Reflections on Lord’s Day 42 of 2019: “A Heart for the Lost” (2)
On 10/20/2019, the sermon, “A Heart for the Lost,” preached by Pastor Joe Rosales, was based on Romans 9:1-5.
The pastor gave a good comment on labels: Some Christians are too fundamentalistic, insisting, like some of the immature and divisive Corinthians, that they have no labels, no creed, because they are “of Christ”:
For I have been informed concerning you, my brethren, by Chloe’s people, that there are quarrels among you. Now I mean this, that each one of you is saying, “I am of Paul,” and “I of Apollos,” and “I of Cephas,” and “I of Christ.” Has Christ been divided? Paul was not crucified for you, was he? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? (1 Corinthians 1:11-13 NASB)
The point is that these men are all part of the body of Christ, so these factions are divisive fabrications. None of the men listed are at odds with each other. We are all one in Christ. Those who deny any subscription to a creed or confession only need to be asked, “Which Jesus do you believe in?” “Who do you say that Christ is?” (Matthew 16:15 NKJV).
In keeping with the sermon’s title, the pastor stressed that Hyper Calvinism is not Calvinism. Paul clearly expresses his longing to see his native people, the Jews, saved, wishing even “that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh” (Romans 9:3 NASB). But Paul also recognizes that it’s ultimately up to God, who “has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires” (Romans 9:18 NASB).
The pastor also emphasized that Jesus taught a Limited Atonement, for “I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep” (John 10:14-15 NASB). Christ died only for His sheep, not for the goats. The term “Limited” Atonement is misleading, however, because, while monergists or Calvinists limit the scope of the atonement, in that it was only for the elect, synergists or Arminians also limit the atonement of Christ, namely its power to save, because it doesn’t become effectual unless the sinner ultimately chooses Christ out of his own free will. So Jesus died even for Judas, but because Judas didn’t believe, his redemption was in vain. So Christ died in vain for all those who end up in hell, because their redemption ticket was never “redeemed” by their free will choice.