TruthMill

Why Believe The Bible?

2012-01-08T00:10:00.003-06:00

New video: "Why Believe The Bible?" now online at TruthMill.org.

No matter what type of discussion one might encounter about the Bible, eventually the talk will boil down to one thing: is it something that should be believed?

In my experience as a Christian I have heard many, many reasons that folks give as to why we should believe the Bible - as well as many why we shouldn't. In this episode I give my own take on that question, but I try to do it from the standpoint of the world around me.

What that means, is that out of all of the reasons why I personally believe the Bible to be true - what do I think are the ones that are best received and understood by non-Christians?

The Apostle Paul once wrote that to the Jews under the Mosaic Law, he became like a Jew. To the Gentiles outside of the Law, he became like a Gentile. He did this so that he might save some by the simple human act of identifying with them where they were.

That is my goal in this episode: to examine this subject of the Bible first like one without Christ - then like one in Christ, so that I might save some.

Introverts In The Church

2012-01-01T23:42:00.001-06:00

While surfing around yesterday evening I came across a blog post over at Patheos.com called "Introverts In The Church" that I wanted to share. It's based on yet another blog post by Richard Beck entitled "A Walk with William James, Part 8: Introverts in the Imago Dei?"

Being a card carrying introvert myself (about half the people in the US are introverts by the way), I was very interested in both posts and in the related comments.

This whole topic is something that has bothered me for a really long time and I was very glad to read that I wasn't along in being so bothered. Funny thing for an introvert to write? Not really.

One of the golden lines from Richard Beck's piece is this: "Introverts are very, very relational. They just aren’t sociable."

I'm not sure that extroverts will even catch what that really means, but I understand it completely. What it means is that introverts pretty much abhor your garden-variety, social-butterfly chitchat and interaction, because to us it is pretty much meaningless - and to force ourselves to try and engage in it is just about one of the most dishonest and 'fake' things we can do in public. If we get stuck in it, it makes us feel badly about ourselves. We get put into these situations where we're damned if we do, and damned if we don't.

If we can't escape, we're damned because we end up doing things that are fake so basically we end up lying not only with our mouths, but our whole bodies - but if we don't, we're damned for being uncaring, unfriendly, or *gasp*, unspiritual.

So we try and avoid such situations like the plague, and if we get trapped we do our best but in most cases our best isn't nearly good enough. Pretty much we suffer though it as best we can and just hope it doesn't last very long.

But at the same time, we are very, very relational. What does that mean? It means we value meaningful relationships very, very highly. A meaningful relationship is one where someone has thought, written, or said something that is actually worth spending some time on receiving... and hopefully, giving back to them as well. Or, it's time spent with someone who really needs our time for empathy, comfort, reassurance, etc... in other words, meaningful things.

We all get a limited number of seconds upon the earth. A meaningful relationship is such that one doesn't mind giving up some of those precious seconds to listen to what this other type of person has to say, or to offer them ourselves if they need us.

So just to put a practical note to that, here are some things that I'd like to suggest to your average, American Evangelical church - and I know statistically about half the people reading this won't agree, but it's just a reach out to those that operate our churches that more than likely, you are alienating about half of your actual or potential congregations - and I do apologize for the parts of this that will sound snappy - I'm not trying to be rude, just clear:

1. Instead of having Bible study classes that are basically adult versions of everything about 50% of us loathed in high school, how about having some honest to goodness Bible study classes? You know, things that actually resemble "classes" but where God's Word is studied in-depth and where seeking folks can ask questions and get answers that don't start with very nervous eyebrows and stammered speech?

It's pretty lame to walk into a "Bible study" class that has very little study and very little Bible.

2. There isn't anything wrong with Christian fellowship classes, but why not just call them that? Why not have a group of meetings that are largely social and unapologetically so, and other meetings that are unapologetically serious? You know, like the level of gravity that permeates the pages of Scripture?

3. Why must evangelical church services start out with something that more closely resembles a pep-rally at a public school rather than people saved by Grace praising God out of the thankfulness of their hearts? It seems to me like the focus is often to get people on their feet, get them pumped up, get them energized (yes, the dreaded "clap along with us" - must we ape the little wind-up monkey toy with the cymbals?)- rather than simply pointing out through song what God has done for them, and then allowing the Holy Spirit to energize them. Isn't this latter thing what the church is supposed to be about?

I would really love to see hymns make a comeback in the music portion of the church. To my way of thinking, hymns have it all: they typically are condensed theology whose writers penned most of them in extremely trying times in their lives - thus they come from deep meaning, talk about things that are deeply meaningful, praise the Lord for all of His attributes, and hold out hope and encouragement to those who sing them as only deep and meaningful things can. Isn't that what the church is supposed to be about?

The typical saccharine stuff that passes for music in church these days just doesn't have the same effect. I would never say it should be all hymns, there are great new songs too, but just compare in your head the witness of a modern take on church music verses the message communicated to a visiting lost person by something like "Amazing Grace" or "Come Thou Fount Of Every Blessing". Isn't communicating these things what the church is supposed to be about? Does anyone even remember that we are to communicate the Gospel?

And by the way, I don't believe these things would ever be seen as boring or uninteresting to someone outside of Christ when sung by those in Christ. Personally, I can't read or sing either of those two old hymns without sobering up because they are my personal testimony to the faithfulness of God in the gift of His Son.

I think by basically lobotomizing the musical portions of our services we are doing a great disservice to the lost among us who wander in our doors. Instead of showing them what only God can do, we show them what they can see anytime at your average motivational conference at a local convention center.

4. Then there is the preaching. Oh my. No doubt I've already shot my mouth off enough as it is, so I'll really have to watch myself on this one.

Why does so much of the preaching in our modern churches have to be so bad?

Here's a news flash for preachers that were never really called to preach or have checked out of their calling: The Gospel of Jesus Christ is offensive. It isn't offensive because there is something wrong with it. It's offensive because there is something wrong with us. People need to hear about sin. People need to hear about God's judgment upon sin. People need to hear about love bought atonement. People need to hear about repentance, faith, and a new creation. They need to hear about reconciliation with God, why it's needed, and how it's possible. And they need to hear about this every time the Word is preached.

Lately I myself have been guilty of omitting some of these things as well, so I'm not pointing a finger out without pointing a finger at myself. We can do much better and we had better.

When did true gospel preaching get replaced with sanctimonious, saccharine blather? When did the Word of God get replaced with liberalism with a veneer of Christianity? When did convicting speech cease to flow from our pulpits? When did it stop being God centered and instead become congregation centered?

When did preachers start thinking that what they have to say is more important than what God has to say?

True preachers from ages past have voiced an observation over and over again, and that is that unconverted (unsaved) ministers are the clear and present danger to the church in any time. It's still true today and I think it explains much about what is wrong with our modern churches.

May God give us churches that are welcoming to all types of people, and worship and preaching that are worthy of God's salvation.

Revelation 3:14-19 (Amplified Bible)
Rev 3:14 And to the angel (messenger) of the assembly (church) in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the trusty and faithful and true Witness, the Origin and Beginning and Author of God’s creation:
Rev 3:15 I know your [record of] works and what you are doing; you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were cold or hot!
Rev 3:16 So, because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of My mouth!
Rev 3:17 For you say, I am rich; I have prospered and grown wealthy, and I am in need of nothing; and you do not realize and understand that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.
Rev 3:18 Therefore I counsel you to purchase from Me gold refined and tested by fire, that you may be [truly] wealthy, and white clothes to clothe you and to keep the shame of your nudity from being seen, and salve to put on your eyes, that you may see.
Rev 3:19 Those whom I [dearly and tenderly] love, I tell their faults and convict and convince and reprove and chasten [I discipline and instruct them]. So be enthusiastic and in earnest and burning with zeal and repent [changing your mind and attitude].

The Early Church Fathers And Tradition

2011-12-06T13:12:00.001-06:00

I came across a good article talking about "sola scriptura vs solo scriptura", and as the course of events would have it the role of the early church fathers and tradition in the church came up as a topic.

The orignal blog post is here: http://www.tillhecomes.org/sola-scriptura-solo-scriptura/.

My comment is listed below:

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What I find quite amusing is that my Calvinist friends always start with Augustine but very rarely ever want to quote anything from those before him: the fathers of the first three centuries of the church. It seems to me they usually just ignore them.

I believe one of the reasons is because several of the 'core' calvinistic beliefs were called out as heresy by the earliest church fathers. For instance, the idea of a strict determinism concerning salvation (the calvinistic interpretation of predestination & election). It's not that this idea wasn't known by the church... it was. But the issue is that it was only known OUTSIDE of the church for the first three centuries. It was a belief held by several of the gnostic groups, but not by the church. The same kind of thing is true for a limited atonement, unconditional grace, total depravity, inability to forfeit salvation, etc. - in other words, in every place where classical Calvinism departs from God's Word.

It is quite an interesting read in the early fathers though. The exact same arguments the gnostics put forth to explain their beliefs are the same teachings you hear today in calvinistic circles. It makes me sad that those things crept in to the church, but they did and we must deal with them from the standpoint of God's Word. And in line with this blog post, tradition plays a part in that too simply in looking at the first three centuries of the church and understanding that they would be aghast at some of the beliefs that are claimed as 'orthodoxy' - both immediately following their time and from the 1500s onwards.

Many trumpet their beliefs as, "...the truth once for all handed down to the saints", but these Christians from the first centuries would be forced to ask, "which saints?", because those things certainly didn't come from them. These weren't the truths which they defended in speech, ink, and for many of them - with their own blood. They were drug behind horses until they came apart, burned slowly at the stake, beheaded, flayed alive, grilled alive on sheets of metal, pressed to death slowly between weights - all of this because they proclaimed that Jesus was their Lord (Iesous Kurios and not Kaiser Kurios!) and the Apostles and the Spirit were the disseminators of God's truth concerning His Son Jesus to mankind. And they, in their turn, sought to do the best they could to carry on the Apostle's teachings that they heard from them directly or from the men that came directly after them.

My opinion of them is that they would be just as appalled at Reformed Theology as they would Roman Catholicism. I believe they would see the former as corrupted with certain gnostic beliefs that slander God's character and make Him out to be a liar, while the latter would be seen as so corrupted by paganism that it basically boils down to rude idolatry sprinkled with certain Christian beliefs.

Certainly the fathers weren't perfect. They were dealing with understanding God's word through the Spirit just like us. The Greek fathers did have the benefit of being native speakers of Koine Greek and growing up in Koine speaking societies with all of their idioms and patterns of speech. I do wonder why more weight isn't sometimes given to their understanding of Scripture (which was written in their native language) by those in our time and before who only learned Koine academically. It seems fairly arrogant to so diverge from three centuries of native language interpretation in favor of that which was learned in a classroom separated from the real use of language and culture by millennia.

Personally, my biggest issue with the early fathers is that several of them took a turn towards works based salvation, or so it seems to me. Some of that can be cleared up by understanding that in their times there was a huge, cultural war between the concepts of vice and virtue (things were so bad that even some of the pagan philosophers were appalled), and they spoke to that from a Christian perspective that sometimes seemed to sanction works based salvation when instead they were simply drawing contrasts between how they behaved vs. the pagans. But other times it seems some of them truly did believe that they played a part in earning salvation, although in other places these same authors denied it.

But then I have to examine my own heart and confess that when I look to myself and not to Christ, when willful sin begins to harden me because I have let it in, I too can begin to fall into legalistic, self justifying modes of thought and behavior. In this area, as in all areas of sin in regards to those who are indwelt by Christ, The Spirit always corrects me and snaps me out of myself, but can I look at these early Christians and claim that I am any better? Certainly not.

I believe the best use of them is to acknowledge how poor their writings were when compared to Scripture. But I believe in God's providence He has used that to show how truly special and unique the writings of the New Testament are - that they were inspired by Himself and not simply the writings of pious or pietistic men.

The earliest fathers were often somewhat naive, somewhat childlike in some ways, but those qualities enabled them to hold on to the truth they had learned from the Apostles and apostolic men with a ferocity that I doubt would be much reflected in our day under similar persecutions.

Although I disagree with much of what they wrote, the more I read them the more I love them. Most of them found themselves embedded in a sinful society that was so bad it makes our culture look like a self righteous meeting of the hair shirt, stick as a chair club. But in that most dire of times the Spirit worked through them to turn the world upside down for the kingdom of God. And at the end of the day, the vast majority of them would attribute their salvation to God's grace rather than anything they had done to earn salvation.

I believe their final self examination at the end of their life would have been: did I remain faithful to the Lord Who was so faithful to me? And in that they would certainly be Apostolic indeed:

Galatians 6:7-10 (NIV)
7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

(Grace is not a license to sin. It is a license for Holiness. It is a license to become more and more like God until we are taken up when He returns or taken out by death)

2nd Timothy 2:11-13 (NIV)
11 Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with him, we will also live with him; 12 if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us; 13 if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself.

( I hear so many Christians that take v 13 as a comforting promise, when in actuality it is a most solemn warning - God has made salvation available by His extension of Grace through faith that He enables in us by revealing Himself to us. Those that give up on faith are those that give up on the benefits of Grace, for being faithless is to consider God either unworthy of trust or unworthy of our endurance in the faith He has enabled for us. It requires a daily dying to self and daily suffering at the hands of our sinful nature against which we strive. Anything less than that is only a child playing with fire).

Hebrews 3:5-19 (NIV)
5 Moses was faithful as a servant in all God's house, testifying to what would be said in the future. 6 But Christ is faithful as a son over God's house. And we are his house, if we hold on to our courage and the hope of which we boast. 7 So, as the Holy Spirit says: "Today, if you hear his voice, 8 do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the desert, 9 where your fathers tested and tried me and for forty years saw what I did. 10 That is why I was angry with that generation, and I said, 'Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways.' 11 So I declared on oath in my anger, 'They shall never enter my rest.' " 12 See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. 13 But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. 14 We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first. 15 As has just been said: "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion." 16 Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? 17 And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the desert? 18 And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed ? 19 So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.

God bless ya'll from Texas. Take care, /Scott.

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Grace, Fear, And Trembling

2011-09-30T01:17:00.000-05:00

Dr. Augustus Neander (1789-1850) from his "Scriptural Expositions on the Epistle of Paul to the Philippians" - Second Section pp 80-87 (PDF available here):

It is customary with Paul to commence his letters with a recognition of whatever is praiseworthy in the church to which he is writing. In this appears his wisdom as a spiritual guide.

The confidence of men is far more easily won, and a hearing secured for whatever one has to say in the way of admonition and rebuke, if it appears that he nowise overlooks or undervalues what is good in them, that he does not willingly find fault, but is ready to acknowledge every real excellence with cordial approbation.

Good and bad, moreover, stand frequently in close connection with each other. The good lies at the foundation; but the evil mingles its disturbing influence with the good, and hence it is through the latter that we can best reach and remedy the former. It is in the clear perception of this relation, and in the skillful use of it for the correction of error, that Paul manifests his wisdom.

Of this a striking example is furnished in the first epistle to the Corinthians. Thus Paul regards whatever of real value he finds already existing in the churches, not as something produced in them from themselves and by their own agency, but wrought in them by the Spirit of God, that Spirit which has begun to transform them into new men. Hence he feels himself constrained to thank God for that which He has wrought in their hearts and in their lives by his grace, before he offers to Him the prayer, that what He has already wrought in them He will more and more purify, carry it forward, and bring it to perfection. Upon the good which already exists in them he builds the hope that they will ever continue to advance in goodness, even unto perfection.

Not indeed upon the good as a work of man can he rest such a hope. He knows too well the weakness of man, too well how subject is everything human to constant change. But this is the ground of his hope: that in this beginning of the Christian life he sees not the work of man but the work of God. He thus builds his hope upon the truth and faithfulness of God, who will certainly carry forward what He has begun, through all conflicts and trials, safely to its consummation. It is not God's way to do things by halves. Thus too does Paul begin his letter to the Philippians; thanking God for their living fellowship in the gospel from the beginning up to the present hour; and then expressing the confidence, that He who has begun in them the good work will also carry it on to its completion.

In this it is indeed always presupposed by Paul, that they likewise will do what belongs to them, by yielding themselves to the power of God which works nothing without man, albeit man without it can work nothing; as in the eleventh chapter of the epistle to the Romans (v. 22), he represents the continued manifestation of God's goodness in men as conditioned on their continuing in His goodness, and thus susceptible of the grace of God by truly yielding themselves up to its influence.

It is on this connection between the divine and the human he founds the exhortation," to work out their salvation with fear and trembling”; for he adds, "it is God who worketh in you both the willing and the doing, of his own good pleasure."

It is here assumed that the salvation of man is conditioned upon his own conduct. He is himself to work out his salvation. And yet Paul always represents the salvation of man as something which can be accomplished only through the grace of God, as the work of God in man. But he adds, in this passage, a more exact designation of the temper of heart with which they should work out their salvation, viz., "with fear and trembling."

This would not be appropriate if he were speaking of what lay merely in the hand of man, in which case all would depend upon his own strength. It is because Paul is conscious of the weakness and insufficiency of all human strength, because he presupposes that man can do nothing without God, and must constantly watch over himself, lest through his own fault he lose the aid of divine grace, without which all human efforts are in vain; it is for this reason that he designates this temper of mind as one of fear and trembling, as the feeling of personal accountability and helplessness, of insecurity and instability in ourselves, by which we may be ever admonished to continual watchfulness, and to ever-renewed waiting upon God as the fountain of all our strength.

Hence, as the ground of such an admonition, he appeals to this consciousness that we can of ourselves do nothing, that it is God who alone bestows upon us the power to will and to perform what is needful to our salvation; that all, indeed, depends upon his sovereign will.

This feeling of dependence, the ground-tone of the Christian life, is ever to be maintained. It is this which must combat the presumption of a vain human self-reliance, which, finding itself deceived in the result, so easily gives place to dejection and despair.

All the admonitions which Paul gives the Philippians in reference to the Christian walk are comprehended in this one; that they should "walk in a manner worthy of the Gospel of Christ." And what is required of them in their position, in the midst of a corrupt world, he points out in chapter ii. 15-16. Inasmuch, he says, as they are called to live as children of God in the midst of a corrupt world, they are called to maintain unsullied, amidst all the defilement of surrounding pollution, that divine life of which, as children of God, they have become participants, and to show forth its glory in contrast with the perverse generation in which they live.

The terms "crooked and perverse," in which Paul describes this wicked generation, have reference to the perversion of the original godlike nature, which can be restored only through the new creation. So also, as children of God, they are to shine as lights, as radiant luminaries in the world of darkness. Whilst all around them is darkness, here alone shall all be light. So indeed does Christ say to those who belong to his kingdom, that they are to be the lights of the world, just as He is the Sun who sends his light into this dark world, its light in the highest and only true sense. Thus what He is, is communicated to those who enter into fellowship with him, and they too through him become the light of the world.

This light shines in the holy walk of Christians, and thereby do they testify of Him who is light itself, and in whom is no darkness - thereby do they glorify him and lead others to acknowledge and honor him as Christ himself has said: "Let your light so shine before men, that they seeing your good works may glorify your Father which is in Heaven."

They are to testify of that which is life, to show forth the true life in this world of death. Everything which men, in accordance with the revelation of the law written in their consciences through the impulses of their moral nature, are accustomed to account moral and virtuous belongs also to the peculiar stamp of this new divine life, in which the children of God manifest themselves as such. All must find its fulfillment here; only that is done away which proceeds from the disturbing influence of sin; as Christ says, that he "came not to destroy but to fulfill."

Hence it is the conclusion of Paul's exhortation that their minds be directed only to "what is true” - (true and good being in the biblical sense one and the same, the truth here appears as that which penetrates and gives direction to the whole life; all has its root in the truth, the true is the divine) to “what is becoming, what is upright, what is chaste, what is lovely, what is of good report, whatever is virtue and whatever is praise." Thus it is implied by Paul, that the divine life must manifest itself in an amiable form before men; and he appeals to what they had learned from his instructions, and had witnessed in the example of his own life. Although, as we have seen above, he was far from holding his life to be entirely pure and perfect, yet he could with confidence assume the essential correspondence between his life and teachings, and that his conduct did not give the lie to his instructions.

And thus he was able, without untruth or self-exaltation, to hold up to the Philippians the example of his own course among them as an admonition to them. Self-exaltation is the less to be attributed to him here, as he was himself fully conscious, that whatever in his own conduct he proposed as their example was only the work of grace, the fruit of the new creation in him.

So may the Christian when made aware, by a comparison of his earlier and later life, of having gained the victory over the old nature in any of its sinful tendencies, be fully conscious of this and freely rejoice over it; for this is no self-exaltation. He knows that it is not to his own nature or his own strength that he is indebted for it; that the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ has wrought this in him; and therefore the consciousness of his victory only impels him to praise and to thank Him through whose power he has attained it. And at the same time, he feels himself constrained to acknowledge how much still remains for him to contend with and with the Apostle, whose words we have quoted, to forget what is behind and press continually forward.

Some Words From Augustus Neander

2011-09-19T23:56:00.000-05:00

Some Words From Dr. Augustus Neander Regarding:

1st John 2:1-2 (NIV)
(1) My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.
(2) He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

As part of a lengthy commentary on 1st John, Neander (1789 - 1850) writes:

History teaches us to estimate aright the deep significance of this christian truth, here developed from the words of the Apostle. The entire dependence of all Christians alike upon this one advocacy, to the exclusion of every other, being based upon this truth; we accordingly see that whenever it became obscured in the christian consciousness, that dependence was again, as in the ante-christian period, transferred to a human priesthood and to a multiplicity of mediations, and again the distinction between priests and laity, between spiritual and secular, found admission.

And thus will it ever be, when this reference of the religious consciousness in all believers, to the one mediation through Christ, is cast into the background, is obscured or misunderstood.

The Apostle has thus shown, that at the basis of the ever-continuing mediation by Christ, there lies the reference to what he once wrought for the reconciliation of man with God, to that one all sufficient offering of himself. He accordingly now directs attention specially to the fact, that He is "the reconciliation for our sins," - referring to that once-accomplished and still abiding and operative work of redemption.

For he it is through whom man has been made free from sin; through whom that sin which pressed down humanity, separating it from God and his fellowship, and intercepting the communications of divine love, has been taken away, has become as if it were not; so that henceforth, all mankind should appear before God as freed from sin by this self-offering of Christ, - as in him pure in the sight of God.

This, which according to the divine plan, the purposes of divine grace, the yearning love of Christ who bore all mankind upon his heart, should embrace all, is realized in those who open their hearts to its reception, who believingly appropriate the redeeming grace thus offered.

It is so realized when they first enter into christian fellowship, renouncing the former standpoint of a life of worldliness and sin; it is this which marks the boundary between the old and the new life.

But as John here shows, although this boundary has been once fixed, yet in the conflict with the remaining influence of that former state, there is still need of the ever renewed appropriation of this reconciliation, which is Christ himself. When this reconciliation, as the all-sufficient agency for the progressive and ultimately complete sanctification of the redeemed, and the constant appropriation of it as such, have ceased to be recognized in their connection and become obscured in the christian consciousness, new methods of atonement and purification have then been resorted to, as necessary for sins committed after baptism.

But when John speaks of the reconciliation for OUR sins, he feels constrained to guard against every limitation of the universal reference of the work of redemption.

He calls to mind such words of Christ as those respecting the one fold and the one shepherd, and his vision widens to embrace all humanity; to behold in Christ not alone the reconciliation for those who already believe, but for those also who as yet know nothing of Christ, who as yet belong to the world.

The reconciliation of Christ has for its object all humanity in its estrangement from God; all which belongs to the world, as it stands opposed to the kingdom of God. Humanity as a whole is to be embraced in the reconciliation with Christ, is to be thereby separated from the world and incorporated into the kingdom of God. The reconciliation, once instituted by Christ, continues its uninterrupted work until it shall have achieved this its glorious consummation.

Did Jesus Claim to be the Jewish Messiah?

2011-09-14T21:49:00.001-05:00

Did Jesus Claim to be the Jewish Messiah?

This is a question that pops up from time to time, and frankly that is normal and expected from non-Christian groups.

What isn't expected is for someone purporting to be a Christian pastor to make the claim that Jesus never claimed to be the Jewish Messiah! But just such a claim has been made by pastor John Hagee in a pitch for a new book. You can view a short, 1 minute video here that contains this problematic claim.

To give an answer to this question to someone who claims unbelief in Christ is a great privilege. I have no problem at all with these types of questions because they are a teaching and witnessing opportunity, and to make things even better - this is to people who have been thinking. Sometimes a rare breed indeed.

But I have no idea what John Hagee has been thinking, and frankly that isn't the most important question. The most important question is the one that is the topic of this post: Did Jesus claim to be the Jewish Messiah? Other questions about John Hagee aren't my place to answer, they're Christ's.

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To answer our question one first must discover the things that were supposed to identify the Jewish Messiah. This would be the items of prophecy out of the Old Testament that looked forward to Messiah, and I believe (as an armchair theological historian) they would also have to include what the people and religious leaders believed about Messiah. The first part is the truth as it is from God, but the second item is important because it simply address the situation on the ground so to speak in first century Israel. Knowing both of these things helps us put Christ's words and deeds in context.

So to me the question becomes two-fold: In light of Old Testament prophecy & New Testament history, did Jesus claim to be the Messiah? And second, in light of what men and women believed about Old Testament prophecy, did Jesus claim to be the Messiah?

The first answer is the full and complete answer to our question, but the second answer touches on the issue as to whether or not the folks in first century Israel could have recognized the Biblical Messiah when He appeared based on what He said and did.

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So, what were the things out of Old Testament prophecy that were supposed to identify Messiah? Well, that list is quite a long one and I can't cover all of them (this is a blog post, not a book), but I just want to list several of them and then narrow my focus to show that indeed Jesus absolutely claimed to be the Jewish Messiah, that He did so publicly, and that He did so in a manner that would have been understandable by anyone wanting to know the truth in first century Judea.

Some Prophecies Of Messiah Fulfilled In Jesus Christ (provided and documented in the Hebrew Old Testament over a time-span of 1000+ years)

That Messiah would be the seed of a woman - or in other words, that Messiah would be human. (Prophesied in Genesis 3:15 and fulfilled by Jesus in Matthew chapter 1, Luke chapter 2, Galatians 4:4, etc. Basically all of the New Testament)
That Messiah would be a descendant of Abraham, and of Issac, and of Jacob (in other words, that Messiah would be Jewish), that he would be from the tribe of Judah and also a descendant of King David. It narrows even more in that Messiah was to be an heir to David's throne. (Prophesied in Genesis 12:1-3 (re Abraham), Genesis 17:19-21 (re Isaac), Numbers 24:17 (re Jacob), Genesis 49:10 (re Judah), Isaiah 9:7 (re heir to the Davidic throne). These were fulfilled by Jesus in Matthew 1:1 (re Abraham), Luke 3:34 (re Isaac), Matthew 1:2 (re Jacob), Luke 3:33 (re Judah), Luke 1:32 (re heir to the throne of David), Matthew 27:11 (Jesus admitted He was the king of the Jews - something in this time that could only be true of the Messiah)
Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem. (Prophesied in Micah 5:2 and fulfilled by Jesus in Luke 2:4-7)
Messiah was to somehow also be called out of Egypt (Mizraim) even though he was to be Jewish and born in Bethlehem. This was a very odd prophetic word when it was given. (Prophesied in Hosea 11:1 and fulfilled by Jesus in Matthew 2:13-23)
Messiah would be preceded by a forerunner that would prepare the way for Him and His message. (Prophesied in Malachi 3:1 and fulfilled by John the Baptist and Jesus in Luke 7:24-27, John 1:1-8, 19-34 - among others)
Messiah would speak in parables and perform many miracles. (Prophesied in Psalms 78:2-4 (re parables - about 900+ years before Jesus) and Isaiah 35:3-6 (re miracles - about 700+ years before Jesus), Isaiah 61:1-3 (re miracles) and fulfilled by Jesus in Matthew 13:34-35 (re parables), Matthew 15:30-31 (re miracles), Luke 4:18-19 (re miracles), and many other places - literally the whole of the Gospels.

Now, the observant person will note that what I have given above are simply truths about Messiah, not yet proof that "Jesus claimed He was Messiah". If you saw that, you are right. I purposely skipped some things so that I can talk about them now.

What I wanted to do first was lay some groundwork so that it would be understood that no person could simply read Old Testament prophecy about Messiah and then fulfill them by their own effort. I hope that was clear in the list above.

Which of us decided our own genealogy? Which of us decided the place we would be born? Which of us decided (as a small baby you understand), that we would be carried off to another nation under dark of night to live as exiles until it was safe to go back home? The answer is, none of us because it is impossible.

There have been statistics published regarding the large body of Messianic prophecies in light of the life of Jesus Christ, and how likely it would be for a human to be born that would fulfill all of them exactly. That turns out to be such a reality of long odds that often the premise is pared down to just seven or so specific prophecies. When that 'simplifying' is done, the number comes out to something on the order of 10 to the 36th power. That's 1 in 10 followed by 36 zeros. It looks like this:

Odds that a person would fulfill just seven specific prophecies concerning the Jewish Messiah by chance: 1 in 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (see this site for the rundown and the math).

In other words, it would be more miraculous if Jesus WASN'T the Messiah!

Anyway, what about our specific question - Did Jesus indeed claim to be Messiah?

I want to answer that by looking at the last two items I mentioned above for Old Testament prophecy fulfilled by Jesus Christ: the fact that Messiah would be preceded by a forerunner and that He would perform certain miracles.

I'd like to take you to Matthew chapter 11 and show you where Jesus claims to be the Jewish Messiah in no uncertain terms. Now to us, reading all of this 2000+ years after the fact and outside of a first century Jewish context, it doesn't seem like Jesus made this claim as strongly as He actually did. But if you understand that in first century Judea, with the Jews oppressed under the hobnailed boot of Rome and literally looking all over - literally crying out for Messiah - you'll see that He did make this claim and that He did so in a particularly Jewish way.

Matthew 11:1-19 (NIV) (my notes in parenthesis):

(1) After Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in the towns of Galilee.
(2) When John heard in prison what Christ was doing, he sent his disciples
(3) to ask him, “Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?”

(John the Baptist has been imprisoned by Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great that had tried to have the baby Jesus killed. It appears that John, as great as he was, is like all of us that possess the Holy Spirit: sometimes we have doubts. John was going through a period of doubt about Jesus and His claims, so he sends his disciples to Jesus to ask this great question: "Are you the one who was to come", meaning the Jewish Messiah - "or should we expect someone else?")

(In the next section, Jesus answers John through the men that had been sent, but Jesus doesn't simply say "yes". He instead proves His claims in light of what the Old Testament prophesied about Messiah.)

(4) Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see:
(5) The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.
(6) Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me.”

Verse 5 shows us what Jesus did in front of these men. He told them to go back and report to John not just what they heard (from Jesus or anyone else), but also what they saw with their own eyes. And what was that? The literal fulfillment of Isaiah 35:4-6, and Isaiah 61:1-2:

Isaiah 35:4-6 (NIV)
(4) say to those with fearful hearts,“Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you.” (5) Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. (6) Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert.

Isaiah 61:1-2 (NIV):
(1) The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, (2) to proclaim the year of the LORD'S favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn,

Right in front of these men Jesus performed these miracles. They then left to report back to John the Baptist, and Jesus then turns to speak to the crowd that had also heard His words and witnessed the miracles He had just performed.

(7) As John’s disciples were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: “What did you go out into the desert to see? A reed swayed by the wind?
(8) If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings’ palaces.
(9) Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.
(10) This is the one about whom it is written: “ ‘I will send my messenger ahead of you,who will prepare your way before you.’

Here Jesus gives witness to the fact that indeed John the Baptist was the prophesied forerunner (Malachi 3:1) of Christ Himself, the Messiah. Jesus shows that His ministry follows John the Baptist's below in verses 18-19.

(11) I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
(12) From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.
(13) For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John.
(14) And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come.
(15) He who has ears, let him hear.
(16) “To what can I compare this generation? They are like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling out to others:
(17) “ ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’
(18) For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’
(19) The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and “sinners.” ’ But wisdom is proved right by her actions.”

Here Jesus shows that John was indeed His forerunner, but He also gives a warning in how these ministries are received. Jesus talks about the then current generation of people that were witnesses to both John's and Jesus' own ministries. Jesus said that this generation of Jewish people, by and large, were like children playing mock weddings and mock funerals.

Verse 17: "We played the flute for you (mocking a wedding), and you did not dance; we sang a dirge for you (mocking a funeral), but you did not mourn."

We have this picture of children seeking to illicit certain reactions and being frustrated by their lack of results.

Jesus in verses 18-19 then shows that God did actually meet with them on these terms, but they rejected His offers of salvation. In verse 17 God is basically saying that sometimes the Jews wanted a Godly representative who was happy and playful, perhaps like a King David figure. But at other times they wanted a stern faced, serious leader who was all work and no play - perhaps one like the long line of Old Testament prophets.

In verses 18 and 19 Jesus shows that God in fact met with them on both of these terms but to no avail. No matter what God did, they refused to accept Him.

John the Baptist was the last in the line of the Old Testament prophets. He could in no means have been described as a happy, playful person. He was serious to the nth degree. John, if you will, came as the asked for funeral dirge, but the Jews didn't go along with God's offer.

Jesus on the other hand was much more lighthearted than John. He used a sharp sense of humor in His teachings, and He hung out and ate with those that the religious people shunned. Jesus loved and sought out the company of sinners, so that He could help them. Indeed He came as the asked for wedding - the happy event, but the Jews didn't go along with God's offer.

John came in a decidedly Old Testament manner, neither "eating or drinking" - a Jewish euphemism for enjoying life and what it has to offer. But the Jews accused John the Baptist of being demon possessed because of his severity.

Jesus came differently. He came "eating and drinking". But the Jews said that He was a glutton, a drunk, that he hung out with the enemies of the Jews (tax collectors for Rome), and that he hung out with the enemies of God (sinners).

And lastly Jesus says, "but wisdom is proved right by her actions".

If what He had already said and done wasn't enough, Jesus adds this last part to show that He is Messiah.

Just a question for the ladies. Ladies, say there are two men and they both say they "love you". But one of the men washes himself, his clothes, and his car before he comes to pick you up. He opens the door for you, he puts you in the car and makes sure nothing is in the way of the door before he closes it for you. He buys you dinner. He actually listens to what you have to say. He compliments you and respects you. He drops you back off at home and walks you to the door. He doesn't expect you to 'pay' for dinner in any way. He calls you at odd times during the day just to hear your voice. He thinks ahead about the things you like and tries to have them for you. He respects you enough to tell you gently when he thinks you're wrong or endangering yourself.

Between the two men, one that professes love and one that acts out love - which one really loves you?

Words are cheap. As sinners we should all understand that. But actions are costly. Words are merely pronouncements, but actions show true commitment and a willingness to personally pay for the words that come out of one's mouth.

This is why Jesus not only quoted Messianic prophecy to John's disciples - He actually showed them in the flesh all of the miracles that had been prophesied about Messiah. He didn't want there to be any doubts as to who He was, and He doesn't want there to be any doubts in your mind as to who He is.

In the first century, Jesus put the proclamation of being the Messiah in first century Jewish terms. In the 21st century, He has sent little nerd preachers like me to explain the Bible so that you can understand exactly what He did and Who He was.

He was a human like any of us, but He was also God. He was also the Jewish Messiah and proved it through things that not one of us can control for ourselves, and He proved it in both word and deed.

You need to consider that and listen to what He has to say.

A Portrait of the Early Church

2011-09-11T20:35:00.002-05:00

The following is a small snapshot into the life of the early church from Tertullian.

He was an early church father who lived from 160AD to 230AD. He was a member of the church at Carthage in North Africa and wrote numerous works explaining Christianity to the pagan world around him, defending Christianity from heretical groups that sought to destroy it, and encouraging Christians in their faith.

The words below are taken from his work entitled, "The Apology" - Chapter 39. In these words Tertullian is defending against false ideas that were being spread about Christianity, and in so doing he compares the Christians to the pagans around them.

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I shall at once go on, then, to exhibit the peculiarities of the Christian society, that, as I have refuted the evil charged against it, I may point out its positive good.

We are a body knit together as such by a common religious profession, by unity of discipline, and by the bond of a common hope. We meet together as an assembly and congregation, that, offering up prayer to God as with united force, we may wrestle with Him in our supplications. This violence God delights in. We pray, too, for the emperors, for their ministers and for all in authority, for the welfare of the world, for the prevalence of peace, for the delay of the final consummation (judgment).

We assemble to read our sacred writings, if any peculiarity of the times makes either forewarning or reminiscence needful. However it be in that respect, with the sacred words we nourish our faith, we animate our hope, we make our confidence more steadfast; and no less by inculcations of God's precepts we confirm good habits.

In the same place also exhortations are made, rebukes and sacred censures are administered. For with a great gravity is the work of judging carried on among us, as befits those who feel assured that they are in the sight of God; and you have the most notable example of judgment to come when any one has sinned so grievously as to require his severance from us in prayer, in the congregation and in all sacred intercourse. The tried men of our elders preside over us, obtaining that honor not by purchase, but by established character.

There is no buying and selling of any sort in the things of God. Though we have our treasure-chest, it is not made up of purchase-money, as of a religion that has its price (membership fees).

On the monthly day, if he likes, each puts in a small donation; but only if it be his pleasure, and only if he be able: for there is no compulsion; all is voluntary. These gifts are, as it were, piety's deposit fund. For they are not taken thence and spent on feasts, and drinking-bouts, and eating-houses, but to support and bury poor people, to supply the wants of boys and girls destitute of means and parents, and of old persons confined now to the house; such, too, as have suffered shipwreck; and if there happen to be any in the mines, or banished to the islands, or shut up in the prisons, for nothing but their fidelity to the cause of God's Church, they become the nurslings of their confession.

But it is mainly the deeds of a love so noble that lead many to put a brand upon us. See, they say, how they [the Christians] love one another, for [they] themselves are animated by mutual hatred; how they [the Christians] are ready even to die for one another, for they themselves will sooner put to death.

And they are wroth with us, too, because we call each other brethren; for no other reason, as I think, than because among themselves names of consanguinity (deep friendships and connections) are assumed in mere pretence of affection (claimed, but unreal affection).

But we are your brethren as well, by the law of our common mother nature, though you are hardly men, because [being] brothers so unkind. At the same time, how much more fittingly they are called and counted brothers who have been led to the knowledge of God as their common Father, who have drunk in one spirit of holiness, who from the same womb of a common ignorance have agonized into the same light of truth!

But on this very account, perhaps, we are regarded as having less claim to be held true brothers, that no tragedy makes a noise about our brotherhood, or that the family possessions, which generally destroy brotherhood among you, create fraternal bonds among us. One in mind and soul, we do not hesitate to share our earthly goods with one another.

All things are common among us but our wives. We give up our community where it is practiced alone by others, who not only take possession of the wives of their friends, but most tolerantly also accommodate their friends with theirs, following the example, I believe, of those wise men of ancient times, the Greek Socrates and the Roman Cato, who shared with their friends the wives whom they had married, it seems for the sake of progeny both to themselves and to others; whether in this acting against their partners' wishes, I am not able to say. Why should they have any care over their chastity, when their husbands so readily bestowed it away?

O noble example of Attic wisdom, of Roman gravity--the philosopher and the censor playing pimps!

What wonder if that great love of Christians towards one another is desecrated by you! For you abuse also our humble feasts, on the ground that they are extravagant as well as infamously wicked. To us, it seems applies the saying of Diogenes: "The people of Megara feast as though they were going to die on the morrow; they build as though they were never to die!" But one sees more readily the mote in another's eye than the beam in his own. Why, the very air is soured with the eructations (belching) of so many tribes, and curiae (groups of people), and decuriae (sub groups of people) (through the Roman's riotous feasting).

The Salii (priests of the god Mars) cannot have their feast without going into debt; you must get the accountants to tell you what the tenths of Hercules and the sacrificial banquets cost; the choicest cook is appointed for the Apaturia (an annual Greek festival stressing common relationship), the Dionysia (annual Greek festivals honoring the god Dionysus), the Attic mysteries; the smoke from the banquet of Serapis will call out the firemen. Yet about the modest supper-room of the Christians alone a great ado is made.

Our feast explains itself by its name. The Greeks call it agape, i.e., affection. Whatever it costs, our outlay in the name of piety is gain, since with the good things of the feast we benefit the needy; not as it is with you, do parasites aspire to the glory of satisfying their licentious propensities, selling themselves for a belly-feast to all disgraceful treatment,--but as it is with God himself, a peculiar respect is shown to the lowly.

If the object of our feast be good, in the light of that consider its further regulations. As it is an act of religious service, it permits no vileness or immodesty. The participants, before reclining, taste first of prayer to God. As much is eaten as satisfies the cravings of hunger; as much is drunk as befits the chaste (to enjoy but not to get drunk). They say it is enough, as those who remember that even during the night they have to worship God; they talk as those who know that the Lord is one of their auditors (listeners).

After manual ablution (washing after dinner), and the bringing in of lights, each is asked to stand forth and sing, as he can, a hymn to God, either one from the holy Scriptures or one of his own composing,--a proof of the measure of our drinking (the Christian's singing was worshipful and controlled – not the uncontrolled singing of the drunk pagans).

As the feast commenced with prayer, so with prayer it is closed. We go from it, not like troops of mischief-doers, nor bands of vagabonds (wandering hoodlums), nor to break out into licentious acts (unrestrained sexual conduct), but to have as much care of our modesty and chastity as if we had been at a school of virtue rather than a banquet.

Give the congregation of the Christians its due, and hold it unlawful, if it is like assemblies of the illicit sort: by all means let it be condemned, if any complaint can be validly laid against it, such as lies against secret factions. But who has ever suffered harm from our assemblies?

We are in our congregations just what we are when separated from each other; we are as a community what we are individuals; we injure nobody, we trouble nobody.

When the upright, when the virtuous meet together, when the pious, when the pure assemble in congregation, you ought not to call that a faction (as Christianity was called), but a curia--[i.e., the court of God.]

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How Many Gospels Are There?

2011-09-10T22:27:00.000-05:00

How many Gospels are there?

From time to time, people come along and say that other Christian 'gospels' have been discovered. These documents are at odds with the Old and New Testaments, and certain types of people then seek to use these texts to undercut the authority of Scripture. If that succeeds, they then proceed to introduce ideas about God, His Son, and salvation that are at odds with the revelation God has given us.

They often point to various Gnostic manuscripts like those found at Nag Hammadi, Egypt among others. The issue is that the ideas in these documents are not new and unknown. Rather they are old and known and were refuted by the early church when these false ideas first originated. They don't always go by the same names as documents such as those found at Nag Hammadi, but the methods employed and the beliefs held are the same.

This short article deals with the number of the Gospel writings... how many are there? If the Gnostic writings mentioned above are true, there are many gospels. If the Bible is true, there are only four: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

What is the testimony of the early church against the first heretics and their ideas? Please consider:

Irenaeus (early church father - Bishop of the church at Lyons (130AD - 200AD) writing about 180AD)
"Against Heresies" - Book 3, Chapter 11, Section 8:

It is not possible that the Gospels can be either more or fewer in number than they are. For, since there are four zones of the world in which we live, and four principal winds, while the Church is scattered throughout all the world, and the "pillar and ground" of the Church is the Gospel and the spirit of life; it is fitting that she should have four pillars, breathing out immortality on every side, and vivifying men afresh.

Same author, same book and chapter - Section 9:

These things being so, all who destroy the form of the Gospel are vain, unlearned, and also audacious; those, I mean, who represent the aspects of the Gospel as being either more in number than as aforesaid, or, on the other hand, fewer. The former class that they may seem to have discovered more than is of the truth; the latter, that they may set the dispensations of God aside.

Tertullian (early church father (160AD - 230AD) writing about 207AD)
"The Five Books Against Marcion" - Book 5, Chapter 2

We lay it down as our first position, that the evangelical Testament has apostles for its authors, to whom was assigned by the Lord Himself this office of publishing the gospel. Since, however, there are apostolic men also (disciples of the apostles), they are yet not alone, but appear with apostles and after apostles; because the preaching of disciples might be open to the suspicion of an affectation of glory (pretending to be authorized Scripture), if there did not accompany it the authority of the masters, which means that of Christ, for it was that which made the apostles their masters. Of the apostles, therefore, John and Matthew first instill faith into us; whilst of apostolic men, Luke and Mark renew it afterwards. These all start with the same principles of the faith, so far as relates to the one only God the Creator and His Christ, how that He was born of the Virgin, and came to fulfill the law and the prophets.

Same author - Book 4, Chapter 5

I say, therefore, that in them (the churches founded by the apostles and all churches that are truly in Christ) that Gospel of Luke which we are defending with all our might has stood its ground from its very first publication; whereas Marcion's Gospel is not known to most people, and to none whatever is it known without being at the same time condemned. It too, of course, has its churches, but specially its own--as late as they are spurious; and should you want to know their original, you will more easily discover apostasy in it than apostolicity, with Marcion forsooth as their founder, or some one of Marcion's swarm. Even wasps make combs; so also these Marcionites make churches. The same authority of the apostolic churches will afford evidence to the other Gospels also, which we possess equally through their means, and according to their usage--I mean the Gospels of John and Matthew--whilst that which Mark published may be affirmed to be Peter's whose interpreter Mark was. For even Luke's form of the Gospel men usually ascribe to Paul.

Origen (early church father (185AD - 255AD) writing about 228AD)
Commentary on the Gospel of John - Book 1, Chapter 6:

Now the Gospels are four. These four are, as it were, the elements of the faith of the Church, out of which elements the whole world which is reconciled to God in Christ is put together; as Paul says, "God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself;" of which world Jesus bore the sin; for it is of the world of the Church that the word is written, "Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world."

The Gospels then being four, I deem the first fruits of the Gospels to be that which you have enjoined me to search into according to my powers, the Gospel of John, that which speaks of him whose genealogy had already been set forth, but which begins to speak of him at a point before he had any genealogy.

For Matthew, writing for the Hebrews who looked for Him who was to come of the line of Abraham and of David, says:   "The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham."

And Mark, knowing what he writes, narrates the beginning of the Gospel; we may perhaps find what he aims at in John; in the beginning the Word, God the Word.

But Luke, though he says at the beginning of Acts, "The former treatise did I make about all that Jesus began to do and to teach," yet leaves to him who lay on Jesus' breast the greatest and completest discourses about Jesus.

A Short Little Thing About Faith

2011-09-06T23:59:00.000-05:00

Romans 11:29 tells us that God's gifts and His calling are irrevocable. And they are. God never sets aside His gifts of grace (charismata) or His invitation to salvation (klesis).

And among all of the gifts of grace God has given us lies one that has to do with our very composition: we are made in the image of God Himself (Genesis 1:27). This means many things: that we are spiritual (part spirit), that we are eternal - but it also means that we are willful, moral creatures. God has given us a will that is capable of weighing evidence and making decisions, and He has given us moral sensitivity so that we can exercise our wills in the realm of righteousness.

But something horrible happened on the way to the party so to speak, and it caused our willfulness and our morality to be corrupted. This was the fall of man in the Garden of Eden. Genesis chapter 3 lays out the sordid details.

Because of this, the Bible tells us that we are all sinners and that this sin has left us dead spiritually. Please consider:

Romans 3:9-12 (NIV)
9 What shall we conclude then? Are we any better ? Not at all! We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin.
10 As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one;
11 there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God.
12 All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.”

1st John 1:10 (NIV)
10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.

Romans 8:6-8 (NIV)
6 The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace;
7 the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.
8 Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.

Because of the effects of sin, some have said that it is impossible for us to respond to God at all. Dead means dead, blind means blind, crippled means crippled. And they do.

Because of this some have said that unless God basically saves us first in a process called regeneration, we will remain dead in sin and unable to respond to Him. And because of this, and the fact that not everyone is a born again Christian, they say that this must mean that God has decided who He will save (by regenerating them), and who He will allow to die and go to Hell unsaved (because He made the choice not to regenerate them).

This change can't be resisted they say because we are in fact dead. We can't respond any more than can a corpse, nor can we resist God's work for the same reason.

That makes sense logically, but is it rational? If a particular argument is "logical", it means it has a subjective, internal consistency and truth: within the context of itself - it makes sense.

Rationality is a step further out from this. If an argument is "rational", it means that it has an objective, absolute truth. From the outside in, the argument makes sense. A rational argument is one that has a foundation of truth.

How can we judge if the argument above is rational in addition to being logical? Well, we have to go to the very source of truth regarding sin and death, and that is God's word the Bible. The Bible bears testimony to the inside pieces, but does it bear testimony to the argument as a whole.

As it turns out, it doesn't. And the reason it doesn't is because of God's power and God's will. Nothing is impossible with God (Luke 1:37) and that is a very good thing because we are all sinners.

So I've made some bold statements - where is the proof? The proof is found in the very person that is called the father of all those saved by faith in God's Word: Abraham.

Please read this carefully. Abraham at this time is an elderly man and his wife Sarah is elderly and barren (unable to have children), and God has just told them that Abraham, through Sarah's womb, would father a son who would be his heir, and through this child via natural means Abraham's descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the sky. Quite a thing for God to tell an old man with a barren, elderly wife - as God describes it: Abraham's body was as good as dead, and Sarah's womb was dead (Romans 4:19 below).

How did Abraham respond to this? Was he even able to respond with trust (faith) in what God had said? How could he since Abraham was dead in sin just like all of us? If God made Abraham believe as the above view holds, then we really wouldn't be talking about Abraham's faith would we? We couldn't if his will didn't make the decision. We would be talking about God's will and His will alone.

Is this how God describes events, or does He give another view? It turns out He gives another view:

Romans 4:18-5:2 (NASB)

18 In hope against hope he (Abraham) believed, so that he might become a father of many nations according to that which had been spoken, “so shall your descendants be.”
19 Without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah’s womb;
20 yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God,
21 and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform.
22 Therefore "it was also credited to him as righteousness".
23 Now not for his sake only was it written that it was credited to him,
24 but for our sake also, to whom it will be credited, as those who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead,
25 He who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification.

1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
2 through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God.

Here are some notes on this to bring my own argument to a close:

In verse 18 is God saying that God believed *for* Abraham, or that Abraham in fact believed for himself? God says that Abraham believed and this is born out in verse 22.
In verse 19 we see that Abraham wasn't exhibiting blind faith... saving faith, because of its nature, can never be blind. There is something (someone actually) that it must see in order to be real saving faith. Just as grace requires an object (a target), faith also requires a target. Without a target grace cannot exist, nor can faith for the same reason. Abraham was going into this trial with his eyes wide open. He was thinking about his own body and his age - not to mention the age of his wife and the fact that she was barren. All through their marriage she had been unable to bear children.
In verse 19, Abraham takes in all of these obstacles to God's word and he has a choice to make. He can let the realities on the ground weaken his trust in what God had just told him, or instead he could cling even harder to what God had said - for the very reason that it was God that had said it.
In verse 20 we see which choice Abraham made. He took the door of strengthening his own faith. Rather than allowing his and Sarah's human circumstances to undercut his faith in what God had said, he allowed the fact that God was the one making the promises to instead strengthen his faith. And in this strengthening of his faith that he accomplished based on the revelation God had given him, he gave all the glory to God. This is a great truth about real faith in God, and it is one that many miss.
Although he strengthened his own faith he didn't view that as some type of work of merit or something of which to be proud. Instead he gave all the glory to God. You see, these two things are not mutually exclusive. The only reason Abraham, or any of us, can have faith is because God enables it by revelation (by showing us Himself). Faith needs a target, and when God shows us Himself and His actions faith is automatically enabled. Once God does that it is our faith and we can do with it what we choose. We can grow it, or let it die - and God reciprocates in kind. But the only reason we can have it at all is due to God, and the only reason we can strengthen it is all about God too - by realizing Who it really is in which we are trusting. Thus at one and the same time it truly is our faith in every sense of the word, and all of the glory for that personal faith is due to God Himself. He enabled it, and without Him it would have no target and thus no real existence.
In verse 21 we get more detail on how this actually works. Abraham, instead of looking to himself or Sarah for a solution, instead looked to God. And he was "fully assured" that what God had said He would do, He could in fact accomplish. Abraham knew God was all powerful, so He could not fail in any task. And he knew God could not sin by bearing a false witness as to His own abilities and intent. That is the anchor to which our faith clings: God's nature and His plan for our lives. The part that our faith plays is this: our faith must take the things that are not yet (God's promises), and treat them as if they are. We must take the promises to be the reality.
When we do this God reciprocates. Not because He owes us or we are controlling Him... all of this is God's plan through and through. But when we do the part God has set for us, He completes the action. In verse 22 we see the "therefore". When you read that in God's word, always ask what it's there for. It's there because of all the preceding verses we've just studied. Because Abraham didn't let his faith weaken, but he strengthened it in light of God's character; and because he trusted God and took the things that were not as if they already were, God did the same. God took the thing that was not yet (Abraham's personal righteousness), and He credited it to him as if it really existed. "Therefore (because Abraham trusted God) it was also credited to him as righteousness".
Verses 23-25 are beautiful and they are salvation. This wasn't for Abraham alone, but it was for us also. Everyone who trusts God's word about His one and only Son, and accepts Jesus' sinless life as their own, and His death on the cross as their own, and His resurrection and glorification as their own - will receive the reality of those things themselves through their faith in Christ.
God takes the things that are not (our personal sinless life, our personal death to sin, our resurrection as a new creature, and our glorification and final deliverance from sin) - and He credits them to our account as if they really were. And all of this for Christ, and through Christ - because of His great and undying love for us.
And because of this (chapter 5 verse 1), we have peace with God through Jesus. He is our safe harbor - He is the ark for the faithful to protect us from God's wrath.
And this new relationship with Christ introduces us to God's grace, and we continue to grow in that grace until we are taken up when Jesus returns, or we are taken out to be with Christ through death.
And verse 2, we exult in the hope of the glory of God. In other words, the thing we look forward to after this (after being credited with righteousness), is the actual fact of righteousness made real in us: the hope of God's glory.

So back to the beginning... how does all of this happen to creatures that are dead in sin?

The answer is that God is life and nothing is impossible for Him. This whole account of Abraham is about the dead being brought back to life. It is about life being produced from the inability brought about by death. God shows us things like this quite often: He teaches spiritual truths through physical reality.

The death in sin that you and I face is just like Abraham's and Sarah's bodies that were nearly dead - and in fact were dead as far as having children was concerned. But to God death is never the end of the story. He can bring life anywhere and at any time He wishes. He is the resurrection and the life. You can believe that with all of your heart.

And just like God enabled Abraham's faith by revelation, He has done the same thing for us through the cross of Jesus Christ. Jesus said that when He was lifted up, He would draw all men unto Himself (John 12:32). And just like John the Baptist was given so that men might believe in Jesus (John 1:6-7), He also said that when He was back with the Father the Holy Spirit would come with not just a mission to the saved, but to the lost: to convict and convince them of the truth of God's word (John 16:6-16).

God has made this same revelation available to us as well, and it is the very thing you have been reading: the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Whenever the Gospel is presented God's revelation is made known. Whenever the Gospel is presented faith in that Gospel truth is enabled. What you do with that faith is up to you.

You may choose to let it weaken and die, in which case God may never enable it for you again. Or instead you can choose to strengthen it and follow it to the point of accepting Christ as your Savior.

My prayer for you is that you, like Abraham, will take God at His word and trust Him:

Romans 10:8-13 (NIV)
8 But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming:
9 That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
11 As the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.”
12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him,
13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

A Little Perspective on a Big Gospel

2011-09-05T19:50:00.000-05:00

This evening early on I was sitting in our 'office' playing around on twitter and making new friends (follow me if you don't mind: @TruthMill) when a loud crash came from the kitchen - followed by screaming.

My wife and I both rushed in and found our little three year old Joshua surrounded by broken glass. He had been trying to get a drink and had grabbed a glass and then dropped it on the tile floor. As it turns out he was just fine because he froze. We got him out of there without a scratch on him and he's okay although he got quite the scare. So did mom and dad.

But this little adventure got me thinking about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and how this situation with little Joshua pictured it so perfectly.

He knew he needed something and had tried to help himself and gotten into trouble in the process. After the trouble hit, if he had tried to do anything else to help himself: run, walk, pick up the glass, you name it - he would have gotten hurt, perhaps badly - depending upon his actions. He needed someone bigger and more capable than himself to see his need and to rescue him from himself and the trouble he had created.

This is exactly our situation before God in regards to our sin, and what we often do to try and help ourselves. Because of inabilities that we bring to the party, we can't help ourselves out of our own sin. We just can't, and when we try God says that we make it much, much worse.

God tells us to just freeze and to let Him do the work. Then He asks us to trust in the work He has completed for us on the cross. We look up with little scared eyes, and reach up with little trusting arms, and He lifts us up to safety in arms that never fail (and in fact, cannot ever fail).

The gift of the cross is what is called God's grace. Grace has been given a twisted definition by many inside and outside of the church. Some say grace is only for the pretty people, or the rich people, or the smart people. Some say God dispenses His grace simply by His own whim and that it has nothing to do with us at all - that it is only about God.

All of these ideas about God's grace are wrong. As it turns out, God's grace is for people that need it. In fact, the whole of Romans chapter 5 points this out: the cross of Jesus Christ was for everyone who has been cursed with sin. That's all of us, so the cross was for all of us too.

When the Holy Spirit was speaking through the Apostle Paul in his writings to the early churches, He directed Paul to a very specific word in Greek to describe God's grace. That word is "Charis" (or Xaris). Aristotle, in his large treatment of the art of rhetoric (argument) gives this understanding that all Greek thinkers and writers understood (including the Apostle Paul):

Aristotle's Rhetoric - Book II - Chapter 7 (my explanations in parentheses):

"Now let gratuitous benevolence (Grace) be "that conformably
to which he who has the power is said to confer a
benefit on one who needs it, not in return for anything,
nor in order that any thing may accrue to him who so
confers it, but that some benefit may arise to the object."

(Grace is from the one who has the power, to the one who needs it, but not for anything to be paid back to the giver - it is a free gift of mercy and love that is about the one in trouble - it is for the needy that grace even exists. In fact, without the needy grace cannot exist because for grace to be grace it requires an object, and by definition that object must need the actions of the bestowed grace)

Aristotle continues:

"But it (grace) becomes great (even higher) should it be conferred on one
who is in extreme want, or if the boon be great and
difficult of attainment, or at a crisis of a certain
description, or if the giver has bestowed it alone, or
first, or in a greater degree than any other."

This is the exact picture of God's grace to us in the cross of Jesus Christ, and it was the perfect word for the Holy Spirit to direct Paul to inscribe within the pages of what would become the New Testament.

Please don't try to help yourself in regards to your standing before a just and holy God. You will not make it. You cannot make it. You are defeated before you start and more defeated after you've done your best.

God has provided the cure and it is in the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the cross. Please don't let it go to waste.

Everything that God does require from you is relatively passive. He asks that you recognize your sin before Him, and that you then turn from it and to Him. Then He will take care of the rest. Our job is to admit our trouble and to reach up in faith. God takes care of moving us from the place of danger to the place of safety.

Ask God to save you through the work Jesus accomplished on the cross - ask Him to be the Lord of your life, and your life will never be the same.

Friday Before Labour Day

2011-09-02T10:57:00.000-05:00

Just thanking the Lord this morning for all the myriad ways He has preserved and protected me and my little family. Through much suffering, yes. Through the death of two of our children, through hardships of various kinds - He has never let us hit bottom. And in fact, He has used those things in our lives to bind us to Him - just where we want to be.

Sometimes God shows His love for us by preserving us from disaster - the things that He knows are too big for us. Sometimes God shows His love for us by comforting us through calamity that He has allowed into our lives. In all ways, He knows best and does the best. He can do no other for He is God.

I was just noticing this morning the faces in a news photograph of folks standing in an unemployment line: some sad, some mad - some desperate, some with the stone face of resignation - nobody smiling or hopeful.

So many are suffering and out of work. If you have a job don't be like the nine that ignored what God had done for them. Be like the one who came back and offered worship and praise born from a thankful and repentant heart. And share out of what God has given you with others.

It's best to do it in person if you can. God works through eyes, hands, and hearts. But if not, give to a Christian charity of your choice that not only helps people materially but more importantly teaches the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Samaritan's Purse or BGEA would be good places to use.

/Scott.

--------

Luke 17:12-20
12 As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance 13 and called out in a loud voice, "Jesus, Master, have pity on us!" 14 When he saw them, he said, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, they were cleansed. 15 One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. 16 He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him--and he was a Samaritan. 17 Jesus asked, "Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18 Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" 19 Then he said to him, "Rise and go; your faith has made you well."

Will The Real Christianity Please Stand Up?

2011-08-28T10:21:00.000-05:00

Will the real Christianity please stand up?

Just thinking about true and false Christianity this morning and about how the church is supposed to be the body of Christ when a funny mental picture hit me:

Religion has a long nose that it likes to look down at those that don't meet its standards.

Christianity has long arms that it uses to reach out to people that need Christ.

Religion is concerned with meeting certain standards and imposing them on other people. It wears nice clothes, neatly pressed, and smells great. Predominately it lounges in judgement.

Christianity is concerned with the mission given it by God Himself. It wears overalls and durable shoes. It smells dusty and sweaty from its labor of love. Predominately it gets its hands dirty and works.

The life of the religious person lives in their mouth and in their skin. They have a choice they can make as to whether or not they will exercise love.

The life of the Christian lives in their heart. They have no choice but to exercise love because God has remade them from the inside out.

The religious person is an actor that has even fooled himself. He plays the part he does on the stage of life because he believes it will serve him best. His ultimate goal is his own well being.

The Christian is a person who is no longer their own. They do what they do because they believe it best serves the mission God has laid upon them. Their ultimate goal in all things is simply God.

This Little Light Of Mine...

2011-08-25T22:24:00.001-05:00

A few years ago I went to a Pastor's Appreciation Breakfast that a local radio station so kindly hosted for folks here in the Dallas area. When asked what church I pastored I had to say that I didn't have a church and I wasn't really a pastor. I was a preacher and an 'internet' one at that.... I had this thing called "TruthMill" and you could find it online yada, yada, yada...

After a bit of static punctuated silence on the phone the lady at the station very kindly allowed me to attend and I did so with quite a bit of excitement. Alistair Begg, the person through who's ministry I had received Christ, was going to be the featured speaker and I was really looking forward to meeting him.

As it turned out when he was in the room before and after his talk he was constantly surrounded by people and I decided I didn't want to add to the crowd and just settled myself to praying for him and leaving him alone (I can be a lot to have to deal with for sure). What I really wanted to do was body check people out of the way so that I could rush up and give him a big hug and a kiss on the neck and thank him so very much for being faithful to his ministry because it had borne fruit in me. But, being hauled away by security didn't sound like a grand plan so I just stayed at my table sipping tea and tried not to look too out of place.

In the end I came away with a nice view of Alistair (it's always nice when someone you look up to doesn't turn out to be a creep in person) - and I came away with a basketful of observations. Here are a couple tossed out as food for thought.

The Bible is very clear that Christianity is a transformational thing - and that transformation moves along a very particular vector. Whether the transformation is couched in terms of being born again, of dying to self and being raised with Christ, of being indwelt by the Holy Spirit - clearly bona fide "saving faith" in Christ leaves very distinctive marks on a person who has been truly "saved" (as we call it). Most of us would be familiar with the moral / ethical aspect of this, but there is a lesser realized physical aspect to it as well.

As Jesus Himself said:

Mt 5:14 “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.
Mt 5:15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.
Mt 5:16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

And of course from the Apostles:

2Co 3:17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
2Co 3:18 And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

Believe it or not, real Christians are shiny people. We are actually supposed to reflect God's glory not only in our thoughts and our conduct, but in our very person as well. There is a look to the face, a shine of the eye... It isn't the glaze of a vapid person, but it is the openness of someone who has surrendered their life to Christ and who isn't hindering the Spirit from living in and through them.

I know that some folks will think I'm waxing too allegorical with scripture in saying that. Not to be a snot, but that's what I would have said before I got saved. I don't think I am. I'm different after being saved all the way around, and in this particular way too.

I know I lose some of my glow when I get really, really tired. I've got some blood sugar issues that dog me out sometimes, and when I'm speaking, recording video, or even in a conversation I sometimes have to concentrate fairly hard because I am most certainly not a social person or a public speaker... far from it. But to hear my wife tell it, and she should know, the difference between the old Scott and the new Scott are as different as night and day... and that's my wife talking. That is pretty reassuring especially from the person who knows me best.

Well, at the Pastor's Breakfast my glow detector went off for Alistair, and it went off for the very kind radio station folks (lots of servant hearts there for sure). But it didn't go off so much for the gathered pastors. I'm probably not telling anything to a critic of Christianity that they don't already know, but while there were a few 'bright spots' in the crowd, most of the folks looked like they were weaned on a decayed pickle - or something worse. Seriously.

Here we were all being treated to very good, very free food with a great speaker and there were folks (most of them) that were just dour, unhappy, bitter, and LIGHTLESS.

And while I was contemplating the discrepancy between someone who says they are literally indwelt by God, and the outward appearance they portrayed - another thought hit me: what about their poor congregations? If this was their example of exemplary Christianity, what state would they be in?

That was a rather depressing chain of thoughts, but what is worse is that I know I'm not the only one to notice and travel down that mental road. Most people have probably heard of the 19th century philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. Listen to what he said regarding this phenomenon:

Friedrich Nietzsche

What distinguishes us [scientists] from the pious and the believers is not the quality but the quantity of belief and piety; we are contented with less. But if the former should challenge us: then be contented and appear to be contented! - then we might easily reply: 'We are, indeed, not among the least contented. You, however, if your belief makes you blessed then appear to be blessed! Your faces have always been more injurious to your belief than our objections have! If these glad tidings of your Bible were written on your faces, you would not need to insist so obstinately on the authority of that book... As things are, however, all your apologies for Christianity have their roots in your lack of Christianity; with your defence plea you inscribe your own bill of indictment.
from Nietzsche's Assorted Opinions and Maxims,s. 98, R.J. Hollingdale transl.

Just a note to my fellow Christians here: while Nietzsche voiced this observation from a standpoint of rejection concerning all things Christians - he wasn't wrong.... not by my observations of what passes for Christianity anyway. Nor was he wrong about such people inscribing their own bill of indictment.

In his letter to the church at Rome, Paul had to address the religious Jews at several points - but at one point in particular he had this to say to them:

Ro 2:24 As it is written: “God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”

And he was of course dead on right. Because of these religious people's behavior, God's very name became a laughing stock and a curse word among the nations. Why? Because these religious people claimed a relationship with God they really didn't have, and they claimed an effect made upon them by God that they didn't really show.

If the atheism is removed from Nietzsche's statement, he and Paul sound a bit similar don't they. They do, and for a very good reason: because the observation made by both men (in Paul's case by the Holy Spirit) is a valid one.

Quite frankly, people watch us. One wonders what kind of impact could be had on people like Nietzsche if everyone who claimed the name of Christ were really saved, or if the people that were really saved resolved to actually act like it.

Take a peek in the mirror and ask yourself something: if you had a sign hanging on your neck that said: "here before you is a born again Christian - dead to sin, alive to holiness, and indwelt with the very Spirit of the holy God of justice, righteousness, love, and truth - doing good to those that hate them - going the extra mile - turning the other cheek - loving all with the very love of Christ"... would your general face and overall demeanor go with the sign? If not, why not? God has empowered it, why aren't you exercising that power? Is it because you are rebellious and focused on yourself, or is it because you really don't have the Spirit of God inside you?

Can you image if Christians truly loved the lost like Christ loves them? Can you imagine if Christians reached out with the grace of the cross to those that hate us? What a different world it would be if we acted like 1st & 2nd century Christians rather than what we are now.

If you have God's light inside of you, it's very easy to let it shine: you just give up what you want and latch on to what God wants. It's that simple. Our children get it don't they? "This little light of mine - I'm gonna let it shine..."

But if you don't have God's light inside of you, please don't say that you do. You are working against God Himself and as Nietzsche so declared - inscribing your own bill of indictment.

The world is watching, and so is God. So either pray for God's help and act like what you are, or pray for God's grace and truly become what you have proclaimed to be, or bail out entirely. Those are the only valid options.

Saving Faith

2011-08-25T14:15:00.000-05:00

James 2

Because the new birth comes by faith, saving faith is always transformative.

It makes us more and more like Christ, so therefore it will always be accompanied and obviated by God approved works: the very things He set aside for us to do since the foundation of creation.

Did You Know This?

2011-08-25T11:45:00.000-05:00

The Washington Monument and Washington, DC

A Few Words From William Temple

2011-07-07T22:44:00.001-05:00

Excerpted from the Gifford Series Lectures:

Lecture I: The Distinction Between Natural and Revealed Religion

William Temple (1932)

Now it is universally recognised that religious belief, like all other, rests at first on authority. There is here no relevant difference between a child brought up by religious parents and a full-grown unbeliever converted by the appeal of a preacher. In the latter case the act of surrender is more conscious, and it is also more conspicuous because surrender is a less frequent occurrence in the life of an adult than in that of a child. But it is still, in both cases, surrender. The number of instances in which a man becomes in a living sense religious because he has been convinced by argumentation must be extremely small.

The child accepts what he is told concerning God as he accepts all else that he is told by those in trust upon whom he lives, according to his capacity to receive it. In the same way he accepts the dogmatic assertion that 7 × 7 = 49 without working it out for himself. But in most departments of life the basis of belief is gradually shifted from the authority of parents and teachers to his own experience and his own reflection upon this. And so far as this happens, his belief becomes more autonomous. It is his own; he has verified and vindicated it. He is still grateful to parents and teachers—more grateful now than ever. But his belief no longer rests on their authority. He has put it to the proof himself; very likely in so doing he has modified it; but in any case it is now his own, not something which he has borrowed from others.

The process is familiar also in religious growth. But here there is a difference.

The believer who finds that experience and reflection confirm his belief is also in the position of having changed a faith rooted in the authority of teachers to one based on and vindicated by his own experience and criticism.

In that sense he too is translated from dependence on authority to a real autonomy. Yet that is not the feature in the situation which is most conspicuous to himself. No doubt, if challenged, he is ready to assert the immediacy of assurance with which he now holds his faith. But it requires a challenge to bring that aspect of the matter into prominence.

What he realises day by day is that his growth in personal certitude, in detachment from any human authority, has brought him into ever closer relations with a Being who claims the allegiance of his entire nature—desire and thought, conscience and will.

He is delivered, not from, but to, authority, though to authority of a new kind; for the point on which he has reached personal conviction is the existence of a God entitled to exercise authority over him, and of his own consequent obligation to serve and obey that God.

He does not find here any conflict with reason; nothing can be so reasonable as total submission to the God with whom he has to do. It is not unreasonable for the ignorant man to trust and implicitly to follow the expert; on the contrary, it is unreasonable for him to set up an ill-formed judgement in opposition to real knowledge; he may begin to study the subject so that he may understand the expert, but till his understanding is equal he will defer in judgement.

So to the devout man it would seem the height of unreason that he should set up his judgement against that of his God. He, too, will try to understand the mind of God, but he will not expect to reach the end of that enterprise, and as he looks back upon his philosophisings in the light of his vision of God he will exclaim with Job:

“Who is this that hideth counsel without knowledge? Therefore have I uttered that I understood not, things too wonderful for me, which I knew not. I had heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee; wherefore I loathe my words and repent in dust and ashes.”
Job 42: 3,5,6

Preaching? Are You Kidding Me?

2011-07-05T20:31:00.001-05:00

New video: "Preaching? Are You Kidding Me?" now online at TruthMill.org.

All... Or Many? The Ultimate Question Concerning God's Grace

2011-07-05T12:00:00.014-05:00

All, or many?

The concepts that can underlie both of these words have often split modern Christianity into two sides: those that believe the Bible teaches that Christ died for everyone, and those that believe He died only for only a subset of humanity: the Elect.

Now there are different definitions among Christians for just what "elect" means. This post won't venture into that topic, but I do want to look at the question of "all" or "many".

Mark 10:45 (NIV)
45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

Matthew 26:27-28 (NIV)
27 Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you.
28 This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

In English anyway, the difference between "all" and "many" is a no-brainer, as they say. "All" is an all encompassing term that simply means the complete collection of something - of some type of thing.

In comparison, "many" means a less than complete group - a subset of some whole. It is the opposite of "few", so it includes within its definition perhaps somewhat of a large number of things, but it most certainly doesn't mean "all". At least that's a common thought at first glance.

A little illustration that I like to give when speaking with people, is to hold up two sets of my keys that I use daily. First I say, "let me show you "all" of my office keys", and I hold up a fat keychain that has about 20 keys on it. Then I say, "now let me show you "all" of my car keys", and then I hold up a single key - the only car key I have. Most people don't get the idea until I start to explain it... they just sort of stare are me like I'm a weird nerd (which I guess I am).

Then I explain that within English, although we may not at first be aware of it, we have the understanding that "all" can be singular or "all" can be plural. It all just depends on the "things", the category of items of which we are speaking. But bound up in this is the truth that "many" can also mean "all". My office keychain has "many" keys on it, but that same keychain also holds "all" of my office keys. "Many" can also mean "all" in this circumstance because we are talking about my 'office' keys: a category of things.

"All" can be singular or plural. "Many" can also mean "all". It just depends upon what we are discussing.

If you've tracked with me so far, the next thing to consider is this: Are the same ideas true when considering Semitic, eastern people expressing themselves in a non-Semitic language (Greek)? In other words, the writings of the New Testament?

Consider this from the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul. This is 10 verses so I'll break it up a bit and give a running commentary throughout. But to keep things in context and to read it in a natural flow, here it is first in its entirety:

Romans 5:12-21 (NIV)
12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned—
13 for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law.
14 Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come.
15 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!
16 Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification.
17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.
18 Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men.
19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.
20 The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more,
21 so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

As is usual with Paul, and in his epistle to the Romans in particular, there is a lot going on in these few verses.

What I want to talk about first is this issue of "all" vs. "many". Please consider these points:

12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned—

Verse 12 lays out what hopefully we all know is one of the core messages of Christianity: Sin entered humanity through Adam (the one man), and it didn't come to us alone. Death came with it. We all 'sinned' because in essence we were all 'in' Adam. This is true from both a genetic sense and an authoritative standpoint. Genetic, because Adam was the natural father to all of us - no matter how many generations have passed from him to us. When he sinned and incurred death, he was changed from how God created him to something different: a fallen creature. He passed that state along to us. We are also in Adam authoritatively. He was the representative head of the human race. If you'll remember from Genesis, it was actually Eve that first sinned - so why does Adam get the blame here? Because he sinned too, but more importantly because he had the overall authority for the human race. He fell, and we fell with him. This fall passes through our fathers to us. If you are human and had a human father, you have this sin problem to deal with. The good news of the Gospel is that you don't have to deal with it by yourself. You are not alone.

14 Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come.

This tells us that after Adam's fall, sin is in all of us - even those who did not sin by breaking a command as did Adam. The proof of this is that death reigns over us. Verse 12 sets up the maxim that death entered through sin. The fact that all of us have an appointment with the grave is the proof God provides to us that we are all inherently effected by sin. God did not create us to die - He us created to live. The fact of death means that something has gone horribly, horribly wrong - and the point where the wheels came off the truck, the event that introduced catastrophe, was the entry of sin into the human race.

But as I said above, we are not alone in this mess. Adam, who sinned and opened the door to death for all of us, was a pattern of 'the one to come'. There is a helper on the way, and Paul describes Him next - as well as His form.

15 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!

This 'one to come' is a gift. But the question may remain: is it truly for all or just for some?

For if the many died by the trespass of the one man. Interesting, no? Fresh off the heels of the concept of 'all', Paul now introduces 'many' as a direct synonym for 'all'. He can do this in Greek just like I can in English with my keys, because he is talking about a category of things. In this case, people - humanity as a whole group.

We know that 'all' died because of Adam, so why does Paul switch gears and now replace 'all' with 'many'. Has he changed his mind that 'all' died in Adam to the idea that just 'a lot', or 'many' died in Adam? Of course not. Paul has a purpose in mind, and he lets it play out in the balance of his thought.

Please consider the second half of v. 15: how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!

Is it true that the gift of Jesus Christ is only for 'some'.. 'many', rather than for 'all' (as some would understand the words)?. Some have made the claim that this is exactly what 'many' in this context means. They are incorrect. Not because I say so, but because God says so. Please read on.

What the Holy Spirit through Paul is doing, is setting up a comparison of relationships so that we can understand God's plan of salvation in Jesus Christ. One relationship is between us and Adam. The other is between us and Christ.

Both relationships are a one to many (1:n) relationship. The idea is that in both cases there is a causative event enacted by one person that then effects many persons. The "many" are effected by the "one", because of their subordinate relationship to the one. In the case of Adam, we have both a genetic and an authoritative tie. In the case of Christ, we have no natural tie. We can apprehend (grab a hold of) Christ in only one way, and it is the way God has dictated - and that is faith. In this example given by Paul, faith is depicted as accepting the gift of grace God offers in the sacrifice of His Son Jesus.

There is another thread of thought too. The Holy Spirit through Paul is also stating, very clearly, an inequality of extent between these two different cause and effect relationships. It may appear at first as an 'equality' of extent, but in actuality it is an 'inequality' of extent and the inequality is stacked in our favor as sinners. Please track with me here for a second.

One extent is the extent of sin in mankind. It entered by the trespass (the breaking of a commandment) by one man: Adam, and it spread to the whole human race (v.12) - the "many". There are a lot of us - but we are all in trouble because of one of us.

Every human that has ever existed (the 'many'), are all subject to death through the sin of just one man: Adam. This is a one to many relationship, but because of what has gone before we understand that 'many' means 'all' humans (verse 12).

The other extent is the extent of God's grace in the cross of Jesus Christ. I get excited just writing about it! By the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, God's gift of salvation (for that is what we are examining here) overflowed to the 'many'. This is a comparison of extent, but it isn't an equality of extent. It is much, much better than that. I do so love how God works!

In beginning v. 15, Paul says "For if..." and then goes on to describe our sin problem because of Adam. But in the second half of v. 15 Paul says "how much more..." and he then goes on to describe the grace available to us through the cross of Jesus Christ. "How much more..." goes beyond an equality of extent to an inequality of extent, and the inequality is in our favor. Why? Because God loves us so very much. He loves you so very much.

Humanity was doomed by one man. But there is another truth to be told: by the grace of the other 'one' man (the 'last Adam' of 1st Cor. 15:45), God has delivered His grace to the exact same group of people that were doomed by Adam. That means all of us: all of humanity. And yet even more so. He didn't deliver one kind of grace to some and a different kind to others. He delivered the only kind of grace He has in the same over abundant quantity to all of humanity.

The word 'overflow' in v. 15 is a wonderful word in any context, but especially this one. "Eperisseusen" is a word picture of a vessel receiving more liquid than it can hold, and the excess liquid spilling over the sides. It means to have an excess amount of something. What God is telling us here is that in comparison to our sin problem we have in Adam, we have an overabundance of grace made available to us through Christ. And this overabundance through the one man, the gift of God: Jesus Christ, is for the exact same group of people that were doomed by the one man, Adam: all of us. Not just some of us, but all of us. And the grace that is made available to us is homogeneous, not heterogeneous. God has one kind of saving grace, and that is Christ. And it is that one Christ that is made available to all who are dead in Adam: the entire human race.

God is no respecter of persons. He does not play favoritism in salvation. He is completely impartial.

If you are a human, God's grace for salvation is available to you. Not merely just enough, but more than enough. God has taken care of everything so that there is no shortage of His provision for you in the cross of Jesus Christ. Truly, God is love.

Some teach that Jesus died only for the elect - a subset of humanity. They teach that the grace of God made available through Jesus' death on the cross is of an exact amount only for the elect. The reasoning goes that God would have never sent His son to truly and effectively die for those that would reject Him. How could God let a portion of His son's sacrifice go to waste? He would do no such thing they would say. And they say it quite vehemently.

Just a small question: what does it matter how forcefully one may teach those things, when God clearly doesn't agree with them? Is it their salvation, or His? Did they devise this odd way of saving sinners, or did He?

Does the fact that they teach them with such surety, with such strength, mean that you should believe them, even when God disagrees with them?

God has given an overabundance of His grace in the cross of Christ, and this gift is for the exact same group that inherited death through sin from Adam. That means me, and it means you. It means all of us.

Please don't be led astray by those that claim to speak for God but do not. Whether they teach what they do out of a hard heart, poor reading comprehension, or an unwillingness to listen to God's Spirit like a child matters little. What does matter is that they attribute to God things that God has not attributed to Himself. Avoid such people and teachings. This doesn't mean that everything they teach is wrong, of course not. It doesn't mean that they aren't Christians. But what it does mean is that at a very basic, foundational level - they aren't listening to the Holy Spirit in this area and they aren't preaching God's message. They are preaching a different message, which in actuality is a different Gospel. That is not something that should attract a following among God's redeemed people.

16 Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification.
17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.

Verse 16 highlights again the inequality of extent between our doom in sin and our salvation in Christ. Although the 'gift of God' is applicable to the same exact group as were doomed by Adam, the 'gift of God' is not like the result of Adam's sin. Why? Because in the fall God's right and proper judgment fell upon sin and brought exactly what it should have: condemnation. God is holy and He must judge and destroy it wherever and in whoever He finds it. But the 'gift of God' came after many sins, but it brings the gift of righteousness (God's own righteousness He gives to us) so that we can reign in life through Christ.

Please note however that this isn't teaching universal salvation for all men and women. We know from so many other parts of the Bible there will be those who God must cast into Hell because they will die having rejected God's revelation of Himself.

The key point for this topic in these verses is in v 17: the word 'receive'. The Greek word lambano means to take or receive. Here, since we are talking about God's gift both of and in Jesus Christ, it simply means to receive the gift. Here lambano is in the active voice, meaning that the subject of the verb is the one doing the action of the verb: v. 17 "how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ".

God has provided everything necessary for my salvation, and for yours... for everyone's salvation. He has provided it as a gift. Why did God use the word gift (dorea) here? Simply to show that He has provided everything we need as a gift. It is in no way deserved by us and can in no way be earned or purchased by us. It is a gift. Why the active voice for lambano in conjunction with the idea of a gift? Simply in order to show that like any gift, this gift from God can be received (lambano) or rejected. We must decide for ourselves.

18 Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men.
19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.

V. 18: God's great gift in Christ brought life for all men, but not all men will accept (lambano) it... tragic but true. What a waste.
V. 19: Here again is the explanation of the one to many (1:n) relationships mentioned above. But because God's grace is a gift (dorea) and must be received by each person individually (lambano), we must understand "many" in both of its possible uses, and this is true because of the context of these verses and the Bible as a whole.

We know that "all" humans died in Adam, so in v. 19 "the many were made sinners" - "many" means "all". But we also know that not all sinners will accept God's free gift of salvation, so here: "so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous", we have to understand "many" in its limited sense. It is indeed a limit, but it isn't a limit imposed by God. It's a limit imposed by men and women upon themselves.

20 The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more,
21 so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

One of the things that can be noticed about people (if we take the time to look), is that intelligent people are rarely one dimensional. Typically they have one or a few things they do for support, but they also have other hobbies to occupy their mind and body.

In addition to science and mathematics, Einstein also loved sailing and music. Thomas Jefferson, politician and statesman, was also a philosopher and had a great passion for archaeology. James Madison is known as the father of our Constitution (and is the person most responsible for our current form of government), but he also enjoyed horseback riding, reading, writing, and chess.

Well, when examining the revelation given to us by the person with infinite intelligence, God, we see this same kind of multifaceted truth come to light.

The law given by God both represented and did several things. For instance, the law reflects God's moral character. He is Holy (completely without sin) and His law reflects that fact. But even more specifically in looking at the law, we can see that it is a portrait of the perfect human being... that perfect human being is Christ.

At every point of the law, Jesus fulfilled it perfectly and He is in fact the only person to have ever done so because He out of all humanity did only what the Father wanted Him to do.

But the law also served another purpose, and this is what Paul covers here: the law was given so that sin could be seen for what it truly is. The law is like a spotlight that shines on us and our natures, and reveals what we otherwise are somewhat blind to: that we are unholy, we are unrighteous, and that when we see God's standards for these things in comparison to our own nature and behavior, the differences come screaming out at us. I haven't yet come across anyone who would say they are morally perfect (they aren't totally blind to sin), but they don't truly understand what sin really is and the effects that it has until the law comes and makes those things plain.

And in fact it is this discrepancy between what God requires of us (righteousness), and what we can muster up for ourselves (nothing anywhere close to true righteousness) that sends us running to Him for His own righteousness that He is willing to give us through Christ.

Unrighteousness (sin) brings death, and in fact the victory of sin over us is apparent in the fact that we all die. Sin has had its way with us, so truly it reigns over us as creatures. But thankfully that doesn't have to be the end of the story.

For those that accept (lambano) God's salvation in Jesus Christ, grace will unseat sin from the throne of our lives and it can reign instead. The righteousness (God's own righteousness) that He has gifted us with through His grace of placing Jesus on the cross for our sins, brings its own just consequence - and that is eternal life.

Sin naturally brings death. Righteousness (non-sin) naturally brings eternal life.

Whereas because of Adam we are born as sinners and we confirm that sad fact through the actions and attitudes that anyone can see in our lives, we don't have to remain as sinners bound up and owned by death. We can instead lambano (receive) what God has provided through the gift of His Son, which is exactly what we need: God's forgiveness of our sin and the bestowal of His own righteousness upon us. When we allow God's grace to reign, sin can no longer stand. When sin no longer stands, its consequences no longer apply. When grace reigns, its natural consequence becomes our future: eternal life with God through Jesus Christ.

If you have never personally responded to the Gospel of Jesus Christ as God demands, will you do so now?

Realize that God sent His Son to die for you because it was necessary. All of us have a terrible problem and Jesus Christ is the cure. Outside of God saving us, we have no hope.

Go someplace quiet and simply ask God to forgive you of your sins through what Jesus did for you, and ask God to give you His own righteousness because you don't have any of your own. Turn your life over to Him and let Him be your master rather than yourself. Die to yourself so that you can live with Christ.

You can do this because this is what God has decided for His salvation: His fallen creations, of their own will, turning from sin and turning back to Him. You can do it because He enables your faith through the cross of Jesus Christ and the witness of His Spirit to the truth of His Word.

Jesus said that when He was 'lifted up' that He would draw all men to Himself. It is the grace of the cross that enables your salvation in all ways.

Don't let that opportunity go to waste.

The Extent Of The Atonement

2011-06-23T22:43:00.006-05:00

1st Timothy 2:1-7 (NIV) - the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul:

1 I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone-- 2 for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. 3 This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all men--the testimony given in its proper time. 7 And for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle--I am telling the truth, I am not lying--and a teacher of the true faith to the Gentiles.

One of the key points any comprehensive definition of the Gospel of Jesus Christ must contain, is an acknowledgement of who the Gospel is for.

Is it just for some, or is it for all?

That question cannot be answered until another question is considered, and that is the scope, or the extent, of the atonement. This is because the ground, the basis, of anyone's forgiveness in Christ is the atonement: the reconciliation God effected between Himself and the world, through the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ on the cross.

In the simplest terms, the atonement is simply Jesus Christ paying the sin debt for sinners. As the old song goes: we owed a debt we could not pay; He paid a debt He did not owe. And thank God for sending Him to do just that! Jesus is the only person in all of human history that met the requirements for a comprehensive atonement:

Jesus had no sin of His own, thus He was morally flawless and suited to be a perfect sacrifice before the Lord. (Hebrews 4:15, Hebrews 7:26, 1 Peter 2:22, Philippians 2:5-7)
Jesus was fully human just as we are fully human. Animals cannot truly be a substitute for a person because they do not share in our humanity - Jesus did. (John 1:1-14, Hebrews 2:14-18, Romans 1:1-4)
Jesus, while being fully human, was also fully God. As God He could work in ways that were not bound by space and time. The atonement He bought with His own blood stretches from the very first human sin forward to the end of human sin. (John 1:1, John 1:14-18, Philippians 2:5-7, John 10:27-33, Hebrews 7:22-27)
Only Jesus, as fully God, could offer a perfect sacrifice. Part of the nature of substitutionary atonement that God instituted in the Old Testament involved the sinner confessing their sin and in effect 'placing' that sin upon the sacrificial animal. The ancient Israelite would 'lean' on the animal, placing his hands on its head and allowing it to support and brace his body as he confessed his sins before the Lord. The animal then became their sacrificial substitute. This was a foreshadowing of the eventual sacrifice of Christ Himself. But we don't realize all of the sins we commit. In the atonement brought about by Jesus, God Himself laid our sins upon Jesus; He didn't miss one of them. Jesus, with the full awareness of God, could offer a perfect sacrifice for us because there is nothing that is hidden from His sight. (Leviticus 4:4 ["Lay" is the Hebrew "Samake" - it means to sustain, to uphold, to be braced, to be steadfast], 2 Corinthians 5:20-6:2, Hebrews 9:12-15).

For these reasons as well as others, Jesus is the only one through whom we can have a right standing before God the Father, because Jesus is the only one who could function as a sacrifice on our behalf. Our sin was so great, our need so dire, only God could do it! Consider God speaking in Isaiah 63:5:

Isa 63:5 I looked, but there was no one to help, I was appalled that no one gave support; so my own arm worked salvation for me, and my own wrath sustained me.

In the cross of Jesus Christ, we have both love and justice proclaimed: God's love, in that He sent His Son to die in our place so that we could live; and God's justice, in that once our sins were placed on Christ, it was inevitable that God's judgment must fall. And fall it did, in all of it's horrible, bloody, painful horror. That is also God's proclamation to us that if we reach the end of life still in our sins, it won't matter how much God loves us. Just as He loved His own Son on the cross with all of His heart, he will still have to loose His wrath on us because of our sin. If it happened to Jesus when sin was laid upon Him, it will most certainly happen to us if we choose to remain in our sin.

God made this sacrifice of Christ a provisional sacrifice, meaning that it isn't automatically applied to anyone. It is entirely possible to treat the shed blood of Jesus Christ as an 'unholy thing', and to spurn the forgiveness that could have been realized. God's 'grace' in the cross, the unmerited favor and love of the sacrifice of Christ on our behalf, is only apprehended through faith. God has made the exercise of personal faith the condition upon which the benefits of the atonement are realized and made active.

That is the nature of the atonement, but what about it's 'scope'? How far does the atonement go? Was it really for everyone or just some?

This question was a non-issue for the first few centuries of the Church of Jesus Christ upon the Earth. John the Baptist, the last of the Old Testament prophets, declared the extent of the atonement in saying, "Behold the lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29). Jesus claimed a comprehensive atonement (John 3:14-21). The Apostles taught a comprehensive atonement (1st Timothy 2:1-7, 2 Peter 3:9). The men who came after the Apostles also understood the atonement as being comprehensive in nature. How could they not? For they had learned these things from the Apostles themselves.

Consider what the men who came directly after the Apostles had to say about the extent of the atonement. Listen to the words and thoughts they use to convey their conviction that the atonement was for everyone and everyone's sin:

Justin Martyr (100AD - 165AD; writing about 160AD):
Dialogue of Justin, Philosopher and Martyr, with Trypho (A Jew) - Chapter XCV (95)
If, then, the Father of all wished His Christ for the whole human family to take
upon Him the curses of all, knowing that, after He had been crucified and was
dead, He would raise Him up, why do you argue about Him, who submitted to suffer
these things according to the Father's will, as if He were accursed, and do not
rather bewail yourselves? For although His Father caused Him to suffer these
things in behalf of the human family, yet you did not commit the deed as in
obedience to the will of God. For you did not practice piety when you slew the
prophets. And let none of you say: If His Father wished Him to suffer this, in
order that by His stripes the human race might be healed, we have done no wrong.
If, indeed, you repent of your sins, and recognize Him to be Christ, and observe
His commandments, then you may assert this; for, as I have said before,
remission of sins shall be yours. But if you curse Him and them that believe on
Him, and, when you have the power, put them to death, how is it possible that
requisition shall not be made of you, as of unrighteous and sinful men,
altogether hard-hearted and without understanding, because you laid your hands on Him?

Justin Martyr (100AD - 165AD; writing about 160AD):
Dialogue of Justin, Philosopher and Martyr, with Trypho (A Jew) - Chapter CXXXVII (137)
Say no evil thing, my brothers, against Him that was crucified, and treat not
scornfully the stripes wherewith all may be healed, even as we are healed.

Melito (Bishop of Sardis - circa 190AD):
Thou slewest thy Lord, and He was lifted up upon the tree; and an inscription was fixed above, to show who He was that was slain. And who was this? (that which we shall not say is too shocking to hear, and that which we shall say is very
dreadful: nevertheless hearken, and tremble.) It was He because of whom the earth quaked. He that hung up the earth in space was Himself hanged up; He that fixed the heavens was fixed with nails; He that bore up the earth was borne up
on a tree; the Lord of all was subjected to ignominy in a naked body--God put to
death! the King of Israel slain with Israel's right hand! Alas for the new
wickedness of the new murder! The Lord was exposed with naked body: He was not deemed worthy even of covering; and, in order that He might not be seen, the
luminaries turned away, and the day became darkened because they slew God, who hung naked on the tree. It was not the body of our Lord that the luminaries covered with darkness when they set, but the eyes of men. For, because the people quaked not, the earth quaked; because they were not affrighted, the earth was affrighted. Thou smotest thy Lord: thou also hast been smitten upon the earth. And thou indeed liest dead; but He is risen from the place of the dead, and ascended to the height of heaven, having suffered for the sake of those who suffer, and having been bound for the sake of Adam's race which was imprisoned, and having been judged for the sake of him who was condemned, and having been buried for the sake of him who was buried.

Irenaeus (130AD - 200AD; Bishop of Lyons, as a boy taught by Polycarp, who was a disciple of the Apostle John; writing about 180AD):
Against Heresies -Book V (5)
who, redeeming us by His own blood in a manner consonant to reason, gave Himself
as a redemption for those who had been led into captivity. And since the
apostasy tyrannized over us unjustly, and, though we were by nature the property
of the omnipotent God, alienated us contrary to nature, rendering us its own
disciples, the Word of God, powerful in all things, and not defective with
regard to His own justice, did righteously turn against that apostasy, and
redeem from it His own property, not by violent means, as the [apostasy] had
obtained dominion over us at the beginning, when it insatiably snatched away
what was not its own, but by means of persuasion, as became a God of counsel,
who does not use violent means to obtain what He desires; so that neither should
justice be infringed upon, nor the ancient handiwork of God go to destruction.
Since the Lord thus has redeemed us through His own blood, giving His soul for
our souls, and His flesh for our flesh, and has also poured out the
Spirit of the Father for the union and communion of God and man, imparting
indeed God to men by means of the Spirit, and, on the other hand, attaching man
to God by His own incarnation, and bestowing upon us at His coming immortality
durably and truly, by means of communion with God,--all the doctrines of the heretics fall to ruin.

Irenaeus (130AD - 200AD; Bishop of Lyons, as a boy taught by Polycarp, who was a disciple of the Apostle John; writing about 180AD):
Against Heresies -Book V (5)

so also, in [the times of] the end, the Word of the Father and the Spirit of
God, having become united with the ancient substance of Adam's formation,
rendered man living and perfect, receptive of the perfect Father, in order that
as in the natural [Adam] we all were dead, so in the spiritual we may all be made alive.

Clement of Alexandria (150AD - 215AD; writing about 195AD):
For this also He came down. For this He clothed Himself with man. For this He
voluntarily subjected Himself to the experiences of men, that by bringing
Himself to the measure of our weakness whom He loved, He might
correspondingly bring us to the measure of His own strength. And about to be
offered up and giving Himself a ransom, He left for us a new
Covenant-testament: My love I give unto you. And what and how great
is it? For each of us He gave His life,--the equivalent for all.

Victorinus (150AD - 215AD; Bishop of Poetovio in Syria; writing about 280AD):
Commentary On The Apocalypse Of The Blessed John (Revelation) - Chapter 4

And when for man's salvation He was made man to overcome death, and to set all
men free, and that He offered Himself a victim to the Father on our behalf, He was called a calf.

And there are many, many more.

The idea of a limited atonement did not come from God's Word, and it didn't come from the first several centuries of the church. Although it was an idea that came into its own in the middle ages with the Reformers, some of their ideas were perhaps based upon the writings of Augustine from the 5th century AD. That is a highly debated topic and I am certainly no expert on that account.

But no matter how the false belief has crept in, it most certainly has crept in.

So what is the danger? Why do I get so exercised about doctrine (correct theology as given by God in His Word the Bible)?

Believe me, in pointing out error that contradicts God's Word, I am making no friends. I realize I am stepping all over some people's beliefs as well as the beliefs of people they hold dear: brothers and sisters, moms and dads, grannies and grand-dads. I get that, and I hate it, but I must.

Here are at least a few of the issues:

One of the core sins God has shown to us in the Bible is men and women attributing things to God that He has not attributed to Himself. Adam and Eve, Eliphaz and crew in the book of Job, the children of Israel en masse... and on and on. I hate to see it in the church as well. We are supposed to have the Spirit living in us and one of His functions is to guide us into all truth. But how easily we sometimes shut him out when our traditions clash with His sure testimony. Israel for the most part rejected God's witness. Why is the church following in their footsteps? The answer to this is even less popular than the things I've already said.
God's revealing of Himself to us is a crucial point because we can only know about God what He has shown us. Shouldn't we be concerned with getting it right rather than functionally setting it aside and adding accretions to it just like Israel did in their own sad past?
Mankind in our own nature, religious or atheistic, struggles with deity. We either try to find God in the extremes of scale the universe offers (down through the microscope and up through the telescope), or we seek to define truth for ourselves - thus seeking to raise ourselves to divinity. But in God's Word, we in essence have a love letter from deity to us. In it He shows us Himself, and He shows us ourselves, and He asks us to love and trust Him. This great and mighty God, the one and only, *asks* us to trust and love Him. It stops me in my tracks and I just have to wonder at Him and worship Him. He conquered me, not with threats of hell, but with power and might shown to be at its core this thing called love. What an astounding surprise! One doesn't encounter that in the world of man, but it cannot be avoided when listening to God's testimony about Himself. God's love and goodness, His humbleness in His infinite might astounds and humbles me. Truly, Christ has shown us the Father - one Who's burden is light and Who is humble in heart. Isn't this person worth listening to and taking as He has given Himself without changing His Word?

But my biggest concern is this: The Bible is under a very strong and sustained attack on practically all fronts. The question, "Can the Bible be believed?" is on the lips of those outside of Christ in ways that I don't think we've ever encountered before.

What kind of testimony does it give to them, the ones we are to love as ourselves and pray for their salvation - the ones for whom we are to sacrifice - the ones for whom we are to abridge our own freedoms in Christ - what kind of testimony does it give to them when even Christians who claim Christ change what His Word says? If not with the knife or the pen, certainly with interpretation.

How can we escape censure from God for treating His Word like a child's paper that we feel needs our editorial skills? If we stopped at explanation that would be fulfilling our task as His children. But when our explanations "explain away" what He has clearly and repeatedly said, how are we not unfaithful and evil before the God we claim to serve?

The answer is: we aren't. So we had better knock it off.

A Word About Works

2011-06-20T12:00:00.002-05:00

Among the hobbies that my wife and I enjoy are photography and videography. And one of the things one learns rather quickly is that nothing shows off a spectacular foreground like a proper background.

In this same way in his letter to the church at Rome, the Apostle Paul takes the diamond of God's salvation and shows its qualities to the fullest by setting it against the dark backdrop of human religious history. And though he does this throughout the letter, it comes through strongest in chapters 9, 10, and 11.

One of the main threads of thought that the Holy Spirit communicates through Paul, is that salvation is God's idea. It functions according to His design and it can only be apprehended by humanity in one way and one way only: through true faith in the true Messiah: Jesus Christ.

But the Holy Spirit also communicates that there are some very important misunderstandings about how salvation works. Paul addresses some of these in the chapters mentioned above.

One of the areas that was most misunderstood in Paul's day was the concept of faith verses works. This misunderstanding still lives on in the church today, but it has shed it's Jewish robes and now wears the trappings of Christian orthodoxy.

Romans has many threads of thought and I won't tackle all of them here, but to summarize Romans 9 we have this:

Paul is dealing with a very serious question regarding Jewishness as a religion, Jewishness as an ethnicity - Jewish descent from Abraham, and Jesus Christ as the only means of salvation.
The core question Paul is answering is this: How in the world did the 'elect' people, the Jews, become 'unelect'? How did God's people - who as Paul says - had the adoption as sons, the revelation of the divine glory, the covenants, the law, the temple worship, and the promises (Rom 9:4) - how is it that the people that were elected to sonship were now rejected by God Himself.

How did the 'elect' become the 'unelect'? Paul answers this by showing several things:

That the Jewish belief that they were 'elected' to salvation due to descent from Abraham was a horribly faulty argument. After all, Abraham had another son: Ishmael, but God chose Isaac as the pathway for His promises. Isaac himself had two sons: Esau (the older), and Jacob. In semetic culture the first son was due a double portion of honor and wealth. If anyone would have received the promises through anything resembling a 'natural' course of events, it would have been Esau. But God turns human customs and perceptions on their heads: God chose Jacob and rejected Esau as the conduit for the promises made to Abraham.
So Paul is trying to show his fellow Jews that mere human descent from Abraham wasn't enough to gain salvation: to be 'elect'. God has His own plans, and He is working those plans, and they don't include natural, human descent.
Instead they include 'spiritual' descent. As Paul made the point in Romans 9:6B "...For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel."
God also makes the point through Paul, that He will have mercy and compassion on whom He wishes. Although the Jew's descent from the patriarchs comes with many, many honors and blessings - as far as salvation is concerned, human descent means nothing. God is under no rule or law to have to give salvation to anybody, no matter from where they are descended. God doesn't owe anybody anything. That's an important point to always keep in mind. But there is an even more important idea from our own standpoint as humans: God has said who He will save and who He won't, and that takes us to our last point.
At the tail end of Romans 9 Paul explains then just how one can be saved. In essence, he answers the question about to whom God shows mercy and compassion. The answer isn't based upon human descent. It is based upon spiritual descent - and spiritual descent is decided in this question of faith verses works.

Romans 9:30-33 (NIV)
(30) What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith;
(31) but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it.
(32) Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the "stumbling stone."
(33) As it is written: "See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame."

Verse 32 is the real kicker. When God says that He will have mercy and compassion on whom He desires - Jew or Gentile, it can sound a bit arbitrary. But Paul shows that it isn't arbitrary at all. He shows that the recipients of God's mercy and compassion are those that place saving faith in His Son: Jesus Christ. Those that miss out on God's mercy and compassion are those that reject His Son. It's as simple as that.

Now one would think with this simple of an explanation that every Christian throughout all of history would get this, but not all have. Not all do now. One of the main points of confusion that I find in many people that I read or talk to, is that they have their own definitions for 'faith' and 'works', and they have these other ideas because they have rejected God's definitions for these words.

Let me show you what I mean.

You've probably heard teaching in certain traditions that basically goes like this:

Salvation is only about God.
Because of the sin nature we inherited from Adam, and have dived into head first ourselves, none of us can respond to God for salvation at all. Dead in sin means we are a corpse with no sensitivity whatsoever.
Because of this, unless God first 'regenerates' people - which in itself is a saving act - unless God does that first, no one would ever be saved at all.
Partially for this reason, God must have already selected who will be saved and who will perish, because in the realm of humanity no one could decide anything. So the functional will involved in salvation is God's and God's alone.

And another thing that plays into this, is that folks who interpret Scripture in this way seem to tell me that anything resembling the exercise of 'faith' by a human is actually a work. And as a work, it can't save. In fact, they say that we can't do anything to be saved at all, and if we are mistaken about that and try to do something, then we are engaging in works.

In some ways, to certain types of people, that can sound very pious. It can sound very proper and submissive. It sounds like God is being honored and glorified because everything is deferred to Him, even a human response that in this view isn't really a bona fide human response.

The issue with all of this is that there is nothing pious about disagreeing with God. There is nothing pious about reading what God says, and then rejecting it and filling in the void with our own ideas, no how matter how religious they may sound. That's what sank the religious Jews of Jesus' day. They had God incarnate standing right in front of them telling them they could only get to the Father via Him, and instead they rejected Him and went on about their very busy, very rigorous religious ways. They ignored Christ just like they ignored all of the other prophets God had sent their way.

Well, rebellion against God comes in many forms: the seemingly religious and the outright depraved. What matters is listening to what God is saying, perceiving it correctly, then taking the actions that God demands.

Let's start with God's word and then we'll think about it. Let's perceive it and then decide upon what we must do.

God says in Romans 9:32 that there are two options for trying to attain salvation. These two options are not the same, they are mutually exclusive. They are two different things. What are the two things? They are "faith" and "works". Faith and works are not the same thing. This isn't my idea, it's God's idea. This might be a good time to glance up and read Romans 9:30-33 again, then continue on below.

Here's the thinking part. It isn't horribly difficult, but here it is: Although all 'works' are verbs, not all verbs are 'works'.

I hope that makes sense. Let me try to explain it with shapes - think teaching a little kiddo the difference between a rectangle and a square.

What's a rectangle? It's a shape that has four sides, and the angles between the sides are all the same: 90 degrees. So it's a box, but potentially an 'uneven' box.

What's a square? It's a rectangle, but it has one other very special quality: all of its sides are the same length. So it's a 'perfect' box.

Ergo, all squares are rectangles - but not all rectangles are squares.

In the same way, all 'works' are verbs, but not all verbs are works. Why? Because 'works' in salvation parlance means 'works of merit'. Things people do to try and earn favor with God. Things people do so that God will have to save them. 'Works' are things people do to try and look good before God, to try and scrape up their own righteousness so they can be pleasing to God towards the attainment of salvation.

The problem with this, is that God says there are no such 'works' that can be completed by sinful men and women. What God demands is trust - the special kind of trust that the Bible calls 'faith'.

But some from various Christian traditions like the kind mentioned above, feel that faith is functionally a 'work'. All I can say to that is that clearly, God disagrees with you.

The core of the reason why faith isn't a 'work', is that although a human being exercising faith in Christ is exercising obedience to God, that same human being is not undertaking an action to gain merit before God so that God has to save them. Not with true, biblical 'faith' anyway. There are counterfeit faiths that can't save anyone, but the 'faith' Paul is speaking of here is the genuine article.

The exercise of genuine faith can't be meritorious, because it involves a human demonstrating the belief - not that they are good (or being good) and therefore deserve something from God - but instead that they are totally and utterly bad, and the only thing they deserve from God is an eternity in hell.

As far as accepting or rejecting God's salvation, rebellion against God is refusing to agree with God about what we are. The exercise of faith is stepping away from that rebellion and instead embracing everything that God says about us, and the news isn't good. Fortunately, it's also about accepting what God says about Himself, and that news is excellent! The Good News indeed!

I must admit to being somewhat in shock at the thought that anyone could believe that the exercise of biblical 'faith' is in any way meritorious, when instead it is completely and totally damnable.

When one is convicted of their sins by the Holy Spirit and turns to Christ in repentance and faith - they are copping to a horrible plea. In this place there is no beauty, there is no holiness on the part of the sinner. Instead, there is the complete and total recognition that the wrath of God that fell on Jesus at Calvary is the wrath and suffering that is rightly due the sinner in question: us. Meritorious? Not on your life. It is unmeritorious to the infinite degree. And to make it worse, in order to be saved we must accept from God His own righteousness: the righteousness of Jesus.

How can accepting God's own righteousness, because we don't have any of our own, be seen as meritorious? The lack of any righteousness of our own, any merit of our own, is the very fact to which we bear witness when we bow down before God and ask Him to save us. The act of submitting to God, even though it is obedient, can't be meritorious because of the very reason why we must submit to God's righteousness. The very obedience that we exercise under the enabling of the Holy Spirit literally screams the fact that we have no merit at all that we can claim. 'Faith' and 'works' are mutually exclusive, just as God has shown.

To accept salvation we must take the ultimate hand-out. We must come as beggars before the throne of God. But never as beggars that have somehow found their own way into the castle - we don't have even that ability. We come as beggars who have been invited in by the King's servants.

Now indeed all throughout Scripture God has commanded us to repent and believe in Christ. But as we see from Romans 9 (as well as other places), God has said in Scripture that saving faith and works of merit are two different things. Therefore to describe or hold to any exercise of faith as being something of merit, is to disbelieve what God has clearly said.

Not all verbs are 'works'. Exercising faith in obedience to God's command is certainly a verb. But as God has shown us in His word, it is in no way a 'work'.

On one side of the fence, some sit held in thrall by these traditions of men. They sit around, wrapped in religiosity, convinced of the fact that they have no responsibility towards salvation at all and that God will do to them what He will. And they interpret their own religiosity as the sign that God has indeed chosen them.

That is not a door you should take. It is a different Gospel. (Galatians 1:6-10)

On the other side, there are those who hold to the traditions of men that tell them that anyone, anywhere, can be saved in Christ anytime they like. They believe they aren't blinded by sin, they aren't derelict on the side of the road and they need no one to enable their faith. They have birthed their own faith and they can exercise it whenever they like.

This is also a door you shouldn't take. It is a different Gospel. (Galatians 1:6-10)

God makes it very clear that He must enable repentance (2nd Timothy 2:24-26). God also makes it very clear that He must enable our faith (Philippians 1:27-30).

But once, and only once, that enablement has taken place via God's Spirit - the decision then lies with you. Will you do what God has both called and enabled you to do, or will you go another way?

Matthew 7:13-23 (NIV)
(13) "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.
(14) But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

(15) "Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.
(16) By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?
(17) Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.
(18) A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.
(19) Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
(20) Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

(21) "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
(22) Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?'
(23) Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'

A Litmus Test for Eternal Life

2011-06-13T17:24:00.001-05:00

Galatians 5:14-25 (NIV)

(14) The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself."
(15) If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
(16) So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.
(17) For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.
(18) But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.
(19) The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery;
(20) idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions
(21) and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
(22) But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
(23) gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
(24) Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.
(25) Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

While none of us is yet holy as our Lord is holy (1 John 1:8), we have been given places in the Word that we can use as a litmus test for our claim to eternal life.

Progress is not always linear: there are sometimes many ups and down. But over time we should have made progress in putting to death our fleshly nature, and more and more living in our new nature in Christ.

How are you doing?

We often want to look around us horizontally and judge ourselves by other Christians, non-believers: other flawed people like ourselves. But the true yardstick God has set for us is His Son: Jesus Christ. The Decalogue (the Ten Commandments) is a portrait of Christ. The fruits of the Spirit Paul mentions here and in other places, that the Apostle John mentions in his 1st letter, are also portraits of Christ.

If you struggle with growing in Christ like all of us do from time to time, just remember this. What is fed is what grows strong. What is starved is what grows weak.

If you feed your sinful nature through the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life - don't be surprised if your sinful nature stays strong or reawakens to claw you up one side and down the other.

But if instead you starve your sin nature and feed the new nature with true food: honest prayer with God and the bread of life, His Word - don't be surprised if your new nature is strengthened and your old nature cries out in pain, but then weakens.

The strongest, most experienced Christian is always in danger from their sin nature. If it is not something base like lust or envy, then we get prideful with how well we think we are doing - and in that instance we fall. For a born again Christian (the only kind), repentance is not something that we only exercised in the act of submitting to Christ in faith. Repentance is something that we will be exercising repeatedly until we are taken out, or taken up.

Truly, in this life we will have trouble - but Jesus has overcome the world!

Remember that He is our only source of victory, so stay at His table avoiding all others. As you first came to Him, so continue to walk: repentance and faith, repentance and faith, repentance and faith. Just make sure your 'repentance and faith' are those that are defined by God in His word, and not by your sinful nature.

One takes advantage of God's grace in the manner God has intended. The other abuses grace and treats the Lord's blood as an unholy thing. In our heart of hearts, we know which is which.

Faith Is Obedience

2011-06-11T12:12:00.002-05:00

The Apostle Paul on trial before the Roman governor Porcius Festus and King Agrippa:

Acts 26:9-23 (NIV):
“I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the saints in prison, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished, and I tried to force them to blaspheme. In my obsession against them, I even went to foreign cities to persecute them.

“On one of these journeys I was going to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. About noon, O king, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around me and my companions. We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic,‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’

“Then I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ “ ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ the Lord replied.
‘Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen of me and what I will show you. I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

“So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven.
First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and to the Gentiles also, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds.
That is why the Jews seized me in the temple courts and tried to kill me.

But I have had God’s help to this very day, and so I stand here and testify to small and great alike. I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen— that the Christ would suffer and, as the first to rise from the dead, would proclaim light to his own people and to the Gentiles.”

In this portion of Scripture Paul is on trial and giving his defense, explaining to the court his innocence of being guilty of any crime deserving death.

In true Christian fashion, Paul turns this opportunity to address a crowd into an opportunity to witness to the Glory of Jesus Christ and His power to change human hearts.

Paul started out as an enemy of Christ. He was totally convinced in His mind that he should do everything that he could to destroy this new cult (as he saw it) that had popped up around the executed (and some say raised to life) Jew named Yeshua (in the Greek: "Iesous", in English: "Jesus").

And in true Pauline fashion, he acted upon his conviction with a passion - hunting down followers of Christ wherever he was given the authority to find them - even to foreign cities. As Paul testified about himself in his letter to his young charge Timothy:

1Ti 1:13 Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief.

Paul remained a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a violent man until one very special day in his life. On a road trip to exercise this ungodly trinity of conviction and action he had taken upon himself, he encountered the creator God of the universe - and it turned out to be Jesus Christ Himself. Can you imagine Paul's amazement, embarrassment, and fear?

He felt He was serving God truthfully by handing over to death the followers of Jesus Christ. But there on the road to Damascus Paul is shown that Jesus Christ, whom he was fighting against, is the very God he thought he was serving.

Paul thought he was pursuing holiness, but instead was shown he was a blasphemer. In the light of God's truth, his "holiness" was shown to be unholy.
Paul thought he was an earnest protector of God's word and plan, but instead he was shown he was persecuting the very God he claimed to serve. In the light of God's truth, Paul's "defense" of God, was shown instead to be animosity and persecution towards God.
Paul thought he was giving God loyal and faithful service, but instead he was shown that he was doing violence to the very relationship he claimed was his very life. In the light of God's truth, the "peace" that Paul felt he enjoyed with God, was instead shown to be a relationship defined by violence and disobedience.

How horrible! How did Paul get it so wrong?

Here's how: any and all of us will get these points wrong if we form our convictions, our beliefs, from an incomplete view of God's revelation to mankind. When we choose to take this slice, or that slice of the message God has delivered to us and ignore the whole, it is inevitable that we will end up believing things about God that aren't true. We will hold to things about God that He hasn't claimed about Himself.

In essence, we will descend into idolatry because we will have taken the bits and pieces of God's revelation that we like, and out of those scraps of the divine truth we proceed to fashion an idol for ourselves.

God says He made us in His image. We turn that upside down, as we do with everything, and seek to return the favor: making a god in our own image because it suits our purposes.

The remedy for Paul was a fresh perspective on God's revelation to mankind. That is the remedy for all of us too.

This glorious, radiant figure in the vision knew who Paul was. The figure called out to Paul by his aramaic name Saul, asking him: "why do you persecute Me?".

This completely unexpected, completely shocking moment - where the eternal and divine reveals itself to the temporal and mundane, shook Paul down to the very core of his being and it impelled him to ask the question he should have asked long ago:

Ac 26:15a “Then I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’

Paul thought he knew God. Out of all of the people he knew, Paul was convinced that he truly knew God and was serving God correctly. But this vision of the Lord Himself, asking Paul why he was persecuting Him, turned Paul's worldview upside down in an instant, and he reached out in confusion and wonder to find anew who God really was.

The answer Paul no doubt was fearing, came back:

Ac 26:15b: “ ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ the Lord replied.

At this point, God gave Paul His marching orders to replace the ones Paul had provided for himself.

Paul was to now be a true servant of God, and a witness to the fact that Jesus is God, and that He was truly raised from the dead. As we will see, what had just happened to Paul is what must happen to all of us if we are to be saved. Paul was promised protection for this task that was to accomplish three things:

To open the eyes of the blind. In other words, to lift the veil of sin that blocks human perception so that God's message can be recognized and received.
To turn people from darkness to light. Blind people can see no distinction between darkness and light. That is the very definition of being blind. But when the eyes of the blind are open, they then have the restored ability to see the difference, and make their choice.
And lastly, to be turned from the power of Satan, to the power of God. Satan is the father of lies and his modus operandi is deceit. God is Himself the complete embodiment of truth. He is only truth and defines by His nature what truth is.
These three things are to accomplish specific goals:

That they may receive forgiveness of sin
And a place among those that are sanctified (the journey of being made Holy) by faith in the Lord, Jesus Christ.

Paul then explained to King Agrippa:

Ac 26:19 “So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven.

As far as human perception and action, verse 19 is the key to this entire passage.

Some closing points:

What God demands from us is obedience. There is no other way to interpret Scripture. In v. 19 the word rendered "disobient" is the Greek word "apeithes". It has a very, very specific meaning. In Robson's "A Greek Lexicon To The New Testament", "apeithes" is defined as:

"unwilling to be persuaded, refusing belief and obedience, contumacious"

In the use of this very specific word, the Holy Spirit is showing us how one is saved. It isn't God forcing us to do one thing or the other. It isn't God twiddling with our heads and overriding our wills so that we will believe in Him.
Rather, it is God removing the veil of blindness from our eyes, which He does by saturating us with His light, and then appealing to our wills to make the right choice. This revelation is not without command - God has commanded everyone to repent and have faith in Christ (Acts 17:30), but God does not force. As I say when I am being more forceful myself, "God is not a spiritual rapist". And indeed He is not.
In using the word "apeithes", Paul is saying that he was not disobedient. Removing the double negatives ('not', and 'dis'), we find that Paul is saying, "I was obedient". He words it with the negatives to hammer home the point that disobedience was indeed an option for him, even in light of this extreme and magnificent revelation from God. What Paul is telling Agrippa, is that he turned. He wasn't some sort of a robot that just got reprogrammed. He repented. He decided to turn from his former rebellion to God and instead to render obedience.
Obedience and faith are things that, by their very nature, can only be produced by a will. They are choices. Only a will can make a choice. That is the very definition and purpose of a will - to make choices! In Paul's use of the word "apeithes" we see this so clearly if we are willing to see as we look again at what that word means:

"unwilling to be persuaded" - removing the negative it means "willing to be persuaded". This is what God's revelation to us is all about. Removing that veil and giving us a different perspective on who and what God and truth are so that our wills can function as God intended and we can choose Him. So that the veil of our sin can be moved and we can be "willing to be persuaded".
"refusing belief and obedience" - removing the negative it means "choosing belief and obedience". This also is what God's revelation to us is all about. God takes fallen men and women, dead and blind in their sin, and through the act of showing us Himself, He provides to us again the option we had in the Garden: the choice to exercise belief and obedience, or the choice to refuse.
"contumacious" - This is an extremely obscure English word, but it's definition drives all of these points home. It means: "stubbornly disobedient" - in short: "rebellious". It is the portrait of a will that, in light of all the evidence, refuses to bend the knee and bow low. And indeed, it shows that the evidence has truly and faithfully been communicated. Rebellion cannot rebel against nothing. Rebellion can only truly be exercised against something that has been received. One cannot reject nothing, but only something.

Paul is clearly making the point that God's revelation restored to him a choice that had been lost. The opportunity to bend the knee and submit to God in obedience and faith, or to continue in his willful rebellion with the image of god he had formed for himself.

This is the same choice that you now have because of what you have read.

Some of you reading this are very religious people, but you are convinced because of what you have been taught that there is no part of salvation that is up to you. "It's all up to God", you would say.

Others, also very religious people, believe that salvation is accomplished (in full or in part) by some kind of ritual: some physical acts you must perform to be saved. For some this is the Eucharist, for some varying kinds of baptisms. For others it's the recitation of a creed in the presence of certain people.

My I suggest to you in the kindest and tenderest words that I can, that you are wrong. Not because I say so, but because God says so.

God has laid the responsibility of the obedience of faith upon you, and the obedience He requires is faith and faith alone. In the Garden of Eden mankind broke trust with God. He wants that trust back from each and every one of us.

He has done everything necessary to both provide for your forgiveness (on the cross), and for your new life (at the resurrection of Jesus Christ), and He has communicated these facts as well as His nature and character to you through His word.

The ball, as they say, is now in your court. What will you do with God's message to you about Himself and what He desires from you? Will you believe that exercising the faith God has provided for you is really your task, or will you choose another road?

Will you travel the path God has made, or with machete and pickax in hand will you seek to carve out a road to God of your own manufacture?

If you want to have God's salvation, in your heart simply call out to Jesus and ask Him to save you - to make His sacrifice on the cross your only basis for forgiveness and a right-standing before God. Tell Him you know you don't know everything, but you know you that must turn from your sin and to Him in faith.

If you do that, God will save you.

Then find a Bible preaching church and get yourself baptized in the name of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

Trust me, your life will never be the same.

New Video Series Posted: The Age and Authenticity of the Old Testament

2011-05-31T20:35:00.001-05:00

This first video series is not a preaching series, but is instead a teaching series. In the simplest terms, these three messages are geared towards people that are skeptical about the validity of the Bible and Christianity in general.

In this series we take three bell-weather cases where biblical archaeology has at first seemed to disprove the Old Testament, but then after all the data is in actually ends up showing how incredibly accurate the Bible really is.

Video TruthMill Has Arrived

2011-05-31T20:06:00.001-05:00

Man, it's been a long time in the making, but Video TruthMill is finally here.

When God called me to preach in 2005 it took about a year to get trained up and started with audio podcasting. I had no equipment, no experience, and absolutely no knowledge about how to even get started, but God answered everything in His time through prayer.

Sometime in 2008 I felt God wanted me to move away from audio only and to move into video. Boy oh boy... if I felt that I wasn't at all equipped for audio I knew for certain that I wasn't for video. It entails so much more.

But I began to pray about it and simply told God that if I was indeed hearing from Him correctly that He would have to do it all because I couldn't do any of it. In other words, I did exactly what I had done with the audio podcasting.

In that case I had made up a short list of what I thought I needed to get started and it came to about 1500.00 dollars: quite a bit of money. But I felt it was really what He wanted me to do so I just prayed for His provision. And He came through right to a "T".

Back before the economy tanked and my career would yield the odd bonus here or there, I received a bonus for about twice as much as I needed. I always split those evenly with my wife after taxes, and after I had purchased my new equipment with my half, I had $5 left over for lunch money. What a deal!

But with video, things are quite a bit different. I don't think we as Christians need to go overboard, but I think everything we do in God's service should be accomplished with the idea of glorifying God. I'm not so sure poor quality media glorifies God... I sure don't think so.

So I once again put together a list and it came out to several thousand dollars. I saved up for some of it but there were other things that were just flat out of my reach, even if I saved all of my pennies for years. My only anchor was that this was in fact what God wanted me to do, so I just kept with the idea and learned what I needed as best I could.

I think looking back on it now, God was metering things out to give me time to learn what I needed to learn, and to come to grips with some spiritual things as well. But as it turns out we moved to a new house in the country where I had an outbuilding that now doubles as a video studio. It's nothing fancy, just a foundation with a thin metal shell. I battle wind noise, animal noise, wasps, huge spiders, snakes, freezing cold in the winter and boiling heat in the summer. But I treasure that little hulk of a building because it's from God.

I saved up for some of the stuff, like some high quality lighting from Lowel (check them out online, great stuff if you're in the market for that type of thing), but there were those darned show stoppers still to deal with.

There was no way I could afford a decent high-def camera, or a computer to use for editing, or editing and special effect software. But as it turns out God took care of all that in a variety of ways. The most interesting to me is the camera.

The camera I use is actually very, very inexpensive as these things go, but even at that it was still far out of my reach. Long story short, God provided that camera to me via a friend that had it drop-shipped to my front porch for Christmas. When God blesses, God blesses. In the same kind of way, God provided not one computer but two, not one video editing or VFX package, but several. Some of them I use the most I'd hardly ever heard of. Hmmm... who would have thought God knew what He was doing?

I ended up with way more than I had even dreamed of on my little faith list. God is indeed great. And in hindsight, as is usually the case because of our lack of faith, my little list was really much smaller than what God actually delivered.

But the equipment and self training are really the easy parts of something like this. The spiritual warfare has been, how shall I say..., intense. Now that it seems a particular hurdle has been cleared the pressure is somewhat relieved and I'm in a time of rest, I know that in the future it will kick up again. That's just how these things work.

Anyway, as episodes are completed I'll post a link here in the blog back to the main site at http://www.truthmill.org.

Here's to seeing you next time.

/Scott.

High and Lifted Up - The Bronze Serpent

2009-05-17T08:54:00.003-05:00

The final message in this series is now available: High and Lifted Up - The Bronze Serpent

High and Lifted Up - Nicodemus Part 1   (mp3 Audio) (pdf Transcript)
High and Lifted Up - Nicodemus Part 2   (mp3 Audio) (pdf Transcript)
High and Lifted Up - Nicodemus Part 3   (mp3 Audio) (pdf Transcript)
High and Lifted Up - The Son of Man   (mp3 Audio) (pdf Transcript)
High and Lifted Up - The Bronze Serpent   (mp3 Audio) (pdf Transcript)

How To Know God

2009-03-29T15:31:00.001-05:00

Most people profess a desire to know God - to experience God.

Some seek to fulfill this desire by gazing deep within themselves, striving to find any 'divine spark' that may reside within them. Others shun that approach, and instead search for God outside of themselves. They look up through a telescope, or down through a microscope, hoping to find God in the extremes of scale and complexity that are offered by the universe around us.

But no matter which approach is used, people undertake these quests for really just one reason: they are not satisfied with the way things are.

They desire to know God, because they do not know God. They desire to experience God, because there is an unfulfilled longing in the center of their being that only God can satisfy.

It is indeed a fact that God's word presses us to look deep within ourselves. Not so that we would somehow see God inside of us - but instead, so that we would see the lack of God inside of us. God has a deep, deep purpose in showing us the truth of who and what we are.

And it is indeed a fact that God's word presses us to look far down the microscope, and far up the telescope at the wonders of His creation. Not so that we will somehow be able to make contact with God at His own level, but so that we will see the reality, and the power, and the certainty of His existence. God has a deep, deep purpose in showing us the truth of who and what He is.

God wants to show us that between who and what He is, and who and what we are - exists a chasm that we ourselves cannot bridge.

God wants to show us that He has already done for us what we cannot do for ourselves: He has personally built a bridge across that chasm that can be traveled by any and all that will simply take Him at His word, and trust Him.

Please listen along as we consider this most important question: How can one know God?

How to Know God (Part 1) - mp3
How to Know God (Part 2) - mp3

------------------------------

One Half Second (My Personal Testimony)

2009-03-28T13:35:00.001-05:00

What does it really mean to be a "Christian"?

Is this a question that is decided by the circumstances of our birth? Or is it about some type of ritual, or some type of belief? Or is the answer similar to these, or something completely different?

We'll examine this topic in light of my personal story of redemption. Before I accepted Christ in 2005, I lived for over 30 years mistakenly believing that I was a Christian. Not a one day a week Christian, but a full time, fundamentalist, evangelical Christian.

How did I get it so wrong?

"One Half Second" is the story of God's intervention in my life, and how He saved me from the force of my own beliefs.

I pray you'll listen along as we consider the question of what it means to be a Christian, from the only source that has the answer: God's very words, from the lips of His Spirit, to the eyes and ears of mankind.

"He who has an ear, let him hear."
Revelation 13:9 (NIV)

One Half Second (Part 1) - mp3

One Half Second (Part 2) - mp3

------------------------------

High and Lifted Up - The Son of Man

2009-02-28T13:30:00.000-06:00

High and Lifted Up - Nicodemus Part 1   (mp3 Audio) (pdf Transcript)
High and Lifted Up - Nicodemus Part 2   (mp3 Audio) (pdf Transcript)
High and Lifted Up - Nicodemus Part 3   (mp3 Audio) (pdf Transcript)
High and Lifted Up - The Son of Man   (mp3 Audio) (pdf Transcript)

High and Lifted Up - Nicodemus Part 3 Now Available

2009-02-24T23:00:00.000-06:00

It is not an exaggeration to say that most people realize that there is something very special about Jesus of Nazareth. But that being said, not everyone knows exactly what to do with Jesus.

On the playing field of religion and philosophy, where exactly does Jesus fit? Nicodemus felt this confusion, just as many people do today.

Nicodemus was a master of the Old Testament and devoted to its teaching. He had studied the revelation God had given to Israel and he considered himself an heir and a guardian to that truth.

In these roles of guardian and heir, he sought to protect what he saw to be true - and to attack what he saw to be false.

But when Nicodemus encountered Jesus, he encountered a very serious dilemma: the miracles that Jesus did proved that He was sent from God. But Jesus wasn't like the other "men of God" that Nicodemus knew. And to make matters worse, sometimes the God that Jesus proclaimed didn't sound very much like the God Nicodemus thought he knew.

Nicodemus sought to resolve his problems by questioning Jesus honestly and directly. But in the end he discovered that it was Jesus that forced him to question himself and his own beliefs.

We pray that you will listen along as Nicodemus learns the very thing that we all must learn: that no matter what it is - or who it is - that we hold to be true, we must reject it if it conflicts with what God says is true.

High and Lifted Up - Nicodemus Part 1   (mp3 Audio) (pdf Transcript)
High and Lifted Up - Nicodemus Part 2   (mp3 Audio) (pdf Transcript)
High and Lifted Up - Nicodemus Part 3   (mp3 Audio) (pdf Transcript)

High and Lifted Up - Nicodemus Part 2 Now Available

2009-01-28T22:35:00.000-06:00

It is not an exaggeration to say that most people realize that there is something very special about Jesus of Nazareth. But that being said, not everyone knows exactly what to do with Jesus.

On the playing field of religion and philosophy, where exactly does Jesus fit? Nicodemus felt this confusion, just as many people do today.

Nicodemus was a master of the Old Testament and devoted to its teaching. He had studied the revelation God had given to Israel and he considered himself an heir and a guardian to that truth.

In these roles of guardian and heir, he sought to protect what he saw to be true - and to attack what he saw to be false.

But when Nicodemus encountered Jesus, he encountered a very serious dilemma: the miracles that Jesus did proved that He was sent from God. But Jesus wasn't like the other "men of God" that Nicodemus knew. And to make matters worse, sometimes the God that Jesus proclaimed didn't sound very much like the God Nicodemus thought he knew.

Nicodemus sought to resolve his problems by questioning Jesus honestly and directly. But in the end he discovered that it was Jesus that forced him to question himself and his own beliefs.

We pray that you will listen along as Nicodemus learns the very thing that we all must learn: that no matter what it is - or who it is - that we hold to be true, we must reject it if it conflicts with what God says is true.

High and Lifted Up - Nicodemus Part 1 (mp3 Audio) (pdf Transcript)
High and Lifted Up - Nicodemus Part 2 (mp3 Audio) (pdf Transcript)

------------------------------

Rick Warren's Inaugural Prayer

2009-01-21T12:15:00.005-06:00

I don't usually comment on political or religious/political topics, but in the case of Rick Warren's inaugural prayer, I feel I must.

Typically I let these kinds of things go, not out of any particular desire to avoid controversy (I'm not that organized), but simply because they are well below the horizon line of my calling, which is to seek to teach the Word of God in a faithful manner.

But in this instance, I would like to take a public stand for Jesus Christ in the political context in which we find ourselves.

Simply put, Rick Warren's prayer was not a 'Christian' prayer. Sorry, but it wasn't.

Now I'm not saying that Rick Warren is not a Christian. Praise the Lord that isn't my call to make on anyone except myself.

What I am saying is that Rick Warren had a wonderful opportunity and not only did he not take advantage of it, he did much worse. On a world stage that was larger (due to President Obama's popularity) than anything I've seen in my lifetime, Rick Warren had the opportunity to proclaim Jesus as God's one and only Son - the only name given under Heaven to men by which we must be saved.

He had a chance in that prayer to thank God for sending His sole redeemer, Jesus, as the full and final sacrifice for our sins, so that those that trust in Him, rely on Him, that cast themselves upon Him can be saved.

He had a chance to humbly ask for God's forgiveness of our nation. He had a chance to acknowledge that in a national, collective way our country has turned away from God and His redeemer. He had a chance to ask God for revival.

Instead, the pleas for forgiveness he did voice sounded more like commands to me. Instead, in referring to Jesus as 'Isa' (as Islam names Jesus), he confirmed the Islamic view of Jesus - that Jesus was 'just another prophet' - the last prophet before their 'prophet' - that Jesus was 'just another prophet' that Muhammad was sent to correct. A name carries with it character and nature. Islam may refer to Jesus as Isa... but Isa is not Jesus.

In declining to proclaim Jesus as God, Rick Warren instead (through omission) proclaimed Jesus as simply a man. Perhaps a good man, a spiritual man, a man that changed Rick Warren's life. But he certainly did not proclaim Him as who He really is.

That is why Rick's prayer was not a Christian prayer. In trying to reach out to everyone, for what purpose I cannot discern (it certainly wasn't our charge from Christ), he only succeeded in diminishing Christ. He only succeeded in reinforcing an incorrect belief about Christ among those who heard him that are not Christians.

Christians pray to the one and only God in the name of His one and only Son. It is only through Jesus' completed work on the cross that we can converse with God as His children. To do any less, to intimate that Christ is any less, is to deny Christ's person and His nature.

High and Lifted Up - Nicodemus

2009-01-19T18:53:00.000-06:00

It is not an exaggeration to say that most people realize that there is something very special about Jesus of Nazareth. But that being said, not everyone knows exactly what to do with Jesus.

On the playing field of religion and philosophy, where exactly does Jesus fit? Nicodemus felt this confusion, just as many people do today.

Nicodemus was a master of the Old Testament and devoted to its teaching. He had studied the revelation God had given to Israel and he considered himself an heir and a guardian to that truth.

In these roles of guardian and heir, he sought to protect what he saw to be true - and to attack what he saw to be false.

But when Nicodemus encountered Jesus, he encountered a very serious dilemma: the miracles that Jesus did proved that He was sent from God. But Jesus wasn't like the other "men of God" that Nicodemus knew. And to make matters worse, sometimes the God that Jesus proclaimed didn't sound very much like the God Nicodemus thought he knew.

Nicodemus sought to resolve his problems by questioning Jesus honestly and directly. But in the end he discovered that it was Jesus that forced him to question himself and his own beliefs.

We pray that you will listen along as Nicodemus learns the very thing that we all must learn: that no matter what it is - or who it is - that we hold to be true, we must reject it if it conflicts with what God says is true.

High and Lifted Up - Nicodemus Part 1 (mp3 Audio) (pdf Transcript)

------------------------------

The TruthMill Free Bible Giveaway!

2008-06-01T20:08:00.003-05:00

Need a Bible or know someone who does?

While supplies last, TruthMill is offering new Bibles in the NIV (New International Version) free of charge.

How do you get one?

Just email us at TruthMill@Yahoo.com. Send us your name and shipping address and we will send you a Bible via standard mail. It's that simple. We even pay the postage.

We believe everyone should have a copy of God's Word in a clear and understandable format. This is simply our humble attempt to make that happen.

Your personal information will not be used for marketing purposes, nor will it be communicated outside of our organization.

TruthMill is a 1st Corinthians 9:15 ministry.

There is nothing wrong with a ministry that asks for gifts of funds to continue their service (as God tells us, the worker is worth his wages). That is actually the normal and good pattern of Christian ministry that God has established.

But God has lead us another way. I'm not exactly sure why, but I think mostly because we are an Internet ministry, and because of the deception of many greedy people who falsely call themselves Christians for the purpose of defrauding God's people; we, like Paul - with Christ's leading, have given up that right so as not to negatively impact our ministry for Christ.

May God bless you and keep you.

C.S. Countryman

------------------------------

The Burnt & Fellowship Offerings

2008-06-01T19:56:00.001-05:00

By What Blood? message 3 is now available for download.

The Burnt & Fellowship Offerings - mp3

------------------------------

The Sin Offering

2008-03-16T19:58:00.000-05:00

By What Blood? message 2 is now available for download.

The Sin Offering - mp3

------------------------------

By What Blood?

2008-03-10T23:00:00.005-05:00

Have you ever wondered if there is a "right" way to approach God - or can we approach Him any way that we want?

Is it enough that everyone must simply be sincere in their approach, or is there also a standard of correctness that everyone must meet?

It might help to look at it like this: In any meeting between two people, there are really only two options: A greater meeting a lesser, or an equal meeting an equal.

If it's true that in approaching God our own sincerity is more important than any objective standard of correctness, then the whole thing is really more about us than anyone or anything else. And if this is true, we could only be greater than God - because the greater person dictates to the lesser.

But if we must couple sincerity with correctness, that would mean that there is some standard that God has dictated to us that we are obliged to follow. And if this is true, we couldn't be greater than God nor could we be His equal. The only option would be that we are less than God, and the right of determination is His and His alone.

I pray that you'll join us in this new series, and that you find the correct answer to the most important question that you'll ever face:

Are you following after God down the path that He has made for you, or with machete and pickaxe in hand, have you turned to the side and sought to make your own way?

Approaching God - mp3
The Sin Offering - mp3
The Burnt & Fellowship Offerings - mp3

------------------------------

Predestination

2007-09-30T21:53:00.001-05:00

What is it? How does it work? Why should a Christian care?

These questions, among others, have been at the heart of some of the largest disagreements between Christian brothers and sisters for the last several hundred years.

The reception of the various ideas about predestination has led to the veneration of some individuals to an almost apostolic level, while others have been labeled as heretics.

In this series of messages we will examine what the Bible has to teach us about the topic of predestination. And rather than hold up the wisdom of mere men as our ultimate guidebook on this issue, we will instead turn to the only place that can give us an acceptable answer: the very words of God.

Is Predestination Real? - mp3
The Mechanics of Predestination (Part 1) - mp3
The Mechanics of Predestination (Part 2) - mp3
The Mechanics of Predestination (Part 3) - mp3
The Mechanics of Predestination (Part 4) - mp3

------------------------------

Sovereignty, Choice, and The Paradoxical Hand of God

2007-08-25T20:37:00.001-05:00

It has been said that the cross of Jesus Christ marks the intersection of God's judgment upon sin with His love for mankind... and that most certainly is true.

But the cross is also something else.

It is a focus where mutually exclusive truths are brought near, fused together, and lifted on high for all the world to see. It is a royal standard, thrust into the ground, that proclaims to all that nothing is impossible with God.

It is a logical paradox displayed in the flesh - impossibilities made possible, and displayed openly. It is a picture of the sovereign power of God working together with the free will of man, to bring about His will upon the Earth.

In this series of messages we will examine what the Bible has to teach us about the twin facts of God's sovereignty and mankind's free will, and how they relate to one another. And we will see how God demonstrates His power in creation: that not only is He the God of the physical - the universe and everything that exists; but that He is also the God of the mind - of thought and understanding. And that even in the realm of the logically impossible, God makes Himself evident - and reigns supreme.

Sovereignty, Choice, and The Paradoxical Hand of God - mp3
Sovereignty, Liberty, In The Beginning (1 of 2) - mp3
Sovereignty, Liberty, In The Beginning (2 of 2) - mp3
Sovereignty, Providence_1 - mp3
Sovereignty, Providence_2 - mp3
Sovereignty, Providence_3 - mp3
Sovereignty, Providence_4 - mp3
Sovereignty, Providence_5A - mp3
Sovereignty, Providence_5B - mp3

------------------------------

Love Conquers All

2006-12-03T08:33:00.001-06:00

Have you ever had those times in your life when you find yourself wondering about God?

Whether God is a person, or maybe just a cosmic phenomenon - perhaps like the concept of karma or the "Force" of Star Wars.

Maybe these questions about God arise because of things in and around your life that don't seem to be what they should be, and questions about these things have turned into questions about God Himself.

You've heard it said many times that God is holy, or perhaps that God is just. But of all the things you've heard said about God, the one that stands out the most is this: that "God is love".

And while this sounds very positive, and very reassuring, the other things you have heard about God lead you to doubt. The commandments in the Bible, the judgments in the Bible, even the concept of hell - these may not seem to be very loving.

How can a God identified as "love" allow the existence and the continuance of such things? Isn't that somehow a logical disconnect, a contradiction in what we are being told about God?

Please listen along in this series as we consider the complete nature of God as revealed to us in the Bible, and see for yourself whether or not this claim is true: that "God is love".

Love Conquers All (1 of 2) - mp3

Love Conquers All (2 of 2) - mp3

Love Conquers All - Part B (1 of 1)

------------------------------

How To Go To Heaven

2006-11-11T08:27:00.001-06:00

In our realm of experience, everything must eventually end.

We live in a world of starts and stops, days and nights, births and deaths. Everything that we encounter in our lives testifies to this truth. Good books eventually end. Favorite movies run their course. And beautifully sunny days, must of necessity, march relentlessly into evening. Even the very world beneath our feet will one day cease to exist.

So if it is true that we are creatures conceived, birthed, and matured into only this reality, why is it that we spend such enormous quantities of wealth, and even more precious time, battling with the inevitable?

Is the one who would marshal their abilities to attempt to avoid their own end, their own death, playing the part of the fool, the dreamer, or the steel faced warrior? In the final analysis by those that still remain to ponder such things, will our efforts be found laudable, perhaps even heroic, but eventually only sad?

Or in this struggle, are we perhaps on to something? Are we being tapped on the shoulder, being urged to listen to what that still, quiet voice is telling us: that there exists some truth that tells us we are not temporary things. That we are not like the grass, or the flower, or the morning: here today and gone tomorrow.

Isn't it interesting that even while being immersed in a world completely saturated with examples of the temporary, we still behave as if we should be permanent: that we should continue to live, or that if death must indeed come, that we can somehow continue beyond it.

So why, if we are indeed such temporary creatures ourselves, do we struggle so against our own end? Could it be, that in contrast to everything temporary that we see around us, we are instead permanent creatures?

This is certainly the message of the Bible.

It teaches us that God has set eternity in the very heart of man. At the center of our being, we suspect that what we experience now isn't all that there is, just as we suspect that the end of our physical lives isn't the end of us. That suspicion, that tap on the shoulder, and that still, quiet voice is God Himself. Telling us, if we will listen, that what we experience now isn't what was planned for us, and although this experience will end - we ourselves will not.

And once we allow ourselves to realize this truth, we ask the next question: "what comes after this?" Can choices made now truly effect the reality of then?

We hope you choose to listen along as we consider one of the most asked questions in existence, and one that was put squarely to Jesus Christ Himself: "What must I do to gain eternal life?"

How To Go To Heaven (1 of 2) - mp3

How To Go To Heaven (2 of 2) - mp3

------------------------------

The Nature of Truth

2006-10-28T08:56:00.001-05:00

The first two definitions Webster's provides for “truth” are:

1 a archaic : FIDELITY, CONSTANCY b : sincerity in action, character, and utterance
2 a (1) : the state of being the case : FACT (2) : the body of real things, events, and facts : ACTUALITY (3) often capitalized : a transcendent fundamental or spiritual reality b : a judgment, proposition, or idea that is true or accepted as true c : the body of true statements and propositions.

It is interesting that the first definition is human centered: A subjective, inside out perspective on truth. It isn't until we get to the second sense (definition) that the focus shifts to things outside of ourselves: objective truth. Truth that we don't interpret, but that is predefined.

This human tendency, to first look to itself, is shown to be true in many different areas of existence. But it is the most obvious with this question: What is the nature of truth?

Humanity has struggled with this question for as long as we have existed. And whether we look to the vaporous abstractions of Plato, the succinct cynicism of Pontius Pilate who uttered the words “What is truth?”, or the verbosity of Immanuel Kant; we can't seem to come up with a concrete answer.

If there was a source of knowledge that could fully and completely define truth, would we be interested? If there was a person that claimed to be the very embodiment of truth, would we listen? Or would we be so disillusioned by our own inability to define truth, that we would dismiss these potential sources out of hand?

Interestingly enough, we do indeed have a book that makes bold and startling claims in this regard. And likewise, the author of this book makes bold and startling claims about Himself. That He and He alone is the full and complete embodiment of truth, and that His very nature defines truth. And that His words share and reflect every aspect of His nature.

Listen along as we begin a new series: The Nature of Truth. Over the next several months we will revisit this topic and examine the claims of the Bible in this regard. And we will discover that whether we examine the evidence in an emotional or an empirical mindset, we arrive at the same answers. Whether we inspect this word with an eye to the historical or the contemporary, we end up with the same conclusions:

That this is a book that transcends space and time. That this is a book that knows us better than we know ourselves. And that this is a book that does indeed have the answer to mankind's greatest question: What is the nature of truth?

The Nature of Truth (1 of 2) - mp3

The Nature of Truth (2 of 2) - mp3

------------------------------

The Fear of Death

2006-10-14T00:00:00.001-05:00

It is a simple fact that each and every one of us will face death. It is a natural event that is set in motion by our very birth.

But if death is such a natural thing, the normal conclusion to our lives, why do we approach it with so much apprehension and fear? Is it simply because death, and what may come after, is such an unknown? Or does the issue go much deeper?

Interestingly enough the book of light, the book of life: God's Word, has quite a bit to say about the darkness of death. In fact, the Bible itself is in the form of an urgent communique from outside the very fabric of space and time. From One who would never die, but that chose to face and experience death, so that it could be vanquished for all time.

This eternal conquerer of death holds out to you a gift, that if accepted in the manner it is offered, results in eternal life and complete victory over the fear and the fact of death. For in accepting this gift, this conquerer credits to us His victory. This One who is alive forevermore, bestows upon us who are dying His eternal life. And this One who is light will enter into us, and shine forth from us, and drive all of the darkness away.

Interested? Then listen along as we consider the fear of death.

The Fear of Death (1 of 2) - mp3

The Fear of Death (2 of 2) - mp3

------------------------------

The Mechanics of Salvation

2006-09-30T00:00:00.002-05:00

Have you ever been confused about the differences between the Old and New Testaments?

To many it seems like God started out His creation with one plan of action, and then changed His mind mid-stream and instituted what we know today as New Testament Christianity. Did a God that is presented as all present, all powerful, and all knowing make a miscalculation?

This series of messages explores the single, unchanging, foundational mechanism God has used in all of His covenants with mankind to bring men and women unto Himself for the purpose of salvation through belief and obedience to His word.

As He testifies about Himself in His Word: He has not spoken from a dark and recessed corner in hushed and uncertain terms; but instead proclaims His words boldly; He speaks only what is true, and only what is right. Not one portion, not one syllable of His Word will ever return to Him empty and void, but instead will return to Him perfectly fulfilled, accomplishing everything that He set it to do. His Word is inseparable from Himself, for it flows forth from His very nature, and is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

The Mechanics of Salvation (1 of 3) - mp3

The Mechanics of Salvation (2 of 3) - mp3

The Mechanics of Salvation (3 of 3) - mp3

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