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I hadn't intended to start on this book so soon, but after our discussion in small group this evening I really feel like God is leading me to start now. It's going to be long, a little corny, but worth it. The blue text are direct quotes from the Gospel for Real Life. The red text is me.
"When Lazarus lay dead in the tomb he could not decide to come to life again. In fact, Lazarus could not even respond to Jesus' call, "lazarus, come out!" unless with that call Jesus gave him life (John 11:1-44). Lazarus's condition, as he lay dead in the tomb, is a picture of our spiritual predicament. We can hear the call of the gospel a hundred times, but unless that call is accompanied by the life-giving power of the Holy Spirit, we can no more respond to it than Lazarus could respond to a vocal call from Jesus."
What a great point. This great point, however, makes me think you're saying that there was nothing that I did to receive Christ. Is that right?
I know it is difficult for us to accept the fact that we could not just decide to trust Christ in much the same way we might buy more life insurance (intellectually). The truth is, we did decide to trust Christ, but the reason we made that decision is that God had first made us spiritually alive.
O.K., so you're saying that I DID make a free-will decision to trust Christ, but God, through Christ, gave me the ability to make that decision. You've got my attention Mr. Bridges...now can you back it up Biblically?
"We see the necessity of the Spirit's work in giving us faith in Jesus' conversation with the Pharisee Nicodemus (John 3:1-21). In verse 3 Jesus says emphatically that 'no one can see the kindom of God unless he is born again.'"
"What is Jesus saying to Nicodemus and to us?
I don't know...you're the spankin' author, why don't you tell me?
Notice that Jesus speaks not of permission to enter the kingdom, but of inability to enter it apart from a new birth. We all recognize the difference between the relationships of may to permission and can to ability. Here Jesus consistently uses the word can. We cannot - in other words, we do not have the ability to - enter the kingdom unless the Spirit of God gives us life through the new birth. We are born again, then, by a sovereign, monergistic (that is, the Spirit working alone) act of the Holy Spirit. Then, as a result of that new birth, we exercise the faith given to us and enter the kingdom of God."
What's that? You're not done yet? Well, by all means then, please proceed...
"'One of those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshipper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul's message.' (Acts 16:14) What does it mean that the Lord opened Lydia's heart? It means that He made her spiritually alive, that she was born again. It means He removed the Satan-induced blindness from her mind so that she understood and embraced the gospel. I means that He delivered her from the kingdom of darkness, where she had been held captive, so that she could respond in faith. Note the sequence of events recorded by Luke. The Lord opened her heart; then she responded to Paul's message. She could not respond until God first opened her heart."
Point well made; I guess there's quite a bit of Biblical evidence pointing toward the verdict. At this point, however, the argument seems rather lopsided; is seems as though God has everything to do with my salvation while I have very little. Not to mention the fact that I've spent countless hours sharing my faith and learning to share my faith clearly in an attempt to win people to Christ. If salvation's all the work of the Holy Spirit, then I guess I wasted a lot of time, huh?
"Obviously the Holy Spirit works through our human channels of evangelism. As we saw in Chapter 9, 'faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ' (Romans 10:17). But our message is impotent apart from the working of the Holy Spirit, who both empowers the messenger and opens the heart of the listener as He did in the case of Lydia.
Prove it.
"Consider Paul's words to the Thessalonian believers: 'Our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction' (1 Thess 1:5)." What resulted when Paul's message was accompanied by the powerful working of the Holy Spirit? 'The thessalonians 'turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God' (1:9)."
"The Thessalonians themselves believed. They exercised faith. God does not believe for us, but He does through His Spirit create spiritual life in us so that we can believe."
Gotcha; God gives me the ability to have faith, to accept salvation, and then I have to exercise that faith, like Jesus giving Lazarus the ability to come out of the tomb, but then Lazarus actually exercising his ability to walk out. Here's the deal though, let's say I have a friend who doesn't know Christ; what then? I understand that "God uses our human channels of evangelism", thus I need to be able to clearly articulate the gospel message in words that they can understand. But on the other hand, you've proven your point that salvation is, first and foremost, the working of the Holy Spirit in a person's life. How in the world do I account for their ability to receive Christ in the first place?
"I think of some for whose salvation I pray regularly. One is stridently opposed to the gospel, wanting nothing to do with God. Another is happily indifferent, seeing no need of a Savior because he is a good, moral person. Others, at this point in our relationships, would be highly insulted to be told they need a Savior because, after all, they are both moral and religious. What hope is there for these people? It lies only in the sovereign, mysterious work of the Holy Spirit. And I pray regularly that He will work in the hearts of these people through the gospel message to create the faith they must have to believe in Christ."
Alright, the lights are coming on for me, and I'm starting to put the pieces together. What you're saying is that because salvation is the working of God I need to pray to God to open their hearts as he did Lydia's some 2000 years ago - pray that God grants them the ability to exercise faith. Also, the gospel needs to be presented to my friend in a way that they can understand because 'faith comes from hearing the message'.
That makes sense. I once heard John Piper say "God has the ability to drop vertically on each person to present them with a clear gospel message. For some reason, however, He chooses to use us to move into a person's life horizontally...one person at a time."
I guess what I'm getting out of this is that I need to be regularly praying for God to give my friend the ability to receive the gospel, while at the same time I need to be prepared to give an account for the hope that I have in Christ whenever the opportunity arrises. What would you say to that?
We are not to be a terminus point for the gospel, but rather a way station in its progress to the ends of the earth. God intends that everyone who has embraced the gospel become a part of the great enterprise of spreading the gospel.
Well said. Man, you should write a book, or 12.
-Ethan
6 years ago
3 comments:
I like it. A lot. Thanks for sharing Ethan.. Now I have something of greater value to process today than just structure of english class. love that, and i'll be praying
Hallie,
Aren't blogs fun? I love it...I hope this internet thing stays around for a while.
"would the conclusion be that God decides who receives him and who doesn't?"
The answer has to be both yes and no. Yes to ability. No to exercise.
ability:
I think Bridges would answer the question by saying that God is the only one who can open the heart of the unbeliever and give life to the lifeless soul of the lost.
exercise:
However, just as Lazarus had the ability to come out of the tomb (after being raised from the dead), he still had to exercise that ability by actually coming out.
Rick James spoke at DCC in 2005 about how God positions Himself at just the right (spiritual) distance from each of us to give us the opportunity to receive Christ. I think, ultimately, that's what we're talking about.
In this vein, I believe every person will reach the day of judgement and finally see how God was revealing Himself to them. I believe that ALL men will get there and be without excuse (Ro 1:20)...not sure about women though :).
Would God have opened Lydia's heart if Paul hadn't been preaching the message? Can't say. Would God have had mercy on the Israellites time and again if His people hadn't been crying out in prayer? Can't say.
What we CAN say, however, is that your life matters. What you do matters to God. How you physically live today makes a spiritual impact for eternity.
When Peter responds by going to the gentiles they come to faith in Christ. When Paul follows the Spirit's leading by preaching, Lydia comes to faith in Christ. God chooses to work in our lives and to use us (see Piper quote) in his mission to save the world.
"could have more been done to give them a chance to say Yes to the Lord?"
What happens if God is leading me to share with someone and I chicken out? Will they ever be given another opportunity to say 'yes' to Jesus? Like I just said, I believe everyone will be left without excuse...but they won't all be given the SAME chances to say 'yes'.
What we do matters. Conversely, what we don't do matters. If we don't share; I believe there's a very real possibility that they may never be given a more clear, compelling, Spirit-filled, opportunity to receive Christ than the one that we just let slip by.
This makes it very important that we are prepared at all times to give an account for the hope that we have in Christ Jesus (I Peter 3:15). Key word: prepared.
Check out Acts 2. When Peter gets up to give a 100% Spirit-led sermon that results in thousands coming to faith, what does he do? He quotes scripture. Did the Spirit mysteriously put scripture in his mouth at that moment that he had never seen or heard before? Perhaps. Most Biblical scholars will tell you, however, that the scripture he quotes here would have been common to the Jews in attendance...scriptures that most jewish children learned at an early age.
He was prepared. He didn't sit around doing good things, hoping that people would ask. No, he prayed and moved when it was time to move.
Are they like this because God has not yet chosen to make them ready? Or is this because they will never be ready? In other words, is that just matter of God's TIMING or is that a matter of God's PLAN?
Going back to Rick James and Romans 1:18-20, I would say that everyone will be given some sort of opportunity to know God. Nature reveals God, the Spirit confirms (at some level) the law written on their hearts.
The problem, however, comes in the fact that I sin. I have been walking with the Lord for a few years now, and because of my sin I still have trouble at times dicifering when I'm hearing God and when I've just got indigestion or something. Now imagine how hard it would be to distinguish God calling to me if I lived somewhere where I'd never before heard the name of Jesus. It would be tough, but I have to believe that "God has made it plain to them".
That being said, I believe that God gives everyone the opportunity to know him. Not everyone gets the same opportunity, or equal opportunity, but all men are without excuse.
Does He eventually soften everyone's heart to be ready to accept him or are some people left hardened? (meaning that God decides who will be ABLE to say yes to Him?)
The second part of that question has to be yes, God hardens people's hearts. There is definitely a point in which God stops revealing Himself and hardens people's hearts thus ending their ability to respond. See: Pharoah, the OT genocide by the Israelites, and Romans 11:8 to name a few.
--Both of the boys were innocent at this point... and God hates Esau?
Actually, I think Paul would say that rather than both of these boys being innocent at this point, they were both guilty (Romans 5), regardless of the fact that they had done nothing good or bad. If God did nothing the eternal destiny of both would be death; BECAUSE God did something one of them received love.
--what happens to those that he chooses not to have compassion on? Is it their fault that they don't get His compassion? (it doesn't seem like it because of Verse 11)
That seems like a very similar question to the one posed in v. 19. It's interesting to note that Paul doesn't actually answer the question, but rather, he makes a point (very similar to what God says at the end of Job) that the question itself is ridiculous...saying that if a potter can do with his clay whatever he wants God can certainly do whatever he wants with His creation.
Why would he want to harden their hearts?
The answer is in the text: "I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth." Man, God is really, really, really, concerned with his name being proclaimed in all the earth.
This is a really tricky topic that I really don't have a hard and fast Biblical answer to. For now I guess I'm going to stick with Paul's approach on this one and probably what Job ended up learning after God showed up...who is man to question God? God is God and I am not
I think ultimately we need to look in the greater context of the scripture. What is Paul trying to communicate...overall?
Think in terms of an outline.
We're doing an outline of the entire book of Romans...Chapters 9-11 are section V of the outline. Under the V:
9:1-29 are the A
9:30-10:21 are the B
Chapter 11 is the C.
Does that Make sense?
If you had to give a general title to section V (9-11) it would be _____.
Now, as you're breaking down that section, you would notice that A is a complete thought. In light of this slightly greater context, what would you summarize this section as saying? You would summarize A as _______?
B = _____?
C = _____?
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