Man's Radical Fallenness

The Doctrine of Regeneration

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A Book recommended by Ligon Duncan concerning those headed off to college during his sermon addressing postmodernism

An example of Edwards

 Edwards is well known as perhaps the greatest theologian the United States has ever produced. He is equally noted for his preaching and writing. But in this Long Line Profile, Dr. Steven J. Lawson considers the unique focus and commitment with which Edwards sought to live out the Christian faith. 

Lawson examines Edwards’ life through the lens of the seventy resolutions he penned in his late teens, shortly after his conversion. Lawson is quick to note that in writing these resolutions, Edwards was not merely seeking to bolster his own determination. As Edwards himself said before writing the first resolution, “Being sensible that I am unable to do anything without God’s help, I do humbly entreat him by his grace to enable me to keep these resolutions . . . for Christ’s sake.” Edwards knew he would never keep his resolutions in his own strength.

The resolutions cover everything from glorifying God to repenting of sin to managing time. Drawing on Edwards’ writings, as well as scholarly accounts of Edwards’ life and thought, Lawson shows how Edwards sought to live out these lofty goals he set for the management of his walk with Christ. In Edwards’ example, he finds helpful instruction for all believers.

Hardcover 5.25 x 7.5 | 200 Pages 
ISBN 1-56769-108-0 | Releases November 2008 

CAN CALVINISTS AND ARMINIANS FELLOWSHIP IN A LOCAL CHURCH?

Ligonier West Coast Conference - Q&A Session II September 27, 2008 @ 1:55 PM  |  Posted By: Alex Chediak

DOES RESPONSIBILITY EQUAL ABILITY? One asked:  "How can man be responsible to believe in Jesus Christ if he is not able to do so?"  The response was that man is unable to believe in Christ, but he is responsible for that inability.  The command that people repent and believe remains.  Dr. Duncan referred us to Martin Luther's The Bondage of The Will.  Also, see the objection that Paul anticipates in Romans 9.   CAN CALVINISTS AND ARMINIANS FELLOWSHIP IN A LOCAL CHURCH? Another asked how we can maintain fellowship with Arminians in a local church setting.  Dr. Duncan responded that we ought to adorn our doctrine with love and grace, but we ought not to equivocate on what we believe.  Dr. Sproul noted that historically the Calvinism-Arminianism debate has been understood as an "intramural" debate--a debate among fellow Christians. But extreme forms (like open theism) preclude fellowship.  If someone wants to join a Calvinistic church and wants to simultaneously spread the word that Calvinists are "heratics", that person will disturb the peace of that church.  Such a situation should be avoided.  But many Arminians, Dr. Sproul noted, are well-intentioned in their attempts to reconcile human volition and divine sovereignty.  CLASSICAL APOLOGETICS UNPOPULAR AMONG REFORMED CHRISTIANS? Sproul acknowledged that presuppositional apologetics is the majority report, but he is not sure why.  Presuppositional apologetics is "easier" and requires "less thought", since it allows us to simply tell the non-Christian that he has the "wrong presuppositions" (and that he needs to start with the presupposition that God exists, etc.).  Both Ligon Duncan and R.C. Sproul hold to classical apologetics view (as did Hodge, Warfield, and many others).   DOUBLE PREDESTINATION Sproul rejected the "equal ultimacy" view (whereby God symmetrically acts in the lives of both the elect and the reprobate--actively softening the elect and actively hardening the reprobate).  Rather, God positively (actively) intervenes in the life of the elect.  However, he leaves the reprobate (passively) to their own devices.  Double predestination is asymmetrical.  He does not create fresh evil in the hearts of the reprobate.  They are already sinful and heading away from God.  They need no assistance in doing so. EVANGELISM A woman noted that as an Arminian evangelizing was easier and simpler.  Now, as a Calvinist, she feels that she has a ton to say to a non-Christian, and she doesn't know how to condense it into a brief word.  Dr. Sproul responded that in a brief period of time we can talk to people about the holiness of God, and (hence) our unholiness, and (hence) our manifest need for a Savior. Also, the apostles in Acts give us a great model for evangelism. John MacArthur spoke of the thief on the cross, the only person to whom Jesus granted assurance of salvation. That man, in a relatively short period of time acknowledged Jesus was going to outlive the crucifixion, enter a kingdom, and that he was going to face judgment. He had a lot of sound theology.  John suggested we first go after the sin issue and then the offer of forgiveness in Christ.  Evangelistically, we should look for those in whom God is doing a work of conviction regarding sin, righteousness, and judgment.  DEALING WITH MORMONS Go after the works issue (salvation by works -- at least to the "highest levels of heaven"), go after the polytheism issue.  They are anything but Christians.  Duncan noted that they "play it both ways": they teach that evangelical Christians have corrupt teaching and that they (Mormons) alone have the "true teaching," but then they turn around and want to give every appearance of being just like evangelicals.  SAVED THROUGH CHILD-BEARING? (I TIM 2:15) Dr. MacArthur noted that women are "saved" from any stigma that comes from society in their (God-honoring) decision to invest in the lives of their young children.   LIMITED ATONEMENT The issue is what was God's intention in sending His son to die for sinners?  Was God's desire to make salvation possible for everyone, but guaranteed for nobody?  Or was it to guarantee the salvation of the elect?  So the death of Christ is sufficient for every person to be saved, but it is efficient (effective) for the salvation of the elect [and the latter was God's intention].  John pointed to the verse "Savior of all, especially those who believe."  God is a Savior at heart.  He grants common grace for the non-Christian.  He preserves lives.  He tells Adam "on the day you eat, you shall surely die" --- but then allows Adam to live 900 years.  [If "savior" is eternal in this verse, then you have universalism in the first half of the verse, and you cannot explain the second.] BIRTH CONTROL Is it OK?  Sproul noted that some forms of birth control are abortive, and these are not OK.  Beyond that, Sproul noted that he (personally) is concerned with a pro-birth control mentality which says "children are a burden, we do not welcome them."  So he is uncomfortable with its widespread use (even in its conception-prevention forms).  John noted that when God gave women a cycle whereby they can only conceive children at certain times each month, He was granting us a measure of control over how many children to have.  And it is a decision that couples need to make together before the Lord.

Gospel Preaching Commanded by A. W. Pink

                                                                      

There are those who misrepresent the doctrine of election in this way. Here I am sitting down at my table tonight with my family to tea. It is a cold winter’s night, and outside on the street are some hungry starving tramps and children, and they come and knock on my door and they say, "We are so hungry, Sir, Oh, we are so hungry and cold, and we are starving: won’t you give us something to eat?"

Give you something to eat? No, you do not belong here, get off with you." Now people say that is what election means, that God has spread the gospel feast and some poor sinners conscious of their deep need come to the Lord and say, "Have mercy upon me, and the Lord says, "No, you are not among My elect." Now, my friends, that is not the teaching of this Book, nor anything like that. That is absolutely a false representation of God’s truth. I do not believe anything like that, my friends, and I would not insult you by asking you to come here night by night and listen to anything like that.

1. Compel them to come in

Now then, here is the truth. God has spread the feast but the fact is that nobody is hungry. and nobody wants to come to the feast, and everybody makes an excuse to keep away from the feast. and when they are bidden to come they say, "No, we do not want to, or We are not ready yet." Now God knew that from the beginning, and if God had done nothing more than spread the feast every seat at His table would have been vacant for all eternity! I have no hesitation in saying there is not one man or woman in this church tonight, but who made excuses time after time before you first came to Christ. You are just like the rest. You made excuses. so did I, and if God had done nothing more than just spread the feast every chair would have been vacant, therefore what do you read in that parable in Luke 14? Because the feast was not furnished with guests God sent forth His "servants". Oh, put your glasses on. It does not say "servants", it says God sent forth His "servant" and told Him to "compel" them to come in that His feast might be furnished with guests. And there is not a man or a woman In this church tonight or in any other church that would ever sit down at the marriage-supper of the Lamb unless you had been compelled to come in, and compelled by God.

Well, you say, what do you mean by "compelled?" I mean this, that God had to overcome the resistance of your will, God had to overcome the reluctance of your heart, God had to overcome your loving of pleasure more than loving of God, your love of the things of this world more than Christ. I mean that God had to put forth His power and draw you, and if any of you know anything of the Greek or have a Strong’s Concordance, look up that Greek verb for "draw" in John 6:44, "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him" —It means "use violence". It means to drag by force. There is not a Greek scholar on earth that can challenge that statement—I mean—and back it up with proof. It’s the same Greek word that is used in John 21 when they drew the net to the land full of fishes. They had to pull with all their might for it was full of fishes. They had to drag it, Yes, my friend, and that is how you were brought to Christ. You may not have been conscious of it. you may not have known inside yourself what was taking place, but every last one of us was a rebel against God, fighting against Christ, resisting His Holy Spirit, and God had to put forth almighty power and overcome that resistance and bring us to our knees, and if any of you object to that strong language, then I am here to tell you, you do not believe in the teaching of this Book on the absolute depravity of man.

Man is lost, and man is dead in trespasses and sins by nature. Listen, it is not simply that man is sick and needs a little medicine: it is not simply that man is ignorant and needs a little teaching: it is not simply that man is weak and needs a little hope: man is dead, dead in trespasses and sins, and only almighty power from heaven can ever resurrect him and bring him from death unto life. That is the gospel I believe in and I do not preach the gospel because I believe the sinner has power in himself to respond to it. Well, you say, then what is the use of preaching the gospel if men are dead? What is the use of preaching it? I will tell you. Listen! Here was a man with a withered hand, paralyzed, and Christ says. "Stretch forth thine hand"; It was the one thing that he could not do! Christ told him to do a thing that was impossible in himself. Well then you say why did Christ tell him to stretch forth his hand? Because Divine power went with the very word that commanded him to do it! Divine power enabled him to. The man could not do it of himself. If you think that he could you are ready for the lunatic asylum, I don’t not care who you are. Any man or woman here who thinks that that man was able to stretch forth his paralyzed arm by an effort of his own will is ready for the lunatic asylum! How can paralysis move?

Well, I will give you something stronger than that. You need something strong today, you need something more than skim-milk, you need strong meat if ever you are going to be built up and grow and become strong in the Lord and the power of His might—Here is a man who is dead and buried and his body has already begun to corrupt so that it stank. There he was in the grave and someone came to that graveside and said, "Lazarus. come forth", and if that someone had been anyone else than God Himself manifest in flesh. he might have stood there till now calling, "Come forth". What on earth was the use of telling a dead man to come forth? None at all, unless the One Who spoke that word had the power to make that word good.

Now then my friends, I preach the gospel to sinners, not because I believe the sinner has any power at all in himself to respond to it: I do not believe that any sinner has any capacity in himself whatever. But Christ said, "the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life", and by God’s grace I go forth preaching this Word because it is a word of power, a word of spirit, a word of life. The power is not in the sinner, it is in the Word when God the Holy Spirit is pleased to use it. And my friends, I say in all reverence; if God told me in this Book to go out and preach to the trees. I would go! Yes sir. God once told one of His servants to go and preach to bones and he went. I wonder if you should have gone! Yes, that has a local application as well as a future interpretation prophetically:

2. Preach the Gospel to Every Creature

Now the question arises again, why are we to preach the gospel to every creature?—if God has only elected a certain number to be saved? The reason is, because God commands us to do so. Well, but, you say, it does not seem reasonable to me That has got nothing to do with it; your business is to obey God and not to argue with Him. God commands us to preach the gospel to every creature and it means what it says—every creature and it is solemn thing. Every Christian in this room tonight has yet to answer to Christ why he has not done everything in his power to send that gospel to every creature! Yes, I believe in missions—probably stronger than most of you do, and if I preached to you on missions perhaps I would hit you harder than you have been hit yet. The great majority of Gods people who profess to believe in missions, are just playing at them—I make so bold as to say of our evangelical denominations today that we are just playing at missions and that is all. Why my friends. there is almost half of the human race—think of it—in this 20^th century—travel so easy and cheap. Bibles printed in almost every language under heaven, and as we sit here tonight there is almost half of the human race that never yet heard of Christ, and we have got to answer to Christ for that yet! You have and I have, Oh. yes, I believe in man’s responsibility. I do not believe in man’s "freedom" but I do in man’s responsibility, and I believe in the Christian’s responsibility in a double way, and everyone of us here tonight has yet got to face Christ and look into those eyes as a flame of fire, and He is going to say to us, I entrusted to you My gospel. It was committed as a "trust" to you, (See 1 Thess. 2:4) It is required in stewards that a man be found faithful.

Oh, my friends, we are playing at things. We have not begun to take religion seriously, any of us. We profess to believe in the coming of Christ, and we profess to believe that the one reason why Christ has not come back yet is because His Church, His Body, is not yet complete. We believe that when His body is complete He will come back. And my friends, His "body" never, never, will be complete until the last of His elect people will be called out, and His elect people are called out under the preaching of the gospel by the power of the Holy Spirit, and if you are really anxious for Christ to come back soon, then you had better be more wide awake to your responsibility in connection with taking or sending the gospel to the heathen!

Christ’s word, and it is Christ’s word to us, is "Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel", He does not say "Send ye", He says "Go ye", and you have to answer to Christ yet because you have not gone! Well, you say, do you mean by that that everyone of us here tonight ought to go out to the mission field? I have not said that, I am not any man’s judge, Many of you here tonight have a good reason which will satisfy Christ why you have not gone. He gave you work to do here. He put you in a position here. He has given you responsibilities to discharge here, but every Christian who is free to go, and does not go, has got to answer to Christ for it yet.

"Go ye into all the world." Well then you say, Where am I to go? Oh, that is very easy. You say, easy? Yes, I mean it: it is very easy. There is nothing easier in the world than to know where you ought to begin missionary work. You have it in the first chapter of Acts and the eighth verse: "Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem (that is the city in which they were) and in all Judea (that is the State in which their city was), and in Samaria (that is the adjoining State), and unto the uttermost part of the earth", If you want to begin missionary work, you have to begin it in your home-town, and my friends if you are not interested in the salvation of the Chinese in Sydney, then you are not really interested in the salvation of the Chinese in China, and you are only fooling yourselves if you think you are! Oh, I am calling a spade a spade tonight. If you are anxious about the souls of the Chinese in China, then you will be equally anxious about the souls of the Chinese here in Sydney, and I wonder how many in this building tonight have ever made any serious effort to reach the Chinese in Sydney with the gospel! I wonder? I wonder how many here tonight have been round to the Bible House in Sydney and have said to the Manager there, "Do you have any New Testaments in the Chinese language, or do you have any Gospels of John in the Chinese language? How much are they per hundred? or per dozen?" And I wonder how many of you have bought a thousand or a hundred, and then have gone round to the houses in the Chinese quarter and have said, "My friend, this is a little gift that will do your soul good if you will read it."

Ah, my friends, we are playing at missions, it is just a farce, that is all! "Go ye" is the first command. Go where? Those around me first. Go what with? The gospel! Well, you say, "Why should I go?" Because God has commanded you to! Well, you say, "What is the use of doing it if He has just elected certain ones?" Because that gospel is the means that God uses to call out His own elect, that is why! You do not know, and I do not know, and nobody here on earth knows, who are God’s elect and who are not. They are scattered over the world, and therefore we are to preach the gospel to every creature, that it may reach the ones that God has marked out among those creatures.

From a sermon preached in Sydney during his Australian ministry in the 1920’s.

How to Communicate the Gospel

The truth of the gospel is the principle article of all Christian doctrine . . . Most necessary is it that we know this article well, teach it to others and beat it into their heads continually. Martin Luther

A Voice in Pleasant Hill

Man accused of stabbing passerby in Pleasant Hill
By Roman GokhmanContra Costa Times

WALNUT CREEK — Police arrested a Walnut Creek man they believe stabbed a passerby at random and possibly himself Monday evening in the 1800 block of Oak Park Boulevard.
Sean Howard Sebastian Loveday, 18, was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon. He was taken to a hospital to be treated for several stab wounds to his stomach.
The incident occurred about 7 p.m., Walnut Creek police Lt. Mark Covington said.
Walnut Creek police received a report of a young man — identified as Loveday — who had run out of a house on McNutt Avenue with a knife, Covington said. By the time police responded, the man had run one block north to Oak Park Boulevard, which is in Pleasant Hill.
There, he confronted a man on a bicycle whom he did not know, Pleasant Hill police Lt. Dan Connelly said. After a brief argument, Loveday stabbed the victim and ran east, where he confronted a herald of righteousness. A voice shouting in the wilderness, "REPENT, REPENT." The man caught off guard stood in the middle of street causing oncoming traffic to come to a stop. "When I saw Loveday look back at me, it seemed as if he was overcome by the evil one," the Baptist said. The Baptist also stated, "He then began to stab himself repeatedly in the stomach and thigh area, I was waiting for him to drop." Then after no further hesitation the Baptist ran back to his house to go grab his anointing oil and came out to find an off-duty Contra Costa sheriff's deputy.
"He identified himself as a deputy, ordered the suspect to stop and the suspect complied," Connelly said
Pleasant Hill police arrived and arrested Loveday. Both he and the victim were taken to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries. The Baptist in his final statement to an on-scene reporter said,"Unless you repent, you will likewise perish." He returned to his wife and two children across the street where he resides.

2009 Resolved Conference: SIN

In a strange and wonderful irony, the greatest problem on Earth is resolved by the greatest reality in Heaven.
Sin—it is the poisonous nature of humanity. The depth and breadth of sin is evident everywhere in our world. It is the fundamental principle in every person and the driving momentum of every society. From our first parents in Eden to infants drawing their first breath this day, every human is infected with sin's rebellion against God and His Word. As the Christmas carol languishes, "long lay the world in sin and error pining."
"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). This is the reality from Heaven that resolves sin. The gospel of Jesus Christ is God’s amazing and solitary resolution for sin and sinners. The death of Jesus stands forever as God's most glorious act. And it was for the purpose of defeating sin.
Resolved 2009 will focus on sin. What is sin? How bad is it? Where did it come from? How can I be saved from it and its consequences? Is it possible to stop? Our 5th Resolved Conference will explore these questions and provide biblical answers.
John Owen wrote, "Be killing sin, or it will be killing you." Join us at Resolved '09 as we rally to understand and battle sin.
Conference Essentials
Dates: June 12th-15th
Location: Palm Springs, CA
Confirmed Speakers
John MacArthur
Rick Holland
Steve Lawson
C.J. Mahaney
John Piper

A Gospel of Power

One of the most dramatic moments in my life for the shaping of my theology took place in a seminary classroom. One of my professors went to the blackboard and wrote these words in bold letters: “Regeneration Precedes Faith.”
These words were a shock to my system. I had entered seminary believing that the key work of man to effect rebirth was faith. I thought that we first had to believe in Christ in order to be born again. I use the words in order here for a reason. I was thinking in terms of steps that must be taken in a certain sequence. I had put faith at the beginning. The order looked something like this:
“Faith - rebirth -justification.”I hadn’t thought that matter through very carefully. Nor had I listened carefully to Jesus’ words to Nicodemus. I assumed that even though I was a sinner, a person born of the flesh and living in the flesh, I still had a little island of righteousness, a tiny deposit of spiritual power left within my soul to enable me to respond to the Gospel on my own. Perhaps I had been confused by the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church. Rome, and many other branches of Christendom, had taught that regeneration is gracious; it cannot happen apart from the help of God.
No man has the power to raise himself from spiritual death. Divine assistance is necessary. This grace, according to Rome, comes in the form of what is called prevenient grace. “Prevenient” means that which comes from something else. Rome adds to this prevenient grace the requirement that we must “cooperate with it and assent to it” before it can take hold in our hearts.
This concept of cooperation is at best a half-truth. Yes, the faith we exercise is our faith. God does not do the believing for us. When I respond to Christ, it is my response, my faith, my trust that is being exercised. The issue, however, goes deeper. The question still remains: “Do I cooperate with God’s grace before I am born again, or does the cooperation occur after?” Another way of asking this question is to ask if regeneration is monergistic or synergistic. Is it operative or cooperative? Is it effectual or dependent? Some of these words are theological terms that require further explanation.
A monergistic work is a work produced singly, by one person. The prefix mono means one. The word erg refers to a unit of work. Words like energy are built upon this root. A synergistic work is one that involves cooperation between two or more persons or things. The prefix syn -
means “together with.” I labor this distinction for a reason. The debate between Rome and Luther hung on this single point. At issue was this: Is regeneration a monergistic work of God or a synergistic work that requires cooperation between man and God? When my professor wrote “Regeneration precedes faith” on the blackboard, he was clearly siding with the monergistic answer. After a person is regenerated, that person cooperates by exercising faith and trust. But the first step is the work of God and of God alone.
The reason we do not cooperate with regenerating grace before it acts upon us and in us is because we can- not. We cannot because we are spiritually dead. We can no more assist the Holy Spirit in the quickening of our souls to spiritual life than Lazarus could help Jesus raise him for the dead.
When I began to wrestle with the Professor’s argument, I was surprised to learn that his strange-sounding teaching was not novel. Augustine, Martin Luther, John Calvin, Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield - even the great medieval theologian Thomas Aquinas taught this doctrine. Thomas Aquinas is the Doctor Angelicus of the Roman Catholic Church. For centuries his theological teaching was accepted as official dogma by most Catholics. So he was the last person I expected to hold such a view of regeneration. Yet Aquinas insisted that regenerating grace is operative grace, not cooperative grace. Aquinas spoke of prevenient grace, but he spoke of a grace that comes before faith, which is regeneration.
These giants of Christian history derived their view from Holy Scripture. The key phrase in Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians is this: “…even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace have you been saved)” (Eph. 2:5). Here Paul locates the time when regeneration occurs. It takes place ‘when we were dead.’ With one thunderbolt of apostolic revelation all attempts to give the initiative in regeneration to man are smashed. Again, dead men do not cooperate with grace. Unless regeneration takes place first, there is no possibility of faith.
This says nothing different from what Jesus said to Nicodemus. Unless a man is born again first, he cannot possibly see or enter the kingdom of God. If we believe that faith precedes regeneration, then we set our thinking and therefore ourselves in direct opposition not only to giants of Christian history but also to the teaching of Paul and of our Lord Himself.- R.C. Sproul, “The Mystery of the Holy Spirit”