The Gift Of Faith

This is an issue that separates theologians and some call it a doctrine that divides. If you believe faith is a work, then you are saved by works. If you believe faith is a gift, then you are saved by the grace of God. Titus 3:5,7 says we are "saved by grace." Faith is not something we conjure up, but it is bestowed on us through the preaching of the Word. "Faith comes by hearing and by hearing of the Word of God" (Rom. 10:17). Regeneration actually precedes faith according to John Piper and John Orr. If we could believe without regeneration, what good is it? The Spirit is like the wind that blows where it wills. "For by grace are you saved by faith, and that (the complete deal) not of yourselves, it is the gift of God..." (Eph. 2:8-9).

We don't psych ourselves up for faith, and we don't catch it like an illness from others, we don't conjure it up--it comes directly from the Holy Spirit who quickens faith within us. He overcomes our hardened heart and reluctance to believe. God has the ability to cause us to do something willingly in His omnipotence. Some, on the other hand, have made faith into a meritorious work, and denies that there is any such "gift." What else could it be, a work? Are we saved by grace or works, then?

Some pertinent verses are as follows for meditation:

"For you have believed through grace..." (Acts 18:27). "...To those who have obtained like precious faith..." (2 Pet. 1:1). "For it has been granted unto you ... to believe in Him..." (Phil. 1:29). "Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ HAS BEEN born of God..." (1 John 5:1 ESV). Nota bene that this is the past tense indicating that regeneration precedes faith. "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him..." (John 6:29). "God ... opened the door of faith to the Gentiles..." (Acts 14:27). "God opened Lydia's heart to pay attention to Paul..." (Acts 16:14). "What do you have that you didn't receive?"
(1 Cor. 4:7).

Faith is our act (God doesn't have faith), but it is God's work. Soli Deo Gloria. God gets all the glory, and we have nothing to boast of. It isn't our virtue nor our wisdom, but God's. God is no man's debtor and isn't obligated to save anyone. It is grace that He saves anyone. God works all things "according to the pleasure of His will." "We are the clay, He is the potter" (See Isaiah 64:8).lSoli Deo Gloria!

What About Repentance?

First, let me define the term. It comes from the Greek metanoia which means to "think after," "after-thought," or to "change one's mind." Actually, it means to do a 180-degree turn or to do an about-face in military parlance. It is repudiating and renouncing sin; not doing it partway. It is not mere emotionalism but involves the mind or intellect, the will, and the emotions. It is the gift of God (cf. Acts 5:31; 11:18) and is a fruit of saving faith, not a condition for salvation; Reformed theologians do not believe we can do anything to prepare ourselves for salvation, because we are depraved people who cannot do anything meritorious. A dead man can do nothing! This U-turn or turnabout is a radical change of heart, mind, and will.

It is not a one-time event but is progressive and one is never through repenting as far as God sees it--it is progressive. It is not mere remorse, self-condemnation, regret, or feeling sorry, for Judas had these--it must be accompanied by saving faith. It is more than eating humble pie--it is coming clean with God. Surrender to the Lordship of Christ is implied and there can be no real repentance without it--there must be submission to the Lord's will and absolute surrender.

John the Baptist heralded Christ's coming with the message, "Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand." This is also the first message Christ proclaimed. Repentance is a recurring motif in the Scriptures. "Unless you repent, you shall likewise perish," Christ warned. Ezek. 18:30 says, "Repent and turn from all your transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your ruin." "And the times of ignorance God winked at, but now commands all men everywhere to repent" (Acts 17:30). "Repent, and be baptized every one of you...for the remission of sins" (Acts 2:38). Many see repentance as the prerequisite of salvation and the starting point. We must see our sin, our need, and then Christ can fill that need.

Faith and repentance are linked in Acts 20:21, which mentions "repentance toward God and faith in Jesus Christ." It is clear that repentance is a mandate. It is in the imperative case and everyone has to do it. Some say that the righteous have no need of repentance, but they are righteous because they have already repented or demonstrated saving faith. Spurious repentance or pseudo-repentance is like a child that just wants to be good enough not to be whipped (being sorry about the consequence not that he offended someone).

The Catholic Bible (Vulgate) translates "repentance" as "doing penance." They view it as a meritorious work and externalize it, and not as the gracious work of God in a person's heart. We do works fit for repentance, but repentance is an attitude that God grants us. "If perchance God may grant them repentance..." (2 Tim. 2:25). Acts 5:31 and 11:18 talk of God "granting repentance." There is no genuine repentance without saving faith, and likewise, no saving faith without genuine repentance according to Billy Graham; for they are complementary and go hand in hand. Repentance is the flip side of the coin of faith.

One must either have believing repentance or penitent faith, so to speak, as John Piper and Wayne Grudem phrase it. True repentance manifests itself in works that are appropriate (bringing forth fruit worthy of repentance), and I don't mean doing so many "Hail Mary's" or "Our Father's." Restitution or reconciliation is often called for, but to be sure we must see our sin as God sees it and that it is an offense against His holiness. (Confession (homologeo) means to "say the same thing as.)

Many preachers today do not preach repentance because it is such a killjoy word, and they want to tickle the ears of the church members. People listen to what their itching ears want to hear, and this is unpopular. Without repentance, there is no salvation, but God grants repentance in His grace. False repentance is attrition or simply regret.

Contrition is when we are truly sorry and don't intend to do it again. Judas was sorry and Esau was sorry, but they found no repentance. Whereas Peter was truly sorry for having denied the Lord and did find repentance and a change of heart, and thus forgiveness and restoration. Peter sincerely believed in the Lord--that is the difference. He believed the Lord could forgive him and never despaired.

In sum, saving faith is the flip side of true repentance--they go hand in hand; often it's not how big your faith but how thorough your repentance. (They are forever juxtaposed in Scripture in Acts 20:21) Soli Deo Gloria!

Are Works Imperative?

There is a grand distinction between religion and Christianity: works out of a pure motive and not for applause; i.e., to ingratiate oneself or get brownie points with a deity. Christians are not "do-gooders" per se but do good deeds because they want to, not because they have to. The key is not "in order to" but "therefore." Good works logically follow a changed life, through which Christ lives. We are not saved by good works neither without them! We're not saved by good works but unto good works! (cf. Eph. 2:10). In a works religion, you never know how much is enough! Since salvation is a gift only in Christianity, the person is free to do good out of gratitude.

"...Set an example of good works yourself..." (Tit. 2:7).
Americans have fallen prey to the misconception that achieving the "American dream" is the ideal and living the "good life" is a "salvation." God requires perfection so any attempt to earn our way is in vain--we need grace and heaven is that gift which is by faith alone, but only a living faith.

Some misguided souls subscribe to the credo that since salvation is by grace alone works aren't necessary (we say that grace is necessary and sufficient and that faith is a gift according to Rom. 12:3; Acts 18:27; 2 Pet. 1:1: John 6:29; Phil 1:29; Acts 14:27). The Reformed doctrine is that salvation is "by faith alone, but not by a faith that is alone." Works equaling salvation is the essence of religion and mixing works with faith for salvation is legalism. The prevalent view that grace is both necessary and sufficient--there's no place for merit) without any evidence will suffice is erroneous. This is known as Antinomianism or "no-lordship salvation."

Nota bene that if you don't have good works to "work out" or a spiritual workout (cf. Phil. 2:12) your salvation is suspect. The kind of works I am referring to is good deeds--not works of the law. We are not saved by works; but not without them either--but unto works! Works prove, validate, and authenticate, faith to others, God, as well as yourself (cf. Isa. 32:17); but are not the substitute for it. We must put our faith into action--as James would say, "The faith you have is the faith you show."

There is no irreconcilable difference between Paul and James; they saw two vantage points: Paul was dealing with those who couldn't do enough and thought the law was necessary; James was dealing with "do-nothing" libertines. Paul would say, "I'll show you my works." James would counter, "I'll show you my faith." Paul talked about being "rich in faith" (1 Tim. 6:18). James talked about being "rich in deeds" (James 2:5). James says, "But someone will say, 'You have faith, I have deeds,' Show me your faith without deeds and I will show you my faith by what I do" (James 2:18).

Faith doesn't have a dormant or inert stage; it can't be left in mothballs! Faith and works are distinguished, but cannot be separated. Faith without works is dead (James 2:17, 26).

Our works will be judged (for reward) not our faith since faith is a gift (cf. Rom. 12:3)! We are judged according to our works, not our faith (cf. Romans 2:6; Prov. 24:12; Psalm 62:12) "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ" the Bema or tribunal) (1 Cor. 3:15; 2 Cor. 5:10). "[God] 'will reward each according to what he has done'" (Rom. 2:6). Our works have to do with our testimony (Matt. 5:16; Tit. 1:16, 2:14)--"By their works they deny Him." We are to be a people "zealous of good works". We are to be "thoroughly furnished unto all good works" and "are created unto good works" (2 Tim. 3:17; Eph. 2:10).

It is important that we give glory to God (Soli Deo Gloria). "I will not venture to boast of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me" (Rom. 15:18). Jesus said, "Apart from me you can do nothing, " (cf. John 15:5). Isa. 26:12 reads, "All that we have accomplished you have done for us." The reason God blesses us is so that we can bear fruit (cf. 2 Cor. 9:8). No fruit means no faith. We are known by our fruits. We are commanded to do good works (Gal. 6:10; Phil. 2:12). Most of all the importance of it all is summed up: "Bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God" (Col. 1:10) [Note how they are correlated.]

NB: WE ARE NOT SAVED BY WORKS, NOR WITHOUT THEM EITHER. WORKS VALIDATE FAITH AND WITHOUT THEM OUR FAITH IS SUSPECT! Soli Deo Gloria!

Is Seeing Believing?

"...' I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!'" (Mark 9:24, NIV).  

Some skeptics will tell you that seeing is believing!  Actually, it's the reverse:  believing is seeing!  Augustine said, "I believe in order to understand."  Philosophers will tell you all knowledge begins in faith with some presupposition you cannot prove.  When our hearts are opened by the illuminating ministry of the Holy Spirit we do see things in a new light though and the eyes of faith see things that the unbelieving world cannot.  There is nothing that will make an unbelieving person see--no amount of light can restore blindness!  It takes a supernatural work of God to open the eyes of the blind (spiritually speaking).

Just like the hymn that goes, "I was blind, but now I see." Then we have a new perspective on life with Christ as the center focus.  And He gives us purpose and meaning that only He can do and no other religion can do.  As the psalmist wrote, "Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law" (cf. Psalm 119:18, NIV), so we were blinded by Satan and could not see any spiritual truth until Jesus set us free from bondage.  Indeed, we shall know the truth and the truth shall set us free!  We should be eager to see things in a new light!

"Faith is not about how much we believe but how well we obey."  It has been said that it's not believing in spite of the evidence but obeying despite the consequences. Faith has legs and goes somewhere is an action word--it goes somewhere, for we walk by faith, not by sight (cf. 2 Cor. 5:17).  James 2:18 says, "I will show you my faith by my deeds." While Paul would complement that with:  "I will show you my good deeds by my faith."  Abraham by faith obeyed God!  His faith was confirmed by his act of circumcision, not begun.  We verify that we have faith in the eyes of others and become God's witnesses.

Faith is suspect without works and we are saved by faith alone, but not by a faith that is alone (the Reformer's formula).  It has been also said that we are not saved by works but unto works! Not by good behavior but unto good behavior!  We must validate our faith by works though.  In short, we're not saved by good works, but not without them either!  As James said, "Faith without works is dead," so we must desire to live it out and grow from faith to faith.  We must bear in mind that dead faith doesn't save.  And so it is something seen, going somewhere, not just possessed.  Just like good soil produces fruit, so saving faith produces good deeds.

The point is that when we see faith in action in others it encourages our faith and it becomes a witness to a blinded world--we must show our faith and be bold to not be ashamed of the opportunity to stand up for Christ.  We only need mustard-seed faith to be saved and the object is what saves, not the faith.  We don't have faith in faith!  One problem in the church is misdirected zeal and zeal without knowledge or fanaticism.  This kind of faith does more harm than good.  The faith you have is the faith you show in essence and it's your knowledge in action.  We must never divorce faith and faithfulness, for these two go hand in hand as we grow in the faith.

CAVEAT:  We must beware of head belief or storybook faith that is not a conversion of the heart and transformation of the whole soul.  In the final analysis, we must prove we have saving faith that springs from sincerity and good deeds--a conversion of the heart, mind, and will--we will know them by their fruits.

Concluding thoughts:  There is just enough light to see for the willing and enough darkness not to see for the unwilling; at any rate, we must turn our creeds into deeds and express just like John MacArthur said, "True faith manifests itself in obedience only."    Soli Deo Gloria!

The Obedience Of Faith...

"We have received grace and apostleship through Him to bring about the obedience of faith among all the nations on behalf of HIs name including yourselves who also belong to Jesus Christ by calling" (Rom. 1:5-6, HCSB). 
"...[T]o advance the obedience of faith among all nations" (Rom. 16:26, HCSB).
Salvation via repentance stressed: 
 "...[T]hat he might bring Israel to repentance and forgive their sins" (Acts 5:31, NIV).  
"...'So then, even to Gentiles God has granted repentance that leads to life'" (Acts 11:18, NIV).
"Produce fruit in keeping with repentance..." (Luke 3:8, NIV).  "... But unless you repent you too will perish" (Luke 13:5, NIV).  
"I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance" (Luke 5:32, HCSB).
".... Repent and believe in the good news!" (Mark 1:15, HCSB).
"... 'So God has granted repentance resulting in life even to the Gentiles'" (Acts 11:18, HCSB).
"God exalted this Man to His right hand as ruler and Savior, to grant repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins."  (Acts 5:31, HCSB).
"The best measure of a spiritual life is not its ecstasies but its obedience." --Oswald Chambers
NOTE:  ALL ITALICS MINE. 

The old controversy of Lordship-salvation, prevalent since days of the rise of Evangelicalism, is still unclear and unsettled in the dogma of some so-called evangelical churches.  Dietrich Bonhoeffer articulated it as far back as the Nazi era:  "Only he who believes is obedient; only he who is obedient believes."  Hebrews 11:8 says, "By faith Abraham  ... obeyed."  The two go hand in hand and might be considered two sides of the same coin--you can only distinguish them--they are inseparable!  Jesus said that if we love Him we will obey Him--obviously, believing in Him is to be obedient:  It is vain to serve God without faith, (cf. Heb. 11:6) for this is merely dead faith that cannot save (cf. James 2:26). 

Note that a tree is known by its fruit!  God looks for fruit, not foliage!  Good soil produces fruit!   Only faith pleases God and this must be real faith that produces works and we can do nothing apart from Christ--I repeat for emphasis:  Apart from Him, we can do nothing, not believe, not repent, not bear fruit!  (Cf. Heb. 11:6; John 15:5).

We must not only come to faith in Him but be obedient to the faith and that starts with being obedient to the gospel!  That entails a penitent faith! Repentance is a gift of God along with the faith that God grants the believer (cf. Acts 18:27, 2 Pet. 1:1; Phil. 1:29 with: 2 Tim. 2:25; Acts 5:31, 11:18; 2 Tim. 2:24-25).  Those are also two mindsets that go hand in hand.  We either are saved by penitent faith or believing repentance if you will.  The two works of grace are juxtaposed in Acts 20:21, HCSB, ("I testified to both Jews and Greeks about repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus" ) and used interchangeably in Scripture.  Salvation is often seen as from the point of view of repentance:  "...that they should repent and turn to God, and do works worthy of repentance" (Acts 26:20, HCSB).

In essence, Israel already believed in God and needed repentance concerning Christ; while the Gentiles needed to exercise faith!  But God commands all people everywhere to repent (cf. Acts 17:30).   "[A]nd repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name..." (Luke 24:47, HCSB).  And so obedient faith produces the fruit or works of repentance and good deeds as a witness!  In repentance, we are turning from our sin, and in our act of faith, we turn from self to God.

Faith and obedience are linked and juxtaposed in Scripture:  Hebrews 3:18-19 says they didn't enter His rest due to unbelief, and also due to disobedience in parallel.  Indeed, Christ is a Lord to be obeyed from servants.  He owns us as our Master and we are the slaves--we belong to Him; we don't merely serve Him.  We must not divorce faith and obedience! They can be distinguished but not separated!  God made this Jesus, who was crucified, both Lord and Christ according to Acts 2:36 and we must accept Him for who He is!

We must bow and bend the knee!  We must submit to His Lordship over us and unashamedly own Him as Lord.  The Father has granted Him all authority and He is Lord of all (cf. Matt. 28:18; Acts 10:36; Rom. 10:12).  We cannot dichotomize His offices and only accept a Savior without denying ourselves, taking up our cross, and following Him in discipleship (cf. Mark 8:34).  We either accept Him for who He is or we have rejected Him--this is the mistake of easy-believism that seems to be in vogue, that wants to domesticate the gospel in order to make it palatable to the sinner and requiring no sacrifice or commitment whatsoever.

The thing that qualifies Him to be Savior is that He's Lord, but we don't make Him Lord, He IS LORD!  We must acknowledge His authority over our lives and we must get in line with God's will and present ourselves to His sovereignty and plan over our lives as we become "living sacrifices" (cf. Rom. 12:1). In short, to accept His Lordship over our lives is to commit to following Him in discipleship and to obey Him! As Hosea puts it:  "Let us follow on to know the Lord" (Hos. 6:3)!        Soli Deo Gloria!

How Should We Then Live?

The title is taken from a book by Francis Schaeffer (founder of L'Abri Fellowship International in Switzerland), the late American theologian and renowned philosophical apologist who wrote A Christian Manifesto.  Christianity is about the so-called "good life" indeed, for Jesus promised a "more abundant life."  But few believers achieve this and fall short of God's best for them and never really prosper in God's will and calling.  We must not live for ourselves for even Jesus didn't please Himself (cf. Rom. 15:3).   The Christian has the Spirit to know God and to enjoy and delight in the Lord while the infidel is a slave to sin and held captive by the devil to do his will.  We must be rescued from the kingdom of darkness and brought into the light.

God indeed promises prosperity, but prosperity theology of "name and claim it!" is fallacious as commonly taught--it's not always financial but definitely in finding God's will. Financial prosperity is not a sign of God's favor or blessing because even the wicked prosper--but some people receive their portion and reward in this life (cf. Psalm 17:14).  We are not here to live for the here and now, but in light of eternity.  Our reward is in heaven and, per Lamentations 3:24,  "the Lord is [our] portion]; we are awaiting a reward that cannot perish!  The whole purpose we are here is to glorify God (cf. Isa. 43:7).  We do this by completing the purpose we are called to do and enjoying Him in praise, thanksgiving, and worship.  We really glorify God by enjoying Him!

Now to the title of how should we live:  Solomon, the Preacher in Ecclesiastes, said that the whole duty of man is to fear God (for the fear of the Lord is only the beginning of true knowledge and wisdom! as is written in Proverbs) and to keep His commandments!  Obedience and faith are equated!  (cf. Heb. 3:18-19).   To be happy in Jesus we must simply "Trust and Obey!"  For the Word says, "To obey is better than sacrifice," in 1 Sam. 15:22, NIV.  They both say the same thing. Jesus (cf. Matt. 23:23) condemned the Pharisees for neglecting the main point of the Law:  Justice, mercy, and faithfulness!

In the same vein, Bonhoeffer said, "Only he who believes is obedient; only he who is obedient believes."  Some people would tell you that the secret is to have faith for they believe in faith in faith, while others will tell you to believe in yourself, for self-esteem is vital.  We as Christians don't put stock in faith per se, but faith in the right object--Christ.  We also don't stress self-esteem as we rely on God-esteem.

It's also not how big our faith is, but its object that counts and how big our God is that matters!  God only requires faith as a mustard seed, but it must be in Him!  It is a key point that the phrase "Keep the faith!" is erroneous and misunderstood by many.  It matters what our faith is and what kind of faith, and in whom (cf. 2 Tim. 1:12)!  We are not believers in faith for its own sake!  Some will be defenders of faith per se, but not defenders of THE FAITH (cf. Jude v. 3)!

We ought to walk even as Enoch did with the Lord and be in step with the Spirit all the way through thick and thin, come what may, letting the chips fall where they may, and even when the chips are down!  "Noah was a just man, and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God"--therefore the Lord reckoned him as righteous (cf. Gen. 6:5)  We have more at our disposal than Noah (the complete canon of Scripture, the Holy Spirit, the fellowship of the church, and even a long tradition of sound doctrine and teaching of the Word).

Our faith is a walk; i.e., "we walk by faith, and not by sight" per 2 Cor. 5:7.  That means we may have to venture out of our comfort zones and go where the Lord calls us, but we cannot be qualified if we haven't bloomed where we are planted first.  The order of the day is not to look for an area of service, but to bloom where planted and let God do the calling into service.  The whole world is our domain of service and we are already at large, so to speak, in the mission field, our circle of influence!

No matter how important faith is, love is of paramount importance in all things; let all things be done in love!  It matters not what we do--even servile acts of kindness and mercy--but how much love we put into action.  Love is proved by our good deeds and it should not be a matter of words only but of deeds--we must turn our creeds into deeds!  For our faith is not a matter of knowing a creed but of knowing a person and proving this to the world, making Him known as our marching order.  As Paul said in Gal. 5:6, NIV, "[A]ll that counts is faith expressing itself through love," and in the love chapter that, if we have not the passion of love manifest in our hearts, we are nothing but a "sounding cymbal or clanging gong."

And in the final analysis, we ought not to live selfishly, but for others and to see ourselves on a mission to live solely for Christ's work and to do His will in everything, always to the glory of God and making Him known.  We are all here for a purpose or mission (cf. Acts 20:24):  As it says in Pss. 138:8; 57:2, that God will fulfill His purpose for us!  When David had completed God's purpose, He took him (cf. Acts 13:36).  He will never abandon the work of His hands and will never give up on us as lost causes, for God completes His work (cf. Phil. 1:6) and we are all works in progress!

The conclusion of the matter is that the good life is not to be sought in materialism (the American dream), seeking a higher standard of living, education, clout, power, riches, or even fame, but solely in realizing one's potential in Christ, in whom we are made complete (cf. Col. 2:10); for we died and our life is hidden with Christ in God (cf. Col. 3:3).       Soli Deo Gloria!

Our Continuing Resolution

Our walk in Christ is one of faith, progressing from faith to faith (cf. Rom. 1:17) increasing in sanctification and glory (cf. 2 Cor. 3:18).  Our faith is a continuity:  of our status in the state of grace; one of faith from start to finish; of continuous repentance; of daily fellowship; of assurance of salvation; of security in our salvation; of surrender; of commitment; and finally, with daily renewal, for God is able to transform our lives into His image.  He is like a sculptor that chips away everything that doesn't look like his subject; in our case, God is the sculptor and we are the subject, and God chips away everything that doesn't resemble Christ.

It is important and noteworthy that our repentance is not a one-time deal we make with God but of a continuing, ongoing resolution, renewal, and repetition.  Likewise, our faith is not just a one-time action, but a continual walk with Christ.  For we walk by faith and not by sight! (2 Cor. 5:7).  Job said that he would wait until his renewal would come (cf. Job 14:14)--we must patiently wait for the Lord to (re-everything!) restore, reconcile, redeem, rebuild, and renew us in Christ's image and repair the tarnished one soiled by the old sin nature--final restoration will take place in glory!

Here is where Romanists beg to differ:  They don't believe in assurance nor in the security of the believer!  A believer who claims knowledge or assurance of his salvation, apart from some divine revelation to that effect, is guilty of the sin of presumption.  Au contraire!  Assurance is not only a command (cf. 2 Pet. 1:10) but a duty and a boon to our salvation and walk (cf. 1 John 5:13).  It is the expression of faith!  It is important to note that these two go hand in hand:  If one doesn't believe in security, neither can he presume assurance!  And how can one affirm assurance without some security?

Our faith is an ongoing progression of our knowledge of God.  The goal is to know God in His fellowship--this is by faith alone, but we taste and see the Lord is good!  We can rejoice in the knowledge of the permanency of our salvation (though the term "eternal security" is not biblical, "eternal redemption" is cited in Heb. 9:12 and "eternal salvation" is mentioned in Heb. 5:9).  Note that we are not saved on a provisional, probational, trial, or temporary basis, but on a permanent one!  We cannot utterly and finally fall from the state of grace, for we are assured we will persevere as God preserves and keeps us!  We don't need to do penance (the second plank of salvation for those who've made shipwreck of their faith) like Catholics when they have fallen from the state of grace by committing some mortal sin.   Soli Deo Gloria!

"To Justify The Ways Of God To Man" (quoted from John Milton)

"Expect Great Things From God; Attempt Great Things For God." --William Carey, father of modern missions in a sermon.

John Milton penned Paradise Lost to defend God's veracity and justice in His dealings with mankind.  This was an attempt to reach out to many who would not otherwise want to hear any type of apologetics from a Christian and had many audiences:  the skeptic, the cynic, the doubter, the contra-Christian, the fence sitter, the newborn believer, the adolescent believer, the mature believer, the backslider, the pagan, the nihilist, the earnest seeker or searcher of truth or the so-called answer, the sophisticated, the naive, the cultured, the Bohemian, and even the curiosity seeker.

We must realize that we don't always know who will read our Christian writings, and should be open to the idea of feeding them despite their identity or affiliation. Know the audience!   Did you know that William Shakespeare was a devoted Christian who mentioned Jesus Christ in his will?  We can recognize and verify this by his hundreds of direct quotes and allusions to the Bible in his plays, sonnets, and poems.  If you remove the Bible from his works, they seem to be empty and aimless.  He had a Christian worldview and probably felt that his mission was to reach out to the lost.  Many people have doubtless come to faith in Christ by first being softened in the heart by Shakespeare's biblical references.

Many people and students of literature don't realize that our Christian heritage in Western Civilization has been dominated or greatly influenced by Christian literature: Dante Alighieri (The Divine Comedy) , John Bunyan (Pilgrim's Progress is perhaps the most famous and popular allegory every written), Daniel Defoe (Robinson Crusoe), Robert Browning, Victorian poet with famed wife Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, poet laureate (In Memoriam), Robert L. Stevenson (The Strange Case of Dr. Jekll and Mr. Hyde, Kidnapped), Charles Dickens, Victorian author (A Christmas Carol), Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, the German Shakespeare, (Faust), not to mention countless unsung heroes of literature.  In fact, the very first novel published in the English language, Robinson Crusoe, was most likely meant as an outreach because one can tell by his biblical references drilled into the conscious and unconscious by illustration and repetition.  I remember the one verse that stuck out in my mind that changed my way of thinking about literature with the impression only the Bible could make ( cf. Psalm 50:15, HCSB):  "Call on Me in a day of trouble; I will rescue you, and you will honor Me."  This verse is made real because we see it fulfilled in the storyline and one sees it so often that one is impressed. I may have already been a believer, but this verse brought conviction and God's Word doesn't come back void according to Isaiah 55:11.

There are twentieth-century authors who have greatly influenced literature and the unbelieving masses.   J. R. R. Tolkien, who wrote The Hobbit trilogy and C. S. Lewis, author of the classic children's series, The Chronicles of Narnia, have been seen as movie productions, plays, and the subject of literature courses at schools of higher learning, as well as high school English classes.  These novels use imagery and metaphoric language to portray Christ.  Did you know that it was Tolkien who converted Lewis by telling him that Christianity is the great myth that has come true?

It is a great ambition to want to reach the lost for Christ in new ways such as writing fiction/fantasy, and many analogies and metaphors can be used.  But it is vital that one knows one's audience and not forget who you are targeting and keep in mind who to reach out to and you want to resonate with and strike a chord with that will indeed vibrate for eternity. He knows where his audience is and where they should be and want to be.  It is a sad commentary on our decaying secularizing culture that it is the best-selling authors who are shaping the values, morals, and ethics and even faith of our society.

But we need not give up the world to the pagans and lose by default and concede everything away without a fight; for Christianity has always survived because it has out-thought, out-lived, and "out-died,"  the competition. Basically, we are referring to the discipline of apologetics when we defend our faith and try to make it palatable to the unbeliever and this can even be in the format of literary apologetics like that of Tolkien and Lewis.  We need more authors to compete with the secular world and welcome any effort by a writer who feels called or gifted to enter this endeavor or discipline.
Soli Deo Gloria!

Keeping The Faith...

Some earnest believers urge men to "keep the faith," while this may seem like a reasonable exhortation, it's meaningless.  The motto of the sovereign of the UK is "F.D." or Fidei Defensor, meaning that be the "defender of the faith," while crown prince Charles wants to change it to simply "defender of faith."  To him, it matters not what your faith is as long as you defend it.  The Bible also speaks of contending for the faith, not just faith per se, and refers also to our Christian credo or constitution.  All in all, it's not how big our faith, but how big our God and through our repentance.  There's no saving faith without genuine heartfelt repentance (cf. Acts 26:20). We have penitent faith or believing repentance.  We don't have faith in faith!  Faith is only as valid as the object it's placed in. We don't need perfect faith--just sincere, unfeigned faith!

As you may recall, Paul urged Timothy to keep the faith and many in the latter days would abandon the faith or bail out theologically as it were.  Paul boasted in his swan song (2 Tim. 4:7, NIV) that he had "fought the good fight, [he] finished the race, [he] kept the faith" (emphasis mine)"   This is all that's required of the believer!  Note that Paul wasn't resting on his laurels!   We don't have to win the race--Christ won for us!  We must finish the course tailored for us!  We are only His ambassadors in this world.  And we persevere in the faith only because He preserves us to the end.  

The angelic war or conflict with Satan comes with the territory and we sign up for this at salvation as our battle just begins as we get on Satan's hit list and become his spiritual enemy--but remember:  the battle is the Lord's! We live in enemy-occupied turf!  But we are our own worst enemy!  The key is to know the threefold enemy: the world, the flesh, the devil.  In affliction, the same sun melts the butter, hardens the clay! Becoming bitter or better.   Our faith must be tested as if by fire!  "But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold," (Job 23:10, NIV).  WE MUST NEVER DIVORCE FAITH FROM FAITHFULNESS!

Now how exactly did Paul maintain his faith in such an inhospitable, unwelcome environment as Rome?  The way we do:  we keep our faith by giving it away!  The measure of our faith is the works it produces as fruit. Without works our faith is suspect!  Good soil produces a good crop, not foliage.  Paul would say that faith must be proved by works, and James would say works must spring from faith!  Reiterating:  Paul teaches that works must bloom from the faith; James teaches faith must be demonstrated and validated by works!  Don't divorce them!  They go hand in hand and cannot be separated, only distinguished.  We must realize that the faith we have is the faith we show!  If our faith has no works, it's dead (cf. James 2:17) and that kind of faith cannot save.  We must bear in mind the formula of the Reformers:  "We are saved by faith alone, but not by a faith that is alone."

God will certainly reward us for our work done in His name (2 Chron. 15:7) and we are rewarded according to our works, not our faith--so we must turn our faith and creed into deeds!  We must be sold out for Christ and serve Him with our whole heart, mind, soul, and strength and in the Spirit.  God is not against good works, just those done in the flesh.  "...' You reward everyone according to what they have done'" (Psalm 62:12, NIV).  "God 'will repay each person according to what they have done'" (Rom. 2:6, NIV).  True faith expresses itself!  Some people will suffer loss and be saved as if by fire because their works were nothing but wood, hay, and stubble and burned up at God's fire of judgment (cf. 1 Cor. 3:15).

According to Isaiah, we must be firm in the faith to withstand the trials and afflictions coming our way as we signed up for.  "... If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all," (Isa. 7:9, NIV).  We are culpable for any lapses in our faith and must not grow lax in the faith due to carnality or lack of spiritual discipline. For those without discipline do not belong to Him and are illegitimate children.  We all have a cross to bear--no cross, no crown!  We must not be ignorant of Satan's schemes! "If God is for us, who can be against us?" (Cf. Rom. 8:31, NIV).

God gives to each of us a measure of faith (cf. Rom. 12:3) and what we do with this faith gift is our gift to God.  He gives us faith, but we must exercise it!  Paul would say, "I'll show you my good deeds by my faith," while James would counter, "I'll show you my faith by my good deeds" (Js. 2:18)." Israel was known for the sin of backsliding and Hosea is a book of promise to heal the backslider at heart:  "I will heal their waywardness and love them freely, for my anger has turned away from them," (Hos. 14:4, NIV). We must remember that affliction and trial belong to Reality 101 in our Christian walk, but for the backslider at heart, he can only blame himself:  "..your sins have been your downfall!" (Hos. 14:1, NIV).

We are to abide in Christ and He will abide in us (John 15:4) for it's possible to walk with the Lord for one's entire life if one is obedient as Enoch, for that is the only true measure of faith--not ecstasies nor experiences!  God is not looking for our achievements, but our obedience--He wants us!  We must be cognizant that we can do nothing without Christ's power (cf. Jn. 15:5); i.e., of our own strength. Our righteousness is God's gift to us (cf. Isa. 45:24) but what we do with it is our gift to God.  Faith is given, not achieved!  

NB: Jesus said in John 15:5 that apart from Him we can do nothing  (even believe!).  In sum, "... make every effort to confirm your calling and election. ... you will never stumble" (2 Pet. 1:10, NIV).   Soli Deo Gloria!

The Goal Of Our Christian Life

"Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them" (John 13:17, NIV). 
"A man convinced against his will, is of the same opinion still." --famous proverb 

Dietrich Bonhoeffer equated belief and obedience:  "Only he who believes is obedient; only he who is obedient believes."  They go hand in hand and one must not divorce faith and faithfulness either, and the result, which is obedience (cf. Heb. 3:1-19). Unbelievers are called "sons of disobedience" in Eph. 2:2. Christians are to be eager to live for the Lord and to live a life pleasing to Him.  Discipleship implies obedience because we are following on to know the Lord (cf. Hos. 6:3) in His steps. Good deeds are the fruit of salvation, not the means; if there is no fruit our salvation is suspect.

And we are not given a list of dos and don'ts and the Bible isn't a handbook on rules or catalog of regulations, but a key to personally know the Lord.  Yes, the goal is not to obey but this is a byproduct of our love, which is expressed in obedience (to love Him is to obey His commandments).  The believer yearns to obey, even if he falls short of his ideal.  The second part of the Great Commission is to teach us to obey, and it doesn't just stipulate that we obey one rule or what to obey, but the principle of obedience and to obey all things commanded by Christ.

The principle of obedience per se is to be taught, not just to authorities and the rules of the Lord (cf. Jer. 5:4; 8:7; Micah 4:12) but to the will of God.  There is no such thing as disobedient believers per Bonhoeffer--they can disobey, but all believers have surrendered to the lordship of Christ (cf. Rom. 12:1) and have obeyed the gospel, to receive the Holy Spirit (cf. Acts 5:39).  God's commands are not burdensome, for His yoke is easy (cf. Matt. 11:29) and He grants us the strength to obey (cf. Phil. 2:13). 

But we are not just goody-goodies who appear as shallow seeking the approbation of men, but those people who know the Lord, doing the work of the Lord from the heart--for we are a people "eager to do good works" (cf. Titus 2:14).  We increase in the knowledge of the Lord by applying what we know in good works as Col. 1:10, NIV, says, "[B]earing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God."  Note that 2 Pet. 3:18 commands us to grow in the knowledge of our Lord as we increase in grace.   To know Him is to love Him!  We can only boast if we know Him (cf. Jer. 9:24).

It is said that Christ didn't come to make bad men good, but dead men alive!  We are raised from the dead when we get saved, for Christ is still in the resurrection business.  Obedience is for our own good, for God knows what's best for us and the way to life as we are called to trust in His will.  We must realize that the Pharisees were externalists, going through the motions and memorizing the Dance of the Pious, but had no inward reality! As it says in 1 Sam. 15:22, "to obey is better than sacrifice," it follows that we must have an inward reality and not just be paying lip service (cf. Jer. 12:2).  The Pharisees were experts at the Law of Moses and were legalists' thinking that obedience without a right heart could please God (cf. Matt. 15:8).

What really pleases God is faith and we cannot please Him without it (cf. Heb. 11:6), and expressing this faith through love is all that counts (cf. Gal. 5:6), as Mother Teresa of Calcutta has said, "True holiness consists in doing the will of God with a smile."  Our ultimate goal is to have a fulfilling, loving relationship with our Lord, and this is done by knowing Him and applying what we know.  Richard of Chichester's prayer was "to know Jesus Christ more clearly, to love him more dearly, and to follow him more nearly. 

All knowledge is merely a byproduct and not the end itself in our life, it is merely a means to an end of knowing Him, and we don't want our knowledge to be second-hand knowledge only but from our own experience.  It doesn't just stop at head knowledge but is to be applied to our lives (cf. Job 5:27).

Many believers pride themselves on being right and have separated from fellow Christians over nonessential issues; they are content just to be doctrinally correct and impeccable, even splitting hairs, or worse yet to be politically correct, saying "my way or the highway."  We must learn to defend the truth and stand up for the truth, but remember that our relationships are more important than our stands; at our judgment, God will not ask us if we were a Democrat or Republican, for instance, or a Calvinist or Arminian, but whether we loved our opponents.

However, we are never called to be argumentative, contentious, divisive, or judgmental, but to build bridges not make walls in relationships.  It is said that we must not be disagreeable, but learn to agree to disagree, and the Bible says that God's servants must not be quarrelsome (cf. 2 Tim. 2:24) or argue over the meaning of words (cf. 1 Tim. 6:4).  "If anyone teaches otherwise and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching they are conceited and understand nothing..." (1 Tim. 6:3-4, NIV).

In sum, we must never lose focus on the twin goals of our faith:  orthodoxy and orthopraxy, or to believe right and live right as its consequence; in other words, making disciples doesn't just mean bringing people about to our way of thinking or our school of thought, but turning our creeds into deeds and living it out as a witness to the world.    Soli Deo Gloria!

God's Plan For Our Lives

"A wise person is hungry for knowledge, while the fool feeds on trash" (Prov. 15:14, NLT).
"The wise are mightier than the strong, and those with knowledge grow stronger and stronger" (Prov. 24:5, NLT).  
"Knowledge is power."--Sir Francis Bacon
"...' My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose'" (Isa. 46:10, ESV).  
"[F]or I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope" (Jer. 29:11, ESV).

Many Bible teachers point to the famed Bible verse, Jer. 29:11, as indicated to God's eternal plan for believers.  To deny that God has a purpose for our lives and a plan is to deny the eternal decrees of God--Psalm 139:16 denotes God's intricate detailing of our lives.  Stoic philosophy went so far as to not only posit God having a plan but that it is our chief good and aim to accept it without reservation in a sort of grin and bear it philosophy.

Antithetical to adhering to God having a plan for us is the humanistic view that we are the master of our fate and the captain of our soul per Invictus by William Ernest Henley.  Our duty is not to believe in a dogma of a "stiff upper lip" nor to merely grin and bear in time, but to work out our salvation with fear and trembling per Philippians 2:13 and to make good on our destiny, noting that this is not blind fate or kismet (Islam version), but a personal dealing with God whereby we cooperate in His grace on our behalf.  It is never too late to accomplish God's best for us, if we are yielded to Him and willing to do His will wholeheartedly (cf. 2 Chron. 16:9).

According to 2 Cor. 1:20, all the promises are fulfilled and amen in Christ Jesus.  When God gave a promise specifically to Abraham, it has immediate consequences for him as well as long term, but there are also mediate applications for the believer who is the legitimate "son of Abraham," the father of the faithful.  Sometimes we have to realize a symbolic or indirect fulfillment of a promise, but it's still inherent in God's Word, which cannot come back void but will be fulfilled. 

In other words, all promises apply in some sense or degree.  This verse is aimed at Israel and its future as God's people, and so they seem to think that you cannot interpret it for personal application.  It is wrong to say, "This verse means this to me, regardless of what it means at face value." That is to become mystical and close to believing the Bible becomes the Word of God upon having an existential experience or encounter with it.  You must interpret Scripture with Scripture, and according to this principle, God does have a plan for us to have a more abundant life in Christ, according to John 10:10.

God even has a plan for the wicked and a purpose for them in the day of evil (cf. Prov. 16:4).  Job 23:14, NLT, says quite plainly, without any play on words, in the plain sense that God had a plan for Job and a destiny to fulfill ("For he will do to me whatever he has planned.  He controls my destiny").  The error arises when we think that God wants to always prosper us in the material sense, thinking that spirituality is the means to financial gain--an idea opposed by Paul in 1 Timothy 6.  We must learn to be content with what we have and enjoy the blessing God gives us--this is how we find God's calling to use the blessing bestowed and His provision granted by grace.  We are to be faithful to what God has given us in due measure, and not to have gift envy or to think God is being unfair.

Jer. 29:11 says God has no evil in mind for us, and our trials are meant to increase our faith and to give us character through adversity, not to harm us!  Indeed, Paul was right on when he mentioned in Rom. 8:28 that God works all things together for our good, but sometimes we don't' realize it till much later.  The original issue is whether we can apply texts to ourselves that are not directly addressed to us, especially promises.  

The point to note is that we ought to look for general principles of God's character that are immutable and that might apply to us in particular.  In one sense, Christians are God's people now and God has cast aside Israel till the Day of the Lord in the last days, and it is true that we are the seed of Abraham according to Gal. 3:29.  One of the privileges of being the seed of Abraham is to share in his blessings and to claim promises of God in Christ's name.

We are not capable of frustrating or thwarting God's plan; even the episode of temptation in the Garden of Eden was going according to plan and didn't take God by surprise--He's planned our redemption from eternity.  "...' As I have planned, so shall it be, and as I have purposed, so shall it stand" (Isa. 14:24, ESV).  Again:  "For the LORD of hosts has purposed, and who will annul it?  His hand is stretched out, and who will turn it back?" (Isa. 14:27, ESV). 

Indeed, as Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz (1646-1716) wrote that this is "the best of all possible worlds," and just as Wycliffe's tenet similarly says, "Everything comes to pass of necessity" so there's no Plan B: God cannot fail and doesn't need a backup, because He's taken every contingency and exigency into consideration and cannot be thwarted!      Soli Deo Gloria!

Trust And Obey!

The hymn goes to "trust and obey, for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey." Too many believers have not learned this simple lesson and are often stubborn and recalcitrant or even rebellious against authority reminding one of the slogans to question authority. I've even heard that you should question authority, but never mother! Obeying authority was never meant to be blind and without cognizance of what we are doing, for we are responsible to be moral and legal. But we should heed authority when it is legitimate. Many youths today could never make it in the service because they insist on knowing the why behind every order and can't just follow orders. 

They wouldn't be in the service hadn't they declared allegiance to the US Consitution and to those in the chain command to obey unless it's an illegal order. I wonder if you recall poet laureate Alfred, Lord Tennyson's poem The Charge of the Light Brigade? It says, "Ours is not to wonder why ours is but to do and die!" If soldiers always demanded reasons for orders and explanations or more justification, they would never get anything done and you couldn't have a military. Those who are not ready to follow orders do not belong in the military, not even as officers.

However, a Christian can choose not to go into the military, but he still doesn't escape the issues of obedience in his life to follow Jesus. The idea of discipleship is to learn to be a follower and basically to simply trust and obey. Some believers actually go to jail before learning the lesson and must get rehabilitated in a correctional facility. By the way, do you remember the unjust judge that was tormented by the elderly lady and finally gave in to her request? We can be the same way and our questions may be answered, but we've only proved that we are not humble and meek, which are sure signs of the devoted, committed follower or disciple of Jesus. 

Even children trust their parents completely at first, then their faith wanes, then they start asking why, and finally, they rebel or go their own way. Part of submitting to one another and loving one another as Christ loved us is to live an obedient life. We should never lose track of our Exemplar who became "obedient unto death." We should all strive to become obedient Christians and not spiritual Lone Rangers doing only what's right in our own eyes as Israel did write in Judges 17:6; 21:25.

The old slogan "Just Do it!" is relevant in following Christ, for unbelievers are characterized as the "sons of disobedience" in Ephesians 2:2. Caveat from A. W. Tozer: "Jesus will not save those whom he cannot command." A disobedient follower is a contradiction in terms. Children have the opportunity to become our role models: they wonder, trust, forgive, obey, and ask questions with a teachable spirit. Final advice: be like Peter, not understanding the order, and while fishing without any luck, trusted Jesus and said, "Nevertheless, at thy Word, Lord, I will cast down my net." Soli Deo Gloria!

Our Impending Entrance Into The Promised Land

"Expect Great Things from God, Attempt Great Things for God."-- a sermon by William Carey, "the Father of Modern Missions"

Our Christian experience is a journey to the Celestial City, as John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress describes, and we must aim toward heaven to get there. But it's a solitary journey we must endure alone with only Christ as our Beacon and heavenly GPS.  Aiming nowhere gets you nowhere!  Israel's entrance into the promised land is analogous to the Christian's experience of the abundant life in Christ mentioned in John 10:10, and when Christ said in Matt. 6:33, "all these things shall be added unto you."  

In another sense, it also foreshadows our crossing of the bar into eternity to meet our Pilot face-to-face as we go one-on-one with the Lord at the Bema or Judgment Seat of Christ (cf. 2 Cor. 5:10) in glory to determine our final, eternal reward.  But God wants to bless us in the here and now (in time as well as in eternity) and to make our way prosperous according to The Will that glorifies Him.  Indeed, our future is in God's hands (cf. Psalm 31:15, ESV).

However, some believers never experience life to the full known as the more abundant life, even though they will be ushered into eternity with Jesus upon death.  We are meant to eat the fat of the land in the here and now and to live in a land flowing with milk and honey as it were, but if we don't attain this, or sacrifice it for the kingdom's sake, there's a greater reward to go above and beyond the call of duty, such as martyrdom or missionary work.  We are all poised to enter our promised land and be blessed by God in all our endeavors as we find His will for our lives and how he has gifted us--we can be like David who fulfilled all God's purpose for him.  We can also conquer our personal demons and the archenemy, the devil, and take control of his territory with the armor of Christ, and we are more than conquerors (cf. Rom. 8:37) with Jesus and cannot lose--we are in a win-win situation.  Don't waste your life wandering in the wilderness--claim the promised land!

What it takes is to take God at His word and at face value, and to claim His promises, none of which have failed (cf. Josh 23:14).  We may seem like grasshoppers compared to the bullies of the world, but God is on our side and will fight for us.  Just like Canaan was a land filled with giants, life is full of difficulties and obstacles, but we must keep our eyes on Jesus and He will see us through the flame and it won't overwhelm us (cf. Is. 43:2; 1 Pet. 1:7).  We all have our personal giants and bullies to overcome.  We can do all things through Christ, who strengthens us (cf. Phil. 4:13).  With God, nothing is impossible (cf. Luke 1:37; Matt. 19:26) and nothing is too difficult for God (cf. Gen. 18:14; Jer. 32:17, 27)!

We honor God by observing His Word and claiming His promises by faith, living out His precepts, and following His will--this is the essence of worship.  We need have no fears with God because everything is small to Him--everything is small--neither is anything too trivial for His loving attention.  If we don't want to learn things the easy way of focusing on the Word of God, we may have to learn our lessons via the school of hard knocks and find out what it's like to be without the hedge of protection, knowing it's a frame of mind and state of grace, not a geographical place.

We must never forget who God is nor who we are in Christ.  God is no respecter of persons and there are no bullies nor giants to Him, so we are safe in His loving care.  Yes, His grace is sufficient for us (cf. 2 Cor. 12:9)!  The issue is whether we see blessings in difficulties or difficulties in blessings.  In other words, do you tend to see the evil and say "Why?" or the good and say "Why not?"  Don't question God's wisdom in trouble, as Job found out:  God is too kind to be cruel, too wise to make a mistake, and too deep to explain Himself!  

We don't have to enjoy trials, but they do bring wonderful opportunities to glorifying God in our deliverance.  Problems provide wonderful chances--they're tests.  We must never forget that God is bigger than any problem we may encounter and with God nothing is impossible.  When we connect and resonate with God's will our life will be in harmony and blessed to the full in doing God's will (cf. 2 Cor. 9:8).

The challenging question is whether we are getting what we want out of life and are we being used by God as vessels of honor? The divine order is emptying before filling, before using. Caveat:  Christians must never forget it is God who blesses them and whatever they achieve is to His glory by His power (cf. Deut. 8:18):  "Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the LORD" (cf. Zech. 4:6).  God gets all the credit and glory, but He desires to share it with us (cf. Ps. 84:11; 1 Pet. 5:10), and to give us a taste of His glory, even on this side of eternity. Indeed, we have seen the coming of the glory of the Lord.  Paul ventured to boast of nothing but of what Christ had accomplished through him (cf. Rom. 15:18).  Isaiah said that all he had done was through Him (cf. Isa. 26:12).

Never forget God is in control and His sovereignty is not limited by our freedom, while He freely orchestrates history to His glory, as He does all events and circumstances (cf. Eph. 1:11).  Our job is to spread the Word of God's glory revealed in Christ and that He has won the ancient war with the devil and our victory is sure with Him on our side. We are not fighting for victory, but from victory--Christ won and is sharing the booty with us!

We all must be tested and pass the trials for "through many tribulations, we enter the kingdom of God" (cf. Acts 14:22).  "Experience is not so much what happens to you, but in you--i.e., what you do with what happens to you," according to Aldous Huxley--you either become bitter or better.  The same sun melts the butter but hardens the clay!  It really matters what you do with your experience and whether you learn by it, even if it's the school of hard knocks--however, blessed is he who is taught by the wisdom of God's Word (cf. Ps. 94:12).  In short, God owes no one an explanation; He's not accountable to us, but we to Him.

But we demonstrate our faith by our works which is the evidence of its reality. Bogus faith without works doesn't save but is dead faith (cf. James 2:26).  As the Reformers' formula said, "We are saved by faith alone, but not a faith that is alone."  Works validate our faith! But, before we can take what's ours in the promised land, we must believe God's promise and that faith must be tested by fire, for it's more precious than gold or silver.  Faith is abstract and must be seen to be real, we show our faith by our works (cf. James 2:18), and are rewarded according to our works (cf. Rom. 2:6).  When God sees Himself in us we are purified, because the goal of our life in Christ is Christlikeness as the icons of God. In the meantime, we're all works in progress and God isn't finished with us yet!   Soli Deo Gloria!

The Need To Know--Is Ignorance Bliss?

"My times are in your hand..."  (Psalm 31:15, ESV).
"My future is in your hands..." (ibid., NLT). 
"The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever..." (Deut. 29:29, ESV).
"They must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience"  (1 Tim. 3:9, ESV).
"Knowledge is power."--Sir Francis Bacon (cf. Prov. 24:5).

Even though intelligence officers and personnel in the NSA have top-secret security clearances and access, they still must demonstrate a need to know in order to protect classified info.  This is a hedge of protection to prevent people from knowing too much and having a higher likelihood of betraying it.  They say everyone has a price and they don't want to put personnel into temptation and give them the opportunity; in other words, the purpose is to keep honest people honest.  Even the president doesn't have a need to know certain intelligence and is spared the details on many matters of espionage.  Just like "power tends to corrupt," and "absolute power corrupts absolutely," according to Lord Acton, so also too much info coupled with opportunity can likewise corrupt an individual, including those in power.  There are some things people are just better off just not knowing and remaining ignorant of for the sake of sanity.

God only reveals His will to us on a daily basis as a rule and no one has the outline for his whole life given at the beginning of his career.  We would not be able to accept dismal events and cannot bear the burden of more than one day at a time.   Our future is sure in God's hands and He sees what's best for us.   The principle to live one day at a time is a lifesaver and keeps us from having attitudinal disparities and mood swings--trying to live in the future or dwell on the past.  We ought not to misinterpret the present either, but live in light of God's Word and eternity.

They say that ignorance is bliss!  Sometimes it is because we cannot bear the truth or the knowledge yet.  But there is a kind of willful ignorance that is sin.  When we neglect to know what we did have the opportunity to know, we are culpable and will be judged accordingly; for instance, no one has an excuse for not believing in God--the evidence is everywhere (cf. Rom. 1:20).  The person who got stopped by the police for speeding and claiming ignorance of the law finds out it's no excuse either.  If you travel abroad you are still responsible to know traffic laws and customs.

How does this all relate to believers then?  We are given the whole counsel of God in the Scriptures and also ample opportunity to know it and be exposed to the truth.  Everyone who owns a Bible cannot claim ignorance because he never found time to read it!  Staying away from church intentionally is wrong and doesn't excuse one from knowing the truth.  The more you know or have the opportunity to know the more culpable and responsible you are.  Children, who are innocent, are not judged by the same standards.  Willful sin will be judged by God and the Christian who believes he can avoid the assembling together of believers and remain ignorant will find out the truth at the Bema of Christ and will have a rude awakening.  It's better to sound the alarm now and give the body their wake-up call so they will not be intentionally or willfully ignorant--especially ignorant of God's will and Word.

God chooses to guide us one day at a time in order to foster faith in us and to give us the challenge to seek His will and presence in our lives.  God doesn't want robots who simply follow a program and have no choices to make along the way.  In other words, we are not meant to be automatons. If God has blessed some Christian with wisdom, knowledge, and understanding, it's on a need-to-know basis and there is a rationale behind it in God's eyes.  Knowledge is never the end per se, but the means to the end and must serve a purpose--not just to know all the answers or be a better specimen than the run-of-the-mill believer who is relatively ignorant.  When we share and learn from our knowledge, God grants more light.  But remember the Christian principle that enlightenment comes from light and God is light to us.

We can celebrate the fact that God holds the future and we don't know it and cannot control it, namely, because we couldn't handle it without being ill at ease.  We shouldn't be curious concerning the future, because we are privileged to know the One who holds the future!  God knows our limits and what is in our best interest and will make us in the image of Christ, by way of affliction.  When Christ brings us to a trial, He will bring us through it.  Just like the need to know, God grants no one a monopoly on the truth so that it shouldn't go to his head, because "knowledge puffs up," according to 1 Cor. 8:1 It is the immature believer who balks at learning the things of God in depth and shies away from doctrine; we are stewards of the mysteries of God and faithfulness counts!

In the final analysis, everyone deserves the knowledge of the gospel message and the word must get out--the good news is for everyone who is willing to hear it and called of God (cf. Acts 2:39)!  No one has an excuse to be ignorant of the Great Commission as a believer or the knowledge of God as an infidel.  Jesus came to bear witness of the truth, and everyone who is of the truth hears Him--no excuses!  All believers should realize the value of knowing the scoop or the lowdown on what the Bible teaches, and bring every thought into the captivity of Christ while his mind is renewed in the image of Christ and he girds up the loins of his mind (cf. 1 Pet. 1:13) to fight the good fight, not from ignorance, but from enlightenment.   Soli Deo Gloria!

Blind Faith...

 "...' You foolish people!  You find it so hard to believe all that the prophets wrote in the Scriptures" (Luke 24:25, NLT).
"...' O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!'"  (Ibid., NKJV).
"Therefore my people go into exile for lack of knowledge..." (Isaiah 5:13, ESV).
"...and a people without understanding shall come to ruin" (Hosea 4:14, ESV).
"...There is no faithfulness or steadfast love, and no knowledge of God in the land" (Hos. 4:1, ESV).
"For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings"  (Hosea 6:6, ESV).
"Let us know; let us press on to know the LORD..." (Hosea 6:3, ESV).
"I don't have enough faith to be an atheist."--Norman L. Geisler, noted biblical scholar

Note: Not knowing what you believe is a kind of unbelief or blind faith. 

Christians have sound reasons to have faith in Christ:  circumstantial evidence that is most compelling and unexplainable otherwise;  the convicting work of the Holy Spirit, especially through the Word of God (its inspiration, transmission, and canonicity); the objective, cumulative, historical evidence of the resurrection; plus the subjective experience ("Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good..." cf. Psalm 34:8, NKJV) and value of knowing Christ personally ("[N]ow that you have had a taste of the Lord's kindness" cf. 1 Peter 2:3, NLT).

Christianity is the only faith that is based on fact, not a fable, fiction, myth, old wives' tales, legend, or tall tale--if it's not a historical religion, it's nothing at all.  The historical evidence is further validated by the veracity of the witnesses, who were willing to go to their deaths for their faith. One usually tells the truth on one's deathbed.  It's not a matter of whether you believe the resurrection was possible, but are the historical records reliable, credible, dependable, and accurate?

The difference between them dying for their faith and other martyrs of different faiths is that they were in the position to know whether it was true.  Any faith not based on evidence is blind faith--even an atheist who doesn't know why he's one or has no evidence has blind faith.  It's not a battle or challenge between faith and reason, but which set of presuppositions one begins with and is willing to accept as true--secularists bet the farm on science being the only reliable source of truth.  Secularists are people of faith too!   If you say that you only believe what can be proved by the scientific method or empiricism, you must first begin by proving the validity of that premise.

Epistemological humility comes in to play where one admits he doesn't have a monopoly on the truth or know everything and is therefore teachable. In the final analysis, no preacher has cornered the market on truth and can speak ex-cathedra or pontificate.  Socrates said that to begin learning you must admit your ignorance!  Education is merely going from an unconscious to a conscious awareness of your ignorance.  Everyone must admit that they could be wrong--no one is infallible. 

Christians today are inclined to believe that their faith is indefensible, and don't know how to defend their faith or even know what they believe and should defend.  We must not let secularists win by default or by concession--we must stand our ground and declare our colors!  What is negotiable and what isn't?  We have sound reasons to believe; God doesn't expect us to believe despite the evidence.  God will reveal the truth to anyone who is willing to do His will (cf. John 7:17) and has an open mind, willing spirit, and needy heart.  God doesn't expect us to believe contrary to reason, but will manifest Himself to us if we search for Him--He is no man's debtor.

Faith is a gift but we must exercise it.  The problem is when we become lax in the faith or our faith is dead, we can do nothing (John 15:5 says, "For apart from Me you can do nothing"), that faith doesn't save; only a living and growing faith that produces fruit can save--no fruit, no faith, no salvation.  Saving faith is not a leap in the dark, but a step into the light--God asks no one to commit intellectual suicide and believe for the sake of believing alone (faith doesn't save, nor faith in faith, but only faith in Christ as the object saves).  Faith feeds on facts and experience, while Paul said in Romans 10:17, NKJV, concerning that precious faith:  "So then faith comes by hearing, and by hearing [i.e., preaching] by the word of God."  We must mature in the faith and have childlike, not childish faith; simple, but not simplistic!

Christians can have strong faith, but if they aren't able to defend it or have a reason for their faith, it's blind faith and may succumb to the devil's Anfectung or attack.  It's not how much faith, but the object of the faith that's vital-you can be sincerely wrong, though sincerity is a requisite.  We are always to be ready to have a reason for our hope (cf. 1 Peter 3:15).   In the study of apologetics, one will realize that Christians haven't kissed their brains goodbye, and that faith is rational, though Christianity isn't rationalism.  God had a rationale for sending His Son and the gospel is about realizing that work of grace is done on our behalf.

In sum, the heart of the matter is that it's a matter of the heart; there's never enough evidence to convince the hardened skeptic, but there's ample evidence for the willing. Christians cannot argue someone into the kingdom!   But they should be able to have an answer as to why they believe (cf. 2 Tim. 2:15).  The problem is that some people catch their beliefs like one catches a cold: hanging around the right people and letting osmosis do its work.  Also, you don't have to be able to defend your faith to have one! However, you cannot rationalize God or put Him in a test tube or under laboratory conditions, because the existence of God is not in the scientific domain-- it takes faith and faith is what pleases God; skeptics are rarely convinced by debate--a work of grace must woo their hearts toward God.  Soli Deo Gloria!

Faith Is A Gift From The Benefactor

"No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him..." (John 6:44, ESV).
"And he said, 'This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father'" (John 6:65, ESV). "For who sees anything different in you?  What do you have that you didn't receive..." (1 Cor. 4:7, ESV).

One of the most overlooked and misunderstood heresies of the church, as embraced by the Papists, is that faith is a work--some Catholics realize it's a gift, but's it's generally not accepted and are downplayed.  The Romanists officially teach faith as a meritorious work, not a gift at all; for they don't believe grace is sufficient to save us, but merit must be added (they teach that grace is necessary, but not sufficient!).  The Bible makes it clear, by any careful perusal of the pertinent verses, that faith is a gift we have no right to boast of (cf. Eph. 2:9), as if it were, meritorious, but Catholics add merit to grace and works to faith, and we're not saved by works (cf. Tit. 3:5; Eph. 2:9).

Examples of it being a gift in Scripture are manifold: God "opened" Lydia's heart to believe in Acts 16:14; Paul saw "those who had come to believe through grace" (Acts 18:27, CEV), by which we can infer it's a gift and we are "enabled;"  "... everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name" (Acts 10:43, CEV). That means it's something we receive, which Peter reiterates in as this:  "... To those who received a faith equal to ours..." (2 Pet. 1:1, ESV);   Acts 11:18, CEV, says that "God has enabled Gentiles to change their hearts and lives so that they might have new life"; finally, it is written, "For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but suffer for his sake"  (Phil. 1:29, ESV). Without God's work, no one would believe!  But we must take the leap!

Faith must be seen as the flip-side of repentance (cf. Acts 20:21; 26:20; Luke 24:47), but not its equivalent--both are necessary (either believing repentance or penitent faith, if you will).  It makes sense that faith is a gift as the famous verse of Eph. 2:8 says if you realize the antecedent of "gift" is faith, so both salvation and faith are a gift!  It's a gift, which means God decides who receives it by election, according to His good pleasure (cf. Eph. 1:5) and will:  "... Everyone who was appointed [or elected] for eternal life believed" (Acts 13:48, CEV).

Faith is the instrumental means of righteousness, not righteousness itself--it cannot be both!  Abraham believed God and it was reckoned unto (not as) righteousness (cf. Rom. 4:3).  Faith is not the destination, but the door to eternal life--a hurdle to get through and pass with flying colors as we receive the gift of eternal life, that cannot be forfeited, but our state of grace is permanent.  Note: "... how God had opened a door of faith for the Gentiles" in Acts 14:27, CEV.  Jesus is the enabler, and opens our hearts by melting them and turning them from stubborn "hearts of stone into hearts of flesh" (cf. Ezek. 36:26) that can respond to the gospel message: "God has exalted Jesus to his right side as our Leader and Savior so that he could enable Israel to change its heart and life and to find forgiveness for sins," (Acts 5:31, CEV).

The point is that we cannot believe on our own: "For without Me you can do nothing" (cf. John 15:5)--not even believe!  No one can come to the Father without being drawn or wooed (cf. John 6:44, 65 quoted above).  We do not have the so-called willpower (cf. Rom. 9:16) to come to God on our own, but must be enabled or empowered.  What God does by grace is quicken faith within us or kindle faith so that we can come to the Father through the Son. God opens our eyes to see!   Romans 12:3 says we all (as Christians) have received a measure of saving faith!  We don't believe because we are wiser, smarter, more educated, or more sophisticated--we're all in the same boat as God has leveled the playing field and made us all incapable of faith apart from a work of grace in our hearts.

We must also realize what faith isn't:  It's not acquiescence or agreement to a dogma, like the Papists  teach; it's not temporal faith, like believing God for a healing or material blessing; it's not gullibility either; and it's not faith in the church or any other misdirected zeal and fanaticism--because it's the object that's crucial and it must be "Christ alone" or as the Reformers taught: soli Christo!  God owes no one salvation and has mercy on whom He will; if we believed of our own initiative (and God always takes the initiative and makes the overture), we have reason to believe we deserve salvation, and it wouldn't be grace but justice to save us!

Who's saved then?  The elect whom He chose from the beginning:  "... The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened" (Rom. 11:7, ESV); We didn't choose Him, He chose us (cf. Jn. 15:16); Scripture says, "For many are called, but few are chosen" (Matt. 22:14, ESV).

In summation, we don't achieve faith (conjuring it up or working ourselves into it by convincing ourselves), but we receive our faith as a gift of regeneration--any other interpretation leads to denial of the doctrine of total depravity which tells us that our wills are also wicked and stubborn and need conversion; God does a work of grace sufficient to transform our lives.   Soli Deo Gloria!

Deferring To Tradition

"... So for the sake of your tradition you have made void the word of God"  (Matt. 15:6, ESV). 
"So don't let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths"  (Col. 2:16, NLT).

The Pharisees were bound by traditions which were merely the rules of men and they manipulated them to avoid doing God's will and obeying His commands.  Even today Catholics defer to tradition and break with Protestants on this issue.  Ever since the Counter-Reformation, at the Council of Trent (1545-63), the Romanists have deemed and valued tradition of equal status and authority with Scripture as the rule of faith--Protestants take issue with this and "dissent, disagree, protest," as they would say.  Traditions are not wrong or evil per se, but only when they controvert or invalidate Scripture.  There's nothing wrong with celebrating Christmas as a tradition, for instance!  We only defer to tradition when it's concordant with Scripture and/or not against sound doctrine.  We need to beware of adding to the Word or subtracting from it!

People basically have four reasons why they act when they don't have faith:  culture (everyone's doing it!); tradition (we've always done it!); reason (it sounds logical and right!); and emotion (it feels right and appropriate!).  Old traditions die hard and it's difficult to even start new ones.  But remember this lesson:  traditions must bow to conviction!  Protestants adhere to the conviction that Scripture alone is the rule of faith, and have made this their rallying cry since the Reformation (sola Scriptura).

We don't give any man authority if it isn't in harmony with the Word--we're all subject to God's Word:  ".... [For] you have exalted above all things your name and your word" (Psalm 138:2, ESV).  It is wrong to base far-fetched teaching on some obscure passage with some private interpretation though, for "no Scripture is of any private interpretation" (cf. 2 Pet. 1:20).  Hebrews 13:9, ESV, says, "Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings...." We must interpret Scripture with Scripture and with the whole analogy of the Word.  The Bible is its own Supreme Court!  We also must observe all inferential and sound reading interpretation rules:  narratives in light of didactive or teaching passages; obscure in light of the clear.  We must interpret it as written:  poetry as poetry; proverbs as proverbs; and narrative or history as such.

And we are not bound to observe all the traditions or commands of Scripture ("We are not under the law, but under grace" according to Romans 6:14; for instance, the Sabbath day observance laws have been rescinded and not applicable for Christians, but were meant for Israel (cf. Ezek. 20:12, 20).  Don't let anyone judge you by your own tradition of a holy day:  Col. 2:16 says this quite plainly.  Each believer should be convinced in his own mind (cf. Rom. 14: 5).  Family traditions are not necessarily forbidden--all tradition doesn't have to be religious!   Soli Deo Gloria!