Foul. That is the one and only way to describe my current mood. I’m snappy, grumpy, annoyed, testy, short-fused, but these are only the outcome of my mood which is, in a word, foul. OK, perhaps “man cycle” could be used, as has been a recently coined phrase in my circle of friends to describe when a male exhibits symptoms reminiscent of PMS. Though there are those that would adamantly argue that men do, in fact, have a monthly cycle (I have even thought this of myself in the past and prescribed 2 “man-prin” to resolve it) I have realized a very sad and embarrassing trigger for this behavior within myself: faithlessness.
I did not intentionally set out to write a blog today. Rarely, if ever, have I set out to research a subject with the express purpose of writing here. It usually springs forth from some unfortunate muse. Be it that I heard a biblical misstatement or misrepresentation, there is an error or misunderstanding that many in the church fall in to, or there is something that I am passionate about that others do not seem to be, so I seek to light a fire or two. Something like that. There is usually a burr in my saddle, and this is my way of, constructively, working it out. Irony at its best, I am my own muse today. I am perched at my laptop with the purpose of studying for my sermon Wednesday night. My mood is foul. I was attempting to gather any semblance of “attention” for the subject matter at hand…and I was just seething.
I have been on a rampage since I was awoken this morning by my 3 year old attempting to serve her own breakfast before she should have even been out of bed. Unlike normal, the tornado-like mess of toys and clothes and shoes and crumbs scattered through the house was unbearable. I was jabbing at Hannah about things that don’t really even matter at that moment, except that I am (say it with me now…) in a disgustingly foul mood.
A dangerous practice to be sure, I took my hands off the keyboard, closed my eyes, lifted my face upward and prayed,
“Jesus, help me!”
Now, I neglected to mention what it is that I am studying. For a few weeks now I have been (while failing miserably) attempting to dive in to a series on faith, with its root found in Heb. 10-12, and the implications of it on our daily Christian life. You know, faith that if we’re lacking that God will supply, if we’re attacked that God is our protector, if God gives us a direction He will be true to His word and we will accomplish what He set us out to do. It’s the simple belief that we can have faith in God because we know who He is, what He does and how He operates in our lives because it’s clearly laid out in scripture. These examples obviously hardly scratch the surface of the wonderful truths contained in the above mentioned chapters, but I mention them just as a small point of reference to understand its importance in this story.
So, I prayed the prayer, “Jesus, help me!”, and proceeded to jump into my study with both feet.
Heb 10:36-39 -
For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise:
“For yet a little while,
And He who is coming will come and will not tarry.
Now the just shall live by faith;
But if anyone draws back,
My soul has no pleasure in him.”
But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.
My process is that I take a passage, simply reflect on the contents therein and draw from it truths on which to expound and then go from there. Let the scripture create the sermon, not me having a “point” to prove and finding scripture to support it. I managed to get three points when I realized God answered my prayer.
1) Faith spurs you on, when nothing else can
2 Living in Faith is the will of God for us
3) Without faith it is impossible to please God (Heb 11:6)
Here I am, my muse.
My family and I are going through an unrivaled trial that has implications in every aspect of our earthly security. Home, job, wellbeing, family and ministry. Nearly everything of importance is in limbo, and the answers escape me, in my current position, view and mindset. God, ever so gently, just revealed to me that THIS is the root of my “man cycle” foul mood (and likewise is the root of all the other times I get in this funk). Nothing the kids did, though they shouldn’t have done what they did, nothing the wife did…I am inappropriately dealing with what amounts to a lack of faith in ways that take it out on others. This is a tendency I would imagine many deal with. I am guilty of a lot of these I’m about to mention.
1) Run to the refrigerator for “comfort” when you’re frustrated after a hard day at work
2) Drop everything and shop, spending money unwisely because you “ need to do something good for yourself” when things aren’t going right
3) Turn to alcohol, smoking or drugs to “deal”, “relieve”, “de-stress”, “cope”, “manage”, “release”, “mellow”, “unwind”, etc.
4) Pick a fight with someone over something irrelevant, due to frustrations about something else
5) Seek solace in the arms of him/her when you need to feel like “everything’s OK”.
What is the root of all of this type of behavior? Faithlessness. That’s right, a lack of Faith in God has caused my foulness. “How does one follow the other” you ask?
God, knowing the heart of every man, clearly knows mine. I prayed for help in preparing a sermon for church, but God knew that’s not the help I really needed. As I’ve mentioned the last few weeks in my study through the Gospel of John, Nicodemus didn’t come asking for what he got. The Samaritan woman at the well didn’t get what she asked for from Jesus. He gave them what he knew they REALLY needed. In my case? The preacher needed a dose of what he was trying to preach about.
Faith.
My actions and attitudes are a direct and blatant denial of God’s sovereignty, authority, power, provision, promise and an assortment of other “p” words that escape me right now. I am, in the flesh, facing many real and serious trials, there is no doubt of this. Yet, I am not responding to them in a way that a Christian should be doing.
I am not practicing what I’m preaching.
Out of one side of my mouth (I’ll get to the other side of my mouth in just a minute) I encourage others, “have faith in God for ____”. I don’t say that based on a fanciful whimsy or “when you wish upon a star” hope. I said it with the backing of specific scripture that promises God WOULD deliver an outcome in a specific life circumstance. Heb 11:1 says that faith is the substance of things hoped for. Faith in that passage intimates “a strong and welcome conviction or belief that Jesus is the Messiah, through whom we obtain eternal salvation in the kingdom of God”. So, faith isn’t an “abracadabra”, “something out of nothing” type of thing. Our faith is rooted in Christ, and nothing else! EVERYTHING stems from that, you see. If your faith is in anything other than Jesus, it’s not faith, it’s blind hope. Why is this an important distinction to make? Because look at the word “hope” in that same passage. Hope, in the original language, means “something that is certain, but not yet realized”. How can you be certain of something, in “blind faith”? You cannot. So, stated another way, “There is something I have yet to see, but I am certain will happen, because my belief in its happening is founded in Christ.” The end of that verse says, “the evidence of things not seen”. The “evidence” spoken of is, again, a conviction. Something that is not a guess, but a firm belief rooted in fact. “Things”, in the Greek, is descriptive of an accomplished fact. Did you catch that? It’s ALREADY been done! It just hasn’t been seen with the physical eye! Because God spoke it, it’s already fact! We just have to put our FAITH in him that He will do what He has already said He would do.
It’s important before I draw this to a close that I offer an important warning on the application of this well known passage, and I’ll do so with a question. Is there anywhere in scripture that promises you the biggest house, millions of dollars, perfect health, the best job(in your opinion)? I can assure you there is no scripture to support this. Further, anyone that tries to convince you there is has sadly deceived themselves. Faith, being only rooted in Christ, can only expect with certainty to see the things which have been promised. In other words, you should never expect “in faith” that you will win the lottery because there is no scriptural promise to coincide with that belief. That’s the distinction between faith and “blind faith”. Again, that is the basis for our faith.
I was not putting my faith in God, resulting in a foul mood.
Here I was having all this great faith for other people, but not applying it to my own life. Truth is truth no matter what. If it’s only true part of the time, then it’s not really true. So, when I tell someone that in times of attack that God is their strength, rock, fortress and defender (Psalms 18) and instead of attacking back, leave it to God to fight the battle for you (Rom 12:19), that applies to me, too. When I admonish someone to give out of their lack and not their abundance (Luke 21:1-4), because God has promised that you will have enough for both what you want to give (2 Cor. 9:8), as well as what you need to live (Matt. 6:31-33), I need to stand on that same promise.
My attitude and thought process was rooted in faithlessness. It found its power in a lack of belief in the truth of not only God’s word, but who He is, and the reality is that those two things are inseparable (John 1:1).
The exhortation I have for everyone is this: If God has said something (and how do we know this without reading His word) you can put your faith in Him to fulfill that which He has spoken. John 14:6 doesn’t say that Jesus KNOWS truth, but rather that He IS truth. God IS truth! If it’s been spoken you can be assured it will come to be! Not because it “contains” truth, but because it IS truth. What’s more, not only SHOULD you, but you HAVE to! Heb 11:6 clearly says “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him”
And with that I simply pray, “God I want to please you”.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Forever and ever amen...or Maybe Not.
“Every search for a hero must begin with something which every hero requires – a villain.”
Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt as Dr. Nekhorvich – Mission Impossible II.
What a great way to start a blog for a site focused on defending the Bible: by quoting the king of Scientologists, right? But, I do it to make a point. Type “every hero needs a villain” into a Google search and you will be provided with 172 Million hits relating to the query. In my brief overview of the results I found pages relating to sports, movies, politics, comic books or advice for how to craft a spell-binding fiction novel. The results that stood out to me the most, though, were those who were simply asking the question “is this statement really true”, followed by a variety of well thought out arguments to prove their position . The conclusion I came to is this: by and large, the general populace believes that a hero requires a villain, in some form or fashion. Even when a person stated “I’m a volunteer but I don’t have a villain causing me to do what I do”, they neglect to consider that the cause for which they are volunteering is due to a villain, even if it's only an idea (illness, hunger, etc). My subsequent (non-scientific) conclusion? The majority of those involved in the conversation did not hold a Christian world-view. No one brought forth scripture to show the parallel of good vs. evil and God vs. Satan. It was all a “the world is chaos” approach.
So, what’s my point?
Despite a non-Christian, non-churchy, non-light-shines-in-the-darkness, non-overcome-evil-with-good worldview, these respondents understood the basic concept that there are always going to be two sides. If there is a Hero, they have to be a Hero over an arch enemy. (Can you find anyone that thought MegaMind had a false plot?) There is up, which can’t be up except for the existence of down. I know it sounds like I’m just rambling here, but as much as you’re saying “this is all common sense, what are you getting at already”, I’ll drop the deal breaker. There is a heaven….but I sure don’t know about that Hell thing.
To quote a good friend of mine, in my best Harry Doyle from “Major League” voice….”Now playing left field…..THAT thought!!!”
It is all too often that people enjoy basking in the potential of eternity in Heaven, having a block party by their mansions, without keeping proper focus on the real potential of people around them that they love and care about NOT being in Heaven with them. It’s easier to focus on the good and forget the bad. God wouldn’t REALLY do that to us, right?
Matthew 25:46 says:
“And these (unrighteous) will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life”.
If I was a “slam dunk” writer I would just write that verse, throw up my hands and yell, “I’m out!” That verse lays it out in about as simple a fashion as it could possibly be. And, it’s not the only verse that keeps it this simple. 2 Thess. 1:9 says, “These (people who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ) shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power. Matt 18 speaks of eternal fire. The book of Jude speaks also of eternal fire. John 3:16 shows that we are offered eternal life through Jesus Christ in contrast to the “perishing” we have to look forward to without Him. There are countless other verses which speak of the punishment that, sadly, is waiting for many who do not know Jesus as their savior.
Not to focus only on the negative, I need to point out the elephant in the room. Matt 25:46 discusses two opposing destinations. One person will be in “everlasting punishment”, while the other enjoys “eternal life”. Eternal is forever. There is not an expiration date. There is no, “OK, we’re done here, move along”. What’s more, the Greek word used for “everlasting” and “eternal” (aiōnios) are the exact same word. Here’s that slam dunk logic once again: if we want eternal life….we have to accept that it is in lieu of eternal punishment. Like love and marriage, “you can’t have one without the other” as the old song says.
Jesus, time and time again, stated his purpose in coming to earth was to give us life everlasting, despite the fact that we’re all living a life leading to death(Romans 6:23). Let’s get this perfectly clear and out in the open - we are NOT deserving of anything EXCEPT punishment! Yes, it’s a hard pill to swallow, but the sooner it’s digested the sooner you can move on to accepting that salvation!!! It is just simply not possible for us to deserve salvation (Eph 2:8-9). That topic is something another 10 blog posts could be dedicated to, but it’s something that has to be briefly stated here. Why? Because it shows the point/counter point of what we DO deserve. We are deserving of eternal punishment because, as we are, we are separated from a holy God due to sin (Isaiah 59:2).
For the majority of people reading this who profess to be Christians it will seem that I am arguing a point that need not be addressed because this topic is Christianity 101. Jesus came to save us so that, God having received His substitutionary punishment for our sins, we can be with Him in Heaven instead of Hell. Simple right? One would think. I understand I’m coming a day late and a dollar short to the “Love Wins” Rob Bell party, but this post really isn’t about his book. It’s not about his book mostly due to the fact that I refuse to allow my dollars to support his “ministry”. There is PLENTY of information, including Velvet Elvis which I HAVE read, that I could take Rob Bell to task on without reading Love Wins. So, again, I’m not trying to harsh on the guy without reading his book. But, I AM going to harsh on the guy for what he says outside of the book (Eph 5:11). I saw an interview with Rob Bell tonight (http://bit.ly/gSGtBr from CNN) where Bell ever-so-subtly sneaks in this statement, in response to the question, “So, you DO believe in Heaven and Hell? You do believe in both?”
Bell – “Sure. And, here’s why. Because I’m a pastor, I see extraordinary pain and brokenness and hurt from the choices that people make to choose Hell …right…now. So, I begin with the choices we make and the very real consequences of those choices, right now, right here in this life.”
Wait…what?
Shortly after this was then followed by one of the other correspondents asking specifically about her father, who is Hindu, and if, being Hindu, he can be saved, since he is from a culture that doesn’t know of or believe in Jesus.
Bell – “And, this is one of the main reasons I wrote the book, because I think this is a huge stumbling block for lots of people. Because, their committed faith in Jesus, for many people, was told to say yes to Jesus you have to condemn billions of people to Hell. But, what kind of God would send people to eternal torment for not believing in a Jesus they…never….heard of. And, actually, the first Christians, they spoke of a mystery. A grace. A love present in the very fabric of creation that people can respond to without even knowing that it’s God or that it’s the loving Grace of Christ that’s being revealed to them. So, I leave lots of room”.
Let me Cliffs Notes an already really short (He manages to pack a LOT of dangerous material into only 5:04!!!) interview. “Hell is an experience on earth resulting from our decisions, and God is not the kind of God that would punish us in a real Hell outside of Earth, but instead is going to allow us to come to Him through responding to Jesus, even though we don’t know who Jesus is or that He is who we are responding to.”
Call me harsh or inflammatory if you like, but after watching the interview you’ll know I’m not twisting facts here.
“Why am I going after this guy so hard?” you may ask. “He loves Jesus, he said so himself!” another might question. I have covered, extensively, the biblical reasons for exposing a teacher such as this, as well as the dangers involved if they are NOT exposed (http://bit.ly/enzGCq) in a previous blog, which I have linked here. To quickly address the statements of, “he loves Jesus”, I am not one to judge his heart. What I DO judge are his actions and statements. Based on those two things, his actions do not corroborate his proclamation.
What’s so terrible about the whole thing is that, at the end of the day, I actually have a pain of relation with Rob Bell. What I mean by that is, I think I understand WHY he’s concocted all these wrong ideas, because I’ve done the exact same thing! During a time of extreme anger and bitterness toward God, surrounding my father’s stroke, I could not reconcile “what kind of God” would allow something like that to happen to a man who was a preacher and dedicated his whole life’s work to God! I was so upset! I shook my fist at God and blamed Him for everything, when in reality it was not His fault at all. In essence, this is what Bell has done. He has found a painful truth in scripture, he then appears to be unable or unwilling to reconcile it with his opinions and misunderstandings of God, and has in turn created a “new” way to look at things that is more palatable. I didn’t have the luxury of “creating away” my father’s stroke. I couldn’t take the post-modern train out of town to create my own version of truth.
See, here’s the thing. The opinions of man are simply that…opinions. We can twist and turn all we want, but no matter how firmly we believe what we believe because we believe it…if it started with us, it’s just an opinion. Conversely, God does not have opinions. God has fact. God has truth. Correction…God IS truth (John 14:6)! And His Word is FILLED with truth about us, our current state and our future destination. To restate the point, yes, it IS painful to think that our loved ones are going to spend an eternity away from God, from us and in a place of eternal torment if they don’t know Jesus. It IS hard to reconcile that sort of punishment with the lovey-dovey God we hear about that’s always, as I like to say, all gumdrops and lollipops. Unfortunately, for a person who HASN’T accepted Jesus, the same God that will save you when you have accepted His Son will remain angered because of your sin when you do not accept His Son’s substitutionary payment for your sin, and justly hand you the sentence which your crime demands.
“How selfish!” you may be thinking. “What a big-headed God, just sitting up there with a magnifying glass tormenting us little ants on the earth”. (for the record, these ALSO were the things I thought during the afore mentioned timeframe)
Not to over-simplify it, but let me appeal to your logic through a simple statement. God (dramatic Rob Bell-esque pause) made (pause, yet again) us. God MADE US! He created us all in His image(Gen 1:27)! He spoke LIFE into existence! We have no “rights”. We have nothing in which to claim glory for ourselves!
John 1:1-4 states:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life and the life was the light of men.”
What more reason does God need to declare that we are obligated to follow HIS plan of redemption? He made us! If you’re mad at God right now, like I was before, I know that statement doesn’t right all the wrongs in your life. I get that. It took me years to finally put me, myself and I out of the way and TRULY put my faith in God and God alone. But if you’re honest with yourself, you know what I just said is true. And, not because I said it….but because it’s what the Bible teaches! With this in mind, we HAVE to take God’s word at face value. What WE think (wisdom of man) is of little value in light of what God knows to be true (Isaiah 55:8-9).
Don’t think the plan of salvation was an “Oh man, I messed up on this whole human race thing, so I better come up with a way to fix it” scenario on the part of God. Don’t allow, even for a moment, for the thought to cross your mind that Jesus’ death on the cross was an afterthought, double or nothing gamble to save the masses. 1 Peter 1:17-21 (probably my favorite passage of scriptures) beautifully states:
“And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.”
My only addition to that? AMEN and AMEN!!!
Jesus redeeming work on the cross was foreordained BEFORE the foundation of the world. He planned out YOUR salvation before the world was ever made. He knew you (and I, and everybody else!) were going to fail Him miserably, yet He still created us knowing that his Son would have to die for us!!!
This leads me to ask the question to end all questions.
If your salvation has been planned since FOREVER (try to wrap your mind around that one, I dare you!), from what are we seeking salvation?
“Nothing” is not the right answer here.
You are being saved from a very real Hell, a very real punishment and a very real torment that will last for eternity if you are not brought to peace with God. I have stated many times to my wife that, “if I knew there was an end date to Hell, a get out of jail free card, even if it was 1 million years away, I could handle it. It’s the never ending that gets me.” Earlier I showed that the Greek word for “eternal” was used to describe both punishment and reward. You can’t have your hero without your villain.
I have to stop and give the traditional “preacher quote” here….The Bible talks more about our eternal punishment, and what that entails, than it does about the place of Heaven. That seems a little, odd, right? No so much. Though the volume of discussion doesn’t always immediately equate to a level of importance, in the many instances and references it should be viewed as a stern and oft repeated warning. To answer the rhetorical question posed of “what kind of God”, THAT’S what kind of God. Our God is a God that does not desire that we spend an eternity in hell, away from Him, but that EVERYONE be saved (1 Tim. 2:4). Further, Hell wasn’t created for us (Matt 25:41) but for Satan and his Angels! He is a God that gives EVERY opportunity (consider the thief on the cross), until the very last breath of life, to confess Christ as our Savior, before a just and righteous punishment is delivered.
Phil 3: 18-19
For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame – who set their mind on earthly things.
Destruction, in this text (apōleia) is literally defined as, “the destruction which consists of eternal misery in hell”. What brings about this destruction? A mean God that’s picking on poor, helpless people? Not at all. It’s a people who have chosen their personal pleasure, the things that make them feel good, earthly conquest and gain…and not the cross. Though Bell, and many who have trouble with “the kind of God” that would allow someone to spend an eternity in Hell, will try to use scripture to prove their views, it’s just not possible.
Once again, let me appeal to your logic. Let’s suppose, for arguments sake, that Rob Bell was right, just for a minute. Let’s suppose that you could live your life any way you wanted, worship any god(s) you wanted, never know the name of Jesus and yet, still avoid Hell, other than the one Bell suggests we are currently living in on this earth due to our decisions. Let’s consider, despite the absurdity, that it were true. How much of a slap in the face would it be to God? How much does it cheapen God’s grace when He is not actually saving us from anything other than a small earthly hangnail in comparison to eternity? Think about it! Imagine how that conversation would go when you just kind of “show up” on heaven’s door step.
“Hey God, how’s it going? Sorry I didn’t talk to you much, before I got here, I followed a pantheon of Hindu gods. Once I got here I heard that you sent Jesus to the cross to die for me, but I never really knew Him, either. That sounds like a great deal, though. Thanks for that, but it just wasn’t for me at the time. I was searching for enlightenment where I was. I probably bumped in to Him once or twice!”
Sounds pretty foolish, right? I heard a preacher once say, “everybody can be wrong, but not everybody can be right, unless they have the exact same answer”. The idea that Hell is a place that doesn’t exist outside of this earth, that how we live doesn’t matter, and that we will all make it to heaven without actually confessing with our mouth that Jesus is Lord (Romans 10:9) is, ultimately, as foolish as it gets. And the last person I want to slap in the face is the one who sent His only Son to die for the sins I committed.
More import than being foolish (though it is), this way of thinking is dangerous. Love Wins, Velvet Elvis and the thought processes that Rob Bell and others like him propagate, are a tool of Satan. Bell cheapens (save, outright attempts to destroy) the Gospel, he cheapens Jesus, he cheapens our eternal life in Heaven, he cheapens the consequences of Hell and last but not least, cheapens the awesome gift that is God, KEEPING us out of heaven.
At the cost that Jesus paid, with his precious shed blood, which is anything BUT cheap, I refuse to sit idly back while lambs are led to the slaughter.
Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt as Dr. Nekhorvich – Mission Impossible II.
What a great way to start a blog for a site focused on defending the Bible: by quoting the king of Scientologists, right? But, I do it to make a point. Type “every hero needs a villain” into a Google search and you will be provided with 172 Million hits relating to the query. In my brief overview of the results I found pages relating to sports, movies, politics, comic books or advice for how to craft a spell-binding fiction novel. The results that stood out to me the most, though, were those who were simply asking the question “is this statement really true”, followed by a variety of well thought out arguments to prove their position . The conclusion I came to is this: by and large, the general populace believes that a hero requires a villain, in some form or fashion. Even when a person stated “I’m a volunteer but I don’t have a villain causing me to do what I do”, they neglect to consider that the cause for which they are volunteering is due to a villain, even if it's only an idea (illness, hunger, etc). My subsequent (non-scientific) conclusion? The majority of those involved in the conversation did not hold a Christian world-view. No one brought forth scripture to show the parallel of good vs. evil and God vs. Satan. It was all a “the world is chaos” approach.
So, what’s my point?
Despite a non-Christian, non-churchy, non-light-shines-in-the-darkness, non-overcome-evil-with-good worldview, these respondents understood the basic concept that there are always going to be two sides. If there is a Hero, they have to be a Hero over an arch enemy. (Can you find anyone that thought MegaMind had a false plot?) There is up, which can’t be up except for the existence of down. I know it sounds like I’m just rambling here, but as much as you’re saying “this is all common sense, what are you getting at already”, I’ll drop the deal breaker. There is a heaven….but I sure don’t know about that Hell thing.
To quote a good friend of mine, in my best Harry Doyle from “Major League” voice….”Now playing left field…..THAT thought!!!”
It is all too often that people enjoy basking in the potential of eternity in Heaven, having a block party by their mansions, without keeping proper focus on the real potential of people around them that they love and care about NOT being in Heaven with them. It’s easier to focus on the good and forget the bad. God wouldn’t REALLY do that to us, right?
Matthew 25:46 says:
“And these (unrighteous) will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life”.
If I was a “slam dunk” writer I would just write that verse, throw up my hands and yell, “I’m out!” That verse lays it out in about as simple a fashion as it could possibly be. And, it’s not the only verse that keeps it this simple. 2 Thess. 1:9 says, “These (people who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ) shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power. Matt 18 speaks of eternal fire. The book of Jude speaks also of eternal fire. John 3:16 shows that we are offered eternal life through Jesus Christ in contrast to the “perishing” we have to look forward to without Him. There are countless other verses which speak of the punishment that, sadly, is waiting for many who do not know Jesus as their savior.
Not to focus only on the negative, I need to point out the elephant in the room. Matt 25:46 discusses two opposing destinations. One person will be in “everlasting punishment”, while the other enjoys “eternal life”. Eternal is forever. There is not an expiration date. There is no, “OK, we’re done here, move along”. What’s more, the Greek word used for “everlasting” and “eternal” (aiōnios) are the exact same word. Here’s that slam dunk logic once again: if we want eternal life….we have to accept that it is in lieu of eternal punishment. Like love and marriage, “you can’t have one without the other” as the old song says.
Jesus, time and time again, stated his purpose in coming to earth was to give us life everlasting, despite the fact that we’re all living a life leading to death(Romans 6:23). Let’s get this perfectly clear and out in the open - we are NOT deserving of anything EXCEPT punishment! Yes, it’s a hard pill to swallow, but the sooner it’s digested the sooner you can move on to accepting that salvation!!! It is just simply not possible for us to deserve salvation (Eph 2:8-9). That topic is something another 10 blog posts could be dedicated to, but it’s something that has to be briefly stated here. Why? Because it shows the point/counter point of what we DO deserve. We are deserving of eternal punishment because, as we are, we are separated from a holy God due to sin (Isaiah 59:2).
For the majority of people reading this who profess to be Christians it will seem that I am arguing a point that need not be addressed because this topic is Christianity 101. Jesus came to save us so that, God having received His substitutionary punishment for our sins, we can be with Him in Heaven instead of Hell. Simple right? One would think. I understand I’m coming a day late and a dollar short to the “Love Wins” Rob Bell party, but this post really isn’t about his book. It’s not about his book mostly due to the fact that I refuse to allow my dollars to support his “ministry”. There is PLENTY of information, including Velvet Elvis which I HAVE read, that I could take Rob Bell to task on without reading Love Wins. So, again, I’m not trying to harsh on the guy without reading his book. But, I AM going to harsh on the guy for what he says outside of the book (Eph 5:11). I saw an interview with Rob Bell tonight (http://bit.ly/gSGtBr from CNN) where Bell ever-so-subtly sneaks in this statement, in response to the question, “So, you DO believe in Heaven and Hell? You do believe in both?”
Bell – “Sure. And, here’s why. Because I’m a pastor, I see extraordinary pain and brokenness and hurt from the choices that people make to choose Hell …right…now. So, I begin with the choices we make and the very real consequences of those choices, right now, right here in this life.”
Wait…what?
Shortly after this was then followed by one of the other correspondents asking specifically about her father, who is Hindu, and if, being Hindu, he can be saved, since he is from a culture that doesn’t know of or believe in Jesus.
Bell – “And, this is one of the main reasons I wrote the book, because I think this is a huge stumbling block for lots of people. Because, their committed faith in Jesus, for many people, was told to say yes to Jesus you have to condemn billions of people to Hell. But, what kind of God would send people to eternal torment for not believing in a Jesus they…never….heard of. And, actually, the first Christians, they spoke of a mystery. A grace. A love present in the very fabric of creation that people can respond to without even knowing that it’s God or that it’s the loving Grace of Christ that’s being revealed to them. So, I leave lots of room”.
Let me Cliffs Notes an already really short (He manages to pack a LOT of dangerous material into only 5:04!!!) interview. “Hell is an experience on earth resulting from our decisions, and God is not the kind of God that would punish us in a real Hell outside of Earth, but instead is going to allow us to come to Him through responding to Jesus, even though we don’t know who Jesus is or that He is who we are responding to.”
Call me harsh or inflammatory if you like, but after watching the interview you’ll know I’m not twisting facts here.
“Why am I going after this guy so hard?” you may ask. “He loves Jesus, he said so himself!” another might question. I have covered, extensively, the biblical reasons for exposing a teacher such as this, as well as the dangers involved if they are NOT exposed (http://bit.ly/enzGCq) in a previous blog, which I have linked here. To quickly address the statements of, “he loves Jesus”, I am not one to judge his heart. What I DO judge are his actions and statements. Based on those two things, his actions do not corroborate his proclamation.
What’s so terrible about the whole thing is that, at the end of the day, I actually have a pain of relation with Rob Bell. What I mean by that is, I think I understand WHY he’s concocted all these wrong ideas, because I’ve done the exact same thing! During a time of extreme anger and bitterness toward God, surrounding my father’s stroke, I could not reconcile “what kind of God” would allow something like that to happen to a man who was a preacher and dedicated his whole life’s work to God! I was so upset! I shook my fist at God and blamed Him for everything, when in reality it was not His fault at all. In essence, this is what Bell has done. He has found a painful truth in scripture, he then appears to be unable or unwilling to reconcile it with his opinions and misunderstandings of God, and has in turn created a “new” way to look at things that is more palatable. I didn’t have the luxury of “creating away” my father’s stroke. I couldn’t take the post-modern train out of town to create my own version of truth.
See, here’s the thing. The opinions of man are simply that…opinions. We can twist and turn all we want, but no matter how firmly we believe what we believe because we believe it…if it started with us, it’s just an opinion. Conversely, God does not have opinions. God has fact. God has truth. Correction…God IS truth (John 14:6)! And His Word is FILLED with truth about us, our current state and our future destination. To restate the point, yes, it IS painful to think that our loved ones are going to spend an eternity away from God, from us and in a place of eternal torment if they don’t know Jesus. It IS hard to reconcile that sort of punishment with the lovey-dovey God we hear about that’s always, as I like to say, all gumdrops and lollipops. Unfortunately, for a person who HASN’T accepted Jesus, the same God that will save you when you have accepted His Son will remain angered because of your sin when you do not accept His Son’s substitutionary payment for your sin, and justly hand you the sentence which your crime demands.
“How selfish!” you may be thinking. “What a big-headed God, just sitting up there with a magnifying glass tormenting us little ants on the earth”. (for the record, these ALSO were the things I thought during the afore mentioned timeframe)
Not to over-simplify it, but let me appeal to your logic through a simple statement. God (dramatic Rob Bell-esque pause) made (pause, yet again) us. God MADE US! He created us all in His image(Gen 1:27)! He spoke LIFE into existence! We have no “rights”. We have nothing in which to claim glory for ourselves!
John 1:1-4 states:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life and the life was the light of men.”
What more reason does God need to declare that we are obligated to follow HIS plan of redemption? He made us! If you’re mad at God right now, like I was before, I know that statement doesn’t right all the wrongs in your life. I get that. It took me years to finally put me, myself and I out of the way and TRULY put my faith in God and God alone. But if you’re honest with yourself, you know what I just said is true. And, not because I said it….but because it’s what the Bible teaches! With this in mind, we HAVE to take God’s word at face value. What WE think (wisdom of man) is of little value in light of what God knows to be true (Isaiah 55:8-9).
Don’t think the plan of salvation was an “Oh man, I messed up on this whole human race thing, so I better come up with a way to fix it” scenario on the part of God. Don’t allow, even for a moment, for the thought to cross your mind that Jesus’ death on the cross was an afterthought, double or nothing gamble to save the masses. 1 Peter 1:17-21 (probably my favorite passage of scriptures) beautifully states:
“And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.”
My only addition to that? AMEN and AMEN!!!
Jesus redeeming work on the cross was foreordained BEFORE the foundation of the world. He planned out YOUR salvation before the world was ever made. He knew you (and I, and everybody else!) were going to fail Him miserably, yet He still created us knowing that his Son would have to die for us!!!
This leads me to ask the question to end all questions.
If your salvation has been planned since FOREVER (try to wrap your mind around that one, I dare you!), from what are we seeking salvation?
“Nothing” is not the right answer here.
You are being saved from a very real Hell, a very real punishment and a very real torment that will last for eternity if you are not brought to peace with God. I have stated many times to my wife that, “if I knew there was an end date to Hell, a get out of jail free card, even if it was 1 million years away, I could handle it. It’s the never ending that gets me.” Earlier I showed that the Greek word for “eternal” was used to describe both punishment and reward. You can’t have your hero without your villain.
I have to stop and give the traditional “preacher quote” here….The Bible talks more about our eternal punishment, and what that entails, than it does about the place of Heaven. That seems a little, odd, right? No so much. Though the volume of discussion doesn’t always immediately equate to a level of importance, in the many instances and references it should be viewed as a stern and oft repeated warning. To answer the rhetorical question posed of “what kind of God”, THAT’S what kind of God. Our God is a God that does not desire that we spend an eternity in hell, away from Him, but that EVERYONE be saved (1 Tim. 2:4). Further, Hell wasn’t created for us (Matt 25:41) but for Satan and his Angels! He is a God that gives EVERY opportunity (consider the thief on the cross), until the very last breath of life, to confess Christ as our Savior, before a just and righteous punishment is delivered.
Phil 3: 18-19
For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame – who set their mind on earthly things.
Destruction, in this text (apōleia) is literally defined as, “the destruction which consists of eternal misery in hell”. What brings about this destruction? A mean God that’s picking on poor, helpless people? Not at all. It’s a people who have chosen their personal pleasure, the things that make them feel good, earthly conquest and gain…and not the cross. Though Bell, and many who have trouble with “the kind of God” that would allow someone to spend an eternity in Hell, will try to use scripture to prove their views, it’s just not possible.
Once again, let me appeal to your logic. Let’s suppose, for arguments sake, that Rob Bell was right, just for a minute. Let’s suppose that you could live your life any way you wanted, worship any god(s) you wanted, never know the name of Jesus and yet, still avoid Hell, other than the one Bell suggests we are currently living in on this earth due to our decisions. Let’s consider, despite the absurdity, that it were true. How much of a slap in the face would it be to God? How much does it cheapen God’s grace when He is not actually saving us from anything other than a small earthly hangnail in comparison to eternity? Think about it! Imagine how that conversation would go when you just kind of “show up” on heaven’s door step.
“Hey God, how’s it going? Sorry I didn’t talk to you much, before I got here, I followed a pantheon of Hindu gods. Once I got here I heard that you sent Jesus to the cross to die for me, but I never really knew Him, either. That sounds like a great deal, though. Thanks for that, but it just wasn’t for me at the time. I was searching for enlightenment where I was. I probably bumped in to Him once or twice!”
Sounds pretty foolish, right? I heard a preacher once say, “everybody can be wrong, but not everybody can be right, unless they have the exact same answer”. The idea that Hell is a place that doesn’t exist outside of this earth, that how we live doesn’t matter, and that we will all make it to heaven without actually confessing with our mouth that Jesus is Lord (Romans 10:9) is, ultimately, as foolish as it gets. And the last person I want to slap in the face is the one who sent His only Son to die for the sins I committed.
More import than being foolish (though it is), this way of thinking is dangerous. Love Wins, Velvet Elvis and the thought processes that Rob Bell and others like him propagate, are a tool of Satan. Bell cheapens (save, outright attempts to destroy) the Gospel, he cheapens Jesus, he cheapens our eternal life in Heaven, he cheapens the consequences of Hell and last but not least, cheapens the awesome gift that is God, KEEPING us out of heaven.
At the cost that Jesus paid, with his precious shed blood, which is anything BUT cheap, I refuse to sit idly back while lambs are led to the slaughter.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
The Writing on the Wall
There it is. I never thought I would actually see it. I’m sure I should have expected it, but I never wanted to. The Writing on the Wall. No, seriously, it was there!!! A five stubby-fingered outline drawn right on the wall, along with a myriad of other childish hieroglyphics. This is, as it should go without mention to any parent reading this, not an un-preached sermon. “Pencils are for papers, not tables and walls”. “If you get a pencil out you MUST put it away, as the younger kids will write on EVERYTHING!” Yet, the sermon is rarely received, resulting in a police style lineup to determine the at-large suspect.
In a fit of fury the wife will resort to, “WHO WROTE ON THE WALL! I’VE TOLD YOU A MILLION TIMES NOT TO DO THAT!” Or, in a “eyes like fire”, cold, calculated “daddy voice” fashion, the lineup is faced with, “Somebody better talk, and they better talk now.” Pencil writing on the wall is not the end of the world, I realize. It’s more the repetition of the issue (pencils continue to be left out or this is the 5,395th time it’s happened today) than it is the severity of the crime that brings about the wrath. But, regardless of who is bringing judgment, or how it’s being administered…something happens. Something happens in the minds of those “sweet”, “innocent” little children. As if they were stuck in a 5 alarm fire their mind starts looking for the exits. Without any knowledge of John 3 they are praying within themselves, “What do I need to do to be born again…except to another parent???”.
Through the smoke and flame of their current situation, an escape route is spotted. “She did it.” “It wasn’t me.” “I didn’t leave those out.” I saw *child other then themselves* do it." The famed ghost, "Not Me" of Family Circus lore has, apparently, reared it's ugly head. Even if I was someone who'd lie to my wife I certainly wouldn’t do it to the knowledge of my children (what child can keep a secret, right?) and even if I did do it in front of my kids they would likely have no clue what I was doing. So, where did this amazing ability come from? Where did the handwriting Houdini come from?
Psalms 58:3 – The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies.
In the “nature vs. nurture” debate I have strongly stood on the “nurture” side, and with gusto. In my guesstimation, a child that was not behaving as they should was a direct reflection of the environment in which they grew up. This is not a 100%, all of the time standard. But, by and large, if a kid was acting contrary to the way they should then something in their upbringing was missing. I do not look to absolve parents of the need and responsibility to parent, but in light of the above verse I was, at least partially, incorrect in my position. “Spare the rod/spoil the child” (Prov 13:24) exists for a reason. As a parent we are all to teach our child the way they should go (Prov. 22:6) and if the way we teach them is biblical we will reap a desired result. That being said, that kid is going to lie. When backed into a corner that lovely lad is going to do whatever it takes to prevent the “rod of correction” from falling upon the “seat of higher learning” , even to the point of it falling on their sibling. Despite our best efforts our kids are heathens! (JUST A JOKE! I mean, our kids ARE heathens, but I only use that word as a throwback to my Aunt Peggy who always talked about the “heatherns”).
In contrast to this, the world at large would have you believe we are all, “good people”. Anne Frank is quoted as saying, "I keep my ideals, because in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart". You would be hard pressed to find anyone to come against Anne Frank or this logic. If you listen to the news, the blogosphere, friends and family, or nearly anyone outside of the Bible, the general consensus is that human kind is innately good. Every article written or argument posed runs on the assumption that people are born with a sense of right and wrong. “In our hearts”, they argue, “we want to do what’s best”. They fall on the “nurture” side of the argument as I once did, suggesting that it is the bad influence of those around us that have corrupted an otherwise “good” person.
As is the order of things, children grow up to become adults. For someone to hold the idea that people are generally “good” it would logically have to follow that they believe at some point in a person’s past that they started good. To think that people are not generally good would suddenly heap us into that same category. By admitting that people are bad by nature it means that everyone, including MYSELF, is bad by nature. It’s a tough pill to swallow. As painful an admission of innate evil (vs. innate good) is, it begins an amazing change in perspective. No, this does not suddenly give someone the right to snub their nose at people saying, “I’m saved, and you’re not, and you’re EVIL! EVIL, I tell you! *Evil maniacal laugh*” The perspective change looks something like this:
I cannot achieve a perfection that I never possessed in the first place.
Let me say it again. If I was never perfect, it’s not possible to achieve perfection because perfection, by definition, is never having been not perfect. It is on this premise that we must live, otherwise the idea will creep up in our minds that we can actually do something to save ourselves. If at some point in our past we were “good”, even if it was while crawling around on all fours playing with blocks, we will allow ourselves the glimmer of hope that we can re-achieve that so-called innocence.
Romans 3:23 – [F]or all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
Psalms 14:2-3 – The Lord looks down from Heaven upon the children of men, to see if there are any who understand, who seek God. They have all turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is none who does good, no, not one.
These are the painful building blocks on which we find ourselves in need of salvation. There is no one worthy of Salvation or the grace that God offers us, no not one. The truth is that from the moment of birth we are deserving of death. No one wants to think of their new bundle of joy as evil, but let me ask you a question; if, from the moment of birth, you considered your child “not good” and in need of salvation, how differently would you approach their upbringing? How much more quickly would you bring them the truth of God’s word? How much more urgent would it be that THEY understand they are not “good”? How much less important would their self esteem be versus their understanding that all their righteousness is like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6)? Taking it a step further, how does this impact our overall worldview? How does the idea that not only are people not good but they love being bad (John 3:19) change our approach to spreading the Good News? How are your current evangelistic endeavors altered in light of the fact that it is not possible for an unsaved person to seek God (Romans 3:11, 8:7)?
This message hopefully speaks to two groups of people.
First, I hope it speaks to those who do not yet know Jesus as their Lord and Savior. I do not judge you for your current life, the things you do, the things you think or the person that you are. The fact is, It really IS who you are. It’s who ALL of us are, until the time of salvation through Jesus. We can hope to be nothing in and of ourselves. In the 3rd chapter of John it says, “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” Though there will come a time of final judgment it is important to realize that Adam's sin in the garden resulted in a sin nature being passed down to all humans, which means we are all guilty and judged before we even begin. The only way to be forgiven from judgment now, and final judgment in the future, is to confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead(Romans 10:9). A simple “walk to the front of the church” experience is not what salvation is. The ideas of “confession” and “belief” speak to the fact that it’s more than words, but something that you commit to doing going forward. In other words, If Jesus truly is your lord, you will want to do what He says (John 14:15).
The second group I hope this speaks to are the people who are already in Christ. Because it “feels good” it is too easy to subscribe to the worldly idea that we are “all good”. This, in turn, impacts the way we go about our duty as Christians. As I mentioned earlier, we are not to be judgmental against people who do not yet know Christ as their savior. Why? Without Christ we are no better than they! This does not mean that we close our eyes and pretend that sin doesn't exist. Further, it doesn't mean that we stand by mum on the sins that ARE present. We are charged to speak the truth in love (Eph 4:15). Without allowing ourselves to step onto a pedestal of self-righteousness, we need to lovingly speak the truth of God's Word, which is the means God has provided for the Holy Spirit to lead the sinner to repentance. So, to answer the questions I posed earlier, we can no longer think it is what we do that saves people. Don’t get me wrong, we are, without question, called to preach the word (Mark 16:15) and, as I just said, speak the truth in love. What we often overlook is that it is not our persuasive argument or crafty language that brings people to Christ. Yes, we are to preach the word but it is the work of God, drawing someone to Christ, that does the final work in the lives of the unsaved (John 6:44). When we put the focus on us and what we can do to “save” people it becomes glaringly obvious why the seeker sensitive movement has taken root in our churches. It becomes clear why we water down the message of the Bible which states simply that we are sinners in need of a Savior (Romans 5:19). I understand why many have reservations about being as bold about Christ as a sinner is about their exploits. We are too fearful that if we simply present the truth of scripture it might hurt people’s feelings and they won’t “believe” us. The root of this feeling? We think their salvation depends on our talented transmission of the gospel. We put too much stock in what we do and not enough in what God, through his Holy Spirit, will do. To put it another way, our faith is in ourselves and not in God. Our words are a part of the process, in that we speak the truth of God’s Word. But the end result of a person’s salvation comes by God’s spirit, using His words spoken in Scripture and transmitted through us, to draw the unsaved person to Him.
While there is great pain felt when we hear who we really are without Christ, and the plight we are facing, we must immediately be reminded of our available salvation from this destination. As much as it is true that from birth we are evil it is also equally and more importantly true that before the foundation of the world our salvation was planned and paid for (Eph 1:3-6, 1 Peter 1:19-21).
In a fit of fury the wife will resort to, “WHO WROTE ON THE WALL! I’VE TOLD YOU A MILLION TIMES NOT TO DO THAT!” Or, in a “eyes like fire”, cold, calculated “daddy voice” fashion, the lineup is faced with, “Somebody better talk, and they better talk now.” Pencil writing on the wall is not the end of the world, I realize. It’s more the repetition of the issue (pencils continue to be left out or this is the 5,395th time it’s happened today) than it is the severity of the crime that brings about the wrath. But, regardless of who is bringing judgment, or how it’s being administered…something happens. Something happens in the minds of those “sweet”, “innocent” little children. As if they were stuck in a 5 alarm fire their mind starts looking for the exits. Without any knowledge of John 3 they are praying within themselves, “What do I need to do to be born again…except to another parent???”.
Through the smoke and flame of their current situation, an escape route is spotted. “She did it.” “It wasn’t me.” “I didn’t leave those out.” I saw *child other then themselves* do it." The famed ghost, "Not Me" of Family Circus lore has, apparently, reared it's ugly head. Even if I was someone who'd lie to my wife I certainly wouldn’t do it to the knowledge of my children (what child can keep a secret, right?) and even if I did do it in front of my kids they would likely have no clue what I was doing. So, where did this amazing ability come from? Where did the handwriting Houdini come from?
Psalms 58:3 – The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies.
In the “nature vs. nurture” debate I have strongly stood on the “nurture” side, and with gusto. In my guesstimation, a child that was not behaving as they should was a direct reflection of the environment in which they grew up. This is not a 100%, all of the time standard. But, by and large, if a kid was acting contrary to the way they should then something in their upbringing was missing. I do not look to absolve parents of the need and responsibility to parent, but in light of the above verse I was, at least partially, incorrect in my position. “Spare the rod/spoil the child” (Prov 13:24) exists for a reason. As a parent we are all to teach our child the way they should go (Prov. 22:6) and if the way we teach them is biblical we will reap a desired result. That being said, that kid is going to lie. When backed into a corner that lovely lad is going to do whatever it takes to prevent the “rod of correction” from falling upon the “seat of higher learning” , even to the point of it falling on their sibling. Despite our best efforts our kids are heathens! (JUST A JOKE! I mean, our kids ARE heathens, but I only use that word as a throwback to my Aunt Peggy who always talked about the “heatherns”).
In contrast to this, the world at large would have you believe we are all, “good people”. Anne Frank is quoted as saying, "I keep my ideals, because in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart". You would be hard pressed to find anyone to come against Anne Frank or this logic. If you listen to the news, the blogosphere, friends and family, or nearly anyone outside of the Bible, the general consensus is that human kind is innately good. Every article written or argument posed runs on the assumption that people are born with a sense of right and wrong. “In our hearts”, they argue, “we want to do what’s best”. They fall on the “nurture” side of the argument as I once did, suggesting that it is the bad influence of those around us that have corrupted an otherwise “good” person.
As is the order of things, children grow up to become adults. For someone to hold the idea that people are generally “good” it would logically have to follow that they believe at some point in a person’s past that they started good. To think that people are not generally good would suddenly heap us into that same category. By admitting that people are bad by nature it means that everyone, including MYSELF, is bad by nature. It’s a tough pill to swallow. As painful an admission of innate evil (vs. innate good) is, it begins an amazing change in perspective. No, this does not suddenly give someone the right to snub their nose at people saying, “I’m saved, and you’re not, and you’re EVIL! EVIL, I tell you! *Evil maniacal laugh*” The perspective change looks something like this:
I cannot achieve a perfection that I never possessed in the first place.
Let me say it again. If I was never perfect, it’s not possible to achieve perfection because perfection, by definition, is never having been not perfect. It is on this premise that we must live, otherwise the idea will creep up in our minds that we can actually do something to save ourselves. If at some point in our past we were “good”, even if it was while crawling around on all fours playing with blocks, we will allow ourselves the glimmer of hope that we can re-achieve that so-called innocence.
Romans 3:23 – [F]or all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
Psalms 14:2-3 – The Lord looks down from Heaven upon the children of men, to see if there are any who understand, who seek God. They have all turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is none who does good, no, not one.
These are the painful building blocks on which we find ourselves in need of salvation. There is no one worthy of Salvation or the grace that God offers us, no not one. The truth is that from the moment of birth we are deserving of death. No one wants to think of their new bundle of joy as evil, but let me ask you a question; if, from the moment of birth, you considered your child “not good” and in need of salvation, how differently would you approach their upbringing? How much more quickly would you bring them the truth of God’s word? How much more urgent would it be that THEY understand they are not “good”? How much less important would their self esteem be versus their understanding that all their righteousness is like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6)? Taking it a step further, how does this impact our overall worldview? How does the idea that not only are people not good but they love being bad (John 3:19) change our approach to spreading the Good News? How are your current evangelistic endeavors altered in light of the fact that it is not possible for an unsaved person to seek God (Romans 3:11, 8:7)?
This message hopefully speaks to two groups of people.
First, I hope it speaks to those who do not yet know Jesus as their Lord and Savior. I do not judge you for your current life, the things you do, the things you think or the person that you are. The fact is, It really IS who you are. It’s who ALL of us are, until the time of salvation through Jesus. We can hope to be nothing in and of ourselves. In the 3rd chapter of John it says, “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” Though there will come a time of final judgment it is important to realize that Adam's sin in the garden resulted in a sin nature being passed down to all humans, which means we are all guilty and judged before we even begin. The only way to be forgiven from judgment now, and final judgment in the future, is to confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead(Romans 10:9). A simple “walk to the front of the church” experience is not what salvation is. The ideas of “confession” and “belief” speak to the fact that it’s more than words, but something that you commit to doing going forward. In other words, If Jesus truly is your lord, you will want to do what He says (John 14:15).
The second group I hope this speaks to are the people who are already in Christ. Because it “feels good” it is too easy to subscribe to the worldly idea that we are “all good”. This, in turn, impacts the way we go about our duty as Christians. As I mentioned earlier, we are not to be judgmental against people who do not yet know Christ as their savior. Why? Without Christ we are no better than they! This does not mean that we close our eyes and pretend that sin doesn't exist. Further, it doesn't mean that we stand by mum on the sins that ARE present. We are charged to speak the truth in love (Eph 4:15). Without allowing ourselves to step onto a pedestal of self-righteousness, we need to lovingly speak the truth of God's Word, which is the means God has provided for the Holy Spirit to lead the sinner to repentance. So, to answer the questions I posed earlier, we can no longer think it is what we do that saves people. Don’t get me wrong, we are, without question, called to preach the word (Mark 16:15) and, as I just said, speak the truth in love. What we often overlook is that it is not our persuasive argument or crafty language that brings people to Christ. Yes, we are to preach the word but it is the work of God, drawing someone to Christ, that does the final work in the lives of the unsaved (John 6:44). When we put the focus on us and what we can do to “save” people it becomes glaringly obvious why the seeker sensitive movement has taken root in our churches. It becomes clear why we water down the message of the Bible which states simply that we are sinners in need of a Savior (Romans 5:19). I understand why many have reservations about being as bold about Christ as a sinner is about their exploits. We are too fearful that if we simply present the truth of scripture it might hurt people’s feelings and they won’t “believe” us. The root of this feeling? We think their salvation depends on our talented transmission of the gospel. We put too much stock in what we do and not enough in what God, through his Holy Spirit, will do. To put it another way, our faith is in ourselves and not in God. Our words are a part of the process, in that we speak the truth of God’s Word. But the end result of a person’s salvation comes by God’s spirit, using His words spoken in Scripture and transmitted through us, to draw the unsaved person to Him.
While there is great pain felt when we hear who we really are without Christ, and the plight we are facing, we must immediately be reminded of our available salvation from this destination. As much as it is true that from birth we are evil it is also equally and more importantly true that before the foundation of the world our salvation was planned and paid for (Eph 1:3-6, 1 Peter 1:19-21).
Friday, March 4, 2011
And the _____ shall set you free
And the ____ shall set you free
John 8.
Truth is truth no matter what.
It unfortunately should come as no small shock that this is not the way things play out. “Truth” is, sadly, a concept or, better yet, a “false reality” in most cases, that people bend to the point of breaking so that it will cover whatever situation it is needed for at that moment. The impacts and reality of moldable truth is as far reaching as your imagination will take you, and it will, quite simply, corrupt everything it comes into contact with. Family relationships, friendships, work, politics, and, more and more frequently, infiltrating the Bride of Christ, His church.
...And the prevailing wisdom shall set you free
...And the common sense shall set you free
...And the public opinion shall set you free
...And what makes sense to me shall set you free
...And what feels good to me shall set you free
“Truth is truth”. “Well, what’s true to you is not necessarily true for me.” Stark contrast, right? I hate to pull the “well, Webster’s says” card, but;
Truth – a verified or indisputable fact, proposition, principle.
Left is left, right is right. Gravity is a very real force to be reckoned with on planet Earth. Arthur Bryant’s has the best beef and fry (I lost half of you now...I know….but I do assert they TRULY have the best beef and fry). Facts! Somehow, the post-modernistic fancy of public and personal opinion has trumped “verified” and “indisputable”, which is what the Bible provides. To restate the point, this way of thinking corrupts EVERYTHING.
Let’s use “Love” as an example of how the postmodern treatment of the word has changed it into something that it’s not.
Love, in family and friend relationships, has been completely redefined. It is no longer “selfless love of one person for another”…which is the TRUTH of what love is as defined and exemplified in the Bible. Now it has become, “what have you done for me lately”. “Are you meeting MY needs”. When the object of our “love” affections no longer fits the bill…they’re out on the next train.
In the “churchy” realm of things, “love” is defined something like this;
“To truly love someone I must accept them ‘as they are’ and GOD FORBID that I would EVER say anything contrary to their current line of thought/feeling/opinion/trajectorytowardacliff even though it would certainly help them to be a better person”.
Don’t mistake that statement for being judgmental. I’m not saying we should insist that people be perfect, or anything other than what and who they currently are, before they come to Christ or church. If that were the standard NONE of us would be there. What that statement shows is the mentality that many Christians have of what “love” is to another Christian. This, of course, is despite clear instruction in the Bible to the contrary...a point which you will see clarified in greater detail as this progresses.
So, what about the church as a whole, not just the issue of love? I’m sure it’s gone on far longer than I want to consider or even realized, but post-modernism in the church, and the households of God-fearing people, is becoming as common as it is on Capitol Hill.
The word “truth”, found in John 8:32 is defined as:
“what is true in any matter under consideration”
Truth is something to be grasped. It is not an ever-elusive shape-shifting idea that is impossible to obtain or comprehend. That’s the tagline for postmodernism, though.
“Truth isn’t truth…is it?”
The questioning fashion of the statement apparently makes it OK. Truth cannot be obtained, or doesn’t even exist, so I will create a “truth” that works for me. So, again I state, THIS is why it’s so frightening that postmodernism has become the norm in many churches! The Bible deals In absolutes, despite the emergent church’s supposition to the contrary. The Bible is clear. The Bible is complete. How can I make such bold assertions? Because they are not my opinions. They are Truth, as found within the pages of scripture inspired by God’s Holy Spirit.
So, how does this “truth” thing flesh out? If it’s not just some abstract self-defined “thing”...what does it look like?
If God says, “Go” there is never an idea, agenda, circumstance, obstacle…anything…that will change the course of truth that God has said and put in to place. To point it out, notice I correlated “truth” to “God said”. It should always be the assumption that what God says is truth. He is the AUTHOR of truth. He cannot lie. So, in this example, “Go” is what you NEED to do. No debate. When God commanded Jonah to Go….there was no changing God’s mind. And again, the simple fact that God said it made it truth...period, end of story.
From a completely fleshly standpoint there were MANY obstacles, of course. Time, distance and not to mention the terrible and dangerous people he was to go minister to. Common sense (we’ll call this the postmodern interpretation of “truth”) would have stated, “well, I’m SURE there are places that are closer you could do a GREAT work of God in.”. Someone else would have suggested, “God surely wouldn’t have called you to THAT place! It’s TERRIBLE there. How will you provide for yourself on that Journey?” Yet another might say, “Who are you to say what they’re doing is wrong. It’s not OUR place to judge.”
Let me make this perfectly clear. The hypothetical statements I just made were made by “Christians”. Made by people that claim to be committed followers of Christ. When Truth (as originated by God) has been spoken, these well meaning (or are they?) “Christians” apply their world view, opinions, convictions, “wisdom”, etc, in place of God’s truth. It’s far too often that the opinions of yourself or others on a matter are weighted heavier than God’s Truth.
God also challenges us with many clear cut “don’ts” in His Word. For instance, there’s the “don’t do”, “don’t believe”, “don’t listen”, “don’t associate” or the “don’t think about”, just to name a few.
I have to make a parenthetical aside prior to developing the thoughts on the “don’t” list. Before you throw the “it’s always what you’re against, never what you’re for” card, please understand that biblical instruction is not for the non-Christian. Instruction found in the Bible is for those that have truly confessed Jesus as Lord of their life. There are opposites for all of the “don’ts” that were listed (i.e. DO believe, listen, etc). For the non-Christian, though, there is only one thing you need to hear, which is that “God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son and whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life”, and other supporting verses that will clearly explain what you must do to obtain forgiveness from God. So, I’ll just throw it out there….you can keep doing what you’re doing. I don’t WANT you to, mind you. But, without the leading, guiding and assistance of the Holy Spirit, which is received upon salvation, you truly CAN’T stop. WE ALL have a sin nature, so when someone says, “it’s natural to _____” they are probably right. This is really outside the scope of this posting, so I sadly digress at this point. The point to draw from this, though, is that the don’t list is for Christians.
So...the don’t list. It doesn’t feel good, does it? In fact, most if not ALL of it hurts. As I just finished stating, we are born with a sin nature, so, the things of God are contrary to our fleshly desires and tendencies even AFTER we’ve accepted Christ as Lord. God’s Biblical Instructions will rub us the wrong way, bristle our neck hair, cause us to dig our heels into the ground and go kicking and screaming all the way. They SHOULDN’T, but they often do. Why is this? Why the extreme resistance to the instructions of a God we CLAIM is the “Lord” and “Master” of our life? I’ll be the first to admit: I am often tempted to do the same thing, even though I don’t want to, and I don’t know why I do it. I guess I could suggest a few possible reasons. One being that it is offensive, even when we WANT to serve God. Having your beliefs challenged, even justly, is just simply offensive. Another reason being that if we WERE to accept and speak TRUTH that was contrary to popular belief, or opinions that are easy to deal with, that we would suddenly be labeled a “hater” or “not a lover” or “judgmental” or something of that nature. This, of course, is never fun or a comfortable position to be in.
All of this, though, boils down to the idea that if we do something, or believe something, it could be inferred that we must think it’s ok (otherwise we wouldn’t be doing/believing it, right?), therefore, anything contrary to our current actions/beliefs/convictions are, as a reflex, viewed as wrong.
Wait a minute…I said wrong. Hold on, that’s not allowed.
But, that’s the underlying issue, isn’t it? If someone is to allow, in a particular issue, that there is an absolute truth it, by default, proves that there is also absolute falsehood. It’s simple cause and effect. I heard a preacher say once that, “It’s possible for everybody to be wrong but not possible for everybody to be right”. When we’re not specifically talking about some hot-button issue, and you allow yourself to think about it in a logical fashion it makes perfect sense. Unless everybody has the answer “ 4” to the question of “2+2” then, no, not everybody can be right though they may fervently argue the point and have high profile supporters claiming that 6 is, in fact, actually the answer.
So, let’s throw in a specific hot button issue. Homosexuality is about as hot button as they come. Biblically, homosexuality is clearly, decisively and indisputably sin. Notice the change in your attitude? Suddenly you may not want it to be so black and white. You may be looking for a way around it. Suddenly you’re afraid of being pegged as a “homophobe” and don’t want to hurt the feelings of others. But remember: truth is truth is truth. It is the TRUTH that will set you free. It’s not open to debate. Scripture is clear, in more places than an Old Testament reference, that those who are living a homosexual lifestyle will not inherit the Kingdom of God. Yet even those in the “Christian” (term used loosely) community are ordaining openly gay people into ministry!
So, what is the unstated belief behind refusing to accept the totality of God’s truth? What are our hearts speaking through the actions of refusing to submit to His authority in all things, regardless of our opinions ? Understand this, and you’ll understand why this epidemic is so dangerous. To refuse to accept God’s truth, as laid out in the Bible, is to say you are right and God is wrong. Granted, you normally project “I’m right and you’re wrong” on a person that has stated something you disagree with. But understand that a person speaking a Biblical truth, which in turn is God’s truth, is not speaking their opinion…but fact. See where this goes? Yes, you are attacking the “unloving” or “hater” preacher who says “Rob Bell is teaching a false gospel”…but who are you REALLY attacking? The statement of the “hater” preacher is not theirs, but Gods.
“But who are YOU to say what GOD’S opinions are”, you may be asking? Allow me to address this.
2 Peter 1:20-21 states, “[K]nowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man (what we want or think is right…), but by holy men of God, spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.
In summation, “you don’t get to decide what “don’t be a homosexual”, “don’t have sexual intercourse outside of marriage”, “if someone comes, bringing another Christ (Rob Bell, Eugene Peterson, etc) they are to be accursed”, etc, means. It’s clearly laid out in scripture. Yes, it’s uncomfortable to hear. No we don’t WANT to change because, again, we do what we do because WE think it’s right. But, what WE think doesn’t matter.
Isaiah 55:8-9: For My thoughts are not your thoughts nor are your ways My ways”, says the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.”
Believe it or not, there is a BEAUTIFUL comfort in this! God’s ways are higher than ours…so we don’t need to try and figure it out! Read, implement and repeat! And, think about this: Hebrews 11 tells us that without faith it is not possible to please God. So, even when we don't understand, or agree with, some biblical instruction, we are to have faith that God knows what’s best for us. Again, to not do so is a direct slap in God’s face, claiming that we, the created, know more than He, the creator.
Let me try to wrap this whole thing in a simple little package.
John 14:15-17 – If you love Me(Jesus), keep my commandments. And, I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever – the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you”.
There it is. Don’t want to follow what the bible says? Don’t want to subject yourself to the Truth of Scripture? If that’s the case you don’t love Jesus. The world cannot receive the spirit of Truth. So, if you refuse truth, as the Bible and Bible alone portrays it (not some pop-psychology interpretation), your salvation is called in to question. Bold statement, I know, but we are known by the fruits we produce. I can’t judge your heart, but I can judge your actions. Well, let me rephrase that. “I” can’t judge your actions, because who am I but another sinner saved by the Grace of God. What I am charged to do is speak God’s truth, in love, to other true believers, which brings us full circle.
It is the TRUTH that will set you free.
John 8.
Truth is truth no matter what.
It unfortunately should come as no small shock that this is not the way things play out. “Truth” is, sadly, a concept or, better yet, a “false reality” in most cases, that people bend to the point of breaking so that it will cover whatever situation it is needed for at that moment. The impacts and reality of moldable truth is as far reaching as your imagination will take you, and it will, quite simply, corrupt everything it comes into contact with. Family relationships, friendships, work, politics, and, more and more frequently, infiltrating the Bride of Christ, His church.
...And the prevailing wisdom shall set you free
...And the common sense shall set you free
...And the public opinion shall set you free
...And what makes sense to me shall set you free
...And what feels good to me shall set you free
“Truth is truth”. “Well, what’s true to you is not necessarily true for me.” Stark contrast, right? I hate to pull the “well, Webster’s says” card, but;
Truth – a verified or indisputable fact, proposition, principle.
Left is left, right is right. Gravity is a very real force to be reckoned with on planet Earth. Arthur Bryant’s has the best beef and fry (I lost half of you now...I know….but I do assert they TRULY have the best beef and fry). Facts! Somehow, the post-modernistic fancy of public and personal opinion has trumped “verified” and “indisputable”, which is what the Bible provides. To restate the point, this way of thinking corrupts EVERYTHING.
Let’s use “Love” as an example of how the postmodern treatment of the word has changed it into something that it’s not.
Love, in family and friend relationships, has been completely redefined. It is no longer “selfless love of one person for another”…which is the TRUTH of what love is as defined and exemplified in the Bible. Now it has become, “what have you done for me lately”. “Are you meeting MY needs”. When the object of our “love” affections no longer fits the bill…they’re out on the next train.
In the “churchy” realm of things, “love” is defined something like this;
“To truly love someone I must accept them ‘as they are’ and GOD FORBID that I would EVER say anything contrary to their current line of thought/feeling/opinion/trajectorytowardacliff even though it would certainly help them to be a better person”.
Don’t mistake that statement for being judgmental. I’m not saying we should insist that people be perfect, or anything other than what and who they currently are, before they come to Christ or church. If that were the standard NONE of us would be there. What that statement shows is the mentality that many Christians have of what “love” is to another Christian. This, of course, is despite clear instruction in the Bible to the contrary...a point which you will see clarified in greater detail as this progresses.
So, what about the church as a whole, not just the issue of love? I’m sure it’s gone on far longer than I want to consider or even realized, but post-modernism in the church, and the households of God-fearing people, is becoming as common as it is on Capitol Hill.
The word “truth”, found in John 8:32 is defined as:
“what is true in any matter under consideration”
Truth is something to be grasped. It is not an ever-elusive shape-shifting idea that is impossible to obtain or comprehend. That’s the tagline for postmodernism, though.
“Truth isn’t truth…is it?”
The questioning fashion of the statement apparently makes it OK. Truth cannot be obtained, or doesn’t even exist, so I will create a “truth” that works for me. So, again I state, THIS is why it’s so frightening that postmodernism has become the norm in many churches! The Bible deals In absolutes, despite the emergent church’s supposition to the contrary. The Bible is clear. The Bible is complete. How can I make such bold assertions? Because they are not my opinions. They are Truth, as found within the pages of scripture inspired by God’s Holy Spirit.
So, how does this “truth” thing flesh out? If it’s not just some abstract self-defined “thing”...what does it look like?
If God says, “Go” there is never an idea, agenda, circumstance, obstacle…anything…that will change the course of truth that God has said and put in to place. To point it out, notice I correlated “truth” to “God said”. It should always be the assumption that what God says is truth. He is the AUTHOR of truth. He cannot lie. So, in this example, “Go” is what you NEED to do. No debate. When God commanded Jonah to Go….there was no changing God’s mind. And again, the simple fact that God said it made it truth...period, end of story.
From a completely fleshly standpoint there were MANY obstacles, of course. Time, distance and not to mention the terrible and dangerous people he was to go minister to. Common sense (we’ll call this the postmodern interpretation of “truth”) would have stated, “well, I’m SURE there are places that are closer you could do a GREAT work of God in.”. Someone else would have suggested, “God surely wouldn’t have called you to THAT place! It’s TERRIBLE there. How will you provide for yourself on that Journey?” Yet another might say, “Who are you to say what they’re doing is wrong. It’s not OUR place to judge.”
Let me make this perfectly clear. The hypothetical statements I just made were made by “Christians”. Made by people that claim to be committed followers of Christ. When Truth (as originated by God) has been spoken, these well meaning (or are they?) “Christians” apply their world view, opinions, convictions, “wisdom”, etc, in place of God’s truth. It’s far too often that the opinions of yourself or others on a matter are weighted heavier than God’s Truth.
God also challenges us with many clear cut “don’ts” in His Word. For instance, there’s the “don’t do”, “don’t believe”, “don’t listen”, “don’t associate” or the “don’t think about”, just to name a few.
I have to make a parenthetical aside prior to developing the thoughts on the “don’t” list. Before you throw the “it’s always what you’re against, never what you’re for” card, please understand that biblical instruction is not for the non-Christian. Instruction found in the Bible is for those that have truly confessed Jesus as Lord of their life. There are opposites for all of the “don’ts” that were listed (i.e. DO believe, listen, etc). For the non-Christian, though, there is only one thing you need to hear, which is that “God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son and whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life”, and other supporting verses that will clearly explain what you must do to obtain forgiveness from God. So, I’ll just throw it out there….you can keep doing what you’re doing. I don’t WANT you to, mind you. But, without the leading, guiding and assistance of the Holy Spirit, which is received upon salvation, you truly CAN’T stop. WE ALL have a sin nature, so when someone says, “it’s natural to _____” they are probably right. This is really outside the scope of this posting, so I sadly digress at this point. The point to draw from this, though, is that the don’t list is for Christians.
So...the don’t list. It doesn’t feel good, does it? In fact, most if not ALL of it hurts. As I just finished stating, we are born with a sin nature, so, the things of God are contrary to our fleshly desires and tendencies even AFTER we’ve accepted Christ as Lord. God’s Biblical Instructions will rub us the wrong way, bristle our neck hair, cause us to dig our heels into the ground and go kicking and screaming all the way. They SHOULDN’T, but they often do. Why is this? Why the extreme resistance to the instructions of a God we CLAIM is the “Lord” and “Master” of our life? I’ll be the first to admit: I am often tempted to do the same thing, even though I don’t want to, and I don’t know why I do it. I guess I could suggest a few possible reasons. One being that it is offensive, even when we WANT to serve God. Having your beliefs challenged, even justly, is just simply offensive. Another reason being that if we WERE to accept and speak TRUTH that was contrary to popular belief, or opinions that are easy to deal with, that we would suddenly be labeled a “hater” or “not a lover” or “judgmental” or something of that nature. This, of course, is never fun or a comfortable position to be in.
All of this, though, boils down to the idea that if we do something, or believe something, it could be inferred that we must think it’s ok (otherwise we wouldn’t be doing/believing it, right?), therefore, anything contrary to our current actions/beliefs/convictions are, as a reflex, viewed as wrong.
Wait a minute…I said wrong. Hold on, that’s not allowed.
But, that’s the underlying issue, isn’t it? If someone is to allow, in a particular issue, that there is an absolute truth it, by default, proves that there is also absolute falsehood. It’s simple cause and effect. I heard a preacher say once that, “It’s possible for everybody to be wrong but not possible for everybody to be right”. When we’re not specifically talking about some hot-button issue, and you allow yourself to think about it in a logical fashion it makes perfect sense. Unless everybody has the answer “ 4” to the question of “2+2” then, no, not everybody can be right though they may fervently argue the point and have high profile supporters claiming that 6 is, in fact, actually the answer.
So, let’s throw in a specific hot button issue. Homosexuality is about as hot button as they come. Biblically, homosexuality is clearly, decisively and indisputably sin. Notice the change in your attitude? Suddenly you may not want it to be so black and white. You may be looking for a way around it. Suddenly you’re afraid of being pegged as a “homophobe” and don’t want to hurt the feelings of others. But remember: truth is truth is truth. It is the TRUTH that will set you free. It’s not open to debate. Scripture is clear, in more places than an Old Testament reference, that those who are living a homosexual lifestyle will not inherit the Kingdom of God. Yet even those in the “Christian” (term used loosely) community are ordaining openly gay people into ministry!
So, what is the unstated belief behind refusing to accept the totality of God’s truth? What are our hearts speaking through the actions of refusing to submit to His authority in all things, regardless of our opinions ? Understand this, and you’ll understand why this epidemic is so dangerous. To refuse to accept God’s truth, as laid out in the Bible, is to say you are right and God is wrong. Granted, you normally project “I’m right and you’re wrong” on a person that has stated something you disagree with. But understand that a person speaking a Biblical truth, which in turn is God’s truth, is not speaking their opinion…but fact. See where this goes? Yes, you are attacking the “unloving” or “hater” preacher who says “Rob Bell is teaching a false gospel”…but who are you REALLY attacking? The statement of the “hater” preacher is not theirs, but Gods.
“But who are YOU to say what GOD’S opinions are”, you may be asking? Allow me to address this.
2 Peter 1:20-21 states, “[K]nowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man (what we want or think is right…), but by holy men of God, spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.
In summation, “you don’t get to decide what “don’t be a homosexual”, “don’t have sexual intercourse outside of marriage”, “if someone comes, bringing another Christ (Rob Bell, Eugene Peterson, etc) they are to be accursed”, etc, means. It’s clearly laid out in scripture. Yes, it’s uncomfortable to hear. No we don’t WANT to change because, again, we do what we do because WE think it’s right. But, what WE think doesn’t matter.
Isaiah 55:8-9: For My thoughts are not your thoughts nor are your ways My ways”, says the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.”
Believe it or not, there is a BEAUTIFUL comfort in this! God’s ways are higher than ours…so we don’t need to try and figure it out! Read, implement and repeat! And, think about this: Hebrews 11 tells us that without faith it is not possible to please God. So, even when we don't understand, or agree with, some biblical instruction, we are to have faith that God knows what’s best for us. Again, to not do so is a direct slap in God’s face, claiming that we, the created, know more than He, the creator.
Let me try to wrap this whole thing in a simple little package.
John 14:15-17 – If you love Me(Jesus), keep my commandments. And, I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever – the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you”.
There it is. Don’t want to follow what the bible says? Don’t want to subject yourself to the Truth of Scripture? If that’s the case you don’t love Jesus. The world cannot receive the spirit of Truth. So, if you refuse truth, as the Bible and Bible alone portrays it (not some pop-psychology interpretation), your salvation is called in to question. Bold statement, I know, but we are known by the fruits we produce. I can’t judge your heart, but I can judge your actions. Well, let me rephrase that. “I” can’t judge your actions, because who am I but another sinner saved by the Grace of God. What I am charged to do is speak God’s truth, in love, to other true believers, which brings us full circle.
It is the TRUTH that will set you free.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)