The Difference Jesus Makes

All religions are not basically the same ideals under different wraps, as the Baha'i religion would have you believe.  Even many Americans believe they all pray to the same God under different names!  Some faiths say that all are equally valid beliefs and what matters is what works for you.  But two contradictory views cannot both be equally valid, logically speaking.  The funny thing about religion is that most people are misinformed or uninformed and even have disinformation from propaganda sources that spread their faith by name familiarity or blitzing the public.

For instance, did you know that Buddha (Enlightened One) never claimed to be God or even a god, but was an agnostic who only sought enlightenment;  saying that if there was a God, He couldn't help you with finding enlightenment, you must find it on your own--by the way, Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha) only sought to reform Hinduism and not start a new faith that is the predominant worldview of the Orient religion-wise.  In contrast:  Jesus said, "[And] you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free"  (John 8:32, ESV). He is the embodiment and epitome of truth to be known in Him.

Every faith has its own idea of who Christ is:  Mormons believe He achieved godhood or became a god and is our elder brother; Buddhists just believe He was another enlightened teacher; Jews believe He was a gifted, miracle-working, misunderstood, but deceiving rabbi; Muslims believe he was a great prophet and even the Messiah, but lower in rank than Muhammad himself, who is the greatest and final prophet. Jehovah's Witnesses see Him as the first created being and a lesser God, worthy of worship though; even Scholars believe He is someone special, even if a great moral example or ethical person who died a martyr for a good cause. The point is that if you don't figure out who Jesus is, you are in heresy.  "Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ does not have God..." (2 John 9).  So who is He?   He is the one and only Son of God, co-equal, co-eternal, and co-existent with God the Father.

Buddhists believe in going ultimately to nirvana or being snuffed out like a match in the ocean or candle on a birthday cake when they die. Achieving nirvana is likened to total nothingness:  They refer to the extinction of all desire which leads to the cessation of pain and suffering caused by it, via many reincarnations.  The Hindus, on the other hand, see nirvana as a reunion with Brahma, after numerous reincarnations or transmigrations.  Hindus are pantheistic (all is God) and have many gods (thousands--no one knows for sure!) and for this reason, are also polytheistic. Jesus was real in saying He was going to prepare a "place for us" and heaven is a real place in Christianity, not of man's imagination, such as the paradise of Islam, where they get 72 virgins and live a life of wine, women, and song for eternity because they abstained from this on earth.  Only heaven is beyond that which we could imagine or conceive and is divinely revealed.  "But, as it is written, 'What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him'" (1 Cor. 2:9, ESV).

The whole point of Christ calling us is to spread the Word of the gospel and increase the kingdom of God, because He said His kingdom is not of this world--however, Muslims believe in world hegemony and have geopolitical considerations in their faith and believe Christ is coming to force everyone into Islam, hence "submission." Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world."  You must be born again to "see" the kingdom of God, and it is like the wind that we don't see, but can see it effects on earth and what it is doing.  God opens our spiritual eyes to His truth in the Word and we are made alive spiritually, restoring our relationship with God--this is true salvation! Because of Jesus' resurrection, we have evidence and proof of our final resurrection, and it is not just pie in the sky without any objective, historical fact to back it up like the competing faiths.

It was Judaism that introduced the world to monotheism and Christianity is the fulfillment (not replacement) of this faith.  Islam believes that their faith supersedes and replaces Christianity and Judaism, not just fulfills them.  Muslims have no assurance of salvation unless they die in a Holy War or Jihad (this is a great recruitment tool and why they are so fanatical and have geopolitical considerations).  The religion, known as the "religion of the sword," is based on total submission, in fact, Islam means "submission." They even circumcise about 75 percent of the girls to make them obedient and docile and do not believe they should be treated equally on a par with men in a man's world shaped by seventh-century ethics and customs.  Girls are not traditionally allowed to even get an education.  Jesus changed all this and saw women as men's equals and partners in life and having the same aptitudes and abilities as men.  They may have a different role, but they are equal.  The woman is the counterpart of the man and his helpmate in Christ--we are all one in Christ!

When you look at all the religions, they all say "do" and are based on works to get salvation.  But you never know in a works religion how much is enough to get saved.  Christ made it possible to know for sure that one is saved and to have this assurance of salvation, which sets Christianity apart from all other faiths.  Christianity is a love affair with Jesus, not a system of ethics, or philosophy, or creed.  It's not a religion, they say, but a relationship with the living God Himself.  Muslims don't acknowledge a personal God that we can know and have a relationship with, and they certainly don't believe God is love, because they see Him as totally arbitrary, capricious, whimsical, and unpredictable, even changing His standards.  They sincerely believe that one angel records their good deeds, and another their bad deeds, and at Judgment Day they will see which balances out the most. One of the biggest mistakes well-meaning and sincere people (but sincerity alone doesn't save--you can be sincerely wrong) is the idea that the essence of Christianity is the Sermon on the Mount or the Golden Rule itself and they only have to sincerely live by a code--Christ didn't come to make bad people good, but dead people alive!

Religion says "in order to" get salvation (works), while Christianity says "therefore (we are already saved and desire to do good deeds to prove it)."  We don't have to do good works but want to, in other words.  Religion is basically a do-it-yourself proposition and a way to "lift yourself up by your own bootstraps." Religion believes you are basically good, capable of reforming yourself, and denies the problem is sin per se.  Only in Christ do we solve the sin problem by the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ from the dead.  Religion is the best man can do and is basically man reaching up to God; Christianity, however, is God reaching down to man in grace (love that stoops is called grace).  Christ introduced a new concept called grace that means we can never earn, don't deserve, and cannot repay our salvation.  It is totally a gift of God to be received by faith and there is nothing we can do but believe in Him!  Religion says "do" (respecting good deeds to earn salvation); however, Christ says, "done," because He said on the cross tetelestai or "It is finished [paid in full--finis]."  It is a done deal in Christ--there's nothing to do but accept it.  There's nothing we can do to add to Christ's work on the cross and it would be an insult to God if we tried!  "The work of God is this: to believe in the one whom he has sent"  (John 6:29).

All the major faiths deal with miracles, but you can take the miracles out of them and you still have the religions intact.  Islam doesn't need miracles (recorded only in the Hadith or the traditions dated much later after Muhammad died) and the faith survives without them.  But Christianity is different: Without the miracles of Christ, He would have only remained a footnote in history and the movement would never have gotten off the ground.  If you remove the miracles from Christianity you disembowel it and there is nothing left but a philosophy such as living by the Golden Rule (some actually do have this as their religious dogma or credo).  The miracles of Christ are different from other faiths:  They were never staged, done on-demand, for personal gain or profit, for a show, or done without skeptics present, unlike the other faiths.  Jesus had a reason to do each miracle (really a sign as John called them because they taught a lesson about Him).  They are not helter-skelter or done without rhyme or reason, but methodical and orderly as if prearranged and planned from eternity from the Father.

The whole point of Christ's teachings was that He claimed deity and did so convincingly so that the Pharisees made no mistake in what He was claiming and plotted His crucifixion accordingly.  No other religion's founder claimed deity:  Muhammad just claimed to be the last prophet of mankind, as heard from the angel Gabriel.  Buddha never claimed deity.  Hinduism was founded about the time of Abraham, but it is polytheistic (many gods) and also pantheistic (everything is God), which is almost like saying there is no God in effect.  In all the Scriptures of these faiths, only the Bible claims to be the Word of God propositionally.  Many times it says, "Thus says the LORD"' and so forth--not so in these other "holy" writings. However, there is a distinction in that Christ never prefaced himself in such a way, but audaciously and boldly proclaimed His own edicts and spoke as no man ever spoke with such authority and made claims no man ever made, backed them up with such character never seen and proved them by such signs and miracles never been done, that to doubt Jesus, one can never say there is a lack of evidence to believe, but one must not want to believe out of moral reasons and not because of intellectual reservations. The anti-establishment and nonconformist figure that Jesus was, truly upset the applecart and invaded the turf of the Pharisees and threatened their job security!

Both Hindus and Buddhists also believe in Maya or that reality is an illusion and you cannot bet on it (science never would've developed under such an outlook!). Jesus claimed to be "The Truth," which means we can know reality and count on it and have a personal relationship with the epitome of reality itself--Jesus Christ.   This means there is absolute truth or Truth with a capital "T."  Christ is totally objective (we cannot be), and is true regardless of our belief or doubt and what He said is true regardless of what someone says expert or not. With man there is no such thing as total objectivity and we must rely upon revelation from God to know the truth.

It is primarily a way of life and traditions such as bathing in the Ganges River of India and the caste system are kept religiously by ignorant people. Both Buddhists and Hindus believe in karma or that you are your own island and suffer what you deserve:  If you are suffering, that is your karma and one shouldn't interfere--how different is Christianity that teaches love for our brother, neighbor, and even enemy! Mother Teresa of Calcutta is an example of how Christian love as shown in Hindu India where she ministered to the outcasts and pariahs that no one cared about. Even Bertrand Russell, the renowned British atheist, and mathematician, said that what the world needs "is more Christian love."  Most religions really believe in "looking out for number one" while Christianity shows the world what charity or real godly love is all about (the example of the Good Samaritan, for instance).

The whole purpose of Scripture is not to increase our knowledge or enlighten us (we are not saved by knowledge, secret or otherwise), but the purpose is to change our lives.  We aren't saved by being enlightened or by knowledge per se, but in knowing Jesus.  Jesus makes a person new from the inside out and is in the resurrection business of changing the lives of those who realize their need.  ("I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners unto repentance,"  "... [Those] who are sick need a physician.") Religion is only about reforming yourself and turning over a new leaf, as it were, but they don't give you the supernatural power to do it--you must muster all your own strength. In Christ, we not only have changed lives (even some religion can do that much) but exchanged lives, which is the miracle.

Jesus didn't come to be a wise teacher of morals, or a religious martyr for a movement, but a Savior from the sin virus that affects us all.  In Christianity, we have Jesus living in us to will and to act according to His good purpose (cf. Phil. 2:13).  It is not about imitation, but about inhabitation.  "Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Col. 1:27). You can say with Paul in Galatians 2:20 that it is no longer you that lives, but Christ that lives in or through you.

With Jesus in the equation, you have a whole new outlook on life and see life with the lens of His truth so you can see the Big Picture of how to interpret world events--life makes sense! Jesus does make a difference! You can too if you know Him!  Viva la difference!  In contrast to other faiths, you can take Buddha out of Buddhism, or Muhammad out of Islam, and you still have the basics of the religion; however, you cannot do this with Christianity--taking Christ out of it leaves nothing left:It would be an empty philosophy without any power to implement it and have promised without any fulfillment. When you factor in Jesus, you find that life is worth living and there is meaning a purpose in living for Him.   Soli Deo Gloria!

Par For The Course

Believers sign up for suffering on behalf of Christ when they get saved.  Philippians 1:29 says that it has been "granted unto us ... to suffer for His sake."  Without suffering or bearing our cross there is no glory.  We are not called to be martyrs (God wants "living sacrifices"), but must be willing if that is God's will for us.  Catholics refer to this as supererogatory or above and beyond the call of duty. They view it as merit that can be transferred to others.  Suffering and adversity make us like Christ and builds character.

As long as there is evil in the world, there will be suffering, but God can make it work out for the good like He did to Joseph in Egypt (cf. Gen. 50:20).  We aren't supposed to be doormats; however, we must learn to persist, for "if we endure, we shall also reign with him," according to 2 Timothy 2:12.  If we suffer for the name of Jesus, we should be joyful that we were "counted worthy." Remember what Jesus said of Paul:  "I will show him what great things he must suffer for My sake." When adversity comes, it has God's permission, even if the devil instigated it.  It is inevitable, and Christ didn't even exempt Himself!  It is like purifying silver:  When you can see your reflection, the impurities are gone. Christ is chipping away everything in us that doesn't resemble Himself, just like a sculptor making something of a rock when he chips away everything that doesn't look like his subject.

Jesus endured more suffering than any man who ever lived on our behalf, but His sufferings are completed through us!   If we know the "why" we can bear almost any "how" in suffering or trials.  Remember, God never promised us a bed of roses.  No cross--no glory!  Paul wanted to "share in His sufferings" or the "fellowship of His sufferings" (cf. Phil. 3:10).  Our crosses pale in comparison to His.  When we suffer, it is so that others don't have to; when we don't have to it's because others have!   Why suffer?  The same sun melts the butter hardens the clay.  The same hammer that breaks glass forges steal.  God doesn't have to explain Himself (consider Job!) and we should thank God for every opportunity our suffering brings to glorify Him.   Suffering is the crucible we all go through in sanctification.  It is not what happens to us, as much as what happens in us, or what we do with it.  "Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?"  (Job 2:10).  Bad things happen to good people and to bad people as well.  The question should be:  Why do good things happen at all?

We are "transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit"  (2 Cor. 3:18).  This is the way we share in His holiness and learn to love God and relate to Him.  We should have the attitude of Job:  "But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold"  (Job 23:10).  Paul said in Romans 5:3 that "we also rejoice in our suffering."

There is a psychological need for "negative stress" because we are not meant to live in luxury or without any problems and attitude determine how we meet the challenge.   One psychiatrist wrote, "Why It Feels So Good to Feel So Bad."   Isaiah knew what he was talking about when he said, "When you pass through the waters I will be with you."  Put out the welcome mat and welcome adversity as a friend and challenge to grow in your relationship, knowing that God is trusting you that you can learn from it.  We cannot avoid it, and if we sin there is divine discipline because it comes with the territory.   Soli Deo Gloria!

Obligatory Obedience Of Discipleship

"[T]hrough whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations"  (Romans 1:5, ESV).
"And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient?  So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief [note correlation]"  (Hebrews 3:18-19, ESV). 

Here's an anecdote of a believer who had come full-circle (Is he Catholic or Protestant, or Protestant acting like a Catholic?):  "I don't believe in the infallibility of Scripture anymore, but I still believe in Jesus as my Lord!"/"O how does he exercise His Lordship?"/ "Through the teachings of the Church!" (Who and what is he obeying?)

In the incident with the rich young ruler who said he had obeyed the commandments; however, the ultimate test was whether he would obey the Lord Himself, according to John MacArthur.

The issue is how does Christ extend His authority over us.  We are not to be rule-obsessed like the Pharisees but have a personal link to the Lord, take His yoke of love, and follow His will as the fulfillment of the Law.  The Lord exercises His Lordship over us through the Word (as a check on all other authority), through the body of Christ, and through all legitimate authority (even government, unless civil disobedience is called for out of Scriptural reasons), i.e., we cannot say we obey the Lord if we are disobedient to our superiors who have the rule over us (we submit one to another in the love of Christ) and we are rogues, doing their own thing and going their own way, as it were.

Protestants go a step beyond obedience to the authority of the church over them by obeying the Lord as revealed in Scripture via a personal relationship, i.e., knowing the Lord--unlike the rich young ruler who obeyed rules, but not the Lord Himself.  Protestant means:  I dissent, I disagree, I protest. Protestants are not at the mercy of Church dogma as infallible.

Thinking you can believe without obedience is called easy-believism and its gospel as the no-lordship gospel.  "Christ will not save anyone He cannot command," says A.W. Tozer.  And will not barter away his claim to lordship and ownership of us.  He couldn't be our Savior if He were not Lord of all (cf. Acts 10:36).  John MacArthur says "follow Me" refers to unconditional surrender to His lordship. True salvation is free, but it is not cheap, because the Bible doesn't teach "cheap grace" or "cheap peace," the terminology of this heresy if you will, because it cost God everything to redeem us, and He wants all of us in return. "I call it heresy," says A. W. Tozer about this gospel in vogue that dumbs down and domesticates the biblical evangel.

Obedience ultimately also means submission to authority, but some believers are reluctant to follow suit or go there--we are all under authority in the body of Christ and no one is the man in charge, except Christ Himself.  We have leaders who are also under authority!  "[We] have turned everyone to his own way" (Isaiah 53:6b, ESV).

Since we are creatures and God is our Creator, we owe Him all our obedience by virtue of this alone, whether there is a heaven or not. Even Satan has to obey when commanded and seeks permission for his mischief.  Religious people who simply go through the motions and memorize the Dance of the Pious don't please God by their religiosity.  God seeks obedience from a "noble and good heart."  1 Samuel 15:22 says:  "...Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams." Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the Lutheran pastor who was executed in a concentration camp by the Nazis for his Christian stand, said eloquently and succinctly:  "Only he who believes is obedient, and only he who is obedient believes."  They are linked and correlated and go hand in hand in a complementary manner, they can be distinguished but not separated;  there is no such class of believer who is perpetually or habitually disobedient--obedience is not an option and the Great Commission is not the Great Suggestion!   And we can obey only by the power of Christ working in us (cf. Col. 1:29). God's power is always there to enable us to do His bidding and the power of the Holy Spirit is always on hand to kick in when needed--but we must remember it is His energy not the energy of the flesh. Paul says in Romans 15:18 that he "will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through [him] to bring the Gentiles to obedience by word and deed [actions can speak louder than words and prove our testimony]."

Faith is simply about trust and obedience and learning to walk in them.  I love the hymn "Trust and Obey" which stresses this definition of faith.   Isaiah 1:19 says in one version, "If you consent and obey you shall eat of the best of the land..," and in the NLT, "If you will only obey me and let me help you, then you will have plenty to eat..,"  or "If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat of the good of the land... (ESV)." Jesus admonished his disciples in John 14:21:  "He who has my commandments and keeps them [obeys], it is he who loves me."  Part B of the Great Commission is to "obey" or "observe" His teachings or commandments! We are not done when we make a convert, but must train them as disciples or followers of Christ--they must be learners and students in the school of Christ, in which they have matriculated upon salvation.   Jesus' commands are not burdensome according to 1 John 5:3 (compared to the yoke of the Law of Moses), and his burden is light (cf. Matt. 11:29).  Only when we submit to His yoke will we find our Sabbath rest.

Jeremiah 4:8 says that Israel didn't "know the rules of the LORD!"  What does God require?  Deut. 10:12-13 (ESV) says it in a nutshell:  "And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statues of the LORD which I am commanding you this day for your good."  One of my favorite verses is Micah 6:8 says:  "Her has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?"  This refers to ethics, brotherly relationships, and fellowship with God.  Jesus summed up the deeper requirements of the Law in Matt. 23:23 (ESV) as follows:  "...[And] have neglected the weightier matters of the law:  justice, and mercy, and faithfulness."

The point is that we cannot do the Law nor fulfill its demands, even though Israel promised to do them rather than plead for mercy in Exodus 24:3 (ESV) as follows:  "... All the words that the LORD has spoken we will do [obey again]."  The point of the Law is to point out our sin according to Paul in Romans 3:20 in the Phillips translation:  "Indeed the straightedge of the law shows us how crooked we really are." Other versions render it: "... [F]or by the law is the knowledge of sin;" "... [Since] through the law comes knowledge of sin." C. S. Lewis aptly said that we don't know how bad we are till we've tried to be good, and we can't be good till we know how bad we are!  This is a paradox and worth thinking about, because the closer we get to God, the more we realize our unworthiness and His grace and mercy.  Luther said the Law is a hammer that smashes our righteousness and a mirror that shows our faults.  Why didn't Israel realize that they couldn't keep the Law?  Only Jesus was able to and He did it on our behalf so we don't have to but can have His righteousness imputed to our account and be considered justified (or just as if I'd done it!).

What kind of attitude should we have in obedience?  Deut. 26:16 says, "...You shall be careful to do them with all your heart and with all your soul."  David says in Psalm 40:8 that he "delights to do [His] will."  We do not obey begrudgingly or because we think we have to, but because we want to; we now have a heart of flesh willing to obey God, instead of a heart of stone (Ezekiel 36:26). "... For the love of Christ constrains us" (2 Cor. 5:14). We are not inclined or biased to good anymore and need to be set free, because we are not born free (we are slaves to sin and the sin nature).  Our attitude determines our altitude spiritually and we need constant "attitude checks" or "spiritual check-ups."  We have the choice to choose our attitude and it should be one of joy in suffering because we are counted worthy. We are not free to disobey at will or our discretion, but free to obey the will of God.

According to John MacArthur, faith is manifest in obedience only.  James said, "I will show you my faith by my deeds," while Paul is saying, "I will show you my deeds by faith." We are saved by faith alone, according to the reformers, but not a faith that is alone (that would be antinomianism).   Without deeds our faith is suspect!  The obedience of faith saves, but works are no substitute for faith, because, even though we are not saved by works, we are not saved without them either. Matthew 7:17 says we shall know them by their fruits. We must bear fruit in keeping with our repentance and so prove our faith (cf. Acts 26:20: "... [Performing] deeds in keeping with their repentance"). Luke 3:8 says, "Bring forth fruits in keeping with your repentance."  Obedience is evidence of faith, not its substitute, and God is not against works, just those done in the flesh (cf. Isaiah 64:6).  The faith you have is the faith you show is James' key point.  Remember, we are judged by our obedience (i.e., our deeds or works per Romans 2:6), not our faith.  God is not interested in our achievements or accomplishments, but in our obedience only!

When God tests us, it is for our own good and it is an honor because He trusts us to pass the test and obey Him.   You might wonder if you are obedient.  Acts 5:32 (ESV) says, "And we are witness to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him."  Jesus said, "If any man wills to do His will, he shall know of the doctrine..."  (John 7:17).  Jesus said in John 17:3 that eternal life is knowing Him; likewise to know Him is to love Him and to love Him is to obey Him--because we now want to do God's will from the heart! Again I reiterate 2 Cor. 5 v. 14: "For the love of Christ constrains [or compels in ESV] us...."  Though the believer is capable of disobedience out of failure or because he is human, he possesses a supernatural yearning to obey and please God. As David said in Psalm 40:8 (ESV), "I desire to do your will, my God; your law is with my heart."The ultimate result of knowing Him is to desire to be like Him in sanctification and a growing and living faith.   Soli Deo Gloria!

Going Home

"What man is he that liveth, and shall not see death?"  (Psalm 89:48).
"There is but a step between me and death" (1 Samuel 20:3).
"For it is appointed unto man once to die, and after this the Judgment"  (Hebrews 9:27).
"For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain" (Philippians 1:21).
"Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints" (cf. Psalm 116:15).
EMPHASIS MINE. It has been observed, that if you can direct a man's thoughts toward eternity, you are well on the way to converting him.

"[Prepare] to meet your God, O Israel"  (cf. Amos 4:12).  Avoidance of the issue or being in denial is a cop-out and defense mechanism that doesn't work, because, sooner or later, we will all meet our Maker and have either a judgment day or a coronation day.  We must learn to put eternity in perspective and live in light of eternity--we are only passing through, as it were! Remember, it has wisely been said, "The only thing certain about life is death."  We all have the final appointment with death and no one knows when it is for them--he must always be vigilant.

There is the story of how much of a welcome Teddy Roosevelt got in a ticker-tape parade in Time's Square, and at the same time a missionary was coming home to his family:  He wondered why he didn't receive such a glorious welcome as this "hero" and God told him:  [Don't make yourself too comfortable or make yourself at home!] "You are not home yet!" We must learn to live our lives on this earth as foreigners and see that God just gives us spiritual green cards to prepare us for eternity. See yourself as a citizen of heaven!

Matthew Henry said that it ought to be the business of every day to prepare for our final day. This is highly practical and a matter of applying the Word to our lives. Not wanting to tackle this issue, or to avoid it, is cowardly and escaping reality, so to speak.  If you are not ready for death, you are not really living; for only those ready to die can enjoy life to the max.  If we can affirm with Paul: "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith..." (2 Timothy 4:7).

The day of our departure to be with the Lord is meant to be more joyous than our day of birth!  I like Alfred, Lord Tennyson's wording in In Memoriam: "God's finger touched him and he slept."  Life is not a fluke and there is an intricate plan of God for each of us, and when we realize it we are really "Living" with a capital L. Some people are merely existing, they are not living, because the true secret to life eternal in its fullness is to know God ("I am come that they may have life, and have it more abundantly," says Jesus; starting now, not in eternity).

You can spend your life without accomplishing anything and it may turn out to be empty pursuits done in vain.  I am not against doing good deeds or works, just those done in the flesh!  We will only be rewarded for the fruit of the Spirit that we accomplish through the power of the Spirit (Hosea 14:8; Isaiah 26:12).  Paul said in Romans 15:18, "I will not venture to speak of anything, but what Christ has accomplished through me [as a vessel of honor] "prepared unto good works" per Ephesians 2:10). Note that we are not saved "by works," but "unto [for] works," and we will be recompensed fairly beyond our wildest dreams.

The sad thing is that most people don't know they are wasting their life on worthless goals or even godless pleasures.  A life without God-oriented purpose is petty and trivial and will count for nothing in light of eternity.  Alfred, Lord Tennyson, the poet laureate of the UK, said that he looked forward to meeting his "pilot" when he had "crossed the bar."  "Death, be not proud!" Sir Walter Scott said, "Time and tide wait for no man."  We never know when our hour has come--we must be ready.

Death is a door and not a wall.  It is the final curtain call of this existence.  It is nothing to be afraid of for us believers because Christians don't really die--it is just the separation of the soul from the higher level of dimension in living like color TV is a higher level than black and white, and likewise, H.D. and 3-D to boot!   We never reach perfect sanctification in this life where we can say we have "arrived," (cf. Phil. 3:13) but in glory, we will be without sin and yet totally free--we won't want to sin either.

To some it may seem morbid (it is being oriented to reality and being well-adjusted and victorious over the devil who holds people captive by a fear of death) and to make the final preparations and provide for final expenses, or to dwell on your wishes, even sharing them to intimate friends and family there comes a time when we must face reality that we are getting up there and could go at any time to meet our Lord, and our work is done--we are the ultimate realists.  We don't want to be preoccupied with the subject but examples of what ought to be done as an example--this is our last testimony and chance to say something in our death.  How many believers have made funeral arrangements, or have life insurance, or have gone through the trouble of making a will and appointing an executor?   Having done this, I can reassure you that it is God's will and there is great peace of mind in not leaving the final expenses to family and burdening them to worry about the details in such a trying and lamentable moment as when a dear one passes away.

I have talked to some guys and they simply don't care what happens to them after they die, but this is an unbiblical attitude.  There is such as thing as being irresponsible and making that final impression of how people remember you are important.  In the Bible, God places a premium on giving men a proper burial and I recall the wicked Jezebel that the dogs ate her body and she never was buried. When God curses people often He says they won't receive a proper burial--this is an eternal stigma, and we are to honor all men and give every man in the image of God, no matter his status a proper burial, and to be ready for any contingency.  We are stewards of what God has blessed us with and will be held accountable to the end, even our foresight, like God, said to Hezekiah:  "Get your house in order, you are about to die!"

Try thinking of the departing to be with the Lord as our final promotion and being given our ultimate reward (1 Cor. 2:9 says, "Eye has not heard, not entered into the heart of man, what God has prepared for [us]").  Be ready!  St. Francis of Assisi was asked what he'd do with one hour left to live: "I'd finish this row [he was gardening that day]."  And in that day, ye shall ask me nothing" (John 16:23):  Our questions are answered.

Our departure is meant to be glorious and a celebration of our life and we will see how God has always been at work in our lives "to do and to will according to His good pleasure"  (Philippians 2:13).  William James, the psychologist, said, "The best use of life is to spend it for something that outlasts it."   The consequences of our personal goals will not last as long as the accomplishment of God's will in our life--the goal should be to find that for your life and be faithful in it.  We are all living on borrowed time, as they say, and sooner or later you will realize that disease like cancer is not terminal--life is! We cannot escape the Grim Reaper and are literally all on Death Row!  The best philosophy and theology is to be ready to expire at any time, and that gives us a brave heart.  Soli Deo Gloria!

Brain, Mind, and Spirit

"For God has not given us a spirit of fear; but of power and of love and of a sound mind" (2 Tim. 1:7, KJV).
"[The demon-possessed man] was clothed and in his right mind."
"At the same time my reason returned to me..."  (Daniel 4:36a, ESV).
"As a man thinks in his heart, so is he"  (Prov. 23:7).
EMPHASIS IN BOLDFACE MINE!

It has been said that we are what we think about all day and that we are what our thoughts make us are what we are. "We aren't what we think we are; but what we think, we are!"   Nevertheless, some misguided souls need to get their thinking straightened out, that's all!

Did you know that your brain is capable of being diseased and will ultimately decay into dust?  There is such a thing as mental illness, in that the brain can have misfires, "mal-connections," or lapses to do bizarre behavior, and even lose touch with reality and have delusions. Most mental illnesses, such as being bipolar do not mean the person is "crazy" but that he suffers a disability of mood swing that keeps him from functioning normally in society and of adjusting to the culture and his environment. I do not believe in calling people nuts, crazy, wackos, out of their mind, coo-coo, beside oneself, gone off the deep end, off his rocker, mentally disturbed, suffering from mental issues, or especially insane (except in extreme cases which are very rare).  "He's lost his mind! (he may just be confused by the author of confusion)."

Stigmas are uncalled for:  In reality, people with mental disorders are less likely to commit crimes than so-called normal people, and there are many normal criminals out there too. Giving psychiatric help to criminals only produces mentally healthy criminals!  Christians believe mind or thought preceded and is over matter or creation:  "In the beginning was the Word...." Note this:  The brain and mind are connected but involve more than chemical reactions.

Our mind is different from our brain and is dependent upon it in the body we indwell but will be set free and glorified in glory.  Our character and personality, and not necessarily our IQ will remain intact and we will have nothing to complain or fret about.  Personally, I do not believe there will be retarded or even geniuses in heaven, but all will have perfect minds in perfect bodies like Christ. There are many diseases of the mind such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases that can greatly debilitate and do harm to one's living style and comfort zone.  But I do not believe our spirits can be infected by disease!

(Modern science is monistic or believing only in the physical and that which can be demonstrated, repeated, and proved by natural causes.  However, we Christians believe in dualism that we have a mind separate that is not material.  Unbelievers are just as human as Christians, but they are dead spiritually and lack a right relationship with God and man (definition of righteousness). Christians have a special dimension to life that is beyond just being conscious of the material world, but of God and spiritual things and concepts--this can never erode or fade away.)


We are vessels of honor and will never lose our fellowship with God the Father, Jesus the Son, the Holy Spirit, and fellow believers. This is something the devil cannot snatch away nor afflict us with. For example, we may lose short-term memory or ultimately memory of lifetime acquaintances, but we will never lose our knowledge of God or awareness of His divine presence within us.  Others cannot see our relationship with God except through the fruit we produce, but we can never be separated from the love of Christ (Rom. 8:39 declares that even disease can't harm our fellowship and security in Him).  God will never put His children to shame because they are vessels of honor and would rather take them home to be with the Lord than suffer at the hands of the devil like an unbeliever succumbing to his diabolical activity.

Talents can be neglected and deteriorate, but gifts are given and God does not take back what He gives: Philippians 1:6 that says He will finish what He has started in us and will not give up--so we should never surrender though it seems we are capable of temporary setback, failure, and unfaithfulness. No matter what trial we go through God is with us ("When you pass through the waters I will be with you..," says Isaiah 43:2).  Jesus didn't save our brains, but our souls and this includes our intellect because the will is driven by it (the will is that by which the mind chooses or the faculty of choice and referee driven by the intellect and emotions).  If our mind was destroyed we couldn't be "set free" or make choices!

Dr. Karl Popper with Sir John Eccles wrote a must-read and classic entitled The Self and Its Brain in which they distinguish, and separate these two entities of our being (we are a "living being" distinguished from animals and have the breath of life itself endowed by our Creator).  Having a mind makes consciousness possible, and this is subjective and not in the material world--there is something out there besides matter and that, of course, implies a Higher Mind, or God Almighty Himself as Creator. Consciousness and thinking are mental and not material or physical events!  Most psychiatrists believe we are just a bunch of chemical reactions and any disease of the brain can be fixed by some drug therapy and physical treatment---they deny the existence of a soul!

They also deny the personhood consisting of being a living soul and having any spiritual existence--Christians according to Freud and modern psychiatry are suffering from a neurosis or psychosis.  To distinguish the spiritual dimension, a relatively normal person can appear as a spiritual giant because of his "knowing the Lord" with his mind.  Our minds do remain intact as we enter eternity, and can operate independently of our brains, which are just part of our physical bodies and subject to defect and shortcomings.  Soli Deo Gloria!

Does Genuine Repentance Save?

The question stated is a loaded one:  Romans 2:4 tells us that the goodness or kindness of God is meant to lead us to repentance; God grants repentance according to 2 Tim. 2:24 according to His will and in Acts 5:31 He gives repentance to Israel;  likewise, in Acts 11:18 God grants the Gentiles repentance unto life; in Luke 24:47 the Great Commission is given in terms of repentance:  "[And] that repentance and forgiveness of sin should be proclaimed in his name to all generations."

What then is repentance?  From the Koine, metanoia means a change of mind or to rethink.  It is more than eating humble pie or coming clean or feeling sorry about something, or even of having remorse like Judas did.  There are attrition and contrition; God only honors contrition (cf. Psalm 51:17 about God not despising a contrite heart), which is a change of heart, mind, and will or in feelings, intellect and knowledge of it (i.e., changing your mind and attitude, not just opinions), and deciding and determining not to repeat it and go in the opposite direction--doing a 180, a U-turn, or a radical about-face, you might say. One needs emotion but repentance isn't emotionalism. He needs to agree with God about his sin and say the same thing and get a conviction, which is the domain of the Holy Spirit.

You can't do it part way, but must renounce sin making the commitment, to turn from sin which is the evil principle in us. Attrition is spurious and basically only feeling bad about the result and consequence--like what Esau had after selling his birthright to Jacob for a meal.  Repentance, it is agreed, is a prerequisite of salvation.  It is not the cause, but the result because God works it in our hearts with faith so that we become transformed from the inside out--He puts a new man in the suit, not a new suit on the man.  Attrition, on the other hand, is basically motivated by fear of punishment or getting a ticket out of hell, or fire insurance, you could say.

Repentance is an imperative or a mandate and there is no salvation without it.  Conversion consists of both repentance and faith, but they are the flip side of each other and can be distinguished, but not separated.  They say you have believing repentance or penitent faith!  Don't try to justify yourself or offer excuses, but make a resolution to turn to from your former ways to God's way.  Repentance is not a one-time event or experience but must be on-going and progressive--renewed daily to walk with the Lord. The command to repent is given in Ezekiel 18:30 as follows:  Repent, and turn from all your transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your ruin."  Paul says in Acts 17:30 (ESV) in the same vein:  "...[B]ut now he commands people everywhere to repent."

We must see that repentance and faith go hand in hand and are complementary--the one is turning from sin and the other is turning to God!  Repentance is one of the recurring motifs of Scripture and Jesus opened His ministry preaching it as did John the Baptist. Jesus said, "Repent, or you will likewise perish" (cf. Luke 13:5).   In the final analysis, we must own up to our wrongdoing.  There is no genuine repentance without saving faith; therefore, if you have one you also have the other.  When one repents he sees himself as a sinner (the sinner's prayer in Luke 18:13 is relevant:  "God be merciful to me, the sinner.").  When one has done this, he is good to go!

Now note that repentance and faith are not conditions of salvation, but the result of it:  A man who is spiritually dead cannot do the work of God which takes the efficacious grace of God to melt his heart and make him willing to believe and change his life--a complete turnaround in repudiating sin!  Job confessed quite appropriately:  "I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes."  If he saw sin in his life, how much more should we in comparison to one of the three most righteous men in the Bible (Noah, Daniel, and Job according to the Word).

And in conclusion:  if you have genuine repentance, you must have saving faith simultaneously.  You can be assured of salvation, therefore, but it is God that saves through faith in Christ, by grace alone--it is the object of the faith, not the faith which saves (which would be fideism--faith in faith).  Repentance is the condition, but it is a work of grace in the heart, mind, and will of the sinner--"Apart from Me you can do nothing"  (cf. John 15:5).   The problem lies in the order of salvation or ordo salutis in Latin, all done by the grace of God so that God alone gets the glory (Soli Deo Gloria!): regeneration, repentance, faith, justification, sanctification, and the terminus is final glorification.  Soli Deo Gloria!

Why Isn't God A Woman?

"...[For] I am God and not a man...[God isn't even human!]"  (Hosea 11:9, ESV).
"God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind..." (Numbers 23:19, ESV).
"God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth"  (John 4:24, ESV).

Doesn't woman mean that she came out of man?  Man was created first in the divine order and scheme of things and then Eve or the woman out of Adam's rib.  Our God is one of design and order and not of confusion or disarray.  Woman was made for the man, and not the man for the woman as a helpmate for him.  Woman is really the pinnacle and zenith of God's creation--the ultimate masterpiece and crown of all creation.  A woman is no way inferior to man but is his equal and counterpart.  I believe God saved the best for last!

Many men have likewise pondered why God isn't a woman and even New Agers believe in Mother Nature, so to speak; because they would rather lust after a beautiful woman than worship some "old man" as God is often stereotyped and caricatured.  If God were a woman hypothetically speaking, some would counter:  "Why isn't God a man?"

God cannot literally be an "it" or a thing, but He is in the sense that He is spirit and not flesh and bone like us--God has no body and can incarnate and make theophanies at will to appear as He wills--even as fire or an angel.  The reason God is referred to as Father is because Jesus asked us to call Him that and He was His Father. This is not a throwback to our need for a father-figure, but God is attempting to show us that there is a correlation between His relationship with us and that of a father to a child. Think on this and go figure:  If God is in you, what sex is God then? The issue is whether He indwells you or not, not what His gender is.

God has no sex like the angels, but He did say, "Let's create man in our image."   This implies that He gave us the ability to communicate with Him and have a living relationship.  We have a will, emotions, and an intellect.  And He has attributes like courage, strength, compassion, tenderness, humility, and condescension that are not necessarily that of any certain sexual persuasion. God transcends gender definition and is the source of all good attributes.   It is too simplistic to say God is a man; however, Jesus is the Son of Man or the "human one [not the Father, the human one]."  God may be masculine, but if He didn't have a feminine side, where did these traits and characteristics come from, if not God?  Soli Deo Gloria!

How To Explain The Trinity

DISCLAIMER:  NO ONE CAN FULLY FATHOM GOD'S DIVINE NATURE MANIFESTED IN THE TRINITY; HOWEVER, ILLUSTRATIONS AND REASON CAN GIVE INSIGHT AND FAITH.

The Trinity, a term coined by the Church Father and lawyer Tertullian, is terminology for our God who is one in essence (i.e., that they share the attributes of divinity such as omniscience, omnipotence, and omnipresence), and is three in person--i.e., uniting three personas.  You might say He is triune or has a tripersonality.  He is a threesome, that in one sense is three, and in another only one.  God is one in the sense of a union or of being one like one cluster of grapes (from the Hebrew Echad).  Each of the members of the Godhead work together for one purpose, goal, and will to accomplish it with different job descriptions or roles:  In our salvation, the Father planned it and authored it, the Son accomplished it and achieved it, and the Holy Spirit applies it and completes it; In creation as well as in salvation, the Father initiates, the Son redeems, and the Holy Spirit regenerates.  This is like three functions of matter in the three states of solid, liquid, and gas. Water, ice, and steam are all the same element chemically, though they have different properties.

How can you say that there are three and one and not be contradictory?  If you mean it in a different sense it is no contradiction. According to the law of noncontradiction, something cannot be something and not be something in the same sense at the same time!  If you have three lights on in a room and behold only one light doesn't that mean there is but one light with three sources?  One person may say, from his viewpoint, that there are three lights, and another that there is only one!  It all depends upon perspective.  Charles Taze Russell, who founded the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, said this doctrine was illogical and therefore rejected it; however, God's nature isn't necessarily perceptible, apparent, nor lucid to our feeble minds.  You may say it is simple arithmetic:  1 + 1 + 1 = 3; however, 1 X 1 X 1 = 1.

No one can adequately explain the Trinity because the finite cannot contain the infinite, as the Latin maxim says.  We have to take it on faith that this is so!  God will give us enough to take the leap of faith, but He expects us to have faith and not let our cerebral doubts get in the way.  Our intellects can be a stumbling block to our faith, get in the way, and hinder true faith--God honors the faith of a child.

What I'm getting at is that you cannot fathom nor explain this doctrine, even if you have all eternity! We cannot peg God, put Him in a box, nor analyze Him to our specs or satisfaction!  Just accept it by faith and realize that God is infinite and you are finite and cannot comprehend God. God boggles our mind and just thinking about Him is mental gymnastics. There is always more to God than we apprehend--this is called the profundity of God.  God speaks to us in baby talk, or lisping, and is condescending to our level to have a relationship with us, who are in His image--that's why we are capable of it.

In conclusion:  I confess I cannot fully comprehend it, but I believe despite this.  You don't need all the answers to have faith, just go in the direction of the preponderance of the evidence like a jury is instructed to do.  God with the flow!  When the majority of the evidence suggests or dictates a conclusion--go with it!  Behold the "three-in-oneness" of God. "God in three persons, blessed Trinity."  They say the Trinity is not three ways of looking at God (like a man may be a husband, brother, and son), nor three persons or personas that together make up or complete God (this is called tritheism and is like the parts of an egg or apple together make up the whole egg or apple), but a threesome and a union incomprehensibly made one.    Soli Deo Gloria!

Is It Valid To Only Have A Higher Power?

Note well that just imagining a God or philosophizing about His existence or being superstitious and just thinking "He is there" doesn't satisfy:  Only a personal and secure relationship with Him can!  A one-dimensional God cannot fulfill our needs and meet us where we are.

Some people like to think of God as some higher power that influences them for good or bad in an impersonal way and the world at large.  They don't feel they know it or have any kind of living relationship with it, but only respect it and live by its rules.  It is a kind of mechanical fate to some and a cosmic energy or life force to others ("the Force be with you").  Some are convicted there is a God of some sort but call it or personify it by other names, such as "Mother Nature" or "Fate, Luck, or Chance."

There are no impersonal forces at work in nature and God is sovereign over all His creation.  What these deluded people need to realize is the vast chasm between Jesus Christ and the so-called higher powers that cannot be known.  Since we have a mind and are persons, a creator must have a higher mind and be a superior person, not a force or influence. Thinking of God as a mere higher power is a stepping stone or beginning to an acknowledgment of God in truth through a personal knowledge of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

Christ claimed to be God Almighty in the flesh and rose from the dead to demonstrate it to live witnesses who became martyrs witnessing of their experiences, and the veracity of their testimony was their blood and death.  People will die for what they believe is true, but they won't willingly die for a hoax.   The resurrection is either the greatest single event in all of history or it is the biggest hoax and fraud ever perpetrated upon mankind.  The disciples were not deluded madmen and guilty of spreading rumors and lies.  They were not consummate liars at all but men of high moral integrity and their lives verified and were consistent with their testimony.  Jesus talked like no human ever talked and is not saying things you would expect of a madman; they are not the rantings and ravings of a lunatic.

Yes, Christianity is so vastly differentiated from "religion" that it is in a new dimension--viva la difference.  Only in Christianity is their assurance of salvation, and an existential personal experience that is based on objective, historical fact.   We would not be experiencing Christ if He were still dead in the grave. Religion is a "do-it-yourself" proposition and is basically "lifting up yourself by your own bootstraps."  Religion says "Do," while Christianity says, "Done." Our salvation is not earned, deserved, and able to be paid back, but wholly of grace and a gift of God to be received as a gift. Only in Christianity is the sin problem adequately dealt with and solved by the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ--there is no more reason for guilt and shame, but a real hope.  The past is forgiven, the present is given meaning, and the future is secured. What purpose in life can a higher power give you?

Eternal life is about knowing God and having a personal, fulfilling, and rewarding relationship with Him.   We are assured of a God who loves us and cares about us and meets our needs adequately. We are not left out to fend for ourselves in a dog-eat-dog world that has the law of the jungle and the rule is the survival of the fittest.   The whole miracle of Christianity is how it changes lives and transforms from the inside out, making a whole new person in the suit, not putting a new suit on the person.   We are not free to imagine any God we choose and put Him in a box; we must find and deal with the God who is there.  God is here and He is not silent.

The uniqueness of Jesus is that He is especially known for who He is, and not what He said (though people quote Him all the time unawares).  He alone claimed to be the Son of God and His credentials backed it up.  His character was consistent with His claims, and His miracles were such that they were unique signs of His deity.  If you take the miracles out of Christianity you have nothing left--Jesus would only be a footnote in history; you can take the miracles out of the other faiths and you still have them intact.  Someone has said, "If you take Christ out of Christianity, you disembowel it and there is nothing left"--Christianity is Christ and Christ is God, which is the issue to be faced.

Christianity is a religion that God has revealed Himself propositionally, i.e., hundreds of times it says, "Thus saith the LORD" and this is not the case in any of the other "Scriptures."  Christianity is a revealed religion that we wouldn't have thought of ourselves like having 72 virgins and enjoying wine, women, and song for eternity.  Some disparities are:  All faiths encourage good works, but in Christianity, we are not saved by works, but unto works.  We don't do works in order to get saved, but because we are saved: not an "in order to" but a "therefore."  Only Christianity has an objective reason to solve the so-called guilt problem of man, which is real and exists.  Only Christianity offers an eternal life that begins as an abundant life in the here and now and is not provisional--a sure thing. Only Christianity offers grace instead of merit to gain salvation. We don't deserve it, can't earn it, and can never pay it back!

Many faiths claim to "work" and they say that that is proof they are true:  The unique distinction is that Christianity is not true because it works, but it works because it is true.  Every honest seeker of the truth owes it to himself to take a serious look at the claims of Christ and see that there is no comparison to any so-called higher power. Note well:  Only Christianity proffers a personal God that loves us and knows us and wants a personal relationship with us so that we can know Him.
    Soli Deo Gloria!

The Freedom And Bondage Of The Will

Right off the bat, I want to make you cognizant of the two sorts of will in us--temporal/mundane and spiritual or moral. God has uniquely made man a moral creature because he has a mind and a will, and man alone has the ability to make moral choices for which he is responsible and will be held accountable and judged unless he is redeemed. Spiritual choices pertaining to salvation are subject to the grace of God.  We have the ability to choose (or faculty of choice intact) of what sort of cola we want, but we don't have the innate or inherent ability to choose the Way of salvation in Christ apart from the grace of God (John 15:5).  If someone says he went to the altar and received Christ all by himself with no aid from Christ or the Holy Spirit, he probably also left the altar without Christ too.

When we are left to ourselves we don't choose Christ.  That is the problem, man chooses evil and God did something about it by choosing some (the elect) to be saved by predestination because of His purpose and grace--not because of anything we did (or it would be on the basis of works and merit and election is unconditional and made before we did anything).  God could have chosen to condemn everyone (He didn't have to save anyone!), but He decided to show mercy on whom He will show mercy and condemn those He chooses to pass over and withhold grace.  Some receive grace and some justice, but God is unjust to no one.  Grace and mercy are forms of non-justice, but not of injustice.

God is sovereign over all of creation and made us of a certain temperament and character without our input.  There is no maverick molecule, so to speak, in the cosmos.  We act according to our nature (choleric, melancholic, phlegmatic, sanguine, bipolar, extrovert, introvert, antisocial, etc.).  As an analogy, why do you think a dove prefers seed and a vulture feasts on carrion?   So little of the factors of a decision is based upon our choice because God is able to manipulate all circumstances to bring about His will so that His sovereignty is not limited by our freedom.  Jesus said in John 15:5, "Apart from Me you can do nothing."

We cannot even believe apart from the grace of God (Acts 18:27 says,  "...he greatly helped those who through grace had believed").  "For it has been granted unto you to believe..." (Phil. 1:29).  Faith is a gift and not a work, or we would be saved by works and have merit before God to boast of.  We don't conjure it up but it comes "by the hearing and hearing by the Word" (Rom. 10:17).  Our ultimate destiny, therefore, is in the hands of God.  He decided whom to save apart from our input. This is a hard teaching to accept and Jesus said in John 6:44 that no one can come to the Father unless the Father "draws" him.  The wooing or enticing of the Spirit is essential, necessary, and sufficient. We cannot come to the Father unless it has been granted,

Martin Luther wrote The Bondage of the Will and said that freedom of the will is too grandiose a term to describe our state.  We don't need free will to be saved, but wills set free--we are not born free or innocent, but in bondage and enslaved to sin and our sin nature.  Philippians 2:13 (ESV) says, "For it is  God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure."  God can make the unwilling willing at will per Psalm 110:3.

I do not believe in determinism, which is robotic coercion.  We are not puppets on a string.  God never forces anyone to do something against his will--He simply changes your will willingly--we are all voluntary slaves to sin.  We have input and are responsible moral agents for our choices.  We didn't cease to be men at the fall, but ceased being good--our inclination to good was lost and we are basically evil and sinful fallen creatures, not basically and inherently good.  Augustine summed up our state by saying we are free, but not freed (we have lost our liberty). The freedom of the will is a curse and poison because we are bound to choose against Christ apart from His divine intervention.   We all act according to enlightened self-interest and according to our God-given nature.  God doesn't force us to do anything we don't want to do (i.e., there is no outside force) which would make us robots or automata. We do have self-determination, which is real freedom, in that we make decisions ourselves.  The miracle is that God is able to change our heart and transform a heart of stone into a heart of flesh (Ezek. 36:27).

If we were really free, we would be able to say:  "Henceforth, I will only desire only good and not sin." (We are slaves to sin our will is fallen too and needs to be set free by Christ by grace.)  This is where our freedom ends and we suffer the consequences of our own nature.  The sinner retains the faculty of choice and will not be able to blame God for his bad choices--he will have no one to blame but himself at the Great White Throne Judgment.   Soli Deo Gloria!