Unashamed of Grace

Monday, October 01, 2007

Does Anyone Agree with this Quotation? Part XVIII

by Rose

"A true sense of self-worth comes from understanding our position in Christ. We have been chosen in Christ from before the foundation of the world. Knowing this gives us a sense of our significance and value to God. We were so important to God that He gave up His Son to die on our behalf. ... Thank God for considering you valuable enough to bestow such riches upon you. ... If you're struggling with a lack of self-worth, remember that you were important enough for God to give you to Jesus as an inheritance."

(The Believer's Life in Christ, MacArthur Bible Study Guide, Eph. 1:1-2:10 [Word of Grace Communications:1989/1995], pp. 27, 36, & 69-70).

15 Comments:

What is that one word that I am thinking of? It begins with an A and it is really long - like 5 syllables?

By Rose~, at Monday, October 01, 2007 11:51:00 AM
I think it is in my sidebar (RR) because Calvinists always ask about it.

By Rose~, at Monday, October 01, 2007 11:53:00 AM
Rose,

I think if the quotes stood on their own, that I would really love them. You see, he qualifies the statement, "you were chosen" by the prepositional phrase, "in Christ".

You see, Christ is the Elect One, so anyone who is found in Him is also elect.

I also like that JMac isn't throwing around any of his, "You can be a spiritual defector who hasn't defected yet!" Too bad what he says here must be coupled and understood within the greater context of his works.

And the word of course is:

Anthropocentric

Antonio G. da Rosa, Esq.

By Antonio, at Monday, October 01, 2007 1:33:00 PM
Hi Rose,
Jesus, the eternal God, shed His blood and died on the cross for our sins and rose from the dead so that He could purchase and secure eternal life for all who believed in Him.

God so loved those so important enough for Him to die to give you Jesus as an inheritance. That is just stinky theology. :-( He died because we are sinners that deserve hell, not because we are important, or valuable enough.

Hello! THAT IS WHY WE NEED GRACE, and I am… unashamed of grace.

Blessings upon you,
John

By J. Wendell, at Monday, October 01, 2007 2:46:00 PM
Hi Antonio G. da Rosa, Esq.

I hope you two can make a conection safely. ;-)

Brother John

By J. Wendell, at Monday, October 01, 2007 2:48:00 PM
Folks, there's no reason both cannot be true. Remember, for God so loved the world. He valued us above many sparrows, so much above them that he gave us His son to die for us so that we might live forever with Him. That's the great motivation of the gospel.

Peace out,
Tom <><

By Anonymous, at Monday, October 01, 2007 8:46:00 PM
I agree with what Antonio said.

By Matthew Celestine, at Tuesday, October 02, 2007 12:41:00 AM
I do somewhat agree with the quotation. I think that anytime we think on what Christ has done for us, it will remind us of the great love He has for us and that should encourage us about our worth.

When I read it, though, I couldn't get past two things that I think are worth noting:

1. MacArthur is coing at this from a particular redemption point of view. He is not saying that the Lord loves mankind and if you remember that, it will encourage you. No, he is saying, if you are a believer and are persevering in good works, having surrendered your life and committed your whole self to Christ, then you can be relatively sure that you are one of those special ones for whom Christ died. God values you *above* the others who were born in your world, in your community, in your family. This should lift your spirits ... knowing that you are chosen.

IMO, this is not the same as Christ saying that men are worth more than sparrows. This is more like saying that *certain* men are worth more than other men, intrinsicly, because God chose them, even apart from faith.

2. This charge of ANTHROPOCENTRIC that always gets leveled at the non-Calvinist world of Christianity by those of the 'Doctrines of Grace' mindset ... it would seem to really fit here in these words by MacArthur. J. Wendell (my husband) calls himself a Calvinist. I think his comment here is more the way you would think someone with the "glory of God" view of salvation (which Cals claim) would think ... rather than the way MacArthur has spoken. MacArthur's words here seem like a better thought process for the label "anthropocentric" to me, than my own way of looking at Christ's dealing with mankind, which has often been called "man-centered." Actually, I think his thoughts here (as interpreted above in #1) are worse than "man-centered"; they are even "me-centered."

Just my thoughts! Does anyone see it that way? Or follow what I am saying?

By Rose~, at Tuesday, October 02, 2007 6:45:00 AM
Tom,
Thank you for your comments! I agree with you!

Antonio,
I am glad that you were able to find a point of agreement with JMac. hehe :~)

Matthew,
You always agree with Antonio, don't you?

John,
Thank you for visiting this blog. I like your answer. I know you would balance it with the thoughts that Tom brings up as well. You *are* such a balanced Calvinist! :~)

By Rose~, at Tuesday, October 02, 2007 6:48:00 AM
Rose, I think you are right.

By Matthew Celestine, at Tuesday, October 02, 2007 6:56:00 AM
Rose I would agree that a proper self image is critical to maintaining a proper relationship with others as well as with God in Christ but what is proposed in this quote is not anthropocentric. It is philosophically egocentric.

May God bless us all to see that it is only in Christ that we find worth.

By Kc, at Tuesday, October 02, 2007 8:46:00 AM
Whether we like it or not, we all need some sense of value and worth. Surely MacArthur is right in finding that worth shown in the display of God's love for us? If God's love doesn't provide self-worth for us, then what does? So I tend to agree with MacArthur and hence Antonio and Matthew.

Blessings,
Andrew.

By Andrew McNeill, at Tuesday, October 02, 2007 8:54:00 AM
I would be curious to see how the Reformed folk react if you were to casually drop this statement in one of your comments? Perhaps the next time you are discussing soteriology...

I really wonder if they would pull out the big "A" word?

By Jim, at Tuesday, October 02, 2007 9:05:00 AM
You know, doesn't this quote disagree with John Piper's whole "Desiring God because God is an ego maniac and everything is always and forever about God and never about us?"

I think this quote by John seems backwards to me:

"""He died because we are sinners that deserve hell, not because we are important, or valuable enough"""

I would say ""We are sinners that deserve hell, God loves us and so Jesus died for us.""

By Anonymous, at Tuesday, October 02, 2007 1:15:00 PM
.........but Jesus dying for us has nothing to do with how "valuable" we are to God and everything to do with who God is and how much He loves us - not because of who we are, but because of who He is.

By Anonymous, at Tuesday, October 02, 2007 1:17:00 PM