Calvinism Is Not Enough

I've believed in the TULIP, the doctrines of grace, the five points, the biblical way in which God saves man, for a little over three years now. And I've been reforming everything ever since. Understanding rightly how God saves you for the first time, changes everything. It changes your view of God, of Christ, of man. That's an all-encompassing, paradigm shifting, truth, and all one's theology and all one's life must be conformed to it. Unfortunately, we seem to have something of a melting pot of Calvinism- we take a little charismatic teaching and attach it to a Calvinistic soteriology, or a seeker-oriented church preaches Calvinistic soteriology (which, on all accounts, makes zero sense whatsoever). But I believe that even those who do not add these more extreme admixtures can still fall into the trap of thinking that the five points are enough, that Calvinism is enough, that Calvinism speaks to salvation and nothing else. On the contrary, because Calvinism speaks to salvation, it must speak to everything!

This is simply because the gospel is applicable to every area of life. If all of life is to be done unto the glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31), and Christ died to save us so that we can once again work and live for His glory (Eph. 2:1-10), then it follows that understanding rightly the nature of Christ's salvation, which frees us to live for God again (some do not even realize this), has huge bearing on the manner in which we must live for it to be God pleasing and God glorifying. Ultimately Piper's statements such as "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him" and "Man's chief end is to glorify God BY enjoying Him forever" I believe are biblically true. But the root of these truths is the ultimate truth that all that is, is for God's glory. God made all things for His glory:

³⁶ For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen. (Rom. 11:36)

Or take this beautiful explanation from Colossians 1:

¹⁵ He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. ¹⁶ For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. ¹⁷ And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. ¹⁸ And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.

Reconciled in Christ

¹⁹ For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, ²⁰ and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.

²¹ And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled ²² in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight.

This is weighty stuff. God sent Christ to die so that Christ could have the preeminence in all things. Clearly then, Calvinism, the five points, is the beginning of the journey, not the end. The five points are like walking into Narnia, not coming full circle and exiting again through the wardrobe. Calvinism is the gateway into seeing the world like Narnia, or kind of like what Chesterton calls "Elfland." But once you discover this beautiful gospel, this beautiful world, this beautiful Story that you are part of, you have to start changing your views and ways in all things so that you can be conformed to the image of the Son, so that you can play your role out as He has specifically called you to do. We will never stop learning new, mind blowing things about the Cross, about Calvary. As the popular song says, "I'll never know how much it cost, to see my sin upon that cross."

It is true, we will never know, fully, but we must always be learning, always be reforming, and as we learn and reform, we become more conformed to the image of the Son; and the more conformed to His image we are, the better we can reflect and refract the glory of the Lord. And rightly reflecting the glory of the Lord is what we were made for, is what this world was made for. It is the Story of All Things, and it is a masterpiece.

Why Pastors Shouldn't Preach In Jeans (Especially Skinny Jeans)

By: Thomas F. Booher I can't think of a better way to get labeled a legalist than to title a post like this. Hopefully by the end you will not see this as legalism and will see this as what it is- my attempt at describing what I believe is proper ecclesiology as defined by God in Scripture. So then, what is church? What does Scripture say we should be doing and not doing on Sunday mornings? That's what I want to explore. The Bible says to gather together in Christ's name; to teach, encourage, and admonish one another; to sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in our hearts to God (Heb. 10:24-25; Mat. 18:20; Col. 3:16). There are to be deacons (Acts 6:1-6) and elders (Ti. 1:5) in the church who act as overseers, and in the case of elders, are the shepherds of the flock who teach the word and rebuke with authority (Ti. 1:9). God must call one to be a pastor/elder (Eph. 4:11). As such those who are called by God to preach the word are held to a ...

The Stone Choir/Corey Mahler Invert God's Revelation

https://coreyjmahler.com/the-european-peoples-and-christianity/ *****EDIT: Some have said that they, or at least Corey Mahler perhaps believes, that the European religions were deviations from Christianity, believed by Noah and his sons. Over time, sinful man and demons twisted these European religions, which I think their argument is that it was originally Christian/derived from Noah and his offspring. Nordic paganism had the most in common with Christianity, even with Odin sacrificing himself on a tree, and therefore the Europeans were the most ripe and ready to embrace Christianity and continue to advance the cause of Christ more than other peoples/races/nations over the last 2,000 years since Christ. To that I simply say, I appreciate the context given, but even if all that were true (maybe it is, maybe it is not), it doesn't change the fundamental points of my post below. Syncretism, Odinism, etc., even if it was somehow a distorted derivation flowing from the true...

Some Problems in the PCA (Presbyterian Church in America)

By: Thomas F. Booher NOTE: I posted what's below to Facebook on this day, December 6, 2016. I wanted to post this here for record keeping and so that it can have a more visible and permanent viewership for those concerned or wishing to be more informed about the PCA. I would like to explain my love for and grave concerns within the PCA (Presbyterian Church in America), the denomination in which I am currently a member and have served as a ruling elder. The state of the PCA is, in my estimation, not a consistently conservative, orthodox, and confessional one. I believe it is in the midst of much compromise, and I do not think that the average lay person is aware of it. It grieves me to say these things. I wish they were not true. I grew up in the PCA, and until several years ago I was still under the delusion that all was well in this denomination, that it was, by and large, holding fast to the Word of God. I still believe that there are many...

The Tulip Driven Life

Search This Blog