Debating Predestination

I find it a regular occurrence that folks with conversational interests get into debates and discussions of topics on which they have very little knowledge. I have a decent understanding of mathematics, and so do most of my buddies. But it would be foolish for us to debate the volume of space directly underneath the roller-coater track at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom. We're just not knowledgeable enough in calculus to have any hope of getting the right answer.

The same holds true in theology. I was guilty upon my conversion to Christianity of debating the topics of which I had no knowledge. Picture me trying to debate with my equally ignorant friends whether or not predestination was true - and if so, how it actually worked from a mechanistic perspective.

I hadn't even read the Bible or studied any theologian's or philosopher's thoughts on the matter. What was I trying to do? Re-invent the wheel?

People engage in this sort of behavior daily. And God must want to pull out His hair. It's frankly silly. Before any debate takes place on a topic of which the debators have little knowledge (real or perceived), argeement on the basics must first be reached. As a Calvinist, it does no good to discuss infra- and supra-lapsarianism with an Arminian who doesn't even know what Calvinism or Arminianism are.

If you find yourself engaging in this type of conversation, begin with the basics. What is the Gospel? Most likely, that will open a conversation related to the substitutionary, propitiatory, atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. That's a mouthful. It might take hours to arrive at consensus on the definition of that phrase. It certainly brings up "Limited" Atonement or Particular Redemption.

Then move on. Why do you believe the Gospel? Is it because you're more intelligent than others? Is it because you are more humble? If so, then pat yourself on the back; you deserve some glory! If not, then what's the difference? Could it be that the grace of God worked in you through the power of the Holy Spirit in a more effective way than in those who don't believe? Yes! That's the difference between monergism and synergism. Why don't others believe the Gospel? Could it be because others have not experienced the rebirth of the Holy Spirit? Could it be that people don't believe because they are not Jesus' sheep? That's certainly what John 10 teaches. And now we're closing in on that topic you wanted to start with - predestination. It will soon be on the tip of your tongue.

Christianity Today on Calvinism

"Young, Restless, and Reformed: Calvinism is making a comeback - and shaking up the church." Christianity Today's cover story in the latest issue, shipping this week.

The cover story article is an excellent piece that profiles the Reformed resurgence in the twenty-something crowd. John Piper, Al Mohler, Joshua Harris, Kent Hughes, C.J. Mahaney, and Together for the Gospel (Albert Mohler, Ligon Duncan, Mark Dever, and C.J.) are all mentioned. Pick up a copy of the magazine at your local bookstore. I'll link to the article once it is published online.

Called, Kept, Pressing On

This morning on his daily radio broadcast, Allistair Begg concluded a great 2-part message on being called, kept, and now pressing on. He really hit home for me today, and I'll tell you why:

He said that when we are being sanctified, growing in the Christian faith, we put our habitual sins in the garbage can. But, we occasionally go to the garbage can and pull out the most easily hideable sins and tinker with them for awhile; then we throw them away again - only to repeat this cycle until we are glorified in eternity with Christ.

Pornography is the sin that I threw away long ago, and many of my closest friends have helped me to do that - through accountability groups, confession, openly discussing the darkness of that sin in appropriate moments of group Bible Study, etc. God freed me from bondage to that sin. And of course, He broke me in the process: I recall my most tearful moment of the past 6 years - it wasn't at the birth of my children, nor at the death of a grandparent. Rather, it was confessing my hatred of addiction to pornography to my wife. I cried uncontrollably for many minutes. She was supportive, and we prayed. And pornography was trashed.

In the past 6 years, internet pornography has crept back into my life and gone away again numerous times. I'll go 6 months without an inkling of it; then it will attack for several days in a row. Nearly every time it attacks, it does so when I am not thinking about it. I'll be legitimately searching for something online, and a search result will lead me astray. It's like I was doing some weeding in my garden (a good thing), but I have to go to the garbage can to throw away the weeds, and the other stuff in the garbage entices me.

Recently however, I've found myself sliding just a bit further down this slippery slope. I'm going to the garbage can with the purpose not of throwing weeds away, but of getting the old sins out and playing with them for awhile before throwing them away again. How ugly and disgusting! It's generally pretty easy to get back up (repentance) from the unintentional slips, from the times I fall into the trash while trying not to, but it's much more difficult to find peace in repentance when I place the stumbling stones in front of my path intentionally, when I jump into the trash can and sit there feeding on filth!

Oh wretched man I am! Who will save me from this body of death and this mind of depravity. Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ. I am called, and kept, and so I must press on. I know that I couldn't press on successfully unless I was called and kept. There is nothing in me that has ability to press on. I must persevere, but God must preserve; otherwise my efforts are in vain. Psalm 127:1 says, "Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain." Work in me Lord to incinerate this deadly vice of pornography. Philippians 2:12-13 helps me tremendously: I must press on and "continue to work out [my] salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in [me] to will and to act according to His good purpose."

The Covenant of Redemption...

...is an inter-Trinitarian covenant, between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:3-14).

...took place in eternity and is the plan by which election would be elective.

...is called a decree, rather than a covenant, by some theolgians. Covenant Theologians simply say, “You really can’t understand that decree, especially as it regards to our redemption, until you understand the covenant aspect of it.” It is that eternal covenant - that covenant which is prior to time, in which the Son undertakes to be our surety and our mediator and the Father undertakes to give to the Son all the elect because of the Son’s perfect obedience. Christ gives His word prior to Creation to purchase His bride with His own blood (Revelation 13:8).

...is the agreement beyond time and within the Godhead that the Father would appoint the Son, Jesus Christ, to live a perfectly acceptable substitutionary life and die an undeserved death on behalf of, and as a covenantal representative for, those who would sin but would trust in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit as their covenantal substitutionary representative.

Berkhof defines it this way, “the Covenant of Redemption is the agreement between the Father giving the Son as head and redeemer of all the elect and the Son voluntarily taking the place of those whom the Father has given Him.” And so the Father, foreseeing the fall which He ordained, in His grace effects a covenant with the Son in which He gives all the elect to the Son and the Son says I will take their place (Here are a few places to read about this covenant: Psalm 2:7-9; 40:7-9; 89:3; John 5:36; Hebrews 10:5-7). The Holy Spirit applies Christ's work to the elect through regeneration - making the dead in trespasses and sin alive (Ephesians 2:1-5).