There is a Rob Bell book coming out soon entitled, Love Wins. Of course, I haven't read it yet as it is it not even in print. But I have seen the promo video and it is pretty clear from the video that Rob Bell is going to be articulating the position that we cannot be sure about who will be in heaven with God. He uses Gandhi, a Hindu, as an example of someone that we can't say for sure is in or out. I don't know exactly what he is going to say but if the title of the book and the video is any indication, he is going to say in the end, "love wins". Let me say right now..I agree. The love of God is going to win in the end. No doubt about it. But what kind of love are we talking about?
Hebrews 1:9 says that "Thou [God] hast loved righteousness and hated lawlessness..." This is a quote from Psalm 45:7, which is an Old Testament passage, but the writer of Hebrews includes this truth in the New Testament. So, God's Word, Old and New Testament, says that "God loves righteousness". But this is a little abstract. What about people?
Psalm 11:7 says, "For the Lord is righteous; He loves righteousness; the upright will behold His face." Here the Scriptures state again that "God loves righteousness" and people who are "upright" i.e., righteous, will see Him someday. That is, they will be in His presence in heaven. The Bible says that no mere mortal in human flesh can look upon God and survive (see Exodus 33:20, I Timothy 6:16). So God loves righteousness and righteous people.
But the problem is that no one is righteous, not even one person (see Romans 3:10). There is no one who has ever lived that is righteous. Not Mother Teresa, not Gandhi, St. Francis of Assisi or anyone else you can mention was inherently or completely righteous on their own merits except the God/Man, Jesus Christ. He alone was a perfectly sinless person (Hebrews 4:15). That is why we must put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ in order for God to consider us righteous in Him (see II Corinthians 5:20).
Is God's love going to win in the end? Yes, no doubt about it. As Ephesians 1:4-5 says,
"In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed upon us in the Beloved."
God loves righteousness and God loves righteous people. But there are none. So, God in love sent His Son, "the Beloved" one, to die in our place so that we can be righteous and He can love us eternally. So love is definitely going to win. What do you know, Rob Bell and I finally agree on something!
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Thursday, February 24, 2011
The Danger of Confessions and Creeds - II Peter 2:1
"But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves." II Peter 2:1
My father had a very well-known and renowned New Testament scholar as a professor when he was in seminary. He really respected this man and looked up to him in a number of ways. But some years ago this same professor got enamored with the Westminster Confession of Faith and allowed it to replace the Bible as his ultimate source of truth. One of the doctrines he began to promote was limited atonement, even though that doctrine is contrary to the doctrinal statement signed by this professor, and more importantly, contrary to a number of Scriptures.
My father had the unhappy task of interviewing his former mentor about this situation. He asked this man about how he would reconcile his new-found belief witih several scripture passages, but one in particular was very telling.
I remember my father relating this scene to me several years ago. He was sitting across from this professor and looked him right in the eyes and asked him, "What about I Peter 2:1....you're a Greek scholar. Doesn't the word agorazw normally mean to "buy out of the marketplace"? My father said, "He just smiled at me". He knew that this word used in II Peter 2:1 clearly indicates that Jesus Christ our "master" paid for the redemption of the false teachers referenced in this verse with His own blood. And these "false teachers" are not among the elect as the verse tells us explicitly of their fate. This man had taught the truth of unlimited atonement to students like my father. But when believers begin to buy into theological systems and man-made creeds that are logical and reasonable, but not completely biblical, this is what happens to even very fine scholars.
The truth is that limited atonement is not heresy, and a lot of good Christians hold to it (including some of my close relatives). Depending on how far one takes it applicationally it may or may not be a problem in presenting the gospel. My concern is that it is a classic example of a doctrine that logically follows from the biblical doctrine of election, but it doesn't follow biblically. There are several passages that speak against it explicitly like II Corinthians 5:19 (see this post). Someone just pointed out Hebrews 2:9 to me the other day which says, "He [Christ] might taste death for everyone." But II Peter 2:1 is one of the very toughest passages to fit with the limited atonement view. I've read whole books by people trying to explain away the clear teaching of this verse. Someone tried to prove that the word agorazw means "to create". But it doesn't mean that in Greek, maybe in Martian. Others have tried to say that this verse is a reference to God's deliverance of Israel from Egypt. Nice try, but the subject is "false teachers", not Israel.
The bottomline is that it is a temptation for a lot of us to rely too heavily on theological systems or man-made confessions. But as the reformers proclaimed, we need to base all our doctrine on "sola scriptura". And that means all of scripture, not just the passages we like or that support our particular position. If there are a number of verses that do not support a specific doctrine, we need to re-study it, and until then, hold it less dogmatically.
My father had a very well-known and renowned New Testament scholar as a professor when he was in seminary. He really respected this man and looked up to him in a number of ways. But some years ago this same professor got enamored with the Westminster Confession of Faith and allowed it to replace the Bible as his ultimate source of truth. One of the doctrines he began to promote was limited atonement, even though that doctrine is contrary to the doctrinal statement signed by this professor, and more importantly, contrary to a number of Scriptures.
My father had the unhappy task of interviewing his former mentor about this situation. He asked this man about how he would reconcile his new-found belief witih several scripture passages, but one in particular was very telling.
I remember my father relating this scene to me several years ago. He was sitting across from this professor and looked him right in the eyes and asked him, "What about I Peter 2:1....you're a Greek scholar. Doesn't the word agorazw normally mean to "buy out of the marketplace"? My father said, "He just smiled at me". He knew that this word used in II Peter 2:1 clearly indicates that Jesus Christ our "master" paid for the redemption of the false teachers referenced in this verse with His own blood. And these "false teachers" are not among the elect as the verse tells us explicitly of their fate. This man had taught the truth of unlimited atonement to students like my father. But when believers begin to buy into theological systems and man-made creeds that are logical and reasonable, but not completely biblical, this is what happens to even very fine scholars.
The truth is that limited atonement is not heresy, and a lot of good Christians hold to it (including some of my close relatives). Depending on how far one takes it applicationally it may or may not be a problem in presenting the gospel. My concern is that it is a classic example of a doctrine that logically follows from the biblical doctrine of election, but it doesn't follow biblically. There are several passages that speak against it explicitly like II Corinthians 5:19 (see this post). Someone just pointed out Hebrews 2:9 to me the other day which says, "He [Christ] might taste death for everyone." But II Peter 2:1 is one of the very toughest passages to fit with the limited atonement view. I've read whole books by people trying to explain away the clear teaching of this verse. Someone tried to prove that the word agorazw means "to create". But it doesn't mean that in Greek, maybe in Martian. Others have tried to say that this verse is a reference to God's deliverance of Israel from Egypt. Nice try, but the subject is "false teachers", not Israel.
The bottomline is that it is a temptation for a lot of us to rely too heavily on theological systems or man-made confessions. But as the reformers proclaimed, we need to base all our doctrine on "sola scriptura". And that means all of scripture, not just the passages we like or that support our particular position. If there are a number of verses that do not support a specific doctrine, we need to re-study it, and until then, hold it less dogmatically.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Stop Quenching the Spirit - I Thessalonians 5:19
In I Thessalonians 5:12-22 the apostle Paul gives a series of brief commands to the church at Thessalonica. Most of what he said to this local church was extremely positive. Even though they were relatively new believers, Paul doesn't do a lot of correcting at this point. Mainly he commends them for their faith, love and godly example (see 1:2-10). Even this series of commands near the end of the letter is generally positive and not accusatory. But in verse nineteen he says, "Do not quench the Spirit." Now because this is a present imperative, it can be referring to action already happening and thus could be translated, "stop quenching the Spirit." Because Paul takes the time to specifically address this, and follows it with an admonition not "despise prophetic utterances" (v. 20), it is almost certain in my mind that the Thessalonian believers were already quenching the work of the Spirit in this area. For some reason they were not willing to accept the legitimate prophetic work of the Spirit during this early time in the church when the canon of Scripture was still being given and written. What I want to focus on today is a few key lessons from this verse.
First, even believers who are mostly walking in the Spirit (Gal. 5:16), and generally living exemplary Christian lives can be suppressing the ministry of the Spirit in one or two areas of their lives. We cannot ever think that we are so spiritually mature or obedient that we are above doing this. Even so called "spirit-filled" believers like Swaggart and Bakker were guilty of suppressing the Spirit in their lives. So this is a spiritual warning to us all..no exceptions!
Second, the verb itself does not limit the length of time that the quenching could have been going on. In other words, the Thessalonians could have been quenching the Spirit for an extended time. My experience as a pastor indicates that Christians can say "no" to the Spirit in certain areas of their lives for months, even years. This is not to say it will continue indefinitely without the Lord directly intervening, but I have seen it go on for long periods of time in certain people's lives, including people who I am absolutely certain are saved as Paul was about the Thessalonians (see 1:4).
Lastly, having said all this, this is why we need as Christians to be open to seeking the Lord periodically about some area in our lives where we might, even unconsciously, be quenching the Spirit. I am not at all sure that the Thessalonians knew they were rejecting the prophetic work of the Spirit. My best guess is that they did not. Like David we need to say from time to time, "try me and see if there be any wicked way in me" (Psalm 139:24). Along with this, we need to be open to counsel from other godly people who may discern that we are suppressing the Spirit in some area of our lives. None of us is beyond this possibility. In the case of believers who are knowingly quenching the Spirit, I am convinced that they are disappointed or disillusioned with other Christians, the Christian life or God Himself. I am not suggesting this is acceptable in any sense, but it is reality, especially today. For more insight and discussion about this subject, see my first book, Why Christians Sin.
First, even believers who are mostly walking in the Spirit (Gal. 5:16), and generally living exemplary Christian lives can be suppressing the ministry of the Spirit in one or two areas of their lives. We cannot ever think that we are so spiritually mature or obedient that we are above doing this. Even so called "spirit-filled" believers like Swaggart and Bakker were guilty of suppressing the Spirit in their lives. So this is a spiritual warning to us all..no exceptions!
Second, the verb itself does not limit the length of time that the quenching could have been going on. In other words, the Thessalonians could have been quenching the Spirit for an extended time. My experience as a pastor indicates that Christians can say "no" to the Spirit in certain areas of their lives for months, even years. This is not to say it will continue indefinitely without the Lord directly intervening, but I have seen it go on for long periods of time in certain people's lives, including people who I am absolutely certain are saved as Paul was about the Thessalonians (see 1:4).
Lastly, having said all this, this is why we need as Christians to be open to seeking the Lord periodically about some area in our lives where we might, even unconsciously, be quenching the Spirit. I am not at all sure that the Thessalonians knew they were rejecting the prophetic work of the Spirit. My best guess is that they did not. Like David we need to say from time to time, "try me and see if there be any wicked way in me" (Psalm 139:24). Along with this, we need to be open to counsel from other godly people who may discern that we are suppressing the Spirit in some area of our lives. None of us is beyond this possibility. In the case of believers who are knowingly quenching the Spirit, I am convinced that they are disappointed or disillusioned with other Christians, the Christian life or God Himself. I am not suggesting this is acceptable in any sense, but it is reality, especially today. For more insight and discussion about this subject, see my first book, Why Christians Sin.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
"The Perfect" - I Corinthians 13:8-13
In I Corinthians 13:8 Paul predicts that there is coming a time when the gift of prophecy will "be done away", the gift of tongues will "cease" and the gift of knowledge will also "be done away". All of these spiritual gifts have to do with the imparting of revelation from God. When will these revelatory gifts be finished and no longer necessary? Verse ten makes it clear that "..when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away". So the question is, what is "the perfect"?
There are at least seven distinct interpretations of "the perfect" that I am aware of. Myron Houghton in his BibSac article (July-Sept. '96) lists all seven of them. But basically they all boil down to two views. Either "the perfect" is something that has already come and the revelatory gifts are already done, or "the perfect" is still yet to come and it will come sometime in the future. Obviously, one's interpretation of this phrase has a lot to do with whether we believe these revelatory gifts are around today or not. Verse twelve is the key to understanding the timing of "the perfect". In this verse Paul says,
"For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known."
The word "mirror" here is very important to a proper understanding of this verse. This particular word is only used one other time in the New Testament, and that is in James 1:23, where it refers to the Word of God being like a "mirror". This leads very naturally to some important conclusions. First of all, since the only other use of this term is in reference to God's Word, there is a very strong probability that it refers to the Word of God here as well. Second, the idea of looking in the mirror is that it allows us to see ourselves, not look at someone else. All of this goes along with the concept that the Word of God is a mirror that allows us to see clearly what "kind of person" we are (see James 1:24).
The other important phrase is "face to face". A lot of people interpret this to be a reference to the second coming of Christ or to death when we see Him "face to face", and this makes a lot of sense until we look again at the immediate context and recognize that the verse is talking about us seeing ourselves "face to face" in a mirror, not seeing someone else. When "the perfect comes" we will no longer see ourselves "in a mirror dimly", but "face to face". In other words, we will see ourselves much more clearly, like we are looking at ourselves "face to face".
This fits perfectly, no pun intended, with the rest of this verse, "...then I will know fully, just as I have been fully known". When the completed canon of Scripture comes, and we have all the special revelation that God intends for us to have, then we can look in the "mirror" of God's Word and understand fully who we are. We can see ourselves as God sees us.
I believe that this interpretation of "the perfect" fits the words and context of I Corinthians 13:8-13 much better than any of the other interpretations, especially those saying that this refers to seeing Christ at some point in the future.
"The perfect" literally refers to that which is complete or final. Assuming that the canon of Scripture has been completed (and I for one believe it has), then we have all the revelation we need to see ourselves as God sees us, and we also have everything we need to live holy and fruitful lives for Jesus Christ! Therefore, the revelatory gifts are no longer needed and have ceased. I realize that this interpretation is not going to satisfy everyone, but no one can say that "the perfect" is still future without seriously interacting with this passage again.
There are at least seven distinct interpretations of "the perfect" that I am aware of. Myron Houghton in his BibSac article (July-Sept. '96) lists all seven of them. But basically they all boil down to two views. Either "the perfect" is something that has already come and the revelatory gifts are already done, or "the perfect" is still yet to come and it will come sometime in the future. Obviously, one's interpretation of this phrase has a lot to do with whether we believe these revelatory gifts are around today or not. Verse twelve is the key to understanding the timing of "the perfect". In this verse Paul says,
"For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known."
The word "mirror" here is very important to a proper understanding of this verse. This particular word is only used one other time in the New Testament, and that is in James 1:23, where it refers to the Word of God being like a "mirror". This leads very naturally to some important conclusions. First of all, since the only other use of this term is in reference to God's Word, there is a very strong probability that it refers to the Word of God here as well. Second, the idea of looking in the mirror is that it allows us to see ourselves, not look at someone else. All of this goes along with the concept that the Word of God is a mirror that allows us to see clearly what "kind of person" we are (see James 1:24).
The other important phrase is "face to face". A lot of people interpret this to be a reference to the second coming of Christ or to death when we see Him "face to face", and this makes a lot of sense until we look again at the immediate context and recognize that the verse is talking about us seeing ourselves "face to face" in a mirror, not seeing someone else. When "the perfect comes" we will no longer see ourselves "in a mirror dimly", but "face to face". In other words, we will see ourselves much more clearly, like we are looking at ourselves "face to face".
This fits perfectly, no pun intended, with the rest of this verse, "...then I will know fully, just as I have been fully known". When the completed canon of Scripture comes, and we have all the special revelation that God intends for us to have, then we can look in the "mirror" of God's Word and understand fully who we are. We can see ourselves as God sees us.
I believe that this interpretation of "the perfect" fits the words and context of I Corinthians 13:8-13 much better than any of the other interpretations, especially those saying that this refers to seeing Christ at some point in the future.
"The perfect" literally refers to that which is complete or final. Assuming that the canon of Scripture has been completed (and I for one believe it has), then we have all the revelation we need to see ourselves as God sees us, and we also have everything we need to live holy and fruitful lives for Jesus Christ! Therefore, the revelatory gifts are no longer needed and have ceased. I realize that this interpretation is not going to satisfy everyone, but no one can say that "the perfect" is still future without seriously interacting with this passage again.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
"From Every Tribe..Tongue..People and Nation" - Revelation 5:9
This is one of my favorite verses in the New Testament. Why? Because I believe that it indicates that there will be people in heaven some day from every tribe, language, people group and nation.
One could look at this verse as simply teaching that Christ's death paid for the salvation of the whole world. But this truth is already taught in more than one place in the New Testament (see II John 2:2, II Cor. 5:19). Rather, the language used here seems to indicate more than simply a payment that theoretically could open the door for people of the world in general. It makes the best sense to me to see this as a declaration in heaven at some future date, that people from every walk of life will be present at that time in heaven. It is a celebration of the accomplished fact and the following verse verifies it. There is says that Christ "...has made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign upon the earth." (v. 10). This is such a wonderful truth that leads to some great conclusions.
The first is not original with me. It comes from Randy Alcorn's great book about heaven. There he makes the claim that if there are people from every tribe and people group on earth, that will include groups long extinct like the Vikings and Mayans. What a cool thought! I think he is right. We will see people some day from groups we have only heard about. We will also get to hear their fascinating stories about how God managed to get the gospel to them even in remote or pagan places. I can hardly wait to meet them!
But the conclusion that excites me the most is that because of this prophetic truth, we can be sure that our mission efforts around the world are not in vain. Even better, we can confidently say that the Great Commission will be fulfilled. Even if we in the Church fail to carry out the Great Commission completely, God is going to make sure that in the Tribulation period and through His supernatural efforts, that every elect person from every tribe, tongue, people group and nation will be in heaven someday. What an awesome truth! This is a great incentive to go and make disciples of all the nations, and a wonderful promise of victory in this endeavor!
I look forward to being in heaven someday with my youngest brother, all my loved ones who are already there, all my present family, and people who will represent all the different people of this world. What a wonderfully diverse group it will be to the glory of God and our Lord Jesus Christ!
One could look at this verse as simply teaching that Christ's death paid for the salvation of the whole world. But this truth is already taught in more than one place in the New Testament (see II John 2:2, II Cor. 5:19). Rather, the language used here seems to indicate more than simply a payment that theoretically could open the door for people of the world in general. It makes the best sense to me to see this as a declaration in heaven at some future date, that people from every walk of life will be present at that time in heaven. It is a celebration of the accomplished fact and the following verse verifies it. There is says that Christ "...has made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign upon the earth." (v. 10). This is such a wonderful truth that leads to some great conclusions.
The first is not original with me. It comes from Randy Alcorn's great book about heaven. There he makes the claim that if there are people from every tribe and people group on earth, that will include groups long extinct like the Vikings and Mayans. What a cool thought! I think he is right. We will see people some day from groups we have only heard about. We will also get to hear their fascinating stories about how God managed to get the gospel to them even in remote or pagan places. I can hardly wait to meet them!
But the conclusion that excites me the most is that because of this prophetic truth, we can be sure that our mission efforts around the world are not in vain. Even better, we can confidently say that the Great Commission will be fulfilled. Even if we in the Church fail to carry out the Great Commission completely, God is going to make sure that in the Tribulation period and through His supernatural efforts, that every elect person from every tribe, tongue, people group and nation will be in heaven someday. What an awesome truth! This is a great incentive to go and make disciples of all the nations, and a wonderful promise of victory in this endeavor!
I look forward to being in heaven someday with my youngest brother, all my loved ones who are already there, all my present family, and people who will represent all the different people of this world. What a wonderfully diverse group it will be to the glory of God and our Lord Jesus Christ!
Sunday, February 6, 2011
No Condemnation - Romans 8:1
"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."
This is one of the most powerful and important verses in the entire New Testament. It is, first of all, a cornerstone of our security in Christ. Because of Christ's death and our trust in it, we know that we will never be condemned by God...ever! We are eternally secure. We will be accepted by God now and forever. But it is not just in the future when we literally stand before Him that we don't have to fear condemnation, it is "now" as Paul says.
A lot of Christians, even those who should know better, speak of God punishing them. Even pastors and theologians talk of such things. But this verse, I believe, rules that out. Going even deeper we can understand why God no longer punishes those who are in Christ.
Punishment is in the first place to satisfy the anger of the one offended. When someone is punished that person is hurt or penalized so that the offended part feels better. Now it is true that God was personally offended by our sin and rebellion. We were at one time His enemies (see Romans 5:10). But when Christ died on the cross for us He satisfied the Father's wrath (Rom. 5:9). This is what I John 2:2 is referring to when it says that "He Himself is the propitiation for our sins." Christ's death satisfied the Father's anger so that we are now at peace with God (Romans 5:1). He is not angry with us in any way, nor will He ever be if we are in Christ. God does discipline us, and sometimes very severely, but He does it not to punish us, but to correct us because we are His sons and daughters and He loves us too much to let us keep sinning (see Hebrews 12:5-7). But Christ's death is more than just a satisfaction in regard to God's anger. Christ also satisfied God's justice. Judicially-speaking we owed a spiritual debt that we could not pay, but Christ paid our debt so that the justice of God is satisfied and He can justly forgive us (see Colossians 2:14).
The bottom line is that there is nothing we can ever do in Christ to make God condemn us or punish us because Christ's death satisfied God the Father entirely and eternally. This is the foundation of our security in Christ. It is ultimately not about what we do or have done, it is about what Christ has done for us, and what He did on the cross is completely effective now and forever. Thank you, Lord Jesus!
This is one of the most powerful and important verses in the entire New Testament. It is, first of all, a cornerstone of our security in Christ. Because of Christ's death and our trust in it, we know that we will never be condemned by God...ever! We are eternally secure. We will be accepted by God now and forever. But it is not just in the future when we literally stand before Him that we don't have to fear condemnation, it is "now" as Paul says.
A lot of Christians, even those who should know better, speak of God punishing them. Even pastors and theologians talk of such things. But this verse, I believe, rules that out. Going even deeper we can understand why God no longer punishes those who are in Christ.
Punishment is in the first place to satisfy the anger of the one offended. When someone is punished that person is hurt or penalized so that the offended part feels better. Now it is true that God was personally offended by our sin and rebellion. We were at one time His enemies (see Romans 5:10). But when Christ died on the cross for us He satisfied the Father's wrath (Rom. 5:9). This is what I John 2:2 is referring to when it says that "He Himself is the propitiation for our sins." Christ's death satisfied the Father's anger so that we are now at peace with God (Romans 5:1). He is not angry with us in any way, nor will He ever be if we are in Christ. God does discipline us, and sometimes very severely, but He does it not to punish us, but to correct us because we are His sons and daughters and He loves us too much to let us keep sinning (see Hebrews 12:5-7). But Christ's death is more than just a satisfaction in regard to God's anger. Christ also satisfied God's justice. Judicially-speaking we owed a spiritual debt that we could not pay, but Christ paid our debt so that the justice of God is satisfied and He can justly forgive us (see Colossians 2:14).
The bottom line is that there is nothing we can ever do in Christ to make God condemn us or punish us because Christ's death satisfied God the Father entirely and eternally. This is the foundation of our security in Christ. It is ultimately not about what we do or have done, it is about what Christ has done for us, and what He did on the cross is completely effective now and forever. Thank you, Lord Jesus!
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Unless the Father...Draws Him - John 6:44
"No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws Him, and I will raise him up on the last day."
This is the key scripture verse, in my opinion, about the irresistability of God's grace. Jesus is, first of all, giving a qualification to what He just said a few moments ago.
"For this is the will of the Father that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day." (John 6:40)
Now He is saying that not just anyone who wants to can "come to Me". Only those who are being drawn by the Father. But this is not the aspect of God's irresistible grace that I want to discuss. Nor is it the fact that Jesus here makes it very clear that those who are drawn by the Father to the Son will inevitably believe. As He says immediately after the statement that no one can come to Me unless drawn by the Father, "and I will raise him up on the last day". There is no doubt that whoever is drawn by the Father will believe and will thus have eternal life, and thus be raised by Jesus on the last day. But this is still not what I want to talk about.
I also do not want to dwell on the fact that a short time later Jesus said that "...if I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men to Myself" (John 12:32).
Now we know that "all" does not mean every single person on earth, as we know there are many people who have lived and died rejecting Christ. Christ Himself said that "...the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few that find it." (Matthew 7:14) It must be that Jesus is saying that if He is lifted up (on the cross), He will draw people from every tongue, tribe, people and nation (see Revelation 5:9)
But what I really want to explain about the irresistibility of God's grace is that when God the Father draws us to Christ He attracts us to Jesus by His beauty and love, He does not drag us or forcibly compel us to believe.
I know that C.S. Lewis talked about being dragged kicking and screaming into the kingdom of God. I also know that the Greek word used here in John 6:44 refers to dragging or forcibly moving someone in Acts 21:30 and James 2:6. But as the standard Greek lexicon points out, the use of this word in a figurative sense means to "draw or attract" (see BAG, p. 251).
God, precisely because He is God, knows exactly what we need to hear and understand about Jesus to attract us to Him. God in His wisdom, love and sovereignty arranges the circumstances of our life and employs His Spirit so that in His time and His way we are drawn to Jesus because of His incredible beauty, love and greatness. As Bill Bright used to say, he was not drawn to Jesus because of a fear of hell, but rather the beauty and desirability of Christ. We are drawn to Christ by God's irresistible grace, not by God forcing us to believe something or in someone we really don't want to believe in. This is the way a lot of pastors and theologians explain God's drawing work, i.e., that God forcibly compels us to believe. What the Scripture teaches is that God "quickened" us (see Ephesians 2:5) so that we could believe, and then He draws us by showing us in an undeniable way how much we need Christ and how wonderful He truly is. As D.A. Carson puts it, "When He compels belief, it is not by the savage constraint of a rapist, but by the wonderful wooing of a lover" (The Gospel According to John, p. 293). Couldn't put it better myself. God's grace is irresistible, make no mistake about that. But that grace is attractive, not brutal. We believe not because we have to, but because we want to! Thank you, Heavenly Father!
This is the key scripture verse, in my opinion, about the irresistability of God's grace. Jesus is, first of all, giving a qualification to what He just said a few moments ago.
"For this is the will of the Father that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day." (John 6:40)
Now He is saying that not just anyone who wants to can "come to Me". Only those who are being drawn by the Father. But this is not the aspect of God's irresistible grace that I want to discuss. Nor is it the fact that Jesus here makes it very clear that those who are drawn by the Father to the Son will inevitably believe. As He says immediately after the statement that no one can come to Me unless drawn by the Father, "and I will raise him up on the last day". There is no doubt that whoever is drawn by the Father will believe and will thus have eternal life, and thus be raised by Jesus on the last day. But this is still not what I want to talk about.
I also do not want to dwell on the fact that a short time later Jesus said that "...if I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men to Myself" (John 12:32).
Now we know that "all" does not mean every single person on earth, as we know there are many people who have lived and died rejecting Christ. Christ Himself said that "...the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few that find it." (Matthew 7:14) It must be that Jesus is saying that if He is lifted up (on the cross), He will draw people from every tongue, tribe, people and nation (see Revelation 5:9)
But what I really want to explain about the irresistibility of God's grace is that when God the Father draws us to Christ He attracts us to Jesus by His beauty and love, He does not drag us or forcibly compel us to believe.
I know that C.S. Lewis talked about being dragged kicking and screaming into the kingdom of God. I also know that the Greek word used here in John 6:44 refers to dragging or forcibly moving someone in Acts 21:30 and James 2:6. But as the standard Greek lexicon points out, the use of this word in a figurative sense means to "draw or attract" (see BAG, p. 251).
God, precisely because He is God, knows exactly what we need to hear and understand about Jesus to attract us to Him. God in His wisdom, love and sovereignty arranges the circumstances of our life and employs His Spirit so that in His time and His way we are drawn to Jesus because of His incredible beauty, love and greatness. As Bill Bright used to say, he was not drawn to Jesus because of a fear of hell, but rather the beauty and desirability of Christ. We are drawn to Christ by God's irresistible grace, not by God forcing us to believe something or in someone we really don't want to believe in. This is the way a lot of pastors and theologians explain God's drawing work, i.e., that God forcibly compels us to believe. What the Scripture teaches is that God "quickened" us (see Ephesians 2:5) so that we could believe, and then He draws us by showing us in an undeniable way how much we need Christ and how wonderful He truly is. As D.A. Carson puts it, "When He compels belief, it is not by the savage constraint of a rapist, but by the wonderful wooing of a lover" (The Gospel According to John, p. 293). Couldn't put it better myself. God's grace is irresistible, make no mistake about that. But that grace is attractive, not brutal. We believe not because we have to, but because we want to! Thank you, Heavenly Father!
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