The Neccessity Of The Crucifixion...

 "Love and faithfulness meet together; righteousness and peace kiss each other," (cf. Psalm 85:10, NIV). 

"All things come to pass of necessity."  (John Wycliffe). 

Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemene to be delivered from His forthcoming Passion if at all possible, but nevertheless conceding and relinquishing to the Father's will and plan from all eternity.  Jesus willingly and obediently went to His death and had both the power to lay down His life and to take it up again, even choosing the exact moment He expired (cf. John 10:17-18).  In other words, He chose to die for us and wasn't forced into it--it would be on His terms.

Jesus had prophesied of His blood being necessary for the New Covenant (as the blood of the covenant (cf. Matt. 26:28) to take effect as the Testator. In the Old Covenant, there had been a constant reminder of sin and continual sacrifices were necessary to look forward to His crucifixion in God's eyes.   It is necessary in wills and testaments for the death of the testator to put it in effect. Jesus' blood sealed the deal!   If the blood of Abel spoke volumes to God then how much more the very blood of the perfect Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. Note that only Christ qualified to foot the bill and pay the price.

Our salvation is free to us, but not cheap, it cost Jesus everything He had and we must surrender our all to Him as Lord of our lives Jesus made His sacrifice to end all sacrifices because it was perfect and of infinite value.  Therefore it was sufficient to redeem all of us of our sins. When He said, "Tetelestai," or "It is finished [paid in full]" it meant that Christ's work was done: salvation was now a done deal!  Christ paid the ultimate sacrifice for our sins and even if we gave all we could or have, it would not be enough to satisfy the wrath of God--He is God's Suffering Servant.  But our best is not good enough! The only reason the cross accomplished the righteousness of God is that Jesus is God as well as man and died in our place for what we deserved. 

All of us are as bad off,, but not as bad, as we can be spiritually or in dire straits in God's eyes and our righteousness is as filthy rags to Him. All of our righteousness is His gift to us, not our gift to Him.  We have nothing to offer Him but brokenness and strife (the sacrifices of God are a broken and contrite heart). In other words, we are bankrupt in God's economy and must appeal for mercy and grace; not getting what we do deserve (hell) and getting what we don't deserve (heaven).  Good for us that Christ thought that He would rather have us than his life.  We are "to die for!" We must reckon this in light of the fact that God didn't owe us salvation and didn't need to satisfy His holiness and it would've been just to condemn every sinner.  It's the mercy and grace of God that He had mercy on anyone at all. 

We mock Christ and belittle His Passion when we try to earn our way to heaven, especially by keeping the Law.  "If righteousness could be gained through the Law, Christ died in vain." (cf. Gal. 2:21). In fact, if we rely on the Law for righteousness, we are under a curse (cf. Gal. 3:10).   None of us is capable of abiding by the perfect Law of God and need someone to obey it for us and be our Substitute.  God accepts vicarious obedience! Jesus didn't just do a good deed in dying for people but took on our full penalty due us for our sins and became sin for us, but not a sinner.   As Isaiah 53 says, He was crushed for our iniquities, bruised for our transgressions, and by His stripes, we are healed.

Christ didn't just die to be our example, though we are to follow in His steps (cf. 1 Pet. 2:21) nor was it just a moral example or lesson from God of Him exercising justice in some kind of moral universe to teach us some lesson.  It was necessary for Him to suffer these things and then enter into His glory, as He said.  Jesus wasn't just some martyr and champion for a good cause either!   The concept that the crucifixion was just to satisfy God's government of the world to see that justice is served is also erroneous because it would only exhibit God's righteousness but not save anyone.  Christ was no innocent victim either who got trapped or tricked by the wicked Pharisees and Pilate.  But "He became obedient to the point of death,"  (cf. Phil. 2:8). He never asked us to feel sorry for Him but to believe in Him.  And Christ's death was no accident of history either or some fluke of injustice, for He was guilty in the sense that He was assuming our sins.

And God planned this event from all eternity and even used the evildoers to do it, though it was still voluntary, they did as written of the including Judas (cf. Acts 2;23:4:28): "This man was handed over to you by God's deliberate plan and foreknowledge," "They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen."  Christ didn't deserve the cross as if He had done anything wrong and it was His karma or was reaping what He sowed. But the reality or truth is that "the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all," (cf. Isaiah 53:6).  Crucifixion wasn't even an honorable way to die and this concept is rejected by Muslims as being too repugnant and undignified for God. 

Some will say that since God is love, He should freely forgive us; however, He is also just and holy and sin offends Him and its price needs to be paid; death  God did show His love by laying down His life while we were incapable of any righteousness of our own. We are all born "in Adam," or in solidarity with him and under condemnation as we are not only sinners, but it's our nature, birthright, and freewill choice to sin.  If Christ had not died and also conquered death by rising from the dead we'd still be in our sins! Christ paid our full and due penalty and the only thing we contribute is our sin and need.  We reckon that God is now both just and justifier (cf. Romans 3:26). 

The climax and central fact of history is the crucifixion and subsequent resurrection of Christ. If this is not as God tells us it is the biggest and cruelest hoax in history, but if true it's the most wonderful truth, even in that we now know what love is; that Jesus laid down His life for us. (cf. 1 John 3:16).  Soli Deo Gloria! 

Not By Might!

 "I have labored to no purpose; I have spent my strength in vain and for nothing," (cf. Isaiah 49:14). 

"Everything got its start in Him and everything finds its purpose in Him," (cf. Col. 1:16).

Too many Christians are doing the busy work of God's kingdom as it were and missing out on the spiritual aspect. Now, whatever we do, can be to the glory of God when it's done in His name (cf. Col. 3:17, 23; 1 Cor.. 10:31). Martin Luther said that dairymaids can milk cows to the glory of God.  Work had been considered a curse till the Reformation.  We must be convinced that we are engaged in doing God's will and fulfilling the ministry He has given us and the mission that we are called to do: Paul said that he desired to complete his mission with joy  (cf. Acts. 20:24). 

I like particularly what he said in Romans 15:18, "I venture not to speak of but what Christ has accomplished through me." We must realize that human do-goodery or do-goodism doesn't avail much in God's economy and will be counted as wood, hay, and stubble (cf. 1 Cor. 3:15).  We must work as the LORD works through us as His vessels of honor, being inhabited and controlled by His Spirit. All our fruits are from Him (cf. Hosea 14:8). All we have accomplished is from Him (cf. Isaiah 26:12).   We must not boast of our achievements but trust in God's accomplishment on our behalf.  As Martin Luther's hymn, Mighty Fortress, goes, "Did we in our strength confide, our striving would be losing." 

We ought to boast in our infirmities (cf. 1 Cor. 12:19).  Micah condemned Israel for accomplishing what amounted to nothing and then taking all the credit for it (cf. Amos 6:13): "You who rejoice in Lo-debar, who say, 'Have we not taken by our strength captured Karmaim for ourselves?'"   Zechariah warned us not to trust in the flesh in Zechariah 4:6, "Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit...."   David wrote: "My soul makes its boast is in the LORD," (cf. Psalm 34:2).

Faith is dead without works and they authenticate and validate it but we are saved by faith alone, but only by the kind of faith that isn't alone.  True faith produces fruit, not the foliage. And we will be known by our fruits in the eyes of men. We are not saved by works, but not without them either!  God has ordained certain works for us to perform in His Spirit and time and we are called to be faithful in doing them.  (cf. Eph. 2:10).

A Christian is to be engaged in being "zealous of good works," as Titus 2:14 says, but not in the flesh. That only encourages self-righteousness and self-esteem, not true righteousness and God-esteem.  This means ultimately that God uses weak instruments to accomplish His will and to His glory and we should be like Paul who said he'd rather boast in his weakness that Christ may be glorified, for not many powerful, mighty, wise, nor famous are called, but God uses ordinary vessels.  When our work is done if we aren't taken before our time, God will call us home to be with Him in glory, as David was after he had completed all God's will (cf. Acts 13:36). May we all check out after proclaiming, "Mission accomplished!" 

In the final analysis, God bestows blessings as a gift to us; what we do with them is our gif to God; we must come to the awakening that our righteousness isn't our gift to God, but His gift to us  (cf. Isaiah 45:24); no man will be able to boast in God's presence (cf. Eph. 2:9).  Soli Deo Gloria! 

What Would Life Be Like If God Hadn't Created Man?

 “In him was life, and the life was the light of men.” (cf. John 1:4). If you’re saying we had evolved apart from being created, man would not be in the image of God obviously because things would be without God in the equation. But God is life and breathed in Adam the breath of life and he became a living soul as Genesis depicts. God created all 11 million known lifeforms on earth and He would be the same and His life also, even had He never created mankind. It seems like nature gets along quite well without us in the picture. Without God in the metric, we are but grown-up blue-green pond scum that deserves no respect!

This is what that bleak outlook looks like: no purpose or meaning in life, no hope of eternal life, no dignity or sanctity of life, and no fulfillment in life itself. We would be mere animals in heat, seeking pleasure and avoiding pain, driven by instinct. Instead o life being the deliberate act of God, it would be by chance, spontaneous generation, and evolution. We came from nothing, are here for no reason, or nothing, and going to nothing or nowhere; a brief episode between two oblivions.

But mankind was meant to bring glory to God (per Isaiah 43:7) and to be a lifeform in the image of God that He could have fellowship with, know, and love God. With no humans in the biblical sense on which to bestow His love, it would be a loveless world for God cannot express His love adequately through mere beasts. No lifeform would be moral or even spiritual to know right and wrong and to God Himself. Lifeforms would certainly not be intelligent for we are homo sapiens or wise humans. We alone are rational and have a volition that can go either for or against God.

No animal rebels against God and sins but acts according to instinct like self-preservation and procreation, satisfying its appetites. Animals are oblivious to God and do not build chapels! “Where is He who makes us wiser than the beasts?”

Does The Question "Does God Exist?" A Fair Question?

 Isn’t it about as nonsensical as asking, “Does justice exist without a Judge?” or “Do design and order exist without a Designer?” or “Do laws of nature exist without a Lawgiver?” or “Does love exist without a Lover?” or “Do human rights exist?” or eve does “Logic exist?” or finally, “Does intelligence itself exist?” In the final analysis, is there something in the cosmos besides matter and energy? In common terms, when eating at a restaurant, we don't ask if a chef exists. Humanly speaking, if you see a design, do you wonder if a Designer exists?

God entails all of these and they couldn't exist apart from a God of love, design, laws, justice, and even the Logos (God is the Word—expressed thought— or the Logos in John 1:1). Remember, cosmos without Logos is chaos There is a reason why the framer of the Declaration of Independence said that “these truths are self-evident.”

A person is free to disbelieve in God but that doesn't make Him not exist or go away. But he must realize that he has faith too, even if in science. God doesn't expect us to kiss our brains goodbye or commit intellectual suicide but we can only come to God on His terms and in sincere faith, not head first. “the world by wisdom knew not God.” Honest doubt is fair and God invites scrutiny and even says, “Taste and see that the LORD is good.” It turns out that the proof of the pudding in the eating!

I know that scientifically, you cannot prove God exists, but you cannot scientifically disprove Him either. It would be outside the parameters of science and a metaphysical, not a physical matter and endeavor. Would science even exist apart from the Lawgiver of the universe? The God of nature and nature’s God? As a result: A Christian, Sir Francis Bacon, formulated the scientific method believing in these propositions.

Does God Expect Blind Faith?

 Remember, a faith that isn’t difficult isn't worth much either; it must be tested to see if it’s genuine. faith is what pleases God, not our intellect or human wisdom. “The world by wisdom knew not God.” Blind faith (that which is without evidence or reason or even against one’s better reasoning) is never expected of the child of God. Faith can not be avoided in life: virtually all knowledge is contingent and begins in faith (even in the scientific method, for example, if you're a scientist but even this is still faith).

Christians don’t believe in faith but in Christ. It’s not a matter of faith versus reason but faith versus faith, depending on what presupposition you are willing to accept as the first base; thus we are all people of faith.

Faith is not believing despite the evidence but obeying in spite of the consequences. In the final analysis, it’s not how much you believe but how well you obey. It is simply putting trust in what one doe shave a good reason to believe. God made us rational creatures and expects us to use our brains and not commit intellectual suicide of kiss our brains goodbye.

But doubt is a good thing and not the opposite of faith but an element of it and we would doubt our doubts not doubt our faith. But doubt is not just a Christian or religious problem, it is a human problem It takes courage to express doubt. God wants to reason with us and even answer our questions and in that day we shall ask no more. It is not wrong to be critical in itself but not to accept faith when sufficient faith is available may be foolish.

God does say that there is sufficient evidence of Him in nature itself and no one has an excuse. But there is never enough evidence if you dont’ want to believe. God will not force faith. It's a choice, a matter to be decided with the will. Some people say that they would believe but their brains get in the way, but the Bible says it’s in the heart that man denies God. “The heart of the matter is that it’s a matter of the heart.” We are not supposed to be gullible but to check things out; Paul invited scrutiny himself to his gospel and we will find out that faith doesn't go against reason, but beyond it. “The heart has reasons the mind knows not!”

In conclusion, it has been said, “Only in the reality where faith is difficult is it possible,” thus, it is normal to struggle in your faith.   Soli Deo Gloria! 

The Model Of Gentleness

 Jesus was a true "tough guy"(evident when He cleansed the temple) who also was in touch with His feminine side.  How's that?  He welcomed children to His company and cared for them as His own, saying, "Suffer the children to come unto Me..." Most men cannot relate to children and need to become fathers first to learn caregiving.  Mothers are natural caregivers and very affectionate to children. 

A real tough guy respects his mother and this is a sign of how he treats his wife. Is he good with kids? Does he need affirmation of his dignity or can he swallow it and humble himself as a child himself? Wives are to be treated as being more sensitive and having emotions that men seem to restrain themselves from expressing. That may be why a man needs a woman to get in touch with his emotions.  He can be gentle too!

 A man of gentleness and this is the fruit of the Spirit,  respects women, who were not given respect by society in general until Christ came into the scene. A woman may be worshiped as beautiful but what she expects and needs is respect. A woman can be tough too, this is the mistake in men's thinking. She is a mother by instinct it seems while a man needs growth and experience to learn fathering.  Just giving birth doesn't make a woman a mother, but raising a child in the training and nurture of the Lord.  

What people need to realize is that a mother's love is unconditional like God's.  God doesn't ever cease to love us, as is the ebb and flow of human emotional love, A woman who gains dignity and respect is the highest honor.  A true mother isn't just a mother to her own, but this attribute or characteristic reaches out to others in need of motherly love and affection,  Soli Deo Gloria! 

What Is Sin?

“Any want of conformity to or lack of obedience to and transgression of the Law of God is sin; anything that is against the nature of God and offends God’s holiness. It’s utter rebellion against and rejection of God’s authority.

We need not know God’s Law to be sinners, transgressors, lawbreakers, unjust, or disobedient. The Bible says, “Sin is lawlessness.” There can be no lawlessness without Law, nor injustice without justice or a Judge (for Abraham knew: “shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?”), nor iniquity, which is another name for evil which Satan had and tempted Adam with, nor can there be disobedience without obedience [(to some commandment) which was the test for Adam; we are all born “in Adam” and in solidarity with him. Since God told Cain that sin wanted to destroy him (cf. Gen. 4:7), we know that sin existed before the Law was given to Moses but not reckoned or imputed. The fact people died just proves sin as its wages. (cf Rom. 6:23).

“The Law came through Moses and grace and truth through Jesus Christ,” (cf. John 1:17). Even Abraham knew about righteousness and obeyed the Law (e.g., giving sacrifices, tithing, adultery, marriage, lying) and it has always been written in the hearts of men (cf. Romans 2:14–15) with a moral compass or conscience. There had been an oral tradition from Adam. They were all culpable for their sins, iniquity, lawlessness, and injustice.

We are all sinners and born in utter disregard for God’s Law. “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, (cf. Romans 3:23). “There is not a just man on earth who does what is right and does not sin,” (cf. Eccl. 7:20; cf. 1 Kgs 8:46). It isn’t just sinners and the lost who utterly disregard God’s Law, even believers are capable of it. Christians are justified sinners, but still sinners (cf. Gal. 2:17). God declares us just but doesn't make us just.

But in times before Jesus, God overlooked man’s ignorance though he was a sinner now commands all men everywhere to repent (cf. Acts 17:30). Even Christians need to repent and live of life of repentance. But the point is that we all are in sin and sin by birth, by nature, and by choice; we are not sinners because we have sinned, but we sin because we are sinners—it’s our nature as fallen creatures.

The unsaved cannot not sin; they are incapable of not sinning or doing good, (“There is none that doeth good, no not one,” —cf. Romans 3:10,13). Note: Only the believer can have victory and power over sin.

How Do I Believe I'm A Sinner?

 You are a sinner because you fall short of God’s standard and ideal for a man or woman set by Jesus’ perfect life; i.e, you fall short of His glory: You are born in sin, sin by nature, and sin by your own choice. Sin is anything you do against the nature of God that offends God: autonomy, unbelief, rebellion, irresponsibility. Going your own way and doing your own thing! (cf. Isaiah 53:6). You have not only done that which ought not to be done but have not done things you should’ve done. Any thought, word, deed, desire, or omission contrary to God is sin. It’s any want of or transgression of God’s perfect Law. Sin is literally “missing the mark,” or the goal.

But also, it’s in the heart where the seat of your thoughts arises and can have sins of omission as well as of commission (“For as a man thinks in his heart so is he.” “For out of the abundance of the heart flow evil thoughts….”)This means we sin by what we think and not just what we do. We look on women or men with lust and commit adultery in our hearts.

God doesn't justify the sin but the sinner: Even believers sin but they are justified (cf, Gal. 2:17) and God doesn’t count sins against them (cf 2 Cor 5:19). Jesus intercedes for us when we sin (cf. Heb 7:25; 1 John 2:1–2) and sympathizes about our weaknesses. We are still sinners, but justified ones and called saints, not sinners by God.

Sin is a virus that we inherited from Adam and we are in solidarity with him and have declared our independence from God in so doing. We are born the slaves of sin and cannot do anything but sin unless we are saved. But we are not made righteous but declared righteous or just. that’s why Christians still sin.

God has not already forgiven you unless you repent and believe in His Son. He is under no obligation to forgive you or it would be justice. But He forgives by mercy because of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. That is how much He loves you because His Son died for you. You believe by grace, you don’t conjure it up or do it on your own power, it’s the gift of God and He opens your heart and changes your heart from the inside out. It is by the power of God that you believe and repent, through grace as a work of God in your heart. He can turn your heart of stone into one of flesh.

It is God's job to convict you of sin (cf. John 16:8–13) and He says all have sinned and there is one righteous. That you are a sinner is an open and shut case. No one is perfect or good but God alone. the closer you bet to God, the more you realize and are convicted of your sins; you become more sensitive to the Holy Spirit. If you deny sin, read the Bible and realize the high bar that God sets and you will be enlightened to your sins. Satan accuses you, but God convicts you. There should be no doubt about it and you will feel guilt and shame and realize you are addicted to the power of sin and its slave.

You have forfeited your freedom by sin and can't quit by your own power. You are not a sinner because of some sin or that you happened to sin, but sin because you are a born sinner and it’s your nature. Just like you dont’ realize how much you're addicted to cigarettes until you try to quit, you must try to be good to realize how bad you are and that you cannot be good. But you must realize how bad you are to be good or to be saved. You will still sin but you will not want to and will have a penitent faith or believing repentance.

As far as believing it, you must read the Bible, hear the preaching of the Word, and confess your sins to God to have a lively sense of sin and forgiveness. The more awareness, the less sin. God convicts you by the Holy Spirit and that’s why He’s called that. I cannot convince you but God can by the ministry of the Spirit in your heart.  Soli Deo Gloria! 

Can't We Ever Learn From Evil?

 “Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees. to deprive the poor of the rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people.” (cf. Isaiah 10:1–2).

People condemn themselves in what they know as right and wrong for God has given all men some semblance of a moral compass or conscience (cf. Romans 2:14–15).

To beware of evil we must first be aware of it!

Evil is the privation, deprivation, parasite, and distortion of good. Nothing can be evil that was not first good. Good preceded evil: unrighteousness, lawlessness, injustice, etc. All men are evil for only God is good. God can turn short-term evil into long-term good (look at the crucifixion, cf. Acts 2:23; 4:28). God uses evil for good as in the case of Joseph and his brothers selling him into slavery (cf. Gen 50:20). He makes the wrath of man to praise Him (cf. Psalm 76:10).

There is no pure evil, but it has some “good” content, just enough to deceive. Evil doctrines of demons and heresies or false religions have enough truth to inoculate or immunize you from the real thing. False religions aren't all evil or wrong, just enough to deceive.

We see good in light of and in contrast to evil. All men have some basic knowledge of good and evil, right and wrong. Again: To beware of evil, as in their worldviews (cf. Col. 2:8) we must first be aware of it; we are not innocent but tainted and stained with evil ourselves. Only God can and does open our eyes and make us see the light (cf. Acts 14:27; 16:14). Satan has blinded the minds of them that believe not (cf. 2 Cor. 4:4).

“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.” (cf. Isaiah 5:20).

God Is Great But Also Good

 In C. S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Mr. Beaver tries to describe Aslan the lion (and Christ figure) to Lucy who recognized him asking if he's safe, "Of course, He isn't but he's good; He's the King!"  Also, we are in awe of  God's power and might, but should be comforted that He is also good that we may fear and worship Him. David prayed in Psalm 34:8 that we should "taste and see that the LORD is good," saying that God challenges us to find this out for ourselves and not take someone's word for it; Put God to the test and put out the fleece here on this promise.  This is one of only a few experiments we can do with God.  We can experience and know God personally and find out ourselves that God will be good to us and that we do not deserve it, but only condemnation if we got only what we deserved. We must confess that only God is truly good as Jesus said, (cf. Matt. 19:17). 

I will hope to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living (cf. 27:13) and realize that our faith is not "pie in the sky," but a realistic one that stands up to scrutiny and life's pitfalls and trials. Our faith isn't just for the good times, God wants us to turn to Him in times of trouble too,  "Call unto Me in the day of trouble and I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me," (cf. Psalm 50:15). In evil times, we must not forsake God or name Him, for He intends good even from evil (cf. Gen. 50:20). It is so easy to forget God in good times and sometimes we need a spiritual wake-up call! God sometimes just seeks to get our attention (cf. Job 36:15) or to see what is really on our hearts and where our priorities are (cf. 2 Chron 32:31). 

One thing we must realize that the goodness of God isn't the whole picture for the unbeliever. He is blessed by association as God blesses them that bless Israel by analogy. The unbeliever and even apostate Israel is experiencing the sternness or severity of God in these days,  "Behold therefore the goodness and severity of the LORD," (cf. Romans 11:22).  Some mistakenly believe God is all --good or omnibenevolent and can't curse, for instance,  

A cursory reading of Deut 28 will change your outlook there. The Old Testament ends with a curse!  The goodness of God, as far as the sinner is concerned, is meant to lead one to repentance (cf. Romans 2:4).  We ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and have been sinners ever since. "Surely the goodness of the LORD will follow me all the days of my life," (cf. Psalm 23:6). But God is good to all in some ways and to some in many ways but no one can deny His goodness (cf. Psalm 145:9). We do not call Jesus the good Lord for nothing!  

What else is worship but the recognition, cognition, appreciation, and praise of God's goodness; both in who He is and in what He does for His children and to His glory. We shall behold the beauty of the LORD known as the beatific vision--we shall be satisfied with seeing the glory of God as Moses did on Mount Sinai.  God is not only good but desires to share His goodness with us and He will not withhold any good thing from him who walks uprightly (cf. Psalm 84;11) 

Plato called God the Supreme Good, meaning we would have no concept or perception of goodness if there were not some standard to judge by--some perfection which he called God.  James 1:17 says that all good things come from God.  He is the source of all blessings!  We rarely give Him the thanksgiving glory,  recognition, and worship He desires and deserves. For God said after creation that it was all very good and it has been us that have tainted and corrupted the world.   Soli Deo Gloria!