Are learning the Biblical languages important?

Westminster Seminary professor Elizabeth Groves on why learning the biblical languages is so important:

What would you change?

A friend of mine sent me an email a few days ago that really got me thinking.

None of us who attend a church would claim to have found the perfect denomination (or non-denomination) right? I mean, as long as it's made up of the people it's going to have room for growth. So that's where the question starts. Here's what I was asked:What do you believe are the key areas of [your church's] doctrine or culture which need the most biblical clarification among the general membership? In your opinion, what doctrines or practices seem to be most widely misunderstood (from a biblical standpoint), and yet strongly held?

In other words, if you could hand a typical member a one-page tract that would gently challenge their thinking from the Scriptures in a few key areas, what would you hope to see addressed in the tract?So, let me pose that question to you, my reader. Is there any thing you would address?

Or maybe you've found the perfect church.

I'd love to get lots of feedback in the comments, but most of all I want to challenge you to think positively critical. I want to challenge our sense of complacency in church attendance. Think about how you could make your church better. Because that's where it starts.

Or maybe you think we shouldn't ask these kinds of questions. I'd love to hear from you guys too. Let me know why you think what you think.

Peace

Does believing in Sovereignty really matter?

I found comfort in this article this morning. Hopefully you will also. Remember, if you're reading this in facebook, the HTML formatting doesn't import well, so it may be easier to read here: http://lrknapp99.blogspot.com/2009/09/does-believing-in-sovereignty-really.html

10 Reasons Why Believing in the Sovereignty of God Matters

September 16, 2009
By John Piper

Read this article on our website.

What we mean by the sovereignty of God is captured in paragraph 3.2 of The Bethlehem Baptist Church Elder Affirmation of Faith. The dozens of biblical passages used to support this paragraph are found in the online version.

3.2 We believe that God upholds and governs all things—from galaxies to subatomic particles, from the forces of nature to the movements of nations, and from the public plans of politicians to the secret acts of solitary persons—all in accord with His eternal, all-wise purposes to glorify Himself, yet in such a way that He never sins, nor ever condemns a person unjustly; but that His ordaining and governing all things is compatible with the moral accountability of all persons created in His image.

Why does it matter whether we believe this? Ten reasons.

1. The good news of God’s substituting his Son for us on the cross depends on it.

“Truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.” (Acts 4:27­–28)

2. The perseverance of the saints in the fear of God depends on it.

“I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me.” (Jeremiah 32:40)

3. Progress in holiness now, and the final perfecting of the saints in the end, depends on it.

“Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:12–13)

“But you have come to Mount Zion . . . and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect.” (Hebrews 12:22–23)

4. The assurance of God’s final triumph over all natural and supernatural evil depends on it.

“I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose.’” (Isaiah 46:9­–10)

5. The comfort that there is a wise and loving purpose in all our calamities and loses, and that God will work all things together for our good, depends on it.

“Though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love. . . . Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that good and bad come?” (Lamentations 3:32–38)

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

“As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.” (Genesis 50:20)

6. The hope that God will give life to the spiritually dead depends on it.

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved.” (Ephesians 2:4–5)

“The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” (John 3:8)

7. Well-grounded expectation of answered prayer depends on it.

“Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved.” (Romans 10:1)

“Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. . . . For the promise is for . . . everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” (Acts 2:38–39)

8. Boldness in the face of seeming hopeless defeat depends on it.

“Be of good courage, and let us be courageous for our people, and for the cities of our God, and may the Lord do what seems good to him.” (2 Samuel 10:12)

“Do not be afraid or dismayed before the king of Assyria and all the horde that is with him, for there are more with us than with him.” (2 Chronicles 32:7)

9. Seeing and savoring the revelation of the fullness of God’s glory depends on it.

“But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, ‘Why have you made me like this?’ . . . What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power . . . [acted] in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy?” (Romans 9:20–23)

10. Praise that matches the fullness of God’s power, wisdom, and grace depends on it.

“Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases. . . . We will bless the Lord from this time forth and forevermore.” (Psalm 115:3, 18)

“Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised.” (Psalm 96:4)

The doctrine of God’s sovereignty is an anchor for the troubled soul, a hope for the praying heart, a stability for fragile faith, a confidence in pursuing the lost, a guarantee of Christ’s atonement, a high mystery to keep us humble, and a solid ground for all praise. And oh so much more. O Lord, turn this truth for the triumph of your saving and sanctifying grace.

Confident and comforted with you,

Pastor John

Responsibility, Inability, and Grace

If you're reading this in facebook and the chart doesn't make sense, read it on my blog here: http://lrknapp99.blogspot.com/2009/09/responsibility-inability-and-grace.html

Responsibility, Inability and Grace

"All that the Father gives Me will come to Me..." - John 6:37

John Hendryx

The truth of God's word is honored not in holding exclusively to one truth to the exclusion of another truth, but in believing the whole counsel of God. The Bible plainly teaches that man is responsible to repent and believe the gospel just as it plainly teaches that he is morally unwilling and unable to do so. These two seemingly contradictory assertions can be reconciled when we understand that even the very desire for faith, by which we believe in Christ who justifies sinners, belongs to us, not by nature but by a gift of grace, that is, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit amending our will and turning it from unbelief to faith and from godlessness to godliness. The Apostle Paul says, "And I am sure that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ" (Phil. 1:6). And again, "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God" (Eph. 2:8).

Furthermore some teach that God has mercy upon us when, apart from his regenerative grace, we believe, will and desire, but do not confess that it is by the work and inspiration of the Holy Spirit within us that we even have the faith, the will, or the desire to do all these things; If we make the assistance of grace depend on our humility or obedience but don't agree that it is a gift of grace itself that we are obedient and humble, we then contradict the Scripture which says, "What have you that you did not receive?" (1 Cor. 4:7), and, "But by the grace of God I am what I am" (1 Cor. 15:10).

The following chart shows that the Bible clearly teaches both man's responsibility to believe the gospel and his inability to do so. The third column helps us to understand how those whom God has set his affection on infallibly come to faith, in spite of this inability and, most of all, how this gives all glory to God in the work of salvation: Augustine once said, "God bids us do what we cannot, that we may know what we ought to seek from him."

(This chart is loosely based on a chart by Lamar McKinney)

The Responsibility of Man	The Inability of Man	Monergistic Grace of God
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Matt. 11:28	No man can come to me, . . . John 6:44a	. . . except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. John 6:44b
...whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. John 3:16	...men loved the darkness rather than the Light...and will not come into the light... John 3:20, 21	.."But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God." John 3:21 Note: there are, indeed, those who come to the light -- namely those whose deeds are the work of God. "Wrought in God" means worked by God. Apart from this gracious work of God all men hate the light of God and will not come to him lest their evil be exposed.
Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Isa 55:6	There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. Rom 3:11	. . . I was found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me. Rom 10:20b
This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ... 1 John 3:23	"...the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. Romans 8:7 you do not hear, because you are not of God. John 8:47	"...and these whom He called, He also justified; Rom 8:30 ...and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. Acts 13:48
God...commandeth all men every where to repent. Acts 17:30	...the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him John 14:7	"...if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth." 2 Tim 2:25
. . . whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. Rev 22:17b	So then it is not of him that willeth, . . . Rom 9:16a	Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power,. . . Ps 110:3a
Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. Isa 45:22	. . . Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. John 3:3a	. . . The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest . . . see that Just One, . . .. Acts 22:14
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: John 1:12	But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 1 Cor 2:14	But as many as received him, . . . were born, not of . . the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. John 1:12-13
. . . if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, . . . ROM 10:9	. . . no man can say that Jesus is Lord . . . 1 Cor 12:3b	. . . but by the Holy Ghost. 1 Cor 12:3b
. . . make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, . . ? Ezek 18:31	The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: . . . Jer 17:9	A new heart also will I give you, . . . and I will take away the stony heart . . . Ezek 36:26
"If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me." Matt 19:21	"Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." Matt 19:23	"Then who can be saved?" And looking at them Jesus said to them, "With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." Matt 25b-26

"God knoweth we have nothing of ourselves, therefore in the covenant of grace he requireth no more than he giveth, and giveth what he requireth, and accepteth what he giveth." - Richard Sibbes

The Altar Call

An excellent brief video outlining the concept of the altar call, the decisions for Christ, and the historical church. It's a relatively new concept and a damaging one. However, it's so embedded in evangelical Christianity that many of you are questioning if you should even watch this video based on what I just wrote.

If you're reading this on facebook, it doesn't import video's from my blog, so here's the link:
http://lrknapp99.blogspot.com/2009/09/altar-call.html