Sort of random thought

A somewhat muddled thought I had elsewhere:

when you feel like your life has no meaning or purpose

I too have been at the point where things seem so pointless, but focusing on the sovereignty of God has greatly encouraged me. What I mean is this: First of all, the whole purpose of life, of all of history is to bring glory to God (1 Cor. 10:31, Col. 3:17, and 1 Pet. 4:11). God will be magnified in the end by this great, massive grand scheme, which He has crafted from eternity. That means that even in our simple acts of eating and praying, we bring Him glory. My simple life is a sacrifice unto God, whether I do some great deed or simply follow Him in my simple daily life, that He may be even in some small way be glorified. We live for God in everything, and I am floored that he has shed grace upon grace on me who showed nothing short of hatred for Him. don't get me wrong; I was no raging heathen. I have no remarkable story where I was a great and terrible sinner. I was a "good kid" as far as anyone other than God and me could see, but the point is that even in this my most boring of all lives that anyone could have, God is glorified! There is no greater joy than to know that God was (in spite of me) actually pleased to save me! That, my friend and brother, is the whole point of living. Even in this, my boring day of this, my boring (and jobless :P) life, God will be glorified!

Sola Fide

Sola Fide; "Faith Alone" or, the long and short of it, Salvation by grace through faith alone. This is one of the five Solas and, indeed, is a staple to our faith. However, I have heard it sadly said that the "Alone" is nowhere found in Scripture and thusly invalidates this truth. I will here address this heresy.
The specific passage from whence this doctrine comes is this,

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8)

This was a doctrine Martin Luther struggled with for along time, or, that is, didn't understand. Up unto this point, he believed that one must live a complete and holy life. Which is true if we wish to be holy and acceptable before God Almighty. Luther became a monk so as to attain this but found, rightly so, that his righteousness was as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). Everything he did he found was not enough and that to the core, he was a wicked being that had no hope of salvation! That is, until he found Ephesians 2:8. Here we see clearly that our salvation is the gift of God, given us by no merit of our own as Scripture clearly shows! We have done nothing to earn this gift, nay, not even said the word (Ephesians 1:4-6). Though yes, we have responsibility, must keep a healthy balance here, that is for another discussion.
So in summery, our anthem of Salvation by Grace through Faith Alone is merely a summery of Eph 2:8. Salvation by Grace: "For by grace you have been saved". Through Faith: "through faith". Alone: "And this is not of your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast" (Eph. 2:9 added for emphasis).

Soli Deo Gloria

Bibidy Bobidy Boo! Interpretation: "A Blog Post About Spiritual Gifts." :D

Some of you may remember how ardently I was a cessationist (one who believes the miraculous gifts have ceased) in times past. Originally, this was due to my interest in John Macarthur’s Dispensational teachings. However, I have grown to see the weaknesses in my former arguments and have changed my views on the issue. This may grate on some of my friend’s beliefs, especially the Reformed ones, but there is no Biblical support whatsoever for a cessation of tongues or prophecy.

My Former Arguments and Refutation

Formerly, I tried to get around 1 Corinthians 12-14 by dancing around the context and plain meaning of words. Firstly, I avoided the fact that prophecy continues until the eternal state (13:8-13) by saying that New Testament prophecy referred to preaching the word. However, preaching is never called prophecy, and this contradicts the context of the passage (prophecy called “revelation” in 14:30). Thus, if prophecy refers to a personal revelation in the context, 1 Corinthians certainly supports supernatural revelation today. I was troubled, due to my former understanding that this undermines scripture. But Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theologymakes a convincing argument that New Testament prophecy was not understood as equal to scripture or the Apostles. I refer the reader to that work to understand this issue more fully.

The only text that I understood to teach the cessation of tongues was 1 Corinthians 14:20-22.

“In the Law it is written, ‘By men of strange tongues and by the lips of strangers I will speak to this people, and even so they will not listen to me.’ So then tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe but to unbelievers; but prophecy is for a sign, not to unbelievers but to those that believe.”

In this passage, Paul quotes Isaiah 22 which was a passage pronouncing condemnation on Israel. In it, God declares that foreign tongues would be a sign of destruction for them. This was fulfilled when Israel was destroyed by foreigners. Paul goes on to say that, in the same way, tongues are a sign for unbelievers and prophecy is a sign for believers.

Now, I listened to a certain Dispensational pastor try to teach this passage, and he made a case that this means that tongues is a sign of Israel’s destruction and when they were destroyed tongues ceased. He weaved a complex theological framework that, in the end, resulted in reading about three pages of information into this one passage. The question for his interpretation is simple: Is this how Paul intended to apply this passage? First of all, such an interpretation renders the statement that prophecy is a sign for believers a mystery; having a complex interpretation for tongues as a sign but no apparent meaning to prophecy as a sign. Paul’s true meaning will be evident as we follow Paul’s argument.

The context of the passage is the necessity of interpretation of tongues so that order can be maintained. Whatever Paul’s meaning is, it is consistent with the context. This complex spider’s web of doctrines inserted into 1 Corinthians 14:20-22 is a sad mishandling of the text, for it rips it from its larger context. Let us read on in Paul’s argument and the meaning will become evident.

“Therefore if the whole church assembles together and all speak in tongues, and ungifted men or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are mad? But if all prophecy, and an unbeliever or an ungifted man enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all; the secrets of his heart are disclosed; and so he will fall on his face and worship God, declaring that God is certainly among you.”

This is Paul’s application of his citation of Isaiah. I had a lot of trouble understanding what is meant here, but by looking closely at this passage, one sees what is meant. The passage says that if unbelievers enter and all speak in tongues he will “think that [the church] is mad.” This, indeed, is how it is a sign of judgment for unbelievers. It banishes them from the fellowship of the church due to the lack of order and interpretation of the tongues spoken in it. This understanding does justice to the context and provides an adequate response to the cessationist interpretation. Also, in accordance with the context, Prophecy is a sign of God’s favor to believers since unbelievers confess that God is “truly among” the church in which it takes place. The point of the passage is that what is said in the church must be understandable so that all may be edified. To go beyond this understanding is to add to the text.

Conclusion

There is not a shred of Biblical evidence that teaches cessationism. Although I deny the forbidding of tongues and prophecy, I also oppose the abuse of them. One church I was in encouraged the open speaking in tongues during the service and in many Pentecostal churches tongues are used loosely and chaos ensues. These are unbiblical extremes. Tongues and prophecy, when rightly used, leads to true godliness, sober living and orderly and fearful worship. Everything is to be unto edification and love, in accordance to the Spirit and founded upon the Word. Praise God for the many blessings and differing gifts He gives to the body of Christ!

Back in Action

I am sorry I haven't been here to update over often. Its not like I have a life or anything! LOL Anyway, I am back with some interesting thoughts on Scripture as I read just last night. I am currently reading through the book of Luke and, as a gentile by blood, find this a most exceedingly fascinating book! I am currently in Chapter 4 and have three observations I wish to make.
The first is on v. 13,

And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time. (Luke 4:13)

This is extremely fascinating because it denotes here that Christ was tempted further on in His ministry. Indeed, I believe that it is infact indicative that, part of Christ's being fully human, meant that all His life He was faced with temptation much as we are... well, except that He was perfect while we were made perfect in His sacrifice only. But we must keep Christ's humanity in mind when it concerns the sacrifice of Christ. Without a human sacrifice, it would not suffice for us, humans, who sinned against God and without the lamb being spotless, it would be a meaningless sacrifice.
My next point would be on God's magnificent gift to us, the chosen. Christ made the people of his home town very angry. Why? Because He made plain His mission, that His dominion (His chosen people) would extend beyond the Children of Israel,

And he said, "Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown. But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian."(Luke 4:24-27)

Note here please that Christ specifically mentions the nationalities of these individuals in contrast to the widows and lepers of Israel. Notice also Christ's Words. He chooses to say, "Elijah was sent" only to the widow of Sidon. Also of the lepers, "none of the were cleansed but only Naaman the Syrian. Christ is here making plain to whom He has be sent to cleanse. We see here that God chooses the foolish things of the world, these are not some elite blood or some supreme hierarchy but the destitute and broken. Christ came to save the Lost.
Lastly, I wanted to observe v.39,

And he stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her, and immediately she rose and began to serve them.(Luke 4:39)

Do we not serve an awesome God that even the fevers obey Him?
Until again, Christ be with you brothers and sisters.

Soli Deo Gloria
Patrick Eklektos

The Transforming Power of the Gospel

I do not expect this blog post to be overly long, or to be very complex. I just want to share some of my experiences with those who would read this and I invite all to seriously consider these words.

A few weeks ago I preached at my church and the theme was evangelism. Before I preached that sermon, I had a sermon on the person of Christ prepared for months. However, the week I was scheduled to preach the Lord moved me to preach on evangelism. Now that I can look back on that sermon, I see that God's purpose in calling me to preach on that topic wasn't so much for the congregation as it was for me. Honestly I have never been the same since I preached it. It has transformed my mind and my person completely, I feel like a train hit me. As I studied the passage I was teaching on, 1 Corinthians 1 and 2, I began praying that the Lord would give me a revelation of Christ and Him crucified, and that I would have a passion for the gospel. The more I prayed that, the more a desire grew in me to live and die for the gospel. It began to consume my thoughts and I began to change. The emphasis in my life was not so much on election than on simply knowing what happened on that cross. It has gotten to the point where I think about it almost all the time, and marvel at the gospel more than ever before. I have even seen new power over old sins in my life--as I meditate on the gospel, the things of the world are becoming less and less appealing!

The other day I felt the call of God to preach the gospel at the park. I have wanted to open-air preach ever since I got saved but was too cowardly to do it. I was scared and worried what others would think of me, but this new passion overcame me and I preached on the sidewalk. Since then I wake up in the morning hoping for the chance to proclaim the gospel wherever I go, however I can, regardless of the consequences. I have been totally consumed by this one thing that I have caught a glimpse of, and my only desire is to spread it to the entire world: The bloody, rugged cross of Christ. All glory be to Jesus Christ for His eternal salvation!

So the Lord has truly done a work in me. It's not that I think that maybe the Lord has done something to me, no, I know that he has. I have gone from a passion for debates in the blogosphere to a passion for the foolish message which is the only power of God unto salvation. I have gone from fearful and defeated to victorious in the area of evangelism. I ask you, would you join me in seeking out the knowledge of Christ and the gospel? The first thing I learned in this endeavor is that it is very hard to get help when preaching the gospel--Friends, this ought not be. I hope and pray that Christians would be driven to their families, their workplaces and the streets by an all-consuming love for Christ and Him crucified. In the words of Jesus, GO!

Original Sin: Four Views

Some may wonder why it is needed to give attention to the old doctrine of Original Sin. The truth is that, although it has been commonly held to be an essential Christian teaching, the reality of our deadness in Adam has been greatly attacked recently by a growing Pelagian minority in so-called evangelicalism. A quick search on Youtube or other avenues of internet ministry will reveal a strong sect of street-preachers, ministers and theologians who are either completely Pelagian or hold at least some of its views. I have done the research myself and am appauled at how almost every publicly known street evangelist (save Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron as far as I can see) is preaching this damnable heresy. I can not adequately examine the data concerning this tremendous doctrine, but I hope to give a brief overview of the different standpoints and thus to set clearly before us what we need to weigh out when considering which one we fall under. Following is a study of each of the four views on Original Sin; the first two are the ones within the free-will camp and the second two are debated amongst Predestinarians.

The Pelagian View

In the fourth and fifth centuries Augustine lived and founded his views on grace and Predestination. His opponent was a man named Pelagius. In his eyes, Augustine's high view of grace would inevitably lead to licentiousness and loose living. To combat this and emphasize man's responsibility to live a holy life, Pelagius taught that man was essentially neutral to good and evil and was not disposed to either. In his thought every man was born in the same moral condition that Adam was--totally free to choose good and evil. In being consistent with his views he taught that sinless perfection with no assistance from grace was possible and essential.

Some say that Pelagians believe that we inherit nothing from Adam. This is a false concept. Pelagianism teaches that we inherit physical death and disease from Adam, but we do not inherit any moral depravity. To them, Adam was merely a bad moral example to the human race with no affect to his progeny.

The Semi-Pelagian (Arminian) view

In response to Augustine's teaching of man's deadness in sin and Pelagius' counter-teaching of man's complete freedom, the Roman church tried to find a middle ground in Semi-Pelagianism. This view teaches that salvation is essentially a cooperation between God and man. In their view of Original Sin, Adam's sin affected all aspects of the human faculties but our will is not completely effaced; we still have the ability to choose good. To them God gives prevenient grace--a divine enabling which woos all men to accept Christ. But cooperating with God's drawing man may be saved and made an heir of eternal life.

The Federal View

Amongst Reformed theologians the most common stance is the Federal view; most identified with Covenant Theology. In this schema Adam acted as the representative of the human race in the garden of Eden and as such his sin is imputed to the rest of humanity. Whereas the Semi-Pelagian view only believes a sin nature was inherited by Adam, in the Reformed views the actual guilt of Adam is the possession of every man from birth. The Federal system comes to this conclusion by seeing Adam as the head of the entire human race. as a representative.

The Augustinian/Traducian View

Finally, Augustine formed a unique understanding of mankind's union with Adam. It was named after him and is held by a minority of Predestinarians today. According to Augustine, all men were seminally and physically present in Adam's loins, in the same way Levi was said to be present in Abraham's loins when he paid tithes to Melchizedek (Hebrews 7:10). Thus, man being really and truly in Adam in the garden, his sin becomes their sin and they are considered to be guilty and spiritually dead just as him.

The scriptures have not been brought up in this discussion, but the reader is directed to Romans 5:12-19 for the Biblical account concerning this doctrine. The writer holds the Augustinian understanding as I think it is the most plain reading of Romans 5:12. All have sinned because all are sinners; may we earnestly contend for our total depravity and the necessity AND sufficiency of grace for salvation!

A Short Word on Faith

Some say "Salvation: So easy a cave man could do it" but I think this is false. Salvation is a VERY hard thing to accomplish for various reasons (If it were so easy why did it take the death of God Himself to secure it?). For one thing, the deadness of man in sin causes us to require a new birth in order to be saved. This new birth is a supernatural work of God alone that some have said "exceeds the power of God displayed in the creation of the universe." But there is another thing that makes salvation so hard and that is what it requires: Faith.

Faith is simple yet complex. I think it's safe to say that faith is a mystery of itself. It is such a simple requirement, and yet it costs its possessor everything. It transforms lives and goes completely against human nature. The Roman Catholics and other belief systems within as well as outside of Christianity have defined faith in two parts.

1. Knowledge of a thing.

2. Assent to it.

This is also the belief of non-biblical sects within Christianity that believe that one can have faith with no affect on the person's life. To these as well as the RCC, faith is mental assent to some kind of truth. This mental assent does not necessarily have to affect the life of the individual. It is mere hollow belief. It is this type of faith that James spoke of when he said "You believe there is one God; you do well. Even the demons believe, and tremble." It is clear that mental assent does not save. The Protestant (and, I believe, the Biblical definition) adds one thing onto the end of this equation. Faith in the orthodox Christian mind goes like this:

1. Knowledge of a thing.

2. Assent to it.

3. Trust in it.

It is the third point that defines faith. Knowledge and mental assent to God is not enough; one must trust in God and what he says. Faith reads of Christ being "pierced for our transgressions, and crushed for our iniquities" (Isaiah 53) and responds in absolute trust in that sacrifice, being confident of inclusion in it. Hebrews puts it this way: "Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." (Hebrews 11:1). In other words, faith has confident assurance in what God has said even though the thing is "not seen." This is especially true of the gospel. One is left helpless and, logically, unable to be saved through the knowledge of the law but by faith one has assurance that another has kept the law for Him and atoned for His sin; Jesus Christ. But it can also be said of any Biblical revelation.

And this is where faith gets really hard. Believing the gospel and giving up on self-righteousness is a miracle in itself but it doesn't get any easier from there. By faith we are called not to lean on our own understanding. When joining in on the fun of the world seems so fulfilling to our needs and wants, God calls us to have faith that His ways are truly fulfilling. When a marriage is not going well and communication isn't happening between two people, it takes faith in God's goodness not to turn aside to the beautiful, talkative secretary at work. When an unbiblical TV show is on, one must believe that denying that lust is the better way to go based on the mere fact that a good, wise and loving God has spoken.

So the question becomes in regard to any situation: Do you believe God? It is indeed the hardest thing to do to abandon human wisdom, desires and ambitions and humbly trust in the will and wisdom of another. But what we have to remember, friends, is the character of the one we are called to trust in. If we can get a glimpse of the power, love and goodness of God one can see that trusting in His ability to justify the ungodly as well as regulate our daily lives is the only logical thing to do. May we base our entire lives on this truth: God has spoken.