"What It's Like to Live in Romans 8:28"

"And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?  He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?"  [Romans 8:28-32]

"If you live inside this massive promise, your life is more solid and stable than Mount Everest. Nothing can blow you over when you are inside the walls of Romans 8:28. Outside Romans 8:28 all is confusion and anxiety and fear and uncertainty ... Once you walk through the door of love into the massive, unshakable structure of Romans 8:28 everything changes. There come into your life stability and depth and freedom. You simply can't be blown over any more. The confidence that a sovereign God governs for your good all the pain and all the pleasure that you will ever experience is an incomparable refuge and security and hope and power in your life. When God's people really live by the future grace of Romans 8:28 - from measles to the mortuary - they are the freest and strongest and most generous people in the world. Their light shines and people give glory to their Father in heaven." (Matthew 5:16)

[excerpted from John Piper's Future Grace]

Five Reasons to Be Thankful for Obama's Inauguration

Over at the Irish Calvinist blog, Erik Raymond has written a post on why he, as a believer, is thankful for President Obama. I have found myself being incredibly disappointed with the response of many believers to his election. If you name the name of Christ, you are representing Him in this fallen world, even in so lightweight a place as Facebook. It is a serious matter in God's eyes; we need to take it seriously in our own eyes. One does not need to have supported the man in order to be thankful for God having sovereignly placed him over us at this point in time. If you are in need of an "attitude adjustment", here are the highlights from Raymond's five reasons.

1. A finger in the eye to evangelicals. When George Bush became president many professing Christians looked at him as if he was some sort of lower-case ‘m’ messiah who would usher in the religious right’s agenda. Too often it felt like evangelicals were content with their king and forgot to long for the King.

2. More occassion to pray. There are many issues that are on the hot plate now. Now the burden seems heavier to pray and pray harder. We (me!) might have been a little lax before as we looked to men who professed to have the same views as ours to bring about such radical change. Furthermore, I am forced by virtue of the fact that I know this president and his staff need Christians to pray for him . I need to pray and keep praying for the President in light of 1 Timothy 2, that the Word of God might continue to be proclaimed freely in this country.

3. Racial progress in America. Within the lifetime of many folks watching this inauguration, an African-American could not have even been served a meal in public, much less receive the oath of president of the country! This represents great progress for our country in the area of racism. As this is more in line with God’s revealed will, I am thankful.

4. The peaceful transition of power. I am reminded afresh of the abundant grace of God in allowing this country to not have violence in the street as the power is wrestled from the current leader. Instead we have our outgoing president sitting respectfully, smiling and affirming our new leader. This is a cause for thanksgiving.

5. A fresh and vivid reminder to long for the King. All of the noble ideals and grand plans pale in comparison to the treading down of all unrighteousness, the visible reign of the Righteous One, the swelling emotional and theologically-driven worship that will abound when the gloriously wonderful One will finally reign.

A Look at Sovereignty & "Free Will"

"We love Him because He first loved us."

1 John 4:19

Many believers are convinced by Scripture of the sovereignty of God in all things, yet not quite reconciled to "the fairness" of it in their mind. They know Scripture is true and their thinking in error, but find they can't quite reconcile their personal ideas about "fairness" and "free will" with God's sovereignty, and they would like to be able to.

I believe part of the answer lies in having an accurate understanding of "free will". "Free will" does not mean an individual can do whatever he wants. As Americans, we are "free", but we are not "free" to do "whatever we want". We can not murder, steal or drive drunk and expect there will be no adverse consequences for our actions. Even the much-touted idea that "As an American I can grow up to be whatever I want to be" is fallacious. I may "want" to be a nuclear physicist, but I am limited by my intelligence and a lack of funds to expend on the required education. I may "want" to be President, but only one person is elected every four years. Do the math ... every American cannot become President, no matter how much they might desire the job.

From a Scriptural point of view, "free will" means a man has the freedom to act according to his nature. An unregenerate heart/mind is at enmity with God. [Rom.8:7]. (By the way, that verb is in the Greek Present Tense, which indicates a progressive, on-going, "lifestyle" kind of action.)

It takes a "golden chain" of effort on God's part to bring a mind at enmity towards Him into a relationship of loving Him. "For those whom He forekenew, He also predestined... and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified." [Rom.8:29-30]

For months I have been trying to think of an illustration that might demonstrate "free will" in a scenario involving outside intervention. Remembering the above definition of "free will", that an individual is "free" to act within their nature, I recalled an incident I think might help illustrate the concept.

When we were raising sheep, it was not uncommon for people to dump their pregnant cats in our neighborhood. While doing chores one morning, the kids were surprised to have a kitten drop down from the loft into the grain bin. A litter of kittens had been born in the loft above. Understanding that I would incur a cost, I called the animal shelter to make arrangements to bring the new family into their care. I was told I could not bring the kittens to the shelter until they were weaned. I was also warned that if I left them on their own in the barn, they would be feral cats by the time weaning occurred - untameable and unsuitable for adoption.

So, with considerable effort on our part, we finally caught all of the kittens and their mom, and brought them into the house. We fed them, held them, patted them, put up with their propensity to scratch furniture and climb curtains ... until they were weaned and could be brought to the shelter, which for a fee would neuter each one and give the appropriate shots, making them presentable for adoption by loving owners.

Now, if I had not intervened, what would have happened to those kittens in the barn? They would have had the "free will" to be feral. What happened when I DID intervene, paying the price of scratched kids & curtains, feeding & vet costs, nurturing time, etc.? Their "nature" was changed and they had the "free will" to be tame cats. In both cases they possessed "free will" to follow their nature. My intervention did not remove their "free will".