People are fully committed to what they believe, especially their political camp, and would not accept the argument that they could be wrong. But God is not partisan! You cannot know the absolute truth in a partisan manner! This goes for anything secular in arguing: the opponent could be wrong and that is a valid point. They don't want to admit they are dogmatic in their faith. Do you know that logically all religions cannot be right; however, they could all be wrong! We have faith in God, However, and this is the beginning of knowledge. We know the answers to the ultimate questions! Because our knowledge originates with God who He knows all. You have to know all to know anything; we know A because of B, B because of C, ad infinitum. But infinite regress is impossible--you cannot cross infinity! Point in fact: all knowledge is based and founded on faith.
There is an omniscient all-knowing God as a starting point. And so, we must reason from God and with God, not against Him, nor to Him. The Bible says that the fear of the LORD is the beginning of all knowledge (cf. Prov. 1:7)--what is divinely revealed to us and has been reasoned from there. The Bible is the final authority and arbiter of truth for us and is self-attesting, appealing to no higher authority or source. This is reasonable because if it did appeal to something/someone higher it couldn't be the final arbiter of truth, i.e., Sola Scriptura, Scripture alone as the sole authority--the Reformers' rallying cry. And so, we begin with God and explain the universe, we don't dismiss Him from the get-go and reason against Him, begging the question.
Where you start determines where you'll end up! Athanasius said that the only system of thought Christ will fit into is the one where He is the starting point. The problem with people is that they do know God and suppress this knowledge according to Romans 1:18 (and you must know God to suppress Him) and when they knew Him they were ungrateful and didn't worship Him becoming fools claiming to be wise. They denied the God they did know. But we cannot answer the big questions without God in the equation--secularism cannot give the know-whys.
We aren't putting God on trial by attempting to "prove" Him, but the evidence is there for the willing if one is willing to follow the facts wherever they lead. Evidence strengthens existent faith. Even given sufficient evidence sinners will not worship God without God's intervention to regenerate them and quicken faith in their blinded souls. But there is never enough for the skeptic who doesn't want to believe. Infidels don't want to examine or believe in evidence because it's stacked against them and they don't have the answers--they just object to Christianity. We don't need all the evidence or answers to believe! There is adequate evidence for the willing though. The trouble is that some infidels wouldn't repent if all their questions were adequately answered and shown the way the evidence is leading, because they feel comfortable in their lifestyle--they love their sin!
People feign intellectual problems when they really have moral ones and just don't want to live the abundant life in Christ. The heart of the matter, then, is a matter of the heart. They are really making truth claims by denying the Source of truth and the Personification of it--Jesus. The issue boils down to what Pilate asked Jesus: "What is truth?" It corresponds with reality and is the self-revelation of God, agreeing with God who delimits and defines it. We can appeal to no higher authority. It's self-defeating to say there's no truth because that would be a truth claim per se! How do they know that or what if they're wrong?
The truth is that we base all our knowledge on two principles of logic: the law of noncontradiction and the law of cause and effect or causality. Logic is a valid way to find truth if the premise is true, but we only know something is true if God revealed it. You cannot prove anything that's not logical! The fool who claims to know nothing is admitting he does know something! This ends up with the reasoning of Socrates that to find truth you must admit your ignorance or that you could be wrong!
The problem is that we all interpret the evidence according to what we already believe and fit our theories or prejudices. Don't twist facts to fit the theories! God has to make a believer out of us by converting us and bringing us to a saving knowledge of Christ. We must never give leverage to the infidel by giving him ammunition to believe he cannot know anything about God!
Therefore, Christians have a personal encounter with God to validate their leap of faith and to reinforce it with the experience that God is good. The infidel cannot defend his foolish faith! Thankfully, the Christian faith is the only religion that's fact, evidence, and historically sound and based. NB: Faith not based on evidence is blind faith! The conclusion of the matter is that only Christians can know with certainty anything concerning God as the starting point, while the infidel doesn't have a leg to stand on and lives a lie and self-contradiction not knowing anything for sure. Soli Deo Gloria!
About Me
- Karl Broberg
- I am a born-again Christian, who is Reformed, but also charismatic, spiritually speaking. (I do not speak in tongues, but I believe glossalalia is a bona fide gift not given to all, and not as great as prophecy, for example.) I have several years of college education but only completed a two-year degree. I was raised Lutheran and confirmed, but I didn't "find Christ" until I was in the Army and responded to a Billy Graham crusade in 1973. I was mentored or discipled by the Navigators in the army and upon discharge joined several evangelical, Bible-teaching churches. I was baptized as an infant, but believe in believer baptism, of which I was a partaker after my conversion experience. I believe in the "5 Onlys" of the reformation: sola fide (faith alone); sola Scriptura (Scripture alone); soli Christo (Christ alone), sola gratia (grace alone), and soli Deo gloria (to God alone be the glory). I affirm TULIP as defended in the Reformation.. I affirm most of The Westminster Confession of Faith, especially pertaining to Providence.
Saturday, April 20, 2019
Thursday, April 18, 2019
Strange Fire...
When God says, "My way or the highway, He's dead serious!"
God is really big on instructions, so it follows that He likes it when we follow them. The book of Leviticus is a "how-to" book, you could say, (or God's instruction manual--Torah, for instance, means revealed instruction) just filled with them. It is reasonable to assume that a godly person follows instructions and doesn't try to do things his way. Like some are wont to say: If all else fails read the instructions! This is a bad mentality and disastrous spiritually as Nadab and Abihu found out when God consumed them with fire for offering a sacrifice their own way and making a fire their way which God called "strange fire" and God judged immediately because He was so angry. They became examples of those who "do it their way." Frank Sinatra became famous for singing "I Did It My Way" and I'm sure that now after he has died his song led many astray and that he was dead wrong! It is a serious thing to disobey God's instructions and we are responsible for what we have the opportunity to know as David found out when he transported the Ark of the Covenant and when it tipped the person bearing was struck dead because He didn't follow protocol. What do you think the Bible stands for? "Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth." Disclaimer: The Bible is more than an instruction manual, praise the Lord!
God is a God of order, design, precision, and instruction, not chaos or confusion. We become more godly (God wants you to get organized and be orderly!) by following this pattern and God making us in this image of Christlikeness. We cannot have everybody doing their own thing as it says in the last verse of Judges: "In those days there was no king, everyone did as he saw fit [what was right in his own eyes]" (Judges 21:25). Jesus said there was a "way" and He was it. Knowing Jesus is knowing the way and the first believers were called followers of the Way. In the Army you learn that there is your way and the "Army way" and you learn this lesson pretty fast--you become a quick study! "There is a way which seems right to a man, but the ends thereof are the way of death" (Prov. 16:25). "For forty years I was angry with that generation; I said, "They are a people whose hearts go astray and have not known my ways." Do you know the Way? In another passage, it says: "But my people do not know the rules of the LORD" (Jer. 8:7). Jesus is the logos or logic behind the cosmos and God has a plan for everything under heaven according to Proverbs 16:4: "The LORD works out everything for his own ends--even the wicked for a day of disaster."
People who don't know God are always offering "strange fire" before the Lord and trying to please Him their own way by good works, ritual or religion, morality, philosophy, ethics, etc., and not by faith alone. Nothing that the unbeliever does can please God, for it is all dirty and filthy rags in His sight according to Isaiah 64:6. Do it God's way or don't do it at all because there is no reward for man's way or works. God only rewards what He does through us as His vessels of honor. Finally, the reason God gives instructions is to test our obedience and see if we are serious about being His followers: Israel repeatedly refused and failed to follow instructions--isn't this something we learn in kindergarten?
Jesus condemned the Pharisees, though they followed the instructions, for the same reason God judged Amaziah, (he followed the law, but not with his whole heart). The Pharisees were culpable for externalizing the law and going the motions, as it were, and not doing it from their heart. Today, in our churches we see many who have "memorized the Dance of the Pious" also and have no inward reality--this is exactly what Malachi rebuked Israel for in being frauds at worship. We are to love God with our whole heart, mind, soul, and strength. No one achieves this perfectly in time but in eternity we will be glorified to have the capacity.
What is sin, but doing something our way instead of God's way ("We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way..." (Isaiah 53:6; cf. Judges 17:6; 21:25). It is vain and useless to fight God and do it your own way because God is never frustrated and knows what He is doing and can turn curses into blessings and make everything turn out for the good (cf. Rom. 8:28). Job 42:2 says: "I know that you can do all things, and no plan of yours can be thwarted." As William Cowper said, "God works in mysterious ways, His wonders to perform." ("Cf. Isaiah 45:25, NLT). Soli Deo Gloria!
He That Is Spiritual
It has been said that a Christian has a mind through which Christ thinks, a heart through which He loves, a voice through which He speaks, and hands through which He helps--this is the epitome of spirituality--to know Christ and make Him known.
"O that they were wise, that they would understand this, that they would consider their latter end!" (Deut. 32:29, KJV).
That was the title of the 1918 book by Lewis Sperry Chafer, the founder of Dallas Theological Seminary, that made him a renowned and celebrated theologian. Who is? This is a vital and bona fide question: Like G. K. Chesterton has said, "We have found all the questions, now let's find the answers!" When we are spiritual we are exhibiting the fruit of the Spirit in a manifold manner. There is no certain manifestation, such as talking about Jesus or the Bible. Sometimes just touching base with someone in love and charity and meeting their needs is genuine fellowship and expression of being spiritual. There are telltale signs of spirituality: A famous saying goes thus: Where there is love there is joy; where there is joy there is hope; where there is hope there is peace; where there is peace there is Jesus! I have learned this and have observed it: God meets us where we are and knows where we are! We don't always need someone to preach at us, but sometimes we need a listening and sympathetic ear.
Just think of all the possibilities of expressing the nine winsome graces given by the filling of the Holy Spirit. Wherever two or three are gathered together in Jesus' name, there He is. The one who is spiritual simply walks in the Spirit and has continual fellowship with the Lord (keeping short accounts of his sins and confessing them per 1 John 1:9: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." The spiritual one simply is in touch with God and meets people's needs and is not self-centered, but Christ-centered. He lives for Christ and not for himself. This does not necessarily refer to a level of maturity or of being mature per se, because sometimes a baby believer can be more spiritual than the seasoned.
No one can claim to be always spiritual or that they have "arrived" at such a point of perfection, of not being conscious of sin or shortcomings. Sometimes the wisest remarks can proceed out of the mouths of infants (cf. Matt. 21:16), as Jesus noticed: Psalm 8:2 says, "Through the praise of children and infants..." I believe children can even be used by God: a child's voice convicted St. Augustine said: "Take and read, take and read." Proverbs 20:9, HCSB, says, "'Who can say ,"I have kept my heart pure; I am cleansed form my sin?'"
He that is spiritual simply walks with the Lord as Enoch and Noah ("Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God," Gen. 6:9)--and we have this privilege too! It is a "faith-walk" because "we walk by faith, and not by sight" (2 Cor. 5:7). There is no veneer to see through or guise of spirituality, such as hypocrisy (he has nothing to hide and is straightforward in speech), but a genuineness and authenticity in action. He is the real thing, an original! He's not out to outshine someone or be a rival. "The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments' (1 Cor. 2:15). There is a certain natural ability to discern the Spirit, in other words. Whatever he does, he does to the glory of God (cf. 1 Cor. 10:31)!
There is no inherent dichotomy or division of believers into classes of spiritual and non-spiritual, first-class and second-class, or what Chafer mistakenly believed to be carnal and spiritual Christians. Just like it is wrong to have a "holier than thou" attitude (cf. Isa. 65:5), it is wrong to deceive yourself into thinking you are more spiritual than your brethren--you either are spiritual or you're not--there are no degrees to graduate to. Any believer can be carnal or spiritual at any given period of time, it is not a given (each day one must start all over in their walk: "As thy days, so shall thy strength be" (Deut. 33:25). "This is the day that the LORD has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it," says Psalm 118:24), and he must "abide in Christ" or stay in fellowship with God in order to walk in step with Him. The most spiritually mature can indeed fall into sin like David did but he will ultimately recover and his carnality will not be a permanent or continuous state. The continuity of our status in Christ never changes; only our state of fellowship and relationship and/or sanctification.
This doctrine need not be problematic or an issue at all: "So I say, walk by the Spirit and you shall not gratify the desires of the flesh" (Gal. 5:16). We are indeed free in Christ: not free to live according to the flesh and our old nature, but power to live in the new nature or spirit. The old nature knows no law, the new nature needs no law! In other words: Freedom to do what we ought, not what we want! We've never had the right to do what is right in our own eyes or to do what is scripturally wrong. In sum, "So we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step [pace] with the Spirit" (Gal. 5:25). Soli Deo Gloria!
"O that they were wise, that they would understand this, that they would consider their latter end!" (Deut. 32:29, KJV).
That was the title of the 1918 book by Lewis Sperry Chafer, the founder of Dallas Theological Seminary, that made him a renowned and celebrated theologian. Who is? This is a vital and bona fide question: Like G. K. Chesterton has said, "We have found all the questions, now let's find the answers!" When we are spiritual we are exhibiting the fruit of the Spirit in a manifold manner. There is no certain manifestation, such as talking about Jesus or the Bible. Sometimes just touching base with someone in love and charity and meeting their needs is genuine fellowship and expression of being spiritual. There are telltale signs of spirituality: A famous saying goes thus: Where there is love there is joy; where there is joy there is hope; where there is hope there is peace; where there is peace there is Jesus! I have learned this and have observed it: God meets us where we are and knows where we are! We don't always need someone to preach at us, but sometimes we need a listening and sympathetic ear.
Just think of all the possibilities of expressing the nine winsome graces given by the filling of the Holy Spirit. Wherever two or three are gathered together in Jesus' name, there He is. The one who is spiritual simply walks in the Spirit and has continual fellowship with the Lord (keeping short accounts of his sins and confessing them per 1 John 1:9: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." The spiritual one simply is in touch with God and meets people's needs and is not self-centered, but Christ-centered. He lives for Christ and not for himself. This does not necessarily refer to a level of maturity or of being mature per se, because sometimes a baby believer can be more spiritual than the seasoned.
No one can claim to be always spiritual or that they have "arrived" at such a point of perfection, of not being conscious of sin or shortcomings. Sometimes the wisest remarks can proceed out of the mouths of infants (cf. Matt. 21:16), as Jesus noticed: Psalm 8:2 says, "Through the praise of children and infants..." I believe children can even be used by God: a child's voice convicted St. Augustine said: "Take and read, take and read." Proverbs 20:9, HCSB, says, "'Who can say ,"I have kept my heart pure; I am cleansed form my sin?'"
He that is spiritual simply walks with the Lord as Enoch and Noah ("Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God," Gen. 6:9)--and we have this privilege too! It is a "faith-walk" because "we walk by faith, and not by sight" (2 Cor. 5:7). There is no veneer to see through or guise of spirituality, such as hypocrisy (he has nothing to hide and is straightforward in speech), but a genuineness and authenticity in action. He is the real thing, an original! He's not out to outshine someone or be a rival. "The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments' (1 Cor. 2:15). There is a certain natural ability to discern the Spirit, in other words. Whatever he does, he does to the glory of God (cf. 1 Cor. 10:31)!
There is no inherent dichotomy or division of believers into classes of spiritual and non-spiritual, first-class and second-class, or what Chafer mistakenly believed to be carnal and spiritual Christians. Just like it is wrong to have a "holier than thou" attitude (cf. Isa. 65:5), it is wrong to deceive yourself into thinking you are more spiritual than your brethren--you either are spiritual or you're not--there are no degrees to graduate to. Any believer can be carnal or spiritual at any given period of time, it is not a given (each day one must start all over in their walk: "As thy days, so shall thy strength be" (Deut. 33:25). "This is the day that the LORD has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it," says Psalm 118:24), and he must "abide in Christ" or stay in fellowship with God in order to walk in step with Him. The most spiritually mature can indeed fall into sin like David did but he will ultimately recover and his carnality will not be a permanent or continuous state. The continuity of our status in Christ never changes; only our state of fellowship and relationship and/or sanctification.
This doctrine need not be problematic or an issue at all: "So I say, walk by the Spirit and you shall not gratify the desires of the flesh" (Gal. 5:16). We are indeed free in Christ: not free to live according to the flesh and our old nature, but power to live in the new nature or spirit. The old nature knows no law, the new nature needs no law! In other words: Freedom to do what we ought, not what we want! We've never had the right to do what is right in our own eyes or to do what is scripturally wrong. In sum, "So we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step [pace] with the Spirit" (Gal. 5:25). Soli Deo Gloria!
Tuesday, April 16, 2019
The Christian And Governmental Law...
"Proclaim liberty throughout all the land, unto all the inhabitants thereof" (cf. Lev. 25:10, KJV).
"When Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law" (Rom 2:14, ESV).
"As surely as God lives, who has denied me justice ["taken away my right" per ESV]..." (Job 27:2, NIV). "[T]o deny people their rights..." (Lam. 3:35, NIV). ALL ITALICS MINE. Pertaining to governance issues.
Nowhere in the New Testament is the Christian told to obey the Law of Moses directly! We do not become somewhat Jewish to be good Christians! The law is for the lawbreaker! The Law was meant to show that we cannot keep it, not as a way of salvation ("For by the law is the knowledge of sin"). This doesn't mean that we are lawless or that the Law doesn't apply at all, though. There is the timeless moral law of Moses or the permanent code of conduct, which is, not the ceremonial nor the governmental, judicial code or law. What was moral then is still valid today and this is universal, absolute truth that doesn't ever change! We all know "natural law" (cf. Rom. 2:15).
We can be assured that the Bible does stand for law and order and the rule of law (cf. Habs. 1:4). Only God is a law unto Himself and can take the law into His own hands! God condemns the perversion and mockery of justice and especially when the poor aren't given their rights in court. In fact, the very concept of human rights is God-given and are conferred from God, not the government, which only secures them. The only reason we have rights and animals don't is that we are in the image of God and have dignity! We are no "animals in heat, seeking pleasure and avoiding pain"; God has a higher purpose for us! Animals should be treated humanely and are stewardship, but have no, zilch legal status, standing, or rights in court. Facetiously, we might say, "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others" (from Animal Farm by George Orwell).
Jesus can relate to us when our rights are denied because He was given a pathetic mockery of Hebrew justice by the Sanhedrin and of Roman justice under Pilate and tried under kangaroo courts. But Jesus didn't insist on His rights nor even defend Himself, but left His destiny to the Father's will, purpose, and design. We must recognize that only God is truly a law unto Himself and is autonomous!
We are all subject to a Higher Power and the powers that be, ordained of God. But that doesn't mean the law is always fair or right, in fact, sometimes it's civil disobedience is the duty because we must obey God rather than man! The apostles rejoiced that they were considered worthy to suffer for the sake of the Name. NB: Augustine who said that an unjust law is no law at all and Isaiah pronounced woes on those who decree unjust laws.
The Bible is our standard, not our traditions or customs. The Constitution can be wrong, though it's the highest law in the land, God's laws supersede it. That's why the Bible is considered part of Common Law in England according to the jurist, judge, and member of Parliament Sir William Blackstone. The Bible doesn't endorse any system of government (i.e., monarchy, democracy, republic, etc.), but it does insist on the rule of law--no one is above or exempt from the law! There have been tyrants in history who had delusions that they could lead in their own right and not "under God." Even King John was forced to sign the Magna Charta in 1215 at Runnymede. Pastor Samuel Rutherford wrote Lex Rex in 1644 to make them realize that even the king had to obey the law! NB: The chief purposes of government are to keep evil at bay, maintain law and order, and rendering justice.
This is an important concept because Lord Acton's adage that "power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely" is always a temptation. The danger in freedom has always been authoritarianism and William Penn foresaw this as he said that "if we are not governed by God we will be ruled by tyrants." Two specific examples are obvious: King Louis XIV of France, the Sun King, who said "I am the state," and Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany, who said, "Me and God." What they were implying was that what was good for them was good for the state! Plutarch mused "Who shall govern the governor?" We must always have a check and balance system to keep authoritarianism, despotism, and a subsequent loss of our civil rights from taking place. Totalitarian regimes have no such system.
We break God's laws and the Bible commands us to obey the government (cf. Matt. 22:21; Rom. 13:1) or we live at our peril: but they actually break us; we are really breaking God's heart, not His laws! A good Christian obeys the law of the land, even when in authority, but if the Bible is in conflict, he must resist. We are not here to sanitize the society but to preserve and add flavor to it!
That means we cannot outlaw every sin and must realize that something can be legal and sin or the other way around, it can be illegal and not a sin. We must get over the notion that when the government legalizes something that we shall suffer for their sin, for the Bible makes it clear that the soul that sins is the soul that shall die--even the children do not suffer for the sins of their parents. Soli Deo Gloria!
"When Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law" (Rom 2:14, ESV).
"As surely as God lives, who has denied me justice ["taken away my right" per ESV]..." (Job 27:2, NIV). "[T]o deny people their rights..." (Lam. 3:35, NIV). ALL ITALICS MINE. Pertaining to governance issues.
Nowhere in the New Testament is the Christian told to obey the Law of Moses directly! We do not become somewhat Jewish to be good Christians! The law is for the lawbreaker! The Law was meant to show that we cannot keep it, not as a way of salvation ("For by the law is the knowledge of sin"). This doesn't mean that we are lawless or that the Law doesn't apply at all, though. There is the timeless moral law of Moses or the permanent code of conduct, which is, not the ceremonial nor the governmental, judicial code or law. What was moral then is still valid today and this is universal, absolute truth that doesn't ever change! We all know "natural law" (cf. Rom. 2:15).
We can be assured that the Bible does stand for law and order and the rule of law (cf. Habs. 1:4). Only God is a law unto Himself and can take the law into His own hands! God condemns the perversion and mockery of justice and especially when the poor aren't given their rights in court. In fact, the very concept of human rights is God-given and are conferred from God, not the government, which only secures them. The only reason we have rights and animals don't is that we are in the image of God and have dignity! We are no "animals in heat, seeking pleasure and avoiding pain"; God has a higher purpose for us! Animals should be treated humanely and are stewardship, but have no, zilch legal status, standing, or rights in court. Facetiously, we might say, "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others" (from Animal Farm by George Orwell).
Jesus can relate to us when our rights are denied because He was given a pathetic mockery of Hebrew justice by the Sanhedrin and of Roman justice under Pilate and tried under kangaroo courts. But Jesus didn't insist on His rights nor even defend Himself, but left His destiny to the Father's will, purpose, and design. We must recognize that only God is truly a law unto Himself and is autonomous!
We are all subject to a Higher Power and the powers that be, ordained of God. But that doesn't mean the law is always fair or right, in fact, sometimes it's civil disobedience is the duty because we must obey God rather than man! The apostles rejoiced that they were considered worthy to suffer for the sake of the Name. NB: Augustine who said that an unjust law is no law at all and Isaiah pronounced woes on those who decree unjust laws.
The Bible is our standard, not our traditions or customs. The Constitution can be wrong, though it's the highest law in the land, God's laws supersede it. That's why the Bible is considered part of Common Law in England according to the jurist, judge, and member of Parliament Sir William Blackstone. The Bible doesn't endorse any system of government (i.e., monarchy, democracy, republic, etc.), but it does insist on the rule of law--no one is above or exempt from the law! There have been tyrants in history who had delusions that they could lead in their own right and not "under God." Even King John was forced to sign the Magna Charta in 1215 at Runnymede. Pastor Samuel Rutherford wrote Lex Rex in 1644 to make them realize that even the king had to obey the law! NB: The chief purposes of government are to keep evil at bay, maintain law and order, and rendering justice.
This is an important concept because Lord Acton's adage that "power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely" is always a temptation. The danger in freedom has always been authoritarianism and William Penn foresaw this as he said that "if we are not governed by God we will be ruled by tyrants." Two specific examples are obvious: King Louis XIV of France, the Sun King, who said "I am the state," and Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany, who said, "Me and God." What they were implying was that what was good for them was good for the state! Plutarch mused "Who shall govern the governor?" We must always have a check and balance system to keep authoritarianism, despotism, and a subsequent loss of our civil rights from taking place. Totalitarian regimes have no such system.
We break God's laws and the Bible commands us to obey the government (cf. Matt. 22:21; Rom. 13:1) or we live at our peril: but they actually break us; we are really breaking God's heart, not His laws! A good Christian obeys the law of the land, even when in authority, but if the Bible is in conflict, he must resist. We are not here to sanitize the society but to preserve and add flavor to it!
That means we cannot outlaw every sin and must realize that something can be legal and sin or the other way around, it can be illegal and not a sin. We must get over the notion that when the government legalizes something that we shall suffer for their sin, for the Bible makes it clear that the soul that sins is the soul that shall die--even the children do not suffer for the sins of their parents. Soli Deo Gloria!
Monday, April 15, 2019
One Nation Under God
There are still those Christians who have been brainwashed into believing that this was, is, or should be a "Christian" nation, though G. K. Chesterton observed: "America is a nation with the soul of a church." The founding fathers were not all believers; Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin were Deists at best--though Franklin did get wiser in his old age to believe "God governs in the affairs of men." They proudly proclaimed that this nation was an experiment and George Washington noted the "propitious smiles of Heaven" were upon them. It was a "New World Order" to be initiated. Looking back to the Code of Connecticut the idea of a theocracy had failed and also the notion of bringing in the Millennial Kingdom or any sort of utopia--they were realists.
Alexis de Tocqueville visited our nation and wrote, "There is no country in the world where the Christian religion retains a greater influence over the souls of men than in America...." John Winthrop stated, "Whoever is the avowed enemy of God, I scruple not to call him an enemy of his country." Many people actually came to our land seeking religious freedom and the right to worship the God of the choice in the manner they see fit: Freedom of conscience and religion were really originated here. The idea of this nation was for an informed electorate and an educated class not for the ignorant or apathetic to be involved according to John Adams. But things didn't realize their pipe-dream, which was it was.
We were at one time a melting pot in the sense of the immigrant groups assuming "American" ways, customs, and language; however, today we are a pluralistic society with many ethnic groups keeping their own identity and refusing to even learn our language--English was never made the one official language of our nation! Many of our customs, such as the President swearing-in on a Bible, taking the pledge of allegiance, saying, "So help me God" in court, and our national motto "In God We Trust" are just that: Custom, and not law and can be struck down by the Supreme court. Some people say they wouldn't live in our nation if we ditched the idea of "One nation under God," but all nations are under God's authority to the Christian and He rules over ever king and kingdom or dominion (Psalm 22:28). My premise is that this never was a truly Christian nation, is not, and need not be, in order for Christians to live here with the blessing of God. Soli Deo Gloria!
Alexis de Tocqueville visited our nation and wrote, "There is no country in the world where the Christian religion retains a greater influence over the souls of men than in America...." John Winthrop stated, "Whoever is the avowed enemy of God, I scruple not to call him an enemy of his country." Many people actually came to our land seeking religious freedom and the right to worship the God of the choice in the manner they see fit: Freedom of conscience and religion were really originated here. The idea of this nation was for an informed electorate and an educated class not for the ignorant or apathetic to be involved according to John Adams. But things didn't realize their pipe-dream, which was it was.
We were at one time a melting pot in the sense of the immigrant groups assuming "American" ways, customs, and language; however, today we are a pluralistic society with many ethnic groups keeping their own identity and refusing to even learn our language--English was never made the one official language of our nation! Many of our customs, such as the President swearing-in on a Bible, taking the pledge of allegiance, saying, "So help me God" in court, and our national motto "In God We Trust" are just that: Custom, and not law and can be struck down by the Supreme court. Some people say they wouldn't live in our nation if we ditched the idea of "One nation under God," but all nations are under God's authority to the Christian and He rules over ever king and kingdom or dominion (Psalm 22:28). My premise is that this never was a truly Christian nation, is not, and need not be, in order for Christians to live here with the blessing of God. Soli Deo Gloria!
Social Justice In Action
Amos is known as the farmer prophet that never even went to prophet school and God called him to prophesy. He was the hero of the downtrodden and underprivileged--the down and out in their luck and/or opportunities, Social justice is a biblical concept. The righteous care about it, but Proverbs 29:7 says, "The righteous care about justice for the poor, but the wicked have no such concern.""... because they sell the righteous for silver, and the needy for pair of sandals" (Amos 2:6b, ESV). Demonstrating righteousness concerns the plight of the poor (Jer. 22:16, ESV says, "He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well. Is not this to know me? declares the LORD."). At the judgment, Christ will not be interested in our piety or religiosity, as much as whether we fed the poor, clothed the naked, visited the shut-ins, and met the needy of the less fortunate--God only blesses us to be a blessing to others as His conduit. We are the only hands He has and the only feet He can use to reach them!
God cares about provision for the poor and Israel had mandatory welfare to make sure they could glean the farmer's fields. Charity was mandated in Deut. 15:4. Psalm 82:3 (ESV) says, "Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute." Those who "oppress the poor and crush the needy" are judged by God in Amos 4:1 (ESV). "I know that the LORD will maintain the cause of the afflicted and execute justice for the needy." It is noteworthy that God said that "there should be no poor in Israel." Soli Deo Gloria!
God cares about provision for the poor and Israel had mandatory welfare to make sure they could glean the farmer's fields. Charity was mandated in Deut. 15:4. Psalm 82:3 (ESV) says, "Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute." Those who "oppress the poor and crush the needy" are judged by God in Amos 4:1 (ESV). "I know that the LORD will maintain the cause of the afflicted and execute justice for the needy." It is noteworthy that God said that "there should be no poor in Israel." Soli Deo Gloria!
Presuppositions Of A Christian Worldview
God is the moral center of the universe. Consequently, there is absolute truth and right and wrong. Adam was created a living being, with a soul and spirit (known as dualism); naturalistic or materialistic views of man, as not having the immaterial is wrong (a heart to love God, a mind to know Him--we have a mind as well as a brain, and a will to obey Him). Man has inherent dignity in God's image only in the Judaeo-Christian worldview. God created man male and female and said it was good. Any other combo is not of God and just because something is legal doesn't mean it is moral. We affirm the inherent worth of the individual and life as inviolate. Man, however, is not basically good nor inherently good, but totally depraved and inherently evil, but having a conscience, and needs the institutions of family, church, and state to curb his evil bent. The Bible is God's gift to man to give him a sense of "ought." We believe in individual responsibility and that everyone is ultimately accountable to God. Christians cite the church father Athanasius, who said that Christ will only fit into a system of thought where He is the starting point. There is an absolute standard of right and wrong that we all know called natural or transcendent law--morality is not relative. Something other than matter and energy exists in the cosmos--mind! God is the Higher Mind, and this mind precedes, creates, and is over matter.
There are several institutions God has ordained: The model for government is given in Isaiah 33:22 as having three branches: Executive, legislative, and judicial. All authority is from God and we are to submit to it for the Lord's sake! A government, has limited powers, rights, and responsibilities, and might attempt to redefine marriage, but God never does. Marriage is honorable as a divine institution predating government and comes from God himself. The Bible sanctions no specific form of government; however, the government is meant to keep evil at bay and protect one's person and property (cf. Matt. 22:21). There is no certain mandated type of government but God ordains it to curtail evil (It is not a necessary evil, but necessary because of evil, according to Augustine). We "render to Caesar that which is Caesar's," (cf. Matt. 22:21) unless the law contravenes Scripture mandate. Then there does come a time for civil disobedience though when Christians must obey God and not man because of conflict. We believe in the rule of law (no arbitrary rule of men) and that the basis of all Common Law is Scripture. God's law trumps man's law and there is such a thing as obligatory civil disobedience. The Sabbath or blue laws are moral and date from creation itself. God gave man a conscience to know transcendent or natural law and is responsible to God. A clear conscience doesn't mean he is without fault; it must be captive to the Word of God. The sanctity of the family institution predates government. Unalienable rights are conferred from God and not the government, which only recognizes them. Governments have no right to tyrannize. There is no so-called social gospel, a misnomer (turning stones into bread). God demands "social justice" (cf. Isaiah 3:15; Jeremiah 22:26 and Psa. 82:4; Amos 2:6-7; 4:1; Mal. 3:5, et al).
Work ethic comes from God and all work has dignity and can be done to the glory of God--work shows the image of God in us. There is no class system or caste system (property rights are protected though) in the eyes of the law--but all are equal under the law--with respect to liberty and justice. The Bible is reliable historically, prophetically, and in doctrine and the Christian worldview depends upon the veracity of Scripture. We presuppose the existence of absolute truth incarnate in Jesus Christ.
Spiritually speaking: The Church will not usher in the kingdom of God but wait for Christ to come to do it himself according to the Father's timetable--in the meantime we occupy till He comes as our marching orders while we fulfill the task of the Great Commission, and become ready for it to happen at any time. G. K. Chesterton observed: "America is a nation with the soul of a church." Christians have no geopolitical concerns, but await Christ to usher in His Millennial Kingdom--we are not Utopians. Christian theology is Christ-centered! The Bible is the basis of most precedent and principle and is authoritative on moral issues. Christians are to set the example of pure living and be light and salt in a wicked world, where they are in the world, but not of it. Our rights, conferred from God, recognized by the state, are not absolute and end where other's rights begin.
Soli Deo Gloria!
There are several institutions God has ordained: The model for government is given in Isaiah 33:22 as having three branches: Executive, legislative, and judicial. All authority is from God and we are to submit to it for the Lord's sake! A government, has limited powers, rights, and responsibilities, and might attempt to redefine marriage, but God never does. Marriage is honorable as a divine institution predating government and comes from God himself. The Bible sanctions no specific form of government; however, the government is meant to keep evil at bay and protect one's person and property (cf. Matt. 22:21). There is no certain mandated type of government but God ordains it to curtail evil (It is not a necessary evil, but necessary because of evil, according to Augustine). We "render to Caesar that which is Caesar's," (cf. Matt. 22:21) unless the law contravenes Scripture mandate. Then there does come a time for civil disobedience though when Christians must obey God and not man because of conflict. We believe in the rule of law (no arbitrary rule of men) and that the basis of all Common Law is Scripture. God's law trumps man's law and there is such a thing as obligatory civil disobedience. The Sabbath or blue laws are moral and date from creation itself. God gave man a conscience to know transcendent or natural law and is responsible to God. A clear conscience doesn't mean he is without fault; it must be captive to the Word of God. The sanctity of the family institution predates government. Unalienable rights are conferred from God and not the government, which only recognizes them. Governments have no right to tyrannize. There is no so-called social gospel, a misnomer (turning stones into bread). God demands "social justice" (cf. Isaiah 3:15; Jeremiah 22:26 and Psa. 82:4; Amos 2:6-7; 4:1; Mal. 3:5, et al).
Work ethic comes from God and all work has dignity and can be done to the glory of God--work shows the image of God in us. There is no class system or caste system (property rights are protected though) in the eyes of the law--but all are equal under the law--with respect to liberty and justice. The Bible is reliable historically, prophetically, and in doctrine and the Christian worldview depends upon the veracity of Scripture. We presuppose the existence of absolute truth incarnate in Jesus Christ.
Spiritually speaking: The Church will not usher in the kingdom of God but wait for Christ to come to do it himself according to the Father's timetable--in the meantime we occupy till He comes as our marching orders while we fulfill the task of the Great Commission, and become ready for it to happen at any time. G. K. Chesterton observed: "America is a nation with the soul of a church." Christians have no geopolitical concerns, but await Christ to usher in His Millennial Kingdom--we are not Utopians. Christian theology is Christ-centered! The Bible is the basis of most precedent and principle and is authoritative on moral issues. Christians are to set the example of pure living and be light and salt in a wicked world, where they are in the world, but not of it. Our rights, conferred from God, recognized by the state, are not absolute and end where other's rights begin.
Soli Deo Gloria!
The Value Of A Worldview...
I am defining worldview as an explanation for the origin, meaning, and future of life itself. Answering the questions: Who am I? What is my purpose? Where am I going?
Two main competing worldviews in America are the secular and the Christian. Secularist adherents live for the here and now believing there's no hell to shun. In the secular one that means the government is the ultimate authority and we are not ultimately responsible to God--but only reckon ourselves justified in our own eyes. Making choices based on informed decisions is important, not being right or wrong--since there is no absolute truth or right and wrong (ultimately they believe there is no hell to shun and can do whatever they can get away with). In the Christian worldview, we are ultimately accountable to God (cf. Psalm 10:4) and are His stewards of the gifts and blessings given to us. There is a final judgment and one must live life accordingly. There isn't always justice in this life, but God is just and will serve it in the afterlife. God's authority trumps the government's and "we must obey God rather than man" when they conflict and this is called civil disobedience.
If you don't have a worldview at all, no matter what nature, you don't have a take on reality and a way to interpret and comment on life itself--you simply have no valid opinion worth noting. Now, if you take God out of the equation and try to reconcile reality without Him in the picture, life, and its outlook become very bleak and hopeless: "Unless you assume a God, the question of life's purpose is meaningless," according to atheist philosopher Bertrand Russell. Life without reference to God becomes a "useless passion" according to Jean-Paul Sartre.
Everything we understand has to do with the basic question of whether there is a God (life's most meaningful endeavor of inquiry) and the impact and influence it has on you. With God, we simply have dignity because we are not some cosmic accident, but created beings in God's image, not evolving animals who are free to live and act unaccountably like animals too. There are those, of course, who claim to believe in God and live in immorality and are, in effect, for all purposes practical atheists. Some atheists live pretty upright and praiseworthy lives in the eyes of man. However, their motive is to please man and not God, and is therefore selfish and misdirected. Soli Deo Gloria!
Two main competing worldviews in America are the secular and the Christian. Secularist adherents live for the here and now believing there's no hell to shun. In the secular one that means the government is the ultimate authority and we are not ultimately responsible to God--but only reckon ourselves justified in our own eyes. Making choices based on informed decisions is important, not being right or wrong--since there is no absolute truth or right and wrong (ultimately they believe there is no hell to shun and can do whatever they can get away with). In the Christian worldview, we are ultimately accountable to God (cf. Psalm 10:4) and are His stewards of the gifts and blessings given to us. There is a final judgment and one must live life accordingly. There isn't always justice in this life, but God is just and will serve it in the afterlife. God's authority trumps the government's and "we must obey God rather than man" when they conflict and this is called civil disobedience.
If you don't have a worldview at all, no matter what nature, you don't have a take on reality and a way to interpret and comment on life itself--you simply have no valid opinion worth noting. Now, if you take God out of the equation and try to reconcile reality without Him in the picture, life, and its outlook become very bleak and hopeless: "Unless you assume a God, the question of life's purpose is meaningless," according to atheist philosopher Bertrand Russell. Life without reference to God becomes a "useless passion" according to Jean-Paul Sartre.
Everything we understand has to do with the basic question of whether there is a God (life's most meaningful endeavor of inquiry) and the impact and influence it has on you. With God, we simply have dignity because we are not some cosmic accident, but created beings in God's image, not evolving animals who are free to live and act unaccountably like animals too. There are those, of course, who claim to believe in God and live in immorality and are, in effect, for all purposes practical atheists. Some atheists live pretty upright and praiseworthy lives in the eyes of man. However, their motive is to please man and not God, and is therefore selfish and misdirected. Soli Deo Gloria!
Developing Christian Worldview
"No nation has survived the loss of its gods" (George Bernard Shaw, Irish playwright and Nobel Prize winner for literature).
A worldview is a way of interpreting your world, such as purpose in living, where you came from, and where you are going--our role in the world-system--questions such as: Is there right and wrong? Is there a God? What is the meaning of life? How do you interpret reality? There is a current war of ideas in the world: Marxism (basically an economic understanding, but also totalitarian, aiming to establish a domination of the proletariat or working class and abolishing the bourgeoisie in class warfare), Secular-Humanism (basically that man is the measure of all things, making a name for himself, up with man, down with God, or deifying man and dethroning God, and reality starts from him), New Age (the idea of cosmic consciousness, or force, or supra-consciousness, [God is the force of life and an influence] being in touch with the inner god--they think Jesus was just this sort), Postmodernism (founded by Nietzsche as the patron saint, saying that "God is dead" or irrelevant and we can live without Him), Islam with its geopolitical concerns (believing that "tomorrow belongs to Islam" and being bent on (world) hegemony), and Christianity (Christ's kingdom is in the hearts of man and not of this world) itself--the first five have one thing is common in that they oppose Christianity. Any viewpoint that doesn't start with God is evil (man is not the measure of all things like humanists have taught)!
We are exhorted to "hate that which is evil and cling to that which is good" in Rom. 12:9 and in 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 it says, "...hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil." [which means that when evil appears, resist it.] Only those who have their senses trained to "discern good and evil" can digest the meat of the word and the infants in Christ can only live on the milk of the Word according to Hebrews 5:14. We need to love God with our whole minds and not be indolent, slothful, or anti-intellectual--we are to use the minds God has given us to the glory of God (cf. Mark 12:30, Col. 3:23).
We are in the world, but not of it, according to Scripture (John 15:19 says, "You are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world"). If we love the world-system or cosmos of Satan, the love of the Father is not in us--indeed he entices us with many delicacies of the world to compete with our spiritual appetites. Beware of the pseudo-philosophies of this age as the admonishment in Col. 2:8 says, "Let no man spoil you through philosophy or vain deceit..." We need to "contend for the faith" like Jude said in v. 3 and that means taking stands for Jesus and sticking up for what is right in an evil world. We are the salt and light as the children of God.
Paul's swan song was: "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith" (2 Tim. 4:7). We all have a conscience and can tell right from wrong (Rom. 2:15), and we are all responsible and don't have any excuses for knowing God (Rom. 1:18-20). In 1 Chron. 12:32 it says that only a few people were able to interpret the times and knew what to do. Daniel 11:32 says that the "people who knew their God "shall be strong and do exploits." At the time of the end, the wise will understand and the wicked will not" (Dan. 12:10). When Nebuchadnezzar realized that God was sovereign he came to his senses (Dan. 4:35).
Today we seem to be doing what's right in our own eyes (similar to the Israelites in Judges 21:25--"They did what was right in their own eyes"). The culture says that there is no standard of right and wrong--it is all relative and you can't force your morality on another person. It isn't that we can't legislate morality, it's whose morality we legislate.
In Allan Bloom's book The Closing of the American Mind, he says that people now believe "all truth is relative"--if that is true, then that statement has no value; it is also relative. They say nothing is always wrong and nothing is always right; what matters is sincerity. This goes back to Satan's taunt: "Hath God said?" They seem to believe that the only truths that are relative are those that defend the Christian worldview! One prof was reported as saying, "You can know nothing for certain." One astute student asked, "Are you sure?" "Yes, I'm certain!" Jesus was the Truth itself, the incarnation of Truth with a capital T and came to bear witness of the truth--the Romans, including Pilate, doubted the existence of absolute truth (true no matter who believes it and whether anyone believes it or not). They thought that "might made right." This was the epitome of cynicism and an insult to Christ's veracity.
God's providence works all things according to His divine decrees and He has no Plan B; He has no other plan, but to use us as His vessels of honor and to bring glory to him (cf. Isa. 43:7). Everything is going according to plan as Isaiah says in Isa 37:26 and He is in control according to Isa. 14:24, 27 and 46:8-11. "Behold, the nations are as a drop of the bucket..." (Isa. 40:15). "He's got the whole world in His hands." Psalm 22:28 says that God is sovereign over the nations and we can be sure even over every molecule in the universe. Eph. 1:11 says that God works out everything according to His will. John Wesley used to read the paper to "see what God is doing in His world." God is even in control of the toss of the die (Prov. 16:33) and in control of the whims of the king (Prov. 21:1). He leaves nothing to chance: Einstein said, "God doesn't play dice with the universe." The secret is to stay away from extremes: "Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot form evil" (Prov. 4:27).
As Christians we are to "submit [ourselves] to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; or unto governors..." (1 Pet. 2:12-13) Paul says something similar: "Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God" (Rom. 13:1). We are to "render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's" according to Matthew 22:21 and even be light and salt in the world, trying to make people see the light to get saved according to our gift. With privilege there is the flip side of responsibility; they go hand in hand. There is such a thing as "social justice" but no "social gospel." One only need refer to the prophets Amos and Micah. We assert that God is the only legitimate legislator according to Isaiah 33:22 (positive law says that man can make any law he desires) and His character is the law of the universe. Isaiah said, "Woe unto them who decree unjust laws..." (Isa. 10:1-2). It has been said, "If we have contempt for government, we get contemptible government."
"What do you mean by crushing My people and grinding the face of the poor...?" (Is. 3:15). "Rescue the weak and the needy..." (Ps. 82:4). The believer who knows the Lord is concerned about the plight of the poor (Psa. 41:1) and the evil in the world: he doesn't just see evil and say, "Why?" He also sees good and says, "Why not?" This is what it means to know the Lord according to Jeremiah 22:16--to be concerned about those less fortunate and defending those who can't defend themselves, the weak ("He pled the cause of the afflicted and needy; Then it was well. Is not that what it means to know Me?" declares the LORD [in Jer. 22:16]). Amos and Micah are champions of the underdog and the underprivileged and deplore how "they sell the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals--those who trample the head of the poor into the dust of the earth and turn aside the way of the afflicted (cf. Amos 2:6-7). "...Who oppress the poor, who crush the needy..." (Amos 4:1). Malachi is appalled at those "who oppress the hired worker in his wages..." (Mal. 3:5). We are not to be partial to the poor nor to the rich, but show justice to all (Deut. 19:15). Charity and welfare were mandated in Israel according to Lev. 19:9-10 Deut. 15:4, and other passages--they were allowed to "glean the fields" of the landowners. There was to be "no poor in Israel."
Now, what kind of values are Christians supposed to espouse? They should subscribe to the sanctity of the family unit as having preference over the government's authority, because it was established before it; it should believe in the inherent worth of the individual (you have rights, but they end where mine begin--you can swing your fist but not hit my nose!) as being in the image and likeness of God (the imago Dei), and that means having a mind to know and communicate with God, a heart to love Him, and a will to obey Him. These are called inalienable rights and our culture is based on it in the constitutional Bill of Rights. We are merely stewards of God's riches ("The earth is the LORD's and the fullness thereof" says Ps. 24:10) and are responsible to Him to give account at the judgment. (There is a Protestant work ethic mentioned in 2 Thess. 3:10 that declares that those who are not willing to work shall not eat.)
All authority ultimately comes from God and we get our rights and dignity form Him; "unless you assume a God, the question of man's purpose is meaningless," and without God man is a "useless passion." (Bertrand Russell and Jean-Paul Sartre). We believe the government has limited power derived from God--it is not a necessary evil, as Augustine said, but necessary because of evil. We have a duty to this government since we owe them our security and protection of our property and our person from crime--justice and law and order are the primary functions. Marriage is to be held in honor and a "man shall leave his mother and be joined to his wife and the two shall become one flesh" and "God made them male and female and said that it was good." No rights are absolute, such as you saying it's your religion to be a cannibal or that you can yell fire in an auditorium! Sometimes it may be our duty to disobey, which is termed civil disobedience--God's laws trump the government; shall we obey God or man? ("We must obey God rather than man" [Acts 5:29]).
Christians are not "utopians" but are waiting for Christ to usher in His Millennial Kingdom at His second coming. A word to the wise is sufficient: Christians have no geopolitical aspirations like the Muslim world bent on dominating the world with their hegemony, and they should not sound the alarm, but "occupy till He comes" (business as usual). As Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world." In conclusion, we have read the last page of the Bible and know how it all will turn out and are assured that we are on the winning side and victory is inevitable in the end. NB: Keep the faith! "The LORD frustrates the counsel of the nations; He thwarts the plans of the peoples...Happy is the nation whose God is Yahweh!" (Psalm 33:10-12). A word of encouragement--all is not lost: God is able to heal our land if we confess our corporate sins and humble ourselves in repentance as His people (2 Chronicles 7:14)
In the final analysis, it is vital to know Scripture to combat the prevalent Secular Humanistic viewpoint (deifying man and denying and dethroning God) in the world and not to fall into the devil's trap. Sir Francis Bacon said, "Knowledge is power." And the Bible backs this up in Proverbs 10:14 saying, "The wise lay up knowledge..." And Proverbs 24:5 says, "And a man of knowledge enhances his might." We must not remain silent and concede everything away. They are trying to eradicate Christianity from the marketplace of ideas, the classroom, and the public square.
A worldview is a way of interpreting your world, such as purpose in living, where you came from, and where you are going--our role in the world-system--questions such as: Is there right and wrong? Is there a God? What is the meaning of life? How do you interpret reality? There is a current war of ideas in the world: Marxism (basically an economic understanding, but also totalitarian, aiming to establish a domination of the proletariat or working class and abolishing the bourgeoisie in class warfare), Secular-Humanism (basically that man is the measure of all things, making a name for himself, up with man, down with God, or deifying man and dethroning God, and reality starts from him), New Age (the idea of cosmic consciousness, or force, or supra-consciousness, [God is the force of life and an influence] being in touch with the inner god--they think Jesus was just this sort), Postmodernism (founded by Nietzsche as the patron saint, saying that "God is dead" or irrelevant and we can live without Him), Islam with its geopolitical concerns (believing that "tomorrow belongs to Islam" and being bent on (world) hegemony), and Christianity (Christ's kingdom is in the hearts of man and not of this world) itself--the first five have one thing is common in that they oppose Christianity. Any viewpoint that doesn't start with God is evil (man is not the measure of all things like humanists have taught)!
We are exhorted to "hate that which is evil and cling to that which is good" in Rom. 12:9 and in 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 it says, "...hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil." [which means that when evil appears, resist it.] Only those who have their senses trained to "discern good and evil" can digest the meat of the word and the infants in Christ can only live on the milk of the Word according to Hebrews 5:14. We need to love God with our whole minds and not be indolent, slothful, or anti-intellectual--we are to use the minds God has given us to the glory of God (cf. Mark 12:30, Col. 3:23).
We are in the world, but not of it, according to Scripture (John 15:19 says, "You are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world"). If we love the world-system or cosmos of Satan, the love of the Father is not in us--indeed he entices us with many delicacies of the world to compete with our spiritual appetites. Beware of the pseudo-philosophies of this age as the admonishment in Col. 2:8 says, "Let no man spoil you through philosophy or vain deceit..." We need to "contend for the faith" like Jude said in v. 3 and that means taking stands for Jesus and sticking up for what is right in an evil world. We are the salt and light as the children of God.
Paul's swan song was: "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith" (2 Tim. 4:7). We all have a conscience and can tell right from wrong (Rom. 2:15), and we are all responsible and don't have any excuses for knowing God (Rom. 1:18-20). In 1 Chron. 12:32 it says that only a few people were able to interpret the times and knew what to do. Daniel 11:32 says that the "people who knew their God "shall be strong and do exploits." At the time of the end, the wise will understand and the wicked will not" (Dan. 12:10). When Nebuchadnezzar realized that God was sovereign he came to his senses (Dan. 4:35).
Today we seem to be doing what's right in our own eyes (similar to the Israelites in Judges 21:25--"They did what was right in their own eyes"). The culture says that there is no standard of right and wrong--it is all relative and you can't force your morality on another person. It isn't that we can't legislate morality, it's whose morality we legislate.
In Allan Bloom's book The Closing of the American Mind, he says that people now believe "all truth is relative"--if that is true, then that statement has no value; it is also relative. They say nothing is always wrong and nothing is always right; what matters is sincerity. This goes back to Satan's taunt: "Hath God said?" They seem to believe that the only truths that are relative are those that defend the Christian worldview! One prof was reported as saying, "You can know nothing for certain." One astute student asked, "Are you sure?" "Yes, I'm certain!" Jesus was the Truth itself, the incarnation of Truth with a capital T and came to bear witness of the truth--the Romans, including Pilate, doubted the existence of absolute truth (true no matter who believes it and whether anyone believes it or not). They thought that "might made right." This was the epitome of cynicism and an insult to Christ's veracity.
God's providence works all things according to His divine decrees and He has no Plan B; He has no other plan, but to use us as His vessels of honor and to bring glory to him (cf. Isa. 43:7). Everything is going according to plan as Isaiah says in Isa 37:26 and He is in control according to Isa. 14:24, 27 and 46:8-11. "Behold, the nations are as a drop of the bucket..." (Isa. 40:15). "He's got the whole world in His hands." Psalm 22:28 says that God is sovereign over the nations and we can be sure even over every molecule in the universe. Eph. 1:11 says that God works out everything according to His will. John Wesley used to read the paper to "see what God is doing in His world." God is even in control of the toss of the die (Prov. 16:33) and in control of the whims of the king (Prov. 21:1). He leaves nothing to chance: Einstein said, "God doesn't play dice with the universe." The secret is to stay away from extremes: "Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot form evil" (Prov. 4:27).
As Christians we are to "submit [ourselves] to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; or unto governors..." (1 Pet. 2:12-13) Paul says something similar: "Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God" (Rom. 13:1). We are to "render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's" according to Matthew 22:21 and even be light and salt in the world, trying to make people see the light to get saved according to our gift. With privilege there is the flip side of responsibility; they go hand in hand. There is such a thing as "social justice" but no "social gospel." One only need refer to the prophets Amos and Micah. We assert that God is the only legitimate legislator according to Isaiah 33:22 (positive law says that man can make any law he desires) and His character is the law of the universe. Isaiah said, "Woe unto them who decree unjust laws..." (Isa. 10:1-2). It has been said, "If we have contempt for government, we get contemptible government."
Now, what kind of values are Christians supposed to espouse? They should subscribe to the sanctity of the family unit as having preference over the government's authority, because it was established before it; it should believe in the inherent worth of the individual (you have rights, but they end where mine begin--you can swing your fist but not hit my nose!) as being in the image and likeness of God (the imago Dei), and that means having a mind to know and communicate with God, a heart to love Him, and a will to obey Him. These are called inalienable rights and our culture is based on it in the constitutional Bill of Rights. We are merely stewards of God's riches ("The earth is the LORD's and the fullness thereof" says Ps. 24:10) and are responsible to Him to give account at the judgment. (There is a Protestant work ethic mentioned in 2 Thess. 3:10 that declares that those who are not willing to work shall not eat.)
All authority ultimately comes from God and we get our rights and dignity form Him; "unless you assume a God, the question of man's purpose is meaningless," and without God man is a "useless passion." (Bertrand Russell and Jean-Paul Sartre). We believe the government has limited power derived from God--it is not a necessary evil, as Augustine said, but necessary because of evil. We have a duty to this government since we owe them our security and protection of our property and our person from crime--justice and law and order are the primary functions. Marriage is to be held in honor and a "man shall leave his mother and be joined to his wife and the two shall become one flesh" and "God made them male and female and said that it was good." No rights are absolute, such as you saying it's your religion to be a cannibal or that you can yell fire in an auditorium! Sometimes it may be our duty to disobey, which is termed civil disobedience--God's laws trump the government; shall we obey God or man? ("We must obey God rather than man" [Acts 5:29]).
I believe firmly that the Bible sanctions no certain type of government, as long as human rights are respected. The government was first documented to be divided into three parts in Isaiah 33:22 into the legislative, judicial, and executive branches (king, judge, lawgiver). I refer to Lord Acton's adage that is a cliche now: "Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely." We do not believe that our rights (note that the obverse of rights is responsibilities necessitated) are derived from the government, but directly from God, who gives us dignity and worth as man in His image or the icons of God, as it were.
If God doesn't exist, everything is permissible. But we believe in transcendent or natural law that everyone is able to know by nature apart from the government. Law is designed for wrong-doers and should confer rights on us. People are in a state of rebellion against our so-called bourgeois values (which really is the Judaeo-Christian heritage or Western civilization). As the psalmist says, "What can the righteous do when the foundations are destroyed?" (Ps. 11:3). For one thing, we should pray for our leaders, not condemn them [It is our God who put them there, as Paul said, "Is unlawful to speak evil of a ruler of your people", Acts 23:5].
If God doesn't exist, everything is permissible. But we believe in transcendent or natural law that everyone is able to know by nature apart from the government. Law is designed for wrong-doers and should confer rights on us. People are in a state of rebellion against our so-called bourgeois values (which really is the Judaeo-Christian heritage or Western civilization). As the psalmist says, "What can the righteous do when the foundations are destroyed?" (Ps. 11:3). For one thing, we should pray for our leaders, not condemn them [It is our God who put them there, as Paul said, "Is unlawful to speak evil of a ruler of your people", Acts 23:5].
In the final analysis, it is vital to know Scripture to combat the prevalent Secular Humanistic viewpoint (deifying man and denying and dethroning God) in the world and not to fall into the devil's trap. Sir Francis Bacon said, "Knowledge is power." And the Bible backs this up in Proverbs 10:14 saying, "The wise lay up knowledge..." And Proverbs 24:5 says, "And a man of knowledge enhances his might." We must not remain silent and concede everything away. They are trying to eradicate Christianity from the marketplace of ideas, the classroom, and the public square.
In summation: Common fallacies are that if an idea works it should be implemented (John Dewey said that the test of an idea is not whether it is true, but whether it works). Today we see pragmatism or doing what is practical, prevalent and politicians act expediently or doing whatever serves their purpose. The danger with these erroneous worldviews is that they contain an element of truth, just enough to inoculate one from the real thing--like a being vaccinated from the truth and immune to reality. A most dangerous philosophy is that the end justifies the means (in pragmatism and utilitarianism), or that if one has sincere motives it is sanctioned. Communism is replete with this doctrine. Modern times have necessitated a war of ideas and ideologies. Today with pragmatic politics they believe that, if it works, it's moral (Hitler was successful at what he did!). The "isms" of the world are on a collision course. It does matter what you believe and what your worldview is: What you believe affects what you do and how you act. The main battle is not against capitalism and socialism, but between the free world and totalitarianism. Soli Deo Gloria!
Christian Worldview Outshines The Others
The problematic issue is that all religions and worldviews have an element of truth and just enough to make one immune to the real thing and inoculated, as it were. NB: The Christian worldview stands or falls on the veracity of the Word of God. The Christians' citizenship is in heaven as Jesus said in John 15:19, "You are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world." Don't let the world squeeze you into its mold it says in Romans 12:2 in one translation. My premise is that God is the moral center of the universe and is our Judge, we are not His judge (we are by definition held accountable to our Creator).
There are basically ten academic subjects that are directly affected by the worldview (which are as follows: Theology, philosophy, ethics, biology, psychology, sociology, law, politics, and history economics makes up Western Civilization or Christendom) and disciplines of a student of the truth. There are several worldviews including Secular Humanist (the predominant one in America), Communist or Marxist, Postmodern (which holds all truth as relative, except its own truths and especially those of Christianity) New Age, and Muslim. They all have this in common: They all agree to oppose Christianity.
Christianity is the only one that gives dignity to man and meaning to his life and purpose or teleology to his life's origin and destiny. Humanists, et al., describe Christians as out of touch with reality (Ted Turner, for instance, has labeled Christians as weak and Christianity a religion for losers), Freud described Christians as neurotic, if not psychotic. The problem is that Marx described religion as the opiate of the people--actually, young people are ill-prepared and don't know what they believe when encountered with worldviews, and should have their minds kept open.
What has happened is that man has forgotten God according to Alexander Solzhenitsyn. The historian, Will Durant asks if a man can live without God? Ironically, on the other hand, Bertrand Russell says what the world needs is more Christian love. Nietzsche proclaimed God as dead (not relevant anymore) and that "we killed Him." Russell (the most famous atheist philosopher of the twentieth century), also said that "unless you assume a God, the question of life's meaning is useless." God is indeed relative to all dimensions of life and every major academic discipline.
Ethics is in debate and is the chief problematic area because what you believe affects how you behave (orthodoxy or right belief is necessary for orthopraxy or right behavior)--Humanists say ethics are relative to one's culture. We believe that the faith you have is the faith you show, but Christianity is not a system of ethics, but a relationship with the living God. We have an inner sense of "ought." We will be held accountable to our Creator at the judgment. The summation of Christian ethics is to follow the Lord in discipleship.
Look at the gamut of value systems:
In Islam, Muhammad is seen as the exemplary hero held in superlative status, though he had many flaws in his character, while Jesus was sinless--what Jesus did, no man can do, what Muhammad did, any militant man can do. We believe in absolute right and wrong--certain things are always wrong in all situations at all times.
There are basically ten academic subjects that are directly affected by the worldview (which are as follows: Theology, philosophy, ethics, biology, psychology, sociology, law, politics, and history economics makes up Western Civilization or Christendom) and disciplines of a student of the truth. There are several worldviews including Secular Humanist (the predominant one in America), Communist or Marxist, Postmodern (which holds all truth as relative, except its own truths and especially those of Christianity) New Age, and Muslim. They all have this in common: They all agree to oppose Christianity.
Christianity is the only one that gives dignity to man and meaning to his life and purpose or teleology to his life's origin and destiny. Humanists, et al., describe Christians as out of touch with reality (Ted Turner, for instance, has labeled Christians as weak and Christianity a religion for losers), Freud described Christians as neurotic, if not psychotic. The problem is that Marx described religion as the opiate of the people--actually, young people are ill-prepared and don't know what they believe when encountered with worldviews, and should have their minds kept open.
What has happened is that man has forgotten God according to Alexander Solzhenitsyn. The historian, Will Durant asks if a man can live without God? Ironically, on the other hand, Bertrand Russell says what the world needs is more Christian love. Nietzsche proclaimed God as dead (not relevant anymore) and that "we killed Him." Russell (the most famous atheist philosopher of the twentieth century), also said that "unless you assume a God, the question of life's meaning is useless." God is indeed relative to all dimensions of life and every major academic discipline.
Ethics is in debate and is the chief problematic area because what you believe affects how you behave (orthodoxy or right belief is necessary for orthopraxy or right behavior)--Humanists say ethics are relative to one's culture. We believe that the faith you have is the faith you show, but Christianity is not a system of ethics, but a relationship with the living God. We have an inner sense of "ought." We will be held accountable to our Creator at the judgment. The summation of Christian ethics is to follow the Lord in discipleship.
Look at the gamut of value systems:
In Islam, Muhammad is seen as the exemplary hero held in superlative status, though he had many flaws in his character, while Jesus was sinless--what Jesus did, no man can do, what Muhammad did, any militant man can do. We believe in absolute right and wrong--certain things are always wrong in all situations at all times.
Postmodernists, with more of a mood than dogma, say that they believe in no absolutes but moral relativism. If it feels right, then it is--make your own credo (essence of New Age)! "Truth is a short-term contract." Imagine the consequences of believing that! They essentially believe you should live as you please (see how your worldview affects your behavior--it has consequences!).
Secular Humanists claim we are an evolving animal and it is no wonder they behave like animals! They believe in the science of ethics and reject absolute standards--nothing is conceived as good or bad--they believe in "no truth." Remember, Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." Therefore, truth can be known and does exist.
Marxists claim man is the highest form of man. Christians are immoral and the enemy and Marxists feed on class hatred and envy--ultimately the end justifies the means. The question is whether we are headed toward perfection and a higher being someday.
The Postmodernists refuse a Big Story (worldview), or metanarrative, or grand narrative, as they call it, and want to get in touch with the god within and that tolerance is the ultimate virtue--you might say they endorse neither atheism nor theism--their faith is highly eclectic and highly individualized.
New Agers believe in the reciprocity rule of ethics (what Confucius taught-- don't treat others the way you don't want to be treated--don't even the score!), inner truth and enlightenment, karma, and being non-judgmental or tolerant. They believe we should design our own ethics--if it feels good, it's right for you! What modern-day schools teach is that your ethics or mores are okay as long as you can justify them or have sound reasoning behind them.
The big issue in psychology is whether we have souls, as others deny (except Islam). Is there a supernatural (the secular humanist vehemently denies any supernatural)? Does the mind supersede matter or vice versa? Which came first mind or matter? "In the beginning, God" not "In the beginning matter (no God)." The problem is that only Christianity deals with the problem of sin, death, and guilt in an acceptable way. Christianity is a competing therapy to psychology and is regarded as an enemy, not an ally.
There are parameters to a Christian worldview: mind over matter, God before people, plan, and design before creation, life from life, and enlightenment from Light. All things have their origin or genesis in God: "In the beginning God...." The problem most people have is that they know enough truth to be dangerous as Sir Francis Bacon (the father of modern empiricism, along with John Locke, and author of the scientific method), said, "A little philosophy inclineth man's mind to atheism, but depth in philosophy bringeth men's minds about to religion."
Let's show the ways Christianity outweighs the other worldviews:
In theology, there is more evidence for God than against and you cannot disprove God or the fact of a designed universe (argument from design)--Christian theology is Christ-centered and its validity is based on the veracity of the Scriptures; In philosophy the mind or logos precedes or is over and has power over matter and the Higher Mind and loving God is superior to moral relativism in concept--having a First-Cause or Unmoved-Mover fits the facts better than pure chance and accident of history in the making--the vast majority of great thinkers according to renowned scholar Mortimer J. Adler were believers in God--supernaturalism and faith are vital to reason (the main purpose of reason is to show that some things are beyond reason;
In biology creating life coincides with the evidence better and you cannot demonstrate or prove spontaneous generation--life only comes from life (biogenesis)--no evolutionist can demonstrate how life began (life could not have arisen by chance according to Sir Fred Hoyle in The Intelligent Universe); as creatures of God we have dignity being in the image of God--creationism should be given equal time to evolution as both are faiths and can't be proved (who was there?);
In psychology, the need for a Savior and the solution to the guilt problem outweigh the evolution concept, and mind supersedes matter or what is called dualism is superior--man has a soul and a mind as well as a brain (actually Christianity is better psychology than psychology)--man's problem is sin and guilt and how to overcome it, not deny it, because we are fallen creatures--Christianity is the only view that treats this issue;
In sociology, the biblical standards of society and family are superior to free love, open sex, or any social experiment (we believe in the inherent worth of the individual and primacy of the family unit as fundamental to society;
In government, there shouldn't be any more interventionist than absolutely necessary and lean toward laissez-faire and open and free markets. In law, God hates the perversion of justice and provides a firm foundation--all just law is God-oriented and founded on the absolutes of right and wrong (known also as transcendent law and natural law), We uphold the rule of law and that the basis for Common Law is the Bible, relying on its veracity and relevance; Christians are obliged to obey the law (however; God's law trumps man's), and believers should pose no threat to other types of government as revolutionaries or anarchists, but should be model citizens whose real citizenship is in heaven;
In politics, rights are derived directly from God and the responsibility of governments to secure them (by the way government is not a necessary evil, but necessary because of evil according to St. Augustine)--involvement in the political process is encouraged and apathy and ignorance are wrong--justice and freedom for all is a right from God;
In economics, the concept of private property, work ethic, and individual responsibility is far more motivating than a welfare state based on redistribution of wealth and class envy--everything is given from God and we are merely stewards of His provision and bounty;
In history, utopia will be ushered in by Christ and is far more than a pipe dream, not just pie in the sky--history is linear nor repetitious and is headed for a culmination of judgment and a millennial kingdom ushered in by Christ, not us, the climax of history is when Christ comes to reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Secular views hold uniformitarianism or that things have always been as they are without catastrophe or intervention by God, such as the deluge. The story of history is "his story" and goes from creation, to fall, to redemption, resurrection, judgment, and eternity.
The role of government is to protect private property, ensure justice, preserve personhood from danger, and keep evil at bay, thus securing human rights and making the opportunity, as well as seeing the marketplace is fair and moral, as well as ethical-- the law is made for the evildoer who needs the motivation to be good.
Secular Humanism and Atheism have been declared religions by high federal courts in America, but children's minds are not kept open because there are violations of First Amendment rights in the classroom. After all, evolution is taught as absolute truth and not just theory, and creationism is not allowed equal time, though over half of Americans don't accept it as gospel truth.
In conclusion: It is time for Christians to stand up and boldly proclaim the truth, and to let their Christian colors show; that means taking a stand and not being ashamed of their faith or of Jesus, looking for opportunities to make Him known. It might be as simple as writing your congressman, or the editor of your paper, even lighting a candle, showing your Christian colors, and having a prayer meeting, chain, or vigil can be beneficial. We need believers who dare to be "Daniels" and will not just stand by the sidelines, so to speak, but stand up and be counted: "But the people who do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits" (Dan. 11:32b). Soli Deo Gloria!
The role of government is to protect private property, ensure justice, preserve personhood from danger, and keep evil at bay, thus securing human rights and making the opportunity, as well as seeing the marketplace is fair and moral, as well as ethical-- the law is made for the evildoer who needs the motivation to be good.
Secular Humanism and Atheism have been declared religions by high federal courts in America, but children's minds are not kept open because there are violations of First Amendment rights in the classroom. After all, evolution is taught as absolute truth and not just theory, and creationism is not allowed equal time, though over half of Americans don't accept it as gospel truth.
In conclusion: It is time for Christians to stand up and boldly proclaim the truth, and to let their Christian colors show; that means taking a stand and not being ashamed of their faith or of Jesus, looking for opportunities to make Him known. It might be as simple as writing your congressman, or the editor of your paper, even lighting a candle, showing your Christian colors, and having a prayer meeting, chain, or vigil can be beneficial. We need believers who dare to be "Daniels" and will not just stand by the sidelines, so to speak, but stand up and be counted: "But the people who do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits" (Dan. 11:32b). Soli Deo Gloria!
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