Sovereignty Study, Part 2a: God's Immutability

One of the most fascinating aspects of God is His immutability, which can be defined as the perfection of God by which He is devoid of all change in essence, attributes, consciousness, will and promises. In short, He is unchangeable.

 

All throughout Scripture we see evidence of God’s immutability and the attestations of His people who have been impacted by it. On the surface, the fact that God doesn’t change may seem easy to grasp and somewhat irrelevant for practical application, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. God’s immutability is in direct harmony with his eternality and infiniteness. If God were changeable, either by external forces, or somehow by His own will, then the possibility of Him being eternal and consistent in His promises would be up for question. The implications of that would be staggering, significantly casting doubt on His own revealed Word and our faith in Him.

 

Charles Haddon Spurgeon said with conviction:

“The doctrine of the immutability of God should be more considered than it is, for the neglect of it tinges the theology of many religious teachers and makes them utter many things of which they would have seen the absurdity long ago if they had remembered the divine declaration, “I am God, I change not, therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.”

As best as you can, think about God and how He has forever existed, even before the world began, knowing that He will continue to exist after the world is recreated. From the universal beginning to the apocalyptic end, He has told us what already happened and what will happen and has established the means for how we ought to live in the middle. He created time. He created existence. He created the past, present and future. How could a God who is subject to change, do this? How could God possibly orchestrate all of these incredibly complicated series of events to work out perfectly in the end if He was liable to change His mind somewhere down the road?

 

If this were the case, then the prophecies found in Scripture could potentially be wrong, thus nullifying the infallibility and veracity of Scripture. Our faith, originally founded in the promise of the forgiveness of sins, would be left in a panic, wondering if God would change His mind about that, too. The most important questions in life would have no final answers if God were not a God of unchanging finality.

 

The Essence of God Does Not Change

 

Does Scripture really get this specific about the immutability of God? It certainly does. As the first part of our definition stated, the immutability of God is the perfection of God by which He is devoid of all change in… essence.

 

Tozer once said,

“To say that God is immutable is to say that he never differs from Himself. The concept of a growing or developing God is not found in the Scriptures.”

Indeed, that is true. One of the most popular passages in the Bible referring to God’s unchanging nature, in fact, the same one that Spurgeon quoted, is Malachi 3:6, which simply says, “I, the Lord, do not change.”

 

The context around this verse is extremely important to understanding the significance of it. For one thing, God just got done saying in the preceding verse that He would be a swift witness against all kinds of sinners: sorcerers, adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside sojourners, and against those who do not fear the Lord.

 

It is after this that he states, “I, the Lord, do not change.”

 

Immediately following that, He says, “Therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.” Israel was not going to be completely destroyed due to their sins since God had promised Abraham that he would always have a great and vast nation, documented in Genesis 15. What is also important to remember is that Israel has always been on the hook for one thing that was essential to being God’s people: obedience.

 

When Moses arrived on the scene and was communing with God on Mt. Sinai during the burning bush event, God told Moses in Exodus 19, “If you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”

 

Since the Lord does not change, in essence, the Israelites knew they had a God who would never think of sin any differently than he did when He flooded the earth, but they also knew that He would be faithful to carry out His promise to be a great nation unto the Lord when they were obedient to God’s commands. If God varied on any of this, then what God would have to say would not be something that the Israelites could count on. He would be just as good as any man could be to his word, which is unreliable.

 

In between condemning sin and promising vengeance upon sinners, as well as affirming His promise remained to Abraham, God affirmed His own sovereignty by stating simply, “I, the Lord, do not change.”

 

James says it another way, “the Father of lights has no variation or shadow due to change” (1:17). Nothing He does alters who He is or contradicts what He has always been. He is the same yesterday, today and forever (Heb. 13:8).

 

Of equal importance is in understanding that God’s unchanging essence directly coincides with His eternal nature.

 

Of the earth and all that is in it, the psalmist says in chapter 102, “Of old you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you will remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away, but you are the same and your years have no end” (25-27).

 

Verse 27 brings both God’s immutability and eternal nature into the same thought, showing us that they are one together. Stephen Charnock, a Puritan theologian in the early 17^th century, is probably known best for his book The Existence and Attributes of God, which was published after his death in 1682. In his exposition of Psalm 102:27 he explains so wonderfully how much truth to God’s sovereignty is found here:

“The essence of God, with all the perfections of his nature, are pronounced the same, without any variation from eternity to eternity. So that the text does not only assert the eternal duration of God, but His immutability in that duration; His eternity is signified in that expression, “thou shalt endure”; His immutability in this, “thou art the same.” To endure argues indeed this immutability as well as eternity; for what endures is not changed and what is changed does not endure. “But thou art the same” does more fully signify it. He could not be the same if He could be changed into any other thing than what He is. The Psalmist therefore puts, not thou “hast been” or “shall be”, but “thou art” the same, without any alteration; thou art the same, that is, the same God, the same in essence and nature, the same in will and purpose, you do change all other things as you please; but you are immutable in every respect, and receive no shadow of change, though never so light and small. The Psalmist here alludes to the name Jehovah, I am, and does not only ascribe immutability to God, but excludes everything else from partaking in that perfection.”

It is no wonder that after this wonderful truth is written, the psalmist ends his psalm with, “The children of your servants shall dwell secure; their offspring shall be established before you” (28).

 

Tozer suggested that if God could indeed change, it would have to be in one of three directions…

“He must go from better to worse, or from worse to better; or, granted that the moral quality remain stable, he must change within Himself, as from immature to mature or from one order of being to another. It should be clear that God can move in none of these directions. His perfections forever rule out any such possibilities.”

God has always been infinitely perfect and fully holy without any possibility of attaining to something greater. He is the greatest source and example of perfection and holiness we will ever have because He is perfect and holy. His immutability goes hand in hand with His eternality, for if He could change, or was subject to change, then his ability to be our holy, saving, righteous God would be cast into doubt.

Let us not ever doubt that our God is unchanging and unchangeable, lest our own faith fail due to our own unwillingness to believe what Scripture has made so clear. Though the Lord, in His matchless glory and creative genius, has created beings like us humans, or animals, or processes, or insects like the Monarch Butterfly to change as a part of our finite ecosystem, He Himself does not change. Truly, it is for our benefit that the Bible has shown us this divine characteristic of God, so that our faith can stay strong and steadfast.

-How does God’s unchanging essence and eternal nature impact your understanding of Him?

-What were the implications we saw that would come about if God’s essence could change?

-What questions come to your mind now that we’ve seen that God’s essence is unchangeable?

-Could understanding God’s unchanging nature help you in sharing the Gospel more clearly? How so?

The Exclusivity of Christianity: Easter

I have heard over and over that Christianity and all of the church gatherings that it contains is supposed to be the most inclusive system in the world. Inclusive of all people in all nations. My response? This is absolutely true if all of these people believe the exclusive message of the cross.

Inclusivism is oftentimes propagated with the phrase “Come as you are”, but then there is less of a push to be changed from what you are to something holier and pure. Everyone who has come to believe in Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection had to come as they were, so to speak, but then the Holy Spirit regenerated us into life, from a dead state of spirituality.

Paul told the Ephesians more than once, “You were dead in sin.” He told the Colossians more than once, “You were dead in your sin.” We are born this way. Spiritually dead. (Eph. 2 & Col. 2)

Now, don’t let the word “spiritually” throw this whole concept out of the window for you. Spirituality is as real as mentality and reality itself. In fact, our spiritual state determines our eternal reality and drives our current mentality. Think about this.

You may not consider yourself spiritual, but indeed you are. You have a spirit. The question is: Is it dead? The answer is: We’re born with a dead spirit that has been passed along to us in a sinful world. It started when Adam first sinned with Eve in the Garden of Eden and then as they procreated, they could only reproduce more sinful human beings. Sin begets sin. It cannot produce righteousness.

In a world where many believe that non-life can somehow produce life in a natural, evolutionary way and without God’s help, it is no wonder that many also believe that people can manifest in themselves some form of genuine spiritual life without the powerful touch of the living God.

This is where the exclusivity of Christ comes into play. This is where historical, biblical Christianity is elevated above all other religions that claim to have spiritual life and a method to salvation. Have you ever wondered what the main differences were in all of the religions and the sects, therein? What is it about Christianity?

Let me tell you. Only Christianity, as laid out in the Bible (God’s inspired words) claims the following: That Jesus Christ is the Son of God, so he is God, and he is the only way to salvation.

Jehovah’s Witness’, Mormon’s, Muslim’s, even the Roman Catholic doctrine cannot uphold the claim that only by believing in Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection can you be completely forgiven of sins and inherit eternal life once and for all. Every other religion has some form of works involved. Some form of perpetual need for justification.

Ephesians 2:8-9 says that it is “by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

What is it again that we must place our faith in to be saved by this grace? Welcome to Easter.

The prophet Isaiah said, “He was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (53:5-6).

You see, with the sinful state that we begin in this life, we need a Savior. We are headed to Hell when left to our own devices. This is exactly why Jesus, the Messiah (the Christ), came! He doesn’t want anyone to perish without him. The wrath of God is a just wrath. We all deserve it. This is why the love of God provided an atonement that we never could have provided for ourselves.

“Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins” (Heb. 9:22).

“No one is righteous, no, not one…” (Rom. 3:10)

“All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…” (Rom. 3:23)

But wait!

Verse 24 continues… “and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by His blood, to be received by faith.”

The apostle Paul is writing this to the Romans and he goes on to explain what he just said: “This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”

The same God who we will suffer from His wrath if we do not believe is the same God that will freely justify us and forgive us if we believe in and put our faith in Jesus Christ’s sacrifice that took our place.

Jesus Christ was no ordinary man. Though he was flesh and blood, he was also fully God. This is something else that almost all religions differ on. Some say he was a prophet, or a good teacher, or even the brother of Satan! Listen to when Jesus asked his own disciples what they thought in Matthew 16:

Jesus: Who do people say that the Son of Man is?

Disciples: Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.

Jesus: But who do you say that I am?

Peter: You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.

Jesus: Blessed are you Peter! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.

This is foundational and necessary to the Gospel message. If Jesus was not the Son of God then he would not be a fitting sacrifice for our sins because he would not be pure and spotless, or blameless. This would change everything! 2 Corinthians 5:21 says that “he made him to be [like] sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

Peter made the great confession that every Christian makes: Jesus is the Son of God. Even the centurion helping to oversee the crucifixion of Jesus, after seeing the darkness and commotion with Jesus breathing his last breath, stated, “Truly this man was the Son of God!” We would hope that this man’s evident devastating realization would have led him to place his faith in the man he just crucified.

The exclusive claim of Christianity is that Jesus is the Son of God, so he is God.

Finally, the ultimate capstone to all Christian doctrine and joy is the resurrection of Jesus! This is what we celebrate on Easter Sunday.

Jesus warned his disciples on numerous occasions that he would be killed, but that he would also then be brought back to life. In Matthew 16:21 it says “From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.”

Again in Matthew 17:22-13: “As they were gathering in Galilee, Jesus said to them, ‘The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day.’ And they were greatly distressed.”

Finally, in chapter 20, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.”

This actually happened.

The Apostle Paul, writing to the Corinthians again with passion, said, “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures […]” (1 Cor. 15:3-4).

People, this was it! It was finished. Christ came for us to believe in him for eternal life. To submit to his lordship as the Son of God and believe in his sacrifice as sufficient for covering all of our sin. We submit to Him in obedience to His commands, which is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.

If Jesus had not been raised from the dead, then as Paul said in 1 Cor. 15:17 & 19, our faith would be futile and we would still be lost in our sins. Of all people, we would be the most to be pitied!

“The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (v. 56).

I urge you…be reconciled to God. Our sin is real. The penalty of God’s wrath and eternal Hell is real. It is real fire and real anguish, but we have the way out of our sin and its penalty, which is found in the death and resurrection of Jesus, the Christ! Praise God for his love and mercy to offer this to us.

All who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved.

The exclusive claim of Christ’s message is that no one can get to the Father, except through him (John 14:6). Not some spiritual Christ consciousness that false spiritual gurus are perpetuating. Not some Jesus who was just a prophet and teacher that other religions claim. Not some Jesus who needs Mary’s intervention to be convinced to forgive us over and over. No…Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, is born of God (1 Jn. 5:1). Whoever repents of their sin and believes in Christ’s death and resurrection as the satisfaction for our sins’ penalty will not perish, but have eternal life.

As you consider on this Friday, the agony and weight of God’s wrath that Christ bore for us, let us bow in humility to our Lord in thanks and awe. If we have not believed in Him yet, let us not delay, for the day is coming when we will all give an account of this very decision to repent and believe. Let us also anticipate Sunday because it is coming!

“The angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said’ (Matt. 28:5-6).

Happy Easter everyone!

A Study of the Full Sovereignty of God, Part 1

Webster’s definition: Supreme power or authority; Supreme excellence; Freedom from external control.

 

Webster gave a decent definition of the word, but it falls short of all that it encompasses when speaking of our Holy, living God. 

 

Scripture beautifully articulates Jesus’ deity, sovereignty and preeminence in Colossians 1:15-20:

 

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.”

Why this?

 

Why study the sovereignty of God?

Is it necessary to believe in?

What would the implications on our faith be either way?

Could God be sovereign over some, or most, things, but not all things?

 

If the Bible makes one thing unmistakably clear from beginning to end, it is that God is sovereign. The belief or disbelief in the sovereignty of God can easily be the one thing that makes or breaks our understanding of God and our faith as a whole. Whether or not we believe it will have vast implications on everything we do and say. As believers, dedicated to the Word of God, we must believe in this crucial aspect of God, or else the conviction will be sucked right out of us in a world full of trials, tribulations and man-centered philosophies that are so prevalent, even in evangelicalism today.

 

Put another way, our belief or disbelief in God’s sovereignty will determine whether or not we have a high view of God, or a low view of God. The implications of our belief will be either glorious, or disastrous.

 

A.W. Tozer once said,

“So necessary to the church is a lofty concept of God that when that concept in any measure declines, the church with her worship and her moral standards declines along with it. The first step down for any church is taken when it surrenders its high opinion of God.”

What this study will hopefully do for you is raise your view of God even more. If it is already high, then hopefully you will have even more reason to worship God with what we will study in this setting. No matter what, our view of God could never be too high.

 

The Breadth of God’s Sovereignty

Salvation
What we will do in this study is take a comprehensive look at what the Bible teaches about the doctrine of election and predestination as well as seeing if there is anything to help us with the seeming paradox of free will. The answers are in the text of Scripture and it is important that we know it and teach it because it will determine whether or not we believe everything Scripture says and whether or not we have a high or low view of God.

Hopefully, this will spark the age old questions in your mind that are worth discussing and in fact answering from Scripture:

-What about free will, or human responsibility? How can we be liable to sin?
-Does God predestine people to Hell?
-Are we robots with no real influence?
-If God chooses, then why evangelize?

These questions are crucial for you and I to know. These are some of the first questions that non-believers sometimes ask and they are certainly always asked by people within the Church. The amazing thing is that they can all be answered in the pages of Scripture, so there is no reason for us not to learn them and be changed by them. They are in there for a reason.

Current Events
God’s sovereign rule extends to more than just the Church’s salvation. He orchestrates even the secular current events according to his pleasure and purpose, creating times of peace as well as times of disaster. He sets rulers in their throne as we read in Colossians 1:15-20, whether good or bad, in accordance to his will. Dictators, monarchs, presidents and prime ministers are all within his sovereign rule, being placed in their prominent positions for a reason.

We may often think that bad rulers are proof of where God is not working, but while these rulers may be evil and acting in ways that God will one day judge them for, they are still sovereignly placed and they will still give an account for everything they did on the Day of Judgment. The Antichrist is a perfect example of this.

Through Isaiah the prophet, God gives a summary statement of this when he says, “I form light and create darkness, I make well-being and create calamity, I am the Lord who does all these things” (45:9).

-Why would God allow an atheist to rule a country?

-Isn’t God good and loving? Why would he allow or cause a natural disaster to kill people?

-What about Christian persecution? Would God really allow that?

 

These questions and more will be answered in Scripture regarding the sovereignty of God in current events as well as all past events. Understanding this aspect of God’s sovereignty will change our lives in how we view hardships and trials that are normally viewed as too much to handle. This part by itself will be one of the most incredible ways to have peace in all situations and circumstances that could possibly come your way.

 

Personal Plans

Another way we could break down the breadth of God’s sovereignty is in recognizing that He accomplishes His will by determining where we will live and what kind of business we will go about doing. Times and places of individuals are not outside of God’s sovereign control.

 

While the Bible continually emphasizes that we will be responsible for every careless word we speak (Matt. 12:36) and that we are to manage ourselves appropriately (1 Pet. 2:12), we would be wrong to assume that we are acting completely free from the divine work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Even for unbelievers, we would be wrong to assume that they are living completely free of God’s control and ability to manage even them.

 

We will see just what the Bible says about God’s rule in our daily lives and year to year progression through time, again, reconciling the fact that we are creatures given a responsibility to be good stewards with what we have, implying an accountability that goes along with our choices. In our personal lives, we exercise a type of freedom that is still not so free as to be independent of the working of God.

 

The Aspects of God’s Sovereignty

 

There are a number of specific aspects of God’s sovereignty that sum up just how supreme and preeminent He is. While words could never do justice to his utter holiness and power, we can still articulate the basic truth of His divine and sovereign nature by breaking it down to some logical pieces. In this study we will look at these aspects and discuss what the implications of them are to our faith.

 

We will be looking at the following realities of God’s sovereignty:

-Omnipotence (All powerful)

-Omnipresence (All present)

-Omniscience (All knowing)

-Immutability (Unchangeable)

 

If we come to a firm understanding of these truths about God, then our view of Him will become so much higher than it has before and it will illicit true heartfelt worship since our response to His word will be grounded in spirit and in truth (Jn. 4:23). Consequently, if we refuse to believe these truths about God, then many more implications arise about our understanding of God and our faith in Him. Consistency and conviction will be sucked right out of us if we do not believe in God’s sovereignty.

 

Allowing Scripture to Work

 

Let us not shy away from these glorious revelations of our Lord of the Church that is found in Scripture, but embrace them aggressively. Let us not allow the past condemnations and denials of people we know who reject God’s sovereignty to scare us into thinking this topic is not worth broaching. Learning about God’s sovereign nature will change us and everything we do. Our view of God will be immensely higher and our worship will be more profound and deep.

 

Scripture is always the first place we should go to find motivation, conviction, exhortation and truth. It is the one thing that will change us, through the working of the Holy Spirit. Let’s look at God’s revelation about Himself to understand Him better, shall we? This will affect how we do everything:

 

-The way we run a church

-The way we preach

-The way we evangelize

-The way we react to events and circumstances

-The way we study Scripture

-The way we worship, or lead worship

-The way we walk with the Lord each day

 

Tozer sums up my own heartfelt conviction about this beautiful and life-changing study:

“I believe there is scarcely an error in doctrine or a failure in applying Christian ethics that cannot be traced finally to imperfect and ignoble thoughts about God.”

In His Sovereign Grip,

Ben

If God's Will Doesn't Change, Is Prayer Pointless?

This question is loaded with implications that will start to help us in understanding the relationship between the human will and God’s sovereign will. Why would it be necessary to pray to God and ask for anything, whether related to our own well being, or someone else’s salvation, when He has always had an unchanging and predetermined plan in the world? Is our prayer to God futile?

Probably, the best way to start is to note that the Lord Jesus Himself told us to pray. In fact, He told us how to pray, didn’t He? He gave us an example of how to pray in Matthew 6. Before we look closely at what Jesus prayed it is important to note that immediately preceding this he instructed the people to not waste their time and words with pointless phrases that amount to nothing. Many people thought that the sheer volume of their prayers would somehow have a better effect on God, giving them more sway with Him. This was a legalistic tendency that Jesus was speaking against.

He said, “When you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words” (6:7). His insinuation is clearly that they were wrong for thinking so. Being heard by God had nothing to do with the amount of words they uttered in vain. Even more remarkably, He continues, “Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him” (v8).

So, here we have Jesus telling us how not to pray since God already knows what everyone needs. He is pointedly telling us that He is omniscient. Then He goes on to tell us how we should pray, thus revealing that prayer is not pointless, rather it is still meaningful and appropriate. How did Jesus tell us to pray?

Read Matthew 6:9-13

1) Approach holy God humbly.

In verse nine, the first thing Jesus said to do was to acknowledge the Father as Holy. It is fitting that when we approach God in prayer that we do so in the utmost reverence and awe; not in a flippant or demanding way.

2) Acknowledge God’s sovereignty and Lordship.

In verse 10, Jesus gives yet another indicator that we ought to be humble when we pray, always submitting to the will of the Father. Begging or demanding something from God does no good if it is not God’s will. We should pray that His will be done regardless of what our concern or request is. A heart of true submission will be content with whatever God allows to happen because our true hope is found in God’s sovereignty.

3) Don’t be selfish.

In verse 11, Jesus says, “Give us this day our daily bread”. Again, not asking for the world, but for enough to satisfy our basic needs. The Apostle Paul said that he learned to be content in all situations, whether he had his daily bread or not (Phil. 4:11). While God already knows what we need and want, we still place ourselves in the proper position of acknowledging our dependence on Him for those things when we come to Him in prayer. This is the balance that we’re looking for. We aren’t going to God to inform Him, rather we are going to seek His will and ask for His will to be done.

4) If you’re going to ask God for anything, ask for forgiveness.   

At this time when Christ was telling us here how to pray, He had not been crucified and raised yet, so it is noteworthy that the concept of going to God and asking for forgiveness of sins has always been a theme in the Bible. It’s important to remember that. Throwing an animal on the altar in stark ceremonialism didn’t mean anything without a truly repentant heart. When we pray, we must be careful to approach God with the understanding that we need His forgiveness in the same way that we also forgive people who offend us. The ministry of reconciliation we have is one that requires forgiveness (2 Cor. 5).

5) Pray for your real need: Deliverance from evil.

As a final statement in this prayer, Jesus tells us to pray for deliverance from evil and to ask God to keep us away from temptation. The ultimate end of man will determine whether or not a person humbly submitted to the Lordship of Christ, or whether he went along with his evil tendencies, feeding the temptations that came along the way, living in sin.

Since it is our own evil tendencies that tempt us and not God Himself, we need to ask for His help to defeat our sinful flesh tendencies. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10:13 that God will always provide a way of escape from temptation, so that we can endure it. If we’re completely honest with ourselves, this verse is essentially saying that we have no excuse for giving into sin. “God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability,” Paul says. That’s why he said to the Romans, “If God is for us, who can be against us?”

Earlier in this passage we see a beautiful harmony of God’s sovereignty working in prayer, while also touching on the fact that it is the Spirit who enables us to overcome the flesh.

“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.  And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”

-What three things does this passage say the Spirit does for us?

-How does this passage reconcile God’s all-knowing and unchanging sovereignty with our need to pray?

-How does this make you think differently about prayer?

Jesus gave us an example of how to pray and when He left in the ascension He told His disciples to wait for the Spirit to come in the near future. Since we are now indwelt with the Holy Spirit, who is just as much God as the Father and the Son, we have Christ in us to continue interceding for us and showing us how to pray. The most important part of this Romans passage we read is that “the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”

Since we know that God’s will is just as unchanging as He is in essence, we can be confident that when we pray with a humble heart, seeking the Lord’s will, then we will be acknowledging His sovereignty and His will as the most important thing, which is what Jesus told us to do. Furthermore, we will be built up in the Spirit who will help us in our weaknesses, which will help us resist the flesh that is still such a prevalent fact of life.

Praying is never pointless. It is necessary and it is worshipful to God when we seek Him and come to Him in submission and humility. When we pray to God we are allowing the Spirit to work in us to submit to God’s will, rather than pushing our own. It is completely in harmony with His sovereignty and not in contradiction to it because we are not exercising a completely free will apart from God, but a submissive will to His. The Spirit in us will help us line up appropriately with God the Father. Prayer is a beautiful portrayal of His sovereign work.

To Call, Or To Be Called: Grace Found in 2nd Thessalonians

I recently had the very distinct honor to attend a small conference of around 100 men in the pastoral ministry where Dr. John MacArthur and Dr. Steve Lawson were both the keynote speakers. Dr. MacArthur has been a favorite of mine for many years now, so having the opportunity to meet him and listen to him teach from the Word of God in person was a special opportunity. Likewise, Dr. Lawson had a deep impact on all of us there in laying on us a sense of urgency to ‘up the ante’ in our preaching and worship ministries.

For any of you who are familiar with these men, the call to ‘up the ante’ was not to make a service more exciting, appealing, or modern, so to speak, but to make it more biblical. Dr. Lawson so wonderfully stated: “You cannot be too biblical. Whatever amount of Bible you use in your sermons…double it. Triple it!”

So much has been lost in the last few decades indicated by the Church’s waning dedication to the authoritative Word of God by buckling under the pressure of social, easy-believism as Dr. MacArthur detailed so well in “The Gospel According To Jesus”, perhaps one of the best books he has written.

The whole weekend just inspired me more to think like a Reformer in looking for the revelation of God in every single word of Scripture and to count it as authoritative over all else. With this said, let’s dive into 2 Thessalonians and see where God’s grace can be found in how he effectually calls us to Him for salvation. Let’s see what it is that God is telling us in the writing of Paul’s letter to the church in Thessalonica.

If you’ve read any of the earlier posts related to finding this concept of grace in the New Testament, then you know that we’ve discovered just how prevalent the doctrine of sovereign election comes through almost every book. Why study this topic? It is not to be hyper-Calvinistic because that would be wrong. It is to understand, though, what the Word of God says and in most of the NT books, God’s sovereignty, especially in salvation, is a backbone of the entire Gospel. This cannot be understated. I’ve said it before: if God were not sovereign then He would be no god at all.

We’ve gone through James, Galatians, & 1^st Thessalonians so far and now 2^nd Thessalonians is up next in chronological order. Reviewing my notes, I had counted six different mentions of the concept of sovereign election. Specifically, the Greek word for called, transliterated as kaleo, was used twice. We’ve seen this word before haven’t we?

It is used in our first reference, which is 1:11, but in a shorter form of kaleo, which is klesis, but the meaning is the same: “To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power…”

This verse is loaded from beginning to end with the overall utter dependence on God for everything. 1) God would make them worthy 2) of His calling 3) by His power. It is God who makes us worthy for His own gift of salvation in the first place and then He also empowers us to do good works afterwards. It is all through Him. Do you see the significance of this? Let us never forget how hopeless and helpless we are to do anything fruitful apart from His power and grace.

This letter is a lot like the first letter Paul wrote to the Thessalonians. It was very encouraging and commending, rather than corrective and condemning. The Thessalonians encouraged Paul greatly in their growing faith and love for the truth.

He says in this verse, “to this end…” What end? This indicates that we need to know what the preceding passage said. Verse 10 says, “When he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed.”

He had also just finished talking about how the justice of God would one day prevail and inflict vengeance on all who did not believe or obey the Gospel of Jesus Christ and his judgment would give relief to those like them who were being afflicted in persecution.

“To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling…”

Here is where the word klesis comes in to show God’s sovereign calling to salvation just like we saw defined in the past few posts. By definition, it means to call by name, but more specifically can be meant as giving a name to someone, or for someone to bear a name or title.

The idea of God giving us a new name to indicate a newness in salvation is as old as the prophets and as new as the future. Pay attention to what Isaiah said in 62:1-2:

“For Zion's sake I will not keep silent,
    and for Jerusalem's sake I will not be quiet,
until her righteousness goes forth as brightness,
    and her salvation as a burning torch.
The nations shall see your righteousness,
    and all the kings your glory,
and you shall be called by a new name
    that the mouth of the Lord will give.”

Then in Revelation we are reminded of what is to come. This is remarkably beautiful:

“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it” (2:17).

“The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name” (3:12).

Fascinating, is it not? Let’s retrace our steps back to the verse. The Lord God Almighty is the one who makes us worthy of this amazing gift of faith to receive His grace by calling us by name and giving us a new one! We are, after all, a new creation as this same author, Paul, said to the Corinthians in his second letter to them. Wouldn’t becoming a whole new creation almost demand a new name? God thinks so. We are His now.

As Paul continues his letter to these dear children in the faith he comforted them by basically telling them he never said or wrote anything that Jesus had already come back. Apparently someone had spread that rumor and the Thessalonians were afraid it was true. Paul confirmed it was not and proceeded to explain the string of events that would preclude the second coming of Christ.

After saying these things and concluding, again, that all who do not believe will be condemned he says in verses 13 and 14, “But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the first fruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

The point is clear. They were chosen. Remember, in his first letter he even said it was obvious they were chosen because the Gospel came to them “not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction” (1 Thess. 1:4).

It’s important to see the difference between being chosen and being called. It comes down to a matter of timing in the whole scheme of things.  Ephesians 1 says that we were chosen before the foundation of the world. The choosing was done a long time ago. It was not done after you were born once God could see if He liked you enough to choose you. That would discredit and deny his sovereignty, by definition.

However, once you did finally come along, God called you. You are not born redeemed. You are born depraved. You can be elected, but not yet saved. God still has to call you to Him in order to fulfill his perfect will and purpose in choosing you before the world was created. It’s a divine process, divinely accomplished.

So, as our verse of discussion says, “God chose you as the first fruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. To this he called [kaleo] you through our gospel…”

He chose us and then called us through the Gospel. This is so incredibly important. Too many churches do not believe that this is the only way to legitimately call people to Christ, in repentance, for forgiveness of sins.

Romans 10:13-14 says, “For ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?”

The Greek word in this Romans passage for calling on the name of the Lord is not the same that we have seen of God’s calling us. The word is transliterated as Epikaleomai, which specifically means to call upon, blame, accuse, appeal to, charge something to someone, etc. In modern terms it could be like “calling someone on the carpet” or “calling someone out” for something.  It is not always negative, because it is used when we are making an appeal to someone, or calling out to someone. This is different than God calling (kaleo) us to Himself.

Now, if you are really perceptive you will notice that this word Epikaleomai has the word kaleo embedded in it. Both words are used for “calling”, but the different transliterations have different meanings, specifically.

What is really fascinating and most important in our understanding of these differences is that the word kaleo itself comes from the base word Keleuo, which means to command, or to order. Understand that when God calls someone to Him he is commanding it. It will happen. This is why when we see the word kaleo used it is always an efficacious call. The command will have the desired effect because it is God’s command and will.

On the other hand, going back to Epikaleomai, the epi indicates: at, over, against, across, etc. This is why the whole word means to call at, or call over to, or call upon the name of the Lord. Do you see these important differences?

Going back to the Romans passage, we see that God uses preaching as the means to explain the Scriptures to people, so they can hear the truth that will set them free. He uses people to spread the message. This brings the clarity to understanding missions in the context of what we know as Calvinism, or the doctrines of grace, which are other ways of distinguishing what was in the Bible all along. Just because God has chosen us, we still have an obligation to proclaim the Gospel so his elect can respond in the way he has determined. God’s method for evangelism is with his own revealed truth in Scripture. Use it!

In this verse, God’s chosen people are then called with an efficacious call, through the proclamation of the Gospel that draws people to Him. The initiation is always from the Holy Spirit and it is irresistible.

The next reference is in this same frame of thought that Paul has been in. It is only two verses later, so let’s read on to that point…

“So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter. Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.”

Remember, the best way to understand grace and the best way to define grace is in God’s calling us to him. We would not have the capacity to believe in Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection had it not been for God’s election.

This knowledge should instantly fill us with a sense of awe and wonder that fills us with unassailable joy. Knowing this, the Apostle Paul says, “God our Father […] loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace…” Eternal comfort and hope can only come through grace, the gracious gift that was given to us by Him.

Finally, in chapter three we see more of an indirect confirmation of what the writer knew to be true… that God is the one who enables us to glorify Him and live for Him in obedience. God is the one who makes us firm in our faith and steadfast in our obedience.

“Finally, brothers, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored, as happened among you, and that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men. For not all have faith. But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one. And we have confidence in the Lord about you, that you are doing and will do the things that we command. May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ” (2 Thess. 3:1-5).

Paul said that the Lord was faithful to establish them and guard them from the evil one. He prayed that the Lord would direct their hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ. He knew where real perseverance came from. It was not from a human intellect or manly stamina. It was from the power of God.

Let us never underestimate the depth and breadth of the grace of God.

In His Sovereign Grip,

Ben