Title

Progressive Sin

2009-11-08T18:46:00.002-05:00

Simple statements often lead me to deeper thoughts than those that require deep thought to begin with.

Sin is always progressive in nature. If you give it an inch, it soon seeks to take a mile. Sin is never content, but always seeks and desires more.

-Tim Challies

Why I Love Study Bibles - Tiny Nuggets of Gold

2009-11-07T09:45:00.003-05:00

In reading Jeremiah the following quote is from the study note for verse 2:34:

"Covenant infidelity always leads to ethical infidelity."

We're Back

2009-11-07T09:20:00.002-05:00

So lets try and pick this blog back up....

Its been an eventful chapter in this book of life that we are living and writing: Multiple weddings, house buying, Job searching, pain & happiness, and so on. But God has been there through it all. At times it was hard to see Him, and there have been times when we may not have wanted to see Him. But He is gracious and full of mercy, to love us no matter what and to have His un-wavering arms open and ready for us to step into that embrace. The taste of a working relationship with God, one that involves pray, reading the Bible, community with believers, tastes sweet. Its is undeniable that we are most satisfied when we are in that working relationship with Him. So as Paul writes:

"Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord." 1 Corinthians 15:56-58

Venture into Fiction..... so far I'm pleased

2009-07-17T09:23:00.001-04:00

"When people are kids their parents teach them all sorts of stuff, some of it true and useful, some of it absurd hogwash (example of the former: don't crap your pants; example of the latter: Columbus discovered America) This is why puberty happens. The purpose of puberty is to shoot an innocent and gullible child full of nasty glandular secretions that manifest in the mind as confusion, in the innards as horniness, upon the skin as pimples, and on the tongue as cocksure venomous disbelief in every piece of information, true or false, gleaned from one's parents since infancy. The net result is in a few years of familial hell culminating in the child's exodus from the parental nest, sooner or later followed by a peace treaty and the emergence of the post pubescent as an autonomous, free-thinking human being who knows that Columbus only trespassed on an island inhabited by our lost and distant Indian relatives, but who also knows not to crap his pants."

- Excerpt from "The River Why" by David James Duncan

To You Be the Glory

2009-07-15T12:11:00.003-04:00

Listening to the new Glory Revealed 2 cd. I have to say that the album ends with an beautifully simple song by Matt Maher and Kari Jobe singing the truth of Romans 11:33-36. The Glory Revealed project is absolutely God glorifying worship... sweet fragrances to the Lord. They simply sing scripture. I apprecatice this being the book-end to the album rejoicing in the fact that all things are from Him, through Him, and to Him be glory forever. I Amen that.

Romans 11:33-36 (English Standard Version)

³³Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! ³⁴"For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?"³⁵"Orwho has given a gift to him
that he might be repaid?" ³⁶For from him and through him and to him are all things To him be glory forever. Amen.

Check it out ---> http://www.gloryrevealed.com/

Think about it

2009-07-13T10:08:00.003-04:00

I want to be one free of expectations. I don't know if it is a safety mechanism I have installed but I try my best to not set expectations. They seem to only create pain when they are not meet. Instead I live in the present, accepting what comes and being grateful for what I have. Maybe it's one of the walls that I have built to protect me, but generally I think it works. When we live a life that is absent of these expectations it frees us to simply enjoy life as it comes. Just ask yourself how many times you have been let down b/c you set some expectation (whether it was just or not) and it didn't come through? Think of it this way too….. when is a gift more appreciated…. When it's expected or when it is given just b/c someone thought of you? Maybe this lifestyle isn't for everyone, but it's what I do.

Marriage Mania

2009-04-28T15:29:00.001-04:00

Marriage Mania

So with all the weddings coming up (including my own) Calvin & Blogging have been put on hold.

Blogging the Institutes Day 57 : 2.7.2 - 2.7.7

2009-04-10T17:00:00.002-04:00

We have heard in Galatians "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law".

Oh the glory of that line. There is however a cyclical view of this. That leads us to the topic of today's reading: How the law leads us to understand the curse, which leads us to Christ.

"Hence he properly calls Christ the end or fulfilling of the Law, because it would avail us nothing to know what God demands did not Christ come to the succor [aid] of those who are laboring, and oppressed under an intolerable yoke and burden."

"Is the Lord, then, you will ask, only sporting with us? Is it not the next thing to mockery, to hold out the hope of happiness, to invite and exhort us to it, to declare that it is set before us, while all the while the entrance to it is precluded and quite shut up? I answer, Although the promises, insofar as they are conditional, depend on a perfect obedience of the Law, which is nowhere to be found, they have not, however, been given in vain. For when we have learned, that the promises would be fruitless and unavailing, did not God accept us of his free goodness, without any view of our works, and when, having so learned, we, by faith, embrace the goodness thus offered in the gospel, the promises, with all their annexed conditions, are fully accomplished. For God. while bestowing all thing upon us freely, crowns his goodness by not disdaining our imperfect obedience; forgiving its deficiencies, accepting it as if it were complete, and so bestowing upon us the full amount of what the Law has promised."... !!!!

Blogging the Institutes Day 57 : 2.6.3 - 2.7.1

2009-04-08T22:36:00.002-04:00

The theme of redemption flood Scriptures. From the fall of man to coming of the Kingdom. Christ as Mediator is a constant pursuit. The purpose of the laws, ceremonies, and rites in the Old Testament were to point the Jews to an "end". God is only interested in spiritual worship, for why would God be interested in the shouts of mere human mouths? He wouldn't. He wants man's soul to rejoice, he wants man's soul to sing to Him! These ceremonies were to draw the spiritual out of the dead human flesh. They were to draw the mind up so they could see that something greater would be needed to fully restore them with God. In short, the laws, ceremonies, and rites point to an ultimate sacrifice, of the most pure blood, that can reach deep enough to cleanse a soul! And that sacrifice was satisfied in Jesus Christ.

Blogging the Institutes Day 56 : 2.5.18 - 2.6.2

2009-04-07T20:33:00.002-04:00

If you haven't picked up on it yet, Calvin is really trying to get across the depth of what it means to be a fallen human, and that due to our nature we must solely rely on God and His Grace to be near to Him and do good by Him.

"Only agree with me in this, that it is by his (man's) own fault he is stripped of the ornaments in which the Lord at first attired him, and then let us unite in acknowledging that what he now wants is a physician, and not a defender."

"Let it stand, therefore, as an indubitable truth, which no engines can shake, that the mind of man is so entirely alienated from the righteousness of God that he cannot conceive, desire, or design any thing uy what is wicked, distorted, foul, impure, and iniquitous; that his heart is so thoroughly envenomed by sin that it can breathe out nothing but corruption and rottenness; that if some men occasionally make a show of goodness, their mind is ever interwoven with hypocrisy and deceit, their sould inwardly bound with the fetters of wickedness."

Blogging the Institutes Day 55 2.5.13 - 2.5.17

2009-04-01T18:14:00.002-04:00

We continue on the topic of man's ability to chose good, and further support the stance that man can do no good without the aid of God & Grace. Calvin makes two statements that I feel should be documented in order to build this further support.

This one is pretty funny, I can see Calvin saying this to his opposition.

"To the natural powers of man we ascribe approving and rejecting, willing and not willing, striving and resisting, i.e., approving vanity, rejecting solid good, willing evil and not willing good, striving for wickedness, and resisting righteousness."

And in response to those who say, "Then why do any thing at all".

Grace led "good acts" are our own! How great is that! We get a level of credit in God's eyes for those works which we could not do without His Help.

"But though every thing good in the will is entirely derived from the influence of the Spirit, yet, because we have naturally an innate power of willing, we are not improperly said to do the things of which God claims for himself all the praise; first, because every thing which his kindness produces in us is our own (only we must understand that it is not of ourselves); and, secondly, because it is our mind, our will, our sturdy which are guided by him to what is good."

Blogging the Institutes Day 54 2.5.9 - 2.5.12

2009-04-01T16:45:00.002-04:00

Why do I think it is of such massive importance that we squash the idea of the human will's ability to chose good?

Answer: So that we can not boast. Because we would. If the human will was able to chose good without the aid of grace and faith, we would give ourselves the glory and rob God of His deserved glory.

"We must, therefore, attend to the admonition of Paul, when he thus addresses believers, 'Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.' (Phil 2:12-13). He ascribes to them (man) a part in acting that they may not indulge in carnal sloth, but by enjoining fear and trembling, he humbles them so as to keep them in remembrance, that the very thing which they are ordered to do is the proper work of God -- distinctly intimating, that believers act passively inasmuch as the power is given them from heaven, and cannot in any way be arrogated to themselves."

Blogging the Institutes Day 53 2.5.4 - 2.5.8

2009-03-31T22:16:00.002-04:00

What purpose do teachers, preachers, exhortations, or reprimands have once one becomes a "believer" in Christ? If one is born again shouldn't that be enough? What is the purpose to bible study, of listening to sermons, of talking out issues with friends? Why does it seem like there are so many that think little of these things?

Well, there are MANY purposes for those things, but "had exhortations and reprimands no other profit with the godly than to convince them of sin, they could not be deemed altogether useless. Now, when, by the Spirit of God acting within, they have the effect of inflaming their desire of good, of arousing them from lethargy, of destroying the pleasure and honeyed sweetness of sin, making it hateful and loathsome, who will presume to cavil at them as superfluous?"

The danger of this attitude can be seen across the scope of the Church today. People forget about sin. They accept the grace of God, they accept Jesus. But the only change that is seen in their lives is that they feel eternally forgiven. Their actions don't change, "because they feel forgiven", their views don't change, "they don't have to" they feel forgiven.

Preaching, Teaching, Talking, Reading -- all, if only, bring light to sin. And when sin is brought to your face, the only place you can go is to the Cross. And when you encounter the cross, you will "feel" what forgiven is really like.

And your actions and your view will change.

Blogging the Institutes Day 52: 2.4.7 -2.5.3

2009-03-24T16:00:00.000-04:00

The idea of unabated human free will is not biblical; Free will to chose God, free will to do good, free will to make any choice based solely on your own. It's just not. Any semi-serious study of Romans, the Words of Jesus, and the entire Old Testament's pointing to God's redemptive history will prove this. Scriptures continually state that God wills some hearts of flesh and other hearts of stone and that grace is through faith, a gift from God and not of works.

If you believe that free will indeed exist, and that you are the final decision maker in your faith, or that you have the ability to chose good over evil, I honestly pray for you. For if that is the case then you are leaving your faith, and your eternal future in your own hands, your own sinful hands. And where there is sin there is punishment, all the works in the world will not cover up that stain.

"The abettors of this error would see a still better refutation of it, if they would attend to the source from which the apostle derives the glory of the saints -- 'Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called; and whom he called, them he also justified; and who he justified, them he also glorified' (Rom 8:30). On what ground, then the apostle being judge, are believers crowned? Because by the mercy of God, not their own exertions, they are predestinated, called, and justified. Away, then, with the vain fear, that unless free wills stands, there will no longer be any merit! It is foolish to take alarm, and recoil from that which Scripture
inculcates. 'If thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it?' (1 Cor 4:7). You see how everything is denied to free will, for the very purpose of leaving no room for merit. And yet, as the beneficence and liberality of God are manifold and inexhaustible, the grace which he bestows upon us, inasmuch as he makes it our own, he recompenses as if the virtuous acts were our own."

Augustine puts it like this, " If you are to receive your due, you must be punished. What then is done? God has not rendered you due punishment, but bestows upon you unmerited grace. If you wish to be an alien from grace, boast your merits."

I wish to be no alien from grace, but a current and forever resident of grace!

Blogging the Institutes Day 51: 2.4.1 - 2.4.6

2009-03-24T11:59:00.002-04:00

I enter this subject humbly, as I do not have all the answers, and can not even begin to do a detailed Q&A, but it is a subject that settles well in my soul, one I feel is closest to God in description, and most glorifies Him as Sovereign.

John Piper made a statement during his TULIP seminar, which I feel may have come from the reading of this section. Piper said that God wills means, and God wills ends. At time you may be a functioning part of the means, and at time you may be experiencing the ends.

Calvin puts it this way, "And the interference of divine providence goes to the extent not only of making events turn out as was foreseen to be expedient, but of giving the wills of men the same direction."

The best picture of this is in the story of Job, and how all at once God, Satan, and man can be involved in one singular "evil", yet God is not unjust for allowing that "evil" to occur. Where God uses Satan and man as the means to the ultimate end of humbling Job to produce worship and saying, "What the Lord giveth, the Lord taketh away."

God will get His Glory. If He were to ever act in a way were the end was not His receiving of Glory, that would be an injustice to Himself, and a very weak picture of a Holy Awesome God.

Blogging the Institutes Day 50: 2.3.10 - 2.3.14

2009-03-23T20:14:00.005-04:00

Thank God we are not left to ourselves to preserver to the end. It is only God's Grace that allows us to continually fight off sin and the devil. Without this continual and effectual grace we would not stand a change.

Bernard of Clairvaux, a Cistercian monk, one in which Calvin has quoted quite a bit lately, made a very poignant prayer in regard to perseverance,

"Draw me, who am in some measure unwilling, and make me willing; draw me, who am sluggisly lagging, and make me run."

That's my prayer, and maybe one in which you would consider as well!

Finally Alive - Read It!

2009-03-20T14:51:00.001-04:00

"The Son of Man came “to give his life a ransom for many.” This
had to happen as the basis of the free and gracious gift of the new
birth for undeserving sinners like us. And since the new birth is
the gift of eternal life, not just new life, the ransom price had to be
imperishable—not like silver or gold. The blood of Christ is infi nitely
valuable and, therefore, can never lose its ransoming power. The life
it obtains lasts forever. So the way God brings about the new birth
is by paying a ransom for the eternal life it imparts."

-Excerpt from Finally Alive by John Piper.

Read it online for free

"There is nothing new under the sun"

2009-03-19T19:34:00.002-04:00

In Ecclesiastes King Solomon sets out on the ultimate experiment..... to find ultimate pleasure. He tries all kinds of avenues; parties, women, kingdoms, work and find one truth, that there is nothing new under the sun. I encourage all who see this to begin to listen to Matt Chandler, lead pastor at the Village Church, clearly and wonderfully teach this amazing book. It has rocked my world.

http://hv.thevillagechurch.net/sermons?kw=ecc&type=sermons&match=any

Blogging the Institutes Day 49 2.3.5 -2.3.9

2009-03-14T16:45:00.002-04:00

Argument: Everything Proceeding from Man is Corrupt (Continued), Anything Good Proceeding from Man, is actually Proceeding from Christ.

"Thus the soul (in its natural state), in some strange and evil way, is held under this kind of voluntary, yet sadly free necessity, not bond and free; Bond in respect of necessity, free in respect of will: and what is still more strange, and still more miserable, it is guilty because free, and enslaved because guilty, and therefore enslaved because free."
"Since the Lord, in bringing assistance, supplies us with what is lacking, the nature of that assistance will immediately make manifest its converse, ie., our penury. When the apostle says to the Philippians, "being confident of this very thing, that he which has begun a good work in you, will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ", there cannot be a doubt, that by the good work thus begun, he means the very commencement of conversion in the will. God, therefore, begins the good work in us be exciting in our hearts a desire, a love, and a study of righteousness, or (to speak more correctly) by turning, training, and guiding our hearts unto righteousness; and he competes this good work by confirming us unto perseverance."
But if the Holy Spirit meant to show that no good can ever be extracted from our heat until it is made altogether new, let us not attempt to share with him what he claims for himself alone.
"For in saying (Augustine that is), as he often does, that the Lord prevents the unwilling in order to make him willing, and follows after the willing that he may not will in vain, he make him the sole author of good works.
If, when engrafted into Christ, we bear fruit like the vine, which draws its vegetative power from the moisture of the ground and the dew of heaven, and fostering warmth of the sun, I see nothing in a good work, which we can call our own, without trenching upon what is due to God.
In this way, the Lord both begins and prefects the good work in us, so that it is due him, first, that the will conceives a love of rectitude, is inclined to desire, is moved and stimulated to purse it; secondly, that this choice, desire, and endeavor fail not, but are carried forward to effect; and lastly, that we go on without interruption, and persevere even to the end."

Blogging the Institutes Day 48 2.3.1 -2.3.4

2009-03-14T15:39:00.004-04:00

Argument: Everything Proceeding from Man is Corrupt

Points of Support:

Christ says that we must be born again, because we are flesh. He requires us not to be born again of the body, but of the mind. The mind must be totally renewed
Everything in man, which in not spiritual, falls under the denomination of carnal. But we have nothing of the Spirit except through regeneration (being born again). Everything, therefore, which we have from nature is flesh.
Ps 62:9 "Those of low estate are but a breath; those of high estate are a delusion; in the balances they go up; they are together lighter than a breath." The human mind receives a humbling blow when all the thoughts which proceed form it are derived as foolish, frivolous, perverse, and insane.
Rom 3:10-18 "as it is written: None is righteous, no not one, no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one. Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive. The venom of asps is under their lips. Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood, in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes." The object is not merely to upbraid men in order that they may repent, but to teach that all are overwhelmed with inevitable calamity, and can be delivered from it only by the mercy of God.
"For as a body, while it contains and fosters the cause and matter of disease, cannot be called healthy, although pain is not actually felt; so a soul, while teeming with such seeds of vice, cannot be called sound."
But we ought to consider, that, notwithstanding the corruption of our nature, there is some room for divine grace, such grace as, without purifying it, may lay it under internal restraint...If every soul is capable of such abominations (and the apostle declares this boldly), it is surely easy to see what the result would be, if the Lord were to permit human passion to follow its bent...In the elect, God cures these diseases in the mode which we shortly be explained; in others, he only lays them under such restraint as may prevent them from breaking forth to a degree incompatible with the preservation of the established order of things."
The virtues which deceive us by an empty show may have their praise in civil society and the common intercourse of life, but before the judgment sear of God they will be of no value to establish a claim of righteousness."

This can be a very scary thought for those who think being good, and doing good, is all that really matters.

Blogging the Institutes Day 47 2.2.14 - 2.2.27

2009-03-12T22:35:00.002-04:00

This is profound once understood, knowing that grace must be given before you can understand, so in understanding, you know you have grace.

"We are all sinners by nature, therefore we are held under the yoke of sin. But if the whole man is subject to the dominion of sin, surely the will, which is its principal seat, must be bound with the closest chains. And, indeed, if divine grace were preceded by any will of ours, Paul could not have said that, 'it is God which worketh in us both to will and to do' (Phil 2:13). Away, then, with all the absurd trifling which many have indulged in with regard to preparation. Although believers sometimes ask to have their heart trained to the obedience of the divine law, as David does in several passages, it is to be observed, that even this longing in prayer is from God.

Augustine said it this way is speaking about the inability of human reason to understand the things of God,

"The grace of illumination is not less necessary to the mind than the light of the sun to the eye.

Blogging the Institutes Day 46 2.2.18 - 2.2.23

2009-03-12T19:21:00.002-04:00

What power does human reason hold, in regard to the kingdom of God and spiritual discernment? Calvin breaks down the kingdom of God and spiritual discernment into three things: knowledge of God, knowledge of His paternal favor toward us, and the method of regulating our conduct in accordance with the divine law, and examines human reason in light of them:

Knowledge of God & God's Paternal Favor Towards Us

The short and sweet of it is this, that human reason simply can not begin to reach the level of understanding God and His Paternal Love for us alone. John 1:4-5 says, "In Him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not." The human soul is indeed "irradiated with a beam of divine light, so that it is never left utterly devoid of some small flame, or rather spark, though not such as to enable it to comprehend God. And why so? Because its acuteness is, in reference to the knowledge of God, mere blindness." We must have help through the Holy Spirit to be able to grasp the knowledge and love of God. As we see from Moses that even the most visual proof is not enough to overcome our fallen "human reason", "while upbraiding the people for their forgetfulness, at the same time observes, that they could not become wise in the mysteries of God without his assistance. 'Ye have seen all that the Lord did before your eyes in the land of Egypt, unto Pharaoh, and unto all his servants, and unto all his land; the great temptations which thine eyes have seen, the signs, and these great miracles: yet the Lord has not given you a heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day'."

"No, is not He Himself the living image of His Father, in which the full brightness of His glory is manifested to us? Therefore, how far our faculty of knowing God extends could not be better shown than when it is declared, that though his image is so plainly exhibited, we have not eyes to perceive it. What? Did not Christ descend into the world that he might make the will of His Father manifest to men, and did he not faithfully perform the office? True! He did; but nothing is accomplished by his preaching unless the inner teacher, the Spirit, open the way into our minds. Only those, therefore, come to him who have heard and learned of the Father. And in what is the method of this hearing and learning? It is when the Spirit, with a wondrous and special energy, forms the ear to hear and the mind to understand."

Method of Regulating Our Conduct

Man has to some extent the ability to regulate our conduct based on the engraving of divine law on the heart. This is ability can be seen when looking at the abstract level, homicide is an evil, "no man will deny," yet it has its flaws in that at the say time "one who is conspiring the death of his enemy deliberates on it as if the thing was good."

"This is correctly termed the knowledge of the works of righteousness, a branch in which the human mind seems to have somewhat more discernment than in the former two, since an apostle declares, 'When the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: which show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the meantime accusing or else excusing one another.' If the gentiles have the righteousness of the law naturally engraved on their minds, we certainly cannot say that they are altogether blind as to the rule of life. Nothing, indeed, is more common, than for man to be sufficiently instructed in a right course of conduct by natural law, of which the apostle here speaks."

It comes down to us ultimately needing God for everything.

The Invisible Hand by R.C. Sproul

2009-03-08T18:53:00.003-04:00

I just finished the final page of The Invisible Hand by R.C. Sproul and in reflection I must say that this will go down as "one of those books" that absolutely changed me. If you haven't noticed the sub title of this blog it references the Providence of God, which this book inspired. This book was so influential because reading a book on the Providence of God forces you to constantly reflect on your every moment and how God is there and working in that exact moment, its a reflection that springs so much joy, and makes me feel so small.

Reading this book while reading Calvin was like riding a full speed train into the wall of humility.

Blogging the Institutes Day 45 2.2.12 - 2.2.17

2009-03-08T16:05:00.002-04:00

In yesterday's post we ended with stating that the pursuit of humility does not mean that we should slothfully ignore the powers and skills God has bestowed to us, but inversely we should give God the deserved glory and use them for the spreading of His Fame. So in the next few sections Calvin analyzes our natural and supernatural gifts and how the natural have been corrupted by sin and the supernatural (the pursuit of faith and righteousness for attainment of heavenly life) have been completely withdrawn. It is funny that I encounter this subject as just yesterday I was listening to a seminar by John Piper on TULIP, and he was covering the same topic. That unbelievers do not have the ability to do good, and by good we mean that every act should be done to the Glory of God and if it is not, it can not be "good". But this is not to say that we should not Glorify God for the work He does through unbelievers. If an unbeliever builds a hospital and that hospital saves thousands and thousands of lives, but never acknowledges God's role in that hospital, the building of that hospital was not "good", but we as believers can give all the Glory to God for using those people to carry out His healing.

Calvin says it like this, "But if the Lord has been pleased to assist us by the work and ministry of the ungodly in physics, dialectics, mathematics, and other similar sciences, let us avail ourselves of it, lest, by neglecting the gifts of God spontaneously offered to us we be justly punished for our sloth."

How wonderful it is that God fulfills His promise, that he works everything for the good of those who love Him, even in the use of the ungodly.

Blogging the Institutes Day 44 2.2.8 - 2.2.11

2009-03-08T15:25:00.002-04:00

There is no such thing as free will, there is only will freed by God.

"Without the Spirit the will of man is not free, inasmuch as it is subject to lusts which chain and master it. And again, that nature began to want liberty the moment the will was vanquished by the revolt into which it fell. Again, that man, by making a bad use of free will, lost both himself and his will [Adam]. Again, that free will having been made a captive, can do nothing in way of righteousness. Again, that no will is free which has not been made so by divine grace. Again, that the righteousness of God is not fulfilled when the law orders, and man acts, as it were, by his own strength, but when the Spirit assists, and the will (not the free will of man, but the will freed by God) obeys.

Calvin goes so far as to warn the use of the term "free will" because of its immediate implied meaning. "Declaring that the freedom of man is nothing else than the emancipation or manumission from righteousness, he seems to jest at the emptiness of the name [will]. If any one, then, chooses to make use of this term, without attaching any bad meaning to it, he shall not be troubled by me on that account; but as it can not be retained without very great danger, I think the abolition of it would be of great advantage of the church. I am unwilling to use it myself; and others, if they will take my advice, will do well to abstain from it.

This entire discussion of free will was for the end purpose of creating a foundation on which true understanding of humility can be built. Once we understand that "free will" is nothing more than our freeing from compulsion, and is not our ability to equally choose good over evil, we will see that without divine grace we can do no good. No good, that is the foundation of humility. Calvin puts it this way, "Here however, I must again repeat what I premised at the outset of this chapter, that he who is most deeply abased and alarmed, by the consciousness of his disgrace, nakedness, want, and misery, has made the greatest progress in the knowledge of himself. Man is in no danger of taking too much from himself, provided he learns that whatever he wants is to be recovered in God." As Augustine once said, "As the orator, when asked, 'what is the first precept in eloquence? answered, Delivery: What is second? Delivery: What the third? Delivery: so, if you asked me in regard to the precepts of the Christian religion, I will answer, first, second, and third, Humility."

We see that our ultimate goal is humility, but this is not the humility that leaves us secluded in a room all ours of the day, with no interaction. As Calvin says, "I do not ask, however, that man should voluntarily yield without being convinced, or that, if he has any powers, he should shut his eyes to them, that he may thus be subdued to true humility; but that getting quit of the disease of self-love and ambition, under the blinding influences of which he thinks of himself more highly than he ought to think, he may see himself as he really is, by looking into the faithful mirror of Scripture."

Blogging the Institutes Day 43 2.2.4 - 2.2.7

2009-03-08T14:47:00.002-04:00

In discussion of "free will" it is important to come to a consensus on the meaning of the word. The common opinion of those who Calvin referenced was free will is the "power of reason to discern between good and evil; of will, to choose the one or other." Calvin's ultimate purpose is not to refute each of the stances he observed, but to simply list them as to provide context for his argument leading up to the idea that free will is not the ability to choose equally between good and evil, but to the extent of which it frees us from compulsion. "In this way, then, man is said to have free will, not because he has a free choice of good and evil, but because he acts voluntarily, and not by compulsion. This is perfectly true; but why should so small a matter have been dignified with so proud a title?"

Calvin's problem was not solely with the idea of free will, but the definition and the words themselves. He felt that ascribing this idea of "the extent to which we are free from making decisions based on compulsion" was not worthy of the the title of "will". And this is why, "How few are there who, when they hear free will attributed to man, do not immediately imagine that he is the master of his mind and will in such a sense, that he can of himself incline himself either to good or evil? It may be said that such dangers are removed by carefully expounding the meaning to the people."

Calvin's wanted to break down this idea of free will so that when people heard the term, they did not assume it was referencing the total free ability to choose good over evil, but simply the extent to which we do not respond immediately to compulsions.

Blogging the Institutes Day 42 2.1.9 - 2.2.3

2009-03-03T23:12:00.002-05:00

As we continue to barely scratch the surface of the second book we see Calvin laying a foundation for the redemptive power of Christ. He begins, as discussed in the previous post, with the fall of man and "original sin", and has now moved to the deprivation of free will due to that fall. In today's section we do not get very deep into how man is now deprived of freedom of will, that should be coming very shortly... stay tuned.

Blogging The Institutes Day 41 2.1.5 - 2.1.8

2009-03-02T21:31:00.002-05:00

In continuation of the analysis of Adam's Fall we take a step deeper to look at "original sin" and its effects on those following Adam. There have been arguments made that man should not have to suffer for and are not responsible for the fall of one man. I'm sorry but that is just not the case. For Adam held the responsibility of being the perfect human. It was his job to glorify God through righteousness. He failed to do that. And in that failure tainted his original state. "It should be enough for us to know that Adam was made the depository of the endowments which God was pleased to bestow on human nature, and that, therefore, when he lost what he had received, he lost not only for himself but for us all." An example would be "from a corrupt root corrupt branches proceeding, transmit their corruption to the saplings which spring from them."

"Surely there is no ambiguity in David's confession, 'I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me'. His object in the passage is not to throw blame on his parents; but the better to commend the goodness of God toward him, he properly reiterates the confession of impurity from his very birth. Ad it is clear, that there was no peculiarity in David's case, it follows that it is only an instance of the common lot of the whole human race. All of us, therefore descending from an impure seed, come into the world tainted with the contagion of sin. No, before we behold the light of the sun we are in God's sight defiled and polluted. 'Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not one,' says the book of Job."

But this knowledge is not meant for defeat, but for growing an attitude of humility toward Jesus. "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned; even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 5:19-21)

It is this depth of knowledge that helps foster humility and an understand of true Grace. The Grace that Jesus showed on the Cross. The deeper the understanding of Grace the closer we come to our Father, and the closer we come to our Father, the more we are satisfied and He is ultimately most Glorified.

Amen

Blogging The Institutes: Day 40 2.1.1 - 2.1.4

2009-03-01T22:14:00.002-05:00

Understanding Adam's fall and the impact it has on the rest of mankind following him is an absolute necessity in understanding ourselves and what we can do to re-attain our original state. We first must look for the cause of Adam's sin, "infidelity opened the door to ambition, and ambition was the parent of rebellion, man casting off the fear of God, and giving free vent to his lust." In short, Adam's ambition to attain more, his pride, resulted in his casting off the fear of God, and once the consequence was blinded, the action prevailed. So "the strongest curb to keep all his affections under due restraint, would have been the belief that nothing was better than to cultivate righteousness by obeying the commands of God, and that the highest possible felicity was to be loved by him." Easy enough right? Just realize that when all the options are on the table, the best one is to realize that by cultivating righteousness we experience the highest emotion, the love of God.

Wouldn't it be great if that were it. Seems simple. Do Good, Experience Love. But that scenario only factors in our actions, and since the moment of Adam's fall, we became incapable of cultivating righteousness on our own.

Enter Jesus. Enter the Cross. Enter Grace. For God knows we are not able to cultivate righteousness so He made a way for us to still experience His love by sending His Son to die, to cover our inabilities with Grace.

So without understanding our inability to cultivate righteousness, without understanding the root cause of Adam's fall, we subject ourselves to the exact same trap, the trap of pride. And where pride lives, Grace can not.

So how do we re-attain our original state? We can't. Only by humbling ourselves and allowing the blood of Christ to cover our sin do we experience "the highest possible felicity" to be loved by Him.

Blogging the Institutes - Day 40

2009-02-27T10:46:00.002-05:00

Philosophers come in all shapes and sizes these days but their message hasn't changed.

"For they, when exhorting man to know himself, state the motive to be, that he may not be ignorant of his own excellence and dignity. They wish him to see nothing in himself but what will fill him with vain confidence, and inflate him with pride."

Even men behind the pulpit exhibit this charge to their people. Blindly they lead the blind. I look forward to reading Calvin's rebuttal to the most man-centered, absolutely common, attribute of sinful men; Namely, the desire to make much of themselves.

I have been a believer for going on 8 years. By God's grace, through great influences, I was made aware of the condition of man after the fall. That we are totally depraved and void of any good. That being said, it has only been in the last two years that this truth has rightly humbled me, giving me a more correct knowledge of Grace. We have to know ourselves as utterly hopeless. Then, and only then, is grace truly grace! An undeserved favor, for if you think there is an ounce of good in you, your mind, being so wicked, will attribute God's favor on you, to your goodness. Paul warns us in his letter to Timothy that men will be lovers of themselves!

In addition Calvin says it so beautifully concerning the result of a right knowledge of self…

"It is impossible for us to think of our first original, or the end for which we were created, without being urged to meditate on immortality, and to seek the kingdom of God."

I love how Calvin teaches! He divides the knowledge man ought to have for himself into two questions.

1) What end was man created, what qualities were given to reach that divine worship and future life?

2) How is man to accomplish this?

The first question teaches what our duty is; the second makes us aware of how unable we are to perform it.

To begin to answer we must look at what exactly happened with Adam that caused such a "fearful vengeance on the whole human race". It wasn't the desire for pleasure from fruit. There were endless quantities and varieties to eat. It was Adam's pride that lead him to go beyond what God had permitted and eat of the forbidden tree. God gave this command to exercise and prove Adam's faith, and he did whatever he wanted…. Pride. But there is more to this because it was the woman who by the subtlety of the devil abandoned the command of God. So clearly her fall had it's origin in disobedience. At the same time Adam no only was ensnared by the devil, but despised the word of God and turned to the lies of satan.

"Assuredly, when the word of God is despised, all reverence for him is gone. His majesty cannot be duly honored among us, nor his worship maintained in its integrity, unless we hang as it were upon his lips."

So Infidelity, or the breaking of the rules of a relationship, is the source of the fall.

"From Infidelity sprang ambition and pride, together with ingratitude; because Adam, by longing for more than was allotted him, manifested contempt for the great liberality which God had given him."

"The strongest curb to keep all his (Adam's/Man's) affections under due restraint, would have been to belief that nothing was better than to cultivate righteousness by obeying the commands of God, and that the highest possible happiness was to be loved by Him."

So there is the clear explanation of what happened to plague the whole human race with vengeance. In response the honest man will admit it was a heinous crime for man to think he needed more that all God had given him. And now, in 2009, our revolt is no different. We see this curse clearly that every person born does this exact thing by nature. We reject the perfect truth of God for our own conjured truth. Thereby stealing His Glory and rejecting his truth, we tell Him, "You are no God, I am".

Johnny Cash

2009-02-26T20:36:00.003-05:00

Check out this post by Justin Taylor:

http://theologica.blogspot.com/2009/02/johnny-cash.html

Blogging the Institutes - Day 39

2009-02-26T20:11:00.003-05:00

As we close Book 1, what Calvin says in Ch 18. pt 3 is very appropriate...

Paraphrase ... " I have taught what is plain and clear in scripture. Those who want to disagree ought to beware of what they say. For if under ignorance the seek the praise of modesty, they could have no greater arrogance when they say "I think otherwise".

This is so encouraging because we as believers are beaten up and condemned as ignorant and loony to believe the doctrines Book 1 has covered. They are the foundation; the nature of God, God as Creator, The Fall, Sovereign Providence, and it is all true!

“Man sometimes with a good will wishes something which God does not will, as when a good son wishes his father to live, while God wills him to die. Again, it may happen that man with a bad will wishes what God wills righteously, as when a bad son wishes his father to die, and God also wills it. The former wishes what God wills not, the latter wishes what God also wills. And yet the filial affection of the former is more consonant to the good will of God, though willing differently, than the unnatural affection of the latter, though willing the same thing; so much does approbation or condemnation depend on what it is befitting in man, and what in God to will, and to what end the will of each has respect. For the things which God rightly wills, he accomplishes by the evil wills of bad men,” - Augustine

"If I mistake not, I have already shown clearly how the same act at once betrays the guilt of man, and manifests the righteousness of God. Modest minds will always be satisfied with Augustine’s answer, “Since the Father delivered up the Son, Christ his own body, and Judas his Master, how in such a case is God just, and man guilty, but just because in the one act which they did, the reasons for which they did it are different?” (August. Ep. 48, ad Vincentium). If any are not perfectly satisfied with this explanation—viz. that there is no concurrence between God and man, when by His righteous impulse man does what he ought not to do, let them give heed to what Augustine elsewhere observes: “Who can refrain from trembling at those Judgments when God does according to his pleasure even in the hearts of the wicked, at the same time rendering to them according to their deeds?” (De Grat. et lib. Arbit. ad Valent. c. 20). And certainly, in regard to the treachery of Judas, there is just as little ground to throw the blame of the crime upon God, because He was both pleased that his Son should be delivered up to death, and did deliver him, as to ascribe to Judas the praise of our redemption. Hence Augustine, in another place, truly observes, that when God makes his scrutiny, he looks not to what men could do, or to what they did, but to what they wished to do, thus taking account of their will and purpose. Those to whom this seems harsh had better consider how far their captiousness is entitled to any toleration, while, on the ground of its exceeding their capacity, they reject a matter which is clearly taught by Scripture, and complain of the enunciation of truths, which, if they were not useful to be known, God never would have ordered his prophets and apostles to teach. Our true wisdom is to embrace with meek docility, and without reservation, whatever the Holy Scriptures, have delivered. Those who indulge their petulance, a petulance manifestly directed against God, are undeserving of a longer refutation."

Blogging the Institutes Day 39 1.18.3 - 1.18.4

2009-02-26T16:53:00.002-05:00

Calvin puts an appropriating ending to the first of three books with this statement,

"Those to whom this seems harsh [Providence of God, Will of God in good & evil) had better consider how far their captiousness (petty objections) is entitled to any toleration, while, on the ground of its exceeding their capacity, they reject a matter which is clearly taught by Scripture, and complain of the enunciation of truths, which, if they were not useful to be known, God never would have ordered his prophets and apostles to teach. Our true wisdom is to embrace with meek docility (obedience), and without reservation, whatever the holy Scriptures have delivered. Those who indulge their petulance (childish sulking), a petulance manifestly directed against God, are undeserving of a longer refutation."

And in everyday terms he is basically saying,

"I just laid it out for you. I backed it up with Scripture, I called names of those who object and addressed their objections. Now if you still can't understand, this may just be over your head. And if it is over your head, you might want to be careful about throwing objections at it. Because its all written in the holy Scriptures. So now, if you still object, well I really don't think anything I say will ever convince you."

Blogging the Institutes Day 38 1.17.13 - 1.18.2

2009-02-25T21:07:00.002-05:00

Isaiah 14:27

For the Lord of hosts has purposed,

and who will annul it?

His hand is stretched out,

and who will turn it back?

The Providence of God will be executed to the exact point at which He wills it to. There is no man or creature that can change this. As a child of God I have no fear in that statement. For those who are not, there is much sorrow.

Blogging the Institutes - Day 38

2009-02-25T20:01:00.002-05:00

Job 1 shows that satan gets his form orders from God just as the angels, yet they have different ends. "The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; as it pleased the Lord, so it has been done."

From this we see God was the author of that trial of which satan was a mere instrument. Acts 4:28 shows Pilate and his soldiers indulged in fury against Jesus; yet the disciples confess in prayer that all the wicked did nothing by what the hand and counsel of God had decreed.

"The sum of all this -- since the will of God is said to be the cause of all things, all the counsels and actions of men must be held to be governed by His Providence so that He not only exerts His power in the elect, who are guided by the Holy Spirit, but also forces the reprobate to do him service."

Pslam 40:16-17

2009-02-25T12:50:00.001-05:00

"But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who
love your salvation say continually, "Great is the LORD!" As for me, I
am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me. You are my help
and my deliverer; do not delay, O my God!"

What great peace we have in Jesus, peace that penetrates past the mind
and to the heart. For the Lord takes thought FOR me. For he knows I
can't do it for myself.

Humbly,

Amen.

Blogging the Institutes Day 37 1.17.8 - 1.17.12

2009-02-24T20:16:00.003-05:00

Ok, so I know I put a lot of quotes in these blogs, and trust me, even that is a restraint from what I would like to include. But today I could not help myself, I think summarizing this passage would not do it justice. Shall we begin:

Here we are forcibly reminded of the inestimable felicity (intense happiness) of a pious (God Centered) mind. Innumerable are the ills which beset human life, and present death in as many different forms. Not to go beyond ourselves, since the body is a receptacle, no, the nurse, of a thousand diseases, a man cannot move without carrying along with him many forms of destruction. His life is in a manner interwoven with death. For what else can be said where heat and cold bring equal danger? Then, in what direction soever you turn, all surrounding objects not only may do harm, but almost openly threaten and seem to present immediate death. Go on board a ship, you are but a plank's breadth from death. Mount a horse, the stumbling of a foot endangers your life. Walk along the streets, every tile upon the roofs is a source of danger. If a sharp instrument is in your hand, or that of a friend, the possible harm is manifest. All the savage beast you see are so many beings armed for your destruction. Even within a high-walled garden, where everything ministers to delight, a serpent will sometimes lurk. Your house, constantly exposed to fire, threatens you with poverty by day, with destruction by night. Your fields, subject to hail, mildew, drought, and other injuries, denounce barrenness, and thereby famine. I say nothing of poison, treachery, robbery, some of which beset us at home, others follow us abroad. Amid there perils, must not man be very miserable, as one who, more dead than alive, with difficulty draws an anxious and feeble breath, just as if a drawn sword were constantly suspended over his neck? It may be said that these things happen seldom, at least not always, or to all, certainly never all at once. I admit it; but since we are reminded by the example of others, that they may also happen to us, and that our life is not an exception any more than theirs, it is impossible not to fear and dread as if they were to befall us. What can you imagine more grievous than such trepidation? Add that there is something like an insult to God when it is said, that man, the noblest of the creatures, stands exposed to every blind and random stroke of fortune. Here, however, we were only referring to the misery which man should feel, were he placed under the dominion of chance.

But when once the light of divine providence has illumined the believer's soul, he is relieved and set free, not only from the extreme fear and anxiety which formerly oppressed him, but from all care. For as he justly shudders at the idea of chance, so he can confidently commit himself to God. This I say, is his comfort, that his heavenly Father so embraces all things under his power--so governs them at will by his nod--so regulates them by his wisdom, that nothing takes place save according to his appointment; that received into his favor, and entrusted to the care of his angels, neither fire, nor water, nor sword, can do him harm, except insofar as God their master is pleased to permit.

Blogging the Institutes - Day 37

2009-02-24T19:57:00.001-05:00

The one who loves providence will be like this ......

"If anything adverse befalls him, he will raise his mind to God, whose hand is most effectual in impressing us with patience and placid moderation of mind."

"To calm all the impulses of passion, the most useful consideration is , that God arms the devil, as well as all the wicked, for conflict. Then sits as umpire, that he may exercise our patience."

"We would be miserable, if left under the dominion of chance."

"But when once the light of Divine Providence has illumined the believer’s soul, he is relieved and set free, not only from the extreme fear and anxiety which formerly oppressed him, but from all care. For as he justly shudders at the idea of chance, so he can confidently commit himself to God. This, I say, is his comfort, that his heavenly Father so embraces all things under his power—so governs them at will by his nod—so regulates them by his wisdom, that nothing takes place save according to his appointment; that received into his favour, and entrusted to the care of his angels neither fire, nor water, nor sword, can do him harm, except in so far as God their master is pleased to permit. For thus sings the Psalm, “Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust; his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday” &c. (Ps. 91:2-6). Hence the exulting confidence of the saints, “The Lord is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me? The Lord taketh my part with them that help me.” “Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear.” “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.” (Ps. 118:6; 27:3; 23:4)."

A Boomer in the Pew Contest

2009-02-24T13:14:00.002-05:00

A Boomer in the Pew is hold a contest in honor of its 1st birthday. It will be giving away a calfskin ESV study bible. You can learn more here http://www.boomerinthepew.com/2009/02/win-a-calfskin-version-of-the-esv-study-bible.html

Doxology Ringing in My Head

2009-02-24T10:07:00.001-05:00

The doxology is such a great hymn to get stuck in your head!

Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heav’nly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Amen.

Blogging The Institutes: Day 36 1.17.3 - 1.17.7

2009-02-23T21:21:00.004-05:00

With the doctrine of Providence comes many questions and many objections from the unbeliever. Who will say that if God is Provident over all actions, then why should we punish those that do wrong. "Was it not God's Providence that lead to that action?" They will say if God's Providence is true then what should be my reason for taking medicine or even take the safe walk home?

Calvin provides great answers to these questions, answers we should take to heart if we ever plan of discussing the doctrine of Providence with others (which we should!)

In regard to the role of Providence in evil acts:

" God requires of us nothing but what he enjoys. If we design anything contrary to his precept, it is not obedience, but contumacy and transgression. But if he did not will it, we could not do it. I admit this. But do we act wickedly for the purpose of yielding obedience to him? This, assuredly, he does not command. No, rather, we rush on, not thinking of what he wishes, but so inflamed by our own passionate lust, that, with destined purpose, we strive against him. And in this way while acting wickedly, we serve his righteous ordination, since in his boundless wisdom he well knows how to use bad instruments for good purposes."

In regard to taking care of ourselves and watching out for our safety:

"For he who has fixed the boundaries of our life, has at the same time entrusted us with the care of it, provided us with the means of preserving it, forewarned us of the dangers to which we are exposed, and supplied cautions and remedies, that we may not be overwhelmed unawares.

Blogging the Institutes - Day 36

2009-02-23T19:54:00.001-05:00

There are many vain uses of the doctrine of providence. It is not a cover or shield to hide your own sin behind saying, "God willed it". It is not a license to sit and wait for God to move your hands and feet before you would go. Rather we should look to scripture for instruction on what is pleasing to God.

See there is not a more freeing doctrine for the laborer than to know God has providence over all. So we should strive to run the race will all diligence, knowing our fate is secure.

Prov 16:9 is clear - "A man's heart devises his ways; but the Lord directs his steps."

And you know what? That's great news! If it were left to me I would step my way right into eternal damnation.

Blogging The Institutes: Day 35 1.16.9 - 1.17.2

2009-02-22T23:17:00.003-05:00

It can be a difficult pill to swallow for some, this 'pill of providence', but like so many medicines, the taste may at first seem awful, but the effects are great, and therefore the medicines start to be our first defense, instead of a feared last resort.

"For while our adversities ought always to remind us of our sins, that the punishment may incline us to repentance, we see, moreover, how Christ declares there is something more in the secret counsel of his Father than to chastise everyone as he deserves. For he says of the man who was born blind, 'Neither has this man sinned, nor his parents; but that the works of God should be made manifest in him'." Here, where calamity takes precedence even of birth, our carnal sense murmurs as if God were unmerciful in thus afflicting those who have not offended. But Christ declares that, provided we had eyes clear enough, we should perceive that in this spectacle the glory of his Father is brightly displayed."

Blogging The Institutes: Day 34 1.16.4 - 1.16.8

2009-02-22T22:42:00.002-05:00

My brother and I like to say, "There are no such things as coincidences." We state this because by insinuating coincidence you are saying that an event, or series of events, happened randomly. And if there existed "random" events, God would not have full control of His creation, and if that were the case that would make him less than God. I believe that is the reason Providence is such a huge part of my faith. That our God must have full control and knowledge of everything that has happened and that will happen is crucial, if He doesn't have that power, then who is to say that He has the power to SAVE but not the power to control all the workings of His creation.

The ultimate reason that Providence has such an impact is that it IS the source of my strength. To know that I have a Creator God who has my back in all situations, and is continually working on my behalf for the good of me, that He may ultimately be glorified. Through the toughest of times I know He is working and in the best of times I know He is working. "When Abraham said to his son, God will provide, he meant not merely to assert that the future event was foreknown to God, but to resign the management of an unknown business to the will of him whose province it is to bring perplexed and dubious matters to a happy result."

"Hence we maintain, that by His providence, not heaven and earth and inanimate creatures only, but also he counsels and wills of men are so governed as to move exactly in the course which he has destined. What, then, you will say, does nothing happen fortuitously, nothing contingently? I answer, it was a true saying of Basil the Great, that fortune and chance are heathen terms; the meaning of which ought not to occupy pious minds. For if all success is blessing from God, and calamity and adversity are His curse, there is no place left in human affairs for fortune and chance."

Blogging The Institutes: Day 33 1.15.8 - 1.16.3

2009-02-22T19:55:00.003-05:00

"Let him, therefore, who would beware of such unbelief, always bear in mind, that there is no random power, or agency, or motion in the creatures, who are so governed by the secret counsel of God, that nothing happens but what he has knowingly and willingly decreed."

As you can tell from the title of this blog one of the attributes I find myself most attracted to is the Providence of God, so you can imagine my joy as Calvin approaches this attribute at the start of the 16th chapter. He opens with this, "It were cold and lifeless to represent God as a momentary Creator, who completed his work once for all, and then left it." At first reading, this line made my heart sink. For the thought of that being true, that God would create this glorious work, and then leave it to run alone, is absolutely frightening and soul stealing. Lucky for us that is not the case, our Provident God continues to govern and direct His creation, leave us stress free and full of joy, for "without preceding to His Providence, we cannot understand the full force of what is meant by God being the Creator, how much soever we may seem to comprehend it with our mind, and confess it with our tongue."

Here are a few select quotes from these sections on Providence, please take a few minutes to soak these in, they have the power of changing your life:

"If one falls among robbers, or ravenous beast; if a sudden gust of wind at sea causes shipwreck; if one is struck down by the fall of a house or a tress; if another, when wandering through desert paths, meets with deliverance; or, after being tossed by the waves, arrives in port, and makes some wondrous hair-breadth escape from death--all these occurrences, prosperous as well as adverse, carnal sense will attribute to fortune. But whoso has learned from the mouth of Christ that all the hairs of his head are numbered, will look farther for the cause, and hold that all events whatsoever are governed by the secret counsel of God."

"No created object makes a more wonderful or glorious display than the sun. For, besides illuminating the whole world with it s brightness, how admirable does it foster and invigorate all animals by its heat, and fertilize the earth by its rays, warming the seeds of grain in its lap, and thereby calling forth the verdant blade! This it supports, increases, and strengthens with additional nurture, till it rises into the stalk; and sill feed it with perpetual moisture, till it comes into flower; and from flower to fruit, which it continues to ripen till it attains maturity. In like manner, by its warmth trees and vines bud, and put forth first their leaves, then their blossom, then their fruit. And the Lord, that he might claim the entire glory of these things as his own, was pleased that light should exist, and that the earth should be replenished with all kinds of herbs and fruits before he made the sun. No pious man, therefore, will make the sun either the necessary or principal cause of those things which existed before the creation of the sun, but only the instrument which God employs, because he so pleases; but these miracles God declared that the sun does not daily rise and set by a blind instinct of nature, but is governed by him in its course, that he may renew the remembrance of his paternal favor toward us."

"God is deemed omnipotent, not because he can act though he may cease or be idle, or because by a general instinct he continues the order of nature previously appointed; but because, governing heaven and earth by his providence, he so overrules all things that nothing happens without his counsel."

"Those who attribute due praise to the omnipotence of God thereby derive a double benefit. He to whom heaven and earth belong, and whose nod all creatures must obey, is fully able to reward the homage which they pay to him, and they can rest secure in the protection of him to whose control everything that could do them harm is subject, but whose authority, Satan, with all his furies and engines, is curbed as with a bridle, and on whose will everything adverse to our safety depends."

"I say superstitious fears. For such they are, as often as the dangers threatened by any created objects inspire us with such terror, that we tremble as if they had in themselves a power to hurt us, or could hurt at random or by chance; or as if we had not in God, a sufficient protection against them."

Blogging the Institutes - Day 35

2009-02-22T19:48:00.001-05:00

" (on providence)..... it works at one time with means, at another time without means, and at another against means."

May it be crystal clear that the message of providence is God's active sovereignty and governance of all things, in the face of all doubts, moving as He wills, with no obstacles.

So how are we to apply this truth? There are many ways... here are 3

1)He has a purpose for all events good and "bad" - John 9:3, Ps 40:5

2) This truth calms fear -

"When the sky is overcast with dense clouds, and a violent tempest arises, the darkness which is presented to our eye, and the thunder which strikes our ears, and stupefies all our senses with terror, make us imagine that every thing is thrown into confusion, though in the firmament itself all continues quiet and serene. In the same way, when the tumultuous aspect of human affairs unfits us for judging, we should still hold, that God, in the pure light of his justice and wisdom, keeps all these commotions in due subordination, and conducts them to their proper end."

3) It steals our control - Romans 11:33-34

We All Must Pray

2009-02-22T11:43:00.002-05:00

I came across a John Piper sermon at the end of 2008 firing us all up to make 2009 the greatest year of prayer in our personal and church lives. Justin Taylor posted this blog with a great summary of what Piper said.

My prayer for myself and all of you is that 2009 is truly a benchmark year for prayer. That we may all look back in 10 years and say 2009 was the year that our prayer lives really just took off!

http://theologica.blogspot.com/2009/02/disciplined-duty-vs-lie-of-legalism.html

Young, Restless, and Reformed

2009-02-22T11:24:00.003-05:00

So there are a handful of people that know me well enough to know that I have a war of a time completing books. There are just so many out there that are great and I just love to filled with different points and ideas that I will continually pick up new books. Well I am working on winning this war and it started with the book Young, Restless, and Reformed. I was expecting to even read it, the title obviously caught my attention so I picked it up. After three days I had gone cover to cover.

It was an extremely well written tour of the Reformation Uprising among teens and 20-somethings. The book covers different on-campus ministries, interviews with John Piper, Marc Driscoll, and more. If your looking for a great casual read, that will encourage you and your reformed theology I would encourage you to read this book.

The author's name is Collin Hansen. Below is an article that he just posted discussing the book and what he may have done differently.

http://www.reformation21.org/articles/reflections-on-young-restless-and-reformed.php

Humbly Loving & Acknowleding Others

2009-02-22T11:16:00.003-05:00

Tim Challies has a great post relating to a quote from John Piper's new book Finally Alive. The post talks about how we should not be envious of other Christian's spiritual gifts or successes, but be joyful in them, for through their gifts the world will glorify God!

Here is the link:

http://www.challies.com/archives/articles/quotes/humbly-rejoicing-in-the-goodness-of-others.php

Blogging the Institutes - Day 33 & 34

2009-02-18T19:36:00.001-05:00

"At present it is necessary only to remember, that man, at his first creation, was very different from all his posterity; who, deriving their origin from him after he was corrupted, received a hereditary taint. At first every part of the soul was formed to rectitude. There was soundness of mind and freedom of will to choose the good. If any one objects that it was placed, as it were, in a slippery position, because its power was weak, I answer, that the degree conferred was sufficient to take away every excuse. For surely the Deity could not be tied down to this condition,—to make man such, that he either could not or would not sin. Such a nature might have been more excellent;but to expostulate with God as if he had been bound to confer this nature on man, is more than unjust, seeing he had full right to determine how much or how little He would give. Why He did not sustain him by the virtue of perseverance is hidden in his counsel; it is ours to keep within the bounds of soberness. Man had received the power, if he had the will, but he had not the will which would have given the power; for this will would have been followed by perseverance. Still, after he had received so much, there is no excuse for his having spontaneously brought death upon himself. No necessity was laid upon God to give him more than that intermediate and even transient will, that out of man’s fall he might extract materials for his own glory."

In coordination with my last post, i wait patiently, but anticipate with great joy, the returning of my Savior and the total restoration of my soul to it's original state. For this is the only true fix of my inconsistency. But I labor with God in the sanctification of my should here on earth, knowing the promise "I am being transformed from one degree of glory to another..... and He who began a good work in me, is sure to complete it."

Part 2 - Separate thoughts beginning in Ch. 16

The Providence of God

"Whoso has learned from the mouth of Christ that all the hairs of his head are numbered. will look farther for the cause (of any event), and hold that all events whatsoever are governed by the secret counsel of God."

"But as unbelievers transfer the government of the world from God to the stars, imagining that happiness or misery depends on their decrees or presages, and not on the Divine will, the consequence is, that their fear, which ought to have reference to him only, is diverted to stars and comets. Let him, therefore, who would beware of such unbelief, always bear in mind, that there is no random power, or agency, or motion in the creatures, who are so governed by the secret counsel of God, that nothing happens but what he has knowingly and willingly decreed."

Coincidence is a utterly sinful word to me. Faith will produce an understanding that all things work in accordance with God's plan. Nothing can thwart it. Therefore, no act on this earth happens merely because the right mix of two variables exist. Some may say, "your taking God's providence to far", my response ..... I would rather err on the side of attributing every atom, every circumstance, ever event to God, than create a list of things He does not tend to.

Let it be clear that providence is an active involvement in all events of this world. Honestly, I gladly submit to God's providence over chance, for "He works out all things for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose." Even if the "thing" is death.

Blogging the Institutes - Day 28

2009-02-18T17:10:00.003-05:00

I haven't spent a lot of time thinking about angels and the role they play. Mainly because the idea never seemed really clear to me in scripture. Calvin clarifies this topic for me and gives a good perspective.

"Angels are ministering spirits whose service God employs for the protection of his people, and by whose means he distributes his favors among men, and also executes other works."

How loving a God to reassure our doubting, terrified spirits with the constant protection from multitudes of angels. Not that He needs help, but simply that he knows we are weak and need reassuring.

Blogging the Institutes - Day 32

2009-02-17T19:25:00.001-05:00

"There is nothing more inconstant than man.. contrary movements agitating and distracting his soul."

This is the result of the Fall.

This quote defines me. It's devastating some days and painful everyday. My inconsistency is a constant source of repentance for me. I battle with myself minute by minute to resist the temptations my flesh would so enjoy, that my selfishness would love to consume, that my idolatry would love to worship. All I can do is pray and preach to myself the truth...."Your grace is sufficient.....I am more than a conqueror....... what can separate me from the love of Christ.....thought I sit is darkness the Lord will be my light, I will bear the indignation of the Lord until He pleads my case..... renew a right spirit within me, Oh God."

Thank you Father for never leaving me and giving me the Holy Spirit that moves in my heart to restore the joy of your salvation. You never fail.

Truth always remains, even when my feeling would have me believe something else........ Which do you trust?

Blogging The Institutes: Day 32 1.15.4 - 1.15.7

2009-02-17T18:53:00.004-05:00

In further discussion of the soul Calvin writes that the soul contains the true "image" of God in which we are created, for as Paul tells Aratus (Acts 17:28) that we are God's offspring not in substance, but in quality, in asmuch as he has adorned us with divine endowments, and it is the soul that regulates the conduct of our bodies, "this it (the soul) does not merely in regard to the offices of a terrestrial life, but also in regard to the service of God. This, though not clearly seen in our corrupt state, yet the impress of it remains is seen in our very vices. For whence have men such a thirst for glory but from a sense of shame? And whence this sense of shame but from a respect for what is honorable? Of this, the first principle and source is a consciousness akin to religion. But as man was undoubtedly created to meditate on the heavenly life, so it is certain that the knowledge of it was engraved on the soul. And, indeed, man would want the principal use of his understanding if he were unable to discern his felicity, the perfection of which consist in being united to God. Hence, the principal action of the soul is to aspire thither, and accordingly, the more a man studies to approach to God, the more he proves himself to be endued with reason."

For those who say that Christianity is a blind faith, or a small man's wonder, the are wrong. For as Calvin points out that the more a man studies the approach to God, the more he is lead by reason, to that knowledge of God. It is our soul's (remember the soul is truly our likeness of God) way of showing we are on the right path or mission. That the fuzziness of God becomes clearer.

Calvin further breaks down our soul into consisting of two faculties: intellect and will

The "office of the intellect being to distinguish between objects, according as they seem deserving of being approved or disapproved; and the office of the will, to choose and follow what the intellect declares to be good, to reject and shun what it declares to be bad...let it be enough to know that the intellect is to us, as it were, the guide and ruler of the soul; that the will always follows its beck, and waits for its decision, in matters of desire."

So i can kinda sense were this is going.... and its blowing my mind!!

Blogging The Institutes: Day 31 1.15.1 - 1.15.3

2009-02-16T19:18:00.002-05:00

Only humans were created in such a manner as to be part body and part soul, and as Calvin points out, the soul is really the defining difference between man and other created beings. But this division of man into soul and body is not widely accepted to be true. We know, as having this idea imprinted on our hearts, as the image bearers of God, that we are indeed both body and spirit. And of utmost importance, the spirit is an immortal spirit for as Solomon speaks of death saying that the spirit returns to God who gave it, and Jesus speaks of his commending his spirit to the Father, and Stephen speaks of his spirit ascending to Christ, "that when the soul is freed from the prison-house of the body, God becomes its perpetual keeper."

In defense of the immortality of the spirit Calvin lays out very helpful arguments:

"Conscience, which, distinguishing between good and evil, responds to the judgment of God, is an undoubted sign of an immortal spirit. How could motion devoid of essence penetrate to the judgment of God, and under a sense of guilt strike itself with terror? The body cannot be affected by any fear of spiritual punishment. This is competent only to the soul, which must therefore be endued with essence. Then the mere knowledge of a God sufficiently proves that souls which rise higher that then world must be immortal, it being impossible that any evanescent vigor could reach the very fountain of life."

"But the swiftness with which the human mind glances from heaven to earth, scans the secrets of nature, and after it has embraced all ages, with intellect and memory digest each in its proper order, and reads the future in the past, clearly demonstrates that there lurks in man a something separated from the body. We have intellect by which we are able to conceive of the invisible God and angels -- a thing of which body is altogether incapable. We have ideas of rectitude, justice, and honesty, ideas which the bodily senses cannot reach. The seat of these ideas must therefore be a spirit. "

"No, sleep itself, which stupefying to man, seems even to deprive him of life, is no obscure evidence of immortality; not only suggesting thoughts of things which never existed, but foreboding future events."

How true.

Blogging the Institutes - Day 31

2009-02-16T19:17:00.001-05:00

There is a before and after effect of sin on humankind. We were different before the fall and we need to understand what changed upon at this act. See, we might be tempted to attribute out current state as humans, to God, due to the fact that we personally know nothing different than our depraved state. We ought to know our origin is of clay and dust. This dust was breathed on by God and given an immortal soul. Little do we focus on this miracle, taking for granted out own design. This soul being immortal means it will have a home outside of it's fleshly body. For the believer, God becomes the soul's homes, for the unregenerate, the darkness of Hell.

Blogging the Institutes - Day 30

2009-02-15T17:43:00.001-05:00

Ending Ch. 14 with straight up Calvin.

"How ungrateful, then, were it to doubt whether we are cared for by this most excellent parent, who we see cared for us even before we were born! How impious were it to tremble in distrust, lest we should one day be abandoned in out necessity by that kindness which, antecedent to our existence, displayed itself in a complete supply of all good things."

" As often as we call God the Creator of heaven and earth, let us remember that the distribution of all the things which he created are in his hand and power, but that we are his sons, whom he has undertaken to nourish and bring up in allegiance to him, that we may expect the substance of all good from him alone, and have full hope that he will never suffer us to be in want of things necessary to salvation, so as to leave us dependent on some other source; that in everything we desire we may address our prayers to Him, and, in every benefit we receive, acknowledge his hand, and give him thanks; that thus allured by his great goodness and beneficence, we may study with our whole heart to love and serve Him."

Blogging The Institutes: Day 30 1.14.19 - 1.14.22

2009-02-15T17:18:00.002-05:00

As chapter 14 comes to a close so does Calvin's exhortation of the Creation and how we are to experience and learn about God in it. And as Calvin states, it was not be means of completion that he has decided to put a cap on this subject but only that if, "we were to attempt to go over the whole subject we should never come to a conclusion, there being as many miracles of divine power, as many striking evidences of wisdom and goodness, as there are classes of objects, no, as there are individual objects, great or small, throughout the universe!"

How loving is our God that, "he was pleased to display his providence and paternal care toward us in this, that before he formed man, he provided whatever he foresaw would be useful and salutary to him."

"To conclude, in one word (yea right!); as often as we call God the Creator of heaven and earth, let us remember that the distribution of all the things which he created are in his hand and power, but that we are his sons, whom he has undertaken to nourish and bring up in allegiance to him , that we may expect the substance of all good from him alone, and have full hope that he will never suffer us to being want of things necessary to salvation, as to leave us dependent on some other source; that in everything we desire we may address our prayers to him, and, in every benefit we receive, acknowledge his hand, and give him thanks; that thus allured by his great goodness and beneficence, we may study with our whole heart to love and serve him."

Blogging The Institutes: Day 29 1.14.12 - 1.14.18

2009-02-15T16:57:00.003-05:00

We are at war. Not against a nation, but against an evil legion, a union of dispicable hosts.

"One thing which ought to animate us to perpetual contest with the devil is, that he is everywhere called both our adversary and the adversary of God. For, if the glory of God is clear to us, as it ought to be, we ought to struggle with all our might against him who aims at the extinction of that glory.

We are at war. We are in a fight. We must constantly be on our toes, sharpening our tools, Reading Scripture and Praying for strength so that we may retain God's rightful Glory for himself!

Blogging The Institutes: Day 28 1.14.6 -1.14.11

2009-02-15T16:12:00.002-05:00

I can't honestly say that I have spent the time or effort to better understand the role of angels in our everyday life. So I felt very intrigued, encouraged, and strengthened while reading through Calvin's exhortation of angles and their purpose.

"If we consider why it is that God, instead of acting directly without their agency, is wont to employ it in manifesting his power, providing for the safety of his people, and imparting the gifts of his beneficence. This he certainly does not from necessity, as if he were unable to dispense with them. Whenever he pleases, he passes them by, and performs his own work by a single nod; so far are they from relieving him of any difficulty. Therefore, when he employs them it is as a help to our weakness, that nothing may be wanting to elevate our hopes or strengthen our confidence. It ought, indeed, to be sufficient for us that the Lord declares himself to be our protector. But when we see ourselves beset by so many perils, so many injuries, so many kinds of enemies, such is our frailty and effeminacy, that we might at times be filled with alarm, or driven to despair, did not the Lord proclaim his gracious presence by some means in accordance with our feeble capacities. For this reason, he not only promises to take care of us, but assures us that he has numberless attendants, to whom he has committed the charge of our safety, that whatever dangers may impend, so long as we are encircled by their protection and guardianship, we are placed beyond all hazard of evil."

How great is our God. How loving is our Father. For He foresees all in our paths and sets us up for success. He provides all the strength and support we could ever need to accomplish His mission.

At this point I am simply overwhelmed by His Love.

Blogging The Institutes: Day 27 1.14.1 -1.14.1

2009-02-10T20:33:00.002-05:00

So just as personal recap, Calvin divided his Institutes into four separate books. The current book is centered around the knowledge of Creator God. To this point we have looked an many many different angles ranging from how we are to see the Creator God in ourselves, in the earth, and how He gave us the Scriptures as a guide to lead us to this deeper knowledge of the Creator God.

One thought that continually strikes me is how much time and precision Calvin put into organizing the books as he did. With this we know why he paid careful attention in building the foundation of relying solely on Scripture as our guide, for as we get deeper and deeper into the workings and attributes of God, many questions will arise, and Satan will use those opportunities as doorways less we head them off with sound Scripture.

Calvin begins to address a few concerns he must have been approached with in his day, for chapter 14 begins by addressing the understanding that there are things we humans just will not know while on earth. There are things we cant comprehend and there are things that God may have just wanted to keep to himself. He is after all, God. Fortunately for us God is a loving God and will supply us with all the knowledge we NEED. For instance God allows for us to peak into the creation of the world. HELLO!! a window into the creation of the world. Pretty cool.

So as Calvin states, "Therefore, let us willingly remain hedged in by those boundaries within which God has been pleased to confine our persons, and, as it were, enclose our minds, so as to prevent them from losing themselves by wandering unrestrained."

Blogging the Institutes - Day 27

2009-02-10T18:30:00.003-05:00

Why tell us the story of Creation?

- To give us something to lean on, because we would wonder all around truth were God not to directly state it.

"For as an eye, either dimmed by age or weakened by any other cause, sees nothing distinctly without the aid of glasses, so if scripture does not direct us in our inquires after God, we immediately turn vain in our imaginations."

To ponder creation, time & space, the heavens..... is a dangerous game. We can come to some conclusion and it be totally wrong. So let us take Calvin's advice on the matter...

"Let us willingly remain hedged in lay those boundaries within which God has been please to confine out persons, and, as it were, enclose our minds, so as to prevent them from losing themselves by wandering unrestrained."

Blogging the Institutes - Day 29

2009-02-10T17:18:00.001-05:00

Last word on angels....

"Whatever, therefore, is said as to the ministry of angels, let us employ for the purpose of removing all distrust, and strengthening our confidence in God. Since the Lord has provided us such protections, let us not be terrified at the multitude of our enemies as if they could prevail notwithstanding his aid, but let us adopt the sentiment of Elisha, that more are for us than against us."

Devils....

I would like to quote Book 1 Ch. 14 sec 13 in it's entirety, I wont, but I would like to. This section is to let us know that the enemy we face is strong, but at each instance where we see/realize his strength, we must know we have armor stronger than his darts, a faith that can defeat his every advance. So " we must not be cowardice, but, on the contrary, with minds aroused and even on alert, let us stand ready to resist; and knowing that this warfare is terminated only by death, let us study to persevere. Above all, fully conscious of our weakness and worst of skill, let us invoke the help of God, and attempt nothing without trusting Him, since it is His alone to supply counsel, and strength, and courage, and arms!"

The number of enemies may be infinite, but if God's glory is dear to us, as it should be, we ought to struggle with all our might against him who aims to steal it!

"God holds him (satan) bound and fethered by the curb of his power, he executes those things only for which permission has been given him, and thus, however unwilling, obeys his Creator, being forced, whenever he is required, to do him service."

What confidence is gained by rightly assigning God His power and satan his proper position underneath, doing only what God allows. I can only then rejoice in all circumstances for they are means to one end.... God's Glory

Side note:

While Calvin is dealing with these obscure issues (angels, devils, Satan, fall of angels etc...) my mind tends to be flooded with questions that the scriptures do not explicitly answer. During this flood I grow a little frustrated, i now know it is out of pride, b/c "we see it was the Lord's purpose to deliver nothing in his oracles which we might not learn for edification". So if the answer isn't in the Holy Word of God, then it isn't profitable for me, it may even harm me due to my sinful tendency, the same tendency that all fallen men posses, to create pride and self righteousness and steal God's glory. That is restful to a mind prone to wander.

Blogging The Institutes: Day 26 1.13.26 -1.13.29

2009-02-09T21:39:00.003-05:00

Satan's twisting of words reminds me of the certain one-to-three word movie reviews that flash on all movie trailers, "AMAZING", "FULL OF ENTERTAINMENT", knowing that the full sentence may actually say "AMAZING how boring a film can be!" False teachers and false doctrines almost always are founded by Satan using one-to-three words out of context to "prove" his point. The abuse of the true Holy Trinity is no exception.

Quick Question?

2009-02-09T12:54:00.001-05:00

Has Joel Olsteen ever read Matthew 10:34?

--------------------
No virus detected in this message.
Scanned by ClamAV.

Day 24, 25, & 26 - Because my response is the same!

2009-02-09T11:59:00.002-05:00

"Let us willingly leave to God the knowledge of Himself."

John 1 and Phil 2:6-11 together put me on my face. Today Calvin was talking about Jesus as equal member of the Trinitarian Godhead and mentions these two passages. John 1 has been on my heart and in my head because of a few sermons I have heard over the last few days and paired with this Philippians passage the truth of Jesus' deity is oh so clear.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God….And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us…. Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ"

"….Christ Jesus, who though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore, God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above all names, so at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

The thing that absolutely blows my mind is the fact that the only God made Himself, humbled Himself and came to earth in the form of a man. The holy, perfect, righteous God came and lived/ministered immersed in a sinful, selfish, and unrighteous world. Do you understand that? I mean it takes a lot for some people to humble themselves and shop at Wal-mart! The God of the universe was in heaven, surround by angels who worship Him, sing songs about Him and He left that to come and dwell amongst the very thing he hates, sin. And it was His choice! I mean, if I am honest, would I do that? And better yet He came because He loves us. He came to redeem us. He came namely that His name would be made known and worshipped by His redeeming work. The aim of his humbling was to serve and in serving make known the Greatness of Himself; So that, every knee would bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord. That will happen you know.

Blogging The Institutes: Day 25 1.13.23 -1.13.25

2009-02-08T15:41:00.002-05:00

There will be those that get lost in the labyrinth of human curiosity, and when the guidance of the divine is in front of them, they will choose to ignore it. It is this we witness when certain people question the Divine make up of the Trinity. They enter a labyrinth that no human mind can navigate, and when approached with a map (the Scriptures), the choose to navigate blind, eventually giving up, sitting in a corner, and crying.

Blogging The Institutes: Day 24 1.13.18 -1.13.22

2009-02-05T15:18:00.001-05:00

"Hitherto our chief object has been to stretch out our hand for the guidance of such as are disposed to learn, not to war with the stubborn and contentious; but now the truth which was calmly demonstrated must be vindicated from the calumnies of the ungodly. Still, however it will be our principal study to provide a sure footing for those whose ears are open to the word of God. Here, if any where, in considering the hidden mysteries of Scripture, we should speculate soberly and with great moderation, cautiously gaurding against allowing either our mind or our tongue to go a step beyond the confines of God's word. For how can the human mind, which has not yet been able to ascertain of what the body of the sun consists, though it is daily presented to the eye, bring down the boundless essence of God to its little measure? No, how can it, under its own guidance, penetrate to a knowledge of the substance of God while unable to understand its own? Wherefore, let us willingly leave to God the knowledge of himself. In the words of Hilary, 'He alone is a fit witness to himself who is known only by himself'...let us remember that the human mind enters a labyrinth whenever it indulges its curiosity, and thus submit to be guided by the divine oracles, how much soever the mystery may be beyond our reach."

When I hit my next speed bump in the race of knowledge, I will reference this quote.

Blogging The Institutes: Day 23 1.13.13 -1.13.17

2009-02-04T14:53:00.000-05:00

In discussing the Divinity of the Holy Spirit, Calvin approaches the topic in the same manor as the Divinity of The Son, that the "proof must be derived from the same sources. And it is by no means an obscure testimony which Moses bears in the history of the creation, when he says that the Spirit of God was expanded over the abyss or shapeless matter; for it shows not only that the beauty which the world displays is maintained by the invigorating power of the Spirit, but that even before this beauty existed the Spirit was at work cherishing the confused mass."

And as in the act of regeneration, "if regeneration to incorruptible life is higher, and much more excellent than any present quickening, what must be thought of him (The Holy Spirit) by whose energy it is produced."

If the Holy Spirit is not Divine, He losses his power to regenerate, and we lose our justification, and without the work of justification, my friends we are all doomed.

Praise God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for each of their roles in saving a fallen soul like me!

Day 23

2009-02-04T10:00:00.000-05:00

This whole section is proof after proof of Jesus' claim to be the only God. He fulfills prophecies, He claims to be God, others perform miracles in His name, Stephen asks that Jesus would receive his spirit before taking his last breathe as stones crash against his head.

"Consider what kind of thing it is, and how great that the name of the Son alone is preached to us, though God commands us to glory only in the knowledge of himself."

(1 Cor 2:2 & Jer 9:24)

Why is that o.k.? Because Jesus is God.

Part 2

Holy Spirit = Author of regeneration (how awesome is that phrase to describe the Holy Spirit!!)

Author of future Immortality…. He bestows wisdom and faculty of speech….by Him we become partakers of the divine nature……justification is His work…… power, sanctification, truth, grace and every good thought are alone from the Spirit…."

"Now it ought not to be slightly overlooked, that all the promises which God makes of choosing us to himself as a temple receive their only fulfillment by His Spirit dwelling in us."

Those are some of Calvin's words on the Holy Spirit….. I just can't say it better.

Day 22

2009-02-03T14:35:00.001-05:00

Some many heretical religious groups that claim to worship the same God of the Bible totally ignore John 1. This is the clearest passage on the Divine nature of Jesus Christ. It is the perfect explanation of the eternal existence of Jesus as the Word which existed before time began. This Word, which is God, came in the form of flesh. It is clear.

Pause for a minute and contemplate that last line. God became flesh. For redemption's sake He humbled himself to human form. Do we understand the full extent that God had to humble himself to become a man? He is holy, perfect, and He became man to dwell among sin to redeem! The believer should fall on his face is worship and thanksgiving upon hearing this truth! Phil 2:6

Day 21

2009-02-03T14:34:00.001-05:00

I really could go a lot of different places with this post, but what is clearest to me in this portion of Calvin's words is the unbreakable connection of the three Persons of the totally unified Trinity all having unique characteristics. In really facing this concept of the Trinity I feel like the person of the Father and the person of the Son are basically understood. It is the Holy Spirit that I feel like gets generally ignored. There is ignorance toward this third Person of the One Godhead. For the Holy Spirit is the power within all believers to live transformed lives, to understand scripture, to receive wisdom, to be lights, to live opposed to the world. The Holy Spirit is the power plant, the enabler. Without the Holy Spirit's occupation of our hearts we are still dead. So the ignorance has lead to a ignoring of the Spirit. We don't seek It's help. We don't rely on it to change us. Essentially, by ignoring It, we rely on ourselves and when we do "good" we get prideful and self-righteous. But if we recognize that the Spirit is the only reason we can do any good, then all we can do in response is praise! We should all seek to count ourselves as nothing and count all good things as blessings from the Holy God. We get joy by being His and He gets glory by our praise.

Blogging The Institutes: Day 22 1.13.8 -1.13.12

2009-02-03T14:19:00.000-05:00

One of the single most important aspects we must acknowledge and understand of Christ is His Divinity. For if He is not Divine, He is not God, therefore He is not the Savior. Calvin presents verse after verse showing Christ's Divine history throughout scripture. Jesus was not a created being. He was the Word and the Word existed from the beginning therefore securing his Divinity and His power to die as Savior. For the Lord says in Isa 43:25 "I, even I, am he that blotteth out they transgressions for mine own sake". As Calvin states, " When, in accordance with this deceleration, the Jews thought that injustice was done to God when Christ forgave sins, he not only asserted, in distinct terms, that this power belonged to him, but also proved it by a miracle. We thus see that he possessed in himslef not the ministry of forgiving sins, but the inherent power which the Lord declares he will not give to another."

Blogging The Institutes: Day 21 1.13.4 -1.13.7

2009-02-02T13:52:00.003-05:00

God is immense. He is Big. He is three in One. Our human words are not good enough, not detailed enough, not expansive enough, to describe Him in enough detail to give Him justice. So as our forefathers have attempted to write about the attributes of God, it was not with the idea that they were finally the ones, the "enlightened" to be able to grasp God enough to write attributes about Him. As Augustine said, that he could not describe God at the level that would ever satisfy him, but God was to great, and so high of a matter, that he could not pass on in silence without attempting to show how the Father, Son, and Spirit are three.

John Piper's New Book Finally Alive

2009-01-31T18:18:00.002-05:00

John Piper is about to release his next book Finally Alive and I am very excited about it. Check out the preview at:

http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/1611_our_essential_role/

Trial, Good, & Glory

2009-01-30T13:00:00.002-05:00

If we were to play a game of " which one doesn't belong" the answer
would be trial. That is if you were just playing a game. But in life
all three words have an intimate and holy connection.

As I finish the last few verses of Genesis I also finish the story of
the life of Joseph. His life has been such an inspiration for me, and
it culminated at the end with these verses Gen 50: 19-21. Jacob,
Joseph's father, had just passed away and Joseph's brothers had great
fear that he would seek revenge on them for selling him into slavery
now that their father had passed, but Joseph said this, "do not fear,
for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me,
but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should
be kept alive, as they are today. So do not fear; I will provide for
you and your little ones. Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to
them"

So now if I were to see those three words together, you would not have
Enough breath in your lungs to pursade me to pick one that does not
belong.

--------------------
No virus detected in this message.
Scanned by ClamAV.

Blogging the Institues : Day 20 1.12.3 - 1.13.3

2009-01-29T22:09:00.003-05:00

Many will strife over the terminology that we use to describe the Holy Trinity (rest assured that there is unshakable biblical truth that lays out the doctrine of the Holy Trinity) but can you imagine how difficult it is to put the essence of God into human words? Therefore do not be stumped by the use of words or complex descriptions we can create surrounding the Holy Trinity, simply rely on the power of the Word.

Deut 6:4
"Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one."
Gen 1:27
"Let us make man in our image"
2 Cor 13:14
"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and teh fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all."
1 Cor 12:4-6
"Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varietites of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone."
Matt 28:29-20
"baptizing them in [or unto] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

What a masterful design.

Blogging the Institues : Day 19 1.11.3 - 1.12.2

2009-01-29T21:54:00.003-05:00

The bottom line when it comes to false gods, idols, and man made deities is this:

"that unless everything peculiar to divinity is confined to God alone, he is robbed of his honor, and his worship is violated."

Blogging the Institues : Day 18 1.11.7 - 1.11.12

2009-01-29T21:35:00.002-05:00

How Calvin describes the idols of his time, "For what are the pictures or statues to which they append the names of saints, but exhibitions of the most shameless luxury or obscenity?", reminds me of the pitfall idols of this country, instead of naming them saints, we name them entertainment.

"For as a murderer or an adulterer will not escape conviction by giving some adventitious name to his crime, so it is absurd for them to expect that the subtle device of a name will exculpate them, if they, in fact, differ in nothing from idolaters whom they themselves are forced to condemn."

Its not what you call it, its what place it occupies in your heart.

Day 20

2009-01-29T09:27:00.003-05:00

"His (God's) immensity surely ought to deter us form measuring Him by our sense."

To make this clear think about how God is three "persons" yet one! Do you like to have your mind boggled? I do. If you do, then just ponder the Trinity! How majestic is He!

Day 19

2009-01-29T09:27:00.001-05:00

There will be many on that day that will say, "Lord did I not _______ in your name? And He will say, "Depart from me, I never knew you".

Day 18

2009-01-29T09:26:00.003-05:00

Add plastic to the list of idol raw materials

Day 17

2009-01-29T09:26:00.001-05:00

What are my created images? My man-made gods?

Blogging the Institutes - Day 16

2009-01-29T09:25:00.001-05:00

"The law of the Lord kills its readers when it is dissevered from the grace of Christ, and only sounds in the ear without touching the heart. But if it is effectually impressed on the heart by the Spirit; if it exhibits Grist, it is the word of life converting the soul, and making wise the simple. No, in the very same passage, the apostle calls his own preaching the ministration of the Spirit (2 cor 3:8), intimating that the Holy Spirit so cleaves to his own truth, as he has expressed it in Scripture, that he then only exerts and puts forth his strength when the word is received with due honor and respect."

"The word is the instrument by which the illumination of the Spirit is dispersed."

One major problem with the Church today is the ignoring of the Holy Spirit as a member of the Triune God and the role it places in the transformation, sanctification, conviction, and empowerment of our lives. Without the Holy Spirit the words of Scripture are ink on a page. Our depraved hearts would never accept the words in the Bible. It takes the Holy Spirit occupying our hearts for it to be illuminated. This trend is so odd because as I study the word the evidence of the Holy Spirit's role is so evident. Many can quote the "Fruits of the Spirit" but do we realize what that passage is talking about? It is the evidence of the Holy Spirit occupying our hearts! Yeah it seems simply but yet we refuse to give up control and simply rely and rest in God, the Triune God, which includes the Holy Spirit!

Part 2

In Jer 9:24 God tells us what He wants us to understand about Him. What is it?

1) His loving-kindness which alone our safety depends

2) His judgment which is daily exercised on the wicked and awaits in severer form for eternal destruction

3) His Righteousness by which the faithful are preserved and cherished

"The prophet declares that when you understand these, you are amply furnished with the means of glorying in God."

I pray that these attributes of God would enter my mind, heart, and soul. The effect should be worship.

Blogging the Institutes : Day 17 1.11.2 - 1.11.6

2009-01-28T20:43:00.002-05:00

How can man conceive that he has the power to craft, with earth resources, a deity which to worship. Does that not in itself disprove the authority of the deity? I think so.

Yet as a fallen people we must maintain guard, "In the fact that the people every now and then rushed forth with boiling haste in pursuit of idols, just like water gushing forth with violence from a copious spring, let us learn how prone our nature is to idolatry, that we may not by throwing the whole blame on a common vice upon the Jews, be led away by vain and sinful enticements to sleep the sleep of death."

As Augustine states: "Those who first introduced images of the gods both took away fear and brought in error."

Blogging the Institutes : Day 16 1.9.3 - 1.11.1

2009-01-26T22:35:00.003-05:00

"Moreover, the knowledge of God, which is set before us in the Scriptures, is designed for the same purpose as that which shines in creation, i.e., that we may thereby learn to worship him with perfect integrity of heart and unfeigned obedience, and also to depend entirely on his goodness."

At this point in our journey we have delved into the natural knowledge of God through Creation and the Guide we have been given to find the deeper attributes of our Creator within the Scriptures. I hope that anyone who is in this journey would have begun to find God in unexpected places, for it it is such a thrill to be in the presence of God when you least expect it.

Blogging the Institues : Day 15 1.8.10 - 1.9.2

2009-01-26T21:48:00.003-05:00

There is not a group of pages, bound together to form a book, that holds a candle to the majesty, glory, storytelling, architecture, or reverence as those that were given to us from God. How masterfully He created His Book, and oh how His providence was displayed by His keeping on His Book:

"let us rather attend to the care which the Lord took to preserve his word, when against all hope he rescued it from the truculence of a most cruel tyrant as from the midst of the flames, inspiring pious priests and others with such constancy that they hesitated not, though it should have been purchased at the expense of their lives, to transmit this treasure to posterity, and defeating the keenest search of prefects and their satellites."

And if that were not enough, what human irony we find in whom He would choose to be guardian of His Book, none other than "The Jews, the bitterest enemies of Christ; and hence Augustine justly calls them the librarians of the Christian church, because they supplied us with books of which they themselves had not the use."

WOW.

And if that were not enough, whom did God choose to be the messengers of His Word? None other than a tax collector, who was "fixed to his money-table", rude and illiterate fisherman, who had never learned in any human school, a cruel and bloody foe to Christ, "that a heavenly power had compelled him to preach".

And if that were not enough, "When thus powerfully assailed on every side, how could it have resisted if it had trusted only to human aid? No, its divine origin is more completely reestablished by the fact, that when all human wishes were against it, it advanced by it own energy."

And that is just a taste. We must thank God for giving us the faith to believe.

Day 15

2009-01-23T03:00:00.000-05:00

“Who does not recognize it as a signal and miraculous work of God, that those sacred monuments which the ungodly persuaded themselves had utterly perished, immediately returned to resume their former rights and indeed, in greater honor?”

It simply wouldn’t happen, with so many enemies of the Word it must be divine providence that the Book has survived. Do you know of a book like this? Do you know of a book that millions have died for? Is that not another degree of evidence of the Absolute Truth?

Even still, many will not see.

“It is a foolish to attempt to prove to men that the scripture is the Word of God. This cannot be known to be, except by faith.”

Blogging the Institutes : Day 14 1.8.2 -1.8.8

2009-01-22T21:34:00.001-05:00

All those who doubt the accuracy and divine authorship of the Holy
Scriptures, please take a short amount of time, for that is all you
will need, to study prophets.

--------------------
No virus detected in this message.
Scanned by ClamAV.

Day 14

2009-01-22T14:01:00.004-05:00

“Let each of the prophets be examined, and not one will be found who dos not rise far higher than human reach.”

I just watched Calvin blow up any dispute on the Bible simply by looking at Moses. The way these guys wrote, lived, and the events of their lives are simply beyond anything a man could accomplish by his own two hands. The miracles of the OT are undeniable. The prophecies are consistently fulfilled. The manner in which these sacred writings have survived is simply amazing and evidence of its divine nature.

Day 13

2009-01-22T14:01:00.003-05:00

Why do you have confidence in the Word of God? Why don’t you?
Does this responsibility lie on the Church? Can the Church even perform such a task?

The answer first is no. Only by faith, which is give and sustained in the occupation of the heart by the Holy Spirit, can one have total confidence in the Word of God. That is the fact. Left up to yourself you will never have total confidence in the Word. You flesh wont let you. It despises the Truth. One application of this truth is that you have no power to transfer your confidence to another. That does not forgive laziness or a no discipleship, but it does provide the freedom needed when approaching a depraved world with Truth they hate. Need help battling discouragement? Realize it isn’t up to you. Cast the seeds, till the land, water the plants but you don’t cause the dead seed to come alive!!!!

Our confidence is a Gift. Do you have confidence?

“The only true faith is that which the Spirit of God seals on our hearts.”

Day 12

2009-01-22T14:01:00.001-05:00

God’s works are mirrors of His deity, leaving no man an excuse not to acknowledge His existence. But to guide us properly to Himself, He has given us His Word. Calvin uses an analogy of a man who has a vision problem trying to read without glasses. He really has no idea what he is looking at. So it is with the man who tries to grasp God with the Scriptures! How blessed we are to have His words! We begin with a knowledge of God’s existence exhibited in His creation then He supplies the Scripture to learn the true marks which distinguish Him from all other false gods.

“God invariably accompanies His word with sure testimony.”

It is amazing to think about the different ways God made truth known. We have the Bible; the patriarchs had his voice and works. This simply floors me. He didn’t have to do this. He does it for Himself and we are the undeserving benefactors of God loving Himself and seeking glory for himself. I want it no other way… at least that’s what I pray. As a selfish man I will always pray this prayer.

Question – How do you take advantage of having God’s spoken word? Do you take advantage of it at all?

Day 11

2009-01-22T14:00:00.004-05:00

“Seeing the wisest men disagree over God many men chose the safety in saying there exists no God at all.”

“It were indeed, a strange defense for man to pretend that he has no ears to hear the truth, while dumb creators have voices loud enough to declare it; to allege that he is unable to see that which creatures without eyes demonstrate, to excuse himself on the ground of weakness of mind, while all creatures without reason are able to teach.”

This is proof of our depravity and our utter dependence of the Holy Spirit’s occupation and transformation in our hearts for any hope of Glory. All things point to God, no excuses.

Day 10

2009-01-22T14:00:00.003-05:00

We all benefit by being created in God’s image. Blessed with love, joy, relationships but many love the gifts and totally ignore the giver.

“From the power of God we are naturally led to consider His eternity, since that from which all other things derive their origin must necessarily be self-existent and eternal.”

Ps 145:9 - From His tender mercies are over all his works.

Why does God provide this to us? For His Goodness. It is so important that we not err and thing he created all things for us. This thought pattern is destroying true worship by denying our depravity and God’s needlessness. Only when we recognize the motive of Creation is God’s own glory can we correctly respond to it in worship, fear, and reverence.

“How richly does He supply us with the means of contemplating His mercy when, as frequently happens, He continues to visit us miserable sinners with unwearied kindness, until He subdues their depravity, and woos them back with more than a parent’s fondness.”

Even our acknowledgement of His goodness comes as a result of His wooing! Less of me, more of You.

“Ps 107 infers that those things which all men call fortune, are so many proofs of divine providence, and more especially of paternal clemency, furnishing ground of joy to the righteous, and at the same time stopping the mouths of the ungodly. Conducting all things in perfect accordance with reason.”

Acts 17:27 – We need not go far to search for God.

The result of these truths is worship and an elevated hope of future life. If He gives all this on earth, Oh what we have to look forward to in heaven!

We simply ignore all His manifestations of goodness, receiving no benefit from what is free and better than anything.

Do you look at the sky more for weather patterns than to see the visible handy work of God?

Sorry

2009-01-22T14:00:00.001-05:00

Sorry for the delay in posting, it’s taken 4 days to thaw from a recent trip to Chicago. My southern bones had never felt -13 degrees with a wind chill of -35degrees! But I survived.

Blogging the Institutes : Day 13 1.7.3 - 1.8.1

2009-01-21T20:36:00.003-05:00

The primary difference between God's Word and any other writing is, well, it was written by God. And with His authorship comes divine power. This divine power is woven into every letter of the Scriptures and therefore wields the one-of-a-kind power to produce belief in it. As Calvin says, "if we look at it with clear eyes, and unblessed judgment, it will forthwith present itself with a divine majesty which will subdue our presumptuous opposition, and force us to do it homage."

Doubts may arise in those that say, how can we trust man to write on behalf of the Almighty God, for if all man is depraved how could he record the thoughts of a perfect God. We can have security through this divine power of the Scriptures for it is as well, in His elect, through the power of the Holy Spirit. For it is the Holy Spirit that "must penetrate our hearts, in order to convince us that they (the prophets) faithfully delivered the message with which they were divinely entrusted." For Isaiah 59:21 says "My Spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the Lord." God has inscribed, on the hearts of His elect, His words, protected by the Holy Spirit. Words that have not changed, even as generation after generation has passed.

For those that are troubled, Calvin end chapter 7 with a few words of encouragement:

"If at anytime, then, we are troubled at the small number of those that believe, let us, on the other hand, call to mind, that none comprehend the mysteries of God save those to whom it is given."

As chapter 8 opens Calvin aims to show the credibility of Scripture through the realm of natural reason. If you have ever spent much time in the footnotes and/or cross-references in your bible you will be quick to side with Calvin's first appeal to natural reason, The Providential Arrangement of Scriptures, and if you have spent much time in the verses themselves, The Language of Scripture. Let me not get in way of Calvin here,

Arrangement:
"For it is wonderful how much we are confirmed in our belief, when we more attentively consider how admirably the system of divine wisdom contained in it is arranged -- how perfectly free the doctrine is from every thing that savors of earth -- how beautifully it harmonizes in all its parts -- and how rich it is in all the other qualities which give an air of majesty to composition."

Language:
"For it was not without an admirable arrangement of providence, that the sublime mysteries of the kingdom of heaven have for the greater part been delivered with a contemptible meanness of words. Had they been adorned with a more splendid eloquence, the wicked might have caviled, and alleged that this constituted all their force. But now, when an unpolished simplicity, almost bordering on rudeness, makes a deeper impression than the loftiest flights of oratory, what does it indicate if not that they Holy Scriptures are too might in the power of truth to need the rhetorician's art."

As eloquent as Calvin conveys his points, the real power comes in the statements' truth!

Day 12: 1.6.2 - 1.7.2

2009-01-20T23:20:00.002-05:00

How gracious is our Heavenly Father who saw it fit, from the very beginning, to provide His children with such a gift as the Holy Scriptures. As Calvin eloquently points out, that while we should exhaustively use our eyes to see the works of God, since God saw it fit to put us square in the middle of the "most glorious theater that he may be a spectator of them," our "special duty is to give ear to the word, that (we) may the better profit." For the more you prayerfully read Scripture the more and more you feel wrapped in the divine arms of God's Love.

Calvin states, "If true religion is to beam upon us, our principle must be, that it is necessary to begin with heavenly teaching, and that it is impossible for any man to obtain even the minutest portion of right and sound doctrine without being a disciple of Scripture.

I often find myself wanting to read more and more scripture and it becomes "The Battle of the Books", puritan v. apostle or Piper v. Paul, as even the Godliest pursuits of knowledge can take away from what should be our first principle to "begin with heavenly teaching." I pray that I may always be first grounded in scripture. Calvin states that we should "consider the brightness of the divine countenance, which even an apostle declares to be inaccessible, is kind of labyrinth -- a labyrinth to us inextricable, if the word do not serve us as a thread to guide our path; and that it is better to limp in the way, that run with the greatest swiftness out or it."

Thank you once again oh Mighty God, for you have protected your divine words, that our depraved souls may have at all time, a glimps of what you are, and that you are "I AM."

Day 11: 1.5.12 - 1.6.1

2009-01-19T19:36:00.002-05:00

As Calvin draws to a close his analysis of the knowledge of God in all Creation he issues a strict warning, that man's mind is like a labyrinth, with each of them creating a new way to their own version of God. He puts to bed this idea of a man made god, saying "But what right have mortals thus to decide of their own authority in a manner which is far above the world."

Calvin spent years re-editing and re-organizing his Institutes, and therefore it comes at no surprise that he immediately follows the warning of man's effort to create a knowledge of God, with an analysis of where man should go for true understanding regarding our Creator God, the Scriptures. I shall not attempt to butcher the analogy Calvin presents:

"For as the aged, or those whose sight is defective, when any book, however fair, is set before them, though they perceive that there is something written are scarcely able to make out two consecutive words, but, when aided by glasses, begin to read distinctly, so Scripture, gathering together the impressions of Deity, which, till then, lay confused in our minds, dissipates the darkness, and shows us the true God clearly."

We can only discover the existence and the surface of God through His Creation, for a clear picture we must find ourselves planted deep in the pages of Scripture, for within those pages we see God clearly, and in turn discover ourselves more clearly.

Day 10: 1.5.6 - 1.5.11

2009-01-19T00:25:00.002-05:00

As Calvin continues to walk us through seeing God in all areas of Creation, we are reminded "Let each of us, therefore, in contemplating his own nature, remember that there is one God who governs all natures...to make Him the object of our faith, worship, and adoration" For who are we to question His power and providence? "How glorious the manifestations by which he urges us to the contemplation of himself; unless, indeed, we pretend not to know whose energy it is that by a word sustains the boundless fabric of the universe."

Wake Up! Our God is the Creator. He holds the power of His creation. We are His Creation. He holds the power over us.

In His providence we find joy, not of the fleeting kind, but joy of the soul, joy of peace, peace that passes all understanding. How great and merciful you are oh God! You have poured out on us Grace upon Grace through your Son! "How richly does he supply us with the means of contemplating his mercy when, as frequently happens, he continues to visit miserable sinners with unwearied kindness, until he subdues their depravity, and woos them back with more than a parent's fondness."

"The wonders of the divine wisdom in this respect are more in number than the hairs of our head."

At this moment I feel so small under the umbrella of God's grace and mercy

Day 9: 1.5.2 - 1.5.5

2009-01-18T23:33:00.002-05:00

The knowledge of God is inescapable. We have His image woven into our creation, and we have His Creation woven into our daily lives. This was not by circumstance. God created us to see Him, for His glory, in every moment, action, movement, sound, taste, desire, and emotion.

"In attestation of his wondrous wisdom, both the heavens and the earth present us with innumerable proofs, not only those more recondite proofs which astronomy, medicine, and all the natural sciences are designed to illustrate, but proofs which force themselves on the notice of the most illiterate peasant, who cannot open his eyes without beholding them."

In the realization that we are His offspring, made in His image, we acknowledge this "excellent gift which He has endued us attesting that He is our Father ... No one, indeed, will voluntarily and wilingly devote hiself to the service of God unless he previously tasted his paternal love, and been thereby allured to love and reverence Him.

We would think this would be our only desire, but leave it to man to banish the true God from His own intracate creation and turn His Creation into its own deity. For as Calvin points out, it has been said that "Nature is God," and it "may be piously used, if dictated by a pious mind; but as it is inaccurate and harsh (Nature being more properly the order which has been established by God), in matters which are so important, and in regard to which special reverence is due, it does harm to confound (misake one thing for another) the Deity with the inferior operations of His hands."

How could we deny the Creator the glory for His creation?

Blogging the Institutes - Day 9

2009-01-15T23:56:00.002-05:00

No man can deny that there exists in us different levels of understanding. Some men are blessed with the skill of comprehension and others blessed to build. Calvin says regardless of the blessing no one with eyes can ignore the divine skill in creation. This is furnished to every man!

" Not only that the human race is a bright mirror of the Creator's works, but that infants hanging on their mothers breast have tongues eloquent enough to proclaim the glory of God without the aid of other orators"

Simply look at yourself.

Let scientist try and explain the complexity of the human body and deny a creator with the same breath.

Simply put, there exists no excuse a man could make for not submitting to a knowledge of God. Look to the sky or at the wonder of the human body and the evidence is clear. The verdict is easy to submit. God is real, His creation displays His character and man falls way short of any kind of divine nature.

Let us who believe gain confidence and be glad that the burden of proof lies not on those who say there is a God, but those who say there isn't. For their task is impossible and exhausting. Yet only a totally depraved mind could live, breath and see and still attribute no praise, honor, or glory to a Creator.

Oh the state from which we all have come to believe. What a work was done in our hearts to make the stone bleed.