Today I want to make some quotes from the book "Fool's Gold? Discerning Truth in an Age of Error" by John MacArthur and others. It's been some time since I've read this book, but it was a good reminder for me as I paged through it last evening.
"Nothing is more desperately needed in the church right now than a new movement to reemphasize the need for biblical discernment. Without such a movement, the true church is in serious trouble. If the current hunger for ecumenical compromise, pragmatic sanctification, and numerical success continues to gain a foothold within evangelicalism, it will result in unmitigated spiritual disaster." Introduction -- John MacArthur
"When churches or individual Christians lose their resolve to discern between sound doctrine and error, between good and evil, between truth and lies, they open themselves up to every kind of error. But those who apply biblical discernment consistently, in every area of life, are sure to walk in the wisdom of the Lord (Prov. 2:1-6)." Introduction -- John MacArthur
"The church will never manifest its power in society until we regain a passionate love for truth and a corollary hatred for error. True Christians cannot condone or disregard anti-Christian influences in their midst and expect to enjoy God's blessing. (Romans 13:11-12 and Philippians 1:9-11)" Introduction -- John MacArthur
"If we are going to be discerning people, we must develop the skill of discriminating between truth and error, good and bad. In the original language the Hebrew word for 'discernment' conveys the same idea as our word 'discrimination.' It entails the idea of making distinctions. In essence it means to separate things from one another at their points of difference in order to distinguish them." Page 22 -- John MacArthur
"Does Scripture tell us how to be discerning? It certainly does. Paul sums up the process in 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22: "test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil." Page 22 -- JM
"Everything I read, for example, goes through a grid of discrimination in my mind. If you were to look through my library, you would instantly be able to identify which books I have read. The margins are marked. sometimes you'll see approving remarks and heavy underlining. Other times you'll find question marks -- or even red lines through the text. I constantly strive to separate truth from error. I read that way, I think that way, and of course I preach that way. My passion is to know the truth, and proclaim it with authority...Any church leader who does not feel the burden of this duty ought to step down from leadership." Page 23 -- JM
(Note: I can't even give my books away, because people don't want to read through all my notes! In fact, I can't even read a book if I don't have a pen handy -- I'll hold off until later.)
"The same careful discernment Paul demanded of pastors and elders is also the duty of every Christian." Page 23 -- JM
WHAT ABOUT THE PASSAGES THAT SAY, 'DO NOT JUDGE'?
"The spiritual discernment Paul calls for is different from the judgmental attitude Jesus forbade in Matthew 7:2-5. Obviously, what Jesus condemned was the hypocritical judgment of those who held others to a higher standard than they themselves were willing to live by. He was certainly not suggesting that all judgment is forbidden. In fact, Jesus indicated that taking a speck out of your brother's eye is the right thing to do -- if you first get the log out of your own eye. Elsewhere in Scripture we are forbidden to judge others' motives or attitudes. We are not able to discern "the thoughts and intentions of the heart" (Heb. 4:12). That is a divine prerogative...What is forbidden is hypocritical judging and judging others' thoughts and motives. But other forms of judgment are explicitly commanded. Throughout Scripture the people of God are urged to judge between truth and error, right and wrong, good and evil. (John 7:24, 1 Corinthians 10:15). Clearly, God requires us to be discriminating when it comes to matters of sound doctrine." Page 25 -- JM
The Thessalonians were gullible and susceptible to believing everything, like little children who put everything into their mouths.
"Why were they so vulnerable to false teaching? Surely it was precisely because they lacked biblical discernment. The Thessalonians did not examine everything in light of God's Word. If they had, they would not have been so easily hoodwinked. And that is why Paul urged them, "Test everything." Page 27 -- JM
And the Thessalonians were at a disadvantage compared to us today. They didn't have all the resources that we have. For instance, they didn't even have the whole New Testament at that point in time. We certainly have no excuse!
Paul said that what was written in Scripture was and is authoritative, inspired truth. Part of the problem with the lack of discernment in the church today is when different religions will add their own "Tradition" to the Word of God and the leadership of those churches will point people to the "Tradition" instead of the Word of God. This "Tradition" often directly contradicts the Word of God. Anything added alongside Scripture and given equal authority is indicative of false religion.
Paul did speak about the traditions that were taught by them as apostles to the church. But they were apostolic traditions. They are connected with the Word of God itself. The "traditions" necessary for Christians to be discerning are recorded for all ages in the text of Scripture. This verse cannot be used to support the man-made "Traditions" of some religions today.
"With this in mind, 2 Thessalonians 2:15 cannot be used to support the claim that extrabiblical, spiritually binding "apostolic tradition" is passed down verbally through popes and bishops. Paul's whole point was that the Thessalonians should treat as authoritative only what they had heard from his own mouth or received from his own pen. That body of truth -- the Word of God -- was to be the measuring stick they used to examine all things...Therefore, Paul is affirming that the Bible is the only reliable criterion by which believers in this age can evaluate any message claiming to be truth from God." Page 28 -- JM
We're to hold fast to what is good and abhor what is evil. This speaks of jealously safeguarding the truth. It demands careful watchfulness; we're to guard the treasure of the gospel. The truth is given into our custody, and we are charged, as Christians, with guarding it against EVERY POSSIBLE THREAT.
"This describes a militant, defensive, protective stance against anything that undermines the truth or does violence to it in any way. We must hold the truth securely, defend it zealously, preserve it from all threats. To placate the enemies of truth or lower our guard is to violate this command...'Hold fast' also carried the idea of embracing something. It goes beyond bare assent to "that which is good" and speaks of loving the truth wholeheartedly. Those who are truly discerning are passionately committed to sound doctrine, to truth, and to all that is inpsired by God...Every true Christian has this quality to some degree. All true believers hold fast to the gospel." Page 29 -- JM
"The attitude this calls for is incompatible with the suggestion that we should lay doctrine aside for the sake of unity. It cannot be reconciled with the opinion that hard truths should be downplayed to make God's Word more palatable for unbelievers. It is contrary to the notion that personal experience takes precedence over objective truth. God has given us His truth objectively in His Word. It is a treasure that we should protect at all costs." Page 30 -- JM
There are self-proclaimed "prophets" and preachers out there today who need to be put into the light of this intense scrutiny of the Word of God.
"Experience and feelings -- no matter how powerful -- do not determine what is true. Rather, those things themselves must be subjected to the test..."That which is good does not refer to that which is entertaining. It does not refer to that which garners accolades from the world. It does not refer to that which is satisfying to the flesh. It refers to that which is good, true, accurate, authentic, dependable -- that which is in agreement with the infallible Word of God. When you find such truth, embrace it and guard it like a treasure." Pages 30-31 -- JM
We are to abstain from every form of evil (1 Thess. 5:22) which means to hold oneself back, keep away from, shun.
"In this context, the primary reference seems to be evil teaching -- false doctrine. Having examined everything in light of God's Word, when you identify something that does not measure up -- something that is evil, untrue, erroneous, or contrary to sound doctrine, shun it...Scripture DOES NOT GIVE BELIEVERS PERMISSION TO EXPOSE THEMSELVES TO EVIL." Page 31 -- JM Emphasis mine.
"We are to reject evil however it appears, to shun every manifestation of it. This explicitly rules out syncretism. Syncretism is the practice of blending ideas from different religions and philosophies...The only proper response to false teaching is to shun it. Erroneous doctrine is no place to look for truth. There is usually some point of truth even in rank heresy. But it is truth out of balance, corrupted truth, truth mixed with lies and therefore rendered dangerous. Shun it." Page 32 -- JM
"Satan is subtle. He often sabotages the truth by mixing it with error. Truth mixed with error is usually far more effective and far more destructive than a straightforward contradiction of the truth. If you think everything you read or hear on Christian radio and television is reliable teaching, then you are a prime target for doctrinal deception. If you think everyeone who appears to love the truth really does, then you don't understand the wiles of Satan. 'Satan disguises himself as an angel of light,' Paul wrote. 'So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness" (2 Corinthians 11:14-15). Pg. 33 -- JM
"Satan also disguises his lies as truth. He doesn't always wage war openly against the gospel. He is much more likely to attack the church by infiltrating with subtle error. He uses the Trojan horse strategem by placing his false teachers in the church, where they can "secretly bring in destructive heresies" (2 Peter 2:1). He puts his lies in the mouth of someone who claims to speak for Jesus Christ -- someone likable and appealing; then he spreads his perverse lies in the church where they can draw away Christ's disciples (Acts 20:30). He attaches Bible verses to his lies (Matthew 4:6). He uses deception and hypocrisy. He disguises falsehood as truth. He loves syncretism. It makes evil look good....That's why we are to examine everything carefully and shun whatever is unsound, corrupt, or erroneous. It is deadly. Millions in the church today are being overwhelmed by the Trojan-horse ploy calling for the integration of secular ideas with biblical truth. Others are easily duped by anything labeled Christian. They don't examine everything. They don't hold fast to the truth. And they won't shun evil. They are left vulnerable to false doctrine and have no defense against theological confusion." Page 33 -- JM
"Doctrinal error is all around us. Often it looks very good -- that's why so many fall prey to its deception. And that is also why God gave us His Word, so that we would have a measuring stick by which to examine every spiritual or theological message we encounter." Page 33 -- JM
The goal of exposing error in the name of true religion today is not to be unloving, but to guard the treasure that has been entrusted to us.
"In fact, Scripture makes it clear that this type of examination is inherently loving, as God's people are called to think biblically and exercise discernment. To do anything less will only result in spiritual anemia (Hosea 4:6)." Page 34 -- JM
Monday, March 15, 2010
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Which Jesus Do You Follow? False Teaching -- Part 1
The Church of Jesus Christ stands or falls on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets with Christ Jesus Himself as the corner stone. What is this foundation? It is the teaching of the apostles and the prophets -- (truth) that forms this foundation of the church. God, Himself, revealed His mind to His children through the inspired (God-breathed)words found in Scripture. And all Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction and for teaching in righteousness,so that the man of God may be adequate for every good work. Truth is found in Scripture. 1 Timothy 3:15 says that the church is the pillar and support of the truth. In other words, the church is to "hold up" the truth to a dark and perverse world which is lost and condemned to hell without it. The Church is to be a visible testimony to the world around her by defending the truth, standing for the truth, defending the truth and proclaiming the truth. And that truth centers on Jesus Christ. If all Scripture is profitable for reproof and correction, what is to be reproved and corrected but lies and errors which are represented as truth?
What condemns a person to hell? It's not what a person does. It is unbelief. It's not believing or trusting that God is who He says He is as manifested in Jesus Christ of Scripture. It's not believing that Christ has done what Scripture says He has done. It's rejection of the truth as found in Scripture, specifically, rejection of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
But someone says to you, "I'm a Christian, but I don't believe what you believe. (For example) I'm a Catholic. I don't believe you are to say bad things about other religions. I respect the beliefs of all people." That may sound really noble, but it is blasphemy against Christ who said that He is the way, the truth and the life -- that no one comes to the Father but by Him. If the Church is to defend the truth (as found in Jesus), then to say you are a Christian and believe this way is to call Christ of the Bible a liar. To believe that we are not to speak the truth about false religion and false teachers is to believe a lie instead of believing what Scripture explicitly says we are to do. We are always going to be faced with truth or error. There are only two options. Right or wrong. The problem is that today the world teaches that each man gets to decide what is right and what is wrong. That's relativism. But true Christians know and believe that truth is absolute.
So, which Jesus do you follow? Is it the Jesus of the Bible or another Jesus of your own making? Every word is inspired by God (literally God-breathed in the original Greek), so no one gets to choose what is the truth and what is not the truth in His Word because it is ALL TRUTH.
Why is it that people today will defend what they believe about anything -- ANYTHING -- more vehemently than the truth found in Scripture? I've listened to people squabble about ridiculous things more fiercely defending what they think is right than THE MOST important thing in life -- that which affects eternity. THAT is one thing we refuse to enter into a discussion about. It makes no sense.
But it's our calling from God, if we truly are Christians, to defend one way, one Gospel, one Savior, one Lord, etc. and to present that ONE to the world. Christianity is exclusive. There's no denying that. And I would never want to. I'm not ashamed of that one way to Christ because it's the mind of God to have provided one way. He could have said, "There's NO way!" And He would have been just in doing that. To not defend the truth as found in Scripture is sin. When you hear someone make a false statement about Christ or the truth found in His Word and say nothing, you are sinning. To not call someone to the truth when they are obviously confused and deceived is not loving. That, too, is sin.
To say that we should all unite around "Jesus" is an empty, meaningless statement unless what you say ABOUT Jesus and your understanding of Him is firmly rooted and anchored in the Scriptures. The Muslims believe in Jesus, but he's not the Jesus of the Bible. Jesus Christ is God in the flesh.
It's only by God's grace alone that I know what I believe today, and it's only by His grace that I am truly saved. And I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that I am saved and will spend eternity with my Lord and Savior. But at one time I was dead in my trespasses and sins unable to save myself. And, I was confused and had bought the lies of Satan.
I used to be Catholic. I wasn't raised Catholic but converted to Catholicism because I thought it would unite my family due to the fact that my husband was born and raised a staunch Catholic. His family is FULL of nuns, priests and monsignors, etc. on both sides! (I had foolishly agreed to raise my children as Catholics; and at the time, didn't see anything wrong with that, so it made sense that we would all be Catholic.) Looking back, I was a really good Catholic -- I followed all the rules and did all the things that made me look really religious to everyone around me. Whenever the doors of the church were open, I was there. And I was involved in everything, especially with the school that my children attended. In all actuality, I probably became a better Catholic than my husband.
What I didn't know is that the Jesus of my Bible was not the Jesus of the Catholic Church. Thinking I was a Christian at the time, it never occurred to me that to add Catholicism would be anything other than a good thing. I didn't know my Bible because I "got saved" in a Charismatic church that taught a lot of strange things that never really made sense to me. Because everything was interpreted so mystically, I never had any desire to read the Bible because I didn't understand any of it. (Had I known, that should have been a major red flag.) Consequently, I didn't really know what I believed and jumped into the Catholic pool with both feet. Not long after that I started listening to Christian radio and started having some disputes with the nuns at the school where my children were attending. My kids were confronting the teachers on the errors that they were being taught. I joined in (defending their defense of truth as found in Scripture). During that period of time, I seriously thought that I should stay and God would use me to change the Catholic church. Yeah right, right? I truly believed that God was telling me to stay, but there was a lot of mystical teaching left inside me that needed to be weeded out, and the way I thought God was speaking to me was one of them.
My oldest son was confronted at his 8th-grade confirmation by a nun who told him that he should start to behave better now that "he had received the Holy Spirit." When he looked at me and asked, "Mom, I thought you told me I received the Holy Spirit when I was saved," I instantly knew that we had to get out. And we did. There were some other silly things that happened involving coughing, eucharist and nuns and priests on their hands and knees, but I won't get into that. Talk about sad!
He may look the same, but the Catholic Jesus did not accomplish what my Jesus did on the cross. In fact, the Catholic Jesus is still on the cross, and He is sacrificed over and over and over again hundreds of thousands of times a day throughout the world. My Jesus said that His death was a once-for-all sacrifice for sin and that it was finished on the cross at Calvary. The curtain was torn in two from top to bottom so that I can now go boldly into the throneroom of grace. I no longer need to go through a priest or Mary to get to God. I go directly to God with Christ as my only Mediator. Mary is a saint like all believers and she, also, is no mediator between man and God. The Gospel my Jesus offers is not the gospel of the Catholic Church. Paul said that anyone who comes with another gospel is to be anathema (cursed and condemned). Incidentally, the Catholic Church teaches that anyone who does not believe her gospel is to be anathema. And she says it over and over again, and has for centuries. Nothing has changed since Vatican II like they would have us to believe. False religion is based on a foundation of lies. And when serious questions come up, more lies are contrived to cover up all the other lies. It's a tangled web of deceit.
A different gospel is false teaching. If God is true and cannot lie, Jesus is the Truth, and Satan has been a liar from the beginning, then all teaching that is not according to truth is false and is from Satan, the father of lies. To support the lies, heresies and errors and defend them is to support Satan and defend him. To say nothing is also to defend his lies. If someone speaks a lie believing it to be the truth, and I sit there and say nothing, their conclusion is this: "We must agree. I know she believes the Bible and says she is a Christian, therefore, I must be okay, too." How unloving it is to deceive someone in this way!
The work of Satan has always been to oppose God and to oppose the truth. Satan tries to undermine and corrupt the truth however he can do it. False teachers "say bad things about the truth" (by distorting it) all the time, but they do it by covering it in a layer of truth. They intentionally cover up their lies. It's like putting sugar over rat poison. What Christians are called to do is to expose error -- to separate the sugar from the rat poison so they can easily be identified and seen for what they truly are.
The work of the church, on the other hand, is to be a pillar and support of the truth. Anyone who says he or she follows Christ reads His Word in order to get to know Him and to know truth. Anyone who reads His Word knows that false teaching has been around since the beginning when Satan tried to confuse and twist God's truth to Eve. Anyone who reads His Word knows that the apostles constantly warned the early church about the dangers of false teachers and their heresies. They were already infiltrating the church at every turn.
It is the responsibility of pastors and elders to guard the flock, to be faithful to the Word of God, to see that the church has been equipped to be that pillar and support of the truth and to shine its light into this dark world. If you are not part of a church whose leadership is warning you of the false teaching out there which is rampant in our culture today and equipping you to expose it and fight against it, then you need to confront them in love about it. If they refuse to listen to the words of God in Scripture, then you need to find a church where you can be equipped to do what God has called you -- YOU -- to do.
We must realize that we can spot a false teacher not only by what they say, but more often by what they DON'T say. Many false teachers will not deny the truth, they just don't choose to preach about it. Any teacher who refuses to talk about sin, the wrath of God, judgment, a life of self-denial, etc. is a man-pleaser and needs to be confronted. You can't be a man-pleaser and a follower of Christ. To be so concerned about what others will think about you so that you compromise the truth is a form of idolatry. To not speak all the truth is just as bad as openly, blatantly speaking lies.
As much as it may shock some people, Scripture does not call Christians to get along with everyone. That's not our purpose or our calling. We're not to try and smoothe things over when there's a battle for the truth going on. We can never 'get along' at the sacrifice of truth. His truth!
The Church of Jesus Christ today needs to start standing up for the truth. Often the same Christians who won't stand for the truth are the ones who like to sit around and talk about how bad things are getting in the world. "Oh, did you hear about so and so? Yes, it's terrible, just awful. What an evil world we live in." If you are not doing anything about it by letting your light shine out in this dark world, then you are a hypocrite. 2 Timothy 3:13 says that it is going to get worse. "But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived." If you are one of those who is sitting around thinking the world is going to get better, it's not. It's going to get a lot worse. Things are going to go from bad to worse, but the Church is to be anchored in the Word of God. We will stand firm and not be shaken when all hell breaks loose around us if we know the truth that sets us free.
We're to preach the Word in season and out of season -- when it's popular and when it's not popular. Why? Because there is a day coming (Paul says) when men will not endure sound doctrine (teaching), wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance with their own desires. That day is upon us. Today we literally have "piled up" or "heaped up in piles" false teachers who love to tickle men's ears -- telling them what they want to hear instead of what they need to hear.
True believers all over the world are finding it harder and harder to find churches with leaders who are willing to stand steadfast and strong, contending for the truth once for all delivered to the saints. We need to let our leaders know that we won't tolerate weak-watered down gospel preaching. The true church is hungry for the truth, and the Good Shepherd will take care of His own, but the way He has established is by giving men to the church who would equip the body. Cry out for it with a loud voice! Don't go the way of the crowd and be swayed by lies.
So, I ask you today -- Are you going to go the way of the crowd or are you going to stand against error and stand for the real Christ as revealed to us in Scripture? It's not enough to use the excuse, "Well, I don't know enough yet." "Maybe I'll be able to stand strong when I know my Bible better." If you are truly saved, you know how you got saved. You know the Gospel. If you don't know what the Gospel is and are not able to tell someone how you got saved, maybe you need to examine yourself to make sure you are in the faith. Get to know the Word so that you not only feel it is your duty to defend Him but you are indignant when lies are being spoken about Him and about the truth and you are passionate and zealous to speak the truth in love BECAUSE you love Him and the children who belong to Him.
What condemns a person to hell? It's not what a person does. It is unbelief. It's not believing or trusting that God is who He says He is as manifested in Jesus Christ of Scripture. It's not believing that Christ has done what Scripture says He has done. It's rejection of the truth as found in Scripture, specifically, rejection of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
But someone says to you, "I'm a Christian, but I don't believe what you believe. (For example) I'm a Catholic. I don't believe you are to say bad things about other religions. I respect the beliefs of all people." That may sound really noble, but it is blasphemy against Christ who said that He is the way, the truth and the life -- that no one comes to the Father but by Him. If the Church is to defend the truth (as found in Jesus), then to say you are a Christian and believe this way is to call Christ of the Bible a liar. To believe that we are not to speak the truth about false religion and false teachers is to believe a lie instead of believing what Scripture explicitly says we are to do. We are always going to be faced with truth or error. There are only two options. Right or wrong. The problem is that today the world teaches that each man gets to decide what is right and what is wrong. That's relativism. But true Christians know and believe that truth is absolute.
So, which Jesus do you follow? Is it the Jesus of the Bible or another Jesus of your own making? Every word is inspired by God (literally God-breathed in the original Greek), so no one gets to choose what is the truth and what is not the truth in His Word because it is ALL TRUTH.
Why is it that people today will defend what they believe about anything -- ANYTHING -- more vehemently than the truth found in Scripture? I've listened to people squabble about ridiculous things more fiercely defending what they think is right than THE MOST important thing in life -- that which affects eternity. THAT is one thing we refuse to enter into a discussion about. It makes no sense.
But it's our calling from God, if we truly are Christians, to defend one way, one Gospel, one Savior, one Lord, etc. and to present that ONE to the world. Christianity is exclusive. There's no denying that. And I would never want to. I'm not ashamed of that one way to Christ because it's the mind of God to have provided one way. He could have said, "There's NO way!" And He would have been just in doing that. To not defend the truth as found in Scripture is sin. When you hear someone make a false statement about Christ or the truth found in His Word and say nothing, you are sinning. To not call someone to the truth when they are obviously confused and deceived is not loving. That, too, is sin.
To say that we should all unite around "Jesus" is an empty, meaningless statement unless what you say ABOUT Jesus and your understanding of Him is firmly rooted and anchored in the Scriptures. The Muslims believe in Jesus, but he's not the Jesus of the Bible. Jesus Christ is God in the flesh.
It's only by God's grace alone that I know what I believe today, and it's only by His grace that I am truly saved. And I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that I am saved and will spend eternity with my Lord and Savior. But at one time I was dead in my trespasses and sins unable to save myself. And, I was confused and had bought the lies of Satan.
I used to be Catholic. I wasn't raised Catholic but converted to Catholicism because I thought it would unite my family due to the fact that my husband was born and raised a staunch Catholic. His family is FULL of nuns, priests and monsignors, etc. on both sides! (I had foolishly agreed to raise my children as Catholics; and at the time, didn't see anything wrong with that, so it made sense that we would all be Catholic.) Looking back, I was a really good Catholic -- I followed all the rules and did all the things that made me look really religious to everyone around me. Whenever the doors of the church were open, I was there. And I was involved in everything, especially with the school that my children attended. In all actuality, I probably became a better Catholic than my husband.
What I didn't know is that the Jesus of my Bible was not the Jesus of the Catholic Church. Thinking I was a Christian at the time, it never occurred to me that to add Catholicism would be anything other than a good thing. I didn't know my Bible because I "got saved" in a Charismatic church that taught a lot of strange things that never really made sense to me. Because everything was interpreted so mystically, I never had any desire to read the Bible because I didn't understand any of it. (Had I known, that should have been a major red flag.) Consequently, I didn't really know what I believed and jumped into the Catholic pool with both feet. Not long after that I started listening to Christian radio and started having some disputes with the nuns at the school where my children were attending. My kids were confronting the teachers on the errors that they were being taught. I joined in (defending their defense of truth as found in Scripture). During that period of time, I seriously thought that I should stay and God would use me to change the Catholic church. Yeah right, right? I truly believed that God was telling me to stay, but there was a lot of mystical teaching left inside me that needed to be weeded out, and the way I thought God was speaking to me was one of them.
My oldest son was confronted at his 8th-grade confirmation by a nun who told him that he should start to behave better now that "he had received the Holy Spirit." When he looked at me and asked, "Mom, I thought you told me I received the Holy Spirit when I was saved," I instantly knew that we had to get out. And we did. There were some other silly things that happened involving coughing, eucharist and nuns and priests on their hands and knees, but I won't get into that. Talk about sad!
He may look the same, but the Catholic Jesus did not accomplish what my Jesus did on the cross. In fact, the Catholic Jesus is still on the cross, and He is sacrificed over and over and over again hundreds of thousands of times a day throughout the world. My Jesus said that His death was a once-for-all sacrifice for sin and that it was finished on the cross at Calvary. The curtain was torn in two from top to bottom so that I can now go boldly into the throneroom of grace. I no longer need to go through a priest or Mary to get to God. I go directly to God with Christ as my only Mediator. Mary is a saint like all believers and she, also, is no mediator between man and God. The Gospel my Jesus offers is not the gospel of the Catholic Church. Paul said that anyone who comes with another gospel is to be anathema (cursed and condemned). Incidentally, the Catholic Church teaches that anyone who does not believe her gospel is to be anathema. And she says it over and over again, and has for centuries. Nothing has changed since Vatican II like they would have us to believe. False religion is based on a foundation of lies. And when serious questions come up, more lies are contrived to cover up all the other lies. It's a tangled web of deceit.
A different gospel is false teaching. If God is true and cannot lie, Jesus is the Truth, and Satan has been a liar from the beginning, then all teaching that is not according to truth is false and is from Satan, the father of lies. To support the lies, heresies and errors and defend them is to support Satan and defend him. To say nothing is also to defend his lies. If someone speaks a lie believing it to be the truth, and I sit there and say nothing, their conclusion is this: "We must agree. I know she believes the Bible and says she is a Christian, therefore, I must be okay, too." How unloving it is to deceive someone in this way!
The work of Satan has always been to oppose God and to oppose the truth. Satan tries to undermine and corrupt the truth however he can do it. False teachers "say bad things about the truth" (by distorting it) all the time, but they do it by covering it in a layer of truth. They intentionally cover up their lies. It's like putting sugar over rat poison. What Christians are called to do is to expose error -- to separate the sugar from the rat poison so they can easily be identified and seen for what they truly are.
The work of the church, on the other hand, is to be a pillar and support of the truth. Anyone who says he or she follows Christ reads His Word in order to get to know Him and to know truth. Anyone who reads His Word knows that false teaching has been around since the beginning when Satan tried to confuse and twist God's truth to Eve. Anyone who reads His Word knows that the apostles constantly warned the early church about the dangers of false teachers and their heresies. They were already infiltrating the church at every turn.
It is the responsibility of pastors and elders to guard the flock, to be faithful to the Word of God, to see that the church has been equipped to be that pillar and support of the truth and to shine its light into this dark world. If you are not part of a church whose leadership is warning you of the false teaching out there which is rampant in our culture today and equipping you to expose it and fight against it, then you need to confront them in love about it. If they refuse to listen to the words of God in Scripture, then you need to find a church where you can be equipped to do what God has called you -- YOU -- to do.
We must realize that we can spot a false teacher not only by what they say, but more often by what they DON'T say. Many false teachers will not deny the truth, they just don't choose to preach about it. Any teacher who refuses to talk about sin, the wrath of God, judgment, a life of self-denial, etc. is a man-pleaser and needs to be confronted. You can't be a man-pleaser and a follower of Christ. To be so concerned about what others will think about you so that you compromise the truth is a form of idolatry. To not speak all the truth is just as bad as openly, blatantly speaking lies.
As much as it may shock some people, Scripture does not call Christians to get along with everyone. That's not our purpose or our calling. We're not to try and smoothe things over when there's a battle for the truth going on. We can never 'get along' at the sacrifice of truth. His truth!
The Church of Jesus Christ today needs to start standing up for the truth. Often the same Christians who won't stand for the truth are the ones who like to sit around and talk about how bad things are getting in the world. "Oh, did you hear about so and so? Yes, it's terrible, just awful. What an evil world we live in." If you are not doing anything about it by letting your light shine out in this dark world, then you are a hypocrite. 2 Timothy 3:13 says that it is going to get worse. "But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived." If you are one of those who is sitting around thinking the world is going to get better, it's not. It's going to get a lot worse. Things are going to go from bad to worse, but the Church is to be anchored in the Word of God. We will stand firm and not be shaken when all hell breaks loose around us if we know the truth that sets us free.
We're to preach the Word in season and out of season -- when it's popular and when it's not popular. Why? Because there is a day coming (Paul says) when men will not endure sound doctrine (teaching), wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance with their own desires. That day is upon us. Today we literally have "piled up" or "heaped up in piles" false teachers who love to tickle men's ears -- telling them what they want to hear instead of what they need to hear.
True believers all over the world are finding it harder and harder to find churches with leaders who are willing to stand steadfast and strong, contending for the truth once for all delivered to the saints. We need to let our leaders know that we won't tolerate weak-watered down gospel preaching. The true church is hungry for the truth, and the Good Shepherd will take care of His own, but the way He has established is by giving men to the church who would equip the body. Cry out for it with a loud voice! Don't go the way of the crowd and be swayed by lies.
So, I ask you today -- Are you going to go the way of the crowd or are you going to stand against error and stand for the real Christ as revealed to us in Scripture? It's not enough to use the excuse, "Well, I don't know enough yet." "Maybe I'll be able to stand strong when I know my Bible better." If you are truly saved, you know how you got saved. You know the Gospel. If you don't know what the Gospel is and are not able to tell someone how you got saved, maybe you need to examine yourself to make sure you are in the faith. Get to know the Word so that you not only feel it is your duty to defend Him but you are indignant when lies are being spoken about Him and about the truth and you are passionate and zealous to speak the truth in love BECAUSE you love Him and the children who belong to Him.
Friday, March 12, 2010
Sound Doctrine -- The Key to Life
Sound teaching is hard to find these days, yet you wouldn't know that from looking at all the major mega churches popping up here, there and everywhere. In fact, simply turning on the t.v. and clicking through the channels will reveal the droves of people flocking to see teachers who seem to appear out of nowhere overnight. And the people in the congregations hang on their every word completely mesmerized. What's up with that? Where's the discernment?
Why are there so many "Christians" everywhere who don't look or act any different than the rest of the world? Why do most "Christians" live more like the world than Jesus? These are questions that unbelievers have...questions that make the church look so hypocritical. Why wouldn't an unbeliever want to "give their life to Christ" when all it means to them is that they get heaven added to an already pretty decent life? What EXACTLY is the Church calling unbelievers to?
Discernment is needed to see that there is a difference between the kingdom of light and the kingdom of darkness. We live in a day where there is little spiritual discernment because we live in a day when spiritual truth is minimized. Indeed, we live in a day that Paul referred to when he said all men would want is to have their ears tickled. Well, there's a lot of tickling going on, but not much else of any lasting value.
Up until about five or six years ago I would have told you that I gave my heart to Jesus Christ in 1979. A very dear Catholic friend of mine was killed the night before our high school graduation, and all I knew is that I wanted to go to heaven when I died to be with him. The first exposure to an altar call, and I was on board. I believed I was a Christian because that's what I was told. I said a prayer and truly wanted to go to heaven, but looking back I don't believe I was offered a saving gospel; consequently, I didn't really know what it meant to trust Christ for salvation. I went from charismatic churches to no church to Catholic churches back to no church to Baptist churches back to no church and literally finally gave up on all "church". Nothing ever seemed right; I always found fault with the teaching because it never seemed to line up with what I was reading in Scripture. During that period of time I went through major periods of alternating between in-depth Bible study and what I would call times of complete "backsliding." I guess to say I was confused would be an understatement.
It was in a time of major "backsliding" in 2001 that the Lord got my attention in a major way by taking my daughter from me. She was killed in an automobile accident before her 17th birthday. In fact, only four days before she was killed I was making a toast at my brother-in-law's wedding, and as I was lifting my glass I very clearly said in my heart this prayer to God, "I quit! I'm tired of not fitting in with the world, so I don't want to be a "Christian" any longer."
Four days later Missy was dead, but it was a wake-up call that turned my heart around 180 degrees. It wouldn't be the only wake-up call that I would need in my spiritual walk because there were far more areas that needed to go in my life than I would have ever imagined; but my Father has always disciplined me and chastened me as only He could know would result in my submission to His will for His glory and my good. This God who "woke me up" to what is truly important in life had stolen my heart for good.
For the first time God taught me what His Sovereignty looked like. And I got it. He was in charge, not me. Over the next few years I grew to understand who He is, and it was a very sweet time of fellowship for me.
Through all the ups and downs (and trust me, there have been a FEW), one thing that has been there for about fifteen of the thirty years of my journey has been the teaching of John MacArthur. While it is true that I only listened to his teaching occasionally, (along with many, many others who were all over the board in what they believed) it wasn't long after Missy's accident that I started consistently listening to Grace to You. Before long I noticed my mind being totally renewed by the sound teaching of the Word of God by this faithful minister who steadfastly taught the Scriptures verse by verse, painstakingly elaborating on every doctrine of God's precious Word. All the confusing teaching in my mind started to fade away as the Bible started coming together for me for the first time. It wasn't just a book to try and make sense of with some interesting stories and some "good advice" sprinkled in. It was one big story. His story! And I found that His story included me. He was speaking to me through His Word, teaching me His precepts. It was life! And it was good!
The more I grew by exposing myself to this type of sound teaching by men just like John (although they are few and far between in comparison to how many other "preachers" there are out there), the better I understood my purpose in life and could show others through the Word where they, too, can find this same life. This is the life that John is talking about in 1 John that can only be shared in God -- true fellowship.
So often I will have someone in Bible study say to me, "What about so and so? Are they a good teacher? I listen to them all the time!" I say, "Back up the truck! Do not listen to that teacher. Don't even expose yourself to them in any way. It's true what they say, 'Garbage in, garbage out.' Trust me, it will only confuse you." They say, "But they use the Bible!!!!" This may be shocking, but that means nothing! Satan knows the Bible better than anyone walking on the earth today, and those who work for him know it, too!
Satan has his teachers literally everywhere today. We need to be able to spot them. Discernment is the key. What do they look like? We'll take a look at them tomorrow.
Why are there so many "Christians" everywhere who don't look or act any different than the rest of the world? Why do most "Christians" live more like the world than Jesus? These are questions that unbelievers have...questions that make the church look so hypocritical. Why wouldn't an unbeliever want to "give their life to Christ" when all it means to them is that they get heaven added to an already pretty decent life? What EXACTLY is the Church calling unbelievers to?
Discernment is needed to see that there is a difference between the kingdom of light and the kingdom of darkness. We live in a day where there is little spiritual discernment because we live in a day when spiritual truth is minimized. Indeed, we live in a day that Paul referred to when he said all men would want is to have their ears tickled. Well, there's a lot of tickling going on, but not much else of any lasting value.
Up until about five or six years ago I would have told you that I gave my heart to Jesus Christ in 1979. A very dear Catholic friend of mine was killed the night before our high school graduation, and all I knew is that I wanted to go to heaven when I died to be with him. The first exposure to an altar call, and I was on board. I believed I was a Christian because that's what I was told. I said a prayer and truly wanted to go to heaven, but looking back I don't believe I was offered a saving gospel; consequently, I didn't really know what it meant to trust Christ for salvation. I went from charismatic churches to no church to Catholic churches back to no church to Baptist churches back to no church and literally finally gave up on all "church". Nothing ever seemed right; I always found fault with the teaching because it never seemed to line up with what I was reading in Scripture. During that period of time I went through major periods of alternating between in-depth Bible study and what I would call times of complete "backsliding." I guess to say I was confused would be an understatement.
It was in a time of major "backsliding" in 2001 that the Lord got my attention in a major way by taking my daughter from me. She was killed in an automobile accident before her 17th birthday. In fact, only four days before she was killed I was making a toast at my brother-in-law's wedding, and as I was lifting my glass I very clearly said in my heart this prayer to God, "I quit! I'm tired of not fitting in with the world, so I don't want to be a "Christian" any longer."
Four days later Missy was dead, but it was a wake-up call that turned my heart around 180 degrees. It wouldn't be the only wake-up call that I would need in my spiritual walk because there were far more areas that needed to go in my life than I would have ever imagined; but my Father has always disciplined me and chastened me as only He could know would result in my submission to His will for His glory and my good. This God who "woke me up" to what is truly important in life had stolen my heart for good.
For the first time God taught me what His Sovereignty looked like. And I got it. He was in charge, not me. Over the next few years I grew to understand who He is, and it was a very sweet time of fellowship for me.
Through all the ups and downs (and trust me, there have been a FEW), one thing that has been there for about fifteen of the thirty years of my journey has been the teaching of John MacArthur. While it is true that I only listened to his teaching occasionally, (along with many, many others who were all over the board in what they believed) it wasn't long after Missy's accident that I started consistently listening to Grace to You. Before long I noticed my mind being totally renewed by the sound teaching of the Word of God by this faithful minister who steadfastly taught the Scriptures verse by verse, painstakingly elaborating on every doctrine of God's precious Word. All the confusing teaching in my mind started to fade away as the Bible started coming together for me for the first time. It wasn't just a book to try and make sense of with some interesting stories and some "good advice" sprinkled in. It was one big story. His story! And I found that His story included me. He was speaking to me through His Word, teaching me His precepts. It was life! And it was good!
The more I grew by exposing myself to this type of sound teaching by men just like John (although they are few and far between in comparison to how many other "preachers" there are out there), the better I understood my purpose in life and could show others through the Word where they, too, can find this same life. This is the life that John is talking about in 1 John that can only be shared in God -- true fellowship.
So often I will have someone in Bible study say to me, "What about so and so? Are they a good teacher? I listen to them all the time!" I say, "Back up the truck! Do not listen to that teacher. Don't even expose yourself to them in any way. It's true what they say, 'Garbage in, garbage out.' Trust me, it will only confuse you." They say, "But they use the Bible!!!!" This may be shocking, but that means nothing! Satan knows the Bible better than anyone walking on the earth today, and those who work for him know it, too!
Satan has his teachers literally everywhere today. We need to be able to spot them. Discernment is the key. What do they look like? We'll take a look at them tomorrow.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
And That's the Truth!
The Psalmist said in Psalm 119:160 -- The sum of Your word is truth. Jesus said in John 17:17 that the Word is truth. He said that He is the Truth. He also is the Word incarnate -- the Word who came in the flesh (John 1). To know Jesus is to know Truth. Absolute Truth. How important is it to know the truth? It is life or death to every human being. It's the difference between spending eternity in heaven or hell.
Yesterday, somebody on Facebook had the following conversation (it literally took my breath away):
Person 1 became a fan of "I may be going to hell but at least all my friends will be there."
Comment of first friend: See you there!
Comment of second friend: We'll burn together!
Comment of Person 1: I don't think I have one single friend who won't be meeting me there!
Comment of third friend: Wear your ***** (something but not sure what it is, so I won't post) LOL!
Joking about hell. Obviously they have a wrong view of hell. Nobody who understands hell as plainly described for us in the Bible (mostly by Jesus) would make a joke about going there where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth, where the worm dies not. It's described as the Lake of Fire (the only thing they did get right). One thing people don't realize is that just as Christians will have a glorified body fit for heaven, those who go to hell will also be resurrected from the dead and given bodies fit for hell -- they will burn forever without burning up. There is eternal darkness where you will never SEE any "friends" but only hear their screams and wailing forever and ever and ever. Forever is a long time! As much as I, as a Christian, look forward to eternity in heaven is how much someone should fear eternity in hell. Neither can be fathomed fully. The Bible says that I can't even imagine what God has prepared for me -- it couldn't even be described because I would never have anything that good to compare it with on earth. The opposite will be experienced in hell. Hell was prepared for Satan and his demons. And tragically, it will be filled with "good people" according to the world's philosophy of what is good. But only God gets to determine what is good and what is evil. And He says that everything that is not according to truth is evil. Hell is full of evil because hell was made for evil.
The person in the above dialogue is, in fact, heading for hell and blindly relishing every minute of it. She clearly does not know the truth. And one must ask, 'Why were they even talking about it?' They obvioulsy don't believe the Bible. Where else would they get the concept of hell?
While there are many sitting in churches all over the world who may not be so bold as to say what this woman has said, they are heading to the same place for the same reason: they have rejected God's Son. They have refused to believe the truth as it is found in His Word. They would rather trust man and man-made tradition than the Bible, and it is tragic because they have been taught this way from birth and most of them have a religion that is from cradle to grave and will never listen to the truth because of pride or because it's easier to do what they know. "Besides", they reason, "If what I have believed is not the truth and will send me to hell, what about poor Aunt Eula or Uncle Henry or mom and dad who have already died?" I have had some say to me, "I was born a Catholic and I will die a Catholic." So, they push it aside and refuse to think that what they have always believed in just might not be the truth and just might have devastating consequences. I assure them it does. And those reading this who find themselves getting angry will have these words echoing in their mind in hell and all the others words used in an attempt to save them from the fiery flames. They will know that God was so patient with them never wanting them to perish but to come to the knowledge of the truth.
We must come to see who God is. We must get a higher view of this holy God and a lower view of ourselves. He is God, and He is to be worshipped as God. By telling Him what we will believe and how we will worship Him is to make ourselves gods. To worship God the way He has prescribed is to worship Him in spirit and in truth (John 4:24). Ask yourself whether you worship God according to the truth found in Scripture which tells us who He is or according to a set of man-made guidelines in traditions that you have been taught since birth? Is your worship true or false?
Jesus also said in John 8:31-32 -- "If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free."
Jesus said in John 14:6 that He is THE way, THE truth, and THE life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. Yet every day we hear people say, "Yes, I'm a Christian, (a follower or disciple of Christ) but I believe that there are many ways to heaven or eternal life or the Father. Which way is it? We must ask them where they got their information because the only source of absolute truth would refute their "beliefs".
Inevitably, someone who wants to find a way around the truth will ask, "Well, what about the person in the little remote tribe on the other side of the earth who has never heard the gospel?" They want to portray God as a God who is not fair. Listen, first of all, it's His world and His creation, and He gets to make the rules. To reject His Son is to reject the truth. To reject the truth is to be condemned to eternity in hell. That's the simple truth! Eternal life is a personal thing -- why are you worrying about the person on the other side of the world when God's Spirit is clearly talking to you who are asking this question? When you stand before Him on judgment day, you won't be caring about that person on the other side of the world. You will be concerned about you! But it will be too late!
Second of all, Romans 1 tells us that God has made Himself known to His creation through what is seen and unseen. Every man can look outside at creation and know that there is a Creator. Doesn't every building have a builder? Because of God's revelation of Himself to man, every man is without excuse. What about that person in that far away tribe who hasn't heard the gospel? The Bible says they are without excuse just like everyone else. They have been given enough general revelation in order to find out who this Creator is. Verse 21 says that "even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks." What they did, Paul says, is that they started worshipping the created instead of the Creator. Verse 25 -- "For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator." God has revealed Himself to each of us through His creation and through our consciences that naturally know right from wrong. Again, that's a whole other subject for another time.
Why would people talk about or joke about a place they really don't believe exists? Romans 1:28-32 tells us this, "And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; AND ALTHOUGH THEY KNOW THE ORDINANCE OF GOD, THAT THOSE WHO PRACTICE SUCH THINGS ARE WORTHY OF DEATH, THEY NOT ONLY DO THE SAME, BUT ALSO GIVE HEARTY APPROVAL TO THOSE WHO PRACTICE THEM." In other words, if I'm going to hell, I want to be sure that there are others who are going with me.
Our friends aren't in heaven partying and having a good time carousing and doing what is characteristic of things people do in the dark -- they are worshipping God or they aren't there! And, if they didn't want to spend their lives worshipping Him here, they won't want to worship Him for all eternity, either! There is so much confusion in the world because people who don't see fit to acknowledge God are given over to a depraved mind so that they no longer have a right sense of what is right and wrong. God just walks away from them and gives them over to Satan to control. They are simply not able to understand the truth.
2 Corinthians 4:3-4-- Paul said, "Even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world (Satan) has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 1 Corinthians 2:14 -- But the 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.
We are called to know the truth; to have discernment. Ephesians 4 tells us that we are to know the truth and, as a result, we will no longer be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but we are to speak the truth in love and grow up into Him who is our head. Paul also told Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:15 that we are to be diligent to present ourselves approved to God as workers who do not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.
That's enough for today; tomorrow I want to talk about false teachers and how to discern the truth. If after reading this, the Spirit of God has quickened His truth in your heart, don't hesitate to turn to Him and plead with Him to have mercy on your soul and ask Him to save you. He is faithful and true, and He will not cast out anyone who turns to Him. And that's the truth!
Yesterday, somebody on Facebook had the following conversation (it literally took my breath away):
Person 1 became a fan of "I may be going to hell but at least all my friends will be there."
Comment of first friend: See you there!
Comment of second friend: We'll burn together!
Comment of Person 1: I don't think I have one single friend who won't be meeting me there!
Comment of third friend: Wear your ***** (something but not sure what it is, so I won't post) LOL!
Joking about hell. Obviously they have a wrong view of hell. Nobody who understands hell as plainly described for us in the Bible (mostly by Jesus) would make a joke about going there where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth, where the worm dies not. It's described as the Lake of Fire (the only thing they did get right). One thing people don't realize is that just as Christians will have a glorified body fit for heaven, those who go to hell will also be resurrected from the dead and given bodies fit for hell -- they will burn forever without burning up. There is eternal darkness where you will never SEE any "friends" but only hear their screams and wailing forever and ever and ever. Forever is a long time! As much as I, as a Christian, look forward to eternity in heaven is how much someone should fear eternity in hell. Neither can be fathomed fully. The Bible says that I can't even imagine what God has prepared for me -- it couldn't even be described because I would never have anything that good to compare it with on earth. The opposite will be experienced in hell. Hell was prepared for Satan and his demons. And tragically, it will be filled with "good people" according to the world's philosophy of what is good. But only God gets to determine what is good and what is evil. And He says that everything that is not according to truth is evil. Hell is full of evil because hell was made for evil.
The person in the above dialogue is, in fact, heading for hell and blindly relishing every minute of it. She clearly does not know the truth. And one must ask, 'Why were they even talking about it?' They obvioulsy don't believe the Bible. Where else would they get the concept of hell?
While there are many sitting in churches all over the world who may not be so bold as to say what this woman has said, they are heading to the same place for the same reason: they have rejected God's Son. They have refused to believe the truth as it is found in His Word. They would rather trust man and man-made tradition than the Bible, and it is tragic because they have been taught this way from birth and most of them have a religion that is from cradle to grave and will never listen to the truth because of pride or because it's easier to do what they know. "Besides", they reason, "If what I have believed is not the truth and will send me to hell, what about poor Aunt Eula or Uncle Henry or mom and dad who have already died?" I have had some say to me, "I was born a Catholic and I will die a Catholic." So, they push it aside and refuse to think that what they have always believed in just might not be the truth and just might have devastating consequences. I assure them it does. And those reading this who find themselves getting angry will have these words echoing in their mind in hell and all the others words used in an attempt to save them from the fiery flames. They will know that God was so patient with them never wanting them to perish but to come to the knowledge of the truth.
We must come to see who God is. We must get a higher view of this holy God and a lower view of ourselves. He is God, and He is to be worshipped as God. By telling Him what we will believe and how we will worship Him is to make ourselves gods. To worship God the way He has prescribed is to worship Him in spirit and in truth (John 4:24). Ask yourself whether you worship God according to the truth found in Scripture which tells us who He is or according to a set of man-made guidelines in traditions that you have been taught since birth? Is your worship true or false?
Jesus also said in John 8:31-32 -- "If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free."
Jesus said in John 14:6 that He is THE way, THE truth, and THE life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. Yet every day we hear people say, "Yes, I'm a Christian, (a follower or disciple of Christ) but I believe that there are many ways to heaven or eternal life or the Father. Which way is it? We must ask them where they got their information because the only source of absolute truth would refute their "beliefs".
Inevitably, someone who wants to find a way around the truth will ask, "Well, what about the person in the little remote tribe on the other side of the earth who has never heard the gospel?" They want to portray God as a God who is not fair. Listen, first of all, it's His world and His creation, and He gets to make the rules. To reject His Son is to reject the truth. To reject the truth is to be condemned to eternity in hell. That's the simple truth! Eternal life is a personal thing -- why are you worrying about the person on the other side of the world when God's Spirit is clearly talking to you who are asking this question? When you stand before Him on judgment day, you won't be caring about that person on the other side of the world. You will be concerned about you! But it will be too late!
Second of all, Romans 1 tells us that God has made Himself known to His creation through what is seen and unseen. Every man can look outside at creation and know that there is a Creator. Doesn't every building have a builder? Because of God's revelation of Himself to man, every man is without excuse. What about that person in that far away tribe who hasn't heard the gospel? The Bible says they are without excuse just like everyone else. They have been given enough general revelation in order to find out who this Creator is. Verse 21 says that "even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks." What they did, Paul says, is that they started worshipping the created instead of the Creator. Verse 25 -- "For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator." God has revealed Himself to each of us through His creation and through our consciences that naturally know right from wrong. Again, that's a whole other subject for another time.
Why would people talk about or joke about a place they really don't believe exists? Romans 1:28-32 tells us this, "And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; AND ALTHOUGH THEY KNOW THE ORDINANCE OF GOD, THAT THOSE WHO PRACTICE SUCH THINGS ARE WORTHY OF DEATH, THEY NOT ONLY DO THE SAME, BUT ALSO GIVE HEARTY APPROVAL TO THOSE WHO PRACTICE THEM." In other words, if I'm going to hell, I want to be sure that there are others who are going with me.
Our friends aren't in heaven partying and having a good time carousing and doing what is characteristic of things people do in the dark -- they are worshipping God or they aren't there! And, if they didn't want to spend their lives worshipping Him here, they won't want to worship Him for all eternity, either! There is so much confusion in the world because people who don't see fit to acknowledge God are given over to a depraved mind so that they no longer have a right sense of what is right and wrong. God just walks away from them and gives them over to Satan to control. They are simply not able to understand the truth.
2 Corinthians 4:3-4-- Paul said, "Even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world (Satan) has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 1 Corinthians 2:14 -- But the 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.
We are called to know the truth; to have discernment. Ephesians 4 tells us that we are to know the truth and, as a result, we will no longer be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but we are to speak the truth in love and grow up into Him who is our head. Paul also told Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:15 that we are to be diligent to present ourselves approved to God as workers who do not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.
That's enough for today; tomorrow I want to talk about false teachers and how to discern the truth. If after reading this, the Spirit of God has quickened His truth in your heart, don't hesitate to turn to Him and plead with Him to have mercy on your soul and ask Him to save you. He is faithful and true, and He will not cast out anyone who turns to Him. And that's the truth!
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Offended? But Truly Loved!
The gospel is offensive to those who refuse to believe the truth. One doesn't have to look long at the New Testament accounts to see that those who preach Christ WILL be persecuted. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1:23-24 -- "but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God."
The reaction of the Pharisees and scribes to Jesus is the same one the Christian who speaks the truth "in love" experiences every day to some extent. Paul says preaching Christ crucified is a stumbling block. A stumbling block is an obstacle. It is anything that causes a person to trip or fall. The Jews could not accept the idea of a Messiah who would have to suffer and die. This attitude resulted not only in their rejection of Him but led to His execution as well.
As you can see from the one example I posted yesterday, this repulsion to the truth of the gospel is still found in human beings who believe that they are saved and who are religious. There were none so religious on the earth as the Jewish leadership in Christ's day. They had a religion full of good works. They were extremely self-righteous and full of pride and did not want to have their hearts exposed by Jesus for who they really were inside. Matthew 23 is a scaling rebuke of everything they stood for. Said dialogue by one of Jesus' own today would not be considered "loving," tolerant or promoting unity.
Paul had been a member of this sect -- He was a Jew of all Jews. Yet, all the good works and things he did to achieve "the righteousness of God" he considered as dung once he met the Lord on the road to Damascus. For the first time, he saw himself as God saw him, and he was repulsed by himself. Unless we come to Christ repulsed over our sinfulness and over our enmity and rejection of Him, we will face the same condemnation as the Pharisees who Jesus eventually walked away from after pronouncing judgment on them. It was a sign of judgment on them that He turned to the twelve (Jewish) apostles to continue His work after His death and to lay down the foundation of the the Church in their inspired (God-breathed) teaching that was recorded for the Church in Holy Scripture. These apostles were not the high and mighty leaders of Judaism -- they were uneducated, poor, nobodies; but they turned the world upside down with the gospel of Jesus Christ. And as they extended Christ's love to a lost and dying world, nobodies would respond to them and the proud, religious would reject and persecute them. And, nothing has changed today. Why? Because human nature has not changed. Man, since Adam's Fall is still depraved, lost, dead in sin and trespasses, unable to do anything to save himself. But God saves sinners; those who humbly come to Him admitting their sin, confessing it as sin as God sees it, repenting of it and understanding their need of God to save them. They must understand that to trust in anything other than Christ is not true salvation. It's Christ plus nothing. Not, "Yes, I trust Christ for my salvation, but I also have my church, my priest, the sacraments, purgatory...whatever...as a safety net just in case Christ doesn't come through." That's NOT trusting Christ alone!
The book of 1 John gives us tests by which we can distinguish true believers from counterfeit professors. It is essential that Christians are able to make this distinction. As someone who is called by Christ and charged with taking part in the Great Commission, I must evangelize the lost. As someone who has been called to be a part of God's family, the other obligation I have been charged with is to edify the body of Christ, my brothers and sisters in Christ. So there is a two-fold ministry that every true believer has been called to: Evangelization of the lost or unbelievers and edification of the body (believers). We have each been given gifts to edify Christ's body, so each of us contributes in some way to the health of the body so that it can grow, can be protected and can be all that Christ means for her to be in Him. The problem is that there are a lot of people who profess Christ (profess to be believers), but who don't truly know Him. He knows their hearts, because He can see who they truly belong to, but we cannot. We do not treat believers and unbelievers in the same way, so it is crucial to the best of my ability to be able to distinguish them by their fruit. This is a whole other topic, but believers will totally understand what I am talking about.
Unsaved loved ones will say to believers: "Can't we just agree not to talk about religion?" That would be like asking me not to talk about my kids, because I have a love relationship with them and they are a big part of my life. Christ, on the other hand, IS my life, so to not talk about the relationship I have with Him is just not possible. Someone who would ask me not to talk about my life in Christ doesn't really love me nor care about me. Thus, a relationship between a believer and an unbeliever can only ever be superficial at best. Jesus had the same mentality in Matthew 12:48-50. He said, "Who is my mother and who are my brothers?" Then he pointed to his disciples and said, "Behold my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is my brother and sister and mother."
The reality of Scripture is this: there are only two kinds of people on the face of the earth -- those who belong to God and those who belong to Satan. For true believers, God is their Father and other true believers are their family. For unbelievers, Satan is their father and the world is their family. But the world is passing away and all its lusts. My family is eternal. To pretend that I share the same relationship and beliefs as those whose father is Satan is NOT LOVING. It is cruel and devious because it gives them a false assurance that we belong to the same family.
If one of my family members was about to cross a busy street and didn't notice a tractor trailer coming straight toward them, and I didn't call out and warn them, it would be cruel, unloving and have disastrous consequences. I really would have no excuse for my actions because I could clearly see what was coming for my loved one. Yet, how many "Christians" are silent? They refuse to call their "loved" one from the precipice of hell. Most of our family members are dangling over hell by a thin string -- I think Jonathan Edwards described it as a thread of a spider's web in his most famous sermon of all time, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God."
A rather large part of my family is Catholic, and we do not believe in the same Jesus or the same gospel, as noted in my first post. I do not have any type of regular fellowship with any of them and could probably rightly say that I have burned bridges with most of them. I'm sure they don't want to get too close because my "fanaticism" may rub off or something. But my question to them would be this: I am passionate because I know that what I believe in is the truth. If you are as sure of your beliefs, why haven't you warned me not to cross the street? Why haven't you loved me enough to tell me the truth? Why haven't you followed Jesus (whom you say you worship and follow) in calling lost sinners to repentance and to life eternal?
One reputation that I am sure I have in my town is this: The woman who teaches the Bible who is anti-Catholic. No. I love Catholics! I probably have more Catholics that I love than any other people group. But, I am anti-error because Jesus is truth and He is love and the two cannot be separated.
The reaction of the Pharisees and scribes to Jesus is the same one the Christian who speaks the truth "in love" experiences every day to some extent. Paul says preaching Christ crucified is a stumbling block. A stumbling block is an obstacle. It is anything that causes a person to trip or fall. The Jews could not accept the idea of a Messiah who would have to suffer and die. This attitude resulted not only in their rejection of Him but led to His execution as well.
As you can see from the one example I posted yesterday, this repulsion to the truth of the gospel is still found in human beings who believe that they are saved and who are religious. There were none so religious on the earth as the Jewish leadership in Christ's day. They had a religion full of good works. They were extremely self-righteous and full of pride and did not want to have their hearts exposed by Jesus for who they really were inside. Matthew 23 is a scaling rebuke of everything they stood for. Said dialogue by one of Jesus' own today would not be considered "loving," tolerant or promoting unity.
Paul had been a member of this sect -- He was a Jew of all Jews. Yet, all the good works and things he did to achieve "the righteousness of God" he considered as dung once he met the Lord on the road to Damascus. For the first time, he saw himself as God saw him, and he was repulsed by himself. Unless we come to Christ repulsed over our sinfulness and over our enmity and rejection of Him, we will face the same condemnation as the Pharisees who Jesus eventually walked away from after pronouncing judgment on them. It was a sign of judgment on them that He turned to the twelve (Jewish) apostles to continue His work after His death and to lay down the foundation of the the Church in their inspired (God-breathed) teaching that was recorded for the Church in Holy Scripture. These apostles were not the high and mighty leaders of Judaism -- they were uneducated, poor, nobodies; but they turned the world upside down with the gospel of Jesus Christ. And as they extended Christ's love to a lost and dying world, nobodies would respond to them and the proud, religious would reject and persecute them. And, nothing has changed today. Why? Because human nature has not changed. Man, since Adam's Fall is still depraved, lost, dead in sin and trespasses, unable to do anything to save himself. But God saves sinners; those who humbly come to Him admitting their sin, confessing it as sin as God sees it, repenting of it and understanding their need of God to save them. They must understand that to trust in anything other than Christ is not true salvation. It's Christ plus nothing. Not, "Yes, I trust Christ for my salvation, but I also have my church, my priest, the sacraments, purgatory...whatever...as a safety net just in case Christ doesn't come through." That's NOT trusting Christ alone!
The book of 1 John gives us tests by which we can distinguish true believers from counterfeit professors. It is essential that Christians are able to make this distinction. As someone who is called by Christ and charged with taking part in the Great Commission, I must evangelize the lost. As someone who has been called to be a part of God's family, the other obligation I have been charged with is to edify the body of Christ, my brothers and sisters in Christ. So there is a two-fold ministry that every true believer has been called to: Evangelization of the lost or unbelievers and edification of the body (believers). We have each been given gifts to edify Christ's body, so each of us contributes in some way to the health of the body so that it can grow, can be protected and can be all that Christ means for her to be in Him. The problem is that there are a lot of people who profess Christ (profess to be believers), but who don't truly know Him. He knows their hearts, because He can see who they truly belong to, but we cannot. We do not treat believers and unbelievers in the same way, so it is crucial to the best of my ability to be able to distinguish them by their fruit. This is a whole other topic, but believers will totally understand what I am talking about.
Unsaved loved ones will say to believers: "Can't we just agree not to talk about religion?" That would be like asking me not to talk about my kids, because I have a love relationship with them and they are a big part of my life. Christ, on the other hand, IS my life, so to not talk about the relationship I have with Him is just not possible. Someone who would ask me not to talk about my life in Christ doesn't really love me nor care about me. Thus, a relationship between a believer and an unbeliever can only ever be superficial at best. Jesus had the same mentality in Matthew 12:48-50. He said, "Who is my mother and who are my brothers?" Then he pointed to his disciples and said, "Behold my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is my brother and sister and mother."
The reality of Scripture is this: there are only two kinds of people on the face of the earth -- those who belong to God and those who belong to Satan. For true believers, God is their Father and other true believers are their family. For unbelievers, Satan is their father and the world is their family. But the world is passing away and all its lusts. My family is eternal. To pretend that I share the same relationship and beliefs as those whose father is Satan is NOT LOVING. It is cruel and devious because it gives them a false assurance that we belong to the same family.
If one of my family members was about to cross a busy street and didn't notice a tractor trailer coming straight toward them, and I didn't call out and warn them, it would be cruel, unloving and have disastrous consequences. I really would have no excuse for my actions because I could clearly see what was coming for my loved one. Yet, how many "Christians" are silent? They refuse to call their "loved" one from the precipice of hell. Most of our family members are dangling over hell by a thin string -- I think Jonathan Edwards described it as a thread of a spider's web in his most famous sermon of all time, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God."
A rather large part of my family is Catholic, and we do not believe in the same Jesus or the same gospel, as noted in my first post. I do not have any type of regular fellowship with any of them and could probably rightly say that I have burned bridges with most of them. I'm sure they don't want to get too close because my "fanaticism" may rub off or something. But my question to them would be this: I am passionate because I know that what I believe in is the truth. If you are as sure of your beliefs, why haven't you warned me not to cross the street? Why haven't you loved me enough to tell me the truth? Why haven't you followed Jesus (whom you say you worship and follow) in calling lost sinners to repentance and to life eternal?
One reputation that I am sure I have in my town is this: The woman who teaches the Bible who is anti-Catholic. No. I love Catholics! I probably have more Catholics that I love than any other people group. But, I am anti-error because Jesus is truth and He is love and the two cannot be separated.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
The Essence of Love is Found in Truth
Love! Love! Love! Everywhere we go in this world, people talk about love as the greatest need of mankind. People who subscribe to a secular worldview say that in order to truly love all people we must be tolerant of all religions and strive for ecumenical unity. Sadly, we are living in a day when the world's mentality has almost completely taken over "the Church".
Recently, my youngest son replied to a comment made on Facebook by one of his "friends" which really drove home the point I am trying to make today. He has never met this person, but somehow they got to be "friends". My son and I are "friends", too. I know this may sound bizarre, but as I think about it, I'm not all that surprised by it. One Saturday morning I happened to go to his Facebook page, and this person's picture just seemed to jump out at me. I clicked on the picture and started reading just the information page. The thing that I noticed first was, "I love God." I love to see a young person glorifying God, so I continued to read. It soon became obvious that this person is very active in a local youth "outreach" that involves "Christians" of every denomination. They meet together, pray together, worship together, go on mission trips together, study the Bible together, serve the community together and play games together. As I read much of the other information listed on the page, I started to get really upset (a) that this girl was not giving a right picture of who God is -- it is not honoring to God to say that you love Him and belong to Him but to live a life as if He isn't Lord of your life or doesn't exist, (b) that this person was so deceived to believe that she truly loves God, but obviously doesn't know what that involves, and (c) that our youth are being given a watered-down gospel without the whole truth about their sin and about the life of righteousness that God expects them to live. I did the only thing I know to do -- I went to my prayer closet and starting weeping and crying out to my God and Father to save these children from the delusion of their false profession of faith, to plow up the hearts of our youth to hear the real message of salvation and to deliver us from this evil world system and all its lies. And I specifically started praying for this girl.
A little later my son got up. After breakfast, he said to me, "Mom, could you come look at something; I want to make sure that I didn't do anything wrong." Imagine my surprise when he went to this exact person's Facebook and showed me the conversation that they had the night before. This girl had joined a "club" on line that promoted same sex marriage. My son simply put a link to a verse of Scripture that says homosexuals will not inherit the kingdom of God. He didn't make any other comment. I was so taken back by what I read next.
Here's a copy of the dialogue. Notice the "logic" by this girl for her defense of same sex marriage.
RECENT ACTIVITY
So and so joined the group I bet we can find 1,000,000 People who Support Same Sex Marriage.
My son
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Corinthians%206:9-11&version=NIV
Other person
Seriously..
You really are going to be the inconsiderable jerk who thinks they're funny?
Well listen here, bud, I highly doubt we share the same God, because MY god wants everyone to love everyone, and HE loves everyone equally. I will support gay marriage every time, and I think its more legit than straight marriage, because so many people out there marry for all the wrong reasons: fame, money, etc., and they have forgotten how to love. But it's not like that in a gay marriage. They are going against society because what they feel is REAL! My God approves of real, I don't know about yours...
So do not, I repeat, DO NOT leave anymore comments on any of my activities, status, etc., for you have ***** me off to a whole new level.
My son
I'd like to know what I did wrong. I'm not trying to be funny. I only posted 3 verses from the Bible that show that in God's eyes homosexuality is sin. I'm not hating on anyone. I just find it odd that a Christian would get upset because I posted something from God's Word.
Other person
Yes, I'm a Christian. But I believe God believes opposite of what you propose. I believe the bible is a handbook, not guidelines, therefore I don't support everything it says. God loves everyone.
My son
That statement is such a contradiction. You don't support all of the Bible, but you say you're a Christian. How much of the Bible did Jesus believe? Every single solitary syllable of it. Don't tell me you're a disciple of Jesus Christ and you're following Him and He is the supreme standard by which the Scriptures can be interpreted, and then take a view contrary to that of Jesus concerning the Word of God.
Other person
Dude...Honestly...STOP COMMENTING...
I seriously want to punch you in the face.
Most would say, "Well, you need to correct your son for being so unloving and intolerant. That wasn't a very loving thing to do." Did I do that? No. On the contrary, I was so proud of what God is doing in his life. I was so thankful for the good soil of his heart to not only hear the truth and believe the truth, but to defend the truth in LOVE! And, I told him that. He was being obedient to his Father.
We know that the greatest commandment in the Word of God is this: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. -- Deuteronomy 6:5 Jesus came along and affirmed this commandment in Matthew 22:37 -- "You shall love your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind." He said the second commandment originally found in Leviticus 19:18 is like this greatest commandment: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' -- Matthew 22:39 He said that on these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets. In other words, to live the life required of all human beings by THE one, holy God of the universe would be to obey these two commandments perfectly throughout his or her lifetime. People everywhere today "say" they love God. God says, "They don't." 2 John 1:6 -- And this is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is not an isolated verse if one is familiar to any extent with His Word. it is repeated over and over again throughout. Jesus said, "If you love Me, you will obey Me." If we truly love God, we will walk as He walked. We can see that theme repeated in 1 John.
Humanly impossible, you say? Yes, it is. But, that is the standard if we are to have "fellowship" with our God. To break either of these two "love" commandments even one time results in the judgment of every human being with a sentence of guilty, condemned to hell for all eternity. That's how holy our God is. He is a righteous judge who has indignation every day says the Psalmist in Psalm 6:11. Why is He indignant? Because His creatures sin against Him every day over and over again. They don't love Him. Romans 1 says that they don't honor Him as God or give thanks. They profess to be wise, but they are fools in His sight. They think that they don't need Him, that they can make it to heaven on their own in their own way. Romans 3:23 says that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. The glory of God is His holiness; it's all that He is. We miss the mark every time, even when we try to do good. Romans 6:23 says that the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. This is THE only hope for any human being. Left to ourselves, we would perish, being eternally separated from God for all eternity. But God so loved His own that He would not leave them in this state. Jesus (fully God and fully man) came into the world and lived a perfect life in order that He could be the perfect substitute for us -- He would be our very own sacrificial Lamb. But He died only for those who would believe in Him and trust Him for their eternal life. Those who would believe would repent of their sins and yield to His Holy Spirit so that they would glorify Him on earth and for all eternity. This is love.
The Bible (which all professing Christians should believe in its entirety and in its literal interpretation) also ties together our love for God with our love for others. We can almost convince ourselves that we love God, even if deep down we know we do not. But to convince ourselves that we love all human beings as God loves is extremely difficult. But what does true love look like for the believer? One misconception that is being stressed today is that we shouldn't judge anyone because to love truly is to be tolerant and to strive for unity at all costs. But is that what God's love looks like? God's love is the basis for understanding what love is, because God is love. And, it must be the God of the Bible, the one and only God of this universe, Creator and Sustainer of all things. To use any other standard to measure love is foolishness, blasphemous and eternally deadly.
I've written enough to think about today. Tomorrow I want to pick this up and talk about false teaching and how we MUST come against it if we are to show the love of Christ to this delusional world.
Recently, my youngest son replied to a comment made on Facebook by one of his "friends" which really drove home the point I am trying to make today. He has never met this person, but somehow they got to be "friends". My son and I are "friends", too. I know this may sound bizarre, but as I think about it, I'm not all that surprised by it. One Saturday morning I happened to go to his Facebook page, and this person's picture just seemed to jump out at me. I clicked on the picture and started reading just the information page. The thing that I noticed first was, "I love God." I love to see a young person glorifying God, so I continued to read. It soon became obvious that this person is very active in a local youth "outreach" that involves "Christians" of every denomination. They meet together, pray together, worship together, go on mission trips together, study the Bible together, serve the community together and play games together. As I read much of the other information listed on the page, I started to get really upset (a) that this girl was not giving a right picture of who God is -- it is not honoring to God to say that you love Him and belong to Him but to live a life as if He isn't Lord of your life or doesn't exist, (b) that this person was so deceived to believe that she truly loves God, but obviously doesn't know what that involves, and (c) that our youth are being given a watered-down gospel without the whole truth about their sin and about the life of righteousness that God expects them to live. I did the only thing I know to do -- I went to my prayer closet and starting weeping and crying out to my God and Father to save these children from the delusion of their false profession of faith, to plow up the hearts of our youth to hear the real message of salvation and to deliver us from this evil world system and all its lies. And I specifically started praying for this girl.
A little later my son got up. After breakfast, he said to me, "Mom, could you come look at something; I want to make sure that I didn't do anything wrong." Imagine my surprise when he went to this exact person's Facebook and showed me the conversation that they had the night before. This girl had joined a "club" on line that promoted same sex marriage. My son simply put a link to a verse of Scripture that says homosexuals will not inherit the kingdom of God. He didn't make any other comment. I was so taken back by what I read next.
Here's a copy of the dialogue. Notice the "logic" by this girl for her defense of same sex marriage.
RECENT ACTIVITY
So and so joined the group I bet we can find 1,000,000 People who Support Same Sex Marriage.
My son
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Corinthians%206:9-11&version=NIV
Other person
Seriously..
You really are going to be the inconsiderable jerk who thinks they're funny?
Well listen here, bud, I highly doubt we share the same God, because MY god wants everyone to love everyone, and HE loves everyone equally. I will support gay marriage every time, and I think its more legit than straight marriage, because so many people out there marry for all the wrong reasons: fame, money, etc., and they have forgotten how to love. But it's not like that in a gay marriage. They are going against society because what they feel is REAL! My God approves of real, I don't know about yours...
So do not, I repeat, DO NOT leave anymore comments on any of my activities, status, etc., for you have ***** me off to a whole new level.
My son
I'd like to know what I did wrong. I'm not trying to be funny. I only posted 3 verses from the Bible that show that in God's eyes homosexuality is sin. I'm not hating on anyone. I just find it odd that a Christian would get upset because I posted something from God's Word.
Other person
Yes, I'm a Christian. But I believe God believes opposite of what you propose. I believe the bible is a handbook, not guidelines, therefore I don't support everything it says. God loves everyone.
My son
That statement is such a contradiction. You don't support all of the Bible, but you say you're a Christian. How much of the Bible did Jesus believe? Every single solitary syllable of it. Don't tell me you're a disciple of Jesus Christ and you're following Him and He is the supreme standard by which the Scriptures can be interpreted, and then take a view contrary to that of Jesus concerning the Word of God.
Other person
Dude...Honestly...STOP COMMENTING...
I seriously want to punch you in the face.
Most would say, "Well, you need to correct your son for being so unloving and intolerant. That wasn't a very loving thing to do." Did I do that? No. On the contrary, I was so proud of what God is doing in his life. I was so thankful for the good soil of his heart to not only hear the truth and believe the truth, but to defend the truth in LOVE! And, I told him that. He was being obedient to his Father.
We know that the greatest commandment in the Word of God is this: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. -- Deuteronomy 6:5 Jesus came along and affirmed this commandment in Matthew 22:37 -- "You shall love your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind." He said the second commandment originally found in Leviticus 19:18 is like this greatest commandment: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' -- Matthew 22:39 He said that on these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets. In other words, to live the life required of all human beings by THE one, holy God of the universe would be to obey these two commandments perfectly throughout his or her lifetime. People everywhere today "say" they love God. God says, "They don't." 2 John 1:6 -- And this is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is not an isolated verse if one is familiar to any extent with His Word. it is repeated over and over again throughout. Jesus said, "If you love Me, you will obey Me." If we truly love God, we will walk as He walked. We can see that theme repeated in 1 John.
Humanly impossible, you say? Yes, it is. But, that is the standard if we are to have "fellowship" with our God. To break either of these two "love" commandments even one time results in the judgment of every human being with a sentence of guilty, condemned to hell for all eternity. That's how holy our God is. He is a righteous judge who has indignation every day says the Psalmist in Psalm 6:11. Why is He indignant? Because His creatures sin against Him every day over and over again. They don't love Him. Romans 1 says that they don't honor Him as God or give thanks. They profess to be wise, but they are fools in His sight. They think that they don't need Him, that they can make it to heaven on their own in their own way. Romans 3:23 says that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. The glory of God is His holiness; it's all that He is. We miss the mark every time, even when we try to do good. Romans 6:23 says that the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. This is THE only hope for any human being. Left to ourselves, we would perish, being eternally separated from God for all eternity. But God so loved His own that He would not leave them in this state. Jesus (fully God and fully man) came into the world and lived a perfect life in order that He could be the perfect substitute for us -- He would be our very own sacrificial Lamb. But He died only for those who would believe in Him and trust Him for their eternal life. Those who would believe would repent of their sins and yield to His Holy Spirit so that they would glorify Him on earth and for all eternity. This is love.
The Bible (which all professing Christians should believe in its entirety and in its literal interpretation) also ties together our love for God with our love for others. We can almost convince ourselves that we love God, even if deep down we know we do not. But to convince ourselves that we love all human beings as God loves is extremely difficult. But what does true love look like for the believer? One misconception that is being stressed today is that we shouldn't judge anyone because to love truly is to be tolerant and to strive for unity at all costs. But is that what God's love looks like? God's love is the basis for understanding what love is, because God is love. And, it must be the God of the Bible, the one and only God of this universe, Creator and Sustainer of all things. To use any other standard to measure love is foolishness, blasphemous and eternally deadly.
I've written enough to think about today. Tomorrow I want to pick this up and talk about false teaching and how we MUST come against it if we are to show the love of Christ to this delusional world.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Can true koinonia be ecumenical?
When I was in junior high school, I auditioned for a singing group called "Koinonia". While I was not asked to join in order to sing with the group, I was asked to accompany them with my guitar. What was "koinonia"? It was a secret code name, I was sure. Eventually, I came to find out that it meant "fellowship". I don't think I ever fully understood the connection, but we did go from church to church in our area putting on "concerts". This didn't seem strange to me because the group was made up of kids from every denomination. I was not a Christian at the time, although I'm sure I thought I was; back then a Christian to me was the same as being an American citizen.
How strange it was for me to hear this word for the first time after my salvation. But, alas, the meaning was not much different to me in my youth as a child of God from when I first had learned it. Fellowship simply meant "two fellows in the same ship." While that seems to be the most simplistic way to remember what this word means, it is far from what the biblical understanding of koinonia truly is.
I've been reading 1 John over and over again for the month of March. This morning I was struck once again by this fellowship that the Apostle John talks about. What is biblical koinonia? On many occasions I have almost been driven to lunacy when I hear of "Christians" leaving strong biblical teaching in churches because they "want more fellowship." When questioned, they whine, "I must leave because I need more F-E-L-L-O-W-S-H-I-P!" No, I want to scream, "I NEED MORE FELLOWSHIP! You, my friend, need more cookie and punch social functions!" Yikes!!!
1 John 1:3 -- ...what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, SO THAT YOU TOO may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.
John MacArthur in his commentary on 1 John says, "that "koinonia" was a familiar Greek term that signified a mutual participation in a common cause or shared life. It is far more than a mere partnership of those who have the same beliefs and are thus drawn together. Rather, it is a mutual life and love of those who are one in spirit."
That changes things a bit, don't you think?
The apostles indeed had fellowship with our Lord during His life on earth but, oh, how much sweeter it was knowing all they knew after He had ascended and were indwelt by His Holy Spirit. He came to indwell them, to live in them, to abide with them always and forever. Before the indwelling they squabbled with each other, said stupid things to each other and looked like immature little children who just didn't seem to grow up. And we scratch our heads at this until we willingly come to see ourselves as we truly are in the mirror of the Word. But what we sometimes refuse to see is that AFTER the Holy Spirit indwelt them, they turned the world upside down with the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They spoke with authority and were great models (not perfect -- but strong supports for the pillars)of the church.
The question Christianity comes down to in its bottom line is, "Does Christ know you?" Only when you know the answer to that question can you truly answer the question, "Do I know Him?" This question is a vital one because we know that according to Matthew 7:21-23 on judgment day there will be those who called Him Lord and who did lots of spiritual things in His name; however, He will say to them, "Depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness; I never KNEW you." Knowing is in every sense of the word that biblical, intimate "knowing". It's literally a shared life. We share one common life together. For me to know Christ is eternal life. He has made me one together with Him. He is my covenant partner and I am His.
That fellowship with Christ grows deeper as I get to know Him better every day through the study of His Word and through prayer --but also as I learn to love my brothers and sisters in Christ. The two great commandments are fulfilled when I enter into true fellowship with God and His children. And this is where we finally see the seriousness of entering into an intimate relationship with Christ. We think it is easy to love Christ (at least in what most people think it is to "love" Christ -- the Christ of their own imagination). But the Christ of the Bible calls us to love His children. Now, that's downright hard! No, impossible! If you think you do love His children, then you better go back and take a refresher course on what the biblical definition of love is in 1 Corinthians 13. I know that I'm not loveable -- ouch! I tend to be gouchy and irritating to others more than I would want to be. Even when I think my motivations are pure I irritate some people most all the time! Well, the only way I can learn to love my brother is to get intimate with my Lord who loves them perfectly. His Spirit in me can love them, but I must yield to Him in my flesh to actively love them, and that is not something my flesh enjoys at all (usually until after it's all over and I reap the benefits of it!)
Although they are no longer physically with us, I have wept as I have read people like Martyn-Lloyd Jones or Charles Spurgeon because of this intimate fellowship we share in Christ. I feel as though I truly know them because I can hear their hearts, and my heart leaps with affirmation with the truth they still proclaim from beyond the grave through their books. They live on in a real sense in heaven but ALSO become very real to me through their words. And I quote them -- often even forgetting that they are no longer here with us.
God has given us the family so that we may understand on a small scale what true intimacy looks like. We support one another, we defend one another, we come alongside one another whether to encourage or to rebuke or correct. We delight in one another and each other's accomplishments. We focus on the same work or causes. Our hearts truly have been knit together for a purpose. And for the Christian, we have a much larger family to enjoy here on earth only exceeded by the one we will enjoy with unfathomable delights in glory!
Spurgeon says that: "if you have any enjoyment of His presence at any time -- it is not for yourself alone, but for others also to share with you. When fellowship is the sweetest, your desire is the strongest that others may have fellowship with you; and when, truly, your fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ, you earnestly wish that the whole Christian brotherhood may share the blessing with you."
Now I ask you this: can believers have true fellowship with unbelievers? Absolutely not! It's just not logical because we don't share the same life. So why do we send our children to ecumenical youth groups filled with unbelievers? Ecumenical groups of any kind which have no clear lines of distinction? We wonder why our children are confused but we shouldn't. Why do we participate in "spiritual enterprises" that may name the name of Christ but do not honor Him by what they do or say? And how unloving it is to let someone believe they are truly saved just because we who know that we are associate with them in "spiritual" functions? This only leads them to a false assurance that they are okay, too. Maybe it's because we really need to understand what the Apostle John and others meant by koinonia. Maybe we don't understand the distinctions because we have never bothered to understand what we believe or what those we "have fellowship" with believe -- but we will be left without excuse on judgment day. And, it will be too late then to find out.
There's a reason that God made a division, a clear line of demarcation between light and darkness, between those who belong to Him and those who don't. The wheat and the tares,the sheep and goats, etc. Those whose Father is God and those whose father is the devil.
By all means we must associate with those who are held in bondage to the prince of the power of the air because we must be obedient to go out into all the world and call the elect to repentance; this is how we join with our Lord in His work. But we cannot join in their work. We can't let those children who are perishing think that they are WITH us, working alongside us when they walk in the darkness while we walk in the light. It's not right. It's definitely NOT LOVING!
Some of us need to grow up -- if the Holy Spirit indeed dwells in us, we should know the true meaning of fellowship and BE understanding it more every day.
Do you want cookies and punch and loads of social events? Why? Cookies and punch fellowship is like cotton candy for the nourishment of the body. How long can you truly live on THAT?
How strange it was for me to hear this word for the first time after my salvation. But, alas, the meaning was not much different to me in my youth as a child of God from when I first had learned it. Fellowship simply meant "two fellows in the same ship." While that seems to be the most simplistic way to remember what this word means, it is far from what the biblical understanding of koinonia truly is.
I've been reading 1 John over and over again for the month of March. This morning I was struck once again by this fellowship that the Apostle John talks about. What is biblical koinonia? On many occasions I have almost been driven to lunacy when I hear of "Christians" leaving strong biblical teaching in churches because they "want more fellowship." When questioned, they whine, "I must leave because I need more F-E-L-L-O-W-S-H-I-P!" No, I want to scream, "I NEED MORE FELLOWSHIP! You, my friend, need more cookie and punch social functions!" Yikes!!!
1 John 1:3 -- ...what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, SO THAT YOU TOO may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.
John MacArthur in his commentary on 1 John says, "that "koinonia" was a familiar Greek term that signified a mutual participation in a common cause or shared life. It is far more than a mere partnership of those who have the same beliefs and are thus drawn together. Rather, it is a mutual life and love of those who are one in spirit."
That changes things a bit, don't you think?
The apostles indeed had fellowship with our Lord during His life on earth but, oh, how much sweeter it was knowing all they knew after He had ascended and were indwelt by His Holy Spirit. He came to indwell them, to live in them, to abide with them always and forever. Before the indwelling they squabbled with each other, said stupid things to each other and looked like immature little children who just didn't seem to grow up. And we scratch our heads at this until we willingly come to see ourselves as we truly are in the mirror of the Word. But what we sometimes refuse to see is that AFTER the Holy Spirit indwelt them, they turned the world upside down with the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They spoke with authority and were great models (not perfect -- but strong supports for the pillars)of the church.
The question Christianity comes down to in its bottom line is, "Does Christ know you?" Only when you know the answer to that question can you truly answer the question, "Do I know Him?" This question is a vital one because we know that according to Matthew 7:21-23 on judgment day there will be those who called Him Lord and who did lots of spiritual things in His name; however, He will say to them, "Depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness; I never KNEW you." Knowing is in every sense of the word that biblical, intimate "knowing". It's literally a shared life. We share one common life together. For me to know Christ is eternal life. He has made me one together with Him. He is my covenant partner and I am His.
That fellowship with Christ grows deeper as I get to know Him better every day through the study of His Word and through prayer --but also as I learn to love my brothers and sisters in Christ. The two great commandments are fulfilled when I enter into true fellowship with God and His children. And this is where we finally see the seriousness of entering into an intimate relationship with Christ. We think it is easy to love Christ (at least in what most people think it is to "love" Christ -- the Christ of their own imagination). But the Christ of the Bible calls us to love His children. Now, that's downright hard! No, impossible! If you think you do love His children, then you better go back and take a refresher course on what the biblical definition of love is in 1 Corinthians 13. I know that I'm not loveable -- ouch! I tend to be gouchy and irritating to others more than I would want to be. Even when I think my motivations are pure I irritate some people most all the time! Well, the only way I can learn to love my brother is to get intimate with my Lord who loves them perfectly. His Spirit in me can love them, but I must yield to Him in my flesh to actively love them, and that is not something my flesh enjoys at all (usually until after it's all over and I reap the benefits of it!)
Although they are no longer physically with us, I have wept as I have read people like Martyn-Lloyd Jones or Charles Spurgeon because of this intimate fellowship we share in Christ. I feel as though I truly know them because I can hear their hearts, and my heart leaps with affirmation with the truth they still proclaim from beyond the grave through their books. They live on in a real sense in heaven but ALSO become very real to me through their words. And I quote them -- often even forgetting that they are no longer here with us.
God has given us the family so that we may understand on a small scale what true intimacy looks like. We support one another, we defend one another, we come alongside one another whether to encourage or to rebuke or correct. We delight in one another and each other's accomplishments. We focus on the same work or causes. Our hearts truly have been knit together for a purpose. And for the Christian, we have a much larger family to enjoy here on earth only exceeded by the one we will enjoy with unfathomable delights in glory!
Spurgeon says that: "if you have any enjoyment of His presence at any time -- it is not for yourself alone, but for others also to share with you. When fellowship is the sweetest, your desire is the strongest that others may have fellowship with you; and when, truly, your fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ, you earnestly wish that the whole Christian brotherhood may share the blessing with you."
Now I ask you this: can believers have true fellowship with unbelievers? Absolutely not! It's just not logical because we don't share the same life. So why do we send our children to ecumenical youth groups filled with unbelievers? Ecumenical groups of any kind which have no clear lines of distinction? We wonder why our children are confused but we shouldn't. Why do we participate in "spiritual enterprises" that may name the name of Christ but do not honor Him by what they do or say? And how unloving it is to let someone believe they are truly saved just because we who know that we are associate with them in "spiritual" functions? This only leads them to a false assurance that they are okay, too. Maybe it's because we really need to understand what the Apostle John and others meant by koinonia. Maybe we don't understand the distinctions because we have never bothered to understand what we believe or what those we "have fellowship" with believe -- but we will be left without excuse on judgment day. And, it will be too late then to find out.
There's a reason that God made a division, a clear line of demarcation between light and darkness, between those who belong to Him and those who don't. The wheat and the tares,the sheep and goats, etc. Those whose Father is God and those whose father is the devil.
By all means we must associate with those who are held in bondage to the prince of the power of the air because we must be obedient to go out into all the world and call the elect to repentance; this is how we join with our Lord in His work. But we cannot join in their work. We can't let those children who are perishing think that they are WITH us, working alongside us when they walk in the darkness while we walk in the light. It's not right. It's definitely NOT LOVING!
Some of us need to grow up -- if the Holy Spirit indeed dwells in us, we should know the true meaning of fellowship and BE understanding it more every day.
Do you want cookies and punch and loads of social events? Why? Cookies and punch fellowship is like cotton candy for the nourishment of the body. How long can you truly live on THAT?
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