Your Life’s Story #4: Your Life’s Calling

 “Before I made you in your mother’s womb, I chose you. Before you were born, I set you apart for a special work…” (Jer. 1:5 NCV).

Why do you exist? What is your God given calling? Ravi Zacharias said, “We all seek success, eager to grab whatever we can along the way. Just look at the sections in our bookstores that promote resources about motivation and career selection, and you’ll find all the advice you need on how to find that specific purpose for which you are distinctly wired.. However, accomplishments and dream careers do not necessarily lead to happiness. Making it to number one really means knowing where God wants you to be and serving Him there with your best efforts. The goal then, is to find the threads God has in place for you and to follow His plan for you with excellence” (The Grand Weaver, pgs. 54-55).

Deep down inside of every person are the seeds of greatness, as we all have been made in the image of our Creator God. He formed us, each of us, uniquely for a special purpose. According to the Bible, there are five purposes for our lives: worship (Rom. 11:36), discipleship (Rom. 8:29), fellowship (Phil. 2:1-4), service (Eph. 2:10), and evangelism (2 Cor. 5:20). God’s special calling for our lives will relate to these five purposes and how He has uniquely shaped us to make a difference in our world.

As Christians, God has blessed us with Spiritual gifts. Everyone has a Heart for certain things and people. We all have God given Abilities and Personalities. And we all have gone through numerous Experiences to S.H.A.P.E. us into the person that God created us to be so that we might fulfill our God given calling. A calling is simply God’s shaping of your life to serve Him through serving others.

What spiritual gifts has God blessed you with? What do you have a heart for? Or asked another way, if you could spend the rest of your life doing one thing or fixing one problem in our world today, what would it be? What abilities has God given you? What is your personality type? And what life experiences, good and bad have you gone through? As you consider your S.H.A.P.E. in relation to your God given purposes, this will reveal your life’s calling.

It is only through fulfilling your life’s calling will you be able to find true joy, peace, satisfaction, and fulfillment in life. Thus, I encourage you to take some time to reflect on your own life. Pray diligently seeking God’s direction. And then respond. Often God’s assurance that we are headed in the right direction comes after we set out on the journey that you were created to live. So may God bless you as you answer your life’s calling!

In His service,

      Matt

Theology 201 #3: Pick the Brighter Tulip (Part C)

“This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:4-5).

He loves me; He loves me not. Perhaps as a teen or young adult you played that game when you were head over heels in love with someone but were not sure if they loved you. The second fundamental teaching of Calvinism is very similar to that childhood game. As we saw two months ago, “Calvinism and Arminianism are two systems of theology that attempt to explain the relationship between God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility in the matter of salvation. Both systems can be summarized with five points” known as TULIP (for an overview of this topic please see http://eugenechristianchurch.blogspot.com/2018/05/theology-201-3-pick-brighter-tulip-part.html).  

This month we will examine the second point: Unconditional Election (Calvinism) vs. Unfathomable Love (Arminianism). In order to understand this topic, a few issues need to be addressed. First, the Bible teaches that all people apart from a saving relationship with Christ are headed to hell; both sides agree with that. However, the disagreement comes from the following: is it God’s will for some to go to heaven and for others to go to hell? To answer this question from the Calvinists side, consider what John Calvin himself said. “Everything depends on the mere will of God; if some are damned and others saved it is because God created some for death and others for life...the Lord created those who He certainly foreknew would fall into destruction, and this was actually so because He willed it”-(Institutes, Volume 2:163, 2:169).

How does that teaching set with you—that some are chosen by God to go to hell regardless of anything they do? In other words, Calvinists believe that even if a person follows the Biblical plan of salvation (placing their faith in Christ, repenting of their sins, confessing Jesus as Lord of their lives and being  baptized for the forgiveness of their sins and gift of the Holy Spirit), that person can still be lost simply because God did not chose them. So again I ask, how does that set with you? More importantly, how does that teaching set with the rest of Scripture?

The Bible teaches that it is not God’s will for anyone to perish (go to hell), but for everyone to come to repentance to be saved (2 Peter 3:9; see also Ezek. 18:23, 32; 33:11; 2 Cor. 5:17-19; 1 Thess. 2:16; 1 Tim. 2:4-5; Titus 2:11).

The second issue that needs to be addressed relates to conditions for salvation. Since it is not God’s will for anyone to go to hell, are there any conditions that the Bible gives in order for a person to change the course that their life is headed so that they might be able to go to heaven?

The Lord declares in Ezekiel 18:32, “For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent and live!” Here we see that not only does God desire all to be saved, but also He offers conditions for living, namely repentance. Elsewhere in Scripture we can also see the conditions of placing one’s faith in Christ, confessing Him as Lord of their lives, and baptism (Mark 16:16; John 3:16; 11:25-26; Acts 2:38; Rom. 10:9-10; Col. 1:23; for more on that topic see http://eugenechristian church.blogspot.com/search/label/How%20to%20Understand%20the%20Bible).

The Calvinist will generally at this time in the argument, point to Romans 9:13-15, “Just as it is written: ‘Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated. ‘What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! For He says to Moses, ‘I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.’” From this passage, Calvinists will argue that God specifically chose Jacob and rejected his brother Esau. Thus, the Calvinists teach that this means that Jacob was chosen for salvation while Esau was chosen to be damned. Yet that is not what this passage is teaching at all! Romans 9:13 is a quote from Malachi 1:2-3. So in order to understand what Paul is saying in Romans, we need to first understand what is being said in Malachi. In Malachi, the name Jacob does NOT refer to the Patriarch Jacob, rather it refers to the nation that Jacob founded, Israel. Likewise, in context Esau does not refer to Jacob’s brother, but rather to the nation that Esau founded, the Edomites.

Alger Fitch said, “God chose Israel, not for their exclusive salvation, but as the servants to bring to the world God’s Savior and the message about Him. Regarding human salvation, God predetermined to send Jesus into the lost world and chose then that all persons who would accept Christ would be saved. His decision was to forgive all who would receive the offer. It was not, however, His verdict who those individuals would be. In other words, the elect are the “whosoever wills.” The non-elect are the “whosoever wont’s” (Pick the Brighter Tulip, pg. 30). 

Third, where does the logic of the false doctrine of unconditional election lead? Or, what are the logical conclusions for those who adhere to unconditional election? In many senses the Great Commission of making disciples of all nations which is found throughout Scripture would be completely pointless if there is nothing that anyone can do about it. Oh, I recognize that many Calvinists will say that the point of evangelism is to awaken those who are headed to heaven, the elect, so that they can turn to God in faith, repentance, confession, etc. Yet in reality that response is completely pointless since they believe that a person is going to be saved regardless of whether or not they respond to the Gospel. It was for this reason that the church leaders back in the 1760s opposed William Carey wanting to go to India as a missionary. They told him, “If God wants to save the heathen, He will do it Himself.” But, thankfully, Carey would not listen to such nonsense. He went and saw many come to Christ.

On a side note, I do know of many Christians and churches who hold to Calvinism that do a phenomenal job of seeking to fulfill the Great Commission. Likewise, I know of many in that same group who do a great job of stressing the need to apply Biblical salvation, and the need for living a holy life. However, if one would seriously consider the rational of living a holy and God honoring life, and seeking to fulfill the Great Commission in the light of Calvinism, from that viewpoint those things seem extremely meaningless since they believe that God will save or damn individuals regardless of how they respond to the Gospel message. Thus, I want to encourage those of you who are Calvinists or who attend Calvinistic churches to consider what you believe in light of God’s Word.

Another logical conclusion of unconditional election is that God does NOT love everyone, since they believe that God has chosen all who will go to hell before they were ever born. Now the Calvinist will argue that God does love all people, including non-believers, for God blesses all people with material blessings, and letting the Gospel go out to them (and electing love is given to those whom God unconditionally elects). However, are these really ways in which God genuinely loves all people, especially non-believers? Jesus said, “What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul” (Mark 8:36)? So to paraphrase this verse, “How is the love of God good for someone even if God gives them the entire world for material blessings, but doesn’t give them the grace they need to save their eternal soul?” Material blessings therefore are trivial in light of eternity in hell. Thus, a Calvinist cannot honestly say that God loves everyone including non-believers in any sense that counts in the long run! 

However, that is not what the Bible clearly teaches! The Bible teaches that God does genuinely love ALL people, believers and non-believers alike. “For God so loved the world (not just the elect) that He gave His One and only Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8).

God’s unfathomable love does for us what April showers do for a garden. God’s unfathomable love is a miracle that can work miracles in your life. You may not be able to travel land and sea to visit one of the wonders of the world, but you dare not miss traversing the pages of the New Testament to discover the greatest wonder of heaven. Our holy God has not hung a “No Trespassing” sign on His heart. His love is not blind—He sees more, not less; yet, seeing our stained lives, He offers forgiveness (Pick the Brighter Tulip, pg. 39).

 In His service,

       Matt

Theology 201 #3: Pick the Brighter Tulip (Part B)

“Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil” (Heb. 5:13-14).

As a person matures in their walk with the Lord, at some point they will need to wrestle with many theological topics. Otherwise, they are refusing to accept the meat of Scripture as Paul alludes to in Hebrews 5:13-14. One such topic that has wide reaching implications is the debate between Calvinism vs. Arminianism. As we saw last month, “Calvinism and Arminianism are two systems of theology that attempt to explain the relationship between God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility in the matter of salvation. Both systems can be summarized with five points” known as TULIP (for an overview of this topic please see http://eugenechristianchurch.blogspot.com/2018/05/theology-201-3-pick-brighter-tulip-part.html).  

This month we will examine the first point: Total Depravity (Calvinism) vs. Tremendous Value (Arminianism). This issue centers on, can a person can freely choose to love God in return and receive His offer of salvation (Arminianism)? Or does God need to make a person love Him and receive God’s offer of salvation since mankind is completely incapable by themselves (Calvinism)?

Calvinism teaches that mankind is so affected by the negative consequences of Adam and Eve’s sin in the Garden of Eden that we are enslaved to sin to the point that we can only choose evil. This is known as Original Sin. Calvinist, J.O. Buswell, Jr. explains, “All men naturally descending from Adam, without exception, are guilty sinners, lost, judicially under the wrath and curse of God. . . I became a wicked, guilty sinner in the garden of Eden.” Or, simply stated, everyone born since Adam and Eve inherited their sinful nature and thus are headed to hell from birth. Along these same lines, Calvinists teach that people are inherently evil (Rom. 3:10, 23).

On the other hand, Arminianism asserts that people cannot be held accountable for others’ sins but for their own (Is. 59:2; Ezek. 18:20, for more information see http://eugenechristianchurch.blogspot.com/2016/07/man-image-of-god-7-do-all-babies-go-to.html?m=0). Along these same lines, Arminianism teaches mankind is inherently good, yet each person, just like Adam and Eve, freely chooses to do what is wrong. Ecclesiastes 7:29, “God created mankind upright, but men have gone in search of many schemes.”

Even after the time of Adam and Eve, all people were created in the image of God (Gen. 9:6). Yet, when given the choice, every person turns from that uprightness to go after their own sinful desires (Ecc. 7:29b; Rom. 3:10). Now some will use this as an argument for total depravity, that mankind cannot do anything but live ungodly. However, by the same token, that argument would have to be made against Adam and Eve that they too had a sin nature. Yet that would shift the blame for man’s sinfulness onto God, and God is not the author of sin (1 Cor. 10:13; James 1:13), and all that God created, including Adam, Eve, and all of mankind for that matter is “very good” (Gen. 1:31). Thus, it is not that mankind is depraved and that is why all sane and mentally competent people eventually sin. Rather, every person, just like Adam and Eve, by their own freewill make the choice to go our own way and sin instead of following what God commands (Isa. 53:6; Ezek. 3:18; Rom. 4:25).

The second fundamental argument of Calvinism’s Total Depravity asserts that mankind is completely unable to do anything to bring about their own salvation. Frequently the most common passages that Calvinists will point to as support for this is Ephesians 2:1, “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins.” From this passage and elsewhere Scripture does affirm that every person prior to becoming a Christian is spiritually dead. Calvinists then argue that since a dead person is completely incapable of responding or bringing themselves back to life, so too is it impossible for any person to change their state of being dead in their sins by themselves.

The Arminian view agrees with Calvinism that salvation originates and ends with God, thus mankind cannot save himself. However, Arminians argue that the Gospel message, that is, the plan of salvation through Jesus demands a response on the part of each spiritually dead person. Take for example the following: “Come now, let us reason together” (Isa. 1:18), and “choose life, so that you and your children may live” (Deut. 30:19). In Acts 2:37, when 3,000 people were convicted by their own sinfulness, and asked Peter what they needed to do in order to be saved, Peter did NOT respond to them by saying that there is nothing that you can do, only God can cause you to be saved. Rather, Peter stated very clearly that there was something for them to do: “Repent, and be baptized every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38).

The point is that we must not underestimate the power of the preached Word of God; “it is the power of God for salvation of everyone who believes” (Rom. 1:16). Alger Fitch writes, “If the word of Christ was powerful enough to create the universe (Heb. 1:2; 11:3), raise the dead (John 11:43), or still a storm (Matt. 8:26), who can deny its power to reach a depraved sinner? The Holy Spirit works through the Word in the conversion of sinners. “Faith comes from hearing the message”- (Rom. 10:17)… We will never find our own way to be with God. On our own, we could never make it. But, God’s Son, the Good Shepherd, calls us and if we “listen...and follow” (John 10:27), we will be led home” (Pick the Brighter Tulip, pgs. 26-28).

Therefore, even a spiritually dead person is capable of responding, and thus, does have a vital role in their own salvation. So, yes, as Romans 3:23 teaches, the totality of mankind are sinners lacking the ability to rescue themselves. But no one is so depraved that they cannot freely say “Yes” to Jesus’ gracious offer (John 3:16).

That is the tremendous value that God created you and me with. We are all made in His image. He has given every person a similar opportunity to freely choose to love and obey Him, or to choose our sin instead. Sadly, every person who reaches the age of accountability freely chooses sin, just like Adam and Eve did. Yet true love demands a choice. And thankfully, God’s tremendous value that He sees in us doesn’t end with our sinfulness. God provides us with opportunities to respond to His love for us. So what about you? Have you responded to His love and offer of grace? You can. Therefore, I admonish you to let today be the day that you say “Yes” to Jesus.

In His service,

       Matt

 P.S. If you would like more information on this topic, please see “Three Arguments Against Total Depravity” by Matt Elton; available from http://lhim.org/blog/2014/02/06/three-arguments-against-total-depravity/

Elder’s Corner: Fruit of My Labor

I’m finally reaping the harvest of my garden. Thirty cucumbers or more every other day, tomatoes, peppers, the watermelons are about one and a half feet long (no I’m not telling you where I live!). It occurred to me that I had to water about every other day to make sure the crops survived during the hot, dry weather. The yard still hasn’t recovered even with the three inches of rain.

The Bible has much to say about rain. Consider Deuteronomy 11:13-14 says, “It shall come about, if you listen obediently to my commandments which I am commanding you today, to love the LORD your God and to serve Him with all your heart and all your soul, that He will give the rain for your land in its season, the early and late rain, that you may gather in your grain and your new wine and your oil.” Isaiah 55:10 says, “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there without watering the earth and making it bear and sprout, and furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater.”

Hebrews 6:7-8 says, “For ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God; but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned.”

In the agricultural culture of yesteryear, rain meant the difference between being fed or staving. It still does in many countries. The reason I bring this up is not I’m enjoying the vegetables that took the extra care and concern to get them to produce. How much more we should give extra effort (care and concern) to see a person thrive instead of just survive. We should look out for the interests of others and not just our own (see Phil. 2:4). I know it takes encouragement from you and expenditure of time and effort, but the crop will be worth the return. Think of the difference you can make in the outcome of another person’s life. What if someone is in Heaven because of you? Is it any wonder Jesus called Himself “living water” (John 4:10). Our job is to point people to Him.

And by the way, come by in about a month and we’ll have a piece of watermelon. Until next time.

—Alan

(All references are NASB)