ToTD: Altar Calls.

Hey all, grace and peace to you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ!

So, I've been reading James recently as I and a friend are studying through it throughout the summer, and it has had me doing some serious thinking (which is awesome), you may have seen some of these thoughts pop up on Facebook. Anyway, I've been having issues with James 2 and the ideas in the latter half specifically, and how those marry with Paul's ideas in Romans. I have not conclusively decided anything, we aren't there in my study yet, but here are some thoughts on faith.

James 2:14-26:

"What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless?

Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God. You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead." (ESV) 



In this section we see James speaking of three types of faith, with only one leading to life.
The first is dead faith. This faith (seen in the first paragraph above) is an intellectual faith. It knows all the right words, it knows what to say and it can sound good, but it only goes brain deep!

The second faith, in the second paragraph, is demonic faith. Demonic faith is intellectual, the demons know all the things, and it is also emotional, they shudder in their knowledge, but they aren't saved.

Only the third paragraph describes living faith, dynamic faith is faith that actually impacts the whole person. It's not just intellectual and emotional, it's holistic and begins to change the person's life. That's, I guess, what James is saying in his confusing example about Abraham and Rahab being justified by works.

So, this second type of faith got me thinking... A lot of what we do in evangelical circles, regarding evangelism, is hoping for a dynamic faith, using methods for a demonic faith. I am talking, as the title has betrayed, of the altar call.
Perhaps you have never been to an event with an altar call, and if so I applaud the ministry for which you have been part! But these things come after an emotion filled story, where the Gospel is laid out, usually through someone's testimony. Then a musician plays softly in the background as the speaker asks everyone to close their eyes. Then, with no one looking and with his voice full of emotion and the strings of your heart being plucked at the same time as the guitar, he asks people who want to receive Jesus to raise their hands. And hands go up.

Usually, though recently there has been a move away from this, the speaker will lead those with their hands raised in the sinner's prayer. Once he says amen, he declares the raised hand people saved.

Really?
Because I've been with people who stand up, raise their hands and go forward at these events and then the next day there is no interest in God, there is no desire to follow Him, there is no change in their life or their eternal standing before God.
What your altar call has produced is not a dynamic, saving faith but a faith that is similar to that of the demons mentioned here in James 2. You wanted dynamic faith and you created demonic faith.

Satan loves that! Warren Wiersbe said: “Satan is the great deceiver; one of his devices is imitation. If he can convince a person that counterfeit faith is true faith, he has that person in his power.”

Now, don't get me wrong, I am not saying that everybody who has come to know Jesus via an altar call does not have a genuine, dynamic and saving faith. Heaven forbid, but what I am saying is that we put a lot of emphasis in methods that aren't returning the proper results, but giving people a false sense of eternal security. Those reading this who were saved via an altar call, we can know your salvation is genuine by the perseverance you have in the Lord, by the changed life we see, but there are many who make professions of faith at altar calls (and other emotionally charged events and times in their life) and their confession is just demonic faith, they know God is there and they fear Him.

So how can we know faith is genuine?
Here's some questions to ask yourself, to help the Holy Spirit search you and know you!

1. Was there a time when I honestly realised I was a sinner and admitted this to myself and to God?
2. Was there a time when my heart stirred me to flee from the wrath to come? Have I ever seriously been alarmed over my sin?
3. Do I truly understand the Gospel, that Christ died for my sins and He arose again? Do I understand and confess that I cannot save myself?
4. Did I sincerely repent of my sin and turn from them? Or do I secretly love sin and want to continue to enjoy it?
5. Have I trusted Christ and Christ alone for my salvation? Do I enjoy a living relationship with Him through the Word and in the Spirit?
6. Has there been a change in my life? Do I maintain good works, or are those good works more occasional, or weak? Do I seek growth in Christ? Can others tell I have been impacted by Jesus?
7. Do I have a desire to share Christ with others? Or am I ashamed to talk about Him?
8. Do I enjoy the fellowship of God’s people? Is worship a delight to my soul?
9. Am I ready for the Lord’s return? Or will I be ashamed, or even left behind, when He comes back?

in A ainm agus A chuid seirbhís.

TotD: God's Justice, Limited Atonement and Salvation

Someone once said to me that God is just and doesn't punish sin twice. He wouldn't punish Jesus and the person who sinned. Therefore, the conclusion was, Jesus only died for certain people, choosing certain people (the elect) and saving them from among the multitudes. Therefore, Jesus' atoning death was only valid for those who are members of the elect and will certainly come to trust Christ as Saviour and be forgiven.

This has troubled me for years. It doesn't sit right, but God is just and He wouldn't punish someone twice.

For a long time I assumed a God's level limited atonement, He knew who would come to Him so He died for those who He foreknew would come, but I have been led on a path to a different and better explanation.

Christ died for sins, once for all. That's what the Bible says and I can finally say I whole-heartedly agree and confess that statement.

This does not lead us to universalism, where we say everyone is saved due to Christ's atoning death on the cross. No because of another couple of verses.

Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. - Mark 16:16

Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. - John 3:18

This same sin of unbelief is often equated with the unforgivable sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit (in Matthew 12). So unbelief is that unforgivable sin, pretty much the only thing that actually separates you from God.

So, Jesus died and atoned for all your sin, He was punished for it, you can have the assurance that you will not pay for every lie you said, bad thought you've had etc. Many people argue those should only have limited time punishments, a bit like the concept of purgatory. Maybe... However, though Jesus paid for all those sins there is one left on all our accounts. The sin of unbelief. We in no way pay for this ourselves either but the sin of unbelief, if we continue in it, justifiably punishes us for all eternity. This is just as we would have rejected our loving Creator God, who became Incarnate and died on the cross for us, atoning for our sins to bring us into His family. This affront to God and who He made us to be, restless until we rest in Him, would be a (the only) justifiable grounds to punish someone eternally.

So, Jesus died for everyone's sins, there is no such thing as limited atonement. Praise God as this opens membership of the elect to all people God created, if they have faith in Jesus Christ, and all this without us ever having to accuse God of punishing two people for the one sin, or of being unjust.