Tuesday, September 28, 2010

The Greatest Verse about the Security of the Believer - I Thessalonians 5:24

There are a lot of wonderful verses regarding the eternal security of believers, but my personal favorite is I Thessalonians 5:24. Why? Because it is so clear that it is God who ultimately guarantees our salvation, not us, and because I rarely hear anyone else refer to it. Look at it with me for just a moment.

"Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass."

The verse before sets the context. Paul prayerfully asks God to "sanctify" the Thessalonian believers "entirely", and to perserve them so that they will be "...without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ". In other words, he is praying that the Thessalonian believers will be completely righteous when Christ returns, i.e., saved. Then Paul goes on to assure the Thessalonians, and us, that God is the One who ultimately will make sure this happens. What a great comfort that is to me! I know that if the process is left up to me, there is no way I am going to make it. I am far too weak, sinful and prone to stray. But if God has called us to salvation, He will bring it to pass, and we are going to be completely righteous, and arrive safely at our heavenly destination! Thank you Jesus, and thank you, Heavenly Father!

Sunday, September 26, 2010

The Historical Context of Ephesians 5:18

Last week my wife and I were on a short vacation to New York City. I have always wanted to browse the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I finally got the opportunity. I saw several VanGogh's and Monet's up close, plus other paintings I had only seen in photos. What a great adventure! But we didn't start there. At first, we went on a guided tour that began with a piece of marble sculpture from ancient Rome.

It was a sculpture of a female devotee of the god Dionysus. In both Greek and Roman societies, the worship of Dionysus was very popular, particularly with women. The lives of women were especially difficult and degrading in those days. They longed for greater significance and fulfillment, and time away from the drudgery of daily life. They tried to find this in the worship of Dionysus.

The worship of Dionysus took place in the forests outside urban areas at night. Women and men began drinking and dancing until they achieved a state of ecstasy where supposedly the spirit of Dionysus took control of them and whatever followed was the will of Dionysus. Usually what followed was nothing but sexual immorality.

This cult activity is the historical background to Paul's exhortation, "Do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit" (Ephesians 5:18).

This discovery was not original with me, but seeing this sculpture reminded me of how important this background is to understanding this verse of scripture.

What it tells us is that, first of all, being filled with the Spirit is a conscious decision like getting drunk. Usually being filled with the Spirit does not happen accidentally or unconsciously. We have to make a commitment to stop sinning (Romans 6:12), and then be willing to yield ourselves to God (Romans 6:13). When we do this the Holy Spirit takes over and He controls us. That is what "filling" refers to. So, Paul is saying don't be controlled by alcohol, as that only leads to sinful excess. Rather we are to be controlled by the Holy Spirit, which leads to praise, thanksgiving and godly behavior (see Ephesians 5:19-21).

What this historical background also indicates is that the filling of the Spirit is not something that occurs once and then continues on the rest of our lives. This is the traditional understanding of this verse by our Pentecostal/Charismatic brethren. The sad cases of Bakker and Swaggart should have led to a new perspective on this verse long ago. But just in case one is not convinced, the background of this immensely popular cult helps us to see clearly what Paul is saying, i.e., Spirit filling is something that must be repeated again and again throughout the life of a believer. We are baptized once by the Spirit (see this post), but we can be filled with the Spirit many, many times if we are willing. Are you willing?

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Does God Hate Sinners? - Romans 9:13

Several months ago the folks who travel around the country letting people know who God hates came to my city. Right out in front of the local high school with enough police protection to guard the president, they held up their signs. One said, "God hates fags", another said, "God hates Obama". I forget who else they said that God hates. I was familiar with their 'ministry', but I wanted to understand where they get this from in Scripture. I managed to get permission to approach the lady in charge. When I asked her about the scriptural basis for their 'ministry' she quoted Romans 9:13, which says,

"Just as it is written, Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated." Romans 9:13

She went on to explain that Esau is a type of all sinners. God doesn't just hate him in particular, He hates all sinners. It wasn't long after that our conversation went sour and she dismissed me as a 'false prophet'. Here is what I would have told her if I had been given the chance.

The word "hate" here in Romans 9:13 does not mean what our word "hate" means today. When we use the word "hate" it entails a desire to hurt someone, or at the very least, a strong desire for bad things to happen to them. But that is not what this word means here and this is confirmed by other Scriptures.

Ezekiel 33:11 indicates that God does not take any pleasure in the death of evil people, rather He desires for them to repent and live.

II Peter 3:9 says that God does not desire "...for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance."

It is true that God was angry with sinners for violating His holiness, and now He is angry with those who reject His Son and His sacrifice for their sins (see John 3:36). But God does not hate sinners as we think of hate. Actually He loves them and wants them to repent and be reconciled to Him (see this post on II Corinthians 5:19).

When God says, "Esau I hated", the best way to translate this is "Esau I have loved less". He chose to love Jacob with a special love and He loves those who put their trust in His Son with the same unconditional, everlasting love (See post on Romans 8:31-39).

Those who reject His Son and His sacrifice, God continues to be angry with them unless they repent, and His righteousness demands that those who die rejecting Christ must be punished eternally away from God's presence. It is very, very sad, but even this consequence is not hate. It is because of, first of all, God's love for righteousness (Hebrews 1:9), and also His great love for us to create a perfect heaven and earth for us to dwell in (Revelation 21, 22).

In short, our God is not, in the modern sense of the word, a God who hates anybody. Rather He loves everyone and desires for them to trust in His Son and live.

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Can an atheist understand spiritual truth? - I Corinthians 2:14

Sometimes I hear Christians say in passing that someone who does not know Christ as Savior cannot understand the Bible. This is both true and false.

It is true in the sense that there are certain spiritual truths that must be taught by the Holy Spirit. This is indicated in I Corinthians 2:12-13 which says,

"Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual with spiritual."

So, there are certain spiritual truths that require the Spirit to help us understand. This happens when the Holy Spirit enables us to comprehend a difficult spiritual concept by comparing two spiritual truths. The word "combining" here in I Corinthians 2:13 means to "compare".

This occurs in my life when I am studying Scripture and the Spirit brings other Scripture passages to my mind that I have also studied, and He helps me through this process to understand what I am reading and comprehend a new (to me) spiritual truth.

Clearly, the "natural man" (v 14) cannot understand these spiritual truths because he or she does not have the Spirit living within. But that does not mean that unregenerate people cannot comprehend many spiritual truths. I am regularly amazed at atheists, agnostics and other professed unbelievers who can clearly articulate the gospel, the doctrine of election, the deity and humanity of Christ and a host of other biblical doctrines. Sometimes their understanding of these things exceeds that of many Christians I know. The point of I Corinthians 2:14 is not that unregenerate people cannot comprehend and clearly explain many spiritual truths. The point is that they cannot "accept" them. Without the help of the Holy Spirit even though they can intellectually comprehend the truth they cannot accept those things as being true. They cannot embrace the truth and make it their own.

I know many unbelievers who can tell you exactly what the "plan of salvation" is, but they have not by their own admission put their trust in Christ. Do they know the Gospel? Yes, but they cannot accept it as truth because this requires the help of the Holy Spirit. Until the Holy Spirit removes the "veil...over their heart" (II Corinthians 3:15-16), they cannot and will not personally accept the gospel of Jesus Christ as truth.

I have heard so many people say through tears that they wish they could believe the Bible. They wish they could believe the Gospel. They wish they could believe in God. There is a sense that they long to be at peace, spiritually-speaking. They long to have certainty about the big questions of life. I believe they really, truly, want to accept what God has said. But without the work of the Spirit, they cannot. That is why prayer is so important in communicating spiritual truth. It is not enough for us to clearly explain the truth, though that is very important (see Colossians 4:3-4). We have to pray for those who hear the truth to respond to it through the help of God's Spirit. We have to ask God to do what only He can do. Conversion is not just a matter of persuasion or understanding, it requires a supernatural act of God. Let us pray like we never have before!

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Turn the Other Cheek - Matthew 5:39

This is one of the most quoted sayings of Jesus. It is also one of the most misunderstood.

"But I say to you, do not resist him who is evil; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also." Matthew 5:39

What Jesus is saying here is that when someone personally insults us, physically or verbally, as Christians we should endure the insult and be ready to receive another, not defend ourselves. In other words, as Christians we should not be concerned  first and foremost about our feelings, our dignity, our honor, our reputation. All of these things are secondary to our witness and conduct for Christ. He calls us to put ourselves in the position of humility and servanthood for His glory. By our reaction, that is, our lack of reaction to personal affronts, we cause people to think deeply about why we don't respond in kind. Hopefully, they will realize it is not because we are cowards, but because we are Christians. As Jesus said shortly before this:

"Let your light shine before men in such a way that they see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven." Matthew 5:16

Now having explained what this verse means, here is what it does not mean. It does not mean that we cannot or should not defend ourselves if we are physically attacked or assaulted. If someone breaks into my house and tries to harm me, I am allowed to defend myself. More importantly, we should defend our loved ones and those entrusted to our care. Turning the other cheek does not apply to people trying to physically harm us or those we have a responsibility to protect. This verse does not mean that one cannot own or use weapons. This verse does not speak to the issue of going to war. One cannot quote this verse as a proof text for pacifism. The issue of whether or not it is appropriate for Christians to ever fight in a war has to be settled by other scriptures.

The point of this verse is not that we should let others do whatever they want to us or to our loved ones, but in the case of personal insult, we should not defend ourselves.

That is not to say that some other brother or sister should not defend us against insult or accusation.This is where we as Christians need to stand up for one another. Each of us has the responsibility to "turn the other cheek", but we also have the responsibility to "love your neighbor" (Matthew 5:43), which includes standing up for brothers and sisters being unjustly accused or insulted. I am very thankful for the believers over the years who have spoken up for me when I could not speak for myself. If we all do what is right, Christ is honored and we will also take care of each other.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

"Not Counting Their Trespasses" - II Corinthians 5:19

One of the reasons why I believe in unlimited atonement, although I consider myself a Calvinist, is because I am first and foremost a biblicist. There are just too many verses that cannot be satisfactorily explained from the limited atonement perspective. One of the verses that cannot, in my opinion, be reconciled with a limited atonement perspective is II Corinthians 5:19. And reconciliation is the topic of this verse and the immediate context.

In verse eighteen Paul tells us that God "...reconciled us to Himself through Christ, and gave us the ministry of reconciliation..." Paul goes on in verse twenty to say that "...we are ambassadors for Christ..." begging people to be "...be reconciled to God". But verse nineteen is the heart of this passage which says that,

"...God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation."

What this verse tells us is that because of Christ's death on the cross, God is no longer counting our sins against us. He wants to be reconciled with the "world".

Now someone can say that the "world" is only the elect, and in one sense, that is correct. Only the elect will respond to God's gracious call. But there is nothing in this verse or the immediate context to indicate that the term "world" should be limited in anyway. To be fair to the text we have to say that God is not counting the sins of the entire world against them.

Does that make me a universalist? Not at all, because it is clear in the text as well that people have to be willing to respond to God's generous and gracious actions by being reconciled to Him, and it is our responsibility to encourage, even beg people to be reconciled to God by accepting His offer through trusting in His Son.

The point is that people are no longer technically guilty before God of sin. God has accepted the sacrifice of Christ on their behalf. Now the issue is whether a person will put his or her trust in Christ alone. This is now the issue. As John 3:18 says,

"He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."

This is why Christ said that the only sin that would not be forgiven is "blasphemy against the Spirit" (Matthew 12:31,32) which in the context is denying the Spirit's witness to Christ as the Savior and attributing the work of the Spirit to Satan. In short, the unforgivable sin is saying that Jesus is not the Savior as attested by the Holy Spirit. Every other sin is covered by the blood of Christ. But if one refuses the provision for sin given by God there is no other provision for sin and one is rightly and justly condemned.

There are other verses that in my opinion are impossible to square with belief in limited atonement, and I will discuss them in future posts. Suffice it to say that even though I hold this position I am not at war with brothers and sisters who hold to limited atonement. One of my brothers and my only brother-in-law are committed to this position. But I get along fine with them and other limited atonement folks who are willing to do these things.

First, be willing to tell people that God loves them. Since we don't know who the elect are, God does not have a problem with us saying even to total strangers, "God loves you." He has already essentially said this in John 3:16, which I believe even John Calvin said declares God's love for not just the elect, but the entire world.

Second, be willing to share the Gospel freely with all men, women and children. Since we don't know who the elect are, we need to tell everyone we can about Christ. That fits perfectly with II Corinthians 5:18-20.

Along this line I have a vivid picture in my mind of my brother-in-law, on his knees in a hospital room in Kiev many years ago. He was begging patients with tears to be reconciled to God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Many responded to that entreaty and I hope to see them again in glory. Telling people about Jesus and letting God save whoever He desires, and whoever responds, is something I hope we can all agree on.

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Burning the Quran

I waited to post this until after 9/11. A few days ago the pastor in Florida who threatened to burn a number of Qur'ans backed down. But even the report of someone planning to burn a Qur'an has inflamed passions and given the followers of Islam an excuse to call for protests and aggressive action.

Please understand what I am saying from the very beginning. Burning Qurans is wrong, wrong, wrong! It is first of all wrong because it does not glorify the one true God, YHWH. Book burning is also wrong because it does not help in defeating false gods and false religions. Are we in a spiritual war with Islam? Yes, but as Paul says, "...the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh..." (II Corinthians 10:4). Whenever Christians use violence, abusive language, force, book burning, etc., we are not using the tactics of Jesus Christ and we are working against ourselves and more importantly, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

So, let it be clearly said again that burning Qurans is morally wrong, unchristian, and counterproductive.

Having said that, I have not spoken out against the pastor sooner because I believe that it only makes the situation worse. What he was preparing to do is wrong, but when generals, presidents and celebrities go online or on television to condemn stunts like this, it only inflames passions more. It doesn't reassure Muslims that the USA is really okay with Islam. It doesn't cause the followers of Islam to calm down. I believe as we give more and more publicity to this pastor, the reaction from Muslims grows more heated and fervent. The best thing we can do in the West is to stop publicizing every nut or even legitimate spiritual leaders who pull stunts like this. I have tried not to contribute to the media frenzy in even a small way for this reason.

But the ultimate truth is that whether a maverick pastor burns Qurans or not, Islam is at war with the infidel West, and Islam is planning to dominate the world as the only religion in the near future.

I recommend a book for those serious about understanding Islam and its goals: "How Islam Plans to Change the World" by William Wagner. This books points out what Islam really teaches behind the public rhetoric.  Islam has no intention of peaceful coexisting as one among many world religions. Islam plans to be the one world religion sometime in the near future, and Muslims have a strategy to prevail whether by peaceful means or violence, that is, whatever is necessary to achieve this goal.

So it doesn't really matter what this pastor does. Islam is committed to world religious domination regardless. We should not give them an excuse to be offended and go even more on the offensive. But people thinking that this pastor and his actions could make a significant difference in our relationship with Islam is really scary. It means that we don't truly understand the situation at all. It's time to wake up!

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Ask Me for Anything? John 14:14

There is a wonderful promise given to us as believers in John 14:14.

"If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it."

The problem is that many Christians over the years have claimed this promise and asked for something, yet never received it.

Now some will say that those who didn't receive it did not have sufficient faith. But Jesus said we only need a mustard seed of faith to move a mountain (Matthew 17:20). So that's probably not the issue for many of these disappointed Christians. Some may say that they didn't pray in agreement with two or three others (Matthew 18:19). But the truth is that in many of the cases I'm thinking of there were a lot more people than two or three praying in agreement with the request. So what is the answer? Is God not true to His promises? No, but we have to understand the context and conditions of God's promises.

In this instance, John 14:14 is in the context of doing "the works that I do..." (v 12), referring to Christ. We have been called to do even "greater' works than Christ did (see my last post for details). The point is that when we ask for Christ to help us do His works, He will answer those prayers. Christ is not promising that when we ask for a new house or new car or new job that He is going to give it to us. He is promising to help us do His works that glorify Him (v 13).

Along the same line, in chapter fifteen, verse seven Christ says,

"If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you."

Again, in the context, the issue is fruit bearing (v 8, 16). The principle is that when we desire to bear fruit for Christ, we can pray and ask for anything and Christ will give it to us. But the request cannot be selfish or contrary to the will of Christ. That's what is means to pray "in my name". It's not just tacking the name of Christ on the end of our prayers. It involves abiding in Christ and letting His words abide in us (v 7), so that we are asking for what Christ wants, not what we want.

John 14:14 and John 15:7 are wonderful promises. They tell us that Christ is wanting to answer our prayers and do the supernatural in our lives. But we have to be connected with Him, the"true vine" (15:1), and we have to put aside our desires and seek His will. When we do this, prayers are answered and incredible things happen, and we get to be a part of it!

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Do "Greater" Things Than Jesus? John 14:12

"Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father. --John 14:12

Now let me get this straight. Jesus raised people from the dead (see John 11, for example) and Jesus is telling us that "he who believes in Me"...will do even "greater" things? What could that possibly be? How can anyone top raising someone from the dead? I have doubts that any believer has ever raised someone from the dead (reports from Africa notwithstanding), but what would be greater? I think the answer cannot be qualitative. It has to be quantitative.

When Jesus finished His ministry physically here on earth, He did not have a lot of followers. I don't know the number, but it could not have been more than a few thousand. Paul tells us that He appeared to "five hundred brethren at one time" after His resurrection (I Corinthians 15:6). But not until after the Lord ascended and the Day of Pentecost arrived did the church begin and the numbers explode.

What I believe Jesus is saying here is that we as His followers will do "greater" works than Him in terms of the scope of ministry and the number of people affected. Jesus ministered in a very small area of real estate to a limited number of people. We, on the other hand, have been given the responsibility of expanding His ministry to the most remote parts of the world (see Acts 1:8), and taking the gospel of Jesus Christ to every man, woman and child on this planet (Matthew 28:19). Now that is greater! But the question is: how are you personally contributing to these greater works?

Monday, September 6, 2010

Is Exorcism a Standing Order? Acts 16:16-18

There are a lot of Christians who believe that casting out demons or performing an "exorcism", as it is commonly called, is something essential to spiritual warfare and commanded by God today.

Let me say at the outset, there may be times when the Holy Spirit may direct a believer to cast out a demon from an afflicted person. I also acknowledge that our Lord on certain occasions such as the one recorded in Matthew 10:8, commanded His disciples to cast out demons. But I believe that exorcisms are no longer a standing order for us. Why? First of all, we have no command in the New Testament epistles to do so. Zero. But even if we go back to the book of Acts, clearly by the time of Acts 16:16-18, the command to cast out a demon is no longer a standing order in spiritual warfare.

In Acts 16:16-18 we read about Paul's ministry in Philippi.

And it happened that as we were going to the place of prayer, a certain slave-girl having a spirit of divination met us, who was bringing her masters much profit by fortune-telling. Following after Paul and us, she kept crying out, saying, "These men are bond-servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation." And she continued doing this for many days. But Paul was greatly annoyed, and turned and said to the spirit, "I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!" And it came out at that very moment.

Now if Paul was under a standing order from Christ, our commander-in-chief, to exorcise any demon he came in contact with, why didn't he do this the first day? In fact, He didn't exorcise the demon until "many days" had passed and he became "greatly annoyed" with the demon. Apparently, in religious indignation and prompted by the Holy Spirit, he finally cast out the "spirit of divination". The point is, he didn't feel compelled to do so at first meeting because the order to exorcise demons was no longer in effect even at that early point in church history.

As I said earlier, there may be times when the Holy Spirit prompts us to cast out a demon, but clearly this is no longer something that we are required to do in any or every situation of spiritual warfare. What do we have a standing order to do everyday in spiritual warfare? Let's talk about that soon.

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Misunderstanding and Misusing Matthew 7:21-23

Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.' Matthew 7:21-23

I wish I had a dollar for every time I've heard someone quote this passage as proof that either people can lose their salvation, or that people who are sinning or neglecting good works are not saved. Either way is an example of really bad interpretation of this Scripture.

In regard to those who say this passage shows that people can lose their salvation, please notice that Christ says to them "I never knew you..." He doesn't say, "I knew you for a while, but now I don't." He says "I never knew you." They never had a relationship with Christ. These are people who were never saved. But they did do extraordinary things in the name of Christ (or some say the name of YHWH). Which brings me to the second fallacy.

These are not people claiming to be Christians or followers of God who are living like the devil. The problem with them is not that they are apparently or obviously sinning. These are people who are doing good works. They are prophesying, casting our demons and performing many miracles. In short, these are not people that appear to be good candidates for hell. On the contrary, they appear to be people who are well-connected with God. They appear to be people who are living their faith. To use this passage to put the fear of God in 'backslidden' Christians or to quote this passage as proof that "Christians" in name only are in danger of hell's fire, is applying this scripture in a seriously incorrect way. This passage is a warning to be sure. But the warning is to people who claim to be Christians or say they know God, and they have the fruits to prove it! Their trust is in themselves and their good works, and in reality they have not done "the will of My Father who is in heaven" (v 21). What is the will of God? The apostle John gives us the precise answer in John 6:40, which says, "For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him may have eternal life..." Just a note, the word "may" does not convey any doubt in the original text. Those who put their trust in Christ alone, not in themselves or their good works will be saved, no doubt about it.

Matthew 7:21-23 comes near the end of the "Sermon on the Mount". The main point of Christ's sermon is to demonstrate that keeping the Law is not sufficient righteousness for salvation. As He says in Matthew 5:20, "...unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven." In other words, the people doing "good works" and keeping the Law were not getting in. Only those who put their complete trust in the One who fulfilled the entire Law (see 5:17) are the ones who will enter the kingdom of heaven. This passage is a warning to those who are self-righteous and trusting in their good works for salvation. Christ will say to them, "I never knew you".

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Looking for Loopholes? - Romans 8:31-39

Just before the famous comedian W.C. Fields died, He was in the hospital and someone walked into his room as he was reading the Bible. Apparently W.C. wasn't known for his interest in spiritual things and the person asked him what he was doing reading the Bible. He reportedly said, "looking for loopholes, my friend, looking for loopholes."

Some people approach Romans 8:31-39 in the same way. Over the years people have told me that Paul isn't really saying that nothing can "separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Most things can't separate us they say, but a few things can, like ourselves. I've had people tell me that what isn't mentioned in this passage is that we as Christians can decide to separate ourselves from God if we really want to.

The first problem with looking for loopholes in this passage is that Paul is clearly attempting to eliminate all possible loopholes. He points out that if God is for us and gave His Son for us, why would He ever turn against us (v. 31-32). Then Paul addresses our enemy, Satan, and states that no one can successfully bring a charge against God's elect because God has already justified us (see also v. 30), and Christ is interceding for us (vs. 33-34).

In Paul's big finish he brings up every possible situation that could separate us from the love of Christ, including us! I say that because we are 'created things' and Paul says no created thing can separate us from the love of God (vs. 35-39).

The point of this passage is that there are no loopholes or exceptions. Once we have trusted Christ as our Savior, we are locked into His love. All I can say is, "Thank you, Jesus!"