Loving and Praying for Freemasons to Repent and Change
Loving and Praying for Freemasons to Repent and Change
The biblical mandate to love and pray for others, including those involved in Freemasonry, is rooted in the call to repentance and the pursuit of God's mercy. The scripture encourages believers to pray for the repentance of others, as seen in Acts 8:22, where Peter advises Simon the magician to "repent... and pray to God that, if possible, you may be forgiven" [1].
The concept of repentance is central to Christian theology. According to John Calvin, repentance involves a turning away from sin and towards God, facilitated by the Holy Spirit [3]. This understanding is echoed in the writings of the early Church Fathers, who emphasized the importance of repentance in the life of a believer [7].
Praying for the repentance of others, including Freemasons, is consistent with the biblical instruction to intercede for those who are not yet followers of Christ. The Apostle Paul's prayers for the Ephesians, as recorded in Ephesians 1:15-23 and 3:14-21, demonstrate the importance of praying for others to receive spiritual enlightenment and to turn to God [6].
Charles Hodge notes that prayers for the gift of the Spirit to render the Word effectual are common in Scripture, citing David's prayer in Psalm 51:11 and Paul's prayer for the Ephesians [6]. This understanding underscores the role of prayer in facilitating the conversion of sinners.
The biblical principle of loving one's neighbors and praying for their well-being is also relevant. Jesus teaches that believers should love their neighbors as themselves (Mark 12:31), and the Apostle Paul instructs believers to "bless those who persecute you" (Romans 12:14). Loving and praying for Freemasons to repent and change is an expression of this principle.
Some Christian traditions interpret Freemasonry as being incompatible with Christian faith due to its perceived esoteric and occult practices. In this context, praying for Freemasons to repent involves praying for their deliverance from what is seen as false or misleading spiritual practices.
The early Church Fathers, such as Hermas and Clement of Alexandria, emphasized the importance of repentance and turning to God. They encouraged believers to pray for others to do the same, reflecting a patristic understanding that aligns with the Reformed perspective on the matter [7].
In praying for Freemasons, Christians are not only expressing love and concern for their spiritual well-being but also acknowledging their own dependence on God's sovereign grace to effect change. According to Calvin, true prayer is characterized by a recognition of one's own weakness and a reliance on God's mercy [5].
The practice of praying for others to repent is grounded in the biblical promise that God hears and responds to prayer. The prophet Amos's intercession for Israel, as recorded in Amos 7:1-6, illustrates the efficacy of prayer in averting judgment, with Jamieson, Fausset & Brown noting that God's response to prayer can be seen as a form of repentance on His part, in the sense that He changes His outward dealings with people [4].
Ultimately, loving and praying for Freemasons to repent and change reflects a commitment to the biblical mandate to love one's neighbors and to pray for the conversion of sinners. This practice is rooted in a deep understanding of God's sovereignty in salvation and the role of prayer in facilitating the conversion of those who are not yet followers of Christ.
The biblical call to repentance, as seen in Revelation 3:19, where Jesus says, "As many as I love, I reprove and chasten. Be zealous therefore, and repent," underscores the importance of praying for others to turn to God [2]. This call is not limited to any particular group but is a universal invitation to all people.
Sources
- Acts “Acts 8:22 (BBE) — Let your heart be changed, and make prayer to God that you may have forgiveness for your evil thoughts.”
- Revelation “As many as I love, I reprove and chasten. Be zealous therefore, and repent. -- Revelation 3:19”
- CCEL (Reformed) “John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, section 41: the others have been voluntary agents in acting, if the Lord Jesus had not directed their hearts? 9. Some, who would be thought more acute, endeavour to evade all these passages, by the quibble, that there is nothing to hinder us from contributing our part, while God, at the same time, supplies our deficiencies. They, moreover, adduce passages from the Prophets, in which the work of our conversion seems to be shared between God and ourselves; “Turn ye unto me, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will turn unto you, saith the Lord of hos”
- Amos (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on Amos 7:3: repented for this--that is, of this. The change was not in the mind of God (Num 2:19; Jam 1:17), but in the effect outwardly. God unchangeably does what is just; it is just that He should hear intercessory prayer (Jam 5:16-18), as it would have been just for Him to have let judgment take its course at once on the guilty nation, but for the prayer of one or two righteous men in it (compare Gen 18:23-33; Sa1 15:11; Jer 42:10). The repentance of the sinner, and God's regard to His own attributes of mercy and covenanted love, also cause God outwardly to deal ”
- CCEL (Reformed) “John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, section 75: also to themselves and their followers, in that they encourage themselves in a carelessness diametrically opposed to the mercy of God. It is excessively childish to object, that when they long for the advent of the kingdom of God, they at the same time pray for the abolition of sin. In the former division of the prayer absolute perfection is set before us; but in the latter our own weakness. Thus the two fitly correspond to each other—we strive for the goal, 2195 and at the same time neglect not the remedies which our necessities r”
- CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 2, section 138: of the truth either in the Lutheran or Remonstrant view, is that those who have the knowledge of the Word as read or heard, are directed to pray for the gift of the Spirit to render that Word effectual. Of such prayers we have many examples in the Sacred Scriptures. David, in Psalm li. 11 , prays,” Take not thy Holy Spirit from me.” The Apostle prays in behalf of the Ephesians to whom for more than two years he had been preaching the Gospel, that God would give them the Holy Spirit, that they might have the knowledge of Him, that their e”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “ANF Vol 2: Hermas, Tatian, Theophilus, Athenagoras, Clement of Alexandria — CHAP. XI.--OF REPENTANCE.: And when the people transgressed the law which had been given to them by God, God being good and pitiful, unwilling to destroy them, in addition to His giving them the law, afterwards sent forth also prophets to them from among their brethren, to teach and remind them of the contents of the law, and to turn them to repentance, that they might sin no more. But if they persisted in their wicked deeds, He forewarned them that they should be delivered into subjection to all the kingdoms of the ea”