Reformed Doctrine Daily Devotions

Today’s devotion comes from 1 Kings 6:23-38.  Here is a link to this Scripture – 1 Kings 6 NASB1995 – – Bible Gateway

I quote only the following verses.

“Also in the inner sanctuary he made two cherubim of olive wood, each ten cubits high.  Five cubits was the one wing of the cherub and five cubits the other wing of the cherub;  from the end of one wing to the end of the other wing were ten cubits.  The other cherub was ten cubits;  both the cherubim were of the same measure and the same form.  The height of the one cherub was ten cubits, and so was the other cherub.  He placed the cherubim in the midst of the inner house, and the wings of the cherubim were spread out, so that the wing of the one was touching the one wall, and the wing of the other cherub was touching the other wall.  So their wings were touching each other in the center of the house.  He also overlaid the cherubim with gold.”  1 Kings 6:23-28. 

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We can use the following Scripture to meditate on the significance of the cherubim in the midst of the inner sanctuary with their wings spread out such that their wings touched each other and the two walls, thus spanning the width of the inner sanctuary.

“Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil;  and now, he might stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken.  So He drove the man out;  and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life.”  Genesis 3:22-24.

Why would the LORD God use His angels, the cherubim, “to guard the way to the tree of life.”?

Why would the LORD God not want man to become like “one of us”, the Holy Trinity?

Other doctrine believe and teach that God loves everyone and Christ died for everyone and that man has free-will to determine whether or not he or she will be saved.  

But, Reformed Doctrine believes and teaches that God does not love everyone, Christ did not die for everyone, and that God alone determines and elects, based on His will alone, whom He will save and whom He will not save.

The cherubim guarding the inner sanctuary, representing the place of salvation, was a reminder that God alone determines and elects, based on His will alone, whom He will save and whom He will not save.    

Consider the following from the Canons of Dordt in the section titled from FIRST HEAD OF DOCTRINE Of Divine Predestination.

“Article 9. This election was not founded upon foreseen faith, and the obedience of faith, holiness, or any other good quality of disposition in man, as the pre-requisite, cause or condition on which it depended;  but men are chosen to faith and to the obedience of faith, holiness, etc., therefore election is the fountain of every saving good;  from which proceed faith, holiness, and the other gifts of salvation, and finally eternal life itself, as its fruits and effects, according to that of the apostle:  “He hath chosen us (not because we were) but that we should be holy, and without blame, before him in love,”  Ephesians 1:4.”

This point is summarized as “Unconditional Election”.

Reformed Doctrine accurately summarizes Scripture and teaches that salvation is a work of God alone, by grace alone, and that God handles all the points of salvation from beginning to end:  from the beginning of “Unconditional Election” through “Limited Atonement” through “Irresistible Grace” to the end of “Preservation of the Saints”, the “U”, “L”, “I”, and “P” of “TULIP”, the Five Points of Calvinism, the Reformed Doctrine of Salvation. (The “T” of “TULIP” represents “Total Depravity” of man). This true doctrine of salvation is more fully taught in the Reformed Confession called Canons of Dordt.

“For He says to Moses, “I WILL HAVE MERCY ON WHOM I HAVE MERCY, AND I WILL HAVE COMPASSION ON WHOM I HAVE COMPASSION.”  So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.”  Romans 9:15-16.

“For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble;  but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God.  But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, “LET HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD.”  1 Corinthians 1:26-31.