Posting
# 8
ONLY ONE BIBLE FOR ALL MANKIND
ONE
WRITTEN WORD
Although God entrusted his
written Word to the Church, to preserve and proclaim that Word, its
message "was preached among the nations, was believed on in the
world" (I Tim. 3: 15,16; Col. 1:23b).
"The Bible is
a missionary book. This means that in the Bible the Gentile peoples
are addressed in a direct and straightforward way. This is the mystery
of the Bible, its twofold character. It is a book for the Church, a
book that can only be understood by the Church; and it is at the same
time a book for the world, a book in which the world is called to believe
in Jesus Christ. In the Bible God is wrestling with the world, persuading,
reproving, admonishing, beseeching the various people of the world to
accept the truth and to be reconciled to God" (J. H. Bavinck,
The Impact of Christianity on the Non-Christian World, Eerdmans,
1948, P. 139).
The Bible is the one
and only inspired record that reveals the counsel of God concerning
the redemption of mankind. The promise of the gospel, together with
the command to repent and believe, ought to be declared and published
to all nations and to all persons promiscuously and without distinction.
There is solid theological ground for translating the Bible into as
many languages and dialects as possible.
THE
SAME DEMANDS REQUIRED OF ALL PERSONS
God, the only Savior,
calls out "Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth;
for I am God and there is no other" (Isa. 45:22). The assignment
given us is to "make disciples (students) of all nations . . .
teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you" (Matt. 28:19,20).
"Everything I
have commanded you" would certainly include the Sermon on the Mount.
In the Sermon on the Mount we are not told, "Live like this and
you will become Christian." The message is, "Because
you are Christian live like this." All the other appeals to ethical
conduct in every New Testament epistle are based on this same assumption,
namely, that the reader or hearer has a new standing with God in Christ.
The reader is not told that his or her "ethical conduct" will
bring them to "a new standing with God in Christ."
PRESUMED
TO BE
What is required, expected,
commanded of those who read the Bible, or have the gospel proclaimed
to them, is based on what they are presumed to be in Christ. "Let
not sin reign in your mortal bodies" (to do) because "you
are not under law but under grace" (presumed to be) (Rom. 6:12,
14). The readers and hearers are not to live according to the sinful
nature (to do) because "you received the Spirit of sonship"
(assumed to be) (Rom. 8:15). They must "put off falsehood and speak
truthfully to his neighbor" (to do) because "we are all members
of one body" (presumed to be) (Phil. 4:25). "Set your minds
on things above" (to do) because "your life is now hidden
with Christ in God" (presumed to be) (Col. 3:2, 3) etc.
These appeals to ethical
conduct are summed up in the familiar trio--repent, believe and obey.
These calls to new obedience can be called "gospel demands"
because they are inseparable from the proclamation of the "good
news." These "gospel demands" assume that the one who
reads or hears is a new creature in Christ.
"BE
RECONCILED TO GOD"
The various people
of the world are entreated to accept the truth and to "Be reconciled
to God" (2 Cor. 5: 18-20). They are not told "Reconcile yourself
to God." The command is passive because, according to verses 18
and 19, there is no human contribution to this reconciliation. "All
this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ"
(Vs. 18). "God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ,
not counting men's sins against them" (Vs. 19).
"The message of reconciliation" (Vs. 19) is an announcement,
a declaration or a proclamation of something that God has done through
Christ 2,000 years ago (Objective Salvation, Posting # 7). It is not
a promise of something God will do if and when one believes.
There is nothing sinners
can do in order to move God to "not count their sins against them."
That would be righteousness gained by obedience to the law. To
"Be reconciled to God" the sinner must accept (not be indifferent
to, or reject) the good news that God does not count his or her sins
against them.
On the one hand, the demand
"Be reconciled to God" ( 2 Cor. 5:20) can be made only of
those who are presumed to have been reconciled to God. On the other
hand, this demand is to be made of every person in every nation.
THE
IMPERATIVE (TO DO) IS INSEPARABLE FROM THE INDICATIVE (ASSUMED TO BE)
The crucial importance of
the fact that the imperative (to do) is based on the indicative (assumed
to be) is demonstrated in this analogy: "To say to the slave, who
has not been emancipated, 'Do not behave as a slave' is to mock his
enslavement. But to say the same to the slave who has been set free
is the necessary appeal to put into effect the privileges and rights
of his liberation" (Dr. John Murray, Romans, Eerdmans,
1959, P. 227).
The New Testament writers
assume that their readers are no longer slaves of sin. The readers and
hearers of the gospel are presumed to have been set free from the power
of sin. Therefore they are commanded to put into effect the privileges
and rights of those who belong to Christ.
THREE
POSSIBILITIES
How are the gospel
demands (repent, believe, obey, be reconciled to God etc.) related to
those who read the Scriptures or have the good news proclaimed to them?
There are three possibilities:
Possibility # 1 — These demands are imposed
only upon a limited number of persons, that is, those assumed to be
new creations in Christ. These demands are not placed on the rest of
humanity.
This cannot be the
answer. God requires these things of everyone who reads the Bible or
hears its message. "Let not sin reign in your mortal bodies"
is God's will for everyone. No one may live according to his or her
sinful nature. Everyone must "put off falsehood and speak truthfully
to his neighbor." Everyone confronted with the Word of God is required
to "Set [their] mind on things above." We may demand of everyone,
"Be reconciled to God" (2 Cor. 5:20). Gospel demands
are not limited to certain individuals: "But now he commands all
people everywhere to repent" (Acts 17:30). "We proclaim him,
admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present
everyone perfect in Christ" (Col. 1:28).
Possibility # 2 — The same demands and
requirements are made of all persons. For a limited number of
persons these demands are based on their presumed new standing in Christ.
The same obedience is required of all other persons on some other basis
— perhaps on the basis of their creation in the image of God.
This is not the answer
for two reasons. First of all, it is impossible to demonstrate from
the Bible that there is one basis for making these demands of some people
and a different basis for some others. Secondly, no other basis (other
than their presumed new standing in Christ) is adequate to serve as
a basis for these demands.
Possibility # 3 — All these demands are
addressed to all persons and find their validity and appeal on the presumed
new standing that all persons are in Christ.
The premise of Biblical Universalism that — All persons are elect
in Christ except those who the Bible declares will be finally lost —
(See note below.) provides the biblical warrant for this third possibility.
We may and must assume that everyone we approach with the gospel has
a new standing with God in Christ unless or until we have decisive evidence
to the contrary. Such evidence to the contrary will not be given
us until "the last day" (Posting # 4).
I am not aware of any fourth possibility. If there is some possibility,
other than the three listed above, I would be very interested in hearing
about it.
DUAL
PURPOSE OF GOSPEL DEMANDS
We must point out that
the gospel demands serve a two-fold purpose. They are intended to bring
to expression and maturity the new life that is presumed to be in those
to whom we bring the gospel (the good news of their new standing in
Christ). It is also true that those who willfully and finally reject
or remain indifferent to this gospel will receive a more severe judgment
(Heb. 10: 26, 29). If what is demanded never takes place, then,
and only then (on the day of judgment), will we know that this particular
person was one of the exceptions allowed for in our premise (Posting
#3).
The Scriptures do not
tell us why anyone would want to disobey God's will for them or, for
that matter, even how anyone can do so. The Bible speaks of this life-long,
self-destructive unbelief and sin as "the secret power of lawlessness"
(2 Th. 2:7). The issue of God's sovereignty and man's responsibility
remains unresolved.
AN
UNAVOIDABLE ASSUMPTION
The reality is that it is only
on the basis of an assumption that we can ever convey the gospel
demands (e.g. "Be reconciled to God."), announcements (e.g.
"Christ died for you"), or promises (e.g. "He will never
leave you nor forsake you.") to any specific person or group of
persons (See Posting #10, "The Message of Missions").
There are those who strongly contend
that gospel demands, announcements and promises can not be made to any
specific individual or group of persons on the basis of an assumption.
They say that person-specific demands, announcements and promises can
only be made on the basis of universalism (they would apply
to every person without exception) or on the basis of a certainty that
this particular person or group has a new standing with God in Christ.
UNIVERSALISM
AND ABSOLUTE CERTAINTY NOT AVAILABLE TO US
On the basis of the
Scriptures we rule out Universalism (Posting # 4). We then need
evidence that this particular person or group is necessarily included
in God's work of reconciliation before we can say to them "Christ
died for you" or "Be reconciled to God."
What kind of certainty,
evidence, would we need? A confession of faith in Christ together with
a lifestyle that appears to be consistent with that confession would
not be sufficient. This evidence assumes that the person is making a
truthful confession because there are false professors of Christ living
apparently godly lives. In this way we substitute a biblically
warranted assumption (See Note below) with an assumption of our own
making. We cannot judge anyone's heart.
The evidence we would
need is some objective, absolute, verifiable proof or certainty that
this particular person or group actually is among those who have been
reconciled to God through Christ. This kind of "proof" is
never available to us, not even for professing Christians who are closest
and dearest to us.
A
BIBLICALLY WARRANTED ASSUMPTION
That we are not so
limited in saying "Christ died for you," or "Be reconciled
to God" is evident from such passages as 1 Corinthians 15:3: "For
what I received I passed on to you as of first importance; that Christ
died for our sins according to the Scriptures." Paul based this
on neither "universalism" nor on some absolute irrefutable
evidence gained from those to whom he declared it. Paul explained that
he "passed on to" them the "message of reconciliation"
("Christ died for our sins") that he had "received"
long before he met the citizens of Corinth (2 Cor. 5:19).
What must be exhorted,
entreated, demanded is an appropriate response to the good news of what
God has already done for the person or persons to whom we present the
gospel — "that Christ died for our sins." The gospel
is not a prescription, a suggestion, a proposal that says —
If you repent, believe and obey then Christ will save, redeem, die for
you. The gospel is the good news that — Christ has redeemed, saved,
died for you, therefore you must repent, believe and live in joyful
obedience.
This "good news"
can be declared and published to all nations and to all persons promiscuously
and without distinction only on the assumption that all those to whom
the gospel comes have been reconciled to God through Christ. That is,
the assumption of Biblical Universalism.
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NOTE:
EVANGELICL INCLUSIVISM is the teaching that all persons are elect in
Christ except those who the Bible expressly declares will be finally
lost, namely, those who ultimately reject or remain indifferent to whatever
revelation God has given of himself to them whether in nature/conscience
or in gospel presentation.
Evangelical
Inclusivism is based upon these three biblical facts:
1) The so-called "universalistic" texts speak of a certain-to-be-realized
salvation as Calvinist have consistently maintained and they do so in
terms of all persons as Arminians have always affirmed (Posting No.
2).
2) We must accept the so-called "universalistic" texts as
written. We may allow only those exceptions that are necessarily imposed
upon these passages from the broader context of the Scriptures as a
whole (Posting No. 3).
3) All persons, except Jesus Christ, are liable for and polluted by
the imputed sin of Adam (original sin). However, the Scriptures do not
teach or imply that anyone is consigned to eternal damnation solely
on the basis of their sin in Adam APART FROM actual, willful and persistent
sin on the part of the person so consigned (Posting No. 4).
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