This Blog Has Moved @ ryanthecalvinist.blogspot.com !

New location!!

noreply@blogger.com (Ryan Gill) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 02:45:00 +0000

This blog has moved location!!!

Please head on over to my new location:

http://ryanthecalvinist.blogspot.com/

On the Supressing of the Truth (Romans 1:18)

noreply@blogger.com (Ryan Gill) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 00:17:00 +0000

Romans 1:18-19 (ESV)
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them."

Recently I got into a rather uncomfortable conversation with a fellow religious studies major. It actually began by discussing Freud's insane views on the origins of religion, which my 580 class was to read for the following class time. I will not go into great detail at this time... but Freud's view as to the origin of religion itself has NO historical basis whatsoever. It is just nuts.

However the conversation somehow got much more uncomfortable. My classmate, Ben, charged me with not understanding people. This is somewhat puzzling... as I am a person actually. But when Ben asked me "what is the number one reason people become atheists," I answered truthfully and honestly: They are suppressing the knowledge of God. Ben practically dropped his jaw and stared at me. He asked me what I thought would happen if I told that to an atheist, perhaps a Pastafarian when they protest on campus. I recognized that they would punch me and deny it. OBVIOUSLY if they are suppressing the knowledge of YHWH, they are NOT going to ADMIT they are suppressing that knowledge!! They claim their IS no God... how could they SUPPRESS what they do not believe even EXISTS?

So will the atheist deny that he is suppressing the knowledge of God? Totally. And.... why exactly should I trust the testimony of an atheist as to whether or not he suppresses the knowledge of God over the testimony of that very living God? I cannot exegete the person's personal experience. Am I saying there are not other factors that contribute to someone's unbelief? As far as basic belief in deity (which is NOT the same as belief and trust in Christ to save from sins)? Sure... there may be conventional notions of that person being "hurt" by legalism or religion, etc. (Which is not a very compelling argument... I'm not going to NOT use an iPod just because there are a lot of Apple fanboy nuts who are jerks who insult my Windows 7-loving ways!) However, ULTIMATELY they are indeed engaged in a constant and fairly draining sin.

It must be exhausting for someone to be constantly suppressing the knowledge of God... whether you suppose it is ingrained somehow within us in some God-shaped hole, as Augustine wrote of... or you want to categorize it biblically and recognize the heavens and the sky proclaim God's majestic handiwork. Yet as you read on in Romans 1, that is just what they did... they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped ANYTHING else they could to help them suppress the guilty knowledge they have of their sin and of the existence of the true living God. Even looking around today, we see little difference. The unregenerate believer worships a functional savior rather than repenting and worshiping YHWH, maker of heaven and earth. Whether they worship technology, relationships, sex, substances, or their job... their idols are in place to blot out the truth of their sin and of the truth of God's existence.

Praise God for his love and is mercy... Christian, even when we were actively denying the very existence of God, he died for us. And nonChristian, though you are currently suppressing the knowledge of God, you need to know that he died to pay for sins - he actually atoned for sins on the cross, paying the fine for everyone who turns from their sin (repentance) and places their trust in Christ's finished work (death on the cross, burial, and resurrection) to save from sin and God's holiness.

A scandle with God's sovereign plan to save?

noreply@blogger.com (Ryan Gill) — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 05:24:00 +0000

Today in my REL 580 "Theories of Religious Studies", Dr. Given brought up something interesting that the Deists and Natural Religion gurus of the 18th century were bothered by. something called "The Scandal of Particularity." This "scandal" deals with their rebellion against the notion of God choosing to save a VERY SMALL group of people throughout History - taking true form in Abraham and throughout to those in the New Covenant today. This seems to be the minority today, in our world of fast and easy communication. But consider how many people have lived on this planet... and in places where the gospel never reached... or even a word of the Torah uttered. It is quite clear that the VAST majority of people, according to biblical Christianity, will be in Hell after the final judgment for all eternity.

These more "enlightened" thinkers (oh brother!) gauge that if there was really any justice in the world, religion must be natural and available to everyone, making salvation available at all times in all places. These men saw it as unjust for a god to only make salvation available to a select few, and to condemn several worlds full of people who do not have an option to be saved. After all, how can those who do not know about the gospel be held accountable for not being saved? Thus, this is the "scandal of particularity." That God would only save a particular people within a particular time. And somehow this doesn't sit well with human beings and their (fallen) concept of what is just and good.

Actually, this is Palagianism, run amok

The very "problem" itself is nothing more than the complaining of sinful, wretched, rebellious creatures who HATE their creator and are using this as an excuse to not repent and trust the gospel to save. It if fundamentally flawed. It presupposes that we, as sons and daughters of our first father Adam, are morally neutral (or even good) creatures, who deserve salvation... who are not responsible for their damnation if they can't accept a way out of it.

This is not just unbiblical, it is counter-biblical! It spits in the face of the gospel of divine grace.

Their dichotomy begins with their selfish man-centered concept of "justice" they have cooked up and are forcing upon our Sovereign Lord. Yet while they scream WE WANT JUSTICE!!! they deceive themselves. They do not want justice. They do NOT want JUSTICE!! JUSTICE would mean that Adam and all of his offspring would spend an eternity experiencing God's righteous wrath in Hell! That is what we deserve. By nature we are in fact children of WRATH (Eph 2). We are not morally neutral beings who have gotten a bum deal for being born at a time or place absent from Christianity... we are at enmity with God from birth... nah, from conception, as we are sinful from the moment we are conceived (Ps 51). THAT is what is JUSTICE. That is what we all deserve by our nature.

And yet... God does not give us justice. THANKFULLY he does not. He is a God of justice... but he does not pour out his just wrath on me for my sin... he poured it out 2000 years ago on Christ Jesus, who was the Godman... lived a perfect life... and gave his life as a ransom for many. His righteousness was imputed to me, and my sinful wretchedness was imputed to him. He gave me his righteousness to wear as a pristine pure white coat... and in love he took on my disgusting dung-covered jacket as his own. I do not deserve salvation. It OWED to me or to you or to ANYONE. It is not owed by those living in nations where Christianity is prevalent, nor is it owed by those who live in jungles unaware of the gospel... nor was it owed by those living prior to the free offer of the gospel!

That is the thing about GRACE... it is never earned. Never deserved. It is given out freely, graciously by the giver. God would have been 100% PERFECTLY JUST to not offer salvation to ANYONE. But he chose, because he FELT LIKE IT, because it pleased him to do so, to save SOME. He chose to save a particular people for himself... to give to the Son (Jesus Christ) as a payment for his selfless humiliation - the death on a cross. Because God foreloved he chose to shed his blood for all who repent and believe the gospel - for the elect, chosen before the foundation of the world.

I do not scream out for JUSTICE. Instead I thank God for his glorious, marvelous GRACE. Completely undeserved, applied to my account.

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A coherant picture resulting from the Gospel accounts

noreply@blogger.com (Ryan Gill) — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 05:33:00 +0000

Yes. Believe it or not... it is possible. Actually don't "not" believe it. If you do (or don't?) then you are just wrong. So stop it. Or do it. I forget.

Moving on.

One of the "drums" my extremely liberal professor Boyer was banging away at this past intercession course was that there is no way to generalize about an event or teaching of Christ from the pages of Scripture. We can, according to Boyer, only say with any certainty what Mark says about Jesus doing _____ or how John characterizes Jesus during ______. Each account exists isolated from each other; it would be foolish to attempt to reconcile these accounts into one coherent account of the life and teachings and death and resurrection of Jesus... as... "Then you would be creating a gospel that is unlike ANY of the four canonical Gospels: a gospel that does not even exist!!"

Right. I call shenanigans.

It sounds profound, after all. I mean, if I were to take clips from various films or television episodes... and attempt to edit them together into one story line... I would not have anything resembling the original... rather I would have some strange concoction of Top Gun/Back to the Future/Batman Forever/The Naked Gun/Monsters Inc/Tin Man... right??? The end result of the edit would be essentially a film freak... not fitting into any of the categories of films we started with. The end result of the piecing together project would be a NEW story that the films themselves, in their contexts, never attempted to tell. Any attempt to splice them together would be to rape them from their historical and meaningful and artistic contexts.... RIGHT????

I would put to you, this is the summary of the argument Boyer presented in class concerning ANY (and I do mean ANY) attempt to harmonize the material presented in the four canonical Gospels to arrive at any coherent look at the Gospel accounts. Pardon me while I throw up... the argument is severely flawed at its core. The film example he briefly alluded to (and which I have faithfully, i would argue, expanded on) presupposes that the gospel accounts are of completely different events and story lines. Top Gun has little in common with Back to the Future (aside from the fact they both were made in the mid 80s), and even less in common with Tin Man and Batman Forever!! Each film is looking at its own fictional story to entertain the audience, completely separate from one another. And therein lies the error.

The film example uses distinctly different fictional stories and a hack job to attempt to make a brand new story from various pieces. However, NO ONE would suggest this is the case when reading or watching the daily news. When reading about an event - historical or current - it is often helpful to gain multiple perspectives on the news piece at hand. Multiple papers may show a wide array of opinions and perspectives on a single issue or occurrence. Fox News will include details of a story that are not to be found on CNN... and the BBC or The Telegraph (a British news outlet) are likely to include perspectives on a single story rarely spelled out clearly in an American newspaper.

I think you see my point, but I will put it to you another way. I just hope this example is not too crass.

Some of us can probably recount the various camera angles on the World Trade Center crashes on 9/11 by heart. Different media outlets got a different perspective on the plane crashes. See bellow (disturbing images)

Now I ask you... is there something particularly wrong or DRASTICALLY INSANE about piecing this footage together to show the unfolding of events on 9/11? True... camera A did not see things camera B was able to include. Does this mean that camera B made things up that A did not know about? This is a stupid question. The answer is clearly no. Additionally, you probably know the majority of footage we have of the first plane crash that occurred is not from the major news sources but from independent amateur footage. What of this then? Using Boyer's (and other liberals') logic... we can not POSSIBLY string together the amateur footage with the footage from Fox News of the second plane crash to arrive at a clearer and truthful look at what happened on 9/11, CAN WE??? After all... Fox News Channel MUST have been meaning to tell the ENTIRE story of 9/11 with their cameras from their perspective, as if it is the only perspective to see the footage from. Or... is this not the case?

If we are to be HYPER-critical of harmonization of the Gospel accounts to give us a clear and concise record of the life, teaching, death, and resurrection of Christ, then we MUST be consistent and be HYPER-critical of ANY attempt ANYWHERE to harmonize an account of an event or teaching. Just as the liberal Boyer wants to look at the crucifixion of Christ, and come away from it claiming any form of harmonization does damage to the artistic and cultural context in which the story was composed and told... so we would HAVE to look at different footage from 9/11 and resist putting together that footage to understand what happened that fateful day.

I am unaware of CNN's cameras claiming to provide the entirity of angles when it comes to a given news story. I am not familiar with Fox News' declaration that every camera angle it provides DEFINITIVELY tells each and EVERY story to the fullest, with NOTHING left to uncover from any other possible camera angles on a given story. Similarly, Matthew does not claim to pen the FINAL WORD on the teaching. life, death, and resurrection of Christ. Luke does not claim for itself that ONLY what is recorded in the pages of his Gospel is what actually happened during Jesus' ministry and mission to redeem a lost people. Quite the contrary. Even John wrote in John 21 that Jesus did MANY OTHER things that are not recorded in this particular book. No gospel is comprehensive in and of itself on the life and death and resurrection of Christ!! No gospel even claims this for itself.

Despite what the liberals want you to think/believe... the Gospel accounts CAN be reconciled with each other. One CAN look at the three "options" for Jesus' final words and come up with a definitive last phrase by Christ: "It is finished," as described by John. (For more on this, see below)* Coming so this conclusion is fairly simple once we understand that each of the gospel writers had a unique vantage point of the events which unfolded. Though the vantage points, or camera angles, differed slightly, there is plenty of evidence to piece the different points in such a way that a fairly clear and accurate depiction of Jesus is carefully edited together to give a clear picture of the historical reality of what occurred, as recorded in the New Testament. Historical documents and records are often needed to be harmonized to show a complete picture of what happened, as no single account claims to be the final say on said event. If we are willing to be wisely charitable with other ancient and modern historical accounts... there is absolutely NO reason to not apply this method of harmonization to another ancient document - The Holy Bible.

Of course... seeing as the Bible is literally God's breathed-out Word... this gives even more reason to have trust in the reliability of the documents and in harmonization. But I suppose that is a slightly separate (though indeed important) issue.

*The last words of Jesus recorded by Matthew and Mark are "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" This is not to be understood as Jesus' last words, but they are the last words that these two gospel writers, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, recorded. Mark, for instance, also records that "Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last" (15:37). Luke, then, gives the reader WHAT that loud cry was. "Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, 'Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!'" Again... Jesus then, having said this, breaths his last. So what was uttered with his final breath? "It is finished." After this, Jesus bows his head and gives up his spirit, for he is now actually dead, having accomplished redemption.

Christ's Pefect Obedience for My Account

noreply@blogger.com (Ryan Gill) — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 04:10:00 +0000

Toying w/ this idea... so hang in there with me...

If the work of Christ was limited to the cross in the forgiveness of sins and the wrath of God being transferred to Christ on my account... this does me ZERO amount of good. Ok, I'm forgiven of my sin by God, and God isn't justly furious with me because of my sin... so what? This would do me NO good because ... if I only had my sins forgiven and wrath for me staved off... that doesn't mean I get anything GOOD out of it. Nothing inherently positive. Sure, God not being mad is ok. But is it good?

Think about it. Just because someone isn't pissed at you doesn't mean you have a good relationship with that person, does it? You can not hate someone, but then again not have that individual be your favorite person. Just because you don't want to burn their face with a hot iron doesn't mean you want to give them a hug and let them use your favorite robe when they come over for a late night of pizza & Star Wars (the real trilogy, not that prequel nonsense).

Christ's death on the cross was marvelous. Christ was our substitute!! He died the death we should have died. God's wrath abides on us, but Christ took the punishment for us. Amazing love.

And yet, there is more to justification than that.

The cross doesn't just put me "not on God's bad list" anymore. It actually puts me on the "good" list, if I can call it that (though it is not MY goodness). How? Because Christ didn't just die the death I should have died... He lived the life I could not live.

Romans 5:19 speaks greatly of this truth. "For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous."

Through Christ's perfect obedience - his sinless life - he wasn't ONLY able to fulfill the requirement of the sacrificial lamb without blemish as a symbol... His blemish-less life BECOMES mine. His life of perfect law keeping - something NO mere man has a hope of accomplishing - is what is granted to me and all who repent and trust in Christ for their salvation from sin and the wrath that is to come.

Again, I know this is orthodoxy... but I'm trying to put it all together in my head. Hope I'm on the right track in understanding this glorious doctrine of justification.

I love this glorious gospel of grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone for the glory of God alone, as detailed in Scripture ALONE.

Are You Wasting Your Life?

noreply@blogger.com (Ryan Gill) — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 02:25:00 +0000

Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those who also have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. if in this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.
- Paul, 1 Corinthians 15:12-18 (ESV)

Paul said if Christ ain't resurrected then we wasted out lives /
but that implies that our life's built around Jesus being alive.
-Lecrae, "Don't Waste Your Life"

The lyric penned by Lecrae above should really cause you to think. It really causes the passage in 1 Corinthians 15 to stand out I think. I was aware of the portion very well that says if Christ is not resurrected, we should be pitied. If it could be shown that Jesus was not actually raised, then we are FOOLS for worshiping to resurrected Jesus! Heck, if Jesus was not raised... would you still be a Christian? If it could be proven... there is no way I would persist in the faith. Hedonism, I would greet thee with open arms! If Christ has not been raised, we are the dumbest people to walk the planet.

But the second line from Lecrae caused me to think about the Scripture in a clearer way. For us to be considered fools for thinking Jesus has been raised, if he had not been raised in truth, our lives would HAVE to be FOCUSED on Jesus actually being risen!

I wonder how many professing Christians would affirm with their mouths that this is true- that Jesus is risen, but they do not have their life truly centered ON that wonderful truth? What we do is to be focused on Christ. What I do should be focused on Christ. God has given me the ability to write for the cause of Christ... yet I have not blogged in quite a while... have not used this God-given tool to proclaim Christ and him crucified for our sins and resurrected from the grave for the glory of God. God has given me the mouth to speak, but how often have I remained silent about the gospel I cling to for my salvation?

It is certainly easier to sit and not work for the cause of Christ. Personally I dream often about building a better computer... getting a new iPod... seeing the next movie I am interested in... etc. So many distractions are available to us. But our lives are but a flash in the pan of eternity. And I'm not interested in wasting this life the God has graciously given me.

I am not trying to be legalistic about this or come down on anyone else's case.... I'm talking about where I'm at in this point in my life. I really don't want to waste my life chasing the wind. I want to be working for the cause of Christ... to grow in His righteousness.

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A helpful resource would be checking out John Piper's book "Don't Waste Your Life."

"Don't Waste Your Life" - Lecrae

The Gospel Is Not To Be Compromised.

noreply@blogger.com (Ryan Gill) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 06:31:00 +0000

I am pretty much on the verge of leaving the congregation my parents attend. This may seem of little importance, but with the exception of college, I have faithfully been with them in the church I was raised, the mega church, and finally now the small Bible church. However, something has happened that has caused me to question my role in the congregation, so to speak.

I do not want to go into details... who knows who will be reading this post... and I don't want to bore you or gossip.

So here's the gist, as it were.

June 7, 2009 - guest speaker "preaches" at the church. his gospel is an urgency message of sorts, charging us the importance of being fishers of men to spread the gospel, by fishing and catching men for God, essentially. the problem came though from his lack of gospel in the sermon. he told more stories about himself than I thought possible. Much of the sermon was him preaching about himself, rather than him preaching about forgiveness of sins in Christ. In fact, the cloest thing he ever even came to the "gospel" was his mentioning he shared with one gentleman "the four spiritual laws." If you are unfamiliar, law #1 is "God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life." ::tries not to puke:: This is NOT the gospel! It is not really even true for that matter... but anyway.

Well I messaged the church group I started on Fb and told them that s sermon where the man preaches about himself and tells jokes is not a sermon. One where Christ crucified is not proclaimed is not a sermon. But the person who spoke apparently is an alumni, so to speak, of the congregation, and so no one saw it fit to out and out identify what (if anything) was wrong with the sermonette. My reaction in the message was a bit harsh, i recongized that and repented. Only then my repentance was called (unjustly) into question, and I found out that the leadership felt "more action" should be taken. They wanted to meet with me, but I declined. They seem to want me to repent of not just HOW I said what I said, but for SAYING what I said.

NO. The Gospel if of FAR more importance than man's feelings.

So as a result, I am looking at various churches... some Acts 29, Reformed Baptist and Presby in America for the summer. I don't want to be a loser and up and leave like that over something that may seem so trivial. But then again, the gospel is not trivial... it is CENTRAL.

I know I haven't written much lately. But I don't have the processes anymore to write really long blogs. And If i can't produce GOOD material... why produce half-thought out crud? lol.

On the Marketing of God's Word...

noreply@blogger.com (Ryan Gill) — Sun, 03 May 2009 00:05:00 +0000

2 Timothy 3:16-17 (ESV)
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.

I am a big fan of the ESV. I find it to be a very word-for-word accurate translation yet understandable. I like that while it is similar to the NRSV, the version the Religious Studies Dept. uses here @ MSU, it reflects much more theologically conservative and faithful readings of many a passage that the NRSV... well... theologically butchers. I've often wondered back and forth on the issue, however of the TNIV - Today's New International Version. I know some personally who use this version... but I know there is quite a bit of controversy surrounding the translation, and not from just the KJV-Only nutjobs. Many of the men I respect most - Al Mohler, John Piper, J.I. Packer, etc. are very distrusting of the TNIV for various reasons. (One of the more damning aspects of the TNIV is its translation of Psalm 34:20 in such a way that actually REMOVES the prophetic reference to Christ - "[God] protects all their bones, not one of them will be broken," changing the singular "his" to the generic plural "their".)

However, this post is NOT about the TNIV. (though I have spent too much time already rambling about it!)

While listening to a podcast by Rev. Al Mohler (here), I noticed something that the good Reverend pointed out. The Bible is the Word of God, yes? to equip for every good work... to teach... etc.? Well...







Do you get the point???

SO many "specialty" Bibles to fill market niches...

I have, for instance an NIV Student Bible... something more or less for teens with its level of notes... but I have it LEATHER BOUND. I even had my name engraved... for WHAT? a Bible that basically "expires" after I turn 18 or 19?? Does that seem... off to anyone? It does to me.

There is NOTHING wrong with study bibles. I have an ESV Study Bible AND an ESV Reformation Study Bible... both of which are amazing tools for study! I often feel lost if I do not have either of those Bibles with me, ESPECIALLY when I am working through the Old Testament, with so many cities and terminologies I am unfamiliar with. However many MANY of these I am skeptical of go beyond the scholarly emphasis. They often will have study notes that focus on... well... me. The Bible for the 12 yr old boy who plays Nintendo Wii... where does it end??? The focus isn't on helping the reader understand the given Bible passage. It is on meeting the individual's felt NEEDS.

Scholarship and theology has been exchanged for self-help Bible programs. ... and i'm not even TALKING about the "translations" themselves... from the TNIV to the NLT... I'm not saying we have to have NO study notes and NO designs on the Bibles... that is fine. But a camo Bible? I mean really...

What are your thoughts??

If the law has not passed away, what then of grace?

noreply@blogger.com (Ryan Gill) — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 08:16:00 +0000

Personally, I am in the process of working my way through the Gospel of Mark in preparation/repentance as we move closer and closer to Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday. However, a question came up today from a professor of mine that I had to address.

Matthew 5:17-20 {ESV}
[Jesus taught, saying:] "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever laxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."

Late last year I did a rather lengthy blog about the later portion of this verse -- "exceeding the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees." This post however will look at the earlier portion of this verse, particularly v 18-- the bit about NOTHING of the law is passing away with Christ's coming.

What exactly brought about the gears in my head turning in regards to this verse? I started focusing a bit on this verse as a result of a brief conversation I had with one of my professors and a fellow Religious Studies Major. I do not exactly know HOW we got to talking about it... but Travis mentioned a student in his youth group had asked about why they were no longer bound to the levitical law. Travis gave the answer, "Because we are under the new covenant," yet admitted he did not have, at that moment, a better answer than that and began to wonder a bit for himself what the answer was. My Prof. alluded to Matthew 5 in stating that Jesus had said he did not come to do away with the law, and not one "jot or tittle" would pass away from the law.

The next words (as close as I can remember) were "Now, this is in complete contradiction to what is written in Galatians! Yes it is -- Complete contradiction... [Christians] pick-and-choose which rules to follow and which ones to not."

For better or for worse, I did not respond to that comment. Possibly for worse. I had no desire to get into a theological discussion /argument with her however. Not only does she come at scholarship from a more secular angle, her coming at the conversation from a... well... NOT Reformed tradition means we are coming to the table from utterly different presuppositions about what the purpose of the law is, how man is saved, etc. Furthermore, if I do not chew on something for a while, my tendency to stutter really gets in the way. Either way, I figure I could pseudo-respond in blog-fashion. Certainly my prof's noting that Jesus said that not one bit of the law would pass away. However, I would take GREAT exception to the rest of her statement. To claim Jesus' words are contradictory of Paul's?

So what is my response?

I will first state the presuppositions I hold. I and a Reformed Christian and hold to the inerrancy and infallibility of the Holy Bible. I hold to the actual authorship of the Bible-- that is, if a book in the cannon says it is written by St. Paul... it WAS written by St. Paul. This goes for ANY book of the Bible, btw... even Daniel! I believe the Bible as being, as Paul wrote to Timothy, "theopneustos" -- breathed-out of the mouth of God. And as it is theopneustos, and our God is a God of order, not confusion or contradiction, then the Bible never contradicts itself. Any "contradiction" that we may observe IS either able to be harmonized with clear Scripture or may be beyond our comprehension as fallen man to understand. Again... no true contradictions in the Scripture. No double-talk from the Holy Spirit.

Now that that's out of the way...

Again, Jesus DID say that not one bit of the law is to be thrown away with the coming of Christ. This only makes sense with what Jesus was doing in the sermon of the mount - showing the TRUE nature of the law in the first place! Again, the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5, 6, & 7) is NOT some sweet little sermon about good morals. Not at all. You think you're only guilty of murder if you actually KILL a guy?? HAH! If you even are P-Oed with someone, you are a murderer at heart! You think you can get a divorce?? If you get any sort of divorce other than sexual immorality, you are an ADULTERER! You think you are to only love those you like? Love EVERYONE! Oh and by the way... adultery isn't only what you do ... it includes your THOUGHT LIFE!! Not the nicest most encouraging sermon I've ever read, I'll tell you that! But this is completely in line with what Christ himself said about the law. Not only was he not abolishing it... he was showing that the TRUE nature of the law is SO MUCH more tedious and demanding on man than once thought! What does the law demand? Jesus tells us: "You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Mt 5:48).

Just in case his disciples and those listening to his sermons thought Christ had come to do AWAY with the laws, he makes them IMPOSSIBLE to follow, by saying that through the law, Christ demands PERFECTION!

So... How does this fit in with salvation by grace, apart from the law? Easy. The law was never meant to save anyone. It was to point toward the Savior-- Christ Jesus. "Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes the knowledge of sin" (Romans 3:19-20). Paul writes here that the law was NOT to justify anyone in the sight of God; it can't be done!

How then are we justified? Romans 5:9 - "Since, therefore, we have now been justified by [Christ's] blood, how much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God." Galatians 2:16 - "We know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified."

Romans 5:18-21:
"As one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by one man's obedience the many will be made righteous. Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

Furthermore, as written throughout Paul's letters and in Hebrews, we know that Christ's sinless perfect life allowed him to be the perfect atoning sacrifice for our sin to be made "once for all," as in NO more sacrifices are needed. That's it -- "it is accomplished/finished" as Christ said on the cross. His death atones for our sin, and HIS righteousness in life becomes OUR righteousness, imputed to all who repent of sin and place their trust in the gospel!

There is NO contradiction between what Christ spoke of concerning the law in the Sermon on the Mount -- that not one part of it would be done away with -- and the gospel of grace through faith, apart from the law. The law has not passed away... but its purpose was never to save us through obedience. For salvation via obedience to the law, PERFECT OBEDIENCE is required; this is something we are utterly unable to accomplish because of our utter sinfulness.

The law has not passed away. Its purpose is now what it always has been -- to bring about the knowledge of our sin. It is a signpost pointing toward Christ Jesus. The law points out our utter sinfulness and inability to obey the law perfectly and be righteous of our own doing. However... there is one who DID fulfill the law by perfect obedience -- Christ Jesus. And his righteousness and death on the cross purchases salvation for all who will repent and believe. This salvation is by grace through faith, not a result of works... so that no one may boast (Ephesians 2:8-9).

The law is still there... still showing us our need for the Savior. And the fulfillment of the law is Jesus Christ-- our needed Savior. Salvation is not through the law that condemns. It is in the lived-out righteousness and perfect atoning sacrifice paid in full on the cross for the sin of all who would repent and believe.

It is a beautiful and glorious gospel.

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Grood Stuff @ Boulevard Baptist

noreply@blogger.com (Ryan Gill) — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 03:51:00 +0000

1 Corinthians 2:1-5 (ESV)
And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

If truth be known, I would probably be accused of being a "church hopper" by some (or many). This is unfair. I have not been hopping for the sake of hopping or until I find a church that has the right color of carpet or that only sings Charlie Hall praise choruses ('cause Chris Tomlin is better anyway... lol), etc. Someday I will write a lengthy blog about my journey through (more or less) Evangelical churches, starting with my parents being raised in the Oneness cult and then onto a Pentecostal-Evangelical church, then to a watered-down-gospel-less mega-church, and beyond. But not tonight.

I think I mentioned in a previous blog that Kacey and I were looking at churches, trying to find a good one (rare in any town I am convinced, Springfield or no). Well, without going into too much detail about the search (which consisted of mostly MAJOR misses, and only two good hits), I think we have finally found the congregation God would have us be in for the dividing of His Word. Boulevard Baptist Church.

Kacey and I have been attending there for about a month now or so, and we are really happy there. Even though I am not really Baptist (I would consider myself a "Baptistyrian"), but I recognize good Christ-centered preaching. Pastor Doug Shivers definitely preaches a Christ-centered gospel. I will admit, I am a HUGE fan of expository preaching - going into the meaning of the text with the Greek and Hebrew. Currently, Boulevard is not doing this. However, this is because they are doing an overview series on the ENTIRE Bible - one book a week. One cannot go into every Hebrew or Greek term in a book in an hour long sermon. However, he does give a very succinct overview of the book the congregation has been reading the past week, picking out the key passages that sum up the author's intention in writing the book.

There is something else that is amazing about Boulevard though, something rare in Evangelicalism today. Pastor Doug preaches Christ in every sermon. Yes, every sermon includes the gospel. I am not talking about a mere invitation at the end of the hour. I mean, he shows the book's place in God's redeeming a people unto Himself, and points to the gospel - Christ and the atoning work of the cross. A couple of weeks ago, Pastor Doug pointed this out as something pastors rarely do, and how it is needed for preaching. I did not want to be overly skeptical, but I wanted to be discerning and asked myself, "Okay, so he gives this principle lip-service. But does he actually do it in his sermons?" YES!! He does! Take today's sermon on Jeremiah. After giving the core of the book, he focused attention to Jeremiah 31:31-34, which is a CLEAR presentation of the gospel and God's promise of a new covenant!! So many could have missed this. But this church's focus is on proclaiming Christ and him crucified.

This church feels as though it could be a home for Kacey and I, and this is something I consider a blessing. Next weekend, Kacey and I will start attending Sunday School there, as they start a series through the Book of Hebrews. (I will be sure to bring my ESV Study Bible for help... )

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Currently Listening To:
Live Unplugged
By Jeremy Camp
see related

"How Can God Be Good and Still Allow Bad Things to Happen?"

noreply@blogger.com (Ryan Gill) — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 06:38:00 +0000

It was sometime last week I was sitting next to my friend Elise during our Apocalypses course when the issue of Theodicy came up. It arose when our instructor mentioned the question that many must struggle with: "How can God be just/good and allow bad things to happen to people?"

This question is odd to me. I am not truly sure if I am relaying it correctly, or if my memory is going bad. But if I had related the "problem" correctly as previously stated... it is something I struggle with. It is not something I struggle with as most people probably struggle with. I would venture to guess most people who struggle with such a question are at odds with some apparent contradiction between God being a good/loving God and a just God and his action of permitting evil or bad things to occur. I suppose these individuals who are baffled by such a conundrum fret over God's inability or unwillingness to wipe evil away off the face of the earth for good... RIGHT NOW (or a long time ago... whenever it would be done). If God really loved us, then things would be better on this planet in this life, right?

I have a problem not with trying to solve the problem the question asks. I have a problem with the question itself. A problem with what the question implies about God, his justice, his sovereignty, his goodness, and the state of man.

I would continue, but nothing I could possibly say would spell it out as beautifully as Preacher Voddie Baucham did in this video. He speaks the truth. So to get my thoughts on this "problem" of theodicy... check out the video posted below.

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Striving to proclaim & defend biblical truth and yet NOT be a grade-A jerk in the process

noreply@blogger.com (Ryan Gill) — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 08:43:00 +0000

1 Peter 3:13-17 (ESV, emphasis added)
Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil.

I wish I could remember 100% the quote I am about to reference, but I do not really know where to begin to look for it. I know it was said by the guys who are on The White Horse Inn--one of my favorite podcasts to date. Though I will be unable to regurgitate the quote word-for-word, the essence will be there.

The best thing to do to someone who has JUST become Reformed (aka Calvinist) in his or her theology is to immediately lock them up for a period of time, so they can work out the rest of their theology and mature in the faith without killing anyone.

You know, the more I tried to remember EXACTLY what was said and write that, the more I realized I pretty much mangled the exact words. Like I said, it would not be verbatim. But the point is there.

Now you may be wondering why I, a Reformed Christian/Calvinist (basically a mix between Presbyterian & Baptist... a "Baptistyrian"), would desire to have been incarcerated for an undisclosed period of time after my acceptance of the truths established by the Word of God, brought back to light in the Reformation. It seems to go against conventional wisdom and desire. If someone has just been given the TRUTH, should he not shout it for all to hear, regardless of the form this proclamation takes and is perceived?

No. Well, not exactly. We SHOULD be proclaiming the truth--the gospel BOLDLY. We are assured of this gospel not merely through some supernatural experience or a perceived "burning in the bosom" but by the Word of God itself. We, as Christians, place our hope in nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. We repent of our sinful ways which are part of our nature and fling ourselves upon the mercy displayed by Christ Jesus at the cross. We go and proclaim this message, that God uses our foolish proclamation to call his sheep to himself.

We proclaim boldly. This does not mean we be jerks in the process. This is something I have been growing in and am still continuing to grow in during this process of sanctification I think.

A friend of mine, an Evangelical Christian and fellow Religious Studies major, once shared some of his thoughts as to why I have had trouble getting along with other professing Christians in the past. Specifically noting a tendency to drive some outright away. This brother in Christ did not miens words with me: "Ryan, you flat out used to be a jerk about theology and religion." When I would later share this with another friend, she agreed that I had an air of jerkness about me.

At the time I learned this, I did not really want to consider it. ME? A JERK ABOUT THEOLOGY? I honestly was outraged to be accused of such a thing! I was the one proclaiming truth and attempting to be discerning with great fervor... not feeding off of Emergent theology, Rick Warren, or spreading Osteenisms. I wanted the Church to be Christ-driven, not "purpose-driven." I stressed the need to be aware of Rob Bell, Brian McLaren, and Doug Paggit. These men did not proclaim the biblical gospel, but heretical lies... and I would quote a fairly accurate translation of Galatians 1:9: "If anyone preaches a different gospel, to Hell with him!" The error came not with what I was saying, but the manner in which I was saying it.

As Christians, we are to "give a defense for the hope that lies within us." Certainly, YES! This is done too little in 21st century American Christianity. As Sola Scriptura is attacked by the "progressive Christians" and the way is paved for a man-centered "Christless Christianity", too few today have a smidgen of discernment needed to tend to the sheep... much less SHOOT THE WOLVES that would devour the sheep! Truth is to be proclaimed. But in what manner is this truth to be proclaimed? Is it to be proclaimed in a manner that is hot-headed and ill tempered? Certainly not... for the fruits of the Spirit include patience, kindness, gentleness AND self-control. And as Peter wrote in his first inspired letter, we are to give this defense "with gentleness and respect." This is what I have had a habit of not displaying--the proclamation of truth "with gentleness and respect."

So then, going back to the previously mentioned quote, WHY should Calvinists be locked up for a period of time? Because upon realizing the truth of God's sovereignty, man's depravity, and God's divine election, there can easily be a stint of ... anger. Anger at the church for not properly proclaiming the gospel of salvation by Grace through faith ALONE. Anger at the pastor for preaching a gospel of God's work + man's effort in choosing to accept the gift of Jesus, denying God's sovereignty in election and glorifying a misunderstanding of man's "freedom of choice" as "freedom of will." Anger that the whole of biblical truth was not proclaimed because the message of free man being subject to a Sovereign is unfamiliar and incredibly unpopular in America today. Anger that the truth of God's Word in respect to man's total depravity and God's sovereign election of his own people was glazed over from the pulpit. I certainly can ascribe to having felt these feelings of anger over what I was taught in a megaChurch that cares more about appealing to the unregenerate sinner than pleasing a Holy God in the manner the Word is preached.

And while this anger was and can be/is a righteous anger... a GOOD reason to be angry/frustrated with the condition of "American Christianity," my own reaction has been unbiblical. Yes congregations and pastors/life-coaches sin when they abuse, mangle, and twist the Scriptures... using the Word of God as fortune cookie statements to aid in life improvement. And I also sin in my response when that response is that of a complete jerk. Responding in harsh manners to those who read certain books or use BAD "bibles" (Message, CEV, NLT, etc). When I learn someone is reading _____________, I should respond with a kind, "I see. What about that do you like? Do we find this in Scripture?" NOT with an angry, "WHAT?! WHAT THE CRAP IS WRONG WITH YOU?!!! WHY WOULD YOU READ HIM--ARE YOU AN IDIOT OR SOMETHING???!!!!!"

This less-than-godly response to those who are subjecting themselves to bad teachers is sinful. And it may have been better to, upon submitting to the doctrines of Grace, have been whisked to some tower, where I would continue to study God's Word, get over my jerkness phase, and be ready and willing to respond biblical to those who are in a position that I myself was in, not four years ago. I too was into Purpose-Driven poo not too long ago... just 4 or 5 years ago really. That's all. God saved me out of that BAD theology. I should be less quick to look at a follower of these bad teachers and write the follower off as "heretic," as they may not know better at this point. I am sure that I do NOT have total biblical discernment (despite what I may let on... lol). God has brought me to where I am now in discerning truth from error and heresy over the course of a few years. I do not know what God is doing along those lines in my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.

This does not mean we are to back down from the truth. Rich Warren is in error, and needs to be confronted. Joel Osteen is in error, and needs to be confronted. Rob Bell... Tony Campolo... Brian McLaren... Tony Jones... Max Lucado... Joyce Meyer... Benny Hinn... the Pope... the Mormon Church... these are those who are in error and need to be confronted. Their teachings are often false and must be challenged. Even Evangelical "hero" Billy Graham preaches a "wider-mercy " view of Salvation... a dressed up version of Universalism, believing men and women are saved by God though they never repent of their sin and place their trust for salvation in Christ Jesus' redemptive work on the cross. [This is not made up... click here to watch the video on YouTube about this.] Where there is error proclaimed and false gospels preached, the GOSPEL MUST BE PROCLAIMED. The Word must be preached and the wolves be exposed and be taken care of (even "shot" so-to-speak)! I do not deny nor will I ever deny, by God's grace, that the error and heresies of the past, of our day, and of the future MUST be addressed.

I also stress however, as God has been teaching me through His Word and the teaching of Godly preachers, there is a wrong way to go about doing this-- to be a jerk in the process. It is difficult when I get SO angry by heresy... SO ANGRY by the American Christianity we see today, which does not proclaim Christ and Him crucified. But even in my anger, I should not sin. And I have found many of my responses in the past to such errors HAVE been very sinful. It may have been better for me to have been locked away until I learned to be gentle and respectful than to have shot my mouth off so frequently as I have in the past.

Thankfully though... this close friend of mine and Kacey have seemed to indicate that while I was a jerk about it more in the past... they have seen improvement. I do not come across as much of a jerk as I have in the past... by the grace of God. I am thankful for this, and I hope to be able to continue in my serving God by proclaiming truth... yet doing it with gentleness and respect for others.

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Temptation to dress up the gospel

noreply@blogger.com (Ryan Gill) — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 12:23:00 +0000

John 3:36
Whoever believes in the Son [Jesus Christ] has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

2 Timothy 4:1-5
I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

I recall last summer, I prayed with Nolan about my roommates for this current school year I am in. We prayed that God's will be done and that it may mean being paired with nonChristians, so be it that I may share the good news of Christ Jesus with them. Well, I am thankful Nolan encouraged me to pray God's will be done... because that was his will, and it was done.

Neither of my two roommates happened to be believing Christians. One actually is a member of the Mormon Church, and he and I have recently had some interesting conversations/discussions about Christianity, the origin of the Scriptures, and the personage of Christ. I must remember to write a bit more in-depth about what happened there. Never the less, I did share the gospel with him, sharing the law and the free grace of God with him. This individual, William, is no longer my roommate, as he graduated yesterday. Please keep William in your prayers, that he would respond to the gospel call to repent and believe... not in the Mormon Jesus but in the true Triune God of the Bible (Mormons deny the Trinity, if you did not know. In doing so, they worship a false deity of their own making).

My other roommate, Zhu (pronounced "Jue") is a bit more interesting. After noticing early on that just about every Sunday morning William and Kacey and I would head to our respective church services, Zhu stated he would be interested in going to church, because it was "the good thing to do." I carefully explained to him Kacey and I did not attend church services to "do good" or to earn spiritual points. We go to worship God for who He is and what He's done-- for his mercy in choosing to seek and save the lost who are utterly unable to save themselves. It's not about our spirituality being furthered or earing good points. It's about worshiping YHWH alone. I shared the law and gospel with him as well, encouraging him to consider the things we'd talked about.

Yet when I've tried to speak with him about Christianity recently, his response is to shake his head with a smile on his face and say "No, no." There is no ... interest in the things of God. He once came back from his REL 100 (Intro to Religion) course after learning about Hinduism and their deities very enthused about what he had learned. "I think I like the gods of Hinduism much more than the God of Christianity! I mean, the gods of Hinduism have many arms, and look VERY COOL! Where as Jesus is just a man... and very boring!" is what he told me.

:-\ How do you respond to that? How do you respond to someone who is primarily interested in how COOL God looks or seems to him... how relevant He seems? How do you respond to someone who wants a religion that is pleasing to his eyes and his ears? Do you give him what he wants?

Do you scratch his "itching ears"? The Bible is clear: NO.

Now this seems to go against human wisdom. In advertising and other mediums, you learn to make things attractive so people buy into what you are selling. This is a commonly used tactic in the world... make things flashy, sexy, cool and people will buy into the product so they will seem flashy, sexy and cool.

However this is worldly wisdom... not the way God works.

There has been a lot of temptation to try and dress up the gospel. Take him to a church he would be amazed and wowed by the service. (As if the service is for HIS enjoyment and not for the worshiping of God) Try and suggest campus ministries that reach out to unsaved individuals by preaching "relevant" lessons. This seems like it would do some good from a worldly perspective in getting him saved! right? If you want to see how God saves men... see Romans 10:5-17. God uses preaching the Word of God... the truth of the gospel. Not marketing tactics, but the truth through boldly preaching. This will seem to be the foolish thing to do (1 Corinthians 1:20-25) from a perspective of the unregenerate world. But "the foolishness of god is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men" (1 Corinthians 1:25).

We, as Christians, are not called to scratch the itching ears. We are called to preach the Word, in season and out of season. To preach the gospel of Christ and Him crucified. Not to wow and amaze by how cool or relevant we can seem. But to call all men everywhere to repent and believe the gospel.

Tempted as we may be to dress up the gospel in a way that seems relevant and / or hip to the world, we must remain obedient to God's truth that is the Word. Preach the Word... when it is popular and unpopular to do so--in season AND out of season.

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On the Nature of the Gospel

noreply@blogger.com (Ryan Gill) — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 00:12:00 +0000

John 3:3
Jesus answered him [Nicodemus], "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God."

1 Corinthians 15:1-5
Now I [Paul] would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you--unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.

John 14:6-7
Jesus said to him [Thomas], "I am the way, and the truth, and the life No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him."

Ephesians 2:4-9
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved--and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not of your own doing; it is a gift from God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

From the previous post, looking at the Scriptures, we know the following

God gave his law to man: to love. To love God and to love our neighbor.

We break God's law daily. We should love God and love others... but we DON'T! If we really loved as we are COMMANDED to love, we would not sin.

Because of our wretched nature, it is utterly impossible to keep God's law. Spiritual disciplines do not help. Helping the poor won't help. Good works do not erase bad deeds.

Basically... left to our own works to save us... we're screwed.

When you look at the mirror of God's law... the result is disgust. I really do not comprehend how wretched and evil I am until I compare myself not to my neighbor's standards or even the actions of my brother in Christ... but compare myself to God's commandments for how I am to live... for what I am to be: PERFECT. I am very-not-perfect. I am a lustful, adulterer-of-the-heart, lying, thieving, covetous, murderous, hatefully wicked man.

If any man deserved to go to Hell and experience the wrath of almighty God, it is I.

But as I stated previously... there is good news... there is the GOSPEL (which translated means "Good News")!

This gospel won't mean you'll have your best life now... it won't mean you'll have a better marriage... it won't mean you will have perfect relationships with others... it won't mean you will feel your life will be driven by a new purpose or that your troubles will be mended and healed.

Then... what?

The Gospel is this: 2,000 years ago YHWH (God) became a man: Jesus Christ, born of a virgin named Mary. Jesus was not merely in human form, nor was he a man who ascended to godhood. He is not, as Mormonism teaches, "the only begotten Son in the flesh," making him a created being, the spirit brother of Satan, who was born of Elohim, who himself used to be a man, who ascended to godhood. This is nonsense, as it is unbiblical. The Gospel of John opens with these words:

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made though him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it... And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:1-5, 14).

Later, also in the Gospel of John, Jesus tells the Jews after they ask him how he has seen Abraham, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am" (John 8:58) This "I AM" title is a title that God uses for himself (Exodus 3:13-14). In responding to the Jewish people's questions, Jesus proclaimed, "My Father, who has given them [the elect] to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them [the elect] out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one" (John 10:29-30). And how did the Jews respond to Jesus' claim that he was God? not A god, but ONE with the Father? Repeatedly, they attempted to stone him.

I go into this in detail not to beat the point into the ground... but to make clear that I am not speaking of the Mormon concept of "Jesus." Or the Jehovah's Witnesses' concept of "Jesus." I am dealing with the BIBLICAL Jesus-- the Christ. Does it matter what the nature of Jesus is? ABSOLUTELY! You cannot point to a chair, and say "THAT'S JESUS!!" You would be wrong (and blasphemous) to do so. WHO Jesus is matters. I am not, as a Mormon friend of mine claims, "splitting hairs," when I proclaim that WHO Jesus is actually matters. He is the 2nd person in the Trinity. If you worship another Jesus... you have the wrong god, and you do not know the Father either (1 John & 2 John). [For more on Christ's deity and the doctrine of the Trinity, visit here, here or here.]

This Jesus who came to "dwell among us" (John 1:14) is "the God-man." 100% God, 100% man. He came to Earth to "save his people from their sins" (Mt 1:21). He proclaimed, boldly, that if you want to get to Heaven, there is no other way but by him. Jesus Christ is THE way (not A way), the TRUTH (not one truth among many), and THE LIFE (without him, there is no eternal life). NO ONE comes to the Father, but through Him. Here is how that was accomplished: the cross.

Again, we are all lawbreakers. And the worse news is that "it it is appointed for a man to die once, and after that comes judgment" (Hebrews 9:27). If you die in your sins, you will be judged by those sins. Time cannot wash away a crime. Those sins are still your burden to bear. And if you die in your sins, you WILL spend an eternity in Hell. This is not me trying to use a scare tactic, this is Scriptural. There is a real place called Hell, and it is where lawbreakers go. "But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, the sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death" (Revelation 21:8). All this talk about Hell being temporary... dies. All this talk about Hell ONLY being "separation from God?" Well... yes, but it isn't JUST separation from God. You are separated from Him... and also you are paying for your sins for eternity in Hell.

But again, there is GOOD NEWS! Christ displays his love in dying and becoming the atonement for the sin of sinners. I have been saved by grace through faith in what Christ has done for me... He took my place, dying for my sins. He suffered the wrath of God so I would not have to. This is AMAZING LOVE if there ever was! He died as the atonement for sin... to make things right between God and man. Furthermore, Jesus rose from the grave on the third day, proving his conquering of Death and sin. His resurrection is the evidence of this victory over the sin --yours and mine--that put him in the position to die.

This is the good news... Christ died for sin, was buried, and resurrected from the grave. He paid the price of ALL who would respond in faith. What does it mean to respond? To REPENT of your sin... not to just ask God to forgive you... but to forsake and turn from your sin, and to place your trust in Christ Jesus for your salvation. He offers forgiveness of sins. He offers an escape of the wrath that is to come. Run to him! Run to him out of thanksgiving for all he has done--purchasing EVERYTHING that is necessary for your salvation.

I urge any and all of you... REPENT AND BELIEVE THE GOSPEL! (Mark 1:15) Do not carry the burden of your sin any longer... turn from your sin and fling yourself upon the mercy of Christ and Him crucified. Scripture says that all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved (Romans 10:10). I beg of you... repent and trust in His work to atone for sin. I may seem judgmental in all this that I have written. Is it judgmental for someone to urge a blind man to halt before he falls off of the cliff he is headed for? Surely not. God is no liar... His word is truth... Repent and have faith in Christ's atoning work. When God grants you the gift of faith and gives you saving grace... this is ALL of God.... it is not a result of your works. You cannot bribe God with your good works. They cannot save you. If they could, Christ died for no reason (Galatians 2:21). In fact your "good works" that you trust to save you?... In God's eyes, they are filthy rags (Isaiah 64:4-9)... or more accurately, USED BLOODY TAMPONS. God offers you salvation from sin and His wrath... and you hand him old tampons.

Do not trust in your goodness or your works to save you. Repent of your sinful ways and fling yourself upon the mercy of Christ, the atonement bought by his crucifixion. THIS IS the Gospel... the Good News of Christianity.

As I bring this to a close, the lyrics of a new hymn "In Christ Alone" are powerful in their description of the gospel message.

"In Christ Alone"

In Christ alone my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song
This Cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm
What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand

In Christ alone, who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless babe
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones He came to save
‘Til on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied
For every sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ I live

There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again
And as He stands in victory
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me
For I am His and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ

No guilt of life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From life’s first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny
No power of hell, no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand
‘til He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I’ll stand

[[To go into the details of the cross and act of crucifixion and atonement would take up more time and space than many would care to read. For more on that in GREAT detail please check out Driscoll's sermon on the Atonment and / or his series on the cross.]]

Exceeding the Righteousness of the Pharisees

noreply@blogger.com (Ryan Gill) — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 20:57:00 +0000

Matthew 5:20
[Jesus said,] ”For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

My name is Ryan. And I am a law breaker. Yes, I have broken God's law. I am a filthy wretch. I am a liar, a hypocrite, and adulterer at heart... I am a murderer even.

Yes. A murderer. As recorded in Matthew 5:21-26, Jesus explained the sin of murder is not limited only to the actual act of slaying someone with a blade. "Everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment." Have you been angry with someone? You are liable to judgment by Almighty God, who is free to judge you as though you HAD murdered someone. "Whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says 'You fool!' will be liable to the hell of fire." I can say, with confidence, I have insulted others. My parents... my family... my close friends... my enemies.

Now, I COULD make a case that the use of "his brother" means these offenses are only applicable to the act of murder in God's eyes, IF the offense is toward a FELLOW BELIEVER. The term "brother" is often used in the New Testament to speak of fellow believers, so this could be extended to this passage (though of course in the ORIGINAL context, the "brothers" would be Jews... however, we Christians are grafted into the vine... so we are all BELIEVERS). However, I find this irrelevant for 2 reasons: 1) later in the same sermon, Jesus says to love and to greet not only your brothers, but also your enemies (v. 47). If you are murdering or insulting your neighbor, enemy or not, is that very loving? Can you flick someone off in love? I think not. 2) Even if this command is to be concerned ONLY with believers... OK! So... have I been angry with a fellow believer? Have I insulted a fellow Christian? YES... ok... so even so, I've STILL not kept that law... and I'm guilty as a murderer in God's eyes, from his standard.

So under the Law, what is the standard to enter the kingdom of heaven? What is the requirement we must keep, "so that [we] may be sons of [our] Father who is in heaven?" (v. 45) The answer: Our righteousness must exceed that of the Pharisees. Or... as Jesus restates in v. 48: "You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect."

:-(

Under the law... the only thing that can save us is perfection. Keeping the law PERFECTLY. Time doesn't blot out sin. There is no statute of limitations when it comes to God's perfect holy law. If you want to get into Heaven, there's is ONE thing you HAVE to do to get there: BE PERFECT. Problem: I am not perfect. I look at the mirror of the law, and I only see my own sin. Any attempt of self-justification is futile. No amount of convoluted reasoning can change the fact that I am a law breaker. A transgressor against YHVH. I sinner. I sin because I am a sinner. You sin because you are a sinner.

Left to my own, there is no possible way I would ever inherit the kingdom of heaven. It's impossible, I am stained by my sin. And if you think you can earn your way into Heaven, you MUST be PERFECT. But you know you are not perfect. Like me, you are a law breaker. A liar... a hypocrite... one who lusts... and a murderer. Left up to yourself, you are screwed. You WILL NOT get to Heaven. It is IMPOSSIBLE for YOU to DO ANYTHING to make it so that YOU can get to Heaven. I don't care how much you cared for the orphan and the widow... I don't care how much you gave... how much you read your Bible... how you only had sex within marriage... how you gave up porn... how you don't drink underage... how often you took communion... or if you were baptized... how often you pray... how you say you don't watch filthy movies... the fact is IT IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH! YOU ARE NOT GOOD ENOUGH! If you think you are good enough, you are a LIAR... and right there alone you are disqualified from the inheritance. Because guess what? YOU ARE NOT PERFECT! YOU ARE NOT RIGHTEOUS! YOU WILL NOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN ON YOUR OWN BY YOUR WORKS! I cannot stress this enough.

Nothing I do will make me good enough to inherit the kingdom of heaven.

I have noticed a growing confusion with the law and the gospel. SO often people are presenting the law AS gospel. I have encountered pastors saying that the gospel is all about LOVE--Love God, and Love Your Neighbor. PROBLEM: I DO NOT LOVE GOD WITH ALL MY HEART! If I did, I would not sin! Same with my neighbor...if I REALLY loved my neighbor, I would not lust for her... I would not be guilty of murder against him or her by insult. Did Jesus say, "On love does the gospel hinge?" NO! On these things (love God, love neighbors) does the LAW hinge. These 2 things are COMMANDS. They are part of the LAW. Loving God doesn't save you... if it did, do you love God PERFECTLY? Nope. So you are disqualified. The law cannot save you. Or if it could, you MUST keep it perfectly. If you don't you are disqualified from working your way to the kingdom.

However... praise God... there is good news...

...to be continued...

Searching for a (GOOD) Church... pt 1

noreply@blogger.com (Ryan Gill) — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 05:15:00 +0000

Titus 2:1
"But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine."

I attend a university in Springfield, MO. For those of you not in the know, Springfield, MO is smack in the Bible Belt. We are just down the road from Southwest Baptist University... have the 2nd largest Assemblies of God church in America (James River Assembly... jokingly referred to by some locals as "Hillsong USA")... we even have the HQ of the Assemblies of God, a Protestant Pentecostal denomination. And while this place is not like some I've seen in Northern Texas/Southern Arkansas, having a church literally on EVERY corner... it is filled with congregations galore.

So then, you would think finding a church would be really simple... that all you would have to do is walk on into a church, sit down, and you've found one. Well, that is true for finding a church. However... finding a good church?... that takes a bit more doing.

What constitutes a "GOOD CHURCH"? One where sound doctrine is taught (Titus 2:1). One that preaches a gospel of grace, not just law (Ephesians 1:6-10; 2:8-9). One that boldly proclaims Christ and him crucified (1 Corinthians 1:23). One that is more interested in proclaiming truth than on tickling peoples' ears, telling them only what they want to hear to suit their felt-needs (2 Timothy 4:3-4). One that teaches the condition of man prior to the new birth as being evil, not basically good (Ephesians 2:1-3). One that does not perform for the masses to be cool and relevant, but instead worships God in spirit and in truth (John 4:24). One that proclaims Christ as the way, truth, and life--that except through him, there is no salvation (John 14:6). One that teaches that to see the Kingdom of God, a man must be born again (John 3:3). One that cares more about feeding the sheep than attracting goats (John 21:16). One that will guard the congregants from false teachers, who are wolves (Matthew 7:15). One that proclaims the gospel of Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-5). One that teaches that salvation is an act of God--monergism, and not an act of man--synergism (Ephesians 1:4-12, John 6:44, Romans 8:28-30).

Again... one would think this would be an easy task to find churches that did all these things. But as Kacey and I are finding out first hand... few "churches" care about such things any more.

...to be continued...

Abortion, God, Man, and the Gospel of Christ’s Atonement

noreply@blogger.com (Ryan Gill) — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 20:48:00 +0000

The following is a slightly-altered response I made to someone on Facebook… concerning the topics of abortion, sin, the nature of God, and man’s need for a Savior. I hope it is a blessing to those who read it.

I have heard the desires to make exceptions when it comes to abortion for cases of rape or incest. However, there is still a fundamental issue: There is a living human being inside of the mother, with DNA and a heartbeat distinct from the mother's own. Is rape a horrible crime and sin? YES. However, I think it is just as much of a crime/sin to slaughter the unborn child that results. Truth be told, pregnancies resulting from rape are less common than those resulting from Tom and Linda not being able to keep it in their pants. I would say the child deserves to live either way. Adoption is always an option. the 9 month journey is difficult, but having the blood of the innocent on the mother's hands is far worse.

"What about if the mother's life is in danger and the mother will die?" Well, I do not say that is an abortion. That is worded wrong. When that is the case, we do EVERYTHING we can to save both lives... and if in the process of saving the life of the mother we lose the child, we mourn for that child. Also, many would just LIE and say they were raped to get permission to kill their child. So yes, I am very anti-abortion and I support a constitutional amendment to ban it nation-wide. Will there be back-ally abortions? perhaps. I think though far fewer women would go through with abortions KNOWING the risks of back-alley abortions... look at the jump abortions took when Roe passed... suddenly women who wouldn't risk a back-ally one were now getting them. the numbers would, likewise, drop if it was suddenly made illegal. "People will still get them anyway." Yes, maybe... but people will ALWAYS break the law... people will speed and always go 10 miles over the limit, so let's not have a limit. People will always go ahead anyway and do meth... so let's make meth legal. it's not the best argumentation. BTW... I believe women (and EVERYONE) have rights. I do not support some groups having SPECIAL rights or higher-priority rights. Which is why I believe the unborn have a right to live.

Now... on to the issue of sin...

Would "God create something he wasn't proud of?" Well, no. In the beginning, he did not create anything he was unproud of. Every day of creation God said two things: "Let there be," and "It is good." However, this was only in creating paradise for humanity to originally dwell in. There was no sin... no fall of man at this point. There was no rape... there was no theft... there was no homosexuality... there was no murder. There essentially was no creation of evil or sin. Prior to man's disobedience, it would seem he was not inclined to sin (I hesitate to say MORE about Adam's nature prior to the fall... as Scripture is rather silent on this issue). However since the fall, since man's sin, his nature has been tainted since. Man is not created basically good or neutral (as it could be argued Adam and Eve were)... but rather we are all born as sinful creatures... spiritually dead, as the Bible describes us (Eph 2:1-3, Col 2:13)... unable to do what is good. We are, within us, plain bad (Gen 6:6:5-6, Gen 8:21, Psalm 51:5).

WAIT? Am I saying something was created that was not created by God? Not really. Evil or sin is not a THING. It isn't really an object. For more on this question "Did God create evil" I would direct you to a short article here: http://www.gotquestions.org/did-God-create-evil.html

What of us being made in the image of God?

I would direct you to http://voxpopnetwork.com/vision/2008/04/20/image-god-loves/#more-64 It is a bit longer than the other link I sent, but it goes into the question of "What does it mean to be made in the image of God." It doesn't mean we look physically like God. Or that we are sinless in our current state. What does it mean? BRIEFLY...
* Moral likenesses – decision-making power, dominion over lower creation, social ability, emotions, communication, etc.
* Non-moral likenesses – intellect/reason, immortal, spirit, ability to create, etc.
We have a moral likeness... we can make decisions, we have a conscience God gave us to understand basic ideas of right and wrong... we show love for others, etc. Again, there are other ways, but it does not mean we never sin. Remember, we are inclined to sin because of our human nature. I would think it may be correct (don't quote me on this) to say that while we are still in the image of God, that image has been stained up a bit by sin.

This brings me to something you said earlier: "God created you, and you're good." You think I am good? lol either 1) you don't know me that well or 2) your standards of "good" are less than stellar and accurate (no offense).

I used to think I was good, really. Then I saw what it meant to be good. And I am NOT a good person. And I'm guessing, if you are anything like every human being, you aren't doing so hot either. If we look at what it means to be good by God's standards... I fall terribly short. (I would encourage you to also examine yourself likewise in this exercise.) Have I ever told a lie? Heck yes. Many times. What do you call someone who lies?-- a liar. Have I ever stolen anything? Yes. Someone who steals things is called... a thief. I've taken God's name and used it as a cuss word... that's blaspheme. I've looked at someone with lust... in Matthew 5, God labels that as having committed adultery of the heart. I've only gone through what... 4 of the 10 laws ... and I've broken all of them. I am not a good person. I'm a lying, thieving, blasphemous adulterer at heart. I'm a law breaker. On the day of judgment, I would not be found innocent, I'd be found guilty. I have broken the laws, and deserve to be punished and sent where law-breakers go: Hell. I utterly deserve Hell, because I sin against a Holy God.

But the good news is this: 2,000 years ago God became a man--Jesus Christ, and provided himself as an atonement for the sin of man. Jesus was the blood sacrifice that was needed to pay the penalty for sin. God could not just look at me and simply say "You are forgiven, you are free to go to Heaven." This would not be just. Imagine an earthly judge saying that to a man who raped and murdered a 10 year old girl... would that judge be a just judge? no, he'd be corrupt! Law breakers need to pay for the crimes they commit. this is justice. someone has to pay the debt our crimes against God demand-- and Jesus Christ alone is that sufficient sacrifice. He paid the debt so man need not pay the debt in Hell. An eternity in Hell may SEEM to be unfair to us for sins committed in this finite life... but believe me, it only SEEMS that way. It seems that way because we do not, in our sinful state, have the ability to comprehend how HOLY God is, and how HORRIBLE and wretched sin is.

This work Christ paid on the cross to atone for sin is freely offered to ALL who repent--that is, turn from sin, and believe the good news of Christ, placing their trust/faith in his saving work. Not mental agreement that Jesus died, but placing trust in the finished work of Christ. If you jump out of a plane, you do not simply acknowledge the parachute exists... you place your trust in it and put it on. Likewise, anyone who turns from their life of sin and "puts on" the work accomplished by Christ Jesus in his death and resurrection is "Born Again" (Jn 3:3).

Also, it is of utter importance that Christ is the only way, truth and life. no one comes to the Father but through Him (Jn 14:6). There are not many paths... there is only one, paved by the blood of Christ, which covers sin and takes it away.

You may say you do not believe in a wrathful God. However, God is a God of Wrath-- Psalm 5:5, Rom 1:18, Rom 5:9, Eph 2:3. He is a JUST God, and he must punish evildoers, otherwise he would not be just. At the same time, God is a God of mercy, providing salvation through the finished work of Christ to all who will receive it. This idea that is so prevalent in American Post-modern Christianity that "Jesus loves you JUST the way you are" is really wrong. Does God love us? Yes. But it isn't some pampering, God-will-wipe-our-butts-for-us-and-he-can't-get-enough-of-us kind of love. It is a perfecting love... a love that brings about the salvation of man, desiring man to be in right relationship with Him. God is a God of Wrath. And of Justice. And of Mercy. These are not contradictory, and are all attributes of God. To cling to the Bible verse that says "God is love" while rejecting ALL other verses about the nature and attributes of the Holy God is irresponsible. How is it we'd cling to the part about "love" but nothing else?

God has a common love and common grace for creation. He gives us our breath, food to eat, water to drink, a place to lay our heads, etc. He was responsible for you not getting hit by a bus today just before you logged into Facebook. However, his specific love and mercies are only for those who repent and believe in the Savior's work.
-------------------------------------
I would say this though in closing: have there been wars fought in the name of Christianity? YES. Have there been scandals by some men and women who claim to be His followers? Yes. This is a sad fact. However, if some random person came up to me and kicked me in the gonads... and I asked WHY DID YOU DO THAT??? and they responded "because I love and obey [you, the reader]!", EVEN THOUGH you do NOT know them at all, do not have a relationship with them, and they do not know anything about who you are... Would it then be fair for me to say "I HATE [you, the reader]!"? Surely not. Likewise... don't be quick to make a judgment on Jesus based upon the actions of some who CLAIM to be his followers. Just a final thought. Hope you made it to the end. if you did, you get a prize. This half-empty red pen i am looking at on my desk. YAY! :-P

I hope your fall break is a safe one. :-) Thank you for indulging me in (hopefully) reading this.

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Why I do not use Safari

noreply@blogger.com (Ryan Gill) — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 09:00:00 +0000

"Yes, I love technology; but not as much as you, you see. But I still love technology. Always and forever."
-Kipp Dynamite

It is true. I love technology. It is this love for technology for me to be a bit of both a mac and PC guy. Part of my mac-ness shows in that while I have tried to get into both Windows Media Player and iTunes, I am just a larger fan of iTunes. The interface makes more logical sense to me, and it is easier to play the music I want and listen to the radio stations if I wish. And while I would like to get a Zune 4 gig in the future, I now have an iPod which syncs very nicely with iTunes (duh).

This attitude of desiring to try different apps from different companies just because of my fascination with technology also extends into which web browser I use. I recall when I was a youngin using Netscape to browse the web exclusively. Netscape died recently, never having fully recovered from her defeat in the First Browser War (between Netscape and Internet Explorer). However, we are now in the Second Browser War... and there are many more players this time around.

Microsoft's Internet Explorer 7 is a great improvement over IE6, and is currently available as IE8 beta 2. I have not yet tried it out, but I will soon. I have been an avid Mozilla Firefox addict since I discovered it upon receiving my first computer in college. My dad was very much into Mozilla's suite browser-email, but I only got into the Mozilla scene with the use of Firefox 1.5 when it came out. And I fell in love instantly! I will go into some of my favorite features later... but since version 1.5, version 3 has come out (with 3.1 being released in a matter of months), and it has only gotten better!

However I have been knowing to try out other browsers. I used Opera for a time (9.x series)... and did try out Google Chrome the first few days of its release. I will perhaps go into these browsers at a later day, but I no longer use either (perhaps a future release of Google Chrome will change my mind though).

One browser that has much hype revolving around it is Apple Safari. Users boast of its speed and its ability to render pages quickly and efficiently (it passes the Acid 2 AND Acid 3 tests with a 100%... something none of the other two market leaders (IE7 and Fx3) can do as of yet). Furthermore, I am ever greatly impressed by not just what is under the hood, but the hood itself. It has one of the (next to the new Google Chrome) CLEANEST user-interfaces for a web browser around Not just the mac version, but also the one that runs on Windows. Very slick and clean. There is no status bar at the bottom of the screen, allowing viewers to view even the slightest bit more of the desired page on the screen. The brushed design of the browser too is very visually appealing. Simple and elegant.

And lastly (possibly one of my FAVORITE features about this browser)... it renders text differently for websites. What do I mean by different? I just mean different.

For instance... here is how our lovely Facebook is rendered in Firefox 3 (similarly it is also rendered in IE7):

And now... here is how it is loaded in Safari 3.1...

Some of you (like our little-old-lady friend "WHERE'S THE BEEF?") may be asking "WHERE'S THE DIFFERENCE? The font. The font is rendered differently. Most noticeably in the status updated, which reads "What are you doing right now" as well as in the text for the link to the mail: "Inbox." It is in a different typeface... a different font. A font that is slightly rounder, but also more inviting to the eye. Fare more appealing I would say to look at.

So if I am so thrilled about this web browser, why would I not use it exclusively?

Compatibility with websites. Yes, Safari may win the highest score in the Acid 3 test. However, this does not mean the vast majority of sites are rendered properly as they should be. I have noticed numerous sites with scroll bars overlapping the area in which they belong. Can Mozilla Firefox 3 also have this problem? Yes. And it does from time-to-time. But how I get around THAT is I use IE Tab as an extension... which allows me to view a page using the IE rendering engine WITHIN a Firefox tab. SO I don't need multiple browsers open when I am visiting a site that is not rendered properly in any browser but IE. Which brings me to my #2 reason....
Customization. Safari is very beautiful and functional by itself. However, it has zero customization ability. As I mentioned previously, IE Tab is one of my favorite extensions and the most useful, I would say, to any Firefox 3 user. In Fx3, one can customize the look and feel of the browser by applying different themes (it can be made to even look like IE or Safari!)... as well as given different functionality. I can add ANY search-bar feature on a website with the add-on "Add To Search Bar," even if Fx3 doesn't recognize it as a search bar from the page load. I can view HomestarRunner.com pages in full screen with Full Screen Runner (granted not the MOST USEFUL add-on, but certainly a FUN one!). I have added tab-preview functionality (which I first saw in AOL's AOL Explorer). I can add a "new tab" button similar in function and look to IE7's button, right on the tab bar. Other add-ons include a download accelerator, a download helper for getting YouTube videos loaded onto your computer... hundred of customization options. However one stands out...
Adblock Plus. Yes, I know it is an extension, and the previous reason was about the various extensions/add-ons... but this is different. Adblock Plus is THE extension. I could not imagine a world with Firefox in it that did not include this glorious add-on. If you have spent any time surfing the web, you notice various ads on pages that are likely to lead you into an epileptic fit if you are not careful, with all the flashyness that drives you nuts. OR... especially if you frequent hit social networking sites MySpace and Facebook... various ads for Tru and other "singles dating" sites (which are basically just inappropriate pornographic ads to prey on people's lusts) are frequent. This is often annoying and even embarassing exposing yourself and those around you to such advertisement. This is where Adblock Plus and the EasyList (USA) subscription come in! This causes Firefox to block these ad's images. No longer are you subjegated to "dirty ads" ... or even any ads at all. Also helpful is the Adblock Plus Element Hiding Helper, which blocks not only many visual ads, but also the space on the page that the ad takes up, getting rid of blocked empty sections of the site. I would encourage caution though. This particular tool may screw up how you view web pages if you are not careful and do not know what you are doing. Thankfully, these hiccups are completely reversible :-) And alas, no such tool is used for Safari.
This last one may not seem as big a deal as the previous few... but I think it is also worth mentioning. In IE7 (and 8) you may click the NEW TAB button to the right of the open tab in order to open a page. In Firefox you can open a new tab by either putting a NEW TAB button ONTO the Navigation Toolbar (near the Home button), OR (via extension) make it similar to IE7, as I mentioned earlier. Now it is true... in IE, Fx, and Safari, you can add a new tab by pressing Ctrl+t. However, in Safari, this is practically the ONLY way to open a new tab. Yes, you can double click on the empty space in the tab bar (as you can also do in Fx). But when the tab bar is FULL and there is no space to click, appart from going to File>New Tab, you must enter in the Ctrl+t key for a new tab to appear. There is no New Tab button for the Navigation Toolbar. I find this nearly unacceptable. Sure, the interface may look cleaner without it. However, there are times when you are in a "clicking mode" with the mouse, that it would be faster to click some sort of button than to remove fingers from the mouse and press Ctrl+t in order to open a new tab. Again, this issue is NOT huge... but I think it is a substantial problem considering my trends in browsing.
Firefox 3 is VERY fast. While Safari 3.1 kicked Firefox 2 in speed... Firefox and Safari are just about equal in speed now. One may be faster depending one what system you are using, but over-all, Firefox's speed is another reason to use it over Safari 3.1 or IE7.

I know this list may not be for everyone. And that's fine. Safari is a FINE browser. Really, one of the best out there. But when it comes down to it... Firefox has SO MUCH going for her, I can't imagine switching over to Safari permanently. Especially when it comes to Adblock Plus. Amazing stuff not having to look at ads, dirty or just annoying.

I encourage you to download both and give them a test drive. Which browser do YOU prefer?
These reasons for not using Safari may not seem that important to some of you. But these reasons all together ... especially considering Adblock Plus... mean I use Firefox 3 and not Safari.

Where I Take My Refuge

noreply@blogger.com (Ryan Gill) — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 03:51:00 +0000

Psalm 118:8-9

It is better to take refuge in the LORD

than to trust in man.

It is better to take refuge in the LORD

than to trust in princes.

I read this passage while doing my quiet time in the Word a few days ago. It really struck me in a comforting way, especially considering the election season we are in. I know I have at LEAST spoken on this issue of being comforted and the election... but I feel I should blog on it again. It is easy to forget that God is sovereign and in control. I think that is why we are often refered to in the Bible as "sheep." Sheep are not the brightest animal on God's green earth. Really. They're kinda dumb. You have them stay in an area and they wander off... the shepherd has to go over, pick them up and set them back down. Then sooner or later, the process is repeated when the sheep wanders off again... over and over this happens. So it is NO surprise that God would have to keep reminding me through His word of His sovereignty and control.

I am terrified of Obama. Really. I am terrified of anyone who can get SO popular with people (especially "Evangelical Christians") while affirming the mother's right to slaughter her helpless defenseless babe, because of where the pre-born is located. I am terrified of his HUGE amount of tax increases. I am terrified of how his empty rhetoric filled with basically "Change" and "Hope" stir people into a frenzy. What substance is there? How about none? The thought of him becoming our next president honestly terrifies me.

It would probably keep me up at night if it wasn't for this fact: it is better to take refuge in the LORD. It is better to rest in God's grace than place our hope in political leaders. People are following Obama as if he is their savior who can fix EVERYTHING that (they perceive) is wrong with America. Really? I do not mean to say this ONLY about Obama... any politician who people get UBER enthused about... Now, am I excited about this election? yes. Do I support McCain? Yes. However, there is messianic language surrounding Obama that few (if ANY) candidate for President has had thrown his way.

Again though... while I am enthused about this race, and PRAY that McCain wins the office... I cannot allow myself to become absorbed entirely by the process. But the pundits... by the commentators... by the Fox News polls... I can't. If I do, I will begin to place my hopes for society and economy... my hopes in our way of life in one man: the President. I will look to him as the refuge to keep me safe. I will look to him to supply my needs. This robs glory from God, and it is idolatry (which is WHY I support minimalistic gov't involvement in our lives... ala no universal health care, nixing welfare, etc).

I cannot place my full hope in a man... a prince... or in our case a president or congressman. I would much rather place my trust in Christ alone.

A mighty fortress is our God,
a bulwark never failing;
our helper he amid the flood
of mortal ills prevailing.
For still our ancient foe
doth seek to work us woe;
his craft and power are great,
and armed with cruel hate,
on earth is not his equal.

"Jesus I know... but who are you?"

noreply@blogger.com (Ryan Gill) — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 03:02:00 +0000

Acts 19:15-16
But the evil spirit answered them, "Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?" And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.

A lot has been going on within "charismatic evangelicalism" until recently with Todd Bentley. Supposedly, there was a revival in Lakeland, FL where the Holy Spirit was attributed for healing people and men were casting out demons in Jesus' name. Now, do I believe the Holy Spirit heals people of disease and illness? Absolutely. God is sovereign and does as he pleases. And can/does the Holy Spirit work through men to cast demons out of others? ... I refuse to limit God's ability to do such a miraculous act. Whether or not it actually happens in 21st century ... that is another story. Still, God can do this sort of stuff if he pleases and wills it. However, I think it is clear that Bentley's violent ministry... involving kicking people in the face... leg-dropping people... kneeing men who have stomach cancer ... and baptizing people in the name of the BAM!... this is NOT of God. The fruit of the spirit include kindness, gentleness, and self-control. That fruit is not there in Bentley's ministry.

So what is going on? And for that matter, what happens at other crusades where this kind of "move of the Spirit" is found, ie: Benny Hinn? Mass hypnosis? Quite possibly. I have heard reports from a former pastor who used to be in deep in this healing crusade trend, and he recognized what he was doing was truly unbiblical. Knocking people over? Hitting them with coats and causing them to "fall out"? This is quite unbiblical.

So while those may also be, largely, mass hypnosis, I am convinced this is a VERY dangerous game that Bentley and his buddies are playing. It is easy to say "I do this in the name of Jesus (or rather JEEESUSSS!)!" But to just carelessly invoke Jesus' name in something of which Jesus is not a part of? Very dangerous and possibly blasphemous. Actually, no. It is blasphemous. And it is not without consequences. I do not know if someone who does this, trying to cast a demon out of someone who ispossessed, will necessarily then become possessed himself. However, it is not unheard of to God remove the common grace on a person and for this to occur. Just read Acts 19:11-20. Some tried to just add Jesus' name to their pagan-style magic to cast out spirits. Instead of performing a miraculous act, the magicians themselves became possessed.

Again, whether or not this WILL happen today is besides the matter. What is the issue is this: God's name is holy and unique. Do not use it casually to seem appealing to others or because you think it has some sort of power for those who do not know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Jesus' name is not a magic charm. It is holy.

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On The Purpose Of The Law

noreply@blogger.com (Ryan Gill) — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 06:01:00 +0000

Romans 7:7-12 (ESV)
"What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, "You shall not covet." But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. Apart from the law, sin lies dead. I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. The very commandment that promised life proved death to me. For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me through it killed me. So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good."

I am a Religious Studies major. But I am also realistic and I know such a degree has really nothing to do with the part of life that involves feeding myself or my (future) family. So, I also am in the process of getting my General Business minor. What will I do with a General Business minor and a Religious Studies major? What else...? I'm going to start a megachurch. ::sarcasm::

Anyway.

Today I began classes for the semester. One of the courses I am enrolled in is RIL-231, Legal Environment of Business. I know to some, the very utterance of the word "legal" brings to mind the scene from Ferris Bueller's Day Off with the kid sitting in class becoming so bored, he falls asleep and awakes in his own mini-puddle of drool. As this is only the first day, I cannot fully say if this is an accurate description of RIL-231. (But I doubt it is. The teacher seems amazing, classmates generally fun and into her teaching style, and I think class will go very well.) However, when I the teacher began a brief overview on what the course was about, the question she posed was "What is the purpose of the law?" She proceeded to give a fairly long legal-sounding definition of the law... which I cannot regurgitate here because I don't have the course text with me, I do not have my notes with me, and I didn't even jot down the entire answer she gave to the question "What is the purpose of the law."

What I DO remember... is as soon as she asked that question, "What is the purpose of the law," I honestly thought, without any hesitation, the following: To bring about the knowledge of sin. Really? That's what I thought? Yup. "For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin," Romans 2:20 (ESV). The purpose of the law is to bring the sinner (the individual man or woman) to the knowledge of his or her sin.

The law of God was actually a gift. Now that we have it, we know what he expects of his creation (man) in to how to serve and honor Him. Imagine if God had hidden his law from men. Would that mean that man would not sin? No. Man would still sin, but he would have no knowledge of it... there would be no response to repent of sin if the sinner does not realize he has sin. This is what the law does. It brings about the knowledge of sin. And how kind is our God, to actually let us know what his law is... rather than keeping it from us and yet still smiting us when we do wrong in His sight. He would be just in doing so however... we are the creation, he is the creator. He didn't HAVE to tell us his law. But he did... So that we need not be in a constant state of offense to Him. This is very gracious.

At the same time... the law shows also that we cannot make ourselves righteous. Paul wrote in Galatians 2:21, "I do not nullify the grace of God, for if justification were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose." The law is good... but it does not save us. No amount of good deeds can wash away the stain from the bad. A rapist does not have his crimes paid for just because he gave money to the Red Cross and helped old ladies across the street. That crime is still there. He is still a rapist, good deeds or not. Time does not wash away sin. Only the blood of Christ, shed for his people, can do this. 2 Corinthians 5:21. 1 Peter 2:24. He is the substitutionary atonement. There is no other.

The law is a wonderful gift from God. But its goal is to bring about the knowledge of sin... so that it may be the method God uses to draw his sheep to himself, those responding in repentance and faith in Christ's work alone.

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EDITED The Bible Is Dangerous....

noreply@blogger.com (Ryan Gill) — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 21:03:00 +0000

When I moved into the dorms here in Sunvilla Tower at Missouri State University, I decided to go online to www.biblegateway.com to add the search feature to a friend's Firefox 3.0 search bar. Upon the page loading, I was directed to the following page:

I am unsure if this is some kind of sick joke... or if it was really submitted... or a combination of both. Did someone really go to this Malware Domains site and submit the BIBLE as DANGEROUS?

I have emailed the Information Security Coordinator at Tech Projects:

I do not understand how www.biblegateway.com -- an online Bible with MANY different translations in English and other languages, constitutes "a source of spyware or malware that could harm your computer."

It's the Bible... is this some kind of joke, or merely an over site? I tried to click the Malware site to report biblegateway.com as genuine.... but I cannot find a page to report good sites.

Again... it isn't a malware site. It's a Bible.

That was yesterday. I have received no reply.

I went on to email the malware site owner today:

Upon trying to access BibleGateway.com, an online Bible site, I was stunned to see this site had been blocked because it appeared on your malware list.

Is this some sort of sick joke? That site contains NO malware. If so, what kind of malware does it contain? This page contains hundreds of translations and versions of the Bible in many different languages. Nothing more. Why has it been blocked? What threat does it pose?

I am not sure this was some sort of display of trickery to infringe on my right to free speech and religious freedom... But it certainly does seem to have an anti-Christian agenda to it.

Again, PLEASE, REMOVE BIBLEGATEWAY.COM FROM YOUR BLOCKED LIST.

I find this greatly disturbing. Did someone who hates Christianity actually submit biblegateway.com to that malware watch site as a joke? If it does have malware, WHAT IS IT? Where is the acountablility? They say it's a dangerous site... so then it IS dangerous? What specifically about that site is harmful to my computer?

This is censorship worthy of China... it is dispicable. I am minutes away from emailing the president of the university and anyone else I can tell of this injustice. Again... I can't judge the motives of the site. It may be a mistake. But either way, it NEEDS to be fixed.

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*EDIT* -- August 24 1:12pm

As Nic Perry informed me, the site has been fixed! :-) I did receive an email from malwaredomains.com informing me that it was not meant to be an "anti-Christian" move, and that it was an unintentional misunderstanding. It has been removed from the norton list and the malwaredomains.com list of dangerous sites. We now have access. I did not mean to accuse malwaredomains.com of being anti-Christian. I was merely confused as to how the site could be considered to be malware. However, the situation has been fixed. Thank you malwaredomains.com. :-)

I would like to address Daniell's comment that I "automatically assumed it was an attack on my religious freedom." This is kinda funny... I did NOT assume. I stated repeatedly that I was NOT assuming it was an attack. I said it seemed like it could be, but I thought I was clear that I was stating that I was willing to accept it as merely a mistake. I am aware that not everyone is "out to get me" because of my views. I did not know my emails were "nasty"... I just tried to be to-the-point. That is all.

I am glad this site is now allowed for access to campus students.

Still... it is ironic that the Bible was listed as a "dangerous site." lol.

On God's Sovereignty... (Categorized List)

noreply@blogger.com (Ryan Gill) — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 03:47:00 +0000

The following... I would LOVE to say I came up with. But alas, I did not. It was compiled by another individual and made public on CalvinistCorner.com. I hope to someday do an in-depth blog about the issue MYSELF... but right now, I am posting this more as... a resource... to others AND myself... on God's sovereignty.

From where I stand... the issue of Calvinism boils down to this question: Is God sovereign, or is man? If God is sovereign... is he not also sovereign in the salvation of man? If man, not God, is the final determiner in salvation... then man's "free will" has been made sovereign over God's divine sovereign will. Because in the Arminian view, if God wants man to be saved... but the man decides ... "nah, I don't want that"... then ... will the person be saved? Not from the Arminian mind-set. Because after all, that view leads to a God who is unable to save unto himself a people he purchased on the cross of His own will... God must ask permission of the man to save him. The potter asking the clay if it is okay to form him into a pot. Unthinkable.

Again, here is the list... I hope it proves useful to all who read.

THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD

God's Sovereignty -
1. God's ability to do and accomplish His will -
  -- God does whatever He pleases.
  1. Gen. 18:14, "Is anything too difficult for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, at this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son."
  2. Psalm 115:3, "But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases."
  3. Psalm 135:6, "Whatever the Lord pleases, He does, In heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deeps."
  4. Isaiah 46:10, "Declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things which have not been done, saying, ‘My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all My good pleasure’;"
  5. Jer. 32:27, "Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh; is anything too difficult for Me?"
  6. Dan. 4:35, “And all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, but He does according to His will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of earth; and no one can ward off His hand Or say to Him, ‘What hast Thou done?’"
  7. Matt. 19:26, "And looking upon them Jesus said to them, "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."
  8. Luke 1:37, "For nothing will be impossible with God."
2. Chance occurrence -
  1. Prov. 16:33, “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.”
3. Natural realm - sun, rain, birds, grass, hair. -
  1. Matt. 5:45, “in order that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”
  2. Matt. 6:26, “Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?”
  3. Matt. 6:30, “But if God so arrays the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more do so for you, O men of little faith?”
  4. Matt. 10:29, “Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.”
  5. Matt. 10:30, “But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.”
4. Human History - nations, times, boundaries, people, -
  1. Acts 17:26, “and He made from one, every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times, and the boundaries of their habitation,”
  2. Psalm 47:1-4, “O Clap your hands, all peoples; Shout to God with the voice of joy. ²For the Lord Most High is to be feared, a great King over all the earth. ³He subdues peoples under us, and nations under our feet. ⁴Hchooses our inheritance for us, The glory of Jacob whom He loves.”
  3. Psalm 33:10, “The Lord nullifies the counsel of the nations; He frustrates the plans of the peoples.”
5. Human Birth - God grants offspring and descendents -
  1. Gen. 4:25, “And Adam had relations with his wife again; and she gave birth to a son, and named him Seth, for, she said, “God has appointed me another offspring in place of Abel; for Cain killed him.”
  2. Deut. 10:22, “Your fathers went down to Egypt seventy persons in all, and now the Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars of heaven.”
  3. Ruth 4:13, “So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife, and he went in to her. And the Lord enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son.”
6. Human plans and accidents. -
  1. Exodus 21:12, “He who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death. ¹³“But if he did not lie in wait for him, but God let him fall into his hand, then I will appoint you a place to which he may flee.”
  2. James 4:13-15, “Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow, we shall go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” ¹⁴Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. ¹⁵Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and also do this or that.”
7. Good and ill from God -
  1. Lam. 3:37-38, "Who is there who speaks and it comes to pass, unless the Lord has commanded it? ³⁸Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both good and ill go forth?"
8. Health and prosperity -
  1. Exodus 4:11, "And the Lord said to him, "Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes him dumb or deaf, or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?"
  2. Deut. 32:39, "See now that I, I am He, And there is no god besides Me; It is I who put to death and give life. I have wounded, and it is I who heal; And there is no one who can deliver from My hand."
  3. 1 Sam. 2:6-7, “The Lord kills and makes alive; He brings down to Sheol and raises up. ⁷The Lord makes poor and rich; He brings low, He also exalts."
  4. Ecc. 7:13-17, "Consider the work of God, For who is able to straighten what He has bent? ¹⁴In the day of prosperity be happy, But in the day of adversity consider— God has made the one as well as the other So that man may not discover anything that will be after him."
  5. Isaiah 45:5-7, “I am the Lord, and there is no other; Besides Me there is no God. I will gird you, though you have not known Me; ⁶That men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun That there is no one besides Me. I am the Lord, and there is no other, ⁷The One forming light and creating darkness, Causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the Lord who does all these."
  6. Lam. 3:37-38, "Who is there who speaks and it comes to pass, unless the Lord has commanded it? ³⁸Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both good and ill go forth?"
  7. Amos 3:6-7, "If a trumpet is blown in a city will not the people tremble? If a calamity occurs in a city has not the Lord done it?"
What God desires; What God arranges -
1. What God desires
  1. 1 Tim. 2:3-4, "This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, ⁴who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth,"
  2. 2 Pet. 3:9, "The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance."
  3. Luke 14:23, "And the master said to the slave, ‘Go out into the highways and along the hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled."
  4. Heb. 3:7, "Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says, “Today if you hear His voice, ⁸Do not harden your hearts as when they provoked Me, as in the day of trial in the wilderness."
2. What God arranges
  1. Rom. 11:8, "just as it is written, 'God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes to see not and ears to hear not, down to this very day.'"
  2. Mark 4:11-12, "And He was saying to them, "To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God; but those who are outside get everything in parables, ¹²in order that while seeing, they may see and not perceive; and while hearing, they may hear and not understand lest they return and be forgiven."
  3. 2 T hess. 2:11, "And for this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they might believe what is false."
  4. Rom. 9:18, "So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires."
  5. Exodus 4:21, "And the Lord said to Moses, 'When you go back to Egypt see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders which I have put in your power; but I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go."
    1. See also Exodus 7:3; 9:12; 10:1; 11:10; 14:4 where God hardens Pharaoh's heart.
    2. Exodus 8:32, "But Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also, and he did not let the people go."
  6. Exodus 14:17, "And as for Me, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them; and I will be honored through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen."
  7. Deut. 2:30, "But Sihon king of Heshbon was not willing for us to pass through his land; for the Lord your God hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, in order to deliver him into your hand, as he is today."
  8. 2 Chron. 25:20, "But Amaziah would not listen, for it was from God, that He might deliver them into the hand of Joash because they had sought the gods of Edom."
  9. Isaiah 6:10, "Render the hearts of this people insensitive, their ears dull, and their eyes dim, lest they see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and return and be healed."
  10. Rom. 9:18, "So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires."
Human nature- Total Depravity -
1. Jer. 17:9, "The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?"
2. Mark 7:21-23, "For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, ²²deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. ²³"All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man."
3. John 3:19, "And this is the judgment, that the light is come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their deeds were evil."
4. John 8:34, "Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin."
5. Rom. 3:10-12, "as it is written, “There is none righteous, not even one; ¹¹There is none who understands. There is none who seeks for God; ¹²All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, There is not even one.”
6. Rom. 5:6, "For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly."
7. Rom. 6:20, "For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness."
8. Rom. 7:18, "For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the wishing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not."
9. Rom. 7:23, "but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind, and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members."
10. 1 Cor. 2:14, "But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised."
  1. 1 Cor. 2:1-5, Paul did not come by the power of human wisdom, but the power of the Holy Spirit.
  2. 1 Cor. 2:6-9, Paul speaks God’s wisdom which the world does not understand.
  3. 1 Cor. 2:10, The Spirit of God reveals the sacred and spiritual things of God.
  4. 1 Cor. 2:11-12, Christians have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit of God, which is why the Christians know the things freely given from God.
  5. 1 Cor. 2:13-14, "which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. ¹⁴But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised."
    1. Therefore, 1 Cor. 2:14 is not saying that the natural man, the unregenerate person, cannot understand God's wisdom, it is also saying that they cannot understand because they do not have the Spirit of God. This means that the unsaved cannot understand spiritual things because they do not have the Spirit of God.
11. Eph. 2:1, "And you were dead in your trespasses and sins."
12. Eph. 2:3, "Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others."
  1. In this verse "nature" is the Greek phusei. It is the dative case (indirect object). This means that the text is not saying that we are by nature children of wrath because we sin. It is saying that we are by nature children of wrath.
13. 1 Tim. 1:9, "Realizing the fact that law is not made for a righteous man, but for those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers."
Human freedom -
-- Libertarian freedom is the freedom to be able to equally choose good and bad in any given situation.
-- Compatibilist freedom is the freedom to act in accordance with our nature.
1. Deut. 30:19, "I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants."
2. Josh. 24:15, "And if it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."
God grants and works salvation in us -
1. John 1:12-13, "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, ¹³who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."
  1. Being born again occurs not by the will of man, but of God.
2. Acts 13:48, "And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord; and as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed."
3. Eph. 1:5, "He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will."
4. Eph. 1:11, "also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will."
  1. Predestine is the Greek proorizo, it means...
    1. "to predetermine, decide beforehand; in the NT of God decreeing from eternity; to foreordain, appoint beforehand" (Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon, (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1995).
    2. "to destine or decree beforehand; foreordain," (Webster's New World Dictionary, 1986, p. 1121)
    3. "To predetermine or foreordain; to appoint or ordain beforehand by an unchangeable purpose," (Webster's Dictionary, 1828.)
5. Phil. 1:29, "For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake."
6. 1 Thess. 5:9, "For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ."
  1. "destined" is the Greek word "tithemei." It means, "to set, put, place; to make; to set, fix establish" (Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon, (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1995).
7. 2 Thess. 2:13-14, "But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth. ¹⁴And it was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ."
8. John 10:25-26, "Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in My Father’s name, these bear witness of Me. ²⁶"But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep. ²⁷"My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me;
  1. John 10:11, "I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep."
9. John 6:44, "No one can come to Me, unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day."
10. John 6:65, "And He was saying, "For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me, unless it has been granted him from the Father."
  1. If no one can come to God without the Father granting it to him, then the person is powerless to come to God of his own free will.
11. Acts 16:14, "And a certain woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God, was listening; and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul."
12. Rom. 12:3, "For through the grace given to me I say to every man among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith."
13. 1 Pet. 1:3, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead."
14. James 1:18, "In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we might be, as it were, the first fruits among His creatures."
God Predestines -
1. Predestination
  1. Greek Proorizo, Strongs # 4309. "to predetermine, decide beforehand; in the NT of God decreeing from eternity, to foreordain, appoint beforehand."
  2. Proorizo, "which the NT uses only with God as subject, expresses the thought of appointing a situation for a person, or a person for a situation." (The New Bible Dictionary, Wheaton, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1962.)
  3. Predestinate, "To predetermine or foreordain; to appoint or ordain beforehand by an unchangeable purpose," (Websters Dictionary, 1828 edition.)
  4. Predestine, "To destine or decree beforehand; foreordain," (Websters New World Dictionary, 1986 edition).
2. Acts 4:27-28, "For truly in this city there were gathered together against Thy holy servant Jesus, whom Thou didst anoint, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, ²⁸to do whatever Thy hand and Thy purpose predestined to occur."
3. Rom. 8:29-30, "For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first-born among many brethren; ³⁰and whom He predestined, these He also called; and whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified."
4. 1 Cor. 2:6-7, "Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away; ⁷but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom, which God predestined before the ages to our glory."
5. Eph. 1:4-5, "just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love ⁵He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will."
6. Eph. 1:11, "also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will."
God elects individuals -
1. election is the Greek "eklektos." It is rendered as "elect" and "chosen." Strongs #1588.
2. Matt. 22:14, "for many are called [kletos], but few are chosen [eklektos]."
  1. Kletos, "called, invited."
3. Matt. 22:24, "For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect [eklektos]."
4. Matt. 22:31, "And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect [eklektos] from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other."
5. Luke 18:7, "now shall not God bring about justice for His elect [eklektos], who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them?"
6. Rom. 8:33, "Who will bring a charge against God’s elect [eklektos]? God is the one who justifies;"
7. Romans 16:13, "Greet Rufus, a choice [eklektos] man in the Lord, also his mother and mine."
8. Col. 3:12, "And so, as those who have been chosen [eklektos] of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience;"
9. 1 Tim. 5:21, "I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of His chosen [eklektos] angels, to maintain these principles without bias, doing nothing in a spirit of partiality."
10. 2 John 1, "The elder to the chosen [eklektos] lady and her children, whom I love in truth; and not only I, but also all who know the truth,"
11. 3 John 13, "The children of your chosen [eklektos] sister greet you."
God's sovereignty over people's hearts and lives
1. God hardens people's hearts -
  1. Exodus 4:21, "And the Lord said to Moses, 'When you go back to Egypt see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders which I have put in your power; but I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go."
    1. See also Exodus 7:3; 9:12; 10:1; 11:10; 14:4 where God hardens Pharaoh's heart.
    2. Exodus 8:32, "But Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also, and he did not let the people go."
  2. Exodus 14:17, "And as for Me, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them; and I will be honored through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen."
  3. Deut. 2:30, "But Sihon king of Heshbon was not willing for us to pass through his land; for the Lord your God hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, in order to deliver him into your hand, as he is today."
  4. 2 Chron. 25:20, "But Amaziah would not listen, for it was from God, that He might deliver them into the hand of Joash because they had sought the gods of Edom."
  5. Isaiah 6:10, "Render the hearts of this people insensitive, their ears dull, and their eyes dim, lest they see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and return and be healed."
  6. Rom. 9:18, "So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires."
2. God softens peoples' hearts -
  1. Deut. 29:4, "Yet to this day the Lord has not given you a heart to know, nor eyes to see, nor ears to hear."
  2. Jer. 24:7, "‘And I will give them a heart to know Me, for I am the Lord; and they will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with their whole heart."
3. The Lord directs people's paths -
  1. Jer. 10:23, “I know, O Lord, that a man’s way is not in himself; nor is it in a man who walks to direct his steps.”
  2. Prov. 16:9, “The mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.
  3. Gen. 45:8, “Now, therefore, it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh and lord of all his household and ruler over all the land of Egypt.” – (Joseph in Egypt – His brothers, therefore, were not free to kill Joseph)
  4. Isaiah 44:28, “It is I who says of Cyrus, ‘He is My shepherd! and he will perform all My desire.’ And he declares of Jerusalem, ‘She will be built,’ and of the temple, ‘Your foundation will be laid.’”
  5. 1 Sam. 10:9, “Then it happened when he turned his back to leave Samuel, God changed his heart; and all those signs came about on that day.”
  6. Prov. 21:1, “The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord. He turns it wherever He wishes.”
  7. Psalm 105:24-251, "And He caused His people to be very fruitful, and made them stronger than their adversaries. ²⁵He turned their heart to hate His people, to deal craftily with His servants.
  8. John 1:12-13, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, ¹³who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”
  9. Dan. 1:9, “Now God granted Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the commander of the officials.”
  10. Rev. 17:17, "For God has put it in their hearts to execute His purpose by having a common purpose, and by giving their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God should be fulfilled."
4. Does God affect human choices? -
  1. 1 Pet. 1:3, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead."
Other -
1. Miscellaneous Verses
  1. Prov. 16:4, "The Lord has made everything for its own purpose, even the wicked for the day of evil."
  2. Rom. 9:22-23, "What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? ²³And He did so in order that He might make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory."
2. God Foreknows -
  1. Proginosko,
  2. Acts 2:38, "this Man, delivered up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death."
  3. 1 Pet. 1:1-2, "Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen ²according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, that you may obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in fullest measure."
  4. 1 Pet. 1:20, "For He [Christ] was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you."
    1. KJV says, "Who verily was foreordained before the .... "
    2. If God looked into the future to see what choice would be made, then who did He foreknow the death of Christ? Was it simply something that God looked to see if it would happen or not? If so, then God is not sovereign.
3. If God predestines us because he looks into the future to see if we will believe, then... -
  1. Then isn't He predestining us because He is seeing in us something that is motivating Him to save us? If our faith motivates God to save us, then it must have some merit in God's eyes, otherwise it would not motivate God to save us."
  2. Then God is looking into the future in order to learn. This would violate His attribute of omniscience. In other words, if God is looking into the future to see our choices, then this means God is constrained by time (otherwise He would not have to look into the future). The truth is that God is omniscient and knows all things all the time. He does not have to look anywhere, anytime to discover anything. To say that He looks into the future to see who would pick Him and then He predestines them is to say that God essentially is learning and adapting to the knowledge He gains in His future looking.
4. Questions -
  1. Is God's will thwarted by human free will?
  2. Is God's will limited by human free will?
  3. Can God fail at anything He intends to do?
    1. "God does not intend to bring about everything He values, but he never fails to bring about what He intends." (John Frame)
  4. Is the human will somehow independent of all other influences so as to be truly free?
  5. Is the human will somehow independent of human motivations?
  6. If God does not influence a person's will, so as to allow him total freedom of will, then how is it that God draws the person? In other words, the drawing of a person is an influence upon the will.
  7. Does the human will have the ability to overcome various influences so as to make a neutral, objective decision?
  8. If God foreknows what someone will do in the future, is that person then free to change his mind or not?
  9. Is the "free-willer" using the doctrine of complete freedom of will as a paradigm into which God's character and actions must fit?
5. Logic -
  1. God creates the person, the will of the person, and the body of the person since God is the one who forms us in the womb (Isaiah 44:2,24; Ecc. 11:5), etc.
  2. Since God knows all things, a person's free will is not outside God's knowledge.
  3. God puts that person in a particular place and time.

tired... and tired of debating

noreply@blogger.com (Ryan Gill) — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 07:19:00 +0000

I have been engaged in a "debate"/discussion on the Doctrines of Grace via Facebook mail now for the past 4 or 5 days or so with a gentleman whom I have never met... but we have some mutual friends. And I can say... that after 4 or 5 days of this... I am drained. Just wiped out. SO tired from arguing these points... and we've only thoroughly looked at ONE scripture... 2 Peter 3:9 (which I did a vlog on the subject... available here)... though he's alluded to other passages (without citing their contexts) when it fits his purposes. So many of his questions are just "why would God do ______?" He seems unwilling to be able to accept any correction when the correction comes from the text of the Word of God... if it goes against his tradition, that is.

I am SO tired of this. Whether these discussions are on MySpace... HisHolySpace (lol!)... Facebook... or whatever... SO SO often I go into a debate on these important issues of God's sovereignty and man's wickedness, and I feel I get no where. Very few (not saying none... but very few) I have ever discussed these issues of Calvinism with have ever displayed they are truly coming to the table to learn the Reformed possition... and willing to consider it. One person in particular HAS had a kind of openess to the ideas and are comparing them with what Scripture says... that's all I can really expect I suppose. That's all we can do when we come across a doctrine-- go to the Scriptures and see what the Bible says about it. What did God reveal in his Word?

Again... I am very tired. It is 2:12am. But also, I am fed up with arguing things with people who only have the desire to argue or to win the arguement from a worldly perspective. When someone comes to the table with something FAR less than anything resembling a teachable spirit... I feel I am just wasting breath. Now... can God still use such a presentation? despite it seeming to not produce much/any fruit now? Of course! Our God IS a sovereign one. He does as he pleases. He can be planting a seed. However, I do not know if this is the BEST way to get the message out... just by constant debating with people who don't really have an interest in setting aside their tradition and reading what the Bible says for itself.

Can debates, again, be good, profitble? YES! But I think there has to be a willingness to examine the texts... and if the texts contradict my tradition, the tradition HAS to be the one to move.

I can't say I'll never debate the issues of justification or Calvinism again... because I know I will! I am just so very very drained... I think I need to be a bit more discerning when it comes to whom I cast my pearls to.

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Proginosko (foreknowledge)... not fortune telling.

noreply@blogger.com (Ryan Gill) — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 05:49:00 +0000

Romans 8:28-30 (ESV)
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

This is an issue that seems to come up fairly frequently in my discussions of the Doctrines of Grace (Calvinism): What exactly does "foreknowledge" mean? The Arminian and the Calvinist have very different understandings on what this word proginosko ("to foreknow") means. The Arminian tradition sees this word as simply meaning foresight... their version of this "golden chain" is that God first looks down the tunnel of history to see what you are going to do... and if you of your own will choose HIM, then guess what-- He'll choose you!! **eye roll**

The problem is... on what basis was the unregenerate sinner able to resurrect himself and choose God in the FIRST place? How was he able to? If man actually is, as scripture says in Eph 2:1, spiritually dead... he cannot bring himself to choose God on his own free will, because that will is corrupt.

Rather, proginosko is dealing with not foresight or fortune telling of what people are going to DO... It describes God's intimate relationship he has with those He has chosen to be his elect. The Bible often speaks of "knowing" someone not only in a cognitive sense but in an intimate sense... even sexually, to describe the degree of intimacy.

The following quote is adapted from a YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQENcj_kRcg and is available between 13:50 and 18:02. I have simplified it to be more of a commentary on ALL the Arminians who argue the particular argument, rather than just the one individual Dr. White was speaking of. It is far more eloquent than I could hope to be on the subject...

"When the passage (Romans 8:29) says "God foreknew"... the Arminian thinks that means that God, in essence, looked down the corridors of time and saw what we were going to do in advance before we do it. This is an incorrect assumption on the part of the Arminian. First of all, you will notice that "proginosko" is a verb. And yet the Arminian will consistently switch it with the noun form. Now that is not something you can do, especially when the person doing the action, that is the subject of the verb, and the object of the verb come into play. What do I mean? Well, when God foreknows, if the Arminian interpretation is correct, when God foreknows, he would know actions, he would know what someone is doing. The Arminian may not even point out that it IS a verb, he just says "God has foreknowledge"... but that's not what the passage says. It says "he foreknows." In fact each one of the verbs: "to foreknow," "to call," "to predestine," "to justify" "to glorify"--these are all active verbs. These are active things that God does. And there are objects; that is, God is doing this to someone. The problem is, the Arminian view interprets this verb to mean that God foreknows ACTIONS. And yet never when proginosko is used with God as the subject are actions the object of the verb. It isn't that God knows WHAT we do, but rather, God knows US.

"This isn't talking about having mere static knowledge of future events. This is not what proginosko means. This is something God does; the object is not actions, it's people. God has "fore-loved." He has beforehand been fond of these individuals. God has chosen to enter into relationship with these individuals, and as a result he initiates their salvation, and their salvation is all of God. His decree of predestination of them unto conformity to the image of Christ is based upon this eternal love that he has set upon them, and the "Golden Chain of Redemption" (Romans 8:29-30) is a very consistent chain that, from beginning to end, has the exact same objects all the way through."
--Dr. James White, director of Alpha and Omega Ministries