Truth In The Midst Of Uncertainty...

It was the skeptics of antiquity in Greece that doubted you could know anything for certain (cf. the Sophists).  Romans thought that "might makes right" and didn't believe in universal truth that applied to the whole world. David Hume was known as the great skeptic in philosophy and Rene Descartes with his Cartesian principle that cogito, ergo sum (I think, therefore I am). He came about to a proof of his own existence!  Actually, Augustine thought that if you err you exist because you have to exist to err!

Modern-day skepticism says that all truth is relative to the person, time, circumstance, and event and isn't absolute:  "You can know nothing for certain," according to Alan Bloom in The Closing Of The American Mind showing that modern man believes all truth is relative (which is a meaningless statement because the assertion would also be relative). Actually, the truths they want to hold as relative are those pertaining to Christianity.

John Dewey poisoned our classrooms with his pragmatism, saying that the test of an idea was whether it worked or not, not whether it was true.  If it works it must be true.  People are convinced many things work that aren't true:  hypnotism, yoga, TM, hypnotism, astrology, Buddhist philosophy, et al.  Christianity is not true because it works, but works because it is true (there is a subtle but valid difference here).  Real truth is timeless and is relative to everyone, everywhere, all the time--it is universal and appropriate in its application.

The hot topic dated back to Pontius Pilate asking Jesus, "What is truth?"  Jesus said that He came to bear witness of the truth--actually, He is the personification of truth itself. John said, "For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." The Bible is not just true, it is truth (no other book can claim to be "truth"), but you must take it all in context in and observe the whole analogy of Scripture and remember that "the sum [entirety] of [God's] Word is truth" (Psalm 119:160a). What is ambiguous in one place will be explained or is unambiguous in another--Scripture interprets Scripture.

Satan liked to misquote Scripture and take it out of context (a text taken out of context is a pretext!); he knows enough to be dangerous. His main strategy is saying:  "Hath God said?"  He gets us to doubt the Word and putting our faith in God's promises.  Even when he tempted Jesus he used Scripture to try and trap Jesus and use it against Him. Still, the best way to combat the enemy is to know Scripture and say, "It is written" in response.  In a world of uncertainty, we can count on God's Word to be reliable and certain and it will never let us down or fail us.

To sum up, Harvard University has the Bible quote, The Truth Shall Set You Free, as its slogan. They are mistaken to think that academic subjects can liberate the soul from guilt, despair, sin, and death--we just become educated neurotics.  It has been said, "The womb forms you, sin deforms you, schools, inform you, prison can reform you, but only Christ's truth can transform you!"  Truth has an impact on the soul; we don't get changed lives by being inspired by Shakespeare.   We can know the truth and it is absolute because Jesus bore witness of it and knowing Him is equated with knowing the truth.  Soli Deo Gloria!

Can God Change Your Mind?

"The elect among them did [obtained unto it], but the rest were hardened"  (Rom. 11:7).
"...I say, 'My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please'" (Isaiah 46:10).

Though there is much consternation over the doctrine of election, our destiny is ultimately in God's hands--we are not the master of our fate, nor the captain of our soul ("My future is in Your hands," says Psalm 31:15, and "Salvation is of the LORD," according to Jonah 2:9).  If we have never realized our helplessness and depravity in God's eyes and cried out, "God be merciful to me, the sinner," we are not saved.

We are born semi-Pelagians who insist that we have absolute "free will" (I put it in quotes because it is too grandiose a term for our power of choice and right to self-determination); however, we made the decision to believe ourselves and God doesn't believe for us, though faith is a gift it is our act. We do not need free will to be saved, but wills made free.

We are not born free, but enslaved (to sin) and need to be set free, and that includes our wills (in the doctrine of total depravity, in which we are wholly infected with sin in our passions or emotions, minds or intellects, and wills or volition).   The gospel doesn't sound reasonable, doesn't feel right, and we simply don't want to do it.  We are unable to come to Christ (this is without the wooing of the Spirit) and wooing is contingent upon grace per John 6:44, 65.

God is in charge of our destiny:  God can and does interfere with our wills by His sovereignty (can't He do anything He wants?): "Why, LORD, do you make us wander from your ways and harden our hearts so that we do not revere you?"  (Isaiah 63;17);  "He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of he earth," says Daniel 4:35c);  He interferes at will "according to His purpose and grace"--"The LORD does whatever pleases him" (Psalm 135:6).  Note also Jeremiah 10:23:  "LORD, I know that people's lives are not their own; it is not for them to direct their steps;" and Prov. 20:24: "A person's steps are directed by the LORD.  How then can anyone understand their own way?"  This is the issue of the sovereignty of God plain and simple:  He leaves nothing to chance and there is no "maverick molecule" as He never plays dice with the universe, according to Einstein.

The problem is not that some desire to get saved (what makes them desire?) and some don't (a merit that Romanists claim), but that, in reality, no one chooses Christ, and God reserved the right to choose some (the elect) according to His the good pleasure of His will and to demand justice for the reprobate or nonelect.  "Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden [like He did Pharaoh]" (Rom. 9:18).

It is a good thing that God made us willing because we were unwilling and He turned our hearts of stone into hearts of flesh (cf. Ezekiel 36:26), just like David prayed in Psalm 51:12:  "...grant me a willing spirit to sustain me."  God is working on us as "works in progress" and we are not our own, but God is our Maker and we are simply clay in the hands of the Potter.  "For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose"  (Phil. 2:13).  God can make the king's heart turn anyway He desires according to Prov. 21:1 as we see:  "In the LORD'S hand the king's heart is a stream of water that he channels toward all who please him."  We never do anything we don't want to, but who decided our nature?  It was our Maker who made us choleric, melancholy, sanguine, bipolar, schizoid, impulsive, impetuous, or happy-go-lucky, et al. Why does the dove prefer seed and the vulture carrion? Because they are acting according to their God-given nature!

Our righteousness is not our gift to God, but His gift to us!  I do not believe in determinism or coercion, because there is no outside force making us do something we don't want to do (the will is the mind choosing according to Jonathan Edwards), but all factors are not always equal:  isn't it easy to say you will go on a diet after a big meal?  If I point a gun at you and demand your money, will you not change your mind?   If I throw you a ball, do you not have to decide whether to catch it? God is in charge of all circumstances that affect our decisions and very little of our decisions are wholly based upon our wills, which is only one of the variables of the equation.

It is not a question of man's freedom, but of God's omnipotence and His power to accomplish His will--we don't frustrate His plans because He has no Plan B and all is working out according to intention and we are nobody to question His wisdom.   We strive to do God's will but it is only by grace:  "To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me" (Col. 1:29).  God will make sure you can do His will too:  "...[who will] equip you with everything good for doing his will..." (Heb. 13:21).

There is a divine directive, marching orders to the church at large and to the believer that can only be done with God's aid (I am not against works but only those done in the flesh):  "Your troops will be willing on your day of battle" (Psalm 110:3).   Remember, even our salvation is owed to God's power and intervention into our willpower:  "It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God's mercy" (Rom. 9:16).   Also, John says it so well in John 1:13: "Children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God."

God saw that no one wanted to come to Him (even Adam chose against him), though He invited them (a general call to salvation is given to all, but God only calls the elect according to Acts 2:39 and Rom. 8:29-30), and He decided to save some (the elect) by grace, not according to any merit, wisdom, work, intelligence, charisma, or in any way "better or deserving," but "according to His purpose and grace" and the "good pleasure of His will," or it wouldn't be grace, but justice.  He didn't owe any man salvation and is no man's debtor nor respecter of persons.  Soli Deo Gloria!

What Is Witnessing?

It's time to define our terminology and make it clear what we are talking about. Is merely saying, "Thank God!" witnessing? Authentic witnessing is done in the power of the Holy Spirit and is a presentation of the gospel in whole or part, depending on where the person is spiritual. The basic message and facts are, according to 1 Cor. 15:1-3, the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. To "obey the gospel" is to repent and accept Christ as Lord and Savior. Jesus said, "repent and believe the gospel."

We all try to make people "God-conscious" by mentioning such phrases as "Thank God!", "God-willing" or "Praise the Lord (Hallelujah), "God knows best!, "God bless you!" or "Amen." Saying grace can open doors as well as be a silent witness. These kinds of remarks make a person aware of our position and stand. We may say political opinions (one way to open a door), and be accused of being too conservative, for example. We may ultimately be accused of being "holier-than-thou," or a holy-roller. If we mention Jesus, or object to someone blaspheming His name (and this is a barrier to break when we go from God to Jesus), we may be accused of being a Jesus freak. Many people are offended by Jesus, but not by God, since they don't equate the two.

Remember, it is the Holy Spirit that convicts of sin, not we ourselves. Don't try to make them feel guilty or that we are out to reform their lives like giving up cigarettes or beer. Jesus is out to give a new life not just a changed life. Transformed and exchanged life (a more abundant life) in Christ not turning over a new leaf or making a New Year's resolution. Paul said that he was not "ashamed of the gospel" because that is where the power is.

Giving our testimony is something that cannot be argued. "I was blind, but now I see! [said the blind man]." First, we tell about how we were before we meant Christ (I felt separated from God, my life was dominated by sin and pleasing myself, there was a void in my life nothing could fill); how we met Christ (I realized I was a sinner and repented and invited Christ to be my Lord and Savior--if I may add in passing, one must believe Christ to be the one and only Son of God and that He died for your sins and rose again as the facts); and what our life is like after we got saved (now I have peace with God and others and myself, I have purpose in living, and I have assurance I am going to heaven). We should all have our testimony ready because we never know when we will need it. "Having our feet shod with the gospel of peace."

We must be on the alert for opportunities or open doors (and only God can open a door-cf. Matt. 7:7 "knocking") to witness because God prepares hearts to be ready for His grace and love. The hardest thing to do is to break the ice and start a conversation. We can open by saying, "Are you absolutely, 100 percent sure that you would go to heaven if you died today?" Or, "Why should God let you into heaven?" For the timid, I suggest passing out tracts and saying something like, "Did you get one of these?" or "This is what helped me."   Soli Deo Gloria!

Do We Earn Our Testimony?

If I told you that you had to earn the right to witness you might never witness, just like if I told you that you couldn't do it until you get your act together. All Christians are called to witness regardless of spiritual growth (don't ever be ashamed of Jesus). The witness or testimony that we have is God's gift to us; our "niceness" is God's gift to us not our gift to God. He is the potter, we are the clay. "...All that we have accomplished you have done for us..." (cf. Isa. 26:12). "Who makes you to differ? What do you have that you didn't receive" (1 Cor. 4:7)?

I realize that God expects us to bear witness to the world and let our light so shine before men that they may see our good works, but God the Holy Spirit does the convicting. It is the Father who draws us to the cross of Christ and we are only vessels of honor. If we were in the military we may have a "witness" to ex-service people but that is not because we earned that witness; it is because God opened the door (an open door is an opportunity). We must see it in a grace orientation. Soli Deo Gloria! (To God alone be the glory!)

There is an example in Acts 16 that tells of Paul witnessing to "anyone who will listen." Even Paul had to ask for prayer to have God open doors and make him a bold witness; much more we! Let us never discourage someone from witnessing just because we know better or are more mature--they will learn. Someone has said that the world wants to see the gospel in shoe leather--that means our life is a witness. We must be like Paul who spoke to anyone who would listen while praying for the open door.  In sum, we are witnesses for Christ whether we want to or not; it just depends on what kind of witness, good or bad.  Soli Deo Gloria!