The Providence of God

Posted on January 17, 2011 by John Samson

“Clarence Macartney told the story about Dr. John Witherspoon – a signer of the Declaration of Independence and president of the (then) College of New Jersey. He lived a couple of miles away from the college at Rocky Hill and drove horse and rig each day to his office at the college.

“One day one of his neighbors burst into his office, exclaiming, ‘Dr. Witherspoon, you must join me in giving thanks to God for his extraordinary providence in saving my life, for as I was driving from Rocky Hill the horse ran away and the buggy was smashed to pieces on the rocks, but I escaped unharmed!’

“Witherspoon replied, ‘Why, I can tell you a far more remarkable providence than that. I have driven over that road hundreds of times. My horse never ran away, my buggy never was smashed, I was never hurt.’

“So we must beware of thinking that God is only in the earthquake, wind, and fire; of thinking that manna but not grain is God’s food. Most of God’s gifts to his people are not dazzling and gaudy but wrapped in simple brown paper. Quiet provisions of safety on the highway, health of children, picking up a paycheck, supper with the family—all in an ordinary day’s work for our God.”

– Dale Ralph Davis, Joshua: No Fallen Words (reprint: Christian Focus, 2000), pp. 48-49

George Whitefield on Election

Posted on January 16, 2011 by John Samson

Largely forgotten today, David Garrick said of him, “I would give a hundred guineas, if I could say ‘Oh’ like Mr. Whitefield.” In his lifetime, Whitefield preached at least 18,000 times to perhaps 10 million hearers. Here are three of his quotes concering Divine election:

“Whatever men’s reasoning may suggest, if the children of God fairly examine their own experiences – if they do God justice, they must acknowledge that they did not choose God, but that God chose them. And if He chose them at all, it must be from eternity, and that too without anything foreseen in them. Unless they acknowledge this, man’s salvation must be in part owing to the free-will of man; and if so, . . . Christ Jesus might have died, and never seen the travail of His soul in the salvation of one of His creatures. But I would be tender on this point, and leave persons to be taught it of God. I am of the martyr Bradford’s mind. Let a man go to the grammar school of faith and repentance, before he goes to the university of election and predestination.” From George Whitefield’s Journals (London: Banner of Truth, 1960), p. 491. Quoted in George Whitefield, Vol. 1 by Arnold Dallimore, p. 570.

“I hope we shall catch fire from each other, and that there will be a holy emulation amongst us, who shall most debase man and exalt the Lord Jesus. Nothing but the doctines of the Reformation can do this. All others leave freewill in man and make him, in part at least, a Saviour to himself. My soul, come not thou near the secret of those who teach such things… I know Christ is all in all. Man is nothing: he hath a free will to go to hell, but none to go to heaven, till God worketh in him to do of His good pleasure.” (George Whitefield, Works, pp. 89-90).

“Oh, the excellency of the doctrine of election and of the saint’s final perseverance! I am persuaded, till a man comes to believe and feel these important truths, he cannot come to himself, but when convinced of these, and assured of their application to his own heart, he then walks by faith indeed!… Love, not fear, constrains him to obedience.” (George Whitefield, Works, p. 101).

The Gospel on a Blackboard

Posted on January 16, 2011 by John Samson

I love this photo, taken this week from live teaching (for video) that Dr. R. C. Sproul was doing in Sanford, Florida.

From the words up on the blackboard its clear that Dr. Sproul’s subject is the Gospel of Jesus Christ – that Justification takes place because Righteousness is ANALYTICAL (true by analysis); SYNTHETIC (something is added); EXTRA NOS (from outside of us) by means of IMPUTATION (God crediting the believer with the righteousness of Christ, transferred to our account).

1 John 2:2 – Karate Exegesis

Posted on January 15, 2011 by John Samson

On the blog I sought to provide a solid interpretation of 1 John 2:2. Dan Phillips, one of the writers at the Pyromaniacs web site wrote a short article called “Karate Exegesis” some time back. It provides an innovative approach to the discussion of the verse. I thought it was worthy of a mention here. He writes:

Yes, it’s true: I “do” karate, using the verb in its very broadest sense. My three sons were in first, and then it became possible for me to join in and start making with the kiyai!

One of the (to me) counter-intuitive strategies one learns about sparring is to present a profile, not a flat-on wide target. That way, there’s less to hit — and you’re positioned to move outside. So if your opponent lunges at you, you just let him follow his momentum, you step to the side, and you work a little mayhem as he passes. Remember that: let him lunge, then do some mayhem from the side. Continue reading →

Understanding 1 John 2:2

Posted on January 15, 2011 by John Samson

You say that Christ died for His people, His sheep, His friends, for His Church and yet 1 John 2:2, speaking of Jesus, states, “He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.” How do you explain that?

I can certainly see how someone would use this verse to undermine the reformed doctrine of Particular Redemption, yet Scripture, I believe, is not contradictory to itself. There is one Divine Author of Scripture and He does not contradict Himself. So how are we to understand 1 John 2:2?

I have written elsewhere about the principles of correct interpretation of scripture. There is only one correct interpretation of scripture. Though there may be many applications of a verse, it only means what it was intended to mean when it was written.

In my article entitled “Playing Marbles with Diamonds” I refer to a number of principles of biblical interpretation (hermeneutics), three of which would apply here:

1. Consider the Author – who wrote the book? (what was his background, language, culture, vocation, concerns, education, circumstance, what stage of life?)

2. Consider the Audience (why was the book written? who was the audience? what would these words have meant to its original recipients?) Continue reading →

Purgatory (2)

Posted on January 14, 2011 by John Samson

Continued from Part 1 or place of purification or temporary punishment in which, according to Roman Catholic belief, the souls of those who die in a state of grace are made ready for heaven. Purgatory (Latin: purgatorium; from purgare, “to purge”)

The claim of the Roman Catholic Church is that the doctrine of purgatory was something all early Christians believed and that it can be substantiated from the Bible, most notably, 1 Corinthians 3:10-15. However, what the text actually says and what Rome claims that it says are two different things.

1 Corinthians 3:10-15 (NASB) – 10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it. 11 For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. 14 If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. 15 If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.
Continue reading →

Purgatory (1)

Posted on January 14, 2011 by John Samson

There is no doubt that Dr. R.C. Sproul is a highly trained theologian. One of the many things I appreciate about him is his ability to simplify issues without distorting them. Very few people are able to accomplish this as well as he does.

If you have ever been to a Ligonier Ministries Conference, you will know that one of the highlights is when Dr. R. C. Sproul (either alone or with an expert panel alongside him) has a Question and Answer session. Usually the questions relate to the theme of the Conference and the answers given are often extremely helpful and insightful.

In a recent CD release called “Ask R.C.” (from Ligonier Ministries), Dr. R. C. Sproul fielded questions and provided answers on a wide range of biblical and theological issues. One of the questions concerned the doctrine of purgatory and I have transcribed the verbal interchange below.

Questioner: Could you explain the Roman Catholic doctrine of purgatory and whether or not it is a truthful doctrine?

R.C. – Thank you for that. I will try to deal with that as briefly as I can and I want to be accurate with it. The doctrine of purgatory is an integral doctrine to the Roman Catholic understanding of redemption. It has been modified just in the last year or so with respect to infants, but purgatory is defined by Rome as a purging place. It is a place where the vast majority of even professing Christians go upon their death.

As recently as the Roman Catholic Catechism, the Church declares that if a person dies with any spot or blemish or stain on their soul – any impurity – instead of going directly to heaven they must first go to this place of purging which is this intermediate state between earth and heaven. And in purgatory, which is not hell, it is not a place of the punitive wrath of God, but it is a place for the corrective wrath of God (as it were), where the sanctifying process is continued through the crucible of fire (as it were).

Now in purgatory, as I said, the vast majority of people experience this time; they may be there for two weeks or they may be there for two hundred million years – in fact at the heart of the controversy in the 16th century Reformation had to do with the sale of indulgences, and on the external situation there, particularly in Germany when Tetzel was selling the indulgences to the peasants, he distorted seriously the Roman doctrine. The Roman Catholic Church has held for many, many centuries that the grace of justification is infused into a person at baptism, and that that grace of justification remains intact until or unless a person commits a mortal sin. That mortal sin is called mortal because it is so serious that it destroys the justifying grace in the soul. And so a person who commits mortal sin, in other words, has to be re-justified, brought anew into a state of grace. In the 16th century, the Council of Trent declared that the sacrament of penance is the second plank of justification for those who have made shipwreck of their souls. Continue reading →

Ask a Greek Scholar – 1 John 5:1 compared with John 20:31

Posted on January 13, 2011 by John Samson

Yesterday on the blog here I wrote about 1 John 5:1 reads which says, “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God.”

I made mention of the fact that in the original Greek, a present tense, continuous action) that Jesus is the Christ has been born (gennesanta, perfect tense – an action already complete with abiding effects) of God.”

The fact that someone is presently going on believing in Christ shows that they have first been born again. Faith is the evidence of regeneration, not the cause of it. Since both repentance and faith are possible only because of the work of God (regeneration), both are called the gift of God in scripture (Eph. 2:8, 9; Phil. 1:29; 2 Tim 2:24-26).

Now compare this with John 20: 30, 31 – Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. Continue reading →

Regeneration Precedes Faith

Posted on January 12, 2011 by John Samson

Understanding the relationship between the new birth and saving faith is vital to an accurate understanding of our salvation. I believe the Bible teaches us clearly that regeneration (or the new birth) precedes (comes before) faith. In other words, while in a state of spiritual death, God makes His elect people spiritually alive (regenerating them); then they exercise faith, and then they are justified.

Regeneration >>>> Faith >>>> Justification

This is a logical sequence rather than a temporal one in that all this might take place in a split second in time, but logically, one thing has to come before the other. Dead people don’t do anything. God has to resurrect a person before he will ever take actions. That is true both physically and spiritually. Jesus did not ask for or need Lazarus’ cooperation in order to raise him from the dead. If He did, the miracle of resurrection would never have happened. But Jesus acted monergistically (one power working), for without any assistance, He spoke life into Lazarus’ dead physical body. Once brought back from the dead, Lazarus could then do something and took steps to exit the tomb.

Understanding this principle of monergistic (one power working) resurrection allows us to fully appreciate the Divine miracle of our spiritual resurrection. If you are a believer in Christ, God has done this for you.

Paul, writing to the Christians at Ephesus wrote, “You He made alive who were dead in trespasses and sins.” (Eph. 2:1) The word for “dead” here in Greek is necros, meaning “dead like a corpse.” The Christians were once dead, but are now alive. Of course, Paul is refering to spiritual rather than physical death. In this passage there is no mention whatsoever of the Christian’s role in this, for the simple reason that the dead cannot do anything either to cause or to facilitate resurrection. Resurrection is an act of God – something He does by Himself – alone.

Spiritually dead people are not physically, intellectually or emotionally dead, and therefore have an interest in all kinds of (non-spiritual) things. They may or may not have an interest in religion, and may even appear to be seeking after God and truth, while the fact is, they are running as fast as they can away from Him, seeking refuge from Him in false religion or false forms of spirituality, having no interest in a relationship with the One true God. They may want the benefits of what a relationship with God would bring (peace, guilt removed, feelings of belonging, etc.), which is why they appear on the surface to be seeking God. That is because the Christian knows that the only One who can give these benefits, ultimately is God Himself. However, though unregenerate man longs for the benefits of what only a relationship with God can bring, he wants these things in independence of Him.

We do not know this from outward observation but by the revealed truth of God’s word. Romans 3:11 says, “there is no one who seeks for God” – literally, “there is no God seeker.” Seeking is therefore the business of the believer and starts at the moment of regeneration, but not before.

Those who are in the flesh (those without the Spirit) cannot please God, will not submit to the law of God and indeed, are incapable of doing so (Rom. 8:7,8). Jesus made it clear that unless someone is first born again they cannot enter the kingdom of God (John 3).

A verse that spells this out in some detail for us is 1 John 5:1. “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God.”

In the original Greek, the verb tenses are very revealing. A literal translation reads: “All the ones going on believing (pisteuon, a present tense, continuous action) that Jesus is the Christ has been born (gennesanta, perfect tense – an action already complete with abiding effects) of God.”

Here are two videos that walk us through the 1 John 5:1 text, the first by Dr. John Piper. Continue reading →

Effectual Grace

A blog by John Samson

Yearly Archives: 2011