Category Archives: Gospel

October 13, 2013 · 15:37

Lordship Salvation

Moses and Before the Ten Commandments

Moses and Before the Ten Commandments

Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin … For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. (Romans 4:8; 10:13)

There is always danger in trying to condense deep theological concepts into catchy phrases. Such is the case with the title of this article. “Lordship salvation” is a nebulous term that means different things to different people. Some may consider that it implies a “works” based salvation where the individual has to make Jesus “Lord” by following some undetermined regimen of “good works” in order to earn one’s salvation. Such an idea is ludicrous when measured against Scripture. The Bible is clear that “There is none righteous, no, not one” (Psalm 14:3; 53:3; Romans 3:10). The fact of the matter is that the lost person is incapable of making such a choice of his own volition. As the Psalms suggest, they are fools (Psalm 14:1; 53:1) because “the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14).

Obviously any recognition of Christ’s deity necessarily implies His Creatorship and Sovereignty over His creation, including individuals at the individual level.  Thus, to “confess” that Jesus is LORD” involves a voluntary acceptance of the reality that He is the Master of all creation, including me. (JJSJ[1])

On the other hand, the Bible does teach that Jesus must be Lord of your life otherwise you cannot be saved. Paul writes in his letter to the Romans, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved” (Romans 10:9). This does not give a long list of things that must be done to earn salvation, but there seems to be no option other than to “confess” (i.e., profess/proclaim/acknowledge) Jesus Christ as Lord. That word “confess” is the compound Greek word homologeō: homo meaning “same,” and logos, meaning “something said.” So in essence, “confess” means to agree with what is said, i.e., that Jesus is Lord.

[A] saving belief/affirmation/acceptance (recognizing Who the Lord Jesus Christ really is, in relation to me, a sinner) is not the same thing as thinking that a “service commitment” (i.e., a promise to serve/surrender) to Him is being exchanged for “salvation” – any such “deal” would be an attempt to gain (or keep) salvation by human efforts/deeds/works/commitments/discipleship/etc., which is a losing formula soteriologically speaking.  Sinners do not qualify themselves for salvation by promising to serve Christ – that would be exchanging salvation for a (promised) life of service/worship, negating the Biblical doctrine of redemption as a divine gift of pure grace. (JJSJ)

Paul in his letter to the Philippians says, “And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:11). Paul expresses lordship salvation this way: “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). To the Philippians he writes:

10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;

11  If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.

12  Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.

13  Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,

14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:10-14)

That is Paul’s picture of “lordship salvation” – to die to self and live for Christ. He does not have to live his life that way in order “to be saved,” but rather because he “is saved,” and Jesus has “apprehended” him. He lives this way because “Jesus is Lord,” and Paul recognized that fact and subjected himself to the Lordship of Christ.

Romans 14:8 sums it up pretty well: “For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s” Jesus Christ is Lord, whether we submit to His Lordship or not. But salvation is by grace alone. There is nothing one can do to earn it (Ephesians 2:8-9), but once we are saved we submit to His Lordship “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10).

[1] Dr. James J. S. Johnson is Chief Academic Officer for the Institute for Creation Research School of Biblical Apologetics and my good friend.

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October 6, 2013 · 22:53

The Rising Debt

US Debt Clock as of 5:15 PM, EST, October 6, 2013

US Debt Clock as of 5:15 PM, EST, October 6, 2013

… forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. (Matthew 6:12)

Our national debt is currently at $16.9 Trillion, and rising at the rate of approximately $21,412 per second. This is an incomprehensible figure, especially considering that the median household income is about $50,000 per year. That is equal to about 2.5 seconds on the national debt clock. We hear those trillion dollar figures being thrown around as if nothing by the liberal media and left-wing politicians on a daily basis, and most listeners (if they are even listening) have no concept of the implications of such a horrific burden on our people and future generations. Those who are paying attention are screaming, “Stop! You’re going the wrong way! Stop!” But no one seems to be listening. It would be nice if someone with a heavily reinforced check book would come along and say, “Here, let me take care of that for you.”

As great as the national debt is, there is a debt that we owe that is far greater than that. It is the debt of sin that every individual owes for offending Holy God. Indeed, if we could imagine the most righteous person imaginable, if that person had told the smallest “white lie,” that sin alone would far exceed the level of the national debt. In fact, as one 19th Century pastor, William Elbert Munsey, put it, when we offend an infinitely Holy God, we have offended Him infinitely, so that our debt is equally infinite.

Many ignorantly justify their own righteousness by comparing themselves to someone who is more sinful. For instance, a mass murderer might say, “Yes, I killed six people, but I’m not as bad as Hitler; he killed over six million!” That is an extreme example, I know, but it makes the point. Those who judge themselves by those who are greater sinners than themselves hold a false sense of security that when they stand before God, their good will outweigh the bad, and they will qualify for entry into heaven. Nothing could be further from the truth. John says of the end of the age, at the great white throne judgment, “And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works … And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:12-13, 15). Very simply, if your name is not written in the book of life, then you will be judged “according to your works” as recorded in the “books.” One of those “books,” I believe, is the Bible, the Word of God, which is the standard by which we are all measured. According to this passage, those whose names are not written in the book of life have the record of their works measured by the standard of God’s Word, and apparently, no one meets the Standard. “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one … For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:10, 23).

The good news is that someone with unlimited resources has stepped up and said, “Here, let me take care of that for you.” His name is Jesus Christ. “Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:4-6). This offer comes to us at no cost to us. It is a free gift that cannot be earned, bought or repaid (Ephesians 2:8-9). As with any gift, it must be accepted, and no one is under any obligation to take it. Why would anyone reject such a gift? “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name” (John 1:12).

If you cannot pay off the national debt, what makes you think you can pay off your personal sin debt to God? He will pay it off for you, if you will let Him. If your name is not written in the book of life, or if you are unsure of where you stand, you need to:

  1. Repent of your sins (Mark 1:15; Luke 13:3, 5; Acts 2:38; Acts 3:19; Acts 8:22)
  2. Believe, i.e., put your faith and trust, in Him (John 3:16-18; John 3:36; John 8:24; John 20:30-31; Romans 10:9; Hebrews 11:6; 1 John 3:23; 1 John 5:13)
  3. Ask forgiveness for your sin and receive His salvation (Matthew 7:7; Matthew 21:22; Romans 5:17; Ephesians 2:8; Hebrews 9:15; 1 John 1:9)
  4. Baptism should follow as it is an outward and visible profession of faith in, obedience to, and identification with Christ as Lord (Acts 2:38)
  5. Join the fellowship of a Bible believing church (Hebrews 10:23-25)

The debt is paid in full. All that remains is for you to accept the free gift that is offered by the One to whom the debt is owed and the only One that has the authority to cancel the debt. The choice is yours.

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September 29, 2013 · 23:42

God Is Not Allah

God vs Allah

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD (Deuteronomy 6:4)

In our hypersensitive and politically correct world, our society has gone to extremes to avoid offending Muslims. Indeed, if anyone anywhere says anything even in the slightest sense negative about Muhammad or about Islam in general, there is a real danger of triggering a full-scale riot somewhere in the world. That being the case, many the world over, and especially here in the United States, bend over backwards to paint Islam in the best light, calling it a “religion of peace” and making distinctions between “radical/extremist” Muslims and the more peace-loving “moderate” Muslims. Nothing could be further from the truth. To further sugarcoat the bitter truth, a concerted effort has been made to equate Allah (the Muslim god) to the God of the Bible (Jehovah, Yahweh). They are not the same, and here I will attempt to show why.

First of all, God is a triune God; that is, He is three persons (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) in one Godhead. Without digressing into a lengthy discussion of the Trinity, I will just say that this is a doctrinal truth that is taught throughout the Bible beginning with Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created …” The Hebrew word for God is ‘ĕlôhı̂ym (a plural noun), and the verb “created” in Hebrew is bârâ’ (a singular verb). Grammatically, the noun and the verb should agree in number so that a plural noun would have a plural verb or a singular noun should be followed by a singular verb. That is not the case here indicating the unified plurality of God. Allah is just Allah. For Muslims our idea of a triune God is blasphemous because from their perspective, we are worshiping three gods; therefore we are “infidels.”

Secondly, for the Christian (and eventually for everyone else (Philippians 2:10)), Jesus (the second person of the Trinity) is God. He is also the “only begotten Son of God.” This too is anathema to the Muslims. Allah has no son. Jesus was just a good man – a prophet like Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses and Muhammad – but He was not God.

The similitude of Jesus before Allah is that of Adam; He [Allah] created him from dust. Then said to him: “Be” and he was. (Koran, Surah 3:59)

How can He [Allah] have a son when He hath no consort? (Koran, Surah 6:101)

By the same token, Muslims do not refer to Allah as “Father”:

And they [Jews or Christians] falsely, having no knowledge, attribute to Him sons and daughters. (Koran, Surah 6:100)

Jesus taught us to pray “Our Father, which art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy Name” (Matthew 6:9). A Muslim cannot pray in that way.

Interestingly, the Koran teaches that Jesus was Virgin Born. In fact, Surah 19 is all about Mary.

Behold! the angels said: “O Mary! Allah giveth thee glad tidings of a Word from Him: his name will be Christ Jesus. The son of Mary, held in honour in this world and the Hereafter and of (the company of) those nearest Allah …

 She said: “O my Lord! How shall I have a son when no man hath touched me?” And he [the angel] said: “Even so: Allah createth what He willeth: When He hath decreed a Plan, He but saith to it, ‘Be’ and it is!” (Koran, Surah 3:45, 47)

Perhaps you caught the phrase  “Word from Him.” The Koran often refers to Jesus as the “Word of Allah,” but the Word is NOT Allah. John 1:1 says that “the Word was God.” So, Christians are infidels because we attribute divinity to Jesus – Jesus IS God. The Koran teaches otherwise:

O People of the Book! [that would be Christians] Commit no excesses in your religion: nor say of Allah aught but the truth. Christ Jesus the son of Mary was (no more than) a Messenger of Allah, and His Word, which He bestowed on Mary, and a Spirit proceeding from Him: So believe in Allah and His Messengers. Say not “Trinity”: desist: it will be better for you: for Allah is One God: glory be to Him: (Far exalted is He) above having a son … (Koran, Surah 4:171)

They do blaspheme who say: “Allah is Christ the son of Mary.” But said Christ: “O Children of Israel! Worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord.” Whoever joins other gods with Allah – Allah will forbid him the Garden, and the Fire will be his abode. There will for the wrongdoers be no one to help. (Koran, Surah 5:72)

Thirdly, Allah discourages friendship with infidels.

O ye who believe! Take not the Jews and the Christians for your friends and protectors; they are but friends and protectors of each other. And he amongst you that turns to them (for friendship) is of them. Verily Allah guideth not a people unjust. (Koran, Surah 5:51)

Jesus (God) on the other hand says:

Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for [God] maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. (Matthew 5:43-45).

Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. (Matthew 22:37-40)

Allah encourages his followers to engage in physical struggle (war) in defense of the “faith”:

Not equal are those believers who sit (at home) and receive no hurt. And those who strive and fight in the cause of Allah with their goods and their persons, Allah hath granted a grade higher to those who strive and fight with their goods and persons than to those who sit (at home). Unto all (in Faith) hath Allah promised good: but those who strive and fight hath He distinguished above those who sit (at home) by a special reward. Ranks specially bestowed by Him and Forgiveness and Mercy. For Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful. (Koran, Surah 4:95-96)

Fighting is prescribed upon you, and ye dislike it. But it is possible that ye dislike a thing which is good for you. And that ye love a thing which is bad for you. But Allah knoweth, and ye know not. (Koran, Surah 2:216)

Fight in the cause of Allah those who fight with you, but do not transgress the limits; for Allah loveth not transgressors. And slay them [the unbelievers] wherever ye catch them, and turn them out from where they have turned you out; for tumult and oppression are worse than slaughter; but fight them not at the Sacred Mosque, unless they (first) fight you there; but if they fight you, slay them. Such is the reward of those who suppress faith. But if they cease, Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful. And fight them on until there is no more tumult or oppression, and there prevail justice and faith in Allah. But if they cease let there be no hostility except for those who practice oppression. (Koran, Surah 2:190-193)

This is just a small sample; there is so much more. By the way, just in case you suspect that these passages from the Koran are taken out of context, the Koran has no real context. It is a disjointed collection of sayings purportedly given to the prophet Muhammad by the angel Gabriel. It is not like the narratives or poetry contained in the Bible

Hopefully, I have supplied enough information for the reader to see the striking contrast between the God of the Bible and Allah of the Koran. But the most striking contrast of all is that the God of the Bible condescended to man in the form of “Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:5-8). Our God paid the price for our sins. Allah of the Koran expects his followers to die for him. The teachings contained in the Koran, not to mention all the other teachings contained in the Hadith, are dangerous to any Muslim believer who takes them to heart. I submit that moderate Muslims, just like lukewarm Christians, are people who are mostly ignorant of their sacred writings or for one reason or another have not taken their holy book to heart. These, whether Muslim or Christian, equate God and Allah, but the two are not the same. God is not Allah.

References:

‘Abdullah Yusuf ‘Ali, The Meaning of the Holy Qur’an, (Amana Publications, Beltsville, MD, 1999).

Robert Spencer, The Complete Infidel’s Guide to the Koran, (Regnery Publishing, Washington, DC, 2009).

Pat Zukeran, World Religions Through a Christian Worldview, (Xulon Press, 2008).

 

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September 15, 2013 · 14:45

A Loving God

Bible-God Is Love

And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. (1 John 4:16)

In my last post, “An Angry God,” I tried to perhaps shock readers back into an awareness of the awesomeness of God, by calling attention to the wrath He is capable of displaying. However, He more often restrains His anger because of His mercy.

It is said that familiarity breeds contempt, and that is exactly what happens when all we consider is the kinder, longsuffering, patient and loving side of God. We put Him on a shelf until we need something from Him, and then we plead with all of our heart for Him to answer our prayers. We live our lives no differently than the rest of the world so that an uninterested observer can see no difference between the Christian and the pagan.

God is not someone to be trifled with. Indeed, if He were to confront us, we would be overcome with fear, and we would shake and fall down as dead men (Matthew 28:4). The prophet Isaiah came face to face with the living God (Isaiah 6:1-5). He saw Him high, and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. He was surrounded by angels who continually chanted, “Holy, Holy, Holy is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory.” At the sight of it all, Isaiah’s strength departed, and he cried out, “Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts” (v. 5). When Peter recognized the power of Christ “he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord” (Luke 5:8). When John saw Jesus in all of His Glory, he said, “when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead” (Revelation 1:17). God should not be taken lightly or taken for granted. He is GOD!

creating_adamThat said, God is a loving God. It is no accident that we find his first loving acts in the creation account in the book of Genesis. In the process of creation, Genesis records that He called all things into being only by His spoken Word. But when He created man, He made him in His own image. Not only that, but Chapter Two provides added detail telling us that “the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul” (Genesis 2:7). The English word “formed” is the Hebrew word yâtsar which means to mold as a potter might mold a lump of clay to his liking. God took extra care in designing a body like the one He would one day inhabit.

ExpulsionFromEden

Later after the man sinned by disobeying God’s only prohibition, instead of carrying out the prescribed sentence – “of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Genesis 2:17, emphasis added) – God spared their lives and provided for future redemption: “And I will put enmity between thee [Satan] and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel” (Genesis 3:15).

When Cain murdered his brother Abel (Genesis 4), instead of killing him on the spot, God put a mark on Cain to protect him from a vendetta that might have been raised against him.

ark2Almost 1600 years later (Genesis 6-9) mankind had become so wicked and violent that God was ready to end it all. “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD” (Genesis 6:8), and God saved His prized creation in saving Noah and his family.

God is often criticized for His order to the Israelites to wipe out the Canaanites including men, women, children and their animals. The Canaanites were vile, wicked people who practiced child sacrifice and included all kinds of sexual perversions including the use of animals (bestiality) in the worship of the demonic gods – all of which is abhorrent to God. But God did not destroy them all at once as He did Sodom and Gomorrah. Instead, he gave opportunity for the witness of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to have an effect as they sojourned in their land. God spoke to Abraham, “And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years … But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full” (Genesis 15:13, 16, emphasis added). God allowed for the repentance of these pagans during the time that the Patriarchs were in the land, plus 430 years that Israel was in Egyptian captivity, and 40 more years as Israel wandered the wilderness. That was a total of around 600 years that they had to repent. It may be worth noting, that while God commanded that they wipe them all out to purge the land of their wickedness, Israel did not fully obey God in killing them all. Consequently, they continually struggled with the lure of idolatry, which eventually destroyed the nation. God demonstrates His love through the patience He shows toward sinners in giving them every opportunity to repent, but His patience has limits.

Much more could be said about the love of God, but in the words of the old hymn:

Could we with ink the ocean fill, and were the skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill, and every man a scribe by trade,
To write the love of God above, would drain the ocean dry.
Nor could the scroll contain the whole, though stretched from sky to sky.
(“The Love of God,” Frederick M. Lehman, 1917.)

The greatest act of God’s love was demonstrated when He took upon Himself the form of man, “And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:8). God’s love is so great that He paid the death penalty in His own flesh to save us from the wrath to come. The wrath of God is nothing to be trifled with, but His love is extended to anyone who is willing to receive it.

 

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September 10, 2013 · 12:22

What A Difference A Day Can Make

What A Difference A Day Can Make.

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