Many people today seem to be confused about who they are and who God is. A correct understanding of this matter is of the utmost importance. You cannot know who you are if you do not know who God is. So we will look at some truths about you and God.
God is God and you are not.
God is the Creator, you are the creation.
You are dependent on God, he is not dependent on you.
God is in control of all things and you are not.
God is all powerful and you are not.
God judges you, you do not judge God.
You must answer to God, he does not answer to you.
You are accountable to God, he is not accountable to you.
God knows all things and you do not.
God is the ultimate authority and you are not.
God is the source of truth, you are not.
Right and wrong are determined by God, not by you.
God is holy and you are sinful.
Salvation is the work of God alone, it is not you and God working together.
In salvation God chooses you, you do not choose him.
The glory belongs to God alone, he does not share the glory with you.
God is God and you are not!
For a correct view of God and ourselves we must turn to the Bible which is God's revelation to us. Only then will you see clearly who God is and who you are.
Monday, April 15, 2019
Monday, March 11, 2019
Books About God And His Control Of Things
Is God in control of all things? Do things just happen? Do all things really work for good? Who does what in salvation? Is salvation the work of God or the work of man? Why does evil exist? Does God ordain evil? The following books will help provide answers to these questions and more.
The Potter's Freedom by James R. White
The Invisible Hand by R.C. Sproul
Still Sovereign Edited by Thomas Schreiner & Bruce Ware
Why Is There Evil In The World? by Greg Welty
The Potter's Freedom by James R. White
The Invisible Hand by R.C. Sproul
Still Sovereign Edited by Thomas Schreiner & Bruce Ware
Why Is There Evil In The World? by Greg Welty
Monday, October 15, 2018
Another Recommended Study Bible
In the past I have recommended The ESV Study Bible and The MacArthur Study Bible. To this list I will add one more, The Reformation Study Bible.
The Reformation Study Bible
-ESV Text
-General Editor, R.C. Sproul(One of the best modern theologians)
-Fine team of contributors
-Excellent study notes
-Solid theological notes
-Helpful topical articles
-Historic Creeds and Confessions
The Reformation Study Bible presents us with the teaching of the Protestant Reformation which was a recovery of Biblical Christianity. Modern evangelicals would do well to rediscover their Reformation heritage.
-Scripture alone
-Grace alone
-Faith alone
-Christ alone
-To the glory of God alone
The Reformation Study Bible
-ESV Text
-General Editor, R.C. Sproul(One of the best modern theologians)
-Fine team of contributors
-Excellent study notes
-Solid theological notes
-Helpful topical articles
-Historic Creeds and Confessions
The Reformation Study Bible presents us with the teaching of the Protestant Reformation which was a recovery of Biblical Christianity. Modern evangelicals would do well to rediscover their Reformation heritage.
-Scripture alone
-Grace alone
-Faith alone
-Christ alone
-To the glory of God alone
Monday, October 8, 2018
Thoughts On Kavanaugh, Accusations, And Democrats
The confirmation process and Senate hearings for Judge Brett Kavanaugh to be approved to the U.S. Supreme Court have been a political circus and a disgrace. Christine Ford alleged that Kavanaugh had sexually assaulted her 36 years ago. Judge Kavanaugh emphatically denied these allegations. Claims of sexual assault should be taken seriously and women should never be mistreated or abused. At the same time a man should not be destroyed by mere allegations made against him. Even after an FBI investigation no corroborating evidence was found. So you had only the accusation made by Ford.
How then do we decide the right course of action? Should it be determined by our emotions, our human reason, or our political agenda? If we want truth and reality we should turn to the ultimate authority, God and his Word.
(Deuteronomy 19:15) "A single witness shall not suffice against a person for any crime or for any wrong in connection with any offense that he has committed. Only on the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses shall a charge be established." (ESV)
Lest anyone think that this is just something from the Old Testament that does not apply to us today, Jesus himself reaffirmed this principle in the New Testament when speaking about church discipline (yes there is such a thing as church discipline).
(Matthew 18:16) "But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses." (ESV)
A person must not be convicted or disqualified by a mere allegation. It should only be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If people are to be convicted or disqualified by an allegation then no one will be able to survive this standard (not even Democrat Senators). Going by a standard like this is absurd and foolish. The innocent must be protected, a person is innocent until proven guilty.
Even if in some cases a guilty person goes free it is not the end of the matter. Everyone will eventually face the judgement of God. When it is all said and done there will be true justice, no one ultimately gets away with anything.
Of course the real reason the Democrats opposed Judge Kavanaugh was because of their political agenda. They opposed Kavanaugh because he was presumed to be conservative. Liberals are horrified at the thought of abortion being made illegal. Roe VS Wade should be overturned but it is very unlikely that it will be. Much of what the Democrat Party promotes is a disgrace. It is simply the party of secularism and socialism. Democrats (and Republicans) need to repent of their sins and trust in Christ alone for salvation.
How then do we decide the right course of action? Should it be determined by our emotions, our human reason, or our political agenda? If we want truth and reality we should turn to the ultimate authority, God and his Word.
(Deuteronomy 19:15) "A single witness shall not suffice against a person for any crime or for any wrong in connection with any offense that he has committed. Only on the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses shall a charge be established." (ESV)
Lest anyone think that this is just something from the Old Testament that does not apply to us today, Jesus himself reaffirmed this principle in the New Testament when speaking about church discipline (yes there is such a thing as church discipline).
(Matthew 18:16) "But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses." (ESV)
A person must not be convicted or disqualified by a mere allegation. It should only be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If people are to be convicted or disqualified by an allegation then no one will be able to survive this standard (not even Democrat Senators). Going by a standard like this is absurd and foolish. The innocent must be protected, a person is innocent until proven guilty.
Even if in some cases a guilty person goes free it is not the end of the matter. Everyone will eventually face the judgement of God. When it is all said and done there will be true justice, no one ultimately gets away with anything.
Of course the real reason the Democrats opposed Judge Kavanaugh was because of their political agenda. They opposed Kavanaugh because he was presumed to be conservative. Liberals are horrified at the thought of abortion being made illegal. Roe VS Wade should be overturned but it is very unlikely that it will be. Much of what the Democrat Party promotes is a disgrace. It is simply the party of secularism and socialism. Democrats (and Republicans) need to repent of their sins and trust in Christ alone for salvation.
Monday, September 24, 2018
Liberalism And The Bible
Theological liberalism is accepted by many professing Christians in the United States and around the world. It it the underlying theological system of many universities and seminaries as well as that of most of the leadership of the so called mainline Protestant denominations. The mainline denominations include: the Episcopalian Church, Presbyterian Church USA, Evangelical Lutheran Church, United Church of Christ, American Baptist Churches, and the United Methodist Church. Liberalism has even infiltrated evangelical churches to a certain degree.
The foundation of Liberalism is the rejection of Scripture alone as the ultimate authority. Liberals reject the authority, inspiration, and inerrancy of the Bible. In Liberalism the Bible is no longer God's revelation to us but merely the opinions of men and their experiences of God. This is where we see the elevation of personal experience over Scripture as the ultimate authority. The liberals used to proclaim that Christianity is life and not doctrine.
According to the liberals many of the Old Testament stories were just fiction and the New Testament miracles never happened. They denied that Adam and Eve were real people and the doctrine of original sin. The liberals also denied the virgin birth of Christ, the deity of Christ, his miracles, the substitutionary atonement, the historical/physical resurrection of Christ, and his second coming.
Liberals rejected the wrath of God, his judgement, and the existence of hell. Liberals tried to focus only on the love of God. They rejected the sinfulness of mankind and believed that man was basically good. Since a savior was no longer needed Jesus was not seen as a savior but merely as an example to follow. Since people no longer needed to be saved from their sins the social gospel replaced the Biblical gospel. Personal salvation was no longer needed so the focus was just on relieving suffering and the problems of this world.
As J. Gresham Machen once said, Liberalism is not Christianity at all. Liberalism is nothing more than unbelief. It is simply secularism with Christian language. Liberals adopted secular philosophies such as Darwinism and naturalism. They accepted Darwinism and rejected the creation account of the Bible. They accepted naturalism which denies that miracles can happen, and then concluded that the miracles of the Bible did not happen.
The liberals rejected the authority of God and his Word and were left with human reason, experience, and imagination as their authority. The liberals attempted to sit in judgement of God and his Word, when in reality God and his Word stand in judgement of them. Liberals need to repent of their unbelief and submit to the authority of God and his Word. They must renounce the teaching of mere men and embrace the Bible alone as the ultimate authority. Liberals must repent of their sin and trust Christ alone for salvation.
The foundation of Liberalism is the rejection of Scripture alone as the ultimate authority. Liberals reject the authority, inspiration, and inerrancy of the Bible. In Liberalism the Bible is no longer God's revelation to us but merely the opinions of men and their experiences of God. This is where we see the elevation of personal experience over Scripture as the ultimate authority. The liberals used to proclaim that Christianity is life and not doctrine.
According to the liberals many of the Old Testament stories were just fiction and the New Testament miracles never happened. They denied that Adam and Eve were real people and the doctrine of original sin. The liberals also denied the virgin birth of Christ, the deity of Christ, his miracles, the substitutionary atonement, the historical/physical resurrection of Christ, and his second coming.
Liberals rejected the wrath of God, his judgement, and the existence of hell. Liberals tried to focus only on the love of God. They rejected the sinfulness of mankind and believed that man was basically good. Since a savior was no longer needed Jesus was not seen as a savior but merely as an example to follow. Since people no longer needed to be saved from their sins the social gospel replaced the Biblical gospel. Personal salvation was no longer needed so the focus was just on relieving suffering and the problems of this world.
As J. Gresham Machen once said, Liberalism is not Christianity at all. Liberalism is nothing more than unbelief. It is simply secularism with Christian language. Liberals adopted secular philosophies such as Darwinism and naturalism. They accepted Darwinism and rejected the creation account of the Bible. They accepted naturalism which denies that miracles can happen, and then concluded that the miracles of the Bible did not happen.
The liberals rejected the authority of God and his Word and were left with human reason, experience, and imagination as their authority. The liberals attempted to sit in judgement of God and his Word, when in reality God and his Word stand in judgement of them. Liberals need to repent of their unbelief and submit to the authority of God and his Word. They must renounce the teaching of mere men and embrace the Bible alone as the ultimate authority. Liberals must repent of their sin and trust Christ alone for salvation.
Monday, September 10, 2018
Friedrich Schleiermacher, The Father Of Liberalism
Theological liberalism emerged in the 1800's heavily influenced by the Enlightenment which began in the 1700's. The Enlightenment elevated human reason as the ultimate authority and placed man at the center of all things. Liberalism has had a great influence on the church and society over the last few centuries.
German theologian Friedrich Schleiermacher (1768-1834) is known as the father of theological liberalism. Schleiermacher was strongly influenced by the German philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724-1804). Kant separated things into the noumenal realm (outside the mind) and the phenomenal realm (inside the mind). The noumenal realm referred to the thing in itself while the phenomenal realm referred to the thing as it appears. Kant believed things in the noumenal realm (what exists outside the mind) cannot be known about, we can only know that it exists. Kant believed we could only know things in the phenomenal realm, that is things as they appear.
Friedrich Schleiermacher took the philosophy of Immanuel Kant and applied it to theology. Schleiermacher located God in the noumenal realm where he could not be known. He believed God could only be known through the phenomenal realm, that is only as he appears to someone. Schleiermacher believed one could not actually know God, but could only know his experience of God.
So for Schleiermacher theology was not the study of God but the study of one's experience of God. It is not God revealing himself to humanity in the Bible but humanity experiencing "God consciousness." Scripture was no longer the ultimate authority, it was now replaced by human experience. For Schleiermacher the Bible was no longer the Word of God revealed to us because God could not be known. Instead the Bible was just men writing down their experiences of God.
The Bible was no longer the inspired, inerrant, authoritative Word of God. It was no longer considered truth from God, it was nothing more than the writing of mere men. The historical accounts and miracle claims of the Bible were now rejected. In Liberalism the Bible was no longer the ultimate authority. It was now replaced by human reason, experience, and imagination.
German theologian Friedrich Schleiermacher (1768-1834) is known as the father of theological liberalism. Schleiermacher was strongly influenced by the German philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724-1804). Kant separated things into the noumenal realm (outside the mind) and the phenomenal realm (inside the mind). The noumenal realm referred to the thing in itself while the phenomenal realm referred to the thing as it appears. Kant believed things in the noumenal realm (what exists outside the mind) cannot be known about, we can only know that it exists. Kant believed we could only know things in the phenomenal realm, that is things as they appear.
Friedrich Schleiermacher took the philosophy of Immanuel Kant and applied it to theology. Schleiermacher located God in the noumenal realm where he could not be known. He believed God could only be known through the phenomenal realm, that is only as he appears to someone. Schleiermacher believed one could not actually know God, but could only know his experience of God.
So for Schleiermacher theology was not the study of God but the study of one's experience of God. It is not God revealing himself to humanity in the Bible but humanity experiencing "God consciousness." Scripture was no longer the ultimate authority, it was now replaced by human experience. For Schleiermacher the Bible was no longer the Word of God revealed to us because God could not be known. Instead the Bible was just men writing down their experiences of God.
The Bible was no longer the inspired, inerrant, authoritative Word of God. It was no longer considered truth from God, it was nothing more than the writing of mere men. The historical accounts and miracle claims of the Bible were now rejected. In Liberalism the Bible was no longer the ultimate authority. It was now replaced by human reason, experience, and imagination.
Monday, August 13, 2018
The Problem Of Evil
The problem of evil can be stated in the following way.
(1) God is all powerful
(2) God is all good
(3) Yet evil exists
Unbelievers often say the existence of evil proves that Christianity is inconsistent and untrue. They state that if God was all powerful and all good then evil could not exist. But the Bible does teach that God is all powerful and all good while the existence of evil is a reality. If we add another statement we can remove the inconsistency found here.
(1) God is all powerful
(2) God is all good
(3) Evil Exists
(4) God has a morally sufficient reason for allowing evil
When we add statement 4 we now have the total picture of what the Bible actually teaches. The logical inconsistency is now removed. Christianity is consistent and true. We may not like this explanation but it is reality. We do not fully understand why evil exists because we do not see the entire picture as God does. We must trust God and realize that the existence of evil brings glory to God. There is a good reason for the existence of evil it has just not been fully revealed to us. The secret things belong to the LORD our God (Deuteronomy 29:29). A good example is the crucifixion of Christ. With the crucifixion a great evil was committed by men. But God brought about a greater good, namely the salvation of his people, which also brought him glory.
We must point out that the real problem of evil does not belong on Christians but on unbelievers. The unbeliever has no basis for anything even being good or evil in his worldview. He has no ultimate moral authority or standard by which to determine good and evil. The unbeliever could not be consistent with his worldview and even call murder or child abuse wrong. In order for the unbeliever to speak in terms of good and evil he must jump out of his own worldview and jump into the Christian worldview. He must borrow from Christianity in order to live his life and deal with reality.
The Christian has a basis for good and evil. The ultimate moral authority and standard is God and his Word. Good is that which is consistent with God's character and law. While evil is that which violates God's character and law. Unbelievers can offer no more than a mere opinion because they have no ultimate authority to which they can turn. If the unbeliever was consistent he could only say "so what?" to everything that happens.
Every time an unbeliever speaks of the problem of evil he actually proves the existence of God. He could not even talk about a problem of evil if God did not exist. When the unbeliever speaks of the logical inconsistency of Christianity he again proves the existence of God because there is no basis for logic without God. If God did not exist you would not be able to prove anything. You would be left with nothing more than absurdity.
The unbeliever cannot escape the fact that he is made in God's image and lives in God's world. In his heart of hearts he knows that the God of the Bible exists. The unbeliever simply suppresses the truth about God in unrighteousness. All unbelievers need to repent (have a change of mind) and trust in Christ alone for salvation. Then their minds will be renewed and they will be in line with reality.
Only Christianity provides the necessary preconditions for intelligibility. In other words only the Christian worldview makes sense of you world and fits reality. Christianity is true because of the impossibility of the contrary. All other worldviews are inconsistent, contradictory, and reduce to absurdity.
(1) God is all powerful
(2) God is all good
(3) Yet evil exists
Unbelievers often say the existence of evil proves that Christianity is inconsistent and untrue. They state that if God was all powerful and all good then evil could not exist. But the Bible does teach that God is all powerful and all good while the existence of evil is a reality. If we add another statement we can remove the inconsistency found here.
(1) God is all powerful
(2) God is all good
(3) Evil Exists
(4) God has a morally sufficient reason for allowing evil
When we add statement 4 we now have the total picture of what the Bible actually teaches. The logical inconsistency is now removed. Christianity is consistent and true. We may not like this explanation but it is reality. We do not fully understand why evil exists because we do not see the entire picture as God does. We must trust God and realize that the existence of evil brings glory to God. There is a good reason for the existence of evil it has just not been fully revealed to us. The secret things belong to the LORD our God (Deuteronomy 29:29). A good example is the crucifixion of Christ. With the crucifixion a great evil was committed by men. But God brought about a greater good, namely the salvation of his people, which also brought him glory.
We must point out that the real problem of evil does not belong on Christians but on unbelievers. The unbeliever has no basis for anything even being good or evil in his worldview. He has no ultimate moral authority or standard by which to determine good and evil. The unbeliever could not be consistent with his worldview and even call murder or child abuse wrong. In order for the unbeliever to speak in terms of good and evil he must jump out of his own worldview and jump into the Christian worldview. He must borrow from Christianity in order to live his life and deal with reality.
The Christian has a basis for good and evil. The ultimate moral authority and standard is God and his Word. Good is that which is consistent with God's character and law. While evil is that which violates God's character and law. Unbelievers can offer no more than a mere opinion because they have no ultimate authority to which they can turn. If the unbeliever was consistent he could only say "so what?" to everything that happens.
Every time an unbeliever speaks of the problem of evil he actually proves the existence of God. He could not even talk about a problem of evil if God did not exist. When the unbeliever speaks of the logical inconsistency of Christianity he again proves the existence of God because there is no basis for logic without God. If God did not exist you would not be able to prove anything. You would be left with nothing more than absurdity.
The unbeliever cannot escape the fact that he is made in God's image and lives in God's world. In his heart of hearts he knows that the God of the Bible exists. The unbeliever simply suppresses the truth about God in unrighteousness. All unbelievers need to repent (have a change of mind) and trust in Christ alone for salvation. Then their minds will be renewed and they will be in line with reality.
Only Christianity provides the necessary preconditions for intelligibility. In other words only the Christian worldview makes sense of you world and fits reality. Christianity is true because of the impossibility of the contrary. All other worldviews are inconsistent, contradictory, and reduce to absurdity.
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