As creator and sustainer of all that exists, God himself is our ultimate authority. In recognizing this we proclaim with the Psalmist, “The heavens are Yours, the earth also is Yours, the world and all it contains. You have founded them.” (Psalm 9:11) As He holds the rightful place of supremacy over all His creation, there is no higher authority to which we can appeal than to God himself. Any authority to which we appeal that is counter to the authority that God retains for Himself is merely an idol of our own making and choosing. Upon rejecting God’s authority and substituting something else, we quite obviously become guilty of idolatry.
Since God himself has authored His word by the means that He has chosen, we recognize that our Holy Scriptures bear His stamp of authority. We must, at risk of our own peril, accept His word as truth and that without question. That doesn’t mean that we don’t query the text in order to gain understanding; that means that we don’t hear what God has said and reply, “No God, that isn’t right.”
So then, there can be no argument against the fact that God “…chose us in Him before the foundation of the world…” (Ephesians 1:4) and that “…He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself…” (Ephesians 1:5) without arguing against God. We cannot in any way argue that obtaining God’s mercy depends on us since God clearly says, “…it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.” (Romans 9:16) So we see that being right with God does not depend on what we do, but what He does. Any doctrine or theology must account for and submit to what God has clearly said about these matters.
All scripture bears equally the weight of God’s authority. All scripture must be equally considered, weighed and accepted as we form our beliefs. “All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness…” (I Timothy 3:16). We all then profit by embracing and delighting in the passages that we find most difficult to accept. In ignoring or neglecting these passages we strengthen our weakness, invite erroneous doctrine and essentially rebel against God.
God’s word is truth: All of it. We understand that God is consistent and that His word is consistent. We cling trustingly to John 3:16, that “… God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” At the same time we recognize that before the crucifixion Jesus knew that He was about to die for those whom the Father had given Him---and only for them (see John 17). We rejoice in knowing that God doesn’t turn away any who come to Him in simple obedient faith, but that no one can come unless He draws them. Thus, in seeing sinners come to God in repentance and faith, we praise God for His mercy and His gracious work of bringing the elect to Himself.
Now, to the main point of my argument. The scripture’s teaching of man’s total depravity, of God’s electing purpose without regard to man’s works of righteousness or worthiness, of Jesus’ dying for a specific group, of the Holy Spirit’s irresistible work and of God’s securing and keeping those whom He wills to save—throughout scripture these are made abundantly clear. What do we do when we find these truths difficult to reconcile? We must accept and embrace them as truth anyway!
If, for example, we reject the teachings concerning election because we feel that this is somehow unfair, then we substitute our own sense of fairness as our ultimate authority in place of God himself. If we reject teachings of man’s depravity and inability to seek God and His truth (…THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD; ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE…Romans 3:10-12) because we cannot reconcile these with commands to seek God and turn from unrighteousness, then we give our understanding a place of higher authority than God, hence creating an idol. If we insist that the life-giving grace imparted by the Holy Spirit can be successfully resisted by (dead) man, then we essentially call God a liar and give sinful man a place of higher authority than God.
Our hope then rests in the authority of God’s Word. It isn’t easy for prideful man to accept that there are indeed mysteries here that we won’t finally understand until they are finally revealed when we get home. As Calvin was insightful and correct in labeling the human heart an “idol factory, “ we still seek to exalt ourselves and de-throne God by arguments against His sovereign right to rule the affairs of men in the way that best please and exalts Him. We all, those who embrace the doctrines of grace and likewise those who reject them, would do well to examine our hearts to see if in fact we give our understanding, preferences, feelings and concepts of fairness and justice a higher place of authority than God and His Word.
To God alone be all glory.
[ April 04, 2003, 03:54 PM: Message edited by: TimothyW ]
Since God himself has authored His word by the means that He has chosen, we recognize that our Holy Scriptures bear His stamp of authority. We must, at risk of our own peril, accept His word as truth and that without question. That doesn’t mean that we don’t query the text in order to gain understanding; that means that we don’t hear what God has said and reply, “No God, that isn’t right.”
So then, there can be no argument against the fact that God “…chose us in Him before the foundation of the world…” (Ephesians 1:4) and that “…He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself…” (Ephesians 1:5) without arguing against God. We cannot in any way argue that obtaining God’s mercy depends on us since God clearly says, “…it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.” (Romans 9:16) So we see that being right with God does not depend on what we do, but what He does. Any doctrine or theology must account for and submit to what God has clearly said about these matters.
All scripture bears equally the weight of God’s authority. All scripture must be equally considered, weighed and accepted as we form our beliefs. “All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness…” (I Timothy 3:16). We all then profit by embracing and delighting in the passages that we find most difficult to accept. In ignoring or neglecting these passages we strengthen our weakness, invite erroneous doctrine and essentially rebel against God.
God’s word is truth: All of it. We understand that God is consistent and that His word is consistent. We cling trustingly to John 3:16, that “… God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” At the same time we recognize that before the crucifixion Jesus knew that He was about to die for those whom the Father had given Him---and only for them (see John 17). We rejoice in knowing that God doesn’t turn away any who come to Him in simple obedient faith, but that no one can come unless He draws them. Thus, in seeing sinners come to God in repentance and faith, we praise God for His mercy and His gracious work of bringing the elect to Himself.
Now, to the main point of my argument. The scripture’s teaching of man’s total depravity, of God’s electing purpose without regard to man’s works of righteousness or worthiness, of Jesus’ dying for a specific group, of the Holy Spirit’s irresistible work and of God’s securing and keeping those whom He wills to save—throughout scripture these are made abundantly clear. What do we do when we find these truths difficult to reconcile? We must accept and embrace them as truth anyway!
If, for example, we reject the teachings concerning election because we feel that this is somehow unfair, then we substitute our own sense of fairness as our ultimate authority in place of God himself. If we reject teachings of man’s depravity and inability to seek God and His truth (…THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD; ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE…Romans 3:10-12) because we cannot reconcile these with commands to seek God and turn from unrighteousness, then we give our understanding a place of higher authority than God, hence creating an idol. If we insist that the life-giving grace imparted by the Holy Spirit can be successfully resisted by (dead) man, then we essentially call God a liar and give sinful man a place of higher authority than God.
Our hope then rests in the authority of God’s Word. It isn’t easy for prideful man to accept that there are indeed mysteries here that we won’t finally understand until they are finally revealed when we get home. As Calvin was insightful and correct in labeling the human heart an “idol factory, “ we still seek to exalt ourselves and de-throne God by arguments against His sovereign right to rule the affairs of men in the way that best please and exalts Him. We all, those who embrace the doctrines of grace and likewise those who reject them, would do well to examine our hearts to see if in fact we give our understanding, preferences, feelings and concepts of fairness and justice a higher place of authority than God and His Word.
To God alone be all glory.
[ April 04, 2003, 03:54 PM: Message edited by: TimothyW ]
