All of Christ Community will be encouraged to read Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe very shortly. Go grab it for your kindle.

#curatorprivilege

A note from Rob Pendley on Foundations, which continues Sunday at 6pm:

During the past six weeks there have been many good and thoughtful questions asked in and around [the Foundations] class. I want to give my personal answer to one that’s really close to my heart. 

 If God has determined who shall (and therefore shall not) be saved,
Why evangelize? 

This response is off the top of my head. Why do I evangelize?

1. Because Jesus has commanded it in Scripture.
2. Because it is the God-ordained means for reaching God-ordained ends. 
3. Because I believe God is active in the world bringing people from life to death. So desperate is the dead condition of natural man that my (Rob) only confidence in evangelism grows from the roots of election.

And there are at least some evidences that being gripped with the reality of free grace can produce a heart for evangelism:

• Church planting numbers of John Calvin’s Geneva (googleable)
• Impact churches in large urban areas recently are: 

  
  Redeemer Presbyterian in Manhattan and Mars Hill in Seattle – Both of these have seen thousands of conversions and planted hundreds of churches. And they hold to the doctrine of election.

• Evangelism Explosion was developed by a minister who cherished God’s eternal plan of salvation.

I know these reasons don’t “close the case,” but they do give my personal response to that good question. Now, a word that Christ Community (Rob Pendley, first) needs to hear:

1. Where are our tears? Of gratitude for receiving the free grace of Christ and of longing for those outside Christ?
2. Where is our zeal? If the glorious and holy God of the universe has reached us in His sovereign grace, then why is our zeal for worship and evangelism often so absent?
3. Why are we so interested in who is and who is not elect of God? The Bible is so much clearer on issues of HOW we are to live by faith, loving God and neighbor; practice hospitality, etc. There is so much more emphasis on love joy peace patience kindness gentleness and self-control. Personally, I know why I prefer the comfort of technical conversations. How ’bout you?
4. Remember the main things. There is one theological argument that raised the real ire of Paul–justification by faith. In Galatians he’s ticked. In Philippians he warns against those who obscure it. I want to follow Christ in keeping the main thing the main thing. Who gets baptized and when and how? Not that big a problem. Think you know when Jesus is coming back? I don’t, but I honor you as brother/sister.

Another great question:

Between the fall of Adam and the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, how were people’s sins atoned for? Was there true salvation as we know it in NT times? Also, if the Law doesn’t save, how did it ‘work’ for OT believers? Were they trusting in Messiah and didn’t know it? 

By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward. Heb 11:24-26   Helpful article here

Finally:

What about the warning passages in scripture where it seems quite plain that people are cut off from God, or lose their salvation?

“See that you do not refuse Him” (Heb. 12:25ff.). Here is the final extended warning passage in Hebrews. These warning passages have often been regarded as “problem” passages because of the implication they seem to carry, namely, that believers might fall away from Christ and be lost. But to read these passages in such a way is to abstract them from their contexts in the letter and from the covenant dynamic of the Gospel. For when we read these passages in the context of the letter as a whole, we come to realize that they belong to an ongoing series of exhortations to be read in the light of the privileges of grace.” (from a brief article online by Sinclair Ferguson)

I’ve given some resources below that might prove helpful.

Grace & Peace,

Rob

 Some resources:

1. Election article by J.I. Packer

2. About the Warning Passages, an article by Trevin Wax

3. Quick article by Ra McLaughlin with this quote:

Sometimes our critics say that because we believe in predestination, Reformed Christians have no real motivation to evangelize. But nothing could be further from the truth. We believe that God has elected some people to salvation, and that he has called us to bring them to faith through the preaching of the gospel. That means that we are guaranteed to be successful in evangelism — the elect will certainly come to faith.  

Reminder for this Sunday, March 10: Please arrive having read WCF Chapters

• 25  – The Church
• 26 – The Communion of Saints
• 27 – The Sacraments
• 28  – Baptism
• 29 – The Lord’s Supper

Two New Adult Education Classes—Begins April 7th
9:00AM—“Gospel in Life – From Heart to Culture” Join author and pastor Timothy
Keller in a 12-week study of the gospel (10 minute videos from Tim Keller) and the ways to live it
out in your everyday life. Topics include: the focus on the city, the centrality of the heart, the need
to live by grace, the significance of idolatry, the importance of cultural engagement, the role of
work in mission, and more. Led by Ken French.
10:30AM—”From Gethsemane to Galilee: Poetry of Death and Resurrection”
Consider poetic responses to and reflections on Christ’s death and resurrection. For centuries,
poets have been drawn to the story of Christ’s passion, and we hope that each week the readings
will encourage our own thoughtful consideration of this central moment in the Christian story.
We hope to foster insight into how our contemplation of Christ might be both challenged and
renewed.
*Participants need not read in advance, but poems will be posted online. Led by Stephen Addcox.

By RC Sproul

By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies”
Hebrews 11:31

As Christians we are well-informed about the necessity of faith. We are justified by faith alone. We persevere in salvation through faith alone. Our glorification comes only after living a life of faith.

Even though we know that faith is absolutely necessary if we are to please God (Heb. 11:6), sometimes we have trouble understanding exactly what true faith looks like. Happily, God, in His providence, has provided examples of true persevering faith for us in redemptive history. Hebrews 11 lists many of these examples for us.

Today’s passage discusses the faith of Rahab, the woman who hid Israelites spying on the city of Jericho shortly before the conquest of Canaan (Josh. 2). It took great faith for her to risk her own safety and hide the spies. This faith was rewarded when she and her family were spared the destruction that came to the city (6:22–25).

Rahab is a remarkable character for several reasons. First, she is the only other woman besides Sarah mentioned specifically in the catalog of faith found in Hebrews 11. Thus we can see that she occupies a place of prominence among the other great heroes of the faith such as Abraham and Moses. Her inclusion demonstrates that both women and men are required to exercise persevering faith and are both honored citizens in the kingdom of God. Rahab’s prominence is also markedly displayed in Matthew 1 where she is only one of two women mentioned in the genealogy of Christ.

Rahab was also a Gentile. She was not one of Abraham’s physical descendants and yet was accepted into Israel, God’s people. She foreshadows the great ingrafting of Gentiles into the church now happening under Christ. Like her, those who are outside the people of God today can join His kingdom if they place their faith in Christ alone.

Finally, knowing that Rahab was a prostitute is a reminder of God’s mercy. John Owen says that Rahab is “a blessed example both of the sovereignty of God’s grace and of its power; of its freedom and sovereignty, in the calling and conversion of a person given up through her choice to the vilest of sins. Nobody, no sin, should lead to despair when the cure of God’s sovereign, almighty grace is engaged.” There is no sinner, no matter their sin, that cannot be forgiven if they would but turn to Jesus for salvation.