The following is an adaptation of a response to further questions about my
letter in the South Burnett Times 14/1/05 re Pat Graham's "Tsunami Theories".
It was not easy to answer Mrs Graham's various points and questions in a
letter brief enough to be printed in full in the Letters Column. By the
grace of God, my letter was printed in full, however, I realize that because
of its brevity alone, it could not possibly satisfy all readers. You might
be aware also that even the Lord Jesus Himself was hated and accused because
He dared to tell the truth to His generation. He said the people were like
children playing games, who, no matter what tune God played for them, they
wouldn't dance to it. Without a doubt the hardest tune for them to dance to
was the one of sovereign election. In John 6:65-66 we read, "Therefore said
I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of
my Father. From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no
more with him." This is almost a proof-text that the doctrine of sovereign
election is the hardest to swallow. In fact it is so hard to swallow that
even many who are claimed to be the greatest advocates of the doctrine
today, actually hedge around it and make some sort of compromise, but the
scriptures will not allow us to hold two doctrines which contradict each
other.
It is said by some that some vessels are for honour and some for dishonour.
I presume that by that is meant exactly as I was saying, and exactly as the
scripture I referred to says (Romans 9) - i.e. that the inspired apostle
declared that the only answer to our discomfort, disapproval, or
disagreement with this doctrine is that God is the Potter and we are the
clay, and that we have no right to question what is clearly revealed in
Scripture to be God's will viz. that of all condemned and guilty sinners,
alike born in sin, He has every right to choose to redeem some and to leave
the rest to a just punishment. See Romans 9:18-23.
There is no escaping this doctrine if we are prepared to use Scripture as
the only authority. The difficulty is very real however, and
understandable, when we consider that for centuries, many false teachers
have denied the doctrine of sovereign election. (This is not to say that
all false teachers on this point are false teachers on every point, or that
they are all necessarily unsaved.) What most believers today fail to realize
is that the conclusions they draw from reading Scripture are strongly
weighted by the prevailing false doctrines, which of course, are not
generally thought of as false because they are so common. What is very
interesting here is that at the time of the Reformation and for a few
centuries following, practically all the Churches held the doctrine of
sovereign election. This can be proved beyond doubt by reading the
Confessions of the Presbyterians, Lutherans, Congregationalists, Baptists,
Church of England. All agree on that point. This is why the five doctrines
of grace, with the theme of sovereign election central to them all, are
spoken of as "Reformed Doctrine". They are, generally speaking, the
doctrines of all the "Reformed" Churches. The false doctrine of "free will"
(i.e. man's electing himself by his own choice rather than God choosing His
elect people in Christ before the foundation of the world.) has prevailed so
widely in modern times that most Christians are completely unaware of this.
I know how difficult it is to come to a position of complete consistency on
these doctrines because for many years I was myself under the influence of
"free will" teachers.
This brings me to your next point, where you say "God so loved the world ."
(John 3:16). The simple answer to this dilemma is that it is impossible for
God to love everybody in the world and, at the same time, hate anybody in
the world. Yet the Scripture plainly says, "Jacob have I loved but Esau
have I hated." (Romans 9:13) Let us not forget that the "love" spoken of in
John 3:16 and Romans 9:13 is redeeming love, a love that pertains to the
saving of souls and the granting freely of eternal life to sinners. It
cannot be brushed aside as some vague kind of love that doesn't amount to
salvation. No, the text excludes that possibility, for it is speaking of
redemption itself. Since this verse speaks of God's intention to redeem and
save souls through the blood of Christ, the conclusions to this are
inescapable;
Either God loved all and set about saving all, (which He clearly failed to
do),or,
The "world" spoken of here is not meant to include every soul in the world.
Of course the second proposition is the only one that agrees with all other
Scriptures. God's plan of redemption is a plan that encompasses all
creation, and in particular at the time of Christ, the emphasis was on the
salvation of God being revealed to all nations, not just to Jews, hence all
creation in the broadest sense also (including the physical world, plants,
and animals), but excluding what He calls the "wicked" and "unbelieving" who
will be cast into the lake of fire (not as broad as some would have it).
Again, at this point, many take an irrational step and assume that not all
unbelievers are really wicked. This is a great mistake and it is a doctrine
that bears no resemblance to the doctrines of Christ. John 3 and many other
Scriptures teach us that all men are already under the condemnation of God
and will perish if they do not repent i.e. if they are not born of God and
converted. Jesus said, "You must be born again." Paul teaches in Romans 5
& 1 Corinthians 15 that we all die in Adam and only those who are in Christ
are made alive eternally. Jesus makes it plain that the flood which
destroyed all the world except the house of Noah, and the fire and brimstone
that destroyed all Sodom and Gomorrah except Lot and his two daughters, are
special tokens of what the final judgment will be like i.e. only the chosen
and redeemed escape the judgment due to them-Why? - Because they are "in
Christ!" Not because they are any better than the rest! Not because of any
other reason than that God sovereignly chose to love them eternally.
Outside of Christ they would have been, of themselves, as unlovable as the
rest.
The first mistake of "free-willers" is to presume that God owes them
something or that there is some good in them! When I speak this way, people
think I am unloving and unkind. What makes them think that? Because they
presume they are either good enough, or almost good enough, for the kingdom
of heaven. At best these people believe that God owes them a choice or a
chance. God owes them nothing! The plain fact is their chance and choice
was made by Adam long ago. And if that seems hard to believe then they need
go no further than to compare themselves with the Ten Commandments to see
they are sinners by their own deeds and have already come short of the glory
of God. So, you see, they can blame me for "judging" as much as they like,
but it is a false accusation, for it is God Himself who has already judged
them, and it is written in His Word for all to see! The preacher, if he is
faithful, will only declare what God has said.
There are those who would concede all this and still say, Yes, but God still
loves the world, God loves sinners but hates the sin. They simply refuse to
accept Scripture as the only rule, because Scripture simply does not say
these things. Show me even one Scripture that even hints that God loves
sinners but hates their sin. That is just a sales-pitch used by some
preacher and is re-used by every Tom, Dick, and Harry, as if it was
Scripture! They willfully ignore the Scripture which says, "God is angry
with the wicked every day", and others like it. And no doubt, if they ever
do consider that Scripture, they pass it off as applying to somebody else.
They do not see that they, themselves are wicked to the core, even if they
are converted and believing in Christ. How different they are from the
great apostle, Paul, who said, "In my flesh dwelleth no good thing.."
(Romans 7)! This generation has been fed slops for Gospel. It is a wicked,
unbelieving, pleasure-seeking, self-sufficient, smug, Sodom of a generation!
The most sanctified of them maintain that God owes sinners a chance. He
owes us nothing! What any of us have is by His grace alone. Such religious
slops makes a mere do-gooder out of Christ our Saviour, Who suffered the
very wrath of God unjustly so that He might justify His elect. He is a
Saviour beyond our wildest dreams, beyond what words can describe, because
He is the Saviour of hell-deserving sinners such as you and I are. There is
power in His blood because by it He literally redeemed, purchased eternally,
every soul for whom He died, "For by one offering he hath perfected for ever
them that are sanctified". (Hebrews 10:14)
It is said also that sinners need hope, and agree with. But the Word of God
does not plead with sinners the way this present generation does, promising
everything if they will only come to Christ, as if they are doing Him a
favour by coming to Him. The true prophets of the Scriptures made a bold
declaration of the Lordship of Christ, Who is Creator, Law-giver, Redeemer,
and Judge of all the world; they commanded that men must repent and turn to
God if they would be saved. They set forth Christ in all His glory as the
Stone they must either be broken upon or ground to powder by (Matthew
21:44). They had human compassion as we all should have, but they were
under no delusions as to what God's righteous judgments were about. I admit
they did urge sinners to be saved, but then, if you take another look at my
very brief and very ordinary letter, you will find that I did also, ". Dear
readers, we must look to Jesus alone for eternal safety from the wrath of
God."
It has been said that my statement was "dangerous and unscriptural", but
where is the danger, and where is the Scripture which addresses this point?
How can the Truth be dangerous? How can a clear warning of disaster be
dangerous to the hearers, just because it isn't cocooned in great wads of
flattery and lies? (Something that even the Churches today are far too
familiar with!) The scriptures teach the opposite of this. In fact, it is
a contradiction to on one hand, admit the Truth, that God condemns and God
chooses and saves, and on the other hand, to say he loves everybody alike.
This particular contradiction is common among theologians today, but they
fly in the face of the Scriptures, and I will choose the Scriptures before
the theologians! "Let God be true, and every man a liar!" I bear no
malice or resentment towards those who I have misrepresented the Scriptures
and the Lord Who died for me, but they have misrepresented both, and have
also misjudged me by denying the very things I have said. They might be
surprised if they just take the time to go back and read my first letter
again and look up the Scripture references I made, that it really does all
tie together, and neither does it exclude the love of God, although,
admittedly, it was addressed primarily to the specific questions asked.
Finally, What do the critics think it really takes to save sinners? Do they
think they will all respond if only we are kind enough, if only we preach
enough love, if we tell them Jesus loves them (even if they ultimately go to
hell for their sins and He takes vengeance on them?) Will they respond if
we just hold enough prayer meetings, if we just keep telling them Jesus is
coming back? What if we heal the sick and raise the dead as some are trying
to do (and failing)? The Master Himself said that the brothers of the rich
man in hell had Moses and the Prophets, and if they would not hear them,
neither would they believe, even if Lazarus rose from the dead. (Luke
16:19-31) Don't be fooled by the trends of our times. We have the
Scriptures too, and they are more than enough. The gospel of Christ is
still "the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth." But I
fail to see one example of the gospel of Christ in the Scriptures, which
says, Jesus loves you!, to the sinner. The wisest, kindest, most caring,
most wonderful Man, the greatest of prophets, the greatest miracle worker of
all time and eternity came with a message of pardon and grace. How many did
He convince? He convinced all of sin and of righteousness and of judgment.
How many did he save? Only those the Father gave Him (John 6:37). And of
those He lost not one. (John 17). "He came to His own and His own received
Him not". (i.e. not to His own elect, but to His own Jewish kin - His own
elect did hear and receive Him. His own sheep did hear His voice.). (John 1
& John 10). How many were saved when the apostles preached? They were
second to none as faithful preachers of the gospel but only "as many as were
ordained to eternal life believed." (Acts 13:48).
We must pray for God's mercy to intervene on this generation, because if
ever a generation deserved the wrath of God, and if ever a generation needed
the mercy of God, this one does. We must also preach God's Truth, for that
is His appointed means of gathering His elect from the four winds. You and
I cannot make a single hair of our heads white or black. We cannot save one
sinner. Christ alone must save. It is His sovereign work, but if we are
faithful, our labours are not in vain in the Lord. But God forbid that I
should follow the example of many in this modern world by breaking down
God's Truth to make it more acceptable to carnal, compromising men. God
forbid that I should apologise for God's eternal Truth when so few are
faithfully upholding it! Noah's preaching saved nobody but his own family.
Yet, by faithful and accurate preaching, it saved as many as God gave him,
as many as were ordained to eternal life in his day. We cannot hope to be
better than Noah or better than Christ! If we are only faithful, we will be
as successful as they were, for the true sheep still hear the voice of the
Good Shepherd. Those who cannot hear, cannot hear because they are not His
sheep (John 10). Amen and Amen!
I trust that the readers find these things helpful in their search for truth
and understanding. God's Word is truth, and by Scripture Alone we can have
true understanding.
Sincerely yours in Christ's service,
Trevor Sullivan.