Responding to Apostasy

Recently, on Facebook, a once firm Reformed Christian has publicly announced his apostasy. He has denied the faith and turned to atheism. His basis for it is that Christianity is illogical. Ironically he came to this understanding through reading a well known Christian apologist Vincent Cheung. The topic of study- logic.

This has shaken up and angered my circle of "friends." The anger, slander, ridiculing and mocking of the man is baffling. Sure I understand that many unbelievers will use his de-conversion "testimony" as more fuel for their hatred and opposition to Christ but the reactions I'm observing have more to do with the fact that many knew him on Facebook well and feel personally betrayed. It seems, to me, that it has become personal rather than from a genuine concern for the Christian faith. Let me say that insulting the man does not bring honor to Christ nor does it show that one really cares about the state of his soul. Some "friend" we are if we make the situation out to be more about us than the honor and glory of Christ and the concern for unrepentant sinners.

Some (not all) of the responses to him only confirm what has been said before- that the greatest threat to Christianity comes from within it, from those purporting to be Christians and are not; those Christians that behave in an immature manner. The whole situation should grieve us more than anything else. For we know that his apostasy reveals that he never was a Christian and therefore his soul is in jeopardy of damnation. Is that not why we proclaim the glorious Gospel in the first place? Is it not because we know that when a person is outside of Christ they are His enemies and will be consumed by just judgment in the lake of fire? Is it not because we understand that apart from the supernatural working of the Holy Spirit in regeneration, the natural man can never understand the peril of his soul for all eternity without resting in Christ; therefore they will never flee to Christ? And if they do not come to Christ they never will know the greatness, joy, goodness, love, comfort, hope, rest, and glory of God without repentance from sin and faith in Christ and Him crucified. It is only the Holy Spirit that can make such sinners (this includes all believers) understand such truth.

If we know such things and are moved to preach Christ why then are Christians responding to him in, what seems to be, hatred? The main emotion from us should be grief and sadness. I believe a little compassion is in order. Please do not retort that compassion at such a moment is to condone his apostasy. In fact we should be praying that this is only a temporary moment of doubt and not final apostasy. And do not drag me to Galatians where Paul calls the the brethren there "idiots" for putting up with and pondering a "different gospel." Nor to the situation with Paul publicly rebuking Peter. The situations may have some similarities but are different and the adjectives and nouns used to refer to this gentleman are not synonymous.

We would admit that a denial of the existence of God is sheer idiocy and foolish. In fact that is what Scripture says (Ps. 14:1). We can be harsh and compassionate. But harshness without compassion, in such a moment, is not beneficial.

With that tangent aside I now come to some of my own thoughts upon hearing of this gentleman's denial of the faith. First, it only brings home the truth of Scripure:

They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge. I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth. Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father (1 Jn 2:19–24).

Apostasy is real. We were warned about it. It should not shake our faith in Christ. Our faith is not in other people's conversions but in Christ Jesus the Son of God. Ironically, apostasy strengthens my faith in God. It proves that His Word is true and that every thing comes to pass as He declared.

It also proves that no amount of study without the aid of the Holy Spirit can bring a person into the presence of God. Apostasy proves to show that salvation through faith in Christ is a supernatural event. It lies in the gracious and sovereign hand of God. It lies outside of the power of humanity. That is to say no study of God can convert the human soul. It can only be used as a means. One can lock themselves in a room for days upon days and study logic, reason, philosophy, theology, doctrine and so on. Yet at the end of the day, it lies solely in the will of God to reveal Himself to any sinner, just as He declared:

But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But, as it is written, 

                 “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, 

      nor the heart of man imagined, 

                  what God has prepared for those who love him”— 

these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. 

The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ (1 Co 2:7–16).

This is why it is important to not only continually share the Gospel with unbelievers, even though they may know it and even proclaim it, and even with ourselves on a daily basis. It can be so easy to get caught up in how much we can figure out and explain about God through the study of doctrine and theology but forget that knowledge does not save, Christ does.That is not to say that one can come to Christ apart from knowledge but rather the knowledge itself does not save. All study of God (even that is limited since He is far beyond all comprehension) should lead closer to Him; not away from Him.

As the above passage states, one cannot think themselves to God. God must first act upon the sinner. No amount of the study of logic, or it's use, can bring one before the throne of glory. Antony Flew is a classic example. A renowned atheist that attempted to use "logic" (rather the illogical understanding of it) and science to disprove the existence of God and who came to a "logical" understanding that a god must exist; therefore he became a deist. Sadly, he died apart from Christ. It seems for all his use of "logic" it could not take him to Christ.

What a clear demonstration that the illogical understanding of "logic" or it's proper use cannot bring one to the feet of Christ. Only the Holy Spirit can. He may use the study of "logic" but only He can internalize the message of the cross of Christ. Salvation, as the Word of God declares, is of the Lord (Jonah 1:9). Salvation comes only from God. "Logic" does not lead one to Christ, the Holy Spirit does.  Perhaps, now we can see why the Apostle Paul declares to the Corinthians:

And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God (1 Co 2:1–5).

My brethren, apostasy does not shake my faith. For I am ever fixed and gazed upon Christ the Lord of glory, crucified and risen, ascended to the right hand of the Father. Soli Deo Gloria!

For His Glory,
Fernando

Weekly Dose Of Lloyd-Jones

Every pastor, if he is faithful to Christ, must deal with false teaching and false teachers. Not only is it a biblical mandate (Ti. 1:10-11), it is a historical fact. Great men of God have always stood against those that oppose Christ with their "different gospels."

Martyn Lloyd-Jones is an example and here he deals with false theories of the atonement:

Another theory is commonly called the moral influence theory. Now this is the most popular of the theories; let me summarise it in this way. It says that God had no difficulty in forgiving us; as far as God was concerned there was no need to do anything. His love is so great that He always, at every point, is full of forgiveness; but the difficulty was to get mankind to believe that. So, they say, what really happened on the cross was a marvellous display of the love of God. I remember once listening to the sermon of a man who ridiculed the substitutionary atonement. ‘You must not say,’ he said, ‘that God was offering forgiveness because of the cross. God forgives even without the cross, but the cross was the proof of God’s love. God is telling us on the cross: “Though you have killed my only begotten Son, I will still forgive you.” ’ Christ’s death was a manifestation of the love of God. In the cross we see Him suffering in and with His sinful creatures and taking upon Himself the woes and griefs of human life. So the cross is meant to break us down; as we look at it our hard hearts are to be softened. The death of Christ is to do something to us alone.

Now that theory, again, as I think we shall see when we come to the positive theory, is entirely wrong, because it does not mention the justice of God at all. It says that nothing was necessary on God’s side—there was no obstacle there—but the trouble was only with man. So Christ is not a mediator, because He was dealing with man and not at all with God. The theory takes no notice whatsoever of some of the most glorious scriptural statements which we shall be considering together.

Another idea is that the death of Christ is just an example. He came into the world to live a perfect life. He kept the law, yes, and He wanted to leave a good example of obedience to God and His will, so He went as far as death. He was ready to do even that in order to do God’s will and thereby He provided us with an example. The answer to that is that we still have to save ourselves and we save ourselves by imitating His example. We are not saved by Him, it is not His blood that redeems us. Furthermore, what about those who lived before Christ?*

And here he states the biblical view:

Having considered some of the false theories with respect to the doctrine of what exactly happened when the Son of God died on the cross, we come now to a positive exposition of what I claim to be the biblical teaching. It is certainly the view of the atonement that was taught by all the Protestant Fathers. It was taught by Martin Luther and John Calvin and by the Reformers in Britain.

So what is it? The biblical teaching emphasises the supremacy of the substitutionary element in the atonement. It asserts that the Lord Jesus Christ suffered the penalty of the broken law vicariously, as the substitute for His people. That is, in a brief compass, a statement of what has been known as the reformed view of the biblical doctrine of the atonement. Now you will notice at once that there is a difference between this and those false theories which we have considered. This view has two main characteristics. The first is the emphasis upon the fact that Jesus Christ has done something as our substitute, and the second is the penal aspect—it states that the law pronounced a penalty which He, as our substitute, has borne in our stead.*

Soli Deo Gloria!

For His Glory,
Fernando


* Lloyd-Jones, D. M. (1996). God the Father, God the Son (314). Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books.

*Lloyd-Jones, D. M. (1996). God the Father, God the Son (317). Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books.

Can you order "a sandwitch in greek"?

"If you can't order a sandwitch in greek, your just going of of man's wisdom written in a lexicon".

Theological discussions on facebook can be both a blessing and a curse. I've had the privilege of getting to know some wonderful brothers in the Lord. I also get a chance to engage with those who oppose all that is reformed, and sometimes those conversations can be down right humorous. The conversation above is an example of the latter. Informing a non-reformed facebook acquaintance about the Greek in John 12:32 (and the fact that the drawing here literally means to drag)- he proceeded to ask me whether I can order a "sandwitch in greek". Now, I am no expert in Koine Greek (how many of us can say that we are). I do, though, make use of the resources that the Lord in His providence has given, and Greek Lexicon's are such a gift.

The New Testament was written in Greek not English (sorry for the disappointing news). It is our duty, to go back to the original language, and deal with the text. The person above sees no need to go back to the original. Ultimately, in his mind, they are just the words of men. And remember, if you can't order a "sandwitch in greek", you are just going off of man's wisdom. 

-awretchsaved

Weekly Dose Of Lloyd-Jones

As we engage in evangelistic work, it is of vital importance that we ask ourselves before we begin: What am I out to do? What am I going to attempt? What do I want to achieve? What is my real objective? I suggest that there is only one true answer to these questions, and it is this: I am anxious that souls should be reconciled to God, because, being in a state in which they dishonour God, they are in danger of perdition. That is the purpose of all evangelistic work-to bring those souls into a state of reconciliation with God. That is the object. It is not merely to get boys to make a decision; it is not simply to get them to live another way of life; it is not simply to get them to join a class or a church. Your object in presenting the gospel to them is to put them right with God.*

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Co 5:17–21).

Soli Deo Gloria!

For His Glory,
Fernando

*D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Knowing The Times (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1989), p. 6-7

What's So Great About Christmas Anyway?

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord" (Lk 2:8–11).


What is so great about Christmas? Is it the gathering of family and friends? The opening of gifts? The great meals? The combination of all? The answer should be "no." None of those things, while they have become an important part of Christmas tradition, in themselves but separated from acknowledging the birth, death and resurrection of Christ, make Christmas great.

The greatness of Christmas comes from the incarnation. When God clothed Himself with flesh and blood in order to bring glory to His own name through the salvation of His people. That grandiose time in history when Christ the King became Christ the servant at His birth. When the sinless Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, entered His creation to be led to the slaughter as the salvation of His people was upon His shoulders. When that innocent little infant grew up perfect, righteous, doing only that which is pleasing and acceptable to the Father in perfection, knowing no evil in His person yet being 'crushed' by the Father. Having no sin, Christ was placed upon that cross by the Father as the sins of His people were transferred to His account. The testimony of the Bible states it in this manner:

Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities "(Is 53:10–11).

That is the essence of Christmas. To make it primarily about family or gift exchanges is to miss the real joy of this holiday. To neglect the incarnation and it's component parts ( purpose, results or His life death and resurrection ) is to take the "merry" out of Christmas. Even to only speak of the birth of Jesus apart from His life, death and resurrection is to do injustice to Christmas.

That event was so momentous that the message of it came with the glory of the Lord and caused fear among the shepherds. But notice the message that was delivered by the angel of the Lord states that "the goodnews of great joy" (v. 10) is followed by the announcement of Christ the Savior (v. 11). That is because there is great joy to be had in the birth of the promised Messiah. The Deliverer and salvation of God's people has arrived. He will deliver His people from their sins. He would bear their curse upon His own head. He accomplished all that He came to do. He uttered "it is finished" as He bore the wrath of the Father in place of sinners and rose victoriously from the grave on the third day. What joy for all those in Christ! Reconciliation and being adopted as a child of God. Having a place at His table and in His presence is cause for great joy and to be shared with those still His enemies.

It most certainly is good news. That is why the announcement of the Christ's birth was announced as good news of great joy. There is no real joy apart from Christ. Christmas is about the glory of God in the salvation of His people in the birth, life, death and resurrection of the Son of God. Everything else is artificial. Merry Christmas and Soli Deo Gloria!

For His Glory,
Fernando

What Is Wrong With Contemporary Christian Music? (A Clarification)

It has been noted that when one becomes Reformed, most of your Christian music gets thrown out. The reason is not due to some anger wrought within the Calvinist. Rather, it is due to a number of flaws within the CCM scene. So, what exactly is wrong with CCM? In my last post, I gave a prime example of what is wrong with CCM. I was accused of generalizing, and being vague. Therefore, I wish to state in detail, what I believe are some obvious flaws in the CCM scene.

Note: I understand that not all CCM makes the following mistakes.

1) The Contemporary Christian Music Scene is full of self. Our culture is adamant about promoting self. Everywhere we go, we are bombarded with the idea that one, beyond all things, should love one self. We are told that the self is good, if we can just bring about those attributes. Christianity on the other hand teaches that the self is sinful. That the self, or who we are by nature, is diametrically opposed to all that is godly. Ergo, opposed to the one and true living God. Christianity teaches that we should reject self, and love God. The world teaches that we should love "God", but that god is whoever you want him to be. Unfortunately, so called "churches" are now promoting the same message that the world promotes- this is evident in the CCM scene. The songs that are written are full of lyrics about the way we feel, about what we want to do, and about our problems. This leads to a Christianity that is based on emotional experiences, rather, than the truth of scripture. Depending on how loud the guitar is strummed, that'll dictate how loud I sing, and whether I cry or not. And If they aren't based on our failures, they are drowned in lyrics about what we want to do for God. Doing things for God is good. But even better are the things that God has done for us in Christ Jesus. Those are the things that we ought to be singing about! If we compare the area of focus of the scriptures vs the CCM scene, we can see that one is focused upon God's work, and the other on man's. Psalm 147 captures this completely:

Praise the LORD!
For it is good to sing praises to our God;
for it is pleasant, and a song of praise is fitting.
The LORD builds up Jerusalem;
he gathers the outcasts of Israel.
He heals the brokenhearted
and binds up their wounds.
He determines the number of the stars;
he gives to all of them their names.
Great is our Lord, and abundant in power;
his understanding is beyond measure.
The LORD lifts up the humble;
he casts the wicked to the ground.
Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving;
make melody to our God on the lyre!
He covers the heavens with clouds;
he prepares rain for the earth;
he makes grass grow on the hills.
He gives to the beasts their food,
and to the young ravens that cry.
His delight is not in the strength of the horse,
nor his pleasure in the legs of a man,
but the LORD takes pleasure in those who fear him,
in those who hope in his steadfast love.

(Psalm 147:1-11 ESV)

2) The Contemporary Christian Music scene is void of any theological richness. "Jesus loves me", "God is great", etc, etc. These propositions are true (though how Jesus loves or If He loves the unbeliever is an issue Calvinists differentiate in).  As true as these propositions may be, they are void of any theological meat. It is true that God loves me, but, the ultimate question is in what way hath God demonstrated His love? O' God IS great, but in what ways is He great? The simplicity is outstanding. The hymns of old, spoke in detail about God's goodness towards His people. There could have been no confusion as to what God they were worshipping, because they hugged the cross in their lyrics. They sang about the attributes of God, His providence, election, His work in creation, His Tri-Unity (when was the last time you sang a contemporary song about the Triunity of God? Beside here).

3) The Contemporary Christian scene gets the Gospel wrong. " God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life" is what I like to call "The Osteen Gospel". And this gospel pretty much sums up the gospel of the CCM scene. Nothing about the ultimate manifestation of God's love- where Christ became man, taking man's place on that cross, bearing the full weight of God's wrath in order that sinners may be reconciled. Rather, the content is filled with a lonely god who desperately wishes that sinners may come to him, because he has a wonderful plan for their lives. Lets face it, the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is missing in most of this music. This is the ultimate flaw. If we are not united by that message, then our worship is in vain. Artists who do not make the cross their ultimate focus in their music, are surely bowing the knee at another alter.

-awretchsaved

UNTO US A CHILD IS BORN

Isaiah 9:6-7:

6  For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this. 

Ezekiel 18:30-32:

30 “Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, declares the Lord God. Repent and turn from all your transgressions, lest iniquity be your ruin. 31 Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! Why will you die, O house of Israel? 32 For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord God; so turn, and live.” 

Psalms 2:1-12:

1 Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? 2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying, 3 “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.” 4 He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. 5 Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying, 6 “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.” 7 I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you. 8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. 9 You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” 10 Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. 11 Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. 12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

It is not in pleasure that the Lord laughs and holds in derision those who are disobedient to Him; no, it is in His wrath that He does so.

Those who would not accept His rule, He is angry with every day – they shall surely perish.

It is in the Son that the sovereignty of the Father is seen; it is in our Lord Jesus Christ that we have had the Father explained to us; not only that, it is in the Son, Himself co-equal and consubstantial with the Father, yet taking the position of subservience to the Father and more, coming in the flesh of those He created, yet without sin, to make propitiation for and give life to whom He wills, showing us that the Creator, Lord, King, and God of all there is, who alone determines the days, dwelling places, and moments of each man, actually shows us the humility that we should seek after, while giving up none of His royal privileges, but merely laying them aside to show us the entire truth of our God by living as one of His own creatures, dying for those with whom He is well pleased to give of His joy, peace, humility, love, righteousness and holiness.

Some will argue that God does not have the right to do what He will with the death of His Son, or the life of perfect righteousness as the only man who ever lived such – they will not say it in such a way, but the intent will be clear: If their version of God does not “offer” a generic love – omnibenevolence, some have called it – then they will not have this man, who is both God and man, to be Lord over them. They ask for that which they themselves will not offer, in the name of knowledge which is not knowledge, and philosophies of men that may sound persuasive to those who do not test them against the truth of Scripture, yet in the end prove the way that, while seeming right to man, leads to an eternity of suffering which is of the just righteousness of the only One who is Good: God.

God is love, surely; He is also a consuming fire. To try to separate God’s righteousness from His grace is to make an idol of men in their image.

As great as His love is, so is His wrath, and because He is the only One who truly understands these things, of which we have but a partial understanding – and that, only by His grace – to sit in judgment of He who created and endures the multiplied evils of even those He has chosen through no merit of their own, as well as those who, unchanged from their evil ways by His grace, thoroughly hate Him, is the worst folly of all, for it lacks that fear of both misrepresenting our Great God as He has equipped us to, by giving us to be born again, believe, confess our sins, repent of them, and keep our hope in Him, by His Spirit putting us in eternal union with Him (not of His essence, for we are His creatures; however, in this way, we do partake of the divine nature through communicable attributes He allots to His own), and that fear of He who can throw both body and soul into hell - the lake of fire. There is no injustice with God, only mercy and grace to life, or righteous judgment to death, both everlasting, and those who question Him in this do such to the peril of their souls – to these I would give the Scriptural instruction that rings throughout the Scriptures: Repent, and call on the name of the Lord, and you will be saved. Call on Him as He is, not as you want Him; call on Him as He speaks of Himself, not as some lopsided idol of your own imagining. He is holy; worship Him!

There are those who will say a loving God could not do such: How much more love does God need to show than He did in His Son, Jesus Christ?

Truly, those who do not understand the extent of the cross will never understand the extent of their own sinfulness, the extent of God’s love, righteousness, and His punishment of those who hate Him; there is grace, but there is also judgment, and He who created us has the power – and the right – to display both, to the praise of the glory of His wondrous name.

In view of these things, it is my hope that many “see and believe” the Son and kiss Him, worship Him, by His merciful grace, lest He be angry and they perish in the way, for this Son is God Almighty, who made atonement for the sins of His people, and gives His Spirit and righteousness as He wills, regardless of the sensibilities of men. Men yet kiss the rings of earthly kings and potentates; how much more adoring fealty is deserved of He who is King of kings, Lord of lords, Ruler, God, and Creator over all?

To God’s glory alone – Bill Hier