“Christian Verses” Podcast: Acts 13:36

Posted on April 28, 2018 by russellmckinney

Have you ever thought about the fact that you are a part of a specific generation? For example, I was born in 1966. By birth, that makes me a part of a certain generation of people. And as a part of that generation, God wants me to serve that particular generation. This doesn’t mean that He doesn’t want me to serve all generations, but it does mean that I’m definitely supposed to do my part for my generation. This is the subject of this week’s podcast as Malcolm and I use the life of David, and how he served his generation by the will of God, as a launching point for our discussion. Here’s the link:

https://soundcloud.com/user-185243867/christianverses2018014

Posted in "Christian Verses" podcast, God's Will, God's Work, Service | Leave a comment

What Does It Take to Become One of God’s “Elect”?

Posted on April 27, 2018 by russellmckinney

“Calvinism” series: (post #3)

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To the pilgrims of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father… (1 Peter 1:1-2, N.K.J.V.)

Make no mistake, it’s a good thing to be one of God’s “elect.” The way the Bible uses the word, to be “elect” is to be “chosen” by God (1 Peter 2:9). Consider the following examples from scripture:

  • Israel is God’s elect/chosen nation. (Isaiah 45:4)
  • Jesus is God’s elect/chosen Messiah. (Isaiah 42:1; Luke 23:35; 1 Peter 2:6)
  • The unfallen angels are God’s elect/chosen angels. (1 Timothy 5:21)
  • Christians are God’s elect/chosen people. (Matthew 24:22,24,31; Mark 13:20,22,27; Luke 18:7; Romans 8:33; Romans 11:7; Colosians 3:12; 2 Timothy 2:10; Titus 1:1; 1 Peter 1:2; 1 Peter 2:9-10; 1 Peter 5:13; 2 John v.1,13)

Actually, the fact that Christians are elect/chosen by God gets even better. Try to wrap your mind around the list of blessings that Christians enjoy. The word “ancient” doesn’t even begin to do justice to how far back these blessings go:

  • In eternity past, the elect/chosen were chosen for salvation. (2 Thessalonians 2:13)
  • In eternity past, the elect/chosen were chosen in Jesus. (Ephesians 1:4)
  • In eternity past, the elect/chosen were “given” to Jesus. (John 6:37,39; John 17:2,6, 9-12).
  • In eternity past, the elect/chosen were given grace by God. (2 Timothy 1:9)
  • In eternity past, the elect/chosen were promised eternal life. (Titus 1:1-2)
  • In eternity past, the elect/chosen were appointed (ordained) to eternal life. (Acts 13:48)
  • In eternity past, the elect/chosen were saved and called according to God’s own purpose and grace. (2 Timothy 1:9).
  • In eternity past, the elect/chosen were predestined for adoption into God’s family. (Ephesians 1:5)
  • In eternity past, the elect/chosen were predestined to obtain a heavenly inheritance from God. (Ephesians 1:11; 1 Peter 1:3-5)
  • In eternity past, the elect/chosen were predestined to be conformed to the image of Jesus. (Romans 8:29)
  • In eternity past, a kingdom was prepared for the elect/chosen. (Matthew 25:34)

Okay, so God has an elect, Christians are that elect, and it’s awesome to be a part of that elect. Still, though, the theological question that must be asked is: “Way back there in eternity past, what was the basis upon which the elect got elected?” Well, two possible answers have been proposed.

Answer #1 goes like this: God chose the elect in eternity past based upon the fact that He looked down through history and in His foreknowledge saw each one of them making the unaided, completely voluntary decision to place saving belief (faith) in Jesus. In other words, God chose the elect only after He foresaw them choosing Jesus. This is the answer non-Calvinists give.

Answer #2 goes like this: God unconditionally chose the elect based upon His sovereignty, and His choosing had absolutely nothing to do with any foreseen belief (faith) on their part. Much to the contrary, their belief (faith) is the result of their election rather than the cause of it. This is the answer Calvinists give. Accordingly, the “U” in Calvinism’s T-U-L-I-P acrostic refers to “Unconditional Election.” (By the way, this Calvinist definition of Unconditional Election makes perfect sense in view of what we learned in the previous post about the definition Calvinists give for total depravity: “A dead person can’t make a decision.”) 

Based upon Calvinism’s answer to the question of how the elect became the elect, non-Calvinists assert that Calvinism makes God out to be a biased, prejudiced God who was playing favorites even before He created the heavens, the earth, and the human race. They say that the inescapable result of God arbitrarily picking an elect for salvation is that anyone who didn’t get picked is therefore doomed to be born, live, die, and spend eternity separated from God in a fiery torment. After all, if an individual who is “dead in trespasses and sins” has no ability of his own to place saving belief (faith) in Jesus, and if God decided in eternity past that the individual wasn’t one of the elect, that really doesn’t leave any hope, does it?

Calvinists, for their part, are loathe to admit that the flip side of God choosing some for salvation is that everybody else fell into the damnation category by default. They know that God showing such partiality contradicts multiple passages of scripture (Deuteronomy 10:17; Acts 10:34-35; Romans 2:11; Ephesians 6:9, etc.). Despite their attempts to downplay the issue, however, the conclusion remains self evident as surely as one fact follows the other. Even John Calvin wrote in Book III, chapter 23, of his Institutes of the Christian Religion:

…Not all men are created with similar destiny but eternal life is foreordained for some, and eternal damnation for others. Every man, therefore, being created for one or the other of these ends, we say, is predestined either to life or to death.

Of course, the problem with the whole notion that God, by His own choice, foreordained eternal damnation for the majority of the human race is that it cuts directly against all the Bible passages that plainly teach that He desires everyone to get saved. Here are those passages (all from the N.K.J.V.). Pay careful attention to the section that I’ve highlighted from each verse:

  • Ezekiel 18:23: “Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?” says the Lord God, “and not that he should turn from his ways and live?”
  • Ezekiel 18:32: “For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies,” says the Lord God. “Therefore turn and live!”
  • Ezekiel 33:11: “Say to them: ‘As I live,’ says the Lord God, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?'”
  • Matthew 18:11-14: “For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost. What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek the one that is straying? And if he should find it, assuredly, I say to you, he rejoices more over that sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray. Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.“
  • John 3:17: For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
  • 1 Timothy 2:3-4: For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
  • 2nd Peter 3:9: The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. 

Strangely, Calvinism is forced to interpret these passages to mean that even though the vast majority of Adam’s race are going to spend eternity suffering in flame and torment, God sure does hate it, takes no pleasure in it, and wishes He could do something about it. But unfortunately for Him, He can’t offer these people a legitimate chance to get saved because He only affords that luxury to His chosen ones. Therefore, His hands are tied. Does this interpretation sound absurd to you? It should, because it is.

And so, how do Calvinists explain this colossal problem with their theological system? They say that God choosing to save anyone (even a low-percentage remnant) from Adam’s sin-ruined race shows His great love, mercy, and grace because by rights He could have let the entire race remain eternally dead in trespasses and sins and separated from Him. In this way, Calvinists focus upon the good news concerning the elect rather than the bad news concerning everybody else. To them, God doesn’t come off looking like an unjust God who refuses to flip the “on” switch inside billions of people so they can at least have the chance to get saved. Instead, He comes off looking like a merciful, loving God who got left with the biggest mess of all time through no fault of His own and was kind enough to pull millions out of it.

This circles us back around, again, to the fundamental question: “Way back there in eternity past, what was the basis upon which the elect got elected?” The Bible answers this question by giving us 1 Peter 1:2. There we’re told that the elect are elect “according to the foreknowledge of God the Father.” This means that everything — and I do mean everything — rides upon the issue of just how much is involved with God’s foreknowledge.

Clearly, God is omniscient. He has all knowledge, and this knowledge includes all knowledge concerning future events. The proof texts for this are numerous (Isaiah 42:8-9; Isaiah 46:9-10; Psalm 139:16; 1 Samuel 23:10-12; Luke 22:31-34; Acts 15:18, etc.). Furthermore, Acts 17:26 says that He has determined the preappointed times and boundaries of every nation upon the earth, and Acts 11:13-14 even proves that He has a foreknowledge of who will be saved. But should God’s foreknowledge be defined simply as Him having knowledge beforehand? Or, is there more to it than that? Calvinists say there is more to it, a lot more.

Calvinists point out that the word “know” is at the heart of the word “foreknowledge,” and they define God’s foreknowledge as Him making the deliberate choice to “know” certain individuals eternally. From that starting point, they cite the Bible’s many passages where “know” is used to describe an intimate, deeply personal relationship. For example, in Jeremiah 1:5 God says to Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you” (N.K.J.V.). Admittedly, God seems to be describing much more there than Him merely having a beforehand knowledge of the decisions, deeds, and details of Jeremiah’s life.

God speaks of having this same kind of relationship with Abraham when He says of Abraham, “For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and justice, that the Lord may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him” (Genesis 18:19, N.K.J.V.). In the New Testament, Jesus uses “know” in this same way in John 10:27, where He says of His followers, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me” (N.K.J.V.). Paul does the same thing in 2 Timothy 2:19 when he says, “The Lord knows those who are His” (N.K.J.V.). He also does it in Romans 11:2, where he describes the Jews as the people whom God foreknew.

But then, in the other corner, we have Acts 2:23, which says of Jesus:

Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; (N.K.J.V.)

The simple meaning of this verse is that God knew ahead of time that Jesus would be delivered to death on a cross. What the verse doesn’t teach is that God the Father made the crucifixion happen. In other words, He didn’t betray Jesus, arrest Him, nail Him to the cross, or cause anyone to make a choice they otherwise wouldn’t have made. Instead, He merely knew beforehand what choices and actions people were going to display, and in His sovereignty He used it all in His plan to have Jesus die as a substitutionary sacrifice. Being able to use the freewill choices and actions of others is not the same thing as causing those choices and actions.

In the end, I’m willing to concede that God “knowing” individuals from eternity past probably does involve more than Him just having an exhaustive file on their lives ahead of time. Certainly, He has those files, but some type of intimate, personal relationship does seem to be included in the files of the elect. However, in no way, shape, or form does this mean, as John Calvin contended, that God has foreordained eternal life for some and damnation for everybody else. To the contrary, not only does God want everyone to get saved, He provides them with all they need to have legitimate chance to do so. Those verses I listed earlier are irrefutable.

So, based upon those verses, we’re left with the logical conclusion that the individual’s foreseen belief (faith) in Jesus must have been the deciding factor in God choosing the individual to be one of the elect. And, no, this does not mean (as Calvinists claim) that the individual, rather than the Lord, is responsible for salvation. Remember that the Bible describes salvation as a gift (Ephesians 2:8), and when a person accepts a gift the person doesn’t get the credit for the gift. It is God who must always be given credit for an individual’s salvation because, let’s face it, He invented salvation. Please, though, let’s not depict Him as the type of God who only offers the gift to certain people — people whom He favors for reasons unbeknownst even to them. That’s the God that Calvinism presents, but it’s not the God of the Bible.

Posted in Belief, Calvinism, Election, Faith, God's Love, Salvation, Scripture, Series: "Calvinism", The Bible, The Gospel | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

Can a Dead Person Make a Decision?

Posted on April 25, 2018 by russellmckinney

“Calvinism” series: (post #2)

And you He made alive who were dead in trespasses and sins… (Ephesians 2:1, N.K.J.V.)

And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together, with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses… (Colossians 2:13, N.K.J.V.)

These two verses plainly teach that Christians were “dead in trespasses and sins” before being made alive in Christ. Calvinism defines this state of death as “total depravity,” the term which serves as the “T” in the T-U-L-I-P acrostic. Consequently, Calvinists say concerning a lost person making the decision to place saving belief (faith) in Jesus, “A dead person can’t make a decision.” In this way, Calvinism equates “total depravity” with “total inability.” This leads Calvinists to two conclusions. First, mankind’s freedom of choice has been forfeited since the fall into sin in the garden of Eden. Second, salvation is 100% of God.

Someone says, “But the individual has to play at least some role in salvation because he has to provide the saving belief (faith) that leads to the born-again experience.” Calvinism’s answer to that is, “No, the saving belief (faith) itself is actually a part of God’s gift of salvation.” You see, Calvinists do not dispute the fact that the sinner must make the personal decision to place saving belief (faith) in Jesus in order to get saved. However, it is their contention that God has to first sovereignly regenerate the dead sinner to the point where the sinner has the spiritual life to make the decision.

Putting it another way, Calvinism teaches that God has to first create the born-again experience within the person before the person can arise from being “dead in trespasses and sins” and therefore have the ability to place the belief (faith) in Jesus. As Arthur Pink, one of the most famous Calvinists who ever lived, wrote in his book, The Sovereignty of God, “Faith is not the cause of the new birth, but the consequence of it.” This is why non-Calvinists often criticize Calvinism by saying, “Calvinists believe that you have to get saved before you can get saved.”

Here are some passages (all from the N.K.J.V.) that Calvinists cite to support their idea that God has to impart the saving belief (faith) to the sinner who is dead in trespasses and sins:

  • John 1:13: But as many as received Him (Jesus), to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
  • John 5:21: “For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will.”
  • John 6:65: And He said, “Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.”
  • John 8:43,47: “Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word…He who is of God hears God’s words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God.”
  • John 12:39: Therefore they could not believe, because Isaiah said again: “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, Lest they should see with their eyes, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them.”
  • 1 Corinthians 2:14: But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
  • 2 Peter 1:1: Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ.

Now, to be clear, the Bible does teach that each person has the nature of sin coursing through him from the moment of conception (Psalm 51:5). This means that the person doesn’t become a sinner by committing acts of sin, but rather that he instinctively chooses to commit acts of sin because he is a sinner (Romans 3:9-23). Him being conceived a sinner is the inevitable result of him being a byproduct of Adam’s sin-corrupted seed (Romans 5:12; 1 Corinthians 15:21-22). And it is because the individual is a sinner by conception that he can rightly be described as being “dead in trespasses and sins.”

What must be understood, however, is that there is a difference between being spiritually dead and physically dead. A good passage here is Ephesians 2:1-3. As you read these verses, notice the things “dead” men can do:

And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. (N.K.J.V.)

Along the same lines, in John 4:23 Jesus tells the lost Samaritan woman:

“But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth: for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.” (N.K.J.V.)

What’s odd about that last quote is the fact that Jesus didn’t say to that lost woman, “The Father knows that you are dead in trespasses and sins, and a dead person can’t worship or do anything else spiritually.” No, what He did was make a distinction between true worship and false worship. Obviously, then, people who are “dead in trespasses and sins” can offer false worship. But Calvinists act like a person who is “dead in trespasses and sins” might as well also be physically dead.

On this same subject, consider the following passages (all references from the N.K.J.V., emphasis mine):

  1. In Matthew 23:37 (and Luke 13:34), Jesus mourns over the fact that the inhabitants of Jerusalem would not let Him gather them to Himself as a hen gathers her chicks. He says, “I wanted to gather your children together…but you were not willing.”
  2. In John 5:40, Jesus says to a group of lost Jewish religious leaders, “But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.”
  3. In Acts 26:28, Agrippa displays his free will in refusing Jesus or believing in Him when he says to Paul, “You almost persuade me to become a Christian.”
  4. In Luke 15:18, the prodigal son exercises his free will when he says, “I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you.'”
  5. In Genesis 4:5-8, God offers forgiveness and salvation to Cain, but Cain exercises his free will, refuses to heed God, and ultimately dies lost. (Jude verses 11-13)
  6. In Deuteronomy 30:15-20, Moses offers God’s blessing or cursing upon the Israelites. They had a freewill choice which one they wanted.
  7. In Joshua 24:1-28, Joshua makes the same offer to another generation of Israelites, and they had the same freewill choice to make.
  8. In Isaiah 1:18-20, Isaiah makes the same offer to the Jews of Judah.
  9. In Exodus 35:21, we read about the Israelites “whose spirit was willing” to obey the Lord in bringing the articles to be used in the building of the Tabernacle.
  10. In 1 Chronicles 29:5, David asks the question, “Who then is willing to consecrate himself this day to the Lord?”

Let’s be honest, any offer of salvation that is made to a person who doesn’t have the innate ability to accept it is little more than a taunt. Even more than being a taunt, it’s downright cruel for God to command belief (faith) from individuals who can’t give it. If salvation is a gift (which it is), what kind of sick God would sing the gift’s praises to corpses/skeletons who can’t possibly hear what He is saying, let alone actually accept the gift?

For example, Jesus might as well have said to those inhabitants of Jerusalem, “Oh, if only you weren’t dead in your trespasses and sins, I could gather you together as a hen gathers her chicks.” He might as well have said to those lost Jewish religious leaders, “Boy, spiritual life is great! It’s such a shame that you can’t have it because you are incapable of making the decision to receive it.” Moses, Joshua, and Isaiah might as well have said to their audiences, “You can have God’s blessing or God’s cursing. Oh, wait, you’ll have to take the cursing because you are still dead in your trespasses and sins. Sorry about that. Didn’t mean to get your hopes up.”

By the way, anytime a passage speaks of Jews not being willing to come to Jesus so that He could give them life, we should keep in mind that the Jews were God’s chosen, covenant people from Old Testament times. Therefore, the question becomes, “Shouldn’t these people have been among ‘the elect'”? Clearly, though, a wide swath of them weren’t. As John 1:11 says: “He came to His own, and His own did not know Him” (N.K.J.V.).

Of course, we shouldn’t overlook the opening part of that verse, either. It says that Jesus came to His own. Why is that important? It’s important because there’s no disputing that it is God who has to take the initiative in coming to those who are “dead in trespasses and sins.” As Romans 3:11 says: “There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God” (N.K.J.V.). (Other passages that prove this point are Matthew 16:13-17, John 3:27, and John 6:44,65.) But once God has started dealing with an individual, the individual’s free will does come into play.

The classic passage on this is the story of Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve sinned by eating the forbidden fruit. In doing so, they became “dead in trespasses and sins” (Genesis 3:1-7). This spiritual death caused them to hide from God rather than run to Him (Genesis 3:8) as the desire to avoid Him and remain spiritually dead showcased their depravity.

But God, in His mercy, grace, and love, began the process of reconciling Himself to them by seeking them out and calling to Adam (Genesis 3:9). It was at this point that Adam and Eve’s free will came into play as they could either accept God’s call or remain hidden. After all, even though God knew exactly where they were all the time, He wasn’t going to drag them out of the bushes and make them talk to Him.

Thankfully for all of us, Adam spoke up and began a conversation with God, one in which Eve also participated (Genesis 3:10-13). This proves that even in a fallen, sinful, depraved state — one in which God hasn’t yet altered the individual in any way — the individual can make a decision to accept God’s call or shun it. In other words, “total depravity” isn’t the same as “total inability.” What “total depravity” really means is that the sinner cannot save himself by way of his supposedly “good” works. He can’t do this because, in reality, none of his works are actually “good” (Isaiah 64:6-7; Jeremiah 17:9; Romans 3:10-18; 1 Corinthians 2:14; Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:3-7).

One final objection the Calvinist might offer to all this is Hebrews 12:2, which says: “looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith…” (N.K.J.V.). Calvinists love to point out that the Greek word translated as “author” can be translated as “originator” or “source,” the implication being that the individual has no faith of his own to place in Jesus but only has faith that Jesus originates in him. The fact is, though, that the Greek word in question, archegos, primarily denotes someone who takes the lead in an endeavor. This explains why the same word is also translated as “captain” (Hebrews 2:10, N.K.J.V.) and “Prince” (Acts 3:15, 5:31, N.K.J.V.)

Here again, there’s no question that Jesus has to take the lead in getting the sinner saved, just as God took the lead in seeking out Adam and Eve. But does this mean that the sinner merely becomes a hand puppet in the process, one with no free will of his own? No, it doesn’t. Notice that even the Hebrews 12:2 verse opens with the words “looking unto Jesus.” Those words are very important because that “look” is the sinner’s part, the part that Jesus won’t do. This, then, is how salvation works. You can’t do Jesus’ part, and He won’t do your part.

Posted in Belief, Calvinism, Choices, Faith, Salvation, Seeking Forgiveness, Series: "Calvinism", Sin, The Gospel | Tagged , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

What is TULIP Theology?

Posted on April 23, 2018 by russellmckinney

“Calvinism” series: (post #1)

I am an ordained minister in the Southern Baptist Convention denomination. Even though some Baptists actually resent being called Protestant, the S.B.C., with its 15 million members, gets categorized as the largest Protestant denomination in America. Therefore, it is highly significant that a 2012 poll conducted by Lifeway Research showed that 30% of S.B.C. pastors considered their churches Calvinist, and almost 60% were concerned about the growing impact Calvinism was having upon the denomination.

Calvinism, as you might not know, is not a denomination in and of itself. It is, instead, a doctrinal system of theology that has historically made its way into all sorts of churches and denominations across the globe. As Mark Oppenheimer wrote in a 2014 New York Times article:

The Puritans were Calvinists. Presbyterians descend from Scottish Calvinists. Many early Baptists were Calvinist….In the United States today, one large denomination, the Presbyterian Church in America, is unapologetically Calvinist. But in the last 30 years or so, Calvinists have gained prominence in other branches of Protestantism, and at churches that used to worry little about theology.

And so where did Calvinism originate? As you might guess, it originated with a guy named Calvin. John Calvin was a French theologian who lived in the 1500s. He was raised staunchly Catholic and was a brilliant scholar who studied to become a lawyer, but his path in life was radically changed when he converted from Catholicism to the new teachings coming out of Martin Luther’s Protestant Reformation.

There is some debate about the exact date of Calvin’s conversion, but it occurred sometime between 1529 and 1533. What is known for certain is that he published the first edition of his wildly influential Institutes of the Christian Religion in 1536. This was Calvin’s initial attempt at putting his doctrinal views into writing, but he would publish updates and new editions of the Institutes periodically for the rest of his life.

Scores of books have been written about Calvin’s life and ministry, but I’m not here to offer a biography of the man. What I want to do is devote a series of posts to examining the doctrinal system that ultimately arose from his teachings and came to bear his name. By the way, you should know that Calvinism also goes by the titles “the Reformed Faith,” “Reformed Christianity,” “Reformed Protestantism,” and “Reformed Tradition.” Basically, anytime you see the word “Reformed” in the name of a church, you are right to assume that the church is a Calvinist church.

But what exactly did John Calvin believe? The answer to that can be found in the acrostic “T-U-L-I-P.” From this, we get the term “TULIP Theology.” Calvin himself didn’t employ the acrostic, but those who adhered to his doctrinal system began to use it as a teaching device at some point after his death. As for the five doctrinal points the acrostic represents, those were first formally presented by Calvin’s followers at the Synod of Dort in 1618-1619. Those five doctrinal points are:

  • “Total Depravity” (represented by the “T” in “TULIP”)
  • “Unconditional Election” (represented by the “U”)
  • “Limited Atonement” (represented by the “L”)
  • “Irresistible Grace” (represented by the “I”)
  • “Perseverance of the Saints” (represented by the “P”)

Over the next few posts, I’m going take each of these terms one at a time, define it, and examine Calvinism in the light of the totality of scripture. And I’ll go ahead and tell you that what we are going to find is that Calvinism is wrong. It’s just wrong. It simply contradicts way too many easy-to-understand passages for us to label it as correct doctrine. So, tune in next time and we’ll get started by talking about “total depravity.”

Posted in Bible Study, Calvinism, Church, Doctrine, God's Word, Salvation, Scripture, Series: "Calvinism" | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

“Christian Verses” podcast: John 17:18

Posted on April 21, 2018 by russellmckinney

In a prayer to God the Father, Jesus said of His disciples, “As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world” (John 17:18). But what does it mean to be sent into the world? Christian, have you ever asked yourself that question? I can tell you that it involves finding the ways in which the Lord wants you to minister in your specific spot of the globe. Malcolm and I discuss all this in this week’s podcast. Here’s the link:

https://soundcloud.com/user-185243867/christianverses2018013

Posted in "Christian Verses" podcast, Discipleship, God's Will, God's Work, Ministry | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Some Bible Basics About Gun Control

Posted on April 19, 2018 by russellmckinney

Unless you’ve been living in a cave, you know that gun control has become a major topic in American culture. Well, as with any topic, it is the Christian’s job to look to the Bible to gain God’s perspective on the issue. So, that’s what we’ll do in this post. My goal here is not to write the absolute last word on this subject. It is, instead, to merely offer the basics of what the Bible has to say about it.

Since the Bible was completed centuries before the invention of the first gun, we aren’t going to find a verse that says either: “Thou shalt own a gun” or “Thou shalt not own a gun.” Nevertheless, there are some definite Bible facts that can be applied to the topic. I’ll list five of them.

Fact #1: The Bible speaks of the use of many different kinds of weapons. Even though guns aren’t found in the stories of the Bible, other weapons certainly are. The list includes bows, arrows, swords, daggers, spears, and javelins. These were the “guns” of the ancient world.

In addition to these typical weapons, the Bible also speaks of atypical ones. David killed Goliath with a sling and a rock (1 Samuel 17:49-50). Jael killed Sisera with a tent peg (Judges 4:21-22; 5:24-27). An unnamed woman mortally wounded Abimlech by dropping a millstone on his head (Judges 9:50-55). Shagmar killed 600 Philistines with an ox goad (Judges 3:31). Similarly, Samson killed 1,000 Philistines with a jawbone from the fresh corpse of a donkey (Judges 15:15-17). Based upon all this, I think it’s safe to say that if the Bible were being written today, guns would be on the list of the weapons mentioned.

Fact #2: In no place does the Bible blame a weapon for the effect the weapon causes. As an example, I’ll use Herod Agrippa I’s killing of the apostle James. In Acts 12:1-2, we read that Herod killed James with a sword. (He either personally killed him with the weapon or ordered him to be executed with it.) But in Acts 12:20-24 we read that an angel of the Lord struck Herod and caused him to die a gruesome death. The point is that God had the angel strike the man, not the sword. If you really want to get technical about it, the Bible even relates the word of God to a sword (Ephesians 6:17; Hebrews 4:12).

There’s a saying, “Guns don’t kill people; people kill people.” While this saying has become something of a cliche’, it still holds much truth. The fact is that even if there weren’t any guns, someone who is bent on killing would find a way to kill. After all, there weren’t any guns in the days of Cain and Abel, but that didn’t stop Cain from killing his brother. You see, the true heart of the problem is the sinful, Adamic nature with which we are all born. Take that nature out of each of us and all killing will stop. But there’s simply no way to take out that nature, and we will all, including Christians, struggle with it until we pass into the afterlife.

Fact #3: The Bible depicts conflict and warfare as inevitable byproducts of living in a fallen world. In Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, the Bible says there is a time for every purpose under heaven. Shockingly to some, that list includes a time of war. Likewise, in Psalm 144:1 David actually praises God for training his hands for war and his fingers for battle.

Even Jesus said that wars must come to pass (Matthew 24:6; Mark 13:7; Luke 21:9). As a matter of fact, there are multiple instances in the Old Testament, particularly involving Israel’s conquering of the land of Canaan, when God commands Israel to go to war against other races of people. Furthermore, a sensible, intelligent argument can be made that guns, used rightly, help make the peace (Matthew 5:9).

Fact #4: Jesus Himself made some allowance that there are times when carrying a weapon is appropriate. On the night of His betrayal and arrest, just after His famous “last supper,” Jesus said to His disciples, “…he who has no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one” (Luke 22:36, N.K.J.V.). When the disciples answered Him, “Lord, look, here are two swords,” He said, “It is enough” (Luke 22:38). However, later that same night, as Jesus was facing arrest following His praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, He told Peter, “Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword” (Matthew 26:52, N.K.J.V.).

How can we explain Jesus’ seemingly contradictory attitude toward carrying a weapon? One possible answer is that even though He never intended to resist arrest or allow Peter and the other disciples to defend Him, He didn’t want to be arrested before He had a chance to do His final praying in the garden of Gethsemane. Another possible answer is that He wanted the disciples to understand that their circumstances were about to turn much darker and He wasn’t going to be around to protect them as He had been (Luke 22:37).    

Fact #5: God commands that each person be subject to his or her governing authorities. The origins of government can be traced all the way back to God’s new commands for Noah after Noah and his family disembarked from the ark (Genesis 9:6). Since then, God has been pro government, and the Bible teaches that He raises up rulers, puts down rulers, and grants power to whom He chooses so that His rulers can suit His purposes, whatever those purposes might be. Some of the relevant passages on this topic are: Psalm 75:6-7, Daniel 2:20-21, Daniel 4:17, and Matthew 22:15-22. God even called Nebuchadnezzar, the spiritually lost ruler who would lead the Babylonians in the conquering of Judah, His “servant” (Jeremiah 27:4-8; 43:10). Similarly, He called Persia’s Cyrus the Great, who also was lost spiritually, His “shepherd” (Isaiah 44:28).

Once we understand this relationship between God and government, it doesn’t surprise us to learn that God commands us to be subject to our governing authorities. Passages such as Romans 13:1-7, Titus 3:1-2, and 1 Peter 2:13-17 will never be popular among the rabble rousers of any day, but these passages really aren’t all that hard to understand. And gun control laws (or a lack of them) don’t cancel out the truth of what the Bible teaches about submitting to your government.

Are there times when God would have His people disobey their government by obeying God rather than men (Acts 5:29)? Yes, there are. A list of Biblical examples of believers who did just that would include: the Hebrew midwives of Moses’ day (Exodus 1:15-21); Moses’ parents (Exodus 2:1-2); Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego (Daniel 3:1-18); and Daniel (Daniel 6:1-10). As for citizens disobeying their government’s gun control laws, though, I’m not prepared to add that cause to the list.

In conclusion, let me state for the record that I’m not a “gun guy” or a member of the National Rifle Association. I’ve only shot two guns in my life — not counting b.b. guns — and I didn’t particularly enjoy either experience. With that said, though, I’m honest enough as a Bible teacher to share with you what I’ve shared in this post. As for my take on gun control laws, I see them as fine as long as they are well balanced and within reason. I would even say that we’ve reached a point where they are fairly necessary for living in this world where evil seems to be bubbling to the top more and more. Like so many of life’s issues, I think “balance” is the key word here, and my counsel to anyone would be that God really does have a will in all this if we are just open to finding it.

Posted in Current Events, Government, Gun Control, The Heart, War | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Before Genesis 1:1

Posted on April 17, 2018 by russellmckinney

“And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.” (John 17:5, N.K.J.V.)

Take your Bible and turn to its very first verse, Genesis 1:1. You’ll see that the verse begins with the word “In” (“In the beginning God created…”). Focus your eyes for a moment on that word “In,” and let your mind try to imagine the time of the beginning of creation. Got it?

Okay, now let your eyes drift to the left of “In” and focus on the whiteness of the page you find there. Do you know what you call that white space? Eternity past. That’s the time Jesus is referencing in our text verse. It’s a time before the creation of the heavens and the earth. It’s a time before the creation of Adam and Eve. At least some part of it is even a time before the creation of the angels. Way back there at some point in eternity past, it was only God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

I don’t know if you’ve ever studied the Bible passages that relate to eternity past, but it is absolutely amazing what all God did back there. So, I thought it would be good if I used this post to list the relevant passages and identify that work. Keep in mind that God did all of this before Genesis 1:1. Here goes:

  1. By way of His perfect foreknowledge of all history (Isaiah 46:9-10), He foreknew each person who would voluntarily place saving belief/faith in Jesus Christ. (Romans 8:29) (It is important to understand that having foreknowledge of a decision does not imply causation of that decision. For example, God the Father had a foreknowledge that Jesus would be delivered to the cross, but He didn’t make the Jews and Romans perform the deed: Acts 2:23; 1 Peter 1:20.)  
  2. He granted those foreknown believers grace, which refers to undeserved favor or unmerited blessing. (2 Timothy 1:8-9)
  3. He chose those foreknown believers to be “in Christ.” (Ephesians 1:4)
  4. He classified those foreknown believers as “the elect.” (1 Peter 1:1-2; Romans 8:33; Colossians 3:12; 1 Thessalonians 1:4; 2 Timothy 2:10; Titus 1:1; 2 John 1,13; 1 Peter 5:13; 2 Peter 1:10; Matthew 24:24,31; Mark 13:22,27; Luke 18:7 )
  5. He blessed those foreknown believers with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realm in Christ, including the blessing of a heavenly inheritance reserved for each of them (Ephesians 1:3; 2:4-7; 1 Peter 1:3-5).
  6. He predestined those foreknown believers to be conformed to the image of Christ. (Romans 8:29)
  7. He wrote the names of those foreknown believers in a book called The Lamb’s (Christ’s) Book of Life. (Revelation 17:8; 13:8; 20:15; 21:27; Luke 10:20)

You see, Christian, your salvation is not some dicey, day-by-day, moment-by-moment, “hope so” standing you have with God. It is, instead, something that has been settled in eternity since before Genesis 1:1. As Acts 15:18 says: “Known to God from eternity are all His works.” And since those works include your salvation, you should rest in the scriptural promises of what God has already done for you, and live each day in the blessing, hope, and deep-settled peace those promises are meant to provide.

Posted in Assurance of Salvation, Belief, Calvinism, Creation, Eternal Security, Eternity, Faith, God's Foreknowledge, God's Omniscience, God's Sovereignty, God's Work, Grace, Heaven, Inner Peace, Reward, Salvation, Trusting In God | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

“Christian Verses” podcast: Ecclesiastes 3:1 (Gun Control, part 2)

Posted on April 14, 2018 by russellmckinney

This week Malcolm and I finish finish up our two-part series on gun control. Whereas last week we simply had a personal conversation about the issue, this week we dive into scripture by starting with Ecclesiastes 3:1 and launching off from there. So, if you’ve got 30 minutes, I know we can be a help to you as we reference both the Old Testament and the New Testament to convey what the Bible teaches concerning this controversial subject.

https://soundcloud.com/user-185243867/christianverses2018012

Posted in "Christian Verses" podcast, Current Events, Gun Control, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Will the Circle Be Unbroken?

Posted on April 13, 2018 by russellmckinney

Will the Circle Be Unbroken? is a Christian hymn written in 1907/1908 by Ada R. Habershon and Charles H. Gabriel. The song asks the question of whether or not earthly families will be reunited in heaven. As popular as the song was, though, it was A.P. Carter’s 1935 reworking of it, entitled Can the Circle Be Unbroken (By and By)?, that made the song a national treasure. Truth be told, the Carter version has become so popular that it has rendered the original version virtually obscure.

Carter was a founding member of country music’s legendary Carter family, and his new lyrics for the song told the story of the death and funeral of the narrator’s mother. The Carter family sang their version as part of their shows for years. Then June Carter married Johnny Cash, and he took the song to an even wider audience. From there, the Carter version has been covered by some of the biggest names in music history, including Roy Acuff, Bill Monroe, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Willie Nelson, the Neville Brothers, and the Allman Brothers band.

In answer to the song’s question, let me say that as important as your earthly family is, it pales in significance to your membership (or lack of it) in God’s eternal family. Despite what a million movies, television shows, books, and songs tell us — to say nothing of the entire Mormon religion with its false doctrine of “celestial marriage” — earthly relationships do not extend into the afterlife. I will know my wife Tonya in heaven, but she won’t be my wife. I will know my sons, but they won’t be my sons. I will know my mom and dad, but they won’t be my parents. I will know my brother, but he won’t be my brother. These relationships won’t be inferior to what they are now; they’ll just be different. Not worse. Better. Everything in heaven is better.

What’s key, though, is that all these people I have mentioned will be there. And why will we all be there? Will it be because everybody ends up in heaven? No. Will it be because we were such a tight-knit group on earth? No. Will it be because our love spans the test of time across the ages? No. We will all be there because each of us, as an individual, has placed saving belief in Jesus Christ and thereby become a Christian. That’s how one becomes a part of the eternal family of God. Consider the following passages (all from the N.K.J.V.):

  • And He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, “Here are My mothers and My brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven (He explains in John 6:40 that this will equates to receiving eternal life by believing in Him) is My brother and sister and mother.” (Matthew 12:48-50, explanation mine)
  • But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. (John 1:12-13)
  • Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6)
  • For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:26)
  • Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone… (Ephesians 2:19-20)

These passages all teach the same thing, which is that placing life-changing, eternity-altering, soul-saving belief in Jesus Christ is how you become a part of the family of God. And did you know there are no less than three ways by which the Bible analogizes the Christian becoming a part of that family? Let’s look at each of the three.

First, to place saving belief in Jesus is to become a “born again” “babe in Christ.” This means that the Christian is (in a very real sense) born into the family of God. As we read in John 3:3:

Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (N.K.J.V.)

Other passages that speak of the new Christian becoming a “born again” “babe in Christ” are:  John 3:5-8; 1 Peter 1:3-4; 1 Peter 1:22-25; 1 Corinthians 3:1-2; Hebrews 5:12-14; and 1 Peter 2:1-3.

Second, to place saving belief in Jesus is to become an adoptee. This means that the Christian is (in a very real sense) adopted into the family of God. As the apostle Paul says in Galatians 4:4-7 to the Christians of Galatia:

But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. (N.K.J.V.)

Other passages that speak of the Christian as being adopted are: Romans 8:14-17; Romans 8:22-24; and Ephesians 1:3-6.

Finally, third, to place saving belief in Jesus is to become a bride. This occurs because the new Christian automatically becomes a part of Christ’s bride, the church. This means that (in a very real sense) the Christian marries into the family of God. As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 11:2 to the Christians of Corinth:

For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. (N.K.J.V.)

Other passages that speak of the Christian as becoming a part of the bride of Christ are: Matthew 9:14-15; Mark 2:18-20 John 3:27-30;  Ephesians 5:22-33; and Revelation 19:5-9.

You see, the Christian just can’t be more a part of the eternal family of God. He or she is born into it, adopted into it, and married into it. Because of this the Christian will enjoy a dual existence in eternity as not only a child of God but also a part of Christ’s bride. All earthly relationships will be rendered obsolete as God the Father fills the role of the Christian’s father and God the Son fills the role of the Christian’s spouse. So, to answer the old song’s question, the family circle will indeed remain unbroken for Christians in heaven, but it will be a much different (and better) family circle than anything we experience on this earth.

Posted in Belief, Children, Death, Entertainment, Eternal Security, Eternity, Faith, Family, Fatherhood, Heaven, Husbands, Marriage, Motherhood, Music, Parenting, Personal, Salvation, Wives | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

A Lack of Loyalty

Posted on April 11, 2018 by russellmckinney

A Baptist was marooned, alone, on an uncharted island. He lived there for several years before a passing ship happened to see his fire one night and changed course to investigate. When some of the crew made their way by boat to the island, they found the man and three huts that he had built. They asked him, “What are these three huts?” He answered, “One is where I live, and one is where I go to church.” When they asked him about the third hut, he said, “Oh, that one, that’s where I used to go to church.”

Unfortunately, this story hits a little too close to home for comfort. Church splits are far too common in the Christian realm, and members who leave one church and join another one right down the road are even more common. Actually, a large percentage of “church growth” these days isn’t so much from evangelism as it is from “church swapping.” Some of this has to do with the fact that loyalty has become a scarce commodity in our world.

College basketball is now providing us with a prime example of this lack of loyalty. Because the current rules for professional (NBA) basketball require a player to attend at least one year of college before he can be drafted by an NBA team, the college ranks have become dominated by “one and done” star players. A “one and done” player is a kid who would rather jump straight to the pros right out of high school, but by rule he has to put in a year of college before an NBA team can draft him.

The end result is that the kid commits to some college team for a freshman season, does enough schoolwork to keep him eligible to play, and then immediately declares for the NBA draft as soon as the season concludes. After all, why should he bother to get a degree so that he can earn a good salary when an NBA team stands ready to give him millions of dollars just to play basketball? Even graduates don’t land jobs that pay that much.

What’s interesting, though, is what the “one and done” trend has done to college coaches. Basically, it’s turned them into hypocrites. You see, these are the same guys who love to give rousing, passionate speeches about showing loyalty to them, working hard to earn playing time, and letting them mold you into not only a quality player but also a quality person. Then these same coaches bench seniors and juniors (who’ve done everything the coaches have ever asked of them) and make starters of freshmen who won’t even be part of the team next season. In other words, the coaches demand loyalty and show none.

But it’s not just church circles or athletic ranks that are vacant of loyalty these days. In regards to satellite companies, cable companies, internet companies, and cell phone companies, who do these companies offer their best deals on programming packages? Do they offer them to the customers who have been with them for years? Nope. It’s the new customers who just signed up who get the great introductory deals. As for rewarding longtime customers who’ve faithfully paid their bills for years, that concept doesn’t seem to register with these companies.

I’m so glad that God still knows what loyalty means and that He remains faithful to His people even when we don’t remain faithful to Him. That’s why I’d like to close this post by citing 1 Corinthians 1:9. Christian, after you’ve read the verse, take a moment to thank God for being such a God. After all, if He was like a lot of church goers, coaches, or companies, He’d have left us by the side of the road a long time ago and embraced someone new.

God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. (1 Corinthians 1:9, N.K.J.V.)

Posted in Change, Choices, Church, Church Attendance, Commitment, Current Events, Decisions, Faithfulness, Perseverance, Sports | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments