God: In Charge But Not In Control?

Baylor theology professor Dr. Roger Olson,

In response to your recent essay directed against the "Calvinist view" of God's character over at the Baylor Lariat Online, I must ask, how can God be "in charge but not in control"? We are talking about the God of the Bible, aren't we? The God who brings calamity, who exalts kings and takes them down, who burned whole cities with fire from heaven, who exercised His wrath on His only-begotten Son - this is the God of the Scriptures.

You say concerning "the God of Calvinism" that you're "not sure how to distinguish him from the devil," but are you sure how to distinguish your own understanding of God from a mere man? How can the God of the universe, Creator of the ends of the earth, the Sovereign over all creation, not be in control of all things that happen in His universe? He is still GOD, isn't he?

You address the Minneapolis bridge disaster, but the Bible says in Amos 3:6, "Does disaster come to a city, unless the Lord has done it?" So God clearly ordains and brings disasters upon cities, and it is right for Him to do so for at least three reasons:

1. This is His world, so He can do with it as He pleases.
2. This world is full of wicked sinners, so He can judge us - even using disasters - as He pleases.
3. God uses the frailty of this world to point people in repentance to His never-failing Son.
   

It seems as though you've sacrificed God's true sovereign control at the altar of your false conception of His goodness. Your theological concerns are mainly relieving "God of responsibility for sin and evil and disaster and calamity," but those four things are not the same. God bringing disaster and calamity, like the Minnesota bridge collapse, isn't the same as Him doing sin and evil. He does bring disaster and calamity, and yet He does not sin or do evil. We must affirm both truths about God's character and therefore His work in the universe.

Again I say, it is totally right and good and holy for God to bring disasters upon this world.

Unlike your article, Jesus doesn't tell the worried people in Luke 13:1-5, "Oh, it's okay, God didn't do those terrible things;" He says, "No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish." He then offers another disaster as an example!

You, especially, Dr. Olson, have a special charge in this world of helping train those who will teach His Word to the church and to the world. How can you so deny His abundant truth? How can you give your students such hurtful, deceptive answers? I love Jesus and His people, so it hurts my heart to read your article.

You close your essay by commenting about God's sovereignty that, "In light of all the evil and innocent suffering in the world, he must have limited himself." But it seems that the LORD would instruct us first to consult Him on matters of His own character, before we go building conclusions on what our faulty, frail, fallen eyes see in this world.

He has not limited Himself in any way, sir, and I pray that you see and love God in truth, not lies, for His sake and for yours and for the people you serve,

Britt Treece

Eternity Forgotten?

Over at the 9Marks Blog, Matt Schmucker has so kindly and thoughtfully blogged about the loss of "the idea of eternity and the believer's ultimate end." The whole post is worth reading, but here are his 6 reasons why the idea of eternity may be forgotten in our churches:

1. We’re distracted by baubles. We don’t long for and speak of eternity because in our hyper-connected, wealth-soaked, desires-driven world we remain suspended in a state of EXTREME DISTRACTION --by baubles—showy ornaments of little value. Music, drink, golf, houses, cars, IPODS, DVDs ESPN, HBO or MTV. These things are not necessarily bad. But too often mere baubles. Meaningless. They are nothing in light of eternity. But, boy, are they powerful.

2. We’re too content. Living in America is to be comfortable. I know there are exceptions, but even the poor in America (according to recent studies) live better than most of all of human history. We’re content. Why long for something else when things are fine -- here? Our wealth buys us out of hard labor. Our healthcare buys us out of extreme pain. We are content/comfortable with this world, not eager for the next. And so we don’t speak of eternal matters.

3. We may not be Christians. We don’t speak of eternity because we don’t know the eternal God. Jesus said, “Out of the mouth comes that which fills the heart (Matthew 12:34). It’s a nice little test the Lord of the Universe came up with. You want to know what’s on your heart? Check what comes out of your mouth. Sports? Work? Relationships? Money? Politics? Does anything eternal ever make it out? I have a special concern here for you who are or have grown up in a Christian home. You learn early how to talk the talk. You know the Christian buzz words and adopt the Christian culture, but is what you say you believe real to your own soul?

• You talk about mysteries without standing in awe.
• You talk about zeal without any passion.
• You speak of sin in the absence of sorrow.
• You even speak of heaven without any eagerness.

Be on your guard that you are not playing the role of the Pharisee. We may not be Christian and so we don’t speak about eternity.

4. We’re Christian, but our holy desires may be too slight. About John Owen (leading Puritan preacher) it was said, “holiness…shined in his whole course [his whole life], and was diffused through his whole conversation.” Owen in his own words: “If the word does not dwell with power in us, it will not pass with power from us.” Owen desired all things holy and it came out. Our holy desires may be too slight. And so we don’t speak.

5. We don’t understand our role as Christians. We don’t “get saved” then do what we want and see God sometime way off in the future. When you come to Christ, you get a new identity and with that a new role, if you will. When John the Baptist comes on the scene, the Jewish leadership sent priests out to find out who this guy was. “Who are you?” “Are you Elijah?” “Are you the Prophet?” “What do you say about yourself?” What is John’s description of himself? I AM A VOICE. I’m not a lawyer or a nurse or a federal worker. I’m not a teacher, homemaker, student or pastor. I’m not a painter or a journalist. I AM A VOICE. That’s your role! I believe and therefore I speak (2 Cor 4:13). We don’t understand our role and so we don’t speak for our eternal God.

6. We’re too fearful. We fear the reproach of men. We fear being rejected by family. We fear the loss of friends. We fear looking different/acting different/being different. Friends, we need to be willing to have every part of this life look stupid if it means being faithful to God and preparing to stand in His presence in the next.

I found #3 particularly convicting. If we forget to think about eternity, are we really Christians? Have we truly been converted by the eternal God in our eternal souls?

Arminianism is a Path to Universalism

And I mean this in a philosophical sense - Arminianism is a primrose path to universalism.

Why?

I know tons of believing Arminians, who hold that God saves man, somehow through is own free choices, while still trying to attribute all the glory to God (which free-will "theology" can never do). But still, they try. But I also know several questionable Arminians, who struggle so much with their conception of God's "love" and man's "free will" that they concoct and erect theologies of universal love and salvation.

So what is the link between Arminianism and universalism? The answer is quite simple: their failure to understand of Biblical grace.

The Bible teaches that, because we are all wicked rebels before God, He would be completely just to send anyone to eternally painful punishment. But He chooses to save those whom He will, and that act is all of grace. It is the very definition of grace that He saves some underserving - antideserving! - sinners and does not save others. Both groups, all people, are rebels; yet God chooses whom He will graciously save and whom He will justly damn. It is the heart of Biblical grace.

But Arminians and universal-leaning Christians fail to realize that everyone, whether they "have the opportunity to hear the Gospel" or not, is a God-hating sinner. God has not promised that we will all hear the Gospel. Hearing the Gospel is not a prerequisite for damnation, but it is a prerequisite for salvation.

True theology, then, should push us on to carrying the happy news of God's happy Son to all who will listen, even to the ends of the earth. Universalism, however, is rather lazy. It would rather stay at home and save everyone through a lie than do the hard work to preach the Gospel and see God save people through His truth.

Let us reject the laziness of lies and instead take hold of one Man, singing His truth the world over.

Drink Deeply of Jesus Christ

Having read the SBC resolution on alcohol consumption from last year's SBC convention, and then receiving an email announcement from my seminary president addressing that very resolution, I quickly became aware of the foolish legalism of this call for alcoholic abstinence. I mean, there are many, many things I love about the Southern Baptist Convention and its churches, but I love God and His Word more. So it's time to call it out:

This foolishness, this ugly Phariseeism, must stop.

The Southern Baptist Convention, its churches, and every believer in Jesus Christ would do well to pay attention to the commands, logic, and implications of Colossians 2:16-23

Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. 17 These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. 18 Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, 19 and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.

20 If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— 21 “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” 22 (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? 23 These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.

It says in essence, "Church, let no one judge you! Christ is the substance, not fleshly practices! Church, let no one cheat you! They will try to pull you away from the Head, from whom you are supplied with life!"

I preached on this passage last night at our local rescue mission and actually resisted the urge to call out the SBC on this one. I thought it was my sinful, critical nature trying to exalt myself over the convention; but it was nothing of the sort. My urge was from the Holy Spirit, because this anti-alcoholic legalism is a dangerous and deadly deception. And it is hurting, not helping, local churches.

I was reminded of this fact when I read this article from Christianity Today about the Missouri Bapist Convention and its fight against a local church who uses a local bar (gasp!) to meet people and preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In response to the Journey Church's practice of utilizin a St. Louis pub in order to "become all things to all men, so that by any means (they) might save some" (1 Cor. 9:22), the MBC has mandated the teaching of the false doctrine of alcoholic abstinence. One board member, Michael Knight, has even proposed that the MBC cut off all ministry partnership with Acts 29, the Mark Driscoll-founded organization that helps and funds many church plants, including the Journey.

With this idea, the MBC risks building folly upon folly. And it all comes from really bad theology:

• God is not honored when people imply that alcoholic abstinence is a way of gaining His approval.
• God is belittled when His Word is pushed to the wayside while we make rules that have nothing to do with it.
• When we first appeal to personal experience and cultural evidence, God's Word has become of no effect.

Let us not build houses upon sand, but upon the rock of Christ's Word. Please join me in calling for a return to the God of the Bible.

Martin Luther: Lessons from His Life and Labor

Pastor John Piper's 1996 biographical address on the great reformer Martin Luther has been encouraging me these past few days. I post a few tidbits and encouragements here, but go read the whole thing for yourself. Be you unbeliever or Christian, layperson or deacon or elder, teacher or student, man or woman - it will be good for your soul to see such a vessel of God's grace.

Piper does a wonderful job of picking a theme from Luther's life and hammering it home with really good quotes:

In this psalm [119] David always says that he will speak, think, talk, hear, read, day and night constantly—but about nothing else than God's Word and Commandments. For God wants to give you His Spirit only through the external Word.

Let the man who would hear God speak, read Holy Scripture.

Be assured that no one will make a doctor of the Holy Scripture save only the Holy Ghost from heaven.

The apostles themselves considered it necessary to put the New Testament into Greek and to bind it fast to that language, doubtless in order to preserve it for us safe and sound as in a sacred ark. For they foresaw all that was to come and now has come to pass, and knew that if it were contained only in one's heads, wild and fearful disorder and confusion, and many various interpretations, fancies and doctrines would arise in the Church, which could be prevented and from which the plain man could be protected only by committing the New Testament to writing the language.

(Of his struggles with trusting God's grace during his monastery days he said,) If I could believe that God was not angry with me, I would stand on my head for joy!

Dear Lord God, I want to preach so that you are glorified. I want to speak of you, praise you, praise your name. Although I probably cannot make it turn out well, won't you make it turn out well?

Of his groundbreaking discovery on Romans 1:17, Luther wrote:

I had indeed been captivated with an extraordinary ardor for understanding Paul in the Epistle to the Romans. . . I beat importunately upon Paul at that place, most ardently desiring to know what St. Paul wanted.

At last, by the mercy of God, meditating day and night, I gave heed to the context of the words, namely, "In it righteousness of God is revealed, as it is written, "He who through faith is righteous shall live." There I began to understand [that] the righteousness of God is that by which the righteous lives by a gift of God, namely by faith. And this is the meaning: the righteousness of God is revealed by the gospel, namely, the passive righteousness with which [the] merciful God justifies us by faith, as it is written, "He who through faith is righteous shall live." Here I felt that I was altogether born again and had entered paradise itself through open gates. Here a totally other face of the entire Scripture showed itself to me. Thereupon I ran through the Scriptures from memory ...

And I extolled my sweetest word with a love as great as the hatred with which I had before hated the word 'righteousness of God.' Thus that place in Paul was for me truth the gate to paradise

More on the Bible, languages, and preaching:

For a number of years I have now annually read through the Bible twice. If the Bible were a large, mighty tree and all its words were little branches I have tapped at all the branches, eager to know what was there and what it had to offer.

He who is well acquainted with the text of Scripture, is a distinguished theologian. For a Bible passage or text is of more value than the comments of four authors.

... the Scriptures alone are our vineyard in which we ought all to work and toil.

I then read the commentators, but soon threw them aside, ... 'tis always better to see with one's own eyes than with those of other people.

Solomon the preacher is giving me a hard time, as though he begrudged anyone lecturing on him. But he must yield.

It is certain that unless the languages [Greek and Hebrew] remain, the Gospel must finally perish.

Without languages we could not have received the gospel. Languages are the scabbard that contains the sword of the Spirit; they are the casket which contains the priceless jewels of antique thought; they are the vessel that holds the wine; and as the gospel says, they are the baskets in which the loaves and fishes are kept to feed the multitude.

If the languages had not made me positive as to the true meaning of the word, I might have still remained a chained monk, engaged in quietly preaching Romish errors in the obscurity of a cloister; the pope, the sophists, and their anti-Christian empire would have remained unshaken.

It is a sin and shame not to know our own book or to understand the speech and words of our God; it is a still greater sin and loss that we do not study languages, especially in these days when God is offering and giving us men and books and every facility and inducement to this study, and desires his Bible to be an open book.

Some pastors and preachers are lazy and no good. They do not pray; they do not read; they do not search the Scripture ... The call is: watch, study attend to reading. In truth you cannot read too much in Scripture; and what you read you cannot read too carefully, and what you read carefully you cannot understand too well, and what you understand well you cannot teach too well, and what you teach well you cannot live too well ... The devil ... the world ... and our flesh are raging and raving against us. Therefore, dear sirs and brothers, pastors and preachers, pray, read, study, be diligent ... This evil. shameful time is not the season for being lazy, for sleeping and snoring.

Let ministers daily pursue their studies with diligence and constantly busy themselves with them ... Let them steadily keep on reading, teaching, studying, pondering, and meditating. Nor let them cease until they have discovered and are sure that they have taught the devil to death and have become more learned than God himself and all His saints [which, of course means never].

On triblulation:

I want you to know how to study theology in the right way. I have practiced this method myself ... Here you will find three rules. They are frequently proposed throughout Psalm [119] and run thus: Oration, meditatio, tentatio (Prayer, meditation, trial).

For as soon as God's Word becomes known through you, the devil will afflict you will make a real doctor of you, nd will teach you by his temptations to seek and to love God's Word. For I myself ... owe my papists many thanks for so beating, pressing, and frightening me through the devil's raging that they have turned me into a fairly good theologian, driving me to a goal I should never have reached.

[Trials] teach you not only to know and understand but also to experience how right, how true, how sweet, how lovely, how mighty, how comforting God's word is: it is wisdom supreme.

On prayer:

That the Holy Scriptures cannot be penetrated by study and talent is most certain. Therefore your first duty is to begin to pray, and to pray to this effect that if it please God to accomplish something for His glory—not for yours or any other person's—He very graciously grant you a true understanding of His words. For no master of the divine words exists except the Author of these words, as He says: 'They shall be all taught of God' (John 6:45). You must, therefore, completely despair of your own industry and ability and rely solely on the inspiration of the Spirit.

Since the Holy Writ wants to be dealt with in fear and humility and penetrated more by studying with pious prayer than with keenness of intellect, therefore it is impossible for those who rely only on their intellect and rush into Scripture with dirty feet, like pigs, as though Scripture were merely a sort of human knowledge not to harm themselves and others whom they instruct.

You should completely despair of your own sense and reason, for by these you will not attain the goal ... Rather kneel down in your private little room and with sincere humility and earnestness pray God through His dear Son, graciously to grant you His Holy Spirit to enlighten and guide you and give you understanding.

The natural mind cannot do anything godly. It does not perceive the wrath of God, there cannot rightly fear him. It does not see the goodness of God, therefore cannot trust or believe in him either. Therefore we should constantly pray that God will bring forth his gifts in us.

On the lies of "free will" teaching:

I condemn and reject as nothing but error all doctrines which exalt our "free will" as being directly opposed to this mediation and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. For since, apart from Christ, sin and death are our masters and the devil is our god and prince, there can be no strength or power, no wit or wisdom, by which we can fit or fashion ourselves for righteousness and life. On the contrary, blinded and captivated, we are bound to be the subjects of Satan and sin, doing and thinking what pleases him and is opposed to God and His commandments.

And finally, on GOD-centered theology:

I recall that at the beginning of my cause Dr. Staupitz ... said to me: It pleases me that the doctrine which you preach ascribes the glory and everything to God alone and nothing to man; for to God (that is clearer than the sun) one cannot ascribe too much glory, goodness, etc. This word comforted and strengthened me greatly at the time. And it is true that the doctrine of the Gospel takes all glory, wisdom, righteousness, etc., from men and ascribes them to the Creator alone, who makes everything out of nothing.

Amen. Praise the Sovereign Lord for those who have gone before us and taught the Word of God to us. May we imitate their faith.

Romans: God is the Only God-Worshipper

Reading Romans 1-3 yesterday made something very clear to me: God is the only God-worshipper. Let me repeat that: God is the only God-worshipper.

How can I say that? It sounds just crazy. Millions of people throughout the ages have worshipped the one true God through Jesus Christ His Son, so how can I say that God is the only Being who worships God?

Well, it becomes clear from chapters 1 and 2 that everyone - Jew and Gentile - not only fails to worship God rightly, but also angers Him by their unrighteous unbelief and ugly idol-worship. As 1:18 says,

"For the wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth."

The wrath of God is coming upon all the unrighteous. 3:9-10 explains,

"For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written: 'None is righteous, no, not one.' "

The whole world is thus in a terrible state.

Unless God intervenes.

Magnificently, this He does in 3:21-24,

"But apart from law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed to by the Law and the Prophets, the righteousness of God through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ for all who believe, for there is no distinction, for all sinned and are falling short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation in His blood through faithfulness . . ."

What a gracious, enemy-saving God! At the cost of His own Son, He redeemed angry, weak, laughable God-haters! He made us worshippers!

Therefore, as 2:29 tells us,

"But a Jew [a God-worshipper] is one inwardly, and circumcision is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God."

Paul tells us that God effects His own worship - totally, effectively, finally. God loves His own glory, and wants man to love Him rightly, too, because that is what is best for man and most glorifying to God. God, then, is the only God-worshipper, because He is the only One who, through Jesus Christ, can bring others into a right, happy, worshipping relationship with Himself.