True Calvinism Challenged

I am convinced of definite atonement for the salvation of the elect, but with Murray, Macleod, DMLJ, et al, I hold that Christ in His death did something for the non-elect.  So I would describe myself as a full 5-pointer and I can only do that by holding to the efficiency of Christ's death for the elect/sufficiency for the whole world paradigm; Owen et al are but 4.5 point theologians.  With Calvin and DMLJ et al, and to be truly reformed and biblical, we must hold to the biblical balance without any negative interference from the influences of medieval scholasticism such as that promoted by Aristotle, and embraced by Owen.  

I find it amazing that Owen could say he would give up all his great learning if only he could preach like Bunyan.  Perhaps that's why there are so many ineffective preachers in today's dead churches - many, nay, most prefer Owen to Bunyan, the scholastic theologian to the Gospel preacher!  It is sad that Banner chose Owen rather than Baxter as it epitomising personality.  And LTS chose the name of Owen for it theological research centre rather than a well-known evangelistic preacher such as Whitefield.  And that is not to disparage much of Owen's works.

The Westminster standards are but subordinate standards, and Geoff Thomas confirmed to me that the 1689 Baptist confession is but subordinate to Scripture, alluding to the real possibility of abuse by reformed ministers who make it the touchstone of orthodoxy.  I have no major problem with the WCF so far as it goes; my big concern is that it does not go as far as Scripture goes.  The clogging influence of Aristotelian logic as promoted by Owen is seen in this otherwise excellent historical theological document.  Prof. John Barclay used to describe it as the "queen of confessions," and the "most mature" of all the confessions written post-reformation; yet in his prayers and teaching, and, with Calvin, referred to Christ as the 'Saviour of the world.'  This used to enrage me - until I started to read Calvin for myself.  Second-hand religion has not served me well over the years.

Why are there so many chameleon-type ministers in the church today?  All the churches have them - I know from experience. I am reminded of Paul's face to face encounter with Peter (Gal.2:11) where so many ministers today are what they are depending upon the company they are in.  They are to be blamed for not being true to their convictions.  We used to ridicule ministers who, when going to preach on supply, used the announcements to determine which sermon they would preach - if there was a prayer meeting, they'd use the Gospel sermon; if not, then another, which is no Gospel.  Sadly, we have not shed that way of working.  

Let us be concerned that we do not follow that destructive pathway.  It is all too easy to fall into that Satanic trap, and he can trip us up so easily. 

I share annoyance at those who misrepresent the views of other good men who have made their mark on the Christian church throughout history.  Their cold and lifeless orthodoxy is not reformed, whatever else they may call it.  And if it is not truly reformed, it cannot be biblical.  Calvin's theology has been distorted to a serious degree, as has DMLJ's.  Such misrepresentation "in the house of his friends" is deplorable.  There is a predisposition to squeeze everything into a particular theological mould, a great danger of systematic theology, but a danger that can be diverted by a careful reading of the Scriptures, a sound biblical theology, and a steady reading of God's greatest Gospel preachers in history.  . As J C Ryle so wisely said, 'men can be more systematic in their theology than the Bible.'

For further information on DMLJ, please visit here.

"Reformed" Ministers Resent LLoyd-Jones Soteriology

I always find it amazing that so many 'reformed men' read and benefit from the Doctor, yet do not want those who hold the same views to preach for them.  Of course, they would not want Calvin to preach in their pulpits either.  Do such men have blinkers on their eyes when they read the Doctor's evangelistic sermons, or are they living in some kind of fool's paradise?  Give me the man who is true over the man whom pretends to be one thing but is altogether something different, any day. 

Lloyd-Jones self-defined as an evangelist, the very thing many of these men are not.  They wrongly imagine that if they can preach and get very few, if any, conversions, they are somehow faithful to the Gospel.  According to DMLJ, they are not.  They are not evangelicals - the very name says otherwise; they are not Calvinists; and they are certainly not reformed.

Where have these false ideas come from?  Who has been feeding these ministers on a theological diet of evangelical liberalism (see how even language fails me in describing these men)?  Their theological professors?  Some thinking evangelicals seem to think so.  Is it because they approach the Scriptures with a predisposition that precludes allowing Scripture to speak out its own saving message?  Where has this filter come from?  Who has blinded their eyes so that they do not see the truth? 

I think I know why Owenism is the preferred filter: it's because the WCF is Owenite rather than Calvinistic, or biblical.  I believe that Owenism is the greatest contributor to liberalism in the churches and more so than the German theologians.  One just has to look at generations of PCI ministers who all signed the WCF, claiming that this is what they believed.  The ministers I had in my home congregation were all WCF men, but there was no Gospel preached by most of them.  Look at the elders within PCI who have destroyed many good men, and were backed by the denomination.  Some of them have not even read the WCF, yet claim the right to rule in the congregation.

I can remember the minister of the Nazarene church I attended near Leeds, and who was brought up in a Scottish Presbyterian manse, saying to me that WCF religion stultifies Gospel preaching and evangelism.  I disagreed with him then, but on reflection, I think he was correct in his assessment.  I am not in any way advocating Arminianism, but what I am saying is that we must get back to authentic Calvinism if we are to see the theological fogs lift and the glorious Gospel of Christ being heralded across the country.

Yet far too many men are more concerned about maintaining their current ministerial position than challenge the status quo.  It is refreshing to hear that some men are prepared to do that, and these are probably the men who are more spiritually aware than are others and seek to do something about it.  I agree that we must do the right thing, but the right thing is not always what any particular denomination says it is. I think it was Maurice Roberts who said he preferred a living Arminian church to a dead Calvinist one (whatever a 'dead' Calvinist church actually is).  I agree with Roberts' point.  Was St Peter's in Geneva a 'dead' reformed church?  Hardly.  Just read Calvin's evangelistic sermons to see and feel the force of truth on the conscience. 

I also think that denominational leaders know how dangerous it is for ministers to do their own thinking, so they have used the devil's invention of multiplying committees, and then putting those most vulnerable to critical thought on these committees to keep them from developing their theological convictions - especially if their convictions just might challenge the "accepted wisdom" received by tradition from the fathers.

Any comments?

Lloyd-Jones Anniversary 1st March

1st March marks the day on which Rev. Dr D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981) entered heaven.  His legacy to the Christ church is inestimable.  On Saturday, a conference will be held in Larne, Co Antrim, NI, to mark this event.  Speakers will include Rev. Dr Geoff. Thomas and Rev. J. J. Murray.

You might also want to read my book on the Doctor which you can purchase at this website.  Make sure you get your copy and read how one minister found DMLJ, and the influence he had on his life and ministry. 

Church and Gospel Failure

That the Gospel is needed more than anything else in Northern Ireland has been demonstrated again with the launch of a report into the extent and depth of division that still remains in our society.  The division is along religious lines - Protestant vs. Catholic.  Sectarianism is still alive and well in Ulster. 

What is the reason for this?  There is the fundamental issue of human responsibility for our behaviour.  But there is also the responsibility of the Church to preach the Gospel faithfully and passionately.  There is the responsibility upon the Church to engage in vigorous evangelism.

But what has been done instead?  The church has continued with her ecumenical activities and at the same time has failed to evangelise those in their catchment areas.  The Gospel which is God's power for the salvation of everyone who believes has been withheld for perishing sinners. 

Indeed, the entire ecumenical enterprise engaged in by the Community Relations Council has been an abysmal failure, an enterprise that shares the backing of the main churches. 

There must be a wholehearted return to the passionate preaching of the Gospel by all the Christian churches in Northern Ireland.  Our country needs to feel the power of the Gospel in a new way, a way that will bring about radically changed lives.  Inventing new ways of dealing with the problems of sectarianism that ignores the Gospel are doomed to fail.  Any new approach must be Gospel based and its realistic teaching put in place. 

The LLoyd-Jones 31st Anniversary

1st March will be the 31st anniversary of the arrival of Dr David Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981) in glory.  This eminent servant of Christ lived for and served the Lord while in this world and glorified Him in his ministry.

I had the privilege of hearing him preach in the flesh at a midweek service in Leeds while studying there, and what an honour it was.  To hear the greatest preacher in 20th century Britain was something I will never forget.

For forty-plus years I have been a student of DMLJ and have benefited greatly from his books.  I have prepared a personal appreciation of the Doctor which has now been made available to the wider reading public.  You can get your copy of the book at this link.

In addition to the personal appreciation, I have appended a section which runs to about half the book, detailing DMLJ's understanding of the Gospel.  For many, DMLJ was viewed as an Owenite, as a preacher who held to Westminster theology.  Nothing could be further from the truth, however.

You will discover things about DMLJ's theology, or soteriology, that will surprise you.  In fact, what you will discover about DMLJ's soteriology is that it is authentically Calvinistic.  He preaches the same Gospel as did John Calvin.  Calvin's ministry was so blessed by God that many were savingly converted to Christ and the city of Geneva and St Peter's church thoroughly reformed according to the Word of God.  DMLJ saw many sinners converted to Christ over many years of faithful ministry.  Both these ministers are reminiscent of Richard Baxter of Kidderminster who evangelistic labours saw that entire town transformed by the grace of God. 

In stark contrast stands the ministry of Anglican-turned-congregationalist, Dr John Owen.  He is not now to have had any conversions during his long ministry.  To some people, lack of conversions is a mark of a faithful ministry.  How wrong can a person be!  DMLJ's preaching exhibited a biblical balance that is nit just admirable but to be copied by every Gospel preacher in the church. 

The book demonstrates clearly, and in the Doctor's own words, what it was he preached - and it was a message that God honoured. 

As the 31st anniversary of his death approaches, why not get your copy of this book and read, in his own words, the Gospel he declared for six decades.

The Unbeliever's Irony

Have you ever wondered why it is that those 'church Christians' - as opposed to true Christians - who hate the Gospel, hate all preaching about or of the Cross and the blood, hate to hear about the death of Christ for their sin, without fail attend the Lord's Supper regularly? And what is the Lord's Supper about?  It is about Christ's death on the Cross for the sins of the world.  It uses the physical elements of bread broken and wine poured out to preach the death of the Saviour for the world, yet they hate the Cross.

I think the answer is that many within nominal churches, that is, churches that do not know or preach the everlasting Gospel, are so steeped in romish sacramentalism and sacerdotalism that it matters little to them what the sacrament means and implies so long as they 'take' it.  They do not believe that Christ's death and resurrection trusted in personally will save them and take them to heaven, but they do believe that the sheer mechanical taking of the Supper does.  That is unadulterated romanism.

Nor does it seem to dawn on such deluded church members that unless and until they enjoy communion (fellowship) with Christ on a daily basis rules out their having communion with Him at the table.  This romanising of the Christian faith by the churches must be acknowledged and repented of immediately, if times of refreshing are to come from the presence of the Lord.

Any comments?

New LLoyd-Jones Book on Diesel Ebook Store.

My new book on Dr D Martyn Lloyd-Jones is now available on Diesel Ebook Store and may be accessed there.

Please visit this site and have a look.  Did you know that you could earn yourself a small amount of money by writing a review of this book?  It is small but after a few reviews, you will then be able to buy yourself a book.