“The man who talks about his experience as a Christian, who never does anything for Christ, is , I am afraid, only and idle dreamer.”
~ Charles Spurgeon, 1893, Sermon 2315
The last several days, I have either been preparing for the Shepherd’s Conference or as is true at the moment, I am here absorbing. What a blessing.
The first day John MacArthur preached on Biblical separation. It has been a long time since I have heard a solid Biblical view on Christian separation. It was encouraging and refreshing! This was followed up that evening on integrity.
Tom Pennington and Rick Holland were equally engaging and encouraging.
This morning in the Q&A we got a goot look at the heart of John. There is a heart for ministry and a heart to minister in clear humility to pastor, hence, The Shepherd’s Conference.
I know there will be those that will say I am bordering on hero worship. Nothing could be further form the truth. I am here for two reasons:
1. The content of Biblical theology especially the implications of soteriology in ministry.
2. The fellowship of pastors who have the same heart of the Gospel message.
I just thought of a third reason and perhaps the most important; that God would do a greater work in my heart for the cause and glory of Christ.
- Michael Holtzinger
But if any one fact is clear, … it is that the Christian movement at its inception was not just a way of life in the modern sense, but a way of life founded upon a message. It is perfectly clear that the first Christian missionaries did not simply come forward with exhortation; they did not say: “Jesus of Nazareth lived a wonderful life of filial piety, and we call upon you our hearers to yield yourselves as we have done to the spell of that life.” Certainly that is what modern historians would have expected the first Christian missionaries to say, but it must be recognized at least that as a matter of fact they said nothing of the kind. They came forward, not merely with an exhortation or with a program, but with a message,—with an account of something that had happened a short time before. “Christ died for our sins,” they said, “according to the Scriptures; he was buried; he has been raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.”
This message, even the small excerpt from it quoted by Paul in 1Cor. 15:3ff., contains two elements—it contains (1) the facts and (2) the meaning of the facts (“for our sins”). The narration of the facts is history; the setting forth of the meaning of the facts is doctrine. These two elements are always contained in the Christian message. “Suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried”-that is history. “He loved me and gave himself
for me”—that is doctrine. Without these two elements, inextricably intertwined, there is no Christianity.
The character of primitive Christianity, as founded upon a message, is summed up in the words of the eighth verse of the first chapter of Acts—”Ye shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” It is entirely unnecessary, for the present purpose, to argue about the historical value of the Book of Acts or to discuss the question whether Jesus really spoke the words just quoted. In any case the verse must be recognized as an adequate summary of what is known about primitive Christianity. From the beginning Christianity was a campaign of witnessing. And the witnessing did not concern merely what Jesus was doing within the recesses of the individual life. To take the words of Acts in that way is to do violence to the context and to all the evidence. On the contrary, the Epistles of Paul and all the sources make it abundantly plain that the testimony was primarily not to inner spiritual facts but to what Jesus had done once for all in His death and resurrection.
~ J. Gresham Machen, (1881-1937), Liberalism or Christianity?, THE PRINCETON THEOLOGICAL REVIEW, Vol. 20, 1922, Page 97
“As the salt flavors every drop of the Atlantic, so sin affects every atom of our nature. It is so sadly there, so abundantly there, that if you cannot detect it, you are deceived.”
~ Charles Hayden Spurgeon, Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit 21:365
“For Calvinism, in this soteriological aspect of it, is just the perception and expression and defence of the utter dependence of the soul on the free grace of God for salvation. All its so-called hard features—its doctrine of original sin, yes, speak it right out, its doctrine of total depravity and the entire inability of the sinful will to good; its doctrine of election, or, to put it in the words everywhere spoken against, its doctrine of predestination and preterition, of reprobation itself—mean just this and nothing more. Calvinism will not play fast and loose with the free grace of God. It is set upon giving to God, and to God alone, the glory and all the glory of salvation. There are others than Calvinists, no doubt, who would fain make the same great confession. But they make it with reserves, or they painfully justify the making of it by some tenuous theory which confuses nature and grace. They leave logical pitfalls on this side or that, and the difference between logical pitfalls and other pitfalls is that the wayfarer may fall into the others, but the plain man, just because his is a simple mind, must fall into those. Calvinism will leave no logical pitfalls and will make no reserves. It will have nothing to do with theories whose function it is to explain away facts. It confesses, with a heart full of adoring gratitude, that to God, and to God alone, belongs salvation and the whole of salvation; that He it is, and He alone, who works salvation in its whole reach. Any falling away in the slightest measure from this great confession is to fall away from Calvinism. Any intrusion of any human merit, or act, or disposition, or power, as ground or cause or occasion, into the process of divine salvation,—whether in the way of power to resist or of ability to improve grace, of the opening of the soul to the reception of grace, or of the employment of grace already received—is a breach with Calvinism.”
~ B.B. Warfield, was professor of theology at Princeton Seminary from 1887 to 1921, Taken from an article: “Calvinism Today”
Over the many years of my ministry I have enthusiastically and sometimes aggressively supported such causes as the pro-life movement, the defense of traditional marriage, and religious liberty as part of my expression of the Christian faith I hold and my obedience to Christ. Time and treasure have been spent on all these issues and others as well. There is no doubt in my mind that the Christian and the Church should be animated and proactive on these and other issues as an outgrowth of our commitment and obedience to the Savior who purchased us with His precious blood on the cross of Calvary.
In 1994, Franky Schaeffer, in his book; “Bad News For Modern Man – An Agenda For Christian Activism” called for “An Ecumenicism of Orthodoxy” where religious groups united around what he called “an ecumenism … based upon what we agree to be the essence of Christian faith, including an orthodoxy of belief in social concerns and priorities.”[1] But just what is this “essence of Christian faith?” It does not take long to see that Franky is arguing for a coalition of belligerents that would include the Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches in cooperation with Evangelicals[2].
Continue reading ‘The Manhattan Declaration “Why I can’t support the Declaration”’
There are those who think that Charles Hyden Spurgeon was not a Calvinist. So, here’s a quote from Spurgeon on “limited atonement.”
The Armenians say, Christ died for all men. Ask them what they mean by it. Did Christ die so a
s to secure the salvation of all men? They say, “No, certainly not.” We ask them the next question – Did Christ die so as to secure the salvation of any man in particular? They answer “No.” They are obliged to admit this if they are consistent. They say “No, Christ has died that any man may be saved if” – and then follow certain conditions of salvation. We say, then we will just go back to the old statement – Christ did not die so as beyond doubt to secure the salvation of anybody, did he? You must say “No”; you are obliged to say so, for you believe that even after a man has been pardoned, he may yet fall from grace, and perish. Now who is it that limits the death of Christ? Why, you. You say that Christ did not die so as to infallibly secure the salvation of anybody, We beg your pardon, when you say we limit Christ’s death; we say, No my dear sir, it is you that do it. We say Christ so died that he infallibly secured the salvation of a multitude that no man can number, who through Christ’s death no only may be saved, but are saved, must be saved, and cannot by any possibility run the hazard of being anything but saved. You are welcome to your atonement; you may keep it. We will never renounce ours for the sake of it.
- Charles H. Spurgeon, “Particular Redemption,” sermon preached February 28, 1858.
When we place our faith in Christ we do so because He stood in our place as an atonement for sin (2 Corinthians 5:21). He became our substitute for the punishment of sin and endured the wrath of a just and righteous God for us in our stead (Romans 3:24-26). He bore the sins of others in His body on the cross (1 Peter 2:24); He suffered once to bear the sins of others (Hebrews 9:28); He experienced horrible suffering, scourging, and death in place of sinners (Isaiah 53:4-6). That is the meaning of substitution. It is often described as “vicarious,” meaning; “in place of another.” The innocent Christ made atonement and suffered for the wicked (1 Peter 3:18).
Two Greek prepositions emphasize the substitutionary nature of the death of Christ on the cross. The preposition anti, ( appears 22 time in N.T.) translated “for,” means Christ died “instead of” sinners (Matthew. 20:28; Mark 10:45). The preposition huper, also translated “for,” means Christ died “for the benefit of,” or “in place of” sinners (Galatians 3:13; 1 Timothy. 2:6; 2 Corinthians. 5:21; 1 Peter. 3:18).
Continue reading ‘I Am Secure Because of the Substitutionary, Sacrificial Death of Christ’
At the 2007 Shepherd’s Conference, John MacArthur opened the Conference with a message that was clearly on his heart and yet controversial among many of a reformed persuasion and preached with some humor. If you have not heard the message you can go to http://www.gracechurch.org/media/default.aspx?filter=ministry&id=26&page=10 and download the message in full for $2.50. It is well worth your time and money.
With that being said, here are the beginning excerpts from that message.
Sovereign Election, Israel, And Eschatology
“…It is one of the strange ironies in the church and in reformed theology, that those who love the doctrine of sovereign election most supremely, and most sincerely, and who are most unwavering in their devotion to the glory of God, the honor of Christ, the work of the Spirit in regeneration and sanctification, the veracity and inerrancy of Scripture, and who are the most fastidious in hermeneutics, and who are the most careful and intentionally biblical regarding categories of doctrine, and who see themselves as guardians of biblical truth, and are not content to be wrong at all, and who agree most hardily on the essential matters of Christian truth, so that they labor with all their powers to examine in a Berean fashion every relevant text to discern the true interpretation in all matters of Divine revelation, are (that’s the main verb) in varying degrees of disinterest in applying those passions and skills to the end of the story, and rather content to be happy and even playful disagreement in regard to the vast biblical data on eschatology, as if the end didn’t matter much.
Or another way of saying it… How many of you have attended an “amill” prophecy conference? …Does the end matter, does it matter to God, should it matter to us. I think it matters to God. I think it’s the whole point of history. I know it’s the whole point of history. History is headed to a divinely designed and revealed end. And if it matters enough to God to reveal it, it should matter enough to us to understand the revelation of it. Did not God fill Scripture with end time prophecy?
… Did God in this significant volume of revelation somehow muddle His word so hopelessly that the high ground for theologians is simply to recognize the muddle and abandon any thought of the perspicuity of Scripture with regard to eschatology? Is in fact working hard to understand prophetic passages needless and impossible, because they require a spiritualized or allegoricalized set of interpretations that says the truth is somehow hidden behind the normal meaning of the words, so any idea of what it might mean is as good as any other idea of what it might mean since it doesn’t mean what it says? Are you comfortable with the notion that the hard and fast, tried and true principles of interpretation have to be set aside every time you come to a prophetic text?
…That leads me to my title; ‘Why Isn’t Every Self-Respecting Calvinist a Premillennialist?’”
That should give you a taste. This message is not a defense of dispensationalism but rather a persuasive argument for the literal/historical exegetical hermeneutics of the prophetic scriptures. Now go and download the message! It will challenge your heart, even if you don’t fully agree with some of John’s conclusions.
-Michael Holtzinger
Whenever I hear someone critical of the doctrine of the security of the believer, and properly called the “perseverance of the saints”, the question comes up; “Is he a Baptist?” This doctrine is not peculiar to Baptists but is held by a great many evangelical groups and was beautifully expressed by Reformed Theology in the Westminster Confession of Faith. Here it is in part:
“They whom God hath accepted in His Beloved, effectually call and sanctified by His Spirit, can neither totally, nor finally fall away from the state of grace; but shall certainly persevere therein to the end and be eterenally saved. This perseverance of the saints depends, not upon their own free-will, but on the immutability of the decree of election, flowing from the free and unchangeable love of God the Father, upon the efficacy of the merit and intercession of Jesus Christ; the abiding of the Spirit and of the seed of God within them; and the nature of the covenant of grace: from all which ariseth also the certainly and infallibility thereof. Nevertheless they may, through the temptations of Satan and of the world, the prevalency of corruption remaining in them, and the neglect of the means of their preservation, fall into grievous sins; and for a time continue therein: whereby they incur God’s displeasure, and grieve His Holy Spirit; come to be deprived of some measure of their graces and comforts; have their hearts hardened, their consciences wounded; hurt and scandalize others, and bring temporal judgments upon themselves.”
~Philip Schaff, ed., “The Creeds of Christendom, vol. 3, Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1977, pg. 636-637
There can no doubt, by honest people, that the security of the believer/perseverance of the saints is not an excuse for antinomianism (a license to sin).
Those who hold that a onetime decision to accept Jesus Christ as Savior but not as Lord is all it takes to be a Christian will find that the Westminster Confession and the whole of the Scriptures fly in the face of that position. Salvation is far more than an ascent to the facts of salvation; it also incorporates a transforming commitment to Christ where there is an abandonment of self effort that is reflected in the totality of one’s life. It is commitment that emulates true repentance which is more than a change of mind about who Jesus Christ is (Deity), but one that changes one’s mind about sin as well and a commitment to walk in Christ, by the grace of God (Ephesians 2:10; Gal 5:16). It s a faith that looks to Christ as the full sufficiency for life itself. Christ did not come to give only a “fire escape,” but rather saving life itself (John 10:10). This life perseveres to the end by the power of resurrected Christ (Philippians 1:6; 3:10).
- Michael Holtzinger
Ephesians 1:19-22 ( NKJV ) 19and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power 20which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 21far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. 22And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church,
Philippians 3:20-21 ( NKJV ) 20For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.
This is a further discussion in many ways of the purposes of God in salvation. Whatever God purposes He must have the power to carry out. A God who calls ( Romans 8:28,30; Romans 9:24, 1 Corinthians 1:2,9,24,26; Galatians 5:13; Ephesians 4:1,4; 1 Thessalonians 2:12; 5:24, Colossians 3:15; 2 Timothy 1:9; 1 Peter 1:15), and a God who elects (Romans 8:33; 9:11, 11:5,7,28; 1 Thessalonians 1:4; Colossians 3:12; 1 Peter 1:2) is a Sovereign God. But if He lacks the power of his calling and elective prerogatives He cannot, in the final analysis , be called Sovereign and his elective purposes and His calling out a people unto Himself is meaningless. Thankfully, this is not the case.
In our Lord’s high priestly prayer in the Gospel of John, we read; “Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are.” The Apostle Peter, who no doubt heard this prayer, in his first epistle, concluded that we are “kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (I Peter 1:5). The Lord Jesus’ prayer that those who were given to Him by the Father, were to be kept by the authority and power of the name of God. It is no wonder then that Peter would state so emphatically that we are kept by the power of God, as it rests on the very authority and reputation of God Himself.
Continue reading ‘Secure In Christ By The Power of God’
Mornings for me have seen some changes of this past year as I received news from my doctor that “Hot Tamales” and “Junior Mints” were not a food group. This meant a change in diet and early morning exercise. The diet change was no big deal, but the exercise was something else. So, in order to assuage the boredom of peddling a recumbent bicycle I turn on the TV and watch the news while I sweat and peddled.
Today was the National Day of Prayer and I was treated to constant flash backs on the TV news to the National Prayer Breakfast and then it happened… the speech of President Obama from the Prayer Breakfast.
First, let me say that my understanding of the Biblical theology of prayer is that true prayer rests with regenerated believers alone (Isaiah1:15; John 9:31). And a gathering of people from all kinds of faith, Christian (Evangelical, Liberal Protestant, Catholic, etc.), along with Mormonism, Scientology, Islam, Buddhist, and who knows what else sends a message that devalues propositional truth, the exclusiveness of the Scriptures, and makes God the subjective god of our imagination.
As I listened though, to President Obama it became very clear, very quickly, that for him, government was the answer to the social condition of man and that God was a mere helper. He certainly did not see prayer from a Biblical perspective that views the discipline of prayer as a complete dependence upon God no matter what the situation or outcome. The politicizing of prayer by our President was truly sickening and his reliance on “his administration” and “their” policies to cure the ills of mankind was staggering.
I have kept this blog short, as I could comment no further on the speech since I walked out of the room before he finished and I got sicker.
Acts 17:28 ( NKJV ) 28for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’
2 Chronicles 7:14 ( NKJV ) 14if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
- Michael Holtzinger
Ephesians 1:11 ( NKJV ) 11In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will,
Titus 3:5 ( NKJV ) 5not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,
I can remember a time before I came to know the Lord when I was told that my salvation did not depend on my goodness or good works but on Christ. I just found that incomprehensible. Once I came to know Christ I thought I understood the Biblical principle that I was saved by the Grace of God because of the work of Christ on the cross. My understanding was that I added no work or effort to my salvation. While that is true, what I didn’t really get, was that the phrase “not of works” (Ephesians 2:8, Titus 3:5; Romans 9:11), meant that God chose and that He did this before the foundation of the world and that His choosing was not dependent upon any good works I may or may not do in the future.
Ephesians 1:3-4 ( NKJV ) 3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.
The emphasis of Ephesians 1:11 is that salvation it is not by the will or effort of man but solely by the will of God and therefore for His purposes only (vs.5)! The Christian has an inheritance in Christ based on the will and purposes of God alone (vv.5, 11).
Continue reading ‘I Am Secure Because Of The Sovereign Purposes Of God’
“What good does it do to me to tell me that the type of religion presented in the Bible is a very fine type of religion and that the thing for me to do is just to start practicing that type of religion now? …I will tell you, my friend,. It does me not one tiniest little bit of good.
…What I need first of all is not exhortation, but a gospel, niot directions for saving myself but knowledge of how God has saved me. Have you any good news? That is the question that I ask of you. I know your exhortations will not help me. But if anything has been done to save me, will you not tell me the facts?”
~John Gresham Machen, “Christian Faith In The Modern World”, (New York: Macmillan, 1936, pg 57
“Faith is chosen by God to be the receiver of salvation, becau
se it does not pretend to create salvation, nor to help in it, but it is content humbly to receive it. Faith is the tongue that begs pardon, the hand which receives it, and the eye which sees it; but it is not the price which buys it. Faith never makes herself her own plea, she rests all her argument upon the blood of Christ. She becomes a good servant to bring the riches of the Lord Jesus to the soul, because she acknowledges whence she drew them, and owns that grace alone entrusted her with them.”
~Charles Spurgeon, All of Grace
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