Man's will has a role to play in Salvation — C.H. Spurgeon

C.H. Spurgeon | "Whosoever will let him come and take the water of life freely." According to this and many other texts the Scripture where man is addressed as a being having a will, it appears clear enough that men are not saved by compulsion. When a man receives the grace of Christ, he does not receive it against his will. No man shall be pardoned while he abhors the though forgiveness. No man shall have joy in the Lord if he says, "I do not wish to rejoice in the Lord." Do not think that anybody shall have the angels pushing them behind into the gates of heaven. They must go there freely or else they will never go there at all. 

We are not saved against our will; nor again, mark you, is the will taken away; for God does not come and convert the intelligent free-agent into a machine. When he turns the slave into a child, it is not by plucking out of him the will which he possesses. We are as free under grace as ever we were under sin; nay, we were slaves when we were under sin, and when the Son makes us free we are free indeed, and we are never free before. 

~ Excerpt from Spurgeon's sermon entitled "God's Will and Man's Will"

Paano Kinukuha ng Diyos Ang Ating Atensyon

Texto: Deuteronomio 1:42-44

Ang pito (whistle blower) ay sadyang inimbento upang umagaw ng atensyon. Ang tunog nito'y ginagamit sa pagsita sa mga pasaway, o sa pagbibigay ng mga senyales (halimbawa, sa mga larong isports). Karaniwan itong ginagamit ng mga pulis, traffic enforcer, at mga sports referee. Ang tunog ng pito ay senyales upang tayo'y tumigil at upang alamin kung bakit ito sinipol.

Paano ba kinukuha ng Diyos ang ating atensyon? Minsan inaalis niya sa atin ang mga bagay na pinaglalaanan natin ng lubos na pagpapahalaga. May mga pagkakataon na ginagamit niya ang ibang tao upang tulungan tayong maunawaan ang anumang nais niyang sabihin sa atin. Ang pagpapala rin ay ginagamit ng Diyos upang kunin ang ating atensyon (Rom. 2:4). Sa mga pagkakataong ganito, dapat tayong tumigil, manalangin, at itanong sa Diyos, "Panginoon, mayroon ka bang nais sabihin sa akin?"

Minsan ay pinahihintulutan ng Diyos na manatiling walang kasagutan ang ating mga panalangin upang nang sa gayon ay maging mas pokus tayo sa kanya. Maaari rin niyang hindian ang ating mga petisyon upang makuha niya ang ating atensyon. Ang mga kalumbayan, kahirapan, at pagkabigo ay ginagamit din niya sa gano'ng layunin. Ngunit kung tayo'y sensitibo, daglian natin siyang hahanapin. Sa mga trahedya, krisis pang-pinansyal, at problemang pangkalusugan, hinihintay lamang tayo ng Diyos upang itanong sa kanya, "Diyos ko, kinakausap mo ba ako?"

Dapat nating ibigay sa Diyos ang ating hindi nahahating atensyon, ngunit kadalasan ay abala tayo sa ibang mga bagay. Siya'y naghihintay lamang upang kausapin natin siya, subalit mas abala pa tayo sa mga bagay na ating tinatangkilik. Kaya naman, maging sensitibo tayo palagi sa pagsipol na ginagawa ng Diyos upang makuha ang ating atensyon. Tanggapin nating maluwag sa ating kalooban ang lahat ng bagay na nangyayari sa ating buhay--negatibo man o positibo--sapagkat ang bawat bagay ay "gumagawang magkakalakip sa ikabubuti ng mga taong nagsisiibig sa Diyos" (Rom. 8:28). Sa bawat pagkakataon ay mayroong nais ituro sa atin ang Diyos, at dapat natin itong tuklasin.

-Jeph

Prove your own selves!

"When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them,
and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice" (Jn. 10:4)

I feel deep sadness and dismay whenever I hear news of well-known evangelical preachers departing from the true gospel message that is once and for all entrusted to the saints (Jude 3). I feel a deep concern for their souls, especially for the souls of undiscerning people whose hearts their false teachings (heresies) might gain access leading to their sure destruction (Acts 20:29-30; cf. Matthew 7:15-16). Also, because they still claim themselves to be Christians (despite their crossing over the bounds of orthodoxy), the biblical testimony regarding the divine preservation of all the redeemed is brought into question. For if God truly preserves His children from finally repudiating the faith, why do we hear of Christians ending up being heretics? Did these apostates lose their Salvation? Were they ever saved?

Want your life to go well? Stay away from Jesus — John Piper

"For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you 

should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake." 

(Philippians 1:29)

What are good works for?

Dr. Martin Luther, Reformer

Here's a frequently raised objection against the reformed doctrine of Justification by Faith and how Christians should respond to it:

Question:
If Salvation is attained through faith alone, and if works of charity are completely unnecessary and superfluous, why then does the Bible exhort Christians to be holy in all their conduct (1 Peter 1:15-16)? What for if it doesn't have any bearing to one's eternal destiny?

Answer:
First of all, it is not true that doing service to God or performing acts of charity are completely unnecessary and superfluous. According to Jesus Christ, it is through our obedience to God's law that we evince our love for Him (John 14:21, 23). However, these works won't save us because no amount of human works can suffice to reach God's glorious standard of perfection (Matthew 5:48; Romans 3:20, 23; James 2:10; Revelation 21:27). The psalmist writes, "If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?" (Psalms 130:3); and again, "Enter not into judgment with your servant, for no one living is righteous before you" (Psalms 143:2; cf. Romans 3:10).

Do we then by grace make void of free will?

St. Augustine of Hippo (354 – 430)

St. Augustine | Do we then by grace make void free will? God forbid! Nay, rather we establish free will. For even as the law by faith, so free will by grace, is not made void, but established (Rom. 3:31). For neither is the law fulfilled except by free will; but by the law is the knowledge of sin, by faith the acquisition of grace against sin, by grace the healing of the soul from the disease of sin, by the health of the soul freedom of will, by free will the love of righteousness, by love of righteousness the accomplishment of the law. 

Accordingly, as the law is not made void, but is established through faith, since faith procures grace whereby the law is fulfilled; so free will is not made void through grace, but is established, since grace cures the will whereby righteousness is freely loved. Now all the stages which I have here connected together in their successive links, have severally their proper voices in the sacred Scriptures. 

The law says: "Thou shall not covet" (Exo. 20:17). Faith says: "Heal my soul, for I have sinned against Thee" (Psa. 41:4). Grace says: "Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee" (Jn. 5:14). Health says: "O Lord my God, I cried unto Thee, and Thou hast healed me" (Psa. 130:2). Free will says: "I will freely sacrifice unto Thee" (Psa. 54:6). Love of righteousness says: "Transgressors told me pleasant tales, but not according to Thy law, O Lord" (Psa. 119:85). 

How is it then that miserable men dare to be proud, either of their free will, before they are freed, or of their own strength, if they have been freed? They do not observe that in the very mention of free will they pronounce the name of liberty. But "where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty" (2 Cor. 3:17). If, therefore, they are the slaves of sin, why do they boast of free will? For by what a man is overcome, to the same is he delivered as a slave (2 Pe. 2:19). But if they have been freed, why do they vaunt themselves as if it were by their own doing, and boast, as if they had not received? Or are they free in such sort that they do not choose to have Him for their Lord who says to them: "Without me ye can do nothing" (Jn. 15:5); and "If the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed?" (Jn. 8:36).

~ On the Spirit and the Letter, Ch. 52 [XXX]