And that surprise is....there are still a few non-violent, non-disobedient options open to us as American citizens that have the potential teeth in their heads to really beat back the encroaching tyranny that is taking over this Obamanation.
Read about them here.
Then come back and let me know what you think.
Note: I said the options didn't involve violence or law-breaking. I didn't say I could really see them being exercised, although I'd love it.
Monday, August 9, 2010
Thursday, August 5, 2010
An Illustration of the Ordo *
We affirm loudly that salvation is by grace alone, and that there is nothing a sinner can do to earn it. You can't perform some task, or series of tasks, to insure your salvation. Christ has done it all.
Okay, so then the argument sometimes comes at us like this:
"Oh yeah? I've heard you say a million times that a sinner has to trust in Christ and turn from his sins in order to be saved. Sure sounds to me like you think there's a couple of tasks there that a sinner must do to insure his salvation! So you don't really believe sola gratia, grace alone, do you? You believe in salvation through repentance and faith."
Well, no, that's not right, but I can see how you might need the process to be explained to you a bit more fully. Try this illustration:
Let's say I buy my college-bound girl a car. She's not been employed at a job for a day in her life. Never earned a single penny of legitimate income. She doesn't contribute a slim dime to the purchase of the car. I do that for her. I do it because of a small host of motivations within me.
When I spring the suprise on her, and hand her the keys, I expect that she will react in a certain way. Specifically, I expect her to be very excited. Ecstatic, even. And, it might be nice if she was genuinely thankful and promised to drive defensively and all that.
Let's say that she does all those things, in spades. She has done what was appropriate, considering the news and the gift she's been given.
But, here's the crucial part: Her good reaction does nothing to pay for the car. That bill will still come addressed to me. My anticipation of her reaction is not why I bought the car, either. I knew we, as a family, needed the car, and she especially needed reliable transportation to school and back.
Now, like all analogies, this one can be stretched too far, or in an illegitimate direction. But the point is, as touching the original argument, this is much like the relationship of faith and repentance to evangelical, saving grace.
When you respond appropriately to the news of salvation in Christ's work on your behalf, you do not thereby add anything to the merit of His sacrifice and resurrection. Your faith and repentance do not contribue a whit to His payment of your debt. And, they are not the reason He decided to pay it.
Your appropriate response to the Gospel is just that, a response. Faith and repentance result organically from the work of Christ in your life, not the other way around. Just like my daughter's thankfulness.
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* What's the Ordo? Wasn't he that shape-shifter from Deep Space Nine?
No, the Ordo spoken of here is the Ordo Salutis, or the Order of Salvation. It refers to the attempt to specify which acts and events in a man's salvation come first, and in order to the last. The illustration is meant to show how we can believe that faith and repentance are necessary if a man is to be saved, while at the same time affirming that they contribute nothing to his salvation. Salvation is of the Lord!
Okay, so then the argument sometimes comes at us like this:
"Oh yeah? I've heard you say a million times that a sinner has to trust in Christ and turn from his sins in order to be saved. Sure sounds to me like you think there's a couple of tasks there that a sinner must do to insure his salvation! So you don't really believe sola gratia, grace alone, do you? You believe in salvation through repentance and faith."
Well, no, that's not right, but I can see how you might need the process to be explained to you a bit more fully. Try this illustration:
Let's say I buy my college-bound girl a car. She's not been employed at a job for a day in her life. Never earned a single penny of legitimate income. She doesn't contribute a slim dime to the purchase of the car. I do that for her. I do it because of a small host of motivations within me.
When I spring the suprise on her, and hand her the keys, I expect that she will react in a certain way. Specifically, I expect her to be very excited. Ecstatic, even. And, it might be nice if she was genuinely thankful and promised to drive defensively and all that.
But, here's the crucial part: Her good reaction does nothing to pay for the car. That bill will still come addressed to me. My anticipation of her reaction is not why I bought the car, either. I knew we, as a family, needed the car, and she especially needed reliable transportation to school and back.
Now, like all analogies, this one can be stretched too far, or in an illegitimate direction. But the point is, as touching the original argument, this is much like the relationship of faith and repentance to evangelical, saving grace.
When you respond appropriately to the news of salvation in Christ's work on your behalf, you do not thereby add anything to the merit of His sacrifice and resurrection. Your faith and repentance do not contribue a whit to His payment of your debt. And, they are not the reason He decided to pay it.
Your appropriate response to the Gospel is just that, a response. Faith and repentance result organically from the work of Christ in your life, not the other way around. Just like my daughter's thankfulness.
---------------------
* What's the Ordo? Wasn't he that shape-shifter from Deep Space Nine?
No, the Ordo spoken of here is the Ordo Salutis, or the Order of Salvation. It refers to the attempt to specify which acts and events in a man's salvation come first, and in order to the last. The illustration is meant to show how we can believe that faith and repentance are necessary if a man is to be saved, while at the same time affirming that they contribute nothing to his salvation. Salvation is of the Lord!
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