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[Mike Abendroth]

Why Can't They See This? 

by Tom J. Nettles 





"Why do my Christian friends have such an aversion to the Doctrines of
Grace?" "In addition to that, how can I keep open the channels of
communication with them while making progress in helping them understand?"
This article focuses on a few principles to bear in mind in the pursuit of
these relationships.


Difficulties and Priorities


Many have learned first-hand that the doctrines of grace have a jolting
effect when one who has been able to ignore them all his life first feels
the impact of the encounter. If it were not true in our own experience, we
have observed the perplexity, and sometimes outrage, of someone else's
struggle. 

Such reactions which highlight the revolutionary tendencies of these
doctrines should let us know that these truths are not toys used only to
relieve momentary boredom and to be put back into a box when one is tired of
playing. Fragile! Handle with care: the opportunity is like cutting and
setting a precious stone, not like throwing husks and scraps to pigs. But
the delicate nature of the task doesn't diminish the strength necessary for
steadiness and perseverance in the job, and it increases the need for
sharpness in the tools. This spiritual odyssey calls for rigorous
preparation and a readiness for some painful personal growth. Firmness and
sharpness of personal conviction, compassion and kindness toward the other
person, and patience toward a resistant attitude are necessary.

Furthermore, we should not approach this as if it were the top priority of
spiritual life. In the hierarchy of importance nothing can replace the value
of truth in one's own life: that God should be glorified through the
increase of repentance, growth of faith and increasing conformity to Christ
in my life must not be retarded or eclipsed by a misplaced zeal for any
other thing. Jesse's instruction as to how we should value our own soul (Mk
8:35) and Paul's zeal for "this one thing" (Phil 8:13,14) set the standard
here.

Working for the salvation of others is another priority. There is joy in
heaven over one sinner that repents. Paul was willing to become all things
in order to win some. Most notably, our Lord's infinite condescension to
seek and save the lost gives an urgency to the evangelistic task more
compelling than the development of a consistent and systematic approach to
Christian truth.

Not to be minimized in importance, however, is this particular adventure
which is akin to the joy that the Apostle. John expressed in knowing that
his children walked in truth (3 John 3,4). Only rarely does something
compare with the spiritual delight of seeing a friend, fellow Christian, or
fellow minister embrace and enjoy this truth. Though less immediate in its
importance, this task is not disjointed from the others, but supports,
informs, and purifies them. What could be more revolutionary to a person's
sense of worship, gratitude, and adoration of the greatness, kindness, and
worthiness of God than an experiential knowledge of the true dimensions of
the grace of God?


Principles to Encourage Patience


The reality and power of this, however, often dawns slowly and after a night
of tumultuous resistance. The specific truths entailed deal with the most
fundamental issues of the relationship between God and man. What is at
stake, therefore, on the one hand is our thinking about God: His attributes,
decrees and providential interaction with history. On the other hand, they
lay bare before our own eyes our sense of pride, self-sufficiency, fair
play, and independence. Nothing in our society or natures prepares us for
such things as utter dependence, reception of gifts (in this case of
infinite worth) for which we have absolutely no merit, the necessity for
continual acknowledgment of debt, and the admission that one's glory can
consist only in a self-deprecating gratitude (see Phil. 3:1-11 and Gal.
6:1-3,14-15). 

Principle of Growth 

Sometimes resistance to this may come because one is still unregenerate. It
would, however, be both unbiblical and uncharitable to conclude this about
everyone who fails to approve immediately the doctrines of grace (though, to
my mind, they are so clear and so God-glorifying that I am both pained and
baffled when these truths are either ignored or treated with malice). Many
times the absolute dimensions of our depravity, the harmony of justice,
holiness and compassion with the unfettered rights of a sovereign God, and
the purely gratuitous nature of salvation are so overwhelming that, though
experienced immediately in the moment of regeneration and justification,
they can only gradually take shape in our mental apprehension of how God has
acted savingly toward us.

Firmness of teaching coupled with great longsuffering is a necessary
combination in this ministry of doctrinal reformation. Paul recognizes this
precise idea in his correspondence with the Ephesians. After having given a
clear and moving affirmation of the glory of God in His sovereign bestowal
of salvation (1:3-14), he prays that they might know the hope to which God
had called them, the riches of God's inheritance in the saints, and
omnipotent display of effectual power in bringing about their saving belief
(Ephesians 1:17-23). Paul knew they did not grasp all he had told them; but
he told them anyway, prayed for them, and continued with instruction as to
the centrality of these teachings to an understanding of salvation (Eph
2:1-10).

He also recognizes that the Philippians must grow in their grasp of the
completely gratuitous nature of justifying righteousness and the relation of
this to one's energetic efforts toward sanctification. In Phil. 3:15 he
expresses confidence that God will give them advancement in that
understanding; until then they must live in harmony with the truth that they
do understand.

In giving instruction to the Corinthians, Paul indicated that such
foundational teachings as the unity and exclusiveness of the triune God as
creator and sustainer were not fully operative in the actions of some for
whom Christ had died (1 Cor 8:4-7,11). Their lack of grasping this made them
weak and less able to cope with the moral challenges and ambiguities of a
pagan culture. Paul does not call a moratorium on teaching the doctrine of
God and its implications for living in God's world. On the contrary, Paul
uses them evangelistically in Acts 17 and in refutation of heresy in 1
Timothy 4:1-5. He even urges Timothy to point these truths out and in doing
so he will be a good minister of Christ (v.6). Nevertheless, those who were
fully aware of these truths were not to use them as a bludgeon on the weaker
brother. Paul was willing to sacrifice even his apostolic freedoms in order
to treat the Corinthians lovingly while more firmly establishing them in the
truth.

Prayer, patience, and self-sacrifice, therefore, are necessarily fundamental
in discussion of these truths. I have seen people, even in the intensified
study of a seminary atmosphere, endure months and sometimes years of
resistance before grasping with joy the truth that from first to last
"Salvation is of the Lord."

Principle of Common Ground

An important step in maintaining an open relationship in which these
biblical truths can be discussed is to establish common ground. Neither
party of the discussion need have the impression that a conflict is being
waged between two entirely contrary views of Christianity. One should remind
himself as well as his partner in the discussion of the many things on which
there is agreement. The greatness of these should not be underestimated. All
of them are the results of God's revelation of Himself and are distinctive
of evangelical Christianity. Both believe that there is one God; He has
revealed Himself in all of creation and in our conscience but particularly
and most clearly in His Word, the Bible; this God is a Trinitarian being
existing eternally as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. All human beings
children of Adam and Eve; God has a right to judge, His judgment
exhaustively just, and His final judgment establishes eternal abiding places
for all moral creatures; our obligations to Him are commensurate with His
worthiness; all His creatures, whether they have special revelation and
grace or not, continue to be responsible for their worship of this triune
God; our failure to meet those worthy obligations p1aces us in a debt
proportionate to the worthiness of the person to whom we are obliged; in the
fall of Adam and Eve we all fell and constituted as sinful by nature and we
immediately become sin by choice; salvation involves the re-establishing of
a relationship righteousness and holiness before God; our present condition
of condemnation is just and, therefore, God has no other obligation to the
re-establishment of the relationship, then is a matter of me and grace,
completely unmerited on our part and unobligated God's part; the core of
this salvation is the delivering over of the Lord to death in which He
voluntarily suffered the just wrath of the Father for our sin; it is only in
this death that we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins; the work of the
Holy Spirit is necessary to bring us to a saving knowledge of Christ in His
saving work; this saving knowledge of Christ consists of repentance of sin
and faith in Christ; who come to Him in this way will be received and not
turned away; Christ will come again to judge all those living and all those
who h died, will establish the new heaven and new earth and so shall ever be
with the lord continually worshipping the triune God in al His Glory
(Revelation 4:8-11; 5:9-14; 21).

It would be very unlikely for one to have any serious disagreement with an
evangelical friend on the truth of these statements. How much common ground
is shared and what wonderful common affirmations you can make because of the
clarity and beauty and graciousness of God's revelation to us! It would be
good to make mud these in order to see that you are not contradictory in
your thinking about a large number of foundational truths


Principles for Proceeding


A discussion whose goal is reformation, however, cannot indefinitely remain
at the level of the patient tolerance of immaturity the affirmation of
common ground. Progress must be made. I would suggest only a couple of
principles for emphasis in the discussion. 

Principle of Progressive Consistency

One, foundational truths always have other truths that are built on them and
are consistent with them. The nature of this consistency sometimes surprises
us. Habakkuk 1:12-2:1 pictures a prophet startled and bewildered over what
he felt was contradiction to his understanding of God. Habakkuk knew quite
well God's attributes of immutable holiness and justice. In fact, his
perception of those at-tributes cause him great problems with what he
observed in the history of God's people and what God revealed about His
purposes. Can God use treacherous people and cruel events in His purposes
and not be the author of sin and evil (v.13)? This apparently arbitrary
sovereignty did not fit the inferences Habakkuk drew from the attributes.
The attributes were true, however; and, though complex, God's active
providence was not inconsistent with them. Habakkuk learned this, trembled
at the power, wisdom, and justice of God, and received a deeper and more
steadfast faith (3:16-19).

According to 1 John 2:20-28, every person born of the Spirit of God is very
protective of the truth he knows about God. If something appears to him to
be a lie, he will not accept it because he "knows the truth" and no lie
comes from the truth. Such was the reason for Habakkuk's incredulousness.
When the doctrines of grace are dismembered from the larger body of
Christian truth and made to appear as Frankensteinian monstrosities, it
should not surprise us that they are rejected. They appear to be lies and at
odds with indisputable Christian faith. Showing the integral relationship
these members have to some of the more prominent parts of the body is the
task of the "Reformationist." Those slow to hear may be as surprised as
Habakkuk, but hopefully they will also be just as strengthened in faith.

In the final analysis all revelation is preparation for further revelation
and consistent with previous revelation. The Bible is filled with this
progressive revelation of truth on truth. All of us must realize, however,
that the process of revealing truth on truth in an ever more beautiful, if
complex, unified body ends a good bit short of exhausting all the knowledge
of God (Ephesians 3:8, 19). Finally, we must be con-tent that some truths
that are revealed have implications that are yet mysterious and must remain
so because God has not counted it wise to let us know.

Nevertheless, many things are cleared up for us by God's gracious
revelation. The prophets gave revelation about the things of Christ that
they did not quite understand (suffering and glory), but the full filling of
the gospel in the incarnation and salvific work of Christ made them clear (1
Peter 1:10-12). The Jews believed the Old Testament and taught it truly, but
many were unable to make the advance into seeing Christ as the fulfillment
of all previous revelation. They took away the key to knowledge by refusing
to advance in their understanding (Luke 11:52). Jesus said that a Scribe of
the kingdom can receive the new revelation as giving the old its proper
meaning (Matthew 13:52). Examples of the fulfillment of previous revelation
by new, and explanation of old by new would be endless. Jesus does it with
the new birth in John 3 (He indicates that Nicodemus as a teacher of the Law
should have understood these things); Paul knew that that was his specific
calling as he tells the Ephesians, "In reading this, then, you will be able
to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made
known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit
to God's holy apostles and prophets" (Ephesians 3:4, 5). He fulfills his
apostolic calling in describing the relationships between faith, works, law
and righteousness in Romans and Galatians and God's calling of the Gentiles
by grace in Ephesians and other places and in giving a host of other truths.
Their explanations point out what was implied in the old all the time but
only made clear and specific in the person and work of Christ. This is
Peter's point in 2 Peter 1:19 when h. says1 "And we have the word of the
prophets made more certain and you will do well to pay attention to it as a
light shining in a dark place".

This principle is true in the doctrines of grace. They do not contradict the
truths I mentioned above, but give to them their purest and most consistent
expression. What could be more consistent with salvation by pure unmerited
favor than unconditional election? That means His choosing of us is not
premised upon anything meritorious in us. What could be more consistent with
the reality of human depravity than the doctrine of effectual calling?
Surely if we are dead in trespasses and sins and not seeking God, then He
must raise us from death to life before we will hate, and thus repent of,
our sin and be-fore we will love, and thus place faith in, Christ. What
could be more consistent with the love of God for His Son and the impeccable
justice of God than the doctrine of definite atonement? If Christ's death
involved a true suffering of the just wrath of God for sins, will any
portion of his suffering for sinners go unrewarded or unsatisfied (cf.
Isaiah 53:4-6, 10-12; and Romans 8:31-39)? We could go on, but the point is
easily established. While we speak this way, however, we are aware that
these doctrines are not simply logical inferences drawn from prior truths
(though they certainly are consistent with them as mentioned above) but are
themselves the result of biblical exegesis and involve receiving the full
revelation of God in Scripture.

Principle of Grace

A second principle is this: no element of the Doctrines of Grace is a
hindrance to the salvation of any individual. Grace makes the way; it does
not block the way. Would grace be more gracious if it stopped short of the
actual bestowal of infinite blessings: All of us are in a hopeless condition
(Titus 3:3) and under condemnation (John 3:18-21). Neither grace nor any
particular element of its manifestation is in any sense the ground of any
person's condemnation (John 3:16, 17). Unconditional election, effectual
calling, definite (or if someone prefers, limited) atonement, and preserving
grace are all gracious, purely unmerited, and explanatory of how God does
finally save undeserving, resistant, justly condemned sinners. Christ's
atonement will not hinder or place a barrier in the way of anyone who comes
to Him: 'He that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out." God's calling of
all sinners to repentance is not insincere but in dead earnest; His
requirement of repentance and right to command it does not diminish one whit
simply because we are so hardened that only omnipotent power will turn us
(Eph. 1:19, 20). To complain about this is to turn God's grace into a debt
He owes us. Because of this, no one can suppose that the Doctrines of Grace
prohibit him from coming to Christ if he desires to do so or excuse him from
seeking to know God through the person and work of the lord Jesus Christ.

The manner of the operations of grace is revealed in order that we might
know to whom we are to be grateful for salvation and that we might learn to
lament ever more deeply such sinfulness that would still condemn us were it
not for grace. The objects of the operations of grace remain hidden, except
evidentially from genuine demonstrations of repentance, faith, and
perseverance so that all may realize that Christ's urging to "strive to
enter in at the strait gate" applies equally to all (Luke 13:22-24).


Conclusion


The one who would teach for reformation must be patient, loving, and gentle.
He must not only be mentally apt but also spiritually prepared in his heart
both for the kinds of objections that come and the length of the journey. In
addition to avoiding a compromise of the truth, he must work at holding it
in the beauty of holiness. Also, he should continually relate distinguishing
grace to the large foundation of evangelical agreement. Give no reason for
any to doubt that you only want to honor the lord Jesus in His matchless and
gracious condescension for sinners.



 

 

Thanks.

 

For the King's honor,

 

Charis,

 

Mike Abendroth

 

 <http://www.bbcchurch.org> www.bbcchurch.org

 

Ephesians 3:21 auvtw/| h` do,xa evn th/| evkklhsi,a| 

 

2 Tim 1:2b  "Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our
Lord."

 

"Faith is not our physician; it only brings us to the Physician ... Faith is
not our saviour. It was not faith that was born at Bethlehem and died on
Golgotha for us. It was not faith that loved us, and gave itself for us;
that bore our sins in its own body on the tree; that died and rose again for
our sins.  It is a sin-bearer that we need, and our faith cannot be a
sin-bearer. Faith can expiate no guilt; can accomplish no propitiation; can
pay no penalty; can wash away no stain; can provide no righteousness. It
brings us to the cross, . but in itself it has no merit and no virtue.
Faith is not Christ, nor the cross of Christ. Faith is not the blood, nor
the sacrifice; . Our faith does not divide the work of salvation between
itself and the cross. It is the acknowledgment that the cross alone saves,
and that it saves alone. Faith adds nothing to the cross, nor to its healing
virtue. It owns the fulness, and sufficiency, and suitableness of the work
done there, and bids the toiling spirit cease from its labours and enter
into rest. Faith does not come to Calvary to do anything. It comes to see
the glorious spectacle of all things done, and to accept this completion
without a misgiving as to its efficacy. It listens to the "It is finished!"
of the Sin-bearer, and says, "Amen."   

NOT FAITH, BUT CHRIST 

by Horatius Bonar 
(1808-1889) 

 

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