The Sad State of Theology in the American Church

Stephen Nichols, of Ligonier Ministries, has wrtitten an insightful piece on the suspicion of authority in the American church.  Nichols writes: 

The State of Theology study for 2016, undertaken by Ligonier Ministries and LifeWay Research, looked at 47 statements of religious belief. Among those statements are four that directly examine beliefs regarding church. Take a moment to give yourself this brief church survey. Do you agree or disagree with these following four statements?

Worshipping alone or with one’s family is a valid replacement for regularly attending church.

Churches that do not preach from the Bible should not be considered a Christian church.

There is little value in studying or reciting historical creeds and confessions.

My local church has the authority to withhold the Lord’s Supper from me and exclude me from the fellowship of the church.

On the first one, regarding worshiping alone, 58% agree, 12% are unsure, and 30% agree. On the second one, regarding the identity of a Christian church, the agree column racked up less than a simple majority at 46%, 17% were not sure, and 37% disagreed. On the third statement regarding the historical church, a strong 57% disagree, 16% are not sure, and only 27% agree.

Now let’s consider the results regarding the fourth statement on the authority of the local church to withhold communion. The responses to this statement are one of the most visually striking of all responses to the 47 statements of the survey. Many of the responses revealed polarized results, with only slight majorities and large numbers on either the disagree or agree side. A few of the questions elicited a visceral response of either disagreement or agreement. This question garnered the most responses in the unsure column of all the 47 statements. The middle of the spectrum, with not sure being lodged between agreeing and disagreeing, was a big bubble of a response regarding this statement. 61% are not sure. Another 26% disagree, while only 13% agree.

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The 2016 Election

Who should you vote for in the upcoming election?  Sorry, I'm not going to tell you who to vote for, but I think it's always a good idea to look at the big picture, specifically the platforms of the two major political parties.  The question I ask as I look at the comparison of each platform is - which platform is more in line with a Christian worldview?  In the end, let your conscience be informed by God's word, and pray for divine wisdom as you vote. 

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/jul/31/glaring-differences-between-republican-democratic-/
https://www.frcaction.org/updatearticle/20160719/republican-and-democratic-platforms
https://billygraham.org/story/2016-party-platforms/

Read the full Republican Party platform and Democratic Party platform from the parties’ websites.

As Christians, we need to beef up on our prayers for the nation, its leaders and the coming election.  

"Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.  For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth."  (1 Timothy 2:1-4)

Van Til’s Critique of Barth’s Christology

Van Til’s Critique of Barth’s Christology (Part 1)

Van Til’s Critique of Barth’s Christology (Part 2)

Lloyd-Jones on Van Til on Barth

Christianity and Barthianism

Cornelius Van Til

Philadelphia: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co., 1962

464 pp, clothbound

ISBN: 978 0 87552 481 8

Dr. Lloyd-Jones writes:

This is Dr. Van Til’s second book on Karl Barth and Neo-orthodox teaching. His first, The New Modernism, appeared in 1947. That publication did not receive the attention that it merited.

This new volume is in a sense a sequel to the former. It is, however, strikingly different in many respects. It is much more comprehensive and thorough, and the theological element is very much more prominent. In addition it is very much more readable. It is indeed a magisterial volume which, it seems to me, should be compulsory reading for all who are interested in the present church and theological position.

Read the rest of the article.

John Calvin on True Spirituality, Work, Service to God

Let us leave the Papists to get on with their fooling around with God. Why do they fret themselves so much? Because they have never known how God wishes to be served and honored. According to them, his ordinances are nothing compared to their foolish inventions. Let me give you an example. A man works honestly in order to make a living; though he only has brown bread to his heart’s content, he still calls upon God in the morning and praises him in the evening. If he has children, he denies himself as much as possible in order to feed and clothe them. If God sends afflictions to his household, he bears them patiently. If he practices some kind of handicraft, or some other trade, he will refrain from cheating on his neighbors. He would prefer to die rather than to wrong anyone. 

This man, who lives first and foremost an honest life, will not be arrogant enough to seek self-advancement without restraint. He will not be given over to intemperate habits. He will be modest in his eating and drinking, patient in all adversities. What kind of man is this according to the Papists? ‘Oh, he’s a secular man; in other words, he is a man of the world.’ This is how much they value the pure service of God. We know that the principal service that God requires of us is that we devote ourselves entirely to him; this means that we will glorify him in affliction as well as in prosperity, and that we will follow the vocation we have when we are called, without pride, ambition or envy. God takes delight in this, but according to the definition of the Papists, those who live in this way are worldly!  

The Papists do not engage in digging earth, nor do they get involved with sewing or tailoring, or anything else. Theirs is a contemplative life, and they are in a state of perfection. Can you not see how the world has been deceived? Such people, who make God into little statues, well deserve the pit for devising such absurd errors. As for ourselves, let us be aware that our God is Spirit, and that he wants to be served spiritually, as he tells us in his Word. At the same time, let us be wary of becoming trapped in the foolish notions which bewitch these wretches; let us, instead, realize that God speaks with us so that we might have recourse to him in all holiness, righteousness and uprightness. Let us measure our lives against the law and not against our own opinions or those of the world. Let us be concerned with what God commands and forbids, since we have to give account to him, and knowing that we have no other judge than God himself. 

May we exercise ourselves in all these things, believing that if we do so, we will not be laboring in vain. Leave the Papists to break their legs and their necks, all the while unsure of what they are doing, yet vexing God and provoking him more and more. In order that we do not strive in vain, or wander about here and there following this or that opinion without a fixed destination, let us exercise ourselves in the things that Paul teaches us in this passage. Subsequently, we will not be condemned for occupying ourselves with meaningless things which God disapproves of, detests, and declares to be frivolous.

John Calvin. Thirty-Six Sermons of John Calvin (Kindle Locations 4561-4569). Monergism Books. Kindle Edition.

Unity Presbyterian Church is now on iTunes

Sermons at Unity Presbyterian Church are now available on iTunes.

Predestination and the Call to Witness

This past Sunday, the men of our church studied an excellent chapter on evangelism in a great book by Rev. Terry Johnson titled When Grace Comes Home.  Then today I started reading a spot-on sermon by John Calvin titled "The Call to Witness."  Both authors have a strong conviction and belief in predestination and the doctrine of election.  Both authors also have an equally strong conviction that every Christian is to be a witness for Christ and His gospel, since this is the means by which God calls His elect to Himself.  Calvinism, contrary to popular opinion, does not destroy the motive to evangelize.  Rather, since Calvinism is the truth of Scripture, it is the only proper motive for evangelism. Any other motive or method that leaves out God's sovereignty in saving men will end up relying on man-centered, fleshly methods which truly dishonor God.

John Calvin wrote, "Although God shows His glory and majesty in the gospel, yet the unthankfulness of men is such, that we have need to be exhorted, not to be ashamed of this gospel. If the gospel be not preached, Jesus Christ is, as it were, buried. Therefore, let us stand as witnesses, and do Him this honor, when we see all the world so far out of the way; and remain steadfast in this wholesome doctrine."  Clearly, Calvin's belief in divine election did not hinder him from being a faithful witness for Christ or urging other Christians to do so.  

Calvin appeals to God's grace in saving us in order to motivate us to bear witness to others.  "Behold! God hath drawn us out of the gulf of hell! We were utterly cast away and condemned: but he hath brought us salvation, and hath called us to be partakers of it. Therefore, seeing God hath showed Himself so liberal, if we on our parts turn our backs to Him, is not this a shameful malice?"  

Calvin goes on to remind us how deep God's grace and salvation run, even to His eternal election, so that we might be all the more thankful and zealous to serve Him and be His witnesses. "For He had no respect to our works or dignity, when He called us to salvation. He did it of mere grace. Therefore we shall be less excusable, if we disobey His requirements, seeing we have not only been purchased by the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, but He had a care of our salvation before the world was made. Let us here observe that St. Paul condemns our unthankfulness, if we be so unfaithful to God, as not to bear witness of His gospel; seeing He hath called us to it."  

Calvin writes, "Whereupon hangeth our salvation? Is it not upon the election and choice that hath been from everlasting? God chose us before we were. What could we do then? We were made fit, we were well disposed to come to God." With this understanding of our own salvation, we will give all the praise to God.  And when we tell the good news to others, this is part of that good news, that "God chose us without any respect to our works, as we could have done nothing before: but we are debtors to Him for all; for He drew us out of the bottomless pit of destruction, wherein we were cast, and past all hope of recovery. Therefore, there is good reason for us to submit ourselves wholly to Him, and rely upon His goodness, and be thoroughly ravished with it. Let us hold fast this foundation, as I said before, unless we will have our salvation perish and come to nought. This doctrine is profitable for us if we can apply it well to our own use."

We are the most faithful witnesses of Christ's salvation, when we tell the whole story, that we were chosen from eternity, Christ atoned for us in the fullness of time, called us by His Spirit, justified us by faith and will glorify us forever. (see Romans 8:30) 

John Calvin. Thirty-Six Sermons of John Calvin. Monergism Books. Kindle Edition.