Wisdom, Understanding, Discernment and Boldness

If one is looking to gain wisdom and understanding, and increase their ability to discern good from evil and right from wrong, the book of Proverbs is probably one of the best places to start. Verse after verse compares the wicked to the righteous, the foolish to the upright, the sluggard to the diligent, folly to wisdom, hate to love, and evil to good. It is a treasure trove of knowledge. I am currently reading through Proverbs and one of these comparisons stuck out to me as a must-have in our duty to contend for the faith. Proverbs 28:1:

The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion.

The first part of that verse basically means that the wicked [ungodly] are guilty and they know they’re guilty – their conscience condemns them. Not only that, but they are so aware of their guilt, that they tend to be paranoid about it; they think everyone else might find out too. Because of this they are always on their toes, ready to flee at a moment’s notice, always in fear.

Have you ever been there? Have you ever done something wrong, or broken the rules, or sinned in some way or another and you were afraid someone else was going to find out? You might be worried that you will be caught in your lie, so you become nervous when you talk to people and you take second glances to see if they look like they might know something.  I know I've been there and it’s usually not a peaceful state to be in.

photo credit: katiew via photopin cc

In contrast, those that are righteous are bold as a lion. To be ‘bold’ is to be absent of fear. Usually confidence accompanies boldness; you typically have confidence in something. In our context, that confidence comes from our righteous standing with God. No longer do we have a guilty conscience, but a clean one – one that is made clean through our faith in Jesus Christ whereby he imputes, or ascribes, His righteousness to us!

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21

Once we realize that we have become righteous in God’s eyes, because of Jesus, there is no more condemnation:

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1) 

Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. (John 3:18)

In ancient Israel, David displayed this proverbial kind of boldness in confronting the Philistine giant Goliath, when everyone else was cowering in fear:

And David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail because of him [Goliath]. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” 1 Samuel 17:32

In Moses’ time, the people of Israel were given a promise of boldness in their battles so long as they walked in God’s statutes and observed His commandments and did them:

Five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight; your enemies shall fall by the sword before you. Leviticus 26:8

We too need this kind of boldness in our lives on a daily basis, especially if we are to contend for the faith and fight for the Truth. In reading that proverb, I thought to myself “What good are wisdom, understanding, and discernment if we don’t have the boldness to do anything with them?” Sure, we can be selfish and keep all of those things for ourselves, but isn’t it our imperative to use those abilities for all the saints at a minimum – and possibly even for those whom have yet to believe?

Many Christians today aren't bold at all, but instead live their lives in fear and worry. In fact, it is fear and worry that prevent many of us from carrying out the great commission of spreading the [true] gospel. The worries of this life weigh us down. Many Christians are afraid that they will offend someone if they tell them their views, or if they object to someone’s line of thinking – so they don’t say anything at all. This fear has also crept into the church and we have believers and even pastors unwilling to confront the lies of the enemy head on, with authority. People refrain from using words like ‘evil’, or ‘sin’, or ‘abomination’, or ‘heresy’. My friends, if you don’t know this already, the gospel of Jesus Christ IS OFFENSIVE to those who are perishing! (1 Corinthians 1:18). We are not instructed to water it down, or make it more appealing by leaving out certain truths, or dumb it down so as to distort it. No, instead we are told to proclaim the full gospel in its unfiltered, unaltered entirety.

And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear. Philippians 1:14 (NIV)

Paul knew the gospel was offensive, but he and those he taught proclaimed it anyway. We have to stop being politically correct and compromising God’s Word to make it more palatable to the masses. If you present a false [incomplete] gospel, you will get false converts - PERIOD.

Will this come easy? No. Will you suffer persecution? Yes. Will you be hated at times? Yes.

"If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.” John 15:18

Are you willing to be hated for the sake of the gospel? Jesus was. They hated Him with such a passion that the Jewish leaders gave Him an unfair trial and executed Him as quickly as they could in hopes of silencing Him and His teaching.

Depiction of Sanhedrin trial of Jesus
by José de Madrazo Agud

So how do we do this? How do we be bold on a daily basis? Well first of all I truly believe that that boldness comes primarily from two things:

(1)    The recognition that we have been forgiven and our debts have been paid and we are no longer under a state of condemnation. As stated earlier, this is a realization and faithful trust that we have Jesus’ righteousness. Because of God’s perfect love for us, all fear is gone and we have no obstructions in our way. (1 John 4:18) (Ephesians 3:11-12) 

(2)    The empowerment of the Holy Spirit. Peter and John were unlearned men, but when empowered by the Holy Spirit, the people around them marveled at their boldness and proclamations. (Acts 4:8,13) Acts 4:29 and 31 indicate that by the Holy Spirit, the disciples in the early church ‘spoke the word of God with boldness’. When we become believers, we are sealed with the Holy Spirit. (2 Corinthians 1:22) (Ephesians 1:13) As we are sanctified by the Holy Spirit (Romans 15:16), He will empower us to be of service in the gospel of God.

Secondly, the book of Philippians is a great book of encouragement that you should read if you want to learn how to live out your life on this Earth, but as a citizen of Heaven. In 4 short chapters, you will find ways to grow in your commitment of service to God and to other believers. Boldness is a gift that comes along with righteousness; we just need to learn how to put it into practice. I’d recommend reading the 4 chapters of Philippians every day for a week to really sink it into your mind.

Paul says in Philippians 1:27-30 [emphasis mine]:

Let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God. For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.

I pray that you have been reminded of the wonderful grace of God in Him providing a way for us to be in a right standing with Him. Furthermore, I hope you are encouraged to be bold in your daily lives, not giving into fear or worries about your [our] opponent (the world, the lies, the evil one).

Christian Couple Fights Texas Officials After Homeschooled Children Forcibly Removed From Home

Just a few days ago I wrote about my family's decision to homeschool our children. We believe with all conviction that educating our children ourselves is the best way we can instill the values and [Christian] worldview we would like them to have. We believe it is a basic right for parents to have to be able to determine how their own children should be educated. However, there are those in this nation (humanists, secularists, liberals) that believe otherwise. In their view, government knows best and is more capable than parents to make decisions about children's education. They'll even go so far as to criticize homeschooling parents by calling them 'mentally ill' and say that they are 'brainwashing' their children. They believe the government is the only way to 'properly educate' children.

The link below tells the story of a Texas couple who had their children forcibly removed from their home, not for abuse or neglect, but for homeschooling - that's right - homeschooling! 

Christian Couple Fights Texas Officials After Homeschooled Children Forcibly Removed From Home

My initial thought was that this kind of stuff happens in other countries, but not America - at least not yet. Don't fool yourselves, it's here too. Persecution of Christians takes many forms, and this is one of them. I expect this kind of persecution to become greater and greater in this [morally declining] nation. I think this is a perfect time to remind you that our battle is a spiritual battle of cosmic forces - good and evil, as Ephesians 6 tells us:

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.

Paul gives us several commands here:

1. Be strong in the Lord
2. Put on the whole armor of God
3. Wrestle against spiritual forces of evil
4. Stand firm
5. Fasten the belt of Truth
6. Put on breastplate of righteousness
7. Put on readiness
8. Take up the shield of faith
9. Take the helmet of salvation
10. Take the sword of the Spirit (the Word of God)
11. Pray at all times

That's a lot for 8 verses! In this battle, we need to be constantly aware of who we are fighting. The verses tell us there are rulers (plural) and authorities (plural) and cosmic powers (plural) over the present darkness. Satan has an army, and a well-ordered, well-structured one that employs tactics and strategies to deceive as many as possible. Those that are deceived by Satan in this world carry out his plan and his intentions, whether knowingly or unknowingly.

IMPORTANT POINT:

The weak in heart, the shallow in faith, the undiscerning, the Biblically illiterate, the armorless, and the prayerless will not be able stand firm, and persevere in this battle. I urge you to heed the instructions of Paul as we are heading deeper and deeper into this war. This is a daily thing folks, a daily regimen that we must use to be ready to fight and defend ourselves. This isn't something that can be maintained with a 'once a week, I'll go to church' mentality. Some people get offended or become sheepish when anyone mentions the notion of fighting. Well, I'm sorry to break it to you, but not only are we to put on our armor for defense, but we are to take up the sword as well. We are to slay the lies and deceptions that come into our path with the Word of God. How can we do that if we don't know the Word? 

In a future post, I'll be discussing this idea of being ready. Have we really 'given our life' to Christ, or are we living as if we've allowed Christ to be just a part of our lives?

Homeschooling vs. Public Schools

My wife and I have a 3-year-old boy, a 17-month-old girl, and our 3^rd child is due in a few weeks. Needless to say, the question of educating our children has been on our minds a lot lately. Both my wife and I went to public school from kindergarten through high school and both attended public universities in the Midwest (southwestern Missouri to be exact). Coming from a small town in a more conservative part of the country to the Denver area in Colorado, we quickly found out what it was like to live in a big city.

Our first town home was only a block away from a public middle school and one of the first things we noticed were the kids going to and from school each day. It was very common for us to see ‘goth-like’ dress, kids smoking, unfiltered, obscene language, the smell of marijuana, and disrespectful talk among other things. At this time we did not have any kids but we jokingly told each other that we’d never send our kids to school here.

Well, that was six years ago and those kinds of things are even more commonplace among kids who go to public schools today. Many youth today exemplify 2 Timothy 3: 1-4:

But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.

I regularly ride public transportation and it just amazes me how arrogant, selfish, and inconsiderate young people have become. On a weekly basis, I see teenagers get on the bus blurting out obscene language to their friends as if no one else is riding along with them – this is especially irritating when I see young children nearby. Many times they’ll cut right in front of people, even the elderly, while getting on and off the bus without thinking twice about it.

Needless to say, it is becoming a rare thing to see a polite, courteous, well-behaved, well-mannered, well-spoken child these days. The other day I was talking to a substitute teacher who was working a long-term stint in a public school. She was going on and on about how disobedient and disrespectful the teenagers are. She spoke of a teacher in her 9^th year that said of all the years she’s taught 8^th graders, that this year was the worst. The kids will not obey the teachers, they don’t really care about learning, they are indifferent to getting suspended from school, and they don’t care what the teachers think about them. Furthermore, there is nothing, no real consequences for the teachers to administer other than to kick them out of class and suspend them – even then they are limited because they can’t suspend everyone. And the kids don’t mind it anyway.

Then there are stories like this one, where kids in a public school were fed x-rated material under the guise of sex education. In this incident, a poster was hung on the wall that was entitled “How Do People Express Their Sexual Feelings?” followed by 17 different ways to do so. When a parent of a student who took a picture of the poster was outraged and brought it up to the school’s administrators, they did nothing about it. A district spokesperson said:

“The poster that you reference is actually part of our middle school health and science materials, and so it is a part of our district approved curriculum”

Followed by:

“The curriculum it is a part of, it aligns with national standards around those topics, and it’s part of our curriculum in the school district”

The father of the student later said:

“A lot of parents view the school as a babysitter,” “My message is to stand up. Let’s take charge of our kids. There are so many out of control kids in the nation.”

Amen to that! Seems that he is observing the same thing I am.

Then you have another story where a teacher humiliates a first grader by telling her in front of the whole class to stop talking about the Bible while in the middle of a one-minute presentation she was giving in response to a classroom activity given by the teacher the day prior. 

photo credit: bookgrl via photopin cc

The article states that: The principal reportedly told her [the parent] that her daughter could write about her beliefs in a journal but she was not allowed to share her beliefs aloud to any other student.

I say all of this because at this point in time, my wife and I have decided to homeschool all of our children, while we still have the freedom to do so. Echoing the sentiment of parent mentioned earlier: we WILL be taking charge of our children, and their education.  Some countries, like Germany, have outlawed parental homeschooling of children. The government there will, by force, take children from their parents should they find out that they were attempting to homeschool them. In fact, many German families have left the country to go to places like France or the U.S. just so they can homeschool their kids. One such family came to the U.S. recently and was granted asylum because the German government was attempting to put the parents in prison for homeschooling. But U.S. protection didn't last long.

The article states that: The Obama administration, which in other notable areas of immigration law has enacted a policy of “discretion” regarding deportations, took the [family] to court to have its asylum protections revoked, and succeeded in doing so. The family has appealed to the Supreme Court, which has ordered the Obama administration to respond to the [family’s] petition, but the administration has so far refused to do so.

So it appears that the current administration is showing more signs of their anti-homeschooling agenda by trying to send this family back against their will. What does this mean for the future of America’s homeschooled children? The outlook does not look good.

As a father, I am commanded in Scripture to:

Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. (Ephesians 6:4)

I think as a parent, one of the best ways we can contend earnestly for the faith is by teaching and instilling that faith in our children. This goes beyond church, Sunday school, and youth group.  This is a command to ‘bring them up’, or educate them (which takes time; years, in fact) in the discipline and in the instruction of the Lord (the Bible). 

Source

Currently, the only way I see this happening effectively is through homeschooling, and for parents to take responsibility for their children and not leave it up to the government or public school system. While I won’t be the primary one doing the homeschooling (my wife will), you can rest assured that I will make certain that a Bible-based curriculum is chosen and that what is taught is done so with a Biblical worldview. And I will reinforce their instruction by being involved, reading Scripture with them, teaching them to pray and to worship, and explaining the things of life in the black and white Truth revealed in God's Word.

You may also be interested in:

(Let your kids decide about Religion? – Greg Koukl from Stand to Reason)

Subtlety: The Old Cross and the New (A.W. Tozer)

One of the greatest tactics of Satan in his quest to spread false teaching in the church is the use of subtlety. By slightly changing one thing here and one thing there on a fundamental doctrine, he can creep in unnoticed by all unsuspecting, undiscerning believers. His primary target would be of course the person and work of Jesus Christ. The formula goes something like this: a little truth + a dash of falsehood = deceived. If Satan can get you to believe in a Jesus almost like the True Jesus as revealed in Scripture, using all the same lingo, imagery, and emotions, he has you in the palm of his hand, utterly deceived. And to spread his false Jesus and false doctrine, he raises up false teachers in the midst of the true body of believers:

But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep. (2 Peter 2:1-3)

Verse one supports my previous point - that false prophets (teachers/pastors/etc.) arise from within the church, bringing in their heresies in a mode of secrecy, that is to say: you're not supposed to know about it.

And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds. (2 Corinthians 11:14-15)

It is in this context that I would like to point you to a very blunt and honest assessment of the state of the modern evangelical church by A.W. Tozer. I encourage you that after you read this that you begin to develop your discerning eyes and ears as you hear sermons and see popular pastors being interviewed by the media, and as you read books, articles, websites, etc. Is the person you are listening to/reading preaching the Old Cross or the New? Keep in mind that his was written in 1966; so if it was true then, how much more truer is it today?


As I continue posting to this blog, one of the things I will be watching out for is exactly this: what are popular pastors preaching and book authors teaching out there and does it line up with the uncompromising, unchanging gospel message as presented in Scripture?

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The Old Cross and the New

(A. W. Tozer, Man, the Dwelling Place of God, 1966) [emphasis mine]

ALL UNANNOUNCED AND MOSTLY UNDETECTED there has come in modern times a new cross into popular evangelical circles. It is like the old cross, but different: the likenesses are superficial; the differences, fundamental.

From this new cross has sprung a new philosophy of the Christian life, and from that new philosophy has come a new evangelical technique-a new type of meeting and a new kind of preaching. This new evangelism employs the same language as the old, but its content is not the same and its emphasis not as before.

The old cross would have no truck with the world. For Adam's proud flesh it meant the end of the journey. It carried into effect the sentence imposed by the law of Sinai. The new cross is not opposed to the human race; rather, it is a friendly pal and, if understood aright, it is the source of oceans of good clean fun and innocent enjoyment. It lets Adam live without interference. His life motivation is unchanged; he still lives for his own pleasure, only now he takes delight in singing choruses and watching religious movies instead of singing bawdy songs and drinking hard liquor. The accent is still on enjoyment, though the fun is now on a higher plane morally if not intellectually.

The new cross encourages a new and entirely different evangelistic approach. The evangelist does not demand abnegation of the old life before a new life can be received. He preaches not contrasts but similarities. He seeks to key into public interest by showing that Christianity makes no unpleasant demands; rather, it offers the same thing the world does, only on a higher level. Whatever the sin-mad world happens to be clamoring after at the moment is cleverly shown to be the very thing the gospel offers, only the religious product is better.

The new cross does not slay the sinner, it redirects him. It gears him into a cleaner and jollier way of living and saves his self-respect. To the self-assertive it says, "Come and assert yourself for Christ." To the egotist it says, "Come and do your boasting in the Lord." To the thrill seeker it says, "Come and enjoy the thrill of Christian fellowship." The Christian message is slanted in the direction of the current vogue in order to make it acceptable to the public.

The philosophy back of this kind of thing may be sincere but its sincerity does not save it from being false. It is false because it is blind. It misses completely the whole meaning of the cross.

The old cross is a symbol of death. It stands for the abrupt, violent end of a human being. The man in Roman times who took up his cross and started down the road had already said good-by to his friends. He was not coming back. He was going out to have it ended. The cross made no compromise, modified nothing, spared nothing; it slew all of the man, completely and for good. It did not try to keep on good terms with its victim. It struck cruel and hard, and when it had finished its work, the man was no more.

The race of Adam is under death sentence. There is no commutation and no escape. God cannot approve any of the fruits of sin, however innocent they may appear or beautiful to the eyes of men. God salvages the individual by liquidating him and then raising him again to newness of life.

That evangelism which draws friendly parallels between the ways of God and the ways of men is false to the Bible and cruel to the souls of its hearers. The faith of Christ does not parallel the world, it intersects it. In coming to Christ we do not bring our old life up onto a higher plane; we leave it at the cross. The corn of wheat must fall into the ground and die.

We who preach the gospel must not think of ourselves as public relations agents sent to establish good will between Christ and the world. We must not imagine ourselves commissioned to make Christ acceptable to big business, the press, the world of sports or modern education. We are not diplomats but prophets, and our message is not a compromise but an ultimatum.

God offers life, but not an improved old life. The life He offers is life out of death. It stands always on the far side of the cross. Whoever would possess it must pass under the rod. He must repudiate himself and concur in God's just sentence against him.

What does this mean to the individual, the condemned man who would find life in Christ Jesus? How can this theology be translated into life? Simply, he must repent and believe. He must forsake his sins and then go on to forsake himself. Let him cover nothing, defend nothing, excuse nothing. Let him not seek to make terms with God, but let him bow his head before the stroke of God's stern displeasure and acknowledge himself worthy to die.

Having done this let him gaze with simple trust upon the risen Saviour, and from Him will come life and rebirth and cleansing and power. The cross that ended the earthly life of Jesus now puts an end to the sinner; and the power that raised Christ from the dead now raises him to a new life along with Christ.

To any who may object to this or count it merely a narrow and private view of truth, let me say God has set His hallmark of approval upon this message from Paul's day to the present. Whether stated in these exact words or not, this has been the content of all preaching that has brought life and power to the world through the centuries. The mystics, the reformers, the revivalists have put their emphasis here, and signs and wonders and mighty operations of the Holy Ghost gave witness to God's approval.

Dare we, the heirs of such a legacy of power, tamper with the truth? Dare we with our stubby pencils erase the lines of the blueprint or alter the pattern shown us in the Mount? May God forbid. Let us preach the old cross and we will know the old power. 

What about those who never hear of Jesus Christ?

A while back, a co-worker of mine had asked me a question that at the time I wasn't able to give him a complete answer. These kinds of interactions can really bug me, because if I'm disappointed in my response, I'll replay over and over again in my head what I should have said. But, one thing they do prompt me to do is go back and do some studying and prepare an answer so I'll be ready if the topic ever comes up again. 

His question was this:

What happens to people throughout the world that have never had the chance to hear about Christ? Would they be saved? 

I was reading something the other day that brought our conversation to mind so I thought I would try now to answer that as best I can. There are several scripture passages I will reference in my answer. (emphasis mine)

We'll start with Psalm 53:1-3 which says:

1. The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity; there is none who does good.
2. God looks down from heaven on the children of man to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God.
3. They have all fallen away; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.

 Romans 3:23-26 says:

²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴ being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, ²⁵ whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, ²⁶ to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

So by these two passages, we know that no one deserves God’s grace because we all have sinned against a perfect and Holy God – we all deserve to pay the penalty of our sin. Grace is something we obtain that we don’t deserve: like forgiveness of wrongdoing. Mercy is not receiving something that we do deserve: like eternal punishment and separation from God. 

Here is a very important, but difficult-to-swallow point: God would not be unjust if he were to let everyone on this Earth die in our sin and spend eternity in hell to pay for our sin. God has given us a moral free-will and He does not compel us to sin, nor is He the author or originator of evil; we ourselves choose to sin.

From the very beginning, in order for sin to be atoned for, blood had to be shed, punishment had to be carried out. Leviticus 17:11 makes this very clear:

¹¹ For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.

In the Old Testament, only a perfect, spotless, unblemished animal could be used in sacrifices for atonement to redeem the sinner from his or her sin. When Jesus came to this Earth and lived a perfect, sinless life, and died on the cross, shedding His blood for the sins of those who believe in His name, He became our righteousness through an everlasting sacrifice. 

photo credit: SweetCapture via photopin cc

Now to the question of who will and will not be saved:

From Romans 10:

¹³ For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
¹⁴ How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? ¹⁵ And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” ¹⁶ But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” ¹⁷ So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

Continuing on, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1:

¹⁸ For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. - and -²¹ For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save [only] those who believe.

So the final conclusion to answer his question is this: In order to be saved, one must first hear of Christ by the proclaiming of His Word. If the Father then draws them (John 6:44) and they subsequently believe, it produces a saving faith. It may seem unfair in our eyes for someone in a 3^rd world country who has never heard of Christ to be punished, but remember, all of us have sinned and none of us is deserving of His Grace to begin with. 

The mere fact that He chose to humble Himself by coming to this Earth to die to redeem some of us (those who believe) demonstrates his amazing love (John 3:16). This fact is something I praise God for every day of my life, that I was born at this time in history and live in a free country where there is free access and proclamation of the gospel wherever we go. What is even more sad than the 3^rd world country scenario is the people in a county like America who have had a chance to hear the gospel, but choose to deny it and turn away from it anyway.

Additional Resources:

Greg Koukl - What about those who've never heard? (4 min video)

Celebrity Pastor Carl Lentz (Hillsong NYC): A Biblical Critique

The below video is Chris Rosebrough of Fighting for the Faith giving a very good Biblical critique on Hillsong NYC pastor Carl Lentz. This came out on 1/5/14 - 23 minutes long, but well worth the watch. Numerous scripture references shed light on the image and substance of Carl Lentz and his teaching. Many up-and-coming celebrity pastors are following along the same lines of people like Lentz, trying their best to incorporate worldly things into their ministry, hoping to offend no one and attract as many followers as possible. For example, Lentz boasts that his church meets in a night club and that he has multiple tattoos.

Rosebrough only shows several clips of a recent interview Lentz had on national television with Katie Couric. I watched the full interview and something he said really disturbed me. When talking about the music at his church and the band he said something to the effect of (paraphrase) "...even if you don't agree with the content of the lyrics, at least the music is good". I just wonder how many people from his congregation don't agree with the lyrics of the songs they sing. Yet it probably doesn't even matter to Lentz, because if the quality of the music is more important than who or what you are singing about or whether or not there is Truth in the content of the lyrics, then you've missed the point completely when it comes to worshiping God.

John 4:24 says: "God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." 

Notice here that 'quality music' is not a requirement for true worship. Not that quality music cannot be a part of true worship, but two other criteria must first be met. If quality music is one of the primary ways you market your church, and you even go so far as to de-emphasize truth in the lyrics of the songs, then you have no business calling your church a True church of God. 

This video will give you some perspective on the biblical qualifications of a pastor to help you discern if popular pastors (or your own pastor) are qualified or unqualified for the office they hold. I really like the last part of the video which touches on the subject of Christology and refutes those who say Jesus didn't say anything about homosexuality in the Bible.

Carl Lentz: Image vs Substance from Chris Rosebrough on Vimeo.

After watching this, I was reminded of James 4:4:

"You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God."

An Evil in the 'Professed' Camp of the Lord

Charles Spurgeon

One of the most destructive practices the church can engage in when trying to spread the the gospel message is luring people in with worldly enticements. Concert-like music, fancy lighting, sound effects, comedy, skits, Starbucks-esque cafes, cinema quality screens, etc. You name it, churches have used it. In and of themselves, they aren't necessarily evil things. But when you advertise your church by saying: "Come to our church where you can enjoy great music, an uplifting message, have a hot cappuccino, socialize in our lounge, and so on...", you will attract carnally minded people who will have an appetite for greater and greater amusement. 

Amusement comes from the root word 'muse' which means to be absorbed in thought, or to engage in meditation. So to be a-mused means to be in a state of mind where you are not thinking, not caring - just entertained with something that is physically and/or mentally pleasureful.

In the video below, British preacher Charles Spurgeon (1834 - 1892) gives us a great reminder of what these types of amusements can do to a church but more importantly, how they hinder the furtherance of the kingdom. Scripture tells us:

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. (John 10:27-29)

No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. (John 6:44)

Spurgeon further exhorts us to maintain a focus on preaching Christ as the only allurement to the gospel and let the Holy Spirit draw people unto Him. Take a listen:




"An evil is in the 'professed' camp of the Lord, so gross in its impudence, that the most shortsighted Christian can hardly fail to notice it. During the past few years this evil has developed at an alarming rate. It has worked like leaven until the whole lump ferments!

The devil has seldom done a more clever thing, than hinting to the Church that part of their mission is to provide entertainment for the people, with a view to winning them. From speaking out the gospel, the Church has gradually toned down her testimony, then winked at and excused the frivolities of the day. Then she tolerated them in her borders. Now she has adopted them under the plea of reaching the masses!

My first contention is that providing amusement for the people is nowhere spoken of in the Scriptures as a function of the Church. If it is a Christian work why did not Christ speak of it? 'Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, and provide amusement for those who do not relish the gospel'.

No such words, however, are to be found. It did not seem to occur to Him. Where do entertainers come in? The Holy Spirit is silent concerning them. Were the prophets persecuted because they amused the people, or because they confronted them? The 'concert' has no martyr roll.

Again, providing amusement is in direct antagonism to the teaching and life of Christ and all His apostles. What was the attitude of the apostolic Church to the world? "You are the salt of the world", not the sugar candy; something the world will spit out, not swallow.

Had Jesus introduced more of the bright and pleasant elements into His teaching, He would have been more popular. When "many of His disciples turned back and no longer followed Him," I do not hear Him say, 'Run after these people, Peter, and tell them we will have a different style of service tomorrow; something short and attractive with little preaching. We will have a pleasant evening for the people. Tell them they will be sure to enjoy it! Be quick, Peter, we must get the people somehow!'

No! Jesus pitied sinners, sighed and wept over them, but never sought to amuse them!

In vain will the epistles be searched to find any trace of the 'gospel of amusement'. Their message is, "Therefore, come out from them and separate yourselves from them... Don't touch their filthy things..." Anything approaching amusement is conspicuous by its absence. They had boundless confidence in the gospel and employed no other weapon.

After Peter and John were locked up for preaching, the Church had a prayer meeting, but they did not pray, 'Lord, grant unto your servants that by a wise and discriminating use of innocent recreation we may show these people how happy we are'.

No! They did not cease from preaching Christ. They had no time for arranging entertainments. Scattered by persecution they went everywhere preaching the gospel. They turned the world upside down; that is the only difference from today's church.

Lastly, amusement fails to effect the end desired. Let the heavy laden who found peace through the concert not keep silent! Let the drunkard to whom the dramatic entertainment had been God's link in the chain of their conversion, stand up! There are none to answer! The mission of amusement produces no converts!

The need of the hour for today's ministry is earnest spirituality joined with Biblical doctrine, so understood and felt, that it sets men on fire."

(C.H.Spurgeon)

Whose Slave Are You?

"Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness." (Romans 6:16-18). (emphasis mine)

"Jesus replied, "Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin." (John 8:34)

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I find it interesting that the Bible says we are always in a state of slavery. We are always a slave to something or someone. Either to sin, or being freed from sin, to righteousness. Most people don’t view sinning as being enslaved, but I just can’t get past how powerful sin is, how enticing it is to sin, how attractive it is, how tempting it is – it really is bondage in the most extreme sense. All we have to do is try not to sin for even an hour and we find how hard it is, especially with our thoughts. 

How great it is to know that there is freedom from that slavery which leads to death. Romans 8 says there are 2 laws at work: the law of the Spirit of Life and the law of Sin and Death. Every person on this Earth is living and operating under one of those laws - there is no middle ground. Either way, we quickly come to realize that we are never our own, instead we are owned by someone or something else. Praise be to God - I’d much rather be owned by the giver of Life than the producer of death.

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