God's Sovereign Choice (Part 1)

by Bruce Mills

For the past 16 months, I have been teaching through Romans in my Sunday School class. I recently taught through Romans 8:29-30, which reads, "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."

Those verses obviously contain some of the most complex truths in all of theology. There is, perhaps, none so controversial as the matter of God's foreknowledge and predestination of certain people to salvation. In reality, once the two terms are explained, most people's problem isn't with predestination, but rather with foreknowledge, because once the brick of God's foreknowledge is laid, the brick of predestination follows naturally. However, through the years, those two terms have come to be used almost interchangeably, even though they are not synonymous.

After finishing teaching on God's foreknowledge, one man approached me and asked me to summarize my teaching and put it on the blog. My response was that it would be entirely too long to be a blog post. I later discussed this request with another of the elders at the church and he suggested breaking it down into a series of posts so that each could be more "bite-sized." So that is what I intend to do; to write a series on the subject of God's foreknowledge and predestination. I'm not quite sure how many posts it will take, but eventually, I will finish. I'll do my best to summarize what I taught in class and not throw the entire truckload at you. So let's get started.

The first phrase of verse 29 says, "For those whom He foreknew..." Salvation begins with God’s foreknowledge. A Christian is, first of all, someone whom God foreknew. Salvation is not initiated by a person’s decision to receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Scripture is clear that repentant faith is essential to salvation and is the first step that we take in response to God, but repentant faith does not initiate salvation. God's foreknowledge is the first step in initiating an individual's salvation.

So let’s examine what this word means. Some people think it means that God looked down through the corridors of time into the future and saw who was going to make the decision to follow Christ and who was not. And once He looked down through history and saw how each of us was going to choose, He then predestined those whom He saw were going to choose to believe in Christ.

However, that viewpoint contains a very serious flaw. Man—who, according to Rom. 3:10-23, 8:7, is wicked, spiritually ignorant, spiritually blind, incapable of understanding the truth, incapable of stopping his iniquity, hates God, and is God's enemy—is dead in trespasses and sins and, on his own, will not make a decision to follow Christ. That’s the first thing we have to recognize.

Secondly, we have to ask the question, “If God just looks into the future and sees some people who believe and some people who do not believe, then where did the faith of those who chose to believe come from?” Is it natural for an unregenerate, wicked, blind, hopeless, helpless sinner to suddenly exercise saving faith in Jesus Christ? No, it’s not natural; in fact, it’s impossible. It can’t happen. The terminology used in Scripture to describe fallen man is that he is “dead in…trespasses and sins” (Eph. 2:1) and his mind is spiritually blind (2 Cor. 4:4). A dead man is incapable of doing anything, and a blind man cannot will himself to see light.

Think of it this way: If “foreknowledge” means that God knows beforehand what people will do in response to Him or to the preaching of the gospel, and then determines their destiny on that basis, what would God possibly see or foreknow except for a fixed rebellion against Him in every person’s heart? Paul has gone to great lengths in Romans 1-3 to explain that man is completely and totally opposed to God. So if foreknowledge was defined in the way some would like to define it, then the only thing God would see would be opposition to Him; not a decision for Him.

So, if the "God-looks-down-through-the-hallway-of-time" approach is incorrect, what does the word "foreknowledge" mean? I believe Acts 2:23 provides some wonderful insight as to what it means. Scripture is always the best commentary on Scripture, and in Acts 2:23, Peter, speaking under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, defines it for us. He says that Christ went to the cross “by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God.” That’s very important.

The word translated “plan” was used in classical Greek for a council which was convened to make a decision. This was a decision for a pre-decided course of action, so “the predetermined plan” of God means God determined the course of action. “Predetermined” is a perfect participle; that is, it speaks of an action which was completed in the past, but with continuing, on-going results. The word is ὁρίζω, which speaks of marking off boundaries or limits. We get our English word “horizon” from this word. The horizon is the border or boundary between earth and sky. So God pre-decided a course of action and marked off the boundaries of that action. This was His “predetermined plan.”

Now, notice that Peter also says that God’s “foreknowledge” was involved. In fact, I believe that what he is doing here is clarifying what “predetermined plan” means. He is defining “foreknowledge” as meaning a “predetermined plan.” “Foreknowledge” doesn’t just mean that God knows what’s going to happen; it means that He has pre-decided His course of action with the boundaries and limits marked out.

So when we speak of God's foreknowledge, we are saying that He predetermined precisely what He was going to do in regard to certain individuals, and according to Eph. 1:4, He did this before the foundation of the world. So what was it that He pre-decided to do? We'll look at that in our next post.

Can Satan Know Our Thoughts?

by Bruce Mills

I have had many friends and acquaintances tell me how Satan was attacking them in their minds, causing them to think about things they shouldn't be thinking about; i.e., lustful thoughts, lewd thoughts, hateful thoughts, vengeful thoughts, and so forth. I was thinking about this recently and pondering whether or not such a statement is accurate. I have concluded that it is not. Let me explain.

Scripture is very clear that God is omniscient and understands and knows our thoughts. Psalm 139:1-4 says, "O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar. You scrutinize my path and my lying down, and are intimately acquainted with all my ways. Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O Lord, You know it all." 1 Chron. 28:9 tells us, "the Lord searches all hearts, and understands every intent of the thoughts." So there is no doubt that God knows what we are thinking at every moment of our lives.

But can we say the same thing about Satan and his demonic forces? The answer is no. There is nothing in Scripture which would tell us that Satan is omniscient, or has the capability of knowing our thoughts or reading our minds. He is extremely adept at predicting our behavior, based on his knowledge of man's sinful nature and desires. So he is quite capable of setting up external temptations for us which, because of our fallen, depraved human nature, we are often lured into.

So how do we explain the terrible thoughts that are filled with lust, filth, anger, malice, revenge, and lewdness that often fill our minds? They are simply the activity of our own fallen flesh. Man is totally depraved; that is to say, every part of man, including his mind and thought processes, have been corrupted and affected by sin. We don't need Satan to attack us to demonstrate that we are completely debased by sin. We need only consider our thoughts, which are outside of Satan's realm of direct attack, to recognize that we are depraved and fatally diseased by sin.

Now, I am not denying that Satan is a master at throwing up some incredibly designed temptations to attract us so that our sinful minds then run wild with wicked thoughts. But he cannot read our minds and thoughts and attack us directly in that area. All of his assaults are external, although many of them lead to internal sinful thoughts.

So what benefit is there in recognizing this? First, it helps us realize that we are far less often the victim of a direct attack by Satan as we are by our own willingness to allow our fallen flesh to control us. We are quite capable of amassing a vast stockpile of sin in our lives without ever being the victim of a direct attack by Satan or one of his demons. The old phrase, "The devil made me do it," just isn't correct. Our sin is far more often the result of our own fallen depraved nature than from an assault by the evil one.

Second, knowing that in contrast to Satan, God is omniscient and knows our every thought should be a strong encouragement and preventive against allowing our minds to dwell on wickedness. God knows every thought we have at every moment, so if we desire to honor Him as we should, we must repent of those evil thoughts and turn our minds to those things which please Him.

Third, this tells us how important it is that we as believers are to be constantly allowing the Holy Spirit to use God's Word as a means of renewing our minds (Rom. 12:1-2, Eph. 4:22-24). When our minds are renewed so that we think about the things that God would desire for us to think about, we are far less susceptible to Satan's temptations when they appear in our lives. We are to put off the old self, put on the new self, and present our body as a living sacrifice to God. That includes our mind.

How do we do that? By constantly pouring God's Word into our minds, so that we begin to think through a biblical grid about every thing we do and every decision we face. Read the Scriptures daily, meditating on each passage, carefully and thoughtfully. Read all of the Word; not just the parts you prefer. Remember, all Scripture is inspired (God-breathed) and profitable for you (2 Tim. 3:16). If you think you are too busy to sit and read, then listen to the Scriptures being read. There are several good translations which are available on CD and mp3 format which you can use. You can even listen on-line here.

My point is that if you wish to gain victory over sin in your life, you must know God's Word. Once your mind is filled with and consumed by Scripture, you will find that whenever you face a temptation, whenever a wicked thought comes into your mind, a particular verse or passage which specifically deals with that issue will come to mind and you can use it to defeat the flesh and gain the victory.

Listening to Christian music which is theologically sound and exalts Christ is another way to fill your mind with thoughts which will protect you from falling victim to Satan's assaults. But be careful in this area; make sure the music is theologically sound. Much of that which is popular today is man-centered rather than Christ exalting. Focus on music that praises God for who He is and what He has done in Christ.

So, don't worry about Satan being able to read your mind--he cannot. Nor does he directly place thoughts in your mind. Those evil thoughts you have are merely the result of your own fallen sinful heart. Just concentrate on renewing your mind with God's Word and walking in obedience to it. When you do that, you will find that when Satan or his demons do place a temptation in front of you, you will be far less susceptible to it than you were before. And you can recall the truths you have placed in your heart from the Bible, and by thinking on those things, you can defeat the enemy and the flesh and bring honor to our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Extent of the Atonement

by Robert Fraire

Someone at Lakeside asked me to explain what I meant in my last sermon when I said: "Jesus died to pay the price for His chosen people" It is a really good questions asked with a desire to learn, and here is my response. I tried to give enough detail to give a good understanding, but in no way to I think this is an exhaustive treatment of the subject.

Why do I say that Jesus died only for those who would believe?

One of the things we now about God is that He is Sovereign. This means that He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. It also means that whatever He chooses to do, He is able to accomplish. Ephesians 1 describes God as One who “works all things after the counsel of His will.” In other words whatever God intends to accomplish, He in fact accomplishes.

So we need to see what the Bible says about what God wills because He will, in fact, accomplish it. In Psalm 2, God the Father says to God the Son: “Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, And the very ends of the earth as Your possession.”

So what was this inheritance? It wasn’t everyone, or else God would have saved everyone. In the gospels we see Jesus pray like this.

John 17 1-2
“Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You, even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life. "

Jesus then describes that eternal life in His prayer to the Father. He then says in verse 9 of the same chapter, speaking of the same topic: "I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours."

So the Father gave the Son a particular group of people as an inheritance. The Father chose those people and gave them to Jesus, His Son. But how could God redeem the sinful men for Jesus? We know that it was through the payment of the Son Himself, Jesus.

2 Cor 5:21
He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Now the word “might” in that verse does not mean “maybe, if they do the right thing”. It means “with certainty”.

In John 10, Jesus uses the figure of speech of sheep to designate His people. In verse 15 Jesus says that He lays down his life for "the sheep" (His people). In the same chapter some religious Jews are questioning Jesus and he tells them, “But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep.”

It is very important to see that Jesus says the reason for their unbelief is that they are not His; that is, not of the ones that His Father gave Him.

God determined that all those whom the Father had given to the Son would be justified through faith in Jesus Christ. But that faith is not present in any man unless God regenerates him; that is, makes him a born again, new creature.

Those people will always hear the gospel and believe. That is the means that God chose to bring the people that make up the inheritance of Jesus to justification and salvation.

This is a brief statement and I know that questions can arise, and I will gladly answer them, but just keep in mind that we serve a Sovereign God who elected and drew a particular people to Himself. Jesus died for those particular people, and through God’s act of regeneration those Sheep hear the gospel message preached and believe in Christ.

The Goodness of God to a Family

by Bruce Mills

We are winding up a vacation visit to my daughter and son-in-law’s home in Olathe, Kansas, located in the greater Kansas City area. It is also the residence of the world’s two best-looking, most-intelligent grandchildren, as can be seen in these pictures. I recognize that other grandparents may disagree with me on this point, but all I can say is that they are mistaken. You understand, of course, that my grandfatherly bias is showing through!

As I spent some time this morning reflecting on our stay, I was thinking of the goodness and kindness of our heavenly Father in giving us a wonderful daughter who loves the Lord and a son-in-law who faithfully serves Him as the pastor of Christ Community Church in Olathe. Speaking of his spiritual children, the apostle John said, “I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth” (3 John 4). The same is certainly true of one’s physical children. There is no greater joy in a father’s heart to see his daughter walking in obedience to Christ, and to see that the man she married has the same desire and direction in his life.

We got together with our son-in-law’s parents last night. They are a wonderful couple that we thoroughly enjoy spending time with, ever since we met them back in January 2002, a few months before our daughter and their son got married. Keith is a professor of pastoral studies at Calvary Bible College and Theological Seminary in Kansas City, and Pat is the head of the Biblical Counseling program at the same school. For those who are familiar with the National Association of Nouthetic Counselors, she is the author of the Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling Women, and she and Keith together wrote the Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling Youth. Together the two books have sold over 110,000 copies.

We had a great time with them, and after they left to return home, my son-in-law was commenting how wonderful it is to be able to get together with both sets of parents and, as he put it, “the situation not be weird.” Everyone shares the same love for the Lord Jesus Christ, we agree doctrinally on all significant issues, we share the same philosophical worldview, and we even share some of the same interests. I have many friends who dread getting both sides of their families together because there is disagreement, strife, conflict, or simply bad, inappropriate behavior.

Our situation is ONLY possible because of Jesus Christ. Because every person present last night has committed and submitted his or her life to Jesus Christ and desires to live in obedience to His Word, the indwelling Holy Spirit of God has been working in us to transform us by renewing our minds (Rom. 12:1-2). Consequently, there is a unity of spirit and bond of peace (Eph. 4:3) among us which otherwise would not exist.

It is God alone who deserves the glory for our family’s circumstances. His gracious goodness and abundant kindness to our family has nothing to do with any of us. I don’t want anyone to think that the individuals in our family are in any way “better” than those in any other family. We are all fallen sinners, just like every other person on the face of the earth. But for God’s sovereign grace which He has chosen to pour out upon us in abundance, our family would be just as dysfunctional as many with which I am acquainted. But He has, instead, chosen to show us His mercy, grace and peace, and for that I am and will be eternally grateful. I just wanted to take a couple of moments to praise His name publicly for what He has chosen to do for us. Sola Deo Gloria!

The Saving Wisdom of God

by Bruce Mills

I’m on vacation this week and have had more time to catch up on my reading. I’ve been reading through the wonderful book, John Calvin: A Heart for Devotion, Doctrine, & Doxology. As I have been reading about this great man and his doctrine, a few thoughts have arisen which I have decided to express in a brief post.

Pastor Tom Ascol has contributed a chapter to the book titled “Redemption Defined.” In it, he makes the following statement: “A superficial knowledge of God and a superficial knowledge of human nature prevent a person from regarding the cross as the saving wisdom of God.”

What Pastor Ascol is saying is that until an individual perceives how infinitely holy and righteous God is and that His wrath toward sin is infinite and eternal, and until that individual perceives that he himself is sinner who is hopelessly lost in his sin which has infected every area of his being—his body, spirit, mind, emotions, desires, motives, and will—rendering him justly deserving of eternal condemnation, that person will never appreciate the death of Christ as the greatest display of God’s grace, mercy, love, and wisdom that has ever taken place. And, thus, he will not turn and seek the saving refuge that is found only in Christ.

Unfortunately, we live in a day and time when men have rejected the idea of a God who is infinitely wrathful toward sin; instead, favoring a God who chooses to overlook the sins of men because His love for them is greater than His wrath and justice. Nothing could be further from the truth. God is loving (1 John 4:8, 16), but He is also wrathful (Nahum 1:2, Rom. 1:18) and just (Job 34:12, Luke 18:7). He does not change (Mal. 3:6, Heb. 13:8). This means that God cannot and does not overlook any sin (Ex. 34:7, Num. 14:18).

So man is left in a situation in which he is incapable of fixing his problem. He is hopelessly corrupted by and enslaved to sin and is faced with a God who will not overlook that sin, but has promised eternal condemnation for everyone with unforgiven sin. This is why the cross of Christ is the ultimate demonstration of God’s grace and mercy. It is the only place at which God’s wrath against sin is satisfied and His infinite love, grace, and mercy is poured out on undeserving sinners. Only God could conceive and carry out such a plan of salvation, so it truly demonstrates His wisdom.

Therefore, those who are believers have a fuller understanding of the nature of God and the nature of man, and so they see God for who He is, themselves for who they are, and find the cross to be the source of their highest praise and thanksgiving. But unbelievers are those who, as Pastor Ascol says, have only a superficial knowledge of God and a superficial knowledge of human nature, and so they miss the magnificent glory of God’s saving wisdom which was embodied in the cross of Christ. Ask yourself: In which category do I find myself? Your eternal destiny will depend upon your answer.

The Shack - Revisited

by Robert Fraire

I recently read the book "The Shack" and I have a series of things I want to talk about concerning the subjects covered in it as well as the overall value of the book.

In short I would say that "The Shack" is a dangerous book that fosters all sorts of ungodly understandings of: who God is, what is our relationship to him, what is God's will concerning His people.

I bet that in calling "The Shack" a dangerous book, some may think that I am overreacting. But instead I think I am actually downplaying the problems with this story. I was reading some reviews posted about "The Shack" and I found them very interesting. Some reviews called "The Shack" a wonderful and powerful book, others called it a good story, but with some bad theology. One post specifically brought forth my main point for this blog post and is the reason I call "The Shack" dangerous. The site where I read reviews allowed for people to comment on the book and many people had done so. The post that struck me the most was from a woman who said that she had read all the comments people left and that her summary of the arguments by people who didn't like the book came down to the idea that it contains bad theology. This woman then wrote: "I liked the book a lot, those who concentrate on the supposed bad theology are overreacting."

Here is my question for you. How important is it if "The Shack" contains bad theology? What if the story is uplifting and God honoring (I don't believe it is) isn't that what matters? What importance does the Bible place on correct theology. Or asked another way, how important is it if we portray God, as the Trinity, differently then the Bible does? My answer is that it is of the utmost importance. We don't have to go any further then the 10 commandments to understand what God thinks of portraying Himself in a way other than how He does.

Now before I go to scripture let me clear something up right away. When I say that "The Shack" portrays God in a way other than the Bible does, I am not talking specifically or solely about physical appearances. The Shack portrays The Father as a black woman, Jesus as a Jewish man and the Holy Spirit as a young Asian girl. Instead I am talking about the character, mind, and reasons for acting of God.

In Exodus 20: 4
You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth.

This commandment has been thought of throughout the years as a prohibition concerning statues, pictures, etc. But there is much more than that in this commandment. God has revealed himself in the Bible. It is in the Bible that we see what he likes and dislikes, what he commands and what he cares for. Scripture tells us how we are to relate to him, what is the purpose of life, and on what basis will he judge us. When we make idols, or false pictures of God, we are indicating in one way or another that we do not accept God's self revelation.

When the people of Israel built a Golden Calf (Exodus 32) what were they building? Did they build an idol as a "New" God? Aaron told them "This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt." Now who was it that brought them out of Egypt? It was the true God. So the people weren't turning to other gods instead they made an image of God.

Now someone might say, what is wrong with portraying God as a young calf? Doesn't that portray strength, power, and other things that are true of God? In verses 7 and 8 God tells Moses that the people have corrupted themselves and worshiped an idol. Again, only God has the right to portray himself.

In my estimation this is where "The Shack" goes wrong. Its whole premise is bad. It tries to portray a God that is not consistent with scripture. So back to the woman's comment I relayed earlier in this post. How important is it if "The Shack" has bad theology? If you believe the Bible, there isn't much more important. This fatal flaw of "The Shack" is sufficient for me to label the book dangerous. But what about the idea that it has a good, God honoring message? In later posts I will deal with many of the main points made in this book and see that there is not much in it that is God honoring.

If you have read the book and liked it, let me ask you to consider whether the portrayal of God is consistent with scripture, and how important to you is it how God is portrayed. If you haven't read it yet, don't bother; there is nothing of value to be found in it.