I know this is a controversial topic, but as many of the objections to this doctrine are based on misunderstandings of it, I thought John Samson's teaching might at least help folks get a clear view of what is meant by unconditional election. Of course I encourage you to search the scriptures for yourself and know what you believe and why you believe it!
Thursday, February 27, 2014
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
Thursday, February 20, 2014
Spiritual tastebuds, by John Piper!
This week I am preaching on:
Matthew 5:6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
For they shall be filled.
For they shall be filled.
I thought this video gave an interesting perspective on the subject!
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
Kevin Swanson gives good insight into the culture!
Follow link to this insightful sermon - Blasphemy
Monday, February 10, 2014
Amazing grace and God's purposes in Deuteronomy!
My commentary added in red -
Deut. 9:1 “Hear, O Israel: You are to cross over the Jordan today, (OK, so today they are to begin taking the Promised Land, but what will it be like and how will they be victorious?) and go in to dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourself, cities great and fortified up to heaven, 2 a people great and tall, the descendants of the Anakim, whom you know, and of whom you heard it said, ‘Who can stand before the descendants of Anak?’ (What will it be like? It will be impossible for them, the people and their cities are too big and strong, but...)
3 Therefore understand today that the Lord your God is He who goes over before you as a consuming fire. He will destroy them and bring them down before you; so you shall drive them out and destroy them quickly, as the Lord has said to you. (Israel is weak, but God is strong, so victory is assured, if they trust in His strength, not theirs! Why would He do this for them?)
4 “Do not think in your heart, after the Lord your God has cast them out before you, saying, ‘Because of my righteousness the Lord has brought me in to possess this land’; but it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is driving them out from before you. (The first reason God gives for driving out the inhabitants of the land and giving it to Israel, is to punish the sins of the current inhabitants, but wait there is more - )
5 It is not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart that you go in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord your God drives them out from before you, and that He may fulfill the word which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. (Ok, so the nations that are being driven out are wicked, but so is Israel, God is giving it to them as an inheritance, not because they have earned it, but because of the promises He made to their ancestors!)
Lest they forget, a repeat of an important fact -
6 Therefore understand that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stiff-necked people.
Lest they forget, Moses reminds them again -
7 “Remember! Do not forget how you provoked the Lord your God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day that you departed from the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against the Lord.
How can a "stiff-necked people" or people who are "rebellious against the Lord" enter and keep the land God promised? By seeing it as an inheritance given and kept by God!
How can I, as a believer in Jesus Christ who still sins, expect to enter and stay in God's eternal Promised Land? By trusting in God's ability to deliver and keep it for me, as an inheritance earned by Jesus, not by me!
"Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved."
Thursday, February 6, 2014
Monday, February 3, 2014
A Pie Problem?
A fellow Elder in our church, Bert, uses an illustration which explains so many people's spiritual state and the life problems which result. Simply put, many who claim Jesus as Lord of their lives, and all of us times, suffer from a pie problem!
What do I mean by a pie problem?
It is easy to compartmentalize our faith as if it were one slice of the overall pie that makes up our lives. We may tend to keep our faith slice separate from our work slice, our friends slice, our entertainment slice, or various other things that make up the pie of our lives. When we compartmentalize our faith, our lives outside of church activities will look very much like those of the lost people around us, and we don't enjoy many of the blessings of a relationship with Jesus, if we have one!
What is the solution to this problem? See your relationship with Jesus as the pie and all other parts of your life as slices of that pie!
Listen to what God's word says about where our faith fits into our lives:
Matt. 6:33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
1 Cor. 10:31 Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
2 Cor. 5:16 Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 18 Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
What is very clear about all of these texts is that we, as followers of Jesus, are to be seeking to know and do His will, in all areas of our lives, all the time, for His glory!
Let's take a hard and honest look at our lives, our "pies" if you will, and see if we are living like our lives are all about Jesus, or He is just one slice of the pie.
"Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved."
What do I mean by a pie problem?
It is easy to compartmentalize our faith as if it were one slice of the overall pie that makes up our lives. We may tend to keep our faith slice separate from our work slice, our friends slice, our entertainment slice, or various other things that make up the pie of our lives. When we compartmentalize our faith, our lives outside of church activities will look very much like those of the lost people around us, and we don't enjoy many of the blessings of a relationship with Jesus, if we have one!
What is the solution to this problem? See your relationship with Jesus as the pie and all other parts of your life as slices of that pie!
Listen to what God's word says about where our faith fits into our lives:
Matt. 6:33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
1 Cor. 10:31 Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
2 Cor. 5:16 Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 18 Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
What is very clear about all of these texts is that we, as followers of Jesus, are to be seeking to know and do His will, in all areas of our lives, all the time, for His glory!
Let's take a hard and honest look at our lives, our "pies" if you will, and see if we are living like our lives are all about Jesus, or He is just one slice of the pie.
"Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved."
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