Learning Leads to Living

It's funny how Paul begins most of his letters with such rich theology and then only after he has displayed these sometimes difficult theological topics, that he then says "therefore - live this way."  I think this pattern teaches us that LEARNING is what is suppose to LEAD us to Godly LIVING.

Every Christian is a student of God's Word.  Some are good students and some are bad students.  But we are all called to study God, read God's Word, know God, deal with the difficult passages about God, so that we truly get to know Him.  Not doing so, is sin for the Christian.

Without knowing God, our moral efforts mean nothing.  God is not pleased with piousness that doesn't reflect the gospel.  Just look at the Pharisees.  They were pious, "moral," and they followed the rules etc.  But to what end?  Without the redeeming love of Jesus as reflected in the gospel, our works mean nothing.

Good morals are the overflow of our relational knowledge of God.  Being told to obey God or "follow rules" is not what makes people follow rules, knowing God's Word is what produces obedience to God.  Good works should be spilling out of us if we continually learning about Him.  We are to love God with all of our MIND (Luke 10:27).  Not just our emotions or affections are involved in loving Jesus, but our minds as well.  God gave us minds so that we can use them to think about Him, to learn about Him, to grow in our knowledge of Him.

What makes us want to obey God?  What fuels a desire to follow Jesus?  Knowing Him!  Growing up in church and getting formal Biblical training through going to Bible college has made me realize that the more I learn about Jesus, the Bible, and theology the more I want to follow Him.  The more in depth I know His Word and learn about Him, the more it pushes me to live for Him.

I've heard it said that we are to try to live a moral life that pleases God, then once we master that, if we have time, we can study theology.  This could not be further from the truth!  In fact, the opposite is true.

Learning theology leads to Godly living.
Learning about the cross leads to Godly living.
Learning about the Levitical system leads to Godly living.
Learning about the life of Paul leads to Godly living.
Learning God's Word leads to Godly living.
Learning about the miracles of Jesus leads to Godly living.
Learning about the book of Amos leads to Godly living.

No matter what book of the Bible I read, no matter what theological topic I study, learning and studying it stirs in me a longing for God and a desire to spread the gospel.

Life is about the gospel and living  it out is what happens when you truly study theology.  If you are struggling to "do the things you want" and not do the "things you hate" (Romans 7:15-16) then these are the things that have helped me:

1.)  Study God's Word - don't just read it, study it.  Use commentaries, lexicons, etc.  Actually study it as if you were in Bible college.  :)
2.)  Read Theology Books - Piper, Sproul, MacAurthur, Chan, Platt, Grudem, Carson, Chandler (and so many others)
3.)  Engage in Church - don't just sit in the pew then go home.  Talk with your fellow believers and pastors.  Engage in real relationships with them.  They will teach you.  

Live for Jesus - it's the only way to truly live.

God's Electing Love

If God is sovereign, then I have to believe that He is sovereign over everything - and that includes salvation.  This, however, does not sit well with the human heart.  There are many objections that fly in the face of the doctrine of election because of our prideful human hearts.  This God-exalting doctrine is what Scripture teaches.  Let's look closely at what Scripture says about this doctrine in contrast to the objections that we may think or feel.  I ask that you put your emotions to the side and look at what Scripture says.

IF GOD IS SOVEREIGN OVER SALVATION, WHY SHARE THE GOSPEL?

Many have said to me that if the doctrine of election is true then, why should we bother sharing the gospel.  This is silly to me because the fact that God is sovereign is what should fuel our passion for sharing the gospel.  We should be even more excited to share the gospel because we can rest assured knowing that God is the One who does the work of salvation.  We are just the messenger - doing what God has commanded us to do.  In Paul's ministry he said that the reason he endures in ministry is because he knows that God is still working - He is still bringing His people to Himself.  "Therefore, I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory." (2 Tim 2:10).  Paul continues on in ministry because of the elect, not in spite of them.

Romans 10 says, "How are they to hear without someone preaching?...how beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!"  God has ordained that the gospel be spread through people, so, when we share the gospel, we are fulfilling the calling and commission of God to "make disciples of all nations." (Matthew 28:19).  Knowing that God is the One who saves a person, should fuel our passion for sharing the gospel because we know that there are still people out there (His elect) who God is in the process of calling to Himself.  We have the privilege of being a part of that process.  We have the opportunity to be the instrument God uses in this process.  There are still people who will respond positively to the gospel, so this should ignite a passion for ministry and gospel-sharing. 

BUT I CHOSE TO GET SAVED, DIDN'T I?

In a word, yes, you did.  But let's look at what Scripture says about what has happened in eternity past up until that point.  Ephesians 1 tells us when God's election of us took place.  It was "before the foundation of the world."  That is when God chose us to be in Christ.  The idea that we are chosen because of "foreseen faith" of any kind is not found in Scripture.  This idea would make humans sovereign (in control) and not God.  (What a scary thought!)

There are a few things that Scripture tells us that are foundational in understanding God's sovereignty in salvation.  The first is that Scripture describes us as dead spiritually.  Ephesians 2 says, "But God...even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive..."  Colossians 2:13 says something similar, "And you, who were dead in your trespasseses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with Him..."  We are dead, and as spiritually dead people, we can't do anything to make ourselves alive.  We can't just awaken ourselves to life.  Romans 3 tells us that "no one seeks for God."  These verses demonstrate the inability of a person to come to God or "find God" on their own.  We are born dead and there is nothing we can do about it - just as a physically dead person can do nothing about their state.  

So since this is our spiritual state, it must be an act of God that saves a person.  We see this in Ephesians 2:8-9 which says, "For by grace you have been saved through faith.  And this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast."  In this passage, the word "it" refers to both the "grace" and the "faith" that we receive from God, showing that God gives us faith.  (In the Greek the word "it" is neuter which means it refers to the clause before.  Both "grace" and "faith" are feminine so if it was just referring to "grace" then the "it" would be feminine also.  But it's neuter referring to the whole clause including grace and faith.  This means that God gives us "grace" and He gives us "faith." The faith we have to believe in Him is a gift from Him according to this passage.)  

When God calls someone to Himself, He shows them grace by giving them faith.  In this process, our hearts are softened, our eyes are opened, and we say "yes" to God.  We accept this gift freely and willingly because once our eyes are opened, we want to accept Christ whereas before we would have never sought Him on our own (Rom 3).  So, yes, we choose God, after He awakens us to spiritual life.  His grace is irresistible once we have eyes to see it.  One of the best passages that deals with this is John 6.  Jesus is talking here when He says in verses 37 and 44, "All that the Father gives me will come to me and whoever comes to Me I will never cast out....No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws Him..."  These verses tell us that God is the one who draws people, and ALL that He draws will come.  So either God draws all people and all people are saved (universalism), or God draws His people and they are saved.  We can't get around that according to this passage of Scripture.  Jesus says that ALL that the Father gives Him WILL come.  And no one CAN come unless the Father draws Him.  What powerful words from Jesus!

IF GOD CHOOSES US THEN HOW ARE WE RESPONSIBLE?

This specific question is answered directly in Scripture.  In Romans 9, speaking of Rebecca giving birth to Jacob and Esau, Paul writes, "...Though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad - in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of His call - she was told, 'the older will serve the younger.' As it is written 'Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.'"  Paul says this and then immediately gives further explanation to the inevitable objections.  He knows that the human heart is deceitfully wicked (Jeremiah 17), so he goes ahead and raises two questions and answers them.  First he says, "What shall we say then?  Is there injustice on God's part?  By no means!  For He says to Moses, 'I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.  So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy."  Paul knows that we as human won't like the sound of what he just said, so he tells us not to think that this is unfair.  He tells us that our faith has nothing to do with us.  It doesn't depend on us and our human mental abilities.  If this were the case then Christians could say that they are saved because they are smart enough or bright enough to understand God's plan for humanity.  Christians could say that they chose to get saved because they are morally on higher ground than those who don't believe.  They could say that only the smartest, most morally founded people become Christians.  But Paul says exactly the opposite.  He says that we have faith because God is merciful.  Our faith is not based on "human will or exertion, but on God." 

Paul goes on in the following verses and raises a second question, "'Why does He still find fault? For who can resist His will?'  But who are you, o man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, 'why have you made me like this?'  Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honored use and another for dishonorable use?  What if God desiring to show His wrath and to make known His power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of His glory  for vessels of mercy, which He has prepared beforehand for glory..."  This passage speaks for itself in dealing with election and our human objections to it.  I think an interesting part of these verses (that we all know but forget when it comes to election) is that God specifically creates each person.  It's not as though there are all these people and God just decided to choose some of them.  God specifically designed and created each person with a design and intention for each person that He created.  These verses also show us that God desires His glory and mercy to be shown and He has decided to create a world, redeem a people, love and have a relationship with this people in order to show His glory and mercy.  Why God designed things to be this way, we won't fully understand, but we can know that it is what glorifies God the most.  Paul tells us in this passage of Scripture that we have no grounds to even ask this question.  (Thanks, Paul, for the slap in the face - the realization of my wicked and depraved heart!  Who am I to answer back to God?)

GOD IS SOVEREIGN
When it comes down to it, we must decide one thing, who is sovereign?  Is it us and our free will or is it God and His sovereign choice?  Most Christians would say that God, of course, is sovereign.  Many Christians don't doubt this until it comes to the doctrine of election.  God is sovereign and yet we do have a real free will.  Our will was created by God.  We must remember that everything we have - our life, our character, our choices - were all created by God.  The fact that God sovereignly created us and our wills does not make our wills "unreal" or robotic.  God created what "wills" and "choices", so He is the one that determines what a real free will is.

God is sovereign.  This is why we thank God when good things happen.  This is why we pray that God would act to make things happen.  This is why we pray for peoples salvation.  We ask God to save them because He is the only one who can soften a hard heart.  He is in control of that - not us.  And praise God that He does soften hearts.  He makes the blind see.  He brings the dead to life.  He is sovereign.  We need to stop worrying about why God acts the way He does, and be thankful that God decided to show any of us grace in the first place.  The question shouldn't be "Why doesn't God choose everyone", it should be "Why did He even choose anyone!"  No matter which question you are asking, I think the answer to both questions is the same - FOR HIS GLORY!