Forgiven Sinner

This is a "MUST SEE" video

2011-09-27T16:38:00.001-05:00

To Moroni With Love

2011-02-22T19:58:00.002-06:00

The Challenge

This is a very special booklet. I'm sure that you have never read one quite like it. And I can assure you that it has been a tremendous burden of research and prayer for me in its development. It is given to you, my LDS friend, in love and in Christ.

If you are a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, you may doubt the sincerity of that love, but I assure you that it is real and it is honest. If you are one of the many people investigating the church, I pray that you will take time out from your studies to read this thoroughly and ask the Lord to settle the matter in your heart and mind.

Whatever your reason for reading these words, I promise that the next hour of reading time may well be the most significant hour in your spiritual life. Significant, because it will either solidify your belief in the absolute truth of the Mormon message, or questions will be raised that may cause you to take another and deeper look at some of the key doctrines of the church.

I write this an ex-Mormon who spent almost 20 years in the LDS Church, a member of the Melchizedek priesthood, a Temple Mormon and active in many church callings. I am setting forth a challenge that first came from Brigham Young:

Take up the Bible, compare the religion of the Latter-day Saints with it and see if it will stand the test. (Journal of Discourses 16:46, 1873)

No man can disprove a truth…Why not rather every man rise up and say, "Let God be true, let the truth remain and let me know the truth. That is what I want I will submit to it; and let every false theory and principle fall, to rise up no more." (ibid. 8:132, 1860.)

Even more to the point was Orson Pratt's statement regarding the "truth":

If we cannot convince you by reason nor by the Word of God, that your religion is wrong, we will not persecute you…we ask of you the same generosity…Convince us of our errors of doctrine, if we have any, by logical arguments, or by the Word of God and we will be ever grateful for the information, and you will ever have the pleasing reflections that you have been instruments in the hands of God of redeeming your fellow beings. (The Seer, p.15)

I am not going to try to outwit or out quote Mormon theologians and apologists. I am just going to tell it to you like it is, and put the "Restored Gospel" of the LDS Church to the test of God's Word and common sense logic.

MY CHALLENGE is that you read this with the same sincere heart mentioned in Moroni 10:4, asking God to manifest His truth to you. I exhort you to apply the same test to these pages. Seek not my truth or the Mormon truth, but God's eternal truth. Our very eternal lives are at stake, both yours and mine.

It is my solemn witness before God that he hold me accountable for any soul that I might lead from the light of His Son Jesus into the darkness of error and false doctrine. It is my earnest prayer that God so bless each reader with a full comprehension of the information written herein that, through His Holy Spirit, the truth will be evidenced without doubt or turmoil.

Points of Reference

It is the premise of this work that the Mormon and the Christian worship at entirely different altars, with "gospels" that fully separate the one from the other. It is therefore quite important that we identify the major points of division so that we can work from correct points of reference.

Joseph Smith's First Vision

One of the most important events in all of Mormon history was the day that God the Father and Jesus Christ came down, in the flesh, and told Joseph Smith that the churches were all wrong and that, in effect, Christianity was totally lost.

When the Light rested upon me I saw two personages…one of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other, "This is My beloved Son, hear Him!" I asked the Personages who stood above me in the light which of all the sects was right and which I should join. I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong…all their creeds were an abomination in His sight, that those professors were all corrupt. (Pearl of Great Price, Joseph Smith (History 1:19)

Christianity Lost

If we accept Joseph Smith's word for this, we must immediately conclude the Christian church is in very deep trouble. While the Christian may doubt the authenticity of Joseph Smith's statements, several very solid facts remain.

* First, it is the basic Mormon belief that God finds the Christian worship of Him unacceptable and even loathsome.
* Second, the LDS belief in a great apostasy irrevocably separates Mormonism and Christianity.
* Third, there is no way that both can be right. The claims of Mormonism to being the "restored" church exclude that possibility forever.

The Nature of the Mormon God

The foregoing description of God's appearance to Joseph Smith is noteworthy beyond his expressed displeasure with Christianity. Far more critical is his statement that God the Father and Jesus Christ both appeared before him separately, side by side, and in the flesh. It is critical because it immediately separates Mormonism and Christianity in regard to the nature of God.

Deeper review of the LDS doctrine of the Godhead reveals further separation. Basically, it is found in the doctrine of the "Law of Eternal Progression" (as man is, God once was as God is, man may become). In the book Mormon Doctrine, we are told: Further, as the Prophet also taught, there is a God above the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ…God the Father of Jesus Christ had a father…Mortal persons who overcome all things and gain an ultimate exaltation will live eternally in the family unit and have spirit children, thus becoming eternal Fathers and eternal Mothers. God Himself, the Father of us all, is a glorified, exalted immortal resurrected man. (Mormon Doctrine, Bruce R. McConkie, pp.322-23, 517, 643)

Joseph Smith really let the cat out of the bag in his sermon at the funeral of King Follett. Because of the length of the sermon, I will extract a few of the key thoughts.

I will prove that the world is wrong by showing what God is…I will go back to the beginning before the world was…God Himself was once as we are now and is an exalted man and sits enthroned in yonder heavens. That is the Great Secret. We have imagined and supposed that God was God from all eternity. I will refute that idea...

Here then is eternal life to know the only true God; and you have got to learn to be Gods yourselves, and to be kings and priests to God, the same as all Gods have done before you namely by going from one small degree to another from grace to grace, from exaltation to exaltation…and to sit in glory as do all those who sit, enthroned in everlasting power. (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p.345 -47)

Not only did he tear apart the Christian belief about the nature of God, but he then brought to full circle the Law of Eternal Progression by placing man within it.

Putting all this into perspective, Joseph Smith then described the method by which his God planned the creation of the world.

In the beginning, the head of the Gods called a council of the Gods; and they came together and concocted a plan to create the world and people it. (ibid. p.349)

Biblical Perspective on God

The Biblical position on this is quite simple. It just doesn't teach or accept a single part of the "Law of Eternal Progression." The Bible is very clear in the matter.

I am He, before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be any after me. I, even I, am the Lord; and beside me there is no Saviour. Isaiah 43:10-11.

I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God. Isaiah 44:6

God is a Spirit and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. John 4:24

For when God made promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no greater, He swore by Himself. Hebrews 6:13

No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Gather, He hath declared Him. John 1:18

God is not a man, that He should lie; neither the son of man that he should repent. Numbers 23:19

On these and many other scriptures like them, stands the Biblical concept of God. They are in total disagreement with the Mormon view.

In fact, the whole matter goes beyond the concept of "different views of God"; we are dealing with "views of different Gods!" The emphasis is critical.

What we face is the fact that either Mormonism is correct or the Bible is correct. One is right, the other is wrong!

The Two Kinds of Mormon Salvation

Articles 2 and 3 of the Articles of Faith of the LDS church give a brief look into Mormon doctrines regarding salvation.

* We believe that men shall be punished for their own sins and not for Adam's transgression.
* We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the Laws and Ordinances of the Gospel. [the LDS Gospel]

The LDS gospel essentially teaches that everyone will be saved. But the degree of glory depends on one's obedience to the Mormon doctrine, including everything from tithing to Temple Ordinances for self and family, as well as baptism for the dead, obedience to the living Prophet and the hierarchy of the Priesthood, attending all meetings, missionary work, welfare work, etc. Perhaps the most widely accepted work on the subject is The Articles of Faith by early Mormon Apostle and key theologian, James Talmage.

The summation of his words is the LDS position that there are actually two levels of salvation.

Level 1 The General Salvation

Talmage explains it this way: The extent of the atonement is universal, applying alike to all descendants of Adam. Even the unbeliever, the heathen and the child who dies before reaching the years of discretion, all are redeemed by the Saviour's self-sacrifice from the individual consequences of the fall. (Articles of Faith, p.85)

In other words, Christ's death upon the cross brought a general salvation for all men, which is a resurrection in order to be judged for our works.

Level 2 Individual Salvation, or Exaltation

Of the Saved, not all will be exalted to the higher glories. No one can be admitted to any order of glory, in short, no soul can be saved until Justice has been satisfied for violated law…In the Kingdom of God there are numerous levels of gradations provided for those who are worthy of them. (ibid. p.91)

The basic LDS doctrine is that Christ's atonement places all humanity at a judgment table to be reviewed for our righteousness and works, or "obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel."

The LDS concept is, we shall all have access to 3 different kingdoms of levels of glory, depending upon our worthiness. The lake of fire, as a place of destination, is not part of present-day LDS theology.

The Celestial Kingdom, the highest level of which is reserved for those obedient members of the Melchizedek Priesthood, who shall, with their worthy wives, become gods and goddesses.

The Terrestrial Kingdom is a secondary level set aside for those who, though honorable, failed to comply with the requirements for exaltation, or for those who proved not valiant in the testimony of Jesus Christ.

The Telestial Kingdom is the lowest. It is reserved for those who had no testimony of the gospel and were lost in the carnality of the world.

The Christian Concept of Salvation

In contrast, the Christian understanding of salvation is altogether different. In the first place, the Bible teaches that all humanity has sinned and faces the judgment of God.

All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23

The soul that sinneth, it shall die. Ezekiel 18:20

And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. Revelation 20:15

But the Bible also teaches that God has provided a way to forgiveness and eternal life for man. It is not something we can do. It is something God has already done for us! It can be summed up in one scripture: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16

The Bible teaches that it is only through Christ that a person can be forgiven of sin and released from its penalties.

For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. 2 Cor. 5:21

For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 6:23

The Bible teaches that salvation is a free gift, price already paid, unearned by us.

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. Ephesians 2:8-9

I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. Galatians 2:21

Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. Galatians 3:24

The Bible teaches that by confessing and forsaking our sins, asking the Lord to forgive us, confessing our inability to come to the Father except through Jesus and asking Him to be our Saviour and Lord of our life, we shall be forgiven and be born-again and live eternally with God.

Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. Mt.10:32

I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. John 14:6

The Bible also teaches that those who refuse to believe Christ and obey Him will experience frightful judgment by God. Read Revelation 20:11-15. There are no three levels of glory taught here but the lake of fire!

Also, John 3:36 states: He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him. John 3:36.

In Comparison

The difference between the two theologies is this: The Mormon believes that personal salvation is a function or result of works of righteousness and obedience to laws and ordinances of the gospel.

The Bible teaches that works and obedience to God's laws are a function or result of personal salvation.

In other words, the Bible teaches that you don't bark to become a dog, you bark because you are one. You can sit there forever and go "Baa, Baa, Baa" but you will never become a sheep. You bark because you ARE a dog, you baa because you ARE a sheep. You don't work to get saved; you work because and when you ARE saved.

The scriptures say it this way:

But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling stone. Romans 9:31-32

Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. Romans 10:1-4

Either the Mormon concept of salvation is correct or the Biblical concept of salvation is correct. One is RIGHT and the other is WRONG!

New Scripture

Another point of separation between Mormonism and Christianity is the LDS belief that God has revealed, through His Latter-day Prophet, new and more complete scripture. The LDS Church teaches that The Book of Mormon, The Pearl of Great Price, and Doctrine and Covenants are all new and vital scripture.

The Christian denies the divine origin of these and maintains the Holy Bible to be the only Holy Scripture given by God.

Ye shall not add unto the Word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you. Deuteronomy 4:2

What thing soever I command you observe to do it; thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish it. Deuteronomy 12:32

Add thou not unto His words, lest He reprove thee, and thou be found a liar. Proverbs 30:6

Thus, the Bible shows the LDS scriptures false. Again, either the Mormons are correct in this or the Christians. There can be no middle of the road.

What's the Difference Anyway?

In summary, the doctrines of Mormonism that irreconcilably separate the Mormon Church and the Christian Church are as follows:

* 1. All churches except the Mormon Church are in error, all are abominations before God.
* 2. The Bible is, at best, a weak source of truth. It is in error and God has sent more complete and accurate scripture.
* 3. We must earn our own salvation.
* 4. We can become "Gods."
* 5. God was once a man but progressed into Godhood. So did our Heavenly Mother.
* 6. All this is known because God sent a prophet in the latter days.

These doctrines are not conceptual differences of the same man/God relationship. If they are truly the LDS theology, then Mormons and Christians are actually worshipping at different altars with totally different Gods and gospels!

Now the question is, what do we do with this information? If God is a loving and caring God, He will have provided some way for us to check out different gospels, different christs, and even different gods.

How can we, at such opposite ends in doctrinal difference, come together on some common ground to evaluate these differences in an effort to determine both truth and error?

The Common Denominator

The one area upon which we agree is the Holy Bible being the Word of God (insofar as it is translated correctly).

And we do have the correct translation of the original scriptures. The Dead Sea scrolls verify that we have the correct translation of the Old Testament; and a huge mass of ancient manuscripts of the New Testament verify that our New Testament is the same text that was first given to the Church of Christ.

Since both the Christian and the Mormon basically believe that the Bible is God's Word to man through the age of the Apostles, let's see what it has to say regarding the subjects we have covered.

First, a Warning or Two

The Bible is explicit in its warnings regarding doctrines other than those given in detail by the New Testament writers. Let's look at a few. Remember, they pertain to warnings against teachings other than those THEY brought to the people.

But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted…

For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.

Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works. 2 Corinthians 11:3-4, 13-15

I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.

But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. 1:9 As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed. Galatians 1:6-9

Just what was the gospel Paul preached to the early church?

Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received and wherein ye stand. By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I have preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.

For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures. 1 Cor. 15:1-5.

Preach the word; be instant in season, and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but after their own lusts, shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. 2 Timothy 4:2-4

But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. 2 Peter 2:1-2

And then if any man shall say to you, Lo, here is Christ; or, lo, he is there; believe him not: For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect. But take ye heed: behold, I have foretold you all things. Mark 13:21-23

Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple. Romans 16:17-18

Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Matthew 7:15

Out of the mouths of two or three witnesses are all things proven true (Matthew 18:16). In the case of warnings about false doctrine and false prophets, I have more than doubled the number of two or three witnesses.

I am concerned that you come to know that Mormonism faces the grave danger of eternal condemnation if its doctrines are not in full accord with the Word of God.

A True Prophet?

James Talmage stated the challenge quite clearly in the book, The Articles of Faith.
The question of this man's [Joseph Smith] divine commission is a challenging one for the world today. If his claims to a divine appointment be false, forming as they do the foundation of the Church in this last dispensation, the superstructure cannot be stable; if however, his avowed ordination under the hands of heavenly personages be a fact, one need search no farther for the cause of the phenomenal vitality and continuous development of the restored church. (The Articles of Faith, p.8)

Joseph Smith, himself, put it all into boastful perspective when he said:
I have more to boast of than any man had. I am the only man that has been able to keep a whole church together since the days of Adam. A large majority of the whole have stood by me. Neither Paul, John, Peter nor Jesus ever did it. I boast that no man ever did such a work as I. The followers of Jesus ran away from Him; but the Latter-day Saints never ran away from me yet. (History of the Church, vol.6, pp.408-09, 1844)

Brother Talmage, we accept the opportunity to test the Prophet Joseph Smith because upon his honor rests the honor of the Mormon gospel.

Biblical Tests of a Prophet

The Word of God is amazingly clear in the testing of a prophet. Numerous scriptural tests are available, in detail and with enough backup scripture to confirm the validity of each test. Although there are many tests, we will limit ours to four areas.

Test #1 Other Gods

If there arise among you a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee saying, let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them;

Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams…and that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death. Deuteronomy 13:1-5

A true prophet of God will not teach a conflicting doctrine of God. Not only does the Mormon doctrine of God (the Law of Eternal Progression) totally conflict with the basic scriptural God, but it is even in conflict with Mormonism's teachings.

First, the "official" version of the first vision is in major conflict with the "only known account of the vision in Joseph Smith's own hand," which was written about six years before the official account as recorded in The Pearl of Great Price. It states: …the Lord heard my cry in the wilderness and while in the attitude of calling upon the Lord in the 16th year of my age a pillar of light above the brightness of the sun at noon day come down from above and rested upon me and I was filled with the spirit of god and the Lord opened the heavens upon me and I saw the Lord and he spake unto me saying Joseph my son thy sins are forgiven thee, go thy way walk in my statutes and keep my commandments behold I am the Lord of glory I was crucified for the world that all those who believe on my name may have Eternal life behold the world lieth in sin at this time and none doeth good no not one they have turned aside from the gospel and keep not my commandments they draw near to me with their lips while their hearts are far from me and mine anger is kindling against the inhabitants of the earth to visit them according to their ungodliness and to bring to pass that which hath been spoken by the mouths of the prophets and Apostles behold and lo I come quickly as it was written of me in the cloud clothed in the glory of my Father.

This account was taken from BYU Studies, Spring 1969, p.281. Dean C. Jessee, Church Historical Department states: "This is the only known account of the vision in his [Joseph Smith's] own hand." (Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, Spring 1971, p.86).

There was no mention of God and Jesus in the flesh, only Jesus in a vision into the Heavens.

Secondly, the God of Mormonism and the Law of Eternal Progression do not agree with The Book of Mormon spoken of as containing the "Fullness of the Everlasting Gospel" (D&C 27:5). Nowhere in its pages is there any reference to either the God of Mormonism or the Law of Eternal Progression. In fact, quite the opposite. One of the many Mormon scriptures that describes the nature of God is as follows:

And now Abinadi said…I would that ye should understand that God Himself should come down among the children of men, and shall redeem his people, and because he dwelleth in the flesh he shall be called the Son of God and having subjected the flesh to the will of the Father, being the Father and the Son.

The Father because He was conceived by the power of God; and the Son because of the flesh; thus becoming the Father and the Son. And they are one god, ye the very eternal Father of heaven and earth.

And thus the flesh becoming subject to the spirit, or the Son to the Father, being one God. The Book of Mormon, Mosiah 15:1-5

Test #2 False Prophecy

But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other Gods, even that Prophet shall die.

And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the LORD hath not spoken? When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously; thou shalt not be afraid of him. Deuteronomy 18:20-22

A true prophet of God cannot utter a single false prophecy, not one! At no time can he give out a "Thus saith the Lord" and have it not come to pass. Joseph Smith gave forth approximately 64 prophecies. 64 times he said, "Thus saith the Lord."

If even one single one of these prophecies failed to come to pass, the scriptures call Joseph a false prophet. Some very comprehensive research has gone into this area. It is easy to do research on historical events. Out of 64 prophecies, 58 of them fail the test! Only six of them came to pass!

Even granting the ability of the Mormon challenger to persuade the researcher to ignore or disregard 50 of them, the remaining eight still totally destroy (eight times) the honor of Joseph Smith as a prophet of the God of Abraham, of Moses and of John the Baptist.

Let's look at a few of these prophecies.

The Civil War Prophecy

Every Mormon should be familiar with the prophecy concerning the Civil War. But have you really looked at it in its entirety and checked it out?

1. Verily, thus saith the Lord concerning the wars that will shortly come to pass, beginning at the rebellion of South Carolina, which will eventually terminate in the death and misery of many souls;

2. And the time will come that war will be pour out upon all nations, beginning at this place.

3. For behold, the Southern States shall be divided against the Northern States, and the Southern States will call on other nations, even the nation of Great Britain…and they shall also call upon other nations, in order to defend themselves against other nations; and then war shall be poured out upon all nations.

4. And it shall come to pass, after many days, slaves shall rise up against their masters, who shall be marshalled and disciplined for war.

5. And it shall come to pass also that the remnants who are left of the land will marshal themselves, and shall become exceedingly angry, and shall vex the Gentiles with a sore vexation.

6. And thus, with the sword and by bloodshed the inhabitants of the earth shall mourn; and with famine, and plague, and earthquake, and the thunder of heaven, and the fierce and vivid lightning also, shall the inhabitants of the earth be made to feel the wrath and indignation, and chastening hand of an Almighty God until the consumption decreed hath made a full end of all nations.

7. That the cry of the saints, and the blood of the saints, shall cease to come up into the ears of the Lord of Sabbath, from the earth, to be avenged of their enemies.

8. Wherefore, stand ye in holy places, and be not moved, until the day of the Lord come; for behold it cometh quickly, saith the Lord. Amen. (Doctrine and Covenants, p.87)

First, it was given on Christmas day, 1832, in appearance almost 30 years before the Civil War began. Yet, in actual fact, Congress had passed a tariff in July of 1832 that South Carolina declared unacceptable. Six months later, or during Christmas season, 1832, the nation's press expected and wrote about an immediate outbreak of Civil War to being with this South Carolina rebellion. Even the US Army was on alert in the matter. With this in mind, it was no great revelation to predict the events stated in verse #1.

In fact, however, the outbreak did not come to pass. The entire prophecy was shelved and never appeared in print during Joseph Smith's lifetime! The first two editions of the History of the Church did not include it even though it was in the handwritten manuscript. It did not appear in print until 1851, when the nation was again having problems between the north and the south.

Secondly, the scope of the prophecy is that the war would begin locally and pour out upon all nations, and it shall be the direct cause of an international global war. This is a definite prophecy that DID NOT come to pass at all.

Third, verses 3-6 state that the slaves shall rise up, the "remnants left in the land" shall come against the Gentiles (non-Mormons) and the bloodshed, famines, plagues (caused by this great war) shall bring, with God's wrath, "a full end of all nations." Again, a definite, tangible prophecy that DID NOT come to pass.
By any test, within any standard, the prophecy on the Civil War was and is a false prophecy.

The Grease Spot Prophecy

On 16 December 1843, Joseph Smith spoke of a petition he had filed with Congress for protection of the Latter-Day Saints: While discussing the petition with Congress, I prophesied by virtue of the Holy Priesthood vested in me, and in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, that, if Congress will not hear our petition and grant us protection, they shall be broken up as a government, and God shall damn them and there shall nothing be left of them not even a grease spot. (Millennial Star, vol.22, p.455)

Needless to say, Congress did not grant the petition and the government grew to be the most powerful government in the world! Another false prophecy!

Jesus' Return

While Ezekiel and other prophets of old set the stage for specific events to unfold over the centuries, Joseph Smith was talking in the NOW times, not in the distant future. In 1835:President Smith then stated…it was the will of God that those who went to Zion, with a determination to lay down their lives, if necessary, would be ordained to the ministry, and go forth to prune the vineyard for the last time, for the coming of the Lord which was nigh, even fifty-six years should wind up the scene. (History of the Church, vol.2, p.182.)

He later added that if he met with a violent end, the scene would wind up a good ten years earlier. Well, 1881 and 1891 came and went without any return of Christ. Another specific test of exact prophecy and another failure.

Who Is Oliver Granger?

Just one of the simpler prophecies dealt with the great fame of one Oliver Granger.
And again I say unto you, I remember my servant, Oliver Granger; behold, verily, I say unto him that his name shall be hand in sacred remembrance from generation to generation, forever and ever; saith the Lord. (Doctrine and Covenants 117:12)
Silly? Yes! Of great importance? No! False? Yes, unless you and three out of four Mormons you ask tell you with fond remembrance, just who Oliver Granger really was.

Test #3 Out of Harmony with Other "True" Prophets?

To the law and to the testimony: If they speak not according to this Word, it is because there is no light in them. Isaiah 8:20

Joseph Smith not only falls out of harmony with the Bible with his doctrines on God, but is also in disharmony with the Word of God in several other areas.

The Mormon Apostasy not Scriptural

Joseph Smith claims a total, complete apostasy took place. This, in spite of numerous scriptures promising that Christ shall come and establish His Church and it shall never be taken from us. Matthew 16:18 says: And I say also unto thee, that thou art Peter [Petros = "little stone"], and upon this rock [Petra = Bedrock = Jesus] I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. [See 1 Cor.10:4 for the same use of the word "Rock"]

The Mormon Priesthood Not Scriptural

The LDS Church teaches that Christ established the "true church" government before He ascended. Where is the establishment of the Melchizedek Priesthood? Where is the witness of even one scripture where Christ laid hands upon any man and ordained him to the Melchizedek or Aaronic Priesthood?

Further, where in the New Testament does Jesus confirm the Old Testament Priesthood to be established order for His Church? Quite the opposite was actually true! (See Matthew 16:5-12)

In fact, John the Baptist, the man who Joseph Smith said came down from heaven and ordained him to the Aaronic Priesthood NEVER even had that authority! (See Matthew 21:23-27) If he did, the people who controlled the Aaronic Priesthood in those days surely didn't know about it!

Where in the New Testament does Christ establish temple ceremonies the rites and rituals, blood oaths, secret words, names, combinations? The wearing of specially designed and marked garments?

Where did He establish His 12 apostles to be under the control and direction of a prophet and his two counselors? Who was the first Prophet, Seer and Revelator so established? Where in the New Testament was he set apart and ordained as such?

Where did Jesus establish polygamy as the path to righteousness as the "New and Everlasting Covenant" with God?

If the Church Jesus established was "God's Perfect Church" (Mormon emphasis), how could Christ establish it forever and miss all these highly important items?

Test #4 A Lying Prophet

The ancient and honourable, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail. For the leaders of this people cause them to err, and they that are led of them are destroyed. Isaiah 9:15-16

The LORD said unto me, the prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them: the prophesy unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of naught, and the deceit of their heart. Jeremiah 14:14

Joseph Smith openly violated this trust many times. Two of the more significant times he knowingly lied while the Prophet and spiritual leader of the LDS people are herein mentioned. Both times, his position would have been in serious jeopardy had the real facts been known!

Joseph the Glass Looker

It was charged that Joseph Smith was accused and found guilt of parting a local farmer from his money in a less than honest scheme, commonly money digging or glass looking. It was reported to have been an activity that brought him rebuke from his soon-to-be father-in-law, Isaac Hale. It is also historically recorded that he was removed from membership in a local Methodist church because of the activity and trial results.

Joseph Smith skims over the specific event leading to the trial in The Pearl of Great Price (Joseph Smith History 1:56) explaining that he was only a day worker for the man so engaged and not personally involved. Mormon writers have continually challenged its doubters to find the records (seemingly lost) and prove Joseph Smith a liar or stop the attacks.

Mormon writer Hugh Nibley, in The Myth Makers, p.142, says:

If this court record is authentic it is the most damning evidence in existence against Joseph Smith. Well, in spite of 140 years of silence, the records did turn up. In 1971, Reverend Wesley Walters discovered them in the basement of the Chenango County, New York jailhouse.

The records, affidavits, and other data show conclusively that Joseph Smith was arrested, went to trial, was found guilty as an imposter in the Stowell matter of "glass looking." It is not a matter of debate, opinion or religious preference. It is a proven historical fact. The key issue here is NOT where he did or did not indulge in the practice. The issue is that Joseph Smith LIED in the matter.

Joseph the Polygamist

In the 1835 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants, the issue of polygamy was very definitely spoken out against.

Inasmuch as this "Church of Christ" has been reproached with the crime of fornication and polygamy; we declare that we believe that one man should have one wife; and one woman but one husband; except that in the event of death when either is at liberty to marry again. (Doctrine and Covenants 101:4, 1835 edition)

In other words, no man could marry a second wife unless the first one died. No divorce and no polygamy. It was labeled a CRIME! That was the "Word" from God.

However, Joseph Smith didn't exactly live as he preached. In 1887, Andrew Jenson, Mormon Church Historian, listed 27 women who were married to Joseph Smith, officially, during the time such a union was a "crime" before God.

Fawn Brodie, in her book, No Man Knows My History, (Appendix C) lists each in detail and brings the number to a total of 48 women who were sealed to the Prophet and united with him in "Holy Polygamy." These marriages are not to be confused with later "proxy" sealings to the dead Joseph Smith. 149 additional dead women were later sealed to him in temple ceremonies, according to Brodie.

It was only when it became so openly known that Smith finally admitted it and declared it a special gift of God and released the now "scripturized" law of polygamy given in Doctrine and Covenants §132. Although this "revelation" came forth in 1843, it not show up in "scripture" until 1876. The earlier warning against polygamy (Doctrine and Covenants 101:4, 1835 edition) just disappeared without not or explanation.

It should be noted that Joseph's new "revelation" giving God's sanction for what was a crime before Him only a few years earlier, DID NOT retroactively absolve Joseph of all wrong. Doctrine and Covenants 132:61 states.

If any man espouse a virgin and desire to espouse another, and the first give her consent, and if he espouse the second, they are virgins, and have vowed to no other man, then is he justified; he cannot commit adultery for they are given unto him; for he cannot commit adultery with that that belongeth unto him and to no one else.

First, Joseph had already been quite active in the "espousing" business long before his wife heard of the doctrine, long before she reluctantly gave consent to be party to it.

Second, seven of the ten wives he already had were already married to other living men in complete opposition to the new "revelation" Joseph received! Joseph received "Marriage for eternity, with concubinal privileges" while the husbands had married for "time only."

Third, notwithstanding the problems already stated, the whole idea of multiple wives was (and still is) in total disagreement with Doctrine and Covenants 42:22 which says, "Thou shalt love thy WIFE with all thy heart, and shall cleave unto HER and NONE else." (Author's emphasis)

A Lie is a Lie

Friends, a lie is a lie is a lie, and when it comes out of the mouth of a man proclaimed to be a prophet of God, that man is sent not of God, neither has God commanded him. He speaks only out of "the deceit of his heart." (Jeremiah 14:14)

Joseph the False Prophet

I beseech you to seek further in the Word of God, the Bible, to test all things by it and through it. The salvation Joseph Smith taught is not of the Lord. He has led you to follow after other gods and he has led you away from the true Word of God into false scripture.

MORMONISM, AS THE "ONLY TRUE CHURCH," CANNOT BE PARTIALLY TRUE! IT MUST BE TOTALLY CORRECT OR TOTALLY WRONG. IT IS MY TESTIMONY TO YOU THAT IT IS TOTALLY WRONG!

You may look about you in a Sacrament Meeting and find my words harsh and difficult to accept among all the smiling, radiant faces. But Satan is not going to come to you looking like a 14-foot frog with hair and fire coming out of his nostrils. He is going to look just like an "angel of light" and so will his ministers (2 Corinthians 11:14-15).

My heart weeps because the scriptures are clear in the warnings as to the end of those who follow such prophets and their ministers.

For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed. Isaiah 9:16

A Personal Testimony

This witness is not given to hurt you. It is given to testify to you that the Lord loved me as much when I was a Mormon as he loves me today; that He loves you every bit as much as He loves me, but that He weeps for every soul lost in false doctrines and false religions. This is not some intellectual battle between us; for the battle is the Lord's, and it is with powers outside the realm of flesh and blood. He is calling His own from the world. He stands at the door and knocks. He has NO prophets and priests waiting there ahead of Him…He stands there!

Dear brothers and sisters, Joseph Smith has led you back into the bondage of the Old Testament Law, and more than that, back under the control of a false prophet. Jesus Christ came to fulfill the Law. The New Covenant Lamb of God put an end to it all and replaced it with His love and intercession. JESUS is my high priest after the order of Melchizedek and there is no other in the kingdom of God (Hebrews 7:24).
Having left the Mormon Church after almost 20 years, it is my personal testimony to you that:
1. I do not place my eternal life in the hands of any Latter-Day Prophet nor is it (my eternal life) conditional on my membership in any church or priesthood. I place my life at the foot of the cross, in Jesus Christ and in God's Holy Word, the Bible.
2. Joseph Smith was not a prophet of God. He fails every test of a prophet, including teaching false doctrine, uttering false prophecies and lying.
3. The LDS Church is NOT "The Restored Gospel." Scripture promises and history proves that the "Gospel" never left the earth.
4. The Book of Mormon is manifestedly a contrived document and not of divine origin.
5. The Pearl of Great Price (particularly the Book of Abraham) is a work of pure fraud.
6. The Doctrine and Covenants have been rewritten, added to, and whole sections deleted in such proportion as to make it invalid as scripture of any kind, even if it were true that God originally spoke to Joseph Smith (which He didn't).
7. The LDS Church leadership has made serious and substantial changes to all their scriptures as well as most Church history. I believe they have done this in order to dupe their members, to hide doctrinal errors and to protect some leaders from exposure of their moral failure.
8. The Priesthood of the LDS Church holds absolutely NO authority to act in the name of GOD. Its origin is a lie and its power is the power of priestcraft, and its author is Satan.
9. The LDS Law of Eternal Progression with its unscriptural description of the True Nature of God is the real abomination in the sight of God.

It is my solemn testimony and firm belief that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints fails every test God has given us for this purpose.

As mentioned earlier, the Saviour foretold of this happening in Mark 13:21-22:

And then if any man shall say to you, Lo, here is Christ; or, lo, he is there; believe him not: For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect.

I chose to take heed to His Word in the 21st verse. "I believed them not." After my own evaluation, I determined that they were false prophets with a false christ and I had my name removed from the records of the LDS Church.

THE REAL JESUS

The real Jesus is waiting to love you and nurture you and lead you into the safety of His Word. It is no strange doctrine, but a COMPLETE doctrine, to submit yourself to the gentleness of the true Saviour.

Repent and believe in HIM today! The Real Jesus, the one who died on Calvary for your sins. Believe on Him, believe that having Jesus of Nazareth as your Lord and Saviour is all that you need to live with your Heavenly Father; that you don't need church membership or a special priesthood or temple garments or a prophet to guide you…just JESUS! He is every that God could give.

I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Galatians 2:20

~J. Edward Decker

Looking at Freemasonry through Christian Glasses

2011-02-08T18:35:00.004-06:00

Many men who are recruited, or encouraged to petition the Masonic Lodge for membership, join Freemasonry with the belief that participation is consistent with a sincere expression of faith in Jesus Christ. That is all the more likely to be the case when the potential member is recruited from within the church by other church members. If a man knows that the pastor or another church leader is a Lodge member, Freemasonry is effectively endorsed by church leadership. If it were not compatible with Christianity, the pastor wouldn’t be involved, he may reason. When he goes into the Lodge, he will likely view what he sees through Christian glasses, or through a Christian paradigm. Many men mistakenly believe that Freemasonry is a Christian organization because they are misled by their Christian paradigm. They have no appropriate paradigm which allows them to accurately understand Freemasonry.

Paradigms

A paradigm is a model of reality. All of us have paradigms whether we realize it or not. We interpret literally everything we see through one or more of our paradigms. Paradigms often dictate how we are able to view something. If we do not understand how an inappropriate paradigm can confuse our understanding, we are easily misled. In order to understand how the use of an inappropriate paradigm - or set of paradigms - can cause confusion, consider a man who had never seen or heard of an airplane. Try to interpret things through his eyes as he deals with a new experience. He has no concept of manned flight. He has a variety of experiences which have allowed him to form a set of valid paradigms - models of reality - for his previous experiences. If we were to get him to sit next to the pilot of a small two place Cessna and the pilot started the engine at the end of the runway which stretched out before them, would the man would think, "We are about to fly."? Of course not. He does not recognize the concrete surface in front of him as a runway, but rather as a road. He has no concept of an airplane or of an appropriate surface on which an airplane would take off and land. If he looks off to the right and sees an orange wind sock held perpendicular to the runway by a stiff breeze, he knows that the wind is blowing briskly. His wind paradigm allows him to understand something he cannot see, but he does not fathom the great significance of the cross wind in that particular situation. He will understand the sound of the engine for what it is; he has seen engines on tractors, trucks and other machinery. He expects engines to create noise and possibly some visible smoke from the exhaust. He cannot see any fuel, or the fuel tanks hidden in the wings, but he would intuitively know that both were present because his paradigm would require them. He is unable to correctly understand part of what he sees and hears because he filters what he sees through his past experiences and education. When they start down the runway, he possibly understands that a propeller is much like a fan and therefore, it is not surprising that it pulls them down the road. He will see the propeller as a fan because he has a paradigm which allows it. If he had no fan paradigm, he would likely assume that the wheels were somehow driven directly by the engine, as most other vehicles are; he could be quite puzzled by the propeller. When the wheels leave the ground and he looks down, all of a sudden he gets a new paradigm and he is then able to understand things in the future based upon this new paradigm. It would allow him to understand the possibility of traveling from Washington to London in a way other than by sea, for instance. After a few takeoffs and landings in a stiff cross wind, he will no longer view the taut wind sock in quite the same calm manner. Until he gains the set of new paradigms which allow him to understand manned flight, he will not be able to understand how inappropriate and misleading his earlier paradigms had been to this new situation. Everything new we experience will be viewed initially through our existing paradigms. We usually give no thought to whether or not our paradigms might confuse us. We usually come to know that our previous experiences have not prepared us to understand something new only when what we perceive clearly falls outside of the realm of possibility. At that point, we learn that the paradigm we were attempting to use is invalid. When we come to understand reality, we develop a new paradigm which is valid for the new situation. A great many of the Masons who claim to be Christians are confused about the true nature of Freemasonry because they are misled by their paradigms. When a man who is a Christian petitions for Lodge membership, he is investigated. The investigating committee will ask him a series of questions. They may ask his neighbors and others who know him about his character. The mere fact that he is investigated will cause him to believe that Freemasonry is very particular about the character and beliefs of the men who are admitted for membership. The process of investigation may cause him to view Freemasonry all the more favorably because everyone is not accepted. One of the questions which is always asked is, “Do you have faith in the existence of A Supreme Being?” Most Christians, without giving it a second thought, will interpret this question as “Do you have faith in God?” Many Masons actually believe that a man must have faith in God to be a Mason. Some believe that a man must be a Christian to be admitted, yet the Jewish Mason knows better.
Does Freemasonry actually require faith in God? Your answer to that question will likely be determined based upon your understanding of the phrase “A Supreme Being.” That understanding may be the result of the use of a paradigm which models God as the only Supreme Being.

God as revealed in the Scriptures

The Scriptures, the written foundation of Christianity, reveal that there is only one God who created the heavens, the earth and man.

I am the Lord, and there is no other; apart from Me there is no God. (Isaiah 45:5)

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1)

Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; (Genesis 1:26)

The Scriptures reveal that God is a Spirit. God is a Spirit; and they that worship Him must worship in spirit
and in truth. (John 4:24)

Scripture contains many accounts of men worshipping false gods. A good example would be those who worshipped Baal at Mt. Camel (1Kings 18). Scripture makes clear that there are many false gods and that many people groups have worshiped them.

For all the gods of the nations are idols: but the LORD made the heavens. (Psalms 96:5)

Pagans are those who worship a god who is not the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The Scripture reveals
that those who have not embraced Jesus Christ do not have the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son. (2 John 9)

Another fact revealed in Scripture is that false gods, for example those of the Gentile peoples which surrounded Israel, are actually demons:
What do I mean then? That a thing sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, but I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God; and I do not want you to become sharers in demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. (1 Cor 10:19-21)

The Trinitarian nature of God has been revealed many places in Scripture. God is revealed as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. These three manifestations of God always act in unity and agreement. Jesus, the Son, said: "I and the Father are one." (John 10:30)

The Holy Spirit is also revealed as God: But Peter said, "Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back some of the price of the land? "While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not under your control? Why is it that you have conceived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God." (Acts 5:3-4)

Paul expressed the Trinitarian nature of God in the dispensing of the gifts of the Holy Spirit: Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus is accursed"; and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit. Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. (1 Cor 12:3-6)

The Christian paradigm - the model of reality - concerning God and false gods is formed on the basis of the contents of Scripture. We know that there is only one God who exists as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We know that pagans neither worship God, nor have faith in Jesus Christ as one person of the Trinity. We know that pagans worship demons, rather than God. We understand that all those who do not follow in the teachings of Jesus, those who do not view Jesus as God and the Son of God do not have God. Jesus explained that those who know Him, know the Father. So they were saying to Him, "Where is Your Father?"

Jesus answered, "You know neither Me nor My Father; if you knew Me, you would know My Father also." (John 8:19)

Scripture states the crucial importance of knowing Jesus. A person cannot come to the Father, except through Him: Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. (John 14:6)

Non-Christian paradigms of God

When Freemasonry interviews a pagan who has petitioned for Lodge membership - for instance a Mormon, Moslem, or Hindu - they ask him if he has faith in the existence of “A Supreme Being.” Members of all three of these groups are able to answer yes and may be admitted for membership. Actually they interpret the question much as a Christian would and will understand the question as, “Do you have faith in God?” When they answer yes, are they actually expressing faith in God, or are they expressing faith in a false god?

The Mormon Paradigm

The Mormon is able to answer affirmatively, that he has faith in the existence of “A Supreme Being,” as he has faith in the Mormon god Elohim. Mormons believe that Elohim was once a man who lived on a planet near a star named Kolob. Elohim did not create the planet, the star named Kolob, or anything else on the planet upon which he was born. Elohim was simply a man. As part of his salvation experience, Elohim was exalted into Godhood and given a planet (Earth) to populate with spirit children produced through celestial sex with his goddess wives. The first born of these spirit children was the Mormon Jesus. Lucifer is another of Elohim’s spirit children, making Jesus and Lucifer brothers, according to Mormon doctrine. Mormons claim faith in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, but they do not believe that these are three personalities of the same Spirit. Mormonism teaches that the Father and the Son both have physical bodies. It teaches that the Holy Ghost is a “personage of Spirit” and does not have a body of flesh and bones like the Father and the Son. Mormons do not believe in the Trinitarian God. Notice that it is necessary to understand both the Mormon paradigm and the Christian paradigm about God in order to know that Mormonism is in error. Try to view God using the Mormon paradigm and then the Christian paradigm. Notice that using either the Christian or Mormon paradigm, a person would be able to state that they believe in God, or even that they believe in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Without understanding both the Christian and the Mormon paradigms, it would be impossible to know how the answer, “Yes.,” is actually the answer to two different perceptions of the question concerning faith in the existence of “A Supreme Being.” The Christian is implicitly stating, “Yes, I have faith in the existence of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, one God with three personalities.” The Mormon is implicitly stating, “Yes, I have faith in God who was once a man living on another planet and also believe in his first born son - a spirit child – a separate spirit.” The Christian who is able to view the question, switching between the two paradigms is able to see the problems. Mormons are not strangers to Freemasonry. Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism, was a Mason. His brother Hiram and Brigham Young were also Masons. Mormon temple rituals are based upon Masonic ritual.

The Moslem paradigm

A Moslem who is asked if he has faith in the existence of “A Supreme Being” is able to answer affirmatively because he has faith in Allah. “There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his prophet,” is an often repeated phrase within Moslem circles. Islam was founded by Muhammad who was born approximately A.D. 570 in Mecca. Muhammad encountered both Judaism and Christianity on the trade routes he traveled with a camel caravan. In A.D. 610, Muhammad reported that he had been visited by the angel Gabriel. The message Muhammad claimed to have received from Gabriel became the essence of the Koran, the holy book of Islam. Islam was founded in Arabia in approximately A.D. 628-630, 600 years after the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The Arabian peoples belonged to many different tribes who worshiped different pagan deities. Muhammad taught that there was only one God and that his name was Allah. Before Muhammad received his revelation, Allah was the supreme Deity already familiar to the Bedouin people of northern Arabia. Muhammad purged Mecca of hundreds of its pagan gods, establishing a monotheistic religion. Muhammad used a scimitar, or large knife, to kill those who worshipped other gods in his drive to “rid the Ka’aba of idolatry.” (Shriners use the scimitar, the crescent moon and star of Islam as symbols for the Shrine, declare that Allah is the God of their fathers and take an oath upon the Koran.) Muhammad and Islam decreed death to all those who do not worship Allah. The people of Islam were no better off after Muhammad "purged idolatry" from the Ka’aba than they were before, because they simply exchanged the worship of one demon for another. Moslems claim that Allah is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, yet they teach that he has no son. Islam teaches that Jesus is only a prophet, inferior to Muhammad. Since the Christian paradigm holds that God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit, while the Moslem paradigm models God as Allah alone, we can easily understand that the Moslem envisions a false reality when he is asked if he has faith in the existence of “A Supreme Being.” He believes that his faith in Allah is faith in THE Supreme Being. He is mistaken; Allah is a false god, or demon.

The Hindu Paradigm

The Hindu is able to respond to the question, “Do you have faith in the existence of A Supreme Being?” affirmatively through his faith in Brahman, one or more of the incarnations of Vishnu, or one of the many other Hindu gods. If Hindus believe in many gods, how could a Hindu truthfully state that he has faith in the existence of “A Supreme Being?” The Hindu paradigm concerning God is quite different from the Christian paradigm. Hinduism adheres to monotheism, monism and pantheism, simultaneously. Monotheism is the belief that there is only one God. Monism is a philosophy that holds that everything is an extension of one reality. All differentiation is an illusion which is absorbed into the one source of all that exists. Pantheism is the belief that everything is God. This misconception of the nature of God forms the essence of Hinduism. Brahman is believed to be the life principle or force that exists in all that is. Man is not a separate spiritual entity apart from the spiritual entity that created him. Rather, man and everything that exists is a part of Brahman. Although Hinduism worships many lesser gods, they are viewed as extensions of Brahman. Therefore, when a Hindu looks at the worship of other Hindu gods, he views this worship as worship of extensions of Brahman who is all that is. Brahman and the lesser gods are all one essence. Hindus are tolerant of other religions because they see a similarity in all of them. They view truth as the essence of all religions. Hinduism holds that all religions embrace the same essential truth, yet they have substantial variations in doctrine. These variations of doctrine are thought to be due to the application of the same essential truth to different human situations. All religions are viewed as an extension of the one universal religion. With knowledge of the Hindu and Christian paradigms concerning false gods, we can understand that the Hindu’s affirmative answer to the question about faith in the existence of “A Supreme Being” would be the result of confusion on his part. His paradigm of God is misleading him. Since his paradigm holds that all gods are an extension of Brahman, he would believe that he has faith in the existence of the same God which Christians worship, although he would believe that our understanding of God is limited.

The Masonic Paradigm

Freemasonry is able to accept the Christian’s faith in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit as faith in the existence of “A Supreme Being.” Similarly, Freemasonry is able to accept the Mormon’s faith in a god who was once a man living on another planet as faith in the existence of “A Supreme Being.” Freemasonry likewise accepts the Moslems faith in Allah, a god who has no son, as faith in the existence of “A Supreme Being.” The Hindu is also able to satisfy the Masonic requirement of faith in the existence of “A Supreme Being” with his faith that everything that exists is part of Brahman.

How is Freemasonry able to accept these different, incompatible concepts of God as expressions of faith in the existence of A (SINGULAR) Supreme Being? Freemasonry is able to do this essentially because the Masonic paradigm of God holds that all men worship the same God, simply using a variety of different names. Somewhat like Hinduism, Freemasonry holds that all of the pagan gods, along with the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are all in essence the same God, viewed from the different vantage points of the many world religions. Freemasonry rejects the concept of a false god, as well as the concept of false religion. These Masonic teachings are clearly explained in Masonic Monitors, Masonic Code and other Masonic materials published by the authorities of Freemasonry, the Grand Lodges.
Consider the follow excerpts:

"There never was a false god, nor was there ever really a false religion, unless you call a child a false man." Max Müller - quoted in LOUISIANA MASONIC MONITOR

Not only does Freemasonry teach that all false gods are actually God by another name, Freemasonry applies teachings of eternal life to all Masons, with or without faith in Jesus Christ: As Masons we have one faith, one hope, one charity. We believe in, and depend upon the same God, have the same hope of eternal life, and that same charity which is of an enduring and uniting nature, which will enable all the good and true to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace and in righteousness of life. KENTUCKY MONITOR, p. 169

The Masonic concept of monotheism is much like the Hindu concept of monotheism, rather than the Christian view which dictates that there is One God and many false gods. Hindu monotheism views all of the various Hindu deities and all gods of other religions as merely extensions of Brahman and therefore actually the same deity. Masonic monotheism holds that all of the various gods of all false religions are the same God as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Freemasonry requires that its members believe in one God. Additionally, Freemasonry requires that its members accept the Masonic doctrine known as the Fatherhood of God, Brotherhood of man.

This last requirement is not stated verbally, but rather is implemented by acceptance of organizational requirements.
“The first of the universally recognized Landmarks of Freemasonry states that ‘monotheism is the sole dogma of
Freemasonry. Belief in one God is required of every initiate, but his conception of the Supreme Being is left to his own interpretation. Freemasonry is not concerned with theological distinctions. This is the basis of our universality.’”
INDIANA MENTOR’S MANUAL, p. 19

Masonry has no religious dogma other than that it requires a belief in Deity. Any man, good and true, whether he be Christian, Jew, Mohammedan, Parsee, Buddhist, Brahman or Deist may be admitted to Masonry because all these
religions require a belief in Deity. MASONIC CODE ALABAMA, p.141, 1963

To the altar of Freemasonry all men bring their most votive offerings. Around it all men, whether they have received their teachings from Confucius, Zoroaster, Moses, Mohammad or the founder of the Christian religion--just so long as they believe in the universality of the fatherhood of God and universality of the brotherhood of man--meet upon a common level.

The Jew returns to his synagogue, the Mohammedan to his mosque and the Christian to his temple-- each better prepared for the solemn duties of life by the associations in this universal brotherhood. LOUISIANA MONITOR, p. 150, 1988

The Fatherhood of God, Brotherhood of man doctrine embodies the foundation of Masonic teaching. It holds that there is one God who is the Father of all men and is worshiped by men of any and all religions. Freemasonry teaches that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is the same spirit which the Hindus worship as Brahman, the Moslems worship as Allah, the Mormons worship as Elohim, and the Zoroastrians (Parsees) worship as Ahura Mazdah. All Masons implicitly embrace the doctrine of the Fatherhood of God, Brotherhood of man; they put it into practice when they participate in Lodge. Freemasonry prohibits a “discussion of religion” within the Lodge. When a candidate is brought before the Lodge to be voted into membership, no one is allowed to ask if the candidate is a Hindu, Moslem, Mormon, Buddhist, or if he claims to be a Christian. By voting to admit men who may not have faith in Jesus Christ as God into membership, or by sitting in Lodge with such men, the “Christian” Mason and all other Masons put the Fatherhood of God, Brotherhood of man doctrine into practice. By sitting in Lodge, or recognizing other men as Masons, a man implicitly agrees that the other men have met the key requirements for membership. Those requirements are that they believe in the existence of “A Supreme Being” and that they believe that there is only one God. Scripture states that anyone who does not abide in the teachings of Jesus does not have God. (2 John 9) Jesus said, “No one comes to the Father but by Me. (John 14:6) Freemasonry disagrees. Each Mason, at one point in our ceremonies, expresses a belief in the existence of a Supreme Being. To refuse or decline to do so would have denied him the privileges of Freemasonry.

We welcome to our doors and admit to our privileges worthy men of all faiths and creeds who possess the indispensable qualifications, and bar none because of their faith or creed. MASONRY AND THE MASON Grand Lodge of Texas, p.7, 1997

If a particular Mason were to believe the teachings of Christianity and understand the Christian paradigm which holds that the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons rather than God, he could not knowingly accept a man who has faith in a false god as one who has faith in the existence of “A Supreme Being.” To do so would be to take the inconsistent position that demons are Supreme Beings. The difficulty in joining men of incompatible religions around the altar of universal religion becomes obvious when the issue of prayer is considered. Freemasonry cannot choose the god of any well known false religion as the object of worship, as even immature Christians would recognize the error immediately. Similarly, they cannot choose Jesus Christ or the Holy Trinity as the object of worship because Jews, Moslems and others in the Lodge would be offended. The obvious solution is to keep Jesus out of the Lodge and attempt to cause all present to believe or pretend that they are praying to the same spirit they worship when they meet congregationally with others who practice their particular religion. Freemasonry solves this problem with the Masonic paradigm that all men worship the same God, simply using different names. Freemasons offer prayer to a god who is known as the Great Architect of the Universe (GAOTU). Freemasonry defines the nature of the GAOTU with adherence to the Fatherhood of God, Brotherhood of man doctrine. The GAOTU is implicitly defined as Father, Son, Holy Spirit, Allah, the Mormon Elohim, Ahura Mazdah, Baal, Molech and all other false gods which have ever been named by man. When Freemasonry causes pagans to join in prayer to the GAOTU, are they then worshiping the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob? No, they are still worshiping demons, as would be any Christian who would join with them. Participation in Freemasonry ensnares a man in idolatry. In the Lodge, prayer is offered by one man for all present.

Grand Lodges confirm the nature of Masonic teachings and prayer: A Mason offering prayer in the Lodge may pray to his God -- observing his own conception of Deity. . . . None should take umbrage because he addresses his prayer to his own conception of Deity. He must use prayer in the Ritual in all ritualistic ceremonies. Any other prayer is out of order in such ceremonies. MASONIC CODE OF ALABAMA, pp.141-2, 1963

When addressing the Deity in prayer it should never be done in a way that excludes Brothers of other faiths and of necessity should be inclusive and universal, not sectarian or denominational. MASONIC MANUAL-MINNESOTA, p109, 1998

Masons believe that there is one God and that people employ many different ways to seek and to express what they know of God. Masons primarily uses (sic) the appellation, "Grand Architect of the Universe," and other non-sectarian titles, to address Deity. In this way, persons of different faiths may join together in prayer, concentrating on God rather than on differences among themselves. Masonry believes in religious freedom and that the relationship between the individual and God is personal, private, and sacred. MASONIC MANUAL OF MINNESOTA, p16, 1998

The Grand Lodge of Indiana reveals that the object of prayer in the Lodge, the GAOTU is not actually God, but rather merely a symbol: “One fundamental of Freemasonry is its non-sectarian character. Any man may offer his devotions to the Deity he reveres, under the Masonic title, no matter what name he may use in his religious worship. Thus, Great Architect of the Universe (or any of its variations) is a symbol of Deity as named and worshiped in all religions. INDIANA MENTOR’S MANUAL, p. 49

Christians who accurately understand the Masonic paradigm concerning God will never become a Mason. Those who become aware of the Masonic paradigm after joining the Lodge will renounce Freemasonry. Genuine Christians will not knowingly worship at a pagan altar, be it a Masonic altar or any other. Church leaders should include teaching about false concepts of God as part of the church’s educational program. Some have claimed that we should simply preach the Gospel and ignore error. That is not a sound position for two very obvious reasons. First, addressing error is Scriptural.

Paul wrote: I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. (2 Tim 4:1-5)

John clearly explained how to recognize the heresies of the Gnostics: Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the Antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world. (1 John 4:1-3)

Christians should recognize the spirit behind Freemasonry for what it is. Freemasonry does not confess Jesus. Second, simply preaching the Gospel will not keep church members from becoming ensnared in paganism. Proof of this is present within many churches and often within leadership. Many church members are Masons and members of other pagan fraternal orders, such as the Elks, Eagles, Moose, Odd Fellows, etc. If all church members understood the Masonic paradigm, they would be able to instantly recognize the same heresy when it is taught in other fraternal orders. Freemasonry is the archetype for virtually all other fraternal orders. Dialog with “Christian” Freemasons has provided evidence that many of them not only understand the Masonic paradigm concerning God, but are willing to defend it. Very few men who are active in Freemasonry over a period of time are ignorant. It is generally the new Mason, or the inactive Mason who is misled.

www.ephesians5-11.org

Consider what HE did for you TODAY! Repent and BELIEVE!

2010-04-02T07:39:00.001-05:00

Passion Week

2010-03-28T16:43:00.001-05:00

The passion week

"Never in the universe of God did there take place such things as took place that week on this earth" (John Duncan).

Here are listed ten incidents that took place during "Passion Week.” Each one is in the strictest sense unique.

1. The entry of Jesus into Jerusalem was a fulfilment of Zecharias’ prophecy.

It is rightly termed a triumphal entry, for Jesus legitimately assumed a regal role for himself, even though as befitted his character, he rode meekly and humbly. Yet the kingly aspect of his messiahship shines forth just before the assault on his life by evil men attempted to make mockery of his kingship ("Hail, king of the Jews," and the title, "This is Jesus the king of the Jews"). This event was unique for no other can rightly pose or present himself as King of the church, save Jesus Christ.

2. The anointing by Mary at Bethany.

"She hath done what she could: she is come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying" (Mark 14:8). The special case of anointing before the proper time is singled out by Christ as worthy of remembrance.

By this act Christ is honoured in a unique way: no one before or after experienced a similar treatment, though this was hardly understood by even his close disciples then.

3. The eating of the Passover in the upper chamber is unique because during that time a sacrament of the New Covenant took the place of a shadow. The Old Covenant was inaugurated with the sprinkling of blood and similarly the ratification of the New Covenant took place by the death of the testator. All this is set forth in the Lord's supper which was instituted on the very eve of his passion.

4. Though Christ interceded for his own as the need arose (cf. "Simon, Simon, Satan has demanded...but I have prayed for thee...") just before his passion we are given an open window to behold our Great High Priest fulfilling his special and unique role as Intercessor (Paraclete) "for those whom Thou hast given me."

In John 17 we have a prayer such as no-one else could or would have prayed. It is a summation of Christ's ministry, together with his petition to bring his own to full salvation and glory.

5. In the garden of Getsemane, a curious incident happened that baffles all those who doubt or deny the deity of Christ. As Jesus answered the crowd, "Ego eimi," claiming deity to himself, the would-be arrestors "went backward, and fell to the ground" (John 18:6).

The word of Christ, however contemptible it seem to be, is full of majesty, and accompanied with divine power, and terror to his enemies. At the very hour when Christ was accounted helpless, a token of his omnipotence is given forth.

6. The betrayal of the Son of Man.

Numerous betrayals and treacheries are recorded in the annals of history, but none so macabre and iniquitous as Judas's hypocritical kiss. Upon his own confession, he betrayed innocent blood, but more than that he betrayed and rejected his own Creator, which act served under God's sovereignty to effect his plan of redemption.

7. The depravity of the heart of man comes to light in the choice the crowd made, preferring to have a brigand and murderer released and condemning the spotless Son of God to a shameful death.

Throughout history man made senseless choices but not so blatantly wicked than this one.

8. The inscription upon Jesus’ head as he hung on the tree was, "This is Jesus the King of the Jews."

It was nailed there to mock "the victim," and yet so ironically true. Men reject God's Messiah but they still, unwittingly, serve God's purposes. Perhaps that same inscription was an instigation to the thief to ask Jesus to remember him: a tract published by the enemy was instrumental in the salvation of one of God's elect!

9. The cry of dejection, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachtani?" was unheard of before that day, for though Christ quotes David's lament in Psalm 22, David spoke not of himself primarily but of the Messiah that was to proceed from his loins.

It is properly Christ's lament: truly a profound utterance for who among mortals can begin to comprehend the transaction that was taking place then, when Christ was the Sin-bearer and as such rejected by his own Father?

10. The burial of the Prince of Life was necessarily a temporary burial, actually, in a borrowed tomb, for it would be vacated on the third day.

The uniqueness is demonstrated all the more in the light of prophecy and repeated announcements from Christ's lips that death will not be the end as far as he was concerned. He was buried and with him our sins were buried "in the depths of the sea".

Persons in the passion of Christ

Many were involved in the sufferings and death of Christ. In addition the circumstances and events around Calvary are not without significance.

We will consider some of them.

a. Judas.

Being the son of perdition and a devil, and also being predicted that he should play such a perfidious part, Judas was instrumental in triggering off the arrest and eventual execution of Jesus. The irony of it all is that he who was so close to the Saviour continued in a lost estate till he went to his own place.

b. Pilate.

Pilate was the Roman governor in Judaea at the time of the accomplishment of our redemption. He is mentioned by name in the Creed to pinpoint for all generations that the God-wrought redemption is historical and real. It actually happened. The spotless Lamb of God was sentenced to die by an historical personage. It leaves us in no doubt as to the actuality of Christ's visitation among us and his redemption on our behalf.

c. Barabbas.

Barabbas, whose name means "son of the father," was brought out and actually preferred to Jesus, who is also "Son of the Father," though in a far different sense. Jesus is God's choice Saviour; Barabbas represents depraved man's choice.

It proves how much man is blind to spiritual reality: for if they had known they would not have crucified the Lord of God. It is only man's hard and impenitent heart that chooses a murderer and an insurrectionist; anyone, but not Christ.

d. The centurion.

The Roman official in charge of seeing that the execution of Jesus actually took place bare witness to the proceedings and the innocence of Jesus. He saw how Jesus comported himself all the while; he watched him, and finally after dying, the centurion exclaimed, "Truly this one was the Son of God."

He was not a believer and yet all the events, collectively considered, brought him to make such an astounding (and true) statement.

e. Jesus’ words, "It is finished."

"Tetelestai," one word of triumph and completion. The debt is forever paid off; the objective has been reached; mission accomplished. It was the climactic moment of truth. Prophecy pointed with suspense to this hour, and Christ's victory over death, Satan, sin and hell is here declared.

f. Jesus bowing His head before yielding up His spirit to the Father.

I presume that this is a symbolic action on the part of the Lord Jesus to indicate his complete obedience and reverence to the Father and his will. What the Bible says about Christ's humiliation (e.g. Philippians 2:5ff) is here graphically portrayed for us to see.

g. The crucifixion.

Though many times the Jews madly tried to stone Jesus (for supposed blasphemy) or attempted to throw him of the cliff, yet he died by being raised up and hanged on a tree. This is important for thus we know that Christ in being crucified bore the curse of the Law, lifting the curse from us and bearing it himself. See Galatians 3, quoting Deuteronomy, "Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree..."

h. Joseph of Arimathea.

Though all seemed to be dejected and forlorn on Calvary, yet the appearance of Joseph (and Nicodemus) reveals that God always has his own who seek his kingdom and wait for the consolation of Israel. They come out when least expected.

i. The soldiers not breaking Jesus’ legs.

This action was normally taken to ensure that the criminals really died, for with their legs broken they would soon suffocate, not being about to bear their weight. In coming to Jesus and seeing that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. It was an unnecessary action. Instead they simply pierced his side with a lance: another proof that Christ really died, to counter later misrepresentations (Docetic, etc.) that he only appeared to have died.

j. The speedy burial of Jesus.

Since the Sabbath was fast approaching they quickly and without ceremony disposed of the sacred body of Jesus in a nearby tomb. What utter humiliation! for Christ should have had the most spectacular burial in all history, and yet hardly anybody seemed to care.

But his resting in the grave guaranteed for us an eternal rest.

IN RESPONSE TO ?'s I HAVE BEEN ASKED

2010-03-28T15:49:00.004-05:00

I cannot recommend any church which would deny the biblical doctrine of predestination (in contradiction to Ephesians 1:1-11), a church that denies the doctrine of the immortality of the soul (in contradiction to Luke 16:19-31; Matt. 25:46), and denies eternal hellfire (in contradiction to Rev. 14:11). Nor can I recommend a church that affirms that Jesus Christ is Michael the Archangel,and that the wicked are annihilated (in contradiction to Luke 16:19-31; Matt. 25:46).

Soli Deo Gloria!

Abandoned By God

2009-08-24T20:26:00.000-05:00

Turn Off Your Idol!

2009-08-12T11:39:00.000-05:00

"Walking in Our Father's Footsteps" Part 6

2009-08-09T21:43:00.000-05:00

Voddie Bauchum : Brokenness

2009-08-06T17:55:00.002-05:00

Examine Yourself - by Paul Washer

2009-07-29T19:59:00.000-05:00

The Day of Judgment

2009-07-24T09:26:00.000-05:00

Archibald Alexander

Alexander (1772-1851) was the founding professor of Princeton Theological Seminary.

That a just God will render to every man according to his character and works, is a dictate of reason. Conscience also intimates to every man, when he sins, that he deserves to be punished; and when we see or hear of great crimes committed by others, such as murders, perjuries, robbery, or treachery, we feel something within us demanding that such should receive condign punishment. But we see that the wicked are not always punished in this world according to their evil deeds; it seems reasonable, therefore, to expect that there will be a judgment after death.

We are not left, however, to the mere dictates of reason on this subject: God, in his word, has revealed in the clearest manner that there will be a day of reckoning at the end of the world. This day is appointed, and will certainly come. It is not so certain that we shall ever see the sun rise again, as it is that we shall see the day of judgment. The Lord Jesus Christ is also appointed to act as Judge on that day: "because he hath appointed a day, in which he will judge that world in righteousness, by that man whom he that ordained." Acts 17:31. "For we must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad." 2 Corinthians 5:10.

When this awful day will arrive is a profound secret, not revealed to any creature in the universe. But we know that it will come suddenly and unexpectedly on those who shall then be on the earth. As it was in the days of Noah and of Lot, so will it be in the day of judgment. Men will be pursuing their common worldly business and amusements, without apprehension of danger, when the sound of the last trump shall be heard -- for the trumpet shall sound -- and the Son of man shall be seen coming in the clouds of heaven.

The race of man shall not cease from the earth until that day comes. There will then be a generation of living inhabitants, probably very numerous, in the world. These will never die as other men, but they will undergo a change equivalent to death and a resurrection; in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, they shall be changed. But all they that are in their graves shall hear the voice of God, and shall come forth, great and small. No sooner shall the trumpet sound, than the scattered dust of unnumbered millions shall resume its proper place in every man. No matter where it lies, or how widely it may have been scattered, one word of the Almighty God is sufficient to bring it to its place, and animate it with new life. The multitude which will then start up into life cannot be conceived, it will be so great. There will stand Adam and all his posterity; there will stand those who lived before the flood, and those who have lived since; there will be seen the ancient patriarchs, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the inspired prophets and apostles; there will appear kings, emperors, nobles, and their subjects; the learned philosopher and the ignorant multitude; ministers and their congregations, parents and their children, masters and their servants -- all, all coming forward to the grand tribunal. Not one of our whole race will be absent form this great assembly. There, reader, shall you and I stand, trembling or rejoicing.

It is useless to inquire where room can be found for so great a multitude to stand, for this will be a day of miracles. All the wonders ever exhibited before will be nothing to the wonders of that day. Indeed, all that is natural will end on that day, and everything will be miraculous. The sun will no longer rise and set, the moon no longer give her light, and the stars shall no longer appear in the firmament. Heaven will appear to have come down to earth, for the King of kings and Lord of heaven will be visible to all, with his own glory and that of his Father. And all the holy angels will appear in attendance, standing round his throne, ready to execute his orders, whether of justice or of mercy.

When all things are prepared -- when the Judge has taken his seat on the tribunal and all men are brought before him, the judicial process will begin; "and the books will be opened." What books these are, except one, which is "the book of life," we are not informed; but we may be sure that one is the book of God's law, and another the record of human actions which is in the "book of" God's "remembrance." It is not necessary to think of more. These contain all that is necessary for conducting the trial of every man. The one contains the law, and the other the testimony. But every thing will be conducted with the most perfect equity. Every man will be judged for his own deeds, and according to that knowledge of the law which he had opportunity of acquitting. The omniscience of the Judge will enable him to estimate with perfect exactness all the circumstances of every action; every thing which aggravated guilt, and every thing which palliates it, will have due consideration. They who lived under the patriarchal dispensation, will be judged according to the light and advantages then enjoyed; they who lived under the Mosaical economy, will be judged by the law of Moses; and they who enjoyed the clear light of the gospel, will be dealt with in a manner accordant to their advantages; while they who enjoyed no external revelation, will be judged by that law written on the hearts of all men.

The things which shall be brought under the eye of the Judge, and exhibited to the view of the universe, are, all deeds done in the body -- whatsoever a man hath done, whether good or bad. Every secret thing. "For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil." Ecclesiastes 12:14. Every idle word. "I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give a account thereof in the day of judgment." Matthew 12:36. The thoughts of the heart shall also be made manifest. Every unholy desire; every proud, envious, or malicious thought; every secret purpose of iniquity; every unhallowed temper; every rebellious and discontented and ungrateful feeling towards God and his government, will be brought into judgment.

And the inquiry will extend not only to positive acts; but also to omissions of duty. Great as is the number of the acts of wickedness, the catalogue of omissions will be greater, and not less criminal. The first sin of this sort which will claim the attention of the Judge, will be the omission to entertain and cherish right sentiments towards God. No more heavy charge will be brought against any individual on that day, than that he neglected to love the Lord his God with all his heart, and soul, and mind, and strength. This is the total violation of the first and greatest command, and the fountain of all other iniquities. The neglect to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ when he was offered to us a complete Saviour in the gospel, will, to the unfruitful hearers of the word, be an accusation of the highest kind. The heinousness and enormity of unbelief which now affects the consciences of men so little, will on that day appear in a glaring light. It will not be strange if it should call forth reproaches upon the unhappy culprit, from devils who never had a Saviour provided, and from heathen who never had a Saviour offered to them. In that account which our Lord has given of the process of the judgment, in the twenty-fifth chapter of Matthew, the neglect of kindness to the saints, by visiting, comforting, and aiding them, is the only thing mentioned. Whatever else, then, may be noticed, we are sure this will not be forgotten. The whole passage is so solemn and interesting, that it deserves our deepest attention: "When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: and before him shall be gathered all nations; and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: and he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was a hungered, and ye gave me meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me in; naked, and ye clothed me; I was sick, and ye visited me; I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee a hungered, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily, I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was a hungered, and ye gave me no meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me not in; naked, and ye clothed me not; sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee a hungered, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily, I say unto you, inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment; but the righteous into life eternal." Matthew 25:31-46.

And let it be well considered, that most of the sins which are mentioned in the discourses of Christ as the ground of condemnation, are sins of omission. The slothful servant, who prepares not himself, is the wicked servant, who wrapped his talent in a napkin and buried it, is condemned out of his own mouth. For "to him that knoweth to do good," of any kind, "and doeth it not, to him it is sin." James 4:17.

Many who prided themselves in their inoffensive lives and harmless behavior, will find, when the books are opened, a catalogue of omissions which will startle them with horror, and overwhelm them with confusion. And as actions externally good will then be examined by One who has a full view of the motives from which they proceeded, and the end which the agent had in view, is it not certain that many religious actions will then appear to have been mere hypocrisy? that many actions, apparently just and benevolent, were mere efforts of pride and selfishness? and that a life civil and blameless in the eyes of men, was a mere cloak which covered a heart full of unclean lusts? Our most intimate friends here will be astonished when they see our secret iniquities and wicked motives exposed to view. Crimes the most detestable will be found in the skirts of those who passed through life without suspicion. O how many secret murders, perjuries, thefts, blasphemies, and adulteries, will then be brought to light! How much injustice, fraud, cruelty, oppression, pride, malice, revenge! The cries of the injured, the widow, and the orphan always enter into the ears of the Lord, and he now comes to avenge them. Cruel persecutors of God's church and people, though clothed in purple, and almost adored when living in the world, will now be brought to a severe account. The blood of the martyred saints from beneath the altar has been long crying out, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on earth?" Revelation 6:10. And now the day of retribution has arrived.

What will be the length of time occupied with the judgment we know not. It is called a day, but it will differ exceedingly from all other days; and in its duration, probably, as well as in other respects. Our wisdom is to attend to what is revealed, and to repress a vain curiosity in regard to other matters. We may rest assured that the whole process will be wisely conducted, and that complete justice will be done. The Judge of all the earth will do right. He will not condemn the innocent, nor clear the guilty. And his judgment will be most impartial. There will be no respecting of persons. The king and the beggar will stand upon equal ground, and will be judged by the same rule. Those who in this world were reviled and slandered, and had no opportunity of clearing up their character, will then be vindicated, and lies and reproaches will have effect no more.

But here a serious difficulty occurs. It may be said, "If the law of God is the rule of judgment, and if all sins are brought into judgment, then certainly every human being must be condemned; 'for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.' According to this view, none can be saved." To remove this difficulty, let it be remembered, that besides the book of the law, there is another book which will be produced there, written from the foundation of the world. This is called the Book of Life. This contains the names -- and they shall never be blotted out -- of all those who have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. These he has undertaken to present to God without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing. They will appear on that day clothed with the righteousness of the Redeemer. The Judge on the throne is their covenanted Surety. He answers to every accusation made against them. But notwithstanding "there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus;" notwithstanding none can "lay any thing to the charge of God's elect;" yet they also shall be brought into judgment. When all things are prepared, and the whole assembly is collected before the august tribunal, a separation will be made of the great congregation into two parts, the righteous, and the wicked. The former will be placed on the right hand of the Judge, and with them he will commence. But no sooner shall their numerous sins be brought to view, that it will be made to appear that they are pardoned through the blood of Christ. When the books are opened, a long account will appear against them; but on the other hand, it will be seen that the whole is freely forgiven through the riches of grace in Christ Jesus. But a most exact account will be taken of all their good works; and they will be mentioned to their honor, and rewarded as though no imperfection had cleaved to them. The least act of kindness done to any of Christ's followers will be magnified and rewarded as if done to Christ himself. Even the giving a cup of cold water to a disciple, in the name of a disciple, shall not lose its reward. Persons in the lowest state, servants and slaves, who performed their duty faithfully, shall not be forgotten in that day, for "whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free." Ephesians 6:8. But they who suffered persecution and death for righteousness' sake, will be most highly distinguished, and most signally rewarded. "Blessed are ye when me shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad; for great is your reward in heaven." Matthew 5:11,12. They also who have labored much in promoting the Redeemer's kingdom, will receive a reward proportioned to their works of faith and labors of love. But none who have done good shall fail of their reward. Every one shall receive according to what he hath done; and every one will be satisfied; for the lowest place in glory is a situation too dazzling for our present conceptions, and the whole is a matter of pure grace. These works, considered in themselves, deserve no reward. But it is the will of God that every holy desire, every good word and work, in the members of Christ's body, should receive a mark of his favor, to the honor and glory of him who is their Head, and who died for their salvation.

When the gracious sentence, "Come, ye blessed, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." is pronounced, the righteous shall be caught up to the Lord, and shall be seated by his side, and be united with him in the remaining transactions of that great day; for it is written, "The saints shall judge the world," and, "Know ye not that ye shall judge angels?"

The case of the righteous being disposed of, then will come the awful transaction of pronouncing sentence on the wicked. They will, indeed, have anticipated the sentence. By this time they will be certain of their doom; but the scene itself will far exceed all apprehensions before entertained. To behold the face of inflexible justice turned toward them -- to hear the irreversible sentence of condemnation, and that too from the mouth of the benevolent Son of God -- to feel in the inmost soul the justice of the sentence -- to be as certain of everlasting damnation as they are of existence -- are things concerning which we can speak now, but of which we can form but very feeble conceptions, compared with the dreadful reality. In all his existence there will probably be no moment in which the sinner's anguish will be so poignant as in this, when the Judge shall say, "Depart, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." Matthew 25:41. Every word in this tremendous denunciation will pierce through the soul with more insufferable pain than the thousand daggers. It is reasonable to think that every person against whom it is pronounced, will endure as much misery at that moment as in the nature of things is possible. And if this were all, the prospect would be appalling; but to be doomed to endless misery in fire, with the devil and his angels! -- who can bear the thought without horror and dismay? Yet, as sure as God is true, will this sentence be executed on every impenitent sinner. Men may reason and cavil now, but then every mouth shall be stopped. That the cry of despair and horror will be heard through the great multitude, is certain -- such a great and bitter cry as was never heard before. But it is all in vain; repentance comes too late. The day of grace is for ever past. The gospel dispensation is ended. This is the consummation of all things. No change in condition can ever be expected. They that are saved, have their salvation secured by the oath and promise of God; and they who are lost, have their damnation sealed for ever and ever by a judicial sentence which can never be revoked. And from this sentence there is no appeal. There is no higher tribunal to which the cause may be transferred. Neither can any resistance be made to the execution of the sentence. They who are now bold and daring in their blasphemies and rebellion, will then find that they are in the hands of a sin-avenging God. It will belong to the holy angels, who are mighty in power, to execute the sentence of the Judge. "So shall it be," said our blessed Saviour, "at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth." Matthew 13:49,50. And it will be as impossible to escape as to resist. The rocks and mountains will not cover them. They cannot cease to exist. Go where they will, God is there to execute deserved wrath upon them. They will therefore be obliged "to go away into everlasting punishment." Matthew 25:46.

The devil and his angels will also be judged on that day; but of the particular nature of the trial we are not informed. All that we know is, that "the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day." Jude, ver. 6. They are now miserable, but their cup is not full; therefore they cried out when they saw Jesus, "Art thou come to torment us before the time?" Matthew 8:29. At the breaking up of this great assembly, the present system of the world will be destroyed. For "the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men." 2 Peter 3:7.

Reader, deeply fix in your mind the certainty and importance of the transactions of this last, great day. Meditate upon it as a reality in which you have a momentous interest. Let every other day, as it passes, put you in mind of this in which all others will end. Consider also that is draws near. Every moment bears us on towards the great tribunal. Mockers may say, Where is the promise of his coming? "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent hear; the earth also, and the works therein, shall be burned up." 2 Peter 3:10.

O reader, whoever thou art, let me entreat you to inquire without delay, whether you are prepared for the scrutiny and judgment of this coming day. Have you made you peace with God? Have you repented of all your sins? Are you in union with Christ by faith? Have you any clear scriptural evidence that your sins are pardoned? What says conscience to these inquiries? Be assured, if your own heart condemns you, God, who is greater than your heart, and knoweth all things, will much more condemn you. But your situation is not like that of them whose day of grace is ended. You are yet in the place of reconciliation. You have yet a little time before you -- God only knows how much. Now, then, hear the voice of warning -- hear the voice of mercy. Now "strive to enter in at the strait gate." Now forsake your sins, and live. Accept the offered grace -- "lay hold on eternal life."

Let no consideration induce you to delay your conversion. The importance of salvation -- the uncertainty of life -- the danger of provoking the Holy Spirit to abandon you -- the example of thousands who have perished by procrastination -- should urge you to lose no time, but to fall in with the gracious invitation of the gospel. But if you will refuse, then prepare to meet an angry God. Harden yourself against the terrors of the Almighty; summon all your fortitude to hear your dreadful doom from the Judge of quick and dead. But I forbear -- there is no fortitude or patience in hell.

Reader, art thou advanced in years? Let thy gray hairs and pains and wrinkles admonish thee that thou art near to judgment; for what if death intervene, yet after death all preparation is impossible. Just as death finds us, so will judgment. "In the place where the tree falleth, there it shall be." Ecclesiastes 11:3. Consider also that the number of your sins is in proportion to the number of your days. Long life will prove a dreadful curse to those who die in their sins.

But if thou art in youth, or in the vigor of manhood, remember that thy life is a vapor; that most men do not live out half their days: and that of those who shall appear before the judgment-seat, comparatively few will have finished their course of threescore years and ten. "Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth." Ecclesiastes 12:1 "Behold, the Judge standeth before the door." James 5:9. Others have been suddenly taken away from your side. They also intend to make preparation hereafter; but while they were pleasing themselves with the prospect of many years, and were saying, "Soul, take thine ease, thou hast much goods laid up for many years" God said, "Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee. Be ye therefore ready also, for at such an hour as ye think not, the Son of man cometh." "Behold, the axe is laid at the root of the tree," and now perhaps thou art spared, on account of the prayer of some kind intercessor, for one year. This, for aught thou knowest, may be thy last year. If so, it behooves you to make good use of your time and privileges. Let the idea of the judgment be ever before your mind. There you must appear -- there you must stand and render up your account -- there you must be filled with overwhelming shame and terror -- there you must hear the awful final sentence, which will fix your doom irreversibly, unless by a speedy repentance, and by faith in Jesus Christ, you flee from the wrath to come.

May God, of his infinite mercy, cause the truths which you have read in this tract to sink deeply into your mind; and by the light of his Holy Spirit lead you to just views of your own condition, and to saving views of the Lord Jesus Christ, the only Redeemer of lost sinners. Amen.

A Tale of Two Sons

2009-07-23T22:19:00.001-05:00

2009-06-29T18:26:00.000-05:00

The Power of the Cross

2009-05-25T09:41:00.001-05:00

Ten Reasons To Not Ask Jesus Into Your Heart

2009-05-08T22:04:00.002-05:00

The music weeps, the preacher pleads, “Give your heart to Jesus. You have a God shaped hole in your heart and only Jesus can fill it.” Dozens, hundreds or thousands of people who want to get their spiritual life on track make their way to the altar. They ask Jesus into their heart.
Cut to three months later. Nobody has seen our new convert in church. The follow up committee calls him and encourages him to attend a Bible study, but to no avail. We label him a backslider and get ready for the next outreach event.
Our beloved child lies in her snuggly warm bed and says, “Yes, Daddy. I want to ask Jesus into my heart.” You lead her in “the prayer” and hope that it sticks. You spend the next ten years questioning if she really, really meant it. Puberty hits and the answer reveals itself. She backslides. We spend the next ten years praying that she will come to her senses.
Telling someone to ask Jesus into their hearts has a very typical result, backsliding. the Bible says that a person who is soundly saved puts his hand to the plow and does not look back because he is fit for service. In other words, a true convert cannot backslide. If a person backslides, he never slid forward in the first place. “If any man is in Christ, he is a new creation.” (II Cor.5) No backsliding there.
Brace yourself for this one: with very few if any exceptions, anyone who asked Jesus into their hearts to be saved…is not. If you asked Jesus into your heart because you were told that is what you have to do to become a Christian, you were mis-informed.
If you have ever told someone to ask Jesus into their heart (like I have), you produced a false convert. Here is why.

1. It is not in the Bible. There is not a single verse that even hints we should say a prayer inviting Jesus into our hearts. Some use Rev. 3:20. To tell us that Jesus is standing at the door of our hearts begging to come in.
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock.” There are two reasons that interpretation is wrong.
The context tells us that the door Jesus is knocking on is the door of the church, not the human heart. Jesus is not knocking to enter someone’s heart but to have fellowship with His church.
Even if the context didn’t tell us this, we would be forcing a meaning into the text (eisegesis). How do we know it is our heart he is knocking at? Why not our car door? How do we know he isn’t knocking on our foot? To suggest that he is knocking on the door of our heart is superimposing a meaning on the text that simply does not exist.
The Bible does not instruct us to ask Jesus into our heart. This alone should resolve the issue, nevertheless, here are nine more reasons.

2. Asking Jesus into your heart is a saying that makes no sense. What does it mean to ask Jesus into your heart? If I say the right incantation will He somehow enter my heart? Is it literal? Does He reside in the upper or lower ventricle? Is this a metaphysical experience? Is it figurative? If it is, what exactly does it mean? While I am certain that most adults cannot articulate its meaning, I am certain that no child can explain it. Pastor Dennis Rokser reminds
us that little children think literally and can easily be confused (or frightened) at the prospect of asking Jesus into their heart.

3. In order to be saved, a man must repent (Acts 2:38). Asking Jesus into your heart leaves out the requirement of repentance.

4. In order to be saved, a man must trust in Jesus Christ (Acts 16:31).
Asking Jesus into your heart leaves out the requirement of faith.

5. The person who wrongly believes they are saved will have a false sense of security. Millions of people who sincerely, but wrongly, asked Jesus into their hearts think they are saved but struggle to feel secure. They live in doubt and fear because they do not have the Holy Spirit giving them assurance of salvation.

6. The person who asks Jesus into his heart will likely end up inoculated, bitter and backslidden. Because he did not get saved by reciting a formulaic prayer, he will grow disillusioned with Jesus, the Bible, church and fellow believers. His latter end will be worse than the first.

7. It presents God as a beggar just hoping you will let Him into your busy life. This presentation of God robs Him of His sovereignty.

8. The cause of Christ is ridiculed. Visit an atheist web-site and read the pagans who scoff, “How dare those Christians tell us how to live when they get divorced more than we do? Who are they to say homosexuals shouldn’t adopt kids when tens of thousands of orphans don’t get adopted by Christians?” Born again believers adopt kids and don’t get divorced.
People who ask Jesus into their hearts do. Jesus gets mocked when false converts give Him a bad name.

9. The cause of evangelism is hindered. While it is certainly easier to get church members by telling them to ask Jesus into their hearts, try pleading with someone to make today the day of their salvation. Get ready for a painful response. “Why should I become a Christian when I have seen so called Christians act worse than a pagan?” People who ask Jesus into their hearts give pagans an excuse for not repenting.

10. Here is the scary one. People who ask Jesus into their hearts are not saved and they will perish on the Day of Judgment. How tragic that millions of people think they are right with God when they are not. How many people who will cry out, “Lord, Lord” on judgment day will be “Christians” who asked Jesus into their hearts?
So, what must one do to be saved? Repent and trust. (Heb.6:1) The Bible makes it clear that all men must repent and place their trust in Jesus Christ. Every man does have a “God shaped hole in their hearts,” but that hole is not contentment, fulfillment and peace. Every man’s heart problem is righteousness. Instead of preaching that Jesus fulfills, we must preach that God judges and Jesus satisfies God’s judgment…if a man will repent and place his trust in Him.
If you are reading this and you asked Jesus into your heart, chances are good you had a spiritual buzz for a while, but now you struggle to read your Bible, tithe, attend church and pray. Perhaps you were told you would have contentment, purpose and a better life if you just ask Jesus into your heart. I am sorry, that was a lie.

~ Todd Friel

The Good Person Test

2009-05-08T07:10:00.000-05:00

http://www.eternal-productions.org/thegoodtestvideo.htm

The Cup of Christ

2009-04-21T21:58:00.001-05:00

Was Anyone Saved at the Cross?

2009-04-13T13:30:00.000-05:00

We say Christ so died that he infallibly secured the salvation of a multitude that no man can number, who through Christ’s death not only may be saved, but are saved, must be saved, and cannot by any possibility run the hazard of being anything but saved. —Charles Haddon Spurgeon

There was a time when I called myself a “four-point Calvinist.” There are a lot of people who use that term, and, almost all the time, the one point of the five that they reject is the terrible, horrible, “L”. Limited atonement. There is just something about the term that doesn’t sound right. How can Christ’s atonement be limited? And that is exactly what I said until I began to seriously think about the whole issue. It is my experience that most of those who reject the specific, or limited atonement of Christ, do not *really* believe in the complete sovereignty of God, or the total depravity of man, or the unconditional election of God. Most objections that are lodged against the doctrine are actually objections to one of the preceding points, not against limited atonement itself. The “break” in my thinking came from reading Edwin Palmer’s book, The Five Points of Calvinism. [Edwin H. Palmer, The Five Points of Calvinism (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1980) pp. 41-55.] In doing a radio program on the truth of God’s electing grace, I was challenged by a caller in regards to the death of Christ. “Why would Christ die for the whole world if God did not intend to save everyone?” I looked at my co-host, and he looked at me, and I made a mental note to do more study into that particular question. I grabbed Palmer’s book as soon as I returned home, and began to read the chapter on the atoning work of Christ.

I became a full “five-pointer” upon reading the following section:

The question that needs a precise answer is this: Did He or didn’t He? Did Christ actually make a substitutionary sacrifice for sins or didn’t He? If He did, then it was not for all the world, for then all the world would be saved. (Palmer, The Five Points of Calvinism, p. 47.)

I was faced with a decision. If I maintained a “universal” atonement, that is, if I said that Christ died substitutionarily in the place of every single man and woman in all the world, then I was forced to either say that 1) everyone will be saved, or 2) the death of Christ is insufficient to save without additional works. I knew that I was not willing to believe that Christ’s death could not save outside of human actions. So I had to understand that Christ’s death was made in behalf of God’s elect, and that it does accomplish its intention, it does save those for whom it is made. At this point I realized that I had “limited” the atonement all along. In fact, if you do not believe in the Reformed doctrine of “limited atonement,” you believe in a limited atonement anyway! How so? Unless you are a universalist (that is, unless you believe that everyone will be saved), then you believe that the atonement of Christ, if it is made for all men, is limited in its effect. You believe that Christ can die in someone’s place and yet that person may still be lost for eternity. You limit the power and effect of the atonement. I limit the scope of the atonement, while saying that its power and effect is unlimited! One writer expressed it well when he said,

Let there be no misunderstanding at this point. The Arminian limits the atonement as certainly as does the Calvinist. The Calvinist limits the extent of it in that he says it does not apply to all persons…while the Arminian limits the power of it, for he says that in itself it does not actually save anybody. The Calvinist limits it quantitatively, but not qualitatively; the Arminian limits it qualitatively, but not quantitatively. For the Calvinist it is like a narrow bridge that goes all the way across the stream; for the Arminian it is like a great wide bridge that goes only half-way across. As a matter of fact, the Arminian places more severe limitations on the work of Christ than does the Calvinist. (Lorraine Boettner, The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination (Phillipsburg, New Jersey: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Company, 1932) p. 153.)

Therefore, we are not talking about presenting some terrible limitation on the work of Christ when we speak of “limited atonement.” In fact, we are actually presenting a far greater view of the work of Christ on Calvary when we say that Christ’s death actually accomplishes something in reality rather than only in theory. The atonement, we believe, was a real, actual, substitutionary one, not a possible, theoretical one that is dependent for its efficacy upon the actions of man. And, as one who often shares the gospel with people involved in false religious systems, I will say that the biblical doctrine of the atonement of Christ is a powerful truth that is the only message that has real impact in dealing with the many heretical teachings about Christ that are present in our world today. Jesus Christ died in behalf of those that the Father had, from eternity, decreed to save. There is absolute unity between the Father and the Son in saving God’s people. The Father decrees their salvation, the Son dies in their place, and the Spirit sanctifies them and conforms them to the image of Christ. This is the consistent testimony of Scripture.

The Intention of the Atonement

Why did Christ come to die? Did He come simply to make salvation possible, or did He come to actually obtain eternal redemption (Hebrews 9:12)? Let’s consider some passages from Scripture in answer to this question.

For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost (Luke 19:10).

Here the Lord Jesus Himself speaks of the reason for His coming. He came to seek and to save the lost. Few have a problem with His seeking; many have a problem with the idea that He actually accomplished all of His mission. Jesus, however, made it clear that He came to actually save the lost. He did this by His death.

Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst (1 Timothy 1:15).

Paul asserts that the purpose of Christ’s coming into the world was to actually save sinners. Nothing in Paul’s words leads us to the conclusion that is so popular today—that Christ’s death simply makes salvation a possibility rather than a reality. Christ came to save. So, did He? And how did He? Was it not by His death? Most certainly. The atoning death of Christ provides forgiveness of sins for all those for whom it is made. That is why Christ came.

Christ’s Intercessory Work

But because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them (Hebrews 7:24-26).

The New Testament closely connects the work of Christ as our High Priest and intercessor with His death upon the cross. In this passage from Hebrews, we are told that the Lord Jesus, since He lives forever, has an unchangeable or permanent priesthood. He is not like the old priests who passed away, but is a perfect priest, because He remains forever. Because of this He is able to save completely those who come to God through Him. Why? Because He always lives to make intercession for them.

Now, before considering the relationship of the death of Christ to His intercession, I wish to emphasize the fact that the Bible says that Christ is able to save men completely. He is not limited simply to a secondary role as the great Assistor who makes it possible for man to save himself. Those who draw near to God through Christ will find full and complete salvation in Him. Furthermore, we must remember that Christ intercedes for those who draw near to God. I feel that it is obvious that Christ is not interceding for those who are not approaching God through Him. Christ’s intercession is in behalf of the people of God. We shall see how important this is in a moment.

Upon what ground does Christ intercede before the Father? Does He stand before the Father and ask Him to forget His holiness, forget His justice, and simply pass over the sins of men? Of course not. The Son intercedes before the Father on the basis of His death. Christ’s intercession is based upon the fact that He has died as the substitute for God’s people, and, since He has borne their sins in His body on the tree (1 Peter 2:24), He can present His offering before the Father in their place, and intercede for them on this basis. The Son does not ask the Father to compromise His holiness, or to simply pass over sin. Christ took care of sin at Calvary. As we read in Hebrews 9:11-12:

When Christ came as high priest of the good things that are already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not man-made, that is to say, not a part of this creation. He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption.

When Christ entered into the Holy of Holies, He did so “by his own blood.” When He did this, we are told that He had “obtained eternal redemption.” This again is not a theoretical statement, but a statement of fact. Christ did not enter into the Holy of Holies to attempt to gain redemption for His people! He entered in having already accomplished that. So what is He doing? Is His work of intercession another work alongside His sacrificial death? Is His death ineffective without this “other” work? Christ’s intercession is not a second work outside of His death. Rather, Christ is presenting before the Father His perfect and complete sacrifice. He is our High Priest, and the sacrifice He offers in our place is the sacrifice of Himself. He is our Advocate, as John said:

My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:1-2. [This passage is often used to deny the specific atonement of Christ; yet, when the parallel passage in John 11:51-52 is consulted, it is clear that John means the "world" to be taken in the same sense that is explained for us in Revelation 5:9-11, where Christ's death purchases for God men "from every tribe and language and people and nation," that is, from all the world.]

Christ’s atoning death is clearly connected with His advocacy before the Father. Therefore, we can see the following truths:

1) It is impossible that the Son would not intercede for everyone for whom He died. If Christ dies as their Substitute, how could He not present His sacrifice in their stead before the Father? Can we really believe that Christ would die for someone that He did not intend to save?

2) It is impossible that anyone for whom the Son did not die could receive Christ’s intercession. If Christ did not die in behalf of a certain individual, how could Christ intercede for that individual, since He would have no grounds upon which to seek the Father’s mercy?

3) It is impossible that anyone for whom the Son intercedes could be lost. Can we imagine the Son pleading before the Father, presenting His perfect atonement in behalf of an individual that He wishes to save, and the Father rejecting the Son’s intercession? The Father always hears the Son (John 11:42). Would He not hear the Son’s pleas in behalf of all that the Son desires to save? Furthermore, if we believe that Christ can intercede for someone that the Father will not save, then we must believe either 1) that there is dissension in the Godhead, the Father desiring one thing, the Son another, or 2) that the Father is incapable of doing what the Son desires Him to do. Both positions are utterly impossible.

That Christ does not act as High Priest for all men is clearly seen in His “High Priestly Prayer” in John 17. The Lord clearly distinguishes between the “world” and those who are His throughout the prayer, and verse 9 makes our point very strongly:

I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours.

When Christ prays to the Father, He does not pray for the “world” but for those that have been given to Him by the Father (John 6:37).

For Whom Did Christ Die?

There are a number of Scriptures that teach us that the scope of Christ’s death was limited to the elect. Here are a few of them:

Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many (Matthew 20:28).

The “many” for whom Christ died are the elect of God, just as Isaiah had said long before,

By his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. (Isaiah 53:11)

The Lord Jesus made it clear that His death was for His people when He spoke of the Shepherd and the sheep:

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep….just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep (John 10:11, 15).

The good Shepherd lays down His life in behalf of the sheep. Are all men the sheep of Christ? Certainly not, for most men do not know Christ, and Christ says that His sheep know Him (John 10:14). Further, Jesus specifically told the Jews who did not believe in Him, “but you do not believe because you are not my sheep” (John 10:26). Note that in contrast with the idea that we believe and therefore make ourselves Christ’s sheep, Jesus says that they do not believe because they are not His sheep! Whether one is of Christ’s sheep is the Father’s decision (John 6:37, 8:47), not the sheep’s!

…just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God….husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless (Ephesians 5:2, 25-27).

Christ gave Himself in behalf of His Church, His Body, and that for the purpose of cleansing her and making her holy. If this was His intention for the Church, why would He give Himself for those who are not of the Church? Would He not wish to make these “others” holy as well? Yet, if Christ died for all men, there are many, many who will remain impure for all eternity. Was Christ’s death insufficient to cleanse them? Certainly not. Did He have a different goal in mind in dying for them? [I am not here denying that the death of Christ had effects for all men, indeed, for all of creation. I believe that His death is indeed part of the "summing up of all things" in Christ. But, we are speaking here solely with the salvific effect of the substitutionary atonement of Christ. One might say that Christ's death has an effect upon those for whom it was not intended as an atoning sacrifice.] No, His sacrificial death in behalf of His Church results in her purification, and this is what He intended for all for whom He died.

He who did not spare His own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring a charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us (Romans 8:32-34).

The Father gave the Son in our place. Who is the “our” of this passage? The text says that it is “those whom God has chosen,” that is, the elect of God. Again, the intercessory work of Christ at the right hand of the Father is presented in perfect harmony with the death of Christ—those for whom Christ died are those for whom He intercedes. And, as this passage shows, if Christ intercedes for someone, who can possibly bring a charge against that person and hope to see them condemned? So we see what we have seen before: Christ dies in someone’s place, He intercedes for them, and they are infallibly saved. Christ’s work is complete and perfect. He is the powerful Savior, and He never fails to accomplish His purpose.

Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13).

Are all the friends of Christ? Do all own His name? Do all bow before Him and accept Him as Lord? Do all do His commandments (John 15:14)? Then not all are His friends.

While we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good (Titus 2:13-14).

Both the substitutionary element of the cross (gave himself for us) and the purpose thereof (to redeem us…to purify) are forcefully presented to Titus. If it was the purpose of Christ to redeem and purify those for whom He died, can this possibly not take place?

She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins (Matthew 1:21).

Christ will save His people from their sins. I ask what Edwin Palmer asked me before: Well, did He? Did He save His people, or did He not?

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me (Galatians 2:20).

This is the common confession of every true believer in Christ. We died with Him, our Substitute, the one who loved us and gave Himself in our behalf.

We have seen, then, that the Word teaches that Christ died for many, for His sheep, for the Church, for the elect of God, for His friends, for a people zealous for good works, for His people, for each and every Christian.

Perfected and Sanctified

One could quite obviously fill entire volumes with a study of the atonement of Christ. [The reader is strongly encouraged to make the effort to read completely a work that stands as a classic in the field: John Owen's The Death of Death in the Death of Christ from Banner of Truth, for a full discussion of the issues surrounding the atonement of Christ.] It is not our purpose to do so here. Instead, we shall close our brief survey of Scripture with these words from Hebrews 10:10-14:

And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifice, which can never take away sins. But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. Since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool, because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.

While we have seen many logical reasons for believing in limited atonement, and we have seen many references to Christ’s death in behalf of His people, this one passage, above all others, to me, makes the doctrine a must. Listen closely to what we are told. First, what is the effect of the one time sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ? What does verse 10 tell us? “We have been made holy,” or, another translation would be, “We have been sanctified.” The Greek language uses the perfect tense here, indicating a past, and completed, action. The death of Christ actually makes us holy. Do we believe this? Did the death of Christ actually sanctify those for whom it was made? Or did it simply make it possible for them to become holy? Again, these are questions that cannot be easily dismissed. The writer goes on to describe how this priest, Jesus, sat down at the right hand of God, unlike the old priests who had to keep performing sacrifices over and over and over again. His work, on the contrary, is perfect and complete. He can rest, for by His one sacrifice He has made perfect those who are experiencing the sanctifying work of the Spirit in their lives. He made them perfect, complete. The term refers to a completion, a finishing. Again, do we believe that Christ’s death does this? And, if we see the plain teaching of Scripture, are we willing to alter our beliefs, and our methods of proclaiming the gospel, to fit the truth?

What of Faith?

One common belief needs to be addressed in passing. Many who believe in a “universal” or non-specific atonement, assert that while Christ died for all, His atonement is only effective for those who believe. We shall discuss the fact that faith itself is the gift of God, given only to the elect of God, in the next chapter. But for now, we defer to the great Puritan writer, John Owen, in answering this question:

To which I may add this dilemma to our Universalists:—God imposed his wrath due unto, and Christ underwent the pains of hell for, either all the sins of all men, or all the sins of some men, or some sins of all men. If the last, some sins of all men, then have all men some sins to answer for, and so shall no man be saved; for if God enter into judgment with us, though it were with all mankind for one sin, no flesh should be justified in his sight: “If the LORD should mark iniquities, who should stand?” Ps. cxxx. 3….If the second, that is it which we affirm, that Christ in their stead and room suffered for all the sins of all the elect in the world. If the first, why, then are not all freed from the punishment of all their sins? You will say, “Because of their unbelief; they will not believe.” But this unbelief, is it a sin, or not? If not, why should they be punished for it? If it be, then Christ underwent the punishment due to it, or not. If so, then why must that hinder them more than their other sins for which he died from partaking of the fruit of his death? If he did not, then he did not die for all their sins. Let them choose which part they will. (John Owen, The Death of Death in the Death of Christ, (London: Banner of Truth Trust, 1985) pp. 61-62.)

Conclusion

Some object to the doctrine of limited atonement on very pragmatic grounds. “The doctrine destroys evangelism, because you cannot tell people that Christ died for them, because you don’t know!” Yet, we ask, is there an advantage in presenting to men an atonement that is theoretical, a Savior whose work is incomplete, and a gospel that is but a possibility? What kind of proclamation will God honor with His Spirit: one that is tailored to seek “success,” or one that is bound to the truth of the Word of God? When the Apostles preached the Gospel, they did not say, “Christ died for all men everywhere, and it is up to you to make His work effective.” They taught that Christ died for sinners, and that it was the duty of every man to repent and believe. They knew that only God’s grace could bring about repentance and faith in the human heart. And far from that being a *hindrance* to their evangelistic work, it was the power behind it! They proclaimed a *powerful* Savior, whose work is all sufficient, and who saves men totally and completely! They knew that God was about bringing men to Himself, and, since He is the sovereign of the universe, there is no power on earth that will stay His hand! Now there is a solid basis for evangelism! And what could be more of a comfort to the heart that is racked with guilt than to know that Christ has died for sinners, and that His work is not just theoretical, but is real?

The Church needs to challenge the world again with the daring proclamation of a gospel that is offensive—offensive because it speaks of God saving those whom He will, offensive because it proclaims a sovereign Savior who redeems His people.

James White

2009-04-12T14:20:00.000-05:00

The Crucifixion of Christ

2009-04-09T23:30:00.000-05:00

The crucifixion of Christ is recorded in all four gospels: Matthew 27:33-44; Mark 15:22-32; Luke 23:33-43; John 19:17-30.

Crucifixion is the process where a person is nailed or bound to a cross or a stake. It was first used by the Persians and later by the Egyptians, Carthaginians, and Romans as a form of capital punishment. Alexander the Great introduced it to the Mediterranean area and the Romans perfected it as a means of capital punishment.

Normally, there was a permanent stake in the ground. The victim carried the crossbar on his back to the stake. The crossbar usually weighed between 50 and 75 lbs. Sometimes the person was nailed to the crossbar, other times he was tied to it. The crossbar, and victim, were then hoisted into place. One method was to hoist the crossbar into a notch on top of the stake so the whole thing looked like a T. Another method was to place the crossbeam a few feet below the top making a cross. Yet another method was to nail or tie the person to a single stake in the ground. Usually a small sign on a pole with the crime written on it was carried ahead of the victim in front of the procession to the cross. It was then nailed to the cross above the head of the victim.

When nails were used, they were driven through the wrists between the radial and ulna bones and not through the palms since the nail would have ripped through the palm because the palm could not withstand all the weight of the body.
The Physical aspect of suffering in the crucifixion

Jesus agony began in Gethsemane with the sweating of blood. Hematidrosis is the name given to the rare occurrence of tiny blood capillaries in the sweat glands that rupture causing an oozing of blood to occur through the skin.

"And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground," (Luke 22:44).

Next, Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane at night. He was brought before the Sanhedrin and there struck by a soldier when Jesus questioned the High Priest.

"And when He had said this, one of the officers standing by gave Jesus a blow, saying, "Is that the way You answer the high priest?" 23 Jesus answered him, "If I have spoken wrongly, bear witness of the wrong; but if rightly, why do you strike Me?" (John 18:22-23).

Jesus was then blindfolded and struck in the face repeatedly. Being blindfolded meant he couldn't "roll with the punches" and the blows would have been that much more destructive. The Bible says that He was beaten so badly He could hardly be recognized.

"And some began to spit at Him, and to blindfold Him, and to beat Him with their fists, and to say to Him, "Prophesy!" And the officers received Him with slaps in the face," (Mark 14:65).

". . . So His appearance was marred more than any man, and His form more than the sons of men," (Isaiah 53:14).

"I gave My back to those who strike Me, and My cheeks to those who pluck out the beard; I did not cover My face from humiliation and spitting," (Isaiah 50:6).

Next, Jesus was stripped of His clothing and then scourged. In scourging, a soldier used a whip called a flagrum consisting of leather straps embedded with metal and glass fragments with small metal balls sewn into the end of each thong. This whip was brought down with full force and when struck against the back of Jesus, was pulled thus tearing the skin off, exposing muscle, and maybe even exposing His very bones. Undoubtedly, His back was reduced to an oozing mass of mutilated flesh. Scourging stops when it is determined that the victim is near death or 39 lashes was reached. 39 was the number of mercy according to Jewish law. By this time, Jesus was in great pain, suffering severe blood loss, and was becoming very weak and thirsty. Only after this was He taken to be crucified.

"Then he released Barabbas for them; but after having Jesus scourged, he delivered Him to be crucified," (Matt. 27:26).

They then stripped Him, put a scarlet robe on Him and placed a crown of thorns on His head. The robe would stick to the congealing blood on His back and when they ripped it from Him later, it would have been very painful and would have helped to continue the bleeding even more. They put a crown of thorns on His head. These thorns were shoved between His scalp and skull as well as ripping and tearing at the skin. Severe bleeding would ensue along with great pain.

"And they spat on Him, and took the reed and began to beat Him on the head. 31 And after they had mocked Him, they took His robe off and put His garments on Him, and led Him away to crucify Him," (Matt. 27:30).

"And after weaving a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand; and they kneeled down before Him and mocked Him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!" (Matt. 27:29).

Then Jesus was mocked and beaten another time after the scourging. He would be very weak by this time and probably could not bear the weight of the cross. So, another person was drafted to carry the cross for Him.

"And as they were coming out, they found a man of Cyrene named Simon, whom they pressed into service to bear His cross," (Matt. 27:32).

Jesus was lead away to the cross and finally, He was nailed to a cross-beam. Normally a person was laid down upon the cross beam and a nail driven into one wrist. Then the other hand was pulled very tightly and another nail driven into the other wrist. The nails were usually about 6-8 inches long. Placing the nail in the wrist severs the median nerve resulting in a burning pain as well as paralysis in the hand.

Once Jesus was lifted to the cross, His feet were nailed to it. But, in order to do this, His knees were bent and the feet brought up a bit to allow them to lie flat against the stake so they could be nailed to it. Once suspended, the force of gravity brings the weight of the body down and the shoulders and elbows dislocate by popping out of joint, ripping ligaments.

Because of the outstretched position of the arms, the chest cavity is in a perpetually expanded state and it is very difficult to breathe. With the severe loss of blood from the scourging and crucifixion, Jesus would have become dehydrated and His body would have less blood to carry oxygen. Therefore, His heart would beat faster as it attempted to compensate and His need for oxygen would increase greatly. In order to breath, Jesus had to push up on the nails in His feet to allow His chest enough flexibility to inhale. Pushing up on the nails is not only excruciating, but this meant that He had to scrap His raw, beaten back against the rough wooden stake. This whole process of breathing and exhaling by pushing up on the nails only increases in intensity as time passes. Soon, the body gets to the point of no return and the heart either ruptures or the person dies from asphyxiation. But, before that happened, the blood loss results in extreme thirst as the body craves water to restore the lost blood. Jesus said, "I thirst" (John 19:28), whereupon a soldier offered Him some sour wine (Luke 23:36), but Jesus refused it -- because He would not seek to escape any of the ordeal.

In order to prolong the suffering, sometimes, the Romans would place a very small seat nailed to the stake so that the victim could partially sit on it. This would allow a small amount of rest and would greatly increase the time it took to die, sometimes several days. But in Jesus’ case, since He was so badly beaten before He got to the cross, He died in a short amount of time. It was, therefore, not necessary to break His legs to prevent Him from pushing up on the nails in His feet so He could breath. Jesus died a horrible death.

Judas the Traitor

2009-04-08T17:42:00.006-05:00

“He who was betraying Him gave them a sign, saying, ‘Whomever I shall kiss, He is the one; seize Him.’ And immediately he came to Jesus and said, ‘Hail, Rabbi!’ and kissed Him. And Jesus said to him, ‘Friend, do what you have come for.’ ”

Matthew 26:48–50

***

Judas Iscariot, in his attitudes and actions, is a classic example of the false believer.

As one of the Twelve, Judas was extremely disappointed at the kind of Messiah Jesus turned out to be. Instead of teaching the disciples how to conquer and control, Jesus taught them how to submit and serve. Any ambitions Judas might have had for gaining wealth, power, or prestige by being a close follower of Jesus were frustrated.

Judas’ compulsive unbelief, combined with his relentless greed and ambition, found a perverse, temporal fulfillment when Satan entered him, and he struck a deal with the Jewish leaders to betray Jesus for money (Luke 22:3–6). As one possessed by the Devil, Judas’s evil actions were no longer his own, though he was still responsible for them.

Judas could have chosen any of several ways to identify Jesus to the mob, but under Satan’s direction he selected a kiss. This kiss was normally given as a sign of affection between close friends or between pupil and teacher. In the context of Judas’ scheme, however, the kiss could hardly have been more despicable because he twisted its meaning so cynically. It is hard to imagine what grief Jesus must have felt when the one who had been treasurer for the Twelve brashly came forward, said “Hail, Rabbi!” and kissed his Master.

Judas’ situation was unique, but his basic attitude is typical of all false believers. The church has always had those who hypocritically profess allegiance to Christ but at heart are really His enemies. Whether it is to advance their business or profession, gain social acceptance, or salve a guilty conscience, hypocrites identify with the church for various reasons. But like Judas, their basic motivation is sinful self–interest.

May God give us the courage to examine our hearts and repent of such traits, and the discernment to deal biblically with false believers in the church.

***

Suggestions for Prayer: Ask God to graciously protect the integrity and purity of your local church.

For Further Study: Read the Epistle of Jude, and list the key traits of false teachers.

What should you know and do regarding such people (vv. 17–23)?

John MacArthur

Avoiding Temptations

2009-03-30T18:46:00.002-05:00

“And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil” (Matt. 6:13).
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Don’t let your trials turn into temptations.
When we hear the English word temptation, we usually think of a solicitation to evil. But “temptation” in Matthew 6:13 translates a Greek word that can refer either to a trial that God permits in order to refine your spiritual character (James 1:2–4) or a temptation that Satan or your flesh brings to incite you to sin (Matt. 4:1; James 1:13–15). Both are valid translations.
I believe “temptation” in Matthew 6:13 refers in part to trials. Even though we know God uses trials for our good, it’s still good to pray that He won’t allow us to be caught in a trial that becomes an irresistible temptation. That can happen if we’re spiritually weak or ill-prepared to deal with a situation.
God will never test you beyond what you’re able to endure (1 Cor. 10:13), but resisting temptation requires spiritual discipline and divine resources. Praying for God to deliver you from trials that might overcome you is a safeguard against leaning on your own strength and neglecting His power.
God tested Joseph by allowing him to be sold into slavery by his brothers, falsely accused by an adulterous woman, and unjustly imprisoned by a jealous husband. But Joseph knew that God’s hand was on his life. That’s why he could later say to his brothers, “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to … preserve many people alive” (Gen. 50:20). Joseph was ready for the test and passed it beautifully!
Jesus Himself was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil (Matt. 4:1). God wanted to test Him to prove His virtue, but Satan wanted to tempt Him to destroy His virtue. Jesus, too, was victorious.
When you experience trials, don’t let them turn into temptations. Recognize God’s purposes and seek His strength. Learn from the example of those who have successfully endured the same trials. Be assured that God is in control and is using each trial to mold your character and to teach you greater dependence on Him.
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Suggestions for Prayer: Thank God for the trials He brings your way. ✧ Ask Him to help you see your trials as means by which He strengthens you and glorifies Himself.
For Further Study: Read Psalm 119:11, Matthew 26:41, Ephesians 6:10–18, and James 4:7. What do those verses teach you about dealing with temptation?

John MacArthur

13 Heresies in "The Shack"

2009-03-17T16:38:00.002-05:00

1. God the Father was crucified with Jesus.

Because God's eyes are pure and cannot look upon sin, the Bible says that God would not look upon His own beloved Son as He hung on the Cross, carrying our sins (Habakkuk 1:13; Matthew 27:45).

2. God is limited by His love and cannot practice justice.

The Bible declares that God's love and His justice are two sides of the same coin — equally a part of the personality and the character of God (Isaiah 61:8; Hosea 2:19).

3. On the Cross, God forgave all of humanity, whether they repent or not. Some choose a relationship with Him, but He forgives them all regardless.

Jesus explained that only those who come to Him will be saved (John 14:6).

4. Hierarchical structures, whether they are in the Church or in the government, are evil.

Our God is a God of order (Job 25:2).

5. God will never judge people for their sins.

The Word of God repeatedly invites people to escape from the judgment of God by believing in Jesus Christ, His Son (Romans 2:16; 2 Timothy 4:1-3).

6. There is not a hierarchical structure in the Godhead, just a circle of unity.

The Bible says that Jesus submitted to the will of the Father. This doesn't mean that one Person is higher or better than the other; just unique. Jesus said, "I came to do the will of Him who sent me. I am here to obey my Father." Jesus also said, "I will send you the Holy Spirit" (John 4:34, 6:44, 14:26, 15:26).

7. God submits to human wishes and choices.

Far from God submitting to us, Jesus said, "Narrow is the way that leads to eternal life." We are to submit to Him in all things, for His glory and because of what He has accomplished for us (Matthew 7:13-15).

8. Justice will never take place because of love.

The Bible teaches that when God's love is rejected, and when the offer of salvation and forgiveness is rejected, justice must take place or God has sent Jesus Christ to die on the cross for nothing (Matthew 12:20; Romans 3:25-26).

9. There is no such a thing as eternal judgment or torment in hell.

Jesus' own description of hell is vivid ... it cannot be denied (Luke 12:5, 16:23).

10. Jesus is walking with all people in their different journeys to God, and it doesn't matter which way you get to Him.

Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no one will come to the Father but by me" (John 14:6).

11. Jesus is constantly being transformed along with us.

Jesus, who dwells in the splendor of heaven, sits at the right hand of God, reigning and ruling the universe. The Bible says, "In Him there is no change, for He is yesterday, today, and forever" (Hebrews 11:12, 13:8; James 1:17).

12. There is no need for faith or reconciliation with God because everyone will make it to heaven.

Jesus said, "Only those who believe in me will have eternal life" (John 3:15, 3:36, 5:24, 6:40).

13. The Bible is not true because it reduces God to paper.

The Bible is God-breathed. Sure, there were many men through 1,800 years who put pen to paper (so to speak), each from different professions and different backgrounds, but the Holy Spirit infused their work with God's words. These men were writing the same message from Genesis to Revelation. If you want to read more about the place of Christ in the Scripture, read "We Preach Christ" (2 Timothy 3:16).

The Motive of the Church

2009-03-11T17:53:00.002-05:00

To Him be glory in the church.
Ephesians 3:21

If you were to survey a group of people and ask them to name the primary purpose of the church, you would probably get a variety of answers.
Some might suggest that the church is a place to form friendships with godly people. It’s where believers strengthen each other in faith and where love is cultivated and shared.
Others might suggest that the mission of the church is teaching the Word, training believers for various responsibilities, and instructing children and young people with the purpose of helping them mature in Christ.
Still others might say that another purpose of the church is to praise God. The church is a community of praise that exalts God for who He is and what He has done. Some would suggest that since praise is the central activity of heaven, it must also be the primary responsibility of those on earth.
But as important as fellowship, teaching, and praise are, the primary motive of the church is to glorify God. The apostle Paul described salvation as being “to the praise of the glory of his grace”(Eph. 1:6).

MacArthur, John: Truth for Today

Praying for Others

2009-03-09T20:18:00.001-05:00

“We have sinned, committed iniquity, acted wickedly, and rebelled, even turning aside from Thy commandments and ordinances. … We have not listened to Thy servants the prophets. … Open shame belongs to us, O Lord … because we have sinned against Thee. … Indeed all Israel has transgressed Thy law and turned aside, not obeying Thy voice. … Thy people have become a reproach to all those around us” (Dan. 9:5–16).
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Others should be the primary focus of your prayers.
In verses 5–16 Daniel identifies with his people and intercedes on their behalf. That’s a common practice in Scripture. For example, Moses interceded for the Israelites after they sinned by worshiping the golden calf (Ex. 32:11–13).
All Paul’s recorded prayers are intercessions. In Ephesians 6:18 he instructs us to “be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints.” In 1 Timothy 2:1–4 he says, “I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, in order that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”
Similarly, the Lord’s prayers are replete with intercessions. Even when hanging in agony on the cross, He prayed for His persecutors: “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34).
When God placed us into the Body of Christ, He made us dependent on one another. When one member suffers, all suffer with it; when one is honored, all rejoice with it (1 Cor. 12:26). That’s why Jesus instructed us to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts. … And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil” (Matt. 6:11–13, emphasis added).
Let your prayers reflect a corporate and selfless mentality that embraces the needs of others.
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Suggestions for Prayer: Thank God for the people who have prayed for you over the years. Be aware of those for whom you should be praying. ✧ Sometimes the demands of prayer can seem overwhelming because there’s so much to pray for, but be faithful, knowing that your prayers are a delight to the Lord (Prov. 15:8).
For Further Study: Read John 17, noting how Jesus interceded for His disciples.

MacArthur, John: Drawing Near

Confessing Your Sins

2009-03-08T20:41:00.000-05:00

“I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed” (Dan. 9:4).
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God will not respond to self-righteous prayers.
In Luke 18 Jesus told a parable to people who were trusting in their own self-righteousness. He said, “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee, and the other a tax-gatherer. The Pharisee stood and was praying thus to himself, ‘God, I thank Thee that I am not like other people, swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax-gatherer. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax-gatherer, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled, but he who humbles himself shall be exalted” (vv. 10–14).
Apart from God’s mercy we cannot enter into God’s presence. The tax-gatherer knew that and pled for forgiveness. The Pharisee missed the point and went away without forgiveness.
Like the tax-gatherer, Daniel approached God with an attitude of confession and self-denial. He could have reminded God of his years of faithful service while in Babylon, but that didn’t enter his mind. He knew that in himself there was nothing to commend him to God. His only thought was for mercy for himself and his people, so God’s purposes could be realized through them.
As a Christian, you have the wonderful privilege of boldly entering into God’s presence “with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith” (Heb. 10:22). That privilege is rooted in God’s grace through Christ’s sacrifice and leaves no room for presumption or self-righteousness. Always guard your attitude in prayer so you don’t unwittingly slip into a Pharisaic mentality.
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Suggestions for Prayer: Memorize Psalm 117:1–118:1, and recite it often as a hymn of praise to the Lord.
For Further Study: Jesus had much to say about the self-righteous scribes and Pharisees of His day. Read Matthew 23, noting His scathing denunciations of their hypocritical attitudes and practices.

MacArthur, John: Drawing Near

Deny Yourself

2009-03-07T20:52:00.001-06:00

Praying with Fervency

2009-03-05T22:07:00.002-06:00

I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes” (Dan. 9:3).
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The more you understand God’s holiness, the more you’ll recognize your own sinfulness.
People view prayer differently. For some it is a last resort after all human options have been exhausted: “All I can do now is pray for you!” Others liken it to a spiritual spare tire—something used only in the event of an emergency. Many who should thrive on prayer have been lulled into complacency by an affluent and godless society.
Daniel, however, saw prayer as an opportunity to express the passion and fervency of his heart to the God he loved and served. In Daniel 9:3 he says, “I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek Him.” That implies he set apart a specific time to devote to thoughtful, earnest, and fervent prayer. That is further supported by the way he prepared himself through fasting and donning sackcloth and ashes—symbols of humility and deep contrition over sin.
It might seem unusual for a man of Daniel’s spiritual stature to be overwhelmed by his sense of sin, but the closer one draws to God, the more aware he is of his sinfulness. We see that in Paul, who called himself the “foremost” of all sinners (1 Tim. 1:15). That might seem like a ridiculous statement to us, but Paul saw sin for what it was. So did Daniel.
The title “Lord God” in verse 3 emphasizes God’s sovereign rule over all things. Daniel knew that God had permitted the Babylonian Captivity and that He alone could deliver His people from it. Consequently, Daniel gave the Lord his undivided attention as he prayed and sought mercy for himself and his people.
Daniel’s fervency is a rebuke to much of the flippancy we hear in prayer today. It was profound because it was generated by God’s Word and grounded in His will.
James 5:16 says, “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much” (kjv). Be like Daniel—a righteous person who prays fervently with great effect.
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Suggestions for Prayer: Ask God to give you a greater sense of fervency in prayer. ✧ Be sensitive to any sin that might be hindering your prayers.
For Further Study: Read Luke 11:5–13. ✧ What parable did Jesus tell to illustrate the benefits of humble, persistent prayer? ✧ How did Jesus contrast earthly fathers with their Heavenly Father.

~John MacArthur

Praying According to God's Word

2009-03-04T17:54:00.001-06:00

“I, Daniel, observed in the books the number of the years which was revealed as the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet for the completion of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years. So I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications” (Dan. 9:2–3).
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God’s sovereignty doesn’t eliminate the need for prayer.
Have you ever wondered if it’s Biblical to pray for things God has already promised in His Word to do? Is it proper to pray, say, for the salvation of sinners, knowing that God will redeem all the elect anyway, or for Christ’s return, knowing it is a sure thing? Daniel gives us a clear answer.
God prophesied through Jeremiah that the Babylonian Captivity would last seventy years (Jer. 25:11–12). When Daniel read that prophecy, he realized that the time was near for his people to return to their homeland. That inspired him to pray fervently.
In Daniel 9:19 he cries out, “O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and take action! For Thine own sake, O my God, do not delay.” He was in tune with God’s Word and understood that somehow his prayers were part of God’s plan.
The exact relationship between God’s sovereignty and our prayers is a mystery, but it is clear that somehow God’s Word and our prayers are co-laborers in achieving God’s will.
Like Daniel, you and I live in a time when many of God’s promises seem near fulfillment. Never before have world events pointed so dramatically to the nearness of the return of our Lord. Consequently, this is not the time for complacency or over-enthusiastic speculation. It is the time for careful Bible study and fervent prayer.
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Suggestions for Prayer: Thank God for His faithfulness and the sure promises of His Word. ✧ Ask Him for spiritual wisdom and insight to discern His will and then live accordingly.
For Further Study: Jeremiah 24:1–25:13 gives some background to Judah’s captivity in Babylon. After reading those verses, answer these questions: ✧ To what kind of fruit did God liken Judah? ✧ What did God say would happen to King Zedekiah? ✧ What warning did the prophets give to Judah? ✧ What was Judah’s response? ✧ How would God deal with Babylon?

MacArthur, John: Drawing Near

Uncompromising Prayer

2009-03-03T19:42:00.001-06:00

“In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus … I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer” (Dan. 9:1–3).
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Uncompromising prayer brings glory to God.
Daniel’s prayer in Daniel 9:1–19 illustrates the key elements of effective intercessory prayer. Those elements will serve as the focus of our studies for several days, but first some background to Daniel’s prayer will be helpful.
Verse 1 says that Daniel prayed in the first year of the reign of King Darius, the first great king of the Medo-Persian Empire. About sixty-five years earlier, God had punished the sinful kingdom of Judah by allowing King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon to conquer Jerusalem and take Israelite captives back to Babylon.
Subsequently the Babylonian Empire fell to the Medo-Persian Empire. Darius conquered Babylon on the night King Belshazzar threw a drunken festival at which God wrote the doom of his kingdom on the wall (Dan. 5:24–28).
Daniel was among the captives originally transported to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar. Throughout the lengthy captivity period, he never forgot he was God’s child and always represented God properly despite his difficult circumstances. He was a man of uncommon wisdom and courage. His trust in God was unwavering and his commitment to prayer uncompromising—even when his prayers could have cost him his life (Dan. 6:4–11).
As a result, God protected him, exalted him, and was glorified through him—as evidenced by King Darius’ decree that everyone in the kingdom was to fear and tremble before Daniel’s great God (Dan. 6:26).
Since Daniel understood the priority of prayer, he refused to be intimidated or distracted from it. His commitment is worthy of imitation. Can that be said of you? If everyone followed your pattern of prayer, would God’s Kingdom be strengthened?
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Suggestions for Prayer: Consistency is important in prayer. You might try praying for different requests on specific days. For example, on Mondays you could pray for your governmental leaders, on Tuesdays for your pastor and the ministries of your church, etc.
For Further Study: Read Daniel 6. ✧ What rank did Daniel hold? ✧ Why did King Darius want to promote Daniel? ✧ What was the reaction of the commissioners and satraps to Daniel’s popularity? ✧ How did they deceive the king? ✧ How did God protect Daniel?

MacArthur, John: Drawing Near

Always Pray

2009-03-02T21:59:00.002-06:00

“Men ought always to pray” (Luke 18:1, kjv).
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Prayer should never be limited to certain times, places, or circumstances.
As a child I was taught to pray with my head bowed, eyes closed, and hands folded. Even as a young man I thought that was the only acceptable mode of prayer.
In my seminary days I sang in a quartet that traveled to various churches throughout the United States. The first time I traveled with them we had a prayer meeting in the car, and the driver prayed with his eyes open. All of us were glad he did, but I wondered if God really heard his prayer.
I have since learned that praying with my eyes closed is a helpful way to avoid distractions, but it isn’t mandated in Scripture—nor are most of the other limitations people often place on prayer. For example, some people want to limit prayer to a certain posture, but Scripture tells of people praying while standing, sitting, kneeling, looking upward, bowing down, and lifting up their hands.
Some try to limit prayer to certain times of the day, such as morning or evening. But in the Bible people prayed at all times: morning, evening, three times a day, before meals, after meals, at bedtime, at midnight, day and night, in their youth, in their old age, when troubled, and when joyful.
Similarly, Scripture places no limits on the place or circumstances of prayer. It tells of people praying in a cave, in a closet, in a garden, on a mountainside, by a river, by the sea, in the street, in the Temple, in bed, at home, in the stomach of a fish, in battle, on a housetop, in a prison, in the wilderness, and on a cross.
The point is clear: there is no specific correct mode or kind of prayer, and prayer isn’t limited by your location or circumstances. You are to pray always. That includes any kind of prayer, on any subject, at any time of the day or night.
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Suggestions for Prayer: Make a list of your current plans, thoughts, and concerns. Have you made each of them a matter of prayer? Commit yourself to sharing every aspect of your life with God.
For Further Study: Read Psalm 136. Note how the Lord is intimately involved in the lives of His people.

Attaining Spiritual Stability

2009-02-27T19:03:00.001-06:00

“… strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience” (Col. 1:11).
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God always empowers you to do what He commands you to do.
An alarming number of Christians seem to lack spiritual stability. Many are “carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming” (Eph. 4:14). Others lack moral purity. Many are driven by their emotions rather than sound thinking. Increasingly, therapists and psychologists are replacing pastors and Biblical teachers as the heroes of the faith. While we still proclaim a sovereign, all-powerful God, our conduct often belies our creed.
Despite our inconsistencies, the power for spiritual stability is ours in Christ as we allow the knowledge of His will to control our lives. Paul describes the working of that power in Colossians 1:11. There the Greek words translated “strengthened” and “power” speak of inherent power that gives one the ability to do something.
The phrase “according to” indicates that the power for spiritual stability is proportional to God’s abundant supply—and that supply is inexhaustible! The literal Greek says you are being “empowered with all power according to the might of His glory.” That thought is akin to Philippians 2:12–13, where Paul says that the power for working out your salvation comes from God, “who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.”
In Colossians 1:11 the result of God’s enabling is “the attaining of all steadfastness and patience.” “Steadfastness” speaks of endurance regarding people; “patience” speaks of endurance regarding things or circumstances. When you are steadfast and patient, you are spiritually stable. Your responses are Biblical, thoughtful, and calculated—not worldly, emotional, or uncontrolled. You bear up under trials because you understand God’s purposes and trust His promises.
Paul said, “Be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of His might” (Eph. 6:10). That is possible when you trust God and rely on the infinite power that is yours in Christ.
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Suggestions for Prayer: Perhaps you know someone who is struggling with spiritual instability. Pray for him or her, and ask God to use you as a source of encouragement.
For Further Study: Psalm 18 is a psalm of victory that David wrote after God delivered him from Saul. Read it, then answer these questions: ✧ What characteristics of God did David mention? ✧ How might those characteristics apply to situations you are facing?

MacArthur, John: Drawing Near

Enjoying a Bountiful Harvest

2009-02-26T20:24:00.000-06:00

“… bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God” (Col. 1:10).
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Your fruitfulness is directly related to your knowledge of divine truth.
Every farmer who enjoys a plentiful harvest does so only after diligent effort on his part. He must cultivate the soil, plant the seed, and then nurture it to maturity. Each step is thoughtful, disciplined, and orderly.
Similarly, bearing spiritual fruit is not an unthinking or haphazard process. It requires us to be diligent in pursuing the knowledge of God’s will, which is revealed in His Word. That is Paul’s prayer in Colossians 1:9, which he reiterates in verse 10.
The phrase “increasing in the knowledge of God” (v. 10) can be translated “increasing by the knowledge of God.” Both renderings are acceptable. The first emphasizes the need to grow; the second emphasizes the role that knowledge plays in your spiritual growth.
As your knowledge of God’s Word increases, the Holy Spirit renews your mind and transforms your thinking. As you gaze into the glory of the Lord as revealed in Scripture, you “are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory” (2 Cor. 3:18). You “have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him” (Col. 3:10).
One of Satan’s ploys to retard spiritual productivity is to get Christians preoccupied with humanistic philosophy and other bankrupt substitutes for God’s truth. That’s why he planted false teachers at Colosse to teach that knowing God’s will is inadequate for true spirituality. Paul refuted that claim by affirming that Christ is the fullness of Deity in bodily form (Col. 2:9). In Him “are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Col. 2:3). He is all you need!
Scripture commands you to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18). Is that characteristic of your life? Are you looking forward to a bountiful spiritual harvest?
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Suggestions for Prayer: Thank God for the privilege of knowing His will and studying His Word. ✧ Prayerfully guard your mind from sinful influences. Saturate it with God’s truth.
For Further Study: Read the following passages, noting the effects of God’s Word: Psalms 119:9, 105; Acts 20:32; Romans 10:17; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Timothy 3:14–17; Hebrews 4:12–13; 1 John 2:14.

MacArthur, John: Drawing Near. Wheaton, Ill. : Crossway Books, 1993, S. February 26

February 25: Praise for Answers

2009-02-25T17:36:00.001-06:00

Pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks.
1 Thessalonians 5:16–17

When God answers prayers about a particular situation, we have the privilege of being a part of His work and of praising Him for it. When we don’t participate through prayer, we miss the opportunity to give Him glory.
Suppose someone came to a prayer meeting and said, “I’ve had the most wonderful thing happen: the lady I’ve been witnessing to has opened her heart to Christ. She is now a believer and is here with us tonight. Thank you for praying for her these last few months.” The people present can praise the Lord, especially those who had been praying for this woman’s conversion.
But there would also be some who, while offering praise, would not have felt a sense of being involved because they had not prayed for the lady. You need to be in on what God is doing so you can offer heartfelt praise.

MacArthur, John: Truth for Today : A Daily Touch of God's Grace. Nashville, Tenn. : J. Countryman, 2001, S. 68

Take Responsibility

2009-02-13T08:56:00.000-06:00

Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight.
Psalm 51:4

If you want to have a decreasing frequency of sin in your life and an increasing amount of spiritual growth, you must acknowledge your responsibility. Don’t blame your circumstances, your husband, your wife, your boyfriend, your girlfriend, your boss, your employees, or your pastor. Don’t even blame the devil. Your sin is your fault. Certainly the world’s system can contribute to the problem, but sin ultimately occurs as an act of the will—and you are responsible for it.
Perhaps one of the best examples of someone who learned how to take responsibility was the prodigal son. When he returned home to his loving father, he said, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son” (Luke 15:21). He was even willing to be treated as a humble laborer because he knew he didn’t deserve anything (v. 19). That is the right attitude of one who confesses sin.

MacArthur, John: Truth for Today : A Daily Touch of God's Grace.

Forgiveness Made Easy

2009-01-12T16:45:00.002-06:00

"Forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you."—Ephesians 4:32.

The heathen moralists, when they wished to teach virtue, could not point to the example of their gods, for, according to their mythologists, the gods were a compound of every imaginable, and, I had almost said, unimaginable vice. Many of the classic deities surpassed the worst of men in their crimes: they were as much greater in iniquity as they were supposed to be superior in power. It is an ill day for a people when their gods are worse than themselves. The blessed purity of our holy faith is conspicuous, not only in its precepts, but in the character of the God whom it reveals. There is no excellency which we can propose but we can see it brightly shining in the Lord our God: there is no line of conduct in which a believer should excel but we can point to Christ Jesus our Lord and Master as the pattern of it. In the highest places of the Christian faith you have the highest virtue, and unto God our Father and the Lord Jesus be the highest praise. We can urge you to the tenderest spirit of forgiveness by pointing to God who for Christ's sake has forgiven you. What nobler motive can you require for forgiving one another? With such high examples, brethren, what manner of people ought we to he? We have sometimes heard of men who were better than their religion, but that is quite impossible with us: we can never, in spirit or in act, rise to the sublime elevation of our divine religion. We should constantly be rising above ourselves, and above the most gracious of our fellow Christians, and yet above us we shall still behold our God and Saviour. We may go from strength to strength in thoughts of goodness and duties of piety, but Jesus is higher still, and evermore we must be looking up to him as we climb the sacred hill of grace.

At this time we wish to speak a little concerning the duties of love and forgiveness; and here we note, at once, that the apostle sets before us the example of God himself. Upon that bright example we shall spend most of our time, but I hope not quite so much as to forget the practical part, which is so much needed in these days by certain Unforgiving spirits who nevertheless assume the Christian name. The theme of God's forgiving love is so fascinating that we may linger awhile, and a long while too, upon that bright example of forgiveness which God has set before us, but from it all I hope we shall be gathering grace by which to forgive others even to seventy times seven.

We shall take the text word by word, and so we shall obtain the clearest divisions.

I. The first word to think about is "FOR CHRIST'S SAKE." We use these words very often; but probably we have never thought of their Three, and even at this time we cannot bring forth the whole of their meaning. Let us touch thereon with thoughtfulness, praying the good Spirit to instruct us. "For Christ's sake;" all the good things which God has bestowed upon us have come to us "for Christ's sake," but especially the forgiveness of our sins has come "for Christ's sake." This is the plain assertion of the text. What does it mean? It means. surely, first, for the sake of the great atonement which Christ has offered. The great God can, as a just Lawgiver and King, readily pass by out' offences because of the expiation for sin which Christ has offered. If sin were merely a personal affront toward God, we have abundant evidence that he would be ready enough to pass it by without exacting vengeance; but it is a great deal more than that. Those who view it as a mere personal affront against God are but very shallow thinkers. Sin is an attack upon the moral government of God; it undermines the foundations of society, and were it permitted to have its way it would reduce everything to anarchy, and even destroy the governing power and the Ruler himself. God hath a great realm to govern, not merely of men that dwell on the face of the earth, but beneath his sway there are angels, and principalities, and powers, and we do not know how many worlds of intelligent beings. It would certainly be a monstrous thing to suppose that God has made yonder myriads of worlds that we see sparkling in the sky at night without having placed some living creatures in them; it is far more reasonable to suppose that this earth is an altogether insignificant speck in the divine dominion, a mere province in the boundless empire of the King of kings. Now, this world having rebelled against God high-handedly, as it has done, unless there were a satisfaction demanded for its rebellion it would be a tolerated assault upon the dominion of the great Judge of all, and a lowering of his royal influence over all his domain. If sin in man's case were left unpunished it would soon be known through myriads of worlds, and in fact by ten thousand times ten thousand races of creatures, that they might sin with impunity; if one race had done so, why not all the rest? This would be a proclamation of universal license to rebel. It would probably be the worst calamity that could happen—that any sin should go unpunished by the supreme Judge. Sometimes in a state, unless the lawgiver executes the law against the murderer, life will be in peril, and everything will become insecure, and therefore it becomes mercy to write the death-warrant: so is it with God in reference to this world of sinners. It is his very love as well as his holiness and his justice which, if I may use such a term, compels him to severity of judgment, so that sin cannot and must not be blotted out till atonement has been presented. There must first of all be a sacrifice for sin, which, mark you, the great Father, to show his love, himself supplies, for it is his own Son who is given to die, and so the Father himself supplies the ransom through his Son, that Son being also one with himself by bonds of essential unity, mysterious but most intense. If God demands the penalty in justice, he himself supplies it in love. "Tis a wondrous mystery, this mystery of the way of salvation by an atoning sacrifice; but this much is clear, that now God for Christ's sake hath forgiven us, because satisfaction has been made to the injured honour of the divine government, and justice is satisfied. I want you to consider for a moment how readily God may now blot out sin since Christ hath died. The blotting out of sin seems hard till we see the cross, and then it appears easy enough. I have looked at sin till it seemed to blind me with its horror, and I said in myself, "This damned spot can never be washed out; no fuller's soap can change its hue; sooner might the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots. 0 sin, thou deep, eternal evil, what can remove thee?" And then I have seen the Son of God dying on the cross, and read the anguish of his soul, and heard the cries which showed the torment of his spirit when God his Father had forsaken him, and it has seemed to me as if the blotting out of sin were the easiest thing under heaven. When I have seen Jesus die I have not been able to understand how any sin could be difficult to remove. Let a man stand on Calvary and look on him whom he hath pierced, and believe and accept the atonement made, and it becomes the simplest thing possible that his debt should be discharged now that it is paid, that his freedom should be given now that the ransom is found, and that he should be no longer under condemnation, since the guilt that condemned him has been carried away by his great Substitute and Lord. It is then because of what Jesus Christ has suffered in our stead that God for Christ's sake hath forgiven us,

The second rendering of the text would be this, that God has forgiven us because of the representative character of Christ. It should never be forgotten that we originally fell by a representative. Adam stood for us, and he was our federal head. We did not fall personally at the first, but in our representative. Had he kept the conditions of the covenant we had stood through him, but, inasmuch as he fell, we fell in him. I pray you cavil not at the arrangement, because there lay the hope of our lace. The angels probably fell individually, one by one, and hence they fell irretrievably,—there was no restoring them: but as we fell in one Adam, there remained the possibility of our rising in another Adam; and therefore in the fulness of time God sent forth his Son Jesus Christ, born of a woman, made under the law to become the second Adam. He undertook to remove our burdens and to fulfil the conditions of our restoration. According to covenant he must appear in our nature, and that nature in the fulness of time he assumed. He must bear the penalty: that he hath done in his personal suffering and death. He must obey the law: that he has done to the utmost. And now Christ Jesus, having borne penalty and fulfilled law, is himself justified before God, and stands forth before God as the representative of all that are in him. God for Christ's sake has accepted us in him, has forgiven us in him, and looks upon us with love infinite and changeless in him. This is how all our blessings come to us—in and through Christ Jesus; and if we are indeed in him, the Lord doth not only forgive us our sin, but he bestows upon us the boundless riches of his grace in him: in fact, he treats us as he would treat his Son, he deals with us as he would deal with Jesus. Oh, how pleasant to think that when the just God looks upon us it is through the reconciling medium, he views us through the Mediator. We sometimes sing a hymn which says—

"Him and then the sinner see,
Look through Jesus' wounds on me,"

and this is just what the Lord doth. He counts us just for the sake of our Saviour's atonement, and because of his representative character.

Now go a little further. When we read "for Christ's sake" it surely means for the deep love which the Father bears him. My brethren, can you guess a little of the love which the Father hath toward the Only-begotten? We cannot pry into the wondrous mystery of the eternal filiation of the Son of God lest we be blinded by excess of tight; but this we know, that they are one God,—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; and the union which exists between them is intense beyond conception. "The Father loveth the Son," was always true, and is true now; but how deeply, how intensely he loves the Son no mind can conceive. Now, brethren, the Lord will do great things for the sake of a Son whom he loves as he loveth Jesus, for in addition to the fact of his eternally loving him, as being one with him by nature and essence, there is now the superadded cause of love arising out of what the Lord Jesus hath done as the servant of the Father. Remember that our Lord Jesus has been obedient to his Father's will—obedient to death, even to the death of the cross, wherefore God hath highly exalted hi in and given him a name that is above every name. One of the sweetest thoughts, to my mind, which I sometimes suck at when I am alone, is this—that God the Father will do anything for Christ. Here is also another piece of a honeycomb—when I can plead Christ's name I am sure to win my suit of him. "For Christ's sake" is a plea that always touches the heart of the great God. Show that for you to receive such and such a blessing will glorify Christ, and the Father cannot withhold it, for it is his delight to honour Jesus. We speak after the manner of men, of course, and on such a theme as this we must be careful, but still we can only speak as men, being only men. It is the joy of the Father to express his love to his Son. Throughout all ages they have had fellowship one with another: they have always been one in all their designs, they have never differed upon any points and cannot differ; and you notice when our Lord says, "Father, glorify thy Son," he is so knit with the Father that he adds, "that thy Son also may glorify thee." Their mutual love is inconceivably great, and, therefore, brethren, God will do anything for Jesus. God will forgive us for Christ's sake; yea, he has done so in the case of thousands around me. And thou, big black sinner, if thou wilt go to God at this moment and say, "Lord, I cannot ask thee to forgive me for my own sake, but do it out of love for thy dear Son," he will do it, for he will do anything for the sake of Jesus. If thou art at this time conscious of sin so as to despair of thyself, it is well that thou shouldest be so, for self-despair is only common-sense, since there is nothing in thyself upon which thou canst rely. But do catch at this hope—it is not a straw, it is a good substantial life-buoy—if thou canst ask forgiveness for the sake of Jesus, God will do anything for Jesus, and he will do anything for thee for his dear sake.

So we read our text once more in the light of a truth which grows out of the love of God; namely, that God does forgive sin for the sake of glorifying Christ. Christ took the shame that he might magnify his Father, and now his Father delights to magnify him by blotting out the sin. If von can prove that any gift to you would reflect glory upon Christ, you may depend upon it you will have it. If there is anything under heaven. that would make Christ more illustrious the Father would not spare it for a moment. If thou seest that for thee to have thy sin forgiven would raise the fame of the Saviour, go and plead that argument with God, and thou shalt surely prevail. Will it not make Christ glad if he saves such a sinner as thou art? Then go with this argument in thy mouth, "Father, glorify thy Son by exalting him as a glorious Saviour in saving me." I find this often a great lever at a dead lift,—to say unto the Lord, "Lord, thou knowest the straits I am in; thou knowest how undeserving I am; thou knowest what a poor, undone creature I am before thee; but if thy dear Son shall help and save me the very angels will stand and wonder at his mighty grace, and so it will bring glory to him, therefore I entreat thee be gracious unto me." Be sure thou art certain to prevail if thou canst plead that it will glorify Christ, and surely thou wouldest not wish to have a thing that would not glorify him. Thy prayer shall always be prevalent, if thy heart be in such a state that thou art willing to have or not to have, according as it will honour thy Lord: if it will not glorify Christ, be thou more than content to do without the choicest earthly good; but be thou doubly grateful when the boon that is granted tends to bring honour to the ever dear and worshipful name of Jesus. "For Christ's sake." It is a precious word; dwell upon it, and lay up this sentence in the archives of thy memory—the Father will do anything for the sake of Jesus Christ his Son.

II. Now, secondly, we pass on to observe what it is which we are told in the text has been done for us, and to us, for Christ's sake. "God for Christ's sake HATH FORGIVEN YOU."

First notice, that he has done this certainly. The apostle does not say he hopes so, but he says, "God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." Are you in the number of the forgiven, my dear hearer? Hast thou believed in the Lord Jesus Christ? Then, as sure as you have believed, God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. Have you put your trust in the atoning sacrifice? Then God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. You have not begun to be a Christian, I hope, with the idea that one day, at some future period, you may obtain forgiveness. No. "God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." Pardon is not a prize to be run for, but a blessing received at the first step of the race. If you have believed in Jesus your sin has all gone—all gone; all your sin has been erased from the records of the past, never to be mentioned against you for ever. The moment a sinner looks to Christ, the burden of his sin rolls from off his shoulders never to return. If Christ hath washed thee, (and be has if thou hast believed in him,) then thou art clean every whit, and before the Lord thou standest delivered from every trace of guilt. Pardon is not a matter of hope, but a matter of fact. Expectation looks for many a blessing, but pardon is a realized favour which faith holds in her hand even now. If Christ took thy load, thy load cannot remain on thine own back: if Christ paid thy debts, then they do not stand in God's books against thee. How can they? It stands to reason that if thy Substitute has taken thy sin and put it away, thy sin lies no more on thee. God for Christ's sake hath forgiven thee. Get hold of that grand truth, and hold it, though all the devils in hell roar at thee. Grasp it as with a hand of steel; grip it as for life: "God for Christ's sake hath forgiven me,"—may each one of us be able to say that. We shall not feel the divine sweetness and force of the text unless we can make a personal matter of it by the Holy Ghost.

Then notice that God has forgiven us continuously. He not only forgave us at the first all our sins, but he continues daily to forgive, for the act of forgiveness is a continuous one. I have sometimes heard it said that we were so forgiven when we first believed that there is no need to ask for further forgiveness; to which I reply—We were so completely forgiven when we first believed that we ought continually to ask for the perpetuity of that one far-reaching act, that the Lord may continue to exert towards us that fulness of forgiving grace which absolved us perfectly at the first, that we may continue to walk before him with a sense of that complete forgiveness, clear and unquestioned. I know I was forgiven when first I believed in Christ; and I am equally sure of it now: the one absolution continues to ring in my ears like joy-bells which never cease. Pardon once given continues to be given. When through doubt and anxiety I was not sure of my pardon, yet it was still true; for he that believeth on him is not condemned, even though he may write bitter things against himself. Beloved friend, catch hold of that, and do not let it go. Divine pardon is a continuous act.

And this forgiveness on God's part was most free. We did nothing to obtain it by merit, and we brought nothing wherewith to purchase it. He forgave us for Christ's sake, not for aught that we had done. True, we did repent, and did believe, but repentance and faith he gave us, so that he did not forgive us for the sake of them, but purely of his own dear love, because he delighteth in mercy, and is never more like himself than when he passeth by transgression, iniquity, and sin.

Remember, also, that he forgave us fully. It was not here and there a sin that he blotted out, but the whole horrible list and catalogue of our offences he destroyed at once. The substitution of our Lord has finished that matter even to perfection:—

"Because the sinless Saviour died,
My sinful soul is counted free;
For God, the Just, is satisfied
To look on him and pardon me."

All our transgressions are swept away at once, carried off as by a flood, and so completely removed from us that no guilty trace of them remains They are all gone! O ye believers, think of this, for the all is no little thing: sins against a holy God, sins against his loving Son, sins against gospel as well as against law, sins against man as well as against God, sins of the body as well as sins of the mind, sins as numerous as the sands on the sea shore, and as great as the sea itself: all, all are removed from us as far as the east is from the west. All this evil was rolled into one great mass, and laid upon Jesus, and having borne it all he has made an end of it for ever. When the Lord forgave us he forgave us the whole debt. He did not take the bill and say, "I strike out this item and that," but the pen went through it all;—PAID. It was a receipt in full of all demands, Jesus took the handwriting which was against us and nailed it to his cross, to show before the entire universe that its power to condemn us had ceased for ever. We have in him a full forgiveness.

And let it be remembered that this forgiveness which God has given us for Christ's sake is an eternal forgiveness. He will never rake up our past offences and a second time impute them, lie will not find us on an evil day, and say, "I have had great patience with you, but now will I deal with you after your sins." Far otherwise; he that believeth in Jesus hath everlasting life, and shall never come into condemnation. Irreversible is the pardon of heaven. "The gifts and calling of God are without repentance." He never repents what he has given, or forgiven. "Tis done, "tis done for ever: Jehovah absolves and the sentence stands fast for ever. "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus." "Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth?" Blessed be God for eternal pardon!

And since I could not find a word to finish with but this one, I will use it: he hath divinely pardoned us. There is such a truth, reality, and emphasis in the pardon of God as you can never find in the pardon of man; for though a man should forgive all you have done against him, if you have treated him very badly, yet it is more than you could expect that he should quite forget it, but the Lord says, "Their sins and iniquities will I remember no more for ever." If a man has played you false, although you have forgiven him, you are not likely to trust him again. It is an old proverb, "Never ride a broken-knee'd horse," and it is not a bad proverb either. But see how the Lord deals with his people. When Peter was set on his legs again he was a broken-knee'd horse enough, and yet see how gloriously the Lord rode that charger on the day of Pentecost. Did he not go forth conquering and to conquer? The Lord lets bygones be bygones so completely that he trusts pardoned souls with his secrets, for "the secret of the Lord is with them that fear him"; and he entrusts some of us with his choicest treasures, for Paul said, "He hath put me in trust with the gospel, though I was a blasphemer." He commits to our keeping that priceless casket which encloses the best hope of men, namely, the gospel of Jesus. "We have this treasure in earthen vessels." This shows how perfect is our forgiveness,—nay, I must put it, how divine is the forgiveness which we have received. Let us rejoice in that grand promise which comes to us by the mouth of Jeremiah of old, "In those days, and in that time, saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found: for I will pardon them whom I reserve." Here is annihilation—the only annihilation I know of—the absolute annihilation of sin through the pardon which the Lord gives to his people. Let us sing it as though it were a choice hymn—"The iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none."

III. Now, if you have drank into the spirit of our subject you will be strengthened to bear what I have to say to you upon a point of practice. "FORGIVING ONE ANOTHER, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." Let me say, at the commencement, that I do not know of anyone here present who has fallen out with anybody else, and therefore I shall make no personal allusions. If I did know of quarrels and bickerings it is very likely that I should say about the same, but I do not happen to know of any, and if therefore, my remarks should come home, I would earnestly beg each one so affected to believe that what I say is intended for him, and to receive it as a pointed, personal message from God.

"Forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." Now observe how the apostle puts it. Does he say "forgiving another"? No, that is not the text, if you look at it. It is "forgiving, one another." One another! Ah, then that means that if you have to forgive to-day, it is very likely that you will yourself need to be forgiven to-morrow for it is "forgiving one another." It is turn and turn about, a mutual operation, a co-operative service. In fact, it is a joint-stock business of mutual forgiveness, and members of Christian churches should take large shares in this concern. "Forgiving one another." You forgive me, and I forgive you, and we forgive them, and they forgive us, and so a circle of unlimited forbearance and love goes round the world. There is something wrong about me that needs to be forgiven by my brother, but there is also something wrong about my brother which needs to be forgiven by me, and this is what the apostle means—that we are all of us mutually to be exercising the sacred art and mystery of forgiving one another. If we always did this we should not endure those who have a special faculty for spying out faults. There are some who, whatever church they are in, always bring an ill report of it. I have heard this sort of thing from many—"There is no love among Christians at all." I will tell you the character of the gentleman who makes that observation; he is both unloving and unlovely, and so he is out of the track of the pilgrims of love. Another cries, "There is no sincerity in the world now." That man is a hypocrite: be you quite sure of that. Judge a bird by its song, and a man by his utterance. The censorious measure our corn, but they use their own bushels. You may know very well what a man is by what he says of others. It is a gauge of character which very seldom will deceive you, to judge other men by their own judgment of their fellows. Their speech betrays their heart. Show me your tongue, sir! Now I know whether you are sick or well. He that speaketh with an ill tongue of his neighbour hath an ill heart; rest assured of that. Let us begin our Christian career with the full assurance that we shall have a great deal to forgive in other people, but that there will be a great deal more to be forgiven in ourselves, and let us set our account upon having to exercise gentleness, and needing its exercise from others, "Forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you."

Note again. When we forgive, it is a poor and humble business compared with God's forgiving us, because we are only forgiving one another, that is, forgiving fellow-servants; whereas when God forgives us it is the Judge of all the earth forgiving, not his fellows, but his rebel subjects, guilty of treason against his majesty. For God to forgive is something great; for us to forgive, though some think it great, should be regarded as a very small matter.

Then reflect upon the matter to be forgiven. Our Lord in his parable tells us that the fellow-servant owed a few pence, but the servant himself was debtor to his master many talents. What we owe to God is infinite, but what our fellow creature owes to us is a very small sum. What did he do which has so much offended you? "He said a very shameful thing about me." It was very bad of him, no doubt. "Then he played me a very nasty trick, and acted very ungraciously; in fact, he behaved scandalously, and if you hear the story you will be quite indignant." Well, I am indignant. He is a bad fellow, there is no doubt about it; and so are you. So were you certainly when you first came to God; bad as he is to you, you have been much worse to the Lord. I will warrant that his blacks towards you are whites compared with your blacks in the presence of God. "Oh, but you would not believe how basely he acted." No, and I dare say I should hardly believe it if I heard how base you have been to the Lord; at any rate, it should make our eyes fill with tears to think bow we have grieved our God, and vexed his Spirit. Some of us have had so much manifest forgiveness, so much outward sin forgiven, that for us to forgive ought to be us natural as to open our hands. After such forgiveness as the Lord has bestowed on some of us, we should be wicked servants indeed if we were to take our brother by the throat and say, "Pay me what thou owest." We should deserve to be given over to the tormentors by our angry Master if we did not count it joy to pass by a brother's fault.

If anyone here who is a Christian finds a difficulty in forgiveness, I am going to give him three words which will help him wonderfully. I would put them into the good man's mouth. I gave them to you just now, and prayed you to get the sweetness of them; here they are again! "For Christ's sake." Cannot you forgive an offender on that ground? Ah, the girl has acted very shamefully, and you, her father, have said some strong things, but I beg you to forgive her for Christ's sake. Cannot you do it with that motive? It is true your son has behaved very wrongly, and nothing hurts a father's heart more than the wicked conduct of a son. You did in a fit of anger say a very stern thing, and deny him your house for ever. I entreat you to eat your words up for Christ's sake. Sometimes when I have been pleading a case like that, the person I have been persuading has kindly said, "I will do it for you, sir." I have said, "I will thank you if you will do it at all, but I would rather you would have said you would do it for my Master, for what a blessed Master he has been to you! Do it for his sake." I may be speaking very plainly home to some of you. I hope I am. If there be any of you who have got into a bad state of heart and have said you never will forgive a rebellious son, do not say so again till you have looked at the matter, for Christ's sake. Not for the boy's sake, not for your neighbour's sake who has offended you, not for any other reason do I urge you to mercy, but for Christ's sake. Come, you two brothers, who have fallen out, love each other for Christ's sake; come, you two sisters, come you two friends who have been alienated, get together directly, and end all your ill feeling for Christ's sake. You must not keep a drop of malice in your soul, for Christ's sake. Oh charming word, how it melts us, and as it melts it seems to leave no trace of anger behind it: for Christ's sake our love suffers long and never fails.

I do not know how to put this next word I am going to say. It is a paradox. You must forgive or you cannot be saved; at the same time you must not do it from compulsion; you must do it freely. There is a way of carrying this into practice, though I cannot explain it in words. You must forgive, not because you are forced to, but because you heartily do it. Remember, it is of no use for you to put your money into that offering box as you go out unless you remember first to forgive your brother. God will not accept the gifts, prayers, or praises of an unrelenting heart. Though you leave all your substance to his cause, he will not accept a penny of it if you die in an unforgiving temper. There is no grace where there is no willingness to overlook faults. John saith, "He that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?" The very prayer that teaches you to ask for mercy bids you say "forgive us, as we forgive our debtors." Unless you have forgiven others you read your own death-warrant when you repeat the Lord's prayer.

Finally, I want to say to you all, brethren, that, as brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus, if we are to forgive one another, there must be some other things which we ought to do. And the first is, do not let us provoke each other to offend. If I know that a man does not like a certain thing, I will not thrust it in his way. Do not say, "Well, but if he is short tempered, I cannot help it; he should not be so ready to take offence. I cannot be always paying deference to his absurd sensitiveness." No; but, brother, your friend is very ready to take offence, and you know that he is; have respect, then, to his infirmity of temper, such as you would have if he were afflicted in body. If you have rheumatism or gout, your friends do not go stamping across the room and saying, "He ought not to mind that; he ought not to feel it." Kind-hearted people step across the floor with a light step, for fear they should hurt the poor suffering limb. If a man has a diseased mind and is very irritable, treat him gently, pity his infirmity, and do not irritate him. A friend wrote me a short while ago a letter of serious complaint against a brother who had been very angry with him, and had spoken very sharply while excited to passion. I felt bound to hear the other side of the story, and I was obliged to say, "Now, you two brothers are both wrong. You, my brother, lost your temper; but you, my other brother, irritated him, so that I do not wonder he did lose his temper. And when you saw he had lost his temper why did you not go away, or do something to quiet him? No, but you remained to increase the wrath, and then wrote to expose him." I blame the wood for burning, but what shall I say of the bellows? It was wrong to blaze, but was it right to fan the flame? Very often when a man is angry he may not be the only one to blame. Therefore, brothers and sisters, if we are to forgive each other, do not let us provoke each other to offend.

In the next place, do not make offences. Oftentimes a man has been offended at another for no reason at all. One person has said of another as he passed him in the street, "He will not even nod to me. lie is too proud to own me, because I am a poor man." Now, that beloved friend who was thus blamed could not see much further than his hand, for he was shortsighted. Another has been censured for not hearing, though he was deaf, and another for not shaking hands when Ii is arm was crippled. Do not imagine offences where they are not intended.

Next, do not take offences where they are intended. It is a splendid thing if you will not be offended. Nothing makes a man feel so small as when you accept what he intended for an insult as if it were a compliment, and thank him for it. Can you master yourself to that point? Remember, when you have conquered yourself you have conquered the world. You have overcome everybody when you have so fully overcome your own spirit that you remain content with that which naturally would excite your wrath.

Then, if you must be offended, dear brother, do not exaggerate an offence. Some good women, I was about to say, and men also, when they come as tale-bearers with a charge, make a great many flourishes and additions. They go a long way round, and they bring innumerable beliefs, and suggestions, and hints, and hearsays into the business, until a midge's egg becomes as huge as ever was laid by an ostrich. I begin coolly to strip off the feathers and the paint, and I say, "Now, I do not see what that point had to do with it, or what that remark has in it all I can see when I come to look at the bare fact is so-and-so, and that was not much, was it?" "Oh, but there was more intended." Do hot believe that, dear brother, dear sister. If there must be something wrong, let it be as little as you can. If you have a telescope, look through the large hole and minify instead of magnifying, or, better still, do not look at it at all. A blind eye is often the best eye a man can have, and a deaf ear is better by far than one which hears too much. "Also take no heed," says Solomon, "unto all words that are spoken, lest thou hear thy servant curse thee." Something you have done may irritate a servant, and he may make remarks which are unbecoming and impertinent. Don't hear what he is muttering. Keep out of hearing, lie will be sorry to-morrow, and if he thinks you did not hear him he will continue in your service and be faithful to you. What would you do if your master picked you up for every word, and if he caught up every sentence that you uttered? How would you live at all if he reckoned sharply with you? No, dear friends, as you have to forgive one another, do not take offense, and when offenseF is given do not exaggerate it, and, if you can, do not even observe it.

Then, again, do not publish offenses. There has been something very offensive said. What then? Do not repeat it. Do not go first to one, and then to another, and say, "Now this is quite private, and mind you keep it a secret; So-and-so has spoken shamefully." Better that you should let your heart break than go up and down with a fire-brand in this fashion. If a brother has done wrong why should you do wrong? You will be doing wrong if you publish his fault. Remember how the curse came upon Noah's son for exposing his father; and how much better it is for us all when there is anything wrong to go backward and cover it, without even looking at it ourselves, if we can help it. Cover it up: cover it up. Charity covereth a multitude of sins. Not only one, two, three sins will charity cover, but she carries a cloak which covereth a whole host of faults.

Above all, my brethren, and with this I close, never in any way, directly or indirectly, avenge yourselves. For any fault that is ever done to you, the Master says unto you,—resist not evil. In all things bend, bow, yield, submit. "If you tread on a worm it will turn," says somebody. And is a worm your example? Christ shall be mine. It is a shocking thing when a Christian man forgets his Lord to find an excuse for himself among the poor creatures under his feet. But if it must be so, what does a worm do when it turns? When you have trodden on a worm, does it bite? Does the worm hurt any one? Ah, no. It has turned, but it has turned in its agony and writhed before you, that is all. You may do that, if you must. Brother, the most splendid vengeance you can ever have is to do good to them that do you evil, and to speak well of them that speak ill of you. They will be ashamed to look at you; they will never hurt you again if they see that you cannot be provoked except it be to greater love and larger kindness. This ought to be the mark of Christians; not "I will have the law of you," or "I will avenge myself," but "I will bear and forbear even to the end." "Vengeance is mine. I will repay it, saith the Lord." Do not take that into your hand which God says belongs to him, but as he for Christ's sake has forgiven you, so also forgive all those who do you wrong. "How long am I to do that?" says one. "I would not mind doing it three or four times." There was one of old who would go the length of six or seven, but Jesus Christ said "unto seventy times seven. That is a very considerable number. You may count whether you have yet reached that amount, and if you have you will now be glad to begin again, still forgiving, even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you. God help us to be patient to the end. Though I have not just now been preaching Christ Jesus as the object of the sinner's trust, yet remember that he must also be the object of our imitation. This is the kind of doctrine which Christ himself preached, and therefore, since he preached continually this love to our neighbor, and forgiveness of our enemies, we ought both to preach and to practice it. Go ye and believe in him, and be imitators of him, remembering that he forgave his murderers upon the cross whereon he wrought out our redemption. May his Spirit rest upon you evermore. Amen.

C. H. SPURGEON
(1834-1892)

6 Ways Satan is Stealing Christmas

2008-12-21T11:32:00.001-06:00

The majority of people in the world will miss the next Christmas. But how can that be? How can anyone miss Christmas, given the amount of advertising, publicity, and promotion the holiday receives each year? Because although many celebrate Christmas every year, most don't know what it's about. In spite of all the media promotion of Christmas, the majority of people will miss it because it has become so obscured.

For those of us who know and love the Lord Jesus Christ, Christmas is a time to focus on His birth. But even we can get caught up in the swirl of activity around Christmastime and can miss it in a practical sense. Satan has so cluttered the Christian concept of Christmas with such needless paraphernalia that its true meaning is easily lost.

A Brief History of Christmas

Most scholars doubt that December 25 th is the true date of Christ's birth. There is no biblical support for it, and some against it. That date was decided upon by the church in Rome in the fourth century. They had a specific reason for doing so.

Many of the earth's earliest inhabitants were sun worshipers because they depended on the sun's yearly course in the heavens. Most people held feasts at the time of the winter solstice (mid-December)--a time when the days were shortest. They built bonfires to give the sun god strength and bring him back to life again. When it became apparent that the days were growing longer, there was great rejoicing.

The fathers of the church in Rome decided to celebrate Christ's birth on the winter solstice. It was their attempt to Christianize the popular pagan celebrations. But they failed to make the people conform. Instead the heathen festivities continued, and we are left with a bizarre marriage of pagan and Christian elements that characterizes our modern celebration of Christmas.

The following examples will give you some idea of how much pagan customs make up what we know as Christmas.

To the Romans the month of December marked the Festival of Saturnalia (Dec. 17-24). One of their most common customs during that festival was giving gifts to one another. As far as we know that is where the idea of exchanging presents came from. The evergreen wreath also derives from the Saturnalia festival, during which homes were decorated with evergreen boughs. The Druids of England gathered sacred mistletoe for their ceremonies and decorated their homes with it. It is believed that the first Christmas tree was instituted by Boniface, an English missionary to Germany in the eighth century. He supposedly replaced sacrifices to the god Odin's sacred oak with a fir tree adorned in tribute to Christ. Certain accounts claim that Martin Luther introduced the Christmas tree lighted with candles.

"Santa Claus" is a contraction of St. Nicholas, a bishop in Asia Minor during the fourth century known for his extraordinary generosity. He was later associated with giving presents at the end of the year. St. Nicholas was adopted by the Netherlands as the patron saint of children. On St. Nicholas eve, the children would leave their shoes filled with hay for the saint's white horse.

No wonder so many people miss Christmas. The simplicity of the birth of Christ is drowned in a sea of traditions, many being pagan in origin. Even worse than that, when Christ was born in Bethlehem , most people of that day missed it. In the following gospel accounts, we will see six ways people missed Christmas, and learn how to avoid making the same mistake ourselves.

Ignorant Preoccupation

Luke 2:7 says, "[Mary] gave birth to her firstborn Son, and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn." The first person who missed Christmas was the innkeeper. He was unable to take in Mary and Joseph because he had no room for them. Apparently he was indifferent to their plight--there is no indication from Scripture that he called for any help.

Notice that verse 7 says, "She gave birth to her first-born son." Mary herself gave birth to Jesus. By herself she wrapped Him in cloths. Joseph was there to help, but if he was anything like most young fathers, he would have been of little help. Middle-eastern people are hospitable, kind, and caring. They are not barbaric. They are not the kind of people who would leave a woman alone to have her baby. But in this case, they did. Where were the midwives? You'd think the innkeeper would have known someone who could have helped.

Luke tells us she laid Him in a manger, which is an animal feeding trough. The cloths she wrapped Jesus in were long strips of cloth. Whenever an infant was born, immediately the baby was cleaned. Then the baby's limbs and body would be wrapped in these swaddling cloths and then wrapped in an outer blanket. That was a duty normally carried out by a midwife. But Mary had to do it all herself. Commentator G. Campbell Morgan wrote, "Think of the pathos of it. 'She brought forth;' 'she wrapped Him in swaddling clothes.' It is very beautiful, but oh, the pity of it, the tragedy of it, the loneliness of it; that in that hour of all hours, when womanhood should be surrounded by the tenderest care, she was alone. The method of the writer is very distinct. She with her own hands wrapped the Baby around with those swaddling cloths, and laid Him in the manger. There was no one to do it for her. Again I say, the pity of it, and yet the glory of it to the heart of Mary" (The Gospel According to Luke [Old Tappan, N.J.: Revell, 1931], p. 36).

We don't know anything about the innkeeper because the Bible doesn't say anything about him. Some commentators speculate that Jesus was born in a stable some think He was born in a cave, and others believe he was born in an open courtyard at the inn. One thing we do know: whatever hospitality Mary and Joseph hoped to find, they found none--they were turned away.

Why did the innkeeper miss Christmas? I think the simple answer is preoccupation. He was busy. His inn was full because a census was being held in Bethlehem . The city was bulging with people whose ancestors came from there. Since Bethlehem was the city of David , all those who were in the line of David were there, including Joseph and Mary. The innkeeper wasn't necessarily hostile and unsympathetic; he was just busy.

Many people are like the innkeeper. The chambers of their souls are filled with needless things--with stuff that doesn't matter. As a result, they miss the Christ of God. Our society is filled with the unnecessary, the insignificant, and the meaningless. We spend a fortune to amass things so we can let our children fight over them when we die. And our time is eaten away by the demands our things place on us.

People miss Christ at Christmastime because He is crowded out by a world that dictates what they should think, do, and buy. Like the innkeeper, people today are preoccupied. The innkeeper didn't know anything about the baby Mary gave birth to, and neither do they. They don't know who Christ is and they don't know why He came. Instead, they're ignorantly preoccupied with the mundane and the meaningless. How sad it is that so many people live their lives in pursuit of such, only to wake up one day in eternity without God.

Jealous Fear

In Matthew 2 we meet another man who missed Christmas: "After Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem , saying, 'Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east, and have come to worship Him.' And when Herod the king heard it, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.... Then Herod secretly called the magi, and ascertained from them the time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem , and said, 'Go and make careful search for the Child; and when you have found Him, report to me, that I too may come and worship Him'" (vv. 1-3, 7-8). Herod was the king of the land. He feigned his desire to worship Jesus Christ, but he was fearful because One had been born who was called the King of the Jews. The Greek word translated "troubled" in verse three means "to be agitated" or "stirred up." It carries the idea of total panic. Herod panicked. Why? He was afraid of Jesus--afraid of another king. Let's see why.

Julius Caesar appointed Herod's father, Antipater, to be procurator, or governor, of Judea under the Roman occupation. Antipater then managed to have his son Herod appointed prefect of Galilee . In that office Herod was successful in quelling the Jewish guerrilla bands who continued to fight against their foreign rulers. After fleeing to Egypt when the Parthians invaded Palestine, Herod then went to Rome and in 40 B.C. was declared by Octavian and Antony (with the concurrence of the Roman senate) to be king of the Jews. He invaded Palestine the next year and, after several years of fighting, drove out the Parthians and established his kingdom.

Because he was not Jewish, but Idumean (an Edomite), Herod married Mariamne, heiress to the Jewish Hasmonean house, to make himself more acceptable to the Jews he now ruled. He was a clever and capable warrior, orator, and diplomat. But he also was cruel and merciless. He was incredibly jealous, suspicious, and afraid for his position and power. Fearing a potential threat, he had the high priest Aristobulus, his wife's brother, drowned--after which he provided a magnificent funeral where he pretended to weep. He then had Mariamne herself killed, and then her mother and two of his own sons. Five days before his death (about a year after Jesus was born) he had a third son executed. One of the greatest evidences of his bloodthirstiness and insane cruelty was having the most distinguished citizens of Jerusalem arrested and imprisoned shortly before his death. Because he knew no one would mourn his own death, he gave orders for those prisoners to be executed the moment he died. Thus he guaranteed that there would be mourning in Jerusalem .

That barbaric act was exceeded in cruelty only by his slaughter of "all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its environs, from two years old and under" (Matthew 2:16 ). By that action he hoped to kill any threat to his throne from the One the magi said had been born King of the Jews.

Why did Herod miss Christmas? Jealous fear. Lest you think there are no more Herods in this world, you need only read the daily newspaper. Man is depraved. There are Herods in every society. But there is a greater lesson for all humanity. Many people miss Christmas because of the same kind of fear Herod had. Herod was afraid that someone else would take his throne. Today people are fearful of giving up their own plans, priorities, values, and morals. They don't want to come to Christ because He will cramp their style--He will lay claim on their lives. That means they will have to alter the way they live. The media tells people to do their own thing, master their own fate, and chart their own destiny. The world is full of kings who will not kneel before Jesus Christ, so they miss Christmas just like Herod.

What about you? Have you said no to Jesus Christ because you are afraid of the claim He will lay on you? Do you want to be the lord and master of your life and the king of your little kingdom? That's tragic--His kingdom is so much more glorious!

Prideful Indifference

Once Herod learned from the wise men that a child would be born who would be King of the Jews, he gathered "together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, [and] began to inquire of them where the Christ was to be born. And they said to him, 'In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it has been written by the prophet, "And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least among the leaders of Judah; for out of you shall come forth a Ruler, who will shepherd My people Israel"'" (Matthew 2:4-6). Herod called in the experts.

The chief priests consisted of the high priest, the captain of the Temple police, and the best of the other priests--those who had great administrative, teaching, and leadership skills. For the most part the chief priests were Sadducees. The scribes were primarily Pharisees. They were the linguists and interpreters who understood the culture and history of the biblical data. Those two groups knew where the Messiah was to be born because they knew Micah had prophesied that " Bethlehem was to be His place of birth (5:2). One thing the Jewish nation had been looking for, and still does to this day, was the Messiah. They had been waiting for a deliverer throughout their history, especially while under Roman oppression. However, these priests and scribes were unwilling to travel the few miles to find out if this baby might be the Messiah.

Why did they miss Christmas? Indifference. They didn't care. They had all the facts, but they didn't need a Messiah. Why? Because they were self-righteous--they saw themselves as perfect keepers of the law. In their minds they were all God could ever ask of them. You could say they were filled with proud indifference because indifference is always a result of pride. There was no room for the Son of God in their system. When the grown child arrived on the scene, they hated and despised Him. So they plotted His murder and screamed for His blood.

Jesus pinpointed their indifference in a stinging rebuke from Matthew 9. "I happened that as He was reclining at [the] table in the house, behold many tax-gatherers and sinners came and joined Jesus and His disciples" (v. 10). Jesus sat down to this meal with people who needed His help: outcasts, tax collectors, traitors, and sinners. "When the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples, 'Why does your teacher eat with the tax-gatherers and sinners?' But when He heard this, He said, 'It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are ill. But go and learn what this means, "I desire compassion, and not sacrifice," for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners'" (vv. 11-13). When the Pharisees held a feast, they invited self-righteous people. When Jesus held a feast, He welcomed those who knew they were sinners and were desperately aware of their need for a Savior.

Many people today miss Christmas because they don't realize they are sinners. Thus they ignore Christ. They don't show any interest in the Savior because they don't understand their need to be saved. They don't understand that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23)--that sin plummets people into an eternal hell. Consequently they ignore the remedy because they don't even know they have the disease.

Religious Ritual

Luke 2 indicates another group of people who missed Christmas: "in the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields, and keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them" (vv. 8-9). The angel proclaimed the birth of Christ, and the shepherds went to Bethlehem to see Him. Verse 20 says, "The shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them." Out of all the people in Jerusalem , God singled out shepherds to receive the great news about the birth of Christ.

Shepherds were a despised group of people. They couldn't maintain all the ceremonial washings and activities because they were busy tending to the sheep. Yet no on else from the city came to see the Christ child except these "unclean" shepherds. However, two special people did take note of Him when He was brought into the city. Luke 2:25-26 mentions Simeon--a man who "was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel ; and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ." Luke 2:36-38 tells us about Anna, a widow who saw the Messiah in the Temple , and who "continued to speak of Him to all those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem " (v. 28).

However, the mass of people in Jerusalem missed Christmas. The birth of Christ took place only a few miles away. It was the fulfillment of all their dreams and hopes--the event that would change the destiny of the world--but they missed it. Why did they miss it? Religion. They were so busy with the rituals of their religion that they missed the reality of His birth. When Jesus asked His disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" (Matthew 16:13), their answer was: "Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets" (v. 14). All the speculations were wrong. Jesus didn't fit into the religious system of His day. And the people knew He didn't after He gave the Sermon on the Mount.

Religion will damn a soul faster than anything if it is anything less than true worship of the true God. A false religious system gives a person a place to hide--a place where he can mask his spirituality. People steeped in various cults talk about God, Christ, and Scripture, but they don't know Christ. They are lost in the midst of religion. So the people of Jerusalem missed Christmas while they were being religious.

Idolatry

The Romans also missed Christmas. Micah's prophecy that the Christ child would be born in Bethlehem was set in motion by a Gentile emperor. Luke 2:1-2 says, "It came about in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth. This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria ." The Roman soldiers registered the people and took the census.

Throughout the life of Christ we see the presence of the Romans. Before His death Christ appeared before Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea (John 18:28-40). He was executed by the Romans (Matthew 27:27-36). Roman guards lied about His resurrection, propagating a story to cover up the reality that He rose from the dead (Matthew 28:11-15). They all missed Christmas because of their idolatry: they worshiped their own gods. Christ didn't fit in with them. They worshiped a multitude of gods, and the pinnacle of their worship was emperor worship. So in the midst of their pagan idolatry they missed Christmas.

The world today is full of people who worship their own gods. They don't worship idols like they did at the time of Christ, but we still have idols and gods. Some people worship money. Some people worship sex. Others worship cars, boats, and houses. Some worship power and prestige. Those things are the pagan gods of today--the idols of the twenty-first century. And if that is what you're worshiping, you'll miss Christmas, too. You may receive some presents, eat a big dinner, and enjoy a beautifully decorated pine tree, but you'll miss Christmas.

Over-Familiarity

Perhaps the saddest of all, the people of Nazareth missed Christmas. Luke 2:39-40 says, "When they had performed everything according to the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own city of Nazareth . And the Child continued to grow and became strong, increasing in wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him." When Jesus returned to Nazareth , He was unlike any other child in Nazareth . He accompanied His parents to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover when He was twelve years old. He proceeded to confound the doctors of theology in the Temple (Luke 2:41-47). He spent thirty years of His life in Nazareth , yet the residents failed to recognize Him.

Luke 4 unveils the tragedy that took place when Jesus revealed His identity to the Nazarenes: "He came to Nazareth , where he had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read. And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book, and found the place where it was written, 'The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are downtrodden, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.' And He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant, and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed upon Him. And He began to say to them, 'Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.' And all were speaking well of Him, and wondering at the gracious words which were falling from His lips; and they were saying, 'Is this not Joseph's son?' . . . . And He said, 'Truly I say to you, no prophet is welcome in his home town'" (vv. 16-22, 24). The people of Nazareth missed Christmas because of over-familiarity. They knew Jesus as Joseph's son, and they didn't view that as anything special. After Jesus finished speaking in the synagogue, the people "rose up and cast Him out of the city, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city had been built, in order to throw Him down the cliff. But passing through their midst, He went His way" (vv. 29-30).

Over-familiarity is a deadly thing. I come across so many people who say they were raised in a Christian environment but are not Christians. Fear grips my heart when I hear that. Over-familiarity strangles conviction. When you've heard something so many times without doing anything about it, such familiarity can breed contempt. Mark 6:6 gives us Christ's own analysis of the people of Nazareth : "He wondered at their unbelief." Matthew 13:58 adds, "He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief." Over-familiarity with Christmas truth can breed a stony heart. You had better respond while your heart is soft, or your heart will become hard and you won't have the opportunity to respond (Proverbs 29:1).

Conclusion

There are many ways to miss Christmas: ignorant preoccupation, ritual, idolatry, and over-familiarity. But behind all those reasons is unbelief. Many people simply refuse to believe in Jesus Christ. The apostle John said, "He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name" (John 1:10-12). If you've been missing the reality of Christmas in your life, know that if you receive the Lord Jesus Christ and believe in His name, Christmas will become real to you. It can happen today; and it's between you and God (2 Corinthians 6:1-2; Romans 10:8-11).

Written by John MacArthur

Telling People the Truth in Love

2008-12-20T20:16:00.000-06:00

A Reformed Approach to Evangelism
by Dr. Kim Riddlebarger

I. A bad rap--Why do the Reformed not evangelize?

Whether justified or not, the Reformed have a bad reputation for not being concerned about evangelism. While there are wonderful exceptions, some of the criticism is certainly valid. Why is this? Some historical background would be useful.

A. A great past--A questionable present

Historically, the Reformed have a great history of evangelism and missions. Indeed, the Christianization of Europe and the New World as a result of the Reformation, with the militant stress upon sola Fide, sola Scriptura, is not to be taken lightly. Contrast the Protestant countries of Canada and the United States, with that of Catholic countries such as Mexico and Brazil.

The first "Great Awaking" with such central figures as Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield was largely based upon historic Reformed distinctives, i.e., Whitefield's famous sermon, "Christ Our Righteousness," and Edward's classic "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God." Yet, John Wesley was also an integral part of the First Great Awakening, and the stress upon a "conversion experience," even by Calvinists, such as Whitefield and Edwards, in many ways laid the groundwork for a Second Great Awakening, which largely undid the Calvinistic emphases of the first.

The Second Great Awakening, led by Charles Finney, self-consciously moved away from the Calvinistic emphases of the first. In Finney's system, the stress was almost entirely upon a "conversion experience," understood through perfectionistic categories--a dramatic ceasing from sin and a turning from the former way of living. The categories underlying the Great Commission to take the gospel to the nations were no longer those of Biblical Christianity, but were now those of Jacksonian democracy--the rugged American individual could, through an act of the will, accomplish virtually anything to which they put their minds.

This led to the employment of Finney's new measures--protracted revival meetings, the use of entertainment and dramatic preaching stressing the charismatic preacher, revivalist hymnody, all carefully orchestrated to lead to the "altar call," in which one demonstrated one's faith in Christ and desire to cease from sinning by going forward at the preacher's command This, in turn, laid the groundwork for evangelism to take place apart from the sacramental and preaching ministry of the local church--something which historically, Protestants had insisted upon.

Thus the heirs of "Second Great Awakening" style evangelism are seen today in the "crusade evangelism" of Billy Graham and Greg Laurie, and in evangelism techniques such as Campus Crusade's "Four Spiritual Laws." These approaches to evangelism now dominate the evangelical world. For evangelicals, largely ignorant of church history, if evangelistic efforts do not look like what they are used to--large gatherings, noisy, exciting and studded with musicians and Christian celebrities, and stressing a dramatic conversion experience--they don't think that genuine evangelism is taking place. Anything different doesn't feel right! This is very unfortunate.

Therefore, when evangelicals criticize the Reformed for not supporting Billy Graham, or Greg Laurie and the Harvest Crusades, or for not approving of the "Four-Spiritual Laws," they are, in effect, really criticizing the Reformed understanding sin and grace. Criticism of the Reformed by evangelicals is, in this regard, simply a fact of life. And for this the Reformed need not be ashamed. A false gospel must be opposed!

That being said, it is too often the case that Reformed Christians are much more concerned with not repeating the errors of the evangelicals then they are with seeing people come to faith in Christ. In many Reformed circles it is far easier to find a discussion about how and why the evangelicals are wrong, than it is to find a conversation about how we ought to evangelize. Too often, Reformed Christians speak of evangelism as converting an evangelical to the Reformed faith, and not as a non-Christian coming to faith in Christ. It is even harder to find any Reformed Christians, these days, who are actually doing evangelism instead of talking about it or criticizing others for doing it improperly!

There are reasons for this--

B. A cultural, rather than a theological problem

One important reason for this is simply to be found in the history of the Reformed churches, especially that of the continental Reformed Churches. These groups are largely dominated by distinctively ethnic and immigrant cultures, especially in the case of the Dutch and Germans who saw the church and the confessional tradition, in part, as a means of preserving their own culture in the New World. It is vitally important in such groups to preserve the clan, the national heritage and traditions, and outsiders only contribute to what was perceived as an undue Americanization which overturns old ways of thinking and doing.

As English-speakers, the Presbyterians did not have such baggage, and as a result, capitulated to theological liberalism and revivalism much faster. As a result, there are American Presbyterians of virtually every stripe--from theological liberals, to cultural conservatives, to the confessionally orthodox. The Reformed orthodox, on the other hand, tend to be strongly ethnic, and react against the encroachment of liberalism and revivalism through a fortress mentality. The continental Reformed have suffered deeply from repeated church splits, the painful process of Americanization and so on, and as a result, have rarely been enthusiastic about seeing outsiders come into their churches. This is understandable, but tragic. For the theology of the Continental Reformed churches is a theological treasure!

C. Criticism leads to cynicism

But the problem many of us face, as former evangelicals, is that our churches are not dominated by issues of ethnicity and problems of Americanization. As former evangelicals, we have been burned by shoddy and unbiblical theology. Many of us are like angry bears, wounded by years of perfectionistic sanctification, and muddled-headed theology. We are angry at those who taught us and we have every right to be! But it is very easy to react in a rage against what is wrong with evangelicalism, and to become overly cynical in the process. While rightly criticizing evangelical theology and its unbiblical Pelagianism, if we are not careful, we risk becoming critical, rude, proud and obnoxious. When that happens, ironically, we become a stumbling block to non-Christians who need to hear the gospel as well as to those dissatisfied evangelicals seeking a more biblical way of thinking and doing. If not careful, we have nothing good to say about anything or anybody. Too often, we are far more concerned with pointing out the errors of evangelicalism, than we are with seeing men and women come to faith in Christ. This is sin and we must repent of it!

It seems to me that one of the best ways to deal with this, is to make a concerted effort to go back to our own roots as Reformed Christians--the Scriptures and our confessions--and simply ask, what is Biblical evangelism? What are the necessary theological presuppositions we must have in place before we seek to tell others about Christ? How do we go about evangelizing others?

There is a difficult balancing act here. We need to be very clear that Biblical and Reformed evangelism will look much different than the Pelagian-inspired varieties of American evangelicalism. Yet, we as Reformed Christians also need to stop talking about evangelism and starting doing it!

D. Greater clarity and a prayerful desire to do better:

It seems to me that there are several issues about which we must be clear.

1. Let us be very clear about what we believe and why we believe it! We must be self-consciously Reformed without compromise. This means we cannot adopt unbiblical methods of evangelism. We cannot become functional Arminians because we earnestly desire to see people come to faith in Jesus Christ.

2. But as we are self-consciously Reformed, we must do so with great charity, and with an eye to the fact that people are watching us. This is not about winning an argument! It is about wrestling with eternity! This is why Reformed evangelism should be understood as "telling the truth in love."

3. Let us also re-double our efforts to take the Biblical command to make disciples seriously once again. It is our Biblical duty to see to it that Jesus Christ is proclaimed throughout our sphere of influence. It is time to both talk about evangelism and to do evangelism.

4. We also need to make a concerted effort to pray for two things: one is a renewed desire to see men and women come to faith in Jesus Christ, and the other is that God will bless our efforts in doing so.

The presence of non-Christians in our midst, struggling with the claims of Christianity, will do much to keep us from spending our precious time and energy from needlessly criticizing evangelicals. The best way to get out of the overly-critical rut is to get back to the task of evangelizing. Let us candidly face facts. At present, our Biblical and valid criticism of evangelicalism sounds hollow and will not get much of a hearing if we are not putting our own theology into practice. But if we are making a concerted effort to actually engage in biblical evangelism, we will be faithful to our own confessions and theology, and our evangelical critics will be silenced.

II. What is Evangelism?

For many, the very essence of the Christian life is "telling others about Jesus," which, in far too many instances, translates into telling others about ourselves and recounting how Christianity has impacted our own lives. This is evident when we simply ask people to define evangelism, and discover they are very often confused about the relationship between their own testimony and personal experience and that of the Biblical witness to Jesus Christ. This also explains why people are so apt to talk about themselves when trying to covert someone, rather than simply recounting the facts of the gospel. Too many people think the essence of evangelism is personal testimony rather than biblical witness.

According to Will Metzger in his very helpful book, Tell the Truth, there is a clear distinction to be drawn between the Biblical "witness" to Christ and our own "testimony" about our journey to faith. Says Metzger, "the content [of the Biblical witness] is Christ and God, not our journey to faith. Our personal testimony may be included, but witnessing is more than reciting our spiritual autobiography. Specific truths about a specific person are the subject of our proclamation. A message has been committed to us--a word of reconciliation to the world (2 Corinthians 5:19). [1] This is vital to grasp. Evangelism by its very essence is talking about the biblical witness to Christ, and includes a very specific set of Biblical facts.

This means that before we can even talk about telling others about Jesus Christ, we need to be very clear about who Jesus is and understand something of the nature of his saving work. This is why we must be very clear in our own minds about the theological categories and presuppositions which frame our understanding of evangelism, and why it is so important to "get it right, before getting it out."

Thus, our working definition for evangelism is "telling people the truth in love," and we now turn our attention to what it means to "tell people the truth."

III. Coherence and Contingency-- "Truth Before Telling!"

Obviously, the place to begin any discussion of the biblical and theological basis of evangelism is at the beginning--but that is easier said than done. As Francis Schaeffer correctly reminds us, "Christianity begins with the existence of the infinite-personal God, man's creation in God's image and a space-time Fall. [2] Indeed, there are a number of Biblical and theological presuppositions which must be kept clearly in our minds before we begin the task of taking the gospel to those in our own sphere of influence.

Before we turn to specifics, we cannot ignore the fact that the question of a "biblical starting point" for evangelism and apologetics has been hotly debated and frequently discussed by Reformed theologians. As Christians, the question we must face is "do we start with God or do we start with humanity?" Calvin himself opens his famed Institutes of the Christian Religion with the words "nearly all the wisdom we possess, that is to say, true and sound wisdom, consists of two parts: The knowledge of God and our ourselves, [3] clearly indicating that in his mind the two are necessarily related and that one certainly leads to the other. The whole evidentialist-presuppositionalist debate about apologetic methodology is indicative of the complexity of the issues involved here.

Rather than digress into a philosophical debate the proper starting point-- "God or man," let me simply "presuppose" what I think is a very workable and common-sense approach to these matters, namely, what is known as the coherence-contingency model, in which it is acknowledged that there is a fixed body of doctrinal truth [coherence] which is then applied to very diverse individual evangelistic situations [contingency]. The fixed body of truth to be presupposed is that data found in the Holy Scriptures as summarized for us in the Reformed confessions, which, in turn, we are to bring to bear in specific evangelistic situations.

Simply stated, in order to tell people the truth in love, we must first know what that truth is! In this sense, coherence, precedes contingency!

IV. Coherence--The Biblical and Theological Presuppositions of Evangelism

If knowing the truth is a prerequisite to "telling it to people in love," this means that one of the best ways to prepare for evangelism is with a study of the Reformed confessions or a basic text in Biblical doctrine. While that is true, it is important to point out that you do not need to be a theologian to engage in evangelism. But you do need a good grasp of basic Biblical doctrines! Let me emphasize as clearly as I possibly can, that time spent studying the confessions will bear great fruit when you begin to witness to others about Jesus Christ.

The following, then, is simply a "bare bones" catalogue of things with which we need to be familiar before we began to look in the Scriptures for models to use in contingent situations.

A. Regarding the God "Who Is There"

1. God is eternal and uncreated--this means that everything that is created was created by God and depends upon him for its existence [creation] and preservation [providence]. This lends great support to apologetic arguments from contingency.

2. God is alone immutable, infinite, simple, omniscient and omnipresent--creation is mutable, finite, composite and necessarily constrained by the limits of time and space. This explains human limitations in terms of both knowing and being.

3. God is utterly transcendent, incomprehensible and hidden to us, unless he chooses to reveal himself through general and special revelation. This means that nothing can be known about God apart from his self-revelation.

4. Creation stems from God's eternal decree--meaning that nothing that now is, is outside of God's will and authority. This means that there is no such thing as "chance" or "fate," or "freewill" in an absolute sense.

5. God is described in the Scriptures as possessing in absolute and infinite measure the attributes of holiness, love, truth, righteousness, mercy, long-suffering, etc. Thus we are creatures possess these attributes in conditional and finite measure. This explains the fact that humanity possesses all of the so-called communicable attributes of God, and that God communicates to us verbally, that is, through the word of God written, the Holy Scriptures.

B. The "Mannishness of Man"--Creation and the Fall

1. God created all things and pronounced them to be "good." Thus Christianity is necessarily incompatible with all forms of dualism between "spirit/matter."

2. The fact of creation validates the importance of ordinary history as God acts in time and space, though he transcends time and space. As we will see, Christianity is necessarily an "historical" religion and its truth claims are anchored in both God's redemptive word and God's redemptive acts.

3. The high point of creation is that God has created man and woman in his image, meaning as Cornelius Van Til has said, that man is like God in every way that a creature can be like God,[4] since we possess all of the so-called communicable attributes of God. This explains things like, human dignity and the Biblical prohibitions against murder [Genesis 9:6] and cursing others [James 3:9], human rationality and why, apart from the curse upon the human race at Babel, "nothing would be impossible for them." For the Christian, man is much more than a mere beast.

4. General revelation, through that which God has made, tells us that he is, that he is eternal, all-powerful and that he will punish sin, which is defined as any infraction of his revealed will in natural revelation and codified in the decalogue. General revelation is intended to provide us with a natural knowledge of God, while special revelation, including both God's redemptive word and redemptive act, reveals to us the plan and purpose of redemption, without which we cannot be saved. Thus any Biblical approach to evangelism will be thoroughly grounded in the Holy Scriptures, the very word of God written.

5. God gave Adam dominion over the earth and gave to him the so-called "cultural mandate" which established the family as the basic unit of human existence with the command to be fruitful and multiply. Adam was to rule and subdue the earth, through the creation of "Godly culture." This demonstrates humanities' need of social structure and culture.

6. Christianity does not presuppose any particular theory of the "age of the earth," but it does demand the existence of the historical Adam. Indeed, Christianity not only presupposes an historical Adam, Christianity presupposes a fallen human race. Adam did indeed plunge the human race into sin and death through his rebellion in the Garden. Thus the many difficult problems faced by the human race come not from defect or limitations inherent in God's "good" creation, but in the corruption of that creation because of human sinfulness.

7. Thus, as Christians, we not only presuppose the dignity of all men and women by virtue of being created in God's image, we take must take equally seriously the effects of the Fall which place humanity under God's curse. This includes:

a. Imputed guilt for Adam's sin extending to the whole of the human race. No one is "innocent" before God.

b. The wages of sin, which is death. Everyone ever born will die.

c. Inherited corruption of the race, which itself eternally punishable and passed on to all of Adam's children by means of natural procreation, leads to actual sin. Thus we are born with a "sinful nature," which makes us naturally hostile to God, unwilling and unable to do his will. This is what Luther speaks of as "being curved in on ourselves," and what Van Til has spoken of as "autonomy."

d. Total depravity, in the sense that sin effects the entire person, physically, mentally and emotionally. There is no part of the Image of God in us that is not tainted, effaced or damaged by human sin. Though the Imago remains, it is as Calvin declared, a frightful deformity.

e. Loss of original righteousness, holiness and knowledge. The Fall did great damage to essential human nature, which can only be restored through regeneration.

f. The noetic effects of sin--a darkened understanding and ability to understand the things of God. As Paul says, we now inevitably suppress the truth about God in unrighteousness.

g. Total inability--because of our sinful orientation, we will not come to God in faith if left to ourselves.

h. We are by nature "children of wrath," enslaved to sinful desires and affections. Our thoughts are evil all the time.

C. The Grace of God in Jesus Christ--Faith and Justification

1. The Scriptures clearly teach that God elects a multitude of Adam's fallen children to be saved, and that he passes over others, leaving them to face the consequences for original and actual sins [cf Canons of Dort, I. 1-5]. Thus the reason any fallen sinners are saved from God's wrath is to be found solely in the goodness of God and not in the natural abilities of the sinner to come to faith.

2. The Scriptures [as well as the Reformed confessions which summarize them] teach that God has connected the divine purpose [end]--the salvation of the elect--to a divinely appointed means, namely, the preaching/teaching and communication of the gospel. This means that God has not only determined who will be saved, but how they will be saved. This means that we are to concern ourselves with God's appointed means--taking the gospel to the ends of the earth--and not with the mystery of who is elect and who is not. Any Reformed approach to evangelism but be based upon these divinely appointed means.

3. The only ground of salvation is the finished work of Jesus Christ--both in his active and passive obedience. In Christ, God satisfies the demands of the law. And in Christ's sacrificial death, God removes the guilt of our sin. The death of Christ is sufficient to save all who come to him, and is intended by God to save the elect. The death of Christ does not make the whole world hypothetically "savable."

4. Faith is not the one work we must do to be saved. Rather, faith is the reception of the saving benefits of Jesus Christ. Faith is not merely assent to the truth of the Christian religion, but is defined as trust in Jesus Christ, who alone can save sinners from the wrath to come. According to B. B. Warfield, "it is solely from its object that faith derives its value....The saving power of faith resides thus not in itself, but in the almighty savior on whom it rests....It is not, strictly speaking, even faith in Christ that saves, but Christ that saves through faith. [5]

5. The Scriptures clearly teach that sinners come to faith in Christ through the means of the gospel--God's elect are effectually called, regenerated and converted, that is, exercise faith in Christ and repentance--only through the power of the Holy Spirit [Ephesians 1:3-14; 1 Corinthians 1:18-2:16]. Thus evangelism, Biblically defined, is the communication of the gospel to non-Christians with the expectation that the Spirit works powerfully through the divinely appointed means--the message of reconciliation [Romans 10:14-17; 2 Corinthians 5:16-6:2].

6. The gospel, narrowly defined, is the saving work of Christ as summarized in 1 Corinthians 15:1-8. Communicating the gospel is communicating the facts of Christ's life, death, burial and resurrection, complete with the gospel imperative to repent and believe.[6] It is through this message that God's creates faith and enables sinners to believe.

This "bare bones" outline constitutes the basic presuppositions about God, creation, man, sin and salvation, that we must have clearly before our minds before we engage in evangelism. This constitutes the "truth" we must tell non-Christians in love.

D. As Dr. Lloyd-Jones points out, these theological presuppositions translate into certain fundamental principles for Reformed evangelism:

1. The supreme object of the work of evangelism is to glorify God, not save souls.

2. The only power that can do this work is the Holy Spirit, not our own strength.

3. The one and only medium through which the Spirit works, is the Scriptures; therefore, we "reason out of the Scriptures," like Paul did.

4. These preceding principles give us the true motivation for evangelism--a zeal for God and a love for others.

5. There is a constant danger of heresy through a false zeal and employment of unscriptural methods.[7]

E. A man-centered vs. a God-centered approach to Evangelism[8]
Man-Centered Approach God-Centered Approach
View of God

Point of contact with non-Christians is love (God loves you). Therefore, God's authority is secondary.

Love is God's chief attribute.

God is impotent before the sinner's will.

The persons of the Trinity have different goals in accomplishing and applying salvation.

God is a friend who will help you.
View of God

Point of contact with non-Christians is creation (God made you). Therefore, God has authority over your destiny.

Holiness and love are equally important attributes of God.

God is able to empower the sinner's will.

The persons of the Trinity work in harmony--salvation accomplished for and applied to the same people.

God is a king who will save you.
View of Humanity

Fallen, yet has the ability (or potential) to choose the good.

Seeks truth but lacks correct facts.

Needs love, help and friendship.

Makes mistakes, is imperfect, needs forgiveness.

Needs salvation from the consequences of sin--unhappiness, hell.

Humanity is sick and ignorant.
View of Humanity

Fallen, and will not come to God by own will power.

Mind at enmity with God; none seek God.

Needs new nature (mind, heart, will), regeneration.

Rebels against God, has a sinful nature, needs reconciliation.

Needs salvation from guilt and the power of sin.

Humanity is dead and lost.
View of Christ

Savior from mistakes, selfishness, hell.

He exists for our benefit.

His death was more important than his life.

Emphasizing his priestly office--Savior.

An attitude of submission to Christ's lordship is optional for salvation.
View of Christ

Savior from sin and sinful nature.

He exists to gather a kingdom and receive honor and glory.

His death and his life of obedience equally important.

Emphasizing his priestly, kingly, and prophetic offices.

An attitude of submission to Christ's lordship is necessary for salvation.
View of Response to Christ

Invitation waiting to be accepted now.

Our choice is the basis for salvation--God responds to our decision.

Will give mental assent to truths of gospel--decision.

Appeal is made to the desires of the sinner.

Saved by faith alone--repentance omitted for it is thought of as "works."

Assurance of salvation comes from a counselor using the promises of God and pronouncing the new believer saved.

Sinners have the key in their hands.
View to Response of Christ

Loving command to be obeyed now.

God's choice is the basis for salvation--we respond to God's initiative.

We respond with our whole person (mind, heart, will)--conversion.

Truth is driven home into the conscience of the sinner.

Saved by faith alone--saving faith is always accompanied by repentance.

Assurance of salvation comes from the Holy Spirit applying biblical promises to the conscience and effecting a changed life.

God has the key in his hand.

V. Contingency-- "Telling the Truth in Love"

Now that the basic Biblical and theological presuppositions regarding God, creation, sin and grace have been identified [coherence], we need to move on to a discussion of contingency-- "How, then, do we apply this fixed body of truth in dynamic situations?" "How do we tell non-Christians the truth in love?"

A. The Practice of Pre-Evangelism

As Francis Schaeffer once put it, "prevangelism is no soft option." In his book, The God Who is There,[9] Schaeffer makes the following points about what we may call "pre-evangelism," which is, in a sense, doing the prep work enabling people to understand the Christian gospel. Pre-evangelism is communicating the basic categories people need to understand the claims of Christianity, as well as removing potential intellectual objections. According to Schaeffer:

1. Pre-evangelism entails two-way communication between the Christian and the non-Christian: "If we wish to communicate, then, we must take the time and the trouble to learn our hearer's use of language so that they understand what we intend to convey [p. 130]." Thus pre-evangelism entails understanding what the non-Christian is saying. It means listening to them and then communicating to them in terms they can understand. This is what we call finding and establishing "common ground." [10]

2. Pre-evangelism entails a proper understanding of the meaning of love: "Each person must be dealt with as an individual, not as a case or statistic or machine [p. 130]." "We must remember that the person to whom we are talking, however far from the Christian faith he may be, is an image-bearer of God. He has great value, and our communication with him must be in genuine Love. Love is not an easy thing; it is not just an emotional urge, but an attempt to move over and sit in the other person's place and see how his problems look to him. Love is a genuine concern for the individual....Therefore, to be engaged in personal ´witness' as a duty or because our Christian circle exerts a social pressure on us, is to miss the whole point. The reason we do it is that the person before us is an image-bearer of God, and he is an individual who is unique in the world. This kind of communication is not cheap" [pp. 130-131]. Thus while our motive to evangelize is the glory of God, love for neighbor, ultimately brings God glory.

3. Pre-Evangelism entails getting a non-Christian to see the futility of unbelief and leaving him in the tension between the real world and his own set of beliefs: "Every person we speak to, whether shop girl or university student, has a set of presuppositions, whether he or she has analyzed them or not....But, in fact, no non-Christian can be consistent to the logic of his presuppositions. The reason for this is simply that a man must live in reality, and reality consists of two parts: The external world and its form, and man's ´mannishness,' including his own ´ mannishness.' No matter what a man may believe, he cannot change the reality of what is. As Christianity is the truth of what is there, to deny this, on the basis of another system, is to stray from the real world....Non-Christian presuppositions simply do not fit into what God has made, including what man is. This being so, every man is in a place of tension. Man cannot make his own universe and then live in it" [p. 132].

"Every person is somewhere along the line between the real world and the logical conclusion of his or her non-Christian presuppositions. Every person has the pull of two consistencies, the pulls towards the real world and the pull of the logic of his system....The more logical a man who holds a non-Christian position is to his own presuppositions, the further he is from the real world; and the nearer he is to the real world, the more illogical he is to his own presuppositions" [pp 133-134].

Schaeffer calls the exploiting of this intellectual tension, "taking the roof off" [p. 140], by allowing the weight of these non-Christian presuppositions to come crashing down on the non-Christian. It is like preaching the law--since it exposes a non-Christian's intellectual weakness. Schaeffer cautions us not to exploit this tension any more than is necessary because by destroying a non-Christian's presuppositions, we may leave them in despair. This would be like preaching the law to someone, without preaching the gospel afterwards--leaving them under condemnation with no hope of forgiveness.

4. Prevangelism entails making sure that the non-Christian understands that these issues are about objective facts of history and not subjective feelings or opinions of individuals: "we must make sure that the individual understands that we are talking about real truth, and not about something vaguely religious which seems to work psychologically. We must make sure that he understands that we are talking about real guilt before God, and we are not offering him merely relief for his guilt feelings. We must make sure that he understands that we are talking to him about history, and that the death of Jesus was not just an ideal or a symbol but a fact of time and space. If we are talking to a person who would not understand the term ´space time history' we can say: ´Do you believe that Jesus died in the sense that if you had been there that day, you could have rubbed your finger on the cross and got a splinter in it?' Until he understands the importance of these things, he is not yet ready to become a Christian [p. 139]."

"The invitation to act comes only after an adequate base of knowledge has been given....Knowledge precedes faith" [p. 153-154].

Thus pre-evangelism is vital. It is to be seen as the communication of both the categories and truths that someone needs in order to understand the gospel itself. This is where apologetics enters the picture, as pre-evangelism also entails the removal of intellectual objections [real or imagined] that non-Christians may have to the gospel. Here, the task is preparing the way for the subsequent communication of gospel in terms the non-Christian can understand!

B. Different Evangelistic Contexts

Before we speak of the "how to's" of Evangelism it would be helpful to realize that there are distinctly different evangelistic contexts. Taking a brief look at these different contexts, and analyzing them is important because what may be applicable in one context, may not be to another. There are some evangelistic situations which are more effective than others and in which individual Christians can be every effective.

1. Preaching: Even a quick survey of the Book of Acts demonstrates that the church grew through the proclamation of the word. When those in the audience were Jews, the preaching was from the text of the Old Testament, designed to show how Jesus was the one spoken of in the Old Testament. When Paul preached before pagans, the content for the preaching was adopted accordingly, and tailored for a Gentile audience. This is what I have elsewhere called the "Proclamation--Defense" model.[11]

In our present situation, however, not all sermons lend themselves to the evangelization of non-Christians, and the purpose of worship and the proclamation of the word and administration of the sacraments is for the glory of God and the edification of his people--not evangelism, as the "church growth" types argue. This means that preaching will have a role to play, but perhaps not the sole, nor even the most important role in evangelism, even though truly Biblical evangelism will take place within the context of the ministry of the church.

Today's "crusade evangelism" of American evangelicalism, rightly acknowledges the centrality of the proclamation of the word, but has gutted the word of its content because of Arminian/Semi-Pelagian theological categories. The evangelistic "crusade" is not a churchly function, but a function of an entertainment model now used by the church.

2. Personal conversation--most evangelism takes place within the context of people talking with non-Christian friends and neighbors on an individual basis. Every one has non-Christian friends, family, neighbors and co-workers. Here is where pre-evangelism should ideally take place as non-Christians can be given the basic categories and proper information about Christianity before they are brought to church and sit under the ministry of the word. This is also one of the most effective means of evangelism. The key here is instructing church members so that they can evangelize on their own and is very effective if such people are quickly plugged into a local church for discipleship and catechesis. In this case the personal conversation does not simply lead to the "praying of the sinner's prayer in private," but to the public profession of faith, baptism and membership which takes place in the local church.

3. Hospitality/Small Groups-- many churches provide "non-threatening" opportunities for people to bring non-Christian friends into contact with the gospel through the use of small groups and Bible studies where the basic truths of Christianity can be presented and discussed. Again, these groups can be used with profit, if they are church-sponsored and sanctioned, and if they are give the proper oversight by the local consistory. In too many circles, hospitality groups and home Bible studies replace the centrality of Word and Sacrament on the Lord's day. If they are a means to bring people into the life of a local church, they can be very effective. But the degree to which these groups usurp this role--by becoming an end in themselves--is the degree to which they cause more harm than good. People don't join a particular "group" when they become Christians, rather they are to be baptized into Christ's church.

4. Literature--Let us not forget, that getting the right book, the right information, to someone wrestling with the claims of Christianity is simply vital. Christianity is a religion of the book. Thus it is simply essential the those being evangelized read the Bible, and that they are given basic written instruction. Depending upon the circumstances, there are many good books on virtually every topic with which non-Christians might struggle. Don't forget that the Heidelberg Catechism is a great place for an enquirer to begin. Many, many people have been brought to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ through good Christian literature. Again, they key here, is using literature to supplement these other methods.

VI. "Do's and Don'ts" of Evangelism

1. Be clear about what you believe and why you believe it. Know the Scriptures and know the confessions and catechisms. The more you know about your faith, the easier it is to talk with non-Christians.

2. The essence of evangelism is communicating the correct information about sin and grace, simply and clearly. Talk about the law and the gospel, not about infralapsarianism and divine simplicity! That comes later!

3. Avoid the use of Christian jargon. Speak about real sin, real guilt, real shed blood!

4. Use tact and be charitable! Don't talk about reprobation with someone who has just lost an unbelieving family member. Be kind and courteous! Many non-Christians act and speak out of ignorance, not malice.

5. Be sensitive to someone's past--if they've had a bad experience in church, struggle with a particular sin etc., be understanding and compassionate! Non-Christians hate self-righteousness, and they have a right to do so! Do not soft-peddle the law and the guilt of sin, but make sure they understand that you are a justified sinner, not a self-righteous "know it all," who is here to correct them!

6. Stick with the subject--don't get side-tracked. When the conversation wanders, pull it back to center stage--the law and the gospel.

7. Evangelism is not about winning an argument, but leading people to Christ. Discussions may get heated and intense at time--that's okay. But the purpose of evangelism is not to show why you are right and they are wrong. It is to communicate the truth of the gospel! The message is to be the offence! Not you!

8. When people are apathetic about sin--use the law. When people have doubts or are skeptical--use basic apologetic arguments. When people express guilt for sin--present the gospel.

9. Evangelism is about leading non-Christians to Christ. Convincing Evangelicals that Reformed theology is true, falls under the heading of polemics. Don't confuse the two.

10. Stick with what all Christians hold in common wherever possible. Leave the internecine fighting among Christians aside when talking to non-Christians. A non-Christian will not care much about why the Lutheran view of the Lord's Super is in error, or why Baptists are wrong about infant baptism! That will come during catechesis!

11. Wherever possible, speak about Christianity as factually true-- "Jesus did this," "Jesus said this," "people heard and saw him," etc. Keep away from the subjective line of approach-- "it works for me."

12. Pray for wisdom.

13. Trust in the power of God the Holy Spirit working through the word! Cite texts directly from the Scriptures with attribution. Jesus says, Paul says....Not, "I think," or "it seems to me."

14. Don't rush things. Just because someone is not ready to trust in Christ after one encounter does not mean that effective evangelism has not taken place. Pre-evangelism is equally vital. You may plant, but someone else may have to water!

15. Treat people as objects of concern, not notches in your belt! Establish relationships and friendships whenever possible.

16. Don't forget that a prophet is without honor in his own home. The chances of you leading your own unbelieving family members [or someone close to you] to Christ are remote. Pray for someone else to come and evangelize your family!

17. Don't force things. If people balk, ridicule and otherwise are not interested, back off. Find another time and place. If after repeated attempts to communicate the gospel, and someone still shows an unwillingness to hear what you have to say, "shake the dust off your feet and move on to a new town!"

18. Be willing to get people the resources they need: be willing to provide them with a Bible, the right book to read, and certainly an invitation to attend your church or Bible study, etc.

19. Pray for opportunities to evangelize. Pray for your church--that God would bless the preaching of his word, that he would bring non-Christians into our midst, and that he would bless the church with growth.

20. You don't have to become a practical Arminian to be a faithful evangelist! A Reformed approach to evangelism simply means telling people the truth in love.

[1] Will Metzger, Tell the Truth,(Downers Grove: Intervarsity, 1981), 24.

[2] Francis Schaeffer, The God Who Is There, Vol. 1 The Complete Works of Francis Schaeffer [Westchester: Crossway, 1982), 122.

[3] Calvin, Institutes, I.i.1.

[4] Cornelius Van Til, Defense of the Faith, 14.

[5] B. B. Warfield, "The Biblical Doctrine of Faith," in Biblical Doctrines (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1981), 502-504.

[6] Cf. my article in modernReformation, "For the Sake of the Gospel: Paul's Apologetic Speeches," Vol. 7, No. 2 March/April 1997, 24-31.

[7] D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, The Presentation of the Gospel, 6-7, and cited in Metzger, Tell the Truth, 26.

[8] The following is taken from Metzger, Tell the Truth, 32-33.

[9] Schaeffer, The God Who Is There, 129-160.

[10] This is not a "neutral" common ground, but simply a place, says Schaeffer, "where you can talk," with the non-Christian [ p. 137]. While there is common ground between a Christian and a non-Christian in terms of communication, there is no such thing as "neutral" common ground, where Christian and non-Christian can meet apart from their presuppositions.

[11] See my essay, "For the Sake of the Gospel: Paul's Apologetic Speeches."

Heaven

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1. Heaven is Our Eternal Home.

Heaven is real. it is not wishful thinking, a never-never land of childish dreams. In fact, Heaven is more real than Earth. Heaven is the eternal destiny and final resting place of all true Christians. It is sometimes described as a home (2 Cor. 5). It is home sweet home. There's no place like this home. We will be gathered together with the rest of our spiritual family, to live forever in our Father's home. We belong there because we are in the family. See John 14:2.

2. There is No Pain in Heaven.

There will be no physical, mental or emotional pain in Heaven. There will be no sorrow or tears there. There will be no regrets. Nobody will miss Earth. There will be no sad memories. There will be no worries. There will be no fatigue or fear, or any other negative emotion. All pain is in Hell, where there is no pleasure. Also, there will be no death in Heaven - only eternal life.

3. There is Full Pleasure in Heaven.

Heaven is the place of exquisite pleasures of all sorts. There will be perfect peace there. There will be overflowing joy. There will be rest from all tiring work. Even work in Heaven will be pleasurable. The internal spiritual pleasures will far outweigh the external physical pleasures of Heaven, great as they may be. "In thy presence is fullness of joy, at your right hand are pleasures forevermore" (Psa. 16:11). Earth is mixed with pain and pleasure. Earth is the closest that we will ever get to Hell. Pain will be only a distant memory in Heaven, and even the memory will not cause pain. It is irreligious to ask if there will be pleasurable things like baseball in Heaven. God Himself will be the source of Heaven's pleasure. We will truly enjoy God to the fullest, even to overflowing. It is pure and perfect joy.

4. Heaven is a Place of Holiness.

There is no sin in Heaven. That alone would make it a wonderful place. All sin is left outside. Christians are made sinless, not only legally but experientially. There will never be a "Fall Number 2". We will be made holy and pure and impeccable. The holiness of God will be revealed there and will transform everything and everyone there into living conduits of His holiness. Heaven is alive and pulsating with holiness.

5. We Will Receive Rewards in Heaven.

Just as there are degrees of punishment in Hell, so there are degrees of rewards in Heaven. This does not include salvation, which is by grace alone. But Christ will give rewards to all of us according to how we obeyed on Earth. They will be gauged by factors such as how much we sacrificed, how much we suffered, how we followed the will of the Lord as we knew it, etc. Some will have more than others (Apostles, prophets, martyrs, missionaries, etc). Some will have few because they lived only a short time after their conversions, like the dying thief. Others will receive large rewards because they were converted young and lived a long life of faithful service. But those with fewest will not envy those with more, for all are perfectly happy.

6. We Will Meet Other Christians.

We will meet the rest of the family, from Adam onwards. We will meet Old Testament believers, New Testament saints, great Christians from church history. We will be reunited with dear relatives and friends. We will meet those who witnessed to us briefly and never saw us again. We will meet our converted spouses, though we will not be married to them any more. We will recognize each other, even in our perfected bodies. We will share happy memories and testimonies of God's grace. We will see all those in heaven, including the holy angels. But we will also be able to view those in Hell. This will not frighten or worry us, however. Rather, it will cause us to thank God for saving us, and glorify God as He righteously punishes them. See Rev. 19:1-4.

7. Christ and His Bride Will Be United in Heavenly Marriage.

We were betrothed in election and engaged in conversion. One day the greatest of all marriages will happen. Each of us will be married to Christ and enjoy a full and perfect union with Him. But the Bride also consists of all true Christians, so this union will be between all them and us and with our beloved Jesus. It is spiritual, not physical. Sex will not be physical. The union will be far greater. It will produce a progeny of glory and bliss and eternal love. It will, of course, be permanent and indissoluable. We will know Christ deeper and deeper into all eternity.

8. We Will See God.

God is presently invisible and hidden. In Heaven, He will reveal Himself visibly to us. We will see Him with our very eyes. This is called the Beatific Vision. See Matt. 5:8, I Cor.13:12, I John 3:2. "And they shall see His face" (Rev. 22:4). We will also see God spiritually and mentally. We will understand more of what He had not revealed, and will understand more and more into all eternity, but will never understand everything about God. We will gaze upon our precious Savior in all His beauty and grace and glory. We will look at God looking at us, eye to eye, heart to heart, with nothing to block the vision. Even one glimpse of that glory would be worth spending a million years in Hell. And we will see God forever and ever.

9. We Will Love and Be Loved by God Forever.

God elected us so as to show us the glory of His grace (Eph. 1). We will receive this love in Heaven. Heaven is a world of love, an ocean without shore or bottom, in which we will swim and bathe forever. Romans 9:23 says that God elected and saved us so that we would become vessels of mercy - containers of His love and goodness and grace. He will fill us to overflowing, and increase our capacity so we may receive more. In turn, we will love Him for first loving us. He will never stop loving us, and we will never stop loving Him.

10. God's Glory Will Be Revealed.

The ultimate purpose for which God created all things is to display His glory. He does this at last in Heaven (in Hell in another way). He will reveal the beauty of His glory in all it’s splendor and radiance, transforming everything and everyone there into living mirrors that reflect glory to everyone else and back to God. He will reveal the glory of all He is, in His many attributes, like bright light in all its wondrous colors. We will be overwhelmed in awe. We will respond in love, humility, and worship. We will adore God forever. His being and glory are infinite, so He will be increasingly revealed forever and ever. And thus will be fulfilled God's plan of the ages.

Death

2008-10-21T18:58:00.001-05:00

1. All of Us Will Die.

Death is an important and serious subject. It ought not to be ignored or laughed at. Everyone will die sooner or later. Some die young, some old. Some by accidents, some by illness. Death is no respecter of persons. Only 2 people entered this world in an unusual way (Adam and Eve), and only 2 people left it without dying (Enoch and Elijah). Even Mary and the Apostles all died. only Christians who are alive at the time of the Second Coming will escape death. The genealogies in Genesis frequently say, "So-and-so lived so many years and he died." People have devised all sorts of ways to avoid death; none have been successful.

2. Death is the Result of Sin.

"The wages of sin is death" (Rom. 6:23). We earned death. We have a death penalty on us. "The soul that sins shall die" (Ezek. 18:4). God told Adam that he would die if he sinned. If Adam had never sinned, he never would have died. Through him, sin and death entered the world (Rom. 5:10). Even Christians die, for we still have Original Sin in us. Sin brings death like conception brings life (James 1:15).

3. The Soul Leaves the Body at Death.

There are a variety of ways in which scientists and doctors have tried to define death. The most popular is that death is when all brain waves totally cease. That may be the best biological answer. But there is a more important definition. According to the Bible, death occurs when the soul leaves the body. "The body without the spirit is dead" (James 2:26). Jesus died by voluntarily yielding His spirit into the Father's hands (Luke 23:46). The body is either buried or cremated, but will turn to dust; while the spirit returns to face God (Eccl.12:7). The soul enters at conception and leaves at death.

4. There is No Reincarnation or Second Chance.

There are many false ideas about what happens at death and after death. The Bible alone is our only sure guide. One of the most popular errors about death is that it opens the door to a new life via reincarnation. The idea comes from Hinduism and Buddhism, not the Bible. Heb. 9:27 says that it is appointed for us once to die, and then Judgement Day follows. Our doom is sealed at death. There is no second chance after death. Sinners do not get to hear the Gospel in the next world, nor are they sent back here for another shot at being a good person. God has occasionally raised a person from the dead, but even they later died.

5. Death is Both an Enemy and a Friend.

Death comes as either an enemy or a friend, depending on whether that person is ready to meet God. I Cor. 15:26 calls death an "enemy". It is not friendly. It was not a part of the original Creation. Sinners may mock death, but when it arrives they will be terrified. The Death Angel will be sent by God to strike sinners dead at their appointed time. He will take no excuses or bribes; his errand is always accomplished. on the other hand, God sends angels to usher the souls of dying Christians to Heaven (Luke 16:22). All pain is past; only pleasure awaits us. In this sense, death is a friend to believers. Thomas Goodwin the Puritan said before he died, "He whom I feared as an enemy has come as a beloved friend." Psa. 116:15 says, "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints."

6. The Souls of the Dead Are Conscious.

There are many false ideas about what happens after death. One is that the souls of the dead cease to exist. That is the Devil's lie. Another false notion is that souls are alive, but are unconscious. This is the theory called Soul-Sleep. It, too, is wrong. The souls of both saints and sinners are wide awake. The metaphor of sleep is applied to their bodies, not their spirits. Their bodies "sleep" in the grave, in the sense that they will one day be awakened at their future resurrection. The story of the Rich Man and Lazarus in Luke 16 clearly tells us that both Christians and non-Christians are wide awake and fully conscious after death. This is the mysterious realm of the Intermediate State, which is that place and period between individual death and final destiny.

7. Believers Go Immediately to Paradise.

The very moment a believer in Christ dies, his soul goes to be with Christ. The dying thief went to Paradise (Luke 23:43). Sometimes this place is called Abraham's Bosom (Luke 16:22) or the Third Heaven (2 Cor. 12:2,4). It is Heaven as it is now, not the New Heaven that is yet future. It is perfect bliss and peace, for we are with God. The Bible says that we go to be "with the Lord" when we die (2 Cor. 5:8; Phil. 1:23). Their bodies are still back on Earth, their souls in glory.

8. There is No Purgatory .

The Catholic Church teaches that believers first go to a place of preparation called Purgatory. It is a place of fire and torment in which sins are burned out of us to purge us of all Original Sin and its taint. People supposedly stay there for varying lengths of time, some running into the thousands of years. But all make it to Heaven, and so Purgatory is said to be a blessing. But none of this is taught in the Bible. Christians go immediately to be with Christ - is Christ in Purgatory? We go to immediate happiness - is there joy in torment? All sin and its effects are left in our bodies. Our souls are immediately freed from the presence of sin and we are made perfect in a moment (Heb. 12:23). Only the blood of Christ cleanses from sin.

9. Unbelievers Immediately Go to Hades.

Those who die in their sins go straight to Hades. This is the present state of Hell, not the future form called Gehenna. Sinners are there in their souls, not their bodies, which are still on Earth. Hades is a place of firey torment. But it is temporary, not permanent. It is the holding place for sinners until they go before God at the Last Judgement. This does not mean that their final doom is uncertain. No one in Hades will ever make it to Heaven, nor will anyone in Paradise make it to eternal Hell. The intermediate States match the final ends.

10. We Should Be Prepared to Die.

Since death is inevitable and can come at any time, it is vitally important that we all be ready to die. But because death leads us to God and judgement, sinners have devised many alternative theories. One popular one today is the nonsense of "out of body experiences", in which a person supposedly dies, sees a bright light, has great peace, then re-enters his body, never to fear death again. It is a lie of the Devil. Death is a rude awakening to reality. Believers need to get their houses in order, too. And we need to warn unbelievers of their doom and tell them the only way to escape the penalty for sin. We need to invite them to go to Heaven with us.

Future Events

2008-10-18T21:52:00.002-05:00

1. Good and Evil Will Continue.

God foreordained the future and knows what will happen. He has revealed some of these events to us in advance. The Parable of the Weeds in Matthew 13 tells us that weeds will grow in the field with the wheat until the harvest. That is, there will be unbelievers and believers in the world until the end. Some Christians optimistically think that Christianity will be so successful that there will be virtually no unbelievers left when Christ returns. Others think the opposite - there will be almost no Christians left. The truth is that both will continue.

2. There Will Be a Great Revival of Jews Coming to Christ.

Romans 11 describes a significant aspect of how the world will continue until the Second Coming. God promised that many of Abraham's descendants would be blessed and through them the whole world would be blessed. The primary fulfillment of this is through Christ (Gal.3). Then there is the way in which the Church fulfills this as the spiritual children of Abraham. There is yet a third way this will be fulfilled. One day, God will stir up large numbers of Jews to a kind of jealousy as they reclaim Jesus as their Messiah. Many, perhaps most, Jews will become Christians. In turn, this will stir up the Gentiles at large to come to Christ in large numbers. This has not yet happened, but must happen before Christ returns. In this way, the Abrahamic Covenant is fulfilled through Christ and the New Covenant. Israel will not be specially blessed merely because of race, but by faith in Christ.

3. There Will Be a Time of Great Persecution.

Various texts predict that persecution will continue to the end. We have seen periods of greater and lesser persecution. Many scholars interpret some of these texts as predicting a time of Great Tribulation, in which Christians are severely persecuted right before the end. Much of the question revolves around Matt.24. Some think this refers to the seige of Jerusalem in 70 AD; others see it as all future; still others as both; and yet others as symbolic of church history in general. The best answer is that there was great tribulation for Israel in 70 AD. There has been recurring tribulation for the church throughout history. But there will yet come a time of one last major tribulation right before the end.

4. Antichrist Will Be Revealed.

Christ said many false prophets and false messiahs would come. 2 Thess. 2 predicts a special one called the Man of Sin. I John 2:18 says there will be one main Antichrist and many lesser antichrists. Some would identify this person with the Beast of Rev. 13 and other figures. Others say he is not an individual but a system, like the Papacy. It would seem that he is the Satanic counterpart of Christ: a sort of incarnation of Satan. Much of the world will follow him in his assault on God's people, but he is doomed to be defeated by Christ at the Second Coming.

5. Christ Will Remove Christians from the World.

Right before He returns to Earth, Jesus will take living Christians to Heaven without dying, like Enoch and Elijah. We call this the Rapture. See I Thess.4, I Cor. 15, John 14. It is an instantaneous transformation and glorification. Some think this will happen 7 years before Christ returns (i.e., before a future 7-year Tribulation), but that would mean 2 Second Comings. Christ does this immediately before He comes.

6. Dead Christians Will Be Raised from the Dead.

Moments before He takes living Christians from the Earth, Christ will raise up all dead believers, including OT believers. They receive new bodies that are perfect, immortal and without sin. Their resurrection and the Rapture of living saints both happen in a split-second. Just as angels assist in our deaths, so they will assist in this great event as they announce His coming and come with Him. No Christian will be left out, regardless of whether he was buried, cremated or eaten by lions. We will enter eternity with those new bodies. We will not marry or procreate, nor feel pain or death in them. They will be like the perfect body in which the Lord Jesus was raised. I Cor. 15 describes this.

7. Christ Will Rule on Earth for 1000 Years.

Rev. 20 is the classic place in the Bible on this. While some Christians think this period is symbolic of church history at large, or maybe the great revival of Jews and Gentiles toward the end, the plain meaning of the text is straightforward. Christ returns, defeats His enemies, reigns personally with His people for 1000 years, then defeats an enemy uprising, followed by the resurrection of the lost and the Last Judgement. The key is the two separate resurrections. The resurrection of Christians (the First Resurrection) is explicitly said to be separate from the resurrection of unbelievers by 1000 years. Since both are future events, the conclusion is that the interval is also future.

8. Unbelievers Will Be Raised from the Dead.

John 5:25, Dan. 12:2, Rev. 20 and other passages say that all people will be raised up one day, including unbelievers. Those who die in their sins will be taken out of Hades, reunited with their bodies, and stay in those bodies forever in Hell. Their bodies will be different than those of Christians. Their bodies will be corruptible, filled with pain and ugliness, always dying but never ceasing to exist. They used their bodies for sinful pleasure, therefore it is fitting that they pay for those sins by physical torment. None will be excluded.

9. All Will Appear Before the Last Judgement.

After the Millenium, all people will have been raised and will appear before God. Everyone who has ever lived will be there. All history has been recorded and will be replayed as evidence. Believers will be exonerated, not because they are innocent, but because their names are in the Book of Life: elected, redeemed, saved. They will receive extra rewards according to how they served Christ. Unbelievers, however, will be damned. Their names are not in the Book of Life. They have no excuse or escape, no second chance or higher appeal. Before they are executed, they will be forced to bow before the Lord Jesus and confess that He is Lord after all. Then they will be sent to Hell forever. The Last Judgement is predicted over and over in Scripture, such as in Matt. 25 and Rev. 20. Christ will be the Judge, Jury and Executioner.

10. God Will Refashion the Universe.

Immediately after the Last Judgement, God will cleanse the universe of the effects of sin. The curse on Creation will be lifted. It will be a sort of cosmic resurrection. 2 Peter 3 describes it like a great meltdown, after which it will be re-molded into something even greater. Rev. 21 and Isa. 66 describe it as "New Heavens and New Earth". Other texts call it the "reconciliation of all things". It is the last main event in time as such, and the beginning of the eternal state. The glory of God will shine through this Creation as never before.

Spiritual Growth

2008-09-09T18:24:00.002-05:00

1. The New Birth Is the Start of the Christian Life.

Regeneration is the end of the old life, but the beginning of the new life. It is the door out of one and the door into another. I Pet. 2:2 says we are like "newborn babes" who need to be fed and grow. A baby needs feeding, teaching, cleaning, exercise, love, etc. No one can live the Christian life until he first gets born again. Then he begins the wonderful lifelong adventure of following and serving Jesus Christ.

2. The Bible Feeds and Strengthens Us.

A baby needs food - milk. The Bible is that milk. It is the food and nourishment and refreshment that we need to grow as Christians. The more we eat, the more we grow (and the less we eat, the less we grow). It is the means of grace - the way in which God continues to supply us with grace. It is compared to milk, bread, meat, honey. It is sometimes hard to digest, other times very sweet. Feeding on the Word takes the same stages as physical eating. We bite into it by reading it. We chew it by studying it. We swallow it by believing it. We digest it by understanding it. We incorporate it by obeying it.

3. We Follow Christ by Faith.

We were saved by faith; we continue to follow by faith (Col.2:6-7). We continue in the way we started. We walk by faith, not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7). We believe the promises of God, not trust our own feelings. It is as simple as, "Trust and obey, for there's no other way, to be happy in Jesus, than to trust and obey." We follow as His disciples, which means students, learners, pupils. We ought to sit at His feet and learn from Him. That takes faith. It does not happen overnight. It is a school of discipleship from which no one ever graduates until death. Faith is the primary means by which we follow, so we need to exercise our faith, strengthen it, pray for more.

4. We Are Saved to Serve.

We were once slaves of sin and Satan; now we are slaves of righteousness. We are slaves of Christ. Not slaves who wish to be free, but willing slaves. We serve Christ as our Master. He purchased us, and we belong to Him and not to ourselves. Therefore, we ought to serve Him and not ourselves. He wants us to serve Him by serving other people, too. All this involves sacrifice - putting Christ first, others second, ourselves last. It is also a duty. A slave has the duty to serve his Master. We have the duty of serving our Lord Jesus Christ. It is not always easy, but it is always right.

5. We Serve Christ Out of Gratitude.

God wants us to obey Him. The Christian is like the Israelites after God delivered them from Egypt. They were grateful and wanted to express it. It was as if God said, "If you want to show how grateful you are, then here's how you can show it. Don't have any other gods, don't take my name in vain, etc." We ought to be grateful for all the great blessings, which God has given to us for free. With this in mind, the Christian life should be one of joyful gratitude, not dour drudgery. This gives vitality to duty. It is a privilege to serve the Lord Jesus Christ. We sometimes forget and thus become ungrateful. That's why God told us to celebrate the Lord's Supper regularly, to remember His great love at the cross, lest we forget and be ungrateful. When we remember, our faith is renewed and our gratitude increased.

6. God Equips Each of Us with a Spiritual Gift.

The members of the Body build each other up (I Cor. 12). This is done by the spiritual gifts which God gives to all Christians (I Cor. 12, Rom. 12). These are not natural talents, which all have, though God uses those also. Spiritual gifts are the special abilities God gives us to serve Him and other Christians. They are tools, not toys. We need to discover what our own gift is by checking the lists and examples in the Bible, discerning if we have one of them, then study how to use it properly - and then use it!

7. We Fight Against Satan.

The warfare with God is over when we are reconciled to Him, but this begins the warfare with Satan. Better to have God with us against Satan than Satan with us against God. The Christian life is not one of ease and fun, but of struggle against temptation and fighting with Satan. Eph. 6 is the classic chapter on spiritual warfare. God supplies the armor to defend against Satan's attacks. We are not alone in this fight; every Christian is in the war. And God fights for us, too.

8. Christians Face Trials.

Christians struggle against temptation, and also against trials and tribulations. We suffer persecution from friends and family. We suffer afflictions of all sorts. This comes with being a Christian, and only makes us stronger. It is a sure sign that we are on the right side. It purifies us and tests our faith. There is also a great blessing in the midst of persecution, if we stand for Christ against all odds. Though we sometimes fail the tests and trials, God does not forsake us. We are down, but not out. God picks us up and keeps us going. The Christians life is not a bed of roses, but of thorns and tears. But it is worth it all. There is an exquisite joy of being in the fire.

9. The Christian Life is a Lifelong Walk.

The Bible frequently compares the Christian life with a walk. It is not a stroll, but a march. It is a hike, the long walk of a pilgrim (we are pilgrims with a destination, not hobos without a home). It is a step-by-step walk, a daily life of obedience. We may stumble in this walk, but we get right back up and keep going. We are to run this race set before us. It is a long distance marathon, not a short sprint. One of the great Christian books on this theme is "Pilgrim's Progress" by John Bunyan. It begins in the City of Despair and ends in Heaven.

10. We Look Back at the Cross and Forward to the Crown.

It is good to look back and remember our former life, but not yearn for it. It is also important to look back in faith to the cross. This reminds us of why we are on this road to begin with, for sometimes we forget. And it is also important to look forward to the end of the trail. Backwards in faith, forward in hope. Our walk is not in vain. It has a goal, a destination. That is Heaven, where we will receive the crown. There are rewards for obedience, which serves as added incentive to obey and serve all the more. When we arrive at the end of the road, we will be met by our blessed Savior. In the meantime, Jesus walks with us every step of the way, strengthening and encouraging us and keeping us on the straight and narrow path.

The Benefits of Salvation

2008-09-03T17:23:00.002-05:00

1. We Are Saved.

Salvation is the general term that the Bible uses to describe the miracle of grace God performs for us. It is the greatest event in our life. It has three main aspects or stages: past, present and future (cf. 2 Cor. 1:10). We were saved at a point in the past. This is when we were born again, believed, repented of sin, and were justified. It happens only once (born again, not born again and again and again). It is perfect and complete. We were rescued from danger, delivered from harm. Now we are saved and safe. Second, we are being saved in the present. Christ's blood keeps us safe from the wrath of God and He daily rescues us from Satan. Third, we will be saved in the future, at death and at the Judgement Day. These three stages are inseparable.

2. The Holy Spirit Indwells Us.

The Spirit enters the believer at the moment of regeneration and never leaves. He enters our whole being, even our body. It is the heavenly counterpart to being demon-possessed. He fills us. Romans 8 is the great chapter on the indwelling of the Spirit. Also, this is the miracle of the baptism of the Spirit, misunderstood by Pentecostals. The Spirit comes into us, with the result that He is in us. At the same moment, he puts us into Himself, with the result that we are in the Spirit. He in us, we in Him. It is not a second experience, but part of salvation. From there, we are to walk in the Spirit, go on being filled with the Spirit, etc.

3. The Christian Knows God.

Every person knows that God exists (Rom. 1), but only the Christian knows God personally. This is true knowledge. It is a heart-to-heart personal relationship. It is part of having eternal life (John 17:3). God granted us this privilege (Matt. 11:27). We know Him because He first knew us (I Cor. 8:3, Gal. 4:9). It is a personal, deep and intimate knowledge. We are friends. We are also lovers. And we grow in this knowledge deeper and deeper (Phil. 3:8, 10).

4. We are United to Christ.

This is similar to the union of the Holy Spirit. We are put into Christ's Body (I Cor. 12), with the result that we are "in Christ". At the same moment, Christ is put into us and is in us. In one sense, we were united with Him in the eternal Covenant, but we were united with Him in our experience when we were saved. We are united to Him and draw life from Him, and cannot do anything without Him (John 15). We are also united with Him in spiritual espousals. We are engaged to be His bride. One day, this will be consummated at the great heavenly marriage.

5. We are Adopted into God's Family

Once we were children of the Devil. God took us out of that family and made us His own children. Now God is our Father, other believers are our brothers and sisters, and Christ is our elder brother. Being His children, we are also His heirs. We can now call God "our Father in Heaven". Adoption is not the same as regeneration. Regeneration affects our nature; adoption affects our relationship. Regeneration precedes faith, which precedes adoption. But it happens in a moment, with no interval or exception. So, we are doubly God's children.

6. We Are Reconciled to God.

This is a great benefit of salvation that we often overlook. 2 Cor. 5 is the great chapter on it. We were once God's enemies; now we are His friends. We are reconciled. It is more than a truce; it is the end of hostilities. The war is over. We have peace with God. We were once against God and God against us. Now He is for us and with us, and we with Him. Properly speaking, it is we that are reconciled to God, not God to us. We apologize, not He. Yet, on His part, the righteous enmity was removed when His wrath was appeased when Christ died for us.

7. We Are No Longer Under Wrath.

We were once sinners under the wrath of God - condemned, doomed, facing judgement. All that has changed. We will never be judged. God is not angry with us, but smiles on us in Fatherly love. God saved us from several things: sin, Satan, death, Hell. But most importantly, He saved us from His own wrath. God saved us from God. Lost sinners are still under His wrath (John 3:36). But not us. As fierce as His wrath was against us then, so intense is His love for us now.

8. We Are Cleansed From Sin.

Our sins were filthy and disgusting. Even our religious acts were filthy rags. But God changed all that. He cleansed us (I Cor. 6:11). He washed away the black guilt by the blood of Christ. We were baptized in the blood of the Lamb. Our sins were drowned in the Red Sea of His blood. Only Christ's blood, not the waters of baptism, can cleanse us in this way, for water cannot touch the soul. In one sense, we are already totally cleansed. In another, we need daily cleansing for the regular sins we commit (see John 13). This does not mean we get saved all over again. It only means that we need fresh applications of the blood of Christ (I John l:7).

9. We Are Transferred From Satan's Kingdom.

Col. 1:13 says that God transferred us from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light. Christ, not Satan, is now our King. We defected from Satan's evil empire, became traitors to his wicked regime, and now are God's spies engaged in espionage and commandoes involved in sabotage. We have been rescued from Satan's claws; he cannot ever have us again. We are on another team, part of another body, have different allegiances. We were once for Satan and against God; now we are against Satan and for God (Matt. 6:24). If God is for us, who can be against us?

10. We Cannot Lose Our Salvation.

One of the great glories of salvation is that it is permanent. It has a ratchet-effect. Once saved, always saved. It is not because of our own selves, or even our own faith. It is ultimately dependent on God, for it was He that saved us in the first place. If it depended on us, none of us would get saved or stay saved. God elected us to salvation (Rom. 8:29-30) and completes what He started (Phil. 1:6). He has sworn to preserve, keep and guard us forever (Psa. 37:28, 66:9, 97:10, 145:14, 20, I Tim. 1:12). He keeps us by His omnipotent hand (1 Pet. 1:5), keeps us safe from Satan (I John 5:18, John 17:11, 12, 15), and seals us with the Holy Spirit (Eph. 1:13, 4:30). The saints in Heaven are happier, but not more secure, than we are. Simply put, God loves His people too much to let them go. He holds us firmly and lovingly in His arms of love, from which no one can snatch us out (John 10:28).

Justification

2008-08-24T21:31:00.002-05:00

1. Justification is a Legal Act of God.

One of the most precious ways the Bible describes salvation is by the word "justification." It is God that justifies (Rom. 8:33). Self-righteous sinners justify themselves, but remain condemned by God (Luke 10:29). God justifies the ungodly (Rom. 4:5), but not by excusing their sin or denying they are sinners. Justification is a legal act by God, a metaphor taken from the law court. The best and most popular definition is in the Westminster Shorter Catechism: "Justification is an act of God's free grace, wherein he pardoneth all our sins, and accepteth us as righteous in His sight, only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, and received by faith alone."

2. Justification is by Grace Alone.

Salvation is by grace alone, and justification is by grace alone. Rom. 3:24, "justified freely by His grace." It is not purchased by us in whole or in part by our good works. We cannot earn it, nor would if we could. To try to buy it is to offer the Judge a bribe, but God takes no bribes. it is a legal act, but also one of pure grace.

3. Justification is by Faith Alone.

The Catholic Church, like the early Judaizers, says that justification is by faith and works, not by faith alone. They are not merely saying that works must follow faith; they are saying that both must precede justification. We utterly deny it. Again, they say: faith - works - justification. The Bible says: faith - justification - works. Rom.3:28 and Gal. 2:16 are very explicit that we are justified by faith alone. Faith is the condition. It is not the ground of justification. It is the condition in the sense that God will not justify without it, and it is by faith that we are connected with Christ. He is the true merit.

4. God Justifies a Person Because of the Work of Christ.

We are "justified by His blood" (Rom. 5:9). God set forth Christ as the propitiatory sacrifice that appeased His wrath. God thereby looks at the cross, is satisfied, and is then able to justify us (Rom. 3:25). God did not sweep sin under the carpet, nor wink at it. He punished it in Christ. The work of Christ, then, is the ground upon which God can legally justify us. We are also justified in His resurrection.

5. Justification is the Second Part of the Great Exchange.

2 Cor. 5:21 is one of the Bible's golden verses of salvation. It speaks of a great exchange. The first stage took place 2000 years ago. God placed our sins upon Christ. He "made Him to be sin". This was not literal. it was by substitution. Christ was treated "as if" He were the sinner. He was then made a curse (Gal. 3:13). He suffered the wrath of God and died. The second stage is when a sinner believes in Christ. Christ places His righteousness on the sinner, who is then accounted righteous by God. He is treated "as if" he had never sinned. It is the perfect counterpart of the cross. He suffered; we can rejoice. He died; we live. We are not literally made righteous, just as He was not literally made sin. Our sins were "imputed" to Him; His righteousness is "imputed" to us. This is why faith is the proper instrument that connects us with the cross, for we believe that Christ died for us.

6. God Imputes the Righteousness of Christ to Us.

"Justify" is the legal metaphor, "impute" is the financial metaphor. God put our sins on the account of Christ. Now God puts the righteousness of Christ on our account. He marks the bill "paid in full". He transfers the value of Christ's person and work to our account. Incidently, God imputes both the active (life) and passive (death) work of Christ to us. See Romans 5. God then treats us "as if" we had never sinned. Indeed, He can look at us as clothed in the very righteousness of Christ.

7. God Pardons All Our Sins.

There are two aspects of justification. In the one, God takes away sin. He forgives it. He pardons us. Second, He puts the righteousness of Christ in its place. This completes the great exchange. God pardons all our sins - past, present and future (Psa. 103:3). God takes away the penalty of guilt. Though we are guilty, He does not hold our sins against us. We are blessed because God no longer imputes sin or its guilt to us (Rom. 4:6-8). God pardons us. He does not grant clemency, which would somehow mitigate our sins. Nor does He place us on probation or parole. He totally pardons every sin we have ever committed. Moreover, He pardons the very sin nature in which we were born.

8. Justification is Instantaneous.

God the Judge bangs the heavenly gavel down in a moment. He does not say, "Not guilty" per se, but rather "Justified!" We are freed in the twinkling of an eye. God predestined in eternity that we would be justified, but we were not actually justified until the moment of faith. Justification is instantaneous and complete. It is not progressive. No one is more justified than another. In fact, those in Heaven are not more justified than the saints on Earth, for justification is a perfect legal declaration by God Himself. An auctioneer bangs the hammer "Sold" in an auction to signal the moment the sale is enacted. So too, God bangs the gavel in the court of Heaven and in our conscience. If it did not occur in a moment, what would be the fate of those who died halfway through the process? It must be in a moment. One second before, the sinner is condemned and doomed; one second after, justified forever.

9. Justification is Not Regeneration.

These two are essential to salvation and are related, but must be distinguished. In regeneration, our nature is changed; in justification, our status is changed. In the one, righteousness is infused; in the other, it is imputed. The order is: regeneration - faith - justification. But we are not justified on the basis of what God does in us by the new birth. No, the basis is the work of Christ. The new birth is drastic, but in some respects is only partial - we still have indwelling sin. We are not justified by an internal righteousness, but by an alien righteousness. What Christ has done in us is partial and progressive (Phil. 1:6), and so would not provide a complete basis anyway. Also, there is no interval between the two. Some err in suggesting that an infant might be regenerated but not justified till later in life. If so, what if he died at age 16: if regenerate, then fit for Heaven; but if unjustified and unbelieving, fit for Hell. It wouldn't make sense.

10. Justification Is Permanent and Irrevocable.

There is no double jeopardy, no double indemnity. Satan cannot appeal the verdict or raise an objection or sue for a mistrial. It is over and done with. All that follows is the joy of knowing one is justified and free forever, never to be condemned. We have peace with God at last! (Rom.5:1).

The New Birth

2008-08-11T17:16:00.002-05:00

1. Man Must Be Born Again to Enter Heaven.

The Bible uses a number of terms and analogies to describe salvation. One of them is regeneration, or the new birth. John 3 is the classic chapter on the subject. Unless one is born again, He cannot see or enter Heaven. The word can be translated “again” or “from above”. Both are true. We must be born a second time, from Heaven. We enter this world by physical birth; we are made ready for the next one by spiritual rebirth. We are dead in sins and need this new life to be saved. Those who are not born again do not go to Heaven, but to Hell. Those who are born once will die twice, but those who are born twice will die once.

2. Regeneration is Not Reincarnation.

The new birth is not a physical one. We do not re-enter our mother's womb, nor that of another mother, whether human or animal. Hinduism and Buddhism both teach the error of reincarnation. But this is not to be confused with the Bible doctrine of regeneration. We are born physically once, we die physically once. See Heb. 9:27. There are no after-death experiences, as sensationally reported. Some of the Jews evidently were influenced by pagan ideas when they thought that Jesus was the reincarnation of John the Baptist, Jeremiah or other prophets (Matt. 16:14). Also, we will be resurrected in the future in new and better bodies, but not reincarnated in different bodies. Regeneration is a grand truth, while reincarnation is a dangerous heresy.

3. God Convicts a Sinner Before Conversion.

Just as a physical birth has birth pains, so does the spiritual birth. It is called conviction of sin. The Holy Spirit does this as He prepares us for the new birth. He takes the holy Law of God and burns it into our consciences in a deeper way than ever before. We do more than feel guilty; we know we are lost and doomed. The Puritans used to call this a Law-work (not to be confused with a work of the Law). It is painful and devastating. We resist it, and the more we fight it the worse it becomes. It is painful to kick against God's work (Acts 26:14). God thus breaks open the soil to plant the seed. Conviction is the needle of the Law piercing us, in order to pull the thread of salvation. No conviction, no conversion. But God turns the pain to joy in time.

4. The Holy Spirit Alone Gives the New Birth.

John 3 says that we must be born by the Spirit. Our parents gave us natural life, but they cannot give us supernatural life. Our spirits must be regenerated by the Holy Spirit. John 1:13 tells us that this new birth is not produced by parents or even our own wills. God Himself gives the new birth (James 1:18). God never says, “Regenerate yourself”. A dead man cannot give himself life. Jesus raised Lazaraus. Man is totally passive in regeneration. It is solely the work of the Spirit.

5. Baptism Does Not Produce Regeneration.

One of the most damnable and popular heresies around is baptismal regeneration. It is taught by the Catholic Church, Greek Orthodoxy, Lutheranism, Methodism, Church of Christ, Christian Church, Disciples of Christ, Episcopalianism, and others. It manufactures false Christians, whether as infants or adults. But water does not produce regeneration. Baptismal water is not magic “holy water”. Cornelius was regenerated before baptism (Acts 10). The dying thief was never baptized. Simon Magus was baptized, but died unregenerate in his sins (Acts 8).

6. The Word of God is the Means of Regeneration.

If water is not the means, what is? The Bible. God compares it to a seed (Luke 8:11). We may plant it by telling people the Gospel, and another person may water the seed by explaining the Bible to him. But it lies dormant in the sinner's dead heart unless God germinates it (I Cor. 3:6). God works on the seed by special grace, causing it to break open and produce life in the sinner's heart. The Bible is thus the means of irresistible grace producing the new birth (James 1:18, 1 Pet. 1:23). Those who never get this seed will never be saved. Nor does God work this miracle in everyone who does hear the Gospel. Nor does God produce regeneration without this seed.

7. Regeneration Precedes Faith.

A dead man cannot move, speak, walk, etc. A dead sinner cannot do anything that requires spiritual life, such as believing. He must first be given life, then he can believe. Lazarus was raised before he could walk out of the tomb. God gives the new birth and then the gift of faith. That is the order. He that believes already has eternal life (I John 5:1). There is no time lag or interval between them. It is merely a matter of which logically precedes and produces the other.

8. Regeneration Changes Our Basic Nature.

When we are regenerated, we do not become angels. We remain humans. But our nature as humans changes. Sin still dwells in us, but now so does grace. The point is that we now have spiritual life. We become a “new creation” (2 Cor. 5:17). It is a spiritual resurrection. It is a radical transformation. Sin affected us totally in every part; now grace affects and changes us in every part. Our new nature is basically regenerate, good, Christlike, spiritual. We have remnants of the old, like a swimmer has seaweed clinging to him as he emerges from the sea. It is not a sinner with some good attached, nor equally good and bad, but primarily regenerate and new with remnants of sin in us till we die.

9. Regeneration is an Instantaneous Miracle.

It is a miracle of God, not an act of self-reformation or resolution by Man. God prepares the heart for it by conviction and other things, but regeneration itself occurs in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. It is not gradual or progressive, but instantaneous and sudden. Nobody is half-regenerate, nor more regenerate than someone else. If one dies before regeneration, he goes to Hell; if after, Heaven. In physical birth, there is a gestation period of 9 months following conception. This might be paralleled in the spiritual realm by the process by which God gradually prepares one for regeneration in a moment.

10. Only Born-Again People are Real Christians.

All Christians are born-again and all born-again people are Christians. There are no born-again Moslems. Nor are there any Christians who are not born again. "Born-again Christian" could be a misnomer, if it is taken to mean that some Christians are not born-again. One becomes a Christian by being born again; there is no other way. “You must be born again” (John 3:7). But, of course, not everyone who says he is a Christian really is a Christian. This is sad and tragic. Most Americans say they are Christians, but it is highly unlikely that more than 1 or 2% really are. Saying that you are doesn't make it so. It is not whether we say it, but whether we are in fact. And likewise, not everyone who says he is born again really is regenerate (Catholics and other heretics claim to be). It is vital to discern if we really are.

Providence

2008-08-05T19:06:00.002-05:00

1. God is Involved with His Creation.

Creation was the beginning, not the end, of God's involvement with the Universe. God takes an active interest and involvement with His Creation. He is not an absentee landlord, as suggested by 18th-century Deism. He did not wind it up like a clock and step back and let things take their course. He not only knows what is happening throughout the universe, but is involved in every detail and the relationships between everything. Sometimes He uses angels to carry on the work. Sometimes He acts normally, sometimes unusually. But He never is absent or ignorant. God is in charge.

2. God Upholds All Things.

“Through Him are all things” (Rom. 11:36). God predestined and created all things, and guides them along every moment of the way along their foreordained ways to the final culmination of all things. Nothing goes astray from the pre-arranged plan. He also “upholds all things by the word of His power” (Heb. 1:3). Just as He created everything by His word of power, so He sustains everything by this same Word. He does not continue to create things, but keeps them existting so that they do not fall into non-existence. He sustains all things; in Him all things consist or hold together (Col. 1:17).

3. God Provides for the Universe.

Everything depends upon God for existence and all the relevant details of space and time. He provides all energy for the atoms, lightning, electricity, magnetism, gravity, light, etc. He also is the source of all life. “He gives to all life, breath and all things ... for in Him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:25,28). God feeds the animals (Matt. 6:26). He preserves all living things (Psa. 36:6) and provides life to all living Creatures (Neh. 9:6). He provides through Providence.

4. God Allows Catastrophes.

God allows what we would call natural disasters and tragedies. For example, God is in complete control of the weather (Job 38:26-38). There is no “Mother Nature”. Even insurance companies refer to “an act of God” beyond the foresight or influence of Man. God allows floods, droughts, tornadoes, hurricanes, blizzards, earthquakes, etc. Part of this is because of the curse on Creation due to the sin of Man. Some disasters are due to specific sins, others not. God allows airplane crashes, burning homes, birth defects, financial ruin and broken marriages. These are not outside His dominion. He cannot be blamed, however, nor should we ever even think of blaming Him when they strike us. God allows wars, revolutions and corrupt government. He allows all these to remind us of sin and warn us of future judgement.

5. God Loves His Creatures.

God loves His Creation, especially the higher they are on the levels of Creation. He loves humans more than animals (Matt. 6:26). He has a general love for all people as His creatures, made in His image. This is part of Common Grace. In this sense, God loves everyone (Psa. 33:5). God created us out of love, and this continues even after the Fall in spite of sin. Thus it it Common Grace, not just a general love. God tells us to love our enemies, because God Himself loves His enemies (Matt. 5:44). This flows from God's very nature as love itself.

6. God Sends Good to All His Creatures.

We must do good to all men, because God does good to all men (Matt. 5:44-45, Luke 6:35-36). He sends rain and sunshine on all people, regardless of whether they are Christians or not (Acts 14:17). Everything good in the world is a gift from God the Creator to His creatures (James 1:17, I Tim. 4:4, Gen. 1:31). He even gives good things to people that end up in Hell (Luke 16:25). He rarely is ever thanked for these gifts, for ingratitude characterizes fallen Man (Rom. 1:21).

7. God Takes Special Care of His Children.

There is a general providence for all men and a special providence for the elect, before and especially after their conversions. God tells us to love and do good for all men, especially other Christians (Gal. 6:10). God does the same here. This is why God works all things together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose (Rom. 8:28). It does not always appear such, especially in the midst of trials and afflictions and disasters. But we need to be patient and have faith. All will one day be explained to us. We need not fret because the righteous suffer and the wicked prosper, for this is only temporary (Psa. 37:1-2). God is in complete control and takes a special interest in His children.

8. God is Involved in Human Hearts.

God is totally sovereign in Providence, even in the hearts and wills of Man. Our will is not off-limits to God. He can intervene and interrupt at any time. Indeed, He regularly does this. He gives faith, He withholds faith. He overrules the plans and desires of our minds (Pro. 16:1, 9). He turns our hearts like rivers (Pro. 21:1). He puts things like joy in our hearts (Ezra 6:22, 7:27). He “works all things in all persons” (I Cor. 12:6). He is at work on our wills so that we will and do what He wants (Phil. 2:13). This is a deep mystery. God is sovereign, but we are still responsible. Theologians call this “concurrence”. God mysteriously guides our very thoughts and motives, good and bad, in such a way that He is sovereign and cannot be blamed, while we are still responsible.

9. God Restrains Sin.

God is even in control of sin. Sometimes, He restrains us from sinning (Gen. 20:6). He prevents certain circumstances to arise and keeps us from even being tempted. Or He may pull us through those temptations. We need to pray that God “lead us not into temptation.” On the other hand, God also allows us to fall into sin. He takes the restraints off, and we give in to temptation. He gives us over to sin (Rom. 1:24, 26, 28). He lets whole nations go their own way into heinous sin (Acts 14:16). He lets go and we fall into sin under our own weight (Psa. 81:11-12, Acts 7:42). We ought to pray that God restrains sin in us.

10. God Works Miracles.

Most of what we have said so far has reference to God's general method of providence. Though still somewhat mysterious, there is a certain order to it. It is Usual Providence. But there is also Unusual Providence, in which God acts in a special way. In general providence, He acts indirectly. Here He acts directly. A miracle is not just an unlikely event. It is one that goes contrary to the Laws of Nature. But God is free to suspend those laws, for after all it is He that is at work in all things anyway. Miracles are relatively rare. God alone can work miracles. They are signs that God is God. Jesus was God and did many miracles to prove it. The two greatest miracles regarding Christ were the Virgin Birth and Resurrection. Since then, the greatest miracle is the new birth and spiritual resurrection.

FAITH

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1. Faith is a Duty.

All men are required to believe in God as their Creator. They already know He exists; they are called on to agree and submit. Without faith, it is impossible to please God. Whoever comes to God must first believe in God (Heb. 11:6). Whatever is not based in faith is sin (Rom. 14:23). This is a general duty imposed on all men as creatures. Those who hear the Gospel are further required to believe in Jesus Christ. "Believe in God; believe also in me" (John 14:1). Sinners are commanded, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ" (Acts 16:31). It is a duty. In that sense, it is a work (John 6:29). It is something that God commands of us as a duty.

2. We are Saved by Faith Alone.

The Reformers boldly protested against Romanism's faith-and-works system by proclaiming, "Sola fide!" (faith alone). Salvation is by grace alone through faith alone (Eph. 2:8-9). That is, by grace alone as the source, and faith alone as the response. Rome, following the Galatian Judaizers, says that we are saved by faith, but not by faith alone. By faith we receive the sacraments, they say, in order to receive grace that enables us to do enough good works to produce a righteousness in us so as to merit God's approval. This is poisonous heresy. Good works follow faith and salvation, as Eph. 2:10 shows. The Catholic and Galatian order is this: faith - works - justification. The Bible's order is this: faith - justification - works. We are saved by faith without good works, for the unregenerate sinner is incapable of producing even one good work.

3. There is No Merit in Faith.

Though faith is a duty, there is no merit in it. We do not earn salvation because of the value of our faith. We do not buy salvation with the coin of faith. Salvation is by grace and cannot be bought by us in any form or fashion, not in whole or in part. To try to buy that which is of infinite value is an insult to God. Faith is the instrument of receiving salvation. The value is in the gift, not the hand that receives it. We are not saved on the basis of our faith, but on the basis (or ground) of the work of Christ.

4. Faith Agrees with the Gospel.

What is faith? Faith has 3 necessary elements: knowledge, assent, trust. The first means that faith is not blind. It has an object, a content. It is not faith in faith, blind optimism, a positive mental attitude, the power of positive thinking, etc. Second, faith agrees with the true content. The content is the Word of God, specifically the Gospel. "Believe the Gospel" (Mark 1:15). A believer believes "that" certain things are true. He gives his mental agreement. He is enlightened by the Spirit. He may not understand all the ramifications and implications, but he knows and sees the Gospel as true. His heart says, "Amen", which is the Hebrew word for faith.

5. Faith Trusts in Christ.

The third and crucial element of faith is trust. The believer trusts Christ personally from the heart (Rom. 10:9-10). The Bible speaks of believing in, into, and upon Christ, or simply believing Christ Himself. It is not faith in self; it is faith in Christ. It takes Him at His Word, trusts in His trustworthiness, and commits to Christ personally.

6. Faith Submits to Christ as Lord.

Saving faith also has the element of submission in it, which is part of trust. We are to submit to Christ as a wife is to submit to her husband (Eph. 5:22-24). In conversion, the believing heart accepts Christ's hand in marriage by saying "I do". I do accept and submit. I surrender. I hand Christ the reins, the key, the throne. I bow. They are in serious error who suggest that one may be saved merely by believing in your mind that Jesus is Lord without submitting to Him as Lord. This part of faith differentiates true believers from false.

7. Repentance is Part of Faith.

Repentance is a requirement of salvation (Luke 13:3, Acts 3:19). But it is not really a second condition, but actually part of faith. Faith has 3 elements; so does repentance. First the sinner is convicted of sin and mourns for it as sin (not just because he was caught). He grieves for it (2 Cor. 7:10). Second, he changes his mind about it. He then turns from it. It is more than a change of mind; it is a change of direction from sin to God. Thus, repentance is linked with faith (Mark 1:15, Acts 20:21). It is associated with the word "convert", meaning to turn (Acts 3:19). Unless we turn, we will burn.

8. Faith is a Gift of God.

Faith is a duty, but no man can do that duty. So God gives us the faith that He commands. The Bible often says that faith is a gift (2 Pet. 1:1, Phil. 1:29, John 3:27, 6:65, Rom. 12:3, 1 Cor. 3:6, 4:7) It is given through the Word of God (Rom. 10:17). Faith is not merely offered to us; it is actually bestowed. It is not held out to be accepted by us if we ask, for James 1 says that we receive nothing unless we ask in faith. So God must sovereignly give us that faith. And it is not given to all. Also, repentance is a gift that God gives (2 Tim. 2:25, Acts 5:31, 11:18).

9. Assurance is Part of Faith.

The Catholic Church denies that anyone can have assurance, but I John 5:13 says otherwise. All believers can know that they have eternal life. Moreover, in one sense, all believers have some degree of assurance. They know the Gospel is true. They also know that Christ died for them and that His promise is sure. They have some assurance from the very first moment of faith. But they are not perfected in faith. They still have doubts. So we need to grow in faith and assurance to the "full assurance of faith". We grow by exercising our faith and feeding on the Word of God, which is the source of faith. The three main tests that confirm faith and produce assurance: belief in the true Gospel, the evidence of a changed and obedient life, and the internal testimony of the Holy Spirit. These are the tests in I John that I John 5:13 refers to.

10. True Faith Produces Good Works.

"Faith works by love" (Gal. 5:6). "Faith without works is dead" (James 2:26). True faith is a mark of regeneration, and will produce works. Life in the root will produce fruit on the branch (Matt. 7:17). Those who do not have good fruit will have only bad fruit, and thereby show that they are still unregenerate. A Christian still sins, but he will not stay in permanent sin. He will keep bearing fruit of good works. Our new nature cannot be killed, and will keep believing and obeying (I John 3). So, we are not saved by faith and works, but saved by grace through faith so that we may show our gratitude by good works (Eph. 2:8-10).

Grace

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1. No One Deserves Grace.

“Grace” is one of the most beautiful words in the Bible. It is that part of God's love that deals with our guilt. In Hebrew, it is HESED; in Greek, CHARIS. It is free and undeserved. Nobody has or can merit this grace. Grace is the undeserved love of God for sinners. Unfallen angels (like Adam) know love, but not grace. Fallen sinners can never earn God's grace. By its very definition it is unearned, not by our works (Rom. 11:6). We earn death by our sin, but grace is a free gift (Rom. 6:23).

2. We Are Saved by Grace Alone.

Salvation is completely “sola gratia” (by grace alone). It is not partly by God's grace and partly by our efforts. "By grace you have been saved" (Eph. 2:5, 8-9). It is solely by God's free, unmerited mercy to us (Tit. 3:5). There is no exception; anyone ever saved has been saved by free grace. And grace comes from God, not from Man. Grace being free does not make it cheap or worthless. Quite the opposite. It is beyond cost. We could never earn it in a million years. This is why it is so amazing, matchless, and wonderful. In fact, the original meaning of CHARIS was “that which produces joy”, something delightful and beautiful.

3. God Gives Grace to Whomever He Wills.

Since it is undeserved and free, God is not obliged to give it to anyone. Indeed, He could have justly withheld it from everyone. But He chose to bestow it on some. It is sovereign grace, or sovereignly bestowed on whomever God is pleased to give it . God said, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy” (Ex. 33:19, Rom. 9:15. Cf. Rom. 9:18). The word “will” here means “choose”. God chooses to give His grace away, and chooses the ones to whom He will give it. Is it not His sovereign prerogative to give it to whomever He chooses? (Matt. 20:15). Therefore, God is magnanimous when He gives it to some, and cannot be blamed if He decides to withhold it from others. Neither deserved it anyway.

4. God Has a Special Love for Some Men.

God chose to set this special love on some sinners, and not on others. He decided to give His free grace to some, but not all. We have already seen in these studies that God has a general love for all men as His creatures (Matt. 5:44-45, Psa. 33:5, 145:9). That is Common Grace, the love which God has for all men in common. It is His universal benevolency. But then there is also Special Grace, also known as Particular Grace. It is a greater and different kind of love. It is extraordinary, not common. Just as a man loves all people, but especially his wife, so Christ loves all people but especially those He has chosen to be His wife (Eph. 1:4, 5:25). God loves all men with some love, but He loves some men with all love. It is a distinguishing and directed love.

5. God Chose Some Sinners to Be Saved.

Out of this special grace, God chose some sinners to be rescued from their sins. This is the doctrine of election. It happened in eternity past (Eph. 1:4, 2 Thess. 2:13, 2 Tim. 1:9). God sovereignly chose some sinners to be saved from their sins and not to be punished for them (I Thess. 5:9, 2 Thess. 2:13). They were chosen to receive grace, not wrath. They were chosen individually by name, and their names were written in the Book of Life (Rev. 13:8, 17:8, Luke 10:20). God chose us; we did not choose Him (John 15:11). He chose us solely by consulting with His own counsel, not by foreseeing our choice (Eph. 1:11).

6. God Made a Covenant to Save the Elect.

Back in eternity, God made a covenant within Himself. The Father chose some sinners to be saved, and gave them to the Son, who agreed to die for them (John 17:2, 6, 9, 24). We call this the Covenant of Redemption. We did not even exist at the time, nor was that necessary. It was only necessary that we would exist in time. God sealed this covenant with an oath, thus guaranteeing that we would most definitely be saved at the right time. And in time, God worked out this Covenant through Christ, which we call the Covenant of Grace. Special grace was thus given to us in eternity “in Christ” (2 Tim. 1:9). We were chosen in Christ, by Christ and for Christ. it is definite and sure, not merely possible.

7. God Calls the Elect in a Special Way.

Just as God loved all men but especially the elect, so He calls all men to be saved, but especially the elect. God invites all men; we call this the General Call or the Free Offer. It is what we do in evangelism. But God also gives a Special Call, which is given only to the elect. The parable of Luke 14:16-24 illustrates this. First God invites everyone, then He sends and compels some of them to come in. The General Call is given by men; the Special Call is by God alone. The first is audible, the second is inaudible to the natural ear. It is the Good Shepherd calling His sheep; the others do not hear His voice (John 10:3, 16, 26- 27). It is given through the General Call, not in some mystical inner voice. “Many are called [general], but few are chosen” (Matt. 22:14).

8. Saving Grace is Irresistible.

This Special Call is by grace. The General Call is resistible - indeed, sinners always successfully resist it. But the Special Call cannot be successfully resisted, for God overcomes all resistance. He exerts His omnipotence and overwhelms the sinner’s will. He makes us willing in the day of His power (Psa. 110:3). He “compels” us to come in (Luke 14:23). He “drags” us in (John 6:44). But it is not raw force, but a holy violence and a sweet wooing. He draws us with the irresistible song of grace (Jer. 31:3, Song 1:4, Hos. 11:4). It is heavenly romance, for Christ irresistibly wins the hand of His bride. God thus changes our wills, and we come willingly (Psa. 65:4). This is Irresistible Grace.

9. God Left the Rest of Sinners in Their Sins.

Back in eternity, God sovereignly chose some sinners by His free love. But He did not chose to bestow this grace on all men. He withheld it from some. He owed them nothing but wrath, and left them under that wrath. Therefore nobody can argue that it was not fair. This is the doctrine of Reprobation. In eternity, God divided the lump of sinful mankind into two parts, like a potter with clay (Rom. 9). He left some in their sins. He did not write their names in the Book of Life (Rev. 13:8, 17:8.). He never knew them in special love (Matt. 7:23). He thus predestined them to be punished for their sins (I Thess. 5:9, Pro. 16:4).

10. God Hardens the Reprobate's Hearts.

God softens the hearts of the elect by His grace, but He hardens the hearts of those He has not chosen. He hides the light of the Gospel from them (Matt. 11:25), blinds them (Rom. 9:18, 11:7, John 12:39-40). He fattens them up for the slaughter they deserve. They do not resist, but willingly comply, for they love their sins even unto death and Hell. Election and reprobation are two parallel lines running from eternity past to eternity future, ending in Heaven for some and Hell for others. One glorifies God's grace, the other His wrath.

The Plan of God

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1. God Has a Plan.

The universe is not a car without a driver, nor a driver without a map. There is a purpose behind everything. The Bible often speaks of this great plan of God. It is the “purpose” of that famous and favorite Bible verse, Rom. 8:28. God has planned out this purpose in advance. He thought it out, planned it in every detail, and carries it out “on purpose”. It is an absolute purpose, not merely a wish or command. In theology it is called the “decree”. God has decreed His purpose and it shall happen. See Rom. 9:11, Isa. 46:10-11, Eph. 3:11, Acts 4:28 and 2 Tim. 1:9.

2. God Predestined Everything.

The plan of God is also called predestination. God pre-programmed everything that will come to pass (Eph. 1:11). Everything can be traced back to God's ultimate plan, for “from Him are all things” (Rom. 11:36). He not only created all things (Gen. 1:1), but drew up the blueprints for everything. He foreordained what will happen, and He did this in advance in eternity. He drew up the plan before He laid the foundation. He pre-determined what would happen, not merely what could or should happen. Then He set the ball rolling in a certain course, and it must follow the pre-arranged course.

3. God Planned Every Detail.

There is a time for every purpose under Heaven, says Eccl. 3:1. God has planned out this great purpose to the smallest detail. This includes the exact timing when everything would occur. He also prepared every relationship with every other detail. Nothing was ignored. Even the smallest and seemingly insignificant detail was included, such as the number of hairs on our heads. He prepared this detailed inventory in advance, and the construction of the universe follows it perfectly, for God is the great architect and contractor who never makes a mistake. In theology, we speak of the great plan as the decree, the individual details as decrees.

4. There is No Such Thing as Chance.

Since God has determined everything in advance, there is no such thing as chance. “Chance” was a concept invented by certain Greek philosophers, especially promoted among the Epicureans (opposed in Acts 17). It denies the existence of a personal and sovereign God who foreordains everything. Similarly, there is no such thing as luck, either good or bad. Nor is there any fortune or accidents. Even the roll of dice has been determined by God (Pro. 16:33). Conversely, there is also no such thing as blind fate, a concept promoted by the ancient Stoics. Whatever will be will be, only because God has determined them so. Coincidence is true only in the sense that two events may co-incide, or happen at the same time. But that is because God planned it like that.

5. God's Plan is Inevitable.

This plan will, shall and must come to completion. It is inevitable because God is sovereign and omnipotent. Neither angel, demon, sinner or saint can stop it in any detail, for even their actions to stop it are part of the plan. Nothing can stop it. See Psa. 33:11, 148:3, Tit. 1:2, Pro. 19:21, Isa. 14:27, Heb. 6:17, and Job 42:1. It is God's plan and only God could change it. But God has sworn with an oath that He will not change it. He is not fickle like a man who can change his mind (Jer. 4:28, 23:20, 30:24, I Sam. 15:29). In time, God interacts with us, and seems to change His actions, but this is all part of the great strategy. The plan is God's eternal purpose and God does not change His sworn intentions. He is not an Indian-giver or cheat. He keeps the oath He has sworn.

6. God Consulted Only With Himself in the Plan.

This should be obvious, since nobody else existed when God made the plan. He did not consult with the angels, for they are not on the same level as God. He consulted only with Himself within the Trinity (Eph. 1:11; Psa. 33:11). Who is able to serve as advisor to God on such things? (Rom. 11:34; Isa. 40:13-14). God did not consult with Man even by foresight, for He foresaw what He pre-determined would occur. When it comes to pass, then, only God can take the credit for the accomplishment of what was planned.

7. God Has Not Revealed All the Details of the Plan.

“The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those that have been revealed belong to us, that we may do the words of this Law” (Deut. 29:29). God has revealed that there is a plan, and has even revealed a few details of the plan. But He has not revealed it all, nor could we comprehend it all even if He did. We must not pry into things that have not been revealed, such as the date for the Second Coming of Christ. In theology, we speak of the plan as the “secret will of God”. On the other hand, God has revealed much to us about our responsibility. This is the “revealed will of God”. Though God is sovereign and has foreordained all our thoughts and actions, we are still accountable and responsible. The revealed will includes the Law and the Gospel.

8. God Uses Even Sin in His Plan.

Even sin is included among the details of the great plan. How could it be otherwise? Sin infects and affects so much of human existence, and much of the plan directly concerns Man. Therefore, God had to include sin in the great plan. He uses sin and sinners to carry out His purpose, even their own destruction (Pro. 16:4). We sinners mean sinful things for evil, but God means them for good (Gen. 50:20). God not only overrules sin, but includes it in a marvelous way as part of the plan. He planned to allow sin in order to reveal His holiness and justice in punishing it or to reveal His grace and mercy in forgiving it (Rom. 9). Even the crucifixion of Christ, the worst of all sins, was predestined by God (Acts 2:23, 4:28).

9. Christ is Central to the Plan of God.

The plan is Christocentric. Christ is the very apex of God's purpose, for it is through Christ that God reveals His glory and through Christ that God receives glory back from His creation. Col. I describes how Christ is pre-eminent above all things, prominent in the plan of God and the great pivot of all history. Phil. 2 also describes how Christ is the center of God's plan, specifically the plan of redemption. We are not saved merely to enjoy God forever; we are saved in order to give glory to Christ and through Him give glory to the Father.

10. God's Plan is to Reveal His Glory.

Rom. 11:36 says that all things are from God in predestination and Creation. They are also through Him in providence. But they are also to Him in the final accomplishment of the great plan. And the bottom line of this plan is just this: the glory of God. God does all things for His own glory. Everything that is, was or ever shall be will give glory to God (Psa. 46:10, 145:10). God will reveal His glory when it is time for the great consummation. He will show His glory - glory revealed. He will receive glory reflected back to Him - glory received. God does not share His glory with another (Isa. 42:8, 48:11). Yet He does show His glory in part now and more fully in eternity. He will display the glory of His grace to the elect (Eph. 1:6, 12, 14) and the glory of His wrath to the reprobate (Rom. 9). And this glory will even be revealed to the angels, demons and inanimate objects. To God be glory forever and ever!

Soli Deo Gloria!

The Atonement

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1. Jesus obeyed the Law for Us.

Our Lord Jesus was perfectly innocent, pure and sinless. By obeying the Law of God and never sinning, He was thus uniquely able to provide the only sinless sacrifice to His Father. The O.T. sacrifices could not have any blemishes or faults. Moreover, Christ also obeyed the Law in our stead. We call this the “Active Obedience” of Christ, and also His vicarious obedience. Romans 5 says that the disobedience of Adam brought sin and death into the world; the obedience of Christ brought righteousness and life.

2. Jesus Was Crucified.

He came to die. After 30 years waiting and working, and 3 years of ministry, Christ was betrayed by Judas and was falsely condemned by two unjust trials. God ordained that He die by crucifixion. It was a Roman method, not a Jewish one, and extremely cruel and painful. Jesus was “hung on a tree” (Deut. 21:23, Gal. 3:13), not by ropes but by nails in His hands and feet. It was a public and shameful execution, recorded in all 4 Gospels. Hung up between Heaven and Earth, the Lord Jesus was fastened to the Cross like the animals were tied to the altar in the Temple, for the Cross was His altar. I Pet. 2:24 calls the cross a tree, referring to to Deut. 21:23 and the tree motif in the O.T. (Garden of Eden, etc).

3. Jesus Took our Sins upon Himself.

1 Pet. 2:24 says that Jesus took our sins upon Himself. Isa. 53 says He carried them on Himself like a heavy burden. God laid our sins upon Him, treated Him as if He were the sinner. 2 Cor. 5:21 says that God “made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, so that we could be made the righteousness of God in Him.” This was the first part of what is called the “divine exchange”. Our sins were imputed to Christ; His righteousness is imputed to us. This does not mean that Jesus was literally made sin or a sinner, but treated “as if” He were sin. The second part of this awesome process was that, being made sin, He was then “made a curse for us” (Gal. 3:13). God looked at Him as sin, and the thrice-holy God cursed Him and unleashed the floodgates of divine wrath against Him.

4. Jesus Suffered for Us.

“Christ also suffered for us” (I Pet. 2:21). He suffered the ignominy of not being recognized and worshipped for 33 years. This intensified to the very end. He agonized in Gethsemane, even sweating drops of blood. He was laughed at, mocked, beaten with sticks, whipped. The crucifixion itself was excruciating. But the internal pains were even greater. He suffered the very wrath of God in His soul. He drank the cup of wrath and internalized it. By so doing, His sacrifice was the propitiation that appeased the Father's wrath. It was the only thing that could satisfy all the requirements of the Law. God accepted the sacrifice.

5. Jesus Shed His Blood for Us.

The animal sacrifices in the Temple were types of Christ in several ways: alive and suffering, and shedding blood. But Jesus was no animal - He was a human sacrifice. He shed His blood as a special part of the sacrifice. Without this blood, there could be no atonement or forgiveness (Heb. 9:22). It was sinless, “precious” blood (I Pet. 1:19), infinite in value. One drop alone was worth more than a thousand universes. God gave blood to us to be life in the flesh, and for Christ for sacrifice (Lev. 17:10)

6. Jesus Paid the Price for Our Redemption.

Jesus bought us (I Cor. 6:20). He paid the ransom price to free us from sin and the wrath of God. The price was not paid to Satan, to whom it was not due, but to the Father, whose wrath was over us. Christ “gave His life as a ransom” (Mark 10:45). The price was His life and His death. Our sins incurred an infinite debt, not because they are infinite in number or quality, but because they are committed against an infinitely holy God. We owed an infinite debt, which only the infinite God could pay. But Man must pay it. So God became Man to pay it to Himself. This is the great doctrine re-discovered by Anselm.

7. Jesus Died as a Substitute.

Jesus had no sins of His own, and therefore did not have to die. He would still be alive on Earth today had He not done what He did. But He died in our place. This is called the “vicarious atonement”. He stood in our place, He took what we had coming. And He did this voluntarily. Nobody took His life from Him. He laid it down of His own accord (John 10:18). He could have called down thousands of angels to stop the crucifixion (Matt. 26:53), but He didn't. “Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8).

8. Jesus Died for All Men, But Especially the Elect.

God loves all men, and especially the elect. Just as a husband loves all people but especially His wife, so Christ died for all people but especially His bride. On the one hand, there is a general sense in which Jesus died for all men everywhere (2 Cor. 5:14, 1 Tim. 2:4-6). This is the basis for the free offer of the Gospel. But Jesus also died in a special sense for the elect (Eph. 5:25, John 10:15-18, Isa. 53:8). He died for all, but not equally for all. He made salvation possible for all, but He made it definite for His people in particular. He bought some blessings for all men, and all blessings for some men.

9. Jesus Defeated Satan.

There many aspects of the atonement. In the Godward direction, it was propitiation. It satisfied God's wrath. In the Manward direction, it was expiation. It took away sins. But there was a third aspect. Satanward, it defeated the Devil. Jesus came to die, and His death secured the defeat and overthrow of Satan (Heb. 2:14; 1 John 3:8). It also defeated the demons (Col. 2:14-15). Gen. 3:15 predicted when Christ would crush Satan's head by incurring injury to Himself. He slew the great Dragon and freed the fair maiden, the Church. He overthrew the Prince of Darkness (John 12:31). He did not negotiate with Satan. He resisted all Satan's temptations and tricks, for Satan had nothing in or on Him.

10. Jesus Displayed the Love of God.

No man can show greater love to a friend than by dying for Him (John 15:13). Christ died for His friends while they were still His enemies (Rom. 5:10). “God demonstrates His love for us, in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). Christ showed us just how much He loved us, by dying for us (I John 3:16). This is the greatest display of love imaginable, that God would let His only Son die in the place of enemies (I John 4:9-10; John 3:16). Surely if God loved us enough to give us the greatest gift of all (Christ), then He will give us everything else (Rom. 8:32). Just as the love of God itself in an unfathomable ocean of undeserved goodness, so the work of Christ is awesome and overwhelming. It alone can finally break these hard hearts of ours and melt them into hearts of loving gratitude.

Is Jesus really the only way?

2008-07-22T20:20:00.001-05:00

Is Jesus really the only way? In an environment of such plurality and diversity this really seems an implausible or even arrogant claim of Christians. When confronted with the exclusive claims of Christianity, the question on many people's minds is how can Christians be so narrow as to believe that all non-Christians will be excluded from heaven? There are plenty of good people who are not Christians. Do Christians think they are better than others? So the question often put to Christians is what about a person, a good person who has been good all their life ... will they go to heaven?

Actually, Jesus himself answered this question. When asked by a rich young ruler what must he do to gain eternal life, Jesus answered: "If you want to enter life, obey the commandments" (Matt 19:17). So Jesus himself makes it clear that a good person who obeys all of God's commands would merit or qualify for eternal life. This includes all good people of all time from all nations, peoples, races and languages. The point is that if anyone could obey all God's commandments, they will live (also see Rom 2:6-8). So in answer to the question, yes a good person who has done good all their life would merit eternal life. The Scripture declares, however, that there is no one on earth who fits that description (Rom 3:9-18). There is no one who does not sin when measured against the holiness and majesty of God. That means you ... and that means me ... yes, all of us have utterly failed to follow the law God has given us. Only Jesus Christ alone has obeyed all of God's commands and earned a place at the right hand of God (Hebrews 4:15). You see, it is always important to look at context, for after Jesus tells the rich young ruler, "If you want to enter life, obey the commandments", He then goes on to explain but "With man this is impossible..." (Matt 19:26) So it is very important to note that Jesus teaches that the first prerequisite of eternal life in God, is when by God's grace, we recognize our utter impotence to save ourselves by human effort due to our moral corruption. This slavery we have to our rebellion renders it impossible to obey God's commands. In fact Jesus saved his greatest criticism of people on earth for the Pharisees because they believed and trusted in their own righteousness and moral ability to please God.

So what is Jesus saying here because this is really important? He is saying that in God's economy both moral and immoral people are equally alienated from God. God is equally offended by both. This may be counter-intuitive but moral people are lost because of their "goodness". Why? It is often the case that goodness keeps people from God. In fact many people avoid Jesus by avoiding sin because they are trying to become their own saviors ... attempting to justify themselves. But the gospel is neither moralism nor relativism and so it is equally offensive to the moral and the irreligious. So Christ calls us to repent of both our good and bad works, for we have no righteousness of our own.

If you look to your moral performance as the basis of your relationship with God, then you commit idolatry because inwardly you are setting up self as a false savior which could never be good enough to please God. If we are trusting in being politically active, generous, compassionate, a good parent, a good spouse, or trusting in our moral uprightness or our service to others then we trust in these as our "Saviors". Human beings look everywhere for significance and worth and if we do not trust God provides this in Christ we will fill that void by our own futile attempts. Dr. Tim Keller once wisely said, "Every sin is rooted in the inordinate lust for something which comes because we are trusting in that thing rather than in Christ for our righteousness or salvation. At the moment we sin it is because we are looking to something to give us what only Jesus can give us. Beneath any particular sin is the general sin of rejecting Christ-salvation and indulging in self-salvation."

Christianity differs from all other religions because the gospel is news we declare about what God has done for us. It is not advice on how to live for him. Jesus came to inform us that every human idea about how to reach God is wrong and He shattered every human category. In the gospel "I am accepted through Christ, therefore I obey" while every other religion operates on the principle of "I obey, therefore I am accepted." The principle of 'religion' is the deep default mode of the human heart. Our hearts are never empty because we are always trying to fill it with something that comforts or justifiies us.

As an example of Jesus dislike of people who trusted in their own morality, Jesus said, "If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, 'We see,' your guilt remains." (John 9:41) Those who think God will accept us based on goodness actually understand only part of the truth. Yes, God loves what is good. But since He also loves the truth, we must confess that, in light of God's holy law, we are not good and have woefully failed to do what is pleasing to God, replacing God with worthless self-pleasing idol substitutes, and so we justly deserve to be punished for it. Those who think they have done enough to please God have not understood or considered the seriousness of their condition. John Calvin once said, "Man is never sufficiently touched and affected by the awareness of his lowly state until he has compared himself with God's majesty." In light of the holiness of God all persons, even the best of us, would become undone. This was the case even with the holiest of the saints of the Bible. When it pleased God to reveal himself to them, they fell at his feet as though dead. God created us to enjoy and glorify Him, but humans voluntarily rebelled against God falling into the bondage of the self-centeredness of sin and cannot help themselves out of it.

So the point of the exclusiveness of Christianity is not to show the rest of the unbelieving world that Christians are better or more moral than others. Christians are not better. Rather, the purpose is to communicate that we all share the same alienated condition as human beings and so we bring the gospel as beggars pointing other beggars to the only bread. Jesus does not point to some innate goodness in yourself. You have none. I have none. He is a Savior who comes from the outside to save those who acknowledge themselves sinners in need of a Savior.

To understand this more clearly we must not rely on our opinions. Rather we should simply listen as we let God speak. Let us look and see what Jesus states is the means for obtaining eternal life. First, Jesus makes clear that all the law and the prophets are summarized in just two commandments.

"And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?" And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the prophets." (Matthew 22:35-40)

Next, God makes it clear that in order to gain entrance into His favor one must not fail to obey and keep all of God’s law. “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.” (James 2:10).

"And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" He said to him, "What is written in the Law? How do you read it?" And he answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself." And he said to him, "You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live." (Luke 10:25-28)

But how often have you done this? As I read this and answer honestly, I can only confess that not for a moment do I love God with all my heart of my neighbor as myself. Each day along with the "good" there is the constant reality of pride, self-righteousness, hypocrisy, lust, hatred, covetousness, jealousy, envy and more. The Scripture says, “For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous ( that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.”

(Ephesians 5:5-6 ESV) “For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, "Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them."” (Galatians 3:10 ESV) And the curse described here for violating God’s law is eternal. See Matthew 25:41-46. I must admit, that in light of this, in light of God's perfect standard I am undone.

Why? Because God's holy standard is not graded on a curve but calls us to perfectly obey his law in word and deed. So if you look at God's law, and you are honest, you will become increasingly aware that you fall woefully fall short of having kept any of it. For the purpose of God's law to us is not so that we would see our ability, but that it would reveal our inability, "for through the law comes knowledge of sin." (Rom 3:20).

"But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. He will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury." (Romans 2:5-8) "...when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed."(2 Thessalonians 1:7-9)

Thankfully God has provided a means apart from his law, lest none of us would have hope. But before you see your need for that you need to recognize your hopeless condition in light of God’s standard which is moral perfection for you in light of his holy law. So we implore you on behalf of Christ, take the time to examine yourself; have you ever honored yourself above others, been proud, selfish, put yourself before God, coveted, lusted, lied, envied, stolen, worshipped false gods, hated others, fornicated? If you have committed any of these sins, even in your heart, then, according to the true testimony of Scripture, then judge yourself truly: the just punishment for your sins is to be cast into the lake of fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

"Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.(1 Corinthians 6:9-10)

"...for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death." (Revelation 21:7-8)

Again, the purpose of showing these passages to you is not for me to look down on you from some higher moral ground ... no, I am right there with you. For all persons who call themselves Christians have been guilty of of the same. So if you have committed any of the above sins, you are not alone. But it is necessary that your true condition before God is revealed, that no one (not you, not me) is capable of keeping God’s law through their own effort. There is not a just man on earth who has never sinned for none is righteous, not even one. If by reading God's law you see that you see you are guilty of breaking it, then this is very good. God is working in you.
But now we have a very serious dilemma. If all who do not keep the law of God are to receive just punishment, then the entire human race has no hope of doing anything to please God and we are all without hope of helping ourselves. We are morally unfit for the task. There is no way to free ourselves from this cursed bondage so that we might live. Who will help us?

God resolved the dilemma by coming to earth Himself in the person of Jesus Christ who lived the life we should have lived and died the death we deserve. "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." (2 Cor 5:21) Jesus humbled himself to become a human being, suffered for sinners the stripes we deserve. He endured on behalf of all his people who would call on his name.

If you are a sinner who acknowledges that you justly deserve the wrath of God save for Christ’s mercy ... if you place your trust in Jesus alone who died for sinners and whom God rose from the dead, then God counts His perfectly righteous life as your own. Having no righteousness of your own by sheer grace, he grants to you the perfectly righteous life of Jesus, who justly bore the full wrath of God for your sin. So if you have renounced all self-sufficiency and flee to Him knowing you need mercy, then He not only forgives your sins but adopts you as his very own child. To those who believe, Jesus has redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.

"But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith."
What we learn from all this is that, apart from Him, we can do nothing. If the Spirit of Christ has opened your heart to place faith in Jesus Christ we must acknowledge that salvation is all of the Lord, not of yourselves. "But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God." (Galatians 4:3-7)

What about faith? Where does one get it? Are some more wise? Do some persons choose Christ because they are more sensitive to spiritual things than others? no. Jesus taught that no one can believe in Him unless it is granted through the gracious work of the Holy Spirit (John 6:63-54) and all persons so granted will believe (John 6:37). therefore the Bible plainly teaches that faith is the gift of God. God requires all persons to believe the gospel. It is his command, but since no one by nature is inclined to do so, God has mercy on those He came to save.

To Summarize:
Man was created to glorify God & Enjoy Him forever
"Worthy are you, our Lord and our God to receive glory and honor and power, for You created all things." (Rev 4:11) "Do all to the glory of God" (1 Cor 10:31)

Man has failed to glorify God & is under His just condemnation
"For all have sinned..." (Rom 3:23) The wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23) "These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction" (2 Thes 1:9)

Jesus fully bore the wrath and suffered the punishment sinners deserve
Not wishing that sinners perish forever, God determined to save a people for Himself in the Eternal Son who became a man and lived the life we should have lived and died the death we justly deserve. God loves sinners and sent Son to the wrath absorbing sacrifice for their sin (1 John 4:10; John 6:37) he "...gave His life as a ransom for many" (Mk 10:45) & "rose again" from the dead (2 Cor 5:15) on their behalf.

All who, by the grace of God, turn to Jesus in repent submissive faith are forgiven
& begin a life-changing, eternally satisfying relationship with God! "Repent and believe the gospel (Mk 1:5) "In Your presnece is fullness of Joy (Ps 16:11)

Why is there NO CROSS on the Mormon Church?

2008-07-22T09:53:00.000-05:00

You may have noticed that Mormon temples are normally adorned with a golden angel rather than a cross. The fact is, crosses are never used on any Mormon buildings. Strangely enough, Mormon leaders have often pointed to the Garden of Gethsemane as the place where Christ’s atonement took place.

In the April 2005 issue of the official LDS magazine Ensign, Mormon President Gordon Hinckley told the story of a question he received from a Protestant minister who was invited to attend the open house of the newly renovated Mesa (AZ) temple. "I've been all though this building, this temple which carries on its face the name of Jesus Christ,” the minister said, “but nowhere have I seen any representation of the cross, the symbol of Christianity. I have noted your building elsewhere and likewise find an absence of the cross. Why is this when you say you believe in Jesus Christ?”

Hinckley’s answer was not at all unlike answers I have heard from Mormons for years. “For us,” Hinckley responded, “the cross is a symbol of the dying Christ, while our message is a declaration of the living Christ.”

I find Hinckley’s comment problematic for a number of reasons. First of all, the comparison he draws makes it seem as if Christians who see a great deal of significance in the cross fail, in some degree, to grasp the significance of Christ’s resurrection.

The resurrection is indeed a very important aspect of the Christian faith for it validates Christ’s role as Messiah. As Paul noted in 1 Corinthians 15:14, if Christ is not raised, our faith is worthless.

Nowhere do we find any implication in the New Testament that the cross should somehow be minimized because Christ rose from the dead. There is certainly room to remember the importance of both. The fact is, these two events go hand in hand since there can’t be a resurrection without a death. Why Mormons such as Hinckley hold that the memory of the cross must be given a back seat in order to draw attention to the resurrection is puzzling since the evidence clearly shows how the cross was a major theme in the New Testament.

In his article, Hinckley states that “the lives of our people must become the most meaningful expression of our faith and the symbol of our worship.” Does Hinckley imply that having the cross as our symbol somehow takes away from a Christian’s desire to live a life that strives to reflect the holiness of Christ? If so, I must once again strongly object.

Reading this article, one might draw the conclusion that Mormons have no symbols unique to their faith. This, of course, is far from the truth. Anybody who has visited Salt Lake City will quickly notice that Mormon symbols are found throughout the downtown area. Probably its best known symbol is the angel Moroni. Ironically, this trumpet-blowing effigy stands in the same place a Christian cross would probably stand if LDS temples were Christian churches.

Beehives, moonstones, sunstones, the all-seeing eye, and Masonic “grips” are in abundance on the temple in Salt Lake City, and while Mormons are quick to distance themselves from the cross, they have no problem defending the numerous five-pointed pentagrams used as decorations on both the Salt Lake City and Nauvoo temple.

I personally wish Mormons gave closer heed to the cross; in doing so they may discover more fully why Christians see this as an important symbol that reminds us of all that was accomplished through Christ’s suffering on behalf of the believer. It is the suffering of Christ that gives real meaning to the resurrection, for it allows us to see why the resurrection is as important as it is. But what exactly did his suffering and death on the cross accomplish? Consider this:

Romans 5:9 – The shedding of His blood on the cross makes being justified before an all-holy God a present reality. No longer must we wonder if we will ever be “good enough.”

Romans 8:34 – His death resulted in us having One who intercedes on our behalf before the Father.

1 Corinthians 5:7 – As the sacrificed Passover Lamb, Christ enables us to get rid of the contamination of sin of malice and wickedness and embrace sincerity and truth.

Galatians 3:13 – Christ’s death on the cross redeemed us from the curse of the Law, a system by which no sinful human could ever be justified.

Colossian 1:22 – Through the death of Christ’s physical body, those of us who were at one time alienated and enemies of God are now reconciled and made holy in His sight without blemish and free from accusation.

Colossians 2:13 – Nailed to the cross was the promised cancellation of the written code with its regulations that condemned us, resulting in the forgiveness of not some but all our sins.

Colossians 2:15 – Christ’s death on the cross triumphed over Satan and his demonic influences by depriving them of their powers and authority.

Hebrews 2:14 – By His death Jesus frees those were once held in slavery by the fear of death. The bondage brought about by the thought of death no longer has a hold on us. Death’s sting has been removed.

Hebrews 9:14 – Whereas the regular sacrifices of bulls and goats had no power to take away sins or clear a worshipper’s conscience, Christ’s death, offered once for all, serves dual purposes: it cleanses the conscience of the believer and takes away his sin, and it also enables him to serve the living God.

Hebrews 10:14 – Most adherents of other religions struggle to please their particular deities. However, Christ’s sacrifice by itself allows His people to become perfect. The anxiety of striving to be “good enough” has been taken away, allowing us to rest completely in His finished completed work.

In John 15:13, Jesus pointed to His future death as His great of love for His people: “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”

In Galatians 6:14, the Apostle Paul certainly didn’t seem to share the same hesitancy as Gordon Hinckley: “But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.” Nowhere can we find Paul shirking from being associated with the cross.

Christians should feel no shame when they emphasize the cross for their redemption. Paul clearly reminded the believers that “when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commends his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:6-8).

In his tract titled Calvary, John Charles Ryle, a well-respected bishop in the Church of England during the 19th century, summed it up well when he wrote:

“Would I know the fullness and completeness of the salvation God has provided for sinners? Where shall I see it most distinctly? Shall I go to the general declarations in the Bible about God's mercy? Shall I rest in the general truth that God is a God of love? Oh, no! I will look at the crucifixion at Calvary. I find no evidence like that: I find no balm for a sore conscience and a troubled heart like the sight of Jesus dying for me on the accursed tree. There I see that a full payment has been made for all my enormous debts.

“The curse of that law which I have broken, has come down on One who there suffered in my stead; the demands of that law are all satisfied: payment has been made for me even to the uttermost farthing. It will not be required twice over. Ah, I might sometimes imagine I was too bad to be forgiven; my own heart sometimes whispers that I am too wicked to be saved. But I know in my better moments this is all my foolish unbelief; I read an answer to my doubts in the blood shed on Calvary. I feel sure that there is a way to heaven for the very vilest of men, when I look at the cross.”

What to Do in the Gray Areas

2008-07-21T18:06:00.001-05:00

Will it benefit me spiritually?
All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful, but not all things edify. (1 Cor. 10:23)
A "profitable" thing is useful, helpful, or to your advantage to do; and the idea behind "edify" is to build up spiritually. So based on this verse, ask yourself, "Will doing this enhance my spiritual life? Will it cultivate godliness? Will it build me up spiritually?" If not, you should seriously question whether that behavior is the best choice.

Will it bring bondage?
All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything. (1 Cor. 6:12) In the second part of this verse, Paul is saying, "I will not be brought under the power of anything." If what you are considering can be habit forming, why pursue it? Don't allow yourself to be in bondage to anything or anyone. You are a bond-servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, and Him alone.

Will it defile God's temple?
Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body. (1 Cor. 6:19-20)
Don't do anything that you know will harm your body or bring shame–it is the only instrument you have to glorify God. Romans 6:13 says, "Present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God." How you choose to use your body should always reflect your concern to honor Jesus Christ.

Will it cause anyone to stumble?
Food will not commend us to God; we are neither the worse if we do not eat, nor the better if we do eat. But take care lest this liberty of yours somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. (1 Cor. 8:8-9)
This is the principle of love. As Romans 13:10 says: "Love does no wrong to a neighbor; love therefore is the fulfillment of the law." If you know that your choice–what you consider "in bounds" and approved–causes another Christian to stumble and sin, love that brother or sister enough to restrict your own freedom. That is not very popular in our self-absorbed society, but it is biblical. To continue to indulge in a legitimate freedom that causes problems for another Christian is a sin. For "by sinning against the brethren and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore," Paul said, "if food causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again, that I might not cause my brother to stumble." (1 Cor. 8:12-13)

Will it further the cause of evangelism?
Give no offense either to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God; just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of the many, that they may be saved (1 Cor. 10:32-33).
Whether you are aware of it, what you allow or disallow in your behavior affects your witness for Christ–and the world is watching. It's an issue of testimony–what your life says about God. Your testimony either tells the truth about God, or it tells a lie. The choices you make in the "gray" areas should reflect your concern not to bring offense to God's reputation but to bring Him praise instead.
Will it violate my conscience?
He who doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and whatever is not from faith is sin (Rom. 14:23).
First Corinthians 10:25 29 contains three references to abstaining from a certain practice "for conscience sake." Never train yourself to violate your conscience. If your conscience is troubled by what you consider, don't do it. If you aren't sure about it, don't do it. It is hard to overstate the value of a clean conscience, but it is worth keeping your conscience clear so that your relationship to God will not be hindered. If you'll keep yourself in prayer and the study of God's Word, you will inform your conscience so you can "walk as children of light...finding out what is acceptable to the Lord" (Eph. 5:8, 10).

Will it bring glory to God?
Therefore, whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31).
That verse is clearly both the summary and the goal of all the principles I've shared. Isn't our heart's cry to glorify our Lord and Savior with our lives? Think about your decision–Will He be glorified, honored, and praised through it? May we say along with Jesus, "I glorified You on the earth." (John 17:4)
So what questions do you have? Run them through the principles above and enjoy your freedom in Christ – the freedom to be what He created you to be!