Is Faith A Gift?...

 Is faith a gift or a work? "Who makes you to differ? What do you have that you didn't receive?" (1 Cor. 4:7). Are we not clay in the hands of the potter? "For it has been granted unto you...to believe..." (Phil. 1:29).  Jesus is the "author and finisher of our faith;" hence He originated it. Let us live according to "the faith God has distributed to each [of us]..." (Rom. 12:3).

Some believe it is a meritorious work because they believe in merit plus grace and not sola gratia or grace alone as the reformers championed. "This is the work of God [not our work] that you believe in Him whom He has sent" (John 6:29). "For by grace are you saved through faith, and that, not of yourselves, it is the gift of God [antecedent is faith as the gift], lest anyone should boast" (Eph. 2:8-9). If faith were a work then we would be saved by works.

Faith is not our salvation and faith is not reckoned as righteousness but unto righteousness (cf. Rom. 4:3 translation of dia meaning unto). Faith is the instrumental cause of salvation (cf. Acts 18:27; 16:14), and we don't put faith in faith but in God. Faith doesn't' save, Christ does! God opened the door of faith to the Gentiles in Acts 14:27, and He opened Lydia's heart to believe in Acts 16:14. It might be interpreted as God quickening faith within us (cf. Acts 18:27). The Spirit kindles faith in a dead person.

Why is this important? 1 John 5:1 says "Everyone who believes that Christ is the Christ has been born of God [ESV]." That means that regeneration precedes faith--we don't conjure up faith and then get saved. If we could believe without regeneration, we don't need it to be saved and we would get some merit in our salvation. God gives us faith and expects us to use it. It is our faith but it is the gift of God. "Who believed through grace" means that we're enabled by God to believe as 2 Pet. 1:1 says we have "received a precious faith like theirs." "... [B]ecause God has from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth" (2 Thess. 2:13, KJV). [NB: sanctification precedes belief.]

Thus we are given faith. This doctrine is important so that we don't have a merit-based rather than grace-based salvation. God wants all the glory (Soli Deo Gloria). To sum up, "Faith comes by hearing and by hearing of the Word of God" (Rom. 10:17).

This is an issue that separates theologians and some call it a doctrine that divides. If you believe faith is a work, then you are saved by works. If you believe faith is a gift, then you are saved by the grace of God. Titus 3:5,7 says we are "saved by grace." Faith is not something we conjure up, but it is bestowed on us through the preaching of the Word. "Faith comes by hearing and by hearing of the Word of God" (Rom. 10:17). Regeneration actually precedes faith according to John Piper and John Orr. If we could believe without regeneration, what good is it? The Spirit is like the wind that blows where it wills. "For by grace are you saved by faith, and that (the complete deal) not of yourselves, it is the gift of God..." (Eph. 2:8-9).

We don't psych ourselves up for faith, and we don't catch it like an illness from others, we don't conjure it up--it comes directly from the Holy Spirit who quickens faith within us. He overcomes our hardened hearts and reluctance to believe. God has the ability to cause us to do something willingly in His omnipotence. Some, on the other hand, have made faith into a meritorious work, and deny that there is any such "gift." What else could it be, a work? Are we saved by grace or works, then?

Some pertinent verses are as follows for meditation:

"For you have believed through grace..." (Acts 18:27). "...To those who have obtained like precious faith..." (2 Pet. 1:1). "For it has been granted unto you ... to believe in Him..." (Phil. 1:29). "Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ HAS BEEN born of God..." (1 John 5:1 ESV). Nota bene that this is the past tense indicating that regeneration precedes faith. "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him..." (John 6:29). "God ... opened the door of faith to the Gentiles..." (Acts 14:27). "God opened Lydia's heart to pay attention to Paul..." (Acts 16:14). "What do you have that you didn't receive?" (1 Cor. 4:7).

Faith is our act (God doesn't have faith), but it is God's work. Soli Deo Gloria. God gets all the glory, and we have nothing to boast of. It isn't our virtue nor our wisdom, but God's. God is no man's debtor and isn't obligated to save anyone. It is grace that He saves anyone. God works all things "according to the pleasure of His will." "We are the clay, He is the potter" (See Isaiah 64:8).

Is There A Social Gospel Or Is This A Misnomer?

"When Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature, do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law" (cf. Rom. 2:15, ESV).

PART I

We have been given the Great Commission and the Great Commandment, but is there a Great Cultural Mandate? Some refer to a social gospel, but this is a misnomer. Our ultimate allegiance is to Jesus, naturally, not to the government, and Jesus did say that His kingdom is not of this world--that He was no threat to Caesar. What kind of social calling do we conclude from Scripture? Some Christians believe this society isn't worth saving, some believe politics can't change the human condition, some believe the Bible is not relevant to civil government, and some do believe we should secure and take back society for Christ or reclaim America for Christ! Is it our calling to save America?


You can get too involved in the politics of this world that you are getting nowhere spiritually and getting your eyes off Jesus, but there are evils in society that must be rooted out and the government is instituted to overcome evil, restrain it, and contain it. You look at some of the greatest social movements in history, such as ending the gladiator fights, ending slavery, ending child labor, and giving women their rights, which are the result of Christian influence--so there is a place for Christians to get involved with a divine calling.


We also need Christian influence in the government, i.e., as elected officials and public servants influencing for the good as salt and light. Christ's kingdom is one of the hearts of men and is not visible, it will be set up visibly at His second advent and we will rule with Him in glory. But some Christians believe we should try to take over and impose our way of life on the infidel: making him behave or live in a Christian manner and standard. Christian law has been tried and failed several times in history: Calvin's Geneva; Bradford's Plymouth; Winthrop's Massachusetts' Bay Colony; Cromwell's England, among others. We frown upon Muslims saying that tomorrow belongs to Islam and when they set up Shariah law, that they aren't recognizing the rights of minorities, i.e., Christians. How can we expect non-Christians to live like Christians? This is really Christian Shariah law (like blue laws, gambling restrictions, prohibition, anti-abortion laws, etc.).


The purpose of government is not to outlaw sin but basically to protect freedoms, protect property, punish crime, securing justice. We are to "render to Caesar that which is Caesar's" (cf. Matt. 22:21) for sure, and we are never told to eschew society, start a revolution, or join hands with the powers that be as partners in crime either. We don't have carte blanche to wreak havoc on the social order. If we lived in a communist nation, we are not get involved in a subversive underground of resistance but be model citizens and fulfill our mission of being salt and light.


However, there does come a time when the government tells us to do something immoral or forbids the free exercise of our faith, then it's imperative to disobey in an act of defiance and civil disobedience. Here's the rub: "We must obey God rather than men" (cf. Acts 5:29; 4:19). This is amply demonstrated by Daniel refusing to pray to the statue and being thrown into the lion's den; he neither flaunted nor privatized his faith as a prime minister who was salt and light.


The Bible makes it clear that our primary mission is to change hearts through the gospel message, and hopefully, society will be revolutionized as a direct result. Paul didn't make it his mission to overthrow slavery, but with the spread of Christianity, its demise was certain as believers rejected it and had more influence--not forced change. We are not called to set up a theocratic government or experiment with a nation ruled by religious leaders. It was Christian influence that said we have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness--rights are conferred from God and recognized by the state.


However, the conclusion of the matter is that we represent Christ to the world as His hands, feet, heart, and voice and we have the power to make a difference by being that salt and light, which preserves and shows the way in the darkness. The church shouldn't get overly obsessed with turning stones into bread or mission work unless the gospel is propagated with it, we are not to become mere do-gooders and must remember and not lose focus of the fact that we are "aliens and foreigners" and our real "citizenship is in heaven" (cf. Phil. 3:20). Christians do have a duty and responsibility to the state, though, as Edmund Burke phrased it: "All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing."
Soli Deo Gloria!




SOCIAL GOSPEL PART II
"They asked only that we remember the poor, which I made every effort to do" (Gal. 2:10, HCSB).
"... 'He defended the cause of the poor and the needy, and so all went well. Is that not what it means to know me?' declares the LORD" (Jer. 22:16, NIV).
"The righteous care about justice for the poor, but the wicked have no such concern" (Prov. 29:7, NIV).

Jesus brought the good news to the poor, but He met them where they were at in their need. For instance, he never sent a crowd of listeners away hungry. But the primary purpose was to focus on the gospel message and make it relevant. There is no social gospel, which is a misnomer; however, we have another commission--the Social Commission, which hasn't been rescinded, to practice what we preach and to care for each other in the family and our community as good neighbors so our testimony will not be jeopardized as a church body. Jesus said we would be known by our fruits and we must all practice practical, sacrificial love to our neighbors, especially to the family of faith.

But we want to keep the main thing the main thing (the Great Commission), but also realize our call to turn stones into bread. And we must not end there; being known primarily as do-gooders; even Jesus didn't want to be known as a miracle worker and didn't do any for show, but only out of compassion and to illustrate a point in His teaching, especially His Deity. The church must not despise the poor or down and out, but show mercy (this is a spiritual gift) and reach out to the people who are down on their luck. Some people feel used and manipulated and are taken advantage of even by the church. We must not stereotype them as lazy or having made bad choices, but be gracious with the attitude: "There but for the grace of God, go I"--the words of George Whitefield. It could happen to you! Anyone could need someone to help them get back on their feet someday.

Sympathy would help the church to put themselves in the shoes of the destitute, the homeless, and the needy or ill. Why do you think we have high crime rates, but due to social injustice? Part of the problem is systemic; namely, our education and economic safety net. This means some have the cards stacked against them from the get-go. Poverty can happen to anyone because God says He's the One who makes one rich and another poor. You even hear of lottery winners declaring bankruptcy. Sometimes all it takes to begin the cycle of poverty is an unexpected car repair, an extended sickness, drug abuse (illicit or prescription), alcoholism, mental illness (treated or not), hospitalization, divorce (one's fault or not), or long periods of unemployment (voluntary or not).

Many people in our country live paycheck to paycheck believe it or not. Loss of a vehicle can limit one's opportunities, but Christians don't believe in the equal outcome, redistribution of wealth, or complete equity of income, but in fairness which demands equal opportunity and social justice for all under the law. God hates the exploitation of workers (cf. Mal. 3:5) and of the rich taking advantage of the poor in their vulnerabilities.

Social nets and programs don't always fill in the gap or meet all the needs--there are manifold ways and reasons for poverty. Many people rely on family, but what if you've had to burn bridges? Certain personal problems such as depression and PTSD are becoming more prevalent and these people are becoming stigmatized, which is detrimental and counterproductive to society's "general welfare." Depression itself is a highly debilitating illness and many don't understand what it can do to a person and these people often commit suicide before getting help and don't know how to seek help or send out warning signs and their cry for help is ignored or unnoticed.

People can be victims of circumstances like a flood, tornado, fire, etc., and have no control over them--this can happen to anyone and they will find their need for the Red Cross or Salvation Army. People may ask, "Where's God?" But the real question should be, "Where's the church?" It has been said that many philanthropists do the work of God because they don't feel God is doing it--touche!

People need to believe they have hope and can overcome their situation (when a man has nothing to lose he is capable of nearly anything) and find their way out of the cycle of poverty (the Bible doesn't teach that poverty is necessarily due to laziness or is one's own fault); often success stories and motivation speakers can inspire and give hope, but the gospel is the good news they need to hear and take to the bank. One can never understand the value of education for getting ahead in our technical age and some have been left behind and are still living in the last century!

People can get victory over their problems with Christ as their champion, hero, Lord, and Savior, but they must want to be healed and helped, putting God first in their lives at the helm ("Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you" --Matt. 6:33). Christians must remember the words of Mother Teresa, canonized by Rome and 1979 recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, saying: Christ has no feet to go for Him but ours; no hands to lend a helping hand but ours; no eyes to see problems but ours; no ears to listen to others but ours; no voice to speak for Him but ours; no mind to solve the problems with but ours! We have an eternal debt to provide for the needy and to work for the betterment of society (cf. Jer. 29:7)

They must never give up because there's always hope and no one is beyond the grace of God. I am a great believer that government is neither the source nor the solution of all our problems and don't believe we need a government program for everything--government is not the means of salvation nor of achieving utopia. We are not here to usher in the kingdom of God nor advance His kingdom by our efforts--it's not of this world! They say an Englishman is a self-made man who worships his creator! I do not believe in self-help (we all owe a debt to our community) or in becoming a self-made man (there is none!), but in learning to walk by faith and to give God the glory following His will--that's why we're here (cf. Isa. 43:7). The worldly-savvy will tell you that "God helps those who help themselves"; however, God "gives more grace" to the humble (cf. James 4:6).

Most people just need a second chance and are willing to go the extra mile if required--they aren't afraid of work, they just haven't found something they're suited for or what they can enjoy or is gainful employment--everyone has a gift and we shouldn't sell anyone short and just think they are fit only for being slaves or common laborers like Aristotle thought of the mass of men--it's a sin to underestimate or shame men and refuse to give them their warranted dignity and self-worth, just as much to honor a fool or promote a scoundrel.

Christians don't believe in castes, karma, classes, discrimination, or prejudice of any kind (cf. Gal. 3:28), but that every believer is a child of God and capable of doing God's will to glorify Him. We believe in the dignity of man and the sanctity of life and that man is in God's image, not an animal to be treated without rights conferred by God. Christians don't believe in rugged individualism nor in communism but in being a member of a family, a community, and a body of Christ. Each of these three institutions ordained by God (family, government, church) has its own sphere of sovereignty and responsibility over us.

When a person gets saved and finds the Lord their whole life can be turned around and he can start over with the God of a second chance and fulfill God's best for his life. It's never too late to get on board with God and to be commissioned by Him in His work and will. No one is beyond hope in God's eyes! There's a reason why the Beatitude pronounces blessings on the poor in spirit. They have the right mindset! Getting saved implies more than pie in the sky and spiritual hope, but also the redemption of one's life for God's will! It's never too late to get with the program and look redeemed as a witness to the world and contribute something to it!

CAVEAT: We must be careful not to endorse "prosperity theology" or that God promises financial gain for our spirituality, supposing godliness is a means to financial gain (cf. 1 Tim. 6:6). God does promise to reward us by making us prosperous in doing His will (cf. Heb. 13:21) and this is different to different people (cf. Josh. 1:8; Psalm 1:2; Jer. 17: 8). We have no guarantee of achieving the so-called American Dream, for example, but we will be blessed in doing God's will and He will supply all we need to do it out of His provision (cf. Phil. 4:19). It is God who gives us the power to get rich, but the evil can also prosper--it's no sign of God's blessing or countenance of our lives. He teaches us the way we should go! (cf. Deut. 8:17-18; Isa. 48:17).

Soli Deo Gloria!

Until Shiloh Comes

Too many sincere evangelicals and even mainline denominations get the whole mission of Christ wrong.  There is no "social gospel," though there is a "social commission" to fight for social justice and defend and remember the poor and needy, reaching out to all in desperate straits.  But we are not to usher in God's kingdom on earth for His kingdom is spiritual in our hearts, as Andrew Murray eloquently wrote in his book, The Kingdom of God is within You. He already rules the hearts of His children and is called the Emperor of Love because He has conquered more with love than Muhammad by the sword.  

We are entreated to pray that God's kingdom to come in the Lord's prayer, and what is meant is that it begins with us and us doing our part in the Great Commission.  The kingdom is a reality to those who inherit it, and the only way is to come as a child and in faith, not head first that is! We must all take that initial leap of faith, not into the unknown or the darkness, but as a step into the light.  We realize that the kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit and is not in word but in power and wherever Christ rules hearts, there it is.  We are enjoined to preach the gospel of the kingdom till He comes to assume it. Entering the kingdom doesn't refer to heaven, but to the abundant life in Christ that is available to every believer if they seize and claim it by faith. It must be received in the heart and one must make room in his heart for the Lord who knocks at its door. 

When the fulness of time had come, (cf. Gal. 4:4), the first advent of Jesus was completed.  The "Desire of all Nations," (cf. Haggai 2:7), surprised the Jews who had anticipated the Messiah for centuries but the wrong vision of Him.  They fully expected deliverance from Rome and return to national glory as was in the days of King Solomon. Little did they know that Jesus had come but that He must be a Savior first and King second.  His mission in coming was to die!  

He was the One to whom the kingdom belonged and was the rightful heir, and was even proclaimed the King of the Jews, the Son of David that is.  Jesus had said that His kingdom was not of this world and that it was not "of this world." We have business trying to usher in the kingdom of God by political maneuver or fiat and to advance the kingdom of Christ ourselves as Bradford of the Mayflower fame, and Winthrop of  Massachusettes Bay Colony fame had attempted. 

Many sincere but misguided believers have attempted to establish a Christian nation; e.g., John Calvin and Oliver Cromwell--both utter failures and counterproductive to the work of God and the Great Commission which is supposed to be Job One and when we keep the main thing the main thing, this is our priority and focus. We are to save souls not nations.  We are mere lights to show God's truths and salt to preserve the institutions of the government established by God. Thus we are called to wreak havoc on the social order nor to be revolutionaries even if we live in a communist country  

It is now a reality that the kingdom of God is within us!  John the Baptist and Jesus had both announced that the kingdom of God was at hand!   Believe me, Hab. 2:3 says "the vision is for an appointed time .. and ... it shall surely come, it shall not tarry."  We see God's kingdom already established worldwide in the hearts of the Church at large throughout the world. Jesus has been given all authority and has doesn't just reign but he truly rules as the King of kings and Lord of lords.  

If His kingdom were of this world, Jesus said we'd fight for it, but it isn't!  We are, first of all,  citizens of heaven before any earthly loyalties.  The church started out as a Jewish sect in Jerusalem to become the official religion of the Roman Empire by AD 325 under Emperor Constantine, who converted. Now His church is a worldwide phenomenon and power to be reckoned with in religious and cultural influence.  It's the largest religion by affiliation in the world with over 1.6 billion adherents who claim the moniker, Christian.  He rules in our hearts only when we surrender the throne of our hearts to Him and give Him our sole allegiance and ownership of our lives putting Him at the helm.  

Israel was expecting the Messiah and missed Him for the most part except for God's remnant because of ignorance, and let's hope that Christ's church is expecting and ready to meet the Lord when He comes again to reign in His Millennial Kingdom.  But what ought we do till He comes? We are to be engaged in our doing business as would be usual, worship the best we can, watch for signs of the times,  pursue righteousness as a witness, and occupy till He claims His throne.    Soli Deo Gloria! 

Where Is God?

 What I wonder about is the “special” presence or blessing of God and Jesus at the time such as “when two or three are gathered in [His] Name” (cf Matt. 18:20) in prayer, or when He manifests Himself. We are not to believe it when people claim: “Christ is here.” But we have no excuse for not having the presence of God within us.

New Age spiritualists, who even take over some churches, seek the “God within.” Does any “church” or people have a monopoly on the presence of God then? Don’t believe it if people claim this: “Christ is here or Christ is there.” However, since the ascension and the coming of Pentecost, we are better off with the Holy Spirit’s residence than they were with Jesus’ presence.—another mystery.

Do we need to seek the presence or “face” of God or is it automatic because we can be filled with the Spirit, and we just don’t’ recognize it like Abraham in Gen. 28:16, “Surely the LORD is in this place: and I knew it not.” So, God is everywhere and we just don't know it or comprehend it—it’s our fault for not knowing it. We cannot limit God at all or put Him into a bo and restrain His presence. God is big!

To Christians, God has made His home within our hearts and dwells within (cf 1 Cor. 3:16). Thus, it’s not a matter of God being here or how much He is, but how surrendered we are and how much of us the Spirit has—not how much of the Spirit we have. We don’t need more of God, but to give Him more of us.

Some even go so far as to say that the Lord is present in a special way at the Lord’s Supper. But God is truly “far” from the wicked, a form of judgment. And if God is in hell, and being omnipresent implies that, is this also means that He is not there is His goodness and mercy, but only in His judgment.—God is able to manifest aspects of Himself or of His divinity at will. “Showing His goodness or His glory.” God made this point clear to Israel because they intended to believe Gods were territorial and Yahweh was only Israel's deity and not around the world.

But some theologians say that God is ‘fully present” everywhere (immensity of God). Yet He judges by withdrawing presence-a paradox. He fills the heavens and the earth (cf. Jer. 23:23–24) and we just cannot see it, like the fact that he “inhabits eternity” and also the “praises of His people.” (cf. Isa. 57:15 Ps. 22:3)

Believing In "Another" Jesus

 "And this is eternal life, that they may know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent," (cf. John 17:4). 

"... For if you believe not that I am he, you shall die in your sins," (cf. John 8:24). 

"... For unless you believe I AM who I claim to be, you will die in your sins," (John 8:24, NLT). 

"Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God," (cf. 2 John 9). 

"Who do you say that I Am?"  This is the whole point of Jesus and our faith, the one litmus test in our creed, to know Jesus, and what distinguishes us from false religions, sects, cults, and heresies.  Remember: It's not how big your faith (but how big your God) nor how sincere or fanatical you are, but the object of your faith that saves; faith doesn't save, Jesus does--and it needs to be the real Jesus, the only begotten Son of God (coequal, coexistent, and coeternal to the Father).  

When Jesus claimed to be God without even beating around the bush or using figurative language, only the Pharisees knew His claim and they plotted to kill Him for His "blasphemy."  The disciple were clueless till the resurrection. The point is that you must believe in the real Jesus, who He claimed to be, and not just who you think He is or want Him to be. He was not God's surrogate or a deified man that was misunderstood by His disciples.  They were not expecting the one they saw, for He was not the Messiah of conventional wisdom and that they were taught (a mighty conquer who would liberate Israel from Rome).  

Jesus was who He claimed to be or He is a demon, liar, or even lunatic (and there is no evidence to lend credence to any of these false beliefs) because He clearly claimed deity. It was only because of preconceived notions and ignorance of prophecy that they couldn't see the truth. Jesus did fulfill over 333 prophecies to the letter. The Jews you will know were monotheistic and couldn't conceive of a triune Godhead.  Jesus was truly man as well as truly God and they only saw His humanity and that He was a man but didn't see that He is One with the Father. He demonstrated and proved His divine claim by the ultimate and final evidence of the resurrection, which Luke said had "many infallible proofs." 

They may have seen Him as a Son of God, even calling Him "Lord" and worshiping Him, but not God made man--God with skin on or personified in the flesh. But it is only because He is God that He's fully adequate and qualified to be our Savior! He can suffer the infinite penalty and price for sin on our behalf. This is theologically called the atonement and Jesus death is substitutionary. He took on our sins so we would need not punishment. The principle of representation goes back to Adam who took our place as the head of the human race and sinned thus making us all sinners because of his one sin. 

If a so-called Christian who claims to believe in Jesus receives Him without His claims to deity, they are denying Him and do not know the real Jesus but "another Jesus" (cf. 2 Cor. 11:4).  The book of 2 John v. 9 says that if we do not abide in the doctrine of Christ we do not have the Father, meaning this is the litmus test for Christians--they know Jesus for who He is, not some deified man, demigod, or humanized God or man with superhuman powers. 

But we must recognize that Jesus had to be God because it fulfilled the prophecies. The Jews were blinded to the truth and needed to be enlightened. Since He is the Almighty and our Creator, we must worship Him and surrender to Him our lives.  In application, the Jehovah's Witnesses and the LDS do not have the right to go by the moniker Christian for they deny Jesus full Deity inclusion in the Godhead as coequal and coeternal to the Father.  These belief systems are not bona fide denominations but sects.  The only reason they really are not cults is that they don't steal your money and have slaves and people who don't know how to escape like the Church of Scientology.  But LDS are erroneous in claiming secret knowledge and this was the error of the Gnostics who believed in salvation via secret knowledge or enlightenment.  

Sooner or later all of us must come to the decision of whether we will accept the Jesus He claimed to be: Lord of all!  But we cannot come to Jesus on our own initiative; the Father must woo or draw us to Him--the call must be granted by the Father.  "As many as were appointed to eternal life believed," (cf. Acts 13;48).   Paul said in Rom. 11:7 that the elect obtained unto it and the rest were blinded or hardened--God must open the eyes of our hearts and kindle faith.  It literally takes a miracle to change someone's heart and open it to receive the Lord.  The general call of the gospel goes out to all (cf. Titus 2:11) but whomever God calls always gets saved (cf. Rom. 8:29-30). "You did not choose Me, but I chose you," (cf John 15:16).  That's why it's said, "Many are called but few are chosen," (cf. Matt. 22:14).     Soli Deo Gloria! 

Know Your Place!

The Greeks of antiquity admonished us to "know thyself," while Sun Tzu wrote in The Art of War, to know your enemy.  In the church, it's vital to know our spiritual gifts and we can only find them out by venturing out of our comfort zone and becoming a servant of the church body because the purpose of the gift is to sanctify and bless the body of Christ--we're saved to become blessings,  This even means doing things that we may even think are not our gift!  We may have to put up with subordination and following and submitting to authority, but this is not a form of inferiority but obedience which even Christ did to the Father and humbled Himself to become our servant. Note that Christ did the servile act of foot-washing to teach that we should deem no service for the Lord's sake as "beneath" us or not what we are gifted to do or not even spiritual enough to do as that it is something the deacons or elders should do.  

The Bible tells us to know God and the Lord, and even the Bible and by corollary, know sound teaching. This all shows that our faith is more about knowing than about doing. In other words, religion always says "Do!" while Christ says "Know!"He said, "This is eternal life, to know [God] and Jesus Christ whom [He] has sent."  In other words, we don't need another "to-do" list!  We also may know that we are saved and even the will of God!  But I want to write about knowing where we belong and our place, for it's offensive to be out of place or to usurp authority or assume power where one doesn't deserve it. There's nothing more annoying for a parent for a child to not know his place or to speak inappropriately when he should know better. I'm assuming that we know what we are doing, are spiritually inclined, have a measure of maturity, and can apply what we know to what we do, which is common wisdom; putting knowledge into action. 

In other words, we know and learn (and we are all on a learning curve) by doing and practicing what we know: translating our creeds into deeds (being a people of God zealous of good works).  But to do the right thing and this is an example of leadership, we must know sound doctrine and get our thinking straightened out, including having a Christian worldview unaffected by the Secular Humanism so prevalent and rampant in academia. Even believers can become brainwashed by the human viewpoint.  Knowing is the first step to feeling good about yourself: know right, think right, act right, and then feel right. As we know, the divine order is:  fact, faith, feeling! We must not get the cart before the horse or depend on our feelings for direction in life.   

We have an objective, absolute, and trustworthy source to rely on (the Bible as our plumb line) and put faith in as truth and knowing that God is the final Arbiter of Truth.  Remember, the better we know our gift and place in the church, the more opportunity we will have for good works and to be oriented to the vision and mission of the church and to navigate ourselves within the body and interact with others. Learn not to stand on the sidelines but stand up for what you believe and dare to be like Daniel who defied the king when he prayed. 

In conclusion, let me add that servants don't ever start out at the top but work their way up!  The best leaders have first been followers first and know the ropes of dedication and faithfulness.  Remember the words of Mother Teresa: "God doesn't call us to success, but to faithfulness." Leave the success to God!  But God but that doesn't mean we don't expect great things from God attempt great things from God?  This means our ministry our outreach isn't measured by the human standards of a numbers game.   Soli Deo Gloria! 

He That Is Spiritual III

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Lewis Sperry Chafer, founder and first chancellor of Dallas Theological Seminary (the largest Protestant seminary on earth) wrote a book in 1918, He That Is Spiritual, to delineate the so-called carnal Christian as contrasted with the so-called spiritual ones. An unbeliever was called the natural man. This dichotomy of believers is unbiblical and misleading. Any Christian can become carnal by sin, and all he needs to do is to confess it per 1 John 1:9--carnality is no perpetual or permanent state. We all live in a state of perpetual and progressive confession and repentance--the unrepentant person is not saved. John says that a Christian doesn't continue in sin, and this means he makes it his way of life, though he may live a defeated life, there is some life to his faith or it is dead faith producing no works, which cannot save.

The whole purpose of faith is to produce the workmanship of God, foreordained by God, that we should walk in it (cf. Eph. 2:10). Spiritual believers are not those who go overboard or are fanatical or so-called Jesus freaks, but those who walk with God in the Spirit. They are realizing their potential of the fruit of the Spirit, and of knowing the Lord. The Christian life that is spiritual is one that enjoys fellowship with God and other believers. All believers are exhorted to read the Bible, witness, and pray; not just the clergy.


The spiritual man has relinquished ownership and the throne of his life to Christ, he has surrendered to the Lordship of Christ, and he lives the substituted or exchanged life with Christ living through him. "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me" (cf. Gal. 2:20). This can only be accomplished by a believer in sync with God's will, and willing to follow Jesus wherever he may lead. The spiritual man has learned the secret of "inhabitation," as opposed to "imitation."

The obedient Christian does these things and the only test of faith is obedience. A. W. Tozer, in I Call it Heresy!, says: "The Lord will not save those whom He cannot command. He will not divide His offices. You cannot believe in a half-Christ. We take Him for what He is --the anointed Saviour and Lord...." We see our faith in action by our good works according to James. Paul would say we see our good works by our faith. They go hand in hand. In other words: As Lutheran martyr, preacher, and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, "Only he who believes is obedient, only he who is obedient believes." (Note that it was by faith that Abraham obeyed, as written in Heb. 11:8.) The ultimate result is the fruit of a changed life, not an ascetic or mystic one that parades or charades as spiritual.


The spiritual man is appraised of no one, because of the wisdom of God and, if we have the Spirit, we are spiritual. The natural man cannot comprehend spiritual truth, for Satan has blinded his eyes. We need the eyes of our hearts opened to see spiritual truths. Some believers are more mature in the faith and know the Lord better, but all of them are spiritual. There's no class system or caste system in Christianity, we are all brethren and one in Christ. We should not idolize our fellow believers, even if they seem to be spiritual giants. We should never try to give the impression we are more "spiritual" than other believers or have a holier-than-thou attitude. By the same token, we shouldn't be intimidated by others and develop an inferiority complex. Christ's church has no spiritual elite or privileged class, for God is no respecter of persons and shows no partiality (cf. Acts 10:34, Rom. 2:11).

We all have different gifts and we don't have anything the Lord has not given us (cf. 1 Cor. 4:7). It is the Spirit that matters, not the gift that makes us spiritual. In exercising one's gift, what matters is the spirit that he uses it in. Believers have no excuse not to understand Scripture, pray, and witness and should enjoy the fruits of fellowship and worship in the body because they have the illuminating ministry of the Spirit.


We are all works in progress and improving from faith to faith (cf. Rom. 1:17); no one can claim to have "arrived" or to have met the goal and won the prize (cf. Phil. 3:13-14). We are in the process of maturing in Christ, but it is the direction we are going that counts and is the test, while perfection is the standard (cf. Matt. 5:48). We must bear fruit as proof of our faith, or it is bogus--no fruit means no faith, and ergo no salvation. (Jesus said we shall know them by their fruits in Matt. 7:16.) We can only find meaning, purpose, and fulfillment ultimately in Christ: "There is a God-shaped blank, and only God can fill it." (old axiom). Soli Deo Gloria!

He That Is Spiritual II

"For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God" (Rom. 8:14).



It has been said that a Christian has a mind through which Christ thinks, a heart through which He loves, a voice through which He speaks, and hands through which He helps--this is the epitome of spirituality--to know Christ and make Him known.


That was the title of the 1918 book by Lewis Sperry Chafer, the founder of Dallas Theological Seminary, that made him a renowned and celebrated theologian. Who is? This is a vital and bona fide question: Like someone has said, "We have found all the questions, now let's find the answers!" When we are spiritual we are exhibiting the fruit of the Spirit in a manifold manner. There is no certain manifestation, such as talking about Jesus or the Bible. Sometimes just touching base with someone in love and charity and meeting their needs is genuine fellowship and expression of being spiritual. There are telltale signs of spirituality: A famous saying goes thus: Where there is love there is joy; where there is joy there is hope; where there is hope there is peace; where there is peace there is Jesus! I have learned this and have observed it: God meets us where we are and knows where we are! We don't always need someone to preach at us, but sometimes we need a listening and sympathetic ear.


Just think of all the possibilities of expressing the nine winsome graces given by the filling of the Holy Spirit. Wherever two or three are gathered together in Jesus' name, there He is. The one who is spiritual simply walks in the Spirit and has continual fellowship with the Lord (keeping short accounts of his sins and confessing them per 1 John 1:9: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." The spiritual one simply is in touch with God and meets people's needs and is not self-centered, but Christ-centered. He lives for Christ and not for himself. This does not necessarily refer to a level of maturity or of being mature per se, because sometimes a baby believer can be more spiritual than the seasoned.


No one can claim to be always spiritual or that they have "arrived" at such a point of perfection, of not being conscious of sin or shortcomings. Sometimes the wisest remarks can proceed out of the mouths of babes, as Jesus noticed: Psalm 8:2 says, "Through the praise of children and infants..." I believe children can even be used by God: a child's voice convicted St. Augustine said: "Take and read, take and read."


He that is spiritual simply walks with the Lord as Enoch and Noah ("Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God")-and we have this privilege too! It is a "faith-walk" because "we walk by faith, and not by sight" (2 Cor. 5:17). There is no veneer to see through or guise of spirituality, such as hypocrisy (he has nothing to hide and is straightforward in speech), but a genuineness and authenticity in action. He is the real thing, an original! He's not out to outshine someone or be a rival. "The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments' (1 Cor. 2:15). There is a certain natural ability to discern the Spirit, in other words. Whatever he does, he does to the glory of God (cf. 1 Cor. 10:31)!


There is no inherent dichotomy or division of believers into classes of spiritual and non-spiritual, first-class and second-class, or what Chafer mistakenly believed to be carnal and spiritual Christians. Just like it is wrong to have a "holier than thou" attitude (cf. Isa. 65:5), it is wrong to deceive yourself into thinking you are more spiritual than your brethren--you either are spiritual or you're not--there are no degrees to graduate to.


Any believer can be carnal or spiritual at any given period of time, it is not a given (each day one must start all over in their walk: "As thy days, so shall thy strength be" (Deut. 33:25). "This is the day that the LORD has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it," says Psalm 118:24), and he must "abide in Christ" or stay in fellowship with God in order to walk in step with Him. The most spiritually mature can indeed fall into sin like David did but he will ultimately recover and his carnality will not be a permanent or continuous state. The continuity of our status in Christ never changes; only our state of fellowship and relationship and/or sanctification.


This doctrine need not be problematic or an issue at all: "So I say, walk by the Spirit and you shall not gratify the desires of the flesh" (Gal. 5:16). We are indeed free in Christ: not free to live according to the flesh and our old nature, but power to live in the new nature or spirit. The old nature knows no law, the new nature needs no law! In other words: Freedom to do what we ought, not what we want! We've never had the right to do what is right in our own eyes or to do what is scripturally wrong. In sum, "So we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step [pace] with the Spirit" (Gal. 5:25). Soli Deo Gloria!

He That Is Spiritual

 It has been said that a Christian has a mind through which Christ thinks, a heart through which He loves, a voice through which He speaks, and hands through which He helps--this is the epitome of spirituality--to know Christ and make Him known.

"O that they were wise, that they would understand this, that they would consider their latter end!" (Deut. 32:29, KJV).


That was the title of the 1918 book by Lewis Sperry Chafer, the founder of Dallas Theological Seminary, that made him a renowned and celebrated theologian.  Who is?  This is a vital and bona fide question:  Like G. K. Chesterton has said, "We have found all the questions, now let's find the answers!"  When we are spiritual we are exhibiting the fruit of the Spirit in a manifold manner.  There is no certain manifestation, such as talking about Jesus or the Bible.  Sometimes just touching base with someone in love and charity and meeting their needs is genuine fellowship and expression of being spiritual. There are telltale signs of spirituality:  A famous saying goes thus:  Where there is love there is joy; where there is joy there is hope; where there is hope there is peace; where there is peace there is Jesus!  I have learned this and have observed it:  God meets us where we are and knows where we are!  We don't always need someone to preach at us, but sometimes we need a listening and sympathetic ear.


Just think of all the possibilities of expressing the nine winsome graces given by the filling of the Holy Spirit.  Wherever two or three are gathered together in Jesus' name, there He is.  The one who is spiritual simply walks in the Spirit and has continual fellowship with the Lord (keeping short accounts of his sins and confessing them per 1 John 1:9:  "If we confess our sins, He is faithful to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."  The spiritual one simply is in touch with God and meets people's needs and is not self-centered, but Christ-centered.  He lives for Christ and not for himself.  This does not necessarily refer to a level of maturity or of being mature per se, because sometimes a baby believer can be more spiritual than the seasoned.


No one can claim to be always spiritual or that they have "arrived" at such a point of perfection, of not being conscious of sin or shortcomings.  Sometimes the wisest remarks can proceed out of the mouths of infants (cf. Matt. 21:16), as Jesus noticed:  Psalm 8:2 says, "Through the praise of children and infants..."  I believe children can even be used by God: a child's voice convicted St. Augustine said:  "Take and read, take and read."  Proverbs 20:9, HCSB, says, "'Who can say ,"I have kept my heart pure; I am cleansed from my sin?'"

He that is spiritual simply walks with the Lord as Enoch and Noah ("Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God," Gen. 6:9)--and we have this privilege too!  It is a "faith-walk" because "we walk by faith, and not by sight" (2 Cor. 5:7).  There is no veneer to see through or guise of spirituality, such as hypocrisy (he has nothing to hide and is straightforward in speech), but a genuineness and authenticity in action. He is the real thing, an original!  He's not out to outshine someone or be a rival.  "The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments'  (1 Cor. 2:15).  There is a certain natural ability to discern the Spirit, in other words.  Whatever he does, he does to the glory of God (cf. 1 Cor. 10:31)!


There is no inherent dichotomy or division of believers into classes of spiritual and non-spiritual, first-class and second-class, or what Chafer mistakenly believed to be carnal and spiritual Christians. Just like it is wrong to have a "holier than thou" attitude (cf. Isa. 65:5), it is wrong to deceive yourself into thinking you are more spiritual than your brethren--you either are spiritual or you're not--there are no degrees to graduate to.   Any believer can be carnal or spiritual at any given period of time, it is not a given (each day one must start all over in their walk:  "As thy days, so shall thy strength be" (Deut. 33:25).  "This is the day that the LORD has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it," says Psalm 118:24), and he must "abide in Christ" or stay in fellowship with God in order to walk in step with Him.  The most spiritually mature can indeed fall into sin like David did but he will ultimately recover and his carnality will not be a permanent or continuous state. The continuity of our status in Christ never changes; only our state of fellowship and relationship and/or sanctification.

This doctrine need not be problematic or an issue at all:  "So I say, walk by the Spirit and you shall not gratify the desires of the flesh"  (Gal. 5:16). We are indeed free in Christ:  not free to live according to the flesh and our old nature, but power to live in the new nature or spirit.  The old nature knows no law, the new nature needs no law!  In other words:  Freedom to do what we ought, not what we want! We've never had the right to do what is right in our own eyes or to do what is scripturally wrong.  In sum,  "So we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step [pace] with the Spirit" (Gal. 5:25).   Soli Deo Gloria!

Is God Scientific?

God invented science and all laws of the universe (cf. Job 38:33). Actually, a Christian, Sir Francis Bacon formulate the scientific method. God created the earth by the Word of His mouth by speaking it into existence (cf. Psalm 33:6,8). Science and nature have no power to create but that doesn’t mean God defies the rules of logic and laws of nature (this proves a divine Lawgiver). Nature didn’t create itself and has no power to do so. Nothing can logically create or cause itself according to the law of cause and effect, including God; however, self-existence is possible logically. We know that "out of nothing, nothing comes" (ex nihilo, nihil fit) and if there ever was nothing, there could be nothing now! Something is eternal.

God is the only Creator: “Every house is built by someone and God is the builder of all things,” (cf. Heb. 3:4). This is cosmology. Infinite regress is impossible! All laws of nature are from God (cf. Col. 1:16; Job 38:33). God has power over nature as exhibited when Jesus calmed the storm and showed that He rules.

God cannot be proven in the same way that science does by observation, measurement, and repetition. God is not audible, visible, or tangible to us and cannot be put into a laboratory test tube or under lab testing parameters. We cannot measure a pound of justice nor a foot of love and likewise cannot measure God.

The existence of God is a philosophical question and is up to metaphysics, not physics. You cannot normally prove the metaphysical by the physical. Thus the existence of God is not within the scope and parameters of science to prove or experiment on. God created the heavens and the earth to show His glory but we cannot prove God; there is evidence, not proof. But it goes for atheism: evidence, not proof. Both sides require faith: either in science or in God. It’s not a matter of faith versus reason, but faith versus faith: faith in science is still faith. There is no “smoking gun” evidence either way. You cannot prove either proposition or hypothesis beyond a shadow of a doubt. Soli Deo Gloria!