True Conversion

We are not born free and innocent (with a tabula rasa or blank slate) as Jean-Jacques Rousseau and others allege, we are born in slavery to sin and in bondage; Augustine said that we are "free but not freed."  That is interpreted as meaning that we retain the ability to make choices, but they are limited and defined by God (only if I throw a ball, do you have the choice to catch it!).  We have lost our "liberty" in other words.  Adam had the ability to sin, and the ability not to sin, while after the fall only had the inability not to sin--or he could only sin!   Only Christ has the inability to sin and proved it at the temptation from Satan. On the other hand, we are constantly in a state of rebellion!  When we are saved, it is irresistible and efficacious, because no one is able to resist God's will (cf. Romans 9:19) and grace is sovereign and reigns (cf. Romans 5:21).

God doesn't control us like a puppet on a string--we are not automatons--and God never forces with an outside influence us to do something we don't want to do; however, He made our nature and we act accordingly (God is the one who made us so choleric or melancholy, for example). This is seen by analogy when you observe a dove eating seed and a raven feasting on carrion--note that they both eat according to their desires and what they want; i.e.,  they are both acting according to their nature, which God created.  We were not consulted in the makeup of our nature--God is the Potter and we are the clay in His hands.

Our will has been compared in analogy to a prisoner in jail who has the privilege to play poker with the guys, or to smoke in the lounge, but not to go out to exercise, except when given permission, and certainly, he cannot leave the grounds at will, nor does he have free rein, and you could also compare our will to a man on a train playing cards and not knowing where he is going or where the train is headed and must be awoken by the conductor to make him cognizant of this.  However, you can be converted, even in jail, as the Lord's freeman and be free in spirit--remember, analogies can break down if over-analyzed.  We don't need free wills to be saved!   We need wills made free!  

Today's parlance defines conversion as merely a change to a more "responsible lifestyle" to cope with your life; however, in authentic conversion (which involves regeneration, faith, and repentance), our whole being is converted--even our wills are depraved and unable to please God.   Conversion is more than an acceptable way of having a nervous breakdown, and of "getting religion." It is a change from the inside out so that the person becomes a new person with new desires of the will, as well as a new heart for the things of God and a new comprehension with the intellect of His will and what pleases Him. Only man has the heart to love God, a mind to know Him, and a will to obey Him and all must be converted:  Our whole nature is involved, not just our emotions--so don't think you are saved just because you "love Jesus." He may simply be a Jesus of your own creation, imagination, or fabrication.

We must obey (an act of a will made free) Jesus to prove our love, as He said, "If you love Me, you will obey My commandments." If we are disobedient, it proves we do not believe:  "Only he who believes is obedient, and only he who is obedient believes"  (Dietrich Bonhoeffer, martyred by the Nazis). The two are linked and correlated and so our wills must be changed to be willing to do God's will--after salvation, we learn to obey!  We are able to make the choice as to whether we are willing to do God's will as a sign of positive inclination, but no one is inclined to come to Him apart from the wooing of the Spirit, according to John 6:44, ESV ("No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him..."). John 6:65, ESV says, "... [N]o one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.")

Naturally, we do not love God and are not inclined to come to Him in love, we are incapable of comprehending the gospel message apart from being enlightened, and the eyes our heart is opened, and we do not want to obey God, because of a rebellious will that we are born with, as we are born in sin and are not sinners because we sin, but sin because we are sinners!  We are only acting according to our nature, and our nature needs conversion--no one is good and does God's will!  Our wills are in defiance or you could say we are volitionally defiant and out of God's will and plan as lost sinners until we get converted, and are found by Christ the Great Shepherd.  We can do no good as lost sinners to please God and all our works are as filthy rags according to Isaiah 64:6.  We were lost but now are found (by God--i.e., we didn't find Him at our salvation!).

Conversion involves the whole person which means the whole heart (which represents the whole being of man in Scripture--emotions, will, and intellect).  God makes the unwilling, willing and all God's people shall be willing (Psalm 110:3 in the ESV says,"...Your people shall offer themselves freely in the day of your power").  Paul says it plain as day in Philippians 2:13 that God is always at work within us to make us willing to do His will and in Col. 1:29 that God powerfully works within him.

If it were not for Christ, none of us would be saved nor have the desire (had He not softened our heart and turned it from a heart of stone to a heart of flesh according to Ezekiel 36:26. We were not more meritorious than others, more intelligent, talented, nor willing!  We were destined unto salvation according to the good pleasure of His will.   No one can take credit for his salvation as Jonah said, in Jonah 2:9 that "Salvation is of the LORD." This means we didn't even cooperate and do anything--if we had to do anything, we would mess it up.  God does all the work and gets all the glory as He gives us the gift of faith.

Jesus told His disciples, "Apart from Me you can do nothing" in John 15:5 and this means we are helpless to do God's will and our wills are in bondage, as Martin Luther declared in his book that shook the Reformation era, The Bondage of the Will.  He said that calling our will free was too grandiose a word for it and is misleading--God is ultimately in charge and in control of our destiny, not us, as He is the One who chose us--we didn't choose Him (cf. John 15:16).  Believing you came to Christ of your own free will is like taking credit for your salvation and giving yourself some of the glory that alone belongs to God--if you came to Him alone, you probably left Him alone, too.  Jesus through the power of the Spirit compels us to come into His Father's house (compelle intrare).

And so when you say you have "free will" be sure to make it clear what you are positing, because you don't have the power, will, nor the inclination to please God or do His will of receiving Christ apart from the grace of God.  We do retain the natural freedom to make choices like what we want to eat, but spiritual and moral freedom is curtailed and limited because of our total depravity, which includes total depravity of the will, as part of the makeup of our human nature.  In summation, Paul said, "So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who has mercy" (Romans 9:16, ESV).  Soli Deo Gloria!

Called To Faithfulness

Mother Teresa of Calcutta (now canonized) said that God calls us to faithfulness, not success.  She didn't believe she was a success, I gather!  We are to be faithful and leave the results to God!  There are many ways to measure it (i.e., it has many dimensions and descriptions), but God promises us good success in doing the Lord's work if we are faithful.  They say that greed drives Wall Street, and we can be ambitious for all the wrong reasons like just trying to get ahead or keep up with the Joneses like it says in Jer. 45:5--blind ambition for power, fame, or fortune.  When we are zealous for the Lord, we will surely be blessed in all we do.

There is no such thing as a clerical calling versus a secular calling (there is neither Greek nor barbarian, slave nor free, nor any caste system in the brotherhood of saints--we are all one in Christ of the same body).  Though to be in the ministry is a calling, all Christians are called to a vocation (cf. John 3:27, (NLT).   When work is done as "unto the Lord" (cf. Col. 3:23; 1 Cor. 10:31), even if it is mundane or menial, we are still vessels of honor being used by God.  As Paul said, "I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me..." (Rom. 15:18, ESV).  Similarly, Isaiah 26:12 (NASB) says this:  "... Since You have also performed for us all our works."

When we realize this we get the right attitude and have spunk, and are not lackadaisical in the Lord's work, for Jeremiah pronounced a curse on all who do the Lord's work with slackness (cf. Jer. 48:10). Jesus stooped to wash the disciples' feet and this precedent of a servile act foot-washing is to be our attitude, too--nothing should be beneath us, i.e., below our dignity.  There is no stigma to working, even though the Greeks and Romans thought manual work was a curse and relegated it to some 60 million slaves living in the known world of antiquity.  But we choose our attitude:  Amaziah "did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, yet not with a whole heart" (cf. 2 Chr. 25:2, ESV).

Martin Luther brought dignity to work by preaching that all work can be done to the glory of God and this became the Protestant work ethic.  Brother Lawrence, a seventeenth-century monk who wrote The Practice of the Presence of God, showed how we can live all day long in fulfillment of pleasing God in all we do and abiding in Him.  It is important to find your calling in life, or what you have been gifted to do; for example, Eric Liddel, who was an Olympic star portrayed in the movie Chariots of Fire, said that God made him for a purpose and made him fast, and when he runs he "feels the pleasure of God."

We all have turf or domain that God has given uniquely to us and we will be held accountable for our talents, abilities, opportunities, resources, and gifts--we are just stewards of everything, including the time God has given us.   A person is never so rich that he can live a life of non-productivity and of undisciplined or unbridled leisure and luxury.  Amos denounced the life of ease and complacency in Zion and God, only rewards discipline and virtue, not living it up with reckless abandon and without respect.   God is not all work and no play and there will be leisure or downtime in heaven where "they shall sit each man under his vine and under his fig tree" and be prosperous in the kingdom of heaven according to Micah 4:4 (ESV; cf. Zech. 3:10).

Haggai was a prophet who, as a motivation expert, got results in rebuilding the temple.  The people needed to get their priorities right for God's blessing.  Hag. 2:4 (NASB) says, "... [And] work; for I am with you."  Yes, we are held to a higher standard and God wants our obedience, not our achievements.  St. Theresa said she wanted to build a convent and when asked what her resources were, she said only 12 pence. They told her that even St. Theresa couldn't build a convent with only 12 pence.  She replied that St. Theresa and God could!   Little is much when God is in it--what matters is God's blessing and favor on our endeavors.

We need to put all our work into a proper perspective and see it as "unto the Lord."  Three men cutting stones were asked what they were doing:  One was building a wall; one was earning a living, and one was building a cathedral.  Which one had a divine viewpoint and was properly motivated to do his best?  Nehemiah said that he couldn't come down because he was "doing a great work."  And he was glad that the people "had a mind to work."  (Cf. Neh. 6:3; 4:6, ESV). Nevertheless, he who is faithful in little shall be faithful in much, according to our Lord.

Being busy is not necessarily a virtue, because some are too busy for God.  When you're in the will of God, you're never to busy and there are no interruptions, only opportunities.  We want to redeem the time and make use of what God has granted us to His glory, and we must never develop the bad habits that lead to slothfulness or laziness, one of the "seven deadly sins" of Rome.  Malingering or avoiding duty is also laziness.  Solomon says, "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might (Eccl. 9:10).  And so we should always "seize the day [carpe diem]," make the most of our days, and should be" redeeming the time," because Sir Walter Scott was right:  "Time and tide wait for no man."  Time is fleeting and we will give account--we either waste our time, spend it, or invest it in kingdom work.
Soli Deo Gloria!

No Christian Superstars!

We seem to think that those believers in the limelight, or who have made names for themselves as celebrities, are the greatest in the kingdom. Jesus made it clear that it is a matter of our humility (cf. Matt. 18:3) that determines greatness.  God isn't interested in our achievements, but in our obedience. He wants you, not your accomplishments!  Christianity is about God's work, not ours.  Just because God has entrusted one with many talents, doesn't guarantee them a higher status in the kingdom either--they just have more to be accountable and responsible for.  What Jesus said was that he who is faithful in little shall be faithful in much.  Mother Teresa of Calcutta (now canonized) said that God doesn't call us to success, but to faithfulness [which cannot be divorced from faith].

What seems to be a high profile believer is just one who has a lot of responsibility to God and will be rewarded accordingly. Not many mighty nor noble are called into God's service (cf. 1 Cor. 1:26), and God does reserve the right to use anyone for His purposes, as the Potter has power over the clay. (cf. Isaiah 64:8).  We shouldn't be discouraged because we are unknowns, but rejoice that God has put us into the ministry--we are all ministers of reconciliation according to 2 Cor. 5:18-19.

There is no room for a Christian "elite" or superstar status making a class of believer worthy of special treatment:  When the king of England went to communion, commoners were ahead of him in line and they insisted that the king go first;  he said that in this line we are all equal! Yes, we are all one in Christ and all servants of the Lord who literally owns us as a master owns a slave.

We are all vessels of honor and unbelievers are the vessels of dishonor.  God has called us to bring glory to Himself:  Isaiah 43:7 says that God created us for His glory.  The Westminster divines said: The chief purpose of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever!  Beware that when God uses us to think that it is to our credit; it is humbling to know that God is using us to bring glory to Himself.  All our righteousness is as filthy rags (cf. Isaiah 64:6), and God rewards us for what He accomplishes through us.  Isaiah 26:12 says it most plainly:  "... You have done for us all our works."  In other words, all that we have done, God has accomplished through us (cf. Hosea 14:8, NKJV says, "... Your fruit is found in Me.").   Paul also declares in Romans 15:18 (NIV):  "I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me...."

All Christians are royalty and members of the household of God and children of God, whereas we shall all reign with Him as sons of God and joint-heirs of Christ.  Nobody is a persona non grata in God's kingdom.  We are all referred to as "saints," despite the fact that we still sin (cf. Gal. 2:17:  "... We too were found to be sinners...").  We are all members one of another and cannot say we have no need of other parts of the same body--hence, we are one (cf. Gal. 3:28) in Christ!  Soli Deo Gloria!

Christians Rock, Too!

Jesus may be different things to different people, often depending on your culture and background. If you are partial to Rock, you may believe Jesus rocks or rather can rock; however, if you love the Classics, you may be inclined to believe Jesus loves orchestras, and so forth!  Listing to Johnny Cash, I believe Jesus may speak Country! Many of the classical composers were devout Christians and I can say personally, that God has given me a great degree of appreciation for the Classics, now that I have His Spirit.

I sense the Holy Spirit especially when I hear the organ music of J. S. Bach, written as a prelude to worship services.  Haven't you ever heard Handel's Messiah and recognize the glory of heavenly choruses singing the "Hallelujah" in harmony? He claims to have seen a vision of God while composing it.  In my opinion, heavenly music is beautiful and doesn't have to carry a beat.  Is Jesus in a choir? Truly, Jesus is different strokes for different folks.  There is no one-size-fits-all type of worship or musical genre that pleases believers or God.

It is dangerous to put God in a box and claim that Jesus exclusively endorses a certain genre of music--some may rightly claim that Jesus has a soul, or that Jesus raps, too.  God is out to reach as many people as possible and can use any medium He chooses, but that doesn't mean we have to like any medium against our nature or culture. If you liked Rock & Roll, you are bound to feel an affinity to "Christian Rock."  What we need to do is find the genre we can relate to and not think that we have cornered the market on Christian music with it--as they say:  "To each his own." I do not see the heavenly choruses of angels rock and roll myself, but that's my opinion.  It seems that heavenly music is of a different dimension!

It is a dangerous doctrine to interpret an enthusiastic gathering as meaning that God endorses it in any special way, or that "Jesus is there!"  Christ wants us to learn to walk with Him wherever we go and to find Him in all our situations, not just at a concert.  According to Scripture, whenever two or three are gathered in His name, Christ is present.  He warned against saying, "Christ is here," or "Christ is there," to mean a blessing or sanction on the music genre or a special presence.  We believe Christ is present in a special way at the Lord's Supper--not at concerts (you shouldn't feel that you have to go someplace to be filled with the Spirit, as it is written of David, who "strengthened himself in the LORD his God), because concerts often feed on emotions and not truth.

I take issue at some of their lyrics; however, music often rules and you can get people to believe almost anything by putting it to a tune. Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world, according to Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Today's phenomenon is that the musicians seem to be dictating the doctrines of the church.  Truth still matters!

If you are not musical, meaning, by definition, you cannot carry a tune, sing in key, or even sense rhythm, then how can you agree that Jesus fits into your box or you know what music He favors or blesses?   Are we at the mercy of the musicians to decide for us or can we find our own way that God speaks to our souls? Before the dawn of Rock & Roll, was Jesus musical, or was He silent?  Has God changed?  I decry the way the Christian music scene today has become so dominated with professionalism and musicians out to hold concerts, charging for admission--you shouldn't have to pay to worship God! Have we witnessed the professionalization of worship?

And so, one must say that "his Jesus" (Jesus as he knows, relates, and sees) rocks, but others may take issue and posit that "their Jesus" has the preference for soul, raps, or personifies the ageless appeal of the classics. When you say, "Jesus rocks," you should make it clear what you are saying, because those are loaded terms, easily misconstrued.   There is no such thing as "Christian music" because God transcends our limits and cannot be defined musically (i.e., put in a box), who invented it:  it is not the music that is non-Christian, but the lyrics in many cases.

Case in point:  I get goosebumps every time I hear the "Star-spangled Banner," or "God Bless America." Does this mean that Christ is a patriotic American?  There is so much unnecessary confusion in the church due to not saying what we mean, and leaving it open to private interpretation. Just because drums and guitars are used, doesn't define it as Rock; but merely contemporary--we should never limit ourselves, nor God! I am reminded that Little Richard became an ordained minister!    Soli Deo Gloria!

Keep The Faith!

"If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all." Isaiah 7:9

This phrase has little spiritual value unless one is talking about the Christian faith which was "once and for all delivered to the saints" (Jude 3, ESV).  We are to remain in the faith that God has given us or we apostatize from it!  Ephesians 4:5 says there is "one Lord, one faith, one baptism" and we should realize this: "How shall we escape if we neglect such great salvation?..." (Heb. 2:3, ESV). Man's estimation of man is that he is basically good and perfectible as an evolving animal heading toward inevitable utopia. But God's estimation of man is that he is totally depraved and as bad off as he can be--note he is utterly depraved or as bad as he can be, and there's a difference.  Our condition couldn't be any worse; God's salvation couldn't be any better!

Paul's aim was to teach "until we all attain to the unity of the faith..." (Eph. 4:13, ESV).  The motto of the British monarch is to be FD or "Defender of the Faith"--however, Prince Charles wants it to be changed to "defender of faith."  This is a far cry from the truth because faith doesn't save, only Christ saves; it is the object that saves.  When someone says, "Have faith!"  it is meaningless unless it is grounded in the truth--faith for its own sake is vain.  Faith doesn't save, Christ does!  

Jude exhorts us to "contend for the faith" in Jude 3 and this means sticking up for what you believe in and not compromising with the devil. However, there are some things we are to be tolerant of and there are areas of gray and disputable matters:  Augustine's dictum says, "In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity."  Essential doctrines are non-negotiable and must be accepted universally to be saved.  We should always withhold judgment and only judge heresy to keep the doctrine of the church pure.

Paul was glad in his swan song (2 Tim. 4:7, ESV) that he said: "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith."   There is the danger of error even among believers:  "O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you.  Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called 'knowledge,' for by professing it some have swerved from the faith"  (1 Tim. 6:20-21, ESV). He urges him:  "Fight the good fight of the faith...." (1 Tim. 6:12, ESV).

We are to examine ourselves regularly whether our faith is sound:  "Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith.  Test yourselves, [as at the Lord's Supper (1 Cor. 11:28)].   Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?--unless indeed you fail to meet the test!"  (2 Cor. 13:5, ESV). We must be firm in the faith as our foundation:  "Rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as [we] were taught, abounding in thanksgiving"  (Col. 2:7, ESV).  There is always danger for a believer to go astray, as Paul warned in Col 1:23 (ESV):  "If indeed you continue in the faith...."  The Galatians were growing quite well until the leaven of legalism got into them and Paul wondered what happened.

The admonition that Peter gives in 2 Peter 2:1 (ESV) says, "But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction."  But there must be heresy to purify:  "For there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized" (1 Cor. 11:19, ESV). Remember that Jesus warned that before His coming there would be a great falling away of the faith and He asked if there would be faith on the earth (cf. Luke 18:8)

What faith are we stressing?  Mainly, our great salvation Reformed formula is "by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone," and also (the Five Onlys) to God alone be the glory, and by the authority of Scripture alone! The battle cry of the Reformation was, "Justification by faith alone!   Any perversion of this pure gospel that Scripture teaches is heresy and must be denounced!  Paul was "astonished that [they] are so quickly deserting him who called [them] in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel--not that there is one, but there are some who trouble [them] and want to distort the gospel of Christ." 

But even if [he] or an angel from heaven should preach to [them] a gospel contrary to the one [he] preached to [them], let him be accursed" (Gal. 1:6-8, ESV).  We dare not introduce the merits of man, nor works into the equation.  We must put our faith in Christ alone, not in the church, the clergy, the saints, angels, Mary, nor the Pope--they cannot save!   Soli Deo Gloria!

Focused Thinking

We need to get our thinking straightened out by the plumb line of Scripture!  I'm not just referring to our mental outlook, our worldview, our interpretation of reality and how God is relevant, but also that we need to think less of self and more of Christ and His kingdom's interests. There are two viewpoints to everything: The human viewpoint or way of thinking and outlook; and the divine interpretation or viewpoint relative to God's revealed Word.  We are jointly exhorted:  "Therefore, to gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ" (1 Pet. 1:13, NKJV).

Why is this vital?  "For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he..." (Proverbs 23:7, KJV). "You are not what you think you are, but what you think you are," they say.  Our minds need to be transformed into the right frame of mind relative to God's mind and we have been given the mind of Christ according to 1 Cor. 2:16.  There is only one way to do this:  "... [But] be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God..." (Rom. 12:2, ESV).

We cannot know God's will like men's, we must see the light!  We must know Him through faith.  It behooves us to pay attention until "... the day dawns and the morning star rises in [our]  hearts."  (2 Pet. 1:19, ESV).  Paul commands us:  "Brothers, do not be not children in your thinking.  Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature"  (1 Cor. 14:20, ESV).  Why be so concerned about thinking straight? 

There's a correlation between our thinking and obedience:  Paul says, "We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ" (2 Cor. 10:5, ESV). We need to think godly and soberly, as well as live godly and soberly! As Peter says (1 Pet. 1:13, NIV):  "Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming."

Focused thinking is Christ-centered thinking since we have the mind of Christ, let us think like Christ would think and interpret our world accordingly.  A Christian's focused thought is in Christ:  "Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus..." (Philippians 2:5, ESV).  We have Christ's mind at our disposal and should think accordingly with a purpose!  Let's keep our eyes off ourselves and keeping them on Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith (cf. Heb. 12:2).  Distorted thinking comes when we view reality the way the world does and forget that we are Christians.  Sound mental health comes from sound thinking!

Finally, whatever is in line with Scripture is kosher thinking--meditation is the art of focused thinking, not emptying of the mind.  It behooves us to heed Paul's exhortation in Phil. 4:8 (ESV):  "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things."  Soli Deo Gloria!

Moment Of Truth

Everyone has a defining moment in their lives that decides who they are--God knows, but we don't. Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane when he pleaded for another way and way out, but, nevertheless, He finally surrendered His will to the Father's plan and relinquished His life to His control completely, knowing the consequences of going to the cross on our behalf.  Jesus doesn't ask us to do anything He didn't do Himself, and carrying a cross for a crown someday was one of them.

Romans 12:1 (ESV) says that you must "present your  bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship."  Surrender is an ongoing discipline though and must be renewed as each day begins and we walk with the Lord all over again. We are to go from faith to faith and increase in our knowledge of God by our good deeds (cf. Col. 1:10).  We cannot say yes to God without first saying no to self, and ultimately the devil, too. Lordship salvation entails just that--living in surrendered relationship and being obedient to His revealed or preceptive will.  We all encounter a moment of truth, as it were, and have our "Garden of Gethsemane" moment.

Galatians 2:20 says that Paul is crucified with Christ, and he no longer lives, but Christ lives in him. Our life is not so much a changed life or new life, but an exchanged, surrendered, and relinquished life conformed to His will (cf. Romans 12:2).  We all need to prove the will of God through our lives. Jesus lived His life in submission to the Father in a subordinate role, temporarily setting aside His privileges of Deity, to save mankind, so that the Father could impute Christ's righteousness to our behalf and benefit those who had been insubordinate.  Christ was the vicarious offering and sacrifice to the Father fulfilling all His will

None of us would have come to the Father without being drawn. He compels us to come in [compelle intrarre in Latin] God as our Potter is able to make us in His image as we grow in grace from faith to faith.  We are simply clay in the Potter's hands that can be used for God's glory as vessels of honor.

But before the filling, comes the emptying!  Jesus said that we must take up our cross, deny ourselves, and follow Him (cf. Mark 8:34).   We must live our lives in His will mainly because the Father knows best, and has the best of intentions for us in a plan suited for us and our talents, time, opportunities, money, resources, and gifts.  But they cannot be used to God's glory without being surrendered to Him; God cannot pour His riches into hands already full;  we must forsake our own riches and give Christ ownership over all our blessings--we own nothing, but are just stewards of God's riches.

Romans 6 suggests three phases of faith going from knowing the truth, to reckoning on it, to yielding to it with our wills in obedience. Samuel told Saul that "to obey is better than sacrifice" and we must realize the truth that obedience and believing are correlated and interrelated (cf. Heb. 3:18-19; 4:6), as Dietrich Bonhoeffer said in his dictum: "Only he who believes is obedient; only he who is obedient believes."  Our whole lives are a complete and total living, a sacrificial offering to the Lord in obedience and surrender to His will.

James Russell Lowell wrote, "Once to every man and nation, Comes the moment to decide, In the strife of Truth and Falsehood, For the good or evil side, Then it is the brave man chooses, While the coward stands aside."  Don't we see today's vacillating, wishy-washy, pragmatic politicians not concerned with what's right, but only what's convenient or expedient to fit their agenda?  There is no neutral ground, one must decide which side of the fence he sits on.  The most cowardly thing is to not make any stand, but to be a bystander and passively let evil takeover:  As Edmund Burke, a philosopher has said, "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."

Our relationship to the truth starts with a willingness to listen, understanding, acceptance, faith and trust, obedience, and culminates in love for the truth--a fruit of saving faith.  Soli Deo Gloria!

You Gotta Have Faith

You cannot have saving faith and keep it to yourself as if you're in God's secret service.  Romans 10:9 says we must confess Jesus as Lord.  James says in James 2:20 that faith without works is dead--dead faith cannot save (likewise, works without faith or done in the flesh cannot save per Isaiah 64:6).  Bona fide faith expresses itself in the real world of one's circle of influence. Furthermore, you cannot have saving faith without genuine obedience as Dietrich Bonhoeffer said in his dictum:  "Only he who believes is obedient, only he who is obedient believes."  As "a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith," (cf. Acts 6:7, ESV) so must we. You can distinguish them, but not separate them, because they go hand in hand and cooperate with each other.

The faith you have is the faith you show, because actions can, and usually, do, speak louder than words.  It has been said that faith isn't something you have, but something you do!  Faith has legs and is an action-implying word.  Because it is an abstract idea it needs to be illustrated and the whole chapter of Hebrews 11 is devoted to this to give us the idea, to follow in the steps of the heroes of the faith--like Abraham who ventured out in faith, not knowing where he was going.  He validated his faith and transformed it into a testimony and example for all of us as the father of all who has faith. Faith and action are interrelated and go hand in hand.

The measure of one's spirituality is not his emotions, ecstasies, experiences, or achievements, but his obedience.  However, we are not made right with God or saved by what we do, but by what we believe in the heart.  We are not saved by works, in other words, but unto works.  We are not saved by works, and not without them either, as the formula of the Reformers says:  "We are saved by faith alone, but not by a faith that is alone."  

Works are no substitute for faith, but only evidence of it.  Paul and James complimented each other in their viewpoints and outlook: Paul would say, "I'll show you my works by my faith;"  and James would say, "I'll show you my faith by my works." We must translate our creeds into deeds.  Galatians 5:6 (NIV) says that "the only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love"--we're judged by our works, not our faith.  Judge yourself by the amount of faith God has allotted you (Rom. 12:3).

The only true standard to measure faith by is obedience. Faith inevitably and invariably expresses itself.  Samuel said to Saul that "to obey is better than sacrifice [going through the motions of ritual]." Jesus became the "source of eternal salvation to all who obey Him" (cf. Hebrews 5:9, ESV). Lordship salvation connotes obedience and aligning your ways with God's will and getting with the program.

Faith starts with comprehension and understanding, moves on to acceptance, and progresses to trust. It involves knowledge of right doctrine (i.e., not heresy, but orthodox teaching), assent and agreement to it, and trust and devotion to it in faithfulness (faith and faithfulness are interrelated too).  We must believe with our whole being: Our hearts, minds, and wills, which implies submission to His will and loving Jesus with our heart and knowing Him with our minds. It isn't the amount of faith that saves, but the object of it--faith doesn't save, Christ does!

Faith is not being credulous or lending credence to something for no reason--faith doesn't believe despite the evidence but in spite of the consequences.  We have sound reasons to believe; we can even put our doubts aside and believe anyway because we don't need all the answers to take the leap of faith.  We can pray, "Lord I believe, help thou mine unbelief!" (Cf. Mark 9:24).  Faith is simple, not simplistic, childlike, not childish, they say,  Saving faith involves sincerity, loyalty, love, worship, faithfulness, and repentance.  

God doesn't ask us to believe for no sound reason or against the evidence.  It is based on historical, verifiable fact and compelling circumstantial evidence, not myth, hearsay, or fable.  God gives us a preponderance of the evidence which dictates faith.  Faith is not blind but the cure for it! People of faith have not kissed their brains goodbye, but their faith is defensible on the open marketplace of ideas.

Faith is the instrument means of salvation, it is not salvation--we don't put faith in faith and think that just having faith is the key, regardless of content, object, or sincerity.  We believe in our hearts because Jesus said they were "slow of heart to believe."  It is not head belief, in other words, but the heart of the matter is that it's a matter of the heart.  Faith is trust in the abstract and invisible, not tangible and visible.  

Faith without works is dead faith, and that kind of faith does not lead to salvation according to James. Even the demons believe in God, so there is a difference between believing in God and believing God. The Reformed formula of salvation is thus:  Saved by grace alone [no merit], by faith alone [not works], in Christ alone [not self-effort].  We rely on the Scripture alone as our authority in this and this all means that all the glory goes to God.

The flip side of faith is repentance (they go hand in hand and can be distinguished, but not separated, which means you cannot have saving faith if you don't repent and vice versa--repentance is also by the grace of God (cf. Acts 5:31; 11:18; 2 Tim. 2:25). There is no impenitent faith or genuine repentance without saving faith--they go hand in hand and can be distinguished, but not separated. 

What is a penitent heart but a turnaround from the inside out, an about-face, a U-turn, a 180-degree turn, coming clean, and owning up to your sin by turning from it towards God in faith; note that repentance is progressive and on-going just like our faith is, as we progress from faith to faith.  Soli Deo Gloria!

God's Complex Desires

God is a complicated Being that we cannot fully apprehend or put in a box, as if He were one-dimensional.  There's always more to God than we can apprehend!  Try not to think of Him as just a mean Judge, for example.  Muslims view God as being capricious, arbitrary, and whimsical; therefore they live their lives in fear of not doing enough good deeds to balance out or outweigh their bad ones.

God's desires and wants are not like man's, who goes primarily by emotion, instinct, passion, lust, or even hormones; God's will is at play too, and to Him, that is the paramount deciding factor in what happens.  God's Plan A is taking place without anyone able to thwart it or force God into Plan B.  It is written:  "... As I have planned, so shall it be, and as I have purposed, so shall it stand" (Isaiah 14:24, ESV); and again, "For the LORD of hosts has purposed, and who will annul it?  His hand is stretched out, and who will turn it back?"  (Isaiah 14:27).  God knew that Adam and Eve would sin and this was all in His plan too, but that doesn't mean He desired it--it was necessitated.  

John Wycliffe's tenet is that "all things come to pass of necessity."  Also, Ephesians 1:11 says that God works all things according to the counsel of His will. Yes, He sovereignly directs, disposes, and governs all creatures, actions, and things (from The Westminster Confession, 1646) as the causa prima or sole primary cause of the universe (got the ball rolling as unmoved mover).  NB:  God's name I AM can be translated, "I cause to be."

God is using us for His purposes.  Today's common secular worldviews deny that anything has a purpose, which is a dirty or forbidden concept to them who deny this concept known as teleology. All nature teaches that God has a purpose for everything if you examine it with an open mind.  I refer to the Anthropic Principle that says everything was designed for human habitation.  We are called according to His purposes (cf. Romans 8:28). When David "had fulfilled God's purpose" the Lord took him.

However, God doesn't cause evil (He uses evil ones to do it), but uses and allows evil to His glory (Psalm 76:10 says, "Surely your wrath against mankind brings you praise..." in the NIV, and in the ESV it says, "Surely the wrath of man shall praise you....").  "The LORD works out everything to its proper end--even the wicked for a day of disaster"  (Proverbs 16:4, NIV). Ecclesiastes 3:1 says "there is a time and purpose for every event under the sun." God makes everything beautiful in His time. Eccl. 3:11

Evil wouldn't exist if it didn't glorify Him in the end.  God was not defeated by Satan and had to come up with some salvation plan to rescue man. Man usually does according to the natural inclination of his evil desires, but God has the power to restrain Himself, so as not to sacrifice His glory.  "... But He does according to His will in the host of heaven....  And no one can ward off His hand Or say to Him, 'What have You done?'" (Daniel 4:35, NASB). "But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases" (Psalm 115:3, NASB).

His justice is just as important to demonstrate as His grace and mercy; both will be brought forth. A good judge doesn't "desire" to send people to the death chambers when he metes out justice but is committed to doing the right thing.  A judge can't be "soft," but he still desires to render justice as well as mercy.  Thus, God gives everyone a chance to be saved, though He is not obligated to woo everyone (cf. John 6:44, 65), not necessarily the same amount of wooing to anyone, but no one has an excuse at Judgment Day (cf. Rom. 1:20).   "Yet he did not leave himself without witness..." (Acts 14:17,  ESV).    Caveat:  "Note then the kindness and severity of God..." (Romans 11:22, ESV).

1 Timothy 2:4 says that God desires all to be saved and in some versions, it says "wants all." 2 Peter 3:9 says God wants everyone to come to repentance yet in 2 Tim. 2:25 it says "if perchance God will grant them repentance" (repentance is by the grace of God, just like its flip side faith is).  Acts 11:18 says that God has even granted to the Gentiles the repentance unto life (it's a gift, God is under no obligation or it would be by justice).   It is God's preceptive will (what God's Word reveals to us as right and wrong) that no one perishes because He commands all to repent, yet His decreed will is that some receive His mercy and some His justice for the sake of His ultimate glory.  

Ezekiel 33:11 assures us that God takes "no pleasure in the death of the wicked."  They have only themselves to blame for their rejection of His love (sin is basically "the refusal of the love of God," according to Dr. Karl Menninger).  They made the condemning choice themselves and are culpable for it. They rejected God, but we all rejected God and chose self over Him in Adam, and none of us would have sought Christ had we not been wooed and sought out by the Holy Spirit (cf. John 6:44, 65).

God reserves the right to have mercy on whom He will have mercy and harden whom He will (cf. Romans 9:18).  We didn't choose Him as Jesus said in John 15:16, but He chose us ("Many are called but few are chosen" per Matt. 22:14).  In view of election, no one can say that they were just on the wrong list because God doesn't make anyone deny Him or reject Him against their free will.  (What this means is that God doesn't make anyone do anything he doesn't want to do, and in that sense we are free to act on our desires--but God made our nature the way it is (e.g., melancholy, choleric, sanguine, impetuous, etc., and we act according to our God-given nature!)


God decreed that His sheep would be saved, and He does everything to make sure it happens, while He lets the lost go their own way, of their free will, and reject Him.  Whenever God doesn't intervene a person is lost. Jesus said in John 15:5 that apart from Him we can do nothing, and this includes coming to Him.  This doctrine is called preterition and means God simply passes over the non-elect and doesn't choose to save them. The elect receive grace and mercy, the non-elect receive justice.  

Salvation is not a right and no one deserves to be saved or it would be justice and not mercy.  God can save anyone He wills and condemn anyone He wills and, as the Potter, can make either vessels of honor or vessels of dishonor as He wills.  God's glory is at stake. We don't know why God chose us, but it was "according to the good pleasure of His will." (Eph. 1:5). 

What is the logical conclusion and application of the subject at hand?  We should not wish people should go to hell or curse them to go there. Even some atheists sometimes wish there was a hell to send their enemies. We don't know who the elect are and must give everyone equal opportunity as far as we are concerned without bias or unfairness. We are to copy, emulate, or mimic this attitude of loving people into the kingdom, not arguing them in--you can win the argument and lose the seeker. 

God is uniquely able to separate His desires from His will and act in the best interest of His glory, which is His overall objective.  He takes "no pleasure in the death of the wicked " (cf. Ezek. 33:11, NIV) and desires [wants] all to be saved (cf. 1 Tim. 2:4), but it is not His will.  "Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him [the good pleasure of His will]" (Psalm 115:3, NIV).  We are limited and must learn to trust God for the outcome that He knows best, and our work is not in vain in the Lord (cf. 1 Cor. 15:58).    Soli Deo Gloria!

Importunate Prayer

In Luke 18:1 Jesus tells us we ought always to pray, and not to give up.  Jesus said to keep on asking, keep on seeking, and keep on knocking in Matt. 7:7.  Cotton Mather prayed for 20 years for revival, and the year he died the Great Awakening took place. William Wilberforce fought slavery in the British Empire for 50 years and it didn't happen till he was on deathbed. God has ordained that His plans be executed through prayer with us being partners by grace. Some feel it is vain to pray because God is sovereign and can work without us, but God has ordained that prayer be the means to His ends and to work through prayer blessing us with the privilege to be His partners. Paul says in Philippians 4:6 that we should "not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God."   What this means, it has been said, is that we should worry about nothing, pray about anything, and thank about everything!


Gratitude puts us in the right frame of mind and receptive to God's will--it is the fuel and stimulus to pray.  In Colossians 4:2 God says to be watchful (looking for opportunities and needs) and thankful (for answers) in prayer.  Psalm 100:4 says to "enter His gates with thanksgiving."  God expects us to keep on praying and this implies not only when we feel like it.  When we don't feel like it, we should pray the hardest.  "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much" (James 5:16, KJV). Don't worry about being articulate:  None of us knows how to pray as we ought, but the Holy Spirit intercedes on our behalf (cf. Rom. 8:27).

The problem with most people is that when things are going well they feel they don't need prayer, and when they go bad, they feel the situation is hopeless.  We are to pray as if everything depends on God and work as if everything depends on us.  The Bible does teach both the sovereignty of God and the efficacy of prayer--prayer does work (however, it takes faith and usually the answers can be explained away if one is inclined), but it isn't something we do just because it works(e.g., TM, yoga)--many things work that aren't true!  We are to pray at all times in the Spirit and that means God can put a roadblock in our way if we have unconfessed sin ("If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened, " says Psalm 66:18, NIV).  Proper protocol or etiquette is to the Father, in the name of the Son, in [the power of] the Spirit.

We have to learn to stop getting carried away by emotion, sentiment, or wearing our faith on our sleeves, and walk in faith, which pleases God (cf. Heb. 11:6) or we open the door to mysticism. But note that "heart without words is better than words without heart"--the Holy Spirit is able to intercede on our behalf and put it into words.  "And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person ..." (James 5:15, NIV). Remember "Elijah was a human being, even as we are [of like nature, in one version].  He earnestly prayed that it would not rain..."  (James 5:17, NIV). That means he didn't give up and wouldn't take no for an answer, because he had faith it was God's will, and God does promise to answer all prayer according to His will (cf. 1 John 5:14).  Elijah even got depressed after his spiritual high from his victory on Mount Carmel against the false prophets.  The key to focus on is that we don't pray to get our will done in heaven, it has been said, but God's will done on earth.

Prayer is not a blank check or carte blanche but has conditions like being in Christ's name, having no unconfessed sin, according to God's will, having the Word in us, abiding in Christ, and being in faith. When we pray we gain access or entree into the throne room of God and step into another dimension (cf. Heb. 4:16). Saying "Thy will be done" is not a cop-out or sign of lack of faith.  Saying Amen is a word of affirmation and faith that God's will be done.  The finest prayer is of relinquishment like Jesus did in the Garden of Gethsemane, saying, "Nevertheless, not as I will, but thy will be done."  Prayer doesn't change God, it changes us!  Prayer is a muscle that strengthens with use.  The problem is that our prayer life can become anemic and undisciplined, even though prayer is commanded. The reward and aim of prayer is prayer and enjoying God as Asaph says, "But for me it is good to be near God..." (Psalm 73:28, NIV).  We need the exhortation of the sons of Korah: "Be still and know I am God" from Psalm 46:10 (ESV). Psalm 16 (ESV) says it tellingly:  "... In your presence is fullness of joy, at your right hand, are pleasures forevermore."

It is good to be plainspoken with God and not try to articulate in order to impress Him with Elizabethan English or eloquence.  Mean it when you say "Amen" because that seals the deal and shows your faith--it's not some magic word or formula we tack on for good measure.  Prayer is communion or dialogue with God and is meant to be two-way.  Most people don't listen and Job says that God does speak to us: "Indeed God speaks once, Or twice, yet no one notices it.  In a dream, a vision of the night, When sound sleep falls on men, While they slumber in their beds..." (Job 33:14-15, NIV). Don't become hard-of-hearing spiritually!  God has not retired these alternate means of communication besides the Word.

God does answer prayer: "Call unto me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me" (Psalm 50:15, KJV).  "And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear"  (Isaiah 65:24, KJV). Jeremiah 33:3 (KJV) says, " Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not."  Prayer doesn't waste our time; in fact, it is the great time-saver because our time is in God's hands (cf. Psalm 31:15).  Martin Luther prayed for 2 hours to begin each day, and if he was busy he prayed more. John Wesley was known to devote full days to prayer.  To be effective it is said we are not "overcoming His reluctance, but laying hold of His willingness." We all have an innate potential to be realized and shouldn't let it lie dormant and atrophy by lack of use or neglect.  Philosophical apologist Francis Schaeffer said that "He is there and He is not silent."  "Christianity is about the God who is there;" all we need to do is to enroll in the school of prayer as our privilege--we get to pray!


Posture is not as vital as an attitude of reverence, humility, and sincerity--inner posture.  Lincoln said that often he went to his knees simply because he had no place else to go.  It is said, "If you can't stand life, kneel!" Lincoln also said that crises have kept him on his knees. It has been said that Satan laughs at our wisdom, mocks at our labor, but trembles when he sees the weakest saint upon his knees. Just pray in the Spirit and leave posture to God.  There's no gesture that will impress God (it benefits us, not God), any posture must come from the heart and not just be an outward show of religiosity or legalism.

A word of encouragement: There is no problem too small or too big for God--all things are small to Him and His love cares about all of them and nothing is a match for His omnipotence.  God says, "... [Is] there anything too hard for me" in Jeremiah 32:27, KJV).  Prayer should never be a last resort, but the first line of defense or request.  He never turns a deaf ear to us but is disposed to answer our petitions. "Let us, therefore, come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need"  (Hebrews 4:16, KJV).  If someone says, "All I can do is pray," tell him that that is a high calling!

In summation, some say that prayer is the litmus or acid test of our relationship with God and that prayer is where the action is!    Soli Deo Gloria!