Unity
# 34: Released from the Power of Sin
Predestination, Effectual Grace, Suffering, and the
Resurrection of Christ
Dear
Father,
We praise You for the hope of Your
calling, the riches of the glory of Your inheritance in us, the surpassing
greatness of Your power towards us who believe, the working of Your mighty
strength which You brought about in Christ when You raised Him from the dead
and seated Him at Your right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule
and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in
this age but also in the one to come. You have put all things in subjection
under the feet of Your Son, and given Him as head over all things to the
church, Your body, the fullness of You who fills all in all. I commit this
letter to You; may it flow by Your Spirit’s help to comfort the saints.
In
Jesus Christ’s Name,
Amen
Dear Beloved,
This letter is about our release from the power of sin.
By the work of our Lord, death and its sting are swallowed up in victory. The
sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law, but thanks be to God,
who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Cor 15:54-57) There
are many things which may be written about our release from the power of sin;
here I will be focusing on what God has been teaching me in the past week: the
regenerate hearts’ understanding of predestination, the nature of God in the
face of suffering, and the resurrection of Christ. I am trusting that God will
help all that He has brought to my mind to fit together well in this letter.
The Regenerate Hearts’ Understanding of
Predestination/Effectual Grace
The Scriptures make it exceedingly clear that God has both foreknown and
predestined the eternal outcome of all people: some are appointed for life, and
some are doomed to destruction. However, many professing believers have a
difficult time understanding and believing that this is so. The common reasons
are that somehow justice is perverted or coercion has been enacted on God’s
part if we are left with no choice of our own. All would agree that God is
just, and that for all those who have trusted in Christ, they have done so
willingly and wholeheartedly. Their surrender is indeed an outcry of
acknowledgement of the great love of the Father. So for us who believe the
Scriptures which teach us that God has predestined us, we agree that God is
just in all that He does and that the people of God have a heart that loves
Christ and all that He entails. But for those who do not believe in
predestination, you must consider the passage from John 6:52-71 where Christ
describes that He will give His flesh for the life of the world and that those
who eat His flesh and drink His blood have eternal life, and He will raise them
up on the last day. He tells us that if we eat His flesh and drink His blood we
abide in Him and He in us. As the living Father sent Him, and He lives because
of the Father, so if we eat of Christ, we will live forever because of Him.
After Jesus taught about these things, many of His followers said that this was
a difficult statement and asked who could listen to it. But Jesus, conscious
that His disciples grumbled at this, said to them, “Does this cause you to stumble? When
then if you see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before? It is the
Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken
to you are spirit and are life. But there are some of you who do not believe”. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who
did not believe, and who it was that would betray Him. He was saying. “For this reason I have said to you,
that no one can come to Me unless it has
been granted him from the Father”.
As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with
Him anymore. Dear saints, in view of the
teaching of predestination, that is, that it is because of God’s will and power
that anyone at all can come to Him, many people could no longer walk with Him.
If you knew that God’s predestination of
all people is true, then would you still walk with Him? Would you be as the
disciples who said “Lord, to whom shall we
go? You have words of eternal life. We have believed and have come to know that
You are the Holy One of God”
Jesus had chosen all 12 of them, but he knew that Judas would betray Him. He
has mercy and compassion on whom He has mercy and compassion. And He hardens
whomever He desires. His purpose is that His Name will be proclaimed throughout
the whole earth. What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to
make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for
destruction to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which
He prepared beforehand for glory? He has called people from both the Jews and
the Gentiles; He has called those who were not His people and not beloved as
His beloved people, sons of the living God. For though the number of the sons
of Israel are like the sand of the sea, it is the remnant alone that will be
saved; for the Lord will execute His Word on the earth thoroughly and quickly.
So then, many of the Israelites pursued a law of righteousness, could not keep
it, and rejected the righteousness that comes by faith. In Zion God lay a stone
of stumbling and a rock of offense, and only those who believe in Him will not
be disappointed. So then, our righteousness is by faith. (Rom 9)
Dear saint, do you believe in the Scriptural truth of the total moral depravity of all
unregenerate people, that is, that until we are raised to life by the Spirit,
we are dead in trespasses and sin, possessing absolutely no goodness at all.
Because we were dead, we could not hear, understand, or believe in the Gospel
nor did we contain any inking of a leaning towards the Truth such that we could
choose to believe in it even if we heard it? And because this is true, we require God’s effectual grace, the
grace purchased through the blood of Christ for His chosen people that lifts us
from our spiritual graves that we may hear, understand, and believe in the
Gospel. Furthermore, effectual grace enables us to bear fruit, to be
progressively sanctified, to persevere until the end, to remain faithful, to be
glorified with and found in Christ on the last Day… To deny predestination is
to claim that God has not chosen and caused us to trust in Christ, and if it
was not effectual grace by God’s own predestination that caused us to believe,
then you are saying that you had some inkling of goodness to choose him. And
then you deny total depravity, and you are claiming to have some righteousness
of your own; you are claiming that there was some inherent goodness in yourself
that caused you to choose Him. Do you not
see how such a belief, if continued in, could result in damnation if your heart
has truly believed that you have some goodness apart from what God has chosen
to grant to you though His regenerating work? Do you now understand why many
turned away from Christ in the face of His teaching on predestination? Many were holding on to a righteousness of
their own, to a false nobility of their human will apart from the Father’s
enablement. We must surrender all.
These principles can be applied to eternal
security as well. Eternal security is the gift of grace granted to all
those who are chosen for eternal life. Those who inherit God’s promises do so
through faith and patience (Heb 6:12). God enables them to persevere until the
end and works in them the “obedience of faith” that is present in all those who are truly justified. If it is not God who secures the souls of
the elect and prevents them from falling away through His Spirit, Word,
discipline, and love, then we are left to ourselves to remain in the faith, and
we are again denying effectual grace, and claiming goodness apart from His
predestining work. His act of predestination involves our calling,
conversion, perseverance, and eternal life. And thus, we are determined to know
nothing among us except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. We come in weakness,
fear, and much trembling, and our message and preaching are not in persuasive
words of worldly wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so
that the faith of our hearers will not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the
power of God. (1 Cor 2:1-5)
So
then, this letter is to be about our release from the power of sin, and you may
be wondering how God’s predestination is related to the power of sin. There are certain things which accompany
the saints’ righteous belief in predestination: a deep conviction of total
depravity prior to regeneration, a deep conviction that because God has secured
our salvation, He will keep us holy and blameless, firm in faith, until the
end, in the face of imminent temptations to turn aside and the surrounding
deceitfulness of sin, a tremendous awe and fear at the incomprehensibility of
God[1], and a total
dependency on His hand of grace and righteousness. The heart of the saint cries, “Lord You alone have the Words of eternal life, where else can I go? You
alone have caused me to trust in You and will enable me to persevere until the
end because You have saved my soul” There is also a deep gratitude and
thankfulness for God’s choosing, for it is apparent that MOST PEOPLE WILL DAMNED. Just as the generation of Noah was damned
and only Noah and his family were saved, we also live in a crooked and perverse
generation, and though many try to enter the narrow gate, few will find it, and
many are called, but few are chosen (Matt 22:14). The majority of humans will be damned, but dear saint, do you still
believe that He is good, that He is just, that He is unfathomable, that He is
righteous in all His ways. These truths should bind Your heart in reverence to
His.
So
then, if we have believed in His predestination of us, in His effectual grace,
then we know that we are under His New Covenant by which He does not turn away from us to do us good (Jer 32:40). We know
that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to
those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He
also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would
be the Firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also
called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He
justified, He also glorified. (Rom 8:28-30)
The Regenerate Hearts’ Understanding of the Nature of God
in the Face of Suffering
Dear saints, suffering reveals what our
hearts have believed about God.
The fiery storms draw out from us the desires and beliefs regarding the nature
of God. Just as the storm tested the foundation on which the house was built,
rock or sand, so the troubles of this life reveal where we have placed our
hope, our affections, and our labors. For as Christ told us, He spoke to us
that in Him we may have peace. In the world we will have tribulation, but He
tells us to take courage; He has overcome the world. (John 16:33) Those who
doubt God’s goodness, those who do not long for the glory of God, will not stand
under trials. For during suffering, they will doubt God’s goodness. They do not
believe that all of the events of their lives are preordained by God out of His
goodness and love. For the saint to
truly believe that God never stops doing good to him will grant him
overwhelming victory in the face of tremendous suffering, for he knows that
each and every trial is an act of God’s goodness, though he may temporarily not
know how or why. The saints consider Christ who has endured such hostility
by sinners against Himself, so that they do not grow weary and lose heart. They
do not forget the exhortation which is addressed to them as sons, “ My son, do not regard lightly the
discipline of the Lord, nor faint when you are reproved by Him; for those whom
the Lord loves He disciplines, and He scourges every son whom He received”. It is for discipline that we endure; God deals with us
as sons; and there is no son who is not disciplined by the heavenly Father.
(Heb 12:3-7)
We
know that we have been justified by faith, and we have peace with God through
our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by
faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of
God. And not only this, but we also exult
in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance;
and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does
not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts
through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. (Rom 5:1-5) Thus, the saints are able to consider it all joy when they encounter
various trials, because they know that the testing of their faith produces
endurance. Endurance has its perfect result, so that they are perfect and
complete lacking in nothing. (James 1:2-4) During suffering we do not fear,
for God has redeemed us; He has called us by name and we are His. When we pass
through the waters, He will be with us; and through the rivers, they will not
overflow us. When we walk through the fire, we will not be scorched nor will
the flame burn us, for He is the Lord our God, the Holy One of Israel, our
Savior. (Is 43:1-3)
The beloved are not to be surprised at the fiery ordeal among them,
which comes upon them for their testing, as though some strange thing were
happening to them; but to the degree that they share in the sufferings of
Christ, they are to keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His
glory they may rejoice with exaltation. Those
who suffer according to the will of God shall entrust their souls to a faithful
Creator in doing what is right. (I Pet 4:12, 13, 19) Indeed, all who desire
to live Godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted (2 Tim 3:12) and whoever does
not carry his own cross and come after Christ cannot be His disciple (Luke
14:27). But the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared
with the glory to be revealed to us (Rom 8:18). God’s granting of perseverance
and faith in the midst of our persecutions and afflictions which we endure is a
plain indication of God’s righteous judgment so that we will be considered
worthy of the Kingdom of God, for which indeed we are suffering (2 Thess
1:4-5). Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him
out of them all (Ps 34:19).
The Regenerate Hearts’ Understanding of the Resurrection of
Christ
Again, how does the believer’s overcoming in suffering relate to the
release from sin that this letter must concern? For one thing, in the resisting
of temptation, there is a measure of suffering that we undergo. In many cases
the desire for Christ that reigns in our regenerate hearts causes specific sins
to lose their appeal and we may cheerfully and wholeheartedly obey our Savior
without looking back or feeling any longings for these desires of the flesh.
Ultimately, as a result of His progressive sanctification of our character,
attitudes, behavior, and lifestyle, He is bringing us to that place of
wholehearted obedience accompanied by great joy and comprehension of His love.
But we know that many times, to resist sin, we must suffer, and we must obey in
faith, not knowing how He will provide, but simply knowing that He is good,
loving, strong, and has promised to do so. For we know that no temptation has
overtaken us but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not
allow us to be tempted beyond what we are able, but with the temptation will
provide the way of escape also, so that we will be able to endure it (1 Cor
10:13). With each and every temptation
that comes our way, our hope is that as we put to death the misdeeds of the sinful
flesh, the resurrection power and life of Christ has been granted to us.
Thus, the feeling of suffocation, pain, emptiness, and turmoil that we
experience in our resisting of sin will not prevail. For in our resistance we
have simultaneous faith in God’s goodness and the indwelling Spirit to
powerfully oppose and weaken the desire of sinful flesh (Gal 5). Rather, we are promised that if we have died
with Him, we will surely live with Him. For if Christ is in us, though the body
is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of His righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus
from the dead dwells in us, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also
give life to our mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in us. (Rom
8:10-11). For the righteousness based on faith is granted to the one whose
hearts believes that God has raised Christ from the dead and that no one who
believes in Him will be disappointed (Rom 10:9-11). Those who do not believe in
the resurrection have a worthless faith and are still in their sin (1 Cor 15:16-17).
But we believe that we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so
that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father,
so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with Him in
the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be united with Him in the
likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified
with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we
would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin. Now if
we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing
that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to died again; death no
longer is master over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for
all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Even so, consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in
Christ Jesus. (Rom 6:4-11)
7 But we have this
treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will
be of God and not from ourselves; 8 we are afflicted in every way, but
not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; 9 persecuted,
but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10 always
carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also
may be manifested in our body. 11 For
we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake, so
that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. 2 Cor 4
Thus, in our resisting of sin, we often
feel death in our striving, and yet if our hearts have truly believed in the
resurrection of Christ, we know that in due time, yes very soon in our earthly
journey, He will again grant us the comprehension of freedom, peace, life, joy,
and His unfailing love. With regard to all of the sin of the dead sinful
nature, He has either completely removed the heart’s desire for that sin and
replaced it with a desire for Christ, or He is commanding and causing us to
resist sin in faith, while trusting in His goodness to His elect, and will soon
grant us the joy of our salvation. The desires of the regenerate heart are
realized through this work of His. As surely as we know that Christ is risen,
as we put to death the misdeeds of the sinful flesh, the Spirit will grant us
life moment-by-moment. The wisdom we speak of is God’s wisdom, a hidden and
mysterious wisdom that among the unsaved, no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor
has it entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love
Him. But God has revealed it to us through His Spirit, yes through the mind of
Christ that we have been granted. For just as our spirits know our thoughts,
the Holy Spirit knows God’s thoughts. And we have this Spirit that we may know
the things freely given to us by God. (1 Cor 2:6-12, 16)
Love in Christ,
Preethi
[1] 33 Oh,
the depth of the riches [l]both
of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and
unfathomable His ways! 34 For who has known the mind
of the Lord, or who became His counselor?
35 Or who has first given to Him [m]that it might be paid back to him again? 36 For
from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory [n]forever.
Amen. Rom 11
No comments:
Post a Comment