“As the number of birth control options has increased and continues increasing, so has the need for discernment. Therefore, we will examine various options on the continuum. I will differentiate between no birth control, contraception, which literally means “against (contra) conception” (such methods prevent conception, whereby a sperm fertilizes an egg), and abortion, which terminates the life of a fertilized egg…

…
Level 1 – No Birth Control

At the very least, every Christian married couple should cover their entire marriage with prayer, including the children God may bless them with. In prayer the Christian couple is demonstrating faith in the goodness and sovereignty of God over all of life, including the womb.

Some Christian couples determine to only use prayer in their family planning. As a result, they simply enjoy normal marital sexual relations and trust that if God desires for them to have a child, he will provide according to his timing. When this is chosen as the course of action by a Christian couple, family planning by simply praying and trusting that whatever happens is God’s good will is acceptable.

However, when this form of family planning is dogmatically pushed as the only faithful Christian option, such foolish legalism can lead to both self-righteousness and harm.

Level 2 – Natural Birth Control

Natural methods include any method of contraception where pregnancy is prevented by abstaining from vaginal sexual intercourse on days when the wife is likely to be fertile. The most popular natural method is the calendar-rhythm method, which has been replaced by more effective methods such as the symptothermal method and the standard days method. Fertility computers are a new development in contraceptive technology that makes these natural methods easier to use by telling a couple when sex will or won’t result in pregnancy. The Roman Catholic Church approves the use of natural methods. One common myth is that a mother cannot become pregnant while nursing, which, while true for some women, is not true for all women.

Level 3 – Non-Abortive Birth Control

Like the natural methods, non-abortive birth control methods also seek to influence the timing of conception but do so by taking either temporary or permanent additional measures. This method of birth control has quite a long history.

Temporary non-abortive temporary birth control methods are generally barrier methods. Barrier methods of contraception include all methods that permit intercourse but prevent the sperm and egg from coming together as their primary mechanism…

…To summarize, levels 1–3 are options for Christian couples to consider without concern that they may terminate a fertilized egg and thereby take a human life. At the next level we tread into more murky waters that are more difficult to discern for Christian couples.

Level 4 – Potentially Abortive Birth Control

“The pill” is a categorical term for more than forty types of oral contraceptives, which are also referred to as birth control pills and sometimes combination pills because they contain a mixture of estrogen and progestin. These hormonal contraceptives are designed to override the female body’s normal cycle and “trick” the brain into believing she’s already pregnant, thus preventing the release of an egg from the ovaries…

…In summary, Alcorn points out that there is not one but rather three purposes for birth control pills. First, the pill exists to inhibit ovulation, which is its primary means of birth control. Second, the pill thickens the cervical mucus with the effect that it becomes more difficult for sperm to travel to the egg. Third, the pill thins and shrivels the lining of the uterus so that it is unable or less able to facilitate the implantation of the newly fertilized egg. On this last point, Alcorn says, “Reproductive endocrinologists have demonstrated that Pill-induced changes cause the endometrium to appear ‘hostile’ or ‘poorly receptive’ to implantation.” Furthermore, “Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) reveals that the endometrial lining of Pill users is consistently thinner than that of nonusers—up to 58 percent thinner.”

The bottom line is this: the first two purposes of birth control pills are contraceptive in nature and therefore acceptable for use by a Christian couple. However, the third function of birth control pills is potentially abortive in that it seeks to disrupt the ongoing life of a fertilized egg. That potentiality is incredibly controversial; thus, faithful Christians who are staunchly prolife and believe that life begins at conception are divided over the issue.

Level 5 – Abortive Murder

Abortion is taking a human life by killing a fertilized egg. Biblically, it is also known as the sin of murder. Abortions include medical procedures of various kinds as well as RU-486 or the morning-after pill. Other items that cause abortion are the intrauterine device (IUD) and Norplant, which do not prevent conception but prevent implantation of an already fertilized ovum. The result is an abortion, the killing of a conceived person…

…It may seem odd for me, as a pastor writing primarily for Christian readers, to include this level as a form of birth control. Yet, tragically, many people, including Christians, use abortion as a form of birth control. Undoubtedly, there are very rare cases where even the most devoutly Bible-believing, pro-life Christians are caught on the horns of an ethical dilemma involving abortion (e.g., when the mother’s life is at stake), but for the purposes of this chapter I am speaking of abortion in its majority sense as a murderous form of birth control. Regarding abortion, a division of Focus on the Family says,

The Alan Guttmacher Institute is a nonprofit corporation for reproductive health research and policy analysis. The Institute is also a public education arm of Planned Parenthood. It reports that one in six women who have had abortions are evangelical Christians. Based on these statistics, 5.6 million women in our churches have chosen abortion as a way out of an unwanted pregnancy. Each year, 1.5 million American women have an abortion. This means 250,000 evangelical Christian women could choose to abort a child this year.”

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Regarding worship forms, the Bible is clear that God is to be worshiped in ways that He deems acceptable. This explains why God judges those who seek to worship Him with either sinful forms externally (e.g., Lev. 10:1-2; Ezek. 8-9) and sinful hearts internally (e.g., Gen. 4; Isa. 1:11-17; Jer. 7:9-10; Mic. 6:6-8).

There are certain elements that Scripture prescribes for gathered corporate worship services as the church:

1. Preaching (2 Tim. 4:2)
2. Lord’s Table (1 Cor. 11:17-34)
3. Prayer (1 Tim. 2:1)
4. Reading Scripture (1 Tim. 4:13)
5. Financial giving (2 Cor. 8-9)
6. Singing and music (Col. 3:16)

The problem is that there is no clear prescription of an entire worship service in Scripture. According to Carson, “we have no detailed first-century evidence of an entire Christian service” (Worship by the Book 2002, 21). Furthermore, “the New Testament documents do not themselves provide a ‘model service’” (21-22). Dr. John Frame has also said that “we know very little of the church’s liturgy in the first century.”

The question that arises is whether or not elements not mentioned in the Bible can be included in corporate worship. Such elements would include creeds, special music, music style, service order, length, time, seating, technology, instruments, announcements, architecture, and clothing. The Normative and Regulative Principles seek to answer this question in the following ways:

Normative

• Corporate church worship services must include all the elements that Scripture commands and may include others so long as they are not prohibited by Scripture.
• Advocates of the Normative- Martin Luther, Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, the Book of Common Prayer, Anglican Richard Hooker, Catholics, Lutherans, Anglicans, Methodists

Regulative

• Corporate church worship services must include all the elements that Scripture commands or are a good and necessary implication of a biblical text and nothing more.
• Advocates of Regulative – John Calvin, Scottish Presbyterians, Puritans, the Westminster Confession, Presbyterians, Reformed

To study this issue further, listen to the sermonCAG and examine the following resources:

• Regarding worship as a lifestyle, Unceasing Worship by Harold M. Best is amazing.

• Regarding the theology of corporate worship, Worship by the Book, edited by D. A. Carson with contributions by Mark Ashton, R. Kent Hughes, and Timothy J. Keller, is very helpful from the Reformed perspective.

• Worship in Spirit and Truth by John M. Frame is a great book that deals with the Regulative Principle in a thoughtful and biblical way.

• “A Fresh Look at the Regulative Principle” by John M. Frame

• “Some Questions about the Regulative Principle” by John M. Frame

• “The Regulative Principle” by Dr. Richard L. Pratt Jr.

For those wanting more information by me on the issue, there are freebies to be had along with some paid options. The freebies include an article I did as part of an issue devoted to the Emerging Church for the Criswell Theological Review that can be found here.

I also gave a lecture at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in conjunction with the Convergent Conference there on the Emerging Church. The audio from that session is available for free for download or listen inline by clicking play below”

For those wanting to pay for more, I also contributed to the book Listening to the Beliefs of Emerging Churches which was a point/counterpoint book of sorts with five contributing authors: Karen Ward, Doug Pagitt, Dan Kimball, and John Burke. Also, this summer I have a feature article on the issue coming out in the Christian Research Journal, edited by my friend Elliott Miller.

The entire answer is available for download in audio and video format on the Mars Hill Church website and on iTunes. It will also be expanded as a chapter for an upcoming book I am writing for Crossway.

Here’s a basic outline of the sermon:

I started by explaining four kinds of relationships–three of which are acceptable for Christians, and one of which is sinful (option #3).

#1 – Prearranged Marriage

#2 – Courtship

#3 – Non Christian Dating

#4 – Christian Dating

I also gave some practical advice for single men and single women alike, and advice for men and women specifically:

Christian Dating Principles for Both Men and Women

1. Maximize your singleness for God.
2. Do not pursue a relationship until you are ready to marry.
3. Be reasonable – do not set your expectations too high or too low.
4. A date is not dating: date = time together; dating = couple (1 Tim. 5:1-2).
5. Never go on a date or date a non-Christian (2 Cor. 6:14).
6. Only date one person at a time.
7. He initiates; she responds.
8. Look at who God puts in front of you (e.g. Boaz & Ruth).
9. Feel free to use technology (e.g. internet dating) wisely.
10. Only invest in a relationship with someone who you are attracted to entirely (e.g. physically, mentally, spiritually, emotionally, ministry gifts).
11. Only date someone who agrees with you on gender and family.
12. Guard your heart (Prov. 4:23).

Christian Dating Questions for Men

1. Are you overlooking good women (e.g. single moms, shy, divorcees)?
2. Are you honoring, God, her, her family, her friends, etc.?
3. Is she modest (1 Tim. 2:9)?
4. Will she follow your leadership?
5. Does she have noble character (Prov. 31)?
6. Can you provide for the lifestyle she expects (1 Tim. 5:8)?
7. Is she like the worst women in Proverbs (e.g. nag, loud, quarreling, unfaithful)?
8. Do you want your daughters to be like her and your sons to marry someone like her?

Christian Dating Questions for Women

1. Do you want to help him and join his course of life (Gen. 2:18; 1 Cor. 11:9)?
2. Is he tough enough to remain strong in tough times (2 Tim. 2:3)?
3. Will he take responsibility for you and your children (1 Cor. 11:3)?
4. Is he considerate and gentle with you (1 Peter 3:7)?
5. Will he be a good father (Ps. 127:3-5; Eph. 6:4)?
6. Is he a one woman man (1 Tim. 3:2)?
7. How valuable are you to him?
8. Do you want your sons to be like him and your daughters to marry someone like him?

Last week I blogged about the Christian bubble suit that will be part of next Sunday’s sermon on ‘How Does a Christian Date Righteously‘. We will be giving said bubble suit away at the last sermon of day, the 8:30 service at our Ballard campus, to the individual who makes the best suggestion for how they will use the bubble suit to glorify Jesus. Here are the details and requirements for how to get involved with this contest and win your very own personal ‘Zone of Holiness’:

• Have a good idea for how you will use the bubble suit for Jesus’ glory, your edification, and our entertainment
• Be willing to attend the 8:30pm service at Ballard to accept the bubble suit if your suggestion wins
• Send us your suggestion via one of the following channels:
  • fill out this form
  • send an email to bubble@marshillchurch.org, please be sure to include your name and phone number along with your suggestion
  • text your suggestion to 95495, please be sure to include the keyword bubble in your text message. Also note that texting is limited in length, usually only about one sentence, so the form or email method is preferable

Jesus’ justifying work for us
The big idea here is justification by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, not human works.

• We are “justified by his grace” (Titus 3:7).

• “[A] person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified” (Gal. 2:16).

• “For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it-the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith” (Rom. 3:20-25).

Jesus’ regenerating work in us
This doctrine is incredibly important because it explains the source of the new life we have as Christians. Sadly, some have so focused on justification that they have failed to articulate regeneration. In justification, our status before God is established; in regeneration, we are given a new life that begins with a fundamental transformation at the deepest levels of our person. In the Old Testament regeneration is spoken of as a new heart given to us by God.

• “I will give them a heart to know that I am the LORD, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart” (Jer. 24:7).

• “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules” (Ezek. 36:26-27).

In the New Testament, regeneration is spoken of in terms of a new birth, or being born again. This terminology begins with Jesus talking to Nicodemus in John 3, and is picked up elsewhere in places such as Ephesians 2:1-5 and Colossians 2:13. The summary is that we are born physically alive but spiritually dead and most be born again spiritually to have a new heart and new life with Jesus.
There are ten aspects of God’s regenerating work in the new heart of those who are born again as Christians to a thoroughly new life:

1. New Master
   “Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4).
2. New creation
   “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Cor. 5:17).
3. New identity
   “. . . you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator” (Col 3:9-10).
4. New mind
   “Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up to salvation” (1 Pet. 2:2).
5. New desires
   “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do” (Gal. 5:16-17).
6. New emotions
   “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God” (1 John 4:7).
7. New community
   “. . . that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ” (1 John 1:3).
8. New power
   “So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live” (Rom. 8:12-13).
9. New freedom
   “We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin” (Rom. 6:6).
10. New life
    “. . . the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Cor. 6:9-11).

Jesus’ Sanctifying Work Through Us
James 2 clarifies the relationship between faith and works: good works are what we are saved to rather than what we are saved by. In addition, Ephesians 2:8-10 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” Paul’s order of salvation is that we are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone to then do good works, which God has prepared for us to do. Thus, Christianity is different than any other religion in that it teaches that we are saved to and not by our own good works (e.g., morality, spirituality).

In conclusion, the doctrine of regeneration is far superior to religion because it shows that God changes our hearts so that we want to live new lives; furthermore, He empowers the desires of our hearts to live new lives that are marked by freedom, passion, joy, and contentment. Religion and its emphasis on what we must do so that God will love us is offensive to the gospel of grace. God loves us first and gives us a heart that loves Him back so that out of our new heart, the totality of our lives can be transformed to live for His glory and our joy. We do this not because we have to, but because we get to, thanks to the death and resurrection of Jesus.

For those wanting to study the issue more fully, it is helpful to begin by noting the epidemic nature of sexual sin. In my forthcoming book Vintage Jesus I write,

In Paul’s day, he accused some people of worshiping their stomachs as their god, and in our day it appears that our god has simply moved a short distance south. Americans spend more money each year on pornography than country music, rock music, jazz music, classical music, Broadway plays, and ballet combined. Additionally, some researchers have even said that we spend more money on pornography than we do on professional baseball, basketball, and football combined. Clearly, perversion is officially America’s favorite pastime and a ten-billion-dollar business.

The annual rentals and sales of adult videos and DVDs now top four billion dollars annually. Fully eleven thousand porno movies are made every year, twenty times the number of mainstream movies made by Hollywood! The porn industry now claims over 30 percent of all video rentals on the east and west coasts. Nationally, there are now over 2,400 strip clubs. Some of those clubs generate as much as eight million dollars a year in revenues and employ as many as two hundred dancers.

On the Internet, the top word searched for is “sex,” with “porn,” “nude,” “Playboy,” and “erotic stories” also in the top twenty. Furthermore, 70 percent of porn traffic occurs between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. while people are sitting at work unable to focus on their job because the god of Eros continually beckons. The top research priority in the porn business is getting good quality porn to a cell phone or mobile device so that everyone can feed any twisted desire anytime and anywhere.

The National Council on Sexual Addiction Compulsivity estimated that 6 to 8 percent of Americans are sex addicts, which is 16 to 21.5 million people. Their numbers include young people. Sixty-one percent of all high school seniors have had sexual intercourse, about half are currently sexually active, and 21 percent have had four or more partners. Adolescents have the highest sexually transmitted disease (STD) rates. Approximately one out of four sexually active adolescents becomes infected with an STD each year, for a total of three million cases. People under the age of twenty-five account for two-thirds of all STDs in the United States.

By their graduation date, students will have watched fifteen thousand hours of television, compared to only twelve thousand hours in the classroom. While watching, they will see fourteen thousand sexual references every year, with only 165 of those occasions encouraging birth control, self-control, abstinence, or mentioning anything about the risk of pregnancy or STDs.

Undeniably, people are worshipers and will worship someone or something.

Speaking in terms of worshiping God our Creator and enjoying His creation (including the human body) instead of acting like the pagans denounced in Romans 1:25 who worship creation instead of the Creator, I argued that in many ways sexual sin is now THE sacrament of pagan religion marked by religious zeal, devotion, and sacrifice. For Christians wanting to overcome sexual sin, I then explained eleven ways to worship God that will help to replace the desire for sin with a deeper and more passionate desire for holiness. For those who missed the list, here it is:

• Become a Christian and worship the Creator instead of creation.

“To him be the glory forever. Amen. I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship” (Romans 11:36-12:1).

• Live out of your regenerated heart by the power of the Holy Spirit.

“For this is the will of God, ^your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and ^honor, not in ^the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one transgress and ^wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. For ^God has not called us for ^impurity, but in holiness. Therefore ^whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, ^who gives his Holy Spirit to you” (1 Thessalonians 4:3-8).

• Live as a new person with a new mind.

“Now this I say and ^testify in the Lord, ^that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, ^in the futility of their minds. They ^are darkened in their understanding, ^alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ!-assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:17-24).

• Put your sexual sin to death.

“Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away” (Colossians 3:5-8).

• Make no provision for the flesh.

“Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires” (Romans 13:13-14).

• Run to Jesus, your sympathetic High Priest.

“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:15-16).

• Walk in the light with your church, and professionals if needed.

“This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:5-7).

• Flee temptation.

“Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body” (1 Corinthians 6:18-20).

• Pursue satisfying marriage when ready.

“Now concerning the matters about which you wrote: ‘It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.’ But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband. The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband. For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer; but then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control” (1 Corinthians 7:1-5).

• Have your spouse as your standard of beauty.

“Then the man said, ‘This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man’” (Genesis 2:23).

• Repent quickly and keep fighting.

“Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul” (1 Peter 2:11).

To study the issue of sexual temptation and addiction further, the following books are helpful:

• For those struggling with addictions, Ed Welch’s Addictions: A Banquet in the Grave.

• For those struggling with sexual purity, Stephen Arterburn’s Every Man’s Battle and Shannon Ethridge’s Every Woman’s Battle.

• For those who have been sexually abused, Dan Allender’s The Wounded Heart.

On the issue of pornography, www.xxxchurch.com has some alarming facts and some frank discussions for Christians.

1. Electing grace
2. Preached grace
3. Regenerating grace
4. Converting grace
5. Justifying grace
6. Adopting grace
7. Ministry grace
8. Sanctifying grace
9. Empowering grace
10. Provisional grace
11. Financial grace
12. Miraculous grace
13. Persevering grace
14. Glorifying grace

All you preachers who are reading this, I know your Bible college and/or seminary professor told you to only have three points. But I say preach as many points as you need and take as long as it takes. After all, the Reformation started with a 97-point sermon of sorts, and too many preachers preach pointless sermons.

For those wanting to study the whole concept of grace more thoroughly, I would recommend the following:

• All of Grace by Charles Haddon Spurgeon is a classic, simple little book by one of my heroes. I bought this book, along with a stack of others, for one of my assistants, Kaitlin, who is a newer Christian and a great help. She said Spurgeon was her favorite and I could not agree more.
• Transforming Grace by Jerry Bridges is an easy to read but packed book. He also wrote The Discipline of Grace, which is also quite good.
• Future Grace by my friend John Piper is an important book because it speaks of grace in terms of not just forgiving our past, but also providing for us in the present and awaiting us in the future. His thesis is that God’s grace should fuel in us not a debtor’s ethic to God marked by gloom and what we must do, but rather a worshiper’s ethic that desires God, marked by passion and joy for what we get to do by God’s grace. For those wanting to sample the book, the first three chapters are available for free here.

Some articles of note are also available online:

• Michael Horton of Modern Reformation magazine and the White Horse Inn radio program has a good article here.
• Brilliant Reformed pastor John Gill has an article on efficacious grace here.
• Jonathan Edward’s Treatise on Grace is here.
• Professor John Frame writes of grace as Christian lifestyle here.
• Sam Storms has some great insights on grace here and here.
• Charles Spurgeon speaks of grace abounding here.

Last Sunday I preached the third sermon in our Religion Saves and Nine Other Misconceptions series. It addressed the #7 question and the issue of predestination. For those who are unaware, we tried an experiment by opening up a section of marshillchurch.org for people to post any question, make comments about posted questions, and vote up to ten times a day for their favorite question. In the end, 893 questions were asked, 5,524 comments were made, and 343,203 votes were cast. The top nine questions have now been chosen and the preaching series is underway with the ensuing book due out next year with my friends at Crossway. Anyways, the #7 question was “Why does an all loving, all knowing, and all sovereign God will into creation people He foreknows will suffer eternal condemnation? Why does Romans 9:20 feel like a cop-out answer?”

To be honest, this sermon took an incredible number of hours of preparation. I have studied the issue many times before, but in an effort to do the best job I could, I went back and reread everything I had read previously and added to that an enormous stack of new books and commentaries. If I stacked them all up they would easily be more than ten feet high.

I know folks have a lot of questions on the issue and the chapter for the book based on this series should be of some help. In the meantime, I thought I would answer some common questions, provide some Scripture for personal study, and recommend some audio and print resources that supplement the lengthy sermon we posted online and the questions I answered on the subject from our text messaging experiment at the 8:30 pm service.

PART 1 – Answers to Common Questions about Predestination
What is the order of salvation?
In an effort to simplify much of this material it will be helpful to note the order of salvation, or as the theologians call it the ordo salutis. In it we can trace the process of a Christian’s relationship with God:

1. Election (God’s sovereign choice)
2. Gospel call (proclamation of Jesus)
3. Regeneration (born again, new heart)
4. Conversion (faith and repentance from the new heart)
5. Justification (legal standing before God)
6. Adoption (membership in God’s family the church)
7. Sanctification (ongoing growth in holiness like Jesus)
8. Perseverance (ongoing loving relationship with Jesus)
9. Death (soul goes to be with Jesus)
10. Glorification (resurrection body like Jesus)

Could God have saved everyone?
An appropriate analogy here is based on John 5 where Jesus healed a man at a pool. He could have healed everyone but chose to only heal that man while passing over the others who were present and wanted healing. Similarly, in the doctrine of predestination God heals some people spiritually while not doing the same for others. The truth is that God could save everyone just as he could have healed everyone. Yet, because God is obligated to no one, the fact that he heals or saves anyone is a gracious gift.

When did God predestine us for salvation?

• “[He] chose us in him before the foundation of the world” (Ephesians 1:4).
• “. . . share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began” (2 Timothy 1:8–9).
• “. . . and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb that was slain” (Revelation 13:8).
• “The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to rise from the bottomless pit and go to destruction. And the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel to see the beast, because it was and is not and is to come” (Revelation 17:8).

Why does God choose some people and not others?
The Bible says that we know and see in part and that God has secrets (1 Corinthians 13:9, 12; Deuteronomy 29:29). Regarding predestination, the Bible speaks of the mystery of his will (Ephesians 1:9). Thus, there are some questions, such as this one, that we simply will not know the answers to in this life. On this point, Romans 11:34 says, “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?” What we do know is that His choosing is based on His will for His glory as Ephesians 1:11–12 says, “In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.”

Does God make us sin?
James 1:13 is clear that God is not responsible for our sin.

Why should we evangelize if people are predestined?
Romans 9–11 is the great section of Scripture on predestination. It opens in Romans 9:1–5 with Paul’s desire for people to be saved, which is echoed again in 10:1. He goes on in Romans 10:14–17 to say that God is not only sovereign over the ends, but also the means of saving people in that He chooses people to bring the good news of Jesus to lost sinners. Furthermore, Paul’s own example of evangelistic and church planting zeal must be the context in which his words are understood. Anyone who merely reads his words and does not follow his example is not truly Pauline. Furthermore, in believing that God elects people, we are relieved of the burden to manipulate and guilt people into becoming Christians and can work more honestly, lovingly, patiently, truthfully, compassionately, and sincerely.

Does not predestination make God unloving?

• “I have been found by those who did not seek me; I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me” (Romans 10:20).
• “But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God” (1 Corinthians 1:27–29).
• “In love he predestined us” (Ephesians 1:4–5).

If God saves through election then there is hope for those who have never heard, the unborn, those who died young, and the mentally challenged. I am in no way encouraging universalism because hell will be filled with unrepentant sinners. But, if God chooses who goes to heaven then I know the results will be more loving than if Satan or sinners made the choice because God is good.

Does not predestination make Christians unloving toward non-Christians?
Paul’s own words on election also reveal his heart for lost people:

• “I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit— that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen” (Romans 9:1–5).
• “Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved” (Romans 10:1).

Does belief in predestination lead to sinfully loose living?

• “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers” (Romans 8:29).
• “For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction” (1 Thessalonians 1:4–5).
• “Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness” (Titus 1:1).

The elect receive a regenerated new heart that loves God and desires to joyfully obey him in a life of worship.

Does God love the non-elect?
Yes, He does, and does so with common grace (Matthew 5:45). Yet, He also has a special affection for the elect.

Am I elect?
If you ask this question, the odds are that you are elect. After all, non-elect people tend to not care. If you hate sin and love Jesus, you are elect, as the Spirit of God has regenerated your heart.

What if I am confused and have questions?
This is a difficult issue and it is wise to take your time to prayerfully study it. Even the greatest theologians have questions on this issue.

What is the position of the elders at Mars Hill Church?
Reformed:

• Augustinian – single destination
• Calvinism – double destination

For the record, I prefer the single destination position of Augustine.

Can an Arminian be a member at Mars Hill?
If they love Jesus and are not divisive over the issue, most certainly.

PART 2 – Jesus’ Words on Predestination

1. “For many are called, but few are chosen” (Matthew 22:14).
2. “I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But the Scripture will be fulfilled, ‘He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me’” (John 13:18).
3. “For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect” (Matthew 24:24).
4. “And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other” (Matthew 24:31).
5. “And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them?” (Luke 18:7).
6. “For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will” (John 5:21).
7. “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day” (John 6:37–39).
8. “I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen” (John 13:18).
9. “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you” (John 15:16).
10. “If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you” (John 15:19).

PART 3 – Scriptures on Predestination
The primary texts on predestination are in Romans 9–11 and also Ephesians 1:3–11. The following are also helpful:

1. “. . . do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place” (Acts 4:28).
2. “The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with uplifted arm he led them out of it” (Acts 13:17).
3. “And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed” (Acts 13:48).
4. “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).
5. “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified” (Romans 8:29–30).
6. “Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies” (Romans 8:33).
7. “. . . though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of his call—she was told, ‘The older will serve the younger.’ As it is written, ‘Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.’ What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! For he says to Moses, ‘I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.’ So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, ‘For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.’ So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills” (Romans 9:11–18).
8. “So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace” (Romans 11:5).
9. “What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened” (Romans 11:7).
10. “God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are” (1 Corinthians 1:27–28).
11. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory” (Ephesians 1:3–11).
12. “For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake” (Philippians 1:29).
13. “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience” (Colossians 3:12).
14. “For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction” (1 Thessalonians 1:4–5).
15. “But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth” (2 Thessalonians 2:13).
16. “Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory” (2 Timothy 2:10).
17. “Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness” (Titus 1:1).
18. “As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious” (1 Peter 2:4).
19. “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9).
20. “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who are elect exiles of the dispersion” (1 Peter 1:1).
21. “Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall” (2 Peter 1:10).

PART 4 – Resources for Further Study on Predestination
For those who want to study this subject, the most helpful book would be Perspectives on Election: Five Views. It has chapters from noted Arminian Jack Cottrell and Open Theist Clark Pinnock, as well as chapters on supralapsarianism by Robert Reymond, universal reconciliation by Thomas Talbott, and the Reformed perspective by my friend Bruce Ware. The benefit of the book is that it provides five views as opposed to the typical three (Calvinist, Arminian, and Calminian). Furthermore, each position is then critiqued and reviewed by the other contributors, which helps provide a great deal of insight into the issue.

For those wanting to read a helpful introductory but thorough book on the issue of predestination from a Reformed perspective, Sam Storms’ Chosen for Life is a great and gracious book.

I would also recommend the following free online resources:

• Reformed Doctrine of Predestination by Loraine Boettner is a classic work available for free here.
• Audio, video, and notes from Dr. Bruce Ware’s sessions at the 2007 Resurgence Conference “Where the Hand of God and Hands of Men Meet.” (There is one session on Open Theism, one session on Classic Arminianism, and one session on God’s Providence/Reformed Tradition.)