If his branches don’t bear fruit …

John 15:1-6 says Jesus is the “true grapevine” and promises that if you, like a branch of the vine, will remain/abide in Christ, then he will remain/abide in you and you “will produce much fruit.” Praise God! What a great promise from the one who is faithful and true, the one who is able to keep every promise he makes!

However … “if” implies “if not.” So the passage also notes that branches “severed from the vine” cannot produce fruit. It says the Father is a gardener who “cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit.” It warns: “Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned.”

This is not about people who were never saved in the first place. Jesus says these are his branches. They were connected to the vine at one point but did not produce fruit. Because they were useless branches, the gardener severed them from the vine. They were cut off and thrown away. They withered. They will wind up being  gathered into a pile and burned.

The crucial difference between a Christian and a branch on a grapevine is that a Christian chooses to abide in Christ and be fruitful — or not.

“Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.” (Rev. 2:7,11,17,29,3:6,13,22 )

‘Contradictory’ Bible teachings that are nonetheless both true

Over at SBC Voices, Dave Miller has an excellent section on the “contradictory” teachings in the Bible that are nonetheless true — like the trinity, the deity of Christ, predestination and freedom — in an excellent post entitled Am I a Calvinist? You Make the Call!

Two things are affirmed in scripture which cannot both be true according to human logic.  But “his ways are higher than our ways and his thoughts are higher than our thoughts.”  There is a divine logic, a divine intelligence which is beyond human grasp, beyond the understanding of the greatest minds in the world.

• God is one.  God is three.  Both cannot be true, but the scripture affirms both.
• Jesus is fully man.  Jesus is fully God.  Both cannot be true, but the scripture affirms both.
• Jesus is equal to the Father in essence.  Jesus submits to the Father.  Both cannot be true but the scripture affirms both.
• God chose those who would be saved before the foundation of the world.  A genuine response of faith, of the human will, is required to appropriate the salvation that God gives.  Both cannot be true but both are affirmed in scripture.

Essentially, I believe that a lot of the debate is an attempt to make us choose one side of an equation when both sides are affirmed in scripture.  Did God choose us, or do we have to make a response of faith to God?  I believe the Bible teaches both, so don’t ask me to choose just one side of the equation.  I’m willing to leave resolution of these antinomies in the logic and intelligence of God which is beyond my abilities.

Well said.

Read the full post here

 

Can a believer be destroyed in eternity?

Is it possible for a genuine believer to be lost in eternity?

1 Corinthians 8:11 says: “So because of your superior knowledge, a weak Christian, for whom Christ died, will be destroyed.” (NLT)

‘Destroyed’ translates ‘apollumi,’ variously translated in the NAS: bring (1), destroy (17), destroyed (9), dying (1), end (1), killed (1), lose (10), loses (7), lost (14), much (1), passed away (1), perish (14), perishable (1), perished (4), perishes (1), perishing (6), put to death (1), ruined (3). It’s the famous ‘perish’ of the KJV’s John 3:16.

On what basis could a person conclude this refers to the weak believer suffering consequences in this life only?

How would if affect you to know that your displaying a know-it-all attitude could result in a weaker brother falling and being lost in eternity?

Who died on the cross for us?

Anyone who affirms election but not freedom — or freedom but not election — has got only half the truth.

I’m deeply saddened to see a spirit abroad in the Church like the one in the Corinthian congregation: “I follow Paul … I follow Apollos … I follow Peter.” The body of Christ is being divided into factions. Wouldn’t Paul ask us: “Was it Calvin who died on the cross for us? Were we baptized as Wesley’s disciples?”

Disowned

“Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns (arneomai) me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.”  (Matthew 10:32-33 NIV)

A father may disown his child, and a child may disown the father, but how does that happen except that first they are family? Can a stranger disown someone he never even knew?