How Can We Tell A Christian?

 Jesus clearly said that we would known them by their fruits. (Matt. 7:16).   Jesus also said they will know that you are My disciples, that you love one another!   (John 13:35)   That means we love our neighbors, practice the Golden Rule, and are good Samaritans.  This is manifest in charity, alms, rescue missions, food shelves, mission work, disaster relief, humanitarian crises and more where Christians can outshine the world and show what Christian love is all about. 

There are many Christians in name only or nominal believers but their faith doesn't stand the test of fire. All faith must be tested and proven. If faith were easy, it wouldn't  be worth much. Anyone can claim to be a Christian; for instance, they can sincerely believe they were born one because their parents are, but no one gets in automatically because salvation is a turnstile--one at a time! We all must personally make our decision to follow Christ at all costs and deny ourselves, pick up our cross and follow Him.  

It is commonly believed that belonging to a church makes one a believer or should I say disciple, but many in the church are just attendees and not worshipers--they are consumers and not producers!  We are not just customers of God but followers, nor fans or admirers but worshipers and followers. Some erroneously believe they were born Christians because the live in a Christian nation! Christ in only interested in wholehearted disciples who have counted the cost and willing to lay down their lives for the sake of the Name. 

What kind of fruit should we look for? A Christian proves his faith by good works. James said that he would show his faith by his works!  (James 2:18) We are to become a people zealous of good works!  (Titus 1:16) Faith without works is dead (James 2:22) and that kind of faith cannot save. We are indeed saved by faith alone, but not by a faith that is alone. Without works, our faith is suspect. We are not saved by them, but not without them either!  We have a faith not as one we can live with but one we would die for!  We must live out our faith and prove it to others; it is not a given and we cannot expect people to believe our confession if we have no fruits!  Our lifestyles tell a lot and reveal what we really believe and speak louder than our words and our testimony speaks volumes.  

The true Christian ought to be engaged in spiritual disciplines such as prayer, Bible reading, witnessing, worshipping, fellowship, and good deeds. This all are taught in the local church of which he is obliged to join and not forsake.  Note: there can be no solitary saints or spiritual hermits or Lone Rangers!  For God has foreordained certain good works we are meant to do.  We should walk in them faithfully. Christians walk by faith and not by sight, they see things from God's perspective and not as the world sees them. Christians also are people of the book and love love the spoken and written Word of God preached and in the Bible.  We also walk in the Spirit and have overcome the power of the flesh. 

We do sin but Jesus always disciplines us or brings us to confession and back on track when we go astray. Christians overflow with thanksgiving and have the right attitude in serving and being servants; a non-serving Christian is a contradiction in terms. Christians find their spiritual gift by serving and are given a ministry to fulfill as stewards of God's blessings. 

"...Set an example of good works yourself..." (Tit. 2:7).

SO, ARE WORKS NECESSARY FOR SALVATION THEN?

There is a grand distinction between religion and Christianity: works out of a pure motive and not for applause versus to ingratiate oneself, or to get brownie points with a deity. Religion says, "Do!" while Christ says, "Done!" Christians are not "do-gooders" per se but do good deeds because they want to, not because they have to. The key is not "in order to," but "therefore." Good works logically follow a changed life, through which Christ lives. Changing lives is Jesus' business and the point of salvation. In a works religion, you never know how much is enough!

Since salvation is a gift only in Christianity, the person is free to do good out of gratitude. We don't have to, but want to! Many Americans have fallen prey to the misconception that achieving the "American dream" or "living the good life" is all that is necessary to accomplish salvation; that they have "made it." God requires perfection and any effort to earn one's way is in vain. We are saved by grace alone, through faith alone (a living one), in the person and work of Christ alone according to the Reformers.

Some misguided souls subscribe to the credo that since salvation is by grace alone, works aren't necessary or don't follow (but we say grace is necessary and sufficient). The Reformed doctrine is that salvation is "by faith alone, but not by a faith that is alone." Works equaling salvation is the essence of religion; combining works and faith for salvation is legalism. Faith that produces no works is antinomians, being against the law or lawless. The prevalent view that faith alone without any evidence (some will say gifts of the Spirit like speaking in tongues) will suffice is erroneous, being initial evidence validates salvation or the filling of the Spirit. This is known as antinomianism or "no-lordship salvation."

Note: if you don't have good works to "work out" (cf. Phil. 2:12) your salvation is suspect. The kind of works I am referring to is good deeds not works of the law. We are not saved by works; but not without them either--but unto works! Works (or righteousness) prove faith to self others and God, as well as yourself (cf. Isa. 32:17); but are not the substitute for it. We must put our faith into action--as James would say, "The faith you have is the faith you show" (cf. James 2:18).

There is no irreconcilable difference between Paul and James; they come from two vantage points: Paul was dealing with those who couldn't do enough and thought the Law of Moses was necessary; James was dealing with "do-nothing" libertines. Paul would say, "I'll show you my works." James would counter, "I'll show you my faith." Paul talked about being "rich in faith" (1 Tim. 6:18). James talked about being "rich in deeds" (James 2:5). James says, "But someone will say, 'You have faith, I have deeds,' Show me your faith without deeds and I will show you my faith by what I do" (James 2:18).

Faith doesn't have a dormant or inert stage; it can't be left in mothballs! It goes places! Faith and works are distinguished, but cannot be separated. Faith without works is dead (James 2:17, 26).

Our works will be judged (for reward) not our faith per Romans 2:6; Psalm 62:12; Prov. 24:1 (our faith is a gift according to Rom. 12:3, Acts 14:27; 2 Pet. 1:1, et al.)! "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ" (1 Cor. 3:15; 2 Cor. 5:10). "God will repay each person according to what he has done'" (Rom. 2:6). Our works have to do with our testimony (Matt. 5:16; Tit. 1:16, 2:14)--"By their works they deny Him." We are to be a people "zealous of good works" (Tit. 1:16). We are to be "thoroughly furnished unto all good works" and "are created unto good works" (2 Tim. 3:17; Eph. 2:10). The faith we have is the faith we have is the faith we show! Faith must be authenticated by works or it's suspect.

It is important that we give the glory to God (Soli Deo Gloria). "I venture not to boast of anything but what Christ has accomplished through me" (cf. Rom. 15:18; Amos 6:13). Jesus said, "Apart from me you can do nothing." Isa. 26:12 reads, "All that we have accomplished you have done for us." The reason God blesses us is so that we can bear fruit (cf. 2 Cor. 9:8). We are commanded to do good works (Gal. 6:10; Phil. 2:12). Most of all the importance of it all is summed up: "Bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God" (Col. 2:10)--note how they are correlated. Soli Deo Gloria! 

Removing God From Your Metric...

 Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn said, "Man has forgotten God." What is meant is that the biggest issue today is whether man can live without God because He doesn't think He is necessary to answer the ultimate and big questions of life any longer, as Nietzsche said, "God is dead," or irrelevant and no longer needed!  Evolution seems to make atheists feel intellectually fulfilled and to be able to challenge the religious establishment and elites.  That's quite a commentary even on today's society and that was many years ago.  

Our technical expertise has surpassed our wisdom on how to best use it. We discover that inventions can be used for evil as well as good; the same thing Alfred Nobel wondered about dynamite. He felt so guilty that he founded the Nobel Peace Prize to compensate all the evil that could be done in his name.   We are rapidly seeing and overseeing our own destruction without any outside help and we can blame no one but ourselves. Will Durant said that "no society has been able to maintain morality without the aid of its religion!"  and George Bernard Shaw is said to have quipped, "No nation has survived the loss of its gods."  You must realize that it was the church that kept the Roman Empire becoming utter chaos and lawlessness. 

What can be done? Man needs to realize his identity in God which he has forgotten: he is in the image of God and hot-wired for dignity, purpose, meaning, fulfillment, self-worth, and self-esteem.  Without God, life makes no sense and if you do not reckon God in the dynamic, man becomes a useless enigma and purposeless lifeform, no better than the beast.  Have you ever observed an ape building a chapel? Of course not! They are oblivious to God because they are not in His image and not meant to worship Him. We have a heart to love God, a mind to know Him, and the will to obey Him; animals do not. 

How can we find our purpose or calling? William James said "the best use of a life is to spend it on something that will outlast it.". We must live for something bigger than ourselves!"  We must not then just live for the here and now and eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die!  We are meant to live in light of eternity!  We have our identity in God! 

This image we have enables us to have the madness of laughter, the tears of joy and sorrow, the communicative ability to talk to God, the rational mind to reason, the morals to be responsible for our actions, the emotions and love to have a relationship with God on a personal level and find joy in God, the free will to decide if we want to serve God, and the intellect to know God. We have many things in common with God too besides that: we have a sense of humor, we are artistic and have an aesthetic sense, and we are musical and especially that we ae imaginative and creative and can think on an abstract level! This is why we are not stupid like the animals who cannot know God.

Bertrand Russell, atheist philosopher, said that "unless you assume a God, the question of life's purpose is meaningless."  We simply come from nothing but blue-green algae scum, we have no divine or ultimate purpose in living, we are headed nowhere after death and this means there is no justice because it is necessary according to philosopher Immanuel Kant that God be the Judge that He can make all things right that were wronged in this life.  Too many people get away with crime and evil and never see justice or their comeuppance and God is necessary to even the score and settle matters on Judgment Day.   In sum, consider the wise  words of Dostoevsky: "If there is no God, all things are permissible."   Soli Deo Gloria! 

Do You Believe The Almighty Performs Miracles?

 I could've asked if you believe in miracles at all. But I decided to bring God into the equation. He is the issue, not nature.  If you say that you do not  believe the sun stood still for Gideon or that Moses parted the Red Sea or that God provided manna in the Wilderness for Israel, or that Jesus calmed the storm and walked on water or particularly healed the sick, those are other questions. The whole point is miracles per se.  Are they defined by the laws of nature? Are they violations of the laws of nature? Who can perform miracles then? How common are they? What are they defined as? 

First things first: miracles are supernatural or unusual events that happen contrary to the natural order of things and are not producible by what is naturally occurring and present at the time and place of the event. It is not a miracle that you found that parking spot at the shopping mall, or some Hail Mary pass won the game, though you may feel that way. Therefore, miracles must be supernatural, but all supernatural events are not miracles; we see the supernatural every day if we look for it.  

No supernatural powers were needed for some events for that and no laws of nature suspended, it was just timing!   Sometimes, it's just seems coincidental that makes it a miracle.  We should not use the term loosely to include spectacular or unusual events that require no act of intervention by God.  As far as the laws of nature go, the law of gravity says that if an apple falls from the tree and you catch it, you have suspended the natural order of things that it should hit the ground.  Don't you realize that the Almighty God who is the Lawgiver of the laws of nature has every right to suspend his own rules? 

Science cannot forbid miracles then. It merely describes what happens according to what normally and customarily occurs. Science depends upon the uniformity of the laws of nature and if miracles happened all the time they'd be called "regulars" and science would be impossible!   David Hume described miracles as violations of the laws of nature as if nature itself is sovereign and controls events, not God. What he is doing is personifying and deifying nature, not God. What I'm saying is that the belief in miracles is necessitated if one believes in God Almighty.

If you believe in a Creator, for example, it is no leap to believe God can do the lesser miracles of the Bible narratives. Secular Humanists deny any supernaturalism and will not let a Divine Foot in the door but adhere strictly to materialism or that only matter/energy exists and there is no spirit and in particular no soul of man to be "saved." To believe in miracles is a profession of faith then. It is the logical conclusion when one believes in God Almighty.  You cannot profess faith in God and deny His miracles or take them out of the Bible narratives. 

Of the views on miracles: that they do not occur; that they only happened in the biblical times; and that they still occur even today, or that they happen by other forces, all depend upon one's belief in the God of the Bible and how to interpret it. They occurred for certain reasons in the Bible at three basic times: Moses and Joshua; Elijah and Elisha, Jesus, and the early church period. If you remove miracles from other religions, they remain intact, but if you remove the miraculous from the Bible, it is disemboweled and neutralized and of not consequence.  

They were performed for basic reasons too: to give authority and credentials to the prophet, priest, or apostle;  to be a sign from God; to intervene in human affairs; and for merciful reasons to show pity.  The basic reason is that miracles are supernatural or even unusual events caused by God directly to bring glory to God and to attest to God (Heb. 2:3-4) .  We must realize that faith doesn't come from miracles, but miracles from faith! 

Jesus did perform miracles and they were well-known in His time and not denied; the skeptics just attributed them to Satan!  He never did a biggie or showy miracle though to force belief by some "smoking gun" evidence. He never did them on demand.  They were not for show!  Jesus did not want to be known merely as a miracle worker but if you remove the miracles, His story has little credence, and if He had never performed them, He would've been but a footnote in history, even forgotten. 

In sum, God performed miracles for His people and they did not believe, except the remnant: Psalm  78:32; John 12:37 say that although God performed multiple miracles, they would not believe and kept sinning (note that it doesn't say "could not") but became hardened and stubborn in their hearts. Soli Deo Gloria!

Listening To The Flesh

 Sin has been your downfall! (Hosea 14:1).  Sin wants to destroy you, but you must not let it! (Gen. 4:7). We all dread committing the sin unto death (1 John 5:16) or letting some sin domineer or dominate and rule over us (Rom. 6:14; Psalm 14:13).  We all have some sin to keep us humble as a thorn in the flesh (2 Cor. 12:9) and easily besets us (Heb. 12:1-2).  Some of us even fear some unforgiveable sin (Matt. 12:32) or doing some egregious or heinous sin that we cannot forgive ourselves for. All sin is avoidable if we are filled with the Spirit and is a violation of our own conscience as well as God's perfect Law and plumb line of the Word of God and even falls short of the conduct of Jesus, our Exemplar. If we refuse to repent, "Beware you sin will find you out!" Numbers 32:23. 

I know sin is a killjoy word and is avoided in the pulpit; it's a thankless job to call people to repentance especially when you do not know of what. Nevertheless, we must call a spade a spade and not invent pretty names for it. For instance, if you take the label of the essence of peppermint and apply it to cyanide, you do not avoid a possible poisoning.  People do this by calling sin a mistake, error, flaw, weakness, shortcoming, or peccadillo.  Sin must be seen as our birthright and the virus inherited from Adam as we are born in solidarity with him and we sin because we are born sinners as Adam's legacy.  Sin is our Declaration of Independence from God!   So, the question on the pulpit:  Whatever became of sin?  

Many will admit no one is perfect or to err is human but deny they are sinners!  Sin is defined  many ways: whatever Jesus would not do; anything irresponsible, autonomous, rebellious, unbelieving, unloving, or disobedient to God, either in commission or omission.  The Book of Common Prayer says sin is any want of conformity to or transgression of the Law of God.  Any thought, word, act, feeling, desire, or reaction contrary to what God would or would not do.  In hamartiology, we say that sin is by definition, "missing the mark." It has been called "the refusal of the love of God."   

We fall short of God's glorious ideals and standards of conduct.  Confession means saying the same thing as and agreeing with God about what we did with no attempt at coverup or blaming others, but taking full responsibility for our sins. We then renounce and denounce our sins and ask for forgiveness because of the blood of Christ and Jesus making intercession for us. 

It is the Law that convicts and shows us we cannot keep it and brings us to repentance: "Indeed it is the straightedge of the Law that shows us what sinners we are." Romans 3:20  By the Law is the knowledge of sin; the Law was not given to save us but to measure us!  We must realize that "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks."  And as a man thinks in his heart, so is he. Prov. 23:7.  

Jesus changed the concept of sin by internalizing it; i.e., making sins of the heart (as Jesus condemned in Mark 7; Matt 15) just as serious and sometimes more so than just doing the action. Ovid said, "I know the better things and I approve them, but I follow the worst." Pierre in War and Peace by Tolstoy said, "Why is it that I know what is right and do what is wrong?" Even Paul in Romans 7 admitted he struggled still with sin. 

There are degrees of sin and of punishment for them. There are no mortal sins that remove us from our state of grace in salvation, and there are no venial sins in the sense that they are not serious or harmless. All sins can condemn a person; if you break one part of the Law, you are guilty of breaking all of it. Actually, we should not limit grace because where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more. (Romans 5:20).  We are all sinners and should not compare ourselves; God doesn't grade on a curve!  

Sin is universal and no one can claim to be sin-free or have reached some point of maturity without any sin (Prov. 20:9; 1 John 1:8,10).  But we all have feet of clay with flaws not readily apparent and we should pray for a lively sense of sin because that leads to less sin!  The more mature we are, the more  we see our sin and we must see how bad we are to be saved! and we don't know how bad we are till we try to be good! What a catch-22!  Soli Deo Gloria! 

Theory Of Knowledge

Why did Socrates say "I know that I know nothing" and what did he mean by it?


It is a self-contradiction if he said that because he claims to know something—that he knows nothing! I doubt he would contradict himself so easily though. He also said, “To commence learning, you must admit your ignorance.” If one knows nothing, would they know it? Socrates was a believer in God as the was Plato and Aristotle though not so formulated as the Hebrews had. The Bible says, “Anyone who thinks he knows something doesn’t yet know as he ought to know.” The Genesis of all learning then is realized ignorance. The more educated you become, the more you realize you do not know and need more education!

If he did say it, he was referring to being skeptical and starting from scratch and not assuming anything. All knowledge begins in faith. You have to believe you know something to know anything. Uncertainty is the starting point and beginning of a discovery of knowledge and often its outcome. We may find out we know squat about something we claim to know something. We will discover all knowledge is contingent beginning by accepting a presupposition we cannot prove or disprove.

Does God Woo Us All Into His Kingdom?

“Salvation is of the LORD.”. Jonah 2:9

NOTE: I USE THE TERM ARMINIAN TO REFER TO THOSE WHO DENY THE TULIP FORMULA OF CALVINISM (OR REFORMED THEOLOGY) BUT SOME THEOLOGIANS CLAIM TO BE FOUR-POINTERS, DENYING THE LIMITE OR DEFINITE ATONEMENT SCHEMA. THERE ARE ONLY TWO INTERPATIONS OF THE GOSPELS OF GRACE: ARMINIAN AND CALVINIST AND MOST FALL SOMEWHERE INBETWEEN, LIKE ARMINIANS WHO AFFIRM ETERNAL SECURITY.

There is no question that we cannot come to Christ apart from the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives to make us able and willing to believe ("This is the work of God, that you believe..." according to John 6:29). Some theologians of the Arminian persuasion do admit to the wooing of the Holy Spirit and even have a name for the pre-salvation work of Christ in our hearts, known as prevenient grace, whereby God makes you able to respond to the gospel. Calvinists or Reformed theologians subscribe to an efficacious grace or as it is called irresistible grace (cf. Rom. 5:21).

God doesn't try to save sinners, He saves them. He doesn't offer to save us but saves us. The word for wooing in Koine (Greek )is elko, which means to compel or drag. You can picture drawing water from a well. God has the power to make the most unwilling willing, and to turn hearts of stone into hearts of flesh! God literally drags us into the kingdom and makes believers out of us!

The big issue is whether God draws all and if He does, does He draw them equally? And if all are wooed, why do some not respond? The golden chain of redemption in Romans 8:29-30 says that whom He foreknew He called. There is a general gospel call given to all the world (cf. Titus 2:11), but the inner calling of the Holy Spirit is only given to the elect. (cf. Acts 2:32). "The elect obtained unto it, and the rest were hardened," (cf. Rom. 11:7). "As many as were elected believed..." (Acts 13:48). We are commanded to call all because we do not know whom the elect are, but God looks on the heart and knows those who are His. God doesn't draw all equally, because some need more work than others and are given more grace ("Where sin abounded, grace abounded all the more," according to Rom. 5:20).

The Arminian will not admit that God doesn't draw some at all, but leaves them in their sin. (Passing them by is called preterition). God reserves the right to have mercy on whom He will have mercy according to Romans 9:15. No one can resist God's will according to Romans 9:19 and if God decides to save someone, they will get saved--He is determined to bring about the salvation of the elect at the appointed time. This brings up the issue or doctrine of preterition, which is when God passes over the non-elect so that they will receive the justice of God and not the mercy of God. He doesn't work fresh evil in their hearts but simply lets them go their way of sin and follow their hearts in the flesh, enslaved to sin.

"No man can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them," (cf. John 6:44). We cannot respond to the gospel apart from the wooing, and this wooing guarantees that we will respond to the gospel message--the Greek word elko means "to compel by irresistible superiority." Arminians like the word "woo" because it doesn't sound authoritarian, but that is downgrading God's omnipotence and sovereignty. Arminians believe God may only draw those He sees will respond, but cannot say why God doesn't woo the others who fail to come to Christ. Perhaps it is the intensity of the wooing! We cannot attribute some merit to ourselves for responding to the wooing ministry, for salvation is by grace alone.

The big question is why some people respond and others don't. According to Scripture, we are called according to His purpose and grace and to the pleasure of His good will, nothing inherent in us to boast of. "What do you have that you didn't receive?" (1 Cor. 4:7). We have no inherent virtue or wisdom to qualify us for the kingdom. The only explanation is that faith is a gift from God and the result of regeneration not the cause of it--we don't conjure it up, but faith is not achieved but given. We believer through grace. (Acts 18:27).

However, the Arminian believes some respond favorably because of something in them such as being less biased or smarter, which makes salvation is ultimately based on their merit and works and not grace and faith. If you can come to God in faith without being regenerated, what good is it? There is a tug on the heart as the elect hears the gospel message ("Faith comes by hearing and by hearing of the Word of God" according to Rom. 10:17).

You must choose: is salvation in God's hands or not? Soli Deo Gloria!

What Is The Main Point Of Christianity?

 The answer to this question is not so obvious and may seen contraindicative. The average Joe would think that the purpose of Christianity is to live by the Golden Rule or to love one's neighbor or be a good Samaritan or in some way just be a good person. Yes, God is love and he who loves another fulfills the Law of Christ who told us to love each other as He loved us.

But the point is that people of all faiths think they are "good," and that the purpose of all religions is to be good. Yes, if that is all you choose or want or aspire to be is good (in whose eyes though?) then ANY religion will do. There are good Jews, Mormons, JWs, Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists, and you could even argue for good Secular Humanists or even in some cases, good atheists, which only proves you don't need religion to be good. This sense of good and evil comes from God who gave everyone a moral compass or conscience to judge right and wrong and holds us accountable.

Don't people realize that our righteousness and good deeds are as filthy rags in God's sight and count for nothing by way of salvation? When we say we are good, we contradict the Lord who said only God is good--we are then evil in comparison because God doesn't grade on a curve; however, people play, "Let's compare," and don't realize God is the standard, not our neighbor; in comparison to Adolf Hitler, I am a saint! People all commend themselves!

But God has leveled the playing field and labeled, reckoned, and judged us all sinners who fall short of God's glorious ideal and measure of perfection. Paul called himself the "chief of sinners" yet he is numbered among the saints!

Jesus made an important point to Peter when He asked the disciples: "Who do men say that I AM?" This is what Christ was trying to point out! Jesus also said, "Unless you believe that I AM, you shall die in your sins..." John 8:24 Jesus is God in the flesh! This means that we must correctly understand who Jesus is.

We must realize Christ as our Lord and Savior not just some moral guide, Exemplar, martyr for a noble or good cause, victim of an evil society, but as one who voluntarily laid down His divine life and even chose the moment to expire for us.

The whole point of Christianity is to know God and Jesus His Son. This is eternal life in essence and consists of a vital, growing, living, saving faith and relationship with the triune Godhead. John's Prologue says that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us! John 1:14 Yes, this is the point we must grasp to be saved. The point then is as the question goes, Do you know God? Not are you a good person. Jesus didn't come to make bad people good but to make dead people live!

All religions teach us to be good and people even know that much by their own conscience. Don’t forget true faith expresses itself and has fruit for we are to be a redeemed people zealous of good works, thus validating our faith in the eyes of men. Soli Deo Gloria!

Is God Fair?

We are in no position to judge God, but He is our judge and we have no right to question His fairness, for what's fair is what He decrees as fair by its very nature and definition. One recalls the parable of the Prodigal Son whereby the elder brother is dispirited at the grace shown the younger one and thinks it's unfair. He should've celebrated the fact that he had always been the son and never suffered estrangement.

Too many Christians think that it is unfair that criminals who make deathbed conversions can get saved when they lived their whole life for Christ. They should've noted that they get to live for Christ, not had to live for Him. It is a privilege to live for Christ and one should be thankful for all the opportunities and be stewards of them. He has become the recipient of greater reward, as God rewards according to our deeds whether we are in Christ a short time or long time. We don't have to be Christians, we get to be Christians! Many who are first shall be last, according to Christ, and the last, first. The classic example of deathbed conversion is the famed thief or malefactor on the cross on the right side of Christ and to whom He said, "Today, thou shalt be with me in paradise."

In the final analysis, life may not always be fair because some people's portion is in this life and others have to learn the hard way--but God will make it all fair in the end at the judgment and He is just in all His ways. And so, who's to say that inequity defines unfairness? God is the moral center of the universe, thank God! 

Jacob was paranoid: "All these things are against me" (Gen. 42:36). Job had his time of being appalled at his circumstances and sudden disaster: "My worst fears have come upon me." But Paul said of his sufferings: "But none of these things move me" (Acts 20:24). We must never give up the faith that "If God can be for us, who can be against us?" They must come because the same hammer breaks the glass, forges the steal, the same sun melts the butter, hardens the clay--we either become bitter or better through the crucible of suffering or the school of hard knocks because God never promised us a bed of roses. Hardship or Reality 101 is part of the divine curriculum.

But don't break faith or lose heart--God loves us as His children and discipline means we belong to Him ("Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep thy Word," says Psalm 119:67). God's grace is not only necessary but sufficient for us ("My grace is sufficient for thee," says 2 Cor. 9:8). Believers have always inquired, "Why do bad things happen to good people?" [There are no good people!] Let's see why the Bible says, "...Can anyone say to Him, 'What hast Thou done?'" (Dan. 4:35).

Life is unfair, just look at what happened to Jesus. But don't jump to the conclusion that God is ergo unfair. It doesn't necessarily follow, as I intend to show. The question should not be, "Is God fair?" but are you fair? Who do you think you are? Do you trust yourself and your standards enough to judge the whole earth? God is fair is a given and a no-brainer to any person of faith--but we have a struggle when the trial, tribulation, suffering, adversity or temptation happens to us personally, don't we? Like when Job's comforters reprimanded him that he had preached to others, and now trouble comes to him and he can't take it (cf. Job 4:3ff "See how you have instructed many...but now trouble comes to you and you are discouraged....").

God sees the big picture and we only see our own little world! Who has the advantage? To get specific, is it fair that Jesus had to die? Even the objective onlooker realizes he suffered a great injustice at the hand of Rome, yet God is fair and decreed that this should this; He does not tolerate sin but remains holy, and untouched by sin, We tend to put God in a box, like saying, "I like to think of God as a ...." Luther said to Erasmus: "Your thoughts of God are too human." There is always more to God than we can apprehend! "The finite cannot grasp the infinite", the Greeks said.

Job was told, "Canst thou by searching find out God?" There is no "higher law" that God must obey: He is a law unto Himself--autonomous! Only He can set aside His laws. God wants to see if we will trust Him through thick and thin when the chips are down. Let the chips fall where they may, God is in control! He does what is right, He never does what is wrong, because all wrongdoing is a sin.

"How can God be just, and the Justifier?" The Bible says God's ways are unfathomable and inscrutable and no one can discern His ways, "as the heavens are higher than the earth" (cf. Isaiah 55:9; Rom. 11:33). ("How unsearchable his judgments and His paths beyond tracing out.") We sometimes cry out for justice, but do we really want to get what we deserve? Or do we want mercy and grace? Some will receive justice from God, and others mercy and grace (mercy is not getting what you deserve--judgment; grace is getting what you don't deserve--eternal life), but no one will receive injustice.

Grace and mercy are a form of non-justice, but not injustice--there is a nuance of meaning that you must realize here. Karma is disproved by Christ's sufferings--He certainly didn't deserve what He got at the hand of Rome. God tempers His justice with mercy and only give the evil-doer his due or just dessert, and not beyond what strict justice would demand--God is not cruel. Remember, God is not obligated to be merciful, just because He was merciful to one and we have no claim on His mercy and cannot demand it, but can only accept it as a gift by grace through faith in Christ.

People instinctively think that when something goes wrong that God is unfair. They don't think they could possibly be reaping what they have sown. Even Job didn't accuse God of wrong-doing and accepted evil at the hand of God as well as a blessing. What is fair is the question, not is God fair. For Abraham said, "Shall not the judge of all the earth do right?" We don't judge God, he judges us! We don't have some standard of right and wrong and see if God measures up!

What God does is fair by definition because God is fair, period, no if's, and's, or but's. Today they say that art is what an artist says is art! It is similar with God. We say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder too. But God said all creation was good after He created it and we are not to object to His standards. R. C. Sproul says, "God is therefore never arbitrary, whimsical, or capricious, He always does what is right." Amen! Amen! He never acts out of character but is always true to Himself.

Because there is no immediate retribution, we tend to think we have gotten away with something--But God is only giving us space to repent and judge He will--either in Christ or at the Great White Throne Judgment at the Last Day. We want revenge sometimes but must not take the law into our own hands but trust God and His using the government to get the job done. "Vengeance is mine, saith the LORD." No one gets away with anything. What seems like God being unfair is often just suffering the consequences for our own foolishness or sin! 

Either they are disciplined by God as believers and their sins are judged on the cross, or they pay for their own sins in the final judgment for all eternity. The point is this: Something is fair because God says so--to have some other standard other than this self-attesting one would be to appeal to some standard higher than God. For instance, if I said, common sense should be the standard, because that's just common sense. (This is circular reasoning when we appeal to the source we are using as proof itself.)

Now in Psalm 73 Asaph bemoans the prosperity of the wicked--a common complaint against God. But Psalm 17:14 says that some people's reward is in this life ("...whose portion is in this life") and the rule still applies that they sow the wind and reap the whirlwind (Hosea 8:7). We tend to think that if someone gets something, that we also deserve it. If God saves one person, for instance, He is not obligated to save another--He could have elected to save no one! Remember and keep faith in the goodness of God and the profundity or incomprehensibility of God--we cannot figure Him out and never will!

In the economy of God, it pays to trust God and it is more blessed to give than to receive, but also the laws of reaping what you sow and the promised rewards to people who are industrious and work hard are in effect despite being a believer or not. God blesses some people in all ways, but all in some ways, because of common grace given to all--"God is good to all, and His compassion is over all creation" (Psa. 145:9). God doesn't know how to be anything but good. The proof of the pudding is in the eating--"Taste and see that the Lord is good," says Psalm 34:8. God is good all the time! (Neh. 1:7).  Soli Deo Gloria! 

What Is Saving Faith?

"... [A]nd a large number of priest became obedient to the faith" (Acts 6:7, NIV).

"Through him we have received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from or his Name's sake" (Romans 1:5, NKV).
"... [S]o that all the Gentiles might come to the obedience that comes from faith" (Rom. 16:26,NIV).

You gotta have faith! How big is your God, not how big is your faith? It depends on the strength of our God, not our faith. Without faith, you cannot please God! (Cf. Heb. 11:6). A real, genuine faith is one that grows and is not static or going nowhere. True faith consists of right knowledge (you cannot subscribe to heresy), assent or agreement, and trust or reliance on it. We don't have blind faith, for we have sound reasons to believe and don't believe in spite of the evidence. We don't believe something we know isn't true--there is ample and compelling circumstantial evidence for the open-minded and willing person--no one can say there is lack of evidence.


We don't have faith in faith, but in the object of Christ (the object saves not the faith). Faith is a verb and entails action: "By faith Abraham obeyed ..." and so forth. It is a matter of the will--it is volitional. We choose to believe of our own ("If anyone's will is to do God's will, he will know..." (cf. John 7:17, ESV), but God quickens faith in us and makes us alive--dead people cannot believe!

We must take the leap of faith from the seed planted. Faith is not a work (if it were we would have merit before God, but we are not saved by works). If it were a work, we would foul it up somehow! The faith you have is the faith you show: Paul says, "I'll show you my works by my faith," while James says, "I'll show you my faith by my works." We are saved by faith alone, according to the Reformation doctrine, but not by a faith that is alone. Works are no substitute for faith, but only evidence of it, as we are saved unto works, not by works.

The theological axiom applies: "Only he who is obedient believes, only he who believes is obedient." Obedience is the only true test of faith and they are correlated in Hebrews 3:18 and John 3:36. The obedience of faith separates the bogus profession of faith and the reality of faith as seen in Acts 6:7 ("... [M]any of the priests became obedient to the faith") and Romans 1:5. You must trust and obey! (Mark 10:9 says, "What God has joined together let not man put asunder.")

Faith is given, not achieved--it is the gift of God and we do not conjure it up. It is the work of God as His gift, but we must use it and take the leap. "... [H]e greatly helped those who through grace had believed" (Acts 18:27, ESV). But there is a difference between head belief and heart belief: the demons also believe and tremble! The first step to faith is a positive attitude expressed in listening, then understanding with the mind, then believing with the heart, and finally trusting and relying on will or volition. The result: "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope" (Romans 15:13, ESV).

What is the progression of faith? Openness to the truth (unbelievers reject the truth), acceptance of the gospel message, willingness to obey God's will in relinquishment, surrender to the Lordship of Christ, and self-denial and willingness to follow Jesus. We must give up, surrender, and commit to what we know is true. The elements of faith in progression are: Knowing, reckoning, yielding, obeying, trusting, delighting, committing, waiting, and anticipating.

Its logical conclusion is a relationship with Jesus with a love for Him--"Though you have not seen him, you love him (cf. 1 Pet. 1:8, ESV). Faith begets fruit and works, no fruit, no faith! "If you love me, you will keep my commandments" (John 14:15, ESV). Note that no one has perfect faith: God requires only sincere, unfeigned faith according to 1 Tim. 1:5 says: "The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith" (ESV). Final Caveat: Beware of easy-believism whereby one thinks he is saved by merely believing without submitting to His lordship.


Everyone has faith; in what is the question. We are a religious creature made to worship and will worship someone or something if not God, which is idolatry. Dostoevsky said that "man cannot live without worshiping something." We are made for God and can only find our fulfillment in living for Him. But why is man opposed to God when He offers Himself to them? Man is a slave to sin and doesn't want to change his way of life, doing his own thing his way. He doesn't want to submit to authority and grant the ownership of his life to the One who made it. A person of no organized religion may have their faith in the scientific method, that science can solve all our problems--but he is nevertheless a person of faith. And so everyone is a person of faith! We have sound reasons to believe and need not commit intellectual suicide.

Real faith in God is when we go a step beyond so-called story-book faith or head belief and it registers in the heart and we desire to live it out in trust and commitment. We must be obedient to the gospel and to the faith. Saving faith is always accompanied by genuine repentance--they go hand in hand! And we must never divorce faith and faithfulness, for we live by faith and it must grow, not being dead. Dead faith produces no works and that kind of faith cannot save. Good soil produces fruit and saving faith produces the fruit of good works. As the Reformers said, "We are saved by faith alone, but not by a faith that is alone." If we have no works, our faith is suspect. James says that faith without works is dead! James 2:18 also says, "I'll show you my faith by my works!" But we are not saved by works, but not without them either. We don't have faith in ourselves or our ability in trying to save ourselves, because it's the object that matters. We must realize that genuine faith expresses itself!

God opens our eyes to have faith, for we are blinded by Satan. He quickens or kindles faith within us by grace and it's not a meritorious work as Rome would have you believe--for then we would be saved by merit or works. We will have nothing to boast of in God's presence. Faith is the work of God but our act. We must put our faith in the right object to be saved, for we don't have faith in faith, but faith in Christ--faith doesn't save, Christ does! But this faith must be penitent as we turn from sin to God and believe in Christ. That's why it may be termed penitent faith or believing repentance that saves. We have believed through grace, a supernatural act of God regenerating us. God grants both repentance and faith as a privilege of being the elect (cf. Acts 5:31; 11:18). He opens the door to faith and repentance (cf. Acts 14:27).

There is a profession of faith and reality of faith, whereas bogus faith is misplaced and insincere. God doesn't ask for perfect faith, only sincere, unfeigned faith (cf. 1 Tim. 1:5; 2 Tim. 1:5). Without faith, we cannot please God (cf. Heb. 11:6). There are people of great faith but it's misplaced (cf. Romans 10:2; Proverbs 19:2)--sincerity matters but it's not everything (you can be sincerely wrong). There are believers in name only or nominal Christians who go through the motions and have memorized the Dance of the Pious. Saving faith is obedient as Bonhoeffer says, "Only he who believes is obedient; only he who is obedient believes." (cf. Romans 16:26; Romans 1:5, Acts 6:7). They shall know we are Christians by our love--the ultimate obedience. That is the litmus test! Faith and obedience are correlated in Heb. 3:17-18, HCSB, as follows: "And who did He swear to that they would not enter His rest, if not those who disobeyed? So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief." We desire to obey, even if we fall short of perfection (cf. Matt 5:48).

The faith you have is the faith you show! The rallying cry of the Reformation was that we are saved by faith alone and Rome pronounced anyone anathema that adhered to this doctrine at the Council of Trent (the Counter-Reformation). We are not saved by good works, and faith is not a work, but we are saved unto good works, that we may accomplish the will of God. Works are no substitute for faith, but only evidence of it. In fact, God foreordains good works for us to do for His purposes. We must be saved by grace, for this is the only way to have assurance. And "salvation is of the LORD," as Jonah found out (cf. Jonah 2:9) which means it's God's accomplishment, not man's achievement. We receive faith, we don't achieve it, i.e., we don't conjure it up by ourselves, but it's totally a gift of grace (cf. Acts 18:27; John 6:29; 2 Pet. 1:1). But we must put our faith to work and turn our creed into deeds, for faith is knowledge in action. Keeping the faith only works if it's in Christ!

Rome reduces faith to assent or acquiescence or acknowledgment with the church dogma. Just realizing Christ is God and rose from the dead, if one doesn't put the faith into action, will not save. Believing Christ rose from the dead is history; believing He died for you and rose for you and personalizing this is salvation. By faith Abraham obeyed! True saving faith is a surrendered, substituted, inhabited, relinquished, and even yielded life to the will of God, whereas Christ lives in us through the Holy Spirit's residence--in other words, He owns us because He bought us and redeemed us! We must take a spiritual checkup or spiritual inventory to find out whether we have the Spirit or not and if Christ is living in us--if anyone has not the Spirit of Christ he is none of His and he is reprobate (cf. Romans 8:9). In sum, if we love Jesus we will obey Him (cf. John 14:15) and there is a curse on anyone who doesn't love the Lord (cf. Rom. 16:22)--true faith trusts in Christ as Savior and submits to Him as Lord, as Jesus said, "If you love Me, you will obey My commands." Soli Deo Gloria!

Are We Saved By Faith Alone? ...

"So we see that a person is justified  by works and not by faith alone."  James 2:24

First, faith is knowledge in action and must take root and grow to be a living, saving faith.  We are not saved by living a good life or achieving human success, in fact, works of the flesh or done apart from the Spirit count as filthy rags in God's sight (Isaiah 64:6), au contraire, we are saved on account of our faith.  Righteousness then is imputed from Christ as we are reckoned as just forensically in God's court but not made just or righteous till we reach glory in heaven and are wholly sanctified and separated from sin forever. 

And we are not saved by works, any Protestant would agree with that and that we are saved by faith.  It is also true that  we are "saved" by faith and works!  What is meant by "saved" is in question though.  We are justified in men's eyes by our fruits. The battle cry of the Reformation was that we are "saved by faith alone!" 

But Catholics say that the Bible never says that but that we are not saved by faith alone in James.  "We are not saved by faith alone, but not by a faith that is alone" is the formula of the Reformers. That kind of faith, that stands without works, is dead faith and cannot save.  True faith manifests itself in works and proves itself.  Do you have anything to show for your faith?  Put it into practice! 

We are known by our fruits or works, not our faith; anyone can claim to have faith but we show it by our works as evidence.  James 2:18 says, "I will show you my faith by my works." Or "I will show you my faith by putting it into action."  God has therefore redeemed for Himself a people "zealous of good works," for which we are "foreordained" to do (cf. Eph. 2:10).  God has prepared certain works for us to do as obedience to His will. 

It appears to men that the faith we have is the faith we show! Remember, our eternal reward is not for our faith but in accordance with our works or deeds (Rom. 2:6; Matt. 16:27; Psalm 62:12; 2 Cor. 5:10). 

We are not therefore saved by works, but not without them either!  If we have no works to validate our faith, it is suspect and dubious or in question.  We must turn our creeds into deeds! Or our faith is spurious!   We must be examples of good works which "adorn" our doctrine. 

To be authentic, we must have a faith that is growing and living in good works.  "Bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God." (Col. 1:10). Our faith is not a "to-do list" either, we do not do them because we must or have to but because we want to (our nature has been transformed into new creatures).  True faith expresses itself! 

There are only four possibilities of salvation to consider: works equals justification (religion); faith plus works equals justification (legalism); faith without works as a byproduct equals justification  (antinomianism or libertinism leading to easy-believism ,cheap grace, or "no-lordship" salvation); and finally the correct one of the Reformers is that faith equals justification producing works as a byproduct or fruit. Thus the relationship between faith and works can be distinguished but not separated or divorced.  They go together hand in hand!  

Thus, in conclusion, works do play a role in our salvation, they prove it and make it complete and are not its substitute, and he who thinks he can live as he pleases simply because he has faith is in error and may not be saved at all. Soli Deo Gloria!