Recap and Initial Question

This morning we discussed the spiritual discipline of prayer, and we applied this discipline using a prayer model. 

Adoration
Confession
Thanksgiving
Supplication

The “ACTS” model has been very helpful to me in my prayer life, especially for times of extended prayer with the Lord.  The progression that exists in this model also helps us pray with the right attitude and perspective.  Are there any stratagies that you use regularly in your prayer life that may help all of us as we pray?  One of my favorite ways to pray is to pray the Scripture!  What are some of your favorite prayer helps?

 

Predestination vs. Fatalism II

Frank Turk, aka the Centurion, posted a question that I am quite certain he has an opinion on already.  But, it has caused me the urge to write an article concerning the difference between Predestination and Fatalism.  This is important because I believe there is a HUGE difference between the two concepts.  The starting point is going to have to be definitions.  Language is so abused today we must undergo the tedious task of defining the terms.

Fatalism:   a doctrine that events are fixed in advance so that human beings are powerless to change them.

Predestination:  the eternal plan, by which God has rendered certain all the events of the universe, past, present and future.

Here are the two definitions.  You may ask, what is the difference?  I would argue that the doctrine of predestination does not render human beings powerless.  Predestination, in the scriptural sense, includes God’s revealed will to us that insists and demands that we act in certain ways and do certain things and if we don’t there are real and eternal consequences.  The difference between the two ideas is really a matter of degree or attitude. 

Fatalism lends itself towards immobility and inaction.  It is like the seat-belt argument I used in the sermon on Sunday.  A fatalist would say, “I don’t need to wear a seat-belt, if I die it was meant to be.” 

The idea of predestination should lend itself to a more positive approach, “Since God has ordained my time on the earth, and has blessed me with the gospel, and has demanded that I share it with others, I should thank him for the technology of this car and this seat-belt that has been given for my protection so that I may safely drive and share the gospel for as long as the Lord allows.”

Like I said, this is a fine line.  All mysterious doctrines have fuzzy edges.  But, since we are biblicists, we have to believe this is true.  Let me expound on some other reasons not to live as a fatalist and defeatist.

Lets look at Proverbs 16:9, “The heart of a man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.”  Solomon, being the wisest man (not counting the God-Man Jesus) ever to walk the face of the planet give us great insight in this single proverb into the concept of concurrence.  God cooperates with us, he gives us a very real and tangible role to play.  What we do matters…it matters so much that the Lord establishes our steps.

Listen to what Calvin says on this issue, “Solomon easily reconciles human deliberation(reason, decision making- my addition) with divine providence.  For while he derides the stupidity of those who presume to undertake anything without God, as if they were not ruled by his hand, he elsewhere thus expresses himself, intimating that the eternal decrees of God by no means prevent from proceeding, under his will, to provide for ourselves, and arrange all our affairs.”  I could not have said it any better- LOL

God has fixed the boundaries of our lives, but at the same time he has given us everything we need to care for ourselves.  The Lord has given us the ability to reason and make wise choices for the purpose of lending ourselves to his divine and sovereign plan for our lives.  To fail to use what God has given would be lazy, dishonoring to God, and sinful.

The line may be fuzzy and the truth my be mysterious, but I believe there is a real difference between the two concepts.  Discussion is wide open on this one.

 

Predestiniation vs. Fatalism

How can God decree a divine plan before the world is created and still hold us accountable for our choices?  This is a good question and a very important concept to consider.  As believers we are not fatalists.  Although we believe that God is working in concurrence with his creation to accomplish all of his divine purposes, we still believe that he has also decreed to work through human means such as prayer, evangelism, preaching, etc. 

 The Biblical witness is clear that God demands things of us and expects us to walk in obedience to his demands.  His doctrine of divine providence is not a license for us to sit on our hands and wait for Jesus to come.  It is a truth that should bring confidence, hope, and unwavering commitment to the call upon each of our lives to expand the Kingdom of God.

Are you struggling with this doctrine?  Please feel free to post any questions or thoughts!  Also, do not forget that you can listen online, order a CD and download message notes at www.habc.net.

 

Can we really know God?

When we take a look at who God is,  He seems somewhat unapproachable.  I have often wondered, “Can I really know God?”  The truth is a resounding YES!  I can know God.  God has made himself knowable.

1)  We cannot know God unless he reveals himself to us.  He has revealed himself to us in creation, but we can only truly know him rightly through what he has revealed to us in Scripture.  A question was asked on the blog a couple of day ago – Why did God create us to begin with?  I think one answer to this question is in this truth.  God created us because it glorified him to reveal himself to us.  We are created to know God.  God is happy to reveal himself to us, thus our greatest joy, our all surpassing treasure, and our grandest life pursuit should be to know God!

2)  Although we can know God, we can never fully understand God.  Why can we never fully understand God?  First of all, God is infinite we are finite.  Psalm 145:3, “Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable.”  Even when get to heaven and are able to bask in the glorious presence of God it will take us an eternity to know and understand God.  When I think of this truth it causes me to shout praises to God that he would even make himself the slightest bit knowable to me.  What a good God we serve.

3)Even though we cannot understand God fully, we can truly know God.  We can know true things about God and we can know him intimately.  Jeremiah 9:23-14, “Thus says the LORD: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.”

Let us praise God today because he is knowable and has made himself known to us.  We should consider this a precious grace gift, from a great and gracious King.

 

Just One Question?

I will continue the trend of posting a discussion question on Sunday afternoon that will lead into some articles during the week on the subject of the Doctrine of God.  For discussion, if you had just one question that you could ask God what would you ask him? 

Before you post your question think through a couple of items.  1) Has he already given us the answer in Scripture? 2)Is there a particular answer you are hoping for, and what are the implications if God were to answer the question differently than you are expecting?  This is just some food for thought.

Anyway – what are your questions?

 

The Anthropic Nature of Scripture

I was going to write a diddy on canonicity here today,  but after a discussion I had at lunch yesterday and today I want to give you something to truly ponder for the weekend before church on Sunday.  If you want to talk about the creation of the canon, call me up and we can go to lunch or something.  Today I want to throw out a rather deep concept called the antrhopic nature of Scripture.

What this means is that God, as a transcendant being, had to communicate to us on our level.  We can not reach up to investigate God and would not understand him even if we could. So God had to reach down or condescend to us in order to reveal himself to us.

Let’s ponder this for a second.  God is not bound by space or time.  He is not in need of language.  He completely exists outside of our realm of sensory experience, yet he injected himself into space, time, and used human language to reveal himself to us.  On top of this, the second person of the trinity, Jesus, took on human flesh.  He was tempted.  He loved.  He hurt.  He lived and died.  Believe me, this was not an upgrade for the King of Kings, the Prince of Peace, the Lord of Lords, to become the solution for our sin.  He had to come to us because there is no way for us to reach up to him.

So what are the implications?  1) Grace:  God is truly gracious in revealing himself to us!  2) Mystery:  Although we can know certain things about God because he has revealed himself to us, we are still very limited in our understanding.  3) Gratitude:  We can praise God that He did not stay far from us.  He is not the distant God of the deist.  He is personal and gracious to reveal himself to us in a way that we can know him, although not perfectly.  Thank You God!

 

The Sufficiency of Scripture: Practical Applications II

Now we move on to the last four practical applications that flow from the Sufficiency of Scripture…

5)  Nothing is sin that is not forbidden in Scripture either explicitly or by implication.  Now this one is very freeing to me because I have a real hard time with what is already in the Bible.  The whole love God love people thing is a challenge for me.  Legalism is a real problem in many settings.  We need to focus on obeying the clear commands of Scripture!  Don’t let anyone steal your joy by creating a list of arbitrary rules to follow.

6)  God does not require anything of us that is not found in Scripture either explicity or by implication.  This is the flip-side of number five.  We do not have to obey commands that are not there and we do not have to do any works that Scripture does not call us to do.

7) In teaching others we should focus on what God has revealed in Scripture and be content with that revelation.  Some people are always wanting something new.  They don’t believe that they are good teachers unless they are on the cutting edge of some new truth.  It is truly best to stick with the clear reading of Scripture.

In the areas where God seems silent or grey, realize that He has revealed all that he desires to reveal.  God has given us what we need – always remember this truth.

 

The Sufficiency of Scripture: Practical Applications

I want to cover some practical applications to the doctrine of the sufficiency of Scripture.  This is the fifth characteristic of Scripture that we discussed on Sunday (If you have not heard the message it should be available online by tomorrow or you can pick up a CD at the church).  The fact that Scripture is sufficient is very important to us as we attempt to live out our faith on a daily basis.  There are eight practical applications I want to share in relationship to this doctrine.  I will share four of them today and four of them tomorrow.  Before weeks end, I want to write about the concept of Canonicity or how we came to have the 66 books of the Bible. 

First, we can approach Scripture with confidence that is has the answers to life’s everyday problems.  This does not mean that every specific answer is spelled out all nice and neatly for us.  For example, if you want to know if God is leading you to change careers, you will not find a direct answer to that specific question.  What you will find are principles that can help you determine if a particular decision is the will of God or not.  For instance, Scripture teaches that money is not our source of security and provision.  So to take a career path solely motivated by money, without regard for family considerations, etc. would obviously be a poor choice.  That is just a simple example.  The key is this – God’s Word does address the answeres to lifes problems.  It holds relevance for today.

Second, We are to be very careful to add nothing to Scripture or hold any other writings as being equal to Scripture.  This is the work of the cults, to add to the Scriptures and to have multiple sacred writings.  Rev. 22:18 makes clear that this is not a good idea.

Third, God does not require us to believe anything about himself or redemption that is not found in the Scripture.  This is why it is so important to know what God has to say to us in his word.  I have heard many so-called preachers on TV saying, “The Lord has given me a new word today that is not in the Bible.”  The greek word for that is baloney- there is no such thing as a word from the Lord that is not found in the Scripture.

Fourth, no modern revelation from God is to placed on a level equal in authority to Scripture.  John tells (1John 4) us to test the spirits.  God will never contradict himself and even when we feel as if he has spoken to our hearts, we are to use the Scripture as our testing device.

 

Initial Question

Hello!  Thanks for dropping by The Core Blog.  I want to start a discussion before I write any articles on our topic.  My initial question is this, Did you learn anything new about God’s Word from the message on Sunday?  If you did, share your thoughts on what you learned.  If you did not learn something new, share your thoughts on something that was reinforced.  If we have some discussion on this point, it will give me some direction on the best topics to right about concerning Scripture.  Thanks for participating.

Also, the message notes are posted on the page linked at the top right on the site banner.  I also hope to have the message posted on the web by days end.

 

The Core Convictions Series

Welcome to The Core Convictions blog site.  This site is your interactive resourse for our journey into the center of the Christian Faith.  Every week I will be posting articles related to the doctrines that we are covering each week in the worship service.  We will have the unique opportunity to dialogue about what we are learning as we walk through these truths together.  Please feel free to post your thoughts and have fun learning together.