Are all they saved who hear the gospel, and live in the church?

All that hear the gospel, and live in the visible church, are not saved; but they only who are true members of the church invisible.[1]

• John 12:38-40

  … so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: “Lord, who has believed what he heard from us, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” Therefore they could not believe. For again Isaiah said, “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and turn, and I would heal them.”

  Rom. 9:6

  But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel… ,
  

  Rom. 11:7

  What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened …

  Matt. 7:21

  Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven… .

  Matt. 22:14

  For many are called, but few are chosen.

Question 61, Westminster Larger Catechism

Update on Wednesday, April 18, 2007 at 10:58AM by rebecca

Do some of the proof texts seem a little odd to you?  Are you clueless as to how they apply?

They assume that the reader (learner?) already affirms a certain form of Covenant Theology, and they make sense as proof texts within that context.  But unless you are already on board with that view, they will indeed seem a little out in left field.

Housewife Has Questions, Part 2

Continuing on with Housewife’s questions.  (Part 1 is here.) 

Housewife finishes her list with these two questions:

Is part of your mission in life to convert people to your religion?

Do you really think that G-d is angry with people who don’t pray the same way you do?

I’m going to start with the second question first, because my answer to the first one builds on my answer to the second. 

Do I think that God is angry with people who don’t pray the same way I do?
In order to answer this question, I have to qualify it a bit. God’s anger with people has nothing to do with praying the same way I do, as if, first of all, it’s primarily a method of prayer that matters; and secondly, that doing things my way has some significance.  I do believe God is angry with people, but never because they don’t pray my way.  He may be angry over certain methods of prayer, but that would be only secondary to the real issue—whether they are worshipping him, the God who is.

And that’s the biggie, the bottom line, the universal truth that no one escapes:  God is there; we know it; we don’t worship him.  We all know God is there because we look out and see the universe and the world we live in.  Deep down, we know that it all didn’t come from nothing, but from something or someone. 

That’s not to say that people know everything there is to know about the something or someone from which it all came by looking out and seeing what there is, but we do know some important things:  the Creator is unlike the universe and more than the universe; existing not only in the universe, but also outside or beyond the universe.  In other words, the one who created the universe exists in a category of one:  the only uncaused, the only independent, the only self-existent.  We, on the other hand, are caused by the uncaused, dependent on the independent, existent only as long as the self-existent sustains us.

And because we know that God is there and we know these things about him, we also know that this is the sort of God to whom we owe worship.  But none of us do that, and there’s the rub. We either deny God exists at all, or we choose to think of him as something different—less, actually—than we know he really is.  We bring him down into categories we know and understand from experience—categories we know, deep down, don’t apply to him. We think of him or imagine him as something more like we are and way less than he is, because we are more comfortable with something more like we are, something not quite so “other”.  That’s bringing God down to our level or (probably more accurately) raising us up to his. The Bible calls this trading the truth about God for a lie, and yes, it draws out God’s righteous indignation, or his anger, as you call it. 

Is part of your mission in life to convert people to your religion?
I believe that the only way out from under God’s righteous indignation is through the good news that God sent his own Son as Saviour for everyone who believes in him.  It’s good news, and I believe it’s good news that everyone needs, since everyone falls rightfully under God’s indignation. 

I guess my answer to your question would be yes and no.  I wish everyone would believe the good news; I think everyone needs to hear the good news; I think helping to spread the good news it my duty.  If I believe this good news the only way out from under God’s righteous indignation, and I care about other people, what kind of person would I be if I didn’t share it? But at the same time, I’m not going bop someone upside the head with a two-by-four to get them to sign on the dotted line. Getting someone to sign on the dotted line whether they want to or not isn’t my responsibility.

Sunday's Hymn: William Cowper

Since I just read a short biography of William Cowper in one of the books I’ll be reviewing shortly, I thought I’d feature hymns by Cowper (pronounced Cooper) for a few Sundays.  I wrote a little bit about William Cowper in an old post on the old blog.  If you’re curious to know more (And you should be! Once you know something about his life, you’ll never look at one of his hymns in exactly the same way again.), I suggest both this mp3 lecture on Cowper’s life by Michael Haykin and this sermon by John Piper.  If you prefer to read the text of Piper’s sermon on Cowper’s life, you’ll find it at the previous link as well.  The chapter on William Cowper in the book I’m reading also comes from that same sermon.

 

The choir sang one of Cowper’s hymns in the service this morning.  It’s not one of his more well-known hymns, but since we sang it today, it’s the one I’m starting with.  We sang it to a different melody than the one you’ll hear if you click over to Cyber Hymnal. Our music was from the middle section of Jupiter, from The Planets by Gustav Holst.

 

Sometimes a Light Surprises

Sometimes a light surprises the Christian while he sings;
It is the Lord, Who rises with healing in His wings:
When comforts are declining, He grants the soul again
A season of clear shining, to cheer it after rain.

In holy contemplation we sweetly then pursue
The theme of God’s salvation, and find it ever new.
Set free from present sorrow, we cheerfully can say,
Let the unknown tomorrow bring with it what it may.

It can bring with it nothing but He will bear us through;
Who gives the lilies clothing will clothe His people, too;
Beneath the spreading heavens, no creature but is fed;
And He Who feeds the ravens will give His children bread.

Though vine nor fig tree neither their wonted fruit should bear,
Though all the field should wither, nor flocks nor herds be there;
Yet God the same abiding, His praise shall tune my voice,
For while in Him confiding, I cannot but rejoice.

---

Other hymns, worship songs, etc. posted today:

• The Collect for the First Sunday after Easter at Magic Statistics. 
• Onward, Christian Soldiers at IMD 2.0.
• The Spirit as Teacher from The Valley of Vision at Thirsty Theologian
• Nearer My God to Thee at John Dekker’s Journal
• Awake My Soul and With the Sun at The Happy Wonderer
• The Church’s One Foundation at Seasonings of the Heart
• My Tribute at The Upward Call (This song was sung at my wedding almost 32 years ago.)
  

Have you posted a hymn this Sunday and I missed it? Let me know by leaving a link in the comments or by emailing me at the address in the sidebar, and I’ll add your post to the list.

Update on Monday, April 16, 2007 at 10:34AM by rebecca

Sorry. Forgot one: 

• Be Thou My Vision at joythruChrist.