This is Calvinism

Calvinism is defined as “the Protestant theological system of John Calvin and his successors, which develops Luther's doctrine of justification by faith alone and emphasizes the grace of God and the doctrine of predestination.” Many view Calvinism as a “doctrine of demons” or, at best, a fanatical, heretical doctrine. That puts Calvinism, also known as Reformed Theology, in a very unfavorable light. It’s often summarized by an acronym entitled “TULIP”. The T stands for Total Depravity, the idea that every human being is born inherently sinful. It is often used interchangeably with “Original sin”. Total Depravity makes the case that every human is inherently sinful, and deserving of hell. It points to the idea that mankind cannot and will not choose God, because of their sinful nature. The U in Tulip stands for “Unconditional Election”. Election is used in reference to the act of predestination, which is broken down into two separate actions. Election is the selecting of God’s chosen people, and Reprobation is the act of passing over the person, thus not appointing them for salvation. Unconditional Election says that God chose his people, not based any works, or future faith, but according to his purpose in election. Calvinism asserts that He chose his people, because He wanted to. It explicitly denies that the act of election was because of God’s foreknowledge, as if He peered into the future of all time, and then elected those who would choose him. Unconditional Election assures that our Salvation did not come from anything inside us, or anything we did, but is a completely undeserved, gift of God. The L is used for the term “Limited Atonement”. The atonement is Jesus Christ’s payment for our sins. Calvinists believe that Christ only died for the elect, that his sacrifice secured their salvation, and was for all of God’s chosen people. Christ’s death was sufficient for all, and efficient for the elect. The I is for Irresistible Grace. That God’s grace will end up saving the elect, and that they can then see God for what He is, and in turn accept Him as their Lord and Savior. It’s also known as effective grace. Last, but certainly not least, is the “Perseverance of the Saints” filling out the P. This holds that once you are truly saved and born again, by the blood of Jesus, then there is nothing that can separate you from His saving love.

I could go through and point out biblical backing for each one of the five points of Calvinism, but that does nothing for its relevance in day to day life. These five points have the ability to change your life, and the way that you view your faith. The TULIP is a beautiful tool that, used correctly, can keep the christian God-centered, and not man-centered.

Total Depravity is an excellent jumping off point into the world of Calvinism. Every human being is sinful. We are not only sinful because of our actions, but we are born inherently sinful because of Adam’s fall. Since the fall, humanity has been cursed. Since every human after Adam and Eve is sinful, excluding Jesus as he was both fully God and fully man, and completely and utterly deserving of death and eternal punishment in hell, we all deserve hell. Yet, some of us don’t get what we deserve. We get mercy, in the form of Jesus Christ paying for our sins and becoming our substitute on the cross. Why? Did we get mercy because we saw the sacrifice and embraced it with open arms? No. That is ridiculous, suggesting that God’s sacrifice is only effective whether or not we accept it. What do people want most? Free will, the ability to choose. If we completely had that ability, to freely choose without limitations, then we would all be rotting in hell. We are completely and utterly depraved, and every single square inch of us is infected. 10 out of 10 times we would choose death over life. The only way that salvation happens is when God reaches in, and breaks through our sin nature to save us personally. Salvation is not some pie in the sky that anyone can reach up and grab a slice of. It is a personal gift from God to his people. Humanity, in and of itself, is completely hopeless. The only hope is God.

When a person is saved, the beginning, middle, and deciding factor is only God. Salvation is a intricate personal rescue, completely orchestrated and carried out by the Trinity. How does God decide who He will save? He chooses them personally. Contrary to popular thought, He does not choose them based on something He sees in them, for every single person is completely sinful. He chooses completely unconditionally, hence the term Unconditional Election. His choice is completely based on Him. Nothing we do can make God choose. God chose before the foundations of the earth were made. The universe was still void and black, completely empty when God chose His people who he would save. Before we could do anything good or bad, God chose, so that his purpose in election would stand. We see this in Revelation 13:8, and Romans 9:11. “8 and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain.” - Revelation 13:8 ESV. The names of God’s people, of His elect, were written before the foundation of the world. The book of life had the names of the elect written before the first fish swam in the sea, before the first bird experienced the wind under its wings, and before Adam took his first step on this brand new earth. “11 though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls—” - Romans 9:11 ESV. God chose Jacob over Esau before either of them had even taken a single breath, so that His purpose in election would stand. Salvation hinges entirely upon God. He is the only factor in our salvation,  and He chose His people unconditionally. This gives hope that even the most seemingly hopeless person could still be redeemed by God, even if they cannot even lift a finger to stop themselves from sinning. That is the basis of Unconditional Election.

Limited Atonement is often the most hated of the five. It holds that because the elect are the ones that God has chosen to be saved, they are the only ones that will actually be saved. Salvation is sufficient for all mankind, however it is only efficient for the elect. People often get upset with this teaching because it seems to say that very few people will actually make it to heaven, thus making all of this completely pointless. Jesus said that the path is narrow to salvation. Any way you look at it, many people will not make it. Either it is all completely random and people just fall away due to the course of nature, or God, in his all knowing ways, decided to save some and pass over others. God is completely good in all of His ways, so if He decided to orchestrate salvation in this way, then it must be good and trustworthy, even if we do not understand. Limited Atonement may not be the easiest teaching to swallow, but it must be accepted in order to have a fully God-centered life, in realizing that everything, including who and how many get saved, is completely up to God.

Irresistible Grace is easily the most misunderstood of the five points. People often complain that if Grace is irresistible, then why does the bible warn against grieving the Holy Spirit? (Ephesians 4:30 ESV) The only answer is that Grace can be resisted. For a while. If God has chosen you, you cannot push it off forever. He will break through any defense that you and your sin have created and get to your heart. Your desires will be changed and you will become a whole new creature, with a new hunger for the things of God. (2 Corinthians 5:16-18 ESV) Grace is irresistible in the idea that it will break through eventually, and nothing you can do will stop it. If God has chosen you, then He will rescue you from your sin, and will change your desires and your heart into something that desires for more of God, and for His work.

The last petal on the TULIP is Perseverance of the Saints, otherwise known as once saved, always saved, or Eternal Security. The church is nearly split exactly in half on this. One side stands against it, as they have seen people who seemed to show all the traits of born again christians fall away from the faith, as if they had never seen the truth. The other half looks at it from the angle that those that God holds, He will not drop, and nothing can take them from Him, including themselves. Much of this comes from Romans 8:38-39, which says “38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Nor anything else in all creation can separate us from the love that God has for us. Nothing. Not Lucifer himself, not his army of demons, not the brimstone of hell, not the draw of lust, nor the wants of greed, and most certainly not yourself. You are safe in His grasp. Once you have been called, you have been predestined, and justified. Your sins are now dead and paid for on the cross. Everything you have ever done, ever will do, or have ever thought of, was paid for on that tree. God sent his only Son to die, so that his Elect could have life. His love was too strong to let us fall away. He broke through our sinful nature to save us, and He will keep us with the same level of passion.

The five points of Calvinism do everything possible to veer away from man-centered Christianity, and point toward God as the final answer for anything and everything. True Christianity should and ought to be completely and utterly God-centered. Calvinism is the only answer. It takes away all credit from people when it comes to salvation, and leads to humility. We have nothing to boast in. If we do boast, the only thing we can boast in is the Cross, and God’s beautiful, majestic glory. The true focus of Calvinistic Christianity is God’s grace and his astounding mercy in saving sinners. This is the heart of Christianity. This is Calvinism.

If you have any questions or comments regarding my blog, or anything else, contact me at nathanielgregg2@gmail.com

Thanks for reading,

Nathaniel Gregg

Make War

To be a Christian now, in the world’s eyes, is to not judge, to tolerate sin, to not only live among sinners, but to partake in the sin, without calling it out for what it is. Frankly, it’s gone too far. It’s time to fight back. The American church has bought into this “American Dream” wholeheartedly. Did Jesus Christ die on the cross so that we can continue in our sins? Was he completely separated from God, so that we can wear crosses, and put fish logos on our cars? He died to kill our sins. When he died on that cross, our sins were defeated. This should be enough to give us the passion we need to fight. We fight sin daily, because we know that he already beat it. It’s time to make war.

To be completely clear, I am not saying that our fight is against humans. It’s against the evil that has taken over. Ephesians 6:12 (ESV) reinforces this saying “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” We all have a war to fight together. The concept that Gender is fluid and can be switched out is a direct insult to our God. Does He make mistakes? No. You were born with the correct soul, and the correct body. To suggest otherwise is to spit on Jesus’ bloody face. It’s only going to get bigger from here. Christians are Christ’s bride on earth, and we must stand together on these issues. The division within the churches only helps the misconception of there being contradictions in God’s word.

While we fight this war together, that’s not the only thing we have to fight. We all have personal battles that we must fight day to day. Trying to hide it, and saying that everything is great and sunny, is only pushing off the inevitable. We have been redeemed through the blood of Jesus on the bloody cross because of God’s love. To hide our struggles from one another is ridiculous. We are one body, one church. We all struggle, and it’s time to fight. To be honest with you, I struggle with lust, pride, anger, and fear. What do you struggle with? Admit it, drag it into the light, and kill it.

Above all else, remember that wonderful sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross to reconcile us with God. Remember the blood soaked payment that bought you from your sins, that saved you from the darkness. Don’t fight this by yourself. It’s time to make war.

If you have any questions or comments regarding my blog, or anything else, contact me at nathanielgregg2@gmail.com

Thanks for reading,

Nathaniel Gregg

Living with Theology

Living with Theology

          The popular conception among churches today suggests that we have advanced past theology. All we have to do now, as Christians, is love Jesus and people. Theology may have been a great hobby a few centuries ago, but we have clearly surpassed that. Right? No. Loving Jesus and people is essential, but without correct theology, the foundations of these relationships crumble. God has said to love others like he has loved us. How are we supposed to know how he has loved us without theology? We don't know. We study theology because we love the Father.

          One thing I hear more than anything else when discussing theology is that the Pharisees knew theology. They were all about it. How do we avoid becoming like the Pharisees? We come to theology as a way to know more about our God, not as a replacement. We must avoid being tripped up in legalism, yet we also can't leave theology and doctrine in the dust. They are essential for a Christian's growth. For a church to truly grow, not only in population, but in spiritual maturity, proper doctrine is a must.

           Where do we find biblical doctrine? The answer is obvious, but still must be said. We get biblical doctrine from the bible. Often, people will say that they simply are not interested in theology, instead they love to spread the gospel throughout the world. To that, I say awesome! That is one of the many beautiful things about the body of Christ. Some are meant to be the hands, and others the feet, etc. Consider Ephesians 4:11-12:  "So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, ¹² to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up". Some of us are made to focus entirely on pushing the gospel out. Some are meant to be prophets, and help guide the church. Still more are made to lead the church as pastors and help Christ's sheep stay in His pasture. There are some like me. When I open the bible, I see beautiful things. I see paradoxes and things that don't seem to match up. I know that the Word is inerrant in nature, so I set my sights on figuring them out. All of us are meant to encounter Christ in our day to day lives. We all can see the Glory of God, but we don't all see it the same way.

          His glory is everywhere, some of us see it in day to day life. Others see it when they climb higher, when they pray for knowledge, when they study the word. All of us are needed to push the body of Christ ahead. We are all called to be his body. We must be merciful, loving, truth-pursuing, faithful and kind. I have often, especially as of late, grown angry with other Christians that simply had different gifts than I did. That is ridiculous and selfish. We all were made differently. It's our job to use our gifts together to show Christ on this earth. Take into account what Jesus said in Matthew 22. "37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." Our heart and soul love the Lord by being merciful, and loving others. Our mind loves the Lord by theology, the study of God. We must make sure to love the Lord with everything we have, whether it be our merciful spirit, or an inquisitive mind.

If you have any questions or comments regarding my blog, contact me at nathanielgregg2@gmail.com

Thanks for reading,

          Nathaniel Gregg

The Glory of God

The Glory of God

Glory. It’s a commonly used word, but do you actually know what it means? According to the Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible, Glory is defined as “The singular splendor of God and its consequences for mankind.” The singular splendor of God. Just to make sure that we’re on the same page, let us define God. God is the completely sovereign, all knowing, creator, ruler, king, and judge of the entire universe and everything in it. Including us. We, as humans, are the only thing that God created in His image. We, mere people, were created in His image. When aligning our views with Gods, we typically try finding out what he hates, and we speak out against it. Yet, I firmly believe that we have failed. Is this what we were made to do? Partly. Should we not also love what he loves? Of course we should! We need to love the broken people that he loves, we need to see us the way he sees us. We need to pray to have our eyes opened to what God’s main purpose is. I believe that God’s purpose is to glorify the one thing that is untarnished, the one perfect and beautiful person. Himself. God’s ultimate goal is to bring glory to himself.

               Consider Isaiah 48:9-11. “For my own name’s sake I delay my wrath;

    for the sake of my praise I hold it back from you,    so as not to destroy you completely.¹⁰ See, I have refined you, though not as silver;    I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.¹¹ For my own sake, for my own sake, I do this.    How can I let myself be defamed?    I will not yield my glory to another.”

               Who could speak like this? If I went around spouting things for the “sake of my praise”, I would be put down, and rightly so! I am a mere man. However, the one saying this is not. He is God, the only perfect being in all of existence, and the one true King. Thus, it becomes a perfect thing for Him to proclaim. However, it threatens several of us. Why should we worship a God whose main goal is self-exaltation? Are we not our own kings, do we not have a sense of glory on our own? The answer is no. Our only glory will come from the father. God’s self-exaltation is the love and beauty among the triune God. He is the only thing worth worshipping. We are his chosen people. Our joy should be found in His glory and majesty.

 Listen to Ephesians 1:4-6. "For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love  he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— ⁶ to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves."

               Ephesians states that He has chosen us through his son Jesus Christ to praise his glorious grace. His grace has saved us from the fires of Hell, and set us aside for His worship. Later in John 17, Jesus prays for his disciples, and then he prays for those who will believe in Him through their words. Think about that. Jesus prayed for us. Personally. Isn’t that mind blowing! The savior of the universe prayed personally for you!

               Listen to the climax of his prayer in verse 24 of chapter 17.  “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.” He wants us to see His glory. His glory that the Father had given to him before the world was even here. The love of the triune God that spills over to us! This is amazing news!

               One final verse. Romans 11:36 says this, “For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.” To Him be the glory forever! I pray that becomes our statement in our lives. Whether good times or bad, to Him be the glory. Amen.

If you have any questions or comments regarding my blog, please contact me at nathanielgregg2@gmail.com

Thanks for reading,

Nathaniel Gregg

Living Counter Cultural

A friend of mine recently recommended a book by David Platt, called Counter Culture. It's a fantastic book, a bit of a short read, only 60 pages. In it, Platt calls out Christians for picking and choosing where we stand, and where we sit and say nothing. I felt like I should write about this situation. As Christians, we speak out against poverty, persecution, immigration and abortion, yet we say next to nothing about sex trafficking, same-sex marriage, orphans, pornography, and racism. To be completely frank, this is ridiculous and wrong. It's like we're stuck on a constant loop over the same issues, without the guts to speak out against things we see! I say that we end it. We stand up, and show the love of Christ, and the power of Christ. He beat death, He beat sin. Who's to say He can't beat this? We have been called to live according to His will, to His purpose. Let us rise up and live. Let us show what we believe to the world. By no means do I mean to be anything like Westboro Baptist. I hesitate to even refer to them as a church. True Christians will stand up and change things. We won't simply stand by the sidewalk and picket like cowards. We will serve, love, take action where He guides us. 

Take sex trafficking for instance. Wichita is the 5th worst city in the U.S when it comes to originating sex trafficking. It's right under our noses, yet we don't take action! We don't even mention it. As children of the light, it's our job to illuminate what's in the dark. When it comes to same-sex marriage, when we do address it, it's always filled with hostility. We must show love, and let the glory of God change them. That's how we reach them. James 1:27: Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world. There is our job. There are over 150 million orphans in the world. It's time to help them, and teach them. Then there is the Kool-Aid of our society. Pornography. No one likes to bring it up, but it must be fought. Porn destroys families, yet our culture celebrates it. Heck, the number one movie in the world right now is, in essence, a Porn film! It's also known as Fifty Shades of Grey. We need to show the world what true relationships should be like, re-enforcing the love behind marriage, reflecting Christ's love in all our actions.

Racism is an issue that comes up constantly in our world today. Whether it be Michael Brown in Ferguson, the mob attack in Memphis, or a bit farther back, in Rwanda, it is still all too present in our world today. God created us all in unity, all in His image. We are all called to be Brothers and Sisters in Christ, so that is exactly how we should treat each other. It's time to take another look back at the golden rule. Love your neighbor, as yourself.

This year, let's make a point to live as Christians, to let Christ's viewpoints infect everything we see and do. When that happens, when we are completely influenced by the love of Christ, that His love is all people see when they look at us, then we will truly be able to live counter cultural.

If you have any questions or statements regarding my blog, contact me at: nathanielgregg2@gmail.com

Thanks for reading,
Nathaniel Gregg

Jesus and Love

The millennial generation is often criticized for being lazy, and often not trying hard enough. However, I have seen one thing inside our generation. We have untapped potential, hearts that, if opened, could change the world. Minds that rival Albert Einstein, the athleticism of Michael Jordan, and the brilliance of Stephen Hawking. This is all being squandered on worldly treasures, as we dive for the newest, and greatest tech. One of our most talked about "role models" was someone who became famous for a sex tape! Our musicians glorify sex, and drugs, and we embrace it, with open arms, hungry for substance. We cannot find it here. Where then can we find it?

We dig through thousands of flawed examples, and never bother, not even once to look to the cross! Why? For many of us, the church was the place where the good kids went. The place where they watched Veggietales. A place to get free snacks, and be out of the house on Sundays. Those of us who called ourselves Christians, listened to Christian music, watched Christian movies, and played Christian games. We strived to make sure that we didn't cuss, didn't drink, didn't have sex. The Bible was a book of do's and do not's. We were shown the sterilized, family-friendly Jesus of America. We never saw the revolutionary, homeless, world changing Jesus. The one who made 12 men, from different walks of life, become revolutionaries, that carried a life saving message throughout the world. Many of my peers still haven't seen him. Trying to witness becomes extremely difficult when even the notion of religion or Christianity is met with extreme feelings of hostility.

I have always called myself a Christian and believed that Jesus was my Lord and savior. I never acted like he truly was Lord. Recently, I have been confronted with His terrifying grace, and realized that C.S Lewis was on to something when he modeled Aslan after Jesus. Lewis says that Aslan is not safe, but is good. It's the same thing with Jesus. Is he safe? No. Is he perfect and good? Yes. I want nothing more than to have my generation meet this Jesus.

As Christians, we must reach out into the world, and serve as His servants. We are His body. He is good, and we are not. As much as we want to earn our way into heaven, we can't. That's what makes it beautiful. He loves us enough, to send himself down to earth to be crucified, on one of the cruelest torture devices ever invented. He is everything we ever wanted, though we never knew it. If they can just get the simplest glimpse of His glory, and His love, they would understand. It's up to us to show them.

We have all failed in life. When you tell yourself that you're never going to do that one sin ever again, and you find yourself in it, just a few hours later, you cry out to God in anguish. He is there. He still loves us. He will always love us. That type of love can change the world. That love can break down prejudices. That love can build bridges of trust and hope. That love can shape a generation. It's time to show His love.

If you have any questions or statements regarding my blog, contact me at: nathanielgregg2@gmail.com

Thanks for reading,

Nathaniel Gregg

Rejoicing in Trials and Tribulations

Let me get this off my chest. I know some people may not like this, but I do not live for the opinions of men, I live for the glory of God. I am a Christian. I hold to the bible, and I will defend it in the most public and private of places. If you have a problem with that, then I apologize. I would love to sit down and talk to you about it. However, if you start tearing down Christianity, or another Christian in public, I will stand up and confront you. I'm sorry that your tolerance frowns upon me, pushes me into a box, all tucked away, with a nice stamp labeling me a bigot. That your tolerance only goes so far as your belief system does, that your tolerance gives you the idea that some people's lives are no longer worth living, and applauds them when they decide to end it all, instead of helping them through it. I can see what's coming. In the next couple of years, being a Christian will become a burden. It's coming to America. We have all been so blind as to not see it, but it is almost here. It already has it's foot in the door! Look at Houston! An openly lesbian mayor decided that she didn't like anything that goes against homosexuality to be preached, so she gave an order for any pastor's sermon relating to homosexuality to be confiscated. We can't talk about our belief's without getting labeled, but do you know what I believe? I'm proud to be labeled. They made fun of our Lord, labeled him the King of the Jews, as they spit on him, and tore his clothes, and shoved a crown of thorns into his head. They labeled the disciples as they hunted them down and killed them, in horrible ways. James said to rejoice in trials and tribulations when they come our way. Prepare to rejoice. We will be laughed at, ridiculed, and mocked, beaten to the ground, tortured and killed. Children and Women will be taken, Men will be killed. I will tell you one thing. He's coming back. When He comes back, when our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ comes back to get us, it will all be worth it. We will be in our Father's arms! When the persecution comes, when people hate you because of your faith, don't stop the race. Keep running the race that God has set before us, for when it is over, when we have finished the race, we will find ourselves with the Father, and everything that has been taken will be give back to us, in ways that we can never imagine. Lord, I pray that we will never lose site of the end goal, of seeing your face, and hearing "Well done, my good and faithful servant." I pray, that you will give us strength when the trials and tribulations come, when the insults, and the pain come pouring in. Let the Spirit be with us. When this is all said and done, we will see the glory of the Lord that we have all been waiting for. If we go through the pain with him, we will reign with him. Becoming a Christian doesn't give you a life full of daisies and roses, or whatever other flower you may choose. It gives you a life full of hardship and troubles, with a reward unlike anything else. Let us rejoice.

Thanks for reading, if you have any questions, please email me at: nathanielgregg2@gmail.com