The Church Of What's Happening Now

Today's church is not really growing, in fact, it is in a state of decline, and what is happening is just a relocation of the saved from dying churches to ones tuned into the newest thing. We refer to this as The Church Of What's Happening Now! You may even find coffee bars selling lattes and bookstores! They may also be into self-promotion, marketing their ministry on the media and the church may be built upon one personality who has a reputation and this is akin to being a personality cult--especially if the pastor is "in charge" of the one-man show. Many churches are reverting to Catholicism in that the members don't search things out in a Berean style (cf. Acts 17:11), and accept the "authority" of the preacher much like the "cult of death" (i.e., The People's Temple) did to Jim Jones, who was said to speak the Word of God, so that you didn't even need a Bible in church anymore. What happened to the words of Martin Luther: "I dissent, I disagree, I protest?"

Why do you think we have church history to study? But to avoid the same mistakes and to build on the past, and also to keep that which is good (i.e., 1 Thess. 5:21, ESV, says, "[But] test everything, hold fast what is good"). A vibrant, living, and growing church has members who exercise their spiritual gifts and no one is self-sufficient or even thinks they don't need the body. The Reformers said that the church was to be Semper reformanda, or always reforming (there's always room for improvement). Our mindset never should alter from this focus of reformation. We should never think we've arrived, but we are to preserve the better part.

The church has been known to turn a deaf ear to what's going on politically, and the converse, to get overly involved in partisanship. The Bible is not a manual for government reform, but Christians should have a biblical worldview and not any secular one. When you leave God out of the reckoning disaster is sure to follow suit. Remember, the German church turned a deaf ear to Hitler and didn't stick up for rights and morality while they had the chance. The church is the salt and light of the nation and God uses it to dispense His grace. You can say a lot of things about the Roman Catholic Church, but they are more involved in outreach and dispensing mercy and good deeds than any other church. We are not just to minister to the spirit, but to the soul and body as well. Christ has no hands but ours to reach out to a lost world.

In the modern church, we see many who are "holier-than-thou" and have forgotten what it's like to have a relationship with Jesus. The only solution is to get into the Word see themselves for who they are and repent. Yes, repentance is not a one-time event, but progressive and we are to live in a state of repentance, just like we live in a state of faith. Living by faith and walking by faith is the only way to grow in Christ. We must keep our eyes on Jesus and get reacquainted with Him on a personal basis. Even seasoned believers can grow distant and become estranged. That's why we all need the body to give us regular spiritual checkups and to stay in sync with Christ. No one is an island, a lone wolf, a spiritual Lone Ranger, or a rock in God's eyes--we are all members one of another. Remember, one doesn't defect from Christ as a believer, but gradually slips away and before you know it, he's backslidden. As an example, he doesn't rebel against the church, but misses on occasion and gradually comes to the conclusion he can get along without it. "[Not] neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some..." (Heb. 10:25, ESV).

Today's mainstream Protestants are becoming apostates, buying into all the liberal worldview and agenda, even some are known as the Christian left, as opposed to the evangelical right. The evangelicals are soon becoming outnumbered and few truly independent churches exist. It is increasingly difficult to find a vibrant, growing fundamentalist church. Members are transferring from one church to another, and the net effect is zero on the church at large. Christendom is having little impact on the world because the world is having so much effect on the church.

This is where spiritual self-sufficiency or complacency gets a hold on a believer who falls away from fellowship--and this is precisely what Christ wants of us--us--i.e., to have fellowship with us. But we must open the door--Christians are the ones who've opened the door! There are believers who are out of fellowship, living in disobedience, but Jesus loves them and the proof of that is His discipline and rebuke. The verse in Revelation 3:20 primarily refers to unbelievers who need to repent and let Christ reign in their hearts, but it can be applied to believers to help them find the locus of their disillusionment or disenchantment with the church and with Christ. Soli Deo Gloria!

Churchianity

Some Christians "play" church and go through the motions of worship and never go for the right reason--to worship God--they say, "I didn't get much out of worship today!" (maybe they should concentrate on what they put into it). God condemns us for having worship without our heart in it or hypocritical worship, this is just "memorizing the dance of the pious." A real hypocrite (hypocrite means wearing a mask, or acting in a play) is not one who falls short of his ideals, but one who uses religion as a cover-up and knows he is insincere. The theme of Psalms is Psa. 29:2, "Ascribe the Lord the glory due to His name, worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness." Deut. 17 condemns insincere and dishonest worship or sacrifice. Amaziah was known for doing the will of the Lord, but not with a true heart. Someone has said that there are four persons that we show: The one God sees; the one you see; the one the world sees; and the one your intimate friends see. Let's be careful not to just have a "public persona" and parade our spirituality or piety.

Worship should be a delight and our feelings should be in it (or we are blaspheming God--like doing it as a "duty" not because we want to) as the command "Delight yourself in the Lord..." says. In summary: Psa. 84:1 says, "My soul longs, even faints, for the courts of the Lord" and Psa. 122:1 says, "I was glad when they said unto me, 'Let us go into the house of the Lord.'"

We can worship or be edified in a "crowd," but we need to function in a local body of believers with our spiritual gift. Rick Warren says that there is no "one-size-fits-all" for worship and there are many ways to worship. He says we believe, we belong, we become. We are to be committed to our church as a token of our commitment to Christ--they go hand in hand--and then we will grow and be accountable.

I can't stand the legalistic crowd that goes to church thinking that will make them a Christian, like going into a garage will make you a car, or eating a donut will make you a cop. They are called the "nod-to-God" crowd, which thinks it is fulfilling its obligation by a short visit to the local church, just out of guilt. The true Christian wants to worship God and wants to fellowship with other believers with whom he is a "fellow in the same ship." I think some mega-churches miss the boat in worship, you just don't hear people "amen" the preacher (where is the worship in the Spirit and in the truth?). But different people are at different stages and God has a purpose for their existence--mega-churches aren't where I'm at, because I want to know my pastor personally, not just from afar.

Some think their religious performance is enough to save them. To some, it's only a formality and not a relationship. John MacArthur says, "We can't enter through our religious emotion or our sanctified feelings...Lip service is no good--there must be obedience...You don't get into the kingdom by sincerity, by religiosity, by reformation, by kindness, by service to the church, not even by simply naming the name of Christ; you get there only by personal trust and faith in [the person and work of] Christ." We can have a form of godliness and be empty. The church at Sardis had a reputation that it was alive, yet it was dead (see Rev. 3:1). We can even have "sanctimonious emotions" and not know Christ. There is a difference between knowing the Word and knowing the Author of the Word.

We can have many experiences in church and everyone has a different one, but I believe we should test our experiences by the Word of God and not the Word of God by our experiences. That's an important concept--we are not to become either rationalists nor empiricists (going by reason or experience only), but belief in the Bible (revelation) and sound teaching. The more we learn the more we realize where the wiggle room is and what is not worth fighting about. We are to "maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." Sectarianism is a sin according to 1 Cor. 1, and we shouldn't divide into factions if we can help it. Pascal said, "In essentials unity, in nonessentials liberty, in all things charity." Soli Deo Gloria!

Just And Justifer

"For the LORD is righteous, and he loves justice, / Those who do what is right will see his face" (Psalm 11:7, NLT). 
 "... Righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne" (Psa. 97:2, NLT).
"Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" (cf. Gen. 18:25).

What qualifies God to be our judge?  Remember, God is our Judge; we are not His judge! He judges everyone according to what they've done; even the righteous according to their deeds, not their faith.  God is holy as His chief attribute that regulates all others and is without sin. Because He is just, He is obliged to judge all sin and evil.   Also, Jesus lived the sin-free life as what to expect of us, while the Ten Commandments delineated God's demands and expectations.  We know what to judge by as a measuring rod when we behold the perfect God-man, Jesus the righteous One.  God is a God of justice and sin and evil are incompatible with His nature just like matter and anti-matter cannot co-exist.  He wouldn't be holy if He let sin slide and let us get away with it.

But He did do something that allows a way out of exercising judgment on everyone.  By declaring all guilty of sin in Adam, He has the right to impute righteousness on those who are in Christ.  It's the principle of substitution and representation.  Adam was Christ's prototype and represents us, while Christ is the last example and our substitution that sets us free from Adam's sin.  God is just and must not compromise His perfect holiness and violate justice so He had to find a way to become both Just and Justifier.  He did this by sending His Son to be our replacement or substitute. His wrath is satisfied in Christ who died on our behalf.

God is not only offended by sin, But He's also angry at it and will take vengeance on it in due time.  God cannot even behold or look upon evil!  The only way to appease His wrath is by expiation or propitiation through the blood of Christ.  His demands were fully met and we can have this reconciliation on account of the blood of Jesus.  Note that God doesn't make us righteous but declares us righteous.  Just like God, we ought to be indignant at the evil in the world and for God to avenge in His time.

Now God is unjust to no one!  The exercise of grace and mercy are forms of non-justice but are not injustice.  The reconciled believer has been imputed with righteousness and is considered as if he'd never sinned in God's eyes--as righteous, not sinful.  But Paul says in Gal. 2:17 that the believer is, in reality, both sinner and righteous at the same time.  We never stop sinning but grow in our acknowledgment and holiness as we get to know our Lord.  The believer who thinks he can reach a point of maturity without sin is self-deceived!  This is where confession comes into play.  We must continually confess our known sin to remain in fellowship with God the Father and God the Son, as well as our believers in Christ ("forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us").

We must not reckon that justice delayed is justice denied, for God tarries to exercise His judgment on mankind and in His time the day of grace will cease.  It may appear that the sinner is getting away with cursing God and sin but his day will come and someday he'll give an account of himself.  God's goodness and delay are meant to give us time and space to repent and to bring us to realize our sin by conviction.

By definition, justice is rendering to someone their due desserts!  Giving them what they deserve, good or bad!  But Christians receive both mercy (not getting what we do deserve) and grace (getting what we don't deserve).  What we must realize is that God was not under any obligation of justice to be merciful to anyone--He could've condemned everyone all the same and remain holy and just.  However, to demonstrate His love, He found a way to be both just and justifier and to save some from the consequences of the coming wrath.

If God had to save anyone, it would be justice, not mercy and grace.  We can rejoice that God tempers His justice with mercy (cf. Hab. 3:2), knowing that He was under no obligation to save us, but loves us even while we were His enemies and still in our sin.  Rest assured that no one will ever be punished beyond that which strict justice demands they deserve, even in hell, if they are not covered by the blood of Jesus! 

Don't ask God for justice for your case, but mercy and grace!  Don't just say, "All I want is justice!"  Because you may get it and that is not what you want!  But note that vengeance belongs to the Lord and is not our prerogative or duty, we must have faith that God's will is for our best and He will determine what justice is and mete it out to His standards.  CAN WE BELIEVE IN JUSTICE WITHOUT A JUDGE?   In summation: We should become so convicted that we are great sinners and that God is a great Savior that we plead "guilty as charged":  "... God be merciful to me, the sinner!" (cf Luke 18:13, NASB). and concur with John Bunyan, in his book, Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners.   Soli Deo Gloria!

Indebted To Jesus!

Do you know that you owe
It all to the Lord Jesus!
When your goal loses your soul,
And you want a way out,
Remember He's near and saves ev'ry tear,
And your woes won't overflow His bowl.  


When the fight is lonely as the night,
And you wonder where He is,
Remember all the same to praise His name.
So thank Him anyway,
For you He'll win, so don't lose by sin.
And if you pray, claim His fame.  


The joy you'll share, knowing He's there,
Treading those paths ahead.
But let it glow, and you will grow,
To lighten the paths of sin;
But love is the way to make His day,
And loving the Lord will make them know.  


Soli Deo Gloria!
  

It Costs To Be Saved

They say that salvation is free, but it costs everything you've got.  Salvation is free but not cheap; so-called cheap grace justifies the sin, not the sinner.  It costs to be saved, but more not to be.  We must be willing and open to the idea of saying goodbye to our past and it's ties, friendships, idols, and commitments and turn over everything to Christ.  We make a clean break with our old life and old nature and venture ahead in a leap of faith with Christ in charge of our life and at the helm.  It's a clean cleavage from our past and an ever new beginning.  Christ doesn't put a new suit on the man, but a new man in the suit.  Behold, all things become new!  Christianity is not turning over a new leaf, making a New Year's resolution, or making an AA pledge, it's becoming a new person from the inside out.

Our lives are salt and light to the world and we are here to bear testimony of what Christ did for us.  But most people love their lives too much to leave them and cling to idols, which are anything that takes the place of God.  But we didn't want to be born the first time either!  We came into the world crying and throwing a fit or tantrum thinking it was worse, but not realizing it was for our good.  People don't like commitment either no matter the choice.  Marriage takes a leap of faith too!  Christ is infinitely more trustworthy than any spouse.

The real reason many people reject Christ is that they love their sin too much and don't want to leave a life of sin or even living in sin. They don't have an intellectual problem with believing, masked in smokescreens, but have a moral problem--they don't want to change their way of life and stop living in sin.  People cannot imagine a life without their sin and don't realize that the only abundant and fulfilling life is in Christ doing His will (cf. John 10:10).    That's the safest place to be!

That's why we give a testimony of how much Jesus has done for us, not how we turned around our lives and got our act together!  No one can argue your personal story of salvation:  "Let the redeemed of the Lord say so!"  (cf. Psalm 107:2).  The fact is that we come to Christ, as we are, warts, blemishes, and flaws in all and He makes us into His image; i.e., we will not stay that way, though the change doesn't happen all at once, it's a process; that's why we're called a work in progress!

God owns us and we belong to Him as His own and we are never asked to give up anything in the sacrifice, that Christ didn't suffer or give up, without reward and abundant recompense--our crosses pale in comparison. Reality 101 is that we enroll in the school of suffering to complete Christ's sufferings in the body and bring Him glory from our adversities. It is an honor to suffer for the sake of the Name.   The principle is, "No cross, no crown!"   In glory, all the suffering we bore will be worth it and rewarded.   Soli Deo Gloria!

What Is Saving Faith?...

 "... [A]nd a large number of priest became obedient to the faith" (Acts 6:7, NIV).

"Through him we have received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from or his Name's sake" (Romans 1:5, NKV). 
"... [S]o that all the Gentiles might come to the obedience that comes from faith" (Rom. 16:26,NIV).

Everyone has faith; in what is the question.  We are a religious creature made to worship and will worship someone or something if not God, which is idolatry.  Dostoevsky said that "man cannot live without worshiping something."  We are made for God and can only find our fulfillment in living for Him.  But why is man opposed to God when He offers Himself to them?  Man is a slave to sin and doesn't want to change his way of life, doing his own thing his way.  He doesn't want to submit to authority and grant the ownership of his life to the One who made it.  A person of no organized religion may have their faith in the scientific method, that science can solve all our problems--but he is nevertheless a person of faith.  And so everyone is a person of faith!  We have sound reasons to believe and need not commit intellectual suicide.

Real faith in God is when we go a step beyond so-called story-book faith or head belief and it registers in the heart and we desire to live it out in trust and commitment.  We must be obedient to the gospel and to the faith.   Saving faith is always accompanied by genuine repentance--they go hand in hand!  And we must never divorce faith and faithfulness, for we live by faith and it must grow, not being dead.  Dead faith produces no works and that kind of faith cannot save.  Good soil produces fruit and saving faith produces the fruit of good works.  As the Reformers said, "We are saved by faith alone, but not by a faith that is alone."  If we have no works, our faith is suspect.  James says that faith without works is dead!  James 2:18 also says, "I'll show you my faith by my works!"  But we are not saved by works, but not without them either.  We don't have faith in ourselves or our ability in trying to save ourselves, because it's the object that matters.  We must realize that genuine faith expresses itself!

God opens our eyes to have faith, for we are blinded by Satan.  He quickens or kindles faith within us by grace and it's not a meritorious work as Rome would have you believe--for then we would be saved by merit or works.  We will have nothing to boast of in God's presence.  Faith is the work of God but our act.  We must put our faith in the right object to be saved, for we don't have faith in faith, but faith in Christ--faith doesn't save, Christ does!   But this faith must be penitent as we turn from sin to God and believe in Christ.  That's why it may be termed penitent faith or believing repentance that saves.  We have believed through grace, a supernatural act of God regenerating us.  God grants both repentance and faith as a privilege of being the elect (cf. Acts 5:31; 11:18).  He opens the door to faith and repentance (cf. Acts 14:27).

There is a profession of faith and reality of faith, whereas bogus faith is misplaced and insincere.  God doesn't ask for perfect faith, only sincere, unfeigned faith (cf. 1 Tim. 1:5; 2 Tim. 1:5).  Without faith, we cannot please God (cf. Heb. 11:6).  There are people of great faith but it's misplaced (cf. Romans 10:2; Proverbs 19:2)--sincerity matters but it's not everything (you can be sincerely wrong).  There are believers in name only or nominal Christians who go through the motions and have memorized the Dance of the Pious.  Saving faith is obedient as Bonhoeffer says, "Only he who believes is obedient; only he who is obedient believes."  (cf. Romans 16:26; Romans 1:5, Acts 6:7).  They shall know we are Christians by our love--the ultimate obedience.  That is the litmus test!  Faith and obedience are correlated in Heb. 3:17-18, HCSB, as follows:  "And who did He swear to that they would not enter His rest, if not those who disobeyed?  So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief."  We desire to obey, even if we fall short of perfection (cf. Matt 5:48).

The faith you have is the faith you show!  The rallying cry of the Reformation was that we are saved by faith alone and Rome pronounced anyone anathema that adhered to this doctrine at the Council of Trent (the Counter-Reformation).  We are not saved by good works, and faith is not a work, but we are saved unto good works, that we may accomplish the will of God.  Works are no substitute for faith, but only evidence of it. In fact, God foreordains good works for us to do for His purposes.  We must be saved by grace, for this is the only way to have assurance.  And "salvation is of the LORD," as Jonah found out (cf. Jonah 2:9) which means it's God's accomplishment, not man's achievement.  We receive faith, we don't achieve it, i.e., we don't conjure it up by ourselves, but it's totally a gift of grace (cf. Acts 18:27; John 6:29; 2 Pet. 1:1).  But we must put our faith to work and turn our creed into deeds, for faith is knowledge in action.  Keeping the faith only works if it's in Christ!

Rome reduces faith to assent or acquiescence or acknowledgment with the church dogma.  Just realizing Christ is God and rose from the dead, if one doesn't put the faith into action, will not save.  Believing Christ rose from the dead is history; believing He died for you and rose for you and personalizing this is salvation.  By faith Abraham obeyed!  True saving faith is a surrendered, substituted, inhabited, relinquished, and even yielded life to the will of God, whereas Christ lives in us through the Holy Spirit's residence--in other words, He owns us because He bought us and redeemed us!  We must take a spiritual checkup or spiritual inventory to find out whether we have the Spirit or not and if Christ is living in us--if anyone has not the Spirit of Christ he is none of His and he is reprobate (cf. Romans 8:9).  In sum, if we love Jesus we will obey Him (cf. John 14:15) and there is a curse on anyone who doesn't love the Lord (cf. Rom. 16:22)--true faith trusts in Christ as Savior and submits to Him as Lord, as Jesus said, "If you love Me, you will obey My commands."        Soli Deo Gloria!

For The Love Of Truth

"Truth forever on the scaffold, wrong forever on the throne."  (James Russell Lowell, 1844, The Present Crisis).  
"Into Your hand I entrust my spirit; You redeem me, LORD, God of truth" (Psalm 31:5, HCSB).

NB:  TRUTH IS WHAT GOD DECREES OR WHAT HE SAYS TO BE TRUTH AS THE FINAL ARBITER AND DELIMTER OF ITS DEFINITION.   

We all know that philosophy is the love of wisdom or knowledge and in antiquity, there was no distinction between science and philosophy, but someone must love the truth to be saved (cf. 2 Thess. 2:10).  But today people twist the truth to fit their narrative theories!  The problem with the infidel is that he won't accept the truth and refuses to submit to it; it's offensive to his lifestyle.  The divine order:  understand it, accept it, put faith in it, obey and submit to it, and then love it!  Paul warns against those who refuse to love the truth and so be saved!  Loving the truth is indeed a sign of salvation or a byproduct of it.  The fact is that God must open our eyes to the truth and the truth will set us free, for all truth meets at the top and is God's truth! God makes sense of everything as our eyes are opened and we see the light!

People avoid the truth with their own relativism; this is indicative of the so-called Truth War or battle of the isms and worldviews.  They deny absolute truth as a consequence, and, therefore, God as the logical outcome.  Unless you assume God in the metric, you have no foundation for truth.   If there is no God, there simply is no truth and vice versa (cf. Prov. 1:7)--this is logical.  No truth implies no ethics either, and no ethics implies no good life to strive for nor ideals to live by (virtues).  We don't say that your truth has no effect on us or that it's of no consequence!  One must own up to the truth revealed, for we are held accountable to what God has given and the amount of light shed.  Willful ignorance is no excuse with God; therefore, ignorance is not bliss!  Modern academics are quick to point out that all truth is relative, which is nonsensical and of no truth value (is that statement also relative?). Because if truth exists, then its corollary, absolute, universal truth must also exist and they refuse to even go there.

The trouble with the infidel is that he has hardened his heart against truth and sets himself up as the arbiter of truth and authority of right and wrong.  But God is the only arbiter of truth and delimits or defines it, not man.  God decrees the truth and no lie is of the truth.  Truth has to do with reality according to the Correspondence Theory of Truth, and not admitting it is a form of escape from reality.  Truth corresponds with reality as portrayed and agrees with God who determines it. In sum, only Christians are properly oriented to reality and know the truth as personified in the person of  Christ personally.

We see the big picture and don't take God out of the equation which can lead to blindness and ignorance.  Where we start determines where we end up and that's why the Bible doesn't start out like a fairy tale, "Once upon a time," but says "In the beginning God."  This is the only logical way to begin reality.  There are only two alternatives:  "In the beginning nothing" (an absurdity since "out of nothing, nothing comes!"; and "In the beginning matter/energy." We know that matter isn't eternal and energy isn't useful in its natural state--the factor of intelligence or organization must be added!  (The theory of an eternal universe has been totally discredited.)  Either matter or God is eternal!  One must have preceded the other. Are you willing to believe that matter arose to contemplate itself and create intelligent life?

The Bible is clear to state propositionally that the Logos was in the beginning, the self-expression of God, or the Word of God.  Logic is necessary to begin any knowledge!  No Logos means no cosmos and only chaos, which would make learning and science impossible!  This is all-important because the very foundation of all truth and knowledge begins with God in the calculus and without Him, all we have is nonsense and confusion. If you don't begin with God in the picture you have no basis of knowing anything!  You must always begin somewhere to learn anything and everyone begins with something they cannot prove, an assumption.  "In the beginning God" is necessary for all learning, logic, knowledge, and values, it's not just the way the Bible begins.      Soli Deo Gloria! 

To See The Truth

This view is not sleazy nor misery,
But you may see no austerity.
And needlessly is missing to me,
The parity that so many see
Elude, because thinkingly, they see
Them unevenly as contumely, or thinkingly
They see amorously--they can't willingly
Give up their debauchery!
Now as I felicitously live lovingly,
As some may never benevolently be;

Only if they could see the blissful tree:

The superseding people have "conqueredly"
Gotten out of the sinewy grasp of the enemy.
To live, you see, is Christ to me;
He isn't pedantic nor astringent, as some see,
Nor "importunely" vigilant as some exaggeratedly
Irk me.  The way we live is not adversity,
Nor calamity but delectably working for unity
Among our Christianity.  I, believingly,
Say it could be foolishly depriving, and dumbly
Stupid not to give the Lord at least a taciturnity.        Soli Deo Gloria!

Are You Sure You're Saved?

We are commanded to make our election and calling sure (cf. 2 Pet. 1:10) and this is done by searching our own hearts, examining our fruit, claiming Scripture promises to lean on, and sensing the ministry of the Spirit "bearing witness to our spirit" (cf. Rom. 8:16). Christianity is about walking in the Spirit, and increasing in faith--genuine faith is penitent and not inert or static (it grows!). We walk by faith (cf. 2 Cor. 5:7), and progress from faith to faith (cf. Rom. 1:17). Being sure of one's position in Christ is only the door, not the journey or destination.

Knowing we are saved is not an automatic fruit, and it's not presumption nor arrogance to know for sure (as is promised that we can know in 1 John 5:13). Believing and assurance don't mean we know all the answers and have no doubts--we just believed in spite of them. It's not the preacher's job description to certify our salvation, but he can offer reassurance. Even though some call assurance a "sin of presumption," it's obedience and a boon to our walk to know for sure without a doubt. 

Some people have this assurance because they claim Bible verses, and are not ignorant of the Word, but take it at face value: one such Scriptural "birth certificate" might be the verse in John 1:12, which says that anyone who receives Christ has the right to become a child of God. This assurance goes hand in hand with security--they can be distinguished, but not separated--the flip side of assurance is security that you cannot forfeit your salvation, even if you fall into sin, for we have an "Advocate with the Father" when we do sin (cf. 1 John 2:1). He always intercedes on our behalf (cf. Heb. 7:25).

Knowing we are saved is only the beginning and first step of our walk with Jesus, the "Author and Finisher of our faith" (cf. Heb. 12:2). A Christian is no spiritual giant just because he is 100 percent sure of his salvation, if his life isn't consistent with the Spirit, and he isn't producing good fruit. You can have many unanswered questions and still grow in Christ! Only in glory will all our questions be answered (cf. John 16:23). Faith isn't believing in spite of the evidence; it's obeying despite the consequences. "By faith Abraham obeyed," (cf. Heb. 11:8) despite the fact that he doubted God's promise, he went ahead and obeyed anyway! 

Notice that in the hall of faith chapter 11 of Hebrews it portrays all the saints as obeying in faith! Faith is abstract and you see it in action, you don't describe it. You don't need all the answers to believe, but can go right ahead and choose to believe anyway! God can increase our faith, but that means more responsibility!

We are not to take advantage of grace, to insult the Spirit of grace and misuse it. Knowing we are saved should be all the more motivation to live for Christ--for the more, we are given, the more God expects from us in return. God is only pleased with faithfulness and faith, and we must not divorce or separate the two, though they can be distinguished. Faith is only measured in obedience ("Only he who believes is obedient; only he who is obedient believes," --Dietrich Bonhoeffer), and not experiences, mystical or real life, nor by emotions or feelings, which may be sentiment and signs we have never grown up in the faith so as not to depend on feelings. Faith, not feelings, please God (cf. Heb. 11:6). Our ecstasies, visions, dreams, and mystic or surreal experiences are not the measure faith; God is looking for obedience, not success or achievements. Blessed are those who have not seen! (Cf. John 20:29).

The best way to be sure is to have the witness of a fruitful life that supports your faith--showing that it's genuine, saving faith--not bogus. God isn't going to ask us at our final audit at the Bema, or Judgment Seat of Christ, how sure we were of our salvation, or how big our faith was, but what we did with it and whether we grew to know, love, and obey Jesus. It's not how big your faith is, but how big your God is, and it's not the amount of faith, but the object that matters. We must learn to trust and obey Christ in the mundane activities of life and to grow in our fellowship and relationship with Him.

If we are honest, all of us have been at the point of the man who cried, "I believe, help thou mine unbelief!"(cf. Mark 9:24).   Don't confuse works and grace, or fact and feeling (the divine order is fact-faith-feeling). Doubt is not the opposite of faith, but one of its elements and is healthy. Faith is not to be perfect or it wouldn't be faith, but knowledge, and what God wants is sincere, unfeigned, faith without any hypocrisy. (cf. 1 Tim. 1:5; 2 Tim. 1:5).   We are not to be pretenders who have a veneer to hide behind. We all have feet of clay and must progress in our walk as we get to know the Lord, the ultimate goal.

I propose two illustrations to exhibit faith: a boy flying a kite on a cloudy day was asked how he knew the kite was still up there, when unseen, he said he felt a tug every now and then to reassure him; another one is why you believe in the sun being up there when you don't see it: "Because I see everything else!" God opens the eyes or our hearts to see spiritually so we can say with the blind man: "... But I know this: I was blind, but now I see" (John 9:25, NLT). Who can refute such personal reality?

Not knowing for sure makes you a handicapped Christian in your walk, who cannot grow and mature in the faith as a seasoned believer! A word to the wise is sufficient: False assurance, overconfidence, spurious faith, and reckless living are more of a problem than the weaker brother who stumbles and has doubts--lacking full assurance. In sum, you must morph beyond mere assurance and fulfill your destiny and calling. Soli Deo Gloria!

Can Man Live Without God?

"Men have forgotten God." (Alexander Solzhenitsyn)
"A person cannot live without worshiping something." (Fyodor Dostoevsky)

The whole concept of modern Secular Humanism is to exalt man (glory to man in the highest!) and to dethrone God and put Him in His place, as they see it. In other words, they proclaim: Up with man, down with God! Man has attempted to make a name for himself ever since the tower of Babel (cf. Gen. 11:4) and believes he can get along without God's intervention, grace, or providence. Man is deluded into thinking he can rule God out of the universe and doesn't need Him or He is irrelevant or unnecessary to explain reality.

Pertinent remarks by great thinkers: "Religion is indispensable to private morals and public order" (Cicero); "No society has ever been able to maintain a moral life without the aid of its religion" (William Durant). Humanism has been defined as "religion without God." And you don't have to be an atheist to have no place for God in your life, practical atheists believe in God, but live as though there is no God. Psalm 10:4 (HCSB) sums it up: "There is no accountability since God does not exist."

Humanist historian/philosopher (and author of The Story of Civilization) Will Durant posed the dilemma we face today as the postmodern philosophy (that "God is dead") that permeates society, and humanists try to be good without God in the equation: "The greatest question of our time is not communism vs. individualism, not Europe vs. America, nor even the East vs. the West; it is whether men can bear to live without God." People have no excuse not to believe in God (cf. Rom. 1:20), but they foolishly suppress the fact and are in a state of denial. They seem to think that God is no longer relevant, that we can solve our issues and problems without His input or intervention, and that we are basically good, not evil, or are perfectible. 

We live in an age when sinners decide that they are their own judges of morality and can make their own value judgments: "Everyone did what was right in their own eyes," much like Israel did, as recorded in Judges 21:25. Men find themselves judging God, rather than realizing He's their judge. Now the biggest problem nations face is that of keeping the peace, and there shall be wars and rumors of wars till the end, and when we reach peace we will no longer feel we need God. America is a so-called good nation by human standards as recorded by secular Alexis de Tocqueville, in his work Democracy in America, which he wrote after visiting the U.S, posited that our strength lies in our "goodness," and when we "ceased to be good we will cease to be great." This is not based on biblical nor historical precedent, but only personal deduction and observation.

Yes, America is different (we are probably the most religious nation on earth), yet we are failing on the world stage due to poor leadership and the good citizens (believers) cease to be salt and light and evil is winning by default, not because Christianity has failed, nor because its worldview is faulty, but because Christians fail to stand up and be counted, to take their stand for the right and to fly their Christian colors. It has been said by philosophers and historians that morality in a nation cannot be upheld without the aid of religion: George Bernard Shaw said that "no nation can survive the loss of its gods." George Washington said, "It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible." Christians ought to protest the secularization of a society that seeks to eradicate God from the public square and discourse. 

But we cannot silence God, though! If we try to go to war with Him we will lose and our nation will lose its blessing and providential hand. We fight this by speaking up against the evils of society, even if it entails becoming activists and doing whatever you can to mobilize the church and equip them for the battle. We are not to passively allow Satan to seize control!

When you take God out of the picture, there remains a vacuum that is filled with satanic activity. When we cease to worship God, we will ultimately find something else to worship, because man is meant and designed for worship!  No one actually worships, reveres, adores, or esteems nothing. God is the motive people have for good behavior because you see very few hospitals, orphanages, relief organizations, leprosariums founded by infidels. In India, they think that the suffering of man is caused by bad karma and you shouldn't interfere with another's karma!

We are at the point in our society where we don't know right from wrong and have lost our moral fiber because there's no moral compass and God condemns those who call good evil and evil good (cf. Isa. 5:20). There is an absolute standard to judge by and people do instinctively know right from wrong due to having a conscience and everyone is culpable to be blamed because of transcendent or natural law, which is above national law and even nations are subject to. You could say that the new battle is against God and the new war of independence is from God! People, in general, think that the Ten Commandments are obsolete or are the Ten Suggestions, and don't apply to a modern society and don't feel bound by them,  and they are free to make up their own rules as they go along to suit themselves. As long as they can think of some reason to justify themselves and have good motives, the reason that they are doing the right thing.

But goodness isn't defined by man, but by God and is in conformity with His nature. The basic diagnosis of man is that he does things his way and not God's way (as Isa. 53:6 says, "... we have turned everyone to his own way..."). We cannot know good without knowing God, for He is the final arbiter of it and will judge us and our standards of good versus His. Without God, Shakespeare summed up the essence of life as Macbeth mused in Hamlet: "... 'tis a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury signifying nothing." If we are not in God's image, we are mere animals and glorified apes: "Do you think we are mere animals? Do you think we are stupid?" (Job 18:3, NLT)--teach man he is an animal and he will act like one.

"Without God, life makes no sense," according to Rick Warren!"  If there is no God all things are permissible," according to Fyodor Dostoevsky, and there can be no absolutes or standards to measure perfection by. The world has nothing against religion as long as it remains privatized, but we are to spread the word and be obedient to the gospel without suppressing it--it's a command to obey not an option to consider. The implications of atheism are profound: No judge to make us feel guilty; no Lord ot guide us, no lawgiver to obey; no ruler or sovereign to submit to, no creator to emulate, know, and love; no hell to shun; and no heaven to look forward to--how dismal and bleak an outlook!

Romans 1:18ff shows what transpires once a man leaves God out of the reckoning. In the final analysis, God will bless America by association again when the church repents and gets back on track fulfilling the Great Commission (not the Great Suggestion), and not when it tries to implement sharia law or usher in the Millennial Kingdom, in order to "advance the cause of Christ" through legislation or government, though this may be the trend towards righteousness and a worthy cause. Soli Deo Gloria!