Election and Salvation

Oftentimes I wonder when I was actually saved. I don't have a particular "conversion experience" as some have. I don't know the day, the year, or even the decade in which I first expressed saving faith. But does it matter?

In one particular oft-debated verse, Peter states "The Lord is…not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance" (2 Peter 3:9 ESV). There are a few particularly difficult words in this verse, mainly 'wishing' and 'any'. The first can be especially difficult as some translations (such as the KJV) render the word as 'will'. But the ultimate difficulty of this passage lies not with God's wishing or willing, but rather with the scope of the word 'any'. Some insist on a universal scope, an idea leading to universalism, the doctrine that all human beings eventually escape judgment. But we know this to be false - only those who express true saving faith in Christ are saved (Romans 10:9). We instead must look to the context of the passage - who is this 'any'? Immediately before the quoted phrase, Peter writes that the Lord "is patient toward you." This narrows our scope of 'any' down to 'you.' It is you whom with the Lord is patient, He does not wish that any of you should perish. Okay, who is you? You is precisely the recipients of the letter in which Peter writes! These are "those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 1: 2 ESV). In Peter's first epistle he refers to this group as elect (1 Peter 1:1-2). We can now clarify 2 Peter 3:9 as to say that "The Lord is…not wishing that any of the elect should perish, but that all of the elect should reach repentance".

This is great news for answering the question I posed earlier. I don't know the hour in which I first expressed saving faith, but I do know that today my name is written in the book of life. More than that, as I am now numbered among the elect, I have always been numbered among the elect - even before I first confessed with my mouth and believed in my heart that Jesus is Lord and that God raised him from the dead. Even further still, God preserved me and guided me from the moment I was born until the day that faith became my own, as it was his wish and will to save me. Because of his sovereign hand alone - I did not, will not, perish - but instead reached repentance. And I continue today living within the guarantee of his Holy Spirit until I receive the inheritance which I have obtained from him. (Ephesians 1:11-14).

Are you pondering what I'm pondering?

So anyways, I'm doing a reading plan called "Bible in 90 days". It's basically the P90x of reading plans. It's quite intense in the way of sheer amount of reading. Reading on average about 10 chapters a day. Something that's really struck me is how my own view of the Old Testament has changed since I started. I used to not like reading it. I just didn't find it applicable. It was more of a "So God created earth, then they ate fruit and everything turned horrible...Ok, I get that. Then he had some special people do special things, and they had these 10 laws. Ok, check. And then they killed some bad people and God was cool with that. And then they had kingdoms, then they screwed up, now their captured, now there back, oh hey! Time for the New Testament!" It was more like reading a history assignment. But my understanding of it has grow so much more as I study it (surprising, I know), and the walk-through with the Rock is helping as well. The wonder of the Cross is so much more so now that I can see what it used to be like. I now understand why it was such a revolutionary thing. No longer do we have to sacrifice to atone any iota of cleanliness. We are the New Israelits, set apart by God. We don't have to use an intermediary to seek counsel with God; we can approach him confidently now that we are pure in his sight. My understanding of Grace has been magnified so much more so now that I've come to these realizations. And some things have really stood out too. In Genesis, Abraham is able to recognize God (what he recognizes is up for debate whether it's a physical aspect, or something much more) when he/his messengers appear before him in Genesis 16. We're only told of a few people in the Bible that had that kind of relationship with God, where they actually interact with him personally. Some of them were Moses, the prophets (the prosecuting attorneys of the time), and Abraham. Abraham's relationship was so radical. I can't think of anyone else off the top of my head that met with God like that before Abraham. And it's quite encouraging too, that even when they were living under the old law, they could have such an intimate connection. Now that we have been redeemed eternally, no longer under the yoke of the past Covenant, how much more so can our relationship with God be? We don't have to purify ourselves to meet with him, because Christ resides in us! I wish more than anything to have that Abraham-God relationship, and am seeking it earnestly. I hope this is an encouragement to my fellow believers who will read this, and not just some ramblings.
I hope this finds you in good health and whatnot.

Your Brotha in Christ,

Chris

I'm back!

Hi everyone! I got back from China a week ago, and it was a good trip. We got to see a lot of different parts of China, including some really neat rural villages in Yunnan Province and Inner Mongolia. There were ten students altogether, and we had a lot of fun doing stuff like climbing mountains, watching Mongolian-style wrestling and horse races, teaching Chinese schoolkids duck-duck-goose, and eating chicken that had been alive 30 minutes earlier. (It was actually pretty good--it was just a little weird because they cut up and cooked the whole chicken.) The only downside of the trip was being away from Christian fellowship for so long. I'm not entirely sure whether any of the other nine students were Christians, and it got a little lonely at times. I've moved up to Decorah for the rest of the summer, and I'll be spending the next two months or so up here helping with the new church here.

I was reading this morning in Romans 8 (one of my favorite chapters). I really like the part in Romans 8:37 where it talks about how we are "more than conquerors", even in all the trials of life. It's good to be reminded that no matter what happens, we are victorious through Jesus Christ, who triumphed over death, broke the power of sin in our lives, and reconciled us to God for all eternity. To him be the glory!

The Gospel: Not just Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John

The other morning I started reading the gospel of Mark and was struck by a familiar theme: The entirety of Scripture, not just the four books formally titled as 'The Gospel', is the gospel! The book starts with:

The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God. It is written in Isaiah the prophet:
"I will send my messenger ahead of you who will prepare your way" -
"a voice of one calling in the desert, ' Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.' " (Mark 1:1-3).

Admittedly, the author may have been referring simply to the beginning of the written text of his gospel, but it also seems to me that Mark may be referring to the fact that the gospel was prepared long before Christ physically appeared on earth. Paul declares that the gospel was promised beforehand, stating that he was set aside for "the gospel he promised beforehand through the prophets in the Holy Scriptures regarding his Son" (Romans 1:2-3). Upon searching, we find these promises all over Scripture, starting as early as Genesis 3. Reading on we see that God has been working out his perfect plan ever since. Even as I read through Leviticus (trying to imitate David's attitude towards the law throughout Psalm 119), I am constantly blown away by God's sovereign plan that everyone would come to repentance, accepting the atonement for their sins which He has provided and then trust and follow Him as he desires.

Along these thoughts, I've been mulling over these verses the past few days:

"But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished - he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus." (Romans 3:21-26)

Paul affirms that all the Law and the Prophets testify to and declare the righteousness which is available from God. (Christ agrees when he uses the Scriptures to explain himself in Luke 24:27). This righteousness is from faith alone! (Remember Abraham?) And why did God give this to us? Because of his justice. Through Christ, we have a righteous, legal standing before God. Through Christ alone we can walk with God in the way God intended from the beginnings when God created us in His image and called it "very good" (Genesis 1:31).

Praise the Father for his mercy and justice, the Son for his love and obedience, and the Spirit for his indwelling presence and wonderful counsel!

Purpose: To glorify God

This is the purpose of the Church I am attending here in Wyoming. They even have stickers for your Bible that say, “I got my purpose right” that you can get if you tell a sticker-giver that your purpose is to glorify God.

Today, the Pastor shared a few thoughts from 2 Corinthians 12:7-10. He didn’t preach on verse 5, but I read it and started pondering. “I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses.” Why does Paul want to boast about his weaknesses?

Someone can boast about their weaknesses and do it in such a manner that does not glorify God. The point of boasting about our weaknesses is to point to the grace of Christ; it is to God’s glory that he has done such a great work in such rubbish like us. If, in our boasting, or bemoaning rather, we end on us, it is pride and sin. We must not steal from God’s glory by drawing attention to ourselves. Our purpose is to glorify God, even (or especially) in our shortcomings.

Delight, like Paul, in your weaknesses; they are a reminder of your need for a Savior and give God an opportunity to display his mighty power.

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”