Revelation -Special Revelation

3. Special Revelation.

 

addition to the revelation of God in nature we have His special  revelation which is now embodied in Scripture. The Bible is per-eminently the book of God's special revelation, a revelation in which facts and words go hand in hand, the words interpreting the facts and the facts giving substance to the words.

 

God chose men to write his Word.

a. Necessity of special revelation.

This special revelation became necessary through the entrance of sin into the world. God's handwriting in nature was obscured and corrupted, and man was stricken with spiritual blindness, became subject to error and unbelief, and now in his blindness and perverseness fails to read aright even the remaining traces of the original revelation, and is unable to understand any further revelation of God. Therefore  it became necessary that God should re-interpret the truths of nature, should provide a new revelation of redemption, and should illumine the mind of man and redeem it from the power of error.

b. Means of special revelation.

In giving His special or super-natural revelation God used different kinds of means, such as (1) Theophanies or visible manifestations of God. He revealed His presence in fire and clouds of smoke, Exodus 3:2; 33:9; Psalms 78:14; 99:7; in stormy winds, Job 38:1; Psalms 18:10-16; and in a "still small voice," 1 Kings 19:12. These were all tokens of His presence, revealing something of His glory. Among the Old Testament appearances those of the Angel of Jehovah, the second Person of the Trinity, occupied a prominent place, Genesis 16:13; 31:11; Exodus 23:20-23; Malachi 3:1. The highest point of the personal appearance of God among men was reached in the incarnation of Jesus Christ. In Him the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us, John 1:14.

 

(2) Direct communications. Sometimes God spoke to men in an audible voice, as He did to Moses and the children of Israel, Deuteronomy 5:4, and sometimes He suggested His messages to the prophets by an internal operation of the Holy Spirit,  1 Peter 1:11. Moreover, He revealed Himself in dreams and visions, and by means of Urim and Thunnim, Numbers 12:6; 27:21; Isaiah 6. And in the New Testament Christ appears as the great Teacher sent from God to reveal the Gather's will; and through His Spirit the apostles become the organs of further revelations, John 14:26; 1 Corinthians 2:12-13; 1 Thessalonians 2:13.

 

(3) Miracles. The miracles of the Bible should never be regarded as mere marvels which fill men with amazement, but as essential parts of God's special revelation. They are manifestations of the special power of God, tokens of His special presence, and often serve to symbolize spiritual truths. They are signs of the coming Kingdom of God and of the redemptive power of God. The greatest miracle of all is thecoming of the Son of God in the flesh. In Him the whole creation of God is being restored and brought back to its original beauty, 1 Timothy 3:16; Revelation 21:5.

c.The character of special revelation.

This special revelation of God is a revelation of redemption. It reveals the plan of God for the redemption of sinners and of the world, and the way in which this plan is realized. It is instrumental in renewing man; it illumines his mind and inclines his will to that which is good; it fills him with holy affections, and prepares him for his heavenly home. Not only acquaints us with redemptive facts. It not only enriches us with knowledge, but also transforms lives by changing sinners into of redemption appear but dimly at first, but gradually increase in clearness, and finally stand out in the New Testament in all their fullness and beauty.

More Scripture Reference: Special Revelation.

Numbers 12:6-8; Hebrew 1:1; 2 Peter 1:21.

....................................................................

Typing Paragraph by : Sin Keu

Source: Christian Doctrine (Louis Berkhof)

 

Revelation -General Revelation

1. Revelation in General.

 

The discussion of religion naturally  leads on to that of revelation as its origin. If God had not revealed Himself, religion would have been impossible. Man could not possibly have had any knowledge of God, if God had not made Himself known. Left to himself, he would never have discovered God. We distinguish between God's revelation in nature and His revelation in Scripture.

 

Nature Show the existence of God

Atheists and Agnostics, of course, do not believer in revelation. Pantheists sometimes speak of it , though there is really no place for it in their system of thought. And Deists admit the revelation of God in nature, but deny the necessity, the reality, and even the possibility of any special revelation such as we have in Scripture. We believe in both general and special revelation.

2. General Revelation.

 

The general revelation of God is prior to His special revelation in point of time. It does not come to man in the form of verbal communications, but in the facts, the forces, and the laws of nature, in the constitution and operation of the human mind, and in the facts of experience and history. The Bible refers to it in such passages as Psalms 19:1-2; Romans 1:19-20; Romans 2:14-15.

a. Insufficiency of general revelation.

While Pelagians, Rationalists, and Deists regard this revelation as adequate for our present needs, Roman Catholics and Protestants are agreed that it is not sufficient. It was obscured by blight of sin resting on God's beautiful creation. The handwriting of the Creator was not entirely erased, but became hazy reliable knowledge of God and spiritual things, and therefore does not furnish us a trustworthy foundation on which we can build for our eternal future. The present religious confusion of those who would base their religion on a purely natural basis clearly proves its insufficiency. It does not even afford an adequate basis for religion in general, much less for true religion. Even Gentile nations appeal to some supposed special revelation. While it conveys some knowledge of the goodness, the wisdom, and the power of God, it conveys no knowledge whatever of Christ as the only way of salvation.

b. value of general revelation.

This does not mean, however, that general revelation has no value at all. It accounts for the true elements that are still found in heathen religions. Due to this revelation Gentiles feel themselves to be the offspring of God, Acts 17:28, seek after God if haply they might find Him, Acts 17:27, see in nature God's everlasting power and divinity, Romans 1:19-20, and do by nature the things of the law, Roman 2:14. Though they live in the darkness of sin and ignorance, and pervert the truth of God, they still share in illumination of the Word, John 1:9, and in the general operations of the Holy Spirit, Genesis 6:3. Moreover, the general revelation of God also forms the background for His special revelation. Science and history do not fail to illumine the pages of the Bible.

More Scripture Reference. General Revelaion.

Psalms 8:1; Romans 1:20; Romans 2:14-15.

..................................................................

Typing Paragraph by : Sin Keu

Source: Christian Doctrine (Louis Berkhof)

What is Calvinism? - Brief History

What is Calvinism?

As a Presbyterian Church member, you must know about Calvinism. What is Calvinism? Calvinism is a denomination of Protestantism in Presbyterian Church that adheres to the theological traditions and teachings of John Calvin and other preachers of the Reformation-era. Calvinism theological belief is about  how God saves people, predestination and election of salvation, among others.

 

 

How did Calvinism start?

Calvinism began with the Protestant Reformation in Switzerland where Huldrych Zwingli originally taught what became the first version of the Reformed doctrine in Zurich in 1519. John Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion was one of the most influential theologies of the Reformation-era. Calvin's writings impressed Guillaume Farel, the Reformer of Genevan reform. Geneva was to be Calvin's home until he died in 1564. Calvin did not live to see the foundation of his work grow into an international movement; but his death allowed his ideas to break out of their cry of origin, to succeed far beyond their border, and to establish their own distinct character.

What did John Calvin believe?

John Calvin believed that salvation is only possible through the grace of God. Even before creation, God has chosen some people to be saved. Calvin said it was clearly taught in the Bible.

For Calvin, God was above all else -- Sovereign. Like all the Reformers, he hated the way Roman Catholicism had degenerated into a religion of salvation-by-works. So Calvin's constantly repeated theme was this: You cannot manipulate God, nor put Him in your debt. If you are saved, it is his doing, not your own.

He believed God alone knows who is elected (saved) and who isn't. But, Calvin said, a moral life shows that a person is (probably) one of the elected. Calvin himself was intensely moral and energetic, and he impressed on others the need to work out their salvation -not to be saved but to show they are saved.This emphasis on doing, on acting to transform a sinful world, became one of the chief characteristics of Calvinism.

In emphasizing God's sovereignty, Calvin's Institute lead the reader to believe that no person-king, bishop, or anyone else can demand our ultimate loyalty. Calvin never taught explicitly that men have a "right" to revolution, but it is implied. In this sense, his works are amazingly "modern."

Read more about: What are the five points of Calvinism or TULIP?

                            Who is John Calvin?

 

The Five Points of Calvinism -TULIP

As a Presbyterian Church member, you must know about the belief and teaching of Calvinism. Calvinists can be delineated by the five cardinal doctrines, that happen to be easily remembered by the acronym TULIP. It stands for (T) total depravity, (U) unconditional election, (L) limited atonement, (I) irresistible grace and (P) perseverance of the saints. Calvinists, of course, must remember these five cardinal doctrines. Let’s take them one by one.

The Five Points of Calvinism or (TULIP)

---

T - Total Depravity

That means simply MAN is DEAD. The Bible says that you and I are dead in trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1-6) unless we are born again. DEAD! More than that, the man or woman who is dead in sin hates God, and his "carnal mind" is "enmity against God" (Romans 8:7). His will is stubbornly steeled against God. This Biblical idea changes a lot of modern talk about salvation.

Consider what that means:

1. Can a man do good works then, if he is not a Christian who is born again? No. "Whatsoever is not of faith is sin" (Romans 14:23).
2. Can a man want to be born again and follow instructions on "how to do it?" No, for that would be like saying that a man in a grave can desire to come out of the grave, or follow instructions on how to be made alive. It would be like trying to lure him out of the grave. "It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing" (John 6:63).
3. Can any man "accept Christ" as his personal Savior, so that he becomes saved after that? Of course not. Accepting Christ is a good work done only by a Christian. Only AFTER God makes a person alive, can he and will he accept Christ. "No man can come unto me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day" (John 6:44).
4. Can you "offer salvation" to anyone? That is surely impossible. One might as well offer food to a dead man than salvation to a dead sinner (Ephesians 2:1-2).

Only God can make us alive. And God does that by his sovereignty -without our aid, without our asking. From beginning to end, "Salvation is of the Lord" (Jonah 2:9). This is the faith that we preach, because it is Biblical, because it is the FAITH which we gives God all the glory! (Soli Deo Gloria).

---

U - Unconditional Election

This means simply: God chooses to give some people eternal life, without looking for anything good in them as a condition for loving and saving them.

Before any man or woman is born -- in fact, before the world was made -- God decided who would go to heaven and who would not. Before they did good or bad, God chose some to be His people and rejected others.

"CONDITIONAL election" would mean that God chooses to be His those who first love and choose Him. But the Bible says: "You have not chosen me, I have chosen you" John 15:16. (Please also look at Romans 9:11-21.) Acts 13:48 says that "as many as were ordained to eternal life believed." Only, when we speak this language is the horse placed before the cart. CONDITIONAL election puts the cart before the horse, because it says that man believes and THEN is ordained to eternal life. Read carefully John 10:26 for another plain "horse before the cart" passage. Can one imagine what the denial of this doctrine would mean? If we remember that before we are saved, we can do nothing good (John 15:5; Ephesians 2:1-6), the only conclusion is that we could never choose God. And never would. And never would be saved.

But God is sovereign and chooses whom He will choose. And after He chooses us, we choose Him daily. All we are and all we have is given us by God. Again, this is the faith that we preach, because it is Biblical, because it is the faith  that gives God all the glory! (Soli Deo Gloria).

---

L - Limited Atonement

The great gospel message that so many today are urgently carrying to distant lands is that Christ made atonement with His death. But there are two critical points at which this message is so severely distorted that it no longer carries the gospel message.

THE FIRST DISTORTION concerns what Christ's death did. The Biblical truth of the Atonement is that His death paid for sins. Yet so many today teach that Christ's death was only an example for us to follow, and if one merely follows His example he will be saved. Or it is taught that Christ's death did not actually pay for any specific sins, but made it possible for all sins to be paid for.

But the Bible says that Christ's death on the cross actually paid for sins. Acts 20:28 says that God bought the church with His own blood. See also Matthew 26:28, Hebrews 7:26-27.

THE SECOND DISTORTION of this biblical truth is that Christ died for all men. Some teach that Christ made it possible for all men to be saved. But the questions that must be asked are: "If Christ died for all men, why are not all men saved?" "Can not God do what He desires to do?" "Is there something defective in Christ's death?" "Must man desire to be saved first?" But a man who is totally depraved can never will to be saved. He hates God and wants nothing to do with Christ's death. So it must not be said that Christ died for all men.

The Bible says that Christ laid down His life for His sheep, and only them John 10:11. The ATONEMENT is LIMITED to the elect of God. Every sin of every one of Christ's sheep is paid for. Those sins and those alone have been paid for. That is the only gospel because that is the Bible. (Soli Deo Gloria).

---

I - Irresistible Grace

The fourth Biblical truth in the five points of Calvinism teaches that God's grace to save a person cannot be resisted. Grace is God's free and unmerited power to save a person from his sins which would otherwise lead us to hell. Grace brings him to heaven who naturally would end in eternal hell.

That grace is irresistible. That means that if God gives grace to you, there is nothing in the world that you can do to resist it and thwart God's intention to take you to heaven. The certainty of salvation for God's elect is seen in John 6:37 where Jesus says: "All that the Father hath given me shall come to me..." There is no doubt that they will be saved. Verse 44 says that those who come to God come because God draws them. Not our will, but God's will is first and powerful.

Now, some ridicule this truth of the Bible and say that it makes man go to heaven against his will. "He kicks and screams all the way to heaven." But that is not how the Bible presents God's grace. God makes His people "willing in the day of His power" Psalm 110:3. For a wonderful illustration of that truth, just consider the converted Apostle Paul. "By the grace of God' he was what he was (I Corinthians 15:10). And immediately after his conversion he said willingly, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" Acts 9:6. That surely was not against his will.

God's grace is sweet and irresistible. He makes us love it and want nothing else. He is as irresistible to us as a husband to his newly-wed bride. Come with us and hear God's wonderful grace proclaimed in Christ any Lord's Day. (Soli Deo Gloria).

---

P - Perseverance of the Saints

The last of the five points of Calvinism asserts that God is sovereign and his will cannot be frustrated by humans or anything else, those whom God has called into communion with himself will continue in faith until the end. This also teaches that God preserves His people so they can never be lost. It means: "Once you are saved, you are always saved."

God's Word is full of proof for this beautiful truth. And though many deny it, and tell you that you can be lost and saved many, many times, and therefore can never be sure of your salvation, the Bible says otherwise. Talking about His elect sheep, Jesus said: "And I give them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand" (John 10:28). See John 6:39, 17:2, 17:11-12; Romans 8:37-39; II Timothy 1:12; 4:18, etc. etc.

Some object to this doctrine because it supposedly makes men "carnally secure" in their salvation. That is, if I know nothing can make me go to hell once God has saved me, I will "live like the devil." There have been some who have used this beautiful truth as an excuse to live like the devil. But they are not Christians. Nor do they understand this truth. Because this truth also implies "PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS." Those who never fall away are saints. They are holy. And they are given power to live holy lives. They "continue in well-doing." Anyone who says he can "live like the devil" has not experienced the saving power of Christ and does not know the meaning of Philippians 1:6, "He that hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ." God will continue working good works in us until Christ returns. Don't think otherwise.

Is there any hope for Christians without this doctrine? We don't need to be "scared to heaven." We need comfort. Because we know that if it were up to the Christian to remain saved, he would never be able to do it. You know yourself!! There is no power in me apart from God's grace. (Soli Deo Gloria). Amen!

Please read more about: Who is John Calvin?

                                     What is Calvinism?

What is Religion?

1. Nature of Religion

The Bible informs us that man was created in the image of God. When he fell in sin, he did not entirely cease to be the image-bearer of the Most High. The seed of religion is still present in all men, though their sinful nature constantly reacts against it. Missionaries testify to the presence of religion in some form or other among all the nations and tribes of the earth. It is one of the greatest blessings of mankind, though many denounce it as a curse. Not only does it touch the deepest springs of man's life, but it also controls his thoughts and feelings and desires.

But just what is religion?  It is only by the study of the Word of God that we can learn to know the nature of true Religion. The word 'religion' is derived from the Latin and not from any word that is found in the original Hebrew or Greek of the Bible. It is found only four times in our translation of the Bible, (Galatians 1:13-14; James 1:26-27). The old Testament defines religion as the fear of the Lord. This fear is not a feeling of dread, but of reverent regard for God akin to  awe, but coupled with love and confidence. It is the response of the Old Testament believers to the revelation of the law. In the New Testament religion is a response to the gospel rather than to law, and assumes the form of faith and godliness.

In the light of Scripture we learn to understand that religion is a relation in which man stands to God, a relation in which man is conscious of the absolute majesty and infinite power of God and of his own utter insignificance and absolute helplessness. It may be defined as a conscious and voluntary relationship to God, which expresses itself in grateful worship and loving service. The manner of this religious worship and service is not left to the arbitrary will of man, but is determined by God.

More Bible reference: Deuteronomy 10:12-13; Psalms 111:10; Ecclesiastes 12:13; John 6:29; Acts 16:31. 

2. The Seat of Religion

There are several wrong views respecting the seat of religion in man. Some think of religion primarily as a sort of knowledge, and locate it in the intellect. Others regard it as kind of immediate feeling of God, and find its seat in the feelings. And still others hold that it consists most of all in moral activity, and refer it to the will. However, all these views are one-sided and  contrary to Scripture, which teaches us that religion is a matter of the heart. In Scripture psychology the heart is the central organ of the soul. Out of it are all the issues of life, thoughts, feelings, and desires (Proverbs 4:23). Religion involves the whole man, his intellectual, his emotional, and his moral life. This is the only view that does justice to the nature of religion. 

More Bible reference: Psalms 51:10; Proverbs 4:23; Matthew 5:8

3. The Origin of Religion

Particular attention was devoted during the last fifty years to the problem of the origin of religion. Repeated attempts were made to give a natural explanation of it, but without success. Some spoke of it as an invention of cunning and deceptive priests, who regarded it as an easy source of revenue; but this explanation is entirely discredited now. Others held that it began with the worship of lifeless objects (fetishes), or with the worship of spirit, possibly the spirits of forefathers. But this is no explanation, since the question remains, how did people ever hit upon the idea of worshiping lifeless or living objects? Still others were of the opinion that religion originated in nature worship, that is the worship of the  marvels and powers of nature or in the widespread practice of magic. But these theories do not explain any more than the others how  non-religious man ever became religious. They all start out with a man who is already religious.

The Bible gives the only reliable account of the origin of religion. It informs us of the existence of God, the only object worthy of religious worship. Moreover, it comes to us with the assurance that God, whom man could never discover with his natural powers, revealed Himself in nature and, more especially, in His divine Word, demands the worship and service of man, and also determines the worship and service that is well-pleasing to Him. And, finally, it teaches us that God created man in His own image, and thus endowed him with a capacity to understand, and to respond to this revelation, and engendered in him a natural urge to seek communion with God and to glorify Him.

More Bible reference: Genesis 1:27; Deuteronomy 4:13; Ezekiel 36:26

Source: Christian Doctrine (Louis Berkhof)