Category Archives: Biblically Speaking

This category is for topics and issues which come back to specific biblical answers and debates. It is especially concerned with God’s grace and the Christian life…and, with keeping the Gospel of faith alone in Christ alone crystal clear.

Up for a little theology? I need your help on Calvinism…

So, here’s a video that explains it all:

Help Me on Calvinism from Fred Lybrand on Vimeo.

So, here’s a copy of DORT (Dordt; from the Synod of Dordrecht): http://fredlybrand.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/canons-of-dort.pdf

Again, I need your agreements and disagreements and why…this project could turn out big!

Thanks,

Fred Lybrand

www.backtofaith.com

P.S. OBVIOUSLY…LOOK THROUGH THE COMMENTS BELOW AND ADD YOU OWN!

P.P.S.  Please put an AGREE or a DISAGREE at the very top of your post…as it will make our reading easier.

Paedobaptism…you are kidding, right?

Here’s a lively discussion (on Facebook…oops!) I’ve been in about Paedobaptism and Hermeneutics…wow!

Click Here

Or…I’ve pasted it below.  It strikes me that this demonstrates:

A)  People can be decent when they disagree…I liked the attitude much

B)  We are  in strange times

God bless,

Fred Lybrand

Jason Custer Question: what are your thoughts on paedobaptism (infant baptism)? For or against? Why?

Patience Henry

i’m studying the issue now… my brothers are making me read a book called Second Adam and the New Birth – it has really clarified the issue for them. I’m reading it now… 🙂
Wednesday at 7:50pm ·
Fred Lybrand

Fred Lybrand

Indefensible and unscriptural…has to have a number of assumptions in place to even come up with it…it was born from the 3rd century. If infant baptism is true then adults must be saved also by baptism.
Wednesday at 8:04pm · ·
Fred Lybrand

Fred Lybrand

The historical argument is that it parallels circumcision as a sign of belonging to the covenant community. But clearly circumcision saves no one (especially the girls). If it is just a symbol then why have the discussion? Why not just dedicate the kids?

It comes straight out of Constantine’s strategy to not get baptized until the very end of … See Morehis life so he could make sure he would be saved. In reverse…we must baptize the kids so that they are in a ‘saved’ state until they get old enough to get lost / or add works.

1 Corinthians 1 makes it clear that baptism is NOT the gospel. It is just an old debate that was drug over from Catholicism (and Anglicanism…which is Catholicism in rebellion because of the King / divorce issue)…the Reformers picked it up…the Baptists converted it …and we still have discussions because of Chronological Snobbery (old ideas are better / right).

It is clearly not a scriptural notion or emphasis…

Of course, I could be wrong…just my opinion 🙂

Fred Lybrand

P.S. Sorry if I sound grumpy…challenging day today!

Wednesday at 8:13pm · ·
Jack G. Lewis

Jack G. Lewis

IF…and it’s a stretch for argument’s sake…you make the analogy between circumcision and baptism…one entered the house of Israel by physical birth, followed by baptism. The proper analogy would be that since you enter the family of God by spiritual birth, baptism should follow that (belief).
Wednesday at 8:30pm ·
Fred Lybrand

Fred Lybrand

Nice Jack!
Wednesday at 9:34pm · ·
Kathi Nutt Waligora

Kathi Nutt Waligora

Discussing Scripture with Philip, and seeing water (a stream? river?), the Ethiopian asked Philip, “Look, here is water. Why shouldn’t I be baptized?” Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart . . .” Belief always preceded baptism. Later, the “church” began baptizing babies – it’s not a Scriptural model.
Wednesday at 10:34pm ·
Mark Perkins

Mark Perkins

Do you treat your children like heathens or believers or are they in limbo?
Wednesday at 11:44pm ·
Mark Perkins

Mark Perkins

PS: Do you let your kids take communion before or after baptism? Which one has warnings about judgment attached?
Wednesday at 11:46pm ·
Jay LaFountain

Jay LaFountain

I would let me kids take communion after they got saved. Not before that. Baptism has nothing to do with whether they should take communion, but when they do become saved, they should want to be baptized. Baptism is a meaningless ritual if it’s not a public profession of one’s faith.
Thursday at 5:46am ·
Fred Lybrand

Fred Lybrand

To Mark…good questions all parents struggle with…

I came to a place of asking, “Why would I treat my child as a believer when he/she is not a believer?”

“How do I treat heathens?” is another valuable one here…. See More

I treated them as the children I loved with an eye toward their becoming believers in Jesus Christ. I was gracious and evangelistic and loving and pleading…respecting their own coming to faith in the matter. Well, more accurately, all of this what I tried to aim toward.

I certainly don’t think a non-believer should be taking communion (in fact sometimes believers shouldn’t either!)…so, we never let our kids take communion until after they had acknowledged faith in Christ and His finished work. We also found it a good practice to let them take communion after their baptism. It just seemed to make the steps practical and clear for their young minds.

1) Faith…Salvation/Justification

2) Baptism…declaration of salvation and identification with the company of saints

3) Communion…an ongoing reminder of the unity of the saints and the kindness of the Lord’s sacrifice…to remember/keep remembering until He returns.

Thursday at 6:36am · ·
Mark Perkins

Mark Perkins

Fred, that’s pretty much how my parents raised me, though I took communion for years before I was baptized because the latter was simply, my parents believed, a public confession of my faith. I “prayed the prayer” when I was about 3 years old. My parents treated me like a believer after that, though my Dad had a number of “let’s make sure you … See Moreunderstand” kind of talks over the years, and they decided a public confession would have more meaning to me and the community if I made it later (which I did on my 12th birthday). I am eternally grateful for my upbringing. My parents raised me in the love of Christ, and I imagine that’s about the best you can hope for as a parent. Which is not to say I entirely agree with their ideas about baptism.

I bring up the heathen question because there are distinct differences in the way we are instructed to treat believers and non-believers. 1 Corinthians 5 is the most stark example, in my opinion, where Paul says that when he commanded them not to associate with groups of sinners (idolaters, etc.), he did not mean that to apply to unbelievers, meaning that we are called to rebuke fellow believers but not to judge those outside the church. I imagine this is because (a) the particular sins of a person living outside the grace of God are irrelevant and (b) it’s none of our business.

What does this mean in raising children? Well, if you think that your children are outside the church prior to verbally and mentally assenting to Christ, then you are on tenuous ground when you rebuke bad behavior. If you think they are inside the church, then you have no grounds not to baptize them (or refuse them communion). If you believe in an age of accountability, then I suppose the kids are in limbo, hanging out with Dante’s unbaptized infants… although most people find it more convenient to just assume the pre-accountability kids go to heaven because, why not? But then are they in the church or not?

From my own personal experience, I find the “mental assent” concept more than a little bizarre. Do I remember “being saved”? Well, I have images of my older brother leading me in the prayer behind our family sofa, but I tend to think those are not really my own memories so much as the images that the telling of the story have implanted in my mind.

Did I truly assent? Did I truly have faith? I have never been certain, and between the ages of 10 and 12 I must have “prayed the prayer” (privately) a zillion times, just to make sure. When I was 11 a guest speaker at our church said that if you *ever* have *any* doubt about your salvation, it means you aren’t saved and you should get saved, which resulted in about two hundred prayers over the next month until I realized that particular preacher was an idiot. At what point are we mentally able?

If we’re relying on some sort of intellectual independence of mind, we might be in trouble. The concept of individual preparedness is heavily rooted in a concept of individualism that arose in the Modern Age. It should not then be surprising–though it ought to be at least slightly troubling–that only the non-liturgical Protestant churches which sprang into existence in the Modern Age (and are thus somewhat dependent on certain brands of modern philosophy) reject infant baptism. On the other hand, every incarnation of the church that claims a real continuity with the historical church over the past two millennia practices paedobaptism: Roman Catholics, all the various eastern Orthodox churches, Anglicans, Lutherans, Presbyterians.

Beyond that, I was never–even as a fire-breathing Armenian individualist libertarian–quite convinced that the household baptisms throughout the New Testament really fit into the individualist model. Even if you just assume that none of the households included infants, it is troubling from an individualist mindset to think of the household servants following the household leader’s model and believing like the good rank-and-file that they were.

Naturally the “fourth century death of pure Christianity” argument pops up, even though infant baptism, at the very latest, shows up in the second century (see Origen, Hippolytus), well before ole Constantine came and ruined everyone’s fun. So essentially the credobaptists are throwing out fifteen-hundred years of Christian belief because of a modern individualist notion of belief… which should at least give us pause.

Thursday at 2:25pm ·
Jay LaFountain

Jay LaFountain

If it started in the second century, why didn’t it start with the apostles? That gives me more pause. Also, the age of accountability notion is supported in the Bible – who was able to enter the promised land of those who were alive when the Jews entered the wilderness?
Thursday at 5:01pm ·
Mark Perkins

Mark Perkins

I find it unlikely that none of the baptisms of households performed by apostles throughout the NT included children. So I happen to believe it started with the apostles, but we know that at the *latest* it started in the 2nd century.

The reason we *know* it was happening in the second century is the same reason we *know* Christians were using … See MoreTrinitarian formulations to explain God by the third century. We know these things because an argument about it popped up. The 2nd-century fathers who talked about it are addressing arguments about when to baptize. They mention that paedobaptism is traditional and customary (even as a couple of them do argue against it), which suggests though does not necessarily conclusively prove that infant baptism was the standard up to the point in time when a conversation about whether it was ideal began. What is conclusive is how that conversation was ended, at least for the following 1500 years.

The passage you mention could certainly be evidence for an age of accountability. It could also, though, simply prove who happened to be accountable in this particular instance. It might just mean they were kids, and since kids don’t get to decide what happens in their household they cannot rightly be held responsible for those decisions.

Thursday at 5:25pm ·
Jay LaFountain

Jay LaFountain

What seems to happen is that in those days due to the father having all the power over the family, if the father was a christian, the family was christian. Of course, if the son had no relationship with God, was he really saved? I don’t think so. It was the same way when Christianity was introduced to Japan – if your liege lord said you were … See MoreChristian, you were, if he said you weren’t, you weren’t. Whether anyone was actually saved there is definitely in question. But if your father, in that culture, said you were getting baptized, you were baptized, whether you believed or not. If he said you believed, then you believed, whether you believed or not. At least outwardly. It’s hard to comprehend nowadays.
Yesterday at 5:53am ·
Mark Perkins

Mark Perkins

I can agree with that, but we should note that it appears that the apostles accepted this to some extent or another.
Yesterday at 1:36pm ·
Fred Lybrand

Fred Lybrand

Mark,

While I appreciate the case you make, it still feels like it is still built on conjecture rather than scripture. I know this isn’t your aim, but it is a bit of a question about methods. In my method / hermeneutic…I’d sure feel better about a verse that says…baptize infants.

You said, “I find it unlikely that none of the baptisms of households performed by apostles throughout the NT included children.”… See More

Which really goes to the point. We actually don’t know what they did. Why build doctrines and practices on the unknowns? Of course, none of us believer’s baptism types actually care about baptizing children if it is just a symbol (though it can mislead a child about his own future choices). What we care about is thinking that using water on a person saves the person (or puts them in any special state)…whether child or adult.

I don’t find a theological motive for paedobaptism except in traditions that have at their core a connection between baptism and salvation.

I have personally had people tell me that they are saved because they were baptized as an infant. Why risk that on a conjecture? Why not simply not baptize babies and really small children?

Specifically, what is the harm in not baptizing infants, etc., if there is no scripture directing us to do so…and if there is potential harm from misleading one about their own future faith?

Thanks,

Fred

P.S. Jason, where are you in all of this?

Yesterday at 2:16pm · ·
Mark Perkins

Mark Perkins

You don’t think there is a connection between baptism and salvation? It may not be a causal connection, but surely “baptism for the remission of sins” makes the two seem pretty connected.

As you sort of indicate, essentially our positions reflect a different attitude towards tradition and the history of the Church. You say, “we don’t know that … See Morethey did, and there’s no direct Scriptural mandate, so why would we risk it?” I would say, “There is (non-conclusive) evidence that says they probably did, but beyond that the universal Church (that is, the body of Christ) from Moscow to Alexandria to Rome to London practiced it for fifteen-hundred years, so we’d better have really, really good reasons for assuming that 1500-years-worth of Christians and Christianity were dead wrong about it, but now we have figured it out.”

I am not Roman Catholic and I do not believe that tradition has a kind of concurrent authority with Holy Scripture. I do, however, believe that the two-thousand-year history of the Church offers much more promising guidance in understanding the teachings of Christ than our own personal insight or the latest Bible study.

Yesterday at 2:33pm ·
Fred Lybrand

Fred Lybrand

Mark,

No, there is no connection between salvation and baptism. Of course, I’m referring to water baptism (not spirit / into Christ aspects) and water baptism alone. You don’t have to get baptized to get saved…or…because you are saved. It is wise and good and obedient…but it isn’t a sine qua non of salvation (justification).

Paul clearly… See More says that the gospel by which we are saved does not included baptism because he, as an apostle, was GLAD he had not baptized many folks (see 1 Cor 1:17-18) because he was instead called to preach the gospel. The gospel therefore clearly does not include getting baptized.

While I do respect tradition, it is not infallible. The latest bible study is not wrong because it is ‘latest’…nor is an ancient notion wrong because it is older. There are fallible folks on both sides.

The Roman Catholic Church is the one who brought indulgences and Mary worship (with the immaculate conception…against the fact Jesus had brothers and sisters). These teachings are clearly unsupportable from the Word of God. Moreover, the Council of Trent (old) fully condemned any notion of be saved by faith alone in Christ alone.

The notion of ‘older is better’ is used by everyone…Reform guys say Dispensational guys are wrong because they are an ‘older view’…and the Roman Catholics say the same toward the Reformed guys (parts of the Eastern Church say the same thing to the Western Church).

We can invert it and commit Chronological Snobbery (C.S. Lewis)—asserting new ideas are better than old notions. All of this is all-but-irrelevant.

The Word of God is the authority, so if we have a view it should be easy enough to defend from the Bible without having to appeal to history. History is valuable as a information, but it is not authoritative.

Frankly, the Rabbis have been teaching their stuff longer than the Roman Catholics…but, of course, Jesus slammed the traditions pretty severely (Matt 23).

I can show a myriad of verses that say we are saved by faith in Christ and His finished work…I can’t show any verses that say children must be water-baptized to be saved. If the verse is there, I’ve just missed it over the past 30 years…but I’m ready to repent even now.

Grace,

Fred

Yesterday at 3:25pm · ·
Mark Perkins

Mark Perkins

No one (here) is disputing that Scripture is the authority. The only question is how you go about properly interpreting Scripture. And I happen to think history is an unavoidable part of that interpretive process. Scripture was written at certain times in certain places by certain people, and the events described happened at certain times in … See Morecertain places and involved certain people.

Beyond that, we have the entire body of Christ for fifteen-hundred years saying and affirming that Scripture teaches a certain way. If we’re going to reject that (and reject the majority of Christians even after those 1500 years), I suggest that you need indisputably clear Scripture. I’ll also suggest that indisputably clear Scripture is unlikely to exist in such instances… because if it did exist, the entire Church wouldn’t have been blind to it for 1500 years.

(All your examples of “bad tradition” are late-arriving [Trent’s not old–it’s counter-reformation. Practically yesterday! ;)] Roman Catholic teachings that were never accepted outside the *Roman* Catholic church)

Speaking of clarity, you say “Paul clearly says that the gospel by which we are saved does not included baptism.” I’m not sure Paul does say that, but I am quite certain he doesn’t “clearly” say it. To 1 Corinthians:

“…each one of you is saying, ‘I am of Paul,’ and ‘I of Apollos,’ and ‘I of Cephas,’ and ‘I of Christ.’ Has Christ been divided? Paul was not crucified for you, was he? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius so that no one would say you were baptized in my name. Now I did baptize also the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized any other. For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not in cleverness of speech, so that the cross of Christ would not be made void.”

Paul was glad he had not baptized them personally because he did not want people to be confused about in whose name they were baptized. Paul says preaching the gospel does not involve the act of baptizing.

A hypothetical: Bear Bryant says, “Alabama did not hire me to tackle people but to coach football.” Would you assume that football therefore did not involve tackling people? Or would it be that coaching football didn’t include tackling people, and might you not then assume that Bear Bryant was saying, ‘We all have roles. I do the coaching. Someone else does the tackling.”

I’m not sure how Paul’s audience would have taken it if, while he preached, he ran around trying to baptize them. What seems quite clear is that Paul is saying, “My role is to preach the gospel. Someone else does the baptizing.” It does not mean that there is no connection between baptism and salvation.

You say, “of course, I’m referring to water baptism (not spirit / into Christ aspects.” It’s a fair clarification to make, so long as we remember that most of the time its used in Scripture, whoever was speaking or writing does not bother to explain exactly which one they are talking about. Might it be possible that one might, however tenuously, be connected with the other? Or am I just crazy to think that baptism is connected to baptism?

I’m glad you mentioned Lewis. In Mere Christianity, I believe, he argues that we kneeling while praying is a good thing because there is often a stronger connection between what we do physically and what we’re doing spiritually than we are willing to believe.

Yesterday at 5:52pm ·
Mark Perkins

Mark Perkins

Seriously Jason, way to drop a cigarette into a forest and walk away 🙂
Yesterday at 5:55pm · · 1 personLoading…
Jay LaFountain

Jay LaFountain

Act 2:38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

40With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” 41Those who accepted his message were baptized, and … See Moreabout three thousand were added to their number that day.

Act 8:12But when they believed Philip as he preached the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. 13Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw.

Act 10:47″Can anyone keep these people from being baptized with water? They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.”

So we see from the beginning of Acts that it seems like belief/acceptance of the message/repentance/receiving the Holy Spirit comes first, then baptism.

Later in Acts they start the household baptisms. But it does not specifically state in the affirmative or negative whether infants were baptized. And it often says the whole household BELIEVED and were baptized. My problem is that a little baby cannot believe, or express that belief meaningfully. So you’re getting it out of scriptural order when you baptize first. I mean, this isn’t a specific mandate here but it’s showing through the pattern the proper order, I believe. What am I missing?

20 hours ago ·
Mark Perkins

Mark Perkins

Well you are missing Acts 2:39, which naturally falls between 38 and 40-41: “For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.” That’s not directly related to infant baptism per se, but it (along with household baptisms which as often are not do *not* state any belief outside… See More of the household leader) certainly suggests some problems for the individualist model.

I certainly agree that when you are evangelizing you do not go baptizing people who don’t want or are unwilling to be baptized. The question is do those believers baptize their kids? Again, I’m concerned about relying on the intellectual capacity of people as the litmus test for whether someone’s “in” the body.

20 hours ago ·
Jay LaFountain

Jay LaFountain

I’m concerned about relying on my parent’s salvation as the litmus test for whether I’m in the body. Especially since I’m a lot less sure about that than I am about mine. Or should I be worried, Mark? Maybe my salvation is lost because my parents are lost?
10 hours ago ·
Mark Perkins

Mark Perkins

I think you’re attacking a straw man, since no one here ever said or implied in any way that your parents’ lack of salvation would somehow impede yours.

I didn’t even suggest that your parents’ salvation covers you. Although now that you mention it, I suppose Peter could be saying something like that in the aforementioned Acts 2:39 quote. The “for… See More” use as a preposition and then a conjunction interest me, that Peter tells them all to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ “for” the forgiveness of Christ . . . “For (because?) the promise if for you and your children…” as if repentance and baptism somehow involves your children in the promise. You bring up a good point, though I wouldn’t bet the ranch on it.

And since you’ve brought it up, Moses also has something to say about that in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 7 after conversing with the Lord on Mt. Sinai. Interestingly, where Peter doesn’t say anything about their lack of baptism somehow cursing their children (and I don’t think in our above discussion there’s even a whiff of a suggestion to that effect), Moses says that the Lord is a jealous God, “visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.”

I imagine “visiting iniquity” has to do with patterns of sins through the generations, but maybe not! Maybe you should be concerned!

5 hours ago ·
Fred Lybrand

Fred Lybrand

Mark,

I’m sorry to say, but you feel like a pretty difficult person to have a conversation with because you tend to bounce around and not stay on topic. I hope this isn’t offensive, but you actually don’t seem to be reading what Jay is saying and why he is saying it. His points are spot on…and there ARE people saying (in effect) what he is … See Moreconcerned about.

You are claiming that history is important in hermeneutics (yes of course), but you have tied biblical history to Catholic history. The history of the Christian Church is decidedly NOT a hermeneutic in interpreting scripture. Those who interpreted (post New Testament) were ‘intellectuals’ too…who offered their views in a largely not-broadly-discussed context (few had Bibles and few were literate). They were right or wrong, just as we are right or wrong. The arguments were based on interpretations, logic, and appeal to authorities…just like now.

I don’t exactly know what you believe. That would be the most helpful to tell us. All I know is that you think we should defer to trends in history because they were smarter and more godly (at least collectively).

Jason’s question is straightforward.

I’m against paedobaptism. I’ve been clear that I believe baptism is for believers, and that the infant-baptism view is all-but-impossible to defend biblically.

What do you believe and why?

Thanks,

Fred

4 hours ago · ·
Mark Perkins

Mark Perkins

Well, to be fair, it is Facebook, and frankly I tend not to take conversations on Facebook too seriously, even when they are about serious matters. I do think I’m staying on topic… See More–it’s simply that the topic of paedobaptism is pretty broad-ranging. Jason’s question was not terribly straightforward, as I have lots of “thoughts on paedobaptism.”

I am reading and listening, though perhaps what I am picking out as noteworthy are not always the points you or Jay would like to emphasize. And I can’t say I’m surprised you find his points spot on. I’m sure if you were Lutheran, Anglican, Orthodox, Presbyterian, Catholic, etc. you would feel otherwise.

Who decided that “the history of the Christian Church is decidedly NOT a hermeneutic in interpreting scripture,” and when? You? Now?

I think this idea that each individual, regardless of mental abilities or inclinations, is individually responsible for sorting out the entirety of Scripture on his own, divorced from any outside guidance, is a little, well, crazy!

Why, after fifteen-hundred years of agreement to the contrary, did a minority of Christians suddenly realize what no one else in the previous millennium and a half had: that paedobaptism was anti-Scriptural! If the foundation for that rejection were Biblical, how did everyone miss it for so long? You can dismiss fifteen-hundred years of unquestioned universal church doctrine as a “trend,” if you like, but it does not really answer that question.

I submit that the foundation for that rejection is not Biblical but is instead rooted in the philosophical individualism that arose five centuries ago and has been dying out for the last century. Instead of looking to, yes, the millions of Christians who have sorted out how to live in Christian community in this world for thousands of years as a guide for Biblical interpretation, we’re looking to individualism as a foundation to reject that guidance.

One reason I resist being pinned down here is that I am an Anglican, and we tend to be a little unsystematic with our theology. We do practice paedobaptism, though. Obviously we have different ideas about the nature of the body of Christ. I think that paedobaptism is in line with Biblical ideas about that body and the way that we are bound together. I think it’s impossible to explain household baptisms, the passages I referred to above, or God’s dealings with communities in both Old and New Testaments inside the individualist perspective.

Lastly, I think the three of us are in danger of running around in ever-shrinking and, perhaps, increasingly frustrated concentric circles if we continue the discussion.

2 hours ago ·
Jay LaFountain

Jay LaFountain

Well, when was the printing press invented? In the kind of hierarchic church, who rises to power, the most godly, or the best politician? Do those in power make decision for God or for themselves? If the Bible is not available to the layman, who does he listen to? Who does the Priest get his teaching from? Where does it all start? It should … See Morestart from the Bible, but if nobody else has a Bible, who can say? It seems as soon as there was readily available Bibles, the people in the church broke off into a reformed church.

I believe for 1500 years we suffered from a certain syndrome of “That’s how it’s always been done” and now we’re suffering from the opposite – question everything, and if there’s no Biblical basis, throw it out. The problem is that a lot of things seem to be getting thrown out even with a Biblical basis these days.

Regardless, I don’t care whether you baptize your babies or not, but I know mine aren’t lost just because they’re not baptized as infants. And that yours still will be, if they reach the age of accountability and don’t make the decision for Christ. I’m pretty sure about that, but then again, that’s just an individual talking.

Lastly, I think the three of us are already running around in circles, but some people like NASCAR so why stop? 🙂

2 hours ago ·

Fred LybrandFred Lybrand So…I have another lap or two left.

Mark thanks for your openness in sharing that you are Anglican…though I don’t see where you have affirmed your view of paedobaptism. Are babies saved by getting baptized…yes or no (Jeepers…stand for your view man!).

I’m a little lost on your view of history supporting paedobaptism as an Anglican…all … See Morethe while Anglican priests are allowed to marry (never mind the ‘gay’ issue). The history of the Roman Catholic church is consistently and tirelessly opposed to the marriage of priests. Whatever your reasoning from history about paedobaptism is the exact argument why Anglican priests shouldn’t marry (yet they do). To a non-Anglican it looks like you guys pick and choose. For that matter, why are you guys not under such along standing historical tradition as The Pope?

Now, as to your comment:

“Who decided that “the history of the Christian Church is decidedly NOT a hermeneutic in interpreting scripture,” and when? You? Now?

I think this idea that each individual, regardless of mental abilities or inclinations, is individually responsible for sorting out the entirety of Scripture on his own, divorced from any outside guidance, is a little, well, crazy!”

What I mean about hermeneutics is that you can’t use something from the history of the Christian Church in 700 AD to give insight into a passage in the Old Testament. Hermeneutics is concerned with the historical context. Your question who decides…?…can also be inverted. Who decided it was a hermeneutic? You? Now? Origen, Pius, Erasmus? Hermeneutics is about understanding the meaning of language, specifically with God’s Word, according to the intent of The Author.

If later history is a hermeneutic, then the passage could not have been understood in the moment it was written.

As to ‘outside guidance’—why is the outside guidance authoritative and infallible? If it is the wisdom of crowds (agreement in history), then Islam and Buddhism has a claim to truth by collective opinion.

Ezekiel 18 is pretty clear that we will all stand or fall on our own.
Acts 20 makes it clear that false people from within (and without) will seek to lead the saints astray.

How can you be sure that the ‘old teachers’ weren’t the wolves? We bible-over-tradition evangelicals think the old folks are still subject to the scriptures.

Mark Perkins

Well, okay, only because you insist 🙂

“Are babies saved by getting baptized…yes or no”

Hell if I know (and that’s a pun). I’m afraid I can’t answer your question. Little babies, if and when they are saved, are saved by the grace of God through faith (and that not of themselves). Thankfully it’s not my, your, or anyone else’s business to certify who is and is not “going to heaven.” Even the Roman Catholics don’t do that (except for the saints, but that’s another matter)…. See More

The Anglican position (as I understand it) on paedobaptism is both clear and also deliberately ambiguous. It’s clear in that we do it. It is ambiguous in that I am not aware that the Anglican Communion has ever said exactly what is happening when we do it (which is line with a lot of Anglican positions). It is a sacrament, and it is also at the very least a sealing of the parents’ and Godparents’ commitment to raise that child in the church and in the love of Christ. The child, however, remains free later to leave the church. It is certainly not some “body of Christ” stamp against a child’s will.

You want me to make some definitive statement where I see no reason to do so. Most schisms, in my opinion, are made because people start making definitive statements where none are called for or justified.

As for the authority of tradition, I never ever said it was infallible. I made it clear (I thought) that it is not on par with Scripture, which is, again, one of the reasons why I am not Roman Catholic. Nor do I think that a Christian from the 8th-century is automatically holier or privy to special insight, or that earlier Christians are exempt from blasphemy. Paul was fighting the Gnostics, and the early Church fathers fought against those who denied the Trinity.

I do think that the collective witness of the body of Christ is It is, however, the first helpmate of the humble man. Tradition is the first (though not last, and not ultimate) interpreter of Scripture. The arrogance of modern philosophy is the reason why we can toss out tradition, say “no thanks, don’t need help, I’ve got it on my own.”

Again, I just find it remarkable that people are willing to believe that for fifteen straight centuries, NO ONE who was under the lordship of Christ knew Scripture, and that EVERYONE who knew Scripture was dead wrong about it.

“The history of the Roman Catholic church is consistently and tirelessly opposed to the marriage of priests.”

This is far from true. Besides, I was always clear to talk not about Roman Catholic tradition but about universal (Catholic) church tradition. I could get into how you’re conflating celibacy and marriage, two issues that were never conflated even in the Roman Catholic church until the counter-reformation, and we could talk about Eastern practices and regional variation (regional variation and the lack of one single central authority being a hallmark of Anglican thought, by the way), but that would not be even remotely on topic. Suffice to say, when it comes to marriage there is nothing like a unified and universal church witness on the subject at any time in church history. And the same thing is true of the Pope.

On the other hand, you know what was practically universal for fifteen centuries and remains predominant in the church today? Paedobaptism.

about an hour ago ·
Fred Lybrand

Fred Lybrand

Mark,

I’ll let you have the last word…say what you’d like after this..I’m pulling off the track. Honestly, your Anglican premise and re-directed points (celibacy vs. marriage; Catholic vs. Roman Catholic…etc.) all go in the same direction.

You affirm scripture’s authority but deny interpretational legitimacy without the stamp of history (… See Moremore to the point…history tells you what Scripture means, if it agrees with Anglicanism). The Anglican Church’s history shows being under Papal Authority until Henry VIII and his marriage issue(s). Your very premises also defeat your own church’s stance…but, with your allegiance, there is really no position you can take. I know you are very young and perhaps in time you will reconsider some of these views you’ve embraced over the past few years. I know I am old, and perhaps I will consider something new in time.

You are for paedobaptism, but insist no one can know when anyone is saved…yet make the case for paedobaptism anyway. The baptism of infants has always had salvific overtones, implications, and assertions; yet you deny having any opinion because of the inability to know when God gives faith. This kind of reasoning probably affirms your view to yourself and I wish you well.

The trip you are on, if you stay on board, is to become Roman Catholic (not that Anglicanism has been far off anyway), as N.T. Wright’s influence is no doubt taking so many…and will in the days ahead (a prophecy).

God bless you. I have written extensively on this issue of justification by faith alone  that Wright abandoned for Trent. If you are interested, I give a talk on the point via video or audio at https://www.backtofaith.com

Can I be a Calvinist and be Free Grace?

CLICK FOR A .PDF COPY OF THIS ARTICLE

Can I be a Calvinist

and be

Free Grace?

-Dr. Fred R. Lybrand

Honestly, I get this question a lot. Most Arminians aren’t in our conversations among Free Grace advocates because of their conviction that one can lose his eternal life. Calvinists do affirm the security of the believer, so we are in the same basic conversation. In my book Back to Faith I take Calvinism to task, but only a bit. The confusion around Perseverance (is it that we persevere in works, persevere in faith, or that God perseveres in keeping us safely His children forever?) is the big issue I think some forms of Calvinism fumble over. On the other hand, there is a great debt of gratitude owed to Calvin and the Reformers in my own understanding and tradition.   Am I Free Grace and a Calvinist?

What Makes one a Calvinist?

What really makes one a ‘Calvinist’? I don’t think we’ve done a fair job defining this among ourselves, and as a result we have some of our number at times condemning all things Calvin. Most of the time we say being a Calvinist is all about the ‘5 Points’. In particular the notion is almost ubiquitous that if you believe in one point, then you must believe in all five points because it is a ‘system’—so the argument goes. I don’t believe it is a system, nor do I believe that one must accept all five points (even logically)…I’ll prove it in a minute. Indeed, if I had to be labeled, I’d request that you consider me a 1.5 Arminian!

The following chart is from the Moody Handbook of Theology (p. 490). It involves a little more than the 5 Points, but gets the issue in focus.

CALVINISM AND ARMINIANISM CONTRASTED

Doctrine Arminianism Calvinism

Depravity

As a result of the Fall, man has inherited a corrupted nature. Prevenient grace has removed the guilt and condemnation of Adam’s sin.

As a result of the Fall, man is totally depraved and dead in sin; he is unable to save himself. Because he is dead in sin, God must initiate salvation.

Imputation of Sin

God did not impute to the entire human race through Adam’s sin, but all people inherit a corrupt nature as a result of Adam’s fall.

Through Adam’s transgression, sin was imputed—passed to the entire race so that all people are born in sin.

Election

God elected those whom He knew would believe of their own free will. Election is conditional, based on man’s response in faith.

God unconditionally, from eternity past, elected some to be saved. Election is not based on man’s future response.

Atonement

of Christ

Christ died for the entire human race, making all mankind saveable. His death is effective only in those who believe.

God determined that Christ would die for all those whom God elected. Since Christ did not die for everyone but only for those who were elected to be saved, His death is completely successful.

Grace

Through prevenient or preparatory grace, which is given to all people, man is able to cooperate with God and respond to Him in salvation. Prevenient grace reverses the effects of Adam’s sin.

Common grace is extended to all mankind but is insufficient to save anyone. Through irresistible grace God drew to Himself those whom He had elected, making them willing to respond.

Will of Man

Prevenient grace is given to all people and is exercised on the entire person, giving man a free will.

Depravity extends to all of man, including his will. Without irresistible grace man’s will remains bound, unable to respond to God on its own ability.

Perseverance

Believers may turn from grace and lose their salvation.

Believers will persevere in the faith. Believers are secure in their salvation; none will be lost.

Sovereignty

of God

God limits His control in accordance with man’s freedom and response. His decrees are related to His foreknowledge of what man’s response will be.

God’s sovereignty is absolute and unconditional. He has determined all things according to the good pleasure of His will. His foreknowledge originates in advanced planning, not in advanced information.

There is a good bit of discussion out there about the ‘perseverance point’—whether it is about persevering in good works, persevering in faith (as the Moody Handbook claims), or God persevering in keeping one saved (preservation of the saints). How many of us have read the Canons of Dort of late? I have read the Canons of Dort over and over recently, and I can tell you that:

      1. All three types of ‘perseverance’ are mentioned in the Canons of Dort
      2. The focus of the point concerning perseverance IS the eternal security of the believer (and his assurance).

I know this all sounds a little stuffy and theological, but George Bernard Shaw weighs in here for us:

No man ever believes that the Bible means what it says: He is always convinced that it says what he means.

The Bible is what matters not any particular theological system. Theological systems are great when they match the Word because they help us make sense, remember, and expand what we observe. But, why is Dort the definition of Calvinism? Personally, I think it just turns out to be a rhetorical stronghold.

Here are a few facts to consider:

      1. The Canons of Dort was a RESPONSE to the Five Articles of the Remonstrance
      2. It was a localized debate in Holland (hence TULIP ?)
      3. It was authored 55 years after Calvin’s death
      4. There are other statements like Heidelberg and Westminster, and many other variations of Calvinism (please read Spurgeon & Hyper-Calvinism by Iain H. Murray).

What is a Calvinist? In the Evangelical Dictionary of Theology (ed. Walter Elwell), Calvinism is defined by the three tenants of

      • Sola Scriptura (Scripture alone)
      • Soli Deo gloria (God’s glory alone)
      • Sola fidei (Faith alone)

The EDT article goes on to admit the variation and development of theological thought in Calvinism. It is clearly the Reformed faith, but Covenant-Reformed like Covenant-Calvinism, is a branch or variation of Calvinism. In our day, a few popular leaders have taken the rhetorical road of claiming that they alone are the true Calvinists…and…if you ain’t a 5 Pointer, you ain’t a real Calvinist (B.B. Warfield would call non-5 pointers ‘bad’ Calvinists; others would call them ‘inconsistent’ Calvinists).

So why all the fuss? The reason is pretty simple— Free Grace folks have gotten immersed in the frayed rhetoric. The concern is that we can inadvertently come across as ‘banishing’ those who belong with us. The fears we have are not based on the real nature of things. Yes, you can be a Calvinist and be a Free Grace advocate (I think I’m one)! As to being a semi-Arminian or 5-Point-Covenant-Reformed person and being Free Grace, well that’s a different article. If you are a Hyper-Calvinist or a Hyper-Arminian, then you won’t want to join with us.

It is the Covenant of the FGA that guides our membership. Quite frankly (as Dr. Zuck wrote me) it is a very well-crafted statement of our basic view. There is nothing in it that excludes a person who has Calvinistic convictions.

How to Kill the Argument

I’d like to finally kill the argument — ‘if you buy one point you must buy all 5’ — that seems to be accepted as a given in many circles. I could walk through the logic of it and display why the nature of the atonement and eternal security are not necessarily what follows from the other points; but I can do something better. I can show you how almost no Free Grace person really believes that the 5 Points of Calvinism lead to the misunderstanding of Lordship Salvation. That is actually the real issue. I’ll lay it out in a sequence:

      1. If the 5 points of Calvinism (Canons of Dort) are a system and must be believed together
      2. Then the 5 points of Arminianism (Remonstrance) are a system and must be believed together as well. This is particularly true because the Canons of Dort was developed as a REACTION TO the Remonstrance.
      3. So, if one believes one point of Arminiansim, then he must believe all 5 points.
      4. Many Free Grace advocates affirm Unlimited Atonement (Christ died for all and not just for the elect)
      5. Therefore, they (#4) must also believe in falling from grace (losing one’s salvation / eternal life) as one of the points of Arminianism.

Said differently, I know lots of Free Grace folks who believe in Unlimited Atonement AND who believe in eternal security. They are, in effect, 1 Point Arminians (at least). The claimed logical connection is bogus. All systems are ‘logical’—but there are additional aspects to logic, such as the issue of whether or not a premise is true or whether the chain of logic really follows.

Of course you can be a Calvinist and be Free Grace, but certain kinds of Calvinists are definitely not Free grace. Of course you can be basically Arminian and be Free Grace (but you must reject the idea of ‘losing your salvation’).

Our views and our systems are always struggling—we are trying to answer the most questions while raising the fewest problems. To be Free Grace, the issue isn’t about our theological systems as much as it is THE GOSPEL. Some systems make keeping the gospel clear an easy thing, while others make it quite a challenge.

Here is the basic FGA Covenant…which isn’t about Calvin or Arminius, but rather it is about the word of grace:

As members of the Evangelical Tradition, we affirm the Bible alone, and the Bible in its entirety, is the inspired Word of God and is therefore inerrant in the autographs. Furthermore, God is a Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, each an uncreated person, one in essence, equal in power and glory. As members of this tradition, we are concerned about the clear understanding, presentation, and advancement of the Gospel of God’s Free Grace.

We affirm the following:

  1. The Grace of God in justification is an unconditional free gift.
  2. The sole means of receiving the free gift of eternal life is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, whose substitutionary death on the cross fully satisfied the requirement for our justification.
  3. Faith is a personal response, apart from our works, whereby we are persuaded that the finished work of Jesus Christ has delivered us from condemnation and guaranteed our eternal life.
  4. Justification is the act of God to declare us righteous when we believe in Jesus Christ alone.
  5. Assurance of justification is the birthright of every believer from the moment of faith in Jesus Christ, and is founded upon the testimony of God in His written Word.
  6. Spiritual growth, which is distinct from justification, is God’s expectation for every believer; this growth, however, is not necessarily manifested uniformly in every believer.
  7. The Gospel of Grace should always be presented with such clarity and simplicity that no impression is left that justification requires any step, response, or action in addition to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

FGA Covenant:

In agreement with these affirmations, we covenant to work together graciously and enthusiastically to advance this Gospel of Grace, and to communicate with a positive and gracious tone toward all others, both inside and outside the Free Grace Alliance.

As an added point, John Nelson Darby, the ‘father’ of dispensational theology was a proponent of many Calvanistic beliefs…

Darby defended Calvinist doctrines when they came under attack from within the Church in which he once served. His biographer Goddard states, “Darby indicates his approval of the doctrine of the Anglican Church as expressed in Article XVII of the Thirty-Nine Articles” on the subject of election and predestination. Darby said:

“For my own part, I soberly think Article XVII to be as wise, perhaps I might say the wisest and best condensed human statement of the view it contains that I am acquainted with. I am fully content to take it in its literal and grammatical sense. I believe that predestination to life is the eternal purpose of God, by which, before the foundations of the world were laid, He firmly decreed, by His counsel secret to us, to deliver from curse and destruction those whom He had chosen in Christ out of the human race, and to bring them, through Christ, as vessels made to honour, to eternal salvation.” [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Nelson_Darby]

Millard J. Erickson in his Christian Theology (Volume II, p. 835), as he analyzes the extent of the Atonement, weighs in on the reality of Calvinism subject to modification (or moderation)—

The view that we are adopting here should not be construed as Arminianism. It is rather the most moderate form of Calvinism or; as some would term it, a modification of Calvinism.

Let’s keep perspective and united with all who affirm faith alone in Christ alone according to our FGA Covenant as a reflection of God’s Word. Can you be a Calvinist and be Free Grace? Of course, but labels often complicate the conversation. Yet, denying one’s clear Arminian or Calvinistic bent tends to confuse things all the more; no matter our wish, much of the conversation has been had for eons and we remain in the flow of it.

Pick your label or deny your label; but do you affirm faith alone in Christ alone—communicating this alone? Then join us in the good fight.

Grace and Truth,

Fred Lybrand

Former FGA President (2008/2009)

www.fredlybrand.org

www.backtofaith.com

CLICK FOR A .PDF COPY OF THIS ARTICLE

[tweetmeme source=”fredlybrand” only_single=false]

What is the Most Misused Verse in the Bible?

MY PICK FOR THE MOST MISUSED VERSE IN THE BIBLE: “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.” (Proverbs 23:7) -King James Version

Someone gave me a copy of John Eldredge’s “Waking the Dead”–which I must say, I actually find a likable volume.  However,  on page 45  he makes a double-stumble:

“Thus, the writer of Proverbs preempts Freud by about two thousand years when he states, “As [a man] thinketh in his heart, so is he…”

Never mind how debunked Freud has been by those thoughtful and good researchers in ‘psychology’, but the casual mention of the verse has become all-but-cliched in our day and age.  In using my research software I found the phrase mentioned in 29 separate articles…all ‘positive’ in the mention.

Here’s the idea: you think…you do.  In fact, it is a little worse than that— you do BECAUSE you think.  More generally it is said that, “You will eventually become what you think.”  Not to ruin it for you…but, what if you think like what you’ve become instead?

I would be the last one to say that our thoughts don’t influence our actions, but to say all action is caused by ‘thought’ is bordering on the absurd.  Think about it…don’t we say that we ‘loose our mind’ when we do inane things?  Don’t we look at teens and say, “You weren’t thinking?”  It is not that thinking doesn’t influence is, but rather, it is that there are other sources of input in our actions (think about such things as emotions, temptations, the flesh, duress, others, low blood sugar, drugs, etc.).

No less than Packer and Ferguson misuse the verse too:

These twin doctrines are characteristic of all oriental mysticism, especially in the Indo-Aryan world. The law of Karma is simply the law of causality applied rigorously in the moral and conceptual realm as well as the physical. ‘As a man thinketh, so is he’ is an example of this law as it works in the realm of thought and moral intent.
Ferguson, S. B., & Packer, J. (2000). New dictionary of theology (electronic ed.) (303). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

So, now causality, karma, and ‘as a man thinketh’ are all linked together under the banner of truth [pardon my agitation].

Here’s the trick (before we look at the verse): IF THIS IS TRUE, THEN THERE CAN BE NO HYPOCRITES

Hypocrites act one way and think another.  I supposed one could pitch the idea that they are acting consistently with their thinking by being deceptive.  However, the plain truth here is that one can act (or not act) in a way that is inconsistent with his own thinking.  James 2 is eloquent on this point, though it is often misunderstood as related to one’s eternal salvation (for an alternative explanation of James 2 as having to do with spiritual growth not spiritual re-birth, see my book at www.backtofaith.com).

Of course, all we need to do is figure out what the verse actually is talking about:

ESV | Pr 23:6 Do not eat the bread of a man who is stingy; do not desire his delicacies, 7  for he is like one who is inwardly calculating. “Eat and drink!” he says to you, but his heart is not with you.
NCV | Pr 23:6 Don’t eat the food of selfish people; don’t be greedy for their fine foods. 7  Selfish people are always worrying about how much the food costs. They tell you, “Eat and drink,” but they don’t really mean it.
NLT | Pr 23:6 Don’t eat with people who are stingy; don’t desire their delicacies. 7  They are always thinking about how much it costs. “Eat and drink,” they say, but they don’t mean it.
NKJV | Pr 23:6 Do not eat the bread of a miser, Nor desire his delicacies; 7  For as he thinks in his heart, so is he. “Eat and drink!” he says to you, But his heart is not with you.

It should be easy enough to see what’s up with these versions of the famous phrase.  In fact, unless the KJV and the NKJV translated it in the now popular way, then it would never have made it into our christian/western folklore.  All we have here is a hypocrite, a stingy person.  He THINKS one way, but ACTS another.  The verse itself is a counter-example of the point the ‘man thinketh’ theory asserts.

The truth is that you can think and act, think and not act, not think and act, and not think and not act…on some particular point.  All of these options float around out there in the real world.

If I were a betting man, I’d say: IT’S HARD TO THINK STRAIGHT AND WALK CROOKED.

But I would never dare to reduce the amazing nature of the human spirit to something so incomplete, and something not taught in the verse that claims it.

“But Fred,” someone might say, “It’s still true.”

“OK,” I’d respond, “Then why not use the verse that really teaches it?” [Philippians 4:8 is a good choice…except 4:9 shows ‘doing’ is a separate step].

The first danger is in misusing scripture to support a theory we’ve come to love.  The second danger is in not appreciating how important choosing action to match our thinking really is in our growth.

Here’s how I’d finally say it:

Hypocrisy: Thinking one way and doing something else

Integrity: Thinking one way and doing that which matches the thought

We really don’t believe the ‘as a man thinketh’ theory because we truly admire integrity.  Integrity turns out to be special because our actions don’t necessarily match our thinking.  “Wow,” we say, “There walks a person who really lives what he believes (thinks)!”

Sounds like Jesus when He said of Nathanael,

“Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” (John 1:47)

God bless,

Fred Lybrand

P.S.  The reason this is so important is because the importance of taking action is easily ignored if one buys into the ‘as a man thinketh’ theory.

John Piper’s Leave of Absence — Is It the Logical Result of His Theology?

First, allow me to share my own empathy for John Piper and the struggles he alludes to (see: http://bit.ly/aTDmGg) as he takes a leave of absence from the ministry (altogether, including writing).

Having just recently retired from the pastorate, I know the strain on the soul and the family.  I suppose I should add a lecture on how abusive most churches are of the pastor’s time, life, and energies…perhaps another day.

In the meantime, I want to offer a possibility for our own lives.  Last year I released a book called Back to Faith, which explores and analyzes the mistaken assumptions about works proving faith.  John Piper’s writings were my example; in fact, an entire chapter was dedicated to him alone.  I also must add here (and you’ll see it if you get a copy of Back to Faith) that I affirm John Piper’s accuracy on the gospel…he clearly affirms faith alone in Christ alone.  On the other hand, he has an incongruity in play.

In the straightest of terms, John Piper believes that we can look at our works (or those of other people) and conclude something about our faith in Christ for our destiny.

If that is true…then fine…except, what if your works don’t match up?  In Piper’s thinking it should call your salvation into question.  Now, that seem quite despair-growing.  So, here is John Piper (in a classy and self-effacing way) looking at his faltering works and feeling grieved.  The grief, however, is much more than sadness…if Piper is true to his theology, he can’t really be sure about his eternal salvation.  Wouldn’t you need a leave of absence if you were haunted about your eternal destiny, and served as a pastor in a church?  It would be easy to misunderstand me here and think I’m psycho-analyzing John Piper; I am not at all.  I am saying, however, that one piece of his theology really does exactly match the nature of his open admissions and struggles over the past year or two.

Here are a few quotes of his from What Jesus Demands from the World [I discuss this in Back to Faith].

Sometimes I am asked whether my understanding
of Jesus implies that divorce is the unforgivable sin.
The answer is no. Jesus said that his blood will be
the basis for the forgiveness of all sins…
From these wonderful promises we learn
that forgiveness of sins is available on the basis of
the shed blood of Jesus. Forgiveness is available
for all sins, without exception. Forgiveness is
received freely through trusting Jesus to forgive our
sins. (What Jesus Demands from the World, 68)

So clearly Piper gets the importance of looking at the shed blood of Christ, which is awesome.

The only unforgivable sin is the sin that we refuse
to confess and forsake. We commit unforgivable
sin when we cleave to a sin so long and so
tenaciously that we can no longer confess it as sin
and turn from it. (What Jesus Demands from the World, 69)

Now, we are seeing a misstep here.  The tendency with this incongruent piece of theology (works prove saving faith), all we can do is see our sin as unforgivable if it keeps showing up (even on occasion)…and if unforgivable, then you remain unforgiven.  Piper knows it’s a problem because he addresses it on occasion.  The issue will always come back to whether we are looking at Jesus or looking at our works.

Here’s a full statement from Back to Faith (Piper is in bold),

In fairness to Piper, he would completely deny the
incongruence, though he seems to realize others are concerned
about it

Some readers will see this stress on the necessity of
a change in obedience to Christ as ‘justification by
works.’ But that would be a misinterpretation of
what I am saying. That is why I wrote chapter 4
and put it near the front of this book,

“Brothers, Live and Preach Justification by Faith.” Obedience
is the evidence of faith that alone unites us to Christ
who is our justifying righteousness. Nothing I have
said here contradicts that truth.


Making the claim that one is misinterpreted is different from being
misinterpreted. It does not seem to have dawned on Piper that he
really may be communicating something scarily similar to
“justification by works” when he claims “obedience is the
evidence of faith…” It seems his theme is that one can tell true
faith (salvation) in an individual because of obedience, but Piper
again displays his incongruity,


It does imply that one can be called a ‘brother’ on
the basis of appearances but in the end prove not to
be a brother because of failing to persevere in the
end. (Back to Faith, 219)

I wouldn’t label John Piper’s theology as evil or bad, but it does have a harmful incongruency that haunts all Hyper-Calvinists (not all Calvinists).

If your works prove you have faith,

and your works are inconsistent or weak,

then…you MAY NOT (probably don’t) have faith.

I don’t know the intricacies of John Piper’s life and issues.  I’ll pray for his leave of absence.  I do know that if I look at my works, I lose assurance…and…when I look at Christ alone I am greatly assured.   What else can you do with something so wonderfully clear?


Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. (Romans 5:1–2) ESV

Fred Lybrand

P.S. Yes, I sent John a copy of Back to Faith (which he graciously had acknowledged to me).

Listen to a more detailed explanation of some of these matters at: https://www.backtofaith.com/LISTEN.html

[tweetmeme source=”fredlybrand” only_single=false]