Institutes – part 7

(By: Chad Bennett)

Karl Marx saw religion as an opiate for the masses given by the ruling class to suppress the lower classes and keep them in line. The idea of religion being the invention of a few people who did not believe in God to suppress the many is not new nor was Marx its founder. Calvin dealt with the same arguments in his day and before him some Greek philosophers had proposed the same idea. It must first be admitted that many people have and do misuse religion as a way to control others. Any student of history could come up with many examples to demonstrate the point. This is altogether sad and a far cry from the true Christianity of the Scriptures. Calvin answers arguments like Marx’s by explaining that godlessness is impossible. As the previous article on the Institutes explained that all men believe in a god so here Calvin continues that thought. Those people who have introduced religion to others cannot themselves be atheists for all men believe in god. Calvin states, “Men of sound judgment will always be sure that a sense of divinity which can never be effaced is engraved upon men’s minds” (45). There are many people in the world who constantly strive to live ungodly lives, pursuing whatever sin next approaches their thoughts and blaspheming God openly, yet Calvin perceives that the sense of divinity inwardly confronts theses people. He explains that “the stupid hardness in their minds, which the impious eagerly conjure up to reject God, wastes away, yet the sense of divinity, which they greatly wished to have extinguished, thrives and presently burgeons” (46).

If we accept this, as I believe we should, then our perception of the world around must be affected by this truth. In particular this should impact our view of the ungodly and especially self-proclaimed atheists. We must perceive that the underlying issue is not an issue of understanding, but rather of the heart. Overly technical arguments and fancy apologetic gimmicks may impress some, but they do little to nothing for the heart. The sense of divinity implanted in the hearts of all men cries out that there is a god. We must cry out who this God is, that they may know Him and pray that by God’s grace their hearts will be changed.

Institutes – part 6
(By: Chad Bennett)

As a Bible teacher in a Christian school, I asked my middle schoolers a question recently and received a unanimous answer. I asked if all people know that there is a god. My entire class agreed that not everyone knows that God exists. Chapter 3 of Calvin’s first book is entitled “The Knowledge of God Has Been Naturally Implanted in the Minds of Men.” Calvin states “There is within the human mind, and indeed by natural instinct, an awareness of divinity. This we take to be beyond controversy…God himself has implanted in all men a certain understanding of his divine majesty” (43). What Calvin holds as beyond controversy in his day seems to be flatly denied in our day. So, on what basis does Calvin come to this conclusion? There are number of sources that make this “beyond controversy.”

Biblically, there are a number of scriptures that express God having revealed himself to all creation in a general way through what he has created. The most comprehensive of these texts is Romans 1:18ff “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.” This idea is echoed in Psalm 19:1-4 “1 The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. 2 Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. 3 There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. 4 Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world” The created world screams to all men that there is a creator. This is true generally day by day, but all of us have likely experienced this in some tangible way at different points in our life. I can think of a number of times in my own life: looking down on the earth from a plane, seeing the Grand Canyon, looking through a high powered telescope, and white water rafting to name a few.

In addition to the Biblical witness, culturally anthropologists and missionary consistently find, in even the most remote areas, tribes that worship some god. This is consistent with the idea of receiving the general revelation that God exists without receiving the special revelation of who God is. Calvin even finds additional evidence intrinsic in idol worship. Humans do not naturally humble themselves to place other creatures over them. “Since, then, he prefers to worship wood and stone rather than to be thought of as having no God, clearly this is a most vivid expression of a divine being” (44).

(By: Christopher Powell)

Click here for Reformed Baptist Evangelism Pt. 1

So, in the high tech age of the 21st century, how do we do evangelism? What is a biblical methodology? In the first post I talked about the value of family and (by extension) relational evangelism, but what about interacting with strangers? How do I speak to that guy walking down the street?

Of course you probably know that there are plenty of evangelistic methods out there that will tell you what you should do. Sadly, however, most of whom rely on the faulty premise of man’s ability to make a “decision” for Christ. This doesn’t reconcile with the Scripture. The effects of man’s fall into sin on man’s intellect (the so-called noetic effects of sin) make it impossible for him to make a “righteous” decision in his own strength. teaches that God makes us alive while we are dead in transgressions and sins. The imagery of being dead is to indicate our total inability to save ourselves. Despite my enjoyment of the movie The Princess Bride, there is no such bodily state as mostly dead – it is just fantasy. We are born sinful and dead in our sinful nature, and, as Jesus explained, in our natural sinful state we HATE the light (). So any method that relies on a dead man to make a decision to love something he naturally hates is fundamentally flawed.

But, in addition to the theological flaws with many of these systems of evangelism another problem with them is that they are just that – systems. The Gospel is comprehensive. It deals with all of life and eternity. So it cannot be adequately addressed in a 2 minute encounter or a 140 character tweet. But, certain truths can be presented to open the Gospel conversation. We must choose what we apply and how we apply it. The aspect to be applied depends on Spirit-guided wisdom. Consider how Paul presents the Gospel to the Athenians in . Paul opens with the statement: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious…” and goes on to challenge their idolatry. Paul had determined after surveying the city situation, that idolatry was the key problem to address, so that is what he pressed home. But notice that in his presentation of the Gospel, he made no direct mention of the cross, being born again, the atonement or several other key soteriological doctrines. This does not exactly match, for example, the kind of approach that Jesus used with Nicodemus in . Nevertheless, both encounters presented the Gospel need for repentance and faith in Christ Jesus.

The practical truth is that folks can easily detect when they are being led down a scripted path. The Gospel is not a script, it is a way of life. We must speak the truth of the Gospel out of the Scriptures and out of our lives. Before we engage someone we might have an idea about how to open the conversation and what Scriptures we might use, but our goal must be engagement in reliance on the Holy Spirit’s guidance. In evangelism, you must have a genuine interest and interaction with whom you are addressing. teaches that we witness with “respect” and this means that we interact both by speaking and actively listening and engaging with the unbeliever. I think Pastor Steve Marquedant summarized it well in his article on evangelism on the RBF blog a few months ago with these three principles:

1) The message given must be true to the Scriptures concerning God and man
2) The messenger should sincerely care about the individual
3) The messenger must rely upon the Holy Spirit for results.

This doesn’t mean that we don’t have things to learn from methodologies. I think they have something to offer in boiling down certain concepts and questions. But there is no one-size-fits all approach. I think the real danger in systematizing is in trusting in the methodology instead of standing on the authority of God’s Word and trusting God’s Spirit. Salvation is not something you can bottle, market and sell. The Scriptures declare that “Salvation is from God” (). Our privilege is being His instruments, presenting it to and living it out before the world. May you and I have this goal to proclaim the Gospel of salvation out of the truth of the Scriptures, a sincere care for the lost and in total reliance on the Holy Spirit.

Postcript: As an addendum to last week’s post, please pray that the funeral today of my Uncle at Alexandra Road Congregationalist Church in Hemel Hempstead, UK ( AM local time) might be God’s means to extend the Gospel witness for my family members in attendance.