you must have a doctrine

In his epistle to the Romans, Paul mentions predestination in close proximity to God's foreknowledge: "Whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren." (Romans 8:29) Christians who seek to be biblical in their thinking must have a doctrine of election and of predestination. These concepts were not invented by Augustine in his debate with Pelagius, or by Luther in his debate with Erasmus, or by Calvin in his debate with Pigius, or by Edwards in his debate with Chubb. These concepts of election and predestination are found in the text of Scripture. If you really want to be biblical as a Christian, it is incumbent upon you to hold to the biblical doctrine of predestination and of election and not some other construction. 

R. C. Sproul, St. Andrews Expositional Commentary on 1 - 2 Peter

Everyone's a Theologian by R.C. Sproul - Book Review

I just finished listening to Christian Audio's version of Everyone's a Theologian: An Introduction to Systematic Theology by R.C. Sproul that was read by Grover Gardner... Here is my review of this book.

According to the cover of Everyone's a Theologian: An Introduction to Systematic Theology by R.C. Sproul, this book is meant to be an introduction to Systematic Theology. As I was listening to it, I was starting to feel like it wasn't quite an introduction, but a full-fledged book on Theology. It wasn't as concise as I was expecting, and it seemed like some of the topics would have been a bit too challenging for the new Christian.

If I put that aside, it was actually a very good introduction to theology. Each chapter only lasts 5 to 15 minutes, so it makes for an easy listen. I listen while I commute to and from work, so a book like this is perfect for those times where I listen just a little bit at a time. Each section gave the basics of those theological topics in such a way that you could walk away with a solid foundation of thought without being overwhelmed... but like I said, if you are brand new to Christianity, then this book might be a bit much.

Christian Audio's Free Book of the Month - February 2015

Every month Christian Audio (http://christianaudio.com) gives away an audio book for free. Sometimes I am not too interested in the book, but the one this month is one that I was considering buying anyway. It is called Everyone's a Theologian by R. C. Sproul. 

click image for the free audio book of the month

If you spend any amount of time commuting to work or if you just have a difficult time reading, then I would like to suggest that you download this book and give it a whirl. I mean... It is for "everyone" isn't it?

What it Says... What you See?

All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.
(John 6:37 ESV)

What do you hear when you read this statement from Jesus?

The vast majority of Christians today... read the statement of Jesus this way: 'All who come to me the Father will give me.'

In other words... we come... we decide.

'Then the Father recognizes our decision and makes us gifts to his Son.' But that is not the way Jesus taught it. Jesus said, 'The ones whom the Father has given to Me will come to Me -- every one of them."

Sometimes the teachings of Jesus are difficult. Will you listen to them, re-interpret them, or just plain ignore them?

(I preached on this passage of scripture this past Sunday. More than one person walked away questioning... but what I loved was that they weren't questioning me... as far as I could tell... they were questioning Jesus. In a good way!)

Free eBooks by R.C Sproul

Right now the ebook versions of the Crucial Questions series by R.C. Sproul is free. The announcement on the Ligonier Ministries website reads:

To further help Christians know what they believe, why they believe it, how to live it, and how to share it, from today the eBook editions of R.C. Sproul’s Crucial Questions series will be free forever.

So, there is no rush to go grab these. (Although I went immediately and grabbed all of them.) They have epub format available, but they also have links to the Kindle version and the iTunes version.

Check it out now and go get some questions answered.

http://www.ligonier.org/blog/rc-sprouls-crucial-questions-ebooks-now-free/

Killing Calvinism - Book Review

I just finished reading Killing Calvinism: How to Destroy a Perfectly Good Theology from the Inside. I found the title of this book to be alluring.  It snatched my attention from the first time that I heard of it.  It was on my watch list for books that I was hoping would go on sale eventually.  Strangely enough, when it did go on sale, it wasn't me that purchased it, but it was my wife who purchased this book. She saw it on the when she was browsing through the Kindle books and decided to pick it up.  I was surprised to see it listed with my books, but quickly started to read it.

Like I said, the title of this book is what drew me in, but what kept me reading was the openness and honesty of the author.  From the subtitle, How to Destroy a Perfectly Good Theology from the Inside, I could tell that this book was going to deal with the reality of people's reaction to, what is popularly called, Calvinism, and the difficulty of relaying that truth to others. There are so many knee-jerk reactions to salvation and the sovereignty of God that it is hard to get past all of that and into the actual teachings of Scripture.  The flip side to that coin is the pride, anger and arrogance that seems to go along with those who hold this view, whether that is a reality or not, many seem to detect a connection here.

Greg Dutcher shares a quote from John Piper regarding the anger:

When a person comes to see the doctrines of grace in the Bible, he is often amazed that he missed it, and he can sometimes become angry.  He can become angry that he grew up in a church or home where they never talked about what is really there in Romans 8, I Corinthians 2, and Ephesians 2.  They never talked about it -- they skipped it -- and he is angry that he was misled for so long.

I understand that sentiment.  There are so many passages of scripture that were never discussed or taught. I have seen this anger in me.  I don't want to do things that might hinder others from seeing and savoring the greatest aspects of God's amazing grace, and I definitely don't want my attitudes to dim their glory.  The author shared another Piper quote that really rang true:

I love the doctrines of grace with all my heart, and I think they are pride-shattering, humbling, and love producing doctrines.  But I think there is an attractiveness about them to some people, in a large matter, because of their intellectual rigor.  They are powerfully coherent doctrines, and certain kinds of minds are drawn to that.  And those kinds of minds tend to be argumentative. 

So the intellectual appeal of the system of Calvinism draws a certain kind of intellectual person, and that type of person doesn't tend to be the most warm, fuzzy, and tender.  Therefore this type of person has a greater danger of being hostile, gruff, abrupt, insensitive, or intellectualistic.

So I don't go into a Piper-quoting frenzy, I will stop there.  I do appreciate how the author, through these quotes and through personal experiences and confessions, displays the typical dangers that seem to cloud the  teachings of these doctrines.  I was stirred, again, by the author's love, not of Calvinism, but of the Lord, to keep in mind God's wonderful grace.

If you are a Calvinist, 5-point or no... I recommend getting this book.  I found it extremely helpful and encouraging.  I will end this book review by sharing another quote in the book, this one by R.C. Sproul.  This quote is on that I found to be extremely interesting and full of eye-opening encouragement.  I concerns Sprouls acceptance of the teachings of Calvinism:

The combination was too much for me.  Gerstner, Edwards, the New Testament professor, and above all the apostle Paul, were too formidable a team for me to withstand.  The ninth chapter of Romans was the clincher. I simply could find no way to avoid the apostle's teaching in that chapter. Reluctantly, I sighed and surrendered, but with my head, not my heart.  "OK, I believe this stuff, but I don't have to like it!" 

I soon discovered that God has created us so that the heart is supposed to follow the head. I could not, with impunity, love something with my head that I hated in my heart.  Once I began to see the cogency of the doctrine and its broader implications, my eyes were opened to the graciousness of grace and the grand comfort of God's sovereignty.  I began to like the doctrine little by little, until it burst upon my soul that the doctrine revealed the depth and the riches of the mercy of God.

If I know you and you are interested in reading this book, and you have a Kindle, I think that I can "loan" this book.  I have never tried this before, but I would be willing to give it a shot.  Let me know.