"Five Illegal Uses of the Law"

Now, I'm not a Lutheran, but would find myself closest, theologically, to the Reformed Baptists. But, that being said, I think that Lutheran minister Bryan Wolfmueller makes a really good point.

Five Illegal Uses of the Law by Rev. Bryan Wolfmueller

"There are three good and legitimate uses of the Lord's law, the curb, mirror and guide. As a curb the Lord's law orders the things of creation and keeps society from chaos. As a mirror the law shows us our sin and our need for Jesus and His mercy and salvation. As a guide the law gives shape to our Christian love for our neighbor. These uses or functions of the law are good and right, they are the reasons that the Lord gave His law to humanity.

But more often than not the law of God is misused. Instead of the Lord using the law on us, we take up the law and use it ourselves, on God or on our neighbor. We could call this the 'illegal use of the law.' Here are five examples to consider."

Read the rest here.

Quotes (#10)

"The fundamental fault of the modern Church is that she is busily engaged in an absolutely impossible task--she is busily engaged in calling the righteous to repentance. Modern preachers are trying to bring men into the Church without requiring them to relinquish their pride; they are trying to help men avoid the conviction of sin. The preacher gets up into the pulpit, opens the Bible, and addresses the congregation somewhat as follows: 'You people are very good,' he says; 'you respond to every appeal that looks toward the welfare of the community. Now we have in the Bible--especially in the life of Jesus--something so good that we believe it is good enough even for you good people.' Such is modern preaching. It is heard every Sunday in thousands of pulpits. But it is entirely futile. Even our Lord did not call the righteous to repentance, and probably we shall be no more successful than He."- J. Gresham Machen (1881-1937)

Tim Conway on the Power & Offense of the Cross

In Psalm 32:1-2, we read: "Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven,whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity,and in whose spirit there is no deceit."

In this sermon, Tim Conway explains the brutality, power, and indeed, the offense of of the cross, upon which Jesus died, for the sins of those who believe. As Paul put it: "For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, 'I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.'" (1st Corinthians 1:18-19). Furthermore: "...Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, 23but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 24but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God." (1st Cor. 1:22-24)

Quotes (#10)

"Without any of their choosing, millions will be branded for the Antichrist one day. Shall we shrink to bear in our spirits, our souls, and our bodies our Owner’s marks -- the marks of Jesus? Branded means pain. Do we want that? Branded means carrying the slur of the servant. Will we choose to be branded -- for Christ?"-Leonard Ravenhill (1907-1994)

The Public Rebuke of a False Prophet

Some of my readers may or may not be aware of the past shenanigans of Todd Bentley at his 2008 "Outpouring" in Lakeland, Florida. For those interested, I would strongly advice watching this video in which Ingrid Schlueter discusses the matter with pastors John Sharpe and Ken Silva. They also discuss the occultic influence in 2008 in the "Revival"

Anyway, to give a brief background of the issue raised, was the fact that Bentley had divorced his wife, and married his mistress, his childrens' nanny. Despite the scandal, and his brief embarassment, he was restored.



Now, this second part are interviews with the people who publicly rebuked him, after these people were hustled out. In it, they discuss their concerns regarding Bentley, as well as their motives.

Eternal Security

One dispute that has been going on for a considerable amount of time is on whether a believer can lose their salvation, or, once someone is saved, do they remain saved. One argument that some who argue that one can lose their salvation, is based off the notion that it gives license to sin. Admittedly, there are people who use eternal security, or the notion of being “once-saved, always saved,” to justify their carnality.

But, I firmly believe that when one is truly born-again, they will remain saved. Now, this isn’t an exhaustive study on the subject. However, we read two verses quoting Christ Himself.

“All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. 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." (John 6:37-40)

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one." (John 10:27-30)

The Apostle Paul writes: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?...For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:35 & 38-39)

Now, with that being said, I believe we need to address two things. First of all, we need to address God’s role in salvation, as well as the doctrines of election and predestination. Jesus Himself said that true Christians are given to Him by the Father (John 6:37 and John 10:29)

Furthermore, in regards to predestination, we read: “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.” (Romans 8:29-30)

In Ephesians, we read: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved….In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.” (Ephesians 1:3-7 & 11-14)

Initially, I said that there are two issues we need to work through, one being the God’s sovereignty in salvation. The second issue I wish to bring up is the necessity of fruit, brought by regeneration and sanctification.

We get a picture of regeneration in the Book of Ezekiel: “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.” (Ezekiel 36:25-27)

Famously, Paul wrote: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (2nd Corinthians 5:17)

We also read, “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.” (Galatians 5:16-25)

In Matthew 3, John the Baptist rebuked the Pharisees and the Sadducees, famously calling them a “brood of vipers” (Matt. 3:7) and he admonished them: “Bear fruit in keeping with repentance….Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”(Matthew 3:8 & 10) In similar language, Jesus Himself states:“ every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit.Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” (Matthew 7:17-19)

I’m also going to note the writing in 1st John: “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world— our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”(1st John 5:1-6)

James writes: “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?... 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!” (James 2:18-19)

You may ask: why am I bringing this up? Because, true Christians will show continuous fruit. I base this off of the Jesus’ explanation of the sower and the seed: "Hear then the parable of the sower: When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty." (Matthew 13:18-23)

John writes: "They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge.” (1st John 2:19-20)

So, when someone makes a profession of faith, shows some fruit at first, but then goes back to the world, the question shouldn’t be: “can this person lose their salvation,” but rather, “were they truly saved to begin with.?”

I conclude with a quote from the Puritan Thomas Watson (1620-1686): "When God calls a man, He does not repent of it. God does not, as many friends do, love one day, and hate another; or as princes, who make their subjects favourites, and afterwards throw them into prison. This is the blessedness of a saint; his condition admits of no alteration. God's call is founded on His decree, and His decree is immutable. Acts of grace cannot be reversed. God blots out his people's sins, but not their names."

John MacArthur on False Converts

I think that John MacArthur makes some good points in this message. Perhaps it's almost unecessary to quote this passage: "On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'" (Matthew 7:22-23)