The origin of evil

Follow these 12 points:

(1) God created everything, and it was very good.
(2) Adam and Eve sinned against God, and in so doing, brought a curse upon all creation.
(3) In this first human sin, "good" human beings did something evil. God is not the author of sin, nor does He tempt anyone to sin. Yet, it was His will that humanity and creation would fall into sin for the expressed purpose taht Jesus Christ would receive glory as Redeemer of creation. Jesus is "the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world."
(4) Since that first human sin, all humans descending from Adam and Eve (everyone alive today) has a sinful nature, which means that there are no "good" human beings and that our evil stems from our nature.
(5) It's very easy to explain why we sin - the sin nature - but it's not so easy to explain why Adam and Eve sinned. They were "good," and there was never a time we could label ourselves as "good."
(6) We can say that although Adam and Eve were "good," they were naive to "good and evil." Thus Satan's temptation served as their motivation to sin. We, being "sinful from conception" (Psalms 51:5, 58:3), need no external motivation, as our sinful nature serves as the primary motivation.
(7) Since we can say that Adam and Eve sinned on account of Satan's evil motivation, we can also say that although the first sin counted against humanity and that over which humanity was given dominion was the first human sin, the very first sin was that of Satan when he rebelled against God in pride (Isaiah 14).
(8) Why and how then did Satan, who was created "good," come to sin against God? What was his motivation? We today have the sin nature as internal motivation and the fallen world as external motivation. Adam and Eve had Satan's tempting as external motivation, despite their lack of internal motivation. But Satan presumably had no internal motivation - he was created "good" - and no external motivation - nothing sinful (or evil) had yet entered God's "good" creation.
(9) This is the only dilemma that I can perceive in the Reformed and Calvinist systematic theology. All other so-called dilemmas posed to Calvinists and Reformed theologicans are only so-called and not real dilemmas. But this one is genuine. As Jonathan Edwards showed, the will is that by which the mind chooses, and thus all decisions or choices are determined by the will. Edwards added that the nature brings about the desires of the will. Therefore, every choice or decision is a result of the greatest desire, and the greatest desire is determined by the nature. Thus, how Satan came to sin is of great importance, given the above logic. And my answer to this dilemma, while not without problems, comes from Scripture:
(10) 1 Kings 22:19-23 and 2 Chronicles 18:18-22:

Micaiah continued, 'Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on His throne with all the host of heaven standing around Him on His right and on His left. And the LORD said, 'Who will entice Ahab into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death there?' One suggested this, and another that. Finally, a spirit came forward, stood before the LORD and said, 'I will entice him.' 'By what means?' the LORD asked. 'I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets,' he said. 'You will succeed in enticing him,' said the LORD. 'Go and do it.' So now the LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouths of all these prophets of yours. The LORD has decreed disaster for you.

(11) Picture the Lord asking, "Who will entice Adam and Eve into eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil and falling into sin by so doing?" God Himself could not and would not entice them, as this would be against His nature. God does not tempt anyone to sin. Yet, it is within His will and capabilities, remaining consist with His nature, to ask someone else to serve as the tempter. We see this exhibited in Job 1-2.
(12) Picture the angels suggesting things to God and finally Lucifer saying to the Father, "I will entice them." God asks, "By what means?" Satan replies, "I will go out a be a lying serpent ("Did God really say...?") to the humans." And the LORD said, "You will suceed. Go and do it." And that's why we call Satan "a liar and the Father of lies."

Any thoughts?

At least I wanted to...

I'm ashamedly unassertive with my calling to evangelize. I plan daily to share the Gospel with people I meet throughout the day, especially those I do not know but who providentially cross my path, but it rarely seems to happen. In fact, now that I think about it, the less I plan to evangelize, the more often it happens spontaneously. And the fact that I plan daily tells you that I seldom preach the messsage of hope in Jesus Christ.

It truly is in my heart to share the good news of Jesus Christ with those who may have never heard that Jesus saves sinners. So if you're a self-proclaimed unbeliever, or if you are unsure about Jesus, believe on Him today and have the assurance of the forgiveness of your sins and eternal life through His mercy and grace. While I'm not proud of my timidity with the Gospel, perhaps some consolation is that I desire to evangelize.

Regarding King David's heart-desire "to build a temple for the Name of the Lord, the God of Israel... the Lord said to David, 'Because it was in your heart to build a temple for My Name, you did well to have this in your heart" (1 Kings 8:17-18). How wonderful to consider that we do well to have good desires in our heart, even when we don't carry them out. I must be careful here: the Lord prescribed David from building the Temple because of the bloodshed upon his hands. God ordained David's son, Solomon, to build the glorious Temple. Thus, I mustn't conclude that carrying out my heart's desire to evangelize is unimportant. I must and will continue to strive to share the Gospel, and "in my heart set apart Christ as Lord. [I will strive to] always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks me to give the reason for the hope that I have... with gentleness and respect" (1 Peter 3:15).

Romans 11:25-36 Preview

There is much to be said about our text for next Tuesday's study, especially in light of the current Israel / Hezbollah (Lebanon) war. But the off-week preview will be a little different this time. Here is the text we will study, Romans 11:25-36:

25I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. 26And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: "The Deliverer will come from Zion; He will turn godlessness away from Jacob. 27And this is My covenant with them when I take away their sins." 28As far as the Gospel is concerned, they are enemies on your account; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, 29for God's gifts and His call are irrevocable. 30Just as you who were at one time disobedient to God have now received mercy as a result of their disobedience, 31so they too have now become disobedient in order that they too may now receive mercy as a result of God's mercy to you. 32For God has bound all men over to disobedience so that He may have mercy on them all. 33Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable His judgments, and His paths beyond tracing out! 34"Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been His counselor?" 35"Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?" 36For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever! Amen.

Our preview this week will be an excerpt from Dr. J.M. Boice's "What Ever Happened to the Gospel of Grace?" The excerpt (15 pages in the book / 8 or 9 pages printed out) is a quick read. You can read it on your computer screen if you'd prefer. It is an analysis of Romans 11:36, which gives us great reason to have a Christian, or Biblical, worldview and thereby give glory to God. That happens to be the theme of Romans 12-16, so it is appropriate for our study. See you next Tuesday.

Click here to open the excerpt in .pdf format. It will open in a new window, and you can save, print, or read it from there.

Legacy: What you want from your children?

When I hear of people wanting to leave a legacy, it seems to me at first to be a selfish thought. I can't help but think that the aspiring legacy-leavers are simply wanting to be remembered after they're gone for work done on earth or for a blessing bestowed to their progeny. Perhaps it is the case that none of our good deeds are without the tarnish of the sin of pride, as if WE left the legacy and therefore DESERVE to be remembered as GOOD parents or ancestors or leaders. We must humbly remember that unless God had left us offspring, unless God had left us a legacy, a remnant, a progeny, we would have been like Sodom and Gomorrah. It is God who works in us to will and to act according to His good purpose. We, like servants, have only done our duty. We have only done what God has enabled us to do and ensured that we would do. How can we glory in leaving a legacy? Soli Deo Gloria! Rather, we should glory in the legacy God has left for us.

Here's an example I read about today, taken from my friends at http://fpcj.blogspot.com: Heinrich Bullinger (1504 - 1575) found himself amidst the Reformation, and after much study, sided with the Reformers as his father, a Catholic priest with a common-law marriage, renounced the vows of Catholicism and sided with the Protestants as well. This in turn led Bullinger to marry a former Nun (as Martin Luther had done), Anna Adlischweiler. The marriage was by all accounts a very happy one. They had eleven children! All the sons became pastors.

Now that, to me, is a legacy! What a blessing God gave to this man, that all of his sons became pastors. 3 John 4 says, "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth." May by the grace of God I recite that glorious Scripture and experience its truth as the days God has ordained for me to spend on this earth draw to a close. That would be legacy enough.

Israel and Lebanon

Many comments have been made regarding the eschatological significance of the Israel / Hezbollah / Lebanon war. I'm not convinced that there is a significant significance. Don't get me wrong. I believe that God works all things for His purpose, and this certainly falls under the umbrella of "all things." But some has said that Israel should continue to assault their enemies, in the hopes that their efforts will usher in the return of Jesus Christ. I can't yet agree with that assessment. Certainly God is for His people, but I'm not convinced that the country we call Israel is to be concidered "His people." Time will tell.