I offer this definition to add to the discussion in our convention and particularly of Dr. Bill Poore and others who are discussing the accusation that some Southern Baptist pastors are hyper-calvinist. I offer this definition from The Evangelical Dictionary of Theology which I believe gives a fair and balanced definition of the term. It does not include all of the terminolgy or differences among Calvinist but it seeks to basically define what John Calvin held to theologically. I do agree with Calvin’s theology of Scripture, God, and Man. However, I do not hold to the understanding of covenant theology that in my understanding leads to an infant baptism that is obviously divorced from NT baptism. In addition, I do not serve a church that authorizes a group of elders to rule the church and I am not convinced that the Bible teaches there were more than the teaching elders in the NT churches. With that being said, here are selected portions of the definition from the Evangelical Dictionary of Theological terms. ”
Calvinism: Definition given by W.S. Reid – Dictionary of Theological Terms
John Calvin, often regarded as the systemetizer of the Reformation, was a second generation Protestant Reformer of the sixteenth century who brought together biblical doctrine systematically, in a way that no other reformer had done. At the time he was not an ivory tower scholar but a pastor who thought and wrote his theological works always with an eye to the edification of the Christian church….
Scripture.
The formal principle and source of Calvin’s theological system is embodied in the Latin phrase sola scriptura. In a strict sense Calvin was primarily a biblical theologian. Trained in the techniques of historico-grammatical exegesis through his humanistic and legal studies. He rejected the midievil fourfold interpretation that allowed for allegorizing, spiritualizing, and moralizing, insisiting that the literal meaning of the words was to be taken in their historical context….The stress he laid upon the Scriptures was the result of his belief that they were the Word of God and therefore were the final authority Christian belief and action…. Thus the Bible is authoritative in all matters with which it deals, but it does not deal with everything. The individual comes to recognize the Bible as the Word of God not primarily because of logical, historical, or other arguments but by the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit’s internal testimony.
God
He accepted the hitoric doctrine of the triune God, who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the same in substanceand equal in powerand glory. Further he laid great stress upon teh fact that God is Sovereign. This means that God is perfect in all respects, possesser of of all power,perfect in all respects, possessor of all power; righteoussness, and holiness. He is eternal and completely self sufficient. Therefore He is not subject either to time or to any other beings, nor is he reducible to spaciotemperal categories fo human understanding and analysis. To His creatures God must always be mysterious, except insofar as He reveals Himself to them.
To Calvin and his followers it was important to realize that God did not turn away from creation after it was formed but continues to sustain and maintain its existence and operation. The physical laws that govern the material universe are the result of teh continual work and action of teh Holy Spirit….As God sovereignly sustains all His creation so in his providence he rules over and guides it to the accomplishment of his ultimate purposes that all things might be to the glory of God alone ( soli Deo gloria)….
Man
Human beings were created in the image of God, with true knowledge, righteousnness, and holiness….Being in the image of God, he also had free will, which meant that he had the capacity to freely obey or disobey God’s commands. In dealing with man God entered into a covenant relationship with him, promising his favor and blessing, in return man was to rule over and subdue nature, recognizing his office as the lord of creation under the sovreign authroity of the triune God. This is known in Calvanisitic theology as the covenant of works…Despite this covenant man chose to think that he could declare his independance of teh sovereign God….Only by the general or common grace of God did man’s corruption not work itself out fully in this life.
The sovereign God did not allow his plans and purposes to be frustrated. Already in eternity as part of his secret counsel he had chosen a great number of his fallen creatures for himslef, to be reconciled to Him…Why he did so God never reveals, except to say that he chose to do this in his mercy, for he quite justly could have rejected the whole human race for its sins. In pursuance of this plan the Father sent the Son…. To those who are God’s chosen ones the Holy Spirit was sent, not only to enlighten them to understand the Gospel…but to enable them to accept God’s promise for forgiveness. By this “effectual calling” they come to faith in Christ as the one who has redeemed them, trusting in Him alone (sola fidei).
The Church
God’s people now live as those who are God’s covenant people through their representative the Son. This obligation is laid upon both adults and children…, as it was with Abraham and his descendants. Baptism signifies this entry into the membership of the visible body of Christ’s people for both children and adults, although in both cases the baptism vows taken by the adults may later be repudiated….In matters of organization of the church, Calvinist have generally agreed on the view that the church should be governed by elders, those teach and those who rule or supervise, elected by the church …. Calvinist have also allowed for pluriformity of the church, recognizing that the church is not perfect, but have also insisted that there must be basic uniformity of doctrine.
End of Statement- You be the judge!
Filed under: humor
People that fall for this are probably still waiting for their free computer after they emailed 50 people with the “special offer.” I just thought some of the translation problems were humorous as the person tried to translate from whatever language to English.
Hello Dear
My name is Lady Jenny Peters I am a dying woman who has decided to donate
what I have to you/church. I am 59 years old and I was diagnosed for cancer
for about 2 years ago immediately after the death of my husband
who has left me everything he worked for and because the doctors told me I
will not live longer than some weeks because of my health I decided to
WILL/donate the sum of $2 500 000 two million five hundred thousand
dollars to you for the good work of the lord and also to help the
motherless and
less privilege and also for the assistance of the widows.I wish you all the best and may the good Lord bless you abundantly and
please use the funds well and always extend the good work to others.
Contact my lawyer/Abogado Sr Pedro Antonio
with this pecified email address:advocatepedro@ozu.es
and tell him that I have WILLED $2 500 000.00 to you and I have also
notified him. I know I don’t know you but I have been directed to do this.
Thanks and God
bless.
NB: I will appreciate your utmost confidentiality in this matter until the
task is accomplished as I don’t want anything that will jeopardize my last
wish.
From Lady Jenny Peters
Email:advocatepedro@ozu.es
Filed under: Uncategorized
Biblical Thought for the Day
New American Standard Bible (©1995)
As a ring of gold in a swine’s snout So is a beautiful woman who lacks discretion.
I heard Gene Mims at a leadership conference in Ridgecrest describe church life as a Merry-Go-Round. He said as a pastor he became frustrated and burned out by the constant cycle of meaningless activity. I cannot help but sympathize with the dear brother from a pastoral perspective. The Christmas season seems to only magnify our tendency to do things just for the sake of doing it. We decorate, eat, sing, give, recieve, and participate in a wide variety of activities that help us slip through the holiday season feeling like we have accomplished something. As I look across my desk at my Calendar I see that December is full. Yet in the midst of all of this activity I have to realize that God is still working, sometimes in spite of us. We are still a part of how God is working in the world. It might seem frustrating to feel like you are on the church tradition Merry-Go Round, but I encourage you to rememeber that you have not left the fair. You are still part of God’s kingdom work and God is working to bring people to Christ this holiday season. Here are some things you can do to get off of the Merry-Go -Round this Christmas Season.
1. Participate in Missions. Give to Lottie Moon Christmas Offering and educate yourself about how God is working to reach the 1.7 billion people on the earth without the Gospel witness.
2. Utilize your traditions to bring people to Christ. People love tradition during the Christmas season. Make that work for you to expose a lost friend to the Gospel of Jesus.
3. Observe and appreciate the Christmas traditions of your local church and use those traditions to focus you and your family on Christ this year.
Let’s face it, every local congregation of believers has established traditions to communicate their understanding of biblical truth. Sometimes those traditions are healthy and good and sometimes they are harmful. In my last church during Christmas a large Christmas tree was placed in the sanctuary each year. The lights were lit as the Lottie Moon Offering was collected. However, if the goal was not reached the star was not lit on top of the tree. The result of this was a few weeks of guilt by members of the church because the star of Jesus was not lit. The tradition was started for a good reason, missions giving, and has morphed into some having a poor motivation for giving, guilt and duty. This happens with many of our church traditions. What can we do to be Christ centered among all of these traditions? First, don’t allow traditions to numb you of your sensitivity to the Holy Spirit. Second, don’t allow yourself to get frustrated and begin to think you are stuck on a merry-go-round. You are still part of God’s kingdom work and God is at work this Christmas season to accomplish His purposes. Trust that God will work through and even in spite of our feeble attempts to work out our understanding of His truth.
Filed under: sermon ideas
Acts 11:1-18 is an occasion when we see the humanity of the church in Jerusalem. Before this occasion it seemed like that the only threat to the church was external persecution. However, this chapter reveals a growing problem that threatens to divide the church. The problem is a barrier of prejudice that is a limit on how God is supposed to work. Peter is retruning with the good news that the Gospel has been preached to the Gentiles and they have recieved the Holy Spirit. What happens next is so typical we could almost place it in our day. Those of the circumcision rose up and contended with Peter about preaching to and even eating with the Gentiles. This whole story reminds me of an occasion when my boys were playing with an old box. They were having a good time until one of the bigger boys began to try to stuff the smaller one in the box. Both of them were screaming in anger because they could not fit the smaller boy in the box. Our human nature desires to place God on our level. The serpent tempted the woman in the garden by saying, ” you will be like God…” We want God to fit into our program, our idea of Christianity or the world, and our limitations. The problem is that God is much bigger than our man made boxes. I heard Sam Cathy preaching this week and he said, ” Why do the intellectuals mock Christianity and predict its demise? Because most of what we do could be done without Him!” This is a sad reality of Christianity. We would rather limit God to our box rather than throw away the box and go with God. We have no power because deep down we do not want God’s power we desire a God that we can control not a God that controls us. Here are three observations about this scripture that I hope will provoke you to think about how we can throw away the box.
What happens when we find that God is bigger than our box?
1. When God is bigger than our box we should expect a self appointed box committee to be formed.
Rest assured ,just like those of the circumcision, a self appointed box committee will be formed to defend the box when it looks like it is threatened. There are those in every church that think more of the box than they do of any work of God. They are the gaurdians of the normal, usual, and the status quo. As Henry Blackaby so eloquently says it, ” You cannot god with God and stay where you are.” Just remember when you decide to leave the box and Go with God you will run into those who want to preserve the box because it is familiar, comfortable, and unchallenging.
2. When God is bigger than our box we must return to God’s Word.
Peter did not get into a shouting match with the Jewish political party in the church. He simply recounted his experience and confirmed it with God’s Word. We must remember this great principle. We must always confirm that God is working with the eternal truths of God’s Word. What the Bible says is more important than what others say and it is even more important that what you have experienced.
3. When God is bigger than our box we must throw away the box.
The most admirable part of this occasion was the way that the entire church accepted the truth together. They took Peter’s experience and the words of Jesus and accepted that God had poured his Spirit out on the Gentiles also. When God is working in different ways than we expect or even like. We must throw out the box and go with him.
I hope this sermon brief is an encouragement to someone.
Dwight E.
