Salvation Is Impossible

You may have attended a church for many years. You may have heard a lot of sermons. You may have seen a lot of people "come forward" to the evangelist's call. You may have prayed the prayer. But do you really understand what conversion is?



Salvation is not "accepting Jesus into your heart". He doesn't need your acceptance. We need His acceptance!

Salvation is not "making Jesus Lord of your life". He is Lord of your life and everything else in the universe whether you like it or not. And the day is coming when everyone will bow their knee and confess this fact either as a repentant sinner or a damned rebel.

Salvation is when the God of all creation raises someone from the dead. It is a miracle. It is when someone who is dead in sin is resurrected by the God Who raised Jesus from the dead. And God can only do this without violating His righteous justice because of the righteous substitute Who died in the place of sinners.

The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O LordGod, you know.” Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live,and you shall know that I am the Lord.” So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold,a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” So I prophesied as he commanded me, andthe breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army. (Ezekiel 37:1-10)

I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. (Ezekiel 36:25-27)

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:17-21)


Are you a new creature?

What Is Biblical Discipleship And Growth (Part 8)

Mark Dever, in his book "Nine Marks Of A Healthy Church", outlines the key factors in biblical discipleship and growth. Today, we conclude this 8 part series by examining a biblical understanding of church leadership.

8. Biblical Understanding of Church Leadership

A healthy church to grow in is not a fellowship under the control of a pope or one man dictator – this is to guard against the sinful flesh that all people struggle with. The local church is also not a place for anarchy – again because of the sinful nature. Neither is a fellowship meant to be run by democracy – because we all know that popular opinion does not make something right.

The biblical pattern is to appoint elders (or overseers as stated in the ESV) and deacons to care for the sheep and teach them. Titus 1 and 1 Timothy 3 spell this out clearly. Let's take a quick look at Paul's instructions to Timothy:

The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church? He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil. (1 Timothy 3:1-7)

This is not a job for human ambition. It is a fearful responsibility for men who fear God – men who will answer for their own lives and the lives of those they taught! A healthy church led by godly elders is a beautiful place to grow as a disciple.

The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon. They are planted in the house of the LORD; they flourish in the courts of our God. They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green, to declare that the LORD is upright; he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him. (Psalm 92:12-15)

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit — just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call — one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (Ephesians 4:1-6)

The following video is lengthy but nonetheless an excellent detailed look at biblical eldership by Charles letter when he visited Denmark in 2009. It is a really excellent sermon for people who live in countries and places where there is an absence of biblical churches and have little or no bearings on sound biblical church government. The lack of understanding and ignorance in this area has wreaked untold havoc on the modern church landscape and this video will serve you well as a tool for much needed reprogramming:



Go Back To Part 7
Go Back To Part 1

When Paul Washer Came To Denmark - My Life In Denmark (Part 11)

Yes, pinch me, I couldn't believe it either. The seeds of this visit were planted in the summer of 2008 when three guys and myself crammed into my 97 Corolla and drove 10 hours to Holland (on the one day of the year when you need air conditioning . . . and we didn't have it). The reason for our long trip (in the football locker room atmosphere that my Corolla generates) was that we had heard that Paul Washer would be preaching at one of the summer conferences in the land of canals and windmills. We arrived in time for the first sermon. It was kind of odd because while we had bled the internet dry of every Washer sermon we could find, this Dutch crowd seemed oblivious to how blessed they were to hear from this fine preacher who is the most downloaded on youtube.

At the end of the meeting the dutch all stampeded for the door to relieve their caffeine cravings, leaving us four Danes alone with brother Washer. We thanked him for his ministry and asked a few questions at which point he grew animated. He spoke with great fervor and passion of his heart for frontier mission and his desire to help our labor in Denmark. He told us he would come, and true to his word, he arrived with Charles Leiter (more about him later) just 12 months later in the summer of 2009. For someone in so much demand we are truly humbled for his willingness to come and his continued support on this Scandinavian frontier.

There has been some conjecture over the internet concerning Paul Washer's theology regarding whether he preaches faith alone, and whether he advocates sinless perfection. Both these accusations are utter nonsense propagated by people with faulty soteriology and I have previously dealt with them on an earlier post which is also happens to be the most popular in this blog.

Paul Washer was shocked and deeply grieved over the rampant apostasy that gets passed of as mainstream Christianity in Denmark. He commended us for our evangelism ministry but fervently urged us with the need to plant biblical churches - without which our evangelism ministry would be of little consequence. This was a major shift in our focus and priorities and Kristuskirken became a vision in the minds and hearts of several hungry Danes.

The major highlight of Paul Washer's visit was a public meeting we promoted through Facebook. We had no idea who or how many would show up. But lo and behold, people started streaming through the doors half an hour before the start and we were a packed house once brother washer mounted the pulpit. What a beautiful historic moment to see the Gospel faithfully preached before such a gathering. Here is the video which also includes Mikael Thomsen doing Danish translation . . .


Paul Washer taler i Randers 2009

Rene Vester | Myspace Video

Go On To Part 12
Go Back To Part 10
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More From Denmark - Charles Leiter On Biblical Eldership

Another key ingredient/minimum requirement for a biblical church is a plurality of male elders. Here, Charles Leiter explains why . . .

More From Denmark - Paul Washer and Charles Leiter Field Questions

With the subject of Calvinism rearing it's head on Wednesday's post I thought it appropriate to post another of the videos from our camp in Denmark with Paul Washer and Charles Leiter. Paul and Charles were both jet lagged to the max when this filming was done but they continued to pour themselves out as true servants of the Most High God.

For me this video is worth watching for Charles Leiter's response to the question of Limted Atonement (a major sticking point between Calvinists and Armenianists). Charles rightly points out that many of the pillars of Calvinism in their stated form and label don't paint the entire picture. And this has much to do with the TULIP statement (which I'll discuss in another post) being a response to charges against Calvinism rather than a thorough statement of Calvin's doctrine.

Anyway Charles will explain better than I ever could and all the other stuff is great as well. The cut and thrust of Q&A is something I find intriguing and enjoyable . . .

More From Denmark - Charles Leiter On Church Discipline

Charles Leiter (author of the book Justification and Regeneration - the top seller on the Monergism website) also visited Denmark recently with Paul Washer and had plenty of godly wisdom to impart. The subject of church discipline is HUGE. Many churches either don't do it or don't do it biblically. Tolerating sin in the camp is both a reproach on Christ and an unloving way to treat an unrepentant church member. This video is worth hearing for the wonderful illustrations Charles gives - including the story of when he had to subject his own daughter to biblical church discipline.

Paul Washer - A Real Man Preaching the Real Gospel

We have been so priveledged in Denmark with the recent visit of Paul Washer and Charles Leiter (the author of Justification and Regeneration). To be able to sit under such wonderful godly teaching in such an apostate land was like a dehydrated man taking a drink from a fire hydrant. The videos from all their sessions can now be viewed on Sermon Audio and are so very much worth the view. Much of the teaching focussed on the fundamentals of a biblical church and getting the Gospel right.

This sermon is a wonderful contrast to Rob Bell's pathetic and disgraceful attempt at preaching/distorting the gospel as shown two days ago. It also features a Danish translator which stretches out the time but gives the listener the opportunity to digest the sheer weight of Paul Washer's message. So take the time to listen to a man who loves to glorify God and earnestly desires to see sinful men come to saving faith. So much so that he does not shy away from proclaiming the "hard truths" of the once for all delivered faith.

Paul Washer taler i Randers 2009

RECOMMENDED BOOKS - CHARLES LEITER

Charles Leiter studied Physics and Mathematics before he was led into full-time Christian service in 1972. In 1974, he moved to Kirksville, Missouri, where he and his present co-pastor, Richard Ochs, began ministering to college students. They have now pastored together at Lake Road Chapel for almost 35 years. Charles and his wife Mona have five children. He has been a conference speaker in the United States, South America, and Eastern Europe. Charles is the author of the the highly acclaimed "Justification and Regeneration. You may learn more about his ministry at http://www.lakeroadchapel.org


JUSTIFICATION AND REGENERATION
Charles Leiter
Category: Theology
Click Here To Order
What is regeneration? What is justification? Why do all men desperately need to be justified? If I have died to sin, why am I still affected by it? The answers to these and many other questions become clear once we gain a biblical understanding of justification and regeneration. These two great miracles lie at the very heart of the gospel, yet even among genuine Christians they are surrounded by confusion and ignorance. This book by noted Bible teacher, Charles Leiter, attempts to set forth in clear biblical light the nature and characteristics of justification and regeneration that God may be glorified and His children brought to know more fully the liberty that is theirs in Christ.