What is Faith?

Faith According To Mormons

Occasionally, I meet with Mormon missionaries on campus and ask them questions about their beliefs. They tend to be very friendly and painfully agreeable, to the point that, based on their answers, it’s difficult to tell the difference between Mormonism and Christianity. After asking difficult, pointed questions, finding unsatisfactory answers, and answering with a rebuttal, the usual response is that you simply need to have faith and the inner conviction of the Holy Spirit will guide you to the truth of Mormonism. I am told to have faith in order that I may know that Mormonism is true. In other words, I am asked to suspend my critical faculties when judging the assertions of the Mormon Church, opting instead for subjective internal feelings that are accepted on faith.

Faith According to Atheists

As friendly and agreeable as most Mormon missionaries are, most Atheist missionaries are that angry and disagreeable. An exhaustingly jocular movement based around the satirical Flying Spaghetti Monster began in order to mock religions for accepting assertions based on faith. The thrust of the argument, after cutting through a few miles of sarcasm, is that if you’re willing to believe in God on faith apart from evidence, then you’re no different than someone who believes that the world was created by a monster made of pasta. Again, the definition of faith in the view of the Atheist is what enables a religious person to judge a set of assertions to be true apart from or in opposition to objective reasons.

Whaduhya Know!

Hebrews 11
1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 For by it the people of old received their commendation. 3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.

The Atheists were right, huh? No, I hope you don’t read this passage that superficially. What does Hebrews 11 mean in context? Go back to chapter 10. Remember, the original manuscripts have no headings, and no chapter or verse divisions. Notice that all the chapters begin with words like, “therefore,” “since,” and “now.” When Hebrews 11 begins with, “Now faith…” it is continuing from a chain of arguments that goes all the way back to the beginning of the letter.

Hebrews 10
19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

Notice, the justification for faith is not blind. It is not belief in assertions suspended in the air entirely unsupported. The reason for faith is the faithfulness of God, “for he who promised is faithful.”

My Faithful Wife

As a newlywed, I really love my wife. I have faith in her. We are faithful to each other. My faith in her should be an honor because when I declare, “I trust my wife,” I am really saying that I consider her trustworthy. Suppose my wife asked me, “Ben, why do you consider me trustworthy?”, and I answer, “because I just do!” She would be incredibly insulted. Hallie has done things and proven herself time and time again that she is faithful and trustworthy. When Hallie reports something to me, I believe her, not because I relax my brain and refuse to think, but because Hallie has proven that she is trustworthy. In the same way, Christians put their faith in Jesus because he is trustworthy, not because we have turned off our brains.

God Proves Himself to Israel

The Israelites were people who constantly wavered in their faithfulness to God. It seems that they were always hesitant to trust in God and always quick to abandon him. Yet these were people who walked across the parted Red Sea, who ate the bread from Heaven in the wilderness, who saw Moses’ face glow when he brought them the commandments from Mt. Sinai, and watched the walls of Jericho fall without siege. God was speaking along the way, saying things like “…that you may know that the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel,” “…that you may know that I, the Lord, sanctify you,” and “…that you may know that I am the Lord your God.” God is constantly doing things in order to prove himself to his people. He has always required faith in him, but he has always provided his people with reasons to believe him. This is why people are morally culpable for their faith! For the Jews to reject the Lord is for them to blindfold their eyes to what he has done.

Jesus Proves his Divinity

Jesus wants you to believe that he is God, that he created the world, that he died for your sins, and that he rose from the dead, but Jesus is not asking to believe simply because you believe. Throughout his earthly ministry, Jesus constantly justifies the things he does using Old Testament scripture. He enters debates and offers evidences so that you may believe. Meanwhile, he is going throughout the Roman world privately changing water into wine and transfiguring into a celestial form, and publicly healing the blind, the sick, and the lame, walking on water, raising the dead, and multiplying food. When the disciples are skeptical that Jesus rose from the dead bodily, he showed them his hands, and asked to eat broiled fish to prove that it was him and that he was not a spirit, but flesh and bones. Paul reports that over 500 people at a time witnesses the resurrected Jesus. Jesus does not simply command belief in him without doing anything that would warrant it, he proves it time and time again.

But I Wasn’t There

It would be fantastic to have lived in the first century and witnessed the life and work of Jesus personally, but unfortunately for us we can’t. How then do we know whether these proofs are historical? Well, how do we know that anything is historical? These events occurred before photography, video, and audio recording existed. Before you’re tempted to claim that we can’t know things without photos, videos, or recordings, remember that to make such a statement means that we have to throw away all history prior to the inventions of recording devices. In all matters of history, historians rely on witnesses, documents, and testimonies and can establish credibility based on objective features.

Peter Proves Jesus is the Messiah

Throughout his preaching to the unbelieving masses in the book of Acts, Peter calls people to believe based on proofs and reasons.  Throughout his sermons Peter exposits the Old Testament to show how what was was foretold, has been fulfilled. He doesn’t call them to believe for no reason, but because of the soundness of scripture. Even when miracles surrounded his preaching, Peter never once pointed at them to prove that these things were so, but insisted on the scripture’s testimony and his firsthand witness. In his second letter, Peter expounds on the merit of his testimony saying,

2 Peter 1: 16 For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” 18 we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. 19 And we have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, 20 knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. 21 For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

Do Christians Believe Anything Without Evidence?

Given that evidence supports the assertions of Christianity, do we believe anything apart from evidence? Answer: Yes. When Christians take things on faith, they are not suspending their reasoning and building their beliefs on the air, they are trusting the mouth of the God whose works speak for him. No one has witnessed the beginning of the world. God has. Do we trust him? No one has experienced life in the new Heavens and the new Earth. God sees it like it is today. God’s track record for honesty is solid, so when God speaks we need to believe him, not in spite of reasons, but because he has proven himself trustworthy.

Podcast Pushing #2

More Podcasting

As usual, I have been continuing to listen to more podcasts, and I felt the need to leave a brief review and recommendation.

David Calhoun, Covenant Theological Seminary: Reformation and Modern Church History

Most people that I know, Christians included, lack even a basic understanding of church history. There is always talk of doing something different or something new when it comes to church, but very few people actually understand where they have come from and where they are going. This is one reason I recommend this seminary class on church history.

This class traces the origins of Protestantism from its roots in the Reformation to the modern day church. You will learn about the reformers like Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, and Knox. You will discover the origins of the Lutherans, the Anabaptists, the Presbyterians, the Puritans, the Anglicans, the Episcopalians, the Methodists, and the Baptists. You will learn about Germany, England, Scotland, America, and beyond. You will follow through debates over theology, church polity, orders of worship, and political control. You will learn about the great revivals and missionary movements throughout history, following through the sweet years of evangelicalism and peaceful zeal as well as the bitter years of liberalism, heresy, racism, and warfare. The church cannot afford to be ignorant about her history.

Dr. Calhoun, the professor of this course, proves to be not only a brilliant teacher, but a Christian man worthy of our respect and thankfulness. Each lesson begins with a prayer for the class from the setting or historical figure of the lesson, and each lesson ends with a relevant quotation from scripture. You will be educated and edified by listening through these lectures.

The course is available freely to download.

Covenant Theological Seminary Worldwide Classroom

iTunes U (choose this if  you would like to subscribe instead of downloading each file individually).

Matthew 2, Part 2: Herod’s Damned Faith

Matthew 2
13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” 14 And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt 15 and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

16 Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. 17 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:

18 “A voice was heard in Ramah,
weeping and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children;
she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.”

19 But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, 20 saying, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead.” 21 And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee. 23 And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled: “He shall be called a Nazarene.”

A Faithless King

King Herod is technically king of the Jews, but the Jews are a conquered people, under the possession of the Romans. King Herod had real power, but he was still under Caesar. He is analogous to King Saul, the faithless King of Israel, ready to be replaced by King David, except in this case, Jesus is the God-king on the throne of David. Just like Saul, Herod gets violent when his power is threatened. By the end of his life, Saul was in direct rebellion against God, not just David. So also, we see by his actions that Herod is in rebellion against God as well. He is not merely concerned that a man take his place in power, he is concerned that the Messiah of God is going to take away his power, which is why he consults the chief priests and the scribes about him. Herod is in a weird position. He believes the prophecy is reliable enough to find the Messiah, yet he hates him and somehow he believes that he can thwart God’s plan. We must approach Herod soberly by discovering that there is a kind of faith that does not save. Namely the faith that believes facts about God to be true, but hates and suppresses them rather than marveling and submitting to them.

Kingdom Showdown

Despite the fact that the chief priests and the scribes would be seeking to put Jesus to death in about thirty years, they are not ignorant of who Jesus is. The scribes and priests are experts with the scriptures and we see upon Herod’s inquiry that they have correctly interpreted the prophecies concerning Jesus. They knew that the Christ was to come from Bethlehem in Judea, the city of king David, yet because of their jealousy, the grand majority of them will never repent and believe in him. Likewise, Herod is terrified of Jesus, since he considers him a threat to his power. He is so arrogant, rebellious, and cowardly that he is willing to commit mass infanticide just to ensure that God’s kingdom would not come. Yet we see that God was sovereign even over Herod’s sin. What Herod did in efforts to undermine the power of God, God ordained to confirm it. Through Herod’s sin of infanticide the purpose of God was vindicated, fulfilling three more prophecies. First, because Herod sought to kill the children, God told Joseph in a dream to flee to Egypt to fulfill Hosea 11:1, “Out of Egypt I called my son.” Secondly, the infanticide itself fulfilled Jeremiah 31:15. Rachel, as wife of Jacob, a.k.a. Israel, represents the mother of the nation of Israel, who is Abraham’s son. The death of young Israeli children by the sword of Herod occurred to fulfill Jeremiah’s prophecy. Finally, the ongoing threat of Herod’s son, Archelaus, confirmed a third prophecy concerning the Messiah, that he would be called a Nazarene. Therefore, we need not be afraid of tyrants, human rights criminals, or any people in the world because we know that God’s purposes will come to fruition, and that no human kingdom can prevent the kingdom of God coming to earth.

Providence, Part 2

Even though God worked in spite of Herod’s sin to confirm Jesus’ kingdom, Herod was still held guilty and died in rebellion. God ordained his death just right to fulfill the third prophecy about Jesus being a Nazarene. Conversely, divine providence served for the deliverance of God’s faithful. God gave Joseph dreams as guidance to deliver not only Jesus, but also his family. The magi likewise were saved by believing God according to the same kinds of dreams. This runs parallel to our understanding of salvation by faith. Those who believe in Jesus are delivered from their sins and the devil’s slavery. We want to have faith in Jesus Christ, but yet again we must test the stripe of our faith in him. Do we believe the facts and prophecies about Jesus are true but consider it bad news? If so we will have Herod-like faith, we will believe the facts about Jesus bit be disturbed and threatened, and actually try in vain to quench the kingdom of God. But if we have faith like Joseph or the magi, the facts we believe about God will lead us to joy.

The Morning After

How Long Oh Lord?

I constantly find myself wishing that my sinful mind and heart were fully destroyed immediately. Oh the joy I would be filled with if this gift were given to me this instant! Yet God found it wise and pleasurable that he might make a Christian’s life one of purification and growth in the Holy Spirit. The reasons I must wait to receive this gift of total sanctification I do not know now as fully as I will, but I suspect it can be our chief motivation to long for the return of Christ. Furthermore, our constant need for additional sanctification can keep us close to the cross of Golgotha.

The Morning After

Since sanctification is a lifelong process, and not an overnight gift, we will find ourselves constantly discouraged by sin, and consequently we need to have a theology that is willing to answer the question, “What now?” when our evil desires lead us to choose evil after being tempted.

Strange Gifts

“Wait Jesus. You want me to drink your blood in communion?” Yes. “Ok, Jesus, so this suffering is a gift that you want me to rejoice during?” Yes. Jesus offers and delivers fantastic spiritual gifts to his disciples by the Holy Spirit. They can be wonderful, powerful, and edifying gifts, but at times they can be downright strange. Speaking in tongues? Strange gift. Martyrdom? Strange that you would call this a gift.

Another odd gift that Jesus gives by the Holy Spirit is the gift of conviction. Many of those who are not regenerated do not have that all-too-familiar pang of guilt that comes after sinning. Some unregenerate have a measure of guilt that is at least manageable. For others, it even drives them to suicide.

First Things First

The only kind of sin that can be conquered is forgiven sin. If your conscience is sharp, but your theology is week, you will try to bargain with God, thinking that maybe you can make it up to him. This is an insult, because Jesus died to forgive sins, so you would be equating some human activity of equal value as Jesus death on the cross. Therefore, rather than making some kind of promise to God, or trying to think of some way to repay him, simply start with confession. Admit to God in prayer that your sin was sin. Do not put a nice construction on it to make yourself look better. The good news is that while we were still sinners, at the right time, Christ died for us. Therefore we can approach God with confidence, bearing full ownership and responsibility for our sins, because we know that Jesus will never turn away a repentant disciple. God did not spare his own Son but gave him up freely for us that we may be forgiven in full for even the wickedest sins.

Kill the Pride

It is brutal irony that Christians can be prideful even in confession. The humblest act imaginable, confessing your sins, can be an oh-so-subtle opportunity to exalt ourselves by taking the edge off of the wickedness of our sins and flatter ourselves. Can we fool God? There is simply not a single excuse for sin, ever. God did not call you to be obedient when you are in the mood, nor does he grade you on a bell-curve to see how you stack up with your church or peers. God did not say, “Love the Lord your God with some of your heart, soul, mind and strength.” God did not say, “If you are suffering or have been sinned against, I will overlook your idols.” Therefore, we must come to Jesus without excuses, explanations, or even an emotional spin that makes our guilt sting a little less.

True Confession

How then should we confess? Like a tax collector. “God have mercy on me, a sinner!” Confess your actions. Confess your motives. Confess your ungodliness. When you are done, confess like a Pharisee. Confess your pride. Confess your tendency to think of yourself as good. Confess your hypocrisy. Confess the judgment of others. Finally, confess Christ. Confess Jesus as Lord, Son of God, perfect sacrifice on the cross, raised from the dead. Confess the Holy Spirit, asking him to purify you, to heal you, to cultivate you. Confess Gods perfect ability to save you, and trust in his power.

Receive Assurance

1 John 1:9

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Do you believe this? If you don’t, you are not being humble, you are claiming that Jesus is a failure. Jesus was not a failure. If Jesus were a failure, he would not have risen from the dead. Jesus is alive and well. Likewise, as sure as Jesus rose from the dead, he will forgive those who confess to him.

Entering into Joy

When you find yourself forgiven by God, you have no cause for sorrow, only joy. Rejoice that Jesus would take the nail in the hand which you deserve. His head would be sliced open with a crown of thorns because of your sin. This is the way that you are loved, that Jesus would die for you. Rejoice in the wonderful love that has compelled God to forgiven you, and treasure him, in thankfulness.

Fighting Your Next Fight

After, and only after your sin is confessed, you may now strategize your next battle with temptation. Consider the sinful action you have committed and ask yourself, “What was my heart longing after while I was sinning?” There is some kind of idol behind this longing. Your sin problem is actually a worship problem. If you are a perpetual drinker, go deeper than the alcohol. You’re worshiping the alcohol because it brings you joy, but the real problem is not the alcohol, but your view of God. Alcohol has been exalted to the place that God belongs, your source of joy, and alcohol is making a very bad God. Maybe your problem is self-righteousness instead. You worship your reputation, and find your joy in others thinking highly of you. You love to smugly be satisfied with yourself so that you do not have to worship Jesus. Whatever your problem is, get to the heart of the idolatry. Find out what you sacrificially serve to receive joy or security, and recognize that Jesus belongs in that role. Finally, preach to yourself the good news of Jesus, crucified and resurrected for your sins. Go into detail if you can. Meditate on the fact that Jesus died for you while you were yet a sinner. The Holy Spirit will work and produce tremendous joy in your heart that conquers idolatry and grants true freedom. Bathe this fight in honest prayer.

Win

Prepare to start winning battles with sin. Be quick to confess because confession will bring you joy. Be quick to fight sin because victory will bring you joy. Be quick to pray, because communion will bring you joy. Be a Christian hedonist, fighting for joy, and fighting your sin, and loving the Lord your God. May God’s grace shower these blessings upon you and God’s joy rule in your heart abundantly.

Finding Your Spiritual Gifts

The Anecdotes Don’t Help

“…I was in deep prayer, when I felt God speaking to my heart to become a pastor, so I said ‘where God?’ and he replied, ‘Well Jack, I want you to figure it out.’ Later that day on the way to the grocery store I saw seven license plates with Ohio on them. So I threw a dart at a word map, and after getting various spots in the Pacific ocean I finally hit Ohio and I knew that it was where God wanted me to go, so I have been a pastor here ever since…”

Most of us have heard stories about people discovering their spiritual gifts in crazy ways, but for most people, the Holy Spirit doesn’t take a break from converting sinners and sanctifying believers so that he can drop you hints for you to piece together to figure out your spiritual gifts. Instead, the Holy Spirit empowers and reveals your spiritual gifts by making you loving, wise, and diligent.

List or Love?

1 Corinthians 14:26
What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up.

1 Corinthians 12:4-7
4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5 and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; 6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. 7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

Usually when we see these kind of passages, we want to immediately look for lists of gifts so that we can see if we fit in somewhere. That is not what these passages are about, and to do so misses the point. These passages are about love in action. The goal of all spiritual gifts are to build up and serve the common good, especially the Church. Finding your spiritual gifts can be as simple as answering the question, “What does it look like for me to love and build up the Church in a biblical way?” Notice how Paul in both passages seems to put little emphasis on the activities themselves. His main point is building up.

If you read the entirety of 1 Corinthians 12, it is clear that God’s gifts are numerous among his people and unique to the individual. This will cause radical diversity that has the ability to either be a well rounded, thriving body or an envious, cannibalizing body. We must not be jealous of one-another’s gifts but seek to build others up with even the humblest of our own.

Wise or Wild?

Believe it or not, it is possible to take a God-given gift and use it unwisely and unlovingly, and do major damage to the church. One example is when discernment ministry is done in the flesh: God gave them the gift of discerning truth from error, but rather than measured careful rebukes, there are snotty, sarcastic, and stone-hearted comments. This is the Ephesian error. The Corinthians were speaking in tongues without interpretation, and  so proving that they were not concerned with one another.

Fan into Flame

In 2 Timothy, Paul urges Timothy to fan into flame the gift of God. Part of this gift is his faith, but another part is his calling to preach. This means that even with God-given gifts, diligent work is required to bring them to fruition. The musician must practice. The preacher must study. The spiritual gifts can become stronger with some hard work.

What About Me?

The spiritual gifts are numerous. You probably have not one, but many gifts. If you seek to actively love the Church, your gifts will start to show. The real miracle is not the exercising of a gift, but that you, a sinner, would love the Church. When a person is saved by faith in Jesus crucified and resurrected for their sins, the Holy Spirit is given to lead them in spiritual growth, and the greatest fruit of the Spirit is love. If you love the Church you have perfect evidence that the Holy Spirit is at work in you. Now you just get loving, and the Holy Spirit will empower your gifting.

Are you a songwriter? Write your friends songs based on the word of God. Are you a good reader? Write book reviews. Do you have a lot of money? Contribute to the needs of others and the Church. Are you amiable? Make people feel welcome at church. Are you in need? Be humble and rejoice that those who are fulfilling your needs are getting fruit to their credit! Are you good at sympathizing with others? Encourage them and pray for them. Are you good at giving haircuts? Give away haircuts to people that need them. The list could go on and on. The list is not the point. Love is the point. Grow to love your church and make your life about building it up and your gifts will be close at hand.

Not Being Calvinist, Part 2: Evangelistic Methods

Introduction

This is part two in a three part series about avoiding spiritual pitfalls that may arise from Arminian theology. As I stated in the first part and will state again, I truly believe that Arminians are brothers in Christ and that as brothers we have responsibilities to love one another that reach across theological lines. Out of love for Arminian Christians, I have dedicated this series to help them guard from spiritual vulnerabilities that Calvinists can be less sensitive to due to our differences in the understanding of predestination.

Why Evangelize?

One of the most common objections I hear when discussing predestination is that it removes the call to evangelize, since people are already predestined to be saved or not. In other words, the accusation is that it creates grounds for Calvinists to make excuses for not evangelizing or that it would mean that evangelism would have no purpose. These are good concerns to have, because it shows a love for evangelism, the lost, and fruitful labor. They will be addressed before I challenge some of the ways Arminianism or non-predestination theologies influence evangelism.

Obedience and Joy

First of all, the Bible commands Christians to preach the good news. Whether you believe in predestination or not, disobedience is disobedience. God will never respond positively to active disobedience under the guise of theological nuance. That being said, there is more to evangelism than cold, hard obedience. Predestination creates an entire perspective shift concerning evangelism that, when brought to fruition, yields a thrillingly joyful missionary life.

In Calvinist theology, God sends the missionary as a mouthpiece to preach the word of Christ, which the Holy Spirit uses to cause sinners to be born again and have their sins forgiven, and this word is the gospel of Jesus Christ. In other words, the missionary is an instrument that God uses to redeem sinners. God accomplishes this by nurturing the missionary through the Holy Spirit, who dwells within the heart of the missionary. When the missionary opens his mouth to preach the doctrines and news of the gospel that he found in the Bible, the Holy Spirit works in the heart of some listeners causing them to be born again and thus enabling them to believe in Christ for their salvation. Predestination becomes significant in every instance where God is involved, and God is thoroughly involved in every portion.

When predestination is properly understood, it is clear that it does not destroy the work of the missionary, nor does it leave any excuse for not evangelizing (except, perhaps, that the Holy Spirit is not in you).

The Arminian believes that God has granted enough grace to every person alive to be able to exercise a free-will choice in which he may accept or deny Jesus, so the evangelism process looks something like this: God works in a missionary, sends a the missionary to sinners, the missionary communicates the gospel in a way that stimulates the sinner to choose to accept Jesus rather than deny him, then the atonement for sins is applied to the new believer upon his acceptance.

Not Responsible for Results

As you will notice in the Calvinist explanation of evangelism, the missionary is only involved with two parts of the salvation experience. The first is his own spiritual growth, where he is led by the Holy Spirit to the Bible, and the second is the preaching of the gospel. Neither of these actions are easy to accomplish, but they are at least not complicated to understand.

Notice though that there is an additional burden on the Arminian missionary: he must also convince the sinner to make the correct choice. This is where often the high calling of evangelism is blended with human salesmanship. Naturally, with all types of salesmanship, those features that are particularly attractive to people are exaggerated and those features that are difficult or unpalatable are ignored or under-emphasized. This will cause a natural tendency to speak less about sin, repentance, crucifixion, taking up the cross, and counting the cost of being Jesus’ disciple and instead emphasize secondary side-thoughts like God’s plans for your life, cures for your emotional pain, and finding peace from overbearing stress. In such cases, the purity of the gospel is compromised due to an artificial need to convince.

The Danger: It Works

The dangerous thing about applying the marketing method to evangelism is that it is highly successful in generating decisions of acceptance of Jesus, but highly unsuccessful at making true disciples. In the heat of apparent revival, the marketing methods will seem to be working well, but after a season of trial the missionary will discover that many of his converts never deeply believed in the true gospel and the church is full of people who seemed to be converted, but were really just attracted to the side-orders that come with the Christian life.

We must battle against this type of pragmatism, knowing that the gospel is the power of God for salvation, not techniques and salesmanship.

Not Being Calvinist, Part 1: Hardening of Hearts

Introduction

I know the title of this post is fairly provocative, not to mention the Calvinism-Arminianism debate itself is also controversial, so I want to first emphasize that it is not a Heaven or Hell issue. You won’t be damned for believing the wrong thing about predestination. This does not, however, mean that it is unimportant to be correct about it, or that there is no spiritual danger in being wrong. Let’s be quick to agree about gospel basics and readily embrace one another as brothers. As brothers, we have responsibilities to love one another and to earnestly promote one-another’s spiritual well being. This is why I write this post: that I may serve my non-Calvinist brothers.

This is why I have decided to write a three part blog series about three specific dangers that my non-Calvinist brothers should guard themselves from.

The Twofold Work of The Holy Spirit in Scripture

As Christians, we can all agree that the Bible is the Word of God, inspired by the Holy Spirit. This glorious truth is not lost from Calvinists nor Arminians, to my joy. Likewise, we all agree that the Holy Spirit helps us to understand the scriptures as they are read. Therefore, in reading the Bible, the work of the Holy Spirit is at least two-fold: inspiring the words and helping with the interpretation.

This fact is both a great comfort and a sobering thought. To know the absolute truthfulness of the Bible and that the Holy Spirit helps to reveal it should produce a lot of excitement, but also it leaves a lot of responsibility. When a person resists the work of the Holy Spirit for a sustained period of time, he grows hard of heart in that work. Therefore, since the Holy Spirit is doubly active and involved, reading the scripture without considering the seriousness of the words is spiritually destructive.

Hardening of Hearts

Remember the Pharisees who knew the scriptures well, but became hard of heart to the most basic things of God? They could not hear Jesus, and apart from the Holy Spirit overcoming their hardness of heart, they were not saved. How then can we avoid this tragedy? To hear the words with faith. The faithful reception and keeping of words of scripture applies not only to salvation related issues, but also to other Biblical doctrines that should be received with faith.

My first warning is that we be careful to receive all passages of scripture with faith, lest we grow hard of heart from resisting the Holy Spirit. Although this is written with Arminians and Non-Calvinist Christians especially in mind, it also applies to myself and my Calvinist brothers. To make a practice of explaining away any clear passage of scripture is an exercise in hardening the heart, whether it be a passage about predestination, election, baptism, justification, or any other doctrine. To seek out ways to explain away certain passages without sensitively changing your beliefs can harden you into methods of reading the Bible that are painfully detrimental, concerning even the cardinal doctrines of the faith.

Hardened Heretics

One of the more discouraging evidences of this hardness of heart can be found by browsing YouTube and watching some of the loudest and most vocal opponents of Calvinism. Many, if not most of them, have long departed from even Arminianism and the Christian faith entirely, going so far as to deny original sin, require moral perfectionism in order to be saved, teach salvation by the freewill exercise of good works, deny the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ, and even deny the Trinity.

In looking at the extreme selectivity of scripture they use, you can tell that they are so hard of heart that they simply cannot even give an answer to passages that clearly refute them. I’m not even speaking about Calvinism any more but simple basics of the gospel such as salvation by grace through faith. Here, hardness of heart that comes from resisting the Holy Spirit about secondary issues, such as Calvinism, is leaving them outside of the Christian faith altogether.

Conclusion

These examples are extreme and tragic cases, but for the sake of my Arminian brothers, I want you to be warned against resisting the work of the Holy Spirit in reading the Bible. It is better to follow the Holy Spirit than to be right in your own mind, so read the Bible and be open to receive it for what it says. Even if you do not become Calvinist, you will grow strong and fall into a deeper love with Jesus as your savior.