For Whom Did Christ Die ? by John Owen

I was reading the Puritan Fellowship blog and saw this quite interesting post about limited atonement from the works of John Owen, a man I would like to read more from in the coming years.

John Owen(1616-1683)

“To which I may add this dilemma to our Universalists:

God imposed his wrath due unto, and Christ underwent the pains of hell for,

1. either all the sins of all men,

2. or all the sins of some men,

3. or some sins of all men.

If the last, some sins of all men, then have all men some sins to answer for, and so shall no man be saved; for if God entered into judgment with us, though it were with all mankind for one sin, no flesh should be justified in his sight: “If the LORD should mark iniquities, who should stand?” Psa 30:3. We might all go to cast all that we have “to the moles and to the bats, to go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty,” Isa 2:20b-21.

If the Second, that is it which we affirm, that Christ in their stead and room Suffered for all the sins of all the elect in the world.

If the first, why then, are not all freed from the punishment of all their sins?

You will say, “Because of their unbelief; they will not believe.”

But this unbelief, is it a sin, or not?

If not, why should they be punished for it? If it be, then Christ underwent the punishment due to it, or not.

If so, then why must that hinder them more than their other sins for which he died from partaking of the fruit of his death?

If he did not, then did he not die for all their sins. Let them choose which part they will.“

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It seems as though I’m hearing about more justification for limited atonement. It’s something I don’t know a ton about, but I definitely love to eat this stuff up.

Tags: christianity, tulip, limited atonement, calvinism

Things

It’s interesting how we stop caring about the new and exciting things we own once they get older or get used to them. Whenever you buy something from them, dell makes sure that you are signed up for a monthly catalog. I was looking through the most recent and I spotted my monitor in there. Inevitably, the price has gone down since I bought mine nearly six months ago, so I’m not so worried about that. But what does bother me is that I almost forgot the investment I made in this thing. I love this monitor and take it for granted everyday. And I realize how we do that with everything. This is merely one more reminder that God supplies what we need, and when he gives us gifts like monitors and whatnot, it’s nice, but it’s not what we focus on. We need to be content with what God provides. Ultimately, however, it is who our God is that should leave us content. If we are saved, then he will be all we ever need in order to be content.

What does your earthly citizenship mean to you?

I’ve begun to wonder what my American citizenship means to me. Depending on one’s generation, some would say that it means freedom and power. Some might merely say strength. If you were born when I was, it could mean any number of things, but it could also mean very very little. For me, I’ve been finding that my citizenship is a tool, and only a tool. But all of this depends upon whether you look to the past, present (as well as short-term future), and long-term future

As I said, someone from the WWII era tends to see American citizenship as a badge of honor–as well many of them should. This was a very huge era for America. This was a time when we rose to the top. Prior to WWII, the most we had been was just another country, and right up until WWII, we were just another country; another country who was living in shanty towns and didn’t have a hope of ever becoming anything other than mediocre. Then, when the war began for America, we sent almost all of our men to fight, and all of the remaining men and women put everything towards winning the war. This was a time when such a thing was necessary. We needed weapons and ammunition. We needed to ration things like rubber and other manufactured materials. We needed to ration off food. These things were necessary in order to support the mission of our troops in Europe and Asia. And when all was said and done, the fascism of the Axis powers was dismantled, and liberated Europe was free, in large part, because of America (not to mention the other nations who were also integral in providing troops and logistics. This is merely for the purpose of explaining American pride).

And so, with that, you have an entire generation with a certain culture who were raised upon the American ideals of freedom and power. And it isn’t bad to remember when America was at such a high point. But if you look at the history of America since, then you see social revolutions that liberalized our morality, war-mongering, corporate interests who saw the value of what profits would be made if they were to become involved in war, and so forth. This is not to say that I have anything against the American populace, I just think that what I outlined is a fair description of what runs our foreign policy and most of our economy these days.

Now, whether or not you agree with my outlook on the way our nation is run, if you are a believer, consider this:

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Matthew 28:16-20

So then, Jesus returned from the grave, just as he had promised, and now was giving the disciples his last commands. Matthew (under the inspiration of God himself) chose this to be the last passage concerning what Jesus said before he ascended. I might be making lofty assumptions, but I think I would be correct in saying that this–what is oft referred to as the Great Commission–is one of the most important commands given to us in the New Testament. I say this because although Jesus said that we are to love God first, then our neighbor as ourselves, I think this is the application. God commands all throughout scripture that his creation worship him. And in the act of salvation, we find one of the most loving and glorious acts that God has ever committed. If we neglect to speak and sing of the Lord’s praises, then we are not loving God with all that we are. And if we are not spreading this amazing gospel to others, then we are not loving our neighbors as we love ourselves. So with that said, maybe my next insight may help you understand what I mean by this post.

I see my citizenship status as merely a tool. When I look at the world through scripture, I see the possibility of living in another country like Switzerland and gaining citizenship there as potentially useful. If I were able to travel around with a passport from a nation that welcomes money from anyone without asking too many questions and who hasn’t been involved in a war in nearly 200 years, then I would. This is because, although I love living in California and think America has a rich, albeit short, history, my greatest concern is not uplifting America. My greatest concern is being able to spread the gospel. If I even had to renounce my American citizenship for this purpose, then I would. It would not be a problem for me to do so, and because I care more about missions work than which country I belong to, it wouldn’t be an issue when you get right down to it.

When we all are in eternity, it won’t matter if we are Americans, Canadians, Japanese, Chinese, Russian, the child of an illegal immigrant, or a tribesman who never once visited a city with cars, electricity, and running water. God does not promise technology, sanitation, or anything other than what we need to survive for as long as he wants. I am by no means perfect in this area. I do not trust the Lord daily for my provisions. But that’s what sanctification is for. We would do well to remember some of the things I have mentioned; specifically, the scriptures.

On being worrisome

I just had a bout with anxiety. Today is the day I had planned to apply at Target, and it’s even been lazy of me to have put it off this long. So I realized that I needed to get it done, the problem is that I realized this after I had gone to Riverpark to get some hummus and pitas (those are great, btw), and had already taken 15 minutes to look in REI since it’s fairly new and I hadn’t been in it yet. So I figured I would just stick to the homework schedule that I had already planned out and come home and watch Gundam (that was a bad idea, by the way, since I ended up watching two episodes instead of one). Then, I decided it was too late to apply there.  Well, I sat down and tried to do some homework and was just fidgety and anxious.  I couldn’t get anything done, really.  I even tried picking up the Bible for the first time today (maybe that was the problem), but I still couldn’t get focused.  So I prayed instead, and I just told God my worries and gave it up to him.  It was such a blessing.  So what was the lesson?  We need to be giving God everything.  I looked up Matthew 6:25 and read the whole passage.

25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 28And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

 34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

So what did I learn?  Life isn’t about all of the things we think it is.  I talked to Ryan and he told me I could still apply, and sure enough they still have positions available, though I doubt I will be hired for sales floor, I hope that I get hired for the stockroom with Ryan and Matt.  Regardless of what happens, I need to be content with God.  So that is what I will endeavor to do: be content with God.

It’s been a long time

I think it’s been seven months since I was blogging at all. I have a tumblog, but that’s not really anything big. I think what I wanna do with this blog is just talk about different things that come up that are related to Christianity. I doubt anyone reads this…I’m sure that my one reader has deleted me from his feeds. It doesn’t matter

I guess I have some goals. The following isn’t necessarily well-thought out. I just think this is what I wanna write about (I might use the word “wanna”…and maybe even “gonna”)

1. I want to talk about what I am learning from my Young Adults Ministry pastor (ppaul)
2. I want to discuss what I am reading from and that with which i agree, disagree, or have yet to fully understand (I suppose this is the most recent of what ppaul has taught me)
3. I want to be searching out new ideas from different preachers and writers about what the church should be doing
4. I want to comment on politics to a certain degree, but I want to keep it all on God
5. I want to be okay with just talking about social issues amongst my peers and in relation to God (but not necessarily in relation to him)
6. I want to be honest about what I think is valid and invalid
7. I want to grow from this
8. I want to develop a discipline of writing more–I think this will help me both develop a writing skill and a discipline
9. I want to write fairly often
10. I want to comment on specific issues that my church is going through and what I think about them
11. I want to talk about my personal life a little bit. This includes my idea of dieting a litte, of changing my lifestyle, what I think about some of the environmental issues at hand, and just what makes me ponder something for a long period of time.\
12. I want to be more productive
13. I want to do these things without worrying about how many people read this.
14. I want to do these things without worrying what people will say, rather encouraging discourse and not argument. (Maybe this will be one of my posts in the future?)
15. I don’t always want to end lists on simple, marketable numbers like 3, 5, 10, 15, etc. Sometimes there are only 12 reasons for something, or maybe there are 6 different beefs I have with something. That’s okay.
16. I want to be more well-read (and no, I didn’t do that to get off of the whole pleasing number)
17. I don’t want to be afraid to talk about technology

That wasn’t organized, really, at all. I just wanted to write out what I want to do with my future writing. I enjoy writing and reading, but the problem is that I don’t make sufficient time for both of those with all of the time I spend at digg.com. I think I want to start by reading a book like God is the Gospel. I’m looking at it right now and it isn’t too large. I also think it’s an important part of thinking through what I believe to be the true and ultimate word of God.

Well, it’s late and I am planning on taking out my grandma to lunch as well as applying at Target. Hope those go well. Oh yeah…and hw.

…and boom goes the dynamite

I feel so bad for this guy. I’m convinced that this has to be a practice run because no one on the show looks to be completely professional, and its just so pathetic. Anyway, I think it’s pretty funny.

Click here

Gag Me with a Spoon

This little flash animation reminds me of all of the mushy email forwards that Way of the Master likes to recite on the show in order to demonstrate how trivially God’s person is used to deliver mundane or self-edifying points.

Seriously…this is what God would ACTUALLY say in an interview? Please.

Small Groups

To set the stage, I am going to be one of five leaders for our Tuesday night Bible Study that will be starting in just a couple of weeks. I, along with Jason, Jeremy, Jordan (the drummer), and Nate will be going through a study with all of the young adults over the next semester in living rooms and the Fresno State dorm main office. Pastor Paul will be giving more details soon enough.

What I’ve been thinking about is this: am I ready to handle God’s Word and lead a dozen or so people? I didn’t think so at first. For awhile, it was as though the time was still coming and I could still prepare, but now that the time is almost here, am I ready? I asked myself this last week, and in talking with Jason and Brad, I think I’m beginning to understand the issue better.

One of the things that Paul said when he first called me about it was the role of men in a Christian worldview. Biblically speaking, men are in authority over women. This is not to degrade the importance of women, but rather to provide such an integral support system that would be absent without women. God really knew what He was doing when he planned out the relationship men and women have as well as their interactions within normal Church functions. All of this to say that the godly picture of marriage (which is based upon the relationship Christ has with His church) is based upon this: the husband is the head of the home. He makes the final decisions, he provides for the family, and he especially cares for the wife (although the wife issue is negated for the most part since we are paired with female partners independent–mostly–of romantic interest). While a husband is taking care of decisions, his wife is taking care of the children, keeping things going around the house when the husband isn’t there, and organizing the meals.

As an aside, I think this almost calls for a post regarding the discussion that Paul incited on the bus ride to Resolved last week.

What Paul was trying to communicate was that all men are born to fill that role in some way, be it in a pastoral position, in a worship team, or in a small group. The men are born to be the leaders over the women. So what Paul was basically getting across to me was that whether or not I feel as though I should be teaching a group on the Bible, I am (by definition of my sex and role) made to do so. If I should indeed get married someday, then I will be the spiritual leader in my household and I will be guiding my family to grow in truth and Spirit. Thus, whether I feel ready or not, God has made me with the capacity to teach the Word on some level. Therefore, I should be kicking it into high gear.

So does that mean I’m all of a sudden ready to be a preacher? Not at all. In fact, there’s no way I could do that at this point. At all. But I can speak to a small group of peers and have a discussion about the Word of God and His work throughout the Bible and human history. Which is the gist of what we’re going over in the small groups. So for anyone that stumbled upon this from RBC, there you have it. Everyone else: how the heck did you come across this?

Blogging

    For a while, I’ve entertained the thought of blogging. What I could never think about was what would be relevant to blog about. For those of you that know me, you know I was at the Resolved Conference in Long Beach this weekend. While riding back from that trip, I talked with Brad about his internet ventures and the things I do on the internet. It was a great conversation of which the outcome was that I should blog. Why? I’ll outline it below.

1. I already send emails of videos to those that are interested. Brad said that he usually tells people that send out videos like I do should blog them. Those that want to refer to the media I post can always go back to my blogs, and those that want the emails to continue can merely get posts from Feed Burner These will typically be on my other blog which will also have the tech interests that I have. Some posts will overlap, but for the most part, I want to keep those two things separate. We’ll see how that goes.
2. The second reason is that I think I should write more.  I sort of like writing, and since I don’t really write much other than for school, I thought that maybe this would be a good outlet.  For one, I could give my own personal updates on spiritual things I’ve learned, creating a place for people (for now, just Brad, since he’s the only one that knows about it), and it would also give me an opportunity to type out things that I wouldn’t normally expound upon.
3. If I do indeed leave for school this fall, then it would be just one easy way for friends to see what’s going on in my life.

So there you have my blogging experiment.  Currently, I have only one reader that I know of, and maybe more will come.  Maybe they won’t.  We’ll see how this all turns out, but I hope that this can be a place for me to talk about my small group and post my spiritual musings (as the title suggests).  You can check out a semi-parallel post on my other blog here.