Dyslexia warps reality: the consequences of which can be catastrophic. It is something that causes great hardship to multitudes in our day. People with normal or even above normal intelligence suffer from dyslexia as the brain oftentimes reverses numbers, letters or words. It is a huge learning handicap and in severe cases can greatly limit education and employment opportunities.
For those unfamiliar with the problem,” as the first and last letters of the word are transposed. I am sure you will agree that there is a vast chasm of difference inherent in this misinterpretation. My heart truly goes out to those who go through life having to combat dyslexia.
Moving from the physical to the spiritual realm, I believe multitudes of Christians suffer from what I would call “spiritual dyslexia.” Theologians don’t use that term of course. They would be much more comfortable with a phrase such as “the noetic effects of sin,” which is the simple recognition that since the Fall of Adam, all of mankind’s faculties have been negatively affected, including his mind. In simple terms, we just don’t think as clearly and precisely as we would have done if there had been no Fall.
Theologically, we all have our blind-spots. According to 1 Corinthians 13, this side of glory, we only see through a glass darkly. One day, we will all comprehend things exactly (as much as finite minds can grasp the infinite). Yet right now, we all have our traditions and blind-spots. As my friend Dr. James White says so often, “everyone has traditions and those most blinded by them are those who do not believe they have any.” If we knew exactly where we were wrong, we would change our viewpoint immediately. But the point is that we do not see these things as they really are until God the Holy Spirit enlightens us and overcomes the effects of our depravity.
Someone suffering with spiritual dyslexia then reads certain Bible verses and though the words are clear, the traditions of men jumble up the words or miss out key words entirely in a sentence, or just do not grasp the meaning at all. I speak here from my own experience as I can honestly say that I had read certain verses a certain way (giving them what I believed to be a true interpretation) for many years until suddenly, God the Holy Spirit allowed me to overcome my deeply ingrained spiritual dyslexia to see what the Scripture actually said. This is especially true as I took the theological journey from Arminianism to Reformed theology. I say this (hopefully) not out of spiritual pride, but simply out of sincere grateful thanks to God for opening up my understanding to the true nature of God’s grace. Please allow me to cite just some examples of what I am referring to, with a few quotes from the Gospel of John.
In John 3, Jesus made it clear that unless one is born again he cannot see (or enter) the kingdom of God. (John 3:3,5).
I understood correctly that people enter the kingdom of God by faith but my spiritual dyslexia would not allow me see the clear meaning of the words of Christ here. He said that only born again people can enter – that someone had to be born again before they could enter. My Arminianism said that if I exercised faith I would enter the kingdom and be born again.
Arminianism (or synergism) has non born again people entering the kingdom – something which Jesus said was impossible. Such a concept reverses Jesus words. Unless someone is born again (first) he cannot enter. Therefore, regeneration precedes faith.
This of course is not the only place in Scripture that teaches this. The verb tenses of the original Greek of 1 John 5:1 reveal that the one going on (present continuous action) believing in Christ has already been born of God. The believing is evidence of regeneration, not the other way round. This is of course, in perfect harmony with Jesus clear words in John 3.
Another example is John 6:37. Here Jesus makes the statement that “All that the Father gives me will come to me…”
The context here is that Jesus is addressing a crowd of people who in His words, do not believe in Him (v. 36). He then explains their unbelief starting with the verse in focus now.
For many years, I would see these words but interpret them through the lens of my Arminianism/synergism which said that God, being omniscient and knowing the future ahead of time, foresaw those who would have faith in Christ (and come to Christ) and these were then given as a gift by the Father to the Son. Such was my spiritual dyslexia! I had reversed Jesus clear words.
To see this, lets ask this question – which came first, the people coming, or the Father giving?
The text reveals that it is the Father’s giving that comes first… in explaining the unbelief of the crowd in front of Him Jesus makes it clear that the Father gives a certain group of people to the Son who will then (in time) come to the Son.
My synergism reversed the order of the text, believing it was the people’s coming to the Son that prompted the Father’s giving of that people to the Son. But Jesus taught that everyone who is first given by the Father to the Son will indeed come to the Son.
The final passage I will quote to show how spiritual dyslexia can affect us is John 10:25,26. Once again, Jesus is addressing a crowd of unbelievers and says, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not part of my flock.”
For years, I read this last statement of Christ but interpreted it through the lens of my synergistic tradition which said that people can choose to be part of Christ’s flock. In other words, if someone is not part of Christ’s flock, they can simply choose to be so – their believing will make them one of Christ’s sheep. But this is the exact opposite of what Jesus said. Jesus looks people right in the face and tells them that the reason they did not believe is because they were not part of His flock. Once again, my Arminianism reversed Jesus words completely.
Of course, neither I nor anyone else has a right to reverse Jesus words. As a disciple of Christ, my role is to allow Him to be the Lord over my thinking and to come to His word and allow any tradition I have to be either confirmed by His word, or else refuted by His word. It takes courage sometimes to allow traditions to be exposed to the light of Scripture, but once a tradition is seen to be in opposition to the truth of Scripture, I have no business holding on to my tradition. Let God be true and every man (and tradition) a liar.
I came to embrace reformed theology not because of a love for some theological system but because I love and revere God’s word and find that the Bible teaches the doctrines of grace. I also came to see that my Arminian interpretation of Scripture was nothing less than spiritual dyslexia. I still have my blind-spots of course, but I am so thankful to God for the light He has shown me, that stresses the graciousness of His grace.
May I challenge my Arminian/synergistic friends to look again at the words of Christ. If you, like me, find that you have reversed Jesus’ clear words I ask you to have the courage to renounce your tradition and embrace the doctrine of Christ. My continued prayer for both myself and all who read these words, is that God will lead and guide us into the truth of His Word.
Ephesians 2:1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus
Matthew 13:10-17
10 Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?”
11 And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. 12 For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 13 This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 14 Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says:
“‘You will indeed hear but never understand,
and you will indeed see but never perceive.
15 For this people’s heart has grown dull,
and with their ears they can barely hear,
and their eyes they have closed,
lest they should see with their eyes
and hear with their ears
and understand with their heart
and turn, and I would heal them.’
16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. 17 For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.
Also, in the parallel account in Mark:
Mark 4:10-12
10 And when he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables. 11 And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, 12 so that
“they may indeed see but not perceive,
and may indeed hear but not understand,
lest they should turn and be forgiven.”
And in Luke:
Luke 8:9-10
9 And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant, 10 he said, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’
According to Jesus, the reason that He spoke in parables was so that God would leave certain people in their blindness, while at the same time, using them to reveal His truth to others (to whom these things had been “given”.)
“To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.” – Matt 13:11
From Matthew 11:25-30
(1) God hides some things from some and reveals them to others (election)
25 At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; 26 yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. 27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
(2) Come to me all…. (the evangelistic call)
28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
From Luke 24:16-31
(3) God veiling:
v. 16 But their eyes were kept from recognizing him.
(4) Human responsibility and culpability:
v. 25 And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!”
(5) God Revealing:
v. 31 And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him.
From Romans 11:7-10
(6) God hardening:
7 What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened, 8 as it is written,
(7) God making eyes blind and ears deaf to His truth:
“God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear, down to this very day.” 9 And David says, “Let their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them; 10 let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see, and bend their backs forever.”
Matthew 22:1 And again Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying, 2 “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son, 3 and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come. 4 Again he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, See, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.’ 5 But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, 6 while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them. 7 The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. 8 Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy. 9 Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.’ 10 And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests.
11 “But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment. 12 And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. 13 Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ 14 For many are called, but few are chosen.”
There are many things that could and should be said about this parable. I just want to focus on one aspect in this short post – the wedding garment.
Because it is not explicitly stated by the text and because most of us who read this parable are not aware of first century Jewish culture (the context in which this parable was given), we miss something that would have needed no explanation to those who heard Jesus. In the ancient world it was expected that when a king invited guests to a wedding, he (the king) would provide the wedding garments. For anyone to show up to the wedding in something else, it means that he REJECTED what the king had provided. It wasn’t just that he did not have enough righteousness to enter the wedding; it was an act of defiance and the ultimate insult to the king. Until I understood this, I thought that in all honesty, the king’s actions were more than a little over the top; an over-reaction, if you will. Yet such is certainly not the case when we understand what was really going on here. The man was in absolute defiance of the king when he came wearing something of his own choosing.
What a parallel this is to the righteousness of Christ. All we bring to the wedding is our tattered and polluted, sin stained garments, yet in accepting the invitation to come, we are given the gift of the most ultimate wedding attire imaginable. In biblical terms this is a righteousness that is perfect, that has never known sin, the very righteousness of Christ.
Paul wrote, “For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith..” (Phil 3:8, 9)
The fate of the man in this parable is indeed haunting as he is thrown out into outer darkness (the picture of hell). Yet what else could be the fate of One who rejects the perfect righteousness of the Savior?
In contrast, those at the wedding can say with Isaiah, “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.” (Isaiah 61:10)
Who clothed me?
God did!!!
Soli Deo Gloria
At a recent gathering of book retailers and authors called ICRS (International Christian Retail Show), Crossway hosted a banquet for authors, retailers, and others. The keynote address at this banquet was given by John Piper.
Dr. Piper spends the first 15 minutes reflecting on the 400th anniversary of the KJV and its descendents in the RSV and ESV, as well as, humanly speaking, the enormous debt all of us in the English speaking world owe to William Tyndale. In the last 15 minutes John Piper presents seven reasons why the Bible is of infinite value.
This will do your heart good.
John Piper: Keynote Address at Crossway Banquet, ICRS 2011 from Crossway on Vimeo.
HT: Dane Ortlund
“… precious and very great promises.” – 2 Peter 1:4
If you would know experimentally [experientially] the preciousness of the promises and enjoy them in your own heart, meditate much upon them. There are promises that are like grapes in the winepress; if you will tread them, the juice will flow. Thinking over the hallowed words will often be the prelude to their fulfillment. While you are musing upon them, the benefit that you are seeking will insensibly come to you. Many a Christian who has thirsted for the promise has found the favor that it ensured gently distilling into his soul even while he has been considering the divine record; and he has rejoiced that he was ever led to lay the promise near his heart.
But besides meditating upon the promises, seek in your soul to receive them as being the very words of God. Say to your soul: “If I were dealing with a man’s promise, I would carefully consider the ability and the character of the man who had covenanted with me. So with the promise of God, my eye must not be so much fixed upon the greatness of the mercy-that may stagger me-as upon the greatness of the promiser-that will cheer me.
My soul, it is God, even your God, God who cannot lie, who speaks to you. This word of His that you are now considering is as true as His own existence. He is an unchangeable God. He has not altered the thing that has gone out of His mouth, nor called back one single soothing sentence. Nor does He lack any power; it is the God who made the heavens and the earth who has spoken. Nor can He fail in wisdom as to the time when He will bestow the favors, for He knows when it is best to give and when better to withhold. Therefore, seeing that it is the word of a God so true, so immutable, so powerful, so wise, I will and must believe the promise.” If in this way we meditate upon the promises and consider the Promiser, we shall experience their sweetness and obtain their fulfillment.
– Taken from “Morning and Evening,” written by C.H. Spurgeon, revised and updated by Alistair Begg
“Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good, acceptable and perfect.” – Romans 12:2
The Spanish ship, Monte Galineiro, taking on water off the coast of Newfoundland on Sunday, February 22, 2009. The Canadian Coast Guard managed to rescue all 22 people on board the vessel before it sunk into the sea.
There’s an old saying: “The ship in the sea is alright. The sea in the ship is all wrong. The Church in the world is alright. The world in the church is all wrong.”
Everything you and I believe as Christians flies in the face of our post-modern culture. We believe in a God who has made His existence known to everyone (Romans 1:18-22) despite the strong denials of man. We believe in a God who has communicated to us in clear terms in a book called the Bible (2 Tim. 3:16, 17). We believe in absolutes, for we believe in a God who is Truth Himself, and who tells us what is right and what is wrong. We believe in the one true Gospel of Jesus Christ (Rom. 1:16, 17) who said, “I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father but by Me.” John 14:6. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is the way to God and the only way to God, and we deny that He is merely a way, a truth and a life, and one of the ways to God. Understand that we do not say this because we believe our opinion is greater than someone else’s, but because Christ Himself said this about Himself, and we believe His claims are valid, trustworthy and true… We believe too that if Christ is not THE way to God, then He is a liar, and not even one of the ways to God. Jesus Christ is either who He claimed to be, or else He is a fraud, or perhaps a lunatic. But what He could never be is merely one of the ways to God. If we take His words with any seriousness at all, then we have to admit that His own claims deny this very possibility.
The claim of exclusivity is repulsive to the modern world. However, every religion claims exclusivity – even the ones who claim that all religions lead to God. Why? Because even this claim is a claim to be exclusively and absolutely true. The claim is a fundamental denial that there is only one way to God. That is the very definition of exclusivity. It certainly denies the possibility that the exclusive claims of Christ are true.
Dr. Tim Keller is correct when he writes, “Christianity is disbelieved in one culture for totally opposite reasons it is disbelieved in another. So for example, in the West… it is widely assumed that Christianity can’t be true because of the cultural belief there can’t be just one “true” religion. But in the Middle East, people have absolutely no problem with the idea that there is just one true religion. That doesn’t seem implausible at all. Rather there it is widely assumed that Christianity can’t be true because of the cultural belief that American culture, based on Christianity, is unjust and corrupt. (Skeptics ought to realize, then, that the objections they have to the Christian faith are culturally relative!) So each culture has its own set of culturally-based doubt-generators which people call ‘objections’ or ‘problems’ with Christianity. When a culture develops a combination of many, widely held defeater beliefs it becomes a cultural ‘implausibility-structure.’ In these societies, most people don’t feel they have to give Christianity a good hearing – they don’t feel that kind of energy is warranted. They know it just can’t be true. That is what makes evangelism in hostile cultures so much more difficult and complex than it was under ‘Christendom.’ In our Western culture (and in places like Japan, India, and Muslim countries) the reigning implausibility-structure against Christianity is very strong. Christianity simply looks ludicrous. In places like Africa, Latin America, and China, however, the implausibility structures are eroding fast. The widely held assumptions in the culture make Christianity look credible there.”
The claim “there are no absolutes” is also a ridiculous non-sensical statement, for it is an absolute statement in and of itself. It claims that there are absolutely no absolutes but in doing so affirms that there is at least one absolute, namely that there are no absolutes!
Romans 12:2 teaches us that our mandate as Christians is not to allow the world to squeeze us into its mould, but to be different – transformed, even metamorphosized, by renewing our minds to the will of God. To avoid the world’s mould, we must first recognize what it is, and see the pitfalls ahead of us. If we do not, we might find ourselves caught up in the thinking of the culture around us without even realizing it. We must understand what the world thinks, how it thinks and how it wants us to think. Then we need to take deliberate steps to walk not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers; but delight in the law of the LORD, meditating on it day and night.
Unlike those who swim with the tide of post-modernity, this type of 21st Century Christian will be “like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; for the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.” (Psalm 1)