Well, he’s right! But I suspect today will be mostly work—and very little play (except as I write blogs).

At the WCF (Westminster Confession of Faith) training class last night we covered three sections, one of which was on Sanctification. During the discussion, we had the occasion to consider a modern unbiblical view in which the believer is said to have two natures—one all good; the other all bad, thus making the individual schizophrenic!

This flawed view is best refuted by the little Moody Colportage book, God’s Way of Holiness, by Horatius Bonar (get it at all costs!). In his chapter on Roman Seven, he lists any number of reasons why the view is absurd. For instance;

1. What happens to the “old nature” at death? Does it go to hell?
2. Which nature grows—The old one can’t; the new one doesn’t need to.
3. Which was redeemed? One didn’t need it; the other obviously coudn’t be.

And so on . . .

Now, to give a better idea of sanctification, I handed out a picture (my own marvelous art work) that looked like this:

At top the words “Two Orientations.” Then the same man appears twice, once above the caption, “Old,” and once above the caption “New.” The man in his old, unconverted state is holding up a mirror that blocks his view of God (represented simply by the word “God.” ) His orientation is self (hence, the mirror).

The same man in the new, converted state is oriented toward God (no mirror is between them), but he has the mirror sticking out of his back pocket-which he might use from time to time to obscure his orientation toward God by looking at himself and his interests instead. One other difference is that he has a Bible tucked under one arm. This, used by the Spirit, helps him keep the right orientation.

Hope this helps you to understand the true view of the new man in Christ.

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I like what Chrysostom had to say about the providential care God showed for Joseph in the house of Potiphar. He points out that Joseph was really in a far worse prison when living in Potiphar’s household near a wild, lascivious woman than when he was jailed. He sees the imprisonment as blessed relief! Of course, he also goes through Joseph’s entire life to show how, at every turn, step by step, ordering each event, God was working out everything for His ends and Joseph’s good.

Providence, as we have previously noted, is God at work in His world doing those things in both general history and personal histories to achieve goals that, at the time when He is in the process of affecting them, may seem only puzzling or even tragic. That is because we lack the comprehensive knowledge that He possesses. Yet, all the while, nothing is actually meaningless, haphazard or unplanned. The tragic automobile accident in which one life is taken and another spared, was really no accident. It was but one element in the working out of God’s benevolent purpose to every believer that it involved.

But to believe in providence, one must also believe that God is in charge; that He is sovereign over all things and all creatures. If He were not, there could be no providential ordering of events according to a plan that was moving forward toward gracious outcomes for His own. Yet, perhaps in order to preserve some sort of unbiblical freedom for men, some foolishly deny this sovereign sway of God over His creation. In their world, man is the maverick, a loose cannon on board ship. But whenever this is postulated it turns out that man becomes more than he really is, and God less than He actually is. He turns out to be a god foreign to Scripture, and man is jacked up until he become a creature foreign to our experience.

Providence, to put it simply, is the true God doing what He pleases. And, praise Him, the thing to remember is that it pleases Him to bless His people!

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Now, according to Romans 9, on the one hand, God desired to demonstrate His power and wrath, on the other, His mercy and grace. The demonstration (to “make known” is the phrase he used to describe this demonstration) of each required those upon whom He could—rightly—shed forth mercy, and those upon whom he could—rightly—punish for their unrepentant sin. Both demonstrations, to be just, required sinners. These he decreed would exist, not apart from, but precisely through the means—their decisions.

People object to this teaching, saying something like, “That’s not fair!” But the objection only proves the teaching valid. Paul knew people would object, and anticipated it with the words they would say: “Why, then does God find fault; who can resist His will?” Of course, no one would raise the objection unless what is being taught is exactly that which Paul taught! His anticipated objection proves that the teaching, though difficult for proud man to swallow, is true.

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Since the writings are God’s inerrant Word, they are sufficient for every aspect of life and godliness, as Peter told us in his epistle. That means that everything having to do with loving God and loving one’s neighbor is sufficiently considered by the Bible writers.

The Bible is special revelation, as over against General revelation (the witness of nature to God’s existence and power). We noted how some try to bring in science, psychology (which is not science) and a number of other things under the label of General revelation. This is totally unacceptable.

Why? Isn’t all truth God’s truth?

Of course; so is all error the devil’s error. But let’s come back to that later. Let me finish the line of thought I was on. The things mentioned above are not General revelation simply because they are not revelation. Revelation comes from God, and therefore, is always inerrant. Science, which changes by the moment, has fostered many errors as well as advancements. You can call scientific advances “discoveries,” if you will. But so-called discoveries are always subject to revision—and science is in the business of daily revising its ideas.

Revelation from God—“God’s truth”—is absolute, unchangeable, perfect and inerrant. Surely, to claim that the views of Freud, a scientist or anyone else is “revelation” or “God’s truth” is an insult to God—and fallacious reasoning.

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One point I made was that the confession begins at the proper place by putting the Scriptures first. Clearly, this was a proper thing for the framers to do since all that follows purports to be a systematic presentation of the truth in these Scriptures.

In the two hour session last night, in addition to the meaning of material in the Confession itself, we discussed “Open Theism” (or, as it’s sometimes called “Process Theology”). This utterly non-Christian heresy pops up from time to time in one form or another. Basically, it teaches such things as God learns from history, that He doesn’t, as the Scriptures clearly affirm, know the end from the beginning. So, if this man-honoring, God-debasing were true, they would be correct in asserting that God took a “risk” in creating man and endowing him with freedom to do as he pleased.

All of this—and much more—is, of course, non-biblical nonsense. For God not to foreknow the future, but to learn about it as it progresses, is to deny any biblical sort of God. He would be but a colossus-type man.

No, God doesn’t learn. He knew all things from before creation. Consequently, they were certain before creation (God’s knowledge isn’t faulty). And, of course, it follows that since He was all that existed before creation, it was He Who made them certain.

I don’t know, but I may treat a few more excerpts from this class in blogs to come. It would be fun to go over some of the things we chased down about the eternal decrees of God, the freedom of man, the canon of the Scriptures and so forth. But we’ll have to wait to see. Even though God doesn’t, I learn about what I am doing by doing it!
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Footnote: “Confession,” as in Westminster Confession of Faith means, literally, “to say together.” The term was used to refer to legal agreements. One who “confesses” his sin to God, in complete agreement, says what God says about it. In a Confession of faith, those who adhere to its tenets, “say the same thing” with each other. How ‘s wonderful when you confess it, to know that there are millions of others who do so in agreement with you!

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