Study 5 ("Seeking the Lord")
We studied Luke 15, a chapter with 3 parables (The lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost son). These parables have in common something that was lost, then found, followed by rejoicing. Jesus taught the parables in response to the charge by the scribes and Pharisees that He "received (= eagerly awaited", c.f. Lk 2:25, 2:38, 12:36). sinners and ate (= had fellowship, cf. Rev 3:20) with them. "Sinners" refers to those on the fringes of respectable society - the outcasts and despised because of their lifestyle. Tax collectors and prostitutes were the usual sinners of gospel times, but we should be looking at our own society and context to ask where we would find 'sinners' to identify with and seek to save. I mentioned that the story of Tony Campolo and the prostitute's birthday is worth reading (http://www.swapmeetdave.com/Bible/Agnes.htm). The Kingdom of God is a party where we invite others to join in true joy and celebration!
Jesus teaches in the parables that God is a seeking God. Our passages (Is 45:22, Is 55:6-7, Ez 33:11) in today's study echo Paul's statement in 1 Ti 2:4 that God desires that all people be saved. How then does a Calvinist answer the charge that God is insincere in His invitation for people to repent when He has not ordained that they do so> I said that it is possible to reconcile this in different ways: we know that God must be "just, and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus". God both desires justice and mercy, and to some He shows one, but not the other. Secondly, the invitation of God to repentance is directed to whole groups of people, not to individuals whose specific destinies are determined. In the invitation itself, He accomplishes His desire to save. I thought that a picture of God's invitation was like a teacher, who before an exam, tells the class that he/she wishes them to do well even though he/she knows that some of them will fail, by his/her hand, no less.
We then examined Phil 2:1-11 for the question, "How does humility affect our evangelism?". Humility is the quality of thinking rightly about ourselves (Rom 12:3). Humility is a lack of self-preoccupation. It means that one does not feel entitled to consideration or attention. "False humility" is pride in disguise, when we are really seeking affirmation from others. Paul defines humility in this passage as the ability to put others' interests above our own. In doing this we are regarding others as "more significant". The latter does not have to do with intrinsic worth of people as it has to do with our effort to place others ahead of ourselves. We have received salvation by grace (Eph 2:8), so every ground of boasting is excluded. Humility makes it impossible for us to say that any particular individual is undeserving of salvation. We think of Christ's stepwise humiliation (v. 6-8) before His eventual exaltation. This is the pattern that He gives to all His people (Js 4:10, 1 Pet 5:6). Our God is a humble God - even when He exalts His own glory above all else, He does no more than do what is right and appropriate to His infinite worth. We then must give up our comforts to reach out in consideration of the interests of the unsaved.
Jesus teaches in the parables that God is a seeking God. Our passages (Is 45:22, Is 55:6-7, Ez 33:11) in today's study echo Paul's statement in 1 Ti 2:4 that God desires that all people be saved. How then does a Calvinist answer the charge that God is insincere in His invitation for people to repent when He has not ordained that they do so> I said that it is possible to reconcile this in different ways: we know that God must be "just, and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus". God both desires justice and mercy, and to some He shows one, but not the other. Secondly, the invitation of God to repentance is directed to whole groups of people, not to individuals whose specific destinies are determined. In the invitation itself, He accomplishes His desire to save. I thought that a picture of God's invitation was like a teacher, who before an exam, tells the class that he/she wishes them to do well even though he/she knows that some of them will fail, by his/her hand, no less.
We then examined Phil 2:1-11 for the question, "How does humility affect our evangelism?". Humility is the quality of thinking rightly about ourselves (Rom 12:3). Humility is a lack of self-preoccupation. It means that one does not feel entitled to consideration or attention. "False humility" is pride in disguise, when we are really seeking affirmation from others. Paul defines humility in this passage as the ability to put others' interests above our own. In doing this we are regarding others as "more significant". The latter does not have to do with intrinsic worth of people as it has to do with our effort to place others ahead of ourselves. We have received salvation by grace (Eph 2:8), so every ground of boasting is excluded. Humility makes it impossible for us to say that any particular individual is undeserving of salvation. We think of Christ's stepwise humiliation (v. 6-8) before His eventual exaltation. This is the pattern that He gives to all His people (Js 4:10, 1 Pet 5:6). Our God is a humble God - even when He exalts His own glory above all else, He does no more than do what is right and appropriate to His infinite worth. We then must give up our comforts to reach out in consideration of the interests of the unsaved.
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