theology

The Sanctity of Marriage, part 1

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Hebrews 13:4 tells us that marriage is to be held in honor among all. Marriage should hold a high place in the minds of the people of God. Where the sanctity of marriage was widely held in our society, that is no longer the case. Wherever one turns, the institution of marriage is being attacked and disparaged. Our IFCA fellowship of churches has sought to be a light for Christ in a dark world while at the same time seeking to reach those that are lost with the truth of the gospel of Christ. We have always been committed to standing firm and reaching out. To do this faithfully in the area of marriage, we need to be committed to what the Scriptures teach so that we can proclaim that truth in a spirit of faithfulness to the Lord with a love for the unregenerate.

The Challenges to Marriage Today

The attacks on the sanctity of marriage are so numerous that this short article can do little more than acknowledge that these issues are a growing concern not only in the culture around us, but many of those the Lord brings our way will be coming from this background. We must be prepared to minister to those who are devastated by these sins.

Cohabitation has become so prevalent that recent statistics show that living together before marriage has risen from 40% in 1980-1984 to 70% in 2010-2014.[1]The National Center for Family & Marriage Research unsurprisingly also found that births to single and cohabiting mothers steadily grew from 21% in 1980-1984 to 41% in 2010-2014.[2]

Divorce has recently been touted as being at a 35 year low. But we can’t be too quick to celebrate because the marriage rate since 2010 has also experienced a forty-five year  low.[3]Obviously, fewer marriages lead to fewer divorces. Instead of being encouraging news, we need to realize that this statistic is an illustration of the demise of traditional marriage. With the advent of homosexual civil unions and same-sex marriage, divorce of both heterosexual and homosexual couples each average about 2% per year.[4]

Adultery is an unfortunate universal reality and can be found in every civilization and culture all the way back to the fall of man. With the advent of modern technology the threat has become epidemic. In July 2015, Ashley Madison, a website designed as a “dating site” targeting married people interested in an adulterous relationship, was hacked and exposed the information of millions of its customers.[5]Now adultery is as close as our cell phones and computers.

Homosexuality and same-sex marriage are the most troublesome attacks upon the sanctity of marriage because their proponents have been organized and aggressive in their campaigns to promote and normalize homosexual activity. No longer restricted to gay and lesbian relationships, the LGBTQ[6]movement continues to spread its tentacles around the world into every place of prominence and power, including the Church.

Polyamory and polygamy has grown in popularity in recent years through the promotion of television programs such as HBO’s Big Loveand TLC’s Sister Wiveswith both programs seeking to gain sympathy for the polygamist lifestyles of fundamentalist Mormons as well as influencing the legality of polygamy[7]. Polyamory, which does not require marriage, refers to the similar philosophy that multiple simultaneous relationships of an intimate nature as normal and natural, so long as all parties agree.

Each of these challenges to the sanctity of marriage flout the Word of God regarding marriage by perverting God’s intention and purposes for it. So, what does the Word of God teach us regarding the preservation of His institution of holy matrimony?

Biblically Defining Marriage

In his book entitled The Bible in Government and Society, Christopher Cone observes the vast chasm that exists between believers and unbelievers regarding marriage as God designed it and how they choose to live their lives. Dr. Cone writes, “People who reject that Designer cannot be expected to uphold marriage as it is designed—in fact, the Bible never prescribes how unbelievers should conduct their own marriages. For unbelievers, marriage is little more than a civil union whereby society is ordered and promulgated. Herein is the cause of tension within a society where believer and unbeliever coexist under a common governmental structure. Believers ought to base their ethical understandings on the metaphysical understanding that the Bible is authoritative for every aspect of life (2 Tim 3:16–17). Unbelievers, on the other hand, do not operate from the same metaphysical understanding, and consequently, their ethical prescriptions will often conflict with those given to believers.”[8]

This different “metaphysical understanding” exists because unregenerate men and women have suppressed the truth that God has made known to them and by nature cannot truly understand the Spirit-given Word (Rom 1:18-32; 1Cor 2:6-14). This does not mean that we should not hold unbelievers in society to the Lord’s standard, but that we must uphold the truth (1Tim 3:15) and declare it to the world without fear or shame (2Tim 1:8-14). The sanctity of marriage can be simplified if we focus on three attributes that the Scriptures teach us about God’s righteous standard.

[1]Paul Hemez and Wendy D. Manning, “Thirty Years of Change in Women’s Premarital Cohabitation Experience” National Center for Family and Marriage Research, Bowling Green State University, https://magic.piktochart.com/output/19755947-hemez-manning-30-yrs-change-women-premarital-cohab-fp-17-05; Accessed 3/9/2017.

[2]Huijng Wu, “Trends in Births to single and Cohabiting Mothers, 1980-2014.” https://magic.piktochart.com/output/19730931-wu-trends-births-single-cohabiting-mothers-fp-17-04-png; Accessed 3/9/2017.

[3]Ben Steverman. “Divorce in U.S. Plunges to 35-Year Low” Bloomberg; https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-11-17/divorce-in-u-s-plunges-to-35-year-low?mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiWlRRNU1UQTNPRFV5WTJNMiIsInQiOiJISTR1Tjl3WmliMzVabFF4bGZiSnBXdUN4T0NrXC8waXh6ZjNpTzNZb29pdzR3UGZmODBLVU5HelJkQWxRMVhJT1h5cjh0RysrYklMN25iNWVyR0JzWUplM0ZRSjdJVzR6RmtRWWJRQ1RiRDg9In0%253D; Accessed 3/9/2017.

[4]Andrew Gelman. “Same-Sex Divorce Rate Not As Low As It Seemed.” The Washington Post, Dec. 15, 2014. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2014/12/15/same-sex-divorce-rate-not-as-low-as-it-seemed/?utm_term=.cec6a8232101; Accessed 3/9/2017.

[5]Charles Riley. “Hackers Threaten to Release Names From Adultery Website.” CNN Tech; http://money.cnn.com/2015/07/20/technology/ashley-madison-hack/; Accessed 3/9/2017.

[6]Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer or Questioning. Some have advocated the addition of the letter “A” for “Affirming,” those who may not themselves be homosexual, but affirm and promote homosexual and transgender sexuality.

[7]The Associated Press. “High Court Won’t Hear ‘Sister Wives’ Appeal Over Bigamy Law.” http://woodtv.com/2017/01/23/high-court-wont-hear-sister-wives-appeal-over-bigamy-law/; Accessed 3/9/2017.

[8]Christopher Cone. The Bible in Government and Society, Tyndale Seminary Press, Hurst, TX (2012), pp. 106-7.

Faith is essentially dogmatic

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“…if any one fact is clear, on the basis of this evidence, it is that the Christian movement at its inception was not just a way of life in the modern sense, but a way of life founded upon a message. It was based, not upon mere feeling, not upon a mere program of work, but upon an account of facts. In other words it was based upon doctrine….Faith is essentially dogmatic. Despite all you can do, you cannot remove the element of intellectual assent from it.”

–Machen, J. Gresham. Christianity and Liberalism, Kindle ed. Loc. 289, 1949.

Confessions of a Bibliophile-Keith Mathison

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Below is a great reminder about the need for Christians to read good material. At Grace Baptist Church (gbcwilmington.org) we have a little book table that offers several quality book titles. If you haven’t yet, you should check it out. 

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a bibliophile is “A lover of books; a book-fancier.” Although this is a helpful definition, I’m not entirely sure I want to refer to myself as a “fancier” of anything. I’m from Texas. We either like something or we don’t. We don’t “fancy” things. It’s…unnatural.
However, I do love books, or perhaps, I should say more precisely, I love to read. Always have. When I was a child, I devoured books. Tom Sawyer, the Hardy Boys, anything I could find. When visiting relatives, I would read whatever they happened to have on the shelves, whether Reader’s Digest or Dr. Seuss. I enjoyed them all, but I was especially in love with offbeat stories.
It was not only children’s fiction that interested me. My family owned an old set of the World Book Encyclopedia. I used to sit and read the articles in those volumes for hours on end. When I was maybe ten or eleven, I found an old copy of the complete works of Edgar Allan Poe. I don’t remember what the first story in the book was, but it was odd, and that appealed to me. Looking back now, as interesting as Poe may be to a person attracted to offbeat stories, I wouldn’t recommend reading his complete works straight through. Side effects may include nightmares.
Sometimes I have read books for the wrong reasons. During my first semester of college, I ran across a three-volume work titled The Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, a harrowing, often firsthand account of the Soviet Union’s concentration camp system. When I took it to the counter to check it out, the librarian said to me in a rather obnoxious way that no one who started that book ever finished all three volumes, and then he informed me that I would never finish it either. I took that as a challenge and proceeded to plow through two thousand pages of dense narrative on a very unpleasant subject. Although I finished it simply to prove someone wrong, it turned out to be a great book.
Our sovereign Father ultimately used my love of reading to bring me to faith and repentance. As a teenager, I was pathologically shy and withdrawn and depressed (perhaps another reason not to read the works of Poe at the age of ten). I was a complete nihilist without being aware that there was a term for my worldview. I don’t remember exactly when, but at some point during my last years of high school, an elderly gentleman from Gideons International was on campus handing out pocket size New Testaments. He gave me a red one. I put it in my backpack and later tossed it in my desk. A year or so later, when I had just about reached the end of my rope, I saw that little New Testament in my desk and decided to read it. I stayed up all night reading and re-reading it. That night I placed my faith in Jesus Christ.
My love of reading did not change, but from this point forward, the content of my reading shifted. I read and re-read the Bible. I went to Christian bookstores and began reading Christian history and theology. For many years, I did not read fiction (unless it was assigned for a class) because I was so busy reading other things. Because I was not led to Christ by another Christian, I was on my own for a while and did end up reading a lot of Christian books that led me down some dead-end paths. God worked this for good too, however.
Our God is a God who has revealed Himself in a book, in words. We learn about God and His will, therefore, by reading. We learn by reading and reflecting on His Word. We also learn by reading and thinking with the church. This means we read and reflect on the insights of our brethren, those who are still with us and those who have gone on before us. We may also learn by reading with discernment the works of those who have spent time “reading” God’s general revelation. This includes works of science, philosophy, history, poetry, and literature.
If I might offer a word of advice and encouragement to my fellow bibliophiles, it is this: As Ecclesiastes reminds us, “Of making many books there is no end” (12:12). Millions of books have been published, and thousands more are published every year. We cannot read them all, so it is best to read the good ones. If you don’t know which books are the good ones, seek the advice of mature Christians. Find recommended reading lists by churches and ministries you trust.
Finally, while we read to learn about our God and His works of creation and redemption, we must not allow a love of reading to supplant our love for Christ. If we do, our books, even our Christian books, become nothing more than idols. All the reading in the world, if it does not ultimately promote our love of Christ and our brethren, is nothing but futility.

This post was originally published in Tabletalk magazine.

Theological Commitments of the Biblical Gospel: Election

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Must be a low information voter.

God cast a vote for you, Satan casts a vote against you, and you get to cast the deciding vote? Really?

Election: Who Chose Whom?

The Arminian/semi-Pelagian understanding absolutely rejects any type of election based solely upon the free choice of God. Their understanding of this can be seen in the response of the Synod of Dort (1619):

“The true doctrine concerning election and reprobation having been explained, the Synod rejects the errors of those:[3]…Who teach: That the incomplete and non-decisive election of particular persons to salvation occurred because of a foreseen faith, conversion, holiness, godliness, which either began or continued for some time; but that the complete and decisive election occurred because of foreseen perseverance unto the end in faith, conversion, holiness, and godliness; and that this is the gracious and evangelical worthiness, for the sake of which he who is chosen is more worthy than he who is not chosen; and that therefore faith, the obedience of faith, holiness, godliness, and perseverance are not fruits of the unchangeable election unto glory, but are conditions which, being required beforehand, were foreseen as being met by those who will be fully elected, and are causes without which the unchangeable election to glory does not occur.

This is repugnant to the entire Scripture, which constantly inculcates this and similar declarations: Election is not of works, but of him that calleth (Rom. 9:11). And as many as were ordained to eternal life believed (Acts 13:48). He chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy (Eph. 1:4). Ye did not choose me, but I chose you (John 15:16). But if it is by grace, it is no more of works (Rom. 11:6). Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son (1 John 4:10).[4]”

God is sovereign in his divine choice of those who are saved contra the Arminian system. As for those who would say that this means that God actively predestines sinners to condemnation (a view sometimes called double predestination) Scripture does not teach that God actively predestines sinners to the Lake of Fire, but that those whom God does not elect unto salvation are passed over, left in their sins to face the fruit of their sin. This form of reprobation sees God as passive in his condemnation because man is merely receiving the just desserts for his rebellion and law-breaking.

If a person holds to an understanding of personal depravity that is less than total, or is inconsistent with this understanding, he or she will more than likely see election as being based upon the free choice of the sinner.

[3] Historic Creeds and Confessions, electronic ed. (Oak Harbor: Lexham Press, 1997).

[4] Historic Creeds and Confessions, electronic ed. (Oak Harbor: Lexham Press, 1997), I.2.5 Emphasis mine.

Why Doctrine Is Worth Fighting For

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Ali

A few years ago I read this headline in my local newspaper. As a pastor, it grabbed my attention immediately. It said: INSTRUMENTS STOLEN FROM 5 MANHATTAN BEACH CHURCHES

It told the story of how 5 local churches had been robbed in the period of one week. They took guitars, keyboards, ukuleles, drums, a tambourine, a mixing machine, audio and video equipment, projectors, laptop computers, microphones and speakers. They cleaned out those churches.

The worst part is that it seems that the thieves got access to the church through unlocked windows and doors. They just walked right in!

I would like to suggest to you that as sad as it is that a church was robbed partially due to its own negligence, there is a greater danger that is facing the church—the danger of giving up the foundational doctrines that under gird our faith. And much like these robberies in the South Bay, the church and each of us as members of the body of Christ are too often leaving to windows and doors open and allowing the thieves in.

The book of 1 Timothy is rightly considered a Pastoral Epistle, designed to instruct Pastors in leading Christ’s church. But that is not its only purpose. 1Tim 3:15 gives us the undergirding reason for us to look at this book-To know how we should behave in God’s House.

In this post I would like to focus on one aspect of this behavior—our attitude toward guarding the church’s doctrinal integrity.

“This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith, among whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.” 1Timothy 1:18-20 ESV

From this passage I want to share with you three reasons why true doctrine is worth fighting for so that we might join in the battle for truth.

It Is A Precious Trust (v. 18)

We put alarms on cars, homes, & banks, but not on trash dumpsters, junked cars and abandoned homes. We guard what we value. We protect what we cherish. In 1Timothy 1:15-17, Paul gives us the essence of the Gospel message and his own personal example of its effect upon his life. Inherent in Paul’s words was the assumption that the truth of God’s Word is so valuable that it needs to be guarded. Not a passive guarding, like those security guards you see who only have a flashlight to stop an armed robber. No, Paul calls Timothy to wage war with the enemies of the cross—he calls this war “good” or “noble.” So what do we need to protect the gospel from three danger:

Guard It Against Being Watered Down: “for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27). Paul didn’t fear the opinions of man so that he tailored his words to fit what they wanted to hear. He told them what the Ephesian church what they needed to hear.

Guard It Against Being Changed: “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ” (Gal 1:6-7). A different gospel is really no gospel at all. We need to guard against the subtle and not-so-subtle changes that are assaulting the Gospel.

Guard It Against Being Set Aside: “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.” (2Tim 4:3-4). Moving past the Gospel to something that is better? That was the attitude in Paul’s day, and many today hold the same sentiment.

D.A. Carson reminds us of this concern when he writes,

“I fear that the cross, without ever being disowned, is constantly in danger of being dismissed from the central place it must enjoy, by relatively peripheral insights that take on far too much weight. Whenever the periphery is in danger of displacing the center, we are not far removed from idolatry.” (The Cross & Christian Ministry, 38).

This is a most subtle danger, and this makes it all the more insidious. It does not ask the gospel to be watered down or changed, it just adds on to and covers over the gospel and claims to be better than God gave it to us. This was what the Pharisees did. Jesus said “You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.” (Mark 7:8)

It like when I was in high school and my dad gave me this ’71 VW beetle. I loved reading the magazine Hot VW’s and seeing the way people “improved” on the original designs. Some guys reworked their cars so much that in reality they weren’t even VW Beetles anymore. They may have had some pieces of the original car, but most of the original was set aside for an after-market part.

The same can and is done to the gospel. People try to make it look cooler and more appealing. They remove sin and hell or add cussing and tattoos. Others add man-made rules a requirement for heaven. These are all cheap add-ons to the real Gospel and it impedes its work.

There are other ways that the Gospel is attacked, but here we have three strategies used by our enemy in order to tone down the message of the cross: Water it down, change it, or set it aside.

How can you personally guard this precious trust? By knowing the gospel, by proclaiming the gospel and by living the gospel. It is the word preached and taught that guards us from being tossed about in the waves of false doctrine and lying schemes. So:

Get to church. Just because your body is there doesn’t mean your heart and mind are.  God has given us teachers to help keep us grounded in good, solid doctrine.

 Guard Your Heart. Just because a preacher is funny or a book is popular or a YouTube clip of a speaker gets a million hits doesn’t mean it’s spiritually healthy. Learn discernment so that you can avoid being another casualty of false teaching.

Grow Theologically. You may not be a Bible or theology scholar, but if you are a Christian you have the Holy Spirit as your teacher. You need to grow deeper roots in your faith so that you will see the next guy that comes along with a new discovery from the Bible a mile away.

False teachers produce false teachers. Their heresy spreads like gangrene producing more and more ungodliness. Those like Hymenaeus (v. 20) are not satisfied with keeping their false doctrines to themselves. They are impelled to spread them amidst the church.

Therefore the church needs to guard against these wolves in sheep’s clothing. This might seem harsh in a church culture that doesn’t like to confront sin, but it is a merciful act.

  1. It stops the influence of the heresy.
  2. It removes the divine protection that the false teachers enjoy inside the church so that he can be dealt with by Satan with the hope that he would be driven back to God (1Cor 5:5).
  3. It seeks restoration-learning not to blaspheme. This is corrective, not primarily punitive.

We’re talking about the eternal destiny of people’s souls.

Truth matters. Failure to guard the truth of the Gospel is to declare that the soul saving Gospel really isn’t that important.

Truth matters. Failure to guard the Gospel will result in a person being tossed around in a spiritual rip tide.

Truth matters. Failure to guard the truth of the Gospel will result in a shipwrecked faith and false teaches that will spread the disease even further, damning countless souls to hell.

True Doctrine Is Worth Fight For Because It Gives Divine Direction (v. 19)

For the faith, cp. 6:12.-How can we wage the good warfare when we no longer continue to believe the truth?

  1. How can we continue fighting when we no longer have a good conscience about what we believe and of whom we believe?
  2. When we lose these two, the enemy has dismantled us and made us useless.
  3. Paul says that those who had abandoned the faith have no stability for their conscience and became like a ship without a rudder for direction.
  4. Without being anchored to the truth of Jesus Christ, we wander into uncharted waters and grave dangers. This is why we need pastors and teachers:
    1. Application: When we abandon absolute truth as revealed in the Bible, we are susceptible to spiritual and doctrinal drift. How can you avoid this danger?
  1. True Doctrine Is Worth Fight For Because The Alternative Is Unthinkable (v.20)
    1. What ultimately happens to those who reject the faith and follow different doctrines, myths and speculations?
    2. Using two men as examples, Paul shows Timothy and us how serious it is when someone abandons the faith.
    3. Although the exact nature of what Alexander taught is not too clear, Hymenaeus’ involvement in revealed in 2Tim 2:16-18:
    1. Paul’s solution to this is radical surgery. To keep this gangrene of heresy from growing, Paul says in 1:20 that he needs to cut them away from the church in order to teach them not to blaspheme.
    1. Illustration: Not too long ago, there was a news story about a business that called itself the California Alternative High School who targeted people who had not finished high school and wanted to complete there education. They advertised on TV and many immigrants sought out these schools in hopes of bettering their situation in the US through education.
    1. The Truth matters. Doctrine is worth fighting for.
    2. Brothers and Sisters, guard the precious trust of the Gospel given to all of us.