Purposeful Theology

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Adoption

Posted by Branden Earp on August 25, 2014
Posted in: Uncategorized. Tagged: Adopiton, Family. Leave a comment

Saints in heavenHave you ever seen a child that was in the foster care system for years that was longing for a family to one day take them in and a loving couple or single parent brought them in their home to make them their own? This is exactly what God does when someone becomes a Christian, he adopts them into his very own family. The doctrine of adoption is simply when God makes us part of his family.

This is probably the greatest benefit to being a Christian because we inherit all of the benefits of being in God family. This blessing comes from placing your faith in Jesus, and is a separate act apart from regeneration or justification. John 1.12 says, “But to all who did receive him [Jesus], who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God”.

Being a child of God brings a plethora of blessings in this life and in the one to come. One of them being that we can relate to God as a good and loving father. The apostle Paul writes, “For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, Abba! Father!” When Jesus taught his disciples to pray, he even directed them to pray to God as their own Father. This means that God will take care of our needs and loves to give us good gifts including the Holy Spirit, who leads and guide us.

And like any good parent, this also means that God disciplines his children when they continually err into sin because he loves them and wants to see them live a joy filled life. This is not sadistic child abuse but a loving father correcting the children he loves.

Being adopted as sons and daughters also means that we receive the full inheritance of eternal life as well as being able to relate to fell Christians as brothers and sisters in God’s family who will all be reunited one day. And the amazing thing about being adopted into his family is once you are his you cannot be un-adopted and never have to worry about being kicked out of God’s family, no matter the sin.

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Justification

Posted by Branden Earp on August 24, 2014
Posted in: Uncategorized. Tagged: Imputation, Justification, Righteous. Leave a comment

mata_hari___courtroom_by_tamasgaspar-d6zqelrThere is a story of a Judge who had a long career of being knows for being just, honest and always making the ethical decision. One morning as he was waiting for his next hearing he sees his very own son being brought in with his feet and hands shackled together and taking a seat in front of the bar. He soon finds that his son is in fact guilty of stealing a car and for manslaughter when he struck someone on the road while he was trying to evade the police. The next instant the judge brings down the gavel and states that his son is free to go. As he is rising from his chair he begins to take his robe off and state that he would take the full penalty for his sons crime with no questions to be asked.

This is exactly what the doctrine of justification is. The moment God saves a person they are seen as legally free from sin and given Jesus’ righteousness, with Jesus taking their sin upon himself. 2 Corinthians 5.21 says, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” There is no longer a penalty for our sins, for we are both legally declared righteous, and given Christ’s righteousness.

Declared Righteous 

The Apostle in the book of Romans says, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Even though in this life there may be consequences for the stupid decisions that we make (like prison, fines and possibly even loss of life), ultimately when a person is saved they are eternally declared righteous from their sins and  their lawless deeds are remembered no more.

Imputed Righteousness

Even though this is incredible, the very first thing that we would do once being declared morally neutral is mess it up. This is why Jesus also imputes to us his very righteousness or record of when he lived on this earth. When Jesus was murdered on the cross something known as “The Great Exchange” took place. Jesus was bearing the wrath and punishment of all the people on earth who would believe in him while also imparting to us his perfect life record without sin. We now have the very righteousness of God, and when God the Father looks at one of his children he sees them just as blameless as his Son Jesus.

Because of this, we can truly move on and forget the past mistakes and look forward to the future with hope.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Oxt3_nqoFo

 

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Conversion

Posted by Branden Earp on August 21, 2014
Posted in: Uncategorized. Tagged: Conversion, Faith, Repentance, salvation. Leave a comment

matthias-grunewald-947266Have you ever been sick and tired of being sick and tired? Sometimes things in life seem so out of control that you feel like your drowning with no end in sight. While Jesus walked the earth he said, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” What he was referring to is the true rest and peace that comes in this life through placing your faith in Jesus and becoming a Christian.

So what you do to become a Christian? The answer is absolutely nothing. Now that we have seen what God actually does do behind the scenes through election, calling, and regeneration, what does it look like from our perspective? The doctrine of conversion is our willing response of faith and repentance to God’s calling us into his family. While it may seem that this really is something that we have to do to be saved, it is actually God giving us the ability to do this in the first place.

Faith

Placing faith in Jesus involves more than just a theological assent to the truths found within the Bible, but actually agreeing with those truths in you heart. This involves coming to Jesus believing the truths of the Gospel, which is the power of God for salvation. The Apostle Paul states that the essence of the gospel is, “that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures”. Placing your faith in Jesus involves believing that the long awaited Savior, Jesus, lived a perfect life on this earth, was crucified and was buried. He rose from death three days later, and will come back one day as a judge to right all wrongs.

Repentance

The second part of conversion involves repentance, or a true sorrow for the sin or wrongs that you have done in the past and a choosing to turn from those sins in the future. Now there is a guaranteed chance that you will sin thousands or millions of times after this, but as Martin Luther once said, “All of life is one of repentance.” We are always coming back to God and saying sorry for the wrongs that we commit against others and ultimately against him.

While conversion does include both faith and repentance, it is only because of God that we are able to do this. Although unnecessary, many (including myself) have said a prayer to God that affirms these things. It may go something like, “God I am sorry for the wrongs that I have done in the past. Jesus, I believe that you are God, and that you lived a perfect life for me, died on the cross and rose again. Thank you for saving me to a new life. Amen.” And the amazing thing is that if you truly believe this than you are a Christian and that God has promised he will never cast you out of his family. Being a Christian doesn’t make life easier, but you have God with you in all of the mess and you truly have a hope for the future. A common creed that the those who believe in Jesus have believed and recited since around 390AD is included below:

 

 

THE APOSTLES CREED

I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary.

He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended into death.

The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended to heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty. From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

the holy catholic church,

the communion of saints,

the forgiveness of sins,

the resurrection of the body,

and the life everlasting. Amen.

 

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Regeneration

Posted by Branden Earp on August 20, 2014
Posted in: Uncategorized. Tagged: New Life, Regeneration. Leave a comment

1543-1545-Michelangelo-works-on-the-CONVERSION-OF-ST-PAUL-fresco-in-the-the-Pauline-Chapel-michelangelo-vs-leonardo-da-vinci-33332445-1086-1000Has an experience ever happened to you where in an instant your whole life changed? Possibly at the birth of a child or the death of a loved one. The Bible teaches that the most decisive moment of our lives is the moment of regeneration, or when God gives to us new spiritual life.

This moment is completely an act of God apart from anything that we could do to save ourselves. This is one of the distinctions made between the Calvinist school of thought and the Arminian school of thought as seen in the doctrine of election.

The Bible paints a picture that when we are apart from God we are likened to a dead man that cannot cannot save himself. A common analogy is one of a man that has been dead for years at the bottom of the ocean. Arminian theology would state that God throws us a life ring from off the ship and all we have to do is grab on to it (make a conscious choice to be saved). Calvinist theology, on the other hand would say that we are dead in our sins and that God is the one who jumps off the ship, comes down to the bottom of the ocean and makes us alive. Ephesians 2.8-9 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” It is this change within us that enables us to cry out to God and believe.

The exact way that this happens is a mystery to us, but God in his grace decides to save some and to give them a new heart. Ezekiel 36.26 states, “And I [God] will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” One moment we hear the gospel being proclaimed, God decides to send his spirit within us, and the next our lives are forever changed and we are saved. Even though the change is instantaneous, it is seen over a lifetime, and you will begin to see that your life truly has changed when you see that you do not enjoy doing the wrong things that you used to do.

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Effective Calling

Posted by Branden Earp on August 19, 2014
Posted in: Uncategorized. Tagged: Effective Calling, Gospel Call. Leave a comment

prodigal-paintingOnce God has predestined someone to be his child, the next thing to happen is something known as the effective call, in which an individual upon hearing the proclamation of the gospel responds in saving faith.

Behind the scenes, God the Father is drawing someone to himself to be in the family of God, but this is done through the preached word by a friend, family member or pastor. The theological term for this is effective calling, because when God calls someone from darkness into light they cannot help but be overcome with joy and respond in saving faith.

The best explanation of this doctrine that I have heard is from pastor John Piper. He said effective calling is likened to someone taking a nap on their couch (a metaphor for being dead in their sins and not believing in Christ), and a friend coming up and yelling WAKE UP!! (a metaphor for God’s calling to become a Christian). Really the only response you have is to jolt awake and respond.

This is why it is so important to talk about Jesus with those you have a relationship with. Romans 10.14 says, “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? The only way for those who are not Christians to have eternal life is for another person to tell them about Jesus and for that person to believe.

If you are a Christian, think about 3 people who you have a friendship with and can be praying for and talking to about Jesus at the appropriate time. And if you are not a Christian, pray and ask God to make himself known to you in a real, tangible way this week.

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Election and Reprobation

Posted by Branden Earp on August 14, 2014
Posted in: Uncategorized. Tagged: arminianism, calvanism, double election, election, reprobation, salvation. 2 Comments

landaue1_2Have you ever been chosen for something? Maybe you can think of the time when your husband asked you to be his wife and chose you. Possibly you were chosen for a job you didn’t think you had a chance at or for a fraternity or sports team. The doctrine of election is the act of God choosing you to be part of his family, not because of any good within you, but simply because he wanted to.

Election

There are numerous places in the Bible that speak to this (Acts 13.48, Romans 8.28, John 15.16, Romans 9, Ephesians 1.4-6, John 6.44, Ephesians 2.8-9, John 10.26), but there are many out there, including myself for most of my life, that feel uncomfortable with this doctrine. What this actually ultimately stems from is pride. We want to think that in some way we earned at least a little part of our salvation, even if that little part is our choosing of him. But this is just not the case.

The theological view that is opposed to what is called election is known as arminianism, which was founded by Jacob Arminius. Those that hold this view would say that God looks forward into our lives to see who would profess him as God and make a decision to become a Christian. God would in turn choose or elect those individuals who choose him for salvation. The problem with this view is that it makes the ultimate decision as to whether or not we are saved on our shoulders, and according to the verses above this just is not the case.

There are however some verses that do say that we choose him. The most famous verse is John 3.16, which states, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” John 1.12 also says, “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,”.

So which one is it? The answer is both. We are choosing what we most want. God does predestine us and elect us before the world was created, but as my friend pastor Harvey Turner would say, “he also chooses our chooser” so that we voluntarily decide to choose what we most want to do. This is not some type of robot manipulation, but a loving God choosing to save some as his kids. Below I have a link to an article that pastor John Piper wrote that has the best explanation I have come across.

Reprobation

By far, the doctrine that I have had to wrestle with the most that is just there in the Scriptures is the doctrine of reprobation. Dr. Wayne Grudem defines this as, “The sovereign decision of God before creation to pass over some persons, in sorrow deciding not to save them, and to punish them for their sins, and thereby to manifest his justice.” Some verses that support this doctrine are, 1 Peter 2.8, Romans 9.17-22 and Jude 4. When those in the Bible asked why is was, the apostle Paul’s reply was,

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? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? 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, 23 in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory— 

If you are like me and scream that this isn’t fair, you have to consider what fairness really is. If God were to be fair than he would save absolutely no one and we would all be damned. There are many things that we do not understand here on this earth, but ultimately we have to trust that God is good, and as Ezekiel 33.11 says, “As I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?”

So this week, if you are a Christian, thank God that he did decide to choose you apart from any thing that you could do. And if you are wrestling with whether or not you are one of those that he has chosen, then believe in Jesus and tell him sorry for your sins. If you have done that, and truly believe, than you are elect and you can believe God when he says, “whoever comes to me I will never cast out.”

Here is also the best explanation of the doctrine of election by Dr. John Piper:

Are Thre Two Wills of God?

Here is a great video about the difficult doctrine of reprobation, or double election, followed by a short video about predestination.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbx-9neSzjU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulHddxQ__9E

 

 

 

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Common Grace

Posted by Branden Earp on August 10, 2014
Posted in: Uncategorized. Tagged: Common Grace. Leave a comment

image.phpWhen you look at the world around you do you ever stop to think how incredible the place is where you live? I grew up in Las Vegas, and even though the 110 degree summers aren’t awesome, there are a ton of amazing things about the city. When you go up on the High Roller, which is the world’s largest observation wheel, and look over the Vegas Strip it is an incredible sight. Or where I live now in Reno, snowboarding or hiking on the mountains overlooking Lake Tahoe is breath taking.

Common grace is all the undeserved blessings in this life that we do not deserve that does not have to do with salvation. There are a plethora of examples in our lives where this is evident. Think of the fun times that you have on the beach or on vacation at at the lake with your family. The Bible says that God created all of this, with one word, and he makes the sun rise and the rain fall on both the just and the unjust. Pretty much everything that we have around us is there because of God’s common grace on our lives through the wisdom and strength that he gives us every day. This includes education, non-profits, friendships that we have and businesses and the products that are made in their walls that we use every single day.

Romans also says that God has given the knowledge that he exists to each person as an instinct of common grace as well. This is why when agnostics or even atheists are in a terrible tragedy the fist thing to come out of their mouth is “God help me.” And an awesome thing is that even though they are not Christians and are not God’s children, many times he chooses to deliver them out of unbelievable circumstances anyways. Even though they seemingly may not intellectually believe in God.

A final thing that this includes is not sending us to hell once we sin. The Bible says that each sin or wrong that we commit is punishable by an eternal punishment, if we are looking for fairness. For God, it would be completely just for him to damn us when we sin and are not Christians, but out of his common grace he chooses not to. 2 Peter 3.9 states, “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” He cares for each and every person on this earth, and has given us amazing blessings to show it.

 

 

http://youtu.be/Rkc1F7itRdI

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