You Destroyed My Faith!

"Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall"  (1 Cor. 10:12, KJV).  
"Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if you do these things you shall never fall" (2 Pet. 1:10, KJV).

"But he that shall endure to the end, the same shall be saved" (Matt. 24:13; cf. 10:22, KJV). 

We aren't born tabula rasa, which John Locke believed, with a blank slate but are naturally creatures of faith as a sixth sense or instinct and that is the primary way we first learn: we take our parent's word for it!  Faith is knowledge acted upon and knowledge used wisely is wisdom.  Both are virtues we should practice as believers.  The definition of knowledge is believed or interpreted as being a justified true belief--we must believe it and it must be for a good reason, as if by some authority.

Faith is putting trust in what we have good reason to believe. It's also knowledge in action.  We have a right to our own opinions about the knowledge we know but cannot make up our own knowledge or fabricate our own truths.  Beliefs can be true or false and are very subjective, while truth itself is what corresponds with reality according to the correspondence theory of truth of John Locke.  To Christians, truth is what agrees with God.  Nothing is true because it's believed or untrue because it's doubted.

Children may learn to believe in Santa (a harmless myth) by being encouraged and they will eventually find out it's all pretend, but they usually know we are serious when we relate the true Christmas story.  We can all learn lessons of childlike faith and innocence from kids (cf. Mark 10:45).    They need to learn faith and put it into practice!   Parents don't destroy the children's faith in Santa, they just outgrow it by being around older and more mature kids or from the real world.  Kids have a big imagination and would probably believe even if not so encouraged.

Many atheists will insist they were once believers who lost their faith (the Bible would call this going apostate and departing from the faith which only proved they never had any according to 1 John 2:19).  They had some traumatic experience they couldn't cope with and took it out on God, developing an animus towards Him and then towards Christians, becoming militant atheists even anti-theists bent on destroying the influence of the church and neutralizing Christian influence.

It should be noted that the same sun melts the butter, hardens the clay;  we all either become bitter or better by the same experience and no one skates through life trouble-free without adversity or trials.  Our faith must be tested in the crucible of the trench warfare of real OJT in life.  Even Jesus didn't exempt Himself from adversity and was honest enough to warn us and to count the cost of discipleship. 

You don't need all the answers to believe and just because you believe it doesn't mean you can defend your faith,  But belief without evidence is called blind faith and we are commanded to have a reason for the hope that is in us!  Being apologists is for all believers!   We are to "contend for the faith" (cf. Jude 3) and "in defense of the gospel"(cf. Phil. 1:7)  as Jude and Paul did respectively.

We must remember that no matter how strong our faith, it's still faith and we are saved by faith, not knowledge, which is the error of Gnostics who try to achieve a secret, privileged knowledge of the elite.  We are not saved by intellectualism either--it isn't how much we know, but Whom we know as Paul said in 2 Tim. 1:12 that "I know in whom I have believed...."  Christianity isn't a faith of enlightenment, but of salvation and redemption from the real culprit-sin, not ignorance.  Assurance is not an automatic fruit of salvation but belongs to its well-being, not being and some people need to have a spiritual wake-up call before realizing their precarious faith.

One warning Jesus gave was not to cause a brother to stumble (cf. 1 Cor. 8:12) or a child to lose faith!  To wage war against the saints is odious to God.  We're all supposed to be on the same side as they say in the battle to the troops fighting each other;  "The enemy is over there!"  Note that it's been said that we are our own worst enemies!  We should be fighting sin and evil, not each other!  We ought to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace per Eph. 4:3. It's our job to reassure and foster faith in the weaker brother, but it's not our calling to certify salvation.

Now faith is the "substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen" according to Hebrews 11:1. For illustration purposes, let's say I reach my hand into my pocket and grab something and ask you what it is!  I hold it behind my back and you take a guess or two.  Finally, you come to believe I'm holding my car keys because you can hear them!  That's right, there's evidence for faith!  But this is still faith though you are convinced.  But let's say I open my hand and show you my keys in them; then I've destroyed your faith and given you first-hand knowledge! 

This is akin to getting the first-hand knowledge of our Lord and Savior via a personal relationship with Him--we have encountered Him empirically and know Him like for who He is and what it says:  "Taste and see that the LORD is good"  (cf. Psalm 34:8). The proof of the pudding we'll find out is in the eating!  We need believers with first-hand experience and knowledge of the Lord.  But know this: It's faith till we eat!  What I'm trying to say is that we can know God and be sure of our salvation by the Spirit residing in us: "The Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are sons of God" (cf. Romans 8:16).

Let's take another example of faith:  a tightrope walker demonstrates he can walk across the rope with a wheelbarrow and asks how many actually believe he can push a person across in it!  Almost everyone raises their hands and says they believe. Then he asks of a volunteer!  No one is willing to test their faith!   Where's the faith now?  He didn't kill their faith but found out they had none for we must be willing to exercise or put it into practice for it to be bona fide, saving faith.  Anyone can say they have faith but it must be proved by our behavior, conduct, and works--we're known by our fruits per Matt. 7:20. 

A good example of faith in action is a kid flying a kite on a cloudy day: The passerby asks him how he knows the kite is really up there since he doesn't see it!  The kid says, oh, I feel a tug every now and then to reassure me.  Likewise, we feel God drawing us towards Him in fellowship and love.    Faith is like that--God reassures us and keeps us in the faith and doesn't let go.   Experience in flying kites made his faith strong and likewise, an experienced walk with Christ yields strong faith.  The more trials we successfully pass with flying colors the more real our faith to us.   

NB:  Our faith is held by God's power (cf 1 Pet. 1:5) who will not let go of us nor give up on us (cf Phil. 1:6)--we're all works in progress.  Someone hostile to the faith may ask some questions we cannot answer, but no issue or problem with the Bible or the faith is going to bring Christianity to its demise after 2,000 years.  But sometimes God allows us to have doubts and to experience hardened hearts; it is important to realize that doubt is not a Christian problem but a human one, it's an element of faith, not the opposite of it.  It can take courage to doubt. 

But in the final analysis, we should doubt our doubts and believe our tried and true faith, so we can say with Paul's swan song (cf. 2 Tim. 4:7):  "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith,"  knowing we are kept in Christ from beginning to end (cf Jude 1: 24).  God doesn't teach us to swim only to let us drown!   

In sum, let me quote the late Rev. Billy Graham:   "If you want to keep your faith, you must give it away!"  Let me add:  A privatized faith is no more than a cloistered faith that cannot reach out to the lost.   Soli Deo Gloria!  

You've Come To The Right Man!

In our time of need we need to know the source of all blessing and comfort, the only One able to heal us of our infirmity or disability and we all have some deficiency that makes us imperfect--we all need improvement and have flaws and can get worse off.  Jesus gave a few commands that illustrate the abundant life in Him:  come to Him, follow Him, obey Him, serve Him, abide in Him, know Him, and even love Him.  These are interconnected or linked to the successful walk with Christ by faith in fellowship, obedience, and good works.  

To Christ there is no barrier to His love and outreach, we are within the boundaries of His grace and never at a distance or removed from grace.  We have all the resources we need if we know the Lord, but we must never get a big head that we are favored in some special way or that God is respecting us or showing partiality.  We all come to God under the same conditions: He has leveled the playing field.

What we need is a great God who can meet all our needs and this knowledge will give us great faith.  If your faith is small, get a bigger God! If you think of just the humanity of Jesus, your thoughts of Him are too human.   Jesus desires to get down and dirty with us to get intimate, sharing our sorrows and weaknesses.  Jesus knew how to get up close and personal with men and to see where they were coming from, identifying with them in their infirmities.  Jesus does care and we can know this by His infinite compassion towards us.  God's mercy towards us has no bounds!  We all come to Him on the same conditions of being sin-sick and beyond cure without His grace. 

God doesn't have to heal us or to have mercy, then it would be justice!  God is bound to save no one!  But no one is ever the same after encountering Christ, He has some impact, good or bad either to soften their heart or to harden it, but change will inevitably happen.  When we are transformed by grace, we cannot but talk of it: we get the "can't-help-its," like the apostles did in Acts 4:20, NIV, saying, "... we cannot help speaking of what we have seen and heard."  This was the effect on the multitudes after Christ would heal someone--though He admonished them not to spread the news, they couldn't help themselves to this wonderful event that they couldn't help but praise.

Jesus praised and recognized great faith when He saw it and would tell them that it wasn't superstition but their faith in Him that healed them.  But Christ didn't want to be known just as a miracle worker--that would not be a reputation that would change the world or save mankind.  He first came to be our Savior and His miracles were only signs of His deity and emphasized His attributes in particular, like being the resurrection and the life, so He raised Lazarus from the dead.

Jesus was the kind who believed in doing it right or not doing it at all and everything He did, He did well and it was of good report.  Anything well worth doing is worth doing well!  He was known for going about doing good.  "Can an Ethiopian change his skin or a leopard its spots?  Neither can you do good who are accustomed to doing evil"  (Jer. 13:23, NIV).   But it is impossible for man to do good apart from God (cf. John 15:5; cf. Psalm 14:3; Isaiah 64:6) but we are only vessels of honor being used by God for His glory to do His works.  We are to be a godly people zealous of good works and we are saved unto good works (cf. Titus 2;14; Eph. 2:10)!  

We can only venture to speak of what Christ has accomplished through us (cf. Romans 15:18; Amos 6:13; Hosea 14:8 Isaiah 26:12).  God is not impressed with our self-righteous do-goodery.  As much as we tend to believe we can be good without God, it's impossible   The good news is that we can be ambassadors of Christ's goodness and mercy to spread the good word to the lost.  As Christ promised:  "Come unto Me all ye who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest" (cf. Matt. 11:28).   "Peace I leave with you.  My peace I give to you, I do not give as the world gives.  Your heart must no be troubled or fearful" (cf. John 14:27, HCSB).  

In sum, we must acknowledge Christ as having sole authority to make us whole, complete, and free from any spiritual malady or defect: i.e., we must defer to His power and lordship for this to be effectual, whom alone to know is eternal life!       Soli Deo Gloria! 

Great Expectations?

"I believe that I shall see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living" (cf. Psalm 27:13).
"I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living" (Psalm 27:13, KJV). "Wait on the LORD; be of good courage, and he shall srengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD" (Psalm 27:14, KJV).   "But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength" (Isaiah 40:31, KJV).   "... [F]or it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you" (Hosea 10:12, KJV).  

Charles Dickens wrote the book by the title Great Expectations and made this a treasured classic.  William Carey preached: "Attempt great things for God; expect great things from God."  We are to be ever-waiting for the coming of Christ, the Parousia (Second Advent or Coming).  In a manner of speaking, we're all "expecting." We all need delayed gratification.  We're pregnant with God's hope and promise!   It's not just during Christmas that we should honor and recognize the magi or wise men, but today to emulate them.  In other words, "wise men still seek Him!"  This is the common message on many a greeting card because it applies, resonates, and hits home.

Jonathan Edwards said that the main business of the Christian life is the seeking of God.  We are to always seek His face and R. C. Sproul says that finding God begins at salvation, just like it says in Amazing Grace:  "I was lost but now am found."  The Good Shepherd found us as lost sheep, we didn't find Him.   Pascal said that if God hadn't first sought him, he never would've found God. Scripture says:  "I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me; I was found by those who did not seek me" (Isaiah 65:1, NIV). 

His coming is sure; are you ready?  Being prepared for it isn't just a matter of making our funeral arrangements and taking care of our final expenses!  Hezekiah was told that he was about to die and to get his house in order!  Do you feel that if you were to die today that you have lived according to the will of God and have completed your mission?  When David had completed God's purpose, God took him (cf. Acts. 13:36).  We're all here for a purpose, even the wicked for the day of evil, and God orchestrates and micromanages all of history for His glory and plans with no backup plan or Plan B.  We are either in the will of God or not, and the safest place to be is in the will of God.  We are bold when we know God is with us just like the apostles willingly gave their lives for the gospel message as martyrs.  They considered it an honor to suffer for His name's sake.

We must wait patiently on the Lord, for He will not tarry and His promise will be fulfilled in God's timetable. Waiting can try our patience, but the great hope we have should make it worth it and give us the grace to do God's will till the end.  There is great expectation in anticipation!   Our payoff is great and this is a greater motive to wait patiently, for the present trials we endure are nothing compared to the reward we'll see in heaven.  Simeon was told by the LORD that he'd see the Messiah before he died and when he did it turned out to be worth the wait and he could depart in peace.  We may not die happy, but if we died fulfilled, that is much greater, for happiness can be deceiving.  Over seventeen million hours ago John said that we were "in the last hour."  This only shows God's perception of time, not that the Lord tarries or delays His coming, for we know that His patience means our salvation.

Jesus said that if we seek, we shall find, but we must search for God with all our heart (cf. Jer. 29:13; Deut. 4:29) to find Him, for He doesn't deal with triflers.  In our expectations, we are to aim high for God has not set any limit as to how far He can take us if we trust in Him. We are to walk on water and move mountains!   But if we aim at nothing we will surely get there.  Therefore, dream big!

In the final analysis, we must realize that the enemy is a killjoy seeking to discourage us from finding our mission in life or calling in Christ (we're then as meandering stars) and his ominous words are:  "Hath God said?"  He asked Eve this and got her first to doubt God's Word, then to believe his words, and finally to disobey God's Word.  God wants to be our Guiding Light, Beacon, and GPS through this life and we must let Him lead the way.

This reminds me of Alice in Wonderland where she asks the Cheshire Cat at the fork in the road, "Would you tell me please, which way I ought to walk from here?"  He said that depends upon where you want to go.  Alice says, "I don't care where."  The cat tells her that it doesn't matter which way she walks then!  Alice says, "As long as I get somewhere!"  The cat says you'll do that if you walk long enough--you're sure to get somewhere!"   But we want God's best!   In sum, we must not "settle" but seek God's will for our lives and not some default plan.   Soli Deo Gloria!

Going Forward, Faith To Faith ...

"For the LORD God is a sun and shield.  The LORD gives grace and glory..." (Psalm 84:11, HCSB).   "For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith" (Romans 1:17, KJV).  

It is commonly said, that people will go anywhere as long as it's forward!  They want a promotion!  Unfortunately, many believers are heavy laden with a backsliding heart and aren't progressing or growing in faith; however, something that is alive grows!  There's a difference between the profession of faith and the reality of faith.  We progress from unbelieving and doubting faith to little faith, saving faith, and then to serving faith.  Maturity is not a given nor a foregone conclusion.  We are to ever increase in our faith as Romans 1:17 says (from faith to faith) and to show it in our lives as fruit (from faithfulness to faithfulness).  We must not divorce these two realities.   These two words are identical in Hebrew (cf. Habakkuk 2:4).  They shall know us by our fruit!

The faith we have is the faith we show and without the evidence of faith to be validated by works, it's spurious, suspect, and even dead.  That kind of faith cannot save us for we are not saved by faith per se, but faith in Christ--it's the object that matters; we don't put faith in faith.  But 2 Cor. 3:18 portrays our faith as having "ever-increasing glory."  Yes, God shares His glory with us and we will be in glory someday (Psalm 84:11).  There must come an awakening in our faith from our spiritual slumber and the day must dawn and the morning star rises in our hearts (cf. 2 Pet. 1:19).

I've heard Christians say that they are "Jesus" to someone and that is not our sanctification, even though God uses us for His glory and we are mere vessels of honor doing His will and work.  NB: We cannot reach somewhat of a "sinless perfection" (cf. Prov. 20:9) or "entire sanctification" (cf. Psalm 119:96) whereby we become Jesus in any sense of the word--we are not commanded to be Jesus, but to obey Him. We cannot save anyone and no one should expect us to save them!  There's only one Savior who alone gets the glory (Soli Deo Gloria!), for "salvation is of the LORD" (cf. Jonah 2:9).

We can be the helping hand of Jesus or His voice, or even the heart of Jesus extending mercy and comfort, but we must be humbled by the fact that we are not worthy of worship and we are not Jesus to anyone despite our do-goodery.  When we preach the gospel, it must be preaching the Word and Christ Jesus as Lord (cf. 2 Cor. 4:5), not preaching ourselves as the center of focus.   Humility is not thinking less of ourselves, but of ourselves less.   We think of Jesus, not being so preoccupied with ourselves (cf. Heb. 3:1; 12:1).

Paul was received as if he were Christ Himself, but he wasn't Christ to them  (cf. Gal. 4:14).  He was so humbled that God revealed His Son in him (cf. Gal. 1:16) and, realizing this, he couldn't wait till Christ be formed in them (cf. Gal. 4:19).  When we see Jesus by faith (cf. Heb. 2:9), the eyes of our hearts are opened (cf. Eph. 1:18) and we do see Jesus alive in our brethren and realize that He is using us for His glory and work.  But the temptation is to think that our righteousness or goodness is our gift to God and we are doing it of ourselves.  However, all our righteousness is of God as the source (cf. Isaiah 45:24).  Paul was quite humble:  "For I will not venture to speak of anything except for what Christ has accomplished through me..." (Romans 15:18, ESV; cf. Amos 6:13).  Hosea 14:8 says that our fruit or righteousness comes from Him and comes from the Holy Spirit (cf. Gal. 5:22-23).

The logical, applied goal of our faith is a desire to live it out and to complete the mission God gave us in the Lord (cf. Acts 20:24).  "All that counts is faith expressing itself through love" (cf. Gal. 5:6, NIV).  Sanctification is the process of growing in the faith and becoming more Christlike in our demeanor and conduct to show forth the witness of Christ in our lives as a living testimony.  We're all here for a purpose and God has a plan for all of us and will fulfill His will without or with our cooperation (cf. Psalm 57:2; 138:8; Job 23:14).  God even has a purpose for the evildoer! (cf. Proverbs 16:4).  Finding our spiritual gifting is part of the package and we will be as wandering stars without any purpose in life till we recognize how God uses us in the kingdom.

We are to put our faith into practice (cf. 2 Cor. 1:24), translating creeds into deeds to show others the reality of our faith, not just the profession of it. Remembering we are not saved by faith, but by Christ.   Only where our faith is difficult is it worth it; we must realize that it will be done unto us according to our faith (cf. Matt. 9:29).

CAVEATS:  THE LIE OF SATAN IS THAT WE SHALL BE AS GODS; WE ARE TO BECOME GODLY, NOT GODS! A COROLLARY IS THE NEW AGE DECEPTION:  "I'M JESUS; YOU'RE JESUS!" OR WE NEED TO FIND THE GOD WITHIN!      Soli Deo Gloria! 

Doing Something About Evil

 "... [F]or they proceed from one evil to another, and they do not take Me into account..." (Jeremiah 9:3, HCSB).
"... If you do not stand firm in the faith, then you will not stand at all" (Isaiah 7:9, HCSB).
"Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" (cf. Genesis 18:25).  
"In fact, if the trumpet makes an unclear sound, who will prepare for battle?"  (1 Cor. 14:8, HCSB).   
"What's wrong with the world?  I am.  Sincerely yours,  G. K. Chesterton
"The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing."  --Edmund Burke


God ordained the institution of government to keep evil at bay, but there comes a time when those in the know have to stand up for what they believe either in civil disobedience or engaging in public discourse to disseminate the truth, as Francis Schaeffer said that there comes a time when this is not only a right but a duty!   We see this today manifest in peaceful demonstrations and protests.   But we must beware lest we assume that the government is always the problem or the solution, and the other extreme:  "My country, right or wrong!"

If we don't stand for the faith we have, it's worth noting, and we don't really stand at all.  If you won't stand for your faith, is it of value?  And if faith weren't a challenge or difficulty, it would be worth little.  We are representatives of God's righteousness as well as ambassadors of the kingdom of Christ.  Ultimately, it matters whether we have a faith we can live with, or one we will fight or even die for!  That's because infidels and the ignorant are seldom convinced by debate or argument and the faith we have is the faith we show!

Our do-goodery may win them over yet and perchance they may see Christ at work in us.  But we must first become introspective like G. K. Chesterton was:  "What 's wrong with the world?  I am, sincerely yours, G. K. Chesterton."   He realized that true faith expresses itself and there's a difference between bogus faith or the mere profession of faith and the reality of faith.   We must first know what our faith is and what we do believe and this is the weak link in the chain of uninformed believers:  "Tell me your certainties, I have enough doubts of my own," said German famed playwright and poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe over two centuries ago!

We need to end the doubting and commence to doubt our doubts and believe our faith, translating it into deeds, practicing what we preach, and preaching only what we practice.  Then we become a fidei defensor or a defender of the faith!   Note that there does come an opportunity and time in each person's life to prove what side he's on and to take a stand for right versus wrong and to fight the evil in the world:  God did something about evil; He created you and me!  This is the opportunity to throw down the gauntlet much like Martin Luther did on the door of the church at Wittenberg (All Saints Church) in 1517 with his Ninety-Five Theses to end the Dark Ages.

He knew what he was doing and this took grit and fortitude but crossed the Rubicon despite this:  Challenging the entire establishment much the way that Jesus was an antiestablishment figure and upset the religious apple cart.   He had the necessary dynamic for living and courage:  He knew what he believed and much more importantly, like Paul in 2 Timothy 2:12, he knew in Whom he believed.   Jeremiah was in a similar situation and was considered unpatriotic because he prophesied against Jerusalem and he said in Jeremiah 9:3 that "they refuse to stand up for the truth."  Jerusalem had become unfaithful and was supposed to be a city on a hill, as it were.  There's a limit to patriotism though:  We don't put country above God! 

Irish playwright and Nobel Prize winner George Bernard Shaw noted pertinently that "no nation has survived the loss of its gods."  And John Adams quipped that our Constitution "was made only for a religious and moral people."  Yes, I want to mention in passing that we have many issues and causes in our society and have found many questions, but it's now time to search for the answers and that means we need visionaries who can rightly interpret the times and have a Christian worldview so that they are not deceived by the prevalent Secular Humanism and the newfangled Postmodernism that is creeping into our schools and institutions that are simply "anti-Christian," a sort of militant atheism that wages war on Christendom. That's why it's called a "Truth War."

All the other worldviews agree on this one point:  They're all opposed to "dangerous" Christianity.  But the only truths that are irrelevant are the Christian ones!   And we must not let Christ be eradicated from the public square and open marketplace of ideas, even the social media but must fear not to exercise our First Amendment rights. There is no social gospel to preach but we do have a social commission to complete to be salt and light for social justice, as Cicero called Rome a city of light.

In sum, we are not to parade our righteousness, wear it on our sleeves, nor even to flaunt it, but we never should privatize it, being ready to stand up for Jesus and fly and declare our Christian colors, which means we are declaring war on the enemy, knowing that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one or wickedness and its "isms." (cf. 1 John 5:19).   (Relevant is the saying that everyone talks about the weather, but no one does anything about it!)   

CAVEATS:  WE ARE NOT CALLED TO USHER IN THE MILLENNIAL KINGDOM, NOR TO LEGISLATE "CHRISTIAN SHARIA LAW," NOR LEGISLATE OUR FAITH.    Remember:  The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing (Edmund Burke).   Soli Deo Gloria!

He Gave What He Had

"... Freely you have received; freely give" (cf. Matt. 10:8, NIV). 
"... [S]o I will save you and you will be a blessing" (cf. Zech. 8:13, HCSB). 

In the feeding of the five thousand, Jesus took the bread and fish from a boy and multiplied it to feed the crowd.  The principle is that we do the addition and God the multiplication.  Jesus had inquired about the resources of the whole crowd and this was all there was; hard to believe no one planned ahead or even that some weren't hiding their lunch.  But evidently the boy must've gladly volunteered his lunch to share.  His faith could've been an instant object lesson too! Our giving, too, is a test of our faith in action to be a blessing as we have been blessed.   His act of giving showed his faith, but the disciples needed to learn a lesson.  The lesson to come away with is that God can take our meager resources and gifts and multiply them for His kingdom, not that He needs them, for the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, but that He has privileged us to be used for His glory and honor. 

We are not called to turn stones into bread as a social gospel, but to preach the gospel and in so doing to meet other needs where we can.  The Great Commission has a social implication or commission.  The boy's gift shows that we must be willing to give whatever we can even if it's a small donation, because we only do addition, and God gives compound interest.   Some people just aren't even willing to give at all no matter what size offering.   This story shows that God cares about our daily needs as the Lord's prayer says, 'Give us this day our daily bread.'  The miracle or sign shows us, as Jesus announced, that He is the bread of life who fills all our spiritual needs and can supply all our physical needs with them. 

They wanted to make Christ king just because of a free lunch.  Even people today will sell out for security in life at the expense of their principles--job turfs for example.   Jesus will be our king and supply our needs but according to His rules.  Our needs are not an automatic given when we don't work for them or deserve them.  The fact that there were twelve baskets of leftovers shows Christ's continuing care for us and that we ought not to waste His resources and blessings, for we will be held accountable and must invest the blessings we have faithfully.  Having an abundance doesn't mean we can waste God's provision.   Note that the boy gave everything he had much like the poor widow who gave her last two mites and Jesus said she gave what she could and even more than the others.   This wasn't the first time God had performed a miracle to feed His people: Moses was leader when God supplied manna for Israel.  Both Elijah and Elisha multiplied food to sustain people by a miracle of God.   

This miracle shows us that God alone is the creator who can make something out of nothing, as in creation, can produce great results with small resources and make big dividends no matter how small they are.  In the final analysis, it's not how big our supply but our faith and willingness to give, and how big our God is to meet our needs.   How many in the crowd thought of Jesus the next time they were in need?

But we must be careful not to follow the wrong Jesus or another Jesus, nor even Jesus for the wrong motives.  We signed up for a cross to bear and not for a free lunch.  Hardship may come with the territory and if we accept good times we must accept bad ones (cf. Job 2:10) .  We must be willing to go with Jesus no matter where we are called and be thankful for whatever He gives us.

In sum, the words of Augustine ring true:  "Our hearts are restless till they find their rest in God."  Jesus is truly the Bread of Life in more ways than one!     Soli Deo Gloria!

Staying On Track With God

"... If you do not stand firm in your faith, then you will not stand at all" (Is. 7:9, HCSB).

Psalm 31:15 says that our times our in God's hands or our future is in His hands.  This is good to know because our lives have been written out like a novel even before we were born (cf. Psalm 139:16).   God will fulfill His purpose for us with or without our cooperation because we are called according to the purpose of His will and all things will work out for the good in the end (cf. Psalm 138:8; 57:2; Rom. 8:28).   When David had fulfilled God's purpose (plan) God took him (cf. Acts 13:36).   God does have a purpose for everyone and everything, even the wicked for the day of evil (cf. Prov. 16:4).  But as believers God has a special plan of good for us, to prosper us in our endeavors and to use us as His vessels of honor.  (cf. Jeremiah 29:11).

We don't have "to reason why, but to do and die" (as The Charge of the Light Brigade by Alfred, Lord Tennyson penned).  Those who hear the beat of a different drum cannot keep in step.  Only two people tuned to the same instrument are in tune with each other!   When our lives are surrendered to His will and we relinquish ownership of our soul, He guides us according to His will and purpose.  The providence of God assures that He is in control of all events, circumstances, things, animals, plants, and people--even all thrones, powers, and dominions to bring Him glory (cf. Ephesians 1:11; Is. 43:7). 

Now, it is apparent that we don't always walk in the Spirit doing God's will (whenever we sin we must confess it immediately), for we all fall short of God's glorious ideal and despite the fact that perfection is the standard, the direction is the test.  We are to keep in step with the Spirit and to walk with God even as Noah did.  This can only be accomplished by keeping short accounts with God, confession-of-sin-wise.   What happens is that we reckon our schedules to be more important than God's and our priorities already to be aligned with His, when they may be out of step with the Spirit unawares.  Jesus walked as close to God as can be imagined and yet never saw an urgent need as an interruption.  Now, you can say that He knows all and foresaw what God's plan was or the ultimate results would be, but Jesus walked on this earth with the limitations of a man, not knowing anything but what the Father told Him--for knowing the future isn't consistent with human weakness and humiliation.

In the story of Jesus raising the daughter of Jairus in Mark 5, Jesus stopped to heal a woman with a blood-flow issue of twelve years before going on to heal her.  He knew that it is impossible to get off track from God's timetable if one walks in the Spirit and does what is right; namely, heal the woman in her need. We must also trust God's triage and priorities instead of limiting our vision to our perspective.  Jesus did that when He heard of Lazarus and didn't hurry on to get to Bethany to heal him, but lingered.  Jesus wasn't one to be rushed!

It is a serious blunder to do your own thing (cf. Isa. 53:6; Judges 17:6; 21:25), to set your own agenda, to go your own way, to be in a hurry to do God's will (ironic!) and not to trust in the Lord's timing to keep the main thing the main thing and to keep your eyes on Jesus as the focus, not yourself.  If you are engaged in the business of the Lord, God will see to it that it is done right and in time--He will not linger nor delay to do His will.  There is proper etiquette:  Back to God's house, back to God's Word, back to God's will, back to God's work, and back to God's Spirit.   As Habakkuk 2:3, NLT says "... If it seems slow in coming, wait patiently, for it will surely take place.  It will not be delayed [tarry]."

God's eternal perspective of time (the vantage point of eternity) in seeing the big picture from beginning to end gives Him the ability to guide our lives and we should not "lean unto our own understanding" (cf. Prov. 3:5), but we should entrust everything to Providence--God is in control and we cannot alter His plan--He has and needs no Plan B.  As humans, we tend to hate being interrupted because we take issue with something being more important than the issue at hand or what we're engaged in, but this is all part of our pride in not letting God be God or having control over our circumstances--we must assume that God has allowed this interruption to readjust our timing (like missing a light in traffic to make us late, because God thought we were going too fast--how do we know whether God wasn't preventing an accident down the road?).

In sum, there is no such thing as an interruption with Jesus--He's never too busy for us and nothing is too trivial to be a bother or nuisance.   Soli Deo Gloria!

God's Answer To Superstition

In antiquity, the Jews held physicians in low esteem as a rule, despite the Hippocratic oath because they resorted to the superstitious nature of man.  Superstition is a form of unbelief and is an attempt to attribute the work of God to something mechanical like fate or happenstance.  God is the God of Providence, fully in control of the situation at hand bringing all to His glory (cf. Rom. 11:36; Eph. 1:11).

Usually, when people were desperate they went to the physicians for some cure, if they could afford it, and it was expensive because sometimes they used herbs and spices that were rare to come by. Lepers were considered ceremonially unclean according to Rabbinic Law, but Jesus was willing to become Mr. Unclean personified for our sake to identify with our disease of sin and heal us, as well as forgive us--giving us power over it, so we aren't its slave anymore.

Jesus didn't want to be primarily known as just a divine healer or worker of miracles, but as the Savior, the Christ! Myrrh, for instance, was like the snake oil of antiquity, or the cure-all and panacea, pedaled for almost any ailment and this is one superstition that the charlatans were known for--but Jesus was for real and worthy of our faith, for He bore our illness and with His stripes, we are healed (cf. Is. 53).   

There are Christians today who don't pray, except as last resort, and even pagans will pray in superstition or for "good luck."  But luck, chance, and fortune have no place in the Christian faith.  God is in control of all, even the throw of the die (cf. Prov. 16:33).  What's so hypocritical, is that even when unbelievers pray and their prayers are answered, they find some reason to chalk it up to luck or chance and not give God the glory for answering the prayer.  We blame God for all tragedies and give ourselves all the credit for our fortune (cf. Prov. 19:3).

The woman with the hemorrhage was also "unclean" and when she "touched" Jesus, He became ceremonially unclean, but Jesus wasn't concerned with Himself, but with her frame of mind, faith and salvation and in Mark 5:21ff had become broke because of the expense of paying the physicians to heal her, but no avail.  As a last resort, she must have heard of Jesus' healing powers and sought Him out and "touched" Him in faith thinking that would heal her.  Jesus made it clear to her after the fact that it wasn't superstition that healed her, but her faith in Him.  He is the healer.

If superstition was the answer, anyone who touched Jesus would be healed, even without faith.  It is said that athletes are the most superstitious of people and even their fans can be, thinking that wearing team logos brings their favorite team good fortune or "luck." They don't want to "jinx" their team--Go, Twins! Knock on wood (saying this tongue-in-cheek)!  To have the Christian worldview, we ought to say that we are blessed and not lucky!

But Ecclesiastes says that luck and chance happen to all, it's part of our reality, how we interpret things, not how God sees them.  We ought to get over the notion that God deliberately takes sides in a game though or that winning is everything, and it's not a matter of skill and sportsmanship--blessings are showered on all, for God is good to everyone! (cf. Psalm 145:9).

This aforementioned woman's healing shows us that we all need to confess our faith to make it confirmed and not to be ashamed of our Lord and that He is part of us and lives in us. We must not keep our faith or healing privatized!   She reached out in faith the best she knew and this is all God asks:  take that leap of faith toward Jesus as personal Lord and Savior, don't just be glad He heals others--make the healing yours!  We are all unclean before salvation and need to come to Jesus for our healing and reinstatement.

The woman found out that she didn't "interrupt" Jesus but He mattered to her (we all do!)--He is never too busy for us (a good lesson on priorities for us all!).  There are no distractions to Jesus' agenda and in God's economy, we all matter the same, since God doesn't show favoritism or partiality--He's no respecter of persons (cf. Rom. 2:11; Acts 10:34).  Jesus always has time for us and is never in a hurry (neither late nor early but always on His timetable) so much that He would feel an interruption like the disciples thought. They were the ones who needed their priorities altered, realigned, and readjusted to God's timetable and agenda: Guess who needs an attitude check!

We all need to come to Jesus in faith to be made clean and healed of our sin, realizing we matter to God as individuals and expect a miracle in faith, in effect making contact with Jesus and touching Him or connecting to Him.  Jesus is never too busy!  He is ready to give us His undivided attention!  People are too ready to superstitiously attribute their salvation to"walking the aisle" or "raising their hand" or "coming to the altar," but we must realize that it's faith in Christ saves, not faith in faith, faith doesn't save, Christ saves!

In conclusion, when you have a strong faith you're less likely to "knock on wood" or worry about "black cats," or anything superstitious like the "full moon" or "Friday the thirteenth!"   Salvation is a form of freedom from the tyranny of ourselves to have our full faith in God.      Soli Deo Gloria!

God's Vindication In Our Adversities

"I cry out to God Most High, to God who will fulfill his purpose for me" (Psalm 57:2, NLT).
"The LORD will work out his plans for my life..." (Psalm 138:8, NLT).
"So he will do to me whatever he has planned. He controls my destiny" (Job 23:14, NLT).
"But he knows where I am going.  And when he tests me, I will come out as pure as gold" (Job 23:10, NLT) 
"This is not a reference to David, for after David had done the will of God in his own generation, he died as was buried" (Acts 13:36, NLT).

When David was in the cave of Adullam he sought the Lord Most High for his vindication because he knew he was the future king and that king Saul unlawfully sought him.  Saul didn't see him, even when David cut off his robe (what faith!), but David knew that God saw him and he couldn't hide from Him--who always knows where we are. But David may have had his doubts and confusion, and he knew where to go for aid and comfort! He also knew how big God was and that God could meet his every need.

He may even have thought of what Jacob said upon awakening from his dream;  "Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it" (cf. Gen. 28:16, HCSB).   As David prayed in Psalm 32:7, "For you are my hiding place."  He never doubted the whereabouts of his God!  And what the Lord told Joshua:  "... Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go" (Josh. 1:9, HCSB).  He knew that God was on his side (cf. Ps. 118:6), that God believed in him and was with him in essence.

It was time to believe God for a miracle and God came through. As it is written in 1 Sam. 30:6, NLT, "... But David found strength in the LORD his God."   He also found out that he had a faith worth dying for, not just one he could live with. Then he left the cave!   And David kept the faith that God would fulfill His purpose for him (cf. Psalm 57:2, NLT) and that he was willing to wait on the Lord and His timing.  God will never let us down but is the great Promise Keeper and that we can always count on.  I'm sure he kept his mind on his mission and calling like Paul:  "But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus..." (Acts 20:24). David considered that God was offering a way through the crisis, not a way out!

God has no Plan B as it were and we can be assured His will is done, with or without cooperation.  "...[F]or he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to His plan" (Eph. 1:11, HCSB). To the seasoned believer, being part of God's plan and seeing God at work through him is a satisfaction.  We ought always to seek God's will on earth and realize we are just vessels of honor that have the privilege of being used for His glory:  "The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever" (The Westminster Shorter Catechism, cf. Isaiah 43:7).  We will all realize in the glory that we were only actors in a play directed by God who appears front and center as the theme.  When David was seeking vindication, he was really seeking the Lord's vindication and that God would make good on the anointing he had received from Samuel.

We all have a limited perspective on life, but when God opens our spiritual eyes we see the big picture and can live with a higher purpose. The scope of the unbeliever is merely mundane and God is not in the picture.   David had a sense of purpose because he knew God was in control--there was a reason for everything (cf. Prov. 16:4)--no flukes in history.  Once we've experienced God, nothing else satisfies.  Zeal for God involves a zeal for the Word and a desire to uphold its integrity. That's why God frowns upon ignorant zeal or not according to knowledge (cf. Rom. 10:2).  But when David had completed God's will he departed this life (cf. Acts 13:36).

David's faith withstood the loneliness, confusion, and doubt of the cave of Adullam, but faith must be tried as if by fire in the crucible of life's adversities to be proven genuine because it's more valuable than silver or gold and we all should know that nothing in life that's worth it is easy to come by; likewise, if faith weren't difficult and tried and true, even with a stiff upper lip at times, it wouldn't be worth much! ["... For he gets their attention through adversity" (cf. Job 36:15, NLT)].   David's faith wasn't a "do-it-yourself" proposition nor did he believe in just lifting himself up by his bootstraps or that God just helps those who help themselves, but he had faith in a BIG God that was able to come to his rescue for all his needs and fears. 

The point is that it doesn't matter how big your faith it, but how big your God is--big faith in a little God isn't adequate.  NOTHING EASY TO DO IS WORTH MUCH!    Soli Deo Gloria!

Come As You Are Party!

"Blessed are the people who know the joyful sound"  (Psalm 89:15, NKJV). 

God wants us to celebrate a new life with Him, which began upon acceptance of Him as the owner of our life and in the dedication of ourselves to Him and whatever that may involve, known as our cross to bear.  We must be willing to follow through thick and thin, come what may, wherever the chips may fall, even when they are down,  nor to faint in adversity but go from faith to faith.   The Christian life, though no easy affair, is a family affair lived with the Godhead indwelling us and engaging the fellowship of the church body.

It has been said that Christian living is not hard, but impossible!  The only way to have victory is to walk in the Spirit and to abide in Christ, for without Him we can do nothing and are nothing but weak vessels of clay in the hands of the Potter (cf. Isaiah 45:9; 64:6).  We must live to glorify and enjoy Him as we desire to honor Him in all we do and think and rethink--for our religion isn't just externalism, but internally affecting our thought life and meditations.

God invites all to come to Christ in the message of the gospel and opens our hearts to have faith and repent, in that they are not meritorious works, but acts of grace by the Holy Spirit.  We believe through grace!  God quickens faith within us and we become alive in Christ with a whole new perspective and outlook on life.  We can do no pre-salvation works to prepare for salvation (the only qualification is to acknowledge we are unqualified as sinners), but we all must come as we are in faith and believe God for a miracle to transform us into new creatures in Christ--it's all a work of grace, God getting all the glory.  But the good news is that we will not stay that way, no matter what our prior condition was, Jesus is still in the resurrection business and the power that rose Him from the dead can be alive in us as we come to know it first-hand (cf. Phil. 3:10), not second-hand or hearsay.

We live our lives as works in progress realizing all the while God is not finished with us yet, till we arrive in glory.  God always finishes what He starts and He has begun a good work in us!   When we enter eternity we will receive a threefold commendation:  an affirmation of "well done, thou good and faithful servant!" a promotion of "thou hast been faithful in small things and shall be faithful in much," and a final celebration of "enter thou into the joy of the Lord!"  The party that will last for eternity and we must realize that this world is passing away and is temporal while we are pilgrims with our real citizenship and portion are in heaven forever. 

Oh, the joy of those who have learned to walk by faith and not by sight or even feeling, but have learned by faith that God is real and seeing Him at work in the world, in their lives, and in circumstances known as Providence.  Noah probably had the best resume in the Bible, for he was a just man and perfect in his generations, and he walked with God!  (cf. Gen. 6:9).  We all have the opportunity and ability to do likewise--walk with God, because we have the indwelling Spirit to convict us of our sins, illuminate the Word, and to enjoy in fellowship, even to inspire us for life.

What is worship, but celebrating what the Lord has done and who He is?  We can learn to appreciate and adore Him for all His works and to realize that we are His greatest miracle because He transformed us from the inside out and made us new creatures in Christ.  Christians realize that Christ is the Lord who made us and owns it all, and worshiping is a way of giving back to Him spiritually and acknowledging this ownership of our spirit as a mere token of our gratitude.  We are led by the Spirit to worship the Godhead and thus celebrate the glory of God realized in Christ's work.

In our celebration, we should keep certain things in mind:  our past is forgiven, our present is given meaning, and our future is secured.  We have a reason for living and can live on purpose for God's glory and not for ourselves.   Our salvation is more than mere forgiveness, it's a new adventure with Jesus, a way of life or relationship, turning our creed into deeds (cf. Titus 2:14). How shall we escape if we neglect such great salvation? (cf. Heb. 2:3).

Don't view the faith as an escape, a crutch, a way out, or a way to just cope with life, but how to live victoriously through life with the peace of God, and the purpose and power to overcome our sin nature--our worst enemy could be ourselves! (Cf. John 10:10)  We can view our salvation as past (saved us from the punishment due our sin); present  (being saved from its power); and pending (awaiting glory and freedom from the presence of sin in glory).  We even see new meaning in our trials and adversities that build our character, and it is our privilege to suffer for \the sake of the Name.  In the final analysis, it's not just forgiveness for what we've done, but deliverance from what we are! 

CAVEAT:  NO ONE REMAINS THE SAME AFTER AN ENCOUNTER WITH THE LORD, WE COME AS WE ARE, BUT ARE GUARANTEED NOT TO STAY THAT WAY!  SO ASK YOURSELF IF YOU ARE READY FOR A NEW LIFE WITH CHRIST AT THE HELM OWNING YOUR SOUL AND DESTINY.    LET THE PARTY BEGIN! THE BEST IS YET TO COME!        Soli Deo Gloria!

Faith Is a Start

We must attempt our commencement somewhere.  NB:  the principle is that where you start has a lot to determine where you'll end up!  Athanasius said that the only system of thought that Christ will fit into is the one where He is the starting point.  Paul says we progress "from faith to faith."   But today we see Secularists screaming "Down with God, up with man!'  They seek to dethrone Him and exalt man.  The Bible assumes unapologetically that God exists, and if it appealed to any authority figure or discipline it wouldn't be the final arbiter of truth, which it claims to be (e.g., if we appealed to a historian to verify the narrative, historians would be the authority not the inspired Word of God).  Scripture says a man has no excuse (cf. Rom. 1:28) and suppresses the truth.  The Bible says that denial of God stems from the heart of man that is depraved (cf. Psa. 14:1), and there is a God-shaped vacuum only filled by God!  So man is searching (really for the benefits, not the Benefactor) and has an innate sense of eternity, but that doesn't mean he'll find Him unless he is willing to do His will and diligently searches for Him with all his heart (cf. John 7:17; Jer. 29:13; Isa. 55:6).

When someone challenges your faith saying, "I don't believe in God!' Retort back as a comeback that objective truth is true regardless of belief or not.   Something isn't true because it's believed nor false because of denial.   We cannot wish God out of existence--He's the God who will not die!  We may not see Him but we don't see the wind either--we can see what it does though!  Likewise, with God, we cannot see the invisible, but we can see Him at work in the world and in our lives!  Just like when the sun comes out we can see everything else, so it is when God opens our eyes and we see with the eyes of our spirit and heart! Faith is not a throwback to our need for a father figure, a projection of an authority figure, nor to fulfill a psychological need to believe; the skeptic has a psychological need not to believe--his lifestyle may be at stake!

NB:  Science is inappropriate for finding or proving God; He's not tangible, audible, nor visible, and certainly won't subject Himself to our tests, test tubes, and experiments.  We cannot measure two feet of His love nor weigh a pound of His justice--these things are metaphysical!   But we know they exist, nevertheless!   Remember:  doubt is not the opposite of faith, but merely a sign of courage and intellectual integrity.  NO one has perfect faith.  Learn to doubt your doubts. Doubt, in essence, is an element of faith, for there's a doubt-faith continuum with various degrees of the certitude we all progress through on our way to the Celestial City as pilgrims.  We all must take the LEAP!  

The Bible says in Prov. 1:7 that "the fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge"--that's what we must seek.  In other words, if we don't know God or assume Him in the equation of life, we can know nothing for certain--it's all relative and all truth, morals, and values are only relative and not fixed, objective, universal, absolute, and eternal.  No God--no truth!  When we remove God from the metric of our life we lose our bearings and the moral compass we need, a sense of "ought."  This leads to erosion of the moral fiber of society and finally its demise or takeover.

All knowledge is contingent and must begin somewhere.  We know the Lord as a gift of faith and revelation:  "Taste and see that the LORD is good!"  The proof of the pudding is in the eating!  We don't believe in the sun simply because we can see it in the sky, but because we can see everything else.  Scientists also assume things they cannot prove; all knowledge begins with some presupposition or premise that cannot be proven.  Scientists and Secularists (those who believe in naturalism or that every event has a natural explanation and that science is the ultimate arbiter of truth in the physical world) both of these persons are people of faith the same as religious people--they just presuppose something different.  You can be religious without even having a religion!  But Secular Humanism is when someone is trying to be good without God in the calculus, giving himself the praise, glory, and honor.

Now let's assume you know that fire is hot!  Either you took it by faith or found out the hard way, empirically!  But that knowledge depends upon the senses you have being accurate and that you're not delusional or imagining things.  You may be dreaming!   But in saying it is hot, you're assuming that hot is an accurate description and you are intelligible and communicable.  But when you touched the fire, your suspicion turned to experience and experience as well as rationalism and revelation are ways to arrive at knowledge.  Skeptics like to say that they have facts and the naive and religious have faith, but in reality, both are people of faith and will be accountable for what they do with it.

When you have faith in someone and they betray you, you can lose some faith or break faith completely.  You can also lose faith by finding out by experience you are right--then you have knowledge.  Knowledge is defined as "justified true belief."  A belief is some idea we hold concerning our reality.  There is no universal belief but there is the universal, absolute truth!  Don't confuse the two.  In the seventeenth century, it was justified to be in a geocentric solar system, and in the fourteenth century, you were justified to believe in a Ptolemaic one as well as flat earth!  The Copernican revolution changed our ideas of science just as the Reformation did about theology.    Experiment or scientific empiricism is what changed everything!   This requires measurement, observation, experiment, repeatability, testing, hypothesizing, and controlling of variables.  You may also need laboratory conditions and/or a test tube.

Now, theology is considered the queen of sciences and Christianity the mother of modern science! Sir Francis Bacon is considered the "father of the scientific method."   Why?  Because they were first to actually know something in a metaphysical way, making sense of the physical universe and making it possible in their worldview to have a rational study of nature.  The Bible actually says that there are laws to nature (naturally what you'd expect from a Divine Lawmaker) in Job 38:33, and in several passages, it's ahead of the scientific knowledge of its day to prove its divine origin and inspiration.

Now, infinite regress is impossible in math, logic, and philosophy!  It's impossible to cross infinity, like trying to run an infinite distance in a finite time span.  But God is timeless and lives independent of it as being eternal (He created time as the corollary of space and matter).  It is known in the kalam cosmological argument for God that everything that begins to exist (in time) has a cause--this is logical.  The universe began to exist and ergo had a cause--I daresay God!   We cannot say, for instance, that life evolved because we have to start with the assumption that life was in existence in the first place.

We believe in God because we are convinced and see it as a rational and reasonable choice; thus we take a leap of faith and "experience God" as good.   Our faith transfers to a properly basic belief or a kind of knowledge based on experience--like finding out fires are hot! How many don't really know that yet!   We see the direction the evidence is leading, going with the flow and preponderance and making a decision to exercise our sense of faith, even if we don't have all the evidence (like juries often do) and may not have any "smoking gun" evidence either.  No one can disbelieve due to lack of evidence!  But God doesn't force faith, it's a gift for us to exercise.  We are not exhorted to exercise blind faith or lend credence without a valid reason or evidence.

Faith has a reason with some being more valid:  I want to believe it; I have vested interest in it; it will cost me something (a job or grade not to believe it); everyone believes it; it's always been believed!  We must believe rationally, for God respects our minds and doesn't expect intellectual suicide or for us to kiss our brains goodbye!  Our faith is defensible in the open marketplace of ideas, even the public forum, and public square!  God requires no one to believe what seems irrational or unreasonable!  We believe something just like a jury does--we are convinced by the weight of evidence and see the big picture.

Now that newborn or beginning faith has room to germinate, it must be tested, tried, and proved as to whether it's genuine, saving faith, or bogus faith that gets choked on weeds, being distracted or has too thin of a soil. Faith grows, but it's still faith because we aren't asked to have perfect faith, only sincere faith.  If we knew everything perfectly then we'd have knowledge, and faith is what pleases God.  For God is not going to reward us according to our faith, though, but what it produces--its fruit!  God doesn't want our achievements in the flesh, what He wants is us and this entails obedience.  A disobedient Christian is a contradiction in terms!  We must "trust and obey."

Now, faith the size of a mustard seed is all that's necessary, but we can ask for more faith and Jesus can help us with our unbelief (cf. Mark 10:9).  The point of faith is that we don't believe in faith, for faith doesn't save, Christ does--it's the object that matters!   It is to no avail to have strong faith in a lie or be deceived into fanaticism.  Sincerity matters, but it's no everything and someone can be sincerely wrong.  Paul said (cf. Rom. 10:2) that Israel had a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge--they were sincerely wrong!

There's no excuse not to believe: there's ample evidence for the willing but never enough for the unwilling.  The real reason people don't believe is that it's a choice and they don't want to believe (cf. John12:37).  We all must choose Whom we will serve--we're all servants, it just differs who our master is!  The heart of the matter is that it's a matter of the heart.  Sin makes man rebellious and stubborn, unwilling to obey or please God.

Finally, you must start somewhere: How about first base?   In every truth claim, you begin with a premise you can't prove. Knowledge has its beginning, but don't jump to the conclusion that everything had a beginning, then nothing would exist because you'd have the problem of infinite regress or crossing infinity--there was a beginning, just as the Bible says!   You either start with man and explain everything else, (Homo mensura, or "man is the measure of all things), or you begin with God and explain man!  The Bible doesn't start out, "Once upon a time," but  "In the beginning God."  Every journey of faith begins somewhere and God says to begin with Him in our calculus focused on Him.

In other words, we don't rationalize to God, but reason from Him.  You can neither prove nor disprove Him, you only can offer evidence and arguments, neither being conclusive, but possibly compelling or convicting.  Either there was just the material cosmos or there was God!  Either God created everything or it evolved by some fluke or accident of nature; there's no other choice except the Eastern philosophy of Maya or that the cosmos as an illusion.  God hides (cf. Isa. 45:15) with just enough light for the searcher to see and just enough darkness for the trifler not to see.

In sum, a seasoned believer has been there and done that so to speak and has a faith tried as if by fire and knows in Whom he believes and his calling, gifting, marching orders, and mission in life.  He isn't likely to be tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine (cf. Eph. 4:14).  He may have ups and downs in feelings or moods, but his faith has a foundation and is steadfast.  Sometimes he is called to act merely in faith and walk with the Lord in the Spirit, having fellowship during the hard times.  For we walk by faith, not by sight!  Faith can be seen as knowledge in action; it's not how much we believe but how well we obey.  (cf. 2 Cor. 5:7).

What Is Saving Faith?

The Gospel In Its Purity

The Reformers' formula for salvation was that we are "saved by faith alone but not by a faith that is alone," and they defined this faith:  by grace alone, in Christ alone, giving God alone the glory, and the Scripture alone as the authority--known as the Five Only's (by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, Scripture alone as authority, to God alone be the glory: sola gratia, sola fide, solus Christus, sola Scriptura, and sola Deo gloria).  We are to have Bible verses as our spiritual birth certificates, not taking the authority of a teacher, preacher, or church to certify our salvation--it's not their job description!  Our assurance comes from the Word of God coupled with the inner witness of the Holy Spirit (cf. Rom. 8:16).  We are to examine our own hearts, and become fruit inspectors of ourselves! 

Grace means we cannot add to it, we cannot substitute for it, we don't deserve it, we cannot earn it, nor can we ever pay it back--grace all the way!  We cannot put faith in the church or the pastor/teacher or even ourselves but the object must be Christ--it's the object that saves, not faith per se. Faith doesn't save:  Christ is the Savior!  Faith is the instrumental means or channel of grace.

The battle cry or rallying cry of the Reformation was that we are "saved by faith alone"; yet Romanists said that the Bible doesn't say that and they couldn't point to any certain passage in particular.  When we are arguing or proof-texting we have missed the boat and don't see the big picture. Many cults like to point you to some verse and catch you off-guard, unprepared for their interpretation.  You are either grace-oriented or not!  Yes, they are technically right, but no text says Jesus is God per se, in so many words, or that God is a Trinity either!  Some seemingly obscure doctrines we deduce from accepted dogma and plain, obvious passages or verses.

But with the Romanists, faith is seen as agreeing or acquiescing with what the Church (in their case the Roman Catholic Church) teaches or espouses.  Faith of this kind is merely head belief, not heart belief,  that doesn't enter the inner being of man and grow as a living and saving faith.  Saving faith is an obedient one!  We obey the gospel!  The Holy Spirit is only given to those who obey:  "We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him" (Acts 5:32, HCSB).  (CF. Heb. 3:18-19). THE POINT IS THAT FAITH AND OBEDIENCE ARE ETERNALLY EQUATED IN HOLY WRIT! THEY ARE TWO SIDES OF THE SAME COIN; "ONLY HE WHO BELIEVES IS OBEDIENT; ONLY HE WHO IS OBEDIENT BELIEVES"

NB:  The Judaizers were guilty of mixing law and gospel, works and faith, merit and grace!  This confusion led Paul to delineate the gospel message and condemn anyone who preaches an unbiblical evangel. 

Rome distorts the pure gospel message in multiple ways:  it adds works to faith, merit to grace, the Church to Christ, tradition to Scripture, and diminishes the glory of God as a result and outcome. For instance, they may have a lot of faith in their priest or in the Pope as being right.  Of course, they see faith as necessary, grace as necessary, and Christ as necessary even Scripture as necessary, but they refuse to acknowledge them as sufficient.  We believe grace is not only necessary but also sufficient to save us, as we are saved by grace, not by works, as Paul said, "My [God's] grace is sufficient for thee" (cf. 2 Cor. 12:9).

What Rome has done is make faith a meritorious work and in effect enabled man to save himself by what's called an analytic is a tautology, adding no new data, inherent righteousness and infused justification, not a synthetic, meaning we add data, alien righteousness (belonging to Christ, not us), and imputed justification of Christ--they see man as getting qualified or meriting salvation and he must make himself worthy in some way with some presalvation work--this is like stealing God's glory and giving yourself a pat on the back.  "Salvation is of the LORD," (Jonah 2:9) and is a completed work of God, not a cooperative venture.  If we had to do anything, we'd fail.  (Inherent is what we already possess and analytic means we add no new info--a triangle has three sides-- and this implies he already has the capability and is just and it's only latent, and it's infused which means inspired or quickened--so God just instills our latent righteousness--whereas synthetic means we add new data we don't have to the equation, and alien means foreign and not our own--so God imputes Christ's righteousness to us, it's not our righteousness that saves us!  In other words, God declares us righteous by virtue of Christ's righteousness, we are not made righteous and have no natural righteousness of our own--our righteousness is solely God's gift to us, not our gift to Him.

We must not believe in ourselves but in Christ and the object of our faith must be Christ, not Christ plus something or someone, not even us--we must give up trying to save ourselves.  It is heresy to add anything to Jesus in our salvation:  Jesus plus alms-giving, Jesus plus churchmanship, Jesus plus tithing, Jesus plus witnessing, Jesus plus any good behaviors--we are not saved by good behavior, but unto good behavior and if we don't have it our faith is suspect and may not exist.  Dead faith cannot save and that refers to a faith that is unfruitful and is not shown or demonstrated by works or deeds to prove it and validate it.  The faith you have is the faith you show, is what I always say.

The present-day evangelicals like to preach an easy-believism and/or play down the lordship of Christ in making a decision to follow Him and open the door of one's heart to die in Him, taking up one's cross after Him in obedience.  Christ will not save those He cannot command according to A. W. Tozer and what this means is that we must accept His ownership over our lives and surrender our wills at salvation and constantly renew that surrender as is fitting and proper.  In other words, true saving faith involves trusting Jesus alone as Savior, and submitting to His authority or lordship over our lives--only then do we own Him as our Lord and Savior.  He will not be a divided Christ, we accept Him for who He is or it's rejection.  

We must not confuse the gospel with the law either!  Law involves our duty to God and gospel is how Jesus settled the sin question and all He did on our behalf.  The two can be distinguished but not separated: we have responsibilities as well as privileges as the flip side!  They go hand in hand.  Parishioners must see their duty as well as the grace of God.  The Law was given to break and make us realize we cannot keep it; we don't break it, however, it breaks us!  What we do break is God's heart!  Preachers must get them lost ( cognizant of conviction of sin) before attempting to save them (preach salvation via the gospel) and some actually believe they are saved having never sensed they were ever lost sheep!  All we like sheep have gone astray!  We all need to be corralled into the flock now and then and a sermon ought to be able to give us a spiritual inventory as we get our regular checkup and connect with the preacher and one another with the message in mind.

The slogan "Just do it!" is relevant to following Christ; a disobedient follower or disciple is a contradiction in terms!  Remember the obedience of Peter:  "Nevertheless, at thy Word, Lord, I will cast down my net."  We are like soldiers in God's army and the line for the poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson comes to mind:  "Ours is not to wonder why ours is but to do and die!"  If Christ can be obedient unto death for us, we must follow our Exemplar and do likewise, for He doesn't ask us to do anything He didn't do.  Those who question orders don't belong in the military and likewise, with our Lord, we should obey wholeheartedly, and in full compliance.

In regards to law and gospel, we must never separate faith and repentance.  There is no saving faith without genuine repentance, and no genuine repentance without accompanying saving faith--they're two sides of the same coin, going hand in hand and one is the flip side of the other; you could call the command to penitent faith, or believing repentance, for you can distinguish them but never divorce them without compromising the truth.  Acts 20:21, ESV,  says that the apostle was "testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ." Note that these two active verbs are juxtaposed and forever wed in Scripture.  We see other passages where we are enjoined to repent unto salvation and in others to believe in the gospel.   We make a turnaround from sin (repentance) to Christ (faith).  The first words preached by John the Baptist and Jesus were to repent; Jesus added to believe in the gospel! 

NB: The Reformation was inaugurated because of a revolt against so-called tradition of the Roman Catholic Church as well as the restoration of the gospel, and during the Counter-Reformation in the Council of Trent (1545-63), the Church declared tradition on a par with the Bible in authority as well as condemn (pronounce anathema) anyone who believes we are saved by faith alone; i.e., the Protestants!

In sum, we must learn as the gospel hymn goes, "Trust and obey!"  Paul was a good example for he was not disobedient to the heavenly vision and warned of those who distort or pervert the gospel (cf. Gal. 1:7) and even preach another gospel, another Jesus, and another Spirit (cf. 2 Cor. 11:4).  Soli Deo Gloria!

Dwelling In God's House

What exactly was David referring to in verse 6 of the 23rd Psalm?  "... and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever!" (in the HCSB it says "as long as I live.")  This was a confession of faith an article of a creed, or a proclamation of victory that all was well with his soul and he knew to Whom he belonged.  There are three key doctrinal points to be made from this verse.
First,  he was assured of his salvation as it were.
Second, it commenced immediately or he owned it in the present tense (i.e., eternal life in Christ the Chief Shepherd referred to).
Third, he could not lose this confidence or his security was assured and good as God's Word.  David was emphatically proclaiming his salvation and announcing to us that he will be there in the LORD's house as a sure thing, for He is the perfect Promise Keeper.

David connected with the Lord on a personal level and sensed His presence in his life; you might say he knew that God is the One who is there, as Schaeffer called God, "The God who is there!"  As he also said, "He is there, and He is not silent."  We cannot be any closer than that--we converse with Him--in one level this psalm is a prayer of faith! David's faith expressed a deep fellowship and not just second-hand knowledge.

That is to say that we can have assurance of our salvation and don't have to wonder or just "hope" for the best; that our salvation begins in real time (it is not provisional and we are not on probation to earn our salvation or to keep it); and that our salvation is eternal and cannot be forfeited or lost--once you have it, you can never lose it--you're family and one of the Shepherd's sheep.  This is vital to know because the assurance of salvation and the eternal security of the believer are to be distinguished, but not separated!  They go hand in hand and you cannot have one without the other--we must never divorce them!

If there wasn't any security you would be presumptuous to say you had assurance or were saved, because you don't know if you might lose it by some future sin or might commit apostasy or fall away as a backslider and not recover. If there's no assurance, there's no security; if there's no security, there's no assurance--this is logic and by definition.  Just by the definition of eternal life, we say that it cannot end and begins and goes on from Day One, and from there all of one's days into eternity!  How can you have eternal life for one day?  You either partake of eternal life or you don't!  In sum, we share in God's life and are considered members of His household!

Our heritage as believers is the peace of God, which is manifest in multiple ways.  We have the peace with God, of God, and with ourselves.  This knowledge that we can rest in peace knowing we belong to God and are secure in our legacy, is really living the good life or life to the max! Our peace is the peace that surpasses all understanding!  Isaiah 57:21 says, "there is no peace, says my God,  for the wicked" and Rom. 3:17 says that "and the way of peace they do not know."  As they say, know Jesus, know peace; no Jesus, no peace!

"I was glad when they said unto mem, let us go into the house of the LORD" (cf. Psalm 122:1).     Soli Deo Gloria!

Death Be Not Proud!

"What man is he that liveth, and shall not see death?"  (Psalm 84:48, KJV).  

These are famous words of John Donne, the poet, known also for such lines as "Don't ask for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee!" and "No man is an island!'  These words seem immortal to some because they have the ring of truth, even for Christians, and Donne didn't profess a faith in God.  Truth hurts no matter who says it sometimes and we must speak it in love for that reason.  The reason death cannot be proud is found in Hosea 13:14, HCSB, which says, "I will ransom them from the power of Sheol [the grave].  I will redeem them from death.  Death, where are your barbs?  Sheol, where is your sting?"  Jesus conquered the death for us and we need not fear it any longer, in fact, the apostles went from being a fearful band to becoming bold as a lion in facing death after seeing Christ, and the way they died as martyrs shows no fear of death at all, so that their death became a witness to the infidel and pagan world of the time.

Now, I want to make a distinction between the martyrs of Christianity and those of radical Islam as an example:  Many a man will die for what he believes in or thinks is true, but will not die for a known lie--and the apostles were in a position to know whether Christ rose from the dead because they were eyewitnesses!  What transformed them so suddenly?  The resident power of the Holy Spirit that is not a spirit of timidity, but of boldness for Christ.  I am reminded of what David said, and he lived dangerously for sure, that there was "but a step between him and death."  He knew that you always have to be ready because no one knows when their time is and they must be prepared to meet their God always.  Woody Allen was afraid of death too but kept his sense of humor about it:  "I'm not afraid to die.  I just don't want to be there when it happens!"  Also, George Washington fought death and was asked if he was afraid to die:  he replied that he wasn't afraid to die; he just dies hard!  (He doesn't give up easily--he was a diehard!)

The Bible makes it clear that even believers can die before their time (cf. Eccl. 7:15, 17; Isa. 57:1), and no one takes note!  We are not guaranteed a long life if we serve God, but a more abundant one, and when we've completed our mission, then it's our time to check out, as it says of David having completed all God's will in Acts 13:36.

The trouble with people today is that they live as if they aren't going to die, and die as if they never lived!  People spend more time worrying about their funeral arrangements than making plans for eternity!  No one wants to make their final preparations, and I don't mean providing for final expenses or making a will, but knowing what God's will for them is. NB:  St. Francis of Assisi was always ready to meet his Maker, and when asked what he would do if he only had thirty minutes to live while he was doing his gardening, he said, "I'd finish this row!"  We should all heed the warning given to Hezekiah to get our house in order for it might be our time, and it may come when we least expect it.  Matthew Henry said we ought to live each day as if it's our last!  But we also are admonished by the Lord to be ready to meet the Lord in the air and not be taken by surprise, as if asleep when He comes for us--we should be reading the signs of the times and notice that His coming is near, even at the door or we may be unprepared for the day of our visitation.  

Fanatics claim they aren't afraid to die and Socrates is known to have died very stoically, but there is a difference the way Christians die.  They die in hope, not despair and God gives them dying grace to grant the faith to face the end, which they see as not a wall, but a door!  We don't wait for death, but for a new life and have hope that cannot fade away, not based upon anything we've done, like a suicide bomber hoping for mercy from Allah.  The  Christian has already died in Christ and has nothing to lose and everything to gain to go to his reward; while the unbeliever's reward was in this life--ours does not fade away.  We die daily!

We must be willing to take up our cross and follow Jesus, which might involve more than an inconvenience and denying ourselves some luxury, but dying to self--the sacrifice is our ego and all we have (God wants us, not our achievements or resources--they already are His!), and put all that is on the line for Jesus.  Satan held the power of death and death is the last enemy to be destroyed, but look upon it as our promotion and going to our reward, meeting our Maker in glory, which is not a continuation of this life as we know it, but a whole new realm of existence that may seem surreal if one could imagine it--in fact no eye has seen what God has prepared for those who believe!  The paradox of our faith is that in dying we live!

In sum, we must reckon ourselves never to be out of deaths shadow and always but a step away from it (it's inevitable and as sure as taxes!)  I say the only thing certain about life is death--we commence it upon birth!  Oscar Wilde said, "One can survive anything nowadays except death!"--so the Boy Scout motto applies:  Be Prepared!     Soli Deo Gloria!