Letters    

TO CONFIRM ONE IN THE FAITH

Dear D. I.                                                                                                          April 22, 1985

      ...Be sure you know what you are talking about before you begin to teach it to others. It is one thing for one to be mistaken, but a very serious thing if he leads someone else into his mistake.

       Solomon says that in the multitude of counsellors there is wisdom. The truth of God should be of such importance to us that we would be willing to study to show ourselves approved unto God, rightly dividing the Word of truth. Have you checked any godly expositors of Scripture?

        First, the Jesus you have presented is what Paul called "another Jesus" (II Corinthians 11:4). He is a weak, effeminate, failure who has done all He can to save every man, woman, boy and girl and whose failure is evidenced by a burning Hell. He has not been able to do what He wanted to do. Such a Jesus commands neither respect nor reverence. The Jesus of the Bible has a people He came to redeem, and "of them which thou gavest me have I lost none," Jesus said. The Jesus of the Bible is Lord of the armies of Heaven, and who is able to do what He will with His own.

         If our Lord wants everyone to be saved, then please explain Mark 4:11,12: Jesus said to His disciples, "Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables: that seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them."

         Second, all Scripture must be interpreted in light of whom the writer is writing. For instance, you have made a very grave error in failing to realize that not one epistle in all the New Testament is addressed to sinners. Romans begins, "To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints..." (1:7); and First Corinthians begins, "Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, ..." (1:2). II Corinthians begins the same way: "Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints which are in all Achaia ..." (1:1). It is superfluous to list them all. The importance of this is that when you realize the writers are addressing the household of faith, and not a bunch of renegades, the meaning is as different as night and day.

      Therefore, when Peter asserts, "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance" (II Peter 3:9), he is addressing believers, and not unbelievers.

     So, when we read, "For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: and that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again" (II Corinthians 5:14,15), we are to understand that all the redeemed of God were dead in trespasses until the Lord quickened them. And, He quickened us that we should not selfishly live unto ourselves, but unto Him which died for us and rose again.

     Third, I wish you had done what I requested, and that was to read John chapters 6,10, and 17. Had you done so, you would have read that Jesus said, "I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine" (17:9); and you would have discovered that Jesus was not a universalist: He did not pray for the world.

     Fourth, you made another grave error when you put Judas at the Lord's Supper in Luke 22:20. If you compare the Synoptic Gospels, you find that the Lord's Supper was instituted after Judas went out.

     Fifth, you declare that the blood of Christ has infinite value, but you contradict yourself, for how valuable is the blood of Christ if it is shed for one sinner who ends up in Hell's fiery seas? The Bible teaches that His blood washes away our guilt and pollution. What does it do for one wretch who is damned, if the blood of Christ was shed for him?

     Sixth, if you had read the Word of God in Romans 9 with a teachable spirit, you would have never made the statement that "no passage of Scripture teaches that Christ did not die for the rest of the human race." In verse 22, we read of some who are "fitted to destruction." and, in verse 18 we read, "whom he will he hardeneth." The Bible says God even hates some people (See: Psalm 5:5; and 11:5).

     Seventh, the gospel is given out sincerely to every creature. In them who repent, God will be glorified; in them that do not repent, God will be glorified (II Corinthians 2:14-17). To one, God gives "an heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear," but to others, He does no such thing.

     I fear that if you have not already reached the place where pride has made you feel that you do not need public worship, then you may not be far away (See: Hebrews 10:25). It is a judgment of God, when He delivers up a person through the naughtiness of their heart to be disobedient. My love and prayers.

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