Author: Administrador

The Greatness of God's Electing Love October 4, 1987 Mal_1:1-5 An oracle: The word of the LORD to Israel through Malachi. "I have loved you," says the LORD. "But you ask, 'How have you loved us?' "Was not Esau Jacob's brother?" the LORD says. "Yet I have loved Jacob, but Esau I have hated, and … Continue reading “22 THE GREATNESS OF GOD'S ELECTING LOVE”

Those Whom He Predestined He Also Called Part Two October 20, 1985 Rom_8:28-39. How to ask questions. 1.1 Contrast Zechariah's response to the strange news of the angel in Luk_1:18 ("How can I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.") with the response of mary to the … Continue reading “20 THOSE WHOM HE PREDESTINED HE ALSO CALLED 2”

How Does a Sovereign God Love? A Reply to Thomas Talbott Reading Thomas Talbott's article "On predestination, reprobation, and the love of God" (RJ, Feb., 1983) brought back a grievous experience I had when some of George MacDonald's sermons were published in 1976 (Creation in Christ). I had relished three of MacDonald's novels and the … Continue reading “08 HOW DOES A SOVEREIGN GOD LOVE?”

Those Whom He Foreknew He Predestined October 13, 1985 Rom_8:28-30 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according go His purpose. 29) For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, that … Continue reading “18 THOSE WHOM HE FOREKNEW HE PREDESTINED”

Those Whom He Predestined He Also Called Part One October 20, 1985 Rom_8:28-30 We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him, who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he … Continue reading “19 THOSE WHOM HE PREDESTINED HE ALSO CALLED 1”

How to Teach and Preach "Calvinism" July 4, 1998 1. Be rigorously textual in all your expositions and explanations and defenses of Calvinistic teachings. Make it a textual issue every time, not a logic issue or an experience issue. 2. Don't be strident but gentle. Assume that working these great issues through to conviction may … Continue reading “15 HOW TO TEACH AND PREACH "CALVINISM"”

Is God Less Glorious Because He Ordained that Evil Be? Jonathan Edwards on the Decrees of God The Jonathan Edwards Institute Evangelicals Seeking the Glory of God July, 1998 Fourteen years ago Charles Colson wrote, "The western church – much of it drifting, enculturated, and infected with cheap grace – desperately needs to hear Edwards' … Continue reading “16 IS GOD LESS GLORIOUS BECAUSE OF EVIL?”

Called According to His Purpose October 13, 1985 Rom_8:28-30 Rom_8:1-39 is one of the goriest chapters in the New Testament. Notice verses 35-36: Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, "For thy sake we are … Continue reading “17 CALLED ACCORDING TO HIS PURPOSE”

The Agonizing Problem of the Assurance of Salvation April 28, 1998 The most agonizing problem about the assurance of salvation is not the problem of whether the objective facts of Christianity are true (God exists, Christ is God, Christ died for sinners, Christ rose from the dead, Christ saves forever all who believe, etc.). Those … Continue reading “13 AGONIZING PROBLEM OF ASSURANCE OF SALVATION”

When the "Want To" and the "Ought To" Don't Match October 29, 1998 If your "want to" does not conform to God's "ought to," what can you do to have peace? I see at least five possible strategies. 1. You can avoid thinking about the "ought to." This is the most common strategy in the … Continue reading “14 WHEN THE "WANT TO" & THE "OUGHT TO" DON'T MATCH”