Me, A Calvinist?

I was taught clearly from my years at Dallas Theological Seminary the extreme importance of studying the Bible word by word. I believe that all scripture – every word, every line, every paragraph – is inspired by God and profitable for truth, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness in order that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17).  I believe that every word – every noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, preposition and clause – is placed in the Bible exactly as the Holy Spirit designed it to be. There are no wasted words, and the words are to be taken in their proper context. This belief has been used by God to launch me into a lifetime of studying and teaching God’s word literally and word-by-word, line-by-line, paragraph-by-paragraph, and book-by-book.

It wasn’t long before I began to navigate through some minefields of truth that both puzzled me and challenged me.  I remember the first time I worked through the book of Romans.  Romans 8 began to plunge me into another world. The Holy Spirit opened to me small glimpses of an incredibly awesome eternal God who had a predetermined plan for this universe and for me.  I remember the excitement that filled me when I sensed in awe just how very small I am in comparison.

Then I ran into Romans 8:28-30 and Romans 9-11. As I weaved my way through this text, I began to ask myself why these words did not really mean what they appeared to be saying. I remember going back to the text time and time again to ponder its meaning and to find a way to escape the incredible truths that they were opening to my small mind. The truth that God had chosen to set His love upon me before time began. The truth that I had always been in His mind and in His plan.  He knew me long before I stood by the old fishpond at Boca Raton, Florida, and trusted Jesus Christ as my Savior. He knew me when he shaped me in my mother’s womb. I wept!  My continued study has led me to the fact that God’s divine election is indeed a part of His plan.

I had never read a book by any of the reformers in Europe. I had learned bits and pieces about these great men from Dr. John Hannah at DTS.  As a part of his required reading, I read books on the history of the Reformation.  I developed a deep sense of gratitude for the work of men like Luther, Calvin, Wycliffe, and Latimer.  They are a part of my spiritual heritage, and I’m proud of that. Their personal sacrifice retrieved and clarified the gospel message that had been confused for years by a web of religion. Every believer on the planet should feel a deep indebtedness to these men. But that had no bearing on what I began to see in the word of God concerning God’s elective purposes. Said simply, I had little knowledge of John Calvin and the system called today, “Calvinism.”

As I began to teach passages from Romans and Ephesians and John in their proper context using their plain common sense meaning, I noticed that people – even some of my friends – began to refer to me as a “Calvinist.”  A Calvinist?  I remember the first time this happened. A friend said to me, “Oh you’re just like Wayne Neal; you’re a Calvinist!” That line was used by God to launch me into a serious study of the issues. It seems that today I have to place myself in one of two camps, Armenian or Calvinist – although I do not totally agree with either group.  If I am going to teach the Bible’s view of election the way I understand it, then I am going to be branded a “Calvinist.” This is the case even though I have never considered myself as such at all. 

I have discovered something else through this process. The Bible’s teaching of election has never been popular. In fact, it was this very teaching that led ultimately to the cross of Calvary.  In Luke 4 Jesus had begun His ministry and, as was His custom, He went to the synagogue in Nazareth to teach.  He read and explained a section of the prophet Isaiah and applied it to Himself.  The text implies that at first His teaching was well received by everyone. In fact, the people marveled at the gracious words that proceeded out of His mouth (Luke 4:22). 

Our Lord knew that the people expected Him to perform miracles there in His hometown, but Jesus said that no prophet has honor in his own country. Then He said something amazing. He said that there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, but God sent him to only one, the widow of Zarephath (Luke 4:26). He also said that there were many lepers in Israel at the time of Elisha the prophet, but God cleansed only one, Naaman the Syrian. This is simply divine election!   But note the result. “So all those in the Synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, and rose up and threw Him out of the city and led Him to the edge of a hill planning to throw Him off of it, but He slipped away” (Luke 4:28-30). This wrath against the teaching of Jesus Christ led men eventually to crucify Him. If you ask me things haven’t changed a whole lot.

What a Trip

Dick Hill and Chuck Colson

My wife and I recently attended the Southern Baptist Convention in Louisville, Kentucky. Taking the long way, we went through the Atlanta area to visit some old friends. Someone once said that one old friend is worth ten new ones. There is a lot of truth in that. We stopped for an overnight stay with Buzz and Kathy Nofal. When one walks in their house they are immediately mindful that grace resides there. This couple is richly gifted by God with maximum hospitality. And since one of my spiritual gifts is “receiving hospitality” it is always a perfect match .  What a great visit.

Next it was Athens or bust and a meeting with Melanie Garland and her children, James, and Victoria (precious children) at the Golden Dragon Chinese resturant.  Geoffrey and Melanie (Geoff could not be there) and family are an important part of our forever family.  

Then it was off to Comer, Georgia and a short pop in visit with a fellow preacher of the gospel, Lynn Kellum. Lynn is a fulltime witness for Jesus Christ and he runs a hardware store in Comer to help pay the bills. We always enjoy getting caught up on his church activity and his family. Great visit!

Our 4-Runner (Linda’s chariot) then pulled into driveway of some of our most cherished friends, the Walker clan, Steve, Donna, Luke, and Joseph. We always recieve VIP treatment while we are there. An overnight stay and a great breakfact at the Craker Barrell and we were off through the North Georgia mountains headed to Louisville. Beautiful! 

The Convention far exceeded our expectations. We sensed a stirring from God to return Southern Baptist to the spiritual mandate of the Great Commission. One major motion that was passed brought us renewed hope of streamlining the convention beauracracy in order to get more mission funds to the missionaries that are ready and waiting to go into all the world with the gospel.  We also were introduced to a new ministry from Lifeway, Crossbooks. Crossbooks is a print on demand ministry that may be used of God for my future writing.

We never fail to be amazed at God’s sovereignty. On the way to the convention we received a surprising phone call from a close friend, Doc Parrish. Doc had been on our mind and in our prayer for some time and gave us the news that he was going to be at the convention. What a great meeting. We also met Jim Sheffield from Florida Bible College. They were there on behalf of Global Focus mission organization. And then God provided another surprises! Mel Carbonell, a lifelong friend in the Lord was there also. We spent some quality time with all of them. We also always look forward to seeing Doc Quick from Mississippi College. He has been a constant encourager for Linda and I through many years. We always enjoy running into old friends like Walter Price, the Satterfields, Dr. David Ball from Batesville, Bobby Wagner from Kosciusko, Dennis Salley, Park Neff, the list could go on and on.

On the way home we stopped in for a visit with some more cherished friends, Dave and Nomi Shipley. Dave and I were in the “Spokesmen,” a singing group from Florida Bible College years ago. It had been a very long time since we had seen each other and many words flooded the air as we got caught up. Dave is a gifted musician (and a pretty good cook) and Linda and I were impressed with gentle Nomi.

After a brief stop over at the Ponderosa, (my pet name for my inlaws home) just in time to put up some 400 ears of corn we drove to Charleston, Mississippi, were reunited with some friends from my B.C. days.  Jess Dickinson and I were in a rock and roll band together in college.  Jess and his lovely wife Janet were the entertainment for a church dedication ceremony.  Janet has a beautiful voice and Jess’s talent on the hammered dulcimer is beyond outstanding.  Jess was instrumental in my coming to know the Lord. Mack and Elaine Venable are also treasured friends from Charleston and we thorougly enjoyed our evening with these precious friends.

Mentioning books, here are some I have read recently; ”The King James Only Controversy,” by James White, “The Disappearance of God” by Al Mohler and ”The Faith,” by Charles Colson.  More about these books in future blogs. Linda and I hope that you are having a fruitful summer.

By Grace Alone,

Dick

The Original Sinner

One of the delightful things about a blog is that one can wonder and speculate without penalty. I want to take a momentary plunge of profound proportions. I want to take a stab at identifying the original sinner and the original sin. 

When I was younger, I worked hard at never sweating the details. My view was, just give me the big picture. The older I have become and the amazing truths that I have seen in the Bible have turned me into somewhat of a detailed person. I never cease to ask questions! One of the most probing questions that I have asked is where did sin originate? I can see the results of it everywhere, but where did it originate? You might be thinking, well it was ole Adam and his wife. No, I mean before them. Sin “entered the world” through Adam, but it did not originate with him (Romans 5:12).

God does not tell us everything that we would like to know about this subject, but we can put some small insights together and come up with some intriguing thoughts.  The first time we run into the devil in the Bible is in Genesis 3:1.

 

“Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, ‘Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?”

 

God had given Adam and Eve the command to freely eat of every tree in the Garden. There was only one tree that was off limits, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The verse quoted above seems to come out of nowhere. There is no explanation of who this serpent is or where he came from. We are just told that a snake slithered into paradise and ruined Adam and Eve’s day.  The serpent (Hebrew: natash), bright one, shinning one, was extremely beautiful. This was obviously not an ordinary snake. Strangely enough we are given a small insight into his identity in the book of the Revelation. 

 

“So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” (Revelation 12:9)

 

“He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.” (Revelation 20:2)

 

So there was much more to that reptile in the garden than at first met the woman’s eye.  In order to unmask the real snake behind this snake, we must take a short peep into the realm of angels.

The Old Testament word for angel is “malach,” which means messenger.  The New Testament word is “angelos,” messenger.  Names have meaning, so God created angels to be His messengers. Angels were characterized by wisdom (2 Sam. 14:20) and by strength (Psalm 103:20).  Angels were also created to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation (Hebrews 1:14). One of the most amazing truths in the Bible is this strange angelic conflict that is evidently going on all around us.  Evil angels are somehow being used upon the earth to orchestrate rebellion against God’s kingdom.

Daniel was in captivity in Babylon. He asked God for information concerning Israel’s future. And angel came to give Daniel the answer to his prayer. Though no name is given to this angel we assume it was Gabriel since he had already been sent to Daniel twice. 

 

“Then behold, a hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. He said to me, ‘O Daniel, man of high esteem, understand the words that I am about to tell you and stand upright, for I have now been sent to you.’  And when he had spoken this word to me, I stood up trembling. Then he said to me, ‘Do not be afraid, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart on understanding this and on humbling yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to your words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia was withstanding me for twenty-one days; then behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left there with the kings of Persia.’” (Daniel 10:10-13)

 

It is evident that the prince of the kingdom of Persia was not a human being!  This prince was an angel. This angel had prevented Gabriel from coming to Daniel for 21 days. Michael, the archangel came to Gabriel’s rescue freeing him so that he could get to Daniel.  Such angelic activity is continuing today.

 

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:12)

 

Gabriel continued to speak to Daniel.

 

“Then he said, ‘Do you understand why I came to you? But I shall now return to fight against the prince of Persia; so I am going forth, and behold, the prince of Greece is about to come’” (Daniel 10:20)

 

Notice again the prince behind the king of Persia and the mention of the prince of Greece. Evidently these demonic spirits are in Satanic control of many of the kings of the earth. They continuously attack the kingdom of God and appear to be working to establish the false kingdom of the antichrist. 

With this truth now in our minds, let’s plug into a seemingly strange request by God to His prophet, Ezekiel. God instructed Ezekiel to give a message to someone he referred to as the “prince of Tyre.”

 

“The word of the Lord came to me again, saying, “Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD. ”  (Ezekiel 28:1-2a).

 

This king was consumed with pride. He was in control of much of the sea trade of the ancient world and was very wealthy. In fact, he was so arrogant that he considered himself to be a god (Ezekiel 28:2). Again, Ezekiel did not refer to him as “king” but he called him a “prince.”

In the course of the conversation Ezekiel’s words take a strange twist. Notice carefully this next passage. 

 

 “Again the word of the LORD came to me saying, ‘Son of man, take up a lamentation over the king of Tyre and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, You had the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.” (Ezekiel 28:11)

 

Ezekiel is no longer calling him a prince but now calls him “a king.” Seal is a word that indicates that this “king” filled out the pattern of perfection! He was the most perfect being that God created. Full of wisdom means he filled up the pattern for wisdom, he was the wisest being that God created.  And perfect in beauty means that he was the most beautiful being that God created.  Note carefully where this being had once been. 

 

“You were in Eden, the garden of God; Every precious stone was your covering: The ruby, the topaz and the diamond; The beryl, the onyx and the jasper; The lapis lazuli, the turquoise and the emerald; And the gold, the workmanship of your settings and sockets, was in you. On the day that you were created they were prepared.  You were the anointed cherub who covers, and I placed you there. You were on the holy mountain of God”

 

It is obvious that we have left the surly bonds of earth and launched into a heavenly realm. We are obviously introduced to the angelic being behind the human king of Tyre.  Ezekiel referred to this being as “the anointed cherub who covers.”   There were three separate ranks of beings in the angelic realm.

The lowest rank was the angels under the command of Michael the archangel. Next were the seraphim. The Hebrew word “seraphim” means “burning ones.” Fire in the Bible implies judgment. Evidently these angels were to carry out judgment for God (Isa. 6:1-3).

  The highest order of angels was the cherubim. The name “cherubim” means “to cover.” The cherubim were anointed to protect God’s throne in order to preserve His holiness.  Satan may have once been one of these anointed angels.  The garden of God was not located in the Eden that we know about.  That garden, as we shall see, was a garden of trees and plants. The garden described here was a mineral garden. It evidently served as this angel’s original dwelling place. The original sinner was the most perfect, wise, and beautiful creature that God that God created.

 

“You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created until unrighteousness was found in you.” (Ezekiel 28:15)

 

This creature was blameless “until.” “Until” is a time word.  He had been blameless until the moment in time when unrighteousness was found in him. The details of this moment of unrighteousness are found in Isaiah 14:12-14.

Like Ezekiel, Isaiah was at first speaking with the human king of Babylon. But all of a sudden it becomes obvious that he was speaking to someone behind this human king.

 

“How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the earth, You who have weakened the nations! But you said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, And I will sit on the mount of assembly In the recesses of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High’” (Isaiah 14:10-14)

 

It is obvious that the king of Babylon had not been in heaven and then been cut down to earth. Isaiah refers to him as “Lucifer,” translated glistening one or shining one.  This may be a description of the original original sin. 

 

·       I will ascend to heaven.

I will start my climb to the lofty position of God Himself.

·       I will raise my throne above the stars of God.

I will take over as commander and chief of the angelic realm.

·       I will sit on the mount of the assembly in the recesses of the north.

I will rule over Israel which is a position reserved for the Messiah.

·       I will ascend above the heights of the clouds.

I will take upon myself glory that is reserved for God alone.

·       I will make myself like the Most High.

 

Now we know who the original sinner is, and we also know what the original, original sin was. Lucifer’s ultimate goal is to take for himself the position of God. God judged Lucifer because of his pride, and he became Satan, the adversary of God. God cast him out of heaven and reserved for him judgment (Matt. 25:41). Satan is brilliant, but God is the ultimate genius. Satan has a plan, but God has the master plan. “God will do according to His will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth,” records the prophecy of Daniel (Daniel 4:35).

Satan is a perfect, wise, and beautiful creature, but he is just a creature and as such, he is limited. He is not omniscient, omnipotent, nor omnipresent.

Pride has now become public enemy number one to God and the mainspring behind all sin!

 

 

Conversion

 

 

There is a word that is not used much today in local churches. It is the word “conversion.” I do not understand why this is the case.  Jesus Christ used it with His disciples.  Christ’s disciples were having a discussion among them as to which of them would be greatest in the kingdom (Luke 9:46).  Our Lord’s answer is found in Matthew 18 and involved an illustration and an important truth. Jesus called a little child to Him and set the child before the disciples and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven’” (Matthew 18:3).  One who enters the kingdom is one who has been converted. 

 

To be converted means “to be changed.” It implies changing from one life into another.  David wrote, “Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners shall be converted to You” (Psalm 51:13). Peter used a similar word in the book of Acts when he extended this invitation to the Jews, “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord” (Acts 3:19).

 

Christians are sinners who have been changed. This change has everything to do with being baptized into Jesus Christ. Paul wrote, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). In Christ we instantly change from being part of an old creation to becoming part of a new creation. We are converted from sinners to saints. Just as the color of cloth is changed when it is submerged into dye, those who are submerged into Christ are changed forever.  New things come and old things go!

 

“Old things” does not refer to the old sins that plagued us in the past. As long as we remain in this body of flesh, we will possess both the temptation and the capacity to sin. The sin nature resides in our physical bodies. Paul wrote, “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find.” (Romans 7:18; see also James 1:13-15, James 4:1-2).  John wrote:  “If we say that we have no sin, we make God a liar and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8).

 

The “old things” refers to the characteristics that linked us with the old Adam. We are all born connected to him (1 Corinthians 15:22; Romans 5:12). When we receive Christ, the Holy Spirit places us into the last Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ who breathed into us the breath of life (1 Corinthians 15:45).  When we are joined to this Adam, His characteristics become ours.

 

• In the first Adam we had an old human nature connected to our physical birth.  In the last Adam we receive His nature from a new birth. 
• In the first Adam we had an old righteousness that is condemned by God’s law. In the last Adam we receive His righteousness written in on our account that meets the demands of the law.
• In the first Adam we had an old relationship connected to the realm of Satan as children of darkness.  In the last Adam we received His relationship to the Father. He is the Son of God, therefore we become children of God.
• In the first Adam we had human distinctions that separated us from one another.  In the last Adam those barriers are broken down.
• In the first Adam we were citizens of old planet earth. In the last Adam we are citizens of heaven.
• In the first Adam we were imprisoned in an old physical body that is ordained to die and to perish.  In the last Adam are destined to receive a new body just like the body that Christ has, designed by God to live forever.
• In the first Adam we were slaves to sin and fated to spend forever in a place called hell. In the last Adam we become servant kings destined to reign with Christ in His heavenly kingdom.

 

God’s Word Will Produce

  

I remember walking through fields of seeding dandelions when I was a small boy. I would pull the plant and blow the tiny fluffy parachute like seeds into the air and watch them float away. I discovered later that some could travel several miles away from the parent plant before finding enough soil to germinate, producing more dandelions.

 

This is small in comparison to what happens on the eighth day after the first full moon in August each year. Every coral reef in the entire Gulf of Mexico explodes at precisely the same moment shooting millions of eggs into the deep looking for the necessary ingredient to bring life.

 

Throughout the generations of human history, the Lord Jesus Christ has unleashed the seeds of His word into the world. God’s Holy Spirit has guided these seeds, depositing them into the soil of human minds all over the earth. These tiny seeds may be read directly from the Bible, preached from a podium, read from a printed page, or even sung. 

Sometimes the seeds lie dormant for many years, maybe wrapped in an old dust-laden Bible tucked away on some bookshelf or in a small crevice in a grass house hidden in a remote jungle of the world. Or they may be lodged in the memory bank of someone’s mind for years. God moves heaven and earth to get the seeds precisely where He wants them to be. When He is ready, the Holy Spirit germinates those seeds and a brand new life occurs.

 

Several years ago I had the opportunity to go to Vijayawada, India, to teach the Bible to Indian pastors. Hundreds of pastors attended our Bible sessions. I was surprised to learn that missionaries were not allowed into the country. So where did all the churches come from, represented by these pastors?  I was told that Bibles written in the language of the people had been smuggled into India and distributed throughout the land.  Those who had come to faith in Jesus Christ did so through reading and listening to the word of God. Churches sprang up and grew based solely on the ministry of God’s living seed. What an amazing glimpse!

 

One of the recipients of God’s word was considered to be the most dangerous man in all of India. His gang attacked, plundered, and terrified many of the villages of a certain area. He was wanted, dead or alive. While ransacking through a room in one of the houses in a village, he found a small black book. At first he started to throw it away, but he noticed that the pages were very thin, just the right thickness to roll his cigarettes.

Each evening after a meal, Ramad would relax with a smoke. He would take out a page in the little book, fold it, and roll it around his tobacco. One evening while rolling up the paper he noticed that the writing was in his own language. So each evening he would read the words on the page before he rolled it to smoke. The small black book was the Bible.  One evening he knelt down and trusted Jesus Christ as his Savior. Ramad had been born again from the living seed of the word of God. Ramad then gave himself up to the authorities. They quickly tried him and sent him to prison. The prison became his personal mission field. The Holy Spirit had moved the amazing seed of the living word of God into that prison through this bandit turned prisoner of Christ.

 

God’s spiritual seed will always accomplish its divine purpose. Speaking through the prophet Isaiah around 700 B.C., God said, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9)

 

God’s thoughts tower high above the thoughts of this fallen civilization. He does not think like us for one very simple reason: God is not like us! To our human way of thinking, strength is strength, weakness is weakness, intelligence is intelligence and foolishness is foolishness.  But in God’s mind, the strongest things are the weakest, and some of the seemingly weakest things are the strongest, and some of the wisest things are the most foolish. God delights in turning human wisdom inside out and upside down.  The world promotes great wealth, superior intelligence, extreme popularity, and high position. These are things that God places on the bottom. God continues, “For as the rain comes down and the snow from heaven, and do not return there but water the earth and make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater; (Isaiah 55:10) 

 

God sends the rain and snow down to the earth and then He returns it to the sky as vapor.  But it does not return until it accomplishes its purpose. It causes the earth to bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater. The water always accomplishes that which God has ordained. God then says, “So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:11).

 

God’s word comes down from Him – generation after generation – and it does not return to Him without accomplishing its appointed task. God does not arbitrarily cast His seed into the winds, allowing it to fall where it will. Nor does He hope that someone by chance will respond to it. The Holy Spirit directs the spiritual seed to minds from every nation, kindred, and language group. Generation after generation, God determines both the path and the performance of His spiritual seed.  If the gospel is faithfully preached for years and only a few trust in Jesus Christ as Savior during that time, then that is God’s design. God’s word will never return to Him without completing its heavenly mission. Jesus said, “He who is of God hears God’s words” (John 8:47). Christians become Christians because we are born by means of the word of God. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Born to Reign

It is God’s design that men have dominion over the earth. God gave Adam and Eve this command. This dominion obviously has not happened with this fallen civilization. Adam’s fallen seed is in the process of producing a civilization of “after his kind.” It is a civilization of sinful people that are locked in time and space – and like grass – they are all destined to die and perish. And the human glory – all that sheds light upon them: human pride, human wisdom, human beauty, human talent, human wealth, human achievements – is temporary and its fame is fleeting.  It appears briefly like a vapor and it is quickly gone (James 4:14).  

 

Jesus Christ as the last Adam is using the spiritual incorruptible seed of the word of God to generate a heavenly people after His kind destined to live forever. John explains,  “He [Jesus Christ] came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:11-13).  “Who were born” is taken from the original word meaning, “to beget.”  Children of God are born from the source of God.  Christians are those who are born into God’s forever family. 

 

We are to have bodies like Jesus Christ’s glorious resurrection body. Paul says that our “citizenship is in heaven from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself” (Philippians 3:20-21).  Paul describes these new bodies as bodies that please God, bodies with a new kind of flesh, bodies with a glory all their own, and they will be powerful spiritual bodies that will not perish (1 Corinthians 15: 38-43).

 

Paul mentions two Adams and the civilizations that they produce reflect the nature of each of them.  He said, “It is written that the first man Adam became a living being” (1 Corinthians 15:45). This is a reference to Genesis 2:7.  “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” Adam sinned and died spiritually. He became the father of a fallen race. “The last Adam became a life-giving spirit” (1 Corinthians 15:45).  The last Adam is speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is breathing the gospel into the minds of many giving them, not physical life, but spiritual life. Paul says that the spiritual is not first but the physical (is first). But afterward comes the spiritual (1 Corinthians 15:46).

 

Paul then makes his contrast of the two Adam’s clear. He says that the first was a man of the earth made of dust. The second man is the Lord from heaven, the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:47).  He then makes this contrast! As was the man of dust so are those who are made of dust. And as is the heavenly Man, so are those who are heavenly. Paul’s conclusion is this. “As we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man.” (1 Corinthians 15:48- 49)  Jesus said it like this, that which is born of flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit” (John 3:7).

 

Jesus Christ alluded to this very thing when He spoke these words to His disciples. So Jesus said to them, “Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Matthew 19:27).

 

Jesus is speaking of the new birth of the earth under His sovereign dominion at the time of His second coming (Revelation 19:16; Daniel 7:27).  It will be cause the world to be “reborn” which is a global parallel to the individual rebirth of Christians. 

 

The Power that Brings Life

It frustrates me to no end to observe those who claim to be evangelical preachers trying to “make ministry happen.” Many do so by using marketing techniques. They seem to think that if they can use the right methods – making unbelievers feel comfortable with “church,” using the right music that appeals to them or short pithy sound bite sermons mixed with as much humor as possible so as not to offend, they can gain bigger crowds. Many preachers stay away from teaching the Bible word-by-word and verse-by-verse because this takes far too much time in preparation, and it is boring and confusing for most everyone. 

 

The absolute truth is this: The gospel, when guided by the Holy Spirit, is the only power on earth capable of infusing spiritual life into the spiritually dead.  This is why Paul was “not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for (he realized that) it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.” (Romans 1:16, comments mine)  If one does not hear this good news and believe it, then there is absolutely no chance that the Spirit of God will make the new birth happen, no chance. If one does not preach this good news, there is absolutely no chance that the Spirit of God will make the new birth happen, no chance. This is God’s method of making Christians Christians.

 

It was in Bible College that I first began to witness the power of the gospel.  The entire sophomore class went on a witnessing trip to the beach. The point of the exercise was to give the gospel to as many people as would take the time to listen to us. I was teamed with a small girl named Nelda Salee.  She walked up to a stately looking tanned fellow and began to share the gospel with him. He allowed her to get through the facts that the Christ died for sin and that He had been raised again. He even allowed her to ask him if he would believe in Christ.

 

That was when things became a little tense. He finally responded with a barrage of intellectual sounding words denying everything she had said. He began to scientifically attack the credibility of the identity of Christ and His resurrection. Her response was classic. She said, “I don’t know about all that, but I do know that if you will believe in Christ you will have eternal life.” He came back once again with another barrage of attacks, attempting to discredit her. Her response once again was, “I don’t know about all that, but I do know that if you will trust Jesus Christ to save you, He will.” This went back and forth for some time. I remember feeling the urge to jump into the conversation, but God held me back.

 

I watched in amazement something that I will never forgot. This man grew quiet and stopped his verbal attack on Nelda. He calmed down and then right there on the sand he gently fell to his knees and acknowledged that he wanted to accept Jesus Christ as his Savior. Why? The powerful seed of the gospel is the power that the Holy Spirit uses to bring about the new birth. The power of God is in the message not in the messenger. The gospel is God’s supernatural seed that the Holy Spirit plants into the soil of the mind and when the Spirit germinates it, it results in faith in Christ and new life. It has the power to break down every barrier, every objection, every human argument, and all human rationalization.  The simplicity of the gospel insults both human intelligence and human pride. No amount of education, or success, or wealth, can give us a spiritual birth. Only the gospel can make it happen.

 

This message is not contained in the Muslim Koran, the Hindu Veda, the writings of Buddha, the book of Mormon, or any other so called “holy book.” The Bible alone contains God’s divine seed that the Holy Spirit uses to conceive spiritual life in those who hear and believe.

 

 

The Birds, Bees, Flowers, and Trees

 

I have always been fascinated with the strange conversation that Jesus Christ had with a religious Pharisee named Nicodemus.  Jesus told him that unless he was born again he would never see the kingdom of God (John 3:3).  Born again?  I ask why must we be born again? This makes perfect sense if we realize that we all died spiritually in Adam.  This death alienates us from God. If we are to be restored to a right relationship with God we must compensate for our spiritual death by receiving a spiritual birth.

 

How does this happen? We do not have to be Bible scholars to figure it out. All we have to know is a little something about the birds and the bees and the flowers and the trees, and we’re there.  The science of biological reproduction is a God ordained fact of life. Following His initial creative act, God ordered that all living organisms reproduce themselves by biological regeneration. In the beginning God established this unchanging blueprint. God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth’; and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good” (Genesis 1:11-12) 

 

God created plants to grow and produce seed and that seed is used to regenerate other plants.  He created trees that produce fruit and then seed and the seed again regenerates the tree. God’s reproductive cycle has held its pattern since the dawn of creation.  The seeds always produce fruit after their kind.  James said that the fig tree does not produce olives nor does the grapevine produce figs (James 3:12). God established His same biological pattern for all living creatures. 

 

God created human beings and placed them upon the earth. Like the plants and the animals, God told Adam and Eve to be fruitful and to multiply and fill the earth and have dominion over it (Genesis 1:28).  Before they could begin this dominion, Adam and Eve sinned and died. After the fall they began to obey God and reproduce and fill the earth but something was very wrong. Their children began to die. Death passed on all men. Death is the indicator that man’s seed had become corrupt. When Adam sinned God caused the entire biological world to crash with him (Romans 8:20-21). All physical seed has become stained with death. 

 

God is the great genius! He allowed two kinds of seed to slip past the corruption of the fall. The living seed of the woman that produced the living Word, the Lord Jesus Christ (Genesis 3:15) and the living seed of the word of God found in the Bible (Hebrews 4:12)!  Catch this glimpse! This is the very reason that God gave us His written word. God’s word is the spiritual seed that the Holy Spirit is using to regenerate a new people, a heavenly people, called Christians.  The apostle Peter teaches this very truth when he says, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever, because ”All flesh is as grass, And all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls away, But the word of the Lord endures forever. Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you” (1 Peter 1:23-25).

 

The words “born again,” actually mean, born from above. This new birth is a heavenly birth. Peter is careful to make the contrast.  It is not corruptible seed that produces this birth but incorruptible seed. Corruptible seed has been tarnished by the fall. Incorruptible seed escaped the fall.  Corruptible seed produces life that is destined to die – after its kind.  The imperishable seed of the word of God germinates life that lasts forever – after its kind.  Is that not an amazing thought?

 

Peter uses a quote from Isaiah to prove his point. All members of the human race are like grass. “And all the glory of man is like the flowers of the grass. The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of God endures forever” (Isaiah 40:6-8). Here the negative effects of the fall are made crystal clear. Adam the first produces lives that are like the grass and the flowers that they produce. As the grass dries up and the flowers fade so human beings wither and the glory that is attached to us is soon past. Human life and human glory is temporary.  Neither will last.  James says, “life is like a vapor that appears for a little while and then it is gone” (James 4:14). In contrast the word of God endures forever. The life that this miraculous seed regenerates will never die.  Jesus said, “Heaven and earth shall pass away but my word shall never pass away” (Matthew 24:35).

 

Peter continues, “Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you.” Peter calls the portion of the word that brings eternal life, the gospel.  It is not just the individual words of the Bible that bring life to us. It is the truth of the identity, the death, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ presented from the Bible that the Spirit uses to produce life.  The Holy Spirit guides this truth into the dead mind and there He germinates the seed and spiritual life is conceived. God, what an amazing genius you are! What a glimpse of your grace!

 

James agrees with Peter. Speaking of God, he writes, “Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures” (James 1:18).  “Of His own will” expresses God’s personal decision. This phrase, grammatically speaking, is called a genitive of source. It is from the source of God’s own choice that He brings us forth. “Brought us forth” is one word in the original language. It is a birthing term meaning “to beget,” or “to give birth to.” God is the One who gives it. And note carefully what God uses to regenerate this birth. God births us by the word of truth. It is God’s word that brings life. The results of this birth are that fallen sinful human beings become the “First fruit of His creatures.” “First fruits,” is speaking of the beginning of a new generation of people unstained by the corruption of the fall. These people are called “Christians.”

 

In order to live forever with God, one needs neither reformation nor religion. This does not make a spiritually dead person, alive. One does not need to follow the teachings of Islam or Buddha, or become a devout Hindu, or a Mormon, or a Jehovah’s Witness, or a Scientologist, or even to follow the example and teachings of Jesus Christ. A person does not need to become a Baptist or a Presbyterian, or a Catholic, or an Episcopalian.  One needs to be born of God. Christians are people who are born again from the seed of the word of God.

Why the Cross?

 

My youngest grandson’s name is Felix. We call him “Beeks.” The reason? Granddaughter Karis Grace couldn’t say “Felix” when she was small.  It came out “Beeks.”

 

Beeks has a favorite word: “why?” Why granddaddy? Why is your hair white? Why is the hair growing out of your ears, granddaddy?  I want to say, Beeks, see the above answer! Come to think of it, his daddy asked that “why” question constantly. It must run in the family.

 

I have approached the Bible with the same insatiable desire to know. Why God? Why is it this way? God has answered my questions by giving me some amazing glimpses into His plan.

 

There is no greater glimpse into God’s unseen world than the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. Adam’s sin and fall did not catch God by surprise. He was not caught off guard sitting in heaven wringing His holy hands wondering what to do next. God had already determined that He was going to come into this world and pay the sin debt of death that fallen man owed Him. God already had a Lamb prepared. Peter said that God ordained Christ before the foundation of the world. It was His plan all along to place on display His magnificent grace.

 

The wages of sin is death! Since God determined to pay that debt, He seemingly had a problem. God as God could not die because God is eternal life. This meant that God was to go through the most amazing transformation in all of human history. The eternal God took upon Himself a body (Hebrews 10:5).  He came into the world conceived by the Holy Spirit within the womb of the Virgin Mary. Therefore, He was untouched by Adam’s sin. He knew no sin! He was not a sinner by birth nor did He ever commit a single act of sin. He came into the world of sinners as a freeborn man. Yet He came for one purpose – that purpose was to die. 

 

Where did He die? He died on a cross! Why the cross? This becomes clear when we read this strange passage from the Old Testament. “If a man has committed a sin worthy of death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his corpse shall not hang all night on the tree, but you shall surely bury him on the same day (for he who is hanged is accursed of God), so that you do not defile your land which the LORD your God gives you as an inheritance” (Deuteronomy 21:22-23).

 

Paul went back to this very place to explain the death of Christ. He told the Galatians that God never meant for us to keep the law in order to receive the righteousness that we need (Galatians 2:21; 3:21).  Quite the contrary! The law has a spiritual purpose. It is used by the Holy Spirit to reveal that that we all have all sinned and come short of the glory of God. By whose standard have we sinned? By God’s standard revealed in His Ten Commands. We have not kept them perfectly. The law reveals that we have received a curse by having been born in Adam – the curse of spiritual death. Paul then quoted a part of the passage used above to show that when Jesus Christ died on the cross He took that very curse in His body. Paul said, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.” Jesus Christ hung on a tree, and by hanging on that tree He was cursed for us!

 

How did He bear our curse?  He died the death that we died in Adam the first. How did we die in Adam? We died spiritually! We became separated from God. Catch this amazing glimpse! Jesus spoke several words as He hung on the cross but none more powerful than these. He screamed, “My God, My God why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). The reason is mind boggling! We begin to plumb the depths of it when we realize that throughout His ministry on earth our Lord had referred to the first person of the Trinity as “Father.” This is a term of relationship!

 

But here He shocks us by referring to His father with the impersonal “my God.”  What was happening? At this moment Jesus Christ actually became sin for us (2 Corinthians 5:21). He took the curse of being separated from God for us (Galatians 3:13). God the Father separated Himself from God the Son.  God’s eyes were too holy to look upon sin (Habakkuk 1:13). Jesus Christ died spiritually in our place!  What a magnificent scene! His last words spoken from the cross have shouted to the world for centuries telling us that our sin has been paid for in full. These words are “It is finished.”

 

His death happened over 2000 years ago. How do we receive the amazing benefits of His death today? Next time!

A Chip off the Old Block

One of the most amazing glimpses into God’s unseen world is the truth concerning our sin.  It is apparent to me that what God the Holy Spirit has taught me about sin ultimately determined what I now believe about God’s grace.  The horror of sin is what makes grace, grace.

What does it mean to be a sinner? What does Paul mean by his words all have sinned and come short of the glory of God? 

I understand that sin means “to miss the mark” and the mark that we have all missed is the absolute righteous standard of God. God requires that I have a righteousness equal to His own if I am going to live in His presence. Yet it became painfully obvious to me that I had not come close to measuring up to that standard. I was not alone! There is not even one righteous man, not one?

Our sin has everything to do with Adam the first.  How exactly are we connected to him? As I attempt to answer this question, I am aware that I am gazing in awe into God’s unseen world.

This is what I was taught early in my Christian life – that I had been spiritually “influenced” by Adam’s sin in the garden. This mysterious influence causes everyone to sin.  We are born spiritually innocent, and we become sinners only when we reach the “age of accountability” before God.  That age is not the same for everyone. When that age is reached, we are then held accountable to God for our sin, but not before. 

I once believed and even taught this! The problem I ran into is I could not find this “accountability teaching” anywhere in the Bible. The truth is, I was not born innocent before God and, therefore, I did not become a sinner with time.  I was born a sinner and this nature expressed itself outwardly early and often.

I realize that this subject creates a minefield of emotion in us all.  However, emotion is never to become a substitute for truth.

Jesus said it is “that which proceeds out of the man that defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.’” (Mark 7:20-23)  King David said that he was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin his mother conceived him (Psalm 51:5). 

Adam did far more than just influence me to become a sinner.  In the very beginning, God planted a garden in a place called Eden and in that Garden He placed the first man, Adam. God planted many beautiful fruit trees and He also placed there a tree that He called “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” God told Adam to freely eat from all the trees with the exception of this one tree. The fruit from this tree was verboten (forbidden).  The reason was made clear. God said, in effect, “Adam, if you disobey Me, you shall surely, most positively, without a doubt, die” (Genesis 2:17).

Adam ate from the tree, and true to God’s word he died.  His physical heart did not instantly stop beating, nor did he stop breathing and fall over lifeless.  That would have ended the episode right there. But Adam died.  Death in the Bible means separation. Adam immediately became separated from God. Adam’s sin did not take God by surprise. In fact, God had a sacrifice already prepared from before He even made the world (1 Peter 1:19-20).  That tells me that God’s creation, the fall, redemption and restoration of man, is all about God’s glory, not man’s. 

Remarkably, Adam was not alone in his sin. Oh yeah, you might say, Eve was involved also.  She is not the one I had in mind. Paul’s words “in Adam all die” (1 Corinthians 15:22a) drift into my mind. Every member of the human race was there in Adam when he sinned.  How is that possible?  Adam sinned and died thousands of years ago. 

If I believe the Bible, then I trust that Adam and Eve were our first human parents. The entire human race came from them. So it is obvious that the genetic makeup for us all – our DNA – was in our original human parents. So we were there in the Garden in Adam when he sinned and died. In like manner, I was in my great-grandfather Greenberry Hill, when he was fighting in the Civil War.  Had my grandfather been killed in that war, having no children, then I would not be here. I would have died in Him.  All of his future children would have died in him. 

Likewise, we were all there in that garden when Adam sinned and died.  When he sinned, all sinned!  When he died, all died!

“By one man sin entered into the world and death by sin and so death passed on all men for all sinned” (Romans 5:12).  Human sin and death entered into the world through Adam. How did Adam’s transgression pass from him to all men? Adam’s physical seed from which the human race was to be regenerated became corrupt when he disobeyed God. Adam died physically at the ripe old age of 930 years.  All of his offspring, his children and grandchildren – his seed – also died.

Genesis chapter five is one gigantic list of tombstones marking the fact that Adam’s death seed was moving out full speed ahead. Since we all were regenerated from Adam’s fallen seed, father to child, generation after generation, Adam’s sin and death finds its way to all and as a result we will all die physically, assuming that Jesus Christ does not return first. Like the smell of perfume opened in one part of the house eventually spreads throughout the entire house, Adam’s death passed from him throughout all of the generations of man. This is what makes the virgin birth of Jesus Christ so very important!

When Adam sinned, the plants and animals also began to die because the seed that regenerates them was attached to his fall. Like Adam’s seed it became corrupt.  Paul writes that all of creation was subjected to futility (Romans 8:20-21).  Every member of Adam’s fallen race is born physically alive but spiritually dead. Every animal and plant will die because they have all been regenerated with fallen corrupt seed. 

For all sinned.  All sinned when Adam sinned. I was born a chip off the old Adamic block. I did not become a sinner with time and evil influence. 

For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God means that I sinned and died in Adam and that sin passed down to me and through me on to my children and grandchildren.  Jesus was speaking to a wanna-be disciple who desired to follow Him but asked first to go home and take care of his family responsibilities. Jesus must have stunned him with these scorching words, “Follow Me and let the dead bury their own dead” (Matthew 8:22; Luke 9:60). How do dead people bury dead people?  He was obviously speaking of spiritual death.  I am not a sinner because I sinned. I was not innocent before God until I sinned. I was born guilty before God and separated from Him.  I sin because I am a sinner. The implications of this truth are extremely important.  If I was simply influenced by Adam’s sin then I have the power within myself upon hearing the gospel to scurry to the cross work of Jesus Christ and find life.  However, if I was born dead in Adam then God had to bring the gospel of grace to me and then give me the ability to understand it and the faith to believe in Christ and receive life.  Lazarus remained dead until he heard a familiar voice calling his name and so it is with all men.