Wednesday, August 11

Do I have a choice?

Let's be honest, Calvin and Hobbs is more fun than the views of Calvin the theologian!  Calvin and Hobbs is full of color and childlike imagination. 

Not so Calvin the theologian!  Have you ever read Calvin's Institutes? They are very heavy and do not have any cartoons in it!  Not a lot of fun.


Jesus said we must become "like children" if we are to understand the Kingdon.  If this is true then is it possible He likes Calvin and Hobbs better than the Institutes?  Maybe this is an unfair question but it makes a point ... the Calvin arguments are for a very limited group of high-intellect folks that are not very often child-like.
  
I fell in with this camp for years.  I read many of the "Reformed" writers of the 17th century forward.  I went to the conferences and bought the books (Piper, Sproul, Boice, etc.) but many of the nagging questions (see previous post) and the inability to marry the "reformed" view with Scripture and life were too much to ignore.

Is it not possible that we need another reformation?  Maybe we need to reform ourselves again.  Maybe we need a childlike response to these things again.  Maybe we need to add some pictures to our limited worldview. 

Is there a way to acknowledge God's sovereignty and yet allow people to make choices?  Do people have a will in salvation?  Can these work together?

What if we have interpreted the Bible wrong?  What if God did elect some folks to maintain the Kingdom message through time?  What if God chose and even predestined key individuals for the purpose of proclaiming salvation to the nations?

What if the highest election was His own Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and those whom He would choose to follow Him?  What if we are wrong on the whole deal and miss the fact that people are saved by hearing the message (Romand 10:9-10; Ephesians 1:13) of the Kingdom proclaimed by those the King had chosen?

Can any of this be supported by Scripture?  Yes, and yes again!

Stay tuned for more.


 
DevoLink: Devotions to help you Link with God.

4 comments:

  1. Aha--no one wants to chance a comment... :)
    God is sovereign. He owns, controls and sustains all things, at all times, for His own good pleasure.
    God doesn't have to contol us like puppets in order to accomplish His good pleasure. Our free will is a powerful evidence of His sovereignty.

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  2. Doesn't love sort of necessitate some form of response? Didn't Jesus say that the woman caught in adultery loved much because she was forgiven much? And didn't that feel like a comendation on his part?

    Hard to imagine God desiring robotic responses. That image cuts against the fabric of Scripture where God loves a cheerful giver and those that seek him with ALL their hearts and those that love him more than anything and those that persist in prayer, etc.

    He remains soveriegn while allow us freedom to make choices. He is pleased when we choose well. Loving him is our supreme good and brings him glory. So, we are commanded to do it. We are not made to do it.

    What a gracious God!

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  3. Exactly--robotic love is hypocritical! I meant to express that God's greatness doesn't need to so control us to accomplish His will-meant as an observation, not a "why" :)
    I believe loving God is how wee find our greatest joy and bring Him greatest glory!

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  4. Probably the most well-known verse in the Bible, John 3:16, is preceded by "as Moses lifted up the servant in the wildnerness, even so must the son of man be lifted up." The Israelites, bitten by the serpents, had a choice...look & live, or don't look on the brazen serpent, and die!. Those who looked, did so, not because there was "something good within them" causing them to look...no-exactly the opposite. They looked (and lived) because they were "weak and wounded, sick, and sore)...they were in the "process of dying." They chose to look, only because they understood their "sick & dying condition." Herein lies mystery...not self-goodness. (Devo-man!...appreciate your insightful, thought-provoking writing...& discussions!)

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