Dudley Do-Right & The Giant Cookie Cutter

[dave c]

simpletruth #138y Revisited 10JUL10 salicart@msn.com

HOSEA 10:12—Part Twenty Five: Dudley Do-Right & The Giant Cookie Cutter

by rev. dave c

Hosea 10:12, Sow for yourselves righteousness; Reap in mercy; Break up your fallow ground, For it is time to seek the LORD, Till He comes and rains righteousness on you (NKJV).

Matthew 15:22 A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon-possession." 23 Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, "Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us." 24 He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel." 25 The woman came and knelt before him. "Lord, help me!" she said. 26 He replied, "It is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs." 27 "Yes, Lord," she said, "but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table." 28 Then Jesus answered, "Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted." And her daughter was healed from that very hour (NIV).

For quite some time we have been taking a Biblically global look at the subject of God’s mercy—where mercy means, “God does not give us what we deserve”. Throughout the Gospels we witness Jesus repeatedly breaking rules that, although originally established by God, had been filtered through 1500 years of “what seems right to a man…” to the point of spiritual perversion (Pr 14:12; 16:25). We read about Jesus reaching out to Samaritans (think, “Mormons”), reaching out to Gentiles (think, “post-modern pagans”), and reaching out to Pharisees and Sadducees (think, those who are either “fanatics of conservative religiosity”, or those who are “sociopathically liberal”). Each time the Lord was responding to an individual who sought Him out with a particular need as accompanied by a knowledge of who He is and what is possible within His presence. The verses from Matthew 15 above exemplify the Lord’s generosity of love for everyone, everywhere.

Calvinists would have us believe that God created some people to be predestinated for an eternity of reward in Heaven (which, no matter how they intellectually slice it, also means that God preordains the rest to spend eternity in the torments of Hell) as they approach the New Testament with a T.U.L.I.P. shaped cookie cutter (ref. Part 19). That which falls outside this predetermined form is ignored. In three of the main Scriptural “proofs” that only the elect are irresistibly called and irrevocably saved, Calvinistic theologians stop just short of verses that contextually refute the very substance of their arguments. Much is made of John 6:37-44 when Jesus tells His disciples that He will never drive away those whom the Father gives to Him, and that He will never lose them. The argument is generally summed up by verse 6:44, "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day (NIV). As discussed in Part 24 of this series, however, in the very next verse Jesus says, It is written in the Prophets: `They will all be taught by God.' Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me (Jn 6:45; NIV). John 17:1-19 (Christ’s “high priestly prayer”) is frequently quoted to show that Jesus prayed only for the eleven remaining disciples (the future Apostles) as a prime example of God’s limited proffered grace and mercy—but verse 20 states: "My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one (NIV). Finally, Paul’s use of the terms “chosen and predestined” to described the blessed position in God’s grace and mercy for the “us” of Ephesians 1:3-12 are held to be conclusive passages supporting Christ’s ‘limited atonement’—that is “Jesus did not die for all mankind...He died only for those whom He knew would come to Him”. Once again, the very next verse states, 13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession--to the praise of his glory (NIV) (ref. Part 19).

No, Calvinism is far too fatalistic and it virtually eliminates any and all reason to evangelize. It would seem that the Great Commission itself (Mk 16:15&16) stands against the very premise of Calvinistic teaching. As the opposing extreme, however, radical Armenian theology can breed the Dudley Do-Rights of Christendom’s various “holiness” movements. They would have Believers fear that every step taken is near the precipice of Hell. While the Bible teaches from Genesis to Revelation, Be holy because God is holy (1Pe 1:16), it also teaches that we are to behave righteously because we love the Lord our God with our whole person (Mk 12:30), and because we have a reverential awe for our Creator—not because a man, or men, have determined that we should look, speak, and act in conformity with their particular brand of regulatory and self-righteous legalism. Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules: "Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!"? These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence (Co 2:20-23; NIV).

“Lord, I ask You to forgive me occasions of pride when I toy with self exaltation in lieu of humbled gratitude because You reached out to me, just as You reach out to all humanity. I also ask You to forgive me the arrogance of thinking that something that I can do, or not do, could ever gain me salvation, or secure my inheritance in the Day of Judgment. It is only by Your loving substitutionary sacrifice for our sins that the doorway to Heaven is opened to any, and all, of us. Jesus, beginning with my own, please break our hearts and grant us broken and contrite spirits. I ask these things in Your precious name, amen.”