Sunday's Hymn: Who Is on the Lord's Side?

Who is on the Lord’s side? Who will serve the King?
Who will be His helpers, other lives to bring?
Who will leave the world’s side? Who will face the foe?
Who is on the Lord’s side? Who for Him will go?
By Thy call of mercy, by Thy grace divine,
We are on the Lord’s side—Savior, we are Thine!

Not for weight of glory, nor for crown and palm,
Enter we the army, raise the warrior psalm;
But for love that claimeth lives for whom He died:
He whom Jesus nameth must be on His side.
By Thy love constraining, by Thy grace divine,
We are on the Lord’s side—Savior, we are Thine!

Jesus, Thou hast bought us, not with gold or gem,
But with Thine own life blood, for Thy diadem;
With Thy blessing filling each who comes to Thee,
Thou hast made us willing, Thou hast made us free.
By Thy grand redemption, by Thy grace divine,
We are on the Lord’s side—Savior, we are Thine!

Fierce may be the conflict, strong may be the foe,
But the King’s own army none can overthrow;
’Round His standard ranging, victory is secure,
For His truth unchanging makes the triumph sure.
Joyfully enlisting, by Thy grace divine,
We are on the Lord’s side—Savior, we are Thine!

Chosen to be soldiers, in an alien land,
Chosen, called, and faithful, for our Captain’s band,
In the service royal, let us not grow cold;
Let us be right loyal, noble, true and bold.
Master, Thou wilt keep us, by Thy grace divine,
Always on the Lord’s side—Savior, always Thine!

—Frances  R. Havergal

Other hymns, worship songs, sermons etc. posted today:

• Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing at Graces Daily
• Rejoice Today with One Accord at The Happy Wonderer
• Abide with Me at Gospel Grace
• He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands at Theology for Girls
• Whatever, whenever, however at Tried With Fire 
• Lifting Up Our Hearts - 6 at The Upward Call
• Lord’s Day 44, 2013 at The Thirsty Theologian
• You Weekly Dose of Spurgeon at Pyromaniacs: “Tarry”

Have you posted a hymn (or sermon, sermon notes, prayer, etc.) today and I missed it? Let me know by leaving a link in the comments or by contacting me using the contact form linked above, and I’ll add your post to the list.

Theological Term of the Week

I was surprised to find that in the six years or so that I’ve been posting weekly theological term posts, I’ve never defined this term. 

Arminianism
A system of belief based on the teachings of Dutch theologian Jacob Arminius regarding salvation, developed as a reaction against Calvinism, and summed up by his followers in the Five Articles of Remonstrance, which deny the unconditionality of election and the particularity of redemption.

• As evidence that election is conditioned on foreseen faith, the Articles of Remonstrance uses this verse:

Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. (John 3:36, ESV)

• As evidence that redemption was universally obtained, these two verses are included:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16, ESV)

He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. (1 John 2:2, ESV)

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Doubting the Obvious

Quoting K. Scott Oliphant:

God is always and everywhere making his character known. He is successful in every case. Those to whom God reveals himself clearly see and understand what God is revealing. It is that clear understanding that renders them without excuse. If God’s revelation were not clear—if it were obscure or ambiguous—then Paul’s argument would be in error. People would have an excuse if God’s truth given through natural revelation did not get through. But it does get through; it gets through to every person. Whenever we think of defending the Christian faith, we must recognize that whoever our audience is, God has already and always been speaking to them.

Even though God is incomprehensible (in the sense that we will never have exhaustive knowledge of him), we can understand—and do understand—what he reveals of himself through natural revelation (or through the sensus divinitatus).

However, 

because of the sinfulness of man that pervades us in Adam, the sensus [see link above] is the one thing that we will diligently work night and day to doubt, even to deny. But this doubting and denial is just an expression of the suppression of the truth that is attached, like a cancerous tumor, on our Adamic status. In Adam we will, even if it kills us, do all that we can to avoid what is patently and clearly made obvious to us by God himself.

From Covenantal Apologetics: Principles and Practice in Defense of Our Faith.