Lord, please continue to raise up countless talented Christian men and women who:

1. Understand Your Word as best they can (we are all still learners) and are committed to Your Church, especially their local one. 2. Are confident in their justification unto salvation—received by faith alone, won by Jesus’s finished work, and delivered by the Holy Spirit through His Word and Sacraments.

3. Resist the temptation to believe that doing exclusively “Christian-oriented content” will earn them

Lord, cause Your Church to see that baptism, like Noah’s Ark, carries us through the violent, chaotic waters of sin, Satan, the flesh, and the fall’s curse. In baptism, Jesus begins His work of healing, restoring and renewing us. He comforts our fragile consciences, which waver and doubt Your nearness, love, and unwavering commitment to us—messy and complex as we are. Help us surrender our fear of lawlessness and the urge to protect Your glory when, in reality, we fight against it by reducing baptism to a mere symbol.

How perfectly fitting that the last day of 2023 is on the Lord’s day. As we move into 2024, I among many others today received the Lord’s Supper. Forgiveness and fortification further applied. These words from our confessions come to mind: “But those who are sensible of their weakness, desire to be rid of it and long for help, should regard and use it only as a precious antidote against the poison which they have in them. For here in the Sacrament you are to receive from the lips of Christ forgiveness of sin,

God desires all to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth (1 Tim. 2:3-4). So much so, that He commits Himself to our salvation, even from infancy. Yes, infants indeed can have faith, according to scripture. 1.Psalm 22:9-10

“Yet you are he who took me from the womb;
you made me trust you at my mother’s breasts.
On you was I cast from my birth,
and from my mother’s womb you have been my God.”

Oftentimes, we conclude that by doing more good works and by living a more obedient lifestyle that it adds to God’s acceptance of us. Not so. In Christ alone are we fully accepted and loved by God to the maximum capacity. In an effort to “figure Him out,” we offer God more sacrifice to receive gifts from Him. In this way, we functionally try manipulating or “twisting His arm” to acquire more blessings. More answered prayer. More gifts. In contrast, when things go wrong in our lives, we conclude

“…so does the Holy Spirit leave the indwelled presence of the believer when they denounce Christ? I thought Ephesians 1 says we are sealed until the day of Redemption?”

Thanks for asking bro bro.

Remember, we must interpret the scriptures in view of the whole of scripture. To isolate a verse away from the immediate context and the broader context of scripture gets us into trouble.

Calvinist have done a great job with collecting the scriptures related to God keeping us (amen!) but haven’t done the same quality job with the warning text.

If you were under the immediate threat of death would you do whatever our Holy God asked of you, to live? Picture yourself living in the midsts of an outbreak. An outbreak of fiery serpents that could end your life after only one bite. Imagine God clearly communicated, in an unquestionable manner, the precise cure for this deadly plague. Yet, the cure resonates with your personal sentiments as utterly absurd. It registers in your mind as illogical and far-fetched. Superstitious even.

As I sat listening to popular Reformed Baptist pastor, he continued to speak of sanctification in terms of a letter grade. He exclaimed that some may have a “C” in sanctification while others may have a “B-.” My mind drifted as I began to contemplate what grade might I have? I thought to myself, well, based on a few nights ago, maybe a “D+.” But, based on the last few days, I’d say, at least a “C+.” Because I was hyper trained and hyper focused on monitoring my motives & affections. I was careful to not pridefully grade myself too high on the scale.

Romans 9. I remember when I first heard the Calvinist explanation of this chapter. I was horrified. As an average churchgoer from the hood, my Full Gospel Baptist church had never addressed this text. During my first semester in Bible college, I joined a Reformed Baptist Calvinist church and attended a Bible study there. One of my professors lead the study. He explained to us that he’d be teaching on election and predestination. I was excited and a bit scared, if I’m honest. We isolated the chapter and dealt with it as

We do not set the terms for what it means to be God. We do not establish the criteria for what a sovereign God can and cannot do. We must not measure God up against our rubric of what right and wrong is. Only to then, judge Him and His, “God-ness,” by our self imposed standards. That, in fact, would make us god.

During my time as a Reformed Baptist, I used to think I had to answer Calvinistic queries like these:

1.So, you’re saying, Jesus failed if people He died for ends up eternally separated from Him?

Standing on stage in Kingston, Jamaica, I looked at a crowd of hundreds and hundreds of people and wanted to tell them Jesus died for them. But I couldn’t. I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and simply spewed off something like, “Jesus loves us and died for all those who would believe.” That was it. I felt horrible. I felt like I lied to them. Yet, my Calvinistic informed conscience restricted my verbiage. I admit, I struggled deeply just to get through that concert.

Person: The notion that God applies grace through the Sacraments is trusting in your works. Because it’s you walking to the baptism pool. It’s you taking the bread and wine. Therefore, they are our works and we are saved by grace not works. Me: 1. The Bible describes God alone as the one who applies grace. So, however He gets it to us, we are taught from scripture that it is Him alone and Him ultimately, who is delivering the spiritual reality, using means. Based on Jesus’ merits.

“God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.” This statement used to bring me life! Oh, how I wanted to glorify God. Oh, how I, more than anything, wanted to be satisfied in Him, alone. In greater and more radical degrees. Yet, that qualifying adverb, “most” functioned like a bully. It stood fixed with a mean face and refused to budge. Like the law. “Most glorified.” That one word kept me striving and chasing but never grasping. It was a moving target. No matter how much I prayed,

God’s wrath. Church discipline. Making your calling and election sure. These were overwhelmingly common emphasis made during my time as a Reformed Baptist Calvinist. To over emphasize these matters beyond the textual scope is hazardous. Soul threatening. There were times I would let communion pass because I didn’t feel worthy. Afraid I would fall sick or die (1 Cor. 11:30). Not realizing, the “unworthy manner,” wasn’t my lack of worthiness, but, according to Paul, is to not discern Christ body and blood in the bread and wine.

I wrongfully exchanged the reality that Jesus died for the sin of the world. In exchange, I trained my eye to see a crucifixion only for a select few. In doing so, I stripped myself of the assurance God established in the giving of His Son, for me. For us. When frantically asking, am I one of the persons Jesus died for? I should have been able to say, yes, and to draw relief from the truth, that He died for us all and that by faith, anyone can come. Yet, the tango I settled for caused me to dance between,