Seven Point Calvinism

I thought this to be quite interesting—simple and to the point: from John Piper’s “Desiring God” website:

When John Piper says he is a "seven point Calvinist," he does so half jokingly and half seriously. Historically, there are five points of Calvinism, not seven. Piper isn’t seeking to add two more points, but is simply calling attention to his belief in the traditional five points (total depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace, and perseverance of the saints) in a way that also points toward two additional "Calvinistic" truths that follow from them: double predestination and the best-of-all-possible worlds.

The "sixth" point, double predestination, is simply the flip side of unconditional election. Just as God chooses whom He will save without regard to any distinctives in the person (Ephesians 1:5-6; Acts 13:48; Revelation 17:8), so also he decides whom He will not save without regard to any distinctives in the individual (John 10:26; 12:37-40; Romans 9:11-18; 1 Peter 2:7-8). By definition, the decision to elect some individuals to salvation necessarily implies the decision not to save those that were not chosen. God ordains not only that some will be rescued from his judgment, but that others will undergo that judgment. This does not mean that someone might really want to be saved but then be rejected because they are on the wrong list. Rather, we are all dead in sin and unwilling to seek God on our own. A true, genuine desire for salvation in Christ is in fact a mark of election, and therefore none who truly come to Christ for salvation will be turned away (John 6:37-40).

So just as God doesn’t choose to save certain people because they are better than others (unconditional election), neither does he choose not to save certain people because they are worse than others (unconditional reprobation, or double predestination). Rather, everybody is lost in sin and no one has anything to recommend them to God above anyone else. And so from this mass of fallen humanity, God chooses to redeem some and leave others.

The "seventh" point, the best-of-all-possible worlds, means that God governs the course of history so that, in the long run, His glory will be more fully displayed and His people more fully satisfied than would have been the case in any other world. If we look only at the way things are now in the present era of this fallen world, this is not the best-of-all-possible worlds. But if we look at the whole course of history, from creation to redemption to eternity and beyond, and see the entirety of God’s plan, it is the best-of-all-possible plans and leads to the best-of-all-possible eternities. And therefore this universe (and the events that happen in it from creation into eternity, taken as a whole) is the best-of-all-possible-worlds.

 

Incarnation and Communion

Today we come to the end of the order of service and it is appropriate that our topic coincides with our Lord’s Incarnation—Christmas was just celebrated December 25. It is the day that the historic Christian church has commemorated the fulfillment of prophecy, that God fulfilled his oath to Israel and ransomed her. He did this, as St. Athanasius said, by doing for us what we could not do for ourselves, by becoming man, that we would by the Holy Spirit share in the divine life. We have painfully for two months gone through the elements of the worship service—why?

The Roman Catholic Church had adopted a belief regarding authority and they still maintain that the dogma of the church, called the magisterium is a living tradition extending not just to the Bible but to the teachings of Church Fathers and church councils. The Protestant reformation protested against the magisterium precisely because of its conflict with Holy Scripture. Working on the assumption that the Bible alone is sufficient in establishing doctrine and truth, to the degree that church councils and church fathers conflict the plain sense of Scripture, it is men who are fallible, not the Word of God. In other words, the Bible claims for itself, infallibility in its own statements, such as “Thus saith the Lord” or Jesus in John 14 saying that he is the Truth. God speaks in and by Scripture, hence whatever the Bible addresses it is claims full authority.

So the reformation adopted the principle of sola scriptura that the Bible alone is sufficient—not human reason, not science, not the thoughts of men’s heads and to the degree that church tradition is in agreement with Holy Scripture, we maintain congruence with the historic church. This was John Calvin’s self-conscience insistence to reform the Roman Mass according to Scripture. Also and equally important is the realization that the Mass preserved for almost 2000 years a basic form and flow of worship that the reformers sought to maintain, albeit with varying degrees of dialogue with church tradition among the Lutherans, the Presbyterians, the Anglicans and the Puritans.

So the task was before us in a traditional church to examine why we worship the way we do and why we use particular prayers, use historic hymns instead of contemporary tunes, recite Creeds and other elements of the Lord’s Day worship experience. I have argued that this basic form must be maintained or we have not renewed the covenant with God on the Lord’s Day. What is the loss in that? Robbing ourselves of God’s blessings and provision on us a corporate body of people, when he has provided according to Scripture a specific way he wants to be approached and how he wants to be worshiped lest we are guilty of idolatry. It is my prayer that if we really by God’s grace grasp what the Holy Spirit has been teaching us, we will be a different people at Rock Presbyterian Church; if we really grasp the gravity of what we do here and meeting God here every Sabbath, we will not take being in his presence lightly and it will cause us to long for his presence in the way he commanded—regardless of our emotions or preferences. I believe that if we as a worshipping people by faith adjust our thoughts to the elements of the service, and the realities present here, God can do amazing things in us and through us and grow us, for this church has a unique history in this community and this church has a very historic worship style, unlike other Presbyterian churches in this community—in other words, we are unique and have something unique to offer the people in our community.

James De Jonge writing for Reformed Worship magazine notes

The due worship of God” is God-directed, says Calvin in The Necessity of Reforming the Church. Believers approach God in full awareness of who he is, and together they magnify his greatness. This reverent tone pervades the service, flowing naturally into authentic prayer, praise, adoration, thanksgiving, humbling of self, and commitment to God’s will; it achieves profound expression in the Lord’s Supper. For Calvin . . . the spirituality of worship began in the sanctuary but carried over into daily life. He believed that people ought to live worshipfully.

I have already hammered a robust and very realist view of the sacraments in other addresses and sermons; I have argued that Biblical worship assumes that God calls us, comes to us and sovereignly changes us and he does this in two ways; through preaching and the sacraments. I have quoted Augustine enough times for us all to have memorized it: God reveals himself in and by his word. Preaching is the invisible word and the sacraments are the visible word; what you hear in the sermon, you see and experience in the sacrament. The reformers maintained that the true church is found, regardless of the Christian denomination or tradition, where the Word is purely preached and the sacraments rightly administered.

Equally, it is an error to elevate the one over the other. As noted before Rome elevated the Lord’s Table over preaching and teaching and the Puritans elevated preaching over the Lord’s Table. Both of those are equally important and both are essential to the worship of the church. As Luke reminds us in Acts 2,42, “And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” Simply put, that is the worship service: the Word of God, fellowship, the Lord’s Supper and prayer. Luke tells us in v. 47 the blessing from such Biblical faithfulness, And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.” I believe that can be true of us and as we have said, going through the motions won’t cut it; asking God to change us by faith, adjusting our intention and our attention about why we are here and who we are here to meet, namely the Holy Trinity—that will change us so much so that people can feel it when they come through the door.

I believe John Calvin was spot on in his teaching about the nature of the Lord’s Supper and his intent on its frequent administration. De Jonge says, Calvin [like the early church] advocated weekly celebration of the Lord’s Supper, insisting that infrequent communion was an “invention of the devil.” However, the Genevan magistrates voted against him on this issue. They argued that weekly celebration of the sacrament was too Roman Catholic. Mark Torgerson speaking at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, made these observations about a reformed view of the Lord’s Supper,

First, he explains, the Eucharist is a central celebration in the Christian church, because Christ commanded it. Second, the Lord’s Supper celebrates the past, present, and future work of the triune God. Christ came to earth as God in human form to sacrificially redeem humanity and the cosmos. During communion, Torgerson says, “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are present in our midst as the people who constitute the church. We anticipate the return of Christ, when he will bring the redemptive work of God to fullness, celebrating the Supper of the Lamb in the kingdom to come.” Finally, in communion we receive and renew our faith, are cleansed from sin and sanctified in life, encounter gospel truth, and are empowered for ministry.

We understand therefore, that coming to the Table of the Lord is logical end of the worship service and it is the place where we physically participate in communion with the Lord Himself. Jesus when he instituted the Lord’s Supper, did so in the context of the Jewish redemption festival of Passover; hence, the Eucharist is the abbreviation of the Passover, which is now transformed as a commemoration of a new Exodus from sin, not Egypt. Only God can make these adjustments to His Law; in other words, Passover was temporary and pointed to the messianic banquet in heaven that we share in this common meal of bread and wine. In reference to the Supper itself, Jesus said the bread referred to his Body and the wine referred to his blood; in John 6, he speaks of abiding in him and participating in eternal life by ingesting the physical elements, which he said were his flesh and blood. If this, as the Genevan elders say sounds too catholic, remember these are Jesus’ words and instructions. But as Calvin noted, it is by the Holy Spirit that Jesus is present here at the Table, it is by the Holy Spirit in us and in heaven, within and without the Holy Trinity in a mystery of communion the height and simplicity of which is simple bread and wine and it is only by faith that we apprehend this and that saving faith is a gift from God—the mistake is to come to the Table in unbelief that it is only bread and wine.

As Paul says in 1 Cor. 10, “The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.” Moreover, the Apostle warns in 1 Cor., 11, that in coming to the Lord’s Table, to fail to discern what occurs there is to come in unbelief and to fail to receive then the benefit and the covenant blessings, but only judgment and discipline. The Westminster Confession stating clearly the Biblical understanding of the Supper says this in chapter 29:

29.7– Worthy receivers, outwardly partaking of the visible elements, in this sacrament, do then also, inwardly by faith, really and indeed, yet not carnally and corporally but spiritually, receive, and feed upon, Christ crucified, and all benefits of his death: the body and blood of Christ being then, not corporally or carnally, in, with, or under the bread and wine; yet, as really, but spiritually, present to the faith of believers in that ordinance, as the elements themselves are to their outward senses.

29.8 –Although ignorant and wicked men receive the outward elements in this sacrament; yet, they receive not the thing signified thereby; but, by their unworthy coming thereunto, are guilty of the body and blood of the Lord, to their own damnation. Wherefore, all ignorant and ungodly persons, as they are unfit to enjoy communion with him, so are they unworthy of the Lord’s table; and cannot, without great sin against Christ, while they remain such, partake of these holy mysteries, or be admitted thereunto.

This is not simply a memorial of the death of Jesus, it is not simply a drama of redemption, this is the heart of the new covenant as the Passover was the heart of the Old Covenant; a meal which celebrated God’s sovereign rescue from Egypt by the blood of the Lamb upon the doorposts of Jewish home. So too, the Eucharist is the most intimate means to fellowship, to commune with our maker, as Jesus said in John 6,

Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. 55 For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me.58 This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”

The Lord’s Supper therefore is the most concrete way we can talk about our salvation, it is literally Christmas every time it is celebrated for as the Lord was veiled in human flesh for our salvation, his presence is mediated and veiled in the ordinary tastes of bread and wine. The Eucharist is Christmas extended and reminds us of Good Friday. So in the flow of the liturgy,

1. we are called to worship by God—by His Word—we hear his Law and acknowledge our inability to keep it—so we come to the gates of the heavenly altar to confess our sins, trusting not in slaughtered bulls or goats or in our best efforts at the Christian life, but in the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ for sinners in his death on the cross.

2. By faith we hear and believe the Gospel, that those with faith in Christ are indeed forgiven and we hear God say that to us every Sabbath by His Word. We proclaim our peace with God, affirming the visible sign of our salvation in our baptism.

3. By faith and the power of the Holy Spirit, we ascend Mt. Zion, the New Jerusalem once again to hear from God—we hear the proclaimed Word and the explanation of the particular Word of prophecy in the sermon.

4. We respond to the exhortation by the incense of our prayers, the offering of our tithe and we confess the God we adore and believe in and are invited, baptized believers of the new covenant to the heavenly banquet—the Table of the Lord. The WCF states, The Lord Jesus hath, in this ordinance, appointed his ministers to declare his word of institution to the people; to pray, and bless the elements of bread and wine, and thereby to set them apart from a common to an holy use; and to take and break the bread, to take the cup, and (they communicating also themselves) to give both to the communicants . . . (29.3)

5. Having been nourished by faith and by the power of God the Holy Spirit, we respond in thanksgiving and hence, have been using the traditional song of Simeon from Luke’s Gospel that Calvin continued to use from the mass to acknowledge that as Simeon saw the child of Christmas in the Temple, so too we who enjoy a much better covenant, have been eating with that child, the God-man Jesus Christ, who by His Spirit communes with us and enables us to obey the Great Commission.

After the admonition to go to the world as fishers of men, we receive by faith the benediction from the minister acting en loco christo, in the place of Christ, pronouncing the Good Word on the flow of covenant renewal; having met with God for another week. Let us pray . . .

 

As Far as the Curse is Found

We learned two weeks ago to not be conformed to the zeitgeist or the spirit of the age, but be transformed by the renewal of our minds. If our churches are to be in “unknown” tongue to the non-believer as 1 Cor. 14 says, the non-believer should feel like he stepped into another world upon entering the door; the preaching should convict him, but one thing for sure, he should not feel “comfortable.” The more the church reflects the values of values of the current culture, the less historically “Christian” it appears. This is partly why we speak of our era as post-Christian.

We are told that Christian churches must adjust to the times if they are not only going to be relevant but survive, because people will flock to the latest bells and whistles that tickle their ears. The pastor becomes a CEO of a business, the elders become administrators and the church must market the Gospel to get people in and keep their attention.

Michael Horton in his book, In the Face of God, says, “We’ve adopted a marketing mentality. We’re proud to see that our ‘product’—a faith experience—has made it into the marketplace. After all, as long as people are getting close to God, who cares how they get there?” (4)

We in the historic reformed community find this approach patently unscriptural and obviously unhistorical in the words of RC Sproul, the Protestant church has done things the same way for 400 years—why should we be made to think we need to change now to save the McDonald’s generation? The more we compete with the fads of this age, the more we will lose to the god of this age; you can bet, if they do not like the big mac at one church, they will leave for the whopper at another. If we become people pleasers as a church Body and fail to be God pleasers, he will discipline us as a people as he has promised. It is no wonder that Dr. Bill Hybels the founder of the seeker-sensitive church growth movement admitted to Christianity Today magazine that they failed in their mission to make disciples; they made people feel comfortable on Sunday mornings, but few comparably attended discipleship groups at Willow Creek Community Church and few had any grasp on what the Christian faith was really about—but they had 1000’s in attendance on Sunday mornings for the self-help messages, drama and excellent coffee.

In contrast, Christendom or Christian culture emerged in the pagan world as a conquering force; in the words of Isaac Watts, “He’s come to make his blessing flow far as the curse is found.” The West was profoundly changed and transformed as a result of the spread of Christianity. Hence, Christendom emerged as paganism was suppressed. People often accuse the Christian church for having pagan origins—they are partly right. Wherever the Gospel has been proclaimed, paganism has been suppressed. Where there have been pagan holidays and celebrations, which are as CS Lewis said only shadows of the real truth, the Christian church has pre-empted them with Christian meaning and replaced their pagan observance with the victory of the Son of God. Jesus said that he would build his church and the gates of hell would not prevail against it. Example of this are Christmas and All Saints Day.

December 25, the day to commemorate variously the birth of Apollo, the Son god Ba’al or the winter solstice, or whatever. Recognizing the birth of Jesus to be near September, the Christian church chose Dec. 25 to eclipse paganism by the celebration of the birth of the authentic Son of God, Jesus Christ. We anticipate this celebration by adopting the advent candle wheel or wreath in preparation for Christmas. All Saints Day on November 1 coincided with the Celtic harvest holiday Samhain, commemorating the roaming restless dead, but it was suppressed by the spread of Christianity. Hence, All Hallow’s Eve (or “Halloween” on Oct. 31) became a vigil to honor the Christian departed. All Saints remained after the Reformation in the calendar of the Anglican Church, Lutheran churches and the English Presbyterians. Of course, in our time after the Lutheran Reformation of 1517, we Protestants typically refer to October 31 as “Reformation Day.”

As we noted also last week, the Reformers wanted to reform the church not leave it; holding essentially to the idea that if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it or don’t throw the baby out with the water. Our own worship liturgy at Rock is based upon the Presbyterian reforms to the Book of Common Prayer in 1689. Presbyterians have always had structured liturgical services in both John Calvin’s Geneva and John Knox’s Scotland, building upon and improving the Mass according to Scripture, retaining what was Biblical and removing what was not, such as the use of the Creeds, Gloria Patri, doxology, kneeling for prayer and replacing the minister’s priestly vestments with the academic gown that identifies the teaching elder.

It was the Puritan reforms of the Church of England that would affect American Presbyterian worship the most, leaving no calendar observances, one holy day—the Sabbath–no Christmas or Easter, no candles in the church or saying the Lord’s Prayer or the Apostles’ Creed—all because the Bible had not commanded it. This left Puritans looking to the Bible for silly things such as a prooftext for when the Session should meet. However, Romans 14 allowed the Church and Christian conscience to observe special days and customs to the Lord; hence, keeping with the principle of worship being guided by Scripture. Puritan worship and those denominations that descended from them represent therefore a departure from the reformed tradition regarding worship.

Why do we sing historic hymns rather than contemporary music? Contemporary worship reflects the values of contemporary experience and is often centered on the self; historic hymnody is God centered and focuses on God’s sovereignty, holiness and glory so often neglected in much of so-called contemporary Christian culture, because contemporary Christian culture is not informed by the reformed faith, but by emotionalism. We may have had strong feelings and emotions, but may never have truly been with God.

 

Do Not be Conformed to the Zeitgeist

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12.2)

Paul tells us not to be conformed to the world; literally “age.” We are not to overtaken with the zeitgeist or the spirit of the age. To alter the worship of God by fads and trends is to fail to worship God aright. Our worship should be as 1 Cor. 14 reminds us, an unknown tongue to non-believers; we should not expect what we do to make sense, nor should we alter the Scriptural worship of God to be sensitive to so-called seekers. We must remember that is God who is seeking worshippers; if he desires to save them, he will. 1 Cor. 14 also tells us that it is in prophesying or preaching that sinners are convicted of their sin and are drawn to Christ; The purpose for our gathering is to adore the Trinity, not to save the lost; this time is not for evangelism— we are sent out every week and commissioned to evangelize those that do not know Christ.

Historic Christian worship can be seen in historic Christian denominations; is it any wonder that non-denominational churches do not resemble anything that looks like a church, much less what they do resemble historic Christian worship and why their numbers rise and fall with the tides of trendiness and fads? The more we compete with the fads of this age, the more we will lose to the god of this age; you can bet, if they do not like the big mac at one church, they will leave for the whopper at another. If we become people pleasers as a church Body and fail to be God pleasers, he will discipline us as a people as he has promised.

Ironically, when we Protestants have all but disappeared due to our worship wars and all else that divides us, we will have lost our children to fads and trends. Deut. 6 and Ps. 78 command us to pass our faith to our children and grandchildren. Roman Catholics and the Greek Orthodox will be worshipping the same way when we are dead and gone. While we Protestants may have real disagreements with them, they more than we seek to do right because it is right regardless of public opinion or a person’s felt needs.

Rome has found a secret we too often forget that God wants grandchildren and great grandchildren, indeed as Moses writes that he is faithful to the 1000th generation; an old Jesuit saying is Give us your children for ten years and they will be catholic for the rest of their lives. Where and what are our children doing and becoming? Is their fire insurance all that is important? What about the other elements to our faith?? What about our grandchildren?

We come here to renew our covenant with God; this is precisely why the Lord’s Supper, which corresponds to the peace offering of the Temple, happens at the end of the service—we meet God there, where he has ordained us to meet him; non-believers or wayward Christians are warned to not participate lest they meet God’s justice. The Table naturally divides sheep and goats regardless of how we feel about it. It is often God’s means of blessing or disciplining us. He knows whether we have real peace with him or whether we are putting on a show for others and our meal with him is a lie. The Table forces us to deal with our sin and rebellion; evangelicals can hide in altar calls of 100 or 10000 people but this is not an altar; this is the sacrament of His Table, where God is really present; he did not ordain altar calls, where he is really absent, but he did command the right use of the sacrament, where he promised to meet us either in peace or in discipline, as he said, “whenever we are gathered together.” The living Word is as Augustine said, invisible in preaching, but quite visible in the sacrament of his body and blood.

Where does all this lead us as a worshiping community? In our weekly assembling for worship on the Lord’s Day, receiving from Him by faith grace upon grace, we should be growing in grace as our outlook changes from doubt to trust; from fear to faith and timidity to boldly living out our faith in a fallen world.

When we come to worship, we are called by God, healed and forgiven by God, consecrated and instructed by God in the preaching of the Word, we offer in response our tithes and offerings, we confess our faith anew in the Creed, gather at his table to receive spiritual nourishment and are sent out– but we are sent to serve and gather lost sheep

Our primary place to serve is the church to which he has called us and secondarily to the world in which we live. The Body, gathered by Christ the Lord at Rock Presbyterian Church needs each other and the gifts that God has blessed us with, to be built up and encouraged in our own spiritual formation and development as the Body of Christ.

While you can go to heaven without local church membership, your baptismal vows require it. You were baptized into the Body of Christ—there are no lone ranger Christians.

As we come to understand what God expects of us on the Sabbath; as we come to understand how he wants to be worshipped according to Scripture, not our felt needs or preferences like hitting lunch time at the restaurant, we can grow together as a covenant community, not sitting idly by as spectators—checking the box on Sunday; coming to be entertained by either the music or the pastor, but seeking to please God from obedient hearts, we will experience an outpouring of God’s favor and providential blessing never known before.

Again, Calvin writes in his Commentary on Romans, “ . . . until men really apprehend how much they owe to the mercy of God, they will never with a right feeling worship him, nor be effectually stimulated to fear and obey him.”

 

Hypocrisy Amuck

Well, I can’t let this one slide. After castigating the co-called Federal Vision bunch for legalism and Romanism and all sorts of isms that center around NT Wright’s and wrongs and the so-called New Perspective on Paul, Westminster comes out in praise of a book by Jason Meyers that is even in favor of tossing out categories like COVENANT OF GRACE so that we can better understand Paul. He speaks favorably of people like EP Sanders, James Dunn and even Evangelical Walt Kaiser who dispenses with the whole covenant of works category and favors (like Norm Shepherd) for one covenant of grace graciously administered. I for one find this vile stench from the keepers of the gates of orthodoxy to be steeped in hypocrisy. So what is it exactly about Doug Wilson that Scott Clarke or Cornelius Venema didn’t like? It had to be more than the FV thing, otherwise they would have to dismiss the whole WTS as hopelessly liberal and bow down and cry holy toward Greenville, SC, the last bastion of Puritanism on the planet . . .