Jay Dharan is the theological editor at ROE, and also the founding contributor at Beacon of Truth, an Evangelical ministry aimed at promoting the supremacy and sufficiency of the gospel.
“Evangelical Begging” is a phrase, which I use sarcastically to refer to what modern day popular preachers do on television and on other public platforms. This is a study whether that phrase and my convictions behind it are something I should maintain or not, in light of orthodox and historic Christianity.
What does the Scriptures say on money?
The scriptures speak a lot on money. Most of it are warnings on how dangerous and deep seated the love of money is in our hearts. In Luke 16:13, Jesus said money is the only one thing that epitomizes “the other master” whom man worships and loves other than God. Quite contrary to radical Pentecostal teachings, it is not Satan that fallen man worships. Fallen man serves the devil in ignorance, but his heart worships money. That’s what Jesus taught in Luke 16. When you love God, you hate money and when you hate God, you love money. All men who are not true worshippers of God, love only their personal profit and care nothing about the glory of God.
It is important for us to recognize this, that ultimately, whatever we are going through, however painful it might be, however engineered it may be by the malice of men and women – ultimately, it is because God purposed it; God allowed it in His absolute sovereignty. It is not the demons or Satan that frustrated God’s purpose! Not at all! He is the Sovereign One who has decreed all things and those plans are being carried out across history and in what you will be going through in a year or two, under the subject of God’s providence.
The purpose of God is a good one. It is to lead to a good end. He acts in love.
God is not a Potentate, sitting on a throne and acting capriciously, with no sense of ultimate purpose, just making plans – in one moment, the plans are meaningful, in another moment, they are completely meaningless, but He is simply satisfying Himself. That’s not the God of the universe.
So does God want us to be poor, sad, lonely—generally unsuccessful in our life and relationships? This view would simply be the mirror opposite of the prosperity gospel. God is not abstractly interested in ensuring that we are either wealthy or poor, successful or unsuccessful; he has far larger plans for us. He has chosen us as his children—co-heirs with Christ of the whole estate. Fellowship in the age of everlasting peace, not where believers live above poverty, but where the poor are rich and there is no more poverty; not where believers are spared a little pain and even tragic news of a loved one killed or seriously injured in war, but where no one gets killed or even fights anymore because sin, evil, injustice, violence, and oppression no longer exist.
It is sometimes said that it is not our happiness but our holiness that concerns God. A helpful way of drawing us back to a God-centered orientation, this contrast nevertheless assumes that happiness is found somewhere else than in God’s glory, which is holiness epitomizes. Created by God—in God’s own image, humanity is the creature who was designed for holiness. More than a static moral quality or attribute, this holiness was to characterize every thought, action, and desire. Things in fact went this way until our first parents willfully determined to set their affections on themselves rather than on God. Immediately, they were unhappy: ashamed, guilty, fleeing from the presence of the best thing that had ever happened to them.
Jay Dharan is the theological editor at ROE, and also the founding contributor at Beacon of Truth, an Evangelical ministry aimed at promoting the supremacy and sufficiency of the gospel.
Is not the Word of God more important than these systems of theology especially as Calvinism and Arminianism came much later in time?
Yes, the Word of God is more important than any system of theology. However to say that and then deny the issue of Calvinism and Arminianism is possible only if we have done the following:
1. The Word of God has been studied carefully.
2. Calvinism and Arminianism has been studied and found to be unscriptural.
3. Since it is neither Calvinism nor Arminianism, which has got the Bible correct, we can do away with both.
I wonder how many people who have made the objection of the Word of God being more important than these systems of theology have done all of the above three steps. It is my observation that most people who have made this objection, to me, has neither studied Calvinism nor Arminianism and most importantly their Bibles, regarding these issues.
Jay Dharan is the theological editor at ROE, and also the founding contributor at Beacon of Truth, an Evangelical ministry aimed at promoting the supremacy and sufficiency of the gospel.
Can we not just be a child of God rather than being a Calvinist or an Arminian?
People who ask this question obviously do not realize the practical implications of theology. That is why they challenge the importance of making a further distinction to a child of God as a Calvinist or an Arminian.
Now what does it mean to be a Calvinist? It means to identify yourself with Reformed understanding of the sovereignty of God, the sinfulness of man, the unconditional choosing of God’s people, the perfect atonement of Christ, the efficacy of grace and the faithfulness of the Lord in preserving His saints.
Now no Christian would say that discussing what the Bible says on these fundamental truths is a waste of time. Moreover every lover of Bible would seek to press on to know the biblically accurate truth regarding these doctrines. So it is of great importance to study these things for they very much determine our understanding of God, sinful man, the work of Christ, the nature of grace and the nature of salvation.
“Ah! dear friends, one half of the emotions excited in our places of worship are of no more value than those excited at the theater.” – Charles Spurgeon
“For the pilgrim’s consideration: What valley is too deep, what tragedy too great, what sorrow too overwhelming can ever remove His love from us? Oh, but do we not hurt? Do we not grieve over our pain? What of it?! Feelings quickly dissolve and cannot be trusted EVER. The solidity of our foundation in Christ is sure and steadfast. He is a refuge to His people always.” by Holly D. Dye
It is important for us to recognize this, that ultimately, whatever we are going through, however painful it might be, however engineered it may be by the malice of men and women – ultimately, it is because God purposed it; God allowed it in His absolute sovereignty. It is not the demons or Satan that frustrated God’s purpose! Not at all! He is the Sovereign One who has decreed all things and those plans are being carried out across history and in what you will be going through in a year or two, under the subject of God’s providence.
