ryan.the.calvinist

Living in St. Louis, in 2017, I hear a lot about racism and racial inequality and the like. I am convinced a lot of the talk is politically motivated, but, shocker, sin still exists. Racism, that disgusting sin of pride and hate still exists. But good news... I know the solution to racism... It is the fact that Jesus Christ, second person of the Triune God, fully God and fully man, was crucified for the forgiveness of sins & buried, is risen, ruling and reigning presently at the right hand of the Father, and will come again to again dwell with man on a renewed earth forever. He chooses men and women from every tribe, tongue, and nation to show his love and give new life, completely based not on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy. Not based upon our efforts or works. Not based upon what I've done for God or how much better I am than "those other people". Based completely on a sovereign God who has chosen to show mercy to rebel s...

"Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.  In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies.  He who loves his wife loves himself." Christ's love for his bride makes me look like the most pathetic husband ever. What??  Yes.  Recently married - about 5 1/2 months now - and already I'm learning about how selfish human beings are.  She will not want to be cuddly with me and insist on having space.  I will complain that I'm too tired to cook dinner and that I'm hesitant to do it, as I don't have a clue what I'm doing.  k Selfishness.  Two sinners living together.  Yowssah! Compared to Christ... I'm a pathetic example of Christ's love for ...

I just read the lyrics to the Lady GaGa song "Born This Way" for the first time.  I would rather not post the lyrics... but you can find them in their entirety here.  I will post the climax of the song, found in the bridge: Don't be a drag, just be a queen Whether you're broke or evergreen You're black, white, beige, chola descent You're Lebanese, you're orient Whether life's disabilities Left you outcast, bullied, or teased Rejoice and love yourself today 'cause baby you were born this way No matter gay, straight, or bi, Lesbian, transgendered life, I'm on the right track baby, I was born to survive. No matter black, white or beige Chola or orient made, I'm on the right track baby, I was born to be brave. Wow. All I can think about is the way I was born - in sin.  I was stillborn, dead in sin.  A rebel against God.  That's how I was born.  A child of wrath by nature.  I'm so thankful that God sovereign...

But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.  He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay.  Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.”     (Matthew 28:5-7 ESV)

"And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting for that time until his enemies should be made a footstool under his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified." - Hebrews 10:11-14 This is probably one of my favorite verses in all of Hebrews. It is important to note that it is a ONE TIME sacrifice... not one repeated every day when a host is lifted up. There was no chair in the Temple b/c the priest's job was NEVER DONE. sins were constantly committed and constantly having to be sacrificed for. Not so with Christ's finished work.  He lived out his perfect obedience, took our sins upon himself at the cross, and clothes us perfectly - imputes - his righteousness to us, so that WE are counted as justified apart fro...

This past week, I caught up in my Bible reading calendar… and came to John 14:18-21 a few days ago: I will not leave you as orphans;  I will come to you.  Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me.  Because I live, you also will live.  In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.  Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me.  And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him. In all honesty, the thought of this saying of Jesus causes me to tremble a bit.   If it doesn’t cause you to tremble, look at your own life for a bit. Why do I tremble? I do not obey Christ perfectly.  We know from Scripture that God’s law – his statutes – his commands demand perfect obedience.  I can’t wonder, how many people can I be really unjustly angry with and NOT be counted a murderer?   Or how many girls can I lust af...

Recently I was catching up with a somewhat lost friend from my days at Larimore Elementary and Kirby Jr. High via email correspondence.  The conversation went fairly quickly from the likes of "how are you?  where you you working these days?" to "what are your thoughts/feelings about homosexuality and those who are practicing homosexuals?"  hah.  that's quite a jump.  But then again, as theologically minded as I am... I thought I’d give it a shot… and post my response here. Question:  “What are your feelings about gay people?” First, I think i should state what my views are not:  my views are NOT those of the Westboro Baptist Church in Kansas... the rude "congregation" of "christians" who protest the funerals of dead service men and women and homosexuals holding signs that read "God Hates Fags."  Such a view/practice is very sad and unbalanced in its view of God's holiness AND his loving kindness/mercy/grace.  That church on...

The more and more I try to like the TNIV, the more and more I find that I dislike it.  And the more I discover I dislike it, the more I realize that my disdain is not limited merely to the TNIV… but extends to the Evangelical’s favored version: the NIV. A while back, I published a brief article on one of the many reasons someone should avoid (or rather use with caution) Today’s New International Version.  After I hit the PUBLISH button, I thought I should double-check and see if the same translation error made in the TNIV was present in the NIV.  It was.  So today when I encountered yet another translation biff, I decided to check in advance.  And guess what – it was poorly translated both in the TNIV and NIV.  At least I know in advance.  Now once again, I am not accusing anyone who uses the NIV (or even the TNIV) of being a heretic.  It is, after all, a translation of God’s Word.  Neither the NIV nor the TNIV are among the absolute WORST...

FAIL: Jesus' work on the cross + repentance+faith ≠ my salvation. WIN: Jesus' work on the cross = my salvation --> repentance+faith.

I recently received a series of questions from a good friend dealing with some issues/objections she had with Calvinism/Reformed Theology.  I truly appreciated the opportunity to share what I explicitly believe in the realm of the Doctrines of Grace with her, and humbled she came to me to know how a Calvinist deals with each of these questions.  This is a continuation of this series. Because these questions are quite common inquires into Reformed Theology, I figured it would be profitable to the body of Christ for me to post my answers here as well.  Perhaps I will continue on beyond her questions in writing on/replying to other objections common to Calvinism.  Again, I hope this is useful to all who read this. Question #3: How does this affect your approach to ministry (ie: the homeless guy sitting on the side of the road)? It gives me a great boldness in the presentation of the gospel.  I can firmly proclaim the truth, unwatered ...

While attending The Journey this summer, I received several inserts in bulletin inserts containing amazing quotes.  Currently I am using one of these inserts to read CS Lewis' Surprised By Joy:  The Shape of My Early Life .  In any case, this particular collection of quotes are amazing reflections/insights into the importance of the cross of Christ, where the gospel resides.  I will proceed to post these as status updates on facebook, but I wanted to write them down in a more organized location also.  Here they are, in the order presented on the page. "The essence of sin is man substituting himself for God, while the essence of salvation is God substituting himself for man.  Man... puts himself where only God deserves to be;  God... puts himself where man deserves to be." - John Stott, The Cross of Christ. "Learn to know Christ and him crucified.  Learn to sing to him and say, Lord you are my righteousness, I am your sin.  You took on you ...

This was the responsive reading today @ Boulevard Baptist, where Kacey and I currently attend.  When I sat down this evening to read 1 Tim, I did not know that I would choose this verse, necessarily, to write about on here.  Interesting. I will not take the time to quote the verse in length... feel free to look it up yourself and then proceed.  As always, I recommend the ESV, but also see the benefit in the NIV, NASB, and NKJV, depending on the verse. I do want to focus, however, primarily on verse 15:  "The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost."  This seemingly simple statement boldly proclaims why Christ came in his humble incarnation, which many Christians around the world celebrate between December 25 - January 6.  It wasn't to merely show us an example of how to live and love.  Did he live a perfect life, free from sin?  Absolutely. ...

Toying w/ this idea... so hang in there with me... If the work of Christ was limited to the cross in the forgiveness of sins and the wrath of God being transferred to Christ on my account... this does me ZERO amount of good. Ok, I'm forgiven of my sin by God, and God isn't justly furious with me because of my sin... so what? This would do me NO good because ... if I only had my sins forgiven and wrath for me staved off... that doesn't mean I get anything GOOD out of it. Nothing inherently positive. Sure, God not being mad is ok. But is it good? Think about it. Just because someone isn't pissed at you doesn't mean you have a good relationship with that person, does it? You can not hate someone, but then again not have that individual be your favorite person. Just because you don't want to burn their face with a hot iron doesn't mean you want to give them a hug and let them use your favorite robe when they come over for a late night of pizza & Star Wars (t...

Personally, I am in the process of working my way through the Gospel of Mark in preparation/repentance as we move closer and closer to Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday. However, a question came up today from a professor of mine that I had to address. Matthew 5:17-20 {ESV} [Jesus taught, saying:] "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever laxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." I am fairly certain that a few months ago I did a rather lengthy 2-part ...

John 3:36 Whoever believes in the Son [Jesus Christ] has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him . 2 Timothy 4:1-5 I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. I recall last summer, I prayed with Nolan about my roommates for this current school year I am in. We prayed that God's will be done and that it may mean being paired with nonChristians, so be it that I may share th...

John 3:3 Jesus answered him [Nicodemus], "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." 1 Corinthians 15:1-5 Now I [Paul] would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you--unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. John 14:6-7 Jesus said to him [Thomas], "I am the way, and the truth, and the life No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him." Ephesians 2:4-9 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he lo...

The following is a slightly-altered response I made to someone on Facebook… concerning the topics of abortion, sin, the nature of God, and man’s need for a Savior.  I hope it is a blessing to those who read it. I have heard the desires to make exceptions when it comes to abortion for cases of rape or incest.  However, there is still a fundamental issue:  There is a living human being inside of the mother, with DNA and a heartbeat distinct from the mother's own.  Is rape a horrible crime and sin?  YES.  However, I think it is just as much of a crime/sin to slaughter the unborn child that results.  Truth be told, pregnancies resulting from rape are less common than those resulting from Tom and Linda not being able to keep it in their pants.  I would say the child deserves to live either way.  Adoption is always an option.  the 9 month journey is difficult, but having the blood of the innocent on the mother's hands is far worse.  "What...

Romans 7:7-12 (ESV) "What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, "You shall not covet." But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. Apart from the law, sin lies dead. I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. The very commandment that promised life proved death to me. For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me through it killed me. So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good." I am a Religious Studies major. But I am also realistic and I know such a degree has really nothing to do with the part of life that involves feeding myself or my (future) family. So, I also am in the process of getting my General Business minor. What will I do with a General Bus...