Of making melody in your heart to the Lord

Of making melody in your heart to the Lord, and

Making noises out of the sound boxes

(A comment I left for a friend who inquired about the matter)

Whatever you sing in the worship of God if it does not convey the truth of God, it is WILL worship; it is not the worship of God in spirit and TRUTH.

Eph 5:19 "Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord."

NOTE: you are to make melody in the heart while you sing; not making noise through the life SOUND BOXES! When you sing, you are to SPEAK the truth of God to one another!

Col 3:16 "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord."

Note, of singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs:

- the CONTENTS MUST BE about the word of Christ,

- the PURPOSE MUST BE the teaching and admonishing of one another,

- the MANNER MUST BE with grace in your hearts,

- the AUDIENCE MUST BE the LORD, to the praise of God in heaven, and not the entertainment mere men.

Otherwise, it is WILL worship. The Father seeks those who worship Him in spirit and truth. Will worship is abominable to God.

John 4:23 "But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him."

And concerning judgment, you must exercise judgment. The Lord requires His children to judge, to judge righteous judgment. Don't be carried away with the popular foolishness of not exercising judgment!

John 7:24 "Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment."

I have only pointed you to the word of God.

Dry trees, there is yet hope!

"Behold, I am a dry tree."
[picture courtesy of Dr Khaw -
A dead tree at the main gate of the Penang Botanical Garden.]

"Behold, I am a dry tree."

Hear this, us poor eunuchs; CHOOSE the things that please the LORD.

Isaiah 56

3 Neither let the son of the stranger, that hath joined himself to the LORD, speak, saying, The LORD hath utterly separated me from his people: neither let the eunuch say, Behold, I am a dry tree.

4 For thus saith the LORD unto the eunuchs that keep my sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and take hold of my covenant;

5 Even unto them will I give in mine house and within my walls a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters: I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off.

Do you feel like a eunuch sometimes, crying out, "I am a dry tree."

Hear the word of the LORD to the eunuchs, for their restoration and revival:

- keep His sabbath,

- choose the things that please the LORD, and

- take hold of the LORD's covenant.

Unto all such eunuchs are made the promises of blessings, v5. Note them, and meditate on them. O the abounding goodness of the Lord.

Continue in your self-pleasing choices and remain a dry barren tree! There are no shortcuts to your restoration and revival; make choices that please the LORD.

Amen.

The Calvinists' Mess, and they are oblivious to it!

Mr R C Sproul preaches a salvation based upon
an absolute condition that must be met
by the UN-saved (dead in trespasses and sins)

in order to be saved.

And he still gives lip service to salvation by grace alone!

 Watch the short video clip here:

https://www.facebook.com/Ligonier/videos/10155700066168115/

Mr. R. C. Sproul is a theologian loved and revered by many reformed and calvinistic folks.

In the video clip, he betrays his inconsistencies and contradictions in his understanding of the doctrine of salvation by God's free and sovereign grace. He advocates a CONDITIONAL salvation, with an ABSOLUTE CONDITION!

What is worse is that he is oblivious to it, something so typical of the high-minded calvinists.

On the issue of God's love for all men, I express the same issue in this simple manner: there is the general love of God as Creator to all His creatures, and there is the particular love of God as Redeemer to all His elect. There is no common grace; grace is particular, in Jesus Christ alone.

But take careful note of what he also said...

"He [God] placed an absolute condition by which He requires - He doesn't just invite people to come to Christ - He commands men everywhere to repent of their sins and to come to Christ."

"... if you want to enjoy that love of complacency, you have to be in Christ...."

Mr. Sproul says, there is an absolute condition, a condition that God requires of men, and which men must meet if they are to be loved complacently by God.

May I ask, how is that absolute condition to be met by men (not yet loved complacently by God) who are dead in trespasses and sins?

How, Sir? Don't your followers ask simple questions like this? Also, what has happened to your doctrine of the total depravity of natural men?

What must a man (who is outside of Christ, therefore still in his native state of sin and death) do in order to be in Christ and to enjoy God's love of complacency?

Is Mr Sproul a preacher of conditional salvation? Just asking.

My understanding: 

God, freely and sovereignly, WITHOUT condition, vitally unites us to Christ while we were dead in trespasses and sins when He freely and effectually call us out of our native state of sin and death to that state of grace and salvation in Christ Jesus and makes us vital beneficiaries of His electing love.

ONLY then He commands us, through the ministry of the word, to believe the truth of our salvation by His free grace in Jesus Christ. He calls us to believe WHAT IS ALREADY TRUE, what He HAS DONE freely and sovereignly. Those whom He has freely and sovereignly loved complacently are commanded to believe the truth of that redemptive love in Jesus Christ proclaimed in the gospel.

Repenting and believing in Jesus Christ is an effect and evidence of God having loved us redemptively. [Mr's Sproul's "complacently"] in Jesus Christ.

NO CONDITION, Mr. Sproul!

p/s

Mr. Sproul, a typical Calvinist, fails to distinguish the eternal salvation that is without condition, and the temporal salvation that is conditioned upon the obedience of His children doing His will.

The eternal salvation relates to the activities of the Triune God in turning an elect, dead in trespasses and sins, into a child of God. In this, a man is completely passive. A man MUST BE SAVED by God first before any command can be obeyed. Eternal salvation must be freely bestowed FIRST before there can be any obedience in any evangelical sense. The doctrine of total depravity DEMANDS that! "Except a man be born again he CANNOT..."

The temporal salvation relates to the spiritual well-being of God's children through their active obeying and doing the will of their Father in Jesus Christ, that is, meeting the conditions laid down by the Father for them. That is the salvation that they must work out for themselves through their active obedience. Believing and repenting are in this category; only God's children are capable of believing and repenting.

Why I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ?

Romans 1
¶ 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. 17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

Below are 4 translations (N, R, E and K) of Romans 1:16.
Do they read all the same to you? Are these translations saying the same thing?

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. (Niv)

For I am not ahamed of the gospel: it is the power of God for salvation to every one who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. (Rsv)

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. (Esv)

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. (Kjv)

(note: only Kjv reads "the gospel of Christ".)

Can you discern the STARK differences?
What do you actually believe? Does it matter to you whether you believe the truth or fables?

##1
Why is Paul not ashamed of the gospel?
Paul is not ashamed of the gospel because he is most certain and assured that the gospel, the good news of what God has done in Jesus Christ to save His people, will be perceived and received by the believing ones as a message declaring the power of God unto salvation.

The gospel is NOT the power of God unto salvation.
Jesus Christ is the power of God, and the wisdom of God, unto salvation.

1Co 1:24 "But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God."

The gospel is the good news. Good news declares the POWER of God, ALREADY exercised, unto the salvation of His people; and the gospel is perceived and received as such by the believing ones - those already regenerated by God.

1Co 1:18 "For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God."

Good news informs and instructs, edifies and sanctifies, renews and liberates THOSE who are ALREADY saved by the power of God in Jesus Christ.

The gospel of Christ... what about it?
Well, the gospel of Christ PRESUPPOSES the power of God ALREADY EXERCISED in the work of salvation. Otherwise, there would be no gospel! The gospel is the good news of what has happened by the power of God. It is not an announcement that something good will happen by the power of God when some conditions are met - a preacher preaching, and a sinner dead in trespasses and sins hearing and believing! Many think such announcement to the dead in trespasses and sins is good news! Is there greater delusion?

To deny this is to leave Paul WITHOUT the gospel of Christ, and how could Paul be ashamed of that which did not exist or has not happened?

##2
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. (Niv)

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. (Kjv)

Niv says what the gospel DOES to everyone who believes - the gospel BRINGS salvation to them.

Kjv says what the gospel IS to every believing ones - the gospel (the message of glad tidings) IS perceived as declaring the power of God unto salvation (i.e. the gospel is good news of God's power unto salvation) to them.

To others, the same glad tiding is foolishness!
See the VAST difference now???????

##3
For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.
======
For in the gospel is proclaimed the great news of the righteousness of God's own provision for the salvation of His people.

The gospel is proclaimed from faith to faith, preached by those who believe to those whom the Spirit of God has worked faith within them.

Why should Paul be ashamed of the gospel when he is assured that the just (those justified freely by the grace act of God while in the state of condemnation and death) shall live by faith???

Sin, the transgression of the law, brought condemnation and death.
Righteousness, the obedience to the law, secured justification and eternal life.

Rom 5:18
Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.

The times of this ignorance God winked at... and some questions

to wink at - to overlook, take no notice of, not attend to
https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G5237&t=KJV

 

The times of this ignorance God winked at, but now commandeth all men every where to repent.

Cease to be ignorant, seek the truth, know it, and believe it.
The time of God winking at ignorance is over.

Acts 17

22 Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.
23 For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom, therefore, ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you....
30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:
31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.

Some questions for you to ponder.

1. Whose ignorance in times past did God wink at?

- all men without distinction?

- If God had winked at their ignorance, were they all saved then?

- Or His children among the Gentile?

2. Who is held responsible by God to know and worship Him rightly?

3. Those whose ignorance God winked at:

- in what way was their ignorance related to their standing before God?

- in what way did God's act of winking at their ignorance affects their standing before God?

- in what way does the ignorance or knowledge of God affects (i.e. saves or ruins) a man?

4. Why were those times of ignorance overlooked?

- Was such ignorance in theocratic Israel similarly tolerated? Why?

5. What has brought the change?

- why is such ignorance not tolerated anymore?

6. Who are the "all men every where" - every single person of the human race, or God's children who are scattered everywhere - that are commanded to repent and believe the truth concerning Christ?

- who has the obligation to believe that Jesus Christ is their Lord and Saviour?

You may have some questions too. Feel free to ask. Then we can search the Scriptures.  I will answer them if I can.

Thanks.

 

Salvation by grace alone BUT conditioned upon an absolute condition!!! Calvinists MADNESS

Mr R C Sproul preaches a salvation based upon an absolute condition
that must be met by the UN-saved (dead in trespasses and sins)
in order to be saved.
And he still gives lip service to salvation by grace alone!

 Watch the short video clip here:
https://www.facebook.com/Ligonier/videos/10155700066168115/

Mr. R. C. Sproul is a theologian loved and revered by many reformed and calvinistic folks.

In this clip, he betrays his inconsistencies and contradictions in his understanding of the doctrine of salvation by God's free and sovereign grace. He advocates a CONDITIONAL salvation, with an ABSOLUTE CONDITION!

What is worse is that he is oblivious to it, something so typical of the high-minded calvinists.

On the issue of God's love for all men, I express the same issue in this simple manner: there is the general love of God as Creator to all His creatures, and there is the particular love of God as Redeemer to all His elect. There is no common grace; grace is particular, in Jesus Christ alone.

But take careful note of what he also said...

"He [God] placed an absolute condition by which He requires - He doesn't just invite people to come to Christ - He commands men everywhere to repent of their sins and to come to Christ."

"... if you want to enjoy that love of complacency, you have to be in Christ...."

Mr. Sproul says, there is an absolute condition, a condition that God requires of men, and which men must meet if they are to be loved complacently by God.

May I ask, how is that absolute condition to be met by men (not yet loved complacently by God) who are dead in trespasses and sins? 

How, Sir? Don't your followers ask simple questions like this? Also, what has happened to your doctrine of the total depravity of natural men?

What must a man (who is outside of Christ, therefore still in his native state of sin and death) do in order to be in Christ and to enjoy God's love of complacency? 

Is Mr Sproul a preacher of conditional salvation? Just asking.

My understanding:

God, freely and sovereignly, WITHOUT condition, vitally unites us to Christ while we were dead in trespasses and sins when He freely and effectually call us out of our native state of sin and death to that state of grace and salvation in Christ Jesus and makes us vital beneficiaries of His electing love.

ONLY then He commands us, through the ministry of the word, to believe the truth of our salvation by His free grace in Jesus Christ. He calls us to believe WHAT IS ALREADY TRUE, what He HAS DONE freely and sovereignly. Those whom He has freely and sovereignly loved complacently are commanded to believe the truth of that redemptive love in Jesus Christ proclaimed in the gospel.

Repenting and believing in Jesus Christ is an effect and evidence of God having loved us redemptively [Mr's Sproul's "complacently"] in Jesus Christ.

NO CONDITION, Mr. Sproul!

p/s 

Mr. Sproul, a typical Calvinist, fails to distinguish the eternal salvation that is without condition, and the temporal salvation that is conditioned upon the obedience of His children doing His will.

The eternal salvation relates to the activities of the Triune God in turning an elect, dead in trespasses and sins, into a child of God. In this, a man is completely passive. A man MUST BE SAVED by God first before any command can be obeyed. Eternal salvation must be freely bestowed FIRST before there can be any obedience in any evangelical sense. The doctrine of total depravity DEMANDS that! "Except a man be born again he CANNOT..." 

The temporal salvation relates to the spiritual well-being of God's children through their active obeying and doing the will of their Father in Jesus Christ, that is, meeting the conditions laid down by the Father for them. That is the salvation that they must work out for themselves through their active obedience. Believing and repenting are in this category; only God's children are capable of believing and repenting.