God's Sovereignty vs. Man's Will Part 2

I want to start out by saying that this warfare over predestination has taken a turn away from Scripture and into a misconstruction of Election. Whenever one says, "I believe that the Lord saves and man has nothing to do with his salvation", instantly the philosophical meanderings of John Calvin are brought up and debated on a non-Scriptural, philosophical plane. It seems that we care more about our disagreements and agreements with theologians than with the Word of God. However, if we are to understand what the Lord told us, we must throw Calvin, Arminius, and every other theologian and philosopher aside and merely look at Scripture. Not saying that all theologians are unhelpful, but rather that God's Word is all we need to be made wise, understanding His Will and Plan (Psalm 19:7-9).

With that in mind, let us go to the very beginning of time.

In the beginning was the God, the Triune Lord. In this state, the Father loved the Son and the Spirit, the Son loved the Spirit and the Father, the Spirit loved the Father and the Son. It was a perfect, loving, holy relationship within Elohim (Hebrew name for God, its plural ending emphasizes the three-in-oneness of God). It was in this state wherein the Father made a wondrous decree to the Son:

"You are My Son,
On that day I have begotten You,
Ask Me (note: a command in Hebrew), and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance,
And the ends of the Earth as Your possession.
You shall break them with a rod of iron,
You shall shatter them like earthenware." (Psalm 2:7-9)

In this passage, we find the very goal of all creation, and specifically of all men: we are a gift to the Son. This is especially important to bear in mind throughout this entire discussion, for it colors all that we must know as Christians. 

Because the Son loves the Father and does all that He commands (John 14:31), Christ asked His Father for the nations and the World. Thus, God created the Heavens and the Earth.

In man's beginning, he was created as a son of God (Luke 3:38). Why was he created this way? Well, he was made to be the Image and likeness of God, specifically the image of the Son (thus, Adam was to be one of the many brethren which God predestined to be the Image of His Son, Rom. 8:28-29). If sin had not entered the world through the Fall of Adam, his descendants would all then be children of God.
Yet, this would not work in God's decree.

[Please remember, a decree is that which causes something to come to pass or into being ("Let there be light!"), it is not something that merely looks ahead at that which will come to pass on its own ("There will be light."). Thus, God's decree is a creative declaration which causes, by the merit of it being God's omnipotent command, all that it says to come into being. But I digress.]

If God's decree is to take place, man must fall. Please keep reading and paying close attention. Man must fall if Christ is to break him with a rod of iron and shatter him like a clay pot. It must take place. So, through God's decree, and not His authorship, sin entered the Perfect World. Man fell, and God had to kill him for his iniquity (Gen. 2:17). So, all the world was placed under a curse and judgement from God, leading to death (Rom. 3:9-18, 5:12, 6:23, etc.). 

However, what now was God to do? (I am speaking, as Paul did, in "human terms") If every man was evil, then Christ must destroy all of them. If this happens, Christ will not have an inheritance left. Yet God's decree reached beyond this seeming dilemma, for nothing can stop Him. 

Look again to the beginning of time with the Lord. Listen to the parable of the Wheat and Tares.

"Jesus presented another parable to them, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven was (Note: the original greek is in the past tense here) compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went away. But when the wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the tares became evident also. The slaves of the landowner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ And he said to them, ‘An enemy has done this!’ The slaves said to him, ‘Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?’ But he said, ‘No; for while you are gathering up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them. Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, "First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn."'" (Mat. 13:24-30)

What does this passage say about our topic? Well, look at Christ's explanation:

"Then He left the crowds and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him and said, 'Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.' And He said, 'The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, and the field is the world; and as for the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the evil one; and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is the end of the age; and the reapers are angels. So just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.'" (Mat. 13:36-43)

Now we have the keys to understand the passage and its significance to our topic. Christ sowed good seed, the Sons of the Kingdom, into the World (not the Church, but the World). After Christ did this, Satan came in and sowed tares (weeds), those who are his sons, into the world amongst the wheat. These two plants, wheat and tares, are growing together in this world now, and both seem to look alike at times (cf. vs. 29). Nevertheless, these two plants are inherently different from the beginning, and are always different, even to the end. Once the end has come, the angels will gather both the wheat and the tares, the first to the Kingdom, and the last to Hell (Revelation 14:14-20, 20:11-15, etc.)

This parable can only fit with a complete recounting of all of history. In the very beginning, Christ sowed His people into the world. These are the ones who were predestined to be conformed to the image of Christ, making them brethren with Christ (Rom. 8:28-29). However, Satan infiltrated the world, by the fall of man, and thus sowed his own sons into the world (note: he did not create them, rather they are those who do just as He does and will never repent of their ways). All of this flows well with my last post, and I suggest reading my last one to better understand this difference between sons of God and sons of the Devil.

If you still do not know what I am getting at, here it is:

God, in the very beginning, decreed that His Son would inherit the world and mankind. Some of these men would be crushed, whilst others would be His brethren. So, God created the world. In this world, He sovereignly planned and placed His Sons (Christ's brethren). If sin had not entered, these sons would be the only one's created, and they would have inherited the world and ruled alongside Christ for eternity. However, God decreed that men must fall in order to be destroyed. Thus, God sovereignly decreed that Satan would introduce sin into humanity, causing his downfall. This sowed sons of the Devil into this perfect world, leaving tares among the wheat. Nevertheless, the wheat were still wheat. The sons of the kingdom were still sons of the kingdom, they never became tares. These wheat were destined, by nature of being wheat, to be gathered into the barns.

Yet, these wheat had to be destroyed for justice's sake, since they sinned, just like the tares. However, God was not stopped. He sent His only begotten Son to live and die in the place of the wheat, thus allowing them to enter Heaven through Faith. However, these wheat were much like the tares: without faith or anything good in them. Thus, God caused them to believe in Christ, granting the believing ones eternal life. This in turn ensured their eternal life, allowing God's judgement to pass over them and onto His Son.  

Now, the tares were never the sons of God. No, they are by nature sons of the Devil. As a result, they must inherit the judgement placed on their father: burning in Hell for eternity, crushed under the weight of Christ's wrath. This is their decreed doom, and it cannot be undone. 

Not everyone can be saved, nor can everyone go to Hell, since both would undermine God's Decree. Thus, God proceeded with His aforementioned plan.

This is why the Elect are elect, why they gain faith and no-one else does, why they cannot lose their salvation, why they are justified, and all other implications of the Gospel. 

I will be continuing on this subject later, since I have merely scratched the surface of this issue and much more needs to be addressed.

God Bless. 

The Law of Moses

Hello Brethren,
It has been long since I wrote, and I feel the need to break my self-imposed study time in order to deal with a major issue in the Church. I have recently devoted much time to understanding Mosaic Law and its relationship to the believer. Once many of the answers to the questions I had were revealed, I began to realize how so many people have had the same questions I did. So, I want to give you all a basic set of passages and points which I think may help clear this issue.

Firstly, let us examine what the Law itself declares about its purposes.

#1: The Law was created to cleanse Israel of their ceremonial uncleanness. This purpose is found in several passages, but let us look specifically at Leviticus 15:31. According to the NASB, “Thus you shall keep the sons of Israel separated from their uncleanness, so that they will not die in their uncleanness by their defiling My tabernacle that is among them.” This verse proceeds a long list of laws which dealt with issues such as leprosy, household mold, and so on. Right before this verse, Moses is told that the priest shall offer a sin offering and a burnt offering in order to make atonement for a specific issue. Therefore, vs. 31 gives us one of the reasons for the sin offering.

Yet, if we are to truly understand the significance of vs. 31, we must do some translating from the Hebrew text. The translation from the Hebrew gives us the following sense of the verse, “Thus you shall cause the Sons of Israel to be separate from their ceremonial uncleanness, so they will not die in their ceremonial uncleanness by (making ceremonially unclean) My tabernacle in their midst.” One thing we will notice is that the sin offerings did not actually make Israel clean, only ceremonially clean. This allowed God to overlook their real uncleanness and not kill them for defiling His tabernacle. As was written in Hebrews 9:13, “…the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh…” However, this did not truly cleanse them, “For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.” (Hebrews 10:1-4)

Here are other passaged mentioning the law ceremonially cleansing persons: Leviticus 21:12, Numbers 19:13, 20.

#2 The Law was meant to give life to the one who fully keeps it. According to Leviticus 18:5, “You shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; if a person does them, he shall live by them: I am the Lord.” If Israel, or an Israelite, completely kept the Law, then he would not die. This would have been a result of his own goodness. As said in Deuteronomy 5:33, “You shall walk in all the way that the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live, and that it may go well with you, and that you may live long in the land that you shall possess.”
Cf. Deuteronomy 6:1-3

#3 To train Israel’s mind to be able to discern between what is clean and unclean. Leviticus 11:47, “to make a distinction between the unclean and the clean and between the living creature that may be eaten and the living creature that may not be eaten.” Here are some thoughts which might help guide you all in determining the meaning of this verse.

Firstly, were there animals which were truly, biologically or morally, unclean? (cf. Gen. 1:31)

Secondly, were there animals which God made that were unfit for consumption? (Gen. 9:1-4)

Thirdly, if an animal was unclean because it was unfit for consumption, then why did God make a distinction in Lev. 11:47 between “unclean” and “the living creature that may not be eaten”? If they were the same, why did He repeat Himself?

Finally, what is meant by unclean in this verse?

Now, let us consider what the Bible, outside of the Law, reveals about the Law.

#1: The Law does not cleanse men of sin. In Jeremiah 31:31-34, Israel is given the promise of a new covenant, which is fundamentally different than the Mosaic Covenant which resulted in the Law. “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” Therefore, we see that a fundamental difference between the New Covenant and the Mosaic Law is that the New Covenant will cleanse Israel of their sins whereas the Mosaic Law could not.

To cement this thought, here is Hebrews 10:1-4, “For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near.  Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.” Thus, the Law could not truly cleanse a man from his sin.

#2: The Law was meant to bring conviction of sin. As we saw in Hebrews 10:3, “But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year.” As an Israelite, you had to continuously offer sacrifices in atonement for your sins. When you came to the priest in the Tabernacle or Temple, you gave him an animal to sacrifice. The priest would then kill the animal and complete the rather gruesome acts which will atone for the sins of the Israelite (cf. Leviticus 4-5). The whole time, the Israelite is being shown the consequences for his sins. Thus, these sacrifices which could not cleanse did serve as a terrifying reminder of the consequences for sin.
Another important thought to ponder, was the Law meant to decrease sin or to increase it among men? (Cf. Rom. 5:20)

#3: Men cannot be justified by the Law. According to Leviticus 18:5, the doer of the Law will live by his doing of it. However, according to Habakkuk 2:4b, “…the righteous shall live by his faith.” Thus, as Galatians 3:10-12 states, “For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.’ Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for ‘The righteous shall live by faith.’ But the law is not of faith, rather ‘The one who does them shall live by them.’”

Thus, we find that the Law had an inherent weakness, ourselves. Romans 8 states, “For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do…”, which was to, “[condemn] sin in the flesh” and thus justify and sanctify us.

#4: Because the Law is insufficient to justify and sanctify us, God graciously grafted us gentile believers into the New Covenant. This Covenant rested upon grace. Ephesians 2 shows us this grace, “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. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

By our death in Christ, we die to the law. Romans 7 gives us a good example of this principle,
“Or do you not know, brothers—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives? For a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage. Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress.

Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God. For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.”

Therefore, Christ’s death released us from the Law, and his resurrection has made us alive to God. As a result, we are not bound by the Law, nor do we serve by it.

This may seem very controversial, but Galatians 4 gives us a good line of reasoning to demonstrate this,
“O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith—just as Abraham ‘believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness’?”

If we were justified by grace through faith, why do we think that the subsequent perfecting of ourselves would come from the Law? Remember, the Law relied upon our own works to justify us. However, since we are unable to do good of our own accord, the Law cannot be fulfilled by our works. Therefore, if you were saved and justified by grace through faith, you are also sanctified by grace through faith. Because,
“…the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.” (Titus 2:11-14)

It is the grace of God which sanctifies us, and teaches us to deny evil. This is because, “those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified (Note: by grace through faith), and those whom he justified he also glorified (Note: by grace through faith).” (Rom. 8:29-30)

Realize, we are dead to the Law. Now, we are made alive to Christ by His grace. The great hymn was right,

“Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me (cf. Rom. 7:24, Titus 2:11-14, Eph. 2). I once was lost, but now am found. Was blind, but now I see (2 Cor. 4).

‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear (cf. Prov. 1:7, Psalm 2, Revelation 14:6-7), and grace my fears relieved (cf. Rom. 8:15 and 2 Tim. 1:7). How precious did that grace appear the hour I first believed.”

So, Brethren, let us not return to the Law, which is but a shadow of the substance we have in Christ (Colossians 2:17). Because, “the law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized in Jesus Christ.” (John 1:17)

The Amazing Grace of the Lord be with you all.

-Christopher

P.S. Because I do not consider my interpretation of the Bible to be infallible, I ask that everyone give their thoughts on this post and others. As the Body of Christ, we are called to build one another up in the faith (1 Thessalonians 5:11, Eph. 4:12). Therefore, I ask that you all help build me up in the faith by sharing with me the truth of the Bible (John 17:17). If I am wrong, I must repent and be built up in the faith. If otherwise, I will still be built up in the faith by being forced to think over the truths of the Bible even more thoroughly.
How am I to know if I am in error if no one tells me the truth?

A Try at Poetry, by Christopher

Hello all. Yesterday I found the first stanza of a poem which I had started three or four years ago (hard to tell since I had forgotten to date it). For some odd reason, I could not put it down. After staring at it for a couple of minutes, I had a sudden rush of poetic inspiration. Now, since I am not a poetic person (just try talking to me for a few minutes about poetry and you will see what I mean), when I feel inspired, I cannot stop until I am finished. Therefore, when I woke up this morning, I sat down and wrote until the poem was completed.

As I said, I am not a very poetic person. Therefore, this poem is not what one would call "great", or even "average". However, it is one of the few poems (I can only remember two others) that I have finished, so I am quite happy with it.

I hope all of you enjoy, and that maybe God will somehow use it to bring glory to His Name.

The Crucifixion and Resurrection
by Christopher Stahlberg


A perfect Lamb, hangs on a tree
With nail-pierced hands and feet.
Unto Him I now do flee,
His love and grace to meet.

A sign is hung above His head
Proclaiming royalty.
Yet nearly every passerby
Spits out mockery.

The Lord of Life, the God of time
Dies as a petty thief.
His Father’s wrath is turned on Him
And crushes Him beneath.

“My Lord, my God, my dear Father!
Why have you forsaken me?”
Yet the Father did not answer
Nor spare His agony.

As His Father’s anger 
Brought Him nearer death.
Our dearest Lord bore all our sins,
E’en to final breath.

Listen, brother! Don’t you hear?
The veil is torn in two!
The earth now shakes, the stones are rent,
And saints are passing through! 

Now comes Rome’s centurion,
He falls upon his knees;
“Surely He is the Son of God!
 In this I must believe!”

The women which followed Jesus
Ministering to Him, (Mary Magdalene and Mary mother of Zebedee’s children)
Wept as they saw their Lord die,
Broken, scarred and beaten.

Then came Joseph of Arimathea,
A disciple of our prince,
Pleading Pilate for Christ’s body
To lay it down to rest. 

Pilate concurred and gave the body
To be laid in the tomb.
(This is the man who, from cowardice,
Ordered Light unto His doom.)

Outside the tomb a watch was placed
By the Pharisees and priests,
To go and make the tomb secure,
From Christ’s disciples at least.

Yet Christ Himself could not remain
In the grave for eternity,
For Lo! Earthquakes and great angels
Have rolled the stone away.

Then came the Marys,who watched our Lord 
Die upon the tree,
Unto His tomb with downcast face,
His body there to see. 

As they neared the tomb they saw angels 
With raiment white as snow,
Who told to them, "He is not here,
He rose not long ago."

The women ran with joyful steps
To proclaim the glorious news,
That Jesus was no longer dead
As they earlier mused.

Then the disciples hurried to Galilee
Up onto the mount.
There they met the risen Lord of life
Who is the blessed Fount.

Christ looked on them with purest love,
The ones His death had bought,
Then opened His mouth and told to them 
What every Christian ought:

“Go, my brethren, and preach the Gospel 
Unto every nation,
Baptizing in the Triune Name
Of God who reigns in Heaven,

Teaching them to obey 
All that I have commanded;
For I am with you always,
Even ‘till the end.”

Glory be to the Father,
And to the Son,
And to the Holy Ghost.
As it was in the beginning,
Is now and ever shall be.
World without end.
Amen.