Worship While It’s Warm

I found this compelling by John Piper

The Sovereignty of God and Prayer
John Piper

I am often asked, “If you believe God works all things according to the counsel of his will (Ephesians 1:11) and that his knowledge of all things past, present, and future is infallible, then what is the point of praying that anything happen?” Usually this question is asked in relation to human decision: “If God has predestined some to be his sons and chosen them before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4,5), then what’s the point in praying for anyone’s conversion?”The implicit argument here is that if prayer is to be possible at all man must have the power of self-determination. That is, all man’s decisions must ultimately belong to himself, not God. For otherwise he is determined by God and all his decisions are really fixed in God’s eternal counsel. Let’s examine the reasonableness of this argument by reflecting on the example cited above.

1. “Why pray for anyone’s conversion if God has chosen before the foundation of the world who will be his sons?” A person in need of conversion is “dead in trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1); he is “enslaved to sin” (Romans 6:17; John 8:34); “the god of this world has blinded his mind that he might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ” (II Corinthians. 4:4); his heart is hardened against God (Ephesians 4:18) so that he is hostile to God and in rebellion against God’s will (Romans 8:7).

Now I would like to turn the question back to my questioner: If you insist that this man must have the power of ultimate self-determination, what is the point of praying for him? What do you want God to do for Him? You can’t ask that God overcome the man’s rebellion, for rebellion is precisely what the man is now choosing, so that would mean God overcame his choice and took away his power of self-determination. But how can God save this man unless he act so as to change the man’s heart from hard hostility to tender trust?

Will you pray that God enlighten his mind so that he truly see the beauty of Christ and believe? If you pray this, you are in effect asking God no longer to leave the determination of the man’s will in his own power. You are asking God to do something within the man’s mind (or heart) so that he will surely see and believe. That is, you are conceding that the ultimate determination of the man’s decision to trust Christ is God’s, not merely his.

What I am saying is that it is not the doctrine of God’s sovereignty which thwarts prayer for the conversion of sinners. On the contrary, it is the unbiblical notion of self-determination which would consistently put an end to all prayers for the lost. Prayer is a request that God do something. But the only thing God can do to save a lost sinner is to overcome his resistance to God. If you insist that he retain his self-determination, then you are insisting that he remain without Christ. For “no one can come to Christ unless it is given him from the Father” (John 6:65,44).

Only the person who rejects human self-determination can consistently pray for God to save the lost. My prayer for unbelievers is that God will do for them what He did for Lydia: He opened her heart so that she gave heed to what Paul said (Acts 16:14). I will pray that God, who once said, “Let there be light!”, will by that same creative power “shine in their hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6). I will pray that He will “take out their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 36:26). I will pray that they be born not of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man but of God (John 1:13). And with all my praying I will try to “be kind and to teach and correct with gentleness and patience, if perhaps God may grant them repentance and freedom from Satan’s snare” (2 Timothy 2:24-26).

In short, I do not ask God to sit back and wait for my neighbor to decide to change. I do not suggest to God that He keep his distance lest his beauty become irresistible and violate my neighbor’s power of self-determination. No! I pray that he ravish my unbelieving neighbor with his beauty, that he unshackle the enslaved will, that he make the dead alive and that he suffer no resistance to stop him lest my neighbor perish.

2. If someone now says, “O.K., granted that a person’s conversion is ultimately determined by God’ I still don’t see the point of your prayer. If God chose before the foundation of the world who would be converted, what function does your prayer have?” My answer is that it has a function like that of preaching: How shall the lost believe in whom they have not heard, and how shall they hear without a preacher, and how shall they preach unless they are sent (Romans 10:14f.)? Belief in Christ is a gift of God (John 6:65; 2 Timothy 2:25; Ephesians 2:8), but God has ordained that the means by which men believe on Jesus is through the preaching of men. It is simply naive to say that if no one spread the gospel all those predestined to be sons of God (Ephesians 1:5) would be converted anyway. The reason this is naive is because it overlooks the fact that the preaching of the gospel is just as predestined as is the believing of the gospel: Paul was set apart for his preaching ministry before he was born (Galatians 1:15), as was Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1:5). Therefore, to ask, “If we don’t evangelize, will the elect be saved?” is like asking, “If there is no predestination, will the predestined be saved?” God knows those who are his and he will raise up messengers to win them. If someone refuses to be a part of that plan, because he dislikes the idea of being tampered with before he was born, then he will be the loser, not God and not the elect. “You will certainly carry out God’s purpose however you act but it makes a difference to you whether you serve like Judas or like John.” (Problem of Pain chapter 7, Anthology, p 910, cf. p 80)

Prayer is like preaching in that it is a human act also. It is a human act that God has ordained and which he delights in because it reflects the dependence of his creatures upon Him. He has promised to respond to prayer, and his response is just as contingent upon our prayer as our prayer is in accordance with his will. “And this is the confidence which we have before Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us” (1 John 5:14). When we don’t know how to pray according to God’s will but desire it earnestly, “the Spirit of God intercedes for us according to the will of God” (Romans 8:27).

In other words, just as God will see to it that His Word is proclaimed as a means to saving the elect, so He will see to it that all those prayers are prayed which He has promised to respond to. I think Paul’s words in Romans 15:18 would apply equally well to his preaching and his praying ministry: “I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me, resulting in the obedience of the Gentiles.” Even our prayers are a gift from the one who “works in us that which is pleasing in his sight” (Hebrews 13:21). Oh, how grateful we should be that He has chosen us to be employed in this high service! How eager we should be to spend much time in prayer!

So what this communicates to me is this, whether you believe in conditional or unconditional election, the requirement is the same. No one can come to the Father unless the Spirit draw him. And so prayer is just as needed as the preaching of the Gospel.

I also think that Piper’s arguments dispel the misconception that unconditional election involves a robotic response to God’s calling.

In my last post, I talked about the nature of sin being rebellion in our hearts that does not want to conform to God’s moral and righteous standards and therefore, wants to act independent of God’s standards.

Now you may be reading this and say, “ok that does not really apply to me because I have the love of God in my heart”. And perhaps may even relegate this discussion to those who do not know Christ.

But the simple truth is that each one of us contends with sin everyday, the principle at work in us that does not want us to conform to righteous demands of God. And that sin will want self to rule. If we love the Lord and desire to follow after Him, I don’t think that self-rule will be bold or blatant but will be very subtle and creep in to what we consider our opinions and our perspective on things.

Now our perspectives will be influenced by many factors, including life experiences, expectations and disappointments, family history, and general life observations. And the sin principle at work in us will want us to filter our christianity and biblical understanding through the lens of our perspectives. The self-rule will say “I think this is important and this is the way it should be”.

So consider for a moment those ideas that you hold dear about what this christian life is all about, or suppose to be about from your perspective. More importantly, consider your doctrinal positioning and think about the defenses you raise when there is a contradictory position. I have found in my blogging travels that certain people will rally around discussions about specific topics but are nowhere to be seen in others. Why? Perhaps there is an agenda to uphold a certain position.

We come to Christ with baggage and that baggage must be left at the foot of the cross. The sin principle that wants to keep our agendas at the forefront, must first be recognized and as self-interest but more importantly subjected to the unadulterated and objective consideration of biblical truth. We will undoubtedly come across concepts and commands that trouble us that we may even deem unfair. The self-rule of our perspective may dismiss these ideas as contrary but a submitted heart would say to God “I don’t like what this is saying, but if this is true, help me to understand”.

If we are not mindful of this self-rule, we will most likely gravitate to those with like opinions and reject opposing viewpoints. With mass support, our positions become validated. And so I consider Paul’s encouragement to Timothy:

Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For a time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. (2 Timothy 4:2-4, nasb)

Let’s face it, we just don’t like to talk about sin. There is something rather disconcerting about the subject. In fact, I am of the opinion that teaching on the doctrine of sin is probably one of the least understood and most underrepresented topics in modern day evangelicalism, which reinforces the notion that it is better left untaught and out of discussions.

Yet, a solid biblical understanding of sin, what it is and how it has impacted us is critical to not only understanding our salvation, but also the sanctification process. Tim Challies gave an excellent treatment to this topic by denoting sin is not what we do but who we are due to the condition of hearts that are rebellious towards God. (link here). And I believe that the foundation of this rebellion will address the reasons that we don’t like to talk about sin and why it seems to be a missing link in modern day teaching. So a more appropriate title for this post would be the Problem with talking about sin…is sin.

The heart of this rebellion I believe is found in 1 John 3:4, which says that sin is lawlessness. And the lawlessness is a “lack of conformity to the moral law of God either in act, disposition or state” (Basic Theology, Charles Ryrie, page 243). Sin rejects God’s moral standards and is contradictory to God’s character and demands, and therefore, wants to act independent of His character and demands.

Sin, being imputed to us through the fall (Romans 5:12) puts us in a state of separation from God (Romans 3:23). So we see in this separation, our natural man rejects the things of God and cannot subject himself to God’s laws (1 Corinthians 2:14, Romans 8:7). Therefore, in our unregenerate state, we are in a state of lawlessness that wants to act independent of God. And don’t we see this played out in the focus of “goodness” as a criteria of heavenly attainment? The natural man will want to justify himself with being good apart from God.

When we come to saving faith in Christ, its because we realize that we are not good, that we are sinners. No matter how “good” we can be, it will always miss the mark of God’s standards. And so we consider Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, how He who knew no sin became sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21). Our trust then is in what He did. In Him and through Him and only because of Him, our dependence turns into compliance. When we see sin in context of the holiness and righteousness of God and the necessity of the sacrifice of Christ, recognizing and confronting it is not a problem.

However, after salvation, there is still a bone of contention. Paul indicates in Romans 7:21-23, that there is still a law at work in us, a principle of sin that wants us to do what?…commit acts of lawlessness. And its this very principle that will not want us to comply with God’s moral law and will want to act independent of God. But it follows in Romans 8 that our victory is found by virtue of what God has already granted to us through “the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus” (vs 2). Thus, Jesus Christ must be central to our teaching for our understanding of living life in the Spirit.

So the problem with sin is that it wants self to rule. And that self-rule will not want to confront God’s moral law. The less we trust in Christ, the less we yield to the Spirit, the greater will be our aversion to confronting sin. I believe this is the reason why that for present day teachers, the further the teaching deviates from the centrality of Christ, the less likely that teacher will talk about sin.  So in a today’s christian culture, that focuses on new ideas and new formulas and talks more about Jesus meeting our needs than being our need, the issue of sin gets lost.  And why the topic of sin it is virtually non-existent in prosperity theology that focuses on gratification of the flesh as opposed to trust and surrender in Christ.

If you are like me, you have probably asked and continue to ask the question “What is God’s will for my life?” In fact, I am of the opinion that every disciple of Christ should ask this question modeled after the apostle Paul’s encouragement in Philippians 3:12, To lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has laid hold of us. And laying hold of where God would have you to go requires an understanding, a discernment of when is it time to move like Abraham did in Genesis 12:1.

Most certainly, we ask this question through prayer, through Godly counsel and perhaps searching through the myriad of books written on the subject. So my purpose here is not rehash what others have already written but to provide my perspective through a personal anecdote and to ask you, the reader, how do you determine God’s will?

For 5 years, I was intricately involved with a ministry that was relatively new. Now I had come to this ministry, from a much larger well established ministry with a strong conviction that this was where God wanted me to be at that time. But a couple of years ago, I began to be confronted with some difficulties regarding biblical interpretation, doctrinal misalignment and principles rooted in extra-biblical concepts. My pastor was convinced that for where that church was going, I was supposed to be a part of it. In fact, there had been on some occasions, a generic public proclamation from the pulpit that if God had called you there and you leave before fulfilling what God had called you to do, you would be in disobedience and would not fulfill God’s plan. But as my discomfort grew, I was not so sure that staying was in my best interest. So I left.

After much prayer and research, I landed at a fantastic church, which provided much spiritual nourishment, friendly support and biblical teaching grounded in solid bible study methods. Although this church was quite different than my previous experience in that it was non-charismatic, I liken the transition to finding a spring well after traveling through a hot desert. The long and short of it is that this shift resulted in path I am now taking to seminary.

I recently had a very pleasant chat with my former pastor’s wife. And although it was not spoken, I could not help but wonder if she and my former pastor suppose that somehow I have missed the will of God for my life. When I consider my current direction a result of merging life experiences, spiritual gifting, ministry passions and interest towards helping others, I think of grain scattered on the table being scooped together over time and funneled into a single point. And that single point carries with it a strong conviction of God directing my steps towards seminary. Ultimately, I do not believe that I have missed God’s Will.

So I share this personal story not to criticize my former ministry for I applaud those that will march forward under divine directives to reach others with the good news of Jesus Christ. And while the question of discovering God’s Will has been framed in the context of my personal story, the broader application entails discovering your next steps as you ask the question of what is God’s Will for your life. Through my journey, I have discovered some key criteria that I would like to share for your consideration.

1) God’s Will won’t contradict His Word: I have heard this in many a sermon and would wholeheartedly concur, especially related to very obvious contradictions such as marrying an unbeliever or engaging in activity that the bible clearly outlines as wrong.

But another consideration, I believe, involves the faithfulness of our places of fellowship. Now I am not suggesting for an overcritical and carnal evaluation of what you don’t like about your church. There have been far too many church splits and personal disruptions over what amounted to be differences of personal preferences, interests and comfort. No church is perfect because it is filled with and run by imperfect people. Nor am I suggesting that you leave the minute you hear something you don’t like. It could just be the Holy Spirit convicting you of sin in your life.

But I am suggesting by faithfulness, a careful consideration of how our local assemblies align with biblical mandates regarding their purpose and function. And these would include:

• Sound teaching of Christian doctrine
• Evangelism
• Prayer
• Loving fellowship
• Pastoral care for the needs of the flock

And the purpose is so we will grow, mature and become equipped to lead others. Consider Ephesians 4:11-16 and 2 Peter 3:18. So if any of the above components are missing or skewed or if you are encountering friction in ministry to the extent that learning and ultimately growth is stunted, I believe contradict God’s Word.

2) God’s Will will most likely develop and utilize our spiritual gifts. We have been given spiritual gifts for the edification of the body (see Romans 12:4-8; 1 Corinthians 12)

1 Peter 4:10 says, “As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.”

God gives us gifts to use and there should be graduating of scope and frequency as these gifts develop. This doesn’t mean that we should expect promotions and platforms at every turn. God still does tests and train our ability to be faithful and submit to authority. But there should be an increased honing of these gifts that translate into making tangible impacts in the lives of others. So wherever He takes us should involve this increase.

And by the way, being a musician is not a gift - it is a talent. If you are involved in music ministry at some point and that direction shifts, it is no indication of missing His will (ok, that one is very personal)

3) God’s Will will ultimately bear fruit: We were once dead trees but made alive at conversion (Ephesians 2:1). At the point of salvation, spiritual renewal begins the process of producing fruit reflective of that renewal including God’s intention for our lives. Consider Ephesians 2:10:

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them”.

Wherever God is leading us should result in the fruit of His “good works”, which is compatible with the utilization of our spiritual gifts and yields a positive increase in how we are impacting lives for Christ.

4) God’s Will may involve personal discomfort: Sometimes following God will take us to hard places. I admit, it was not easy leaving my former ministry. But I am mindful of God’s call to Abraham to leave the place of his birth, and undoubtedly, his comfort. And when we sense we are being led away from somewhere and more specifically, to somewhere, it begs the question of who do we need to please, God, others or ourselves.

5) God’s Will may not be immediately understood: In my case, I admit I was puzzled for awhile. If God had called me to this ministry, why then should I be leaving? What’s worse is that I had stepped down from ministry and it was during the course of that hiatus that I began to wrestle with differences. So the philosophy was that I should be restored to that position before leaving. But I knew that I had to leave. I did not get it at the time, but I also could not ignore the growing unsettlement.

I think it is unwise to limit God or think we have figured out how He does things based on our man-made formulas.

Isaiah 55:8-9: “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are My ways your ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.”

6)_No one can really determine God’s Will for you: People mean well and may even have definite ideas about what you should be doing. But I believe that discovering God’s will is born of a strong conviction brought on by the Spirit that lives within us.

1 Peter 2:5 says, “you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

Believers are not responsible to pastor, mother, father, friend or foe. Their priesthood before God makes them accountable to God for every step they take. And those steps should be taken with much prayer, much humility and much surrendering. When we do this, I believe most certainly He will lead us to the place we need to go.

Consider what Paul says in Philippians 2:12-13:

“So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure”.

These considerations are based on my personal journey. Now, I ask you how do you determine God’s will for you life?

So now I’ve landed and its time to start unpacking my stuff.  In that process, I probably will be doing quite a bit of rearranging.  I’m not all that technically savvy about the formatting of blog sites, so bear with me as a figure this thing out.

But what a place to unpack stuff, the endless flow of questions and musings that float around in my head.  What a great opportunity.

Sit tight.  More to follow

Welcome to Reclaiming the Mind Ministries. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!