The Strand Study Bible

MATTHEW

1565 MATTHEW Christ suffered and died on the cross for the sins of every individual person in the world, but His death is effective only when the individual accepts it (Rom 10:9-13). Lewis Sperry Chafer in Salvation: A Clear Analysis notes:

God makes the provision of salvation for all men, but it is conditioned by faith. Thus, salvation becomes actual only for those who believe, although it is potential and available to all. “Our inheriting eternal life involves two separate factors: an object factor (Christ’s provision of salvation) and a subjective factor (our acceptance of that salvation.” 22 I – Irresistible grace - Many Calvinists believe man can do nothing to resist salvation if God has chosen him. Yet, how can someone make a decision when, according to the Calvinist himself, he doesn’t have a decision to make? Thus, this too is unscriptural. According to Genesis 1:26, man is made in the image of God. Like God, man has a “mind” to process thoughts, a “heart” to stimulate those thoughts, and a “will” to activate those thoughts. If irresistible grace is true and man has absolutely no power to decide concerning salvation, then he was not made in the image of God. The problem with irresistible grace is that it is built on a misunderstanding of the doctrine of man (See EXODUS “MINI” SERIES). Man does have a choice in salvation. It is part of his three-part nature: mind, heart, and will (Mt 19:16-22, Acts 26:19-28 and Gen 1 :26, 27b ). P – Perseverance of the saints - Many Calvinists believe that Christians will persevere to the end of their lives because their salvation is dependent upon God’s irresistible grace. Nevertheless, this too is unscriptural. According to II Timothy 4:10, Demas, an earlier co-laborer of Paul’s, left the faith because of the allurement of the world. It was quite obvious that Demas was not able to persevere.Whereas every Christian is eternally secure, not every Christian finishes his race. Even the Apostle Paul himself was worried about finishing his race (I Cor 9:27, Acts 5:1-11, I Cor 11:30 and I Jn 5:17-18). Whether it is Luther and Lutheranism, or Wesley and Methodism, or Independents and Fundamentalism, sadly, Christians seem to be more interested in following a man and his movement than the Master and His message. For example: * Whereas Jesus taught his followers to baptize only those who had a clear understanding of the Gospel, John Calvin taught people to baptize infants (a practice carried over by his Catholic background). * Whereas Jesus spared the life of an adulteress woman caught in the very act, history records that John Calvin had adulterers burned at the stake. * Whereas Jesus clearly instructed his followers to put up their swords against other people who may disagree with them, John Calvin directly and/or indirectly had both men and women imprisoned, tortured and executed for disagreeing with him. NOTE – Sadly, many of God’s people today are like dung. They are more interested in “piling themselves up” for the purpose of sanctification than obeying the command of CHRIST to save the world through evangelism. Randy White in Why I am Leaving the Church Growth Movement (Internet Article) notes: THE ADAGE IS TRUE: The Church is like manure. Pile it up, and it stinks to high heaven. Spread it around, and it enriches the world 28:19 b This word ( baptizing ) comes from a Greek word meaning “ to dip under , immerse , or submerge .” It was used among the Greeks to signify the dyeing of a garment, or the drawing of water by dipping into a vessel. As Christians, we are to be “dipped” ( immersed and/or submerged ) when being baptized, not sprinkled (Acts 8:36-38). 28:19 c This word ( NA M E ) is singular in number in the Greek, yet Jesus used it to signify the plurality and nature of God as a Trinity ( Gen 1:1 b, 26 a , Deut 6:4 , Ezk 3:24 , Rom 1:20 a , Zech 14:9, I Jn 5:7 and Rev 22:4). READ NEXT - Luke 24:44-53 3 London & Wiseman. Pastors At Risk , Wheaton, ILL, Victor Books, 1993. Print. 4 Frame, John. Apologetics to the Glory of God . Phillipsburg, NJ:P&R Pub. 1973. Print. 5 Oswald J. Smith 6 Lucado, Max. The Devotional Bible , Nashville, TN, Thomas Nelson, 2003. Print. 7 Boettner, Loraine. The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination (Phillipsburg: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co., 1932) 8 Calvin, John. A Treatise on the Eternal Predestination of God 9 Vance, Laurence M. The Other Side of Calvinism , Pensacola, FLA, Vance Publications, 1991. Print. 10 Augustine. On the Merits and Forgiveness of Sins 11 Schaff, Philip. History of the Christian Church , Grand Rapids, MI., Eerdmans Pub. Co., 1910. Print. 1 Fish. Roy. Equipped for Fruitful Evangelism . San Antonio, TX: Baptist Press. 2007. Print. 2 Comfort, Ray. The Evidence Bible . Gainesville, FL: Bridge-Logos Pub. 2001. Print. As I see it, the Christian is not so much to engage his society, but to come out of it. The church today is filled with those who are both in the world and of the world, and who are organized to change the world into a kinder, gentler place to be. The success rate of the mega-church missional-church movement has been an utter failure. Society is more liberal and godless than ever before, with no end to its decline in sight. The mega-missional church will gather in their multi-campus celebrations this weekend and slobber over themselves for their victories, yet our society doesn’t achieve a single victory. Not one. 23