Calling, Identity and Self Understanding || John Pesebre

Tim Keller would regularly talk about relocating our identity. The book I'm reading now by Walter Marshall, _Gospel Mystery of Sanctfication_ puts a high premium on the "effectual means" or mga effectve na endowments ng Diyos for our own sanctification most especially that we "be well persuaded of our reconciliation with God, and of our future enjoyment of the everlasting heavenly happenings, and of sufficient strength both to will and perform all duties acceptably, until we come to the enjoyment of that happiness."

Naka connect din ang reflection ko na ito sa recent na readings ko kay Weber (_Spirit of Capitalism and the Protestant Work Ethic_) kung saan yung sociological analysis niya sa growth ng economy ng English empire was due to the spiritual identity that the Puritans have placed on the dignity of work rooted in their calling or vocation predestined by God. Para kay Weber, mere utilitarianism lang daw will never be able to sustain and account for this "spirit" to emerge out of a working class environment.

Yung work and progress daw naka ugat sa self-understanding ng mga tao kung ano sila at sino siila "sub specie aeternitatis" (under the perspectiive of eternity).

It is interesting to note that this was a counter-argument against the foundation of the economic theory of Marx na kailangan mo muna iset-up ang economic-material base ng isang society para ito mag progress and then saka ka gumawa ng religious super-structure. Kay Weber baliktad. Yung religion ang nagturo kung paano magkaroon ng stable na economic base dahil sa "spirit of capitalism" na resulta ng "Protestant work ethic."

To wrap it up, the saints of old (as is Keller) puts a high premium on our self-understanding as saved elect as the starting point of fruitful work. Para kay Marshall this type of thinking is ay bahagi ng "effectual means" na divine "endowment" sa atin. For Weber grappling with the causality ng sociological phenomenon ng capitalism, na trace niya itong self-understanding na ito as the "psychological stimulus to the development of their ethical attitude." He further explains, "The community of the elect with their God could only take place and be perceptible to them in that God worked (operatur) through them and that they were conscious of it. That is, their action originated from the faith caused by God’s grace, and this faith in turn justified itself by the quality of that action."

Kumbaga, they can know judge what is correct work and how to be motivated for that work based sa self-understanding na ito na sila ay "called" (German "beruf") by God and as such endowed by effectual means to His desired end.


#MorningPrinciples

John Hendryx on the affections || John Pesebre

Sheep following their shepherd. (Credit)

True religion consists, in large part, in the affections ... and this begins with the initial step of saving faith all the way through to final perseverance. But how can the natural man, who "loves darkness" (John 3:19), work up any affections or desire for God? or apprehend His beauty and excellence? We know that human reasoning is never free from the effects of sin, and that people deny God, not because they lack evidence, but because their hearts are rebellious. So the unbelievers' problem is ethical first and then intellectual and thus he/she requires a supernatural work of God to understand and apprehend spiritual truth as revealed in Scripture. Those who know facts, therefore, are not the same as those who forsake sin and come to love God. We must therefore appeal to the entire person and not merely their intellect. God is hidden from man because he loves sin and remains in hostile rebellion against God. This antagonism for the gospel is seated in the affections, not because we lack data or are not smart enough. So we appeal to the heart because God is not just a precept or an axiom as found in mathematics. To come to faith in Christ one must first desire Christ, perceive and take delight in His unmatched beauty, and have a love for Him that is greater than a love of sin. Faith will never "just happen' out of thin air but actually requires that we desire Him, for we only choose that which we most desire. But to be sure, the Scriptures teach that these holy affections are not produced by our unregenerate human nature (Rom 8:7; 1 Cor 2:14). And since the root of faith cannot be indifferent or neutral, a full orbed gospel is not merely a list of impersonal propositions for our intellectual assent, but it is proclaiming the full person of Christ in His love for sinners shown in His life, death and resurrection. Words are not enough, however, to persuade those bent on rebellion because spiritual knowledge, which is relational, requires a new sense of God's unsurpassed excellence ... and this is possessed only by the regenerate. Paul, when speaking to the Thessalonians makes this clear when he says, "for our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction..." (1 Thess 1:5).

The propositions, Christ is Lord and Christ is Savior are obviously understood intellectually by anyone who reads or hears Scripture. The words are written down on the page of the Bible making it an item of knowledge that is objective. But this knowledge would appear to lack an affective element wherein the subject reading the text actually takes delight in or desires it. So true spiritual knowledge only comes as the truth is desired by the subject, a knowledge which subjectively participates in the truth of the propositions and Person of Christ presented. This means illumination and regeneration are required, because prior to conversion a person is incapable of perceiving spiritual knowledge (1 Cor 2:14, 1 John 4:2, 14, 5:20). Instead, humanity willfully attempts to suppress and pervert true knowledge (Romans 1:18). Thus we can see there is no lack of capacity to believe, nor are humans intellectually ignorant, rather it is because sinful rebellion rules their hearts that men refuse to believe. So the difference between the regenerate and unregenerate is the relationship each has with the Holy Spirit. Both know God, one as an enemy and the other as friend ... and only the Spirit can confer spiritual knowledge which the subject delights in. This knowledge is found in the Word of God but is only apprehended through the regenerative work of Holy Spirit. Hence spiritual knowledge is communicated by the Spirit via revelation which is the only way one can be enabled to see the beauty, harmony, truth and excellence of the Scriptural Text. John Calvin, describing this spiritual work said,

"Indeed the Word of God is like the sun, shining upon all those to whom it is proclaimed, but with no effect among the blind. Now, all of us are blind by nature in this respect... Accordingly, it cannot penetrate into our minds unless the Spirit, as the inner teacher, through his illumination makes entry for it." (Calvin's Institutes 3.2.34.)

Taken from "Biblical Regeneration and Affectional Theology."