Introduction To Science & The Bible

You know that in the early 20th-century modernism was the rule and society thought that science had all the answers. Evolution, a time-honored scientific tenet of FAITH has infiltrated philosophy and ethics, man even justifying himself by it. The so-called "survival of the fittest" and "law of the jungle" are the rules of nature. Today we are in danger of lapsing into "scientism" where we see science as a faith or religion and the ultimate authority. (It is actually deifying science.)  

Some things are out of the REALM of science--like ethics and morality. Some things simply cannot be measured, such as love or patience; for instance, you cannot take a foot of love or a pound of patience. If you cannot measure something is it out of the jurisdiction of science. Science, in other words, is only one way to truth. Miracles are not contradictory to science, they are just outside the realm of a scientific experiment.

In sum, there are LIMITS to our powers of observation, rationalization, experimentation, and knowledge via scientific endeavor. That is, when some scientists make deductions, they leave miracles outside of the pool of live options. (Lee Strobel refers to this as "inference to the best explanation.) There is nothing wrong with Sir Francis Bacon's scientific method, it's our presuppositions that are leading us astray. There is no such thing as total objectivity, except with God.

The main reason people believe in evolution is that they don't want the consequences of believing in God and that would affect their sexual mores, as Thomas Huxley maintained. There is absolutely no proof of it and it can't be proved, but they believe it nevertheless because the only alternative is unpalatable-- theism.

Science can tell us the "know-how" but not the "know-why." To existential and metaphysical questions we must turn to philosophy or religion. Jesus is the answer to the equation and he is also the "Answerer!" To know Christ is to know the truth. He did not just tell us the truth but became the embodiment of truth itself.

We must be careful not to personify science and make it an idol; anything that comes between us and God is idolatry. Truth does not go against reason, but beyond it.

St. Augustine said that "deep within man there dwells the truth." However, "the big lie of the West is that there is no absolute truth"--truth with a capital T! If there is no truth as Pilate thought then there is no God by inference. The Bible is not a science textbook, but it has no scientific absurdities, and where it does say something scientific, like the water cycle, it is accurate. The French Academy of Science in 1861 said that there were 51 "facts" in the Bible that were controverted by scientific fact--today not one of those scientific facts is believed and so you see that "science is a moving train," but the Bible stays the same. It is never outdated.

Theologians (viz.  Thomas Aquinas, and St. Augustine of Hippo) like to say that "All truth is God's truth." All religions have an element of truth mixed in with the error. They have just enough truth to be dangerous and religion has just enough reality to vaccinate you from the real thing. Psychology has some truth and Psychiatry has part of the answer and a piece of the puzzle, but the Scripture is sufficient to solve our problems and Jesus not only has the answer but is the Answerer! Christianity is not true because it works, as Lee Strobel says, it works because it is true. TM works for some, but that doesn't mean mantras are good, we should meditate on the Word only.

We all have preconceived ideas that prevent us from being objective--in fact, total objectivity is impossible, except for God. Dr. S. Lewis Johnson, Jr. says that the scientific method cannot arrive at absolute truth. (Inference is flawed) We are all prejudiced and that means "being down on what was not up on." God gives enough light to see the truth if you can accept it and are looking, but he leaves it an open question and doesn't force truth on anyone. Truth cannot be proved beyond a shadow of a doubt, then we would be forced to accept it. If God were proved, then He would be no greater than the mind that proved Him! One needs faith because the "supreme function of reason is to show man that some things are beyond reason." (Blaise Pascal) It is said, that if a scientist is not willing to go anywhere in his quest for the truth, he will not arrive at it.

Faith is prejudiced, and we all have some bias--there is no such thing as absolute objectivity, except with God. Sir Isaac Newton said, "No sciences are better attested than the religion of the Bible. Theology is known as the "queen of sciences."    Science is the stepchild of Christianity itself.  The Bible is not a scientific textbook, but where it does say something as a scientific fact, it is right--there are no "scientific absurdities."   And when it speaks of the rising of the sun, for example, it is merely using convention like we do. Newton wanted to reconcile science and the Bible--they are not antithetical at all.  Francis Schaeffer wrote, No Final Conflict between the two disciplines. It is said that if you think there's a contradiction, you either don't understand Christianity or science or both.

One can be a Christian scientist without committing intellectual suicide!  Theologians used to be students of science as well.  It has been said that he who thinks there is a conflict between science and the Bible understands neither.   Soli Deo Gloria!

Assurance Of Salvation

My area of expertise (quite ironically) seems to be the assurance of salvation since I have backslid so many times, I have been dogged by this issue, and have had to repent and do the first things over and go back to square one so to speak. Sometimes I have compared myself to other Christians and have been discouraged, e.g., when they say they hear God's voice audibly and I don't, I think something is wrong, but later God reassures me.

If you just go by feelings it seems like I have been saved many times over, but that is not biblical. The Bible makes it clear that if you could lose your salvation, you cannot regain it (See Heb. 6:1-9). God wants you to stand on the promises of God and "rely" on His Word, not go by experience or feeling. We do not walk in the "glow" of some mountaintop experience or cling to the memory of some emotional or ecstatic encounter, we learn to have faith that is tested and proven.  God isn't impressed with feelings as much as by faith!

I know the best assurance is that which comes from a holy and obedient life per Is. 32:17 which says, "The fruit of righteousness shall be peace, and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance." Disobedience and consequent chastisement take away ones feeling of the joy of salvation and one may doubt his position in Christ.

My assurance comes from John 5:24, which says that He who comes to Christ will in no wise be cast out--that's my spiritual birth-certificate!  God said it in His Word, I believe it in my heart, that settles it in my mind!   No one is ever lost in the shuffle due to the Golden Chain of Redemption in Rom. 8:29-30.   Soli Deo Gloria!

Hearing God's Voice

I think some Christians are awful mystical and seem to think that they hear God talking to them when they are really mentally ill and need medications. I know of patients who take medications, and it sure seems to cure them. I don't doubt that there are legitimate prophets who are spiritual giants but this is not the norm. The normative way for God to speak to us is through the Word of God. We hear the still, small voice that is the Holy Spirit bearing witness with our spirit. Jesus said, "My sheep hear My voice...." We may get impressions, hunches, or something may strike us as odd or providential; in the final analysis, God speaks to all Christians in some way, but let's be careful not to get too mystical or open ourselves up to the demonic activity.  Soli Deo Gloria!

The Miraculous

For any of the skeptics, I recommend Jack Deere's Surprised by the Power of the Spirit, which delivers a coup de grace to the cessationist viewpoint (that the sign gifts have ceased). God does speak today, especially in the third world where "power evangelism" is taking effect and people witness miracles and by and large don't doubt the supernatural. Argentina has been having such a revival that obese people have been reported to have instantly lost 30 or more pounds! They say that the West brought the knowledge of God, and the third world, the power of God. I was told that the reason miracles aren't as prevalent in the Western world is that we have HMOs. God is alive and well in his church and there are miracles of healing quite often.   Soli Deo Gloria!

The Bondage Of The Will

"If any man will to do his will, he shall know of the doctrine..." (John 7:17, KJV).  


Martin Luther said that the freedom of the will is a grandiose term and fit only for God. Our wills are enslaved to the old sin nature and inclined to evil. They are biased and prone to evil, not good. Luther said that man has not ceased to be man, but ceased to be good. We are only free in the sense that God doesn't force us to do evil--we do it on our own volition. Augustine of Hippo said that we are free, but not freed. This is not a mind game, but only stressing that we don't have liberty, though we are responsible moral agents. We concur with our evil and no one forces us to do evil, which would be determinism or coercion. We are voluntary slaves to evil.

There are many Bible verses that stress the lack of freedom to respond to Christ on our own without the wooing of the Spirit. "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him." "It is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God who showeth mercy." "Who are born not of the flesh, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. " "The way of man is not in himself, it is not in man who walks to direct his steps." "A man devises his thoughts, but the Lord directs his steps." (Cf. Prov. 20:24; Jer. 10:23; John 1:13; Rom. 9:16)

The freedom of the will so to speak is a curse, since we are free to do evil. Augustine said that we are non posse non peccare, which means we can only do evil. Luther said the will can only do evil, too. God does not make us do evil, we do it on our own initiative and willingly. There is no outside force making us do something, that would be determinism or coercion. We are free "to choose our own poison" (So to speak). We are free to go to hell.

According to Martin Luther, the will is enslaved to the old sin nature and not free. St. Augustine of Hippo said that the will is free, but not freed. He wasn't playing mind games but saying that we are responsible agents to God for our choices, but don't have liberty. He doesn't force us to do evil (known as coercion), because we do it on our own initiative. The freedom of the will is a curse because we can only do evil according to Luther.

Where did free will help Esau? There are many Bible verses that show that man doesn't have free will as far as the ability to choose and come to Christ apart from grace and the wooing of the Spirit. "For who can resist His will? [Rom. 9:19]" "It is not of him that willeth ..." "Who were born not of the flesh, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." "For the way of man is not in himself, it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps." (Jer. 10:23) We are biased or prone to evil, not good. Martin Luther said we have not ceased to be man, but have ceased to be good. The whole matter can be summed up in the phrase: "We don't need free will--we need WILLS MADE FREE!"

We are inclined to evil, not good--the ability lost at the fall. If you are different or virtuous, that is God's gift to you, not vice versa. "What do you have that you didn't receive [cf. 1 Cor. 4:7] Who makes you to differ?" "The heart devises the way, but the Lord directs his steps." That means God is sovereign!

This is one of the oldest debates in Christendom. Pelagius and Augustine debated it and so did Luther and Erasmus von Rotterdam (who wrote "In Praise of Folly" and made the Greek text of the New Testament available to scholars). The prevalence of the doctrine of freedom of the will in today's church is due to the influence of the Wesleyan Arminians. Don't let anyone make you think that the bondage of the will is a new doctrine or that it is not orthodox, because it is the original doctrine defended by the church Fathers and the Reformers. We are free moral agents, though, because we are individually responsible to God and without excuse for our sin.   Soli Deo Gloria!

Free Will 1

My understanding is that we are free to make decisions such as preferences and inclinations and tastes, but not free to make decisions for Christ. That is why Augustine said we are free, but not freed. (We don't have the liberty to change ourselves and our nature.) Our inclination to do good was lost at the fall. We were not free to choose our nature, e.g., choleric, sanguine, melancholy, or phlegmatic, but we do and can make choices. We distinguish natural freedom (making choices) from moral freedom. ("No one can [has the ability to] come to Christ unless it has been granted him by the Father.")

This is a very tough subject and I do not claim to be an expert, because nobody can explain the sovereignty of God. We are free to act according to our nature, but remember that God is the potter and we are the clay. "We are free to choose our own poison," is what John MacArthur says, and I agree. We are free to go to hell. No one ever thwarts God--Rom. 9:19 says, "For who can resist His will?" We simply cannot do anything good in God's estimation apart from His grace.

We did not choose Christ before He chose us (John 15:16). (Predestination means to mark out ahead of time.) God needs to work on us before we can choose Him. We are not automatons, robots, nor chatty dolls. No one can say he came to Christ apart from the aid of the Holy Spirit. If left to ourselves, none of us would come to Him. When Arminians say some simply desire to come to Christ they are actually attributing merit to the equation, and salvation based on works.  Soli Deo Gloria!

Free Will 2

Martin Luther claimed that the doctrine of the will was the "heart of the gospel." It is a clue to seeing grace at work. God is no man's debtor, as would be the case in Rome's view that faith is a meritorious work. Faith is a work, a work of God (cf. John 6:29). The Bible makes it clear that faith is a gift (Phil. 1:29; Acts 18:27; Eph. 2:8-9; Rom. 12:3; 1 Pet. 1:1).

How did free will help Esau, and how did it affect Jacob, who were destined before they were born? The will can only do evil and Jesus said that without him we can do nothing (even believe) as he said in John 15:5. We cannot do anything good apart from God's grace. We are free to choose our own poison! Evangelists insist we need free will (free will and sovereign grace cannot coexist), but we need wills made free. We are enslaved to our old sin nature and need to be set free. "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free."

Augustine said we are non posse non peccare, which means we can only sin and that we cannot but sin. (This is the inability not to sin.) All of our nature is affected by evil and that includes our will. See Is. 1:5-6, "from the soul of the foot to the head there is no soundness in it."  Soli Deo Gloria!

Intro To Arminianism

Arminianism is named after the famed 17th-century Dutch professor and theologian Jacobus Arminius in Latin or Jacob Hermann. His teachings influence the Methodist, Wesleyan, Church of the Nazarene, Pentecostal, and Church of Christ churches. They deny the 5 points of Reformed theology, which are total depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace and perseverance of the saints (known as the acrostic TULIP).

Martin Luther wrote a book, "The Babylonian Captivity of the Church" in which he talks about this "semi-Pelagian" heresy that has crept into the church. I do not believe Arminians are deceivers, they are just confused: You cannot have sovereign grace and merit or works simultaneously--they are mutually exclusive. Either God is in control of our salvation or we are, we cannot share in the power or authority.

Arminians believe the Calvinist God is some sort of a despot, and they are protecting God's nature by denying unconditional election or predestination. It is not because of anything we did that God elected us in eternity past. They believe some people desire God and that is why they respond positively. (But they cannot explain why some desire and others don't.)  We were all enemies of God, God wasn't our enemy! They believe in absolutely free will and even after they are saved they can rebel against God and go to hell. They have the tendency to trust in human effort or willpower. Our wills are only free in that we act voluntarily. God never forces us to do anything. (That would be coercion or determinism.)

We are voluntary slaves that always act in our own enlightened self-interest. Even our motives are wrong. All our righteousness is as filthy rags (Is. 64:6) The Arminian tends to have a semi-Pelagian viewpoint which is very optimistic about human nature: We only have sick; There is a vestige of goodwill left in us, And we operate from a position of moral neutrality. The truth is that we are like leopards trying to change our spots or like Ethiopians trying to change our skin. (Jer. 13:23) Arminians seem to believe in the inherent goodness of man (an almost humanist philosophy that elevates man at God's expense), rather than the total depravity of man. They believe in "prevenient" grace whereby God prepares them to believe-- and everyone for that matter--but it is their own work. "For you have believed through grace...." (Acts 18:27; cf. Phil. 1:29 and 2 Pet. 1:1-3).

However,  God opened the door of faith for the Gentiles in Acts 14:27 and also "opened Lydia's heart to attend to the gospel." (Acts 16:14) They believe they are somehow more righteous because they believe and that their belief is righteousness--a Romanist doctrine. The verse Rom. 4:5 which says Abraham believed God and it was counted him as righteousness should be translated unto righteousness (Martin Luther did it right with "zur"); faith cannot be both the instrumentality or means of righteousness and righteousness itself. "For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast" (Eph. 2:8-9). ("That" refers to the whole phrase as the antecedent, since it is the neuter case.)

Arminians essentially believe that we improve on God's grace by believing and doing Him the favor of the meritorious work of faith, which they don't believe is a gift. In essence, they cooperate with God in their salvation, rather than receive it by grace alone. Remember this: "Salvation is of the Lord." (Jonah 2:9) Salvation by sovereign grace and also by free will are mutually exclusive, you cannot have both. From our perspective, God is able to overcome our reluctance and make the unwilling willing. Soli Deo Gloria! That means we don't get ANY of the glory in our salvation.   Soli Deo Gloria!

Arminianism Basics

The Arminian believes that results speak for themselves and that in evangelizing what is important is to get decisions regardless of the quality (but Jesus was never interested in quantity over quality). God ordains the means as well as the ends. We should feel privileged to have the opportunity to work for God and pray and witness. God is omniscient because He knows all that could possibly be and could not be sovereign if He didn't. ("For who can resist His will?") God is omnipotent in that He can do anything He wills to do according to His plan. God is just in that He is no respecter of persons and everyone has the opportunity to respond to the light that they have.

God is loving in that He shows common grace to all and is good to all. Jesus had compassion on the crowd. But love is God's essence and everything He does is in love. He doesn't send people to hell; they send themselves. (The Arminian believes that some people desire to get saved while others have no such desire for God. This is hogwash because without grace no one would desire God--there's no place for merit.)

We were all enemies of God and God overcame our reluctance by irresistible grace and an effectual call. We are not any more virtuous by believing or it would be meritorious. (Rome has tried to make faith a meritorious work.)   Believing is the work of God. We don't conjure up our faith either, it comes by the hearing of the Word of Christ. We believe through grace and it was granted to us to believe.  Acts 18:27; Phil. 1:29) We can get with the program if we want to because God certainly can get His will done without us, but He has ordained that we are used for His glory. God is so omnipotent that He can melt any heart. The formula is: Melt me, Mold me, Fill me, Use me!

God can do anything that makes sense, anything He wants to and is concordant with His nature. The faux dilemma that asks if God can create a rock so big He can't move it is ridiculous. God loses either way. Logic says that both cannot simultaneously exist. God cannot stop being God; that would be going against His nature of sovereignty. Everything God does must work together with His other attributes. He is not a private party like we are that can be biased. This is the simplicity (He is never torn in two directions) of God and He never is in a dilemma! God is self-sufficient and doesn't need anyone, but He has decided to make His glory known and show his love.

John 7:17 says, "If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know..." (and that is the key of sincerity). That doesn't guarantee salvation but, nevertheless, must be present to find God. He doesn't want to be found by triflers. ("God's chief quarrel with man is that he doesn't or cannot seek Him.")  But the wonder of His grace is that He found us and He was found by those who weren't even looking (cf. Is. 65:1).

No one is going to be able to say that they were on the wrong list. Because God gives everyone the opportunity and time to repent. The goodness of God leads to repentance. (Rom. 2:4) We wonder at the prosperity of the wicked, well, God doesn't want them to have any excuse! The Bible teaches both the efficacy of prayer and the sovereignty of God and so we have to affirm both. We are part of the plan! No one has an excuse with God. God has never left the world or the person without a witness (Acts 14:17).   Soli Deo Gloria!

Determinism

Everything is determined in some respect by something. The question is whether our will is restrained or not in the process. If I do something to you that causes you to do something as a direct result, that can be a sort of determination. According to Jonathan Edwards, God is 100 percent sovereign and there are no "maverick molecules" in the universe, (Edwards says, "I like to ascribe absolute sovereignty to God"), to use an illustration. God never forces us to do something we don't want to do, though (that would be coercion or determinism), but He does influence us and let us act according to His plan. Like Joseph said, "You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good." This is concurrence or the working together of our wills with God's ultimate will. The Pharisees were playing right into God's plan when they arrested Jesus and had Him crucified. So even the most dastardly act in history was foreordained by God.

"God is at work within you, both to will and to do of His good pleasure." (Phil. 2:13) We are moral beings responsible for our decisions, but things of a mere matter of taste or preference we are not. You are not going to die before your time even if you make a bad choice, like Chinese food and choking on it. A good Bible verse is Ps. 110:3 which says " Your troops shall be willing in the day of Your power." Col. 1:29 says God is mightily at work in us. Who made you prefer Chinese food? All our freedom means is that God doesn't force us to do something we don't want to do, but can change our nature and make us willing to do what He wants us to do.

Self-determination is at the heart of our will in this sense. No one can say, "I didn't make that decision!" We also reap what we sow (the law of the harvest) and God lets us suffer the consequences of choosing Chinese food if we don't know how to chew that well in our eating habits. God, of course, is free to intervene, but He doesn't have to (that would be mercy). The Westminster Confession states that everything that happens is God's ordained will or decree and that in allowing it to happen it has to be His will in some sense.

Wycliffe's tenet was that "everything comes to pass of necessity." It is fore-ordained to happen in God's divine decrees. God is both sovereign and we are free agents in the sense of having a will that makes choices. We make decisions on what seems best to us at the moment, all things considered. God manipulates the circumstance.

I'm not a fatalist, but I believe God's will must be done. There are different kinds of wills of God. The will of disposition is what God desires or what is pleasing to Him. He desires all to be saved in this sense. But God doesn't act according to this since all are not saved. God has a preceptive will, which we read about in the Bible. God also has a secret or decreed will which is none of our business. For instance, God never explained to Job why he as suffering. We do not have the ability to frustrate God and God is not so impotent that He cannot accomplish whatsoever He wills. God does what He pleases, both in the Heavens and on the earth (Ps. 135:6). This is one of the perks of being God--He can do as he wills. God is never frustrated in His will either.

I know I elaborated a little, but I don't think anyone understands the sovereignty of God, just like the Trinity or the glory of God. He is incomprehensible. The finite cannot penetrate the infinite. Nothing outside of us ever forces us to do anything we don't want to do. There is no effect without a cause! God is not an effect! (He is self-existent, has no history, and is not confined to time, matter or space, which He created.)

Free But Not Freed

St. Augustine said that our wills are "free but not freed." He is not playing word games but is trying to say that we are voluntary slaves of sin and do not have liberty. We are either slaves to Satan or to God, there is no middle island of neutrality. We cannot say: "From henceforth, I will only be good!" That is where our freedom ends. We have no inclination to good. God could not say the opposite of that statement and is necessarily good, while the devil is necessarily evil. We have natural freedom but not moral freedom. We retain our natural ability to make choices but make the wrong choices. We can only choose good with God's grace.


The Arminian believes some people desire to be saved and to know God, and that is their explanation for their salvation. Calvinists believe no one seeks God and no one is good or inclined to good. "Paul lumps all men together" according to Luther. When we get to heaven we will have real freedom to the ultimate degree and will not desire evil or have that inclination. The question is where did that desire to choose Christ come from? Arminians believe God woos all men, but cannot explain why some respond other than that they believe of their own free will or merit and have something to boast about.

Our freedom is like being on a train on which God sets the destination and we are free to sin to our heart's content but have to stay on the train, only God can transfer us to the train to heaven.

The key to understanding the TULIP points is in insisting on absolute total depravity if you give man any abilities to please God by himself or by works, the points break down. Pelagius (a 5th-century British monk) insisted that man was basically good and that Adam's sin affected him only.

We don't need a free will, we need wills made free, as I have said before. We are into Satan and his kingdom before being set free by the Son. "If the Son shall set you free, you shall be free indeed" (John 8:36). Think of ultimate free will this way: In Heaven, we will be free to be sinless and will not be free to sin, but we don't want to either. Adam was free to sin or not to sin, but we inherit the birthright of a fallen nature.

A Will, But Not A Freed One

The bottom line is that we don't need free will--we need WILLS MADE FREE. "If the Son shall set you free, you shall be free indeed." There is no outside force making us do something we don't want to, for that would be determinism, and we are against that. God's coercion is love. (He is able to quicken faith within us and overcome our unwillingness to make us willing.) We make a willing choice, that's it. God is able to change our dispositions, though.

We have a will, it's just not free to do good apart from God, it can only do evil. But we are free moral agents, which means we are responsible for our decisions and a choice is given us--we are not chatty dolls or automatons or robots without a will.  The point is that the will is enslaved to the old sin nature and corrupted through and through, and cannot do any good apart from the grace of God.

When we are born again our nature changes. Faith is the result of the new birth, not the cause of it. Regeneration precedes faith according to the great theologian J. Edwin Orr. We don't believe in our own strength and then God owes us regeneration. Otherwise, we make God our debtor. God is no one's debtor. He doesn't have to give grace to anyone; it's a miracle anyone is saved.

"The Lord directs a man's steps, how then can he understand his way?" "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free ." " We are born not of the will of man, nor the will of the flesh ...." It is not of him that wills ...."   Jer. 10:23, Prov. 20:24, Ps. 37:23, Prov. 16:9 and Prov. 21:1 all make it clear that God is in control ("The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, He turns it whithersoever He wills"). Jer. 10:23 says, "The way of man is not in himself, it is not in man who walks to direct his steps." The Council of Trent in 1545-63 pronounced a curse (anathema) on those who refused to accept the doctrine of free will and of our "cooperation" with God unto salvation. We contribute nothing to our salvation, says Luther, because Jonah 2:9 says, "Salvation is of the Lord." (It doesn't say that salvation is of the Lord and of us.)    Soli Deo Gloria!

Are You A Sabbatarian?

I was almost caught up in the Seventh-day Adventist movement as a teen; however, I was able to study the Scriptures and disprove their legalism. Ever since I have been grace-oriented when it comes to observing the Sabbath. Warren W. Wiersbe mentions that nowhere in the New Testament are believers told to observe the Sabbath--it is the only one of the Ten Commandments not repeated in the New Testament. To me, every day is holy unto the Lord and I don't see a need to just have one day set aside. There is a reason that they called the Christian Sabbath the Lord's Day. (John said, "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day.")

The Bible says that to some every day is alike--and to others, they feel compelled to set aside one day a week (cf. Rom. 14:5-6). Actually, the Sabbath was given to Israel as a sign of His covenant forever (cf. Ex. 31:13; Ezek. 20:12,20; Neh. 9:14). Once you realize that you are not under the law, but under grace, you will be free to dedicate every day to the Lord. The principle of rest is still in effect, but there is no sin in working on Sunday, for example. It was because of unbelief and disobedience that the people of Israel failed to enter into His rest. "He leads me beside the still waters/ He restores my soul." (So if you don't get your needed rest, God may give it to you anyway.) "Man was not made for the Sabbath, but the Sabbath for man" (cf. Mark 2:27).

Clearly, there is no "hard-and-fast rule for the Sabbath, if you do decide to practice it as a principle of the Word. "My presence will go with you and I will give you REST." The Christian is fulfilling the spirit of the Sabbath by worshiping one day a week and not forsaking the assembling together of the brethren, as is the manner of some (cf. Heb. 10:25). The Christian enters into a permanent Sabbath that the Jews were unable to attain, because of disobedience.   Soli Deo Gloria!

Hearing God Part 2

Many Spirit-led believers get "impressions" or hunches from the Holy Spirit, but some actually quote "their God" verbatim, for instance, "Turn right at the next intersection!" One can be in a near death experience and explain how God saved him. They don't seem to be mentally ill, but I wouldn't rule out hearing voices like a schizophrenic person claims. I don't believe his experiences make him any better of a Christian and that this is highly unusual and not the norm. Our experiences are not the measure of our maturity, but our obedience is.

Some claim to have been "slain in the Spirit" (like falling backward in the power of the Holy Spirit). So they are really into having experiences and talking about them.

I don't think they claim to be prophets with divine revelation, just that God speaks to them with an audible voice on occasion with messages that have no doctrinal relevance. I don't buy into everything so-called self-proclaimed prophets say. Samuel, the founder of the school of the prophets, was the first "prophet" who talked with God as did Moses and Joshua and Gideon and the prophet Nathan relayed messages to David, the man after God's own heart, who was God's anointed, had great faith and also heard audibly from God on occasion.  Soli Deo Gloria!

Hearing God Part 1

Hearing God through the Word of God, I believe is the main way God speaks today. But I know of one that many times says, "God said to me..." and so forth, quoting him verbatim just like you would hear a voice as clear as any one's. I know that the Bible says not to compare yourself with other believers and this is unwise (cf. 2 Cor. 10:12), but sometimes it seems like we are missing something or not doing something right. It is obviously no measure of maturity to hear God's voice audibly, I recall the words of John that quoted Jesus as saying, "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believed ...."  God is impressed with faith, not experience.

Those who have had strange experiences like to brag about them. Col. 2:18 warns against the mysticism of this sort. Many similar cases are mystical or mentally ill, like so many in the asylums who claim to hear "voices."

I guess it could be said, "To whom much is given, much is required." God says, to my heart, "My grace is sufficient for you...." Jack Hayford, a missiologically-oriented teacher (and spiritual warfare specialist to boot) claims to hear from God audibly from time to time.   Soli Deo Gloria!

Voice of God

I think that some Christians are mystical and think they are hearing God when they are mentally ill, or hearing spirits or voices from within, usually medications will relieve this phenomenon. There are some so-called "prophets" who are "in touch" with God in a special way, and to hear from God and can speak "prophetic utterances"; however, this is rare and not the norm.

The normative way for God to speak is through His Word. "In these last days He has spoken to us through His Son" (cf. Hebrews 1:2). Let us not be skeptics, though, and find ourselves opposing God. Even the Pharisees who opposed the apostles said that may be a spirit or an angel had spoken to Paul. Hearing God's voice doesn't necessarily mean superiority, but possibly being a prophet, as David heard God's voice audibly on occasion, but relied on Nathan the prophet.    Soli Deo Gloria!

Introduction to Work Ethics

Jesus said, "I have... [completed] the work you gave me to do..." (cf. John 17:4)--what a sigh of relief that must've been!

Nehemiah said, "For the people had a mind to work." (cf. Neh. 4:6) What is meant by that?

I accepted a job as a file clerk for the VA. Filing used to be my bugaboo! My pet peeve around the office was that I had to do the filing, because I was the low man on the totem pole, as they say!

How God has changed me! Of course, there is extrinsic motivation like more pay and intrinsic motivations like feeling called to do a work for God for His glory. Like Nehemiah felt "inspired" to say, "I am doing a great work and I cannot come down." (When on the wall of Jerusalem which was built in only 52 days.) Zechariah was also an expert on intrinsic motivation, "Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord Almighty."

You are only inspired as lofty as your insight, e.g., there was the story of the three stone cutters who were working and someone asked them what they were doing. The first one said that he was cutting stones, the second said he was earning 20 pounds an hour, and the third said he was building a cathedral! Obviously the last one had his eyes on the Lord.

Paul urges us to do our work likewise "heartily as unto the Lord." There is no work that is beneath us (remember Christ took up the "order of the towel"), because God is no respecter of persons; and there is no hierarchy in Christianity or class system--we are all brethren in Christ (God has leveled the playing field saying we are all "one in Christ").   Soli Deo Gloria!

Ethics Conclusion

Conclusion:

The Germans have a phrase: "Arbeit Ehrt." That means work brings honor. They also say, "Arbeit Macht das Leben Suss." (Work makes life sweet.) The so-called Protestant work ethic is part of their culture, and even when a strike takes place it is a scandal. Charles Swindoll mentions a sign outside a concentration camp (Dachau) that read "Arbeit Macht Frei" (work makes you free). That was, of course, a lie; meant to make them work all the more.

Brother Lawrence, the famous Catholic, was a cook in a 17th-century French monastery for the Lord, and he sensed God with him in all his daily activity, no matter what he did. The Practice of the Presence of God is a classic on the subject. It isn't so much what we do, but how we do it and whether we do it as unto the Lord and in the name of the Lord (cf. Col. 3:17; Col. 3:23; 1 Cor. 10:31).

There is one solemn warning in Scripture that needs mentioning: "Cursed is he who does the work of the Lord with slackness" (cf. Jer. 48:10). We must take God's work seriously and not be sluggish or slothful. Billy Graham defines sloth as the sin of doing nothing, it is the root of laziness and is one of the seven deadly sins. So let us gladly do whatever the Lord assigns us to do. We don't have to be perfectionists, just show improvement--with God perfection is the standard, but the direction is the test. "Be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect"  (cf. Matt. 5:48).    Soli Deo Gloria!

Ethics Part 3

God does not call us to success but to faithfulness, according to Mother Teresa of Calcutta, now canonized and Nobel Prize winner. Jeremiah 45:5 says: "Do you seek great things for yourself? Seek them not." The Bible condemns "selfish ambition" and doesn't condone complacency. Mediocrity is not good! "Good enough for government work" is the wrong attitude. For example, changing tires doesn't define you, but doing a good job does.

Everyone has a niche or a calling from God (cf. John 3:27, NLT), whether homemaker or president and is judged only by his faithfulness to his own calling. It is not for us to compare ministries, or gifts (cf. 2 Cor. 10:12). God is more interested in what we are in a character, not as much as what we do (for a living.) I'm sick of being asked what I do for a living because God has given me a calling that cannot be defined in human terms. Only deeds done to the glory of God in the power of the Holy Spirit are to be rewarded.

Whatever our hands find to do we should do with all our might, the Preacher says in Eccl. 9:10. We should be 'redeeming the time because the days are evil" (i.e., making the most of every opportunity). We are a people created to be "zealous of good works." Col. 1:10 says we should be "bearing fruit in every good work" and thus we "increase in the knowledge of God." We all should hope to find a "labor of love" to complete God's will. We may retire from our jobs, but never from God's service!

Hag. 2:4 says, "Work, for I am with you." God is with us even in our labor--they can become a "labor of love"!    Soli Deo Gloria!

Work Ethics Part 2

The Protestant work ethic has a long history. St. Francis of Assisi was asked that if he were to die in 30 minutes what would he do. He was the gardener in the monastery and said simply, "Finish this row." (He was really ready to die, now wasn't he?)   Work is part of our being in the image and likeness of God. We feel compelled to accomplish something and feel pride in what we do. Work connects us to the world and you might say we are "hard-wired" (according to Chuck Colson) for work. "Lack of stimulating work is debilitating."

During the time of Paul's writing, there were perhaps as many as 60 million slaves in the world and work was considered a curse and only slaves should do manual labor, while the elite philosophizes, etc. Martin Luther brought honor to work by saying that all work can be done to the glory of God. During the formative years of Jamestown in 1607, Captain John Smith quoted Paul in 2 Thess. and said, "If you will [are not willing to] not work, neither shall you eat." You've heard of the 'idle rich," but those who wear themselves out to get rich are just as wrong. Theodore Roosevelt said, "There has never yet been a man who led a life of ease whose name was worth remembering."

Everyone needs a purpose in life higher than himself. As Rick Warren says, "It's not about you." Dr. Carl F. H. Henry said, "We are creatures made for work and not for idleness." A job doesn't necessarily define us, but doing a good job does. I am sure that there is work in Heaven, too. This life is just a "dress rehearsal" for eternity according to Rick Warren, and I believe we are being prepared for something much bigger.  We are striking a note on a chord that will resonate for eternity.  In a sense, our workbench is our altar where we worship God, do all to the glory of God--Soli Deo Gloria!

Freed FromThe Law?

The antinomians (now sometimes called hedonists or libertines) say, "Freed from the Law, Oh blessed condition, now I can sin all I want, and still have remission." This is also called the abuse of grace. Watchman Nee says that God gave us the Law to break, not to keep. Rom 3:20 says that the Law gives the knowledge of sin. Nowhere in the New Testament are righteous people told to keep the Law.

There are several verses that relate to this: Gal. 2:21 says that if righteousness were through the Law, then Christ died in vain. Gal. 3:10 says that those who rely on the Law are under a curse. Heb. 10:1 and Col, 2:17 say that the Law is a shadow of things to come. Rom. 6:14 says that we are not under the Law. Eph. 2:15 says that Christ abolished the Law. Rom. 7:7 and 3:30 say that the Law brings the knowledge of sin.

When we strive to obey the Law we have "fallen from grace." We don't have to become "somewhat Jewish" to become a Christian. Neither justification nor sanctification is through the Law. Instead, we are subject to the Law of the Spirit of life in Christ. Remember: The Pharisees were guilty of just obeying the letter of the Law and not attending to the "spirit of the Law." "As many as are led by the Spirit are not under the Law."   Soli Deo Gloria!

Mountaintop Experiences?

Do all Christians have encounters with God or do all just experience God? The holiness movement was known for believers being "slain in the Spirit," but this is not the norm. Truly, one would not assert the Billy Graham doesn't have the Spirit or doesn't experience God. We are not to compare our gifts or experiences according to 2 Cor. 10:12. No matter how great an experience you have in the Lord, you cannot walk in the "glow" of the encounter for the rest of your life (you will always need spiritual check-ups).

No matter how much surrender you may do, it is still a moment-by-moment and day-by-day experience and discipline. Like Joshua who "wholly followed the Lord." One mental illness is called bipolar affected, or what used to be called manic-depressive. What goes up, must come down! They were known as "moody" persons who were up and down unpredictably. There are some famous people who have this illness, and it can successfully be treated so that it is not as debilitating as it once was. There are some Christians who have had mountaintop experiences that are just labeled as bipolar.

The Spirit is given without measure so one cannot say that he has more of the Spirit; one can say that he is more yielded, though. Not all believers have unusual experiences to increase their faith, but just like Jesus said to Thomas, "Blessed are those who have not seen," so, blessed are those who don't need bizarre experiences to rest their faith on, which is wrong, too. Our faith should always be in Christ and we shouldn't test our doctrines by our experiences, but our experiences on the doctrines of the Bible. In summary, mountaintop experiences are no measure of maturity in Christ according to Oswald Chambers ecstasies are no measure of maturity.

When our faith gets mature God expects us to rely less on feeling, though feeling will be there. The order is FACT, FAITH, FEELING. Faith must have an object to be valid, and feelings may or may not always be there. It is not the amount of faith, but that the faith is genuine and sincere.  A word to the wise:  Obedience, not experience or ecstasy is the measure of maturity and God's favor.    Soli Deo Gloria!

Spiritual Warfare Has Begun

When you become a Christian the war is not over, it has only begun. Now Satan is after you as well as the world of academia, entertainment, the press and government. But your worst enemy is yourself. Pogo, the cartoon, said, "We've met the enemy, and he is us." We have a nature that we can only act according to and God is the potter and we are the clay. We are not free to act contrary to our nature. Also, we live in "enemy-occupied territory." Satan is the god of this age, and we should realize this, though God is still sovereign and he can do nothing without God's permission.

Sun Tzu, in his book, The Art of War, said that, if you know your enemy and know yourself, you don't have anything to fear from a thousand battles. (Swindoll mentions this in a book). Andrew Jackson was wondering why his troops were fighting amongst themselves. He said, "Gentlemen, remember, the enemy is over there!" Yes, the battle has just begun and now we are no longer God's enemies but Satan's. Remember that the Lord of Hosts is fighting for us on our behalf! David said to Goliath, "I come to you in the name of the Lord of Hosts."

We win the war with the modus operandi of faith. This is our strategy: faith, prayer, the Word of God, the helmet of salvation (being sure of our salvation), the breastplate of righteousness, and the belt of truth. God gives us the armor to fight Satan. The world, the flesh, and the devil are the enemies. Satan still attacks through the three ways of the pride of life, the lust of the eyes, and the lust of the flesh. Remember, God never allows anything into our life that we cannot handle.

We are to "resist the devil," who uses psychological warfare and masquerades as an angel of light and appears as a "roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour (1 Pet. 5:8). Remember, the devil knows where you are vulnerable and weak, so don't flirt with danger. I have found out that you are the most susceptible to his attacks right after a victory or a success. One modus operandi is to divide and conquer. We have been rescued from the "dominion of darkness," so let's live like it.

According to John MacArthur, the war is a "truth war," and if you aren't engaged in this war you should doubt your Christian testimony. It is "not about wits," but faith and faithfulness. "Earnestly contend for the faith" (Jude 3). William Tecumseh Sherman said, "War is hell." Fighting Beelzebub is no less serious.   Soli Deo Gloria!

Value Of Knowing the Scoop

Chuck Swindoll writes of the value of "knowing the scoop." Presumably, people think that ignorance is bliss. Contrariwise, it is the knowledge that gives power and freedom. "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free." We must strive to know our "way around the block theologically speaking." "Tunnel vision" is when we don't see the BIG PICTURE, and that is why knowing all the basic Bible doctrine is important. The Bible is not written out as theology or systematic theology, but one is expected to study it here and there. Also, God never teaches us something just for ourselves. The more we pass on the more He gives us.

 The Bible was not meant to increase our knowledge so much as to change our lives. Knowledge can indeed be dangerous, as Swindoll maintains, and especially when not mixed with love and grace. We can become intolerant of those not as informed as we are and think we are superior and they are "poor specimens." "Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies." (cf. 1 Cor. 8:1) Apollos was a great man in the Word and it is said that he had his theology "honed to perfection" so that he could "deliver the goods." We become balanced by seeing the big picture and being educated in the deeper things of God. God doesn't want us to be ignorant nor infants in Christ who balk at learning the deeper truths--which is childish.

Remember that it says in Scripture, "what Jesus began to do and to teach." They are linked together: Theory and practice; doctrine and ethics; orthodoxy and orthopraxy (right action); idealism and pragmatism; thinking and praxeology (right behavior). I never said that doctrine would be entertaining, but it is necessary. We can never get enough because we will never fully comprehend God; though we can know Him personally.

Beware of the temptation of "doctrinal indifferentism," since in the last days many will "bailout theologically" (cf. 1 Tim. 4:1).  It was Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam that thought theology was the bugbear of the Church's life. It is ignorance that binds us, not knowledge. In summary, Swindoll says that knowledge and confidence are like Siamese twins, they are forever linked--like Sir Francis Bacon said, "Knowledge is power" (cf. Prov. 25:4).   Soli Deo Gloria!

Justified By Works?

Martin Luther almost didn't accept the book of James as part of the canon, because it seemed to teach justification by works instead of by faith as Rom. 1:17 says. "The just shall live by faith." (Cf.  Hab. 2:4; Heb. 10:38; Gal. 3:11) In fact, the cry of the reformation and rallying cry was sola fide or faith alone. R. C. Sproul points out 4 possibilities of mixing faith and works: (1) Works = Salvation (which is religion); (2) Works + Faith = Salvation (which is legalism); (3) Faith = Salvation - Works (which is antinomianism); and (4) Faith = Salvation + Works (which is correct evangelicalism).

Notice that works and faith all play a part in whether one realizes it or not. Everyone has some sort of faith and does some sort of work. We are not against works per se; just works done in the energy of the flesh instead of the Spirit. In Religion and Legalism works is a "have to" or an "in order to;" according to the gospel works is a "want to" or a "therefore." We see works as an honor and privilege, not a duty.

NB:  we are saved by faith alone, but not by a faith that is alone. Good works always follow genuine faith. Spurious faith doesn't produce genuine works. The gospel is different because of grace and the fact that you can know you are saved. In a works religion, you never know how much works is enough! But religion will always be with us because man is incurably addicted to doing something for his salvation. Jesus was asked what work to do to inherit the Kingdom, and He said, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him ..." Faith is our "act", but it is the "work" of God--God doesn't exercise faith, He merely bestows it.

James is talking about a "profession of faith" and Paul is talking about "living faith." For sure, we are saved by faith alone, but not the kind of faith that is alone (without works). Paul is saying we are not saved by the works of the law, and James is saying we need to demonstrate and exhibit our faith. The book of James talks of the human viewpoint. The faith you have is the faith you show! You just can't say you have faith, or you just can't make the claim without proof. You must demonstrate your faith by works. Paul urges us to be rich in good deeds, James to be rich in faith. We are a people "zealous of good works" (cf.Titus 2:14)  Soli Deo Gloria!

Theology's Importance

Since we are talking about doctrine we should define theology, the most important doctrine, since it is the study of God. C. H. Spurgeon said that the highest thing man can do is contemplate the Godhead--it would blow his mind indeed! God is the highest thought possible. Actually, theology has been called "God-talk." In the 17th century, it was the past-time of every gentleman to discuss theology and most were well studied on the subject.

Of course, Theos means God, and logy refers to the study of. Theology is the queen of the sciences since it is really the original science if you call the attainment of truth a scientific endeavor. Theology is more than a philosophy which is just speculation, conjecture and hypothesis. Theology is based on revelation, not rationalization. We could only know God if He were to reveal Himself to us. "Canst thou by searching find out God?" Zophar asked Job. Only as God takes the initiative and reveals Himself to us. This is either mediate or immediate revelation. There is general revelation such as the heavens declaring the glory of God, and there is special revelation such as God's Word. (Erasmus of Rotterdam, the unsurpassed scholar of the 16th century who debated Luther, thought theology was the "bugbear" the Church's life.)

We are not to be debating theology for theory's own sake, or to keep it theoretical; we are to live it out. The purpose of studying God is to be led to God and know Him personally. However, the case is sad today, for in the last days some will "bailout theologically" as Swindoll couches it. We are seeing orthodox theology less and less tolerated in the name of tolerance. One day we tolerate as they define the term and then we are embracing. We should never give up on sound doctrine and theology. "Teach sound doctrine." "Adorn the doctrine of God." "All Scripture is profitable for doctrine...."

Theology is not a "fool's errand of speculation," nor an "abstract science," according to R. C. Sproul, but self-attesting truth. If the Bible appealed to anything else such as human logic or reason then it would be inferior to it--we must take that leap of faith to begin our knowledge of God. Sproul calls us all theologians; the question is whether our theology is sound or not. We can have a sound theology without a sound life, but not a sound life without a sound theology.

C. H. Spurgeon said, "No subject of contemplation will tend to humble the mind than thoughts of God." "Nothing will so enlarge the intellect." God wants us to see the world through the spectacle of God's Word. "We develop a taste for spiritual things," someone has said. "Now that you have tasted that the Lord is good...." Ps. 34:8 says, "Taste and see that the Lord is good." I was hoping to "whet your appetite."

As we learn we get PROGRAMMED with the Word of God. Remember the principle "GIGO" and apply the flip side which would be "the Word in = the Word out." (Not "garbage in = garbage out".) We see the world through the spectacles of God's Word we will have divine viewpoint instead of human viewpoint.   Soli Deo Gloria!

Our Dark Side

Mark Twain is quoted by Swindoll as saying that we are all like a moon that has a dark side no one sees. This is true. We all have "feet of clay" (having weaknesses not readily apparent), and are vulnerable to sin because of our very nature. We cannot clean up our act before we can come to Jesus; we must come as we are, but we cannot stay that way. We must see how bad we are before we can become good. It's not how bad we are, but how bad off we are. It is like the distance of a deaf man to a symphony or a blind man to the Mona Lisa. We cannot bridge the gap. Jesus sees through the veneer and we cannot fool him.

Humanism means man is the measure of all things; basically, down with God and up with man and think man is basically good, but we an inherently bad. You must realize that we are not sinners because we sin, rather we sin because we are sinners. It is our constituted nature to sin. We can deal with sins in the plural, but our problem is sin in the singular--our old sin nature inherited from Adam. This is God's estimation of man, not man's estimation of man.

The totality of our nature is permeated with sin and our image of God is marred and defaced morally. "No one knows how bad he is until he has tried to be good," says C. S. Lewis. The paradox is that we must see our bankruptcy--the truly bad person thinks he is alright! We must realize how bad we are before we can be good!  The way up, by paradox, is down.

We are sinful in toto and in solidarity with Adam completely. Someone has said, "We cannot escape our birthright." We cannot ingratiate ourselves with God, because we "have feet of clay." That means we have hidden vulnerabilities. We are permeated with sin through and through--there is no vestige of righteousness.

R. C. Sproul writes of a man who never lost his faith in the basic goodness of man despite being held captive in Iraq--this is sheer ignorance! Compared to Saddam Hussein the run-of-the-mill sinner looks like a saint; however, he is just as bad off from God's viewpoint and they both must come to Jesus the same way in childlike repentance and faith.   Soli Deo Gloria!

Total Depravity

We are totally depraved, not utterly depraved--man is wicked but not as wicked as he possibly can be.. We are as bad off as we can be, but not as bad as we can be. God restrains has put limits on our iniquity and Ps. 76:10 says that God uses the wrath of man to praise Him. Man is non posse non peccare, which means he can only do evil. He has lost all ability to do good in God's sight because his motives are wrong and every part of his nature is infected with the sin virus.

Compared to Saddam Hussein the "run-of-the-mill sinner" looks like a saint, said one misguided soul according to R. C. Sproul. Man's will, emotions, and intellect are wrong. "All our righteousness is as filthy rags." "For those who are in the flesh cannot please God." (Cf. Rom. 8:7) We cannot reform ourselves or change by a free act of the will ("Henceforth, I will do only good"), as Jeremiah said, "Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard its spots? Then neither can you do good who are accustomed to evil." "The whole heard is sick, and the whole heart faint" (cf. Isaiah 1:5).

We are volitionally defiant (we are voluntary slaves to evil) and cannot  will to do good apart from the grace of God." Every intent of the heart of man is only evil continually," says Gen. 6:5. All of our faculties are pregnant with sin, and you cannot be just a little pregnant; you either are or you aren't. Sin has affected our whole being, and there is no "island of righteousness" left. We are permeated with the sin virus.   Soli Deo Gloria!

Let's Not Ridicule Theologians

Did you know, according to R. C. Sproul, that we are all theologians? The point is:  How good of a one are you?  You cannot escape it, whether you realize it or not you have a theology. We are epistles, known and read by all men!  "For as a man thinks in his heart, so is he" (Prov. 23:7). The question is not whether you have a theology, but what kind of theology you have, and whether it is "sound." We need to have our minds renewed by the "washing of water by the Word" (Eph. 5:26).

The truth will sanctify us and set us free. There are some Christians who are the type to get A's in a theology course, but they hardly know their God! Just being able to talk about theology in itself is no clue to maturity. It was every gentleman's hobby in the 17th century to discuss theology.

We must not look down on those less informed as "poor specimens." Let us also not look down on those who have a God-given desire to learn the things of God in depth, since an immature believer balks at learning the things of God in depth. However, the aim should be to have a simple faith and to keep it as simple as possible--not secluding ourselves in our ivory towers. Yes, we cannot escape theology, it is here to stay, and to reject it is not an option. Theologians get a bad wrap, but we need them!

By the way, R. C. Sproul is rated as one of the most influential theologians in the world and I can say that I personally owe him a debt of gratitude. I don't think his knowledge is just theoretical, but that he puts it into practice. The knowledge of doctrine is meant to be a means to an end (of knowing God), not just for storing it up--but for passing it on and practicing it. In the final analysis, it is not how much we know as to how much we sow.   Soli Deo Gloria!

Knowing God

J. I. Packer wrote a book entitled Knowing God and talks about the difference between knowledge about God and knowledge of God.  We don't just believe in God, but believe God!  We can know a lot of facts about someone and yet not even know them at all. When God supposedly described Eve to Adam, don't you think he wanted to meet her and get to "know" her?  We can know a lot about godliness and still not know God. We may have simply memorized the dance of the pious or going through the motions.  Even the ability to say long prayers can be hypocritical and deceiving.

We know God by having a living and vital relationship with Him. To know Him is to love Him. To know Him is eternal life itself. We can know the Bible, or many Christians and still scarcely know our Lord. It is more than curiosity or a desire to know all the answers, it is a thirst for the living God, to love the truth, to meditate in His temple. We are meant to know God and if we want to boast, it should be that we know the Lord (Jer. 9:24 says, "Let him who boasts, boast that he understands and knows Me...").

Packer lists four propositions that show knowledge of God: Great energy for God; great boldness for God; great contentment in God; and great thoughts of God. Daniel 11:32 says that "those who know their God shall be strong and do exploits." God is incomprehensible because He is infinite and we can only know Him as He reveals Himself to us. He has revealed Himself to us in His Son. To know Jesus is to know God and to be saved is to know Jesus. Scholars seem to know a lot about God and theologians can make you think you are ignorant, but just being an enthusiast for the Bible can give you a more true knowledge of what matters than all the mumble-jumble gobbledygook. We can experience God and He wants us to know Him intimately, but we must be willing.

Knowing about God is not wrong per se, because it is a necessary precondition to knowing Him, so we must not look down on knowledge, for it has its place. Rejecting knowledge is not an option, but it is a means to the end of ultimately knowing God.

Packer says that a little knowledge of God is worth more than a great deal of knowledge about God. Sometimes we really think we know a person, but don't--it is necessary to have a relationship with that person and not just know facts. Just being able to discuss Bible themes or religious topics in itself does not mean we know our God. Our prayer life, our witness, our testimony, our fellowship are better barometers of our relationship. We can have a good knowledge of God with doctrine and we can have little knowledge of God without doctrine; we can also have knowledge of God with little doctrine--our doctrine need not be impeccably correct to be holy.

Let's not be content just to be theologically correct at the expense of living faith and the love that is so important. Being good at theology might be a gift, but it is no sure sign of spiritual maturity. A Christian can get A's in theology and be very immature (don't confuse gifting with maturity, because one can use his gift without being mature).  Some believers are more "blow than go," and are like backseat drivers or "armchair quarterbacks," thinking they know more than they do. "If anyone thinks he knows anything, he does not yet know as ye ought to know." (cf. 1 Cor. 8:2)

In the final analysis, it is not so important how well we know God, but that He knows us. (cf. Gal. 4:9 says, "But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God...."  Remember how important it is for Christ to know us: He will say to them "...I never knew you...." On the other hand, anyone who says he knows God because he has had some experience, or boasts that he knows "someone" (like knowing people in "high places") and does not obey God is a liar. Religious experiences and ecstasies are no guarantee of knowing God. Many religious mystics have religious existential "encounters."

Remember: We were made to know God with resultant love for Him. Jesus summed it up well when He said, "This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent" (cf. John 17:3).   Soli Deo Gloria!

"Bible-club Mentality"

Chuck Swindoll talks about having an "exclusive mindset" in our circles and churches. Without a mixture of love and grace, we think we have "cornered the market" on the truth and are a cut above other groups or believers. We become proud, smug, and arrogant. No church owns your mind and has a monopoly on the truth. No pastor is infallible, not even the Supreme Pontiff himself (by the way, the Pope didn't claim infallibility when speaking ex-cathedra (pontificating) until 1870). We are not to "kiss our brains good-bye" or commit intellectual suicide, but to be Bereans who check things out for ourselves and don't just take everything for granted or as "gospel truth."

We can be unbearable if we think we know all the answers or that we think we are better by virtue of superior knowledge which puffs up. We must remain teachable and humble in our attitude. Knowledge can be dangerous when not based on the Bible. When we think only our group is right and all the other groups are inferior we have become a cult and truth has gone to seed in our intolerance. We all have something to learn from each other and we all need each other.

We don't all have the gift of pastor-teacher, but that doesn't mean we can't instruct and edify one another. Let us be Bereans that go to the Scriptures to check out whether these things are so! We don't commit spiritual suicide when we join a ministry. In sum, we don't "park our brains in the church's narthex," as Josh McDowell says.   Soli Deo Gloria!

The Will To Change

The Bible never attributes to man the ability to change his heart. "Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spot, then neither can you do good who are accustomed to evil" (cf. Jer. 13:23). "You WILL not come to Me ..." (Cf. John 5:40, emphasis mine). Freedom of the will is contradictory to the sovereign grace of God; they both cannot exist. Either man is in control of his destiny, or God is. "Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord of Hosts." (Cf. Zech. 4:6)

The question is what makes man willing? God must work in the heart. We cannot do anything to merit grace or prepare ourselves for salvation. God is not man's debtor.

We cannot change of our own volition or will, we are volitionally defiant. But no one is so sinful or so hardened that God cannot save him. (He can take a heart of stone and make it a heart of flesh according to Ezek. 36:26.)  Arminians give themselves the credit for responding positively to the gospel as if they took advantage and made good on the grace of God while others don't. They actually pat themselves on the back for their salvation!

To believe in free will and the sovereign grace of God, is biblical, and you are confused to dichotomize them, and you are ignorant, and if you believe you were saved by both.   Face it, God made you willing and able to believe and wooed you to Himself. Had it not been for the Holy Spirit, you would not have believed.   Soli Deo Gloria!

The Will Of Man

"Man has not ceased to be man, he has just ceased to be good," according to Martin Luther. The will is not sovereign, but operates subject to the disposition of the person. When we talk of the total depravity of man we are not saying we are as bad as we can be, just that we are as bad off as we can be; all of our nature is sick with sin, including the intellect, will and emotions. "The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint" (cf. Isa. 1:5).

A definition of the will by Jonathan Edwards was that it was that by which the mind chooses. We always choose according to the strongest desire at the time to suit our own best interest, all things considered. God never coerces us to do something we don't want to do. We never do something we don't want to do.

The trouble is no one wants to receive Christ apart from the grace of God. He woos us and makes us willing and able to believe by grace. Arminians think that we cooperate with God in our salvation, but Calvinists maintain that "Salvation is of the Lord." He does it all and gets all the credit--we don't contribute anything to our salvation. "He is at work within you both to do and to do according to His good pleasure." No one can say they came to Christ uninfluenced by the Holy Spirit! There is no such thing as prevenient grace given to all to enable them to make a decision. God is the enabler and is able to overcome the most reluctant, hardened, and sinful heart. (Think of Paul's conversion!)

We are free to choose our own poison, as it were. We are not chatty dolls or automatons but are free moral agents responsible for our choices.

This doctrine according to Luther is the very heart of the gospel. If you fail to realize that you really aren't grace-oriented. There cannot be both free will and sovereign grace at the same time. We don't meet God half-way, but he only rescues us like a lifeguard rescuing a drowning swimmer, when we give up trying to save ourselves. A good example of our will is like the difference between a dove and a raven; the dove has no desire to eat the raven's carrion--it is against his nature.  We did not choose our nature either.

The Council of Trent in the 16th century said that anyone who does not affirm that the freewill cooperates with God in salvation is anathema. This was the Arminian position in opposition to the Reformers (Refer to the Synod of Dort in 1618).

We are voluntary slaves who have lost our inclination to do good at the fall. There is no point of neutrality that we can cling to and have free will. We cannot change our God-given nature. There is no place of "moral equipoise" or neutral territory that we can stand on.  We are not neutral and able to equally choose to be good or evil--we're prone to evil, not inclined to good!   Soli Deo Gloria!

The Law And The Believer II

Watchman Nee explains the meaning of Romans 7 very well and says that God gives us the Law to break, He knew full well we wouldn't keep it. Gal. 3:10 says that those who rely on the Law are under a curse. Eph. 2:15 says that Christ abolished the Law for the believer. The Law is merely a shadow of things to come and is obsolete (Col. 2:17; Heb. 10:1). If the Law could do away with sin, there would be no need for a new covenant, the old covenant was faulted. The Law says we do for God, grace says that God does for us. The Law says we have to, while grace says we want to. The purpose of the Law was to make us knowledgeable of sin (Rom. 7:6-7;3:20), not to be a panacea, but a diagnosis. "...[Indeed] it is the straight-edge of the Law that shows us how crooked we are" (cf. Rom. 3:20 in the J. B. Phillips).

We live not under the Mosaic Law, but we live according to the "Law of the Spirit of life in Christ" (Rom. 8:2). Nowhere in the NT are we exhorted to obey the Law!  When we say to God, "Oh wretched man that I am ...," this is "music to God's ears," according to Nee. "Our end is God's beginning," says Nee. Remember, 1 Tim. 1:9 which says, "The Law is not made for the believer, but for lawbreakers and rebels." Martin Luther called the Law a hammer that smashes our self-righteousness and a mirror that shows us our true nature, and a whip that drives us to the cross. It is meant to drive us to Christ as a tutor (see Gal. 3:25).

The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. The Pharisees were guilty of obeying just the letter of the Law and not the spirit. "As many as are led by the Spirit are not under the Law." We don't have to become "somewhat Jewish" to become Christians or grow in Christ. Christianity is not a branch or wing of Judaism. A good rule of thumb is that if a prohibition or command is not repeated in the New Testament it is probably not valid for the Christian, e.g. observing the Sabbath Day. The ceremonial laws and governmental laws are obsolete and the moral principles are still valid because morality never changes.

God never gives us the right to do what is wrong, or to just do what is right in our own eyes, or to be lawless. Martin Luther wrote a book, Against the Antinomians, which was a polemical book against those who thought they could live as they please after salvation. Today this kind of thinking is close to hedonism.

The Reformers who wrote the Formula of Concord in 1577 had a threefold use of the Law: to convict the unbeliever of sin or as a tutor to drive us to Christ; to bring order in society and restrain evil, and to be a light for what pleases and offends God. The Reformers were not as grace-oriented as modern-day evangelicals tend to be, e.g., they had strict Sabbath laws and rules in Calvin's Geneva and in Puritan New England. Actually, the Christian is under the higher law of love with the higher standard of Christ.  In sum, the Law doesn't save mankind it measures them.   Soli Deo Gloria!

Freewill?

 "... Why then does He still find fault?  For who can resist His will?"  (Rom.9:19, HCSB). 

Martin Luther said that the freedom of the will is too grandiose a term and fit only for God. Our wills are enslaved to the old sin nature, biased toward evil, and prone to do nothing but evil. We cannot do any good apart from God: "Apart from Me you can do nothing" (cf. John 15:5). "All our righteousness is as filthy rags" (cf. Isa. 64:6). Saint Aurelius Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, said that we are "free but not freed."  No mind game--just emphasizing that we don't have liberty, though we are responsible agents. We are free in the sense that we are not coerced from any outside force to do anything we don't want to do, that would be determinism (without our free input).

The trouble is is that we only want to do evil. Augustine also said that we are non posse non peccare, which means unable not to sin--we can only do evil. The freedom of the will is a curse in other words because we only act according to our fallen nature.  That is to say, we don't need a free will; we need wills made free.

God is perfectly free, yet unable to sin!  In glory, we will be ditto.  God's will overrides ours and His sovereignty isn't limited by our freedom (cf. Jer. 20:7).  "For it is God who is working in you, enabling you both to will and to act for His good purpose"  (Phil. 2:13, HCSB).  A man in prison is free to play cards, but not free to leave or do as he desires--our freedom has limits and, though we maintain moral ability to choose, we have lost the ability to choose God apart from grace working in our hearts in the wooing ministry.  

There are several Bible verses that come to mind: "It is not of him that wills, nor of him that runs, but of God who shows mercy." "Who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." "The way of man is not in himself, it is not in man that walks, to direct his steps" (cf. Jer. 10:23). "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him ..." (Cf. John 6:44). "No one can come to Me unless it has been granted of the Father..." (John 6:65). Does that sound like free will? "Who makes you to differ? What do you have that you didn't receive?" (Cf. 1 Cor. 4:7). (cf. Prov. 16:9; 20:24; Ps. 37:23.)   Soli Deo Gloria!

Freewill Or Power To Choose?

Do you think you came to Christ merely of your own volition? God makes the unwilling willing. Why do you think it says, "You are not willing to come to Me?" (cf. John 5:40). Isa. 63:17 says, "O LORD, why do you make us err from your ways and harden our hearts, so we fear you not." God hardens whomsoever He wills, according to Romans 9:18. So why does He then still find fault? (Cf. Rom. 9:19); we are made culpable. "The elect attained unto it, the rest were hardened" (cf. Rom. 11:7).

The question is not that you were willing and pat yourself on the back, but who or what made you willing? You act according to your nature only and God created your nature. For example, if you are nice, that is God's gift to you of being nice. Whether you are phlegmatic, sanguine, choleric, melancholy, introverted or extroverted, God made you that way. If you have a mental illness also--God is your maker. He is the potter, we are the clay. "The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, like rivers of water, He turns it whithersoever he will." (Prov. 21:1) You are only free in the sense that God doesn't force you to do evil, you do it on your own. You can do nothing good to please God (Isa. 64:6; Rom. 8:7-8).

Jesus said, "Apart from Me you can do nothing." So you think you can be saved anytime you want? "For now is the day of salvation...." John 6:44 says, "No one can come to the Father, unless who sent Me He draws him." God must woo us. Arminians can never figure out why God doesn't woo everyone and why some do respond favorably. It is all God's grace. "Salvation is of the Lord" (cf. Jonah 2:9). It is not of the Lord and man, nor of man.

Freewill can do nothing but evil, according to Martin Luther. We are unable to do nothing but evil: Augustine says:  we cannot not sin, or in Latin non posse non peccare.  John 1: 11-13 and Rom. 9:16 clearly say that salvation is not of man's will, but of God ("It is not of him who willeth, nor of him who runneth, but of God who showeth mercy"). "Who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man...." "Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord of Hosts...." Ps. 110:3 says He makes us willing in the day of His power. David prays for a willing spirit in Psalm 51:12.   "He works in us both to do and to will of His good pleasure" (Phil. 2:13).   Soli Deo Gloria!

Eternal Security

The best way to think of eternal security (the divine viewpoint as opposed to the human viewpoint of the perseverance of the saints which is really the preservation of God) is by the analogies presented in the Bible. Has anyone ever heard of being unborn, un-adopted, or unjustified? The Bible does not mention this. We are sealed by the Holy Spirit and God doesn't renege on his Word when He gives his divine guarantee and earnest of the Holy Spirit. (The Bible makes it clear that, if you can lose your salvation, there is no gaining it back, according to Hebrews 6:4-6, so let that be a caveat.)

Remember: Once you're in the family, you stay in the family and you're treated like family--that means divine discipline if you need it.--it's a family matter!

We are sealed by the Holy Spirit, who was given as an earnest or down payment of our inheritance and God is the Supreme Promise Keeper who cannot lie. He does not renege on His divine guarantee. He has "inscribed us on the palms of His hands." He is so sure of our salvation and in his mind has already glorified us (cf. Rom. 8:30).

We are "kept by the power of God" (cf. 1 Pet. 1:5) not our own power, and "kept" is the word used by Christ in John 17 and by Jude 24. God is working on us though and always completes what he starts (cf. Phil. 1:6). The joy of the Christian life is enhanced by faith in the permanency of our salvation and our continuity in the state of grace. "For the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable" (cf. Rom. 11:29).

It is the ignorance of the believer who believes he can lose permanent work of the Holy Spirit. Have you ever heard of someone being "unborn," "un-sanctified," or "unjustified?" God deals with us as "sons" and when we go astray He disciplines us, for if we are without discipline we are not legit! (Cf. Heb. chapter 12:11-12) All our sins are forgiven, past, present, and future (cf. Psalm 103:3)--there is nothing that will take God by surprise.

If our salvation depended on our performance, we would certainly blow it; but it depends on the grace of God. This does not mean that it doesn't matter how we live, because God has made us responsible to "Keep in the love of God." We persevere as God preserves.

We should be on the same page in talking about perseverance. I do not believe in the kind of eternal security that gives us the right to be lawless or libertines if one has that desire he is not saved because God changes our hearts to desire the things of God--He changes us from the inside out. God preserves us as we persevere. God gets the glory though because our perseverance is His gift. What that means is that we will never absolutely lose our faith or go into total despair finally. It does not mean that we won't sin unto, or sin frequently--but we won't practice sin, and there is a difference. We don't want to sin even if we do--like Rom. 7:24 says, "Oh, wretched man that I am..." "The things that I would not, that I do...." I think every Christian that is real should relate to that.

The Christian who thinks that it is possible for him to go to hell, if he didn't persevere, is living in fear not faith. That is not genuine fear of God, but a lack of faith in God. He should know that God will keep him from temptation that he cannot handle and will make a way of escape, and even if he should the mercy of God is wide enough to forgive him and discipline him to boot. God wants us to "know" (cf. 1 John 5:11, 13) that we are saved, and not think that it depends on our good behavior or even our persevering. That is called "ultimate assurance." Romanists and Arminians deny this but it's biblical nevertheless. Though we believe in perseverance let us not be guilty of presumption on the grace of God: "Let him who thinks he stands, take heed lest he fall" (cf. 1 Cor. 10:12).  Soli Deo Gloria!

The Law And The Believer I

The relationship of the believer to the law is analogous to a wife and her husband who bound to him as long as she lives. She has died and has no further obligation. She is exempt from his demands. They hold no authority over her any longer but have been fulfilled. It is also like being discharged from the military and not having to live by the old rules anymore. The Law is obsolete and we live under a higher law, the law of love. Love is the fulfillment of the Law. He who loves has fulfilled the Law, according to Romans 13:8.

We are not lawless but are subject to the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ. The old nature knows no law, while the new nature needs no law.  Because we have the Law written in our hearts and don't need anyone to tell us to live according to the letter of the Law rather than the spirit of the Law. The Pharisees lived according to the letter of the Law and thought that was enough. "The letter kills, but the Spirit is life" (Rom. 7:6). He who is led by the Spirit is not under the Law according to Galatians 5:18. Cursed is anyone who relies on the Law says Gal. 3:10. We have no choice, but to walk in the Spirit! We don't need a to-do list!  Soli Deo Gloria!

Freed From The Law

"Freed from the Law, Oh blessed condition, now I can sin all I want and still have remission!" What nonsense! Being free form the Mosaic Law doesn't mean we are lawless. This libertine approach to living the Christian life is a dangerous heresy and is also called antinomianism (against "lawism" or justification apart from sanctification). Works do play a part in salvation, but not works done in the energy of the flesh. We do works because we want to, not because we have to. The difference is between legalism and true justification. The formula of the Reformers was:  "We are saved by faith alone, but not by a faith that is alone." True faith always produces bona fide works done in the power of the Spirit. "For we are His workmanship." We are a people "zealous of good works" (Tit. 2:14).

"For faith without works is dead." Mere profession or lip service is not enough--without works, faith is bogus.

"Sin shall have no dominion over you, for you are not under the Law, but under grace." (Rom. 6:14) God didn't give us the Law to keep, but to break. But we don't really break God's Law, we break His heart!  To show us our vulnerability and how exacting His requirements are. We need to be discharged from the Law as well as from sin. The law is but a shadow of things to come (Heb. 10:1) (Col. 2:17) We would not realize our sin and weaknesses if it hadn't been for the Law. (Rom. 7:7).  "By the law is the knowledge of sin" (cf. Rom. 3:23).   When we come to the realization like that of Paul: This anticlimax, "Oh, wretched man that I am ..."(that is music to God's ears).

Law is doing for God, while grace is God doing for us. He gets all the glory. Soli Deo Gloria!  Don't pat yourself on the back! We are no more virtuous because of our faith, which is a gift.
See Rom. 12:3: To each of us is rendered a measure of faith.  Soli Deo Gloria!

Voice Of God

I know of a missionary who heard God say out of the blue, "Go to Mexico!" He wasn't hesitant, but obedient to the heavenly calling and went directly to Mexico without further ado. I believe prophecy is a bona fide spiritual gift and God tells "prophets" messages of exhortation (in agreement with Scripture) to the local church and for edifying of the body. Many Christians claim to be "in touch" with God audibly in the sense of even hearing His voice on occasion, and they seem to have no doubt that it is Him speaking. They are not just having a "hunch" or "getting an impression," but can quote God verbatim (if they can't quote God verbatim something is wrong!).

As for most of us, we have to rely on getting an occasion goose bump or "Aha!" moment in the Word to feel or sense His guidance. God has given us this 6th sense known as faith. David was "a man after God's own heart" who heard God's voice but also depended on the prophet Nathan and others to give him messages from the Lord, and yet he is not any less of a man of God. When God speaks directly to an individual that isn't necessarily meant to be a new revelation or prophecy, it is called "personal address" by theologians.  Though we have the Holy Writ, this doesn't preclude God's audible voice today.

But when Christians rely on hunches or inner voices it gives rise to "fanaticism," as portrayed by Hannah Whitall Smith, the commonsensical Quaker writer. Even though God can speak through the air vents, it is better to seek His voice in His Word.   Soli Deo Gloria!