A Dead Heat

"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).
"However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me--the task of testifying to the good news of God's grace" (Acts 20:24, NIV).

Are you Christ's competition?  In God's economy: greatness is not how many serve you, but how many you serve; the way up is down; humility comes before honor; emptiness comes before fullness--we must confess with John the Baptist:  "He must increase; I must decrease" (cf. John 3:30).   You commence growth in spirituality once you become cognizant that it's not about you!  Christ defeated Satan at the cross and the battle has been won to the chagrin of Satan, who thought he was winning when Christ went to Calvary.

God used the worst atrocity in history to bring about the devil's defeat (cf. Acts 4:28)--he stands defeated and we fight from victory, not for a victory--the battle is the Lord's. We all have individual races to run that comprise God's will for our lives and to gain its prize; however, we must compete according to the rules.  The battle is won! Satan is a defeated foe.  Jesus is the victor and we are in a mop-up effort to proclaim it to the world, notwithstanding Satan's resistance.

When we have completed the will and purpose of God, our time on earth is up and we go to meet our Maker (cf. Acts 13:36, ESV):  "For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid with his fathers and saw corruption." Hebrews 12:1 (ESV) says, "And] let us run with endurance the race that is set before us."  We all have different races and are to find God's will and plan for us.  We are all to compete as an athlete who runs for a perishable crown or wreath, but ours is an imperishable one and it isn't a sprint, but a marathon. Jesus won and we are just members of the winning team.  Our enemy is the world, the flesh, and the devil--not each other! We are our own worst enemy.

We all finish in a dead heat--there is no elite Christian who is above the others, though God is not unjust to withhold due reward for those who win their personal race and find God's will for their lives to do it.  The rule of this world is "winner takes all."  It's not "each man for himself" in a life ruled by the law of the jungle, but each of us looking out for each other's interest.  "One for all and all for one!"  We pray:  "For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory..."  We are mere stewards of the riches of God and will be rewarded according to our faithfulness in these blessings.  We are all members one of another of the same body, some being an eye, and some an ear, for example.

In God's economy, all believers are winners and are members of His royal family that will rule with Him in the Millennial Kingdom, and even judge the world and angels.  You have a different race to run than I do, for instance; mine may be only a week long, while God expects you to endure a year to finish His will.  Note that the race is not a sprint, or how fast we go, but how we endure and how faithful we are--God isn't looking for our achievements or success, but our obedience!  As Mother Teresa of Calcutta (recipient of 1979 Nobel Peace Prize and now canonized) said, "God doesn't call us to success, but to faithfulness."

Christians are in an angelic conflict with the forces and authorities of darkness and the demonic realm, that we can only defeat by wearing the armor of God.  There is plenty of rewards to go around and share with the members of the kingdom of God, and it all belongs to God; we are just stewards of the blessings of God and are here to demonstrate our faithfulness and worthiness of eternal reward. Nothing in this life is permanent--we have spiritual green cards and are only passing through, as our real citizenship is in heaven (per Philippians 3:20).  We are stewards and God has leveled the playing field:  "The earth is the LORD's and the fullness thereof'  (cf. Psalm 24:1).

There is no caste system in the body of Christ, for we are all royalty and equally members one of another--having different gifts, but the same Spirit.  We are all on the same team as a family in Christ!  When one part is honored, the whole body is honored. We must be careful that we are not competing with God; He is on our side and when we join Him we cannot lose the battle--which we fight in the name of the Lord with the full armor of God described in Ephesians 6:12ff.   Soli Deo Gloria!

The Grip Of Sin

Before salvation we are subject to a sin nature that we have no power to defeat; in fact, all we can do is sin and we are unable not to sin. Roman poet Ovid said, "I know the good and approve it, but I follow the worst."  Paul summed up the plight of man in Romans 7:24 (ESV) as:  "Wretched man that I am.  Who will deliver me from the body of this death?" "Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots?  Then also you can do good who are accustomed to do evil" (Jeremiah 13:23, ESV).  "All our righteousness is as filthy rags"  (cf. Isaiah 64:6) and counts as nothing compared to the purity of God's standards, which are manifest in Christ's person.

All we need to know of righteousness is exemplified and personified in Him, the exact replica and image of God (cf. Col. 1:15). Our good works, done in the flesh, count for nothing at Judgment Day and are praiseworthy by our fellow man, who gives us his kudos and; however, they count for nothing in God's eyes, namely because they were done with the wrong motives and God takes this into consideration (cf. Proverbs 21:2)--most men do good deeds simply for the applause and acceptance of man and to ingratiate himself in God's eyes; however, there is nothing we can do to gain God's favor or to "brownnose" God.

We are all in the same boat and lumped together (cf. Rom. 3:23), regardless of our own assessment or appraisal, or of what others think considering their evaluation and estimation of our worthiness. What is esteemed in men's eyes is despised in God's eyes; for man admires high self-esteem and self-respect, not God-esteem and God-respect, and even individualism and independence--"lift yourself up by your own bootstraps," which is a do-it-yourself proposition common to all religion, on good works to gain the approbation of God. We couldn't be worse off in God's estimation of man--note that our total depravity of heart, will, and mind is God's estimation of man, not man's estimation of man. The grip of our sin nature or depravity must be solved threefold:  its ignorance by virtue of Christ the Prophet, its guilt by virtue of Christ the Priest, and its dominion by virtue of Christ the King.

God is not against good works per se, for they benefit us and we all owe a lot to so-called good men who have contributed to our well-being, but they are not good enough to gain entree into God's heaven or for salvation itself.  But God is indeed against good deeds done in the power of the flesh, by man's own effort and strength, as opposed to those done in the power of the Spirit, of which are worthy of reward at the bema (Greek for judgment seat) or tribunal of Christ (cf. 2 Cor. 5:10; Romans 14:10-12).  Jesus said, "Apart from Me you can do nothing..." (cf. John 15:5).  God must give us the power (cf. Phil. 4:13 says, "I can do all things through Christ...") to do works in His name (cf. Isaiah 26:12 says:  "...[You] have done for us all our works"--only that which is done by the power of the Spirit and in His name is worthy of reward, and this goes for believers as well, as 1 Cor. 3:15 indicates that some of their works are only "wood, hay, and stubble" and will burn up in the fire of judgment and the believer will suffer loss of reward, though he is saved as if by fire.

Cain was warned by God in Genesis 4:7 that sin "crouches at the door" and waits to destroy him and we must all realize this:  We are still subject to our sin nature as believers and must constantly renew ourselves in the filling of the Spirit--it's not a one-time event, but a continuing experience of  being filled [cf. Eph. 5:18].  Even Christians can and do backslide, but God can heal them of this tendency, inclination, and weakness--He will heal the backslider (Hosea 14:4 says, "I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely"). "But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh"  (Gal. 5:16, ESV).   Hosea says that "sin has been your downfall."  Yes, we still have sin in us as believers and this is the old man or old sin nature, the result of Adam's sin which we inherit as original sin.

We are no longer inclined to do good but must walk in the Spirit to overcome the evil one.   Many Christians do live defeated lives and have never learned to walk with the Lord in fellowship, even as Enoch and Noah did.  We must all realize our area of weakness--the sin which so easily besets us, according to Hebrews 12:1--and admit our shortcomings and failures to God--to come clean in repentance.  We have no one to blame but ourselves, for we are our own worst enemy and shouldn't be blaming the devil-like they say, "The devil made me do it!"  We have no one to blame but ourselves for our failures, because God is on our side and, as believers, we have power over sin and to overcome the sin nature.

Unfortunately, some believers are recurrent backsliders and God says to them:  "... Your sins have been your downfall!"  (Cf. Hos. 14:1, NIV).  We are not punished for our sins, nor for our parents' sins--we are punished by our sins, and God doesn't deliver us from their natural consequences because we still sow what we reap and take responsibility for our own behavior--just because a thief is forgiven, doesn't mean God is going to keep him from jail time.

The only way to be set free is to know Christ:  "If the Son shall set you free, you shall be free indeed!"  (Cf. John 8:36).  Unbelievers have no power over sin and act according to their nature, though everyone isn't equally as bad, they are all as equally bad off--we cannot save ourselves nor do any pre-salvation work!  We are all totally depraved in all of our being and nature, though we are not utterly depraved or as bad as we can be.  It has been said by theologians that we are not sinners because we sin; we sin because we are sinners!

Man is only acting naturally when he sins just like Satan is acting according to his nature when he lies, for he is a liar and the father of liars, and there is no truth in him.  The sequence of salvation is that at conversion we are set free from the penalty of sin, in time from the power of sin, and in eternity from the presence of sin.  In other words, we have been saved from sin, we are being saved from sin, and we will be saved from sin (our position, condition, and expectation).

The whole point of the Christian life is a changed life or a conversion experience--although some regard this as an acceptable way to have a nervous or mental breakdown now, it is an experience to be reckoned with and that is as dramatic as a cowboy changing hitching posts because of his change of attitude and no longer visits the brothel or saloon, and instead attends chapel.  We learn to hate sin as God hates it and to love righteousness as God does, and as we get to know God and love God, we want to be like Him.  We are all works in progress, but there is a dramatic change that occurs as a testimony of the conversion experience.

Therefore,we must learn to be patient with other believers because God isn't finished with them yet!  God is working on us like a silversmith purifies his silver:  When he sees himself he is done!  God wants to see Himself in us and won't stop working on us till He does: "Christ in you, the hope of glory"  (cf. Col. 1:27).  God is like a sculptor who makes a figurine out of a slab of marble and does it by taking away everything that doesn't resemble the figurine. Some people are just more challenging and have a further way to go, by virtue of less virtue or faith, but God is determined to make all of us in Christ's image.

Man is no free spirit (however, he's a free moral agent) that can do as he wills and come to God in his own power and free will, God must woo him and draw him to the cross and do a work of regeneration in his heart of repentance and faith--no one would come to Christ of their own power; it is totally of grace and Soli Deo Gloria, or to God alone be the glory.  It is by grace alone, through faith alone, in the person and work of Christ alone, with the Scripture as the authority alone, and God alone getting the glory.  It is summed up in the monergistic (not cooperative) and not a synergistic (co-operative) phrase of Jonah:  "Salvation is of the Lord."  It is not a cooperative venture, whereby we get a little of the credit, but God works it in us and sovereignly saves us totally by grace and not merit of any kind. There are only three possibilities:  Of man alone; of God and man; or of God alone.

The first is religion, the second is legalism, and the third alone is total grace.  As Paul says in Romans 5:21 that "grace reigns through righteousness."  God's grace is irresistible and efficacious or does what He intends--make believers out of us and change our hearts of stone into hearts of flesh (cf. Ezek. 36:26). God's grace always works the desired result (cf Romans 5:21), unlike man's work, and is never in vain--you can resist the Holy Spirit and harden your heart, but not God's gracious work in your heart, no more than you can resist the woman of your dreams.

It is an ill-conceived to think we are "born free" and have "spiritual" free will--we must be set free! We aren't saved by an act of the will:  "So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy" (Romans 9:16, ESV).  "[F]or it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure"  (Phil. 2:13, ESV).  We don't need free wills to be saved, but wills made free (even our wills our stubborn, rebellious, and depraved and incapable of pleasing God without God quickening of faith in them--we were dead in trespasses and sins (cf. Eph. 2:1) and God made us alive, and a dead person can do nothing to please God!

We had no inclination to come to Christ and no desire for Him until God worked this grace in us and granted us the privilege of coming to Christ: "No man can come to me unless the Father, who sent me, draws him," and "No man can come to me unless it has been granted of the Father" (cf. John 6:44).  These are hard sayings and many believers stumble over them and cannot accept that God is ultimately in charge of our destiny--they like to think they are in control of things; however, God is sovereign over all and what kind of God would He be if He weren't?  Note Romans 9:19 (ESV) that says, "... 'Why does he still find fault?  For who can resist his will?'" "Christ is the Captain of our soul and the Master of our fate."

Man's so-called free will doesn't limit God's sovereignty, and God is the one who made the final choice as to whom He would save--called His elect in Scripture.  It is an important point of doctrine that Romans 8:30 (ESV), which says :  "[A]nd those whom he predestined he also called...," militates against the prescient view that God elects us because we believe, but God elects us unto faith, I repeat, not because of our faith! He can make a believer out of anyone if it's His will (Tyre and Sidon would've repented had they seen Christ's miracles!).  But people are still responsible for rejecting God and are personally accountable at Judgment Day because God didn't impel nor compel them to reject Him--they rejected whatever light they had.

We all have feet of clay or weaknesses not readily apparent and we cannot be good until we realize how bad we are or how bad off we are, and we will never realize this unless we attempt to be good and find out the power sin has over us as a master.  We never ceased to be human who can make choices, but we ceased to be good with any inclination toward God--no inherent goodness (we are not basically good!).  In Reformed theology, man, left to himself, will not choose God, and we didn't choose Him, He chose us (cf. John 15:16).  As Blaise Pascal said:  "I would not have searched for Thee if Thou hadst not found me."

We can be glad though: God doesn't grade on a curve and we all fall short of His holiness, and He sees through the veneer to our solidarity in Adam.  It's not that we are good enough to be saved, but bad enough to need salvation!   Of course, if the run-of-the-mill sinner compares himself to Adolf Hitler, he would think himself a saint, but the standard we are held to is Christ, and He doesn't grade on a curve! Indeed, we must recognize that we are bad, but not too bad to be saved!  Caveat: Freedom in Christ is not permission to live in the flesh, but the power to live in the Spirit!   And remember we have nothing to boast:  "For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? ..." (1 Cor. 4:7, NIV).  Soli Deo Gloria!

Is There Christian Fatalism?

Fatalism is a far cry from predestination, which is taught in Scripture (cf. Eph. 1:11).  The Bible sanctions no sort of determinism or coercion, whereby we have no input into our final lot in life.  This is akin to the Muslim blind fate known as kismet.  If I told you it was your destiny to be a piano virtuoso, you would have to practice diligently to fulfill it; but if it was your fate, you couldn't avoid it. We have input into our destiny, which is ultimately in God's hands, because He elected us and chose us before the foundation of the world, and so woos and guides us toward believing that the Holy Spirit quickens faith within us.  Pascal said that he would not have sought Christ, had He not first sought him.

The truth is that no one would come to Christ apart from the working of the Spirit in that person and the Father calling them. "No man can come to me, unless the Father, who sent me, draws him" (cf. John 6:44).  It must be "granted of the Father" (cf. John 6:65).  Anyone who claims to have come to Christ without being influenced by the Spirit and all of his own initiative, probably left Christ all alone, too!  He "compels" us to come in (compelle intrarre in Latin, or "compel them to come in").

Now we do have something to say about our final "lot"--we are free to accept Christ but on His terms. No one can ever claim that he wanted to get saved, but was on the wrong list (the election is sort of an inside secret of Christians, not to be spread abroad with the gospel message). Anyone who rejects Christ fully rejected of his own free will and not under compulsion.  God neither impelled nor compelled him to make the choice, but he acted solely according to his nature and evil inclination. We can thank God that He has completed a work of grace in our hearts to turn a heart of stone into a heart of flesh (cf. Ezek. 36:26).  We don't cooperate in our salvation but are saved by grace alone.

We don't get any credit for being noble, brave, wise, nor moral, but God just chose to work in our hearts (Soli Deo Gloria! or, to God alone be the glory! That is, we get no credit!).  Our righteousness is God's gift to us, not our gift to God!  Why should God choose to save some and not others?  He reserves the right to have mercy on whom He will have mercy (cf. Romans 9:15,18). Have you ever given to a beggar?  Why not to all of them? Clearly, you reserve the right to do so. There is much unnecessary consternation about this doctrine, and the false notion of double predestination (known as hyper-Calvinism), or that God goes out of His way to ensure damnation for the nonelect by predisposing them to evil.  The truth is, that some receive mercy and grace, the others receive justice, but no one receives injustice.

We are elect "according to the foreknowledge of God," and "according to His purpose and grace," and even "according to the pleasure of His good will."  (Cf. 1 Pet. 1:1-2; 2 Tim. 1:9; Eph. 1:5).   Remember the very words of our Lord:  "You didn't choose me, but I chose you" (cf. John 15:16).   The gospel general call goes out to many with evangelical pleas, but the Word says, "Many are called, but few are chosen"  (Matt. 22:14).

The only hardening that God does in a heart is to confirm the act already done and this is merely judicial hardening, such as He did to Pharaoh--God treats no one unjustly  (cf. Isaiah 63:17).  God makes no one do anything by force, that they don't want to do like they are robots or puppets.  There is no outside force acting on us making us do something we don't want to--this is coercion.  And we have input into our destiny, and so it is not fate or determinism.  Salvation requires a prior work of grace, whereby the gift of faith is bestowed and we are to act upon it in obedience.  Soli Deo Gloria!

A Time For Polemics...

The church is "the pillar and ground of the truth"  (1 Timothy 3:15, NKJV).

"... Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice"  (John 18:37, NKJV).

"When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth..." (John 16:13, HCSB).

"Let a man so consider us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God"  (1 Cor. 4:1, NKJV).

"... Whenever you come together, each of you has a psalm, has a teaching [doctrine], has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation.  Let all things be done for edification:"  (1 Cor. 14:26, NKJV).
EMPHASIS MINE! 

Polemics is defined as denouncing heresy, or of refuting it and standing up for sound doctrine.  "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine [teaching]"  (2 Timothy 4:3, NKJV). There is a growing postmodern camp in the church that denies that we have gotten orthodoxy right yet and that we can be dogmatic about anything in the Bible, that truth per se is up for grabs, including the gospel message. Postmodernism teaches that truth is a "short-term contract" and that what's true for you, may not be for someone else (aka relativism).  The church got the idea that truth is negotiable and up for grabs and the notion that it's only relative to the postmodern worldview that is prevalent in academia.

In the name of ecumenicity, the truth is compromised and watered down and even deemed unknowable. Are we just trying to be "inclusive" as politicians strive to be?  Another explanation for this contempt and cavalier attitude for the truth is the "seeker sensitive" atmosphere permeating evangelical churches.  Should we domesticate or tone down the truth to make it more appealing to the unchurched?  This is known as "contextualizing" Christianity. Is there a paradigmatic shift against dogma?  Are they reinventing or revamping the church?  This issue is whether sound doctrine is too arcane and abstruse for the typical churchgoer, or necessary for maturity.  It all reverts to what Satan said to Eve: "Hath God indeed said...?" (cf. Gen. 3:1).  The question has plagued mankind since Pilate asked Jesus, "What is truth?"  (Cf. John 18:38).

Jude exhorts us to "contend for the faith" in an age when it is unpopular to teach doctrine and to stick to the application of the Bible, like the social gospel, which is a misnomer, and an excuse to turn stones into bread.  Paul boasted in his swan song of 2 Tim. 4:7 the following:  "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith."   Satan opposes sound doctrine and we confront his Anfectung (German for "attack," as Luther termed it), when we stand up for the truth. The problem with most believers today is that they don't think the truth is worth studying, and they certainly wouldn't die for it.  We must never compromise what we believe to maintain a conscience:  "So I always take pains to have a clear conscience toward both God and man"  (Acts 24:16, ESV).

Why do you think Paul said they are "always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth"(2 Tim. 3:7, ESV).    A Christian is one who loves the truth and seeks the truth, as incarnate in Christ, the Truth itself.  Truth is knowable and we are to ascertain it to best of our ability because "truth matters" and as Augustine said, "All truth is God's truth," and Thomas Aquinas said, "All truth meets at the top."  If a heretic is found in the church we are to take action:  "This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith."  An example of heresy to be denounced is easy-believism, also known as cheap grace.  Pastors are exhorted above all:  "But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine"  (Titus 2:1, NKJV).

Remember:  Doctrine is teaching and usually refers to the church's stand on issues or their dogma. We have received sound doctrine from centuries of scholarship and no one today, no matter how gifted, can defy and refute all the learning available to us via commentaries and other sources.  We don't have to start from scratch every generation!    Why do we need doctrine?  "... [T]hat he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict [error]"  (Titus 1:9, NKJV).

Now we are not to be nitpicky or to split hairs, because there are gray areas, and room for disagreement indisputable or questionable doctrines--church fellowships and families should strive for unity in the Spirit in the bond of peace (cf. Eph. 4:3 which says, "["bearing with one another in love] endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace"), i.e., unity, not necessarily uniformity, and not be judgmental towards those who beg to differ:  After all, a Protestant is defined as one who dares to remonstrate, "I dissent, I disagree, I protest"  (just like the famous words of Martin Luther at the Diet of Worms).

Doctrine does come up all the time in our preaching because Paul says in 2 Tim. 3:16 that "all Scripture is profitable for doctrine."   We are to avoid foolish disputes and arguments and "disputes over words" (cf. 1 Tim. 6:4, NKJV) which cause division, but to take stands on issues that matter: "In essentials, unity; in nonessentials, liberty; in all things, charity," as Augustine's dictum said.  We are to avoid foolish arguments, but not godly ones--there is a time and place to stand up for what you believe in.  Paul writes in 1 Timothy 4:6 (NKJV):  "If you instruct the brethren in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine which you have carefully followed."  This is emphasized in 1 Tim. 1:10 to teach sinners whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine.

It is infant believers who are "carried about by every wind of doctrine" (cf. Eph. 4:14).  When sound doctrine is taught there will be those who oppose it:  "Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned and avoid them"  (Romans 16:17, NKJV).    The early disciples were known by four signs in Acts 2:42 and one of them was that they continued in the apostles' doctrine.

Paul urges Timothy to "charge some that they teach no other doctrine" (1 Tim. 1:3, NKJV).  He also exhorts him:  "Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine...." (1 Tim. 4:16, NKJV).  Note that he teaches in 1 Tim. 5:17 (NKJV):  "Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine."  We do not want God's doctrine to be blasphemed (cf. 1 Tim. 6:1) and to teach "the doctrine which accords with godliness"  (1 Tim. 6:3, NKJV).  Elders are to hold "the mystery of the faith [deeper doctrine] with a pure conscience (cf. 1 Tim. 3:9, NKJV).  We are to be so sound and pure that we "adorn the doctrine of God" (cf. Titus 2:10, NKJV).

Originally, when believers assembled for worship, they had a doctrine to share (cf. 1 Cor. 14:26).  It is important to "go on to maturity" by leaving the "elementary doctrines" (cf. Heb. 6:1) and the goal is given in Ephesians 4:13 (NKJV):  "[T]ill we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, in the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ." The faith is referred to as the sum total of the teachings or doctrines of Christianity.

The danger of the last days is the doctrines of demons (cf. 1 Tim. 4:1), and the only way to inoculate the church body from this is to have a firm foundation in the truth and basic sound doctrine.  Paul urges Timothy:  "Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine" (1 Tim. 4:13, NKJV).  Hebrews 13:9 (NKJV) admonishes us:  "Do not be carried about with various and strange doctrines...."  The only way to recognize a counterfeit is not to study counterfeits, but originals! Isaiah 28:24 says:  "... And those who complained will learn doctrine." This is the panacea for the church falling for the heresy that truth doesn't matter and sincerity is what validates faith.

The unrighteous perish "because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved" (2 Thess. 2:10, NKJV).   But God will teach the sheep:  "Whom will he teach knowledge?  And whom will he make to understand the message [doctrine in KJV]"  (Isaiah 28:24, NKJV).  Who would believe that sound doctrine would be an issue in today's church?  But there is a movement known as the 'Emerging Church" that challenges truth per se and denies we have systematic truth or "orthodoxy nailed down, shrink-wrapped and freeze-dried forever."  This is an anti-dogmatic attitude that has permeated some churches, proclaiming that we "haven't arrived yet."

Truth is under attack and we are not to "tolerate false teachers" like Jesus rebuking the churches in Revelation.  Remember Demetrius in 3 John 12 who  "has a good testimony from all, and from the truth itself." False teachers had crept into the church that Jude was writing to--this is our wake-up call.     Soli Deo Gloria!

Showing Your Colors

Ponder the correlation between suffering and glory, realizing one unique trait of Christianity--meaning in suffering (no cross, no crown):

"For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us"  (Romans 8:28, ESV).

"I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation [suffering] and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus..." (Revelation 1:9, ESV).

"... [And] saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God"  (Acts 14:22, ESV).

"More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance"  (Romans 5:3, ESV).

"... [And] a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed"  (1 Peter 5:1, ESV).

"And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you"  (1 Peter 5:10, ESV).

There will come a moment of truth for every believer before he is really seasoned and confirmed in the faith--when he makes his stand for Jesus.  This is not just confessing Him as Lord, but sticking up for what He stands for and risking something in the process--becoming a "confessor."  Jesus did say that we should consider the cost of discipleship and He didn't promise us a bed of roses.  In fact, He did all He could to discourage halfhearted admirers, of which there were many; however, these are not those he sought--we are not sidekicks or buddies of Christ, but worshipers and followers (a rare commodity).

The Christian way goes against the grain and is counter-cultural since we claim to know the only way to eternal life.  We would be egotistical if it was just us claiming this; however, Christ, Himself, made the claim of being the exclusive way to the Father--and He tolerates no rivals. This doesn't mean we are intolerant, which is the only vice modern man sees and they categorize believers as being.

We are called to bear a cross as believers and this doesn't mean as a fashion statement, but to be willing to suffer all and even give the ultimate sacrifice of our lives.  To be willing to go to our cross for Christ's sake, we must be absolutely convinced in our own minds:  "I know whom I have believed, and am convinced ..." (cf. 2 Tim. 1:12).  However, don't have a martyr's complex, thinking that the more you suffer, the better believe you are--and do not seek persecution or even be offensive as a person, because the offense should be in the cross.

We don't have to take the loyalty oath that first-century believers did to Caesar confessing, "Caesar is lord," but in everyday life, we are always being tested as to our devotion to Christ, and Satan is tempting us not to make Him first place in our priorities.  One reason we are to welcome suffering as friends is that it is all Father-filtered, which means God-approved, and it is guaranteed to work out for our best in the end (cf. Rom. 8:28).  God turns curses into blessings (cf. Gen. 50:20).  As they say, "Behind every cloud, there's a silver lining."

People don't turn their backs on Christ suddenly, but slowly, as they drift away and gradually lose their first love and devotion to Christ. Paul longed to participate in the "fellowship of His sufferings" (cf. Phil. 3:10).  The early disciple was glad that they were "considered worthy" of suffering for Christ's sake, to glorify Him.

How does this happen?  We run into everyday situations and conflicts that give us the opportunity to defend a Christian worldview or to preach the gospel, and we are not to be ashamed to own our Lord.  Actually, the more you stick up for Christ, the stronger your faith becomes.  As Paul said to the Philippians 1:29 (NKJV):  "For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him but also to suffer for His sake."   

There is a downside to letting people know you're a believer:  They watch your every move and listen to what you say to look for hypocrisy.  They seem to think that if you don't live up to your faith, that this nullifies it and God isn't real.  It only proves your faith isn't real, not that God isn't real. They hate hypocrites and won't go to church because they think it's full of them, yet they go to the golf club and play with hypocrites all the time and don't give it a second thought.  You will want to keep your reputation and the pressure is high as you live under a microscope of observation.  But there is no alternative because there are no secret agent believers who refuse to stand up for Jesus.

The world will approve your faith and won't object to anything unless it is pushed on them--they call evangelizing a way of forcing your viewpoints.  They don't object to anything as long as you "privatize" it!  But we are called to preach the gospel and be salt and light in the world, not to stand by and let the devil have his way.  We need a thick skin and to be certain of our faith (and assurance of salvation is not an automatic fruit), to be able to withstand the fiery darts of the evil one (with assured faith and the helmet of salvation). Tertullian of Carthage, second-century church father, said that the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.

As Esther said, she was born "for such a time as this" (cf. Esther 4:14, NKJV).  We are not to wear our religion on our sleeve, as it were, as an excuse, but to live righteous and holy lives that God can use as a witness to a dark world blinded by Satan.  In other words, we don't go out of our way to "advertise" that we are Christians, like carrying banners but to let Christ open the door no one can close in His timing.

We must absolutely aim to give God the glory and not to seek fame or take the credit ourselves, because He is the Potter and we are the clay and He is using us as vessels of honor for His own plan and purpose   But one thing I can tell you from experience, is that you shouldn't doubt the wisdom of God, that He can make the most unpleasant events turn out for the good and we will praise Him in the end.  It is only because He is trusting us with this trial and it is an honor to be tested.

We need to anticipate being used by God, and be prepared to defend the faith, contend for the faith, according to our faith.  We all have a shot at greatness and God only holds us responsible for what He gives us:  "to much is given, much is required."  As John Milton said in Paradise Regained, "Who best can suffer, best can do."  Jesus suffered more than anyone and our crosses pale in comparison; He isn't asking us to do anything He didn't do.

We should live in light of eternity and the final declaration of Christ saying, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant."  God doesn't care about our bucket list, but in us completing His will before we check out, as it is written: "For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid with his fathers and saw corruption"  (Acts 13:36, ESV).   Soli Deo Gloria!

Our Spiritual Portfolio

"... 'The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him'" (Lam. 3:24, NIV). 

Coming to Christ is not an investment in our temporal life, but an opportunity to make good on the investment of what eternity has to offer. When we live in light of eternity, we live life to the fullest and are properly oriented to reality and can put our troubles and adversities into perspective.  Jesus came that we can have life, and life more abundantly (cf. John 10:10), but this life starts in the here and now, though we are in a pilgrimage through time with spiritual green cards preparing for and making a tryout for heaven's stage.

If our hope is in this life alone, we ought to be most pitied, but we know our hope is real through the objective historical fact of the resurrection, and the subjective personal experience we have in Christ--to know Him is to love Him.  The proof of the pudding is in the eating!  As it is written:  "Taste and see that the LORD is good" (cf. Psalm 34:8).

Grace is, by definition, the unmerited favor of God, and there is nothing we can do to earn it, deserve it, nor repay it, and we must learn to become grace-oriented. Salvation is free but not cheap--it will cost everything you have because God wants you!   And grace is not cheap, because it will cost you something to live the Christian life, but putting things in perspective, our afflictions are but shots at greatness if we can overcome.  In this life we will have troubles, Jesus said, but we are to "be of good cheer" because He has "overcome the world" (cf. John 16:33)--and Christ's victory is transferable to our account and portfolio.

We never waste time in serving the Lord, but it is a wise investment in our future and an eternal investment with high payoffs.  No matter how much we suffer in this life, our crosses pale in comparison to Christ's and what He did on our behalf.  In the end, we can be assured that it is worth it and we are laying up treasures in heaven.  Christianity is not an economic decision that we think God will make us rich, famous, or powerful, but He will make us successful in serving Him!

The so-called prosperity theology, whereby Jesus wants us to get rich, money-wise, is a heresy, and God makes the poor as well as the rich, and if we get rich or blessed financially, we must recognize that it is God's blessing and not our own ingenuity, creativity, or entrepreneurship (cf. Deut. 8:17). God brings bad times as well as good (cf. Job 2:10).   It is God who gives us the power to get rich--"... 'I am the LORD your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you in the way you should go'"  (Isaiah 48:17, ESV). God does promise to bless our doings in the name of the LORD and when we do God's will and follow our calling.  

God never promised us a bed of roses or a rose garden, and our walk is not Pollyanna, and life is not meant to be a picnic, but an adventure with Christ.  Christ was honest enough to tell us ahead of time of the trials, troubles, afflictions, temptations, adversity, discipline, and suffering we'd have, if we are serious to pursue Him, and this is because we must be willing to take up our cross and follow Him (this is what Lordship entails).

Paul had a lot to lose to become a believer, and he counted all his credentials and accomplishments as rubbish compared to knowing Christ as Lord.  In becoming a believer, we have nothing to lose and eternity to gain!  When we go through our troubles we can avail of the promises of God and know that He is with us and we have all of heaven's resources at our disposal.

Don't focus on this world and what it has to offer--we're only passing through. He who is the friend of the world is the enemy of God (cf. James 4:4), and if anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him (cf. 1 John 2:15).   We need to live above our circumstances and to keep our eyes on Jesus as we march along our spiritual journey.  We are never really poor in God's eyes, but rich in what matters most--the things that money cannot buy!   Soli Deo Gloria!

Ushering In The Kingdom

Jesus told Pontius Pilate that His kingdom is not of this world.  Pilate then perceived Him to be a philosopher or harmless dreamer, but no threat to Caesar.  If His kingdom were of this world His followers would fight, but we have no such marching orders.  Many misled, though sincere believers throughout history have tried to usher in the kingdom of God, and thought that the church's job was to aid in doing it.  William Bradford, Pilgrim governor in Colonial America, said that his mission was to "advance the kingdom of Christ."  The Puritans also tried legislating Christianity in early America, but it failed and turned out to have evil fruit, such as hanging innocent women accused of witchcraft. John Calvin even tried to enforce biblical mandates on Geneva, like mandatory Sabbath observance and even forbidding anyone from naming children anything but biblical names.

Only Christ will usher in the kingdom of God and our marching orders are to fulfill the Great Commission, not to make a Christian nation. Yes, we are light and salt, but we must not lose focus and keep the main thing the main thing.  Christians are not to dedicate their lives to the betterment of society unless God calls them specifically to this.  The "social gospel is not only a misnomer but has no place in the church.  We are interested in saving souls and winning people, not becoming political activists. The Bible is meant to be a light for salvation, not government reform or social activism. Everyone has the obligation to be involved in his society that behooves a responsible citizen.

Entering the kingdom is synonymous with getting saved.  The whole purpose of announcing the kingdom of God to be at hand is to make people realize the urgency to repent and get ready for the second coming of Christ in glory.  The first words out of John the Baptist and Jesus in their ministries was to repent.  The kingdom is both present in the here and now, and future to be fulfilled at the Second Advent.  Presently Christ reigns in the hearts of His followers and we shall all reign with Him in His millennial kingdom after the tribulation period.  Jesus said that if He cast out demons by the finger of God, "the kingdom of God has come upon you."  Salvation (the fulfillment of our redemption) is nearer now than when we first believed according to Romans 13:11.

We are to do kingdom living while sojourning on this earth as pilgrims, this is not our home and we should realize that our true citizenship is in heaven (cf. Philippians 3:20).  We are just passing through and have spiritual green cards and this life is but a staging area or tryout for eternity, where each note we play has eternal vibes.  We are rehearsing for kingdom living and our faith must be tested and God wants to prove our faithfulness and reward it according to our deeds done through faith by the power of the Holy Spirit (cf. Isa. 26:12; Hos. 14:8).   Like Paul said (cf. Rom. 15:18), he would not venture to boast of anything, but of what Christ has accomplished through him.

We are not to seek nor store up treasure in this life nor to seek earthly fame, fortune, nor power, but to seek spiritual riches and to learn to live in the power of the Holy Spirit in God's kingdom.  God's kingdom is invisible and only God knows who is in it for sure or who the elect are  (cf. Mark 13:27 "... and shall gather his elect from the four winds ...").   Jesus said to "seek ye first the kingdom of heaven" and this means that our number one priority is kingdom living in God's economy, and when we put God first in our lives all else falls into place.  As it says, "all these things shall be added unto you."

The richest people are not those with worldly wealth, but those most content in what God has blessed them with and faithful stewards of our resources, time, talents, gifts, money, and opportunities. Someone has said that riches are not in the abundance of our possessions but in the fewness of our wants.  When we seek first God's kingdom all our priorities become focused on Christ and our life is oriented in the right direction and given divine purpose and meaning.  In sum, we ought to live one day at a time in light of eternity--not regretting the past, nor worrying about the future.   Soli Deo Gloria!

Limiting God

When you emphasize just one attribute of God or try to define Him to fit your agenda or project, you are limiting God or putting Him in a box. Martin Luther told Erasmus of Rotterdam that his "thoughts of God were too human."  In J. B. Phillips' book, Your God Is Too Small, the author expounds upon this theme. We will never fully apprehend God nor understand Him enough to peg Him, say we can second-guess Him, or have Him all figured out--He is beyond our analysis and cannot be defined by any human power of reason--God cannot be rationalized either. Throughout all eternity we will ever be learning more of Him and only be scratching the surface.  Fathom this:  God is perfect!

Common ways people limit God are saying things like God cannot forgive someone taking their life; God cannot meet my needs; my problems are too big or too little; God doesn't care.  God is so big that everything is small to Him and He cares enough to meet every need. We are wrong to call God just a mean Judge,  kind Father, celestial killjoy, sentimental Grandpa, or Great Spirit. Some people have a wholly inadequate concept of God and this in itself is limiting God--we are to be aware of all His attributes and not just our favorite one (some people even think of the Trinity as comprising the Father, who is the stern one, the Son, who is the nice one, and the Holy Spirit, who is the mysterious one).

A common error is to make God in our image (Voltaire said that man created God in his image) and like presumptuously thinking He is a member of our political party or even a citizen of our country.  Some even think Jesus would drive a Harley! This is all limiting God and trying to make a definition to fit our philosophy or way of life.  God is no respecter of persons or even teams, shows no partiality, and won't even take sides on sports events--don't believe that praying for victory is going to help; both sides are doing it and the prayers cancel out!  May I say, may the best team win?

The reason we cannot define God and understand Him is made clear by an old Greek maxim:  "The finite cannot grasp the infinite."  You cannot fit something that's infinite into a limited space.  We cannot imagine an infinite amount of potatoes, for instance, but we can imagine a God who is infinitely holy, wise, powerful, and righteous.  Just like love just is and beauty just is, and beauty remains after the rose fades, and love needs an expression like faith to make it known, but God is love and beauty proves there must be someone to enjoy it, namely God its Creator.  We can be grateful that God's love for us in infinite and cannot be measured and that eternity is longer than we can imagine, though God has set eternity into our hearts (cf. Eccl. 3:11).

You must ask yourself, "How big is your God?" And stop wondering if He can meet your needs because He is up to the challenge.  The bigger God you have the more awe and fear of God you have. It energizes and expands the intellect, boggles your understanding, it humbles the minds and spirit, and quite simply put, "It blows you away," to meditate on who God is.  Einstein thought of God as a "pure mathematical mind" in his early days, and this shows that even great minds cannot fathom God, but need to be enlightened by the Holy Spirit to come to faith in the true God as He is.  Someday we will behold the beatific vision and be satisfied with seeing Him as He is and when we see Christ we shall become like Him.  The highest calling of man and deepest meditation and contemplation is to dwell on who God is and His nature--we should never grow weary of this but always be up to the challenge and rise to the occasion.

For instance, God is perfect: That means He cannot change for the worse, nor improve for the better. He just is and describes Himself as I Am without a predicate, which means He is our everything and meets our every need and is everything He desires to be.  Our existence depends on Him, but He is self-existent and needs no one or nothing to exist or to live and owes no one or no thing.  Why do we want to know God as He is?  To know Him is to love Him and gives us a great desire to be like Him.

People who know their God, says Daniel 11:32, shall be strong and do great exploits.  God's pet peeve is that people don't know Him in Hosea 4:1 and Jesus said in His intercessory prayer of John 17 that knowing God and Jesus is having eternal life.  The whole point of believing in God is to know Him.  What is God like then?  All He has to tell us is expressed in the icon of God--Jesus Himself! God is like Jesus!   Soli Deo Gloria!

Suffer The Little Children

Jesus welcomed the little ones, wanted them to come to Him, and blessed them, while the disciples had no time for them and thought Jesus was too busy to be bothered.  He said, "Suffer the little children to come unto me, [in NIV:  "do not hinder them"] for such is the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 19:14).  Jesus rebuked them and told them that to such belong the kingdom of God.  He also said that he who humbles himself like a little child shall be greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Are children the enemies of God?  Yes and No.  James 4:4 says that he who is a friend of the world is the enemy of God.  Children are born in sin, of course. "In sin did my mother conceive me," says Psalm 51:5.  The Minnesota Crime Commission issued a report saying that little children are born to be criminals and if they are not civilized by the parents will grow up delinquent. The grace of God covers all children till the age of accountability (I don't want to get into an extensive proof of this doctrine here because most believers accept this) and children are to be welcomed into the church body and its fellowship, and not to be treated as outsiders.  There will be no children in hell, and God loves all children and wants to bless them.  If you make one of them stumble you will be better off with a millstone around your neck and cast into the sea.  They have angels that always behold the face of God and take care of them.

Yes, children sin but they have not learned to discern good and evil and are innocent to a certain extent.  Technically all unbelievers are children of Satan but children can be converted to Christ--the way of salvation is so simple even they can comprehend it. God can and sometimes does speak to us through the children, just like St. Augustine claimed happened to him.  We were all enemies of God before salvation and the miracle is that God loved us in that while we were His enemies He sent Son to die for us.  It is true that infants are completely self-centered and their world revolves around them, and it is the job of the parent to civilize them and bring them up in the training and nurture of the Lord ("Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it," says Proverbs 22:6, ESV). Responsible parents stand in loco Dei or in the place of God to teach concepts of authority, respect, and obedience.

Though children may have not accepted Christ yet, God is working on them and it is the job of the parents to teach them the truth and way of salvation.  We should never treat them as if they are enemies of God--that is the logical outcome of believing they are.  Only God knows and sees who His elect are and we are not to judge people prematurely or before the time.  The wheat and chaff look similar when growing together and it is not the task of believers to separate them because they could be wrong.   Soli Deo Gloria!

Cheap Grace

Easy-believism or cheap grace (first popularized by Dietrich Bonhoeffer) has been a constant misconception of our faith.  Salvation is indeed free, but not cheap!  It will cost something and you will be tested.  The most obvious one that some won't be willing to pay is to turn from a life of sin, like living in sin and not being willing to change that lifestyle.  If we want to live godly in Christ, we will suffer persecution, according to Jesus.  We must be willing to seek first the kingdom of God (cf. Matt. 6:33) above all other priorities, dreams, ambitions, and whatever is ours--because all ultimately belongs to Him, because Jesus doesn't want these things--He wants us as living sacrifices (cf. Rom. 12:1)!

That's what He meant when He said we must deny ourselves and follow Him.  We don't know where He will lead us or know God's laid out a plan for our whole life at salvation but must be willing to do His will, whatever it is in the complete surrender of our wills to His.  Jesus also said that we must love Him preeminently above family, friends, children, spouse, and even self.  In the last days, men will be lovers of themselves (cf. 2 Tim. 3:2), or "looking out for number one!"

Jesus did everything He could to discourage insincere followers and make salvation "well-nigh impossible."   But it is worth the cost to follow Jesus through thick and thin and the reward is eternal. The more abundant life we experience begins in the here and now, as we live in light of eternity with God's blessing in all we do in His name.  True prosperity isn't necessarily higher income, not even fame, or power.  What being prosperous entails is God's blessings on our ventures and helping us to find what He will bless us in.  The disciples were inquisitive about what their reward would be since they gave up everything to follow Him, and Jesus said that it would multiply not add (like ten times, instead of ten more).

Jesus had no trouble attracting admirers or people who wanted to be buddies or sidekicks, but He was looking for disciples who would devote their lives to the learning of Him and be following Him--this is what He meant by those who worship God in Spirit and in truth.  Jesus said that if we abide in His Word we are disciples indeed (cf. John 8:31).  Don't be someone to whom Jesus might say, "You have sacrificed nothing!"  This is an awful rebuke of a disobedient life, and some believers may be saved as if by fire and by the skin of the teeth, so to speak.

The reward that we strive for is everlasting and we should be inspired by athletes who make great sacrifices and strive for a temporal prize that fades away.  One of the metaphors that Christ uses for the believer is one of an athlete--we are to exercise discipline in our life and set our eyes on Jesus and finish the race He has set before us.  If athletes can endure the discipline and think it will be worth a temporal prize, so much the more should we be inspired to make sacrifices for eternal prizes in Christ's kingdom, and even the ultimate sacrifice, because we are considered worthy to suffer for His kingdom (cf. Philippians 1:29).  

The prize we seek is worth more than anything on earth and we should be willing to sacrifice anything on earth to gain it--God doesn't ask everyone to make great sacrifices, but He does expect them to be willing to do so.  Nothing on earth (fame, fortune, power) is worth losing our soul for and Jesus said succinctly (cf. Mark 8:36), "What shall it gain a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul?"  One soul is worth more to God than the entire world! You cannot put a price on salvation nor on the joy that a believer has in Christ.

Jesus never made it seem easy to be a bed of roses to be a believer and admonished us to count the cost, but "all these things shall be added" unto us if we follow Christ. The problem with most seekers is that they want the benefits without the Benefactor.  We are not to get a martyr's complex either, thinking that the more we suffer, the more spiritual we are, or that we gain salvation through suffering or martyrdom--Jesus isn't calling us to die for him, but to take up our cross and follow Him regardless of the results and through thick and thin.  We are called to deny ourselves and this is the unique sacrifice of Christianity, and the one that makes it unattractive to some, because they are unwilling to heed Christ's "hard sayings." When we suffer for His sake, we shall in His glory--no cross--no glory!
Soli Deo Gloria!