Tullian Tchividjian Says Forgiveness Isn't Dependent Upon Purity of One's Confession

Tullian said on his FB page:

Tullian Tchividjian

9 hrs · 

Christ's forgiveness of your sins is not dependent on the purity of your confession, but rather the purity of his sacrifice.

End quote.

As Karen from Girded with Truth blog shared,

CONFESSION OF SIN. We know that this is absolutely necessary to salvation. Unless there be a true and hearty confession of our sins to God, we have no promise that we shall find mercy through the blood of the Redeemer. "Whosoever confesseth his sins and forsaketh them shall find mercy." But there is no promise in the Bible to the man who will not confess his sins. Yet, as upon every point of Scripture there is a liability of being deceived, so more especially in the matter of confession of sin. There be many who make a confession, and a confession before God, who notwithstanding, receive no blessing, because their confession has not in it certain marks which are required by God to prove it genuine and sincere, and which demonstrate it to be the work of the Holy Spirit.
~ C.H. Spurgeon
So true.

A heart that does not *really* agree with God that one's sin *is* sin, is still in rebellion toward God and is still married to his sin. This is nothing but phariseeism. Mouthing the words, but the heart is far from God, still standing in pride and self-righteousness.
Rom 10:9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 

1Jn 1:8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 
1Jn 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 
1Jn 1:10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. 

Psa 51:3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. 4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.

“If the professed convert distinctly and deliberately declares that he knows the Lord’s will but does not mean to attend to it, you are not to pamper his presumption, but it is your duty to assure him that he is not saved. Do not suppose that the Gospel is magnified or God glorified by going to the worldlings and telling them that they may be saved at this moment by simply accepting Christ as their Savior, while they are wedded to their idols, and their hearts are still in love with sin. If I do so I tell them a lie, pervert the Gospel , insult Christ, and turn the grace of God into lasciviousness.” 

~CH Spurgeon

The Atonement

"Few seem to realize the fearful implications which necessarily follow the principles they hold and advocate. To predicate an atonement which fails to atone, a redemption which does not redeem, a sacrifice which secures not the actual remission of sins is a horrible reflection upon all the attributes of God. To make the efficacy or success of the greatest of all God's works dependent upon the choice of fallen and depraved creatures is to magnify man at the cost of dethroning his Maker."

~Arthur Pink, "The Satisfaction of Christ, Studies in the Atonement"

Dealing With Heresy, Though None Dare Call It Heresy

Is the NPP controversy an intramural dispute between Evangelical Christians? Is this a debate between brethren? Unfortunately this is generally the way the issue is framed whenever it is debated. Very few are willing to draw the conclusion that this is anything else. It isn't politically correct. It isn't nice. And if there is anything that is unforgivable in contemporary "Christianity," it is failing to be nice when dealing with heretics.

Neither the Old Testament prophets, nor the New Testament apostles, nor Christ himself was "nice." Rather, their ministries were characterized by confrontation. Elijah confronted Ahab and mocked the priests of Baal. Jehu rebuked the godly king Jehoshaphat for his compromising with Ahab and declared, "Should you help the ungodly, and love them that hate the LORD? Therefore is wrath upon you from before the LORD" (2 Chronicles 19:2). David declared of the enemies of the Lord, "Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate you? And am not I grieved with those that rise up against you? I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them my enemies" (Psalm 139:21-22). Christ himself repeatedly confronted the religious leaders of his day, the official spokesmen for Second-Temple Judaism, and his rebukes were sharp in the extreme. Today's "Evangelicals" extend the right hand of fellowship to wolves in sheep's clothing and count heretics as "esteemed brethren." (3)

The great question before us is this: Is the Gospel of Jesus Christ a negotiable doctrine? Can the church even exist without the Gospel? We are not dealing with minor differences, but with errors that are totally destructive of the Christian faith....

A maxim in the political world says, "Treason never prospers; what's the reason? If it prosper, none dare call it treason." The parallel maxim in ecclesiology would be, "Heresy never prospers, for if it prosper, none dare call it heresy." Is this the reason that we never hear of any minister or seminary professor being charged with heresy, despite the apostasy all around us, even in Reformed churches? Is this why we never hear of any church court accusing a false teacher of being a false teacher? 

The Old Testament is replete with warnings about false prophets. The New Testament is replete with warnings about false teachers. Twenty-two of the twenty-seven books of the New Testament contain such warnings. The churches are filled with theological confusion, error, and unbelief, yet we never hear these warnings from the lips of church leaders. Instead, we see false teachers honored as "esteemed brethren." We see them accepted and even honored by the churches. And we see those who would confront them in the spirit of Elijah, those who would strip away the sheep's clothing and expose the wolves, sanctimoniously condemned as troublemakers, unloving, and schismatics. Heresy must be prospering in the churches, for none dare call it heresy.

Let us heed Paul's words: "For I know this, that after my departing grievous wolves shall enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. Therefore watch, and remember that for the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears" (Acts 20:29-31). "For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as ministers of righteousness, whose end shall be according to their works" (2 Corinthians 11:13-15).

~The Trinity Foundation on "The New Perspective on Paul"

Once Pro-Sodomy- Ban Attorney Mike Bower Now Supports Sodomy Unions

The Man Who Defended Sodomy Bans At The Supreme Court Now Believes Everyone Needs Love

Bowers v. Hardwick, the 1986 Supreme Court decision allowing state bans on “homosexual sodomy,” was only before the Supreme Court because Bowers, then the attorney general of Georgia, asked the justices to hear the case and uphold the constitutionality of the ban.

Nearly 30 years later, Bowers says he’s “changed as society has changed.”

On Tuesday, Bowers released a scathing seven-page memo detailing his legal conclusion that pending “religious liberty” legislation in Georgia — as he put it in an extensive interview with BuzzFeed News — “is an excuse to discriminate.”

“And, my faith says that the second most important commandant of my faith is to love your neighbor as yourself.”

End quotes.

**Warning** There are a few cuss words in this article. I guess Bower's "faith" is ok with that too.

His "neighbor" to "love" was a Playboy Club waitress that he committed adultery with for ten years. Yet he claims his 52 year marriage is one reason he's against sodomy bans. That's horrible.

This is one unwise, foolish man. Repenting of what is right, is apostasy. His heart has hardened, not softened, over the last 30 years.

Listen, truth does not change, because the God of Truth does not change. Ever. Bower is an example of Post-Modern thinking, a silly man who has no true convictions of truth, just what is convenient at the time and makes life easiest. After all, now that he's 73 and not running for office, he can say whatever he wants, right? Like old age is an excuse for liberalism and compromise?

Romans 1 is still in effect. God is the Judge of all people and HE has already judged sodomy to be damnable as well as harmful to society. God NEVER says that sodomy is "love" nor is it holy and right. It is actually the fruit of hatred toward God. It is utter rebellion against HIM and HIS laws. Sodomy is the epitome of self gratification, not true selfless love which Scripture speaks about (in the Greek, it is "agape" and really only truly known among Christians, as eros (which is what Bowers is referring to when he uses "love") and phileo (brotherly affection). Lust is NOT love, it's self-gratification and is covetousness (thus breaking at least two of the Ten Commandments). Whatever "faith" Bowers has, it's not real, biblical, Christ Jesus-exalting Christian faith, that's for sure.

The Doctrine of Separation

Excerpts from The Sword & Trowel 2013, issue 1 by Dr Peter Masters :

It is clearly a vital duty of Christians to stand apart from false teachers who deny the fundamentals of the faith. 'Do not be mixed up with them,' says the apostle Paul (see 2 Corinthians 6.14), 'Do not associate.' Full Bible references follow the article. This duty has become known as the doctrine of separation....

The question arises – how should evangelicals who obey God's call to stand apart treat fellow-evangelicals who refuse to do so? Should they maintain full fellowship, or stand apart from those who disobey? The latter is called secondary separation.

In the past, independent churches, Strict Baptist churches and Brethren assemblies in Britain have practically all held that secondary separation, often with great regret, is also our duty, but nowadays we hear pastors of such churches saying they do not believe in secondary separation. Some call it 'hyper-separation' and make it sound harsh and loveless. We have even heard it called 'the sin of schism'....

It should not be forgotten that the duty of separation, whether primary or secondary, is laid upon us in the Bible by the infinite kindness of God. Far from being loveless, it is a Gospel-preserving and a church-protecting duty. It is designed for our blessing and power. It is to keep us from a thousand snares and heartaches....

If a minister in an apostate denomination is knowingly, wilfully and actively cooperating with false teachers we should have no fellowship with him, but if such a man is grieved by his non-evangelical colleagues, remonstrating with them, witnessing to them, and declining cooperation with them, then we must respect him, and be charitable. Perhaps he has never considered his position. We should certainly recognise him as a brother, fellowship with him privately, pray for him and persuade him to leave that denomination if we can. However, we would be unable to share a platform with him, or ask him to preach for us, because that would endorse his apostate denomination and confuse God’s people. But we would not withdraw ourselves from him to the extent that we would from a wilfully disobedient evangelical minister who cooperates with his denominational false teachers….

"To prove the point we remember the way in which Dr Lloyd-Jones refused to work with Billy Graham, and this is a significant example of secondary separation. In 1963 the evangelist asked Dr Lloyd-Jones to chair the first World Congress on Evangelism (eventually held in Berlin in 1966; predecessor to Lausanne). Dr Lloyd-Jones told Billy Graham that if he would stop having liberals and Roman Catholics on his platform and drop the invitation system he would support and chair the Congress…."

"Billy Graham would not change his views, and Dr Lloyd-Jones declined to endorse or commend or work with him. No doubt the meeting between them was courteously conducted (it lasted three hours) but the outcome was a firm application of secondary separation. Dr Lloyd-Jones adopted the same attitude to Billy Graham's London crusades. He took the view, and stated it publicly, that to have visible unity with those who are opposed to essential matters of salvation was sinful. (He also believed the invitation system was a source of mass-delusion and harm to churches.)"

"In 2 John 11 we learn that the one who even expresses a blessing to a false teacher is a participant in his evil deeds. God assigns guilt to the non-separator, and we must not brush that aside."

The obligatory, insistent, imperative nature of the commands shown below, tells us how great a wrong it is to reject them, and why the principle of 2 Thessalonians 3.6 and 14 must take its course toward those who do. 

2 Corinthians 6.14-18
Galatians 1.8-9
Ephesians 5.11
Romans 16.17
2 John 6-11
2 Thessalonians 3.6 and 14
Titus 3.10
1 Timothy 1.18-20, 5.22, 6.3-5
2 Timothy 2.16-21
2 Timothy 3.5
2 Chronicles 19.2
Revelation 18.4

End quote.

I would just add that Billy Graham has made a thorough and clear claim that there are people saved and in Christ who don't even know it, nor have they heard the name of Jesus Christ nor His Gospel. This on it's own makes Billy Graham a false teacher and worthy of direct or primary separation.

 Peter Master's also wrote this in 2009:

What follows is a brief article published in the Sword & Trowel early in 1971, soon after the Metropolitan Tabernacle had seceded once again from the Baptist Union. It had done so before, in 1887, but in 1955 rejoined, during a ‘low’ period of the church. When the present pastor arrived at the Tabernacle in October 1970, the remaining members were fervent for secession, which was unanimously resolved at a church meeting held on 22nd February 1971....

Charles Haddon Spurgeon withdrew from the Union when he discovered that there was no basis of faith strong enough to restrict membership to evangelical believers. He was deeply grieved by the influx of modernists into the denomination. Today the position is far worse, as the denomination has been practically completely taken over by non-evangelicals.

Some evangelicals would say that we should stay in the Union to win it back. While we acknowledge this policy to be sincerely meant, it has never been successful whenever it has been tried in the history of the Christian Church. Once a religious denomination has gone into such serious decay that the majority of its members no longer believe the biblical faith, it has never been possible to save it.

More important still is the fact that God has told us what our course of action should be in this situation. We are not at liberty to use our human wisdom and say ‘we must remain in it – to win it’, for the Word of God has already bidden us to come out of it. (The same scriptures just quoted in connection with the ecumenical movement speak to us on this matter also.) Should we go on having fellowship with modernists; giving monetary support to liberals; and identifying our message with that of non-evangelicals? We believe the Lord has clearly given us our instructions for Biblical Separation in his Word.

A further source of guidance to us has been the clear example of our Lord Jesus Christ in his dealings with the Jewish religious parties of his day (who believed more of the Bible than many of the modernistic Baptists with whom we are in fellowship)....

More here.

The Gospel and the Heart

"The Gospel makes nothing of man, and everything of Christ.

The Gospel comes to us on the assumption, or rather the fully demonstrated fact, that we are lost creatures—hopelessly, helplessly, irretrievably lost in ourselves. (Ephesians 2:1,12).

It comes unto us as those who are justly condemned by the holy Law of God, as those who are even now under the Divine curse, as those who are rushing headlong to eternal destruction. (John 3:18, Galatians 3:10-13).

The Gospel tells of the amazing provision which God has made for depraved and vile sinners. It announces the exceeding riches of grace unto those who are His inveterate enemies. It proclaims a full and perfect salvation for all who are willing to receive it (Romans 5:8, John 3:16).

It not only publishes a full pardon and deliverance from Hell (Colossians 1:13), but it promises eternal life and everlasting glory to all who believe its glad tidings and it offers these inestimable blessings freely, “without money and without price. (Revelation 22:17)."

~Arthur Pink, "An Evangelical Spirit"

Two Thieves Yet Only One Saved

photo source

"Another important lesson which we may learn from the crucifixion of Christ between the two thieves, and the fact that one received him and the other rejected him, is that of the sovereignty of God. The two malefactors were crucified together. They were equally near to Christ. Both of them saw and heard all that transpired during those fateful six hours. Both were notoriously wicked; both were suffering acutely; both were dying, and both urgently needed forgiveness. Yet one of them died in his sins, died as he had lived - hardened and impenitent; while the other repented of his wickedness, believed in Christ, called on him for mercy and went to Paradise. How can this be accounted for except by the sovereignty of God!"


~ AW Pink

An Example of "Christians" Denying That Only the Biblical Jesus Saves

Why it matters that your favorite leader/speaker/teacher/writer has the Gospel right: it will infect others if they are wrong.

"The reason for saying, “when consistently worked out,” is because I think it is possible to inconsistently deny the truth of imputation while embracing other aspects of the gospel (blood bought forgiveness, and propitiation, for example), through which God mercifully saves.

I am thankful that God is willing to save us even when our grasp of the gospel may be partial or defective. None of us has a comprehensive or perfect grasp of it."

~ John Piper

In my response to Piper's recent tweet making Coptics out to be Christians, to which I said they are not Christians at all....

Peter Tepper‏@pete_tepper

@SurphSide Copts may be Nestorian and their Christology imperfect. But shouldn't we let the Son of Man decide who are His? Not you

0 replies0 retweets0 favorites

4:26 PM - 17 Feb 2015

God is precise on doctrine for a reason: the wrong gospel and wrong gospel condemns a person to Hell for eternity.

We can't afford to be wrong on either.

2Jn 1:9  Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. 

Gal 1:7  not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 

Gal 1:8  But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. 

Gal 1:9  As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed. 

Are You Growing?

“A very few words must suffice upon the third aspect of inward growth… the Christian attaining more firmness and fixedness of character, so that he is no longer swayed by the opinions of others. He becomes more stable, so that he is less emotional; and more rational, acting not from sudden impulse but from settled principle. He becomes wiser in spiritual things because his mind is increasingly engaged with the Word of God and his eternal concerns, and therefore more serious and sober in his demeanor. He becomes confirmed in doctrine and therefore more discerning and discriminating in whom he hears and what he reads. Nothing can move him from allegiance to Christ, and having bought the Truth he refuses to sell it (Proverbs 23:23). He is not afraid of being called a bigot, for he has discovered that “liberality” is emblazoned prominently on the Devil’s banner.” 

Taken from “Spiritual Growth” by A. W. Pink (1886-1952)

2Pe 3:18  But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. 

Heb 5:12  For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, 

Heb 5:13  for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. 

Heb 5:14  But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. 

Born that way?

                                                                                photo source

                 

It is idle to say, “I cannot help it, it is my temperament.” Your temperament will  destroy you, as surely as you live, if the grace of God does not destroy your  temperament.

~Spurgeon

Called To Be Separate

2Co 6:14 Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?15 What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever?

2Ti 3:12 Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13 while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.

When the Wicked Word Applauds You

photo source: twitter

Luk 6:26  "Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.

Joh 15:19  If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

Gal 1:10  For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ. 

The Current State of Affairs

Jer 23:16  Thus says the LORD of hosts: "Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD. 17  They say continually to those who despise the word of the LORD, 'It shall be well with you'; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, 'No disaster shall come upon you.'" 

Made me think about the current state of the churches, particularly the one in TN where the "pastor" says they are accepting Sodomites into membership. This is the ultimate hatred of God, His Word, and the souls of men.

Primary Issue: Creation as Genesis and All of Scripture Dogmatically Teaches

Excerpts from John MacArthur's sermon on The Theology of Creation:

Now, because the Bible is so clear about this in Genesis 1, and then giving us an even further and more detailed look at this creation, rehearsing its elements in a broader way in chapter 2, you face a test at the very outset of the Bible.... And the test is this, do you believe the Scripture? Do you believe the Scripture? That is the test. No one gets past the opening verses of the Bible without having to face the test of whether or not that person believes the Bible to be the authoritative Word of God. Do you submit to Scripture? Genesis 1 is your first test.

The first word is fidelity...fidelity...fidelity, faithfulness. Either you believe what the Bible says or you don’t. That’s the test. You can accept what Genesis says, or you can reject it. You can’t change it, you don’t have that privilege. In fact, were you to add to Scripture or take anything from it would be added to you the plagues that are written in it. There’s no need for you to edit God. There is nothing lacking anywhere in Scripture and that’s true of Genesis 1 and 2 which somehow needs you to embellish it. You either accept it or you reject it, you have those two options....

You weren’t there and nobody else was there, only God was there and told us how He did it. You can either believe it or you can reject it. If it’s true, the Bible is true. If it’s not true, the Bible is suspect. If you look at it the other way, if the Bible is true then this is true.

The issue, friends, is fidelity to the truth. This is theological. I’m very much aware of the interesting creation research. I’m very interested in science that is being done today by Christians who believe in creation. But I think there’s a very large missing component, and that is the biblical theology of creation. They seem to always be trying to prove their point that evolution doesn’t exist by using some scientific method. And while nothing in the world supports evolution, nothing, nothing in the world supports evolution now or in creation, disproving evolution now doesn’t necessarily disprove it in creation because there is no scientific explanation for creation. So we don’t gain any ground by somehow saying that because evolution doesn’t exist now, it couldn’t have existed then. God did not use evolution because it is clear in Genesis that He created everything in six days....

Furthermore, look at Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 3. “By faith...here we go, fidelity, faith, trust...by faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the Word of God.” We have to do this by faith, right? We weren’t there. No one was there. It is by faith. “So that...this is very critical, verse 3...what is seen...what is seen, the material creation...was not made of things which are visible.” In other words, God made everything that we now see from what is invisible. That is to say He made everything out of nothing, ex nihilo. Hebrews 11:3 is telling us what Genesis records, that God created everything that exists in the universe out of nothing, from no preexisting material, obviously, that obviates evolution....

So I say to you, Scripture is the test then of what you believe about origins. Scripture is the test. And we come to the formidable battleground on this issue and it is a formidable one. Even Paul recognized it when he said this to Timothy, 1 Timothy 6:20, “Guard what has been entrusted to you, avoiding worldly and empty chatter and the opposing arguments of what is falsely called science which some have professed and gone astray from the faith.” Watch out for false knowledge, false science.

These are the things which Paul writes about in 2 Corinthians 10:3 to 5, these are the ideologies, every high idea raised up against the knowledge of God. So the first word to consider in the theology of origins is the word fidelity, trust in Scripture. The matter of origins is the foundation. It’s the starting point of all reality revealed in the Bible. It is your first opportunity to believe the Bible or to reject the Bible. But understand that whatever you do with Genesis 1 and 2 sets the tone for your attitude toward Scripture....

There’s a national ministry that not too many years ago was having one of the greatest impacts on this country of any ministry in terms of numbers of people influenced ever. That ministry affirmed the gospel of Christ, the authority of Scripture, said it was Bible based, Christ proclaiming, gospel centered.

A letter was written to t he president of that organization to ask the position of the organization on origins. Here’s the written answer. “Our ministry takes no stand on such secondary issues. Our efforts are designed to bring people together based on the historically essential doctrines of orthodox Christianity. Creation is one of those secondary doctrines and we believe it falls into the category of non-essentials like spiritual gifts, eternal security and the Rapture, etc.”

All of a sudden we have an organization that’s now decided what the second class doctrines are. Amazing. We don’t get into secondary issues. There isn’t any issue more primary than this because it’s the first one you’re confronted with when you open your Bible and get past the title page. Amazing.... 

There are all kinds of examples of this. Read Psalm 33. All kinds of examples of this, worshiping God as the Creator. There’s no question about the fact that the writers of the New Testament affirm the Genesis record. There are 165 passages in Genesis directly quoted or referred to in the New Testament. Genesis has alluded to 200 times, 165 of them are quotes or direct references. They’re all clear. They’re all simple, straightforward affirmations of the book of Genesis and the simple account of creation that is contained there. Every New Testament writer, every New Testament writer refers to Genesis. Universally the writers of the New Testament affirm the reality and the truthfulness of Genesis. According then to the plain meaning of Genesis 1:1 in the original Hebrew, the infinite, personal, eternal God at a particular chosen point in eternity created all reality outside of Himself out of nothing. The verb in the Hebrew in the kal stem bara(????) has a much more limited use than we would use the word “create” in English, and it means to bring something into existence out of nothing..ex nihilo(??). This has been the universal confidence of God’s true people through history.

To reject the Genesis account is to reject not only Old Testament worship but New Testament worship and the worship of the church of Jesus Christ through the subsequent centuries when the believers put their confidence in their God and their Christ as the Creator. So fidelity and simplicity rest together.

As we read in Colossians, “All things created by Him and for Him.” And what is this grand design? What is this grand purpose? What is God doing? Why did He create this universe? Why did He create the earth? Why did He put on the earth all these creatures? Why did He make man? What is the point of all of this?

And the answer is, “The grand design is redemption.” The grand design is the gathering of a redeemed people into eternal glory for the purpose of worshiping Him forever and ever. And all God’s works of creation and providence and consummation are all associated with the work of redemption. The work of redemption is not incidental, it is the reason why the universe exists. It is the reason why there is an earth. It is the reason why there is a supporting life system for man. Every part of the creation is intended to focus on the purpose of redemption.

Even the heavens are declaring the glory of God so that men might be led to redemption. Even the beast of the field gives Him honor so that men might be led to the God who created the beast of the field that they might see Him as not just Creator but Redeemer. Every molecule in the created material universe, every spiritual entity be it a demon or a human fits somewhere into the subordinated purposes of God under the great unfolding plan of redemption.

In Ephesians chapter 3, just to show you this quickly, in Ephesians chapter 3 and verse 8, Paul says, “To me the very least of all saints, the grace was given to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things...listen to this...He created all things, He created all things in order that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

That is just profound. Why did He create all things? In order that He might put on a display of manifold wisdom for all the angels of heaven to see and for which they would forever praise Him. He created to redeem, to display His glory to the holy angels.

So, when you look at creation, you must understand that in creation is the very beginning of the purposes of God in redemption. The New Testament makes those kinds of connections as in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive. Romans chapter 5, I think, very familiar to us, verses 18 and 19, draw parallels between creation and redemption. 

 But perhaps the riches analogy between redemption and creation is in 2 Corinthians 4, and I want you to look at that and this is where we’ll kind of tie our thoughts together. Second Corinthians chapter 4, “For God who said, ‘Light shall shine out of darkness.’” Now we’ll stop right there.

What’s that referring to? What’s it referring to? Creation. God said, “Let there be light.” And so, Paul sees in the original creation of light a picture, an analogy of the light of salvation. For God who said light shall shine out of darkness. Do I need to remind you about that? “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,” Genesis 1:1. But verse 2 says, “And the earth was without form and void and...what?...darkness was over the face of the deep.”

It was formless. It was lifeless. It was empty. It was a void of darkness until God said, “Let there be light.” And the rest of the verse, “It is that God who spoke light into the primaeval darkness who is the One who has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.”

Folks, God creating light in the midst of the darkness by His sovereign instantaneous power is a picture of what He does in the darkness of the sinner’s heart. If you introduce some convoluted concept of evolution into the book of Genesis, you tamper with the sovereign, divine, instantaneous miracle of God who gives life to a dark universe as parallel to God who gives light in an instant to a dark heart.

End quotes.

Piper Passes Judge Clarence Thomas Off As A Christian

John Piper On Judge Clarence Thomas:

For example:
Clarence Thomas’s life is unusual because he is a black political conservative, who lost his first marriage, conquered rage and alcohol, and survived a high-tech lynching, by holding on to the promises of the Bible.

His grandfather converted to Roman Catholicism and tried to get a good Christian education for Clarence.

With every day’s crushing criticism Thomas was moving toward God as his sustaining hope.

End quote.

He ends his article with Sen. John Danforth's letter of encouragement to Thomas on the last day of the senate hearings for his confirmation, calling him a brother in Christ.

There was no correction by Piper in this at all. He mentions several times, based on Thomas' biography, about his Catholic religion and education. In fact, I don't even know what the point was in writing this about Thomas except that he was useful to make himself look racially and religiously relevant and open-minded.

More evidence that John Piper embraces Romanists as Christians. How can this be when they serve a false god and hold to a false gospel? When will people accept the truth that Piper (like Beth Moore) believes Romanists are justified by their works? HE HAS SAID AS MUCH. He also says heretic Rick Warren is also a brother. These are not exceptions or anomalies of Piper: they ARE Piper's views. He's a product of Fuller Theological Seminary.

Wisdom and Folly

So my friend and I were having this discussing about wisdom and how so many Christians reject those who haven't walked in their filth and therefore can't give wisdom or encouragement to those who have.

Isn't it interesting that Christians think that real wisdom and credibility comes from experiencing bad, sinful things, instead of steering clear of them and staying on the Straight, Holy Highway of the Lord, avoiding all the filth? Isn't the point of God's wisdom to avoid it altogether? Yet those that do or strive to, are mocked and scorned for not having experience in the filth. That's mocking Scripture, frankly.

Pro 9:13  The woman Folly is loud; she is seductive and knows nothing.

Folly reminds me of the ancient Serpent who seduced Adam and Eve with "knowledge" and "experience".

Pro 5:23  He dies for lack of discipline, and because of his great folly he is led astray.

Pro 4:25  Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you.
Pro 4:26  Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure.
Pro 4:27  Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil.

Wisdom doesn't come from experience sin and then regretting it. Wisdom comes from fearing Christ and striving to walk in His ways. This modern notion of "you can't tell me what to do unless you've walked in my shoes" is anti-biblical to it's core.

That's not to say that we don't gain wisdom after repenting of our sin and seeing it for what it was: sin. We do learn from our chastisements from God. However, to use experience as the standard to whether one will hear another speak on a subject is absolute folly and fleshly.

50 Shades of Gray: a question to Christians

Books, wine, and nail polish all selling the pornographic book and movie 50 Shades of Gray  at my local Ralph's grocery store.

I wonder now if professing Christians will stop demanding that I read or watch filth in order to critique it, now that 50 Shades of Gray has come out and everyone knows it's porn. Are they going to demand Christians see it before they stand against it? If so, they are seriously wicked. If not, they are seriously hypocritical.

I asked Tim Challies if he saw the movie or read the book before coming out against it. If he did, he's in big trouble because it's sin. If he didn't, then he made my point that we don't need to get into the filth to know it is filth and warn the sheep. 

Sincere or Sincere and Right

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If you sincerely believe a lie, you will suffer the consequences. You must not only be sincere, but you must be right. 

~ C H Spurgeon

Encouragement for the Christian

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Vaccines: more harm than good?

The death statistics are recorded by Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, or VAERS, which captures only a small percentage of the actual number of deaths and other adverse reactions to the vaccine. In addition, 96 of the 108 deaths in that 12-year time period were a result of the MMR vaccine, now the preferred shot for measles immunization.

In addition, CDC statistic show measles deaths were rare in the U.S. before the vaccine became widely used.

~WND



Dr. Lee Hieb, an orthopaedic surgeon and past president of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons who has studied vaccines and written about them in medical journals.  She writes in an article, "How Vaccine Hysteria Could Spark Totalitarian Nightmare":



..medical “truth” is not the truth for long. In an attempt to quantify change in medicine, years ago a cardiology journal discussed “The Half-life of Truth.” cardiologists[sic] looked back in their journal at 20-year-old articles to see how much of what was believed then was still believed to be true. The answer? 50 percent. So in cardiology, at least – and in all of medicine to greater or lesser degree – only half of what we believe now will still be true in 20 or so years. The last word on vaccination is not in. It hasn’t even begun to be written.

If you believe absolutely in the benefit and protective value of vaccination, why does it matter what others do? Or don’t do? If you believe you need vaccination to be healthy and protected, then by all means vaccinate your child and yourself. Why should you even be concerned what your neighbor chooses to do for his child – if vaccination works? The idea of herd immunity is still based on the idea that in individual cases vaccines actually are protective.

If you think the government has the right to forcibly vaccinate people – for the good of society – what is to prevent them from forcibly sterilizing people, or forcibly euthanizing people, or forcibly implanting a tracking device – for the good of society? You make think those examples are extreme (although two-thirds have happened), but the principle is the same. You are allowing government to have ultimate authority over your body.

End quote.

The doctor gives some starting statistics from the MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report) from the CDC and accessing the search engine for VAERS (Vaccine complication reporting site) at http://www.medalerts.org/vaersdb/index.php  of why she and others are cautious about vaccines--here are just a few excerpts:

*Since 2005 (and even before that), there have been no deaths in the U.S. from measles, but there have been 86 deaths from MMR vaccine – 68 of them in children under 3 years old. And there were nearly 2,000 disabled, per the aforementioned VAERS data.

*In countries which use BCG vaccinations against tuberculosis, the incidence of Type I diabetes in children under 14 is nearly double. (“Infectious Disease in Clinical Practice” no. 6 pages 449-454, 1997)

*As reported in Lancet in 1995, inflammatory bowel disease (i.e. Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis) is 13 times more prevalent in persons vaccinated for measles.

*In 1982 William Torch, a prolific researcher and publisher on Neurologic topics, presented a paper (later published) at the American Academy of Neurology reviewing SIDS deaths. He reported that in 100 consecutive cases, 70 percent of SIDS deaths occurred within three weeks of pertussis vaccination. In very convincing confirmation, a Japanese prefecture stopped vaccinating after associating SIDS with the pertussis vaccine. It is worth reading the entire description from Viera Scheibner, PhD.....

End quote


Further she writes:So the next question is: Does vaccination work? Does it really protect you against disease? The answer is variable. Smallpox vaccine seems to be nearly universally protective against the very fatal disease of smallpox, and use of vaccine led to the eradication of the disease in the wild. But the dirty little secret in recent outbreaks of mumps, measles and pertussis is – they are occurring in vaccinated people in highly vaccinated populations!

In 2006 an epidemic of mumps broke out in my state of Iowa. Ultimately, 11 states reported 2,597 cases of mumps. The majority of mumps cases (1,487) were reported from Iowa. As reported in “Mumps Epidemic – Iowa, 2006,” “Despite control efforts and a highly vaccinated population, this epidemic has spread across Iowa and potentially to neighboring states.” 
In 2008-2009...Eighty-four percent of Australian children who got whooping cough were fully vaccinated, and 78 percent who got measles had record of measles vaccination.

In the 2010 outbreak of whooping cough in California, well over half the victims were fully vaccinated.

Finally, it turns out that death and disability from many childhood diseases is preventable by means other than vaccination. Vitamin A has been known since the 1930s to reduce mortality from measles by 60 percent. Vitamin D is protective against viral illness.

End quote.

It could very well be that these vaccines are the factor or a major factor in the increase in the reports of other increasing diseases including allergies and austism.