What we believe:
[Note: the scripture citations below are not exhaustive, but representative—each point could have many more supportive references. If you’d like to know more, feel free to ask! Also, what we write here is subject to sin and error. Therefore it is also open to critique and—in any way in which it can be conclusively shown to contradict the more accurate teaching of God’s Word (see Acts 18:26)—subject to change.]
About God’s Word
We start with God’s Word, because it is the tangible source of everything we believe. It is essential to know what we believe about our only authoritative source of truth, if there’s to be any sense made of the rest of what we believe.
While it’s true that all creation testifies to God (Romans 1:19-20), and even that the basic principles of God’s law are written on men’s consciences (Romans 2:14-15); our only source of specific, eternal truth regarding God, men, our condition, and eternity, is the living Word of God (1 Peter 1:24-25, 2 Peter 1:3, 2 Timothy 3:16, cf. Romans 10:14, Hebrews 4:12).
Put another way, those things which we perceive and experience other than God’s Word—although they communicate truth in some respect—are passing away. These perceptions and experiences are broken and tainted by sin, and should not be counted as sources of truth on the same level as God’s Word (1 Peter 1:24-25, 1 John 2:17). (Also see 2 Peter 1:16-21, where Peter describes witnessing the transfiguration; goes on to emphasize that scripture is more certain than his experience; and then affirms that the words written were from men who “spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit”—the very words of God.)
From a young age, we learn that 2 + 2 = 4; and that gravity is a permanent, unchangeable law. Of course, these and other “truths” must be operating assumptions for a man to live any kind of life on earth.
But this earth, with its logic and laws, is not permanent—even naturalists must admit the reality of physical death and the uncertainty of Earth’s future. In fact, a naturalist will probably be quick to agree that the world as it exists will not continue indefinitely.
If we acknowledge that everything we can feel and touch and know by reason will inevitably give way to decay and death, is there anything tangible that can make a claim of transcendence worth investigating? The Bible does just that: in verses already cited above, it claims to be living (Hebrews 4:12), eternal (1 Peter 1:24-25), and sufficient for everything we could possibly need to know (2 Peter 1:3).
Why do we believe all of this about the Word of God? While it’s true that the Bible is the only document in existence with no errors, self-contradictions, or flaws of any kind, the fact that we believe it is no thanks to our ability to reason our way there (Ro. 1:21, 2 Cor. 4:4, 2 Cor. 3:14)—more about that in the section on what we believe about salvation.
One last note—a practical concern—on what we believe about God’s Word: the scriptures are only perfectly inerrant in the original manuscripts. This fact—along with the difficulty inherent in much of the scriptures (cf. 2 Peter 3:16)—lends a great deal of significance to something called a hermeneutic, which is really just a big word for method of interpretation. We believe one hermeneutic—and one alone—should be applied to all of scripture: historical-grammatical.
Here are three basic points for keeping to a historical-grammatical hermeneutic:
1. It’s never valid to ask first, “What does this verse mean to me?” What we must ask is, “What did its author understand it to mean when he wrote it—and what would its original hearers have understood it to mean?” Remember: God’s Word says what He means and means what He says.
2. Context is “king,” or “a verse out of context is a pretext for trouble.” The meaning of any verse should be interpreted in light of surrounding verses, its chapter, its book, and ultimately the rest of scripture. While a verse by itself could be interpreted to mean any number of things, it’s much more likely that you’ll find only one tenable interpretation if you’re looking at it from the framework of the rest of scripture. As the Reformers liked to say, “scripture interprets scripture.”
3. As alluded to already, it is never valid to approach scripture seeking to prove a point derived outside of scripture. On the contrary, the only valid way to approach scripture is with the expectation—nay, the desire—that it will challenge and change your assumptions, attitudes, preferences, habits, and even what you’ve perceived to be true (Heb. 4:12, Job 42:5-6).
Okay, just one more point about God’s Word: it is full of purposeful tension—which seems to lead the masses to dismiss it as self-contradictory. For example: Proverbs 26:4-5 are two verses (one right after the other) which some would say contradict each other. In fact, these verses work together harmoniously to advise caution in responding to a fool, because of the likelihood of sinning in either of two directions. In keeping with the rest of scripture, the true path is straight and narrow, with most who meet the challenge veering off to one side or the other, in pursuit of self-satisfaction.
About God
A few notes:
1. We seek to humbly begin this section by acknowledging that God’s ways and thoughts are above ours (Isaiah 55:9), and that we can neither fully behold His glory (Exodus 33:20) nor fully know His mind (Romans 11:34). However, we are told to seek to understand Him, and that there is much value in doing so (Prov. 2:3-5, Jer. 9:24, 2 Timothy 2:7). Any understanding we do have is not ours, but is given us by His grace (1 Cor. 4:7).
2. God is perfect (or infinite) in each of His attributes. His character as revealed in His Word defines these attributes as much as they define Him.
3. Further to point (2), for us to take our notions of any of these attributes apart from God—for instance, love as romantic or humanitarian or philanthropic—and apply them to God, is fallacy (cf. Ps. 50:21); instead, we must seek His definition of them in His Word, in order to understand His manifestation of them. Furthermore we must apply the way God manifests these attributes to the way we exercise those among them (like love) which are communicable to us (1 Peter 1:15).
God is holy. The Bible emphasizes holiness over and above any other characteristic (see Revelation 4:8—repetition is a common expression of emphasis in scripture; no other attribute of God is repeated like this). There are two aspects of holiness: God is set apart from anything created—which is everything other than Himself—(Psalm 50:21, Habakkuk 1:13, Revelation 22:9); and He is morally pure (1 John 1:5).
God is trinitarian—one God, three persons—Father (Ps. 89:26); Son (John 1:1, 15); and Holy Spirit (Acts 5:3-4). The Son is in submission to the Father (1 Cor. 11:3); and the Holy Spirit is in submission to the Son (John 15:26). This submission within God is willing and joyful (John 4:34, John 17:13), providing the perfect model for our submission to biblical authority (1 Cor. 11:3).
God is eternal (Psalm 90:2, 1 Timothy 1:17).
God is immutable (unchanging)—in His essence, His promises, and His Word (Malachi 3:6, Hebrews 6:17, Ezekiel 36:36, 1 Peter 1:25).
God is impassible (perfectly self-controlled). While He exhibits deep and meaningful emotion (Ps. 78:40, Deut. 1:37, 1 Kings 3:10, Zeph. 3:17, Judges 2:18), He (again, unlike men) is in no way changed by them (Malachi 3:6)—they are the appropriate and righteous sequiturs (not reactions to, but willed emotions that follow) to those things which He has brought to pass. Consider especially Malachi 3:6: God is telling His people of the righteous judgement against them, and here indicates that He would be justified in His wrath to consume (destroy) them. If He were like man, He might have reacted in His wrath and consumed His people despite His promises to the contrary.*
God is omnipotent (all-powerful)—He is able to (and does) perform all His pleasure (Ps. 62:11, Dan. 4:35, Ps. 33:9, 115:3).
God is omnipresent (everywhere-present)—in that all things are immediately in His presence (Jer. 23:24, Ps. 139:7-10, 1 Kings 8:27).
God is omnisapient (all-wise)—He always knows the possible actions and their consequences, choosing the actions that will accomplish His ultimate purpose, which is His greatest possible glory (Ezekiel 36:22-32, Romans 9:22-23, Ephesians 1:11-12, 2:7).
God is omniscient (all-knowing)—He knows all things past, present, and future (1 John 3:20).
God is self-existent—He exists eternally, without dependence on (or contribution from) anyone or anything outside of Himself for (or to) His existence (Gen. 1:1, Ex. 3:14, Ps. 90:2, John 8:58).
God is self-sufficient—He does not need anyone or anything outside Himself in any way (Acts 17:25, cf. Job 22:2).
God is love (1 John 4:8). This one is as important as it is difficult (the latter largely because we so tend to misconceive of love). A couple of ways in which God loves that tend to be foreign to popular conceptions of love: in Mark 10:21, Jesus loves the rich young ruler by identifying an idol which has God’s rightful place on the throne of his heart, and telling him how to put it away by repentance. Another—more general: God disciplines those He loves (Hebrews 12:6, cf. Ps. 94:12, Rev. 3:19).
God is gracious—He gives us good things we do not deserve (Romans 5:15, 1 Cor. 1:4, 2 Cor. 12:9).
God is merciful—He does not give us that which we do deserve: He withholds just punishment temporarily for unbelievers, and permanently for believers (Isaiah 30:18, 2 Peter 3:9). He also mercifully withholds some of the temporal consequences of sin (and of living in a fallen world) from believers (Mt. 14:31, Ac. 3:16; cf. Romans 8:28-29—He will withhold any temporal consequence of sin from a believer, if that means greater conformity of that believer to Christ’s image).
God is just—He requires that His wrath be duly poured out for each and every offense against His character and sovereignty—either on sinners or on Christ (Romans 1:27, Is. 53:10, Rom. 3:25, Romans 9:14). (Particularly note Romans 3:25: God’s having passed over sin might have called into question the righteousness of His justice, as purely righteous justice requires equal punishment for each offense—praise Him that He exists outside of time, and was able to satisfy His justice by looking to what He would do at the cross!)
God is sovereign—He is supreme over everyone and everything (Ps. 24:1, 22:8, 1 Tim. 6:15).
God is free—He "is not constrained by anyone other than himself. He does what he pleases (Ps. 115:3), and therefore he is always free... He is not bound to the dictates of anyone else. He does make promises, to be sure, which obligate him to do certain things, but he makes those promises voluntarily” (John Frame, Doctrine of God, p. 233).
About the Church**
The first reference to Christ is in Genesis 3:15, after the fall: speaking to Satan, God says, “He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heal.” Then in Genesis 12:3, God starts to reveal how He would bring that about: all nations would be blessed through Abraham’s seed. A little further along, God uses Isaiah to prophesy more about how Christ would be a light for the nations (Isaiah 42:6), and then—in Isaiah 49:5-6, God clearly lays it out:
“And now the Lord says, he who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him; and that Israel might be gathered to him—for I am honored in the eyes of the Lord, and my God has become my strength—he says: ‘It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.’”
Marvelous! (Ps. 118:22-23): it would have been of too little significance for Christ simply to have raised up and redeemed Israel. This fact serves two points:
1. The Church exists to God’s greatest glory. That perfect reconciliation is made possible between God and man—and, as a glorious reflection of this, among former enemies now united in Christ (Eph. 2:14-16)—is astoundingly praiseworthy (Ro. 11:33-36, Revelation 7:12). The Church is made synonymous with Christ (1 Cor. 12:12—note: in the Greek, the definite article comes before Christ; Acts 9:5). Paul explains this to an extent in Ephesians 5:23-32, proclaiming the husband and wife “one-flesh” union as analogous to Christ’s with the Church; v. 32: “This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.” (Note: God's glorification in the Church in no way diminishes His glory in the return of Israel—on the contrary, it magnifies it [Romans 11:12].)
2. We are not saved to be “lone ranger” Christians. Each of us is of value only as a member of Christ’s bride (1 Cor. 12:17, 19). His desire is for a pure bride (Ephesians 5:27), and He has made it His ongoing work to build and sanctify His bride to glorious perfection (Mt. 16:18, John 17:17, 1 Cor. 12:18, 28, Phil. 1:6 [the root of the Greek for "you" here is plural—"yourselves"], Eph. 5:26, Titus 2:14, Heb. 7:25).
Further to point (2), scripture places an emphasis on the local church as the context for authentic faith. This is an important point to make, as there has been a tendency ever since the early church (Hebrews 10:25) for professing believers to think it's "just about me and Jesus." A popular modern manifestation of this mindset (we know because we were once enthusiastically ensnared by it) is to think that it's best to cultivate personal faith while keeping a distance from the supposed hypocrisy in the local church, as long as one is doing some sort of work (in our case humanitarian "mission" work) "for Christ."
About Man
We are born sinful, unable to do anything to reconcile ourselves to God—unable to please Him or have any kind of fellowship with Him (Rom. 3:10-12; Eph. 2:1; Ps. 51:5).
About Hell
Apart from Christ, men are justly condemned to eternal conscious torment (John 14:6; Hebrews 12:14; Matthew 25:46; 1 Corinthians 5:21; Luke 16:23-24).
About Salvation
Sin against an infinitely holy being requires a punishment that is infinite in nature (see Justice, above). If it were not for God’s mercy manifested in His forbearance, He would have poured out His wrath immediately, fully, and infinitely on creation when it became infected by sin—but He knew before time that His son would bear His wrath in a way that allowed life on earth to continue, albeit with much hardship (Romans 3:25, Genesis 3:15, 16-21, Acts 4:28).
In this respect, God is the savior of all: Christ bore His wrath in a way that has allowed creation to continue to exist to this day—the sun and rain and other provisions His continued grace to the righteous and unrighteous alike (1 Timothy 4:10, Matthew 5:45).
What’s more, the final phrase of 1 Timothy 4:10 is equally—and oh so joyously—true: He is Savior in a special way to a group—in scripture often called the elect—who “believe” God’s Word. This brings up two points—one of which we will address in this section, and one of which will have its own section: Post-Salvation (below).
God chose before time those on whom He would lavish His saving grace (Ephesians 1:4, 2 Timothy 1:9, Matthew 13:35). His choice was in no way dependent on anything we could ever do or be to merit His favor—we would be dead in our transgressions (Eph. 2:1, 5), enemies of God (Romans 5:10, Col. 1:21), incapable of doing anything good or pleasing to Him (Rom. 3:12, Is. 64:6). His choice was in no way dependent on the family or tradition into which we are born (Prov. 24:23, Deut. 10:17, Acts 10:34). His choice was in no way dependent on man’s ability to reason (Romans 1:21-23, Acts 17:25). Men must hear the truth to be saved (Romans 10:14), but God will send His servants wherever necessary to bring in His sheep (Matthew 18:12, cf. Acts 8:26-39). For these reasons, prior to a person being saved, we have no way of knowing whether or not he is among the elect. Therefore, obedience requires faithful practice of impartial proclamation of the truth to all who will listen (Matt. 28:19-20; see also Matthew 18:17 and 2 Cor. 2:6-8).
Salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. God is 100% sovereign over salvation, and man is 100% responsible to respond in faith to God’s call (another one of those tensions, fraught with purpose!). We are incapable of responding in faith, without God’s grace in giving us the very faith required (Ephesians 2:8-9). Everyone chosen before time is given, at some point in his life, that faith which leads inevitably to salvation (John 6:37, 39, Acts 13:48).
The purpose for salvation—and everything else—is God’s glory. Paul anticipated the “it’s not fair!” objection to the biblical teaching on salvation nearly two thousand years ago: “What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means!” (Romans 9:14). “You will say to me then, ‘Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?’ But who are you, O man, to answer back to God?” (Romans 9:19-20). “What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for the vessels of his mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory…?” (Romans 9:22-23. (See also Ezekiel 36:22, Ephesians 1:11-12, 2:7.)
About Post-Salvation/The Life of the Believer
Salvation always brings immediate and increasing external manifestation of that which has happened to the man internally. While justification is a one-time, instantaneous, irrevocable, and sovereign work of God in each believer, God is faithful to grant grace to each of His children to persevere in increasing holiness from the point of salvation onward (Romans 8:9-17). Changes may be small initially, but practical sanctification is inevitable; and it is progressive—meaning a believer will grow, by God’s grace, in holiness; enduring in this pursuit to the end of his life (Hebrews 6:4-6, Philippians 1:6, 1 Thess. 5:24, 1 John 3:3).
This brings up the idea of assurance of salvation—one that is biblical, although not as an intellectual certainty founded on a one-time choice, decision, profession of faith, or lifestyle change—without the enduring and increasing fruits of salvation. You can google this for further study: assurance is not of the "esse" of faith, but of the "bene esse" of faith.*** (There are far too many supporting verses to cite them all, but here are a few: John 8:31, 21:15-17; Matthew 13:23; 1 Cor. 9:27; Phil. 2:12; 1 John 1:6, 10, 2:4-6, 9-11, 15, 19, 3:8-10, 14; 2 Peter 1:10, 3:17.)
[Note: the scripture citations below are not exhaustive, but representative—each point could have many more supportive references. If you’d like to know more, feel free to ask! Also, what we write here is subject to sin and error. Therefore it is also open to critique and—in any way in which it can be conclusively shown to contradict the more accurate teaching of God’s Word (see Acts 18:26)—subject to change.]
About God’s Word
We start with God’s Word, because it is the tangible source of everything we believe. It is essential to know what we believe about our only authoritative source of truth, if there’s to be any sense made of the rest of what we believe.
While it’s true that all creation testifies to God (Romans 1:19-20), and even that the basic principles of God’s law are written on men’s consciences (Romans 2:14-15); our only source of specific, eternal truth regarding God, men, our condition, and eternity, is the living Word of God (1 Peter 1:24-25, 2 Peter 1:3, 2 Timothy 3:16, cf. Romans 10:14, Hebrews 4:12).
Put another way, those things which we perceive and experience other than God’s Word—although they communicate truth in some respect—are passing away. These perceptions and experiences are broken and tainted by sin, and should not be counted as sources of truth on the same level as God’s Word (1 Peter 1:24-25, 1 John 2:17). (Also see 2 Peter 1:16-21, where Peter describes witnessing the transfiguration; goes on to emphasize that scripture is more certain than his experience; and then affirms that the words written were from men who “spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit”—the very words of God.)
From a young age, we learn that 2 + 2 = 4; and that gravity is a permanent, unchangeable law. Of course, these and other “truths” must be operating assumptions for a man to live any kind of life on earth.
But this earth, with its logic and laws, is not permanent—even naturalists must admit the reality of physical death and the uncertainty of Earth’s future. In fact, a naturalist will probably be quick to agree that the world as it exists will not continue indefinitely.
If we acknowledge that everything we can feel and touch and know by reason will inevitably give way to decay and death, is there anything tangible that can make a claim of transcendence worth investigating? The Bible does just that: in verses already cited above, it claims to be living (Hebrews 4:12), eternal (1 Peter 1:24-25), and sufficient for everything we could possibly need to know (2 Peter 1:3).
Why do we believe all of this about the Word of God? While it’s true that the Bible is the only document in existence with no errors, self-contradictions, or flaws of any kind, the fact that we believe it is no thanks to our ability to reason our way there (Ro. 1:21, 2 Cor. 4:4, 2 Cor. 3:14)—more about that in the section on what we believe about salvation.
One last note—a practical concern—on what we believe about God’s Word: the scriptures are only perfectly inerrant in the original manuscripts. This fact—along with the difficulty inherent in much of the scriptures (cf. 2 Peter 3:16)—lends a great deal of significance to something called a hermeneutic, which is really just a big word for method of interpretation. We believe one hermeneutic—and one alone—should be applied to all of scripture: historical-grammatical.
Here are three basic points for keeping to a historical-grammatical hermeneutic:
1. It’s never valid to ask first, “What does this verse mean to me?” What we must ask is, “What did its author understand it to mean when he wrote it—and what would its original hearers have understood it to mean?” Remember: God’s Word says what He means and means what He says.
2. Context is “king,” or “a verse out of context is a pretext for trouble.” The meaning of any verse should be interpreted in light of surrounding verses, its chapter, its book, and ultimately the rest of scripture. While a verse by itself could be interpreted to mean any number of things, it’s much more likely that you’ll find only one tenable interpretation if you’re looking at it from the framework of the rest of scripture. As the Reformers liked to say, “scripture interprets scripture.”
3. As alluded to already, it is never valid to approach scripture seeking to prove a point derived outside of scripture. On the contrary, the only valid way to approach scripture is with the expectation—nay, the desire—that it will challenge and change your assumptions, attitudes, preferences, habits, and even what you’ve perceived to be true (Heb. 4:12, Job 42:5-6).
Okay, just one more point about God’s Word: it is full of purposeful tension—which seems to lead the masses to dismiss it as self-contradictory. For example: Proverbs 26:4-5 are two verses (one right after the other) which some would say contradict each other. In fact, these verses work together harmoniously to advise caution in responding to a fool, because of the likelihood of sinning in either of two directions. In keeping with the rest of scripture, the true path is straight and narrow, with most who meet the challenge veering off to one side or the other, in pursuit of self-satisfaction.
About God
A few notes:
1. We seek to humbly begin this section by acknowledging that God’s ways and thoughts are above ours (Isaiah 55:9), and that we can neither fully behold His glory (Exodus 33:20) nor fully know His mind (Romans 11:34). However, we are told to seek to understand Him, and that there is much value in doing so (Prov. 2:3-5, Jer. 9:24, 2 Timothy 2:7). Any understanding we do have is not ours, but is given us by His grace (1 Cor. 4:7).
2. God is perfect (or infinite) in each of His attributes. His character as revealed in His Word defines these attributes as much as they define Him.
3. Further to point (2), for us to take our notions of any of these attributes apart from God—for instance, love as romantic or humanitarian or philanthropic—and apply them to God, is fallacy (cf. Ps. 50:21); instead, we must seek His definition of them in His Word, in order to understand His manifestation of them. Furthermore we must apply the way God manifests these attributes to the way we exercise those among them (like love) which are communicable to us (1 Peter 1:15).
God is holy. The Bible emphasizes holiness over and above any other characteristic (see Revelation 4:8—repetition is a common expression of emphasis in scripture; no other attribute of God is repeated like this). There are two aspects of holiness: God is set apart from anything created—which is everything other than Himself—(Psalm 50:21, Habakkuk 1:13, Revelation 22:9); and He is morally pure (1 John 1:5).
God is trinitarian—one God, three persons—Father (Ps. 89:26); Son (John 1:1, 15); and Holy Spirit (Acts 5:3-4). The Son is in submission to the Father (1 Cor. 11:3); and the Holy Spirit is in submission to the Son (John 15:26). This submission within God is willing and joyful (John 4:34, John 17:13), providing the perfect model for our submission to biblical authority (1 Cor. 11:3).
God is eternal (Psalm 90:2, 1 Timothy 1:17).
God is immutable (unchanging)—in His essence, His promises, and His Word (Malachi 3:6, Hebrews 6:17, Ezekiel 36:36, 1 Peter 1:25).
God is impassible (perfectly self-controlled). While He exhibits deep and meaningful emotion (Ps. 78:40, Deut. 1:37, 1 Kings 3:10, Zeph. 3:17, Judges 2:18), He (again, unlike men) is in no way changed by them (Malachi 3:6)—they are the appropriate and righteous sequiturs (not reactions to, but willed emotions that follow) to those things which He has brought to pass. Consider especially Malachi 3:6: God is telling His people of the righteous judgement against them, and here indicates that He would be justified in His wrath to consume (destroy) them. If He were like man, He might have reacted in His wrath and consumed His people despite His promises to the contrary.*
God is omnipotent (all-powerful)—He is able to (and does) perform all His pleasure (Ps. 62:11, Dan. 4:35, Ps. 33:9, 115:3).
God is omnipresent (everywhere-present)—in that all things are immediately in His presence (Jer. 23:24, Ps. 139:7-10, 1 Kings 8:27).
God is omnisapient (all-wise)—He always knows the possible actions and their consequences, choosing the actions that will accomplish His ultimate purpose, which is His greatest possible glory (Ezekiel 36:22-32, Romans 9:22-23, Ephesians 1:11-12, 2:7).
God is omniscient (all-knowing)—He knows all things past, present, and future (1 John 3:20).
God is self-existent—He exists eternally, without dependence on (or contribution from) anyone or anything outside of Himself for (or to) His existence (Gen. 1:1, Ex. 3:14, Ps. 90:2, John 8:58).
God is self-sufficient—He does not need anyone or anything outside Himself in any way (Acts 17:25, cf. Job 22:2).
God is love (1 John 4:8). This one is as important as it is difficult (the latter largely because we so tend to misconceive of love). A couple of ways in which God loves that tend to be foreign to popular conceptions of love: in Mark 10:21, Jesus loves the rich young ruler by identifying an idol which has God’s rightful place on the throne of his heart, and telling him how to put it away by repentance. Another—more general: God disciplines those He loves (Hebrews 12:6, cf. Ps. 94:12, Rev. 3:19).
God is gracious—He gives us good things we do not deserve (Romans 5:15, 1 Cor. 1:4, 2 Cor. 12:9).
God is merciful—He does not give us that which we do deserve: He withholds just punishment temporarily for unbelievers, and permanently for believers (Isaiah 30:18, 2 Peter 3:9). He also mercifully withholds some of the temporal consequences of sin (and of living in a fallen world) from believers (Mt. 14:31, Ac. 3:16; cf. Romans 8:28-29—He will withhold any temporal consequence of sin from a believer, if that means greater conformity of that believer to Christ’s image).
God is just—He requires that His wrath be duly poured out for each and every offense against His character and sovereignty—either on sinners or on Christ (Romans 1:27, Is. 53:10, Rom. 3:25, Romans 9:14). (Particularly note Romans 3:25: God’s having passed over sin might have called into question the righteousness of His justice, as purely righteous justice requires equal punishment for each offense—praise Him that He exists outside of time, and was able to satisfy His justice by looking to what He would do at the cross!)
God is sovereign—He is supreme over everyone and everything (Ps. 24:1, 22:8, 1 Tim. 6:15).
God is free—He "is not constrained by anyone other than himself. He does what he pleases (Ps. 115:3), and therefore he is always free... He is not bound to the dictates of anyone else. He does make promises, to be sure, which obligate him to do certain things, but he makes those promises voluntarily” (John Frame, Doctrine of God, p. 233).
About the Church**
The first reference to Christ is in Genesis 3:15, after the fall: speaking to Satan, God says, “He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heal.” Then in Genesis 12:3, God starts to reveal how He would bring that about: all nations would be blessed through Abraham’s seed. A little further along, God uses Isaiah to prophesy more about how Christ would be a light for the nations (Isaiah 42:6), and then—in Isaiah 49:5-6, God clearly lays it out:
“And now the Lord says, he who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him; and that Israel might be gathered to him—for I am honored in the eyes of the Lord, and my God has become my strength—he says: ‘It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.’”
Marvelous! (Ps. 118:22-23): it would have been of too little significance for Christ simply to have raised up and redeemed Israel. This fact serves two points:
1. The Church exists to God’s greatest glory. That perfect reconciliation is made possible between God and man—and, as a glorious reflection of this, among former enemies now united in Christ (Eph. 2:14-16)—is astoundingly praiseworthy (Ro. 11:33-36, Revelation 7:12). The Church is made synonymous with Christ (1 Cor. 12:12—note: in the Greek, the definite article comes before Christ; Acts 9:5). Paul explains this to an extent in Ephesians 5:23-32, proclaiming the husband and wife “one-flesh” union as analogous to Christ’s with the Church; v. 32: “This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.” (Note: God's glorification in the Church in no way diminishes His glory in the return of Israel—on the contrary, it magnifies it [Romans 11:12].)
2. We are not saved to be “lone ranger” Christians. Each of us is of value only as a member of Christ’s bride (1 Cor. 12:17, 19). His desire is for a pure bride (Ephesians 5:27), and He has made it His ongoing work to build and sanctify His bride to glorious perfection (Mt. 16:18, John 17:17, 1 Cor. 12:18, 28, Phil. 1:6 [the root of the Greek for "you" here is plural—"yourselves"], Eph. 5:26, Titus 2:14, Heb. 7:25).
Further to point (2), scripture places an emphasis on the local church as the context for authentic faith. This is an important point to make, as there has been a tendency ever since the early church (Hebrews 10:25) for professing believers to think it's "just about me and Jesus." A popular modern manifestation of this mindset (we know because we were once enthusiastically ensnared by it) is to think that it's best to cultivate personal faith while keeping a distance from the supposed hypocrisy in the local church, as long as one is doing some sort of work (in our case humanitarian "mission" work) "for Christ."
About Man
We are born sinful, unable to do anything to reconcile ourselves to God—unable to please Him or have any kind of fellowship with Him (Rom. 3:10-12; Eph. 2:1; Ps. 51:5).
About Hell
Apart from Christ, men are justly condemned to eternal conscious torment (John 14:6; Hebrews 12:14; Matthew 25:46; 1 Corinthians 5:21; Luke 16:23-24).
About Salvation
Sin against an infinitely holy being requires a punishment that is infinite in nature (see Justice, above). If it were not for God’s mercy manifested in His forbearance, He would have poured out His wrath immediately, fully, and infinitely on creation when it became infected by sin—but He knew before time that His son would bear His wrath in a way that allowed life on earth to continue, albeit with much hardship (Romans 3:25, Genesis 3:15, 16-21, Acts 4:28).
In this respect, God is the savior of all: Christ bore His wrath in a way that has allowed creation to continue to exist to this day—the sun and rain and other provisions His continued grace to the righteous and unrighteous alike (1 Timothy 4:10, Matthew 5:45).
What’s more, the final phrase of 1 Timothy 4:10 is equally—and oh so joyously—true: He is Savior in a special way to a group—in scripture often called the elect—who “believe” God’s Word. This brings up two points—one of which we will address in this section, and one of which will have its own section: Post-Salvation (below).
God chose before time those on whom He would lavish His saving grace (Ephesians 1:4, 2 Timothy 1:9, Matthew 13:35). His choice was in no way dependent on anything we could ever do or be to merit His favor—we would be dead in our transgressions (Eph. 2:1, 5), enemies of God (Romans 5:10, Col. 1:21), incapable of doing anything good or pleasing to Him (Rom. 3:12, Is. 64:6). His choice was in no way dependent on the family or tradition into which we are born (Prov. 24:23, Deut. 10:17, Acts 10:34). His choice was in no way dependent on man’s ability to reason (Romans 1:21-23, Acts 17:25). Men must hear the truth to be saved (Romans 10:14), but God will send His servants wherever necessary to bring in His sheep (Matthew 18:12, cf. Acts 8:26-39). For these reasons, prior to a person being saved, we have no way of knowing whether or not he is among the elect. Therefore, obedience requires faithful practice of impartial proclamation of the truth to all who will listen (Matt. 28:19-20; see also Matthew 18:17 and 2 Cor. 2:6-8).
Salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. God is 100% sovereign over salvation, and man is 100% responsible to respond in faith to God’s call (another one of those tensions, fraught with purpose!). We are incapable of responding in faith, without God’s grace in giving us the very faith required (Ephesians 2:8-9). Everyone chosen before time is given, at some point in his life, that faith which leads inevitably to salvation (John 6:37, 39, Acts 13:48).
The purpose for salvation—and everything else—is God’s glory. Paul anticipated the “it’s not fair!” objection to the biblical teaching on salvation nearly two thousand years ago: “What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means!” (Romans 9:14). “You will say to me then, ‘Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?’ But who are you, O man, to answer back to God?” (Romans 9:19-20). “What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for the vessels of his mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory…?” (Romans 9:22-23. (See also Ezekiel 36:22, Ephesians 1:11-12, 2:7.)
About Post-Salvation/The Life of the Believer
Salvation always brings immediate and increasing external manifestation of that which has happened to the man internally. While justification is a one-time, instantaneous, irrevocable, and sovereign work of God in each believer, God is faithful to grant grace to each of His children to persevere in increasing holiness from the point of salvation onward (Romans 8:9-17). Changes may be small initially, but practical sanctification is inevitable; and it is progressive—meaning a believer will grow, by God’s grace, in holiness; enduring in this pursuit to the end of his life (Hebrews 6:4-6, Philippians 1:6, 1 Thess. 5:24, 1 John 3:3).
This brings up the idea of assurance of salvation—one that is biblical, although not as an intellectual certainty founded on a one-time choice, decision, profession of faith, or lifestyle change—without the enduring and increasing fruits of salvation. You can google this for further study: assurance is not of the "esse" of faith, but of the "bene esse" of faith.*** (There are far too many supporting verses to cite them all, but here are a few: John 8:31, 21:15-17; Matthew 13:23; 1 Cor. 9:27; Phil. 2:12; 1 John 1:6, 10, 2:4-6, 9-11, 15, 19, 3:8-10, 14; 2 Peter 1:10, 3:17.)
**The section on the Church still to be finished. Also to come: “Hopefully Helpful Counsel”
***Thanks to theologian Ken Sarles for sharing some insight on this point.
***Thanks to theologian Ken Sarles for sharing some insight on this point.
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