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Monthly Archives: June 2011
Trinitarian Solidarity
From page 13 of his book, The Pillars of Grace, Steve Lawson writes:
“… divine sovereignty in salvation involves each of the three persons of the Godhead – the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. All three work in perfect unity to rescue the same undeserving sinners. Within the Trinity, there is one saving purpose, one saving plan, and one saving enterprise. Those whom the Father chooses are precisely those whom the Son redeems and those whom the Spirit regenerates. The persons of the Godhead act as one Savior. The Trinity is not fractured in its saving activity. It is not divided in its direction and intent, as if each person of the Godhead seeks to save a different group of sinners. Instead, each member of the Trinity purposes and irresistibly proceeds to save one and the same people – God’s chosen people.
Sadly, many believe otherwise. They insist that the Father saves only the few sinners whom He forsees will believe in Christ, this mistakenly confusing foreknowledge (Acts 2:23; Rom. 8:29-30; 1 Peter 1:2, 20), which means “forelove,” with mere foresight. They also imagine that Christ hypothetically died for all sinners – a different group from which the Father saves – naively assuming there is only one meaning for the scriptural words world and all. They further claim that the Spirit saves yet another group, that is, some sinners whom He woos. Sadly, they mistake His internal, saving call (1 Cor 1:2, 9) for a general, non-saving conviction (Heb. 6:4-5). According to this leaky scheme, the three persons of the Godhead are purported to be pursuing three different groups of individuals – few, all, and some. Thus, the persons of the Godhead are sorely divided in Their saving activity. Even worse, the sinner – not God – reigns as the determinative in his or her salvation.
But the Bible teaches otherwise. Scripture reveals a perfect unity within the Trinity, a perfect oneness between the Father, Son, and Spirit in Their saving activities. God’s Word teaches that the Godhead acts as one Savior in saving one people. The truth is that man is not sovereign in salvation – God is. All three members work together with absolute sovereignty and unwavering resolve to save the very same people for Their own glory. This is accomplished through the free exercise of the supreme authority of all three members of the Trinity.
Facts about Brazil
Out here in Brazil I was able to visit Seixas, which is the most easterly point anywhere in the Americas and therefore, the closest to Africa.
Brazilians are a proud, patriotic people. One native boasted that if the USA were to lose Alaska, Brazil would be the larger of the two countries. My reaction was to say, “two things: The last time I checked, Alaska IS part of the USA and you just go and try to tell all the Bears and Elk there that they are not American and see how they react.” 🙂
Brazilians are notorious for at least a couple of things:
(1) Having a party for any reason whatsoever
(2) The love of the game of soccer
The parties can last for days, and the soccer matches are such a big event that when Brazil play any game at all, the banks and businesses close four hours before the kick off.
I was born and raised in England, the very home of soccer. However, there is no doubt that Brazil has taken the game to a whole new level, both in skill and in fanaticism. BRAZIL IS SOCCER CRAZY.
The rivalry between Brazil and Argentina is notorious, the games played between them, like wars. The whole nation’s emotions rises and falls on Brazil’s result. The fact that Brazil has won the World Cup in soccer 5 times (more than anyone else) means that Brazil is a happy country. If Brazil does not win, the next best thing is for Argentina to lose. Brazilians ususally cheer for any team playing against Argentina.
As to religion, Brazil is a Roman Catholic country, and yet a great many people often mix this Catholicism with other pagan religious rituals. The percentage of evangelical Christians is relatively small, but thankfully growing.
May God cause His gospel to be proclaimed and heard by many here in this beautiful country.