What Is The Spiritual Meaning Of Salvation

 

1. To have oneself renewed in the image of God.
2. To have the relationship (reconciled) with God’s family restored.
3. To have oneself justified in God’s court of the penalty of sin.
4. To have oneself redeemed (price paid) in the slave market of sin.
5. To have oneself propitiated (the sacrifice made) in the temple of God.
6. To have oneself born again into a new life in Christ to last forever.
7. To have oneself forgiven of one’s past
8. To have oneself a clean slate to start over.
9. To have oneself freed from the power of sin
10. To have oneself given new meaning and purpose in life.

NB: We receive, we don’t achieve!   Soli Deo Gloria!

Does Science Contradict Faith?

 

1. There is no final conflict—apparent difficulties have been reconciled, the Bible proving right after all.
2. Science takes things apart; religion puts them together; many questions cannot be answered by science, but need religion; i..e., the Anthropic Principle.
3. Science is the know-how, while religion is the know-why; science deals in the physical while religion the metaphysical.
4. Science without religion is lame; religion without science is blind.
5. He who thinks there is a contradiction between science and religion understands neither.
6. Christianity is considered the “mother of modern science.”
7. There are dozens of scientific facts in the Bible with no scientific anomalies or contradictions; these facts were before science knew of them and were ahead of their time.
8. Science makes the mistake of ruling out the possibility of the supernatural and believes everything can be explained with natural causes and has an explanation without God in the equation.
9. Virtually all the early modern scientists were professing Christians and founded it upon the Christian worldview that definite laws govern nature (cf. Job 38:33).
10. There is no reason a Christian cannot be a good scientist and a scientist a good Christian—both exist.

NB: Augustine said that “all truth is God’s truth,” and Aquinas added that “all truth meets at the top.” John Locke described reality as that which corresponds with the truth. There can be a contradiction between truth and the God of truth.

The One True Faith With Many Counterfeits...

 Spaces

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Notifications

1. Mine is based in history (my God orchestrates it) and objective fact; ‘it’s historical, from the God of history, or it’s nothing, pointing especially to the objective, historical fact of the resurrection as the climax.
2. Mine has no scientific anomalies but has scientific facts ahead of its time.
3. Mine has subjective evidence of experiencing God personally (“Taste and see that the LORD is good”).
4. Mine is based on the miracle of the resurrection, arguably the most attested fact of antiquity.
5. Mine claims to be the only way to know God (truth is exclusive by nature).
6. Mine has no inherent contradictions, which have not been reconciled by scholars.
7. Mine claims to be knowable, absolute truth from the God of truth that gives the answer from the Answerer.
8. Mine is based on a holy book (the Bible) that is infallible and inerrant, and the only so-called scripture that contains predictive prophecy, even fulfilled ones.
9. Mine is based on a Savior who was without sin but understands us as a human, though still God.—the God-man; Jesus claimed to be God Himself in the flesh—no other religious founder made such claims.
10. Mine is based on inspiration and revelation, not speculation or conjecture.
11. Mine is the only one that solves man’s problem of sin, not ignorance, yet He respects our minds.
12. Mine gives purpose, dignity, and meaning in life, including suffering, and gives us hope for the future.
13. Mine has witnesses and martyrs who have died for its truths rather than deny them.
14. Mine has changed the course of history, even turning Rome topsy-turvy.
15. Mine has had a profound effect on Western Civilization, especially in absolute morals.
16. Mine is the only one that offers salvation by grace as a gift through faith, not of works.
17. Mine is the only one that says we can know God, not just believe He exists.
18. Mine is the only one that says God loves me individually.
19. Mine is the only one that gives me a claim to having human rights as in the image of God.
20. Mine is the only one that has a personal God that knows me and I can know in return.

What Makes Us Different From Animals

 “There’s something about the way God is that man is.” Though we are in God’s image, we are limited and God is infinite and cannot be limited or described adequately. But man is a creature, God the Creator. Deity in the Bible refers to having divine nature and of being holy, which man isn’t. Man is not divine but can become godly. Man will be glorified in heaven, if save, but not deified. The Deity refers to the person of God in His attributes or essence: God is infinite and man is finite and cannot grasp Him.

Man has always sought to make a name for himself and to dethrone God and deify himself, but this is in vain. Humanists since Protagoras have said that man is the measure of all things (Homo mensura). Man has rights only because they are conferred by God. If one posits man as a mere animal, then when did hominids acquire rights?

There is but one God according to the Bible and one Mediator between God and man, the God-man Jesus Christ, who is the Son of God and equal to Him. Sometimes we refer to the Being of God as the Deity, meaning the whole Godhead or three in one—the Trinity. All the fullness of the Deity dwells in Christ, who is God with skin on.

Man is unique in being created in the image of God and able to fellowship and communicate with Him or to relate and connect with Him. remember, it is because of our image in God that we have human rights, meaning, purpose, and dignity. We are moral, conscientious, rational, intuitive, passionate, self-conscious or sentient beings, but not gods or Gods. We are mortal and God is immortal and eternal. There is much to contrast: We had a beginning at birth, God had no beginning, being eternal and uncaused, for He’s not the effect of anything or anyone. Being without beginning necessitates being without cause and not being the effect of something or someone.

We cannot or could not know God except by revelation; God chose to reveal Himself to us in the person of Christ, the Son of God, co-equal, co-eternal, and co-divine with the Father. The finite cannot contain the infinite, the adage says. We cannot know God exhaustively, but only truly. We cannot fully describe God to fit in our boxes, but we can know Him and have a relationship with Him

Soli Deo Gloria!

All Roads Lead To Romans

Theologians say that Romans is the high point of the Bible and all books lead toward it; while the high point of Romans is in Romans 8, and the high point of verse 8 is verse 28 or that "All things work together for good for those called according to His purpose." Romans is the "clearest gospel of all" according to theologians and its story is about the gospel as the fifth gospel and compendium of Paul's theology. This is the story of Romans simply put: the problem of sin has its solution is condemnation; the problem of salvation in justification the problem of separation is sanctification; the problem of sovereignty in dispensation; the problem of service in glorification. 

The gospel is laid out in simple terms: its power in the Holy Spirit; its purpose unto salvation; its availability to universally; its context in faith; Our righteousness is from faith to faith meaning that we progress and grow in faith. Its freedom is in Christ while its victory through the H.S. We are saved from the penalty of sin (cf. Rom. 5); from the dominion of sin (cf Rom. 6:14); from the Law (cf. Rom 7:4); from indwelling sin nature (cf. Rom. 8:2); and from ultimate judgment (cf. Rom. 8:1) and condemnation. Romans 116-17 is a high point. The gospel is the good news of Jesus; God is the source of life in Christ; the power is in the omnipotence of God; salvation is in deliverance from sin, death, judgment, despair, ourselves, and hell; everyone is affected and the scope is to all; the condition is to believe; the righteousness is the state of becoming right with God; the reward is revealed in heaven.

Note that the word faith occurs multiple times and is from the Greek pistis and can also be translated as faithfulness; we must not divorce the two! Romans 1:17 is also repeated in Hab. 2:4; Gal. 3:11; and Heb. 10:38. This verse was the wake-up call for Martin Luther and the spiritual birth certificate of the Reformation. We must note also that the Law can not condemn us (cf. Rom. 8:1,3); it cannot claim us (cf. 8:2); it cannot control us (cf. 8:4). This gospel has pardon, purpose, power, and peace as the byproducts and fruit.  

The Law laws down what a man must do, while the gospel what God has done. The purpose of the Law is to expose sin; to measure us, not to save us (cf. Rom. 3:20). The only way we can fulfill the Law is to walk in the Spirit. Love is the fulfillment. Romans 5 has five divisions: sin leading to condemnation; salvation leading to justification; leading to sanctification (we are works in progress); sovereignty leading to dispensation and God's decree; and service leading to glorification and reward. We must take note that in the gospel message, God settled the sn question once and for all with the crucifixion of Christ.

Also, in chapter 5, we see the source of justification as grace; the price as the blood of Christ; the means by faith; ad the proof by the resurrection of Christ. We were saved while we were yet enemies (v. 10, sinners v. 8); and without strength (v. 6). This is why we need forgiveness in two ways: for what we've done and for who and what we are. The problem of sins is solved by the blood and the problem of sin by the cross. 

In chapter 6 we see how we know (vv. 6-9); reckon (v. 11); and yield or commit (v. 13). We have two choices only: obedience and life or rejection and death. We become free to live in Christ, not free to sin. Sin shows our slavery, not our freedom. We become free to bear fruit. There is no good thing in us! (cf 7:17-18). The solution is complete surrender to God. He must work righteousness in us by the ministry of the Spirit: illumination; inspiration, guidance, comfort, deliverance, power, sanctification. With our position in Christ, we progress in sanctification and are works in progress. Soli Deo Gloria!

Awaiting Our Adoption From God

 Adolf Harnack wrote What Is Christianity to articulate and resolve the issue once and for all of the basis of the faith and came up with the universal fatherhood of God and the universal brotherhood of mankind as the reduction of the doctrines in its LCD or lowest common denomination as the affirmation of a creed.  This was too simplistic a breakdown of Christian theology.   This view was respected by theologians until the neo-orthodoxy of Swiss theologian Karl Barth writing Church Dogmatics, a tome in itself of four volumes and over 6 million words and considered one of the most pivotal theological achievements of the twentieth century.  

"Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us that we should be called the children of God!" (cf. 1 John 3:1).    But the Bible says that the unredeemed are the children of the devil, not of God.  We must be born again into God's family.  Reconciliation means restoration of the broken relationship between us and God as family.  God treated us as family and we ought to treat our brethren as members of our true family of God.  

The thing about adoption that makes it so compelling to believe in is that it's permanent and gives equal status as that of the natural-born and equal rights as joint heirs. Also, as a metaphor, have you ever heard of anyone becoming "unadopted?"  Adoption is a badge of honor and it costs to get adopted; God willing paid this price knowing who we are and what manner of person we'd become! Know that when we are with our church family that we are to be treated as family and can expect this in return from our brethren in Christ.  God doesn't treat us as slaves, but as children to whom He has given His will and a Great Commission as ambassadors of Christ. Therefore, we have the spirit in our souls that cries out, "Abba, Father," (cf. Gal 4:6; Rom. 8:15). The word Abba means literally father but Abbi means daddy!  

We are already officially adopted and our fate and destiny are sealed by the seal of the Holy Spirit, but it becomes finalized, completed, and actualized in glory.  What glory awaits our final adoption with all our inheritance as children of God!  We used to be the slaves of sin but now the slaves of righteousness; actually the more enslaved to righteousness we are the freer we become in Christ.  Because we were washed and sanctified and we once sold under sin and its power. 

We must never ask if we measure up or compare ourselves with others as to whether we are better or worse because God is no respecter of persons and didn't choose us because of our merit or works.  We did nothing to deserve it and nothing we can do can take it away; it's a done deal!  This grace of adoption and salvation is free but not cheap! It costs the blood of Christ to redeem us!    

The call to adoption is inclusive in that the general call of the gospel message goes out to all who will listen; however, many are called but few are chosen! Romans 8 tells us that there is an inner calling of God and whoever God calls gets justified and cannot be lost in the shuffle of the chain of redemption in Romans 8:29-30.      Soli Deo Gloria! 

Beliefs Have Consequences

Beliefs are not true by virtue of belief nor false by denial!  You can be sincerely wrong!  They are ideas about reality.  Actually, we live in a world of consequences and reaping what we sow, which is not at all unlike the karma that New Age people profess. Most people meet their comeuppance!  Job says those who sow trouble reap the same!   The love we sow in others will come back to us with eternal dividends!   In fact, all ideas have consequences and when an idea's time has come, no one can resist it! Times change and so must we adjust. We must not live in the past nor long for the olden days. When we dwell on the past or misinterpret the present, or even anticipate the future unduly we can become depressed and go into a funk, which is not good for our mental health and wellness. Common sense will tell you that to get somewhere you must first know where you want to go; if you just go nowhere, in particular, you'll end up somewhere but not necessarily a good place to be. 

We must be willing to follow directions and have faith in the one giving us sound advice and directions for life itself. Jesus was full of directions as being the Author of life itself and who knew how to navigate through it; He told us to just follow Him, the summation of Christian ethics (living the good life by fulfilling one's duty to man and God)! Some would say that their philosophy is to do as Jesus would do (WWJD), but this can lead to mysticism and we must do what Jesus commanded us to do, namely, to love one another and to obey His commandments including the Great Commission. He told us directly that the Law is summed up in the command to love our neighbor as ourselves and to love God with all that we are (heart, mind, soul, and strength).

How can we practically fulfill the command to love one another? We don't harshly judge, jump on someone's case throw the book at them, criticize, but acting in one's best interest, we set priorities, don't get nitpicky, we become good examples, we spend time with people when they seem to be a nuisance or bother on our personal time, we become servants of our fellow man and willing to pay back to society a debt of gratitude and show that God has put us on earth for a purpose. We will notice that when we have the Spirit that love overflows and we can find a love for others in our hearts, but we love only because God first loved us! Love is the overflow and byproduct of the fulfillment of the Spirit as fruit to be grown by maturity.   We must learn to invest in people as well as invest in God and realize that we will reap benefits in eternity if not in the here and now. We may not even feel a love for others, but don't go by your feelings because they can vary as a weathervane in a storm. Love is not to be reckoned only as a touchy-feely thing but an attitude and a commitment. 

Nothing is determined by frail feelings in God's kingdom--not right nor wrong, and not love either!  The true measure is obedience and faithfulness. Mothe now Saint Teresa said that we are called to faithfulness, not success!  Some people determine right and wrong by what feels right at the moment!  No one will be rewarded in heaven for their wonderful feeling they managed to conjure up, but only for their faithfulness. But God wants our hearts, not our achievements! That is to say that He wants all of us and full devotion. 

It was said of King Amaziah that he served the LORD, but not with a perfect heart (cf. 2 Chron. 25:2). We are to love the LORD our God with all our hearts as a command but the heart does more than feel in the Bible: it thinks and wills. It has volition and intellect as well as being the seat of emotions. The reason says this is so we can have a heart to love God, a mind to know Him, and a will to obey Him. Luke 10:27 says to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength and our neighbor as ourselves--this sums up the whole Law of Moses. 

The Bible is our instruction manual, user guide, or even owners manual if you will. Breaking faith with the instructions breaks faith with God, for He is a stickler for instructions and orders to be complied with by the letter. Jesus told us to abide in Him and to keep His Word. We are to grow in faith by hearing of the Word in preaching at church. To God, there's your way and His way, and we must forget about our best instincts and take it by faith that the Father knows best. We can do no better abiding in Jesus than by cherishing His Word and reading the Bible regularly and faithfully till it becomes a part of our souls. The worst insult one can get is for someone to say that he has not the love of the Father in him, for God is love and he who loves knows God. Soli Deo Gloria!

Rendering To Caesar And To God Their Due

 It was Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German playwright, who quipped:  "To rule is easy, to govern difficult."  Also, don't forget Plutarch, Italian poet, who said wisely, "Who shall govern the governor?"  It was Rev. Samuel Rutherford who said that the law is the king, not the king who is the law, writing Lex Rex, or the law is the king translated, setting up the rule of law in Western Europe and restraining the so-called divine right of kings like King John who had to submit to the nobles at Runnymede and sign the Magna Charta.  The Bible has always been considered the basis of  Common Law in the UK.  Note that in democracies we have the right to express ourselves, protest, and do whatever opposition requires in the spirit of the Reformation: I dissent, I disagree, I protest!  That refers to civil disobedience delineated by Henry David  Thoreau but articulated in the Bible as well in Acts 5:29 when the apostles said, "We ought to obey God rather than men."  

Yes, we have the right to oppose the government when it is immoral and goes against the Bible's orders or guidelines.  Even St. Augustine of Hippo said that an unjust law is no law at all.  And Isaiah said, "Woe is the one who decrees unrighteous decrees" (cf. Isa. 10:1).  This all goes to show that Christians ought not to stand on the sidelines but show their Christian colors and dare to be Daniels who stood alone in his defiance of the king's decree. 

Now, Christians have dual citizenship and must be loyal, patriotic, and good upright citizens where possible but there comes a time to take a stand and be ready to be counted besides going to the polls. We respect our leaders and obey them but that doesn't mean we have to like them--we are still obliged to pray for their enlightenment and to be good leaders as well as safety.  But it can go too far when we focus on hero worship and idolize our leaders even like seeing them with charisma such as Hitler mesmerizing his crowds of adoring fanatic followers. This type of devotion or loyalty to a man and not the truth and God is akin to idolatry and no man owes any other man what is due to God alone!  We depend upon God and seek His guidance, not the government's.  This is especially bad when a leader demands personal loyalty and agreement. 

We are here not just to earn a buck and make a living but to make a difference (especially eternally for God and His kingdom). That's why we say in America:  In God we trust!  Jesus did say to render to Caesar that which is Caesar's and that means his taxes, prayer support, obedience, and proper respect so as not to bad mouth or spread disinformation or even misinformation--no conspiracy theories or fabrications; all amounting to good citizenship.    We owe God all that we are: our time, talents, energy, relationships, opportunities, money, etc.  But note that the government is obliged to be sure that employers don't exploit workers but give them their due wages.  Soli Deo Gloria!

Worshiping the Real Jesus

Note that 2 John 9 says that we must remain in the doctrine of Christ to have the Father.  Paul warns against "another Jesus, another gospel, another spirit." (Cf. 2 Cor. 11:4)  Test the spirits!

Jesus as revealed in Revelation 1:12-17 in the vision that John the Elder saw is the true Jesus as He really is.  Reigning over everything and mighty to judge and oversee all the earth.  The description is in imagery,  figures of speech cryptic language, and symbolism and hard to decipher but scholars have decoded it and made its lessons clear.  Jesus is glorified now and forevermore. We are to put Him in our boxes of convenience and limit His sovereignty, power,r and glory.

Know this:  a different Jesus is going to come the second time in the consummation of history than from the first advent. He came first as Savior and now as King of kings and Lord of lords with a name that no one knows but himself and as called "the Word of God." The point of His two advents is that the Jews never anticipated this and was looking for a deliverer from Rome, as was the conventional wisdom and talk of the day.  They failed to receive the First Advent of Christ.  The Jews were subject to Rome and saw the Messiah figure as another Moses or King David that would liberate them militarily and restore old glory days. 

Worship isn't about us, but to focus our minds on Christ in the spirit and being filled with the Spirit of the Father seeks such to worship Him in spirit and in truth, implying that truth is important. "Perfect love casts out fear" and we are to be in love with our Lord and do it in this spirit, not out of a sense of duty or in a perfunctory manner, merely memorizing the Dance of the Pious.  All of us are equal at the foot of Jesus and He is no respecter of persons and we all may have different gifts, but the same Spirit.  

Real worship is for what He has done (especially for us) and for who He is (we must worship Him as God in the flesh, not some demigod, surrogate of God, or any kind of lesser deity not to be equal to the Father).   We can reevaluate our conception of Him during our worship and actually encounter God.  Worship can reinforce our faith in God and in knowing Him for who He is and what He has done and even will do in the future.  "But we do see Jesus," (cf. Heb. 2:9). 

We will surely see Him in a new light every time and benefit from the encounters of other saints. We must anticipate the beatific vision in heaven seeing Him the way He is in glory  We should never take our experience in worship for granted but as a blessing that God has shared with us and expects us to share.  Worship can become a medication to service and orientation to God's will and plan for our lives.  Worship restores us in the image of God for this is what we are made for: to worship God, and if we don't we will find someone else to worship, for we are hard-wired to do it.  Soli Deo Gloria!

Having Lordship Issues With Jesus

Be careful when you question authority: here's why as follows.  We must surrender the ownership of our lives to Jesus to be one of His. This entails handing over the helm of our life to His sole lordship and control as the rightful owner of it. Jesus said that all authority had been given Him and this means His lordship.  Many mistakenly believe they can accept Jesus as Savior but not as Lord of all.  Even though no one is without sin and we are all works in progress, we must give Christ the sole proprietorship of our destiny. Some of us may have lordship issues such as a distaste of taking orders or not submitting to legitimate authority, even the government.

In salvation, we trust Him as Savior but also submit to Him as Lord.  These two go together and cannot be divorced. We have taken a loyalty oath as it were and given Christ authority to do with us as He pleases and are we called according to His purpose, not ours. Not doing so is called easy-believism (or cheap grace) and that is counter to the correct doctrine of lordship salvation. It is not biblical to "accept Jesus," but we receive Him for who He is:  Lord of all.  If not we have rejected Christ and not given Him His rightful domain of authority. This is who He is and the Father has made this Jesus, who was crucified at the hand of sinners, both Lord and Christ.

He rules our lives regardless of whether we consent: His sovereignty is always at work and Providence is in control of all world events as He orchestrates history according to His will and purpose. God has no Plan B and will achieve His will with or without us.  We can do nothing to interfere with or frustrate God's will. God's will is sure to happen.  In application, our Number One loyalty is to our Lord and Savior not to the state, our party, our church, or even our family, but to Jesus alone: Jesus is Lord and He has entered the door of our heart and taken over in every room because we have given Him the passkey. All of our pursuits are to the glory of God and we ought not to find ourselves fighting God's will rather than submitting and trusting.  We must not lean unto our own understanding but trust in the Lord working everything out for the good.

Knowing Him as Lord assures us of divine guidance and blessing on our lives and we can bear much fruit.  Receiving Him as Lord is measured in our obedience and our faithfulness, not our success, which is up to God and in His control.  We all have a calling and can only fulfill it by obeying our Lord.  God will fulfill His purpose for us and call us to His will and glory.   Our calling is to bring glory to God in whatever we do. When we have completed our calling and God's purpose is fulfilled, we are called home.  Our goal should be to complete our mission and to someday announce, "Mission accomplished."

As a test of your loyalty to Christ's lordship: whom do you love?  whom do you not love? who are your enemies?  what are your priorities? where is your true loyalty? to whom do you submit?  whom do you obey? whom do you refuse to obey?  whom do you trust? whom do you know and trust?  whom do you respect? whom do you listen to?  whom do you love? what are your habits?  what are your addictions? how do you spend your money?  who are your heroes?  what are your past-times?  who are your friends?  who are your enemies?  who are your associates?  who influences you?  What are your plans? what are your dreams? what are your ambitions?  what are your goals?  All these questions impact your lordship issues. 

In summation, I must ask you:  Do you own Him as Lord; do not only confess Him,  but follow Him as a true professor in word and deed, not just for show in name only as a nominal Christian.    Soli Deo Gloria!