Paul's Passing Thoughts

Grandpa (GP) and grandchild (GC) at breakfast:

GP: How is Sunday school going?

GC: Great! We are using the Gospel Project at church.

GP: Oh yes, all of life and history isn’t about us, it’s about God’s grace.

GC: What does that mean?

GP: Well, once upon a time, for God’s own self love and glory, he decided to write a story about his grace and mercy so everyone would know and he would receive glory accordingly.

GC: So, we live in a story?

GP: Wow! You are pretty smart! Yes, we live in a story; God’s story of redemption.

GC: So, my life is just part of God’s story?

GP: That’s correct.

GC: I wonder what God decided to write about me; how will my life turn out?

GP: Only God knows, because he is sovereign, or, totally in control, but however he decided to write you into the script, we trust that God is righteous in all that he does.

GC: Does that mean some will go to hell because that is how God wrote them into the story?

GP: Yes, because if everyone goes to heaven, the fullness of God’s mercy and grace would not be realized.

GC: Well, since I go to church, that must mean that God has written me into the story as a saved person.

GP: Not necessarily. According to Martin Luther and John Calvin, God writes some people into the story as those who are temporarily illumined, but then, according to God’s will, they fall away to a greater damnation than those who were written in as one’s who never believed. We call these characters in God’s narrative, “apostate.”

GC: This means no one can know for sure that they are going to heaven.

GP: Not exactly; John Calvin and Martin Luther believed in something we call the “Power of the Keys” to God’s kingdom. Whatever the church elders proclaim on earth will also be proclaimed in heaven; so, if the elders like you, this means God wrote you into the script as one who perseveres to the end.

GC: But we don’t know if God wrote any given elders into the story as one’s who like me till the end.

GP: Well, that’s true, but remember, if you go to hell as one written into the story for that purpose, God will still receive glory in your eternal suffering. Nevertheless, it’s always best if you make sure the elders like you, and this means that we always trust them.

GC: Therefore, the Bible is not about learning to do good or learning from the examples of what people did in the Bible, but rather merely observing God’s unfolding story.

GP: Right, it’s not about anything we do, but about what Jesus has done for God’s glory. Every event in the grand narrative points to man’s evil as set against God’s holiness. We call this, “total depravity.”

GC: Does this mean I am evil?

GP: Yes, we are all evil for the sake of God’s glory and self love.