Are We 100 Percent Spiritual?

We are not always spiritual in the sense that sometimes we are carnal and out of fellowship because of sin in our lives. On the other hand, we can be "so spiritually minded and no earthly good." Some Christians talk of their favorite sports team with the enthusiasm that should also belong to the Lord.

It is a shame if we cannot praise God with equal zest. Now there is nothing wrong with sports that teaches so many valuable life skills and lessons, but it is not to be an idol or a religion as it were. They say the second biggest religion in the State of Hockey (Minnesota) is hockey. This is not really a compliment.

I believe we will play sports in heaven, though with fair play in all aspects I would add. (No checking or free-for-all's in hockey, but our resurrection bodies won't feel pain. Baseball is a gentleman's sport and I believe we can play it in heaven and we won't be depressed if our team loses--we will praise the Lord anyway!) If we can show great enthusiasm for sports we should also be able to do it for the Lord.

All of our time in heaven won't be occupied with worshiping God per se, though we will praise God continually in what we do, work, leisure or play. There are special angels that spend all their time worshiping God, but we will have duties to do and responsibilities to attend. So don't let anyone tell you not to talk of mundane subjects because they are not "spiritual."

"Whatsoever you do, do to the glory of God" (1 Cor. 10:31). Brother Lawrence wrote a book Practicing the presence of God in which he wrote about work being worship and finding God's fellowship in everything you do. Martin Luther taught that work is worship when done to the glory of God.

It is wrong to dichotomize between the clerical and the secular or the spiritual and the mundane, for we can do all things to God's glory!  Soli Deo Gloria!

What Is Subjectivism?

Just because we have the right to interpret Scripture doesn't mean we have the right to interpret it any way we want to. Just because we feel something is true doesn't make it so: e.g., not believing in election because it seems to make God out to be a despot. We cannot fabricate our own truths! We are obliged to cutting it straight so to speak. There have been many "mystics" who claim special revelation and new interpretations that only they have been privileged to know. For example, the Quakers believe they should listen to an "Inner Light" and Mormons believe God testifies His Word with a "burning in the bosom."

Remember the road to Emmaus: "Were not our hearts burning within us?" Neo-orthodox theologian Karl Barth said that a passage becomes the Word of God when you have an existential experience with it. Well, that could subjectively mean anything: Does he mean getting goosebumps, chills down the spine, or burning in the bosom? Somehow God can convict us of the truth and speak to our hearts; it is usually different to each individual. Reading into the Scriptures what we want to see is called eisegesis and correct interpretation is called exegesis.

God can speak through the air vent if He chooses, but He has chosen to primarily speak through His Word. "And the Word of the Lord tried him." "He revealed Himself to Samuel through His Word" (1 Sam. 3:21). "For it is no empty word for you, but your very life" (Deut. 32:47). "Do not My words do good to him whose ways are upright?" (Mic. 2:7). Note that God uses His Word. "The LORD revealed Himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the LORD" (1 Sam. 3:21).

Swedish scientist, philosopher, and theologian Emmanuel Swedenborg was a mystic that decided he would eliminate some of the books of the Bible that he didn't "feel" were scriptural. Today we have a sect following his errant teaching. If God is going to reveal the meaning to you He will do it to other members of the body also as confirmation. "For no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation..." (2 Pet. 1:21). In summary: Subjectivism is a road to mysticism and we must endeavor to be objective, even though there is no such thing as total objectivity except with God.  Soli Deo Gloria!

Science Owes Christianity

Science was made possible by the discovery of a rational universe, perceived by a rational mind, using rational modus operandi. Induction, deduction, experimentation, measurement, repeatability, theory and hypothesis make science possible. The Eastern religions don't believe in a rational universe, but in Maya or that the universe is a figment of our imagination and that it isn't really real. It was the Christian worldview of 15th century Europe that really got the scientific method off to its debut. Sir Francis Bacon is considered the "Father of the Scientific Method."

All of the early great scientists (Galileo, Kepler, Copernicus,  Newton, Boyle, Pascal, Maxwell, Boyle, Bacon, et al.) were Christians. In fact, science owes its existence to Christianity. But the ironic thing is that now science seems to be thinking that religion, in general, is the "enemy" and incompatible with the scientific method.

Science is only one avenue to the truth. Some things are not verified by test tube, repetition, observation, measurement or confined to laboratory conditions. I.e., you cannot take a pound of love and a pint of partiality, nevertheless we affirm their existence.

All worldviews require presuppositions and so-called "natural science," as opposed to the supernatural, does too. In fact, it takes more faith to believe a naturalistic universe without any intentional design than it does to simply believe in a supreme being. The evidence is in favor of a deity, but people are not willing to take the leap of faith in the direction of the faith because of moral issues, not intellectual problems. They don't believe because they don't want to believe, not because they can't. "Even though he performed many miracles there, they would [not could] not believe in him" (John 12:37).  Soli Deo Gloria!

Does Prayer Work?

Prayer works, the preacher says, so come on up and we'll pray for your needs. The objection I have is that TM works and yoga works, but we don't try them. Just because something works doesn't mean it is true, that is not the criterion. Lee Strobel says that Christianity works because it is true, it is not true because it works.

We should pray even if we don't feel we are getting from God what we want, as it were, that he is our genie giving us what we want. We pray for the sake of praying says Steven Brown not for ulterior motives. Someone has wisely said that we should love God even if there were no heaven and fear God even if there were no hell. Well, we should have the desire to commune with God even if we don't get our way.

The paradigm of prayer should always include "in Jesus' name" (it is for his sake and God's will that we really want to pray). Now, some preachers think their prayers are more "effectual" (James. 5:16) than others but they are not. Any Christian can pray without giving up and "fervently" to get our wills aligned with God's. We don't change God, he changes us. You see, we are all on an equal footing in prayer--that is the beauty, God is no respecter of persons and shows no partiality.

Some say that worry works because 90 percent of what we worry about doesn't happen! Well, with that kind of logic prayer isn't as effective as worry because I don't think anyone can say that 90 percent of their prayers were answered in the affirmative--if they are, they are not very challenging prayers. God can answer in the affirmative, negative or tell us to wait. "Man ought always to pray and not to give up" (Luke 18:1). But we should never give up hope unless God clearly says no like he did to Paul's thorn in the flesh. But remember this: God has arranged it so that we can explain away answered prayers if we so desire--he doesn't force us to believe but wants faith to please him. Well, prayer does work but that is not why we pray!

On The Enslaved Will

The bondage of the will or what Martin Luther called the enslaved will was the subject of his book "De Servo Arbitrio." A diatribe was written against the scholar Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam a well-known prototype "Arminian" and protagonist of "free will" as the Romanists defined it.  The Remonstrants objected to Reformed theology and were answered by the Canons of Dort in 1618, which delineated the so-called five points of Calvinism.  Jacobus Arminius was the architect of the Arminian heresy, which deviated from orthodox theology stemming from the days of Augustine, Bishop of Hippo.

Martin Luther said that the freedom of the will is a grandiose term and fit only for God. Our wills are enslaved to the old sin nature and inclined to evil. They are biased and prone to evil, not good. Luther said that man has not ceased to be man, but ceased to be good. We are only free in the sense that God doesn't force us to do evil--we do it on our own volition.

Augustine of Hippo said that we are free but not freed. This is not a mind game, but only stressing that we don't have liberty, though we are responsible moral agents. We concur with our evil and no one forces us to do evil, which would be determinism or coercion. We are voluntary slaves to evil. God doesn't force anyone to do something he doesn't want to do.

There are many Bible verses that stress the lack of freedom to respond to Christ on our own without the wooing of the Spirit. "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him." "It is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God who showeth mercy." "Who are born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. " "The way of man is not in himself."

The freedom of the will so to speak is a curse, since we are free to do evil. Augustine said that we are non posse non peccare, which means we can only do evil. Luther said the will can only do evil, too. Augustine said we are "free, but not freed;" we have a free will in a sense, but not liberty.  Soli Deo Gloria!

The Bondage Of The Will

Did you get set freed by Christ or not, that is the question.

According to Martin Luther (cf., The Bondage of the Will), the will is enslaved or in bondage to the old sin nature and not free. Augustine of Hippo said that the will is "free but not freed." He wasn't playing mind games but saying that we are responsible agents to God for our choices, but don't have liberty. He doesn't force us to do evil, because we do it on our own initiative. The freedom of the will is a curse because we can only do evil according to Luther. Where did free will help Esau?

There are many Bible verses that show that man doesn't have free will as far as the ability to choose and come to Christ apart from grace and the wooing of the Spirit. "For who can resist His will?" (Rom. 9:19). "It is not of him that willeth ..." (Rom. 9:16). "Who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God" (John 1:13). "For the way of man is not in himself, it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps" (Jer. 10:23; cf. Psalm 37:37).

We are biased or prone to evil, not good. Martin Luther said we have not ceased to be man, but have ceased to be good. The whole matter can be summed up in the phrase: "We don't need free will--we need wills made free!" We are inclined to evil, not good--the ability lost at the fall. We are biased. We are still human but not good-natured. The doctrine of total depravity ensures that we are not inherently good, but spoiled throughout with evil.

This is one of the oldest debates in Christendom. Heretic British monk Pelagius and Augustine debated it and so did Luther and Erasmus of Rotterdam. The prevalence of the doctrine of freedom of the will in today's church is due to the influence of the Wesleyan Arminians (founded by patron saint Jacob Hermann, better known as Jacobus Arminius). Don't let anyone make you think that the enslavement of the will is a new doctrine or that it is not orthodox, because it is the original doctrine defended by the church fathers and the reformers.

In the final analysis, we don't need free will to be saved, but wills made free!    Soli Deo Gloria!

How Depraved Are We?

Common Sense On The Will

There has been debate over the will of man for centuries. Martin Luther debated Erasmus of Rotterdam in a diatribe The Bondage of the Will, and Jonathan Edwards wrote the book entitled The Freedom of the Will. Most of the problem lies with semantics because people don't understand the definitions. No one is saying we are automata, chatty dolls, or robots, so to speak.

But Proverbs 21:1 says, "The king's heart is a stream of water in the hands of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will." Jer. 10:23 (cf. Prov. 16:9) says, "I know, O LORD, that the way of man is not in himself, that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps." Prov. 20:24 says, "A man's steps are from the LORD, how then can man understand his way?" "...Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?" (Rom. 9:19). There are numerous passages that seem to indicate that God is in control.

There are two kinds of free will. The will to do the divine and to do the mundane. We have not lost the free will to do a secular activity. We do not have the desire or inclination to choose Christ apart from a work of grace (God woos us). "No man can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him..." (John 6:44, cf. 65 known as the "hard sayings of Jesus). "So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy" (Rom. 9:16). Our destiny is ultimately in God's hands and He chose us according to His foreknowledge before time began. (This refers to the doctrines of election and predestination.)

Is His sovereignty limited by man's freedom? The most fanatic Calvinist will admit that man is free to do what he desires to do. God never forces anyone to do anything he doesn't want to do--that would be coercion or determinism. He feels no outside force but God is still able to influence Him to do His will. "For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure" (Phil. 2:13; cf. Col. 1:29; Heb. 13:21). The will is defined as that by which the mind chooses and is the referee, as it were. Finally, Prov. 16:9 says, "The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps."   Soli Deo Gloria!

Plain Talk On Eternal Security

Salvation is a turning from sin to God--the summons to faith is only half the process, but some believers refer to their salvation experience as a repentance per se, the call to forsake sin. Paul says, "Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret..." (2 Cor. 7:10). God isn't fooled by mere outward show, He says, "Rend your hearts and not your garments" (Joel 2:13). William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, deplored the rise of a gospel that had salvation without repentance.

Billy Graham says that genuine repentance and saving or true faith go hand in hand and are complementary to each other; faith is like the flip side of the penitent coin. Repentance is a recurring motif in the Bible. Jesus opened His ministry proclaiming, "Repent! For the kingdom of God is at hand." One must bring forth the fruits of repentance for it to be real (cf. Matt. 3:8: "Bear fruit in keeping with repentance"). Faith and repentance are linked or coupled by Luke in Acts 20:21, "Testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ." Paul said, "...Repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance."

Repentance is not a one-time act but according to Martin Luther a progressive lifelong event. We never stop repenting. This was the first of Luther's Ninety-Five Theses.

Repentance is "coming clean" and it is "throwing in the towel." It is more than "eating your humble pie," and it is not a human work, but the work of God in the heart. Watchman Nee says, "Our end is God's beginning." We all have to come to the end of ourselves or reach our limit outside of our comfort zone. 2 Tim. 2:24 says that God "grants" repentance. "Then to the Gentiles God has also granted repentance that leads to life" (Acts 11:18). It is a gift.

It is doing an about-face, doing a 180-degree turn, or making a U-turn. You renounce and repudiate sin--all your sins. Note that is imperative--it is a mandate. It is not simply "regret," or feeling sorry or emotionalism. Attrition is like feeling sorry over the consequences like getting caught. Contrition is true repentance. "A broken and contrite heart, you will not despise..." (Ps. 51:17).

Soli Deo Gloria!

Materialism Is Rampant

Not ignoring the "Christmas spirit."  Materialism is not new; as in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the days when the Son of Man comes. Jonah said, "Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs." Anything that comes between you and God is an idol. Idolatry is breaking the first of the Ten Commandments. Obadiah puts an interesting spin on materialism when he says Israel shall "possess their possessions." We must not let them dictate our lives but must remain in control of them. (We use things and love people, not love things and use people.)

Our whole society is based on consumerism, greed, and the pride of life, which is from the world and not of God (1 John 2:16). "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (Cf. Matt. 6:21) "Do not store for yourselves treasures on earth...." The Bible says in Matt. 6:24 that you cannot serve God and Mammon.

The vast majority of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is consumer spending. Billy Graham has rightly quoted, "Riches are not in the abundance of possessions but in the fewness of wants." When I dedicated my life to Christ I had to get rid of my motorcycle because it had been too important to me and I wanted Christ to be first in my life. Some people can control their possessions without loving them--I couldn't. Maybe today in my more mature years as a believer things would be different. "Our life does not consist in the abundance of our possessions," said the Lord. And so I was convicted by Luke 14:33 which says, "So, therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple."

You see, all of our possessions really belong to God. It is not how much of our money we give to God but how much of His money we utilize for ourselves, because it is written, "For the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof" in Psalm 24:1.  In his book, The Pursuit of God, A. W. Tozer writes of "the blessedness of possessing nothing." 

You can be a poor materialist or a rich man without being rich in Christ or a rich man that is not a materialist. Woe to him who is rich in this world's goods and not rich in Christ. For it is harder for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. But with God all things are possible. "The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil" according to 1 Tim. 6: 10.

CAVEAT: JUST REMEMBER THAT WE USE THINGS AND RELATE TO PEOPLE! Soli Deo Gloria!