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On September 9, 2023 By In Culture

Election and the Way of Obedience

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The Christian does not discover his election by means of rigorous introspection. He finds it in the experience of faith and obedience as a baptized member of the Church. Peter said, “Be even more diligent to make your call and election sure” (2Pet. 1:10). Do you know that you were chosen by God for salvation before the foundation of the world? Are you sure? How can you be? Maybe your recurring temptations, frequent weakness of faith, and besetting sins are an indication that you were not chosen by God, are not born from above, and will not be acknowledged by Christ on the last day. How can you have assurance of grace when you fail so often and so miserably, and if you think you do not, how could anyone so arrogant imagine they are saved? Assurance may be theoretically possible, but a truly humble Christian would know it is practically impossible. In fact, to claim to have assurance of salvation would be presumptuous, right?

Just in case you lost the thread above, the position that assurance of salvation is presumptuous was an argument the Roman Church made against the Protestant Reformers. Contrary to this faux humility, the Westminster Confession boldly affirms: “such as truly believe in the Lord Jesus, and love him in sincerity, endeavoring to walk in all good conscience before him, may, in this life, be certainly assured that they are in the state of grace” (18.1) and that with an “infallible assurance” (18.3). Will there be hypocrites who are self-deceived? Of course, but they are not the ones who agonize over their salvation and doubt their possession of grace for grief over their sins. Only born again people do that, because Jesus takes all the fun out of sin. Hypocrites are still able to enjoy their rebellion, at least, for a time, but the believer feels overwhelming guilt and shame over his transgressions, overwhelming but for God’s mercy.

Look again at Peter’s exhortation to “make your call and election sure.” How do we do so? By a Protestant version of penance and self-flagellation? No, by exercising our faith in obedience and growth in grace. After reminding the brethren that God’s power has given to us “all things that pertain to life and godliness” and “exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature” (2Pet. 1:3-4), the apostle then enjoins us: “for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love” (2Pet. 1:5-7). Then Peter thunders:

For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (2Pet. 1:8-11)

Christian, you have been baptized in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. You belong to your faithful Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. You have died with Christ and been raised with him. You no longer live for yourself; you live for the One who died for you and rose again. These are objective truths, not subjective maybes. Live in light of your covenant status and of what God says you are in Christ.

The Lord’s eternal decree with regard to your soul and mine is inaccessible. You cannot look into the Book of Life, nor can I. We perceive his electing grace by its persevering work within us. We gain assurance through the means of grace, the Word of God—as he is read, heard, learned, embraced, prayed, sung, eaten, and obeyed. “Make your call and election sure.” How? By believing in Jesus, and disbelieving the idols in which men trust. By repenting of your sins, but never of your decision to follow Jesus. By loving your wife, children, brethren, neighbor, and enemy, and laboring in prayer that the blessings of heaven might be poured upon them. By taking dominion in the Name of Christ: building, planting, watering, working, and waiting without growing weary in well-doing. By going to Church and being the Church: singing, confessing, praying, heeding, and rejoicing as the elect person you are.The Christian does not discover his election unto salvation by means of rigorous introspection. He finds it by faith, in the exercise of obedience, as a member of the covenant. Assurance does not come in a flash of prophetic insight at a moment in time, but every day in the disciple’s prayer and practice: Thy will be done, on earth, and in my life, as it is in heaven.

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On November 23, 2020 By In Culture

A Simple View of Life: Liberty and Obedience

I have a very simple view of life. I may decorate it to make it look attractive, but in the end, it’s quite simple. We are created to understand two things: our liberty and obedience. The first has to do with what we want, and the second, what/whom we trust. It’s an elementary view of life, and I gladly stole it from the sweetest of my rotund literary companions, G.K. Chesterton.

But let me develop these just a bit if you don’t mind. If a man wishes to prostitute himself with an eclectic assortment of fantasies and addictions, he can have at it. Most of these are available in a screen near you. The abundance of toys is so great that Jeff Bezos seems perplexed by it. Your view of liberties is determined by the things you want. If you want everything, including that other thing that the 10th commandment prohibits, you want limited liberty. Again, have at it. Many have tried, and from what I understand from archeologists, you can still smell their carcasses in the desert at certain times during the scorching heat.

However, if you want life abundant; the life that drips down your beard like oil, then you need a view of liberty that binds you to certain norms. The Pharisees our Lord chastised wanted a theology of liberty that stifled, and they gladly wore their “Make Hypocrisy Great Again” paraphernalia in the streets for everyone to see. They were dying inside, and Jesus just exposed their rotting soul to the masses. It wasn’t hard, especially when He was the one who knew them from the womb.

For some people, their liberty philosophy is plain to see. Just take a look at their Instagram page and you can tell that they are a busy idol factory. But for others, it’s more subtle. They build their careers on lies and half-truths, developing a vocabulary suitable for the Wall Street mercenary. I think Jordan Peterson’s “Rule Eight” touches on this (Tell the Truth, or At Least Don’t Lie). They masquerade their true intent with lies, and they build a reputation of liberty-lovers, but really their understanding is shallow. They are the ones navigating the self-help magazines at Books-A-Million seeking whom they may devour.

But the young lady who lays out to her pastor a picture of a husband she is after is seeking a good thing. She is limiting her liberty in the right way. She wants the good, even though she may have to moderate her list a bit. Her understanding of liberty is one that will give her maximum prosperity within her context.

Now, the second thing you must grasp is obedience. Remember that little Sunday School song, “O-B-E-D-I-E-N-C-E is the very best way to show that you believe.” That kind of talk will get you killed in any evening in D.C. or Portland. What was common Christian talk is now a challenging proposition in a post-5th-commandment world! But, pardon my Hebrew, “to hell with the obedience nay-sayers!” They don’t want the good of culture or the good of the city. They want the dismemberment of babies and society at large.

Your regard for obedience says a lot more about your worldview than your philosophy degree. Give me five minutes with a young man, and I can tell you more about his view of life than his resume attests. Your understanding of obedience is determinative of whom you trust. The way some trust in horses and chariots is by scoffing at godly authority and chasing after the cool kids with the fancy cars.

I told a group of young men this morning to watch for the flatterers. They praise you incessantly because they want your attention and your obedience…to their demands. But obedience is a matter of heart orientation. We need to look at the flatterer right in the eye, or at least via text, and say, “Get thee behind me, Satan!” After all, we obey what/whom we worship, and we become like what/whom we obey. As I said, I have a very simple view of life.

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