had to be evaluated based on what seems to have happened in the transmission history of the text. And then the best Greek text is determined from these sources, a text that we would say as conservative Christians is virtually identical to the original form of the text, although of course there are some in the larger field of textual criticism that would highlight where the "virtually" part applies so as to say that it is not equal to the original text (like Bart Ehrman), but I'll say more on that below. After the resulting Greek text is published, that is what translators use as the foundation for their work. So all translations are built on the shoulders of textual critics who did the work that undergirds the Greek text on which the translations are based. One more facet of making a translation is that sometimes the translators don't agree with the textual decisions reflected in the published Greek text, in which cases they build the translation on their own conclusions about the right Greek text at a given point in the text. 

Preaching Ministry for the Weak

This is the message I preached this Sunday morning entitled Ministry for the Weak. It is about the restoration of Peter after he had denied the Lord. After establishing that salvation is absolutely free, I go on to explain how discipleship bridged the gap between where Peter was weak and unfruitful to his later great ministry - and how we can have that for ourselves as well.

Here are the passages I reference, in order.

John 21:15

John 21:16

John 21:17 

John 21:15 

I pronounce Agapao as "Agapeo" sorry... it should be pronounced Ah Gap Ah Oh. I knew this but was nervous. 

John 3:16 

John 21:16

John 21:17 

Eph 2:8-9

Eph 2:10 

John 21:18-19

John 21:20-21

John 21:22 

Rom 4:3-8

Psalm 32:1-11

Mat 11:28-30 

2Pet 1:5-11 

Street Witnessing and Open Air Preaching Tonight

It's been a while since I've been out on the streets but tonight I managed to get down town and get to it!! What a wonderful thing! The Gospel is still God's power unto salvation for all who believe!!!

It was my plan to just observe, but it was like putting on a comfortable pair of shoes - I had to walk in them!!! The open air preaching wasn't great - but it did lead to a GREAT conversation with a heckler!! What a beautiful warmup for my preaching on Sunday!

:)

Preaching this Sunday

I'm preaching at the main congregation gathering this Sunday. I'll be teaching about Peter's restoration in John 21, and what it means to us as believers. In particular I'll be preaching about how we can each have fruitful ministries despite our weakness and inability.  God has prepared works for us to walk in. How do we get over the fact of our weakness to do the work that He has prepared for us to do? That's the topic for this Sunday!

Woe to you who make entrance hard

Matt 23:13 ¹³ “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in." 

These are harsh words of the Lord Jesus Christ.


Do you say one must "forsake" their sin in order to be saved? Woe to the hypocrite who has not forsaken his own sins. 


Do you say one must obey laws and commands in order to be saved? Woe to the hypocrite who has does not obey in all things himself. 


Some take great joy in preaching what they call a "strong" gospel or a "hard" gospel saying that it is "hard to believe!" They take joy in shutting the kingdom of heaven up against man so as to keep those who would enter by faith out. 

Romans 4 & Psalms 32

Romans 4 is a landmark explanation of Eternal Salvation by grace through faith alone. It clearly contrasts faith to works, and is absolutely clear that faith is not meritorious. Something that is meritorious has "merit" or is worthy of praise or reward.  As important as this is the chapter goes on to be clear that justification is by imputed righteousness, not imparted righteousness. That is to say that faith is accounted as righteousness, not that the one who has faith becomes or is made righteous in practice. 

This one chapter, even if it stood all by itself alone in the Bible which it does not, separates Christianity from every religion ever dreamed up by man. 

Last night at a men's Bible study I was searching for a Psalm and I ran across Psalms 32. I read the first few verses and I realized something I have missed. We'll start in Romans 4 and then look at the Psalm. 

Romans 4:1-8 
¹ What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh? ² For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. ³For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” ⁴ Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. 

⁵ But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, ⁶ just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works:

⁷ “ Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, And whose sins are covered; ⁸ Blessed is the man to whom the LORD shall not impute sin.”

Perhaps you are familiar with the Rabbinical teaching method of speaking the first few lines of a passage in order to bring the entire passage to the mind of those who are hearing you? Jesus Christ did this from the Cross when He spoke "My God, My God! Why have You forsaken Me?" These words are often thought of as His being in despair in His flesh - but it was not. There was no "moment of doubt" on the  Cross. He remained obedient unto death, as we read in Philippians 2:8. He was declaring that the prophecy of Psalm 22:1-31 was being fulfilled before their eyes. 


With that in mind look at Romans 4:6-8 and then read Psalm 32 which I will now quote. 

Psalm 32:1-11

A Psalm of David. A Contemplation.

¹ Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,  Whose sin is covered. ² Blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity, And in whose spirit there is no deceit.

³ When I kept silent, my bones grew old Through my groaning all the day long. ⁴ For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; My vitality was turned into the drought of summer.  Selah   

⁵ I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I have not hidden.  I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” And You forgave the iniquity of my sin.  Selah 

⁶ For this cause everyone who is godly shall pray to You In a time when You may be found;  Surely in a flood of great waters They shall not come near him. ⁷ You are my hiding place; You shall preserve me from trouble;  You shall surround me with songs of deliverance.  Selah

 ⁸ I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye. ⁹ Do not be like the horse or like the mule,  Which have no understanding, Which must be harnessed with bit and bridle, Else they will not come near you. 

¹⁰ Many sorrows shall be to the wicked; But he who trusts in the LORD, mercy shall surround him. ¹¹ Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you righteous; And shout for joy, all you upright in heart! 

This is an amazing teaching!!

It might be noted immediately that Paul's quote stops halfway through verse 2. Of course the Scriptures were not separated into verses in Paul's time.  Some will say that "in whose spirit there is no deceit" shows that the person has a "changed life" but look at the rest of the Psalm.  This deceit is defined as keeping silent about your sin instead of confessing it to God. David explains the misery of trying to keep this deceit, but offers the solution in verse 5. Psalm 32:5

David goes on to explain in verses 6 & 7 that God's faithfulness is why those who know Him pray to Him knowing that He hears and will act.

Psalm 32:8-9 switches to God's words to David and these words are most instructive with regard to the Lordship Salvation point of view, or the "become a slave to be saved" view as it is being presented so often recently.  David declares in Psalm 32:5 that he confessed his sin to God and that God forgave David. This is something that has happened already, and now God is telling David what He will do now.

⁸ I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;  I will guide you with My eye. ⁹ Do not be like the horse or like the mule, Which have no understanding, Which must be harnessed with bit and bridle, Else they will not come near you.

God tells David that He will instruct and teach David in the way he should go. Paul by pointing us to this passage in context of Salvation, faith and works shows us that God's words to David are also to us. So listen  up!

In verse 9 God tells David to not be like a mule that must be harnessed and overcome in order for it to come to it's master.

This is what Lordship Salvation, and the most recent love affair with the concept of slavery as an illustration of Salvation in Christ Jesus tells us. That we must become bridled, have our will overcome, and be drug to Christ as a slave in order for us to be saved.

Did you listen to God speaking? Do you hear His words? Do not be like that! This is not God's will. God's will is that you would be forgiven and that you would listen to Him and let Him guide you in the way you should go. Not as a slave, but as a disciple - a student.

Hear how the Psalm closes.

¹⁰ Many sorrows shall be to the wicked; But he who trusts in the LORD, mercy shall surround him. ¹¹ Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you righteous; And shout for joy, all you upright in heart! 

I hope this is a help to many!

On My Walk

So here I am a couple of weeks into my retirement from the Canadian Forces and I'm being recruited by a very large defence contractor to go back to work on the same base I retired from as a civilian. It's a new career that would build on everything I've learned already yet require me to step up and learn so much more. I've decided to follow the challenge and see where it takes me.

I'm also working on several books, with not a lot of progress this past week. I've been very sick for the last two weeks - retirement doesn't sit well with me perhaps?

The specter of Lordship Salvation raised its insidious head at my Brethren assembly recently.

We have unity on the Gospel at the assembly. We do not spend any time talking about "Free Grace" or "Lordship Salvation" or anything like that. Frankly, we just get on with preaching the Word.  Longtime readers of On My Walk will know that I am very uncomfortable with accepting a label or title for my beliefs. One cannot control what the label means to the person who reads or hears it. To some Free Grace is equated with the Brethren of old, with the likes of H.A. Ironside... to others Free Grace is associated with the Grace Evangelical Society. There is a gulf of difference between them. Likewise there is a gulf of difference between various interpretations of Lordship Salvation.  We are charged to 'preach the Word' and so that's what we do. Blogs, conventions and meetings are good places to deal with various heresies, the pulpit is for preaching the Word.

Anyway, someone brought the theology of Lordship Salvation in and I was afraid at how it was received  by many. Many didn't immediately recognize it because they don't spend near the time that I do examining it. Some did recognize it though, and I'm thankful for that. Discussion with the Elders led to a clear and decisive move to ensure such theology is not preached to our assembly met with my approval and great relief.

In short we retained unity in the Gospel, and that's a big deal.

I've found that since I'm retired from the military and so no longer subject to moving around the world, and since we've decided to stay here in this city that the importance of everything at my assembly has greatly increased. Everything matters, I mean really matters and this is a new development in my walk. I've always loved those I fellowship with, and it has always been important that they are doing well. Now though, this importance is overwhelming.

So that's where I'm at on my walk right now. How are you doing?

Make Your Election Sure

2 Peter 1:1-15 is a section of Scripture that stands in stark contrast to the concept that 'saving faith' is a faith that works, or a faith that perseveres, or a faith that DOES. Most specifically 2 Peter 1:5-9 indicates that works must be added to our faith, it is not our faith that works.

⁵ But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, ⁶ to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, ⁷ to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. ⁸ For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹ For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.

I've written about this passage before, and made no small point of verse 9. That a person who has faith, but does not add these things to it can forget that they were saved. This is a shocking revelation for anyone who believes in the TULIP concept of "Perseverance of the Saints." However, today I want to talk about the one part of 2nd Peter chapter 1 that gets used to support the idea that "true saving faith works." 


2Pet 1:10 

Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble;

A proponent of the view I'm opposing might say: 

If you're really saved you'll do all the things that Peter wrote about; so make sure you're really saved.

On the surface this statement and conclusion has an appearance of some validity; if the point is that one can have assurance of salvation by seeing these things happening in their life. The person might note that the one who forgets that their sins were purged (Verse 9) would have no assurance of salvation.

On the surface perhaps... but it's convoluted isn't it? This is taking all of what Peter wrote and twisting it two different ways. One that really saved people do these so if you're really saved then you'll do them. The other that this is about assurance.

Now I've had multitudes of conversations with people who hold to Lordship Salvation, and Perseverance of the Saints about these tests of salvation. I have consistently found that their arguments jump back and forth between testing the validity of one's salvation and offering assurance to those who are saved.  When the one is shown to be false they simply move to the other; wash rinse repeat ad nausuem.

Instead of continuing the cycle let's see what Peter says his point is.


2Pet 1:10-11 is the whole point, not just verse 10 by itself.

¹⁰ Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; ¹¹ for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

For so an entrance!!! The NIV renders this as a "rich welcome" into the eternal Kingdom. This whole passage is about ensuring fruitfulness and experiencing the nature of Christ in your own life while we are here - so that when we go to Heaven we will be greatly rewarded for bringing glory to the Name of Christ.

But instead of just reading a short snippet and hoping we have the context correct, let's look at the whole passage.

He begins the section with these precious verses 2Pet 1:1-4

¹ Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ,
To those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:
² Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, ³ as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, ⁴ by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

We may be partakers of His divine nature - according to His promises! Then of course we read how we can partake by adding the various things of His nature to our faith in 2Pet 1:5-9. (see above). Peter then finishes the passage with these encouraging words 2Pet 1:12-15

¹² For this reason I will not be negligent to remind you always of these things, though you know and are established in the present truth. ¹³ Yes, I think it is right, as long as I am in this tent, to stir you up by reminding you, ¹⁴ knowing that shortly I must put off my tent, just as our Lord Jesus Christ showed me. ¹⁵ Moreover I will be careful to ensure that you always have a reminder of these things after my decease.

It is because of our promise of being able to partake, and the great rewards that await those who do that Peter will not be negligent to remind us always of these things - even though he knew those he was writing to were established. He is so passionate about this that he wants to make sure that his reminders continue even after he is deceased.

He's not concerned that these people may not really be saved. He's not concerned that they might not know if they are saved or not. He is concerned with the fruitfulness of their walk, and the richness of their entrance into Heaven.

So Brethren, add to your faith all the things of Christ's nature and you will have a rich entrance into Heaven.

New Free Grace Blog

Brother Liam Moran has a new (as of December 2010) Free Grace blog titled Into This Grace.  Liam has a Masters of Divinity, and a Doctorate of Ministry from Andersonville Theological Seminary and a BA in Pastoral Studies from Moody Bible Institute.

Please check Into This Grace out, Liam's passion for protecting and proclaiming the message of God's grace is a drink of cool refreshing water for anyone who also carries this same burden in their heart; like I do.

Right now he's looking at how assemblies of believers search for Pastors. Specifically dealing with search committees, transition and candidacy.  This is something I'm going to be reading this week with interest because my own assembly is considering a candidate for the position of Associate Pastor.

Please pray for Liam and for the ministry that God would have for him through his blog!

I've added Into This Grace to the links and blogs I follow here.