The Gospel...A History Lesson Part 6

 In The Gospel...A History Lesson Part 5, we finished up our discussion of synergism and monergism.  In part 4, we defined and talked about synergism and how that manifests itself within the church.  In part 5, we reviewed what synergism was then embarked on a definition and discussion of monergism.  We also talked about how that manifests itself within the church.  As we move on, it will be beneficial to note that what we are getting ready to talk about is the same topic of discussion we had in the last two "history lesson" posts under a different name.  The reason why I wanted to discuss the topic of synergism and monergism is because I knew that we would be coming to where we are now.  The battle of a synergistic view of salvation versus a monergistic view still rages today.  I use the word battle on purpose because that is exactly what it is...it is a battle of viewpoints.  I hope you will be able to see what I am talking about by the time we finish this post.  To review, very basically...synergism is a combined, cooperational effort between God and man.  God does His part, man does his.  Monergism is God working alone to bring about salvation.  God, and God alone, does it.  

We launched into our discussion of synergism and monergism by talking about, for lack of better terminology, the "disagreement" between Erasmus and Luther.  Erasmus was a synergistic Catholic apologist.  Luther came out of the Catholic Church after having come to a monergistic understanding of salvation.  Luther challenged the beliefs and teachings of the Catholic Church, launching the Protestant Reformation.  At this time, the arguments and doctrinal disagreements were between the Catholic Church and those who were "protesting" the teachings of the Catholic Church and leaving.  As time wore on, however, the next attack did not come from without the Protestant movement but from within.

Born in 1560 in the Netherlands, James Arminius was exceptionally bright.  Having lost his father at a very young age, a compassionate clergyman took responsibility for the raising of the child and saw to his education.  An intelligent young man with the ability to communicate well, Arminius was given thorough theological training in various schools.  He was licensed to preach in 1587 and became the pastor of an Amsterdam congregation in that same year.  He later became a professor at the University of Leiden in 1603 and stayed in that position until his death in 1609.  Over the span of his life, Arminius came to dismiss and flat out deny many of the teachings of the Reformation and went back to the semi-Pelagian thinking of Rome.  In 1610, a year after his death, several of those who had been influenced by his teaching drew up five articles of faith that were based upon his teachings.  These five points, eventually coming to be known as the five points of Arminianism, stood in direct opposition to what the church of Holland had been teaching since the Reformation.  These five points, also known as the Remonstrance or "protests", were taken before and presented to the Reformed church in Holland.  Those who presented these five articles insisted that the churches' statements of faith, the Belgic Confession and the Heidelberg Catechism be changed and adapted to conform to the five points of Arminianism that they had drafted.

In November of 1618, there was convened a national "synod", or council, in the city of Dort.  The express purpose of this synod was to examine the views of the Arminians in light of the Scriptures.  This synod was actually an international meeting of some of the best theological minds in Europe.  There were close to 90 representatives from Great Britain, Germany and Switzerland.  Over the course of 6 months or so, until May of 1619, the Synod of Dort held over 150 sessions discussing the five points of the Arminians.  The result of the Synod was a resounding rejection of the five points of Arminianism.

The Synod concluded that merely repudiating what the Arminians said was not enough.  So, in response to the five points that the Arminians raised, the Synod drafted a response, point by point.  These five responses are commonly referred to as TULIP or what has become known as the five points of Calvinism.  They reaffirmed what the Reformed churches already confessed, as stated in the Belgic Confession of Faith and the Heidelberg Catechism.  But not only that, they refuted the errors raised by the Arminians.  These positive affirmations and refutations of error are known as the Canons of Dort and they are just as important today as they were 400 years ago.

J.I. Packer wrote an introductory essay to John Owen's book "The Death of Death in the Death of Christ".  He included a summary of what the five points of Arminianism teach:

1.  Man is never so completely corrupted by sin that he cannot savingly believe the gospel when it is put before him, nor...

2.  Is he ever so completely controlled by God that he cannot reject it.

3.  God's election of those who shall be saved is prompted by His foreseeing that they will of their own accord believe.  (In other words, God elects those who first elect Him...my added commentary)

4.  Christ's death did not ensure the salvation of anyone, for it did not secure the gift of faith to anyone (there is no such gift); what it did was rather to create a possibility of salvation for everyone if they believe.

5.  It rests with believers to keep themselves in a state of grace by keeping up their faith; those who fail here fall away and are lost.  Thus, Arminianism made man's salvation depend ultimately on man himself, saving faith being viewed throughout as man's own work and, because his own, not God's in him.

Introductory Essay to "The Death of Death in the Death of Christ" by John Owen

Chapter 8 from "A Quest for Godliness:  The Puritan Vision of the Christian Life" 

by J.I. Packer

1958 Reprint of John Owen's "The Death of Death in the Death of Christ"

Banner of Truth:  London

https://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/articles/onsite/packer_intro.html

Basically, what we have encapsulated here in these five points is a return to the synergistic position of semi-Pelagianism and Roman Catholicism.  At the risk of being redundant, this is synergism...a combined effort between God, who takes the initiative and man, who must respond to God...with man's response being the ultimate determining factor in his salvation.  God has provided salvation for EVERYONE.....He has done all He can do by sending His Son to die.....but His death only becomes effective for those, who of their own free will and intelligence, choose to cooperate with Him and accept His grace.  In other words, man's eternal destiny turns on his own will.  It is the catalyst, the key ingredient, the straw that stirs the drink if you will.  So, therefore, it is man's good work of choosing, and not God, who is the determining agent in who receives the gift of grace.  This is synergism.

We talked briefly about the Synod's response to these five points earlier when we referred to TULIP.  Here is what the TULIP means and the corresponding point it is refuting in the five points of the Arminians:

T...otal Depravity.  A better term for this is radical corruption or absolute inability.  This is in response to the Arminian view of free will.

U...nconditional Election.  This is in response to the Arminian view of conditional election.

L...imited Atonement.  I think a better term for this is Particular Redemption.  This is in response to the Arminian view of general, or universal, redemption.

I...rresistible Grace.  Again, a better term for this is effectual grace.  This is in response to the Arminian view of resistible grace.

P...erseverance or preservation of the Saints.  This is in response to the Arminian view that a person, once saved by grace, can become unsaved.

In drafting these five responses, the leaders at Dort were merely reaffirming the teachings of Luther, Calvin and Augustine...that salvation is a work of the Triune God of the universe alone.  The Father chooses, or elects, people to be saved, the Son redeems them through His sacrifice on the cross and the Spirit applies this redemption to the chosen or elect by bringing them to repentance and faith.  The Spirit does this by regenerating the heart, causing the sinner to see himself for what he really is...a wicked creature deserving nothing but just condemnation.  When the sinner is regenerated, or born again, he willingly accepts the gospel message and the grace provided for him by Christ...it is irresistible, or effectual, to him because the Spirit is behind it, causing them to accept it.  The entire operation is a working of God.  It is by and through grace alone.  Therefore, it is the grace of God, and not the good work of man for being smart enough to choose, that determines who will be saved.  This is monergism.

Today, the evangelical landscape is littered with people who lack understanding in two important areas...who God is and who man is.  That is because they, in their corrupted mind, think it is not fair for God to pick and choose and have absolute sovereign control over His creation, doing with it as He pleases.  They also think that man really isn't that bad.  Down deep, most everybody is really pretty good.  When it comes to salvation, the majority of churches hold to an Arminian understanding.  It is all about you and making your choice.  That is what the Arminian believes.  Jesus died for every single person and it is up to them to improve, or accept, the grace that He gives them by exercising their free will.  There is just one problem with "free will":

Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.  (John 8:34)

Our will is enslaved to sin...in a spiritual sense.  We are dead in sins and trespasses says Paul in Ephesians 2.  We have free will in one sense and one sense only.  We can choose what we want to eat tonight for supper.  We can choose what pair of pants to put on our body.  We can choose where we work.  That is as far as our will is "free".  Spiritually, our will is enslaved to sin.....dead.  We can choose nothing that is spiritually good:

"There is no one who does good, there is not even one".  (Romans 3:12)

  

"There is no righteous person, not even one; there is no one who understands, there is no one who seeks out God".  (Romans 3:10-11)

That is our plight.  That is who we are.  That is where we stand.  Unless we are born again, our wills stay enslaved to sin and we:

"cannot see the kingdom of God".  (John 3:3)

We started this journey back in January with the post "The Gospel...An Introduction".  Two posts followed that...Laying the Foundation and Completing the Foundation.  Then we embarked on a discussion of the TULIP with a couple of posts on Total Depravity.  It then dawned on me that a look at some history in the church would be beneficial, both for me and you.  Thus began "The Gospel...A History Lesson Part 1".  Here we are at #6.  The reasoning behind the history was to show where these competing ideas came from.  It is important to understand that to some extent.  

I am going to repost those first two posts I did on Total Depravity..."The Gospel...Man's Sinfulness Part 1" and "The Gospel...Man's Sinfulness Part 2"...along side this last history lesson post.  Seems to me like they would make more sense after all of the history and this is where the history lesson ends. 

To demonstrate the error of this way of thinking on free will, I am going to end this post with the Prince of Preachers, C.H. Spurgeon.  He had his tongue firmly implanted in his cheek when he preached this many years ago.  But he hit the nail on the head when it comes to making the point he wanted to make....listen to his words:

Lord, I thank thee that I am not like those poor presumptuous Calvinists.  Lord, I was born with a glorious free will; I was born with power by which I can turn to thee of myself; I have improved my grace.  If everybody had done the same with their grace that I have, they might all have been saved...Thou gives grace to everybody; some do not improve it, but I do.  There are many who will go to hell as much bought with the blood of Christ as I was; they had as much of the Holy Ghost given to them; they had as good a chance, and were as much blessed as I am.  It was not thy grace that made us to differ; I know it did a great deal, still I turned the point; I made use of what was given me, and others did not - this is the difference between me and them.

C.H. Spurgeon

Volume One, New Park Street Pulpit 1855

Sermon 52 "Free Will - A Slave"

 

The Gospel...Man's Sinfulness Part 2

Men are doomed. 
They are commanded to do something they cannot do. 
They do not have the ability on their own yet that doesn't change the command.
Men are doomed.

In a Q&A and panel discussion at Grace Community Church regarding election and predestination and the sovereignty of God in salvation, from September 26, 2001, Phil Johnson said the following regarding our responsibility and our ability:

Well, you have to understand that our responsibility is not limited by our ability. Scripture commands us to do a lot of things that we are morally incapable of doing. One that come to mind preeminently is "Be perfect the way God is perfect." I can't obey that command. And yet, is it my duty to do that? Yes, absolutely. So the fact that our ability is limited does not limit our responsibility. That's the error of both Arminianism and hyper-Calvinism; they assume that if our ability is limited, then so must our responsibility be limited. But Scripture doesn't teach that. Scripture calls us to many duties that we cannot possibly fulfill. And it is the duty of all to believe, to trust Christ, to repent. And yet, they don't have the moral ability unless God gives it to them, which is the very thing that ought to drive us constantly to dependence on the grace of God. There's so many things God commands of us that we simply cannot do, that our entire lives ought to be lived just simply depending on His grace, because that's only the power that supplies the ability to do these things. And we can't do it.  
Phil Johnson 9-26-01

Because of the fall,  man's nature is inherently sinful.  Paul to the Romans:

So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men.  For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.  (Romans 5:18-19)

On the Association of Reformed Baptist Churches of America's website, arbca.com, the 1689 London Baptist Confession, in chapter 6, concerning sin and the fall of man, says this in paragraph 2:

Our first parents, by this sin, fell from their original righteousness and communion with God, and we in them whereby death came upon all: all becoming dead in sin, and wholly defiled in all the faculties and parts of soul and body.

Here are the Scriptural references that accompany this statement:
Romans 3:23
Romans 5:12
Titus 1:15
Genesis 6:5
Jeremiah 17:9
Romans 3:10-19

The same confession, in paragraph 3, says this:

They being the root, and by God's appointment, standing in the room and stead of all mankind, the guilt of the sin was imputed, and corrupted nature conveyed, to all their posterity descending from them by ordinary generation, being now conceived in sin, and by nature children of wrath, the servants of sin, the subjects of death, and all other miseries, spiritual, temporal, and eternal, unless the Lord Jesus set them free.

Here are the scriptural references that accompany this statement:
Romans 5:12-19
1 Corinthians 15:21-22
Psalm 51:5
Job 14:4
Ephesians 2:3
Romans 6:20
Hebrews 2:14-15
1 Thessalonians 1:10

Let's break these two paragraphs down some.  Paragraph 2 says "our first parents", meaning Adam and Eve.  "By this sin" means the sin of Eve succumbing to the temptation of the serpent, eating the fruit and Adam willfully going against what God had said by eating the fruit.  "Fell from their original righteousness and communion with God" simply means that, as they were created, Adam and Eve were perfect, sinless, immortal...perfectly righteous before God...in perfect communion with Him. That was destroyed by the sin they committed.  "We in them whereby death came upon all" means that, through Adam's loins, this guilt was passed on to us.  "All becoming dead in sin" means 2 things.  Physical death came to us because of this....also, we died spiritually because of this.  "Wholly defiled in all the faculties and parts of soul and body" means that our entire being....spirit, soul and physical body....was corrupted and destroyed by the sin of Adam.

Paragraph 3 basically says the same thing with a few addendums.  "Servants of sin" means that, because of the fall, we are now slaves to sin.  Our nature is in bondage to sin.  "Subjects of death, and all other miseries, spiritual, temporal, and eternal, unless the Lord Jesus set them free" covers a bunch of ground.  "Subjects of death" is what we weren't.  Humans were created immortal, perfect, sinless.  This act by our parents nullified all of that. This phrase "subjects of death" primarily speaks to physical death.  But the rest of that phrase "all other miseries, spiritual, temporal, and eternal, unless the Lord Jesus set them free" speaks to our spiritual well being.  We are subject to "all other miseries" that accompany the sin of our parents.  We suffer spiritual misery or spiritual death, temporal misery or physical death in other words and eternal misery, meaning the punishment for our sin in hell.  That is our expected end, punishment in hell, "unless the Lord Jesus" sets us free.  It is Jesus who does the work of setting free.  Why?

No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him  (John 6:44)

In the original Greek, the word translated as "can" is the word dynamai.  It means to be able or to have the power by virtue of one's own ability.  It is in the present tense, meaning it's happening in actual, real time.  It is in the middle or deponent voice, which according to blueletterbible.org, means that in almost every case, it is translated in the active voice.  That means the subject is the doer of the action.  In this case, the subject is NO ONE.  The mood of the verb is the indicative.  That is merely a statement of fact.  It means that if an action is occurring, has occurred or will occur, it will be rendered in the indicative mood.  The other word in this statement that needs some consideration is the word "draws", which translates the original Greek word "helko".  That word means "drag off".  It doesn't mean to woo, or to suggest or to entice.  It means "to drag off".  So, if we put all of that together, this is the meaning of the statement in John 6:44.  It means that the subject of the sentence, being NO ONE, "can", has the ability to or is able to by virtue of their own desire, in real, actual time, come to Jesus unless the Father who sent Jesus "drags" the person to Him.  This speaks to the absolute inability of a human being to do anything that is remotely close to being spiritually good.  The word "can" speaks to the ability of a person to do something.  The verse uses the negative, NO ONE, "can", or has the ability on their own.  This is what I meant by my statement at the beginning of this post, "Men are doomed".  It goes back to the quote from Phil Johnson at the beginning.  They are commanded.......

“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”  (Mark 1:15)

....but they do not have the ability.  It is not a suggestion.  It is not a plea.  It is not Jesus pacing back and forth in heaven, hoping that a person will make a decision.  It is a straight command...."Repent and believe in the gospel".  In Acts 17, Paul, when before the men of Athens on Mars Hill, told them this:

So Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I observe that you are very religious in all respects.  For while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, ‘TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.’ Therefore what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you.  The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His children.’  Being then the children of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man.  Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.”  (Acts 17:22-31)

I posted that whole passage to give some context to what Paul was saying.  But the verse important to what we are looking at is verse 30, "God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent".  In the KJV, it says:

30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:   (Acts 17:30 KJV)

Repentance is a command.  Believing the gospel is a command, not a suggestion.  But, according to John 6:44 and the Lord Jesus, we can't unless we are "dragged" there.  If we have no ability to come on our own, and have to be "dragged" there, how do we get "dragged"?

The Gospel...Man's Sinfulness Part 1

The gospel...it starts with God and His holiness.  We cannot stand in the presence of His holiness.  We are sinful. He is not.  We are, by nature, inherently sinful because of the disobedience of our first parents, Adam and Eve.  As the Apostle Paul said to the Romans:

Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned...  (Romans 5:12 NASB)

Or this:

So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men...  (Romans 5:18 NASB)

Or this:

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God  (Romans 3:23 NASB)

Or this from David:

Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
And in sin my mother conceived me.  (Psalm 51:5 NASB)

Those are just 4 Scriptures, taken from 2 books of the Bible, that testify to the sinfulness of man's nature.  But what is the extent of this sinful nature?  Is man just kinda sinful?  Is he just kinda bad?  Is he partially bad?  Or is he totally bad?  Did Adam's fall leave man merely wounded?  Or did Adam's fall leave man dead? 

We laid the foundation of the gospel in the last couple of posts.  That is, the gospel begins with God and His holiness.  The gospel then moves to man....and his sinfulness before a holy God.  It cannot jump immediately to Jesus dying on a cross for sinners.  That makes no sense to someone who has no concept of sin and how that applies to him.  Not only do we need a right understanding of God and His holiness but we also need a right understanding of man and his sinfulness if we are going to understand how beautiful the gospel really is.  And that is where we are going....looking at the Doctrines of Grace through the lens of the TULIP.  And today we look at the T.....Total Depravity.

The first thing that needs to be done is state what total depravity does NOT mean.  It does not mean that man is as bad and wicked as he could be.  Some people are obviously more wicked and mean than others.  This doctrine also does not mean that an unsaved person cannot do good things.  Jesus Himself said this:

If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!  (Matthew 7:11 NASB)

Even a rank pagan, a hater of God, can work at the food pantry.  He can volunteer at the Boys club.  He can do a lot of nice, good things.  But, because of his corrupt nature, they are done for selfish reasons.  It'll make him feel good about himself and to impress people. These things are not done out of a heart that is wanting to bring glory to Christ.  It is to bring glory to himself.  It is so he can say, "Look at what I've done.  Aren't I great?"

What this doctrine of total depravity does teach is that, because of the sin of Adam, man's entire nature is corrupted.  His will has been corrupted, held in bondage to sin.  He cannot choose any spiritual good.  He cannot do any spiritual good.  Because of the fall, man's heart is in complete and total rebellion against God.  He does not like God nor can he.  He does not like or understand spiritual truth nor can he. He hates God and is hostile toward Him.  In his wickedness, he suppresses the truth about God and creates an idol of his own making:

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.  For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.  For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.  Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.  (Romans 1:18-23 NASB)

In response:

Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them.  For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.  (Romans 1:24-25 NASB)

God gave men up.  He turned men loose.  And men loved it:

and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.  (Romans 1:32 NASB)

I'm going to finish this post out with Scripture...no commentary, just Scripture.  This is by no means an exhaustive list concerning this subject but it gets the point across:

Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.  (Genesis 6:5 NASB)

the intent of man’s heart is evil from his youth  (Genesis 8:21 NASB)

The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?  (Jeremiah 17:9 NASB)

For in Your sight no man living is righteous  (Psalm 143:2 NASB)

For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, [i]envy, slander, pride and foolishness.  All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.”  (Mark 7:21-23 NASB)

To the pure, all things are pure; but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled.  They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed.  (Titus 1:15-16 NASB)

Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.  (Ephesians 2:3 NASB)

And you were dead in your trespasses and sins  (Ephesians 2:1 NASB)

The wicked are estranged from the womb;
These who speak lies go astray from birth.  (Psalm 58:3 NASB)

This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.  For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.  (John 3:19-20 NASB)

That is the testimony of the Holy Spirit, through Paul to the Romans and others, of the nature and heart of men.  Men are evil and wicked.  They hate God and want nothing to do with Him.  That is a problem seeing as man has been commanded by Jesus to:

"repent and believe in the gospel.”  (Mark 1:15 NASB)

Men are doomed.  Plain and simple.  What're they to do?  

9

There are No Prophets Today

The name of Christ is being mocked today because of modern "prophets".  These people are not hearing from God.  Not only these people in this particular video but anyone who tells you they are hearing personally from God.  They are not hearing from God.  God is not speaking personally today.  The canon is closed.  The Scripture is complete.  GOD IS NOT SPEAKING PERSONALLY TO PEOPLE TODAY.

Please take the time to watch this video.  It's almost a month old but I could not control myself any longer.  I had to post it.  THERE ARE NO PROPHETS TODAY.  In case you didn't catch that....THERE ARE NO PROPHETS TODAY.  

Chris Rosebrough...Fighting for the Faith 

"You keep using that verse..." Inigo Montoya on John 10:27

Today, we are undertaking our next installment in the "You keep using that verse...." series.  After the first post, it occurred to me that not every person who may read these posts will understand the reference to The Princess Bride and the particular play on words that I am using in the title of these posts. So, in the below link, is the scene from the movie....the source of the title for this series of posts: 

Inigo Montoya

My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me  (John 10:27)

The vast majority of those in the church today believe and teach that it should be the experience of every believer to "hear God speak" or "hear the voice of God".  The best selling devotional book, since the day Noah finished building the ark, has been "Jesus Calling" by Sarah Young.  That entire book is based on the premise that "Jesus" is talking to Sarah Young during her quiet time.  Ms. Young writes the book in the 1st person as if she were speaking for "Jesus".  "Jesus" talks to Beth Moore more than her husband talks to her.  At least that is the conclusion one would draw from the stories Beth Moore tells of how much "God" talks to her and tells her what to do, where to go, what He thinks.  The problem for both of these women is that what they are being told by "Jesus" is not biblical.  For the sake of time, I will provide one quick example from the Jesus Calling devotional and then ask you all to do a little research on your own about Ms. Young.  I will also provide a short video of Ms. Moore claiming that "God" gave her a vision of how he sees the church....and it includes unity with the RCC (Roman Catholic Church).  Again, do some research about Beth Moore on your own.

Ms. Young, for her August 1st entry, wrote these words that "Jesus" gave her:

Most of mankind's misery stems from feeling unloved.

Jesus Calling

2011 Hallmark Edition

August 1st

Page 224

The entire devotional sounds like this.....as if it was written by a middle aged woman, starved for attention from her boyfriend because, obviously, it's all about her.  This is man-centered psychobabble.  Mankind's biggest problem, the source of his misery, is SIN and the fact that he is separated from God because of his sin.  Read Psalm 51.  Is David crying out to God in misery because he felt unloved?  Hardly.  He is crying out to God because he is a sinner in need of forgiveness.  He is in misery because of the guilt he is feeling, the conviction of the Holy Spirit he is under, for being an adulterer and murderer.  Read Ephesians 2.  Were we dead in misery and loneliness, needing to be loved?  No.  We were dead in trespasses and sins...Ephesians 2:1....and were by nature children of wrath....Ephesians 2:3.  Our sin causes our misery, not being unloved.  The thought is absolutely ridiculous.  It makes my stomach turn.

Here is the video clip from Beth Moore.  It is about 4 1/2 minutes long or so:

Beth Moore's Vision

The RCC condemned the biblical gospel at the Council of Trent, which ran 25 different sessions from December 1545 to December 1563.  It was an ecumenical council called in response to the Protestant Reformation and could be called a counter reformation.  The RCC, in response to the Reformation, called the Council of Trent to pronounce anathemas (or curses) on the teachings of the Protestants and, at the same time, delineate the official teachings of the Catholic Church.  The findings and pronouncements, or canons, that were reached at Trent are still binding in the Catholic Church today.  These canons have never been overturned or revoked.  

During the sixth session, in the fourth canon, the Catholic church said, in essence, that if anybody affirms that man's free will does not cooperate with God in justification, let that person be accursed.  Basically, this is semi-Pelagianism.  Semi-Pelagianism has been condemned as heresy by the early church.  In the fifth canon, the church said that if anyone affirms since the fall of Adam that man's free will is lost or extinguished, let that person be accursed.  This is saying that the teaching of Original Sin is anathema.  In the eleventh canon, the church says that if anyone affirms the grace whereby we are justified is only the favor of God, let that person be anathema, or accursed.  This is saying that we are not saved by grace alone.  These canons fly in the face of Scripture.  These canons fly in the face of the teachings of Christ and the apostles.  

I tell you all of this to tell you this:  these women have not heard from the Lord Jesus.  And, after having taken a very scenic route, we come back to the verse of Scripture that doesn't mean what everybody thinks it means:

My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me  (John 10:27)

This is the go to verse for those who affirm that God speaks to people today, people who profess to be Christian, outside of the confines of His Word.  The list of those who hold to this teaching is long.  I would be hard pressed to list them all but here are a few:

Priscilla Shirer

Sarah Young

Beth Moore

Robert Morris

Rick Warren

Charles Stanley

TD Jakes

Joyce Meyer

Paula White

Bill Johnson

Rod Parsley

Steven Furtick

Brian Houston 

Christine Caine

Louie Giglio

Francis Chan

Ken Copeland

Jesse Duplantis

Todd White

Ken Hagin

The reason why I have listed a few of the people who hold to this teaching is because they are extremely popular.  They are doing the Word of God a huge disservice by claiming John 10:27 definitively teaches that God speaks to us through mystical, subjective means outside of His Word.  That is a merciless torturing of the meaning of that verse.  They must rip it from the surrounding verses, taking it completely out of context, to make it say what they want.  If they do that, it shows a complete and utter inability to "accurately handle the word of truth"  (2 Timothy 2:15).  Why?  Because the meaning of this verse CANNOT BE MISSED if it is read properly.  It just can't.  The meaning is plain to see.  Not much explanation is needed when it is read in context:

The Jews then gathered around Him, and were saying to Him, "How long will You keep us in suspense?  If You are the Christ, tell us plainly."  Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in My Father's name, these testify of Me.  But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep.  My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me;  and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.  My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.  I and the Father are one."  (John 10:24-30)

Christ proclaimed His deity throughout the entirety of John 10.  He made two of His "I AM" statements, which are unequivocal statements to His deity, in this chapter.  He said, "I am the good shepherd" and "I am the door."  In the context of chapter 10, these 2 "I AM" statements by Christ are salvation statements because, in context, chapter 10 is comparing and contrasting Jesus, the way the truth and the life, with the false teachers of the time. 

I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.  The thief (false teacher) comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came so that they would have life, and have it abundantly.  (John 10:9-10)

Jesus here is clearly speaking about salvation, showing that he is the "door" to salvation.  Jesus is drawing a stark contrast here between Himself and the false teachers of the day.

I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.  He who is a hired hand (false teacher), and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.  He flees because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep.  I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.  I have other sheep, which are not of this fold (Gentiles); I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock (with the Jews) with one shepherd.  (John 10:11-16)

Again, Jesus is clearly speaking about salvation here in these verses, contrasting Himself to the false teachers of the day.  We can go back even further in John 10 and it will do us good to do that because it will provide even more context:

Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber (false teacher).  But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep.  To him (the shepherd) the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his (the shepherd's) voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.  When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.  A stranger they simply will not follow but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.  (John 10:1-5)

Jesus is using the very familiar story of a shepherd and sheep to his audience.  They would immediately know what He is talking about when He states that the shepherd calls his own sheep and they follow him.  Each shepherd has his own unique call for his flock.  Each flock knows the shepherd's voice and his call to them.  They will hear his voice and respond to him.  Back to John 10:27 and the surrounding verses.  Stay with me.  This will not take long at all because it is plain to see when put into context.

The Jews then gathered around Him, and were saying to Him, "How long will You keep us in suspense?  If You are the Christ, tell us plainly."  Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in My Father's name, these testify of Me.  But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep.  My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me;  and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.  My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.  I and the Father are one."  (John 10:24-30)

In the book of John, when he uses the phrase "the Jews", he is talking about the leaders of the Jewish people....the Pharisees and Sadducees.  They asked Him how long was He going to keep them in suspense?  Tell us plainly if you are the Christ they said.  He told them that He had already told them and they did not believe.  Then He said this....please do not miss this:

But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep.  My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow me

Notice that Christ did not say that they weren't His sheep because they didn't believe.  He said they didn't believe because they weren't His sheep.  He said My sheep hear My voice and I KNOW THEM.  This is a very important distinction.  This important section of Scripture is teaching the effectual call of the Holy Spirit unto salvation.  When the gospel call goes forth, that is the general call to salvation.  When Christ says My sheep hear My voice, He is talking about the application of the gospel call to the sinful heart of His sheep.  "His sheep" are known by Him because "His sheep" are the ones that the Father "had given to Him".  We see that in John 10:29.  What a glorious truth and comfort to the sheep of the Shepherd.  He knows His sheep, they know His voice and they follow Him.....in salvation.  Also, please notice what else the Lord Jesus says.  He says My sheep hear My voice, I know them, they follow Me "and I give them eternal life, and they will never perish".  This is more context showing that John 10:27 is most clearly speaking about salvation and eternal life.  It cannot be missed.  To say differently shows one of two things:  You either have the intelligence quotient of a corn stalk or you are purposefully missing the point of the passage to make a point that is not there.  There's now way around it.

This beautiful verse, when taken in its context, absolutely does not teach "My sheep hear My voice", meaning that we hear God speaking to us in an audible voice, an inward impression, a sign in the clouds or some coincidental event.  It teaches that "My sheep hear My voice" when He calls us to repentance and faith through the grace He lavishes on us that we do not deserve. Please, please, please.....do not fall for this false teaching.  It belittles the greatness of our Lord and Savior by placing a ridiculous meaning to His words that He did not intend.  In closing, I am going to share a short video that demonstrates the beautiful meaning of this verse..."My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me".  May it bless you the way it did me.

My Sheep Hear My Voice