For The Love Of Truth

"Truth forever on the scaffold, wrong forever on the throne."  (James Russell Lowell, 1844, The Present Crisis).  
"Into Your hand I entrust my spirit; You redeem me, LORD, God of truth" (Psalm 31:5, HCSB).

NB:  TRUTH IS WHAT GOD DECREES OR WHAT HE SAYS TO BE TRUTH AS THE FINAL ARBITER AND DELIMTER OF ITS DEFINITION.   

We all know that philosophy is the love of wisdom or knowledge and in antiquity, there was no distinction between science and philosophy, but someone must love the truth to be saved (cf. 2 Thess. 2:10).  But today people twist the truth to fit their narrative theories!  The problem with the infidel is that he won't accept the truth and refuses to submit to it; it's offensive to his lifestyle.  The divine order:  understand it, accept it, put faith in it, obey and submit to it, and then love it!  Paul warns against those who refuse to love the truth and so be saved!  Loving the truth is indeed a sign of salvation or a byproduct of it.  The fact is that God must open our eyes to the truth and the truth will set us free, for all truth meets at the top and is God's truth! God makes sense of everything as our eyes are opened and we see the light!

People avoid the truth with their own relativism; this is indicative of the so-called Truth War or battle of the isms and worldviews.  They deny absolute truth as a consequence, and, therefore, God as the logical outcome.  Unless you assume God in the metric, you have no foundation for truth.   If there is no God, there simply is no truth and vice versa (cf. Prov. 1:7)--this is logical.  No truth implies no ethics either, and no ethics implies no good life to strive for nor ideals to live by (virtues).  We don't say that your truth has no effect on us or that it's of no consequence!  One must own up to the truth revealed, for we are held accountable to what God has given and the amount of light shed.  Willful ignorance is no excuse with God; therefore, ignorance is not bliss!  Modern academics are quick to point out that all truth is relative, which is nonsensical and of no truth value (is that statement also relative?). Because if truth exists, then its corollary, absolute, universal truth must also exist and they refuse to even go there.

The trouble with the infidel is that he has hardened his heart against truth and sets himself up as the arbiter of truth and authority of right and wrong.  But God is the only arbiter of truth and delimits or defines it, not man.  God decrees the truth and no lie is of the truth.  Truth has to do with reality according to the Correspondence Theory of Truth, and not admitting it is a form of escape from reality.  Truth corresponds with reality as portrayed and agrees with God who determines it. In sum, only Christians are properly oriented to reality and know the truth as personified in the person of  Christ personally.

We see the big picture and don't take God out of the equation which can lead to blindness and ignorance.  Where we start determines where we end up and that's why the Bible doesn't start out like a fairy tale, "Once upon a time," but says "In the beginning God."  This is the only logical way to begin reality.  There are only two alternatives:  "In the beginning nothing" (an absurdity since "out of nothing, nothing comes!"; and "In the beginning matter/energy." We know that matter isn't eternal and energy isn't useful in its natural state--the factor of intelligence or organization must be added!  (The theory of an eternal universe has been totally discredited.)  Either matter or God is eternal!  One must have preceded the other. Are you willing to believe that matter arose to contemplate itself and create intelligent life?

The Bible is clear to state propositionally that the Logos was in the beginning, the self-expression of God, or the Word of God.  Logic is necessary to begin any knowledge!  No Logos means no cosmos and only chaos, which would make learning and science impossible!  This is all-important because the very foundation of all truth and knowledge begins with God in the calculus and without Him, all we have is nonsense and confusion. If you don't begin with God in the picture you have no basis of knowing anything!  You must always begin somewhere to learn anything and everyone begins with something they cannot prove, an assumption.  "In the beginning God" is necessary for all learning, logic, knowledge, and values, it's not just the way the Bible begins.      Soli Deo Gloria! 

To See The Truth

This view is not sleazy nor misery,
But you may see no austerity.
And needlessly is missing to me,
The parity that so many see
Elude, because thinkingly, they see
Them unevenly as contumely, or thinkingly
They see amorously--they can't willingly
Give up their debauchery!
Now as I felicitously live lovingly,
As some may never benevolently be;

Only if they could see the blissful tree:

The superseding people have "conqueredly"
Gotten out of the sinewy grasp of the enemy.
To live, you see, is Christ to me;
He isn't pedantic nor astringent, as some see,
Nor "importunely" vigilant as some exaggeratedly
Irk me.  The way we live is not adversity,
Nor calamity but delectably working for unity
Among our Christianity.  I, believingly,
Say it could be foolishly depriving, and dumbly
Stupid not to give the Lord at least a taciturnity.        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 some 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 is, 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!"(cf. Mark 9:24).   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. (cf. 1 Tim. 1:5; 2 Tim. 1:5).   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!

Can Man Live Without God?

"Men have forgotten God." (Alexander Solzhenitsyn)
"A person cannot live without worshiping something." (Fyodor Dostoevsky)

The whole concept of modern Secular Humanism is to exalt man (glory to man in the highest!) and to dethrone God and put Him in His place, as they see it. In other words, they proclaim: Up with man, down with God! Man has attempted to make a name for himself ever since the tower of Babel (cf. Gen. 11:4) and believes he can get along without God's intervention, grace, or providence. Man is deluded into thinking he can rule God out of the universe and doesn't need Him or He is irrelevant or unnecessary to explain reality.

Pertinent remarks by great thinkers: "Religion is indispensable to private morals and public order" (Cicero); "No society has ever been able to maintain a moral life without the aid of its religion" (William Durant). Humanism has been defined as "religion without God." And you don't have to be an atheist to have no place for God in your life, practical atheists believe in God, but live as though there is no God. Psalm 10:4 (HCSB) sums it up: "There is no accountability since God does not exist."

Humanist historian/philosopher (and author of The Story of Civilization) Will Durant posed the dilemma we face today as the postmodern philosophy (that "God is dead") that permeates society, and humanists try to be good without God in the equation: "The greatest question of our time is not communism vs. individualism, not Europe vs. America, nor even the East vs. the West; it is whether men can bear to live without God." People have no excuse not to believe in God (cf. Rom. 1:20), but they foolishly suppress the fact and are in a state of denial. They seem to think that God is no longer relevant, that we can solve our issues and problems without His input or intervention, and that we are basically good, not evil, or are perfectible. 

We live in an age when sinners decide that they are their own judges of morality and can make their own value judgments: "Everyone did what was right in their own eyes," much like Israel did, as recorded in Judges 21:25. Men find themselves judging God, rather than realizing He's their judge. Now the biggest problem nations face is that of keeping the peace, and there shall be wars and rumors of wars till the end, and when we reach peace we will no longer feel we need God. America is a so-called good nation by human standards as recorded by secular Alexis de Tocqueville, in his work Democracy in America, which he wrote after visiting the U.S, posited that our strength lies in our "goodness," and when we "ceased to be good we will cease to be great." This is not based on biblical nor historical precedent, but only personal deduction and observation.

Yes, America is different (we are probably the most religious nation on earth), yet we are failing on the world stage due to poor leadership and the good citizens (believers) cease to be salt and light and evil is winning by default, not because Christianity has failed, nor because its worldview is faulty, but because Christians fail to stand up and be counted, to take their stand for the right and to fly their Christian colors. It has been said by philosophers and historians that morality in a nation cannot be upheld without the aid of religion: George Bernard Shaw said that "no nation can survive the loss of its gods." George Washington said, "It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible." Christians ought to protest the secularization of a society that seeks to eradicate God from the public square and discourse. 

But we cannot silence God, though! If we try to go to war with Him we will lose and our nation will lose its blessing and providential hand. We fight this by speaking up against the evils of society, even if it entails becoming activists and doing whatever you can to mobilize the church and equip them for the battle. We are not to passively allow Satan to seize control!

When you take God out of the picture, there remains a vacuum that is filled with satanic activity. When we cease to worship God, we will ultimately find something else to worship, because man is meant and designed for worship!  No one actually worships, reveres, adores, or esteems nothing. God is the motive people have for good behavior because you see very few hospitals, orphanages, relief organizations, leprosariums founded by infidels. In India, they think that the suffering of man is caused by bad karma and you shouldn't interfere with another's karma!

We are at the point in our society where we don't know right from wrong and have lost our moral fiber because there's no moral compass and God condemns those who call good evil and evil good (cf. Isa. 5:20). There is an absolute standard to judge by and people do instinctively know right from wrong due to having a conscience and everyone is culpable to be blamed because of transcendent or natural law, which is above national law and even nations are subject to. You could say that the new battle is against God and the new war of independence is from God! People, in general, think that the Ten Commandments are obsolete or are the Ten Suggestions, and don't apply to a modern society and don't feel bound by them,  and they are free to make up their own rules as they go along to suit themselves. As long as they can think of some reason to justify themselves and have good motives, the reason that they are doing the right thing.

But goodness isn't defined by man, but by God and is in conformity with His nature. The basic diagnosis of man is that he does things his way and not God's way (as Isa. 53:6 says, "... we have turned everyone to his own way..."). We cannot know good without knowing God, for He is the final arbiter of it and will judge us and our standards of good versus His. Without God, Shakespeare summed up the essence of life as Macbeth mused in Hamlet: "... 'tis a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury signifying nothing." If we are not in God's image, we are mere animals and glorified apes: "Do you think we are mere animals? Do you think we are stupid?" (Job 18:3, NLT)--teach man he is an animal and he will act like one.

"Without God, life makes no sense," according to Rick Warren!"  If there is no God all things are permissible," according to Fyodor Dostoevsky, and there can be no absolutes or standards to measure perfection by. The world has nothing against religion as long as it remains privatized, but we are to spread the word and be obedient to the gospel without suppressing it--it's a command to obey not an option to consider. The implications of atheism are profound: No judge to make us feel guilty; no Lord ot guide us, no lawgiver to obey; no ruler or sovereign to submit to, no creator to emulate, know, and love; no hell to shun; and no heaven to look forward to--how dismal and bleak an outlook!

Romans 1:18ff shows what transpires once a man leaves God out of the reckoning. In the final analysis, God will bless America by association again when the church repents and gets back on track fulfilling the Great Commission (not the Great Suggestion), and not when it tries to implement sharia law or usher in the Millennial Kingdom, in order to "advance the cause of Christ" through legislation or government, though this may be the trend towards righteousness and a worthy cause. Soli Deo Gloria!

Once Saved, Always Saved

"All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out"  (John 6:37, ESV, italics added).  

I am aware that the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints, as it is known in Reformed theology (eternal security) is not universally agreed upon by Christians, and that many sincere, well-meaning believers beg to differ (Roman Catholics, Arminians or semi-Pelagians, Pentecostals, Wesleyans, Pentecostals, Salvation Army) but the majority of evangelicals, including mainline denominations such as Baptists and Presbyterians, adhere to this as dogma.  This is my position and I know that I must be careful when presenting what is called one of the doctrines of grace ( the doctrines that divide by some).

By definition, this doctrine assures the continuity in the state of grace for the redeemed believer and the permanency of his salvation, not based upon works but grace from beginning to end, as we are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation (cf. 1 Pet. 1:5).   God finishes what He starts and He has begun a good work in us in order to complete it in Christ (cf. Phil. 1:6).  

This aphorism is well known and quoted by skeptics who think it sums up evangelical teaching about salvation.  It is not meant as a security blanket so that one has the license to sin without impunity, and this is the fear, that people will lose their fear of God and become remiss in their walk.  Catholics firmly believe and teach the fear of God and are quite successful at this, because they deny security and even assurance unless one is given a special divine revelation to that effect.  They would call a believer who is sure of his salvation as guilty of the sin presumption!  The Bible doesn't call it that but calls it a command to be sure in 2 Pet. 1:10 ("make your calling and election sure").

The interesting factor about losing your salvation is that no one can say what sin or work one does to lose it.  We are supposed to be in the Father's hands, not our own!  It is clear from Scripture that believers have the resident Holy Spirit permanently and, therefore cannot be guilty of blasphemy of the Holy Spirit or the so-called unforgivable sin (cf. Matt. 12:32).  The Bible makes it clear that if you could lose your salvation, you could not regain it again, yet Catholics have instituted the sacrament of penance for those who have made shipwreck of their faith.  The Bible does not have any examples of anyone who lost his salvation either (Judas was a devil from the beginning, and King Saul isn't named as lost after losing favor).

What is paramount to realize is that assurance and security go hand in hand, and they can be distinguished, but not separated.  If you don't have security, you cannot be sure either, because you are saying that your salvation depends upon your works or performance, and not the preservation of God.  The truth is that we persevere as God preserves.  One would never be sure because he cannot predict the future and know that he might lose it by some sin.

This doctrine, once saved, always saved, is basic to understanding grace and that our salvation is not by our works nor our performance, lest we are able to boast (cf. Eph. 2:9) and totally is an act of God (i.e., monergistic).  As Reformed theologians say, the doctrine of salvation can be summed up:  Salvation is of the Lord.  It is not of man and God, nor of man alone, but totally of God, and to realize this is to be oriented to grace and not works or to be legalistic in mindset.

There are several Bible verses that point to eternal security, and that phrase is not a biblical one, but the terminology "eternal redemption" is mentioned in Hebrews 9:12 and "eternal salvation" in Heb. 5:9.  Salvation, by definition, is eternal because it's the gift of eternal, not temporary or provisional life.  Eternal life begins at salvation and not in heaven, as some mistakenly believe.  We are not saved on a provisional basis but can be sure.  God wants us to be sure of our salvation according to 1 John 5:13 and makes this point that we can know.  How could you know, if your salvation is temporary and probationary?  Again, in losing salvation, what sin are they so sure will cast them into hell, when Christ died for all their sins?  We can lose "full reward" (cf. 2 John 8), and be saved by the skin of our teeth (or "as if by fire" in 1 Cor. 3:15), but nowhere are believers cast into hell in Scripture as precedent.

Some object that they have the right to leave God because of free will.  The Bible has something to say about apostates:  "They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us.  But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us"  (1 John 2:19, ESV).  Actually, your destiny is in God's hands, not your own, He's the master of your fate and Captain of your soul, and He loves you with a love that won't let go.  You didn't come to Christ on the basis of your free will without divine wooing and you cannot persevere unless God preserves you.   All your sins, past, present, and future are forgiven upon salvation, so why worry about some unforgivable sin? We cannot lose a faith God gave us as a gift, because it's not something we conjured up in the first place--We are "preserved in Jesus Christ" according to Jude v. 1 (NKJV).

In the final analysis, do you want to be works-oriented and legalistic and fearful, or grace-oriented and sure?  Soli Deo Gloria!   

Our Common Salvation

Jude wanted to write a treatise on "our common salvation," but was diverted to discuss heresy that had crept into the church.

This is a subject known doctrinally as soteriology, from the Greek soter, or to save. Even Jesus' name and title refer to salvation: Lord is His position; Jesus is His mission; Christ is His promise. He is the anointed One sent by the Father to do His will, obedient unto death on a cross on our behalf.

The common man has no comprehension of what salvation means, and probably relates to a boxer being "saved by the bell." The late, renowned theologian (R. C. Sproul) was asked if he was saved: "Saved from what?" The man was taken aback and had no answer; he didn't know what our salvation is from! Actually, we are saved by God and from God (delivered from the wrath to come according to 1 Thess. 1:10). We are as bad off as can be, but not too bad to be saved! We are never good enough to be saved and cannot prepare ourselves for it; however, we are bad enough to need salvation nevertheless.

Christianity is a religion of salvation and this is pivotal. "Salvation is of the Lord," says Jonah 2:9, and this means that God does all the work and gets all the credit and glory. The other two possibilities are to be saved by a combination of our efforts and God's or to be saved by our efforts alone. Only in the scenario that has God doing everything, can we have the assurance of salvation?

The Bible proclaims the saviorhood of God; this is His purpose in dying ("...and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins."). The Scriptures speak of Christ as being the only way to be saved and that there is no other Savior (cf. Acts 4:12; John 14:6; Hos. 13:4; Isa.43:11).

All three offices of Christ take part in our salvation: as Prophet, we are saved from ignorance of sin; as Priest from the guilt of sin; as King from the dominion of sin (per D. James Kennedy).

There are many aspects to look at our salvation. At the point of salvation we are saved from the penalty of sin or justified, then we are sanctified or saved from the power of sin, and in the state of glory, we will be saved from the presence of sin. Another way of looking at this is that of our position(in Christ), our condition (fellowship and sanctification), and our expectation (glorification). From the standpoint of the tenses, we are saved, we are being saved, and we shall be saved. Our outlook is given perspective so that we have a worldview: "Our past is forgiven, our present is given meaning, and our future is secured." This all began in eternity past, is realized in time, and looks forward to, and is consummated in heaven.

Our salvation is a done deal, a fait accompli, a finished work--a divine accomplishment, not a human achievement. Religion is a do-it-yourself proposition and says, "Do," but God says, "Done!" The entire Trinity took part: the Father planned and authored it, the Son secured and accomplished it, and the Holy Spirit applied it.

Only in Christianity can we have the assurance of salvation and this is not meant to be permission to live in the flesh, but the power to live in the Spirit. Assurance enhances growth and is assuredly a boon to our spiritual well-being--otherwise, we are stunted and paralyzed in our walk. Note that assurance and security can be distinguished, but not separated. They go hand in hand and without one, you cannot have the other. Assurance is not to satisfy idle curiosity, but meant to strengthen our faith, and is a sign of faith, not presumption. It is one thing to have a spiritual birth certificate of a verse that gives you faith and another to proclaim in simple faith: God said it in His Word; I believe it in my heart; that settles it in my mind! Or even: God said it; that settles it!

Salvation is not by knowledge (not even secret knowledge which is Gnosticism)--that would be intellectualism--and not by emotion--that would be emotionalism--and not by works--that would be moralism. It is not by faith plus works, not by faith plus being good, nor by faith plus law-keeping. It is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. Principle: Don't divorce faith and faithfulness! What kind of faith is saving faith is the issue: only obedient and repentant faith will do.

There are only four possibilities for salvation to note: by works alone; by faith plus works; by faith alone bringing about good works, and by faith alone equaling salvation minus good works. The first is religion, the second is legalism, the third is correct Reformed teaching, and the last one is only antinomianism or easy-believism. [This labeling from R. C. Sproul] The formula during the Reformation was that we are saved by faith alone, but not by a faith that is alone.

Our faith is simple--so simple a child can do it-- but not simplistic; it is childlike, but not childish. It's not a matter of trying, but trusting--trust and obey! It is the work of God (John 6:28-29 answers this question: "What shall we do, to do the works of God? It is the work of God that you believe..."); because we are incurably addicted to doing something for our salvation, according to Chuck Swindoll. The Reformers called this Soli Deo Gloria, or to God alone be the glory! "HOW SHALL WE ESCAPE IF WE NEGLECT SUCH GREAT SALVATION?" (Cf. Heb. 2:3). Soli Deo Gloria!
















The order of our salvation in Reformed theology, known as the ordo salutis, is the following: regeneration, faith/repentance, justification, sanctification, glorification. NB: since believing repentance or penitent faith is a gift, it follows regeneration (cf. 2 Thess. 2:13 and 1 John 5:1). The so-called Golden Chain of Redemption is in Romans 8:29-30: Foreknowledge, predestination, calling, justification, glorification. Note that election or calling does not depend on anything we do and takes place after predestination; we do not become the elect upon believing but are elected unto salvation and election.
Cf. Heb. 3:18-19; 5:9 ("...He became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him."); John 3:36. Therefore, antinomianism, libertinism, and hedonism are not biblical. Dietrich Bonhoeffer said it well, "Only he who is obedient believes, and only he believes who is obedient." The only true test of faith is obedience which leads to good works.

How To Address The Deity

I have heard prayers to every kind of deity imaginable as a Christian, having had fellowship with many factions, sects, and denominations.    The Mormons, for instance, like to think of God just as their "Heavenly Father."  They put God in a box, and fail to see Him as Redeemer, Judge, and Counselor as well.  God is multifaceted like a diamond and we shouldn't just see God as "the man upstairs,"  the "Great Spirit in the Sky" or "the Old Man," for instance.  We don't invoke God like the Greek pagans, who said, "O mighty Zeus, judge of the right, protector of the innocent, power behind the lightning bolt, ad infinitum; we don't try to butter up God, but simply call on Him as He gave us the right to do via Jesus' instruction in the Sermon on the Mount.

Suppose one person addressed the president as President so-and-so, another as John, and another as Dad; who do you suppose had the greatest privilege and intimacy?  There is power in knowing God as Father, and we have the right to be called the children of God (John 1:12).  In prayer, how would you feel if someone prayed in the name of the "Man Upstairs?"  Wouldn't it show more respect and intimacy to use Jesus' name?  Angels don't even have this authorization to pray to the Father in the name of Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit--which is our formula for prayer,  Let your prayers show your intimacy with the Almighty and not alienation or unfamiliarity.  We go to the top, and the Most High has an open door policy for us.

"...I write to you dear children because you have known the Father" (1 John 2:14).
"So if you call God your Father..." (1 Pet. 1:7).

God has given us His covenant names to claim and to realize His divine nature, but He loves it when we address Him simply as "[Our] Father" (this is the most honorable appellation He has given us as His children--see 1 John 3:1).  Note:  There is no universal fatherhood of God--only believers can claim God as their  Father.  When Jesus introduced this, it was radical and revolutionary; it was a breakthrough and taking new ground or territory spiritually.  "The Spirit cries out with our spirit, Abba, Father" (Gal. 4:6; Rom. 8:15). Per contra popular thought, Abba doesn't mean "Daddy," though abi does.   We have this divine privilege that angels don't have a family!  We are adopted into God's family and born of the Spirit.  If we pray simply:  "O God in heaven," it sounds like we don't know our Lord very well.

Surely God is in heaven, but He is here too! "Am I only a God nearby, and not a God far away?" says Jeremiah 23:23.   He is the "YHWH Shamah" or "the LORD who is there."  Case in point:  "Surely the LORD was in this place and I knew it not."  God is the Lord and the Spirit of the Lord is upon us to pray "in the Spirit" (Jude 20). The formula (cf. Eph. 2:18), I reiterate, and that the Bible sanctions are to pray in the name of the Son, in the power of the Spirit,  to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (cf. Eph. 2:18).   Note that I am not saying we cannot intersperse other forms of address in our prayer, like LORD God, but the primary focus is on His Fatherhood.

We are to "boldly approach the throne of grace" as Hebrews 4:16 exhorts and have faith.  When we take ourselves too seriously and take our eyes off of Jesus it is hard to penetrate His dimension ("Enter His gates with thanksgiving, His courts with praise" per Psalm 100:4).   Jesus ushers us into the very throne room of God and we have access or entree and the right to go to the top with God's "open-door policy."  Jeremiah 3:19 says that God was disappointed that Israel didn't call Him "Father"  ("I thought you would call Me Father.") Father is a term of endearment or gesture of intimacy.

When Jesus cried out, "My God, my God," he felt distant from His God and Father. There is no greater honor (every human father is proud to have his son call him Dad and would be insulted if he were called "Mr. so-and-so," or even "Sir");  there is no greater privilege.  We should take advantage of this right and not feel estranged from God anymore.  When we pray we are to "put on the Lord Jesus" and that means to pray as a SON!

In conclusion:  It is not wrong to pray to Jesus or the Holy Spirit (though it is sinful to pray to any saint or invoke the Virgin Mary, which is Mariolatry); but there is little precedent for praying to Jesus (the text in John 14:13-14 is dubious),  or the Holy Spirit it in Scripture and we should really pray as the Lord taught us in obedience.  We are ushered into the dimension of God, His very throne room, and presence, by the virtue of Jesus' redemption on our behalf.

The scriptural formula is expressed in Eph. 2:18, NKJV:  "For through Him we both have access by one spirit to the Father."  Soli Deo Gloria!

What Is Significant Prayer?

The most perfect and ideal prayer we can make is to commend ourselves unto God's care, let His will be done in a prayer of relinquishment, and have the faith to mean it when we say, "Amen!"  We must dismiss the notion that we can change God, but let successful prayer change us.

Jesus rebuked the vain repetitions of the Pharisees and the meaningless long-winded prayers they were wont to do, then He formulated the Lord's Prayer because the disciples asked Him "Lord, teach us to pray," of all things to want to learn.   This prayer was never meant to be a recital or vain repetition, but the answer to the question, "How shall we pray?" (not "What shall we pray?).  It is never wrong to go through the petitions and pray them as long as one comprehends it and meditates on it while doing it.  Therefore, everything we need to know about prayer is in this paradigm or framework Jesus gave us if we understand and apply it rightly.  The vital link is, "How big is our God?" because this affects our prayer life and our faith in the answers--that is why it is said, "Be it done unto you according to your faith."

God's name or reputation is holy and worthy of praise; for He exalts above all things His name and His Word (Psalm 138:2).   Prayer, by definition, is communion or communication with the Almighty and that means it is two-way--not just us doing all the talking.  We have to learn to listen like Samuel who prayed, "Speak LORD, for your servant hears." The more we listen, the more we hear; we must practice this fervently because hearing God, as well as prayer to Him are like muscles one must exercise to be fit--we don't want to become unfit or turn a deaf ear to God by negligence or because we are remiss or derelict doing our part.   The book of Job (33:14) says that God speaks to man, but he doesn't hear.  God always speaks to me when I read the Scriptures because I have trained myself in this discipline.   Sometimes God has much to say and we do all the talking.  One way God speaks to us is by verses we have committed to memory, something a believer told us in edification, or some circumstance.  Being cognizant of His control or providence shows our faith and how we will interpret the answers.

Psalm 100:4 says to "Enter His gates with thanksgiving, enter His courts with praise."  For the LORD "inhabits the praises of His people" according to Psalm 22:3.  The essence of prayer is communication and to change us, not change the unchangeable one!  The purpose of prayer is prayer--we should love to touch base with God and stay in fellowship with Him by keeping short accounts of our sins and confessing them ("If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the LORD would not have listened," says Psalm 66:18)  and we should "pray without ceasing," which means that we keep the conversation going (our attitude and fellowship) as Brother Lawrence, the humble cook and Carmelite monk in a monastery, did in the seventeenth century when he wrote The Practice of the Presence of God, which is a classic on the continuity of daily fellowship  in our labors.

When we do corporate or public prayer one goal is to be a witness to others and teach them how to pray and be an example; and, if possible, to convert any unbeliever by our witness.  All prayer should be in the power of the Spirit, as it says in Jude 21:  "Pray in the Spirit."  We should strive to put our heart into our prayers, but sincerity is not everything if we ask amiss or are wrong.  Just because we can put a lot of emotion into it is no guarantee that God will answer affirmatively.  Prayer is, in summation, acknowledging God for who He is and what He has done; thanking Him for what He has done, and praising Him for who He is.  The better we know God, the better our prayers.

 When we pray we should think of putting on Christ and assuming our role and position as a son of God and having the authorization to use Christ's name and permission to call the Most High our Father--the angels don't have this authority and power to influence God--remember prayer is the ordained means that God uses to accomplish His will and we are acting as vessels of honor, being used for His glory.   This implies intimacy and the more we pray, the closer we get to God--if we don't pray much, it is because we probably don't believe God is listening or answering our prayers.  Finally, our prayers are in the power enabling the ministry of the Holy Spirit, who puts our feeble words and baby talk or lisping into groans too deep for words to the Father. "For we know not how to pray as we ought, but the Holy Spirit makes intercession for us."   We go to the top in our prayer, the Most High, who is the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, and He has an open-door policy, which means we are always welcome and God is never inconvenienced.

We should think of the attributes of God when we pray:  His greatness or awesomeness (nothing is too great, nor too small for God--they are all small); His sovereignty (we can be assured that He is in control and we are on the winning side); God is omnipotent or almighty (nothing too big for God--"Is anything too hard for Me?" says the LORD in Jeremiah 32:17);  God is eternal and everlasting (He has all the time in the world to answer our prayer and time is no object, because He is not bound, defined, limited, nor in the time/space continuum that we are slaves to--this means God knows the future from the past and can forgive our sins past, present, and future as an example.   God is worthy of praise, worship is essentially "worth-ship" because only God is worthy to be worshiped--we can't praise God too much, in fact, there is power in praise!

Prayer is where the action is and is the acid test or the so-called litmus test of our spiritual relationship. Many people have weak prayer life because they take themselves too seriously; we should pray as we can and not as we can't.  It is a trick in prayer to learn to pray the Word and claim its promises.   It is not to be seen as a duty but as a glorious calling and honor. Learn to be sensitive to the inner voice of the Holy Spirit and the promptings He will give.  God does speak; it's just that man doesn't listen.  "Indeed God speaks once, Or twice, yet no one notices it"  (Job 33:14).   In sum, the greatest prayer is one of relinquishment, uttering in the manner of Jesus, "Thy will be done!  Soli Deo Gloria!

What Kind Of Soil Are You?

In the parable of the sower, in Matthew 13, Christ depicts four types of individuals who hear the gospel and how they respond.  There is the soil along the path, the rocky soil, the thorny soil, and the good soil. It is important to evaluate the condition of our own soil because we can go through phases in life where it may vary--we are not always apparently good soil, even if we are saved.   We may identify with these kinds of soils at some time in our spiritual journey, but to enter the kingdom of God we have to be good soil--we may just backslide or revert to our old nature at seasons of our life though.  But it is erroneous to conclude that there is a whole new category of a believer called a believer with a thorny soil;  he must have been good soil at one time or he never would've been saved in the first place.

It has been shown that the average person rejects the gospel 7.6 times before accepting it--that is an average and one person may reject it 8 times and another 7 times, and so forth.  That is proof that we are not always receptive to the message of truth and aren't usually ready for it as given or sown the first time.  But God prepares our hearts over time and when we are prepared soil we do respond affirmatively. "Salvation is of the Lord," says Jonah 2:9 and we do not cooperate in it as Rome teaches but simply accepts it by faith with God doing all the work, even giving us faith as a gift--it is not something we conjure up by our efforts.   All of us can relate to once being thorny soil that had other things on our mind or even rocky soil that doesn't want to pay the price of persecution or tribulation and hasn't counted the cost--Jesus warned His followers to "count the cost."

In this parable, the sower is the same, the seed is the same, and the soil is the same; what is different is the condition of the soil and this is the responsibility of the recipient.  The sower sows wherever he has the opportunity or sees an open door.  Only in so-called  "good soil" does the seed germinate and take root to go on and bear fruit.  Why is fruit important?  John the Baptist said, "Bear fruits in keeping with repentance..." (Luke 3:8).   "By their fruits, you shall know them."  Jesus "appointed [us] that [we] should go and bear fruit and that [our] fruit should abide..." (John 15:16).  We should "bear much fruit and prove to be [His] disciples." (This fruit is the outcome of our lives for Christ, doing good deeds foreordained for us and not the fruit of the Spirit since the listeners of Jesus knew nothing of this and the Spirit was not yet given!)

I am of the persuasion that faith without works is dead and without fruit there is no faith--true faith produces fruit and this fruit is good works (though converts is a good work, it is not the only one); we are not saved by good works, but we are not saved without them either-without works our faith is suspect.  There may be Christians who don't amount to much and may end up with no reward according to 1 Cor. 3:15 where they are saved, as if by fire, but they do produce some fruit and end up losing or forfeiting their reward.   The condition of the soil is up to us and we are culpable for soil that is unresponsive to the gospel and has no place for the Word in our lives.

Lots of people are superficial and initially believe the Word of Christ, but don't have genuine saving faith, having good intentions, but poor follow-through.  The purpose of this parable is to show three types of recipients to the general call of the gospel when we preach or evangelize and why they don't accept our message.  It is meant to encourage us to sow a seed and that some will inevitably fall on good or tilled soil.   Hearing the Word is not sufficient, one must be obedient to the gospel and go on to follow the Lord as His disciple.  Soli Deo Gloria!

Learning A Christian Worldview

"No nation has survived the loss of its gods" (George Bernard Shaw).

A worldview is a way of interpreting your world, such as purpose in living, where you came from, and where you are going--our role in the world-system--questions such as: Is there right and wrong? Is there a God? What is the meaning of life? How do you interpret reality? There is a current war of ideas in the world: Marxism (basically an economic understanding, but also totalitarian, aiming to establish a domination of the proletariat or working class and abolishing the bourgeoisie in class warfare), Secular Humanism (basically that man is the measure of all things, up with man, down with God, or deifying man and dethroning God, and reality starts from man), New Age (the idea of cosmic consciousness or supra-consciousness, being in touch with the inner god), Postmodernism (founded by Nietzsche as the patron saint, saying that "God is dead" or irrelevant and we can live without Him), Islam (believing the future belongs to Islam and being bent on world hegemony), and Christianity (Christ's kingdom is in the hearts of man and not of this world and the church is a power to transform and preserve society) itself--the first five have one thing is common in that they oppose Christianity. Any viewpoint that doesn't start with God is evil!

We are to discern good and evil to be able to handle the meat of the Word (Heb. 5:14). Once we get saved, the battle has just begun and we enter Satan's turf as the god of this age. But the battle is the Lord's and as John said in 1 John 4:4, "Greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world." Paul says in Rom. 8:31, "If God be for us, who can be against us?" We have to know our enemy according to Sun Tzu in The Art of War because he believes in dividing and conquering, and playing mind games, and waging psychological warfare. "For we are not ignorant of his schemes" (cf. 2 Cor. 2:11). Don't give him a beachhead, but arm yourself with a divine viewpoint to understand what he is doing. Do not fight among yourselves as Lord Nelson noticed his troops doing when he said, "Gentlemen, remember, the enemy is over there!" In Walt Kelly's cartoon Pogo, he says, "We have met the enemy, and he is us." We can be our own worst enemy because the three enemies are the world-system itself, the devil and his minions, and our own flesh or sin nature (cf. 1 John 2:15 -16). The government is not the enemy, for all the powers that be are established of God (Rom. 13:1).

We are exhorted to "hate that which is evil and cling to that which is good" in Rom. 12:9 and in 1 Thess. 5:21-22 it says, "...hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil." [which means that when evil appears, resist it.] Only those who have their senses trained to "discern good and evil" can digest the meat of the word and the infants in Christ can only live on the milk of the Word according to Hebrews 5:14. We need to love God with our whole minds and not be indolent or anti-intellectual--we are to use the minds God has given us (Mark 12:30).

We are in the world, but not of it according to Scripture (John 15:19 says, "You are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world"). If we love the world-system or cosmos of Satan, the love of the Father is not in us--indeed he entices us with many delicacies of the world to compete with our spiritual appetites. Beware of the pseudo-philosophies of this age as the admonishment in Col. 2:8 says, "Let no man spoil you through philosophy or vain deceit..." We need to "contend for the faith" like Jude said in Jude 3 and that means taking stands for Jesus and sticking up for what is right in an evil world. We are the salt and light as the children of God.

Paul's swan song was: "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith" (2 Tim. 4:7). We all have a conscience and can tell right from wrong (Rom. 2:15), and we are all responsible and don't have any excuses for knowing God (Rom. 1:18-20). In 1 Chron. 12:32 it says that only a few people were able to interpret the times and knew what to do. Daniel 11:32 says that the "people who knew their God "shall be strong and do exploits." At the time of the end, the wise will understand and the wicked will not (Dan. 12:10). When Nebuchadnezzar realized that God was sovereign he came to his senses (Dan. 4:35).

Today we seem to be doing what's right in our own eyes (similar to the Israelites in Judges 21:25--"They did what was right in their own eyes"). The culture says that there is no standard of right and wrong--it is all relative and you can't force your morality on another person. It isn't that we can't legislate morality, it's whose morality we legislate.

In Allan Bloom's book, The Closing of the American Mind, he says that people now believe "all truth is relative"--if that is true then that statement has no value because it is also relative. They say nothing is always wrong and nothing is always right; what matters is sincerity. This goes back to Satan's lie: "Hath God said?" Gen. 3:1). They seem to believe that the only truths that are relative are those that defend the Christian worldview! One prof was reported as saying, "You can know nothing for certain." One astute student asked, "Are you sure?" "Yes, I am!" Jesus was the Truth itself, the incarnation of Truth with a capital T and came to bear witness of the truth--the Romans, including Pilate, doubted the existence of absolute truth (true no matter who believes it and whether anyone believes it). They thought that "might made right." This was the epitome of cynicism and an insult to Christ's veracity--he didn't even wait for an answer! The secret is to stay away from extremes: "Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil" (cf. Prov. 4:27; Isa. 30:21; Josh. 23:6; 1 Kgs. 21:2)).

As Christians we are to "submit [ourselves] to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; or unto governors..." (1 Pet. 2:12-13) Paul says something similar: "Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God" (Rom. 13:1). We are to "render unto Caesar" according to Matthew 22:21 and even be light and salt in the world, trying to make people see the light to get saved according to our gift. With privilege there is the flip side of responsibility; they go hand in hand. There is such a thing as "social justice" not a social gospel, though. Our social commission has not been rescinded. One only need refer to the prophets, Amos and Micah. We assert that God is the only legitimate legislator (legal positivism says that man can make any law he desires) and His character is the law of the universe. Isaiah said, "Woe unto them who decree unjust laws..." (Isa. 10:1-2). It has been said, "If we have contempt for government, we get contemptible government."

God's providence works all things according to His divine decrees and He has no Plan B; He has no other plan, but to use us as His vessels of honor and to bring glory to him (cf. Isa. 43:7). Everything is going according to plan as Isaiah says in Isa 37:26 and He is in control according to Isa. 14:24, 27 and 46:8-11. "Behold, the nations are as a drop of the bucket..." (Isa. 40:15). "He's got the whole world in His hands." Psalm 22:28 says that God is sovereign over the nations and we can be sure even over every molecule in the universe. Eph. 1:11 says that God works out everything according to His will. John Wesley used to read the paper to "see what God is doing in His world." God is even in control of the toss of the die (Prov. 16:33) and in control of the whims of the king (Prov. 21:1). He leaves nothing to chance: Einstein said, "God doesn't play dice with the universe."

Christian worldview sees social injustice: "What do you mean by crushing My people and grinding the face of the poor...?" (Is. 3:15). "Rescue the weak and the needy..." (Ps. 82:4). The believer who knows the Lord is concerned about the plight of the poor (Ps. 41:1) and the evil in the world: he doesn't just see evil and say, "Why?" He also sees good and says, "Why not?" This is what it means to know the Lord according to Jeremiah 22:16--to be concerned about those less fortunate and defending those who can't defend themselves, the weak ("He pled the cause of the afflicted and needy; Then it was well. Is not that what it means to know Me?" declares the LORD [in Jer. 22:16]). Amos and Micah are champions of the underdog and the underprivileged and deplore how "they sell the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals--those who trample the head of the poor into the dust of the earth and turn aside the way of the afflicted (cf. Amos 2:6-7). "...Who oppress the poor, who crush the needy..." (Amos 4:1). Malachi is appalled at those "who oppress the hired worker in his wages..." (Mal. 3:5). We are not to be partial to the poor nor to the rich but show justice to all (Deut. 19:15). Charity and welfare were mandated in Israel according to Lev. 19:4, Deut. 15:4, and other passages--they were allowed to "glean the fields" of the landowners. There was to be "no poor in Israel."

Now, what kind of values are Christians supposed to espouse? They should subscribe to the sanctity of the family unit as having preference over the government's authority, because it was established before it; it should believe in the inherent worth of the individual (you have rights, but they end where mine begin--you can swing your fist but not hit my nose!) as being in the image and likeness of God (the imago Dei), and that means having a mind to know and communicate with God, a heart to love Him, and a will to obey Him. These are called unalienable rights and our culture is based on it in the constitutional Bill of Rights. We are merely stewards of God's riches ("The earth is the LORD's and the fullness thereof" says Ps. 24:10) and are responsible to Him to give an account at the judgment. (There is a Protestant work ethic mentioned in 2 Thess. 3:10 that declares that those who are not willing to work shall not eat.


All authority ultimately comes from God and we get our rights and dignity form Him; "unless you assume a God, the question of man's purpose is meaningless," and without God man is a "useless passion." (Bertrand Russell and Jean-Paul Sartre). We believe the government has limited power derived from God--it is not a necessary evil, as Augustine said, but necessary because of evil. We have a duty to this government since we owe them our security and protection of our property and our person from crime--justice and law and order are the primary functions. Marriage is to be held in honor and a "man shall leave his mother and be joined to his wife and the two shall become one flesh" and "God made them male and female and said that it was good." No rights are absolute, such as you say it's your religion to be a cannibal or that you can yell fire in an auditorium! Sometimes it may be our duty to disobey, which is termed civil disobedience--God's laws trump the government; shall we obey God or man? ("We must obey God rather than man," according to Acts 5:29).

I believe firmly that the Bible sanctions no certain type of government, as long as human rights are respected. Government was first documented to be divided into three parts in Isa. 33:22 into the legislative, judicial, and executive branches (king, judge, lawgiver). I refer to Lord Acton's adage that is a cliche now: "Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely." We do not believe that our rights (note that the obverse of rights is responsibilities necessitated) are derived from the government, but directly from God, who gives us dignity and worth as man in His image or the ikons of God, as it were.

In the final analysis, it is vital to know Scripture to combat the prevalent secular humanistic viewpoint (deifying man and denying or dethroning God) in the world and not to fall into the devil's trap. Sir Francis Bacon said, "Knowledge is power." And the Bible backs this up in Proverbs 10:14 saying, "The wise lay up knowledge..." And Proverbs 24:5 says, "And a man of knowledge enhances his might." We must not remain silent and concede everything away. C. S. Lewis says, "They are trying to eradicate Christianity from the marketplace of ideas and the public square."

If God doesn't exist, everything is permissible (Dostoevsky). But we believe in transcendent or natural law that everyone is able to know by nature apart from the government. Law is designed for wrongdoers but God confers rights on us. People are in a state of rebellion against our so-called bourgeois values (which really is the Judeo-Christian heritage of Western civilization). As the psalmist says, "What can the righteous do when the foundations are destroyed?" (Ps. 11:3). For one thing, we should pray for our leaders, not condemn them [It is our God who put them there, as Paul said (cf. Acts 23:5), "It is unlawful to speak evil of a ruler of your people"]

Christians are not "utopians" but are waiting for Christ to usher in His Millennial Kingdom at His second coming. A word to the wise is sufficient: Christians have no geopolitical aspirations like the Muslim world bent on dominating the world with their hegemony, and they should not sound the alarm, but "occupy till He comes" (business as usual). As Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world." In conclusion, we have read the last page of the Bible and know how it all will turn out and are assured that we are on the winning side and victory is inevitable in the end. NB: Keep the faith! "The LORD frustrates the counsel of the nations; He thwarts the plans of the peoples...Happy is the nation whose God is Yahweh!" (Ps. 33:10-12). A word of encouragement--all is not lost: God is able to heal our land if we confess our corporate sins and humble ourselves in repentance as His people (2 Chron. 7:14). Soli Deo Gloria!