Time Goes Bye

So much to explore and write about, so little time. I'm focusing on school right now, biology and physics. However, a new years resolution, is to spend more time in the gospels. Hopefully, I will get through all four gospels three times this year, equaling a rate of one gospel a month. That is more than quite attainable. I hope to explore the uniqueness of each gospel, it's individual purpose, use, key features, different accents and things like that, but ultimately learning things that assist me in being Christ's disciple submitting to his teaching, hearing his word, abiding in his word, that is the goal. Blogging on the other hand, will happen on occasion, but its falling by the way side. I don't want that to happen, but it's inevitable.

Two Natures, and the Mystical Exchange.

"Just as divine and human things are predicated about Christ because of the personal union of the two natures in Christ, so also through the spiritual union of God and the faithful soul, and Christ and the Church, become one mystical thing, 'one spirit' (1 Cor. 6:17), about which both human and divine things are predicated... Through this mystical exchange, Christ transfers our sins to Himself and grants His righteousness to us through faith. This is not a bare and verbal predication, but a most effective and, so to speak, most real imputation." Johann Gerhard

Error in the Church

"When error is admitted into the Church, it will be found that the stages of its progress are always three. It begins by asking toleration. Its friends say to the majority: You need not be afraid of us; we are few, and weak; only let us alone; we shall not disturb the faith of others. The church has her standards of doctrine; of course we shall never interfere with them; we ask only for ourselves to be spared interference with our private opinions. Indulged in this for a time, error goes on to assert equal rights. Truth and error are two balancing forces. The Church shall do nothing which looks like deciding between them; that would be partiality. It is bigotry to assert any superior right for the truth. We are to agree to differ, and any favoring of the truth, because it is truth, is partisanship. What the friends of truth and error hold in common is fundamental. Anything on which they differ is ipso facto non-essential. Anybody who makes account of such a thing is a disturber of the peace of the church. Truth and error are two co-ordinate powers and the great secret of church-statesmanship is to preserve the balance between them. From this point error soon goes on to its natural end, which is to assert supremacy. Truth started with tolerating, it comes to be merely tolerated, and that only for a time. Error claims a preference for its judgments on all disputed points. It puts men into positions, not as at first in spite of their departure from the Church’s faith, but in consequence of it. Their recommendation is that they repudiate that faith, and poistion is given them to teach others to repudiate it, and to make them skilful in combating it." Charles P. Krauth

Is Calvinism Consistent?

2 Peter 2:1 "But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction."

If "denying the Lord that bought them" is a damnable heresy for these false teachers, then I would also strongly caution against a Calvinism which denies that the Lord has even bought these false teachers, as it is a system which limits Christ's purchase, bringing upon itself a swift destruction of its own. (But, I do recognize Calvinists as Christians, and this destruction has more to do with systems and consistency.)

Let me explain. God reveals himself in two ways: Law and Gospel. Under the Law we find ourselves to be at odds with the will of God, and do not obey at every point, and are sinners. In the Gospel we are sinners declared to be righteous, justified by the works of another - Jesus, our brother and saviour. This Gospel declares to the whole world that Jesus embodies all of humanity and has reconciled us to God, freeing us from condemnation of the law, in his own death. The Gospel reveals God's disposition of grace to all humanity and intends for it to be proclaimed to everyone.

Calvinists systematically confuse Law and Gospel. They filter the atonement through a matrix of inscrutable eternal decrees which land on nobody. Try as they might, by explaining away the non-elect, excluding these from the sacrificial atonement, they rob themselves of their own assurance and transfer it to their own inner-being and works which by default are still locked in the chains of sin. After all, if you cannot know God's disposition toward you by looking at the cross (who knows if you are elect?), you start looking inside of yourself for your salvation. Trying to repent and believe without assurance of Christ's all availing sacrifice for you is like trying to be free from sin with God's word of law still condemning you.

To have Christ is to have his assurance of his forgiveness. But this assurance doesn't originate from inside of yourself. This word comes from the outside and works its way in you, creates faith, repentance and delivers forgiveness of sin. It is a word that comes with all the power that it proclaims. "You are forgiven." On the other hand, a word that withholds the direct forgiveness of sin is powerless and creates no genuine faith, because it turns faith inward on itself, rather than outward to Christ and his saving work accomplished at Calvary. Faith must not look to itself for forgiveness (otherwise it would be like plucking out your eyes to look at yourself), but is merely the instrument through which we see Christ as he is truly for us. Direct your assurance from where the forgiveness comes from, a gift of God, the humble form of a servant, a Word that suffers to be rejected.

Colour?

Yes, here at Losing All, I have a new design for the new year! Being a simple, minimalist, I liked the black and white template design from last year. But really, changing templates is too easy now, and you can upload pictures too, which is pretty cool. What else does the New Year bring? I resolve to have more fun, making fun of Calvinism more often. (It keeps the web statistics up!)

** Colour - the real way to spell. Unfortunately, for the most part, I'm a really picky person, and a really lazy one at that. Therefore, I need to have everything spelled correctly, but I'm also too lazy that I can't change my "checks" to the Canadian. Therefore, I re-spell words I know to be spelled right, solely to get the red squiggly underlines off of my page, I hate them!! I'm afraid much of my spelling has been Americanized. I also hope to recover a truer Canadian identity this year. Or something.

Sermon On Soberness and Moderation

There's a lot of myths about Martin Luther floating around out there, one of them being that he was a drunk. While it is true that he loved to share a drink with his friends and talk theology, he certainly was against drunkenness. Neither was he afraid to use colorful language to prove it:

"It is possible to tolerate a little elevation, when a man takes a drink or two too much after working hard and when he is feeling low. This must be called a frolic. But to sit day and night, pouring it in and pouring it out again, is piggish... all food is a matter of freedom, even a modest drink for one's pleasure. If you do not wish to conduct yourself this way, if you are going to go beyond this and be a born pig and guzzle beer and wine, then, if this cannot be stopped by the rulers, you must know that you cannot be saved. For God will not admit such piggish drinkers into the kingdom of heaven [cf. Gal. 5:19-21]... If you are tired and downhearted, take a drink; but this does not mean being a pig and doing nothing but gorging and swilling... You should be moderate and sober; this means that we should not be drunken, though we may be exhilarated." Martin Luther, May 18th 1539.

Death

Do you see how again He does not promise them deliverance from death, but permits them to die, granting them more than if He had not allowed them to suffer it? Because deliverance from death is not near so great as persuading men to despise death. - St. John Chrysostom, Homily 34 on Matthew