Archives for 2012

After I said that God must regenerate one who is "dead" in sin before that person can believe, a subscriber responded, "So, why worry about preaching the good news to them? Why worry about them believing it?" * * * The person who knows that salvation is of God's sovereign initiative doesn't "worry" about any of these things -- the whole process is in very good hands! All those whom the Father has given Jesus will come to him (John 6:37). Jesus will give them all eternal life, and they will be with him and share his glory (John 17:2, 24). People may join churches and perform religious rituals … [Read more...]

In response to gracEmails about God's choosing us, an outstanding Bible teacher writes: "My question is not about God's ability to save us or eternal security. It's about predestining some regardless of response and, by extension, rejecting others without any response." * * * You agree that God does not, at the End, save those in whose lives, looking back, he sees something good to which he responds by saving. That would make salvation by works or merit and not by grace. It is equally true, according to Romans 8:28-30; 9:14-18; Ephesians 1:5-6; and 2 Timothy 1:9, that God did not, at the … [Read more...]

"Did God choose any person to be lost?" a reader asks, and "did he choose the saved because he knew in advance that they would respond to his calling? * * * The Bible does not require us to believe that God chose anyone to be lost, though it insists that as Creator he has the right to do just that (Rom. 9:19-22). Scripture speaks of two unrelated groups of human beings: (1) those who persistently reject God's companionship and grace, however offered; and (2) those who trust God, having been chosen previously by him in Christ. These two realities occur separately; neither reality causes the … [Read more...]

A subscriber in Oklahoma writes, "If God already knows who will finally be saved, why should we even bother to spread the gospel? I would appreciate whatever light you can shed on this issue." * * * Jesus personally spoke of those whom the Father had given to him (John 6:37, 39; 17:2, 24). All those people will come to him, he said. He will lose none of them but will raise them all on the last day and give them eternal life. Both Paul (Rom. 8:28-31; 2 Thes. 2:13-14) and Peter (1 Pet.1:1-5) wrote the same thing to believers, whom they considered to be in that company. But if God is sovereign … [Read more...]

"You do not seem to emphasize the necessity of human choice in salvation," someone writes. "Don't you know that the Bible teaches that we must make a decision for Christ?" * * * Indeed the Bible teaches that we "receive" Christ or "believe on" Christ (John 1:12; Acts 16:31). However, it also makes plain that God chose us long before we chose him (John 15:16; 17:1-3; 2 Thes. 2:13-14), and that he gave us the grace to choose him in return (Acts 16:14; 2 Cor. 4:4, 6). God loves us because of who he is in himself; not because he sees (in advance, or after the fact) anything loveable in us -- … [Read more...]

A gracEmail subscriber writes: "I can't reconcile the idea of God's arbitrarily choosing some for salvation with the exercise of our will. Didn't God choose a 'class' of people (those who believe) rather than selecting individuals?" * * * God's choice of his people is always consistent with the exercise of their will. God makes his people willing (Ps. 110:3, KJV). He himself energizes them "to will his good pleasure" (Phil. 2:13). God gives his people new hearts and new spirits (Ezek. 37:26-28) and renews their minds (Rom. 12:1-2). He gives faith in place of distrust and unbelief (Eph. 2:8; … [Read more...]

A gracEmail reader asks: "Do we choose God, or does God choose us? Is our will involved? * * * The Bible speaks from the perspective of God and also from the perspective of God's people. Experientially, we choose God (John 1:12), but we learn from Scripture that he chose us first (1 Thes. 1:4-5; Acts 13:48). God energizes his people both to will (choose and decide) and to do (perform, carry out) the things which give him pleasure (Phil. 2:13). Salvation, however, ultimately depends not on our right choices or our correct effort, but on God's unprompted mercy (Rom. 9:16). There are mysteries … [Read more...]

A gracEmail subscriber in Arkansas asks the basis on which I believe God holds people accountable. * * * So far as I know, the Bible does not use the term "accountability," nor speak of a specific age at which one becomes accountable. Nevertheless, based on such texts as Leviticus 10:16-20; 2 Chronicles 30:17-20; Matthew 25:29; Romans 2:12-16, 25-29 and 2 Corinthians 8:12, I conclude that God holds humans accountable based on their individual knowledge, understanding, ability and opportunity. In other words, God does not hold people accountable for what they do not know, what they do not … [Read more...]

Part 1 Although Christians proclaim together that God saves sinners through the atoning death of Jesus Christ, they reach different conclusions regarding both the scope of Jesus' death (for whom did he die?) and also its effect (did it actually save anyone or only make salvation possible?). Calvinists conclude that Jesus died only for the elect, whose salvation his death assured. Non-Calvinists conclude that Jesus died for all people, whose salvation his death made possible but not certain. Since the Reformation, and even since ancient Augustine, advocates of these two views have advanced … [Read more...]

A gracEmail reader in California echoes a common inquiry when she asks: "I hate to appear ignorant, but what does T-U-L-I-P stand for in summing up the five theological points of John Calvin and the Reformed tradition?" * * * You are not ignorant, dear lady. The spiritual gardeners of your acquaintance have not cultivated this flower but have instead considered it a weed. In fact, "TULIP" is an acronym for five English phrases which came from a debate among early Calvinists, but their essential truths are officially taught also by Lutherans, Anglicans and, to varying degrees, by a wider … [Read more...]