As some of you are aware of (and for those who aren't aware), today is the anniversary of Martin Luther's nailing of his 95 theses on the door at Wittenberg. The reformation was on. In light of all that's going on in my home church, and much of what is going on across the SBC and the larger evangelical church, I think it might be appropriate to pause briefly and reflect on the church (universal) today, and lift up our voices in prayer to seek God's face for these times we are in. I think most would agree, that reformation, revival, and renewal is much needed in Christ's church today, and that begins with me..before we can see these things in the church at large, I must first cry out to God for reformation, revival, and renewal in my heart.
Father I thank you that so long ago, when your church was in turmoil, you raised up men and set their hearts aflame with the glory and wonder of Yourself. I thank you for giving these men as gifts to your church that we may look back and be encouraged in our own times. Father as your servant CH Spurgeon once said, "This is the day for the man, where is the man for the day?" Father forgive me for my sin of indifference, laziness and ingratitude. Forgive me for not removing the log in my own eye before I try to remove the speck from my brother's eye. Forgive me for more often being a sounding brass, rather than an edifying voice. Forgive me for being far to quick to tear down what I think is wrong rather than being an instrument to strengthen what remains. Forgive me for thinking more highly of myself than I ought, instead of preferring my brethren over myself. Father forgive me and cleanse me from these and countless other sins, and by your grace, reform, revive and renew my heart, and once again set it aflame with your glory, and a hunger and thirst for more of you. Revive your works Lord, in the midst of days. In Christ's name and for His glory, Amen.
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Reformation day
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We need a Martin Luther to ignite the fuse of a new Reformation. Thank you for that prayer.
I wish Southern Baptists cared more about the Reformation. There would be no Baptists without Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, Knox, etc.
I have enjoyed D. James Kennedy's programs on Luther this week. You might want to listen to them online. He inspired me to watch the movie Luther again tonight.
WTB,
Yes we could use another Luther, or a Spurgeon these days..but we do have some good men who are reform/renewal minded. One of those is John Piper...I don't know if you've heard any of his sermons or read any of his books, but he preaches with much passion for God. There are some mp3's on monergism.com of some biographies of Luther, Calvin, Spurgeon, etc. which he does at his annual pastor's conference at Bethlehem Baptist Church. They are well worth the time to listen if you're interested. Here's the link:
Link
I couldn't get the link to the page the mp3's are on to work but just click on sermons on the main page and scroll down to" Men of Whom the World Was Not Worthy"
WTB,
Interesting to note that Luther is one of the foremost proponents of the total sovereignty of God, and espouses a total rejection of the free will of man to choose to follow Christ.
John 6:44 (KJV) "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw (literally, "drag") him: and I will raise him up at the last day."
This was one of the foundations of Luther's doctrinal beliefs, but over time it seems that the church has been watering down God's sovereignty and giving man a much bigger role in determining his own salvation apart from God's will.
Interesting, don't you think?
scaredofthetruth?,
I know you were addressing WTB, but I just wanted to comment on what you said...you are absolutely right in your assessment of Luther's belief in the sovereignty of grace...those beliefs of the reformers have definitely been watered down, in some cases outright rejected..or explained away, and as a result unfortunately we see a very man-centered theology and gospel in our times. Thanks for for your input.
Josh,
You are right that the subject of free will is a very interesting topic. One phenomenon I have noticed--and experienced myself--in the last few years is a renewed interest in doctrine and theology by the everyday layperson. I, personally, am very much in favor of this because I do not believe the individual should blindly accept the teachings of any man and be ignorant of the underlying reasons of why we believe as we do.
Of course, a great deal of this can be attributed to the fact that there is ease of access to information now via the internet that you formerly could only be exposed to by attending seminary--and even then theology is taught to support the doctrinal views of denomination it is aligned with.
Now, as more and more individuals get this information firsthand, they are starting to question some of the foundations of the teachings they have been presented with in light of this information, instead of just accepting it blindly because they've always heard it that way.
It is, in my opinion, a two-edged sword, since you want the Truth made available to as many people as possible; however, the downside is that you are also exposed to a number of teachings that do not align with scripture and that could cause other believers to go astray.
But I digress...I am thinking of starting a free will (or not) blog in the near future and would love to have anyone interested participate in the discussions. As soon as I get it up and running, I will be sure to post a link.
Josh,
The discussion you are referring to was between Al Mohler and Paige Patterson...scaredofthetruth?...you can find that discussion, if you're interested, on the SBTS website...it's in real player format so you'd need that to listen. Also, for all, monergism.com has a lot of articles and mp3's discussing these various issues.
No problem Josh...actually it reminded me of that discussion and prompted me to put that info out there..btw the aforementioned discussion is well worth a listen..if for no other reason to hear how 2 differing views can be discussed in a civil, respectful manner, as each of the participants pointed out what they perceive as each views strengths and weaknesses.
I'm late to this party. I should have checked back earlier in the day.
Scaredoftruth, your point is very interesting. From what I know of Luther, he was more Calvinist than Calvin.
The more I study the more I see the sovereignty of God, it's inescapable.
Allofgrace, I am quite familiar with John Piper. I've been reading him for seveal years. I recently read Desiring God for the 2nd time and I often download his sermons. I love that he makes most of his books available online for free. He is the real deal. He's not about enriching John Piper. He's about advancing His kingdom.
This year I have had several email exchanges with various Baptist pastors who blog. Each time I ask them about the Calvinism issue. To a man they say this is going to be the next big denominational fight. These are men on both sides of the debate.
How do you guys see the issue of Christian liberty?
WTB,
My understanding of Christian liberty, however slight it may be, is that we as Christians are liberated from the legalism of the Mosaic law and instead walk, through the Spirit of God, under the new covenant brought by God through Christ's crucifixion.
So, in practice, what does this mean? In my mind, it is fairly clear that the Old Testament focuses (in a very general sense) on the wrath of God directed toward those that did not follow the Mosaic law. Contrast this with the "liberty" we have as Christians under the New Covenant demonstrated by the love of Christ. There are innumerable things a person could do because they are not bound by The Law, but because of our desire to demonstrate Christ's love in us, we choose to do (or not do) things that we may have a right to do. Romans 14:13-17 is the clearest example we have of this "liberty" and its proper use.
As for the sovereignty of God, I can most easily simplify my view on it as such: would I rather have faith that my God in heaven has total control of all that goes on in this world (especially when you look at all the evil there is) and that He has a plan for everything such that even when we witness the total depravity of mankind, we ultimately know that God controls (yes, even causes) all to occur? Contrast this with the alternative that mankind freely chooses his actions without cause--in such a case, you almost have to allow that man could choose to thwart God's will, or that Christ really could have chosen not to go to the Cross.
Of course, I have greatly oversimplified the debate, but it is a fascinating discussion that has, in my opinion, incredibly far-reaching effects across all Christian theology.
Rom 9:21 Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonor?
The carnal mind simply does not like to accept this truth--that God does what He will for reasons we could never understand in human terms.
Josh, WTB,
Wow guys, didn't realize you'd posted again on this thread. On the issue of Christian liberty...I don't see it as a law vs. grace issue..I think it's more of a questionable things issue. When Paul was addressing the issue of meat sacrificed to idols, it wasn't law vs. grace, but stronger conscience vs. weaker conscience. I'm sure we can all relate to when we were first converted how...at least I was...super-sensitized to sin. It may have seemed that almost everything was sin. Does that ring a bell?
Our sensitivity to sin was heightened but our maturity level was that of a babe. Paul was explaining the principle of accommodation in this matter...which means neither the one partaking of the meat nor the one abstaining from the meat is sinning. The principle of accommodation is the brother with the stronger conscience forgoing his liberty to partake for the sake of his brother with a weaker conscience. But it cuts both ways..Paul also admonished the one who doesn't partake for conscience' sake to not criticize his brother who does. The forgoing of a liberty for the weaker brother is 1)so that his conscience will not be bruised by seeing his brother do what he conceives as sin for himself, and 2)so the weaker brother won't stumble in seeing his brother partake and thinking that he has the same liberty which in conscience he doesn't, thus sinning..."Whatever is not of faith is sin." ok...my 2 cents on that...I'd LOVE to get into Divine Sovereignty and human responsibility tonite...but it's getting late, and I get scatterbrained...thanks guys for coming here and posting your thoughts...it's a great blessing for me personally, as I hope it is for you...in light of all that's going on in our church...i see this exchange as Rom.8:28 in action. Blessings.
MKW,
You are absolutely right..that's the beauty of our salvation..what you said reminded me of a quote from Dr Rogers about the things of God..."They're shallow enough for a child to wade in, and deep enough to drown a theologian." We aren't really theologians either, we're just hungry and searching..as we exchange these thoughts with each other, we're sharpened. That's how we in the body are built up in the faith. Thanks for all your comments, here and elsewhere, and for your spirit. Blessings.
"They're shallow enough for a child to wade in, and deep enough to drown a theologian."
What a great quote!
Oh how I wish I were a theologian.
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