Dear Friend,
I wrote much of the following several weeks ago, but I was not sure it was kind enough, so I decided not to send it until I looked at it again. It is abrupt, so it might sound unkind. You get this preamble to prepare you for what is an expression of love for you (the right kind of love). I ache for you! You are hurting and the freedom from fear and hurt is freely available to you now.
Much of your problem with God is caused by your teachers; in this case, a teacher with Reformed convictions. The distinctives of different systematic theologies do not give saving truth. Systematic theology is the wrong way to find truth about God. You get some truth and some falsehood in each of them. Which one of these is right? On the distinctives, none of them! There is common, saving truth in all of them.
What do I believe? The common, saving truth! I certainly am not Reformed, Arminian, Dispensational, Lutheran, Charismatic, etc.
The rest of your problem is you. None of the problems are from God. Now for the letter I wrote you three weeks ago...
There are a few problems other than the ones you have seen that are keeping you out of the Kingdom. One problem has been with the Christians who have been communicating truth to you.
In Ephesians 4:15, the Christians are told to speak the truth in LOVE. In an academic institution, the truth without apparent love is often spoken. Truth without love becomes false.
“Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. And the Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will” (2 Timothy 2:23-26)
Avoid quarrels by avoiding foolish questions. The Lord’s servant must NOT QUARREL. He must be KIND to everyone. He must GENTLY instruct the opposition. He must not be resentful. The result may be an escape from the snare of the devil, real repentance by the non-Christian.
“...to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me” (Acts 26:18). The Lord Jesus told the new convert, Paul, how to evangelize: open their eyes, turn them from darkness to light, and turn them from the power of Satan to God. There are two results of this three-step event: 1) forgiveness of sins and 2) everlasting inheritance.
Christians often skip the first step. They do not bother to open eyes before they give light. A person with closed eyes does not see light. Consequently, step three does not happen.
From the unbeliever's side, there are five problems:
1. They are slaves to sin.
“For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin” (Romans 6:6).
2. Their wages are death.
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)
3. They are caught in the snare of the devil by the devil’s own will.
“Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will” (2 Timothy 2:25-26).
4. Their minds are blinded by the god of this age.
“The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Corinthians 4:4).
5. They cannot understand spiritual truth.
“The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Cor. 2:14).
I have taken you at your word that you are not a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. You have not come to the Father through the Son in belief and repentance. If this is true, it is not because of the Reformed theology. You would have had problems with any other theology.
Remember all the reasons you had for judging God in your previous letters and in your poems. Now you have an additional reason from your doctrine class at seminary.
There are TWO reasons why people are damned from clear revelation:
1. The soul that sins shall die (Ezekiel 18). The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23).
2. They refuse to repent and believe the gospel (John 3:16-20, 36).
There is only one way to be saved:
You have informed, real, and emotional reasons to be scared of judgment, but not because you are elected to be lost. That is a fear prompted by the Enemy. It is based on your IMAGINATION, not on fact. “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline” (2 Timothy 1:7).
There is a fear that is prompted by God. “But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him” (Luke 12:5).
Here are REAL reasons to be REALLY scared. These reasons are in fact, not in your imagination based on your doctrine class.
1. You know that you are a sinner and deserve judgment by the holy, loving, and just God.
2. You have rejected the Savior who died for your sins because of His love for you.
3. You have accused Him of every kind of wrong motive and action. You have accused Him of being unloving because of the lies of the Enemy which you have bought.
4. You have made up a systematic theology that is anti-God from the revelation that God has given you for your salvation.
Yes, you are in real danger, independent of Reformed, Dispensational, Arminian, or any other systematic theology.
There is no question in my mind that God is drawing you personally to Himself. However, you are throwing roadblocks in a sort of a last ditch effort to stay out of the Kingdom.
“But now God has commanded all men everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:31). That includes you! Do not believe your own beliefs and reasoning. Believe God! You have the good news. Quit resisting.
You have been challenging God with “why?” questions. You want Him to answer you on your conditions. He is God; He does not have to answer you on your conditions. Let me repeat Romans 5:6-8 again: “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
The greatest expression of love in the history of the universe was the death of Jesus on the cross for the sins of the world. It has been done; it is finished. The reason you do not understand is that your eyes are blind; you are in the snare of the devil. You are doing things backwards. Call upon Him because of your sin, His love, and His promise.
After you receive Him, you will have:
everlasting life
forgiveness
understanding
fruit of the Spirit
assurance of your salvation
love for God
love for His word
love of your neighbors
love for your enemies
I look forward to hearing from you soon.
With love in Christ,
Jim Wilson
I wrote much of the following several weeks ago, but I was not sure it was kind enough, so I decided not to send it until I looked at it again. It is abrupt, so it might sound unkind. You get this preamble to prepare you for what is an expression of love for you (the right kind of love). I ache for you! You are hurting and the freedom from fear and hurt is freely available to you now.
Much of your problem with God is caused by your teachers; in this case, a teacher with Reformed convictions. The distinctives of different systematic theologies do not give saving truth. Systematic theology is the wrong way to find truth about God. You get some truth and some falsehood in each of them. Which one of these is right? On the distinctives, none of them! There is common, saving truth in all of them.
What do I believe? The common, saving truth! I certainly am not Reformed, Arminian, Dispensational, Lutheran, Charismatic, etc.
The rest of your problem is you. None of the problems are from God. Now for the letter I wrote you three weeks ago...
There are a few problems other than the ones you have seen that are keeping you out of the Kingdom. One problem has been with the Christians who have been communicating truth to you.
In Ephesians 4:15, the Christians are told to speak the truth in LOVE. In an academic institution, the truth without apparent love is often spoken. Truth without love becomes false.
“Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. And the Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will” (2 Timothy 2:23-26)
Avoid quarrels by avoiding foolish questions. The Lord’s servant must NOT QUARREL. He must be KIND to everyone. He must GENTLY instruct the opposition. He must not be resentful. The result may be an escape from the snare of the devil, real repentance by the non-Christian.
“...to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me” (Acts 26:18). The Lord Jesus told the new convert, Paul, how to evangelize: open their eyes, turn them from darkness to light, and turn them from the power of Satan to God. There are two results of this three-step event: 1) forgiveness of sins and 2) everlasting inheritance.
Christians often skip the first step. They do not bother to open eyes before they give light. A person with closed eyes does not see light. Consequently, step three does not happen.
From the unbeliever's side, there are five problems:
1. They are slaves to sin.
“For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin” (Romans 6:6).
2. Their wages are death.
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)
3. They are caught in the snare of the devil by the devil’s own will.
“Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will” (2 Timothy 2:25-26).
4. Their minds are blinded by the god of this age.
“The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Corinthians 4:4).
5. They cannot understand spiritual truth.
“The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Cor. 2:14).
I have taken you at your word that you are not a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. You have not come to the Father through the Son in belief and repentance. If this is true, it is not because of the Reformed theology. You would have had problems with any other theology.
Remember all the reasons you had for judging God in your previous letters and in your poems. Now you have an additional reason from your doctrine class at seminary.
There are TWO reasons why people are damned from clear revelation:
1. The soul that sins shall die (Ezekiel 18). The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23).
2. They refuse to repent and believe the gospel (John 3:16-20, 36).
There is only one way to be saved:
Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Peter, and then to the twelve. (1 Corinthians 15:1-5)Notice that the verbs on the sinner’s part are: receive, stand, hold firmly, come, believe, confess, and call.
Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved. (Acts 4:12)
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:6-8)
Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)
That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved...for, ‘\"Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." (Romans 10:9-10, 13)
You have informed, real, and emotional reasons to be scared of judgment, but not because you are elected to be lost. That is a fear prompted by the Enemy. It is based on your IMAGINATION, not on fact. “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline” (2 Timothy 1:7).
There is a fear that is prompted by God. “But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him” (Luke 12:5).
Here are REAL reasons to be REALLY scared. These reasons are in fact, not in your imagination based on your doctrine class.
1. You know that you are a sinner and deserve judgment by the holy, loving, and just God.
2. You have rejected the Savior who died for your sins because of His love for you.
3. You have accused Him of every kind of wrong motive and action. You have accused Him of being unloving because of the lies of the Enemy which you have bought.
4. You have made up a systematic theology that is anti-God from the revelation that God has given you for your salvation.
Yes, you are in real danger, independent of Reformed, Dispensational, Arminian, or any other systematic theology.
There is no question in my mind that God is drawing you personally to Himself. However, you are throwing roadblocks in a sort of a last ditch effort to stay out of the Kingdom.
“But now God has commanded all men everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:31). That includes you! Do not believe your own beliefs and reasoning. Believe God! You have the good news. Quit resisting.
You have been challenging God with “why?” questions. You want Him to answer you on your conditions. He is God; He does not have to answer you on your conditions. Let me repeat Romans 5:6-8 again: “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
The greatest expression of love in the history of the universe was the death of Jesus on the cross for the sins of the world. It has been done; it is finished. The reason you do not understand is that your eyes are blind; you are in the snare of the devil. You are doing things backwards. Call upon Him because of your sin, His love, and His promise.
After you receive Him, you will have:
everlasting life
forgiveness
understanding
fruit of the Spirit
assurance of your salvation
love for God
love for His word
love of your neighbors
love for your enemies
I look forward to hearing from you soon.
With love in Christ,
Jim Wilson
Comments