Are Ethics Universal?

OLD TESTAMENT ETHICS:  "And don't say, 'Now I can pay them back for what they've done to me!  I'll get even with them!'" (Prov. 24:29, NLT).
"Do not hold good from those who deserve it when it's in our power to help them" (Prov. 3:27, NLT).  "... As you have done to Israel, so it will be done to you.   All our evil deeds will fall back on your own heads"  (Obadiah 15, NLT).
JESUS' SUMMATION:  "... 'You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment.  A second is equally important:   'Love your neighbor as yourself''" (Matt. 22:37-39, NLT).  "So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets"  (Matt. 7:12, ESV). 
PAUL:  "For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: 'Love your neighbor as yourself'" (Gal. 5:14, NLT).   "Love does no wrong to others, so love fulfills the requirements of God's law" (Rom. 13:10, NLT).  "Let love be genuine.  abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good" (Rom. 12:9, ESV).  "Don't be defeated by evil, but defeat evil with good" (Rom. 12:21, CEV).  "Avoid every kind of evil" (1 Thess. 5:22, CEV). 
Scriptural Caveat:  "What sorrow for those who say that evil is good and good is evil, that dark is light and light is dark, that bitter is sweet and sweet bitter" (Isa. 5:20, NLT).

"If I am interested in reality, I must know what God is really like."--Plato
"No society has been able to maintain a "moral life without the aid of religion."--Will Durant
Morality is merely the expression of self-interest.--Karl Marx (paraphrased) 
"Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for the government of any other."--John Adams

Postmodernism wants to eradicate all traces of universal ethics or morals and make them personal, variable, subjective, and dependent.  This goes counter to what Immanuel Kant postulated that an act is ethical if the results were favorable by everyone doing it.  Just ask yourself the one question:  What if everyone did it?  One can point to the absurd example of the case of why we might know homosexuality is evil because if everyone was homosexual, society would fail to propagate and thrive after one generation!

Ethics with a capital E can be found if one has the presupposition that Christ is the Great Exemplar and showed us the way:  To follow Christ or do what He would do is the highest ethic attainable.  No one has ever surpassed his ethics or moral principles or fully lived up to them:  Muhammad, for instance, was a flawed man; Muslims give him superlative status as their example in ethics.

The Sermon on the Mount, or Jesus at His best, is the summation of our ethic, the gist of which is the Golden Rule:  Do unto others, as you would have them do unto you!  This principle raised the bar to make ethics a positive thing, not merely avoiding bad things, like the so-called Brazen Rule, saying that you should do unto others as they do unto you--tit for tat!  Americans believe firmly in this so-called principle.   Rabbi Hillel was asked to sum up ethics and he said it was merely not doing to others what you don't want to be done to you!  Confucius called this "reciprocity" and urged us to live by its principle.  Many today who live by the law of the jungle in this dog-eat-dog world where the survival of the fittest rules, engage in the so-called Iron Rule of doing unto others before they do unto you:  This actually can be interpreted as "might is right," the rule of authority setting standards.

If ethics are only relative, and Dostoevsky said that if there is no God all things are permissible, there is no reason to pursue absolute, universal standards of conduct, but they vary by culture and are relative to time, situation, and people concerned--make up your own system!  Immanuel Kant said that without God ethics are meaningless and cannot be predicated.  This is why denying God brings the ultimate conclusion that there is no universal standard or code of honor to live by.  But we all know that there is a sense of fair play and justice inherent to man that he is cognizant of.  We don't make up rules as we go along, and morality and ethics are not thought of, but are discovered, rather than invented by man; e.g., the rules of a game are not arising out of nowhere, but fairness was always there to be discovered.  We all appeal to some higher standard of right and wrong as the final arbiter.

Christianity is not a system of ethics, a list of dos and don'ts, but knowing God and applying that knowledge to the mundane life of the real world.  Ethics is what is required of all, whether Christian or not, and is necessary for all law and order and decent society.  Christians have raised the bar and made Christ the standard.  Even pagan scholars admire His moral principles and ascribe flawlessness to His character; even the crassest heretics have not accused him of being a sinner!  Of the known 52 virtues, all of them are mentioned in the Bible, while no other faith even comes close to this standard!  This high ethical standard of the Bible is one proof of its inspiration.

Right practice or orthopraxy is the logical conclusion of our right belief or orthodoxy, and we must apply what we learn to the real world.  The Greek philosophers said that ethics and truth are correlated and interdependent.  We believe in being truthful because we have faith in a God of truth; the Decalogue merely shows our duty to God and what is man's dilemma in this pursuit.   The whole question of "How should we then live" can only be adequately answered with God in the picture.

If you believe anything goes, because the ends justify the means or whatever is expedient or pragmatic is justified, or even pursuing the greatest good for the greatest number, you will be able to justify just about any evil in the world.  Hitler was very good at just pursuing what worked and what was practical without regard to a universal norm.  Natural law convicted the Nazis at Nuremberg, which relied on the fact that we should just know better and have a built-in conscience to be sensitive to universal norms or transcendent law, making us all responsible for our choices and conduct.

Morals are as sure as the law of gravity and must be obeyed or we suffer the consequences.  If you believe we are to be held accountable for our actions and that there are absolute right and wrong, this faith comes from God and entails His existence.  Your ethics cannot rise above your own ideals or standards: Muslims see Muhammad as superlative, yet he had many personal flaws, like being a thief and warrior out to steal, kill, and pillage for the purpose of gaining converts by force and for their wealth.  Islam is called the religion of the sword, and for good reason--they force people to convert and kill you for not believing, the very opposite of martyrdom, where one is killed for believing in a religion.  Politicians often listen to the voice of the people and think that the voice of the people is the voice of God; on the other hand, it's often the voice of the devil!  We don't vote on moral principles and they don't change or evolve with time; what was immoral in the day of Moses is still a crime and wrong today--we aren't just more enlightened and see things in a modern light.

"The character of Jesus has not only been the highest pattern of virtue but the strongest incentive to its practice," according to Irish historian and political philosopher W. E. H. Lecky, no Christian himself.  There could be no universal law without a universal Lawgiver!  Ethics "defines moral obligation as man's moral duty to God," according to Carl F. H. Henry. Ethics is no preference, but duty as creatures of God!  Living the good life is what ethics is about, and living up to our potential is our duty to God and man.  God is our guide and standard, and the present principle of pragmatism is evil, saying that the test of an idea is not its truthfulness, but its practicality and usefulness.  Scripture says that man knows right and wrong in his conscience and will be judged by that standard (cf. Rom. 2:15).  The one who knows the right thing to do, and fails to do it, sins (cf. James 4:17).

Unfortunately, moral relativism is prevalent today and people think we can all make up our own standards as we go along and they are justified as long as we make responsible choices and have good reasons to justify them.  We all have a sense of "ought" and even bemoan the fact there ought to be a law sometimes.  New Morality has infiltrated and many see ethics as the result of good motives:  if you mean well or have the motive of love--that's all that matters!  However, true morality is only when the motive, as well as the end, are justified.

Man can never live up to God's standards, given in the Decalogue or Ten Commandments, but this was never meant to be the solution, but only given to convince us we cannot keep it; the Christian life is impossible (without Christ!).  It is merely the whip driving us to the cross, and the mirror showing us what we are really made of, and a hammer (according to Martin Luther), smashing at our self-righteousness. No one has ever kept the Law of Moses except Christ, and he fulfilled it on our behalf to become our righteousness.  God demands perfection, and this is the standard, however, the direction is the test (cf. Matt. 5:48).

What is evident today is that man doesn't see himself in the image of God with the inherent duty to obey as Creator but as an animal.  Teach men they are animals; is it any wonder they act like them?  New Age goes to the extreme of creating your own system as you go along, and whatever feels right to you is your duty to God, others, and yourself. They proudly proclaimed in the Hippie counterculture: If it feels good, do it!  Today they proudly affirm that it works for them; that is what matters most.  But what is right for one person is right for all, and isn't individualized, but universal and applicable to all.   If there is not an objective basis for right and wrong, you would have to absolve Hitler of his crimes against humanity.  It's because we are in the image of God that so much is expected and we are not animals in heat-seeking pleasure and avoiding pain, but have a divine purpose for our existence: "to glorify God and enjoy Him forever,"--The Westminster Shorter Catechism.

We begin with God and explain our duties, we don't begin with man and come up with independent ethics on our own--by voting on them or being forced into it--man is not the measure of all things, as Secular Humanists posit.  Christian standards have been found worth believing in and in living out, and real faith is expressed in right conduct as its fruit.  Could it be that man has a universal sense of morals because there is a universal Lawgiver who gave them?  God forbid that we begin with the premise that whatever is legal is ethical because the laws of land can be wrong and are fallible. Being legal doesn't make it right!

There's a higher law to answer to.  "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge" (cf. Prov. 1:7). Is it any wonder that today's ethics is merely about not getting caught and coming up with a justification for behavior, or just responsible decision making? This is why Johnny can't tell right and wrong and character doesn't count anymore!

Western Civilization or Christendom depends upon the Bible as the foundation for all Common Law and we must never lose sight of this heritage and duty to God, our fellow man, our nation, and ourselves. The logical conclusion of moral relativism, on the other hand, is that in the final result, the stronger force will win and might be right, as it was in Nazi Germany.

In such times we only pray for some God of justice to end the evil.  Their justification was in the belief that we are only animals, not children of God and in His image, and whatever was sanctioned in nature was equally moral for us, since we are not responsible to a higher ethic or calling than mere animals, who are not morally responsible or capable.   "They are people who lack all sense of right and wrong, and who have turned themselves over to doing whatever feels good..." (Eph. 4:19, CEV).  Soli Deo Gloria!

The God Of Truth

"When the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?"  (Psalm 11:3, HCSB).  
"The entirety [sum] of Your word is truth..." (Psalm 119:160, HCSB),
"The revelation of Your words brings light and gives understanding to the inexperienced"  (Psalm 119:130, HCSB).
"God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and truth"  (John 4:24, HCSB).
"Refusing to acknowledge and defend the revealed truth of God is a particularly stubborn and pernicious kind of unbelief.  Advocating ambiguity, exalting uncertainty, or otherwise deliberately clouding the truth is a sinful way of nurturing unbelief."--John MacArthur 


Jesus said that there is "one true God" (cf. John 17:3),  and He is the personification of that truth, or that it's incarnate in Him (cf. John 14:6).  When Pilate asked Jesus what truth was (cf. John 18:38), he didn't wait around for an answer, the skeptic and cynic he was, thinking "might made right."  A sign that one is born again is the newly formed love of the truth--the unbeliever rejects the truth (cf. Rom. 2:8.)   (Just cf. 2 Thess. 2:10, ESV, saying, "... so they refused to love the truth and so be saved.")  All knowledge begins in faith, as Saint Augustine said, "I believe in order to understand."

Today the very notion and possibility of truth is brought into dispute and doubt ("Has God said?" was Satan's query), as we see a paradigmatic shift into a Postmodern era of skepticism, with a "hermeneutic [and epistemology, I might add] of suspicion" on all so-called facts. To them, truth is a "short-term contract" and cannot be known definitively, directly, universally, nor positively!"  They want us to believe truth is only relative to the person, situation, or time and is not absolute applying at all times to all peoples.  "O, that's your truth!"  They have declared war on truth itself!  But there is a war, the war for truth!  People are asking, "Is God for real?" "Is God relevant?"  Belief in God used to be the default position and proposition of Western Civilization, also known as Christendom, but now mysticism, skepticism, cynicism, scientific empiricism, and many other "isms" have become resurgent as a new type of atheist has become anti-God, not just unbelievers in Him. They want to erase all mention of God from the foundations of our way of life and society.

Christians are only those who know the truth and have been set free by it (cf. John 8:32).  One must recognize that truth and God are inseparable and that attacking truth is an affront and offense on God too.  Disavowing truth is tantamount to denying there is a God because they are correlated.  You cannot define absolute truth without putting God into the calculus and metric, or equation. Demetrius had a good report from the truth in 3 John 12, and this is a compliment for one engaged in the church contending for the faith (cf. Jude 3).

We are sanctified by the truth (cf. John 17:17), and are in the quest to know more truth as believers-- truth edifies, or builds us up spiritually.   But the Bible teaches that truth is more than propositional (stating of facts which are true), but personal and incarnate in Jesus, so we can know it personally and grow in our knowledge of the truth by knowing Him.  Statements can be true but only Scripture can rightly be called truth!  We say that truth is whatever God decrees, agrees with God, and is the expression of God (logos in English can mean "revelation" or "expression of an idea or thought").  God expressed Himself through Jesus in His final revelation to us.

A Christian who is blase, apathetic, or nonchalant about the truth or thinks it's irrelevant, is stunted, handicapped, paralyzed, and crippled in spiritual growth, and is also disobedient to the Word, for this is our means of sanctification through its truth (cf. John 17:17 again). We are all on the quest to know the truth, and when we find out we are wrong, it should be of concern, not ambivalence, without any cognizance, but a chance to get to know God better; for "all truth is God's truth" and "meets at the top" (cf. Saint Augustine; Saint Thomas Aquinas).  He, who rejects truth with a capital T, rejects the God of all truth!  

Yes, truth matters and some churches are bailing out theologically thinking that only application, such as loving and doing good deeds are all that matters to God--au contraire, God is concerned that we have the mind of Christ (cf. 1 Cor. 2:16), and think in a godly manner, expressing and bearing witness to the truth in a world, as lights in a dark place, not to be hidden, muffled, or destroyed.  The church is to be the "pillar and ground of truth"  (cf. 1 Tim. 3:15).

We don't need to revamp, retool, or update the church to relate to or fit into modern thinking or philosophy such as Postmodernism, which denies the reality of knowable, absolute truth, which is shrink-wrapped, freeze-dried, and even nailed down as the final orthodoxy, not to be questioned. Some may refer to a "church of what's happening now."   Equally paramount is the issue of teaching sound doctrine (cf. Titus 2:1), and not losing track of orthodoxy and what is heresy through polemics, because an equal threat to our church's health is the ignorance of the sheep of sound doctrine and the truth and even knowing what they believe theologically (this is a pernicious sort of unbelief and disbelief!).   If the devil cannot make a church bad, void of good works, he makes them mere do-gooders, and he will corrupt its doctrine and lead it into heresy and error, forsaking the pursuit of truth and love of the truth.  Look at the ambitious humanitarian efforts of Roman Catholics compared to their erroneous teachings!

Everyone will be judged and/or condemned by the truth available to them and what they did and accomplished with it.  There is no excuse for ignorance (which is not bliss, either!), if one engages in the willful neglect of it, having had ample opportunity and didn't take advantage of that light God gave the person.

Christians must maintain that objective, absolute truth does exist that we can know with certainty by revelation from God ("The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge," cf. Prov. 1:7). This type of truth is always true, regardless of who denies or affirms it, and is true whether believed or not, and it always applies.  We believe in the one God of truth, who cannot lie (cf. Titus 1:2), and "no lie is of the truth" (cf. 1 John 2:21).  "So I am writing to you not because you don't know the truth but because you know the difference between truth and lies"  (1 John 2:21, NLT).

We are all entitled to our own opinions, but not our own truths! For instance, Postmodern thought says, "All truth is relative [i.e., to you]."  This truth claim is invalid and cannot possibly be true, containing a self-contradiction, forcing you to believe in the absolute truth that all truth is relative, and this statement must also be relative.  What they should say is that one's truths may be a private matter to know, and one's opinions need not affect yours.  But they say, "Your truth has no power over me, and that's your truth!"

Christians must affirm that truth is revealed, and immutable, always applicable and knowable all through and incarnate in Jesus, who said, "I am the truth"  (cf. John 14:6).  The only way to find truth is to commence with God, the origin of truth, since denying Him leaves no possibility of truth's existence, but only facts and knowledge being in a state of flux and unknowable.  Where you begin has a lot to do with where you'll end up!  The Postmodern teacher would introduce his lesson with the disclaimer saying, "You can know nothing for certain!"  And he is sure of that!  If you take God out of the equation of truth, there is no justification for it and no reason to believe you've arrived at orthodoxy or absolute truth.

Note that all knowledge is contingent and, when you begin, some propositions must be accepted by faith, it only matters what set of presuppositions you are willing to assume--and accept--not whether you are being rational or logical. If you presume there's no possibility of a God, you will come to the conclusion there is no supernatural at all and evolution is the logical conclusion of reality and way to explain everything without God in the picture.  The Bible makes it clear that the truth is not in the infidel (cf. 1 John 1:8) and establishes the Bible as the final arbiter of truth ("Your Word is truth," cf. Psalm 119:160).

In sum, the church body needs real warriors who will enlist in the battle for truth and engage in the ongoing warfare in this angelic conflict, contending for the faith delivered unto us in the Word of God, not too timid to fly their Christian colors and daring to be "Daniels,"(daring to stand alone) and firmly resisting the evil being perpetrated, and also creeping in to the church ("...some ungodly people have wormed their way into the church ["crept in unawares" in another version]..."--cf. Jude 4, NLT).    Soli Deo Gloria! 

Are You Sure You're Saved?

We are commanded to make our election and calling sure (cf. 2 Pet. 1:10) and this is done by searching our own hearts, examining our fruit, claiming Scripture promises to lean on and sensing the ministry of the Spirit "bearing witness to our spirit" (cf. Rom. 8:16).  Christianity is about walking in the Spirit, and increasing in faith--genuine faith is penitent and not inert or static (it grows!).  We walk by faith (cf. 2 Cor. 5:7), and progress from faith to faith (cf. Rom. 1:17).  Being sure of one's position in Christ is only the door, not the journey or destination.

Knowing we are saved is not an automatic fruit, and it's not presumption nor arrogance to know for sure (as is promised that we can know in 1 John 5:13). Believing and assurance don't mean we know all the answers and have no doubts--we just believed in spite of them.  It's not the preacher's job description to certify our salvation, but he can offer reassurance.   Even though Catholics call assurance a "sin of presumption," it's obedience and a boon to our walk to know for sure without a doubt.

Some people have this assurance because they claim Bible verses, and are not ignorant of the Word, but take it at face value: one such Scriptural "birth certificate" might be the verse in John 1:12, which says that anyone who receives Christ has the right to become a child of God.  This assurance goes hand in hand with security--they can be distinguished, but not separated--the flip side of assurance is security that you cannot forfeit your salvation, even if you fall into sin, for we have an "Advocate with the Father" when we do sin (cf. 1 John 2:1).  He always intercedes on our behalf (cf. Heb. 7:25).

Knowing we are saved is only the beginning and first step of our walk with Jesus, the "Author and Finisher of our faith" (cf. Heb. 12:2).   A Christian is no spiritual giant just because he is 100 percent sure of his salvation, if his life isn't consistent with the Spirit, and he isn't producing good fruit.  You can have many unanswered questions and still grow in Christ!  Only in glory will all our questions be answered (cf. John 16:23).  Faith isn't believing in spite of the evidence; it's obeying despite the consequences.  "By faith Abraham obeyed," (cf. Heb. 11:8) despite the fact that he doubted God's promise, he went ahead and obeyed anyway!  Notice that in the hall of faith chapter 11 of Hebrews it portrays all the saints as obeying in faith!  Faith is abstract and you see it in action, you don't describe it.  You don't need all the answers to believe, but can go right ahead and choose to believe anyway!  God can increase our faith, but that means more responsibility!

We are not to take advantage of grace, to insult the Spirit of grace and misuse it.  Knowing we are saved should be all the more motivation to live for Christ--for the more, we are given, the more God expects from us in return.  God is only pleased with faithfulness and faith, and we must not divorce or separate the two, though they can be distinguished.  Faith is only measured in obedience ("Only he who believes is obedient; only he who is obedient believes," --Dietrich Bonhoeffer), and not experiences, mystical or real life, nor by emotions or feelings, which may be sentiment and signs we have never grown up in the faith so as not to depend on feelings.  Faith, not feelings, please God (cf. Heb. 11:6).  Our ecstasies, visions, dreams, and mystic or surreal experiences are not the measure faith; God is looking for obedience, not success or achievements.  Blessed are those who have not seen!  (Cf. John 20:29).

The best way to be sure is to have the witness of a fruitful life that supports your faith--showing that it's genuine, saving faith--not bogus.  God isn't going to ask us at our final audit at the Bema, or Judgment Seat of Christ, how sure we were of our salvation, or how big our faith was, but what we did with it and whether we grew to know, love, and obey Jesus.   It's not how big your faith is, but how big your God, and it's not the amount of faith, but the object that matters.  We must learn to trust and obey Christ in the mundane activities of life and to grow in our fellowship and relationship with Him.

If we are honest, all of us have been at the point of the man who cried, "I believe, help thou mine unbelief!"  Don't confuse works and grace, or fact and feeling (the divine order is fact-faith-feeling).  Doubt is not the opposite of faith, but one of its elements and is healthy.  Faith is not to be perfect or it wouldn't be faith, but knowledge, and what God wants is sincere, unfeigned, faith without any hypocrisy.  We are not to be pretenders who have a veneer to hide behind. We all have feet of clay and must progress in our walk as we get to know the Lord, the ultimate goal.

I propose two illustrations to exhibit faith:  a boy flying a kite on a cloudy day was asked how he knew the kite was still up there, when unseen, he said he felt a tug every now and then to reassure him;  another one is why you believe in the sun being up there when you don't see it:  "Because I see everything else!"  God opens the eyes or our hearts to see spiritually so we can say with the blind man:  "... But I know this:  I was blind, but now I see"  (John 9:25, NLT).

Who can refute such personal reality?  Not knowing for sure makes you a handicapped Christian in your walk, who cannot grow and mature in the faith as a seasoned believer! A word to the wise is sufficient:  False assurance, overconfidence, spurious faith, and reckless living are more of a problem than the weaker brother who stumbles and has doubts--lacking full assurance.  In sum, you must morph beyond mere assurance and fulfill your destiny and calling.   Soli Deo Gloria! 

The Practical Atheist...

THIS DOESN'T MEAN ATHEISTS ARE PRACTICAL OR IT'S PRACTICAL!

"In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him; all his thoughts are, 'There is no God'" (Psalm 10:4, ESV).  The NLT renders it more up-to-date:  "... They seem to think that God is dead." Friedrich Nietzsche proclaimed that "God is dead" when he maintained it over 100 years ago, mankind has only found out that Christians worship a God who will not die!  Our God defeated the sting of death (cf. Hosea 13:14.  We are ransomed from the grave!  (cf. Psalm 49:15).  What was meant, though, is that they have killed off God by explaining everything without him; namely, through evolution and science, which they thought undermined faith in God.  Can we be intellectually fulfilled and not commit intellectual suicide without believing in God?   Evolution had given man an alternate religion, and it is indeed a religion, the bedrock, and the foundation of all humanistic and secular thought and faith.

Secularists have no room for God in the picture and Marxists say that God "does not, cannot, and must not exist!"  They refuse to let a Divine Foot in the door of the metric!   It is a tragic event when a man takes God out of the reckoning and loves darkness rather than light.  The repercussions of this God-is-dead movement is that God seems irrelevant and that we don't need him to solve our problems with all the advances in science and medicine.  

You might hear them announce that God is not real, but they have more questions to answer than questions they ask of Christians that they must answer.  No faith has all the answers and must begin on a journey without having all the answers.  Ask yourself how many hospitals or relief agencies have been started by atheists?  How many lives have been changed and transformed for the better by atheism?  It is obvious that they have not become better, but bitter!  But we destroy all speculation raised up against the knowledge of God (cf. 2 Cor. 10:5).  

Atheism is a "bankrupt philosophy" and no one can prove it to be a valid faith.  There's no concrete evidence, just animosity toward a God the imagine and despise--a straw man argument--they object to God, not themselves!  The point is that you cannot logically prove a universal negative (you couldn't prove there are no little, green men either!) because you would have to be omniscient, knowing all, and omnipresent, being everywhere at the same time, to accomplish a valid proof.  The point is that there is more evidence for and arguments supporting faith in God than evidence or arguments for atheism.  Don't rule God out!  If you do, you'll worship someone or something else, according to Dostoevsky. 

A practical atheist is one who lives his life as if there were no God, though he professes a relationship with Him. His faith isn't lived out in fruitful living.   A person can deny God by their works and become a negative witness to God's reality.  It is more honest to admit doubt and live with integrity than to be a pretender or hypocrite confessing faith in God.  There is a difference between a profession of faith and reality of faith--the former is bogus, while the latter is demonstrated by works as evidence (Matt. 7:16 says you shall know them by their fruits).

Pascal had a wager saying there's nothing to lose and everything to gain by believing in God, but having no faith has everything to lose and nothing to gain.  The only real reason people refuse to believe is for moral reasons or rebellion, not intellectual ones--they don't want to submit to Christ's lordship.  People will not believe, it's not that they cannot.  There is ample evidence for the honest seeker for God, while there is never enough evidence to convince the skeptic.  If one is willing to obey God, he will know whether it's of God (cf. John 7:17).

Today there are many nominal Christians--in name only--who may even be so-called weekend warriors who nod to God on Sunday, and feel their obligation to the Almighty is complete and they can enjoy the rest of the week seeking their wills.  God wants complete ownership of our lives and doesn't want our achievements or accomplishments, but us--He demands compliance to His will and obedience!  The Christian walk by faith is about submitting to Jesus as Lord, and trusting Him as Savior--you cannot save yourself!

"If there is no God, all things are permissible" (as Fyodor Dostoevsky said), and everything is up for grabs, you could add.  Even when Christians "do not call upon God" (cf. Psalm 53:4), they become practical atheists.  Secular Humanism is prevalent today, denying the reality of God; their marching orders are: Down with God; up with man!  Will Durant has concluded that "the greatest question of our time is whether we can live [endure and survive] without God" in the calculus.  Alexander Solzhenitsyn deplored: "Men have forgotten God."

Atheism, (disguised under the banners of Communism, Nazism, and Fascism) has perpetrated great evils in bloodbaths slaughtering millions in the track records of Nazi Germany, Soviet Russia, and Red China.  Only uninformed atheists activists like the redoubtable Madalyn Murray O'Hair have said that Christianity has contributed nothing good to the world.  Au contraire, virtually every social reform movement like the end of slavery, child labor, gladiator fights, wars of aggression have been the result of Christ's influence.  In fact, the first 150 colleges in America were Christian, and nearly every European institution was.  The world would be a vastly different place by today's standards without Christ: Atheist Bertrand Russell said that what we need is more Christian love and compassionn.  Secular scholars concede Christ's coming changed the course of history. 

In closing:  Faith is only valid when resting on facts worthy of it, not depending on the strength of the faith or sincerity.  Christianity deals with facts. History's God is the God of faith and transcendent truth!  A word to the wise is sufficient:  Don't take advantage of grace!  Soli Deo Gloria!

Developing Christian Worldview...

"O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you.  Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called "knowledge," for by professing it some have swerved from the faith.  Grace be with you."  (1 Tim. 6:20-21, ESV). 
"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect"  (Rom. 12:2, ESV). 
"My people perish for lack of knowledge"  (cf. Hosea 4:14).
"For lack of knowledge My people go into exile"  (cf. Isa. 5:13). 

Our worldview, the terminology taken from the German Weltanschauung, is our outlook on the ultimate issues and questions of life itself (i.e.,  the sum total of convictions [e.g., is their sin, a God, life after death?], ideas [philosophy and interpretations], beliefs [religious], values [patriotism?], but not opinions--note:  you hold opinions, but convictions hold you!) and our worldview concerns our viewpoint in toto on life, our view of God, man, and the relationships and duties they owe each other--on reality in general. How do we make sense of the world when we encounter ideas whose time has come?

It also answers the basic questions of life: Where did we come from or who are we? What is our purpose and meaning in life? What is wrong with mankind and how can we solve his dilemmas? And where are we going, or what is our destiny. Athanasius said that the only worldview that Christ will fit into is the one where He is the starting point!  "Christianity is Christ," according to John Stott, "all else is circumference!"  If we take God out of the equation, we head into natural catastrophe and disaster--our lives become chaotic with no purpose or aim, busy, but to no avail, going nowhere.

The Bible is basically our Owner's Manual to guide us to do God's will on earth. We are basically here to glorify God and enjoy Him forever (cf. Isaiah 43:7; and The Westminster Shorter Confession of 1646). The only worldview that gives dignity to man is the Christian one, for we see man as in the image and likeness of God, though tarnished by sin, it's still there and we are not dumb animals (cf. Job 18:3).  If you see yourself as a grown-up germ or descended from blue-green pond scum or algae, it will affect your self-esteem and worldview.

Teach man he's an animal and he will act like one!  We become disoriented from God's design without God in the reckoning, as Alexander Solzhenitsyn said, "Men have forgotten God."  The word "purpose" is a dirty word to secularists, who deny that there is meaning and purpose in life, which is true without God in the picture and the end result of futile speculation and a fool's errand searching trying to "find oneself" or one's purpose in life.

We have a purpose in being here to do God's will:  rule or subdue the earth; be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth; fulfill the Great Commission, and be lights in the world representing Christ doing good deeds in His name.  We don't own anything but are only stewards of God's blessings. We were designed to know God!  However, culture has run amok in its abandonment of God and taking Him out of the reckoning.  God sets the agenda and to disobey His will is called sin--of which is the root of the problem.

And so man rebelled against the loving God and chose his own way over God's wisdom and provision--he chose not to trust God; we do the same thing and only duplicate that sin and folly.  We are not victims of circumstances or of nature and are not pawns of our genes and we can blame no one but ourselves since we are all born in sin and all have fallen short of God's glory and ideal.  This was called the Fall and we all dittoed that sin and are individually responsible to God and it's a cop-out to blame anyone for our own faults and shortcomings or sin.  The crux of the problem is that sin has entered the innocent world that God created.

God's remedy is the cross whereby He paid the price to redeem us and set us free from our sins.  We are at the mercy of God because He is a God of justice and will judge all sin.  What we need, is not an educator, nor an economist, nor a scientist, but a Savior to stand in the gap and put a hand on both us and God in reconciliation.  God has solved the sin problem by the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus!

It is a challenge to live up to a Christian worldview because the whole world has become secularized and people want us to privatize our faith. The Bible is not passe or obsolete, but relevant to all our problems!  The biggest problem is what Jesus said, "You are wrong because you do not know the Scriptures, nor the power of God," cf.. Matt. 22:29.  The Bible has all the answers to man's dilemmas, and his chief enemies are the devil, the sin nature in himself, and the world system.  Equipped with Scripture, we will know what God thinks, get our thinking straightened out and have a Christian worldview, so necessary to defeat the devil's world.  The world has fallen for Satan's lies and is deceived, and we are to preach the gospel so that they can know the truth and the truth will set them free (cf. John 8:32).

Ideas and worldviews have consequences and affect how we live.  "If there is no God," Dostoevsky said, "all things are permissible."  Atheist mathematician and philosopher Bertrand Russell said, "Unless you assume a God, the question of life's purpose is useless." Hamlet summed it up in Shakespeare's Macbeth:  "[Life is a] tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing," This is the bleak outlook and belief system without God in the picture.  Will Durant, the famed humanist historian, said the biggest issue of our day is whether man can live without God. George Bernard Shaw said that "no nation has survived the loss of its gods."

The Bible has something to say about every major academic discipline and they all find their origins in Scripture. Modern man basically believes that science can solve our problems and has given up hope in religion as the solution.  It takes faith to believe this!  Secular Humanism is the prevalent worldview academically and socially, whereby the theme is "Down with God, up with man!" The deception of this worldview is that it strives for good without God!   They see "man [as] the measure of all things" (in Latin Homo mensura), and refuse God as the "moral center of the universe" with transcendent laws.

And the Postmodern era has become rather skeptical of the existence of absolute, transcendent truth, and posits all truth as being relative; relative to what?  Saying truth is relative, with no Truth with a capital T; we can know nothing for certain, an epistemology of skepticism--it's a contradiction in terms and is itself a truth claim of no truth!   Actually, the only truths they are really concerned about as being relative are the ones related to Christianity. This philosophy is in sharp contradistinction to the Bible's claim of propositional, incarnated, and absolute truth with no wiggle room for disagreement. The Bible says that the fear of the Lord is the beginning point of all knowledge (cf. Prov. 1:7).  All knowledge begins in faith, it's not just Christians who have faith, they just don't put faith in science as the sole arbiter of absolute truth.  

What Secular Humanism does is deify man and dethrone God-man has wanted to make a name for himself ever since the tower of Babel (cf. Gen. 11:4).  Their two main presuppositions are that evolution is unquestioned scientific fact and that the supernatural doesn't exist--they believe science has undermined the Bible!  Christians are called to show their colors, be "Daniels," stand up and be counted, and be informed and show discernment: Men who "understood [interpret] the times, with knowledge of what to do," as it says in 1 Chronicles 12:32.  

C. S. Lewis summed it up for our marching orders: "We must not remain silent and concede everything away [and lose by default]." That means our faith is defensible in the market square and open marketplace of ideas and we need not privatize it We are in the world, but not of it (cf. John 15:19) and there is a war of "isms" going on, but Sir Francis Bacon said, "Knowledge is power!"  (Cf. Prov. 24:5).  R. C. Sproul, influential theologian, said it well: "With God we have dignity and without God we have nothing." In sum, it is written: "In the beginning God..." meaning that we start with God and explain creation, we don't start with creation and explain or explain away God! Soli Deo Gloria! 

Applying Science And/Or Philosophy To Apologetics

KNOWING THERE IS A GOD FROM KNOWN FACTS OF SCIENCE AND PHILOSOPHY

"Do you know the laws of the universe?  Can you use them to regulate the earth?"  (Job 38:33, NLT).  
"The Cosmos is all that is or ever was or ever will be." --Carl Sagan, deceased humanist professor of astronomy at Cornell University and author of the book and TV series Cosmos.  
"God doesn't play dice with the universe."  "The universe appears to be some vast mathematical equation."--attributed to Albert Einstein 
"Science without religion is lame; religion without science is blind."  --Einstein 
NB:  THOSE WHO THINK SCIENCE IS IN CONFLICT WITH SCRIPTURE UNDERSTAND NEITHER!  

There have been many arguments to attempt proof of God; however, there's no sure-fire way, proving without a shadow of a doubt, with some "smoking gun" evidence, that cannot be denied, forcing one to believe either way against one's will, but when combined with the preponderance of the evidence (that there is or isn't a God) one can exercise faith in the direction of choice.  It takes faith both ways and all knowledge is contingent on taking some leap of faith and accepting something you cannot prove (and this applies to any field or academic discipline).

Here's my own theory that I have concluded about the existence of God to make you wonder.  I will use scientific and philosophical facts to prove religious truth. Note that to the ancient Greeks, science and philosophy had no clear-cut distinction and were considered one disciple in the pursuit of true knowledge or metaphysics.  Here's a cogent argument or rationale as an inferential argument and evidence for God's existence.  Remember, evidence and arguments are not necessarily proofs nor conclusive, they just lead one in a certain direction, and you go in that direction to make your decision.

First, there are (Newton's) Laws of Motion begging the question of how motion began with the first movement (namely, his First Law, known as inertia) in physics (i.e., a body at rest tends to stay at rest and a body in motion tends to stay in motion without an input of energy; who started it all?); secondly, there's the Heisenberg Principle of Uncertainty, stating that you cannot simultaneously determine the location and speed of an object in motion, which means you can only theoretically see it at a position because it's motion would have to be stopped--implying the universe is not completely mechanical; thirdly, the question unanswered philosophically or scientifically about how thought can influence motion, or physical things (like our body) when thought takes up no space and physical things do; finally, there's a law of science that nothing comes from nothing or can create itself as a corollary (ex nihilo, nihil fit, or Latin for "out of nothing, nothing comes"), and so there couldn't ever be a time with nothing existing!  Nothing existing would be unthinkable!  

Is mind over matter and does it precede matter?  We know that something other than matter and energy exists in the real world and that is intelligence.  Some atheists erroneously posit that time plus matter, plus energy, plus space with infinite time can make anything possible!  But can one argue matter has power over mind because physical things influence our thinking?   We are a dualistic being of body joined to the soul. Both are problems without believing in God as the sole primary cause of the universe (Causa prima in Latin).

The philosophical truths that everything that had a beginning has a cause and that infinite regress is impossible also apply.  For instance, the universe had a beginning and came into being at some point in the past about 15 billion years ago at the so-called Big Bang, according to astronomers; thus it had a cause and someone or something set it into motion or dialed, measured, and fixed the universal constants and laws that the whole universe is ruled by.  If there was a beginning, there was a beginner--it's only logical!  If there is a cause, there must be a first cause, by the same token (remember, there's no infinite regress, which only would compound the problem indefinitely for eternity).

All events and objects in space and time had a beginning, but don't jump to the conclusion that everything had a beginning; that would be fatal reasoning, and then there would be a time when nothing existed. God is outside space and time, which He created and controls!  And logic states the truth that out of nothing, nothing comes (ex nihilo, nihil fit)!  (Remember, if ever there was a time with nothing existing, we would have nothing now!)  If the universe were without beginning, on the other hand, you are saying it's infinitely old, and if that were so:  wouldn't everything be perfect by now?  The Bible stated in 2 Tim. 1:9 and Titus 1:2 that time had a beginning long before famed physicist Stephen Hawking wrote his book A Brief History of Time (we know there was a beginning of time because it's a corollary of space and matter).

We are trapped in the four dimensions of the time/space continuum.  Science now reasons and concludes that time had a beginning at the Big Bang and the clock started ticking, (with someone pulling the trigger, obviously).  Nothing can create itself, which would violate the law of noncontradiction, which is the first law of being and its extension being the law of causality, or cause and effect.  Christian theologians knew this all the time!

Now the paradox I propose is the one of motion (and there is no scientific definition of motion as one of the eternal mysteries that remains unsolved since antiquity).  Before you go from point A to point B you must reach the half-way mark (this paradox has been called Zeno's paradox, a Greek philosopher of antiquity).  Now note that it's impossible to know when you have reached the half-way point due to Heisenberg's Principle of Uncertainty.  And before you reach that half-way point you have to reach the half-way point of that or the quarter point, then the eighth point, ad infinitum! That's why there's no clear-cut definition of motion.  You could never move if you had to keep on reaching a mid-point to end up at the endpoint!  But movement is common sense!

Now we know there is no such thing as infinite regress by this conclusion, as proof now; we do see motion in action, despite our logic telling us motion is impossible. We just don't understand everything we see and feel or reason!  There had to be someone or something that put it into motion! Who started the so-called ball rolling?  There could be no motion with infinite regress!  

Bingo! God is known as the sole primary cause of the universe and also the First Cause (by Aristotle); this means He must put it into motion as the Prime Mover, Unmoved Mover, or Uncaused Cause. The principle is that nothing can be its own cause and that nothing just happens by itself.  If God had an antecedent cause, He would be trapped in the time/space continuum like we are, and would be the effect of something Himself; however He created time, matter, and space at creation; therefore, He has no cause! Either there is no motion, which seems insane and delusional, or there is no God or First Cause behind all events that happen in time. This brings new light to the opening words of Scripture:  "In the beginning God created...."  Note also God's name "I Am" could be translated "I cause to be," or I am the First Cause!

With all the intelligent input into the constants and laws of the Big Bang, such as the constant of gravity, charge of the electron the strength of the weak and strong nuclear forces, the atomic weight of a proton, etc., it only proves a Supreme Mind was behind it all, because there can be no intelligence without a mind-matter is, by nature, chaotic, and not ordered (order comes from an Orderer; design from a Designer, etc.). In the beginning, was pure energy that had no organization but was chaotic and had no order.   A point in fact:  Energy needs intelligence to be made useful and productive. 

Cosmos implies order and design and doesn't come from chaos and confusion, the normal state of energy, but we see the fine-tuned one in the cosmos. This is often called the argument from design, or teleological argument for God.  But Scripture states that logic (intelligence) and order was from the beginning:  "In the beginning was the Word (Logos or logic)..."--John 1:1); "In the beginning, God created..."--Gen.1:1.

The conclusion of the matter is that the existence of motion proves the existence of God and we can no more deny His existence than we can argue against motion and cannot prove either exists, but must have faith--our experience will be the verification, as the proof is in the pudding! You can experience and encounter God by faith ("Taste and see that the LORD is good," cf. Psalm 34:8); however, you must take a leap of faith first and this is a choice you make freely without being forced, which would be coercion or determinism--and God respects your choices.

We know, according to the Second Law of Thermodynamics or entropy, that matter isn't eternal because it's running out of usable energy and everything goes from a state of order to confusion, not vice versa, while someday there will be a heat death of the cosmos with no usable energy left: this implies there was a beginning to the universe and it cannot be eternal but must be created or caused!  Soli Deo Gloria!  

The School Of Suffering

"[F ]or he does not willingly afflict or grieve the children of men"  (Lam. 3:33, ESV).
"Why should a living man complain, a man, about the punishment of his sins?"  (Lam. 3:39, ESV).
"My son, do not despise the LORD's discipline or be weary of his reproof, for the LORD reproves him whom he loves, as a father, the son in whom he delights"  (Prov. 3:11-12, ESV). 
"I create the light and make the darkness.  I send good times and bad times..." (Isa. 45:7, NLT).
"But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold" (Job 23:10, NIV).  
"... But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering"  (Romans 8:17, NLT).
"Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later" (Rom. 8:18, NLT).
"Who best can suffer, best can do." --John Milton

Unfortunately, some of us have to learn the hard way--the school of hard knocks. Don't call your mistakes a failure, but an education--now you know what not to do!  Experience, the trial and error method that we chalk up to a learning experience, the O.J.T. in the trenches of life, and the pitfalls of everyday life are the best of all teachers.  No one escapes life problem-free!  Aldous Huxley, no Christian himself, remarked wisely, "Experience is not what happens to you.  It is what you do with what happens to you [what happens in you!]."  They say experience is not what happens to you, but in you and what you do with it. Two persons with the same experience react differently--the same clay melts the butter, hardens the clay!

Even Jesus "learned obedience by what He suffered" (cf. Heb. 5:8). Blessed are those whom God teaches and corrects out of the Word, though (cf. Psalm 94:12; Job 5:17). Suffering is par for the course and comes with the territory--no one is exempt, for even Jesus didn't exempt Himself and requires nothing of us He didn't overcome. "For since He Himself was tested and has suffered, He is able to help those who are tested" (Heb. 2:18, HCSB).  He was tempted in like manner as us, yet without sin and we have no right to complain (cf. Lam. 3:39 above), having not resisted sin to the point of shedding of blood (cf. Heb. 12:4).

God knows how to get our attention ("He gets our attention through adversity," Job 36:15), and pain is God's "megaphone to rouse a deaf world" (C. S. Lewis) that has become spiritually hard-of-hearing.  It is inevitable that adversity, suffering, trials, tribulations, temptations,  calamities, and hardships happen to us all in order to bring us closer to God and fashion us into His image and help us relate to Him: How does a sculptor forge a horse from a slab of marble?  By removing everything that doesn't look like a horse, of course! God is chipping away at everything that doesn't look like Jesus in our sanctification. The key is that adversity and hardship build character.  If Christ led us to it, He'll lead us through it!

Jesus warned of the man who was set free from a demon and didn't fill the void with Christ, only to be filled with seven demons and become worse off than before (cf. Matt. 12:45, NLT):  "... This will be the experience of this evil generation." The problem with man is that he cannot clean up his act and needs a supernatural work of grace to echo the words of Paul: "I am what I am by the grace of God." We all have feet of clay, or a flaw not readily visible or apparent.

Even evangelist George Whitefield said of a criminal going to the gallows: "There but for the grace of God, go I."  French mathematician and philosopher/theologian Blaise Pascal said that "we have a God-shaped vacuum only God can fill," while Saint Aurelius Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, North Africa, said concerning God, "You made us for Yourself, and our hearts find no peace until they rest in You."

Christianity is not just a reformed or recovered life, but a relationship and/or fellowship with the living God through Christ--a wholly new life in Christ--getting to know Him!  The goal is not to clean up our act, but to fill the emptiness and void with Christ living in our hearts.  Christ didn't come to make bad men good, but dead men alive, one preacher claims.  With Christ living in us, the demons cannot harm, hurt, nor even touch us. Jesus healed a man and later found him in the temple and admonished him:  "... Now you are well; so stop sinning, or something even worse may happen to you" (John 5:14, NLT). It is ill-advised to return to a life of sin after having been cleansed (cf. Heb. 10:26-27), and dangerous policy return to one's vomit like a dog (cf. 2 Pet. 2:22; Prov. 26:11). 

Remember the warning to the woman caught in adultery: "Go and sin no more! (Cf. John 8:11)" And don't look back! (Cf. Luke 9:62).  We must leave our life of sin!  Caveat:  We are not saved by good behavior or good deeds, but unto good behavior and good deeds, viva la difference! "We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works"  (cf. Eph. 2:10).  We are not saved by good works, but for them!  

There must be genuine repentance in the believer's life and our lives must show forth its fruits (cf. Acts 22:20).  Jesus saves us to bear fruit (cf. John 15:8, and those branches not bearing fruit are pruned).  We must prove we are up to the challenge and have changed by the good things we do in our attitude and behavior (cf. Acts 26:20). We don't want a new suit for the man, but a new man in the suit!  We don't merely "turn over a new leaf," but are born again or anew in the Spirit.  The whole point of our new life is that's it's radicalized in Christ and we are freed from the power of our sin--Jesus died to save His people from their sins (cf. Matt. 1:21), and he who is saved is freed from sin (cf. Acts 13:38-39).  "If the Son shall set you free, you shall be free indeed"  (cf. John 8:36). Christians are "overcomers," and this is the victory:  our faith! (1 John 5:4).  We must take God seriously when He warns us and not to put confidence in the flesh, but in the Spirit and learn to draw on His power as we walk in the Spirit by faith (cf. Gal. 5:16, 2 Cor. 5:17).

All Christians are called to suffer for Christ and in His name according to Phil. 1:29, NLT, which says, we have the "privilege of suffering for him."  Acts 9:16, NLT, says of Paul, "And I will show him how much he must suffer for my name's sake." The disciples gloried in and celebrated the fact that they were considered worthy to suffer in His name! (cf. Acts 5:41). This applies to us as well: The Christian life is not a bed of roses, but that doesn't mean we should get a martyr's complex either, thinking that the more we suffer, the better Christians we are!  We share in the "fellowship of His suffering" as we walk with Christ in the Spirit (cf. Phil. 3:10; Gal. 5:16). Paul was glad and could boast in the Lord, and gloried in his sufferings (cf. 2 Cor. 11:16ff).  Christ did say that Paul was to suffer great things for the sake of the Kingdom of God, but all of us "suffer that which is lacking in Christ's sufferings" to bring glory to Him (cf. Col. 1:24).

Christians are not called to be Stoics, whose primary objective is to cheerfully accept our lot in life, also known as the philosophy of the "stiff upper lip."  We are not ruled by blind forces of fate like the Islamic kismet (blind fate), or what's called determinism; we have the destiny to be fulfilled in Christ doing God's will.  We are not called to grin and bear it, though in Christ we can endure any trial or temptation, knowing Christ relates to our dilemma and predicament. 

It is a fact of psychology that one can endure almost anything if one sees purpose and meaning in it and has hope; we are in the voyage of a lifetime in our walk with Christ unto the eternal city!  We are not to sing "Que sera, sera, what will be, will be..." like Doris Day, and complacently resign ourselves to life of impersonal, mechanical fate beyond our control; however, we have input and a choice in our destiny and Christ is with us and on our side throughout the way to guide us as the pilot in charge on our flight to heaven.

Caveat:  Sometimes our sufferings are self-induced and from our own stupidity or ignorance in the ways of the world or in the Christian walk; if you've never made a mistake, you've never made anything, it's been well put.  Saint Augustine, said it well:  If I err, I am.  This was the prelude to Rene Descartes' formulation:  I think, therefore I am; and also: I think, therefore, God is! He should have thought:  "God is, therefore I think."

Thinking requires a thinker which precedes it, and the universe gives the impression of being one vast complex thought by a Supreme Mind that is also a Great Mathematical Thinker.  When we break God's moral laws ingrained in our conscience we must suffer the consequences, just like when we break physical laws or try to defy them (e.g., gravity)--God is the Great Lawgiver who rules over all and metes out due justice as well as mercy.

We must never wallow in self-pity and say, "Woe is me!" when we suffer for Christ's sake, it's an honor and will be rewarded.  Instead of wondering why unfortunate things happen to us, realize that good things happen to the unsaved--that's a bigger puzzle!  We must "through many hardships enter the kingdom of God" (cf. Acts 14:22), and they are part of the job description that we signed up for! Finally, a word to the wise is sufficient:  "Don't doubt in the dark what God told you in the light"--faith is not a leap into darkness, but a step into the light with God at your side as a guiding light, "until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts" (cf. 2 Pet. 1:19).    Soli Deo Gloria!   

Simply Believe?

"Only he who believes is obedient; only he who is obedient believes."  (Dietrich Bonhoeffer)
"Faith is not believing despite the evidence, but obeying in spite of the consequences."  (author unknown).  
"I will show you my faith by my good works!"  (James would say this)
"I will show you my good works by faith!"  (Paul would put this spin on our salvation)


Salvation is "by faith alone [the rallying cry of the Reformation], but not by a faith that is alone" (as the Reformers taught).  It must be fruitful--no fruit means no faith!  It isn't how much faith you have, but the object of the faith that matters.  True faith is validated in works only, not by feelings or emotions--some people are just sentimental types.  Obedience, then, is the only genuine test, as the Jews were found disobedient and therefore lacking faith in Heb. 3:18-19.

Saving faith is always joined and in juxtaposition to genuine repentance--some people don't have a problem believing, but in repenting!  Impenitent faith is not saving faith!  We are admonished to believing repentance or penitent faith if you will.  The most unnatural thing for us to accept is that salvation is by faith alone and all we have to do is simply believe (i.e., with the right kind of belief), as God gives us the gift of faith to exercise and walk through the door--we don't conjure it up by our own efforts (cf. 2 Pet. 1:1).

It would be so much more convenient for most people if only they had to do something for salvation--some work they could manage; however, if ever there were a work involved, we would flunk and fall short.  The only way it could be fair to all and make it so that anyone could get saved is if it were by faith alone, through grace alone. I'm not against works, just works religion; i.e., works done in the flesh and not in the Spirit.  We venture to boast only of what Christ has accomplished through us and in us (cf. Rom. 15:18).   It's so simple that the intellectual, philosopher, and legalist find it to be a stumbling stone, rock of offense, an impediment.  Man is incurably addicted to doing something for his salvation (cf. John 6:28-29)!

Yes, we can come to God as we are in faith, but we don't stay that way!  God works in our hearts a new life from the inside out--a transformation (cf. 2 Cor. 5:17) of all things new in Christ.  Now the key is to remember that faith is only the beginning, though we go from faith to faith (cf. Rom. 1:16-7), and increase in faith, and our living faith is not inert or static, but grows and matures into a seasoned believer with tried and proved faith.  One may say with complacency that he does believe, but belief is only the beginning--it's the door, not the final destination!   Faith is not certitude: we don't have to be fully persuaded to have saving faith and doubt is not the opposite of faith, but a component.

One disciple told Jesus (cf. Mark 9:24), "I believe, help thou mine unbelief!"  You will see that true faith always expresses itself and cannot remain silent (cf. Acts 4:20)!  Point in fact: There's no smoking-gun evidence to prove there is a God; on the contrary, there's none to prove there isn't!  You need not prove God unless they can disprove Him!  There's always going to be a place for doubt, but we must overcome it and walk by faith, not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7). All our questions will be answered in eternity (cf. John 16:23).

Salvation is not by knowledge but by faith, and that means one must take the leap of faith and bid his doubts goodbye in looking unto Jesus as Lord and Savior.  But, and this is an important contrast:  We can know for certain that we are saved--we are not just to hope we are saved, or even believe with doubt attached, but we are admonished to know for certain.  But this is what's called a "properly basic belief" or knowledge through a personal encounter with God and experiencing Him.  God speaks to our spirit and confirms our faith in us and we know as a result of the Spirit in us convicting us (cf. Rom. 8:16).  The Word of God coupled with the testimony and witness of the Spirit is a powerful assurance.

 And furthermore: God wouldn't command us to make our salvation certain (cf. 2 Pet. 1:10), if it were not possible to know for sure!  Two errors of newborn believers are not to take the Word of  God seriously and at face value, and to be ignorant of the Word and its promises.  Note that assurance of salvation is not an automatic fruit of salvation and many believers struggle with it and need to be informed of what the Bible teaches: assurance and security are two sides of the same coin and can be distinguished, but not separated--they go hand in hand.  If we weren't secure in our salvation, that we couldn't lose it, we could never be sure and certain we wouldn't lose it, and there would and could be no assurance.

When they say simply believe, it's so simple, but not simplistic, and so child-like, but not childish, that everyone from the intellectual to the simpleton and child has an equal chance to receive the gift of salvation by faith alone, not of any work, or we would have grounds of boasting to God. In the gift of saving faith (yes, we don't achieve, we receive), we may have doubts and all our questions may be unanswered, but we believe anyway and take the leap into the light, saying goodbye to the darkness of unbelief. We aren't inclined to believe nor are we asked to believe despite the evidence or with no evidence at all:  there's plenty of evidence and reason for credence, but for the skeptic and the stubborn and hardened heart, there's never enough evidence, because one must desire to do God's will (cf. John 7:17) and believe in Him.

It is one thing to believe God exists (cf. James 2:19), or that Jesus is Lord and Savior, and quite another to accept Him into your heart (cf. Rev. 3:20); i.e., trusting as Savior and submitting as Lord all by faith and loving Him in fellowship!   You don't need all the answers to believe, because God changes our hearts. It is important to note that we are judged by our works, not our faith (cf. Rom. 2:6).  If you don't have accompanying works, your faith is suspect, because the faith you have is the faith you show!  In the final analysis, the heart of the matter is that it's a matter of the heart--we must believe in our hearts, not just agree or consent with our minds (which is mere head belief)!

Caveat:  There is the temptation to think that believing is all there is to the Christian life and it doesn't matter whether one's life is submitted to the lordship of Christ and one is obedient to the Word, but this is so-called "easy-believism" and brings forth what's called "cheap grace," which justifies the sin, not the sinner!  True faith entails leaving behind the life of sin and embracing a new life in Christ with Him in at the helm, as the Master of our fate and Captain of our soul!

Some so-called Christians who live in sin tell their pastor, "It's okay, I believe!"  This ought not to be so!  The essence of the Christian life is not summed up in belief per se, as if believing were the whole story.  The whole point of conversion is a changed life, but one that God gives us, not that we accomplish on our own by "turning over a new leaf," making a New Year's resolution, or making an AA pledge to reform our lives--not self-improvement, but transformation by God.   Christ must be born in us, not just born in Bethlehem!

We're not just believing God is there, but in the God who is there, as revealed in the person of Jesus. There is a contrast between believing Jesus died on a cross and rose again, as a historical faith, and believing He did it for you personally!   And in conclusion, believing is only the beginning and the door to a new life (not the destination), we are to "follow on to know the Lord" (cf. Hos. 6:3, NLT, tells us to "press on to know the LORD") and walk with Christ as we progress from "faith to faith," as the Lord "... makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image" (2 Cor. 3:18, NLT).  (But saving faith is for those who realize and admit they're lost, for Christ "came to seek and to save those who are lost" (cf. Luke 19:10).)     Soli Deo Gloria!  

The True Spirit Of Grace-oriented Giving

"They asked only that we would remember the poor, which I made every effort to do"  (Gal. 2:10, HCSB).  
"One person gives freely, yet gains more; another withholds what is right, only to become poor"  (Prov. 11:24, HCSB). 
"A generous person will be enriched, and the one who gives a drink of water will receive water"  (Prov. 11:25, HCSB).  
"Since you excel in so many ways--in your faith, your gifted speakers, your knowledge, your enthusiasm, and your love from us--I want you to excel also in this gracious act of giving"  (2 Cor. 8:7, NLT).
"You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don't give reluctantly or in response to pressure.  'For God loves a person who gives cheerfully'"  (2 Cor. 9:7, NLT). 

All believers have the privilege and honor of sharing their blessings with others and promoting the work of God by financial support.  It's not necessarily how much we give, but the Spirit that we do it in that matters:  Mother Teresa of Calcutta (recently canonized by Rome) has said that it's not what you do, but how much love you put into it.  What God notices is a cheerful giver (cf. 2 Cor. 9:7) and the willingness to give as unto the Lord.  We thank God for His provisions, as the "LORD who will provide" ("the LORD will see to it" (Jehovah-Jireh), and are worshiping God through this act of selfless sacrifice.  Giving is not giving if not done sacrificially and if it doesn't hurt, you may be withholding from God who owns it all it in the first place and has given it to you as a steward of His blessings.

The obedient giver knows that Christ's words, "It is more blessed to give than to receive [Acts 20:35]," is the ultimate reality in God's economy.  The Bible says that some withhold and suffer loss and some give generously and gain.  No one comes out any worse in giving, for the measure we give is returned unto us.  It has been said that when we look out for other's interests, God looks out for us and we will never be in need of doing God's work.  Generosity is the spirit of true Christian giving and this is an attitude, not a measure or percentage of income--each person must make up his own mind how and how much to give, according to the measure of God's blessings.

If we feel we are obliged to give, it is done legalistically and hypocritically, and God cannot reward it--we must want to give and share our resources (which also includes our time, resources, relationships, talents, opportunities, energy, possessions, and gifts).  No one can afford not to give unto the work of God and to help the poor; in fact, if we are having a hard time making ends meet, we may need to open up God's treasures of blessing and share what He already has granted us (i.e., all our provisions from God).  In other words, we all need God's blessing on our lives and labors.

If you love money, you will never have enough!  The key is to become content with what you have and not to desire to be rich, which will lead to temptation.  Paul learned to be content in all situations, whether facing lack or abundance.  Not lacking any good thing or blessing doesn't mean that we will have all things:  God blesses some in some ways, some in all ways, but all in some way.  In sum, God is good to all (cf. Psalm 145:9), and delights to show mercy and bless us.      Soli Deo Gloria!

Knowing The Festal Shout

Psalm 89:15, ESV, says, "Blessed are the people who know the festal shout...."  In the NLT it renders it:  "Happy are those who hear the joyful call to worship...."   We are made to worship and will worship something or someone if not God---only God is worthy of worship and esteem and reverence (cf. Rev. 4:11).  We are hard-wired for worship, though worshiping God is unnatural for the natural man, who is not in the Spirit. When we do worship "in the Spirit" (cf. John 4:24) as commanded by Jesus we make contact or enter another dimension (God's throne room). In some ways worship is an existential, even surreal encounter, whereby God becomes real to us in an experiential way,  just like it says in Psalm 34:8, KJV,  (cf. 1 Pet. 2:3) "O taste and see that the LORD is good...." The proof of the pudding is in the eating. 

All of us need to be reminded of spiritual matters on a regular basis and touch base with God, to see if we're on the same page and in fellowship or walking in the Spirit.  Jesus commanded us to "abide in [Him]."  Worship can be considered a spiritual checkup or a spiritual workout for those who have grown lax, complacent, or need renewal in the faith and is not to be done in a lackadaisical manner, but wholeheartedly to the glory of God, as is everything we do in the name of the Lord (cf. 1 Cor. 10:31; Col. 3:17, 23).

We don't worship God passively, or vicariously, (i.e., you are not worshiping by observation of others doing it), but worship is active and involved, even demanding. Once you've experienced genuine worship you get addicted and develop a taste for it, but done in the wrong spirit (cf. Jer. 12:2; Matt. 15:8), or perfunctorily, halfheartedly, just going through the motions, or memorizing the Dance of the Pious is the same as "offering strange fire before the LORD," as did the sons of Aaron in Leviticus 10:1 (God is a God of order (cf. 1 Cor. 14:40), even in worship and proper protocol).

Worship is not to be mere lip service or lukewarm adoration and is one measure of spiritual growth.  There is no "one-size-fits-all to worship and people have different tastes and inclinations from being a traditionalist and liturgical to being demonstrative and spontaneous, but one must avoid getting in a worship rut and getting stale and complacent in one's adoration and contemplation of God:  It is not how much of the Spirit you have, but how much of you the Spirit has.

There is the so-called nod-to-God crowd that feels duty-bound to go to church, but the fact is we "get" to worship, not that we "have" to. Worship is a privilege and honor and worship leaders are to be shown respect. When you say you can worship God in the cornfield, you ignore the call to worship and to gather together in the name of the Lord (cf. Heb. 10:25), and to "worship God in the sanctuary." The importance of having the right attitude in our worship is expressed in Psalm 122:1, KJV, like this: "I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD."  Church should never become blase or commonplace!  The worship experience is always a measure of our surrender and is not a measure of any spiritual gift.

With true spirituality, comes the spiritual fruit of the "sacrifice of praise" (cf. Heb. 13:15, KJV):  In fact, worship is the offering of "sacrifice of thanksgiving" (Psalm 116:17, KJV) for what God has done, and the "sacrifice of praise" for who He is:  "Enter His gates with thanksgiving, His court with praise!" (Cf. Psalm 100:4).  "I will praise God's name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving.

This will please the LORD" (Psalm 69:30-31, NIV).  The more we worship the closer we get to God in Spirit, for there's power in praise.  God "inhabits the praises of His people" (cf. Psalm 22:3). Worship and praise are a continual feast and a blessing of the presence of God--it's a transforming experience. Worship isn't informational, but formational!  "Shout to God with a voice of triumph!" (Cf. Psalm 47:1).  God is "enthroned on the praises of His people" (cf. ibid., ESV).  God thrives on praise and deserves it.

In true worship, we focus on God, and get our eyes off of ourselves! Just as the definition of an Englishman says a self-made man who worships his creator: We must give God the glory; as the phrase says: Soli Deo Gloria! (to God alone be the glory!). The book of Psalms was called the Psalter or book of praises and the Puritans hymnal was called the Bay Psalm Book, which they used in worship.  A point in fact: Psalms is the official hymnbook for private and corporate worship by tradition, as it's probably the most loved book in the Old Testament.

We must bear in mind that it's not about us, but all about Him!  The heart of worship is all about ownership and surrender because He owns us. We seek His face (cf. Psalm 27:8) and presence in worship and God is with us whenever two or three gathers together in His name (cf. Matt. 18:20) as a community of believers--we need not wonder whether God is with us or not, as did Israel in the wilderness with Moses.

Worship is consecration:  The offering of ourselves to God as a "living sacrifice."  All in all, the heart of the matter is that it's a matter of heart and a measure of it!  "Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you..."  (James 4:8, KJV).  We all observe certain worship rituals in our comfort zones and get accustomed to what suits us (however, we should venture out of them and experiment and try something new), but worship makes our fellowship and relationship with God validated as we go on to practice the presence of God!

Caveat: Only God is worthy of veneration and of paying homage to others it is idolatry.  In sum worship is a methodology and conduit to connect with the living God and touch base with the Divinity in real-time; we can worship God in whatever we do to His glory and in His name, as an example, Olympic runner Eric Liddell, from the film Chariots of Fire, said, "... [When] I run I feel God's pleasure."  Soli Deo Gloria!