Using Religious Knowledge As A Weapon

"The wise is hungry for knowledge, while a fool feeds on trash" (cf. Prov. 15:14).
"Brothers and sisters, I urge you to watch out for people who create divisions and problems against the teaching that you learned.  Keep away from them.  People like that aren't serving the Lord.  They are serving their own feelings.  They deceive the hearts of innocent people with smooth talk and flattery"  (Romans 16:17-18, CEB).
"Don't be misled by the many strange teaching out there..." (Heb. 13:9, CEB).
BY DEFINITION, KNOWLEDGE IS JUSTIFIED TRUE BELIEF.

A love for the Word is a blessing and a sign of salvation, but an unbalanced, dissentious, and contentious appetite and spirit can be deleterious to personal spiritual hygiene and even to the body of Christ.  The Bible was written to give us eternal life and to know God in salvation, not to merely increase our knowledge.  The purpose of Scripture, then, is to change our lives, and enlighten the soul, not merely make us wise in our own eyes, or to have information to pick fights--the purpose of books about the Bible must strive to do likewise.

Books help us understand ourselves, others, the world, and God, but shouldn't be looked upon as just giving us information or facts--all knowledge must be compared to the biblical truth though.  If one merely reads books about the Bible to sow discord among brothers or to find ways to play one-upmanship in knowledge, one is on the wrong track. There are gray areas and we are to respect the weaker brother and what he believes as Augustine said, "In nonnegotiables, unity; in negotiables, liberty; in all things, charity."

The stronger believer needs to grow in love, while the weaker in knowledge.  There are many areas of disagreement in the church and we are not to use our knowledge to upset some one's faith.  Knowledge is not an end in itself, but a means to an end.  Knowledge can puff up and give one pride, so we must always bear in mind that we don't know as we ought to know when we think we know it all--for instance, we don't study just to know all the answers--God is the Great Answerer and we must know Him.  Some brethren read controversy books just to do power games with each other and try to match wits with one another.  The Word is meant to be a seed to sow unto life in Christ, not to sow discord, which is one of the sins God most despises.

We simply have the wrong attitude if we think we are so smart that we can outwit our brother and that makes us superior in some way, God can speak through children, much more can He humble scholars and philosophers by their wisdom.  The Bible makes it clear that we are a fool if we think we are wise in our own eyes, that means God shuns wise guys!  They are not a cut above others, who are poor specimens.  God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble (cf. 1 Pet. 5:5; James 4:6).  We are to respect one another and that means we must have the attitude we can learn from them.

Knowledge, wisdom, and understanding come from God and are the byproduct of knowing Him and walking with Him, not of graduating from a school and thinking it's an automatic fruit--many fools graduate from college who are later humbled by the street smarts of the average Joe.  There is a spiritual gift of knowledge and even of wisdom though.  I have been challenged to answer debatable topics in the Bible that sincere believers can disagree about and have refused to go there and play along just to keep the peace.  There comes a time when we agree to disagree and press on in friendship without thinking that winning an argument enhances our spirituality.  Our knowledge is not meant to build walls and find disharmony, but to build bridges with the brethren and to unite us in the Spirit--"for we are one in the Spirit."

Caveat:  Shun the argumentative, dissentious brother who is playing mind games or is on a power trip and has no interest in learning the truth. The Christian walk is not about winning arguments or becoming contentious, argumentative, judgmental, or divisive, for you can win a dispute and lose a friend and we are to be fishers of men and win them over, not scatterers of the sheep! One must beware when he's generating more heat than light and when belaboring the point isn't worth the adrenaline.  Hopefully, you won't be accused of sophism or specious reasoning because a person convinced against their will is of the same opinion still, the maxim goes.

In any confrontation, remember this key principle from John Stott:  "We cannot pander to a man's intellectual arrogance, but we must cater to his intellectual integrity."  And in the final analysis, the brother interested in knowledge for its own sake or to impress someone should examine his motives and find out whether they are pure and he desires to serve God with his knowledge or to merely use it as a weapon for personal gain and to boost his ego. Knowledge cannot be its own aim or an end in itself.   Soli Deo Gloria!

Is There A Second Great Commission?

Gov. William Bradford came to the New World to "advance the kingdom of Christ," while many pilgrims sought religious freedom and the Puritans organized to purify the church.  America was the first "safe haven" and refuge for the religiously persecuted ever founded, and the State of Maryland was the first colony in America to grant Catholics freedom of worship and sanction when they were persecuted.  We are to be good citizens promoting the general welfare and be a blessing (cf. Jer. 29:7; Prov. 11:11). 

"If we are not governed by God, we will be ruled by tyrants." (William Penn). 

I didn't know that the government was ever meant to be the methodology of hastening the Lord's Day or ushering in the kingdom of God, and many preachers have stressed the notion that the Bible is not meant to reform society but to save souls.  It's true that Common Law has found origins in Scripture, and our national heritage is dominated by Christian worldview.  

It is individual believers who act as salt and light to preserve society from evil, but the church's job description is to reform souls, not society!  The church ought to be in the business of showing the way and saving those who've lost the way.  What do you think early believers were known as?  They were followers of the Way!  The way that churches have organized as if our faith depended upon it seems, like overturning Roe v Wade, et al, and other social reforms, such as the Second Great Commission--redeeming and reclaiming our nation for Christ!

The church at large is being deceived and Satan loves it when they get their eyes off the Great Commission (our marching orders) and get a bad rap as the unbelievers see them as nothing but hypocrites.  We must focus on preaching the gospel as keeping the main thing the main thing not getting sidetracked, and not establishing a sort of Christian Sharia law, in that they are forcing the infidel or pagan to live like a Christian, even observing the Law of Moses.  Attempts at this type of sincere Christian venture have repeatedly failed throughout history.  The government is not a necessary evil, but necessary because of evil according to Augustine, and would probably not be necessary if we were all Christians.  Believers are to work in the system, like running for office, but especially in prayer and intercession for our leaders and all in authority.

Christians do Christ no favor by giving the impression they are all zealous (bigots) enforcing the law their way and alienating those who are near the kingdom of God but become prejudiced by their experience with the religious right.  Not all sincere and mature believers are on the so-called right and Christ would never associate with any party or let Himself be labeled or categorized as such.  It is worse than sectarian spirit (party spirit destroys a church from within), which Paul criticized. 

If it is wrong for Muslim states to enforce their faith on Christians and forbid them from even wearing crosses on their lapels or holding public Bible studies, as is the case in Saudi Arabia, then how can Christians mimic this type of enforcement of their views and interpretation of unbelievers?  Nearly every great social reform and cause in history have been the result of Christian influence, from the abolition of slavery to women's rights, to equal justice under the law, to the abolition of child labor, and whatnot, but the church didn't organize en masse to force change, individuals settled the matter, those who made a difference with their witness and testimony, and especially tenacity and stick-to-itiveness like the long-suffering efforts of  William Wilberforce in eliminating slavery in Great Britain.

What we don't want is for unbelievers to stereotype Christians as being against this and that, instead of being for this and that--we prove the love of Christ by our love and tolerance, not pressure techniques and scare tactics like voter intimidation which is common in the South.  They actually are convinced that hounding the gays out of the military will bring God's endorsement to our nation and restore traditional Christian values and consequent blessing to our nation.  Since when does Christ order us to organize politically or to use government itself as the means of advancing God's kingdom, which is not of this world according to Jesus?

Leave ushering in the kingdom of God to Jesus and let us be here to prepare hearts for the onslaught of secular worldviews out there in academia, government, entertainment, and media so that our youth are not corrupted by false ideology and don't learn to see things from a divine perspective.  It is very tempting to use the leverage of political power to create a sort of utopia for believers, but this is not what we are here for.   Isn't the real Christian agenda the upholding of the rule of law and the principle that no one is above the law (justice in action)? 

After all, when the foundations are destroyed the righteous may not be able to find the solution (cf. Psalm 11:3):  Government is not the problem nor the solution!   The government is founded to keep evil at bay and to establish law and order in society--ensuring justice and securing our rights.  What about fighting the abuse of power and the spirit of authoritarianism?  The Christian agenda cannot be defined by one law, no more than you can put God in a box.  It seems to the unbeliever that there are just certain sins that offend Christians more than others when they have sins themselves.  The problem is man's depravity and the solution is the gospel through the grace and mercy of God.  In our nation, there is violence everywhere, due mainly to the accessibility of weapons of mass destruction, and Christians may have to decide whether they put their trust in God or the sanctity of the Second Amendment, knowing that no right is absolute, not even free speech, freedom of religion, nor the right to bear arms.

"We must obey God rather than men" (cf. Acts 5:29) and there comes a time when civil disobedience is not only a right but a duty and opportunity to stand for Christ in the public arena.  Individual believers like the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. have sought civil rights through nonviolence and suffered the consequence--he got himself killed just like Mahatma Gandhi, the founder of nonviolent protest.  But where there's a clear-cut command in Scripture we must fly our Christian colors and take our stand--only the coward stands aside according to James Russell Lowell. 

We cannot sit on the fence and claim neutrality on vital Christian issues.  The best work is done by individual believers called by God to accomplish His will, not the church at large.  William Wilberforce never organized the Church of England and Martin Luther King, Jr. never called for the church to aid his agenda as role models.

There's a Second Great Commission in a sense, but not a social gospel to preach though, and we must focus on what we are here for--spreading the gospel and being examples that they may see we are Christians by our love, not our political views, and the church ought to be careful not to organize as being officially for any party or political cause so as to be identified and labeled with anything but as being followers of Christ, not a political leader.   Whatever we do as a body of Christ ought to be done in the name of Christ and not to promote any party, or even party spirit, within or without the church.  

One great evil misconstruing this movement has precipitated and facilitated is the Postmodern worldview of truth and the creation of an alternative universe (of "facts"), not seen since the days of Joseph Goebbels, the notorious Nazi propaganda chief.  We have a right to our own opinions but not to cherry-pick our own facts, though everyone tends to just believe the facts that suit their own worldview. 

Many Americans in this generation now are convinced that character counts for nothing and leaders are no longer our role models--all that matters is AGENDA AND PLATFORM and it doesn't matter how it's achieved either; i.e., the ends justify the means.  

IN SUM, THERE'S NO LEGITIMATE SOCIAL GOSPEL PER SE OR ANY SOCIAL COMMISSION, BUT THERE IS SOCIAL STEWARDSHIP AND ACCOUNTABILITY.   Soli Deo Gloria!

The Blessed Assurance Of Salvation Is A Duty

"... Do not be unbelieving, but believing" (cf. John 20:27).
"For the Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are the sons of God" (cf. Rom. 8:16).
"For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day" (cf. 2 Tim. 1:12).
"... [B]e all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure" (2 Pet. 1:10, ESV).


We don't find out we're saved because we're curious, but because we are commanded to do so in 2 Pet. 1:10, but it's not an automatic fruit of salvation, even if one's faith is alive and growing--for dead faith or faith minus works doesn't save (cf. James 2:20), and we are commanded to examine ourselves as to whether Christ is in us on a regular basis to reassure ourselves. (cf. 2 Cor. 13:5).  It is not the preacher's duty or job description (nor any authority figure's for that matter) to give assurance of salvation--they can only reassure, but one must trust in the Word as a conviction and couple it with the assurance of the Holy Spirit as dual or joint assurance.

We must learn the lesson to take God at His Word, once the initial highs and feelings have left us (when normalcy sets in) and the feelings of our initial response to salvation when God is testing the validity and reality of our faith, which is more precious than gold and silver and must be confirmed by fire.  If we don't have any assurance, we will be paralyzed in our walk and stunted in growth, not able to walk forward with Christ in faith, but treading water and even going backward.  This assurance is meant to enhance our sanctification and to be a boon to our experience in Christ.

R. C. Sproul said that to gain authentic assurance we must "search our own hearts and examine the fruit of our faith."  And also that "the Word of God coupled with the testimony of the Holy Spirit" is God's normative methodology of assurance.  When we are fully assured we will never succumb to doubt, having on our helmet of salvation, because it will be a done deal and we can overcome the Anfectung (Luther's German for attack) of Satan.  Let's be leery of being like those who waver in the faith and are rebuked and chided by Jesus, "Oh you of little faith!"

Note that no one has to have perfect assurance nor perfect faith in this life to get saved, or it wouldn't be called faith but knowledge.  If someone says he has no doubts, he's never been tested in his faith or doesn't know himself well, for faith is not the same as knowledge of which we will inherit in glory.  NB:  you will never have smoking-gun evidence that you can be as assured as certain as you see the sunshine in the sky, for we are commanded to walk by faith and not by sight in 2 Cor. 5:7.  You don't need all the answers to believe or make a decision for Christ!  We believe as God helps our unbelief (cf. Mark 9:24). Doubts are like antibodies in the body, everyone has them, even healthy ones.  But we believe despite them.  Goethe said to tell him their certainties because he had enough doubts of his own!

We are to "taste and see that the LORD is good," so that we can existentially know and experience God in the spiritual world and dimension by faith. One of God's chief complaints and pet peeves is that man doesn't have the "knowledge of God" (cf. Hos. 4:1,6).  Later cf. Hosea 6:3 says to let us know, let us "go on to know the LORD."  We can sincerely pray for God to increase our faith, and God does commend strong faith, but it isn't the amount of faith that saves, but the object (faith doesn't save, Christ does, or it is fideism, faith in faith).   There are degrees of certitude and the faith/doubt continuum varies throughout one's spiritual journey.

Many preachers dichotomize salvation's security from its assurance in the here and now--these must never be divorced for they are two sides of the same coin and one cannot exist logically without the other (if you can lose it, how can you ever have full assurance and know you won't slip into sin?).  We say in theology that we can indeed distinguish these doctrines, but cannot separate them--they are two sides of the same coin (the flip side).

Roman Catholics will tell you that assurance is a pure sin of presumption unless you've had a special revelation or experience with God to assure you, but it's not conjecture nor presumption, it's doable and a duty.  It's true, as some may point out, that some leave the faith, but these were never genuine believers in the first place according to 1 John 2:19.  Orthodox doctrine says that we persevere in the faith as God preserves us, for if it weren't for grace, none of us would survive spiritually.

The biggest problem in the church regarding this issue is not patience with struggling believers who have doubts, but bearing with those who presume and have false assurance, for assurance must be biblical and based on sound doctrine or dogma.   And so people can be ignorant of Scripture or aren't taking God at His Word--or they may simply be going by feelings. We are accountable for the faith bestowed on us to be faithful to it and grow fruit accordingly (cf. Rom. 12:3), and our faith must not be feigned or hypocritical, but sound and sincere--i.e., albeit not perfect (cf. 1 Tim. 1:5).

In sum, the best assurance is to claim the promises of God as one's spiritual birth certificate, like one of mine in John 6:37 that says, "He who comes to Me I will in no way cast out." FIND YOUR OWN SPIRITUAL BIRTH CERTIFICATE OR PASSAGE THAT SPEAKS TO YOUR OWN HEART AND SITUATION.     Soli Deo Gloria!

Refuting The Mumbo-Jumbo Gobbledygook Of Postmodernism

"Christians with faith have nothing to fear from the facts."--Paul Johnson, historian
"... [B]ecause they refused to love the truth and so be saved" (2 Thess. 2:10, ESV).
"... Yea, hath God said, ..?" (Gen. 3:1, KJV).
"What is truth" (cf. Pontius Pilate, John 18:38).
"And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, ... correcting his opponents with gentleness.  God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will" (2 Tim. 2:24-26, ESV).  

Postmodernism is the ultimate skeptical philosophy, saying that reality cannot be known absolutely and adhering to a "hermeneutic of suspicion" on all knowledge, especially any worldview that claims a "God's-eye" view of the world.  To claim you cannot discern, find, or know truth is in itself a truth claim!  Just like the typical prof that introduces his class to the so-called faith that you cannot know anything for certain, and is sure of it, so also every Postmodern precept can be shown to be gobbledygook.  You can't know anything?  How do they know?  Allan Bloom, in his book The Closing of the American Mind, said that when they say all truth is relative, that statement is also relative and therefore the whole presupposition has no truth value and is inherently contradictory.  When they say that there are no absolutes, are they saying that's absolute?  When they say there is no truth, is that true?  Denying that your claim has any power over them, are they claiming their claim should have power over you?  When they say, as their favorite catchphrase says, "That may be true for you, but not for me!" Is that statement true for both of you?

When they say God is dead, how can they know He will not rise again and that there isn't a God who will not die despite their beliefs?  They're admitting God was once alive! One couldn't postulate that without knowing God (no longer necessary to answer our questions or problems), really they're the ones who are dead.  Nietzsche said that "we have killed him," referring to God, but what kind of God gets killed by mortals?  Actually, Christianity is alive more than ever and Nietzsche, the patron saint of Postmodernism, is dead and Christianity's God will not die!   How would they know He's dead?  Can they disprove God's existence or relevance?  Sometimes the avoidance of an issue or its denial only proves its reality.

There is a real "Death of God" movement going on:  the suppression and repression of sound Bible doctrine, seeing orthodox teachings as unattainable and even inherently unknowable.  In the latter days, many will depart from the faith or bail out theologically and give heed to seducing spirits according to 1 Timothy 4:1.  This attack from within is far more lethal than from the secular world without.

When they challenge us:  "Where's this God of yours?"  Counter:  "Where isn't He?"  When they insist that all spiritual talk of God is meaningless, how meaningful is that?  Of course, they deny the existence of the spiritual.  Ask them:  is any spiritual talk meaningful? Is there a spiritual?   And in what way is or isn't God-talk meaningful?  When they complain that it's just your interpretation, ask them if they like it when they're misunderstood, if only your view matters? When they say the Bible is nonsense, ask them what it's the main message is.  When they say you can't find out spiritual truth, ask them how they found that out!   When they insist we cannot know God, ask them how they know that!   When they say that truth can only be known by experience, what experience led them to conclude that?  Can they prove it?  When they say we shouldn't take the preacher's advice on Bible matters, whose advice should we take?  Should we take their advice?

My premise is that every "hermeneutic of suspicion" (i.e., "you can know nothing for certain") is inherently unintelligible and a contradiction in terms.  To posit all truth as relative, one must stipulate: relative to what?  Indeed, "All truth is God's truth" and "meets at the top," according to Augustine and Aquinas respectfully!  We must start with God to know and explain anything (Prov. 1:7, "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge..."), and therefore God cannot be dead or irrelevant.  Knowledge begins somewhere!  Everyone starts with some presupposition they cannot prove, and Christians assume God, just like secularists assume God isn't.  The simple fact is that they won't let a "Divine Foot in the door" and rule God out of the equation from the get-go and any evidence for God discredits their whole worldview, which is an anti-worldview because they say one cannot have a "God's-eye" view or knowledge of anything in the real world--reality is indiscernible and even an illusion.

There is a place for healthy skepticism, but to assume you can know nothing is counterproductive to learning.  To learn about God, you must assume God is and there is something to learn!  Can you use Postmodern techniques to validate Postmodernism?  It seems the only truths they are adamantly against are Christian ones and have declared war on God, not that they just don't believe in Him.  If there is no God, why be afraid of Him or His influence?  Postmodernism goes back to at least the cynicism of Pontius Pilate asking Jesus, "What is truth?" (Cf. John 18:38).  Jesus came to bear witness of the truth and any one of the truth hears His voice.  Jesus also personified truth and claimed:  "I am the truth" [incarnate or its avatar]."

When we undermine the very foundation of truth, we destroy the basis of all knowledge and learning.  The Bible claims to be our Answer book and to give us all relevant knowledge for an abundant life as a believer in Christ.  Not acknowledging the truth leads to despair and cynicism and to the abandonment of all meaningful research and educational endeavors.  Unbelievers, according to Rom. 2:8, are those who "reject the truth."  They refuse to love the truth and so be saved (cf. 2 Thess. 2:10).

The self-evident refutation of Postmodernism is to take them up on their play on words, by asking intriguing questions that challenge their soundness: is that your opinion?  How do you know that's true?  What if you are wrong?  Where do you get your information?  How did you reach that conclusion?  If that's a judgment, or is that your judgment?  Is it always true that there's no truth?  These so-called comebacks are answers to self-refuting claims, which are false by definition if the question's premise is true.

Postmodernism denies any absolute, universal truth, or at least knowable such truth, and is the basis for modern Sophism or nonsense in a philosophical sense.  They believe in one absolute: there are no absolutes!  How do they know there are not two absolutes, and how do they posit this one absolute as the only valid one?   When they say you cannot communicate truth, ask them how they communicated that.  When they assert that your truth has no power over them, how can they know that for sure and is that true for you? Is their truth supposed to have power over you?  If Postmodernism were true, how could we know it using their techniques?  And we would never know it--this is the epitome of nonsensical hermeneutics and the honest pursuance of knowledge.  Postmodernists are atheists by consequence of there being no worldview possible, not by conviction as Secular Humanists are, and when they say there's no God, tell them that their unbelief has no power or influence of reality or over you. When they insist you can know nothing for certain, counter how they know that.  Belief has no relativity to truth!

DON'T RULE GOD OUT FROM THE GET-GO; HE'S MAKING A COMEBACK INTO RELEVANCY AND THE EQUATION OF LIFE!  Current academia is more interested in what facts work for them or what truths they are willing to accept that the objective, universal, absolute truths that are valid whether accepted and believed or not.   Caveat:  Postmodernists deny facts as real, objective, absolute, or relevant, and when you admit you have them or want the facts, they just say you're trying to exert power over them--what are they doing?   Notice that you can reverse the tone and spirit of the question, neutralizing it's relevance, with an appropriate follow-up question!   The problem with believers is that they are giving up on their worldview--it hasn't failed--they are just conceding by default, having not been prepared to fight in the devil's battlefield and turf and thus not inoculated against his strategies.   Soli Deo Gloria!

Sacrificial Love Displayed At Calvary Extraordinaire

It is said that the biological father makes a so-called contribution to the pregnancy--his seed--but the mother makes the sacrifice!  Her whole life is changed--sometimes ruined--while to him it's just a minor inconvenience or interruption!  She can't really get out of it, but often the man escapes and divorces or abandons the woman, even with the kids.  Most men see their sole role as being the basic breadwinner, provider, or the one charged to bring home the bacon, while the wife is to raise the kids and do all the legwork as it were.  This is because love is oft spelled T-I-M-E!  As they say: a woman's work is never done.  Parents have a lot invested in their children and the more investment, the deeper love; you can give without love, but you cannot love without giving. 

True sacrifice is when you suffer or give up something, not when you do something you would've done despite the benefits.  The ultimate sacrifice is really only done in the line of duty when a soldier gets killed in action, for example.  This compares to Christ making the ultimate sacrifice on our behalf at the cross because He didn't have to die at all if He hadn't chosen to save us by His substitutionary death.  The sacrificial type of living is when we live for others and not ourselves, and think of others first and what we can do for them, not what they can do for us.

Christ's atonement on the cross has been rightly termed the "mother of all sacrifices," in that it costs the most and also accomplished the most as a result--it was the infinite worth of the death of the Lamb of God and it accomplished our priceless, eternal redemption, propitiation, reconciliation, justification, and complete salvation.  To elaborate on the multifaceted atonement:  we were redeemed from the slave market of sin--the penalty was paid; we were justified in the court of God's law--becoming righteous; we were reconciled back into God's family with the relationship restored, and we have been propitiated in God's temple in that God paid the price to set us free and avert us from His wrath.

We behold, therefore, God's love manifested and in full display at the cross, whereby He gave all of Himself till it literally hurt and He actually did bleed on our behalf--we must likewise give of ourselves--noting God wants us, not our achievements, and not just what God gives us to be stewards of, as we go about "contributing to the needs of the saints."  Christ gave it all for us, and our crosses pale in comparison to His, as He doesn't ask us to give of anything He didn't accomplish Himself in exempting Himself of no pain nor suffering, we could possibly imagine. 

In sum, true love is always sacrificial, some people have never made any sacrifice for anything, especially the offering of our blood, sweat, and tears and we ought to challenge ourselves with the question of whether our love is inherently sacrificial--having something to lose--or is it just contributory, but going above and beyond the call of duty:  this means we ought to give till it hurts, not just what we can afford, for it to be sacrificial, and that necessities not giving God our leftovers of time, resources, energy, opportunities, money, interests, passions, abilities, experiences, talents, gifts, relationships, and what not, but putting Him in first place amongst our priorities--rearranging everything to His agenda!   Soli Deo Gloria! 

Trust And Obey!

The hymn goes to "trust and obey, for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey." Too many believers have not learned this simple lesson and are often stubborn and recalcitrant or even rebellious against authority reminding one of the slogans to question authority. I've even heard that you should question authority, but never mother! Obeying authority was never meant to be blind and without cognizance of what we are doing, for we are responsible to be moral and legal. But we should heed authority when it is legitimate. Many youths today could never make it in the service because they insist on knowing the why behind every order and can't just follow orders. 

They wouldn't be in the service hadn't they declared allegiance to the US Consitution and to those in the chain command to obey unless it's an illegal order. I wonder if you recall poet laureate Alfred, Lord Tennyson's poem The Charge of the Light Brigade? It says, "Ours is not to wonder why ours is but to do and die!" If soldiers always demanded reasons for orders and explanations or more justification, they would never get anything done and you couldn't have a military. Those who are not ready to follow orders do not belong in the military, not even as officers.

However, a Christian can choose not to go into the military, but he still doesn't escape the issues of obedience in his life to follow Jesus. The idea of discipleship is to learn to be a follower and basically to simply trust and obey. Some believers actually go to jail before learning the lesson and must get rehabilitated in a correctional facility. By the way, do you remember the unjust judge that was tormented by the elderly lady and finally gave in to her request? We can be the same way and our questions may be answered, but we've only proved that we are not humble and meek, which are sure signs of the devoted, committed follower or disciple of Jesus. 

Even children trust their parents completely at first, then their faith wanes, then they start asking why, and finally, they rebel or go their own way. Part of submitting to one another and loving one another as Christ loved us is to live an obedient life. We should never lose track of our Exemplar who became "obedient unto death." We should all strive to become obedient Christians and not spiritual Lone Rangers doing only what's right in our own eyes as Israel did write in Judges 17:6; 21:25.

The old slogan "Just Do it!" is relevant in following Christ, for unbelievers are characterized as the "sons of disobedience" in Ephesians 2:2. Caveat from A. W. Tozer: "Jesus will not save those whom he cannot command." A disobedient follower is a contradiction in terms. Children have the opportunity to become our role models: they wonder, trust, forgive, obey, and ask questions with a teachable spirit. Final advice: be like Peter, not understanding the order, and while fishing without any luck, trusted Jesus and said, "Nevertheless, at thy Word, Lord, I will cast down my net." Soli Deo Gloria!

If War Is Hell!, What's Hell?

"Wicked men will hereafter earnestly wish to be turned to nothing and forever cease to be that they may escape the wrath of God' (Rev. 6:15-16, NKJV).
"When all is done, the hell of hells, the torment of torments, is the everlasting absence of God, and the everlasting impossibility of returning to his presence... To fall out of the hands of the living God, is a horror beyond our expression, beyond our imagination."--John Donne
"I believe in God and if I woke up in hell I would still believe in him."--Robert Louis Stevenson
"When you take away the doctrine of hell, society loses an important anchor."--Paul Johnson

Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman is famous for these words ("war is hell") during the Civil War and his name is synonymous with them.  People often say they went through hell on earth or similar metaphoric language to be hyperbolic.  We should never trivialize hell and think it's nothing but a jolly boys' club or where bad people can get together and have a good time.  Hell is a solitary venture for the most part because part of the punishment is facing up to who a person is without God and fellowship--learning to admit one's own evil nature.  We don't hear of hell, fire, and brimstone preachers anymore like Jonathan Edwards, who facilitated the Great Awakening in the 1740s.  Actually, Christ mentioned hell twice as much as He did heaven, so it must be real--its duration is for as long as heaven (everlasting).

People do suffer in hell but not unduly--there are degrees according to one's sins and responsibility or opportunities.  God metes out justice with nothing more nor less--punishment is not beyond that which strict justice requires.  God cannot be cruel nor unjust and He doesn't torture souls, but in their own misery, they might wish they would be annihilated rather than stay in hell.  The symbols of fire and sulfur are to highlight the misery factor.  God is everywhere by nature, even in hell, but He's not there except in His wrath and justice, not His love and mercy.  All vestiges of love and mercy are erased and the time has slipped by for them with no more chance for salvation--the worst torture that will cause gnashing of teeth and weeping will be one's own regrets and self-inflicted misery of a conscience accusing them.  No one suffers unjustly and people will know God as a consuming fire, not as their Father.  It is evidently a place of torment, but mostly psychological and not what one would make out to be a torture chamber of cruelty.

God is certainly there, but in judgment.--but God isn't cruel!  There is no praise of God and no place for repentance, for these come by the grace of God, not man's effort.  Yet, what is sad, is this is what the impenitent want--to be separated from God's love and to be by themselves.  God is the source of all goodness and love, and imagine a place without any of that!   Hell is just that--separation from God's goodness, just as Jesus cried out on the cross, "My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?"  We can be assured though that the Judge of all the earth will do right (cf. Gen. 18:25).  Jesus did say that there are degrees of punishment, for Sodom and Gomorrah will suffer less than Capernaum!  Jesus said that some sins will warrant only a few stripes!

When we picture hell as outer darkness, we must realize that God is light and in Him is no darkness!  These people have rejected God and don't want anything to do with His light!  Part of the misery of hell will be that its purpose is punitive, not correctional or for sanctification and there can be no escape--there's no hope of reform and what's worse they will be haunted by the reason they are there and will realize it's all their fault, not being able to blame anyone!  No one repents or gives God praise in hell!  But the people there are those that wanted justice, not mercy and they're getting it!  If there were no hell, there would be no justice!

Remember the words from Dante Alighieri's Inferno (Part 1 of Divine Comedy):  "Those who enter here, abandon all hope!"  Never equate hell with cruelty (God has no mean-spirited bone in His body), but a place of perfect justice, being unjust to no one!    Soli Deo Gloria!

Before Honor Comes Humililty

"Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 18:4, ESV).
"Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall" (Prov. 16:8, ESV).
"For by the grace given me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned" (Romans 12:3, ESV).
"Thus says the LORD:  'Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth.  For in these things I delight, declares the LORD" (Jer. 9:23-24, ESV).   
"[A]nd submit to each other out of respect for Christ" (Eph. 5:21, CEB).

It is a cliche that when you think you're humble, then you're not!  This is the will-o'-the-wisp of virtues that we strive for but can never attain consciously.  Moses was considered the humblest man on earth in Numbers 12:3 (or should I say "meek?"), and I don't think he knew this or mentioned it. Jesus was confronted by two ambitious disciples who wanted to be Number One or Numero Uno in the kingdom and told them that He who is greatest must become humble like a child.   Diotrephes loved to be the leader (cf. 3 John 9) and was ruining his church.  Even Jesus came not to be served, but to serve (cf. Mark 10:45).  When He did the servile act of foot-washing it showed us that nothing should be beneath us!

The fact is that the way up is down in God's economy the way up is down and we must echo John the Baptist's sentiment:  "He must increase, but I must decrease" (John 3:30, ESV).  Jesus also proclaimed that many who are first shall be last (cf. Mark 9:35)!  The idea is not to promote yourself, as Proverbs says, but to let others praise you. and not your own mouth!  James 4:6, ESV, says, "But he gives more grace.  Therefore it says, "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." The primary prerequisite to humility, then, is to confess one's pride and go from there!

Humility is an elusive goal but this doesn't eliminate our need to pursue it.  True humility is not having low self-esteem or thinking less of yourself and not thinking it's all about you; however, it's not thinking of yourself at all (knowing it's not all about you), but being teachable--putting others first!  The problem with man is his ego, this brings the opportunity to promote it and elevate it to the place God should hold in our lives.  

We are hard-wired to worship God, but if we don't we will worship someone else, most likely ourselves with an inflated ego to become egotistical.  We abhor someone fixated on himself.  No one likes someone who is arrogant or conceited and humility keeps our ego in check and prevents us from getting a big head--in Paul's case he had a thorn in the flesh to do the job.

There is no place in God's plan for selfish ambition, but we are to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.  Jeremiah 45:5, ESV, says:  "And do you seek great things for yourself?  Seek them not..." (i.e., for our personal gratification or lust).  The issue arises:  "How does one win the humility contest then?"  Jesus said that we must become as humble as a child (being teachable), so I would suggest getting to know children and learn from them (cf. Matt. 19:14, "Suffer the little children to come unto me")--they're evidently humble.  Children are not perfect, or blank slates and without sin, but we can learn from them.  

We must never be self-serving or self-centered!  We should stop tooting our own horns and be promoting of best interests ourselves; if God is blessing you and giving you fruit, it doesn't matter who criticizes you, and if there's no fruit or blessing, it doesn't matter who praises you.  We are all guilty of advertising ourselves or putting our best foot forward and not letting anyone see our so-called dark side that no one sees but God and us.

Being transparent and real and not phony and putting up a facade of being ideal is the goal, for all have fallen short of God's glory!  We cannot confess our sins too much to God, (however, don't keep dredging up old sins that are forgotten by God!).  God deletes our sins from His memory bank, but we need to keep short accounts and confess all known sins as soon as we're convicted to stay in touch and fellowship with Him.  He's all ears, but when we have persistent issues, we should confide in a trusted Christian friend (cf. James 5:16).

Satan's temptation to Eve was to "be as gods."   We can learn a lot of pride by looking at Satan:  Pride or focusing on self rather than Jesus was the first sin (cf. Ezek. 28:17; Isa. 14:14) and what God found in Satan, when "his heart was lifted up,"  and is one of the abominations in God's eyes recorded in Prov. 6:17, and so we must give God the glory and credit for our labors and not think we are anything more than unworthy servants doing God's bidding. 

We should always give praise where praise is due, and credit to whom it's due, not seeking our own well-being, but that of others and looking out for their best interest, not thinking of ourselves any more highly than we ought--but a sober and justified assessment and appraisal of our talents and gifts, valued according to the faith granted us (cf. Rom. 12:3 above).

NB:  It hurts to be humbled, and so it's always better to humble yourself than be demoted!  Instead of thinking such a high estimate of ourselves, we ought to think more highly of others and see the good in them, while we see faults in us overlooking their faults.  (One giveaway sign for lack of humility is to revolve the world around you and to use the pronoun "I" a lot like Job did in his defense in Job 29, or Paul in Romans 7).  God's looking for real men and women, not ideal ones!

In sum, we are indeed fruit inspectors, but of our fruit!    Soli Deo Gloria!

The Utter Damnability Of Sin

"You who are of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong..." (Hab. 1:13, ESV).
"... Everyone did what was right in his own eyes" (Judges 17:6, ESV).
"All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way..." (Isa. 53:6, ESV).
"[T]he only part of Christian theology that can really be proved [is original sin]."--G. K. Chesterton, Christian apologist
"What's wrong with the world?" "I am. Yours truly, G. K. Chesterton."  
"We have done those things we ought not to have done and we have left undone those things we ought to have done."--The Book of Common Prayer (Anglican). 

God doesn't just frown upon sin or disapprove of it, He cannot stand the sight of it and it has no place in His presence (much like matter versus antimatter)--He cannot even countenance evil per Hab. 1:13.  Sin isn't a bad enough word to describe our virus of rebellion; it's the ultimate killjoy word that many preachers refuse to mention even in passing since it has offensive power, even to the elect.  It's the job description of the Holy Spirit alone to convict of sin (cf. John 16:13), but we must resort to the power of the Word of God to do the work.  We only need to be exposed to the light to see our darkness:  "the law is given to convince us that we fail to keep it," according to D. James Kennedy.

Sin has been characterized many ways to bring the point home that it's our legacy and birthright that we cannot escape--in fact, we are not sinners because we sin, but we sin by virtue of already being in sin!  Yes, we go astray and lie even from the womb according to Psalm 58:3.  To illustrate the essence of sin, one should see it as man's ultimate Declaration of Independence from the authority and government or sovereignty of God over one's life--to be the "captain of your soul and master of your fate" like in the humanist poem Invictus by William Ernest Henley.  It could be called an act of autonomy or self-rule over God-rule.   In this sense, sin is rebellion and being volitionally defiant.  We all miss achieving the perfect standard or "missing the mark" (hamartia in Greek) which was set by Jesus' perfect sin-free life of righteous obedience to the Mosaic law.

Many people feel that they don't commit many sins, but they don't realize that what we fail to accomplish or do in the Lord's name as we ought are sins of omission. "I coulda, woulda, shoulda!"  The Westminster Catechism (ca. 1646) defines sin as "any want of conformity unto or transgression of, the Law of God."  It has also been precisely defined as "any thought, word, action, omission, or desire contrary to the law of God" by Charlie Riggs of the BGEA. Clearly, all wrongdoing is sin!  What is ironic is that the closer our walk with Christ, the more clearly we sense our sin and get convicted--Samuel Rutherford said to"pray for a lively sense of sin, the greater the sense, the less sin."

Jesus revolutionized the concept of sin, since the Pharisees had merely externalized it and portrayed it only as certain behavior that can be seen, but Jesus read their hearts and said that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks, and evil proceeds in Mark 7. Proverbs 23:7 reiterates:  "As a man thinks in his heart, so is he."  Dr. Karl Menninger, MD, said that sin is the "refusal of the love of others" [namely, God's]" in his landmark book Whatever Became of Sin?  Even psychiatrists are putting it back into the equation as persons being responsible for their own choices and beginning to use the term again according to Billy Graham.  Sin is self-defeating and destructive as God warned Cain in Gen. 4:7 (NKJV):  "...And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door.   And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it" ["sin wants to destroy you, but don't let it"].

There is no way to defeat sin apart from God's grace, we are slaves to it before salvation!  The paradox is that God really wants what's best for us, and even the rules concerning sexual immorality are only for our good and to watch over our soul and it's purity and health.  Sin is just not God's plan for man, but something He permits or allows, and will ultimately judge and do away with by sending it all to hell.  The point is that if we couldn't sin we would be robots and couldn't obey God of our own free will or choice.  We either choose for or against God with our behavior and thought life.  After salvation, we don't have the right to live in sin, but have the power to defeat it, the power to live in the Spirit.

We cannot blame anyone else for our personal sins, and we certainly cannot judge Adam and Eve for the Fall and believe we would've done anything different--we all repeat their sin.  Their sin was the prototype of all sin and if we analyze it we can see as they:  spurned His grace; contradicted His truth; rejected His authority; disputed His wisdom; repudiated His justice; even resisted His grace (unknown source)!   In short, they didn't take God's Word at face value or take Him at His Word, but were, in effect, unbelievers--Eve first doubted God's Word, then questioned it, she believed Satan's rationalization, then disbelieved God's Word, then finally disobeyed it outright of her own volition in rebellion--and Adam didn't intervene or help her, but was cowardly and irresponsible--both sins.

We all have eaten of the Proverbial Apple and have duplicated Adam's sin, and become defiled by a sin nature and stand in solidarity with Adam before our salvation! Note that the first couple didn't choose evil, they chose self over God--they didn't know what evil was yet.  (Idolatry is always putting self or something in God's place or where it belongs in God's plan or order.)  Adam and Eve thought God was holding out on them, with the help of the serpent's guile and deception.  Note that many scientists blame man's problems on the environment and society, especially psychologists, but the first sin was completed in perfect surroundings--the garden of Eden. We are just like our first parents seeking our own good, delight, and wisdom--the essence of sin is selfishness.  We must look inward and blame ourselves for our shortcomings and failures, not play the blame game and point fingers--we must assume responsibility for our own sins--"the soul that sinneth shall die" (cf. Ezek. 18:4).

You could say that we are great sinners and totally depraved--not utterly depraved, since God restrains evil--though we are not as bad as we possibly could be, we are as bad off as possible.  Every element of our nature falls short and is tainted with sin, just like being a little pregnant, we cannot be a little sinful or depraved.  If sin were yellow, we'd be all yellow!  Our wills, hearts, bodies, and even intellect are stained by sin and only the blood of Jesus can cleanse us and make us clean enough to enter God's presence. It has been said by William Jay of Bath:  "I am a great sinner, but I have a great Savior." This is very humbling but also encouraging--no one is too far gone or too bad to be saved, but bad off enough to need salvation!

The catch-22 is, therefore, that we must see how bad we are to be good or repent, but we don't know how bad we are till we've tried to be good.  The terrible double whammy of sin is that it not only estranges and alienates us from God and others, but it enslaves and traps us and has power over us and the only freedom is to be set by Christ (cf. John 8:36).  Salvation is not only forgiveness of our sin but the power to overcome it and eventually deliverance from its presence.   We are not basically or inherently good, period, nor are we ever good enough to be saved; we are bad enough to need salvation!

There's just no escaping our birthright which is really a virus or disease that devours us and destroys us in the end apart from grace.  Sin becomes neutralized in effect for us when we make up pretty names for it and refuse to call a spade a spade--this is the mere escaping reality and not owning up to our sin as God sees it.   It is by grace that we get convicted of our sin, as Paul called himself the "chief of sinners" (cf. 1 Tim. 1:15) and John Bunyan wrote Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners. This should be encouraging because this means there's hope for everyone and no one is beyond the reach of God's grace!

The real, cold reality of sin is that we don't break God's laws, they break us, but we break God's heart in our sinning.  Just like you cannot get away with violating the laws of nature without consequence, it's likewise with God's divine laws of morality defining sin.   We can praise God that Jesus is the Answer to the sin problem:  as our Prophet, He frees us of our ignorance of it; as our Priest, He is the offering and releases us from the guilt of it; and as our King, He frees us from the power of it.

In closing, let me mention that Christians are still sinners in that they sin (cf. Gal. 2:17), but we are called "saints" because in God's eyes Christians are justified, as God is both just and the justifier of the unjust by virtue of His grace and mercy.  In His mercy we don't get what we deserve; in His grace, we get what we don't deserve!  It is a sad commentary on mankind that he grows callous to his sins and has the tendency to justify them whatever way possible to silence the conscience.  Caveat:  we must refrain from making up our own rules or standards of right and wrong as if we judge God; He judges us and is the sole moral center of the universe!    Soli Deo Gloria!

Living The Good Life--Life To The Full!

"Who knows but that you have come to a royal position for such a time as this?" (Esther 4:14, NIV).
"And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.  Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life" (1 John 5:11-12, ESV). 
"In him was life, and the life was the light of men" (John 1:4, ESV).
"Thou madest us for Thyself, and our heart is restless until it rests in Thee."--Saint Augustine, Bishop of Hippo (Confessions)
NB:  Aristotle, the philosopher, in his book Nicomachean Ethics, laid down the precepts of living the "good life" by the pursuance of virtuous living, describing a life of flourishing and happiness.  

There was once a front-page article in Time magazine all about Sen. Wendell Anderson, former governor, and now appointing himself the senator from Minnesota, demonstrating on the cover with a picture of the so-called "good life in Minnesota" (with him fishing on one of its lakes in a boat!).  People often confuse the so-called good life with someplace to inherit or migrate to and not as a frame of mind or mindset.  

People try to find the good life, life to the max as if it's geographical. People over-spiritualize Scripture and claim we should conquer our personal promised land and take what's ours by virtue of being saved and righteous.  Prosperity theology is fallacious and leads many astray who focus on this life and store up treasures in the here and now, which they tend to keep their eyes on, instead of looking to Jesus (cf. Heb. 12:2).

God does indeed promise to prosper us, but not always in a financial sense, it is erroneous to translate spirituality into riches or to think that godliness is a means of financial gain or advantage.  We will indeed prosper, but according to God's plan and will and whatever we do in His name to His glory (all our godly endeavors).  Jesus promised a more abundant or fulfilling and meaningful life in Christ and this is the eternal life that begins in quality upon salvation.  None can claim that serving God is futile and God doesn't reward us and make it worth our time to invest in spiritual matters.

Part of living a fulfilling and rewarding life is having an impact and making a difference--we do this by finding out our talents and spiritual gifting and being faithful--God is more interested in this than in success, which is up to Him, not us. This can make us feel good about ourselves and we become contagious believers.  One of the greatest achievements and most rewarding applause we can get is that we have had an influence on someone for the better according to God's will and glory. 

Be sure that you seek the approbation of God, not man, though!  We are indeed the hands, feet, heart, and voice of God to a spiritually depraved and deprived world.  We must realize our potential to be actualized or commissioned, and that means knowing like Esther that we were "born for such a time as this" (cf. Es. 4:14).

Opportunity is always knocking and we only need to heed the call.  We become more human by realizing our potential, and everyone has unrealized potential as well as realized potential.  Most of us are not what we have the capability and capacity of becoming in Christ.  Remember, we are here for a reason, to glorify God (cf. Is. 43:7).  Yes, we have the destiny to fulfill and God has a plan already for us to realize if we cooperate, we don't want to settle for second best or have regrets for what could've been and mourn over lost opportunities.  When we have the right mindset and worldview we see meaning and learn to see a purpose in life, which is more than the mere setting of goals, for purposes sound a note that reverberates into eternity and will even outlast our vocation or hobbies.

Part of being content in life is knowing our value to others or that we are important and fulfill a need that others can't do--that we have a unique purpose and calling from God.  We also long to have an impact and know we are accomplishing something and our labor is not in vain in the Lord (cf. 1 Cor. 15:58), but God is not unjust so as not to reward it and bless our efforts done in His name.  Part of our fulfillment also comes in knowing who we are in the Lord--are we just everyone's servant or did God grant us some domain to serve Him in and be responsible for?

We must be willing to be a servant, and in God's economy, the way up is down!  But God gives us prerogatives, rights, and duties to fulfill also and we must seize the day and redeem the time for the Lord and make the most of every opportunity He grants.  We all have talents, skills, energy, relationships, gifts, resources, opportunities, assets, dignity, authority, and general makeup and attributes to use for God's glory and we must do it faithfully in His name, i.e., according to His will, not our personal agenda.

The fulfilled believer knows his orthopraxy or ethics and knows how to be a good Samaritan and good neighbor to those in need in his orbit or circle of friends.  This is where Micah 6:8, ESV, comes into play:  "He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?"  We must not only know the Word and the Author but learn to apply it and be doers of the Word, translating creeds into deeds!  Christianity isn't just pie in the sky!  Nor is it just walking around on Cloud Nine, nor is it a secluded or monastic-styled virtue, separated from the real world--for we are to be in it, but just not of it, being the salt and light.

The good life consists of having the peace of knowing we are secure in our destiny and salvation in Christ and no one can take this away--not even ourselves! Don't divorce salvation from security in it!  Our walk with the Lord is not just a list of dos and don'ts, nor a catalog of rules, collection of spiritual platitudes, nor a manual of mystical ideas, nor does God exist to grant us religious experiences or highs, au contraire, we are to be real, not necessarily will we be ideal though!

The peace Jesus gives as His legacy cannot be forfeited, and it can only be known because of the finished work of Christ on the cross!  "And the peace of God, that surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 4:6, ESV).  With this peace, we can be content in every circumstance, and even give thanks and rejoice always in the Lord!   

In sum, we can only get the most out of life with Christ in it--things go better with the Lord in the equation!  SHALOM!    Soli Deo Gloria!