Letters    

AN ANSWER TO CORNELIUS STAM

Dear T. L.                                                                                                   December 12, 1991

         ...The article you sent written by Cornelius Stam is basically a good article. If my memory is correct, the writer is a Plymouth Brethren, or a follower of John Nelson Darby of England. They are very dispensational, and for this reason he would make the statement, "...God in grace interrupted the prophetic program and, holding the promise of the kingdom in abeyance, ushered in the present dispensation of grace." I am not a rabid dispensationalist; that is, men who were saved in any age were saved by grace. This is one of the errors of following Scofield too closely.

      First, Stam makes a great generalization when he says 5-point Calvinists do not believe in praying for the lost. I am a 5-pointer, and I pray for the lost and go door-to-door passing out gospel tracts and preaching the gospel.

      Second, The Synod of Dort was called to answer the "5 Points" taught by the followers of Arminius. They called their counter "Calvinism" in honor of John Calvin whom they considered to be the greatest expositor of Scripture since the days of the Apostle Paul. Whether we call it "Calvinism" or "Biblicism" it is the Bible position.

     Third, I do not doubt Stam's sincerity, but his theology is woefully flawed because he fails to see that every epistle in the New Testament is written to believers, and not to the lost. The result of this is that he takes passages that apply to believers and applies them to all men. This is serious because it leads to the misapplication of Scripture. For instance, in II Peter 3:9, Peter says, "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering TO USWARD, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." This does not say that God is not willing that any should perish, but that He is not willing that any of us His chosen ones should perish.

    When Stam says God loves all men, it is a direct contradiction of what the Bible teaches (See: Psalm 5:5; 11:5). If God did not want any to perish, the Almighty could prevent it. Must close.

OF LOVING EVERYONE

Dear G. M.                                                                                                December 16, 1986

      ...You state that God commands you to love everyone. Where does God command you do this? God says David was a man after His own heart (Acts 13:22), yet, David says, "Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee? I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies" (Psalm 139:21,22).

     You evidently did not take to heart the words of Jehu, God's prophet who rebuked Jehoshaphat, king of Judah for loving king Ahab. "Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the LORD? therefore is wrath upon thee from before the LORD" (II Chronicles 19:2). ...

TO AN UNSTABLE INDIVIDUAL

Dear D. W.                                                                                                          May 2, 1992

     You use your reasoning as a smoke screen to excuse yourself from the obedience every creature owes his Creator. The Holy Spirit speaking through the Apostle Paul declares, "Not many wise men after the flesh ...are called" (I Corinthians 1:26). For this reason you better beware lest your machinations lead you to damnation.

      D., there is such a thing as "truth". Any man who is constantly running after new ideas is an unstable individual, and one who does not know what to believe. One has to have a point from which to reason that is greater than man, or else his opinion is as good as the next man's opinion, and both fall into the ditch.

    God reveals to some, and hides from others. When God teaches a man by His Spirit through His Word, it would be extreme ingratitude if he thinks so little of the truth he has learned that he barters it away for the machinations of every would-be teacher that comes along.

     The one thing necessary in order to "learn" is humility. James wrote, "Be not many masters (teachers) knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation" (3:1). It is one thing for a man to reject truth, but it is much more damnable when he encourages others to reject truth with him.

        D., have you ever seen yourself in the light of God's holiness? Have you ever acknowledged that if God were to leave a man to himself to perish in his sins, God is still good? Have you ever been taught that unless Christ does all for our salvation, we are lost, and will "go away into everlasting punishment" (Matthew 25:46)? Have you ever humbled yourself before the Lord having been smitten by a contrite heart? D., I want you to go with me to heaven; and it is not through any goodness of our own that will allow us to enter there. We can only be saved by the grace of God.

Dear D. I.                                                                                                         August 24, 1991

        Gospel work is to be done decently and in order. God's kingdom is not built by anarchy where every man does that which is right in his own eyes. "Be not many masters," James warns, because "we shall receive the greater condemnation." Therefore, a man needs to know beyond any shadow of a doubt that God has called him. Then, he ...needs to know what he believes, and why he believes it. In your case, I could not at this time in good conscience (recommend you). It is not that you are not a good man; it is that you are one of the most unstable people I have met: you do not know what you believe.

      Doctrine is not a trifle, but is something men have had to die for. Are you a Methodist? a Baptist? a Presbyterian? a Plymouth Brethren?

     Can you accept paedo-baptism? or do you believe in believer's baptism? You cannot hold to both. Can you emulate the doctrinal heresies of Finney? or are you a convinced Calvinist? Do you believe a man can lose his salvation? or do you believe if God begins a good work in us that He will perform that work until the day of Jesus Christ?

     You see, I do not know what you know of the gospel. You are a church hopper. Could I sanction your preaching or pastoring people when you do not sit still long enough to let anyone look at you?

     I love you in the bonds of Christ, but this does not mean I can sanction doctrinal aberrations or whims. But I would like to think that one day I might have the privilege of seeing you working diligently, doing a work for God. Must go.

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