by Jack Wellman | The Apostle Paul wrote about some who finally came to a have a reprobate mind, so what is a reprobate and is there a risk we can reprobate?
The idea of a reprobate mind may start with the mind
that becomes seared, or having a seared conscience.
Continually living in sin has a way of making us
grow comfortable with it, but there’s danger in that.
We become desensitized to sin & see it as less &
less of an issue, however the Apostle Paul warned that
1 Timothy 4:1-2 | Now the SPIRIT expressly states
that in later times some will abandon the faith to follow
deceitful spirits & the teachings of demons, influenced
by the hypocrisy of liars, whose consciences are
seared with a hot iron.
If you put a branding iron to your hand (don’t do this!), it’ll
burn the pain receptors away, & that part of the hand will
not feel pain again (after it heals),
so sin sears our conscience &
takes away the conviction of sin.
This is bad. This happened in ancient Israel where
Jeremiah the Prophet asked the rhetorical question,
“Were they ashamed when they
committed abomination? No,
they were not at all ashamed;
they did not know how to blush.
Therefore they shall fall among the fallen; when
I punish them, they shall be overthrown, says
the LORD” (Jeremiah 8:12).
They were so callous to sin that they had even
lost the ability to blush (Jer 6:15).
That means, nothing embarrassed them; nothing
was too much for them; & everything was permissible
because they had seared their conscience & no longer
felt guilt or conviction of sin.
Their conscience’s voice, after having been ignored &
suppressed for years, was finally silenced once & for all.
What is the GOSPEL? It’s good news, very good news.
But it’s only very good news to terrified wo/men.
It’s only good news to a needy wo/man.
You see what you need to understand, let me put it
this way (just to cut straight to the chase):
Let me tell you the most terrifying thing, that I can
possibly tell you. The most terrifying truth that I can
speak to you. Are you ready? Here it is,
the most terrifying thing I can tell a
wo/man, a child is this: GOD is good
I said that a few years ago, over in Europe where I was
preaching at a secular university.
I said if you want to get down to it. The most terrifying
news for mankind is this: GOD is Good.
And someone kind of laughed, & said basically,
“And what’s the problem with that?”
The problem with that is: You’re not good.
Now what does a good GOD do with someone like you?
That’s the greatest theological & philosophical problem
in SCRIPTURE. GOD is good & that is terrifying.
A hardened criminal working from some
criminal organization, if before he goes
to court he's told the judge is corrupt,
he is full of joy.
The most terrifying thing you can tell that
criminal is the judge is not corrupt, s/he's good.
It will fill him with terror.
See this is the greatest problem of mankind, the
greatest problem of mankind is that GOD is Good.
Don't you see that?
Because you're not!
There in lies the problem, with modern day
evangelical preaching.
No one tells you who GOD really is!
They just speak in cliches.
You see the other preachers can
tell you: GOD is Good.
And you'll walk out feeling like you're totally released
from any responsibility. I want to tell you that
GOD is good & you ought to be terrified because
you are not good.
And there's a second half of the problem, no one's
telling you what that means either.
1.] What does it mean that you're not good?
How non-good, or ungood, are you?
Let me put it this way, if you reject CHRIST,
then the moment you take your first step through
the gates of hell—the only thing you will hear is
All of creation standing on its feet &
applauding & praising GOD because
GOD has rid the earth of you.
That’s how not good you are.
You say, but my sin, I'm not that big of a sinner!
Adam sinned once & through him
the entire universe entered total chaos
& condemnation.
You do not understand who this GOD is.
HE really is good, you're not!
HE really is love! You are the
very opposite of that.
So how can HE let evil loveless people into
fellowship with HIM? [6:21]
2.] Well why can’t HE simply forgive?
Because HE's just.
You see you have grown up in a culture
that has no justice.
There's no pastor writing books like,
"Lex Rex: The Law of the King."
There's no one speaking about justice biblically,
you see GOD is just. The greatest theological problem,
in the BIBLE is this:
If GOD is just, HE cannot forgive you.
You hear me?! If HE's just, HE cannot forgive you.
Unless first HIS justice is satisfied; & that is what
happened on the cross.
That is why the cross is EVERYTHING!
It is absolutely everything!
On that tree, the only servant that YHWH has ever had,
hung there. A perfect man, & the sins of GOD's people
were cast on HIM. And all the wrath, GOD's holy hatred
for evil, for sin, for the wicked; everything that should fall
down upon your head throughout all of eternity, fell
down upon the head of GOD's only beloved SON.
The ideas in Lex Rex predate modern concepts of nationalism
& politics. They are older than the United States Constitution,
as well as the American Revolution - where many modern
ideas of liberty originated.
Lex Rex is even older than the Enlightenment that receives
so much credit for concepts such as popular sovereignty,
limited government, separation of powers, & individual
liberty.
Nevertheless, Samuel Rutherford's Lex Rex—written at
a time that viewed kings as vessels of divine power
—raised a Scriptural standard arguing for the dignity of
the people & the accountability of earthly governments.
Article by Jack Wellman | via officialyourdailyinspiration
whatchristianswanttoknow.com/what-is-a-reprobate-mind-can-we-become-a-reprobate/
"By the book of nature. The notion of a Deity is engraven on man's heart; it is demonstrable by the light of nature. I think it hard for man to be a natural atheist; he may wish there was no God, he may dispute against a Deity, but he cannot in judgment believe there is no God, unless by accumulated sin his conscience has been seared, and he has such a lethargy upon him, that he has sinned away his very sense and reason."
Thomas Watson- A Body of Divinity- II. God and His Creation- I. The Being of God- I. Something Implied, The Banner of Truth Trust, 78b Children Street London WIM IPS, First published 1692, Reprinted 1970, p. 39.
