And Can It Be?

Amazing grace! How can it be that Thou, my God, should’st die for me?

Sung by my children a few hours ago.

For continuity’s sake with a Lutheran past

I printed out two articles about Luther/Lutheranism from the Internet for my father GB, for continuity’s sake with his Lutheran past. (GB hails from a Lutheran family, where his father, uncles, and grandfather were godly pastors.)

The first is Martin Luther: Lessons from His Life and Labor by John Piper.

The headings according to which the article is organised are:

• Luther Discovers the Book
• The Pathway to the Professorship
• Why Should Pastors Listen to Luther?
  
  • He was more a preacher than any of us pastors.
  • 2. Like most pastors, Luther was a family man – at least from age 41 until his death at 62.
  • 3. Luther was a churchman, not an ivory tower theological scholar.
• Luther at Study: The Difference the Book Made
  
  • 1. Luther came to elevate the Biblical text itself far above all commentators or church fathers.
  • 2. This radical focus on the text of Scripture itself with secondary literature in secondary place leads Luther to an intense and serious grappling with the very words of Paul and the other Biblical writers.
  • 3. The power and preciousness of what Luther saw when he beat importunately upon Paul’s language convinced him forever that reading Greek and Hebrew was one of the greatest privileges and responsibilities of the Reformation preacher.
  • 4. This reference to “indolence” leads us to the next characteristic of Luther at study, namely, extraordinary diligence in spite of tremendous obstacles.

The second is A Lutheran Response to Arminianism by Rick Ritchie.

Here are some excerpts:

The reason Lutheranism has never been presented according to a five-point scheme is not that it lacks the doctrines that would allow that, but that the Arminians never issued to the Lutherans a five-point refutation of their supposed errors. . .

At first glance, Lutheranism might appear to be an amalgamation of Calvinism and Arminianism because, with regard to the five points, it seems to agree with Calvinism on some points and Arminianism on others. We must be careful, however, to look at the underlying principles that motivated the positions. When we do this, we will find that Lutheranism is not in fundamental agreement with the Remonstrants on any of the five points.

Arminian to Calvanist in six months

My 82-year old father, GB, is an exceptional man. After 25 years of working as a pastor in India, he is in Auckland with us. Initially, when he came in January 2009, he was skeptical about Reformed theology. But by God’s grace, the following factors have caused him to change his opinion.

• His love for the word of God and desire to conform to it.
• Having had to leave his ministry in the hands of Reformed Baptists (How this came to be, though most amazing, is beyond the purview of this post), and having resigned himself to live out the rest of his days in his daughter’s home, he had to now scrutinize the doctrine of this new “denomination”.
• Sovereign Grace Church (Lunn Ave in Mt. Wellington, Auckland): The faithful preaching of Pastor Bala and Pastor Alfie Orr, visits of Pastor Orr to discuss theology and things, visits of Pastor Bala to discuss the India ministry, the love of the church, the prayer sessions.
• The videos of the nine messages containing the Parting Words of Counsel of  Pastor Al Martin. GB was firmly of the impression that we were advocating a disguised version of a Once-saved-always-saved-so-you-can-sin-as-much-as-you-want gospel.  Pastor Al Martin’s was clearly another pastor who like him was moving on to another chapter of his life after having spent many decades striving for godliness and faithfulness to the word in his church.
• Dr. Martyn Lloyd Jones: He had been reading Studies in the Sermon on the Mount even before he came here. (This along with the entire ministry of John MacArthur was a bridge that we shamelessly used to woo him to the other side. ) GB now has several of the Romans series and is thoroughly delighted by them.
• The messages of John Piper on the subject of the New Birth
• The visit of cousin Prabhu from California who spent many hours during that week to go through doctrinal concepts and Bible passages with GB.

Right now he is enjoying the concluding pages of Chosen By God by R.C. Sproul.

It has been a while since we looked at the following videos as a family. I’m sure it will be a good refresher for the children and good for GB too:

• Irreconcilable Differences: featuring host John Ankerberg and a panel comprising John MacArthur, R.C. Sproul, and James Kennedy.
• Amazing Grace: The History & Theology of Calvinism

Pastor Al Martin

Man oh man, you’ve got to hear Pastor Al Martin’s preaching. Click here to get to some of the sermons.

He has been preaching for 46 years, which includes the last 37 years in Trinity Baptist Church of Montville. It would be almost impossible to find a subject that he has not dealt with in these years.

His beautiful voice and rich language would have been ideal for itching ears, but for the fact that his preaching is not easy on the ear of the natural man because of its holy forcefulness. He is known for his careful exegesis, excellent delivery of the word and application. Let us be thankful to God for such men who regard the pulpit as a responsibility for which they must one day render account to God, and so preach without compromise but with passion, grace, and love.

How does one get into a relationship with Jesus?

Very few tapes have we enjoyed together as a family as much as this one. It’s called Irreconcilable Differences, that features host John Ankerberg and a panel comprising John MacArthur, R.C. Sproul, and James Kennedy.

The issue discussed is a document that sets out with the noble aim of bringing Roman Catholics and Evangelicals together, but falls short because it overlooks and glosses over vital differences in the doctrines of salvation of both communions, resulting in implicitly compromising the five solas, so precious to us.

• Sola scriptura (“by Scripture alone”)
• Sola fide (“by faith alone”)
• Sola gratia (“by grace alone”)
• Solus Christus (“Christ alone”)
• Soli Deo gloria (“glory to God alone”)

I have many close Roman Catholic friends; how wonderful it would be to fellowship together. But I now know that it is not as simple as saying: Let’s forget our differences and get together. Coming together is going to have to involve much study of the Bible, church history and other material, much prayer, courage, and brutal honesty.