Posted on 11/10/2015 9:33:09 AM PST by Gamecock
In two years from now, many Christians will be commemorating the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. Already there are signs of this significant date approaching. The German toy company PLAYMOBIL has even issued a special, commemorative, limited edition figure of Martin Luther; and it's already sold out!
While many of my colleagues at Reformed Theological Seminary are already thinking about 2017, most of us are not aware of a very important church history anniversary this fall. I'm thinking, of course, of the 500th anniversary of Luther's lectures on the Book of Romans, which helped pave the way for the Reformation of 1517.
Let me remind you of the significance of the book of Romans. I am often surprised at how many Christians avoid or are afraid of this powerful letter from Paul to the early church in Rome.
Church history testifies, over and over, to the power of this little letter. Romans is simply a life-changing gospel manifesto-a truly revolutionary book.
Recall that in the early church, Augustine came to faith in Christ after hearing a voice say "take up and read." What did he take up? It was part of the book of Romans,
Martin Luther himself was transformed by reading this book. He said Romans "is really the chief part of the New Testament and the purest gospel. It is worthy not only that every Christian should know it word for word, by heart, but also that he should occupy himself with it every day, as the daily bread of the soul. The more we deal with it, the more precious it becomes and the better it tastes."[1]
Sometime later, John Calvin was also profoundly moved by his encounter with Romans. Calvin wrote, "When we have gained a true understanding of this Epistle, we have a door opened to us to all the most profound treasures of Scripture."[2]
John Wesley attributes his conversion to a day in London when he stepped into an Moravian chapel on Aldersgate Street in London and heard someone reading from the preface to Luther's Commentary-on Romans.
Or think of Swiss theologian Karl Barth. After a failed pastorate, he rediscovered what he called "the goodness of God" through his study of the book-of Romans. He too wrote a book about this, that people described as a bombshell that hit the liberal theological world of Europe not long after World War I.
Why is this book of Romans so powerful? New Testament scholar F.F. Bruce answers the question when he describes Romans as "a sustained and coherent statement of the gospel."[3] Or as I sometimes say, the gospel is as simple as John 3.16, yet it is as deep and profound as the book of Romans.
Two years before 1517, Luther was lecturing on Romans at the university of Wittenburg. His study challenged him to think differently about God's righteousness, especially as he studied Romans 1.16,17. That passage reads: 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. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, "The righteous shall live by faith."
Previous to his study of Romans 1, when Luther read about the righteousness of God, he thought of righteousness simply as a divine attribute-i.e. that God is extremely righteous. Before this righteous God, Luther felt condemned in his sin.
Luther did not try to explain away God's righteousness, (or his own real guilt), the way moderns try to. Instead, he discovered that the righteousness referred to here, is not only the righteousness by which God himself is righteous, but also a righteousness that God grants to us as a gift by faith, so that we can meet the demands of his justice and be pardoned of our sins.
These verses, and Romans, speak of a righteousness from heaven which God imputes to sinners by faith. The righteous Christ came to die for unrighteous people like us, to bring us back to God. Christ died on a cross, absorbing the divine judgment we deserve, so that we might escape.
On the cross, God transferred our sins onto Christ, and now offers Christ's right standing to us as a gift-so that we might be reconciled to God and declared righteous in his sight. Put another way, God justifies sinners who come to him by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. This is why Romans says the righteous shall live by faith.
Without this rediscovery of the gospel would the Reformation have happened? I don't think it would have. Because to happen, it needed a super powerful message. And the most powerful message in the world is the gospel itself.
Luther personally discovered the powerful gospel of the powerful Christ. And that discovery began, not in 1517, but in 1515, with the book of Romans.
NOTES:
[1]From his introduction to the Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans, Martin Luther (1522). The Works of Martin Luther, Volume VI, (pp. 447-462). Muhlenberg Press, Philadelphia.
[2] From Calvin's first commentary on the book of Romans.
[3] A Mind for What Matters, Collected Essays of F.F. Bruce, F. F. Bruce., Wm. B. Eerdmans, Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, 1990, p. 85
______________________
Is this a question to somehow "prove" that the issues presented in the Scriptures are not true? If that is your intent, I am not playing...
IF TULIP is a correct theology, I ask simply ... how can I know I am one of the elect ?
And if I CAN know, when do I know it ?
So you believe in unlimited atonement, which means that all are saved?
Correct. But only the elect have the will to come. The problem is not the will, it is nature. The sinful man does not will to follow God, only those whose nature has been changed by the Holy Spirit will come.
So do you believe in unlimited atonement, meaning that all are saved?
So because I willed in 1981 I am an elect ?
I don't know well enough to answer that, but God does!
You’re not part of the equation
The same way Paul did. If you disagree with being an Arminian, please enlighten us as to your persuasion. A middle ground? And, "...if you have the Son, you have the life." John.
This is significant slander. JWs believe they will get into heaven by their own merits. Reformed believers confess that we are not saved by any of our merits, or by the free determination of our will, but by the grace of God alone. There is no room for boasting here of any kind, and it is entirely biblical:
"Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed. For this is the word of promise, At this time will I come, and Sara shall have a son. And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac; (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;) It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy." (Rom 9:6-16)
"But there are some of you who do not believe." (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) And he said, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father." (Joh 6:64-65)
"Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? He that is of God heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God." (Joh 8:43-47)
Act_13:48 And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed.
If you rely on Jesus and Jesus alone for your salvation, you are elect.
The non-elect have no desire to come to Jesus.
Unlimited atonement does not mean all are saved. It means all are offered salvation.
1 Timothy 2:4 [God our Savior] desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
2 Peter 3:9 The Lord ... is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
As we live in time, it is difficult to understand God who it not constrained by time. Human reasoning fails.
I know that I am saved because I have heard God's word and believed.
How do you know if you are saved? With the theory of limited atonement you run into a problem as you can never be sure if Christ died for you. You can not share the gospel with assurance. You can only tell someone that Christ died for them if God chose them for salvation.
Reading the parables of Jesus, you can plainly see that limited atonement is foolishness. All were invited to the wedding. The seed was cast everywhere.
With the seed specifically, the good news would be a lie if Jesus didn't die for everyone.
John 1:29b Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
The reasoning of limited atonement is foolish. From some website "If Jesus actually stood in my place and bore my sin on the cross as the Bible teaches, then I can never be punished for that sin." Wrong. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life.
The website continues, "In order for Christ's atonement to truly be a substitutionary or vicarious atonement, then it must actually secure a real salvation for all for whom Christ died." Wrong again. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life.
And more, "If Christ acted as a real and true substitute for those for whom He died, then all for whom He died will be saved." Wrong, wrong, wrong. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.
And finally, "To say that Christ died a vicarious death in the place of all sinners but that not all sinners will be saved is a contradiction." Still wrong. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that if Jesus dies for you, then you are saved. You are letting your human reasoning get in the way. let the one who desires take the water of life without price
So, if the offer is made, and it is up to man to choose or not to choose, then there is no hope in salvation, as one could change their choice.
If my salvation is up to God, then I have assurance.
Besides, the ones who believe are those chosen by God.
Finally, your interpretation makes the atonement only effective for those who believe as well. Otherwise, all would be saved.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.