Friends Of Jesus

Abraham was the "friend of God" so we are grandiose to think we are exclusively the "buddy" of Jesus by the same token. I don't believe in any exclusive thinking for the believer or building of barriers or dichotomies between fellow brethren. Some Christians imagine that they are "buddies" with the Lord. We are servants. Paul calls us doulos or slave. John MacArthur says we are not His "sidekicks." ("Well done good and faithful servant.") Jesus called us all "friends" in the sense that we know His will and what He is doing. We cannot be egotistical in thinking we are above other Christians or a cut above others, because Christianity is egalitarian and we are all one in Christ. There is neither male nor female, et cetera.

If we are not His friends we are His enemies; there is no middle ground. Let's not let it go to our heads that we are all as believers the "friends" of Christ. He said that "Whoever is not with Me is against Me..." (Matt. 12:30). There is no dichotomy of believers whereas some are carnal and non-spiritual and others are mature. We are all works in progress but nevertheless "friends" and "brethren" of the Lord himself.   Soli Deo Gloria!

Science & The Bible Part 2

St. Augustine said that "deep within man there dwells the truth." However, the big lie of the West is that there is no absolute truth--truth with a capital T! If there is no truth, as Pilate thought, then there is no God by inference. The Bible is not a science textbook, but it has no scientific absurdities and where it does say something scientific, like the water cycle, it is accurate. The French Academy of Science in 1861 said that there were 51 "facts" in the Bible that were controverted by the scientific fact--today not one of those scientific facts is believed and so you see that science is a moving train, but the Bible stays the same. It is never outdated. Truth is always relevant.

Theologians like to say that "All truth is God's truth." All religions have an element of truth mixed in with the error. They have just enough truth to be dangerous and religion has just enough reality to vaccinate you from the real thing. Psychology has some truth and Psychiatry has part of the answer and a piece of the puzzle, but the Scripture is sufficient to solve our problems and Jesus not only has the answer but is the Answerer! Christianity is not true because it works, as Lee Strobel says, it works because it is true. TM works for some, but that doesn't mean mantras are good, we should meditate on the Word only.

We all have preconceived ideas that prevent us from being objective--in fact, total objectivity is impossible, except for God. Dr. S. Lewis Johnson, Jr.,l (professor of systematic theology at Dallas Theological Seminary) says that the scientific method cannot arrive at absolute truth. (Inference is flawed.) We are all prejudiced and that means "being down on what we're not up on." God gives enough light to see the truth if we can accept it and are looking for it, but he leaves it an open question and doesn't force truth on anyone, leaving enough darkness for people to reject the truth.

If truth could be proved beyond a shadow of a doubt, then we would be forced to accept it. If God were proved, then He would be no greater than the mind that proved Him! One needs faith because the "supreme function of reason is to show man that some things are beyond reason." (Blaise Pascal) The proof of the pudding is in the eating, as they say. "Taste and see that the Lord is good..." (Ps. 34:8).   Soli Deo Gloria!

Science & The Bible...

You know that in the early twentieth-century modernism was the rule and society thought that science had all the answers. Evolution, a scientific tenet of FAITH has infiltrated philosophy and ethics, even justified itself by it. The so-called "survival of the fittest." Today we are in danger of lapsing into "scientism" where we see science as a faith or religion and the ultimate authority.

Some things are out of the REALM of science--like ethics and morality. Specifically, you cannot put God or religion in a test tube and say, "How interesting!" God is neither tangible, visible, nor audible to most of us and there are no laboratory conditions for God--"For without faith it is impossible to please Him" (Heb. 11:6).

The main reason people believe in evolution is that they don't want the consequences of believing in God and that would affect their sexual mores. There is absolutely no proof of it and it can't be proved, but they believe it nevertheless because the only alternative is unpalatable-- theism.

Science can tell us the "know-how" but not the "know-why." To existential and metaphysical questions we must turn to philosophy or religion. Jesus is the answer to the equation and he is also the "Answerer!" To know Christ is to know the truth. He did not just tell us the truth but became the embodiment of truth itself.

We must be careful not to personify science and make it an idol in our search for the truth; anything that comes between us and God is idolatry. We have nothing to fear from the truth. Truth does not go against reason but beyond it. 

St. Augustine said that "deep within man there dwells the truth." However, the big lie of the West is that there is no absolute truth--truth with a capital T! If there is no truth, as Pilate thought, then there is no God by inference. The Bible is not a science textbook, but it has no scientific absurdities and where it does say something scientific, like the water cycle, it is accurate. The French Academy of Science in 1861 said that there were 51 "facts" in the Bible that were controverted by the scientific fact--today not one of those scientific facts is believed and so you see that science is a moving train, but the Bible stays the same. It is never outdated. Truth is always relevant.

Theologians like to say that "All truth is God's truth." All religions have an element of truth mixed in with the error. They have just enough truth to be dangerous and religion has just enough reality to vaccinate you from the real thing. Psychology has some truth and Psychiatry has part of the answer and a piece of the puzzle, but the Scripture is sufficient to solve our problems and Jesus not only has the answer but is the Answerer! Christianity is not true because it works, as Lee Strobel says, it works because it is true. TM works for some, but that doesn't mean mantras are good, we should meditate on the Word only.

We all have preconceived ideas that prevent us from being objective--in fact, total objectivity is impossible, except for God. Dr. S. Lewis Johnson, Jr.,l (professor of systematic theology at Dallas Theological Seminary) says that the scientific method cannot arrive at absolute truth. (Inference is flawed.) We are all prejudiced and that means "being down on what we're not up on." God gives enough light to see the truth if we can accept it and are looking for it, but he leaves it an open question and doesn't force truth on anyone, leaving enough darkness for people to reject the truth.

If truth could be proved beyond a shadow of a doubt, then we would be forced to accept it. If God were proved, then He would be no greater than the mind that proved Him! One needs faith because the "supreme function of reason is to show man that some things are beyond reason." (Blaise Pascal) The proof of the pudding is in the eating, as they say. "Taste and see that the Lord is good..." (Ps. 34:8). Soli Deo Gloria!

   Soli Deo Gloria!

What Is The Place Of The Law?

The moral code has not been rescinded which is summarized by the Ten Commandments, except for the Sabbath requirement which is a principle more than a legalistic burden (cf. Romans 14:5; Col. 2:16).  The law was made for lawbreakers and rebels according to 1 Tim. 1:9. We obey the law out of gratitude and not out of obligation: because we "want to" not because we "have to." Obedience is a "therefore" not an "in order to." The law is holy, righteous, and good if one uses it righteously. So, we don't have to become somewhat "Jewish" to be good Christians. Judaizers are wrong missing the point and want to burden themselves with the law.

Does the law of Moses serve any purpose today? There were 613 laws in the books of Moses. They were of three classifications: ceremonial (ritual); governmental; and moral. Only the moral laws are still in effect and are fulfilled in the command to love our neighbor as Paul said. "The entire law is summed up in one single command: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself'" (Gal. 5:14).  We are under a higher law:  the law of love  The law is the schoolmaster to bring us to Christ as Paul said in Galatians 3:25. "If you are led by the Spirit you are not under the law." "Cursed is everyone who relies on the law for righteousness" (Gal. 3:10). Paul said in Rom. 6:14, "...You are not under the law but under grace."

The law has been set aside as a way of life, either justification sanctification, or obedience. "For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness for those who believe" (Rom. 10:4). "For if justification were through the law, Christ died for nothing" (Gal. 2:21). "The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming not the realities themselves..." (Heb. 10:1). The law is obsolete for Christ "by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and ordinances" (Eph. 2:15) has made it irrelevant to us as a way of life, except for the moral code (it is still wrong to murder, for example).

Our relationship to the law is like a husband and wife and when one dies the other is free from the union. We are free in Christ and shouldn't be yoked again in bondage. The Law adjudicates or declares a man to be a sinner and does not exculpate him or free him from guilt. Only in Christ can we be free even though we say, "Mea Culpa" (I am to blame).

Romans 3:20 says that by the Law is the knowledge of sin. Paul wouldn't have known himself as a sinner unless he heard that he shouldn't covet. It is by the Word of God that the Holy Spirit convicts and it is His job to convict of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment (Isaiah 55:11; cf. John 16:8). One law that is not repeated in the New Testament is the Sabbath law (cf. Neh. 9:14). This law was given as a sign (cf. Ezek. 20:20) to Israel that they were His people and comparing Rom. 14:5 and Col. 2:16 we see that this is not commanded or re-instituted in the New Testament. Finally, we serve not in the old written code of the law but in the new way of the Spirit (cf. Rom. 7:6). Watchman Nee said that the day he was delivered from the law was like heaven on earth.

The Formula of Concord (1577), the Lutheran confession of faith, established the so-called three-fold purpose of the law: To reveal sin; to establish decency in the society at large, and to provide a rule of life for the regenerated through faith in Christ. (this is according to R. C. Sproul). On the other end of the spectrum is Martin Luther's Against the Antinomians which refuted those who thought the law had no purpose (literally "against the law"). Sproul says that the law (here the moral law) does not sanction the idea that everyone has the right to do as they please in their own eyes or the right to do wrong just because we are not "under the law."

The law prepares us for grace and if we love Jesus we will do His commandments. "If you love Me, keep My commandments" (John 14:15). The law is a mirror according to Luther that shows us our true selves. The Hebrews, upon receiving the law, didn't pray for mercy but said they would obey it--what a mistake! Legalism is mainly adherence to the letter of the law and exclusion of the spirit of the law according to Sproul. He says, "The antidote to legalism and antinomianism is a serious study of the Word of God."

The law should be used in witnessing because the "law is perfect, converting the soul" (Psalms. 19:7). Billy Graham says that the law is not a panacea but a diagnosis. "It condemns but does not convert, it challenges but does not change." Charles Finney says, "By a convicted sinner, I mean one who feels condemned by the Law of God as a guilty sinner. I remark that this [the Law] is the rule and the only just rule by which the guilt of sin can be measured." Psalm 19:7 says, "The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the sinner."

D. L. Moody says, "God, being a perfect God, had to give a perfect law, and the law was given not to save men, but to measure them...They try to save themselves by trying to keep the law, but it was never meant for men to save themselves by...This, then, is why God gives us the law--to show us ourselves in our true colors." John Wesley says, "The first use of [the Law], without question, is to convince the world of sin." Yes, when He comes He will convict the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment (cf. John 16:8). John Bunyan says, "The man who does not know the nature of the law does not know the nature of sin. The world at large is under the law until they are redeemed from its curse. 

The Law was given to convince us we cannot keep it!     Soli Deo Gloria!

What is Subjectivism?

Just because we have the right to interpret Scripture doesn't mean we have the right to interpret it any way we want to. The obverse of privilege is responsibility--to interpret it right!  Just because we feel something is true doesn't make it so: e.g., not believing in the election because we feel it seems to make God out to be a despot. We cannot fabricate our own truths! We are obliged to cutting it straight so to speak. Quakers believe they should heed the "Inner Light" and Mormons follow "the burning in the bosom." There have been many "mystics" who claim special revelation and new interpretations that only they have been privileged to know.  We are entitled to our own opinions, but not our own facts!

Remember the road to Emmaus: "Were not our hearts burning within us?" Karl Barth said that passage becomes the Word of God when you have an "existential experience" with it. Well, that could subjectively mean anything: Does he mean getting goosebumps, chills down the spine, or "burning in the bosom?" Somehow God can convict us of the truth and speak to our hearts; it is usually different to each individual. Reading into the Scriptures what we want to see is called eisegesis (reading into the Bible), and correct interpretation is called exegesis (reading what's there). Also, we don't interpret it to justify our behavior but to change it!

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

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

What Is The Place Of Doctrine?

That is a loaded question since most people have a preconceived idea of what doctrine is. Doctrine is important; don't bail out theologically (cf. 2 Tim. 4:3). We all have a credo; we all have doctrines; some of us just don't have sound doctrine. Usually, they think of something dogmatic or doctrinaire or narrow-minded. They want to avoid doctrine. Actually, if we realize that all doctrine means is "teaching" then half the problem is solved. Who's against teaching?

Doctrine isn't just for intellectuals. You don't commit spiritual or intellectual suicide when you join a ministry or church. You are committing spiritual suicide if you ignore doctrine: It is a given and we are all theologians in a sense. We cannot avoid doctrine: "All Scripture is profitable for doctrine..." (cf. 2 Tim. 3:16). "Those who are wayward in spirit shall gain understanding; those who complain will accept instruction [doctrine, as it were]" (cf. Isa. 29:14).

There is value in knowing the scoop, as it were, or being "clued in," because this gives us confidence and these two, according to Charles Swindoll, are like Siamese twins. Doctrine feeds the soul and is the spiritual bread that Christ referred to when He said, "You shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God" (cf. Matt. 4:4). Just because we are privy to some doctrine doesn't make us a cut above other Christians. " The mere presence of doctrine can leave us cold, even if it is sound doctrine." It is necessary for spiritual wellness but not sufficient.

We don't have the right to believe what we feel is right but must obey rules of hermeneutics and logic that apply to any other book as well. Avoiding controversy is un-Christlike because Christ didn't shy from controversy: "to avoid controversy is to avoid Christ" (see John Stott's book Christ the Controversialist) The early disciples were devoted to the apostles' doctrine or teaching. Remember, God wants us to be "mature in our understanding." Ignorance is not bliss! It is a childish faith that balks at learning Scripture in depth. The meat of the Word is for those who "have their senses trained to discern good and evil" (cf. Heb. 5:14).   Soli Deo Gloria!

Cutting It Straight

We are told to "rightly divide the Word of Truth," which literally means "cutting it straight" or rightly interpreting according to proper hermeneutic principles. I have heard that we should interpret the Old Testament in light of the New Testament or vice versa. Well, you can sometimes interpret the Old in light of the New and sometimes the reverse. All Scripture is profitable for doctrine and so forth. Examples are Jesus talking about the abomination of desolation and referring to Daniel and about Isaiah talking about the virgin birth and Luke saying Christ fulfilled it. Or Peter saying that Pentecost was the fulfillment of Joel 2.

We have teachers that say, "Where in the New Testament are we told to obey the law?" Is this fair? We are not under the law as it says in Rom. 6:14 (the ceremonial and governmental institutional law) but still must obey the moral code. Morality doesn't change, but Christ said that all the law is fulfilled in loving God and our neighbor. "Love is the fulfillment of the Law." The messianic Jews, though sincere, are plainly wrong, seeking to put themselves under bondage again when they have been set free (cf. Gal. 5:1).

There is the argument that we don't have to obey the sabbath laws because this is the only commandment not repeated in the New Testament. We ought to live in the New Testament and not in the Old Testament. I realize that the only Scripture the early church had was the Old Testament but they also had the prophets and apostles. There are 613 laws in the books of Moses and the only ones that apply to us are repeated in the New Testament. The New Testament is to be looked upon as the fulfillment of the Old. The law does have a purpose: to convict of sin and lead one to Christ. Paul said that if it wasn't for the law to not covet he wouldn't have considered himself a sinner. It is our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ says Paul in Galatians.

So, one must be very careful to know the place of the law when interpreting the Scriptures. "For by the law is the knowledge of sin" (Rom. 3:20). Or "Indeed, it is by the straight edge of the law that we realize how crooked we really are" (J. B. Phillips).

Christianity was a break from Judaism and not another sect of that religion. Thus the New Testament stands alone as the fulfillment of the Old Testament, just as Christ is the fulfillment of the Law. The Old Testament looks forward to Christ while the New Testament presents Christ. The Old looks forward to Christ and We look back to Christ; the important thing is that we are both looking at Christ.   Soli Deo Gloria!

Easy-believism

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the famous Lutheran Nazi resistor, talked about "cheap grace." Our salvation is free, but it costs everything. "Easy-believism" refers to belief without commitment and lordship. We must accept Christ as the lord of our lives and the center of our being. Simple acquiescence or agreement is not enough (the Romanists or Papists believe that agreement with church dogma constitutes a meritorious faith); one must believe in one's heart and decide to follow Jesus no matter the cost. Jesus said, "Take up your cross, deny yourself and follow Me" (Matt. 16:24).

William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, regretted that the twentieth century would usher in Christianity without Christ and faith without repentance. Your head belief must travel 18 inches to your heart to be heart belief. True faith loves Jesus and is a living relationship with Him. Repentance is the flip side of faith and goes hand in hand with it. They compliment each other and need each other--they are different viewpoints. We are to leave the fundamentals of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God. To get assurance we must "examine our hearts and look at the fruit of our lives," according to R. C. Sproul. Also, he says the "Word of God coupled with the testimony of the Holy Spirit" will bring assurance of true faith.

Don't let anyone tell you that it is easy to become a Christian. Sure children can get saved but one must receive it as a child even if one is old. Jesus said to enter at the "narrow gate" for narrow is the gate and hard is the way that leads to life and "few there be that find it" (Matt. 7:14). Many preachers say, "Just believe! (we don't need faith in faith per se, but obedient and penitent faith) It's easy!" but the Holy Spirit must be working in the person's heart to convict them (John 16:8) and draw them to Christ (John 6:44).

Jesus said, "Apart from Me you can do nothing" (John 15:5). Soli Deo Gloria! God gets all the glory and we are not the captain of our souls or the master of our fate--our ultimate destiny is in the hands of God. Arminians think this makes God look like a terrible tyrant, but in reality, He is sovereign over all.   Soli Deo Gloria!

Are Some Reprobate?

When Jonathan Edwards preached "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" to bring on the Great Awakening in 1741, his text was Deut. 32:35 as follows: "Their step shall slip in due time; the day of their calamity is at hand."

Reprobate means condemned beforehand. (Those that believe not are condemned already.)  Paul calls them vessels of wrath as opposed to vessels of mercy. It's God's call who we are. Even our niceness is God's gift to us, not our gift to God. God doesn't actively force a person to reject Him or disobey Him--He does it on his own accord. Jean Calvin called this doctrine the "horrible decree." The opposite of reprobation is an election which is clearly mentioned in Titus and 1 Peter. I don't believe in double-predestination or that God makes some reject Him--that is called hyper-Calvinism and Calvin didn't believe that. "To the elect...." If you can prove reprobation which is a doctrine with much consternation like predestination (nobody likes to talk about it), you can by default prove election.

In my view, God passes over the non-elect (known as preterition) and lets them go their own way, but all of us would reject God if He hadn't had worked in our hearts and wills to make us willing to do His will (cf. Phil. 2:13). Compare John 6:44 and 6:65 which say that one cannot come to Jesus unless it has been granted him and the Father draws him (woos him--elko, the Greek word actually means to drag).

Three verses stand out to be brought to our attention.  [All verses in NKJV.] Jude 4 says, "For certain men have crept in unnoticed who long ago were marked out for this condemnation...." 1 Peter 2:8 says, "They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which also they were appointed." And finally 1 Thessalonians 5:9 says, "For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ." These verses are pretty straightforward and don't need commentary. [All italics are mine.]

Is not God the potter and we the clay; cannot God do with us as He sees fit, whether for common or for honorable use. How then can God blame us if He chooses? This is the question that Paul anticipates in Romans 9:19, "You will say to me then, 'Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?'" If you can answer this you deserve a doctorate in theology. Nota bene:  Paul knew ahead of time that people would wonder about the election and try to reconcile it with free will. The fact is, is that we cannot resist God's will--He always gets His way. NB: REBROBATE IS A BIBLICAL TERM FOUND IN 2 COR. 13:5FF.    Soli Deo Gloria!

How Limited Is The Atonement?

NB:  WHETHER YOU BELIEVE CHRIST DIED FOR ALL THE SINS OF MANKIND WITHOUT DISCRIMINATION, OR JUST FOR THE SHEEP, EITHER WAY ONE LIMITS THE ATONEMENT (EITHER IN EXTENT OF OUTREACH OR EXTENT OF EFFICACY).

Actually, those who believe in unlimited atonement are either universalists or believe in an atonement that only makes possible the salvation of all but actually saves no one for certain--that is a real limitation. In a so-called limited atonement, it actually accomplishes something--the salvation of the elect ("it is finished"). In 1 John 2:2 we see that Christ is the "atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not ours only but those of the whole world."

The problem lies in the definition of "world." The Greek word kosmos has several meanings. It doesn't always refer to everyone without exception. Sometimes it refers to everyone without distinction. In other words, all kinds of people can get saved, not all people. The word can mean creation or the universe and the way to test this is to plug the word into the sentence and see if it makes sense. John uses the word in John 3 several times and every time the word creation makes sense whereas believers or every person doesn't make sense.

We have to be careful so we don't prove that God saves everyone. The atonement was infinite in value and only avails for the believer, otherwise, everyone would be saved. What they say is "sufficient for all, efficient for some." God sent His Son into the universe because He so loved the universe.

In 1 John 2:2 what He did for us He did for the cosmos. He did the same thing for the cosmos. Now we just have to figure out what He did. In many translations, the word propitiation isn't used because it is above the reading level of the readers. They use the word atonement instead. Martin Luther used the word reconciliation. You see how the translators like to do your thinking for you. If Christ redeemed us He also redeemed the world or creation. Well in a way He did. Another way of looking at this verse is to see that there is one way of salvation, for the Jew as well as for the Gentile--Christ is the way of salvation, not for the Jews only but for the whole world. The main argument for the limited atonement is that Christ suffered once for the "sheep" and for His "friends" and not for the lost. "The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep." "No love has a man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends."

Also, there is the law of double jeopardy which says that if Christ suffered for your sins, how can God make you pay for them in hell. The whole question is whether Christ died for Hitler's sins or not, and if he has to pay his debt in hell on top of that. Some Arminians say that Christ died for all sinners and it's their fault if they don't accept the "free gift of eternal life." But doesn't God know ahead of time who will believe and didn't Christ only pray for the believers in the high priestly prayer of John 17?

The answer is that God offers salvation to everyone through the general call of the gospel but only the elect will hear. But all that God calls get justified (cf. Rom. 8:30). "The elect obtained unto it and the rest were hardened"m (Rom. 11:7).  "As many as were appointed to eternal life believed" (Acts 13:48).  The gospel is for "all whom the Lord our God will call" (Acts 2:39).  We don't know who the elect are so we have to preach to everyone and we preach the gospel because we are commanded to, not because we know who will be saved. The Scriptures say that "no one can resist His will" (Rom. 9:19). NB:  We are not saved by our theory of the atonement, period.   Soli Deo Gloria!