I decided to read through What the Bible Teaches, by R.A. Torrey again. It’s a great book – you can download a free PDF here - so we’re doing a little Bible study every Thursday. The collection is here. Subscribe over there to make sure you don’t miss anything! >>>

Chapter 12 discusses the faithfulness of God, and it’s a great eye-opener. We use the term “faithfulness” so often in Christian conversation and worship, that I wonder sometimes if we really understand the concept every time we say it. So little of our world is faithful in any way.

John is hosting the conversation this week, and stirring up some good revelation:

The aspect of certainty is a major component in God’s faithfulness. He can certainly be counted on to help, to guide, to discipline and correct, to love, to purify, to bring us to everlasting life. His faithfulness is the magnification of certainty.

Join the conversation here.

I decided to read through What the Bible Teaches, by R.A. Torrey again. It’s a great book – you can download a free PDF here - so we’re doing a little Bible study every Thursday. The collection is here. Subscribe over there to make sure you don’t miss anything, but come back and add your voice in the Comments! >>>

Who doesn’t love God’s mercy?

In Chapter 11, Torrey proves:

1. God is merciful.
2. God is sovereign in the exercise of His mercy.
3. God’s mercy is manifested toward those who fear or love Him.
4. God’s mercy is manifested toward everyone who confesses and forsakes his sins.
5. God’s mercy is manifested toward the one who trusts in the Lord.
6. God’s mercy is manifested toward all who call upon Him.
7. God’s mercy is manifested toward His afflicted people.
8. God’s mercy is manifested in His pardoning sin that is confessed and forsaken.
9. God’s mercy is manifested in his patience.
10. God’s mercy is manifested in His deliverance.
11. God’s mercy is manifested in His maintaining the security of those who trust Him.
12. God’s mercy is manifested in His acting as a defense and refuge in trouble.

I think Proposition 2, and the conversation that follows it, are helpful in addressing some popular doctrines in the Western Church these days.

Free Will

One group will quote Romans 9:15 (“I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.”) to say that salvation is predetermined by God, and decided apart from the individual’s will. Torrey addresses this immediately,

“… while no one can dictate upon whom He shall have  mercy, in point of fact He wills to have mercy on all upon whom He can have mercy.”

Here, Torrey cites 2 Peter 3:9 (“… not willing that any should perish …”).

It’s true that God is sovereign in the exercise of His mercy, but He has already told us that He wills to have mercy on everyone. Torrey’s statement is sublty brilliant, “… upon who He can have mercy.”

Torrey goes on to illustrate, using scripture, the people on whom God can have mercy – people who fear or love Him, who confess and repent, etc. He is the God of covenant, and He has told us how to obtain His mercy.

Universalism

Another group will highlight 2 Peter 3:9 to say that everyone will, one day, be saved. But Torrey demonstrates, again, the people and decisions that allow the manifestation of His mercy.

Yes, God loves everyone, and He would prefer that none perish, and His mercy is unending, but over and over, scripture demonstrates how the mercy of God is made manifest in people’s lives – when we trust Him, when we call upon Him, etc. If His mercy was automatically applied to everyone, why bother with the stipulations?

Thoughts? Is God’s mercy vs. the manifestation of God’s mercy a useful way to have this conversation?

I decided to read through What the Bible Teaches, by R.A. Torrey again. It’s a great book – you can download a free PDF here - so we’re doing a little Bible study every Thursday. The collection is here. Subscribe over there to make sure you don’t miss anything! >>>

John is hosting today’s conversation, so head over to his place and check it out!

Snippet:

“God’s righteousness is a fearsome thing to the unsaved, but a treasure and protection for the saved. It should drive the one towards God and stimulate the other to walk pleasing to Him. We should remember that “the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. (Rom. 14:17) The Pharisees thought it was the former. So do most people today.”

Thoughts?