Have you ever thought about what it means to love God with all your heart, soul, and mind? I don’t think any of us fully plumb the depths of that commandment, but here are some obvious aspects:
1. Your love for God transcends all other desires (see Exodus 20:3).
2. Like David, you long to gaze upon His beauty and seek fellowship with Him (see Psalm 27:4).
3. You rejoice in meditating on His Word, and, like Jesus, you rise early to pray (Psalm 119:97, Mark 1:35).
4. You always delight to do His will, regardless of how difficult it may be (see Psalm 40:8, NASB).
5. A regard for His glory governs and motivates everything you do – your eating and drinking, your working and playing, your buying and selling, your reading and speaking – and, dare I mention it, even your driving (see 1 Corinthians 10:31).
6. You are never discouraged or frustrated by adverse circumstances because you are confident God is working all things together for your good (see Romans 8:28).
7. You recognize His sovereignty in every event of your life and consequently receive both success and failure from His hand (see 1 Samuel 2:7; Psalm 75:6-7).
8. You are always content because you know He will never leave you or forsake you (see Hebrews 13:5).
9. The first petition in the Lord’s Prayer, “Hallowed be your name,” is the most important prayer you pray (see Matthew 6:9).
Copied from The Gospel for Real Life by Jerry Bridges, © 2002, p. 26-27. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved. Get this book!
Appearances can be deceptive. The fact that we cannot see what God is doing does not mean that He is doing nothing. The Lord has His own timetable. It is we who must learn to adjust to it, not vice versa. When God’s time comes nothing will stand in His way. We can therefore wait for Him with this happy confidence: “As for God, His way is perfect” (2 Samuel 22:31).
Discovering God’s Will, By Permission of the Banner of Truth Trust, Carlisle, PA. 1991, p. 114.
God “works all things after the counsel of His will” (Ephesians 1:11). This “all things” includes the fall of sparrows (Matthew 10:29), the rolling of dice (Proverbs 16:33), the slaughter of his people (Psalm 44:11), the decisions of kings (Proverbs 21:1), the failing of sight (Exodus 4:11), the sickness of children (2 Samuel 12:15), the loss and gain of money (1 Samuel 2:7), the suffering of saints (1 Peter 4:19), the completion of travel plans (James 4:15), the persecution of Christians (Hebrews 12:4-7), the repentance of souls (2 Timothy 2:25), the gift of faith (Philippians 1:29), the pursuit of holiness (Philippians 3:12-13), the growth of believers (Hebrews 6:3), the giving of life and the taking in death (1 Samuel 2:6) and the crucifixion of his Son (Acts 4:27-28).
All those dying in infancy, as well as those so mentally incapacitated that they are incapable of making an informed choice, are among the elect of God chosen by Him for salvation before the world began. The evidence for this view is scant, but significant.
1. In Romans 1:20 Paul describes people who are recipients of general revelation as being, “without excuse.” Does this imply that those who are not recipients of general revelation (i.e., infants) are therefore not accountable to God or subject to wrath? In other words, those who die in infancy have an “;excuse” in that they neither receive general revelation nor have the capacity to respond to it.
2. There are texts which appear to assert or imply that infants do not know good or evil and hence lack the capacity to make morally informed and thus responsible choices. According to Deuteronomy 1:39 they are said to “have no knowledge of good or evil.”
3. The story of David’s son in 2 Samuel 12:15-23 (esp. v. 23)… What does it mean when David says “I shall go to him?” If this is merely a reference to the grave or death, in the sense that David, too, shall one day die and be buried, one wonders why he would say something so patently obvious! Also, it appears that David draws some measure of comfort from knowing that he will “go to him.” It is the reason why David resumes the normal routine of life. It appears to be the reason David ceases from the outward display of grief. It appears to be a truth from which David derives comfort and encouragement. How could any of this be true if David will simply die like his son? It would, therefore, appear that David believed he would be reunited with his deceased infant.
4. There is consistent testimony of Scripture that people are judged on the basis of sins voluntary and consciously committed in the body. See 2 Corinthians 5:10; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10; Revelation 20:11-12. In other words, eternal judgment is always based on conscious rejection of divine revelation (whether in creation, conscience, or Christ) and willful disobedience. Are infants capable of either? There is no explicit account in Scripture of any other judgment based on any other grounds. Thus, those dying in infancy are saved because they do not (cannot) satisfy the conditions for divine judgment.
5. We have what would appear to be clear biblical evidence that at least some infants are regenerate in the womb, such that if they had died in their infancy they would be saved. This at least provides a theoretical basis for considering whether the same may be true of all who die in infancy. These texts include Jeremiah 1:5; Luke 1:15.
6. Some have appealed to Matthew 19:13-15 (Mark 10:13-16; Luke 18:15-17) where Jesus declares, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” Is Jesus simply saying that if one wishes to be saved he/she must be as trusting as children, i.e., devoid of skepticism and arrogance? In other words, is Jesus merely describing the kind of people who enter the kingdom? Or is he saying that these very children were recipients of saving grace?
7. Given our understanding of the character of God as presented in Scripture, does He appear as the kind of God who would eternally condemn infants on no other ground than that of Adam’s transgression? Admittedly, this is a subjective (and perhaps sentimental) question. But it deserves an answer, nonetheless.
Excerpted from: Are Those Who Died in Infancy Saved? November 6, 2006, www.enjoyinggodministries.com. Used by Permission.
The Bible simply records the occurrences of six suicides without making a moral evaluation: The case of Abimelech in Judges 9:50-57; the case of Samson in Judges 16:28-30 (although some are not convinced this is suicide in the strict sense of the term); Saul and his armor-bearer in 1 Samuel 31:1-6; 2 Samuel 1:1-15; 1 Chron. 10:1-13; Ahithophel in 2 Samuel 17:23; Zimri in1 Kings 16:18-19; and Judas Iscariot in Matthew 27:5. It is worth noting that in each of these cases the suicide is the end to a life that did not (at least in its latter stages) meet with God’s approval. Is there any significance in the fact that the only recorded instances of suicide in the Bible are of those in moral and spiritual rebellion against God?
Suicide, November 6, 2006, www.enjoyinggodministries.com. Used by Permission.