Christmas 2012

I heard about all the pagan origins a few years ago, and was really disturbed by what I was seeing in scripture. I decided that until I could see direction from God through His word, I’d go without any references to Christmas in our home. After all I didn’t want to do as the heathen do. I didn’t want to worship the Lord the same way the heathen worship their false gods. That was really difficult for my family & me as we’d been raised [in God-fearing homes and Christian schools] celebrating Christmas, not with a Santa figure, but we did have a tree, lights, gifts, big meals, and the normal festivities one would expect to see in a Christian home. So we’ve now gone 4 years w/o the décor and my wife and girls have been very understanding of my position – even though they disagreed with it.

The problem I was having was not that we were worshipping God with a tree [that seems pretty nonsensical to me as that had never even been a consideration in all my years of celebrating Christmas], nor were we worshipping the tree itself. The problem was the symbol of the tree itself. My logic went that – if the symbols were originally Christian, then they were ok to use (such as the rainbow); but if the symbols were originally pagan and had been Christianized, that I felt compelled not to have anything to do with. So what it really came down to was the use of the symbols.

Last week I noticed something in scripture that I’d never picked up on before. Paul tells the Corinthian church in 1 Corinthians 8, that it’s ok to eat meat sacrificed to idols provided it’s not done in front of a weaker brother who feels it’s sinful (paraphrased). But then later on in a letter to two of the seven churches in Revelation 2:12-29, Jesus tells them that He has this against them, that they eat meat sacrificed to idols. This caused problems for me as I couldn’t seem to reconcile these two. I KNOW the word of God doesn’t contradict itself, so if God tells us it’s ok to eat the meat that had been sacrificed to idols, He must not have any problems with the meat itself, but rather the lack of concern/love for a [weaker] brother who found this sinful.

Based on that, the take-away I saw was that God doesn’t want us to use His creation in any way that might damage a brother’s faith. However, He doesn’t have a problem with us enjoying His creation either. After all, we read in Genesis that He was pleased with His creation when He created it. He said it was good.

I think back to a poem that my grandfather used to recite that I just found out is a song called Maker of the Universe. The lyrics read…

The Maker of the universe,
As Man for man was made a curse.
The claims of Law which He had made,
Unto the uttermost He paid.
His holy fingers made the bough,
Which grew the thorns that crowned His brow.
The nails that pierced His hands were mined
In secret places He designed.

He made the forest whence there sprung
The tree on which His body hung.
He died upon a cross of wood,
Yet made the hill on which it stood.
The sky that darkened o'er His head,
By Him above the earth was spread.
The sun that hid from Him it's face
By His decree was poised in space.

The spear which spilled His precious blood
Was tempered in the fires of God.
The grave in which His form was laid
Was hewn in rocks His hands had made.

The throne on which He now appears
Was His for everlasting years.
But a new glory crowns His brow
And every knee to Him shall bow.

I don’t see evidence from the bible that God has a problem with the physical objects of His creation that mankind has chosen to use as symbols to represent other things. From what I see between what Paul told the Corinthian church, and what Jesus told Pergamos and Thyatira, He doesn't have a problem with the physical meat. Likewise, He doesn't have a problem with nails, or spears, or crosses even though they were all instruments used by sinful man to torture Him to death. Likewise, God doesn't have a problem with His evergreen trees, whether they’re outside the house or inside the house. I think He does have a problem when mankind chooses to use any part of His creation in worship of either false gods, or Himself, or in any way that might damage a weaker brother’s faith. 

And it is with this understanding that we dusted off the fake Christmas tree in the garage and our daughters had a great time decorating the house together.

I may not have made my point clearly enough, in fact, I probably didn't, but I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day. I'm fully convinced in my own mind based on the guidance of the Holy Spirit through His word that we have freedom in Jesus Christ in regards to anything that He didn't expressly forbid in His word. Christians know that although there are powers and principalities behind idols, the idols themselves aren't anything (not that I'm advocating the use of idols) but wood and stone. Evil symbols are a way for Christians to identify earth dwellers who are enslaved to them. Christians aren't enslaved to Christmas trees, or lights, or gifts. We are voluntarily enslaved through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone. He is our number one, on our list of one.

 

We’ve had a great time this year celebrating the moment that the promised “He” of Genesis 3, loved us enough that He came to tabernacle with us in order to offer Himself as a spotless sacrifice for our sins, that we might be made righteous in Him in the eyes of the Father.

 
Jesus isn’t the reason for the season – He’s the reason for everything!

Thank you Jesus.

My Response to a Quote from J.I. Packer

Recently, my daughter posted the below-listed quote from J.I. Packer on Facebook. I saw it, and 'liked' the post, but didn't comment on it. Later on that night, I started thinking about it moreso, and saw the Calvinism in it. I must have gotten sidetracked with something else, becuase I left it alone. I should've addressed it, but for some dumb reason, I didn't. No excuse, I know, but that's the truth.

In any case, my Uncle saw it and shot me a brief email letting me know he was concerned because the quote says something different than what the bible says. I thanked him for the heads up, as I ALWAYS want to know when my theology is incorrect. This caused me to revisit the quote and write up a response to it that I believe would be biblically correct; but before I could get it posted, my daughter deleted her post. So I'm putting my thoughts up as a blog post. My thoughts don't necessarily flow smoothly as I'm far from a polished writer, but I think this is pretty important.

Here it is...

"The saving power of the cross does not depend on faith being added to it; its saving power is such that faith flows from it." - J. I. Packer

I should’ve commented on this, and for whatever reason, it slipped my mind. I’m sorry for that. That was really dumb on my part.

In past conversations with some of my Calvinist brothers, they take the position that there is no such thing as free will, and as such, we have no choice in the matter of being saved. They go on to say that if we have the ability to choose to accept or reject Jesus’ free gift, we are contributing something to our own salvation. I strongly disagree with this way of thinking, as it isn’t completely thinking the issues through. Once you take the time to really think it through, in light of the numerous examples evidenced in God’s word of different people making the choice to do God's will, you’ll see that the Calvinist's position is not correct.

I believe that Calvinists don’t understand that Jesus died for the sins for ALL of mankind, but rather only the elect. The bible says the opposite. John 3:16 says that “God so loved THE WORLD”, not just the elect. Hebrews 10:10 says Jesus died “once for ALL”, not just for the elect. Jesus provided salvation for ALL of mankind. He even provided salvation for those who have gone/will go to Hell. Does this mean that all are saved? Not at all! As I just said, some have already gone to Hell and many more are on their way.

The actual act of salvation itself was provided 100% by Jesus paying the price for our sins, in our place. This was the work that satisfied the justice required of by God the Father (Rom.3:35, 1John2:2, 1John4:10). However, Jesus death on the cross isn’t what saves us, otherwise we would ALL be saved because Jesus died “once for ALL” (Heb.10:10), and it is His will that all men be saved (1 Tim.2:3-4). Jesus death on the cross for our sins is what allows ALL people the opportunity to be saved. Does that mean our choice to accept Jesus’ gift of salvation is something we add to the salvation process? No way! Salvation is of the Lord. Our choice to accept Jesus' free gift isn't what satisfied the Father. We can’t do anything to satisfy the justice of God the Father. The price being paid, by Jesus our Messiah, is what satisfied Him, and ONLY Jesus could pay that price. As a result of Jesus satisfying the Father (providing salvation) we now have the opportunity to make a choice to accept His payment in full or to reject it.

So that being said, let’s get on to J.I. Packer’s quote. He said, "The saving power of the cross does not depend on faith being added to it...” This wording is correct, as our faith isn't what was required to satisfy the Father, but the quote doesn't make that point clearly. I think it would have better been stated that the saving power of the cross is the fact that Jesus death on the cross was the act that satisfied the justice required for transgression of the Law (sin), not by our faith.

J.I. Packer goes on to say, “...its saving power is such that faith flows from it." This wording is really tricky and the more I read it, the more I don’t like it as it suggests that we can be saved apart from faith. That would mean we could be saved without having come to the knowledge that are lost if we don't choose to accept the fact that Jesus has already paid our fine in full. I know that the bible says that faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Rom.10:17). I know that our actions show what we believe. So here’s what I can say about faith. When I was going through Hebrews last year the Holy Spirit opened my eyes a little bit more in chapter 11. This is the “Hall of Faith” chapter. It talks about how the OT heroes showed their faith. Put into my own words, these heroes believed that God would keep His word, and because of that, they did what God told them to do (they did the will of God).

I would say that God tells mankind that He wants us ALL to be saved (John3:17) and to come to the knowledge of the truth (1Tim.2:4). Jesus is the Way, ‘the Truth’, and the Life (John14:6). God wants us to come to the knowledge of Jesus as our Saviour. God wants mankind to know that just as Moses lifted up the serpent [on the staff] in the wilderness, so must Jesus be lifted up [on the cross], so that whosoever believes in Him [Jesus], shall not perish, but have everlasting life (John3:14-15). If we believe that God knows the end from the beginning (Isa.46:10) and therefore; He gains nothing by lying to us (not that He could lie – Titus 1:2); then He must be telling us the truth! This is what it means to come to the truth.

Kent Hovind said, “What you believe, will determine how you act.” Hebrews 11 shows examples of this. Therefore, if we believe the truth about who Jesus is, and who sent Him, and why He was sent; as an act of faith, we will do what God tells us to do. And God tells us that if we will confess with our mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in our heart that God raised Him from the dead, we will be saved. The question is, do we really believe it? If we really do, it will show in the way we live our lives. “What we believe, will determine how we act.”