Archives for 2007

Returning to my favorite online source of definitions, here is the definition of ‘free will’:

1 : voluntary choice or decision [I do this of my own free will]
2 : freedom of humans to make choices that are not determined by prior causes or by divine intervention

Question for the class:

If an individual can only choose one path out of two possibilities, is his will free?

KJV Revelation 22:17 And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.

ESV Revelation 22:17 The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.

NAU Revelation 22:17 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost.

NET Revelation 22:17 And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say: “Come!” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wants it take the water of life free of charge.

Not to be contentious, but some theologies deny that men have a will while claiming to affirm it.

See also Isaiah 55.1, John 7.37

Regards,
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3

Today in Investor’s Business Daily stock analysis and business news: “One of my axioms is the market is rational and the government is dumb. Let the market find a rational solution to the subprime mortgage correction on its own.”

One of the saner voices in America, I think.

Regards,
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3

What does the word ‘gospel’ mean?

Here is Merriam-Webster OnLine

1 a often capitalized : the message concerning Christ, the kingdom of God, and salvation b capitalized : one of the first four New Testament books telling of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ; also : a similar apocryphal book c : an interpretation of the Christian message [the social gospel]
2 capitalized : a lection from one of the New Testament Gospels
3 : the message or teachings of a religious teacher
4 : something accepted or promoted as infallible truth or as a guiding principle or doctrine [took her words as gospel] [spreading the gospel of conservation — R. M. Hodesh]
5 : gospel music

Funny… to hear some bloggers talk you would think ‘gospel’ = ‘Calvinism’. Odd, eh?

Regards,
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3

Mennonites may flee Quebec town: “Mennonites may flee Quebec town”

A little disconcerting… What will be next in this most ‘tolerant’ of societies?

Regards,
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3

Kent Brandenburg has an excellent post on Laws about Grace, well worth your contemplation.

His post reminded me of a summary of our series on Law, Legalism and Life that I did in Sedro Woolley, WA on Saturday morning. I was over across the pond for the ordination of a friend and new church planter, Tom Parr. Friday afternoon was the occasion for grilling the preacher. All went extremely well. Tom acquitted himself excellently and the council of preachers offered a thorough examination with no sideshows. (Those who have attended a number of ordinations might know what I mean by sideshows!)

The next morning after the ordination council was a men’s prayer breakfast at First Baptist, Sedro Woolley. The pastor asked me if I could offer a brief challenge, so I gave the men a summary of my series so far, under the title: Reasons for Christian Standards. I thought the list might be of some general interest, so I offer it here:

I. There is such a thing as behaviour that pleases God

Colossians 1:9 For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 10 That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;

• NOT works done in order to obtain salvation
• NOT works done in order to gain a pious reputation
• BUT works done out of a heart of personal devotion

II. The fact is, faith is more than just your ticket to heaven

James 2:18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.

• You must believe from the heart in order to be born again
• Your faith will be seen in behaviour that shows you are believing the promise of God

III. The operation of God’s grace in a Christian life tends towards godliness (Tit 2.11-12)

Titus 2:11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;

• Denying ungodliness
• Living soberly, righteously and godly

IV. The notion of lawlessness is incompatible with Christianity

1 John 3:4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.

1 John 3:9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.

• Lawlessness = without law, outlaw behaviour
• “You can’t tell me what to do” “Your laws don’t apply to me”

V. The liberty part of Christian liberty means ‘set free’, not ‘self serve’

Galatians 5:13 For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.

Set free to serve Christ [free from bondage of sin]
Not set free to do what I want [‘self serve’]

VI. The Christian mission is ultimately tasked with the discipline of discipleship (Mt 28.19-20)

Matthew 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

• Imperative – make disciples
• Process [from least to greatest]

1. Going
2. Baptizing
3. Teaching them to observe (obey) all things I commanded you

VII. The nature of Christianity is that its people are subjects of The King

Matthew 28:18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power [authority] is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

Who is your king?

Regards,
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3

We are nearing the end of the series. The first message this Sunday was ‘What is Christian Liberty?‘ Our text was Gal 5.13. I discussed the nature of Christian liberty as a spiritual possession of the believer, granted at conversion, breaking the bondage to sin and the sin nature and thus providing the freedom to actually perform works that please God. Taking our admonition from Gal 5.13, we looked at the notion of the misuse of liberty as an occasion to the flesh, indulging self because of our new freedom. Such an attitude is contrary to Christianity. It is certainly contrary to the message of the apostles. From misuse, we turned to the productive use of Christian liberty – by love serving one another. The impact of living a life as a slave to righteousness is far greater than the impact of the life lived as a slave to sin. Sin binds in ever increasing entanglements. Righteousness frees unto limitless glory in the eternal life of perfect fellowship with God. I closed with a quote from Alexander Maclaren:

“Liberty is not exemption from commandment, but harmony with commandment. Whoever finds that what is his duty is his delight is enfranchised. We are at liberty when we walk within the limits of the gospel; and they who delight to do the law are free in obedience; free from the tyranny of their own lust, passions, and inclinations; free from domination of men and opinion and common customs and personal habits.”

Alexander Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture, James 1:25, quoted by George M. Cowan, “The Prohibitions of Grace”, Bibliotheca Sacra (Dallas, TX: Dallas Theological Seminary, 1946; 2002). 103:232.

Our afternoon service continued the series with a message entitled “Disciples of the King“, from Mt 28.18-20. The imperative in this passage is ‘make disciples’. The process of making disciples involves three activities: going, baptizing [which I take as the culmination of evangelism, i.e., soul-winning], and teaching. The activities are given in chronological order (you must go first) and also in priority: merely going is not enough. Tourists are on the go. Disciple-makers go and work. The ultimate end of the commission, however, is not baptism, it is teaching to observe [obey] the commandments of Christ. This is the Christian mission. The notion that Christianity is bereft of commandments is an anti-Christian notion. But even more importantly, the commission is given by The King: ‘All authority in heaven and earth is given unto me.’ (v. 18). The Christian mission is to make disciples for The King. Two points closed the message:

1. This King is perfect
2. This King’s subjects love to serve Him

~~~~

I hope these thoughts are a blessing. I hope to conclude this series in one or two more messages.

Regards,
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3

The media of course thinks Christians who have rules are fundamentalists. In a review of a book called People in Glass Houses, the Sydney Morning Herald identifies a Pentecostal church in Australia as such. (Another bloggish sort of review is found at a site called Web Diary.

The woman who wrote the book appears to be an unbeliever, but what is striking to me is how much many of her complaints carry the same anti-authority attitude that many ‘young fundamentalists’ manifest. Granted, a great gulf is fixed between her beliefs and the beliefs of young fundies. Don’t get sidetracked by her infidelity – notice the attitudes and the complaints. Are they so different?

Regards,
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3

The next message in our series on legalism is prompted by a section in David Hesselgrave’s paper, referenced earlier, where he begins: ‘As for lawlessness, in the case of born-again Christians, it is an impossibility.’

In order to understand what Hesselgrave is saying, you need to gain an understanding of a difficult passage, 1 Jn 3.2-10, and 3.24. The apostle John’s words can be very troubling to the believer, especially words like this: ‘Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God’ (v. 9). As you work through the passage, beginning in v. 2, you will see that John is contrasting two sorts of people: the ones born of God and the ones sinning. Of the ones born of God, he says that we will be like Christ when he appears, but what we are now doesn’t make that apparent. Nevertheless, the believer is purifying himself because of his hope, while the one who is doing sin (the unbeliever) is also doing lawlessness. John makes a point of identifying the sin of the unbeliever as lawlessness. The rest of the passage is repetitive, contrasting the two classes of people and emphasizing the great gulf between them.

The key to understanding the passage is the emphasis concerning the sin that the unbeliever is doing, lawlessness. The unbeliever is ‘without law’, lawless, an outlaw. Hesselgrave illustrates it this way:

“For example, if I were to be stopped for speeding while driving in our neighboring state of Wisconsin, I might be willing to admit that I had indeed been driving 80 miles an hour in a 65mph zone. That would be tantamount to admitting that I am a ‘lawbreaker.’ But suppose I simply disregard the speed limit and respond to the officer by saying something like, ‘You can’t give me a ticket. I’m from Illinois. Your Wisconsin laws don’t apply to me and you have no right to arrest me.’ At that moment, I become something other than just a lawbreaker. I become an ‘outlaw.’ I become ‘lawless.'”

The unbeliever shouts to God, in effect, ‘You can’t tell me what to do.’

On the other hand, the believer, purifying himself, asks God, ‘Please tell me what to do.’

This attitude illustrates the difference between a spiritual heart and a rebellious heart. Our basic human nature chafes at rules, restrictions, directions, and authority. Ultimately, this is a remnant of our enmity with God, even in believers. If we are walking in the Spirit, we will put down the flesh and submit to God, asking for his guidance, direction, and rejoicing in the freedom from sin and guilt that God’s restraints provide.

I concluded the message with this:

“The heart of the Christian is that he is under the Law of Christ. He wants to please Christ, not himself.

“How about you? Who do you want to please?’

UPDATE: Here are the sermon notes if you are interested.
~~~

In our afternoon service, I preached a communion message from Lev 1.1-4. We considered first the context of God’s instruction – not from Mt Sinai, but from the Tabernacle, in the midst of the people, just as God’s final solution to sin is Emmanuel, God with us, the incarnate God among the people, bearing with them and bearing their sin. We considered two concepts required for the sacrifice, the concept of cost and the concept of excellence. We compared that with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish. We considered the consequence: atonement, a substitute dying the death the worshipper deserved. This indeed is what Christ did for us.

Hallelujah, what a Saviour.

Regards,
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3

In looking over some old notes [almost 19 years old, to be exact!] I ran across my sermon outlines from a series preached through the book of Leviticus. This was pre-computer, boys and girls, in a day when I had to write my notes with a quill pen. Well, actually, I had progressed to ball-point by then… probably a fine Cross writing instrument as I recall. In those days, I scratched out my notes on whatever paper was handy, crossing things out, drawing arrows, etc., then carefully recopied them so that I could actually read them in the pulpit. Thank the Lord for computers!

The message was entitled “The Slippery Slide” [harking back to a Dr. Custer expression]. In this message I listed the stages of sin (as seen in Genesis).

1. Rebellion – the first stage of sin (Gen 3)
2. Self-justification – the perpetuation of sin (Gen 4.1-15)
3. Repetition – the continuance [sic] in sin (Gen 4.16-24) [should that be ‘continuation of’ instead?]
4. Satiation – the complete dominance of sin (Gen 6.1-8)
5. Rejuvenation – the disregarding of grace by sin (Gen 11.1-9)

As I closed the message, I have this in the notes: Sin is a growth industry. Sin is degenerative. Sin separates man from God, temporally, personally, and eternally. Temporally, because sin separates man from the Ways of God in this age. Personally, because sin separates man from a relationship with God in any age. Eternally, because sin separates man from the Person of God forever.

~~~

As I think about that message, I realize how much I still need daily access to God. The book of Leviticus is all about achieving and maintaining holiness by a continual relationship with God. As a redeemed sinner, the way into the holy of holies is made open by the blood of Christ, but I must enter every day.

May God help you and me to maintain such a walk in the fear of the Lord.

Regards,
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3

I mentioned these volumes in an earlier post. The books arrived just the other day and I decided to take a quick look at them this morning.

It turns out that these volumes are not intended as commentaries but as devotional expositions of the Gospels, about 12 verses at a time. Ryle wrote them with the view that they might be something read aloud with three possible audiences in view:

He hoped that the works might be “suitable for use at family prayers.”

He also hoped that they may prove “an aid to those who visit the sick and the poor,” commenting that “There is reason to believe that proper books for reading on such occasions are much wanted.”

And last, he trusted that the works might be profitable “for private reading, as a companion to the Gospels.”

On the strength of the first reading (the genealogy of Mt 1.1-17), I would say that Ryle accomplished his purpose. These books appear to be well worth having especially for devotional purposes from a man who doesn’t offer froth in his writing.

Here is a comment on the character of the men in the list and the responsibility of parents to pray for their children:

Observe how many godly parents in this catalogue had wicked and ungodly sons. The names of Roboam, and Joram, and Simon, and Jechonias, should teach us humbling lessons. They had all pious fathers. But they were all wicked men. Grace does not run in families. It needs something more than good examples and good advice to make us children of God. They that are born again are not born of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. (John 1.13.) Praying parents should pray night and day, that their children may be born of the Spirit. [Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels, vol 1, pp. 3-4]

Having made the purchase, I thought it a good idea to let you know what it was I had recommended sight unseen. I still recommend it! I am thinking these will be good for me and also for my family as we use them in ‘family prayers’, just as Ryle hoped.

Regards,
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3