February 2018

by Richard Sibbes

It is evident that our conversion is sound when we loathe and hate sin from the heart.

A man may know his hatred of evil to be true, first, if it is universal- he that hates sin truly, hates all sin.

Secondly, true hatred of sin is fixed- there is no appeasing it but by abolishing the thing hated.

Thirdly, true hatred of sin is a more rooted affection than anger- anger may be appeased, but hatred of sin remains and sets itself against the whole kind.

Fourthly, if our hatred of sin is true, we hate all evil,
in ourselves foremost, and secondarily in others-
he that hates a toad, would hate it most in his own bosom.Many, like Judah, are severe in censuring others (Genesis 38:24), but partial to themselves.

Fifthly, he that hates sin truly, hates the greatest sin in the greatest measure; he hates all evil in a just proportion.

Sixthly, our hatred to sin is right if we can endure admonition and reproof for sin, and not be enraged- therefore, those that swell against reproof do not appear to hate sin.

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Source: Richard Sibbes commentary, Psalm 97:10

by K. Scott Oliphint

Atheist: Sam Harris has written a masterful exposition of the myth of free will. And the reason that free will is a myth, Harris and I understand as committed scientists, is that all that happens is the product of a materially determined process. Since everything that happens, happens according to that process, there can be no real choice for human beings. We, too, are simply products of the processes of our material make-up. Science can continue apace because reality is so marvelously and determinatively predictable. It moves inexorably as it is materially determined to move.

Christian: If I am materially predetermined to believe what I believe, and you are as well, then what we believe is simply a product of our material selves. We have no choice at all about what we believe; and why we believe what we do makes no sense to discuss at all, since the "why" is embedded in our predetermined matter.

It seems to me that you have gotten yourself into an intellectual bind. If the universe is unguided, then what you think about science is nothing more than a random figment of your own imagination. In that case, science cannot ground or found its own enterprise; the best it can do, as David Hume showed us centuries ago, is depend on some kind of subjective "habit." And a habit is no way to try to uncover the mysteries of the universe; because it is subjective, it has no bearing on whether or not the universe is knowable or predictable. For that, something much stronger is needed. What's needed is actual predictability. And that comes only in Christian theism.

The following numbered items are common assumptions made by synergists in rejecting the bondage of the will and God's sovereign grace in salvation.

Fallacy #1. God would not command us to do what we cannot do.

God gave the Law to Moses, The Ten Commandments, to reveal what man cannot do, not what he can do.

A. Premise #1 is unscriptural. God gave the Law for two reasons: To expose sin and to increase it so man would have no excuse for declaring his own righteousness. Why? Because in the context, he does NO righteousness. As Martin Luther said to Erasmus, "when you are finished with all your commands and exhortations from the Old Testament, I'll write Ro.3:20 over the top of it all." Why use commands and exhortations from the O.T. to show free will when they were given to prove man's sinfulness? They exist to show what we cannot do rather than what we can do. Yes, God gave commands to man which man cannot do. Therefore commandments and exhortations do not prove free will. Nowhere in scripture is there any hint that God gives commands to natural men to prove they are able to perform them.

[Here is the passage Luther quoted to Erasmus to show that law's purpose is to expose our bondage to sin, not show our moral ability to keep it: "Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin." Rom 3:19, 20]

by John MacArthur