A few months back I found myself teaching from Ephesians chapter one in a high school class on Sunday morning. Now, of course this is powerful stuff regarding election and predestination and God's glory.
All at once, one young man fairly burst out with, "you mean you believe in predestination?!" My response? "Well, yeah!"
What really struck me was the tone the teen took: it was as if predestination was a bad word, cursing, or some kind of heresy.
"You mean you believe in predestination?"
Well of course, it's a clear biblical doctrine. There need be no speculation about it whatsoever! It's a jewel of Scripture! Yes, I believe in predestination, because I believe the Bible!
Now, this young fella had no doubt been taught (or at least given the impression) by his folks and his denomination that predestination is a dirty word. I suspect that is because their doctrinal paradigm doesn't allow for this sort of thing (you know, that God has a sovereign plan and He has every right to do whatever He pleases - not that they would verbally deny this, because I don't think they actually believe it. How much is one allowed to put in parentheses, anyway? And now, back to our story...). What struck me so forcefully about this whole situation was that such a clear Biblical doctrine was so easily tossed aside without a thought: just a knee-jerk Arminian reaction (and really, I suppose anyone could be knee-jerkish). I truly think this young person is sensible enough to see the truth the Bible teaches, if he'll stop and look at it. It's just so amazing sometimes what gets rejected for the sake of a precious paradigm.
7 comments:
Good post Brother. I know that as a young boy growing up in a Methodist church I believed whatever was taught. Whatever the pastor or lay-person taught was the truth. They would (could) not mislead anyone! It was not untill college and even later in life that I began to open Gods word and read it and believe it. Kids need to be encouraged early on to open their bibles. Theology is so important! We are using Bruce Ware's book ''Big Truths for Young Hearts'' to teach a CSB group of kids deep theology in simple terms. Great book!
Rob -
Cool, I'm gonna look up that book; sounds great. And I just remembered another series for tweens (10-13) by a fella named Alan Root http://alanroot.com/books .
I agree - we are constantly encouraging and urging our teens to get in the Word for themselves, to seek Truth and THINK about their faith.
Who woulda thunk 10 years ago that two brothers could get to know eachother via a few blogs. I will look that book up bro! Thanks!
Hey I just recalled another book I have at home by JMac called "A Faith To Grow On". It's geared towards kids 4-9ish, and my younger ones love it. http://www.amazon.com/Faith-Grow-John-MacArthur/dp/1400304423/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1256319207&sr=1-1
of course you realize all those passages are simply manuscript errors...it's actually "post-destined"...you know, after God *foreknew* what people were going to be/do...
seriously though, i've heard that dave hunt actually pleads a mysterious, unattested manuscript error in Acts 13:48.
it's amazing how easy it was to overlook/explain away those passages for so long, and now it seems they and others like them are on nearly every page.
God used studying/teaching thru Ephesians a few years back to make me the card-carrying, predestination-loving, monergist that i am today. i HIGHLY recommend o'brien's pillar commentary.
i love this quote from loraine boettner:
"No surer way will be found to fill the mind at one time with reverence, humility, patience and gratitude than to have it thoroughly saturated with this doctrine of Predestination." - the reformed doctrine of predestination.
Kevin - I'll try to remember to check out that commentary ;)
sadly (though perhaps understandably) this issue has created a bit of a rub in our church. The Lord seems to be raising up men who rejoice in God's sovereignty and that same disbelieving question gets raised alot and not always well. Having been a disbeliever in predestination (God's version, not man's ;), I rejoice to know He can and does change hearts according to His good pleasure... and timing.
btw... I started using Bruce Wares book 'BTfYH's" to help me communicate better in YG sunday school. Good book.
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