10Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment. 11For I have been informed concerning you, my brethren, by Chloe’s people, that there are quarrels among you. 12Now I mean this, that each one of you is saying, “I am of Paul,” and “I of Cephas,” and “I of Christ.” 13Has Christ been divided? Paul was not crucified for you, was he? Or were you baptised in the name of Paul?” (1 Cor 1:11-13 NASB)
This is a very heady and academic place in which I now live. It is no small thing, the amount of knowledge which daily pounds by me on the pavement as I trot along to my classes or jaunt off to Chapel. I am afforded with the chance to study under some of the greatest theological minds of my time, to interact with them on a daily basis. Why, just the other day, I shared a little laugh with D.A. Carson. At least, I think he was laughing with me...
But here’s this thing I pick up on all the time: people here get so attached to a particular doctrine, to a particular man’s teachings, or to a particular denominational understanding of Scripture and the workings of election and salvation that they seem to lose sight of what really happened as Christ was slaughtered on the Cross to atone for what we did.
Last week I was sitting in my Systematic Theology class, and we were hearing a lecture on gradation in degree of election through Supralapsarianism to Arminianism. The professor basically laid out a buffet of the four major different doctrinal differences outlining how God would/could have or could not have elected people in order that He would have either been the One who allowed sin to come into the world or to have kind of been more hands off about it and that it would have been more of a thing that men chose to do because God only elected a general “type” or subset of people to be saved rather than specific people. Whew! Are you gettin’ all of that?! Okay, if you aren’t, it’s totally okay. Trust me, spell check isn’t getting it either, ‘cause my little green “grammar police” lines are off the charts angry about that sentence. I mean, the lecture was a lot more in depth and probably easier to follow. I’m probably being intentionally vague because I just get so irritated with all of this whaxegesic mumbo-jumbo. I mean, I know there’s a place for it, and really, it’s why were here... at seminary... where people come to learn about these different historical treatises and what they’ve meant to the Church and to doctrine.
But after this little sub-lecture, a young man raises his hand and asks – and he’s very earnest – how he can use this to witness to people. He asks, if the Supralapsarian view is true, and God has predestined and pre-elected only a certain few, how can he truly witness to someone on the street and tell them that Jesus died for their sins when maybe Jesus didn’t die for their sins, maybe they aren’t one of the elect. He asks isn’t it better to follow maybe more of an Amyraldian or an Arminian point of view, because then he can tell people that Jesus really did die for their sins, but then what if those points of view aren’t really true, and the Infralapsarianism or the Supralapsarian point of view is right, then isn’t he doing the lost an injustice – why even try to save them at all?
So by now, I’m just busting at the seams to say something, because this guy doesn’t need a deeper explanation of the theological treatise. He’s probably had too much already. And maybe I should have just kept my big yap shut, but I couldn’t help it. So I said, in front of the whole class, that I tended to lean more toward the first two camps (those that favor election and predestination), but because I’m finite and cannot possibly grasp God’s eternal perspective of whom He has and hasn’t chosen to be a part of His Kingdom, I must treat everyone I meet as though they may at some time become my brother or sister in Christ. Even if they are not a member of the elect, I do not and cannot know this, and it is not my responsibility to try and discern it – God’s will for me is to evangelise, to share His love for them and His will that all should come to know Him and that none should perish.
So after the sound of crickets briefly filled the room, the professor once again launched into another theological explanation of the four doctrinal points of view on election, at which, this poor soul looked even more confused than he had before. I am now more resolved than ever to just keep my mouth shut in this class and get through it. I say again, that I know these factual tidbits are important, but can’t we help our young men and women out – the future leaders and teachers of our flock – by helping them to understand how this will relate to their ministry today?
Why does more knowledge just seem to confuse and harden so many of the young men and women that I see around here? How sad that makes me. How sad for them and how sad for Christ’s bride, the Church. Why can’t we seem to find a place where we can learn and worship and lead others to Truth without mucking up their new faith by scaring them with our own theological insecurities?
Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment. For I have been informed concerning you, my brethren, by people around campus, that there are quarrels among you. Now I mean this, that each one of you is saying, “I’m an Arminian,” and “I’m a Calvinist,” and “I’m a Charismatic,” and “I’m a Calviminian,” and, “I don’t even need the epistles or the Old Testament, because I just follow the Gospel of love that Christ preached.” Has Christ been divided? Calvin was not crucified for you, was he? Or were you baptised in the name of Arminius?
12 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... (Phil 2:12 – NASB)
So do it. Go and work out your own salvation. Figure out what it means to you. Struggle with it. Wrestle with God. But don’t you dare make those lost ones whom God has called you to evangelise bear the burden of what you don’t understand. Don’t you dare ask them to help you figure it out. Don’t you dare cause them to stumble. You work out your own salvation.
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