Ah, but you repeat yourself...
Posted on 06/30/2008 7:33:42 AM PDT by Alex Murphy
Thank the Calvinists for one of the most thoughtfully provocative moments of the 2008 Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting.
(Of course, if you’re a Calvinist, you’ll say: “No, thank God. That moment was preordained from before the foundation of the world.” Just a little theological humor.)
The moment happened while messengers considered the sixth of nine resolutions they passed this year. Resolution Six addressed “regenerate church membership and church member restoration.” It exhorted churches and pastors to “implement a plan to minister to, counsel and restore wayward church members based upon the commands and principles given in Scripture.”
But Tom Ascol, pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Cape Coral, Fla., and a key leader among Calvinist—also called Reformed—Southern Baptists, suggested the resolution needed to be more direct and substantial.
Ascol asked messengers to amend the original resolution and to call on Southern Baptist churches “to repent of any failure among us to live up to our professed commitment to regenerate church membership and any failure to obey Jesus Christ in lovingly correcting wayward church members.” His amendment also urged denominational leaders “to support and encourage any church’s efforts to recover and implement this discipline of our Lord Jesus Christ … even if such efforts result in a reduction in the number of members that are recorded in those churches.”
Calvinism, or Reformed theology, takes its name from the 16th century reformer John Calvin. Its five “points” are brought to mind by the acrostic TULIP—representing total depravity of all humans, unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace and perseverance of the saints (or what Baptists often call “once saved, always saved”).
From its earliest decades, the Baptist movement has embraced both Calvinists and non-Calvinists. Because contemporary Baptists focus so strongly on missions and Christ’s Great Commission to proclaim the gospel to “all nations,” most of them shy away from strict Calvinism. They can’t comprehend that God would “elect” or choose some people for salvation while also condemning others to hell even before they are born. As you might imagine, Baptists have argued over Calvinism for generations.
But Calvinism has been gaining favor with many Baptists, particularly young adults, for several years. Its most attractive feature is its unswerving belief in the sovereignty, or absolute power, of God. In such uncertain times, it’s not surprising that an emphasis on God’s timeless and ultimate power has found a following.
It’s also not surprising Calvinists would lead an emphasis on “regenerate church membership”—ensuring that church members have a vital, saving, personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. They would state it more precisely, but in essence they point to two facts: (a) if God is sovereign and Christ died for the church, then the church should take God’s power and Christ’s sacrifice seriously as it relates to its membership, and (b) if a person claims to have a saving relationship with God through the mediation of Christ, then he or she should live like it.
A potential danger of Ascol’s proposal is that Baptist Christians could tilt too much toward judgmentalism and fail to apply God’s grace. But given the fact Baptists can’t even find about half the members we count, and many of the ones we can find don’t live as if Christ has made a difference in their lives, judgment is a far lesser danger than the laxity of license.
If we love people whose names fill our church rolls but who never darken our church doors and who live like hell, we will draw up the courage to “lovingly correct” them. That’s difficult and uncomfortable. But the consequences are eternal.
That's because He wouldn't.
BTTT
I’ve struggled with the whole idea of Calvinism for awhile and come to the conclusion that we can’t truly understand the balance between God exercising His sovereignty and God allowing man to exercise the will God gave Him. Some day, when I’ve shed this mortal life, I’ll see it all perfectly clearly.
“A potential danger of Ascol’s proposal is that Baptist Christians could tilt too much toward judgmentalism”—
I think it is too late to worry about that...
"That's because He wouldn't"
Actually He did.
Eph 1:3-6, " Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved."
The Greek for "chosen" is ek-le'-go-mī, (choosing one out of many, i.e. Jesus choosing his disciples) from which we get the word "elect" as in (Mar 13:20,) "And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved: but for the elect's sake, whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days", where both words are found.
"Failure to obey"? "Live up"? It's not about "works" my Catholic-wannabee pastor! "Living up" to something won't get you saved!! Only faith will do that.
And surely our "failure to obey" is God's fault, no? I thought grace was irresistible. Being utterly depraved and having no free will in the matter of resisting God's grace, surely God failed to supply the necessary grace for obedience. Why the hand-wringing and shirt-tearing?
This man sounds like a confused Calvinist.
Only the false god created by Jean Cauvin in his own dark image would do that.
It looks like Jean Cauvin got his information from Paul. Do you have another source that contradicts the Ephesians 1 passage?
Grace Community Church, under John MacArthur pastor, has had great success following biblical patterns of discipline.
Thought you might be interested.
Thanks for the ping. I pinged my pastor several weeks back about the resolution regarding membership and then completely forgot when this conference was on the calendar!
Somewhere on FR was an article comparing the candidates for SBC president - only one was reformed. I need to look that up and then find out what I think about the fella (Hunt) who was elected.
‘Tis disturbing to me that we’ve heard NOTHING about this at my Southern Baptist Church. sigh
Try cracking open that new Bible that you are so proud of, and reading it. You might learn something.
Calvinists teach that one of the marks of the true church is the right administration of church discipline. (The others being proper administration of the Sacraments and the proclamation of the Word.)
And he is quite correct - walking the aisle, muttering a few words, and getting dipped was probably a meaningless exercise if there is no outward change in a person's life.
Interesting post.
BTW, this month appears to be an interesting month to do stats on . . .
I wonder what would be the leading category . . . RC propaganda, procelytizing threads
or
Protty religious sexual misconduct threads begun by RC’s
or
. . . uhhhhh . . . . or . . . . uhhhhhh . . . I’m thinking, I’m thinking . . . uhhhhh
. . . actually . . . no other major category comes to mind. There’s a smattering of Protty devotionals with their characteristic few posts . . .
How does church discipline fit or work in such a context?
. . . ahhhhh . . . only The Lord God knows.
And only The Lord God effects it.
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