God’s Declaration of the Gospel to Sinners
by Wilhelmus à Brakel
The calling is a gracious work of God, whereby He invites the sinner by means of the gospel to exchange the state of sin and wrath for Christ, in order that through Him he may be reconciled to God and obtain godliness and salvation. By means of this calling He also, by the Holy Spirit, efficaciously translates His elect into this state.
The calling is a gracious work of God: “And (the king) sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come. For many are called, but few are chosen” (Matt. 22:3, 14); “...Him that hath called us to glory and virtue” (2 Pet. 1:3); “God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord” (1 Cor. 1:9).
God calls neither by the law of nature nor by the works of nature, whereby, in doing good, He nevertheless does not leave Himself without witness to the heathen (Acts 14:17). “That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after Him, and find Him” (Acts 17:27). For in all this Christ is neither proclaimed to them nor are they exhorted to believe in Him. The heathen are subject to the covenant of works, and whatever God does in and toward them has reference to that covenant. They are thus obligated to live according to this rule, “Do this and thou shalt live.” Therefore neither the law of nature, nor God’s works belong to the calling; the heathen are not called.
This call also does not occur by way of the moral law of Scripture. The moral law must be viewed in a twofold sense: It must be viewed either in its demands, whereby it reveals the perfect conditions of the covenant of works, or in its purpose, as having been given to the church as a rule of life and as the standard for true holiness. In its first sense the law is preached to convict man of sin (Rom. 3:20), thus bringing man to despair of being saved by his works. Here the function of the law ends. If, however, Christ is simultaneously preached by means of the gospel, man, being rejected by the law, is allured by the gospel. Thus, wherever Christ is preached, the law functions as a schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ (Gal. 3:24). The law, however, neither teaches about Christ nor calls to Him, and thus the moral law is not a functional element of the calling. This is different as far as the ceremonial law is concerned, which belongs to the gospel.
The true means whereby we are called, however, is the gospel. “Whereunto He called you by our gospel” (2 Th. 2:14). The word “gospel” means a good tiding, the content of which is as follows: “Poor man, you are subject to sin and to the wrath of God. You are traversing upon the way which will end in eternal perdition. God, however, has sent His Son Jesus Christ to be a Surety; in His suffering and death there is the perfect satisfaction of the justice of God, and thus acquittal from guilt and punishment. In His obedience to the law there is perfect holiness, so that He can completely save all who go unto God through Him. Christ offers you all His merits, and therefore eternal salvation.” He calls and invites everyone: “Turn unto Me and be saved, receive Me, surrender to Me, enter into a covenant with Me and you will not perish but have everlasting life.” This declaration is recorded in the Bible in both the Old and New Testaments. The first gospel declaration is found in Genesis 3:15, where we read that the Seed of the woman will bruise the head of the serpent. Since then, God has frequently and in various ways caused the gospel to be proclaimed (Heb. 1:1). “For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them” (Heb. 4:2). Prior to the coming of Christ it was called the gospel of promises. “...separated unto the gospel of God, (which He had promised afore by His prophets in the Holy Scriptures)” (Rom. 1:1–2). Subsequent to Christ’s coming it is called the gospel of fulfillment. “Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, The time is fulfilled” (Mark 1:14–15).
“A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies. She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her:” (Proverbs 31:10, 27-28)
(Read by Max McLean. Provided by Zondervan.)
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First I intended to write down what John Piper said while commenting on Desiring God Radio. But then I went over to Kim's and found a post on legalism, which gave me an idea to actually combine Piper's commentary with my own conclusions. Transcript first.
When God wants something to happen in my life, He doesn't say: 'your choices don't matter'; He says: 'I will now influence your choices'.
Question: John, some people's response to God's sovereignty in Romans 9 is *fatalism*. If God's going to do what God's going to do, our choices mean nothing, so we can just go about our business, and if God's going to get our attention, He'll do so. Where do you find fault in that thinking?
John Piper: God doesn't exercise His sovereignty around human will, but through human will. If God wills that a nail go through this 2x4 into another 2x4, and hold this wall in place, He wills that you hit it with a hammer. He doesn't say: 'Nail, enter!', and it just kind of sinks. Rather, He says in His sovereign providence, 'Carpenter, bang the nail!.' And the nail goes in, and God's will is accomplished.
So, take prayer, or evangelism as corresponding to the hammer and the carpenter. Does God will that my children come to faith? I hope He does. But He won't will it around my will or their will. He influences me, in His sovereignty, to teach my children the Word of God. He influences me in His sovereignty to pray for my children. He influences them to read their Bible and to comply with my requirement that they go to church. And in bringing about His total sovereign control over the outcomes of our lives, He doesn't do it in spite of what we're thinking or in spite of what we're willing - He does it through what we're thinking and what we're willing - He influences what we think and what we will; so we're folded in into a drama.
It's not a fatalism that says, 'Oh, our thinking and our choosing doesn't matter', as though God has some track He can run along while our thinking and our willing are off to the side. Rather, the track runs right through my will and right through my thinking, and He inclines my heart.
When God wants something to happen in my life, He doesn't say, 'your choices don't matter.' He says, 'I will now influence your choices.' And so, we pray.
I mean, the psalmists model for us how to pray: 'Incline my heart to Your Testimonies.'
What does that mean? It means: 'I'm not right now inclining or desiring, or choosing Your Testimonies!', and so he cries out, 'God, exercise Your sovereign influence over my will and make me want to read the Bible!' and so God doesn't fatalistically do a run around my will, He rather works in and under my will, so that I am freely, freely choosing to do what He wants me to do.
Now what I think legalism is or is not, according to the above, is this: it is impossible to do Father's will this way and sidetrack to the legalistic path. As long as you follow this underlying will of God, the one that influences your own willing and thinking, you follow the commandment of love. The problem starts when you rebel against this gift of influence and try to take your own track, when there is a battle of wills in you, and when you no longer work out of will, but out of duty and in spiritual solitude - when you yourself separate your will from the will of God.
I do not know if this makes sense, but it certainly made sense when I was thinking about it. Kim, what do you think?
Even So tagged me... And then Mary!
I do not consider myself a very exciting person, but who knows?
To make it more appropriate, I just may start by saying:
1. Ti's my birthday today!!! - 'cause it really is my birthday, May 11th 19.., well, sufficient to say, long ago and far away.
2. Something more substantial? OK. I speak three languages fluently, Polish, English and Swedish, and some other ones not so fluently. Linguistics has been a passion of my life, and I was given the opportunity to use it in practice, both privately and professionally.
3. I can dance like they do in "Swan Lake" - 9 years of ballet school left some traces :).
4. On the shocking side - both my mom and I used the possibility of divorce when we found out that marriage was not so safe anymore (not this one I am in now).
5. When everybody else sits back and enjoys the pleasures of half-grown kids, I started having my own. I was over 36 when the first one came ;), and the second one came exactly 5 years later. They are fun!
6. I have absolutely no interest in plants/flowers/gardening, but much interest in books and some weird computer programs...
7. 2 years ago I lost over 16 kilograms off of my weight, by exercise and diet, during a period of 10 months.
8. I was saved by God's Grace in June 2006 - and consider it the most important moment of my life.
Now I am not sure about 8 people to tag... But I want to tag Donna, Mike, Mil and Chris... I forgot to add the important thing: the folks tagged here are supposed to write a post about 7 or 8 random things about themselves, and then tag some other folks...
He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”
--Genesis 3:1
From the beginning of time we find Satan actively at work doing what he does best…deceiving and destroy. Make no mistake, Satan is real and he’s out to destroy you and your faith. In fact, Satan is the ultimate terrorist…the terrorist of your soul!
I find it fascinating that many people blame God when tragedies occur. They say, “Why would God allow this to happen to us,” or “Where was God when this happened? Doesn’t He care?” But these questions omit the fact that Satan and his evil work are real. And that he is still active today deceiving and destroying.
Evil is real, and Satan is the author of every bit of it. That’s why he shows up when he sees an opportunity to trip you up. Have you ever noticed that many temptations seem to just come out of nowhere? Everything is going well, and suddenly you’re faced with an incredibly tough temptation to sin.
That’s because Satan is an opportunist. He knows your strengths and weaknesses, and knows exactly where to hit you…and the kind of evil suggestions that will tempt you most.
So be careful not to blame God for your struggles, because they come from our adversary, the devil. Instead of blaming God for the temptation, you need to turn to Him for the strength to resist the devil.
Our world wants to blame God for evil???but we know who is really to blame. Your calling as a believer is to stand in Christ’s strength against the devil’s temptations and not allow him the victory in your life today.
SATAN KNOWS YOUR STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES. DO YOU?
by Jack Graham
