They profess that they know God;
but in works they deny him,
being abominable,
and disobedient,
and unto every good work
reprobate.
Titus 1:16 KJV
I beseech thee for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten in my bonds.
Which in time past was to thee unprofitable, but now profitable to thee and to me:
Philemon 1:10-11 KJV
Reprobate. There's that word again. What does it really mean?
The calvinist, in his foolish imagination and childish picture thinking, would have us believe that God created most humans to be reprobate: worthless, useless, intrinsically evil. The biblical picture of creation always refers to the things that God creates as good (Genesis 1:4, 10, 12, etc.).
Maybe this will help...
Paul exhorts Timothy (2 Timothy 2:15) to study the scriptures in order to show God that he is not a reprobate; that he is, in fact, approved to be God's servant. The last thing that God needs are nitwits who cannot read (or, maybe worse, cannot understand what they read) saying ridiculous things about Him to people that trust in them. The approval process was put in place so that ignorant people who are captivated by nonsense (like calvinism...) would be disapproved and disqualified as servants to the church.
To be disqualified in one area does not mean that a person is completely useless to God. Paul writes to Philemon to explain to him how he has worked with Onesimus and brought him to the place where he accepted Jesus as savior and lord. Onesimus, once the useless servant of Philemon, has been made new by Jesus and is now available to bring goodness into the life of his master. They can bring goodness into the lives of one another.
Jesus is God. He is not portrayed in the gospels as pulling his clean white robes away from wretched, dirty sinners in order to remain clean. His cleanness (righteousness) is who He is, and cannot be sullied by human sinners. He is God and, as God, can take sin upon/into Himself in order to use that and other human raw material as the stuff from which He performs new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17-21). Do not be confused by reprobates who refuse to understand the clear meaning of God's word and make up foolish systems of thought to try to exclude sinners from contact with Holy God.
Sinners.
Come to Jesus.
Come to the Cross.
but in works they deny him,
being abominable,
and disobedient,
and unto every good work
reprobate.
Titus 1:16 KJV
I beseech thee for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten in my bonds.
Which in time past was to thee unprofitable, but now profitable to thee and to me:
Philemon 1:10-11 KJV
Reprobate. There's that word again. What does it really mean?
The calvinist, in his foolish imagination and childish picture thinking, would have us believe that God created most humans to be reprobate: worthless, useless, intrinsically evil. The biblical picture of creation always refers to the things that God creates as good (Genesis 1:4, 10, 12, etc.).
Maybe this will help...
Paul exhorts Timothy (2 Timothy 2:15) to study the scriptures in order to show God that he is not a reprobate; that he is, in fact, approved to be God's servant. The last thing that God needs are nitwits who cannot read (or, maybe worse, cannot understand what they read) saying ridiculous things about Him to people that trust in them. The approval process was put in place so that ignorant people who are captivated by nonsense (like calvinism...) would be disapproved and disqualified as servants to the church.
To be disqualified in one area does not mean that a person is completely useless to God. Paul writes to Philemon to explain to him how he has worked with Onesimus and brought him to the place where he accepted Jesus as savior and lord. Onesimus, once the useless servant of Philemon, has been made new by Jesus and is now available to bring goodness into the life of his master. They can bring goodness into the lives of one another.
Jesus is God. He is not portrayed in the gospels as pulling his clean white robes away from wretched, dirty sinners in order to remain clean. His cleanness (righteousness) is who He is, and cannot be sullied by human sinners. He is God and, as God, can take sin upon/into Himself in order to use that and other human raw material as the stuff from which He performs new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17-21). Do not be confused by reprobates who refuse to understand the clear meaning of God's word and make up foolish systems of thought to try to exclude sinners from contact with Holy God.
Sinners.
Come to Jesus.
Come to the Cross.
No comments:
Post a Comment