some thoughts

We set aside today’s class for questions about last week’s teaching on the Doctrine of Redemption (Redemption Accomplished). Not all of the questions were directly about this topic, but we did have a few good ones.

1. One student asked about the somewhat cryptic passage in 1 John 5:16-17. We basically decided that we don’t know what it means. Matthew Henry’s commentary wasn’t very helpful. (Side note: I just looked it up in Calvin’s Commentaries, and he interprets the ’sin that leads to death’ as outright, full-on apostasy. He said that once a person has gone so far that it seems that we have solid reason to believe their apostasy is complete and irrevocable, “we should not seek to be more merciful than God.” But he also makes a strong caution that this happens very infrequently, that we must “hope all things,” and lastly that this will not happen to a true child of God as the following verses indicate. So there’s another possibility.)
2. Another student, concerned about the alarming number of abortions each day, asked about the salvation of aborted babies. We discussed that God is able to quicken faith at any time–such as with David (Psalm 22:9-10) or John the Baptist (Luke 1:15). I mentioned, though, that I didn’t think the bible was perfectly clear whether all babies, without fail, go to heaven, or that all babies, without fail, go to hell. We must just trust in the goodness of God on that matter. Some have suggested that, as in Romans 1, sin is imputed or counted when the creature recognizes from the testimony of nature that there is a God who should be worshipped and yet doesn’t, and that since these babies did not have the intellectual capacity to reason from the creation to a Creator, they may be “with excuse” where others with this capacity are “without excuse.” Either way, the thing to focus on when talking with a woman who’s had an abortion is that the blood of Christ is powerful enough to forgive her sin, and that through Christ she can approach the throne with boldness. Of primary importance is seeking to affirm her in her forgiven state before God–that God’s wrath for that sin, horrible as it is, was fully absorbed by Christ in her place. Through him, she can be reconciled fully with her heavenly father–that he does not allow her into his presence with an attitude of reluctance, but welcomes and embraces her there; that there is nothing standing between them “emotionally,” as it were. Truly, that she is wanted there. Another student added that the question becomes much easier for those who hold the “conditional immortality” view. I cautioned against bringing that up in a counseling- or ministry- type conversation, since it’s not the traditional view for most evangelicals, and may end up being more confusing for them than actually helpful. We must use wisdom, and discern when to speak, and when to just embrace and weep along side. Usually the latter is best.
3. I’d anticipated a question about 1 John 2:2, in response to the teaching last week on the perfection (and extent) of the atonement. We turned to John 11:45-52, and found a very similar sentence (by the same author) in verse 52. We then turned to Galatians 2:9, to see who John the apostle primarily ministered to. Paul and Barnabas went to the Gentiles, and John, Cephas, and James went to the Jews. We then noted two important things: first, that after an apostle went on a missionary journey, he would often write a kind of follow-up letter to the people he’d ministered to; second, that racial tensions between Jews and Gentiles in the church were very high. Cultural differences, the idea of being ‘clean and unclean,’ etc. were all major issues. Most of Paul’s writings dealt with these issues somewhere (Galatians and the Judaizers, Romans 14, Ephesians 2:11-22, etc.). This was a major issue for Peter to get over in Acts 10-11, and the question asked and answered by the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15. It would be important for them to rid themselves of any ideas of racial superiority–or even racial distinction. So, from all these things, it’s highly probable that John, an apostle to the Jews, was writing a follow-up letter to people he’d preached to–Jews. And, in this verse, he took the opportunity to remind them that Jesus Christ was not just a saviour for them, but for all nations.
4. In the course of the previous conversation, one student added, “It’s about free will.” I added that we must understand that we are free to choose whatever we want–and that’s the problem. By nature, we hate God, reject him, and want nothing to do with him. As the Cambridge declaration puts it so concisely, “Faith is not produced by our unregenerated nature.” I pointed to the story of Lazarus as a picture of regeneration, faith, and repentance. Then, to Christ’s teaching in John 2 in his conversation with Nicodemus; that unless we are born again from above, we cannot even see the kingdom–much less enter it. Lazarus’ leaving of the tomb was not the cause of his coming back to life, it was the result. So yes, we are free, but we’re not free to choose something we don’t want; we’re are free to choose whatever our nature desires. And we always choose what we want most.
5. Then someone asked “Why did God only choose some, and not all?” After pausing to express that some of these issues and questions are difficult ones, and that we must come to them humbly, reverently, and yet with confidence that the Bible does give answers to these questions, I asked if we might be better off asking “Why did God decide to choose anyone at all? We have to remember that not a single one of us deserves salvation, and God is not obligated to save anyone. As a matter of fact, his justice obligates him to execute just punishment upon each of us. I mentioned the teaching of Romans 9. Before God came to us, we were standing in the crowd of all humanity–across the battlefield, as it were–railing against God, hating him, rejecting him as his enemies. “But God”–that glorious phrase–
   

   But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ–by grace you have been saved–and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

   Perhaps we would be better off to ask, even further, why he decided to save me? “For what makes us to differ?” The grace of God–and only the grace of God. He has mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he wills, he hardens. (Romans 9:15-18). Why, then, are we among those who believe? Simply because he loved us. Why did he love us in this way? Deuteronomy 7 teaches us that he loved us simply because he loved us. Praise him for it!

6. In preparation for next week, I asked if all people are equally fallen? If so, why then does one person choose Christ and another does not, after hearing the same gospel command/offer? “What makes us to differ?” Next week should be interesting. Truly, God’s grace is amazing.

We closed by giving thanks to God for the great and undeserved love with which he has loved us. We thanked him for his grace, his mercy, his boundless love toward us in Christ.

…did I forget any? Anything else to add?