Should Calvinism Be Labeled Works Salvation or Antinomianism? Or Both?
The Reformers do evoke some awe in their ability to create a doctrine that is works salvation by being antinomian in sanctification. Basically, you have to be an antinomian to keep your salvation. And if you aren’t an antinomian, you are not saved. This is why many Calvinists say that if you are not accused of being antinomian—you are probably not preaching the gospel. This is a completely upside gospel, and revival in the American church will never be possible until we see this doctrine for what it is and begin to implement alternatives.
A good place to start in understanding Calvin’s all-out assault on biblical truth is his definition of righteousness. As with most of the Reformers, he defined righteousness as a perfect keeping of the law. Sounds very logical, but once we are drawn into that definition and accept its premise—we are in grave danger of being led astray. Let’s begin by reading some citations from the Calvin Institutes on this point:
But in order that a sense of guilt may urge us [Christians] to seek for pardon, it is of importance to know how our being instructed in the Moral Law renders us more inexcusable [the need for perpetual pardon]. If it is true, that a perfect righteousness is set before us in the Law, it follows, that the complete observance of it is perfect righteousness in the sight of God; that is, a righteousness by which a man may be deemed and [*]pronounced righteous at the divine tribunal. Wherefore Moses, after promulgating the Law, hesitates not to call heaven and earth to witness, that he had set life and death, good and evil, before the people. Nor can it be denied, that the reward of eternal salvation, as promised by the Lord, awaits the perfect obedience of the Law…(CI 2.7.3).
Therefore, if we look merely to the Law, the result must be despondency, confusion, and despair, seeing that by it we are all cursed and condemned, while we are kept far away from the blessedness which it holds forth to its observers. Is the Lord, then, you will ask, only sporting with us? Is it not the next thing to mockery, to hold out the hope of happiness, to invite and exhort us to it, to declare that it is set before us, while all the while the entrance to it is precluded and quite shut up? I answer, Although the promises, in so far as they are conditional, depend on a perfect obedience of the Law, which is nowhere to be found, they have not, however, been given in vain (CI: 2.7.4).
To declare that we are deemed righteous, solely because the obedience of Christ is imputed to us as if it where our own, is just to place our righteousness in the obedience of Christ…. And so indeed it is; for in order to appear in the presence of God [*]for salvation [**to stand in a future judgment to determine salvation], we must send forth that fragrant odour, having our vices covered and buried by his perfection. (CI: 3.11.23).
For the meaning is—As by the sin of Adam we were alienated from God and doomed to destruction, so by the obedience of Christ we are restored to his favour as if we were righteous (CI: 2.17.3).
We see from these quotations with emphasis added that a perfect keeping of the law is the definition of righteousness. This would be true if Christians did not remain in their mortal bodies for a time, but biblically, imperfect obedience in sanctification does not exclude the truth that we are presently righteous in the truest sense. Therefore, Calvin’s definition of righteousness is fundamentally flawed and the problems caused thereof can be seen in these same citations.
First, note that the law must be kept perfectly by Christ in order for us to be “pronounced righteous” at “the divine tribunal.” And: “for in order to appear in the presence of God for salvation.” And what must we do to procure the perfect obedience of Christ to fulfill the law?
But in order that a sense of guilt may urge us [Christians] to seek for pardon, it is of importance to know how our being instructed in the Moral Law renders us more inexcusable [the need for perpetual pardon].
In Calvinism, the purpose of the law is to drive the Christian to guilt for the purpose of seeking “pardon.” This pardon, for the Christian, is perpetual because it “renders us more inexcusable.” What kind of pardon? Pardon for the same salvation that we originally received. Not forgiveness in sanctification to restore intimacy with Christ and the Father, but forgiveness for salvation. Calvin makes this clear:
Moreover, the message of free reconciliation with God is not promulgated for one or two days, but is declared to be perpetual in the Church (2 Cor. 5:18, 19). Hence believers have not even to the end of life any other righteousness than that which is there described. Christ ever remains a Mediator to reconcile the Father to us, and there is a perpetual efficacy in his death….(CI: 3.14.11).
So, as the law of God shows us our continual need for pardon, we seek pardon for salvation not just once, but perpetually. This continually satisfies the righteous demand of the law which is perfection. In a future judgment, we must present “that fragrant odour, having our vices covered and buried by his perfection.”
What work must we do to keep our salvation? We must use the Bible to see our continual need for pardon and seek continual re-salvation. As the New Calvinist mantra of our day states: “We must preach the gospel to ourselves every day.” Robert Brinsmead, the father of present-day New Calvinism, stated it this way:
After a man hears the conditions of acceptance with God and eternal life, and is made sensible of his inability to meet those conditions, the Word of God comes to him in the gospel. He hears that Christ stood in his place and kept the law of God for him. By dying on the cross, Christ satisfied all the law’s demands. The Holy Spirit gives the sinner faith to accept the righteousness of Jesus. Standing now before the law which says, “I demand a life of perfect conformity to the commandments,” the believing sinner cries in triumph, “Mine are Christ’s living, doing, and speaking, His suffering and dying; mine as much as if I had lived, done, spoken, and suffered, and died as He did . . . ” (Luther). The law is well pleased with Jesus’ doing and dying, which the sinner brings in the hand of faith. Justice is fully satisfied, and God can truly say: “This man has fulfilled the law. He is justified.”
We say again, only those are justified who bring to God a life of perfect obedience to the law of God. This is what faith does—it brings to God the obedience of Jesus Christ. By faith the law is fulfilled and the sinner is justified.
On the other hand, the law is dishonored by the man who presumes to bring to it his own life of obedience. The fact that he thinks the law will be satisfied with his “rotten stubble and straw” (Luther) shows what a low estimate he has of the holiness of God and what a high estimate he has of his own righteousness. Only in Jesus Christ is there an obedience with which the law is well pleased. Because faith brings only what Jesus has done, it is the highest honor that can be paid to the law (Rom. 3:31). (As cited in The Truth About New Calvinism: Paul M. Dohse Sr.; pp. 101,102).
Therefore, in Calvinism, the Christian life is a continual re-salvation by faith alone as we see our sinfulness in the Bible. The goal is to use the law we cannot keep to reveal our corruption more and more which drives us to repentance. When we repent, Christ’s perfect obedience to the law is presented to the Father and our justification is maintained. This is the gospel of Calvinism. It is working by faith alone to maintain our salvation by acknowledging that we cannot keep the law; for all practical purposes, antinomianism. What are the differences between “I can’t keep the law,” “I won’t keep the law,” or “I don’t have to keep the law”? Calvinism’s version of antinomianism is the idea that an antinomian believes that the law doesn’t have to be kept. They piously object that it must be kept while not mentioning that we can’t keep it—Christ must keep it for us.
Righteousness is not defined by a perfect keeping of the law. The very Reformed definition of righteousness is egregiously flawed. It’s works salvation. If it is true, we are not justified APART FROM THE LAW:
Romans 3:19 – Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. 21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—
Abraham was justified apart from the law—the law didn’t come until 430 years later (GAL 3:17,18). He was declared righteous because he believed God. Hence, GOD’S righteousness APART from the law has been manifested. If Christ had to keep the law perfectly for our righteousness—that’s NOT apart from the law, and moreover, Abraham could not have been justified. “But Christ’s perfect obedience was imputed to Abraham when He died on the cross.” Then what is the point that Paul is making in Galatians? Why make a point in regard to when the law came? In addition, Christ had not yet obeyed the law perfectly when Abraham did the following:
James 2:20 – Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; 23 and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God. 24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25 And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? 26 For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.
The Reformed always make it a point to state that the righteousness of Christ is imputed to us. This is important to them (although the Bible always refers to it as the righteousness of God) because it imputes the perfect obedience of Christ (His life when He came as a man) to us so that the law is fulfilled for our salvation. But again, the Scriptures state:
Galatians 3:11 – Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.”
Galatians 2:16 – yet we know that 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.
If Christ lived a perfect life on earth to fulfill the law so that it could be imputed to us for righteousness—THAT’S NOT RIGHTOUSNESS APART FROM THE LAW. Though Christ kept it for us, it is still righteousness based on the law.
Hence, a proper definition of righteousness is, believing in God, not perfect obedience to the law. The law has no stake at all in righteousness that justifies. It informs our righteousness, but it does not affect it:
Romans 3:21 – But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—
Galatians 4:21 – Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law?
But if Christ had to keep the law for us, we are not declared righteous apart from the law, and we are still under it albeit fulfilled by Christ. We are either under law or under grace (Romans 6:14). The Bible never states that we are still under the law and covered by grace—it’s either one or the other. If we need the gospel of first importance just as much as we did when we were saved (a popular truism in our day), then we are still under the law which is a biblical idiom for the unsaved.
We are righteous because we have God’s seed within us via the new birth and it was attained by faith alone. Perfect law keeping is not the standard, but a DIRECTION of righteousness resulting from a born again believer fighting the remnant of sin that remains in his mortal body:
1John 3:7 – Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. 8 Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. 9 No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. 10 By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.
The righteous believer has a mind that serves the law, but is hindered by the remnant of sin left in mortality:
Romans 7:25 – Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.
Note “I myself,” and “you, yourselves” in the following citation:
Romans 15:14 – I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another.
Where perfection is commanded in the Bible, the goal is being referenced, not a standard for remaining justified that has to be perpetually implemented through re-salvation. Calvinism denies that we are presently righteous, and therefore denies the biblical new birth. Jesus said we “must be born again.” To redefine the new birth is to posit another gospel. Calvinism keeps Christians under the law and propagates a gospel of perpetual re-salvation to maintain a satisfaction to the law culminating in a judgment to determine if we did so satisfactory. Therefore, assurance of salvation is on shaky ground. It also circumvents our ability to love the Lord by keeping His commandments because the standard is perfection.
It all starts with an unbiblical definition of righteousness, and results in a completely corrupted gospel.
paul
The Potter’s House: Sunday 3/10/2013 / Romans 9:1-5; The Assurance of God’s Election and the Hope of Whosoever Will, Part 1
Thus far in the book of Romans we have learned many critical truths in regard to the gospel. What is the gospel? What is the relationship between law and gospel? Why do Christians still struggle with sin? We have learned the answers to these very important questions and much more. I believe we have come out of the first eight chapters as changed people. I believe we are better equipped to please God than we were, and here at the Potter’s House, that’s the goal. How glorious it would be to see a difference in who we are on a continual bases. Where there is change there is life.
Now in chapter nine, Paul turns his attention to educating the Romans in regard to the proper perspective on Israel. The apostolic church was predominantly Jewish. Gentiles were accepted into the church grudgingly and with much controversy. It is clear that the manifestation of the Spirit on Pentecost was a confirming sign that would be key in convincing the Jews that God had extended all of the blessings of Abraham to the Gentiles as well. When Peter led the first Gentiles to Christ, he had some explaining to do when he got back to Jerusalem:
Acts 11:1 – Now the apostles and the brothers who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. 2 So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcision party criticized him, saying, 3 “You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.” 4 But Peter began and explained it to them in order:
Let’s pause to remember what we have previously learned in the first chapters regarding what the gospel is. Here it is framed as receiving the word of God. We discussed that right? To accept the gospel is also to accept and commit to God’s truth. Salvation comes part and parcel with a love for the truth. After Peter rehearses the events at Cornelius’s house he concludes with the following:
Acts 11:15 – As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as on us at the beginning. 16 And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ 17 If then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?” 18 When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.”
This is something to keep in mind: biblical, supernatural events always have a purpose. And I dare say practical purposes in helping us in our sanctification. Also, don’t miss what the Jews recognized that the Gentiles have been “granted”: REPENTANCE. Look, as we have learned, salvation is more than a mere mental assent to the gospel of first importance (1COR 15:3). Let’s look at a word study regarding this:
g4413. πρωτοσ protos; contracted superlative of 4253; foremost (in time, place, order or importance):— before, beginning, best, chief (- est), first (of all), former. AV (104)- first 84, chief 9, first day 2, former 2, misc 7; first in time or place in any succession of things or persons first in rank influence, honour chief principal first, at the first.
This is a great opportunity for a little review. We learned that there is the gospel of first importance that people are saved by, and the truth that sanctifies (John 17:17). There is the fundamental gospel that saves and then the full counsel of God that we live by. Salvation is not only believing the gospel of first order, but is a commitment to the full counsel of God because we have been given love for His truth and granted repentance. This is a commitment to a new direction; i.e., God’s way of life. We learned that the apostolic church was known as “The Way.” Hence, receiving the word is the same as receiving the gospel.
But back to my original point which is that Paul spends a lot of time at the beginning of Romans convincing them that they are not second class citizens in God’s kingdom. They are coequals with the Jews. This would have been a hefty revelation for the Gentiles in Rome because the Greco-Roman culture was saturated with a caste system mentality. Paul explains in painstaking detail how the Jews have no benefit over the Gentiles in regard to justification by faith alone. Paul posited his case, and then he begins to articulate how the Jews are to be thought of in regard to God’s kingdom and in relationship with the Gentiles. This begins right where we have arrived in Romans 9:1.
I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit— 2 that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3 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. 4 They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. 5 To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.
Paul called the Israelites his “kinsmen.” The word means the following:
g4773. συγγενησ syggenes; from 4862 and 1085; a relative (by blood); by extension, a fellow countryman:— cousin, kin (- sfolk,- sman). AV (12)- kinsman 7, cousin 2, kinsfolk 2, kin 1; of the same kin, akin to, related by blood in a wider sense, of the same nation, a fellow countryman.
God elected Israel to be His holy nation of priests. That was the idea at Mount Sinai. We looked at this in-depth when we interjected three lessons from Exodus into our series. And let there be no doubt about it: this is a national identity that we are talking about. What God wanted to establish on Mt. Sinai will be established, and is established in part in this present age. Peter said that we are presently a holy nation (1Peter 2:9). This means that the Gentiles have been grafted into the Jewish nation, and we are that nation. It is a national identity. The possibility of that ethnicity was threatened after the flood, and God acted accordingly. It was threatened again when the Jews were captive in Egypt, and God acted accordingly. This is a national identity, a nation of priests looking for our own city built by God (2Peter 3:13, HEB 11:10 , REV 21:3). I believe Peter’s use of the word “nation” is to be taken literally. Those who teach that promises were not made to Israel as a nation are dead wrong and this is the premise for the idea that the church replaced Israel. The Lord said the following to Rebekah when she was pregnant with Jacob and Esau:
Genesis 25:23 – Two nations are in your womb; And two peoples shall be separated from your body; And one people shall be stronger than the other; And the older shall serve the younger.
Paul gets into this deeper later in this chapter, but let’s look at some other Scriptures regarding the national salvation of Israel.
DUE 7:1 – “When the Lord your God brings you into the land that you are entering to take possession of it, and clears away many nations before you, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations more numerous and mightier than you, 2 and when the Lord your God gives them over to you, and you defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. You shall make no covenant with them and show no mercy to them. 3 You shall not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons, 4 for they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods. Then the anger of the Lord would be kindled against you, and he would destroy you quickly. 5 But thus shall you deal with them: you shall break down their altars and dash in pieces their pillars and chop down their Asherim and burn their carved images with fire.
6 “For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. 7 It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, 8 but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
Isaiah brings these two ideas together: Jacob as a nation that is elected by God:
45:4 – For the sake of my servant Jacob, and Israel my chosen, I call you by your name,
In the same way that individuals are elected, God elected the Jews as a nation.
Remember Romans 8:30?
And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
Likewise in Isaiah 45:4, we have the election and calling of Israel. God chose them and called them by their name. Does that mean everyone in that nation is going to be saved? No, and Paul explains that later. Yet, that fact does not negate the election of Israel as a nation. And, as we will see, God’s promises in regard to salvation do not depend on our performance. And let me slip this in because it is a major theme of this ministry: the fact that our justification is a settled issue frees us to be aggressive in sanctification. The law of bondage now becomes the law of liberty. Performance has no bearing in justification, but it certainly does in sanctification. Again, we find ourselves harkening back to what we have learned previously. Our blessings are in applying the perfect law of liberty to our lives (James 1:25). The confusion of justification and sanctification equals the mess we have in the American church, and election is a major key to understanding the importance of that dichotomy. Pastors in our day must draw a line in the sand and choose one side or the other. Some have already. As one Reformed pastor I was listening to stated:
Any separation of justification and sanctification is an abomination.
When we were elected, we were also separated and justified (1COR 6:11). That’s definitive sanctification. Glorification is final sanctification. Glorification is guaranteed. Once saved always saved. But was our progressive sanctification also elected? God prepared good works for us to do (EPH 2:10), but did He preordain our obedience? This chapter is about election, ok? And two types of election must be discussed. And we will discuss them here, but while the American church wallows in sewage, the discussion is primarily election in regard to justification. And note this: many who partake in the election debate do not even have a proper understanding of justification verses sanctification and law verses gospel.
The reason the Potter’s House is here is because the American church needs some kind of halfway house for people who don’t want to give up on God, but look upon the American church with utter confusion. And the reason for that confusion is a doctrine that sees progressive sanctification as preordained by God in its execution. In other words, every good work that we do is chosen and preordained by God, and in the rest we are left to our own totally depraved devises in the same way God chooses some for salvation and leaves others to go the way they would go unless God intervenes.
First, we are preordained for salvation, and that salvation is manifested in a point of time by faith alone. Then we must live our Christian life by faith alone as unchanged people who recognize that every good work that “we do” is preordained by God as part of a “golden chain” from salvation to glorification. Our only duty is to hangout where Reformed church stuff is going on and God is going to do what God is going to do. And we wonder why the church is a mess in this country! Listen to what Luther wrote in the Heidelberg Confession, the magnum opus of authentic Reformed theology:
He, however, who has emptied himself (cf. Phil. 2:7) through suffering no longer does works but knows that God works and does all things in him. For this reason, whether God does works or not, it is all the same to him. He neither boasts if he does good works, nor is he disturbed if God does not do good works through him. He knows that it is sufficient if he suffers and is brought low by the cross in order to be annihilated all the more. It is this that Christ says in John 3:7, »You must be born anew.« To be born anew, one must consequently first die and then be raised up with the Son of Man. To die, I say, means to feel death at hand (Theses 24).
Let there be no doubt about it: this is the mentality that American Christianity functions by, and the belief that any good works that we do in sanctification are preordained by God and flow from His sovereignty is efficacious to maintaining our justification. That’s the construct that rules sanctification in our day, and the results are evident. Hence, leaders in our day must get a grip on the election issue and the differences between justification and sanctification. While leaders quarrel over the election issue regarding justification, the American church is procreating masses of children in adult bodies due to election being applied to progressive sanctification. And this is our vision here at the Potter’s House—to bring in and raise up leaders who get this.
Critical to our faith is a right view of Israel’s election, and the relationship of election in justification and sanctification. That is what is on the table in this chapter. We start with Israel as an elect holy nation of priests, and then we will move to election in justification and its ramifications for sanctification which are many. This lesson is the primer.
And it all starts with Israel. Christ said,
John 4:22 – You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.
Any questions? Paul states here in our introductory verses,
Romans 9:4 – They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. 5 To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.
These named above are all wrapped up in Israel’s identity as a holy nation that we are now a part of. Before we were saved we were alien to all of these:
Ephesians 2:11 – Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— 12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
This brings us to a discussion of the New Covenant and the very iffy idea that it replaces former covenants and promises. No, how can the Gentiles be formally alienated from covenants that are no longer in effect? “But Paul, didn’t the Hebrew writer say that the New Covenant replace the old?” Well, let’s find out:
Hebrews 8:13 – In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.
Some aspects of past covenants are growing old, but they have not yet passed away. Why? Well, let’s look at exactly what the New Covenant is:
31 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. 33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
35 Thus says the Lord, who gives the sun for light by day and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—the Lord of hosts is his name: 36 “If this fixed order departs from before me, declares the Lord, then shall the offspring of Israel cease from being a nation before me forever.” 37 Thus says the Lord: “If the heavens above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth below can be explored, then I will cast off all the offspring of Israel for all that they have done, declares the Lord.” 38 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when the city shall be rebuilt for the Lord from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate. 39 And the measuring line shall go out farther, straight to the hill Gareb, and shall then turn to Goah. 40 The whole valley of the dead bodies and the ashes, and all the fields as far as the brook Kidron, to the corner of the Horse Gate toward the east, shall be sacred to the Lord. It shall not be plucked up or overthrown anymore forever.”
The New Covenant is a covenant that was made with the nation of Israel alone and will stand forever. Its full consummation is yet future. Until just today as I was putting the finishing touches on this study, the whole idea of Christ being elected (ISA 42:1, 1PE 2:6) was perplexing to me, but I think that is no longer the case. An elected nation needs an elected king, right? A king that will, as Isaiah wrote, bring forth justice to the nations.
We yet have much to learn in this chapter about election, and this chapter lays the foundation for understanding in chapters 10 and 11. If Israel is an elect nation, why are all Israelites not saved? Paul will explain. Why did God bring Gentiles into this nation? What is the relevance and relationship of all the covenants to the final consummation of the New Covenant? Will there be a literal 1000 year kingdom on Earth? And if this kingdom is literal, why is there a reinstitution of Old Testament worship? What is the relevance of election to justification and sanctification?
The blessed apostle will teach us.
Overcoming Pornography
“But in regard to marriage, we soon see how efficacious it is that husband and wife are joint heirs of the cross who work hard at protecting each other from sin. A marriage that wanders from this focus is on the brink of destruction.”
I’m not much for statistics, but unfortunately, all in all, it is probably true that 50% of men in church congregations are held in bondage by porn. As an aside, let me dismiss that it is primarily a male problem because men are visual beings and women are creatures of the heart. Ever heard of Playgirl Magazine? It’s in business for a reason, and it’s not funded by the government.
Unfortunately, the primary cure that will be propagated in our day is Reformed gospel contemplationism. NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) will also be applied, and though it has some credence, it is really just saying the same thing that the Bible states about habituation. Is NLP the biological explanation? Perhaps. But it’s neither here nor there in the biblical scheme apart from adding some confirming points of interest. Yes, I’m primarily a Biblicist at heart.
From a practical standpoint, porn is sanctified window peeping. It also reduces other human beings to mere objects of pleasure. It focuses on the TEMPERARY pleasure, and ignores unpleasant realities such as, post guilt, and that’s some other guy’s daughter. A man who has a daughter would be depriving himself of pleasure if he thought of that. By the way, all of these practical realities have a place in the process as we shall see later. But it is what it is: for the most part, men with young daughters wouldn’t want them to grow up and be porn stars, but yet they engage in porn. But if your daughter was a porn star, would you want other men looking at her? In addition, would you want them masturbating to pictures of your daughter? Does this come under the realm of do to others as you want them to do (or not do) to you? It’s a rhetorical question.
Porn is in the realm of temporary pleasure which can be a very powerful realm. In many cases, random acts of murder are perpetrated by those who want to feel what it is like to murder someone. They are so curious about what the experience would be like that they are willing to throw their whole life away, and the life of someone else in order to experience it for a moment in time. The Bible has a simple and very general word for it: desire. In cases where people like the experience and are exhilarated by the power that it gives them; i.e., the power to give or take life, they continue and are at least in part known as serial killers. The Temporary Pleasure Club can be a sorted lot indeed. I insert these particular thoughts in regard to desire which we will plug in later on.
Furthermore, if you are married, it’s adultery. You are having sex in your heart with other women. If your wife finds out, the respect level in the marriage only drops 80% if you are lucky. Granted, something wrong in the marriage could have tempted you into porn, but that decision has just made the marriage worse than it was. Let me drop in the fact that specific struggles like porn are rarely a problem in and of themselves. Sometimes, men who are angry at God because of their marriage will masturbate as a temper tantrum before God and porn is just a facilitator. In other words, the problem goes way deeper than porn itself.
Moreover, porn violates the conscience for all of the aforementioned reasons and more, but the desire is often stronger than the guilty feelings. But the continual violation of your conscience leads to all kinds of mental health issues like paranoia, anxiety, and ultimately depression. Mark it: this is not always the case, but the possibility must be eliminated; that is, some sort of violation of the conscience is causing the former. Severe anxiety can be manifested in a husband who wants to confess to his wife, but fears the consequences. The New Testament is replete with calls to keep a clear conscience before God.
Porn can fit into these examples in a number of different ways. But in regard to marriage, we soon see how efficacious it is that husband and wife are joint heirs of the cross who work hard at protecting each other from sin. A marriage that wanders from this focus is on the brink of destruction. The most prevalent distraction seems to be child-centeredness.
Now, the cross-centered crowd would be offended because thus far I have not mentioned the most important thing of all: “God is offended!” “The sin is against God alone!” True, but we fight a powerful foe that we will discuss further along, and the fiery darts of desire drown those concerns to a muffle. Nurturing a healthy fear and love for God does not happen by itself. The fact that God is God and God alone in our hearts is the result of putting off the old man and putting on Christ. Pounding the pulpit with the fiery unction of God’s holiness will merely fall on a soul that can barely hear it. They know it far less than they ever have.
As you can see, the porn problem can be deep waters. This post will cover the fundamentals only. In order for someone to overcome porn, they must have a proper understanding of the gospel. They might understand enough about the gospel to be saved, but they may not understand all that they signed up for. The gospel is many-faceted, and there is a gospel that those entrapped by porn need to understand. I used to be an alarm technician which involved being in many different homes. I was in one home where there was only a narrow path throughout the whole house. Legs of the path would terminate at essential locations: stove; bed; toilet; etc. The rest of the space was taken up by porn magazines stacked neatly all the way up to the ceilings. This illustration should suffice: porn is addictive and holds one in serious bondage. But for the internet, many more homes like this would be visible.
When we understand that our sins were imputed to Christ, we should also understand that the old us died with Christ along with our bondage to sin. We were then resurrected with Christ to new life and new creaturehood. Part and parcel with new creaturehood is a mind enslaved to the law (Romans 7:5, 8:3-11). A Christian committed to Christ signed up to be enslaved to righteousness. They said “yes” to a desire to be enslaved to God’s righteous law. They said “yes” to the new birth.
They also recognize that this puts them under grace and they will never be judged by the law for salvation. While enslaved by sin, they were also under a future judgment according to the law. They now receive righteousness apart from the law and will never be judged by it, but the new birth compels them to be a vessel in which the law is upheld through us. It is a choice to be free from habitual sin and our righteousness judged by the law versus being a slave to righteousness and not under the law’s judgment (Romans 6:11-14).
This is where you start with someone who has come to you for help in regard to porn. Right now, they are foolishly presenting their members to sin as if still enslaved by it. Many men who are enslaved to porn are unaware of this dynamic because theology is not taught in the churches. They are being enslaved unnecessarily, and to their own destruction. You have just taught them their true identity. They are either in or out. In most cases, they are in. Most men who seek help for porn aren’t looking for excuses, they really want out.
Now they have to understand how that’s done. Other causes are considered later. Unfortunately, the internal warfare between the flesh and our new creaturehood is denied in most churches today. Either the sanctification dynamic is ignored, or redefined as two realms in which righteousness is manifested through gospel contemplationism. This is why I believe the 50% statistic. Sin cannot be overcome with an erroneous sanctification construct. This will cause sin to be rampant in the church.
Though the power of sin to enslave us is broken, it makes a strong appeal through desires.
In other words, the sinful flesh tempts us through a specific anti-law lust. It may be a remnant of the lust that dominated the old us that is provoked by the law (Romans 7:8-11). The Christian is beckoned to obey desires on two fronts: that of the flesh and that of the new creature. The power of the former enslavement is broken and replaced with enslavement to the law (ROM 7:25). Hence, we are empowered to say no to the sinful desires:
Romans 6:11 – So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. 13 Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. 14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.
When pornographic desires come calling, the Christian needs to say no. These desires come from the flesh, NOT THE HEART, and can be intensified by giving nourishment to the flesh:
Romans 13: 14 – But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
Giving provisions to the flesh will intensify pornographic desires and make it more difficult to serve the law of our renewed mind. Walking in the Spirit is following the desires of the Spirit. Of course, all of this is informed by the law of God; i.e., the Bible. The brother who thinks he is enslaved to porn must start making new life investments. Jesus stated that where our treasure is, our heart will be there also. He must begin to treasure the desires of the Spirit and despise the desires of the flesh. He must starve the flesh.
This is where the love and hate of Romans 12:9 must be considered:
Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.
If you wanted to learn to hate your wife, what would you do? You would ignore her. You would focus on her negatives. You would forget everything good about her. You would simply stop investing. You would stop nourishing your love for her. You would make it more difficult for her to love you, etc. Men must learn to hate porn and learn to love their wives instead. They must use the energy they are investing in porn and invest it in their wives. This isn’t a placebo game. Whenever they think of porn, they need to think of the things mentioned at the beginning of this post and more. What’s good about porn? For a short time it’s the exhilaration of porno-desire; evil dressed in excitement. It’s the proverbial beautiful vampiress. It’s the voluptuous prostitute leading the dumb ox to the slaughter. It’s the wolf lapping on the Eskimo blood lollipop with a sharp knife for the stick. Wisdom quickly shows the brother that porn is easy to hate.
This is what accountability does (2Timothy 2:22). It cuts off provisions until the sinful desire is on the ground gasping for breath and dying of starvation. When the desire is a weak, whimpering temptation. The discipler will educate the crippled brother in regard to how sin tempts as discussed here, and will set up accountability measures as well. He will also help the brother to plan a new strategy for life investment.
These are the basics. One must always remember that pornography affects all other areas of life as well. For instance, alcoholism can be the product of pornography as a way to medicate a guilty conscience. Your help will be a journey, and you both will be the better for it in all areas of life.
paul
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