The Sole Primary Cause

"...[W]ho works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will"  (Ephesians 1:11).
"...[I]n Him all things consist"  (Col. 1:17).
"For, 'In Him we live and move and have our being'..."  (Acts 17:28).
"The lot is cast into the lap, but the decision is wholly from the LORD" (Prov. 16:33).
"...[N]one can stay his hand or say to him, "What are you doing?"  (Dan. 4:34-35).
"...For who can resist His will?" (Rom. 9:19).
[He works in us] "...both to will and to work for his good pleasure" (Phil. 2:13).


Definition of Providence per the divines of The Westminster Confession circa 1646:
"...God, the great Creator of all things, doth uphold, direct, dispose and govern all creatures, actions, and things, from the greatest even to the least...."  [This is called the eternal decrees.]

God works through the most diabolical of events, including the crucifixion, which was according to plan and eternal decree (there is no Plan B) (cf. Acts 2:23; 4:28).  "... you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good" (Gen. 50:20).  "The LORD has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble" (Prov. 16:4).  God works through and directs all events but they do not impugn His holy being and He "remains pure from every stain of sin."    We are responsible (actually held accountable and culpable) and blameworthy (destined to be judged and punished--"For it is appointed unto man once to die, and after this the judgment," declares Hebrews 9:27).  And again, "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ"  (2 Cor. 5:10).

There are no flukes, accidents,  fate, fortune, or luck or any impersonal forces such as Mother Nature at work in a so-called "naturalistic" universe.

He is the sole primary cause of the universe who not only set things in motion, but maintains and sustains them called government, concurrence (cooperation with our wills), and preservation of them physically.  There are two other causes:  instrumental and final.  Faith is the instrumental cause of salvation, but God is the primary cause, and we are the final cause (God uses us, but we don't cooperate, because "Salvation is of the LORD" according to Jonah 2:9) in ratifying it by faith.  There are secondary causes in creation:  When Satan does some evil he has to get God's permissive will to do it--he doesn't have free reign over us but is a servant of God, or else!

Case in point:  David was incited by Satan to make a census, but it also said that God led him to do it.  God was just using Satan to do His decreed will.  Note that the preceptive, revealed will of God to us is not the same as the decreed, hidden will that is God's secret and none of our business ("The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but those things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever" ( Deut. 29:29).  We don't know the hidden will until it happens and should not seek it by necromancy, tarot cards, seance, etc., but live our lives in faith trusting Him for the future.

Providence is the name given to God's personal involvement and sovereignty of His creation.  Man acts as His agent with a so-called free will, but the Bible says that God doesn't give up His sovereignty even in man's freedom of choice (cf. "I know, O LORD, that the way of man is not in himself, that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps,"  says, Jeremiah 10:23;  "A man's steps are ordered by the LORD" (Prov. 20:24);  "A man's mind plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps" says Proverbs 16:9).

Think of all the evil that happened to Job and "In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong"  (Job 1:22).   "Does evil befall a city, unless the LORD has done it?  (Amos 3:6).  "I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil:  I, the LORD, do all these things"  (Isaiah 45:7 KJV). Note that God has a purpose for evil to exist:  "Surely the wrath of men shall praise you"  (Psalm 76:10).  God's relation to evil and sin is a mystery, not revealed in Scripture, but He remains unspoiled by it, i.e., without any taint of sin or evil, and holy or separate-- despite its existence.
Soli Deo Gloria!

Authentic Worship

"Blessed are the people who know the festal shout [hear the call to worship, those who have learned to acclaim you]"  (Psalm 89:15).


"Ascribe to the LORD the glory due His name, worship the LORD in the splendor of His holiness"  (Psalm 29:2).  This the key verse and theme of the Psalms.  The way to begin worship is by thanksgiving and praise, "Enter His gates with thanksgiving, His courts with praise, give thanks to Him, praise His name" (Psalm 100:4).  We are to take worship seriously, because God is worthy and doesn't want our leftover time, talent, resources, money, efforts--He wants the first-fruits because that takes faith when we give God the priority of everything (e.g., people are not interruptions but opportunities, and we see God open doors for His will and good deeds). "Let the redeemed of the LORD, say so, whom He has redeemed from trouble"  (Psalm 107:2).

Here's are examples of OT worship:  "And Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God, and all the people answered, "Amen, Amen," lifting up their hands.   And they bowed they heads and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground"  (Nehemiah 8:6).  "Worship was meant to be with the body as well as the spirit.  Also, Psalm 95:6 says:  "Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!"

What we do for the Lord ought to be our best:  "A curse on him who is lax in the LORD'S work" (Jeremiah 48:10).   "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men" (Col. 3:23).  Solomon says that whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might!

Man is called Homo religiosus (a religious man) and is made to worship God and, if not God will worship something in its place (idolatry).  Man is made for God and only happy in God.

Caveat:  "These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.  They worship me in vain; their teaching [doctrines] are but rules taught by men" (Matthew 15:8-9).  Malachi warned the Jews about their lukewarm worship--they were frauds at worship.


Martin Luther was the first reformer to declare and teach that we worship God by our labor as well as in song or at church.  When we work we are fulfilling part of our "image and likeness" of God and doing God's will, no matter what our calling in life.  Our life is a "spiritual service of worship" (Rom. 12:1) and is "holy and pleasing to God."  Labor used to be looked upon as a curse only fit for slaves or the lower class while the privileged lived in luxury talking about the latest ideas or something to that effect.  With God labor and work have dignity and everyone can serve.  We don't only go to church to worship, we worship by our sacrificial lives--we go to work to worship too.  Our lives are living worship.  Real worship is when we "first give [ourselves] to the Lord" because what God really wants is US!

It is vain to just give your money to church, if you think that is all it takes to please God ("Here, God, is your money!  I hope you're happy!), if you don't belong to the Lord yourself!  The idea of New Testament giving is that is voluntary, not compulsory according to 2 Cor. 9:7 says, "Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver."   We should not give "grudgingly," but "excel in the grace of giving" because it is a matter of having faith to live in God's economy of it being more blessed to give than to receive--reaping what we sow, sparingly or abundantly, respectively.

"To obey is better than sacrifice, to hearken than the fat of rams..." (1 Sam. 15:22).  Saul had gone through the rituals and illegal routine of offering a sacrifice, thinking he was doing his bit to please God; when, in fact, he was only lukewarm, half-hearted or tepid in his service and devotion--no man in the Bible had more opportunity and blew it more than this first king of Israel.  Isaiah 1:13 says, "... I can not endure iniquity and solemn assembly."

David, on the other hand, said, "I will not offer to the LORD  that which cost me nothing"  (1 Chronicles 21:25). This is exactly the way of following the Lord:  we can accept our discipleship to cost us something (e.g., friends, jobs, homes, family, and even life)--what they say is that freedom is not free; well, our salvation cost Christ dearly and salvation is a free gift to us to accept by faith, but it may cost us something to live the Christian life and follow Jesus. Samuel told King Saul that obedience was paramount, not ritual, and to listen to God's voice, not going through the motions of religiosity--anyone can put up a front, but Jesus sees through the veneer!

Some people sing in church not really meaning what they sing, because they say, "I'm just singing." God takes our attitude seriously and wants us to worship in "Spirit and in truth" according to John 4:24.   We need not only be correct in our thinking and teaching but be filled with the Spirit and in right relationship with our brothers in Christ.

Jesus said that if you go to offer a sacrifice and remember that your brother has something against you, go and reconcile and then offer your sacrifice. Worship implies fellowship, not only with God but with our Christian family.  They go hand in hand and can be distinguished, but not separated!  [Just like I can distinguish your soul and body, but if I separate them you are dead.]  In sum, shun lip service as abhorrent to the LORD (cf. Jer. 12:2; Isa.. 29:13).    Soli Deo Gloria!

Having Bible Fatigue?

Disclaimer:  The Bible is not like a novel that you read and file away, saying I know what's in it! You don't read it once and put it back in the library!  There is no panacea and everyone's case is different, but this is my perspective.  I'm not a guru on this and don't claim a special revelation, inside track, or anointing from God, but He has put this on my heart.  In retrospect or hindsight, I do seem to know something about this I'd like to share so you won't have to go through what I have and learn the hard way to stay in the Word.  "It is no empty Word for you, but your very life" (cf. Deut. 32:47).   I have been gung-ho about the Scripture since a lad and know of what I speak, this is mostly empirical first-hand expertise, counsel or advice as follows, and not necessarily dogma or scholarship took a posteriori and I hope you don't think I'm getting mystical:

Have you ever been bored with your Bible reading?  Has it ever lost its pizazz or zip?  Even though this is commonplace, it should not be normative in a healthy Christian or body.  Have you been there and done that?  You know what I mean because this can happen to anyone.  You can feel blase, or get the blahs about anything you like from time to time and the Holy Writ is humdrum and you can live without daily, then weekly, then hardly ever reading it. This scenario could be a  red flag and show impending signs of being lukewarm, warned of by Jesus in Revelation 3:16. It is indicative of something much deeper than boredom and could be a telltale sign of backsliding at worse. It is ubiquitous or constantly encountered and not at all unwanted or unheard of.

You don't want to be nonchalant or indifferent concerning spiritual things and you should nip it in the bud!  Let's rectify and remedy this abnormal situation common in the body, or you could call it systemic (affecting the body at large) because I've heard that only 10 percent of believers are really into the Word on a daily basis!

Sometimes we will get a serendipity (finding a jackpot looking for something else), an epiphany (a discovery), get a rude awakening or rebuke, or have a rare "Aha!" moment, burning in the bosom, or goosebump (sometimes called an existential experience--but don't become addicted to emotional highlights, because God isn't impressed with emotion as much as faith, which is how to please Him (cf. Hebrews 11:6).

You can't teach someone to love the Word--it is something to behold and to cherish.  ("O how I love thy law, it is my meditation all the day,"  cf. Psalm 119:97 and "Great peace have those who love thy law, and nothing causes them to stumble," cf. Psalm 119:165).  Let the Word "be a lamp to our feet and a light to our path" (cf. Psalm 119:105)! The Bible feeds you, then makes you hungry!  It reads you as you read it!

What is the cure?  There is a cure for every illness, in my opinion.  But I believe the cure is in the Bible!  Yes, the cure for Bible fatigue is the Bible itself and this is no paradox.  You may be trying to "feed on ashes" according to Scripture or eat yesterday's meal.  Sometimes we do eat leftovers, but not necessarily the next day or the next meal.  We never lose our appetite for milk because milk is a staple, not a treat or dessert.  If we ate cake every day we would grow blase about it or maybe spoiled. You cannot live on bread alone either, because we need a balanced diet.

The bread is Christ and the milk and meat are the Word. Solid food is for the mature who have learned to distinguish good from evil  (cf. Hebrews 5:14) and are not carnal or in the flesh (cf. 1 Cor. 3:1-2).  Baby Christians can only digest milk or the basics of the Word and the deeper or more advanced doctrine is inappropriate.  You don't give a baby solid food!  We all have to learn to feed ourselves eventually, even though faith comes by hearing.  We never outgrow the need for preaching and teaching form the body of Christ.  We edify each other--no one is a rock to himself.   Now, even though mature believers need meat to grow they also never lose the need for milk or any of the staples--the basics.

I still enjoy hearing the gospel message, for example, and like to read the Word without going to deep sometimes.  I don't want to oversimplify, but when I say the cure is the Bible, I mean that if we apply what we know and share what we know God will teach us more in His Word.  There are the so-called "inhale-exhale" phenomena that say that impression without expression equals depression!  There is joy in doing the Word too, not just reading it or studying it.  We need to pray, cry out, and thirst for God as revealed in the Word.  Pray: "Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law" (cf. Psalm 119:18).   The cure may be as simple as reading other portions of Scripture or think outside the box, as it were.  Get out of your comfort zone and explore the Bible!  Don't just specialize in one portion or genre.  "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God"  (cf. Matt. 4:4).  Paul says he has not failed to "proclaim the whole will [counsel] of God," not just his agenda, in Acts 20:27.

Another cure is to change translations and this is a way of getting a new viewpoint or to be exposed to a new horizon or new world.  There is no perfect translation; they are all flawed and one must not just be enslaved to one--only the original manuscripts are infallible and no translation can be inerrant, but always loses something in the translation--I know as a German-language student.  Sometimes, it just boils down to what works for you or which one you like to read or will read.

Paul warns us not to argue about words (cf. 1 Tim. 6:4; 2 Tim. 2:14), but that doesn't mean they aren't important.  Lawyers may also be familiar with the nuances of words and realize that many quarrels can be made over the meaning of words--don't get too dogmatic and force your doctrine to be dependent on any one translation--that is don't nit-pick!  You may be splitting hairs; don't major on the minors, but try to get the big picture first or you may become intoxicated with the deep things of the Word and forget its main message which is faith expressing itself through love (cf. Gal. 5:6). We can become too familiar with a passage and need a fresh perspective that another translation or version can give us.     Soli Deo Gloria!

So You Love Jesus!

Do you love the right Jesus or a "different Jesus?"

"We love Him because He first loved us"  (1 John 4:19).
"A curse on anyone who doesn't love the Lord..." (1 Cor. 16:22).
"Though you have not seen Him, you love Him"  (1 Peter 1:8).
"We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren"  (1 John 3:14).
"You that love the LORD, hate evil"  (Psalm 97:10).
 Jesus said, "The greatest commandment is to love the Lord, thy God!"  Let's explore this:


Jesus said, "If you love Me, keep My commandments [obey Me]." (Cf. John 14:21)  What was he commanded them to do, but to love one another as He loved them?  The purpose Christ left us behind is to fulfill the Great Commission as given in Matt. 28:19-29. That is the sole, and I mean the sole, purpose of the church; this command is not meant for us to do it all on our own, but in conjunction, cooperation, and fellowship with the church as we function in the body as we are gifted.  We are all witnesses and have a testimony to the world at large, but are responsible for our own little world, circle of friends, family, or sphere of influence.  We can financially support people in the third world if we desire. Remember: He that loves not, knows Him not, for God is love (cf. 1 John 4:8).

We can't just say we love the Lord, we must demonstrate it.   If you love the world-system, the love of the Father is not in you, according to 1 John 2:15.   This is the litmus test!  "By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, that you love one another" [not any other sign or signal such as success or prosperity] (John 13:35).  Love is not just the absence of evil, but doing good ("Cease from evil, do good." --Isaiah 1:16-17):  we shouldn't be asking who our neighbor is, but "Who can I be a neighbor to?"  Note that Jesus raised the bar!  We are also to love our enemies, which was unheard of!   "...God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit"  (Rom. 5:5)  It is the love of Christ that constrains us and gives us this love (cf. 2 Cor. 5:14).

Many believe that because they love the Lord that it is all right between them and God.  They may be sentimental, maudlin, or converted to the program and mistakenly think they have their heart in the right place.  We are not saved by loving the Lord; we are saved by (believing on Him) submitting to His lordship and trusting in His person and finished work on the cross ("tetelestai" or "it is finished").  It is a done deal or in Latin, fait accompli.  We must all examine our heart to see if Jesus lives in us according to 2 Cor. 13:5, which says precisely that:  "Examine yourselves...Do you not realize that Jesus Christ is within you, unless you fail the test?" [Don't oversimplify the faith by believing all there is to it is loving Jesus; however, we eventually fall in love with Jesus as we mature in the faith--some have even left their first love!--he who is forgiven much, loves much, according to Jesus.]

The real question is whether we love Him but this must be demonstrated, manifested,  and proved by our deeds, not just our talk: show me the fruit!  All Christians love the Lord, but some are demonstrative and some are stoic (no showing their feelings), but all will have a feeling!  Our whole soul is involved in conversion:  heart, mind, and will.   Remember what Jesus asked Peter to reinstate him:  "Do you love me? [If you do, feed My sheep.]"  You must love the Lord, but don't be deceived by mere feelings.  Don't merely go by feeling or sentiment!   Any so-called believer or nominal Christian is anathema Maranatha  [curses until Christ comes] if he doesn't love the Lord, according to Paul in 1 Cor. 16:22.

Don't take it for granted that you love him; ask questions like:  Do you love the Word?  Do you love your brother?  Do you love your enemy?  Do you attend church regularly?  The three biggest struggles, obstacles, or problem areas for the believer to develop a love for the Lord are in his relationship to these books:  the pocketbook, the hymn book, and the Good Book.  To keep things in perspective:  It is not that we loved Him, but that He loved us!  "Herein in love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins"  (1 John 4:10).  Soli Deo Gloria! [To God alone be the glory!] 

CAVEAT:  SOME WHO PROFESS CHRIST LOVE OUT OF SENTIMENTALITY OR MAUDLIN INCLINATION--AUTHENTIC LOVE ENTAILS OBEDIENCE.   Soli Deo Gloria!

We Are All Theologians

"You must teach what is in accord with sound doctrine" (Titus 2:1).
"Those who are wayward in spirit will gain understanding; those who complain will accept doctrine"  (Isaiah 29:24).
"They were astonished at His doctrine: for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes [who footnoted and quoted the authorities]"  (Matt. 7:28,29).
"They devoted themselves to the apostles' doctrine, to fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer"  (Acts 2:42).
"Watch your life and doctrine closely..."  (1 Tim. 4:16).  BOLDFACE MINE.

Bear in mind that teaching is the same as doctrine, and theology or systematic theology is an organization of doctrines.  You cannot escape doctrine or you commit spiritual suicide.  Read on to see why.

Theology is not an abstract science, but the queen of sciences!   Theology is literally the study of God, while Christology is literally the study of Christ.  If you don't abide in the doctrine of Christ you don't have God (cf. 2 John 9).  If you believe in false doctrine you are a heretic if it is a major  (affirming the deity of Christ is a prerequisite for salvation,) it is a  necessary doctrine--we need to learn discernment and be orderly in our study and benefit from the scholarship of our church fathers--we don't have to start from scratch every generation---the church is Semper reformanda, or always reforming or improving; likewise our doctrine is Semper reformanda.   People sometimes refer to theologians in a derogatory manner, but I want to present them in a new light:

Where would our church be without the church fathers Athanasius, the Father of Orthodoxy, (or right doctrine), and Augustine the greatest theologian, arguably, that lived in the first millennium of church history?  We owe a debt of gratitude to giants such as John Calvin, who wrote Institutes of the Christian Religion, and Jonathan Edwards who began the Great Awakening.  To put things in perspective:  the well-known theologian Karl Barth was asked what was the deepest truth he had come across and he replied, "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so."  Now, I know theologians get a bad rap, but here's a case on their behalf, since I have been called a theologian myself too:

To quote my favorite theologian, R. C. Sproul:  "To reject theology is to reject knowledge, this is not an option for the Christian."  Also, we cannot reject theology per se, just because there exists bad theology.  "To reject all theology just because there exists bad theology is to commit spiritual suicide," says Sproul.  Theologian is not known to be a spiritual gift because, I believe, we are all potential theologians clerically and actual practical theologians by definition.  We don't avoid theology because we have a distaste for controversy either--we are to avoid godless controversy, not necessary ones.  What if Martin Luther had never nailed his Ninety-Five Theses on the Wittenberg Castle church (All Souls Church) in 1517 to initiate the Reformation?  The spirit of the Protestant is this:  I dissent, I disagree, I protest. Sproul goes on to say that you can have sound doctrine without a sound life, but not a sound life without sound doctrine--think about that!

In other words, you can excel in the study of doctrine and not know the Lord--it can all be in your head!  The presence of doctrine is necessary, but not sufficient--you must add the Holy Spirit.  Asserting that theology is not important is tantamount to saying:  "It doesn't matter what you believe as long as you are sincere."  However, I want to stress, that as Protestants, we are not at the mercy of church doctrine and have the right to interpret Scripture for ourselves, but with the right comes the responsibility to interpret it right and that means eliminating subjectivism.  We cannot fabricate our own truths because no "Scripture is of any private interpretation" (2 Pet. 1:20).

"For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine" (2 Tim. 4:3).  I have just experienced this first hand at a Bible study tonight when the host said it was doctrine itself that turned him off to Christianity and he will have nothing to do with it.  What is doctrine, but teaching:  "All Scripture is profitable for doctrine..." (2 Tim. 3:16).  We all have our viewpoints and way of interpreting the Bible.  Doctrine in itself is a good thing but not an end in itself, but a means to an end and we are warned not to call good evil in Isaiah 5:20.  Knowledge of the Bible is necessary to spiritual health:  "You know not the Scriptures, nor the power of God"  (Matt. 22:29).

No one is perfectly objective except God, but have a school of thought or doctrine that we adhere to.  Examples are Arminian, charismatic, evangelical, Wesleyan, Reformed or Calvinistic, Catholic, ecumenical, and semi-Pelagian, among others.  There are the "freewillers" and the people who believe in predestination and election--that our destiny is ultimately in God's hands.  We all develop a system of doctrine and it grows as we mature in Christ.  One of the most basic doctrines we accept as Christians is the doctrine of the Trinity--so we are Trinitarians!   2 Tim. 4:3 can be translated:  "...Men will bail out theologically."

You are committing spiritual suicide and will never grow up if you ignore doctrine per se.  I'm not saying it is our goal to argue or debate doctrine, but we are to "study to show ourselves approved unto God, a workman that needs not be ashamed."  We are trying to catch people ultimately and win them over, not win an argument. Why do we want to know God?  To know Him is to love Him!   There is a direct correlation between our knowledge of God and our love for Him.  Be not deceived: there is a difference between knowledge of God and knowledge about God.

Systematic theology is an orderly view or presentation of the doctrines of the Bible.  Do you believe Jesus is God--that is basic doctrine and fundamental theology or "study of God" literally.  The childish believer or immature one balks at learning the deep things of God.  The man of God must hold the deep things of the word with a clear conscience (cf. 1 Tim. 3:9).  The milk of the Word is for the baby believer, but solid food or meat is for the mature or the one who discerns good and evil (cf. Heb. 5:14).

The point I'm trying to make is that we are all theologians, it's just what kind of theologian we are! You cannot escape theology or a system of theology--we all understand the Bible in a different light and one part of the body cannot say to the other that he isn't needed.  We need theologians and we are all theologians and this is no contradiction because the word has different nuances of meaning.   Theology is necessary to maturity, but not sufficient.  We can just study theology and not apply it and it will leave us cold.  We need theology but we also need to go beyond it so that we don't put God in a box and say, "I like to think of God as a ...."   We need to apply it and use it to interpret the Word.  If you believe you are saved and cannot lose your salvation you will interpret the Bible in a completely different light than if you aren't sure of your salvation or if you think you can lose it.          Soli Deo Gloria! 

Is God Fair?

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!

Did YOU Repent?

"Don't you realize that the kindness of God is meant to lead you to repentance?" (Rom. 2:4).
"Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation" (2 Cor. 7:10).
"...In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength"  (Isaiah 30:15).

When we hear a sermon that dares to mention the killjoy word of "repent" (some preachers don't mention downer or bummer words like sin and repentance because they're after the big crowds and they don't want to offend anyone); we never seem to apply it to ourselves--"God doesn't let sin slide," my pastor says!  Repentance is a mandate or imperative for all.   There is ultimate retribution, though not always immediate, either in this life or at the Great White Throne Judgment and in eternity (like my pastor says, "You must personalize it; it doesn't come by osmosis!")  We must realize it is meant for us in particular--we too readily apply the message to others or think that we know someone else that should hear it.  The goal is to always apply it first to yourself, then you may qualify to apply it to others.

Providence leads us to believe that God meant for us to hear this, not others to point the finger at. The good preacher has already applied his sermon to himself and knows that he is preaching to himself too, not just for his health or to apply to others--there is accountability and he is judged more strictly.  [There comes a time of awakening when we realize that God is speaking to us personally and we finally get it, like realizing for the first time that Christ died for you!]  God is holy and has no dealing with sin; however, He has done something about it:

We answer the call of John the Baptist and Jesus:  "Repent: for the Kingdom of God is at hand!" (Matt. 4:17).   Jesus also admonished:  "...Unless you repent, you shall likewise perish" (Luke 13:5). Ezekiel says, "Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your ruin" (chapter 18, verse 30).  "God commands all men everywhere to repent"  (Acts 17:30).

Repentance is not a one-time action, but a continual one,  according to Martin Luther first thesis in his 95 theses that he put on the castle church (All Souls Church) at Wittenberg, Germany, in 1517, to proclaim and initiate the Protestant Reformation.  We are to live in the attitude of repentance. Repentance is literally (from the Greek metanoia, (literally "afterthought or to think after") means really to change. to turn--in fact in the Old Testament it is translated usually as "turn") to do an about-face, a 180-degree turn, a U-turn, or about-face from sin to God.  It is the flip side of faith and the two go together like a horse and carriage, as it were.  The result will be a new attitude towards sin, a desire to obey and please God, and love for the brethren, et alia.

By definition, we are told to renounce sin, but Billy Graham says we must also renounce sins (plural).  "...That they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus" (Acts 20:21).  "Repent and be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit"  (Acts 2:38).  You cannot have saving faith without genuine repentance, and vice versa.  True repentance is not just an attitude adjustment, but demonstrated in deeds fit for repentance ("...That they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds" (Acts 26:20).  Just because God hasn't judged a sinner yet, doesn't mean He won't take action if we don't repent--He is just and must judge.  No one gets away with anything, but God is giving the sinner "time to repent" or space to repent, you might say.

I lived a long time in the church before ever hearing about repentance and it was the missing link in my walk to restore me after I had sinned and backslid.  In some places in the Bible, it stresses to have faith, in others, like Luke 24:47 merely mentions repentance for salvation:  "And repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all generations."  Acts 11:18 says, "...So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life."   Acts 5:31 also:  "...That he might give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel."  Martin Luther, in contrast, saw Romans 1:17, and it opened his eyes to faith as the way:  "...The just will live by faith."  It is a story "from faith to faith."

"Repentance and faith go hand in hand," says Billy Graham [they can be distinguished but not separated.  And so there are two ways to look at salvation--some need to be reminded to have faith and others to repent.  "Therefore, being justified by faith, we peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Rom. 5:1).  Sproul says we either demonstrate believing repentance or penitent faith, whichever way one looks at it.   Soli Deo Gloria!

How Should We Address The Most High?

"...I write to you, dear children because you have known the Father"  (1 John 2:13).  Act and pray like you know Him!  We invoke the name of the Father who is on the throne ruling in heaven and can call Him Lord and God, but we have the sole privilege of also calling Him "Father."  We should never invoke the names of saints or "The Blessed Mother or Virgin Mary."  Only God hears prayer!
"To You who hear prayer, to You all men will come"  (Psalm 65:2).  The vital thing is that we know the one we are praying to and have a relationship with Him.

I have been around a lot in different so-called Christian circles and have heard many types of prayer. My earliest recollections are of going to a charismatic Bible camp and everyone praying to Jesus.  I told them that I pray to the Father like Jesus told us to.  They thought I was a kook.  I'm not saying that Jesus doesn't hear prayer, but that in the Lord's Prayer the precedent is to pray to the Father in heaven.  They can point to the example of the first martyr Stephen praying, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit."  But I don't see any conflict of interest or contradiction at all--of course, He can receive our spirits upon our demise.   Show me one legitimate example of a prayer in the New Testament to Jesus,  We are to pray to the Father (our spirits cry out, "Abba, Father"), in the name of Jesus, in the power of the Holy Spirit--that's the formula.  And so we should pray to the Father, plain and simple.

Pentecostals that I have been around prayer to the so-called "Father-God" and this moniker or title is nowhere to be found in Scripture.  Of course, we assert the deity of the Father and any suggestion otherwise is heresy and damnable.  But why give God a nickname that seems to have an exclusive mindset that you are "in."  They don't seem to accept you unless you pray like them.  For this reason, I refuse to pray to the so-called "Father-God," not that I deny Him, but I don't see any precedent. Let's simply pray to the Father and there will be no reason to be critical.  Jeremiah 3:19 says, "...I thought you would call me 'Father'..."

Jehovah's Witnesses pray to Jehovah and believe sincerely that that is His real name--actually God has no name that we can comprehend and also many names, but His covenant name is "I AM WHO I AM"  or "I WILL BE WHAT I WILL BE." "I AM THAT I AM."   I don't pray to Jehovah for this reason, I don't want to be in solidarity with a cult.   Jesus said to Mary, "I go to My Father, and to your Father."  He is our Father and corporate prayer should address Him so.

I know of a brother who always prays to "O God, in heaven."  I have been taken aback by figuring this out.   Naturally, there is a God in heaven, but nowhere in the Scriptures does anybody pray to this God as named.  It is simply not biblical and some are sticklers about being aligned with the Word of Truth so that no one can say anything to judge us.  The above name person sounds like he doesn't know his God very well, that he prays to such a generic title for God.  Muslims can pray to a God in heaven and claim Allah is just His name.  No legitimate religion gives the stamp of approval to such a prayer.  Why not pray to God using His covenant name.  Only Christians can pray to the Father, angels cannot address God this way!  We are part of God's family and have the "privilege" to pray using this name for God.

Now there are Old Testament prayers that don't pray to the Father:  But they didn't quite grasp God as their Father yet and the revelation wasn't made manifest until Jesus came.  They always thought of God as their Father but dared not presume to be too friendly or familiar with God.  But this is what God wants:  that we should feel comfortable and familiar with God and pray freely in the Spirit.

To conclude, you might think I'm being too picky or splitting hairs and this is not important, but the proof is in the pudding and I have found God answering my prayers since I have called upon the name of the Lord and address Him as He desires--i.e., Father--a familial and familiar formula.  Jesus is the one who laid down the law and gave us His example to emulate, as it were, not me.   It's a matter of reverence and devotion:  "Come, my children, and listen to me;  I will teach you the fear of the LORD"  (Psalm 34:11). Let's not be lax in our prayer life!    Let's err on the side of caution and obedience. Note that I am not saying that something is true because it works, but if it's true it will work.  (TM works, but is not true, for example.) [The modern test of an idea according to John Dewey is not whether it's true, but whether it works!  That's pragmatism.] Soli Deo Gloria!

Broadcasting Your Sins/Giving Testimonies

I can't be too dogmatic on this subject because there are earnest, sincere believers who beg to differ. When testimonies are given, some redeemed sinners glorify their past to make it sound like they are the worst sinner since Paul.   I don't see any biblical precedent for this.  But they may be quoting Psalm 107:2 in the TNIV which says, "Let the redeemed of the LORD tell their story."  I don't want to hear about someone's dirty past or graphic illustrations (some people have "virgin" ears and don't need to hear your sins!);  these sins aren't fit for the mixed company or polite society.

The verse actually says, "Let the redeemed of the LORD say so...." Let them have the opportunity to speak up for Jesus and stand up for the Lord.  "Stand up, stand up for Jesus!"   God has thrown all of our sins into the depths of the sea and behind His back, never to be remembered again--why remind God of them?  Don't keep dredging them back up every time you tell your testimony.

We can tell our testimonies without getting specific and naming our sins (this opens the door to gossip and judging in the body).   We do this by describing the way our life was before Christ, upon meeting Christ, and after Christ.  (E.g.,  I had an empty, confused, aimless life until I had peace and purpose in living I found in knowing Christ as my Lord and Savior!)  I don't want to discourage someone from "coming clean" but this is more a step in redemption and salvation than in giving testimony.  We should remain on a positive note and explain how others can find Christ and know Him for real themselves--the window of opportunity or open door doesn't stay that way for long.            Soli Deo Gloria!

Why I Believe the Bible

Did you know that there are twenty-six books in the world that claim to be Holy Scripture (the Brahman Vedas, the Buddhist Canon of Sacred Scripture, the Qur'an, the Bhagavad Gita (The Song of the Blessed One), the Pearl of Great Price,  the Book of Mormon, the Zoroastrian Zend-Avesta, et al. However, the Bible is the only one with predictive prophecy!  Remember, Deut. 18:18 says that the test of a true prophet is 100 percent accuracy or the death penalty!  "If they speak not according to this Word, they have no light in them" (Isa. 8:20).  Note that there is something very peculiar and unique about Jesus:  He doesn't quote the authorities but relies on His own authority and spoke like no man had ever done!   The Qur'an has one instance of a self-fulfilling prophecy when Mohammad predicts he'll return to Mecca!  Only God can predict the future and God (in Isaiah) challenges any other "god" to tell the future.  There are over 2,000 fulfilled prophecies in the Bible, not just a few lucky guesses.  Jesus Christ Himself fulfilled over 300!

Archaeology has repeatedly confirmed the OT tradition and many have set out to disprove the Bible and with over 25,000 sites recovered there still is no contradiction.  Like Jesus said, "The rocks cry out!"   Historically, the Bible has been verified, and even though secular historians are usually given more credibility than the Bible, they have yet to disprove anything in the Scriptures!  For example, Luke has been discovered to be one of the best historians of antiquity.

Also, science has failed to contradict the Bible, even though the French Academy of Science declared fify-one scientific facts that controverted the Bible in 1861, now not one of the so-called facts is believed--the Bible was right!.  There is no contradiction between the science and Scripture and where the Bible does make a scientific statement of fact, it is correct, even if ahead of its time.  The Bible is not a scientific textbook, said Galileo, but a book of salvation--however, where it does state a scientific statement it is correct and never proven wrong.

The Bible is self-attesting,  (over 3,000 times it says, "Thus says the LORD" or its equivalent) [no other sacred writing does this--they don't dare!]  Scripture is its own Supreme Court, its own interpreter, and commentator.   It is believed because it is believable unless you have the presupposition that miracles just don't happen! Ancient peoples didn't doubt the reality of miracles, just what they meant.  The writers are not inveterate or consummate liars, but credible witnesses--the credibility of a demon is not to be established and this only stands to reason!  The test of their veracity was they the Apostles went to their death without recanting--death was their test!  "For we did not follow cleverly devised myths or fables when we made known to you the Word of Truth but were eyewitnesses of His majesty"  (2 Pet. 1:16).   "Thus saith the LORD" or its equivalent) which means it assumes you believe it and doesn't appeal to some higher power or authority.  It proves and verifies itself.  If you appealed to science, for instance, science would have higher authority than God!

The Bible is inspired by the Holy Spirit and is therefore inerrant and infallible in its original manuscripts.  None of these are extant--we rely on copies.   An interesting fact is that there are over 5,000 Greek manuscripts available to test the veracity of Scripture, while we only have ten good copies of Caesar's Gallic War or of the History of Herodotus.  There is no comparison, yet no one doubts the authenticity of these documents.  There is more proof for the resurrection of Christ than for any other fact in antiquity.  It is the most attested and variously supported fact if the era!  Doubting Jesus' historicity is unsound and yet scholars don't dare doubt the historicity of Caesar or Alexander the Great.

The Bible is like a caged lion--you don't have to defend it, it can take care of itself.  People who criticize it usually haven't read it!   The Bible can convict a person if he has an open mind and is willing to do God's will he shall know whether it is of God.  Jesus said, "If a man is willing to do His will, he shall know whether the doctrine is of God or whether I speak on my own authority" (John 7:17).

D.L. Moody said, "I know the Bible is inspired because it inspires me."  The works of Shakespeare can be entertaining and educating, but only the Bible can transform the soul. The proof of the pudding is in the eating:   "The Word of God is alive and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of joints and marrow, of soul and spirit, and it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart" Hebrews 4:12).  Soli Deo Gloria!