The Trembling Hands of an African Blasphemer

I found myself deeply moved earlier this week upon reading the diary of John Newton. Newton has become a dear friend of mine and there was something deeply moving about reading his diary, from his own pen, near the end of his life. Here is a selection:

That is barely legible. By this time Newton has almost totally lost his eye sight and his memory is quickly fading. If one reads his diary from the the 1770’s you see the diary of a man with good penmanship, able to express deep and poetic thoughts. It is everything but this in 1804.

Why bother with journaling when you are nearly blind?

The answer is found in piecing together the scribbling of Newton in the above selection. His first line reads: “Though I cannot write, I can pray and praise”. This was (I believe) his birthday. Towards the end of the his life he only wrote in this diary on special anniversaries: the anniversary of his physical birthday, his spiritual birthday, and his wedding anniversary. And every time Newton praises. He kept writing because he believed that while the lips of the “African blasphemer” could still move he was to praise the Lord for His goodness.

Secondly, Newton wrote in the above selection, “I hope some may be benefited by my lispings”. Until the day of his death Newton wanted to praise God and help people. Perhaps this is why some 200 years later an associate pastor in Indiana is still benefiting from his life and labors.

This is why I found myself deeply moved. I can picture Newton with faint eyes and trembling hands dipping his pen in ink because whatever energy he had left he wanted it to be spent on praising God and helping people. I want to be this type of pastor. This type of man.

May I never stop being enamored at what the Lord has done for me. If the Lord tarries and I’m granted old age, I pray that my trembling hands are used to praise God and help people.

Must I Endure?

Our church is tackling Colossians 1:15-23 this week. One of the questions that will come up in our Life Groups is how Colossians 1:23 relates to our eternal security in Jesus. Does our hope of “seeing God” rest on conditional promises? What does Paul mean in Colossians 1:23 if he says, “If indeed you…”?

There are at least four views to this question*:

The loss of salvation view:

An adherent of the loss of salvation view would take Paul’s warning here as absolutely legit and completely literal. Paul means what he says. If you continue in the faith then you will be ultimately saved and all of these promises are yours. If you do not continue in the faith then you will have lost your salvation. This is no mere hypothetical situation either. People have lost their salvation (1 Timothy 1:19 and 2 Timothy 4:10) Paul is serious in Colossians 1:23, if you do not endure to the end you will not see God, we cannot be certain that any believer will endure to the end; therefore we ought to be careful to heed this warning.

The loss of rewards view:

Adherents to this view will put a ton of weight on other places in Scripture which speak of the eternal security of the believer (like John 6:37-44 and 10:28-30). To say that one must do good works to enter into heaven, or one must persevere until the end to obtain eternal life, is contrary to the message of grace which permeates the whole New Testament. If salvation is truly by grace through faith, then works can play no role in the outcome.

The presentation in view in verse 22 is not speaking of our ultimate judgment; it is speaking of the believer standing before Jesus in what is known as the Bema Judgment. What is at stake is not salvation and entrance into the Kingdom. What Paul is saying in this text is that if the believer continues in the faith then he will hear a well done good and faithful servant from Jesus. If he does not continue then he will be stripped of his rewards but will not forfeit entrance into the Kingdom because that, as we have seen from the above verses is not possible; once you are saved you are always saved.

Test of genuineness view:

This view partially agrees with both the above views. It agrees that those that are truly saved cannot lose their salvation. But it also agrees that if you do not persevere to the end you will not be saved. Such a view will look at 1 John 2:19 as proof. The reason why anyone does not endure is because they were never genuinely saved in the first place. And so it is every time in Scripture that we see someone “fall away”. All true believers will be empowered by God and endure to the end and thus be saved, if someone appears to fall away it is because they were not saved in the first place.

Means of salvation view:

This view is very similar to the third view, but in places like Colossians 1:23 an adherent to this view would say that the test of genuineness view does not give full weight to what Paul is saying.

The error that you make is assuming that Colossians 1:21-23 should be understood retrospectively. What I mean by that is that you are assuming that Colossians is something we look back upon after we have already endured or fallen away. If you endure then you look back at Colossians and say, “see my faith was genuine”, or you look back after falling away and say, “well I guess it must have been gas”. The truth of the matter though, is that Colossians 1:21-23 is prospective. Paul is not saying this looking backwards, he is looking forward.

Therefore, “it is precisely by taking the warnings seriously that we avoid eternal destruction”. These warnings are the means that God uses to keep us continuing in the faith.

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As you might have picked up my preferred view is the means of salvation view. I believe it does the most justice to the biblical text. It does justice to the texts that clearly show that we will endure to the end. Yet it also does justice to the texts that cry out “You must endure to the end”!

Must you endure to the end to be saved? Absolutely. And because of the work of Christ Jesus and the indwelling Holy Spirit those that are believers will endure to the end by heeding such warnings.

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*This is adapted material from a previous sermon that I preached. As such my thought here is probably indebted to many resources. I know for sure that I’m indebted to Tom Schreiner in his book with A.B. Caneday, The Race Set Before Us.

One Massive Reason I Believe in Eternal Security

I have to be honest. I think there are a few verses that proponents of eternal security use that cannot bear the weight of that doctrine. For example, Philippians 1:6.

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

Though I believe this text helps us see a general principle—that God finishes what He starts—I’m not confident that in this particular text that work that He has started is salvation. I actually think it has more to do with their partnership in the gospel (v5), which is quite possible speaking of their monetary help in advancing the gospel. In fact I believe Philippians is a call to continue the work of advancing the gospel, not so much a call to not abandon the gospel.

Now I could be wrong. And if it is talking about eternal security that’s no skin off my back because I believe the doctrine taught elsewhere. But I always get a little worried when we line up a number of texts (often out of context) to prove a doctrine. Actually those that do not believe in eternal security can pull a good number of verses out of their hat as well. That is why I like to take whole textual units and flows of thought and develop doctrine from that.

The beautiful logic of John 6:38-40

One such place is the sixth chapter of John. This chapter begins with a miracle and the crowds wanting to make Jesus their king. It ends with everyone but the disciples betraying him (and even in their midst is the great betrayer Judas Iscariot). In the middle of this chapter is a discussion about manna, the bread of life, and the eternal provision of Jesus.

The crowds got their fill for the day. Jesus knows that their attempts to crown him is only because “you ate your fill of the loaves”. They are satisfied with temporary provision. Jesus then contrasts this with a desire for that which will eternal satisfy—Himself. In verse 35 Jesus says, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst”. Note the context: eternal versus temporary.

The problem, outlined in verse 36, is that they aren’t coming to Jesus. Yet there is hope because “all that the Father gives” to Jesus will come to Jesus. And whenever anyone (highlight the anyone) comes to Jesus, this one will “never be cast out”. Jesus gives the reason why in verse 38-40. This is true because Jesus has come to do the will of the Father. What is the will of the Father?

And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.

Does Jesus always do the will of the Father? Yes.

Did Jesus fully accomplish the will of the Father? Yes.

What is the will of the Father, in this text? That he would lose nothing that was given to him by the Father.

Who are those that are given to Jesus? Those who look upon the Son, those that have come to Jesus.

Therefore, if Jesus loses any of us He does not accomplish the will of the Father. If Jesus does not accomplish the will of the Father what does this mean for His perfect righteousness?

This means that you and I are as eternally secure in the arms of Jesus as He is faithful to the Father. This is what he is saying to the crowd. Bread disappears. Even the heavenly manna disappeared after one day. It is not so with those who come to the bread of life. We will never ultimately go hungry, because the Good Shepherd will never let us go. Whoever comes to Jesus will be satisfied. Eternally.