A Sanctuary for Biblical Logic

First Thought Romans 8:28 makes impossible the distinction between common grace and particular or saving grace. “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” ——— Common Grace, as defined in 1924 by the Christian Reformed Church (CRC), is God's general favor to all creatures. The essence of the position is contained in the following three points: 1. In addition to the saving grace of God, shown only to those who are elected to eternal life, there is also a certain favor, or grace, of God shown to his creatures in general. 2. Since the fall, human life in society remains possible because God, through his Spirit, restrains the power of sin. 3. God, without renewing the heart, so influences human beings that, though incapable of doing any saving good, they are able to do civil good. Source: https://www.crcna.org/.../position-statements/common-grace ——— There is no denial to point 2 and 3 that God restrai...

  Regularly talking and thinking about death is not pessimistic, but a realistic way of living. Facing the inevitable each day, for the Christians, is God’s preordained means to live a responsible life in this temporary world and to remind us of the future Great Haven that God has promised those who believe in Him. Being in the healthcare surgical industry (not as a surgeon, but as a medical device representative), I see pain almost every day in the operating theatres. This is what I like about my job, not that I take pleasure in the suffering of others, but it always reminds me of Ecclesiastes 7:2-4 in my life: “ It is better to go to the house of mourning , than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart . Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better . The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth” . The...

  It is common for Christians to believe that Jesus died for all men without exception. From the time of Adam until the end of time, Christ died for every single person bar none. Jesus died for people who were already in hell like Pharaoh and Esau, bound for the lake of fire which is the second death. Jesus also died for Judas Iscariot, becoming the Propitiation for his sins (1 John 2:2), yet he still goes to hell and is bound for the lake of fire to face the wrath of God? ( Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary: To propitiate is to appease, to atone, to turn away the wrath of an offended person. In the case before us, the wrath turned away is the wrath of God; the person making the propitiation is Christ; the propitiating offering or sacrifice is his blood). Something seems strange. It’s either Christ’s death fails to propitiate for the sins of some, or there is a fatal flaw in their scriptural interpretation. I am sure that it is the latter. God is loving, gracious a...

  Psa 73:1  A Psalm of Asaph. Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart.  God is only good to the elect and no one else. Rom 8:28  And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose. He is good to only those who heart has been sovereignly cleansed by the blood of Christ, forever justified.   Psa 73:2  But as for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped.  And yet we are still trapped in this body of death and sin-filled world. In our sanctification while still on this earth, we are prone to backsliding. Rom 7:23  But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. Rom 7:24  O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?  We fight, grapple and wrestle against a monster called sin ea...

This article aims to explain the doctrine of God's Love, unadulterated by the emotions of man.  We love him, because he first loved us. (1 John 4:19) The elect of God are God’s beloved before the foundation of the world. He loved us first in eternity (where there was never any moment that He did not love His elect) and that causes His elect to love Him in earthly time and space. In other words, we can believe in Him because God has unconditionally chosen us in Christ in eternity. The opposite of 1 John 4:19 is equally true for the wicked reprobates: they do not love Him, because He first never loved them. The wicked reprobates do not love Him and will never love Him because God has no love for them at all in the first place.   God has no lesser love (commonly called universal, general love) than His electing, salvific and special love. There is only one love of God i.e. His eternal particular love for the elect alone that causes their salvation, manifested in true repent...

Recently I recounted a certain of my painful past, not for the first time, to a kind and young pastor (same age as me) of a local church in his home after a lovely dinner with him, his wife and four young children. Thereafter, we also had a cordial and enjoyable eschatological debate and discussion over the most bitter Mao Shan Wang Black Gold durian I have ever tried. I am glad I have grown closer to this godly family for the past year or more. This re-sharing is for the purpose of informing him for the first time of my latest view of the situation. He asked in conclusion: how do you view God in all this suffering? Below is my short reflection of that question. God is the cause of salvation and damnation. He is the cause of righteousness and evil. He is the ultimate cause of all things without exception. Nothing exists and happens outside of Him. The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil (Proverbs 16:4).  I dare to say that God is the ...

The origin of moral evil has baffled many Christian theologians throughout the ages. For many years, I have been thinking much about the topic of theodicy. If God is good, why is there evil? Many Christians concluded that God is the creator of everything except sin or moral evil because the infinitely good God cannot be involved with sin in any way. Satan and man are the sole causes, founders, and creators of sin. For many Christians, that’s the safety mark. However, I am not satisfied with that cowardly answer. I heartily agree with the famous Christian Counsellor, Jay Adams, who laid out the most basic theodicy question in his book “The Grand Demonstration: A Biblical Study of the So-called Problem of Evil”:   “To say that all evil is the result of the fall of Adam is perfectly true—but piteously inadequate. That response merely moves the question back a step: how could there be a fall? To suggest that Satan is the cause of the fall, again, is true, but only pushes the inquir...