Limited Atonement

We have hopefully established the fact that God has chosen those whom He has saved and that He did this, not according to any merit of the individual, but "because of the great love with which He loved us." If, therefore, God has chosen who would believe in Him and have eternal salvation, will God not also make a way for those to be redeemed? Will God establish a new covenant with His elect through the blood of Christ?
These questions are obviously rhetorical, but bring another question to mind. Is the blood of Christ sufficient? If so, is it also efficient?

The first question is for another blog.
We will focus on the latter question for the time being.
Is the blood of Christ efficient?
What was the purpose of the cross? Why the blood shed? Why did Christ come to earth to be slaughtered and hung on a cross to die?

Hebrews 9:11-15
But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent not made with hands, that is, not of this creation he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.
Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.

Romans 3:19-26
Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.
But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 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. 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.

We see here that the purpose of the cross, indeed the purpose of Christ's coming to earth, was for the propitiation for sinners. Christ came to endure that wrath of God for the sins of the elect, that they might be seen as righteous in the sight of God and could enter into the new covenant with God. He came that men might be saved. Undoubtedly, the work of Christ in his life and death earned the righteousness of God for the elect, but how efficient was His death? Did his saving work atone for the sins of all, or just of the elect?

As seen numerous times in the Scriptures, God calls certain men to Himself and hardens the hearts of others. We will hold this to be true all times for all people. So Christ's death and conquering of sin was an act done once and for all for the propitiation for the elect, not for everyone.

How does this effect me?
It makes me evermore grateful that Christ grabbed me from sure death and destruction, endured the wrath incurred for my sins, and, for the sake of His name and His glory, adopted me into His family and shares his inheritance with me as a child of God! Praise be to God!
I pray that these blogs pull you closer into the arms of our dear saviour, instead of hardening your heart to the truth of the Bible.

Unconditional Election

This is part 2 of a 5 part series entitled, "The 5 points of Calvinism." This point is unconditional election.
This idea is basically stating that God, in his divine wisdom, elected certain people to be part of his family and that he did not choose them based on anything that they had to offer, but simply because he wanted to.
Pretty self-explanatory. God didn't elect me because I had anything to offer him, but because he wanted to. God is fully capable of doing whatever he wants to do because he is God.

Total Depravity

The following is taken from "Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine." By Wane Grudem. It can be found in chapter 24, on page 497.
"In our natures we totally lack spiritual good before God: It is not just that some parts of us are sinful and others are pure. Rather, every part of our being is affected by sin - our intellects, our emotions and desires, our hearts (the center of our desires and decision-making processes), our goals and motives, and even our physical bodies."
"In our actions we are totally unable to do spiritual good before God: This idea is related to the previous one. Not only do we as sinners lack any spiritual good in ourselves, but we also lack the ability to do anything that will in itself please God and the ability to come to God in our own strength."

As I write this, I feel the weight of it. God is holy and perfect and pure and righteous and glorified and I am so far on the other end that I war against those things. I was created perfectly and in relationship with God for the purpose of bringing glory to Him, but because of sin I broke that relationship with God and was no longer able to be in community with Him. In my state of death and destruction, I was not even able to see my need to get out of death and destruction. I was ruining myself with a downward spiral of sin that would eventually lead to death and eternal wrath as a punishment for my sin. This is total depravity.

Ephesians 2:1-3 (ESV)
"And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind."

Doesn't sound good does it? This is scary. I was by nature a child of wrath. In my state of total depravity, I was so unable to love God that I was living in the passions of my flesh, completely disregarding God and his purpose for me and my life.

Romans 3:10-11: "None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God."

Even as I talk through this I understand my depravity better. I am learning from me telling my wife what total depravity is. Even in my understanding of depravity I am depraved.

I don't write this to discourage anyone, only to encourage Bible-centered beliefs which will lead to right action and the glory of God. If you are discouraged by this please call me and I would love to talk to you, or post a comment and I will respond. Also, if you don't understand or agree with this, let me know and let's talk about it. I always desire to learn more and more about how God operates because it always leads me to a great appreciation of who he is, which brings him more glory.

What I Believe...

Life as a Christian is an interesting one. I have been reconciled, restored, renewed, saved, and am being sanctified through the persistent work of the Holy Spirit to bring me into a closer relationship with God, thus better reflecting His glory through my life.
In this process, God has revealed certain things about Himself that have given me a better understanding of His character and have given me more love for Him.
A big controversy in the history of Protestant life, has been Calvinism. I believe that John Calvin had an awesome understanding of conversion and how God works. I also believe that many people today write off Calvinism as something crazy either because they have been a victim of a "Calvinist," or they simply don't understand what it is.
I will attempt to convey the five points in five blogs that will hopefully give us a better understanding of our creator and stir up our affections towards Him.

The next 5 blogs will be:

Total Depravity
Unconditional Election
Limited Atonement
Irresistible Grace
Perseverance of the Saints

I only ask that you be patient and graceful with me as I am still trying to understand these points better. I would love to hear from you on your beliefs as well. The goal of this is simply to discuss spiritual things in hopes that our love and affection for God will grow and change us, drawing us closer to Christ.

Not on my own

Sometimes life seems like a game. I fight and fight to get ahead, then something happens that takes everything I fought for and I start all over again. I then dust myself off, clean myself off, and go at it again. The same thing happens again. I have tried and tried to figure this thing out but for some reason I can't. When I view life through the lens of my own glory and refuse to see the world like Christ wants me to see it, I repeatedly fail at life. It seems like some people are gifted at getting on top of life, but I am not one of them.
I think my problem lies not in my methods, but in my goals. I battle with myself, going from living life for me to living life for God and then back again. When I seek my own gain, my main desire seems to be money. Not for the sake of having money, but so that I can provide for my family. When it seems like I am getting close to reaching this goal, God reminds me that this life is lived for His glory and not my own, so either He pulls my feet out from under me, or I sabotage myself and go the opposite direction. I then find myself in some awesome God-time, walking closely with Him. Life feels great. Unfortunately, this doesn't last long. I'll get a bill that I don't think I can pay, and then I'm back in the rat race again, trying to plan ways to make money.
I had breakfast today with my pastor and realized what I need. I need to die to myself and let Christ rule in me. I need to realize that I have been bought with the price of Christ's blood and I am now the property of an awesome God who gives more joy than any earthly thing can bring. I need to let go of the things of this world and cling to my Saviour with everything I have. The only problem is, I can't do it on my own. I need God to do it for me. I am so helpless and I love it.
Praise God for loving me enough to do everything for me so that His name might praised and His glory might be made known in my life.
I know this is kinda rambling, but that's what a blog is for :)

Here we go!

Last night I, with the help of my wife and John, folded, addressed, signed, stamped, and stuffed a ton of letters. This letter is not just an ordinary letter, but is my first support letter for the Australia church plant. This is kind of a big deal for me. Up until now, all that has happened for the move to Australia was talking. This is the first actual step towards getting to Australia and planting a church. I'm super excited to get the wheels rolling and can't wait to see how God is going to bring people alongside us as we journey on towards the works he has prepared in advance for us to do. I am so very thankful for all of the people who have come alongside me and supported me through all the growth that has happened in my walk with God, and am equally thankful for those I haven't even met yet who will help me grow more and more. Australia gets me excited. Not just because it's Australia, but because God has called me and a small group to bring the Gospel to those he will redeem in Geelong! It's amazing being a part of what God is doing in the world!
On a side note, I got up at 5:30 today and went for a swim. I am really tired and a little sore and disappointed at how out of shape I am.

Life in Pearland

We recently moved to Pearland, just outside of Houston, where we will be learning as much as we can about church planting, then we are off to Australia to plant a church in Geelong, just outside of Melbourne.
So far, Pearland has been rough on us. There are many reasons that being here is so difficult, but the hardest thing about being here is the people we miss back in central Texas. I miss my small group. I miss Grace Bible Church. I miss my old pastor, Dave Mac. I miss people at my old job who became friends of mine. I really miss my old Chris.
Being away from people who genuinely love me and know how to really love me makes life difficult. Even as I write this, there are tears in my eyes. I miss having a best friend. I miss lunches that are too short to talk about all we wanted to say.
I have definately learned from all of this. I can't do it alone. I cannot chase after God without someone chasing next to me. Maybe there are people who can pursue God on their own, but I'm not one of them. My relationship with God has suffered recently. I'm not blaiming it on someone else, but my relationship with has taken some hits lately.
I guess this is just an encouragement to find someone who will come alongside you as you attempt to journey towards God and worship Him. If your relationship with God matters to you, and you wish to see that relationship grow, find someone who will be willing to speak harsh words when they need to be spoken, and who will hug you when you need a hug. I understand why Barnabas was so important to Paul. I can see why Jesus immediately grabbed 12 guys to do this thing with him. We are built to be in relationships with other believers. We are made for community.