"Secured by Christ on the Cross"

I have been reading over the past couple of weeks a fantastic little book by D.A. Carson entitled "Scandalous: The Cross and Resurrection of Jesus" (Crossway: Wheaton, IL 2010).  I just wanted to share this fantastic quote from it with you pertaining to the absolute centrality of the cross:

"Do we have the gift of the Spirit? Secured by Christ on the cross.
Do we enjoy the fellowship of the saints? Secured by Christ on the cross.
Does he give us comfort in life and in death? Secured by Christ on the cross.
Does he watch over us faithfully, providentially, graciously, and covenantally? Secured by Christ on the cross.
Do we anticipate resurrection bodies on the last day? Secured by Christ on the cross.
Is there a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness? Secured by Christ on the cross.
Do we enjoy new identities, so that we are no longer to see ourselves as nothing but failures, moral pariahs, disappointments--but as deeply loved, blood-bought, human beings, redeemed by Christ, declared just by God himself, owing to the fact that God himself presented his Son Jesus as the propitiation for our sins? All is secured by Christ on the cross and granted to those who have faith in him."

What a great reminder of both what we have in Christ, and the fact that the only reason we have it is that we are in Christ. And if you are not in Christ, this is what you're missing. This and much more.

SDG!

Sith Lords DO Exist!!

Okay, not everyone may appreciate this video. For those of you who don't know, Benny Hinn is a crazy faith healer guy. People have actually died at his super intense "healings." Does this strike anyone else as a little...backwards? Anyway, this is a hilarious YouTube video that my good friend and housemate Josh Stauffer sent me, and it just goes to show you that the Sith do exist!

In all seriousness, can one seriously look at people like Hinn, or Todd Bentley (who, I am ashamed to admit, is a Canadian pastor) who have these crazy "healing sessions" where they cast out demons and heal people through receiving special power and messages from the Holy Spirit, occasionally instructing them to kick elderly women in the face (Bentley)?

Many would try to make this case that "miracles are found all over the Bible." Actually, this is not so. With the exception of maybe one or two special circumstances, all of the miracles in the Bible are concentrated to four, very brief periods of time. I am indebted to my Old Testament Theology professor, a genius scholar by the name of Dr. Peter Gentry, for teaching us this in one of our recent classes.

These are the four time periods in which we encounter full on, genuine, out of this world miracles:

1. The Exodus
2. Elijah and Elisha
3. Jesus
4. The Apostolic Church

Okay, so things that we may perhaps deem somewhat "miraculous" can happen everyday. However, these "miracles" are never associated with the actions of a person. The miracles that occur in the Bible all occur with a specific purpose, they have a lesson behind them, or a reason for being. While each may have a specific purpose depending on context, in the Old Testament, the miracles occurred as signs establishing that Yahweh is the Most High God, the Great I AM, the Almighty One. They proved to the Israelites, the Egyptians, the Canaanites, Balaam, etc. that Yahweh is the one and only God.

Likewise, when Jesus was performing miracles during his ministry, they were to establish Him as God. As with the Old Testament, there is individual significance to each of the miracles, and not all miracles were done to convey exactly the same message. However, they were all, ultimately, demonstrations of Jesus unique Godhood. Some of His miracles were mirrors of those done by the prophets of the Old Testament. But others were things that no OT prophet was capable of. And the miracles of the Apostles? These were to validate that they were messengers sent by Christ, who is God. You should note that while certainly the Apostles performed many miracles, the emphasis in the text is not on their miraculous deeds, but on the proclamation of the Gospel. Their miraculous works simply validated that the message they proclaimed was of God, and so the text does not linger on the miracles, but the message.

An easy, and perhaps over simplified, way of looking at these "Miraculous Eras" would be as such:

1. The miracles at the time of the Exodus are predominantly done by God, with little use of human prophets. This was God establishing Himself as supreme in the face of the Israelites and their enemies.

2. The prophets Elijah and Elisha performed miracles in the name of God, and they did so to point to God as the Sovereign One, and to validate their message as being of God.

3. Jesus performed miracles to establish that He was God. His miraculous power is not God working through Him, but rather is His own power, merely subjected to the will of the Father.

4. The Apostles did miracles through the power of the Holy Spirit, in the name of Jesus, and subject to the will of the Father in order to validate their Apostolic authority, and the validity of the blessed evangel.

So, with all these miracles found in the Bible, and with all of the historical validation the Bible has received what need is there today for miraculous signs? The physical healing in the Bible is not physical healing for healing's sake. This is not important. Our bodies are temporary. We need not worry about them such that we seek after miraculous works of God. Why do we flock to so-called "faith healers" when we have a Sovereign God who is in control of all things? What power does a healer have? What makes him so special? To give credence to such men is to set them up as men of higher standing than the rest of us. It elevates them to super-heroic status, and sets them high above the average Christian. But this is clearly contrary to the Biblical account of equality among believers. Sure, some people are more or less mature in faith than others. But nowhere does this say that this maturity of faith brings with it supernatural power.

So now, if this "Spirit" is not of God, then where? Here's what the Beloved Apostle had to say about these sorts of people:

"¹Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. ²By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, ³and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. ⁴Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. ⁵ They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. ⁶We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error." (1 John 4:1-6)

Now, to apply some hermeneutical principles here, we cannot simply read this passage outside of the context of the rest of the Canon. When it says that all who testify Christ are of God, we have to understand what is meant here. Elsewhere in Scripture Christ says:

 "^21'Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. ²² On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' ²³ And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'" (Matthew 7:21-23)

Just because someone claims they are working in the name of Christ does not make it so. So when we test those things that people say, when we look at these teachers, or any others for that matter, we are encouraged to evaluate whether what they are saying is from God or not. How do we do that? We consult the Word. We are encouraged by the Bereans of Acts 17:11 who listened to what Paul had to say, but did not simply accept what he said at face value. They would take everything he said and test it against what the Scriptures, God's revealed word to humanity, said and see if things lined up. This is commended by the author, saying that what they were doing was "noble." The People will claim that what they are doing is in the name of Jesus, but Christ affirmed in the passage above from Matthew that there would be many who would do great and wondrous things in his name, but he would turn them away at the day of judgement, saying that he never knew them. So the lesson, then, is to test all things you hear against the Bible, and if what you are hearing doesn't line up with Scripture, then reject that teaching.

Now, sometimes it is all an act, and there is nothing supernatural there at all. Sometimes, and this has been proven in many cases of faith healers, that all of the "healings" are pre-rehearsed and staged in order to get money. But other times I believe that people may be sincere,  but I believe that the forces of darkness come in to play, and through possession and other such deceptive tactics they make themselves to appear as angels of light (2 Corinthians 11:14), but they are not on the light side, they are of the dark side. Dark side? Working to deceive? Power hungry? Unnatural abilities?

See...they really DO exist.

Health, Wealth and Prosperity

So, now that I'm in seminary, and my sleep schedule is pretty well destroyed anyways, I am going to make an effort to post here more often. Like, maybe more than once a year.

I've got a whole load of ideas for posts, but to get this ball rolling once more, I want to share this video by the ever-passionate John Piper talking about the so-called "Prosperity Gospel."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTc_FoELt8s

I have to say this: Coming to Christ will make you prosper. The payout of following Christ is HUGE, as big as it could possibly get, the rewards are innumerably vast, and the wealth is immeasurable.

However, the difference between Christianity and the "bunch of crap" that Prosperity Preachers will try to sell you is the definition of "prosperity." If you are looking for God to keep you financially secure, in perfect health, safe from loss, and make sure every little detail of your life on this earth is perfect, then you will be sadly disappointed.

People who say that God provides health, wealth and prosperity on this earth if you simply follow Jesus display an incredible ignorance of both the Bible and Church history. How many Christians have been poverty-stricken, persecuted, thrown in jail, beaten, tortured, maimed, brutally and heartlessly slaughtered? I tell you, the answer is almost incomprehensible.

The prosperity provided by God is not temporal, but eternal. It is an unquenchable fire in the soul, it is an unfailing joy (not an uninterrupted feeling of happiness, though), it is a hope everlasting, and peace that the direst of circumstances does not dampen, and it is a promise that will never die.

I am reminded of a great song by the group Kutless called "Promise of a Lifetime"

I know you're always there

To hear my every prayer

Inside I'm clinging to the promise of a lifetime

I hear the words you say

To never walk away from me

And leave behind

The promise of a lifetime

God has promised us an eternity with Him, and that, truly, is the greatest promise we will ever receive, and our prosperity lies in the fact that, despite our direst of circumstances "All things work together for good to them that love God, to them that are the called according to his purpose."

The "Danger" of Faith

I have recently been challenged, though not personally, on the issue of using God as a justification for sin. What I mean by this is that there is a tendency to disregard any form of organized belief system ont he presumption that to do so is to open yourself up to come under the control of fanatics using God as a justification of evil actions. This is a very dangerous way of looking at faith because people begin to become closed off from being witnessed to, even if they do not see you as a fanatic. They may believe that you are simply a victim of brainwashing.

Let me say this: People who have become frightened of religion are not simply picking the fears out of thin air. Sadly there have been many instances of men and women professing various religions, christianity included, who have committed terrible atrocities. Jim Jones, for example. He was a type-A charismatic leader who convinced his entire congregation to commit mass suicide. Note: he did not physically kill them, but he used God as well as his own powerful speaking abilities to convince people to kill theselves for religious reasons. Of perhaps we look at 9/11, a group of Muslim fanaticists who drove planes into the sides of highly populated buildings.

Let's even look on a slightly smaller scale. People who use the Bible to justify murdering abortion doctors, beating up homosexuals, or even just to just to be mean. Fanaticism is a major put-off.

But let's step back and look at the facts. The Bible CLEARLY teaches us that such actions are a moral evil, abominable in the sight of God. In the Old Testament Law, as it was given to Moses, it states that we are not to take the name of the Lord our God in vain (Ex. 20:7, Deut. 5:11). While some have tried to apply this as being simply a refraining of using the word "god" in place of a swear word, the actual meaning is much broader than that.

In that time period, a person's name encompassed the entirety of who they were. This principle carries over today, in a way. I mean, just think about how many people will flock to see a movie just because Steven Spielberg produced it. Or an example from my own time working for a major book retailer, it is almost frightening to see how popular a book becomes once it has been endorsed by Oprah Winfrey!

Names carry weight to them, and God's name carries the greatest weight. In attributing His name to a certain act, or event, or even person, we put that thing forward as representing the Sovereign Creator of the Universe. Now, when I say I am acting on behalf of someone else, I had better take great care in how I act, so as to avoid the repercussions of misrepresenting them. I know that in my job I am expected to act and treat people in a certain way, because in that setting I am a representative of my company. To misrepresent said company could mean a termination of employment, or worse!

To say that we are speaking or acting on behalf of God means that there is an expectation on us to live in a certain way, as representatives of the Lord Most High. This is not to say that our salvation depends on our actions, but rather, as regenerated people, made new creatures because of the work of Christ, we should live like it.

My dad provided me with a wonderful example of this that I love to draw on in these discussions. I was hired by my dad to work for him in his bookstore. Going into it, my dad pointed out that I would be there as the boss's son, and all eyes would be on me. Anything I said or did wrong could be counted against his good reputation, and so there was an expectation placed on my shoulders to conduct myself in a particular way. Now, if I had messed up big time (which, thankfully, I haven't yet!) I may have lost my job, smudged my father's name, and ruined my own reputation. But I would still be his son, and that would never change.

Anyone who claims to be operating on the authority of God, if they take His mighty name on themselves, the onus is upon them to live in accordance with what he wills. Thus, the expectation is that said individual is constantly checking themselves go insure that they are in the right, they must study so that they may present themselves approved before God (2 Tim. 2:15). One of the key themes of the book of Colossians is found in the ninth and tenth verses of the first chapter, where Paul appeals to us to "walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him."

For someone to profess Christ, and then go against the clear and explicit commands of Scripture is to mis-represent His name. While I do not condone abortion or homosexuality, the Bible makes it clear that the way of taking a stand against such things is not through violence, but in the proclamation of the gospel to the nations.

So to those non-Christians out there, do not be put off by those who would misrepresent the name of God, as these run counter to His teachings, and they will answer for what they have done. Instead, focus on what the Bible says to be true, namely, that "God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you [can be] saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you [can be] saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast."

Despite the depravity and sin of our fallen condition, God's love and grace can extend to each and every one of us, and save us from destruction.

Moral Relativism: Get your story straight!

For the last few days, I have been having a few conversations/debate/full blown arguments about a little thing called Moral Relativism. This is essentially the belief that culture, society, circumstance and personal opinion decide what is right or wrong for a person.

Me, I am more of a moral universalist. Being a Biblical Christian, I believe that God has clearly set forth standards that apply to each and every individual, regardless of their personal background, race, culture, gender, upbringing or what have you.

Some people will use the annoyingly post-modern phrase: Well, that's you're opinion. But you know, there are certain areas where the moral relativist has to either sacrifice their own conscience or admit to self contradiction and flaws in their belief.

Many moral relativists today will tell you that the Holocaust was a terrible thing. They may even go so far as to say it was wrong. But, how can they say that? They believe that right an wrong vary from culture to culture, society dictates what is right or wrong and societies differ around the world. We can't think to impose our "North American Opinions" on morality on another culture! That would just be intolerant! The Holocaust was not perpetrated by Hitler alone. He had the majority of Germany enshrouded in anti-semitic belief, and so according to society in Germany, the attempt at the genocide of the Jews was looked upon with favour! So, according to the moral relativists, the Nazis were justified in their actions. But many recoil at the mere thought of this, and deny this to be so. As such, they can no longer say that morality is relative, and they must admit that thre is a universal standard.

Once it is completed, I may post my upcoming project for my writer's craft course on here. I was assigned the task of creating a science fiction story (yay!) based on a philosophical idea. I decide to create a "what if...?" scenario. I am indebted to a friend of mine, a devoted moral relativist, for the idea. What if every country, nay, every person on earth was left to developp their own morality, and there was no checks, no balances, nothing to keep them from doing what is right in their own eyes? Sound familiar? Well, I should be done in a few weeks. So, you're just gonna have to keep checking back until its done!

Sincerely yours,

Adam

Numbers in Nature

So, I'm going to take a pause in the barely started back to basics post series, as I will most likely do frequently, to post an interesting point I came across in watching a fascinating crime show called Numb3rs. For those who have never seen the show, the two main characters are Don and Charlie, who are brothers. Don is an FBI agent. Charlie is a genius mathematician. The whole show deals with how Charlie uses his gift for mathmatics to help his brother solve crimes. IN one episode early on in the series, the main cast is sitting at the dinner table at Charlie's home, talking after their most recent success. Here is the link to the scene:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFRTgr7MfWw&feature=related

I would love to here an evolutionist explain how such an intricate mathmatical sequence ncoded itself into nature, completely withoutany exterior programming. It hardly seems plausible. The existence of numerical patterns in nature, nay, the very existent of math and information itself is all part of God's general revelation to us. The specifics of God's character and will are revealed to us in His Word. However, there is a separate general revelation, which is found throughout nature and is knowable to absolutely everyone. It is a proof to His power, His beauty, and His very existence. One must merely open their eyes to the truth.

Fibonacci sequence in a flower happened by chance....yeah....sure!

Welcome!

Bienvenue! This is my first post on my first blog...ever. I want to start by explaining what it is this blog is all about. I have created this as a vessel for me to practice writing documents pertaining to biblical topics. The title of the blog is taken from 2 Timothy 2:15 which says "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." That is my goal here is to post various articles by me, which are about a wide variety of topics, based on whatever pops into my head at the time I happpen to be writing. They will all be biblically based.

Now, the ground rules for respondiong to my comments are as such: Please, no coarse language or blasphemy. Crude humour and any form of sexual innuendo is asked to be left out as well. I trust, though, that anyone reading this blog wouldn't think of doing these things anyway.

Thanks for checkin' out Dividing The Truth!

God Bless You All!

Adam