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I am sure you have heard about Mark Driscoll and his recent resignation from Mars Hill in Seattle.

This post is not really about Mark Driscoll, but about how his resignation is a symptom of a wider problem in Western Christianity.

As much as I never really cared for Mark’s preaching, approach to ministry, or theology, I always felt a bit sorry for him. He was another victim of the corporate, celebrity-style Christendom that operates under the word “church” in most of the western world.

About ten years ago I listened to a sermon by Mark Driscoll in which he publicly stated his desire for Mars Hill to become the largest church in the United States. It had already been recognized at that time as the fastest growing church, and he wanted to leverage that growth into the largest congregation. Yet according to recent news releases, by January 1, 2015, Mars Hill will be no more.

I think people around the world are finally starting to wake up to the fact that when it comes to church, bigger is not always better. Of course, this doesn’t mean that smaller is better either.

Church is not about “how many” at all. It is not even about “how.”

In a culture which says “It’s all about you,” we need to reawaken to the fact that Church is all about “who.”

Who is the church about?

Jesus! He is the sole head.

Who is the church about?

People meeting together for friendship and fellowship.

Lots of people point to the description of “two or three” in Matthew 18 as the minimum requirement for church. I personally don’t think this text has anything to do with how many people are needed to “do” church, for church is not actually something we do, but is something we are.

But even if we say that church exists where there are two or three, nothing is said in Matthew 18:20 that when these two or three gather, one of them needs to stand up and give a sermon. Nothing is said that when these two or three gather, they need to sit in a circle with their bibles open on their laps, discussing a particular text or point of theology. Nothing is said about prayer or music or food.

It is best to think of church as you think of family.

Do you ever talk about going to “family”? Of course not. You are a family.

Do you ever plan regular family events? Well, sometimes. But these are rarely set in stone for all time, and you never assume that what you do in your family is what all families everywhere should be doing as well.

But even when family events are planned, true “family” most often occurs outside and away from these family events. True “family” happens as life happens. True family occurs at 4:00 in the morning when someone has a bad dream or wakes up with a stomach ache. True family occurs when memories are formed while buying celery at the supermarket. True family occurs when everybody laughs at a joke about peas on the curtains. If you tried to package and export these family events to all other families, it wouldn’t work.

How did I get onto this topic after beginning with a discussion about reconciliation and redemption of abusive leaders?

For Mark Driscoll, I hope that he does not enter into another form of Christian leadership any time soon. It’s not because he is disqualified. Far from it! He might be more qualified now then ever before. It is just that modern Christian forms of “leadership” look nothing like the leadership modeled by Jesus.

For all the fans of Mark Driscoll, I hope that rather than simply turn to another celebrity pastor or mega-gathering for their weekly fix of preaching, they see that Jesus Himself wants to lead them into the biggest adventure of a lifetime.

And as for all the critics of Mark Driscoll, I hope there is absolutely no gloating whatsoever. What happened to Mark Driscoll and Mars Hill is extremely sad, and anyone who gloats is in danger of the exact same problem.

Ultimately, I hope that western Christianity in general learns from what happened to Mark Driscoll and Mars Hill.

I hope we learn that reconciling and redeeming abusive church leaders begins with reconciling and redeeming the church itself.

The problem is not the church leaders. Church leaders are some of the victims of a church structure that functions as God never intended.

So let’s abandon our power structures, our titles, our positions, our platforms, our offering plates, and even our buildings and campuses.

Instead, let us turn to love. Love for our neighbors. Love for our enemies. Love for our family.

Let us not rush to get fallen leaders back into positions of authority. Let us not rush to get anyone into any position of authority in the “church,” for there is no authority other than Jesus Christ, and there is no church other than the family of God.

This post was part of the November 2014 Synchroblog. Here are the other contributors:

Justin Steckbauer – The Servant Leader: A Radical Concept
Mary – Can I Get A Doctor?
Glenn Hager – The Man Of God Myth
Lisa – Forgive
Peggy Brown – Abi and November’s Synchroblog: Spiritual Abuse and Redemption
Edwin Pastor FedEx Aldrich – Shooting Stars: Of Scandal, Abuse, Restoration, and Systematic Failures
Tara – Forgive Us Our Sins As We Forgive Those…
Liz Dyer – Sorry

This Video Taught me What It Means to Have “Faith Like a Child”

By Jeremy Myers

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Sometimes people think that “faith like a child” means living in ignorance. Children don’t know much, right? They just believe without any facts or thinking or logic. So this must be what it means to have faith like a child.

I agree that in some ways, faith like a child means taking God at His Word and just moving on.

But at the same time, God gave us brains, and desires that we use them. He invites us to reason with Him (Isa 1:18).

So if faith like a child doesn’t mean living in willful ignorance, what does it mean to have faith like a child?

This video clues you in to part of it:

I am convinced that faith like a child does not mean ignorance like a child.

No, to have faith like a child means to view life like a child.

How does a child view life?

Like the girl in the video, children have a tenderness of conscience. They are emotional.

But this doesn’t mean that to have faith like a child you need to have emotions like a child. No, it’s more than that.

Children are full of wonder and awe.

Children are creative and imaginative.

Children are playful and fun-loving.

As adults, we get bored with flowers, bugs, and sunsets. We lose delight in talking with others about nothing. We are jaded and disinterested.

Adults hold grudges, harbor fears, and stay angry.

Adults refuse to forgive. Adults remember slights.

I think one of the things that attracted people to Jesus is that He was “child-like.” Does this mean He lacked wisdom and understanding? Far from it! No, Jesus was “child-like” in that He was full of the wonder of life, the hope for humanity, and the beauty of creation. Jesus lived in awe.

And awe is contagious.

Do you want to have faith like a child?

Having faith like a child has absolutely nothing to do with not asking questions. After all, have you ever known a child who doesn’t ask LOTS of questions?

No, having faith like a child means having an “imagination” like a child.

Those who have faith like a child will hope, dream, forgive, create, trust, and love. Live life to the full. Be excited. Be adventuresome. Be tender of heart. And always ask lots and lots of questions.

So think! Reason! Question! Ask! But also imagine, dance, sing, laugh, and play! Then you will have faith like a child.

Regeneration Follows Faith

By Jeremy Myers

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The final theological ramification of Total Depravity is the idea that regeneration precedes faith.

As stated in earlier posts, the idea that regeneration precedes faith is the necessary result of the logic of Total Depravity. If people are totally depraved, dead in sin, and have no free will to believe in Jesus for eternal life, then God must give them the faith so that they can believe.

But this gift of faith could not be received by someone unless they were first regenerated by God. So the Calvinist argues that regeneration precedes faith.

And while we cannot disagree that this is the logical result of consistent Calvinism, it is exactly this logical result which shows one and for all that Total Depravity is not taught in Scripture.

Total Depravity leads to the belief that people are regenerated by God before they believe in Jesus; but the Bible repeatedly says that faith results in regeneration (John 1:11-13; 20:31; Gal 3:26; 1 Pet 1:23-25).

When forced to choose between the logical result of a theological position or the clear teaching of Scripture, we must choose Scripture every time.

And of course, if faith precedes regeneration, as Scripture states, then this also calls into question the theological premises which led up to this idea, namely, that people are unable to believe and so God must give them the gift of faith.

The Bible teaches that people are able to believe. Faith therefore, is not a work, is not a gift, and results in regeneration, just as Scripture says.

One caveat, of course, is that although regeneration follows faith, faith is preceded by revelation.

Without revelation, there would be no faith. Faith is a response to the multi-faceted revelation of God.

While revelation precedes faith; regeneration follows.

This was discussed in numerous previous posts (see the link list below), and so nothing more needs to be said here.

Some point to Acts 16:14 as evidence that God regenerates people before they can believe. In this text, Paul and Silas met a woman named Lydia on the banks of a river outside of town, and as they explain the gospel message to her, the text says that “the Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul.”

We will talk about this text more in the future posts on Irresistible Grace, but for now, it is enough to note that the phrase “opened her heart” is an idiomatic way of saying “helped her understand.” Acts 16:14 is not talking about God regenerating an unbeliever so that she can believe, nor is there any mention anywhere about God giving her the gift of faith. Instead, Acts 16:14 is a verse which shows the illuminating work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of other people.

John 3 is one of the many texts which clearly reveals that regeneration follows faith.

In speaking to Nicodemus, Jesus talks about being born again, and being born of water and spirit (John 3:3, 5). When Nicodemus asks how he can enter again into his mother’s womb to be born a second time (John 3:4, 9), Jesus states that anyone who believes in Him will have everlasting life (John 3:15-16).

According to Jesus, believing in Him has the result of receiving regeneration unto eternal life.

If you want to read more about Calvinism, check out other posts in this blog series: Words of Calvinism and the Word of God.

Faith is NOT a Work

By Jeremy Myers

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Though discussed briefly in a previous post about free will, it is important to once again emphasize the truth that faith is not a work.

To begin with, it helps to remember the definition of faith we learned earlier: Faith is being convinced or persuaded that something is true. As such, we cannot choose to believe. Faith is not a work and is not meritorious because faith happens to us. We are convinced, we are persuaded, as God reveals Himself to us through His various forms of revelation.

With this definition of faith in mind, it is absolutely true what most Calvinists say, that God must take the first step.

God has taken the first step

In fact, God has taken more than just the first step; He has taken the first billion steps. He provides revelation through creation, conscience, Scripture, dreams, visions, and angelic messengers. He sends prophets, missionaries, pastors, teachers, and evangelists to share the Gospel. He sent Jesus to fully reveal His character and nature to humanity. He sends the Holy Spirit to convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment, and uses the Holy Spirit to draw all people to Himself (John 6:44; 12: 32; 16:7-11; Acts 16:14, 29-30; 24:25).

He sends forth His grace and mercy upon all people (John 1:9; Titus 2:11). He forgives all sin, and is patient, loving, and kind to all. These steps, and countless more specific steps in the life of each and every person, are the sorts of things God has done on our behalf to call each of us to believe in Jesus for eternal life. Human faith, then, is not the first step, or even the millionth step, in the process of coming to God or believing in Jesus for eternal life.

People are able to believe in Jesus for eternal life because God has first done absolutely everything that is within His power, made everything available to us by His grace, and flung open the door to eternal life by His will. It is only because of this multitude of “first steps” by God toward us that anyone and everyone who wants to receive God’s offer of eternal life may do so by simply and only believing in Jesus Christ for it.

Ongoing faith is also important

Once we have believed in Jesus for eternal life, this does not mean that faith has no more place in the life of the believer. Just as we have received Jesus Christ Jesus, so also we must continue to walk with Him (Col 2:6). And how is it that we received Jesus? By faith. Future faith builds upon our former faith. Believing simple and elementary things allows us to later believe more difficult and hard things. This is what the Bible means when it talks about going from “faith to faith” (cf. Rom 1:17). But even this ongoing, sanctifying faith is not a work.

In order to move from believing one truth to believing another truth, it is true that we must act upon the faith we already have, and pursue the truth that follows. But even this sort of ongoing, sanctifying faith is not meritorious (Rom 4:16). It is simply faith at work; faith that energizes our life.

We will talk more about James 2 in the chapter on Perseverance of the Saints, but as a bit of a preview, James has been widely misunderstood to be saying that an inactive faith is a non-existent faith, when in reality he is saying that an inactive faith still exists; it is simply unproductive. James does not want unproductive faith. He wants us to act upon our beliefs. James is not saying that faith is a work, nor is he saying the true faith always reveals itself through works. James and Paul are in full agreement: faith is the opposite of works (Rom 4:5), but faith energizes our works (Jas 2:14-26) and leads us on toward greater faith.

So no matter what stage of faith we are talking about, faith is not a work. There are different things people can believe which lead to different results. But no matter what is believed, the faith involved in that belief is not a good work. It is simply being persuaded and convinced about what we have been told. When we believing in Jesus for eternal life, we have become persuaded that Jesus, as the author and finisher of our faith, loves us, forgives us, and freely grants eternal life to us, not because of anything we have done but simply and only because of God’s grace toward us.

Doesn’t John 6:28-29 Teach that Faith is a Work?

Some people object that John 6:28-29 teaches that faith is a work. John MacArthur, for example, uses John 6:29 in The Gospel According to Jesus to teach that faith is a work, and therefore, not something human beings can accomplish. He says that since faith is a work, it cannot be “merely a human work, but a gracious work of God in us” (John MacArthur, Gospel According to Jesus, 33). Several things can be said against this, beginning with what Jesus was actually saying in John 6:29.

In this text, Jesus says “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.” From a cursory reading of this text, it certainly seems that Jesus is equating faith with a work. But when the verse is read in context, it shows the opposite. In the immediately preceded context, Jesus has told some of His followers that they should “not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life” (John 6:27). In response, some of the Jewish people who were listening to Him ask, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” (John 6:27). Jesus answers by telling them that the work of God is to believe in Him, that is, in Jesus (John 6:28).

Jesus says this, not because He is trying to say that faith is a work, but because He is pointing out to the Jewish people that God was not looking for works, but was looking for faith. Many Jewish people of that day (like many Christians today) were overly focused on pleasing God through the works of the law.

By saying that the work God wants is for people to believe in Jesus, Jesus was saying that the work that God desires is not work at all, but the opposite of works, which is faith. God does not want us to “do” anything for Him, for He has already done everything for us. He simply wants people to believe in Jesus for eternal life, thereby recognizing that everything which needs to be done has been done in Jesus.

The Bible Contrasts Faith and Works

Beyond even this, however, the idea that faith is a work, and therefore a work of God in the heart of the unbeliever is “a theological fiction which cannot be supported from Scripture” (Kevin Butcher, “A Critique of The Gospel According to Jesus,” JOTGES 2 [Spring 1989], 38). The Bible everywhere contrasts faith and works so that if one attempts to accomplish something by faith, it cannot be said to have been done by works, and vice versa.

Faith involves the abandonment of any attempt to justify oneself and an openness to God which is willing to accept what he has done in Christ. The same applies here in regard to salvation. Faith is a human activity but a specific kind of activity, a response which allows salvation to become operative, which receives what has already been accomplished by God in Christ (Lincoln, Ephesians, 111).

So faith is not a special sort of human work, nor is it a divine work in the heart of the unbeliever. Rather, faith is not a work at all. Faith is the opposite of works. Just as we do not receive eternal life by faith and works, so also, we do not receive eternal life by faith that is a work. Just as faith cannot be part of the definition of works, so also, works cannot be part of the definition of faith. The two are not related in any way, but are polar opposites. Both faith and works, by definition, are mutually exclusive. Grant Hawley, in his book The Guts of Grace, says this:

Phrases like, “For by grace you have been saved through faith … not of works …” (Eph 2:8-9), and, “to him who does not work but believes” (Rom 4:5), are complete nonsense, if works are part of the definition of the words faith and believe. If a woman at a wedding reception said, “The one who does not move, but dances, enjoys the reception,” you would wonder if she had had too much to drink because moving is part of the definition of the word dances (Hawley, Guts of Grace, 124).

Faith is being persuaded or convinced that what God says is true. One of the things God says is that He gives eternal life to anyone who believe in Jesus for it. Because of all that God has done in history, through various forms of revelation, and by His Holy Spirit, people are able to believe in Jesus for eternal life.

Faith is not a work, but is the opposite of works, and as such, faith is in no way meritorious.

If you want to read more about Calvinism, check out other posts in this blog series: Words of Calvinism and the Word of God.

What it means to be Dead in Sin

By Jeremy Myers

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The Bible does teach that people are dead in sin, but this does not mean that unregenerate people can do nothing.

Understanding what it means to be “dead in sin” requires looking at what the Bible teaches about how God put human beings together and how sin has affected these various parts. The most common view among people from all theological perspectives is that each person consists of three parts: a body (or flesh), soul (or mind), and spirit. The area of disagreement centers on what happened to Adam and Eve (and all humans after them) when they sinned. There is also a big debate about whether or not sin is imputed to subsequent generations of humans, but we are not going to delve into that debate here.

Most Calvinists believe that when Adam and Eve sinned, their entire beings became completely corrupted and depraved. This is what they mean by “Total Depravity.” Whether Calvinists believe in three parts (body, soul, and spirit) or two (body and soul/spirit), they believe that every part in its entirety was affected by sin and became incapable of responding in any meaningful way to God. We will see in just a bit, however, that although this is what Calvinist’s teach, such an idea is impossible to apply biblically or evangelistically. Along with God, even Calvinists call upon unregenerate people to respond to God.

Is the Soul Dead?

One alternative view to Calvinism (which has been presented in previous posts) is that when Adam sinned, death came upon both the flesh and the spirit. The soul, which is the life of the person, is immortal and does not die. One cannot speak of “soulish death” any more than one can speak of “life death.” The two words are, by definition, logically incompatible and mutually exclusive.

So while we can say that since the soul operates through the body and the spirit and depends upon the proper functioning of the brain, the soul too was affected by sin, it is not theologically accurate to say that the soul is “dead” or “dying.” The soul is not “dead in sin” in the same way as the human body and human spirit.

Nevertheless, due to the deadness of the human body and human spirit, the soul is severely handicapped and limited in what it can do.

The Soul is Handicapped

The soul is where the will resides and as such, the soul (or mind) makes the decisions about what a person believes and how a person acts. It can choose to act through two realms or spheres: the fleshly sphere or the spiritual sphere. Due to spiritual deadness, or separation, the soul is unable to act through the human spirit.

The soul can, however, function through the body, but since death and corruption has also entered the body as a result of sin, everything the soul does through the body is tainted and depraved. As a result, the soul can do nothing but sin through the body. This does not mean that every action or behavior is as evil as it possibly can be, but rather, that everything a person does is polluted, stained, and corrupted by sin. Such actions, as good as they might be, have no merit or righteousness before God. On this, Calvinists are absolutely correct.

But to say that all works are tainted and blemished by sin is not the same thing as saying that people are unable to believe what God says about sin, righteousness, judgment, and the free offer of eternal life. Faith is not an act of the either the flesh or the spirit, but is something that happens within the mind (or soul). Faith, therefore, is not disabled by sin. The human soul can believe. Since faith is not a work, but is the opposite of works (Rom 4:5), the soul can respond to the revelation which it has received from God. And since God offers eternal life to any person who believes in Jesus for it, the soul of a person is able to believe in Jesus for eternal life.

The Soul Can Believe in Jesus

So while being “dead in sin” does mean that people are unable to obey God, reform their lives, or do anything meritorious regarding salvation, it does not mean that they cannot believe in Jesus for eternal life, for faith, being an aspect of the will which resides in the human soul, is the opposite of works and is the means by which humans received the free gift of eternal life from God.

Spiritual death in the Bible means fallen people are totally separated from God, not completely obliterated by Him. They lack spiritual life, but they’re still humans with all their God-given faculties. Isaiah put it this way: ‘Your iniquities have separated you from your God’ (59:2). In brief, it does not mean a total destruction of all ability to hear and respond to God but a complete separation of the whole person from God (Geisler, Chosen But Free, 63).

This is exactly what was seen earlier when it was suggested that the word “dead” is best understood in Scripture as referring to “separation.” Those who are dead in sin are not unable to act; they are simply separated from God, from each other, and from being whole human beings.

Furthermore, the Bible speaks frequently of what those who are dead in sin are able to do. Along with some of the sinful tendencies—such as walking in trespasses and sins, following the course of this world and the prince of the power of the air, living in the passions of the flesh, and carrying out the desires of the body and mind (Eph 2:2-3)—unbelievers can also do some positive things—such as act in accordance with their conscience, hear and respond to God (Gen 3:5-13), know the truth about God and understand his invisible attributes (Rom 1:18-20), repent of sins (Luke 15:18-19), seek God (John 3), fear God (Acts 10:2), and even pray to God (Acts 10:2).

None of these positive behaviors are meritorious, of course, but they are good actions which can be committed by unregenerate people, and some of these actions may even be used by God to bring the person to the place where they can believe in Jesus for eternal life.

What Must I Do to Receive Eternal Life?

Calvinists, of course, still want to say that if faith is something we “do” or is the human “response” to God’s free offer of eternal life, then humans are still contributing to their eternal life. They argue further that to be dead in sin means that humans cannot do anything to move themselves closer to God (which I agree with), including believe in God or God’s offer of eternal life.

I understand the concern, but if we remove “faith” as the proper response of humans to God’s offer of eternal life, what then are we left with when people ask, “What must I do to receive eternal life? In other words, since, according to Calvinists an unregenerate person cannot respond to God in any meaningful way, and cannot even believe in Jesus for eternal life, how then do Calvinists go about presenting the offer of eternal life to those who want to receive it?

Surprisingly, the Calvinist will often give people a whole host of good works to participate in, none of which involve belief! Calvinists typically do not call upon unbelievers to believe in Jesus for eternal life, for according to the Calvinistic teachings on total inability, the unregenerate person is unable to believe.

So instead, the Calvinists invites the unbeliever to wait upon God for the gift of faith, and as they wait, the unregenerate person is invited to participate in a wide variety of religious activities. William Shedd, for example, writes that since sinners cannot believe the gospel, they should engage in other religious activities while they wait for God to grant them the gift of faith. These spiritual activities include reading the Bible, giving serious application to the truth, and praying for the conviction and regeneration of the Holy Spirit (W. G. T. Shedd, Dogmatic Theology, Vol. II, pp. 472, 512, 513).

Calvinistic author J. I. Packer writes in the same vein:

And to the further question still “How am I to go about believing on Christ and repenting, if I have no natural ability to do these things?” it answers: look to Christ, speak to Christ, cry to Christ, just as you are; confess your sin, your impenitence, your unbelief, and cast yourself on His mercy; ask Him to give you a new heart, working in you true repentance and firm faith; ask Him to take away your evil heart of unbelief and to write His law within you, that you may never henceforth stray from Him. Turn to Him and trust Him as best you can, and pray for grace to turn and trust more thoroughly; use the means of grace expectantly, looking to Christ to draw near to you as you seek to draw near to Him; watch, pray, read, and hear God’s Word, worship and commune with God’s people, and so continue till you know in yourself beyond doubt that you are indeed a changed being, a penitent believer, and the new heart which you desired has been put within you (J. I. Packer, The Quest for Godliness, 144. A nearly identical statement is found in J. I. Packer, Introductory Essay to John Owen’s Death of Death in the Death of Christ).

So while the Calvinist criticizes the non-Calvinist for calling people to “contribute to their own salvation” by believing in Jesus for eternal life, they then turn around and tell people that if they want eternal life, they need to look to Christ, speak to Christ, cry out to Christ, confess their sin, cast themselves upon the mercy of Christ, ask Him to grant a new heart, true repentance, firm faith, pray for grace, read the Scripture, worship with God’s people, and continue in such actions and behaviors until God grants “the gift of faith”?

In such a scenario, who really has “contributed” to their salvation?

Is it the person who simply and only believes that Jesus has given them eternal life as an absolutely free and gracious gift? Or is it the person who engages in a whole host of spiritual and religious activities in the hopes of gaining the so-called “gift of faith”?

To put it another way, the Calvinist criticizes the non-Calvinist by saying, “If you can believe in Jesus, you are working for eternal life,” but meanwhile, in answer the question, “How can I receive eternal life?” the Calvinist answers, “I prayed, I pled, I read, I turned, I trusted, I repented, I confessed, I worshiped, and I continued in all these actions until God granted me the faith to believe.” Who truly is undermining the free gift of eternal life by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone?

I agree with Roy Aldrich who wrote:

A doctrine of total depravity that excludes the possibility of faith must also exclude the possibilities of ‘hearing the word,’ ‘giving serious application to divine truth,’ and ‘praying for the Holy Spirit for conviction and regeneration.’ The extreme Calvinist deals with a rather lively spiritual corpse after all (Roy L. Aldrich, July, 1965 issue of Bibliotheca Sacra “The Gift of God” 248–253).

How did Jesus invite people to receive eternal life?

Maybe the better question is to ask how Jesus invited people to receive the free gift of eternal life? The Gospel of John was written with the purpose of informing people how they might receive eternal life (John 20:31), and over and over in this Gospel, Jesus says that whosoever believes in Him has everlasting life (cf. John 3:16; 5:24; 6:47, etc.).

The same message is also found in the preaching and teaching of the Apostles in the Book of Acts, and throughout the Pauline Epistles and General Letters. Nowhere is any person ever told that in order to receive eternal life, they must pray, trust, wait, cry out, confess, worship, commune, and hope. Instead, the clear and consistent invitation is that whoever wants eternal life may receive it by believing in Jesus Christ for it.

Though people truly are “dead in sin,” this condition does not stop them or hinder them from believing in Jesus.

Quite to the contrary, believing in Jesus is the only proper response to hearing the gospel, and is the only response which an unregenerate person is able to have, and thankfully, is the only response which God looks for and desires. Those who are dead in sin cannot do anything to merit or earn eternal life, but they can believe in Jesus, which is the exact opposite of meritorious works, and which enables God to raise the person up so that they are no longer dead in sin, but alive in Jesus Christ.

If you want to read more about Calvinism, check out other posts in this blog series: Words of Calvinism and the Word of God.

Reconciling Mark Driscoll

This Video Taught me What It Means to Have “Faith Like a Child”

Regeneration Follows Faith

Faith is NOT a Work

God has taken the first step

Ongoing faith is also important

Doesn’t John 6:28-29 Teach that Faith is a Work?

The Bible Contrasts Faith and Works

What it means to be Dead in Sin

Is the Soul Dead?

The Soul is Handicapped

The Soul Can Believe in Jesus

What Must I Do to Receive Eternal Life?

How did Jesus invite people to receive eternal life?

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