Legacy

Passing on the Keys to Salvation, Sanity and Civilization

By Jack Lannom
 Table of Contents

Part I
Before You Go Up, You Must Go Down

Chapter
Page

1. What Will Your Legacy Be? 1

2. The Reformation: The Lost Legacy 53

3. “Sola Scriptura”: The Authority and Sufficiency of Scripture 86

4. The Axiom: The First Principle of Christianity 115

5. Logic: Thinking God’s Thoughts After Him 146

6. The Eternal Laws of Logic 177

7. Sovereignty is Sanity 213

8. Let God be God! 245

Part II
Before You ‘Tell It Like Is,’ Make Sure It is Like You Tell It!

9. Let Man be Man 321

10. “But How Can a Man be Righteous Before God?” 352

11. Sovereign Grace and God’s Election 393

12. Let Faith be Faith 436

13. Did James Teach a Faith-Plus-Works Gospel? 473

14. “To God Alone be the Glory!”

Appendix: A Guide for Young Christians

 Part One:

Before You Go Up, You Must Go Down

 Legacy: Introduction

“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
-John 8:32

Legacy, Chapter One

What Will Your Legacy Be?

“What will my legacy be?” This is not a question that occupies the mind of a
great many young men and women. It seems that it is only as we grow older, and
become more aware of our creeping mortality, that we begin to worry about what
we will leave behind for our children.

My job as senior pastor of a church forced me to consider this question much

sooner than I might have otherwise. One of a pastor’s myriad responsibilities is to
conduct funerals and memorial services, and to minister to those who attend. I
delivered a great many eulogies, extolling the virtues of the departed, and listening
to the surviving families memorialize their loved ones. As time passed, I would
begin to mentally project myself into the casket. I thought, if it were my wife and
children and grandchildren who had been asked to talk about what I had left for
them to live by, what would they say? Would the best they could offer be, “Well,
Jack worked hard. We didn’t see him much, but he did everything he could to
provide for us.” I delivered the eulogy at my father’s funeral. He died at the age of
54. What was his legacy? There wasn’t one. We kids never saw him. He worked
two jobs to support us. That was the legacy that Dad received from his father, who
bequeathed no spiritual inheritance to his family, either.

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After ten years in the pulpit, I entered the world of business, and began my career as a
consultant and motivational speaker. During the last twenty-five years, I have worked with a
great many wealthy men and women. It is tragic how often they see their work as something
that they are bequeathing to their children. I particularly remember one multi-billionaire
whom I personally tutored for six months. When he died, he left a money legacy, not a
meaning legacy. The center and circumference of his life was money, not meaning. He died
an empty man.

My mother’s uncle left a spiritual legacy because of his example. He was a deacon, and a real
stalwart servant of his church. I watched him, and I admired his life, but he left behind
nothing that would indicate the things that his family should value and study and live by. My
father’s family left a legacy of work; my mother’s family left a legacy of spiritual work; but
neither left behind any treasures of knowledge.

The True Ladder of Meaning

That is what I want to do with this book, Legacy. I’ve written it with seven people especially
in mind: my three children and my four grandchildren. I’ve heard people say, “My life is my
legacy,” but any mature Christian will tell you that, with the exception of Jesus Christ, no
one’s life is a perfect basis for anything! We “all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of
God.” 1 I don’t want to point my kids towards my life! I’d like to point them away from the
mistakes I’ve made, and I’d like to warn them about leaning the ladder of meaning against
the wrong wall. I’ve met dozens of men and women, both in church and in the corporate
world, who have leaned their ladder against the wall of power, or prestige, or professional
success. They spend their lives climbing and clawing their way up the ladder of success, only
to discover at the very end that they leaned it against the wrong wall! As a pastor, I sat by

1
Romans 3:23.

2
some of these folks when they died. No one, not one of them, as they looked back over their
lives, said, “I should have worked harder. I should have spent more time at the office.” What
they did say, time after time, was, “Oh, if only I’d spent more time with my kids. If only I’d
been there for my family!” Sadly, these men and woman did not realize, until it was much
too late, that they had invested their lives building the loot and passing on lunacy. Time had
run out on the opportunity to build lives and pass on a legacy.

The Only Wall That Won’t Rot or Crumble

The Bible is the Legacy. It is the only guide for faith and practice. The Bible is the right wall,
and I want to point my family toward the only wall on which to lean the ladder of success,
which is the “perfect law of freedom.” 2 I want my children to know that climbing a ladder
that leads to worldly, material success leads to an inevitable outcome: self-sufficiency,
bondage, and despair. It is only when you lean your ladder against the person and the work of
Jesus Christ that you are climbing towards sanity, salvation, and civilization. I want to
teach my children and grandchildren -- and yours, too, if you will allow me -- to use the
Bible as a plumb line for all truth.

If I were to examine in detail the wealth of knowledge that is available in God’s word, I’d be
writing several volumes, instead of this one book. Legacy was designed and written to be a
primer. I want this book to point you toward the work of giants, men who have taken the
truths of God’s word and developed an entire system of thinking that will allow you to
measure all of faith and all of practice against it. I want to help our children to build solid
theological houses, and to fashion a society that reflects the fruit of the Holy Spirit.

2
James 1:25.

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In my lifetime, I spent a long time trying to find the right wall, ever since I became a
Christian thirty-one years ago. I searched for truth for years. I’d like to warn my family about
some of the dangerous paths that I mistakenly followed. I want to warn them about the song
of the sirens.

The Song of the Sirens

Donald Barnhouse has recounted the ancient Greek myth of the sirens, which were said to be
similar to what we call mermaids today. As sailing ships worked their way through
dangerous waters, the crews would suddenly catch sight of these creatures, half woman and
half fish, frolicking in the waters off the bow. The faces of these sirens were beautiful, and
they sang to the sailors. The melodies were achingly lovely, and the sailors would be
consumed by a longing for these sea creatures and their inexpressibly exquisite songs.
Mesmerized by the beauty of sirens and their music, the sailors would steer their ships
towards these bewitching creatures, only to find that they had been lured into waters that
were infested with treacherous rocks. Their vessels would be torn apart on the rocks, and it
was said that the last thing the dazed and dying sailors would hear before the waters of the
deep closed over them for the last time was the haunting arias of the sirens. The sirens would
then pilfer all the cargo from the wrecks and use it for their own purposes.

One day, however, Barnhouse recalls that a man named Orpheus was a passenger on a ship
that was being beguiled by the sirens. Seeing that the crew was enchanted by the singing of
the deceitful sea creatures, and knowing that to steer toward them meant death, Orpheus
began to sing to the sailors himself. Orpheus had been gifted with a voice unlike any human
who had ever lived. His singing was so exquisite, and his voice was so powerful, that the
sailors completely forgot about the sirens. Instead they fixed their eyes on Orpheus, and he
helped them navigate their vessel past the dangers of the rocks and the sirens’ songs.

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Barnhouse used the mythological tale of Orpheus and the sirens to remind us that we are to
listen to the word of God, the Song of songs, and adopt the teachings of Christ to navigate the
sea lanes of our lives. “Do not love the world, or the things in the world,” 1 John 2:15 warns.

But We are an Idolatrous People!

One of the most familiar stories of the Old Testament is the story of Israel’s exodus out of
Egypt. Time and time again, The Lord God Almighty cared for the Israelites and delivered
them from danger. God parted the waters of the Red Sea, allowing the Israelites to pass
through on dry land, but Pharaoh and his army were destroyed when they tried to pursue
them. God led them with a pillar of cloud by day, and a pillar of fire at night. The Lord
brought forth water from the rocks and manna from heaven to sustain the Israelites on their
trek to the Promised Land. God spoke to the Israelites through Moses: “If you will indeed
obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all
people; for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy
nation.” 3 What a glorious future lay ahead of the people of Israel! The God who owns all the
earth had promised to make them His special treasure! Surely the Israelites would have
determined that they would never wander off course, right?

Sadly, that was not the case. When Moses climbed Mount Sinai to receive God’s instructions
for the Israelites, the people grew bored, and they induced Aaron to fashion a golden calf for
them to worship. “And the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play,” 4 and to
“indulge in pagan revelry,” 5 In spite of having personally witnessed some of the most

3
Exodus 19:5-6.

4
Exodus 32:6.

5
1 Corinthians 10:7 (NIV).

5
dramatic miracles that God performed, incredible acts which are immortalized in Scripture,
the Israelites lost interest in God. They followed the song of the sirens!

The first few times I read the account of the Exodus, I would shake my head in disbelief at
the incredible short-sightedness of the Israelites. They had actually seen God part an ocean
for them to walk through, they had watched water burst from a rock and eaten bread from
heaven, and yet they turned away from the Lord and worshiped an idol of their own making.
“How could they possibly have been so stupid, so blind?” I wondered indignantly.

Then I became a pastor, and I learned that golden calves come in many different shapes and
guises. Today’s Christians have not seen pillars of fire, but we have received promises from
God every bit as glorious as any He made to Israel. Jesus proclaimed, “I have come that they
may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” 6 Yet we turn away from this
abundant life and worship something else of our own making. Many fashion a golden idol
called “professional success,” or the money that success will bring, and expend themselves to
accumulate treasures on earth. Some people worship at the altar of relationships, and they
pour their lives into one relationship after another, trying to find happiness. Others stay
monogamous, but become so totally dependent on family that the empty nest or the death of a
spouse may completely derail them. We all know those who have succumbed to the siren
song of sensual pleasure, and are lured onto the rocks of alcohol, drugs, sexual sin, or eating
disorders. Even godly church leaders, I discovered, can grow so absorbed by doing the work
of the Lord that they ignore their relationship with God, and become miserable, driven
people.

6
John 10:10.

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 The Siren Song of “Discovered” Truth

For the longest time, I thought I had succeeded in resisting the song of the sirens. It was not
until I began my consulting business that I realized that I had deceived myself. Just as I had
done all my life, when I set out to become a corporate coach, I threw myself into study to
prepare for my new vocation. I read and researched book after book on the subject of
personal and professional transformation. Today I have a library filled with thousands of
volumes that reflect a lifelong search for “truth” - books on theology, education, health, the
family, business systems, psychology, behaviorism, and motivation. I’ve spent hours in all
kinds of bookstores, from the huge new super chains to dusty little used book sellers. Without
realizing it, I had been lured away by the song of the sirens.

The deceitful melody that opened up a virtual Pandora’s Box of humanism in my life was a
phrase I heard shortly after I first trusted in Christ as my Savior: “All truth is God’s truth.” I
was told that there were two kinds of truth: revealed truth and “discovered truth.” Revealed
truth, of course, was God’s truth, His revelation of Himself and His activities through the
Bible. I firmly believed that the entire Bible was the inerrant, inspired word of God. But I
also believed that truth could be discovered by the “experts” in fields like psychology,
science, education, and so forth. I ran aground on intellectual rocks - I put this so-called
“discovered truth” that was contained in all these books on the same level with the Bible. I
was searching for the “Twins of Truth” - revealed and discovered truth. My golden calf was
knowledge.

My bookshelves at home reflect this quest. I accumulated my vast library by spending

hundreds of hours in all those bookstores, searching for truth. My wife would get disgusted!
We’d go somewhere on vacation, and I’d end up camped out in the antique bookstore. My
wife would leave me alone for awhile, and return after a few hours to find me still poring

7
over stacks of books. “I’ve been all through this entire town,”she would say with some
displeasure, “and you’re still sitting here in this same shop looking at these same books!”
You may find this hard to believe, but I would actually get anxious in those stores, thinking
that I might miss THE book that would unlock the mystery of human performance for me. I’d
pick up one book, flip through a few pages, and then the song of the sirens would draw me,
and I’d grab another book and start to read that one!

I’m ashamed to admit this today. I’m ashamed because I should have known better. The
whole time I was poring over all these books, the truth was sitting in the back seat of my car:
the truth is the Bible. I had never become truly grounded in the Number One axiom of
Christianity. My friend and mentor Dr. John Robbins defines an axiom this way: “An axiom
... is a beginning. Nothing comes before it; it is a first principle. All men and all philosophies
have axioms; they all must start their thinking somewhere.” 7 The Number One axiom of
Christianity is that the Bible alone is the word of God. God’s word, and only God’s word,
is the truth. John 17 records Jesus’ prayer to the Father, in which He said, “your word is
Truth.” 8

What IS Truth
I believed that there were many roads to truth. I didn’t understand the axiom! If the Bible
alone is the word of God, then there is nothing that is not contained within the sixty-six
books of the Bible that is any better than a hypothesis about the truth. One day John Robbins
put it all in perspective. He heard me trot out my well-worn phrase: “All truth is God’s truth,”
and he corrected me gently: “Jack,” he said, “you’ve got it backward. God’s truth is all truth.
That is the maxim.” God’s truth is all truth! “All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge”

7
John W. Robbins, What is Christian Philosophy?, (Hobbs, New Mexico, The Trinity Foundation, 1994) p. 1.

8
John 17:17.

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are to be found in Him. 9 “These [things] are written,”the apostle wrote, “that you may
believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His
name.” 10 The words of God are spirit, they are life, and they are truth. Jesus Christ is
“upholding all things by the word of His power.” 11 All things are upheld “by His word”!
Jesus Christ spoke the world into creation by His word, cast out demons by His word; raised
men from the dead by His word; healed men from their infirmities by His word; and forgave
sins by His word. 12 It is only in God’s word that we find power and authority and truth. For
man to proclaim that he knows truth apart from God’s revelation is wicked. It is blasphemy.

My mistaken belief that “All truth is God’s truth” was really no different from the idea that
“All worship is God’s worship.” John Moffat addressed this idea in an article in The
Christian Conscience:
I can imagine Nadab and Abihu talking before the early worship service in the
wilderness. One says to the other, “All fire is God’s fire. God made all fire;
therefore it is all of him.” Or while Moses was up on Mount Sinai the children
of Israel could have said to Aaron, “All worship is God’s worship.” These
analogies have the same deceptive sound of being logical at first glance, but
they are all full of the same ambiguity and deceit as the expression “All truth is
God’s truth.” 13

In the case of either false maxim — “All truth is God’s truth” or “All worship is God’s
worship” — we have failed to define our terms. In the case of worship, there is plenty of
worship that is not the worship of the God of the Bible. The Israelites worshiped a golden

9
Colossians 2:3.

10
John 20:31.

11
Hebrews 1:3.

12
Psalm 33:4&9; Colossians 1:16; Matthew 8:32; John 11:43-44; Matthew 8:8-13; Matthew 9:2-7.

13
John D. Moffat, “Is All Truth God’s Truth?”, The Christian Conscience, May 1997, p. 27. Quoted in The End of
Christian Psychology, NEED THE REST OF THE BIBLIO INFORMATION HERE.

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calf, and the Lord was greatly displeased! God’s servant, Moses, prepared a special cocktail
for the idolatrous people of Israel after they bowed down to a graven image. 14 Clearly, this
was not “God’s worship.” The same concept holds in the arena of truth. If we say that “All
truth is God’s truth,” we are implying that science possesses truth that is on the same plane of
purity and integrity as the truth of God’s word! The academy and the laboratory can provide
us with a great deal of useful information, but they do not give us absolute, objective truth
from the mind of God. Only Scripture can do that. The Bible is the context for all truth.

Once God had given me eyes to see, and a mind to understand this foundational axiom, I
realized that this first principle of Christianity -- The Bible alone is the word of God --
represents an entire unified, coherent, consistent system of truth. Once you and I have learned
and digested this truth, we are no longer working for truth and authority, we’re working from
a rock-solid foundation of truth and authority. In Matthew 7:28-29, we read that after Jesus
had finished delivering the Sermon on the Mount, “the people were astonished at His
teaching, for He taught them as one having authority.” Jesus explained this succinctly: “I
have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command,
what I should say and what I should speak ... Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father
has told Me, so I speak.” 15

Jesus spoke with authority because He spoke God’s word! We, too, have God’s word at our
disposal. It is God’s word that gives us influence. Psychology is not the authority. Science is
not the authority. Government is not the authority. Education does not give us authority. We
may have diplomas and certificates covering our walls, but still blindly miss the truth. “For
the wisdom of the world is foolishness with God. For it is written, ‘He catches the wise in

14
Exodus 32:20.

15
John 12:49-50.

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their own craftiness’; and again, ‘The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are
futile.’” 16 Today we see so many men and women who are graduates and postgraduates of
prestigious centers of “higher learning,” yet they have clearly become “futile in their
thoughts, and their foolish hearts [are] darkened. Professing to be wise, they [have become]
fools.” 17 They are “always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.”18

Contrast God’s disdain for the wisdom of this world with Peter and John, who boldly
declared the word of God, and the people “were astonished and they took note that these men
had been with Jesus.” 19 Peter and John spoke with authority because they spoke God’s
words. They had spent three years with Jesus, and had learned to preach with the words that
God had given Him.

God’s word, and God’s word alone, is the authority and standard for all of faith and
practice. We must be like the Bereans, who listened to the preaching of the apostle Paul, and
“received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether
these things were so.” 20 Everything that we hear from the scientist, from the psychologist,
from the politician, from the economist, from the educator, and especially the things we hear
from the pulpit should be immediately measured against the truth of God’s infallible word, so
that we may be sure that the things our leaders tell us are in line with God’s truth. John
warned us not to “believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because

16
1 Corinthians 3:19-20.

17
Romans 1:21-22.

18
2 Timothy 3:7.

19
Acts 4:13 (NIV).

20
Acts 17:11.

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many false prophets have gone out into the world.” 21 Indeed, there are many voices out there,
in both the secular and the sacred arenas, telling us that with the proper education in
“discovered truth,” we “will be like God, knowing good from evil.”22 Satan conducted the
very first humanistic motivational seminar for Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. “You
don’t need God’s truth,” Satan assured them. “Just do what feels good to you!” But we must
ignore Satan’s deadly siren song. Christians have been commanded to “Test all things.” 23
We must hold fast to God’s truth, as expressed in His word, and ignore the songs of the
world’s sirens.

One such song, which is often harmonized with the concept of “discovered truth” is stated:
“Whatever works.” Today’s sirens tell us that if something works, it is good and true. As a
consultant and motivator, I was sought knowledge that would produce positive mental and
emotional change in men and women. But there is a question that is far more important and
infinitely more fundamental than “What works?” The question we should always ask is,
“What is true?”

There are plenty of false things that work; counterfeit money is a perfect example. If I walk
up to a checkout line in the supermarket and plunk down a fifty dollar bill, the cashier isn’t
concerned whether the bill will work: she need only pop the bill into the cash drawer and let
me leave with the groceries. The counterfeit bill “worked” very well! However, the cashier

21
1 John 4:1.

22
Genesis 3:5.

23
1 Thessalonians 5:21.

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wants to ascertain that I have handed her a true fifty dollar bill, one which has actual value.
So she swipes the bill with a pen, or runs it under a light which verifies that it is a true fifty
dollar bill, not a false one.

The field of psychology offers all manner of theorems that seem to work. The Handbook of
Psychotherapy and Behavior Change has identified over four hundred different theories
about effecting change in the human soul. From these four hundred theories, ten thousand
techniques have been developed, all designed to assist the psychologist in initiating that
change. Of course, many of these theories and techniques contradict each other. They can’t
possibly all be true! Do they work? Whoever developed each theory or technique claims that
they do!

Another area where we see this contradiction between utility and truth is in the often
rancourous national debate over educational techniques. Some “experts” assert that the
“look-say,” or whole language method is the best way to teach children to read. Other, more
traditionally minded educators like Dr. Samuel Blumenfeld insist that whole language is
extremely harmful for students, and can even cause reading disorders! 24 Yet most of the
public schools throughout the nation employ whole language reading techniques. They claim
that they work well, and, for some kids, perhaps it does. Is it true? I don’t believe in it for a
minute!

A Plumb Line for Truth

The point of this discussion is to demonstrate that there are sirens all around us, vying for our
minds and spirits. They are engaged in the furious pursuit of our very souls. What we

24
Samuel L. Blumenfeld, NEA: Trojan Horse In American Education, (Boise, Idaho, The Paradigm Company, 1984),
110, 120.

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desperately need in today’s society is a standard, an accurate, reliable plumb line against
which we can measure truth and falsehood.

The concept of standards is a common one for all of us. We live by Standard Times, we have
standards for weights and measures, and we used to live under a gold standard. But what is
our standard for truth? What is the axiom against which we measure all of faith and practice?
We have a standard measure for a gallon of water, but what is the standard for right and
wrong?

Only God’s word, the Bible, offers comprehensive, coherent, and consistent truth. I
emphatically assert to you that Christianity is the only intellectually defensible system of
thought on the planet. Christianity is THE standard for all of life and practice.
Christianity is the plumb line for truth. Where is the consistency, the coherency, and the
comprehension in psychology, with its four hundred-plus different theories for human
change? There is none! Only the Bible provides the authority and the standard for human
transformation.

“OK,” you respond, “maybe the answer isn’t in psychology. But there is truth in education. If
I send my children to Harvard, or Yale, or one of the other seats of ‘higher learning,’ they’ll
learn the truth there.” Oh, really? Where is the consistent, comprehensive system of thought
at the university? Our college campuses have become “multi-versities,” where dozens of
theories of knowledge and thinking all clamor for attention, in a cacophonous gaggle which
professional educators like to call “diversity.” Clearly, there is no unified system of thought
at the university.

“All right,” you insist gamely, “I can educate myself. I’ll go to the bookstore and pick out the
great books that will teach me.” I appreciate your diligence, but good luck! The bookstore

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used to be my home away from home, remember? Our national bestsellers present a dizzying
array of contradictory ideas and values, from William Bennett’s Book of Virtues to Howard
Stern’s Private Parts. As I learned from years of laborious study and toil, there is absolutely
no consistency or coherence to be found on the shelves of any bookstore. There is one
bestseller, however, that does reside on the shelf of every bookstore, which is the one
infallible source of all knowledge and truth: The Bible.

What Are the Inevitable Outcomes?

Let’s examine the inevitable outcomes of following God’s blueprint for success. My purpose
in writing this book is to show you that the Bible is God’s legacy for our sanity, our
salvation, and our civilization. Listen to this command that God gave to Joshua and the
nation of Israel: “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall
meditate on it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written it.
For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” 25

The inevitable outcome of living according to God’s template for civilization is freedom.
“You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free,”26 Jesus told the Jewish
believers. Paul told the Corinthians that “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.”27 I
don’t for a minute believe that God’s word is referring only to the joyful freedom from
death’s grip that is the fruit of salvation, but also to political and economic freedom, as well.
The founding fathers of our nation strove to create a representative system of government
that would incorporate God’s principles for society, and America thrived for over two
hundred years, a shining city set upon a hill that attracted immigrants from all over the globe

25
Joshua 1:8.

26
John 8:32.

27
2 Corinthians 3:17.

15
who desired to become prosperous and successful in our free republic and free markets. Dr.
John Robbins has said, “A free society and a free market were the political and economic
expressions of the religious ideas of the Reformation. Capitalism was the economic practice
of which Christianity was the theory.” 28

A Two Hundred Year Old Warning

For decades, Americans have been living off the fruits of our root of historical, Biblical
Christianity. As the new millennium dawns, the United States is still aglitter with the
prosperity of worldly success, but the foundations are clearly crumbling. In his Farewell
Address, George Washington issued a warning for future generations of Americans: “Let us
with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion ...
reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion
of religious principle.” 29 Today, Washington’s remarks appear to have been starkly
prophetic.

We see America turning away from God’s legacy, and making every effort to eliminate even
the merest mention of Christianity from every aspect of public life:
• In Alabama, a federal judge ruled that student prayer of virtually any kind was illegal
in the public schools, and appointed federal monitors (which the Washington Post
called “prayer police”) to observe students and ensure they did not violate the judge’s
edict. 30

28
John W. Robbins, “Civilization And The Protestant Reformation,” (Hobbs, New Mexico, The Trinity Foundation,
1994), 5.

29
William J. Federer, America’s God and Country (Dallas, TX: FAME Publishing, Inc., 1994), 661.

30
“ACLJ Takes On Federal Court’s Prayer Police,” American Center for Law and Justice CaseNotes Archives,
opyright 1997. Taken from ACLJ web site.

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• The city of Marshfield, Wisconsin was sued by a group called the “Freedom From
Religion Foundation” for displaying a statue of Jesus Christ in a city-owned park. In
an effort to compromise with the anti-religion group, the city sold the statue and a
portion of the park itself on which the statue stood to private owners, thereby
eliminating any so-called “church-state” complications. As of this writing, however,
the Freedom From Religion Foundation has refused to drop the lawsuit. 31

• A nurse in Connecticut was suspended from her job at the Connecticut Department
of Public Health for two weeks without pay for sharing the plan of salvation with a
man who was dying of AIDS. The nurse “was told her actions amounted to
offensive or abusive conduct toward the public and that she had violated nursing
ethics.” 32

It is discouraging to see how far we have traveled in the United States since the 1960's. Just a
few years ago, it was widely believed that our Constitution guaranteed freedom of religion.
Increasingly, our schools and courts behave as if the mandate is for freedom from religion! A
great many of these stories escape the attention of the national media, but author and
attorney John W. Whitehead, in a chilling book entitled Religious Apartheid: The Separation
Of Religion From American Public Life, spotlighted some of the heartbreaking
manifestations of our new morality.
• In Missouri, an elementary school student was placed in detention for praying
before eating his lunch.

• In Utah, homeowners conducting private Bible studies in their own homes were
accused of violating zoning ordinances.

31
Press release from the American Center for Law and Justice, 9/2/1998. Taken from ACLJ web site

32
“Glad Tidings Of Great Joy! Just Don’t Tell Anyone!” American Center For Law and Justice CaseNotes Archive,
Copyright 1997. Taken from ACLJ web site.

17
 • In Florida, a pastor received a Notice of Violation from the County Enforcement
Office where he lived because he had placed a small Latin cross in the front of his
yard of his own private residence -- even though the county permitted real estate
signs and temporary political signs on residential property.

• In Illinois, a kindergartner who was grieved about having to cross out the word “God” in her spelling
book was chastised for writing “I love you God” on her tiny palm to show her remorse.

• In Illinois, the valentines of elementary school children were censored when the public school teacher
33
discovered Christian tracts included in some of the sealed envelopes.

The inevitable outcomes of “the exclusion of religious principle” that Washington so feared
are splashed all over the front pages of our daily newspapers. Our government scoffs at the
Bible’s admonition to avoid debt, and has proceeded to place the American people close to
six trillion dollars in debt. Hardly a week goes by that we do not hear of another politician
who has become embroiled in personal or professional scandal. Our schools have become as
deadly as our inner city streets, and our children pass through metal detectors into hallways
that are rife with drugs and danger. Almost 4,000 babies are aborted each day in the United
States alone, and more than one in ten of these innocent unborn are killed with at least the
partial use of state funds. 34 Our tax dollars are also sent overseas to promote the killing of the
unborn in China and other countries via organizations like the United Nations Fund for
Population Assistance. 35 Increasingly, the new killing fields will be in the nursing homes, as
people like “Dr. Death,” Jack Kevorkian, are portrayed in the mainstream media as
sympathetic “mercy killers,” rather than rapacious murderers. We no longer seem capable of
defining an issue as basic to the very fabric of civilization as marriage! Cities and
corporations like AT&T and Walt Disney proudly extend “domestic partner” health benefits
to homosexual couples, and popular television shows like “Roseanne” and “Ellen” promote
the homosexual lifestyle. One of the nation’s most influential newspapers, The Washington

33
These events are all quoted directly from John W. Whitehead, Religious Apartheid: The Separation of Religion From American Public
Life, (Chicago, IL, Moody Press, 1994), p. 156-157.

34
Source: Alan Guttmacher Institute website: “Facts in Brief: Induced Abortion.” Figures are for 1994.

35
Steven W. Mosher, “No choice in China,” World magazine, February, 1994, P.10.

18
Post, now posts homosexual “wedding” announcements on the same page where traditional
wedding announcements appear.

Sanity itself comes from possessing a unified system of truth. In criminal law, a person who
is considered to be insane is one who is incapable of recognizing the difference between right
and wrong. In other words, an insane person has no ability to distinguish what is true from
what is false. They have no internal system of truth. By this definition, it really isn’t much of
a stretch to say that the United States would appear to be rapidly going insane! We can no
longer tell the difference between right and wrong.

No Truth, No Freedom

Prior to our Revolutionary War, Professor Alexander Tyler described the cycle of life in the
world’s great civilizations:

A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the
voters discover that they can vote themselves a largesse from the (public) treasury. From that
moment on, the majority will always vote for the candidates promising the most benefits
from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal
policy and is always followed by a dictatorship.

The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations has ben 200 years. These nations have
progressed through this sequence: from bondage to spiritual faith; from spiritual faith to
great courage; from great courage to abundance; from abundance to selfishness; from
selfishness to complacency; from complacency to apathy; from apathy to dependency;
36
from dependency back again into bondage.

36
Quoted in Ron Blue, How to Master Your Money, (Nashville, TN, Thomas Nelson, 1986,1991), 15.

19
The “bondage” that Professor Tyler speaks of is the bondage of tyranny and totalitarianism.
Robert Winthrop, a descendant of the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, said
that men and women “must necessarily be controlled either by a power within them, or a
power without them; either by the word of God, or by the strong arm of man; either by the
Bible or by the bayonet.” 37 If we allow ourselves, as individuals or as a nation, to believe
Satan’s lie and attempt to displace God’s truth with a “discovered” truth of our own making,
the inevitable result is personal chaos and national anarchy. It may happen quickly, or it may
take many years, but the outcomes are dreadfully certain! In this last century we have seen
this occur on a horrifying scale in both Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. Benjamin
Franklin once said: “Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become more
corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters.” 38

Dear Reader, you may be assuring yourself at this very moment that the United States is not
“corrupt and vicious.” We would never, ever succumb to a tyrannical government! Are you
really so sure? Time and time again in recent years, we have seen federal agencies involved
in the killing of civilians who were never proven guilty of any crime whatsoever. The most
egregious of these abuses of government power took place in Waco, Texas, in 1993, when
more than 80 men, women, and children died in the blazing inferno that had once been their
home. While I passionately disagreed with David Koresh’s theology, I don’t for one second
believe that his beliefs marked him for death at the hands of government agents. And what
was the response of William Jefferson Clinton, the President of the United States, who is
ultimately responsible for upholding and protecting our republican model of government?
When asked if Attorney General Janet Reno (who said she has “no regrets, no second

37
Federer, America’s God and Country, 701-2.

38
Quoted in The New American, Vol. 14, No. 24, November 23, 1998, p. 30.

20
thoughts, would do nothing differently” 39) should resign because of her role in the deaths of
80 American civilians, including as many as 25 children, 40 President Clinton responded, “I
was, frankly, ‘surprised’ would be a mild word, that anyone would suggest that the Attorney
General should resign because some religious fanatics murdered themselves.” 41 The
President stopped just short of saying something like, Let this be a warning to the rest of you
religious fanatics out there when he said, “I hope very much that others who will be tempted
to join cults and to become involved with people like Koresh will be deterred by the horrible
scenes they have seen over the last weeks ... There is, unfortunately, a rise in this sort of
fanaticism all across the world. And we may have to confront it again.” 42

On the surface, Mr. Clinton’s comment seems sound. We shouldn’t join cults which preach
“the gospel according to David Koresh,” or any other person or group. I agree with that
completely. But let me hasten to remind you that today’s “rugged individualist” can become
tomorrow’s “cultist” or “religious fanatic.” In May of 1995, shortly after the horrible
bombing of the Murrah building in Oklahoma City, the prestigious news weekly, Time, ran
an article titled “Enemies of the State,” which was intended to alert readers to the potential
danger of “an amorphous, far-right populist movement of both armed militias and unarmed
groups that harbor a deep distrust of government.” The “fringe characters” who make up “the
ranks of the antifederalist insurgency include plenty of ... tax protestors, home schoolers,
Christian fundamentalists and well-versed Constitutionalists.” Time claimed that what unites

39
Don Feder, “Maybe David Koresh Wasn’t So Crazy After All,” April 18, Copyright 1994, Creators Syndicate.
Reprinted in The Conservative Chronicle, April 27, 1994, p.27.

40
Ibid.

41
William Norman Grigg, “A Post-Oklahoma Kristallnacht,” The New American, Vol. 11, No. 11, May 29, 1995.
Taken from the New American website.

42
Ibid. (Emphasis added.)

21
these “true believers” with “neo-Nazis and white supremacists” is a “fervent paranoia.”43 I
have read and re-read this article several times, and I can find no effort by the writer to
differentiate “home schoolers and Christian fundamentalists” from “neo-Nazis”! They all
seem to be lumped into the same group.

Lest you think that this is just some isolated incident, in September of 1998, the Dallas
Morning News told the story of a retired grandmother who called a local radio show to argue
that the United States should withdraw from the United Nations. The woman was
investigated by the New Mexico State Police as a potential “radical.” She was also contacted
by the Office of Special Investigations at Holloman Air Force Base. One of the things the
Comment [COMMENT1]: William
investigator wanted to know was if the woman “was connected with a religious group.” 44 Norman Grigg, “Mark Them as
‘Extremists,’ The New American,
Why would the security investigator need that information? Is membership in “a religious November 23, 1998, Vol.14, No. 24, 11-
12.

group” a component of some sort of terrorist profile?

John Opie, of Golden, Colorado, wrote a letter to a public affairs officer for the Colorado
National Guard which politely but strongly objected to Colorado Guardsmen serving in U.N.
peacekeeping missions. The Colorado Guard forwarded Opie’s letter to the FBI, “as a matter
of safety for all concerned.” 45

Dear Reader, you must see where we are headed! We have outlawed the teaching of
Christianity in our public school system. We are no loner passing on the root of our freedom
to our children. When we reject God’s word as the basis for right and wrong, someone or
something is going to step into the resulting vacuum. Political liberals who insist that “You

43
Jim Smolowe, “Enemies Of The State,” Time, May 8, 1995, Volume 145, No. 19. Taken from Time’s website.

44
William Norman Grigg, “Mark Them as ‘Extremists,’ The New American, Nov. 23, 1998, Vol. 14, No. 24, 11-12.

45
Ibid, p.13.

22
can’t force your morality on others” ignore the undeniable fact that all law and public policy
reflect somebody’s morality! Evidently the “new” morality would dictate that the spirit of
deep religious faith and vigorous political debate that marked our founding era are no longer
desirable, but rather exhibit dangerous warning signs of mental instability! If this kind of
thinking held sway in the 1700's, George Washington, the Father of our Country, who was
widely known to be a devoutly religious man, could never have been elected to be the first
president of the United States. He would have been rejected by Time magazine as some sort
of “fringe character.”

The Bad Fruit that Grows From an Evil Root

I have tried to reveal the inevitable outcomes of a society which rejects God’s word as its
authority and exalts man’s opinions instead. Everything we see today, from the violence in
our streets and schools, to the recklessness and corruption of our federal government, to the
orgy of violence and immorality that proudly parades across our television screens every
night, is the fruit that grows out of the serious root problem that we have.

As the blackened and deformed fruit of godlessness continues to blossom with alarming
rapidity in almost every structure of our society, we can respond by joining this organization
or that political party, seeking to effect positive change. Many fine Christian men and women
are doing exactly that, and while they have succeeded in impeding the onslaught of the
wicked fruits of humanism, I’m quite sure most of them feel they are fighting an uphill battle.
That is because our political action groups and social issues organizations are not laying the
axe to the root of the grotesque tree of ignorance and unbelief that is growing in the United
States. They are merely snipping at the fruit that grows from its twisted branches.

23
 A Question of Discernment

I have already mentioned my friend and mentor, Dr. John Robbins, twice in this book. Dr.
Robbins is one of the most brilliant men I have ever met. He directs the Trinity Foundation,
which is an educational organization dedicated to bringing the truth of God’s word to bear on
every aspect of life. Dr. Robbins has been a patient and powerful teacher for me, and he has
opened up avenues of godly thinking that I had only dimly understood before I came under
his tutelage. As you and I progress through this book together, I am going to do more to
introduce you this wonderful Christian man, and to his teacher, the remarkable Dr. Gordon
Clark.

John Robbins taught me a very simple question that has had a marvelously crystalizing effect
on my thinking:
“What is more important, what is less important, and what is not important at all?”

What is more important in the struggle for life and liberty that America is engaged in? Is it
more important to get out into the political arena to do battle with the forces of secularism
that are moving so aggressively to conquer our culture? I think not. Please understand me: I
do not wish to imply for even an instant that the many pro-life and pro-family groups that
have formed all across our land are unimportant. We are blessed to live in a country which
still allows free political association, and we should take full advantage of that privilege.

But I must state to you categorically that I do believe that political activism is less
important. When Jesus walked the earth, there was all manner of political corruption and
social injustice that pervaded the land. Israel was under the harsh political rule of the Roman
conqueror. A great many men and women had turned away from God. Slavery was an
accepted practice. Infanticide was common, as parents would take their unwanted children

24
 out at night and leave them to be eaten by wild animals, or to be picked up by evil men and
women who would raise the babies for their own dark purposes. Many of the Jews believed
that the Messiah would come as a great military and political leader who would overthrow
Roman rule and affect social change. What was Jesus’ concern? He asked the disciples:
“‘Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?’ So they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist,
some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ He said to them, ‘But who do you
say that I am?’ Simon Peter answered and said, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living
God.’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and
blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that
you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not
prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you
bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in
heaven.” 46

Jesus rejoiced, not that Peter was going out to do battle against the political authorities, but that he
knew the truth. That truth, revealed to us in the Bible by our Father in heaven is THE foundation
for salvation, sanity, and civilization.

Jude urged believers to “contend earnestly for the faith.” 47 We as believers need to bring the Bible
out of the musty storage closet into which modern society has carelessly flung it, and proclaim it to
be the truth. We need to drag the falsehoods of man’s vain imaginings out into the light of day and
expose them for the distorted monstrosities that they are! Ephesians 5:11 clearly admonishes us to
“have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.” We must use

46
Matthew 16:13-19.

47
Jude 3.

25
God’s word to expose these counterfeit competitors, these humanistic sources of “knowledge” which
have no legitimacy. This is the most important battle that needs to be fought - the battle for the
clear presentation of Christian doctrine. That doctrine is the root of our faith. It is only by
maintaining the purity of God’s revealed truth, and rejecting the contamination of man’s “discovered
truth,” that we will maintain our free society.

Too many men and women in powerful positions in this country hate the legacy that God has
left us. Our government schools, and particularly the leadership of the powerful national
teachers’ unions, despise the truth of God’s word, and often lead the charge to censor it from
all of our educational systems. Many business leaders despise God’s standards for society,
because they interfere with “the free flow of goods at fair market value.” If Christian parents
do not pass their children God’s keys for salvation, sanity, and civilization, the inevitable
outcome is societal chaos, and ultimately, tyranny.

The Barkers’ Lure

I once heard a story about two farm boys who were sent to the annual county fair by their
father. Mr. Farmer told his sons to go the main tent and look at the new cultivators that would
be on display, and to learn all about the wonderful new agricultural techniques that had been
developed during the year. The boys went to the fair fully intending to do what Dad wanted,
but as they walked down the midway toward the big tent, they were drawn by the calls of the
different barkers hawking their various games and foods and things to sell. Just as the sailors
of ancient mythology were lured off course by the song of the sirens, these two country boys
were attracted by the call of the barkers encouraging them to try the ring-toss, the dart throw,
and so on. Suddenly the boys realized that it was growing late, and they still hadn’t gotten to
the agricultural tent. They hurried up the midway, but when they arrived at the big tent, they
found that all the new tools had all been covered or stored away, and the exhibits were

26
closed. The boys had to go home and tell their disappointed father that they had failed to
carry out the assignment he had given them. They had gotten so caught up in all the side
shows that they missed the main event!
\
How about you? Are you focused on the main event? Our Father has given us instructions:
“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have
commanded you ...” 48 That is the main event. We are to go into the world and make disciples
and to teach them the truth of God’s word, i.e., Christian doctrine! Too many of us get
caught up in the side shows of social and political activism and miss the main event!

Let me say again that I don’t mean to imply that those of you who are involved in the issues
of the day are doing something unimportant. You are doing a good thing. But the good is the
enemy of the best. We can give our children all sorts of information about the concerns of
the day. We can talk to them about why Halloween is a pagan holiday, and why they
shouldn’t watch garbage TV like “Dawson’s Creek” or “South Park.” We can teach our kids
all about which political party is the party that supports abortion and homosexuality and why
they should vote for pro-life and pro-family candidates. We can do all these good things to
help them spot the evil fruit that is growing on the trees of our land, and we may lose sight of
the legacy that God has commanded us to pass on to our kids, which is the root of truth.
“These words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach
them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house,
when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind
them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You
shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” 49

48
Matthew 28: 19-20.

49
Deuteronomy 6:6-9.

27
 We’ll soon see that it was “these words,” not political activism, which brought the
world out of the Dark Ages. It was when Martin Luther translated the Bible into a
language which the people -- not just the priesthood -- could understand, that they
were delivered “out of darkness and into His marvelous light.” 50

The apostle Paul told the Corinthians, “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war
as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the
contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every
pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every
thought to make it obedient to Christ.” 51 (The King James version translates “pretension”
with the word “imagining.”) All throughout the book of Acts, we read of Paul using the
Scriptures to reason with people and to persuade them. “Then Paul, as his custom was, went
in to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and
demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, ‘This
Jesus whom I preach to you is the Christ ... He reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and
with the Gentile worshipers, and in the marketplace daily with those who happened to be
there.” 52

Paul did not limit his preaching from the Scriptures only to the sermons in church on the
Sabbath. He went out into the marketplace, or the public arena, daily to reason from the
scriptures, with believers (worshipers) and unbelievers (those who happened to be there)
alike! What weapon did Paul use to counter the arguments -the pretensions and imaginings --

50
1 Peter 2:9.

51
2 Corinthians 10:3-5, NIV.

52
Acts 17:2-3,17.

28
in both the secular and sacred arena? The Scriptures, “the sword of the Spirit, which is the
word of God.” 53

A Powerful Word for Perilous Times

When Satan tried to tempt Jesus to turn away from God and embrace a man-centered
theology, how did He respond? Three times, Jesus told Satan, “It is written.” 54 Did Jesus
have some catchy slogan written on a signboard to wave at the enemy? Did he quote from a
position paper published by a political “think tank,” or cite the latest poll results? No, Jesus
told Satan, “Man shall not live by bread alone [not by the “weapons of the world”], but by
every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” 55

You and I are in possession of the words that proceeded from the mouth of God! “All
Scripture is God-breathed,” as the NIV version accurately translates 2 Timothy 3:16. 56 God

53
Ephesians 6:17.

54
Matthew 4:4, 7, 10.

55
Matthew 4:4.

56

Most other reputable translations render the first phrase in 2 Timothy 3:16, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God,” or “All
Scripture is inspired by God,” which is perfectly acceptable, but the original Greek is “All Scripture is theoneustos,” or literally,
“God’s breath.”

29
has given us the weapon that demolishes the strongholds and vain imaginings that set
themselves against the knowledge of God.

“Jack, we’re living in a different age,” you might well protest. “I quote Scripture when I’m
tempted by Satan, as Jesus did, but when I’m going up against the National Organization for
Women or the National Gay and Lesbian Alliance, I need more than Scripture verses!”

Are you really so sure? Let’s read Ephesians 6:12 - “We do not wrestle against flesh and
blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this
age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Our struggle is not against
the militant feminists, the angry homosexuals, and the aggressive secularists who have
arrayed themselves “against the knowledge of God.” 57 No, our struggle is against the dark
forces of spiritual evil, the minions of Satan, that are arrayed against us. Paul urged Timothy
to avoid quarreling with those who oppose Christian truth, and “gently instruct” them, “in
the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and
that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them
captive to do his will.” 58 Satan is our enemy, not the abortionist! It is Satan who seeks to
lead our great nation to destruction, not a particular political party. And what weapon did
Jesus use -- He who could have summoned legions of angels to do battle if He had needed
them -- what was the most effective weapon He knew to defeat the enemy? He used God’s
word!

57
2 Corinthians 10:5.

58
2 Timothy 2:24-25 (NIV).

30
 Our Behavior Broadcasts Our Beliefs

Attitude precedes action, belief is the foundation for behavior, and philosophy is the
precursor of performance. Look at our society’s problems. We have become a people like
those whom Isaiah warned: “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put
darkness for light, and light for darkness.” 59 The unbelievers in our society are certainly
putting their beliefs on display: “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!” 60 Clearly, the
majority of Americans do not believe that God’s word has any authority over their lives. The
hostility and rebellion against the knowledge of God has reached a level of intensity here in
the United States that is unprecedented in our history. Europe has, for the most part, already
succumbed to the forces of humanism and unbelief.

But I’m afraid that we Christians also broadcast our own brand of unbelief to a watching
world. When we do try to resist the tidal wave of humanism crashing down over our nation,
we take up the weapons of the world! We march, we boycott, we organize, and we participate
in panel debates on television. We become just another group of angry voices clamoring to
be heard. We’ve even been tagged with our own political nickname: “The Religious Right.”
John Whitehead reminded his readers of the great theologian J. Gresham Machen’s warning
that “We may preach with all the fervor of a reformer and yet succeed only in winning a
straggler here and there, if we permit the whole collective thought of the nation ... to be
controlled by ideas which, by the resistless force of logic, prevent Christianity from being
regarded as anything more than a harmless delusion. 61”

59
Isaiah: 5:20.

60
1 Corinthians 15:32 .

61
Quoted in John W. Whitehead, Religious Apartheid, (Chicago, IL, Moody Press, 1994), 203.

31
What we seem to have forgotten is that “The word of God is living and powerful, and
sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of
joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” 62 It is God’s
word that is more effective than any worldly weapon, sharper than any two-edged sword, and
it is God’s word that has divine power to demolish secular strongholds and refute the vain
imaginings that make up so much of modern day psychological, scientific, educational,
political, economic, and ethical thought.

Where Are the Shepherds?

There is a crime more heinous than that which the abortionist commits when he vacuums out
the brains of a living baby in the ghastly “partial birth abortion” procedure. That crime is the
man who stands in the pulpit and does violence to the word of God, by claiming that God’s
word isn’t true, or is only partially true, or is not sufficient for faith and practice.

God places the greatest emphasis on the importance of preaching the truth of His word. In
Psalm 138:2, David said of the Lord that “You have magnified Your word above all Your
name.” God places greater importance on His word of truth than on His own name! It is only
through the proper exposition and understanding of God’s word that we can follow the
path to salvation, sanity, and civilization. Here is what God says to those who stand in
front of their congregations week after week and give them some thinly disguised Twelve-
Step theology sprinkled with a few Scripture verses here and there to make it sound like a
sermon instead of a seminar; This is God’s stern warning to pastors who regularly subject
their flocks to some form of 20th century prosperity gospel or social gospel; Here is God’s
condemnation of the theologians who proclaim that the Bible is, after all, an archaic book

62
Hebrews 4:12.

32
which was written by men, and is therefore filled with errors and generally useless for
ordering our lives and society:
“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!” says the Lord.
Therefore thus says the Lord God of Israel against the shepherds who feed My people: “You
have scattered My flock, driven them away, and not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to
63
you for the evil of your doings,” says the Lord.

The root cause of all our problems is that many theologians and pastors of the West have
abandoned their sacred charge of proclaiming the pure truth of God’s word. Look at Jeremiah
23:4. “‘I will set up shepherds over them who will feed them; and they shall fear no more,
nor be dismayed, nor shall they be lacking,’ says the Lord.” The root cause of America’s
moral malaise lies, not in our politics, but in our pulpits! We are lacking a Biblical world
view for all of faith and practice because we aren’t being fed! Our children are being
brainwashed by evolutionary, New Age dogma in the government schools because our
pastors aren’t teaching them or their parents the doctrines of historical, biblical Christianity.
The dreadful humanist teachings of Sigmund Freud hold sway with our pastors today because
our seminaries haven’t taught them that it is the Bible, not psychology, that is the only true
basis for all human transformation. Marxist economic thought still occupies the imaginings
of far too many professors at our universities because our pastors don’t even realize that it is
Christianity, not the dialectic, which holds the only workable model for economic prosperity.
Our national ethics are at their most dismal lows because the pulpits of America are no
longer “aflame with righteousness,” as Alexis de Tocqueville found them when he visited
America in the 19th century. The flock is scattered, fearful, and dismayed because our
churches no longer teach the reasons why the angel said, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I
bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this
day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”64 Jesus Christ did not come to

63
Jeremiah 23:1-2.

64
Luke 2:11-12.

33
walk the earth so that true believers would feel better about themselves, or so that they could
accumulate great wealth. In Part II of this book I’ll explain the specific, legal agreement that
took place between the Father and the Son before the creation of the world that ensured that
“you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have
life in His name.” 65 I am unfailingly astonished and dismayed, as I travel the United States,
to discover how abysmally deficient the average church member’s knowledge of the
Scriptures really is. “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge,” said the Lord. 66 This
is certainly being proven true in the West. We are sinking inexorably into moral quicksand
because we don’t really understand the exalted alternative that God has provided for us. We
have abdicated the power of the sword of the Spirit, God’s word, because we don’t
understand its relevance to every aspect of our lives.

“Woe to the Shepherds Who Destroy and Scatter ...”

Preachers and teachers who mishandle the word of God, or deliberately twist and distort
what it says, will not escape God’s judgment. Jesus grimly warned, “Whoever causes one
of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were
hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea.” 67 Many people
believe that our Lord was referring to children when He said “little ones,” but any true
Bible scholar will tell you that Jesus meant all believers, not just the young ones. Jesus
was saying that anyone who leads His “children,” His believers, into sin -- whether by
direct inducement or by misrepresenting God’s word -- would rather he had died from
drowning, rather than face God’s judgement!

65
John 20:31.

66
Hosea 4:6.

67
Matthew 18:6.

34
The apostle Peter foresaw “false prophets among the people, even as there will be false
teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord
who brought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction.” These false teachers will be
judged with “swift destruction.” But “many will follow their destructive ways, because of
whom the way of truth will be blasphemed.” 68 The final chapter of the Bible contains a
warning even more stern and explicit: “For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the
prophecy of this book; If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that
are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this
prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from
the things which are written in this book.” 69

Hebrews 5:14 commands us to develop discernment, to train ourselves “to distinguish good
from evil.” 70 But how is the average churchgoer going to develop that discernment if he or
she isn’t being taught? Christians must learn to turn to God’s word for their answers, like the
Bereans in Acts 17. They didn’t take Paul’s word that he was telling them truth. They
searched the Scriptures daily to be sure that what Paul said was true. We need Biblical
teachers who encourage us to turn to God’s word for truth. “To the law and to the
testimony!” Isaiah thundered. Turn to the Bible! If our teachers “do not speak according to
this word, it is because there is no light in them.” 71

I have become outraged as I visit church after church across this country, hoping to hear the
man in the pulpit conduct an exegesis (“ex ah jeess iss”) - a “bringing out,” an exposition of

68
2 Peter 2:1-2.

69
Revelation 22:18-19.

70
(NIV).

71
Isaiah 8:20.

35
the Biblical text - the law and the testimony. Nehemiah 8:8 gives us a wonderful illustration
of Biblical exegesis: “They read distinctly from the book, in the Law of God; and they gave
the sense, and helped them to understand the reading.” In Luke 24 we see our Lord
“bringing out” the truths of the Bible when he walked along the road with the two
discouraged believers, “And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them
in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.” After Jesus had disappeared, the two
disciples “said to one another, ‘Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on
the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?’” 72 The Greek word in Luke 24:27 that
is translated “expounded” is the same word from which we get our English word
“hermeneutics,” which is the science of interpretation. Jesus interpreted the Scriptures for the
disciples. He went through the entire Old Testament and showed how it prophesied His
birth, death, and resurrection. He exposed the Biblical texts, which is what we literally mean
by expository preaching. Jesus didn’t expound on the philosophies of the day; He explained
what the word of God had to say. That is exegesis.

Tragically, I find that today’s congregation is subjected to an eisegesis (“ice ah jeess iss”),
where, rather than exposing the truth of the Biblical text, the preacher imposes his own ideas
on the text. The great preachers of the past followed the three laws of hermeneutics: “What
does the text say? What does it mean? What does the text require of me?” All too often, the
eisegesis of today’s modern preacher only uses the Biblical text -- if the Bible is even
mentioned at all -- as a springboard to launch into some kind of “life application” seminar.
And the tragic fact is that unwary Christians, who have never been taught the great doctrines
of their faith, walk away as if they’ve just been fed a tremendous meal. They mentally pat
their spiritual bellies like someone who has just finished a mouth-watering banana split of
all-natural Biblical ice cream, syrups, and fruits. Unwittingly, what they have really
consumed is a humanistic concoction consisting of one scoop of sensationalism and two

72
Luke 24:27,32.

36
scoops of possibility thinking, flavored with non-biblical sprinkles and decorated with the
whipped cream of medieval paganism, all topped with a “health and wealth” cherry!

The Skeleton and the Bones: The Parts Must Relate to the Whole

Dr. John Robbins teaches that the various parts of a system are explained by the whole.
For example, some of the incredibly tiny and exquisitely shaped bones of our inner ear would
be very difficult to understand if we were to examine them one at a time, individually. We
might well not be able to comprehend what their function is. But their utility immediately
becomes apparent when we see how they fit into the structure -- the system -- of the ear. To
expand this analogy only slightly, most of us would be unable to identify a great many of the
206 bones that make up our skeletal system that if we were to view them individually. It is
only when we see how they fit into the overall skeletal system that we come to a complete
understanding of their contribution to the body.

The Bible, as I have said, is a complete, coherent, comprehensive, system of truth. Just as
with the human skeleton, we aren’t going to completely understand the parts without a clear
view of the whole. Unfortunately, even in churches that genuinely desire to feed the flock
with the truth of God’s word, the pastor has no clear, unified theological system that he is
following. He has no skeletal system to which he can attach the individual bones of truth. As
a result, each Sunday, he’ll pull out an individual bone from randomly selected parts of the
theological body of knowledge and explain it to the congregation.

“Here’s the femur bone of God’s view of marriage.”

“Here’s the ulna bone of spiritual warfare.”
“Here’s the vertebrae of eternal security.”

37
Each Sunday the congregation learns all about a different bone, but nothing about how it
relates to the whole! The people are handed a jumbled pile of disjointed, unrelated, isolated
bones, which, apart from a theological system, have no real significance. You might
approach a church member and ask him how he likes the teaching at his church.

“Oh, it’s wonderful,” the church member beams. He is dragging a large suitcase behind him.
“I’ve been coming here ten years, and we almost always learn fascinating things about these
bones!”

You glance curiously at the suitcase which he is straining to haul up the aisle. Perhaps he is
packed for an extended trip to Europe. Your new friend notices your eyes flickering towards
the heavy suitcase.

“Ah, you like my sermon notebook, eh?” he asks delightedly. “I have every one of Pastor
Smith’s sermons in here.” He lets the suitcase fall to the floor with a heavy thump, unzips the
cover, and throws it back. “See?” He looks up at you proudly. “I’ve saved every one of
them!”

To your astonishment, you see that the huge suitcase is filled with dozens and dozens of
bones! There are large bones and small bones, thick bones and slender ones, long and short
bones, all tossed willy-nilly into the suitcase, like some sort of ghoulish chef’s salad. You
realize that your mouth is hanging down somewhere near your chest, and you abruptly snap it
shut again. You ask the first question that comes to your mind: “Wow, you sure have a lot of
bones in there! What do you do with them all? How do they fit together?”

The church member stares silently, almost resentfully, back at you. His lips move, but no
sound emerges. He has no answer to give you! He has sat faithfully in church, Sunday after

38
Sunday, listening to sermons that have explained a great many theological parts, but he has
no idea how these parts fit together into a unified whole.

Truth is a System of Thought

The God of the universe has created systems. He created solar systems, groupings of stars
and planets and space, each member orbiting in relation to the other. He has created
ecosystems, which are infinitely complex arrangements of plants, animals, water, and
vegetation which interconnect in a marvelous symphony in which all the parts provide
nourishment to the whole, and also derive their sustenance from the whole. There are no
“rogue” members of the system, which contribute nothing to their environment. There is a
marvelous tapestry of life which supports itself, as God directs.

God created man’s skeletal system, which we know consists of the 206 bones which support
the body. Each of the widely varying shapes and sizes of bones contained in the skeletal
system performs an important function, ordained by God, which contribute strength and
support and agility to the body. At the same time, the human body gives meaning and
significance to each of the individual bones.

God has also revealed a complete system of knowledge, called Christianity. Christianity is a
supernatural revelation of the eternal mind of God. As with all God’s magnificent
systems, there is a perfect harmony and interdependency among all the members. “Every
word of God is pure,” 73 Proverbs asserts. Every word — down to the merest article and the
smallest preposition — every phrase, every proposition, every prophecy, every doctrine are
all part of God’s grand and glorious decree for history: “The whole counsel of God.” 74 Each

73
Proverbs 30:5.

74
Acts 20:27.

39
part provides strength and support to the whole, and the whole gives meaning and
significance to each individual part. Charles Hodge wrote eloquently of the “harmony and
consistency ... (the) systematic order and mutual relation” of God’s word and the system
contained therein, and asserted that “as [God] wills that men should study his works
[systems] and discover their wonderful organic relation and harmonious combination, so it is
his will that we should study his Word, and learn that, like the stars, its truths are not isolated
points, but systems, cycles, and epicycles, in unending harmony and grandeur.” 75

The only complete and non-contradictory system of thought to be found on the planet is
revealed in the pages of Scripture. Since the Bible is a completely integrated system of
thought, I must understand “the whole counsel of God” if I am going to understand each of
its parts. If I wish to learn the book of Romans, I must comprehend the foundation that was
laid in Genesis. If I am going to fully drink in the significance of Genesis, I must look to the
prophecy contained in the book of the Revelation. Christianity is a complete, comprehensive
system of thought. Paul wrote about a “form of doctrine.” 76 There is a form, a pattern of
doctrine, revealed in God’s word, and which the great servants of historical, biblical
Christianity have labored to bring to light. Gordon Clark wrote in his marvelous book on the
proper role of education, “If truth is a system, as the omniscience of God guarantees, and if
an institution of higher learning aims to transmit some truth, then a professor ought to have at
least an elementary grasp in order to locate the position of his subject in the whole.” 77 Satan
would have us think in terms of brute factuality. He wants us concentrate on individual items
of information, but not develop a system of truth that assigns each of those items a place in

75
The Princeton Theology, 1812 - 1921, Edited and compiled by Mark A. Noll, (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book
House, 1983), p. 119-120.

76
Romans 6:17.

77
Gordon H. Clark, A Christian Philosophy of Education, 2d rev.ed. (Hobbs, N.M.: The Trinity Foundation, 1988), p.
195-196.

40
an unbreakable chain of systematic knowledge. When we learn and discuss any subject, we
should always be sure we understand how it fits into the larger whole.

In his fine book, What is Faith?, J. Gresham Machen wrote, “We’re teaching the applications
of Christianity without teaching the Christianity which is to be applied.”78 Believers must
understand the theories -- the pattern of doctrine -- of Christianity before they can go out and
apply it. Our churches preach a great many sermons and offer dozens of seminars on the
various applications of Christianity -- marriage, raising children, financial responsibility, and
so on -- but we are never equipped with an unassailable system of thought that links all these
applications together. “Theory without practice is dead, but practice without theory is
blind.” 79 We haven’t been taught to think logically and systematically. Professors of
theology and the pastors they train talk about the derivatives of our faith without explaining
the fundamentals. We’ve been equipped with an assortment of random, seemingly
disconnected facts -- a suitcase full of bones!

The unspoken implication of this kind of teaching is that Christianity is seen as only a part of
the way we think. We believe our faith is useful for Sunday worship, and helpful for
relationships in the home, but far too often we don’t accept the Bible as our authoritative
source of all knowledge and truth. We don’t know how to take our faith out into the
marketplace of ideas and confidently demonstrate that it is an entire philosophical system.
Yet our God is a jealous God, and Christianity defiantly asserts that it is not a part of
anything, but rather that complete and comprehensive whole. Christianity is not an
approximation of the truth, or a part of the truth, it is truth!

I’ll often find myself distressed when I hear a Christian debating with a secularist or a cultist.
If you and I were a general going into battle, we would bring our entire army to bear against
the forces of the enemy. We wouldn’t send a squad out to fight against our enemy’s army,
because they would be destroyed. Yet this is precisely what I hear so many believers do when

78
J. Gresham Machen, What is Faith?, NEED BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INFO HERE

79
John W. Robbins, Without A Prayer: Ayn Rand And The Close Of Her System, (Hobbs, N.M.: The Trinity
Foundation, (c) 1997), p.387.

41
they engage in the ideological battle that is raging in our culture today! Instead of developing
the entire Biblical system of thought to the table, they bring one or two precepts from their
faith, and then proceed to brandish these disconnected bones against the entire philosophical
structure of their opponents. There is no strength in such an approach!

Similarly, I’ll often see Christians being lulled to sleep by cultists who use the same terms
that we do, but have applied different meanings to them. For example, when a Jehovah’s
witness speaks of salvation through faith in Christ, they do not mean that salvation comes
through the completed work of Christ alone, as we do. But they often don’t define their
terms, and the Christian walks away thinking that the Jehovah’s witness is his brother in the
Lord! Similarly, I see more and more evangelicals proclaiming the many similarities between
the Protestant and Roman Catholic churches. They will for example, hear a Catholic
theologian say that the Bible is the word of God and reason that Protestants and Catholics
share the same belief on the authority of Scripture. What the naive Protestant doesn’t
understand is that the Catholic cedes equal authority to the words of the pope, as well. Both -
- the words of men and the word of God -- carry equal authority for the Catholic, but the
terms have not been clearly defined, and so we are easily misled.

I make these points to show you that we must be able to incorporate our entire system into
our philosophical and theological arguments, but we must also guard against a natural
tendency to assume that others, who utilize the same words that we do, actually give the
same definition to those words. We hear words that belong to our own system of thought, and
we assume that others are using these words in the same context and with the same definition
that we would apply. In a great many cases, nothing could be further from the truth.

How Strong is Your Bridge?

42
I saw a demonstration in a high school woodworking class that applies perfectly to
systematic nature of God’s truth. Our group was studying the construction of bridges. The
instructor wanted to stress the importance of the triangle shaped trusses which give a bridge
its strength, so he issued a challenge to the entire class. We were told to construct a model
bridge, using only popsicle sticks and glue. Each bridge had to be 18 inches long, but beyond
that, there were no limitations on the construction. We could use as many popsicle sticks as
we liked in whatever configuration we thought would provide the most strength. The student
who built a bridge that held more weight than the instructor’s would win a prize.

A dozen students accepted the challenge. When the day came to test the bridges, many of
them had assembled some very formidable-looking structures. The instructor had several
thick strips of lead that he laid across the spans of each bridge. Most of the bridges
immediately splintered and collapsed under one or two lead strips. One or two of them held
three lead strips for a few seconds, and then they, too, gave way. At last we came to the
instructor’s bridge. None of the students thought it was particularly impressive. Where some
of the students’ spans had been triple-reinforced with popsicle sticks, his had only one layer.
We began jostling and tittering, anticipating that his bridge would quickly crumble in the
same ignominious manner that our classmates’ had, only to watch in goggle-eyed surprise as
the instructor proceeded to place six of the lead strips on his bridge. Not only did his bridge
hold the weight, but it was still standing firm the next day when we returned to class!

The reason, of course, was that his was the only bridge which had been built with trusses.
These simple looking devices transfer the weight which rests upon the span throughout the
entire structure, rather than forcing one isolated area of the bridge to take up the entire load
by itself. The trusses allowed the collective strength of the entire bridge to carry the weight,
whereas when the lead strips were placed on our bridges, only a few pieces were forced to
withstand the entire load. They snapped, and the entire structure gave way.

43
The same thing is true of any philosophy. If the entire system of thought rests upon a few
flimsy principles, and even one of these principles is proven to be false, the entire body of
thought quickly topples. In a system that is not unified and consistent, when the weight of
logical criticism is directed at a few of its intellectual supports, they snap, and the entire
system of thought is discredited. Isolated truths do not provide strength! Dear Reader,
God did not give us a flimsy theological structure! We do not have a few detached doctrines
of faith, each isolated from the other, and each incapable of bearing up under the withering
criticism that is directed at Christianity by secular scientists, educators, and philosophers.
God has created a formidable philosophical and theological system, in which each part is
interconnected and interdependent, providing the entire structure with solid, unshakeable
strength and durability. Each doctrine mutually supports the other. When I listen to someone
speaking, their statements filter through the entire system of biblical thought, allowing me to
carefully and dispassionately evaluate the truth claims of the speaker. When you and I have
constructed this kind of a self-supporting structure, we are then able to reach out and build
stable, sturdy bridges of belief toward the unbeliever — structures which will withstand any
weight of criticism.

Tragically, most of our pastors have not been educated within this kind of a systematic
framework! Oh, yes, they are required to study “Systematic Theology” at seminary, but even
the best of these courses (and there are a great many bad ones) do not develop the
implications of taking the great systematized, doctrinal truths of our faith and applying these
truths to every aspect of home, business, society, and government. The Lord told Jeremiah
“And I will give you shepherds according to My heart, who will feed you with knowledge and
understanding.” 80 Knowledge and understanding are a system. This system is a knowledge
and understanding of “the whole counsel of God,” i.e., the entire body of Scripture. It is this

80
Jeremiah 3:15.

44
system of knowledge and truth which far too many of our pastors have not been taught, and
which they in turn are not teaching their congregations.

Source, Means, and End

I’d like to see more people asking their spiritual leaders these questions:
“What is your source?”
“What are your means?”
“What is the end?”
There are only two sources of knowledge available to us - the human viewpoint and the
divine viewpoint. As we have seen, human viewpoints vary wildly, and often directly
contradict each other. Therefore the source of human knowledge is somewhat uncertain. You
pick out a teacher or philosopher who “sounds good” to you, and you learn from him or her.
“You pays your money and you takes your choice.” The means of human transformation are
the efforts and energy of men and women. The end of all this is that we give glory to self. “I
went to this seminar, and it really changed my life! I bought the books, I listened to the tapes,
I put what I learned into practice, I worked hard, I’m so much happier now, I’m a success,
blah, blah, blah.”

It is the word of God - plus nothing - that creates true, lasting human transformation. Once I
bring man’s “wisdom” into the equation, I fall into an attitude of pride, and I boast of my
wisdom, my strength, or my riches. The Bible is the one and only source of revealed,
objective truth. The focus is on the wisdom and glory of God. All the other sources of
“discovered truth” are subjective: the focus is on self. The Bible, on the other hand, delivers
the divine viewpoint. God’s word gives us a consistent, coherent, comprehensive system of
truth. The means of transformation are divine. It is the word of God, which is “living and

45
powerful,” 81 and the Holy Spirit of God which effectively work within us to accomplish
God’s purpose. Jesus said, “The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I
have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.”82 We have seen that Jesus testified that
God’s word is truth. John 17:17 tells us that we are sanctified by the truth, and 2
Thessalonians 2:10 asserts that we are saved by the truth. Abraham’s servant testified that
God leads us in the way of truth. 83 The end of this transformation is that we give glory to
God, not ourselves! Paul plainly directed Christian believers, “Let him who boasts boast in
the Lord.” 84 If that wasn’t clear enough, Paul instructed, “Therefore, whether you eat or
drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”85 Many translators’ footnotes refer the
reader of this verse back to Jeremiah 9:23-24:
This is what the Lord says:
“Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom
or the strong man boast of his strength
or the rich man boast of his riches,
but let him who boasts boast about this:
that he understands and knows me,
that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness,
justice and righteousness on earth,
for in these I delight.” 86
81
Hebrews 4:12.

82
John 6:63 (NIV).

83
Genesis 24:48.

84
2 Corinthians 10:17 (NIV).

85
1 Corinthians 10:31.

86
(NIV.)

46
The Bible defies addition. “You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take
anything from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I
command you,” 87 Moses said to all the people of Israel. Colossians 2:2-3 speaks of “the
Father and of Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” Let
us take a second look at 2 Timothy 3:16-17: “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God,
and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,
that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” This
testifies to the authority and sufficiency of Scripture. The Bible is useful to prepare us for
every good work, not just in the Sunday school and the sanctuary, but in every area of life
and society. It is my intention that this book will convince you of the sufficiency, the
authority, and the supremacy of God's word, and provide you the tools to teach your children
the vitally important truth that the Bible is not just a book you carry to church and Sunday
school, but it is God's blueprint for salvation, sanity, and civilization.

A Walk Through the Library

Imagine that you have determined to introduce your child to the immensity of the world of
books. So you take your daughter to visit the enormous Library of Congress in Washington,
D.C. You stroll through the building together, and both of you are staggered by the millions
of volumes that you see there. You turn to your daughter, wondering with some amusement if
you are as wide-eyed as she is!

“Honey, look at all these books. Do you think you could read all this?”

87
Deuteronomy 4:2.

47
She shakes her head emphatically. “No, of course not. No way. You could read every hour of
every day for a thousand years and not read all these books!”

You smile down at her and explain, “My job, as your parent, is to introduce you to the most
important books that are available to you. Time is precious, and I don’t want you to waste
time reading books that are less important, or not important at all. I want you to learn all the
treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”
You reach in your coat pocket, and pull out a copy of the Scriptures. “This is the most
important book of all. This is the book of truth. This book will give you the true philosophy,
the proper world view for life. It will teach you that there is truth, and what that truth is. It
will teach you where that truth resides. This truth will become your authority and your
sufficiency. This book will teach you what reality is. It will teach you about life after death:
salvation. It will teach you how to think and how to live.”

What you are doing is introducing your child to a trustworthy, comprehensive, unified system
of truth. I must confess to you that there was a time in my life when I saw Christianity as
compartmentalized. I thought it was good for Sunday, but no one had ever taught me how
God’s word was the basis for business, for science, for government, and for ethics. The
problem is that no one person has ever taken the Number One axiom - the Bible is the word
of God - and extended it into every aspect of faith and practice. There are those who have
tried, however, and you and I are going to stand together on the shoulders of some of these
giants and see what the view is like from eyes of Martin Luther, John Calvin, Gordon H.
Clark, Charles Hodge, John Robbins, and others, who have laid the plumb line of historical,
Biblical Christianity against our faith and practice. There is still a monumental task that lies
ahead of us, though, as we seek to develop a completely Biblical world view that believers
can use to navigate every aspect of public life. This book is a call back to that historical,
biblical Christianity that these great theologians have labored to explain to us.

48
The Bible filters out all impurities of human thought. When our unsaved friends or coworkers
talk about what this politician says about government, or what that philosopher said about
ethics, we must be able to lovingly measure these statements against God’s revealed truth and
reveal where they are in error. By learning the great truths of the Bible we guard ourselves
against false thinking and false religions, and we can become reliable guides and teachers for
our children.
Where Do We Go From Here?

R.J. Rushdooney has said that “The incorporation of sound furnishings does not make up
for unsound foundations.” Our first task is to learn together about the foundation - the rock
of truth upon which we can build our theological house. That foundation is the Bible, God’s
word, and we will discover how and why the Scriptures are our completely trustworthy
source of truth and knowledge. Once we have established the source of all truth, our next step
will be to learn how we may reason correctly from truth. With truth and reason as the
foundation for our theological house, we will then begin to construct the superstructure of a
home that will last for eternity.

I want to expose you to the theories for faith, life, and society that are derived from God’s
unified, comprehensive system of truth. We will examine the great doctrines of historical,
biblical Christianity, and your heart will soar with reverence and joy as you see the great
truths that have been handed down to us from our courageous spiritual forefathers. As Dr.
John Robbins has noted, it is both logical and biblical for us to follow this order of thinking.
If I am to practice the love for others that Romans 12 teaches, I must first understand the
doctrine that is developed in chapters 1-11.

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As I said before, this book is only a primer. For some of you, this will be the first time you
have been exposed to many of these concepts, and it is impossible in this one brief volume to
give them all the most detailed attention. My intention is to give you the building blocks
which will equip you to develop a Biblical world view. My hope is that you’ll want to learn
more. I have developed a reading list of the books written by the giants of our faith. I have
benefitted tremendously from these great scholars, and so will you. The last section of this
book will give you all the information you need to give yourself a Biblical education that
would surpass that which is available to you in virtually any seminary or Christian university.
With this book and others in your library, you’ll be ready to begin working with the
leadership of your church to help all the members develop a Christian philosophy for all of
faith and practice.

Some of you will eagerly take my advice and continue on with your learning. Others may
stop when they have finished this book. If I give you nothing else, I will strive to leave you
with a deep, abiding love and reverence for the Holy Scriptures of God. When you have
finished The Legacy you will clearly see that you need look no further than the Bible to
discover the answers to any question you could possibly have for any aspect of faith and
practice. And you will be prepared to pass on the only legacy to your family that will not
rust, or rot, or fade away with time: the life-giving truth of the word of God.

Join me now, as we prepare to open the pages of that incomparable book. I hope you’ll
approach this with a sense of anticipation and delight. There is no greater gift that you can
give your children than the gift of God’s legacy of truth.

50
 Legacy, Chapter Two
The Reformation: The Lost Legacy

Some years ago, Russell H. Cromwell penned a marvelous little inspirational book, titled
Acres of Diamonds. The opening chapter recounts the true story of a man named Ali Hafed,
who owned a large farm in the Middle East. The farm was doing well, and Ali Hafed was
prosperous and contented. Then, one day, a man told him that the only way he could possess
true wealth was if he discovered diamonds. Ali Hafed became consumed with the idea that he
would never have all he wanted unless he owned a diamond mine. He sold his farm and all
his possessions, and set out to find the diamond mine that would make him as rich as he
dreamed. The search was fruitless. He scoured much of the Middle East and Europe, but he
found nothing. He spent every penny, his clothes were in tatters, and his body was wasted
and racked by disease. In utter despair, Ali Hafed threw himself into the ocean and was
drowned.

Some time later, the man who had purchased Ali Hafed’s farm was watering a camel in the
stream that ran through the property. He noticed a strange gleam of light beneath the surface
of the water. Curious, he reached down and dug out a small black stone that sparkled and
reflected the colors of the rainbow when held up to the sunlight. The man was intrigued by
this odd stone, and he took it home and set it on the mantle above his fireplace.

A few days later, a visitor to his home happened to notice the little stone lying on the mantle.
He suddenly snatched it up and examined it closely. “This is a diamond!” he exclaimed.

The man who had bought Ali Hafed’s farm laughed. “That? Why, that’s just a rock I found in
the stream after one of the animals kicked it loose,” he replied carelessly.

51
His visitor was insistent. “Show me the spot where you found it,” he demanded. The man
eventually discovered that his new farm was sitting atop the richest diamond mine in history!
The crown jewels of both England and Russia came from this extraordinarily rich vein. Ali
Hafed spent his fortune, his health, and eventually his very life searching for that which was,
quite literally, in his own back yard. 1

I am convinced that the Church in America today bears more than a passing resemblance to
this tragic man. It isn’t difficult to see that the Church is in trouble. While a great many
Americans still attend church regularly, and pollsters report that a significant number of
Americans report that “religion” or “faith” is important to them, one need only take a cursory
look at American culture to see that Biblical truths hold very little significance for the
average American.

We seem to have reached the point where we see church as a “nice” thing to do on Sunday
morning, but not as an institution which holds any authority over our lives. Many abortion
providers report that the number of women who claim to be Christians differs only slightly
from that of the avowed unbelievers who seek their assistance in destroying their unborn
children. Trash talkers like Howard Stern and Jerry Springer have no problem lining up
sponsors to enable them to spew out incredible filth over the national airwaves. Issues like
the legalization of assisted suicide, narcotics, and gambling are gaining support all over our
nation, and have even won majority votes in some parts of the country.

The Church in America is not making any appreciable impact on the culture. The
Church in Europe is even farther down the slide than the United States. I cannot help but feel

1
Russell H. Conwell, Acres of Diamonds, (Charlotte, NC, Commission Press, Inc., copyright (c) 1960, by the Fleming
H. Revell Co.), 10-14.

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a deep sense of loss when I see pictures of the magnificent cathedrals that used to resound to
the preaching of giants like Charles Spurgeon and John Wycliffe, churches which now sit
largely empty, or teach a brand of “Christianity” that bears no resemblance to the truth of
Scripture.

Church leaders across our nation are not unaware of their waning influence on their flocks.
They fret that church attendance, financial giving, and the number of people who claim that a
personal relationship with Jesus Christ is having a significant impact on their lives is down.
And so, increasingly, we see books written and seminars conducted on the subject of
initiating “church growth.” We examine the plans and programs of various “mega-churches”
around the country, looking to find the bright new formula that will spark revival in our land.
It seems to me that we are vainly searching all over the country for a diamond mine, when we
have one right in our own back yard, or, more accurately, right on our bookshelves! The
answers to the spiritual poverty of the present lie with the doctrinal riches of our past.

The Vital Importance of Our Spiritual Heritage

We must recognize our connection to our wealthy heritage in the past or we will never truly
appreciate God’s truth in the present. If we would carefully examine every Christian doctrine
that we know in its historical development, then we would discover that each doctrine has
been handed down to us from generation to generation coated with the very blood of its
proponents. These doctrines came to came to us out of the historical crucible of controversy,
conflict, and combative criticism. In this flaming furnace of opposition, the greatest church
creeds were forged for future posterity.

As the beneficiaries of these blood-bought bastions of truth, we must slavishly devote

ourselves to achieving a firm grasp on the historical and doctrinal truths of Christianity. If we

53
do not, we will be guilty of joining the ranks of our forefathers’ enemies, and thereby
betraying the greatest heritage of all human history.

If Satan can divest our minds of the historical relevancy of Christianity, then he has
pulverized the very bedrock that supports the subject matter of all Christian doctrine: namely,
that God has entered into history and given to us a trustworthy body of revelation regarding
His nature, purposes, and redemptive plan for His people through His son, the Lord Jesus
Christ. If our link with this historical foundation is severed, then our beliefs are reduced to
mere mythological imaginations, and we are left with only our own religious emotions about
God. This tragic “dumbing down” of our faith amounts to man creating another god (who is
an illegitimate imposter) and turning away from the true God who has revealed Himself in
history.

Our doctrinal roots are not free floating fancies, but are grounded in verifiable, documented,
historical events, which are presented to us in an Inscripturated revelation called the Bible,
which is God’s infallible interpretation of those events. This is why we must constantly refer
to the Christianity in which we believe as historical and Biblical. There is no Christianity,
apart from historical, Biblical Christianity, only “another Jesus” and “a different gospel.” 2

Does Christiandom today represent original Christianity? Does it reflect true, historical,
Biblical Christianity, as was published by the apostles? Are the doctrines we teach today
historical Christianity, or are they historical paganism? Are people today calling themselves
“Christian,” when, in effect, they are enemies of historical Christianity? To press the point
home: would first century Christians even recognize twentieth century Christianity as
Christianity?

2
2 Corinthians 11:3-4.

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 A Visitor From Christianity’s Glorious Past

Imagine for a moment, if you will, the following scenario: An early Christian, named
Ambrose, comes to sit in on the Sunday morning service at a typical assembly today. At its
conclusion, the man sitting next to Ambrose turns to him and asks, “Ambrose, how did you
enjoy the service today?”

Ambrose answers, “I saw a great display of emotion and zeal, but it was zeal without
knowledge. Not once was the depravity of man even mentioned.”

A worried look flickers across the countenance of the man whom Ambrose addresses. “We
have not heard of this term you used: depravity,” he admits reluctantly.

“Oh?” Ambrose replies. “Then have you not heard of my son in the faith, Augustine?”

“I am sorry,” replies the twentieth century “Christian.” The figure of Ambrose becomes
gossamer, and with a knowing, sorrowful look on his face, he sinks silently back into the
historical realm from whence he came.

We are confronted in the twentieth century with a new breed of Christian teachers, men who
are devoid of doctrinal and historical content. Oh, to be sure, what they are teaching sounds
like Christianity, but they are teaching only the applications of Christianity, without the
doctrinal and historical foundation that supports those applications.

Apart from these foundational truths, the applications of Christianity become empty shells,
devoid of power and real meaning and its free grace uniqueness. Hence, these emasculated
truths might easily be adopted by any pagan, and integrated into his religious system without

55
any real conflict, because the conflict lies in the root, not in the fruits of our faith.
Controversy arises only when we compare or contrast roots, not fruits. Today, the emphasis
has shifted away from the authority and sufficiency of the objective and historical truth of
God’s word, and has centered on a super-subjective and heart-centered, anti-doctrinal,
emotional experience. Where devotion is exalted and given priority, it is always at the
expense of doctrine. When this emphasis dominates the teaching of any Christian group, it
inevitably produces an unscriptural cry in the hearts of its hearers, a cry which exclaims,
“Give us Christ, not creed; devotion, not doctrine.”

Unwittingly, the devotees of this false thinking are teaching a self-refuting philosophy,
because apart from the historical creed there is no Christ. Apart from historical doctrine,
there is no real devotion. We are told by the apostles that we are to believe on Christ as He is
presented in Scripture, and to serve the Christ of Scripture on the basis of knowing His will
for our lives as is revealed in Scripture. Doctrine-less and devotional teaching leaves a
believer with no objective, historical defense of his Christian position, because his true
defense is grounded exclusively in the historical and doctrinal truths of Christianity, and not
in his heart centered experience!

The Christian who sings, “You ask me how I know He lives, He lives within my heart,” is
caught in a subtle trap of thinking that he is accurately defending the claims of Christianity
by comparing his Christian experience with the non-Christian’s experience. This is not to say
that his experience with Christ, if it is a Biblical experience, is not to be used as a valid
testimony to the transforming power of Christ to change a man’s life. However, his
experience, as God honoring as it may be, is never the ground for his faith. It is only, and
always, the fruit of his faith -- not the root.

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Therefore, a Christian is not called to compare his experience with another person’s, but
rather to contrast truth against error. We are not to compare Christianity with other
religions; we are to contrast them. We do not believe Christianity because it “works” for us;
we believe because it is true. God has revealed Himself to His people in word and deed in
history, and we must unhesitatingly and unashamedly proclaim that salvation begins with a
historical “DONE,” not with an experiential “DO.” The Gospel is the work of God for
you and for me in history, and not the work of God in our hearts. Christianity is not grounded
in experience, but in doctrine and history.

Satan wants today’s Christians to make a clean break with the past. In making this break with
history, Christian men and women are making a break with their only lifeline and objective
source of truth. Apart from this objective and historic truth, we cannot say, “I believe,”
because what we believe is grounded in history.

The Reformation is the Key to Revival

In the 1400's, Christianity was mired in a malaise even worse than the one we face today.
Then God, in His sovereign grace, moved in the mind and heart of a 34 year old Augustinian
monk named Martin Luther to shine the light of God’s truth into the blackness, and lead
Christianity out of the Dark Ages. Just as God prepared and ordained Moses to lead Israel out
of slavery in Egypt, He also gifted Luther to sever the idolatrous umbilical cord that held the
Christian church in the restrictive clutches of the Roman state church. When Martin Luther
nailed his 95 theses to the door of the Wittenberg Castle Church, he sparked a revolution in
Church history that is surpassed only by the era of the Lord, Himself, and the Acts of the
Apostles.

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The Christian Church, prior to the time of Luther, had plunged into a stygian, pagan
darkness. The institutional church, which had been a vibrant, Christ-centered ecclesiastical
body in the first century, was now the formidable, hybrid behemoth that I call the Roman
state church. This organization, which combined the ecclesiastical function of a “church”
with the immense political power that influenced much of Europe, bore precious little
resemblance to the New Testament church that is described in the book of Acts. The Bible
was available only in Latin, a language which the common people could not read. As a result,
a profound gulf of ignorance separated the priesthood from the laity. There was no unified
body of Christ. Since the Bible was merely a jumble of meaningless letters to the common
people, they had no clue as to whether what was said from the pulpit was God's word or some
man-made “gospel.” The Catholic priests did not deliver expository sermons, which exposed
the Biblical text for the listeners. Rather, the priests gave their interpretation of the text.
Indeed, while the Roman state church acknowledged the divine inspiration of the Scriptures,
she had taught her followers for hundreds of years that the discovery of truth was a process.
They informed the laity that the Bible was not the finished, complete revelation of God, but
rather that the church must interpret the truth of Scripture, through the “divine revelation”
given to the pope and by the traditions of the church. Rather than all authority residing in the
truth of God’s word, the Roman state church had co-mingled the word with the traditions of
the church. At the time of the Reformation, the church was paying precious little heed to the
authority of Scripture. Virtually all authority had been ceded to the Roman state church.

Naturally, the potential for corruption and abuse was enormous. Martin Luther was appalled
that the Roman church was teaching that believers could purchase forgiveness for their sins
through indulgences. Pope Leo X had engaged in an aggressive church-building program,
and he had authorized a Dominican monk named Johan Tetzel to assist in the fund raising by
selling indulgences. Tetzel's blasphemous claim was that the Roman state church could grant
forgiveness of sins, and even assurance of salvation, for the right price. According to Tetzel,

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one could even secure salvation for friends and family who were already dead through the
purchase of indulgences! Unlike the scribes of Jesus' day, who correctly understood that only
God has the authority to forgive sins, the common people of that time had no Scriptural basis
for understanding this truth. Tetzel and others like him were able to cajole and frighten
thousands of well-intentioned but scripturally ignorant people into “donating” huge sums of
money to the Roman state church.

When Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of the Castle Church, this was not the
defiant act of a revolutionary. It was the common practice at the time, if one wanted to
engage in a theological debate, to post the points of contention in such a way. Martin Luther,
in all godliness, wanted to debate the ecclesiastical abuses of power that were being
committed by Tetzel and others. Rather than engage in a free and open debate, however, the
Roman state church excommunicated him.

God used this rough treatment by Pope Leo as the catalyst which began to open Martin
Luther's mind to the symptoms of a problem far more fundamental than the corruptive
influence of church authority lying solely in the hands of an elite ecclesiastical council. God
focused Luther's mind on the most fundamental question of all eternity, which was first
recorded in the book of Job: “How can a man be righteous before God?” 3 This was the
bedrock for the entire Reformation.

As a devout young monk, Luther had earnestly and urgently sought out the answer to this
eternally significant query. Since the teaching of the Roman church was that man could never
be completely sure of his standing before a just and holy God, Luther pursued all manner of
"good works" to justify himself, from long fasts and hours of prayer and confession of sins,

3
Job 9:2.

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to the extremes of scourging and walking barefoot in the snow to punish himself for sins real
and imagined. Luther could find comfort nowhere.

Gradually, God revealed to Martin Luther that truth and authority did not lie in some
synergistic union of God with the specialized church leadership. Rather, truth and authority
resided in, and only in, God’s revealed word: the Holy Scriptures. Luther used the Scriptures
as his sole source for deducing the means for man’s salvation.

A Gospel “Alone” Christianity, Versus a “Gospel-plus” Christianity

What was truly revolutionary about Martin Luther’s teaching was the concept of “alone.”
Luther said that the Gospel of Jesus Christ defies addition or subtraction. It is the Gospel
alone - not the Gospel plus the teachings and traditions of the church -- that provides the
answer to Job’s burning question: “How can a man be righteous before God?” The authority
and sufficiency for faith and practice rests on what God says; it does not rest on what men
say.

Luther’s teaching was the galvanizing influence for the great cleaving of the Protestant
Church (Protestant simply means “protest-ants,” or “those who protest”) away from the
Roman state church. The Roman church taught its followers that salvation came through the
teaching of Scripture plus the teaching and traditions of the church, which would lead her
followers to salvation. Luther countered that any “plus” that was added to the gospel was not
Christianity!

Martin Luther specified five principles which outlined the foundational truths of Reformation
theology: Sola Scriptura (Scripture alone), Solo Christo (Christ alone), Sola gratia (Grace
alone), Sola fide (Faith alone), and Sola Deo gloria (Glory to God alone). I am going to

60
devote an entire chapter of this book to each of these truths, but I would like to provide a
brief overview here.

The Five Fingerprints of the Reformation

The arches, loops, and whorls on each finger of a man or women’s hand provide unique and
unmistakable indicators of that individual’s identity. You might have an identical twin -
another human being who is virtually indistinguishable from you in appearance. The visual
resemblance might be so close that even your own parents could be fooled into believing that
your twin was you! However, that resemblance doesn’t extend to the tips of your fingers.
Your twin’s fingerprints would not match yours, and anyone trained in the art of fingerprint
identification would be able to tell which twin was which in seconds.

I call the five foundational truths that Martin Luther and the other Reformers developed “The
Five Fingerprints of the Reformation” because they are the five points which unmistakably
identify the hand of God in the plan of salvation. In his second letter to the Corinthians, Paul
fretted that “Somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be
corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he who comes preaches another Jesus
whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received,
or a different gospel which you have not accepted-- you may well put up with it!” 4 There are
those who come to us all the time, preaching “another Jesus” and “a different
gospel.” Some of these gospels are much like an identical twin: they look so much like the
real gospel that even the pastors of many churches in America have mistaken a “different
gospel” for the real thing! When a pastor is deceived by a counterfeit gospel, he unwittingly
drags his entire flock, which might number into the thousands, into the darkness with him.
That is why it is so essential that you and I be able to identify the real thing! We must

4
2 Corinthians 11:3-4.

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become fingerprint experts who are able to quickly and surely identify the true gospel and the
true Jesus, in order that we may guide our families and our churches into the way, the truth,
and the life. So, just as a bank teller learns to identify counterfeit money by handling only the
real thing, we will begin to identify the “other” gospels by learning about the five points of
truth that clearly identify the real thing.

Sola Scriptura meant that Scripture alone is our one and only source of truth and authority.
Luther’s idea was that everything that unites us as a church and empowers us as believers,
everything which gives men and women the wisdom and knowledge they need to glorify God
is found in “Sola Scriptura” -- Scripture alone. This was a direct repudiation of the authority
that the Roman state church had abrogated to herself, and a return of authority to its rightful
place: the word of God! Luther and the other Reformers understood the truth of Proverbs
30:5, which reads, “Every word of God is pure; he is a shield to those who put their trust in
Him.” Luther boldly proclaimed that there were not two teachers - the Bible and the
traditions of men - but one: “Every word of God.”

Solo Christo simply meant that salvation comes through the finished work of Christ on the
cross alone. When the Philippian jailer asked Paul and Silas, “Sirs, what must I do to be
saved?” they replied, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.” 5 It is
through the redeeming work of Christ alone - not by our works - that we receive salvation.
“But as many as received Him,” John wrote of Christ, “to them He gave the right to become
children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the
will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”6 Salvation comes to us because of the
personal work of Christ, not because of what family we were born into, nor because we work

5
Acts 16:30-31.

6
John 1:12-13.

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for it, nor because we desire it to be so, but only because God sovereignly ordained it for us
through the death of His Son. Paul told the Ephesians that prior to the death of Christ, “You
were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the
covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ
Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.” 7 It
is Christ’s finished work on the cross -- not our continuing work, and not the seven
sacraments of the Roman state church -- that has accomplished our salvation. Jesus declared,
“It is finished!” 8 just before He gave up His spirit. It is done. It is finished. Man has nothing
to add to the perfect work of Christ.

Sola Gratia, the third of the five fingerprints of the Reformation, meant that salvation
through Christ is bestowed by the grace of God alone. Salvation is the result of the
monergistic work of God. Monergism is a word which comes from the roots mono (“one”)
and ergon (“work”). Literally, monergism means “the work of one,” or, in this case, the
work of One, i.e., God. Our salvation is not the result of synergism, as the Roman state
church has taught for nearly two millennia. If you break the word “synergism” down to its
roots, you find syn (“together”) and ergon, so synergism literally means “work together.” We
do not work in a cooperative effort with God to earn our salvation. The Catholic church, and
far too many Protestant churches, teach that salvation is similar to buying a home on credit.
Jesus, according to this theology, made the down payment on the home, but the believer must
keep up on the installment payments, or the home will be repossessed by the God, Mortgage
Holder. This is blasphemy! It is an affront to the clear message of the Scriptures. The gospel
does not teach grace plus man’s best efforts.

7
Ephesians 2:12-13 (NIV).

8
John 19:30.

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Paul wrote to the first century Christians at Rome that believers are “justified freely by His
grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” 9 The Greek word that most English
translations render as “freely” in Romans 3:24 is dorean (“door eh on”), which means,
literally, “without cost to you, without cause in you, for no reason, for no advantage, for
nothing.” God is under no obligation to grant us salvation. If there were anything about us
that caused or merited our salvation, then God would be responding to us. God would be
obligated to grant us salvation because of some quality within us. But God is sovereign.
There is no outside agent or force that causes God to react or respond to some outside
stimulus. He neither needs nor wants a cause for His actions. Speaking of God’s sovereign
election, Paul told the Romans, “And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were,
grace would no longer be grace.” 0

Sola Fide (“Faith alone”) was the fourth fingerprint of the Reformation. A verse that most of
us know by heart is one of the best teachers of this truth: “For by grace you have been saved
through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone
should boast.” Again, to go to the original Greek in which the New Testament was written,
1

we see that you have been saved “by means of” faith, not “because of” faith. We are saved
by faith alone, not by faith plus obedience.

9
Romans 3:24.

10
Romans 11:6 (NIV).

11
Ephesians 2:8-9.

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Faith looks away from self and looks at God. Faith is like a telescope which is designed to
look at a distant object. The issue is the object we are looking at, not the instrument we look
through! If salvation occurred “because of” faith, the quality of your faith - the sincerity of
your faith, the intensity of your faith, the depth of your faith, the “faithfulness” of your faith,
etc - would become an issue. Your faith, in this instance, would actually be a work! Sinful
men would be tempted to walk about thumping their chests, speaking about how great their
faith is. Our faith is not, nor can it be, a virtue which makes us acceptable in God’s sight.
Only the perfect righteousness of Christ can do that.

Faith was viewed by the Reformers as a gift from God. They cited verses like Philippians
1:29 (“For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ ... to believe in Him”) and 2 Peter
1:1 (“To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have
received a faith as precious as ours...” to assert that man does not contribute his faith to the
2

work of salvation. Salvation is not a reward for our faith. Rather it is, just like every aspect of
eternal life, a non-meritorious (un-earned) gift from God.

The fifth and last fingerprint of the Reformation, Sola Deo Gloria (“To God alone be the
glory”) is the linchpin of the entire theological system. The inevitable, logical outcome of the
first four “Sola”s is that all the glory goes to God. The Lord God Almighty has told us that
He is a jealous God; He will not share His glory with another.

12
(NIV).

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None of the glory of salvation goes to man! We are not saved because of our wisdom: it is
Christ, revealed to us through the Scriptures alone “Who became for us ‘wisdom from
God.” We are not saved because we are good people: it is Christ alone who is our
3

“righteousness and sanctification and redemption.” In fact, we are not saved because of any
4

contribution of righteousness of our own: it is by grace alone, for “The righteousness of God
... is revealed” through Christ’s perfect sacrifice on the cross. We are not saved because of
5

our good works: it is by faith alone, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” There is
6

NO aspect of salvation for which man can take any credit at all! Eternal life is not a co-op
program, where man shares in the work of salvation, and, in so doing, shares in some small
measure the glory for eternal life. Salvation comes wholly and solely from God. Man may
take none of the credit, and man gets none of the glory. All the glory goes to God. “God has
chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise,” Paul wrote, “and God has
chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the
base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things
which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His
presence.” In summing up “the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of
7

God,” Paul emphatically proclaimed that “ from him and through him and to him are all
8

things. To him be the glory forever!” If our salvation is “from him” and “through him,” then
9

13
1 Corinthians 1:30.

14
Ibid.

15
Romans 3:21.

16
Romans 3:23-24.

17
1 Corinthians 1:27-29.

18
Romans 11:33.

19
Romans 11:36 (NIV).

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all the glory can only go “to him.” Sola Deo Gloria! To God Alone be the glory!
“Therefore, as it is written: ‘Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.’” 0

These five fingerprints of the Reformation -- Sola Scriptura, Sola Christa, Sola gratia, Sola
fides, and Sola Deo gloria -- are the very essence of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The word
gospel, literally translated, means “good news.” It is easy to see, from even the brief
explanation of the five fingerprints that I have just given you, why the gospel is, indeed, very
good news!

20
1 Corinthians 1:31 (NIV).

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It is good news - great news - that God did not leave our salvation up to us. Sinful man is
incapable of pleasing God. Man, “who is vile and corrupt, who drinks up evil like water,” 1

does not possess the capability of pleasing God! If you doubt me, look at the nation of Israel.
God provided them with a covenant of good works. All Israel had to do was follow the rules.
God had promised, “Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people.
And walk in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well with you.” Israel
2

was incapable of walking in the ways that God had given them! Time after time, they
repented of their sins, and promised to walk in the ways of the Lord, and time after time they
lapsed back into apostasy and idolatry. God, in all His sovereign majesty, knew that Israel
would fail. And so He prepared a Lamb, “slain from the foundation of the world,” who 3

would, by His finished work alone, make it possible for us to truly be God’s adopted
children. 4

21
Job 15:16 (NIV).

22
Jeremiah 7:23.

23
Revelation 13:8.

24
Ephesians 1:4-5.

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Yes, the gospel is very good news, because it is the only way that man can stand as righteous
before God. Tragically, man often seems determined to pervert the gospel, to ignore the
covenant of grace, and to revert back to a covenant of good works. We seek to alter the five
fingerprints of God’s grace by inserting man’s efforts in there somewhere! We create a
“gospel-plus”: a gospel plus our good works, a gospel plus our pious behavior, or a gospel
plus our meritorious faith. We create these counterfeit gospels in order to “help” God out and
contribute to our own salvation. In short, we seek to create “another gospel,” which Paul
emphatically admonished the Galatian Christians not to do! “I am astonished,” Paul rebuked
them, “that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and
are turning to a different gospel—which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are
throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or
an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him
be eternally condemned!” Any “gospel-plus”, i.e., a gospel which adds to the completed
5

work of Christ on the cross, is a gospel which will cause you to be eternally condemned!

These “other gospels” are very appealing to the sinful nature of man, because they allow him
to seek self rather than seek God. They promote a faith which is subjective (focused on self
and the “righteousness” of self), rather than objective (focused on something outside of self,
i.e., the true righteousness and holiness of Christ). These gospels are “bad news”; in fact,
they are damnable news, because they will condemn your soul to an eternity in hell! The very
First Commandment that God gave to the nation of Israel was, “You shall have no other gods
before Me.” When we hear the preaching of “another Jesus” or a gospel that differs from the
6

one that is clearly identified by the five fingerprints of the Reformation, we are seeing, just as
plainly as the technician in a laboratory, the fingerprints of a false god.

25
Galatians 1:6-8 (NIV).

26
Exodus 20:3.

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 What Does the Reformation Mean to Me Today?

I hope that I have already answered that question! Our forefathers in the faith have handed us
an inheritance of priceless theological treasures that is of incalculable worth. Martin Luther
was excommunicated and exiled for refusing to recant what he knew to be the glorious truths
of the gospel of Christ. Many others like him were martyred for their faith. The unmistakable
truth of the “good news” survived this savagery, however, and swept through Western
civilization. The very freedoms that we in America enjoy today are direct descendants of the
great doctrines of the Reformation. Dr. John Robbins has written a superb paper titled,
“Civilization and the Protestant Reformation,” which describes in detail how the
7

Reformation ignited a virtual renaissance of intellectual, political, social, economic, and

religious thought around the world.

The Reformation was like a bomb exploding on the salt flats: the radius of the impact was
virtually unimpeded. Dr. Robbins describes how religious liberty, constitutional government,
free-market economics, and the repudiation of civil monarchy and aristocracy all can be
traced to the Reformation. A German historian, Leopold von Ranke, called John Calvin (who
subscribed wholeheartedly to the five fingerprints of the Reformation) the “virtual founder of
America.” Once the approach to life became objective (“outside of me”), freedom was born.
8

The Sola Scriptura philosophy of honoring only God’s objective truth was contiguous to

27
John W. Robbins, Civilization and the Protestant Reformation, (The Trinity Foundations, Hobbs, NM, copyright (c)
1994).

28
Ibid.

70
every aspect of life, and it became the basis for a dramatic leap in productivity in every area
of life.

For example, the teaching of the Roman state church had been that the only truly honorable
forms of work were scholastic and ecclesiastical (related to the church). All other forms of
work, such as farming and the various trades, were considered less valuable. But Luther,
Calvin, and others seized on verses from the Scriptures such as Colossians 3:23 (“Whatever
you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men”) to lift up the
9

value of all work that is done to the glory of God. The famous Puritan work ethic is a direct
result of this teaching, and this fueled in large measure the dramatic economic prosperity that
the United States has enjoyed for several centuries.

Perhaps the most powerful single word that came out of the Reformation was the word
“Sola,” meaning alone. That single word is the theological line of demarcation between
Christianity and paganism. Just as Moses ordered the people of Israel to move away from the
tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, the Reformation drew a clear line in the sand between
0

truth and error. The Reformation exposed the difference between subjective, man-centered
theology, and objective, God-centered theology.

It is my fervent prayer that this book will equip you to draw the same kind of line that
separates truth from error in your own mind. I spent years in Bible college, and we talked a
great deal about Church history, yet these crucially important historical and theological
distinctives were never even mentioned! This abysmal ignorance of our spiritual heritage is

29
(NIV).

30
Numbers 16:26.

71
an absolute tragedy. It is no different from teaching American history and ignoring the War
Between the States. It is a criminal waste of time for everyone involved.

The Spirit of Truth and the Spirit of Error

We have been commanded by God not to “believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether
they are of God.” Clearly, all five fingerprints of the Reformation (let’s call them the five
1

“Sola”s, for short) are of God and from God. The Scriptures are the word of God alone. No
opinions of man are found in the pages of the Bible. Salvation was accomplished by the grace
of God and the work of Christ alone. Man contributes nothing to the propitiation of God’s
righteous wrath. That salvation is apprehended by faith in God alone. Any trust that man
places in self to achieve eternal life will lead that man straight to eternal damnation. And all
the glory for God’s perfect plan of salvation, and the perfect accomplishment of it through
Jesus Christ, goes to God alone. Man cannot even claim credit for being “smart enough” to
place his trust in Jesus Christ! “It is because of (God) that you are in Christ Jesus, who has
become for us wisdom from God-- that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.” 2

Your faith in Christ is a gift from God: “For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ ...
to believe in Him.” 3

“OK, great,” we might think. “God has given me a priceless gift. So now I can just relax and
be grateful for this wonderful salvation.” Our responsibility to God is far greater than
that! Jesus’ brother, Jude, exhorted the saints to “Contend earnestly for the faith which was

31
1 John 4:1.

32
1 Corinthians 1:30 (NIV).

33
Philippians 1:29.

72
once for all delivered to the saints.” Paul commanded the church at Thessalonica to “Prove
4

all things.” Why this sense of urgency? Why must the saints be so vigilant against false
5

teaching? John answered this question when he commanded believers to “Test the spirits ...
because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” 6

Indeed, a great many false prophets are putting forth a great deal of false teaching. They are
busy preaching “a different gospel” and “another Jesus.” These false teachers inform their
congregations that the Bible is not trustworthy, that the church, or science, or man’s reason
must be used to explain and interpret the Scriptures. They insist that salvation is a matter of
grace-plus, that the believer must contribute good works or follow certain church-ordained
rituals, such as attendance at mass or participating in the Lord’s Supper, in order to attain
eternal life. Other wolves in sheep’s clothing preach that salvation is not a matter of trusting
in the truth contained in Scripture alone; they explain that one must undergo certain
experiences, such as a mind-altering baptism of the Holy Spirit, which renders one
supernaturally equipped to “hear God speak,” and, perhaps even to speak in some
incomprehensible language which is said to demonstrate that one is “filled with the Spirit.” In
some extreme cases, discomfitted followers of this brand of grace-plus theology are informed
that they may well not be God’s children unless they display this unusual behavior.

34
Jude 1:3.

35
1 Thessalonians 5:21 (KJV).

36
1 John 4:1.

73
Tragically, rather than following Jude’s command to “Contend earnestly for the faith” and
shine the light of truth on such heresies, a great many Christian men and women (and, all too
often, their pastors) have resigned themselves to the belief that the most important thing they
can do is promote unity within the body of Christ. We see highly respected members of the
evangelical community urging a “co-belligerency,” or cease-fire, amongst the followers of
widely divergent beliefs, all in the name of “waging the culture war.” The battles against
abortion, euthanasia, and homosexual marriages are far more important than any
disagreements over a few items of doctrine, according to these so-called “leaders.” A great
many evangelicals have willingly sacrificed sound doctrine on the altar of unity.

Is this the example of the early church fathers? As Dr. John Robbins has pointed out, Paul
blasted the Christians at Galatia for believing “a different gospel.” The church at Galatia had
been influenced by the teaching of the Judaizers, who had renounced one of the five “Sola”s:
the doctrine of salvation by faith alone. Although the Judaizers accepted a great many of the
teachings of the Scriptures, such as the virgin birth of Christ, the deity of Christ, and the
authority of Scripture, they insisted that the only way to salvation was through good works,
specifically through obedience to the Law of Moses. 7

Did Paul preach “unity of the body” at the expense of doctrine? After greeting the Galatians
and giving praise to God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, Paul immediately expressed
his surprise and dismay that the Galatians were “ so quickly deserting the one who called you
by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel--which is really no gospel at
all.” Paul warned that “Some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to
pervert the gospel of Christ.” After reestablishing the mandate he had received to preach the
8

37
John Robbins, “Bleating Wolves, Shearing Lambs,” audio tape of 10/98 Trinity Foundation conference, Unicoi,
TN.

38
Galatians 1:6-7 (NIV).

74
gospel, and recalling how he, Paul, had personally rebuked the apostle Peter for continuing to
keep one foot in the “good works” camp, Paul delivered this stinging reproach: “O foolish
Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes
Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? This only I want to learn from
you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are you so
foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?” 9

39
Galatians 3:1-3.

75
Would you wish to accuse the apostle Paul of being unnecessarily divisive? I’m sure none of
us would do that, since the apostle was delivering the very words of God to the Galatian
church! Paul was contending earnestly for the faith, as Scripture commands. Paul wrote to
the Corinthian church, “Brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you ... by
which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you-- unless you
believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died
for our sins according to the Scriptures.” Paul was determined that his preaching and his
0

doctrine (teaching) should be only that of the revealed word of God -- that of Scripture
alone.

Martin Luther: The Jeremiah of the Reformation

40
1 Corinthians 15:1-3.

76
The great prophet Jeremiah related how “The Lord said to me, ‘Proclaim all these words in
the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying: “Hear the words of this covenant
and do them.”’” He ran into a great deal of resistance from the established ecclesiastical
1

leadership of his day, who had turned completely away from the words of the covenant that
had been given to them by God. The Lord told Jeremiah that the inhabitants of Jerusalem had
“turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers who refused to hear My words, and they
have gone after other gods to serve them.” The people were following after a different
2

gospel than the one given them by God. The church was responsible for this apostasy, “‘For
both prophet and priest are profane; yes, in My house I have found their wickedness,’ says
the Lord ... ‘They prophesied by Baal and caused My people Israel to err.’” God used3

Jeremiah to warn the people, “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to
you. They make you worthless; they speak a vision of their own heart, not from the mouth of
the Lord.” The priests and the prophets of Jeremiah’s day were no longer preaching the
4

words that came out of the mouth of God, but rather a message of their own creation. “Woe
to the shepherds,” the Lord thundered, “Who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture! ...
Behold, I will attend to you for the evil of your doings.” 5

As you might imagine, Jeremiah’s message was not received with pleasure by the people.
When a person or a nation has fallen into consistent sin, they react negatively to those who
come to them, preaching the word of the Lord and pleading with them to repent. In many
cases, it is guilt which drives the sinner away from the Lord, for the living and active word of

41
Jeremiah 11:6.

42
Jeremiah 11:10.

43
Jeremiah 23:11,13.

44
Jeremiah 23:16.

45
Jeremiah 23:1-2.

77
God will convict them of their sin. In other cases, unregenerate man (one who has not been
“born again,” or regenerated) simply does not want to hear what God has to say, for “The
sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so.” In this case,
6

the response to a man like Jeremiah may be violent. Friends urged Jeremiah to tone down his
message. They feared his enemies, who had threatened, “Do not prophesy in the name of the
Lord, lest you die by our hand.” Jeremiah refused to modify his message. “His word was in
7

my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I was weary of holding it back, and I could
not.” Jeremiah had a message from the Lord, and you can see the fingerprints of God all over
8

it. He was determined to preach the Scripture alone, and the glory of the message was to God
alone.

Martin Luther’s story is remarkably similar. Like Jeremiah, he was confronted by an apostate
religious establishment, the Roman state church, which was preaching a vision from the
hearts of men, and not the out-breathing of the living God. The Roman church was teaching
another gospel, a gospel of salvation through good works and the intercession of the church.
The word of God was shut up in Martin Luther like a fire. Although friends warned him that
he faced death if he continued to buck “the establishment,” Luther stood firm. Confronted by
the Roman emperor and ordered to recant, Luther replied:

46
Romans 8:7 (NIV).

47
Jeremiah 11:21.

48
Jeremiah 20:9.

78
 It is impossible for me to recant unless I am proved to be wrong by the testimony of
Scripture. My conscience is bound to the Word of God ... Here I stand. God help me. I
cannot do otherwise. 9

Love in Truth

Martin Luther had no wish to be divisive. His desire was the same as Paul’s: to maintain“the
unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God.” But both Paul and Luther were
0

adamant in their refusal to sacrifice the truth of God’s word in the interest of “unity.” The
religious leaders of Luther’s day wanted him to conform, to go along with what was popular.
What was popular at the time was “a different gospel” - false doctrine.

Martin Luther wasn’t contending for ecclesiastical unity (unity among various
denominations) or political unity (“co-belligerence”); rather, Luther was contending for the
very essence of Christianity! He believed that unity came through a unified teaching
(doctrine) of the knowledge of the Son of God. Many of today’s church leaders and laymen
will protest, “Why should we study doctrine? Doctrine divides.” Men of faith like Jeremiah,
Paul, and Luther contended for sound doctrine because they knew that doctrine unifies!
Martin Luther was contending for a return to historical, biblical, Christianity. Ephesians
4:13 teaches that the preaching and teaching of proper doctrine will produce spiritual
maturity and vitality.

49
Quoted in B. K. Kuiper, The Church in History, (Grand Rapids, Michigan, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.,
copyright (c) 1951, 1964), 179.

50
Ephesians 4:13.

79
Those who harp on unity in the body at the expense of sound teaching proclaim that it is of
utmost importance that we love each other. They will get no argument from me! It is the clear
and unequivocal teaching of Scripture that we are to love one another. However, it is
absolutely imperative that we realize that there must be truth in order to have love. Truth
is the only foundation that will allow love to flourish. John wrote, “To the elect lady and her
children, whom I love in truth, and not only I, but also all those who have known the truth,
because of the truth which abides in us and will be with us forever.” We can only truly love
1

if we love the truth! We know the truth, John said, because Truth, i.e., the Spirit of God, lives
in us and will be with us forever.

Suppose have a friend who tells you enthusiastically, “I love my wife! She’s such a great
lady, really a wonderful person. I love her so much.” Unfortunately, this man is unaware that
while he is away work, his wife spends her days working as a prostitute and a drug dealer.
One day, his wife is arrested for soliciting an undercover officer, and several packages of
cocaine are found in her purse. You visit the stunned husband and ask him how he feels.

“My goodness,” he splutters, “how do you think I feel? This woman, who I thought I knew,
was a felon! She sold her body and she sold drugs! Has anyone died of an overdose from
drugs she sold them? Has she given anyone AIDS, or some other disease? Has she given me
AIDS?”

“Do you still love her?” you gently persist.

“How do I know?” the man angrily demands. “I don’t even know her! I’ve been living with a
complete stranger all these years.”

51
2 John 1:1-2.

80
This man based his love on his feelings and his experiences, not on truth. When he
discovered the truth, his feelings underwent an immediate change. The very same thing is
true within the body of Christ. The only basis for a lasting and unshakeable bond of love
within the body is the unity of our faith! How can it possibly be otherwise? If I believe that I
am saved by faith alone, and you believe that you are saved by faith plus works, then you are
going to be constantly checking out my works to see if they measure up to your -- not God’s -
- standards for eternal life. Your love, then, is not based on truth, but rather on your
perception of my performance! This kind of legalistic mind set often fosters the mind set of
the Pharisee who looked scornfully over at the tax collector as he stood praying, and “prayed
about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men -- robbers, evildoers, adulterers
-- or even like this tax collector.’” 2

On the other hand, if I am the kind of person whose company you enjoy, who is always kind
and friendly to you, then you may well feel that unity of love. Once again, your love is not
based on God’s truth, but on your feelings and my performance. Jesus asked, “If you love
those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that?
And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even
pagans do that?” It is only when our love is based on the word of God, when our doctrine is
3

based on the truth of Scripture rather than the teaching of man, that we will truly love and
love in truth. Truth and love are inextricably related together in God’s word.

Error has Infested the Church!

52
Luke 18:11 (NIV).

53
Matthew 5:46-47 (NIV).

81
In my discussion of Martin Luther’s heroic struggle to proclaim the truth of God’s word, I
have made several references to the institution of the Roman state church, which opposed
Luther so virulently throughout his lifetime. You may have been offended by my blunt
explanation of Roman Catholic theology. While I make no apology for speaking the truth in
love, I do hasten to add that the Catholic church has by no means cornered the market on
proclaiming “another Jesus” and “a different gospel.”

There are plenty of Protestant churches -- indeed, entire Protestant denominations -- which
teach a grace-plus gospel, and faith-plus the efforts of man and intervention of the church.
Each and every one of us should have a major problem with any church of any denomination
which does not follow Paul’s example of teaching “the whole counsel of God”; i.e., salvation
that is from God only, through God only, and to the glory of God alone!

Paul cautioned Timothy that “The Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart
from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons.” I have absolutely
4

no intention or desire to isolate the Roman Catholic church, as if she were the sole source of
doctrines of demons. Yes, it is true that God used Martin Luther to expose the error that
pervaded Roman Catholic theology, but Catholicism is only the historical backdrop for the
great teaching that emerged from the Reformation. It is also true that the Roman state church
remains, to this very day, a “church” in name only. Far from being merely an ecclesiastical
body, it is an immensely powerful political organization, recognized as a diplomatic entity by
over one hundred nations. But the Roman church is not the only one which has broken loose
from its historical moorings. You can step into tens of thousands of churches today which
bear the name of a Protestant denomination over the front door, and hear a message that is
virtually indistinguishable from the teaching of the Roman state church! The original

54
1 Timothy 4:1.

82
“Protest-ants” were seeking to refute any teaching that added to the five “Sola”s, not
specifically the dogma of the Roman state church.

The focus of this chapter - and of this entire book - is not merely to alert you to the
differences between the historical teachings of the Catholic and Protestant churches. The
chasm between these two bodies of thought is wide and deep, and it is crucially important for
you to understand the basis for these differences, primarily because there is so much gospel-
plus theology that has seeped into the Protestant denominations. And therein lies my
motivation for writing The Legacy: I hope to help you learn to distinguish truth from error.
When you read the epistles of men like Paul, Peter, and Jude, you see that one of their
primary concerns was battling against the various kinds of false teaching that were slipping
into the church. They were not contending against the Roman Catholic church, as Luther
was, but the purpose was precisely the same: to teach the glorious, shining truths of
historical, Biblical Christianity, so that the Church would not fall prey to cleverly conceived
heresies. “For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly
slipped in among you,” Jude warned. “They are godless men, who change the grace of our
God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.” 5

55
Jude 1:4 (NIV).

83
I mean to alert you, to implore you, throughout every chapter of this book, to take notice! Far
too many Protestants don’t even realize that “another Jesus” and “a different gospel” are
being preached to them every Sunday. Their churches are Protestant in name only -- not in
doctrine. I love the people who lead these churches, but I do not love their doctrine. I intend
to speak the truth in love, as clearly and as boldly as I know how, in the hope that I will alert
you and your family to the false teaching that has always corrupted the theology of the
Roman state church, and has now crept unnoticed into many Protestant churches, as well. I
want to inspire a cry to rise up from churches all across America: “To the law and to the
testimony!” If our various churches and denominations “do not speak according to this word,
it is because there is no light in them.” We must demand that our shepherds begin to feed us!
6

“I plead with you, brethren,” Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “by the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that
you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.” Please don’t
7

miss this: We cannot “speak the same thing,” nor be “perfectly joined together in the same
mind and in the same judgment” if we do not understand the historical foundations of our
faith! Our unity must be doctrinal unity. If we seek to bond together to create political
unity, or cultural unity, or ecclesiastical unity, we are seeking to create a modern-day Tower
of Babel. We become no better than the secret societies that meet, many of them claiming to
be Biblically based, which believe they have a greater reason for unity than the pure and holy
teaching of Scripture. Unity based on anything other than historical, biblical, Christian
doctrine is a false unity. It is an idolatrous, rebellious unity that seeks to unite man beneath
the banner of man’s teaching, rather than uniting on the basis of God’s sovereign grace. It is
a unity based on man seeking man, rather than man seeking unity through the truth of
Scripture alone.

56
Isaiah 8:20.

57
1 Corinthians 1:10.

84
 The Legacy

For the rest of this book, I hope to bring you to a greater understanding of the doctrines that
are the unmistakable distinctives of historical, biblical Christianity. In learning these great
doctrines, we will be discovering the keys - the only keys - to salvation, sanity, and
civilization. I want you to place these keys in the hands of your children, so that they can
come to a clear, Biblical understanding of the world in which they live. I want our children to
be able to immediately distinguish truth from error, whether they hear it from the pulpit, the
professor, or the politician.

It will be then -- and only then -- that you and I will be able to join with the next generation
and work together to build our nation into a land that is once again a shining city set upon a
hill. Dr. Gordon Clark wrote: “To echo an early Reformation thought, when the ploughman
and the garage attendant know the Bible as well as the theologian does, and know it better
than some contemporary theologians, then the desired awakening shall have already
ocurred.” 8

58
Quoted by Dr. John Robbins in “The Crisis of Our Time,” (c) The Trinity Foundation, Unicoi TN.

85
 Legacy, Chapter Three
“Sola Scriptura”: The Authority and Sufficiency of Christianity

When I was in California in the early eighties, I attended a symposium on the inerrancy of
the Scriptures. The attendees represented a virtual Who’s Who of everyone in the United
States who proclaimed the inerrancy, infallibility, and authority of the sixty-six books of the
Bible. While I was there, the group reenacted a tradition that began shortly after the
Reformation. What I saw had a profound impact on me, and I’d like to recreate it for you
here.

At the beginning of the worship ceremony, the organ begins to play, and a man who has
been standing out in the foyer of the church building enters the sanctuary, holding a Bible
outstretched in his hands, and walks slowly down the aisle toward the pulpit. Everyone in the
sanctuary stands in reverence to the word of God. They are signifying their submission to the
authority of Scripture.

The man walking down the aisle is not dressed in any special ecclesiastical garb. He isn’t a
high official of the church. The people are not standing out of respect for him. As that man,
who is called “The Beetle” walks toward the pulpit at the front of the sanctuary, holding the
Bible outstretched, it is the word of God that commands the respect of the people in the
room, for it is the word of God that is the ultimate authority for the governance of our
churches and our lives. David wrote to the Lord, “You have magnified Your word above all
Your name.” 1 In the same way, the people standing in the sanctuary are magnifying the
importance of the word.

1
Psalm 138:2.

86
While all this was taking place, I was struck by the sight of the second man, who walks
behind “The Beetle.” This second man is the minister who is about to deliver the sermon. He
follows several paces to the rear of the man carrying the Bible, and his eyes are cast down in
deference and respect. He is the servant of the word. The people in the room are not looking
at The Beetle, walking to the front, nor to the minister, following at a respectful distance.
Instead, the focus of their reverence and awe and adoration is on the word of God. When the
sermon is delivered, the servant of the word exposes the text. He knows that no one came to
hear his opinions; rather, the listeners are there to drink in the truth of God’s word.

The original idea behind this ceremony was to visually contend for the authority of the
Scriptures. The church leaders wanted to paint a direct contradistinction to the Roman state
church, where the faithful were taught that the priest, the bishop, and the pope are the
ultimate authority. Yes, the Roman church regarded the Scriptures as God’s word, but the
man in the pulpit or in the Vatican was actually considered to be the mouthpiece of God. The
words of this man were regarded with reverence and awe and adoration. The authority
resided with the priest, in that he was the representative of the Roman state church.

At the time of the Reformation, the teaching of Martin Luther and others burst like a dazzling
flare of light against the black backdrop of the Dark Ages. For 1400 years, the Roman church
had taught her followers that, although the Scriptures were divinely inspired, the Bible could
not present a complete, comprehensive, unified body of truth apart from the interpretation of
the priest. The idea of the primacy (preeminence) and sufficiency of Scripture alone to
reveal truth to man was truly revolutionary.

Martin Luther understood that anytime man introduces a “plus” -- the Scriptures plus the
teaching of the church, salvation through faith in Christ plus man’s good works, etc. -- man
has introduced blasphemy. By adding a “plus,” man is saying, in effect, that the perfect,

87
finished work of Christ on the cross, as revealed in the perfect, God-breathed truth of the
word, is not sufficient for salvation! Luther and the Reformers boldly proclaimed that there is
nothing which can or should be elevated to the plane of truth where God’s word resides.

I say that Luther was “bold” to proclaim this because, at that time, “Sola Scriptura” was a
radical concept! The common people had been taught that it was only the priest who had the
benefit of the whole counsel of God, and truth was revealed through the Scriptures plus the
addition of the teaching and traditions of the church. The Roman state church had created the
concept of a specialized priesthood, much like the designated priests of the Old Testament.
The church taught that only the priest could properly understand and interpret the Bible for
the masses.

Martin Luther introduced the doctrine of the individual “believer-priest.” Luther took his
stand on the testimony of the Scriptures: “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is
profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the
man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 2 All Scripture is
God-breathed, Luther saw. The Bible is the very out-breathing of the living God! Peter
asserted that “No prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never
came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.”3
Luther firmly believed and taught that one man or one woman with Bible in hand, was

2
2 Timothy 3:16-17.

3
2 Peter 1:20-21.

88
“thoroughly equipped for every good work,” able to understand and “declare ... the whole
counsel of God.” 4

Why the Scriptures Must Be Preeminent

Whatever authenticates the word of God is, by definition, greater than the word, and more
authoritative, because that extra-biblical witness becomes the supreme and final attesting
source from which the word receives it legitimacy. Therefore, it is blasphemous to assert that
anything is more authoritative and more certain than the word of God. The Bible
authenticates itself when it asserts that it is the only source of truth and knowledge. It is its
own ultimate witness to what it is: the word of God. There is no higher authority to attest to
the authenticity of the Scriptures. The Bible needs no accreditation board to validate its
unique truth claims. The church simply believes and recognizes the self-evidence of Scripture
by means of the Holy Spirit’s inner witness to the truthfulness of the word. The Bible
authenticates the church; the church does not authenticate the Bible.

We must be careful to maintain this assertion as our final appeal to the truth that the Bible is,
indeed, the word of the living God. One of the greatest evidences to attest to the Bible’s
unique truth claims, according to the great scholar and philosopher Gordon Clark, is its
consistency. Throughout the sixty-six books of the Bible, you will not find one instance
where it contradicts itself, nor does one part of the Bible refute what another part has said.
Truth is consistent; falsehood is inconsistent. The Scriptures are a glorious display of
supernatural consistency. It is truth, and there is no other truth. It is the one true, complete,
comprehensive, coherent, consistent, and final revelation of God’s truth to His people.

4
Acts 20:27.

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Therefore, we should tenaciously cling to the truth of Scripture for our salvation, our sanity,
and the very foundation of our civilization. God has only published one book; and that book
is called the Bible, which is His finished word about His finished work.

The Bible defies addition. Martin Luther read verses such as Psalm 138:2 -- “Thou hast
magnified thy word above all thy name” -- and deduced that if God places greater value on
His revealed truth than on His very name, then our own thoughts should give preeminence to
God’s truth, which is fully and completely revealed in Scripture.

The Roman state church was pagan in principle and polluted in practice, because the church
did not lead men to God and to His word alone. Jesus proclaimed that it is God’s word alone
that sanctifies men. "Holy Father,” He prayed, “Keep through Your name those whom You
have given Me, that they may be one as We are ... Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is
truth.” 5 Tragically, the Roman church did not direct men and women to God’s living and
active word alone, but instead instructed them to turn to the priesthood for truth.

The Reformation, with its foundational credo of “Sola Scriptura,” wrested authority away
from the ecclesiastical bully boys of the Roman church and stripped them of their power. The
Reformers stressed that God’s word was finished and complete, needing no addition from
men, 6 and likewise that Christ’s work on the cross was finished and complete. Man could do
nothing to “improve” God’s plan of salvation. The sixty-six books of Scripture, the
Reformers insisted, were perfect and complete in their original autographs, and carried
complete and ultimate authority for the governance of the church and the individual believer.
Scripture, and Scripture alone, was completely sufficient for bringing men and women to the

5
John 17:11, 17.

6
Deuteronomy 4:2, 12:32; 1 Corinthians 4:6; Hebrews 10:11-12.

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proper knowledge and understanding of the one true God, and for teaching them to follow
His plan for eternal salvation. The Reformation inspired a return to the teaching of the Bible,
and away from the teaching of the Roman state church.

The Emphasis that the Word Places on the Word

There are more verses than I can possibly give you here which emphasize the authenticity
and the authority of Scripture. Let us begin with the authenticity of Scripture. We have all
heard at one time or another the unbelievers’ charge that the Bible is merely a collection of
“myths” or “fables” which were written by men, and cleverly edited and rewritten to produce
a book that has hoodwinked millions upon gullible millions into believing that it is a holy
book. Incredibly, some of the Bible’s most treacherous enemies reside within the walls of the
church and the seminary. There are far too many so-called “Bible scholars” and
“theologians” who claim that the Scriptures are riddled with errors and that only portions of
the Bible are trustworthy.

What do the Scriptures, themselves, say? Does the Bible suggest that some portions are the
words of men, and therefore less authoritative than the parts that were breathed out by God?
By no means! “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God,” 7 Paul asserted. The very best
translation for this verse, as I mentioned earlier, is found in the NIV Bible, which correctly
renders the Greek word “theopneustos” (“theo” meaning “God,” and “pneustos” meaning
“breathe”) as “God breathed.” All Scripture - not “some” Scripture or “most” Scripture - is
the very out-breathing of God, Himself!

7
2 Timothy 3:16.

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Peter, likewise, assured his readers that “No prophecy of Scripture is of any private
interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as
they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” 8 Any Bible scholar worthy of the name will tell you
that Peter’s reference to “prophecy” is meant to include the entire body of Scripture, just as
surely as Paul did. “God ... spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets,” 9 the author of
Hebrews reports, affirming that the word of the prophets (the Old Testament) is the word of
God. Romans 3:2 refers to the words of the Old Testament as “the oracles of God.”

Another passage concerning the divine authorship of Scripture, also found in the writings of
Peter, reads thus:
Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you,
searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to
which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ
and the glories that would follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving
themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who
have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to
look into these things. 0

8
2 Pet 1:20-21.

9
Hebrews 1:1.

10
1 Peter 1:10-12 (NIV).

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These words are so powerful! “The prophets” to whom Peter refers are the writers of the Old
Testament. These men, who had been directed by The Spirit of Christ [living] in them to
write the holy Scriptures, searched these writings diligently, seeking to discover who the
Messiah would be and when He would come. It was revealed to them by the Spirit of Christ
that was living within them that the salvation (the glories that would follow) was going to be
for a later generation, and that the prophets were writing for that group, and not for
themselves. This salvation, which is frequently referred to in the New Testament as “the
mystery of Christ,” was something so glorious that even the angels in heaven longed to have
it explained to them! These “secret things of God” had been entrusted, not to angels, but to
1

the apostles who preached the gospel through the direction of the Holy Spirit of God, sent [to
them] from heaven. Clearly, this magnificent passage proclaims that the writing of both the
Old and New Testaments was done entirely under the direction of the Spirit of God -- they
are “God-breathed.” If “angels long to look into these things,” how could men possibly
hope to write them down on the basis of their own understanding? I am reminded of the
wonderful passage from the book of Acts, when Peter, “full of the Holy Spirit,” testified to
the salvation that is found only in Christ, and“When (the Sanhedrin) saw the boldness of
Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled.
And they realized that they had been with Jesus.” The passage we have just examined from 1
2

Peter reveals that the human authors of Scripture had the Spirit of Jesus Christ living within
them, directing them to write God’s truth, and God’s truth alone.

“Every word of God is pure,” Proverbs tells us, and the Psalms similarly proclaim that “The
words of the Lord are pure words, like silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven

11
1 Corinthians 4:1.

12
Acts 4:8, 13.

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times,” and that “The entirety of Your word is truth, and every one of Your righteous
judgments endures forever.” 3

These are merely some of the more prominent examples from the virtually thousands of
verses of Scripture which clearly assert the divine inspiration of the Bible. One could fill a
good-sized book by simply printing all the verses - there are 3,808 of - in which one of the 158F4

Old Testament writers attests that “Hear the word of the Lord,” “The Lord says,” “Thus
says the Lord,” and so on. There is no claim in Scripture that is made any more emphatically
than that the Bible, in its entirety, is the word --the very breath -- of God.

Biblical Inspiration

The Holy Spirit moved supernaturally in the hearts of men so that their writings were the
very words of God. These inspired words were supernaturally guarded against all errors of
any kind - historical, doctrinal, scientific, or prophetic error. All forty writers, who were
carried along by the superintendence of the Holy Spirit to write the sixty-six books of
Scripture, recorded nothing but infallible truth. Every dot ... every letter .... every word came
directly from the indefectible mind of the living God, who, Himself alone, is eternal truth.
The Holy Spirit did this in such a glorious way that He did not alter the literary style,
personality, or vocabulary of any of the writers. When the Holy Spirit worked through David
to record God’s word, David was never more David in his style, personality, and vocabulary.
In fact, as you read the sixty-six inspired books of the Bible, you will notice the distinct

13
Proverbs 30:5; Psalm 12:6; Psalm 119:160.

14
DM Lloyd-Jones, Authority, (London, England, Inter-Varsity, copyright (c) 1958. Carlisle, PN, Banner of Truth
Trust, 1984), 50.

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individualism of each sacred book. Peter’s writing style does not sound like Paul’s; nor does
Paul sound like David; nor David like Moses. The Holy Spirit sovereignly decreed that each
of the forty writers would express God’s word through their own individual minds. The Holy
Spirit did not intend for the writers to be divine stenographers, emptied of all personality, or
mindless robots which mechanically copied down words. The Spirit sovereignly worked
through them as saved men, made in the image of God, possessing the gift of human
language, and filled them and supernaturally empowered them as God’s mouthpieces to
express God’s thoughts through perfect propositions (declarative sentences). The Bible is
God’s word, and His word has but one author: the Holy Spirit, who brought about that word
through divine and human instrumentality without altering its eternal, infallible, inerrant
outcome.

The Holy Spirit came upon the virgin Mary and equipped her to be the instrument to clothe
the eternal Son in human flesh; yet the outcome of this God-man union was that the Son of
God was impeccable in His humanity and undiminished in His deity. Similarly, the written
word of God is clothed in human instrumentality, yet undiminished in its infallible, eternal
truth. It therefore stands authoritatively alone as the propositional breath of the living God.

The Illumination of the Holy Spirit

In one of his marvelous essays on the inspiration, authority, and infallibility of the Scriptures,
Gordon Clark wrote:
Strong emphasis needs to be put on the work of the Holy Spirit. Man is dead in sin, an
enemy of God, opposed to all righteousness and truth. He needs to be changed. Neither the
preacher nor, much less, the sinner himself can cause the change. But “blessed is the man
whom you choose, and cause to approach you” (Psalm 65:4). 159F 5

15
Gordon H. Clark, God’s Hammer: The Bible and Its Critics, (Hobbs, New Mexico, The Trinity Foundation,
copyright (c) 1982 by John W. Robbins), 22.

95
It cannot be stressed too often that, just as revelation is a gift from God, so, too, is
illumination, which is God’s sovereign decision to open our eyes to the truths of His word.
As Dr. Clark so succinctly wrote, the mind of the unbeliever is incapable of comprehending
God’s truth. “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit
of God,” Paul wrote, “for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them,
because they are spiritually discerned.” In his letter to the Romans, Paul was even more
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emphatic: “The sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do
so.”16F 7

16
1 Corinthians 2:14 (NIV)

17
Romans 8:7 (NIV)

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God sovereignly selected the forty men who wrote the sixty-six books of the Bible to be the
human instruments He would use to impart His revelation. In the same way, God sovereignly
chooses to whom He will give His spirit of truth, so that His people will receive the gift of
illumination. Dr. Clark cites Ezekiel 36:26, which reads, “I will give you a new heart and put
a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” 162F8

It is God, working by means of His Holy Spirit, who gives us the ability to understand the
Scriptures.

We may hear the cleverest scientific or historical arguments confirming the truth of
Scripture; we may listen to the most powerful evangelistic preaching this world has ever
heard, but without the gift of a new heart and a new spirit, which is provided only by God, we
remain at enmity with God and completely incapable of understanding, much less believing,
His written revelation. Dr. Clark concludes:
In the last analysis, therefore -- although historical and archaeological confirmation of the
Bible's accuracy is of great interest to us and of great embarrassment to unbelievers -- a
conviction that the Bible is really the Word of God cannot be the conclusion of a valid
argument based on more clearly evident premises. This conviction is produced by the Holy
Spirit himself.

It must always be kept in mind that the proclamation of the Gospel is part of a spiritual
struggle against the supernatural powers of the evil one, and victory comes only through the
omnipotent grace of God. 163F9

18
(NIV)

19
Clark, God’s Hammer, p. 23

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In the case of both revelation and illumination, the source is God and God alone, and all the
credit and all the glory go to God. We cannot take credit for coming to an understanding of
God’s truth all on our own, through sensation, experimentation, observation, or careful study.
We have all heard the sincere testimonies of men and women who have said, “I sat down to
read the Bible with an open mind, to see if it was really God’s truth, and I came to realize
that the Bible really was the word of God.” These people, though well meaning, are giving
glory to self for discerning the truth of God’s word. However, as we have seen, the clear
teaching of the Scriptures is that man is completely incapable of understanding God’s truth,
for “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the
light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” It is only when God gives
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us a new heart and puts His Spirit within us that we are able to understand the Bible, and
recognize it for what is it is: God’s revealed truth to man. Illumination is the sovereign gift of
a loving Heavenly Father: “Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit
of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy
Spirit.” The gift is given as He wills, not as we wish. “But the natural man does not receive
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the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them,
because they are spiritually discerned,” Paul asserted. God testifies to our soul what -- and
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Who -- is the way, the truth, and the life. Without that irresistible, sovereign Light from God,
we are powerless to comprehend the truth that is right before our eyes.

20
2 Corinthians 4:4 (NIV).

21
1 Corinthians 12:3.

22
1 Corinthians 2:14.

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 The Authority of Scripture

“The word of God is living and active,” Hebrews asserts. “Sharper than any double-edged
sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow.” The Bible is not
merely “another great book.” There is no other book that contains the living and active
words of the God of the universe, words which penetrate the human soul and judge “the
thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” How dare the self-appointed “higher critics” call
2167F 3

Scripture a “dead letter”?! These critics are messengers of the serpent in the Garden, asking
slyly, “Has God indeed said ...?” The word of God is alive; it is active; and it judges the
hearts of men. The words of God “are spirit and they are life.” I want to give you several
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verses of Scripture that testify to the power and the authority of God’s word, in order to
really drive the point home, for you and for those with whom I hope you will share this
glorious knowledge.

Let’s begin in the book of Acts. When the original apostles, men who were eyewitnesses of
the resurrection of Christ, decided to select the first deacons for the rapidly growing church,
they reasoned was that “It is not desirable that we should leave the word of God and serve
tables.” Notice that they did not say, “We need to keep busy telling people what we have
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seen and experienced.” No, what they felt was vitally important was to continue to preach the
“word of God.”

23
Hebrews 4:12 (NIV).

24
John 6:63.

25
Acts 6:6.

99
In Ephesians 6, Paul describes the Armor of God, which protects believers from Satan’s
attacks. The first thing he told the Ephesians to do was gird their waists with “Truth,” i.e.,
with the word of God. The emphasis and the priority was on the word of truth: the Bible.
2170F6

26
Ephesians 6:14.

100
“Doctrine” -- meaning sound, Biblical teaching -- is a word which appears often in the New
Testament. Paul wrote to Timothy that “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is
profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the
man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” The Scriptures
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were all young Timothy needed for sound teaching. Mastery of the Bible would leave him
“thoroughly equipped” for every work of ministry. Paul didn’t feel that Timothy would need
a course in psychology in order to lead the church. He didn’t suggest that Timothy take a
course in early childhood development, or that he go out and gain sufficient “life
experiences” to prepare himself for the ministry. If Timothy mastered the truth contained in
God’s word, he would be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. No other
source of information was necessary. Also note that the very first thing that Paul said that the
Scriptures were profitable for was doctrine. Sound teaching was the first thing that Paul
was concerned with. Believers need to order their minds according to the authoritative
teaching of Scripture.

“You have magnified Your word above all Your name.” Nothing is more important to God
217F8

than the revealed truth that He has given to man! The longest chapter in Scriptures, is
Psalm 119, which is 176 verses long. This Psalm is completely and unblinkingly focused on
praising and extolling and rejoicing in the word of God. Psalm 119 is located almost exactly
in the middle of the Bible. It is set as a centerpiece, exalting the truth and holiness and
righteousness of God’s word. Verse after verse gives glory to the Scriptures, calling them
God’s precepts, His law, His commandments, His testimonies, His justice, His word, His
statutes. In all 176 verses, you will not find one which does not refer to God’s matchless
word! That is God’s priority: the truth and the power of the Bible. What did Jesus tell Satan?

27
2 Timothy 3:16-17.

28
Psalm 138:2.

101
“Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of
God.” 2173F9

29
Matthew 4:4.

102
 Jesus Testified to the Authenticity and the Authority of Scripture

On numerous occasions, the teachings of Jesus Christ verified the authenticity and historical
truth of the Scriptures. In one sweeping sentence in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus spoke of Abel,
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whose life and death is described in the fourth chapter of the first book of the Bible, and also
of the prophet Zechariah, whose prophecy precedes the last book of the Old Testament. In
Matthew 24:37-39, Jesus spoke of Noah and the great flood. In John 3:14, He made reference
to Moses raising up the bronze snake on the pole, that the people of Israel might be saved
from the bites of the poisonous vipers (as described in Numbers 21). Jesus was verifying that
this was an historical event. In John 8:56, He referred to the life of Israel’s great patriarch,
Abraham, and then uttered the unforgettable words of John 8:58: “Before Abraham was, I
am!” In Matthew 8:11, Jesus told his followers of Abraham, and his son Isaac, and of Isaac’s
son, Jacob. These were real people, living out real history. Jesus spoke of the destruction of
Sodom and Gomorrah in Matthew 10:15, and elsewhere warned, “Remember Lot's wife.” 3175F1

30
Luke 11:51.

31
Luke 17:32.

103
The Lord spoke of David and his companions eating the consecrated bread, as was recounted
in 1 Samuel 21. Interestingly, when speaking of this event, Jesus asked the Pharisees, “Have
you not you read what David did ...?” was not encouraging the Pharisees to read some
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pleasant allegory. Jesus was telling the Pharisees to check the historical facts! Jesus also
spoke of David’s authorship of the Psalms in Matthew 22:43. In three short verses in
Matthew 12 (vv. 39-41), Jesus authenticated virtually the entire book of Jonah. Perhaps the
greatest single affirmation of all the books of the Old Testament came from the lips of the
resurrected Christ as He walked along the road to Emmaus with the two discouraged
believers. These men were kept from recognizing Christ, and they dispiritedly told Him about
the Prophet who had been crucified in Jerusalem. Jesus rebuked them: “‘O, foolish ones, and
slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!’ ... And beginning at Moses and
all the Prophets, he expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.” 317F3

Please note that Jesus did not say, “You should have believed in some of the things the
prophets have spoken.” No, they should have believed it all, because ALL Scripture is God-
breathed, given by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit! Jesus explained everything in all the
Scriptures, from the five books of the Pentateuch (Genesis through Deuteronomy) all the way
through Malachi, the last prophet in the Old Testament, who foretold the coming of “the
Messenger of the covenant.” The obvious conclusion that I want to bring to your attention is
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that if Jesus is mistaken concerning the truthfulness of these historical, biblical people and
events, then the reliability of everything He said is brought into question. In other words, if

32
Matthew 12:3.

33
Luke 24:25,27.

34
Malachi 3:1.

104
He is guilty of making any false statements, uttering historical blunders, or holding any false
beliefs, how can we trust in anything He said?

These passages provide indisputable truth from the lips of Jesus Christ that the Bible is
historical truth. History is His story! The Scriptures are not, as some have stated,
mythological or analogical. There are no mistakes, no inaccuracies, no blunders in reasoning,
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no missing elements, and no contradictions. God never contradicts Himself. He speaks

absolute truth. God has decreed that all the events of history will take for His glory. The 3180F6

Bible was not written to give us “great literature,” or nice teachings for Sunday School
classes. We do not merely receive “some great principles” from the study of Scripture. Every
detail is factual. The stories in Scripture are literal events. They are the true and accurate
account of God’s interaction with mankind.

Jesus not only verified the historicity and the authenticity of Scripture, He also gave His
testimony, over and over again, to the absolute authority of the Scriptures. He began His
ministry with the reading of the Scriptures:
So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went
into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. And He was handed the book
of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was
written: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the
gospel to the poor; he has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the
captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; To
proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the
attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him.
And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” 318F7

35
Cornelius Van Til and other theologians have stated over the years that the words of the Bible are merely analogous
to the true thoughts of God. Their erroneous assertion is that God is incapable of speaking in language that enables man to come
to an accurate and complete understanding of God’s truth. Therefore, they claim, there is no identity of mind between man and
God. They would have you believe that there is no real truth expressed in Scripture, only a facsimile of God’s truth, written in
language that the feeble mind of man can comprehend.

36
Isaiah 46:10-11.

37
Luke 4:16-21.

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Jesus began His ministry on the authority of Scripture, quoting Isaiah 61:1-2. He based the
validity of His entire ministry on what had been written in the old Testament, and proclaimed
that He was the fulfillment of the prophecies about the coming King, the Messiah. So it
began here, the ministry that would reshape the entire world, and it began with Jesus
revealing the authority that had been granted to Him through the Scriptures.

At the very end of His ministry, Jesus was doing the same thing: quoting Scripture. He spoke
from Psalms 22, Psalms 31, and Hosea 10. His ministry began and ended with Scripture on
His lips, and throughout the entirety of His ministry, Jesus attested to the authority of what he
said by citing Scripture. Time and again, He prefaced His statements by saying, “It is
written,” or He introducing another Scripture quotation by asking, “Have you not read... ?”
or “Have you not even read this ... ?” He once demanded of a group of Pharisees who were
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badgering Him about the Sabbath regulations. On another occasion, He rebuked the
Sadducees, saying, “You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God.” 318F9

We read more than once in the gospels that “The crowds were amazed at his teaching,
because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.” He spoke
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with authority because He spoke the word of God, not the written regulations of an
ecclesiastical council!

Jesus asserted the purity and the authority of the entire body of the Scriptures on more than
one occasion, saying, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets [the
Scriptures]. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and

38
Luke 6:3.

39
Matthew 22:29.

40
Matthew 7:28-29 (NIV).

106
earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.”
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Similarly, Jesus declared, “It is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle of
the law (the Scriptures) to fail.” Perhaps the greatest single passage concerning the authority
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and inerrancy of Scripture is John 10:35, in which Jesus affirmed, “The Scripture cannot be
broken.” The great theologian, B.B. Warfield, paraphrased this verse to mean that the
Scriptures cannot be annulled. They are true, they are without error, and their truth will never
4187F3

fail.

41
Matthew 5:17-18.

42
Luke 16:17.

43
CAN WE SOURCE THIS?

107
Jesus spoke several times about the absolute necessity that the things written in the Old
Testament must be fulfilled. In the gospel of Luke, He told the twelve disciples, “Behold, we
are going up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the
Son of Man will be accomplished.” Similarly, in Matthew, Jesus declared, “The Son of Man
418F 4

indeed goes just as it is written of Him.” When Jesus was betrayed by Judas Iscariot and
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arrested, Peter attacked with his sword, seeking to drive off Jesus’ captors. Jesus stopped
him: “Put your sword in its place ... Do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and
He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels? How then could the Scriptures
be fulfilled, that it must happen thus?” The resurrected Christ reassured the disciples, “These
4190F6

are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled
which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.” 419F7

The Gospels are replete with such verses, in which Jesus asserted that the Scriptures must be
fulfilled. They cannot be broken, even by God, for “It is impossible for God to lie.” 4192F8

The Apostles’ View of Scripture

44
Luke 18:31.

45
Matthew 26:24.

46
Matthew 26:52-54.

47
Luke 24:44.

48
Hebrews 6:18.

108
The apostles -- men who had personally seen the resurrected Savior and had been taught by
Jesus Christ -- were equally emphatic in their proclamations of the truth and the authority of
Scripture. These men spoke with power and authority, so much so that thousands of people
believed in their message and were baptized in a single day! On the night before His arrest
4193F 9

and subsequent crucifixion, Jesus told the twelve disciples: “I tell you the truth. It is to your
advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I
depart, I will send Him to you ... When He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you
into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will
speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is
Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He
will take of Mine and declare it to you.” Jesus Christ, the second member of the Holy Trinity,
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promised the disciples that the Holy Spirit (the third, co-equal member of the Trinity) would
come to them and teach them and guide them in all the things of God! Jesus had been
walking the earth, preaching and teaching God’s truth -- and only God’s truth. He had told
His disciples, “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words
that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me
does the works.” Now He was giving the disciples the authority to speak of all the things of
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God. Jesus would shortly be leaving this earth, and going to sit at the right hand of the
Father. The disciples would now become the apostles, the men who would declare God’s
truth. Jesus Christ had expressly given them the authority to teach the things of God.

49
Acts 2:41.

50
John 16:7, 13-15.

51
John 14:10.

109
These men knew full well that they were teaching God’s truth, and not their own. “We also
thank God without ceasing,” Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, “because when you received
the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it
is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe.” This is why
5196F 2

Paul did not hesitate to command the churches to read his letters to their entire congregations.
“I charge you by the Lord,” he wrote to the church at Thessalonica, “that this epistle be read
to all the holy brethren.” To the Colossians, Paul wrote, “Now when this epistle is read
5197F3

among you, see that it is read also in the church of the Laodiceans, and that you likewise
read the epistle from Laodicea.” The only way Paul could legitimately give such an
5198F4

emphatic directive was because he knew that he was directing the churches to read the very
words of God.

Peter verified the authority of the epistles of Paul when he wrote, “Our beloved brother Paul,
according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, as also in all his epistles, speaking
in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and
unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.” 519F5

Writing under the direction of the Holy Spirit, Peter was saying that Paul had written with
wisdom that had been given to him by God, but that ignorant and evil people had twisted
Paul’s words, just as they did with all the rest of the Scriptures. In linking the thirteen
epistles that Paul wrote to the rest of the Scriptures, Peter was confirming that Paul’s words
were, indeed, the words of God. Paul had confirmed to the Galatians that he was not uttering

52
1 Thessalonians 2:13.

53
1 Thessalonians 5:27.

54
Colossians 4:16.

55
2 Peter 3:15-16.

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the teachings of men: “I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not
something that man made up. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I
received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.” 520F6

Paul also linked the Old and New Testaments together as one body of truth, when he wrote to
Timothy, “For the Scripture says, ‘You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain,’
and, ‘The laborer is worthy of his wages.’” The key to understanding the significance of this
5201F 7

verse is knowing which Scriptures Paul is citing here. The first verse is Deuteronomy 25:4,
which comes from the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Old Testament). What is so
powerful is that the second verse is a direct quote from the words of Christ, which are
recorded in Luke 10:7! The Holy Spirit directed Moses to speak God’s truth, and He directed
Luke in the same way. Paul is linking the Old and New Testaments together under one,
inclusive name: “The Scripture,” the very out-breathing of the living God.

What is the Word of God to You?

In the next chapter, we’ll spend some time discussing why the concept that the Bible alone is
the word of God is the all-important First Principle upon which Christianity rests. Before we
do that, however, I’m going to ask you a personal question. What does the word of God mean
to you? There are many commentators who believe that when Jesus Christ said to Peter, “On
this rock I will build My church,” He was referring to the “rock” of God’s revealed word.
520F8

“Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah,” the Lord said, “for flesh and blood has not revealed
this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.” The only foundation upon which we can build

56
Galatians 1:11-12.

57
1 Timothy 5:18.

58
Matt 16:18,17

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our lives, our families, our churches, and our civilization is God’s perfect, infallible, inerrant
word.

Do you hold God’s word in that kind of esteem? Do you really? Or have you been swayed
just a little by the seductive whisper of the ancient deceiver in the garden: “Has God indeed
said ...?” He hisses at you from textbooks and “educational” television shows. He gleefully
5203F9

cackles at God’s truth during news broadcasts and talk shows, and he writes articles for the
major newspapers and periodicals. These are not the voices of “wisdom” or “truth”: these
are the voices of Satan! If you gain nothing else from reading Legacy, I hope you will gain a
new reverence and adoration and confidence in the matchless truths of God’s perfect word.
The Scriptures tell us time and time again that they are the words of God, not the words of
men. It has been proven to my satisfaction, and I’m sure to yours, that the teachings of men
often fall far short of the truth.

I am always slightly puzzled by the thought patterns of those who insist that the Scriptures
contain errors. I have mentioned the “Jesus seminar,” for example, which is a group of
individuals purporting to be Bible scholars who vote with colored beads to determine which
parts of the Gospels are fact, in their opinion, and which are fiction. Every year, this bunch
finds new passages of Scripture which their beads tell them are not really the words of Christ.
The mainstream press is always quick to trumpet the findings of this group, announcing to
the world that the Scriptures cannot be trusted. This group is merely the most public and one
of the most egregious in their pious skepticism. This kind of deconstruction of the Scriptures
has contaminated a great many of our seminaries. Young men enter these schools with a
desire to learn how to preach and teach the word of God, and depart from them with the firm

59
Genesis 3:1.

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belief that the Scriptures are not to be trusted! I have sat face-to-face with many of these
disillusioned young men. They have every reason to be discouraged.

The Bible teaches us about a great many things: the nature of God, the nature of man, the
eternal destiny of all men and women, and the history of humanity, to name just a few. The
most important tenet of the Bible is that which we are currently discussing: the absolute
integrity of the entirety of Scripture. It is this integrity that is denied by the modern liberal
theologians. Here is the question I’d like to ask them all. We have just reviewed a sampling
of the unequivocal claims of Jesus Christ that every jot and tittle of Scripture is true. Now,
these 20th Century “scholars” tell us that Jesus is either mistaken or deliberately lying. Their
claim is that the Bible is riddled with errors and inaccuracies, if not outright falsities. If
contemporary liberal deconstructionist scholars are correct, then Jesus is not to be trusted on
the issue of Biblical inerrancy. If this is true, and we can’t rely on the words of Christ when it
comes to the Scriptures, how in the world are we supposed to trust Him when He makes the
claim that He is the Son of God? How are we supposed to believe Him when He says, “I am
the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” ? If we 6204F0

cannot believe His teaching on the inerrancy of Scripture, and we cannot believe His
teaching about His deity and the plan of salvation, then how are we to believe anything He
says? Obviously, we can’t!

No wonder so many seminary graduates are discouraged! They have been robbed of all
authority. They have been told that the very Scriptures which authenticate the church and
authorize and equip their ministry are false. They are at once reduced to building their
theological house on the same shifting sand that everyone else builds on: the opinions of
men. However well intentioned these various opinion-leaders might be -- whether they are
educators, scientists, psychologists, archeologists, journalists, or politicians -- the words they

60
John 14:6.

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speak are not deduced from God’s revealed truth, and therefore provide only the most flimsy
and unstable foundation upon which to build a family, a church, or a society.
Just look at the incalculable damage that the intellectual “elites” have done to American
society in the last fifty years! As I write these words, Americans are still searching and
questioning for answers in the aftermath of the shocking attack in Littleton, Colorado, where
two students wielding guns and pipe bombs laughed aloud as they massacred twelve of their
schoolmates and one teacher. While people like you and I wept in horror and frustration
when we heard and saw the images of this ghastly carnage, the intelligentsia sprang into
action, clucking about the need for stiffer gun laws and content restrictions on the Internet.
Please don’t misunderstand, it may be that more laws are needed, but no law will do
anything more than address the symptoms of the sickness that is gripping this country.
The root cause of the moral cancer that is eating away at the American experiment is that our
nation has turned away from the great Reformation truth of Sola Scriptura, the doctrine that
truth is only found in one place: the Scriptures. The great theologian John Wycliffe said, “All
law, all philosophy, all ethics are in Scripture, in Holy Scripture is all truth.” reason that 6205F1T

America has so rapidly jettisoned the truth of God’s word is because the pastors of America,
whom God has charged with shepherding His people, with feeding and leading them, have
stopped teaching about the authority and sufficiency of Scripture. We must equip and
encourage our pastors to become the preachers and teachers that are needed for such a time
as this! It is my fervent hope and prayer that this book will be the beginning of just such a
movement in our troubled nation.

61
Quoted in Dr. John Robbins’ address, “Bleating Wolves: The Meaning Of Evangelicals and Catholics Together,”
The Trinity Review, October/November/December, 1998.

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 Legacy, Chapter Four
The Axiom: The First Principle of Christianity

Imagine that you have spent your life building homes. Over the years you have learned from
some of the finest architects, builders, and craftsmen in the trade, and you have become very
proficient at your job. Now you have decided to teach your son the trade. You want to leave
him a legacy of integrity and fine craftsmanship. Rather than bring him in on the middle of a
job that is already in progress, you wait until your very first day at a new site to introduce
him to your craft. Your son will see the house come up out of the ground from the very
beginning. You understand that it is vitally important for him to learn the proper order for the
construction of a solid, durable home. This cannot be approached haphazardly!

On the drive to the job site, you ask him: “What is the proper first step for us to take in
building this new home?”

“The slab,” your son replies. “We’ve got to lay the slab down first.”

“That’s what a lot of people say,” you reply kindly. “You would think the slab is our starting
point, but there is something we need to have in place even before the slab: the earth. We
have to prepare the earth to pour the slab on. It is absolutely critical that we have the proper
foundation on which to build.” You are teaching your son to begin at the beginning.

The Legacy that the title of this book refers to is the legacy that has been given to us by God,
which is His inspired, inerrant, infallible word: the Bible. This is our foundation, the place
where we are to begin teaching our children: The Bible alone is the word of God. This is
the foundation that the people of Israel were commanded by God to lay down for their
children in Deuteronomy 6. “These words which I command you today shall be in your heart.

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You shall teach them to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house,
when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall write them on
the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” 1 The legacy that the nation of Israel would
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pass on to their children was these words which God had given them.

Does Our Starting Point Really Matter, as Long as We End Up in the Right Place?

There are some very godly Christian teachers and theologians who do not use the Bible as
their foundation for teaching. I’d like to briefly explain their various starting points to you,
and discuss some of the nuances of thought. These distinctions may strike you as “nit-picky”
at first; I urge you to stay with me, because I intend to show you the critical importance of
building our theological house on the proper foundation!

Some Christians, theologians and laymen alike, begin to build their legacy with the concept
of the being of God. Their foundation is ontology, which is the study of the nature of being.
They focus on the being of the triune, infinite, personal God. Several prestigious volumes of
systematic theology, which pastors study in seminary, begin with a detailed discussion of the
being of God, which is also called “Theology Proper.” Other Bible teachers prefer to begin
with soteriology, which is the doctrine of salvation through the finished work of Jesus Christ.
The Gospel is the foundation upon which they construct their belief.

Clearly, both ontology and soteriology are good and necessary things for us to study, but are
either of these doctrines the best beginning point? As I said before, the good is the enemy of
the best, and when we set out to discover absolute, unalterable, divine truth, we should not
begin with a foundation that is merely good, but with the very best, rock-solid foundation. If

1
Deuteronomy 6:6-9.

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you were to ask the teachers of ontology to explain the being of God, they might say, “I
believe in the infinite, eternal, triune God, the Maker of heaven and earth and the seas, and
everything in them.” Perhaps you would respond to the student of ontology by asking, “How
do you know? How can you be sure that what you’re telling me is true?” Their answer, of
course, would be: “The Bible. The Bible tells me about the being of God.” Similarly, you
might ask those who base their teaching on the doctrine of salvation through faith in Christ
the same question: “How can I know that what you’re telling me is the truth?” Their answer
would be quick and sure: “That is the clear teaching of the Scriptures, the living and active
word of God!”

Just as there is work to be done at the site of a new home before the concrete slab is poured,
there is something even more fundamental to understanding the complexities of life than the
being of God (ontology), or the doctrine of salvation (soteriology). That “something” is
God’s word, the Bible. The Bible is our foundation. It is the beginning point for all
knowledge and all truth.

What is an Axiom?

Euclid, the father of geometry, created axioms that were the foundation for the entire study of
geometry. These few axioms form the basis for everything that one learns during years of
study in the field of geometry. Hundreds of theorems can be developed and proven from
these axioms. Thousands of hypotheses (tentative ideas) can also be disproved, because they
don’t agree with the unchanging, undeniable truth of the foundational axiom.

An axiom, then, is our origin, our starting point for knowledge, and it can be defined as an
unproven, unprovable beginning point. An axiom is the source from which all our ideas
and theories for a particular subject are derived and tested. If a particular hypothesis is shown

117
to run counter to the axiom, then the hypothesis is conclusively proven wrong, because the
axiom is our plumb line, our template, for truth.

It is vitally important that we Christians arm our children with a clear understanding of the
concept of presuppositions. We must teach our children that anything that anybody says --
whether the speaker is a parent, teacher, pastor, or friend -- every word out of that person’s
mouth is guided by some sort of presupposition (an assumed philosophical starting point).
You, yourself, as you read this book and hundreds of thoughts course through your mind, are
measuring each of those thoughts against a beginning point that forms the basis for your own
personal philosophy. Whether you consciously acknowledge it or not, that philosophy is your
starting point - your axiom. It is your final basis for evaluating the truth of everything you
read or hear.

Every argument, every philosophical system, indeed, all rational thinking, has its first
principle. It is a beginning point: an unverifiable, unproven starting point -- an axiom. It is
the bedrock upon which the entire system of thinking rests. You can’t dig any deeper.
The entire thought, or system of thought, rests on this foundation -- this axiom (or if your
prefer, this given assumption).

For example, the beginning point for the English alphabet is the letter “A.” Can we prove
beyond a shadow of a doubt that “A” is the correct choice to lead off the alphabet? No, we
can’t, but it doesn’t matter. To question the axiom of “A” is a pointless and frivolous
exercise. Our study of the alphabet goes forward from the axiom of “A.” We never go
backward from there.

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If you were challenged to prove your axiom, and if you could prove that beginning point,
then you would have to go on to prove the beginning point of this next point, and you would
inevitably tumble into a never-ending spiral of seeking to prove successive starting points.

If someone were to come to you or me and demand that we prove that Christianity is true, we
would probably remember Peter’s admonition to “Always be ready to give a defense to
everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you,” 2 and we would begin tooffer
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various apologetic arguments (reasons or proofs that substantiate our faith) that we have
learned over the years. We might explain the historical truth of the life and death of Jesus
Christ, or cite various biological or archaeological discoveries which verify the scientific and
historical accuracy of the Scriptures. But, as with any system of thought, we cannot prove
our axiom, which is that the Bible is the word of God. We can cite a great deal of evidence
to support the truth of the axiom, but it cannot be proven. It can be proven beyond a
reasonable doubt, but not beyond a shadow of a doubt.

In exactly the same way, an atheist cannot prove his starting point, either! His axiom -- the
basis for his entire system of knowledge and thought -- is that God does not exist. When Carl
Sagan used to claim that the universe is all that there is that we can know, he was not
announcing the result of years of painstaking study and research. Rather, he was proclaiming
the outworking of his axiom from which he deduced all his thoughts, and through which he
filtered everything he learned. Sagan’s axiom was that God does not exist.

You might ask an atheist, “How do you know your axiom is true?” The atheist has no logical
answer. He will trot out his group of biologists and archeologists and historians who deny the
truth of Scriptures, but the atheist’s axiom is ultimately unproven and unprovable. In fact, his

2
1 Peter 3:15.

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axiom can easily demonstrated to be false. The only way your atheist friend can accurately
and objectively claim that God does not exist is if he is omniscient: that is, he possesses all
the knowledge of every aspect of the nature of God, and of the history and scope of the
universe. Only such an all-knowing being could claim with absolute certainty that there is no
God. In fact, there is only one Being who could legitimately claim to possess this quality of
omniscience ... and that would be God! Unless your atheist friend is ready to assume the titles
of the Deity, he must admit that his first principle -- his axiom -- is unproven and unprovable.

However, let’s not take an axe to the root of the tree of atheism just yet. Rather, let’s agree at
this point that any system of thought comes back to one foundational starting point - an
axiom - and that axiom is ASSUMED to be true. It cannot be proven. However, an axiom
is disproved if it is demonstrated to be self-contradictory, like the atheist’s first principle.

In one sense, you can see that we all start on equal footing in the marketplace of ideas.
We Christians cannot prove our axiom, but neither can the skeptic, the atheist, the
behaviorist, or anyone else, because each theory of thought rests on an unproven, unprovable
assumption: an axiom. We have reasons to trust our axiom -- there is evidence which we
believe establishes the integrity of our bedrock theory of knowledge -- but we cannot
conclusively prove it to be true. We accept our axiom by faith. This is true of both the most
Spirit-filled Christian, whose heart leaps at the very mention of the Lord Jesus Christ, and
also of the most unemotional, humanistic unbeliever.

Is Any One Axiom Superior to Another?

I am confident that some of you reading this discussion are becoming a little uncomfortable.
You have probably been exposed to some of the great teachers of apologetics, such as D.
James Kennedy, Josh McDowell, and Henry Morris, and you are confident that your

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Christian faith is not founded on an assumption, but on solid scientific and historical facts.
Now, along comes this author, telling you that your confidence rests on an “unprovable
assumption”! You might well ask, if Christianity’s axiom cannot be proved beyond a shadow
of a doubt, and if we start on the same intellectual footing as the skeptic, behaviorist, or
atheist, then is Christianity’s claim to truth any more compelling than theirs? For example, I
mentioned Euclid’s axioms for geometry earlier in this discussion. I used Euclid’s name
because it is one that most of us are familiar with from high school. Did you know that two
other mathematicians later worked out their own systems of geometry, using axioms different
from Euclid’s? Each of these competing theories was consistent within its own system. In
other words, the outworking of these competing systems of geometry did not lead to a logical
contradiction, and therefore could not be disproved. Interestingly, none of these three systems
of geometry completely agreed with the other two! All three of these theories seem to work.
But which one is true?

Similarly, our lives are affected on a regular basis by the ongoing debate that takes place,
both nationally and internationally, over economic theory. Perhaps the classic example of this
is one of the most basic: the disagreement over the respective merits of a government-
managed economy (socialism), and a market-directed economy (capitalism). There are a
great many university professors and far too many politicians who actually believe that
socialism is true and effective, and they present workable economic models to bolster their
arguments. Free-market economists present similarly cogent arguments.

How can we know which of these economic axioms are true, if they all rest on unproven
assumptions? We have already seen that some axioms will not stand the test of logic. Like
atheism, they are inconsistent within themselves, and crumble under the cold light of reason.
In some instances, the inconsistencies of a particular axiom are spotlighted by the lessons of
history. Communism, which is the ultimate outworking of a government-managed economy,

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claimed the lives of tens of millions of innocent victims in the Twentieth Century, utterly
dwarfing the atrocities of the Nazi regime in Germany. Similarly, we see the social and
economic devastation that the outworking of the pantheistic ideals of Hinduism have wrought
upon many third-world nations. On the other hand, we in America are still enjoying the
residual benefits of the free-market economy that our founders bequeathed to us over two
hundred years ago. The lessons of history clearly indicate that a free-market economy is
superior.

For Christian believers, however, the question still remains: Is there any way I can know in
my mind that my axiom is superior to the unbeliever’s? The answer is emphatically,
unequivocally, YES! Jesus Christ said, “Your word is truth.” 3 Christianity asserts that the
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Bible, God’s word, has a monopoly on truth. 4 No other axiom is bold enough to make this
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claim! There are many axioms which claim to work, and the competing theories of geometry
and economics are perfect examples. They all can be demonstrated to work, at least for a
time. But there is only one axiom that dares to make the claim that it is the truth: Christianity.
Furthermore, it is my unblinking contention that Christianity is the only intellectually
defensible system of thought on the planet! 5 (We will spend more time on this thought in
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the next chapter.) No one has ever been able to demonstrate one logical inconsistency in the
axiom of our faith.

3
John 17:7 (emphasis added).

4
Dr. John Robbins, “The Crisis of Our Time.”

5
Ibid.

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 The Bedrock for Believers

What is the axiom for Christianity? What is the fundamental of fundamentals for our faith? In
truth, the first principle of our faith is so basic that we often miss it completely, and in so
doing, we open the door for every ki Dr. John Robbins, “The Crisis of Our Time.” nd of heresy. We are not
strong as a church because we do not speak with unanimity of thought in this one area. We
are not agreed on what the first principle is, and as a result the body of Christ is weak in
America and throughout much of the world. If the church of Jesus Christ would just accept
the same first principle, if we would “all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the
Son of God,” 6 we would walk and work with strength and power and conviction.
21F

The starting point for Christianity is: The Bible alone is the word of God. In declaring this
as our axiom, we are asserting that the Bible is supernaturally revealed truth. It is a gift of
knowledge to us from God, and from God alone. Man, on his own, has no knowledge! 7 It is 21F

actually blasphemous for man to say that he knows anything on his own, because all
knowledge is a result of God’s revelation. The book of Colossians makes the unequivocal
assertion that all knowledge has been given to us by God, through Jesus Christ: “In
(Christ) are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” 8 The starting point for our
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faith, and indeed, the starting point for all knowledge, is God’s divine revelation.

6
Ephesians 4:12.

7
See 1 Corinthians 1:17-31.

8
Colossians 1:16-17; 2:3.

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“To the law and to the testimony!” Scripture was the only thing that Isaiah trusted in. He
despised the words of those who reject God’s truth, for “If they do not speak according to
this word, it is because there is no light in them.” 9 All the treasures of wisdom and
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knowledge are hidden in the triune, infinite God, so it logically follows that anyone who
speaks contrary to His revealed word is a fool, and there is no wisdom -- no light of
revelation -- in him. In fact, Scripture clearly warns that “fools [those who reject God]
despise wisdom and instruction,” and that “the mouth of fools pours forth foolishness.” Only
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those who respect God’s laws and heed the testimony of Scripture should be trusted. Even
then, every word should be tested against the absolute truth and authority of God’s word.

The apostle Paul was a man who had gone through the most remarkable spiritual
experiences! He had, with his own eyes, seen the resurrected Savior and spoken with Him.
God blinded Paul during their encounter on the road to Damascus, and then restored his sight
three days later. Surely this was a man whose word should have been taken as an
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unquestioned authority of the things of God. Yet the Bereans, commended by the Bible as a
“fair-minded” people, put no such faith in Paul’s words. Although “they received the word
with all readiness,” they still “searched the Scriptures daily” to be sure that what Paul said
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was in line with the axiom. Paul was an apostle of the Lord, and the Bereans knew it. Yet

9
Isaiah 8:20.

10
Proverbs 1:7; 15:2.

11
Paul’s divine appointment with Jesus Christ is recorded in Acts 9.

12
Acts 17:11.

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there was only one unimpeachable source of truth for them: God’s inspired, infallible,
authoritative word. If anything they heard did not line up with that first principle, then it was
not to be trusted.

Scripture is Truth!

I want to assert in the strongest possible language that God’s revelation is our only source
for truth. Revelation is a gift from God to man. Men may proclaim to know the truth. The
philosophers of the age will postulate all manner of theorems about truth. However, unless
these propositions are either drawn directly from the Scriptures or are correctly deduced from
the revealed truth of our omniscient God, who has created all things and knows all things,
man’s theories are mere foolishness.

“Where is the wise man?” Paul asked rhetorically. “Where is the scholar? Where is the
philosopher of the age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?” God’s 128F3

revelation is in direct contradistinction to sensation, observation, and experimentation.

A finite, depraved, sinful man is not capable of thinking or reasoning properly, and therefore
he will never arrive at a point in his life where he can truthfully say: “I have learned, and I
know this to be true” -- unless he is proclaiming the revealed truth of God’s word. Luke
recounted that the boy Jesus “increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and
men,” and that “All who heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers.” 129F4

Why was Jesus able to grow in wisdom and understanding so quickly? He was sinless! His

13
1 Corinthians 1:20 (NIV).

14
Luke 2:52, 47.

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thinking was not clouded and distorted by sin. Thus, He was able to mature at a rate that was
astonishing to those around Him.

Johannes Kepler said we should think God’s thoughts after Him. We may accurately label
this kind of thinking as “sanity.” A sane person is one whose thoughts are in agreement
with the thoughts of the Creator. We know from the first chapter of Genesis that man is
made in the image of God, so when our thoughts are operating as they were created to do,
that we can think rationally and properly. However, Scripture is equally clear that the heart of
fallen man “is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.” The image of God that is
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man has been marred and distorted by sin. The thought patterns of the unbeliever are the
result of sin, and are, therefore, a mental malfunction. Tragically, the sinful nature pulls even
the thoughts of Christian men and women away from the things of God all the time. Long 12F 6

ago, God saw that “every intent of the thoughts of [man’s] heart was only evil continually.” 12F7

Our sin nature twists and skews and distorts our thinking a great many more times than any
of us would care to admit! Paul warned the Galatian Christians that “The sinful nature
desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature.
They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.” I can not and
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15
Jeremiah 17:9.

16
Galatians 5:17.

17
Genesis 6:5.

18
Galatians 5:17 (NIV).

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must not trust my own observation or reasoning! There is only one trustworthy guide to
the knowledge of the truth: God’s word.

To God -- Not Man -- Be the Glory!

I am contending for a starting point that gives all the glory to God, and none to man. God
gets the glory at the outset of all recorded time: “In the beginning God created the heavens
and the earth ... In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God.” God gets the glory throughout my life: “I can do all things through Christ who
strengthens me.” And it will be God who gets the glory throughout eternity: “‘I am the
Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,’ says the Lord, ‘who is and who was and
who is to come, the Almighty.’” God has supernaturally revealed His truth to us through the
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Scriptures, and that truth should form the rock-solid foundation of everything we think and
do and say. “Blessed are you,” Jesus commended Peter, and, indirectly, all believers today,
“for flesh and blood has not revealed this [truth] to you, but My Father who is in heaven.” 25F0

Man’s experiences and “wisdom” do not reveal truth to us -- God does! We are thinking
properly when we reason according to Biblical truth.

Jesus told his disciples: “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words
that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.” It is God’s word that gives life and truth; the
26F 1

teaching of man profits nothing! If I speak truth, it is only because I am repeating the
revealed truth of the Bible, or I have correctly deduced specifics from God’s body of truth.
Therefore I cannot boast about my knowledge, for I have no knowledge of my own! The

19
Genesis 1:1, John 1:1; Philippians 4:13; Revelation 1:8.

20
Matthew 16:17.

21
John 6:63.

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only truth I possess is a gift from God to me. “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have
entered into the heart of man the things that God has prepared for those who love Him.” We 27F2

must not trust in empiricism (those things which can be seen or experienced by our “eye”
and “ear”) or rationalism (human wisdom that has “entered into the heart of man”) to
explain the truth. Our only reliable source of truth and knowledge is God’s authoritative
word!

A Command for Israel and the Church

“You have seen for yourselves that I have spoken to you from heaven,” the Lord said to the
people of Israel. “Do not make any gods to be alongside me; do not make for yourselves gods
of silver or gods of gold ... If you make an altar of stones for me, do not build it with dressed
stones, for you will defile it if you use a tool on it.” This is no less a command for the church
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today as it was for God’s chosen people more than three thousand years ago!

God has spoken to us through the apostles and the prophets, and given us the Scriptures.
“Above all,” Peter declared, “You must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came
about by the prophet’s own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of
man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” We are not to
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erect any “gods” alongside the revealed truth of God’s inspired, infallible, authoritative word.
Once we use man’s tools of rationalism or empiricism to chisel away at God’s truth, we have
defiled what God has given us from heaven.

22
1 Corinthians 2:9.

23
Exodus 20:23, 25 (NIV).

24
2 Peter 1:20-21 (NIV).

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 Competing Voices and Conflicting Theories of Truth

The 5th Century theologian Augustine said that we can know the truth through God’s word,
plus man’s reason. In the 11th Century, Anselm taught that Scripture was unnecessary for
deducing the truth. Anselm claimed that man was capable of reasoning his way to truth
without benefit of Scripture. Two hundred years later, Thomas Aquinas introduced the idea
that we can learn truth through sensation. This teaching resonated throughout all of
Christendom in the early 13th Century. Then, in the beginning of the 16th Century, Martin
Luther taught that the only truth that man can know is found in God’s word, and from correct
inferences drawn from that word. Luther, with his revolutionary doctrine of “Sola
Scriptura,” taught that there is no such thing as “discovered” truth. There is only truth
that is revealed to us by God.

The debate has continued down through the centuries, right through to today. Does truth
come from God’s revelation alone? Can truth be discerned only from what we can see and
experience and measure? Or does truth come from the mind and heart of man? The result of
this conflict is that people -- particularly church people -- are confused. There is very little
unanimity of thought within the body of Christ. You see some denominations that have
elevated man’s reason and tradition to the same level as Holy Scripture. Most charismatic
churches, for example, give great veneration to experience, believing that the testimony of
sensation and experience is just as significant as the word of the living God. Many Christians
believe that truth is revealed by science. They place a great deal more faith in what the man
in the laboratory has to say than the man in the pulpit. The body of Christ is becoming
increasingly divided, and a “house divided against itself will not stand.” 230F5

25
Matthew 12:25.

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In an effort to “go along to get along,” a great many churches, even those that claim to be
“fundamentalist,” seek to blend man’s reason (rationalism) together with the knowledge he
can gain from observation, experimentation, and experience (empiricism) and combine these
subjective (“inside of me”) “truths” with the objective (“outside of me”) truth of God’s word.
Many of the leaders of these churches would be genuinely surprised and offended if they
were accused of adulterating the word of God. After all, do not both the Old and New
Testaments warn against adding to or subtracting from the teaching of Scripture? Most 231F 6

churches which have introduced the teaching of men alongside the teaching of God would
claim that they are merely seeking to remain “contemporary,” in order to attune their
teaching to modern cultural trends. In reality, these churches have concocted a witches’ brew
of incompatible systems of thought, which include evolution, pop psychology, socialism,
legalism, New Age pantheism, and a few sporadic threads of historical, Biblical Christianity
which make these man-centered systems of thought sound more “spiritual.”

“There is nothing new under the sun,” the Preacher of Ecclesiastes observed. There is
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nothing about “modern” cultural trends that differs in any way from the very first days of the
fledgling Church. Paul warned young Timothy that “The time will come when men will not
put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a
great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their
ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” Wow! Could Paul have possibly given a
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better description of the Church in America today? So many of us have itching ears which
desire to be tickled with man’s innovations, such as the “Social” gospel, the “Prosperity”
gospel, the gospel of “Tolerance,” or something other teaching which makes us “feel better”

26
Deuteronomy 4:2, 12:32; Proverbs 30:5; 1 Corinthians 4:6; Galatians 1:8-9; Revelation 22:18-19.

27
Ecclesiastes 1:9.

28
2 Timothy 4:3-4 (NIV).

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about our sinful condition. It is increasingly difficult to find churches which “have not
shunned to declare ... the whole counsel of God,” i.e., the pure, unadulterated truth of God’s
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revealed word.

We, as individual believers, must trim the twisted vines of sinful, man-centered thought
which have grown up around the rock upon which our churches were built: God’s word. We
must reject sensationalism and rationalism. We do not reason our way to God! We do not
discover God through our own intellect or experience. God reveals Himself to us, and He
does that -- perfectly and completely -- through the Bible and the teaching of His Spirit. Just
as we are not saved by faith plus good works, we will not discover truth by revelation plus
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anything that man can contribute. The Bible ALONE is the word of God! This is the
axiom!

Why Must We Begin Correctly?

In Matthew 7:24-25, Jesus spoke of the critical importance of building on the right
foundation. If we build our churches on the rock of God’s truth, then our homes, our
communities, and our nation will withstand the raging storms that Satan sends against them.
However, if we build our churches upon the shifting sand of man’s opinion and experience,
our homes will collapse -- and our communities and our country will follow them into the
abyss.

29
Acts 20:27.

30
Ephesians 2:8-9.

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It was upon the rock of revelation that our Savior said He would build His church. The Bible
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is the only foundation for the church. Satan will attack the church with various philosophies.
The great deceiver will seek to tickle our itching ears with all manner of sweet-sounding
theories. We must stand upon the rock. We must echo Isaiah, and point our churches and our
families “To the law and to the testimony!” To the Scriptures and to the Scriptures alone!
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Confrontation in the Wilderness

In Matthew 4, we read of one of the greatest confrontations in all recorded history. “Jesus
was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” Satan was eager to
nip God’s master plan for salvation in the bud. He had tried and failed to utilize the greed and
pride of Herod to eliminate the baby Jesus. Now Satan saw an opportunity, not to destroy
Jesus physically, but to ruin His effectiveness as the Lamb of God. If Jesus could be induced
to sin, He would no longer be the perfect sacrifice that would take away the sin of the world.
He would no longer be the Lamb “without blemish and without spot.” thought he had seized
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the perfect moment to spring his trap for the Son of God. Jesus had been fasting for forty
days and forty nights, and He was tired and hungry.

Recall that Jesus had just been to the mountaintop of spiritual experience. Just before
beginning His fast, Jesus had been baptized, “and behold, the heavens were opened to Him,
and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a
voice came from heaven, saying, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’” 329F4

31
Matthew 16:18.

32
Isaiah 8:20.

33
1 Peter 1:19.

34
Matthew 3:16-17.

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What a phenomenal experience! Jesus, in His humanity, must have been thrilled at the
outpouring of God’s love at that moment. This was an experience which no other man had
ever known. Talk about getting your ministry off to a running start!

Now, just forty days later, Satan stood before Him, urging, “If you are the Son of God,
command that these stones become bread.” Jesus Christ made it very clear that “The Son of
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Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.” 3241F6

Once, when His disciples urged Him to eat, He replied, “My food is to do the will of Him
who sent Me, and to finish His work.” The original Greek text of Matthew 4:3 reveals that
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Satan was not questioning the deity of Christ. Rather, Satan was saying, “Since you are the
son of God, you don’t need to rely on your Father for your daily bread. Be your own man, go
your own way! Be independent! Make these rocks into bread, and feed yourself!”

How would you have responded? Wouldn’t it have been only natural for you to reason from
the basis of your fabulous experience of only a few weeks before? You might have thought
something like, “What a day that was, when I was baptized in the river Jordan! I saw the
Holy Spirit descending on me like a dove! I heard the voice from heaven! Doesn’t two plus
two still equal four? God loves me! I can do whatever I want. And after all, I am hungry, and
some bread would sure taste good! Then I’ll feel refreshed, and I’ll be ready to match wits
with Lucifer, here.”

Jesus would have none of those thoughts. Rather than trust His own thoughts and feelings,
our Lord drew His conclusions from God’s revealed word, and in so doing, Jesus set the

35
This quote and all the following references to Jesus’ epic confrontation with Satan are found in Matthew 4:1-11.

36
Matthew 20:28.

37
John 4:34.

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pattern for us all to follow: “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every
word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’” “It is written!” Jesus gave not even a passing
mention of what His eye had seen, what His ear had heard, or what had entered into His
heart. Instead, He went straight to the axiom: “It is written.” God’s word was the authority
that Jesus cited to defeat Satan.

The Church is engaged in a conflict that is just as momentous as the one that took place in the
wilderness almost two thousand years ago. You and I might be tempted to trivialize the
debate over the authority of God’s word as mere theological differences between ivory tower
intellectuals. Don’t you believe it! The debate is as old as recorded time, when Satan first
whispered to Eve, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not ... ?’” Satan’s great plan for and
324F 8 324F9

destroying the lives of men and women, which he successfully began to implement with
Adam and Eve in the garden, is to drag their minds away from God’s word, and to urge them
to use their own reasoning to make decisions. Satan did not attack the existence of God. He
immediately went after the axiom: what God has said! Satan is a brilliant opponent, a master
deceiver. He caused Eve to doubt God’s word, and convinced her to rely on her sensations
and her reasoning. “When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was
pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She
also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.” Adam and Eve turned away from the
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objective truth of God’s word, and chose instead to rely on what they heard, what they saw,
and how they felt. As a result, sin and death entered into the world.

38
Genesis 3:1 (emphasis added).

39
1 Pet 5:8 reads, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking
whom he may devour.”

40
Genesis 3:6 (emphasis added).

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Satan’s tactics are no different today. Always remember that “We do not wrestle against
flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness
of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly realms.” We do not wrestle
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against misguided teachers; we do not wrestle against a radical political agenda; we do not
wrestle against a sinful culture. We wrestle against the evil one, Satan, and against hosts --
which are defined as “armies” or “multitudes”-- of wickedness! They will seek to use any
means at their disposal to render the Church ineffective, and there is no greater way to
accomplish this than to cause us to forget what our first principle is! If Satan can
convince us to replace God’s revelation with our own reasoning, he can easily destroy us.

When Jesus confronted Satan in the wilderness, the tempter quoted Scripture to Jesus. Far too
often, we in the church allow ourselves to fall prey to men and women who use the
Scriptures to lead us astray! Paul warned Timothy, “In latter times some will depart from the
faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons.” Today, in churches and in
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seminaries all across America, people are taught that the Bible is full of errors! They hear
that Satan is only a “metaphor” for evil! They “discover” that God actually approves of
homosexual marriages! We are giving heed to the doctrines of demons!

Do you think I am exaggerating the truth just to make my point? Go back to the testimony of
God’s word. Paul worried that “Somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so
your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he who comes
preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit
which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted - you may

41
Ephesians 6:12.

42
1 Timothy 4:1.

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well put up with it!” Ask yourself this question: would you say that many of the churches in
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America today are putting up with “another Jesus ... a different spirit ... or a different
gospel”? When you see the “Jesus Seminar” using colored beads to vote on whether the
words of Christ as recorded in Scripture are true or false, and when Bibles are being
translated in such a way as to avoid “gender specific” or “patriarchal” language, are we
putting up with the doctrines of demons? Paul continued, “For such are false apostles,
deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For
Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his
ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be
according to their works.” Paul is clearly warning us that there will be men and women who
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look good, and sound “spiritual,” even to the point of quoting Scripture and appearing for all
the world to be “apostles of Christ,” yet who intend to lead us to destruction.

How do we spot Satan’s ministers? It’s very simple! We go back to basics. We return to the
axiom. We emulate the Bereans and “search the Scriptures daily” to make certain that the
things we hear are true. All of our reasoning should begin at - and end in agreement with -
the first principle: The Bible alone is the word of God. We build our homes ... our churches
... our businesses ... our country ... upon the rock. It isn’t the rock plus something else ...
perhaps a little shifting sand mixed in. (Immediately, Satan’s ministers will suggest, “After
all, a little sand never hurt anything, right? Let’s stand mostly on the rock, with just a little
sand of rationalism and sensationalism mixed in, OK?” No, it isn’t OK!) We build on the
objective foundation of God’s word. We do not build a subjective foundation of reason or
experience. As John Robbins and others have written, The Bible claims a systematic
monopoly on truth! What separates historical, biblical Christianity from everything else is

43
2 Corinthians 11: 3-4.

44
2 Corinthians 11:13-15.

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its objective nature. The focus is outside of me! The entire focus is on God’s revelation: His
propositional, declarative sentences. The focus is not on how I feel, or what I believe, but on
what God has declared in His word.

The Wandering Flock

Tragically, the church in America often seems far more inclined to follow after the doctrines
of demons, rather than the truths of historical, Biblical Christianity. How has this happened?
I firmly believe that the wickedness of this country is a direct result of the shepherds not
feeding the flock of God. The nation does not rise and fall with its politics. It is the pulpits
which determine the health of our nation. Alexis de Tocqueville, a Frenchman, visited the
United States in 1831. He wanted to examine America’s political system and talk to the
people here, to learn what France should apply to her own political system. After traveling
across the nation and talking and listening to hundreds of Americans, De Tocqueville wrote:
I sought for the key to the greatness and genius of America in her harbors ...;
in her fertile fields and boundless forests; in her rich mines and vast world
commerce; in her public school system and institutions of learning. I sought
for it in her democratic Congress and in her matchless Constitution. Not until I
went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits aflame with
righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is
great because America is good, and if America ever ceases to be good,
America will cease to be great. 4250F5

Men and women are not made good from without by the laws that our leaders pass. Rather,
we are sanctified by the Spirit of God that is at work within us, leading us to a greater
holiness and a greater knowledge of His truth. As de Tocqueville said, our society will only
be great as long as the people who live in that society are godly people.

45
Quoted by William J. Federer, America’s God and Country (Dallas, TX.: FAME Publsihing, 1996), 205.

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Who is it that God has made responsible for our moral condition? Who is it that God has
charged with preparing His people for “for the equipping of the saints for the work of
ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ”? Will our political leaders obey Paul’s
4251F6

command to “Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke,
exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching”? Of course not! The equipping of the saints is
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not the duty of government, nor should it be. This is the job of the pastors and teachers in
the church, and to be blunt, the men in the pulpits across America are not getting the job
done. Listen to God’s condemnation of the religious leaders of Israel who had failed to feed
their congregations with “every word that proceeds from the mouth of God
“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!” says the
Lord. Therefore thus says the Lord God of Israel against the shepherds who feed My
people: “You have scattered My flock, driven them away, and not attended to them.
Behold, I will attend to you for the evil of your doings,” says the Lord. “But I will
gather the remnant of My flock out of all countries where I have driven them, and
bring them back to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. I will set up
shepherds over them who will feed them; and they shall fear no more, nor be
dismayed nor shall they be lacking,” says the Lord. 4253F8

Do you think God’s judgment of America’s pastors will be any less harsh? The sheep in America
aren’t being fed the word of God! As I’ve already said, Scripture teaches that Satan has sent his
ministers to masquerade as ministers of the Gospel. They are deliberately preaching “another Jesus
... a different spirit ... a different gospel.” The Bible promises that they will receive just recompense
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for their treachery.

46
Ephesians 4:12.

47
2 Timothy 4:2.

48
Jeremiah 23:1-4.

49
2 Corinthians 11:4.

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But there is another group of men for whom my heart just aches. These are godly, sincere
men who love the Lord and inquire after Him in prayer, who earnestly desire to lead their
congregations toward the truth, and yet they are going about it in the worst possible ways.
They correctly believe that the mission of the Church is to reach the lost, and they have been
told that the best way to accomplish this is to make the worship experience as inoffensive as
possible to the average unbeliever who walks in off the street. Rather than using the worship
service to praise the God of the universe and to educate and equip His people to obey the
Great Commission (“Go ... and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name
of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I
have commanded you,” ), they have opted to make the Church a place that won’t make
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unbelievers uncomfortable or angry. This sounds like a noble pursuit, until you remember
that the word of God SHOULD make unbelievers uncomfortable and angry!

Paul spoke to the fledgling church at Corinth about the message he had to preach to them:
“This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the
Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. The man without the Spirit does not
accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he
cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.” The unsaved man or woman
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cannot understand the word of God, because, as Jesus said in John 6:63, God’s word is
spiritually discerned, and the unsaved person does not have the Spirit of God living within
them to do the discerning. If unsaved men or women walk into a church service where God’s
word is preached with any kind of power or authority, it is highly likely they will be bored and
confused, or uncomfortable and angry! When the apostle Paul preached the word in

50
Matthew 28: 19-20.

51
1 Corinthians 2:13-14.

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Jerusalem, the people became so enraged that Paul was arrested for starting a riot! Unless God 527F2

has sent His Spirit to open the hearts of unbelievers to the truth, in which case they will be
deeply convicted, they aren’t likely to enjoy the preaching of the word. And so, a great many
churches, in their well-meaning efforts to reach the lost, avoid speaking of God’s word as
much as possible. In a great many mainline churches, the Bible is scarcely mentioned. In the
more “conservative” churches, a pastor will often read a brief passage of Scripture, and use it
as a springboard into a motivational talk about “life applications” for modern society. The
hard lessons of Scripture are ignored, to the point where surveys show that virtually half of all
churchgoers don’t believe in the devil or hell! The sheep are not being fed! Starving people
are weak and powerless and ineffective, and this is an accurate description of much of the
Church in America -- and throughout the world -- today. The blame lies squarely at the feet of
our pastors. America’s pulpits are no longer “aflame with righteousness,” as de Tocqueville so
poetically observed. Today’s pulpits have become “inane with inoffensiveness.”

“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge ... a people without understanding will come
to ruin.” the Lord charged. What is our only reliable source for knowledge and truth? God’s
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word. If pastors, who have been charged by God to “Preach the word!” unwilling to obey 529F 4

because they are afraid of giving offense, the Church is in truly desperate straits.

This is a problem that has plagued the Church from its earliest days. Whenever you see the
Church in trouble throughout history, you also see poor teaching, or the teaching of false
doctrine lurking at the heart of the problem. Paul wrote to the Romans, “My heart’s desire
and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they

52
The story of Paul’s experience in Jerusalem is recorded in Acts 21-23.

53
Hosea 4:6, 14.

54
2 Timothy 4:2.

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have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God’s
righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the
righteousness of God.” The people of Israel had a so-called zeal for God, just as a great
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many men and women do today, but they were constructing a god of their own imagination.
“It is not good to have zeal without knowledge,” Scripture warns. Jesus continually urged
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His disciples to listen to His “words” and His “teaching.” We come to God, not through
experience or enthusiasm (zeal), but through the proper knowledge of the doctrine
(teaching) of the Son of God. The only way we will come to that proper knowledge is
through the diligent study and correct interpretation of the Bible.

The early church fought a never-ending battle against false teaching. Even a cursory reading
of the New Testament shows Paul writing to the various churches, vigorously exposing and
rebutting the false teaching that was trying to worm its way into their assemblies. We face the
same problems today, except that far too many of our modern churches, instead of fighting
against false doctrines, have become enthusiastic proponents of them! All too often, the
greatest enemies of the Church do not lurk outside the sanctuary, but within! These “deceitful
workers” that I spoke of earlier are busily spreading heresies throughout the church, seeking
to deceive the flock of God into believing “a different gospel.” The apostle Paul spoke
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harshly of these “false apostles,” saying, “Even if we or an angel from heaven should preach
a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned!” 5263F8

55
Romans 10:1-3.

56
Proverbs 19:2 (NIV).

57
2 Corinthians 11:13,4.

58
Galatians 1:8 (NIV).

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The apostle Paul expressed his hope to the believers in Corinth that they would learn from his
example “not to think beyond what is written.” Paul did not want them to use their own
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reasoning and sensations to add to the rock-solid truth of Scripture. He was warning them not
to stray into self-seeking and self-glorifying axioms of rationalism or empiricism, but to trust
in the word of God. At the end of his life, Paul was still urgently stressing the same message,
this time to Timothy: “Preach the word!” I firmly believe that God will bless the Church in
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America if we stand as one body and cry out for a return to clear teaching of the historical,
biblical foundations of our Christian faith. “‘Return, O backsliding children,’ says the LORD
... ‘And I will give you shepherds according to My heart, who will feed you with knowledge
and understanding.’” The Church of Jesus Christ must firmly reject error and clasp the truth
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to her heart in a lover’s embrace.

We Must Live By the Word!

The problems we face start within ourselves: languishing in guilt and shame, battles with sin,
breakdowns in our relationships. All this internal turmoil comes back to failing to obey the
word of God, and, in far too many cases, our failure to study and learn those truths that we
are supposed to obey! David wrote effusively in the Psalms of the importance he placed on
Scripture: “Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against you ... I rejoice
at Your word as one who finds great treasure ... My lips shall utter praise, for You teach me
Your statutes.” We are not hiding the word in our heart; our shepherds are not teaching us
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the word; we aren’t valuing the word as if it were our very life. The Lord told Jeremiah, “Let

59
1 Corinthians 4:6.

60
2 Timothy 4:2.

61
Jeremiah 3:14-15.

62
Psalm 119:11, 162, 171.

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not the wise man boast of his wisdom, or the strong man boast of his strength, or the rich
man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast about this, that he understands and
knows me.” How do we come to “understand and know” Him? Only through the study of
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Scripture! We cannot think straight or live well without God’s truth! “The weapons we
fight with are not the weapons of the world,” Paul wrote to the Corinthians. “On the
contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every
pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every
thought to make it obedient to Christ.” If we truly desire to walk with Jesus, and to make
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Him Lord of even our thought life, we cannot accomplish that through the “weapons” (the
wisdom) that the world has to offer! It is only through the living and active word of God that
we can overcome conventional “wisdom” and “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ.” Paul urged Timothy, “Give attention to reading, to exhortation, to
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doctrine ... meditate on these things, give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be
evident to all.” In the same letter, Paul commanded Timothy to avoid “the profane and idle
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babblings and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge.” The wisdom of this
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world, which is falsely called “knowledge” by God-haters and unbelieving “intellectuals” is

actually viewed by the God of the universe as profane and idle babbling! Paul warned that
such “knowledge” will “increase to more ungodliness,” and “spread like cancer.” Oh, how
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prophetic these words are for the church today! As the profane and idle babblings of the
world’s wisdom infect our churches and seminaries, ungodliness and licentiousness have

63
Jeremiah 9:23-24 (NIV).

64
2 Corinthians 10:4-5.

65
2 Peter 3:18.

66
1 Timothy 4:13, 15.

67
1 Timothy 6:20.

68
2 Timothy 2:16-17.

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become pandemic within our churches, to the point where homosexual “marriages” are now
accepted by whole congregations. Tragically, these false doctrines are, indeed, spreading like
cancer. It is tragic because these false teachers are turning their flocks away from the
very words of God!

Conclusion

We want our children to have a unified, comprehensive philosophy -- a world view -- that
interprets all reality. Our kids should be able to use that Biblical foundation to interpret
everything that they will see or read or hear. When we are properly grounded in the truth of
God’s word, there is nothing -- no phenomena, nor any kind of philosophy -- that we cannot
understand or interpret when we shine the light of God’s truth on it.

The sixty-six books of the Bible were given by the inspiration of God. They are our
epistemological axiom, which simply means that the Bible is our basis for all truth and
knowledge. If someone asks us, “How do you know what you know?” we can confidently
reply: “This is the teaching of Scripture.” The Bible is our thoroughly inerrant, all-sufficient,
and completely authoritative foundation for all knowledge, whether we are discussing
metaphysics, ethics, politics, economics, or education. As my friend and teacher John
Robbins has said, “The books of Scripture are prior to the Church, they called forth and they
created the Church, and they judge and authenticate the Church.” We do not need the priest,
6274F 9

the professor, or the physicist to validate the Scriptures. Rather, the words of theologians,
educators, and scientists are either validated or disproved by the Scriptures. “If they do not
speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” 725F0

69
Quoted from Dr. Robbins address, “Bleating Wolves, Shearing Lambs.”

70
Isaiah 8:20.

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The Bible alone is the word of God. The Bible is our source of faith and knowledge. If we
attempt to build on any other foundation than this rock, our homes, our churches, our
communities, our businesses, and ultimately, our nation will collapse into the shifting sand of
man’s opinion. “To the law and to the testimony!”

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 Legacy, Chapter Five
Logic: Thinking God’s Thoughts After Him

One of the clearest dividing lines between man and the animal world is our ability to think
and to reason. We know from Scripture that all men and women are made in the image of
God. 1 God is the giver of every good and perfect gift to man. 2 John proclaimed that Christ is
276F 27F

3
“the true Light which gives light to every man.” Gordon Clark, in his tremendous textbook
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on the subject of logic, deduces from this verse that Jesus Christ has given every man and
woman the light of logic. God created men and women to think in a rational, logical way.
The theory of logic is imbedded in our being. A newborn baby is born with the theory of
logic already working in his mind, which is the very image of God. David wrote that the Lord
taught him “wisdom in the inmost place.” 4 A child forms premises, constructs arguments,
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and draws conclusions. However, the dog that the child pets does not have that uniquely
human ability, nor can it ever be trained to think in the same way a human being thinks. This
is because the child -- and not the dog -- is made in the image of God.

Towards the end of his life, the apostle Paul stood in the city of Caesarea, speaking to Felix,
the governor, and King Agrippa, and a roomful of onlookers. Paul boldly gave his testimony:

1
Genesis 1:27.

2
James 1:17.

3
John 1:9.

4
Psalm 51:6 (NIV).

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 “Therefore, having obtained help from God, to this day I stand, witnessing both to
small and great, saying no other things than those which the prophets and Moses
said would come -- that the Christ would suffer, that He would be the first to rise
from the dead, and would proclaim light to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles.”
Now as he thus made his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, “Paul, you are
beside yourself! Much learning is driving you mad!” But he said, “I am not mad,
most noble Festus, but speak the words of truth and reason.” 5 280F

Notice how the Holy Spirit directed Paul to link the words truth and reason together! Historical,
biblical Christianity claims that God is the God of all truth, 6 but it also claims that God is the God of
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all reason, i.e., logic and wisdom. If we believe in the unity of the Godhead, we cannot separate the
one attribute from the other. We cannot segregate the attributes of God as if they exist independently
of one another. All the attributes of God complete the essence of God, and they have existed eternally
in a harmonious, balanced, and interdependent relationship to each other. Consequently, a knowledge
of God as the God of all truth cannot exist without the knowledge that God has simultaneously and
eternally been the God of all reason. That is why Paul would place truth and reason strategically
beside one another in defense of his sanity, because both of these divine attributes have their origin in
the mind of God. These twin attributes form the only basis for human sanity.

What is Logic?

This chapter was written to teach you how to reason from God's truth, like Paul, by utilizing the
principles of logic. Logic is defined as “the science of necessary inference,” 7 or if you prefer, the
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science of necessary conclusions. More simply, logic is a system of rules which enable us to reach
accurate (necessary) conclusions. Just as mathematics gives us the system of thinking that allows us

5
Acts 26:22-25

6
Psalm.31:5.

7
Gordon H. Clark, Logic, (Hobbs, NM, The Trinity Foundation, copyright (c) 1985), 1.

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to reach the correct (necessary) answers when working with numbers, logic gives us the ability to
reach the necessary conclusions when working with ideas.
In this book, I have devoted two chapters to truth. We saw that the Bible is our axiom, the
starting point for all truth. Scripture alone is our one trustworthy, unimpeachable source of all
truth and wisdom. As you read the word of God, you see that the Bible is the logic of God.
The Bible is the only book ever written that displays perfect, flawless logic. The sixty-six
books of Scripture are the necessary conclusions from the eternal mind of God. Now that we
know that we are in the possession of truth -- the inspired, inerrant word of God -- we must
learn to reason correctly from truth. In an upcoming chapter, we will move into the field of
metaphysics (pronounced “met ah fizz iks”), which is the study of ultimate meaning
and ultimate reality. But we cannot approach any other discipline until we have learned to
make correct deductions from the irrefutable truths of God’s word.

Do you see how this kind of reasoning differs from man’s usual pattern of thought? Many of
us reason by induction. We use a few particular things to form our broader conclusions. We
observe this, and we experience that, and we form our general conclusions about truth from
these few particulars of sensation and experience. In other words, we are seeking to discover
truth based on our observations and/or experiments.

For example, if we were speaking to someone who claimed to be an atheist, we might well
point to all the things we see in creation, such as the myriad forms of plant and animal life,
the ingenious construction of the human eye, or the incredibly complex integration of various
ecosystems. We would say, “Mr. Unbeliever, you see all this complexity in men and in
nature. Surely this couldn’t possibly have evolved by chance! It’s like thinking that a tornado
could churn through a junkyard and whip up a 747! Wouldn’t you agree that for every effect,
there must be a cause? Therefore, for every creation there must be a Creator.”

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You are asking the unbeliever to draw his broad conclusion from a few specifics - to reason
inductively. The God of the Bible is not a conclusion drawn from specifics. His word is
the starting point. We do not inductively reason our way to God. Rather, we reason from
God’s revelation concerning Himself. We have no need to use induction to discover truth,
because we are already in possession of the one and only systematic body of truth available
to mankind: the Bible.

Satan would have us attempt to reason inductively to discover “truth.” He is “the god of this
world,” 8 and induction is the world’s method of reasoning. We have already seen how Satan
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duped Adam and Eve into abandoning the truth of God’s revelation and trusting their own
perceptions instead. Satan thought to exalt himself above the throne of God, 9 and he would
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have us exalt man’s reasoning above God’s revelation. Paul urged Timothy, “Guard what
was committed to your trust, avoiding the profane and idle babble and contradictions of what
is falsely called knowledge -- by professing it some have strayed concerning the faith.” We
1285F0

are to avoid the inductive reasoning of the world, for this is only profane and idle babbling.
This babbling is falsely called knowledge by the “wise men” of this world, and by following
after this false, inductive reasoning some have strayed from the grace and knowledge of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Adam and Eve were Satan’s first victims — but they were by no means
the last!

Inductive reasoning outside of Scripture never leads to knowledge, because we are reasoning
outside of the complete system of truth that is God’s word. Inductive reasoning within

8
2 Corinthians 4:4 (KJV).

9
Isaiah 14:12-13.

10
1 Tim 6:20-21.

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Scripture is a bona fide system of discovering knowledge within the whole system of truth:
the Bible.

Science, for example, utilizes inductive reasoning exclusively. I want to hasten to interject
here that science has been tremendously beneficial to our lives. Brilliant men and women
have discovered wonderful things, and the benefits that we enjoy from everything that
science has contributed -- from a cure for malaria, to refrigeration, to satellite technology —
have improved the quality of our everyday lives immeasurably. However, I must also assert
just as firmly that science in and of itself will never lead us to truth. This is because inductive
reasoning starts with the pieces and tries to work toward the whole. Let me give you an
illustration that will bring the point home.

Imagine that you are trying to discover the truth about the man Michelangelo. Where would
you begin? The inductive thinker would begin to investigate Michelangelo’s work. He would
visit the Cystine chapel and examine the paintings, sketches, and sculptures that this man
created. Based upon the work Michelangelo had done, the inductive thinker would begin to
draw conclusions about the man. To make the analogy more exacting, the inductive reasoner
might well climb to the ceiling of the Cystine chapel, examine a few tiny brush strokes, and
proclaim, “I can tell you a great deal about what kind of a man Michelangelo was.”

Sounds silly, doesn’t it? But this is the way of science. Imagine that I have a large color
picture of the ceiling of the Cystine chapel. I make a black and white photocopy of that
picture, and then painstakingly cut that facsimile into 5 million tiny pieces. I hand all 5
million pieces to my daughter. “Here, sweetheart. I want you to begin putting these together.”
I don’t give her the original color picture to work from, so the task seems a hopeless one.
However, my daughter is a remarkably persistent and industrious young lady, and she grits
her teeth and gets to work. After months of painstaking labor, she has assembled 5,000 of the

150
5 million pieces. I come along to check on her progress. “You’re doing well, honey. Now,
based on what you’ve put together here, what can you tell me about the Cystine chapel?”
Remember that she does not have the entire full-color picture. All she has is .001% of the
whole picture — a tiny fraction. Can she now give me the truth of the whole panorama of the
Cystine chapel? Of course not. Can she use that fragment of the big picture to tell me about
Michelangelo? Can she tell me if Michelangelo was a moral man? Will she know if he liked
his neighbors? Can she assert that Michelangelo thought the Bible was the word of God?
Impossible!

Yet this is the way of inductive reasoning. Christian’s often stumble into this same trap. We
carefully examine a pile of twigs, and seek to reason our way to the Trinity. This school of
thinking is called the evidentialist school of theology. The inductive reasoning that scientists
and evidentialists use can only provide us with information. Much of that information has
been tremendously useful and beneficial to society, but it does not produce truth and
knowledge. Induction and evidentialism provide hypothesis -- an “educated guess” at what
truth might be. They proclaim the human viewpoint. The Bible, on the other hand, reveals
the divine viewpoint, and we can reason our way to knowledge only by beginning with the
divine viewpoint. Likewise, the only way my daughter can come to a full understanding of
Michelangelo is to start with the whole: the man himself. She would have to read his
autobiography, in which he clearly stated his system of ethics, how he felt about his
neighbors and about the Bible, and so on. Otherwise, she will only be able to determine a few
bits of information about the man.

Christian men and women should reason by deduction. Rather than seeking to discover truth
on the basis of a few particulars, we should begin with a the complete system of truth, and 1286F1

11
Paul testified in Acts 20:27 that “I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God.” Psalm 119:160
declares that “The entirety of Your word is truth, and every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever.”

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work out the specifics from there. In practice, this means drawing our specific conclusions
from God’s word. We return to our axiom: The Bible alone is the word of God. This is our
system of truth, and if we reason from truth, then the specific conclusions we draw will be
accurate. This is called the presuppositionalist school of theology. This thinking
presupposes the whole system of revelation -- God’s word -- to be the only reliable source for
knowing and communicating truth. If, on the other hand, we seek to employ the specific
observations and/or experiences of men (both of which are skewed by sin) as the foundation
for our thinking, we are going to draw broad conclusions which are wrong - sinful.

Are There Two Systems of Logic?

It is important for us to recognize that God created us to understand His truth. There are
those who point to Isaiah 55:8-9 (“‘My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways
My ways,’” says the Lord. “‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways
higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.’”) and say that it is impossible
for us to know the thoughts of God. They believe that God is so wise and transcendent, and
resides on such an intellectual mountaintop compared to the insignificant anthill of man’s
knowledge, that man is incapable of knowing and understanding the logic of God. Such
reasoning would lead one to believe that there are two systems of logic: man’s feeble
thinking, and God’s lofty ruminations which are on a plane incomprehensible to us.

Gordon Clark shredded this assumption. Clark wrote, “To me, the tremendous assumption
without warrant from Scripture is that God is incapable of expressing the truth he knows.” In 1287F2

other words, the notion that God does not communicate ideas and principles that man can
understand is not borne out by the Scriptures. Dr. Clark points out that the entire body of

12
Gordon H. Clark, God’s Hammer: The Bible and Its Critics, (Hobbs, NM, The Trinity Foundation, copyright 1982
by John Robbins), 35 (emphasis added).

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Scripture is a revelation of organized, propositional, logical sentences. We read in John 1 that
Jesus Christ is the Word of God. The Greek word that is translated “Word” in John 1:1 is
“logos,” from which we draw our English word “logic.” One could translate John 1:1 with
perfect accuracy as reading, “In the beginning was the divine Logic, and the divine Logic
was with God, and the divine Logic was God.” Dr. Clark also approved of the rendering of
logos as “Wisdom.” Jesus Christ is the divine Wisdom, the living Word that came from God.
128F3

We are urged throughout the Old Testament to seek after wisdom. In fact, Proverbs asserts,
“Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding.” 1289F4

Would God command us to spend our all on that which is unknown and unknowable? I think
not. Are there things which God has chosen not to reveal to us, which we cannot understand?
Of course. God’s knowledge of the universe is infinite and exhaustive, and some of that
knowledge is, indeed, beyond my comprehension. Scripture tells us that “The secret things
belong to the Lord our God.” The Holy Spirit of God inspired eter to write that in Scripture
1290F5

there are “some things hard to understand.” Notice, however, that He did not say that they
129F6

are impossible to understand.

Is the entire body of Scripture written on a plane that man cannot comprehend, as some ersatz
theologians claim? Absolutely not! The Bible is God’s direct revelation of His redeeming
work in the world and in the lives of men. He fully intends for His people to understand His
words. You’ve all heard that glorious invitation, “‘Come now, and let us reason together,’
says the Lord.” We can only reason with God if He has communicated truth to us that we
129F7

13
Gordon H. Clark, The Johannine Logos, (Hobbs, NM, The Trinity Foundation, copyright (c) 1972, 1989), pp. 18-
19.

14
Prov 4:7.

15
Deut 29:29.

16
2 Pet 3:16.

17
Isaiah 1:18.

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can comprehend. Indeed, God has given us knowledge, and it is knowledge which we can
1293F8

understand and digest. However, my knowledge of God’s truth is not exhaustive. For
example, it is true that I can’t exhaustively understand the doctrine of justification: that I, a
vile, rotten sinner have been declared “Righteous” in the sight of Holy God. (More on that in
an upcoming chapter.) I cannot comprehend -- to the same degree that God does -- the truth
that when God the Father looks at me, He does not see a sinful man, but rather He sees me
clothed in the perfect righteousness of His Son, Jesus Christ, just as He clothed Adam and
Eve in animal skins. It is true that there are depths of this knowledge which lie beyond my
finite, human understanding. But I do understand the truth of this doctrine. God has
expressed this truth in orderly, grammatical form in the Holy Scriptures, and I can know -
without question or confusion - the words and ideas that express this doctrine and know that
it is true. The doctrine of justification that God has in His mind has been accurately
communicated to you and me through Scripture. The thoughts God has about justification are
the same thoughts that you and I have. There is an identity of mind. Consequently, it
necessarily follows that there is also an identity of truth. When we have properly digested the
doctrine of justification, God’s thoughts are our thoughts! There is a convergence of
understanding, a common meaning, and the Scripture is true: “We have the mind of Christ.” 1294F9

Therefore, there is only one system of logic, not two, and this one system of logic has been
revealed to us by God’s word so that we may comprehend and think His thoughts after Him
and know His truth, as the Holy Spirit enlightens us.

There is another logical blunder that is committed by those skeptics who deny the validity of
human words and human logic. If, as the skeptics say, words are inadequate and logic is
18
Clark, God’s Hammer, p. 106.

19
1 Corinthians 2:16.

154
invalid, then they could not formulate their views to attack their opponents, because they
must use human words and human logic to construct their arguments. Moreover, to support
the validity of human logic and human language, we know logical argument and logical
inferences are legitimate because the Holy Spirit uses these reasoning tools throughout the
entirety of Scripture. We also know human language is legitimate by the Holy Spirit writing
the Bible in the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek languages to reveal God’s truth to His people.

Reasoning From the Scriptures

Luke recounted how the apostle Paul, “went in to (the synagogue), and for three Sabbaths
reasoned with (the Jews) from the Scriptures, explaining and demonstrating that ... ‘This
Jesus whom I preach to you is the Christ.’” And we see that “Some of them were persuaded
...” These unbelievers were not swayed by some emotional appeal; they did not make a
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visceral, “gut” decision. Instead they were “persuaded” by Paul’s clear reasoning from the
truth of the Scriptures. Paul formed his premises, constructed his arguments, and developed
his conclusions from biblical truth.

Paul’s pattern mirrored that of Jesus Christ. Jesus spoke human words and used human logic.
We have already seen how Jesus clearly and consistently used the Scriptures as the
foundation and authority for His entire ministry here on earth. This is the pattern we should
follow also -- using the word of God as our axiom for everything we say and do. Just as Paul
did in the synagogue, we, too, should reason and draw our conclusions from the Scriptures.

Tragically, this is precisely what the heart of sinful man refuses to do. Jesus told the terrible
story of the rich man who died and went to hell. “And being in torments in Hades,” Jesus

20
Acts 17:2-4 (emphasis added).

155
recounted, “He lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. Then
he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip
the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.’”

Abraham’s reply is grim: “Between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who
want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.”

Recognizing that his own fate is sealed, the rich man pleads for his family: “I beg you
therefore, father, that you would send him to my father's house, for I have five brothers, that
he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.”

Again, Abraham denies his request. “'They have Moses and the prophets [the Scriptures]; let
them hear them.”

And even in spite of suffering the tortures of the damned, the rich man echoes humanity’s
rebellion down through the ages: “No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the
dead, they will repent.” 296F 1

21
Luke 16:23-24, 26-30.

156
The rich man wants his brothers to be spared the agony he is suffering, and he pleads with
Abraham to send a messenger to warn them. Abraham responds that the message had been
delivered hundreds of years before, in the form of the completed manuscripts of the Old
Testament -- Moses and the prophets. The Old Testament clearly warned that those who
rejected the word and the will of God would suffer eternal death and separation from God.
Does the rich man gratefully recall that, indeed, his brothers already possess the keys to
salvation? “No, Father Abraham”! He refuses to acknowledge the truth contained in the
Scriptures! Instead, he insists that the only witness capable of convincing his brothers of the
need for repentance is a sign, a walking dead man! The truths contained in Scripture are
insufficient to lead us to God, the world says. We must have a sign, something that we can
see and touch and measure and experience. This poor, blind, doomed, man was by no means
the only one to succumb to this reasoning. We hear it echoed by the religious leaders of
Jesus’ day: “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.” Jesus replied with some disgust: “An
evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the
sign of the prophet Jonah.” 297F 2

Even Jesus’ apostles, the men who had traveled with Jesus for three years and drank in His
teaching day after day, echoed the “wisdom” of the world: “Philip said to Him, ‘Lord, show
us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you so long,
and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how
can you say, “Show us the Father”? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the
Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the
Father who dwells in Me does the works.’” 298F 3

22
Matt 12:38-39.

23
John 14:8-10.

157
Time and time again, the Lord God Almighty has commanded us to listen to His words:
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Write these words, for according to the tenor
of these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.”

“Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your
soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets
between your eyes.”
“Truly the LORD has sent me to you to speak all these words in your hearing.”

Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Let your hands be strong, you who have been hearing
in these days these words by the mouth of the prophets ...”

“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a
wise man who built his house on the rock ...”

“If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We
will come to him and make Our home with him.” 29F 4

And time and time again, we see sinful man rejecting the word of God, and seeking after that which
he can see and touch and measure and experience. Truly, as Abraham said to the rich man in hell,
“If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from
the dead.” God did send “a sign” from heaven, a sign that was announced by a star in the east and
230F5

by a multitude of the heavenly host singing praises to God. That sign was the God-man, Jesus
Christ, and He healed the sick and cast out demons and restored the dead to life. God gave man the
sign he had been asking for! As John affirmed:
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with
our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched-- this we proclaim
concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and
we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to
us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard ...” 2301F6

24
Exodus 34:27; Deuteronomy 11:18; Jeremiah 26:15; Zechariah 8:9; Matthew 7:24; John 14:23.

25
Luke 16:31.

26
I John 1:1-3 (NIV).

158
God has given us His inerrant, inspired, infallible, word, and on top of that “God has sent
His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.” Yet all too often,
230F7

man rejects God’s word, and relies on his depraved, deceitful sensation and experience. He
disdains the solid rock of revelation, and leaps onto the ever-shifting sand of man’s
experience instead. “No, Father Abraham.” Oh, how man’s blindness and rebellion are
expressed in those few tragic, bitter words!

Source, Means, and End

We should always consider the source, means, and end of our own thinking, and of the
thinking of those who are speaking to us. Our reasoning is valid and godly when we employ
God’s revelation as the source of all truth; deduction as the means of thinking; and the end
(desired point of conclusion) of our thoughts is the glory of God. If we consistently employ
this kind of divine logic, we will generally succeed in thinking God’s thoughts after Him. All
too often, however, man is prone to invalid and godless reasoning. This, of course, is the
consistent pattern of thought for the unbeliever. Invalid reasoning employs sensation and
experimentation as its source; induction is the means of thinking, and the inevitable end of
such thought is idolatry — the glory of some man-made god. In eternity, such thinking leads
to damnation. The people of Israel surrendered to this godless pattern of thinking, as was
recorded in the somber words of the book of Judges: “In those days there was no king in
Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” If we have not allowed Jesus Christ to
230F 8

be Lord and King of our lives, and if God’s word is not the source of our thinking, we will
consistently follow after the sinful dictates of our own hearts. “There is a way that seems

27
I John 4:9.

28
Judges 21:25.

159
right to a man, but in the end it leads to death,” Proverbs warns. Another verse would seem
2304F9

to have been written for the United States in the year of the second millennium. “Where there
is no revelation, the people cast off restraint.” The same Hebrew phrase is translated “the
305F0

people were running wild” in Exodus 32: to describe the behavior of the people of Israel
25306F1

when they had turned from God to the worship of a golden calf. One need only scan the daily
newspaper or flip on the nightly news to see a nation that has cast off virtually all restraint.
Murder, mayhem, and madness are the inevitable results.

Any system of thought which does not use God’s revelation as its source and desire the glory
of God for its end will necessarily lead to self-condemning, self-contradictory, and self-
refuting conclusions. Only historical, biblical Christian thought avoids these false
conclusions, for Christianity is truth, and truth is always self-coherent, self-consistent, self-
attesting, and self-authenticating.

Why Study Logic?

The Bible actually commands the study of logic.“Come now, and let us reason together,” 307F2

says the Lord. We are to reason with God. “Now therefore, stand still,” Samuel said to the
people of Israel, “that I may reason with you before the Lord concerning all the righteous
acts of the Lord ...” You don’t read anywhere in the Bible that the Lord or his prophet
308F3

Samuel said, “Come, let us experience together,” or “Come, let us feel together,” but “Come,

29
Proverbs 16:25 (NIV).

30
Proverbs 29:18.

31
(NIV).

32
Isaiah 1:18 (emphasis added).

33
1 Samuel 12:7 (emphasis added).

160
let us reason, let us think and speak logically together, that you may attain understanding and
knowledge.” Jesus reasoned from the Scriptures constantly. Everywhere you look in the
Gospels, you see the Savior reasoning: forming His premises, constructing His arguments,
and developing His conclusions from the truth contained in Scripture.

In Jude 3, we are urged to “Contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered
to the saints.” How can we “always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you
309F 4

to give the reason for the hope that (we) have” if we do not recognize and construct a valid
310F5

argument? How can we intelligently contend for our faith if we are unable to recognize an
invalid argument from others? We should be “casting down arguments and every high thing
that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the
obedience of Christ.” We must demolish the intellectual fortresses that an unbelieving world
31F6

has erected to resist the advance of God’s word. We are to cast down (to “demolish”) every
argument that claims to be wiser than the wisdom of God. This is not optional activity for the
Christian believer! For today’s believer, it means that everything we hear on radio and
television, everything that is said by educators, politicians, and social commentators,
everything that the members of our family say -- “every thought” -- is to be brought in line
with the thinking of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are commanded to think God’s thoughts after
Him. I believe, then, that perhaps the best definition of the word logic is “thinking God’s
thoughts after Him.” John Robbins has written that “The laws of logic are the way that God
thinks. He makes no mistakes, draws no unwarranted conclusions, constructs no invalid
arguments.” God’s mind IS logic. The laws of logic are the laws of thought in the image of
312F 7

34
Jude 1:3

35
1 Pet 3:15

36
2 Cor 10:5

37
Clark, Logic, p. xi.

161
God! As we look to the sixty-six books of Scripture, we see that the Bible is God’s logic. We
study logic so that we can bring our thinking into obedience to the commands of Scripture: to
defend our faith, to contend for the faith, and to cast down the arguments against the faith.
We cannot obey these commands intelligently and intelligibly without a fundamental
knowledge of the rules of logic.

Time and time again, we see that this was the method of the apostle Paul when speaking with
unbelievers. Several times in the book of Acts, we see that Paul reasoned with those with
whom he was contending for the faith. Paul constructed logical arguments based entirely on
the Scriptures. He was not trying to be argumentative; rather, he was seeking to persuade,
and he was very successful! For example, we read that Paul “reasoned in the synagogue with
the Jews and with the Gentile worshipers, and in the marketplace daily with those who
happened to be there.” Every day, Paul went into the houses of worship, and also into the
31F8

streets, reasoning with both the devout and the ungodly and persuading them to acknowledge
the truth.

Not only are we commanded by Scripture to reason logically from Biblical truth, we see that
great thinkers throughout history have insisted on logical thinking, as well. Martin Luther,
when confronted by Dr. von Eck and ordered to recant his teaching on the doctrine of sola
fide (salvation by faith alone), replied firmly, “Unless I am refuted and convicted by
testimonies of the Scriptures or by clear arguments ... , I am conquered by the Holy
Scriptures quoted by me, and my conscience is bound in the word of God: I can not and will
not recant any thing.” It is important to recognize a point which all respected church
314F9

historians agree on: when Luther said unless he was convicted by the Scriptures or “clear

38
Acts 17:17.

39
Quoted in Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church, (Peabody, MA, Hendrickson Publishers, originally
published 1888), Vol 7, pp. 304-305.

162
arguments,” he did not mean arguments based on the reasoning of man or the councils of the
Roman church. He meant logically clear and cogent arguments which were directly deduced
from God’s word.

A modern-day theologian, Dr. R.C. Sproul, wrote, “I know of no seminary that requires the
study of logic as a necessary tool for biblical interpretation. Yet I venture to guess that the
single most frequently committed error in biblical exegesis and interpretation is an error in
deduction. Wrong conclusions are reached because illegitimate inferences are made. We may
master grammar, lexicography, and historical background and yet reach false conclusions
because of errors in deduction. It is possible, indeed customary, to achieve a Ph.D. in almost
every academic discipline there is without ever taking a single course in logic. The deductive
side of education has been all but eclipsed.” 4315F0

Abraham Kuyper would have approved of Dr. Sproul’s statement. He wrote, “A theologian
who undervalues Logic, as being little necessary to him, simply disarms himself. This was by
no means the practice of our older theologians. They always emphasized most strongly the
study of formal logic, together with its related arts.” Dr. John Robbins has pointed out, “It is
4316F1

instructive to compare the curriculum of Harvard during the seventeenth century with the
curriculum of any college or university today, Christian or pagan. Harvard College required
140 hours credit-hours of study -- using the modern notation of one credit-hour per hour of
class time per week -- over a period of three years. Those 140 credit-hours were divided as
follows: Logic and disputations {in Latin} -- 30 hours; Greek -- 24 hours; Hebrew, Aramaic,
and Syriac -- 24 hours; Rhetoric and declamation -- 24 hours; Theology -- 16 hours; Ethics
and politics -- 8 hours; Arithmetic and geometry -- 6 hours; Physics -- 2 hours; Botany -- 2

40
R.C. Sproul, “What the Duce Has Happened to Education and Other Trivia?”, Ligonier Ministries Table Talk,
Volume 15, Number 2, February 1991, p.5. (Emphasis in original.)

41
Quoted in Elihu Carranza, Logic Workbook, (Hobbs, NM, The Trinity Foundation, copyright (c) 1992), 98.

163
hours; Astronomy -- 2 hours; History -- 2 hours. The student who successfully completed this
curriculum was well educated.” As you can see, Logic was given the most importance in
4317F2

completing the education of the students who attended Harvard. The whole focus of the
college experience was placed on truth and reason!

Logic is the gift that God has given us to make explicit what is implicit in the word of God.
Logic allows us to take the truths that God has expressed to us and make them plain for all to
see and understand. A perfect example of this use of logic is in the explanation of the
doctrine of the Holy Trinity. We hear preaching and teaching on this all the time. Numerous
books have been written on the relationship between the three Persons of the Trinity. Yet,
some people are surprised to learn that if you searched a concordance, you would find that
the word “Trinity” does not appear anywhere in either the Old or the New Testaments. The
doctrine of the Trinity is one of the most fundamental of our faith. In fact, one of the major
tip-offs to the teaching of any cult is a group that denies the deity of Jesus Christ, or seeks to
place the Son in a position that is inferior to the Father in His divine essence. However, this
great doctrine of our faith is one that is implicit in the Scriptures. It is never directly stated.
Instead, theologians deduced the doctrine of the Trinity from the teaching of the Scripture.
They read verses such as Acts 5:3-4, where Peter said that lying to the Holy Spirit was lying
to God. Therefore, the Holy Spirit is God. Then they looked to Romans 9:5, and read that
“Christ ... is God over all.” Ephesians 4:6 clearly states that the Father is God. Add to the
4318F3

mix the clear teaching of Scripture that “The Lord is one,” and the only possible logical
4319F 4

deduction is the great teaching of “God in three persons, blessed Trinity.” This is the kind of 4320F5

42
Dr. John Robbins, “The Educational Establishment Versus Civilization,” The Trinity Review, Dec. 1997, p.3-4.

43
(NIV)

44
Deuteronomy 6:4

45
This is from Holy, Holy, Holy. Do we need permission, or is it public domain?

164
“clear argument” that Martin Luther respected. It is a necessary conclusion drawn directly
from Scripture.

The greatest of the church creeds, which was the foundational document for the Presbyterian
Church (though liberal branches have veered radically away from it) is the Westminster
Confession. Section VI of the Confession states:
The whole counsel of God, concerning all things necessary for his own glory,
man’s salvation, faith and life, is either expressly set down in Scripture, or by
good and necessary consequence may be deduced from Scripture: unto which
nothing at any time is to be added, whether by new revelations of the Spirit or
traditions of men. 4321F 6

Note the expression that “all things necessary” to understand God, His plan of salvation,
faith, and life, are either “expressly set down in Scripture, or by good and necessary
consequence may be deduced from Scripture.” Here again, we see the need for the science of
logic, a discipline which sets down the rules which bring us to accurate, necessary
conclusions and enable us to truly think God’s thoughts after Him.

One of the most influential theologians in church history, Augustine, said, “The science of
reasoning is of very great service in searching into and unraveling all sorts of questions that
come up in Scripture ... The validity of logical sequences is not a thing devised by men, but it
is observed and noted by them that they may be able to learn and teach it; for it exists
eternally in the reason of things, and has its origin with God.” The great church historian
432F7

Philip Schaff called John Calvin “the best theologian and exegete among the Reformers” and
said that Calvin “assigned (reason) the office of an indispensable handmaid of revelation.” 432F8

46
Quoted in Gordon H. Clark, What Do Presbyterians Believe, (Phillipsburg, NJ, Presbyterian and Reformed
Publishing Company, Copyright (c) 1956, 1965), 18.

47
Quoted in Carranza, 97.

48
Schaff, 32.

165
Calvin set himself to the study and mastery of Logic, seeing it as indispensable to the proper
understanding of Scripture. Indeed, the great modern theologian, Dr. Benjamin Warfield,
wrote that “No (doctrine) is ascertained or formulated without the aid of human logic.” 432F 9

What we miss so often, when we are thinking on and discussing the concepts of truth,
wisdom, and knowledge, is that the laws of logic are inherent in all these. The laws of logic
are inseparable from the concepts of truth, wisdom, and knowledge! As Augustine said, the
laws of logic were not devised by men, but rather existed eternally with God! How, then, can
we have “irrational” truth? How could we have “illogical” knowledge? How can we have an
“anti-intellectual” wisdom? It is impossible. The words cannot coexist in the same phrase.
They form an oxymoron, a linguistic distortion.

How can we, as followers of Jesus Christ, mount an anti-intellectual defense of our faith? Is
there such a thing as “ignorant obedience”? How can we trust in God if we do not understand
Him? “A man who has riches without understanding is like the beasts that perish,” Scripture
532F0

asserts. Time and again, Paul wrote to Christian believers, “I do not want you to be
ignorant.” The great lament of God, given through the prophet Hosea, was “My people are
5326F1

destroyed for lack of knowledge.” 5327F 2

All too often today, we see ignorance held up as a virtue. A great deal of the entertainment in
our popular culture today follows the theme of the movie “Dumb and Dumber.” We are
amused by mindlessness. (Take a look at the roots of the word amuse: a means “no,” and
muse means “think,” so the word amuse literally means no think!) Television has taught us

49
Quoted in Carranza, 98.

50
Psalm 49:20 (NIV).

51
Romans 11:25; 1 Corinthians 12:1; 1 Thessalonians 4:13.

52
Hosea 4:6.

166
to think -- when we do -- in random, staccato bursts, and we become bored and impatient
with critical thinking which is developed within the framework of logic, thinking which we
often find difficult to grasp. Tragically, this mental laziness does not only infect our leisure
time. J. Gresham Machen wrote:
The ignorance of the Church is explained by the failure of the Christian family
as an educational institution; but what in turn explains that failure? Why is it
that Christian parents have neglected the instruction of their children; why is it
that preaching has ceased to be educational and doctrinal; why is it that even
Sunday Schools and Bible classes have come to consider solely applications of
Christianity without studying the Christianity that is to be applied? These
questions take us into the very heart of the situation; the growth of ignorance
in the Church, the growth of indifference with regard to the simple facts
recorded in the Bible, all goes back to a great spiritual movement, really
skeptical in its tendency, which has been going forward during the last one
hundred years — a movement which appears not only in philosophers and
theologians such as Kant and Schleiermacher and Ritschl, but also in a
widespread attitude of plain men and women throughout the world. The
depreciation of the intellect, with the exaltation in the place of it of the feelings
or of the will, is, we think, a basic fact in modern life, which is rapidly leading
to a condition in which men neither know anything nor care anything about the
doctrinal content of the Christian religion, and in which there is in general a
lamentable intellectual decline.” 5328F 3

But God does not bless ignorance. “Come now, let us reason together,” He has said. God 5329F4

wants us to think and to reason. The image of omniscience is not ignorance! God does not
honor unwarranted conclusions. “It is not good to have zeal without knowledge,” Proverbs
530F 5 531F6

cautions.

53
J. Gresham Machen, What is Faith? (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1925), p.22-23.

54
Isaiah 1:18.

55
Romans 9:19-21.

56
Proverbs 19:2 (NIV).

167
The mother of Samuel proclaimed that “The Lord is the God of knowledge; and by Him
actions are weighed.” Paul urged Timothy to “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a
532F 7

workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” We are to
53F 8

study so we can correctly understand and explain God’s word. The highest calling of
Christianity is to “Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” 534F9

Godliness is right thinking!

How can you obey God’s word, unless you properly understand, i.e., unless you can “rightly
divide” it? One of the most basic laws of logic states that words have a specific meaning.
This is expressed by the first law of logic, which is also known as the law of contradiction.
Aristotle expressed the law of contradiction thus: “The same attribute cannot at the same time
belong and not belong to the same subject and in the same respect.” For example, a line
635F 0

cannot be both curved and straight at the same time. Different portions of the line may be
both curved and straight, but it cannot be both curved and straight in the same respect. This
same law of contradiction applies to words. In order for a word to mean something, it must
also not mean something. “Dog” can not mean “fence.” “Thou shalt not steal” can not mean
“Thou may steal.”

Dr. John Robbins asserts that the law of contradiction directly links logic with morality:

57
1 Sam 2:3.

58
2 Tim 2:15 (KJV).

59
2 Pet 3:18, emphasis added.

60
Clark, Logic, p. vii.

168
 When the Bible says, You shall not covet, each word has a specific meaning.
Attacking logic means attacking morality. If logic is disdained, then the
distinctions between right and wrong, good and evil, just and unjust, merciful
and ruthless also disappear ... The rejection of logic has become very popular
in the 20th century. In matters of morality, one frequently hears that “There are
no blacks and whites, only shades of gray.” What this means is that there is no
good or evil; all actions and alternatives are mixtures of good and evil. If one
abandons logic, as many people in this century have, then one cannot
distinguish good from evil — and everything is permitted ... The rejection of
logic has led — and must lead — to the abandonment of morality. 63F 1

If we reject logic, then there can be no truth, because words become meaningless! We have
no way to identify — for our children, for our communities, or for our nation — good and
evil because those words no longer have any meaning. And so we see in the United States
that the killing of the unborn has become a “constitutional right,” but prayers offered to the
Almighty in the government schools is considered an abomination. Homosexual marriage is
held up by the cultural elites and good and decent and progressive, while those who proclaim
God’s truth that homosexuality is an abomination are labeled as hateful, bigoted extremists.
Now that words like “right” and “wrong” have lost their meaning, the United States has
become a nation that calls evil good, and good evil. 637F2

The writer of Hebrews wrote that “Solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have
trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.” We must train our minds, through the
638F3

constant, consistent use of logic, to think in such a clear, non-contradictory way that we are
able to embrace morality, and rightly divide what is good from what is evil. Then we are
thinking God’s thoughts after Him, and then we are reasoning properly.

61
Ibid, p. viii-ix.

62
Isaiah 5:20 reads, “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for
darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet bitter.” Loosely paraphrased, woe to those who disdain the laws of logic!

63
Heb 5:14 (NIV).

169
 The Primacy of Wisdom

I want to place great emphasis on the phrase, “The wisdom of God.” Logic IS the wisdom of
God. Godly, rational thought is His logic, His wisdom, His thought. Our Heavenly Father
urges us, “ My son, be wise, and make my heart glad.” King David taught his son Solomon,
639F 4

“Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, and she will watch over you.
Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding.” 6340F5

Recall that God offered Solomon anything he wanted, and Solomon asked for wisdom. “And 6341F6

God gave Solomon wisdom and exceedingly great understanding, and largeness of heart like
the sand on the seashore. Thus Solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the men of the
East and all the wisdom of Egypt. For he was wiser than all men ... And men of all

nations, from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom, came to hear the
wisdom of Solomon.” 6342F7

The Scripture tells us that wisdom is supreme! Above all else that we seek, we are to
earnestly seek and pursue wisdom. James wrote that “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask
of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.” When
634F8

we ask for wisdom, we are really asking for more of Christ, “who became for us wisdom

64
Proverbs 27:11.

65
Prov 4:6-7 (NIV).

66
1 Kings 3:9.

67
I King 4:29-31, 34.

68
James 1:5.

170
from God,” and “in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” It was
634F9 7345F0

Paul’s prayer for all believers“that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and
depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and
blameless until the day of Christ.” Jesus is the Logos, the Word, the Divine Wisdom. To
7346F1

grow in knowledge is to grow in Christ.

The Thoughts of Man

Does my heart love logic? Do I thrill to the idea of thinking God’s thoughts after Him? If I
am an unsaved man or woman, the answer is absolutely NO! “The mind of sinful man ... is
hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so.” Man loves sin, and sin is
734F 2

insanity. The thoughts of the unbeliever are completely distorted by the sinful nature. He
resists God’s thoughts! He rebels against truth and logic. If I, as a man who is living in
hostility to God, strive to think God’s thoughts after Him, that makes me responsible and
accountable to God. I become dependent on Him for my very purpose in life, and for all my
goodness and righteousness, for “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our
righteous acts are like filthy rags.” I, the unbeliever, have bought into Satan’s lie in the
7348F3

garden, and I desire to be like God, knowing good and evil. I want to proclaim what is truth; I
want to call the shots; I want to be “The Captain of My Ship,” “The Master of My Fate,” etc.
My focus is completely on the gratification and glorification of self. I have absolutely no
desire to place my life and my destiny in the hands of another, particularly in the hands of a

69
1 Cor 1:30.

70
Col 2:3.

71
Phil 1:9-10 (NIV, emphasis added).

72
Romans 8:6-7 (NIV).

73
Isaiah 64:6 (NIV).

171
God whom I cannot see, but must rely on by faith. I have no desire to think biblically or
rationally. My thoughts are in-sane, because they are hostile to God’s rational, orderly
thinking.

It is only when I have become a part of that plan, and trusted in the redeeming work of Jesus
Christ on Calvary’s cross, and only when I have the Holy Spirit of God living within me that
I can even begin to “take thought captive to obey Christ.” I do this by guarding my mind
7349F 4

with a detachment of mighty centurions, the sixty-six books of God’s inspired, inerrant word.
These sturdy bulwarks of God’s truth should be placed around my mind, guarding my
thoughts. They are the garrison which protects my mind and my heart. God has a plan of
salvation. Salvation is logical. Salvation is rational. It is expressed in logical, truthful
propositions. If Satan attacks with his apostasy and his unbelief, I unlimber “The sword of
the Spirit, which is the word of God,” and firmly reply, as my Savior did, “It is written ... It
7350F5

is written ... Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God,
and Him only you shall serve.’” Then we will truly become like the mighty men of Scripture,
7351F6

and “Demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of
God.” We can reject the doctrines of demons, and quote book, chapter, and verse to defeat
7352F7

our deadly adversary. This is how we are to think; this is how we are to reason; and this is
how we live a life that truly gives glory to God!

The Times Are Evil

74
2 Cor 10:5 (NIV).

75
Eph 6:17.

76
Matt 4:4-10

77
2 Cor 10:5 (NIV).

172
You certainly aren’t going to see the cultural bastions of Western civilization encouraging
this kind of rational, biblical thinking. Francis Schaeffer said that the United States had
entered a post-Christian era. I believe Josh McDowell has defined our age more accurately
as an anti-Christian era. It is certainly an anti-intellectual era. You see the dumbing-down of
every area of our culture -- from art, to entertainment, to our horrendous educational system,
to politics, and even to the pulpit, as was described so accurately by J. Gresham Machen.

Dear Reader, if anyone should labor to develop a clear, erudite mind and learn to speak with
pure, unadulterated logic and rational thought, it is you and I, the bond servants of Christ! By
God’s grace, our disciplined study of logic will enable us to reason so compellingly that our
listeners will hear and understand the necessary, irrefutable conclusions we have developed,
and will be convicted by the expression of God’s truth. Our listeners should be like those
who heard Stephen’s great sermon in the days of the early church, and were “cut to the
heart” by Steven’s inspired, inexorable logic. They “could not stand up against his wisdom
735F8

or the Spirit by whom he spoke.” Dear reader, let me urge you to strive to be like Stephen!
7354F9

We should be the brightest and the most intellectually challenging people on the planet,
because we have the mind of Christ! We should “Always be ready to give a defense to
835F 0

everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you,” and we should offer our defense
8356F1

of the faith — not based on our feelings or our experiences — but rather on the indisputable
logic that is revealed in God’s word. We should think and reason like no one else!

78
Acts 7:54.

79
Acts 6:10 (NIV).

80
1 Corinthians 2:16.

81
1 Pet 3:15.

173
Contrary to what today’s humanist educators will tell you, the Bible is the most intellectually
challenging book on the planet. The reader is introduced to the infinite, eternal mind of the
God of the universe. His is a mind of logic and wisdom. Wisdom is not an abstract concept!
God is wisdom. He expresses His wisdom in words we can learn and understand. “I have
more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your statutes,” David wrote in His psalm
of praise to God’s word. “I have more understanding than the elders, for I obey your
precepts.” God gave Daniel and his three companions the gift of wisdom, and “in all matters
8357F2

of wisdom and understanding ..., (Nebuchadnezzar) found them ten times better” than all the
835F3

mystics and advisors in his entire kingdom! Solomon prayed for wisdom, and God answered
that prayer. He has promised in the book of James to do the same for us. God made Solomon
wiser than any man; and men came from all over the world just to listen to Solomon
construct his necessary conclusions, and to speak with the wisdom of God. That is what we
are to aspire to! We must study diligently and pray fervently that God would make us ten
times more intellectually engaging than those who disdain the knowledge of God!

82
Psalm 119:99-100 (NIV).

83
Daniel 1:20.

174
The claim of knowledge is the claim of truth, not error, falsehood, or fallacious reasoning.
Therefore, the object of knowledge is truth, and truth is always logical, intelligible, and
consistent. Truth does not manifest itself in contradictions, equivocations, or unwarranted
conclusions. Responsibility -- the ability to respond correctly to God and to man -- depends
on knowledge. Responsibility is a function of knowledge. Reason enables me to understand
God’s commands. Without reason, i.e., without the law of contradiction (which gives words
specific meanings), no one would be able to understand God’s commands, and no one can
consistently obey a command he or she cannot understand. So the essence of logic is truth.
The outcome of logic is consistency. We have laid down the axiom: God’s revelation,
which is infinite, objective, external, infallible truth. This truth is in contrast to the most
flimsy and unreliable standards of knowledge: sensation, experimentation, and
observation. These last three depend on sinful man to supply them, and they are finite,
subjective, internal, and entirely fallible! Anything that comes out of man’s mouth — if it is
not a Scriptural truth or directly deduced from Scripture — is profane and idle babbling,
because it sets itself against the knowledge of God! It is self-condemning, because it is anti-
God. It is a lie, because it is generated by the inductive reasoning that is spawned by Satan,
who is the father of lies. When Satan got inside the minds of Adam and Eve, sin entered the
world of humanity. Why? Because he induced them to reason improperly. From the
moment Adam and Eve purposed to eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil, they had turned their backs on God’s revelation, and they were no longer thinking God’s
thoughts after Him. They had become insane. Their reasoning was now twisted and distorted
by sin. And so it has been ever since that dreadful moment of disobedience. Since that day,
no man has been able to think and reason logically and rationally without sin distorting his
thought processes, unless he is aided by the Scriptures and the Holy Spirit of God. “The
LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the
thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” “The heart is deceitful above all things, and
8359F4

84
Gen 6:5.

175
desperately wicked: who can know it?” We cannot rely on our thoughts or our feelings to
8360F 5

provide us with truth. Only God can do that.

I hope by now you clearly understand the critical importance of logical speech and thought.
As we progress through the rest of this book, you will discover how logic enables us to
deduce truths for every aspect of life, both for the individual and for a society, from God’s
word. Logic is the all-important bridge between the Bible, our axiom for truth, and the great
doctrines of our faith. I wrote this chapter in the hope that I would whet your appetite for a
greater knowledge of logical principles and techniques. The next chapter will introduce you
to the formal and informal principles and techniques of logic that will enable you to reason
biblically and deductively.

85
Jer 17:9.

176
 Legacy, Chapter Six
The Eternal Laws of Logic

This chapter will give you an overview of the methods we employ to think and speak with
sound logic. Please understand, space does not allow me to give you detailed instruction in
formal and informal logic. Besides, there is no need for Jack Lannom to reinvent the wheel --
Gordon Clark has written a peerless textbook on formal logic, and I will supply you with the
information you need to purchase it. I hope many of you who are reading this will make a
commitment to dig deeper into the vitally important study of logic. I cannot overemphasize
the importance of being able to think and speak clearly.

For the purpose of this book, I’d like to devote just a few pages to an introduction to the most
important laws of logic, and then I will introduce you to the construction of solid, logical
reasoning and speech. I want you to become a man or woman who is able to win over
unbelieving friends and coworkers with your clear, irrefutable reasoning!

The Origins of Formal Logic

The recognition and formalization of the academic discipline of logic is widely credited to
the pagan Greek philosopher Aristotle. This is why, when the formal laws of logic are
discussed, you may hear the phrase “Aristotilian logic.” You might protest that since
Aristotle was an unbeliever whose mind was not informed by the Holy Spirit and shaped by
the infallible truth of God’s word, how can we possibly trust his work? Dr. John Robbins has
given a marvelous answer to this objection: If God can cause a jackass to speak and utter
words of divine prophecy, then certainly He can use an unbeliever to accurately observe and
record the laws of logic!1 Recall that “All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden
361F

1
Footnote the First Logic Tape here.

177
in Christ.” It is important to note that God did not create wisdom and knowledge; God is
wisdom and knowledge! God does not employ wisdom in order to think well; His thoughts
are wisdom. The laws of logic are merely a reflection of the essence of His Being. Aristotle
is the man whom God sovereignly ordained to observe and record these laws, that God’s
people might have them available for use in deducing truth from God’s word.

More than three hundred years before the birth of Christ, Aristotle used to watch his teacher
Plato play the “yes-or-no” game with his students. The players would select a particular
subject for debate, and then one player would ask his opponent a series of questions which
could be answered with a simple “yes” or “no.” If the interrogator could skillfully use a series
of questions to force his opponent to admit that the position he had staked out was incorrect,
he won the game. The “yes-or-no” game had been played for close to a century, but it was
Aristotle who realized that no one had ever written down the rules of the game. Aristotle
observed that these rules were implicit in successful play, and went on to write several books
on the rules of “yes-or-no.” These books formed the basis for what we today call the science
of logic.

It is important to restate this disclaimer: it would be completely inaccurate to call Aristotle

“the father of Logic.” Aristotle did not create the science of logic; rather, he recognized its
existence. Logic has always existed in the eternal mind of God, and all the laws of logic are
inherent in the word of God. When you have finished this chapter, you will be able to see the
wonderful, crystal clear logic that pervades the entirety of Scripture. Logic has always
existed in the Being of the Holy Trinity; Aristotle’s contribution was to observe and
recognize the laws of logic, and write them down. I am going to explain the three most
important laws of logic to you now.

The First Law of Logic: The Law of Contradiction

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I introduced you to this first and most fundamental law of logic a few pages earlier. This first
law is the most important because the second two laws really can be deduced from this one.
Recall that Aristotle formally expressed the law of contradiction in this way: “The same
attribute cannot at the same time belong and not belong to the same subject and in the same
respect.” This law can also be expressed by saying, “A” can not be “both A” and “not-A.”
You can plug anything into this formula you like. A dog can not both be “a dog” and “not a
dog.” A thing can not be both itself and not itself. A line cannot be both curved and not
curved at the same time. Different portions of the line may be both curved and straight, but it
cannot be both curved and straight at the same time and in the same respect. We saw that the
law of contradiction applies to words. In order for a word to mean something, it must also not
mean something. “Straight” can not mean “curved,” or even “slightly curved.” If a word does
not have a clear, distinctive meaning that separates it from other words, then all language
becomes utterly meaningless. If a word means everything, then it also means nothing!

This example should help you understand the point. If words had no distinctive meaning,
then a book could be written a great deal more quickly than it has taken to write this one! I
could just select one word -- any word will do — and repeat it 90,000 times: Word word
word word word, word word word word word! You come to my book-signing, and pick up a
copy of my new book, appropriately titled, Word Word Word. You glance inside, and with
growing amazement flip through the pages, only to discover the one word repeated over and
over again! You turn to me indignantly, waving the copy of my new book a few inches under
my nose.

“What is the meaning of this?” you demand.

179
I look back at you with wide-eyed innocence. “You mean you can’t understand it?” I ask
solicitously. “Well, it’s very simple. The title of my book is Words Mean Things, and the first
sentence reads, ‘If a word means everything, then it also means nothing!’ I understand it
perfectly.” My voice takes on a patronizing tone. “I guess you just haven’t learned the new,
twenty-first century literary style, yet!”

It’s a silly story, but it makes the point quite well. Without the law of contradiction, there is
no distinction, and without distinction, there is no meaning. A thing can not be both “A” and
“not-A” at the same time and in the same respect.

It is only in the juxtaposition of opposites that clarity is born. Negative knowledge is

essential to understanding. It is important to know what something is, but also what it is not.
Negatives and positives are inseparable in human thought. When you posit one thing, you are
negating something else. A dog is not a cat. A circle is not a square. A liar is not an honest
man. Negatives and positives are inextricably related. Another way of stating this concept is
that falsehood implies the existence of truth, denials imply affirmations, ignorance implies
knowledge, and irrationality implies rationality. This is the essence of logical thought.

For example, when we examine the true meaning of the doctrine of justification later in this
book, we will spend time looking at the contradistinctions of what justification is, and also
what it is not. When Martin Luther was developing these ideas, he noted that justification is a
legal act, not a moral one. He said that justification is an imputation of the righteousness of
Christ, not an impartation of righteousness. It cannot be both! There must be distinctions
which provide meaning to the word, or the word has no meaning.

The Bible has Contradistinctions ... But no Contradictions!

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There are no contradictions in the word of God. James asked, “Does a spring send forth fresh
water and bitter from the same opening? Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a
grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring can yield both salt water and fresh.” 2 The Bible
362F

constantly distinguishes good from evil, truth from falsehood, wisdom from foolishness, and
so on. In each instance, the law of contradiction comes into play. A thing can not be both
good and evil at the same time and in the same respect. It can not be both true and false at the
same time and in the same respect. A man is not both wise and foolish at the same time and
in the same respect. If this were possible, then the Scriptures, and indeed all spoken and
written language, would be utterly meaningless. Meaning demands distinction.
Understanding requires discrimination.

Since there are no contradictions throughout the entire body of Scripture, then God’s people
should speak in a way that does not bring forth contradictions. James was appalled at “the
unruly evil ... (and) deadly poison” of the speech of mankind. “With it we bless our God and
Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. Out of the
same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so.” 3 36F

Paul warned Timothy, “O Timothy! Guard what was committed to your trust, avoiding the
profane and idle babble and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge.” 4 There is
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no knowledge when there are contradictions! There can be no learning. There is only
meaninglessness — idle babble. Our speech must be a model of consistency and clear logic if
we are to truly proclaim Christ to a lost and dying world.

2
James 3:11-12

3
James 3:8-10.

4
1 Tim 6:20 (emphasis added).

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 The Second Law of Logic: The Law of Identity

The law of identity is quite simply stated: “A thing is itself.” The formula to express this is
phrased, “A” is A. One of the greatest examples of this law is expressed in the conversation
between Moses and God at the beginning of the book of Exodus:
Then Moses said to God, “Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and
say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me,
‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?” And God said to Moses, “I AM
WHO I AM.” 5 365F

This is the first time in the Bible when anyone ever asked God what His name is! God’s
answer: “I AM WHO I AM.” This is the perfect example of the law of identity. God is who
He is! We will never come to the knowledge of who God is apart from His self-disclosure,
which is provided in — and only in — God’s word.

David was inspired by the Holy Spirit to write Psalm 19, which begins, “The heavens declare
the glory of God.” This, of course, is God’s truth. The child of God looks at the heavens and
marvels at the intricate majesty of creation, and his or her heart races with love and awe and
admiration for the Creator. It is important to remember, though, that the unbeliever has no
such surge of emotion, and no such progression of thought. Carl Sagan spent his life studying
the heavens, and did not see God there at all. The same could be said for scores of other
unbelieving scientists, both living and dead. It is only the man or woman who is indwelt by
the Holy Spirit who sees the heavens and the earth as God’s creation. It is only through
God’s revelation, the Bible, that we actually come to know who He is and what His nature is.
Creation doesn’t tell us about God; God tells us about creation. In the Bible, God tells us who
He is and what He has done. He divulges His identity. I AM WHO I AM!

5
Exod 3:13-14.

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Returning to the doctrine of justification, we apply the law of identity to say that justification
is a legal, forensic crediting by God of Christ’s righteousness to us. This is what justification
is. The word univocal applies beautifully to this second law of logic. Univocal (“You niv ih
cull”) means “one meaning.” A word has a single, specific meaning. “A” is A. Univocal is
the opposite of equivocal (“ee quiv uh cull”), which is ambiguous language that may well
have more than one meaning. We’re all familiar with the old phrase: “He speaks with forked
tongue,” i.e., “He uses words that mean one thing to me, but another thing to him. He
equivocates.”

Two verses from Ephesians highlight the meaning of univocal. Paul wrote to the Ephesians
that “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling;
one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through
all, and in you all.” 6 There is only One who can be called Lord: the Lord Jesus Christ. There
36F

is only one faith that will lead to eternal life: faith in the atoning death and subsequent
resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the one hope to which we were called by the
Holy Spirit, who is the only Spirit that is of God. And “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is
one Lord.” 7 There is only one God and Father of all. The true identity and significance of
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these names and terms are univocal. There is only one meaning. Therefore, if anyone
preaches “another Jesus ... a different spirit ... or a different gospel,” 8 then they are using
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equivocation. They are “deceiving spirits” preaching “doctrines of demons,” 9 using words
369F

which sound wholesome and spiritual, but actually conceal the great, univocal truth of

6
Eph 4:4-6.

7
Deut 6:4.

8
2 Corinthians 11:4.

9
1 Timothy 4:1.

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salvation: “Christ crucified, ... Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.” He is “the 1370F0

way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through (Him).” And, as the
137F 1

apostle Paul proclaimed, “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel
other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned!” 1372F2

In the book of Nehemiah, we see where the people of Israel gathered to hear the reading of
the word of God. Ezra read the Book of the Law to the people, and the priests and Levites
were there to help the people understand what they were hearing. “So they read distinctly
from the book, in the Law of God; and they gave the sense, and helped them to understand
the reading.” They gave the people the clear, univocal meaning of the word of God.
137F3

To learn anything, we must get to a definition of what it is: its identity. I need the precise,
univocal meaning of that thing in order to know what it is. You can see how the law of
contradiction would help here, in that I can also come to an understanding of what that same
thing is not. Identity describes exactly what something is. It provides me with a line of
demarcation. I know what it is — identity — and I know what it isn’t — contradiction. The
Holy Spirit inspired the apostle John to “write these things to you who believe in the name of
the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.” God wants us to have
1374F4

knowledge. We can only have knowledge if we have clear understanding of the great
doctrines of our faith. That knowledge only comes through the proper understanding of the

10
1 Cor 1:23-24.

11
John 14:6.

12
Gal 1:8 (NIV).

13
Neh 8:8.

14
I Jn 5:13 (NIV).

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univocal meaning and implications of what these doctrines say. Strength and power — in the
church body and in my own personal life — can only come through certainty.

The Third Law of Logic: The Law of Excluded Middle

The law of excluded middle is really a combination of the first two. A thing is either itself
(identity) or not itself (contradiction), but it can not be somewhere in between. The line is
either curved or straight at the same time and in the same respect. It cannot be both. The
formula is expressed Either “A” or “not-A.”There is no middle ground. The light is either
“on” or it is “off.” A woman is either pregnant or she is not pregnant. She isn’t “a little bit
pregnant.” The Holy Spirit utilized this law often in the writing of Scripture. Paul, for
example, utilized the law of excluded middle beautifully in the book of Romans. In chapter
eleven, he wrote: “At this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace.
And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is
of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work.” We are either elected by
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God’s grace, or we are elected according to our good works. Since we are elected by grace,
our good works are not even in the slightest degree the basis for our salvation! If we were
saved by our good works, then salvation would no longer be by grace. We are not saved by
“grace-and-works,” but by grace alone. There is no middle ground. Similarly, Jesus said,
“You cannot serve both God and money.” Our devotion is either to God, or it is to mammon.
1376F6

You do not give your ultimate devotion to “God-and-mammon.” Again, there is no middle
ground. Only one commands your ultimate loyalty.

15
Rom 11:5-6.

16
Matthew 6:24 (NIV).

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The law of the excluded middle highlights one of the great disagreements between the
Protestant and Roman Catholic churches. The Catholic Church teaches that justification is a
process. There is an impartation of grace, according to the Roman church. The believer is
given a tiny seed of grace, and then he or she must cooperate with the process of
justification. At the end, there is a declaration that the Catholic has been made righteous. This
runs counter to the historical teaching of the Protestant church, which teaches that the
believer is fully and freely justified at the moment of salvation. He is immediately
declared righteous in God’s sight. The Protestant position is faithful to Paul’s teaching to the
Romans. The Catholic position is not, and it is also a violation of the third law of logic. The
Roman church seeks to plant herself firmly on non-existent ground, the ground of “grace-
and-works,” which is the excluded middle. The Roman church’s teaching on justification
is a logical impossibility!

When we hear the “wise men” of this age speak, or read the writings of contemporary
“scholars,” we must immediately ask ourselves if the author of the idea is violating any of the
three laws of logic. Has the speaker really defined what he or she is talking about? Has he
established a univocal meaning to the terms he is using? For example, many modern
“intellectuals” claim that a human being reasons by moving through the steps of sensation to
perception to concept to principles. Yet these so-called “scholars” never define what
sensation is! They do not provide any identity to the term. They never explain how it is that
we move from sensation to perception. When listening to these men and women speak, I
often wonder, “Are you saying there is a process involved in moving from sensation to
perception? If there is, then explain what it is!” There is no meaning in what these people
say, because they provide no definition of what they are saying - or what they are not saying.
When we speak, we must always seek to incorporate the three laws of logic into our
definition of terms. Explain what the term means (identity); what it does not mean
(contradiction); and identify the “either-or” (excluded middle).

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 Constructing a Syllogism

One of the greatest tools that you can ever learn in your life is the ability to consciously
construct logical arguments. (Gordon Clark pointed out that “Many people use the word
argument when they mean altercation. An altercation is a brawl. An argument is a series of
reasons which one uses to prove the truth of what one wishes to assert.” ) We see God
137F 7

drawing these necessary conclusions time and time again all throughout Scripture. These
logistic tools of conversation are the way that God thinks. As I said before, logic is godly
thinking!

The basis for all truth is the proposition. All sixty-six books of the Bible are filled with
propositional truth. A proposition is simply a declarative sentence, a sentence that makes a
definite statement. It might be a very simple statement: “The ball is red” is a declarative
statement. There is a subject (“the ball”), a predicate (“red”)which makes an assertion about
the subject, and a copula, (“is”), which is the verb that links the subject and the predicate.
The predicate either denies or affirms something about the subject. (The ball is red. A
shed is not a skyscraper.) Either way, the sentence is giving us information. Knowledge can
only come through propositions. Questions (“Is the ball red?”), commands (“Go to the
shed!”), and exclamations (“Oh no!”), do not impart knowledge. Therefore, truth can only be
communicated through a proposition, i.e., a declarative sentence.

17
Clark, Logic, p. 1

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Similarly, truth is not communicated through an inanimate object. Dr. Robert Reymond, in
his superb Systematic Theology, insists that “Truth is a quality of propositions alone.” I want 1378F8

you to really lock this important truth into your mind. A leaf does not declare propositional
truth. God’s creation is not propositional revelation. As marvelous as creation is, it is still
not God’s autobiography! It is His handiwork, but the only way that we know that it is His
handiwork is because God’s word tells us so.

One of the strongest logical arguments we can employ using propositional sentences is the
syllogism. The syllogism teaches us to direct our thinking, to aim our thoughts and speech as
if we were pointing a high-powered searchlight on truth. A syllogism is an inference (a
conclusion) which is constructed by two premises and three terms. The terms are arranged in
such a way that one term from each premise appears in the conclusion, and a third term
appears in both premises but does not appear in the conclusion. I realize this sounds 1379F9

complicated, but the following example should immediately crystallize this definition for
you.
All men are mortal (Major premise).
Socrates is a man (Minor premise).
Therefore Socrates is mortal (Conclusion).
As you can see, there are two premises. “All men are mortal” is the major premise, and
“Socrates is a man” is the minor premise. There are three terms employed: “mortal,”
“man,” and “Socrates.” “Mortal” is the major term; “Man” is the middle term; and
“Socrates” is the minor term. In a proper syllogism, one term from each of the premises

18
Dr. Robert L. Reymond, A New Systematic Theology Of The Christian Faith, (Nashville, TN, Thomas Nelson
Publishers, (c) 1998), PAGE # ?

19
Ibid, p. 59.

188
appears in the conclusion: in the example, these are “mortal” and “Socrates.” A valid
syllogism also employs one term in both premises which does not appear in the conclusion.
In this case, “man,” the middle term, does not appear in the conclusion.

In the major premise, “men” is the subject of the sentence; “are” is the copula, and “mortal”
is the predicate. This premise is predicating that men are mortal. The minor premise
predicates that Socrates is a man, and the conclusion predicates that Socrates, therefore, must
be mortal.

The major term is the one which appears as the predicate of the conclusion. The minor
term is the one which becomes the subject of the conclusion. The middle term is the one
which appears in both premises, but will not appear in the conclusion. The major premise is
the one that contains the major term, and, likewise, the minor premise is the one that
includes the minor term.

Our example can also be expressed in terms of a formula, which helps to further clarify the
syllogism. Let’s assign a letter of the alphabet to each of our terms: a = mortal; b=man;
c=Socrates.
All (ba). (All men are mortal.)
All (cb). (Socrates is a man.)
All (ca). (Therefore, Socrates is mortal.)

The example I have given you is irrefutable logic in its simplest from. If the premises are
true, which in this case they are, it is logically impossible to demonstrate that the conclusion
is false. It is important to understand that no syllogism can be valid if the conclusion
contains an idea not already given in one of the premises. If you introduce any term in the
conclusion that has not already been given in either the major or minor premise, you have
automatically invalidated your argument! This is called “asserting the consequent,” and it is a
violation of all the laws of logical thought. Such a syllogism might read:

189
 All men are mortal.
Socrates is a man.
Therefore, Socrates is a genius.

The syllogism immediately falls apart. The term “genius” did not appear in either premise.
Therefore there is nothing in the argument which validates the claim that Socrates is a genius.

We must train ourselves to identify the way a speaker constructs his or her arguments,
because if the speaker introduces an idea in the conclusion that was not contained in the
premises, the argument is invalid! Of course, it is even more important that I am able to
recognize valid thinking in myself! It is crucial that I am able to construct valid arguments
when I am speaking with unbelievers. We have seen how Paul used the power of reason to
win thousands of converts in the days of the early church. The fact that we may never see the
same results as Paul is immaterial. Results depend entirely upon the will of God and the
activity of the Holy Spirit. However, we have been commanded to “Contend earnestly for
the faith,” and to “Always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for
the hope that is in you.” We are to be gentle and winsome in our instruction, but we should
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reason correctly! Our conclusions must be necessary. It is absolutely crucial that we are able
to identify the inevitable conclusions of reasoning -- both the reasoning of the mind of God
and of the mind of man. Our contentions and defenses will be rendered impotent if a clear-
thinking unbeliever is able to dispassionately dissect our assertions with logic. Sometimes
our theology is scrambled not by the enemies outside the walls of the church — but by our
brethren within.

Logical Fallacies and their Role in Theology

20
1 Pet 3:15.

190
The great patron saint of the Roman state church, Thomas Aquinas, asserted several
arguments for the existence of God that are still repeated by far too many theologians today.
None of Thomas’ arguments (called “Thomistic” arguments) had anything to do with biblical
revelation. All of these so-called apologia (defenses of the faith) concerned evidences
gathered by means of man’s observation and experimentation, unaided by Scripture.
Thomas’ source of truth was sensation, not revelation. Therefore, his theories are anti-God
and anti-Christian in their construction. They are in their very nature a rebellion against
revealed truth. Man turns his back on the word of God, and determines that he will find his
own god his own way, through his own experience and “wisdom.”

“Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, ‘Teacher, we want to see a sign
from You.’ But He answered and said to them, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks after
a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” These religious
2381F1

leaders, much like the religious leaders of today, had been listening to the words of God (As
the second member of the Trinity, Jesus was God incarnate and spoke nothing other than
what the Father told Him to ) for quite some time. But these skeptics weren’t satisfied with
238F 2

the revelation of God’s word. Instead, they wanted “a sign” -- evidence that they could see
and touch and experience.

It is sin to start with a pagan foundation, and then construct a Christian structure on it. God is
not the conclusion of an argument! We don’t reason our way TO God, we reason FROM
God! If you start at any point other than God, you’ll never get to the God of Scripture.

21
Matt 12:38-39.

22
John 8:28, 14:24.

191
The Thomistic arguments are cosmological, teleological, and anthropological. The
cosmological argument states that every effect must have a First Cause. Science has proven
(much to the discomfiture of the evolutionists) that there is no such thing as spontaneous
generation, where matter or life simply begins to exist all on its own. Since nature cannot
create itself, there must be a First Cause for nature, i.e. God. The syllogism would read:
Every effect must have a cause.
Nature can’t cause itself to exist.
Therefore God created nature.

You can see that the syllogism is a logical fallacy, because a new term (God) has been
introduced in the conclusion. Even worse, this syllogism is blasphemous, because it makes
God the conclusion (and a fallacious conclusion, at that!) rather than the major premise of the
argument. In other words, the syllogism works toward the truth of God, rather from the
axiom of God’s truth. The argument further disintegrates when you ask the question, “How
do you know the God of the Bible is the First Cause? Perhaps the earth goddess Sophia is the
first cause? Perhaps there is some impersonal force that cares nothing for humankind that
created nature?” The cosmological argument offers no logically valid response to these
objections.

The teleological argument looks at the intricacy of nature and reasons that only an intelligent
Designer could create such a complex work. The teleological argument quickly seizes on
Psalm 19:1, and echoes that “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament
shows His handiwork” to both believers and unbelievers alike. Therefore, the God of the
Bible must exist, because creation needs a Creator. The syllogism is:
All complexity must have an intelligent designer.
Creation is very complex.
Therefore God is the intelligent designer of creation.

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Once again, the syllogism is a logical fallacy, because a new term (“God”) has been
introduced in the conclusion. And this second syllogism is just as blasphemous as the first,
because it again makes God the conclusion, rather than the major premise of the argument!
The same arguments against the cosmological argument apply here. “How do you know that
the God of the Bible is the intelligent designer? Perhaps Mother Earth is the creator of all
things. Is this god you speak of a moral god? Is it the same god who sends floods and
hurricanes and tornadoes? Perhaps the intelligent designer is sheer nuclear energy, with no
personality at all.” You cannot assert the God of Scriptures from the evidence of
intelligent design. Creation bears precious little testimony to the character of the Creator.
Probably the best result you could expect is that an believer might possibly absorb the
teleological argument and respond, by saying, “OK, you’re right. I believe there must be a
god of creation.” But the unbeliever is not positing the God of the Bible. He is asserting a
god with a little “g.” Your arguments have done nothing to steer him away from eternal
damnation.

The anthropological argument is, in my opinion, even shakier than the first two, because, as
the name suggests, it introduces man into the equation. This line of reasoning suggests that
there are certain qualities in man that unmistakably point to the existence of a First Man. To a
certain extent, this reasoning incorporates the ideas of a First Cause and an Intelligent
Designer, and adds the new notion that the spirit of a man — qualities like love, mercy,
justice, and intelligence — can only have been granted to him by the Being who already
possesses these attributes. The syllogism might be:
Man has had certain intangible qualitites since his existence.
God also has these intangible qualities.
Therefore God has created man with these qualities.

Once again, the syllogism introduces a new term — “created” — into the conclusion, thereby
invalidating it. However, this syllogism is also fallacious because it violates the second law

193
of logic: the law of identity. The minor premise asserts that “God has these qualities.” The
“God” of the minor premise is merely the mysterious First Cause, the Intelligent Designer
that we met in the earlier syllogisms. However, the conclusion is positing the God of
Scripture, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who made man in His image. This is
clear equivocation: the same term -- “God” -- is endowed with two different meanings. You
have two “Gods,” and Scripture is clear and unambiguous on the clear and univocal fact of
one God: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one!” 238F3

Not only is the anthropological argument logically fallacious, common sense rebels against
it, as well. While it is true that man possesses admirable qualities, it is equally true that these
qualities are virtually undetectable in many men and women. Would anyone care to use
Charles Manson or Joseph Stalin as an argument for the existence of a just and holy God?
Even setting these admittedly extreme examples aside, one could well ask that if man’s
justice and mercy reflect the character of his Creator, then does man’s bigotry, selfishness,
lying, and rage also reflect the nature of his Creator? To even suggest such things is to utter
vile blasphemy.

Another argument, originally formulated by Anselm, is the ontological argument. This

argument posits that since all men have some sort of “God-consciousness,” and all societies
have formulated some pattern of faith which contains an ultimate Existence, then that
Existence must truly exist. If it did not, man would not have been able to conceive of such a
thing. If you have noticed that we seem to be wandering further and further away from
rational, Biblical thinking, you are absolutely correct. This argument is a real “doozy,” as my
dad used to say. The tortured logic might be expressed thus:
All men believe there is a supreme being.

23
Deut 6:4.

194
 God is the ultimate conception of a supreme being.
Therefore God is the supreme being.

Again, we see the equivocation of terms here. The minor premise posits a nebulous “God
#1", a “supreme being.” The conclusion introduces “God #2,” the God of Scripture.
According to this line of reasoning, the God of Scripture is essentially given His existence by
the belief of man, rather than man being given his existence by God! This purportedly
“theistic” line of thought closely mirrors the secular humanist view of God, which states that
God is dead because man (in his more highly evolved state of consciousness) no longer
believes that God exists! This argument bespeaks an arrogance that eclipses even that of
Satan. Satan acknowledges the existence of God; he just hopes to “ascend above the heights
of the clouds ... (and) be like the Most High.” Satan encourages men and women to “be like
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God, knowing good and evil.” The ontological argument goes one breathtaking step even
2385F 5

beyond these thoughts, and asserts that God exists because man believes it to be so!

24
Isa 14:14.

25
Gen 3:5.

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While most self-respecting theologians disdain the ontological argument, a great many of
them employ the Thomistic, evidentialist approach, which essentially claims that God must
exist because of the evidence that points to Him. The common thread that runs through all
these arguments is that God becomes the conclusion of the argument. Rather than standing
on the truth that “All Scripture is God-breathed,” evidentialists, like the scribes and
Pharisees of Jesus’ day, look for a “sign” that will prove the existence of God. They are
violating the clear proscription of the First Commandment: “You shall have no other gods
before Me.” They make gods out of their observations and sensations -- out of man’s
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depraved reasoning -- rather than relying on God’s revelation. They reason from twigs to the
Trinity. We will never arrive at the God of the Bible unless we start our reasoning with the
God of the Bible!

Godly Thinking Begins With God’s Word

If we are going to reason clearly, cogently, and correctly, the only way for us to think is with
the axiom of Christianity as our logical foundation: The Bible Alone is the Word of God.
Genesis 1:1 — “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” — is not an
argument attempting to prove the existence of God. It is a statement of irrefutable fact, a
declaration of eternal truth. “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of
God,” Paul wrote. Saving faith in Jesus Christ is not attained by witnessing certain evidences
2387F7

about God. Salvation comes through faith. The apostles told the Philippian jailer, “Believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” That saving faith
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comes through hearing the word of God. The heavens do not declare propositional truth. The

26
Exod 20:3.

27
Rom 10:17.

28
Acts 16:31.

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earth does not proclaim the great doctrines of eternal life. Our reasoning must always have
the Bible as its center and circumference.

Christianity is a complete system of thought, one that is arranged in logical, necessary

sequences of propositions. These propositions, being a comprehensive system, all mutually
support one another and derive their meaning and significance from the whole. This grand
and glorious system of thought is the only comprehensive, coherent, and consistent system of
truth in existence, and God has graciously revealed it to man in the pages of Scripture.
Socrates said that one can never know a line is crooked unless you put a straight line beside
it. God’s word is the plumb line of all truth, and every other system of thought is merely “the
profane and idle babble and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge.” 2389F9

The Logic of Jesus

Scripture shows us an abundance of occasions where Jesus used the techniques of the trained
logician in his dialogues with the people of Israel. Of course, these were not “techniques”
that Jesus had learned. Jesus’ consistent implementation of logical arguments -- and the fact
that the Holy Spirit was so faithful to preserve them in Scripture -- is proof positive that
logical thinking is God-thinking! To utilize logic is to utilize divine reasoning.

For example, in Matthew 10:28-31, Jesus used the afortiori (“ah for shee or ee”) argument.
This is also known as appealing from the lesser to the greater. Jesus reassured His disciples:
Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul ... Are not two
sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart
from your Father's will. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do
not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.

29
1 Timothy 6:20.

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Jesus argued from the lesser — birds — to the greater — men. He predicated that God is
sovereign over the lives of birds, which can be bought for a penny. Since this is so, will He
not much more guide and direct the lives of men and women, who are made in the image of
God? The necessary inference of Jesus’ appeal: Do not fear. Men and women become
frightened when things go wrong, such as illness, layoffs at work, or a bad economy. They
wonder if God knows or cares what is happening to them. They forget the words of Christ,
which asserted that your Heavenly Father is so intimately acquainted with your life and times
that He even knows how many hairs were left on your scalp after you brushed your hair this
morning! There is nothing — not even the death of a bird — that is outside the will of the
Father. Jesus tells us what conclusion we are to draw: “Do not fear therefore.”

A second form of logical discourse that Jesus employed is the ad hominem (“ahd hahm in
em”) argument: the appeal to the man. An ad hominem appeal seeks to get the listener to
buy into what is being said by affirming something he already knows or believes in. Jesus
was continually being attacked by the religious leaders for doing works of healing on the
Sabbath day. On one occasion, Jesus responded by asking, “What man is there among you
who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it
out?” Many of the Israelites were shepherds and stockmen. The illustration of rescuing a
sheep in distress was one which would resonate with them, just as a group of Americans from
Minnesota would immediately connect to an illustration about shoveling snow. Having used
the ad hominem appeal to encourage an empathetic response from His listeners, Jesus again
reasoned from the lesser to the greater. “Of how much more value then is a man than a
sheep? Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” Note the fine syllogism that the
390F 0

Lord constructed here:

30
Matt 12:11-12.

198
 To care for your animal on the Sabbath is lawful.
A man is more valuable than an animal.
Therefore, to care for men on the Sabbath is lawful.

Faced with such impeccable logic, the Pharisees could only sputter and fume amongst
themselves. They had nothing more to say to Jesus!

A third type of logical presentation that our Savior often employed was the rhetorical
question. A rhetorical question assumes a certain answer before the question is asked. The
speaker is not asking the rhetorical question in the hopes of getting an answer, because there
can be only one answer to the question. His purpose is to encourage the listener to accept his
conclusion.

During the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus asked, “Or what man is there among you who, if his
son asks for bread, will give him a stone?” Would any sane person in the crowd have held up
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his hand and replied, “I would!” Jesus knew that no one would say such a thing. Without
waiting for a reply, He asked a second rhetorical question: “Or if he asks for a fish, will he
give him a serpent?” Again, the question is not really a question; Jesus knew the answer
before he asked. He was skillfully preparing his listeners for the necessary inference He was
about to draw: “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how
much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!” Note
that Jesus also employed the ad hominem and afortiori arguments here, as well. The image of
giving sustenance to children is one that tugs at the heart of every parent. Once the emotional
connection had been established, Jesus argued from the lesser to the greater: You, even
though you are all sinners, willingly give your children good things when they ask for them.
Imagine, then, how much more readily your perfect, loving, Heavenly Father will show you
His kindness when you petition Him in prayer.

31
Matt 7:9-11.

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Another form of logical argumentation employed in Scriptures is to put your opponent in a
dilemma. You’ve probably heard the phrase, “hung on the horns of a dilemma.” When a
skilled debater places his opponent in a dilemma, his adversary is firmly wedged into a
“Heads I win, tails you lose” situation. The debater has asked a question which can only be
answered in a limited number of ways — and all possible answers are conclusive and fatal to
the respondent’s position. Again, the mind of God is the best teacher of this form of
argumentation.
Now when He came into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the
people confronted Him as He was teaching, and said, “By what authority are
You doing these things? And who gave You this authority?” But Jesus
answered and said to them, “I also will ask you one thing, which if you tell Me,
I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things: The baptism of
John-- where was it from? From heaven or from men?” And they reasoned
among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say to us, ‘Why
then did you not believe him?’ But if we say, ‘From men,’ we fear the
multitude, for all count John as a prophet.” So they answered Jesus and said,
“We do not know.” And He said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what
authority I do these things.” 392F2

The question places the respondent squarely between the so-called “rock and a hard place.”
Whatever answer the he gives is the death blow to his position. In this instance, the religious
leaders, who were seeking to denounce Jesus, were left mumbling to themselves once again.

A similar logical presentation is the reductio ad absurdum (“re-dook-tee-oh ahd ahb-serd-

um.”), the reduction to the absurd. The logical thinker simply drives his opponent’s position
to its logical and inevitable absurdity. On many of the occasions when Jesus healed a man,
His works of grace were denounced by the Pharisees.
Now when the Pharisees heard it they said, “This fellow does not cast out
demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.” But Jesus knew their
32
Matt 21:23-27

200
 thoughts, and said to them: "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to
desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand. If
Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom
stand?” 39F3

The Pharisees were claiming that Jesus was healing the demon possessed by the power of
Satan. Jesus merely took their argument to its logical conclusion — which was absurd. “Any
nation or family that is warring against itself will collapse,” Jesus asserted. “If Satan was
giving me power to drive out his servants, the demons, then the kingdom of Satan would be
like that nation or family that is warring against itself. Satan’s kingdom would collapse! Do
you honestly think Satan is working for the destruction of his own kingdom?”

The reduction to the absurd is one of the first arguments you use when speaking to an atheist
who asserts that there is no God. You might respond by asking, “Do you realize that by
saying that, you have claimed to be God? If you can claim with absolute certainty that there
is no God, then you must be omniscient — you know everything that exists in the universe
and everything that ever took place there. Furthermore, you must be omnipresent -- you are
present everywhere, all at once, so that you can state with certainty that God is not in some
area of the universe where you are not. There is only one Being who is omniscient and
omnipresent: God!” You have taken the atheist’s argument out to its logical conclusion, and
that conclusion is folly.

Similarly, you can say to the skeptic (Sadly, you meet a great many of them on university and
even seminary faculties) who posits that there is no such thing as absolute knowledge and
truth, “By claiming there is no knowledge, you are claiming to be omniscient. Can you
imagine how much knowledge is needed to know with certainty that there is no knowledge?

33
Matthew 12:24-26.

201
You would have to be all-knowing to know that there is nothing that can be known! You
would have to know the truth of everything in the universe to know that there is no truth!”

Or you can simply lead the skeptic to the ultimate absurdity of his position by asking, “You
are insisting that there is no such thing as absolute truth. Do you know that absolutely?”

The last form of logical argumentation that I will introduce to you here (although these are by
no means the only ones that you will find in Scripture) is the immediate inference. The
immediate inference is a much simpler form of argumentation than the syllogism. In fact, it is
the simplest of all logical arguments. The immediate inference employs only one premise,
and then moves immediately to the conclusion. You immediately draw the necessary
inference that is implied from the one premise.

In speaking to a group of Sadducees, Jesus asserted, “But concerning the resurrection of the
dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham,
the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.” 394F4

The premise is that God is not the God of the dead. If God says that He is the God of
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, speaking in the present tense, that indicates that these men are
still alive. Therefore, the necessary conclusion is that God is the God of the living. There is
life with God after we face death on this earth.

I have already shown you another of the scores of immediate inferences in Scripture:
Proverbs 4:7a. “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom.” The premise is that
the most important thing that you or I can possess is wisdom. The immediate inference is that
we must set out to get it! Dear Reader, the wonderful news that we can proclaim to all who
will listen is that Wisdom can, indeed, be obtained! We possess the only textbook we will

34
Matthew 22:31-32.

202
ever need: the Bible. And we have the promise of the Lord God Almighty, in whom are
hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, that “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him
ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.” 395F 5

“Checkmate!”

I’d like to close this chapter with one more instance of the divine logos - the wisdom and
logic of the living Word of God. When the Holy Spirit first opened my eyes to the beauty of
this passage of Scripture, I fell to my knees and raised my hands and my heart to heaven,
praising our glorious Savior, “who became for us wisdom from God.” My prayer is that you,
396F6

too, will see the matchless wisdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and fall to your
knees in worship and in praise.

The scene is the great temple of Jerusalem. Jesus had driven the money changers from the
temple, and immediately gone to doing His Father’s work, healing the crippled and the sick,
and preaching the divine wisdom of God to the assembled multitudes. The religious leaders
of the day, however, feared and despised Jesus, because they saw the people turning away
from them and turning toward Jesus of Nazareth. The loss of followers meant the loss of
power, and power was the god they worshiped. Indeed, as we see elsewhere in Scripture,
these men were not men of God at all, but servants of Satan. “And no wonder! For Satan
397F 7

himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers
also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness.” And so they set out to do the will
398F8

35
James 1:5.

36
1 Corinthians 1:30.

37
John 8:44.

38
2 Corinthians 11:14-15.

203
of Satan, which was to destroy Jesus. They had tried to accuse Christ before, but now they
thought they had hatched the perfect plan to destroy the man who claimed to be the Messiah.

Then the Pharisees went and plotted how they might entangle Him in His talk. And they
sent to Him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, "Teacher, we know that You are
true, and teach the way of God in truth; nor do You care about anyone, for You do not
regard the person of men. “Tell us, therefore, what do You think? Is it lawful to pay
taxes to Caesar, or not?” But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, “Why do you
test Me, you hypocrites? Show Me the tax money.” So they brought Him a denarius.
And He said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?” They said to Him,
“Caesar’s.” And He said to them, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are
Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” When they had heard these words,
they marveled, and left Him and went their way.” 39F9

I see this confrontation as a chess game, with Satan, that ancient serpent, on one side of the table and
the God of the universe on the other. Satan had tried to destroy the ministry of the God-man, Jesus
Christ, out in the desert. Failing there, he left Jesus alone until the right time presented itself. Now he
was back again, guiding and directing the moves of his pawns, the Pharisees. Satan’s objective was to
trap Jesus and have him killed by His own words. The Pharisees used one of the logistic techniques
we examined just a moment ago, the dilemma. No doubt Satan thought he had Jesus backed into a
deadly corner this time.

The Pharisees’ disciples and the Herodians approached Jesus and showered Him with several
unctuous compliments designed to lull Him into a false sense of security. "Teacher, we know that
You are true, and teach the way of God in truth; nor do You care about anyone, for You do not
regard the person of men.” This talk was all hypocrisy and lies. These men were there to destroy
Jesus, not to praise Him! Then Satan’s ministers deftly sprang their trap. “Tell us, therefore, what do
You think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?”

39
Matthew 22:15-22.

204
I imagine that these men may have failed to hide their smirks as they asked this question.
They believed they had impaled Jesus on the horns of a fatal dilemma. If Jesus answered that
is was lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, He would immediately invalidate His entire ministry.
You see, the Roman caesars claimed to be divine. The denarius that Jesus was shown bore
the inscription of “Tiberius Caesar Augustus, the son of the divine Ausgustus.” If Jesus
40F 0

agreed that paying taxes to Caesar was lawful, He would implicitly acknowledge the “deity”
of Caesar! Furthermore, the people of Israel hated their Roman oppressors with a hatred that
was every bit as venomous as the loathing the people of Paris felt for their Nazi invaders
during WWII. Rome was the kingdom of iron that Daniel had foreseen over 600 years
previously. The mighty Roman legions smashed and consumed everything in their path, and
401F1

Israel was completely at their mercy. They were governed by a foreign emperor who claimed
to be a god, and Caesar’s power was enforced by the dreaded Roman centurions. A great
many of the Jews believed that the promised Messiah would be a powerful political and
military leader who would lead them out of their slavery to Rome, just as Moses had led
Israel out of Egypt. If Jesus endorsed the legitimacy of Caesar’s government, He would earn
the undying enmity of the Jewish people. They might well have insisted that He be put to
death for heresy.

However, the alternative provided to Jesus by Satan’s schemers was no less perilous. If Jesus
stood up in the temple and proclaimed that it was immoral and unlawful to pay taxes to
Caesar, He would place Himself squarely in the path of the pitiless Roman justice system. To
deny the legitimacy and authority of Caesar was a capital offense. As soon as it had been

40
LET’S FOOTNOTE THIS.

41
Daniel 2:36-45.

205
conclusively proven that Jesus was guilty of insurrection — and the results of such a trial
would have been swift and certain — Jesus would face the agonizing death of crucifixion.

I imagine that a hush fell over the temple when the question was posed to Jesus. To all
onlookers, it must have seemed as if Jesus had been placed in “checkmate.” He had been
presented with an “either/or” proposition which would lead to His destruction no matter how
He answered. I can imagine an evil gleam of triumph in the eyes of His questioners. They
were sure they had Him hooked on the horns of a dilemma. Satan’s anticipation must have
been as great as at that terrible instant when Eve reached for the forbidden fruit back in the
garden.

A normal man might have tried to bluster and equivocate. Today’s politicians have become
masters at talking for several minutes, filling the air with words, while saying nothing at all.
The God-man, on the other hand, looked at His attackers and responded with equanimity.
The Grand Master was about to give Satan another lesson in the game of chess! “Jesus
perceived their wickedness, and said, ‘Why do you test Me, you hypocrites?’” Jesus saw
through their smarmy words of praise. He knew the hearts of men, and knew their deadly
intent. Furthermore, He knew that these Pharisees standing before him all paid taxes to
402F2

Caesar. They did not refuse on any matter of principle; they simply wished to avoid the
oppression of the Roman invader. They had no concern for God’s law — they merely wished
to destroy Jesus.

“‘Show Me the tax money.’” He directed them to bring Him the Roman denarius. His
confident assailants were probably sure that He was merely stalling for time. They showed
Him the coin. “And He said to them, ‘Whose image and inscription is this?’” Jesus was
using the ad hominem form of argumentation. He was encouraging his opponents to admit to

42
John 2:24-25.

206
something known and familiar — the coin they used every day. Again, His grinning, would-
be accusers saw no harm in the question. “They said to Him, ‘Caesar's.’”

Now the divine Logos of God, the living Word, would demonstrate the very best reasoning
— the mind of God. As soon as Jesus’ opponents acknowledged that it was Caesar’s likeness
and inscription on the coin, they had acknowledged the Roman system of government which
ruled their country. “And He said to them, ‘Render therefore to Caesar the things that are
Caesar’s ...’” By admitting that the coin was Caesar’s, the disciples of the Pharisees were
admitting that there were certain things that legitimately belonged to Caesar within the entire
economic system created by the Roman government. Therefore, it was legitimate to “Render
to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s.”

Civil government has been ordained by God. Paul explained this in detail in Romans 13.
Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no
authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist
have been established by God ... For (the ruler) is God's servant to do you
good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for
nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the
wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only
because of possible punishment but also because of conscience. This is also
why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God's servants, who give their full
time to governing. Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay
taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.”
403F3

Although the book of Romans had not yet been written, the Jews in the temple knew the truth
that government was God’s vehicle for punishing evildoers. This knowledge is contained in
Genesis 9:6, which ordains that “Whoever sheds man's blood, by man his blood shall be
shed.”

43
Romans 13:1, 4-7 (NIV).

207
However, if Jesus had concluded His discourse by commanding obedience to Caesar, that
would have been to promote evil, because His statement would have put government in the
place of God. Here the divine wisdom of God is displayed, in the second half of His
response: “and (render) to God the things that are God’s.’” Here Jesus is saying quite clearly
that Caesar is not God. As we have seen, and as His listeners well knew, civil government is
a vehicle of God’s justice. So it is not incompatible to obey government and to obey God.
But government is not God! God is God. The law of identity, as well as the words of
Scripture, tells us that God is God, and there is no other. According to the same law of
40F4

identity, Caesar is who he is. Caesar’s authority is delegated to him by God. Therefore, there
are things that belong to Caesar, and are owed him. But there are also things which belong
exclusively to God. And these, too, are owed to Him.

All these things were implicit in the seventeen unforgettable words that Jesus spoke into the
hush that had fallen over the temple. The men who believed they had hooked Jesus on the
horns of a dilemma suddenly found themselves speechless. “When they had heard these
words, they marveled, and left Him and went their way.” The Jews marveled because Jesus
had brought them back to God’s truth, and He did it clearly, quickly and incisively. He spoke
with the wisdom of God, and His antagonists were left with nothing to say. Satan had sent his
best thinkers up against the mind of God. They gleefully moved their pieces across the
chessboard to trap Jesus. Suddenly, their triumph turned to craven timidity when Jesus
dismantled their game by asking one question and uttering one sentence. The servants of
Satan packed up their chessboard and crept out into the darkness. The living Word, the divine
Wisdom and Logic of God, remained in the temple and continued to teach the people about
“the way and the truth and the life.”405F 5

44
Deuteronomy 4:35.

45
John 14:6.

208
 “Go and do likewise ...”

The three laws of logic are the ways in which God thinks. Logic is nothing less than the
triune God thinking His thoughts. God’s thoughts are eternal reason. God bears no
resemblance to a child which acquires knowledge over a period of time. All the truths of
wisdom and knowledge have been with Christ for eternity, and we saw earlier that He is“the
true Light which gives light to every man.” Every human being’s mind, being made in the
406F 6

image of God, is constructed to function on the eternal principles of contradiction, identity,

and the excluded middle. To think any other way is irrationality, insanity, and blatant
rebellion against the wisdom of God.

There is no such thing as a tabula rossa mind. That is, man’s mind is not a blank slate. The
mind of man is structured with all the laws of logic and language at conception. “For you
created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I
am fearfully and wonderfully made.” There is a self that exists at the instant of conception.
407F 7

David confessed, “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived
me.” Scripture teaches that it is a sinful and depraved self; nevertheless the image of God is
408F 8

there, if marred and distorted by sin. The unborn or newborn child is not a blank slate, as
some modern psychologists and behaviorists would have us believe — the child is the image

46
John 1:9.

47
Psalm 139:13-14 (NIV).

48
Ps 51:5 (NIV).

209
of God. The image of omniscience is not a blank slate! In reality, an unstructured blank slate
is no mind at all.

Jesus said, “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” Jesus did not say
409F9

that we would “feel” the truth or “experience” the truth. It is knowledge and logic, the
formation of necessary inferences, drawn from the truth that is contained in God’s word, that
set us free. We are free to make valid conclusions. We are free to gently instruct unbelievers,
because we are free from the confusion that is created by invalid argumentation. Ultimately,
godly thinking sets us free from death! Paul invoked the law of excluded middle in Galatians
1:7-9 when he asserted that there is only one gospel which leads to salvation. If we are led
astray by faulty reasoning and place our trust in another Jesus or a different gospel, the
necessary conclusion for our lives is that we will be eternally condemned. Our reasoning and
our beliefs have eternal consequences.

The Bible declares to us the whole counsel of in order that we can think well and speak well.
G 5410F0

“For with You is the fountain of life,” David wrote. “In Your light we see light.” It is in
541F1

God’s word that we see light and find the living water of life, “through our knowledge of him
who called us by his own glory and goodness.” When you have the correct understanding of
5412F2

the truth of Scriptures, and develop the ability to make logical, necessary inferences from the
Scriptures, then you are truly free to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all
your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength,” as Jesus commanded. I love God
5413F 3

49
John 8:32 (emphasis added).

50
Acts 20:27.

51
Psalm 36:9.

52
2 Peter 1:3 (NIV).

53
Mark 12:30.

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with my mind. I trust and believe in God with my mind. I don’t rely on my sensations and
experiences — on my heart, which is “deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.
Who can know it?” I believe and understand; I rightly divide the word of truth.
541F4

This is why I have poured myself into the disciplines of logic, and it is my prayer that you
will determine to do this also. It is God’s promise that you will be blessed by it! The Holy
Spirit of God inspired these words:
My son, if you receive my words,
and treasure my commands within you,
So that you incline your ear to wisdom,
and apply your heart to understanding;
Yes, if you cry out for discernment,
and lift up your voice for understanding,
If you seek her as silver,
and search for her as for hidden treasures;
Then you will understand the fear of the Lord,
and find the knowledge of God.
For the Lord gives wisdom;
from His mouth come knowledge and understanding;
He stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
he is a shield to those who walk uprightly;
He guards the paths of justice,
and preserves the way of His saints.
Then you will understand righteousness and justice,
Equity and every good path.
When wisdom enters your heart,
and knowledge is pleasant to your soul,
Discretion will preserve you; understanding will keep you ... 541F5

The tools you have learned in this chapter will be a tremendous help to you in understanding
the rest of this book. You will see how the invaluable laws of logic will enable you to build a
solid theological house. Just as Paul linked the words truth and reason together when

54
Jeremiah 17:9.

55
Proverbs 2:1-11.

211
proclaiming the gospel to Festus, I have tried to link these two words together in the early
chapters of this book. We have seen our axiom for truth — the Bible — and we have now
learned how we may begin to deduce reliable truth from the axiom. Truth and reason are the
foundation for your theological house. Now we will begin work on the first floor, and the
glorious and vitally important doctrine on which all others rest is the sovereignty of God,
which I will address in the next chapter. May God richly bless your labors as you “Study to
shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing
the word of truth.” 5416F6

56
2 Timothy 2:15 (KJV).

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 Legacy, Chapter Seven
Sovereignty is Sanity

Throughout this book, I have been working hard to let the word be the word. By that I mean
that I have tried to reveal the word of God to you in all its truth and in all its sufficiency. I
have used the law of contradiction to show you that God’s word cannot be both the inspired,
inerrant, infallible out-breathing of the living God, and at the same time be the words, ideas,
experiences, or traditions of man. Similarly, I have used the law of identity to clearly identify
what God’s word is: God’s perfect revelation to man of Himself and His eternal plan for
human history. I have also used the law of the excluded middle to show you that the words
you hear and read are either God’s word -- or man’s words. There is no commingling of the
two that can still be called truth. You should see clearly by now that once you insert the
teaching and traditions of man into God’s revelation, you have done the same thing as if you
added a drop of strychnine to a cup of pure, clear water -- you’ve poisoned the water! “Every
word of God is pure,” 1 but every word of man is skewed and distorted by sin. The law of
417F

excluded middle teaches us that there is only one pure source of truth -- God’s word.

We saw that the great cry of the Reformers, Scripture Alone, was an exhortation to all
believers to let the word be the word, our one source of all truth. The Westminster
Confession perfectly reflected this thinking, calling the Bible “the whole counsel of God,
concerning all things necessary for his own glory, man’s salvation, faith and life,” and
esolutely proclaimed that all truth “is either expressly set down in Scripture, or by good and
necessary consequence may be deduced from Scripture.” 2 418F

1
Proverbs 30:5.

2
Quoted in Gordon H. Clark, What Do Presbyterians Believe, (Phillipsburg, NJ, Presbyterian and Reformed
Publishing Company, Copyright (c) 1956, 1965), 18.

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“Forever, O Lord,” Psalm 119 proclaims, “ your word is settled in heaven.”3 I have done
419F

my best to echo and elaborate on this first great truth of Scripture: that the word is perfect, it
is true, it is settled for eternity as truth, and it is, therefore, our epistemological foundation —
our unshakeable pedestal for all knowledge and truth. “The grass withers, the flower fades,
but the word of our God stands forever.” 4 420F

The Building Blocks for a Christian Philosophy

The goal of this book is to help you and your children develop a biblical world view -- a
Christian philosophy. There are four branches of philosophy: epistemology, metaphysics,
ethics, and politics. This book is devoted to a detailed discussion of the first two branches.
Space will not permit me to devote sufficient attention to the latter two -- ethics and politics.
These subjects will be reserved for a subsequent volume.

We have covered the first branch, epistemology, in detail. Epistemology (pronounced “eh pis
teh moll ah gee”) is a difficult looking word which simply means “your basis and theory of
knowledge.” Epistemology answers the question: “How do you know what you know?” Our
entire philosophy -- our world view -- is built upon our basis of knowledge. When we
Christians espouse our world view (In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth;
God became a man and died on the cross to pay for the sins of His adopted children), we base
that world view on our epistemology -- our theory of knowledge. That knowledge is derived
from our axiom: the Bible alone is the word of God. The Bible is our epistemological
foundation; it is how we know what we know!

3
Psalm 119:89.

4
Isaiah 40:8.

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Metaphysics (pronounced “met ah fizz iks”) is the study of ultimate meaning and
ultimate reality. We can not possibly discuss the concept of ultimate reality until we
have established what our system of knowledge is.
Once we have established the foundation for ultimate truth, we may then look to the
fountainhead of ultimate reality, which is the Lord God Almighty. So if we wish to discuss
metaphysics, we must discuss the God of the Bible, the great “I AM.” We wish to let the
same law of identity apply in our discussions of the God of Scripture: we want to let the word
be the word, and we want to let God be God!

Such a statement may strike you as banal, perhaps even silly. But I would like to contend
here that the vast majority of Christian men and women throughout the world are vehemently
opposed to letting God be God. They strongly resist the acceptance of an accurate, biblical
definition of who the Sovereign Lord of the universe really is. And the root of the problem
lies in the fact that our sinful nature recoils from the idea of the absolute sovereignty of God.
“Sovereignty” is a word which is disappearing from sermon texts across America, and when
it is used, it is generally tossed in with a long string of adjectives, such as “wonderful,
majestic, glorious, sovereign Lord,” etc. The word rarely receives its proper emphasis and
definition. Yet if we do not comprehend the truth of the sovereignty of God, we do not truly
know the God of Scripture. Hence, God’s sovereignty is the divine template that enables
us to correctly interpret all of Christian theology. If we continue with our analogy of
Christianity being like the skeletal structure, we would say that the doctrine of God’s
sovereignty is the spine: Everything else in the body of Christian thought connects to it. This
chapter was written to help you to develop a scriptural understanding of what sovereignty
means, and what its implications are for you and me.

A Brief Word of Encouragement

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There was a poster that used to dot the walls of dormitories and offices about twenty years
ago. The picture was of a wide-eyed kitten hanging from a tree limb, suspended only by the
claws of its two front paws. The caption for the picture, as I recall, read “Hang in there,
baby!” I would like to echo those same words to you. Dear Reader, hang in there!

I am going to introduce you to some ideas that you may have never before considered. For
some of you, the concept of biblical sovereignty is going to cause you to alter and expand
your understanding of just who the God of the Bible really is. Just like the kitten hanging
from the tree limb, it may not be an entirely comfortable experience!

I must confess that as a pastor, I used to teach against this very doctrine I am about to assert
here as truth. At that time, I had created a god I was quite comfortable with, a god whom I
felt I understood, and I had absolutely no desire for anyone to come along and alter that
creation. Whenever anyone started to discuss the great Reformers’ ideas on the sovereignty
of God, I would become uneasy, even angry. I didn’t want to hear anything that would
challenge my comfortable notions about my god. I actually avoided fellowship with those
horrible “sovereigntists” who talked about such things.

There was only one problem with my carefully constructed theology, and if you have been
paying attention to the capitalization of words used in the preceding paragraph, you have
already guessed what my problem was: the nice, comfortable “god” I had constructed was
not the God of Scripture! My teachers in Bible college had done nothing to change my
misconceptions. Oh, I read the Bible, and I taught that faith in Jesus Christ was the only key
that would open the door to heaven, but I did not have the proper understanding of the God

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who had sovereignly foreordained that gracious plan of salvation before the foundation of the
world. 5
421F

My made-up god was much like the character that Frank Morgan portrayed so delightfully in
“The Wizard of Oz.” There was a great deal of fire and smoke and noise, and the whole
creation was really quite impressive. Some friends, however, gently told me that I had
fabricated something that had no real power to accomplish anything, and that I should
investigate further and see if my notions were scripturally sound. But I didn’t want to peek
behind the curtain and look. “Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!” I told myself
fiercely. “The greatest Oz has spoken!” I resisted the idea of true, biblical sovereignty, and
preached even more vigorously against it. Finally my friends took me by the hand, and led
me behind the curtain that I had kept carefully draped over the man-made and man-centered
“god” that I had clung to so tenaciously for too many years. My friends encouraged me not to
trust their word alone, nor even to accept the testimony of spiritual giants like Martin Luther
and John Calvin. “Pray, Jack,” they urged, “and ask God to lead you to a proper
understanding of Himself. Search the Scriptures, and ask Him to show you the truth.” Well,
they had me over a barrel! I had been preaching for years that Christians must be modern-day
Bereans, searching the Scriptures daily. I couldn’t very well say that I didn’t want to know
what the Bible said about sovereignty. And so, with an honest, prayerful investigation of the
truth, it didn’t take long for God to show me that I had been headed down the wrong path for
a great many years. Worse yet, I had been leading hundreds of others behind me. I had to
reverse course, and carefully rebuild my understanding of the true nature of God, based this
time on the axiom, rather than on my opinions and the opinions of the “doctors of
thinkology.”

5
Ephesians 1:4, Revelation 13:8.

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For many of you, I will be asking you to travel down an unfamiliar road that leads to a
knowledge of the truth. You may well find it a bumpy and uncomfortable one, but let me
urge you not to give up! Don’t reject what you are about to read just because it is challenging
and unfamiliar. Pray, and ask God to give you the wisdom to rightly divide the word of truth.
Above all, please understand that I do not expect you to take my word for anything you read
in this chapter or in this entire book! I am not trying to force my beliefs on you. You are
reading the words of a brother in Christ, a man who has dedicated his life to serving the Lord
and has devoted years of intense study to reach the proper understanding of God’s matchless
word, in order that I might share this knowledge with others. These truths are the great truths
of historical, biblical Christianity. Great men of God like Charles Spurgeon and George
Whitefield preached these themes urgently and often. I urge you -- I implore you -- to search
the Scriptures daily to see if the things you read here are true. I am going to utilize a great
many passages of Scripture which provide the basis for the doctrine of the absolute
sovereignty of God. Please take the time to read them all, and ask God to reveal His truth to
you through these verses.

I know it may be difficult for you to accept what you are about to read, because I had a hard
time absorbing the doctrine of sovereignty myself! But I can promise you that once the Holy
Spirit opens your eyes to the great, foundational truth of the absolute sovereignty of God, you
will find that a road which once seemed rocky will suddenly lead you to a level of spiritual
vitality and joy that you have never experienced before. As God has brought me to the proper
understanding of His sovereignty, I find myself falling to my knees time and time again,
often with tears of love and joy streaming down my face, raising my hands to heaven, and
saying, “I praise you, Lord. I praise you for who you are!” This, to me, is the purest form of
worship, when we recognize the awesome majesty of who the God of Scripture really is,
rather than the god that we wanted Him to be.

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Martin Luther wrote one of the greatest books that has ever been produced by the Christian
church: The Bondage of the Will. It was written in response to Desiderius Erasmus’
contentions that man can choose to do that which is in opposition to God’s will. Luther
vigorously rebutted Erasmus’ arguments in a book that should be read by every man and
woman who professes the name of Christ. However, Luther thanked Erasmus for raising this
issue, because the issue of man’s free will directly speaks to the larger issue of the
sovereignty of God. “I give you hearty praise and commendation,” Luther wrote to Erasmus.
“You alone ... have attacked the real thing, that is the essential issue ... You, and you alone,
have seen the hinge on which all turns, and aimed for the vital spot.”6 Luther correctly 42F

believed that once the authority and sufficiency of the truth of Scripture is accepted, there is
no more important doctrinal question to be settled in the entire Christian faith. Virtually
everything else we will discuss in this book hinges upon a proper understanding of biblical
sovereignty.

So please, take your time with this chapter and the one that follows, and don’t give up. I once
watched someone hurl a book across the room in a fit of anger, a book that was quite
accurately and powerfully proclaiming the doctrine of sovereignty! I know I am asking you
to traverse some difficult territory. However, the reward that awaits you at the end of the
journey is glorious! Hang in there, baby!

What is Biblical Sovereignty?

What does the word sovereign mean when it is used to describe God? The dictionary
definitions of the adjective “sovereign” and the noun “sovereignty” are a good starting point:
sovereign adj 1: Excellent, fine 2: supreme in power or authority 3: Chief, highest 4: having
independent authority.

6
Martin Luther, The Bondage of the Will, trans J. I. Packer and O.R. Johnston, (Fleming H Revell Co., 1957), p. 319.

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sovereignty n 1: supremacy in rule or power 2: power to govern without external control 3:
the supreme political power in a state. 7 423F

In a discussion of the sovereignty of God, we can immediately eliminate the “political power”
definition, which applies to a ruling monarch in a state or nation. Let’s examine the other definitions.
God truly is “excellent,” and the “highest,” but “Highest God” does not reflect the biblical meaning
of the phrase Sovereign Lord. God is sovereign in that He is supreme in power and authority. He is
independent and autonomous. The God of Scripture is self-determined. There is no outside force
which acts upon Him. His love is self-determined. His hatred is self-determined. Romans 9 firmly
establishes God’s sovereign choices. We will revisit this chapter later in this book, but for now, let
me provide two verses which reveal that it is God -- and God alone -- who determines His love and
hatred. Speaking of God’s sovereign choices, Paul wrote: “It does not, therefore, depend on man’s
desire or effort, but on God’s mercy ... Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy,
and he hardens whom he wants to harden.” 8 God never acts out of any kind of compulsion or sense
42F

of obligation, nor does He operate within any constraints. He need not “check in” with anyone or
anything before He acts. God does not obey the Law; He is the Law! There is nothing in this
universe which causes or obligates God to act in any way other than according to His perfect will.

Is there any time when you or I make a “sovereign” decision? You might quickly respond in
the affirmative. We make choices all the time. I buy an American car instead of an import. I
choose beef over chicken. I own a dog instead of a cat. We like to think these are our
sovereign, independent choices. However, a moment’s thought will bring you to the more
accurate conclusion that this is not true at all. All of these choices are made because of some

7
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary, Home and Office Edition, (Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, Inc., 1998), 497.

8
Romans 9:16, 18 (NIV).

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outside influence. I buy American because I like the look of the car, or the way it performs --
qualities which are completely beyond my control -- or perhaps because of a certain patriotic
instinct that I have learned, not chosen. Someone I respect, perhaps my father, influenced me
to always “buy American.” I prefer steak because something about my sense of taste causes
me to favor it. I have some control over my sense of taste -- I may eat chicken enough times
that I can “learn to like it.” But I cannot will my taste buds to relish a flavor that they rebel
against. Again, there are causes outside of my will -- my taste buds and the appearance and
consistency of chicken -- that influence my decision. I prefer dogs, not because of my
“sovereign” will, but because there is something about the general nature of dogs that appeals
to me more than the general nature of cats. Dogs are usually more affectionate and
companionable, whereas cats tend to be much more aloof. The nature of the animals
themselves greatly influences my preference. In each case, you can see that my actions, far
from being sovereign, are reactions to some outside agent: the characteristics of the car, the
taste of the food, and the behavior of the animal. Similarly, my love for other human beings is
in no way a sovereign decision. We might, for example, think that we choose to fall in love
with our spouse. But once again, my spouse’s appearance and her personality were outside
agents which affected my feelings. My love for others is not at all self-determined.

God, on the other hand, is influenced by no external causes. There is nothing which causes
Him to react in a certain way. God never “reacts.” The word cannot be used in relation to
the Sovereign Lord, because “reaction” implies a response to some external stimulus. There
is NO stimulus which can cause God to act in ANY way! God cannot be acted upon. He
needs no causes for His actions, nor does he desire them. He is the only completely
independent Being.“I am God, and there is no other,” says the Sovereign Lord of the
universe. “I am God, and there is none like Me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and
from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will do
all My pleasure ... Indeed I have spoken it; I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it; I

221
will also do it.’” 9 God’s word is settled for eternity: He has declared the end from the
425F

beginning, and He will also bring it to pass. We also begin to see that God’s will for
eternity is fixed. Scripture tells us that “The counsel of the LORD stands forever, the plans
of His heart to all generations,” and that “He does according to His will in the army of
1426F0

heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. No one can restrain His hand or say to Him,
‘What have You done?’” There is no creature nor any thing which operates outside the will
1427F 1

of God. He declared what will take place at the end of human history before that history ever
began.

God is the ultimate, supreme authority. Jesus said that not even a sparrow will fall to the
ground “apart from your Father’s will.” Please note that Jesus did not say that the death of a
1428F2

sparrow will not escape the attention of the Father. He said that it will not take place unless
the Father has so decreed it. Paul echoed, “of Him and through Him and to Him are all
things.” Sovereignty does not mean simply that God is omniscient -- that He possesses
1429F 3

absolute, eternal knowledge. Sovereignty is the logical deduction of God’s omnipotence --

He is the supreme power of the universe, who foreordained every event of history before it
ever occurred -- declaring the end from the beginning -- and whose “plans stand firm
forever.” Isaiah proclaimed that “The Lord of hosts has sworn, saying, ‘Surely, as I have
1430F4

thought, so it shall come to pass, and as I have purposed, so it shall stand ... This is the
purpose that is purposed against the whole earth, and this is the hand that is stretched out

9
Isaiah 46:9-11.

10
Psalm 33:11.

11
Daniel 4:35.

12
Matthew 10:29.

13
Romans 11:36.

14
Psalm 33:11 (NIV).

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over all the nations. For the Lord of hosts has purposed, and who will annul it? His hand is
stretched out, and who will turn it back?” 143F5

The Laws of Logic and the Sovereignty of God

Let us now employ the three laws of logic to help us come to a fuller understanding of
sovereignty. The law of contradiction states that a thing cannot be both “a” and “not-a.”
Applying this first law of logic to the doctrine of sovereignty, we see that there can be only
one independent, all powerful being. There can be only one true sovereign. God cannot be
both completely sovereign, the power that is over all the universe, and “not-sovereign” at the
same time. If there are any independent agents who are able to resist God’s will at any time,
and operate according to their own private plan, then those beings would exist outside of
God’s authority and control, and God would be “not-sovereign.” The law of contradiction
says that this is impossible! Even more important, Scripture tells us that it is impossible.
“For who has resisted His will?” Paul asked rhetorically. The answer Paul expected and
1432F6

assumed is: No one. God has asked a similar rhetorical question: “Who is like me and who
can challenge me? And what shepherd can stand against me?” Nebuchadnezzar answered
143F 7

for all eternity: “No one can restrain His hand.” Jeremiah echoed, “Ah, Lord God! Behold,
143F 8

You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There

15
Isaiah 14:24, 26-27.

16
Romans 9:10.

17
Jeremiah 49:19 (NIV).

18
Daniel 4:35.

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is nothing too hard for you.” And the Psalmist confirmed, “Whatever the Lord pleases He
1435F9

does, in heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all the deep places.” 2436F0

“Born Free” Or “Born Conditionally”?

I am going to devote an entire chapter to a discussion of the doctrine of justification by faith

alone later in this book, but it is so central to correct Christian thinking that justification often
provides an excellent example for illustrating other points, including the doctrine of the
sovereignty of God. One of the great passages of Scripture, Romans 3:23-24 proclaims that
“All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God being justified freely by His grace through
the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” The Greek word in the original New Testament that
our English Bibles translate as “freely” is dorean (“doe reh on”), which literally translates
without cost to you, without cause in you, for no reason, for no advantage, for nothing. If
God has justified us freely, solely because of the decision of His sovereign will, then, as the
Greek so pointedly reveals, there is absolutely nothing in us or about us that caused God to
respond to us and declare us righteous in His sight. Our justification is solely and completely
an act of His free sovereign grace. So we see here that the law of contradiction states that
either He justified us freely or He justified us in response to some cause in us. Justification is
accomplished either by the Creator’s decision or by the creature’s actions. It cannot be “both
a” and “not-a” at the same time and in the same respect.

19
Jeremiah 32:17.

20
Psalm 135:6.

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The second law of logic, the law of identity, tells us that “a” is “a.” God is sovereign: He is
self-determined and self-motivated. Consequently, He possesses a unique autonomy. God is
not reaching out for any outside activity from man or anything else to please Himself or
motivate Himself. He acts without any external stimulus. If there were “something” outside
of God that acted upon Him in any way that caused Him to do something other than what He
had previously willed, then that something would be sovereign over God, and God would be
its subject!

The law of the excluded middle asserts that something is either “a” or “not-a.” God is either
sovereign, or He is not. He cannot be “partially sovereign” or “semi-sovereign.” It cannot be
that God is sovereign over one group of beings or events, but “not-sovereign” over others. If
there are beings or events which operate outside of God’s direct decree, then He is “not-
sovereign.” This notion, however, flies in the face of the clear and unequivocal statements of
Scripture. Paul wrote that God “works all things according to the counsel of His will.” The
2437F1

Lord told Nebuchadnezzar that “The Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and
gives them to anyone he wishes.” There is no one and no thing that resists His will.
2438F 2

This great and glorious truth is deduced directly from the emphatic and overwhelming
testimony of Scripture. When you develop a proper understanding of the absolute sovereignty
of God, and all its implications for life, both here on earth and eternally in heaven, you will
be able to let God be God! You will have the biblical hermeneutic for all reality. Every
aspect of a Christian philosophy springs from this doctrine: epistemology, metaphysics,
ethics, and politics. There is no doctrine which so magnifies Soli Deo Gloria, and no doctrine
21
Ephesians 1:11.

22
Daniel 4:32 (NIV).

225
which strips man of his proud self-proclaimed autonomy (“You will be like God”) more than
God’s matchless eternal sovereignty. If the Bible is our axiom, sovereignty is truly the nerve
center for all Christian thinking! Before we explore this subject in greater depth, let us
examine how two great heros of the faith used a proper understanding of the sovereignty of
God to maintain their very sanity in the midst of the most dreadful circumstances.

“You Meant Evil Against Me; But God Meant It For Good ... ”

Most of us have never been confronted by events that were so truly awful that we actually
questioned whether we wanted to live anymore. I think those who have never experienced
real personal disaster, such as a crippling accident or the loss of loved ones, have a tendency
to read or hear the stories of those who have overcome such tragedies and wonder, “How did
he keep going? How did she get through that?” And then the darker, more frightening
questions loom: How would I react in a situation like that? Would I hold together? Or would
I go completely to pieces?

When I consider disaster, I think of two men in Scripture whose lives were ripped apart, yet
never wavered in their faith. We’ll review their stories here, because I want you to see how
Job and Joseph persevered, and eventually flourished, because they had the proper
understanding of God’s sovereignty. For both these men, sovereignty provided sanity.

“Blessed be the name of the Lord”

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 Whenever Christians think of suffering in relation to the Scriptures, we immediately recall
“the trials of Job.” Truly there is no one else in all the Bible who was confronted so suddenly
with such utter catastrophe.
“And a messenger came to Job and said, "The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding
beside them, when the Sabeans raided them and took them away -- indeed they have killed
the servants with the edge of the sword; and I alone have escaped to tell you!” While he was
still speaking, another also came and said, "The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up
the sheep and the servants, and consumed them; and I alone have escaped to tell you!” While
he was still speaking, another also came and said, “The Chaldeans formed three bands,
raided the camels and took them away, yes, and killed the servants with the edge of the
sword; and I alone have escaped to tell you!” While he was still speaking, another also came
and said, “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's
house, and suddenly a great wind came from across the wilderness and struck the four
corners of the house, and it fell on the young people, and they are dead; and I alone have
escaped to tell you!” Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head, and he fell to the
ground and worshiped. And he said: “Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked
shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the
Lord.” In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong. 2439F3

Here we see Job, a mature believer in the Lord, absorbing one devastating blow after another. He and his
family had come under the direct attack of Satan, himself. Many men have committed suicide because of
the sudden loss of all their wealth. Job not only received this news, but also learned in the same moment
that all his children, whom he loved and prayed for regularly, had been killed by what today’s insurance
companies call “an act of God.” It must have felt as if his very soul was being ripped out of his being! Not
only were all of his herds gone, and all but a handful of his servants killed, but every one of his precious
children had perished in one catastrophic event.

Look carefully at Job’s response to this horrible news. Notice that he finds no sanity in
secondary causes. Job didn’t begin to rant about those dastardly Sabeans, or the horrible
Chaldeans. He didn’t wail that he should have moved to a part of the country where there
was less lightning or fewer tornadoes. He didn’t utter the cry that is so common to sinful

23
Job 1:14-22.

227
man: “Why is all this happening to me?!” (“Uh, excuse me, Job,” a witness to such a tantrum
might be tempted to respond. “I don’t think anything has happened to you. It is your stock
and your servants and your children who have had something dreadful happen to them.”) Job
did not lay the blame at the feet of Satan, who was ultimately responsible for these appalling
events.

Instead, Job responded biblically because of his knowledge of the sovereignty of God. He
responded to disaster with worship! “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed
be the name of the Lord.” Take another look at the last, incredible sentence of Job 1: “In all
this” -- in spite of everything that had happened -- “Job did not sin nor charge God with
wrong.”

Those nearby -- Job’s wife, for example -- were certain that Job had not reasoned properly.
“Why are you talking about God?” they might have wondered indignantly. “You can clearly
see the causes for your misfortune.” They would have been wrong. Job was reasoning
perfectly, because he was correctly deducing the truth from the axiom of God’s
revelation. The only way that Job could know that it was God who had given him happiness
and prosperity, and God who had now taken it all away, was if God had revealed that to him. 240F4

God spoke to Job, and Job responded to God’s revelation with worship and with wisdom. By
trusting God’s divine revelation about Himself, Job was letting God be God! Job let divine
revelation speak for itself. He accepted the absolute truth of God’s word, and he did not try to
put a different “spin” on it. Job recognized God’s divine sovereignty in all events.

24
The book of Job is the oldest in the Bible. Therefore, we can deduce that Job did not have a written revelation to
reason from, as we do. Hebrews 1:1 tells us that God spoke “at various times and in various ways” to our spiritual forefathers.
God must have directly revealed himself to Job, otherwise Job would not have been able to recognize the sovereignty of God so
clearly and completely. Scripture clearly teaches that the mind of unsaved man does not recognize the hand of God in all events.

228
Job correctly deduced that it was God who had given him all he had -- his wealth and his
family. Job understood that it was not the Sabeans or the Chaldeans or the lightning or the
wind that had taken all this away. He saw a divine decree behind these actions. He knew that
it was God who had foreordained these things to happen, for it is He who declares the end
from the beginning. “I form the light, and create darkness,” declares the sovereign Lord of
all the universe. “I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things.” Job did not 241F 5

ask the typical questions asked by many unbelievers, and even some Christians: “How did
this happen? Why did this happen? What if I hadn’t let my children go there? What have I
done to bring all this on myself?” Job reasoned correctly from revelation: he saw that God is
the ultimate cause of everything. Nothing happens apart from His will.

And so we see that Job did not find his sanity in secondary causes. Job maintained his sanity
by his absolute faith in God: the primary cause. God is the decretive (de cree tiv) cause that
is above all things. God’s decrees are the cause for everything that happens in all the
universe. Throughout the book of Job, we see God guiding the conversation to bring Job to
a greater understanding of God’s sovereign majesty, until Job responds with the great
confession: “I know that You can do everything, and that no purpose of Yours can be
withheld from You.” 24F6

“God Meant it for Good ...”

Joseph was another of the Lord’s mature saints who maintained a firm grip on his
understanding of God’s sovereign purpose. Hated by his brothers, sold into slavery, falsely

25
Isaiah 45:7 (KJV). The NIV translation reads, “I bring prosperity and create disaster.”

26
Job 42:2.

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accused by Potiphar’s wife, thrown into prison despite his innocence, forgotten for two full
years by Pharaoh’s cupbearer, Joseph’s trust in the absolute sovereignty of God never
wavered. Like Job, he did not have Scripture to study and lean on day in and day out. But
God had spoken to Joseph, and Joseph trusted completely in the word of God. After all the
terrible misfortunes that had befallen him, when Pharaoh told Joseph he had heard that
Joseph could interpret dreams, Joseph gave glory to God, not himself: “‘I cannot do it ... but
God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires.’” Pharaoh realized that God was giving Joseph
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divine wisdom, and he made Joseph his prime minister, the second most powerful man in all
Egypt.

When the great famine that God had caused Joseph to accurately predict to Pharaoh threw the
entire region into starvation, Joseph’s brothers came to buy food from Joseph. They had no
idea who he was -- the brother whom they had plotted to kill and eventually sold to a group
of Midianite merchants. Joseph finally made himself known to his former persecutors, and
they feared for their lives. But Joseph, with tears streaming down his face, reassured them:
Do not therefore be grieved nor angry with yourselves because you sold me
here; for God sent me before you to preserve life ... And God sent me before
you to preserve a posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a
great deliverance. So now it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He
has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler
throughout all the land of Egypt.24F8

Like Job, Joseph was a mature believer who properly deduced truth from God’s revelation.
After the death of their father Jacob, Joseph’s brothers again feared that Joseph, who had
merely to say the word to have them executed or imprisoned, would seek revenge for their
treacherous acts against him. They came to Joseph and begged for mercy. “Then his brothers

27
Genesis 41:16 (NIV).

28
Genesis 45:5, 7-8.

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also went and fell down before his face, and they said, ‘Behold, we are your servants.’” Once
again, Joseph typified the grace of Christ, and reassured them, “Do not be afraid, for am I in
the place of God? But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in
order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.” 245F 9

Let me ask you three questions that you may not have paused to consider before: Who put
Joseph in the pit? Who sold Joseph into slavery? Who caused Joseph to be imprisoned in
Pharaoh’s dungeon? Think about your answers for a moment, before you read on. Were
sinful men and women the agents who were responsible for these evils? Yes, they were.
Joseph recognized this, saying “You meant evil against me.” But having acknowledged their
sin, Joseph told his brothers not to burden themselves with guilt, for “It was not you who sent
me here, but God.” Joseph understood that nothing occurs outside of God’s will. He is the
God “who works all things according to the counsel of His will.” God not only planned, but
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decreed that Joseph would be attacked by his brothers and sold into slavery, ultimately to
arrive — only after what you and I would call the worst possible sequence of personal
disasters — in Pharaoh’s palace. Did God leave Joseph alone throughout these times of trial?
No, Scripture tells us three times that “The Lord was with Joseph,” and that “Whatever
(Joseph) did, the Lord made it prosper.” The Lord had planned for Joseph to command the
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entire land of Egypt, in order to save many people alive, and ultimately, to build the people of
Israel into the great nation that God would one day lead back out of Egypt and into the land
of Canaan.

29
Genesis 50:18-20.

30
Ephesians 1:11.

31
Genesis 39:2,21,23.

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When we begin to consider the absolute sovereignty of God, there are a great many questions
that come to mind. Consider the following syllogism, and then let us consider some of the
necessary inferences that are generated from that syllogism.
The Bible is the word of God.
The word of God tells us that God is sovereign over all affairs.
Therefore, nothing can or will occur that has not been decreed by God.

I have answered the first question that would come to mind: “How do we define biblical
sovereignty?” Now let us explore some other questions concerning this vitally important
doctrine.

Is There One Sovereign, Eternal Plan That Will be Completely Carried Out by
God?

Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that
great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,
make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is
well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and
ever. 348F2

Any objective reading of the Scriptures will reveal God’s overarching, redemptive plan for
His people. His covenant is an everlasting covenant, an eternal covenant, and the blood
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sealing that divine pact was shed by “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” The 3450F4

book of Ephesians explains in detail God’s “eternal purpose which He accomplished in

Christ Jesus our Lord.” Paul wrote to Timothy that God “saved us and called us with a holy
3451F5

32
Hebrews 13:20-21 The NIV translates v. 20: “May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant
brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus ...”

33
See Genesis 17:7, 13, and 19.

34
Revelation 13:8.

35
Ephesians 3:11.

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calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was
given to us in Christ Jesus before time began.” Peter proclaimed that Christ, the lamb of
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God, was “foreordained before the foundation of the world.” Jesus described His
345F 7

impending judgment on the “sheep” and “goat” nations: “Then the King will say to those on
His right hand, 'Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from
the foundation of the world.” 345F8

These verses, and dozens of others, declare that God formulated a plan before the creation of
the world. He has an eternal plan, and therefore there is a purposive principle that governs
everything God does. There is a purposeful end to His knowledge, His decrees, and His
actions. Dear Reader, if God has an eternal plan, then He is not reacting to various events as
they occur. God did not come up with Plan A, the “Wow Plan,” and then fall back on
Contingency Plan B, the “Whoops Plan,” after Adam and Eve sinned in the garden. All of
creation, all of history, every action of man and animal is moving inevitably, inexorably
toward the fulfillment of God’s eternal purpose. Proverbs tells us, “The lot is cast into the
lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.” There is no such thing as “luck” or “fate” or
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“chance.” The words should not be in the dictionary, and should never fall from the lips of
God’s saints! All events are foreordained by the sovereign Lord, according to the purpose of
His infinite wisdom and His perfect, sovereign will.
God’s Master Plan

36
2 Timothy 1:9.

37
1 Peter 1:20.

38
Matthew 25:34.

39
Proverbs 16:33.

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Paul wrote to the Christians in Rome that “We know that all things work together for good to
those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He
foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the
firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called;
whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.” 456F0

There, in a nutshell, is the plan for the ages! We see in five words -- foreknew ... predestined
... called ... justified ... glorified -- God’s purposeful plan of redemption. God’s knowledge is
a purposeful knowledge. He foreknew (many commentators prefer the translation fore-loved)
and predestined those whom He would call to Him, by His irresistible grace, to be justified
(declared righteous in His sight and credited with the perfect righteousness of Christ) and
glorified (conformed to the image of His Son, and seated with Christ in the heavenly ). He 457F1

did these things for us -- not because there was anything about us that caused Him to -- but
freely, sovereignly, “according to the good pleasure of His will.” 458F2

Sola Deo Gloria!

We have seen that God is a purposeful God. He does everything according to His eternal
plan, which is His redemptive purpose for His chosen people. Every purpose has an ultimate
goal. God’s ultimate goal is to give glory to Himself. I see a great many Christians cringe a
little when I say this. They’ll look at me questioningly, perhaps wondering if I have
misspoken. So I’ll say it again, right away. God’s eternal end is Himself. He is seeking
Himself. Jesus said, “I do not seek My own glory; there is One who seeks and judges.” God 459F3

40
Romans 8:28-30.

41
Ephesians 2:6.

42
Ephesians 1:5.

43
John 8:50.

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is His own goal, and He is working “to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He has
made us accepted in the Beloved.” I think the reason many Christians are uncomfortable with
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this idea is because it sounds, frankly, unbiblical! After all, haven’t we been commanded not
to think of ourselves more highly than we ought? Should each of us not “esteem others better
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than himself”? If we are to hold ourselves in humble esteem, isn’t it wrong for God to seek
462F 6

His glory above all else? Absolutely not!

Romans 11:33 exalts “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!” Verse 36 then goes on
to praise God, and to teach us that “of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to
whom be glory forever.” All things come from God, all things come through God, and all
things come to God. All praise and glory go to Him. All three members of the Trinity —
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — share in the eternal economy of the redemption of God’s
adopted children. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are the source, the means, and the
end of salvation, and indeed, of all creation. The end of creation is not the glory of man, but
rather the glory of God! All things were created with that ultimate purpose in mind!

The verses we looked at two paragraphs previously clearly teach that a man who seeks to
glorify himself is sinning; but if God were to seek anything but Himself, that would be sin!
There is no thing or no creature that is higher than the Creator. God is holy and righteous and
pure. “Your faithfulness You shall establish in the very heavens,” Ethan the Ezrahite wrote.
“Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; Mercy and truth go before

44
Ephesians 1:6.

45
Romans 12:3.

46
Philippians 2:3.

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your face.” God is truly perfect, and there is nothing else in all creation which can be
463F7 46F8

described with that word. If God were to seek anything other than Himself and His glory, He
would be seeking something less than perfection -- something sinful! So when God seeks His
glory, He is seeking the only, ultimate, eternal righteousness, goodness and truth. Every
thing, animate and inanimate, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and in the seas, was
created from the word of the sovereign God, and they have their existence through Him, and
were formed to give eternal glory to Him.

How Does Omniscience Relate to Sovereignty?

We have discussed the word omniscience (“ahm nish ence”) in previous chapters. Like
perfection, omniscience is a quality that can only be claimed by God. Omniscience is the
quality of possessing total and infinite knowledge and understanding. God has complete
knowledge, all the way from the exhaustive knowledge of His own infinite being down to the
path of every electron that circles every nucleus of every atom in the entire universe. This
knowledge encompasses all that is past, present, and future -- all of eternity!

Dear Reader, please understand that God’s omniscience is not the mere passive foresight of
non-determined future events; it is not a prescience, a pre-cognitive kind of thought. God’s
omniscience is the eternal foreknowledge of all His eternally foreordained actions and
events. On the day of Pentecost, Peter proclaimed to the assembled multitudes that Jesus
Christ was “delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, [and] you have
taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death.” God’s omnipotent sovereignty
465F 9

47
Psalm 89:2, 14.

48
Matthew 5:48.

49
Acts 2:23.

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inevitably guarantees that every means -- both evil and good -- needed to accomplish His
eternal purpose will be resolutely carried out by Him, to the praise of the glory of His grace.

The Lord often spoke in the Scriptures of His “servants,” men like Abraham, Jacob, Moses,
and David, whom God had called forth to do great works. But do you know that the Lord
also referred to “Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant,” a pagan king whom God
546F0

used to bring judgment against the people of Israel? In the same way, the Lord said of
another pagan king, Cyrus the king of Babylon, “He is My shepherd, and he shall perform
all My pleasure.” Indeed, Proverbs says that “The Lord works out everything for his own
5467F 1

ends -- even the wicked for a day of disaster.” Rulers of nations are merely part of the
5468F2

sovereign Lord’s perfect plan, for “The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, like the rivers
of water; He turns it wherever He wishes.” But the lowliest servant in the king’s castle is no
5469F 3

less under the direction of God’s omnipotent and sovereign will: “Many are the plans in a
man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” This is equally true of Christian
5470F4

believers, (“for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good
purpose” ), and of unbelievers (“A man's steps are directed by the Lord. How then can
5471F5

anyone understand his own way?” ) God does not merely foresee the events of history; He
5472F 6

foreordains them, and there is no action that man takes which has not been predetermined by

50
Jeremiah 25:9.

51
Isaiah 44:28.

52
Proverbs 16:4 (NIV).

53
Proverbs 21:1.

54
Proverbs 19:21 (NIV).

55
Philippians 2:13 (NIV).

56
Proverbs 20:24 (NIV).

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Him. “There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the Lord,” Proverbs
5473F7

affirms.

God’s knowledge is not, and cannot logically be, a non-decretive knowledge. God’s
knowledge is not a prediction without certainty, like some sort of cosmic seer forecasting
future events. God is not merely looking down the corridors of time at events that will take
place in the future. If God was merely predicting events, then these events would be beyond
His control, and God would not be sovereign! God’s knowledge is a certainty, and His
knowledge is certain because it is decretive knowledge -- He has decreed every event that
will occur.

Some people will read Acts 15:18 (“Known to God from eternity are all His works.” ) and 547F8

assert that God only has knowledge of all things from before the creation of the world. To
make such a claim is to take a lone verse of Scripture and ask it to stand up and do tricks. We
must always compare Scripture with Scripture! It is abundantly clear from the overwhelming
preponderance of Scriptural evidence that God knows all of His works because He has
decreed all of His works! “Indeed I have spoken it,” says the sovereign Lord; “I will also
bring it to pass. I have purposed it; I will also do it.”
547F 9

When Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar that “There is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and
He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days,” he was 647F0

speaking of events that had been decreed. When Jesus told His disciples, “We are going up

57
Proverbs 21:30 (NIV).

58
Acts 15:18.

59
Isaiah 46:11.

60
Daniel 2:28.

238
to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and
they will condemn Him to death, and deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and
to crucify. And the third day He will rise again,” this is decretive knowledge. There was no
647F 1

false knowledge in the mind of Christ, nor was he merely predicting that these events would
occur, because they had been decreed “from the foundation of the world.” 6478F2

In his first epistle, Peter addressed “the pilgrims ... [who are] elect according to the
foreknowledge of God the Father.” In the same chapter of First Peter, he wrote that Jesus
was “foreordained before the foundation of the world.” The same Greek word is translated
6479F 3

foreknowledge and foreordained in these two verses. This is because, quite simply, you
cannot have the one without the other! While God’s foreordination (which is a part of His
omnipotence) sovereignly decrees the certainty of all things, foreknowledge (which is one
facet of God’s omniscience) exhaustively knows what those sovereign decrees are. God does
not just “know” about all things -- He has decreed all things! God is not passive. He is not
the “Great Spectator in the sky,” watching over all things. “Our God is in heaven; he does
whatever He pleases.” God is proactively working all things together toward the
6480F4

accomplishment of His eternal purpose. “Wisdom and might are His,” Daniel proclaimed.

61
Matthew 20:18-19.

62
Revelation 13:8.

63
1 Peter 1:2, 20.

64
Psalm 115:3.

239
“And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives
wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. He reveals deep and
secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with Him.” 6481F5

65
Daniel 2:21-22.

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 God Works All Things for Glory ... and Good

Most of us are familiar with Romans 8:28 — “And we know that in all things God works for
the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” This verse
is another glorious proclamation of the love that our heavenly Father has for His chosen
children. It is a verse that all believers in Jesus Christ can and should take to heart,
particularly when day-to-day circumstances seem to be working against our good.
However, we must be careful not to read more into this verse than what is really there. We
must bear in mind that God’s ultimate purpose is not the comfort of His creatures, but rather
the glory of the Creator. We must never assume that God is working all the events in history
so that the creature can be happy and comfortable. This is the unbiblical teaching of the
“prosperity gospel” crowd, those who teach their adherents to “name it and claim it.” This is
antithetical to Scriptural truth, and blasphemously implies that God is a man-centered God,
like an all-powerful Santa Claus, and not the sovereign Lord of the universe. The truth lies in
what Paul told the Philippian Christians: “For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ,
not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake.” God did not call us to a life of
6482F6

peace, prosperity and ease! He has assured us of an eternity of love and joy and peace, but
nowhere in Scripture does God imply that He eagerly awaits to pop up, like a genie out of a
bottle, to smooth the way for us. Jesus said quite clearly that we are to expect persecution in
this present age, and several passages in Scripture prepare believers to expect many kinds of
6483F 7

trials. Our sufferings, Romans 5:3-4 tells us, will produce perseverance in us, perseverance
648F8

will produce character, and character will produce hope. This is the “good” that God works
“all things” together for us, that we may be conformed to the likeness of Christ. This may 6485F9

66
Philippians 1:29.

67
Mark 10:30.

68
For example, see Romans 5:3; 1 Thessalonians 3:3; James 1:2; 1 Peter 1:6 and 1 Peter 4:12.

241
not necessarily be a “comfortable” experience. But it will be a glorious one! And all the glory
will be to the Lord God Almighty, who is able to take a wretch like you and like me, and
open our eyes to the truth of His glory and actually cause us to reflect that glory. 7486F 0

The point of this discussion, however, in light of God’s sovereignty, is to remind you that the
“good” of every person is not the goal behind God’s decrees. For example, when God was
preparing to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, He told Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh; for I have
hardened his heart and the hearts of his servants, that I may show these signs of Mine
before him, and that you may tell in the hearing of your son and your son's son the mighty
things I have done in Egypt, and My signs which I have done among them, that you may
know that I am the Lord.” God clearly did not have Pharaoh’s comfort in mind when He
748F1

spoke these words to Moses! In fact, God was not even thinking of the immediate comfort of
His chosen people, the Israelites, because they suffered persecution from the Egyptians as a
result of the Lord’s command to Pharaoh that he “Let my people go.” God’s will was that
748F2

when the people came out of Egypt, they would know that it was not due to any kindness on
the part of Pharaoh, but only because of the awesome power of the sovereign Lord. When the
people escaped from Pharaoh’s charioteers, it was not because of the superior generalship of
Moses and Aaron, but because of the mighty hand of Jehovah. God commanded Moses to
“lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it. And the children of
Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea,” and He also explained His
purpose in dividing the Red Sea: “I will gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army, his

69
Romans 8:29; 2 Corinthians 3:18.

70
2 Corinthians 3:18.

71
Exodus 10:1-2.

72
Exodus 5:1.

242
chariots, and his horsemen.” God’s purpose in destroying the Pharaoh’s army was that He,
7489F 3

the Lord, would gain honor. These events, which would eventually work for the good of the
people of Israel, were ultimately intended to bring glory to God, “that you may know that I
am the Lord.” God spoke through the prophet Isaiah to the people of Israel, and told them,
“I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; and I will not
remember your sins.” Has God said that he will forgive the people so that they will be
7490F4

glorified, and thump their self-righteous chests and say, “God, I thank You that I am not like
other men” who have not earned God’s pardon? Did God blot out their transgressions to that
7491F5

they could live comfortable, guilt-free lives? No, God forgave them so that His grace and His
glory would be made manifest. In the unforgettable verses of the Twenty-third Psalm, David
proclaimed, “He restores my soul; he leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's
sake.” Again, we see God working His sovereign grace, not for the welfare, comfort and the
7492F6

good of the creature, but for the glory of the Creator.

Let me state this again, just as strongly as Scripture proclaims this irrefutable truth: The
final, glorious outcome of God’s sovereign plan will demonstrate that all of God’s
decrees have not been made for the good of the creature, but for the glory of the
sovereign Creator. And the redeemed of God will say “Alleluia! Salvation and glory and
honor and power belong to the Lord our God! ... Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent
reigns!” 7493F 7

73
Exodus 14:16-17.

74
Isaiah 43:25.

75
Luke 18:11.

76
Psalm 23:3.

77
Revelation 19:1,6. Some other passages which underscore the truth that God works for His glory -- not the
creature’s -- are: Romans 9:22, 1 Peter 2:8, Jude 1:4, Revelation 13:8.

243
Indeed, the Lord God Omnipotent reigns over all things. From the smallest of His creatures --
“Not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father's will” -- to the greatest -- “He
749F8

sets up kings and deposes them” -- God is sovereign over the affairs of all. “The very hairs of
7495F9

your head are all numbered.” God “rules over the nations,” He“makes nations great, and
8496F0 8497F1

destroys them; he enlarges nations, and guides them.” Other than God’s marvelous plan of
849F 2

salvation, this is probably the most glorious doctrine in all of Scripture! However, it can also
be one of the most perplexing. In the next chapter, we will examine some of the “hard
questions” that are almost inevitably sparked by serious study of the doctrine of God’s
sovereignty

78
Matthew 10:29.

79
Daniel 2:21 (NIV).

80
Matthew 10:30.

81
Psalm 22:28.

82
Job 12:23

244
 Legacy, Chapter Eight
“Let God be God!”

Dear Reader, this may well be one of the most difficult chapters for you to read in this entire
book. I don’t mean difficult in the sense that I am going to introduce some especially difficult
words which will send you scurrying for a dictionary, or that the concepts involved are
overly complex and confusing. However, we are going to meet some theological issues head-
on that can be extremely hard to digest emotionally. I am going to ask -- and answer -- some
of the toughest questions that any Christian man or woman will ever consider.

As I said in the previous chapter, the doctrine of God’s sovereignty is often passed over quite
lightly -- if not completely ignored -- in many churches throughout the world. There are some
pastors and theologians who deny the idea of God’s perfect sovereignty altogether; others
only accept a severely limited version. This enables them to glibly sidestep the issues that we
are going to address, such as: Does man have free will? Is God the culpable cause of evil? Is
Satan a part of God’s sovereign plan? If God does create evil and declare disaster, then how
can God be a good God? Has God ever compromised His holiness? How can man be
responsible for his sins, if God is sovereign? Why should men pray, if God is sovereign?

As you can see, there aren’t any “warm and fuzzy” discussions ahead of us in the pages to
come. As I did in the opening pages of Chapter Seven, I want to encourage you again not to
give up! I promise you that a careful reading of this chapter will give you a new
understanding of your heavenly Father that should cause you to fall to your knees and praise
Him with a deepened and renewed sense of reverence and awe! There is real spiritual gold to
be mined in the following pages; don’t get discouraged because the digging is difficult! We
must come to the point of understanding where we can truly let God be God, and worship
Him in all His sovereign majesty and holiness. May God give us the courage and the wisdom

245
to honestly investigate these questions according to the light of God’s word. Let us measure
doctrinal absolutes against the unwavering truth of Scripture, and not against the fickle and
unreliable indicators of our emotions.

Does Man Have Free Will?

This question, and the implications that arise from it, is probably the most controversial in all
of Christian theology. In general company, there are certain issues that people tend to avoid
discussing, because a “conversation” is likely to lead to a violent argument. The subject of
abortion, for example, is almost certain to provoke passionate opinions on both sides of the
issue. A friend of mine once described sitting at an absolutely delightful dinner party — soft
music, candlelight, gentle laughter, etc. — when the issue of abortion suddenly arose. My
friend, believing that he was comfortably seated with a group of like-minded people, bluntly
expressed his opinion that abortion is the murder of the innocent unborn. Boom! Another
guest exploded in furious disagreement, becoming so agitated that saliva actually flew from
her mouth while she spoke.

While a debate about the freedom of man’s will may not get quite so ugly, it is almost
certainly just as divisive. Luther and Erasmus, for example, were friends before their debate
over free will. Their relationship didn’t survive the controversy. Churches have split over this
issue. Entire denominations have formed around this central question. I have personally
observed a cold glint of anger in the eyes of otherwise gentle and loving Christians who are
confronted with the notion that man’s will is not free. In fact, as I confessed to you earlier, I
used to react in just that way myself! Again, I feel compelled to urge you not to blindly reject
a notion which is challenging or disconcerting.

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Most Christian churches today assert that man’s will is free. But when we come to a proper
understanding of the sovereignty of God, we come to the unavoidable question: If God is
truly sovereign, then that must mean that man cannot resist His will. We have already seen a
great many verses of Scripture that indicate that this is true. There are dozens more that I
could cite for you here. King Jehoshaphat stood before the people of Judah and
proclaimed,“O Lord, God of our fathers, are you not the God who is in heaven? You rule
over all the kingdoms of the nations. Power and might are in your hand, and no one can
withstand you.” 1 Jeremiah confessed,“I know, O Lord, that a man's life is not his own; It is
49F

not for man to direct his steps.” 2 The Christians in Jerusalem raised their voices to God
50F

“with one accord and said ... ‘Truly against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed,
both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered
together to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done.’” 3 501F

Paul preached to the citizens of Athens that “The God who made the world and everything in
it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not
served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and
breath and everything else. From one man he made every nation of men, that they should
inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places
where they should live.” 4 Solomon asserted that “A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord
502F

5
directs his steps.” 503F

1
2 Chronicles 20:6 (NIV).

2
Jeremiah 10:23 (NIV).

3
Acts 4:24, 27-28.

4
Acts 17:24-26 (NIV).

5
Proverbs 16:9.

247
The testimony of Scripture is clear and unequivocal: Man thinks he is in charge of his
actions, but it is the Lord who has sovereignly foreordained every action of man and
every event of history to work in accordance with His eternal plan. Many Christians,
when confronted with this truth, become extremely uncomfortable. “If man is not free,” they
reason, “then isn’t he just a robot, a puppet dangling on God’s cosmic string?” This is a
perfectly reasonable and vitally important question, and I am going to devote some time to
answering it.

What Do We Mean by “Free Will”?

It is extremely important to define what we mean when we use the phrase “free will”
throughout this discussion. In a marvelous essay which was written to answer the question of
whether God foreordains evil or merely allows it to exist, Gordon Clark defined free will this
way: It is “the theory that a man faced with incompatible courses of action is as able to
choose any one as well as any other.” 6 In other words, if a man stands at a crossroads, he is
504F

equally likely to choose to go east as to go west. There are no outside forces which would
compel him to choose one direction over another. Particularly, for the purpose of this
discussion, I would stress that those who believe that man’s will is free assert that God does
not cause the man to choose one of the two directions. They claim that man makes up his
own mind, without any outside influence or superintendence.

If you have read through the previous chapter, and have honestly considered the Scripture
verses provided there, I think you will have to agree with me that man’s will is not free in

6
Gordon H. Clark, Religion, Reason, and Revelation, 2d ed. (Hobbs, NM: The Trinity Foundation, 1995), p. 203.

248
this way. In fact, we just read Proverbs 16:9, which asserts that “In his heart a man plans his
course, but the Lord determines his steps.” 7 So much for the equal likelihood of heading east
50F

or west!

But what about the heart of man? Does a man determine his own moral direction? The
prevailing notion in most churches today is that man is free to choose to do evil or to do
good. We hear from respected preachers and theologians that God permits or allows evil to
occur. An honest examination of the Scriptures forces us to admit that such teaching is not
based on the truth. We have seen that “The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord;” that “it
is the Lord’s purpose that prevails,” not man’s purpose, and that “A man's life is not his
own; it is not for man to direct his steps.” 8 In Judges 14, Samson saw a Philistine woman and
506F

insisted that his parents arrange for him to marry her. His parents protested: “Can’t you find a
wife from among our own people?” But Samson was adamant. It must be this woman and no
other! In verse 4, the Holy Spirit explains, “This was from the Lord, who was seeking an
occasion to confront the Philistines; for at that time they were ruling over Israel.” I’m quite
sure Samson thought he had “freely” chosen this woman for his wife, but in reality his
seemingly impetuous desire for her had been sovereignly decreed by God. If Samson could
have chosen any woman he wanted for his wife, and God had merely “permitted” it to
happen, then God would not be sovereign -- Samson would!

If Scripture is so very clear about God’s complete sovereignty over all of man’s affairs, why
do we deny the truth of God’s word and insist that a man “chooses” his path, and that the
Lord “permits” his steps? As Gordon Clark brilliantly argued in his essay, there can be only
one reason: those who teach that God “allows” evil are trying to protect God’s

7
(NIV.)

8
Proverbs 21:1; Proverbs 19:21 (NIV); Jeremiah 10:23 (NIV).

249
reputation! After all, if God is truly sovereign over every event, that would mean that God
decreed that scores of men, women and children would be incinerated at Waco, Texas! God
foreordained that Adolph Hitler would order the Holocaust! God determined that over 100
million people would die as the result of Communism! To even suggest a thing seems
blasphemous to most of us! We know that God is pure and holy, that He is “of purer eyes
than to behold evil, and cannot look on wickedness.” 9 How could anyone possibly dare to
507F

suggest that God is the cause of such ghastly evils?

Dear Reader, it is precisely because of difficult questions like these that I began this book by
laying down the foundation -- the axiom -- of Christianity: The Bible alone is the word of
God. There are far too many people in seminaries and churches across this land who teach
that the Bible contains “paradoxes” that we cannot possibly understand. There are some who
attack the Bible by claiming it contains contradictions, and the existence of evil in a world
governed by a pure and holy God is one such “contradiction” that these enemies of the
Scriptures often cite. There are even conservative theologians, men who love God and revere
the truth of Scripture, who teach that the Bible contains antinomies (“an tin ah mees”),
apparent contradictions which only the infinite mind of the living God can see as true
consistencies.

None of these ideas is reflective of historical, biblical Christianity. The reality is that God
has given us a system of knowledge and truth. There are no mistakes, no falsehoods, no
contradictions, no paradoxes, and no antinomies. Every word of God is pure, and that means
that the Bible does not, can not, contradict itself! Are there difficult passages? Certainly. Are
there wondrous mysteries? Most assuredly. The doctrines of the Holy Trinity, the
Incarnation, the eternal existence of God, and a host of others are, indeed, glorious mysteries

9
Habakkuk 1:13

250
that are fully answered only in the mind of God. Are there doctrines, such as the one we are
discussing here, which we must struggle to understand? Absolutely! The question of the
existence of God and evil in the same universe has troubled theologians for centuries.
However, this does not mean that it is an unanswerable question! If we have a system of
truth, then every verse, every precept, every doctrine is a vital member of that truth, and are
perfectly interwoven in such a way as to present every facet of that truth. When we encounter
an idea that doesn’t seem to “fit,” we do not discard it as a paradox, a contradiction, or an
antinomy. Instead, we rely on the fact that God has given us an organized body of
knowledge, a system of truth, and we dig deeper to see where each piece fits in to the overall
structure. Armed with this confidence in the cohesion and the consistency of the word of
God, we may confidently begin to unravel the more difficult questions that confront our
Christian faith.

We have been discussing one such question in these recent pages. Does man choose to do
evil, and does God merely stand back and permit him to do so? The vast majority of
Christians like to believe that this is the case. Again, the laws of logic teach us that it is
vitally important to define our terms at the beginning of our discussion. We have defined
“free will” to mean an independent, autonomous will. A will that is independent and
autonomous would be a sovereign will! If man were capable of making independent
decisions that were beyond God’s control, then man would be sovereign, and God would be
subject to man’s sovereign decisions! If God “allowed” Jack Lannom to choose to do evil --
or to do good, for that matter -- whenever Jack felt like it, then God would be a reactor, a
responder, to my actions. God would, in effect, be sitting in heaven and adjusting His plan to
fit mine. To even suggest such a thing is to realize the absurdity and outright blasphemy of
the idea. We have seen that God is sovereign over all the affairs of the earth. He has an
eternal plan for the history of the cosmos, and he directs the affairs of all men -- king or

251
commoner, president or pastor, monk or murderer -- “ to will and to act according to his
good purpose.” 1508F0

Since this is so, does that mean that man is a mere robot, a puppet that God directs at all
times, just as you or I direct every twist and turn of a radio-controlled model car? This is not
the case, either. Man does make choices. The great Reformers were emphatic that we do
have the power to choose. The Bible is filled with verses which confirm that man makes
choices. Nor is man held in the grip of any kind of mechanistic or psychological
determinism. Man is not compelled to act in a certain way because he was raised in a certain
environment. A man is influenced by his environment, of course. However, his environment
does not rob him of his will. You could probably cite several instances of men and women
who overcame horrible childhoods to become successful, and of others who were raised in
privileged environments only to fall into the pits of depravity and degradation later in life.
Man does not behave in predetermined ways because the planets are aligned in a particular
position. Man is completely free of this kind of deterministic compulsion.

However, man is only free to choose according to his nature. In fact, he will always
choose according to the dictates of his nature. There is one problem, though, which affects
man’s decisions in a truly dreadful way: the sinful nature of mankind. The unsaved man or
woman is only free to choose to sin! “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately
wicked,” Jeremiah wrote. The unsaved person will naturally and voluntarily choose to sin on
1509F1

every occasion. “The carnal mind is enmity against God,” Paul wrote; “For it is not subject
to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” 150F2

10
Philippians 2:13 (NIV).

11
Jeremiah 17:9.

12
Romans 8:7-8.

252
The mind of the man or woman which has not been reborn, or regenerated, by the Holy Spirit
is hostile to the things of God! Unsaved men and women “cannot cease from sin,” Peter 15F 3

asserted, and are incapable of pleasing God. Nor do they have any desire to do so! So
unsaved man’s choices are free, but they are free only in a downward sense. Man will freely,
voluntarily choose to turn away from God and turn toward evil every time! “The Lord looks
down from heaven upon the children of men,” the Psalmist wrote, “to see if there are any
who understand, who seek God. They have all turned aside, they have together become
corrupt; there is none who does good, no, not one.” No unsaved man or woman seeks after
152F4

God or chooses to do good. Not one. This is the word of Scripture concerning the nature of
man. It is much like a suicidal person who has jumped off the top of a skyscraper: man is
perfectly free to choose to continue to plummet downward. He will always choose to
continue to move downward, because that is the direction that is entirely compatible with his
nature. It is only when he raises his eyes toward heaven, and considers a return to the top of
the building from whence he leaped, that he finds he is incapable of doing so. “Can the
Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots?” the Lord asked rhetorically. “Then may
you also do good who are accustomed to do evil.” Man is no more capable of changing his
153F5

sinful nature, which is accustomed -- quite comfortable in fact -- with evil, than a leopard is
capable of changing the shape or color of the spots on its skin! It is only when one has been
born again, and has been indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God, that one can choose to seek after
God and do that which is pleasing to Him. “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty,” 154F6

Paul wrote. It is only in Christ that we receive the freedom to choose to do good.

13
2 Peter 2:14.

14
Psalm 14:2-3 (emphasis added).

15
Jeremiah 13:23.

16
2 Corinthians 3:17.

253
It is important to note that the believer can and will still sin. The believer is no more worthy
of the grace of God than is the unbeliever. Jesus once addressed His disciples by saying, “If
you then, being evil ...” Jesus was stating that even the disciples, the men whom He called
15F 7

friends, were also sinners. If these men are “evil,” then surely you and I and all believers are
156F8

sinners also! Indeed, Paul called himself the “chief of sinners.” “There is no difference; for
157F9

all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” But the believer now has the ability to
2518F0

truly choose, by the grace of God, to do good. The Holy Spirit of God, living within us, gives
us the divine power to do good. Prior to the moment of salvation, you and I were in abject
slavery to the sinful nature. 2519F1

At the same time, no man or woman, saved or unsaved, operates independently of God’s
sovereign, eternal decrees. We have seen that God has an eternal plan, a plan that is moving
to its inevitable conclusion, a plan which will ultimately cause every man, woman, and child
-- living and dead, saved and unsaved -- to recognize and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. 250F2

There is nothing and no one -- none of God’s creatures -- which can resist God and operate in
opposition to that plan. There are a great many men and women who appear to resist God’s
will, but in actuality all of creation, all of history, and all of God’s eternal plan for
redemption and damnation are a glorious display of His divine sovereignty!

What About Satan? Is He a Part of God’s Plan?

17
Matthew 7:11; Luke 11:13.

18
John 15:15.

19
1 Timothy 1:15.

20
Romans 3:22-23.

21
Romans 6:6.

22
Philippians 2:10-11.

254
Does God merely “permit” the activities of Satan and his demons? Did evil climb over the
impregnable wall of God’s omnipotence, slip past the watchful eye of His omniscience,
and subdue His insuperable sovereignty? To answer such questions in the affirmative is to
elevate evil to omnipotence and to superimpose sin over sovereignty! Is there anything
that can exist outside God’s sovereign will? Was Satan able to fight God to a draw, to the
point where God conceded, “All right, Satan, you may go this far and no farther”? If this
were true, then God would have to share His throne with Satan, would He not? God
would be a limited God, a finite God, acquiescing to at least some of the rapacious
demands of the evil one. In this case, our theory of metaphysics would be reduced to a
pagan dualism, where the powers of good and evil are locked in an eternal struggle for
supremacy, thereby keeping each other in check and balance. This, however, is not the
teaching of the Bible. “Who is he who speaks and it comes to pass, when the Lord has not
commanded it?” the prophet asked. “Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that woe
and well-being proceed?” There is nothing that can come to pass unless the Lord has
251F 3

commanded it. God is not only in command of His people, and the blessings of goodness
and truth and beauty, He is sovereign over sin and evil, as well. “I am the Lord, and there
is none else, there is no God beside me,” proclaims the sovereign God of the universe, “
... that they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none
beside me. I am the Lord, and there is none else. I form the light, and create darkness: I
make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things.” 25F 4

23
Lamentations 3:37-38.

24
Isaiah 45:5-7 (KJV).

255
There is nothing in the universe that acts outside of the sovereign will of God. Read the
magnificent words of the Lord God Almighty at the conclusion of the book of Job. 253F 5

“Have you entered the storehouses of the snow

or seen the storehouses of the hail,
which I reserve for times of trouble,
for days of war and battle?
What is the way to the place where the
lightning is dispersed,
or the place where the east winds are
scattered over the earth?
Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain,
and a path for the thunderstorm ... ?

“Can you bind the beautiful Pleiades?

Can you loose the cords of Orion?
Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons
or lead out the Bear with its cubs?
Do you know the laws of the heavens?
Can you set up [God's] dominion over the earth?

“Can you raise your voice to the clouds

and cover yourself with a flood of water?
Do you send the lightning bolts on their way?
Do they report to you, ‘Here we are’?
Who endowed the heart with wisdom
or gave understanding to the mind?”2

25
Chapters 38-41.

256
“Therefore know this day,” Moses called to the people of Israel, “and consider it in your
heart, that the Lord Himself is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no
other.” He is “the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords,” as Paul
254F7 25F8

proclaimed to Timothy. Nebuchadnezzar worshiped God, and acknowledged that “He does
according to His will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. No one
can restrain His hand or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’” The Lord is the sovereign
256F 9

King of all the universe. He is the King who directs the hearts of all the kings of the earth.
The Lord sits enthroned over all the earth. God has a literal throne in heaven, and he rules
over His kingdom -- which is all that is in the heavens, all that is in the earth, and all that is in
the seas -- precisely according to His will. “You, whose name alone is the Lord, are the Most
High over all the earth,” Asaph affirmed. He is not “a” king, He is The King! Satan does not
3527F0

make a move apart from the sovereign decree of God. The evil one whined to God that he
could not attack Job because God had “made a hedge around him, around his household,
and around all that he has on every side.” The Lord told Satan exactly what he could and
3528F 1

could not do to Job. Satan never slips free of God’s sovereign leash. Satan had to ask God
3529F 2

if he might sift Peter as wheat, and the Lord foreordained that Peter would fall away only for
a short time. 350F 3

27
Deuteronomy 4:39.

28
1 Timothy 6:15.

29
Daniel 4:35.

30
Psalm 83:18.

31
Job 1:10.

32
Job 1:12, 2:6.

33
Luke 22:31-32.

257
Everything that happens has been decreed by God. “Known to God from eternity are all His
works.” The fact that you are seated right where you are, at this very instant, reading this
351F4

book, was foreordained by the Lord before the beginning of time. Nothing escapes His
attention. The flight path of the bird outside your window was decreed by God. We have read
that the path of every lightning bolt is directed by Him. God’s sovereignty is the clear and
unequivocal teaching of Scripture. To assert anything else, to suggest that God is only “semi-
sovereign” over the decisions of any man or any creature, even over the activities of Satan, is
to attack the truth of Scripture!

Is God the Culpable Cause of Evil?

Once we have established God’s absolute sovereignty over all events, including actions
which you or I would call “evil,” we are confronted with a most disquieting -- yet
unavoidable -- question: Is God the culpable cause of evil? This is a frightening thought, one
which many of us do not even wish to consider. Everything in our being rebels against the
very thought, because we assume that if God causes evil, then God is also responsible
(culpable) for evil.

We seem to have reached one of those apparent contradictions in Scripture. Specifically, how
do we reconcile these two verses: Isaiah 45:5-7, which reads, “I am the Lord, and there is
none else. I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do
all these things;” and Habakkuk 1:13, which reads “You [O Lord] are of purer eyes than to
352F5

behold evil, and cannot look on wickedness.” Is one of these verses incorrect? That is

34
Acts 15:18.

35
(KJV). Amos 3:6 reads, “Shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord hath not done it?” (KJV)

258
impossible, since we know that “All Scripture is God-breathed,” that “Every word of God is
pure,” and that “The entirety of [His] word is truth.” Again, Dear Reader, this is where we
35F 6

must hold firmly to the truth that God has given us a complete, comprehensive system of
knowledge and truth. All the verses we read are different components of the same whole.
How then do we integrate these verses from Isaiah and Habakkuk into one truth, when they
seem so irreconcilably opposed to each other?

Let us begin to answer this question by considering some specific examples. In Genesis 22,
God commanded Abraham to “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and
go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of
which I shall tell you.” Abraham was to take his son, his only son, and kill him and burn the
354F7

body as an offering to God. Now, Dear Reader, let me ask you two questions: Was it “evil”
for God to command this action? Would it have been sin for Abraham to disobey God and
spare the life of his son? Abraham set out the very next morning, and took Isaac to the top of
the mountain, built an altar and bound Isaac to it, and took up a knife to kill his own son.
Suddenly the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham, and commanded him not to kill Isaac!
Was this an “evil” command on the part of the Lord? Would it have been sin for Abraham to
disobey God and kill Isaac, thereby carrying out his initial orders? While you’re considering
these questions, let’s look at still another example from Scripture.

In Joshua 6, we see the people of Israel, recently liberated by God from their slavery in
Egypt, approaching the city of Jericho. God told Joshua that He would deliver the city into
the hands of the Israelites. However, the Lord said, “Now the city shall be doomed by the

36
2 Timothy 3:16; Proverbs 30:5; Psalm 119:160.

37
Genesis 22:2.

259
Lord to destruction, it and all who are in it. Only Rahab the harlot shall live ...” In other
35F8

words, the people of Israel were to slaughter everything and everyone in Jericho that drew
breath: every man, woman, and child, and every animal were to be killed. Only Rahab the
prostitute and her family were to be spared, as a reward for Rahab’s faith. Again I ask you:
Was it “evil” for God to command this action? Would it have been sin for the people of Israel
to disobey God and spare the lives of the people and animals of Jericho? Give these questions
some thought before you read on!

God Is Not — and Can Not — Be the Author of Evil

Dear Reader, I want to congratulate you for sticking with me here! I know this is a very
difficult subject, and the answers to these questions are not simple ones. Let me pull the
different parts of this discussion together for you, so that you may truly see God in all His
matchless, sovereign glory. Some of you are probably uncomfortable with the destruction of
Jericho in Joshua 6. God’s command to Abraham is easier for us to accept, because the
Scriptures tell us in the first verse of Genesis 22 that God was testing Abraham. So we
comfort ourselves with the idea that God never intended for Abraham to actually plunge the
knife into Isaac’s heart. But the city of Jericho was an entirely different matter. This was no
test! God commanded the people of Israel to kill every living thing, and He fully expected
His command to be obeyed. Some of you reading this account might admit, “You know, I
don’t ever want to call God ‘evil,’ but I’ll have to admit, this doesn’t seem fair! I understand
that God didn’t want His people to be contaminated by the pagan culture of the people of
Jericho, but surely there had to be a better way of doing that than killing all the people and
animals!”

38
Joshua 6:17.

260
Did your thinking follow this pattern? It is a perfectly natural, human, response. But, Dear
Reader, allow me say this to you in love: it is a sinful response. When we think that “there
had to be a better way” for God to accomplish anything, whether it is the testing of
Abraham, the destruction of Jericho, or the plan of salvation, we are presuming to be wiser
and more pure of thought than God! We are saying in our hearts, “I would have been more
merciful than God. I could have been more just.” We are seeking to conform God to a
moral or ethical standard that we believe to be superior to God’s! We are assuming that
there is a “higher” law to which God must adhere.

“But who are you, O man, to talk back to God?”

What we are forgetting, when we allow our thinking to drift in such a direction, is the basic
doctrine of God’s sovereignty! Remember our definition of sovereignty: God is not subject to
any outside cause. There is nothing that is higher than God or superior to God! God is not
subject to any “higher” law or ethical standard because He is the law. “I am the way, the
truth, and the life,” said the God-man, Jesus Christ, the second Person of the Holy Trinity.
356F9

God is truth, and goodness, and righteousness. “The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the
soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; the statutes of the Lord are
right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes ... the
judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.” God is ex lex (“outside the law”)
4537F0

because He is the Law. Just as God is sovereign over the all affairs of the universe, He is
also the sovereign Lawgiver. God’s commands are perfect, they are pure, and they are true
and righteous altogether. If God commands Abraham to kill Isaac, or He commands the
people of Israel to kill every living thing in the city of Jericho, those commands are not

39
John 14:6.

40
Psalm 19:7-9.

261
“evil,” they are perfect and holy and altogether righteous because they are the commands of
God! For Abraham or Israel to disobey God’s commands based on a man-made moral
code that they considered to be “more” righteous than the word of God would most
definitely be sin! John Calvin expressed it this way: “(God’s) will is, and rightly ought to be,
the cause of all things that are ... God’s will is so much the highest rule of righteousness that
whatever he wills, by the very fact that he wills it, must be considered righteous. When,
therefore, one asks why God has so done, we must reply: because he has willed it. But if you
proceed further to ask why he so willed, you are seeking something greater and higher than
God’s will, which cannot be found.” 4538F1

In answering the question of whether God is the cause of sin, Gordon Clark was blunt:
Let it be unequivocally said that this view certainly makes God the cause of sin. God is the
sole ultimate cause of everything. There is absolutely nothing independent of him. He alone
is the eternal being. He alone is omnipotent. He alone is sovereign. Not only is Satan his
creature, but every detail of history was eternally in his plan before the world began; and he
willed that it should all come to pass ... God determined that Christ should die; he determined
as well that Judas should betray him. There was never the remotest possibility that something
different could have happened.” 4539F 2

Time and time again, we see that God determines the actions of men that will lead to their
destruction, as well as to their salvation. In 2 Kings 24:2, we read that “The Lord sent against
(Jehoiakim) raiding bands of Chaldeans, bands of Syrians, bands of Moabites, and bands of
the people of Ammon; He sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the
Lord which He had spoken by His servants the prophets.” The Lord had warned the people of
the southern kingdom that He would destroy them for their wickedness; He sent raiders to
accomplish His purpose. “Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king,” we read in 2

41
John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, Vol. 2, ed. John T. McNeill, trans. Ford Lewis Battles,
(Philadelphia, PN, The Westminster Press, (c) 1960), p. 949.

42
Clark, Religion, Reason, and Revelation, p. 238.

262
Chronicles, “and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem; and he did not do what was right in
the sight of the Lord, as his father David had done. Therefore the Lord his God delivered him
into the hand of the king of Syria ... Then he was also delivered into the hand of the king of
Israel, who defeated him with a great slaughter.” Once again, God delivered a wicked king
450F 3

into the hands of his enemies to punish him for his sin. Just a few chapters later we read, “So
Manasseh seduced Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to do more evil than the nations
whom the Lord had destroyed before the children of Israel. And the Lord spoke to Manasseh
and his people, but they would not listen. Therefore the Lord brought upon them the captains
of the army of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh with hooks, bound him with bronze
fetters, and carried him off to Babylon.” When God began to move to dethrone Saul, king of
451F 4

Israel, “The Spirit of the Lord had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord
tormented him.” 452F 5

One of the most powerful passages in Scripture describing God’s sovereign determination to
bring disaster on the wicked is found in the story of Micaiah’ prophecy concerning King
Ahab:
And the Lord said, “Who will persuade Ahab king of Israel to go up, that he
may fall at Ramoth Gilead?” So one spoke in this manner, and another spoke
in that manner. Then a spirit came forward and stood before the Lord, and
said, “I will persuade him.” The Lord said to him, “In what way?” So he said,
“I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.” And the
Lord said, “You shall persuade him and also prevail; go out and do so.”
Therefore look! The Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these prophets
of yours, and the Lord has declared disaster against you. 453F6

43
2 Chronicles 28:1,5.

44
2 Chronicles 33:9-11.

45
1 Samuel. 16:14 (NIV); also read 1 Samuel 18:10.

46
2 Chronicles 18:19-22. Also see 1 Kings 22:19-23.

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Disaster does not just happen to befall an individual or a nation. There is no such thing as
“bad luck,” or “the ill winds of fate.” It is the Lord who creates prosperity and disaster.

If God Creates Evil and Declares Disaster, then How Can God be a Good God?

There are some of us who would shy away from such a question. We feel that it is
blasphemous to even suggest that God is not good. But it is a fair question! Scripture teaches
that God is pure and holy and righteous. “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His
throne,” the Psalmist proclaimed, and there are numerous other passages which proclaim the
45F7

absolute goodness and justice of the Lord God Almighty. Yet how do we reconcile God’s
goodness with wars, crimes, natural disasters, and the like?
In teaching groups and individuals the doctrine of God’s absolute sovereignty, I have seen
people get stuck at a point midway between no understanding and a complete understanding.
Most of us start with no understanding of God’s sovereignty for the simple reason that we
have never been taught otherwise. Most churches and theologians teach that Satan is the
ultimate cause of all the sin and evil in the world, and that God “permits” the activities of
Satan for some mysterious purpose that will not be revealed to us until we arrive in heaven.
According to this viewpoint, God intended for all men and women to be good, but Satan
outwitted Adam and Eve, and their weakness caused sin to enter the world. At that point
God, had to come up with “Plan B” to counter Satan’s dastardly move, a ploy which seemed
to place humanity’s eternal relationship to God in the gravest jeopardy.

After any open-minded man or woman has examined the Scriptures I have included in these
chapters, and honestly considered their logical implications, they come to the correct
understanding that God never “reacts” to anything, but has been working His perfect will

47
Psalm 97:2

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throughout history, according to His perfect timetable. Every single event in history, from the
death of a bird to a world war, from the most noble acts to the most savage, only occurs
according to the sovereign decree of God.

However, it is at this very point of achieving a complete understanding of the doctrine of

sovereignty that many Christian men and women lurch into a dark valley of
misunderstanding, even despair. “If God has decreed all the evil acts of history,” they reason,
“then God cannot be good! If He not only knew, but decreed, before the creation of the
world, that Joseph Stalin would order the extermination of tens of millions of his
countrymen, then how can God be a good God?” I personally know one woman who sat
through a sermon on the subject of God and evil, and became so distraught that she went
home and was physically ill for three days!

Jesus once was teaching on another subject, and His disciples grumbled among themselves,
“This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?” This is precisely the initial reaction of many
45F8

believers who are exposed to accurate biblical instruction on this doctrine. You, yourself,
Dear Reader, may be wrestling with such thoughts at this very moment. Don’t give up! If you
have come this far with me, stay with me for just a few more pages, and watch the glorious
majesty of God unfold!

Five Questions Which Help Us Fully Understand the Sovereignty of God

In order to properly reconcile God’s perfect holiness with the evil that He has decreed, we
must go back to the beginning. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” 456F9

48
John 6:60 (NIV).

49
Genesis 1:1.

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The first of five questions to consider, as we wrestle with the doctrine of sovereignty, is this:
Does God have the right to create or not create? God created the entire universe out of
nothing. He spoke, and it came into being. King David praised the sovereign Lord of creation
before the people of Israel:“Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, the power and the glory, the
victory and the majesty; for all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours; Yours is the kingdom,
O Lord, and You are exalted as head over all. Both riches and honor come from You, and
You reign over all. In Your hand is power and might; in Your hand it is to make great and to
give strength to all.” The Psalms reiterate God’s sovereignty over all creation: “By the word
547F0

of the Lord were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth. He gathers
the waters of the sea into jars; he puts the deep into storehouses. Let all the earth fear the
Lord; let all the people of the world revere him. For he spoke, and it came to be; he
commanded, and it stood firm.” God is the highest authority. He did not have to consult with
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anyone else, or ask permission of anyone else, in order to create the heavens, the earth, the
seas, and everything in them. God is also the Creator of the laws of righteousness and
justice. God has proclaimed the standard for what is good and what is evil. He is the one
true, eternal being who needs no approval or acclaim from any other source. He is
accountable to no higher authority. The Lord God Almighty is self-contained, self-satisfied,
self-blessed, and completely self-sufficient. He is the answer to every need of His own heart
and in need of nothing outside of Himself. He did not create mankind because He was
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lonely! God was under no obligation to create. He spoke all of creation into being for the
good pleasure of His will, that He -- not man -- might be glorified.

50
1 Chronicles 29:11-12.

51
Psalm 33:6-9 (NIV).

52
Acts 17:25 confirms that God is not “worshiped with men's hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to
all life, breath, and all things.” We also see in Nehemiah 9:5, “Blessed be Your glorious name, which is exalted above all
blessing and praise!” He is above our praise! When we give praise to the Lord God Almighty in our prayers and hymns of
adoration, we are not providing Him something He needs to make Him “feel better,” or contributing something to the perfect,
eternal essence of His being. We are reminding ourselves of how great and awesome and majestic our sovereign Lord really is!

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The second step in our logical progression is to ask this question: Is it right for God to do
with His creation as He pleases? The twenty-four elders who surround God’s throne in
heaven worship the Lord by saying, “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor
and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.” 50F3

God has created all things for His pleasure. As the Sovereign Creator, He most certainly
has the right to do whatever he pleases with all His creations! In the parable of the workers in
the vineyard, Jesus spoke of a landowner who hired men throughout the hours of the day,
telling the men hired in the afternoon that he would pay them whatever was fair. At the end
of the day, the landowner -- a character whom Jesus clearly intended to symbolize God --
paid the men hired late in the day the same wage that he gave to those hired first thing in the
morning. These men began to grumble against the landowner, believing that they should have
received more pay than the others, since they had worked more hours. “Friend,” the
landowner/Creator replied, “I am doing you no wrong ... Is it not lawful for me to do what I
wish with my own things?” Indeed, does man have any right to grumble against the
51F 4

dispensations of the supreme Creator and Lawgiver of all the universe? “But who are you, O
man, to talk back to God? ‘Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, “Why did you
make me like this?”’ Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay
some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?” So we see that God has 52F 5

created for His pleasure -- not man’s -- and that He has the right to do what He wishes with
His creation.

53
Revelation 4:11 (KJV).

54
Matthew 20:13, 15. Also see God’s conversation with a disgruntled Jonah in Jonah 4. God is telling Jonah, “Don’t I
have the right to do what I want with my own things, whether it be a plant or an entire city?”

55
Romans 9:20-21 (NIV).

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Now we ask: Is God obligated to keep His own law? Must God live according to the statues
He created to govern the lives of men? The correct answer is NO. Jesus told the Pharisees
that “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of
Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.” The Lord was not bound by the Sabbath regulation that He
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created for man. God established the 613 elements of the Mosaic Law to govern man’s
relationship to God and to each other, not to govern the behavior of God. If you examine
the Ten Commandments given in Exodus 20 one by one, you’ll see that this is true. The First
and Second Commandments, “You must not have any gods before Me,” and “You shall not
worship any graven image” could not possibly apply to God. There is no other god for Him
to worship! The Third Commandment is “Do not take the Lord’s name in vain.” Is it likely
that the Lord is going to curse or blaspheme His own name? The Fourth Commandment —
“Remember the Sabbath” — has already been addressed. The Sabbath was made for man, not
for the Lord. He is Lord of the Sabbath! The Fifth Commandment to “Honor your father and
mother” cannot possibly apply to God, because as the eternal Being, He has no father and
mother! The Sixth Commandment is “You shall not commit murder.” Since it is the Lord
54F 7

who appoints the time for our birth and death, can anyone accuse Him of murder when he
5F8

takes our breath on the appointed day for our physical death? Since it is He who chooses to
give us life, is it not also His sovereign right to take it away? The Seventh Commandment
forbids adultery; but God is eternally faithful, will never leave us or forsake us, and in no 56F 9

way needs such a legal restriction. The Eighth Commandment prohibiting stealing, or the
Tenth, which forbids covetousness, could not possibly apply to the God who has said, “I will
not take a bull from your house, nor goats out of your folds. For every beast of the forest is

56
Mark 2:27-28.

57
I am speaking here of the eternal nature of God’s existence. Of course, the Lord Jesus Christ, during the days of His
incarnation, decreed that He would be born of an earthly mother, who provided Him with a human body.

58
See 1 Samuel 2:6, Job 14:5, Psalm 139:16.

59
See Psalm 145:13 (NIV), 146:6 (NIV); Hebrews 13:5.

268
Mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the mountains, and the wild
beasts of the field are Mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell you; for the world is Mine, and
all its fullness.” The Ninth Commandment, which forbids lying, holds no power over God,
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for “It is impossible for God to lie.” He needs no such restriction to govern His behavior,
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because He is Truth.
Moses told the people of Israel that “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those
things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the
words of this law.” God has not provided revelation for His own benefit. He knows His own
659F 2

mind perfectly and exhaustively, and need impose no restrictions on Himself. He has
revealed His nature and His character to us that we may know Him better, and He reveals the
law that we may do all the words of this law. He is under no similar obligation to obey.

We have seen that God has the right to create according to His pleasure and will; that He, as
the Owner and Creator of the universe, has the right to do with His creation as He will, and
that the laws which He created to govern the behavior of man do not apply to the sovereign
Creator of the Law. Now we may ask, Can the concept of responsibility be applied to
God?

Let us begin to expand on this idea by again defining our terms. To be “responsible” means
that there is someone to whom I must give an accounting. Dr. Clark gave a succinct
definition:
“A man is responsible if he must answer for what he does. Let us then define
the term by saying that a person is responsible if he can be justly rewarded or

60
Psalm 50:9-12.

61
Hebrews 6:18.

62
Deuteronomy 29:29.

269
 punished for his deeds. This implies, of course, that he must be answerable to
someone. Responsibility presupposes a superior authority that rewards
and punishes. The highest authority is God. Therefore responsibility is
ultimately dependent on the power and authority of God.” 650F3

So we see that “responsibility” means that one is accountable to a higher authority. I would
expand on Mr. Clark’s definition by adding four conditions which make one responsible.
First, the creature must be made in God’s image. Responsibility, then, can only apply to man
(and not to animals), for man is the only creature made in the image of God. Therefore, only
persons are capable of sinning. Second, as Mr. Clark stated, there must be a higher authority
to whom man is responsible, a lawgiver to whom man must give an account. God, clearly, is
the Law-giver to whom man is accountable. Third, in order to be responsible, there must be
the revelation of knowledge for which man is responsible. Man has the law of God written on
his heart. Even if a man never attends church or hears the word of God read throughout his
651F4

entire life, there is that innate knowledge of God and the requirements of the law, and that
man therefore has knowledge of his responsibility to the Lawgiver. Fourth the lawgiver must
be able to reward and punish. This is certainly the case with the Lord God Almighty, who can
and does reward the righteous and punish the wicked. 652F 5

Clearly, man is responsible to God for his actions. But is the reverse true? Is God responsible
to man — or to anyone or anything else — for His actions? The answer is no, because there
is no authority “higher” than God, no lawgiver to whom He must give account! Is there
anyone or anything capable of rewarding or punishing God? Of course not! “‘Who has ever

63
Clark, p. 232 (emphasis added).

64
Romans 2:15 explains that men “show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing
witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them.”

65
Proverbs 11:18; Ps 91:8.

270
given to God, that God should repay him?’” Paul asked, echoing the Lord’s words to Job.
“For from him and through him and to him are all things.” All things come from the Lord!
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There is no one who distributes to Him. God cannot be rewarded or punished, He need not
give a response (an accounting) to anyone. As Nebuchadnezzar said, “No one can restrain
His hand or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’” The concept of responsibility does not
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apply to God.

The last question we ask in considering the existence of God and evil in the same universe is
this: Has God ever compromised His holiness? The answer is an emphatic NO! All men
and women have sinned, and all men and women fall short of the glory of God. We slip, we
stumble, and we fall short of God’s standard of perfection. But God never slips or
stumbles. “Why do you call Me good?” Jesus asked the rich young ruler. “No one is good
but One, that is, God.” Only God is perfect. There has never been one instant of time in all
65F8 65F9

eternity, nor will there be, when God said, “Oops, I just slipped up and sinned.” He has never
compromised His holiness. Consider these verses of Scripture:
“He is the Rock, His work is perfect; for all His ways are justice, a God of truth and without
injustice; righteous and upright is He.”

“As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the Lord is proven.”

“Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.”

“For the word of the Lord is right, and all His work is done in truth. He loves righteousness
and justice; the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.”

“You (O Lord) are good, and do good.”

66
Romans 11:35-36 (NIV).

67
Daniel 4:35.

68
Luke 18:19.

69
Matthew 5:48.

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 “O Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness
you have done marvelous things, things planned long ago.”

“It is impossible for God to lie.”

“Righteous are you, O Lord, and your laws are right. The statutes you have laid down are
righteous; they are fully trustworthy.”

“Good and upright is the Lord.”

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father ...”

“Let God be true but every man a liar.”

“Oh, Taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trust in Him!”

“The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth.” 756F 0

These are merely a small sampling of the hundreds of verses in Scripture which assert God’s perfect
goodness. God’s decrees are perfect, His deeds are righteous, and His word is proven and
trustworthy, for He is perfectly faithful and righteous, “glorious in holiness.” God’s goodness is 7568F1

revealed in His justice. His marvelous plan of salvation is a perfect demonstration of “His
righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” We often 7569F 2

speak of God’s love and God’s mercy, but it is important to remember that God’s perfect justice is
perhaps the most important manifestation of His goodness! The Lord God Almighty has never
compromised His holiness. Dear Reader, I’ve said it before, and I repeat most emphatically here: We
must let the word be the word, and let God be God! All Scripture is God breathed, and every word
of it is true. That Scripture asserts most emphatically that the sovereign God of the universe is
perfectly just, perfectly holy, and perfectly righteous. At this point we are confronted with a decision:
Are we going to believe that word? Are we going to accept the Scriptures as the true and perfect

70
Deuteronomy 32:4; 2 Samuel 22:31; 1 Chronicles 16:34; Psalm 33:4-5; Psalm 119:68; Isaiah 25:1; Hebrews 6:18; Psalm 119:137-138
(NIV); Psalm 25:8; James 1:17 (NIV); Romans 3:4; Psalm 34:8; Exodus 34:6.

71
Exodus 15:11.

72
Romans 3:26.

272
testimony to the character of the living God? Will we believe what the word of God says about God’s
goodness and holiness? Will we trust that teaching, or will we insist that God must conform to some
other standard of “righteousness” that we believe is superior to God’s righteousness?

“Not So, Lord!”

Oh, how some wrestle with this doctrine! The apostle Peter had a terrible time coming to
grips with the sovereignty of God. We see this on several occasions. “Jesus began to show to
His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief
priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day. Then Peter took Him aside and
began to rebuke Him, saying, ‘Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!’”
Jesus responded sharply, telling Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for
you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.” Recall that Jesus was “the
750F 3

Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” We read in Acts 2:23 that Jesus’ suffering and
death had been foreordained “by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God.” Yet
Peter began to rebuke God for His plan of salvation! “This shall not happen!”

Just hours before His death, Jesus modeled for His disciples the heart of humility that is
required of a servant of the Lord. One by one, He knelt before the disciples and washed their
feet. “Then He came to Simon Peter. And Peter said to Him, ‘Lord, are You washing my
feet?’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘What I am doing you do not understand now, but you
will know after this.’ Peter said to Him, ‘You shall never wash my feet!’” Once again, we see
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God telling Peter, “This is My decree,” and Peter protesting, “But Lord, this is wrong!” And
once again, Jesus corrected Peter: “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.”

73
Matthew 16:21-23.

74
John 13:6-8.

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Even after the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, Peter still struggled
with this concept, as so many of us do. In Acts 10, we read that Peter fell into a trance, during
which the Lord spoke to Peter and taught him. While in the trance, Peter saw “heaven
opened and an object like a great sheet bound at the four corners, descending to him and let
down to the earth. In it were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts,
creeping things, and birds of the air. And a voice came to him, ‘Rise, Peter; kill and eat.’ But
Peter said, ‘Not so, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean.’” God
patiently, lovingly helped Peter adjust his thinking. “And a voice spoke to him again the
second time, ‘What God has cleansed you must not call common.’” 752F5

In all three instances we see Peter resisting the sovereign decree of God. “This is wrong,
Lord,” Peter would protest, probably believing himself quite righteous in doing so. Contrast
Peter’s objections with the behavior of Abraham. In fairness to Peter, I should point out that
at the time of Abraham’s great test he was much older than Peter, and had probably made a
great many more mistakes than Peter. Abraham, just like Peter -- and just like you and I --
learned the hard way! But when the word of the Lord came to Abraham, “Take your son,
your only son Isaac, whom you love ... and offer him there as a burnt offering,” Abraham did
not argue and he did not delay. He set out the next morning to obey the command of the
sovereign Lord. As Abraham and Isaac climbed Mount Moriah, Isaac asked that terrible
question: “Where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” There is no record that Abraham
hesitated for even a second over his reply. “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb
for a burnt offering.” Abraham had come to a complete understanding of the perfect
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righteousness of the sovereign God! If God said, “Kill Isaac,” then that command was pure

75
Acts 10:11-15.

76
Genesis 22:7-8.

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and holy and righteous, and to disobey -- or even to argue -- would be a sin, because
Abraham would have been working to subvert God’s perfect and holy plan.
Job, like Abraham, had a perfect understanding of God’s divine sovereignty. Despite having
just learned of the deaths of all his children and the most devastating financial losses, Job
worshiped God! “In all this,” the Scriptures report, “Job did not sin nor charge God with
wrong.” When Job’s wife urged him to “Curse God and die,” Job responded that she
sounded like a fool. Job knew that God is good and God is holy, and that the evil that had
754F 7

befallen him was just one small part of God’s perfect plan. Job would not even consider
accusing God of doing evil.

Peter, on the other hand, demonstrated by his resistance that he assumed that there was a
higher law, a superior ethical code, that bound both him and God to the same standard!
These ethical absolutes were, in Peter’s mind, binding on man and on God, as well! Again,
although I’m sure Peter meant well, his thinking was sinful! He was denying the word of
God, and saying, “Not so, Lord, there is a law which binds you. You are not truly sovereign,
because you must conform to this standard of ‘goodness’ that is superior even to your
decrees!”

When you view it in this light, it is a rather sobering thought, isn’t it? “Who are you, O man,
to talk back to God?” I have seen a great many present-day Christian men and women
stumble into the same kind of sinful thinking as Peter. They talk back to God! They reason,
“God just cannot be good if He decrees evil acts. God is not good.” Where these men and
women fall short of the point of complete understanding is that they think of decreeing
evil in the same way as they think of committing evil. God cannot sin. He is too pure to
even look upon sin, it is impossible for Him to lie, and He in no way will commit an evil act.
God decrees sin, without being the author or the agent of that sin. He is not the one who

77
Job 2:9-10.

275
commits the sin. God is the decretive first cause of sin, but He is not responsible for the
evil acts of man. Man is the author and the culpable agent of his sin.

276
Gordon Clark used a superb, simple illustration to help answer the question of whether God
is the author or agent of sin. Look at the author’s name on the cover of this book you hold in
your hands. It reads, “Jack Lannom.” I am the author of this book, and I am responsible for
the contents. Now, you and I know from the Scriptural evidence presented throughout this
chapter that God is the primary cause of the writing of this book. He sovereignly decreed
that Jack Lannom would write a book titled Legacy. However, I am responsible for this
work. I am the secondary cause, the person who committed the act of writing this book.
There will come a day when I will stand before the judgment seat of Christ and give an
accounting for any inaccuracies that might occur in this work.

Although God decreed the writing of The Legacy and is the primary, decretive cause for its
creation, I am the secondary cause for this book, and I am still responsible for the action
and the outcome. While God is the decretive cause for evil, it is also true that God cannot
sin. His nature will not allow it! Man is the secondary cause for evil events, and God works
through these secondary causes to accomplish His perfect and holy ends. Jesus said,
“Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him
if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea.” Man
75F8

is accountable for his actions because the truth has been revealed through God’s word, and
God’s truth is also written indelibly on man’s heart. God is the higher authority who will
reward His children for their good works, and who will punish the children of the devil for
their evil.

Why Is Man Responsible for His Sins, if God is Sovereign?

78
Matthew 18:6.

290
We read that “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things which are
revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.”756F9

These “secret things” belong to God, and man is not responsible for that which God has not
revealed to him. But there are those things which have been revealed to us -- the truths
contained in the word of God -- and for these truths we are responsible. Sovereignty does
not absolve humanity of responsibility, but actually establishes the basis for our
responsibility to God! God has revealed Himself to man both internally and externally. He
has revealed Himself to us internally, through the work of the law written in our hearts and
our consciences, as Romans 2:15 attests, and God has also revealed Himself and His law to
us externally, by His written word. As the only sovereign Lawgiver, God has the power to
provide eternal rewards for our deeds that are done to His glory, and also the power to punish
the unsaved for their acts of sin and rebellion.

All men and women, both the saved and the lost, will give a response (an accounting) to God
for their thoughts, deeds, and actions. You might ask, “How can the unsaved man or woman,
857F0

whose mind is hostile to God, who cannot please God, still be held responsible for his or her
actions? The answer, as always, is found in the pages of the Bible. Paul began the Epistle to
the Romans by explaining the responsibility of all men to the law of God: “For the wrath of
God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who
suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in
them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible
attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal
power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God,
they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and

79
Deuteronomy 29:29.

80
Revelation 20:12.

291
their foolish hearts were darkened.” Paul continued in the second chapter of his letter to
857F1

explain that the unsaved “show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience
also bearing witness.” We all have an innate moral framework written in our hearts. We may
8579F2

reject the God of Scripture with our mouths and our hearts may burn with sin; we may follow
the pattern described by the Psalmist: “Why do the wicked renounce God? He has said in his
heart, ‘You will not require an account.’” However, in spite of our sin there is an inner
850F3

witness -- which we often call our conscience -- which knows that there is a God who will
judge our actions, but we have suppressed that truth in our unrighteousness. After one of the
dreadful plagues that God sent against the people of Egypt, Pharaoh confessed to Moses and
Aaron, “I have sinned against the Lord your God.” Pharaoh was a pagan, a polytheist who
851F4

believed that there many “gods.” But his conscience, the law of God written on his heart,
called him to account. He admitted his guilt, even as he persisted in his sinful behavior!
The very best example of the relationship between God’s primary cause and man’s secondary
cause and responsibility for sin is revealed by the betrayal and death of Jesus Christ. Acts
4:27-28 unequivocally states that God is the primary cause of the death of Christ: “For truly
against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with
the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together to do whatever Your hand and
Your purpose determined before to be done.” God was the primary, decretive cause of the
death of Christ, who was “delivered by the determined purpose of the foreknowledge of
God.” And yet the men involved are fully responsible for their actions! Peter directly
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confronted the people of Israel with their sin: “[Jesus of Nazareth], being delivered by the

81
Romans 1:18-21.

82
Romans 2:15.

83
Psalm 10:13.

84
Exodus 10:16.

85
Acts 2:28.

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determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have
crucified, and put to death.” Do you see how Peter acknowledged both the primary and
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secondary causes of the crucifixion of Christ? The primary cause was the determined
purpose of God. The secondary cause was the lawless hands of men. If these men were not
responsible for their actions, then Peter would not have called their actions lawless. God
used these men as the agents who carried out God’s perfect plan of salvation, a plan that
the Lord had outlined for Satan in the garden of Eden, “You shall bruise His (Christ’s) heel.” 854F7

Having uttered this prophecy, indeed, having decreed the death of Christ from before the
foundation of the world, “It pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief.” This
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was accomplished that Jesus, “by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone,” to
accomplish God’s eternal purpose of “bringing many sons to glory.” God’s plan reveals the
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perfect, eternal wisdom of His glorious mind. God’s plan is the best plan that could possibly
have been formulated, simply because it was created by the majestic mind of sovereign
grace!

Someone might say, “But that just isn’t fair! Judas and Herod and Pilate shouldn’t be
condemned for an action that God had predetermined.” But if any of us believe that, then we
believe that we are wiser than God! We are saying in our hearts, “God, you’re pretty wise,
but I am wiser. I could have come up with a better plan of salvation. You’re pretty merciful,
but I would have been more fair to Pilate and Judas, and to the people of Jericho.” When we
think this way, we are thinking like Satan; we believe that we are “like God, knowing good

86
Acts 2:23.

87
Genesis 3:16.

88
Isaiah 53:10.

89
Hebrews 2:9-10.

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and evil.” Dear Reader, please don’t be offended, but the plain truth is that such thinking is
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idolatrous. If we think this way, we are maligning the infinite wisdom of God, and exalting
ourselves. We believe that we could have done it better, that we could be more just, more fair,
more wise than God! We are saying, “I would be a better Sovereign Ruler than you!”

Sola Deo Gloria!

We must remember, when we consider a question such as “Does God have the right to do
with His creation as He pleases?” the answer is that God has the absolute right! We must
remember that God’s main goal is not the happiness and comfort and welfare of all of
His creatures. God’s goal is Himself. He is working all the events of history to His glory,
not man’s glory! Creation is not man-centered. Creation was not designed to give glory to
man, but to give glory to the Creator. 958F1

All too often sinful men and women (and that means all men and women) labor to develop a
theology that is man-centered, rather than God-centered. All too often, we define what is
“good” in terms of what is good for the creature! The cross of Christ is not man-centered. We
like to say that Christ died to atone for the sins of His redeemed ones. Our focus is on man,
i.e., the redeemed. While it is true that Christ died to save sinners, the main reason He died
on the cross was that God’s justice and God’s grace would be magnified! God, not man, is
glorified in the sacrificial death of Christ! We must develop a God-centered definition of
“good.”
A friend of mine recently asked me a question: “Jack, do you mean to say that if one of your
daughters was kidnapped, brutalized, and murdered by some lunatic that you would sit here

90
Genesis 3:5

91
See Psalm 19:1-4.

294
and tell me that God is good? Could you still say that?” My answer: Yes. I would tell
everyone in my family that God is good. That is the only response consistent with the
justice, sovereignty and goodness of God. It was the response of Job when he learned of the
violent deaths of all of his children: “‘The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed
be the name of the Lord.’ In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong.” 958F2

The Greatest Evil of All

Dear Reader, if you are still struggling with the concept of God actually decreeing evil acts,
let me ask you a question: Do you praise God for the death of His Son on the cross? Every
week we go to church and offer up prayers and songs of praise and thanksgiving for the
sacrificial death of Jesus Christ. We thank God for His grace, and praise Him for His
amazing love, a love that decreed that God, Himself, would suffer and die so that you and I
might live forever with Him in eternity. But have you ever stopped to consider that the death
of Jesus Christ -- from cowardly Judas accepting thirty pieces of silver (which was the going
price for the purchase of a slave), to the kangaroo court in which He was tried, to the
mocking brutality of the Roman soldiers, who beat Jesus so badly that he could not be
recognized, to His hideous death on the cross -- this crime was the most heinous crime, the
most vile act in all of history? It was the murder of God! There is no act more monstrous or
despicable than that. And this act was decreed by God before the foundation of the world.

“But Jack,” you might protest, “think of the slaughter of millions of innocents throughout the
twentieth century alone!” Is that a greater crime than the slaughter of the Creator of all men
and women? The most incredible atrocities in all recorded history pale into insignificance
compared to this, the ultimate outrage! “Think of the torture of men and women that has
taken place in concentration camps throughout the world,” you persist. Was that torture more

92
Job 1:21-22.

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awful than the torture that the Son of God experienced? No one has ever experienced the
unspeakable agony that Jesus Christ suffered that day.

Men did their worst to God on that awful day. They mocked Him and they spit upon Him.
The Roman scourging was so violent -- actually tearing the victim’s skin so cruelly that the
backbone was often exposed -- that it is likely that Jesus would have died from that
experience alone. Then came the cross, with the sharp, searing pain of heavy iron spikes
being driven through His wrists and His feet, followed by the terrible struggle to breath,
during which our Lord had to push Himself upright on that cruel spike through His feet in
order to draw in each shuddering breath. We derive our English word excruciating from the
concept of crucifixion. It was a horrible, fiendish death that Roman law would not allow to
be visited on a Roman citizen, but only on aliens and “barbarians.”

And yet, with all that man could do to torture Jesus Christ -- and the Romans were experts --
Christ’s physical torment was only a tiny fraction of the horror He would experience that
dark day. As He hung there upon the cross, God the Father poured out His wrath on the Son
for all the sins of every man, woman, and child who has ever and will ever trust in Christ as
Savior. The hatred and condemnation that God Almighty holds in His heart for centuries of
murder and mayhem, lies, greed, hatred, lust, theft, covetousness, and hundreds of other
violations of the perfect will of God was visited on the Son. God imputed all those sins to His
Son, and then treated Him as if He were guilty of your sins, and mine, and the sins of
millions of others. “The punishment that brought us peace was upon him.” As He hung there
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on the cross, He mustered the strength to gasp out the despairing cry of a damned soul: “My
God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” There is no one who has ever experienced the
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93
Isaiah 53:5 (NIV).

94
Matthew 27:46.

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absolute and utter horror and despair that our Savior suffered for six agonizing hours as He
hung there, while a bloodthirsty mob shouted and cheered and mocked His slow, torturous
death. “When He came into the world, He said: Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but
a body You have prepared for Me.’” God prepared that body for Him ... to damn it! No one,
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even at the hands of the most fiendish torturers, has ever come close to experiencing what the
God-man did on the day of His death.

The death of Christ was the most egregious evil that has ever occurred, and will ever occur in
all eternity. Do we thank God for decreeing that evil act? We should fall on our knees and
praise Him every day for his sovereign grace, which made it possible for you and for me to
be forgiven for all our sins and declared righteous in the sight of God! We are saved only
because God, in His perfect infinite wisdom, decreed that these events should take place in
order that the perfect righteousness of Christ would be imputed to us, by means of faith,
thereby providing us with a free, irrevocable ticket to heaven. Dear Reader, I pray that you
will never question God’s mercy, God’s love, God’s justice, or God’s goodness, because all
those doubts were answered for all God’s adopted children in one glorious, triumphant cry,
“It is finished!” 953F6

God Hates Evil, But God Uses Evil

As we draw near to the close of this discussion of the existence of God and evil, I want to
emphasize one last thought: Evil is not good in disguise. Eastern mysticism teaches that
good and evil are all interconnected, that good is evil and evil is good. This in no way reflects
the truth of Christianity. God hates evil with a holy hatred. He will punish with perfect
justice the wicked acts of all those who reject the pardon that is offered by the substitutionary

95
Hebrews 10:5.

96
John 19:30.

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death of His Son. But God will use that evil to glorify Himself! God, in His holy, infinite,
eternal wisdom decreed that the best vehicle to display His wrath and His justice was to
create creatures who fell under that justice and incurred that wrath. Evil was also the best
way for God to display His grace to unworthy creatures who do not deserve to receive it!
Paul explained, “What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known,
endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, and that He
might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared
beforehand for glory.” God, in eternity past, decreed the evil acts of men in order to
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accomplish His perfect plan. 95F 8

All the Powers of Hell Could Not Prevail

Let us look back at the crucifixion for one last moment. God’s law decreed that none of the
bones of the sacrificial lamb should be broken. John 19:36 confirms that this was the case
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with Jesus, the Lamb of God who took away the sins of His people. Do you realize that the
beating that Jesus received had been decreed by God? Isaiah, writing some seven centuries
before the birth of the Messiah, foretold that “There were many who were appalled at him--
his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and his form marred beyond
human likeness.” God had foreordained the scourging, the beatings at the hands of the
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97
Romans 9:22-23.

98
Recall Acts 2:23. “Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by
lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death.”

99
Exodus 12:46; Numbers 9:12.

100
Isaiah 52:14 (NIV).

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religious leaders and Roman soldiers. When Christ stood shivering with pain before the
bloodthirsty mob, He was no longer recognizable as a human being! God had predetermined
that the Roman soldier would run his spear into Jesus body, for it had been prophesied that
“They will look on Me whom they have pierced.” But all the forces of hell that were arrayed
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against Him that day, all the power of Satan and his demons, working through those whom
they had taken captive to do their will, no power on earth could contradict what was
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written: “Not one of His bones shall be broken.” This is the power of the sovereignty of
God: what is written in the Scriptures, and all that has been decreed in the infinite wisdom
and matchless perfection of His will shall occur. But not one bird will fall, not one bone will
be broken, unless God has foreordained it.

After all I have written here, I know that there are some of you who will still struggle with
this doctrine. Please, don’t be angry with me for introducing you to this idea, and don’t be
angry with yourself for not being able to accept it! Remember that as great a hero of the faith
as was the apostle Peter, he, like many other saints, struggled to comprehend God’s
sovereignty. I encourage you to pray, and ask God for wisdom, and study the Scriptures that I
have included in this chapter. I ask you, too, to remember some of the spiritual giants who
embraced this doctrine. The apostle Paul wrote about it extensively. Abraham had his knife
poised over his own son’s heart, so complete was his belief in the absolute goodness and
sovereignty of God. Job praised God for His sovereignty in the midst of catastrophe. When
David was fleeing from Absalom and those with him who were seeking to take David’s life,
a man named Shimei cursed David and threw stones at him. One of David’s advisors wanted
to kill Shimei for his disgraceful treatment of the king, but David would have none of it: “If
he is cursing because the Lord said to him, ‘Curse David,’ who can ask, ‘Why do you do

101
Zechariah 12:10.

102
2 Timothy 2:26.

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this?’” Years later, Paul would echo David, rebuking those who would question God’s
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sovereign decrees, asking, “Who are you, O man, to talk back to God?” Martin Luther and
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John Calvin wrote extensively about God’s divine sovereignty. These men all had something
in common: they were spiritually mature Christians who loved and understood the goodness
and the sovereign majesty of God. We would all do well to ask God to give us the wisdom
that He bestowed on these great men of faith.

Why Should We Pray, if God is Sovereign?

This is another question that I’ll hear often when I am teaching others about the sovereignty
of God. “If God has foreordained every event that will take place throughout history, what is
the point of prayer? God has already decreed what will take place. He isn’t going to alter a
plan that was formulated before the creation of the world just because I ask Him to!” Dear
Reader, prayer, rather than being rendered profit-less by the sovereignty of God, is instead
even more purposeful! Prayer is profoundly purposeful and efficacious because it pleased
God, in the eternal counsel of His will, to ordain prayer as part of the means through which
He accomplishes His holy decrees. God’s sovereignty is not an impediment to prayer; it
should be the impetus for our prayers, because we can pray with a renewed sense of holy
confidence that all our prayers were woven into the intricate tapestry of God’s sovereign plan
long before the foundation of the world!

103
2 Samuel 16:10 (NIV).

104
Romans 9:20 (NIV).

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Prayer does not change God, but it is the means to God’s perfect ends. Our prayers are part
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of the “good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” that Paul wrote of in his
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letter to the Ephesians. We must understand that prayer does not alter God’s eternal decrees,
but our prayers are a part of the means that God has foreordained to bring about His holy
ends. Prayer is a holy means to a holy end. There is a foreordained end, and also
foreordained means. Just as God decreed that Judas, Herod, and Pilate would be the means to
condemn Christ to the cross, He also decreed that your prayers would be the means through
which a friend would accept Christ as her Savior.

The angel told Joseph that Mary “will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus,
for He will save His people from their sins.” God foreordained that Jesus’ people would be
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forgiven of all their sin; this was His end. He also foreordained that the gospel of Christ,
uttered through the lips of His servants, and powered by the prayers of the saints, would be
the means by which God’s perfect ends would be accomplished. With this in mind, let us
look at some reasons why God’s people are to “pray without ceasing.” 1065F8

We are Commanded to Pray

Jesus told His disciples a parable that was expressly designed to teach them “that men always
ought to pray and not lose heart,” and admonished them to “Watch and pray, lest you enter
into temptation.” Paul encouraged the Roman church to be “fervent in spirit, serving the
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Lord ... continuing steadfastly in prayer.” He told the Ephesians to “Pray in the Spirit on all

105
“I am the Lord, I do not change.” (Malachi 3:6.)

106
Ephesians 2:10 (NIV).

107
Matthew 1:21.

108
1 Thessalonians 5:17

109
Luke 18:1; Matthew 26:41.

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occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep
on praying for all the saints.” He further commanded the Philippians, “Be anxious for
nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be
made known to God.” Paul wrote to the Colossians, simply, “Continue earnestly in prayer.”
And he instructed Timothy, “I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy
hands.” James, likewise, urged Christian believers to “Pray for one another, that you may be
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healed.” These verses supply quite a biblical mandate for a life of frequent, fervent prayer!
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Prayer Causes Us to Grow in the Grace and Knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ

Christians should follow the clear and shining example of our Savior’s prayer life.
Throughout the gospels, we see numerous examples of Jesus offering up both public and
private prayer. We read of His glorious, public prayer of praise and thanksgiving -- “I thank
You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and
prudent and have revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your
sight.” We also see the intensely personal prayer of Christ at Gethsemane, as the hours of
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His great horror drew near -- “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me;
nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.” The many verses that describe His attitude
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toward prayer are perhaps best subsumed by Luke 5:16 -- “Jesus often withdrew to lonely
places and prayed.” Our Lord was a model of prayer, and His followers are to be conformed
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110
Romans 12:11-12; Ephesians 6:18 (NIV); Philippians 4:6; Colossians 4:2; 1 Timothy 2:8.

111
James 5:16.

112
Matthew 11:25-26.

113
Matthew 26:39.

114
(NIV).

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to the likeness of Christ. We are to be “the fragrance of Christ,” and prayer causes us to
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become more like Him.

Prayer is a Form of Worship Which is Pleasing to Our Lord

You and I are commanded, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own
understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” What 164F7

better way can we acknowledge Him than to lift up our every action to Him in prayer? We
are told that “The prayer of the upright is (the Lord’s) delight,” and that our prayers are like
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incense to Him. We are to come to God like little children, we should declare our praise and
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adoration of Him, just as the creatures in heaven continue to do. “Humble yourselves, 1268F1

therefore, under God's mighty hand,”as Peter urged all believers, “that he may lift you up in
due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” It is worship when we1269F2

proclaim our praise and adoration of Him publicly and privately, and it is also a sincere form
of worship when we confess our complete and utter dependence on Him for our every need.
“If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children,” Jesus reminded us,

115
Romans 8:29; 2 Corinthians 3:18.

116
2 Corinthians 2:15.

117
Proverbs 3:5-6.

118
Proverbs 15:8.

119
See Psalm 141:2; Revelation 5:8.

120
Matthew 18:3; 19:14.

121
Revelation 4:8.

122
1 Peter 5:6-7 (NIV).

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“How much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask
Him!” 1260F 3

But What Difference Will My Prayers Make?

All right, the skeptic might ask, we have been commanded to pray, we are to follow the
example of Jesus, and prayer will make me a more godly person. But will my prayers matter?
Do they make any difference? The answer, most emphatically is YES! Note well the reasons
that James gave for prayer: “The prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the
Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to
each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man
is powerful and effective.” God hears our prayers. He will give us wisdom if we but ask Him,
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in fact the Scriptures say that He will give “to all liberally and without reproach.” We have
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just read the words of the Son, affirming that the Father will “give good things to those who
ask Him.”

How is this possible, if God has decreed every event from the falling of a single leaf to the
downfall of a nation from before the creation of the world? As I said before, it is because
God has foreordained our prayers as the means to accomplishing His perfect ends. He
decreed before the beginning of time that He would enjoy the fragrant incense of our heartfelt
petitions! So just as God had decreed that the new home that you prayed so earnestly for

123
Matthew 7:11.

124
James 5:15-16 (NIV).

125
Psalm 65:2.

126
James 1:5.

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would become available, He also decreed that you would pray for it! This is perfectly
consistent with God’s ultimate goal, which is His glory. When our prayers are answered, who
gets the glory? Do we walk into church the following week and thump our chests about what
great “prayer warriors” we are? No! We give glory to God. We thank Him and we praise
Him for answered prayer When others hear our testimony about God’s faithfulness, they are
encouraged, and God is lifted up in their hearts.

When we understand that God has decreed our prayers and petitions, we then come to a
better understanding of the phrase, “praying according to His will.” “Now this is the
confidence that we have in Him,” John wrote, “that if we ask anything according to His will,
He hears us.” When we pray according to His will, we are praying in harmony with His
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sovereign decrees, and He will answer those prayers gladly, to His glory! Now we read the
beginning of the Lord’s prayer with new eyes: “In this manner, therefore, pray: our Father
in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is
in heaven.” Hallowed be His name: to God be the glory! His will, we now know, is done on
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earth! This is not a hope that God’s will be accomplished, it is a statement of fact, an
utterance of praise. This is why James instructed us to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live
and do this or that,” because we will only do those things if it is according to the Lord’s
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will! Similarly, when we pray according to God’s sovereign will, those prayers will be
answered -- gloriously answered -- every time!

God’s Sovereign Response to the Prayers of the Saints

127
1 John 5:14.

128
Matthew 6:9-10.

129
James 4:15.

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Look at the dissimilar examples of two very godly men: King Hezekiah and the apostle Paul.
Both men lived exemplary lives. King Hezekiah’s numerous reforms to the then-apostate
nation of Israel are recorded in 2 Chronicles 29-31. Paul, of course was perhaps the greatest
evangelist and church planter who ever lived. One day, Hezekiah was “sick and near death.”
Hezekiah “wept bitterly” and prayed that God would remember his good deeds. The Lord
responded immediately: “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; surely I will heal
you ... I will add to your days fifteen years.” And the Lord gave Hezekiah a miraculous sign
to confirm His gracious response to his prayer. 13627F0

Paul suffered a dreadful affliction also. While the Scriptures are less specific about Paul’s
ailment, he wrote about suffering from “a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment
me.” Paul prayed three times that the Lord would deliver him from his trial. God refused.
Instead, He inspired Paul to write one of the most magnificent passages of Scripture:
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made
perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my
weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's
sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in
difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 13628F1

Did God refuse Paul’s request because his faith was weaker than Hezekiah’s? The Scripture
just cited here refutes that notion. Paul was a giant of the faith! Did God love Paul less than
Hezekiah? If the amount of space devoted to each man’s life in Scripture is any indication of
God’s feelings for them, then Paul clearly would win any “popularity contest” hands down!
God used Paul to write thirteen books of the Bible. There are not that many chapters of
Scripture devoted to the life of Hezekiah. No, Hezekiah’s prayer was answered because he
prayed according to God’s will. God had foreordained the prayer and the response. Paul’s

130
These verses, and the story of Hezekiah’s illness and God’s healing, are found in 2 Kings 20:1-11.

131
2 Corinthians 12:9-10 (NIV).

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prayer for deliverance, on the other hand, was refused, because God had predetermined a
different outcome. That outcome was a message of hope that has encouraged and inspired
untold millions of Christian men and women throughout the years.

Does God Change His Mind?

I’ll often hear one last question whenever I teach on the doctrine of God’s sovereignty: “If
God has a plan that He formulated before the creation of the world, what about the passages
of Scripture which seem to indicate that God changed His mind?” Once again, we find an
apparent “contradiction” in the Bible. On the one hand, we read that God is immutable,
unchanging, working inevitably and unswervingly to accomplish His eternal purpose.
God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should
repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not
make it good?

He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for he is not a
man, that he should change his mind.

“For I am the Lord, I do not change.”

Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very
clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath.

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the
heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. 13629F2

These verses, and others which I have not included here, assert that God, unlike human
beings, has one fixed purpose and plan from which He will never deviate. His purpose is of
an unchanging nature. What He has said, that will He do. However, there is honest confusion
that arises in the minds of many men and women when they read other passages of Scripture

132
Numbers 23:19; 1 Samuel 15:29 (NIV); Malachi 3:6; Hebrews 6:17 (NIV); James 1:17 (NIV).

307
which seem to contradict those just cited. For example, we read in Amos 7 that God gave
Amos a vision of swarms of locusts devouring the crops of the people of Israel. Amos wrote,
“And so it was ... that I said: ‘O Lord God, forgive, I pray! Oh, that Jacob may stand, for he
is small!’ So the Lord relented concerning this. ‘It shall not be,’ said the Lord.” This verse
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would certainly seem to indicate that by relenting, or repenting, God had changed His mind!

Nor is this the only troublesome spot in Scripture. We read that God sent Jonah to Nineveh in
order to prophesy that the city would be destroyed. Revival broke out among the residents of
the city after Jonah delivered this warning from God. The king of Nineveh declared a fast,
and neither man nor animal touched any food nor tasted any water. Both man and beast were
clothed in sackcloth, a sign of repentance, and the people prayed that God would turn away
from His fierce anger. “Then God saw their works,” we read, “that they turned from their
evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them,
and He did not do it.” Should we believe that God had planned to obliterate Nineveh, only to
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change His mind when He observed the Ninevites’ acts of contrition?

Perhaps the best known passage of Scripture that would seem to support the idea that God
changes His mind appears in the book of Exodus. Moses was alone with God on the
mountain, just after the Lord had carved the Ten Commandments on the first set of tablets,
that Moses might give them to the people of Israel. Down below, the people had turned away
from their Strong Deliverer to worship a golden calf. “And the Lord said to Moses, ‘I have
seen this people, and indeed it is a stiff-necked people! Now therefore, let Me alone, that My
wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them ...’ Then Moses pleaded with the
Lord his God, and said: ‘Lord, why does Your wrath burn hot against Your people whom You

133
Amos 7:2-3. The King James translates verse 3, “The Lord repented for this.”

134
Jonah 3:10.

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have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?’” Moses
continued to intercede for the people of Israel, petitioning the Lord to remember His oath to
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to make Israel into a great nation. “So the Lord relented from the
harm which He said He would do to His people.” Again, it would appear that prayer did
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cause God to relent, and to turn away from a course that He had already determined. Even
before this crucial stage in Israel’s history, we read that during the days of Noah, “The Lord
was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.” Are we to
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understand that God wished he had not created man in the first place? Should we believe that
the Lord’s thoughts were similar to mine, when I review a mistake I have made and muse, “If
I had it to do over again, I would behave differently”? Was God somehow less than infinitely
and eternally wise when He created man?

How do we reconcile these seemingly contradictory sets of verses? Does God, indeed,
change His mind and alter His plans because of the actions of man? In the same way that we
examined the questions about the existence of God and evil in the same universe, we begin to
unravel this seeming “paradox” by returning to our axiom: all Scripture is God’s truth.
“The entirety of Your word is truth,” the psalmist declared, “and every one of Your righteous
judgments endures forever.” If the entirety of Scripture is truth, then direct statements that
1364F 7

God “does not change” and “The Lord relented” must peacefully coexist together without
confusion or contradiction. These verses are not truly contradictory, but only appear so.

Second, we must reassert all that we have learned from the Scriptures throughout these last
two chapters. God is sovereign. He never reacts to the actions of men, but rather works in all

135
Exodus 32:9-11, 14.

136
Genesis 6:6.

137
Psalm 119:160.

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His creatures “to will and to act according to his good purpose.” If the “Lamb (was) slain 1365F8

from the foundation of the world,” then God’s entire plan -- from the fall of Satan and the
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original sin of Adam and Eve, to the Second Coming of Christ and the Final Judgment -- was
foreordained before the first man drew his first breath. God is unchanging in His being, His
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purpose, and His promises. So why, then, do the Scriptures say that God repented, relented,
or was grieved by the manifestations of a plan He had developed from eternity past?

First and foremost, we must recall the absolute purity and holiness of the nature of God.
Psalm 45:7 asserts that God loves righteousness and hates wickedness. God is perfectly holy
and good, and His “eyes are too pure to look on evil.” God hates sin and evil. Even though
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He has foreordained its existence in the universe, He is grieved and sorry whenever He
witnesses His creatures following after the lie of Satan. It is entirely consistent with the
character of God to burn with righteous indignation when He witnesses man’s evil. He will
not countenance it; He will not continue to look upon it. God’s hatred for wickedness is so
strong that even when He sees His treasured possession, Israel, committing the sin of
idolatry, His anger is such that His wrath may burn hot against them and He could easily
consume them. God’s burning anger against sin is an unchanging display of His holy,
immutable disposition. The unchanging nature of God will always, eternally love
righteousness and despise wickedness. Therefore, the Lord was not “sorry” that He made
man, in the sense that He wished He had developed an alternate plan or a superior creature.
As I said earlier, there is no “Plan A” and “Plan B” in the mind of God -- a “Wow” plan and
a “Whoops” plan. There is only one plan -- the perfect, eternal plan which God decreed

138
Philippians 2:13 (NIV).

139
Revelation 13:8.

140
Recall that 1 Peter 1:20 asserts that Jesus was “foreordained before the foundation of the world.”

141
Habakkuk 1:13 (NIV).

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before the foundation of the world, and which God will direct to its completion, to the eternal
praise of His glory.

“Well,” you might persist, “what about the prayers of Moses and Amos? The Scriptures say
that God relented after hearing them. Doesn’t that mean that God changed His mind?” To
answer this question, we must first review the promises that God had made to Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob, the promises which Moses recalled during his petition to the Lord in
Exodus 32. God had established an eternal covenant with Abraham and his descendants. In
fact, all the blessings which flow to God’s people come through this eternal, Abrahamic
covenant. We read of the Abrahamic covenant in Genesis 12:1-3; 13:14-16; 15:18-21; and
especially in Genesis 17:1-16. Within this passage in chapter 17, we see in three verses —
verses 7, 13, and 19 — that this was to be “an everlasting covenant.” This eternal covenant
was reiterated once again in Genesis 22:16-18, and God referred to it repeatedly throughout
the Old Testament.

We cannot read the book of Exodus without keeping God’s everlasting covenant in mind.
When God told Moses to “let Me alone, that My wrath may burn hot against [the people of
Israel],” in Exodus 32:10, and Moses responded with intercessory prayer in verses 11-13,
this prayer was for Moses’ benefit -- and for ours. The omniscient God did not need to be
“reminded” of His everlasting promise to Abraham and his descendants, a promise so sacred
that God swore by that these things would take place as God had promised. God had no
H 14639F 2

intention of destroying the people of Israel -- Abraham’s descendants -- because He had

made an everlasting promise to cause them to be fruitful and inherit the Promised Land.
God’s wrath is merely a display of His holy character to Moses -- and to us. Notice that
God did not say, “Let me alone, for I have decreed I will destroy them.” Instead, God had
ordained the intercessory prayer of Moses, by saying, in effect, “Moses, their sin makes me

142
Genesis 22:16, Hebrews 6:13.

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so angry that I would like to incinerate them all!” Moses’ prayer was not the cause for God
withholding His judgment; It was the means by which God had foreordained His holy
end: His gracious forbearance. In so praying for the people of Israel, Moses was modeling,
or foreshadowing, for us the prayers of our great Mediator, Jesus Christ, who “always lives
to make intercession for ... those who come to God through Him.” In verse 14, then, when we
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read that “the Lord relented from the harm which He said He would do to His people,” this
seemingly troublesome passage of Scripture is actually displaying God’s perfect
righteousness in His holy anger against the sins of man, and also His magnificent grace, in
which He has foreordained the intercessory prayers of a Mediator who will stand in the gap
for we sinners who are so deserving of God’s wrath.

We see the same dynamic taking place in Amos 7. The Lord showed Amos a vision of
locusts destroying the crops. Notice that God never said to Amos, “I am going to do this,” but
at the same time this vision was a clear declaration of God’s inevitable judgment against a
sinful and idolatrous people. Once again, Amos was a type, or a representation, of Christ in
his intercessory prayer for God’s people. God is demonstrating His sovereign grace in this
passage, and also in Exodus 32. God was not changed, or acted upon, by the prayers of
Moses and Amos. He never once altered His perfect plan of history and redemption. God
had already predetermined that He would extend mercy to the people of Israel, for “He has
mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens.” His mercy is His sovereign
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prerogative.

The Creator Never Changes; The Creature Does

143
Hebrews 7:25. Also see Romans 8:34.

144
Romans 9:18.

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This passage from Jeremiah should give you an even better understanding of the unchanging
nature of the living God:“O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter?” says the
Lord. “Look, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel!
The instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, to pull
down, and to destroy it, if that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, I will
relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it. And the instant I speak concerning a
nation and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it, if it does evil in My sight so that it
does not obey My voice, then I will relent concerning the good with which I said I would
benefit it.” 1462F5

This passage clearly shows that there is no change in God, but there is a change in the
creature. Dr. John Robbins likens this idea to the speed limit signs which are posted along
America’s highways. The sign might mandate a 50 mile-per-hour speed limit. The law does
not change. However, I, as a driver, may obey the speed limit one day, and exceed it the next.
It is my response to the law which is variable, not the law itself.

Likewise, God is unchanging in His love for righteousness and his hatred for wickedness.
God will always treat people and nations according to their actions. If sinful men and women
change their relationship to God, and turn away from the evil they have embraced, then God
will withhold -- or relent from -- the disaster that His immutable justice demands. This was
the case with the city of Nineveh. Like every other nation throughout history, Nineveh was
clay in the Potter’s hand. God had foreordained that the people would turn from their evil,
and He withheld the disaster that He had directed Jonah to prophesy. Once again, in reading
the story of the great revival at Nineveh, you and I learn a lesson about the sovereign grace of

145
Jeremiah 18:6-10.

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God. If, on the other hand, men and women turn away from the living God, in order to pursue
a life in opposition to God’s word, as God had foreordained for the cities of Sodom and
Gomorrah, then disaster will befall them. The important point here is that God does not
change; men do. As we have seen, “He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his
mind; for he is not a man, that he should change his mind.” 1463F6

Figurative Language in the Scriptures

It is also important to remember, when we read verses which say that God was “sorry” or
“grieved” about the actions of man, that the Bible is often written in highly figurative
language. When Jesus said “I am the door,” He was not speaking literally. Jesus’ body was
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made out of flesh and blood, not out of wood! Similarly, when He told His disciples that
“Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life,” He was not encouraging
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cannibalism. Those of us who love and revere the word of God, trusting it completely, must
remember that there are numerous occasions where the Lord spoke in figurative language,
leaving us to understand the deeper meaning behind His metaphors.

Another example of this figurative language is in the anthropomorphic descriptions of God.

We utilize an anthropomorphism (“an thrah poe more fizz em”) when we use a word which
attributes human features to God. God the Father is an incorporeal (“in core pore ee all”)
Being. He does not have a defined form or substance. “God is Spirit,” “God is light,” He
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does not have a physical body. Yet in order to help us understand the nature of God,

146
Numbers 23:19.

147
John 10:7, 9.

148
John 6:54.

149
John 4:24; 1 John 1:5.

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Scripture often utilizes an anthropomorphism to describe Him, such as the way Habakkuk
1:13 speaks of the Lord’s “purer eyes,” although the Lord does not have “eyes.” The verse is
acknowledging the Lord’s perfect omniscience. When we read of “the arm of the Lord,” we 15647F0

should understand that the Lord does not have arms, but that the prophet is referring to the
Lord’s incomparable omnipotence.

In the very same way, the Holy Spirit often used an anthropopathism (“an thrah pop ah
thizz em”) to describe God’s emotions. An anthropopathism ascribes human emotions to
God. So when we read in Genesis 6:6 that “the Lord was sorry that He had made man,” we
are seeing a human emotion being ascribed to the eternal God. We must not make the
mistake, as some theologians have done, of believing that God was disappointed in His
creation. God is never disappointed, surprised, or shocked by the actions of man,
because God decreed those actions before the foundation of the world. Genesis 6:6 merely
underscores the immutability -- the unchanging nature -- of God. He has always and will
always hate sin with a holy hatred. He will always be grieved by sin, and His disposition will
be one of sorrow that His creatures continue to persist in it. This is why the Lord truthfully
says, “I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked,” though even a cursory reading of the
15648F 1

Scriptures makes it abundantly obvious that there are creatures like Pharaoh and Satan who
are “vessels of wrath prepared for destruction.” It is why we read that the Lord said,“I
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greatly regret that I have set up Saul as king,” even though God had foreordained that Saul
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would falter as king, only to be succeeded by David, the man after God’s own heart. Never

150
Isaiah 53:1.

151
Ezekiel 33:11.

152
Romans 9:22.

153
1 Samuel 15:11.

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forget, “God is love.” He is “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering,
156F 4

and abounding in goodness and truth.” He takes no pleasure in the sin of his creatures;
1562F 5

rather he grieves over sin. Jesus Christ -- God in the flesh -- mourned over His hard-hearted
people, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how
often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her
wings.” However, just moments later, Jesus prophesied the destruction of the city: “I tell you
the truth, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.” Jesus
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knew these events would occur because He, God, had decreed them! His gracious,
sovereign love is always balanced by His perfect justice, in order that “He might make known
the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for
glory.” 1564F7

Dear Reader, you and I are those vessels of mercy, prepared beforehand for glory. As we
move into Part II of this book, we will see how God’s gracious plan of salvation unfolds. It is
a glorious plan, more loving and merciful than you may have ever imagined. We must learn it
in order that we may teach it to our children, and that we may proclaim the truth of God’s
amazing grace to a nation which desperately needs to hear that truth!

I want to thank you for staying with this long and challenging study of the sovereignty of
God. I have devoted so much attention to it because I firmly believe, as Martin Luther did,
that the doctrine of God’s sovereignty is “the hinge ... the vital spot” on which all
doctrine turns. It is my prayer that you, through a greater understanding of the sovereign

154
1 John 4:16.

155
Exodus 34:6.

156
Matthew 23:37; 24:2.

157
Romans 9:23.

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love and majesty of God, have reached a deeper love and reverence for our infinitely wise,
infinitely powerful Heavenly Father. I hope that you will want to join the heavenly chorus in
proclaiming, “Holy, holy, holy, lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come! ... You
are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and by
Your will they exist and were created ... Blessing and honor and glory and power be to Him
who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever!” 156F8

I’d like to close with this marvelous quote from Arthur W. Pink.
The doctrine of God’s sovereignty then is no mere metaphysical dogma which
is devoid of practical value, but is one that is calculated to produce a powerful
effect upon Christian character and the daily walk. The doctrine of God’s
sovereignty lies at the foundation of Christian theology, and in importance is
perhaps second only to the Divine Inspiration of the Scriptures. It is the center
of gravity in the system of Christian truth — the sun around which all the
lesser orbs are grouped. It is the golden milestone to which every highway of
knowledge leads and from which all other doctrines are strung like so many
pearls, holding them in place and giving them unity. It is the plumbline by
which every creed needs to be measured, the balance in which every human
dogma must be weighed. It is designed as the sheet-anchor for our souls amid
the storms of life. The doctrine of God’s sovereignty is a Divine cordial to
refresh our spirits. It is designed and adapted to mold the affections of the heart
and to give a right direction to conduct. It produces gratitude in prosperity and
patience in adversity. It affords comfort for the present and a sense of security
respecting the unknown future. It is, and it does all, and much more than we
have just said, because it ascribes to God — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit —
the glory which is His due, and places the creature in his proper place before
Him — in the dust

158
Revelation 4:8,11; 5:13.

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 Part Two:

Before You ‘Tell It Like It Is,’

Make Sure It Is Like You Tell It!

318
n the early chapters of this book, I spoke of the importance of constructing a sound
theological house. We build our house on one -- and only one -- foundation. This, of
course, is our axiom, the first principle of Christianity: The Bible alone is the word of
God. Our epistemology (theory of knowledge) provides the unshakeable foundation for a
theological house that will stand solidly through all the withering storms of life. We have
prepared the proper foundation when we assert that Scripture is our only reliable source
of truth. We must Let the word be the word.

Our biblical understanding of God is the first floor of our house. It rests directly on the
foundation of knowledge, and contains the door through which we enter into a proper
understanding of all the doctrines of our faith: Let God be God. This first floor was a
discussion of metaphysics: our theory of ultimate reality. We must develop a scriptural
understanding and belief in the God of the Bible -- not a “god” who is the creation of
man’s vain imaginings. We undertook to establish these solid beginnings in Part I of this
book, which I titled “Before You Go Up, You Must Go Down.” I visit far too many
churches in America which are busily applying brightly painted shingles of Christian
“Life Applications” to a house that is built on a foundation of shifting sand. These
churches have never established a theory of knowledge, or of God. They never did go
down to construct the very beginnings of their faith, but rather raced up to the tip-top of
the roof to try and install a shiny new weathervane.

With a house that is built upon the rock -- the word of God -- and comes up out of the ground
with a proper understanding of who the God of Scripture really is, we may now begin to
construct a solid, storm-proof second story for the home we are erecting for ourselves and
our families. This structure will ultimately contain a glorious aspect of our Christian faith:
soteriology, or the study of the doctrine of salvation. But before we learn how man is to
receive eternal life, we must make sure we are truly “telling it like it is” when it comes to
anthropology, which is the study of man. We must now let man be man.

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Dr. John Robbins asserts that “The proper view of man is second in importance only to the
proper view of God. If either is misunderstood or rejected, the consequences for this life are
death and tyranny; the consequences for the next life are infinitely worse: never-ending
hell.” 1
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1
From the Forward to Gordon H. Clark, The Biblical Doctrine of Man, NEED THE REST OF THE INFO HERE.

320
 Legacy, Chapter Nine
Let Man Be Man

Who IS Man?

All of you, through America’s educational system and the popular culture, have absorbed a
great many contradictory teachings about the true nature of man. The theory of evolution, the
atheists’ doctrine which is force-fed to every child who attends the public school system,
claims that man is descended from animals. Evolutionists insist that man is driven by
instincts and urges that govern his behavior, such as the drive for sexual gratification. Much
of the sex “education” in the government schools has for its first principle the notion that
teenagers are no different from animals in heat: they must satisfy their sexual urges, because
they have no ability to restrain their passions.

A great many men and women who study management theory are introduced to the
behaviorist theory of man, which likens man to a machine. The behaviorist believes that
man, when provided with certain inputs or stimuli, will respond with predictable outputs and
reactions. Managers are taught that they can elicit desirable behavior by creating the right
environment. This is a mechanistic approach: man, in this view, is the product of his
environment.
The humanist school, quite popular among the current crop of “intelligentsia” in America,
confidently asserts that man is a perfectible creature. Humanists borrow equally from the
evolutionist, who claims that the human species is steadily, inexorably evolving into a
superior creature, and also from the behaviorist, who believes that the proper environment
will produce desirable behavior.

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The New Age eclecticist adds a touch of spirituality to this already poisonous mix by
preaching that all men are gods who will evolve to a higher plane of moral and spiritual
purity if they will live in harmony with the god (or goddess) within. This creates a real
witches’ brew of confusion and apostasy, because the New Ager firmly believes that there is
no such thing as objective, absolute truth -- there is only truth for the individual, as the deity
within informs them of that truth.

Nowhere in all of this false teaching do we find any sense of the biblical view of who man
is! Martin Luther’s ground-breaking book, The Bondage of the Will, returned to the doctrine
of the Scriptures in its firm insistence that the unsaved man is spiritually and eternally dead
in his trespasses and sins. Luther started with the axiom -- he let the word be the word.
Luther deduced the truth from Scripture that allowed him to let man be man.

When We Clearly See God, We Clearly See Man

It is only when we come face to face with the living God that we see ourselves as we truly
are. You have probably noticed that all the false theories of knowledge that I have just
mentioned share one common thread: the idea that man is essentially good. Oh, he may have
some funny quirks here and there, and all the wars and killing are still an unpleasant reality
of man’s nature, but with the passage of time and the expenditure of more money to properly
educate and employ the human animal, he will reject his violent and anti-social behaviors and
choose to do what is beneficial for society.

These theories are directly refuted by the truth of historical, biblical Christianity. Man is not
inherently good. “Why do you call Me good?” Jesus demanded of the rich ruler. “No one is
good but One, that is, God.” 2 It is only when we are confronted with the infinite, holy,
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2
Luke 18:19.

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sinless perfection of the Living God that we come face to face with our true nature.
Isaiah saw the Lord God Almighty, and cried out, “Woe is me ... I am a man of unclean lips,
and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips.” 3 Job, likewise, humbled himself before
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the Lord “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear,” he admitted, “but now my eye sees
You. Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” 4 Peter looked into the eyes of
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the Lord Jesus Christ and “he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, ‘Depart from me, for I am a
sinful man, O Lord!’” 5 The apostle Paul met the Lord Jesus Christ face-to-face on the road to
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Damascus, and later referred to himself as the chief of sinners. 6 61F

Does Our Theory of Man Glorify Man ... or God?

When man sets out to study himself, apart from a proper understanding of biblical truth, he
will always seek to glorify himself. The New Age movement, which arrogantly deifies
mankind, is only the most recent manifestation of this historical truth. Man consistently seeks
to assert his self-sufficiency and self-righteousness. Man has been declaring his self-
sufficiency, or independence, from God ever since Adam and Eve chose to ignore God’s
instructions about eating the forbidden fruit. They had a “better” plan than God’s plan! Only
one generation later, Cain declared his self-righteousness by bringing an offering to God that

3
Isaiah 6:5.

4
Job 42:5-6.

5
Luke 5:8.

6
1 Timothy 1:15.

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was pleasing to Cain, but not pleasing to God. God had created a system that would atone for
Cain’s sin; Cain wanted to develop his own system. From man’s earliest days to the present,
he has stubbornly clung to the notion that he can survive and flourish without any provision
from God, and that he can perfect himself morally with no assistance from God. He is
“captain of his ship,” the “master of his destiny,” etc.

The unsaved man despises the truth of Scripture, because the Bible tells him that in all things,
ranging from day-to-day survival to eternal salvation, man is entirely and utterly dependent
on God. “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding,”
Scripture commands. “In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” 7 62F

This does not sit well with the rebellious heart of man! The doctrine of God’s sovereignty
demolishes man’s self-sufficiency; The biblical teaching of the true nature of man destroys
man’s insolent claims to self-righteousness. In other words, it is only when man is willing to
let God be God in all His sovereign glory that he will in turn let man be man, a creature
completely and humbly dependent on -- and responsible to -- his Creator.

What Does God Say About Man?

We will only learn the truth about man through God’s revelation. All the anti-theistic
scientists and archeologists, busily digging up bones and artifacts from all the ancient
civilizations throughout human history, will never be able to tell you who man is. They can
provide a great deal of information about what man has done; but they will never provide you
with the truth about what exists inside the human heart. Only the Creator who designed and
built the heart and soul of can do that.
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8

7
Proverbs 3:5-6.

8
Psalms 33:15; 138:13-16.

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God’s revelation about man unfolds in the very first chapter of Scripture. In Genesis 1:26-27
we read that “God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness ...’ So
God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female
He created them.” 9 (Take note, New Agers: Man is the image of God. Man is not a god!)
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Gordon Clark made the important distinction that “The image of God is not something man
has, somewhere inside of him, or somewhere on the surface, as if God had first created man
and then stamped him with a signet ring. No, the image is not something man has, man is the
image. First Corinthians 11:7 pointedly says, ‘He [man] is the image and glory of God.’” 165F0

We have already discussed the fact that God the Father is an incorporeal Being -- that is, He
has no defined body or shape. This means that our physical bodies are not the image of God
... so what aspect of our being is “the image and glory of God”? It is the immaterial aspect of
man that is God’s image. However, since animals also have an immaterial soul, the 16F1

difference in man’s soul is that he is rational and moral, and herein lies the image of God.
Man is rational in that he was created with the ability to communicate, to reason, and, most
importantly, man was created with the ability to relate to God in a way that no other creature
can. Man was also formed with an apriori (“ah pree or ee”) moral nature. In other words,
man was not created morally neutral, but he was fashioned as a moral being, with an internal
sense of right and wrong. The law of God was written on his heart. Man did not work to
acquire his innate moral nature; it did not “evolve” through “trial and error.” Rather, it was
bestowed on him as a divine gift. You could quite correctly substitute the word conscience

9
Genesis 1:26-27.

10
Gordon H. Clark, The Biblical Doctrine of Man, (Unicoi, TN, The Trinity Foundation, (c) 1984), p. 9.

11
See Genesis 6:17, 7:15; Psalm 104:29; Ecclesiastes 3:21.

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for the phrase “apriori moral nature.” Man was created with a fully developed and
operational conscience.

We see this in Genesis 2:17, when God commanded Adam not to eat from the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil. This command presupposes the fact that Adam was a moral
being, with the ability to tell right from wrong. Adam knew that to obey God was to do good,
and to disobey was to do evil. Adam knew he was sinning when he raised that fruit to his
mouth to eat, which was why he ran and hid when he heard God approaching! This grieved
God. Perhaps the most heart-wrenching words in all Scripture are contained in Genesis 3:9 --
“The Lord God called to Adam ... ‘Where are you?’” The omniscient God wasn’t trying to
“find” Adam! He knew precisely where Adam and Eve were hiding. But God also knew that
Adam had separated himself (and, as we will shortly see, all of humanity) from God by his
sin. In spite of the fact that these events had been foreordained by God before the beginning
of time, God’s sorrow was no less profound because of the inevitability of these events.
“These people ... have removed their hearts far from Me” is the mournful lament of the Lord
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God Almighty. God created a being that He could relate to, and have an intimate relationship
with, and yet that being willfully rebelled against God and rejected that relationship.

Adam’s Test
And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely
eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you
eat of it you shall surely die.”
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12
Isaiah 29:13.

13
Genesis 2:16-17.

326
It is interesting to note here that Adam did not apply any of the evidentialist, cosmological
approaches to God’s command. Adam did not say, “OK, God, hold on just one moment here.
I need to study the evidence and conduct a few experiments to see if what You are telling me
about this tree is really true.” Adam knew, without being told that God’s word was true. The
evidence of this is in Eve’s reply to the serpent in Genesis 3. Eve repeated God’s command
back to Satan nearly word for word, indicating Adam’s complete understanding and
acceptance of God’s word. Dr. Clark observed that “Morality, therefore, is based on God’s
sovereignty. His command alone makes an action right or wrong.” Adam’s apriori moral
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equipment enabled him to understand and believe that God’s word is truth.

In giving Adam the command to abstain from eating of the fruit of the tree in the middle of
the garden, God was putting Adam to a test. This is called the covenant of works. We see
this covenant referred to throughout Scriptures. Hosea 6:7 reports “But like men they
transgressed the covenant; There they dealt treacherously with Me.” In the New Testament,
we read that God “‘will render to each one according to his deeds’: eternal life to those who
by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality; but to those
who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness-- indignation and
wrath, tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil.” A covenant is a formal,
1670F5

binding agreement between two or more persons. God formed a conditional covenant with
Adam in the garden of Eden. A “conditional” covenant meant that Adam had to uphold a
certain condition in order to keep the covenant in force. That condition, of course, was that
Adam must not eat of the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

14
Clark, The Biblical Doctrine of Man, p. 62.

15
Romans 2:6-9.

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In the same way, God offers mankind a conditional covenant of works, as we see in Romans
2. This conditional covenant delivers some good news ... and some very bad news. The good
news is that if a man, by patient continuance in doing good, manages to obey each and every
law that God decrees, he will receive eternal life. The bad news is this: “All who rely on
observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who does not
continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.’” Anyone who tries to earn eternal
167F 6

life through personal obedience to the Law is cursed, and subject to “indignation and wrath,
tribulation and anguish” if they fail to obey each and every stipulation of God’s law. This is 1672F 7

the covenant of works: blessings for obedience; cursing for disobedience. 1673F8

Adam, The First Man: The Federal Head of All Humanity

God gave Adam the innate moral sensibility to understand the conditional agreement; now
God tested Adam to see if he would keep his half of the pact. In agreeing to this covenant,
and undertaking this test, Adam was the representative for all mankind. In legal terms,
Adam was the federal head for all humanity. Humanity, in essence, was on probation
pending the outcome of Adam’s obedience to the covenant works. Adam’s performance on
this test would determine the status for all the rest of humanity. From that time on, every
human being throughout history would be regarded as if they, themselves, had taken this test,
not Adam. If Adam failed the test, every man, woman and child would be viewed by God as
if they had failed the test. If Adam succeeded, all humanity would receive glory, honor, and
immortality.

16
Galatians 3:10 (NIV).

17
“Whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.” (James 2:10, NIV.)

18
Deuteronomy 30:16-19.

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Think of the role of your United States Congressman. He or she is your federal
representative, whom the people of your district elected to represent them in the House of
Representatives. A bill is brought before the floor, and your representative votes “Yes” on
that bill. It is just as if every resident of your district approved of that bill, even though none
of you were actually cast a vote on it. Another way of understanding Adam’s federal
headship is to think of the power of attorney. You might give your lawyer the power of
attorney, which allows that individual to sign contracts or other legal documents in your
place. Although you, personally, never put pen to paper to sign that contract, you are still
legally bound by that contract.

Guilt and Death By Imputation

We all know that Adam failed the test. He chose to follow Eve rather than follow God, and
sin and death entered the world through that one act of disobedience. At the very moment of
1674F9

Adam’s sin -- at the instant that Adam bit into the forbidden fruit -- God performed a legal,
sovereign act. He took the one public sin of Adam and sovereignly imputed that one act of
disobedience to all of humanity. The word impute (“im pyoot”) is a term that was a Greek
accounting term which means to legally credit. Suppose you receive a check in the mail for
$200. You go to your bank and deposit that check in your account. Even though there is no
locked drawer somewhere with all your money it, to which $200 in cash is now added, a
clerk at the bank makes an entry in the bank’s electronic ledger which legally credits your
personal account with $200. You are now legally $200 richer, even though you do not have
that money in your hand. We see the same Greek word used in Scripture when Paul urges
Philemon to be merciful to Onesimus, saying, “If he has wronged you or owes anything, put
that on (impute it to) my account.” 2675F0

19
Romans 5:12.

20
Philemon 18.

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The imputation of Adam’s sin to all humanity means that although you and I did not eat of
the fruit of the tree, Adam’s sin has been imputed, or legally credited, to our personal
account with God. In the very instant of biting into the fruit, all of humanity died, just as
surely as Adam did, as the result of our representative’s action. The death that God had
warned Adam about was not an immediate physical death — Adam lived on for more than
900 years after his expulsion from the garden. This death, which is visited on all of humanity
because of Adam’s one action, is spiritual death — eternal separation from God, and the
outliving of that spiritual separation is the eventual physical death of the body, as opposed to
eternal life.

It is important to understand that Adam’s one sin meant condemnation for all. Humanity is
not charged with the cumulative sins of all Adam’s life, or of all the sins of Adam and Eve
combined. All humanity has been imputed with the guilt of the one, public act of
disobedience committed by their federal representative. Romans 5:16 makes it very clear
that is was the one sin -- not many -- which results in our condemnation: “For the judgment
which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from
many offenses resulted in justification.” The ground of condemnation for all humanity is that
one act -- an act which took place outside of me, and an act in which I, personally took no
part.
Suppose the President of the United States decides to launch missile strikes against the
imaginary nation of Zinzonzo, because the CIA has informed him that the Zinzonzian
government is arming and equipping terrorists that have been attacking our nation.
Tragically, the missiles miss their intended targets and slam into a crowded hospital, killing
scores of innocent civilians. Predictably, the Zinzonzian people react with a blind, implacable
fury -- not against the President alone, but against all the American people! They march in
the streets, carrying signs that read “Death to Americans,” and so on. Although it is the

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President who ordered the attack, the Zinzonzians have imputed his perceived guilt onto each
and every American citizen. In their minds, although we citizens had nothing to do with the
attack, and were nowhere near the spot where it occurred, they have condemned us all for
that one sin. In a similar manner, Adam’s one sin has been judicially imputed to every single
man, woman, and child who will ever draw breath throughout history. The ground of your
condemnation is not that you, personally and subjectively, sinned. Rather, you and I are
condemned because of the one act of our federal representative.

Adam’s sin is the legal ground for the condemnation of humanity. I say that it is essential
to understand this concept because it is so rarely taught in churches throughout the world.
The one place where we find this doctrine clearly asserted is in Scripture:
“Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through
sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.” 267F 1

All three verbs in this verse (entered, spread, and sinned), when read in the original Greek
that Paul used to write the epistle to the Romans, are written in the aorist (pronounced “air
ist”) tense. This tense indicates that these actions took place at a point of time in the past.
These verbs, then, are describing a completed historical action. The significance of the use
of this tense is that the verse is not saying that death spread throughout the world, as each
person subsequently fell into personal sin. Nor is the verse saying that all sinned at various
and sundry times and places. The use of the aorist tense indicates that “sin entered ... death
spread ... (and) all sinned” at one fixed point in time. Sin entered the world at the instant
Adam’s teeth broke the surface of the forbidden fruit, and all men were condemned to death
at that moment, because Adam’s sin was credited, or imputed, to all.

The Judicial Imputation of Adam’s Sin to All Mankind

21
Romans 5:12.

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Verses 15-19 in Romans 5 relentlessly pound away at the fact that “By the one man’s offense
many died ... The judgment which came from [Adam’s] one offense resulted in condemnation
... By the one man’s [Adam’s] offense death reigned ... Through one man’s offense judgement
came to all men, resulting in condemnation ... By one man’s disobedience many were made
sinners.” Many died ... judgment came to all men ... death reigned ... resulting in
condemnation because of one man’s offense: Adam’s one action. Notice again that death
reigned, not because of “Adam’s many sins,” or because of the “sins of the many,” but
because of Adam’s one act of public disobedience. At that one catastrophic moment,
Adam’s sin was immediately imputed to all humankind. Paul minced no words in his first
letter to the Corinthians: “In Adam all die.” It is not Adam’s character that is imputed to us
267F 2

and causes our death, not his guilt and shame, nor even his attempts to hide from God or to
cover his nakedness with fig leaves. One act violated the covenant, and was applied to your
personal account with God, and to mine: “He ate.” 2678F 3

Dear Reader, I cannot overemphasize the importance of this doctrine. All of historical,
Biblical Christianity hinges on the doctrine of divine imputation, and most of us are not
even aware of it! If Adam was not a real man, and if the book of Genesis is not a literal,
accurate, historical account of the origin of man and man’s sin, then the entire Christian
system of thought collapses. If Adam is not real, then our salvation is not real! The
enemies of Christianity often realize this truth much more clearly than we believers do. They
consistently seek to attack the veracity of the book of Genesis, attempting to portray the
account of the Fall as mythical or allegorical. All too many of these attacks take place within

22
1 Corinthians 15:22.

23
Genesis 3:6.

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the walls of the church and seminary. You must not let yourself be lulled into this kind of
thinking. To impugn the truth of Genesis is to malign the plan of God!

It is absolutely essential that we understand the ground of our condemnation if we are ever
going to truly comprehend God’s glorious plan of salvation! The grounds for our
condemnation and our salvation are objective, not subjective; legal, not moral; and
historical, not experiential. Our condemnation is completely objective: it is an event that
occurred outside of us, i.e., the imputation of Adam’s sin. Our condemnation is legal: it is not
based on personal sin and immorality, but rather on Adam’s violation of God’s covenant. Our
condemnation is historical: it took place thousands of years before any of us were born, and
has nothing -- I repeat, absolutely nothing -- to do with anything within the realm of our
personal experience. My personal sins are subjective and experiential, and form no part of the
objective, legal ground for my infinite condemnation. If I do not understand the critically
important truth of the ground of my condemnation, it is impossible to understand the ground
for my salvation through Christ, “the last Adam.” 2679F 4

This is the great reality that separates Christianity from all the pagan religions of the world.
The concept of imputation is what caused the leadership of the Roman State Church to hate
Martin Luther so fiercely. To this day, you will not find the doctrine of imputation discussed
in Roman Catholic theology, unless the intent is to attack it. Imputation is a concept that is
completely alien to all of the world’s other religious systems. Only Christianity introduces --
and stands or falls on -- the doctrines of condemnation through imputed sin and salvation
through imputed righteousness (which we will discuss very shortly). Imputation is a concept
that is exclusively the property of our faith.

24
1 Corinthians 15:45.

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A.A. Hodge, in a marvelous book on Christ’s atonement, summed up the doctrine of imputed
guilt by labeling it as judicial; immediate; and antecedent to the corruption of our human
nature. You already understand the first two terms. Our condemnation is a judicial, legal act,
2680F 5

based on the perfect righteousness of and Adam’s violation of the covenant, not on anyone’s
G 2681F6

personal morality. The condemnation was the immediate consequence of the one act, not the
cumulative effect of a great many sins. Our condemnation was antecedent (“an te cee dent”),
meaning that it preceded, or came before, the descent of the human nature into it’s current
sinful state, and was the cause for humanity’s descent into sin. Adam was not born with a sin
nature. Most theologians agree that, in this regard, Adam was unique among all humanity in
that he was not born with a heart that is “desperately wicked.” Rather than being created with
268F7

a heart that is hostile to the things of God, man’s sinful nature is God’s judgment, or
punishment, for Adam’s one act of disobedience.

Three Views of the Relationship Between Adam and Christ

Those of you who are familiar with Romans 5 are already well aware of the distinct parallels
that the apostle Paul drew between the first Adam and the last Adam, Jesus Christ. I have
already quoted several portions of the verses contained in the second half of that chapter. Let
us return there now, and examine the entire text of Romans 5:12-21.

25
A.A. Hodge, The Atonement, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, First Printing 1860, Sixth Printing
1980), p. 113.

26
Romans 1:17.

27
Jeremiah 17:9.

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 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and
thus death spread to all men, because all sinned-- (For until the law sin was in the
world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from
Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the
transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.
But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man's offense many died,
much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ,
abounded to many. And the gift is not like that which came through the one who
sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but
the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. For if by the
one man's offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive
abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the
One, Jesus Christ.)
Therefore, as through one man's offense judgment came to all men, resulting in
condemnation, even so through one Man's righteous act the free gift came to all men,
resulting in justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience many were made
sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous. Moreover the
law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded
much more, so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through
righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The stark parallels drawn between Adam and Christ in these ten verses are compelling:

For if by the one man's offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift
by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many (Verse 15).

By the one man's offense death reigned through the one, much more ... the gift of
righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.) (Verse 17.)

As through one man's offense judgment came to all men, ... through one Man's
righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification (Verse 18).

By one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's
obedience many will be made righteous (Verse 19).
As sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal l
ife through Jesus Christ our Lord (Verse 21).

The following chapter is devoted entirely to the subject of the legal justification that we receive
freely through faith in Jesus Christ, so I will not develop that thought here. But it is important for
you to understand that Adam and Christ are mirror images, bearing the same inverse relationship

335
 that a film negative has to the positive print. Just as through Adam’s sin mankind was condemned,
through the righteousness of Christ all who will trust in Him are declared righteous.

Three Views of the Relationship Between Adam and Christ Held Throughout History

A. A. Hodge, in his marvelous Outlines of Theology, eloquently warned that we must not take one
particular aspect or doctrine of Scripture and embrace it alone, while ignoring the balancing factors
contained in the rest of the Bible. He wrote:
Since the revelation given in the Scriptures embraces a complete system of truth, every single
department must sustain many obvious relations, logical and otherwise, to every other as the
several parts of one whole. The imperfect development, and the defective or exaggerated
conception of any one doctrine, must inevitably lead to confusion and error throughout the
entire system. 2683F8

There are two views of the relationship between Adam and Jesus Christ which have led to a
great deal of confusion and error throughout the last several centuries. The reasoning that
provides the foundation for these views is flawed by the very error that Mr. Hodge warned of
-- and has created confusion that has plagued the Church for nearly sixteen centuries! Much
of that confusion can be traced back to the teaching of one man: the British monk, Pelagius.
The teachings of Pelagius -- known as Pelagianism -- were roundly condemned by the
church in the early fifth century. However, a diluted form of Pelagianism, appropriately
called Semipelagianism, provides much of the theology for today’s Roman state church, and,
sadly, a great many so-called Protestant churches, as well.

The Pelagian view was in direct opposition to the teaching of one of the great theologians of
the early church: Augustine, the bishop of Hippo. Although Augustine was a Catholic bishop,
he is frequently quoted by Protestant scholars, and is viewed by many theologians as being

28
A.A. Hodge, Outlines of Theology For Students and Laymen, (Grand Rapids, MI, Zondervan Publishing House, first published, 1860,
sixth printing 1980), pp. 95-96.

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the father of Protestant theology. There is no question that Augustine was the man whom
2684F 9

God used, more than any other, to establish and defend the correct doctrine of the nature of
man. Martin Luther and the other Reformers drew heavily from Augustine’s teaching in this
area.

The teachings of both Pelagius and Augustine were hotly debated during the early decades of
the fifth century. One of the very few things that Augustine and Pelagius agreed on was that
Adam was born morally neutral. He was not the same “slave to sin” that all humanity after
him is. Adam freely chose to disobey God. However, Pelagius and his followers never came
to any understanding of the Bible’s teaching about the sinful nature of man. In fact, they
completely ignored it! Pelagius asserted that Adam, far from being humanity’s
representative, merely set a bad example for the rest of us. Accordingly, Jesus Christ, in the
Pelagian view, did no more than to set a good example for mankind. Therefore, Pelagius
taught, Adam’s fall injured himself alone, not the human race. There was no imputation of
any kind, in the Pelagian view. Pelagius was thoroughly convinced of the self-righteousness
of man. In the same way that Adam’s sin did nothing to condemn humanity, Pelagius taught
that Christ’s death did nothing to acquit it.
Children, Pelagius believed, are born morally neutral, in much the same way as Adam was.
They did not inherit a sin nature from Adam. Therefore it is possible for a man to live a
perfect, sinless life and enter heaven based on the merits of that moral perfection. In other
words, man could earn his way to heaven by obeying God’s law. Indeed, Pelagius believed
that there were men who had done just that before the time of Christ. God’s grace was
expressed to man by giving him the ability to live a perfect life. As I said, Pelagius’
outrageous heresies were condemned by several church councils during the years of 407 to
431 A. D. 3685F0

29
FOOTNOTE FROM CLARK (Christian View Of Men And Things).
30
Hodge, Outlines of Theology, p. 96.

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The teaching of Augustine stood in stark contrast to that of Pelagius. According to
Augustine, man, far from being able to choose to live a perfect life, is completely incapable
of living in obedience to the law of God. He is like the man falling off a building that I
described in chapter eight. He is hurtling downward, and no amount of human effort can
restore man safely to the top of the building. Only God’s grace is capable of that. 368F1

The personality of Augustine, the man, was the perfect opposite of that of Pelagius. Pelagius,
the monk, was rigidly self-disciplined and the very picture of self-righteousness. Augustine,
on the other hand, had lived a life of utter debauchery before God used Ambrose to teach him
the truth of salvation through Jesus Christ. Augustine, therefore, had no difficulty
comprehending the biblical teaching that mankind is “is vile and corrupt, (and) drinks up evil
like water!” As they say today, Augustine had “been there, done that”! Augustine knew,
3687F 2

beyond a shadow of a doubt, both from the teaching of the Scriptures and from his own
experience that man is completely incapable of living in obedience to every point of God’s
law. We are commanded to -- but we are incapable. Therefore, Augustine correctly taught
that it is only by God’s grace, and not by good deeds, that man can ever hope to stand
368F 3

righteous before the perfect, holy God of the universe. Augustine labored tirelessly to rebut
the teaching of Pelagius, which he correctly regarded as vile heresy.

While the gaping flaws in Pelagius’ theology were easily spotted and refuted, a second
theory grew out of his teaching which haunts the church to this day, namely the Middle, or
Semipelagian view. This view correctly held that the sin nature with which you and I wrestle

31
“Jesus ... said to them, ‘With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’” (Matthew 19:26.)

32
Job 15:16 (NIV).

33
Ephesians 2:8-9.

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was God’ judgment on mankind for Adam’s first act of disobedience. In other words, the sin
nature is God’s punishment on all humanity for Adam’s act of disobedience in the garden.
Because our federal head failed to pass the test, we all must bear the consequences for that
sin. Children, then, are not born as innocents, or morally neutral, as Pelagius taught, but
rather come into the world with a sinful nature that has been inherited, generation after
generation, from Adam and the rest of humanity.

To this point, the Semipelagian view is perfectly accurate. But where this theology parts
company with biblical truth is at the point of man’s condemnation. We have seen from Paul’s
teaching in Romans that Adam’s one act is the ground for the condemnation of all
humanity. The Semipelagian view, however, asserts that man’s personal sin, not the
imputation of Adam’s sin, is the grounds for his condemnation. Rather than the entire human
race being pronounced guilty for one, single, specific crime -- “He ate” -- Semipelagianism
posits that we are each guilty for our individual sins -- Joe is a liar, John is a thief, Sally is a
gossip, etc. Our personal, moral depravity is the cause for our guilt. The ground for our
condemnation is subjective, and moral, rather than objective and legal.
While the Semipelagian view is nowhere near as reprehensible on the surface as is the
Pelagian teaching, it is critically important for you to understand that there is not one shred
of forensic, legal truth in either system of thought. Pelagianism and Semipelagianism are
entirely subjective. The ground for both my condemnation and my salvation are personal,
subjective, and inside of me, based upon what I have done and what I will do. It is only when
you come to the third view, the biblical view, that you are exposed to the objective, legal
truths that accurately reflect God’s perfect plan of salvation.

According to the biblical view, as Gordon Clark wrote, “We are not guilty because we are
depraved, we are depraved because we are guilty.” Children are born under the
3689F 4

34
FOOTNOTE CLARK, “DOCTRINE OF MAN.” p. 68.

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condemnation of Adam’s imputed sin. In other words, we are not born, and then proceed to
dig a hole to bury ourselves in; we are born at the bottom of the pit, a pit that was dug for us
by Adam! We are born under a legal sentence of death. Our depravity is not the ground of
our condemnation, but rather it is God’s punishment for the act (Adam’s sin) which led to
that condemnation. You and I are held legally responsible for what Adam, our federal
representative, did. That one act of disobedience has been charged (imputed) to the personal
account of every man, woman, and child who has ever lived, past, present, and future. It is
important to note that my personal sins will certainly add to my eternal punishment
(assuming that I am not redeemed from that punishment by faith in Christ). Scripture plainly
teaches that every man and woman will be judged according to their deeds. My personal may 3690F5

cause me to be “beaten with many blows.” But my personal, subjective guilt has absolutely
3691F 6

nothing -- zero -- to do with the objective, legal ground for my condemnation. Here is a chart
which provides a quick comparison of the three views.
The Three Views of Mankind’s Standing Before God
Pelagian Semipelagian Biblical

Children are born sinless; They
inherit no sin nature from their
parents. The lives of Adam and
Christ had no direct effect on the rest
of humanity. There is no imputed
guilt or imputed righteousness.
Children are born with an Children are under the
inherited sin nature. Inherited sin is condemnation of Adam’s one sin,
the root cause of the sinful nature. even before their birth. The ground
of man’s condemnation is imputed,
legal guilt.

The life of Adam provided a bad
example for man. The life of Christ
merely provided a good example for
man. Together, the man and the god-
man allow us to choose how to live,
based on their respective examples.
Man commits sin because of his
inherited sin nature. His sins are the
fruit of his inherited sin. The
ground of man’s condemnation is
his actions, i.e., his personal sins.
Man inherits a sinful nature as a
result of God’s judgment (penalty)
for the legal, imputed guilt of
Adam’s sin. Man is depraved
because he is guilty; he is not guilty
because he is depraved.

Man’s will is free. He is completely Man is morally guilty; He is not Unsaved man is a slave to sin. He is

35
Revelation 20:12.

36
Luke 12:47 (NIV).

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 free to choose to do good or to do
evil; man is equally able to choose
between two opposite courses of
action. The ground of man’s
condemnation is his sinful choices.
legally or forensically guilty. He is
guilty because he is depraved.
incapable of choosing to do divine
good, and living a holy life before
God. However, his guilt is based
upon imputed guilt, not moral guilt
for his sinful actions. Man’s sinful
actions are the ground for additional
punishment, not for condemnation.

Let me point out some similarities and contrasts between these three views. The most
important similarity to note between the two views which bear the name of Pelagius is that
there is absolutely no forensic, legal, objective foundation for man’s condemnation in
either the Pelagian or Semipelagian theories. There is no imputed guilt charged against
man in either theory. Man is condemned because of his own actions. He earns his
condemnation, and, as we shall see in the next chapter, man also earns his salvation! Under
that Pelagian plan, man is eternally saved through humanistic monergism. Monergism
literally means “the work or energy of one.” Pelagius believed that man is condemned by his
choices, choices which he freely makes, and he is also capable of working out his own
salvation, completely unaided by God.

The Semipelagian view differs from its monergistic cousin, in that it attributes salvation to
divine synergism. Synergism literally means “together work” or “together energy.” In the
Semipelagian view man works out his salvation with a great deal of help from God. Man
can’t save himself, but he contributes to the plan of salvation. We will discuss this in much
greater detail in chapter ten.

It is only when you examine the biblical view that you find a system of guilt and salvation
that is completely legal, historical, and objective. Man is saved entirely because of the
work of God: divine monergism. God does all the work of salvation, completely unaided by
man. Likewise, man’s condemnation has nothing to do with the personal sin in his life.

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Rather, he is condemned because -- and only because -- of the actions of Adam, the federal
representative of the human race.

Some of you are thinking, this very minute, “Wait a minute! That isn’t fair! Why would God
punish me for Adam’s crime?” (At this point, it is hard to forget Paul’s words: “Who are you,
O man, to talk back to God?”) Dear Reader, do you really believe you could have devised a
better plan than the plan created by the perfectly wise, holy, sovereign God of the universe?
Let me ask you a second question: What if Adam had passed the test? What if Adam had met
his responsibility for the covenant of works, and abstained from eating the forbidden fruit?
Had that been the case, then you, Dear Reader, and I, and all of humanity would have
received glory, honor, and immortality! Would we then offer up the same objection --
“That’s not fair! Why should God reward me for Adam’s success”? I doubt it very much!
However, it was not God’s sovereign plan to do this. He foreordained a different way for us
to receive God’s righteousness, through the atoning work of the last Adam. As you will see,
God’s plan for us to receive with eternal life has nothing to do with our personal success or
failure, either!

The idea of legal imputation is one that is rarely taught from most American pulpits today. If
we hear of imputation at all, we are told -- incorrectly -- that it is Adam’s sinful character
which was imputed to us. Once again, we wallow in a sea of subjectivism, in which we are
taught that the ground of our condemnation -- and, all too often, the ground of our salvation -
- inside of us. We do not hear the truth from the pulpits across this land, which is that our
condemnation is legal, it is historical, and it is outside of us.

The Punishment

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Some of you have been very patient. You have been reading faithfully, patiently, but
wondering when we would come to the sin which we do hear about so often from the pulpit:
the sinful nature of man. “The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth,”
Moses wrote, “and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” 3692F7

Jeremiah, if anything, was more blunt than Moses: “The heart is deceitful above all things,”
he wrote, “and desperately wicked; who can know it?” 369F8

“At last,” you think to yourself, “now we’re standing on familiar ground! I’ve heard these
verses before! What about them?” Where does the sinful nature of man fit into the picture?
Well, I hope you truly understand now that the first principle for your condemnation is
not a moral act! Rather our condemnation is legal, immediate, and historical. You and I
were condemned thousands of years before we were born! Normally, when the subject of
man’s sin is addressed, the writer or speaker will immediately launch into a recitation of
some of the many verses which assert the wickedness of the heart of man. What so many
Bible teachers fail to explain is that our personal depravity is not the cause of our guilt; Our
depravity is the punishment for our guilt. Because Adam failed the test, God gave each and
every one of us over to a depraved, sinful mind and heart. Our sin nature is the consequence
of our legal guilt.

Total Depravity

This is a phrase we’ll sometimes hear used -- “the total depravity of man” -- but rarely is it
explained. What does it mean when we say that in our sin nature, we are totally depraved? I
think when we hear the phrase, there is a tendency to imagine some kind of crazed monster, a

37
Genesis 6:5.

38
Jeremiah 17:9.

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psychotic killer, running amok and terrorizing the population. But when we walk into our
neighborhood bank, and smile our greeting at the neat, collegiate-looking young teller behind
the counter, would we think of that individual as “totally depraved”? Most of us would not,
yet this is precisely what Scripture teaches that each and every unsaved man, woman, and
child is! Let’s take a look at what the phrase means, and also what it does not mean.

Total depravity means that sin has affected the entirety of man’s being. We don’t reason
properly; our emotions and affections are not what they were created to be; our will is in
bondage to sin; we are incapable of choosing good at all. “The Lord looks down from heaven
upon the children of men, to see if there are any who understand, who seek God. They have
all turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is none who does good, no, not
one.” No human being has the capability of doing good. Not one. Not only is our morality
3694F9

poisoned, but sin affects the body also, causing it to wither and die. So the word total in
“total depravity” means that everything within us -- mentally, physically, emotionally -- is
distorted and polluted by sin. We are also dead spiritually. We do not seek God. Our minds
are at enmity to Him. Man is completely separated from the things of God.
4695F 0

Total depravity also means that man suffers from a guilty inability. Man has been
pronounced legally guilty because of Adam’s one public sinful act of disobedience, but on
top of that, man possesses an inability to do the things he ought to. Man is incapable of
seeking after God; of understanding the things of God; of loving God; of ceasing from sin;
of doing divine good (man can do good deeds, such as giving money to charity, etc., but
apart from the prompting of the Holy Spirit they are not motivated by a desire to bring glory
to God, and therefore are not for divine good); of coming to God; of believing in the God

39
Psalm 14:2-3.

40
Romans 8:7.

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and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ; and of submitting to the law of God. Man has no ability
to do these things, just as he has no ability to fly without the aid of machinery. It is a guilty
inability to do the things of God.

What does the phrase “total depravity” not mean? It does not mean that we are as bad as we
could be. One of the most evil men who ever lived, Joseph Stalin, who is personally
responsible for the deaths of tens of millions of his countrymen, a man who makes Adolph
Hitler look like a demented child by comparison, was not as bad as he could have been. He
might have dreamed up an even more vicious plan of extermination. The deranged killer who
walks into a crowded restaurant and opens fire on a roomful of strangers is not as bad as he
could have been. He might have dropped a deadly poison into the water supply for the entire
city.
No one reaches their fullest potential for evil. Even Stalin, I’m sure, was capable of an
occasional act of kindness or courtesy. In fact, I recently alluded to the fact that there are a
great many unsaved men and women, who live and die in total depravity, whom you and I
might consider very “good” people. They are faithful to their spouses, kind to their children
and others, never lie, steal, or cheat, give of their money and time to good causes, are
unfailingly kind to animals, and so on. They live lives which are morally good. What about
them? How can they be referred to as totally depraved?

Dr. Robert Reymond offers a succinct definition for works of divine good. They are:
Works (1) done by persons accepted by God through Christ, (2) which proceed from his
Spirit, (3) and which are done in faith, (4) from the motive of love to God, (5) in obedience
to God’s revealed will, and (6) for his glory — only Christians will manifest such works. 469F1

41
Dr. Robert L. Reymond, A New Systematic Theology Of The Christian Faith, (Nashville, TN, Thomas Nelson
Publishers, (c) 1998), p. 751 (emphasis in original).

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These, then, are works of divine good, and as you can see, even the most highly moral man
or woman who does not have a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ suffers from
the guilty inability to do this kind of good.

Total depravity does not mean that man is as wicked as he could possibly be. In fact, God’s
common grace allows many men and women to live lives that appear to be very beneficent
ones. However, total depravity does mean that the unsaved man or woman is completely
incapable of seeking after -- or doing -- the things of God. It means that every aspect of the
unsaved man’s being is poisoned by sin. Most significantly, as Psalm 14 reveals, man --
without the work of the Holy Spirit within -- has absolutely no desire to inquire or seek after
God.

“Total Depravity” As Defined By the Three Laws of Logic

In conclusion, let us look at the biblical doctrine of man against the backdrop of the three
laws of logic. Through these three laws of logic, we establish clarity for the ground of
man’s condemnation. First, the law of contradiction tells us that man is condemned
because of the one sin of Adam, the federal head of humanity. Man is not guilty because
of a series of sins, committed either by Adam or by man.

The law of identity tells us that man is guilty because of imputed sin. Man has a corrupt,
sinful nature as a consequence of that imputed guilt. The sinful nature is often described as
total depravity. Man is born spiritually dead. He does not seek after God. His mind is hostile
to the things of God! Man is completely incapable of doing divine good. His will is in slavery
to the sinful nature. Every area of man’s being is infected by sin: his mind, his will, his
emotions, and his physical body.

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It is important to remember that man is not a robot — he does, indeed, make choices and is
responsible for his actions. However, without the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, man will
always choose to assert his sinful self-sufficiency and self-righteousness.

The law of the excluded middle tells us that man is not “goovil”: half good and half evil.
Man is either under imputed legal guilt; or he is justified or condemned by his actions. There
can be no mingling of the two. In fact, that is precisely what Semipelagianism is: an attempt
to create an admixture of the scriptural teaching of total depravity and the Pelagian teaching
that man is sinless. In other words, Pelagius taught that man is inherently good. The Bible
teaches that man is born with two strikes against him: imputed guilt and a sin nature that is
totally depraved. The Bible teaches that man is “dead in trespasses and sins.” The
Semipelagianist seeks to compromise, by saying that man is spiritually sick. He is not
completely dead, nor is he completely good; he is a “goovil.” If this were true, man would be
a violation of the third law of logic!
Conclusion

One objection that I’ll often hear to the biblical doctrine of man is this: “But Jack, it all
sounds so grim. You make it sound as though man’s situation is totally hopeless!” Let me
first point out to you that I do not intend to make anything “sound” either hopeless or
hopeful. My desire is to relate, as accurately as humanly possible, what the Bible teaches
about man. My daily prayer is that I would be a servant of the biblical text, exposing the truth
of God’s word as accurately and as faithfully as I possibly can. I have spent countless hours
researching everything you have read in this book, searching through scores of scholarly
works written by the most respected theologians who have ever lived, beginning with men
like Augustine, Luther, and John Calvin, and ranging through the best minds of today,
including S. Louis Johnson, Dr. John Robbins, and Dr. Robert Reymond. I have interviewed

347
these great men of God, sometimes for hours at a stretch, making every human effort to
ensure that I am accurately providing you with the unadulterated truths of historical, biblical
Christianity. More importantly, I have spent even more hours alone, searching the Scriptures
and lifting up this project to the Author of that living and active word, asking Him for
wisdom to rightly divide the word of truth. What I present to you in these pages is, as best as
I can possibly make it, not an offering of my opinions, but rather an honest and open
exposition of the great doctrines of the Christian faith.

Having said that, let me respond to the original question by saying, “Yes!” Man’s situation is
grim! In fact, it is worse than grim. Man’s situation is hopeless. If you remain unconvinced,
if you think that perhaps Pelagius was right, and that man may be able to earn eternal life by
his good deeds, then look at the Scripture references at the end of this chapter. These verses
will give you the full picture of precisely where sinful man stands before a holy God. There
is absolutely nothing about man which would enable him to come to the pure and holy and
perfect God and proclaim that he is worthy to enter into His presence. “What is man, that he
could be pure?” Scripture asks, rhetorically. “And he who is born of a woman, that he could
be righteous? If God puts no trust in His saints, and the heavens are not pure in His sight,
how much less man, who is abominable and filthy, who drinks iniquity like water!” Yes, 4697F2

Dear Reader, man is abominable and filthy in the sight of the living God! Worse yet, before
we were ever born, we were already condemned by the imputed guilt of Adam’s sin, which
means that we are born under a sentence of death, a sentence passed by the righteous
Judge of all the universe. Although we had absolutely nothing to do with the action that
earned that sentence of death, that sin has been imputed to us. We are regarded by God as
filthy, worthy only of eternal punishment. To say that man’s situation is “grim” is to indulge
in the most tragic of understatements!

42
Job 15:14-16.

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But now, Dear Reader, I urge you to read on, and prepare to rejoice in the glory and grace of
God! For God, in His infinite, sovereign grace, foreordained our situation to be utterly
hopeless, in order that we would have only one place to turn for hope: to Him. God’s perfect
wisdom established that the problem would originate outside of us, so that the solution could
only be found outside of us, as well. And in that solution, the love and the mercy and wisdom
and yes, the justice of God, is perhaps most fully revealed. Oh, yes, Dear Reader, please
continue, and learn how “the righteousness of God is revealed.” 4698F3

43
Romans 1:17.

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 Scriptures Which Testify to the True Nature of Fallen Humanity
Genesis 1 Kings Job Psalms Proverbs Ecclesiastes
2:16-17 8:46 15:14-16 14:1-3 15:8 7:20
6:5-6 51:5 21:4 9:3
8:21 53:1-3 20:9
58:3 30:12
103:3
143:2

Isaiah Jeremiah Matthew Mark Luke John

1:6 17:9 6:23 7:21-23 11:13 3:19
53:6 5:24
64:6 8:34

Romans 2 Corinthians Ephesians Colossians Titus James

1:29-32 1:9 2:1-3 2:13 1:15 3:2, 8
3:9-23 4:17-19
5:12 5:8

1 John
1:8, 10

Scriptures Which Testify to Man’s “Guilty Inability”

Job Jeremiah Matthew John Romans 1 Corinthians 2 Peter
14:4 13:23 7:16, 18 3:3, 5 8:7-8 2:14 2:14
12:33 6:44, 65 12:3
13:13-15 8:43
14:17

Man Is Held in Captivity to Satan

John 2 Corinthians 2 Timothy 1 John
8:44 4:4 2:25-26 3:10
5:19

Man is a Slave to Sin

Romans Titus 2 Peter
6:20 3:3 2:19

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 A Sampling of The Scriptures Which Testify to
the True Nature of Fallen Humanity

“Every inclination of (man’s) heart is evil from childhood.” (Genesis 8:21, NIV.)

“There is no one who does not sin.” (I Kings 8:46.)

Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. (Psalm 51:5 NIV.)

The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, and have done abominable iniquity; there is none
who does good. God looks down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there are any who understand, who seek
God. Every one of them has turned aside; they have together become corrupt; there is none who does good, no, not one.
(Psalm 53:1-3)

For there is not a just man on earth who does good and does not sin. (Ecclesiastes 7:20.)

Truly the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil; madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the
dead. (Ecclesiastes 9:3.)

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way. (Isaiah 53:6)

All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags. (Isaiah 64:6 NIV.)

“For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness,
wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and
defile the man.” Mark 7:21-23.

And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because
their deeds were evil. (John 3:19.)

Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.” (John 8:34.)

And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things
which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness;
full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud,
boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful;
who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, not only do the
same but also approve of those who practice them. (Romans 1:28-32.)

The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of
Christ, who is the image of God. (2 Corinthians 4:4 NIV.)

To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and
conscience are defiled. (Titus 1:15.)

And the Lord's servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Those who
oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the
truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his
will. (2 Timothy 2:24-26 NIV.)

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. (I John 1:8.)

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 Legacy, Chapter Ten
“But How Can a Man Be Righteous Before God?” 1 69F

We have just examined the true nature of man and learned that man’s situation is hopeless:
he stands condemned for the sin of the first federal head of mankind. Man’s situation is
helpless -- there is nothing he can do to save himself. Even the acts man considers to be
“righteous” are filthy rags before the Lord God Almighty.2 We now come to one of the most
70F

important questions a human being can ever ask: How can a man be righteous before God?

This question is first recorded in the book of Job, but it has been echoed by men and women
of faith ever since. Two of the most influential men ever to ponder this dilemma were
Augustine and Martin Luther. As previously mentioned, Augustine unquestioningly accepted
the Scripture’s teaching on the total depravity of man, primarily because he had struggled
with sin for so much of his own life. Augustine’s great prayer -- “God demand of me what
you will, but provide what you demand” 3 -- indicated his understanding that sinful man is
701F

completely incapable of leading the life of unwavering obedience that would be pleasing to a
perfect and holy God.

Like Augustine, Martin Luther understood that no amount of personal effort could ever result
in the kind of personal purity that God’s perfect law demands. Both these men were educated
by their depravity. God used their personal sin to teach them the truth of sovereign grace. For
years, Luther wrestled with the confusion and despair that resulted from the teaching of the
Roman state church, which asserted that man is made righteous by an infusion of God’s
grace. Man, in effect, cooperated with God, laboring by his best efforts with the aid of the
Holy Spirit, until at last man became righteous and acceptable before God. Luther’s attempts
to rid himself of personal sin reached a level of intensity that a 20th century believer would

1
Job 9:2.

2
Isaiah 64:6.

3
HAVE I QUOTED HIM ACCURATELY? CAN WE FOOTNOTE THIS QUOTE?

352
consider outlandish. Yet no extreme of prayer or self-imposed suffering and deprivation ever
cleansed Luther’s conscience from the burning sting of guilt for his sin. Luther wrote:
These words, “the just” and “righteousness,” were lightning and thunder in my
conscience under the papacy, and merely hearing them mentioned terrified me.
In this tower, in which there was a special place for the monks, I once
meditated on these words: The just lives by faith (Hab. 2:4), and, the
righteousness of God (Romans 1:17). Then it suddenly came to my mind: If we
are to live righteously because of righteousness by faith and this righteousness
of God is intended to save everyone who believes, it follows that righteousness
is by faith and life by righteousness. And my conscience and spirit were lifted
up, and I was made certain that it is the righteousness of God which justifies
and saves us. And immediately those words became sweet and delightful to
me. 4 702F

Luther was consumed by his quest for holiness and righteousness, but until God used the
Scriptures to reveal to him that our only true righteousness is a gift from God, Luther was
striving to perfect his personal holiness and self-righteousness!

Martin Luther’s story reminds me of the apostle Paul’s quest for holiness. At one time, Saul,
the young Pharisee, took great pride in his spiritual “pedigree”: “circumcised the eighth day,
of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law,
a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is
in the law, blameless.” 5 Saul, on the surface, appeared to be a blameless man. Yet ever
703F

before him was the law of God, God’s perfect commandments, which the man who would
become the apostle Paul knew are “holy and just and good.” 6 The law was like a 704F

schoolmaster for Paul, convicting him of the sinfulness of his human nature. “The law was
our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith,” 7 he observed. Paul wrote
705F

4
What Luther Says, A Practical In-Home Anthology for the Active Christian, compiled by Ewald M. Plass, (St. Louis,
MO, Concordia Publishing House, (c) 1959), p. 1226, (emphases added).

5
Philippians 3:5-6.

6
Romans 7:12.

7
Galatians 3:24.

353
with beautiful, moving eloquence (eloquence inspired by God’s grace) of his realization that
no amount of personal “righteousness” could make him holy before God.
What shall we say, then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed I would not have known what
sin was except through the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the
law had not said, “Do not covet.” But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the
commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire. For apart from law, sin is
dead. Once I was alive apart from law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life
and I died. I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually
brought death ... So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.
Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! But in order that sin might
be recognized as sin, it produced death in me through what was good, so that through the
commandment sin might become utterly sinful. We know that the law is spiritual; but I am
unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do
not do, but what I hate I do ... I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful
nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is
not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do -- this I keep on doing. Now if I do
what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. So I
find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner
being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body,
waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work
within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of
death?” 8 706F

Many an unsaved man and woman, particularly in today’s self-centered and hedonistic
culture, objects to the law of God as being too stringent, too “intolerant.” So the complaint
has always been, because man wishes to indulge in his sinful passions free from guilt or
reproof of any kind. Paul scoffed at this licentious reasoning. “What shall we say, then?” he
asked rhetorically. “Is the law sin? Certainly not!” The law of God taught Paul what sin
really was. “Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law. For I
would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “Do not covet.”

God graciously provided His law, in order that we might know what is perfectly good, and
also that we might recognize evil. We often hear men and women asking, “What is God’s
will for my life?” In a great many instances, these seemingly imponderable questions are
directly answered by the law of God! Paul explained that, apart from God’s law, we have no

8
Romans 7:7-10, 12-15, 18-24 (NIV).

354
idea what constitutes moral and immoral behavior, “For apart from law, sin is dead.” Apart
from the law, Paul believed that the circumstances of his birth, and the particulars of his
“religion” made him righteous. “Once I was alive apart from law; but when the
commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died.” The law made Paul realize the depth of
his depravity, and his entire sense of self-righteousness died. Through the realization of what
God’s law required, “Sin [became] utterly sinful.” Paul finally understood that sin is
exceedingly sinful, as the New King James Bible translates Romans 9:13.

God’s word brought Paul face-to-face with the hopelessness of his situation. When he
compared his own life with the perfection of God’s law, he realized that his own
righteousness was, indeed, filthy rags. 9 “I am unspiritual,” he confessed, “sold as a slave to
70F

sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do ... I
know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do
what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil
I do not want to do-- this I keep on doing.” Paul desired to do what is right; he desired to
make himself holy before God, but he was completely incapable of doing it! “For in my
inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body,
waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work
within my members.” The utter futility that Paul felt was expressed by a final, despairing cry,
“What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?”

Oh, how I imagine Martin Luther agonizing over these same verses of Scripture! Like Paul,
Luther was convicted by God’s law of the exceeding sinfulness of sin. He spent hours and
hours in prayer, walked naked in freezing weather, actually beat himself bloody with a whip,
all in a vain attempt to cleanse his conscience of the guilt for his sin. Luther was floundering
in a sea of subjectivism, seeking to ascend an unscalable peak of spiritual “perfection,” and
he could find no relief for his inner turmoil. For both Paul and Luther, there had to come this

9
Isaiah 64:6.

355
stark realization: “It is impossible for a man to be righteous before God on the basis of his
own personal worth. Our sin is exceedingly sinful; It is grotesque in the sight of a pure and
holy God. All our righteous deeds are filthy rags compared to the perfect law of God.” We
can never hope to be ‘good enough’ to earn God’s approval! “If there had been a law
given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law,” Paul 1708F0

wrote to the Galatians. Scripture is adamant that it is impossible for a man to gain admission
into heaven by the merits of his good life. “No one will be declared righteous [justified] in
his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.” 1709F1

It is only at this point, when we realize that our own actions will not save us; when we see
that the fig leaves of “good deeds” with which we seek to cover our sinful nakedness are
flimsy and wholly inadequate; when we raise our eyes to heaven, pleading, “Who will rescue
me from this body of death?”; It is only then that the voice from heaven responds, “This is
My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!” 170F2

Both Paul and Luther discovered that man cannot save himself by observing the law. Indeed,
far from Pelagius’ teaching that man is spiritually healthy, and able to live according to
God’s law, the truth is that man is spiritually dead in trespasses and sins, and completely
17F 3

incapable of giving himself artificial respiration. There is only One who can bring the dead
back to life; only one Who says to us -- gently, and yet with the mighty power that brought
Lazarus forth from the grave -- “Arise, and do not be afraid.” 172F4

10
Galatians 3:21.

11
Romans 3:20 (NIV).

12
Matthew 17:5.

13
Ephesians 2:1.

14
Matthew 17:7.

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In Martin Luther’s day, the Roman state church used the words which reflect the great
doctrines of the Christian faith, words like “righteousness” and “justification,” but, sadly, the
church had become so corrupted by the redefining of these old doctrinal words that they
completely lost their true definitions. “Righteousness” had come to mean man cooperating
with God to produce a form of godliness; “justification” had come to mean a process of being
made, or transformed, by the work of the believer, who is assisted by the Holy Spirit, into a
man or woman who is acceptable in God’s sight. The great words of historical, biblical
Christianity had been drained of their biblical meaning, and these empty chalices had been
refilled with liquid humanism. The frightful deception behind these substitutions lies in the
fact that as each doctrinal chalice was handed down to succeeding generations, they
continued to bear the name “Christian,” and were accepted as true Christianity. This ruinous
verbal sleight of hand continued for hundreds of years, perpetuating this ignorance, and
common usage assumed dominance at the expense of the original meaning of God’s written
revelation. This was the situation that Martin Luther faced in the fifteenth century ... and that
we face today.

As a result of this satanic subterfuge (and despite the unflagging efforts of the Reformers and
great Bible teachers and men of faith like Charles Spurgeon, George Whitefield, Gordon
Clark, and John Robbins), much of twentieth-century Christianity is now drunk on an
experiential, heart-centered humanism. The Church has, in large measure, turned away from
the great objective, legal truths of historical, biblical Christianity, and has embraced “another
gospel.” In far too many churches, the word that is preached from the pulpit bears precious
little resemblance to the great truths that God sovereignly decreed for the apostles to write,
and for Martin Luther to revive.

The Rich Young Ruler: Picture of the Modern Believer

357
Contrast the brokenness of Paul and Luther with the self-righteous arrogance of the rich
young ruler whom we meet in three of the four the gospels. This young man sounds very
173F5

much like a product of today’s “mainstream” churches. He came to Jesus, asking, “Good
Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?” Notice that the young man
asked, “What good thing shall I do”! He believed he could earn eternal life. He was certain
that there was something within himself that would make him acceptable to God. Unlike
Luther and Paul, he had not reached the point of utter bankruptcy within his soul where he
knew that he was “a maggot ... a worm,” standing there in the filthy rags of his own self-
174F6

righteousness. Jesus gently pointed the young man back toward the law. “If you want to enter
life,” He replied, “keep the commandments.”

I must confess to you that I used to be bewildered by the Lord’s words here! As a pastor, all
my training told me that when someone asks, “How can I have eternal life?” I must respond
with the gospel! I should promptly reply, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be
saved.” Whey then, I used to wonder with some indignation, did Jesus tell the young man to
175F7

“keep the commandments”? I knew that no one can be saved by keeping the law! The
problem, of course, was with my own understanding, not with Jesus’ evangelism. I had not
come to the proper understanding of the function of the law.

We read time and again in Scripture that Jesus knows the thoughts of men. He knew that this
young man was not ready to hear the Gospel, because the young ruler still believed that
there was some good thing that HE could do to inherit eternal life! He displayed none of
the understanding of the total depravity of human nature which characterized great men of

15
The parable of the rich young ruler is found in Matthew 19:16-30; Mark 10:18-29; and Luke 18:18-29. The verses
quoted here are all from Matthew’ account.

16
Job 25:6.

17
Acts 16:31.

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faith like Paul, Augustine, and Luther. And so Jesus pointed the rich ruler back to the law,
which was written and designed to bring this proud young lord to his knees before holy God.
And yet he remained supremely confident of his own righteousness: “All these things I have
kept from my youth.” Jesus did not raise His voice, nor did He grab the young man and shake
him, two actions which you and I might contemplate when confronted with such obtuseness.
Mark tells us that Jesus looked at the young man in love, and pointed him directly at the
Tenth Commandment: “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the
poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” Tragically, the young
man turned his back on Jesus and walked away. The law against coveting had not convicted
him of the exceeding sinfulness of sin. Instead, he coveted his great possessions more than
the treasure in heaven that Jesus offered. Truly, the young man was dead in (his) trespasses
and sins, and unlike Paul and Luther, he had no inkling of where to turn for help. And so he
went away sorrowful.

Martin Luther, on the other hand, turned to the axiom: the word of God. And it was there, in
Habakkuk 2:4, that he discovered the answer: “The just shall live by his faith;” or, to be
more faithful to the original Hebrew rendering of this verse, “The just by faith shall live.”
Luther finally understood that we are declared righteous in God’s sight because of God’s
grace, by means of our faith in Jesus Christ, and not by our futile attempts at perfect
obedience to the law. When God opened Luther’s mind to the truth of that one short verse,
the great Protestant Reformation was born. Luther grasped the truth of Romans 1:17, that in
the gospel “the righteousness of God” -- not the righteousness of man -- “is revealed.” This
simple, yet deeply profound truth was the catalyst for the establishment of the “Protest-ant”
church.

Are You a Protestant ... or a Catholic?

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This brief true-false test will allow you to test the teaching at your current church. It is a sad
truth that the Protestant church, which originally formed to refute and reject the heretical
teachings of the Roman state church, seems to have accepted and absorbed a great deal of
that very same teaching in recent years.

Would you like to see how faithful your church remains to the doctrines of historical, biblical
Christianity? I must warn you that I took this test for the first time almost twenty years ago ...
and failed it miserably. I simply had no doctrinal discernment at all. Just to make my chagrin
complete, I gave the test to my congregation and virtually everyone in the church revealed
themselves to be good Catholics also! In fact, some of the very things that I had been
teaching my congregation were the points that Martin Luther had labored so diligently to
rebut during the years of his ministry!

I was shocked to see how profoundly mistaken much of my teaching had been. The church
staff tried to use humor to lighten the blow a little, calling me “Father Lannom,” but I was
devastated. Almost everything I had been taught at Bible college ran counter to the great
doctrinal teaching of the Protestant Reformation, and I hadn’t even known it! We weren’t
exposed to the writings of men like Augustine, Luther, and John Calvin, primarily because
that teaching would have shone the light of truth on the poisonous admixture of humanism
and Roman Catholicism that is passed off as “doctrine” in so many modern seminaries. Such
teaching has led a great many well-respected theologians and para-church leaders to conclude
that the doctrinal differences between the Roman state church and the Protestant church are
negligible. Nothing could be further from the truth, but this kind of thinking merely
underscores the profound ignorance that grips the Church in America today. This quiz will
reveal how much of a dilution of the truth has occurred at your church. Simply check the
appropriate answers to the questions that follow. (Rather than write in the book, you might
want to write your answers on a separate sheet of paper, so that you will be able to copy this
quiz for your pastors at church!

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1. If a person is not “born again” in Christ, he/she can never be justified.
True ____ False ____

2. Justification is not only a remission of sins, but also the sanctification and renewal of the inward man.
True ____ False ____

3. The formal cause of justification is the justice of God, not that by which He, Himself, is just, but that by
which He makes us just. That, namely, with which we, being endowed by Him, are renewed in the spirit of
our mind, and that not only are we reputed but are truly called and are just.
True ____ False ____

4. Justification is not accomplished by a person’s good works, but by the infusion of sanctifying grace which
is brought to fruition by faith and love.
True ____ False ____

5. Justification is the process by which God makes men pleasing to Himself.

True ____ False ____

6. When God justifies a person, the act in itself never changes that person’s character.
True ____ False ____

7. A person is saved because of his/her faith in Jesus Christ.

True ____ False ____

8. Perfect righteousness is the ground on which God accepts sinners.

True ____ False ____

9. Sinners are justified by grace, in that the Holy Spirit, by grace, through faith, makes us just.
True ____ False ____

10. Justification is the external, irrevocable act of God, whereby He pronounces an ungodly man or woman, in
the condition of his or her sinfulness, to possess the righteousness of God as a legal credit, and never as a
quality.
True ____ False ____

11. At the new birth, there is bestowed upon the believer, through the merit of Christ, the grace whereby the
believer is made just.
True ____ False ____

12. Justification takes place in the mind of God, and never in the heart of the believer.
True ____ False ____

13. Sinful man cannot save himself; he needs the grace of God to cleanse his heart, so that he is made just
before God.
True ____ False ____

14. Justification and sanctification are the twin truths that God uses to enable a sinner to be righteous in God’s
sight.
True ____ False ____
15. By the merit and grace of Christ, justification is the process whereby the Holy Spirit conforms us to the
image of Christ.

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 True ____ False ____

Check your answers. Statements 6, 8, 10, and 12 are true. All the rest are false. How did
you do? If you had thirteen or more correct answers, you’re a budding Reformer, ready to
take your place with Luther and Calvin and the giants of the Christian faith! If you correctly
answered between nine and twelve questions, you’re a Protestant, but keep on reading!
You’ve still got to work the “kinks” out of your theology. If you answered seven or eight
questions correctly, you’re a “Catholestant.” You’ve been taught a Semipelagian mix of
Catholic and Protestant theology. However, if you are like I was, and like most of the people
at my church twenty years ago, and you answered six or less questions correctly, your
theology is firmly grounded in the doctrines of the Roman state church. You are a victim of
the poor teaching that so plagues the church in America today.

You may be surprised at just how much Roman theology has become a part of your thinking.
Don’t feel too badly about it; some of the questions on the quiz were tough ones! The seventh
question, in particular, would probably be answered “True” even by many of America’s most
conservative theologians. Read on! You will see why some of your answers were incorrect.
You will find a chart at the end of this chapter which will specifically address the answers to
this quiz.

A Word About the Roman Catholic Church

You may be thinking to yourself, “Hey, what’s the big deal? What is so terrible about the
Roman Catholic church, anyway?” Indeed, there is a growing sentiment among Protestant
believers today to build bridges of rapprochement between Protestant denominations and the
Roman state church. Perhaps the most visible movement in this direction has been generated
by a group called Evangelicals and Catholics Together (ECT). Many of the signatories of this

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group represent some of the most prominent and respected names in Christianity, such as
Chuck Colson , J. I. Packer, the noted author and theologian, and Bill Bright of Campus
Crusade for Christ, to name only a few. ECT suggests that the doctrinal differences between
Protestants and Catholics are relatively minor, and that the two groups should join together as
“co-belligerents” to fight against the cultural decline and moral depravity that seems to be
sweeping across America today. We have far too much in common, ECT suggests, to let a
few doctrinal differences divide us when there are far more important battles to wage, such as
limiting abortion, resisting the advance of the militant homosexuals, restoring prayer in
schools, etc.

While I appreciate the sincere desire of these men for unity in what they believe to be the
body of Christ, I must insist that while their motivation is good, their doctrine is wrong-
headed and dangerous. I know this statement will offend some of you. Chuck Colson is loved
and respected by millions, J. I. Packer is considered a trusted teacher, and Bill Bright has
encouraged millions of students to live for the Lord. Furthermore, we all have friends who
are members of the Roman Catholic church, and many of them are truly fine people who love
the Lord Jesus Christ and are involved in all manner of good works. But the fact remains that
the foundational doctrines of the Roman state church have not changed from the days when
its leadership threatened Martin Luther with death for teaching biblical truth. The “Protest-
ant” church formed to protest the scriptural errors that plagued Romish teaching in the
1400's; we should not return to the very same false teaching today.

Please do not misunderstand me: I am not advocating that the United States should become
another Ireland, where Catholics and Protestants are killing each other. The United States
was founded on the concept that a man is free to worship according to the religion of his
preference, free from persecution. I do not hate Catholics, and I certainly don’t want you,
Dear Reader, to hate anyone, either. Jesus commanded us to love and pray for all men and

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women. But I do hate false doctrine! David wrote, “I hate and abhor lying, but I love Your
law.” 176F8

We are to love God and the truth of His word above all else. I have devoted two entire
chapters of this book to the axiom, the very bedrock foundation of our Christian faith: the
Bible is the word of God. If we compromise the truth of God’s word, we have compromised
our faith, for we make God out to be a liar. If we do not trust the word of God alone, but
insist on incorporating the teaching of men — no matter how sincere those men may be —
we have irrevocably added the poison of human sin into the pure, living water of God’s
word. We know that “No one is good but One, that is, God.” Therefore, it is impossible for
17F 9

man to add anything that is good to the word of God! Scripture tells us to “Abhor what is
evil. Cling to what is good.” We must avoid the poisonous admixture of man’s teaching
2718F0

seeking to alter or “improve” on the Scriptures!

Yet this is precisely what the Roman state church has done — and continues to do. Perhaps
no one alive has studied more diligently, or written with more brilliant clarity, on the
theological chasm that separates Roman Catholicism from historical, biblical Christianity
than Dr. John Robbins. He has taken fire from a great many of those who should be thanking
him for his courageous stand for the pure truth of God’s word, yet he has not wavered from
his gracious, scholarly insistence that we must stand on the word of God alone. 2719F1

18
Psalm 119:163.

19
Mark 10:18.

20
Romans 12:9.

21

If you wish to embark on an education that is second to none, visit the website for Dr. Robbins’ ministry, The Trinity Foundation at
www.trinityfoundation.org. You can download back issues of “The Trinity Review,” which cover a broad range of relevant
theological topics, including the profoundly misleading teaching of the Roman state church. The Trinity Review is, quite simply, the
finest publication I have ever read. You will also be exposed to an incomparable library of books and audiotapes which will
thoroughly ground you in the great doctrines of our faith. You will not make a more profitable visit to the Internet in your lifetime.

364
In October of 1998, Dr. Robbins addressed the Trinity Foundation Conference of Christianity
and Roman Catholicism. While the entire speech is well worth your careful attention, I will
only reprint a small portion of it here. Dr. Robbins was concerned at a statement made by one
of the founders of ECT, an assertion that Protestantism and Roman Catholicism share the
same “basics” in common: “the virgin birth, the deity of Christ, His bodily resurrection, and
the authority of his infallible Word.” Dr. Robbins was aghast at the lack of theological
discernment evidenced by this assertion:
Take, for example, the single issue of Scripture: Colson calls the common doctrine “the
authority of His infallible Word.” What is common about it? Romanism and historic
Protestantism have different Bibles; Rome says there are 73 books and a few fragments;
historic Protestantism says there are 66 books and no fragments. Second, Rome says that she
wrote the books of Scripture, and not only did she write them, she approves and
authenticates them. Historic Protestantism says that the books of Scripture are prior to the
church, they called forth and created the church; and they judge and authenticate the church.
Third, Romanism denies the sufficiency, inerrancy, historical reliability, scientific accuracy,
and clarity of Scripture; historical Protestantism asserts all these. Romanism and historic
Protestantism have nothing in common on the doctrine of Scripture. Those who assert that
they do — such as Charles Colson -- simply display their ignorance of what both Rome and
the Scriptures teach.Furthermore, if one were to look at the rest of the so-called fundamental
common doctrines, he would find similar divergences: The Bible says Christ was born of a
virgin, but not a sinless, perpetual virgin who was bodily assumed into Heaven where she
reigns as Queen of Heaven and functions as Mediatrix and Co-Redemptrix. The historical
mother of Jesus, a godly young Hebrew woman, and the Virgin Mary in Roman theology are
different persons, just as the historical Jesus and the liberal Jesus are different persons ..
Christians, we must never be fooled by two people using the same words but ascribing
different meanings to those words ... [We must not think that] because genuine Protestants
use some of the same words as Romanists, or because Romanists use some of the same
words as the Bible, that they are all talking about the same thing. 270F2

These words summarize my deep concern about the teaching of the Roman state church.
Anyone who studies the doctrinal statements that have been issued from Rome, ranging from
the Council of Trent, to the Vatican I and Vatican II position papers, will instantly realize
that the Roman state church is propagating “another Jesus” and “a different gospel,” just as
Paul warned the Corinthians. 271F3

22

Dr. Robbins entire address is recorded in the October/November/December, 1998 issues of The Trinity Review. It is titled “Bleating
Wolves: The Meaning Of Evangelicals and Catholics Together.” Simply visit Dr. Robbins’ website, click on “The Trinity Review,”
then click on “Review Archives,” and then search for the text either by title or by the date of the issue.

23
2 Corinthians 11:4.

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It is imperative that we do not let the great truths of our faith become diluted with great
falsehood in the interests of “fighting the culture war.” There is an evil that is to be dreaded
far more than the moral decline — and even the possible collapse — of a nation. The evil
that is to be most feared is doctrinal heresy that can lead men and women away from
the knowledge of the truth and into eternal damnation! Recall the epistles of the New
Testament. At the time they were written, the Roman Empire was at the peak of its power.
Rome was not a Christian nation, and the abuses of power and blatant immorality of the
Roman citizens and her governors has been well-documented. I have referred to the
darkened spiritual condition of the Roman empire earlier in this book. The sexual immorality
of the people has been immortalized by the phrase “Roman orgy.” Infanticide was a
commonly accepted practice, as was chattel slavery. Women were relegated to a status only
slightly higher than slaves, and the brutality of the games in the Coliseum still shocks even
the most calloused modern historian.

Yet the New Testament writers did not advocate that Christians join forces with the Judaizers
and the Gnostics to form a “co-belligerency” against the sinful excesses of the culture. No, in
epistle after epistle, the writers of Scripture warned Christians against false teaching.
Despite the social evils that swirled around the biblical writers, the Holy Spirit inspired these
men to focus on the purity of the gospel, not the morality of the people!

Please do not misinterpret what I am saying here: our society has been beset by a host of
evils, and Christians need to shine the light of God’s truth on the culture to expose the evil
that pervades the pagan, humanist philosophies that permeate government and academia
today. However, please note that I said the light is God’s truth. We must first know God’s
truth before we can impact the culture! If we Christians merely seek to counter the
militant secularism of our day with “religion,” we are reduced to another group of loud
voices, another “special interest group” demanding “equal time” and “a place at the table.”
We must be able to share God’s truth, the pure, unadulterated truth of Scripture, the whole

366
counsel of God, and not some watered-down mix of isolated Scriptures blended with man-
centered, Semipelagian theology.

This was my whole purpose for writing this book. If we are going to pass on a legacy to our
children, then it must be the legacy of Truth! If the leaders of the next generation are going to
rescue our nation from its moral free fall, they will only be able to do so if they have
constructed their arguments on the foundation of God’s truth. Should Christians be involved
in the political arena? Absolutely! They should be the brightest, the most articulate and
engaging voices on the political scene. How do they avoid becoming just another group of
angry men and women, shouting at their opponents across the political table? They can do so
only if they are in possession of the truth!

Paul admonished Timothy, “Don't have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments,
because you know they produce quarrels. And the Lord's servant must not quarrel; instead,
he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Those who oppose him he must
gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge
of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil,
who has taken them captive to do his will.” What is it that allows us to teach, to gently
27F 4

instruct? It is our knowledge of the truth! The truth is the truth of Scripture.

Jude’s epistle was written to exhort believers “to contend earnestly for the faith which was
once for all delivered to the saints.” Legacy seeks to echo this great challenge and privilege.
273F5

We must contend for the faith with our children ... with unbelievers who have been blinded to
the truth by Satan ... and with believers who have been led astray by wolves in sheep’s
clothing. When the Roman state church — or any Protestant church — teaches that the
Scriptures are not completely accurate, that salvation comes in any way other than through

24
2 Timothy 2:23-26 (NIV).

25
Jude 1:3.

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faith in the finished work of Christ on the cross, that the words of an ecclesiastical council of
any sort carry the same authority as the Bible, we must shout from the housetops that there is
a wolf loose among the flock!

Dr. John Robbins has been savaged by critics who claim to walk in the steps of Jesus Christ,
our Savior, who commanded us to love our neighbor as ourselves. I expect that I may draw
some of the same fire by announcing my complete agreement with, and support for, Dr.
Robbins’ courageous, principled, biblical stand. I am reminded of Paul’s words to the
Galatians. In warning the Christians in Galatia about the legalistic heresies of the Judaizers,
Paul anticipated a hostile reaction from some who had formerly called him “brother.” He
asked, “Have I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth?” Dear Reader, I
274F 6

ask you the same question: If I can demonstrate to you that the Roman Catholic church is
preaching another gospel, a gospel which will not lead her followers to a saving knowledge
of Jesus Christ, am I your enemy? I hope you will not adopt this unbiblical attitude. My
heart’s desire, before the Lord, is to obey the biblical mandate to speak the truth in love. I 275F7

have some very dear friends who are members of the Roman church. One of these men works
in my office. I know that these people, whom I truly love, will be reading this book. I have no
desire to irritate them, or alienate them. I am trying to follow Paul’s command to gently
instruct my readers, in the hope that God will lead them to a knowledge of the truth.

You will remember that throughout this book I have directed the majority of my criticism at
the Protestant churches and pastors. I have stated time and again that the Protestant church
has drifted away from the historical, biblical moorings that kept her doctrine firmly anchored
to the truth of Scripture. I have no desire to bash Catholics as a group, any more than I wish
to attack Methodists, Lutherans, Baptists, or anyone else. However, I do desire to shine the
brilliant light of God’s truth on all those who claim to be ministers of righteousness, but are

26
Galatians 4:16.

27
Ephesians 4:15.

368
preaching another gospel and a different Jesus. While I still have one ounce of strength left
in my body, I will resist these enemies of the gospel who seek to subvert God’s great keys to
salvation, sanity, and civilization.

There are those who say that we must maintain the biblical mandate to “keep the unity of the
Spirit in the bond of peace.” While unity in the body, is, indeed, what we should strive for, it
276F8

is critically important to remember that unity is not based on some vague feelings of
brotherly love, or on a “co-belligerency” against political liberals; our unity can only be
doctrinal unity! Paul told the Ephesians that we must strive for “unity of the faith and of the
knowledge of the Son of God.” We must base our unity on the knowledge of the truth! It is a
27F 9

matter of fact that truth divides. Our Savior reminded His disciples, “Do not think that I
came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to
‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against
her mother-in-law’; and ‘a man's enemies will be those of his own household.’” 3728F0

When Jesus Christ walked the earth, He was very easy to locate in a crowd: there was always
a group of Jewish religious leaders standing nearby with stones in their hands! Jesus Christ
contended fearlessly for the purity of the truth of God’s word. We, as His followers, can do
no less. I hope that I have not become your enemy by seeking to follow His example.

Biblical Justification

The quiz you took highlights the fact that justification is a one-time, instantaneous act that
takes place outside of the believer. Justification is God’s objective, legal declaration that
the righteousness of Christ has been imputed to the believer. The believer can do nothing

28
Ephesians 4:3.

29
Ephesians 4:13.

30
Matthew 10:34-36.

369
to contribute to, or cooperate with, the work of God in completing his or her justification.
This is why we studied the biblical doctrine of man before we entered this exciting area of
soteriology (“so tier ee ahl ah gee”), which is the study of the doctrine of salvation. Without
an understanding of our utter inability to stand righteous before a holy God, we will never
understand His gracious plan of salvation.

Is Man “Well”? “Sick”? Or “Dead”?

When you reflect on the three different theories of man that we examined in the previous
chapter — the Pelagian, Semipelagian, and biblical teachings of the true nature of man, you
could draw the broad generalization that man, as described by the Pelagian system of thought
is spiritually well: he is able to please God whenever he feels like it, and can earn his way
into heaven based on his own good works. In contrast to the doctrine of Pelagius, the
Semipelagian view teaches that man is spiritually sick. Man’s sin makes it very difficult for
him to please God, but if man will just reach out and take hold of God’s waiting, outstretched
hand, God will infuse man with the grace he needs to become enough like Jesus Christ to be
deemed worthy enough of eternal life in heaven. According to the Pelagian view, salvation is
the work of man alone. The Semipelagian view asserts that man cooperates with God to work
out his salvation. This is the doctrine of the Roman state church (expressed here in an only
slightly oversimplified form), and it is also the teaching of far too many ersatz Protestant
churches in America today.
The biblical view is that man is spiritually dead in trespasses and sins. He has no desire, nor
3729F1

any ability, to please God in any way. The soul of unsaved man is like Lazarus in the grave:
370F2

dead, putrefying, stinking -- beyond resuscitation. It is only when the voice of Christ calls the
sinner forth that he will rise from the cold, dank tomb of ignorance and unbelief and walk

31
Ephesians 2:1.

32
This is the unmistakable teaching of Psalms 14:2-3; 52:2.

370
toward God. James Buchanan, in his preeminent book on the doctrine of justification, wrote,
371F 3

“These illustrious defenders of the faith [men like Augustine and Luther], by establishing,
first, the real incarnation and the supreme divinity of the Son of God, and secondly, the total
depravity of man, and the freeness and efficacy of divine grace, contributed largely to
strengthen the foundations of a sound doctrine of Justification by grace through faith.” In 372F 4

other words, by helping to develop the correct understanding of the biblical concepts that
Jesus is God and the total depravity of man, Augustine and Luther made it possible for
Christians to truly understand and rejoice in the great Reformation teaching of justification
by faith alone.

Salvation is the sovereign work of God’s grace. Man does not, indeed, can not contribute
to his salvation. If man is only spiritually sick, as the Semipelagianists (read: the Roman state
church and the majority of Protestant churches) suggest, the logical consequence is that grace
is annulled. Since man is sick, and not dead, there is something he can contribute to his
situation, that is, his own initiative and his own self-righteousness. This anti-doctrinal and
anti-biblical philosophy does violence to the doctrine of sovereign grace, because, as Paul so
cogently asserts in Romans 11:6, “If it (salvation) is of works [no matter how minor a
contribution those works might make], it is no longer grace.” Therefore, grace defies
addition because it is all-sufficient and all-sovereign. Grace refuses to be a helper or co-
worker, because grace either saves sovereignly, freely, completely, and eternally — by grace
alone — without cause in you and without cost to you, or it does not save at all! Hence, the
mathematics of sovereign grace is “Grace plus nothing equals salvation,” or “Grace plus
anything equals minus-salvation.” The only doctrine that presents man as a candidate for
sovereign grace is the biblical doctrine of total depravity. So how can a man be righteous

33
Jesus said, "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him ... He who enters by the door is the
shepherd of the sheep ... The sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. And when he brings
out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.” (John 6:44; 10:2-4.)

34
James Buchanan, The Doctrine of Justification, (Grand Rapids, MI, Baker Book House, reprinted in 1977 from the
1867 printing), p. 87. This is another book, like Luther’s The Bondage of the Will, that belongs in every Christian’s library. It
should be read and re-read.

371
before God? It can only be accomplished by God’s sovereign grace. As Jesus said, “With men
this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” 37F 5

The Three Great Imputations of Christianity

Let us now begin to examine the specific ingredients of the doctrine of justification. The
word that is most often translated from the Greek New Testament into the word “justified” or
“justify” in our English Bibles is the Greek word dikaioo (“deek eye ah oh”) which means to
pronounce or declare righteous. When we read in Romans 3:24, 3:28, 5:1, 5:9, 8:30, and
elsewhere that we have been “justified,” it means that we have been declared righteous in
God’s sight. Rather than seeing the filthy, vile sinner that man is described to be in so many
verses of Scripture, God views us, indeed, declares us to be possessing the perfect, sinless,
righteousness of Jesus Christ, the “lamb without blemish and without spot.” How can this
374F6

be? We just read verse after verse in the previous chapter which indicate that it is impossible
for man to please God by his attempts at obedience! So how can God possibly see any man
or woman as possessing the sinless perfection of the Lord Jesus Christ? The answer lies in
the concept of imputation that we discussed in the last chapter.

You have learned about the first great imputation of Christianity; the imputation, or legal
crediting, of Adam’s one sin to all humanity. “In Adam all die.” This first imputation is, in
375F7

effect, the “bad news” for all humanity. However, there are two more imputations which the
Bible tells us have taken place, and these have wonderful implications every Christian
believer! These imputations are the “good news,” and they are very important news, as well.
Truly, all of Christian theology swings on the hinges of these three great legal
imputations.

35
Matthew 19:26.

36
1 Peter 1:19.

37
1 Corinthians 15:22.

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The second great legal transaction which occurred according to the sovereign will of God,
the divine Lawgiver, was the legal crediting -- the imputation -- of our sins to Jesus Christ.
“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the
Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” The perfect Lamb bore the sin of every man,
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woman, and child who has ever and will ever trust in Him for salvation: “For (God) made
Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in
Him.” I want to stress again that imputation is a legal crediting that takes place in the
37F9

mind of God. It is not a change in character that takes place in Jesus Christ or in the believer.
When Adam ate the forbidden fruit, the rest of humanity did not participate in that sin. But
we were treated by God as if we had! The very same kind of accounting took place during
the second imputation: When Jesus Christ became sin for us, as 2 Corinthians 5:21 attests,
that does not mean that Jesus became sinful in His character. It does mean that Jesus was
treated by God as if He, personally, had committed all the sins that every believer has
ever and will ever commit throughout the entire history of the human race, even though,
He, personally, had lived a life of perfect, spotless obedience to the law of God. The change
was not in the character of Christ, but rather in His relationship to God before the law. Just
as humanity’s relationship to God before the law was affected by Adam’s sin, so, too, did
Christ, sinless and innocent, become regarded by God’s justice system as being completely
sinful and guilty. He was legally guilty, not morally guilty.

The God-man completely satisfied both the preceptive and penal requirements of God’s law.
Jesus fully satisfied all of God’s precepts that were contained in the Mosaic law. Never was
the law more exalted than by the life of Jesus Christ. He, Himself, said, “Do not think that I
have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill

38
Isaiah 53:6.

39
2 Corinthians 5:21.

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them.” Indeed, the law was displayed in all its splendor by our Savior as He walked the
4738F 0

earth. This perfect obedience allowed Jesus Christ to go to the cross as the perfect sacrifice,
“a lamb without blemish and without spot.” 4739F1

The Messiah then fulfilled the penal requirements of the law. All the punishments for sin and
disobedience were visited upon the Lamb of God. Jesus fully propitiated (“pro pish ee ate
ed”), or satisfied the wrath that God held against the sins of all believers. God exhausted His
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vengeance against sin on the Lord Jesus Christ. The angel of the Lord told Joseph that Jesus
would “save His people from their sins.” He did this by fulfilling all the demands of the law:
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the demands for righteousness, and the demands for justice.

There are many who stand in the pulpit and sit in the pews who believe that God’s
magnificent plan of salvation is an eternal declaration of God’s love. This is true, but there is
something which is exalted even higher than the love of God in the life and death of Jesus
Christ: God’s justice. The propitious nature of Christ’s work on the cross addresses both
man’s problem ... and God’s solution to that problem. Man’s problem is that God’s
perfectly pure and perfect nature hates sin with a holy hatred. We must never become so
focused on the love of God that we forget or ignore the justice of God. God does not excuse
or ignore man’s sin. “‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord.” God is not an all-
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powerful Santa Claus, waiting in heaven to shower toys on all the good little girls and boys.
He is a God of justice, the divine lawgiver, and those who follow in the path of sin will one
day discover that “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” All sin is
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40
Matthew 5:17 (NIV).

41
1 Peter 13:19.

42
Romans 3:25-26.

43
Matthew 1:21.

44
Romans 12:19.

45
Hebrews 10:31.

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infinite in demerit and demands infinite payment. God’s holy being requires infinite
satisfaction. “All the wicked He will destroy.” 47F6

Yes, Dear Reader, man has a terrible problem: his sin nature is a nature that guarantees the
punishment and vengeance of God! As we saw in the previous chapter, the situation appears
hopeless, because man is incapable of obeying the law. No amount of repentance on the part
of the sinner will satisfy (propitiate) God’s holy hatred for the sin. No amount of contrition or
moral renovation inside my heart can satisfy God’s demand for justice, because there has
been no payment, no sacrifice for sin. And so God, who sovereignly created a seemingly
insurmountable problem, graciously provided the perfect solution: “Behold! The Lamb of
God who takes away the sin of the world!” 475F7

Jesus Christ was the second federal representative of the human race, referred to in Scripture
as “the last Adam (who) became a life-giving spirit.” While Jesus Christ hung on that cruel
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cross two thousand years ago, God legally transferred the entire sin debt of every believer to
Him, and Jesus Christ paid that debt in full. It is interesting to note that His last word, as
recorded in the original Greek writings of the Gospel of John, was “Tetelestai!” Our English
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Bibles translate this word as “It is finished,” but “tetelestai” (“teh tell ess tie”) is actually
another word which connotes a legal transaction: “Paid in full. The debt is paid in full.”
Jesus’ last words were not a cry of relief that His suffering was at an end. Nor were they
merely a triumphant acknowledgment that He had fulfilled every prophecy about Himself,
lived a perfect, sinless life, kept all 613 elements of the Mosaic law, and accomplished
everything that the Father had sent Him to do, although all these things were certainly true.
No, Jesus’ ringing cry, “Tetelestai!” meant that your sin debt, and mine, and every believers’

46
Psalm 145:20.

47
John 1:29.

48
1 Corinthians 15:45.

49
John 19:30.

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would be erased from God’s heavenly ledger, for Jesus Christ had satisfied the demands of
God’s judicial system, and endured the full and complete punishment for all those centuries
of sin. He bore all our sins on Calvary’s cross, and the IOU which demands that punishment
must be rendered for the sins of every believer, has been stamped for all eternity: “Paid in
full.”

The third legal crediting takes place on God’s ledger for every man, woman, and child who
trusts in the finished work of Jesus Christ for their eternal salvation. This third imputation is
the crediting of the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ to the believer. “We ... become the
righteousness of God in Him.” Once again, this imputation is a change in our relationship to
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God before the Law, not a change in our character. At the instant that a man places his trust
in the finished work of Jesus Christ, his sinful human nature does not suddenly become
spotless, sinless, and pure. Rather, he is regarded by God’s eternal judicial system to be
legally righteous. We examined the remarkable verses from Romans 5:12-21 in detail in
chapter nine. Those Scriptures clearly reveal the parallel between Adam and Christ: Just as
sin was imputed to all men on account of the one sin of Adam, in the very same way
righteousness is credited to all who believe in Jesus Christ. “For as by one man's
disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many will be made
righteous.” The believer is declared eternally righteous in God’s sight. He is justified! He
5749F1

can never again come under the condemnation of God’s law. The legal imputation of Adam’s
sin to his account is eternally canceled. The punishment for all the believer’s personal sins —
past, present, and future — has been borne and paid in full by His Savior, the Lord Jesus
Christ. “Therefore,” Paul wrote, “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ
Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin
and death.” Paul — and all believers — are set free from “this body of death,” and it has
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50
2 Corinthians 5:21.

51
Romans 5:19.

52
Romans 8:1-2 (NIV).

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been accomplished for us — not by us. It had been accomplished by the perfect, finished
work of Jesus Christ on the cross.

Notice the points in common that these three great imputations share:
• They are all accomplished in the mind of God.
• All three involve a federal representative: Adam in the first instance; Christ in
the second two.
• They are all a change in legal status, not in personal character. They involve a
change in legal standing before God’s law.
• Man contributes nothing to these three objective, legal actions. They are the
result of monergism, i.e., the work of One. “The judgment which came from
one offense resulted in condemnation ... The Lord has laid on Him the iniquity
of us all ... To him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the
ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness.” It is God who condemned,
and God who justifies. Man does nothing to earn or to deserve either action.

These then, are the three imputations on which all Christianity hangs or falls. Since this third
imputation, which is the cause of our being declared righteous, is so vitally important to our
eternal security, let us expand on the idea of justification just a bit more by looking at the
proofs that justification is a legal, objective act, nor a moral one.

The Meaning of Biblical Justification

The word dikaioo, which we saw means to pronounce or declare righteous, is used sixty
times in the Greek New Testament. It always means “declared” righteous; it never means
“made” righteous. There are three proofs which establish the legal nature of justification. I
keep stressing this the legality of the declaration because there is widespread confusion on
this point. The Roman state church has always taught that justification is a subjective work,
the cooperation of God’s grace and the believer’s efforts, with the final outcome being that

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the believer is made righteous. As we have already seen, the genesis of the entire
Reformation was God opening Martin Luther’s eyes to the truth that man is declared
righteous. Roman theology has never conceded this point; Tragically, however, over the last
150 years, more and more so-called Protestant churches have abandoned their historical roots
and adopted the theology of Rome! These wayward churches have adopted another gospel, a
man-centered gospel which focuses on feelings and experience, and ignores the objective,
legal truths of Scripture. I hope that you, Dear Reader, will make help to make up the faithful
remnant which will proclaim the true gospel to all who will listen. Let me help you by
providing three proofs which firmly establish that justification is an external, legal act — not
an internal, moral one.

The Antonym of Justification

The first proof is made by looking at the antonym -- or opposite -- of justification. The
antonym of justification is condemnation. Justification and condemnation are juxtaposed in
the following verses of Scripture. Throughout these, you will see the common thread that at
no time does the moral character of the person in question change! Their legal standing
is established; their moral nature is unaffected.

For example, when Moses was relaying God’s commands to the people of Israel, he gave
them this instruction: “If there is a dispute between men, and they come to court, that the
judges may judge them, and they (the judges) justify the righteous and condemn the wicked.” 571F3

Notice that the judgment does not change the character of those being judged, but rather
affects their legal status. The judgment does not make the person righteous or wicked. Rather,
it is a legal declaration of their standing in the community. They are pronounced to be either
righteous or guilty. The judge justifies the righteous and condemns the wicked; he establishes
the legal standing of these men. The judge does not infuse anything into the man’s being that

53
Deuteronomy 25:1.

378
makes him righteous or wicked. The character of the man is not affected; his legal standing
is.

In 2 Chronicles 6:23, we read a portion of Solomon’s prayer to the Lord, dedicating the great
temple in Jerusalem: “Hear from heaven, and act, and judge Your servants, bringing
retribution on the wicked by bringing his way on his own head, and justifying the righteous
by giving him according to his righteousness.” Once again, you see that the judgment causes
absolutely no change in the man’s character. He has gone his way. Solomon is asking the
Judge to make a pronouncement of the man’s legal standing. We see this again, in Matthew
12:37, when Jesus said “For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will
be condemned.” Justification and condemnation are placed side by side in these three
passages, and they are discussed solely as legal ideas. It is legal language that is being used,
not moral language. Nowhere do we see any mention, nor even a hint, of an infusion of
righteousness or wickedness, and at no time is there a change within the person’s heart.
The pronouncement of innocence or guilt does not affect the man internally at all. It is an
assertion of his standing before the law, not an internal alteration of his character.
Some Analogies Which Will Help You Understand the Legal Nature of Justification

Although no human analogy can accurately reflect the perfection of God’s justice, let us use
the O. J. Simpson trial as an example. It is my personal opinion that O. J. Simpson is a
murderer. I believe that the day the media circus which some called his “trial” began, O. J.
Simpson walked into that courtroom a murderer. However, my opinion doesn’t matter! We
all know the jury found O. J. Simpson “Not Guilty.” He walked out of the courtroom, a man
pronounced righteous in the sight of the law. His inner being remained unchanged; he was
still, in my opinion, every bit as much a black-hearted murderer when he left the courtroom
for the last time as he was the day he first entered it. However, his standing before the law
had changed: He was no longer under accusation for the crime. There would be no legal
condemnation for him.

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The same is true of us, and of the legal transaction that takes place at the very instant when
we trust in Jesus Christ as our Savior. Our heart remains just as wicked and sinful as it was
before. Our character is unchanged; however, our legal standing changes dramatically. And,
unlike O. J. Simpson, who was merely pronounced “Not Guilty,” we are not only adjudicated
to be “Not Guilty” of any and all sins we have ever and will ever commit, we are pronounced
to be in possession of the perfect righteousness of the Son of God!

Let me show you where the O. J. Simpson analogy breaks down: in his case, justice was not
satisfied. The killer of Nicole Simpson and Ronald Goldman -- whoever that killer may be --
remains unpunished. This is not true in our case! Jesus Christ paid the penalty for our crime.
When we are pronounced righteous in God’s sight, justice has been fully satisfied.
Wickedness was punished to the fullest extent of the law.
Another analogy, while still imperfect, may help to clarify the matter still further. Imagine
that you are an incorrigible tax cheat. You have falsified your tax returns throughout your
adult lifetime. You have blown all the money that the law demands that you pay to the
Internal Revenue Service on gambling and wild parties. Finally, one day, the bell tolls for
you. The IRS has built an airtight case against you, documenting your numerous tax frauds,
dating back more than twenty years. The amount you owe is staggering. When you add up
back taxes, interest charges, and penalties, the figure comes to one million dollars. You are
told that if you don’t repay that one million dollars immediately, you will be transported to a
maximum security prison, to serve a life sentence with absolutely no hope of parole. You
stand before the judge bankrupt. You couldn’t pay a ten dollar fine, much less one million
dollars! Two grim-faced bailiffs are approaching you with handcuffs and leg irons. You
know your life as a free person is about to end forever.

Suddenly, a deep, commanding voice rings out from the back of the courtroom: “Wait!” The
Lord Jesus Christ comes walking down the aisle. Slack-jawed, the two bailiffs back away
from you. The Lord moves past them without so much as a glance in their direction, and

380
addresses the judge. “I will pay the penalty,” the Lord says firmly, and hands the judge a
stack of bills.

Eyes wide with astonishment, the judge counts the money. “Yes, it’s all here,” he admits. He
turns to you. “You’re free to go.”

“Not just yet,” the Lord interrupts. “Give him a receipt.”

The judge nods, and pulls out the paper which summarizes the judgment against you. He inks
a large stamp, and the thump of the stamp being brought down on the paper reverberates
through the stillness of the courtroom. The judge shows the paper to Jesus. The Lord nods
once in satisfaction, then turns and strides out of the courtroom without another word.
Curious, you look at the paper the judge showed to the Lord. You are familiar with its
contents: a long list of all the crimes you have committed and the money you owe. But now,
in bright red ink, a single word is stamped across the page: Tetelestai.

The debt is paid in full. You are free to go. Nothing happened to change your character in
that instant. But your standing before the law has changed dramatically! You stood
condemned one minute; you are free to go the next, “righteous” in the eyes of the law, even
though, morally, you are still a tax cheat and a ne’er do well. There has been a legal
declaration of “righteousness,” not a moral transformation.

Again, this analogy is imperfect. You might turn right around and cheat on next year’s tax
return, and the one million dollar fine that the Lord paid would not cover this latest
transgression. This is not the case in God’s courtroom. “For I am persuaded,” Paul wrote,
“that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor
things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate

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 us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Christ Jesus our Lord satisfied
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the claims that God’s law holds against all believers’ sins -- past, present, and future.

You may wonder why I keep stressing the point that justification is an objective, legal act
that takes place outside of us and has no effect on our character. The answer is that all other
religions in the world outside of Christianity (and I must include the Roman Catholic religion
in this group) incorporates the believer’s self-righteousness into their theology. It is only in
the Christian faith that the righteousness of God — not man — is the sole source of
salvation. I include the Roman State church in this group that is “outside Christianity”
because the Roman church preaches so stridently against the historical, biblical doctrine of
justification by faith alone. Canon 11 of the Council of Trent reads:

If anyone shall say that men are justified either by the sole imputation of the justice of Christ,
or by the sole remission of sins, to the exclusion of grace and charity, which is poured
fourth in their hearts by the Holy Spirit and remains in them, or even that the grace by
which we are justified is only the favor of God: let him be anathema [condemned to eternal
punishment]. 573F5

Rome’s antipathy towards Luther’s teaching on justification remains unchanged from that day to this. She
refers to the doctrine as a “legal fiction.” According to Rome, the believer is justified because of a change
that takes place within the believer. Anyone who claims that the believer is legally, objectively declared
righteous by God should, according to Rome, spend eternity in hell.

How Did the Biblical Writers Use the Word?

The second proof of the historical, biblical teaching of justification is the way we see the word used
throughout the Scriptures. The first verse I’d like to share with you is Luke 7:29, where we read, “When all
the people heard (Jesus), even the tax collectors justified God, having been baptized with the baptism of

54
Romans 8:38-39.

55
Quoted in Robert A. Sungenis, Not By Faith Alone, (Santa Barbara, CA, Queenship Publishing Co., 1997) p. 690 (emphases added).

382
John.” See here how the word justified is used. The tax collectors were declaring the righteousness of God.
There is nothing that a tax collector — or any other man, for that matter — can say that will change the
character of the Sovereign Lord. The words of men make absolutely impact upon the character of God.
They are merely acknowledging what God already is! They are proclaiming His righteousness, i.e.,
declaring Him to be righteous.

In the book of Genesis, we see God making an incredible promise to Abraham, who, at that
time, was still called Abram. “Then (God) brought (Abram) outside and said, ‘Look now
toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.’ And He said to him, ‘So
shall your descendants be.’ And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for
righteousness.” This was a legal declaration by God. God pronounced that Abraham was
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righteous in God’s sight. God was not proclaiming that He had changed Abram’s moral
character so that he would never sin again. Indeed, one does not have to read much farther in
the book of Genesis to find Abraham lying to King Abimelech, saying that his own wife
Sarah was only his sister. Abraham was not made righteous in his heart; but he was declared
righteous in the sight of God.

Proverbs 17:15 is an interesting and instructive verse: “He who justifies the wicked, and he
who condemns the just, both of them alike are an abomination to the Lord.” Here we see
reference to a corrupt ruler or magistrate who justifyies the wicked, or declares the wicked to
be righteous. Clearly, the heart of the wicked man remains completely unchanged. However,
his legal standing has changed. Although he is wicked, the ruler has declared him righteous
before the law. In the same way, the corrupt ruler has condemned the just, declaring an
innocent man to be guilty. That man is still just in his heart; however, he stands condemned
before the law. It is legal terminology that is being expressed here, not a statement of moral
condition.

56
Genesis 15:5-6.

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Romans 4:5 is another stark example of the use of legal terminology. It reads, “But to him
who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for
righteousness.” See how the believer has not earned his righteousness; he has not worked for
it. Nor is his character righteous; he is ungodly. However, his faith, just as Abraham’s was, is
accounted, or credited (imputed) to his personal account, as righteousness. In no way is the
believer’s moral stature being defined as righteous, for we have already seen that “There is
no one who does not sin.” However, in his standing before God’s court of law, the believer is
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accounted as having never sinned. He stands before the Judge and Lawgiver clothed with the
righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Legal, Judicial, and Forensic Context in Which the Word Appears.

The third proof of the objective nature of justification is the context in which the word is
used. There is a courtroom — God’s courtroom. There is a Judge: the Lord, the Judge of all
the earth. The Lord is also the Plaintiff, the offended party, who has been wronged by the
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breaking of the law. There is a law, and the strict penal requirements of the law must be met.
There is One who carries out the sentence. Let us examine Romans 3:19-20.
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Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the
law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty
before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His
sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

What we are so rarely taught today is that the great realities of Christianity are legal in
nature. The whole world will stand before a pure and holy Judge, a Judge who will have the
law of God beside Him. Each one of us has offended that Judge, because we have all broken

57
I Kings 8:46.

58
Genesis 18:25.

59
Revelation 20:11-15.

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that law. We stand before Him clothed in filthy rags. The very sight of our sin is loathsome
6758F0

and despicable to Him. We are guilty, and the very nature of His holy being demands
satisfaction. The Lord God Almighty is not like a whimsical old grandfather, who looks at
our transgressions and says, “Aw, shucks, I guess I’ll let all that slide. Jack’s really a good
old boy. I’ll let him off easy.” God’s justice is pure and perfect and demands punishment for
sin! The establishment of the law, and also for the means of being justified — declared
righteous — are all legal in nature.

Look at the words Genesis 18:25. Abraham said to the Lord, “Far be it from You to do such
a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the
wicked; far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” The Lord will not
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be haphazard in His justice. He will not lump the righteous together with the wicked. The
wicked will be carefully separated from those who have been declared legally righteous, and
then sinful, unbelieving men and women will meet their eternal fate. For “We know that
God's judgment against those who do such (evil) things is based on truth.” God’s judgment
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is objective, not subjective. The world will be judged against the perfect plumb line of God’s
law.

Once again, in the book or Romans, we hear the language of the legal setting: “Who shall
bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is
Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who
also makes intercession for us.” Charges are brought against the accused in a courtroom.
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There is a Judge who declares righteous or condemns. And there is an Advocate, a defense
attorney, who intercedes for the defendant. And because of the finished work of that

60
If you have any doubt, see James 2:10-11.

61
Genesis 18:25.

62
Romans 2:2 (NIV).

63
Romans 8:33-34.

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Intercessor, we may approach the bench with freedom and confidence, knowing that the legal
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demands of justice have been satisfied, and that we have been legally declared righteous by
the Judge. If we have placed our faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross, we
have nothing to fear from the law. No charge will be brought against us.

What Justification Is, and What It Isn’t

Some years ago, I prepared a chart as a teaching tool to help believers understand exactly
what justification is, according to the teaching of historical, biblical Christianity. Because
definition demands distinction, and the law of contradiction teaches that in order for a word
to mean something, it must also not mean something, I felt that it would be beneficial to lay
the biblical definitions side-by-side with the contrasts of what justification is not. The chart
will also provide the answers to the quiz that you took earlier in this chapter.

JUSTIFICATION IS: JUSTIFICATION IS NOT:

1. About God’s righteousness. (Romans 1:16-17.)
2. A legal act. (Romans 4:5.) This is why the
correct answer to question #10 on the quiz is
“True.”
3. An action which takes place outside of me.
This is why the correct answer to Question #12 on
the quiz is “True.” Justification takes place in the
mind of God, not in the heart of the believer.
4. By means of faith alone. (Romans 9:30;
Galatians 3:24; Philippians 3:9; Ephesians 2:8-9.)
Faith looks away from self, and looks at God. Faith
is like a telescope, which is designed to look at a
distant object. The issue is the object, not the
instrument through which we view that object!
What saves me is the object of my faith. The
question, therefore, becomes, “Is the object of my
1. About man’s righteousness. (Romans 9:32,
10:3.)
2. A moral act. You will read more about this as
you work through this chart, but this is why the
correct answer to Question #6 on the quiz is “True.”
As you have already learned, justification is a
change in the believer’s legal standing, not in his
moral stature.
3. An action which takes place inside of me.
Therefore, the correct answer to Questions #9, #11,
and #13 on the quiz are “False.” We are declared
righteous, we are not made righteous. Also see
statement #2 above. Also see statement #7 below.
4. Because of faith. It is important to understand
that if justification occurred because of your faith,
then God’s declaration of righteousness would
depend on the quality of your faith — the sincerity
of your faith, the depth of your faith, the
faithfulness of your faith, etc. In this case, the
object of your faith would become your faith, itself!

64
See Ephesians 3:12; Hebrews 4:16.

386
faith worthy of my faith?”
5. The work of God alone (monergism). (Romans
11:6)
6. Objective and non-experiential. Justification is
all about the righteousness of God, and His legal
crediting of the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ
to me. There is no righteousness in me which earns
justification. (Romans 3:23-26.) This is why the
correct answer to Question #8 on the quiz is “True.”
We are accepted by God on the ground of the
perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ, which is
imputed to us by means of faith.
7. It is a verdict pronounced on the believer. It is
an imputation. (Romans 5:1.)
JUSTIFICATION IS:
8. Immediate. (Romans 4:5.)
9. Perfect and complete. (Colossians 2:10;
Hebrews 10:14.)
10. Achieved through Christ’s vicarious life and
death. (Romans 3:27-28.)
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Our faith is not a substitute for the righteousness
that God demands. Did you answer Question #7 on
the quiz “True,” only to be surprised that the correct
answer is “False”? This is why. We are not saved
because of our faith, or on account of our faith, but
rather by means of our faith. Our faith is not a
virtue, for faith, itself, is a gift from God.
(Ephesians 2:8; Philippians 1:29; 2 Peter 1:1) We
will examine the components of saving faith in
much greater detail in Chapter 12.
5. The work of God and man (synergism).
6. Subjective and experiential. Justification is not
about me. Romans 3:26 asserts that we are justified
to demonstrate the righteousness of God, not the
righteousness of man. This is why Question #3 on
the quiz is false (also see statement #1 above). God,
not man, is glorified by the act of justification.
There is nothing within the believer that would earn
the designation of “righteous,” other than the fact
that God has declared him to be so!
7. It is not a virtue produced in the believer. It is
not an impartation or infusion of righteousness.
JUSTIFICATION IS NOT:
8. Not progressive or gradual. It does not occur by
degrees. This is why the correct answer to
Questions #4, #5, #14 and #15 on the quiz is
“False.” Justification is not a “process.” We must
not confuse justification with sanctification, the
lifelong process in which the believer is conformed
by the work of the Holy Spirt into the likeness of
Christ (Corinthians 3:18). Of course, we will never
achieve anything approaching Christ’s sinless
perfection while we live on this earth. Our
sanctification is not the ground of our salvation.
It is, rather, the result of it. The Roman church
teaches that we are justified as a result of our
sanctification, which is antithetical to the teaching
of Scripture. Also see statement #14 below.
9. Not imperfect or incomplete.
10. Not achieved through my personal holiness. I
am not presenting my own righteousness to God; I
am represented by Christ’s perfect righteousness.

11. Related to Christ’s perfect sacrifice and
perfect obedience to the law. (Romans 5:9, 17-19;
Galatians 3:13.)
12. A change in status. (Isaiah 61:10; Romans
4:5.)
13. About God treating Christian believers as if
they were 100% righteous, i.e., as if they possess
the perfect righteousness of Christ. (Philemon 17-
18 records Paul saying, “Treat Onesimus as if he
were me.” The same is true for the Christian: God
regards him as if he possessed the righteousness of
Christ!)
14. The instantaneous and eternal ground for
your acceptance before God. (Romans 3:24-26.)
JUSTIFICATION IS:
15. Related to God as Judge and Lawgiver.
Christ’s death was a judicial act of propitiation.
God’s wrath against sin has been eternally satisfied.
(Genesis 18:25; Romans 2:2, 3:19, 26.)
16. The result of “Christ my righteousness,” i.e.,
imputed righteousness. Just as Adam’s sin has
been credited to mankind’s account, Christ’s
righteousness has been credited to each believers’
account. (Romans 4:5-8, 5:12-19; 2 Corinthians
5:21;
17. The first in the order of salvation, then “born
again” (regeneration) follows. (Romans 5:18.)
18. The work of God for me. (Romans 8:33-34.)
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11. Not related to my personal sacrifice or
personal obedience to the law. (Galatians 3:10-
12.)
12. A change in character. Justification is not
moral renewal or reform. It is not a life-change or a
heart change. This is why the correct answer to
Question #2 on the quiz is “False.” A change in my
character does not satisfy God’s wrath. If moral
renovation was what God desired, then Christ died
in vain! (Galatians 2:21, 5:2.)
13. About God treating believers with favor
because they have been made (or have become)
righteous. We are declared legally righteous, we
are not made morally righteous.
14. The “starting line” of your salvation, in
which God infuses you with His grace (born
again) to enable you, by faith, which works
through love, to be made righteous. Again, this
shows why the correct answer to Question #4 on the
quiz is “False.”
quiz quix
JUSTIFICATION IS NOT:
15. Related to God as Sovereign. God is not
issuing an “executive act” or pardon. Christ paid the
penalty in full. (Romans 3:26.)
16. The result of “Christ in my heart,” i.e.,
regeneration (born again). Christ in my heart is
not my righteousness! Regeneration is the result of
my acceptance, not the grounds for it. Look back at
Question #1 from the quiz. The wording from the
question is taken directly from the Council of Trent.
The Council went on to state that regeneration
causes the infusion of grace by which the believer is
“made just.”
17. The action that follows regeneration. Again,
see Question #1 on the quiz, and the comments to
statement #16 above.
18. The work of the Holy Spirit in me. The work
of the Holy Spirit in me has not yet been completed.
The work of the Holy Spirit is not a perfected work,
it is a progressive work. While we inhabit these

19. A doctrine of soteriology (the study of
salvation.)
20. Accomplished by God freely. (Romans 3:24.)
In the Greek New Testament, the word that our
English Bibles translate as “freely” in Romans 3:24
is the Greek word dorean (“door eh on”). Dorean
means literally, “Without cost to you, without cause
in you, for no reason, for no advantage, for
nothing.” Dorean is used seven other times in the
New Testament, and it makes an interesting study.
See Matthew 10:8; John 15:25; 2 Corinthians 11:7;
Galatians 2:21; 2 Thessalonians 3:8; Revelation
21:6, 22: 17.
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earthly bodies, we do not achieve even momentary
perfection!
19. A branch of metaphysics, ethics or politics.
The theory of ultimate reality (metaphysics)
according to Eastern religions is that the believer
becomes a god. The believer becomes one with the
deity. If justification were an ethical act, the
believer would be saved as a result of his or her
character or morals. If justification were a political
act, salvation would come through the state, as in
Marxist theory.
20. Accomplished because God is under any
obligation or necessity to justify the believer. If
there were anything about us that caused or merited
our justification, then God would be responding to
something within us. God would then be obligated
to justify us because of some quality within us. But
God is sovereign. He neither wants nor needs a
cause for His actions. (Ephesians 1:11-12.)
 JUSTIFICATION IS: JUSTIFICATION IS NOT:

21. God’s eternal choice. (Romans 8:28-30; 21. God responding to man’s sovereign choice.
Ephesians 1:4; 2 Timothy 1:9.) (Psalm 14:1-2 and Romans 8:7 clearly show that the
unbeliever has neither the desire nor the ability to
seek after God.)

22. About eternal peace and satisfaction. Romans 22. A temporal probation, which is rescinded as
5:1 refers to an objective peace. It is not a subjective soon as I make a mistake. We’re not on probation,
peace, wherein we have done something to make we have eternal peace with God, thanks to the
peace with God, or possess God’s peace in our propitiating work of Christ on the cross.
hearts. Romans 5:1 means that God has made peace
with us, and He has initiated and accomplished that
peace entirely on His own.

23. An eternal declaration. (Romans 8:33.) God is
constantly declaring all believers to be righteous,
and He will continue to do so for eternity.
24. An irreversible, irrevocable standing in
grace. (Romans 11:29.)
23. God “helping” us to become righteous until
we finally reach the point where He declares that
we have achieved righteousness.
24. A state of grace from which one may fall.
Justification is not a state of grace which can be
improved upon, damaged, or lost.

25. A once-for-all, eternal act. (Romans 5:1; 25. Two separate acts. Justification is not an
Hebrews 10:14.) infusion of righteousness, followed by a period of
time in which the believer is made righteous by
working in cooperation with the infused grace.

26. The declaration of an actual, real imputation
of God’s righteousness. We have been credited
with the righteousness of Jesus Christ.
26. The infusion of an actual, real moral quality
of righteousness. The Council of Trent teaches that
justification is “the voluntary reception of the grace
and gifts, whereby an unjust man becomes just, and
from being an enemy becomes a friend.”

The chart cites Romans 5:1 three times. Let us revisit this great verse to help cement two
important points in our minds. Paul wrote, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we
have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” It is interesting to observe in the Greek
New Testament that the verb form of dikaioo, which our English Bibles translate having been
justified, is used in the aorist (“air ist”) tense and passive voice. The aorist tense indicates an
action that took place and was completed at a fixed point in time in the past. It occurred, and
now it is done; it is finished. The passive voice is used to show that this was an action which
was done to us, or for us. We are the recipients of the action, not the initiators of it. This one
verb, when examined in the original writings, underscores the truth of what we have
discussed throughout this chapter. The declaration of righteousness is done. It took place at
the instant that the believer placed his or her trust in Christ’s sacrificial death for our sins. It

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is not an ongoing process. It is completed. Tetelestai. It is finished. The debt is paid.
Furthermore, the believer is completely passive in the matter of this declaration. He has done
nothing to earn it or to contribute to it. It has been done for him and given to him. One
Greek verb ... and the teaching of the Roman state church is completely discredited!

Tragically, in almost every case, the definition of what justification is not reflects the
teaching of the Roman state church. This means that approximately 60 million Americans
will be exposed to another gospel in the year 2000 alone! It is vitally important that you and
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I have a thorough understanding of the biblical meaning of justification, in order that we can
explain it to those who have been poorly taught. There is no data that reveals how many
churches, which have the name of a traditionally Protestant denomination hanging over the
door, have drifted away from the historic tenets of the faith and adopted some form of the
Semipelagian philosophy of Rome. The cold reality is that tens of millions of men and
women across our country are being taught an anti-biblical, anti-Christian philosophy which
is a counterfeit, a sham, a heretical debasement of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The rot begins
in the Bible colleges and seminaries, and is spreading throughout the church houses in
America. The only way to stem the tide is for we believers to educate ourselves, and to
reeducate our church leadership in the historic doctrines of our faith. There can be no more
important doctrine than the doctrine of justification by faith alone, Sola Fide, the rallying cry
of the Reformation.

Dear Reader, I hope you now fully understand why the Reformers insisted that we are saved
“By Christ alone” (Solo Christo). We have peace with thanks to Christ’s finished work on
G 674F6

the cross. Just as we once stood condemned because of the actions of one man, and not due to
any moral failing of our own, we are also justified solely because of the righteousness of
Christ, and not because of any righteousness of our own. Chapter twelve will explain another

65
The estimate is taken from George Barna, The Frog In The Kettle, (Ventura, CA, Regal Books, 1990) p.132. The
Barna Research Group estimated that 59, 889, 000 adults will attend at least one Catholic mass in the year 2000.

66
Romans 5:1

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one of the five great fingerprints of the Reformation: Sola Gratia, “By Grace Alone.” We
will see how the doctrine of God’s sovereignty that we examined so carefully in two previous
chapters works itself out in the plan of salvation. When you have come to a true, biblical
understanding of Grace alone, you will join the apostle Paul in crying out to heaven,
“Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” 675F7

67
2 Corinthians 9:15.

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 Legacy, Chapter Eleven
Sovereign Grace and God’s Election

When we examined the doctrine of God’s sovereignty together, we discussed a number of

very difficult questions that one cannot help but ask when considering the logical
implications of sovereignty. We looked at issues like man’s free will, the cause of evil in the
world, God’s goodness and holiness, man’s responsibility for sin, and the efficacy of prayer.
These questions are what Bible teachers often call “hard” questions. The asking — and the
answering — of these questions is often disturbing, particularly for those who do not have a
full understanding of the complete system of Christian thought. People often have a visceral,
emotional response to these questions, which is why it is so crucially important for us to let
the only completely reliable source of truth available to us — the Scriptures — guide us to
the truth. Our instincts and emotions, which are still contaminated by sin, even for Christian
believers, will lead us astray more often than not.

In asking these hard questions, I deliberately avoided rasing what is perhaps the most
difficult question of all that relate to God’s complete sovereignty over the affairs of men. I
stated earlier that God has sovereignly foreordained every action of man and every event of
history to work in accordance with His eternal plan. I cited a great many Scriptures which
present overwhelming evidence that this statement is absolutely correct. In the chapter on
anthropology, I listed the verses which reveal the total depravity of sinful man. We saw that
the heart of man is wicked beyond all human understanding; man is blind to the gospel of
Jesus Christ; his mind is hostile to God; and that no unsaved man will ever turn to God of his
own volition. In short, man loves sin, and hates God. Perhaps some of you have already
67F 8

considered the question that I did not raise: If God is completely sovereign over all the affairs
of men, as the Scriptures say, then what role does sinful man play in his salvation?

68
Jeremiah 17:9; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Romans 8:7; Psalm 14:2-3 and John 6:44, 65.

393
Most of us respond to that question automatically, without giving it any real thought. We say
that a man hears the gospel message, believes it, and trusts in Christ as his Savior. The next
chapter will provide you with a detailed discussion of what saving faith really is, so I am not
going to examine the components of belief here. Besides, there is a giant question that must
be answered before we can begin a discussion of faith: Did we trust in Christ due to our own
volition? Or were we directed to that trust according to the sovereign will of God?

Even after years of preaching and teaching the word of God, I am still surprised at the
hostility that this question produces in so many Christian believers. The emotional response
seems very similar to the reaction that so many people have to the abortion debate that rages
in this country today. Perhaps you, Dear Reader, are experiencing just such a reaction this
very minute. Please make this commitment, both to me and to yourself, to honestly weigh the
testimony of the Scriptures about this question. I have been following a particular line of
thought throughout this entire book: We must let the word be the word; we must let reason be
reason; we must let God be God; and we must let man be man. If we do this, we find that
what we had unquestioningly accepted as “true” when it comes to man’s salvation may not
really be true at all1

Does Man “Choose” God? Or Does God Choose Man?

We have seen that God is sovereign over all creation. The books of Job and the Psalms, in
particular, testify to God’s complete, sovereign control over the weather, over the plants and
animals, over everything that takes place in all creation. Similarly, God directs the affairs of
men, directing their steps, declaring the end from the beginning, and working all of history to
fulfill His purpose. There has never been, nor ever will be, one instant of time when God
looks down from heaven and exclaims, “Oh, goodness, I wish that hadn’t happened! Oh,
well, now I’ll have to fix it.” God is never surprised, He never has to come up with a “Plan
B,” and He never reacts to any event in the world of nature or of humanity. Those of you who
have read through this book and honestly examined the Scriptures provided for your careful,

394
prayerful study would readily agree that what I have just said is true. Yet we will often draw
a line past which we do not wish to allow the sovereignty of God to pass: Often that line is
drawn at the point of our own salvation. We insist that we freely chose God; He did not
direct us to choose His gracious offer of salvation.

Is this thinking consistent with the teaching of Scripture? Dear Reader, I must tell you, as
gently as I can, that the answer to that question is “No.”

We have seen man’s complete, guilty inability to come to God. The Psalms tell us twice that
“The Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there are any who
understand, who seek God. They have all turned aside, they have together become corrupt;
there is none who does good, no, not one.” Paul reemphasized the teaching of the Psalms in
67F9

Romans 3:10-12 — “There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who ... seeks after
God ... No, not one.” The force of the Greek language here is even stronger. A literal
translation of this passage is: “The man who seeks God does not exist.” Later in Romans,
Paul, writing under the direction of the Holy Spirit, noted that “The sinful mind is hostile to
God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so.” Similarly, Jesus said twice that “No
768F 0

one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him.” In other words, man does
769F1

not seek after God of his own volition. The man who seeks God, according to the God-
breathed truth of Scripture, does not exist!

69
Psalms 14:2-3; 53:2-3.

70
Romans 8:7 (NIV).

71
John 6:44, 65.

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You may read this and feel much like the original disciples, feeling “greatly astonished,
saying, ‘Who then can be saved?’” If we are under the imputed condemnation of Adam’s sin
70F2

in the garden; if we are not spiritually sick (as the Semipelagianists teach), but are, indeed, as
dead as was Lazarus in his tomb — stinking, sightless, with no thought or volition of our
own; if there is nothing within our sinful nature that desires to turn to God to seek a remedy
for our plight, how can we possibly ever be saved? Jesus’ answer to the disciples was elegant
in its simplicity: “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” 71F3

Dear Reader, man cannot save himself! We have seen that man’s will is free only in a
downward sense. He quite willingly chooses to move further and further away from God.
The first three chapters of the book of Romans inexorably spell out man’s complete inability
to turn toward God. We saw in Chapter Nine of this book all the verses that point to man’s
total depravity — his complete separation from God because of the acts and inclinations of
his sinful nature. Man not only cannot save himself, he has no desire to save himself!

It is only by God’s loving, merciful, sovereign grace that man will turn toward God. Paul’s
question to the Corinthians applies to salvation as equally as to any other gift of God: “What
do you have that you did not receive?” Paul’s question to the Corinthians was a rhetorical
72F 4

one. He had already answered it in the same epistle, saying, “It is because of (God) that you
are in Christ Jesus.” James wrote that “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above,
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and comes down from the Father of lights.” Dear Reader, is your salvation anything less than
74F6

a good and perfect gift?

72
Matthew 19:25.

73
Matthew 19:26.

74
1 Corinthians 4:7.

75
1 Corinthians 1:30 (NIV).

76
James 1:17.

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Ask yourself this question: If God is truly sovereign over every single event throughout
history, if not even a bird falls to the ground apart from His will, would He leave something
as precious as the salvation of men and women made in His image to chance? Did God
become a man, a plan He had formulated before the creation of the world, die a death so
agonizing and horrific that the human mind cannot even conceive it, and rise again, only to
ascend to heaven and hope that His creatures would accept His gracious offer of salvation?

This is not the testimony of Scripture. “Blessed is the man You choose,” David wrote, “and
cause to approach You, that he may dwell in Your courts.” If a man is dead, how can he get
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up and walk? Did Lazarus hear the voice of Jesus and decide to stagger out of the tomb, that
he might be healed of his sickness? No, Lazarus had been physically dead for four days! It 76F8

was only when the voice of God called him forth that he was able to arise and walk toward
God! Notice that Jesus was careful to specify to whom He was speaking. He said, “Lazarus,
come forth!” If the Lord had not qualified His statement, every person who had ever died
7F 9

would have come forth! Such is the power of the living God. Nothing can restrain His hand. 87F0

How can a totally depraved, spiritually dead man become righteous before God? The answer
is that God is sovereign over justification. We have already seen that we are justified freely, 879F1

i.e., we are justified without cost to us, without cause in us, and for no reason other than the
sovereign pleasure of our Creator. There is absolutely nothing about us that earns the legal
crediting of the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Now we will see that there is nothing about us
which causes us to look to God for that salvation that is in Christ, other than the sovereign
election of God!

77
Psalm 65:4.

78
John 11:17.

79
John 11:43.

80
Daniel 4:35.

81
Romans 3:24.

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 Sovereign Election

There are far too many verses throughout the Scriptures that proclaim the reality of sovereign
election to write them all out here, but let us examine some of them together, and I will
provide you with a complete list at the end of this section. Again, I am aware that the idea of
a particular election — or predestination, as some prefer to call it — is a difficult one for
many of you to absorb. I would urge you not to believe or disbelieve this doctrine based upon
the weight of what I, Jack Lannom, say about it. Rather, read the Scriptures for yourself, and
then pray about what you have read. Ask God to reveal the truth of His living and active
word to you. If we agree that the Scriptures are the pure, inspired, God-breathed truth for all
of life and practice, then we must not reject the truth of those Scriptures, even when they
reveal truth that we are not particularly comfortable with, or that runs against the grain of our
own theological preferences.

We have already seen that God’s perfect plan of salvation was formulated before the
beginning of time. Jesus Christ was the sacrificial Lamb “slain from the foundation of the
world.” Ask yourself these questions: Did God only establish half the plan? Did He
870F 2

sovereignly foreordain the method of salvation, and leave the identity of those who would be
saved up to blind chance? Is the Lord Jesus Christ anxiously looking down from heaven at
this very moment, hoping and praying that men and women who hate God and love sin, men
and women who are blind to the gospel and hostile to the things of God, will suddenly regain
their sanity all on their own, and choose to turn to Him, so that His agony on the cross will
not have been in vain? There are more than three dozen passages of Scripture which
indicate that this is not the case! Here is a sampling of those verses. Keep in mind that
these are the very words of God.

82
Revelation 13:8.

398
 Verses Which Establish the Doctrine of a Particular Election
“I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me; I was found by those who did not seek
me.”

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those
who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of
the will of man, but of God.

“For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom
He will.”

“All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no
means cast out ... But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the
beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him. And He said,
“Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him
by My Father.”

“You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear
fruit.”

Jesus ... lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: “Father, ... Glorify Your Son, that Your Son
also may glorify You, as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give
eternal life to as many as You have given Him ... I have manifested Your name to the men
whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and ...
I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they
are Yours ... Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that
they may be one as We are.”

And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as
many as were ordained to eternal life believed.

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are
the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be
conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also
justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.

It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy ... God has mercy on
whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden ... What if he did this to
make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for
glory ...?

He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame
before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according
to the good pleasure of His will ... In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined
according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will.

God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the
truth.

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 ... God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but
according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began.

(The Father) chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of
all he created.

You are a chosen generation ... His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him
who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

The inhabitants of the earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the creation
of the world will be astonished when they see the beast. 871F 3

Below is the complete list of the verses which indicate that God chose, foreordained, and elected
those who would be His adopted children through Christ Jesus, and called them to a saving belief in
Jesus Christ. You will see that several of the verses on this list were written out on the preceding
pages (I have italicized these on the list below), but there are several more listed here for you to
examine.

Verses Which Proclaim God’s Sovereign Election and Calling of Believers

Psalms 33:12; 65:4; Isaiah 65:1 (also cited in Romans 10:20); Matthew 11:25-27; 22:14; 24:22, 24,
31; Mark 13:20; Luke 18:7; John 1:13; 5:21; 6:37, 44-45, 64-65; 15:16; 17:1-2, 6, 9, 11; Acts
13:48; 18:10; Romans 8:28-30, 33; 9:10-24 (selected verses are written out above); 11:4, 6, 7-8, 28,
36; 1 Corinthians 1:30; Ephesians 1:4-5, 11; Philippians 1:29; Colossians 2:13; 1 Thessalonians
1:4; 2 Thessalonians 2:11-14 (verse 13 is written out above); 1 Timothy 5:21; 2 Timothy 1:9; Titus
1:1; Hebrews 2:10; James 1:18; 2:5; 1 Peter 1:1-3; 2:8-9; 5:13; 2 Peter 1:1; 1 John 5:4; Revelation
13:8; 17:8.

83
Isaiah 65:1 (NIV); John 1:12-13; John 5:21; John 6:37, 64-65; John 15:16; John 17:1-2, 6, 9, 11; Acts 13:48; Romans 8:28-30;
Romans 9:16, 18, 23 (NIV); Ephesians 1:4-5, 11; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Timothy 1:8-9; James 1:18 (NIV); 1 Peter 2:9; Revelation 17:8 (NIV).

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I’m sure you have noticed that the vast majority of these verses are taken from the New
Testament. This is hardly surprising, since the gospel of salvation through faith in Jesus
Christ, although clearly pointed to throughout the Old Testament, is not fully revealed until
the New Testament. However, you do see God’s sovereign election of His servants all
throughout the Old Testament. God chose Noah and his family to be the remnant of the
human race after the flood. God chose Abram to be the father of the nation of Israel, and the
spiritual father of all who trust in Jesus Christ. God chose Joseph, as we have already seen, to
872F4

be responsible for the saving of many lives in Egypt. God chose Moses to lead His people
back out of Egypt. God chose to be a great high priest and prophet to the people of Israel.
S 873F5

God chose Saul, and then David, to be the first kings of Israel.

I could go on and on. The point is, as you study the lives of these men, you will see that none
of them was actively seeking after God. They were all tapped by God for the works He had
prepared in advance for them to do, in the very same way that the book of Ephesians says
that we believers were chosen by God! “For by grace you have been saved through faith,”
Paul wrote, “and that [faith is] not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest
anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works,
which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” There is not one occasion in
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Scripture where God reacted to the activities of man, and chose a man for leadership because
of what that man was already doing. In every case, God called His leaders, appointed them
for service, and equipped them to do His work, in precisely the way that Paul described to the
Ephesians.

84
Romans 4:16, 9:8; Galatians 3:7.

85
1 Samuel 3:7 says that Samuel “did not yet know the Lord” when he was called by
God.
86
Ephesians 2:8-10.

401
In addition, think of God’s special care and affection for Israel. Did God choose to bless the
people of Israel because there was something “special” about them? “You only have I chosen
of all the families of the earth,” the Lord said to Israel. However, God made it clear that He
875F7

sovereignly chose Israel to be His people. He did not react to some quality within them. “The
Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any
other people, for you were the least of all peoples,” Moses told the Israelites. Indeed, Israel
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would prove time and time again that they were not worthy of the Lord’s affection. Yet “The
Lord delighted only in your fathers [only in Israel], to love them; and He chose their
descendants after them, you above all peoples, as it is this day.” Israel did nothing to earn or
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deserve their special status with God; nor did we believers. The cause is not in us. Our
standing with Him is solely because of His sovereign grace in election.

Total Depravity Prepares Us for Sovereign Election

Everything that we have discussed together thus far in this book prepares us for the doctrine
of sovereign election. We must first work unflinchingly from the axiom: The Bible is the
word of God. We accept what we read in Scripture as pure truth -- God’s truth. We must not
accept only the parts of the Bible which we like, and reject the rest. A good friend of mind
recently stated during a meeting at his church that the Bible teaches that we are predestined
for salvation. He was unprepared for the reaction. As he was leaving the church, another
member of the congregation shouted at him from across the street. As my friend approached
this other man, he could see that the man was quite visibly angry.

87
Amos 3:2 (NIV).

88
Deuteronomy 7:7.

89
Deuteronomy 10:15.

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“Do you believe in predestination?” the man demanded. My friend hesitated, wondering what
he might say that would not irritate the man further. The man found the delay irritating. “Yes
or no?” he insisted.

“Yes, I do,” my friend said. Without a word, the other man turned his back and started to
stride away. “I’m sorry if that makes you angry,” my friend called to his rapidly retreating
back.

The man turned to confront him. “It just isn’t biblical,” he fairly spat.

“I’d like to show you some verses that I believe prove that predestination is a fact,” my friend
said gently.

“I know what those verses say,” the man said. “It’s just your interpretation of the Bible. It
isn’t true.” And he walked away.

Dear Reader, we must not allow our emotions to interfere with our pursuit of God’s truth.
Instead, we must search the Scriptures, and pray, and ask God to reveal his truth to us. When
it comes to the matter of God’s sovereign election, even a cursory examination of the verses I
have listed in this chapter will reveal that the fact that God chose us in Him before the
creation of the world is God’s opinion, not my friend’s. The doctrine is, indeed, quite
biblical!

We must use our reason, utilizing the rules of logical thinking that God has given us, to
deduce from the Scriptures why God has chosen us. (More on that shortly.) We must
understand and believe the truth of God’s sovereignty, trusting that God does not react to
anything or anyone, but rather that God has foreordained every single event throughout all of
history. And we must understand the true nature of fallen man. As I have already said, the

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scriptural teaching of the total depravity of man clearly reveals that unsaved man does not
seek God; he has no desire to obey God’s law; and he has no desire to turn to God or to know
Him. The mind of man is in total opposition to God! He is a rebel. He is dead to God and to
the gospel of Jesus Christ. Unsaved man is bankrupt. He has nothing to offer to God. If man
is dead, then how can he stand righteous before God? If the evangelist is going to the
graveyard to preach the gospel, who will respond?

The answer is that it is only through the ministry of the Holy Spirit that man can come to
God. All the doctrines we have examined throughout this book systematically strip any and
all credit and glory away from man for his salvation, and place that glory squarely with its
only rightful claimant: the Lord God Almighty. The testimony of Jesus Christ — God in the
flesh — is clear and compelling: “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me
draws him.” We are chosen by God and we are drawn by God. The only question that is
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open for any kind of debate is not if God predestined us for salvation, but why He did it.

The Real Question is: Why Did God Choose Us?

There is a debate that exists among men of good faith about why God chose His people to be
saved. There are two schools of thought. The more prevalent view is that God, in His divine
omniscience, looked into the future before He created the world and foresaw who would
believe and who would not. Based on that knowledge, God then predestined those souls for
eternal life. Theologians call this the theory of foreseen faith or foreseen works. They point to
verses like 1 Peter 1:1, John 6:64, or Romans 8:29, which reads, “For whom He foreknew,
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He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn
among many brethren,” and say that words like foreknew indicate that God merely knew

90
John 6:44.

91
1 Peter 1:1-2 (NIV) speaks to “God's elect, ... who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the
Father”; The section in question of John 6:64 reads, “Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe.”

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before He made man who would believe and who would not. Unfortunately, this view flies in
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the face of logic and the testimony of Scripture.

As I have said before, a logical consideration of the sovereignty of God will not allow us to
accept the theory of foreseen faith. If God were simply reacting to His foreknowledge of
future events, then He would no longer be sovereign. He would be “sovereign-over-
everything-except-man’s-salvation.” “Sort of sovereign” or “Mostly sovereign” quite clearly
equals not sovereign!

However, we do not need to rely on logic alone to answer this question, for we see the clear
testimony of Scripture that faith, like every other good and perfect gift, comes from God. We
have already read Ephesians 2:8, which unequivocally states that faith did not originate
within us; rather, “It is the gift of God.” Paul also wrote to the believers at Philippi that “It
has been granted on behalf of Christ ... to believe in Him.” Peter greeted Christian believers,
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“who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as
precious as ours.” 972F 4

Paul asked the Corinthians, “What do you have that you did not receive?” He certainly did
not expect them to answer, “Everything but my faith. I worked that up all on my own!” No,
faith is a gift. Salvation is a gift. We are justified by means of faith, and we contribute
nothing to God’s sovereign, eternal declaration of righteousness. God has chosen us and
called us to receive His free, sovereign gift of eternal life. The only logical, necessary
inference that can be drawn from the scriptural facts of God’s sovereignty and man’s
depravity is the doctrine of an unconditional election. If God did not predestine us for

92
Many Greek scholars, however, insist that a more accurate translation for “foreknew” in Romans 8:29 would be
“foreloved,” which carries a quite different connotation, one which does not support the theory of foreseen faith.

93
Philippians 1:29.

94
2 Peter 1:1 (NIV).

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salvation from before the creation of the world, and merely responded to our foreseen faith or
our foreseen good works, then God is not truly sovereign, and man is not truly sinful, because
he had enough good sense to turn to God. In either of these cases, the Bible is not the pure
truth of God, because the Scriptures teach that God is sovereign, and that sinful man never
seeks after God of his own volition! Dear Reader, what will you place your trust in? The
truthful testimony of the Scriptures? Or the testimony of your feelings about the matter?

Please don’t think that I do not sympathize with the emotional and intellectual struggle that
you may well be experiencing at this very moment. I have, as they say, “Been there, done
that!” I taught against these very concepts for years! I resisted the truth that stood before my
very eyes in the Scriptures. I clung to the more popular, mainstream teaching of foreseen
faith that is increasingly prevalent in Bible colleges and seminaries throughout the world. I
was angry with those who disputed the more comfortable notion that unsaved man chooses
God, rather than the other way around. You may be tempted to slam this book shut, in the
hopes of shutting the ideas that I have introduced to you here out of your mind. But before
you do that, Dear Reader, let me urge you once again: Don’t take my word for anything that
you have read here. Look up the Scriptures for yourselves. Pray. Accept the testimony of the
Holy Spirit. Then, and only then, will you be able to make an unimpassioned decision that is
based on truth, and not on feelings.

An Atonement that Really Atones

Can there be a definite election and an indefinite atonement? We have seen that God
sovereignly chose to love a certain group of men and women, actually predetermining their
salvation, from before the end of the world. Yet there is a sizeable group of Protestant
teachers, as well as the entire Roman state church, which believes that Christ’s death on the
cross, in the primary sense, did not secure the salvation for that special group. These
theologians would have us believe that when Christ screamed out, “It is finished,” He meant
only that His work was finished, but that the salvation of every single man, woman, and child

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was still very much in doubt! In other words, although Jesus Christ had paid the penalty for
the sins of all who will believe, and propitiated (satisfied) the wrath of the Father toward sin,
it will still take some effort on the part of each individual believer in order to activate their
salvation: they each must turn to Christ and make a decision to take hold of the salvation that
is offered. Does this teaching sound familiar to you? It should, because it is what is taught
from the pulpit of every Roman Catholic church and the vast majority of Protestant churches
throughout the world today! I cannot help but think that the pastors who present this form of
teaching must feel the need to ignore John 6:37 altogether, or to add their own special
addendum to it: “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me ... [I hope!]”

Charles Spurgeon, who was one of the most articulate defenders of historical, biblical
Christianity who ever lived, wrote: “Christ so died that he infallibly secured the salvation of a
multitude that no man can number, who through Christ’s death not only may be saved, but
are saved, must be saved and cannot by any possibility run the hazard of being anything but
saved.” 973F5

Three Views of Christ’s Atonement

It is important for all of us to realize that there are men and women who love the Lord Jesus
Christ every bit as much as we do, but who hold radically different understandings of just
what Christ accomplished on Calvary’s cross. There are three views that assign different
degrees of efficacy to Christ’s atoning work on the cross. These are the particularist view,
the hypothetical redemptionist view, and the universalist view. Some of the great words of
the Christian faith, such as propitiation, redemption, and the forgiveness of sins convey a
different meaning to different Christian believers.

95
Quoted in J.I. Packer, introduction to The Death Of Death in the Death of Christ, by John Owen, (1852; reprint,
Carlisle, PN, The Banner of Truth Trust, 1967), p. 14.

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The hypothetical redemptionist view looks at John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that
He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have
everlasting life,” and understands that verse to mean that Christ died for the sins of every
man, woman, and child who has ever lived. They cite John the Baptist’s words, “Behold! The
Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” as proof of their theory. The
974F 6

hypothetical redemptionist uses verses like these to say that when Jesus Christ died on the
cross, He paid for the sins of the whole world, i.e., everyone human being throughout history
— past, present, and future.

It is at this point that the hypothetical redemptionist parts company with the universalist,
because the universalist believes that Christ’s atoning death in and of itself secured the
salvation of all human beings throughout human history. In other words, the universalist
believes that, thanks to Christ’s sacrificial death, no one will suffer eternal punishment —
hell. Even Adolph Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Mao Tse Tung, and other infamous butchers of
innocent humanity were redeemed by Christ’s death, and they will take their place in heaven
and enjoy eternal life along with the greatest giants of the Christian faith. The universalist
view is easily discarded by all who proclaim the truth of the entire body of Scripture, due to
the many verses which indicate that there will a judgment, and that those whose names are
not written in the Lamb’s Book of Life will suffer eternal damnation. Those who hold the
universalist viewpoint deny the inerrancy of Scripture, and I do not intend to spend any more
time on such a view.

The hypothetical redemptionist view, on the other hand, is not so easily dismissed. In many
cases, those who hold this view are sincere in their desire to uphold the truth of Scripture.
They do not say that everyone who has ever lived definitely will be saved. What they do say
is that all these men, women and children throughout human history have an equal likelihood
of being saved. They believe that Christ died for the sins of the whole world — past, present,

96
John 1:29

408
and future — and that if anyone will just look to His atoning work on the cross that salvation
is theirs. This theory was one of the main tenets of a theologian named Jacob Arminius, and
is often referred to as Arminian theology. Arminius believed in universal grace (Christ died
for the sins of all) and in free will (all unsaved men can freely choose to accept or reject
God’s gracious offer of salvation). Again, this is the teaching that pervades all of Catholicism
and most Protestant churches, as well. It is highly likely that you have, consciously or
unconsciously, subscribed to the hypothetical redemptionist theory yourself.

A great many hypothetical redemptionist pastors love to quote Charles Spurgeon. They call
him, quite rightly, “the prince of preachers.” Yet it is rare indeed to hear these pastors discuss
Mr. Spurgeon’s views of Christ’s atonement. This is because he completely rejected the
hypothetical redemptionist view. J.I. Packer quoted a portion of Spurgeon’s brilliant rebuttal
of Arminian theology:
The Arminians say, Christ died for all men. Ask them what they mean by it.
Did Christ die so as to secure the salvation of all men [universalism]? They
say, “No, certainly not.” We ask them the next question — Did Christ die so as
to secure the salvation of any man in particular? They answer “No.” They are
obliged to admit this, if they are consistent. They say “No. Christ has died that
any man may be saved if” — and then follow certain conditions of salvation.
Now, who is it that limits the death of Christ? 975F7

Mr. Spurgeon’s point was that, according to the Arminian (or hypothetical redemptionist)
view, the death of Christ on the cross, in the primary sense, did nothing to propitiate
God! As Mr. Spurgeon so accurately noted, the Arminian must admit, if he is consistent in
his belief structure, that when Jesus cried out “It is finished!” and gave up His spirit, that not
one man, woman, or child was effectively saved from eternal damnation at that point in
time. God’s wrath remains unsatisfied. The redemption is hypothetical, because while all can
be saved in theory, in practice no one is saved by the death of Christ. There still follow,
according to this view, certain conditions for salvation that must be met by the believer.

97
Quoted in J.I. Packer, introduction to John Owen, p. 14.

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These conditions vary from church to church, but may include any or all of the following:
repentance, belief in Christ’s saving work on the cross, submission to the lordship of Christ,
commitment to a life of Christian obedience, the infusion of the Holy Spirt (which may be
accompanied by unusual behavior, such as speaking in tongues), baptism, regular
participation in the Lord’s Supper and various other sacraments of the church, the confession
of sins, and a lifelong perseverance in good works and clean living. This comprises quite a
formidable list! For the sake of simplicity, let us use Acts 16:31 for our guide. When the
Philippian jailer asked Paul and Silas, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” they replied,
“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” The
condition which is necessary for salvation is belief. We are saved by means of faith, as 976F8

Paul wrote to the Ephesians in the original Greek. Again, I intend to devote the entire chapter
which follows to an explanation of saving faith, and it is there that we will discuss the myriad
other conditions that far too many theologians -- both Catholic and Protestant -- seek to place
on eternal life.

The point that I seek to make here is that, according to the Arminian view, no one is saved by
the death of Christ on the cross. They must contribute something to activate their salvation,
which is to believe. The logical inference is that God’s sovereignty does not extend to
salvation. God has made it possible, through the death of Christ, for everyone to be saved.
But, alas, not all will be saved. Arminians teach that God gave us free will to choose whether
to accept the offer of salvation. And so, according to this view, at the moment of Christ’s
death, God’s wrath against the sin of all believers has not, in the primary sense, been
completely propitiated (satisfied)! Before the condemnation that comes from Adam’s
imputed sin can be removed, the believer must contribute to the work of Christ on the cross
by believing in it and trusting in it. Jesus’ death, in and of itself, does nothing for anyone.
Christ’s atonement, according to the Arminian view, is indefinite and potential, because
although the potential exists for everyone to be saved, no one has definitely been saved. All

98
Ephesians 2:8.

410
still stand condemned at the moment that Jesus Christ gave up His spirit on the cross. The
sword of God’s judgment still hangs perilously over the heads of all humanity. Christ waits
anxiously in heaven, hoping that those for whom He suffered and died will turn to Him and
believe. His atoning work on the cross is a paper tiger. No sins have been removed by His
death. In the primary sense, Christ’s death has accomplished nothing, according to the
hypothetical redemptionist (Arminian) view.

Dear Reader, this teaching does violence to the truth of Scripture! The great words of
Scripture, such as propitiation (the satisfaction of God’s wrath) and redemption (release from
slavery) are robbed of all meaning by the Arminian theology. Every word that relates to
soteriology is a misnomer if Christ’s atonement is indefinite. Throughout this book, I have
been contending for the verbal inerrancy of Scripture. The truths of Scripture have been
breathed out by God, Himself. The words that the Holy Spirit selected for the human authors
of Scripture to use have univocal meaning. When the Holy Spirit uses words like propitiate
or redeem or atone, there is no equivocation. God was not “sort of satisfied” with Christ’s
sacrificial death, we are not “partially purchased” out of slavery by Christ’s blood, and Christ
did not “semi-atone” for our sins. Dear Reader, the words in Scripture are the very
fountainhead of the being of God! God uses words that have specific meaning. If Christ’s
atonement is indefinite and potential, then God’s words have no clear meaning.

Let us take a closer look at one of these great words of Scripture. The Greek word for
“redemption” is lutroo. We see the word used in Titus 2:14, which says that Jesus “gave
Himself for us, that He might redeem [lutroo] us from every lawless deed and purify for
Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.” Lutroo (“lute trah oh”) means “to
release on receipt of ransom” or payment. Dr. Benjamin Breckinridge Warfield, in his book
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The Person and Work of Christ, wrote, “The ultimate base to which this group of words goes
back seems to be represented by the Sanscrit LU, which bears the meaning of ‘to cut,’ or ‘to

99
W. E. Vine, An Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, (Old Tappan, NJ, Fleming H. Revell Co. ), p. 263.

411
clip’; hence it is inferred that the earliest implication of the general Indo-European root LU
was to set free by cutting a bond ... In this usage, it means, ... in the middle voice, ‘to secure
release by payment of ransom.” So literally, according to the pure of word of God, the cords
10798F0

of sin and death that once entangled believers have been severed by Christ who bought us, or
ransomed us, out of bondage by His shed blood on the cross. Jesus secured our release.
Isaiah prophesied that the Lord would “proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of
the prison to those who are bound.” That liberty was proclaimed: Jesus read this verse from
1079F1

Isaiah, and said, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” And the prisoners were
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set free, because Jesus Christ bore the wrath and outrage of Holy God, and ave His life as a
ransom for those whom the Father had chosen from the beginning of time to be set free.

If man must contribute some action in order to activate his salvation, as Arminians and the
Roman state church insist, then Christ did not fully satisfy God’s wrath; man must assist in
doing that. Christ did not pay a sufficient ransom to release man from the cords of death;
man must ante up, as well. The efficacy of Christ’s work, a plan worked out by God before
the creation of the world, stands or falls upon the response of a dead man! Man, who can’t
hear the word of God, who can’t see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, and who
wouldn’t turn to God even if he could, becomes the crucial, determining factor in the plan of
salvation. Therefore, according to the teaching of Arminian Protestants and Roman
Catholics, the prisoners have not been set free; instead, there is only a mere possibility of
freedom.

Isn’t odd that the greatest example of a purchase, a transaction that involves the payment of a
precious, priceless ransom for a group of men, women, and children who had been held in

100
Benjamin Breckinridge Warfield, The Person and Work of Christ, (Philadelphia, PA, The Presbyterian and
Reformed Publishing Company, 1950), p. 430.

101
Isaiah 61:1.

102
Luke 4:21.

412
slavery and bondage, and yet there are theological “teachers” who insist that the word that
means purchase no longer means what it says? These hypothetical redemptionists say that
although the purchase price was paid, it was not sufficient to secure an actual release. The
captives were not actually purchased — rather a down payment was only made in order to
make their freedom possible! Tetelestai loses its univocal meaning also, because the sin debt
has not truly been paid in full. The Lord Jesus must wait anxiously for the response of dead
people to respond to His work.

Look at another great word from the original manuscripts of the New Testament — the Greek
preposition anti. In Matthew 20:28 we read Christ’s words, “The Son of Man did not come to
be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” The word our Bibles 108F 3

translate “for” is taken from the Greek word anti, which means, literally, in place of. You
could quite accurately render Matthew 20:28 as Jesus gave His life in place of many. He
died, so that many others would not have to taste death! Dr. Richard Trench points out that
1082F 4

another Greek preposition, huper (hoop pair”) is often used with precisely the same
meaning. Thus when we read in 1 Peter 2:21 that “Christ also suffered for us,” we are again
seeing that Jesus suffered in the place of God’s elect. Similarly, in Romans 5:8, when we
read that “Christ died for us,” the original Greek meant that Christ died in place of us. Dr.
Trench points out “a truth, in itself most vital, namely that Christ suffered, not merely on our
behalf and for our good [as Roman Catholicism insists] but also in our stead, and bearing
that penalty of our sins which we otherwise must ourselves have borne.” Jesus really atoned 1083F5

for our sins, by taking the punishment for sin on Himself in our stead.

103
Matthew 20:28.

104
John 8:52.

105
Dr. Trench also Luke 22:19-20; John 10:15; Galatians 3:13; 1 Timothy 2:6; Titus 2:14; and Hebrews 2:9 as verses
where huper is used with the same precise meaning as anti. Richard C. Trench, Synonyms of the New Testament, (1880, reprint,
Grand Rapids, MI, Wm. B. Eerdman’s Publishing Co., 1953), p. 310-311. (Emphases in original.)

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Another word that the particularist uses as evidence for the efficacy of Christ’s atonement is
propitiation, which simply means that God’s wrath against man’s sin is fully satisfied by
Christ’s substitutionary death on the cross. We read in Romans 3:25 that “God set forth
[Jesus] as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness,
because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to
demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of
the one who has faith in Jesus.” In the Greek mind, one would propitiate the anger of the
“gods” by doing something. Man had to do something to appease or placate the gods when
they were angry because of man’s disobedience. This bears a striking resemblance to the
teaching of the Roman state church at the time of the Reformation, which was teaching that
sinners could purchase peace with God by buying indulgences. However, the teaching of
Scripture, and of historical, biblical Christianity, is that God propitiated God when Christ
died on the cross! God did all the work Himself, in order that He might demonstrate His
righteousness and His mercy. Salvation is all about the righteousness and justice of God -
- not about the righteousness of man! God is glorified in the plan of salvation, not man.
And so man can play no part is satisfying the wrath of God. If man could share in the role
of propitiating God, then men would have to share in the glory for salvation.

The particularist sees salvation as guaranteed, by the atoning work of Christ. The debt is paid
in full -- 100% -- by His atoning work. Therefore, since God has fully satisfied God’s wrath,
since man can contribute nothing to that plan of salvation, then the means of salvation, which
is faith, must of necessity be a gift of God! Paul wrote to the Philippian Christians,“To you it
has been granted on behalf of Christ ... to believe in Him.” Belief has been granted to us on
1084F6

behalf of Christ. The gift of faith is given to us by the work of Christ. Christ’s atoning death
had an immediate effect on the wrath of God toward man’s sin. God has granted, through
Christ, the means necessary to obtain eternal life. Man cannot contribute his belief to the

106
Philippians 1:29.

414
work of salvation, because man, unaided by the Holy Spirit, is incapable of generating that
belief!

Paul instructed Timothy in how to deal with unbelievers in this way: “Those who oppose him
he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a
knowledge of the truth.” Note that Paul did not say that those who oppose the gospel would
1085F7

“repent”; rather they need God to grant them repentance. It is God who opens the eyes of
unbelievers on behalf of Christ. So in the primary sense, the death of Christ removes God’s
wrath. Peter greeted fellow believers by saying, “To those who through the righteousness of
our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours ...” Perhaps the 1086F 8

most telling verse is Ephesians 2:8-9, which asserts, “For by grace you have been saved
through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone
should boast.” Pastors will often speak as if “that” refers to salvation, but it clearly refers to
the word that immediately precedes it, which is faith. Our faith is not something that we
1087F 9

generate within ourselves. We have already seen in Psalm 14 and elsewhere that the unsaved
man will never turn to God. He says in his heart that “There is no God.” He is incapable of 180F 0

changing his mind (which, as we will see in the next chapter, is the literal meaning of
repentance) about God, unless it has been granted to him to believe. Our faith is a gift of
God. It does not come about by our own effort or works, lest anyone should boast. “While we

107
2 Timothy 2:25 (NIV).

108
2 Peter 1:1 (NIV).

109

There are times when a little knowledge is, indeed, a dangerous thing. Some of those who insist that the relative pronoun “that”
(“that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God”) refers back to grace, rather than faith, do so on the basis of only a rudimentary
knowledge of the Greek language. Gordon Clark points out that some ersatz Greek “scholars” will argue that the Greek word for faith
in the original text is in the feminine gender, while that is neuter. Therefore, they announce that Ephesians 2:8 does not mean that
faith is a gift, because the neuter relative pronoun may not refer to a feminine noun. However, Dr. Clark, who was a richly
accomplished linguist, notes that abstract Greek nouns like faith, love, and wisdom actually require the neuter relative pronoun.
Whether you are reading the original Greek or the English translation, Ephesians 2:8 asserts that faith is not of yourselves; it is the gift
of God. (See Gordon H. Clark, Predestination, [Phillipsburg, NJ, Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co., 1987], p. 102-103.)

110
Psalm 14:1.

415
were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Because the debt is paid in full, we have peace with
1809F 1

God, and He grants the gift of faith, which is the means to eternal life, to those whom He has
chosen. The response of the elect, then, is guaranteed, “For who has resisted His will?” 180F2

The prophet Ezekiel was given a vision of God’s true plan of salvation:
The hand of the LORD came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the LORD, and set
me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. Then He caused me to pass by
them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed they were
very dry. And He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” So I answered, “O Lord
God, You know.” Again He said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, ‘O dry
bones, hear the word of the Lord! Thus says the Lord God to these bones: “Surely I will
cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. I will put sinews on you and bring flesh
upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know
that I am the Lord.”’” So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was
a noise, and suddenly a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to bone. Indeed, as I
looked, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them over; but there
was no breath in them. Then He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man,
and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Come from the four winds, O breath, and
breathe on these slain, that they may live.”’” So I prophesied as He commanded me, and
breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army.
18F3

Could the prophet have brought the bones to life? Did Ezekiel have anything to do with the
bones coming together, being covered with flesh and sinew, and being infused with the
breath of life? The answer, of course, is no. Ezekiel had no more to do with it than Moses had
to do with the parting of the Red Sea, or with bringing water from the rock. It is the power of
God that causes miracles to occur. Spiritually, man is every bit as dead as the bones in
Ezekiel’s valley; he is spiritually dead and dry and lifeless. But when the pneuma, (the breath
or wind or Spirit) of God comes to that lifeless body, it comes to life, just as Lazarus was
raised from physical death by the word of God. Notice that Lazarus was not offered new life.

111
Romans 5:8.

112
Romans 9:19.

113
Ezekiel 37:1-10.

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He played no part in the decision to be delivered from death. Christ came to the graveyard,
and life was given to one man in particular.

Christ’s atonement is particular. It is definite. An atonement that doesn’t really atone is

impossible, inconceivable, and irrational. When Christ commanded Lazarus to Come forth,
there was no question whether Lazarus would respond; His response was guaranteed.
“Salvation is of the Lord,” Jonah proclaimed from within the belly of the great fish. There is
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no mention of man playing even the slightest part in that salvation. If Jesus Christ purchased
the church, He really purchased it! He didn’t merely make a down payment on an installment
plan. He didn’t give an offer of salvation, and then sit back and hope that some would
respond! The response is guaranteed, because of the sovereign decree of the triune God. J. I.
Packer wrote, “There is really only one point to be made in the field of soteriology: the point
that God saves sinners. God — the Triune Jehovah, Father, Son and Spirit; three Persons
working together in sovereign wisdom, power and love to achieve the salvation of a chosen
people, the Father electing, the Son fulfilling the Father’s will by redeeming, the Spirit
executing the purpose of Father and Son by renewing.” The Father guaranteed our response
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by choosing us in Christ before the creation of the world; Jesus guaranteed it by purchasing
us by His blood; and the Spirit guaranteed it by giving us the gift of faith. Our faith is not 184F 6

something we contribute to our salvation. That guaranteed salvation is obtained for us by the
work of Jesus Christ on the cross. The writer of the book of Hebrews said that when Jesus
“had by Himself purged our sins, [He] sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.” 185F7

Later in the same letter we read that “with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place
once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.” Jesus obtained our eternal redemption for
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114
Jonah 2:9.

115
J. I. Packer, in the forward to John Owen, The Death of Death in the Death of Christ, (1852, reprint 1967, Carlisle,
PA, The Banner of Truth Trust), p. 6.

116
Ephesians 1:4; Acts 20:28; John 6:63.

117
Hebrews 1:3.

417
us. Man does not assist Christ in obtaining the forgiveness of sin. Only God can propitiate
God.

These great verses of Scripture, and many others, support the third view of the atonement, the
particularist view. The particularist says that Christ’s atonement was definite and actual,
and effectual. When He cried out, “It is finished!” He meant that the work of salvation was
complete. When He said that the debt is paid in full (“Tetelestai!”), He meant that those
whom the Father had given Him out of the world had been redeemed, released from the cords
of death. Luke 1:68 says that “the Lord God of Israel ... has visited and redeemed His
people.” The Greek word that is used for redeemed is lutrosin, which literally translates
“wrought redemption,” meaning that the redemption has taken place in the past. Redemption
is an act that was accomplished and completed in an instant, at a fixed point of time in the
past. It is done, it is finished, the debt is paid. Our salvation is not a process that we may be
able to complete, and our salvation is not a potential event, which we may be able to attain if
we will only turn our stubborn hearts away from sin and believe in Jesus. What did you have
that you did not receive? Dear Reader, did God give us every good gift and every perfect gift,
only to withhold the most precious gift of all, the gift of eternal life, and tell us that we must
contribute our own efforts in order to obtain it? Did God go to all the planning and all the
effort to construct the perfect plan of salvation, a plan which would give all the glory to Him,
and then leave man to be the administrators of that salvation?

The particularist says no. They believe in the doctrine of particular election, which says that
God foreordained that a particular group of men, women, and children will be granted the gift
of eternal life. The book of Ephesians affirms that God “predestined us to adoption as sons
by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will.” Salvation occurs
according to His will, not according to the will of blind, sinful man who hates God and loves
evil. James wrote that God “chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might

118
Hebrews 9:12.

418
be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.” It is by God’s choice that we are reborn into eternal
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life with him. We know from Scripture that God created the heavens and the earth and the
seas, and everything in them. Would God create all these things, only to leave the creation of
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those who will spend eternity in heaven with Him up to the actions and decisions of sinful
man? No, salvation is of God! “It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus.” Jesus
1289F1 1280F2

said, “For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to
whom He will.” Notice that Jesus did not say that the Son would give life to those “who
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choose to believe.” No eternal life, as with all good and perfect gifts, is granted according to
the sovereign will of the Lord God Almighty.

All right, the Arminian will ask, how then do you explain a verse like John 3:16? If “God so
loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,” how is it possible to say that only a
certain group, a predetermined, elect group, will be saved? The Arminian might quickly flip
toward the back of the New Testament, and point out 1 Timothy 2:3-4, which reads, “God
our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”
Surely, the Arminian argues, these verses indicate that everyone has an equal opportunity for
salvation. The particularist answers that God’s love is a special, sovereign, love. God has said
that He does not love everybody! His love is self-determined. The passage that most clearly
reveals this is Romans 9.
This is the word of promise: “At this time I will come and Sarah shall have a son.” And not
only this, but when Rebecca also had conceived by one man, even by our father Isaac (for
the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God
according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls), was said to her,
“The older shall serve the younger.” As it is written, “Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have
hated.” What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! For He

119
James 1:18 (NIV).

120
Psalm 146:6.

121
Revelation 7:10.

122
1 Corinthians 1:30 (NIV).

123
John 5:21.

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 says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have
compassion on whomever I will have compassion.” So then it is not of him who wills, nor
of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For
this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name
may be declared in all the earth.” Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom
He wills He hardens. You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who has
resisted His will?” But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing
formed say to him who formed it, “Why have you made me like this?” Does not the potter
have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another
for dishonor? What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known,
endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, that He
might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared
beforehand for glory, even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the
Gentiles? 128F4

You will remember that I had already provided some of the verses from this passage earlier
in this chapter, in showing you a list of verses that establish the doctrine of a particular
election. Of course, one could write an entire book on the passage quoted above, but let us
examine it together briefly. Paul uses the example of Jacob and Esau to illustrate God’s plan
of salvation, showing that the purpose of God according to election might stand. God
determined to set His love on Jacob, but not on Esau. Please note carefully that God was not
reacting to His foreknowledge of their actions. Paul points out that God made this
determination when the children [were] not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil. Jacob
had done nothing to earn God’s love, nor had Esau done anything to warrant God’s enmity.
God chooses (or elects) those to whom He will show mercy and compassion. He also
determines those whose hearts He will harden, in order that they will never turn to Him for
mercy.

When you read the book of Exodus, don’t you wonder why Pharaoh refused, despite all the
plagues and all the calamity that God brought onto Egypt, to acknowledge that God is
sovereign over the affairs of men? The answer is that God would not allow Pharaoh to see
the truth! Before Moses ever spoke to Pharaoh, God told Moses, “I will harden (Pharaoh’s)

124
Romans 9:9-24.

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heart, so that he will not let the people go.” Paul quotes Exodus 9:16, reminding the reader
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of God’s purpose: That I may show My power in [Pharaoh], and that My name may be declared in all the
earth. Pharaoh was a vessel of wrath prepared for destruction, in order that God might show

His wrath and ... make His power known. It is impossible to read 1 Timothy 2:4 with
Pharaoh’s name inserted in the text. You cannot say that “God our Savior, who desires
[Pharaoh] to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” God made it impossible for
Pharaoh to be saved! He hardened Pharaoh’s heart! God purposed to destroy Pharaoh and his
army, that God would be glorified.

When we read that God so loved the world, clearly Scripture is not referring to Pharaoh. Nor
does John 3:16 refer to Judas Iscariot. We have seen that Jesus was handed over by Judas
according to “the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God.” Before Judas had ever
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been born, or had done anything good or evil, God prepared him for destruction. Are Judas
and Pharaoh the only two? Did John mean to say that “God so loved the whole world ...
except Judas and Pharaoh ... that He gave His only begotten Son”? No, there are many other
objects of wrath prepared for destruction. When Jesus walked the earth, He often spoke in
parables.

And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” He answered and said to
them, “Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has
not been given. For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does
not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. Therefore I speak to them in parables, because
seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. And in them the prophecy of
Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: ‘Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and
not perceive; For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes

125
Exodus 4:21.

126
Acts 2:23. Also see Acts 1:15-17.

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they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand
with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them.’” 1285F 7

The mysteries of the kingdom of heaven had been revealed to the disciples. God had opened
their eyes to the truth, and given them the gift of understanding. What do you have that you
did not receive? However, there were others who were blinded to the same truth. God had
planned this before the beginning of time, so that His purpose in election might stand. Was
Jesus incapable of speaking the truth in a way that the multitude could understand, if He had
so desired? He certainly didn’t mince words with Lazarus: “Come forth!” There are those
to whom God has no intention of revealing the truth of salvation through Jesus Christ.
As Paul wrote to the Romans, “The elect have obtained it, and the rest were blinded.” God 1286F 8

gives life to whom He sovereignly chooses. We have seen the words of Christ: “All that the
Father gives Me will come to Me ... No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me
draws him.” God did not leave our salvation to chance. Paul reiterated this concept in
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Romans 9: God “has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens,” and he reinforced it
in Romans 11, asserting, “If by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would
no longer be grace.” Salvation does not come to us by our works in the present, seen or
1382F 0

foreseen, but rather solely because of God’s amazing, sovereign grace, and His self-
determined love. No one can say that God foreknew or foreloved him because of some
quality within himself.

Those who point to verses like 1 Timothy 2:4 and insist that God “desires all men to be
saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” ignore the reality that God loves all men
without distinction, not without exception. God loves all men without distinction. Look at

127
Matthew 13:10-15.

128
Romans 11:7.

129
John 6:37, 44.

130
Romans 11:6 (NIV).

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Colossians 3:11. “Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian,
Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.” God calls all men and women to His
kingdom, without distinction, both Jew and Gentile, rich or poor, white or black, all are
welcome at His table. But not all will sit at that table, for not all have been invited. Look at
the very next verse from Colossians: “Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly
loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” God
has chosen those to whom He will give the gift of eternal life.

The Atonement was Definite and Actual!

Dear Reader, I hope you will agree with me that the preponderance of Scripture supports the
doctrine of a particular election. Therefore, it follows that if there has been a definite election,
there can not possibly be an indefinite atonement! Jesus said that “All that the Father gives
Me will come to Me.” The Father chooses a particular group, and He gives those He has
chosen to the Son to redeem them from death. This is why during Jesus’ great high priestly
prayer in John 17, He said, “I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given
Me, for they are Yours.” Jesus was not praying for the whole world, for the entire universe of
13829F1

humanity. Rather, He prayed only for that particular group whom God had foreloved, or
foreknown, and “predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son.” It was this group, the
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group that the Father had given to the Son “before the foundation of the world,” for whom
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Jesus would pay the sin debt in full.

Limited Atonement

131
John 17:9.

132
Romans 8:29.

133
Ephesians 1:4.

423
What I am describing for you here is properly described as the doctrine of a Limited
Atonement. Some theologians like to stay consistent with the particularist designation, and
call it the doctrine of a Particular Atonement. Simply stated, a particular atonement means
that Jesus did not die so that every man, woman, and child throughout the universe of human
history will have an equal opportunity to choose eternal life. Rather, Jesus died in the place
of a particular group, and His death in itself is the absolute and final guarantee of their
salvation.

This system of theology that I have described for you is often referred to as Calvinism, after
the great Reformer, John Calvin. I have avoided the use of the term because it is something
of a misnomer. While John Calvin certainly subscribed to these great doctrines of historical,
biblical Christianity, he by no means invented them. John Owen, in his magnificent book,
The Death of Death in the Death of Christ, shows that the early church fathers, almost to a
man, believed this doctrine and taught it. Calvin formalized these doctrines in his Institutes of
the Christian Religion, but he did not create them. He was merely making logical deductions
from the truth of Scripture, and following in the footsteps of great men of faith who had gone
hundreds of years before him.

Verses Which Support a Particular Atonement

Perhaps the most powerful verse of all which supports the doctrine of a particular atonement
is recorded in the book of Matthew, when the angel of the Lord told Joseph of the impending
birth of the Christ child: “And (Mary) will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name
Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” The angel did not say that Jesus would
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save “all people,” or “many people,” or “some people” from their sins. No, Jesus would save
His people, those whom the Father had given Him. Another powerful verse is Acts 20:28, in
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which Paul said, “Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit

134
Matthew 1:21.

135
John 17:9.

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has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which [Jesus] purchased with His
own blood.” Jesus purchased the church, His people, with His own blood. He did not
purchase the whole world. Nor does the verse say that He tried to buy the whole world.
When His work was finished, the writer of Hebrews tells us, Jesus sat down at the right hand
of God the Father, because His atoning work was done, finished. He had purchased the
1384F6

church with His blood. Hebrews 1:3 asserts that Jesus “by Himself purged our sins.” He did
it by Himself. We contribute nothing to the atonement. And we also see again that the work
is done. He, Himself purged our sins, and the work is finished. Here are some more verses
which support the view of a particular atonement.

Matthew 20:28, 26:28; Luke 19:10; John 6:35-40, 10:11, 10:14-18, 10:24-29, 11:51-52; Romans 3:24-25,
5:8-10, 8:32-34; 1 Corinthians 1:30; 2 Corinthians 5:18-19; Galatians 3:13; Ephesians 2:15-16; Ephesians
5:25-26; Colossians 1:13-14; Titus 2:14; Hebrews 1:3, 2:17, 9:12, 9:14-15, 9:28; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 2:2,
4:10; Revelation 5:9.

Why Have You Made Me Like This?”

The doctrine of a particular atonement infuriates a great many Christians. I used to be one of
them! I taught vigorously against the doctrine, feeling that it was somehow “unfair.” One of
the chief objections that you will hear believers raise against this doctrine concerns their
unsaved relatives: “Do you mean to tell me that some of my unsaved family members may be
predestined to go to hell?”
I wrestled with this issue myself. I, too, have unsaved family members, even members of my
immediate family, and I wrestle in prayer for them daily. But I take comfort from the fact that
God has ordained a particular group for salvation from the foundation of the world. If my
relatives are part of that group, then there is nothing that can stop them from obtaining that
salvation. Those whom the Father has given to the Son will be saved. I will continue to pray
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for them, and witness to them, confident that the results are in God’s hands. If God has

136
Hebrews 1:3, 10:12, 12:2.

137
Romans 8:38-39.

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chosen to grant them eternal life, I will join the angels in rejoicing on that day that my
relatives trust Christ as their Savior. If God has not chosen to grant these people eternal life,
will I be angry with God? If a family member dies unsaved, will I accuse God of not being
“fair” to my family? Of course not! Whom am I, a mere man, to talk back to the sovereign
God of all the universe? I can only stand on the truth of Scripture, that God is just when He
speaks, and blameless when He judges. I will not always understand God’s sovereign plan,
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but I have complete assurance that His plan is true and righteous and just. I have that
confidence because I trust in God’s word, not in my feelings.

Does God Have the Right to Create?

When we consider the doctrine of a particular atonement, and perhaps struggle with some
negative feelings toward that aspect of God’s plan of salvation, we must ask ourselves what
may be one of the most fundamental questions of our faith: Does God have the right to
create? We examined this question back in chapter eight, when we were discussing the five
questions concerning the sovereignty of God, and you might wish to review that detailed
discussion at this point. We read a portion of David’s great prayer to the Lord: “All that is in
1387F 9

heaven and in earth is Yours; yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and You are exalted as head
over all. Both riches and honor come from You, and You reign over all. In Your hand is
power and might; in Your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all.” God is 1483F0

sovereign over all creation. All creation is His! Does He not have the right to do what He
wishes with His own things? He is also the Creator of righteousness and truth. He is “THE
LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS,” He is the Truth. “Oh, let the nations be glad and sing for
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joy!” the Psalmist exulted. “For You shall judge the people righteously, and govern the

138
Psalm 51:4.

139
Look for a subheading that reads “Five Questions Which Help Us Fully Understand the Sovereignty of God.”

140
1 Chronicles 29:11-12.

141
Jeremiah 23:6.

142
John 14:6.

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nations on earth.” God will judge in all righteousness. He will deal with us according to
goodness and truth. “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne;” asserted
Ethan the Psalmist. “Mercy and truth go before Your face.” This is the testimony of His
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word, and this is the truth which we must accept, if we are to truly understand the meaning of
our salvation. No one “deserves” to go to heaven! There is none righteous, no, not one. If
God dealt with us as we deserve, we would all stand condemned! But rather than giving us
what we so richly deserve, God sovereignly chose a multitude without number to receive
“the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.” If we
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are to say that God is not “fair,” then we should fall to our knees to thank Him that He does
not deal with us “fairly,” as we deserve!

Verses Which Seem to Contradict the Doctrine of a Particular Atonement

1 John 2:2 tells us that “[Jesus] is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also
for the whole world.” The Arminians will read this verse and ask indignantly how it is that
we say that Jesus died for the elect, when we read here that He died for the sins of the whole
world. Another such verse is Romans 5:18, which reads, “Therefore, as through one man's
offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man's
righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life.” Again, the
Arminian will demand an explanation. The gift, they insist, was given to all men, not to a
particular elect.

Again, we have arrived at a point where the Scriptures seem to contradict themselves. As I
have said throughout this book, we must remember that we are dealing with a system of
thought. All Scripture is God-breathed, so there are no contradictions. I have tried to clearly
and faithfully outline the system of thought that is historical, biblical Christianity. When it

143
Psalm 89:14.

144
Revelation 7:9; Ephesians 2:7 (NIV).

427
comes to the idea of a particular election, we have seen that God has sovereignly chosen a
particular group, the elect, out from among the world of humanity and predestined that group
for salvation. It is impossible for any thoughtful person to deny this truth, because there are
just too many verses which attest to the election of believers.

This election is unconditional, meaning that God places no condition, such as foreseen faith
or foreseen good works, on membership in that group. We have seen the Scriptures which
clearly indicate that faith is gift of God, and that faith is not granted because of works, lest
anyone should boast. Furthermore, if the election were conditional, then the doctrine of
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God’s sovereignty is destroyed, because God would be reacting to some quality within man,
rather than sovereignly foreordaining all the events of history. In addition to this, if the
election were conditional, then Scripture is no longer inerrant, because we saw in the last
chapter that we are justified freely, which, in the language of the original manuscripts of the
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New Testament, means that justification occurs “Without cost to you, without cause in you,
for no reason, for no advantage, for nothing.” Everything that God does is free, in that sense,
because He is never responding to any outside agent or cause. He is sovereign. The
particularist gives all glory to God for salvation: we are elected by God, our faith is a gift of
God, we are justified by God, and man may take absolutely no credit for salvation. No one
can boast, unless we boast in the Lord. This system is a death blow to the idea of synergism
1485F 7

(cooperative effort between God and man in salvation), and exalts monergism (the work of
God alone.) This returns us to the great Reformation cry, cited earlier by J. I. Packer, “God
saves sinners.” Salvation is of God. This is the historical system of Reformation theology,
and I have endeavored to explain and exalt this system of thought throughout this book.

145
Ephesians 2:9.

146
Romans 3:24.

147
1 Corinthians 1:31.

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When we read verses which seem to contradict our system of thought, such as 1 John 2:2,
Romans 5:18, and, of course John 3:16 (“For God so loved the world that He gave His only
begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish ...”), we must diligently seek to
see how these God-breathed concepts support our system of thought. Let us look at John 3:16
and 1 John 2:2. These books were written by the apostle John, who was a Jew. When John
writes that “[Jesus] is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the
whole world,” He is referring to the world that existed outside the world of Judaism, i.e., the
Gentiles. He does not mean every human being in the universe of mankind, but rather men of
all nations without distinction. We have already read Colossians 3:11: “Here there is no
Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is
all, and is in all.” The corollary passage to this is also found in the gospel of John. Caiaphas,
the Jewish high priest, was given a prophesy about the death of Christ. The Scriptures clearly
say that Caiaphas was not merely venturing an opinion: “Now this he did not say on his own
authority; but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation,
and not for that nation only, but also that He would gather together in one the children of
God who were scattered abroad.” The Spirit of God revealed to Caiaphas that Jesus would
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not merely die for the nation of Israel, but for all the children of God throughout the world.
So when John writes that “[Jesus] is the propitiation for our sins,” He means “Jesus satisfied
God’s wrath for the sins of we Jews who will look to the Messiah for salvation.” Then John
continues, “and not for ours only but also for the whole world,” meaning all God’s elect
children outside the nation of Israel and the world of Judaism. When John wrote that “God so
loved the whole world,” he writes with the same intent and meaning.

This also is true of Paul, when he wrote to the Romans that “the free gift came to all men.”
Paul did not mean that the free gift of eternal life is for all men and women; If that were so,
everyone would be saved, and universalism would be true. Joseph Stalin and Adolph Hitler

148
John 11:51-52.

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would be waiting to meet you in heaven when you arrive. Paul meant that the gift is for all
men from all walks of life, Jew and Gentile alike.

Again, the point to remember is that God loves all men without distinction, not without
exception. John was given a vision of heaven, and he saw “a great multitude which no one
could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and
before the Lamb.” God did not distinguish between Jew or Gentile, rich or poor, educated or
1487F9

ignorant, slave or free, male or female, young or old, black or white, or any other distinction
when he chose a certain group to be His adopted children from before the creation of the
world. He chose men, women, and children from all over the world, and from all walks of
life, to be His. However, this does not mean that all will have an equal opportunity to be
saved. “It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy.” 1584F 0

It is also important to note the use of the word world in the New Testament. Whenever we
see world, does it always mean “each and every person; all without exception”? In our own
conversation, this certainly is not the case. We might say that we took a cruise “around the
world” (planet); or we might say that a high-priced lawyer “moves in a world that I can’t
enter,” meaning that individual is a member of an affluent society that would not welcome us.
Is it possible that the New Testament also uses world in different senses? It is not only
possible — it is so. Arthur Pink pointed out several different meanings for the word world in
the New Testament. Romans 3:19, for example, uses world to mean the entire human race:
15849F1

“Whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be
stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.”

John 15:18 refers to the “world” of unbelievers: “If the world hates you, you know that it
hated Me before it hated you.” This usage is seen also in John 17:9, when Jesus said, “I do

149
Revelation 7:9.

150
Romans 9:16 (NIV).

151
Arthur W. Pink, The Sovereignty of God, (Grand Rapids, MI, Baker Book House, 1930), p. 253-4.

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not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me.” Those who point to John
3:16 to say that Jesus died for the sins of “the whole world” have a difficult time explaining
away this direct statement from the Lord that He is not praying for the whole world!

The particularist, of course, will define the use of world in John 3:16 to mean the world of
believers only: “For God so loved the world [the entire world of His elect, called according
to His purpose] that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not
perish but have everlasting life.” This is the same meaning that was employed by John the
Baptist when he first saw Jesus Christ: “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of
the world!” Did John mean that Christ would take away the sin of the entire universe of
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humanity? No, he had sternly warned the Pharisees and Sadducees that “Every tree which
does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” John know that there is a fiery
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judgment to come, and that not everyone will escape the fires of hell. So how, then, could
John the Baptist, speaking by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, say that the Christ would take
away the sin of the world? This statement can only be true if he is referring to the world of
believers, the world of God’s elect. Two more verses which use world in the sense of the
world of Christian believers only are 2 Corinthians 5:19 and John 12:47.

World can mean the entire created universe. Ephesians 1:4 says God “chose us in Him before
the foundation of the world,” meaning the heavens, the earth, the seas, and everything in
them — all created reality. This is the same sense that Jesus used in Matthew 16:26, when He
asked, “What profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” In
another instance, world refers strictly to this earth, as in John 13:1, which reads “Jesus knew
that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father.”

152
John 1:29

153
Matthew 3:10.

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John 12:31 utilizes still another sense of world, the sense of a world system: “Now is the
judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.”

Lastly, as we have already seen, world can be used to mean without exception between Jew
and Gentile, as we saw in 1 John 2:2.

The point of this discussion is to remind you that when we read a verse with the word world
in it, we must not leap to the assumption that it carries the same meaning from one verse to
the next. There is an outstanding resource which will help you to understand the proper,
biblical understanding of the verses of Scripture which universalists and hypothetical
redemptionists appropriate to support their position. John Owen wrote a magnificent book
called The Death of Deaths in the Death of Christ (available from the Banner of Truth Trust).
Written in 1684, The Death of Deaths remains the authoritative work on the Scriptural
justification for a particular redemption. Mr. Owen examined every passage of Scripture that
might be used in an argument against particularism, and masterfully shows how these verses
actually support particularism, rather than disputing it. No one, in the more than three
hundred years since its first publication, has ever been able to offer a coherent rebuttal to Mr.
Owens classic resource. I could not recommend it more highly. A contemporary author who
has also done a fine job of examining many of these passages is Dr. Robert Reymond, in his
New Systematic Theology Of The Christian Faith (available from Thomas Nelson
Publishers). Dr. Reymond is currently the Professor of Systematic Theology at Knox
Theological Seminary, and his highly readable work has been called “the best one-volume
systematic theology in English.” 1582F 4

Let the Word be the Word!

154
W. Gary Crampton, “A New Systematic Theology of the Christian Faith,” The Trinity Review, February 1999,
p.1.

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From the very beginning of this book, I have contended for the inerrancy and the authority of
Holy Scripture. If the Bible is the word of God, then we must accept it as pure truth. I must
confess to you that for many years I did not do that. I railed against the doctrine of a
particular election: I argued against it, I preached against it, and I avoided any meaningful
conversation of the doctrine with its proponents. However, as my love for, and knowledge of
the Scriptures continued to grow, I found that I had no argument against the truth of
Scripture. I could mount a great many arguments against particularism based on my feelings;
however, I could find no arguments that held any Scriptural validity.

In fact, as time passed, and I gave greater care to my examination of the Scriptures that spoke
directly to Christ’s atoning work on the cross, I was struck by the finality of the words that
the Holy Spirit selected. There is nothing “indefinite” or “potential” about the words of
Matthew 1:21 — “And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He
will save His people from their sins.” He will save His people! This is the God-breathed truth
of Scripture. The Holy Spirit did not say, “He may potentially save some people, if only they
will turn to Him and believe.” I finally realized that the particularist view honors the God of
Scripture and accurately reflects the truth of God’s word. Those who insist that all men and
women may or may not choose Christ are imposing a twist on Scripture that simply does not
exist.

Let us look at some of the great passages of Scripture that relate to the atonement of Christ. If
the hypothetical redemptionist view of the atonement is correct, all of the great, salvific
words used in these passages must have the word “potential” added to them. Look at the
violence that this concept does to the Scriptures!
The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a potential
ransom for many. (Mark 10:45.)

The Son of Man has come to seek and to potentially save that which was lost. (Luke 19:10.)

Behold! The Lamb of God who potentially takes away the sin of the world! (John 1:29.)

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 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd potentially gives His life for the sheep. (John
10:11.)

Therefore take heed to yourselves ... to shepherd the church of God which He potentially
purchased with His own blood. (Acts 20:28.)

... Being potentially justified freely by His grace through the potential redemption that is in
Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a potential propitiation by His blood, through faith, to
demonstrate His righteousness, because in His potential forbearance God had potentially
passed over the sins that were previously committed. (Romans 3:24-25.)

For if when we were enemies we were potentially reconciled to God through the death of
His Son, much more, having been potentially reconciled, we shall be potentially saved by
His life. (Romans 5:10.)

Now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to potentially put away sin by the
sacrifice of Himself. (Hebrews 9:26.)

To Him who loved us and potentially washed us from our sins in His own blood ...
(Revelation 1:5.)

You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; for You were slain, and have
potentially redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and
nation. (Revelation 5:9.)

Isn’t that a horrible desecration of God’s word? All of these inspired words are robbed of
their rich, salvific meaning when the pejorative word “potential” is read into the Sacred
Scriptures out of an unbiblical theological system. There is no excluded middle when it
comes to the meaning of the word atonement. Either Christ really atoned for the sins of
His people, or He did not. Either He really purchased His people, or He did not. Those who
believe the hypothetical redemptionist view that death of Christ, in the primary sense, did
nothing to propitiate God and did not accomplish salvation for anyone should always read the
great verses of Scripture listed above with the word potential added to them, in order to
properly express their unbiblical theology. There is only one problem with that: There is the
stern admonition of Scripture.“Do not add to His words, lest He rebuke you, and you be
found a liar.” 1583F5

155
Proverbs 30:6.

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In all things, we must strive to be true to God’s word. There are times when that is not a
particularly comfortable experience! When I read in Philippians 1:29 that it has been granted
to me, not only to believe in Christ, but to suffer for His sake, I’d just as soon not believe that
... but I must. Many of us, when we read that No one can come to Jesus unless the Father
draws him, would rather not believe that ... but we must. It is the teaching of the inspired,
infallible, living word of God.

To serve God truly is to serve Him in the knowledge of who He is. To worship truly is to
worship God for who He truly is. We are to give God all the credit and all the glory for His
plan of salvation. Remember that the main thrust of Scripture is to give glory to God — not
to give salvation to man. Soli Deo Gloria! The Glory of God Alone! This is the emphasis of
the Bible ... and this is the reason that God bestows salvation on His elect.

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 Legacy, Chapter 12
Let Faith be Faith

Over the course of the last several chapters, we have examined the Reformation teaching
of Sola Scriptura (Scripture alone), Sola Christo (Christ alone) , and Sola gratia (Grace
alone). We have seen that Scripture alone is our only source of truth (Sola Scriptura);
that God alone is sovereign over all the affairs of men; that man is completely incapable
of living a life of obedience that is pleasing to God -- only through the perfect obedience
of Christ alone are we declared righteous in God’s sight (Sola Christo); and that grace
alone is the sole ground of our salvation (Sola Gratia). Throughout our study of these first
three Solas, we have been consistently pointed to the fifth and final Sola: Soli Deo
Gloria(To God alone be the glory). Man cannot take credit for the establishment of truth,
for God’s word alone is pure and true; he cannot congratulate himself for ordering his
affairs, for it is the Lord who directs his steps; he cannot praise himself for his
justification, because he is declared righteous only through Christ; and he cannot glorify
himself for his salvation, for it was God who elected him to receive mercy from before
the foundation of the world.

However, we have yet to examine the fourth of these Five Fingerprints of the
Reformation. This last doctrine may well be the most thoroughly misunderstood and
misrepresented of them all; It is Sola fide (faith alone). The Reformers were
uncompromising on their position that salvation was by means of “Faith alone,” apart
from any additions, because they did not want the biblical concept of saving faith to be
adulterated by the Roman state church’s redefinition of faith. Rome insisted then -- and
still does today -- that faith means more than a simple belief in the Person and work of the
Lord Jesus Christ. She defined faith as a believing commitment to obedience. Dr. James
Buchanan, in his incomparable work on the doctrine of justification, accurately
summarized the Roman position this way: “Faith justifies, not by uniting the sinner to
Christ, and making him a partaker of Christ’s righteousness, -- but by ‘working’ in him,

436
 and ‘sanctifying’ him, -- by being, in its own essential nature as one of the ‘fruits of the
Spirit,’ and by producing, in its actual operation as a vital principle which ‘worketh by
love,’ a real inherent righteousness which is, on its own account, acceptable to God, and
which constitutes the immediate ground of his acceptance; -- in short, by making him
righteous, subjectively, so that thereby, and on that account, he may be reputed righteous,
and obtain at once the pardon of sin, and a title to eternal life.” The Roman church has 1584F6

always taught that the believer is not declared righteous because of the righteousness of
Christ, but rather is made righteous by the infusion of grace which works within the
believer to transform him, over time, into a godly person. Note Mr. Buchanan’s use of the
word subjectively: Roman doctrine insists that the believer becomes righteous within
himself, rather than being declared righteous objectively, legally credited with the
righteousness of Christ outside of himself, in the mind of God. By what can only be
called a satanic subterfuge, the Roman state church introduced works into the free grace
message by redefining faith as a faith that “does something,” a faith that works in the
believer to produce righteousness. This teaching stands in sharp contrast to a biblical faith
that simply believes that when Christ said, “It is finished,” He meant what He said!
158F7

Martin Luther said this during a sermon on Mark 16:14-20:

See to it that you do not add any comment to these words and that you do not try to make them better than
Christ has made them. Our learned men and schools for higher learning also wanted to improve on them.
They have said that one must understand them like this: “He that believeth” (understand: “and does good
works”) “shall be saved.” Who has commanded them to make this addition? Do you suppose the Holy
Spirit is so stupid that He could not have added these words? So they have completely obscured, nay, they
have perverted, this noble passage with this addition. See to it, therefore, that you allow no one to make
an addition for you, but that you stay with the words just as they read and that you understand them in
this way: “He that believeth shall be saved” without his merit or any work. 1586F8

156
James Buchanan, The Doctrine of Justification, (1867; reprint, Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1977), p.
133.

157
John 19:30.

158
Ewald M. Plass, comp., What Luther Says, A Practical In-Home Anthology for the Active Christian, (St. Louis, MO:comp., Concordia
Publishing House, 1959), p. 491.

437
On another occasion, Luther wrote, “This article, — namely, that faith alone, without works, justifies us
before God, — can never be overthrown, for ... Christ alone, the Son of God, died for our sins; but if He
alone takes away our sins, then men, with all their works, are to be excluded from all concurrence in
procuring the pardon of sin and justification. Nor can I embrace Christ otherwise than by faith alone;
He cannot be apprehended by works.” Martin Luther and the other Reformers were emphatic: We are
1587F9

saved by the objective declaration of righteousness that is made in the mind of God. That righteousness
is apprehended by means of faith, and by faith alone. As Luther said, man cannot concur, or contribute,
toward obtaining the pardon, because, as we have already seen, “We are all like an unclean thing, and
all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags.” This sharp, clear line of demarcation was, by far, the
1685F 0

clearest -- and the most hotly debated -- distinction between the Reformers and the Roman church.

Saving Faith and Lordship Salvation

The controversy over the definition of saving faith has not only divided Protestants and Catholics, but
it has also created a sharp controversy within the Protestant church, as well. Protestants have segregated
themselves into two distinct camps. One faction preaches a brand of faith that is often called Lordship
Salvation; the other segment is referred to as the Free Grace group. The nature of this often heated
debate does not focus on the object of the believer’s faith, but rather over the meaning of saving faith.

The Free Grace position is the one which is true to the Scriptures, and it was this
definition of saving faith that was proclaimed throughout the Reformation. As John’s
great gospel neared its conclusion, the apostle wrote, “These are written that you may
believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in
His name.” The word in the original Greek texts from which we translate the English
16859F 1

word believe is pistuo (“pist yew oh”). The verb pistuo appears 248 times in the Greek

159
Quoted in Buchanan, p. 129.

160
Isaiah 64:6.

161
John 20:31.

438
New Testament, and it’s literal meaning is “understanding with assent.” Pistuo means to
believe, to trust, or to be convinced of something. No legitimate Greek scholar can
dispute this fact. Gordon Clark observed that the Holy Spirit inspired the New Testament
authors to use language that was common to the day. Pistuo was a word employed in
everyday communication by pagans and Christians alike. A man in the street might say,
1680F 2

“I believe the report that Caesar is the emperor of Rome,” in the very same sense that the
Scriptures say that God’s elect “believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had
spoken.” Both speakers intended exactly the same meaning: they understood what they
168F 3

had read or heard, and they assented to, or acknowledged, its truthfulness. The important
thing to remember is that the word pistuo did not take on some additional meaning
when it was used in the Scriptures. The meaning of the Greek remains unchanged from
everyday use: understanding with assent.

Saving Faith Defined

True saving faith then, consists of understanding and assenting (agreeing) to one or more
propositions concerning the Person and work of Jesus Christ, i.e., that God became man
in the form of the Lord Jesus Christ; Christ died on the cross to pay the penalty for all the
sins — past, present, and future — of those who will trust in His finished work on the
cross. Those who hear this message, who understand it, and agree that it is true (pistuo)
will receive eternal life. The gospel is that simple — and that powerful!
1682F 4

It is important to note that assent or agreement to the truth of the gospel message is a vital
ingredient of saving faith. The Pharisees of Jesus’ day understood all too well what Jesus
was saying. In many cases, these religious leaders had a better grasp of the import of
Jesus’ words than did His own disciples! But unlike the disciples, who sat at Jesus’ feet

162
Gordon H. Clark, Faith and Saving Faith, (Jefferson, MD: The Trinity Foundation, 1983), p. 95-96.

163
John 2:22.

164
Luke 8:12.

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and said, “Lord, teach us to pray,” the Pharisees rejected His message. They turned away
1683F5

from Him in anger and plotted His death. Understanding the gospel message is not
enough — one must agree to it as well.

This is a good place to conduct a succinct comparison of what saving faith really is ... and
what it isn’t. The twenty points given on the following pages clearly delineate the
differences between the belief that is described by the original Greek, and the Romanist
teaching that pervades far too much of modern theological teaching today.

165
Luke 11:1

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 Saving Faith Is Not:
1. A commitment to obedience. It doesn’t
do anything!
2. Continuous belief.
2. A one-time act. It is a non-repetitious,
once-for-all act of faith. (John 6:47).3. The
root of all virtue. There is no merit or
virtue in faith. Faith is not a quality of the
soul which saves a person.
4. What saves us. We are not saved
because of faith.
5. Man’s contribution to his salvation.
Faith contributes nothing to this so-great
salvation.
6. Something that can be lost.
7. The beginning of salvation.
8. A substitute for righteousness. God
does not accept the believer’s faith in the
place of perfect righteousness.
9. Separated from doctrinal truth. It is
not self-hypnosis.
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Saving Faith Is:
1. Belief, i.e., understanding with assent.
(Romans 4:5-6). Faith trusts in the perfect
obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ.
3. A non-meritorious instrument that
receives eternal salvation. It is the
quality, efficacy, and trustworthiness of
the object that saves (Titus 3:5); The
quality of Christ’s obedience saves
us(Romans 5:9), not the quality of our
belief.
4. The instrument that appropriates
salvation. We are saved by grace, by
means of faith (Ephesians 2:8-9).
5. A sovereign gift from God (Philippians
1:29; Ephesians 2:8-9: 2 Peter 1:1 [NIV]).
Faith receives. It is passive. (John 1:12).
6. A Gift and callings from God that is
irrevocable and eternal. (Romans 11:29).
Faith unites us to a salvation that can’t be
lost (Hebrews 7:25; 2 Timothy 1:12).
7. It is a completed action. Faith does not
begin the process of salvation, it
instantaneously unites us to an eternal
salvation, ordained before the foundation
of the world. (Ephesians 1:4; Romans 5:1).
8. An instrument which connects us to
the perfect righteousness of Jesus
Christ. It is a faith-righteousness.
(Philippians 3:9.)
9. Belief in the propositions of the Bible.
It trusts the truth of Scripture regarding the
 Person and work of Christ (Romans 4:21;
Romans 10:17; 1 Thessalonians 2:13).

10. It is not “faith in faith”. It does not

trust in the quality of our faith, the degree
of our faith, the faithfulness of our faith,
etc. Faith that examines itself is unbelief.

10. Defined by its object. It is faith in the
Person and work of Christ (John 5:45-47;
2 Corinthians 11:4; Galatians 1:6-9;
Hebrews 9:26).11. A supplement to
salvation. It does not complete, enhance,
or supplement the worth of salvation.
11. The act of trusting in and receiving
an eternally great salvation, a salvation
that defies additions, cooperation, or
augmentation (Hebrews 2:3, 9:26).

12. The act of making something true. 12. The act of believing what is eternally
true. (1 Thessalonians 2:13).

13. An active participant in the process 13. A passive recipient that receives all
of salvation. Faith and grace do not work that grace offers. It is the instrument that
together equally to bring about salvation. appropriates the sovereign salvation of
God (Ephesians 2:8-9).

14. What God foresaw in you, in order 14. A gift that God sovereignly bestowed
to elect you (Romans 3:10-11, 8:7). on you. It is one of the benefits of Christ’s
atonement (Philippians 1:29; Ephesians
2:8-9: 2 Peter 1:1 [NIV]).

15. Faithfulness. It is not a life of faithful 15. A one-time act of understanding

obedience. (See the intermittent unbelief with assent. Genesis 15:6 asserts that
and faithlessness of Abraham in Genesis Abraham believed God, and that one act of
12:13; 16:2; 17:18; 20:2.) faith is the means whereby God declared
him to be legally righteous.

16. Belief in your heart, in contrast with

belief in your head. There are those who
teach that faith is not a bare intellectual
assent. They assert that there must be a
deeper, subjective, emotional response to
the knowledge of the gospel of Jesus
Christ. Mere understanding and assent to
the propositional truth of Scripture, they
say, is not enough.

442
16. An activity of the mind,
intellectually understanding and
assenting to one or more of the biblical
propositions concerning the Person and
work of Christ. The word heart is used
160 times in the New Testament. The
Greek word is kardia, which literally
means “mind” or “intellect.” True, saving
faith is not simply a subjective, emotional
experience (Acts 8:36-37; 20:21). I believe
with my mind, and my mind is my “heart,”
my kardia.17. Belief in a person, without
believing the propositions about that
person. This is commonly expressed as
“Give us Christ, not creed.” Proponents of
this view maintain that propositional truth
is cold, sterile, and impersonal, in contrast
to the vital, living Christ. They say that
there must be an “encounter” with Christ,
a “personal relationship” with Jesus in
order to be saved.
18. A simple understanding the claims
of Christ. The Christ-hating Jews
understood the claims of Christ quite well,
and they wanted to stone Him!
19. Atonement. Faith does not possess the
nature of an atonement. There is no
suffering in the nature of faith. God is not
propitiated by the act of saving faith.
20. The basis or the origin of our
salvation.
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17. Belief in the truthfulness of the
propositions concerning the Person and
work of Christ. When you believe the
propositions about Christ, you are
believing in Christ (John 5:44-47). Gordon
Clark wrote, “A person can be identified
only by a set of propositions.” (Faith and
Saving Faith, p.50.)
18. “The act of assenting to something
understood. But understanding alone is
not belief in what is understood.”
(Gordon Clark, Faith and Saving Faith, p.
51.) See John 11:27; Acts 8:36-37; John
5:18; 10:33.
19. Belief in the atonement of Christ
alone as the ground of God accepting
the sinner. (See Romans 5:9.) Faith is not
a cause for God’s acceptance of us. It
beholds the suffering of Christ that
propitiates God.
20. The means by which we appropriate
salvation (Romans 5:1). The basis of our
salvation is the blood of Christ (Romans
5:9). The origin of our salvation is the
grace of God (Titus 3:7).
These comparisons clearly reveal that saving faith is not a commitment to
obedience. Saving faith doesn’t do anything! It simply believes ... it is not a commitment to
good works. In what is the most systematic presentation of the gospel of Jesus Christ in
Scripture, Paul wrote to the Christians at Rome, “Now to him who works, the wages are not
counted as grace but as debt. But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies
the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, just as David also describes the
blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works.” Clearly, 1684F6

these verses teach that God imputes the righteousness of Christ to us on the basis of His
grace, which we receive by means of faith. There is no deed we can perform, no promise that
we can offer, that could ever hope to “earn” eternal salvation. Paul asked, rhetorically: “Did
you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Therefore He who
supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the
law, or by the hearing of faith?” 1685F7

Belief Is All About “Looking”

“Looking” is analogous to belief. The liberating concept in biblical belief is found in the idea
that we are called upon to look away from ourselves. We turn away from our righteousness,
which is but filthy rags, and look to Christ’s righteousness alone as the ground of our
salvation. It is that pure, simple, trusting look of faith to Christ alone that saves. It is really
that simple! Biblical faith is so simple, so unencumbered, so uncomplicated -- it is the
unbelief of man that complicates the simplicity of saving faith. It is the insistence of sinful
man that he must in some way contribute to the act of salvation — that he shall be like God
in the ability to convey eternal life — that redefines saving faith into something that is no
longer biblical.

166
Romans 4:4-6.

167
Galatians 3:2, 5.

444
Saving faith is like a telescope that Jesus provides His elect in order for them to look -- not at
the telescope, nor at themselves -- at the historical fact of His death, burial, and resurrection
alone. The telescope does not have a dual focus. We don’t look at the Person and work of
Jesus Christ and, at the same time, focus on our future obedience. We must not direct one
lens of the telescope of faith to look at the historical “Done” of the past, and a second lens to
look at some vague, experiential “Do” of the future. The only worthy object of our attention
is Jesus Christ alone, and not ourselves. Peter calls our faith 168F 8 because faith looks at a
precious object. The moment the eye of saving faith looks to the Lord Jesus Christ alone for
salvation, ignoring any and all contributions that sinful man might seek to add to the
equation, in that instant, the looking one has passed from death unto life. Let us re-read
1687F9

Romans 4:5. “But to him does not work [makes commitments, promises, pledges, or moral
guarantees] but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly as such [in their current condition].
The Holy Spirit is using the Law of Contradiction to graciously tell us what belief is by
telling us what it is not. Belief excludes all works of human merit. Therefore, assurance,
certainty, and security are found exclusively in the object of my faith, and not in the quality
of my faith, the sincerity of my faith, or the “faithfulness” of my faith. Faith contributes
nothing to one’s salvation, but receives everything. Faith freely receives what grace
freely offers.

The focus of faith is propositional truth that the Holy Scriptures reveal in regard to the Person
and work of Jesus Christ. Where is the propositional truth in our obedience, surrender,
submission, and commitments? It is a wicked, unbiblical focus to cause the ungodly to look
at themselves to determine if they “have what it takes” to become a Christian. The message
of the gospel is that only Jesus Christ has what it takes to instantaneously, eternally, and
freely save the wickedest sinner, without any prior commitments, promises, pledges, or moral

168
2 Peter 1:1.

169
John 5:24.

445
guarantees given by that sinner as a condition for salvation. The one and only means required
to appropriate this so-great salvation is by faith --belief -- alone.

The Lordship Salvation camp, however, seeks to add an additional meaning to pistuo by
defining saving faith as something more than “understanding with assent.” They assert that
one is saved by making a commitment to a life of submission to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
Does this sound familiar? It should! This teaching is disturbingly similar to the historical
teaching of the Roman state church, i.e., that saving faith is a believing commitment to
obedience. Lordship Salvation proponents assert that to simply trust in Jesus Christ as one’s
Savior is not enough. They maintain that the essence of saving faith requires something
deeper than a mere singular act of belief in the Person and work of Jesus Christ in order to
secure one’s salvation: one must receive Christ as “Lord and master” of one’s life. By
infusing obedience into the meaning of saving faith, the proponents of Lordship salvation
have unwittingly aligned themselves with the Roman state church and her anti-Christian
doctrine of faith. Rome hates the Protestant doctrine of faith alone in Christ alone, because
that free-grace message is the death blow to Rome’s sacramental system of salvation.

The Answers are Found in the Greek Texts

This distortion of the meaning of saving faith which continues to plague the Protestant
church comes from a misinterpretation of the original Greek texts. We have seen the use of
the Greek verb pistuo in the New Testament; a word with exactly the same root as the noun
pistis (“piss tiss”). Pistis appears 244 times in the Greek New Testament, and is almost
always translated by our English word faith. Pistis is used, for example in Ephesians 2:8,
which reads, “For by grace you have been saved through faith [pistis] ...” It is unfortunate
that Bible translators have almost universally chosen to translate pistis as faith, because the
literal translation should be belief, just as pisteuo is translated believe. The meaning of the
verb and the noun are identical: they mean belief, i.e., understanding with assent, confidence

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in the truth of a proposition, a conviction of the truth of what has been read or heard. To say, 1786F0

“I believe that the sun will rise in the east every morning,” or “I have faith that the sun will
rise in the east every morning” means exactly the same thing. I am convinced of the truth of
this proposition that the sun will rise in the east.

Unfortunately, because of the difference in the English translations of pisteuo and pistis,
many so-called theologians who have not taken the effort to thoroughly investigate the
meaning of the original texts have come to believe that in order to receive the gift of
salvation, one must go beyond belief to “something more.” They insist that faith is something
more than “mere” understanding with assent. These teachers will semantically smuggle terms
like “obedience,” “surrender,” “commitment,” and all manner of moral guarantees into this
yawning, indefinite, subjective chasm of “something more.” One such addition to pisteuo is
often taught in Protestant churches that would describe themselves as “conservative,” or
seeking to conform to the original doctrines of Scripture: the idea that a third element — trust
— must be added to the “understanding with assent” in order to comprise true saving faith.
Gordon Clark deconstructed this theory succinctly:The crux of the difficulty with the popular
analysis of faith into notitia (understanding), assensus (assent), and fiducia (trust), is that fiducia comes from
the same root as fides (faith). The Latin fide is not a good synonym for the Greek pistuo. Hence this popular
analysis reduces to the obviously absurd definition that faith consists of understanding, assent, and faith.
Something better than this tautology must be found. 17869F1

A tautology is a redundancy, the unnecessary repetition or duplication of a word or an idea.

Dr. Clark was demonstrating that many theologians claim that faith consists of
understanding, assent, and faith, and that saying “faith is faith” was no definition at all! So
the word fiducia, or trust, adds nothing to the definition of faith. In other words, to
understand and assent to the truthfulness of the gospel message is to believe it. It is

170
Gordon Clark wrote, “It is clear that the Greek verb pisteuo is properly translated believe; and it would have been
much better if the noun pistis had been translated belief.” Faith and Saving Faith, p. 98.

171
Clark, Faith and Saving Faith, p. 52.

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superfluous to claim that one must trust in that message also. To believe in a proposition is to
trust it!

Pitho (“pie thoe”) is a third Greek word which conveys the notion of faith or trust, and it
appears 55 times in the Greek New Testament. Pitho is a verb which means to persuade,
trust, convince or be convinced, to depend upon, to believe, to be certain or sure. Again, you
see precisely the same meaning expressed as in pistuo and pistis. I must note that, while the
inspired authors of the New Testament used the word pistis four times more often than pitho,
there are those who claim that the concept of obedience is found in pitho, which, they
conclude, means that saving faith must include an element that is over and above
understanding and assent: obedience.

It is true that there are seven times in the King James version of the New Testament when
pitho is translated as obey. However, pitho is never used in relationship to salvation when it
1780F2

is translated as obey. Salvation is not the issue in any of these seven verses.

For example, in Acts 5:36, we read, “For some time ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be
somebody. A number of men, about four hundred, joined him. He was slain, and all who
obeyed him were scattered and came to nothing.” Clearly, this verse has nothing to do with
obeying unto eternal life, and Acts 5:37 uses pitho in exactly the same sense. Romans 2:8
speaks of those who “obey unrighteousness.” The NIV translates pitho in this verse as
follow, meaning that those discussed here are living in a lifestyle of unrighteousness. Again,
salvation from eternal damnation is not the topic of discussion here. You can check the
remaining four verses for yourself, if you wish, and you will clearly see that obey is never
used in the sense that obedience will lead to eternal life.

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Acts 5:36, 5:37; Romans 2:8; Galatians 3:1, 5:7; Hebrews 13:17; James 3:3.

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I have discovered 150 verses which state that the one and only condition for salvation is
understanding with assent. There is no other requirement for salvation. These 150 verses
provide overwhelming evidence that commitment, obedience, moral guarantees, sacramental
rites of the church, nor any other action that man might wish to invent play any role in our
salvation from eternal damnation.

Here is the list. If you have any lingering doubt in your mind about the true nature of saving
faith, I hope you will take the time to carefully read through these verses, until you are
thoroughly convinced that salvation can come only through an understanding of, and assent
to, the truth of the Person and work of Jesus Christ.

What Must I Do to be Saved?: God’s Eternal Answer

Luke John Acts Romans 1 Corinthians

7:48-50 1:7, 12 3:16 1:16-17 1:21
8:12 2:23 4:4, 32 3:22, 25-28, 30
18:42 3:15, 16, 18, 36 8:12, 37 4:3, 5, 9, 11, 13, 16, 23-24
4:39, 41-42 9:42 5:1-2
5:24, 45-47 10:43, 45 9:30, 32-33
6:29, 35, 40, 47 11:17, 21 10:4, 6, 8-10
7:38-39 13:12, 39 11:20, 30-32
8:24, 29-30 14:1, 23, 27 15:13
9:35-38 15:7, 9
10:24-26 16:31
11:15, 25-26, 41-42 17:4-5, 11-12
12:36, 46 18:8, 27
13:19 19:4
14:1-6 20:21
17:20-21 21:25
19:35 26:18
20:29, 31

2 Corinthians Galatians Ephesians Philippians

4:4 2:16, 20 1:13, 19 1:29
3:2, 5-9, 11, 14, 22, 24, 26 2:8 3:9
5:5 3:17

1 Thessalonians 2 Thessalonians 1 Timothy 2 Timothy Hebrews James

1:7 1:10 1:16 1:12 4:2-3 2:23
2:10 2:12-13 3:16 3:15 6:12
4:14 3:2 4:3, 10 10:39

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 11:6-7, 31

1 Peter John Jude

1:5, 9, 21 5:1, 5, 10, 13 v.5
2:6-7

Stay True to the Testimony!

Dear Reader, are you convinced? You should be! God’s word leaves no room for argument
about what one must do to be saved: Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and His atoning work
on the cross. To semantically smuggle obedience into the definition of saving faith is
linguistic subterfuge. Clearly, obedience, or the willingness to obey, are not part of the
linguistic currency of biblical faith. Everything I am contending for in this book rests on the
veracity of verbal inspiration. If God’s word has eternal meaning and eternal consequences,
then we must slavishly devote ourselves to getting straight the univocal meaning of God’s
word. The purity of the gospel completely depends upon the purity of every word that is used
to proclaim that gospel. We must never be accused of semantically smuggling false
theological meanings into the purity of God’s holy word. If a false meaning is ascribed to any
single word in the proclamation of the gospel, then that gospel bears the damnable
appellation of “another gospel.”

“Easy Believism” and “Cheap Grace”

Undaunted by the overwhelming evidence that Scripture brings to bear against their position,
the advocates of Lordship salvation insist that understanding with volitional assent falls short
of volitional commitment, and thus falls short of saving faith. They often haughtily dismiss
the Reformation teaching that salvation comes through a simple trust that Christ’s death
atoned for all the believer’s sins as “easy believism.” They thoughtlessly pin the pejorative
phrase “cheap grace” on the great doctrine of Sola fide. The listener may only conclude from
such defamatory nomenclature that the Lordship camp proposes the opposite of these

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concepts, which would mean that we must define true, saving faith as “hard believism” and
“costly” grace!

As unwitting as the use of these slurs may be, I believe that the terms hard-believism and
costly grace conspicuously earn the designation of anti-intellectual oxymorons -- self-
contradictory terms. Think back to the gospels and the epistles of the New Testament. Do the
biblical writers ever attempt to make it “hard” or “difficult” for their readers to believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ? Instead, don’t the biblical writers labor hard to make it abundantly clear
that salvation comes solely through faith in the doing and dying of Christ alone? When the
Philippian jailer fell trembling before Paul and Silas, and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be
saved?” their reply was: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and
your household.” Paul and Silas insisted on no conditions, gave no addendums, made no
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demands for a commitment to any action, preached no sermons on “count the cost,” nor
anything else of the kind! A simple, direct question was asked: What must I do to receive the
gift of eternal life? The answer is similarly simple, and equally direct: Believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ. Remember that the apostle Paul wrote the Book of Romans, which contains the
most detailed explanation of the gospel of salvation of all the books of Scripture! If God has
placed requirements on salvation other than “Believe,” would Paul not have known about
them, and said so?

What about the Lord Jesus Christ, Himself? Did He insist that His followers must “Count the
cost” before they trusted in Him for eternal life? Did He say, “Come to me, all you who labor
and are heavy laden, and I will make you work even harder”? Did He say, “Come to me, but
only if you are willing to carry a heavy load of responsibility”? No, Jesus said, “Come to Me,
all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and
learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For

173
Acts 16:30-31.

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My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Jesus told the Samaritan woman at the well, “If you
1782F4

knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked
Him, and He would have given you living water.” What were the conditions for hard”
1783F 5

believism and “costly” grace that Jesus placed on this woman? All she had to do to receive
the living water was ask, i.e., believe!

The Holy Spirit never makes it “hard” for anyone to become a Christian! The Holy Spirit
sovereignly and irresistibly draws God’s elect to the cross, and points them to the “hard
work” that was accomplished there for them by the Lord Jesus Christ alone. There is never
any discussion of what the unbeliever must do, other than to receive by faith all that has been
done by Christ! By definition, saving faith is what it is -- saving faith, because it unites the
ungodly to the only object of faith that saves, i.e., the Person and work of Christ alone.

Moreover, the non-meritorious metaphors that the Holy Spirit uses in connection with eternal
life, such as “drinking,” “looking,” and “tasting,” make it abundantly clear that the means by
1784F6

which a sinner appropriates this great salvation is totally passive in nature, and not an active,
“hard-believing” commitment to obedience. As you survey these wonderful metaphors, just
think how ridiculous it would sound if we were to add the adjective “hard” to each of these
words. Hard drinking, hard looking, and hard tasting all have a discordant sound that is
completely incompatible with the natural meaning of these words. Drinking, looking, and
tasting are all words found in the glossary of grace. They are words which speak of passive
reception. The biblical writers speak of the freeness of grace; there are no references to the
“cost” of grace with reference to the unbeliever. “Count the cost” is a phrase which
originated with men, not in Scripture. By contrast, the language of grace that is found in the
Bible communicates so lovingly, so convincingly, and so eloquently to the recipients of the

174
Matthew 11:28-30.

175
John 4:10.

176
John 4:14; John 3:14-15; Hebrews 6:4.

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gospel message that everything has been done for them, and they are now nvited to freely
partake of this heavenly banquet of everlasting grace. The invitation was issued freely,
without cause in them, and the banquet is served without cost to them. 1785F 7

Now we must examine the term “cheap grace.” In what sense do the Lordship Salvation
adherents mean that grace is cheap? If we are to infer that they mean grace is cheap to the
recipient because the person did not “do something,” such as surrender the control of one’s
life, commit to faithful obedience, or persevere in a lifestyle of godly living and good works
in order to receive God’s grace, then these apostles of adherence have just destroyed the
meaning of grace. The precise meaning of grace is that it is undeserved favor which is
offered to ungodly people who have no ability to do anything to merit God’s salvation.
A message that calls the unsaved to obey any Christian command provides incriminating
evidence that the speaker suffers from an abysmal ignorance of the biblical meaning of the
finished work of Christ. Paul unequivocally states, “For by grace you have been saved
through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.” How could any clear thinking
1786F8

person derive the concept of “cheap grace” from this passage? Grace has been described by
the acronym “God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense.” Grace was certainly not “cheap” for
Christ; it cost Him everything He had to bring us His grace! The Father emptied heaven of its
greatest treasure to bring His glorious grace to the elect. Our salvation cost nothing less
than“the precious blood of Christ”; who is the one who dares insinuate that grace came
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“cheap”?!

“Don’t Just Believe; Do Something!”

177
We learned this when we saw the use of the Greek word dorean in Romans 3:24.

178
Ephesians 2:8.

179
1 Peter 1:19.

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The Lordship philosophy causes the unsaved individual to ask, “I certainly don’t want to
‘cheapen’ God’s grace, so what must I do to be saved?” Unlike Paul and Silas, the Lordship
devotee is delighted to provide a detailed dissertation. (Evidently poor Paul just hadn’t
figured out what the true Gospel message really was!) He proceeds to “front-load” the
gospel, as Dr. Joseph Dillow describes it, with all sorts of human requirements, such as:
Make Christ the Lord of your life; Promise you will obey Him for the rest of your life; Count
the cost for what it takes to be a Christian; Stop sinning and make sure you have what it takes
to hold out, etc., etc. At that glorious moment of helping the unsaved to freely receive the
eternal benefits of the work of Christ, benefits that Scripture says can be obtained by faith
alone, without cost to them and without cause in them, the Lordship teacher directs the
seeker’s attention away from the complete sufficiency of Christ and instead focuses his mind
on the sinners ability to “do something” to manipulate the grace of God! To do this is to do
nothing less than to rewrite the teaching of the New Testament.

There is absolutely no deed for the unsaved person to perform that can become the legal,
righteous ground on which God would accept them. The legal ground on which God
accepts every sinner as righteous in His sight is the doing and dying of Christ ALONE.
Look again at the writings of Paul: “At this present time there is a remnant according to the
election of grace. And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer
grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work.” If there
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is something that damned, vile, depraved sinners, men and women who are hostile to God,
must do in order to propitiate God and earn their salvation, as the teaching of Lordship
salvation asserts, then salvation is no longer of grace, and the Scriptures can no longer be
trusted. It is that simple. Lordship salvation injects human merit into the free grace gospel
message, which unmistakably identifies this Lordship message as a damnable gospel. Paul’s
contempt for this kind of heretical teaching was scalding: “But even if we, or an angel from

180
Romans 11:5-6.

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heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be
accursed.” Even the mere suggestion of adding man’s efforts to the all sufficient, eternal
1879F 1

wrath-removing cross/work of Christ is to commit the most horrendous blasphemy. The

perfect adherence to the Law that God demands from mankind has been provided in the only
way it possibly can: through the glorious obedience of the One and Only Savior.

Tragically, in most evangelical circles today saving faith is no longer defined as a simple
looking away from what a sinner can do to merit eternal life and looking toward what Christ
has done through His finished work as the sole ground of a sinner’s acceptance before God.
This new breed of evangelical has turned from the historical, biblical, free grace definition of
saving faith and has redefined it as a believing commitment to obedience. This new, man-
made definition reintroduces human merit into the free grace gospel message, and thereby
defines this “new”gospel as a different gospel, which, according to the apostle Paul, has the
anathema of God on it. 180F2

The Convolution of the Bible’s Message

Why do these mixed messages exist within the Protestant church? There are some fine, godly
men, who revere biblical truth and truly seek to uphold the doctrines of historical, biblical
Christianity, who suddenly veer into a different gospel when they are discussing the nature of
saving faith? How is it that men who can usually be counted on for clear teaching suddenly
become so cloudy when it comes to faith? It is my belief that they have confused and
comingled two different sets of commands to two different groups of people.

God’s word does not proclaim one message to the entire world. Indeed, we have seen that the
Bible message is foolishness to unbelievers. A man who is unaided by the Holy Spirit finds

181
Galatians 1:8.

182
Galatians 1:6, 8.

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the things of God impossible to understand. Therefore, the message to the unbeliever is kept
18F 3

short and simple. John wrote:“And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the
name of His Son Jesus Christ.” Paul and Silas gave God’s command to the unbelieving
182F 4

Philippian jailer, who had just come under the conviction of the Holy Spirit, with equal
brevity:“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.” 183F 5

As we saw in the last chapter, even this simple command is impossible for the unsaved man
to obey, unless he is one of God’s elect children. No one can come to Christ unless he is
drawn by the Spirit of God. Therefore, God commands the unbeliever to do one thing and
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one thing only: believe. Again, I remind you of the 150 verses in the New Testament where
this is the sole command that is given for salvation.

Just as John was directed by the Spirit to write in such a way that unbelievers might hear the
message of eternal life through faith in Christ, many of the other New Testament writers
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were inspired to encourage and instruct those who had already accepted the gospel message
and received the free gift of eternal life. Time and again, we see that Paul, Peter, and James
addressed their letters to “the elect,” “the saints,” “the church,” “the brethren in Christ,”
etc. These letters were written to Christian believers, and the message to these men and
women, who had been given the Holy Spirit to enable them to understand God’s word and
walk in His ways, is quite different than the one that is intended for the lost. Jesus also gave
His disciples [believers] detailed instructions for living the Christian life. The Christian
believer is given any number of commands: “Let your light so shine before men, that they
may see your good works ... take up [your] cross ... keep the commandments ... count the cost

183
1 Corinthians 2:14.

184
1 John 3:23.

185
Acts 16:31.

186
John 6:44.

187
John 20:31; 1 John 5:13.

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... present your bodies [as] a living sacrifice ... walk worthy of the calling ... walk in the Spirit
... [be] zealous for good works ... be holy in all your conduct ...”, and a great many more.
186F8

Remember again what we have learned about the state of man. It is impossible for him to
keep the commands of God! His mind is hostile to God; he is incapable of understanding
God’s word or God’s ways. These commands to walk worthy can only be given to Christian
believers, because only the man or woman who is indwelt by the Holy Spirit has the
supernatural power to obey them! So we see that the Scriptures really give two sets of
commands: the first, to the unsaved is to believe; the second, to the one who has believed and
received the gift of the Holy Spirit, to walk worthy of the calling. Dear Reader, please note
this vitally important distinction: Those who are commanded to do something more than
“believe,”who are directed to show forth good works in the name of the Lord, HAVE
ALREADY RECEIVED ETERNAL LIFE! We know this because the letters which
contain these commands assert that they already are “saints ... brethren,” etc. These
commands are not a precondition for salvationI like to think that men and women stand
on one of two sides of the cross of Christ. One side is reserved for the lost, those who have
not believed the gospel message. They are given the one command: believe. Jesus Christ
said, “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved.” At the moment the Holy 187F 9

Spirit enables the unbeliever to assent to the truth of that message, he walks through the
entryway that is Jesus Christ, and enters into the family of God. He crosses over the
threshold, passes from death unto life, and moves to the other side of the cross: the believer’s
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side. At that moment, at the instant of belief, he can claim God’s many promises that are
directed to the believer, the most important one(from the new believer’s standpoint) being
that he has been given the irrevocable gift of imputed righteousness. He has been adopted as
a son, an heir, a member of the family of God. He is given the gift of the Holy Spirit, which

188
Matthew 5:16, 16:24, 19:17; Luke 14:28; Romans 12:1; Ephesians 4:1; Galatians 5:25; Titus 2:14; 1 Peter 1:15.

189
John 10:9.

190
John 5:24.

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will enable him to understand God’s word and to live the Christian life. But living that
Christian life is not a condition for receiving eternal salvation; rather, it is the result.

We must never co-mingle the object of faith with the outcomes of faith. The exclusive
object of saving faith is the person and work of Christ alone, not our bloodless, imperfect,
sinful obedience. Obedience is the outcome of our faith, but it is bloodless, because there is
no merit in our obedience -- we sacrificed nothing to acquire the gift of faith, and therefore it
earns us nothing; our obedience is imperfect because there is no one good, except God; and it
is sinful because we are trusting in self to propitiate God, rather than in Christ! There is no
propitiation in our remorse, our repentance, or our renewal. A perfect, holy God demands
perfect justice as a propitiation for sin, and that justice could only be fulfilled through the
substitutionary work of Christ on the cross -- or through the eternal death of all humanity.
The sinner’s promised future obedience and submission is not part of the gospel
message of salvation. If that were true, then our obedience would, of necessity, become
an object of our faith! We would be trusting in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus
Christ ... plus our obedience!

Therefore, it is my strong assertion that irreparable harm has been caused by ministers and
Bible teachers who misdirect a sinner’s focus away from Christ alone for salvation to a faith
in their own unregenerate mind’s ability to submit to a spiritual reality they know absolutely
nothing about. The issues of sanctification are never to be introduced as part of the
salvation message. The unregenerate knows nothing about sanctification, i.e., the Christian’s
obedience to all the commands of Christ in the Scripture. The evangelist who insists that the
ungodly must obey the supernatural request to fully submit to the Lordship of Christ in order
to be saved is asking the unregenerate to fulfill a command that is the greatest challenge for
even the most mature believer in Christ to obey!

Once the newly saved individual has believed the gospel message, has walked through the
door of salvation that is Jesus Christ, and crossed over to the regenerate (born again) side of

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the cross, he is immediately adopted into the family of God, he is given the Holy Spirit, and
now he is introduced to the process of sanctification. Now he is directed to live a life worthy
of the calling.

The chart below will help to clarify this crucial distinction between the commands that are
given to those who are standing on the unbelieving side of the cross, and those who have
entered through the door that is Jesus Christ, and are now members of the family of
believers.

The Two Sides of the Cross

“I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved.”

The Non-Christian Side of the Cross The Christian Side of the Cross
“Done” “Do”
(Prior to salvation) (Post-salvation)

1. One command given to the lost. (1 John 3:23.) 1. Many commands given to the adopted
children of the household of faith. (1 John 5:3.)

2. One gift received by faith alone. (Romans 2. Many rewards can be earned through
6:23.) obedience. (Matthew 6:19-20; 1 Corinthians 3:8,
11-15; Colossians 2:18; Hebrews 11:26; 2 John 8;
Revelation 3:11, 22:12.)

3. Salvation is immediate and unconditional; it 3. Sanctification is progressive and conditional,

is not earned either by attitude or action. and the believer’s obedience earns rewards.
Salvation is received by grace through faith, plus Sanctification is accomplished by grace through
nothing. (Romans 6:23; Ephesians 2:8-9.) faith, plus obedience. (Titus 2:11-14; 1 Peter 1:10-
11.)

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4. Saving faith receives His imputed
righteousness (justification). (Romans 5:1.)
Saving faith brings the unbeliever through the
door, and establishes him as a righteous member
of God’s household.

4. Sanctifying faith brings about sanctification. 5. The focus is on my obedience unto a fruitful
(James 2:22.) As a member of God’s family, the life. (Titus 3:14; James 1:21; Deuteronomy 8:1.)
believer is now commanded to do good works,
because, with the issue of his eternal salvation
now irrevocably settled, he is to be conformed to
the likeness of Christ. (2 Corinthians 3:18;
Galatians 3:2-3.)5. The focus of faith is on His
obedience and death, that we may have eternal
life. (Romans 5:19.)

6. God alone sees the sinner’s saving faith. (1 6. Man sees the believer’s good works. (Matthew
Samuel 16:7; Romans 4:1-5.) 5:14-16.)

7. The unbeliever is called to a one-time act of 7. The believer is called to a life of faithfulness.
faith. (Acts 16:31.) (1 Corinthians 4:2; 2 Timothy 2; Revelation 2:10.)

8. The Spirit regenerates the unbeliever to new
life in Christ. (John 6:63.)
8. The Spirit, through God’s word, sanctifies
the believer. The Spirit enables the believer (by
grace, through faith) to carry out the supernatural
commands of Christ. (John 17:17; 2 Corinthians
3:4-6, 18; Galatians 3:2-3; Titus 2:11.)

This “split message” is fully supported by both Scripture and logic. Recall that God’s greatest
goal is to glorify Himself. When dealing with the unbeliever, God receives the greatest glory
by taking a blind, depraved wretch, who is completely incapable of turning to God, and
opening that sinner’s eyes for the first time to the truth. The impossible is accomplished: one
who cannot seek God turns to Him, and God is glorified. On the other side of the cross, God
is best glorified in the life of the believer when that man or woman attempts to do something
that is equally impossible: keeping the commands of God. This is accomplished only through
the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit, and God receives all the glory.
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191
Paul wrote, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”(Philippians 4:13.) Conversely, without the
Spirit of Christ to equip us, it is impossible to do anything good, for man is evil by nature, even after salvation! (Romans 7:14-
21.)

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You could say that the unbeliever stands on the “Done” side of the cross. Jesus cries out to
him, “It is finished! It is paid! Your sin debt is paid!” There is nothing the unbeliever must do
— or can do — to receive salvation except believe. When the unbeliever responds to the
irresistible call of the Spirit, he joins the family of God, and moves over to the “Do” side of
the cross. Jesus tells him, “Now that you are a member of My family, give glory to Me by
denying yourself, and take up your cross and follow me.” 1980F 2

If the unbeliever is called upon only to believe before he enters into the family of God, then
what incentive is there to live the Christian life after salvation? Why not just accept the free
gift of eternal life, and then go on about a life of sin? One answer is that the sanctifying Spirit
of God, in cooperation with the living and active word, changes the desires of the members
of God’s family. Galatians 5:17 describes the internal conflict that takes place in the life of
the believer: “The flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are
contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.” The indwelling of
the Holy Spirit does not guarantee perfect obedience; however, He is the supernatural agent
which makes a changed life possible. In conjunction with the ministry of the Spirit, God
disciplines His adopted children in order to produce the peaceable fruit of righteousness. Our 198F3

heavenly Father also uses the body of Christ to produce godliness in us. Believers will still
1982F4

wrestle with sin, and in some cases lose the struggle, but they have been given several
powerful allies in their ongoing battle against the world, the flesh, and the devil.

Another reason that the child of God will walk worthy of the calling is that the Lord has
offered rewards to His faithful and obedient children. When Jesus told His disciples to “Lay
up for yourselves treasures in heaven,” He was clearly referring to the eternal rewards (Paul
1983F5

192
Luke 9:23.

193
Hebrews 12:5-11.

194
1 Corinthians 5:1-5; Galatians 6:1-2; Ephesians 4:11-16; James 5:19-20.

195
Matthew 6:20.

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also referred to the ) that God promises to those who are obedient. The injunctions that God
1984F 6

gives to the members of His family all have rewards attached to them. God is not a stern
taskmaster who orders compliance; He generously gives rewards which are incentives that
are given to the family of God. Jesus told the parable of the master’s words to his industrious
servants: “Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will
make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.” If you review the verses
1985F7

that are given on #2 of the chart explaining The Two Sides of the Cross, you will clearly see
that God offers rewards to those faithful servants who obey His commands to live a fruitful
life. However, there are no such incentives offered to the unbeliever, because he is given no
such commands! The one command given to the unbeliever has no reward attached: they
must only believe in order to receive the free gift of eternal life.

1 Corinthians 3:11-14 and Romans 14:12 proclaim that each believer will stand before Christ
and give an accounting for their individual actions as adopted children of the family of God.
Jesus said, “I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according
to his work.” Paul exhorted Christian believers to “Run [the race] in such a way as to get the
1986F8

prize.” These are exhortations to believers to run the race diligently, and to live in a manner
1987F9

that gives glory to God, in order to receive their rewards.

Paul wrote to Titus, “Let our people also learn to maintain good works, to meet urgent
needs, that they may not be unfruitful.” In other words, after we have obeyed the first and
2089F 0

greatest commandment, which is to love God, then we should love people, and meet their
2089F1

196
1 Corinthians 9:24-25; Philippians 3:14.

197
Matthew 25:21.

198
Revelation 22:12.

199
1 Corinthians 9:24.

200
Titus 3:14.

201
Mark 12:29-31.

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needs, so that God’s love will be made manifest to men, and He will be glorified! If we live
in this way, we can be confident that we will receive the promised eternal rewards. In other
words, we have been given the gift of faith, a faith that receives eternal life. We have been
given the gift of the Spirit, which enables us to live in a manner pleasing to God. Jesus told
His disciples, “If you love Me, keep My commandments. I will pray the Father, and He will
give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever-- the Spirit of truth ... I will not
leave you orphans; I will come to you.” We believers have been fully equipped to live the
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Christian life: “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness.” 2091F3

Now we are charged to make use of the gifts we have received. Jesus admonished believers
not to bury their talents, not to hide their godly light under a basket, but to shine forth, to
show forth His excellencies, so that He will be glorified. In return, the fruitful believer will
receive a reward. Hebrews 11:6 tells us that God is “a rewarder of those who diligently seek
Him.” That chapter of Scripture is often referred to as the “Hall of Fame of Faith.” It
describes the lives and deaths of some who diligently sought God, and were rewarded for
their actions.

A Message Directed to the Wrong Side of the Cross

The advocates of Lordship salvation have comingled the directives that belong to the process
of sanctification and the command that leads to the moment of eternal salvation. In other
words, Lordship salvation transports the biblical directives that were intended for those who
stand on the believer’s side of the cross, and adds them to the command that should be given
to the non-Christian side of the cross. Lost souls are subjected to a dizzying array of
stipulations which, absent the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit, they are completely
incapable of understanding, much less obeying!

202
John 14:15-18.

203
1 Peter 1:3 (NIV).

463
Anyone who truly understands the doctrine of man understands that it is impossible to take
the requirements that are placed on the members of the household of faith, and give them to
those who haven’t even been adopted yet! The lost person hasn’t come through the door yet,
and joined the family. He hasn’t even been born yet! He is spiritually dead, he is sightless,
and his heart is hostile to the things of God. And yet we are taking things that belong to
family members and insisting that a non-family member must abide by that which he can’t
even see or understand!

Tragically, this teaching has caused profound confusion within the body of Christ, to the
point where many believers harbor doubts about their eternal security. Consider this question:
in that first moment of belief, when I trust Jesus Christ as my Savior, can I tell another
person with absolute certainty that my eternal destiny is assured -- in spite of the fact that I
have yet to attempt (much less accomplish) a single good work? The answer, if I have been
taught the biblical definition saving faith, is emphatically and gloriously YES! In the first
moment of trusting in the Person and work of Jesus Christ, I can confidently echo the apostle
Paul: “I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers,
nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing,
shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” 209F 4

The Saving Faith of the Thief on the Cross

I firmly believe that God foreordained that two thieves would be crucified next to
Jesus in order to provide us the most cogent visual aid possible that man is saved by
belief -- an understanding with assent to the Person and work of Jesus Christ -- alone!

204
Romans 8:38-39.

464
 Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, “If You are the Christ,
save Yourself and us.”

But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the
same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man
has done nothing wrong.” Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your
kingdom.” And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”
2093F5

What was Jesus’ first word to the thief who believed? Assuredly! Jesus did not say, “First, you’ve got
to get you down off the cross and do something.” There was absolutely nothing the thief could do!
He could not possibly make a commitment to a life of good works — his life was at an end. He never
confessed his sins, he was not baptized, nor did he participate in any of the sacraments of the church.
He made no promises or pledges, he made no moral guarantees; He simply said to the Savior,
“Remember me.” Yet Jesus replied “Assuredly.”

The thief was saved by faith in Christ alone! I believe he had been in Jerusalem, plying his trade,
perhaps picking the pockets of those who had gathered there for the Passover, and he heard people
talking about the Christ. Perhaps he heard a man gratefully exult, “I once was blind, but He healed
me.” The Holy Spirit used that testimony of thanksgiving to bring the thief to conviction. As he hung
on the cross, he called Jesus “Lord.” He called Jesus Christ “God”! This could only have been
revealed to him by the Spirit. “Remember me, God,” he cried in his agony and despair. And Jesus
2094F6

looked at him and answered, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”
Hallelujah! Saving faith takes the elect, purchased one completely out of himself and directs his
attention solely to the glorious person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Just as Moses lifted up the
snake in the desert, all who look to Jesus will be saved for eternity, and they are saved at that
moment for eternity. 2095F 7

205
Luke 23:39-43.

206
1 Corinthians 12:3.

207
John 3:14-15.

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The very last words that appear in the Gospel of Matthew are Jesus’ instructions to His
disciples: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I
have commanded you.” A disciple is, literally, a “learner of Christ,” and the Lord was telling
2096F8

His handpicked disciples to go, preach the gospel of salvation by faith alone to all the
nations, and then to teach the new disciples to observe all His commandments. One cannot
possibly be a “learner of Christ” until one has trusted in Christ as his Savior, and been
indwelt by the Holy Spirit, which enables the new believer to understand all the things
of Christ!

I could not agree more wholeheartedly that all Christian believers must “Count the cost ...
Let your light so shine before men ... Take up [your] cross ... Keep the commandments,” and
all the other commands of Scripture. We are to carry the cross of discipleship, if we wish to
live fruitful lives and earn rewards in heaven. But these commands are given to Christian
believers, men and women who have already received the free gift of eternal salvation.
It cannot be repeated too often that God’s commands are impossible to keep in their entirety,
because even the Christian believer’s behavior is marred by sin! No man or woman alive can
measure up to God’s sinless standard of perfection. It is important to remember that God
recognizes that the ability to walk worthy of the calling we have received is just as much a
matter of faith as is salvation. One thing that the believer and unbeliever have very much in
common: any action we undertake that will bring us closer to God is only accomplished
by grace, through faith in Him. Our good works are only accomplished by the working of
2097F9

the Spirit of God, just as salvation is.

Many of the Lordship salvation devotees will often point to Romans 1:5, in which Paul wrote
that “We have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith.” This verse, they

208
Matthew 28:19-10.

209
See Proverbs 3:5-6, Philippians 4:13.

466
insist, along with Romans 16:26, which uses the same phrase (“obedience to the faith”), and
2 Thessalonians 1:8 (“taking vengeance ... on those who do not obey the gospel”), provides
irrefutable proof that belief alone is not enough to receive salvation; there must be obedience
in addition to faith. Once again, the Lordship teachers are convoluting the commands that are
directed to the two sides of the cross. To the unbeliever, obedience to the gospel is faith
in the gospel! There is only the one command given to the man standing on the non-Christian
side of the cross: Believe. Paul is not saying that “Saving faith equals obedience”; He is
saying that saving faith equals obedience to that first command that is given to the
unbeliever — to believe! My rejoinder to the Lordship proponents is, Let’s reserve the Do
commands for those who stand on the believing side of the cross; and teach unbelievers, who
stand at the threshold of the door that leads to eternal salvation, lift their eyes to heaven, and
understand and assent to what has already been Done!

Here is another chart, which will clarify the differences between the historical, biblical
definition of saving faith, and the increasingly prevalent man-made “doctrine” of Lordship
salvation.

Lordship Salvation vs. Biblical Salvation:

A Contrast Between the Gospel of Christ and “Another Gospel”

467
Lordship Salvation: A two-party
promise (a covenant between God and
man). No propositional truth. No
assurance of salvation. Subjective.
1. My promises. A two-party promise.
2. My pledge.
3. My commitment.
3. His crucifixion.4. My imperfect
obedience.
5. My submission.
6. My exercise of surrender.
7. My renovation and renewal.
8. My moral guarantees.
9. My internal transformation.
10. A gospel of a changed life.
11. My doing.
12. I must make Him Lord of my life.
13. There is a dual focus of my faith:
externally on Christ, and internally on
myself. I trust in synergism.
14. My work.
15. I turned from my sins.
16. I base my salvation on what I feel; I
468
Biblical salvation: A one-party promise
(a covenant among the three members
of the Holy Trinity). Based on objective
truth. Complete assurance of salvation.
Objective.
1. His promise, a one-party promise.
(Galatians 3:18.) His perfect peace
offering. (Colossians 1:20.)
2. His propitiation.
4. His perfect obedience unto death.
5. His substitution.
6. His expiation of sin.
7. His resurrection.
8. His matchless grace.
9. His external triumph.
10. The gospel of the historical death,
burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
11. His dying.
12. He IS Lord!
13. There is a single focus of my faith:
outside of me, on the person and work of
Jesus Christ. I trust in monergism.
14. His finished work.
15. He died for my sins.
16. I base my salvation on what is written.
trust in my experiences. My faith is non-experiential.

The Distorted Fruit of “Another Gospel”

There is such massive confusion that plagues the body of Christ! Paul asked the believers at
Colossi to pray that he would present the gospel message clearly. He desired their prayers for
21908F0

clarity, for a clear gospel message. That message has been severely clouded and distorted
today. I have personally witnessed so-called “evangelists” giving a presentation of what they
consider to be the gospel of Jesus Christ, and at the conclusion ask what a salesperson would
call a “closing” question: “Can you think of anything that would keep you from trusting in
Christ tonight?”

The unbeliever has listened respectfully to the gospel presentation, and answers “No, I guess
I can’t.”

Hallelujah! The angels in heaven rejoice! But then the ersatz evangelist calls off the party! “I
can think of several things. If you are going to receive the ‘free’ gift of eternal life, you must
make Jesus Christ the Lord of your life.”

The unbeliever recoils slightly in his chair. “What do you mean by that?”

“It means that you have to submit to the Lordship of Christ in every aspect of your life,” the
evangelist answers firmly. “For example, I see you have beer in your refrigerator. You’ve
smoked four of five cigarettes while I’ve been here, and you use a lot of profanity. You must
turn away from all the sin in your life, and live as Christ did. You must read your Bible every
day, pray regularly, attend church on Sunday, and tell others about your faith. If you aren’t
willing to commit to a life of obedience, you cannot be a Christian.”

210
Colossians 4:4 (NIV).

469
The disappointed listener honestly confesses, “I guess I can’t be a Christian, because I can’t
do these things.” And he is absolutely right! The unbeliever has no ability to do these things!
He becomes discouraged and ignores the prompting of the Holy Spirit in his heart because
the evangelist has dragged all the things from the “Do” side of the cross and introduced them
to an unbeliever who stands uncertainly on the “Done” side!

This distorted presentation of the gospel take the unbeliever’s focus away from the obedience
of Christ unto death, and introduces a dual focus of faith right from the outset. It teaches
Christians to believe and doubt the security of their salvation, a state of uncertainty which
James describes as double-mindedness. The sole focus of our faith should be on God, but
2190F1

how can I be truly assured of my salvation if I have been taught that I must concern myself
with the level of my commitment and obedience to the commands of Scripture? Where does
it say in the Bible how much obedience and faithfulness is sufficient to achieve eternal life?
How can I know with any certainty that I have been saved from eternal damnation?! When
you add pledges, promises, commitments, and discipleship to faith, you destroy the free-
grace offer of biblical salvation, and add to faith an unscriptural condition that reduces
Christianity to a self-righteous religion. Adherents to this false gospel become inordinately
introspective, inspecting their own behavior to see if it measures up to some standard of
obedience that is never quite explained.

We make the gospel clear by keeping the message of sanctification separate from the
message of salvation. The whole gospel message was gloriously proclaimed by Jesus Christ
at the moment of his death: “It is finished!” However, Lordship salvation comes along and
says, “Hold on! Not so fast! It’s almost “finished,” but first there are a few provisos that must
be addressed.” Lordship salvation muddies the very gospel that Paul prayed so earnestly
would be made clear! The lost one says, in all honesty (and unconscious confirmation
Romans 8:7): “I can’t live this life of obedience you’re telling me about. I am incapable of

211
James 1:6-8.

470
obeying the law of God!” The Lordship teacher replies impatiently, “Never mind that! Just
do it anyway.”

Lordship adherents have actually said to me, “Jack, you’re telling me to teach this message of
simple faith: ‘Believe in Jesus and you will be saved.’ Then I see these people a year later,
and they’re still drinking and smoking, and living a worldly life. That’s why I tell them to
make Christ the Lord of their lives, because they’ll get to work on cleaning up.” I couldn’t
disagree more strongly with such a manipulative approach to evangelism! First and foremost,
it is not faithful to the truth of Scripture. Second, anyone who tries to “front load the gospel,”
as Joseph Dillow says, is trying to play holy Spirit in the lives of the unbeliever. Scripture
says that “It is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” God’s 2190F2

Spirit works in the heart of the new convert and causes him to want to change his behavior! It
isn’t up to me to urge the unbeliever to do that which he is incapable of doing without the
help of the Holy Spirit. It is not my place to muddy the gospel message with my own
219F3

teaching about a life of works.

We read in the book of Acts about the convicting work of the Holy Spirit: “Many who had
believed came confessing and telling their deeds. Also, many of those who had practiced
magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all.” Notice that these
219F 4

were men and women who had already believed. It may well be that they had been saved
for two before they finally committed to a life of obedience. They gave these things up
2193F5

because the Spirit was working in them, and they were working through the process of
sanctification. Yet Scripture tells us that they were believers. Their belief was the cause of

212
Philippians 2:13.

213
Romans 8:7.

214
Acts 19:18-19.

215
Acts 19:10 reports that Paul’s ministry continued for two years.

471
their change in behavior; they did not forswear their magic arts in order to become believers,
as this passage so clearly reveals.

Jesus said, “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” There is freedom in
2194F6

the free-grace message of the gospel of Christ. There can be no godliness in the presence of
doubt and fear. Assurance is the first rung on the ladder of godliness, the first step in our
growth in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. But all the great verses which
speak of the believers confidence, such as 1 John 5:13, are ripped right out of the gospel by
the teaching of Lordship salvation, which directs the believer to examine the quality of his
life, rather than the quality of the cross. We become preoccupied with self, rather than being
preoccupied with the Savior. There is no security, no freedom, no joy ... only introspection
and uncertainty.

Dear Reader, I hope you will rejoice in the freedom and the security of knowing that God has
chosen you and called you and given you the belief (faith), which is understanding and assent
to the truthfulness of the biblical propositions concerning the Person and work of Jesus
Christ. That faith appropriates a salvation that is eternally secure, “an inheritance [a legacy]
that can never perish, spoil or fade-- kept in heaven for you.” No amount of good works can
2195F7

earn that inheritance ... and nothing can take it away, because it is all part of God’s gracious
plan of salvation, a plan which He perfected before the creation of the world.

However, before we conclude our study of the priceless legacy that God has bequeathed to
us, there is a particular book of the Bible which the proponents of Lordship salvation will
demand that you explain when you begin to proclaim the true, biblical, free-grace gospel
message. That book is the Epistle of James. Let us examine the writings of James to learn the
biblical meaning of that oft-quoted verse: “Faith without works is dead.”

216
John 8:32.

217
1 Peter 1:4 (NIV).

472
 Legaacy, Chapter Thirteen
Did James Teach Salvation Through a Believing Commitment to Obedience?

I have always been quite forthright about sharing my faith in Jesus Christ, and proclaiming
the glorious truth that we are saved from eternal damnation by faith alone in the finished
work of Christ alone. I would always cringe when the person I was talking to would bring up
the second chapter of James. Invariably they would quote James 2:24 -- “You see then that a
man is justified by works, and not by faith only.” After this verse had been thrown back in
my face a few dozen times, I began to wonder, “Why in the world would James ever say
something like this?”

My exasperation stemmed from my ignorance of the true meaning of James’ epistle; I

mistakenly believed James and Paul were teaching contradictory concepts concerning the
nature of justification by faith. I sense some of the same testiness in the writing of Martin
Luther: “Therefore St. James’ epistle is really an epistle of straw, compared to these others,
for it has nothing of the nature of the gospel about it.” There was a time when I 2196F8

wholeheartedly agreed with Luther that James should not be part of the canon!

The Lord is “merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth,” 2197F9

and rather than leaving me on the ash heap of my incomprehension, He introduced me to

teachers like Gordon Clark, Zane Hodges, Joseph Dillow, and Charles C. Bing, and today I
delight in the wonderful, inspired message of James! I am especially indebted to the work of
Zane Hodges for his superb book, The Epistle of James: Proven Character Through Testing. 2918F0

218
I FORGOT TO FOOTNOTE THIS. COULD YOU SUPPLY THE REFERENCE?
219
Exodus 34:6.

220
Irving TX: Grace Evangelical Society, 1994. Dr. Hodges has written several books, including Absolutely Free, a
masterful work which thoroughly dissects and convincingly disproves the theory of Lordship salvation. I highly recommend both
books for your library.

473
Mr. Hodges is a superb Greek scholar and an accomplished exegete of the Scriptures, and I
have gained more insight about James from him than any other single source.

For centuries, those who advocate a saving faith which is comprised of a believing
commitment to obedience have pointed primarily to the book of James to bolster their
arguments. Those who trust in the biblical, free-grace gospel message tend, as I once did, to
shy away from James and champion the writings of Paul, particularly his epistles to the
Romans, Ephesians, and Galatians. An observer might begin to believe that these two
inspired authors actually delivered a contradictory message: Paul proclaimed that a man is
justified by faith alone, while James, it seems to many, insisted that a man is justified by faith
plus works. My desire in this section is to conclusively prove to you that this is not the case.
If this were true, then we would have an irreconcilable contradiction in Scripture, which
would explode the truth of the verbal inspiration of the Scriptures.

I have been contending for complete inerrancy of the Bible from the outset of this book, and I
wholeheartedly reject the notion that the teachings of James and Paul oppose each other. The
contradictions that exist are found in the logic and the theology of men; they do not appear in
the Bible. After all, there is only one Author of Scripture: the Holy Spirit of God. He does
not contradict Himself!

James and Paul: Brothers in Christ and in Doctrine

The first step toward harmonizing James and Paul is to take a quick survey of Paul’s clear,
unequivocal statements that a man is justified by faith alone, apart from works of any kind.
Once we have firmly established this crystal clear doctrinal foundation of justification by
faith alone, we will be able to correctly interpret the book of James with the proper, biblical
discernment. Let us review the writing of Paul:

We conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law ... There is one
God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.

474
 Only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God
would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, “In
you all the nations shall be blessed.” So then those who are of faith are blessed with
believing Abraham. For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is
written, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the
book of the law, to do them.” But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is
evident, for “the just shall live by faith.” Yet the law is not of faith, but “the man who does
them shall live by them.” Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become
a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”), that the blessing
of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise
of the Spirit through faith.

By grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of
God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

To him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is
accounted for righteousness.

And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is
of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work.

Who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but
according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time
began.

Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved
us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit. 291F1

As you read through these verses, you will that Paul clearly and unequivocally denounced the
notion that the law of Moses, which was so painstakingly delineated in the Old Testament,
was the means to being justified before God. However, by paying strict attention to the
original Greek text, you we also discover that Paul goes beyond stating that a person is not
justified by observing the Mosaic law; Paul is actually asserting that a person is not
justified by “the principle of law.” The first verse you just read in the list of Pauline
scriptures was Romans 3:28 -- “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart
from the deeds of the law.” The original Greek text does not contain the article “the” in front
of the word law. Paul did not write that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the
law, but rather that he is justified ... apart from the deeds of law. In other words, Paul was

221
Romans 3:28, 30; Galatians 3:7-14; Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 4:5; Romans 11:6; 2 Timothy 1:9; Titus 3:5.

475
declaring to his Greek-speaking readers, in very strong language, that a man or woman is
not justified on the principle of “obedience” of any kind. Paul proclaimed in all these
verses, as clearly as language can express it, that faith is never to be defined as obedience.

In these passages of inspired Scripture, Paul, again, used the Law of Contradiction to teach us
what faith is by telling us what it is not, and his unwavering assertion was that faith is the
opposite of obedience. As God’s chosen champion of sovereign grace, Paul takes the word
faith and removes from its definition every last shred of human merit: i.e., promises, pledges,
commitments, submission, and all forms of human obedience. Like a skillful surgeon, Paul
wields his grace pen like a scalpel, and surgically removes every cancerous, humanistic cell
of self-righteous obedience that seeks to attach itself to the simple meaning of biblical faith --
understanding with assent. When Paul’s surgery is complete, we understand that faith
contributes nothing to salvation. Faith simply beholds the perfect obedience of the Lord Jesus
Christ, an obedience unto death, and we rest in His perfect obedience alone as the sole
ground of our eternal acceptance before God.

Biblical faith ceases from trying to establish its own righteousness, and submits to the
righteousness of God, which is so gloriously expressed through the doing and dying of the
Lord Jesus Christ. “Where is boasting then?” Paul concluded. “It is excluded. By what law?
Of works? No, but by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith
apart from the deeds of the law.” 290F2

This theme appears time and time again in the writings of Paul. Dear Reader, when God
repeats Himself, you can be sure that the idea is an important one to understand! Paul not
only stated we are not saved by works, but he further emphasized that the kind of
righteousness God gives us is called a faith-righteousness, as opposed to a law-righteousness.

222
Romans 3:27-28.

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In other words, it is God’s righteousness that is received by means of faith and not by
obedience to the the principle of law. Let us again review Paul’s words:.

The righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed ... even the righteousness of God,
through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe.

To him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is
accounted for righteousness.

The promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed
through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.

[The] Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the
righteousness of faith; but Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained to the
law of righteousness. Why? Because they did not seek it by faith, but as it were, by the
works of the law.

The righteousness of faith speaks in this way, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend
into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down from above) ... For with the heart one believes
unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ
died in vain.

... Not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith
in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith.

By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared
an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of
the righteousness which is according to faith. 291F 3

The overwhelming preponderance of verses from Paul’s writing leaves absolutely no doubt:
we are justified by faith alone, as Martin Luther so vigorously asserted, apart from any good
works we may seek to perform in order to please God. Now, equipped with this clear
Scriptural understanding of Paul’s definition of justification by means of faith alone, we will
examine the book of James and learn how James and Paul complement -- not “contradict” --
each other. It is with a solemn and God-honoring spirit that I approach these questions,
because the harm that has been done to the body of Christ through faulty interpretations of

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Romans 3:21-22; 4:5, 13; 9:30-32; 10:6, 10; Galatians 2:21; Philippians 3:8-9; Hebrews 11:7.

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the book of James is unparalleled in its heretical devastation. We will begin by asking eight
crucial questions that will help guide us into a proper interpretation of the book of James:

1) Was James addressing believers or unbelievers?

2. What is the subject of James’ book?
3. How did James define the word “save” in his epistle?
4. Did James question the existence or genuineness of his readers’ faith?
5. Did James define faith as obedience?
6. What did James mean by a “dead” faith?
7. Does James’ definition of justification contradict Paul’s?
8. Did Paul place the same emphasis on a Christian maintaining good works as James?

Was James addressing believers or unbelievers?

Twenty times throughout his epistle, James addressed his readers with words such as
brethren, brother, beloved brethren, and righteous man, which undoubtedly demonstrates that
James is addressing a Christian audience and not unbelievers. 29F 4

What is the subject of James book?

Since James was writing to Christian believers, his message does not concern the gospel
message, because his readers had already trusted in Christ as their Savior. Therefore, in the
first chapter of the epistle, we see James introducing believers to the subject of his letter,
which is the testing of a Christian’s faith, for the purpose of bringing that faith to maturity. 293F5

James’ desire for his Christian readers is that they would exercise their faith through
obedience to the implanted word, so that their faith becomes profitable for themselves and for

224
See James 1:2,9,12,16,18,19; 2:1,5,7 ; 3:1,10,12; 4:5,11; 5:7,9,10,12,16,19.

225
James 1:2-4.

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others. Simply put, James’ exhortation to his Christian readers was to “Fulfill your faith!”
He sought to encourage them -- and us -- to work out all the potential good that is in the faith
that God has given us, that He would be glorified and the body of Christ would be edified.

How did James define the word “save” in his epistle?

James used the word save five times in his epistle. The first place the word occurs is in
294F6

1:21 -- “Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness and receive with
meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.” Recall that James is
addressing Christian believers, men and women who have placed their faith in the
Person and work of Jesus Christ for salvation, and have already been saved from eternal
damnation. Therefore, James cannot be using save in the sense of salvation from hell. In
what sense, then, does “the implanted word save (their) souls”?

Soul, as used in the context of James’ letter, means the Christian’s physical life. James’
meaning for salvation, as he used it throughout his epistle, is salvation from physical death
and a fruitless life, not salvation from eternal damnation. In other words, the implanted word
saves the Christian’s soul by delivering him from a life that is ravaged by sinful
disobedience, which ultimately ends in premature physical death as a result of God’s
judgment.

James unequivocally states that “Sin ... brings forth death.” It is important for us to note that
295F7

the doctrine that sin leads to death is by no means found only in the epistle of James. The
Bible is replete with promises that a believer’s life will be prolonged through obedience to

226
See James 1:21; 2:14; 4:12; 5:15; 5:20.

227
James 1:15.

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God’s commands. The converse of this truth is also clearly stated: All sin, when it is full-
grown, brings forth death.

Deuteronomy 5:32 instructs, “You shall walk in all the ways which the LORD your God has
commanded you, that you may live and that it may be well with you, and that you may
prolong your days in the land which you shall possess.” Proverbs 4:4, likewise instructs,
“Let your heart retain my words; keep my commands, and live,” and in Proverbs 7:2, the
Lord again urges us to “Keep my commands and live, and my law as the apple of your eye.”
Proverbs 10:2 bluntly asserts that “Righteousness delivers from death,” and verse 27 of the
same chapter adds that “The fear of the Lord prolongs days, but the years of the wicked will
be shortened.”

Nor is this teaching reserved to the Old Testament alone. Paul told the Corinthians that “He
who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not
discerning the Lord's body. For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many
sleep [die].” James clearly weighed in on this issue as well, writing to his Christian brethren,
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“If anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, let him know
that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a
multitude of sins.” There are several verses in both the Old and New Testaments which
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clearly reveal that the length of our lives is often directly related to our actions. Perhaps the
most powerful of all was penned by Ezekiel: “‘Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the
father as well as the soul of the son is Mine; the soul who sins shall die. If he has walked in
My statutes and kept My judgments faithfully-- he is just; he shall surely live!’ says the Lord
God.” 2398F0

228
1 Corinthians 11:29-30.

229
James 5:19-20.

230
Ezekiel 18:4,9. Also see Deuteronomy 8:1; Proverbs 6:23,26,32; 7:22,23,27; 9:6,11; 11:19; 12:28; 13:14; 19:16;
Psalms 69:32; 119:116; Acts 5:1-5; 1 Peter 2:11; 1 John 5:16.

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It is also important to understand that, just as we have seen in James, every occurrence of the
words save or saved in the Bible does not always mean eternal salvation from hell. The
connotation of the words save and saved in the following verses means the deliverance of a
person’s life from some kind of physical adversity -- not eternal deliverance from hell. I
will give you just a sampling here, and you may review the rest of the verses listed in the
footnote below whenever you wish.

So they said, “You have saved our lives; let us find favor in the sight of my lord, and we will
be Pharaoh's servants.”

But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried
out, saying, “Lord, save me!”

Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one thing: Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do
evil, to save life or to destroy?”

But the centurion, wanting to save Paul, kept them from their purpose, and commanded that
those who could swim should jump overboard first and get to land. 239F1

These verses reveal that the words save and saved must be determined by their context
and usage, just as every word in the Bible must be interpreted. They must not be viewed as
one-dimensional or self-defining words. We must, therefore, abandon the assumption that
save and saved always mean eternal salvation from hell.

Returning to James’ epistle, we find theat the second occurrence of the word save appears in
2:14 -- “What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have
works? Can faith save him?” The construction of the Greek text in this verse demands a
negative answer to James question. James is boldly proclaiming that faith cannot save the
Christian believer. This statement can be very confusing if we do not recall the context
withing which James is talking about. Once again, we must begin our analysis with the

231
Genesis 47:25 Matthew 14:30; Luke 6:9; Acts 27:43. Also see Exodus 1:17; 14:30; Joshua 6:25; 1 Samuel 10:19 ;
Psalm 44:7; 107:13; Proverbs 28:18; Jeremiah 30:7; Matthew 24:13; Acts 27:20, 31; 1 Peter 3:20.

481
knowledge that James is addressing his letter to men and women who have already received
the gift of eternal salvation. This will greatly aid us in a proper interpretation of James
epistle. We have just seen that every time James uses the word save in his epistle, he is not
referring to eternal salvation from hell, but rather salvation from physical death. Therefore,
James wants us to know that faith alone, that is, genuine faith that is defined by a correct
belief concerning the Person and Work of Christ, will not save a Christians’ life from
physical death, or guarantee that he will have a fruitful Christian life, or declare him
righteous before men. If the believer persists in willful disobedience, his life may well be cut
short, as we have seen in the verses previously listed. Hence, the book of James asserts that
only a faith that is characterized by good works will save a Christians’ physical life and
visibly confirm his invisible faith before a watching world.

Does James question the existence or genuineness of his readers faith?

This is a vitally important question, because if James’ readers are merely professors of faith,
and not possessors of genuine Christian faith, then the entire epistle was written to bring
James’ readers to the knowledge of saving faith in Jesus Christ, rather than exhorting his
Christian readers to perfect the quality of their faith.

No where can we infer from James letter that he doubts for a moment the reality of his
readers faith. Once again, I direct your attention to the twenty occasions where James
referred to his readers as Christian brothers. Another strong assertion which attests to James’
belief in his readers’ faith is found in the opening words of the Chapter Two, where James
urges, “My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with
partiality.” This verse clearly demonstrates that James believed his readers held a genuine
Christian faith, since he is instructing them in the godly application of their genuine faith.
James is admonishing his readers, not for their unbelief in Christianity, but for the
inappropriateness of their genuine faith manifesting itself in partiality.

482
Furthermore, when James asked, “What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has
faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?” James was not questioning the
2390F 2

genuineness of his readers faith, but rather the profitability of a faith that does not produce
Christian works. In other words, the issue in James mind is not the reality (2:1-9) of their
faith, but the quality (1:3-7); and fruitfulness ( 2:14-17) of their faith.

The proponents of Lordship salvation, who proclaim that true faith is defined as obedience,
will insist that James 2:14 is revealing the doctrine of a “false” faith. They say that the
“dead” faith that James described is not true saving faith, because it is not accompanied by
good works. However, the Bible recognizes no such erroneous distinctions as “false” faith
and “true” faith. However, the Bible does proclaim that there is only one kind of faith; that
faith is always saving faith, which is a gift from God to His elect. Clearly, the distinction the
Bible makes concerning faith is never between false faith and true faith, but always
between faith and unbelief. The Bible speaks of believers and unbelievers, never of “head”
believers and “heart” believers, or false believers and true believers. This truth is evidenced
by a careful reading of the gospel of John. Every time John uses the word believe in his
gospel, it is always defined as saving faith.

It is also interesting to note that the inspired Bible writers never use the adverbs “truly” or
“really” to describe how a person must believe. It is completely unnecessary to add truly or
really to the word believe. Paul did qualify the sincerity of belief to the Philippian jailer,
when this terrified man asked, “Sirs what must I do to be saved?” Paul did not say, “You
must really believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.” No, Paul simply
replied, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.” The adverbs really and
truly are completely superfluous, because they add absolutely nothing to the word believe.

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2:14.

483
We can illustrate the folly of this idea by using the context of marriage: If one were to say his
wife was “really” pregnant, what would the word really add to our understanding of his
wife’s pregnancy? Either she is either pregnant or she is not. Similarly, a person either
believes the gospel or they do not believe.

Hence, the word believe stands sufficiently and sublimely alone, in all its full meaning,
without the need of any additions or qualifiers to complete its free-grace definition. Any
attempt to supplement the definition of saving faith with anything other than understanding
and assent to one or more propositions concerning the Person and work of Jesus Christ, is an
attempt to malign verbal inspiration, and places the person who makes such an attempt
among the heretical ranks of those who preach a “faith-plus” damnable gospel!

Did James define faith as obedience?

Let us return again to James 2:14 -- “What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has
faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?” James was actually positing the very
opposite of what many people interpret this verse as saying. James was very lucidly declaring
that faith without works is profitless, not that a genuine saving faith will always manifest
itself through good works. Lordship salvation theology teaches that a faith that does not
produce a life of obedience is not true, saving faith. Therefore, the adherents to this doctrine
conclude, the essence of saving faith is faithful obedience.

However, James did not in any way intend to assert that the authenticity of saving faith can
be tested by obedience. He did teach, quite clearly and with great force, was that real
Christian faith, if it does not produce Christian works, is useless. This inert faith profits no
one. In other words, James was teaching his Christian brothers that if a Christians’ faith does
not adorn his life with fruitfulness, then he is a disobedient Christian. God is not glorified by
such lifeless faith, and, while such faith rescues its possessor from eternal damnation, it is not
profitable to him or anyone else. Paul wrote to Titus, “Let our people also learn to maintain

484
good works, to meet urgent needs, that they may not be unfruitful.” You see the perfect
2391F 3

correlation between the writing of Paul and James: as members of the family of faith, we are
called on to let the light of Christ shine before men, and to meet the needs of others. This is a
fruitful faith, a profitable faith, and a faith that will earn the Christian believer eternal
rewards.

What does James mean by a “dead” faith?

Three times in the second chapter of James, we are told that faith without works is dead. The
239F4

word dead finds its interpretive parallel in the word profit, found in James 2:16. Therefore a
dead faith, in the context and usage of the word dead in this epistle, is a profitless faith,
not a non-existent faith. For example, in verse 26, James wrote , “For as the body without
the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.”It is not that faith vitalizes works, as
many assume, but the opposite is true! Works animate faith. This explains why James said,
“Faith was working together with (Abrahams’) works, and by works faith was made
perfect,” i.e. matured. James is stating in this verse that a Christian’s faith is brought to
239F5

maturity by works, and not that genuine saving faith is defined by its works.

James anticipated the objections to his teaching: “Someone will say, ‘You have faith, and I
have works.’ Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my
works. You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe-- and
tremble!” James was strongly asserting here that there is a very real vitalizing relationship
2394F6

between faith and works. A Christian’s faith needs to be put to work, in order bring to
fruition all potential that lies dormant within his correct beliefs.

233
Titus 3:14

234
Verses 17,20,26.

235
2:22.

236
2:18-19.

485
Moreover, the relationship between James’ analogy of the body and faith make it perfectly
clear that the body represents faith and the spirit represents works. James is not implying
that a body does not exist, just as he is not stating that faith does not exist in the believers to
whom he is writing. However, the point of the illustration is that the body needs the vitalizing
life of the spirit to live. Similarly, faith without the animating life of works is profitless, i.e.,
dead. A body without a spirit is profitless. Hence, the truth James is proclaiming is that a
believer may hold all the correct orthodox beliefs concerning the gospel, and thereby be
eternally saved from hell, but that genuine faith, unaccompanied by works is profitless in this
life and the life to come. 2395F 7

Does James’ definition of justification contradict Paul’s?

To answer this question, let us compare the inspired writings of these two men. I am going to
refer back to this first passage (James 2:21-24) often, so I have included the designations for
the individual verses in this quotation from James: [Verse 21]“Was not Abraham our father
justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? [Verse 22] Do you see that
faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? [Verse 23]
And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, ‘Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to
him for righteousness.’ And he was called the friend of God. [Verse 24] You see then that a
man is justified by works, and not by faith only.”Paul wrote to the Christian believers at
Rome: “What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh?
For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.
For what does the Scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for
righteousness.’” 2396F 8

237
See Titus 3:14; 1 Corinthians 3:14-15; Matthew 25:24-28; 2 Peter 1:5-11.

238
Romans 4:1-3.

486
Both James and Paul quote the same verse of Scripture -- Genesis 15:6 -- demonstrating that
they each understand the doctrine of justification by faith alone: that is, the legal, imputed
righteousness of Christ, given apart from any human works. The Holy Spirit directed both
men to quote this verse, in order to show God’s people that the Bible does not contradict
itself. However, even though James states he believes in the doctrine of imputed legal
righteousness in verse 23 (Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for
righteousness), James’ focus in his epistle is not directed toward imputed righteousness,
but practical righteousness.

This is why James uses the obedience of Abraham, offering up Isaac on the alter as a
sacrifice to God, as an illustration to teach his readers about a justification that is different
from the justification that only God can see, which we have already learned is the crediting of
Christ’s righteousness to the believer. This justification by faith, as we have seen, is an
action which takes place outside of the believer and in the mind of God.

When James states that Abraham ... was justified by works in James 2:21, this kind of
justification is actually different from the justification he describes in 2:23. When Abraham
offered Isaac his son on the alter, he was declared to be righteous before men for that act of
faith. I think we sometimes fail to remember that the word justified means to declare
righteous. However, when many Christians see the word justified, they automatically believe
the word mean declared righteous before God, without realizing that it can also mean to
declare righteous before men. The meaning of a word is always determined by the
context in which it appears. This latter meaning is the sense in which James is using the
word justified in verse 21. In verse 23, on the other hand, James declares that Abraham was
declared righteous in the mind of God, as was recorded in Gen. 15:6, which was many years
before Abraham offered his son as a sacrifice. James is stating that Abraham was declared
righteous twice. The first justification occurred in the mind of God, in that invisible moment
of faith that only God saw, whereby God credited to Abraham the perfect righteousness of

487
Christ. The second time justification occurred when he obediently offered his son Isaac on
the alter atop mount Moriah.

Once you understand James doctrine of two justifications, then James 2:24 becomes clear.
James announces, “You see then that a man is justified by works , and not by faith only.” He
is unequivocally declaring that there are two distinct justifications. James demonstrates in
the example of Abraham in verse 23 that a man is justified by faith alone before God.
However, that is not the only way a man is justified; there is a justification by works -- a
justification that comes through his obedience -- by which he is declared righteous before
men. James asserted that Abrahams’ invisible faith was vindicated before men by his
work of obedience.

This very same idea is brought out by David in the Psalms. “ Vindicate me, O Lord,” he
prayed, “for I have walked in my integrity.” In asking God to vindicate him, David was
2397F9

calling on God to declare him righteous before men, on the basis of his personal integrity.
David, like Abraham, had received imputed righteousness, the righteousness that comes by
faith, many years prior to this occasion. However David was now asking God to vindicate
him, that is to put on a visible display, through his obedience to God, of the fruitful
fulfillment of his imputed righteousness.

Therefore, the purpose of James epistle is to exhort believers to be mature and be fruitful in
their faith. James never intended that his letter would be used for purposes of evangelism,
and hecertainly would have been horrified to learn that there would be those who would use
his inspired writing to teach the false doctrine that true saving faith is defined as a faith that is
obedient faith.

Does Paul place the same emphasis on a Christian maintaining good works as James?

239
Psalm 26:1.

488
Paul and James never once contradicted each other; They said precisely the same thing
concerning Christian obedience, because each man has the same Holy Spirit superintending
the same doctrinal message, so that the word of God would maintain its supernatural
consistency. Scripture does not contradict itself. We see Paul and James proclaiming the
same message concerning good works when Paul says, in Titus 2:14, that Jesus “gave
Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His
own special people, zealous for good works.” Paul is stating here, in perfect harmony with
James, that we are saved to serve. The Lord Jesus Christ saved us for the purpose of having
His own special people, a people who would be zealous for good works.

In the same epistle , Paul told Titus “Let our people also learn to maintain good works, to
meet urgent needs, that they may not be unfruitful.” Paul’s clear message is that our people,
24938F 0

that is, all Christian people, must learn the importance of maintaining good works for the
purpose of meeting the needs of others and being fruitful in their Christian walk. Paul is not
declaring that every genuine Christian must manifest good works in his life in order to verify
his salvation, but rather that every true Christian, in order to be fruitful and meet the needs of
others, must learn to maintain good works.

We have already seen that Paul also agreed with James that a believer can have his physical
life cut short through willful disobedience. He warned the Corinthians, “He who eats and
drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's
body. For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep.” He also
instructed the church at Corinth to “Deliver such a [sinner] to Satan for the destruction of
the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.” 2493F1

240
Titus 3:14.

241
1 Corinthians 5:5.

489
Therefore, we must conclude that Paul and James teach the same doctrines concerning the
vital importance of Christians walking worthy of their calling, for the purpose of perfecting
their faith, in order to proclaim to a watching world, that they must be holy in all their
attitudes and actions, because they serve and represent a Holy God!

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 The TRINITY FOUNDATION
Post Office 68 — Unicoi, Tennessee 37692 — Phone: 423.743.0199

A Guide for Young Christians

John W. Robbins
When God saves us sinners, he causes us to believe certain propositions about himself and
about ourselves—ideas that we formerly thought were not true. In an instant, God resurrects
us from the spiritual death of unbelief and makes us understand and believe the truth about
both Jesus Christ and ourselves. Scripture refers to this event by using several figures of
speech: being born again, being born from above, enlightening the mind, being resurrected
from the dead, and giving us a heart of flesh for our heart of stone. What this figurative
language literally means (and if you do not know what figurative language literally means,
you do not know what it means) is that God affects our minds directly, causing us to accept
as true, ideas we formerly thought were not true. He gives truth—figuratively called "light"
in Scripture—directly to our minds.
Jesus had a conversation with his disciple Peter that illustrates the point: Jesus asked Peter,
"But who do you say that I am?" Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living
God." Jesus responded to Peter, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has
not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in Heaven" (Matthew 16:15-17). Now Peter
had traveled and lived with Jesus, and certainly he had heard Jesus preach many times. But
Jesus says that it was God the Father who revealed these truths to Peter’s mind. Jesus
explicitly denied that Peter had come to know and believe these propositions on his own
steam, for "flesh and blood did not reveal" these truths to Peter—God the Father had revealed
them to Peter directly. We are all in the same situation as Peter in this regard; Peter’s answer
is every believer’s answer; and Christ’s response to Peter is the same as his response to all
believers. Just as Peter is not the unique recipient of this truth, so he is not the unique
recipient of direct revelation. All believers get the truth they know directly from God. We are
not aware of the Father’s work, just as Peter was not aware, but had to be informed by Christ.
The truth just "dawns" on us. (This figure of speech is also used in Scripture: See 2 Peter
1:19.) John tells us that "the anointing you have received from him abides in you, and you do
not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things,
and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in him" (1 John 2:27).
The anointing does not give us truth apart from or different from the Word; the anointing is
the Word in us—the "implanted word," to use James’ phrase.
But God did not reveal to Peter—and he does not reveal to us—all truth in one instant. In the
first moment of faith, God reveals to us all the truths required to save us, but they are not all
the truth he intends for us to know. When we are saved, God gives us part of his truth, the
fundamentals as it were, but we will be learning his truth the rest of our lives. We will never
exhaust all the truth that God has to teach us, even during endless years in Heaven. But with
many distractions competing for our attention today, the young Christian may need some
guidance on where to find that truth, and how to study.
The Truth of Scripture
When we were saved, the truths we believed came from the Bible. We may not have been
reading the Bible at the time; perhaps we were listening to a sermon in church or on the
radio; perhaps we were simply talking to a friend, or meditating silently in our home. But
whether we actually had a Bible before us or not, we were saved only by believing the truths
found in the Bible. As we grow, that is, as we learn more and more of God’s truth, we will
continue to find truth only in the Bible. Again, we may be reading the newspaper when God
uses a story on crime, for example, to remind us of some truth that we had read in the Bible
the day before. God causes us to understand what we read in the Bible, and to believe it.
God’s truth is found only in the 66 books of the Bible. That does not mean that all other
books are absolutely false, for some authors have studied the Bible for years and have written
excellent discussions of the truths of the Bible—discussions that the Holy Spirit can use to
help us understand God’s Word more quickly and more accurately than we might if we relied
merely on our own education and background. But the statement does mean that the Bible is
the only source of truth. Whatever truths other authors may have, they have received them
from God’s Word.
Christianity Is Unique
You as a young Christian should understand that Christianity is unique. Jesus said, "I am the
Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man comes to the Father but by me." Christianity is not one
among several competing religions, each of which possesses some truth and has some value.
Jesus Christ is "the Truth." All other religious and philosophical figures are imposters.
Religions may promise to satisfy our senses, our feelings, our desires, and our wills, but
Christianity alone satisfies our minds. Alone among the religions and philosophies of the
world, Christianity offers us truth. You have probably seen the bumper sticker: "Jesus is the
answer." If we understand that in the Bible alone Jesus has given us the answers to our
questions, we can understand how Jesus is the answer to our questions about God, man, and
the universe. Scripture provides us with information that can be found nowhere else.
Christianity denies that any other religion is true; that all roads lead to Heaven; and that there
is any other name in the universe by which we must be saved.
Because Christianity is the truth, and because truth is intellectual, not emotional or
experiential, Christianity must be understood and believed—not caught, felt, sensed, or
encountered. Because Christianity is the truth, the importance of understanding, knowledge,
and wisdom can hardly be overstated. God himself is a God of truth. Deuteronomy 32:4
describes God as "a God of truth." In John 14:6 Jesus says, "I am the way, the truth, and the
life; no man comes to the Father but by me." In John 14:17 the Holy Spirit is called the
"Spirit of Truth." One of the tools you should obtain very early, as we will discuss below, is a
good concordance, for it will assist you in finding quickly the hundreds of passages in
Scripture in which understanding, truth, wisdom, and knowledge are praised, and we are
commanded to seek them.
Feeding on the Word of God
God reveals his mind, that is, himself, to us in Scripture alone. God has graciously given us a
book of a thousand pages to read, study, meditate on, understand, and believe. We grow
spiritually only when we "bite," "chew," and "digest" the Word of God. "Biting" is reading
the Bible or listening to the reading of Scripture. "Chewing" is comparing one passage of
Scripture with other passages of Scripture, or memorizing a passage of Scripture in order to
think about its meaning later, or listening to or reading an exposition of Scripture.
"Digesting" is meditating on Scripture—not the mindless meditation of Eastern religions, in
which the goal is to empty your mind of thought—but the intellectual meditation of
Christianity, in which the goal is to fill your mind with the thoughts of God revealed in the
Bible. By pondering them, turning them over and over in your mind, all the while asking God
to help you understand their meaning and to see how they relate to other truths in the Bible,
you digest the spiritual food—the intellectual food—God has so generously given to us in the
Bible.
"Digesting" is first understanding and then believing the truths of Scripture. As we eat a
meal, we do all three things—biting, chewing, and digesting—simultaneously, after taking
the first bite. We do not wait until the first bite of food is digested before we take a second.
And as with eating meals, it is important to bite, chew, and digest God’s Word
simultaneously, and on a daily basis. In order to grow and be healthy, we need to eat
frequently and regularly—and our spiritual food is much more important than our physical
food. As we digest the truths of the Bible, we grow in grace and knowledge, which is the
prayer that the apostles utter in their letters to the churches. As we grow, we are able to
understand and articulate the truths we have learned more and more clearly, more and more
consistently, more and more accurately. We become more fruitful. We are able to work
out—to practice—what we have learned. But if we do not read the Bible, if we do not think
about its message, if we do not understand what it means, we cannot and will not grow as
Christians. Just as there is no royal road to learning, so there is no mystical road to spiritual
growth. The Bible itself, while commending the trusting attitude of children toward their
parents, an attitude that should be our model of Christian faith toward our Father in Heaven,
commands us not to remain children in understanding, but to grow up: "Brethren, do not be
children in understanding; however, in malice be babes, but in understanding be mature" (1
Corinthians 14:20). Growing up requires food, and a lot of it; a Christian’s only food is the
Scriptures; and our only provider is God himself, who feeds us daily.
The First Book
Because of the absolutely indispensable role of the Bible in your growth and life as a
Christian, it is important to acquire and read an accurate translation of the Bible. All
translations are not equally good. In the twentieth century there were scores of Bible versions
published in English. Many of these are not translations at all, but paraphrases,
condensations, amplifications, and adaptations. None of these is suitable for the study of the
Bible. When God inspired the Bible, he inspired not only general ideas, but also the exact
words the apostles and prophets wrote down. Consequently, for a translation to be accurate, it
must recognize the importance of the individual words, and stick as closely as possible to a
word-for-word translation. Any purported translation of the Bible that treats the Bible’s
actual words loosely is misleading. Such a loose translation will make a close study of the
text impossible. Of the commonly available versions, you should acquire and study the King
James or the New King James versions and avoid those versions, such as the New
International, the New English, the Revised Standard, and Bibles produced by cults such as
the Jehovah’s Witnesses or the Roman Catholic Church-State, for they treat the actual words
that God inspired with less respect than they deserve. They add to, subtract from, and
mistranslate the Hebrew and Greek words of the originals. Another good, though less easily
available, translation is the Literal Translation, edited by Jay P. Green, Sr. Both the Literal
th
Translation and the New King James avoid the archaic English of the 17 century King
st
James, which hinders the understanding of 21 century readers.
As you grow as a Christian, you will want to learn the Greek alphabet, and later some Greek
grammar, so that you will be able to check the translations against the original Greek of the
New Testament. A good Greek textbook is J. Gresham Machen’s New Testament Greek for
Beginners.
Once you have an accurate translation of the Bible to study, you should read the Bible from
cover to cover, from Genesis to Revelation, in order, with no skipping. It is sometimes
surprising to talk to Christians who have been saved for years who have not even once read
the entire Bible. Part of our sinfulness is our laziness, and Satan uses every vice and device
he can to keep us from the Word. The first time through the Bible, you may not understand
much of what it says. That is normal. When one studies any new subject, whether that subject
be history, geometry, or Christianity, he is likely to miss most of what he reads the first time
he reads it. The first time a youngster tries to ride a bicycle he is likely to fall. That is no
reason to give up—otherwise no one would learn either to ride a bike, to demonstrate a
theorem, or to understand theology. Understanding usually requires study, just as riding well
usually requires practice. You as a young Christian should not borrow the books mentioned
in this essay, but acquire them for your own permanent library. They should be readily
available for repeated and frequent reference and study. They will prove useful to you, your
family, and your friends for a lifetime. After you have read the Bible through once, begin
again at Genesis—this time with a specific question in mind, such as, "What does the Bible
say about God?" or, in keeping with the plan laid out below, "What does the Bible say about
itself?" Repeatedly reading the Bible with specific questions in mind is one of the most
effective methods of study. Be sure to take notes on what you find, and keep them in a
permanent notebook.
There are several good reference works that will help you understand what you read. A good
concordance—both Strong’’s Concordance and Young’’s Concordance are based on the
King James Version and remain the most thorough concordances available—is indispensable
to Bible study. (A concordance is an alphabetical list of words that appear in the Bible,
together with the citation for each appearance, and information about the Greek and Hebrew
originals. It functions as a cross-reference and an elementary dictionary. Good computer
software will contain the same elements as a good concordance.) In addition to a
concordance, a Bible encyclopedia and dictionary are very helpful for furnishing background
information on the culture, geography, customs, and technology of the cities and nations
mentioned in the Bible. Two very helpful encyclopedias are the two-volume Wycliffe Bible
Encyclopedia and the five-volume Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible.
Three very useful guides for studying the Bible are the Westminster Standards, consisting
of the Westminster Confession of Faith, the Larger Catechism, and the Shorter
Catechism, all written in the 1640s. The Westminster Confession remains the best summary
of the Bible yet written. The Confession summarizes in 33 short chapters the teaching of
Scripture on everything from Scripture itself to the Last Judgment. Dr. Gordon Clark’s
commentary on the Confession, What Do Presbyterians Believe? is the best short
introduction to what the Bible teaches. You as a young Christian should read What Do
Presbyterians Believe? and the Scripture verses cited in it very early in your studies. This
will give you an introduction to the whole system of truth taught in Scripture and will enable
you to see the forest, not merely the trees. The Catechisms will help you grasp the definitions
of important terms in Scripture, such as justification, adoption, predestination, and alone, as
well as understand such basic items as the Ten Commandments and the Lord’s Prayer. A
useful study guide to the Westminster Confession is Dr. W. Gary Crampton’s Study Guide to
the Westminster Confession.
The goal of seeing or understanding the big picture early in one’s Christian life is very
important. It is one of the reasons why you ought to read the entire Bible through, in order,
from Creation to Consummation. Unless you can see the whole picture, you will not
understand many of the details found in Scripture. You will not understand how the parts
relate to the whole, how the doctrines mesh together into an elegant and intricate system of
truth. Many older Christians remain lost in the details, not knowing what Abraham has to do
with Jesus, nor love with law. They know some Bible stories and have memorized a few
favorite verses, but how all these things fit together into one coherent and unbreakable whole
escapes them. They may not even realize there is a whole, not seeing the forest for the trees.
(This is not to say, of course, that memorization of Scripture is bad; Scripture itself says it is
very good: "Your Word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against you." As you
read, you should commit verses and entire passages on such topics as Scripture, God, Jesus,
and salvation to memory.)
After you have read What Do Presbyterians Believe? you should take the time to study what
is perhaps the best systematic theology ever written: The Institutes of the Christian
Religion by John Calvin. While keeping in the mind the whole of God’s message to his
people, The Institutes fills in many of the details. It is organized in roughly the same fashion
as the Westminster Confession of Faith, beginning with a discussion of how we can know
God and, unlike the Confession, ending with a discussion of government. You may find it
helpful to organize your detailed studies in the same fashion. The major topics to be studied
are
1. The Doctrine of Scripture
2. The Doctrine of God
3. The Sovereignty of God and God’s Decree
4. The Doctrines of Creation and Providence
5. The Doctrine of the Covenant
6. The Doctrine of Sin
7. Jesus Christ
8. The Doctrines of the Atonement and Salvation
9. The Doctrines of Justification and Faith
10. The Doctrine of Sanctification
11. The Doctrines of Worship and the Church
12. The Doctrines of Marriage and the Family
13. Civil Government and Society
14. Church History
15. Christian Philosophy
16. The Defense of the Faith
17. Cults and Pseudo-Christianity
1. The Doctrine of Scripture
On the doctrine of Scripture, which is foundational for all of Christianity, you should acquire,
read, and re-read God’’s Hammer: The Bible and Its Critics, by Dr. Gordon H. Clark. Clark
explains what it means to say the Bible is truth, and how we may know it is truth. As part of
his explanation he refutes those scholars who have attacked or rejected the complete truth of
Scripture.
Then read The Divine Inspiration of Scripture, by Louis Gaussen. Gaussen was a
nineteenth-century Swiss pastor whose book assembles and organizes in one place the
hundreds of statements in Scripture in which Scripture claims to be the Word of God. The
cumulative effect of Gaussen’s work is the refutation of any critic who suggests that the Bible
claims to be God’s Word in only a few instances, and that it is really not the Word of God,
but a work of mere men.
Read The Inspiration and Authority of the Bible, by Benjamin Warfield. Warfield was a
professor at Princeton Seminary at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth
centuries. His book is an excellent explanation of the doctrine of the verbal (the exact words)
and the plenary (the entire Bible) inspiration of the Scriptures.
Read The Battle for the Bible, by Harold Lindsell. Lindsell chronicles, explains, and refutes
the attack on the inerrancy of the Bible within churches calling themselves "evangelical."
Previously Roman Catholic and Modernist churches had denied the inerrancy of Scripture,
but from the 1950s on more and more men and churches that identified themselves as
"evangelical" denied the inerrancy of Scripture as well.
There are several books that are helpful to the young Christian who faces objections from
unbelievers that the Bible is contradictory or simply historically inaccurate. Among these are
the following: Alleged Bible Contradictions Explained, by George DeHoff; Alleged
Discrepancies of the Bible, by John Halley; and the Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties, by
Gleason Archer. The book by Dr. Archer is the most recent and comprehensive; the first two
are older, though still useful, works.

As you mature as a Christian, you will hear about something called "textual criticism." This
is an important topic, and it concerns the original Greek text of the New Testament on which
all translations into English or other modern languages are based. Some schools and scholars
have sought to undermine confidence in the reliability of the Bible by casting doubt on the
reliability of the Greek text. There are several books that are very useful for the Christian to
study on this matter. Among them are these: The Future of the Bible, by Jakob van
Bruggen; The Identity of the New Testament Text, by Wilbur Pickering; and Logical
Criticisms of Textual Criticism, by Gordon Clark. The first two books are a more general
discussion of the whole field of textual criticism, while the last is a narrow examination of
some of the conclusions reached by textual critics showing how capricious and whimsical
they are in their judgments of the reliability of Greek texts of the New Testament.
While the student is mastering the doctrine of Scripture, he should be reading good
commentaries on Scripture. There are several general texts that act as helpful introductions to
the Bible, and many commentaries on individual books of the Bible. Among the introductory
texts are The Five Books of Moses, by Oswald Allis; The New Testament: An
Introduction to Its Literature and History, by J. Gresham Machen; An Old Testament
History of Redemption, by Franz Delitzsch; and A Survey of the Bible, by William
Hendricksen.
Helpful commentaries on the Bible include those by Calvin, Gill, Hendricksen, and Clark:
Commentaries on the New Testament, by William Hendricksen. Hendricksen is a
twentieth-century Reformed theologian whose commentaries on several New Testament
books are quite helpful.
Exposition of the Old Testament and New Testament, by John Gill. Gill is an eighteenth-
century Reformed Baptist whose commentaries are in many instances better than
Hendricksen’s.
Calvin’’s Commentaries, by John Calvin. Calvin wrote a commentary on almost every book
in the Bible, and his commentaries are still among the best available. If you are in doubt as to
the meaning of any passage of Scripture, consult Calvin, Clark, Gill, and Hendricksen, in that
order.
Clark’’s Commentaries, by Gordon Clark.
Gordon Clark wrote commentaries on 12 New Testament books:
Colossians
Ephesians
First Corinthians
First John
First and Second Thessalonians
New Heavens New Earth (1 & 2 Peter)
The Pastoral Epistles (1& 2 Timothy, Titus)
Philippians
Read them in any order you wish, according to your interests, but read them all. They are not
technical commentaries, but commentaries intended to be read by ordinary Christians who
want to grow in their understanding of the Bible. Clark’s comments are always helpful.
Charles Hodge, one of the leading Reformed theologians of the nineteenth century, also
wrote some excellent commentaries on Scripture, including Ephesians, First and Second
Corinthians, and Romans.
Edward J. Young, one of the foremost Hebrew and Old Testament scholars of the twentieth
century, wrote several excellent commentaries on Old Testament books, including
Isaiah
Genesis 1
Genesis 3
My Servants the Prophets
Prophecy of Daniel
Psalm 139
2. The Doctrine of God
After studying the doctrine of Scripture and reading good commentaries on the Scriptures
themselves, the doctrine of God is the next topic to tackle. Steven Charnock’s The Existence
and Attributes of God may be intimidating to a young Christian, for it is more than a
thousand pages long, but it is worth the time and effort involved. Here are a few more books
by Gordon Clark, not only to read before one reads Charnock, but also to add to one’s
personal library: Lord God of Truth, The Holy Spirit, and The Trinity.
3. The Sovereignty of God and God’’s Decree
Because of the sinfulness of men, the sovereignty of God has been a topic of debate within
the churches since the time of the apostles. The Apostle Paul in his letter to the Romans
answers some of the more common objections to the doctrine of the absolute predestination
of God. Among the better discussions of this issue are these books, which you should acquire
and study:
Absolute Predestination, by Jerome Zanchius
The Bondage of the Will, by Martin Luther
Calvin’’s Calvinism, by John Calvin
Predestination, by Gordon Clark
The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination, by Loraine Boettner
Religion, Reason, and Revelation, by Gordon Clark.
4. The Doctrines of Creation and Providence
There have been many books published on the topic of creation in the twentieth century, but
virtually all of them are written from a scientific point of view or are narrowly focused on
such topics as the length of the days of Genesis 1 or problems with the theory of evolution.
No sound book-length discussion of the doctrine of creation written from a theological or
philosophical point of view seems to be currently available. However, there are many
chapters in other books that discuss the doctrine in very helpful ways. Read the chapters on
creation and providence in Clark’s Predestination, Charles Hodge’s Systematic Theology,
and Calvin’s Institutes.
5. The Doctrine of the Covenant
O. Palmer Robertson’s The Christ of the Covenants is one of the best books on the subject.
6. The Doctrine of Sin
Gordon Clark’s The Biblical Doctrine of Man is an excellent discussion of the nature of
man, the fall of man, and total depravity.
7. Jesus Christ
We measure all of history by the birth of Christ, yet he is a figure mostly misunderstood two
thousand years after his birth. In The Incarnation, Gordon Clark has written a path-breaking
book defending the Biblical doctrine that Christ was and is both fully God and fully man.
Another important book from Clark in understanding Jesus Christ is The Johannine Logos.
An older, standard work is The Person and Work of Christ, by Benjamin Warfield.
8. The Doctrine of the Atonement and Salvation
We recommend reading Clark’s book first, and then filling in the details with Smeaton: The
Atonement, by Gordon Clark; The Doctrine of the Atonement According to the Apostles,
by George Smeaton; The Doctrine of the Atonement According to Christ, by George
Smeaton.
9. The Doctrines of Justification and Faith
While the apostles were still alive, the churches began departing from the Gospel by denying
that the objective and alien righteousness of Christ alone justifies us. Paul wrote a polemic
against such denials of the Gospel in his letter to the Galatians, and spent three chapters
discussing justification in his letter to the Romans. But for 1,400 years, the Gospel was
obscured by legalism in the churches, until God enlightened the mind of Martin Luther in the
sixteenth century, and from Luther spread across the globe. You should read these books on
justification:
Commentary on Galatians, by Martin Luther
The Everlasting Righteousness, by Horatius Bonar
Faith and Saving Faith, by Gordon Clark
The Doctrine of Justification, by James Buchanan
Justification by Faith Alone, by Charles Hodge
Another good source of information on justification is The Trinity Review, which contains
scores of essays on various topics, including many on justification by faith. One volume that
is scheduled to appear in 2001 is The War on the Gospel by John Robbins. Remember that
the doctrine of justification is the central doctrine of the Bible, and that if it is denied, all the
rest of one’s ideas, though they may sound very Christian, are not. The Apostle Paul in his
letter to the Galatians damned men who denied the doctrine of the imputed righteousness of
Christ even though they professed to believe in God, the deity of Christ, and other doctrines
of the Bible. Luther called the doctrine of justification the doctrine by which a church or an
individual stands or falls, and Calvin called justification the principal article of the Christian
religion.
10. The Doctrine of Sanctification
Two of the best books on the subject are Jerry Bridges’ The Pursuit of Holiness and Gordon
Clark’s Sanctification.
11. The Doctrines of Worship and the Church
A large part of the reason for the Protestant Reformation was the perversion of Christian
worship that prevailed in the Middle Ages. An excellent discussion of the reform of worship
in the sixteenth century is Carlos M. N. Eire’s book, War Against the Idols: The
Reformation of Worship from Erasmus to Calvin. Eire, a Roman Catholic, shows how
superstitious and idolatrous even the late "enlightened" Middle Ages were. A new book, The
Church Effeminate and Other Essays, edited by John Robbins, is a large collection (740
pages) of some of the best essays of the past five centuries on the structure, purpose, and
function of the church and Christian worship. Douglas Bannerman’s The Scripture Doctrine
of the Church Historically and Exegetically Considered is also very helpful.
12. The Doctrines of Marriage and the Family
The books of Dr. Jay E. Adams are unsurpassed in this field. Start with Competent to
Counsel and Christian Living in the Home.
13. Civil Government and Society
Christians have written a great deal on political matters. E. C. Wines’ The Hebrew Republic
is a nineteenth-century work, and Gordon Clark’s Essays on Ethics and Politics is a more
recent statement of Christian political theory. Ecclesiastical Megalomania: The Economic
and Political Thought of the Roman Catholic Church by Dr. John Robbins teaches by
contrast what a Christian society should look like. One should also read the chapter on
"Politics" in Dr. Clark’s book, A Christian View of Men and Things.
14. Church History
Much of the history of the church is almost invisible to the modern Christian. Soon after the
first century and the deaths of the apostles, the churches fell into serious doctrinal errors,
including serious errors in the doctrine of the church. A perverted form of church
government arose, transforming the presbyteries of the early church into episcopacies and
monarchies. For more than a millennium in the West the churches, united under the Bishop
of Rome, oppressed and persecuted those who professed Biblical faith. One of the policies of
the Roman Catholic Church-State was the re-writing of history through the fabrication of
many false documents and the suppression of accurate records. Consequently, it is difficult to
obtain an accurate history of the church during the millennium when the Roman Church-
State dominated Europe. Some books that are helpful, however, are The Complete Book of
Martyrs, by John Foxe, originally published as Acts and Monuments in eight volumes;
The History of the Christian Church, by Philip Schaff (Schaff held some un-Biblical
theological views, but his history is a standard work); and The History of the Reformation
in Europe in the Time of Calvin and History of the Reformation in the Sixteenth
Century, both by J. H. Merle D’Aubigne.
15. Christian Philosophy
As you grow and understand in greater detail how Christianity is a whole system of thought,
not just scattered truths about God and man, you will become more and more interested in
applying that system to such diverse topics as education, economics, politics, and philosophy.
You will benefit greatly from studying the works of Dr. Gordon Clark in these fields, for
Clark, more than any other thinker, has applied Biblical truth to the whole of life and
thought. He has earnestly sought to "bring every thought into captivity to Christ," as each
Christian is commanded to do.
Against the World: The Trinity Review 1978-1988, edited by John W. Robbins.
Against the World is a collection of 70 essays, many written by Dr. Clark, originally
published in The Trinity Review. The essays discuss such topics as the role of Biblical law in
the life of the individual and society, the arguments for the existence of God, psychology,
economics, current events, apologetics, scientific creationism, the nature of the church, and
many more.
A Christian Philosophy of Education, by Gordon Clark.
A Christian View of Men and Things, by Gordon Clark.
Education, Christianity and the State, by J. Gresham Machen.
This book is a collection of essays and speeches by one for the most courageous and
knowledgeable defenders of Christianity and freedom in the twentieth century.
Historiography: Secular and Religious, by Gordon Clark.
Language and Theology, by Gordon Clark.
Logic, by Gordon Clark.
Thales to Dewey: A History of Philosophy, by Gordon Clark.
Thales to Dewey is Dr. Clark’s peerless explanation and refutation of 2,500 years of secular
and religious philosophy. There is nothing like it in any language, for rather than confusing
the student with innumerable details about men and ideas, Dr. Clark focuses on the theories
of knowledge of the major philosophers, showing them all to be failures. The failure of non-
Christian theories of knowledge is the fatal flaw of non-Christian philosophies. By laying an
axe to the root, Dr. Clark destroyed non-Christian philosophy and religion.
16. The Defense of the Faith
Many books that purport to be Christian apologetics have been published in the twentieth
century, but nearly all of them espouse a Roman Catholic approach to the subject. Gordon
Clark, however, developed a Biblical approach to the subject, and his principles for
defending the faith are set forth in these books: An Introduction to Christian Philosophy,
The Philosophy of Science and Belief in God, and Three Types of Religious Philosophy.
17. Cults and Pseudo-Christianity
Three of the most influential pseudo-Christian movements in the West are Roman
Catholicism, Arminianism, and Pentecostalism. There are many good books about Roman
Catholicism:
Counterfeit Miracles, by Benjamin Warfield.
Counterfeit Miracles discusses not only the miracles of Christian Science, but also Roman
Catholicism and other cults.
Ecclesiastical Megalomania: The Economic and Political Thought of the Roman
Catholic Church, by John Robbins.
This book is a detailed examination of the official statements of the Vatican on economic and
political matters. It demonstrates the collectivism and totalitarianism of the Roman Catholic
Church-State. It is the only such book written by a Christian in the twentieth century.
Graven Bread, by Timothy Kauffman.
Quite Contrary, by Timothy Kauffman.
These two books by Kauffman focus on the Roman Catholic idolatry of the Eucharist and
Mary.
Papal Power, by Henry T. Hudson.
Hudson was missionary in Rome and became familiar with the power of the papacy while
working in the shadow of the papacy.
Roman Catholicism, by Loraine Boettner.
Boettner’s large book discusses many aspects of Romanist doctrine. It is the most
comprehensive book currently available on the subject.
Two of the best books on the charismatic movement are The Charismatics and the Word
of God, by Victor Budgen; and A Theology of the Holy Spirit, by Frederick Dale Bruner.
Both books are excellent. There are also many issues of The Trinity Review that discuss the
charismatic movement at www.trinityfoundation.org.
Perhaps the best antidote to Arminianism is John Gill’s The Cause of God and Truth,
which examines all the "Arminian verses" in the Bible and explains their meaning.
The Theology of the Major Sects, by John Gerstner is a useful guide to several
contemporary cults.
The Changing World of Mormonism, by Gerald and Sandra Tanner is an excellent
explanation of the American religion of Mormonism, written by two former Mormons.
Dr. Martin and Deidre Bobgan have written several good books about psychology, showing
that it is incompatible with Christian theology and demonstrating how some prominent
Christian leaders rely on psychology rather than the Bible.
Conclusion
There are many religious books that will be vying for your attention as a young Christian.
Some of them are helpful; most are harmful. We live in a time of great apostasy, when most
of the religious literature rolling off the presses of Europe and North America is either
blatantly hostile to Christianity, or subtly subversive. Remember the warning of the Apostle
Paul at the conclusion of his letter to the Ephesian Christians: "Put on the whole armor of
God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle
against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the
darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore
take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and
having done all, to stand."
This list of books, though relatively short, will give you as a young Christian the beginnings
of an excellent theological education. Of course, all uninspired books are liable to error, and
these are no exception, but you can read and study them with confidence, praying all the
while that God will enlighten your mind, keep you from error, and guide you into truth.
When you are done, you will be able to say with the Psalmist:
Oh, how I love your Law!
It is my meditation all the day.
You, through your Commandments, make me wiser than my enemies;
for they are ever with me.
I have more understanding than all my teachers,
for your Testimonies are my meditation.
I understand more than the ancients,
because I keep your Precepts.
I have restrained my feet from every evil way,
that I may keep your Word.
I have not departed from your Judgments,
for you yourself have taught me.

New Book
The newest volume in the "Signature Series," The Works of Gordon Haddon Clark, is now
available.
Thales to Dewey: A History of Philosophy is Dr. Clark’s peerless explanation and refutation
of 2,500 years of secular and religious philosophy. There is nothing like it in any language,
for rather than confusing the student with innumerable details about men and ideas, Dr. Clark
focuses on the theories of knowledge of the major philosophers, showing them all to be
failures. The failure of non-Christian theories of knowledge is the fatal flaw of non-Christian
philosophies. By laying an axe to the root, Dr. Clark destroyed non-Christian philosophy and
religion.
Thales to Dewey is available from The Trinity Foundation in both hardback ($29.95) and
paperback ($21.95). Send your check to Post Office Box 68, Unicoi, Tennessee 37692.
Please add $5.00 for shipping and handling.

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