"The Least of These"

Forty six years ago this coming Wednesday the nation finally extirpated itself from the quagmire that was the Vietnam war. But only one day earlier on January 22nd, the supreme court handed down its decision that legalized abortion. In the "shadows and penumbras" the highest court of this land found a right for people to murder the unborn. As one posting on the internet puts it "it is hard to believe that this nation has treated the murder of the unborn as a right for 46 years." Exactly. Our nation has sanctioned murder for over four decades and the millions that have been sacrificed at the altar of convenience are an appalling fact. To think that a society that prides itself on its "enlightenment" continues to grind out death after death can only make your head spin. Just one day before we finally ended our participation in the carnage in Vietnam, we sanctioned a carnage that has cost millions more lives than that conflict did. 

The One Point "Calvinist"

If you're familiar with the Calvinist system, you're aware of the fact that there are five points laid out by the system as a convenient way to describe what God and man's roles in salvation are. The well-known acrostic TULIP, describes the primary points that the system seeks to identify. T stands for total depravity, the idea that man is dead in sin (Ephesians 2:1) and that he needs God to quicken him (Ephesians 2:5) in order to respond and be saved. U stands for unconditional election. Since man is dead in sin, God has selected those whom He will to save from the mass of sinners in the world. L is for limited atonement. God, having chosen those whom He wills to save, has provided a way for them to be so saved through Christ. I is for irresistible grace. Again, since man is dead in sin, it is God who has to draw man to Himself. Man cannot do so of his own accord. And P is for perseverance of the saints. It is here that we have the one point to which the title of this article refers.

Agonize!

“Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.” (Luke 13:24, KJV)

No doubt one of the mantras of our age is the refrain that to become a Christian is easy and, furthermore, you need only receive Christ and all your worries will be a thing of the past. “Let Jesus into your heart” the preacher will tell us, “and He will give you peace and joy and you’ll never have to worry about anything anymore.” To be sure, the idea that becoming a Christian will solve all your problems, cure all your ailments and make right whatever is wrong in your life is not new. But it seems it has never been as prevalent as it is today. The so-called “prosperity gospel” is perhaps the greatest purveyor of such silliness. Alas, it is not surprising in a generation that is desperately trying to find meaning while at the same time spurning the God who alone can give it to them.