Tuesday, May 19, 2009
"Why are you trying to earn grace?"[1]
[1] Post title and content (song) published at Free Grace Free Speech Blog in an original post last January, by Jonathan Perreault.
When I listen to "By Your Side" by Tenth Avenue North I think about how deeply God really loves us, and wonder at the Spirit who helps us love our brothers in the same way. Praise the LORD! This on the heels of some reasonings on whether there is a strain of moral legalism running through FG - see the last ten or so comments on the previous post.
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8 comments:
Thanks, Michele....you are indeed a blessing.
Michele, Rachel just told me about your grandmother and I want you to know I'm praying for you and your family. Keep us posted as you work through this.
Hi Jim,
You are a blessing to me too. :D
This song was one of the last posts JP made before he concluded blogging. It will always stand out to me.
Michele
Stephen and Rachel,
Thank you for caring. Can I be needy for a second? It was a little over a year ago that I heard in Dr. R.'s seminary that Calvinism was causing trouble. Now I knew grace and I knew the gospel after all the cults and that's how I ended up in a "Romans and Galatians" class there, wanting to protect that, but I didn't realize till those classes that there was something wrong in my grid still. Calvinism. It was as if I could never share my evangelism efforts, with God. Just the thought of opening up a channel, with God, in request for the salvation of my family... was depressing, to me. Thinking only He was going to decide. I couldn't pray! I think it really impacted me, here, thinking about my family. They were the first people I attempted to share Christ with.
On both my mom's and dad's side there has been no believers, not a one! They're just agnostic, and I was the first to believe. My father actually several times hit me and threw me out of the house specifically because after hours of trying to reason with me, I would not recant that I was deluded to believe that Jesus was the only Way and that He was the Creator (at that time I did not know Jesus was God). That was ten years ago and now in the last year or so I have become confident that my father and mother are believers today. They even come to church with me now and then, and today when I share the gospel of what Jesus did on the cross with my dad, he says, "...Yeah! You need to have this conversation with your mom because she was asking questions about this and wants to understand." :D
Ohh, it's so hard for me to acknowledge how I have given up on them all, not praying and not seeking them out, because of double predestination. I remember sitting in class, listening many times in many months as Dr. R. would go on these delightfully equipping soliloquies where I remember he one time quoted a letter some person had sent to him how FG had saved him from this grip of not being able to share the gospel. Dr. R. quoted this man or else this was his own statement, "LS is the death-knell to evangelism." He also believes that believing in one point leads to all five. I agree. I think that people like Dr. Hixson and Dr. Lybrand may be capable, as seasoned veterans of study, to say comfortably "I'm a 1.5 Arminian" and so forth and I believe that they'll be alright. But for the average guy, like me, all I heard was this idea called "total depravity," which means what sounds like that which is biblical: Man is incapable of doing good without God. Now, Dr. Ken Wilson taught in his Intro to Free Grace Theology seminar that there is a remnant to the human condition that can both recognize good from evil, and do good as well. So that was a relief, to me, not having yet really gone through either calvinism or free grace and augustine's teachings either, what the truth of the matter is in the Word of God. But it was so important that I be released to trust God again. And I have. God wants me to obey the great commission! God wants to use me and dignify my choices in my own free will. God allows me to petition, to intercede, and to mediate, when I pray! I can finally believe these things now. I don't have the Word of God battling this big depressing fatalism hanging over me any longer.
Now I'm starting to get the distinct impression that Augustine is responsible for nearly every works-addition kind of flaw in traditional Christianity.
Well anyway, all this to be plain that the burden for my entire family to know Christ actually caused me to feel hopelessness. I have to break through the years wasted, the fact that it's not at all hopeless. And prepare to share the gospel with them if the moment comes up, because I so desire to do that. All the rest of my troubles and desires can be... safely placed at His feet??
:D
:D
Thanks again for caring, and letting me share.
Michele,
Thanks for that posted comment about Calvinism and how it affected you. I can echo the same things.
Sincerely,
Bill
Hi Bill,
I'm glad to read your encouraging comment, I was thinking more about election. I heard Dr. R. say something about how the passages on election were referring to a single entity, the church, and not all individual believers. The church is elect and chosen, but it does not say that each believer was selected for salvation. I have had no time to look into this either the premise or the scriptures, but I thought it was very, very interesting. Do you happen to know much about this?
Thanks for the comment again,
Michele
I am familiar with what Dr. Radmacher was talking about - that election is "in Christ" rather than individual. Richard Coords has a very interesting write up on Ephesians 1:4 on his "Examining Calvinism" website.
Here's the link if you're interested -
http://www.examiningcalvinism.com/files/Paul/Eph1_4.html
I hope I don't start a pro/con Calvinism discussion with this. I know these things have been discussed and debated almost endlessly on many blogs and websites. However, you don't often hear of the practical outworking of it people's lives, as you related in your comments. I've seen a couple of brief comments about it from a couple of the free grace guys at Antonio's blog. I can definitely relate, that's why it caught my attention.
Thanks again.
Sincerely,
Bill
(I sent this earlier but it didn't post - hope I don't end up with duplicate posts)
Hi Bill,
I really appreciate the link! I've read it most the way through at this point. If election is "Christocentric" then that means there is no basis for his "predestinating" us, "choosing" us, except on the fact that I already have been included in to Christ. By faith, in Christ.
How much responsibility it adds upon the lost person, to receive Christ as the evangelist implores? Because without our change of mind to trust in Christ, there is no appointment, no hope, and no provision for salvation, from the Son or the Father.
The Father wants our election along with every other spiritual blessing to be "Christocentric":
"For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself." jn 5:26
"For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day." jn 6:40
How cool is that. Hmm.
Thanks so much for leaving that, I am very happy to learn about this.
Hope you have a great Memorial Day Holiday,
Michele
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