[Read more…] about Divine Impassibility: Does God Experience Fleshly Passions?
Theology
If Perseverance is a Gift Why Do People Seem to Fall Away from Faith?
Augustine (rightly) says that both the beginning of end of faith is a gift of God, both the initial belief and the perseverance to the end (Rebuke and Grace, and Perseverance). As Paul says, “I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil 1:6).
But this “fact” does not reduce human experience to nothing. We know that people profess faith, have “initial enthusiasm” as Paul Carter recently noted. And this initial enthusiasm often wanes, and so does one’s professed faith. There is no reason to deny this regular experience because the Bible affirms that he who began a good work in us will bring it to completion.
I find this to be one of the oddest things people do: oppose experience to faith as if they contradict each other. [Read more…] about If Perseverance is a Gift Why Do People Seem to Fall Away from Faith?
Reflections on Predestination in Augustine, Fulgentius, and the Reformation
I like how Augustine and Fulgentius and others in the early church talk about predestination. They teach what the Bible says on these matters, but they have a sort of holy reverence for the doctrine so that they don’t speak about such mysteries lightly.
I find the way in which some young Calvinistic people talk about predestination and reprobation harsh. And so did Augustine, and in his work on Perseverance, he instructs a group of people to teach on this doctrine without harshness. After all, Augustine says, you are talking to Christians in church! Why not assume the best about them.
And so we can make salvation feel like the whims of God’s will, even though that is far away from the truth. God’s essential goodness alone provides the ground for his predestining grace given to us in time as the Spirit awakens faith in our hearts.
Predestination is good news that God gives grace to people who don’t merit it by their good works, because they cannot; the one who sins, Jesus tells us, is a slave to sin. And so we are all enslaved to sin because all people die; and death, as Paul says, is the wages of sin. So if we all die, we must all sin; and if we sin, we must all be slaves of sin.
So only can God’s grace that awakens our evil will to make it a good will save us. That is, predestination saves us because grace awakens our faith and hearts; grace is predestination applied in time, or actualized to use the older language. [Read more…] about Reflections on Predestination in Augustine, Fulgentius, and the Reformation
Apollinaris of Laodicea: Why His Teaching on Christ was Condemned
Apollinaris of Laodicea (d. 382) started out as a well-known opponent of Arianism. As time went on, his arguments for Christ’s full divinity fell into its own set of errors on at least three points. [Read more…] about Apollinaris of Laodicea: Why His Teaching on Christ was Condemned
Jesus Became a Baby Because He Loves You
Why did the King of Glory become a baby? We can answer by saying “for his glory”! And we would be right to say so, but what does that even mean?
To start with, the word glory can sometimes describe doing good works. When a good deed is manifested in the world, we call it glorious. This is why all of God’s works are glorious, especially his creation of humans (Isa 42:7). The good works God does point back to the good Creator of all.
God also created humans for glory and honour. David says, God “crowned [humans] with glory and honor” (Ps 8:5). Paul even tells us to pursue glory and honour (Rom 2:7). While sin for a little while decrowned us of our glory, Jesus became human to bring “many sons to glory” (Heb 2:10, 14).
In summary, God created us for his glory, he crowned us with glory that we for a little while lost by sin, and Jesus restored that glory to us when he came into the world. Glory seems like a good answer for why Jesus was born, but I would say it is not a full answer.
A more complete answer includes the biblical truth that Jesus became a baby because he loves you. And this work of love is glorious. [Read more…] about Jesus Became a Baby Because He Loves You
What Does TULIP in Calvinism Mean?
I recently came across a social media post that described the Calvinist TULIP in the following way:
T= everyone hates God with all their heart even from the womb
U = for a mysterious reason God only loves and “elects” a few and damns the rest
L = Contrary to scripture, Jesus only died for some
I = God forces a few to love Jesus
P = irrelevant in light of Evanescent Grace
I have heard similar mischaracterizations before. However, comments under this post from Calvinists(!) attempted to defend TULIP without correcting this mischaracterization!
I am not that surprised. For years, I have heard Calvinists and non-Calvinists alike make odd claims about Calvinism and TULIP.
This post and its comments provide a useful teaching moment about what TULIP means. [Read more…] about What Does TULIP in Calvinism Mean?