What exactly was David referring to in verse 6 of the 23rd Psalm? "... and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever!" (in the HCSB it says "as long as I live.") This was a confession of faith an article of a creed, or a proclamation of victory that all was well with his soul and he knew to Whom he belonged. There are three key doctrinal points to be made from this verse.
First, he was assured of his salvation as it were.
Second, it commenced immediately or he owned it in the present tense (i.e., eternal life in Christ the Chief Shepherd referred to).
Third, he could not lose this confidence or his security was assured and good as God's Word. David was emphatically proclaiming his salvation and announcing to us that he will be there in the LORD's house as a sure thing, for He is the perfect Promise Keeper.
David connected with the Lord on a personal level and sensed His presence in his life; you might say he knew that God is the One who is there, as Schaeffer called God, "The God who is there!" As he also said, "He is there, and He is not silent." We cannot be any closer than that--we converse with Him--in one level this psalm is a prayer of faith! David's faith expressed a deep fellowship and not just second-hand knowledge.
That is to say that we can have assurance of our salvation and don't have to wonder or just "hope" for the best; that our salvation begins in real time (it is not provisional and we are not on probation to earn our salvation or to keep it); and that our salvation is eternal and cannot be forfeited or lost--once you have it, you can never lose it--you're family and one of the Shepherd's sheep. This is vital to know because the assurance of salvation and the eternal security of the believer are to be distinguished, but not separated! They go hand in hand and you cannot have one without the other--we must never divorce them!
If there wasn't any security you would be presumptuous to say you had assurance or were saved, because you don't know if you might lose it by some future sin or might commit apostasy or fall away as a backslider and not recover. If there's no assurance, there's no security; if there's no security, there's no assurance--this is logic and by definition. Just by the definition of eternal life, we say that it cannot end and begins and goes on from Day One, and from there all of one's days into eternity! How can you have eternal life for one day? You either partake of eternal life or you don't! In sum, we share in God's life and are considered members of His household!
Our heritage as believers is the peace of God, which is manifest in multiple ways. We have the peace with God, of God, and with ourselves. This knowledge that we can rest in peace knowing we belong to God and are secure in our legacy, is really living the good life or life to the max! Our peace is the peace that surpasses all understanding! Isaiah 57:21 says, "there is no peace, says my God, for the wicked" and Rom. 3:17 says that "and the way of peace they do not know." As they say, know Jesus, know peace; no Jesus, no peace!
"I was glad when they said unto mem, let us go into the house of the LORD" (cf. Psalm 122:1). Soli Deo Gloria!
To bridge the gap between so-called theologians and regular "students" of the Word and make polemics palatable. Contact me @ bloggerbro@outlook.com To search title keywords: title:example or label as label:example; or enter a keyword in search engine ATTN: SITE USING COOKIES!
About Me
- Karl Broberg
- I am a born-again Christian, who is Reformed, but also charismatic, spiritually speaking. (I do not speak in tongues, but I believe glossalalia is a bona fide gift not given to all, and not as great as prophecy, for example.) I have several years of college education but only completed a two-year degree. I was raised Lutheran and confirmed, but I didn't "find Christ" until I was in the Army and responded to a Billy Graham crusade in 1973. I was mentored or discipled by the Navigators in the army and upon discharge joined several evangelical, Bible-teaching churches. I was baptized as an infant, but believe in believer baptism, of which I was a partaker after my conversion experience. I believe in the "5 Onlys" of the reformation: sola fide (faith alone); sola Scriptura (Scripture alone); soli Christo (Christ alone), sola gratia (grace alone), and soli Deo gloria (to God alone be the glory). I affirm TULIP as defended in the Reformation.. I affirm most of The Westminster Confession of Faith, especially pertaining to Providence.
Sunday, July 14, 2019
Death Be Not Proud!
"What man is he that liveth, and shall not see death?" (Psalm 84:48, KJV).
These are famous words of John Donne, the poet, known also for such lines as "Don't ask for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee!" and "No man is an island!' These words seem immortal to some because they have the ring of truth, even for Christians, and Donne didn't profess a faith in God. Truth hurts no matter who says it sometimes and we must speak it in love for that reason. The reason death cannot be proud is found in Hosea 13:14, HCSB, which says, "I will ransom them from the power of Sheol [the grave]. I will redeem them from death. Death, where are your barbs? Sheol, where is your sting?" Jesus conquered the death for us and we need not fear it any longer, in fact, the apostles went from being a fearful band to becoming bold as a lion in facing death after seeing Christ, and the way they died as martyrs shows no fear of death at all, so that their death became a witness to the infidel and pagan world of the time.
Now, I want to make a distinction between the martyrs of Christianity and those of radical Islam as an example: Many a man will die for what he believes in or thinks is true, but will not die for a known lie--and the apostles were in a position to know whether Christ rose from the dead because they were eyewitnesses! What transformed them so suddenly? The resident power of the Holy Spirit that is not a spirit of timidity, but of boldness for Christ. I am reminded of what David said, and he lived dangerously for sure, that there was "but a step between him and death." He knew that you always have to be ready because no one knows when their time is and they must be prepared to meet their God always. Woody Allen was afraid of death too but kept his sense of humor about it: "I'm not afraid to die. I just don't want to be there when it happens!" Also, George Washington fought death and was asked if he was afraid to die: he replied that he wasn't afraid to die; he just dies hard! (He doesn't give up easily--he was a diehard!)
The Bible makes it clear that even believers can die before their time (cf. Eccl. 7:15, 17; Isa. 57:1), and no one takes note! We are not guaranteed a long life if we serve God, but a more abundant one, and when we've completed our mission, then it's our time to check out, as it says of David having completed all God's will in Acts 13:36.
The trouble with people today is that they live as if they aren't going to die, and die as if they never lived! People spend more time worrying about their funeral arrangements than making plans for eternity! No one wants to make their final preparations, and I don't mean providing for final expenses or making a will, but knowing what God's will for them is. NB: St. Francis of Assisi was always ready to meet his Maker, and when asked what he would do if he only had thirty minutes to live while he was doing his gardening, he said, "I'd finish this row!" We should all heed the warning given to Hezekiah to get our house in order for it might be our time, and it may come when we least expect it. Matthew Henry said we ought to live each day as if it's our last! But we also are admonished by the Lord to be ready to meet the Lord in the air and not be taken by surprise, as if asleep when He comes for us--we should be reading the signs of the times and notice that His coming is near, even at the door or we may be unprepared for the day of our visitation.
Fanatics claim they aren't afraid to die and Socrates is known to have died very stoically, but there is a difference the way Christians die. They die in hope, not despair and God gives them dying grace to grant the faith to face the end, which they see as not a wall, but a door! We don't wait for death, but for a new life and have hope that cannot fade away, not based upon anything we've done, like a suicide bomber hoping for mercy from Allah. The Christian has already died in Christ and has nothing to lose and everything to gain to go to his reward; while the unbeliever's reward was in this life--ours does not fade away. We die daily!
We must be willing to take up our cross and follow Jesus, which might involve more than an inconvenience and denying ourselves some luxury, but dying to self--the sacrifice is our ego and all we have (God wants us, not our achievements or resources--they already are His!), and put all that is on the line for Jesus. Satan held the power of death and death is the last enemy to be destroyed, but look upon it as our promotion and going to our reward, meeting our Maker in glory, which is not a continuation of this life as we know it, but a whole new realm of existence that may seem surreal if one could imagine it--in fact no eye has seen what God has prepared for those who believe! The paradox of our faith is that in dying we live!
In sum, we must reckon ourselves never to be out of deaths shadow and always but a step away from it (it's inevitable and as sure as taxes!) I say the only thing certain about life is death--we commence it upon birth! Oscar Wilde said, "One can survive anything nowadays except death!"--so the Boy Scout motto applies: Be Prepared! Soli Deo Gloria!
These are famous words of John Donne, the poet, known also for such lines as "Don't ask for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee!" and "No man is an island!' These words seem immortal to some because they have the ring of truth, even for Christians, and Donne didn't profess a faith in God. Truth hurts no matter who says it sometimes and we must speak it in love for that reason. The reason death cannot be proud is found in Hosea 13:14, HCSB, which says, "I will ransom them from the power of Sheol [the grave]. I will redeem them from death. Death, where are your barbs? Sheol, where is your sting?" Jesus conquered the death for us and we need not fear it any longer, in fact, the apostles went from being a fearful band to becoming bold as a lion in facing death after seeing Christ, and the way they died as martyrs shows no fear of death at all, so that their death became a witness to the infidel and pagan world of the time.
Now, I want to make a distinction between the martyrs of Christianity and those of radical Islam as an example: Many a man will die for what he believes in or thinks is true, but will not die for a known lie--and the apostles were in a position to know whether Christ rose from the dead because they were eyewitnesses! What transformed them so suddenly? The resident power of the Holy Spirit that is not a spirit of timidity, but of boldness for Christ. I am reminded of what David said, and he lived dangerously for sure, that there was "but a step between him and death." He knew that you always have to be ready because no one knows when their time is and they must be prepared to meet their God always. Woody Allen was afraid of death too but kept his sense of humor about it: "I'm not afraid to die. I just don't want to be there when it happens!" Also, George Washington fought death and was asked if he was afraid to die: he replied that he wasn't afraid to die; he just dies hard! (He doesn't give up easily--he was a diehard!)
The Bible makes it clear that even believers can die before their time (cf. Eccl. 7:15, 17; Isa. 57:1), and no one takes note! We are not guaranteed a long life if we serve God, but a more abundant one, and when we've completed our mission, then it's our time to check out, as it says of David having completed all God's will in Acts 13:36.
The trouble with people today is that they live as if they aren't going to die, and die as if they never lived! People spend more time worrying about their funeral arrangements than making plans for eternity! No one wants to make their final preparations, and I don't mean providing for final expenses or making a will, but knowing what God's will for them is. NB: St. Francis of Assisi was always ready to meet his Maker, and when asked what he would do if he only had thirty minutes to live while he was doing his gardening, he said, "I'd finish this row!" We should all heed the warning given to Hezekiah to get our house in order for it might be our time, and it may come when we least expect it. Matthew Henry said we ought to live each day as if it's our last! But we also are admonished by the Lord to be ready to meet the Lord in the air and not be taken by surprise, as if asleep when He comes for us--we should be reading the signs of the times and notice that His coming is near, even at the door or we may be unprepared for the day of our visitation.
Fanatics claim they aren't afraid to die and Socrates is known to have died very stoically, but there is a difference the way Christians die. They die in hope, not despair and God gives them dying grace to grant the faith to face the end, which they see as not a wall, but a door! We don't wait for death, but for a new life and have hope that cannot fade away, not based upon anything we've done, like a suicide bomber hoping for mercy from Allah. The Christian has already died in Christ and has nothing to lose and everything to gain to go to his reward; while the unbeliever's reward was in this life--ours does not fade away. We die daily!
We must be willing to take up our cross and follow Jesus, which might involve more than an inconvenience and denying ourselves some luxury, but dying to self--the sacrifice is our ego and all we have (God wants us, not our achievements or resources--they already are His!), and put all that is on the line for Jesus. Satan held the power of death and death is the last enemy to be destroyed, but look upon it as our promotion and going to our reward, meeting our Maker in glory, which is not a continuation of this life as we know it, but a whole new realm of existence that may seem surreal if one could imagine it--in fact no eye has seen what God has prepared for those who believe! The paradox of our faith is that in dying we live!
In sum, we must reckon ourselves never to be out of deaths shadow and always but a step away from it (it's inevitable and as sure as taxes!) I say the only thing certain about life is death--we commence it upon birth! Oscar Wilde said, "One can survive anything nowadays except death!"--so the Boy Scout motto applies: Be Prepared! Soli Deo Gloria!
Friday, July 12, 2019
Pre-salvation Works?
"I will give them a heart to know Me, for I am the LORD, and they will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with their whole heart" (Jer. 24:7, NASB).
"I will give you a new heart and put anew spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh" (Ezek. 36:26, HCSB).
"For who makes you so superior? What do you have that you didn't receive? If, in fact, you did receive it, why do you boast as if you hadn't received it?" (1 Cor. 4:7, HCSB).
"Jesus replied, 'This is the work of God--that you believe in the One He has sent" (John 6:29, HCSB).
"For it is God who is working in you, enabling you desire and to work out HIs good purpose" (Phil. 2:13, HCSB).
NB: If our salvation depended on us or our works, we'd find a way to blow it!
I have heard that the outsider or infidel thinks we are saved by submitting to the Lordship of Christ as some kind of tit for tat arrangement! There are no, and I repeat no, pre-salvation works we must do to inherit salvation! God does all the work and also gets all the glory! We contribute naught and get no glory or credit--we cannot pat ourselves on the back and give ourselves congrats for a job well done; i.e., being proud of our virtue, wisdom, or even intellect. Salvation is not by works, but by faith received from God. We don't achieve faith, we receive it ("[we have ] received a precious faith," cf. 2 Pet. 1:1; cf. Phil. 1:29). It's grace all the way: We cannot earn it, nor pay it back, nor do we deserve it, nor even can we add to it! If faith were a work that we do, we'd have something to boast of because ours salvation would be a work, and we are not saved by works (cf. Eph. 2:8-9; Titus 3:5-6)!
This tit for tat (quid pro quo) is the totally wrong way to view salvation, because God turns our heart of stone into a heart of flesh and removes all our wrinkles and blemishes in His sight to make us acceptable and justified, even though we are still sinners, we are just in His eyes--He declares us just, He doesn't make us just. We must look upon salvation as going from Point A to Point Z, whereas Jesus is the Author and Finisher of our faith and works in us to do according to His good pleasure (cf. Phil. 2:13; Col. 1:29; Heb. 13:21), completing what He began, our salvation accomplished by the power of God, not in the energy of the flesh. What happened to Saul on the road to Damascus? Jesus changed his rebellious heart and told him he was "kicking against the goads [fighting God's will]."
God is able, because He's the Almighty, to overcome our weak wills and change our hearts (cf. Jer. 24:7), totally transforming us into new creatures in Christ. Our destiny is in God's hands, not ours (cf. Rom. 9:16). When we realize that it was God at work, and we that turned over a new leaf, made an AA pledge, or a New Year's resolution, then we are becoming grace-oriented and giving God His due glory.
NB: There is nothing we can do to make ourselves "acceptable" in God's eyes; we are totally depraved and unable not to sin in His estimation. As theologians say, "We are not sinners because we sin, but sin because we are sinners." We cannot not sin! We are dead in trespasses and sin before salvation and a dead man can do nothing but await the grace of God like Lazarus did, whom Jesus rose from the dead. What He does is quicken faith (cf. Acts 16:14) within us and make us alive in Christ to respond to the gospel message; i.e., we are regenerated unto faith. "He opened the door of faith. [cf. Acts 14:27]" A good rule of thumb for sound Bible doctrine is that the one that gives the glory to God, not man, is the right one! For example, the sinner who claims he came to Christ of his own free will, probably left of his own too, un-regenerated, that is. We must be wooed or drawn (cf. John 6:44, 65) and transformed all by grace. If we merited our salvation because we believed, it wouldn't be grace, but justice!
In summation, let me point out that salvation is wholly a work of God (it's monergistic, not synergistic or cooperative) and Jonah 2:9 summed it up with one utterance: "Salvation is of the LORD!" It's not Jesus plus anything: not plus going to church, plus witnessing, plus giving alms, et cetera! This means it's not of us and God, nor of us, but of the Lord--He did it all! Soli Deo Gloria!
"I will give you a new heart and put anew spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh" (Ezek. 36:26, HCSB).
"For who makes you so superior? What do you have that you didn't receive? If, in fact, you did receive it, why do you boast as if you hadn't received it?" (1 Cor. 4:7, HCSB).
"Jesus replied, 'This is the work of God--that you believe in the One He has sent" (John 6:29, HCSB).
"For it is God who is working in you, enabling you desire and to work out HIs good purpose" (Phil. 2:13, HCSB).
NB: If our salvation depended on us or our works, we'd find a way to blow it!
I have heard that the outsider or infidel thinks we are saved by submitting to the Lordship of Christ as some kind of tit for tat arrangement! There are no, and I repeat no, pre-salvation works we must do to inherit salvation! God does all the work and also gets all the glory! We contribute naught and get no glory or credit--we cannot pat ourselves on the back and give ourselves congrats for a job well done; i.e., being proud of our virtue, wisdom, or even intellect. Salvation is not by works, but by faith received from God. We don't achieve faith, we receive it ("[we have ] received a precious faith," cf. 2 Pet. 1:1; cf. Phil. 1:29). It's grace all the way: We cannot earn it, nor pay it back, nor do we deserve it, nor even can we add to it! If faith were a work that we do, we'd have something to boast of because ours salvation would be a work, and we are not saved by works (cf. Eph. 2:8-9; Titus 3:5-6)!
This tit for tat (quid pro quo) is the totally wrong way to view salvation, because God turns our heart of stone into a heart of flesh and removes all our wrinkles and blemishes in His sight to make us acceptable and justified, even though we are still sinners, we are just in His eyes--He declares us just, He doesn't make us just. We must look upon salvation as going from Point A to Point Z, whereas Jesus is the Author and Finisher of our faith and works in us to do according to His good pleasure (cf. Phil. 2:13; Col. 1:29; Heb. 13:21), completing what He began, our salvation accomplished by the power of God, not in the energy of the flesh. What happened to Saul on the road to Damascus? Jesus changed his rebellious heart and told him he was "kicking against the goads [fighting God's will]."
God is able, because He's the Almighty, to overcome our weak wills and change our hearts (cf. Jer. 24:7), totally transforming us into new creatures in Christ. Our destiny is in God's hands, not ours (cf. Rom. 9:16). When we realize that it was God at work, and we that turned over a new leaf, made an AA pledge, or a New Year's resolution, then we are becoming grace-oriented and giving God His due glory.
NB: There is nothing we can do to make ourselves "acceptable" in God's eyes; we are totally depraved and unable not to sin in His estimation. As theologians say, "We are not sinners because we sin, but sin because we are sinners." We cannot not sin! We are dead in trespasses and sin before salvation and a dead man can do nothing but await the grace of God like Lazarus did, whom Jesus rose from the dead. What He does is quicken faith (cf. Acts 16:14) within us and make us alive in Christ to respond to the gospel message; i.e., we are regenerated unto faith. "He opened the door of faith. [cf. Acts 14:27]" A good rule of thumb for sound Bible doctrine is that the one that gives the glory to God, not man, is the right one! For example, the sinner who claims he came to Christ of his own free will, probably left of his own too, un-regenerated, that is. We must be wooed or drawn (cf. John 6:44, 65) and transformed all by grace. If we merited our salvation because we believed, it wouldn't be grace, but justice!
In summation, let me point out that salvation is wholly a work of God (it's monergistic, not synergistic or cooperative) and Jonah 2:9 summed it up with one utterance: "Salvation is of the LORD!" It's not Jesus plus anything: not plus going to church, plus witnessing, plus giving alms, et cetera! This means it's not of us and God, nor of us, but of the Lord--He did it all! Soli Deo Gloria!
Wednesday, July 10, 2019
Do We Need The Law?
Most believers know they are not under the law, but under grace (cf. Rom. 6:14); however, they are not lawless and do not have contempt for the law, but know it has its place. The law was never given to be a way of salvation, but only to show our need, to measure us. The law was given to show us we cannot keep it! The Hebrews vowed they would keep all the law when it was given, but they should have asked for mercy, knowing such a law was impossible to keep. The Christian life is not hard, it's impossible too! We must live by faith and express it through love, for love is the fulfillment of the law.
The law of love is harder to satisfy than any code though! Thank God Jesus lived it and the law's righteousness is credited or imputed to our account in the Divine Ledger up above. We all fall short, and perfection is only the standard, the direction is the test as we grow in expressing faith through love (cf. Gal. 5:6, NIV). In essence, the law is for the lawless and the lawbreaker (cf. 1 Tim. 1:9)! We don't only have the law to guide us in right and wrong, we also have a conscience, the Holy Spirit, and the totality of Scripture as our plumb line to convict us of wrongdoing.
There are several purposes of the law for the believer (its purpose was formulated in the first Lutheran confession of faith known as the Formula of Concord in 1577): a mirror to show us what we are like inside with all our guilt, insecurities, sin, and uncleanness--wrinkles and all; a sword to divide soul from spirit; a whip that drives us to the cross for mercy, and a hammer to smash our self-righteousness! The moral code is a guide to enlighten us to the Way, for morality never changes. It's a perfect standard of righteousness that only Jesus fulfilled.
The law was also ordained to restrain evil in society and provide for orderliness. To the Christian, it never loses its ability to convict of sin and to be a light unto our path. But we must realize that the whole law is summed up in loving God and our neighbor as its fulfillment. The whole idea is to make us realize we cannot save ourselves no matter how righteous we think we are and no matter how good we are to our standards--we always fall short of the divine standard in Christ.
There are four types of laws that I want to mention, and disobeying each one has its consequences, BUT WE ARE NOT ANTINOMIANS OR AGAINST THE LAW! NB: Nowhere in the NT are we exhorted to obey the Law, or to become somewhat Jewish--we must use it righteously--it's only a shadow (cf. Heb. 10:1)!
The first is the law of nature (SOME FIFTY UNIVERSAL CONSTANTS), e.g., the weak and strong nuclear force, the force of gravity, the speed of light, the speed of sound, the freezing of water, the charge on the electron, and even the nuclear weight of the proton and neutron, et al., and there are some fifty of them to consider and are uniform and consistent throughout the universe. The laws of motion also come to mind: an object at rest tends to stay at rest and an object in motion tends to stay in motion; each force exerted is met by an equal and opposite force; force equals mass times acceleration.
The second law to consider is the moral law: there is a moral compass in man's heart and conscience given by God, and guilt is meant to signal that we break it, there are consequences for wrongdoing to our soul's health, we don't toy with sin and get away with it! What was right in Moses' time is still right and what was wrong is still wrong--morality is absolute, universal, and also timeless. If you ignore your conscience it may go away but this may lead to becoming perverted, degenerate, destitute, criminal, psychopathic, or worse! It doesn't pay to ignore the signals of what God has ordained to restrain evil in man.
The third type of law is governmental (THE POWERS THAT BE), which is instituted by God and meant to keep evil at bay and provide for the public welfare--we no longer can survive with tribalism or patriarchal society. Government, according to Augustine, is not a necessary evil, but necessary because of evil. We are to fear government and submit to it unless it contradicts God and it has been given the power of the sword to enforce its laws--under God!
The last and probably most important law to bear in mind is the spiritual one (THE FIVE ONLY'S): the way of salvation is only by grace through faith in Christ and saving faith must go hand in hand with repentance--one can imagine this as either penitent faith or believing repentance, but they must bear fruit to be genuine and not bogus. Faith is manifest by trust in Jesus as Savior and embracing Him as Lord.
The savvy preacher knows how to discern and demonstrate law and gospel: the law is what God requires from us and God's expectations or standards; the gospel is the good news about what Christ has done for us in the cross and resurrection--solving the sin problem or the breaking of the law. NB: Christ is the end of the Law for believers unto righteousness (cf. Rom. 10:4); Christ abolished the law (cf. Eph. 2:15).
What does this all mean in essence? What can we take away from this going forward? Laws couldn't exist without a lawgiver, right? All these laws are indicators of a Supreme Lawgiver far superior to anything we can fathom! Law implies a Lawgiver--this is reasonable to believe! We all must beware lest we violate any of God's laws that apply to us, for God disciplines and chastens His children and they don't get away with sin or lawlessness. Also, each law has its natural consequence which cannot be avoided any more than we can avoid gravity--we violate at our peril! Soli Deo Gloria!
The law of love is harder to satisfy than any code though! Thank God Jesus lived it and the law's righteousness is credited or imputed to our account in the Divine Ledger up above. We all fall short, and perfection is only the standard, the direction is the test as we grow in expressing faith through love (cf. Gal. 5:6, NIV). In essence, the law is for the lawless and the lawbreaker (cf. 1 Tim. 1:9)! We don't only have the law to guide us in right and wrong, we also have a conscience, the Holy Spirit, and the totality of Scripture as our plumb line to convict us of wrongdoing.
There are several purposes of the law for the believer (its purpose was formulated in the first Lutheran confession of faith known as the Formula of Concord in 1577): a mirror to show us what we are like inside with all our guilt, insecurities, sin, and uncleanness--wrinkles and all; a sword to divide soul from spirit; a whip that drives us to the cross for mercy, and a hammer to smash our self-righteousness! The moral code is a guide to enlighten us to the Way, for morality never changes. It's a perfect standard of righteousness that only Jesus fulfilled.
The law was also ordained to restrain evil in society and provide for orderliness. To the Christian, it never loses its ability to convict of sin and to be a light unto our path. But we must realize that the whole law is summed up in loving God and our neighbor as its fulfillment. The whole idea is to make us realize we cannot save ourselves no matter how righteous we think we are and no matter how good we are to our standards--we always fall short of the divine standard in Christ.
There are four types of laws that I want to mention, and disobeying each one has its consequences, BUT WE ARE NOT ANTINOMIANS OR AGAINST THE LAW! NB: Nowhere in the NT are we exhorted to obey the Law, or to become somewhat Jewish--we must use it righteously--it's only a shadow (cf. Heb. 10:1)!
The first is the law of nature (SOME FIFTY UNIVERSAL CONSTANTS), e.g., the weak and strong nuclear force, the force of gravity, the speed of light, the speed of sound, the freezing of water, the charge on the electron, and even the nuclear weight of the proton and neutron, et al., and there are some fifty of them to consider and are uniform and consistent throughout the universe. The laws of motion also come to mind: an object at rest tends to stay at rest and an object in motion tends to stay in motion; each force exerted is met by an equal and opposite force; force equals mass times acceleration.
The second law to consider is the moral law: there is a moral compass in man's heart and conscience given by God, and guilt is meant to signal that we break it, there are consequences for wrongdoing to our soul's health, we don't toy with sin and get away with it! What was right in Moses' time is still right and what was wrong is still wrong--morality is absolute, universal, and also timeless. If you ignore your conscience it may go away but this may lead to becoming perverted, degenerate, destitute, criminal, psychopathic, or worse! It doesn't pay to ignore the signals of what God has ordained to restrain evil in man.
The third type of law is governmental (THE POWERS THAT BE), which is instituted by God and meant to keep evil at bay and provide for the public welfare--we no longer can survive with tribalism or patriarchal society. Government, according to Augustine, is not a necessary evil, but necessary because of evil. We are to fear government and submit to it unless it contradicts God and it has been given the power of the sword to enforce its laws--under God!
The last and probably most important law to bear in mind is the spiritual one (THE FIVE ONLY'S): the way of salvation is only by grace through faith in Christ and saving faith must go hand in hand with repentance--one can imagine this as either penitent faith or believing repentance, but they must bear fruit to be genuine and not bogus. Faith is manifest by trust in Jesus as Savior and embracing Him as Lord.
The savvy preacher knows how to discern and demonstrate law and gospel: the law is what God requires from us and God's expectations or standards; the gospel is the good news about what Christ has done for us in the cross and resurrection--solving the sin problem or the breaking of the law. NB: Christ is the end of the Law for believers unto righteousness (cf. Rom. 10:4); Christ abolished the law (cf. Eph. 2:15).
What does this all mean in essence? What can we take away from this going forward? Laws couldn't exist without a lawgiver, right? All these laws are indicators of a Supreme Lawgiver far superior to anything we can fathom! Law implies a Lawgiver--this is reasonable to believe! We all must beware lest we violate any of God's laws that apply to us, for God disciplines and chastens His children and they don't get away with sin or lawlessness. Also, each law has its natural consequence which cannot be avoided any more than we can avoid gravity--we violate at our peril! Soli Deo Gloria!
Sunday, July 7, 2019
For His Name's Sake
God's reputation and character are at stake in protecting us and providing our needs, as well as the testimony we give and the salvation we receive. For instance, if one of His promises fail, like the assurance of our salvation, God would be a liar and not the great Promise Keeper He is. For example, if we lost our salvation, God would lose His honor in keeping us. In fact, we are not only justified while we are sinners, but God gives us the gift of righteousness in time and we are stewards of it. We don't honor God with our righteousness, which is as filthy rags, but praise God by using His righteousness and walking in it to His glory. Remember, we are engaged in His will doing His work, He is not doing our thing or doing what we want for our pleasure. Bear in mind, our righteousness is God's gift to us, not our gift to Him.
Everything we do, say and think ought to be for His Name's sake and to His glory. We pray in Jesus' Name, not as a formula, but to ensure that our prayers are according to His will, not ours and bring Him glory and honor, not us. This is the essence of trust: seeing everything through God's eyes for His will and glory, not our self-interest. We let go of the sovereignty of our lives before we can own Him as Lord! We must remain on track with His will daily and constantly renew the commitment because we easily go astray or go rogue unto our own paths or ruts. Actually, habits can become ruts to get into because they may interfere with God's will and can become hindrances in our walk. But Scripture says we have all gone astray like sheep, each to his own way (cf. Isa. 53:6). And we all tend to do what is right in our own eyes! (Cf. Judges 17:6; 21:25). It is vital to know that the key to staying on course is to realize it's not about us! The key to failure and depression is to live for self and not love anyone above yourself.
We must grow up and realize that God has our best interest in mind just like a shepherd cares for and tends his sheep--we are really too stupid to map out our own lives and to see the dangers ahead and how to find pasture or supplies for life. No man is an island or a rock who needs no one! We cannot survive without our shepherd for all our basic necessities in life--Jesus is that Shepherd! We must constantly ask ourselves: are we in the rut we make for ourselves by bad habits and lack of foresight, or are we in God's tracks that are sure to lead to fulfilling God's purpose for our lives? We all can be on track with God if we renew ourselves daily and get into the Word, prayer, and stay connected through the ministries of the local church as it disciples us and trains us through all the spiritual gifts manifested corporately.
Job said that all of his days he shall wait for his "renewal" (cf. Job 14:14, ESV) and we must wait patiently on the Lord because we are assured He wants what's best for us (cf. Isa. 40:31). If we had our own way, we would surely mess up our lives--we aren't merely as wise as we think we are as finite beings. The safest place to be is in His will for our life and this ought to be Job One! The only happy and fulfilling life is doing God's work and interpreting everything accordingly or seeing God at work in what we do. We only learn the hard way of the school of hard knocks by resisting God's will and will soon find out that God knew best in the first place! Soli Deo Gloria!
Everything we do, say and think ought to be for His Name's sake and to His glory. We pray in Jesus' Name, not as a formula, but to ensure that our prayers are according to His will, not ours and bring Him glory and honor, not us. This is the essence of trust: seeing everything through God's eyes for His will and glory, not our self-interest. We let go of the sovereignty of our lives before we can own Him as Lord! We must remain on track with His will daily and constantly renew the commitment because we easily go astray or go rogue unto our own paths or ruts. Actually, habits can become ruts to get into because they may interfere with God's will and can become hindrances in our walk. But Scripture says we have all gone astray like sheep, each to his own way (cf. Isa. 53:6). And we all tend to do what is right in our own eyes! (Cf. Judges 17:6; 21:25). It is vital to know that the key to staying on course is to realize it's not about us! The key to failure and depression is to live for self and not love anyone above yourself.
We must grow up and realize that God has our best interest in mind just like a shepherd cares for and tends his sheep--we are really too stupid to map out our own lives and to see the dangers ahead and how to find pasture or supplies for life. No man is an island or a rock who needs no one! We cannot survive without our shepherd for all our basic necessities in life--Jesus is that Shepherd! We must constantly ask ourselves: are we in the rut we make for ourselves by bad habits and lack of foresight, or are we in God's tracks that are sure to lead to fulfilling God's purpose for our lives? We all can be on track with God if we renew ourselves daily and get into the Word, prayer, and stay connected through the ministries of the local church as it disciples us and trains us through all the spiritual gifts manifested corporately.
Job said that all of his days he shall wait for his "renewal" (cf. Job 14:14, ESV) and we must wait patiently on the Lord because we are assured He wants what's best for us (cf. Isa. 40:31). If we had our own way, we would surely mess up our lives--we aren't merely as wise as we think we are as finite beings. The safest place to be is in His will for our life and this ought to be Job One! The only happy and fulfilling life is doing God's work and interpreting everything accordingly or seeing God at work in what we do. We only learn the hard way of the school of hard knocks by resisting God's will and will soon find out that God knew best in the first place! Soli Deo Gloria!
Sunday, June 30, 2019
Do You Know God's Name?
"'Why do you ask My name,' the angel of the LORD asked him, 'since it is wonderful'" (Judges 13:18, HCSB). "'.... It is beyond understanding.'' (Ibid., NIV). "'...seeing it is secret?'" (Ibid, KJV). "'... seeing it's wonderful'" (Ibid. ESV).
God has no definitive name, title, or description--we cannot even put Him in a box nor define, limit, peg, or analyze Him according to our human criteria. Jesus alone has 118 titles in Scripture! His name is wonderful (cf. Isa. 9:6), beyond understanding and comprehension, and secret! Moses dared to ask His name and the Lord told Him to tell them "I AM" has sent him! One Greek philosopher said, "Whatever is, is!" You never step into the same river twice! This holds true because only God is not in a state of flux and needs no change. We are always in a process of transformation, change, or decay, being in flux because we are not perfect--God being perfect, cannot change for the worse, and since He's already perfect, He cannot change for the better!
God is an IS-ING, a living Being, not an IS-NESS, or state of Being. This is the highest form of existence known since God is self-existent (uncreated or caused) and needs no one or nothing, He abides alone making no attempts at describing Himself fully, but makes it plain that we can know Him. We cannot know Him in full or comprehensively, but we can truly and intimately know Him and have a living, vital, growing relationship with Him. Notice that when God says I AM that there is no definitive completion to the name (no predicate!)--it's not meant to be a description like we would have one (e.g., "shorty," "curly," "blondie," etc.) but it's not arbitrary either! God's names are for a reason and make sense, they aren't just conveniences or nicknames!
We cannot fully apprehend God's and without predicate: I AM THAT I AM THAT I AM ..." The chain may go on ad infinitum. The Bible gives no completed name (however many titles and forms of address), so we must rely on ad hoc ones that meet our needs for the moment, but the most inclusive one is Father. There are several so-called Jehovah-texts in Scripture that complete or add predicates to the name or moniker of God. For instance, He is called Jehovah-Nissi (our banner), Jehovah-Shammah (the Lord who is there), Jehovah-Shalom (our peace), Jehovah-Jireh (our provider), and Jehovah-Ra-ah (our shepherd), among others. The point is that God is whatever we need Him to be! He is all we need and that's why idolatry is a sin because it assumes another God to meet our needs and usurps God's prerogative and place in our lives.
God jealously defends His name and the Third Commandment on God's top ten list is not to take His name in vain! He values and guards His name above all His honor by the integrity of His Word (Psa. 138:2, ESV, says: "... for you have exalted above all things your name and your word." God protects His name as He does His Word and they shall not come back void but accomplish His purposes (cf. Isa. 55:11)! It is a great privilege to be able to address God by name! Christians have the right to call Him Father, the name Jesus addressed Him as. Father implies intimacy, subordination, and sonship in our union with God. Our reverence for God is reflected in how we treat His name; when we use it frivolously or in vain, it shows contempt and unholy attitudes. Our speech betrays us! How we address God betrays our attitude, maturity, and relationship with Him; we must beware lest we fit Him into our boxes and our God is too small for our needs--we can never know a God in a box--then He wouldn't be God!
We know the second person of the Trinity simply by the name Jesus and we have the right to be this familiar due to His not being ashamed of calling us His brothers and friends--confessing this to the Father. It is not presumptuous to speak to God as to our friend in time of our need--look at the thief on the cross calling Him simply, "Jesus." He's earned the honor of being "The LORD is our Salvation." When we address Him as Lord, we are bringing attention to our servanthood and His Lordship and lordship over us--that we are subject to His ultimate authority over our lives, to whom all authority has been given ("He is Lord of all")! Jesus had boldly and clearly announced His Deity: "... before Abraham was I AM!" "[S]o that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Phil. 2:10-11, ESV).
Another interpretation for I AM is "causes to be," and this means God is the First Cause or Unmoved Mover who is the originator taking the initiative and making the overture for our salvation--not us! He acted on our behalf and we found favor in His eyes. We cannot take credit for anything because God made the first move! One reason the Pharisees hated Him is that it was obvious to them that Jesus claimed to be God in the flesh: He said He was the great I AM! Again, Jesus confessed: "Before Abraham was, I AM." In fact, He said that unless we believe He's the great I AM we shall die in our sins (cf. John 8:24). Soli Deo Gloria!
God has no definitive name, title, or description--we cannot even put Him in a box nor define, limit, peg, or analyze Him according to our human criteria. Jesus alone has 118 titles in Scripture! His name is wonderful (cf. Isa. 9:6), beyond understanding and comprehension, and secret! Moses dared to ask His name and the Lord told Him to tell them "I AM" has sent him! One Greek philosopher said, "Whatever is, is!" You never step into the same river twice! This holds true because only God is not in a state of flux and needs no change. We are always in a process of transformation, change, or decay, being in flux because we are not perfect--God being perfect, cannot change for the worse, and since He's already perfect, He cannot change for the better!
God is an IS-ING, a living Being, not an IS-NESS, or state of Being. This is the highest form of existence known since God is self-existent (uncreated or caused) and needs no one or nothing, He abides alone making no attempts at describing Himself fully, but makes it plain that we can know Him. We cannot know Him in full or comprehensively, but we can truly and intimately know Him and have a living, vital, growing relationship with Him. Notice that when God says I AM that there is no definitive completion to the name (no predicate!)--it's not meant to be a description like we would have one (e.g., "shorty," "curly," "blondie," etc.) but it's not arbitrary either! God's names are for a reason and make sense, they aren't just conveniences or nicknames!
We cannot fully apprehend God's and without predicate: I AM THAT I AM THAT I AM ..." The chain may go on ad infinitum. The Bible gives no completed name (however many titles and forms of address), so we must rely on ad hoc ones that meet our needs for the moment, but the most inclusive one is Father. There are several so-called Jehovah-texts in Scripture that complete or add predicates to the name or moniker of God. For instance, He is called Jehovah-Nissi (our banner), Jehovah-Shammah (the Lord who is there), Jehovah-Shalom (our peace), Jehovah-Jireh (our provider), and Jehovah-Ra-ah (our shepherd), among others. The point is that God is whatever we need Him to be! He is all we need and that's why idolatry is a sin because it assumes another God to meet our needs and usurps God's prerogative and place in our lives.
God jealously defends His name and the Third Commandment on God's top ten list is not to take His name in vain! He values and guards His name above all His honor by the integrity of His Word (Psa. 138:2, ESV, says: "... for you have exalted above all things your name and your word." God protects His name as He does His Word and they shall not come back void but accomplish His purposes (cf. Isa. 55:11)! It is a great privilege to be able to address God by name! Christians have the right to call Him Father, the name Jesus addressed Him as. Father implies intimacy, subordination, and sonship in our union with God. Our reverence for God is reflected in how we treat His name; when we use it frivolously or in vain, it shows contempt and unholy attitudes. Our speech betrays us! How we address God betrays our attitude, maturity, and relationship with Him; we must beware lest we fit Him into our boxes and our God is too small for our needs--we can never know a God in a box--then He wouldn't be God!
We know the second person of the Trinity simply by the name Jesus and we have the right to be this familiar due to His not being ashamed of calling us His brothers and friends--confessing this to the Father. It is not presumptuous to speak to God as to our friend in time of our need--look at the thief on the cross calling Him simply, "Jesus." He's earned the honor of being "The LORD is our Salvation." When we address Him as Lord, we are bringing attention to our servanthood and His Lordship and lordship over us--that we are subject to His ultimate authority over our lives, to whom all authority has been given ("He is Lord of all")! Jesus had boldly and clearly announced His Deity: "... before Abraham was I AM!" "[S]o that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Phil. 2:10-11, ESV).
Another interpretation for I AM is "causes to be," and this means God is the First Cause or Unmoved Mover who is the originator taking the initiative and making the overture for our salvation--not us! He acted on our behalf and we found favor in His eyes. We cannot take credit for anything because God made the first move! One reason the Pharisees hated Him is that it was obvious to them that Jesus claimed to be God in the flesh: He said He was the great I AM! Again, Jesus confessed: "Before Abraham was, I AM." In fact, He said that unless we believe He's the great I AM we shall die in our sins (cf. John 8:24). Soli Deo Gloria!
Saturday, June 29, 2019
Why People Reject The Bible
"I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you..." (Eph. 1:18, NIV).
"Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law" (Psalm 119:18, NIV).
People who reject the Bible have motives that aren't readily apparent but should be obvious. If the heart is in the right place one would see for oneself that it appeals to the very heart of man. The Bible is able to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart and it reads us as we read it. Many have read through the Bible thinking they apprehend its message of salvation, but have never let the Bible read through them! When we ignore what we do see, God blinds us and refuses more light. Mark Twain illustrated this by quipping: "It's not the parts of the Bible that I don't understand that bother me; it's the parts I do!" Likewise, we must heed what the Lord is trying to say or we will not get further light.
Israel witnessed many signs and wonders and still wouldn't believe (cf. Psalm 78:32, NIV) and the Pharisees in Jesus' time would not, not could not, believe despite His signs and miracles (cf. John 12:37, NIV). The point is that miracles don't elicit faith, but faith evokes miracles. Miracles can bring about skepticism as well as increase faith. Miracles only increase faith but don't make it. If you remove the miraculous from Scripture, you have just idle tales, a catalog of religious idealism, meditations, or even list of dos and don'ts. This is not the case of so-called miracles of other religions--they are believed because the religion is already affirmed to them, not to make them believe--they are not necessary for their religion.
If Jesus had performed no miracles, He'd be a mere footnote in history. Jesus' miracles were not haphazard or helter-skelter, nor for personal gain, but to illustrate His Deity or to show compassion and make a point in His teaching--they were not fantastic, nor showy and He never did a miracle on-demand or any biggie miracle to force faith on the hardened and unwilling. He said in His teachings that if anyone is willing to do His will (cf. John 7:17), he shall know whether His works were of God or not and His teaching was from God.
Now, you don't have to believe the Bible per se to become a Christian, but it will make a believer out of you upon reading it. Note that the Pharisees believed the Scriptures, but were blind to the truth due to the hardness of their hearts. And Paul preached to the Greeks who didn't necessarily already believe in the Scriptures. But most people that reject the Bible or say it's obsolete or even legend or tall tale, have never read it! If they say they have, ask them what its main message is! The Bible is known to feed you, then make you hungry--one can never get too much of the Word and newborn believers seem to have an insatiable appetite for its contents--a true thirst and love for the Word.
The person who has never read the Bible is on the verge of being barbarian or illiterate and doesn't realize the Western Civilization was founded upon its principles. The Bible has always been considered part of the Common Law of England according to Jurist William Blackstone. It's easily the most influential book in history, even most popular! People who reject it have a problem in their heart because the heart of the matter is that it's a matter of the heart--one's heart needs to be in the right place to appreciate it. Bitterness can blind a person to the truth! The Bible is so foundational to wisdom that a knowledge of the Bible without a college education is worth more in life than a college education without knowledge of the Bible.
Now, why do the vast majority of skeptics deny the Bible's authenticity as true, even historically? If a secular scholar or historian disagrees, it's assumed they are the ones without bias. They believe and accept usually by faith since they may have only heard this, that it contains contradictions. Several scholarly books have been written to dispel this notion; namely, The Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties and Alleged Discrepancies of the Bible. But I contend that there are no contradictions because I have seen many resolved and see that most are merely the result of not knowing basic Bible doctrine, semantics, or of sound reading, of seeing the big picture, or even that they don't know basic rules of interpretation like interpreting the obscure in light of the clear, and seeing that the Scripture interprets itself. When they say that the Bible contradicts itself; it really contradicts them! Some famous men have done Bible revisions or tried to rewrite it the way they see it, even taking out the miracles which they find offensive or unbelievable. But they are not believing the Bible, but are believing themselves!
The Bible is its own Supreme Court that appeals to no higher authority for attestation. the proof of the pudding is in the eating! If it appealed to science, then science would be the ultimate arbiter of truth! The proof of the Bible is in itself: "Taste and see that the LORD is good!" The Bible appeals to the heart and soul of man and if it's not good soil, it will not be able to grow into fruition and mature. We often are asked to prove the Bible is the Word of God by those who cannot prove it isn't! But the Bible can prove itself if given the opportunity. If they say prove it to me! You ought to say, "No, you prove it yourself--read it!" All one needs is an open mind, willing spirit, and needy heart and God will authenticate Himself through His chosen vehicle or method of communication--the Bible.
In sum, people who think they are rejecting the Bible are really rejecting themselves and/or their perception or understanding of it, not necessarily what it says in reality; the Bible tells it like it is and shows people who and what they are in God's estimation (it isn't pretty!), but some people don't want to live up to its reality but choose to delude themselves and reject the truth. Soli Deo Gloria!
"Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law" (Psalm 119:18, NIV).
People who reject the Bible have motives that aren't readily apparent but should be obvious. If the heart is in the right place one would see for oneself that it appeals to the very heart of man. The Bible is able to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart and it reads us as we read it. Many have read through the Bible thinking they apprehend its message of salvation, but have never let the Bible read through them! When we ignore what we do see, God blinds us and refuses more light. Mark Twain illustrated this by quipping: "It's not the parts of the Bible that I don't understand that bother me; it's the parts I do!" Likewise, we must heed what the Lord is trying to say or we will not get further light.
Israel witnessed many signs and wonders and still wouldn't believe (cf. Psalm 78:32, NIV) and the Pharisees in Jesus' time would not, not could not, believe despite His signs and miracles (cf. John 12:37, NIV). The point is that miracles don't elicit faith, but faith evokes miracles. Miracles can bring about skepticism as well as increase faith. Miracles only increase faith but don't make it. If you remove the miraculous from Scripture, you have just idle tales, a catalog of religious idealism, meditations, or even list of dos and don'ts. This is not the case of so-called miracles of other religions--they are believed because the religion is already affirmed to them, not to make them believe--they are not necessary for their religion.
If Jesus had performed no miracles, He'd be a mere footnote in history. Jesus' miracles were not haphazard or helter-skelter, nor for personal gain, but to illustrate His Deity or to show compassion and make a point in His teaching--they were not fantastic, nor showy and He never did a miracle on-demand or any biggie miracle to force faith on the hardened and unwilling. He said in His teachings that if anyone is willing to do His will (cf. John 7:17), he shall know whether His works were of God or not and His teaching was from God.
Now, you don't have to believe the Bible per se to become a Christian, but it will make a believer out of you upon reading it. Note that the Pharisees believed the Scriptures, but were blind to the truth due to the hardness of their hearts. And Paul preached to the Greeks who didn't necessarily already believe in the Scriptures. But most people that reject the Bible or say it's obsolete or even legend or tall tale, have never read it! If they say they have, ask them what its main message is! The Bible is known to feed you, then make you hungry--one can never get too much of the Word and newborn believers seem to have an insatiable appetite for its contents--a true thirst and love for the Word.
The person who has never read the Bible is on the verge of being barbarian or illiterate and doesn't realize the Western Civilization was founded upon its principles. The Bible has always been considered part of the Common Law of England according to Jurist William Blackstone. It's easily the most influential book in history, even most popular! People who reject it have a problem in their heart because the heart of the matter is that it's a matter of the heart--one's heart needs to be in the right place to appreciate it. Bitterness can blind a person to the truth! The Bible is so foundational to wisdom that a knowledge of the Bible without a college education is worth more in life than a college education without knowledge of the Bible.
Now, why do the vast majority of skeptics deny the Bible's authenticity as true, even historically? If a secular scholar or historian disagrees, it's assumed they are the ones without bias. They believe and accept usually by faith since they may have only heard this, that it contains contradictions. Several scholarly books have been written to dispel this notion; namely, The Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties and Alleged Discrepancies of the Bible. But I contend that there are no contradictions because I have seen many resolved and see that most are merely the result of not knowing basic Bible doctrine, semantics, or of sound reading, of seeing the big picture, or even that they don't know basic rules of interpretation like interpreting the obscure in light of the clear, and seeing that the Scripture interprets itself. When they say that the Bible contradicts itself; it really contradicts them! Some famous men have done Bible revisions or tried to rewrite it the way they see it, even taking out the miracles which they find offensive or unbelievable. But they are not believing the Bible, but are believing themselves!
The Bible is its own Supreme Court that appeals to no higher authority for attestation. the proof of the pudding is in the eating! If it appealed to science, then science would be the ultimate arbiter of truth! The proof of the Bible is in itself: "Taste and see that the LORD is good!" The Bible appeals to the heart and soul of man and if it's not good soil, it will not be able to grow into fruition and mature. We often are asked to prove the Bible is the Word of God by those who cannot prove it isn't! But the Bible can prove itself if given the opportunity. If they say prove it to me! You ought to say, "No, you prove it yourself--read it!" All one needs is an open mind, willing spirit, and needy heart and God will authenticate Himself through His chosen vehicle or method of communication--the Bible.
In sum, people who think they are rejecting the Bible are really rejecting themselves and/or their perception or understanding of it, not necessarily what it says in reality; the Bible tells it like it is and shows people who and what they are in God's estimation (it isn't pretty!), but some people don't want to live up to its reality but choose to delude themselves and reject the truth. Soli Deo Gloria!
Sunday, June 23, 2019
The Peace Beyond Comprehension
"'There is no peace,' says my God, 'for the wicked'" (Isaiah 57:21, NIV).
"You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast because they trust in you" (Isaiah 26:3, NIV).
To say that knowing Jesus is knowing peace, and with no Jesus, you get no peace. But the devil always has his counterfeit peace with just enough truth to lure them into his lies and deception, inoculating them from the real thing, for example, secularists are intellectually fulfilled by adhering to evolution to explain reality. He offers the world faux peace through idolatry, crutches, the supernatural, drugs, and in many forms. Putting anything where God should be in one's priorities is idolatry--a time-consuming habit, hobby, or pastime.
"You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast because they trust in you" (Isaiah 26:3, NIV).
To say that knowing Jesus is knowing peace, and with no Jesus, you get no peace. But the devil always has his counterfeit peace with just enough truth to lure them into his lies and deception, inoculating them from the real thing, for example, secularists are intellectually fulfilled by adhering to evolution to explain reality. He offers the world faux peace through idolatry, crutches, the supernatural, drugs, and in many forms. Putting anything where God should be in one's priorities is idolatry--a time-consuming habit, hobby, or pastime.
Christians can only know peace when they give Christ first place in their lives. He is called the Prince of Peace for a reason! He paid the price to set us free from our guilt and confusion brought on by sin. And only by His truth can we be set free from the lies of the enemy. He is still in the resurrection business and can transform our lives into something beautiful to His glory. Ephesians 2:14 says He is our peace!
One of the Jehovah texts is Judges 6:24, which calls Jesus "the LORD is our peace," or Yahweh Shalom in Hebrew. God's peace is manifold and multi-dimensional in the spiritual realms transcending our comprehension. We are given peace with God, with ourselves, and with each other, and the ability to bring peace to the land by humbling ourselves in repentance to Him, and even being set free from our bondage and slavery to sin.
One of the Jehovah texts is Judges 6:24, which calls Jesus "the LORD is our peace," or Yahweh Shalom in Hebrew. God's peace is manifold and multi-dimensional in the spiritual realms transcending our comprehension. We are given peace with God, with ourselves, and with each other, and the ability to bring peace to the land by humbling ourselves in repentance to Him, and even being set free from our bondage and slavery to sin.
We are also given the ability to share, communicate, and bring peace to others as Christ's "peacemakers," and we are lights to the world of what real peace is. We experience this peace in the Lord and want to pass it on! But it must start with a decision to call upon the Lord as our peace! We must look to God, not ourselves and we will be saved, keeping our eyes focused on Him and not the obstacles. Without Jesus, in our lives, we head towards chaos not knowing where we are going, and cannot find God or any real lasting peace.
Everyone has a God or god and if not the real thing--Jesus--there is some idol in the life filling the void. So-called faux Gods are only the substitute that the devil offers to lure us away from the real thing! People mistakenly believe that if something works, it's true. The test of an idea is not whether it's true, but whether it works just considering the consequences (this is pragmatism): because it works is no guarantee it's true (e.g., TM, hypnotism, astrology, meditation, channeling, and yoga).
Everyone has a God or god and if not the real thing--Jesus--there is some idol in the life filling the void. So-called faux Gods are only the substitute that the devil offers to lure us away from the real thing! People mistakenly believe that if something works, it's true. The test of an idea is not whether it's true, but whether it works just considering the consequences (this is pragmatism): because it works is no guarantee it's true (e.g., TM, hypnotism, astrology, meditation, channeling, and yoga).
That's why it's so important to seek the truth and to seek the Lord, not peace per se. Many are really looking for the benefits, not the Benefactor, and are content with the things the devil offers the world, which will diminish one's appetite for the spiritual things of God. Soli Deo Gloria!
Sunday, June 16, 2019
"We're Looking For A Few Good Men"
"Be alert, stand firm in the faith, act like a man, be strong. Your every action must be done with love" (1 Cor. 16:13-14, HCSB).
"But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or his stature, because I have rejected him. Man does not see what the LORD sees, for man sees what is visible [i.e., the "outward appearance" per KJV], but the LORD sees the heart" (1 Sam. 16:7, HCSB).
"God doesn't call us to success, but to faithfulness." --Mother Teresa of Calcutta, canonized by Rome and recipient of 1979 Nobel Peace Prize
THE POST TITLE IS FROM THE USMC RECRUITING REGISTERED TRADEMARK SLOGAN, AND THE NAME OF A TOM CRUISE, JACK NICHOLSON MOVIE ENTITLED, "A FEW GOOD MEN."
We shall see men in the light of Jesus' standard, which is the true measure of a man.
That used to be the rallying cry or catchphrase of the US Marine Corps until women were allowed (How macho can it be if women can do it (LOL!), assuming they don't lower their standards?), then they changed it to "the few, the proud, the Marines." It's quite ironic that you can become a cook in the Marines and or a medic and think that requires some special manly or exclusive, especially masculine skill set or mindset--the image is all psychological and social. One tends to think of grunts, jar heads, or warriors--a lean, mean, fighting machine! But just being in the Marines is an attitude and they always say, "Once a Marine, always a Marine!" They take special pride in their catchphrase "Semper Fi," Latin for always faithful. Marines also pride themselves in believing pain is weakness leaving the body! My dad was one and he never once talked about it, but it seemed he raised us like he thought we should be ones.
We must commence by defining terms so as not to cause any undue misunderstanding by connotation. Voltaire said, "If you want to converse with me, define your terms!" So many disagreements could be settled this way because many quarrels are mere problems of semantics or a failure to communicate. Don't they know that to be "good," any religion will do; Christ didn't come to make bad men good, but dead men alive!
Now to the title of a few good men. Don't they tolerate "bad" men? Depends upon connotations and denotations. Does this imply that the Marines have a monopoly on good men or that if you are a Marine you are a good man? Aren't the men of the other services also good in a sense? Are there only a few of them? You would think that the more good men, the better! By good, they probably mean disciplined, intelligent, teachable, moral, patriotic, and very physically able. Obviously, their boot camp is known to be more rigorous than Army basic training and is longer in duration though.
Jesus said that only God is good and that we are evil! God doesn't grade on a curve! Only by human standards can man be considered good and goodness is only relative (as if God were to grade on a curve and compared to Saddam Hussein, we are saints!). By our standards, we sometimes call men good but this kind of goodness can be found in any religion--do-goodery or becoming goody-goodies. God is good and the gold standard of goodness we measure us all by--the bar is pretty high and let's not lower it to make us look good. The word is commonly becoming misused nowadays and people refer to themselves in the first person as being good--"I'm good!" That remark has no predicate and no one knows what is good: his accent? Misuse only confuses issues and muddles the truth. But we must become aware of the real meaning of the term too and not be part of the problem, but of the solution!
I've heard of people referring to someone as a good Christian or a bad Christian in comparison, but these terms are unbiblical and there aren't even so-called carnal Christians as some subset of the category of believer--all believers can be spiritual or carnal at any given time and in or out of fellowship due to unconfessed sin--this isn't a problem for the few, but all. The problem is that some believers haven't learned to walk with God and stay in touch with the Spirit or are just immature or infants in Christ. We all need to grow up and be patient with less mature believers because we have been there and should relate not condemn. In discernment, remember your humanness and their spirituality or position in Christ. We are all works in progress so to speak and must realize God isn't finished with any of us yet! Note that the Bible delineates all 52 known virtues that one should cultivate and these are applicable to both genders--courage, integrity, fairness, justice, temperance, self-control, etc.
To define terms spiritually we speak of obedience as the measure of faith and we are all committed to it as a condition of discipleship. Obviously we can know them by their fruits! Obedience is the more easily recognized, not one's internal spiritual state. However, when people often speak of bad Christians they are usually talking of hypocrites or nominal believers (in name only) and don't think they are walking the walk, though they talk the talk. One condition of salvation is sincerity--without which there is none; it's necessary but not sufficient. There are those sincerely wrong! What matters also is that the heart is in the right place, even more than one's doctrine be impeccable.
We are all good Christians in the sense of following Christ in obedience, for no Christian is truly a hypocrite---God has no dealing with them and Christ hated duplicity. In another vein, we are all bad Christians in the sense of falling short and not measuring up to Christ's perfect standards and being sin-free--William Jay of Bath said that he was a great sinner, but Christ is a great Savior! Everyone that is biblically savvy knows Paul referred to himself as the "chief of sinners!" John Bunyan wrote his famed autobiographical book, Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, alluding to Romans 5:21 and 1 Tim. 1:15 to show his falling short, not emphasizing his spirituality, nor to glorify his past or sinfulness--it was a work in humility. Sinless perfection this side glory is unattainable (cf. Psa. 119:96; Prov 20:9). Some Christians will be the first to tell you they are hypocrites! We must get away from the "let's compare" mindset and start realizing that compared to Christ we all fall short. Jesus said to be perfect like the Father is perfect, meaning that perfection is the never attainable standard, but direction is the test.
There are godly standards of a so-called "good man" should strive to have. It doesn't mean marriageable or husband material--but he is faithful and reliable with a proven track record that speaks for itself! Women are looking for them and wonder what to look for or where to find them! A good man isn't one who is necessarily impressed with his machismo or how "tough" he is. He certainly isn't a bully! He is like Jesus in many ways or in the process. In Christ's humiliation and subordination, he emptied Himself of the independent usage of His Deity or divine nature and submitted to the Father's will, known as the kenosis in Koine (Greek).
Jesus was manly (even a man's man), for example, was gentle and He and Moses were called this in Scripture (gentlemen is a word of compliment!), which implies He had his strength under control and in restraint or never lost control of Himself. But one thing for sure: Jesus was no people-pleaser. NB: We must never equate good men as men of the world or successes in the eyes of the world; e.g., achieving the American dream or having a degree of education or scholastic merit or achievement. God doesn't want our achievements--He wants us and our obedience in God's will! What is honorable in the eyes of the world is often despised in God's eyes!
All Christians are called to be submissive to authority and respectful but not doormats--they know how to stand up for what they believe and fly their Christian colors! We must all stand up and be counted for Jesus or we are not with Him--as Christ said, "If you are not with Me, you are against Me." Jesus was a magnet to other men and therefore the fisher of men and also good with children and that's why they were drawn to Him. There are many godly or Christian qualities to admire in men and no man has all of them. It's the role of the Holy Spirit to make a believer holy or mature in Christ after His image and likeness and He does it by doing away with everything that's un-Christlike, not resembling Jesus. Jesus was a leader of men extraordinaire, but to be a good leader one must first be a follower and that's why He asked us to follow Him.
You ask me what the measure of a man is: how a man lives for Christ's glory and knows his purpose in life; a man with vision or one with a plan! No one should be a nowhere man not knowing where he's going or what he wants to do with his life! He is purpose-oriented and makes goals that are achievable, realistic, measurable, time-specific, and spiritually focused. In other words, he's not concentrating his efforts and desires on selfish ambition but in serving God. He doesn't necessarily have big plans or goals for himself but for God's glory. As Baptist preacher William Carey preached: "Expect Great Things from God; Attempt Great Things for God." With God, we can do anything, even move mountains.
The measure of a man in God's view is not his stature, looks, clothing, talents, aptitudes, possessions, sex appeal or prowess, athleticism, physical appearance, build or physique; however, according to Proverbs, the glory of a young man is his strength, but of an old man, his wisdom! We all should be known for our faith being expressed by our love in action. That means all that matters is that God is on His side and with Him in what he's doing and that way he cannot lose--he's in a win-win situation and never a no-win one. Job was told to brace himself like a man and men are not to assume the feminine role in society but identify with their own gender, neither must he be effeminate, wimpy, or a pushover--able to assert himself. NB: Scripture frowns upon "girlie" men, so God expects men to act like men! Is it any wonder men bond so easily--they should have much in common and I'm sure there was plenty of bonding that Jesus did with His disciples too.
Never discount or count a man of God out who is in God's will! No one for whom Christ died is a loser in God's eyes or worth nothing--a good-for-nothing! Christ is the only One who has something to say to so-called losers and the down and out--there's hope! There are no hopeless cases, only those who've given up hope. The answer to how to become a good man is to become a godly one, doing good and avoiding evil, who is mature in Christ and focused on His will--never underestimate the power of what God can do with someone dedicated and sensitive to His will! It takes fortitude and grit to dare to stand alone, gallantry, even guts or mettle! It is a noble undertaking that shows faith in action and creeds translated into deeds. Dare to follow Christ and do His will! He challenges us all to follow in His steps to our individual crosses, dying to self or saying "no" to Satan and self before saying "yes" to Him. The world needs more of these men who are taking their cues from God, not the culture! And who are willing to step up to assume their spiritual roles as models and mentors in the church, family, one's circle of influence, and even society at large.
In the final analysis, Christ is beyond our analysis; we cannot put Him in a box, and can only know Him but not fully comprehend Him, figure Him out; He cannot be adequately described but only known. (For the finite cannot contain the infinite, the ancient axiom goes.) In short, we cannot put Christ in a box or peg Him psychologically or personally and must not define a so-called good man in any certain terms without some reservations--we're all at different stages of development and cannot compare ourselves with each other. Soli Deo Gloria!
"But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or his stature, because I have rejected him. Man does not see what the LORD sees, for man sees what is visible [i.e., the "outward appearance" per KJV], but the LORD sees the heart" (1 Sam. 16:7, HCSB).
"God doesn't call us to success, but to faithfulness." --Mother Teresa of Calcutta, canonized by Rome and recipient of 1979 Nobel Peace Prize
THE POST TITLE IS FROM THE USMC RECRUITING REGISTERED TRADEMARK SLOGAN, AND THE NAME OF A TOM CRUISE, JACK NICHOLSON MOVIE ENTITLED, "A FEW GOOD MEN."
We shall see men in the light of Jesus' standard, which is the true measure of a man.
That used to be the rallying cry or catchphrase of the US Marine Corps until women were allowed (How macho can it be if women can do it (LOL!), assuming they don't lower their standards?), then they changed it to "the few, the proud, the Marines." It's quite ironic that you can become a cook in the Marines and or a medic and think that requires some special manly or exclusive, especially masculine skill set or mindset--the image is all psychological and social. One tends to think of grunts, jar heads, or warriors--a lean, mean, fighting machine! But just being in the Marines is an attitude and they always say, "Once a Marine, always a Marine!" They take special pride in their catchphrase "Semper Fi," Latin for always faithful. Marines also pride themselves in believing pain is weakness leaving the body! My dad was one and he never once talked about it, but it seemed he raised us like he thought we should be ones.
We must commence by defining terms so as not to cause any undue misunderstanding by connotation. Voltaire said, "If you want to converse with me, define your terms!" So many disagreements could be settled this way because many quarrels are mere problems of semantics or a failure to communicate. Don't they know that to be "good," any religion will do; Christ didn't come to make bad men good, but dead men alive!
Now to the title of a few good men. Don't they tolerate "bad" men? Depends upon connotations and denotations. Does this imply that the Marines have a monopoly on good men or that if you are a Marine you are a good man? Aren't the men of the other services also good in a sense? Are there only a few of them? You would think that the more good men, the better! By good, they probably mean disciplined, intelligent, teachable, moral, patriotic, and very physically able. Obviously, their boot camp is known to be more rigorous than Army basic training and is longer in duration though.
Jesus said that only God is good and that we are evil! God doesn't grade on a curve! Only by human standards can man be considered good and goodness is only relative (as if God were to grade on a curve and compared to Saddam Hussein, we are saints!). By our standards, we sometimes call men good but this kind of goodness can be found in any religion--do-goodery or becoming goody-goodies. God is good and the gold standard of goodness we measure us all by--the bar is pretty high and let's not lower it to make us look good. The word is commonly becoming misused nowadays and people refer to themselves in the first person as being good--"I'm good!" That remark has no predicate and no one knows what is good: his accent? Misuse only confuses issues and muddles the truth. But we must become aware of the real meaning of the term too and not be part of the problem, but of the solution!
I've heard of people referring to someone as a good Christian or a bad Christian in comparison, but these terms are unbiblical and there aren't even so-called carnal Christians as some subset of the category of believer--all believers can be spiritual or carnal at any given time and in or out of fellowship due to unconfessed sin--this isn't a problem for the few, but all. The problem is that some believers haven't learned to walk with God and stay in touch with the Spirit or are just immature or infants in Christ. We all need to grow up and be patient with less mature believers because we have been there and should relate not condemn. In discernment, remember your humanness and their spirituality or position in Christ. We are all works in progress so to speak and must realize God isn't finished with any of us yet! Note that the Bible delineates all 52 known virtues that one should cultivate and these are applicable to both genders--courage, integrity, fairness, justice, temperance, self-control, etc.
To define terms spiritually we speak of obedience as the measure of faith and we are all committed to it as a condition of discipleship. Obviously we can know them by their fruits! Obedience is the more easily recognized, not one's internal spiritual state. However, when people often speak of bad Christians they are usually talking of hypocrites or nominal believers (in name only) and don't think they are walking the walk, though they talk the talk. One condition of salvation is sincerity--without which there is none; it's necessary but not sufficient. There are those sincerely wrong! What matters also is that the heart is in the right place, even more than one's doctrine be impeccable.
We are all good Christians in the sense of following Christ in obedience, for no Christian is truly a hypocrite---God has no dealing with them and Christ hated duplicity. In another vein, we are all bad Christians in the sense of falling short and not measuring up to Christ's perfect standards and being sin-free--William Jay of Bath said that he was a great sinner, but Christ is a great Savior! Everyone that is biblically savvy knows Paul referred to himself as the "chief of sinners!" John Bunyan wrote his famed autobiographical book, Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, alluding to Romans 5:21 and 1 Tim. 1:15 to show his falling short, not emphasizing his spirituality, nor to glorify his past or sinfulness--it was a work in humility. Sinless perfection this side glory is unattainable (cf. Psa. 119:96; Prov 20:9). Some Christians will be the first to tell you they are hypocrites! We must get away from the "let's compare" mindset and start realizing that compared to Christ we all fall short. Jesus said to be perfect like the Father is perfect, meaning that perfection is the never attainable standard, but direction is the test.
There are godly standards of a so-called "good man" should strive to have. It doesn't mean marriageable or husband material--but he is faithful and reliable with a proven track record that speaks for itself! Women are looking for them and wonder what to look for or where to find them! A good man isn't one who is necessarily impressed with his machismo or how "tough" he is. He certainly isn't a bully! He is like Jesus in many ways or in the process. In Christ's humiliation and subordination, he emptied Himself of the independent usage of His Deity or divine nature and submitted to the Father's will, known as the kenosis in Koine (Greek).
Jesus was manly (even a man's man), for example, was gentle and He and Moses were called this in Scripture (gentlemen is a word of compliment!), which implies He had his strength under control and in restraint or never lost control of Himself. But one thing for sure: Jesus was no people-pleaser. NB: We must never equate good men as men of the world or successes in the eyes of the world; e.g., achieving the American dream or having a degree of education or scholastic merit or achievement. God doesn't want our achievements--He wants us and our obedience in God's will! What is honorable in the eyes of the world is often despised in God's eyes!
All Christians are called to be submissive to authority and respectful but not doormats--they know how to stand up for what they believe and fly their Christian colors! We must all stand up and be counted for Jesus or we are not with Him--as Christ said, "If you are not with Me, you are against Me." Jesus was a magnet to other men and therefore the fisher of men and also good with children and that's why they were drawn to Him. There are many godly or Christian qualities to admire in men and no man has all of them. It's the role of the Holy Spirit to make a believer holy or mature in Christ after His image and likeness and He does it by doing away with everything that's un-Christlike, not resembling Jesus. Jesus was a leader of men extraordinaire, but to be a good leader one must first be a follower and that's why He asked us to follow Him.
You ask me what the measure of a man is: how a man lives for Christ's glory and knows his purpose in life; a man with vision or one with a plan! No one should be a nowhere man not knowing where he's going or what he wants to do with his life! He is purpose-oriented and makes goals that are achievable, realistic, measurable, time-specific, and spiritually focused. In other words, he's not concentrating his efforts and desires on selfish ambition but in serving God. He doesn't necessarily have big plans or goals for himself but for God's glory. As Baptist preacher William Carey preached: "Expect Great Things from God; Attempt Great Things for God." With God, we can do anything, even move mountains.
The measure of a man in God's view is not his stature, looks, clothing, talents, aptitudes, possessions, sex appeal or prowess, athleticism, physical appearance, build or physique; however, according to Proverbs, the glory of a young man is his strength, but of an old man, his wisdom! We all should be known for our faith being expressed by our love in action. That means all that matters is that God is on His side and with Him in what he's doing and that way he cannot lose--he's in a win-win situation and never a no-win one. Job was told to brace himself like a man and men are not to assume the feminine role in society but identify with their own gender, neither must he be effeminate, wimpy, or a pushover--able to assert himself. NB: Scripture frowns upon "girlie" men, so God expects men to act like men! Is it any wonder men bond so easily--they should have much in common and I'm sure there was plenty of bonding that Jesus did with His disciples too.
Never discount or count a man of God out who is in God's will! No one for whom Christ died is a loser in God's eyes or worth nothing--a good-for-nothing! Christ is the only One who has something to say to so-called losers and the down and out--there's hope! There are no hopeless cases, only those who've given up hope. The answer to how to become a good man is to become a godly one, doing good and avoiding evil, who is mature in Christ and focused on His will--never underestimate the power of what God can do with someone dedicated and sensitive to His will! It takes fortitude and grit to dare to stand alone, gallantry, even guts or mettle! It is a noble undertaking that shows faith in action and creeds translated into deeds. Dare to follow Christ and do His will! He challenges us all to follow in His steps to our individual crosses, dying to self or saying "no" to Satan and self before saying "yes" to Him. The world needs more of these men who are taking their cues from God, not the culture! And who are willing to step up to assume their spiritual roles as models and mentors in the church, family, one's circle of influence, and even society at large.
In the final analysis, Christ is beyond our analysis; we cannot put Him in a box, and can only know Him but not fully comprehend Him, figure Him out; He cannot be adequately described but only known. (For the finite cannot contain the infinite, the ancient axiom goes.) In short, we cannot put Christ in a box or peg Him psychologically or personally and must not define a so-called good man in any certain terms without some reservations--we're all at different stages of development and cannot compare ourselves with each other. Soli Deo Gloria!
Thursday, June 13, 2019
An Incentive To Live The Good Life
"The heart has reasons the mind knows not of." --Blaise Pascal
[No nation has been able to maintain] "a moral life without the aid of religion." --Will Durant, humanist and historian.
"God must exist for ethics to be possible." --Immanuel Kant
"If God does not exist, all things are permissible." --Fydor Dostoevsky
"For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: 'Love your neighbor as yourself'" (Gal. 5:14, NIV).
"...The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love" (Gal. 5:6, NIV, emphasis mine).
DEFINITIONS: RELIGION IS KNOWLEDGE OF A CREED; CHRISTIANITY KNOWLEDGE OF A PERSON
Some philosophers reduce moral living to living the good life (however they define it!), but this is impossible without getting one's thinking straightened out and beginning to think clearly to do it. The path to enlightenment is not an easy one (Jesus said the truth would set us free) and once we've found it we want to share as contagious believers--you'll want to pass it on! Our goal in life must not be our own happiness, but to unselfishly seek the happiness of others and to glorify God. The goal is spiritual and moral goodness which will have fruit, not to be on a blind pursuit of happiness which can have no anchor or moral compass but have the problem of excess or abuse. Man always seems to do what is right in his own eyes, but the Lord sees the heart and considers motive. (Cf. Prov. 16:2; cf. 21:2) Happiness can be seen as the fruit of moral and right living as the byproduct not aim. We all ought to live beyond reproach in order to have maximum influence and impact with our lives--to make a difference!
Ethics, then, is about the good life. But goodness without God is evil because it's a sham. Many have pondered, "How shall we then live?" I'm not just talking about being a goody-goody or do-gooder but living a fulfilling life that counts. If you just want to be a good person, any religion will do! Everyone has a religion or faith, and to some, they reduce Christianity to a code of conduct or ethics or make it simplistic like "My religion is the Golden Rule." We must not reduce Christianity to the universal fatherhood of God and the universal brotherhood of man--it's simply knowing God and then making Him known, which brings Him glory and will be rewarded. According to John Stott, Christianity is Christ, all else is peripheral or circumference. But the valued spiritual life is about a relationship, salvation being the restoration of it, not just studying Him academically. We don't study or read the Bible to increase our knowledge but to change our lives.
We soon discover that there's a moral center to the universe--God! And that without Him life makes no sense! Without God in the picture there's no basis of absolute right and wrong and character doesn't count--it's all relative. But we all are convicted of the moral and divine order of the universe; that's why we see justice, love, fair play, courage, integrity, etc.). But we all have the same weakness as far as morals go: we tend to justify ourselves and hope we don't get caught or no one will know our flaws or faults. We are a moon with a dark side no one sees! Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde! Being a Christian isn't about rules or a list of dos and don'ts but dedication and commitment to Christ, who said, "Follow Me!" Even Plato realized that to know how to live in reality, we must know what God is really like. We experience God and grow in the knowledge of Him as we put it to use and apply what we know: "Now that you know these things, blessed are you if you do them." (Cf. John 13:17).
Now a good person learns to live according to faith, not feeling, which can be as variable as a weather vane in a storm. There's no walking around on cloud nine or on some spiritual, perpetual high either. He doesn't necessarily feel on top of things all the times, or even in control, but keeps the faith--he does 't go by feelings. He doesn't know all the answers or what's going sometimes but knows the Answerer and the One in control. He learns to know right leads to thinking right, which leads to doing right and finally feeling right. The good life is the byproduct of being focused and living on purpose to glorify God and never for oneself. The only truly happy people, according to Albert Schweitzer, are those who've learned to serve. We never know how bad we are until we've tried to be good, and we cannot be good without realizing how bad we are! Soli Deo Gloria!
[No nation has been able to maintain] "a moral life without the aid of religion." --Will Durant, humanist and historian.
"God must exist for ethics to be possible." --Immanuel Kant
"If God does not exist, all things are permissible." --Fydor Dostoevsky
"For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: 'Love your neighbor as yourself'" (Gal. 5:14, NIV).
"...The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love" (Gal. 5:6, NIV, emphasis mine).
DEFINITIONS: RELIGION IS KNOWLEDGE OF A CREED; CHRISTIANITY KNOWLEDGE OF A PERSON
Some philosophers reduce moral living to living the good life (however they define it!), but this is impossible without getting one's thinking straightened out and beginning to think clearly to do it. The path to enlightenment is not an easy one (Jesus said the truth would set us free) and once we've found it we want to share as contagious believers--you'll want to pass it on! Our goal in life must not be our own happiness, but to unselfishly seek the happiness of others and to glorify God. The goal is spiritual and moral goodness which will have fruit, not to be on a blind pursuit of happiness which can have no anchor or moral compass but have the problem of excess or abuse. Man always seems to do what is right in his own eyes, but the Lord sees the heart and considers motive. (Cf. Prov. 16:2; cf. 21:2) Happiness can be seen as the fruit of moral and right living as the byproduct not aim. We all ought to live beyond reproach in order to have maximum influence and impact with our lives--to make a difference!
Ethics, then, is about the good life. But goodness without God is evil because it's a sham. Many have pondered, "How shall we then live?" I'm not just talking about being a goody-goody or do-gooder but living a fulfilling life that counts. If you just want to be a good person, any religion will do! Everyone has a religion or faith, and to some, they reduce Christianity to a code of conduct or ethics or make it simplistic like "My religion is the Golden Rule." We must not reduce Christianity to the universal fatherhood of God and the universal brotherhood of man--it's simply knowing God and then making Him known, which brings Him glory and will be rewarded. According to John Stott, Christianity is Christ, all else is peripheral or circumference. But the valued spiritual life is about a relationship, salvation being the restoration of it, not just studying Him academically. We don't study or read the Bible to increase our knowledge but to change our lives.
We soon discover that there's a moral center to the universe--God! And that without Him life makes no sense! Without God in the picture there's no basis of absolute right and wrong and character doesn't count--it's all relative. But we all are convicted of the moral and divine order of the universe; that's why we see justice, love, fair play, courage, integrity, etc.). But we all have the same weakness as far as morals go: we tend to justify ourselves and hope we don't get caught or no one will know our flaws or faults. We are a moon with a dark side no one sees! Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde! Being a Christian isn't about rules or a list of dos and don'ts but dedication and commitment to Christ, who said, "Follow Me!" Even Plato realized that to know how to live in reality, we must know what God is really like. We experience God and grow in the knowledge of Him as we put it to use and apply what we know: "Now that you know these things, blessed are you if you do them." (Cf. John 13:17).
Now a good person learns to live according to faith, not feeling, which can be as variable as a weather vane in a storm. There's no walking around on cloud nine or on some spiritual, perpetual high either. He doesn't necessarily feel on top of things all the times, or even in control, but keeps the faith--he does 't go by feelings. He doesn't know all the answers or what's going sometimes but knows the Answerer and the One in control. He learns to know right leads to thinking right, which leads to doing right and finally feeling right. The good life is the byproduct of being focused and living on purpose to glorify God and never for oneself. The only truly happy people, according to Albert Schweitzer, are those who've learned to serve. We never know how bad we are until we've tried to be good, and we cannot be good without realizing how bad we are! Soli Deo Gloria!
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