A Defense of "Calvinism"

"Calvinism", I admit, is not a term with which I am entirely comfortable. I am not 100% content with identifying myself too closely with any human teacher, lest I fall under the rebuke of the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul against fruitless divisiveness in passages such as I Corinthians 1:10-13; 3:1-4. For this reason, and due to the fact that there is so much misunderstanding concerning the term, I never self-identify as a "Calvinist". On the other hand, because the subject has come up so often lately within Southern Baptist life, I recently found myself using the term "Calvinism" fairly often. [For anyone reading this who may be unfamiliar with the basic meaning of the term "Calvinism", I have given a brief outline of the "5 points of Calvinism" within a previous post and I have discussed "Calvinist soteriology" in my post on "Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God".] And I would defend the word "Calvinism", on certain occasions, as a useful and appropriate theological shorthand to describe a set of beliefs drawn out from the biblical text. In this sense, "Calvinism" is similar to the word "Trinity", which is also a word not found in the Bible, though the concepts underlying the word are found throughout Scripture.

While listening to a cassette recording of a past Southern Baptist Founders' Conference, I recently heard this insightful explanation of why we sometimes use the term "Calvinism" as a label for our beliefs on what the Bible has to say concerning the Gospel of Grace:

We believe that Calvinism is the Gospel in its purest expression. We could rightly call it "Paulinism", but what Christian would not call their doctrine Pauline? We could rightly call it "Augustinianism", but Augustine developed his understanding of the Doctrines of Grace in a context that was not so aware of the necessity of the doctrine of justification by faith. And so we call it "Calvinism", because not only does it have the great Pauline and Augustinian doctrines of justification by faith, but it also sets these within the context of imputed righteousness as our only standing before God as set forth in the reformation doctrine of justification by faith. (S.B.F.C. Tape Library, "The Biblical Doctrine of Accomodation" by Tom Ascol (sbf055), afterword by unknown speaker [believed to be Dr. Thomas Nettles of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary])

And the above quote is in agreement with Charles Spurgeon in his famous "Defense of Calvinism", when he said:

I have my own Private opinion that there is no such thing as preaching Christ and Him crucified, unless we preach what nowadays is called Calvinism. It is a nickname to call it Calvinism; Calvinism is the gospel, and nothing else. I do not believe we can preach the gospel, if we do not preach justification by faith, without works; nor unless we preach the sovereignty of God in His dispensation of grace; nor unless we exalt the electing, unchangeable, eternal, immutable, conquering love of Jehovah; nor do I think we can preach the gospel, unless we base it upon the special and particular redemption of His elect and chosen people which Christ wrought out upon the cross; nor can I comprehend a gospel which lets saints fall away after they are called, and suffers the children of God to be burned in the fires of damnation after having once believed in Jesus. Such a gospel I abhor.

I sincerely hope that the quotes cited in this blogpost are helpful to anyone reading this post, if you find yourself thinking on or discussing "Calvinism".

-To the glory of God alone.

The Man on the Island

A week ago tomorrow, Dr. Russell Moore, Dean of the School of Theology at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, gave a lecture at Lakeview Baptist Church in Auburn, AL concerning the purpose for and organization of the Southern Baptist Convention. As I am planning on attending this convention as a messenger from my congregation (Grace Heritage Church), and as I have recently been accepted as a student to the School of Theology at SBTS, I was thankful for the opportunity to hear Dr. Moore speak on this topic.

The evening before giving the lecture mentioned above, Dr. Moore taught at Lakeview concerning the topic of "The Man on the Island". Though I was unable to be at Lakeview to hear this teaching, as I was enjoying worship and fellowship with my own congregation, I did get a copy of the CD and was very interested in what Dr. Moore had to say.

Specifically, the sermon he gave was given to answer the hypothetical question, “What about a man who has been stranded on a deserted island from the day he was born and he’s never seen another person... He’s never seen a Bible and never heard of Jesus. What will happen to him when he dies?”

As Moore pointed out, this question, first asked to him by a fifteen-year-old student when he was serving as a youth minister, is far more important than just knowing how to solve a speculative theological brain-teaser. How we would answer the question of the man on the island exposes our understanding of the fate of millions of people who have not yet heard the Gospel and, on an even more fundamental level, our answer to this question would demonstrate if we have a biblical perspective on the diagnosis of human depravity.

I would stongly encourage anyway reading this to consider the question of "The Man on the Island", to meditate on Romans 10:14-17, and to read Dr. Moore's article on this subject found here.

On the Altar of Self-Will

The best blogpost I've read this past week was actually written by a non-blogger. A couple of days ago my friend Nathan White posted an article by Dave Stephenson- my former pastor and his current pastor at Grace Bible Church in Canton, GA- on his own blog and on the Strange BaptistFire blog.

This is a must-read article, especially for Southern Baptists, as Dave addresses the cause of some besetting sins common to many Southern Baptist churches, namely:

1. "Ignoring biblical qualifications for leadership"
2. "Refusing to hold sinful lay-leaders accountable"
3. "Gossip"
4. Holding to the traditions of men while laying aside the commands of God.

Dave- formerly a pastor of a Southern Baptist church- argues that the above sins spring from a rejection of the doctrines of grace. He writes,

There is something in particular that is driving people to these expressions of the sinful heart rather than to some other expression of it. That something is the rejection of the doctrines of grace. The false theology of libertarian self-will ultimately must bear fruit; and it bears the fruit of selfishness.

I would wholeheartedly agree with Dave's assessment, but I would like to add that these sins also arise due to a neglect of the doctrine of the sufficiency of Scripture. Southern Baptists have been battling against liberal philosophies for many long years now in order to proclaim the inerrancy of Scripture- and, by all outward signs, the struggle for inerrancy in the Southern Baptist Convention has been won- but Southern Baptists as a whole have failed to proclaim other facets of a biblical doctrine of Scripture- that the Word of God is authoritive, necessary, sufficient, and clear. In particular, many Southern Baptist churches fail to proclaim Scripture as sufficient- they have lost the idea that in Scripture we have all we need for life and godliness. Neglecting Scriptural sufficiency, Southern Baptists don't see that:

1. We have very specific qualifications laid out for us in God's Word concerning church leaders (see I Tim. 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9)- the Lord Himself chooses who will minister to His flock. Instead of receiving the blessing of God-established leadership, many Southern Baptist churches form committees to decide what kind of professional ministers the majority of the congregation would like to hire. Having this mindset at the beginning of the 'pastoral search' process, it is no wonder that many congregations- and particularly those who have been given some measure of power by the will of the people by being placed on committees- are quick to call for new pastors to be fired if they don't meet their expectations.
2. We have very specific instructions laid out for us in God's Word concerning church discipline, and especially discipline in regards to church leadership (see Matt. 18:15-20; I Tim. 5:19-22). If these instructions were followed, then lay-leaders would be held accountable and sin within the congregation would be handled. In the absence of Biblical church disciplne a vaccuum is left that are all-too-easily filled by gossip, backbiting, and church splits.
3. Finally, a firm commitment to Scriptural sufficiency leads us to carefully check all things by God's Word (see Rom. 12:1-2; I Thess. 5:21-22; II Tim. 3:16-17). Whether our congregation has engaged in a certain activity for 2 weeks or for 20 years, if we believe that God directs His church by His Word, then we will always be checking the designs for our programs and order of worship by the commands, examples and principles the Lord has given us in the Bible.

A return to the doctrine of Scriptural sufficiency is absolutely crucial if Southern Baptist churches are going to experience real and lasting revival and reformation. Depending on God's revealed will in ordering His church is necessary if Southern Baptist congregations are going to fulfill the our Lord's Great Commission of making disciples of all nations.

John Piper's "longing for our day"

In writing about the Together for the Gospel conference a few weeks ago, which I was blessed to be able to attend, Tim Challies- "the world's most famous Christian blogger"- gave the following statement:

What stood out to me about this conference is that it will not be remembered for any particular person. I don't know that anyone will look back and remember the words or message of one speaker far above the others. What people will remember is the collective passion for the gospel, a passion that existed not only in the hearts of the seven men who spoke, but in the 3000 who sat and listened and participated. Truly God was exalted (and exulted in) from beginning to end.

Now I must humbly voice a mild disagreement with Challies. While I agree with the last half of the above statement, I do think that the message of one speaker in particular impacted those of us at the conference in an even more intense fashion than that of the other fine sermons and lectures.

The message that I am referring to is that given by John Piper on Thursday, April 27, "Preaching as Expository Exultation for the Glory of God". Previous to hearing this message, I have always been more attracted to Piper's writings (such as his books Counted Righteous in Christ and God is the Gospel, which were given away to everyone at the conference) than to his preaching. But from the very beginning of his sermon on Thursday night, Piper spoke with an obvious, intense unction from the Holy Spirit. Piper's sermon hit like a tidal wave. It was indescribable. After about ten minutes of listening open-mouthed to the onslaught, I was able to catch my breath and glance at those sitting around me. At that time I noticed all the pastors in my proximity- these men of God who had been carefully taking notes over what every speaker said in the previous sessions- had not written down a single thing Piper said. No one to that point in the sermon could think to write. We had all been sitting in near-shock at the power of the clear, forceful, passionate call to seriously magnify the glory of God through the exposition of His Word. To give a sample of the content found in Piper's sermon, I offer the following section in which Piper shares his longing for those at the conference to seriously meditate on the glory of God.

That is my longing for our day—and for you. That God would raise up thousands of broken-hearted, Bible-saturated preachers who are dominated by a sense of the greatness and the majesty and the holiness of God, revealed in the gospel of Christ crucified and risen and reigning with absolute authority over every nation and every army and every false religion and every terrorist and every tsunami and every cancer cell, and every galaxy in the universe.

God did not ordain the cross of Christ or create the lake of fire³ in order to communicate the insignificance of belittling his glory. The death of the Son of God and the damnation of unrepentant human beings are the loudest shouts under heaven that God is infinitely holy, and sin is infinitely offensive, and wrath is infinitely just, and grace is infinitely precious, and our brief life—and the life of every person in your church and in your community—leads to everlasting joy or everlasting suffering. If our preaching does not carry the weight of these things to our people, what will? Veggie Tales? Radio? Television? Discussion groups? Emergent conversations?

God planned for his Son to be crucified (Revelation 13:8; 2 Timothy 1:9) and for hell to be terrible (Matthew 25:41) so that we would have the clearest witnesses possible to what is at stake when we preach. What gives preaching its seriousness is that the mantle of the preacher is soaked with the blood of Jesus and singed with fire of hell. That’s the mantle that turns mere talkers into preachers. Yet tragically some of the most prominent evangelical voices today diminish the horror of the cross and the horror of hell—the one stripped of its power to bear our punishment, and the other demythologized into self-dehumanization and the social miseries of this world.⁴

Oh that the rising generations would see that the world is not overrun with a sense of seriousness about God. There is no surplus in the church of a sense of God’s glory. There is no excess of earnestness in the church about heaven and hell and sin and salvation. And therefore the joy of many Christians is paper thin. By the millions people are amusing themselves to death with DVDs, and 107-inch TV screens, and games on their cell phones, and slapstick worship, while the spokesmen of a massive world religion write letters to the West in major publications saying, “The first thing we are calling you to is Islam . . . It is the religion of enjoining the good and forbidding the evil with the hand, tongue and heart. It is the religion of jihad in the way of Allah so that Allah’s Word and religion reign Supreme.”⁵ And then these spokesmen publicly bless suicide bombers who blow up children in front of Falafel shops and call it the way to paradise. This is the world in which we preach.

And yet incomprehensibly, in this Christ-diminishing, soul-destroying age, books and seminars and divinity schools and church growth specialists are bent on saying to young pastors, “Lighten up.” “Get funny.” “Do something amusing.” To this I ask, Where is the spirit of Jesus? “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 16:24-25). “If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell” (Matthew 5:29). “Any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:33). “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26). “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead” (Matthew 8:22). “Whoever would be first among you must be slave of all” (Mark 10:44). “Fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28). “Some of you they will put to death . . . But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your lives” (Luke 21:16-19).

Would the church growth counsel to Jesus be, “Lighten up, Jesus. Do something amusing.” And to the young pastor: “Whatever you do, young pastor, don’t be like the Jesus of the Gospels. Lighten up.” From my perspective, which feels very close to eternity these days, that message to pastors sounds increasingly insane.

I encourage anyone reading this to listen to the MP3 of Piper's sermon.

That Reformation is Doctrinal Rather Than Political

With the Baptist debate at Liberty University this coming autumn concerning Reformed- or "Calvinistic"- soteriology [if you're not sure what I mean by "Reformed soteriology", please read my last post] and with excitement building for the upcoming Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting this June in Greensboro, NC where Drs. Al Mohler and Paige Patterson will be having a conversation about the Calvinist doctrine of election at the pastors' conference (Mohler in support of Calvinism as biblical, Patterson opposing Calvinism as un-biblical), and particularly with news on who may be elected as the SBC president (with anti-Calvinist Johnny Hunt being mentioned as a nominee early on and with Reformed pastor Mark Dever also mentioned as a possible nominee- though both of these men have apparently declined), many Southern Baptists holding to Calvinist soteriology have begun to see hope for a return to Reformed convictions within the leadership of the SBC in the not-unthinkably-distant future. I don't think I'm alone in having thought of a possible "Calvinist Resurgence" similar to the "Conservative Resurgence", which took place within the SBC in the 1980s. In the Conservative Resurgence, the leadership of the SBC was reclaimed by men who were firmly convinced of and committed to the inerrancy of Scripture as a fundamental biblical doctrine- a conviction shared with earlier generations of Southern Baptists. The Resurgence did not come about as a series of random events, but was due to a carefully outlined plan orchestrated by such men as Dr. Paige Patterson and Judge Paul Pressler. In thinking back on the Conservative Resurgence, I was wondering if it would be possible for a group to outline a plan for returning the leadership of the SBC to Calvinist soteriology, which the founders of the Southern Baptist Convention also held to be fundamental biblical doctrine. In discussing this matter with Stan Reeves, an elder at Grace Heritage Church, where I am a member, I was prompted to consider the fact that the Conservative Resurgence was not only successful due to the fact that inerrancy is the historic Southern Baptist position, but furthermore at the time of the Resurgence the average Baptist sitting in the pew believed that Scripture was God-breathed and thus without error. Before the Resurgence, the leadership of the SBC had stopped holding to inerrancy, but the majority of Baptists read their Bibles as copied translations of the inerrant word of God. On the other hand, though the SBC historically holds to a Calvinistic understanding of Scripture- which understanding has been rejected by most of the current political leadership of the SBC- the average Baptist agrees with their current leaders on this point. The majority of Southern Baptists would not affirm with Calvin and Luther that natural Man is utterly sinful, so that every part of Man after the Fall recorded in Genesis chapter 3 is in bondage to sin and therefore "since the Fall of the first man free choice has been a reality in name only, and... we can of ourselves do nothing but sin" and furthermore that God ordains all that comes to pass so "that nothing happens by chance, but everything befalls us by absolute necessity." In short, most Baptists currently believe that natural Man has a 'free-will' and that this 'free-will' plays a crucial role in salvation. And so, while many would like to see Reformation within the Southern Baptist Convention, a "Calvinist Resurgence", in terms of orchestrating a return of the political leadership of the Convention to Reformed thought would not be appropriate at this time. And not only from a pragmatic perspective- though such an endeavor would most certainly fail if it were attempted today- but also as a matter of principle. We who would like to see Reformation within the SBC would like to see the Convention become Reformed due to Baptists becoming convinced that Calvinist soteriology- the "doctrines of Grace"- are actually drawn out from the biblical text itself.

We must always remember that Christians are commanded to be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Rom. 12:2), and so we who are eager for Reformation in the SBC should be eager to teach. We should patiently instruct other Baptists concerning the doctrines of Grace found throughout the Scriptures and particularly in passages such as John 6, Romans 3 and 9, Ephesians 1 and 2, and Hebrews 10. We should persevere in making our message clear despite any slander that might be spoken against us by those who are slow to have their traditions corrected by God's Word.

I'd like to close this post with the following quote taken from a cassette recording of a past Southern Baptist Founders' Conference, which Conference has been a pivotal means in beginning the process of Reformation in the Southern Baptist Convention:

I'd like to say some things about what this Conference is, what it intends to do, and upon what principles it operates. First of all, all who hear these tapes need to realize that this Conference is not a political movement. It has no designs on seeking to run any candidate for any office within any denomination. It is strictly a Conference for personal edification of pastors, elders, deacons, and members of Baptist churches. It is not a political movement of any kind. [Speaking of the various missions and benevolence organizations within the Southern Baptist Convention, the speaker continues]: We desire to see men within these who believe the Gospel. And we desire these men to come there, not through political manipulation, but through the individual training of minds, so that God in His providence may place people who are prepared in those positions. (S.B.F.C. Tape Library, "The Biblical Doctrine of Accomodation" by Tom Ascol (sbf055), afterword by unknown speaker [believed to be Dr. Thomas Nettles of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary])

Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God

Recently, Timmy Brister (of the Together for the Gospel: Band of Bloggers fame)

published a post on the new Strange BaptistFire blog addressing the claim that "Calvinists" [those who emphasize a biblical view of the sovereignty of God in salvation] "are not passionate about evangelism."


This post was especially interesting to me as I attend a Church congregation where the leadership is firmly committed to a Calvinist [or "Reformed"] view of soteriology. ["Soteriology" indicates a belief system about how people are saved from the wrath of God that they have earned due to their sins (Romans 1:18; 6:23a) and are made acceptable in the sight of God.]

Calvinist soteriology is based upon the Bible truths that since the Fall of Man into sin as recorded in Genesis 3, natural Man is dead in trespasses and sin (Ephesians 2:1), alienated and hostile toward God (Colossians 1:21), utterly unrighteous (Romans 3:10ff), and unable to come to God (John 6:44, 65). Due to the truths related in the last sentence [known together by such nicknames as "Total depravity" or "Radical corruption"], the only way that we may be saved from sin- and thus saved from God's wrath against sin- is if the Holy Spirit does a supernatural work on our hearts, making us spiritually alive (Ephesians 2:5), delivering us from the power of darkness into the kingdom of God (Colossians 1:13), granting us righteousness through faith- which faith is also a gift from God (Romans 3:21-22; Ephesians 2:8-9), and drawing us irresistibly to Jesus (John 6:44, 65). The Holy Spirit does this work in our lives based on the fact that Jesus Christ has, by His death on the Cross, already paid the penalty of God's wrath against our sin [please see my previous posts on the subject of "Limited Atonement", as well as Hebrews 9:11-10:18 and Hebrews 10:14]. Once saved, we are "kept by the Lord Jesus Christ" (Jude 1) so that having come to Jesus, it is certain that He will "raise [us] up at the last day" (John 6:44), and that once God begins a good work in us, we can be confident that He will "perfect it unto the day of Christ Jesus" (Philippians 1:6) [please see my previous posts on the subject of "The Preservation of the Saints"]. Taken together, these truths [along with the doctrine of "Unconditional election", which I did not go into] teach us that salvation is, as the great preacher Charles Spurgeon said, "all of grace."

Now, many people charge that a consistent proclamation of the truths above will give people an excuse not to witness. They say that if we insist that salvation is God's work from start to finish, that people will use this as an excuse to slack off in their zeal to spread the Gospel. They claim that most Calvinists are not evangelistic. And they're right. The truth is (as my friend Luke Stamps recently quoted a seminary professor of his as saying), most Calvinists don't evangelize- but it is also true that most Arminians [those who deny Calvinist soteriology] don't evangelize. In fact, most Christians don't evangelize. And why is it that most Christians fail in their duty to proclaim the Good News of who Jesus is and what He has done? It is important, first, to identify a lack of evangelism as sin so that we understand that this is something for which we must repent. This sin can be rooted in a weak faith, which leads us to anxiety rather than thankful dependence upon God (Philippians 4:6). We may also sin by not being diligent in having our minds renewed so that we are transformed into what God would have us to be (Romans 12:2). Often for Calvinists, the problem is that we have become convinced that the evangelistic methods we previously learned were bogus, but we have not been diligent in finding out what true, biblical evangelism should look like. And so, finally, I come to the main subject of this post.

A few weeks ago I had the privilege of leading the Thursday night Bible study for my congregation, Grace Heritage Church. Usually on Thursday nights we studied through a book of the Bible, but I took the opportunity- since I'm not the usual teacher- to lead the class in a discussion on biblical evangelism. My primary resource for an overview of what the Bible has to say about evangelism was the book Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God (see Tim Challies' review of this book), by J.I. Packer (who, as far as I know, is no relation to Alferd Packer, written about earlier on this blog). While ESG is not necessarily perfect (see John Piper's argument against Packer's use of the word "antinomy" in describing the relationship between the sovereignty of God and the reponsibility of Man) this book is, in my opinion, one of the greatest works on the subject of evangelism ever written.

What follows below is an outline of what I taught from the chapter in ESG titled "Evangelism":

Evangelism

(Adapted from “Evangelism” in Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God by J.I. Packer- a discussion on the meaning, message, motive, and methods of biblical evangelism.)

1. Meaning

1. Evangelism is proclaiming the Gospel: The Good News of the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

2. Evangelism is declaring a specific message with a specific application.
3. Evangelism defined through the ministry of the Apostle Paul:
1. Paul evangelized as the commissioned representative of the Lord Jesus Christ.
1. In evangelism, we act as Christ’s stewards.

1. Scripture proofs: I Cor. 4:1-2; I Cor. 9:17
2. Our position of stewardship highlights our accountability to evangelize.

2. In evangelism, we act as Christ’s heralds.

1. Scripture proofs: II Tim. 1:11; I Tim. 2:7
2. Our position as Christ’s heralds highlights the authenticity of the evangelistic message.

3. In evangelism, we act as Christ’s ambassadors.

1. Scripture proofs: Eph. 6:19-20; II Cor. 5:17-20
2. Our position of ambassadorship highlights our authority to proclaim the evangelistic message.

2. Paul’s primary task in evangelism was to teach the truth about the Lord Jesus Christ.
1. Scripture proofs: Acts 9:29;18:11
2. Paul primarily engaged the minds of his listeners.
3. Paul’s ultimate aim in evangelism was to convert his hearers to faith in Christ.
1. The New Testament speaks of preachers converting people, as they are His means for converting (Lk. 1:16; Acts 26:15-18; Jas. 5:19-20).
2. Paul’s aim in evangelism was not just to spread information, but to save sinners (I Cor. 9:22).

2. Message

1. Evangelism is the proclamation of a message about God.

1. Primarily, our message is about God as the Sovereign Creator and Sustainer (Acts 17:24-29).
2. As God is our Sovereign Creator and Sustainer, we are shown to be entirely dependent upon Him and subject to His will.
2. Evangelism is the proclamation of a message about sin.
1. We proclaim God as the Holy Lawgiver and the Law as a reflection of His holy character.
2. By God’s Law, we are revealed to be lawbreakers- sinners against His holy character.
1. Conviction of sin is essentially an awareness of a wrong relationship with God Himself.
2. Conviction of sin always includes conviction of sins.
3. Conviction of sin always includes conviction of sinfulness.
3. Evangelism is the proclamation of a message about Christ.
1. The person of the Lord Jesus Christ.
2. The work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
1. Incarnation
2. Atonement
3. Resurrection
4. Ascension
5. Heavenly session
4. Evangelism is a summons to faith and repentance.
1. Faith is essentially the casting and resting of oneself and one’s confidence on the promises of mercy which Christ has given to sinners, and on the Christ who gave those promises. (Jn. 3:16)
2. Repentance is a change of mind and heart, a new life of denying self and serving Christ the Saviour as king in self’s place. (Lk.9:23-24)

3. Motive

1. Our primary motive for evangelism is love for God and concern for His glory.
1. Loving God:
1. Love for God is the first and greatest commandment. (Mt. 22:37-38)
2. We demonstrate love for God through obedience. (Jn. 14:21; I Jn. 5:3)
2. Glorifying God:
1. The Westminster Shorter Catechism: Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him for ever. (1 Cor. 10:31; Ps. 73:25-26)
2. Jonathan Edwards: “God infinitely values His own glory and finds His infinite joy in that glory…His greatest glory is displayed in the work of the salvation of sinners and therefore it is His highest joy… God has greatly glorified Himself in the work of creation and providence. All His works praise Him and His glory shines brightly from them all. But as some stars differ from others in glory, so the glory of God shines brighter in some of His works than in others. And amongst all these the work of redemption is like the sun in his strength… Christ has done greater things than to create the world in order to obtain His bride, and it is the joy of His marriage with her… God’s single end in redemption is His own joy.”
2. Our secondary motive for evangelism is love for others and concern for their welfare.
1. We should pray for the salvation of specific sinners.
2. We should be alert for opportunities to evangelize and we should be enterprising in making full use of the opportunities God has given us- initiating situations and conversations in which to share the Gospel.
3. H.C. Trumbull: I determined that as I loved Christ, and as Christ loved souls, I would press Christ on the individual soul, so that none who were in the proper sphere of my individual responsibility or influence should lack opportunity of meeting the question whether or not they would individually trust and follow Christ. The resolve I made was, that whenever I was in such intimacy with a soul as to be justified in choosing my subject of conversation, the theme of themes should have prominence between us, so that I might learn his need, and, if possible, meet it.

4. Methods

1. In our witness, we must have “confident humility” (Al Mohler) [The reference to Mohler was my own].

2. Thoughts on methods we can use to evangelize.

The Greatest Gift

At the recent Together for the Gospel conference the attendees were blessed to receive about 10 books as gifts, placed on our chairs before each session. All of these books were great, written by authors such as John Piper and C.J. Mahaney but the greatest gift that we were given must certainly be the new MacArthur Study Bible, now in the NASB version. This was the greatest gift not only in terms of price (though it was certainly the most expensive of the books that we received), but it will also provide a direct benefit for everyone reading it in understanding the Word of God through the insightful notes of pastor John MacArthur and the faculty of The Master's Seminary, as well as through the many detailed charts.

This gift was especially great to me because I had already decided to buy the NASB MacArthur Study Bible as soon as possible. If you have ever had the opportunity to think over a purchase, decide that the purchase was not just a passing desire, but something that would provide lasting benefit, carefully plan out how you were going to make the purchase, and then, right before you actually made the purchase, you were given the desired object as a gift, you know how I feel. Having been given the ESV Reformation Study Bible at Christmas by my loving wife, Abby, I now have a complete study Bible library, with the old Believers' Study Bible in NKJV, the new MacArthur Study Bible in NASB and the Reformation Study Bible in ESV. Now, I can begin my Bible study meditating over and outlining a particular passage using my Holman Christian Standard Bible without study notes (which Abby also gave me), then I can move on to compare the other literal translations and the study notes in these translations. I feel truly blessed that God has allowed me to live in a situation where I can access these and so many other Bible study tools, and it is my prayer that I would utilize all He has given me to truly come into a more intimate knowledge of my precious Lord Jesus for the glory of Almighty God through the upbuilding of His kingdom.