Sanctified Affliction Seldom Seems Sanctified

One of the troubling things about sanctified affliction is how unsanctified it can seem while you are going through it, but this should be expected since the Lord is often drawing the dross to the surface in order to remove it.

Forgiveness

A Sermon on Forgiveness by Christopher Neiswonger at Communion Presbyterian Church of Irvine California, January 17th 2010.

http://sermon.net/communion/sermonid/2326392

http://sermon.net/communion/sermonid/2326392

For if you forgive others their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

For if you forgive others their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. Click for the Audio of the www.apologetics.com Radio Show.

http://www.apologetics.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=462:for-if-you-forgive-others-their-sins-your-heavenly-father-will-also-forgive-you&catid=43:kkla-995-fm-los-angeles&Itemid=74

If there is anything that is central to Christian faith and practice,
it is the forgiveness of sins. To have peace with God is the whole of
our religion in brief. The sum of our justification is found in the
remission of sin and the propitiation of the wrath of God. Peace with
God is expressed through being at peace with our neighbor. We are in
this life, as it were, Ambassadors in God’s programme to bring peace
to the world through the forgiveness of sins. It would seem that the
greater portion of being a Christian community is found in being a
forgiving and loving people; a place where people can find rest for
their souls. Still, there are many things to spirit out in regard to
the hows and whens and conditions or lack thereof, and many scriptures
the exposition of which draw us into the depth and richness not only
of the forgiveness of those that sin against us, but our own
forgiveness by God our Father.

Christopher Neiswonger

(In regard to whether or not we have the duty to forgive sins)

“But the words of Luke give rise to another question; for Christ does
not order us to grant forgiveness, till the offender turn to us and
give evidence of repentance.1 I reply, there are two ways in which
offenses are forgiven. If a man shall do me an injury, and I, laying
aside the desire of revenge, do not cease to love him, but even repay
kindness in place of injury, though I entertain an unfavorable opinion
of him, as he deserves, still I am said to forgive him. For when God
commands us to wish well to our enemies, He does not therefore demand
that we approve in them what He condemns, but only desires that our
minds shall be purified from all hatred. In this kind of pardon, so
far are we from having any right to wait till he who has offended
shall return of his own accord to be reconciled to us, that we ought
to love those who deliberately provoke us, who spurn reconciliation,
and add to the load of former offenses. A second kind of forgiving is,
when we receive a brother into favor, so as to think favorably
respecting him, and to be convinced that the remembrance of his
offense is blotted out in the sight of God. And this is what I have
formerly remarked, that in this passage Christ does not speak only of
injuries which have been done to us, but of every kind of offenses;
for he desires that, by our compassion, we shall raise up those who
have fallen.” John Calvin- from the commentary on The Gospel of
Matthew- Chapter 18

1. In the French version he adds-“for it appears in this way that he
commands his followers to shut their heart against the obstinate, and
to refuse them pardon.”

The Grave Peril of the Problem of Evil

“The Grave Peril of the Problem of Evil”

The New Apologetics.com Radio Show available for Download on apologetics.com on the Problem of Evil in relation to the existence of God.

http://www.apologetics.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=457:the-grave-peril-of-the-problem-of-evil&catid=43:kkla-995-fm-los-angeles&Itemid=74

For God So Loved the World

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16 is probably the most famous and well remembered verses in all of scripture. The gospel message is expressed in these 25 simple words and so much is said in so little a space. Our Lord’s words to Nicodemus have brought many to faith and give hope to all the faithful.

There is a consensus in the church concerning this verse that I would like to challenge, or at least call to further scrutiny, which states that the scope of God’s love for the world includes every man, woman and child in the world, a universal and unconditional love. The word ‘world’ can mean a number of things; it could mean the world in general, rock and trees and animals, but the phrase “whoever believes” limits the meaning to mean the world of men. So, what men, all men or certain men within the world?

In Romans 1:8 we read, “First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.” The word ‘world’ means ‘kosmos’ in the Greek. Are we to hold that the definition of world here refers to every man, woman and child in the global sense? Clearly, the context would not demand that understanding here. Paul is using hyperbole to commend the church in Rome on how tails of their faith had traveled throughout the known ancient world (their general geographic location) at that time. It would be unreasonable to apply the meaning here to every man, woman and child.

Secondly, contrary to a global love of every man, woman and child there is in scripture several instances where God has clearly stated that He hates certain individuals. Psalm 5:5: states, “the boastful shall not stand in Your sight; You hate all workers of iniquity.” Psalm 11:5 also says, The Lord tests the righteous, but the wicked and the one who loves violence His soul hates.” We also see that in Malachi 1:3 and in Romans 9:13, God declares that He hated Esau, contrasting that hatred with a proclaimed love of Jacob.

Thirdly, there is a tendency by many Christians living two thousand years after the institution of the New Covenant, and is critical in understanding the significance of the word ‘world’ in the New Covenant; to take for gtranted that in the Old Covenant God dealt exclusively with one nation, Israel. He chose them to be His own special people. In Exodus 6:6-7 God says to Moses, “therefore say to the children of Israel: ‘I am the Lord; I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, I will rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. I will take you as My people, and I will be your God.” God had chosen Abram, and told him to leave the land of his birth, Ur, and commanded him to go to a land God would show him, and God promised to make him a great nation. To that nation God gave His oracles, gave land, sent prophets, raised up kings and through the lineage of David, gave His Son.

But, in Matthew 28:19-20 we read, “go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” The command to make disciples of all nations is a huge shift in the way that God has now determined to deal with His covenant people. To those whom God now says “I will take you as my people and I will be your God” are people from every tribe and nation of the world. The New Covenant is inclusive of all peoples and nations not only one singular nation. This paradigm shift was so dramatic that God chose to reveal Himself in a vision to the Jewish apostle Peter, prior to his visitation of the Gentile Cornelius. This was no small or insignificant feature of the New Covenant; in fact, it was so great a task that an apostle was commissioned specifically to the Gentiles, the Apostle Paul. After two thousand years of a predominantly Gentile church, it is easy to see how Gentile Christians can take for granted the magnitude of this shift by God, to include men from all tribes and nations or the world.

We have seen that the word ‘world’ does not necessarily mean every man, women or child and its scope of inclusion is generally defined by the context. We have seen also, that scripture itself attests to the fact that God does not love every person in the world, in fact He hates all workers of iniquity and we know He hated Esau specifically, in contrast to His love of Jacob. The New Covenant command of Christ to make disciples of all nations, the calling of Paul to preach the gospel to the Gentile nations, the church extending to all corners of the earth, all make it clear that “for God so loved the world” to mean every man woman and child of the earth, unlikely. A more biblical interpretation of the phrase, taking into account the context and scripture as a whole, would be that John is intending to mean men of the world, not necessarily every man in the world but men in every part of the world, and not just Israel.

While this view may be unpopular, it tends to line up with what scripture has said overall and what the context of John 3 is expressing. When reading the discourse between Jesus and Nicodemus, one cannot conclude that Jesus is giving a lesson on God’s unconditional love. There are words of condemnation and words of exclusiveness throughout the discourse. God gave His son to the world, and those in the world that God loves are the “whoever” that believe.

Clay