Do You Have A Choice?

 

Back in the early '70's when I was attending Southwell Boarding School in Hamilton. I used to attend chapel six days a week. Canon Sergal was the school's principal and the resident clergyman. He had been a chaplain to the British Army in WWI, traveling to the Holy Land and Syria.

 

He was obviously born again and related scripture to many of the aspects of life that he had experienced including events in his journey to Israel. His sermons were so life like and often very interesting even to nine and ten year olds. I remember him talking quite sternly about the Election of Saints. It was later in my time there and probably aimed at the thirteen year old boys who were of the Anglican faith and going through the process of confirmation.

He shared with us the Parable of the Wedding Feast from Matthew chapter 22 verses 1 - 14. Verse 14 really caught me by surprise "For many are called, but few are chosen.” ESV. I had always thought I heard the gospel as a small child and had responded. The idea that God had called me and that he had chosen me rather than me choosing Him, was quite a shock.

 

Mr. Sergal, really elaborated on that idea of God electing us and not the other way around. I think from memory he quoted John 6:44 "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day." I was left quite profoundly disconcerted by this whole idea of God choosing me and me really having no part in it. However, in my youthly wisdom I decided it wasn't important an resolved to ignore the conundrum. Which I did quite successfully for the next forty five years.

 

 My son Matthew had joined a little church plant down the road called Grace Church. A lovely group of people who embraced Matthew's special needs and loved him for the most part without reservation. It took some years for me to follow Matthew into Grace Presbyterian as he finally needed a little support from home to help him feel a little more comfortable in the Christian arena. I was very aware of the Churches Calvinist roots but I had little knowledge of their position on Doctrine of Election or it's fundamental importance to them.

 

I developed a relationship with the Churches new Pastor and we decided to study the Westminster Confession of Faith which brought the Doctrine of Election from a Calvinist perspective into absolute clarity. It was at that point that I knew that I could no longer ignore the Doctrine of Election and that I didn't agree with the Calvinist perspective of it.

 

Calvinists believe that the elect are chosen from the foundation of the world and many believe that while the saints are elected to eternal life so the lost are elected to damnation. Not through anything that they have done because the decision was taken at the beginning of time when the elect and the damned had not lived and so had done nothing to merit election or damnation. Heady stuff!

 

I simply cannot agree that God could elect people to damnation and I am sure that there has to be a better explanation of the doctrine of election than this. My childhood understanding of the idea of how we are saved would have gone something like this. I heard about Jesus and how he loved me and how he had died for me on the Cross to pay the price for my sins - wrong doing. I chose to believe on Jesus and He forgave my sins and came into my heart. When I grew up I received baptism for the remission of sins and in order to receive the Holy Spirit and the rest is history. This is how election was to me.

 

So, being thrown headlong into the debate about election. I studied what the Calvinists believe and what John Wesley believed about election. Wesley believed in something that he called prevenient grace. Essentially that when people hear the gospel of Jesus Christ prevenient grace enables them to respond to the gospel. They either accept that Christ bore their sins on the cross and believe on Him or, they reject the gospel for the time being. Therefore even though they are fallen in their sins God through prevenient grace allows them to make a choice for or against Christ Jesus.

 

As I have said earlier, I prefer the childlike understanding of salvation where we can just hear the gospel and choose for ourselves. So while I think that Wesley's prevenient grace is a way of describing how God enables us to make a choice in our total depravity. I prefer the way preachers from the nineteenth century looked at what happened around salvation.

 

In those days they spoke of the lost coming under conviction of their sins. They believed that the Holy Spirit would carry the gospel to a sinners heart and bring them under deep conviction of their sin. Many would fall to their knees and cry out in repentance to their God. They chose Christ Jesus and this was often said to happen in revivals.

 

Now it seems to me that as John Wesley felt there was prevenient grace based around the gospel of salvation that this aligns with the order of events that relate to salvation. John 6:44 says that we can't come to Jesus unless the Father draws us to Him. Thus we hear the gospel and under the conviction by the Holy Spirit, of our sins, we can accept Christ Jesus or we can choose to reject Him.  So it is important to note that we are drawn to Christ Jesus first and upon believing on Him we are justified. Then we undergo water baptism and are forgiven our sin and receive the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is then responsible for our sanctification in preparation for our eventual resurrection unto eternal life.

 

 Coming to Christ first is why I believe Wesley felt their was a special grace related to the gospel which enables the lost person to choose salvation or to stay as they are. So to recap, the believer is justified by Jesus through His Cross. Then convicted by the Holy Spirit when they hear the gospel and believes on Jesus Christ unto eternal life. Then is sanctified by the Holy Spirit as they live out our repentant Christian lives. It is true the believer is foreseen by God from the foundation of the world but the gospel is for all and all are drawn by the Father to Jesus Christ when they hear the gospel. They are convicted by the Holy Spirit and enabled to make a choice for or against salvation in Christ Jesus.

How it is... Week 3 August 2024

 

We look at the world we live in and wonder how it can go  on? Climate Change from over population and the seemingly uncontrolled squander of the Earth's resources. Commentators forement panic about the lack of action to reverse the impending cataclysm that is heading toward the apocalypse on so many fronts.

 

So much of the World is in the has not category. Streets with open sewers and a life expectancy of under forty years because of the squalor and exposure to diseases like yellow fever and cholera. In fact, if some of the commentators on climate change went to the impoverished nations and saw how they live. I think they might forget altogether about the climate and start thinking of how to lift the living conditions in those countries. Might find that they could kill two birds with one stone.

 

It intrigues me how the climate narrative ignores so many obvious contradictions. For instance, we are told that the Antarctic Ice Sheet is melting and this will cause a sea rise in our oceans which will flood many low lying islands and coasts. Yet surely, if the ice melts from Antarctica and the temperatures are rising, then the land will be exposed in the Antarctic revealing a whole continent that can be settled in the future?

 

If we consider the likely future for mankind rather than the future of the Earth. We could ask the question "What is the likelihood of humanity continuing on the Earth as it is now?" Can we continue increasing our population and consuming the Earth's resources at such a rate that we are causing other species to go extinct. While at the same time damaging important natural infrastructure that maintains the environment, such as, the Amazon Rain-forest also known as the Inter-tropical Convergence Zone or the planet's oceans.

 

When will we reach critical levels for natural resource like water and oxygen as the Earth no longer retains the ability to naturally regenerate and resupply these types of resources. Then, humanity and the creation in general maybe between a rock and a hard place. Evolutionists have been known to call the current crisis the Earth's sixth extinction level event. Running out of air, food and freshwater would be the end of this particular event.

 

To the Climate Change Activist this crisis one that mankind must address and attempt to rectify. Interestingly they find themselves in the same position as the Christian. Al Gore produced a documentary in 2006 called "An Inconvenient Truth." In it he spoke to the issue of man-made climate change, the impacts on the Earth, other species and ultimately mankind. If drastic action is not taken by governments at the highest level to rectify the situation with regard to the production of green house gas and the pollution of our oceans.

 

Mr. Gore and many other climate change activists find themselves in position of holding the climate change gospel in their possession. They believe fervently, that they must convince governments, and mankind at large, of the truth of climate change and the need to act now to prevent further warming in the atmosphere and dangerous destabilization of global weather.

 

Like Christians, they find themselves in a position where there are many who accept their message and many who reject their message. While governments often see them as dangerous lunatics trying to destroy the global economy and seek to mitigate the impact of their message.

 

 My point here is this. If we accept the climate change message then we see mankind as the driver of climate change and the only actor capable of reversing climate change and hopefully preventing a global weather catastrophe. Put succinctly, 'Man is God!'

 

As a Christian, I would look at this whole situation somewhat differently. Jesus spoke of the last days at the end of the age and described them briefly stating in Matthew chapter 24 verses 4 through to 8 “See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.

 

From <https://biblehub.com/esv/matthew/24.htm>

 

In this last time before the return of Jesus Christ there will be great disturbances in the weather resulting in drought and famine and although not mentioned directly floods also are probable along with all of the events we are witnessing and ascribing to man-made climate change.  These are actually a part of the judgement brought by God onto the sinful people of the Earth who reject God and His Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior. As the scripture says this is only the beginning and worse is to come and if those times were not shortened no flesh would survive (Matthew 24:22).

 

To my mind the climate narrative, although true, is a subterfuge to distract mankind from the prophecies of the Bible and the indicators that the Hour of Judgement and the Return of Jesus Christ is imminent. As to the Earth, it is broken but in our present fallen, sinful state we won't be able to fix it in time. The only chance we have at this hour is spoken of in a prophecy to the nation of Israel in II Chronicles chapter 7 verses 13-14 "When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land."

 

From <https://biblehub.com/esv/2_chronicles/7.htm>

 

So, if mankind were to accept the gospel of Jesus Christ and fall on their knees to pray for His forgiveness. God would heal the Earth. However, the Bible tells us this won't happen. Their will be a great judgement in our time of which climate change is a part. Their will be deceiver's seeking to distract the people from the truth of God's word and to blind people to the gospel of Jesus Christ. In the coming tribulation time, to believe on Jesus Christ will mean death. It will be take the Mark of the Beast and join the 666 system or die. At the end of this time Jesus Christ will return and the Kingdom of God will be established forever.

Matthew Chapter Five Verses Thirteen to Forty Eight (NKJV)

 

Believers Are Salt and Light

13“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.

“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lamp stand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

Salt burns if it gets into a wound. Christians are to take the commands of God and to share them with the World. If they strike a nerve it will be like salt in a wound. The lost will not enjoy having their sin highlighted to them and will often lash out in response.

We have the gospel of Jesus Christ, the light of the World. We as believers are not to hide our knowledge of the Light under cover. We are not to be chameleons and to blend in, rather, we are to get to the highest point where everyone can see us and proclaim the truth of the gospel.

We are to behave in righteousness and not continue in the ways of the World. This is so that Christians are seen as being trustworthy people who keep the Law of God. People who have love and share their love with all mankind.

Christ Fulfills the Law

17“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.

Here Jesus is saying that he did not come to destroy the Law but to fulfill it. The Law is enduring and Heaven and Earth pass away the Law will not change at all. The scribes and pharisees need to be aware of the danger of changing even the least aspects of the Law for if they do so they shall be called the least in Heaven. Whereas, those exult the Law shall be called great in the Heaven Jesus is indicating that we need to aim to more that just fulfill the Law but rather make it out heartfelt endeavor to honor God through continual obedience to his will and achieving the ultimate level of fulfillment of the Law.

Murder Begins in the Heart

21“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire. Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are on the way with him, lest your adversary deliver you to the judge, the judge hand you over to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. Assuredly, I say to you, you will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny.

Christ Jesus here brings to the attention of those who would consider themselves righteous to the actual standards by which God judges their actions. To have anger against another is abhorrent to God and to abuse your brother is serious enough to bring you before the courts in the view point of God. To call your brother a fool is serious enough to bring danger of ending up in Hell itself.

So Christ Jesus, advises us to put right our personal grievances with those whom have transgressed against us before we make our gift to God. If you owe someone then pay him quickly before he seeks legal action against you and you are put in jail for what you owe him. Guard your heart and watch over your conduct carefully so that your life may be in accordance with the precepts of God.

Adultery in the Heart

27“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.

So, to look upon another person with lust is to commit the sin with them even though there is not physical action only a mental one. If you cannot control the members of your body that lead you into sin then Jesus suggests it is better to rid yourself of those physical members than to let the members of your body lead you into Hell Fire for Eternity. He tells you clearly here that this is possible?

Marriage Is Sacred and Binding

31“Furthermore it has been said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery.

Jesus is speaking to the Jewish practice to divorce your wife by giving her a certificate of divorce. You can imagine how this was used against older women by men seeking to get younger and more attractive wives. He was speaking to this terrible practice in the eyes of God and telling the religious leaders that in reality when they divorced their wives they pushed them into sin and the person who formed a new relationship with the divorced woman was pushed into sin as well. Not to mention the fact that we are to have one wife for life and if we divorce her in favor of someone else we are also committing adultery.

Jesus Forbids Oaths

33“Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.’ But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God’s throne; nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black. But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.

Jesus says here that in plain and humble speech we should conduct our lives. He says that of all the various types of oath that were countenanced in the Old Testament. We should do away with all of them. Neither swear to anyone nor swear by anything. Just be truthful to those around you and let your “Yes be yes,” and your “No be no.”

Go the Second Mile

38“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.

Here Jesus speaks of ultimate forgiveness and ultimate generosity. He advises you that, whatever your neighbor does to you. You should always forgive your neighbor and be prepared to allow your neighbor to have what it would seem to others to be completely foolish for you to give them. Always go the extra mile and never shrug from generosity.

If someone is violent toward you them allow them to be even more violent if that is what they intend to do. Make peace at all costs in order to keep the peace. Give vengeance to the Lord and make no effort to take revenge on anyone. Total forgiveness on your part and complete sovereignty on the part of God.

Love Your Enemies

43“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.

This is God’s Law of Love based around the great commandment of Mark 12 verses 29 – 31 “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 

Love God with all that are and love your neighbor as you love yourself. Pray for those who persecute and hate you and bless those who curse you. In this way the Kingdom of Heaven is spread abroad in the World and in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus of Nazareth – Jesus the Son of Man – Jesus the Son of God – Jesus the Messiah – Immanuel – God who is with us. That the World might know who we are and to whom we belong – Yahweh Elohim!