The Horror of Division

Last Monday, a lasting doctrinal dispute in the Christian Union of which I am a part of has finally resulted in the formation of the Reformed CU, which is under the supervision of the Limerick Reformed Fellowship, both of which I am a member of.

This division has been, and is continuing to be, exceedingly painful. I love those in the CU which I left very much, and it breaks my heart to have this division. This pain, of course, is aggravated by my own sinful wretchedness and the mistakes of the past, and the times I have sinfully hurt others in the CU.

Even more than this is my heart broken by the lack of knowledge of the God of Scripture in the Church. So many believers are in churches where they are not fed the truths of Scripture, but are instead given "that which is trodden down" and "that which is fouled"; they are fed by lies such as "God wants you to be healthy/wealthy" and "God loves you but you can still go to hell".

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge, Hos 4:6

Most sadly, the glorious Gospel of God's sovereign elective grace is no longer proclaimed, if not outrightly denied; the love of God has become a weak love that throws most of its objects into hell; the sufficiency of God's Word is denied to the plain believer, who is told that he must seek extra-biblical revelations, speak in "tongues" (gibberish) to know he is saved and must follow the "leading of the Holy Spirit" by which is meant the fickle emotions of our sinful flesh.

My heart breaks. Out of love for God and love for my fellow believers, I have joined the Limerick Reformed Fellowship to be a witness to the truths of God's Word. For the same reason, I have joined the Reformed CU.

My prayer is that the Lord would bring about the true unity of the saints, that is, unity around Truth, as opposed to unity around compromise and falsehoods.

I sang Psalm 102 this morning, as a prayer for the restoration of Zion (the Church) and the deliverance of God's children from the lies of Satan.

 1  Lord, hear my pray'r, and let my cry
      Have speedy access unto thee;
2  In day of my calamity
      O hide not thou thy face from me.

   Hear when I call to thee; that day
      An answer speedily return:
3  My days, like smoke, consume away,
      And, as an hearth, my bones do burn.

4  My heart is wounded very sore,
      And withered, like grass doth fade:
   I am forgetful grown therefore
      To take and eat my daily bread.

5  By reason of my smart within,
      And voice of my most grievous groans,
   My flesh consumed is, my skin,
      All parched, doth cleave unto my bones.

6  The pelican of wilderness,
      The owl in desert, I do match;
7  And, sparrow-like, companionless,
      Upon the house's top, I watch.

8  I all day long am made a scorn,
      Reproached by my malicious foes:
   The madmen are against me sworn,
      The men against me that arose.

9  For I have ashes eaten up,
      To me as if they had been bread;
   And with my drink I in my cup
      Of bitter tears a mixture made.

10  Because thy wrath was not appeased,
      And dreadful indignation:
   Therefore it was that thou me raised,
      And thou again didst cast me down.

11  My days are like a shade alway,
      Which doth declining swiftly pass;
   And I am withered away,
      Much like unto the fading grass.

12  But thou, O Lord, shalt still endure,
      From change and all mutation free,
   And to all generations sure
      Shall thy remembrance ever be.

13  Thou shalt arise, and mercy yet
      Thou to mount Zion shalt extend:
   Her time for favor which was set,
      Behold, is now come to an end.

14  Thy saints take pleasure in her stones,
      Her very dust to them is dear.
15  All heathen lands and kingly thrones
      On earth thy glorious name shall fear.

16  God in his glory shall appear,
      When Zion he builds and repairs.
17  He shall regard and lend his ear
      Unto the needy's humble pray'rs:

   Th' afflicted's pray'r he will not scorn.
18      All times this shall be on record:
   And generations yet unborn
      Shall praise and magnify the Lord.

19  He from his holy place looked down,
      The earth he viewed from heav'n on high;
20  To hear the pris'ner's mourning groan,
      And free them that are doomed to die;

21  That Zion, and Jerus'lem too,
      His name and praise may well record,
22  When people and the kingdoms do
      Assemble all to praise the Lord.

23  My strength he weakened in the way,
      My days of life he shortened.
24  My God, O take me not away
      In mid-time of my days, I said:

   Thy years throughout all ages last.
25      Of old thou hast established
   The earth's foundation firm and fast:
      Thy mighty hands the heav'ns have made.

26  They perish shall, as garments do,
      But thou shalt evermore endure;
   As vestures, thou shalt change them so;
      And they shall all be changed sure:

27  But from all changes thou art free;
      Thy endless years do last for aye.
28  Thy servants, and their seed who be,
      Established shall before thee stay.

The work of Christ on the cross

Recently someone asked my whether the new church I attend, Limerick Reformed Fellowship, holds the cross of Christ as central. I wrote this to try explain why my conscience does not permit me to become a member in a church that teaches the Free Will of man and Universal Atonement (that Christ shed His precious blood for every person). I pray you will give me a hearing.

I've been thinking about your question regarding the centrality of the cross and I wanted to try quickly explain to you why the doctrines of grace are so important and why I love the work of Christ on the cross and why it is the center of my life. Nearly every Protestant denomination claims to be biblically faithful and cross-centred. Many known heretics claim this, such as Joyce Meyer and Benni Hinn. The question is, are they telling the truth or are they paying lip-service? I don't have time to go into all the crazy things these people teach (e.g. Jesus paid for sin not on the cross but in hell when the demons were torturing him). What I mean is just because someone says "I'm Christ-centred and all about God's glory" doesn't mean it's true.

The doctrines of grace are extremely important to the work of Christ on the cross. Let me explain by way of comparing what the doctrines of grace teach about Christ's work on the cross to what "Free-willism" teach about it (those who believe in Free Will would vehemently deny some of the below because they know those things are false, but yet they are the clear implications of Free Will):

• Free-willism: Jesus shed His blood for every single human, most of whom go to hell. As a result, Jesus' blood does not actually save anyone! (if 20 people cheat for an exam, but only 10 people pass the exam, then clearly cheating itself does not cause someone to pass, but something else, e.g. intelligence)
  Doctrines of Grace: Not a single drop of the blood of Christ is wasted. Not one person for whom Christ died will go to hell. As a result, Jesus' blood actually and fully saves those to whom it is applied. (Mat 1:21, John 10:15,27-30, John 6:39, 1Pe 1:5, etc etc)
  
• Free-willism: God the Father counts the blood of Jesus as worthless by sending millions of people to hell for whom Christ died and pouring out His wrath upon some of those for whom His Son shed His blood.
  Doctrines of Grace: God the Father values the blood of His Son so highly that not one for whom Christ shed His blood will experience even the smallest drop of His wrath. (Rom 8:1,17,28-39, 1Jo 4:18, John 17:2-3 etc etc)
  
• Free-willism: Since Christ did exactly the same for every single person, what is the difference between those who go to hell and those who are saved? It certainly is not Christ or the cross. It is their own choice. Therefore, they cannot truthfully say "I am what I am by the grace of God", 1Co 15:10, but should, to be true to their belief regarding Christ's work, say "I am what I am by the grace of God and by my own choice". Note, that most Free-willists (except Roman Catholics) would vehemently deny this and would say they are what they are by the grace of God alone, but they do so in spite of their belief regarding the (uneffective) work of Christ on the cross.
  Doctrines of Grace: The only difference between a hell-bound sinner and a heaven-bound sinner is grace: Even though I am just as wicked as all others, I am saved by the sovereign choice of the Father who sent His Son to die on the cross for me. What is the difference between those who are saved and those who are not? Christ died for those who are saved. Therefore, I can fully and with all my heart, in accordance with what I believe regarding Christ's work, say "I am what I am by the grace of God". See also 1Co 4:7.
  
• Free-willism: By the same reasoning as the previous point, Free Willists cannot truthfully say "God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ", Gal 6:14. Instead, they must admit that although they should only boast in the cross, they also have grounds for boasting in their own decision/faith. Note, that Free Willists would vehemently deny this and would say they glory only in the cross, but they do so in spite of their belief regarding Free Will.
  Doctrines of Grace: In full accordance with my belief regarding the work of Christ on the cross I can, from the bottom of my heart, say "God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ" because the cross is the only thing that makes me, a sinner, different from those who perish justly for their sins. Jesus says "not that you chose me, but I chose you", John 15:16.
  
• Free-willism: God is unjust because He punishes some sins twice: First, by pouring out His wrath toward those who go to hell on Christ, then by pouring out His wrath again on those people themselves (by sending them to hell).
  Doctrines of Grace: God is perfectly just because He punishes all sins once: His wrath toward the sins of the elect is poured out on Christ, His wrath toward the non-elect ("reprobate") is poured out on them. (Rom 3:21-26)
  

In summary, the Christ of Free-willism only makes salvation possible; their Jesus does not actually save anyone. Christ is unable to save because it is up to the Sinner whether the Sinner allows Christ to be effective. Free Will churches teach that salvation is by grace plus the choice of man, by Christ's work plus man's work of faith (this faith being a work of the unregenerate man), to God's glory and the glory of the person who made the right choice.The Christ of the Bible fully and actually saves those for whom He died. His blood makes full atonement for those it was shed. Christ is everything. It is Christ alone, by grace alone, through faith alone (this faith being a gift of God, Eph 2:8), to the glory of God alone. This is the teaching of Limerick Reformed Fellowship.
From my experience, Limerick Reformed Fellowship is the only church in Limerick that teaches the Christ of the Bible. That is the main reason I wish to be a member there. I really hope this makes sense and shows clearly that the Doctrines of Grace are not a nice add-on but are, in fact, the Gospel. The Doctrines of Grace are all about the person and work of Jesus Christ.