Why am I writing this? I write because this is a problem question that will not go away. As a believer, as a pastor, issues and questions related to the popular charismatic movement(s) resurface again and again.
These issues encompass everything from parents denying children medication because of their great faith in God's purported desire to work a miracle if they have enough faith to people getting a fresh word from God regarding His will for their lives or the lives of others. Sometimes the matter seems benign; sometimes the matter is not so benign.
Complicating matters more is the diversity of the charismatic movement. There is no one single leader or theology. Thus, it is difficult to discuss charismaticism. One must instead generally address charismaticisms.
There are already many fine works on the topic. The question invariably arises, "Then why add to the body of work that already exists?" The answer is simply: Love. I do so out of love for God, His church invisible, and the local church which He has loaned me for a season.
Ultimately, I write this as a pastor to the people I love. It is certain others have covered the topic better than I (and in a more gracious, winsome, and capable way). Nevertheless, I am compelled to combine the many letters and questions I have answered over the course of several years for the good of and edification of the people I love at Bethel Baptist Church, in Green Bay, as well as those whom I have ministered to previously.
PS: I will post again on or before July 8th!
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Thursday, March 01, 2007
So, who created sin?
God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts. By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done (Genesis 1:31-2:2).
I am asked from time to time about the problem of evil. From whence did it come? Did God create evil? We know that all God created before He ceased creation as individually good and collectively described as very good, according to God's perfect standard, in Genesis 1:31 through Genesis 2:2. We also know that God isn't tempted by evil nor does God tempt anyone (James 1:13). God is not the author of evil.
So... how was evil created? Think about this question. Examine it more closely. Is evil a thing? Is sin a thing?
Let's look at it another way. What is thirst? Is thirst the absence of sufficient quantities of water in the body which triggers a reaction in the brain telling us to acquire more water? Thirst is the want of water, the lack of water. Thirst comes from the absence of water in some way shape or form.
Now, what's a simple definition of sin. Sin is violating God's will. Where is God's will found? It is found in God's word (His known will). So, anything we do outside of God's will is sin. When we steal we sin. When we fail to visit the widows and the orphans in their distress and keep ourselves unstained by the world we sin (James 1: 27). Sin is lack of conformity to God's will. When we do what we know is wrong we sin. When we know the right thing to do and do not do it we sin (James 4:17).
God created the angelic beings and mankind with the ability to think and choose. Moreso than with the angels, He created man in His own image and likeness. We are free moral agents. Before the fall we had abilities we lack today (apart from God's intervening grace). But as free moral agents we had the ability to choose to do things that were outside our pre-fall nature. When we utilized those abilities outside of God's will we sinned.
All God created was indeed very good. Sin is the nullification of that once pure condition. It is a vacuum in which there is no goodness. Sin is wrong, it is evil, and it is the absence of good. It's not a rock, or a tree. It's not a substance---it's a lack of obedience. Sin is the lack of something, not the existence of something.
God did not create sin. He created free moral agents whom He gave the ability to make choices. We created evil, so to speak, when we engaged in relationship nullifying activities by doing things that lacked goodness. In as much as a deep sea diver removes his air supply and dies, Adam severed the life line of pure fellowship maintained through his obedient compliance with God's good and perfect will when he decided to do things that lacked conformity to God's will.
Having engaged in self-vandalism and in spiritual self-mutilation, mankind's nature was altered and he was unable to do that which was outside of his nature---live righteously, or restore himself to righteousness. Thus, God had to take the initiative to restore mankind to this relationship.
Once we are saved and receive the Holy Spirit when we are born again, we, despite our sin contaminated nature, have restore ability to choose behaviors outside of that nature--righteous living. We are no longer completely disabled spiritual invalids. We have been rehabilitated and will be completely restored when we die, or when Christ returns, whichever comes first. God has put a new heart in us, a new desire, and His Spirit and we are able to walk in His commands and we become careful, more careful, to observe His ordinances (Ezekiel 36:26ff). The Spirit is the guarantee and down payment of our final redemption and renovation.
However, apart from this initial restoration, we lack a desire for God. And the lack of such a desire is the vacuum that evil is---the absence of good not the addition of some substance. In a manner of speaking evil, or sin, is like the absence of a chromosome not the addition of some type of spiritual-genetic information. It's like spiritual entropy. We lost something, something is absent.
Now, we might be tempted to say something about Adam and Eve and what they've done to us. But look at the last month of your life and the sins you've originated even as a Christian. Do you think you would have done better (we can talk about the sin of pride later)?
I am asked from time to time about the problem of evil. From whence did it come? Did God create evil? We know that all God created before He ceased creation as individually good and collectively described as very good, according to God's perfect standard, in Genesis 1:31 through Genesis 2:2. We also know that God isn't tempted by evil nor does God tempt anyone (James 1:13). God is not the author of evil.
So... how was evil created? Think about this question. Examine it more closely. Is evil a thing? Is sin a thing?
Let's look at it another way. What is thirst? Is thirst the absence of sufficient quantities of water in the body which triggers a reaction in the brain telling us to acquire more water? Thirst is the want of water, the lack of water. Thirst comes from the absence of water in some way shape or form.
Now, what's a simple definition of sin. Sin is violating God's will. Where is God's will found? It is found in God's word (His known will). So, anything we do outside of God's will is sin. When we steal we sin. When we fail to visit the widows and the orphans in their distress and keep ourselves unstained by the world we sin (James 1: 27). Sin is lack of conformity to God's will. When we do what we know is wrong we sin. When we know the right thing to do and do not do it we sin (James 4:17).
God created the angelic beings and mankind with the ability to think and choose. Moreso than with the angels, He created man in His own image and likeness. We are free moral agents. Before the fall we had abilities we lack today (apart from God's intervening grace). But as free moral agents we had the ability to choose to do things that were outside our pre-fall nature. When we utilized those abilities outside of God's will we sinned.
All God created was indeed very good. Sin is the nullification of that once pure condition. It is a vacuum in which there is no goodness. Sin is wrong, it is evil, and it is the absence of good. It's not a rock, or a tree. It's not a substance---it's a lack of obedience. Sin is the lack of something, not the existence of something.
God did not create sin. He created free moral agents whom He gave the ability to make choices. We created evil, so to speak, when we engaged in relationship nullifying activities by doing things that lacked goodness. In as much as a deep sea diver removes his air supply and dies, Adam severed the life line of pure fellowship maintained through his obedient compliance with God's good and perfect will when he decided to do things that lacked conformity to God's will.
Having engaged in self-vandalism and in spiritual self-mutilation, mankind's nature was altered and he was unable to do that which was outside of his nature---live righteously, or restore himself to righteousness. Thus, God had to take the initiative to restore mankind to this relationship.
Once we are saved and receive the Holy Spirit when we are born again, we, despite our sin contaminated nature, have restore ability to choose behaviors outside of that nature--righteous living. We are no longer completely disabled spiritual invalids. We have been rehabilitated and will be completely restored when we die, or when Christ returns, whichever comes first. God has put a new heart in us, a new desire, and His Spirit and we are able to walk in His commands and we become careful, more careful, to observe His ordinances (Ezekiel 36:26ff). The Spirit is the guarantee and down payment of our final redemption and renovation.
However, apart from this initial restoration, we lack a desire for God. And the lack of such a desire is the vacuum that evil is---the absence of good not the addition of some substance. In a manner of speaking evil, or sin, is like the absence of a chromosome not the addition of some type of spiritual-genetic information. It's like spiritual entropy. We lost something, something is absent.
Now, we might be tempted to say something about Adam and Eve and what they've done to us. But look at the last month of your life and the sins you've originated even as a Christian. Do you think you would have done better (we can talk about the sin of pride later)?
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
The Power of Prayer? Prayer has no Power!
"Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10)."
I've been noticing a number of articles appearing in magazines and in other media on "the power of prayer." What I am about to write may confuse some. Before you react think about what I am saying. It isn't controversial but a careless skim might lead you in the wrong direction.
I recently read an article (I think in Reader's Digest) on medical doctors' high view on the benefits of prayer. As I read the article I marveled how our culture so easily misses the boat. The article talked about a study made in connection with numbers of people from different faiths (not different denominations) who regularly prayed and enjoyed "measurably better health." I later read a separate article discussing how candidates for surgery enjoyed a better recovery if they regularly prayed.
What struck me was that both articles seemed to bend over backwards to avoid any reference to God. The emphasis was indeed on spirituality; however, it appears the spirituality was of a kind that was devoid of any specificity as it pertained to definition of any particular type of belief system.
Let me cut to the chase. There is no power in prayer, per se. The power is not in our good intentions. The power is in the object of prayer. You can pray to your Siamese, you can pray to allah, buddah, or your totem pole; however, that prayer is falling on powerless, inanimate, or dead ears---which are always deaf.
Prayer only matters when it is directed as an act of expressed dependence upon the only true and all wise God---the God of the Bible, the Triune God. And the power resides not in the prayer but the "Prayee."
Consider the significance of these words: "Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10)." Prayer to God, Christian prayer, has powerful results because of the omnipotence of God. Through this act of worship, He changes our perspective as well as our appetites (when He says "no"), He encourages us to seek His will further (particularly when the answer is "yes"), He grows our patience (when the answer is "wait"). He reminds us through Jesus' words here in the Sermon on the Mount that God is not a bell hop waiting to jump at our command or a genie ready to grant the first of many wishes. When Jesus teaches us to pray its all about God ---"Thy will be done..." it's all about requesting and imploring--give us this day our daily bread... deliver us from evil... Prayer is an impotent request directed at the Omnipotent God. And He alone is power. Prayer to the wrong god...no power... you might feel good for a while but eventually you wind up in hell if you never come to Christ.
His is the power and the glory eternally and forever... And when we get prayer right, we are blessed by being in harmony with His will and becoming instruments of His sovereign grace.
I've been noticing a number of articles appearing in magazines and in other media on "the power of prayer." What I am about to write may confuse some. Before you react think about what I am saying. It isn't controversial but a careless skim might lead you in the wrong direction.
I recently read an article (I think in Reader's Digest) on medical doctors' high view on the benefits of prayer. As I read the article I marveled how our culture so easily misses the boat. The article talked about a study made in connection with numbers of people from different faiths (not different denominations) who regularly prayed and enjoyed "measurably better health." I later read a separate article discussing how candidates for surgery enjoyed a better recovery if they regularly prayed.
What struck me was that both articles seemed to bend over backwards to avoid any reference to God. The emphasis was indeed on spirituality; however, it appears the spirituality was of a kind that was devoid of any specificity as it pertained to definition of any particular type of belief system.
Let me cut to the chase. There is no power in prayer, per se. The power is not in our good intentions. The power is in the object of prayer. You can pray to your Siamese, you can pray to allah, buddah, or your totem pole; however, that prayer is falling on powerless, inanimate, or dead ears---which are always deaf.
Prayer only matters when it is directed as an act of expressed dependence upon the only true and all wise God---the God of the Bible, the Triune God. And the power resides not in the prayer but the "Prayee."
Consider the significance of these words: "Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10)." Prayer to God, Christian prayer, has powerful results because of the omnipotence of God. Through this act of worship, He changes our perspective as well as our appetites (when He says "no"), He encourages us to seek His will further (particularly when the answer is "yes"), He grows our patience (when the answer is "wait"). He reminds us through Jesus' words here in the Sermon on the Mount that God is not a bell hop waiting to jump at our command or a genie ready to grant the first of many wishes. When Jesus teaches us to pray its all about God ---"Thy will be done..." it's all about requesting and imploring--give us this day our daily bread... deliver us from evil... Prayer is an impotent request directed at the Omnipotent God. And He alone is power. Prayer to the wrong god...no power... you might feel good for a while but eventually you wind up in hell if you never come to Christ.
His is the power and the glory eternally and forever... And when we get prayer right, we are blessed by being in harmony with His will and becoming instruments of His sovereign grace.
Jesus' Tomb? Yeah, Right!
Here we have our hoax du jour. Even the liberal scholars aren't buying this one. However, like all assaults on truth (post modern, liberal, emergent, etc...) it gets headlines. There's a lot I could write. But I've got a class to teach on Church History this Saturday and a sermon to preach on Sunday. And since I'm technologically challenged, instead of a nice colored link that is text with a hyperlink, I'll post the address of a good article and website from you to visit.
http://www.sfpulpit.com/2007/02/27/dont-lose-any-sleep-over-jesus-lost-tomb/
It is also helpful to note that the researchers that James Cameron is utilizing have some connection to the previous hoax on finding James' bone box. Don't waste much time worrying about this one.
http://www.sfpulpit.com/2007/02/27/dont-lose-any-sleep-over-jesus-lost-tomb/
It is also helpful to note that the researchers that James Cameron is utilizing have some connection to the previous hoax on finding James' bone box. Don't waste much time worrying about this one.
Saturday, January 13, 2007
Green Bay Pastor Learns Secrets of Real Estate Sales
At the moment I am trying to sell my home so that I can live in closer proximity to the God's church where I serve as a pastor. Home sales have cooled off everywhere and Wisconsin is no exception. By His grace my present home is in an advantageous location. Nevertheless a slower market is indeed a slower market. We are in a slow market.
Good news has come to me from an unlikely source. Through the family of a Roman catholic priest in Pulaski, Wisconsin, I have learned that if I purchase and bury a statue of St. Francis upside down my home will see more quickly. Imagine my relief! Since learning this "trick" I was informed that I could receive a double blessing by angling St. Francis toward the direction of the home I wish to purchase. Doing so, apparently, will really speed things up!
When I think back over the nearly 2 decades of working in real estate and real estate related industries, plus the years in seminary, not to mention the years in the pastorate---I still marvel at the lessons to be learned. I never cease to be amazed.
Now that the Roman church has the real estate game done solid, perhaps they will get their soteriology straight (Romans 10:9 and 10; Ephesians 2:8-9).
But really, we should grieve (and I do) for the superstition that attends the Roman religion. I'm reminded that Wiclyffe was approached by a peasant in his district about the fire flies his wife saw at night. It seems a local priest had told her these were the souls of unabaptized babies looking for heaven but unable to find it. Her child had been still-born and they could not afford the baptism fee that the local priests charged. Thus, the little one had been buried unbaptized. The mother's grief was only assuaged when Wiclyffe, a doctor of theology in the church (before he was called a heretic) assured her God's word taught no such thing.
Grieve for those in bondage to catholicism.
Good news has come to me from an unlikely source. Through the family of a Roman catholic priest in Pulaski, Wisconsin, I have learned that if I purchase and bury a statue of St. Francis upside down my home will see more quickly. Imagine my relief! Since learning this "trick" I was informed that I could receive a double blessing by angling St. Francis toward the direction of the home I wish to purchase. Doing so, apparently, will really speed things up!
When I think back over the nearly 2 decades of working in real estate and real estate related industries, plus the years in seminary, not to mention the years in the pastorate---I still marvel at the lessons to be learned. I never cease to be amazed.
Now that the Roman church has the real estate game done solid, perhaps they will get their soteriology straight (Romans 10:9 and 10; Ephesians 2:8-9).
But really, we should grieve (and I do) for the superstition that attends the Roman religion. I'm reminded that Wiclyffe was approached by a peasant in his district about the fire flies his wife saw at night. It seems a local priest had told her these were the souls of unabaptized babies looking for heaven but unable to find it. Her child had been still-born and they could not afford the baptism fee that the local priests charged. Thus, the little one had been buried unbaptized. The mother's grief was only assuaged when Wiclyffe, a doctor of theology in the church (before he was called a heretic) assured her God's word taught no such thing.
Grieve for those in bondage to catholicism.
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Thoughts On New Year's and "Resolutions"
When I think of the New Year's holiday and all that it brings with it in the secular sense, I'm reminded of the futility of a life lived without God in Christ. For many New Year's is a reminder of dashed expectations, unmet (perceived) needs, and even anger. Many find themselves 10 pounds heavier, another year older, and profoundly disatisfied with the gods with whom they have occupied their time. The carnal mind never receives the attention and recognition it "feels" it deserves, no career offers true satisfaction, and thankless hearts tend to think about what they do not have, as opposed to being grateful for all they do have.
What is the key to having a better new year than the previous old year? Perhaps the best advice comes from a man who was the richest and the brightest and the most accomplished man who may have ever lived (that wasn't born of a virgin): King Solomon.
Solomon had everything going for him but pursued the gifts he'd received absent God. His autobiography is found in the book of Ecclesiastes, written toward the end of his life. He had indulged every lust he had, pursued wisdom for wisdom's sake (not God's glory), amassed great wealth, and abandoned the God of his fathers (the real and true God).
At the end of his life he realized he'd squandered the blessings of God through worldly pursuits and self-absorption. His life, as we know, began with great promise but his abandonment of the true God sowed the seeds for the destruction of his dynasty (but not David's) and the tearing apart of unified Israel.
Reading his autobiography (Ecclesiastes) we sense his realization of the futility of his life lived apart from God when Solomon writes (after having decried his life's futility--vanity, vanity, all is vanity):
Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 13 The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. 14 For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.
He gives wise counsel that can be reduced to three fundamentals for living for Him at a higher level in the coming new year... Let's consider his advice.
Fear God. The Hebrew word here (for fear) has to do with fear as we know it but is also loaded with the concept of "awe." If we truly know Him, we can't help but stand in awe of Him, fearing Him who created the worlds with a word and who can kill body and soul. As you contemplate the "bigness" of God, spend a little time in Psalm 139--this might increase your "awe" if not your "fear." As you live this year for Him, in response to all that He is, standing in awe of Him, this will produces a desire to live for Him and understand Him by understanding the Scriptures and all He has called you to (in them).
Keep His Commmands. Jesus said in John 14:15, "If you love me then you will keep my commandments." The awe of God, the honorable fear and respect of the Most High, leads to a loving devotion and gratefulness that should compel us to obey Him. The word "keep" here in the Hebrew has the sense of "be attentative to." We are to be attentive to God's will (found expressed in His commands in Scripture). However, we cannot practice what we do not know. Therefore, let us dwell upon His word "day and night" and seek to do what is written in the pages of Scripture (Joshua 1:8). Loving obedience to our awesome God will compel us to study His word that we might keep it ("Thy word I have hidden in my heart that I might not sin against you..."). This is God's expectation of all men isn't it.
Know that God sees all. God will bring every act to judgment, whether it is good or evil. There are positive and negative connotations to this for sinners (saved and unsaved). Certainly there is a downside, humanly speaking. God sees all things and evaluated them all through His attributes of omnipresence and omniscience. No sin escapes His scrutiny. However, there is a tremendous blessing to derive from this as well. The God who looks at the heart and knows at word before it is on our tongue, who knows our thoughts from afar---and who knows are needs before we ask---and who knows that our frames are as dust, understands our struggles. After all He loves us and will indeed chasten us as a loving Father does His children. And at the same time He is as quick to bless our attempts to serve Him, regardless of our outward human success. God looks at the heart and a broken and contrite (and faithful) heart He will not despise.
Consider letting these three fundamental ideas guard and govern your heart this year, serving as your compass as you live for Him and set your goals for the coming year in light of Him. Solomon's observations are worth reflection. They are based upon his experience doing it the wrong way but more importantly they are Holy Spirit inspired Scripture and are profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction and instruction in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16) and they will equip us for every good word as we seek to live a meaningful life in His service (2 Timothy 3:17).
Happy New Year. Our Awesome Father has afforded as another year (2006) privileged service before He takes us home. Let us learn from Solomon's mis-steps, our own mistakes, nd from God's Word. Let us strive to love Him and serve Him more in the year to come (2007) make the most of it for His glory and others' good. When all is said and done, let these three fundamentals (fear God, keep His commands; know that God sees all) be our three practices in the coming year and the epitaph on our headstones--he/she feared God; he/she keep His commands; he/she remembered God sees everything.
What is the key to having a better new year than the previous old year? Perhaps the best advice comes from a man who was the richest and the brightest and the most accomplished man who may have ever lived (that wasn't born of a virgin): King Solomon.
Solomon had everything going for him but pursued the gifts he'd received absent God. His autobiography is found in the book of Ecclesiastes, written toward the end of his life. He had indulged every lust he had, pursued wisdom for wisdom's sake (not God's glory), amassed great wealth, and abandoned the God of his fathers (the real and true God).
At the end of his life he realized he'd squandered the blessings of God through worldly pursuits and self-absorption. His life, as we know, began with great promise but his abandonment of the true God sowed the seeds for the destruction of his dynasty (but not David's) and the tearing apart of unified Israel.
Reading his autobiography (Ecclesiastes) we sense his realization of the futility of his life lived apart from God when Solomon writes (after having decried his life's futility--vanity, vanity, all is vanity):
Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 13 The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. 14 For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.
He gives wise counsel that can be reduced to three fundamentals for living for Him at a higher level in the coming new year... Let's consider his advice.
Fear God. The Hebrew word here (for fear) has to do with fear as we know it but is also loaded with the concept of "awe." If we truly know Him, we can't help but stand in awe of Him, fearing Him who created the worlds with a word and who can kill body and soul. As you contemplate the "bigness" of God, spend a little time in Psalm 139--this might increase your "awe" if not your "fear." As you live this year for Him, in response to all that He is, standing in awe of Him, this will produces a desire to live for Him and understand Him by understanding the Scriptures and all He has called you to (in them).
Keep His Commmands. Jesus said in John 14:15, "If you love me then you will keep my commandments." The awe of God, the honorable fear and respect of the Most High, leads to a loving devotion and gratefulness that should compel us to obey Him. The word "keep" here in the Hebrew has the sense of "be attentative to." We are to be attentive to God's will (found expressed in His commands in Scripture). However, we cannot practice what we do not know. Therefore, let us dwell upon His word "day and night" and seek to do what is written in the pages of Scripture (Joshua 1:8). Loving obedience to our awesome God will compel us to study His word that we might keep it ("Thy word I have hidden in my heart that I might not sin against you..."). This is God's expectation of all men isn't it.
Know that God sees all. God will bring every act to judgment, whether it is good or evil. There are positive and negative connotations to this for sinners (saved and unsaved). Certainly there is a downside, humanly speaking. God sees all things and evaluated them all through His attributes of omnipresence and omniscience. No sin escapes His scrutiny. However, there is a tremendous blessing to derive from this as well. The God who looks at the heart and knows at word before it is on our tongue, who knows our thoughts from afar---and who knows are needs before we ask---and who knows that our frames are as dust, understands our struggles. After all He loves us and will indeed chasten us as a loving Father does His children. And at the same time He is as quick to bless our attempts to serve Him, regardless of our outward human success. God looks at the heart and a broken and contrite (and faithful) heart He will not despise.
Consider letting these three fundamental ideas guard and govern your heart this year, serving as your compass as you live for Him and set your goals for the coming year in light of Him. Solomon's observations are worth reflection. They are based upon his experience doing it the wrong way but more importantly they are Holy Spirit inspired Scripture and are profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction and instruction in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16) and they will equip us for every good word as we seek to live a meaningful life in His service (2 Timothy 3:17).
Happy New Year. Our Awesome Father has afforded as another year (2006) privileged service before He takes us home. Let us learn from Solomon's mis-steps, our own mistakes, nd from God's Word. Let us strive to love Him and serve Him more in the year to come (2007) make the most of it for His glory and others' good. When all is said and done, let these three fundamentals (fear God, keep His commands; know that God sees all) be our three practices in the coming year and the epitaph on our headstones--he/she feared God; he/she keep His commands; he/she remembered God sees everything.
Saturday, December 23, 2006
Christmas-Advent Thoughts
The beginning of John chapter 1 reads...
In the beginning was the Word and was with God and the Word was God... and as we learn all the Word has to offer, we come to this starting statement in John 1:14... "and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us..."
Anyone who has even a passing familiarity with the first chapter of John's gospel knows that the Holy Spirit is speaking of Jesus Christ...
In the beginning was Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ was with God (along side God) and Jesus Christ (always) was God ... and Jesus Christ became flesh and dwelt among us...
Who was that babe in the manger... He was no oridinary babe... nor did He later become simply another dead religious leader, we do not worship a babe in a manger nor do we idolize a dead man on a cross...
We worship God, who came in the flesh, the fullness of deity in bodily form (Colossians 2:9), the Creator of heaven and earth (John 1:1-3; Colossians 1:16-17; Genesis 1:1; Hebrews 1:3) who temporarily laid aside some of His glory to come to earth and die for our sins on a cross (Philippians 2:5-10), the Door to eternal life, the Good Shepherd, who not only laid down His life for His sheep, but took it up again (all freely and willingly and in obedience to the Father's will--cf. John 10:1-18).
The God who pursue Adam and Eve, the God who came after Abraham, who sent the prophets after Israel, came in pursuit of all mankind...offering eternal to all men freely and incluvisely, but granting it exclusively to those who would surrender their pride and ask Him to save them.
Well did He say, in John 14:6... I am the way, the truth, and the life no one comes to the Father but by Me. Let us all remember the reason for the season and rejoice in our salvation and share the good news with so many who are in need, Sunday Christian, Muslim, Mormon, Catholic, so that they might have eternal life.
In the beginning was the Word and was with God and the Word was God... and as we learn all the Word has to offer, we come to this starting statement in John 1:14... "and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us..."
Anyone who has even a passing familiarity with the first chapter of John's gospel knows that the Holy Spirit is speaking of Jesus Christ...
In the beginning was Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ was with God (along side God) and Jesus Christ (always) was God ... and Jesus Christ became flesh and dwelt among us...
Who was that babe in the manger... He was no oridinary babe... nor did He later become simply another dead religious leader, we do not worship a babe in a manger nor do we idolize a dead man on a cross...
We worship God, who came in the flesh, the fullness of deity in bodily form (Colossians 2:9), the Creator of heaven and earth (John 1:1-3; Colossians 1:16-17; Genesis 1:1; Hebrews 1:3) who temporarily laid aside some of His glory to come to earth and die for our sins on a cross (Philippians 2:5-10), the Door to eternal life, the Good Shepherd, who not only laid down His life for His sheep, but took it up again (all freely and willingly and in obedience to the Father's will--cf. John 10:1-18).
The God who pursue Adam and Eve, the God who came after Abraham, who sent the prophets after Israel, came in pursuit of all mankind...offering eternal to all men freely and incluvisely, but granting it exclusively to those who would surrender their pride and ask Him to save them.
Well did He say, in John 14:6... I am the way, the truth, and the life no one comes to the Father but by Me. Let us all remember the reason for the season and rejoice in our salvation and share the good news with so many who are in need, Sunday Christian, Muslim, Mormon, Catholic, so that they might have eternal life.
Monday, December 18, 2006
Understanding God's Truth (His Word) with Clarity and Precision
"Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth (John 17:17)."
What is truth? Pontius Pilate asked Jesus Christ “what is truth (John 18:38),” during the trial preceding Christ’s crucifixion. The irony is, Pilate, like most in our culture today, was staring truth in the face and didn’t recognize it. Here he was face to face with “truth personified” in Jesus Christ, the living Word of God, the very physical expression of God (Colossians 2:9). Christians today have truth at their disposal and often fail to recognize it. Why? Many choose to be ignorant of God’s word. Many have been poorly taught. Others simply lack belief in God, since their Christianity is more of a cultural identity tag than a real relationship with a real Being, a real personage, Jesus Christ.
What is truth? Pontius Pilate asked Jesus Christ “what is truth (John 18:38),” during the trial preceding Christ’s crucifixion. The irony is, Pilate, like most in our culture today, was staring truth in the face and didn’t recognize it. Here he was face to face with “truth personified” in Jesus Christ, the living Word of God, the very physical expression of God (Colossians 2:9). Christians today have truth at their disposal and often fail to recognize it. Why? Many choose to be ignorant of God’s word. Many have been poorly taught. Others simply lack belief in God, since their Christianity is more of a cultural identity tag than a real relationship with a real Being, a real personage, Jesus Christ.
Can we discover “truth,” or “the truth?” A better question might be: “is truth knowable?” What does Jesus say? Being sanctified in truth, being set apart by truth implies that truth is knowable. Notice what Jesus says in John 17:17: "Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth." Jesus is calling upon His Father to set His followers apart in the truth. He then states “Your word is truth.” God’s word is the means by which Christ’s followers are sanctified. However, if the meaning of God’s word, as some say today, is not knowable with any certainty, then how can it sanctify? The word of God is the means. How can this be?
Is the word of God sufficiently clear to sanctify us in truth? What does God, the Holy Spirit, say?
2 Timothy 3:16-17 16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17 so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.
His word comes from Him. Therefore, (He says) it is useful. What is it useful for? His word is useful for teaching (i.e. belief or doctrine), for reproof (setting our thought patterns in order), for correction (fine tuning and mid-course correction) and instruction in righteousness (for teaching us to live for God). What is the purpose of God’s word? It makes the man of God, a true believer, adequate (able) and equipped (prepared) for every good work (to do God’s will).
Why do we have His word? It is to be our guide, “lamp to my feet… a light to my path (Psalm 119:105). Imagine a tour guide, or a safari guide, who was unable to competently communicate with any degree of certainty that which it was vital for you to know. Imagine a God who lacks good communication skills.
Is His word understandable? Some would argue that with the changes in language and culture, have we lost the ability to understand its meaning. What does God say? Let me point a few simple comments made by the Spirit of God.
1 Peter 1:25 BUT THE WORD OF THE LORD ENDURES FOREVER." And this is the word which was preached to you.
Psalm 19:7-8 7 The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. 8 The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.
God’s word, like God, does not become obsolete (after all it is like Him because it came from Him). Moreover, it saves (restores the soul). It is sure, clear, so clear that it makes even the simple wise (reformers later referred to this as the clarity, or perspicuity, of Scripture). If His word makes the simple wise then it must be understandable and knowable. It is so understandable it rejoices, as opposed to confuses, the heart. It enlightens the eyes. That is to say that our confusing world is made decipherable when we fix our gaze on our surroundings through the lens of Scripture rather than the lens of our senses, or experience. Without the infinite wisdom of the All Wise God, revealed through His clear and understandable Scriptures our finite understanding is not unlike that of a goldfish who thinks the “world” is his “fishbowl (much like naturalists, materialists, and evolutionists today do).”
How wise does God’s word make those who rely on it? What does the Spirit of God say?
Psalm 119:99-104 99 I have more insight than all my teachers, For Your testimonies are my meditation. 100 I understand more than the aged, Because I have observed Your precepts. 101 I have restrained my feet from every evil way, That I may keep Your word. 102 I have not turned aside from Your ordinances, For You Yourself have taught me. 103 How sweet are Your words to my taste! Yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth! 104 From Your precepts I get understanding; Therefore I hate every false way.
The simple are made wise. They gain understanding, more than even their teachers (who presumably lack the same word). They have more understanding than the aged do because they have access to the wisdom of the Ancient of Days. We are told that God teaches us through His word. How can it not be understandable? How can God’s truth not be knowable? In fact, we see His word, understanding and applying it, restrains feet from ever evil way. From His precepts (found in His word) we get understanding! Is God lying?
Is God’s word clear? Can we know its meaning? The Spirit of God says yes. The spirit of the age says no. In whom will you trust? Will you trust in your experience, or in God?
Are some things harder to grasp than others? I suppose a better question is does learning from God require work on our part? The answer is yes. If one digs diligently, then one learns. If one is lazy, his spiritual poverty will come upon him like a thief in the night.
How can mortal men and women understand the profundities of God’s word? Some would say, “what you are saying, Keith, is too simplistic… remember we are sinful people and our understandings have been dulled!” To this a Christian must reply, “What does the Spirit of God say?”
1 Corinthians 2:14-16 14 But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. 15 But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. 16 For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, THAT HE WILL INSTRUCT HIM? But we have the mind of Christ.
Mortal men and women can understand this supernatural truth. If they are born again they have been granted supernatural ability! The Spirit of God illumines our understanding as we read and ponder His word. We have the mind of Christ. Thus, as Spirit filled individuals, we have the ability to appraise truth. The simple are made wise by the Spirit as He illumines His word and, through the understanding we gain, changes our thinking, our hearts, and our ways.
Why are Christians in some circles saying we cannot sufficiently understand Scripture? Why are they insisting or implying that we cannot understand God's word with a any degree of precision that enables us to make dogmatic statements about truth? In our postmodern culture there are culturally contaminated Christians who in an attempt to accommodate the culture express suspicion of anyone claiming to clearly or rightly divide the word of truth.
Their position is untenable on at least two fronts. First, they are dogmatically asserting that they’ve got it right and everybody else has it wrong. They are in effect saying, “while the truth can’t be clearly known, we clearly know that truth cannot be clearly known and what we are saying is the truth, is that clear?” Second, they are confusing the wisdom of man with the wisdom of God. That is to say they are contradicting what the Spirit of God has revealed to His people. They elevate the wisdom of man (i.e. fishbowl wisdom) above the infinite wisdom and power of God to make His truth known. They look at the world through the lens of their finite experience and fail to evaluate the world through the infinite God-breathed lens of Scripture.
Let me challenge you with these thoughts. When modernists today, those repackaged and remarketed as postmodernists, say that truth is essentially unknowable to any degree of certainty---they are saying the following about God, His nature, His character, and His deity. They are asserting that God lacks the sufficient intellectual capacity to communicate with those whom He has made. They are saying that God, the Almighty Creator and Savior, lacks the capacity to do what He set out to do: to make His will clearly known to humanity. They are saying that God is unjust in that He would give us His word and hold us accountable for something He incompetently rendered, leaving us with a confusing rule of faith while demanding conformity to it (blurry as it is). Moreover, in doing so they implicitly say that God is unloving. Finally, they are saying that God really can’t be God because He lacked the ability, desire, power, and foreknowledge to anticipate the changes in language, culture, etc. and failed (or worse chose to fail) to preserve His will (His word) so that it would be rendered understandable to the “advanced” 21st century mind.
Allow me to make these final observations. Many who deny Scripture's clarity claim to be “orthodox.” In fact they claim to adhere to a “generous orthodoxy” that allows for almost any belief that fits or nearly fits into the schema of the Apostles’ Creed, or the Nicene Creed. Their nonsensical thought process is undone by their so-called hermeneutic of humility. From what did the “early church fathers” derive these summary statements of faith? They derived them from the so-called undecipherable Scriptures. Thus, they purport to know what is knowable from a creed that is derived from that which is not sufficiently knowable to make any dogmatic statements about either the Trinity (the word Trinity is not found in the Bible) and the deity of Christ. Perhaps these humble folks should spend a little time reading the opening verses of the Epistle of Jude, where the Spirit of God says the following:
Jude 1-4 Jude, a bond-servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, To those who are the called, beloved in God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ: 2 May mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you. 3 Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints. 4 For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
God’s word is indeed profound so much so that books continue to be written about it. However, as someone wiser than I once said, it is so simple that a child can understand it. Don’t let anyone tell you differently.
Let me challenge you with these thoughts. When modernists today, those repackaged and remarketed as postmodernists, say that truth is essentially unknowable to any degree of certainty---they are saying the following about God, His nature, His character, and His deity. They are asserting that God lacks the sufficient intellectual capacity to communicate with those whom He has made. They are saying that God, the Almighty Creator and Savior, lacks the capacity to do what He set out to do: to make His will clearly known to humanity. They are saying that God is unjust in that He would give us His word and hold us accountable for something He incompetently rendered, leaving us with a confusing rule of faith while demanding conformity to it (blurry as it is). Moreover, in doing so they implicitly say that God is unloving. Finally, they are saying that God really can’t be God because He lacked the ability, desire, power, and foreknowledge to anticipate the changes in language, culture, etc. and failed (or worse chose to fail) to preserve His will (His word) so that it would be rendered understandable to the “advanced” 21st century mind.
Allow me to make these final observations. Many who deny Scripture's clarity claim to be “orthodox.” In fact they claim to adhere to a “generous orthodoxy” that allows for almost any belief that fits or nearly fits into the schema of the Apostles’ Creed, or the Nicene Creed. Their nonsensical thought process is undone by their so-called hermeneutic of humility. From what did the “early church fathers” derive these summary statements of faith? They derived them from the so-called undecipherable Scriptures. Thus, they purport to know what is knowable from a creed that is derived from that which is not sufficiently knowable to make any dogmatic statements about either the Trinity (the word Trinity is not found in the Bible) and the deity of Christ. Perhaps these humble folks should spend a little time reading the opening verses of the Epistle of Jude, where the Spirit of God says the following:
Jude 1-4 Jude, a bond-servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, To those who are the called, beloved in God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ: 2 May mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you. 3 Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints. 4 For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
God’s word is indeed profound so much so that books continue to be written about it. However, as someone wiser than I once said, it is so simple that a child can understand it. Don’t let anyone tell you differently.
Psalm 19:7-11: 7 The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. 8 The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. 9 The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the LORD are true; they are righteous altogether. 10 They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb. 11 Moreover, by them Your servant is warned; In keeping them there is great reward.
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