Matthew's clever question of false premise....

Matthew know as Dyspraxic Fundamentalist asked me the following question in a comment on the Gojira's Stomping Ground blog:

If a person does not persevere in the Christian faith and walk, will she go to heaven?

This is an interesting question because Matthew asked for a simple yes or no answer. It is interesting because under his “Free Grace” belief system it is a valid question, but under my reformed belief system it assumes a false premise and bases the question on that false assumption. For example if I asked the following question: Could an airline pilot that new nothing about flying successfully land a jumbo jet? The false premise would be that someone that knew nothing about flying could be a pilot. Therefore, a yes answer would be incorrect and absurd, while a no answer would be correct, but would affirm the error that someone who knew nothing about flying could be an airline pilot.

So it is with Matthew’s question. Only he has loaded up with two false premises. The one that is implied is that perseverance is a work that is required for salvation. The other false premise is that it is possible for a Christian to not persevere. Therefore, if I gave a yes answer, I would be affirming the free grace theological position and if I gave a no answer then Matthew could assert that I held to a faith plus works salvation which is not true. Matthew would obviously be a good lawyer and I might add that he is extremely bright.

The question correctly framed is who is a Christian and will he persevere?
THE ANSWER: Eternal life (heaven) is assured once a person has been born again by the power of God. Faith follows shortly after this and a person becomes a ‘Christian’ at this moment. This is when his Christian walk begins and through the power of God’s grace he will persevere in this walk. (Philippians 1:6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.)

Antonio has punted on first down!

It has been nearly a week now since I issued a challenge to Antonio in particular and no-lordship free grace proponents in general. It is spelled out in the post prior to this one. The challenge was in response to a comment that Antonio left on my Tuesday, Nov. 21 post titled “Warning”. Antonio was alerted on his blog of the challenge and has apparently punted without running a play as he has offered no response. If there is even a sliver of truth in his crusade of labeling Calvinists as affirming a works righteousness, then this challenge would have been duck soup as they say. One challenge came from Bobby Grow who sought to bypass the challenge by having me accept and defend his negative perception of Calvinism that he asserts I affirm but don’t understand. That is bottom line of what I think he is attempting to do. He certainly fails to debate what I actually believe that I always defend with Biblical passages and not some ‘scholarly work’. He failed to meet the challenge as defined. I will keep the challenge open but the score (1 point per photo meditation) as of now is Jazzycat 60 no-lordship 0. The following is a list of quotes from some of my Photo Meditations that clearly show my beliefs on this doctrine:

(1) From #3 Grace I say, “Eternal life is a free gift from God that is not earned or deserved.”

(2) From #9 Atonement “Salvation is from God and is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.”

(3) From #10 righteousness “The righteousness required to stand justified before God does not come from anything that man can do.” and also “Therefore, the righteousness required to stand before God comes through faith in Jesus Christ.”

(4) From #15 Justification “Justification is a free gift of God’s grace received by faith and not good works (Eph. 2:8-9).”

(5) From #16 Sanctification “The Bible is full of warnings of things to avoid (Rom 12) and things to do such as love, forgive, serve, give, etc. These Biblical exhortations to good works are sometimes mistakenly thought to be the means to be justified by God. In reality, good works are the fruit of the justification by God that comes from faith in Jesus Christ.”

(6) From #20 Jesus Christ “Following the moral and ethical teachings of Jesus is the goal of every Christian, but that cannot save anyone. Trusting, through faith alone in the atonement that Christ made for our sins, has the power to save and is the infinitely most important thing Jesus did while on earth.”

(7) From #24 Legalism “Once led to Christ, a sinner understands that he is justified by God's grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.”

(8) From #26 Good Works “One, we are saved by grace alone. Two, faith alone in Christ alone is the way to take hold of this salvation, and it is a gift of God and not generated by human effort. Three, there is no human effort of works or even producing one’s own faith since the faith to believe is also a gift.”

Challenge to no-lordship proponents!

In spite of redundant and clear explanations that the lordship position does not add works to justification in any shape form or fashion, I am flabbergasted that some of the no-lordship proponents will not accept repeated affirmations that this is the case. For the antinomian gospel to grow, I believe the no-lordship proponents must discredit lordship salvation. The only way to do this is to misrepresent the lordship position and thus claim to be the only ones holding the ‘faith alone’ position. The dangerous thing for the church is that the evidence of the last few weeks indicates that some are so committed to discrediting the lordship view, out of delusion, blindness, or perhaps disingenuousness, that they have no problem with proceeding full steam ahead at misconstruing the lordship view to their advantage. To promote their view is one thing, but to distort what they oppose is quite another. It is sad if their distortion is motivated by blindness or delusion, but if it is out of dishonesty to win converts to their view, then their spiritual problem is indeed great.

I do not know what is in the hearts of those that continually distort the lordship view into a justification of faith with works added. However, I issue the following challenge to anyone who wants to assert that my doctrinal position adds works to justification. I have written approximately 60 photo meditations that are brief, not complicated and illustrate basic doctrinal points. Fifty-two of them were written before I ever had a blog or knew anything about FG theology. I say this to point out that there have been no revisions to prepare for issuing this challenge.

THE CHALLENGE………… Search the Jazzy cat blog and all of these photo meditations and copy and paste a direct quote in context showing where I present justification (eternal life) as requiring works or deeds. I will defend this blog and my Photo Meditations only. I am not interested in quotes from books or reformed theologians or paraphrasing of what someone may have said in a comment.
Since I am a proponent of the theological position that is being accused of this position, it should be an easy task for some of you to search my blog and through my own quotes show where I have affirmed that works are meritorious toward justification. If no one can do it, then I will consider it a total victory in showing that all of the accusations that have been made and are continuing to be made against my theological position (reformed, Calvinist, lordship) are pure folly!

Warning

Galatians 5:19-21 The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Lighthouses warn ships so they can avoid the rocky New England coast. Ships are warned that disaster is near with a light at night and with a fog horn in fog. Scripture also warns sinners, who live a life dominated by the acts of the sinful nature, they will not inherit the kingdom of God. The warning is for both non-Christians and false professing Christians. A person will either be controlled by his sinful nature or by the Spirit. Paul makes this point in Galatians and he also makes it in Romans where he states…. Romans 8:6-7 The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; 7the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. This does not mean that a person will be sinless, but it does mean that his new heart, attitude and mindset will enable him with the grace of God to exhibit the fruit of the Spirit with a mind controlled by the Spirit. Galatians 5:21 above does not warn that a Christian can lose his salvation, but it does warn that a professing Christian that continually lives this way has not been born again by the Spirit of God. Such a person has and may continue to give a false profession of faith, but his actions show that he is honoring God with his lips only and his claim is worthless. Later in Galatians Paul says….Galatians 6:7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone and not by any merit that comes from living according to the Spirit, but a saved person will through regeneration and the Spirit of God be enabled to show the fruit of the Spirit. That is why Paul says that anyone wallowing in the acts of the sinful nature will not receive eternal life. Scripture passages such as this are found throughout the Bible and serve as a warning for sinners in the same way that lighthouses warn ships. One warning is about physical disaster and the other warning is of spiritual disaster. Heed the warning!

Be ready

Matthew 25:11 “Later the others also came. ‘Sir! Sir!’ they said. ‘Open the door for us!’

When midnight came, in the parable of the ten virgins, five were ready and five were not ready. Jesus is the bridegroom, and midnight symbolizes the time of death when judgment will be rendered. The five that were ready not only had a professed faith that is illustrated by their lamps but they also had a heart full of the fruit of the Spirit as illustrated by the jars full of oil. In short, they had a true active faith. When the cry rang out that the bridegroom was coming, the five that were not ready realized that their lights were going out because their oil was insufficient and more was needed. In short their faith was an insincere shallow faith of profession only. They went to buy more oil since the wise virgins did not have enough to give them any. However, while they were on their away to buy more oil, the bridegroom came and the wise virgins went into the wedding hall with him and the door was shut. The foolish ones arrived later and requested to be let in but the bridegroom replied…. “But he replied, ‘I tell you the truth, I don’t know you.’ (Matthew 25:12) No one knows the day or the hour when death will come or Jesus will return. Therefore, be prepared and ready because when that day comes there will be a great wedding banquet for the sons of God, and those that are not prepared will be left outside and the door will be shut. To be prepared, sinners have to accept the free gift of eternal life by placing their faith and trust in the atonement of Jesus Christ to pay their sin debt. This faith will result in an invitation to the wedding banquet of the bridegroom on that great day. There is no other way and there is no neutral position. A person either accepts the free invitation or not. A person who is considering, but undecided, is not invited. Do not wait too long to decide to accept and be ready.

Captive

Isaiah 61:1 The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners,
In the blink of an eye, the fish in this photo became a captive to this pelican. The period of captivity for this fish was very short as death followed very soon after its being taken captive. Human beings are also captives. We are born captive to sin and in great need of being freed from its darkness and power or we, also, shall perish. Isaiah 61:1 above is a messianic prophecy about the ministry of Jesus approximately 600 years prior to his incarnation. In Luke 4:18-20, Jesus confirmed this when he spoke in Nazareth and quoted this verse and said…. “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” Freedom from the captivity of sin and death came to fallen humanity in the person and work of Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus sets sinners free…. John 8:36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. There is no other way to escape this captivity and there is no neutral position. There is not a probationary period while a person considers to believe Jesus and accept the freedom he offers. No, humans are born captive and remain captive until they are freed by Jesus Christ. Jesus, and Jesus alone, frees the prisoners and he did it by paying their sin debt on the cross of Calvary. Being a ‘good person’ or sincerely following other religious faiths will not obtain release from captivity. Belief and trust in Jesus for his atoning sacrifice as our substitute is the only way that is available for our captivity to end in the freedom of eternal life rather than to perish like the unfortunate fish above. Perhaps the most famous verse in the Bible, John 3:16, says it best….. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Faith in Jesus secures eternal life. Everything else leads to perishing. Let us thank God that he has provided a way rather than complain that he does not accept mankind’s invented ways.

Sins covered

A bridge that has it’s superstructure covered is protected from rotting. A sinner that has his sins covered is protected from eternal damnation.
In the parable about the rich man and Lazarus, Jesus tells about a rich man who was exceedingly blessed during his life and about a beggar that suffered much misery while on earth. However, after death came to both, the beggar was in heaven at Abraham’s side while the rich man went to hell where he was in agony. One had his sins covered and one did not (Luke 16:19-31). God makes it clear in the Bible that he is a holy, loving God that does not want to punish sinners. But, he is also a God of justice and must punish the sin that all human beings commit. Even the sins that are covered must be, and in fact have already been, punished by God. Jesus Christ was sacrificed on the cross of Calvary so that those who place their faith and trust in him have their sins covered by his atonement. Therefore, there are two ways for human beings to deal with their sins. One way requires that humans pay the sin debt themselves, which requires an infinite duration of time, and the other way is through Jesus who did it for a finite time but with an infinite worth. Jesus is worthy and able to justify all that place their faith and trust in his perfect sacrifice… (God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood…..Romans 3:25). The gift of eternal life is given as a free gift to all that have this saving faith. What amazing grace that the creator of the universe would suffer and die to cover the sins of the many that come with nothing to offer but faith in his perfect atonement. The Holy God of the universe is true to his word and requires an infinite payment for sin. Humans can pay the debt themselves with an infinite amount of time or they can accept, as a free gift by faith, the payment accomplished by the infinite worth of Jesus Christ. Choose wisely.

Power of God

Ephesians 6:10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.
With the rapid advances in technology, humans have reached a point where they can produce some awesome displays of power. Atomic bombs, space travel, the internet, and medical advances are just some of the impressive achievements that have been accomplished. However, these human works of power are not even worth comparing to the awesome power of God. In chapters 38-41 of Job, God explains to Job in very graphic language what real power looks like. The Apostle Paul confronted the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers in Athens Greece and explained to them the characteristics of almighty God (Acts 17:16-34). Earlier, when Paul was known as Saul, he was traveling to Damascus to persecute Christians when he experienced, up close and personal, the power of God….. As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me (Acts 9:3-4)?” In today’s culture, it seems that man has attempted to discard or minimize some of God’s basic characteristics such as his attribute of power. His attributes of love, mercy, and forgiveness are given such attention that other attributes are ignored or even denied so that the human perception of his love, mercy, and forgiveness are protected. Sovereignty, providence, and power must be replaced so that bad things, such as evil and natural disasters, are thought to be beyond his control. This thinking is called open theism, which holds that God does not foresee events and is powerless to prevent them from happening. Thus, God’s power, sovereignty, and providence are denied to preserve the false human perception of God’s love, etc. When properly interpreted, The Holy Bible allows for all of God’s attributes to complement each other and include his wonderful majestic power.