I'm having a rather heated discussion on points of Calvinism on a discussion board right now. Two related points of Calvinism seem to be the bulk of the disagreement. The first is the issue of choice. The Bible says that, in order to be saved, one must believe in Christ (John 13:15), and believing is a choice. It also says that God chooses us (Ephesians 1:4). So who has the final say in this matter? Whose choice is it really? Some say that it is ours alone, that God chooses everyone but that His choice is only effective if and when those few who become saved choose Him as well. Some say that the choice is mutual but that it depends on us. These argue that God (who, the Bible makes clear, made His choice long before we existed) looks ahead in time and anticipates our own decisions. Those who He finds would have chosen Him anyway, He chooses, and those who would reject Him, He does not choose. The final say is ours because God only chooses those who would have chosen Him independently. Yet the Bible makes a different argument. It says that God's choice is the most important one: so critical in fact, that it is essentially the only choice that matters. Jesus says to His disciples, those who chose to stay with Him and serve Him to the end, "You did not choose me, but I chose you" (John 15:16). The Bible also testifies that those who are saved are not saved "of the will of man, but of God" (John 1:13). The first and final choice, then, is God's, and any human choice to be with God comes about as a result of God's independent decision to win that person for Himself.
Who makes the final choice for salvation isn't just a matter of semantics, because who has the final say in initiating the relationship between God and man that begins on salvation also has the final say in controlling the direction and outcome of the relationship. If man has the final say in the matter of beginning a relationship with Christ or not, then the inescapable conclusion is that man also has the final say in whether or not the relationship continues, develops, and culminates in Heaven. If we are the sovereign masters of our election, then we are also able to "un-elect" or "un-save" ourselves. God is not able to hold onto us because His decision was never the one that really mattered in the first place. We can walk away from Him and leave Him helplessly pining after us if we so choose. Needless to say, this is not a Biblical concept--though it does feature prominently in every cult and other non-biblical religion under the sun. The Bible teaches that nothing is able to separate us from God, and no one is able to take us from His hands (Romans 8:38-39 and John 10:28-29). Some try to argue that these verses do not apply to the believer himself, since he is not specifically mentioned in either verse, but doing so asserts two patent absurdities: 1) that the believer is not a part of creation (for Romans 8:39 says that nothing "in all creation" can separate us from God) and 2) that the believer is greater than God the Father (the reason Jesus says that no one can deliver from the Father's hand). Needless to say, both of these are blasphemous heresies. If the Bible is to be believed, then God and God alone has the last word in saving us and it is by His power alone that we remain saved to the end.
As I said, who makes these choices concerning beginning and ending of a relationship is very important, for the one who makes the choices holds the power in the relationship itself. This is very important to me personally. I know that my heart is not all it ought to be. I know that my decision making process is not reliable. I am liable to be afraid, to be tempted, to be hit by some crazy whim or tricked by some persuasive argument and say to myself: "Well, God will never love me in this way. I'll just close off this part of my heart from Him." One thing I've caught myself doing frequently is measuring myself by some arbitrary set of standards and saying, "I fall short. God must not love me. He does, but He can't be allowed to. It's not good for Him. The best thing for Him is that we break up." I don't want to leave Him, but I see my own wickedness (forgetting the cross) and am afraid. I build walls and--if it were up to me--my relationship with God would stagnate or worse dissolve entirely. I would trump all His love, sacrifice, decisions, and arguments by saying, "I'm not a good match for you. This is what's best for you." I would walk away from the best and truest thing in my life This is the height of my folly! Fortunately, God recognizes it for what it is and He is the last word in our relationship, not me.
This song (aside from having an excellent example of product placement--the car at 3:09), illustrates my perennial position in our relationship. Like the woman in the song, I am so often surprised by God's overwhelming and unexpected love. He "puts [His] arms around me" but "I believe that it's easier for [Him] to let me go." I change my mind constantly and wonder how He can put up with it. I waffle between letting Him "save my life" or letting myself "drown" in sin and self-pity. At times like these, "the world is coming down on me, and I can't find a reason to be loved." I "never want to leave" God, but I can't justify staying. Surely, He will see me for what I am and hate me. I erect walls in our relationship because I say "I'll never let our love get so close" and "never let [Him] to see the truth", but secretly hope He can "see right through them" because I don't want our relationship to end or stagnate--but I find myself temporarily blind to the possibilities of it continuing. Fortunately, He sees all. He pursues relentlessly until He catches me can once more "put [His] arms around me, and I'm home."
God's perspective is different (please forgive the Twilight in this video). While I am afraid and wonder "how can I love" Him, He is confident and sovereign. "Watching [Him] stand alone, all of my doubt suddenly goes away somehow." I hear Him proclaim His sacrificial love, "dying...waiting for [me]" as He's "loved [me] for a thousand years, and [He'll] love [me] for a thousand more." "Don't be afraid," He says. He tells me "I will not let anything take what's standing in front of me"--and He sees my beauty (which I can never seem to perceive in front of Him). His steadfast love melts away my doubts and silences my fears. I find myself coming "one step closer." I realize that this step is one of many I have made--and that, since He always wins these contests of ours, it is the only one of a multitude I will make toward Him in the future. In the end, He wins and I rejoice in that!
Yep, it's Taylor again. My private security with God gives me the ability to have public confidence in Him. Because "this is ours" I can face high stakes and rough waters. People may say what they like about God and about me (and people seem to nothing so well as judging). Satan may "lurk in the shadows" and hurl his accusations, but "they can't take what's ours." My relationship with God is unshaken.
Okay, so I'm not a Katy Perry fan, but this song was too appropriate (and the military theme too cool) to pass up. As I was saying, my relationship with God is "the part of me that you're never gonna ever take away from me." This is not to say that I cannot or do not take constructive criticism (I request it), but it does mean that I am unmoved by spiteful words, whether from men or from Satan. I can show courage and defiance in the face of them. "Throw your sticks and your stones, throw your bombs and your blows, but you're not gonna break my soul"--which is in His keeping. When the imperfect love of others tears "at the seams" and they "chew me up and spit me out, like I was poison in [their] mouth," then "when I throw my phone away" I find that God "is really there for me." I emerge victorious, "sparkling, a firework, a dancing flame" that they can never put out--because God will always be there for me, a part of me that can never be taken away: not by me and certainly not by them.
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