ROMANS 1:1-3

Our exhaustive study of The Book of Romans.  We conduct scripture cross-references so that Scripture interprets Scripture, word searches to correctly understand each word meaning, historical and cultural contextual understandings, and commentaries from J. VernonMcGee, Charles Hodge, John MacArthur, Charles R. Swindoll, Martin Luther, Charles Spurgeon, Matthew Henry, and David Guzik.  We will use the ESV, NASB, and or HCSB translation due to their reliance on the most reliable biblical manuscripts.

The time, era, and historical context of The Book of Romans:

No real historian questions who wrote this book, it was the Apostle Paul.

He wrote this letter around 56AD in Corinth to the believers in Rome.  He never got the chance to actually visit the Christians in Rome.

ROMANS 1:1

Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,

Παῦλος δοῦλος Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ κλητὸς ἀπόστολος ἀφωρισμένος εἰς εὐαγγέλιον θεοῦ

 A bond-servant, δοῦλος, “a slave, bondman, man of servile condition, devoted to another to the disregard of one’s own interest.” 

An Apostle, ἀπόστολος, “a delegate, messenger, one sent forth with order, officially a commissioner of Christ, specially applied to the twelve disciples whom Christ selected, out of the multitude of his adherents, to be his constant companions and the heralds to.”

Paul is literally a slave to Christ.  But, do not make the mistake to apply an “American” or more modern historical concept of “slave” to this.  That would be a different context and perception.  Being a slave to Christ “is a higher title than monarch of the world.”  This form of slavery is righteous and holy.

He was called, not by himself, as an Apostle.  Consider what the word means, a specific person personally selected by Christ out of all his followers to be heralds of his deepest truths.  It was God himself who called him out of all his others to be a herald of God’s deepest truths to be revealed to all those who believe.  Here we see that the Office of Apostle is a very special and unique position.  Not all Christians are called to be one.  Seeing Christ personally, still, isn’t the only qualifier.  There were over 70 other apostles but Jesus had hundreds of followers, even thousands maybe that heard him teach personally.  Yet, only 12 had this divine position.  Anyone who claims to be an Apostle, are assuming the same office as The Apostle Paul…  The same Apostle that was literally raising people from the dead to confirm his office in Christ. 

The order of which he gave these titles is important.  He was FIRST a servant of Christ, and SECOND he was an Apostle of Christ.  This can be understood in a couple different ways.  First, before assuming the office of Apostle, one must first BECOME a bond-servant/slave of Christ.  This only makes sense.  But this also means that anyone claiming to be an Apostle, but does not SERVE Christ is clearly a fraud.  Second this also means that being an Apostle requires being a Servant to Christ’s people first and foremost.  We can deduce that for ANYONE to have some sort or oracle or prophetic office, they must first have faith in Christ alone.  Therefore, making all other religions false.

This servant-hood and position was not optional, it was going to happen regardless of what Saul felt.  Paul didn’t one day wake up and decide to become a slave to Christ.  God didn’t just hope he would agree to become an Apostle.  Saul (Hebrew name of Paul) was on his way to arrest and capture Christians, hired by the Roman authority.  On his way with a murderous and malicious mindset, God blew him off his horse and spoke directly and personally to him (Acts 22:7-13).  He then left his job as a contracted Roman mercenary and spent 3 years isolated studying and listening to The Holy Spirit’s teaching him, personally. He then went to meet with the other 11 Apostles and THEY validated him as being true and of God personally.  BUT all of this was God’s Will.  He was enslaved by God and called by God to BE an Apostle.

He was “set a part,”  ἀφορίζω, which means: “to mark off from others by boundaries, to limit, to separate, to appoint, set apart for some purpose.” 

Paul was marked off, separate, appointed for a purpose, and that purpose was The Gospel of God. 

The Gospel of God:  The Gospel, εὐαγγέλιον, “good tiding, the glad tidings of the kingdom of God soon to be set up, and subsequently also of Jesus the Messiah, the founder of this kingdom. After the death of Christ, the term comprises also the preaching of (concerning) Jesus Christ as having suffered death on the cross to procure eternal salvation for the men in the kingdom of God, but as restored to life and exalted to the right hand of God in heaven, thence to return in majesty to consummate the kingdom of Go; as the messianic rank of Jesus was proved by his words, his deeds, and his death, the narrative of the sayings, deeds, and death of Jesus Christ came to be called the gospel or glad tiding.”

Paul was enslaved by God to proclaim this message, the Gospel message.  He was called and set apart by God for this purpose.  Notice he was already a servant to Christ but THEN set a part TO something more specific in purpose.  His calling as Apostle set him a apart from all other believers in that HE was purposed with being a herald of divine inspiration, Holy Scripture, which revealed to us The Gospel of God.  The same Gospel of God Jesus proclaimed in Mark 1:14.

ROMANS 1:2

which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures,

 ὃ προεπηγγείλατο διὰ τῶν προφητῶν αὐτοῦ ἐν γραφαῖς ἁγίαις

 “He promised beforehand,” προεπαγγέλλω, “to announce before, to promise before”

 “prophets,” προφήτης, “in Greek writings, an interpreter of oracles or of other hidden thing,  one who, moved by the Spirit of God and hence his organ or spokesman, solemnly declares to men what he has received by inspiration, especially concerning future events, and in particular such as relate to the cause and kingdom of God and to human salvation, the OT prophets, having foretold the kingdom, deeds and death, of Jesus the Messiah.”

How can God promise something beforehand?  What if those who he promised to fulfill his word decided not to, wouldn’t that make God a liar and or a failure?  So is there a risk that God may become a failure in the future if he promises something and doesn’t follow through because of “free will?” Its simple.  God is NEVER at risk of ever being anything other than PERFECT.  If God is never at risk of declaring something beforehand than that means whatever the declares of the future, will perfectly take place regardless of anyone’s free will.  God PROMISED BEFOREHAND through his chosen prophets this very message Paul is about to lay out.

This shows that The Gospel of God is nothing new.  It is not a “new religion” in the region or in the world.  A message that has been declared for thousands of years through God’s prophets of the OT.  Just because the general religious public was ignorant or blind to it, doesn’t make it new.

“the holy Scriptures,”  ἅγιος γραφή, “a thing holy, of things which on account of some connection with God possess a certain distinction and claim to reverence, as places sacred to God which are not to be profaned;  a writing, thing written, used to denote either the book itself, or its contents, a certain portion or section of the Holy Scripture. 

God used his creation, namely specific people he called for his purpose to prophecy the coming messiah.  Notice God’s ownership.  HIS promises.   HIS prophets.  His writings because they are made Holy because they are HIS revelations under his inspiration and guidance.  Paul makes it clear to all his readers that HE did NOT make this up and this is not something new. 

Paul made it clear that this Gospel of God has been proclaimed in HOLY scriptures and NOT in any of the Rabbinical writings of all the Rabbis and their commentaries on the OT.  Or, even if they did mention some sort of messianic prophesy, they failed to correctly understand it and dive deeper into it.  This also validates The Gospel of God as actually coming from God himself in that it is found wholly in the Holy Scriptures and not some message him or any Rabbi created.

Notice Paul appeals to Scripture alone for his authority and justification for this Gospel of God.  It is not dependent on his interpretation, opinion, or feeling but it IS, in fact, a reality revealed in something greater than his own interpretation, opinion, or feeling.  That holy scripture alone is sufficient to find this Gospel if they were willing to search.

ROMANS 1:3

 concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh,

 περὶ τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ τοῦ γενομένου ἐκ σπέρματος Δαυὶδ κατὰ σάρκα

 Don’t forget the previous verses, to keep it in context.

Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures,  concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh,

So we were see a more full context of what Paul is talking about.  The Gospel of God is “concerning His Son…”  The primary focus of this holy message is God’s Son, Jesus Christ.

Consider the sheer importance of this message.  God himself planned it from eternity past about is Son.  He then selected people to reveal his plan beforehand and promised it to the world about what is Son will do. 

Then Paul starts getting into what exactly this Gospel of God is in Romans 1:3-7.

Continue to Romans 1:4-6

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Spark Spiritual Conversations

There is something that transcends this physical material world.  Every human knows it, feels it.  All humanity, atheists, humanists, agnostics, and all other religions all willingly or unwillingly, knowingly or unknowingly admit that there are two elements of the human existence; purpose/meaning and belonging.  These are the essential elements of human existence that will ALWAYS spark spiritual thought and lead to a gospel presentation.

Everyone knows they have a sense of purpose and meaning.  This is why people decided to feed themselves and keep themselves alive instead of the alternative.  This is why atheists don’t commit suicide when they claim to believe life has not real meaning or purpose, yet, they still willfully choose to exist and strive for some sort of meaning and purpose everyday.  Their argumentation alone proves they believe in some sort of meaning in life, if they feel a need to argue for what they believe.  They prove the existence of purpose, if they feel they need to argue for their beliefs in that it gives them a sense of purpose.  With this in mind, a simple question like “Why did you choose to do that?”  or “Why do you want that?” can lead down the spiritual road.

There is a universal transcendent sense of belonging and community.  Even those who are “loners” or deemed “anti-social” still subscribe to ideologies and beliefs of others and make those ideas their own; they in some sense satisfy their inherent need to belong.  Atheists belong to atheist communities and subscribe to a set of ideals and beliefs that gives them the sense of belonging, even if they don’t want to admit it.  With this in mind, a simple question like “Why do you think that?” or “Where did you get that from?” can lead to spiritual conversations.

• Why did you choose to do that?
• Why do you want that?
• Why do you think that?
• Where did you get that from?

These are all questions they, anyone, can ask you as well.

Atheist:  “Why did you choose to do that?”
YOU:     “Because it is the right thing to do.”

When that door has been opened by you simply injecting the concept of rightness, follow-up questions are critical.  Once you ask the question, you become the driver of the conversation.

YOU:  “What, you wouldn’t have chosen to do that too?  Why not?
Atheist: “Because I don’t think it’s right” or “Because I think something else is better.“

If you notice, they take the bait and entertain a discussion of rightness.  You start driving down a road that leads to the issue of morality, right and wrong, good, better or worse.  Again, as long as the person is open for discussion, keep driving down that road with follow-up questions.

YOU:  “How is it not right?”  or  “What makes something else better?”
Atheist:  “Because I think/believe…”  

At this point, they have just used some sort of standard by which they judge things to be right or wrong, better or worse, good or evil.  From there, you can go straight to the essence of the issue with first real spiritually related follow-up question:

YOU:  “What makes that right/good/better?”
Atheist:  “Because…”

Here they have just explicitly stated their moral standard and are officially now in a conversation about morality.  From there is just a simple inquiry of exposing contradictory, illogical, irrational thought of relativism and subjective humanism.  Big fancy words that basically lead them to admit that they can’t say rape and killing innocent people (murder) sanctioned by governments or cultures is wrong.  Because no matter their standard of right and wrong, it will always be determined by a government and culture of that time and age.  Thus, the specific example is, the Holocaust which was condoned by the German people and legal under the Nazi government.  This is how we know that universal transcendent morality, good, comes from outside of humanity.  But all those are arguments you have to study up on.  Here, we are addressing how to SPARK a conversation that would lead to a Spiritual conversation and ultimately a gospel presentation.

Follow-up Questions and Specificity are the two lanes of discussion that CAN lead down the road to a spiritual conversation.  Since YOU are the driver and see every interaction with God’s creation as a potential opportunity to glorify him; every conversation is Missional.

Conversations About Religion

IF and WHEN the conversation enters the specific topic of religion, it becomes a million times more easy to present the gospel.  Usually after the lines of questioning above, they will often say things like:

Atheist:  “Oh, your one of those Christians, aren’t you?”  or  “Are you a Christian?”  or “Are you religious?”

When this question comes up, more than likely, they already have a ignorant false assumed picture of what “Christian” is.  They may have gone to church when they were young.  They may have other “Christian” friends or seen Christian movies; whatever, it doesn’t matter.  You respond semi-vague as to not validate their assumed false image of Christianity and follow up with:

YOU:  “I have faith, yes.  But it’s not what you think it is.  What is Christianity to you?”  or  “Yes, I’m a Christian, but what does that mean to you?

How do you know they don’t actually know what Christianity is?  Because they don’t know Christ as their Lord and Savior.  They can read the Bible cover to cover, memorize a ton of verses, even win debates against other Christians but, that is nothing more than words on paper and reciting Harry Potter quotes to them.  If they knew Christianity, they would know Christ, and if they knew Christ, they wouldn’t be atheist. 

At this point, if they took the bait on the “What is Christianity” topic, they will more than likely give some kind of explanation about doing some moral to-do-list like following the 10 Commandments, or doing good works, and claiming to follow Jesus. 

And this is it.  This is where God has ordained YOU the opportunity to give the gospel.

Conversation Break Down

1. Most broad “meaning of life” question.
2. Where the “meaning of life” comes from topic.
3. That standard that gives “meaning” topic.
4. The topic of religion.
5. The topic of Christianity. 
6. The Gospel.

Notice from the start of the conversion, it could have been about anything and gone just about anywhere.  But, with follow-up Questions that continually narrowed the focus, you drive the discussion into a spiritual one.  With continued follow-up questions, you narrowed the spiritual conversation to Jesus.

Follow-Up Questions and Specificity drive conversation to the ultimate point and reason of discussion.  Notice, the last point, #6, directly answers in the most perfect way, the very first broad topic that kicked off the whole thing, #1. 

Is This Shady and Misleading?

This is in no way misleading or shady because we are simply navigating to the best answer for the premise of the conversation.  And by doing so, avoiding useless, fruitless, meaningless other spin off conversations and remaining focused to achieve the best possible answer.  It only feels shady and misleading to those who hate the gospel or to those who are ashamed of the gospel.

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The Importance of The Gospel Message

Why is telling people the gospel so important?  Can’t you just live a happy wealthy life and tell everyone around you that God is blessing you?  Isn’t that good enough?  Why does it matter if we tell anyone about the person, works, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus?

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is God’s power for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek.” –
Romans 1:16

  Here we see that THE GOSPEL IS GOD’S POWER, FOR SALVATION.  That is massive!  The Gospel message is the power of God used to bring about eternal salvation.   The two most important things in all reality:  God’s power; and eternal salvation.  And IT, The Gospel, is that!

“But we must always thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God has chosen you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and through belief in the truth. ¹⁴ He called you to this through our gospel, so that you might obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.”  2 Thessalonians 2:13-14

The Gospel is so important that it is God who we should be thanking!  It is so important that it is that which GOD does himself FOR YOU.  He hand picks those for eternal salvation.  Being personally chosen by the infinite eternal all-powerful Creator of all reality is huge.   The way in which he does it is through the “calling” of The Gospel.    God chooses when and where you hear THE truth, his truth, The Gospel; and believe.

What is more important in life, money?  being physically fit?   Having a strict diet?  A secure good paying job with benefits?  What good is all that if the value of money can be lost.  Your health can change in an instant.  Your diet becomes unmanageable and too expensive.  Your employer lays you off.  What then?  The salvation bestowed to us through faith in The Gospel is something that can NEVER be taken away.  It is something that can NEVER lose its value.  It is, in value and size, eternal.  The Gospel is ETERNALLY valuable and in worth.  The Gospel doesn’t get old, unhealthy, crippled, or pass away due to age; it lasts for ETERNITY.

Helping someone eat right, get in shape, and land a good paying job is nice and all, but NONE of those are ETERNALLY valuable in and of themselves.  Being used by God, and serving Him to help someone understand and believe in The Gospel, now THAT is worth more than all things we can do for someone else.  THAT is REAL love.

Consider what John the Apostle wrote:

“Jesus said, “Because you have seen Me, you have believed. Those who believe without seeing are blessed.”  ³⁰ Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of His disciples that are not written in this book. ³¹ But these are written so that you may believe Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and by believing you may have life in His name.”  John 20:29-31

The Gospel was more important that writing down everything Jesus did on earth.  The WHY Jesus did what he did was more important that every single detail of what he did.  The WHY he healed and went to the cross and not all the facts and events of every single healing.  The Gospel is ENOUGH so that you “may believe” that Jesus is THE Savior and THE Son of God.  That you may BELIEVE in the person and work of Christ.  And “by believing you may HAVE life [eternal]”

Why would you NOT want to give that to those who you love?  Do you really love your family if you don’t share with them the most important message in all eternity?  Do you teach your children the gospel?  Do you study it with your spouse?  DO YOU understand and believe the ETERNAL VALUE and IMPORTANCE of The Gospel?


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Christian Baptism

What is Baptism? What does it mean and what does it do? Is it necessary? How important is it? Different church denominations teach different uses and meanings but what does scripture teach us about Baptism?

What is is?

Baptism had its earliest meaning prior to Christ. The Jews would baptize new Jewish converts as a symbolic gesture of being cleansed and becoming a Jew. They saw themselves as the only holy people, God’s chosen, and thus, all other people needed to be cleansed. Then came along John The Baptist who required all people, even Jews, to be baptized because everyone, even Jews, needed to repent of their uncleanliness. But, much like the gradual revelation of God’s truth, even Baptism had a deeper meaning and purpose than what John The Baptist made known then.

The Jesus showed up at the shoreline for John to baptist him. This surprised and confused John. He knew Jesus was The Holy One of God and thus would not need to be cleansed. But Jesus, knowing the ultimate purpose and meaning of baptism stated “it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:11-15). God himself shows us that there is now a deeper meaning and revelation about Baptism (Acts 19:1-5). No longer is someone openly and publicly admitted into the Jewish nation, but now, through this Baptism, people are openly and publicly admitted into The Church, The Body of Christ, the Kingdom of God; which is made up of every nation.

Not just a symbolic show of a cleansing and repentance but also showing that someone is died, buried, and resurrected with Christ. We put to death our sin and are now alive with Christ, cleansed from all our sin. Baptism is our outward testimony of our inward change.

The Deepest Meaning

Jesus commands us to “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:19–20). Its interesting why Jesus would command us to baptize his followers in the name of The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit. This is a deeper revelation of the meaning of Baptism that the Jews and pre-Christian faith would not have fully understood. God The Father is Holy, and we are not. We can not be in his presence, let alone, have any right to call him father. We NEED to be cleansed to be able to call him Father AND for him to call us his child. BUT we can not cleans ourselves. The Son is who cleanses us! Hey pays for our sin on the Cross and is buried. The payment for our sin is made and he raises from the dead. We are accredited his righteousness in faith. We are born again and made new, through and in him. The Holy Spirit gives us spiritual life, causes us to be born again, spiritually baptizes us into Christ and adopts us as a child of God. Baptism not only outwardly shows our faith in need for cleansing, but also faith in the one who cleanses us. It is a tangible and visible display and proclamation of faith in Jesus’ cleansing and the Holy Spirit’s renewal, rebirth, and adoption into Christ. It is a ordained religious act that illustrates our belief in becoming dead to sin and made alive in Christ (Romans 6:4,11). By being submerged under water, we illustrate our burial with Christ and our emergence from the water illustrates our faith in being raised with Christ (Colossians 2:12).

It is important not to miss “in the name of” and then Jesus lists three different names (Matthew 28:19–20). When he said “The Father” he is speaking of God The Father, God of Heaven, God Almighty. Then he says “and of the Son“. This puts the Son at the same level of importance, equal in meaning, to The Father. This is not a shock at this point, before his crucifixion he equated himself as the Son of God, then, as he is speaking this, after his resurrection, there is no question about his relation to God Almighty. But then he gives a third name, The Holy Spirit. The helper that he promised would come after him. He includes this person on the same level has himself and God the Father. These three persons is whom all Christians are to baptize in the name of. Not just God, and not just Jesus, but also The Holy Spirit. See where this is going? With out saying it, Jesus is revealing The Trinity. A revelation what would not be defined by the Church (lead by the Holy Spirit) until 300 years later. But just as we see the gradual revelation of the meaning of Baptism, we see the same gradual revelation of the highest understanding of God himself, The Triune God.

Is Baptism Required to be saved – Baptismal regeneration?

There are some denominations that teach it is required to be saved. This is a lie and scripture proves this. First of all, this teaching takes away from the work of Christ Jesus. Essentially teaching that his death on the cross was not sufficient and that mankind has to do a work to make salvation complete. God declares the he alone paid for our sins and his payment was complete (Romans 5:8; 2 Cor 5:21) and this payment was accredited to our account by faith alone (John 3:16; Acts 16:31; Eph. 2:8-9; Titus 3:5). This is a false extrabiblical legalistic teaching.

Secondly, the thief on the cross whom Jesus said would be in paradise with him, was not baptized (Luke 23:43). There is no record of hint that he was ever baptized so to assume so would not be dishonest.

When we look at what the Apostle Paul taught, we see that Baptism is not required for salvation. First of all, he wrote Eph. 2:8-9 and Titus 3:5 and does not mention any required act of baptism. In 1 Corinthians 1:14-17 he makes a very important yet interesting statement. “I am thankful that i did not baptize… for Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the Gospel“. His mission was to proclaim Christ and be used by God to lead others into salvation… If baptism was required, why then would he not want to baptize? He would then basically be saying “I am thankful you are not saved“. and that is clearly NOT what he is saying. Later in his letter he outlines the life saving message of the gospel and states “and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you- unless you believed in vain“. Then he goes through and lays out this message that leads to salvation… and never mentions anything about baptism. Yes, Jesus did command it and we must be obedient, but when specifically talking about the gospel and salvation, baptism is never included but only later conducted.

Lastly, we see in other instances in scripture where people came to faith and were saved, before they were even baptized (Acts 2:41, 8:34-38, 10:43-47, 16:14-15). We see the order in scripture. First they hear the gospel message, they then believe and come to faith, and then, they desire to obey and get baptized.

Those who come to faith by hearing the gospel should naturally desire to be baptized. But it is not the baptism that saves them. Christ already has saved them and it is their faith that compels them to obey Christ. Therefore saving faith exists before baptism. Thus we see that Believer’s Baptism, also called Credobaptism (Creed Baptism) is a biblical baptism and Baptismal Regeneration is not.

Is Baptism Required At All?

Its sad that this would even by a question. This would be the same as to ask “are we required to obey Christ?” The question itself reveals a serious heart and faith problem. Why would a “Christian” ever question whether or not they should obey the Lord? Jesus commanded it. The Apostles made it important to perform it. It IS a natural desire for ALL those who are TRULY saved to want to be baptized. Baptism magnificently illustrates a person’s unity with Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. Everywhere the gospel is preached and people come to faith in Christ, they are to be baptized.

How is it to be performed?

As the totality of scripture indicates, people come to saving faith; make a confession of faith and then are baptized by full submersion in water. Romans 10:9-10 we see Paul state “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.” Paul shows here that we are justified by faith and it is our faith that compels us to confess. Confessions without faith does not lead to salvation (Matthew 7:21-23; Mark 7:6). Thus, much like the act of Baptism; confession does not lead to salvation. But faith leads to confession. But in order to speak to anyone about Baptism, you would first have knowledge of what it is and who it came from. We see the instances of Baptism in scripture were brought about a confession of believing the gospel message.

Acts 8:37 is a verse were it seems Philip has the eunuch express a profession of faith before baptism. This verse however is debated if it was in the original and if Philip even said this. This is not in the oldest of biblical manuscripts so most bibles largely dependent on Alexandrian text-types would not include this verse or just make it a footnote. It would be wise to not use this verse as the authoritative word of God because it is not clear to be as such. But this does not mean that pre-baptism confession is not important. Why would some person want to be baptized? They would have to have some kind of knowledge as to what baptism is, why we do it, and who told us to. At some point, prior to baptism, the person would have to acknowledge these truths.

After the person has knowledge of the person and work of Jesus Christ and claims to receive these truths in faith and believes them to be absolutely true; they should desire to be baptized. There is no set time frame when it has to be done. Philip did his almost on the spot, other times they were conducted days or weeks later.

When the baptism is conducted, there is usually the Elder, or Church community leader who performs the baptism with the person. The baptism itself is a public, open, profession of person faith in the gospel message and unity with the body of Christ. They are fully submersed under water to symbolize their death to sin and died with Christ. Then they are brought up out of the water cleansed, raised with Christ, and with new life in Christ. Some churches submerge the person for a quick one, two, three count, symbolizing the 3 days with Jesus.

What about Infant Baptism?

Baptists and semi-traditional evangelicals tend to disagree with Infant Baptism. They point to how scripture shows how baptism is conducted. They may be right but they also fail to keep in mind it is a symbol and public expression of faithfulness. There is no required detailed format, except to just do it. Plus, most still have an ignorant idea that infants and babies go straight to heaven if they die anyway, which, is not taught in scripture.

Kevin DeYoung stated this about Infant Baptism: “We do not believe that there is anything magical about the water we apply to the child. The water does not wash away original sin or save the child. We do not presume that this child is regenerate (though he may be), nor do we believe that every child who gets baptized will automatically go to heaven. We baptize infants not out of superstition or tradition or because we like cute babies. We baptize infants because they are covenant children and should receive the sign of the covenant.” God promised Abraham that he AND his children were to be God’s (Gen. 17:7, 8) and circumcision would be the sign of the promise. Yet, it was a physical sign of a spiritual truth; a symbol. It is then important to note that the sign of this eternal promise was given to Ishmael as well as Isaac, even though only Isaac would be the line it would flourish in. Paul even addresses this (Rom. 9:6-8). It is now important to see that adults and children are baptized under the same covenant of Abraham. Paul makes clear in Galatians 3 what Peter strongly suggests in Acts 2, namely that the Abrahamic covenant has not been annulled. We can see it running through the bible all the way to the new heaven and new earth in Revelations 21.

So lets think for a second, God made a promise to Abraham, AND his children. Then we see that children (sons) also get circumcised and did not wait until they were considered any certain maturity. We can see that God’s Covenant was applied to all levels of maturity. Babies, toddlers, teens, all were circumcised and they would have not been able to fully understand why- yet, that was a commandment given by God. There are many incidents in scripture where children are baptized. We see whole households being baptized, not just the ones who are deemed mature enough (Acts 16:13-15; 32-34; 1 Cor. 1:16; cf. Joshua 24:15). In fact, when these instances take place, there is zero mention or discussion about some sort of maturity awareness. Children are taught to obey their parents and not treated as some kind of small heathen that needs to be baptized when they want to (Eph. 6:1). Because, even these little kids, are part of God’s Covenant.

Around 200AD Tertullian writes de baptismo (Concerning Baptism) where he states: “According to everyone’s condition and disposition, and also his age, the delaying of baptism is more profitable, especially in the case of little children. For why is it necessary—if [baptism itself] is not necessary—that the sponsors should be thrust into danger? For they may either fail of their promise by death, or they may be mistaken by a child’s proving of wicked disposition…. They that understand the weight of baptism will rather dread the receiving of it, than the delaying of it. An entire faith is secure of salvation!” (de baptismo, ch. xviii). Thus we can conclude that it was normal, but only starting to be discussed or disputed by 200AD, only 160 years after Jesus and only 4 or 5 generations after the Apostles. This is the first instance where we see an argument for the delay of baptism. Joachim Jeremias, who stated: “It is characteristic that Luke could report the matter thus. For by so doing he gives expression to the fact that ‘the solidarity of the family in baptism and not the individual decision of the single member’ was the decisive consideration” (Infant Baptism in the First Four Centuries, 1960, p. 23, quoting Oscar Cullman, Baptism in the New Testament, 1950, p. 45).

Baptism falls under that very same Abraham Covenant (Romans 2, 4) of the outward symbolism of being clean and joining the kingdom of God. Remember, Paul agrees with Peter in Acts 2 that the Abrahamic Covenant is and always will be a kept promise of godly cleanliness and inclusion into the House of God. We see this in early baptism, that it was not a one man show but a entire family event. The entire family fell under the Abrahamic Covenant and thus the entire family was baptized. Infant Baptism is not about the individual understanding God’s promises, but it is about the symbolic adoption and acceptance of God’s Covenant to Abraham and all his spiritual descendants.

Conclusion

We can conclude that Baptism is a ordained commanded rite that people who come to saving faith will desire for themselves and for entire families to do together. Those who can hold their breath while being submerged underwater were most likely baptized by full submersion, but when whole families were baptized and included young children, it is doubtful that these little children were fully dunked underwater. Thus, we can conclude that full submersion and infant baptism both are inline with scripture. Understanding God’s Covenant is fundamental and seeing the deepness of baptism reveals vast truths about God himself. Confessions of faith seemed to take place prior to baptism but in instances where the child is too young, it is the adult that is making that promise of leading that child in the very same confession of faith. We must always remember, just like circumcision, baptism is not necessary for salvation but is rich with symbolisms of God’s truth and are bold public statements of the faith in these truths.

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The Inconvenience of Serving God

We have our daily and weekly routines.  Work, Wednesday small group, family time, and Church on Sunday.  We often and easily forget that God does not work by our schedule.  Sometimes, God gives us an opportunity to serve him and glorify him at times that interfere with our daily or weekly routine.  How we respond to this reflects where our heart stands with God’s Will and our ultimate desire to worship and serve him.

Recognize that God does not NEED our service.  Acts 17:25 explicitly reminds us of this.  Jesus himself declares that he does not need to be served (Mark 10:45).  We are not doing any favors to God for going out of our way to serve him.  Nor do we do God a favor by going to church or attending a weekly bible study.  It is God who supplies us the ability and opportunity to serve him! (1 Peter 4:11).  So, we must first strip the subconscious self-righteous mindset away from ourselves and recognize that he needs nothing.  He is not lacking in any glory.  In fact, he will be glorified no matter what we do or don’t do.  Thus, faithfully and willfully serving God, is a manifestation of our own heart.

Routines of weekly habits of service is nice and establish healthy habits and constant positive influences.  Volunteer at your church of weekly at a local food bank is a good thing.  But serving God does not end once our volunteer shift is over.  God’s will is continuous and eternal.  Jesus is the prime example.  He was constantly serving.  Not only did he attend all the weekly, monthly, and annual organized religious functions but he did more than that.  He served continuously outside of weekly, monthly, and annual organized religious functions.  He fed, healed, and preached in unorganized ways (but orderly as ordained by God).  When something needed to be said, he said it.  When something needed to be done, he did it.  When people were in need, he met that need.  In fact, more often, when Jesus obeyed the will of his Father, it was at seemingly inconvenient times.  Of course, to God, nothing is inconvenient; but from our worldly perspective it would have been. How does this translate to us now?

We may have just got out of Church and boom, someone that did not attend church is in need of help.  We may have had a family lunch planned after church, and this person who did not bother to attend church, needs our help at that moment.  This person may not even want to attend church or bible studies; it does not matter.  We may be having a nice family time, watching a movie or playing in the back yard with the kids when someone in need reaches out to us.  How do we asses the level of need and importance?

There are of number of quick questions we can ask: 

(1) Has this person heard the Gospel?
(2) Is there need manifested from a greater spiritual need?
(3) What would magnify the glory of God more?  Address the need later or immediately?
(4) Is this an opportunity to love and serve God and others?

Point #1: The gospel message is the most important and greatest message we can ever have the opportunity to tell someone.  Paul said it is of first importance (1 Cor. 15:3)!   Even when Paul couldn’t meet a physical or material need, he made sure they heard the Gospel regardless (Acts 3:6).  The greater spiritual need can be seen by the fruit being manifested.

Point #2: Questions about Jesus’ childhood, worship on Saturday or Sunday, or not celebrating Halloween is one thing (disputable matters, Romans 14:1-23); but questions about desiring getting divorce (not due to abuse), desire to use drugs, willing sexual desire of the same-sex or cheat on their spouse, desire to steal, and be greedy all come from the heart (Matthew 15:19).  And it is these manifested desires reveal a greater need;  If these individuals do not know the Lord, they are children of wrath (Ephesians 2:3-5; Romans 1:28-32) under God’s judgement, they NEED the freedom and healing only found in Christ.  They NEED a follower of Christ to love them by gently speaking the truth of God to them.  divorce, greed, theft, drugs, sexual immorality, are all symptoms of the greater problem (Matthew 10:28).  They risk the ultimate consequence of sin; eternal separation from God.  And THAT is an urgent need to address!  This may be their only and last opportunity to hear the truth of God and see God’s grace and love shine through you.

Point #3:  Going out of your way for someone else has a far more meaningful effect than pushing it to the side, planning it later (when its more convenient), or pawning them off to someone else.  This helps people to see how important they actually are to you (and to God, once they understand).  This greater impact shines love and grace brighter.  It also elevates the importance of the truth you speak to them about.  Elevating truth, love, and grace to a higher (the highest) level of importance brings God glory.  It also shows within yourself, how you value serving God and how much you really feel about sin.  If you truly believe sin is the worst form of offense and those who live in sin are eternally offensive to Almighty God; this will manifest in the urgency to address it.

Point #4:  Godly LOVE, that glorifies God, is selfless and sacrificial (John 15:13).  Are you denying yourself to follow Christ (Luke 9:23)?  You must ask yourself what kind of love are you expressing to that individual and before God.  Does the love you show them out weight their love for their sin?  Their selfish love may be leading them to desire a divorce but your selfless sacrificial love quickly intervenes.  Their selfish love may be leading them to desire to hurt themselves or someone else, but your selfless sacrificial love quickly intervenes.  If we just simply desired to love selflessly, but we do not actually act on the importance of that love, our love is no more urgent or important that their love for their sin.  True Godly Love IS INCONVENIENT at times.  But we get over ourselves because we love God and others more than ourselves.

Unwillingness to Do What Is Right

If this person has heard the Gospel, presented personally by you or someone you know than they have heard the most important message.  But serving does not end their either.  James is pretty blunt when he said “Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.” (James 4:17).  When we are confronted with a actual need, and we know the right thing to do is help, but justify how busy we are with other things, we fail to do the right thing, we sin.  We must ask ourselves if this persons need may have a greater impact on the life of them and others around them.  If they follow through with their desire for a divorce (not in cases of abuse or sexual assault), that will have a longer lasting sinful impact on the loved ones around them.  That sin may then become more acceptable and more normal.  That person is already under God’s judgement due to their unrepentant sinful desires, but we fail to do the right thing and address it, we too are then in sin. Proclaiming the Gospel and selflessly sacrificially loving those who are lost and in need is what is right.  Jesus even commands us to LOVE our enemies (Matthew 5:44)!  Keeping in mind that we all were once enemies of God (Romans 5:10), yet, he still selflessly and sacrificially loved us by going to the cross (Romans 5:8).  Now we are slaves to righteousness (Romans 6:18) and under the Law of Life (Romans 8:2).  Do you feel the godly obligation to obey Christs commands to selflessly and sacrificially love?

Duty and Obligation to Serve

This is not legalistic.  The inherent sense of duty and obligation to obey derives from our faith; it does not justify us.  We are not scoring extra browney points with God when we go out of our way to serve him and others.  We do not gain extra favor from God.  We are just doing exactly what we are called to do.  We are being obedient to Christ and seeking God’s eternal glory.  That is why we SHOULD and WILL desire to serve people when it is inconvenient.  The understanding of this duty and obligation comes with the maturity of our faith.  When looking at the fruit of the spirit we see the characteristics of a mature and maturing faith (Galatians 5:22-23).  We should SEEK to mature in faith (Hebrews 5:13-14), so that we can quickly and easily assess how urgent that need is and know the best ways to respond in faith.  If someone is reaching out because they are feeling like they are going to hurt themselves or someone else, failing to help them in that moment is sin.  Even pawning the request for help off to someone else is us failing to meet that need.  That person reached out to you, not someone else.  God is granting you an opportunity to serve and love him through this situation.  If we are far away, and can not physically meet a physical need, the Church is there to serve, just as you are.  If you reach out to the church for assistance to address in that persons urgent need; they should find the resources and personnel to assist.  If people in that church are not willing to address an urgent need; that is a discussion that needs to be had with the church leadership.  

How Do We Know If Someone Is A Believer or Not?

Do they openly claim to believe that Jesus is Lord God (John 1:12, 8:24, 58; Col. 2:9; Eph. 1:13; 1 Cor. 12:3; Romans 10:9)?  Do they seek to follow Christ and glorify God (1 John 2:4)?  Has God actually changed their life (John 3:3, 7; 1 Peter 1:23; 2 Cor. 5:17)?  Because God will change lives, do they actually serve God in faith (James 2:18-20)?  Does their life produce spiritual fruit of obedience (Matthew 7:15–21; Romans 8:14).  Why does this matter?

Accountability

If people are not believers, they are slaves to sin, and thus, we can only expect them to have sinful desires.  But, if someone claims to be Christian and follower of Christ Jesus as Lord God and Savior; they are expected to serve God and others.  They are expected to be repentant of their sin and seek holiness.  When they are unrepentant and sinful, we are to humbly rebuke and correct them so that they repent and spiritually mature. But this is reserved for only those IN the church (1 Cor. 5:12-13).  Jesus even prescribes disciplinary measures to ensure the church seeks holiness (Matthew 18:15-17).  Paul declares that all scripture is profitable for “teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness^, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16).  Paul even had to rebuke Peter publicly and sharply (Galatians 2:11; Titus 1:13).  Thus, we need to hold all those in the church accountable for not selflessly and sacrificially loving and helping those in need, even when it is inconvenient.  Jesus was the most harsh with those who were very religious but fruitless.  God disciplines those who he loves, his children (Hebrews 12:6).  A church is least effective when they are not assisting those in need and no one is held accountable for the lack of love. 

Our Time and Possessions

We need to understand that all our time and possession are not ours!  Literally, EVERYTHING belongs to God (Hebrews 2:10).  Even our bodies are not our own (1 Cor. 6:19)!  Therefore, with everything, we must LOVE God with all our heart, soul, and mind and love our neighbors (in the church and outside the church, even our enemies)(Matthew 22:37-39).  The same Godly love that is selfless and sacrificial. 

One of the primary missions of the church is the reach those in need and lost.  And if it is lacking love, it is failing to be obedient to Christ Jesus and is less fruitful.  If it is actively loving those in need and seeking the lost, God is most glorified and the Holy Spirit works through it!  This, at times, maybe all the time, is inconvenient in our daily and weekly routines, but are to we seek God’s glory and his will, not ours- all the time, even when it is inconvenient.

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The Blessing And Priviledge of Oppression

There are two ways to view oppression and persecution; (1) as being a victim and the negative societal effect or (2) as a righteous opportunity with positive eternal effects.  But how do we properly see oppression and persecution through the eyes of God?  We must take to heart what Jesus spoke and believe it, trust it, and apply it.  Are you an oppressed victim or a victorious servant?  Does how you handle oppression bring God glory?  Is he pleased with how you live under oppression?  We need to look at what Christ Jesus reveals to know and see how oppression can be turned on it head.  How oppression can be a blessing and privilege in the life of a Christian.

Jesus’ Absolute Warning

Jesus gave us a heads up when it comes to living out your faith and proclaiming the gospel.  “I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world.” (John 16:33).  Is Jesus a liar?  Did he say you may experience hardship?  No, he said, with an absolute, you WILL have trouble.  In John 15:18-23 Jesus states “If the world hates you, understand that it hated Me before it hated you. ¹⁹ If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own. However, because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of it, the world hates you...If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you….The one who hates Me also hates My Father.“ Jesus, God, makes it clear, the world (all those who have not in Christ) does hate you.  Sorry, you can’t appease everything no matter how hard you try.  This form of hate can be in various ways.  And did they persecute Jesus?  Yes.  Therefore, they (those who are not in Christ) WILL persecute you.  Again, the persecution can come in various ways.  Hate can be disguised to seem nice and ‘good’.  It can be in form of government systems or individual feelings.  It can be disguised as help and assistance when in fact it is subtle oppression through economic slavery.  But, no matter what, if you are IN Christ, you WILL be hated and persecuted.  If you are not, are you faithfully and obediently following Christ and called out of the world, or does the world love you as their own still (John 15:19; Romans 1:32)?  Guess what, you may fight for generations to become freed from government and societal oppression; but, you will still have oppression in the world.

In the Face of Hate, Oppression, and Persecution.

Being hated, oppressed and persecuted is meant to break you down and control you physically and mentally.  It demoralizes and dehumanizes.  It devalues the individual mentally and physically.  It attempts to force a dominance of the oppressor over the oppressed.  But, Jesus, flips the table (literally and metaphorically).  The Sermon on The Mount is THE go-to sermon for all those who experience hate, oppression, and persecution.

The poor in spirit, are those who have been broken down by hate, oppression, and persecution.  Their self worth is devalued, their hope is struggling, and their will to continue on is jeopardized.  Jesus declares, that they are vastly worthy, their hope is greater than anything of this world, and the will to continue is taken away from things of this world and placed at the feet of God Almighty (Matthew 5:3). 

Those who mourn, are those who have lost everything.  Their worldly freedoms, possessions, even family members and friends taken away by the oppressors.  The sense of freedom, individuality, and value ripped from them unjustly.  They mourn for their losses.  But Jesus declares that they WILL be comforted, by God Almighty (Matthew 5:4).

The gentle are taken advantage of.  They are used and abused by the oppressors.  They lose out on worldly success, material gains, and relationships that could foster protections and societal growth.  Yet, Jesus declares they WILL inherit the earth.  How?  Jesus, himself, will subdue the oppressors and deliver justice (Matthew 5:5).

Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness hunger and thirst because they struggle with revenge and the natural desire to seek their own justice on the oppressors.  They know, their own justice is not sufficient and their own revenge would not truly satisfy or be justified, so they hunger and thirst for something greater- true divine justice and rightness.  Jesus declares that they WILL be filled through the work of Christ Jesus (Matthew 5:6).

The merciful are blessed.  The fact that they show mercy to the unjust deeds of the oppressor already reveals they have the inherent sense of the Godly nature of Mercy.  Thus, they show mercy because they know it is more right than to not be merciful and seek to punish the oppressors.  It is because they show mercy, they will be shown mercy from God.  The oppressor on the other hand, who is not merciful in their oppression, will not be shown mercy (Matthew 5:7).

The pure in heart are blessed.  They are those who recognize the inner rightness of God’s Law.  They exhibit, in their heart, characteristics of God himself;  Selflessness, love, forgiveness, mercy, kindness, seek goodness, truth and honesty; in the midst of being oppressed.  Because they are self aware of these, they can more clearly see God himself.  Thus, they are rewarded with the greatest of these, they WILL see God.  In some way they “are” already blessed, they see the characteristics of God (Matthew 5:7).

The peacemakers are blessed.  They seek peace in the face of injustice.  At times, they even willingly submit to the oppression just to maintain peace.  These are not those who are already at peace but they are peacemakers.  Their efforts to seek peace is why they are already blessed.  They overcome evil with good.  But this is even true for those who were the oppressor, who then, breaks away to seek peace and not oppression.  All those who seek peace are declared children of God because they share in Christs passion for reconciliation (Matthew 5:8).

To sum it all up, those who are persecuted for righteousness are blessed.  Righteousness is found in all those above.  The humble, the sinner who knows he is a sinner and needs a savior, the gentle, those who desire righteousness, who are merciful, pure in heart, and peacemakers. The truest form of these is found in Christ Jesus and that is why they will inherit the kingdom of God (Matthew 5:9).

Those who are insulted and persecuted for their unwavering open faith in Christ, are blessed.  The hateful, oppressive, persecutors will stop at nothing.  They will make up lies about the faithful. Distort, manipulate, misquote, vilify, slander, and unjustly judge.  But, despite all that WILL happen, Jesus declares to “be glad and rejoice, because your reward is great in heaven” (Matthew 5:11).

True Freedom while hated, oppressed, and persecuted

Faith in Christ Jesus is TRUE freedom.  But how so, if those who have faith in Christ are hated, oppressed and persecuted still?  Being free in Christ means you are not a slave to the mind set and sinfulness that lead people to become hateful, oppressive and persecute.  We are given the ability to not fall into that sinfulness, and if we do, we are empowered to be freed from it.  Not only free from that slavery, but also free to exhibit characteristics that rise above it.  Mercy, forgiveness, grace, selfless sacrificial love, and kindness are Godly attributes that can not be taken away by haters, oppressors, and persecutors.  They have NO power to stop you from being merciful.  They can not stop you from forgiving them.  They can not stop you from showing them grace and kindness.  They have no power to stop you from being selfless.  You are free (John 8:36).  And THAT is the blessing and privilege of being hated, oppressed, and persecuted!  How so?

Haters, Oppressors, and Persecutors are Actually Slaves.

Those who are haters, oppressors, and persecutors are this way due to their slavery to their sin.  To the sinful desires of their heart.  They are blind and in bondage to their sin.  Thus, the sin in the heart is manifested in their hatefulness, oppression, and persecution.  In reality, they are the ones actually oppressed by their sin because they know no other way and without Christ are powerless to resist their sinful desires.  They are bound by the Law of Sin and not by the Law of Life which is only found in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:2).  This is the truth, and it is knowing and believing this truth is what sets people free (John 8:32).

The Privilege

Being hated, oppressed, and persecuted in this world the becomes a greater opportunity to magnify the attributes of God and serve God through it.  We bring glory to God when we bless the oppressors and pray for those who persecute us.  An opportunity that we would not get other wise.  Paul states “Do not lack diligence; be fervent in spirit; serve the Lord. ¹² Rejoice in hope; be patient in affliction; be persistent in prayer. ¹³ Share with the saints in their needs; pursue hospitality. ¹⁴ Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. ¹⁵ Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep.” (Romans 12:11-15).  Jesus even declares “But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ⁴⁵ so that you may show yourselves to be sons of your Father in heaven. For He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Matthew 5:44-45).  In the face of evil and unrighteousness, hatred, oppression, and persecution; the children of God, who are in Christ, are given the unique opportunity and ultimately the privilege to not only glorify God in that oppression but also worship God through it.  An opportunity that no one else gets.  The faithful who are not oppressed do not get that opportunity.  The worldly who are oppressed by their sin, don’t get it either.  In some ways, it is even a test and judgement.  

Your Right of Freedom From Oppression?

It is a privileged not to be oppressed.  We are all sinners and are not worthy in our own merit to be delivered from oppression.  Paul states “For government is God’s servant, an avenger that brings wrath on the one who does wrong” (Romans 13:6).  God declares “By me kings reign” (Proverbs 8:15) and “the Most High has power over human kingdoms.  He gives them to whomever he wishes” (Daniel 4:17).  God may not even approve of the rules that mankind desires, but he still allows them to rule as judgement over the people (Hosea 8:4).  We can even look at Egypt where God judged Egypt by hardening the heart of Pharaoh (Exodus 9:12).  God guides the hearts of rulers and leaders for his will and purpose (Proverbs 21:1).  When a government becomes oppressive, it is because God allowed it for his judgement.  Not necessarily a judgement on God’s people in that nation or region, but over those who approve and support the evil of that government.  They are handed over to their sin (Romans 1:24).  It is not God’s people who suffer because in reality, they are free in Christ and already have the great reward waiting for them.  Jesus even tells us “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28). But because the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23), and all have fallen into sin (Romans 3:23), and no one is good (Psalm 14:1-3; Psalm 53:3; Romans 3:10-12), who are we to demand some kind of right of freedom from oppression? (Isaiah 64:8; Romans 9:20). This is only reserved for those who are in Christ (Romans 8:2), given as a gift from God alone (Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 3:34, 6:23).  Freedom from spiritual and worldly oppression is a gift from God- not a right.  

As made known in the first paragraph, Jesus makes it clear, that oppression WILL happen and looking at the lives of the Prophets, Apostles, and the early church; freedom from the worldly oppression is far from a right we can demand.  Does God deliver people from oppression, in the worldly sense?  Yes, but it is only at the will of God for his purpose and is not a right for use to demand.  Instead, we are to “Rejoice always, ¹⁷ pray continually, ¹⁸ give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).  We are even called to “count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds...Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him”  (James 1:2, 12).  Thus, we are called, in Christ, to rejoice, pray, and give thanks all while being oppressed.  

Should we call on God to bring about justice and free the oppressed from worldly oppression?  Yes, it is a duty within the church to defend the oppressed and seek justice.  But we must also, at the same time, remain Christ-like, eternally focused, and remind ourselves that we have something greater waiting for us in heaven, greater than a freedom from worldly oppression.  Our more important mission is to proclaim the gospel to free the spiritually oppressed and this, will lead to freedom of systematic worldly oppression because it alone changes the hearts and minds of the culture. Changes in systems and public policy is a result of changed hearts and minds- from proclaiming the gospel, while under the systems and polices that are oppressive.

The blessing and privilege of oppression magnifies the gospel message and the attributes of God shining even brighter through those who exhibit them in the face of hate, oppression, and persecution.  Not all Christians have the honor to exhibit this intense mature faith- but all should seek and desire it.  When exhibited, they are the undeniable salt in the world and the brightest light that exposes the evils of oppression in a more clear way.  This transforms cultures and nations, governments and public policies.  It brings undeniable honor and glory to God and projects the righteousness of Jesus Christ for all the world to more clearly see. And that is a blessing and privilege to be chosen by God to participate in his plan of that magnitude. 


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Review: The Statement on Social Justice and The Gospel

In June of 2018, 13 predominate evangelical figures initially signed The Statement on Social Justice and The Gospel.  It is interesting to note, a couple of the initial signers are minorities.  This is important when it comes to social issues such as racism.  It is a statement of affirmations and denials broken down into 14 sections.  We will study and analyze in each section statements that relate directly to social issues.  From this we can better determine if this statement accurately reflects spiritual truth in regards to social issues and The Bible.

Section 1 is about the authority of scripture.  Right off the bat they make a bold statement, “We deny that Christian belief, character, or conduct can be dictated by any other authority, and we deny that the postmodern ideologies derived from intersectionality, radical feminism, and critical race theory are consistent with biblical teaching.”  Thabiti Anyabwile of The Gospel Coalition brings up a valid point regarding this statement.  He feels that the terms used are “so imprecise” that he is not sure he asks “What are we talking about when we talking about reconciliation or  intersectionality or critical race theory?”  This is a good point.  To better grasp that Statement, we need to define these terms.  

Generally we can understand intersectionality is that socially constructed frame work that shows how social issues may be connected.  More specifically, when we consider racial systemic oppression and how it effects various areas in life throughout the society.  Critical Race Theory, generally, is the theoretical frame work within society that predisposes two things: (1) that white supremacy is maintained over time in various parts of the post-racial culture.  (2) how to address the maintained white supremacy and transform the construct to achieve racial emancipation and anti-subordination.  

At the heart of these two socially constructed concepts is the premise that starts with man leaning on their own understanding on how social issues relate and carry on completely void of any biblical framework.   The error in Thabiti Anyabwile’s reasoning is that he, and others, apply these humanistic concepts to the Bible (eisegesis) and not vise versa (exegesis), which amounts to nothing more than confirmation bias.  In the Statement, the Author’s argument is that the Biblical concepts need to be first applied to social issues and then, more accurate, but secondary, frameworks can be conceptualized.  But, considering that a majority of sociologist and others who build these humanistic frame works have no belief the the Bible’s relevance in the first place.  He argues that the exegesis of scriptural truth is paramount and primary, then, with the ideals accurately pulled out from scripture, can be used to properly address secondary worldly issues to seek a true and lasting solution.  The eternal and spiritual matters are primary concerns where as worldly issues and social systems are secondary.  Preaching the gospel (life, death, and resurrection of Jesus) is of greater importance than the systemic oppression of Rome and other worldly governments and societal systems.  (see The Political Activism of Jesus and Can We Rightly Judge with Statistics).

In essence, the Statement is declaring that it is the socially constructed frameworks of these systems and theories that are not “consistent with biblical teaching“.  And that, through Critical Race Theory, to achieve racial harmony, is not a biblical approach to reaching true and lasting peace.  Simply stated, these are worldly constructed and focused theories, drawn from a worldly understanding, to transform an social issues.  The dilemma in these man-centered frame works and theories is that they fail to see the ultimate source of the issue, which is sin. This issue is directly related to morality and right and wrong.  Without a Biblical foundation, to determine what is a right solution, or a rightful judgement, is faulty at its premise.  Racial supremacy is morally wrong but the only way to know this is to know absolute good- God.  So naturally, these frameworks draw from various sources of moralism from various “moral” sources.  This brings us to the next sentence in the statement.  “We further deny that competency to teach on any biblical issue comes from any qualification for spiritual people other than clear understanding and simple communication of what is revealed in Scripture.“ Thus, when Deepak Chopra, a wildly popular spiritual guru, The Mormon President, and a popular westernized Islamic Imam all support these kinds of frames works and theories, it leads the society to think that these frame works and theories are moral or lead to a more moral right society.  This is untrue because it is void of a Biblical understanding.  The Statement denies their competency to see TRUE moral good without “clear understanding and simple communication of what is revealed in Scripture“.  

Simply put, the Statement declares that scripture alone is the only source and authority in determining right and wrong, AND determining practical social theories to change society for good and true justice.  Depending on or using in addition to scripture, “intersectionality, radical feminism, and critical race theory are are not consistent with Biblical teachings”.  The question we can ask is:  Is the Bible and God’s revealed Word enough for societal change?  Or, do we need, in addition to Scripture, studies and social theories to address social injustice?  Psalm 19:7-10 and 2 Timothy 3:16-4:5 helps us answer that question.  Considering all the intersectionality and critical race theories, 1 Cor. 2:14-15 also helps us clearly see the answer here.  The most strongest force in changing the hearts away from racial oppression, is scripture alone (Hebrews 4:12).  Even when asked by the Pharesees regarding social issues, Jesus pointed them back to scripture (Matthew 19:4-6).

Even though there is heated debate about how this Statement reduces the importance of intersectionality and critical race theory, making it subordinate to scripture, the Statement itself (in the context of the definitions above) is true.  And that is a tough pill to swallow, even for the respected Thabiti Anyabwile. 

Section 2 hits the Identity concept.  When we are asked, who are you?  Some will say “I am a wealthy white conservative male Protestant Christian”. Others may answer “I am a black moderate female Christian”.  Yet others may answer “I am a gay liberal non-binary gender with no religious affiliation”.  These kind of identifiers, race, gender, ideology, sexuality, and religion do not contribute or subtract to our value or dignity “as an image-bearer of God“.  No matter what adjective we use to descriptive ourselves, they are only worldly descriptions, and that having been made in the image of God transcends these worldly identifiers.  Therefore, the Statement in section 2 is true and biblically accurate.  This directly relates to social justice because some will place a greater importance on race, gender, or sexuality; more so than their true identity as an image-bearer of God.  

Section 3 gets into the topic of Justice. God is holy, righteous and just, therefore he requires those who have been made in his image to be holy, righteous and just.  Obviously, due to our sinful natures, we cannot always do this.  But through Christ, we can “make every effort” and strive to do what is good (Psalm 34:14), seek holiness (Hebrews 12:14), pursue peace (Romans 14:19), and seek justice while defending the oppressed (Isaiah 1:17; Micah 6:8).  Justice that is “merely socially constructed” is again, worldly focused; and any principle of Justice that is not founded in Biblical Justice, is not true or lasting justice.  The Statement affirms what God affirms and denies what only attempts to mimic a god in their own image of their own man-centered version of worldly justice.  This Statement attempts to maintain the absolute superiority of Biblical justice as apposed to worldly justice with the absence of Biblical truth. 

Section 4 affirms the accountability before God and denies the accountability before men, societies, and governments.  To clarify, Christians are instructed by God to obey the government and the laws, as so long, as they are just and do not cause us to violate God’s Law;  Jesus absolutely and perfectly summed up God’s Law by saying “Jesus declared, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind… And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Matthew 22:37-38).  Any thing that takes away, prevents, or perverts this, is something image-bearers of God should not obey, follow, or advocate for.   In a society that ‘guilt trips’ or manipulates people into subscribing to its ‘additional’ or contradictory laws is actually in contrary to God.  When that society tries to impose a worldly view of so-called righteous living or charge of sin or call to repentance for anything outside of God’s Law, is truly and ultimately unlawful.  This directly relates to the charge of subconscious inherent racism or white guilt.  Now, some whites may be guilty before God of a racism they were unaware of, not all, by default, are racists.  And to charge of all whites as inherently racist or have some level of subconscious racism is not supported Bibically.  

One objection to the denial in this section is that the Law of God guides us into holiness, and thus, part of that guidance is social justice activism.  They fail to understand that holiness is a RESULT from faith in the rightness of God’s Law, which show us our eternal state before God and direct us to our dire need for the Savior Jesus Christ.  No one is justified by the Law.  No social justice activist is justified by the Law.  The desire to be actively involved in social justice issues, in a right standing before God, comes AFTER faith in the Gospel Message.  If this is not true, then we must ask, are Atheists who are stellar social justice activist doing what is right and good?  No, they can’t be, because they first do not have faith, and thus, doing it for their own or a humanistic end.  We can simply turn to Luke 7:36-50 and see the importance of the Law of God on our hearts, that leads us to the greater appropriation for forgiveness and grace, thus, compels us to be active in our faith.  The Statement of Section 4 is in line with God’s Word.

Section 5 addresses the issue of Sin within all people.  Because sin is an eternal offense against God, it doesn’t matter the intensity of sin or the amount of sinful actions; all have the same value and scope of punishment which is eternal separation from God.  The Statement is absolutely correct when it states “All human relationships, systems, and institutions have been affected by sin”.  This includes humanistic constructed frameworks and ideas of “intersectionality, radical feminism, and critical race theory” (Section 1).  The Statement denies that “any person is morally culpable for another person’s sin“.  This is the work of Jesus alone.  Then it makes a controversial statement “We further deny that one’s ethnicity establishes any necessary connection to any particular sin“.  This directly relates to the humanistic notion that all white people are inherently racists and are connected to the past sins of slavery.  But does state “Although families, groups, and nations can sin collectively, and cultures can be predisposed to particular sins, subsequent generations share the collective guilt of their ancestors only if they approve and embrace (or attempt to justify) those sins“.  White people (or any person, no matter their race) that approve and embrace racism, yes, are guilty of the same sin that infected the nation generations ago; but again, not all white people are inherently racist.  That notion alone is racially prejudice, self defeating, and hypocritical.  Regardless, racism is sin.  Racist ideals can be passed down through generations, but only through those generations who approve and embrace those ideals.  Are all white people still guilty for slavery today because of the current existence for racial systemic oppression?  No, but those who approve and embrace racial systemic oppression are.  Those white people and supporters of racial injustice carry with them the collective subsequent guilt of that sin.  Keep in mind, that during the historically more severer systemic racial oppression, not all white people agreed with it and risked their lives to protest it.  Between 1882 and 1968, 27% of lynchings were white people who fought against racism (The Negro Holocaust: Lynching and Race Riots in the United States, 1880-1950).  Are those white people to blame for the sin of racism too?  This Statement, no matter the controversy if may stir, is Bibically sound.

Section 6 proclaims the Gospel.  The most important message in all the world.  Paul himself declares “I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received:”  It is monumental to note that he did not include a social justice message.  There was all kinds of injustices and ethnic oppression going on, yet, Paul proclaims the gospel message “as of first importance“.  Then he goes through and lays out the key elements of the true gospel message without adding any notion of the cultural oppression the Jews and jewish Christians faced at that very time.  Paul himself did not rebel against the unjust imprisonments he faced.  The Statement denies anything can be added to the gospel without changing into something else.  Adding to the gospel message or another message as equally important lessens the ultimate value of The Gospel.  Because the Gospel is a message, a good news, it does not, within the message itself, call for an obligation to just living.  Obligation and duty were not elements Paul included in the message.  BUT faith, as a result of believing the message, will naturally lead to a inherent sense of obligation and duty to live justly and obey God’s Laws.  Paul could have, if he was lead by the Holy Spirit, to include another element of a call to social justice in the gospel message, but he did not and the Holy Spirit did not compel him to do so; neither should we.  The Statement in Section 6 is Biblically sound.

Section 7 discusses the source and effects of Salvation and boldly states “salvation is granted by God’s grace alone received through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone“.  No systematic reforms in the social structure will assist in leading people to salvation.  The reverse is then also true, no systemic reforms, no matter how humanistic and worldly they are, will prevent someone from being saved (John 6:37).  The Bible is clear that there is no other way to come to salvation (Acts 4:12).  The Statement does declare that salvation does not “renders any Christian free from all remaining sin or immune from even grievous sin in this life”.  Christians are sill sinners, but saved by Grace.  Because Salvation comes from God, and God alone, the Statement denies that ethnicity prevents anyone from understanding the gospel message or mitigate the duty to repent and believe.  Our flesh does not prevent God from doing his glorious work in us.  The gospel message does not need to be changed or morphed to better reflect ethnic struggles or cultural differences.  Jews, Samaritans, Romans, Greeks, cultures of Asia minor, and as far as the East, the Persian wise men, all came to know who Jesus really was and what he was going to do and did do.  Even today we see the underground church in China, and North Korea, minority Christian communities in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Sudan, and all around the world, believing in the Gospel Message. Thus the need to reform the gospel message to better fit minority communities is actually a lack of faith in God and a humanistic attempt to be God.  This Statement is true and in line with scripture.

Section 8 gets into what they affirm and deny regarding the universal church.  The role of the church is very well layed out when it stated “the primary role of the church is to worship God through the preaching of his word, teaching sound doctrine, observing baptism and the Lord’s Supper, refuting those who contradict, equipping the saints, and evangelizing the lost“. This is universally true for all the churches world wide for all time.  It also states that the church is obligated to “obey the governing authorities established by God and pray for civil leaders“.  Which is explicitly stated by Paul in Romans 13:1-7.  When it gets into what the Statement denies, is where a lot of people will object.  It states “We deny that political or social activism should be viewed as integral component of the Gospel or primary to the mission of the church“.  Their key phrase is “integral component”.  This implies that political or social activism is part of The Gospel message.  This is addressed in section 6.  We must keep in mind the cultural and political climate in which Jesus and the Apostles were in.  The ethnic systemic oppression was great, more grand that it is today.  Yet, they were completely focused on the gospel message without making political or social activism any way part of their message.  Yes, Christians should be involved in seeking justice and standing against oppression and racism (Section 3).  But, the absolute primary mission and focus is first and foremost, the Gospel Message.  The Statement even says “Though believers can and should utilize all lawful means that God has providentially established to have some effect on the laws of a society…“.  This is not a rejection  of political or social activism.  This is a focus of priorities, of which, the Gospel is the absolute priority.  The early church was not encouraged to support and engage in the riots and revolts the Jews did in 66AD, 115AD, and 132AD; though, some may have participated. But that participation would have gone against, what Paul, God, revealed (Section 3 and 4).  Lastly, as addressed in Section 5 and 7, The Statement denies that laws or regulations posses any inherent power to change sinful hearts, thus, establishing and maintaining the primacy of the Gospel Message.  This section is in line with Biblical truth.

Section 9 interestingly brings up the issue of heresy.  A topic that the modern church shies away from but was greatly addressed in the early church.  The Statement accurately defines heresy as “a denial of or departure from a doctrine that is essential to the Christian faith“.  The Gospel message is essential to the Christian faith.  The Statement as a whole seems to be addressing a modest slow departure from the primacy of The Gospel and a distortion of what The Gospel Message actually is.  They include within the scope of heresy, “the elevation of non-essentials to the status of essentials”.  Which is also true, when considering “works-based” theology.  Paul states to the Galatians that “
but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. (Galatians 1:6-9).  The Statement then desires to limit the use of accusing someone or something as heresy by stating “
accusations of heresy should be accompanied with clear evidence of such destructive beliefs.”  Which too is in line with biblical discipline prescribed by Jesus (Matthew 18:15-17).  The Statement they say that every failure is not an act of heresy to force conformity and thus, only charges of heresy that are accompanied by clear evidence that proves a denial and departure from essential elements, such as the Gospel message, are legitimate.  Why is this important?  This establishes the charge of heresy for anyone who attempts to add social justice to the Gospel Message.  This is important because we are told to contend for the faith (Jude 1:3), expose that which is destructive (Eph. 5:11), and have nothing to do with such people who “having a form of godliness, but deny its power (2 Timothy 3:5).  And they deny its power in that they feel they need to add to the gospel message to make it, as they feel, more effective to the culture or ethnic groups (2 Timothy 3:5).  The Statement is bibically accurate.  

Section 10 gets into another hot button topic in this culture.  A topic that has already been addressed in the 1987 Denvers Statement and the 2017 Nashville Statement.  They are simply reinforcing the biblical truth of human sexuality and marriage.  This statement, in the denial, clarifies some more recent cultural claims.  In it they state “We deny that human sexuality is a socially constructed concept.  We also deny that one’s sex can be fluid“.   Within the image of God, there only two genders declared by the creator, male and female (Genesis 1:26-27).  This is before sin entered the world.  The Statement than openly rejects the humanistic culturally constructed category of “gay Christian”.  This is not to say that Christians are superior but that the claim of being openly, willingly, and happily “gay” is an actual admission of sin, of which, those who are saved by Grace reject their sins.  Christians who experience and struggle with same-sex attraction, who openly and willingly admit that their attraction is sin and a struggle, are not in this category and no different from other Christians who struggle with other sins.  This statement then expresses that “sexual minorities” do not actual face injustice and discrimination before God; because their sexualized identity is contrary to what God has declared right and good.  Thus, their oppression is actually an worldly constructed oppression of their actual sinful oppression.  Paul does not advocate for acceptance of their sexuality, but the opposite (1 cor. 6:9-11; 1 Tim. 1:10; Jude 7).  

Section 11 address the unique in role but equal in value gender  roles known as Complementarianism.  These unique and naturally different inherent qualities are good, proper, and beautiful to God.  These differences were declared before sin entered the world.  These roles ordained by God even reach into the roles within the church.  Where as, “qualified men alone are to lead as pastors/elders/bishops and preach to and teach the whole congregation.” as declared in scripture (1 Timothy 3:2; Titus 1:6).  In areas and cultures where men are not available, of course, woman must fill the role, but the role is designed, by God, for men.  When considering the American church, there are plenty of men to fill the role.  The Statement denials are important and are needed to be stated.  The value and worth of men and women are equal, even in the different roles.  The difference in roles does not disparage or inhibit men or women from flourishing in faith, because faith, is a gift from God and matured by the Holy Spirit, not the local pastor.  Men will be held accountable for the role, or lack of it, and women will be held accountable for their role or lack of it- equally.  Churches with women pastors, who endorse, support, and encourage what is contrary to the roles God has ordained will be held accountable by God as this is willful and blatant disobedience to God.  There can exist biblical feminist where as they strive and seek to support and empower women to fulfill their Godly ordained roles within marriage and in the church.  The affirmations and denials are in line with God’s Word.

Section 12 dives right into the most predominate objection to this Statement; the statement on Race and Ethnicity.  The Statement starts by saying “Though people often can be distinguished by different ethnicities and nationalities, they are ontological equals before God in both creation and redemption“.  That within each ethnic and nationality “All that is good, honest, just, and beautiful in various ethnic backgrounds and experiences can be celebrated as the fruit of God’s grace“.  Each and every ethnic culture can and should celebrate its diversity and uniqueness, that which is good, honest, just, and beautiful; and glorify God for it.  But the Statement makes a controversial statement ““Race” is not a biblical category, but rather a social construct that often has been used to classify groups of people in terms of inferiority and superiority.“.  This absolutely true.  Who decides at what point in the gene pool and or region to separate people into various racial groups?  It wasn’t God, it was man.  Since we can all be traced back to a common ancestor (the bible declares it to be Adam and Eve), at what point to people become African American and a Caucasian?  Clearly, there is some degree of physical features such as skin pigment and historical locality but Adam and Eve contained all the genes of both, what race where they?  Are African Americans only labeled such because their “ancestors” came from African?  What about their ancestors, they didn’t sprout from the ground in African?  Weren’t their ancestors from a different region too?  If we hold to the biblical truth about where we all came from, we all are middle eastern are we not? So why are we not all labeled Middle Eastern Americans?  Because, not only does genes and location of ancestors are used to determine “race” but also cultural and national traits play a role in how societies and governments construct each “race”.  Thus, “race” is a humanistic construct to differentiate between different people, which, actually, loosens the ties to a single Godly image-bearing unity and sets up relative definitions to separate people into various groups. But, even in the face of separation due to differences, these differences can be equally celebrated and valued when they are subject to God.  They are even tools used by God for his glory.  Paul highlights this in 1 Cor. 9:20.  African Americans can be used by God to more closely relate to and reach other African Americans better than another race who relates less and is less understanding of the cultural norms and customs.  

But sin always finds away because all people in all people groups are sinful.  The Statement denies that Christians should segregate themselves.  This is true, and Paul rebuked Peter for it (Galatians 2:11-12).  It denies that there are any legitimate reasons for divisions based on the worldly construct of race within the church.  Then the Statement makes a bold claim “We reject any teaching that encourages racial groups to view themselves as privileged oppressors or entitled victims of oppression“.  This hits right to the heart of the teaching and theory of White Privilege and Systemic Racial Oppression.  It is NOT a denial of history or occurrences.  Some people, individuals, may use their race to seek advantages or others to seek entitlements under the claim of victim-hood.  These are realities and are selfishly wrong.  Thus, encouraging this wrongful self-seeking mentality is what is being rejected.  Not all white people experience privilege and not all black people experience racial oppression.  This is true.  To impose this ideology on all people, whether they actually experience it or not is missing the reality of the need for The Gospel primarily.  Each and every person will be held accountable for God as an individual, including those who support imposing an ideology and people it does not apply to.  We admit that the wording of this section could be better but the essence of the issue can still be understood.

The last sentence is another big statement, “…we deny that a person’s feelings of offense or oppression necessarily prove that someone else is guilty of sinful behaviors, oppression, or prejudice“.  Perception does not equal truth.  Some may feel oppressed when unable to receive resources and assistance, but, in actually, the resources may not be there and the assistance may not be readily available in the first place for various other unrelated reasons.  Thus, the feeling of oppression is not legitimate.  Some may feel oppressed when they face legal consequences for committing an just illegal act.  Others, may feel oppressed in that they are restricted from living out their lifestyles, that are contrary to God.  Again, these are not true unjust oppression.  True and legitimate oppression is when some is actually discriminated against based on their socially constructed race out of hatred or malice.  That is injustice.  But that is not based on feelings but based on the nature of hate and malice.  favoritism of one race over another is contrary to God (Romans 2:11).  And out of that favoritism, another race is hated and shown malice, and this is injustice and legitimate racial oppression.  This statement denies that feelings alone of oppression is proof of it.  The statement does NOT deny though that it can and does exist.  It is sin, and sin exists.  It takes some sifting through and deep understanding but at the core, this Statement is bibically sound.

Section 13 discusses more broadly about Cultural norms. Some aspects of a culture, that reflect divine revelation and the nature of God should be celebrated and promoted within the culture, but also exists various other cultural norms that are sinful and carnal.  It is these that we are called out from.  The Statement affirms that the cultural sinful norms should be repudiated and overcome through conversation and peacefully engaging the culture all the while training both mind in heart in biblical truth.  The Statement denies that some people and sub-culture groups are unable to be freed from their moral defects and spiritual deficiency that entrap them.  And that Christians need to actively engage the immoral culture with love, grace, and kindness of God in truth.  Essentially, the Statement affirms that everyone can be reached with the Gospel.  This is biblically accurate.

Section 14 is very similar to Section 12 in the area of Racism.  The Statement openly says that racism is sin and needs to be openly condemned and renounced by all who hold it.  That Statement does proclaim that in all cultures contain laws and systems that foster racism.  It includes “our own”.  It validates the belief in systemic racism.  It then addresses the growing teaching that only the dominate race within that culture can be racist when it states “We deny that only those in positions of power are capable of racism, or that individuals of any particular ethnic groups are incapable of racism“.  And more importantly it denies “that the contemporary evangelical movement has any deliberate agenda to elevate one ethnic group and subjugate another“.  Thus, “white evangelicalism” does not contain a deliberate agenda of subtle racism.  It then also address the call for the church to make confronting systemic racism a top priority or equal to proclaiming the gospel and preaching scripture “that lectures on social issues (or activism aimed at reshaping the wider culture) are as vital to the life and health of the church as the preaching of the gospel and the exposition of Scripture“.  This statement is to keep the church focused on God’s Word as the highest priority.  This does not negate the need to openly condemn and renounce racism.  This too is important and much needed, BUT is not to be placed at the same level of preaching God’s Word and the Gospel.  

Final thought

When we review the Statement in its entirety we see that the function is to keep the hearts and minds of the church on the authority of scripture alone and the primacy of the Gospel Message in the face of constant social change.  When considering the context in which the New Testament was written, there was a greater degree of ethnic systemic oppression imposed by Rome, and imposed by the Jews on the new Christian sect.  You would then have to ask, why Jesus and the Apostles didn’t call for open social activism against the ethnic systemic oppression specifically?  A lot of those who reject this Statement often claim it is though John MacArthur and the 9,000 other signers are trying, in their “whiteness” to hold on to their power and the power of “white evangelicalism”.  But they ignore that a lot of minorities have too signed and agreed with this statement.  What is also ignored is this racial prejudice of “white evangelicalism” is a form of racial prejudice still plaguing the church, in those who use it to disagree with the Statement.  This focus on “white evangelicalism” and not how this Statement is actually in tune with Holy Scripture, reveals that some of the minds within the church are not focused on Scripture alone as the sole authority of truth in the world; but instead attempt to supplement Scripture with humanistic theoretical constructs in an attempt to impose a worldly solution for change.  The Statement does NOT claim systemic racial oppression does not exist.  In fact it states the opposite.  BUT HOW to address the real issue of systemic racial oppression is not found in political activism but faith in the true Gospel message.  The desire to supplement the true Gospel message with a social justice tone is actually a lack of faith in the power of the Gospel.  The Statement condemns racism and racial prejudice.  It rejects the systems that contain these sinful elements.  To claim that this Statement supports racism or systemic racial oppression is dishonest and false.  To claim that this Statement is an attempt to defend “white evangelicalism” is also dishonest and false.  We must also always keep in mind that these Statements are NOT canon, and are not God’s Holy Word.  That even too, the statements for and against this Statement are made by sinners; which, also, supports the essence of this Statement’s argument.  That Scripture alone is authority and the Gospel alone changes cultures, not opinions, intersectionality, radical feminism, and critical race theories. 

Key points to take away from The Statement:

1. The Bible is the sole authority of morality and truth.
2. The Bible does not need to be, and should not be supplemented with social constructed theories and solutions to reach a real true lasting peace.
3. The Gospel alone is the most important message.
4. The Gospel alone transforms hearts.
5. A Gospel Message supplemented by social constructed theories is a different gospel.
6. Transformed hearts and minds, by The Gospel alone, lead people to seek solutions for sin within the society. 
7. Racism and segregation are sin.
8. Systemic Racial Oppression exists, and is sin.
9. All who agree with or support Systemic Racial Oppression collectively carry with them the guilt of historic racism.
10. Not all white people agree with or support Systemic Racial Oppression.
11. Christians can be, and should be, Social Justice activists. 
12. Salvation and rightness with God does not come through the application of
    social constructed theories and solutions; but from the Gospel Message.
13. The Church’s primary mission is to preach God’s Word in faith, truth, and love and proclaim the Gospel; which will have a real lasting impact on social change.
14. Marriage is between a man and a woman; any thing else is a sexual perversion due to sin.
15. There are only two genders; Male and Female.  Both unique and different roles, but are perfectly equal in worth and value.
16. The claim of persecution and oppression of “sexual minorities” are not true forms of oppression but are in fact sin.

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Public Evangelism

Before setting out to conduct street evangelism and open air preaching it is a good idea to research the county and city ordinances regarding noise violations and disturbing the peace.  Odds are someone will get offended and call the police claiming one of the two.  When police are called, they have reasonable suspicion that a crime or ordinance violation has been committed.  They are obligated to respond and investigate.  This should be expected. (check out Is Street Preaching Biblical?).

Some cities require you to obtain a permit to pass out flyers or do speeches on public property.  It is right to seek to obtain the proper permits as most cities will not deny them knowing it will be a religious assembly and protected free speech.  In some countries it is flat out illegal to give religious speeches in public.  This is where a more modest personal approach is best suited like walking up to individuals and speaking to them more privately in a public location.  Where religious proselytizing is illegal, than an even more subtle approach is required through networking and relationship building for the missional purpose of presenting the gospel.  Once understanding the governing laws regarding public evangelism, next it is important to understand the culture of that public area.

College campuses, public parks around downtown business headquarters, suburb parks, tourist areas, and the region these parks are located in help understand the angle and focus of approach.  Regions that are less culturally divers or have a concentrated sub cultures are keys to understanding the spiritual needs of that area.  Once you have conducted the proper research and planning, having a game plan of what topics need to be touched and how to frame the conversations is next.

Planned Discussion

Of course the absolute end goal of all discussions are gospel presentations.  But getting there is not always straight forward.  On the personal level; You always want to introduce yourself, ask their name and if you can ask  them some questions.  Trust the Holy Spirit.  If they say no and do not want to talk, move on.  If you are open air preaching, and someone comes up asking genuine questions, you want to address them on a personal level.  If you have an evangelism team with you, have them address that persons questions and continue preaching.

Personal Public Evangelism

When walking up to people and getting their consent to ask questions always introduce yourself and ask for their name.  Throughout the conversation, call them by name; this is more personal and relates to how personal the subject matter actually is to them.  Avoid using phrases like “I believe…” or “I think…” because it is not a matter of your opinion verses theirs.  These are eternal truths, not personal opinionated beliefs.

Q:  Do you believe in God? (yes/no)

Deck of Cards analogy;  “If I throw a deck of cards in the air, what is the chance it will fall down in a completed house of cards?”, “Where did the deck of cards come from in the first place?”  “If I don’t have a deck of cards, what is the chance, a deck of cards will appear in my hand from nothing?”

Piece of Paper analogy;  “If I write ‘laws of nature’ on a paper, then tear it up into very small pieces, then throw it up in the air, what is the chance it will fall back into place in the correct order?”;  “Where did the piece of paper come from in the first place?”; “If I didn’t have a piece of paper to write ‘laws of nature’ on, what is the chance a piece of paper will appear from nothing or the letters will form themselves to form the intelligible sentence structure and words?”

Sometimes it is best, that when someone denies the existence of God, may was well just go straight to a gospel presentation.  You can do this by asking next:  Do you know who Jesus is?  Some may even argue that Jesus never existed either.  At that point you can attempt to explain to them the historical facts but odds are they will reject those too.  If that is the case, you can ask them what they believe or again, straight up ask them if they have ever heard the gospel itself.  If they are still willing to listen and engage in a friendly dialog, go right head and present them the gospel.

If they already claim to believe in god, continue on to ensure they get to know the truth about the real God if they don’t know him already.

Q:  Who do you think God is? (the universe / everyone / one being / unknown) 

These first two questions help gauge what the person believes; New age, agnostic, atheist, or theistic. 

Q:  Do you think God is pleased with you and how you have live your life?

Naturally most people will say yes.  The idea here sets up revealing to them their own contradictions and how they actually do not meet God’s standard with the follow up questions:

Q:  Are you a good person?  Are you morally perfect? 

Again, naturally, most people will say yes.  The Moral crime proofs then expose some flaws in their claim.

Moral Crimes Proofs;  “have you ever lied; have you ever stolen anything; have you ever hurt anyone, emotionally or physically; have you ever sexually desired someone; have you ever said GD or JC, and not as a noun?”  What do you call someone who has lied and stolen?  What do you call someone who sexually desires someone who is not their spouse?

Repeat their own answers.  Of course people who steal are called thieves and people who have lied are called liars.  Then ask:

Q:  Do you think God is pleased with thieves, liars, adultery/cheaters, and blasphemers?   

The discussion then may steer to relative morality.  The follow up question related to relative morality exposes further dilemmas in that belief:

Q:  Are you opposed to racism, rape, or killing homosexuals?  Why?

They are compelled to admit they are opposed to these because they are wrong.

Q:  Are countries and cultures that currently practice them, are they wrong?  Are societies in the past that condoned them, where they wrong?  How are they wrong, when their society condones it?  Is there a universal morality that applies to all mankind?  Where does that come from if not from society?

Q:  Does someone who commits such crimes/moral wrongs be punished?  (yes/no)

Here they have been lead to see that morality is transcendent and that moral wrongs deserve punishment.  Understanding the required justice is next.  This is where most Christians fail.  Understanding God’s perfect Justice is very important.

Q:  Why not just forget about the crime of racism, rape, and killing homosexuals?   Why even bother prosecuting them?  Just let them go free with no punishment. 

Now explain the actual value of violating God’s law and the worth of a transcendent crime.  Sin has eternal value in that it is an offense against the eternal God.  This eternal offense requires a just punishment.

Q: How much good can you do to pay back an eternal debt?  How much good can a friend of yours do to pay back your eternal debt?  If the crime of racism, rape, and killing homosexuals is just given 2 hours of community service, is that enough, why not?  

Q:  Early you admitted to being a thief, liar, adultery, and blasphemer.  You admitted to committing transcendent crimes against a perfectly holy and just God that you can not repay and still requires an equal just punishment.  Do you want to know how to be made right before God, have your debt payed for, and truly know God for all eternity?

(Due to the examples used above and given the dysfunction of today’s misquoting society, we must include this disclaimer:  we do not advocate, support, or encourage teachings or actions for rape, racism, and murder)

Avoid the arianistic Christian cliche “accept Jesus in your heart” or “say the sinners prayer”.  That is not what really happens and NOT what Jesus calls for.  Jesus called for people to REPENT and BELIEVE.  Thus, we should call for the same.

Present the Gospel message: God sent his eternal Son from heaven in the form of Jesus to die for your sin on the cross, payed your eternal debt of sin, and rose again three days later proving that he has the power to give life, eternal life.  He did this so that you can be free from the punishment of sin and free to truly know God.  Only Jesus lived the life you could not live and pay the price for sin that you can not pay so that you can enjoy God in this life and for eternity after this life.  Are you ready to leave your sins behind, repent and believe in God The Son?

Pray with that person and ask the Holy Spirit to work in their heart, empowering them to believe, make them born again, a new creation, adopted by God, be filled with the Holy Spirit, and follow Jesus Christ as their Lord God and Savior.  After praying, discuss any concerns they may have and give them your contact information.

This is a very general discussion with the key talking points but you will encounter all kinds of different people with all kinds of different arguments and justifications.  Not having every answer is OKAY!  You must remember that you are NOT the spiritual eye openers, The Holy Spirit is.  You are called to be faithful to God and loving to neighbors, strangers, and enemies; and there is nothing more loving than sacrificing your time, emotions, and efforts to give someone the greatest gift we can offer, the Gospel of Jesus Christ and pray that God gives the greatest gift of all; eternal life.  

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Is Street Preaching Biblical?

People have probably heard a preacher on the side of the road with a mega phone preaching.  Some people stop in listen while others carry on shaking their head.  In modern times, most feel that it is not the best approach to evangelism.  Some will go as far to say that it is too judgemental and pushes people away from God.  But is that true?  Is street preaching unbiblical, unnecessary, and harmful?  First, we must always look to God’s word and see what his faithful servants have done in the various cultures.

First we can look at Noah.  There was no church building to preach in.  No temple to preach at.  Just him and the world.  Peter describes Noah as a preacher or Herold of righteousness (2 Peter 2:5).  Of course the world listened and laughed maybe even felt judged and offended as he told them that God was going to judge the world due to their unrighteousness.  Next we can look at Jonah.  He literally walked down the streets of the large city proclaiming that the city will be overthrown if they don’t repent (Jonah 3:1-5).  Then we can look at John The Baptist.  He came out of the wilderness open air preaching in public (Matthew 3:1-2; Mark 1:4; Luke 3:3).  Jesus himself preached in public on a hill (Matthew 5-7).  Apollos, a disciple of Jesus, explicitly preached in public (Acts 18:27-28).  Paul himself didn’t always preach in churches or Jewish temples (Acts 17:22-34) even preached in the market place (Acts 17:17).  Given these biblical accounts we can now dive into the important questions:

Is Street / Open Air Preaching Wrong?

Clearly the answer is NO.  Jesus did it.  Jonah was told by God to do it.  The Apostles, lead by the Spirit, did it.  In different cultures throughout history.  The type of culture or time period does not exclude street preaching.

Is there a best ‘time and place’ to do it?

Again, looking at the biblical accounts, the time and place is everywhere, at all times, with who ever is willing to listen!  But this leads to the next question.

Doesn’t it drive away people from the church?

This is a failed excuse by those who don’t want to do it or who feel sympathetic to the sin of the world.  Those who feel that people are driven away from being saved by preachers fail to understand or deny God’s Absolute Sovereignty.  A quick study of John chapter 6 should answer this false dilemma:  John 6:26-40

²⁶ Jesus answered them and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. ²⁷ Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal.” ²⁸ Therefore they said to Him, “What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?” ²⁹ Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.” ³⁰ So they said to Him, “What then do You do for a sign, so that we may see, and believe You? What work do You perform? ³¹ Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread out of heaven to eat.’” ³² Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven. ³³ For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world.” ³⁴ Then they said to Him, “Lord, always give us this bread.”  ³⁵ Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst. ³⁶ But I said to you that you have seen Me, and yet do not believe. ³⁷ All that the Father gives Me WIIL come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. ³⁸ For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. ³⁹ This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. ⁴⁰ For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.”

So who WILL come to Jesus?  ALL that the Father HAS GIVEN.  How many will be lost?   NONE.  How many of them who God has given to Jesus come?  ALL.  But will some of them not come? NO.  ALL WILL.  Re-read  John 6:26-40 and let it sink in.

So how many people will street preachers turn away who have been given to Jesus?  NONE.  Street Preaching may drive away people, but not the ones God has called.  SIN has already driven away those who are ‘driven away’ by street preachers.  The lost are still lost, BUT now they have ZERO excuse for sure make God’s judgement on them that much justified.

People that claim to have been driven away from the Church due to ‘offensive’ street preachers clearly were not searching for Jesus but validation from man.  Some one that gets extremely offended, yet, has been given to Jesus, WILL, still, come to Jesus eventually.  Period.  That moment when they were offended by being called a sinner may stick with them and the Holy Spirit may break down the wall in their heart because of it.  OR like Pharaoh, God may use that moment to harden their heart further.  Who knows, but the result of the street preaching is UP TO GOD.  Regardless, EVERYONE who has been GIVEN to Jesus WILL come, no matter how offended they think they are by street preachers.

Are there Good and Bad ways to street preach?

Of course!  There is never a moment where we are not to be loving.  Even during street preaching and dealing with hecklers, agitators, and aggressively profane people.  But LOVE is also speaking the TRUTH.  Because Jesus IS TRUTH.  Using profanity and personally attacking people is not the way to go about proclaiming the truth and love of Jesus.  But don’t forget, the truth of Jesus is offensive to the world.  People WILL get offended.  Period.  Matthew 10:34-36, 15:19-20:

³⁴ “Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. ³⁵ For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; ³⁶ and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household.

¹⁹ If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. ²⁰ Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you;  

Pointing fingers at people telling them God hates them does NOT honor or bring glory to God.  BUT telling them that they are lost and in need of a savior does.  One focuses on sin, of which we are all sinners, but the other focuses on Jesus.  One hypocritically judges, while the other rightly judges.  One points down to man the other points up to Christ Jesus.  It is true however that ALL those who have been given to Jesus WILL come, even if the preacher is unloving in his approach BUT the preachers themselves are still held to a standard that which is loving God and their neighbor.  When street preaching we must keep Jesus’ words in Luke 6:27-28 in mind: “²⁷ “But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, ²⁸ bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.“

Some preachers were even maliciously bashing Paul behind his back (Philippians 1:17-18).   These guys were trying to belittle Paul and assert themselves as authority.  Their preaching was out of selfish ambitions.  YET Paul rejoices!  Why?  Because no matter the motives of the preachers, Christ is still proclaimed.   Faith comes by hearing (Romans 10:17) and people are still hearing the gospel despite the short comings of the preachers.  God is GOD despite the imperfect preachers.

 Why then do people get so offended?

John 3:19-21:

19 This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. ²⁰ For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. ²¹ But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”

John 3:18:

“He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already…”

They are hateful and offended because they feel judged.  This is true, they and the whole world have been judged.  Judged and convicted as sinners before a holy and righteous God.  Yet, they love their sin more than God’s righteousness.  Thus, they hate the messengers.  Nothing new.  Genesis 19:9 quotes the people of Sodom rejecting Lot’s plea for them to stop their sin “they said, “This one came in as an alien, and already he is acting like a judge; now we will treat you worse than them.”.  That’s just like saying “don’t judge me”.  

What is the purpose of Street / Open Air Preaching?

This is the most effective way to reach people who refuse to check out a church, who don’t want to or thinking googling anything about gospel and even reaching people who are privately searching but don’t know where to start.  There are thousands of reasons why speaking publicly in a public place and reach people who can not normally be reached.  The ultimate goal is to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ for all the world to hear.  This sparks public conversation and those who hear take it home with them and tell their friends what they heard and saw.  Which may lead the friend to do some research.  The results are NOT up to the eloquence of the speaker or anything about the preacher himself.  The Holy Spirit is the one who works in the heart of the person who hears the message.  Regardless of the results, the preacher is called to be faithful to the Lord and proclaim the Lord’s good news. 
 

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Rediscovering The Vastness of John 3:16

 Everyone has seen or heard John 3:16 on football face paint, billboards, bumper stickers, t-shirts, everywhere.  It has seem to become a mindless slogan in evangelical christian culture.  When digging into the meaning and the message, we find something so grand, so majestic, so powerful, that John 3:16 has the ultimate implications for all humanity; contained in these 25 words (NASB).  For some, rediscovering John 3:16 can mean new eternal life!

We see the object, expression, recipient, intention, and duration of ultimate divine truth.  The seven wonders and maximal elements of reality all contained in this one statement.

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

FOR GOD

Much like Gen. 1:1, God exists, is present, and acts first before anything.  Here, God, out of his very nature, not compelled by anyone or anything besides himself, takes action out of his own nature of LOVE.  Coming from the Almighty Authority of the creator of the universe where there is no greater.

SO LOVED

Not just a moderate love; like how we love our pets or hobbies, but the ultimate selfless sacrificial love; the absolute greatest form of love, divine love, from God himself.   He SO loved!  The absolute mightiest motive – divine love from a divine nature. 

This is not condoning the behavior or the desires of the object being loved.  It is separate, unconditionally uninfluenced benevolence apart for anyone or anything for no selfish intent.  Before the existence of anything, God SO LOVED.

THE WORLD

Jesus was speaking with Nicodemus, a Pharisee and member of the Sanhedrin who came to Jesus at night so that no one else would see him with Jesus.  He, and the rest of the Pharisees believed that salvation is only for the Jews and the rest of the world (all other nations that are not Jews) were not chosen for salvation (see Rom. 11:12; Isaiah 43:9; Zec. 9:1).  When Jesus tells him “THE WORD” Jesus is refering to the nations who were not Jewish.  He was telling Nicodemus that God’s divine love was for Israel AND all the world too (1 Tim. 2:4).

Thus, God’s love extended to THE WHOLE WORLD.  All the people of the world.  The ultimate maximal being shows the greatest and maximal form of love to the maximal amount of people.  This love is even for those whom God knew were going to perish anyway.  Since God knows all things, knows the hearts of all people, and has seen all of time from before creation; yet, he still loves.  God is perfectly JUST and therefore his LOVE must extend to all people. 

HE GAVE

In his absolute sovereignty, unassisted, and uninfluenced act, he selfishly and freely gave something of maximal value- eternal value.  Why give anything?  He knew the world was perishing.  How so?  The sin and disobedience had already been judged (see John 3:17) which by necessity required an equal consequence- eternal separation at judgement.  Because God is perfectly holy, righteous, and Just; he must deliver the equally just consequence for the offense.  BUT GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD HE GAVE!  He gave a solution for redemption that satisfied not only his love but also his divine justice.  But it was God who had to give.  The world did not deserve it, they were unholy, sinful, and perishing.  Notice that HE GAVE and not HE SENT.  This again shows his greatest form of love in offering and sacrifice for an undeserving unmerited world.  All while the world is perishing; Paul (The Holy Spirit) expresses this perfectly when he stated “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8).

HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON

He gave God The Son, the eternal heir to all glory and power for all eternity who was the perfect reflection and radiance and glory of God himself (John 8:58; Heb. 1:3; Col. 1:9,2:9).  He and the Son were one and the same (John 1:1,14, 10:30,33,36-38).  ONLY is because there, for all eternity, will and forever has been only one.  BEGOTTEN because he is FROM GOD himself.  The person, God The Son, is of ultimate and supreme eternal value to God.  Thus, he alone could satisfy God’s perfect justice and love simultaneously.

THAT WHOEVER

Now we see John (The Holy Spirit) change the scope that this solution accounts for.  It is not THE WORLD he is talking about now.  It is conditional reference, WHOEVER.  Though the Son was offered to the world with a value that can satisfy God for the whole world, not everyone will receive this redeeming atoning gift.  Because God is perfectly loving and perfectly Just, it was offered still, knowing not everyone would receive it.  It is God’s love that also allows for those who are offered the gift, to freely reject it out of their own will and desire.  None the less, the gift was still offered the THE WORLD- the absolute maximally widest welcome.  Though it is the absolute widest welcome, not all will be covered by the sacrifice of Jesus (Matt. 25:32-33, 26:28; John 10:11,15, 17:9; Acts 20:28; Eph. 5:25-27; Isaiah 53:12).  That is a very hard truth to accept but it is clear, the WHOEVER are only his sheep of the church who is the body of Christ.  Some will blast this as exclusionary and intolerant but one fact they can not escape is that this gift is offered to THE WORLD.  And due to God’s love, the grants them their ultimate desire- to justify themselves instead of being justified by God The Son.  Due to God’s perfect Justice, he must then allow them to perish and pay for the eternal consequence themselves without Christ.  None the less, it was still offered to all mankind.

BELIEVES IN HIM

This is the absolute easiest escape and relief from the pending perishing and final consequence.  Those few who receive this maximally eternally valuable gift from God, who believe in God The Son get to open this gift of faith in God The Son.  But this opportunity is hard to receive; that God himself would sacrifice for mankind.  The Jews felt crucifixion was shameful and embarrassing.  The Iliad wrote “Juno says to Vulcan: ‘Dear son, refrain: it is not well that thus A God should suffer for the sake of men” (Iliad, xxi., 379,380).  Muhammad refused to accept a great prophet from God would die in such a way.  Many Gnostic beliefs refused to accept this.  Sounds to low for a god to do and sounds to easy without the assistance of effort and works.  But that is EXACTLY THE POINT.  God’s free gift to the world is simply faith in God The Son that is not earned or merited through ANY kind of effort or works.  Seems too low for such a great God BUT the act of Jesus on the cross was perfect beauty planned from before the beginning of time!  It was selfless and voluntary for the absolute greatest possible good.  God ALONE is the author and giver of unconditional unmerited eternal salvation.  The Holy Spirit declares, through Paul, that we are “made right with God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe” (Romans 3:22)

SHALL NOT PERISH

This is the maximally perfected divine deliverance from a perishing state that only leads to an eternal consequence.  The consequence is due to the perfect justice of God.  This gift redeems whoever believes in God The Son and takes them out of the state of perishing and restores them to a state that is NOT perishing.  But not only satisfies the justice and removes their state of perishing but brings them into the most perfect state of all.  The Holy Spirit declares, through Paul, “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1).

BUT HAVE ETERNAL LIFE

This is the priceless divine possession.  The free gift of eternal life.  Whoever believes in God The Son WILL HAVE eternal life.  This is an absolute statement.  Eternal life is something obtained and can not be lost.  It is impossible to have eternity and then later not have it, because then it was not eternal.  The eternal state of something is never ending.  And anyone who believes will HAVE it, eternally.  This is of eternal maximal divine value offered to the world from God himself.  Something that can not be bought or earned.  Of which is ONLY found in Jesus Christ (John 14:6).

The Seven Wonders of John 3:16

1. The Almighty Authority – God
2. The Mightiest Motive – Love
3. The Greatest Gift – Begotten Son
4. The Widest Welcome – Whoever
5. The Easiest Escape – Believe
6. Divine Deliverance – Not perish
7. The Priceless Possession – Eternal life

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A Different Gospel

There is an original and true Gospel message proclaimed by The Apostles.  Sense then, there have been attempts by others to add to it, change it, or preach something entirely different.  How do we know what is the true gospel and what is a different gospel?  That means we must first know what the true gospel is before we can discern a different one.  Everyone knows the most basic form but not everyone understands its supreme and ultimate value and meaning in relation to the identity of God himself.

We must only consider that which was taught from the beginning to the Apostles and from the Apostles.  Luke starts it off nicely:  “The first account I composed, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach, ² until the day when He was taken up to heaven, after He had by the Holy Spirit given orders to the apostles whom He had chosen. ³ To these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God” (Acts 1:1-3).  It is not just everything that Jesus taught pre-crucifixion but also all that he taught post-resurrection and before his ascension.   There are even things that Jesus said and did that were not recorded (John 20:30-31) but all that is written is enough for salvation (1 John 5:13).  Because The Bible is sufficient for salvation, there is nothing more that needs to be added; the Holy Spirit spoke this through John when writing the last letter of The Bible (Rev. 22:18-19; Deut. 4:2).  It is this faith that was once delivered from the Apostles and nothing after (Jude 3).  The early church only looked at the teachings from the Apostles and not teachings from any other sources (Acts 2:42).  That scripture alone is the foundation of faith (Ephesians 2:20) because it was the Apostles who were taught all things (John 14:26).  This is why the authority of the Apostles is so important in the message they proclaimed (2 Peter 3.2; Acts 5:2-4; 1 Cor. 14.37; Rom. 2.16; 1 Thess. 2.13; 2 Thess. 3.6).  Therefore if something else is preached, it is not of God (Gal. 1.8-9).  With all that said: WHAT is THE true gospel that the Apostles proclaimed?

In its most basic form, it is this: 

All people are sinners (Romans 3:23) and separated from the holy and righteous God (Isaiah 59:2).  Jesus Christ died for our sins.  He was buried and raised from the dead three days later.  He appeared to the disciples and over 500 other people (1 Cor. 15:3-8) before ascending to heaven (Acts 1:6-12) and has given us his righteousness (2 Cor. 5:21) and eternal life (John 3:16).  

But this simple presentation has some huge and serious implications.  Why did he have to die?  What is sin and why did he have to die for them?  Did he need to die, could I have died for my own sin, or someone else?   How did he rise from the dead, was he actually dead, did God die?  Why are the 3 days significant?  Digging deeper into the implications of the gospel leads those who seek truth to see the person and works of Jesus in the absolute most deepest way.  The value and purpose of his death leads to the greatest truth about God himself.  This is why teaching a different gospel is so dangerous.

Breaking down 1 Cor. 15:3-8 we can dive deeper into what the Apostles taught.

“that Christ died for our sins…”

Q: Who is this Christ the Apostles talk about?

The Incarnation of God in the flesh (John 1:1,14). Jesus’ per-existence in heaven as God the Son (John 1:1, 14, 5:18, 8:58; see Psalms 2:7; Isaiah 9:6; Micah 5:2). Jesus’ physical existence in the world as the incarnate Son of God. (1 John 4:2; 2 John 1:7; 1 Timothy 3:16; Matthew 1:23). Jesus’ physical actual virgin birth (Luke 1:26–31; Luke 2:7). Jesus has two distinct natures: (John 14:11; Philippians 2:6–8). Jesus’ Divine Nature as God the Son (Colossians 2:9). Sinless (Hebrews 4:15), One with God (John 10:30, John 14:8-9). Jesus’ human nature as Son of Man (Luke 2:40; John 19:28; Hebrews 2:17).

Jesus’ divine authority and nature (Hebrews 1:8, 10). Greater than angels (Hebrews 1:4–5) and worshiped by angels (Hebrews 1:6). Power over death (Matthew 9:24–25; Luke 24:36–39). Divine authority to forgive eternal sin (Matthew 9:6; see Psalm 103:2-3). Acceptance of Worship (Matthew 14:33). Omniscience (Matthew 24:1–2). Immutable (Hebrews 13:8; see Malachi 3:6). Creator (Colossians 1:16; John 1:3; see Isaiah 44:2; Genesis 1:1). First and the Last (Revelation 1:17; see Isaiah 41:4).

Q: What does ‘Christ’ mean?

Christ in greek means “anointed one” and “chosen one” and also means “Messiah” in Hebrew. The same “anointed one” that Daniel 9:25 prophesied about that was to come (also see Isaiah 61:1). Ancient Israel were expecting an anointed king to free them from Roman rule, but want Jesus accomplished was freedom from the rule of sin (Romans 6:18). Jesus Christ, the Messiah, thus saves us and frees us from our slavery and debt to sin.

“that Christ died for our sins, and that He was buried”

Q: How did he die and why?

Jesus’ physical crucifixion and bodily death on the cross (1 John 4:2; 2 John 1:7; John 19:28; Luke 23:46). Prophesied in the Old Testament (Isaiah 7:14; Psalm 2:7), Purposeful as part of God’s eternal divine plan of redemption (Romans 3:25). Jesus’ perfect atoning payment for sin on the cross. Paid for sin with the incarnated bodily of God in the flesh (Acts 20:28; 1 John 3:16). The Lamb of God (John 1:29). Perfectly Satisfied God (1 John 2:2; Hebrews 7:27). Was the substitutionary atonement for mans sin (Isaiah 53:5-6).

As slaves to sin we were unable to do good or come to God on our own (Romans 3:10-18; Hebrews 11:6) and sin is so offensive to a perfectly holy and righteous God, the cost of sin is death (Romans 6:23). Because we are sinners, it was God that had to act on our behalf (Romans 5:8). If one of us sacrificed ourselves for another, the debt of sin would remain (Romans 3:23). Jesus was sinless and the perfect sacrifice (2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 John 3:5; Hebrews 4:15; 1 Peter 2:22). Thus Jesus alone was the only one able, who could pay for the price of all sin (1 Peter 1:18–19).

“…and that He was raised on the third day, and that He appeared to…” 

Q: Who raised him and why on the 3rd day? 

Jesus’ physically resurrection from bodily death 3 days later (Luke 24:13-43; John 20:19-31; John 21:1-25; 1 Corinthians 15:5-7).  Jesus foretells of his death and resurrection on the 3rd day (Matthew 12:39-40, 16:21; John 2:18-22, 10:17, 18) and that HE was going to raise himself.  The 3 day claim proves his exact words and validates his act which also correlates with the Jewish feasts.  Jesus was crucified during the Feast of Passover (Exo 12, Exo 13:6-8, Lev 23:5, Deut 16:3-8, Num 28:16), when lambs were sacrificed in the temple to pay for that year of sin for the people of Israel.  In Egypt, the people smeared the lambs blood over their house doors so that angel of death would pass over them.  Jesus was the Lamb of God for the world (1 Cor 5:7).  The third day was the Feast of First Fruits (Exo 34:25-26, Lev 23:10-14, – Late Passover Num 9:10-11) and Jesus was the First Fruits of the resurrection (1 Cor 15:20, 23, 2 Tim 2:6-8).  All these feasts were to point the people of Israel to recognize the Messiah when he arrived, and some did.

“…when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.”

Q: Where did he go?

In Jesus’ glorified physical body, He literal ascension from earth to heaven as the Apostles watched (Luke 24:50-53; Acts 1:6-12). He ascended and is sitting at the right hand of God the Father in heaven (Mark 16:19; Acts 7:55,56; Matthew 26:64; John 20:17; Ephesians 4:10)

the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received (1 Cor. 15:1-3)

Faith in the true gospel message, of the person and work of Jesus, is the most important message because it is life changing and eternal life (Romans 1:16, 6:23; John 3:16) that then produces good works (Acts 7:59; Ephesians 2:8-10; James 2:17-26; 2 Corinthians 5:17). This message, that brings salvation, is a free gift.

Jesus’ Gospel Presentation – John 3:16-18:

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

The eternal creator of the universe selflessly acted on behalf of the world and sacrificed his only begotten Son so that whoever believes are given eternal life with God. God had to give himself because the world was perishing on their own.

We see that the gospel is the absolute basic form of the most powerful truth from God. The Gospel leads us to seek God deeper and deeper. When we study and investigate what The Apostles taught about the identity of Jesus we are then lead to profound truths of his truest identity. Jesus of Nazareth leads to Jesus the Christ, then leads to Jesus the Son of God, which then leads to Jesus, God The Son. The same is true with other aspects of the gospel. Recognition of Sin leads to our total depravity in sin, which then leads to the need for a savior. Teaching a different gospel, leads to different untrue beliefs.

Jesus of Nazareth -> Jesus Christ -> Son of God -> God The Son -> The Triune God
Sin -> Man needs a savior -> Only Jesus can -> God acts on behalf of Man -> Jesus saves Man

A DIFFERENT GOSPEL

In modern times, the Word of Faith teachers tend to change what is taught about the identity of Jesus and of sin.  That we can be like God, even little gods.  We can become sinless and speak things into existence.  These tweaks to the gospel message really turns everyone into their own type of Jesus Christ.  If their teachings are true, than Word of Faith followers should be able to forgive the sins of non believers and even sacrifice themselves to save the soul of non believers. Why not speak salvation for non believers into existence?  The Lamb of God essentially becomes irrelevant.  The identity of God The Son is belittled into nothing more than being like Adam and you and I.  While sin is diminished into something that can just be spoken away.  They do not hold to what was once passed down from the Apostles and instead rely on their own claimed visions and prophecies from God.  That means they can essentially write their own bible and call it God’s Word with all the new messages and teachings they receive that is not taught by the Apostles.  Different gospels look like this:

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Teaching	Start	leads to:	leads to:	leads to:	leads to:	absolute truth:
The Apostles	Jesus of Nazareth	Jesus The Christ	Jesus The Lamb of God	Jesus The Son of God	Jesus God The Son	The Triune God
Joyce Meyers	Jesus of Nazareth	Jesus The Christ	Jesus The Lamb of God	Jesus The Son of God	Jesus spiritually died in hell	Not God the Son or the Triune God
Adoptionism	Jesus of Nazareth	Jesus adopted by God	Jesus The Lamb of God	Jesus the adopted son of God	Jesus not the only begotten son of God	Not the eternal God The Son or the Triune God
Oneness Penticostalism	Jesus of Nazareth	Jesus The Christ	Jesus the Lamb of God	Jesus The Son of God	Jesus God The Son was just the 2nd mode of God	Not the unique God The Son and not the Triune God
Docetism	Jesus of Nazareth was an illusion	Jesus The Christ (illusion)	Jesus The Lamb of God (illusion) Actually a different person on the cross.	Jesus The Son of God (not actually present)	Jesus God The Son (not actually present)	No actual atonement for sin

When someone teaches something different than what was preached by the Apostles, is effects the absolute truth.   Just by inserting the slight idea that “Jesus died spiritually in hell” we must then conclude that he was not the eternal God the Son; because then he could not be eternal or God.  By teaching that God just reveals himself in three different modes, we must then conclude that there are not three distinct and unique persons that make up the Triune God.   By teaching that the person Jesus was merely adopted by God, we must then conclude that Jesus is not the eternal God The Son or a person of the Triune God.

These slight changes in teachings different from the gospel that was passed down by the Apostles builds off itself into other heretical doctrines and forms entirely new religions.  This is proven by Mormonism, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Islam, and the gradual decline of Apostolic teachings in the Word of Faith movement.

How do Different Gospels Come About?

• The first major problem is the lack and ignorance of Church History.  Majority of these different gospel details have already been exposed and addressed by the early church.  Read the early church writings at https://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf01.i.html
• The second major problem is the lack and ignorance of proper biblical understanding and interpretation.  
• The third major problem is that a majority of these teachers fail to understand their own natural inclination to be like God.  Thus, their different gospel details reflect that.  Some even openly admit it and are proud of it.

Are Those Who Deny Jesus as God The Son saved?

First, it is important to point out that I or anyone do not need to judge the hearts and souls of anyone.  We do not have to because it has been done already (John 3:18; Romans 1:18-32).   So when I say that someone is not saved because of their disbelief in the true gospel message, I am not judging anyone but only agreeing with the judgement God that has already made known by him. 

It is critically important to note that Paul made it a priority to make sure his hearers currently understood the gospel (1 Cor. 15:1-3) when he reiterates it again and again in detail for them.  Because believing the TRUE gospel is salvation; thus believing in a false gospel is NOT salvation.  Now in regards to the gospel detail about Jesus, God The Son:

A majority of heresies to not make it to this truth about Jesus. They will believe that Jesus was a man, a prophet of God, who died for sin. But at the truth of Jesus being the Only Begotten Son of God they fail to understand. This then makes it impossible for them to see him as God The Son. To deny Jesus as the eternal Son of God one must ask do they then even know God? Jesus himself felt it was important to speak about and the Apostles, lead by the Holy Spirit, felt it was important to record in their gospels. Sense Jesus and the Apostles through the Holy Spirit declare his eternal existence and relation in nature to God; anyone who denies this, how can they say they know God? Because Jesus IS God The Son; they can not really know God because they are denying who he is. Jesus states: “but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 10:33). They are denying God The Son. The Holy Spirit hits it on the head when he has John record this: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… The Word became flesh and took up residence among us. We observed His glory, the glory as the One and Only Son from the Father full of grace and truth.” (John 1:1,14).  Thus we can see as God makes known, that they do not know God.  They may claim to know him, but he wont (Matthew 7:23).  And those who do not know God, are?  Not saved.  BUT we also DO NOT claim to know God’s will for them either.  In God’s divine will, the Holy Spirit may convict them of this, draw them to God the Father, learn of Jesus truest identity, and come to be saved by believing in the true gospel!  We all can hope and pray for this. 

The issue is that just about any subtle change in the gospel details has huge effects on the absolute divine truth.  It can lead people into believing a lie or believing in the true Triune God and eternal life with him.  ANY different teaching added to and injected into the true gospel makes it a different gospel.  And a different gospel does not lead to salvation.

If you have any questions or comments about this article please contact us or join our discussion forms

When An Angel Teaches A Different Gospel

Since the foundation of the Church, there have been many claims of supposed truth that has come down from heaven after what Jesus, and The Apostles of Jesus have made known in scripture.  Three most notable is what founded Islam, Mormonism, and Jehovah’s Witnesses.  All of these claim an Angel revealed something to their founders, different from the gospel that was proclaimed in scripture; either attempting to correct or add to it.  But, interestingly, The Holy Spirit knew this would happen and thus specifically said something about it.

Galatians 1:6-9

“I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; ⁷ which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. ⁸ But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! ⁹ As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!” 

Papyrus 46 is the oldest manuscript of Galatians currently discovered.  It is dated around the end of the 2nd century.  It contains significant portions of Galatians.  With it is Romans, Hebrews, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, 1 Thessalonians, and possibly others.  The reliability of this is unquestionable.  It is important to note the date and relation Galatians has with the other scriptures discovered with it.  Though the original was written before this manuscript, the date of this specific manuscript is only two of three generations from Jesus himself. Secondly, it is also in agreement with all that which is revealed in the other letters discovered with it.  This is important later.

People, at the time of this writing, were ‘deserting’ the true gospel message preached by the Apostles to a ‘different’, ‘distorted’, and ‘contrary’ gospel.  The source of the ‘different’, ‘distorted’, and ‘contrary’ gospels came either from men or even spirits.  The Holy Spirit, through Paul, declares that even if the Apostles themselves begin distorting the original gospel preached, they are wrong.  Even if an Angel from heaven came and taught a distorted gospel, they are also wrong.  In other words, there is no other gospel no matter the source; natural (men) or supernatural (spirits) besides the original gospel that was first proclaimed.

The True Gospel

This is the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ which includes the person and work of Jesus.  Jesus, The Son of God and God Himself, willingly, humbly, and voluntarily came down from heaven, to be born of a virgin, lived a perfect sinless life, and was the perfect sacrificial lamb to once and for all atone for the sins of all those who believe.  He then rose from the dead three days later validating his power over death and the power as the source of eternal life.  This is The Gospel message proclaimed by Jesus and The Apostles.   But, as time went on, human nature lead some to teaching something different, distorted, and contrary to this.

Gnosticism

This is a general term given to different early teachings.  Some of these early ideas are still apparent in cults and other religions today.  There are similar ideas in all these teachings.  They deny the foundational aspects of The Gospel message: The sufficiency of scripture, the incarnation of God as The Son and the sufficiency of Jesus death on the cross.  Some even deny the death of Jesus on the cross all together.  These Gnostics claimed that the source for their teachings came from divine sources and heightened states of spiritual awareness.  When people fail to understand and believe Galatians 1:6-9, their hearts and minds are open to just about any claim.

Islam

Around 610AD Mohammed, in a cave on Mt. Hira, hears the an angel who he believes to be Gabriel tell him that Allah is the only true God.  Right off the bat, this conflicts with what The Holy Spirit made known 500 years earlier (Galatians 1:8).  This belief system is different and contrary to what which was made known by Jesus and the Apostles.  It denies that Jesus was the Son of God and God in the flesh.  It denies that Jesus even died on the cross.  It denies Jesus’ sufficient atoning death for sin and denies the sufficiency of scripture.  In 746AD John of Damascus wrote about the claims of Islam where he said that Mohammad’s ideas of what Christianity believed derived from an Arian monk; of which Arianism is a distortion of the The Gospel as well.  Not only would Mohammad’s understanding of Christianity be influenced by a distorted gospel to begin with, but he then created his own system from there.  Regardless, at the premise, the birth of Islam conflicts with Galatians 1:8.  Either Galatians is false, or Muhammad’s teaching of a ‘different’, ‘distorted’, and ‘contrary’ gospel is false, both can not be true.

Mormonism

On Sept. 21, 1823 an angel revealed to Joseph Smith of the location of golden tablets and told him that he had been chosen to translate the book of Mormon.  The book of Mormon created an entire new system of religious beliefs that splintered off from Christianity.  A basic problem of the book of Mormon is that there are no archeological evidences to support any of its extreme historical claims.  Mormonism denies that Jesus is the One Triune God, in fact, Mormonism teaches that there is more than one god.  They deny the bodily resurrection of Jesus and the sufficiency of his death to forgive all sins once and for all.  They also deny the sufficiency of scripture alone and require other divine writings to aid in ‘correctly’ interpreting scripture.  Just like in Muhammad’s situation, Either Galatians is false, or Mormonism’s teaching of a ‘different’, ‘distorted’, and ‘contrary’ gospel is false, both can not be true.

The Easy Way Out

When an unverifiable person jumps up and declares that he has been given a vision or told by an angel to write a divine writing; it is then easy for them to explain away any true contradictions with scripture.  In the case with Galatians, it is then easy to say something like “God isn’t talk about me, but others after me”.  Or, even, claim that Galatians is a corruption of the original.  And people have no choice but to accept this unverifiable claim.  The major difference between Muhammad, Joseph Smith, and others who make this argument is that God never actually verified their claim for others to see.  Muhammad never performed any miracles and his prophecies failed.  Joseph Smith never performed any visible verifiable miracles.  The prophecies of the Jehovha’s Witnesses are continually failed and have been re-explained and failed again.  The Apostles were healing the blind and crippled and raising the dead to life.  Aside from the biblical recorded accounts, early church teacher, Papias, validated this as he knew of people who were raised from the dead in his day.  Membership growth and wining Wars do not validate someone’s spiritual truth claim.  Atheist church membership is growing and atheists have caused and won many wars.  Declaring “I will raise myself from the dead three days after I die” and then doing just that is validation. Declaring that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, then raising people from the dead is validating the source of power.  Anyone can claim that Galatians is wrong.  A 12 year old can just make that sort of claim just to reject the authority and justify themselves, but again, that does not make is so.  Its easy to make any claim, deny facts, and avoid being verifiable.

Not a Forgery 

So how do we know that Galatians is not a later forgery with the name of Paul as the author later inserted?  Well, its quite simple actually.  We just compare the vocabulary, writing style, theological point of view, cultural first hand knowledge, and presupposed historical situation to all the other Pauline writings.  Clement of Rome (and other early ancient church teachers) quoted from Romans and he wrote around 90 AD.  So we have outside sources to validate Paul’s Letter to the Romans.  When comparing such validated letters we see the commonalities of the letters from one author style.  Such is with Galatians, it is the same in vocabulary, writing style, theological point of view, and presupposed historical situation as the other validated Pauline writings.  Now of course no one now saw Paul pen the letters first hand; just like all other ancient writings, yet, given the evidences, we can be certain that this letter is in fact from Paul.  Even in Islam, Muhammad never wrote anything;  Joseph Smith never showed the supposed Gold Tablets to anyone; Jehovah’s Witnesses only have the unverifiable claims (and failed prophecies) of their founders.

This is a major problem for Islam, Mormons, and Jehovah’s Witnesses.  They are forced to claim that the words in Galatians are not of Paul but must be later insertions and corruptions.  They are forced to go against the certainty of evidence support for the authenticity of Galatians.  Because if they admit the truth of Galatians, they are then exposed to the truth stated by Paul in Galatians 1:6-9.  So, of course, they take the easy way out and just flat out deny it.

Conclusion

Sense we can be certain that Paul, an Apostle of Jesus Christ validated by the other Apostles (Galatians 1:18-19, 2:9; Acts 9:26-29), wrote Galatians and a copy exists from the 2nd century we can conclude that his statement in Galatians 1:6-9 is from an Apostle of Jesus Christ validated by the other Apostles.  Therefore, the Apostolic statement must be true.  That if anyone and even an angel preaches a different gospel message, it is wrong.  Islam, Mormons, and Jehovah’s Witnesses do just that, preach a different gospel from other angels.  But unlike them, he is validated by Apostolic support and miracles through preaching the true gospel and declaring Jesus as Christ and eternal Son of God.  Sense Galatians 1:6-9 is true, the claims of Islam, Mormons, and Jehovah’s Witnesses can not be.

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Discussion with a Jehovah’s Witness

Evangelism takes shape in many forms.  At times God has random strangers walk up and ask random questions that spark spiritual conversations.  Other times major life events causes us to reflect on deeper matters which leads to spiritual conversations.  And at times, God even uses the internet.  In this case, God chose to use the internet.  A devout Jehovah Witness reached out and shared a screen shot image from the JW website about who they think Jesus is.  Given the massive importance of the topic, we felt it was necessary to engage in a dialog with this individual but it quickly changed in tempo, tone, and agenda.

THE DISCUSSION

We began to address the question, soon more questions rolled in.  As we attempted to address the new questions; the previously answered questions were re posted or asked in a different way.  It was odd but we continually attempted to address the same questions in the new re-posts.

The answers were not to the satisfaction of the individual, and as the same questions were re-posted, we noticed that our answers were being left out.  Even in some cases, only our references to support our answers remained but our actual answers were cropped out of the screen shot.

The individual’s rebuttals to our answers were in forms of YouTube videos produced by JW or screen shots from the JW website alone (later Wikipedia was used).  We then began to focus on bringing to light the unreliability of the NWT and issues with believing what you are told solely based off what the watchtower organization teaches.

The issues with the unreliability of the NWT and sole influence of the watchtower organization were never addressed by the individual.  Only more questions and rephrased questions without our answers were continually posted.

As we redirected the focus on the individual’s only sources, we began to notice our replies deleted and left out of screen shots as the same questions were re-posted again and again.

We then would ask follow up questions after we addressed the individuals question.  But, our questions were never answered.  No big deal, because our answers to their questions still shed light on the issue and brought truth to the odd constant questioning.

Given that this whole discussion (turned into an interrogation) was on Twitter, which limits messages to only 140 characters AND the constant bombardment of questions and re-posted questions; keeping up was becoming rather difficult.

The individual then made comments about how we had an audience.  It was then we realized that this was no longer a discussion but an attempt to publicly belittle and vilify.  So our focus shifted to the dishonesty of the re-posts and questioning and the unreliable nature of the sources.

Gradually, the questioning turned to more personal attacks and “showing [our] true colors” but the re-posts were manipulated where our answers were purposefully not included in the re-posts; with the accusation of avoiding to give an answer or changing the topics.  A clear dishonest accusation so that his audience would feel as though we were doing so.  When in fact we did address the topic, gave an answer which was deleted or cropped out of the screen shot in the re-post.  So the audience would not be able to see our answers, the original post was also deleted.

As we stood fast and focused on the fact the questions were answered in previous posts about Jesus and The Bible, questioning the reliability of the sources, and pointing out and exposing the dishonesty; we were then blocked.

WHY SHARE THIS?

There are important lessons to be learned here.  Those who do not live in the light, hate the light (John 3:30).  What is the light in regards to this discussion? The truth about God and Jesus.  The whole things started with the true identity of Jesus.  This individual may not have hated the person sharing the truth about Jesus but they hated the truth about Jesus: that He is God.  How is this hatred?  Well, if someone is truly forgiving, merciful, patient, loving, and gracious, there would be no need to block someone if they are having a simple civil spiritual conversation.  There would be no need to try and be dishonest and manipulative.  But it is the hatred of the light that leads people to become dishonest, manipulative, impatient and intolerant of truth.

Another lesson to be learned is that God WILL be glorified even if the hatred of the individual causes them to reject the dialog.  The person who remained patient and gracious in the conversation did so in faithfulness to the Lord despite the turned public interrogation and belittlement.  Not to mention, being in the public sphere, God may lead others, who witnessed all this, to be exposed to the truth.  For HIS will to be done!

In this day in age, social networks and the internet are a huge tool to reach people around the world.  Proclaiming the person and work of Jesus Christ world wide IS the mission; and this is a God given tool to do so.

THESE TYPE OF CONVERSATIONS ARE COMMON

The conversations usually start off civil.  A back and forth discussion about spiritual matters.  That is a good thing!  BUT when the lies become exposed, those who genuinely believe in the lies commonly become more and more hostile; that’s natural. BUT the dialog usually shifts from spiritual matters to personal matters; turns from a discussion to an interrogation in an attempt to shame, discredit, vilify, and belittle the truth speaker through any means necessary like dishonest quoting, and manipulation.  When these more extreme attempts fail and are also exposed; the dialog falls apart and the person who hates the truth flees or seeks to silence the truth speaker.  Because these situations on social networks, online forums, and conversation tools all over the internet are common, we should expect it BUT hope and pray for the truth to impact their heart by the conviction of The Holy Spirit.

COMMONALITIES TO LOOK FOR

• One way conversation;  when the individual asks questions and does not answer any questions posted to them.  This is a sign that they do not really want to seek truth but to only argue.
• Misquoting; when the individual consistently misquotes or leaves out the key answers to their questions.  This is done to avoid the truth within the answer given.
• Situation Manipulation and public deception; when the individual manipulates the discussion to frame it a certain desired way.  Like saying that the question is being avoided by asking it in different ways and leaving out what has already been stated when in fact the essence of the question has already been answered.
• Loaded or “Gotcha” questions;  these are deceptive questions posed to trip up the truth speaker in an attempt to vilify and shame them if they do trip up.  Quoting a verse in the bible where Satan or Pharisees are speaking and then asking something like “do you agree with this statement” without stating who said it is a common ‘gotcha’ question but at the heart is purposefully deceptive.
• Personal attacks; when the individual begins to make the questions personal and negative in tone.  In God glorifying spiritual conversations, it is not about the people in the discussion but it is about the glory of God and his Son Jesus Christ.  Both individuals are imperfect sinners but the truth of God is perfection.

HOW TO ADDRESS THESE COMMONALITIES

• Always address the question with truth.  Provide references and illustrations to help illuminate the answer. 
• If misquoted, re-state the answer and point out the misquote
• If the situation is being manipulated, point out this as well and re-focus the conversation on the truth.
• When personally attacked, do not buy into the bait; re-focus the conversation on the truth and not on any one individual.
• At the end of it all, the gospel (life, death, resurrection; person and work of Jesus Christ) needs to be proclaimed.
• Research context and backgrounds of bible verses to avoid the ‘gotcha’ questions then expose the line of questioning for what it is; being deceptive. 
• Continually re-focus the conversation on Jesus; He alone is the way, THE TRUTH, and the life.

Eventually, 1 of 2 things WILL happen.  The person who hates the light will genuinely consider the truth offered and The Holy Spirit will work in their heart OR the person will grow in hatred of it and either flee or attempt to silence the truth speaker.  Regardless, God WILL be glorified and His truth will shine.

HELPFUL INFORMATION FOR COMMON DISCUSSIONS

• GO TO: resource for quick bible verse references  
• Manuscripts of The Bible and Textual Criticism
• Evidence for The Resurrection   
• Did the Apostles distort what Jesus taught?  
• Correctly Interpret and Understand The Bible
• Modern Secular Historians and The Bible
• Early Accounts of Christianity from Non-Christians 
• Why The Bible is Divine: Prophecy 
• Why The Bible Is Divine: Christology
• Why The Bible is Divine: Miracles
• Information about Other Religions and points of discussion  
• Who or What Is The Holy Spirit? 
• Who Is Jesus Really? 
• The Triune God of Christianity

THE INDIVIDUAL OF THIS DIALOG:

We pray that this person considers the truths presented and the Holy Spirit works in their heart and mind to genuinely seek truth.  We thank the Lord for this opportunity to Glorify Him through the means that He has offered.  We pray that anyone following the conversation is impacted for God’s glory and seek Jesus Christ as their Lord God and Savior.

If you have any questions or comments about this article please contact us or join our discussion forms

Are You Fearless For Christ?

Are you fearless for Christ?  Seems like a basic and simple question but it is much deeper than most of us actually think.  The deeper question is, are you so dedicated to Jesus that you risk your own life to make him more known?  This is the question we must all ask ourselves in our daily lives.  Reflecting on what Jesus, the Apostles, and the early church had to endure and sacrifice should give us some pause and self reflection.

 FEARLESS ACCOUNTABILITY 

Think of the most popular highly esteemed preachers who everyone precised to be Godly men.  Now, what if they were wrong in essential areas of the faith.  Would you call them out?  Would you seek their repentance for God’s Glory?  That’s exactly what Jesus did.

The Pharisees were the top ranked most respected religious teachers in that day.  What they said, went.  Then, this guy out of a small village begins taking their spot light.  They try to downplay his significance and even attempt to make him look bad in public.  Then, boom, this person, who is Jesus, says publicly they are nothing more than a hypocritical (Matthew 23:13, 15, 23, 25, 27, 29), unsaved (Matthew 23:13), blind (Matthew 23:16-17, 19, 24, 26), fake (Matthew 23:25-26), wicked (Matthew 23:28), brood of vipers (Matthew 12:34; 23:33) and children of Satan (Matthew 23:15).  Wow, harsh, but true story.  See Matthew 12:24-37; 23:1-38.  And that WE can recognize and know them by their fruit (Matthew 7:15-23).

Are you fearless enough to call out pastors and teachers privately and publicly that are hypocritical, blind, fake, and wicked?  What about yourself?  What if you were charged with being hypocritical, blind, fake, and wicked?  Are you humble and honest enough to do some self reflecting?  After all, if you are, you have to pull the plank of hypocrisy out of your eye before you can clearly see them.  Are you fearless enough to admit that?

FEARLESS IN SOCIETY

In a culture that is more and more becoming less tolerant of Christian truth, are you fearless enough to publicly stand for your faith in Christ?  Fearless enough to face being labeled a criminal like Jesus, the Apostles and the early church?  And, when the time comes, are you fearless enough to face hatred, physical abuse, torture, and possibly death?

Jesus makes this point personal.  “If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you… If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also. ²¹ But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know the One who sent Me.” (John 15:19-20).  Publicly proclaiming the Gospel message of Jesus Christ WILL cause those of the world to hate you.  Are you okay with that?  Or do you want the world to love you like its own?  Jesus was personally attacked.  He was publicly humiliated.  He was viewed as a criminal, physically abused, tortured, and killed.  Same with His disciples, and their disciples.

Are you fearless enough to attend church, bible studies, prayer groups, and risk being socially ostracized and publicly humiliated at your work place, social life, and even by family members?   

FEARLESS AT HOME

One of Jesus’ deepest and in some ways most devastating statements is this: “Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. 33 But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven. 34 “Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; 36 and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household. 37 “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. 38 And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. 39 He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.” (Matthew 10:32-39). THAT is how huge and important the person and work of Jesus is. Faith in HIM is greater than family. Are you fearless enough to proclaim faith in him even if your own family hates you for it?

FEARLESS GRACE

In light of all this, are you fearless enough to truly love them still? Fighting hate with hate is a worldly reaction. Fighting hate with GRACE is a godly solution. “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39 But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. 40 If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat also. 41 Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two…43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:38-4). This is NOT saying that you CAN be sinless BUT Jesus IS saying that we can exhibit the perfect GRACE that God has shown us. Are you fearless enough to show the perfect Grace of God to those who hate you?

IF you are not fearless enough for all this; than you need to reflect on what God has done on your own behalf.

FEARLESSNESS IN YOU

Jesus took on YOUR sin. He was hated, beaten, humiliated, and murdered; FOR YOU! He died and rose again to PROVE TO YOU that you have NOTHING to fear. He sent The Holy Spirit to empower you to be fearless in the face of everything that Jesus experienced. The Apostles experienced this as well. They, like Jesus, were also hated, beaten, humiliated, and murdered. The early church was hated, beaten, humiliated, and murdered too. TO THIS DAY there are Christians around the world that are hated, beaten, humiliated, and murdered! THEY are fearless because CHRIST is worth more than anything in this world. AND the reward for this fearless faithfulness to the person and work of Jesus Christ is greater than any amount of health, wealth, and happiness this broken wicked world could ever offer. Meditate on the Gospel, the Good News, and strive to see the fearlessness in its message! THEN GO, make disciples of ALL nations; fearlessly!

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Who Is Jesus Really?

The debate about the historical existence of Jesus is not a debate at all.  Genuine historians, even secular non christian historians accept the fact that Jesus actually existed.  E.P. Sanders, a highly respected secular historian stated: “…we have a good idea of the main lines of his ministry and his message. We know who he was, what he did, what he taught, and why he died. ….. the dominant view [among scholars] today seems to be that we can know pretty well what Jesus was out to accomplish, that we can know a lot about what he said, and that those two things make sense within the world of first-century Judaism.”  So, who is Jesus?


A Moral Person

We can most definitely conclude that, in the least, he was a ‘moral’ person.  But even stopping at this claim runs into problems.  Moral people don’t lie about highly serious and offensive matters.  Jesus did just that.  To the point that the Jewish community was so offended, they had him killed.  Stopping at ‘a moral person’ does not explain who he was.  In fact, he could not be a moral person if he lied his whole life up to his death, for lying about how he claimed to be.  He would actually be a liar, counterfeit, and con-artist.  The ‘moral person’ identity just does not cut it and falls a part.  

A Good Teacher

Maybe some could say that he wasn’t necessarily a moral person, but he was a good teacher.  He did teach and gain a rather large following.  But if what he was teaching was a lie or simply untrue, how then could he be a good teacher?  If he was upsetting people and spreading lies about them, how is that being a good teacher?  It is not.  Thus, we must take into account what exactly he taught to determine if he was a good teacher or not.  This is the problem for those who just want to go only as far as to say he was a good teacher but deny what he taught as though they were untrue or lies.  Just being a ‘good teacher’ is insufficient in who Jesus was.

A Lunatic 

If we do not believe in the supernatural or spiritual, we must then conclude that Jesus was just a crazy person.  If there is no God than he can not be a good person because he had to have been a manipulative compulsive liar that got himself and his followers killed.  For the same reasons we then can not conclude that he was a good teacher.  Therefore, given the nature of his teachings and if there is no god, than he was just crazy.  But, if there is a God, and he did do good works in the name of God and taught highly moral spiritual truths then he can’t be some ancient lunatic. 

A Prophet of God

Because just being a moral person fails or just being a good teacher fails, rational people when investigating the person of Jesus, must then go a step farther and take into consideration what exactly he taught.  Thus, they can conclude that he was a prophet of God.  He taught of spiritual things and religious truths coming from the God of the bible.  He lived a moral life according to the practices of that religion in that region.  But as we dig into what exactly he claimed; just being a Prophet of God falls short according to his claims.  It is clear that he made claims of deity, hence the reason for the offensive nature of his message and for the local religious community to kill him.  Claiming that Jesus was just a Prophet of God also falls short of his own claims and insufficient in his absolute identity.

A god

When applying what is recorded about him in the bible, his miracles and claims, some are then forced to admit that he very well could be a god.  These would though reject him being The Almighty God maker of heaven and earth.  How could he be that, being a man and getting killed?  Some people just stop there.  The fact that he was a man and was killed is enough for them to say that he was some sort of demigod or a god of a lesser extent.  But this is where the truest of his characteristics that makes who he actually was comes into play.  We must examine the totality of scripture and look deeper before we can make an educated decision about him.  Claiming that he is ‘a god’ is only taking into account some hints in scripture but ignoring the defining statements about his being and nature.

The Archangel?

When we make assumptions that aren’t in scripture it is easy to draw untrue conclusions.  Some believe that Jesus is nothing more than an angel.  Hebrews 1:5-8 makes a distinction between Jesus and angels.  This passage even shows that angels worship Jesus (Hebrews 1:6).  Again, some change the words around to say “bow down” instead of worship, but the word used is the same word used for worshiping God.  THEN the next verses actually proclaim Jesus’ deity.  “Of the angels he says…his ministers a flame of fire” then in verse 8: “But of the Son he says, YOUR throne, O GOD, is forever and ever…”.  Angels may be called sons of God (Genesis 6:2-4; Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7) (see The Son of God section), but THE Son of God is reserved for Jesus (Hebrews 1:8; Matthew 4:3-6).  

The major issue with this belief is that the Archangel is limited in power and authority; Jesus is not.  Jesus rebukes Satan directly with righteous authority but the Archangel “dared not bring a judgement of blasphemy” against Satan and then calls on the Lord to rebuke him.  Jesus is the eternal God incarnate (John 1:1, 14) (see God Himself section) while the archangel is only a created creature.

Some attempt to use 1 Thessalonians 4:16 as a proof text but again they fail to understand the verse and make false assumptions that are not specifically stated in the text (lead by outside biblical influences).  No where in that verse does it state that Jesus is the archangel.  2 Thessalonians 1:7 does say that Jesus will come with angels.  Given what both texts actually state, we see that Jesus will come with the archangel who issues the shout.  When this argument fails in light of what the text actually states, some resort to Job 38:7 where it calls angels sons of God. Again, Hebrews 1:5 refutes this and they fail to understand the uses and difference between ‘sons of God’ and The Son of God.   Check out more information at http://www.4jehovah.org/.  To get a foundational understanding of Jesus, we must first look at who ancient Israel was looking for.

Who Was Ancient Israel Waiting For?

Ancient Israel was looking for someone who was coming.  Moses, all the way down to their last prophets, proclaimed that someone was going who would free them from bondage and be a great king.  It starts in Genesis 3:15 where “he” would come from Eves offspring.  This “he” will be a descendant through Abraham and will bless “all nations” (Genesis 12:3).  This coming ‘he’ will be out of Judah which the rule and scepter belongs (Genesis 49:10).  He will come from Jacob with the scepter (Numbers 24:17).  This ‘he’ will be a great prophet like Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15-19).  He will be out of the line of David and the kingdom will be his (2 Samuel 7:12-16).  This ‘he’ is anointed by God and declared his begotten Son (Psalm 2:1-12).  This anointed holy one who is coming will not be abandoned in death nor will he see corruption (Psalm 16:8-11).  He will not be understood, instead, he will be mocked, his body will be tortured, his hands and feet will be pierced and his garments will be taken but through all this he will be vindicated and God will be praised (Psalm 22:1-31).  He will be unjustly hated and afflicted, yet he is righteous and God will be praised (Psalms 69).  He will rule, people will follow after ‘the day of your power’ and he is the highest Priest forever (Psalm 110:1-4).  He will be the corner stone of God’s kingdom, yet rejected (Psalms 118:22-24).  He shall be born from a virgin and his name means God with us (Isaiah 7:14).  This child will be the mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, wonderful Counselor, and he will have no end (Isaiah 9:6-7).  He will be a Nazarene from Jesse which is from a low status (Isaiah 11:1, 53:3).  He will perform many healings (Isaiah 35:5-6). Someone will go before him and proclaim his arrival (Isaiah 40:3-5; Malachi 3:1).   He will be preceded by Elijah as the voice in the wilderness (Malachi 4:5-6).  He is the direct servant of God the Father who will bring perfect justice to all nations (Isaiah 42:1-6).  He is the Suffering Servant of God (Isaiah 52:13-53:12).  He is anointed with The Spirit of God and the gospel to all (Isaiah 61:1-2).  He will come declaring the New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31).  He will be one like a son of man and given glory and an everlasting dominion where people of every nation will serve him (Daniel 7:13-14).  A count down till his arrival is predicted around 30AD (Daniel 9:24-27).  He will be born in Bethlehem but actually be from somewhere else (Micah 5:2).  He will at some point come out of Egypt being called God’s son (Hosea 11:1).  He will be King riding on a donkey (Zechariah 9:9).  Just as stated being the Suffering Servant of God, he will be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver and pierced (Zechariah 11:12-13, 12:10).  

To sum up the key points of identification that they Jewish people would have been looking for:

•  A single male individual 
•  A descendant from Abraham, Judah, Jacob, and David
•  Rightful ruler over all nations
• A great prophet like Moses- who speaks with God directly.
• The Anointed One
• The begotten Son of God
• The Highest Priest 
• He will be like a son of man
• Born by a virgin in Bethlehem, then go to Egypt where God will call him back.
• Someone like Elijah will proclaim his arrival.
• He will be made known around 30 AD.
• He will be praised as a king and ride a donkey.
• He will be rejected and betrayed for 30 pieces of silver then pierced.
• Wont be recognized and instead will be hated, mocked, and tortured.
• Will physically pay for the sins of people and bring justice to all nations.
• Will die but wont stay dead.
• He will remain righteous, blameless, and be glorified.

Symbolism of Messiah’s Life 

He is the willing sacrifice (Genesis 22:1-18).  He is the Passover lamb (Exodus 12:1-51).  He will be lifted up, become the sin of the people so that they can be healed (Numbers 21:6-9).  

Now, with the key points of identification from the Old Testament, let us now compare with the witness of the New Testament.

• A single male individual (Galatians 4:4; Luke 24:25-27)
•  A descendant from Abraham (Acts 3:24-26), Judah (Luke 3:33), Jacob (Matthew 2:2), and David (Matthew 1:1; Luke 2:1-7; Revelation 22:16)
•  Rightful ruler over all nations
• A great prophet like Moses- who speaks with God directly (Matthew21:46; Luke 24:19; John 7:40; Acts 3:22; Luke 1:76-79)
• The Anointed One (Matthew 12:15-18; Luke 4:17-21)
• The begotten Son of God (Luke 1:32-33; Mark 1:11; Hebrews 1:5; Acts 13:33)
• The Highest Priest (Hebrews 5:5)
• He will be like a son of man (Matthew 12:8; Mark 8:31; Luke 6:22; John 3:13-14)
• Born by a virgin in Bethlehem (Matthew 1:22-23, 2:1-6), then go to Egypt where God will call him back (Matthew 2:13-15).
• Someone like Elijah will proclaim his arrival (Matthew 3:1-3, 17:9-13; Mark 1:1-3; Luke 1:16-17, 76, 7:27).
• He will be made known around 30 AD. (Matthew 24:15-16; Mark 13:14-15; Galatians 4:4)
• He will be praised as a king and ride a donkey. (Matthew 21:1-7)
• He will heal (John 6:14; Matthew 11:4-6; Luke 7:20-23.
• He will bring a new covenant of God (Luke 22:20; 2 Corinthians 3:6; Hebrews 8:6-13)
• He will be rejected and betrayed for 30 pieces of silver then pierced. (Matthew 26:14-15; John 19:31-37; Revelation 1:7)
• Wont be recognized and instead will be hated, mocked, and tortured (Matthew 27:39, 43-44.46; John 19:24; John 15:25
• Will physically pay for the sins of people and bring justice to all nations (1 Corinthians 5:7-8; 1 Peter 1:19; John 3:14-18; Acts 8:32-35).
• Will die but wont stay dead (John 1:29,36; Acts 2:22-32, 13:35-37).
• He will remain righteous, blameless, and be glorified (1 Peter 2:21-25; .

 As you see, as time went on, more and more was gradually revealed about this person.  By the time all the prophets ended, they have all the details they needed to recognize the person perfectly.  Some did.  But some, blinded by other things, did not.  However, we do see some key details that leave the door open for what Jesus himself will reveal once he arrived.  

It is important to notice already that he is God’s own Son.  This makes him of divine origins.  He was ‘born’ by a virgin in Bethlehem but ‘is from ancient of days’.   He is glorified and his kingdom has no end.  Death doesn’t even kill him.  He is not merely a man, though he ‘is like a son of man’ he is more than that.  He is not just a high priest, he is The highest Priest.  He is not just chosen for a task, but he is The only Anointed One that can fulfill the task.  Anything and everything human, he is that plus more.  But that is where the Old Testament ends at describing him.  Why? because he then comes to describe himself in a greater way than the prophets of the Old Testament ever could.  A declaration only reserved for God.  But before we get to that ultimate declaration, let us first reflect on what he has made known about himself up to this point.

Jesus Is The Perfect Life

Jesus was blameless and lived a perfect life.  He was perfectly without sin (1 Peter 2:22; 1 John 3:5).  Be be in union with God The Father, he must be sinless to begin with (John 10:36-38).  Isaiah even declared that he never committed any sin (Isaiah 53:9).  This sinlessness was pleasing to God The Father (Luke 3:22).  Even the sinner on the cross knew Jesus never did anything wrong (Luke 23:40-43).  Though temped, he remained without sin.  Jesus was, also, able to avoid sin. James 4:7 says, “Submit yourselves then to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” Psalms 119:11 says, “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” When Jesus was tempted by the devil, He did use scripture to overcome the temptations and defeat the devil (Luke 4). 2 Peter 2:9 says, “. . . the Lords knows how to rescue the godly from trials. . .” and Isaiah 28:26 says, “His God instructs him and teaches him the right way.” Hebrews 4:15 says, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet was without sin..  This made Jesus alone the perfect sacrifice for sin. 1 Peter 2:24 explains: “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed”.  If only God is perfect and holy, how then can Jesus be perfect and holy?  The fact of his life points us to the ultimate claim.

Jesus Is The Perfect Satisfying Sacrificial Lamb 

Every year, Israel had to sacrifice a spotless lamb for the sins of their people to temporarily satisfy God as payment for their offenses against him.  But it was not perfectly satisfying because they had to do it every single year.  Even the high priest had to do a very specific ritual to atone for his sin before he could conduct the ceremony to atone for the rest of the people’s sin.  Every year.  Jesus Christ came as the perfectly satisfying sacrificial lamb to perfectly pay for the sins for all those who believe, once and for all.  Isaiah 53:5-6, 11-12 makes this clear.  “with his stripes we are healed… the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all… for the transgression of my people was he stricken… He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities… and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.”  His sacrifice satisfied God’s justice.  He interceded for the sinner, bore their sins, and this perfectly pleased God.  “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ” (Romans 8:1).  Hebrews 10:1-18 makes the value of his sacrifice absolutely clear.  we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (Hebrews 10:10).  How is it that only Jesus was absolutely perfectly pleasing and satisfying to God?  This fact of his perfect satisfying sacrifice points to his ultimate claim.

Jesus Is The High Priest 

Hebrews 2:17, 4:14 makes clear that it is Jesus who is the ultimate High Priest for us.  High Priests were responsible for making intercessions for the people to God himself by offering sacrifices.  They alone would enter the Holy of Hollies on the Day of Atonement and place blood on the Ark of the Covenant (Hebrews 9:7).  See the symbolism already?  Jesus offered the perfect sacrifice on the actual Day of Atonement where he offered himself.  But he being the ultimate sacrifice secured atonement for all eternity (Hebrews 9:12).  He alone is our Great High Priest (Hebrews 4:14) and enables all who believe to come to the throne of grace and obtain mercy.  The fact that he alone has the authority and power to enable sinners to enter the holy of hollies points to his ultimate claim.

Jesus Is The Greatest Prophet

The Prophets of God would receive direct truths from God himself and they convey these truths to God’s people.  They never had the authority to speak divine truths themselves except for which God instructed them to do.  Not only was Jesus understood to be a Prophet of God (see verses above) be he, himself, made prophetic proclamations with authority.  He made prophetic announcements regarding those who were following him (Matthew 26:21-25, 31-34).  He made prophetic proclamations of truth regarding specific cities (Matthew 11:20-24).  He even stated what was going to happen to The Temple itself (Matthew 24:1-2; Luke 21:20-24).  Jesus declared that he was not only going to be killed but will rise back up three days later (John 2:19-21, 12:38-40; Mark 8:31, 14:58).  He then spoke of future events like his second coming and events leading up to it (Matthew 7:15-23, 24:4-5, 11, 23-26; Luke 21:8).  He had the authority to speak the words of God The Father that no other prophet would or could do.  Not only did he relay what God said but he, himself, had knowledge of the unseen and of the eternal (John 3:11-12).  Even stating that he has been entrusted with divine judgement; an authority that God only has (John 5:22-23, 27).  This divine prophetic knowledge and authority points to his ultimate claim. 

Jesus Is The Messiah and Christ

Remember, the people of Israel were waiting on the foretold Messiah who is called Christ to save them.  But, they of course, were thinking of a valiant war general who will lead the Jewish army against Rome, win, and free them from the rule of the Roman Empire. But some of them recognized the Christ as a savior in the spiritual sense too.  Peter understood this when he proclaimed it in Matthew 16:16.  The Apostles proclaimed this every day in the temple (Acts 5:42, 17:3).  Jesus himself even claimed this title as Christ in John 4:25-26.  Jesus Christ saved all those who believe from the penalty of sin and freed them to truly worship God in spirit and truth (Hebrews 9:28; 1 Corinthians 15:23-24).  After paying the price for sin and satisfying God’s perfect justice, he was resurrected from the dead (Acts 2:31; Romans 7:4).  Thus making him the only possible Messiah that could completely redeem people from their sins and save them from the wrath of a just and righteous God. 

Jesus Is The Second Adam and son of man

Adam was the first man. Created from the dirt and brought sin and death into the hearts of all mankind.  Jesus is revealed as the second Adam.  The first Adam, which was from that which was created (dirt), the second Adam was from that which eternally existed, the presences of God.  The first Adam brought sin and death into the world, the second Adam brought life and salvation to the world (1 Corinthians 15:45-49).  From the place of eternity he willingly and voluntarily humbled himself and entered the world in the form of man.  A limited form.  The first Adam was proud and took the self-centered initiative to disobey God.  The second Adam humbled himself and took a selfless God-centered initiative to perfectly obey God, even until death.  Where he came from and his perfect contrast to mankind points to his ultimate claim.

Jesus Is The Son of God 

This claim is huge in and of itself.  God does not need to reproduce.  He speaks and creates.  The idea of being the Son of God is not in offspring-family standing, because again, God does not need to reproduce.  The designation of being the Son of God means that he is of the same nature as God because he is “of God”.  Being the Son makes him have rights to inherit all that is God’s.  That phrase “like father like son” is exactly what is being expressed here.  Jesus, being the Son of God, is described as being the exact radiance of the glory of God.  Exact imprint of God’s nature.  The exact authority and power of God.  Where he alone gets to sit at the right hand of God because he is exactly like his Father in every way (Hebrews 1:3; Luke 1:35).  A right that not even angels in heaven have.  A right that no person has or will ever have.  He alone, is The Son of God in spirit and nature.  The Jewish religious leaders understood this and that’s why they wanted to stone him for blasphemy.  Not because he was a godly righteous person; because, after all, they thought they were (John 19:7).  But simply because he claimed to be directly related to God himself because his claim was OF God in spirit and nature.  The word “son” can also mean “possessing the nature of” given the context.  An example in Ephesians 2:1-2 we see “sons of disobedience” this isn’t literally “son” by birth but “son” in nature, the sinful nature. Same in 1 Kings 20:35 where we read about the “sons of the prophets”, not literally being the offspring of Prophets; they were equal in nature.

Another important fact is even Demons knew the difference between The Son of God (John 5:25) and being sons or children of God (Luke 20:36; John 1:12).  A recognition they never gave to the Apostles.  This Son of God is granted the same glory of God (John 11:4).  We aren’t talking about Jesus being the Son of a god, but THE only Son of THE God The Father (2 John 3).  Now Adam was a son of God in the fact he was created directly from God and had no earthly parents.  BUT, he was not The Son of God in nature and spirit; hence by disobedience.  The most important truth is that Jesus, The Son of God has been with God for all eternity (John 1:1-18).  If this was not true, than Adam would have been counted as someone who has seen God The Father; either that or Jesus is a liar.  Jesus is the Son of The Most High, a unique position no other will ever have in all eternity (Luke 1:32, 35).  

Jesus was not only The Only Begotten co-eternal Son of God literally (not by offspring), but also in nature and spirit.  Colossians 2:9 expresses this perfectly.  “The fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form”.  ‘The Fullness’, which means he is not lesser or lacking but complete and equal.  John declares that Jesus is THE Son of God; equally eternally God (1 John 5:20).  AND BAM, there it is, the ultimate claim.

“God the Father, the angel Gabriel, His own disciples, the Apostle Paul, and even the demons acknowledge Jesus as the Son of God. Although Adam, angels, Israel, peacemakers, and Christians are all called “sons of God” the Scripture designates Jesus as the unique Son of God. He possesses the same nature as the Father – God. However He is not a literal offspring for He has existed for all eternity. The Bible often uses the word “son” in the sense of “possessing the nature of.” Jesus is the “Son” of God in this sense- possessing the nature of God. The title “Son” does not, in any way, suggest the Son if inferior to the Father.” – Don Stewart

The Ultimate Claim: Jesus Is God Himself

Jesus makes himself equal to God (John 10:30) and the religious leaders who knew scripture front to back knew exactly what he was stating (John 10:33).  God The Father told Moses that his name is IAM (Ex 3:14), Jesus then claims that name (John 8:58).  John 1:1-14 is undeniable.  Jesus’ blood was shed for the church, Acts 20:28 tells us that GOD bought the church with HIS OWN blood.  Thomas declared that Jesus was both Lord AND God (John 20:28).  Peter says the same when he connects Jesus as being both savior and God (2 Peter 1:1).  Isaiah understood this too when he called the coming child that is to be born, mighty God and eternal father (Isa 6:9) and stating his name is Immanuel which literally means “God with us” (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23).  The author of Hebrews also understood the connection of Jesus as God (Hebrews 1:8).  So did Paul in his letter to Titus in Titus 2:13.  Jesus accepted the divine worship of his followers (Matthew 2:11; 14:33; 28:9, 17; Luke 24:52; John 9:38).  Then Paul in Colossians 2:9-10 bluntly declares in Jesus dwells the fullness of Deity.  The early christian church, after the Apostles, understood this all through its history to this very day.  Please read this page that addresses objections to these passages.

Attributes of God The Father and of Jesus:

• Omniscience:  (1 John 3:20; Psalm 147:5; John 16:30)
• Omnipresent: (Proverbs 15:3; Jeremiah 23:24; I Kings 8:27; John 1:48; Matthew 18:20; 28:20)
• Knows the heart of mankind  (1 Kings 8:39; Jeremiah 17:9-10; John 2:24-25; Rev. 2:18, 23)
• Sanctifies (Exodus 31:13; Hebrews 10:10)
• Our Righteousness (Jeremiah 23:6; 1 Corinthians 1:30)
• Immutable: (Malachi 3:6; Hebrews 13:8)
• Only God to be served (2 Kings 17:35; Col. 3:24)
• Only God to be worshiped (Exodus 34:14; John 5:23; Revelation 5:11-14 compare with Rev. 4:10-11; Revelation 22:8-9)
• Only God is due glory (Isaiah 42:8; Jn. 17:5)
• Only God is prayed to (Exodus 23:13; John 14:14)
• God is the first and last (Isaiah 44:6; 48:12; Revelation 1:17-18; 22:12-13, 20)
• Only God is the great judge (Psalm 98:9; Deuteronomy 32:39; Jeremiah 17:9-10; John 5:21-22; Revelation 2:18, 23)
• Only God can forgive sins (Mark 2:7; Daniel 9:9; Mark 2:10-11; Luke 24:46-47)
• God is Lord of Lords and Lord of all (Deuteronomy 10:17; Revelation 17:14; 19:16; Matthew 11:25;
  Acts 17:24, 10:36; Jude 4) 
• God is the savior and there is only one (Isaiah 45:21-22; Titus 2:13; 2 Peter 1:1; Isaiah 43:11)
• God created the universe and there is only one creator (Psalm 102:25-27; John 1:3; Colossians 1:15-19;10. Hebrews 1:10-12; Isaiah 44:24).

Once we truly understand that Jesus Is THE Son of God and Lord God himself, we can then begin to understand THE ONE TRIUNE GOD and know God himself in a deeper more intimate way, the way he wants us to.  (The Triune God of Christianity)

Also read Manuscripts of The Bible and Textual Criticism | Why The Bible is Divine: Miracles  | Why The Bible Is Divine: Christology  | Why The Bible is Divine: Prophecy  |  Is God Perfect? Does God Make Mistakes?  |  Test, Discern, and Righteous Judgement  |  The Absolute Greatest Message To Tell Everyone  |  What is ‘Doctrine’ and does it matter?  |  Modern Secular Historians and The Bible  |  Correctly Interpret and Understand The Bible  |  Early Accounts of Christianity from Non-Christians  |  Did the Apostles distort what Jesus taught?  |  Why The Disciples of The Apostles Matter Today  |  The Satisfaction of Christ Jesus  |  Christology; Pre-incarnation  |  DANIEL 9: Timeline To The Messiah  |  The Virgin Birth  |  Jesus Christ’s Hypostatic Union  | Jesus, The Son of God |  Jesus, The One Like a Son of Man  |  Has The Bible Changed?  | God The Father  | By Christ’s Work Alone  | God’s Glory Alone  |  The Triune God of Christianity  |  Scripture Alone  |  Witnessing to Jehovah’s Witness: Identity of Jesus  |  Witnessing to Jehovah’s Witness: The Watchtower  |  Jesus Is God

If you have any questions or comments about this article please contact us or join our discussion forms

Do Christians Need to Attend Church?

In the age of TV Evangelism, Podcast sermons, and everything we ever need at home, some people question why bother attend church.  They hangout with their Christian friends at times and get a sermon Sunday morning in their bedroom on TV.  What does the Lord say about being actively involved in a local Christian community?   First we will look at specific verses and then we will look at the actions and expectations of the foundational church. Then we can address the excuses and hit at the real problem.

THE STRAIGHT FORWARD

Hebrews 10:23-25

²³ Let us hold on to the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. ²⁴ And let us be concerned about one another in order to promote love and good works, ²⁵ not staying away from our worship meetings, as some habitually do, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day drawing near.

Explicitly stated here to NOT avoid ‘worship meetings’.  These meetings was when the local christian community would gather and worship God together with music, teaching, sharing resources, and prayer; all together.  Sitting at home watching a Televangelist is not this.

Ephesians 1:22

²² And He put everything under His feet and appointed Him as head over everything for the church, 

Colossians 1:18a

He is also the head of the body, the church; 

Christ Jesus is head of the church;  Avoiding church is like avoiding a meeting organized by Christ himself.

Acts 2:41-42

⁴¹ So those who accepted his message were baptized, and that day about 3,000 people were added to them. ⁴² And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to the prayers.

Here we see the early church were devoted to each other.  Devoted to attending ‘worship meetings’ and obey what Christ instructed them with the Lords supper as well.  Which, can not be done or obeyed by avoiding the meetings.

1 John 1:3

what we have seen and heard
we also declare to you,
so that you may have fellowship along with us;
and indeed our fellowship is with the Father
and with His Son Jesus Christ.  

John boldly says that all the things they have seen and heard and declared to the church, so to enable, and for the purpose of, allowing fellowship to take place!

Romans 12:9-18

⁹ Love must be without hypocrisy. Detest evil; cling to what is good. ¹⁰ Show family affection to one another with brotherly love. Outdo one another in showing honor. ¹¹ Do not lack diligence; be fervent in spirit; serve the Lord. ¹² Rejoice in hope; be patient in affliction; be persistent in prayer. ¹³ Share with the saints in their needs; pursue hospitality. ¹⁴ Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. ¹⁵ Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep. ¹⁶ Be in agreement with one another. Do not be proud; instead, associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own estimation. ¹⁷ Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Try to do what is honorable in everyone’s eyes. ¹⁸ If possible, on your part, live at peace with everyone.

Paul drops the mic in Romans 12 when he makes it absolutely clear that the community of believers, and local body of Christ is family and focused on each other!   Sharing, serving, rejoicing, weeping, showing honor, and just about everything that makes up a community is what believers are CALLED to BE.   All of which can not be done when sitting at home watching TV sermons. 

Also read Me, Myself, And I and “Doing Me” 

ACTIONS OF THE CHURCH

There are actions and events that is meant for the body of Christ alone.  People who do not attend church fail to serve the Lord through the opportunities the Lord gives the church.  They miss out on spiritual fellowship and service.

Acts 14:27

²⁷ After they arrived and gathered the church together, they reported everything God had done with them and that He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. 

Those who chose not to gather with the rest of the church were left out of the loop in regards to God’s Will.

2 Timothy 2:2

² And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, commit to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

Another statement that those who do not attend church fail to abide by here.  They are uncommitted to any local body and thus are not being taught or grow in fellowship and faith.

Hebrews 13:7

⁷ Remember your leaders who have spoken God’s word to you. As you carefully observe the outcome of their lives, imitate their faith. 

It is impossible to ‘carefully observe’ and ‘imitate’ someone’s faith if ‘church avoiders‘ are not in fellowship with them on a regular basis.  Thus, another request from the Apostles that non church goers won’t benefit from.

Acts 2:44-47

⁴⁴ Now all the believers were together and held all things in common. ⁴⁵ They sold their possessions and property and distributed the proceeds to all, as anyone had a need. ⁴⁶ Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple complex, and broke bread from house to house. They ate their food with a joyful and humble attitude, ⁴⁷ praising God and having favor with all the people. And every day the Lord added to them those who were being saved. 

 The early church met EVERY DAY!  they met in the temple to hear the teaching of scripture and went privately, more like small groups, to houses to do what Jesus commanded them to do; communion.  They were joyful and humble and helped each other!  Their common attitude and meeting together everyday built family like relationships!  They grew in faith and matured together.  All of which, can not be done by avoiding attending modern christian community gatherings.

1 Peter 4:10

¹⁰ Based on the gift each one has received, use it to serve others, as good managers of the varied grace of God. 

Every believer is given gifts for the sole purpose of building up the church.  The gifts purpose is to be used to serve others!  What a waste of a gift if people never attend church.

1 Corinthians 12:12, 14-27

¹² For as the body is one and has many parts, and all the parts of that body, though many, are one body—so also is Christ… ¹⁴ So the body is not one part but many. ¹⁵ If the foot should say, “Because I’m not a hand, I don’t belong to the body,” in spite of this it still belongs to the body. ¹⁶ And if the ear should say, “Because I’m not an eye, I don’t belong to the body,” in spite of this it still belongs to the body. ¹⁷ If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? ¹⁸ But now God has placed each one of the parts in one body just as He wanted. ¹⁹ And if they were all the same part, where would the body be? ²⁰ Now there are many parts, yet one body.  ²¹ So the eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” Or again, the head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” ²² But even more, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are necessary. ²³ And those parts of the body that we think to be less honorable, we clothe these with greater honor, and our unpresentable parts have a better presentation. ²⁴ But our presentable parts have no need of clothing. Instead, God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the less honorable, ²⁵ so that there would be no division in the body, but that the members would have the same concern for each other. ²⁶ So if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. ²⁷ Now you are the body of Christ, and individual members of it.

So how effective is the eye without the brain… or the arms without the heart… If you left to go out to eat and left your stomach at home; how well are you going to eat?  So, how effective are you for the Lord if you are not part of a local community of believers?   How effective are you for the Lord if you are not part of His body?  How do other believers benefit from your testimony, resources, knowledge, and gift if you do not fellowship with them?

Also read An Inconsiderate Faith 

THE LORDS SUPPER

1 Corinthians 11:23-26, 

²³ For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: On the night when He was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread, ²⁴ gave thanks, broke it, and said, “This is My body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.” ²⁵ In the same way, after supper He also took the cup and said, “This cup is the new covenant established by My blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” ²⁶ For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.

Luke 22:19

¹⁹ And He took bread, gave thanks, broke it, gave it to them, and said, “This is My body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.”

If Christians don’t attend a christian community meeting, how are they faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ in sharing with him His communion?  He said “Do this”; are you?

THE GREAT COMMISSION

Matthew 28:19-20

¹⁹ Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

This is known as The Great Commission because it is stated for ALL believers.  It is not a suggestion but an expectation; Go, disciple, baptize, and teach.  Are you being faithful to the Lord by following this commission?  It is impossible to follow Jesus in this regard if Christians do not regularly meet with a local Christian community. 

Ephesians 4:12

¹² for the training of the saints in the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ, 

Another example of how not attending church makes it impossible to be a faithful servant to the Lord; seeing how a ‘church avoiders‘ can’t train or build up the body of Christ, if they’re not in fellowship with it.

Acts 20:28

²⁸ Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock that the Holy Spirit has appointed you to as overseers, to shepherd the church of God, which He purchased with His own blood. 

No one can help guard and protect local believers if they don’t fellowship with the local church.

1 Peter 5:2-4

² Shepherd God’s flock among you, not overseeing out of compulsion but freely, according to God’s will; not for the money but eagerly; ³ not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. ⁴ And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. 

Some people may think their wise and trained in the bible, but by not being in fellowship with a local Christian community, they fail to be a shepherd and are actually being an example of the wrong sort for the local body of Christ.  This also exposes how ignorant they are in regards to scripture and how selfish they are in regards to The Body of Christ.  Ultimately their issue isn’t with the local church but with the One who is head of the church- Christ Jesus.

Thus, being an individual and not associating or being in fellowship with a local Christian community that meets regularly, is actually being unfaithful to the Lord and failing the Body of Christ.

Also read All Christians Are Missionaries 

THE EXCUSES  

What If I don’t Like Any Local Churches?

Get over your self and don’t hypocritically judge.  Recognizing flaws in a local body PROVES that YOU need to serve and help that local body.  Unless the church is teaching and pursuing heresies and things that which God hates; they need your service and gifts.

What If I Don’t Like Their Worship Music Style?

Get over your self and worship God!  There are no modern churches that sing the same songs in the same ways that the earliest church did.  Period.  Classical hymns, modern hymns, contemporary, gospel choir, WHATEVER!  Go, serve, and worship that God that has saved your soul!

But There Are No Local Churches That Have Ministries For My Family/life stage Needs?

Get over your self and start them!  Clearly you have recognized a need and you have the experience and knowledge of that need… sounds like that local church NEEDS YOU.  Children, elderly, women, teens, college students, single adults, married couples groups, whatever, “GO and MAKE and TEACH” just as Jesus has commissioned you to do.

But I Don’t Know Anyone?

Informal communication is the easiest for those who are just not outgoing.  Email people at the local church listed on their website or facebook message them from their facebook page.  Introduce yourself and tell them that you want to get connected! boom.  If you are out going, just show up one Sunday and introduce yourself to a greeter and ask to be introduced to someone who runs the ministry you want to be part of.  OR just bring a close and willing friend; but make sure they encourage you to meet someone there and get connected at that church.

But They Will Harshly Judge Me and Make Me Feel Unwelcome!

You just hypocritically and harshly judged them.  They are sinners just as much as you are!  Remember, Christ Jesus is head of HIS church and will deal with the members of his body as he sees fit.  You are not the judge and jury of what belongs to Him.  If this does happen, you call it out, and report it to elders and deacons of the church just as holy scripture calls us to do.  Christ Jesus is a far better judge than you and I when it comes to sinners.

What If It Is Too Far?

Visit our Church Finder page; I’m sure you can get yourself to a local church, especially if Jesus, the Apostles, their disciples, and the early church could do all their travels in ancient leather flipflops.

But Their Meetings Do Not Fit My Schedule

Search around, Churches meet at different times throughout the week as well.  Go to bed early so you can wake up early. If your current working hours prevent you from being faithful to Christ Jesus and His body, you may want to re-evaluate your life priorities. 

THE REAL PROBLEM

Ever wonder where all these excuses and failed justifications for avoiding church come from?  Its simple.  Our Hearts and our Sinful Nature.  In just about every case it is flat out selfish thinking and self-centeredness.   In reality, in the eyes of Christ, there are no justifications for not being part of his body, especially when he has called you and enables you through the power of the Holy Spirit. Those who cling to these excuses need to truly examine themselves and ask: Do I Truly Love Jesus Christ?  In some cases these people may not really be saved but just wanting to act and feel like they belong to a religion. Are you just trying to be faithful to a religion by watching a person of the same religion preach on TV or do you desire to be faithful to Jesus Christ as your LORD and Savior by worshiping him through your service in His Body? 

GET INVOLVED

When you find a church to get involved with; make sure it is a healthy, gospel-centered, Christ-focused Church body. There are a lot of meetings of people that claim to be ‘christian‘ but WHAT they worship and WHAT they teach can expose their man-centered worldly-focused worship.  Please see our Health Church test and Teachings test to be secure in that you are being taught by and involved with those who truly love AND KNOW Jesus Christ as LORD GOD and Savior as revealed in God’s Holy Word.  Confessional churches tend to be more gospel-centered, Christ-focused Churches in that no matter who their current pastor or church leadership is, they have firm understandings of what they hold to be true and are grounded in what has always been taught in the faith.  They do not have to be of a specific denomination and not all of them are.  Be careful of churches that focus on material gains and wealth– those tend to be man-centered worldly-focused in their core.  In the same way, be cautious with the more charismatic churches who can also lean man-centered worldly-focused disguised as ‘spiritual’.  Keep in mind, ‘non-denominations’ are a type of denomination of its self.  Don’t focus on any type of denomination or lack of, but focus on finding a healthy, gospel-centered, Christ-focused church first and foremost.

If you have any questions or comments about this article please contact us or join our discussion forms

The Real Opportunity to Glorify God and Love Your Neighbor

Some people think that being a good neighbor is serving the Lord, but then just leave it at that.  Others feel that living a ‘gospel’ lifestyle is good enough so proclaiming the gospel to your neighbor is not necessary.  Some still, avoid conversations about spiritual things and justify themselves with ideas like “my neighbor sees my gospel lifestyle” or “I do nice things for my neighbor, so they see God through that”.  But is that actually serving and Glorifying God and actually loving your neighbor;  Are we actually taking the REAL opportunities that God places us in to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ?

To be quite frank, those examples above are not being faithful to the Lord.  There is no such thing as a ‘gospel lifestyle’ because The Gospel is a spoken message that we are called to speak and teach.  The second example does mean anything at all really; atheists and Buddhist monks can do ‘nice’ things for their neighbor too; but both are in vain because the person and work of Jesus is still not made known. 

Some Christians fail to see the opportunities to participate in God’s eternal plan for their neighbor.  Other times, they recognize an opportunity but for one excuse or another, they justify not taking advantage of the observation. Largely in part to the fact they fail to understand how immensely important that opportunity is and how vast the weight and value of it really is.  Serving the Lord is being faithfully pro-active.

THE IMPORTANCE, VALUE, AND WEIGHT

If you the person you were speaking with was going to die a horrific death driving to Walmart following meeting with you; would you not try and stop them from going to Walmart? or at least warn them?  See, that is just a risk of physical death.  What if the risk was ETERNAL DEATH AND ETERNAL SEPARATION FROM GOD.  Isn’t that important enough to have some sort of urgency to proclaim the gospel to them?  Is their physical AND spiritual rightness with God worth the conversation and gospel presentation?  Isn’t the responsibility and calling to proclaiming the greatest message in all the universe, that you hold, heavy enough to give to someone who needs it?

If Christians DO understand the importance, value and weight of the gospel, why then do some not proclaim it when there is an obvious opportunity and invitation to do so?  For a number of reasons. 

1.  They don’t actually LOVE their neighbor enough to have a uncomfortable spiritual conversation. 
2.  They don’t actually trust that God is sovereign and the Holy Spirit will guide their mind and the heart of their neighbor.  They trust more in themselves, and that is the reason why they are more insecure about having an uncomfortable spiritual conversation; because THEY might mess it up. 
3.  They don’t actually believe in the truth and power of the Gospel message.   
4.  They are too concerned and worried about how they will look or what their neighbor will think of them.

There is a 5th reason for why some do not serve the Lord and give witness of the Gospel:

     5.  They do love their neighbor, they trust God, believe in the truth and power of the Gospel, and are not concerned about what their neighbor thinks; they just don’t know what to say or how to say it.  They are unaware of how easy and simple it actually is.

WHAT IS A REAL OPPORTUNITY?

What is meant by a REAL Opportunity is not going door to door or yelling on the street corner.  Though real opportunities may come from those, Lord willing.   A real opportunity to give a gospel presentation is when the subject, situation, and individuals are willing and conducive to the discussion.  If, in a natural conversation, your neighbor says something like “hey, I got a question…” and its a spiritual question; boom, that is a wide open door for a gospel conversation and presentation.  That is a NATURAL and INVITING, REAL opportunity to glorify God and proclaim the Gospel.  Even uninviting/hostel natural invitations into spiritual conversations can be real opportunities. 

Sometimes, some people just want to debate and argue.  But does that matter?  Sometimes the Lords wants others around who are listening to hear the message; even if the debater is unwilling to listen or accept the message.  Sometimes, in the debaters mind, they refuse the message, but in their heart, they hear it; and it effects them at a later date.  The point is, God’s Will will be done over all the hearers no matter the situation.  A REAL opportunity can be a nice and intimate conversation with a peaceful neighbor that happened naturally in a conversation OR a real opportunity can be forced on your lap in a hostel situation where you are called on by a aggressive individual to give your ‘opinion’.  Either way, it was in God’s Will for YOU to give an account for the truth that is in you; the person and work of Jesus Christ — the gospel.  

SEEING THE REAL OPPORTUNITY

Being able to spot the opportunity, in a lot of ways, is God himself tapping you on the shoulder and pointing to the situation; making you aware of the opportunity.  If it was not for God, we would never realize or be aware of the opportunity.  BUT, WHEN, we do see the opportunity, we are put in a spot of decision.  To act on that opportunity or run/hide from it.  We run and hide from it for the reasons previously listed above. 

WHAT DO WE SAY?

When we act on the obvious and real opportunity; we keep in mind our hearer and where they are at in life.  We consider their attitude and demeanor toward ‘religion’ and God.  We ALWAYS want to be KIND in our words.  Wise as a serpent and soft as a dove (Matthew 10:16).  We know, as revealed by God in his Holy Word, that those who do not believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, are not saved.  BUT we do NOT, as the first thing we say to them, that they are going to Hell.  WHY NOT?  Because there is no understanding of the vastness and horrible nature of Hell.  To them, that is only a vain insult.  Because there is no actual meaning or truth of Hell, your statement, even though maybe be true in some ways, has no actual kind value to them.  It is vain and unfruitful to spit out all kinds of truths that have not realized value or meaning unless you are saved in the first place.  That’s like explaining The Trinity to someone who doesn’t believe Jesus actually existed.  Clearly a different issue needs to be addressed first; like the actual historic existence of Jesus.  Without that, explaining The Trinity wouldn’t mean anything. This brings us to the next critical question:

WHERE DO WE START?

We want to be lovingly and kind-fully tactful in our approach to a genuine and real opportunity to proclaim the gospel to people outside of the church (Colossians 4:5-6; Matthew 10:16).  We need to consider the person and situations.  After we evaluate the person and situation we can better address their more urgent needs and issues.  BUT no matter the different word choices and the unique dynamic issues each individual faces; there is one core and primary message to ALWAYS start with that is THE cause for changing hearts and minds of hearers: The GRACE of God.

THE GRACE OF GOD
This truth alone is responsible for the drawing, calling, convicting, converting, and unwavering faith of ALL believers.  The GRACE of God impacts ALL aspects of life. It is also the one single truth that propels Christianity above ALL other man-centered religions.  God’s UNMERITED FAVOR.  The favor we DO NOT and CAN NOT earn.  The favor that WE DO NOT and WILL NEVER deserve.  The GRACE that we needed from birth till the day we leave this world.  The GRACE that we need with how we interact with our neighbor and even how we interact with God himself.   Without God’s Grace, this blog is useless, you reading this is pointless, and life itself is vain.  BUT because God has been GRACIOUS toward us by allowing us to exist despite how offensive we are; here we are, discussing how to explain this kind of Grace to others.  Without understanding the amazing Grace of a Holy and Just God, we can not really fully understand other truths.  Why?  Because understanding God’s Grace is understanding God’s eternal nature, motivations, purposes, and desires.  From there, it NATURALLY leads to all primary truths of the Gospel message.

PRIMARY TRUTHS:

1.  God sent his ONLY Son, Jesus, to live the life that we can not live.  Why?  Because God desires his creation to know him, love him, and worship him.  Because we can not live the perfect life that a Holy and Just God requires.  Because imperfection, corruption, and unholiness can not be in his perfect, uncorrupted and holy presence.  Because God is perfectly just and right, unholiness needs to be addressed.

2.  Jesus was crucified and physically died as the perfect payment for sin.  Why?  Because only the perfect value in Jesus can cover the cost of our imperfection and sin. Why? Because if we tried to pay for each others sins, sin would remain; and God’s justice would still require something to satisfy what was still remaining.  Jesus, alone, satisfies the perfect justice of God because he alone is perfect.

3.  Jesus rose from the dead three days later and appeared to the Apostles and over 500 people.  Why?  Because Jesus expressed how he is the Son of God, divine, holy, and in perfect union with God The Father; thus proving his power over absolute bodily death.  Why?  Because he is exactly who he said he is and purposely made witnesses of this fact for all time.  Whom then went throughout the world, as instructed by Jesus, to proclaim this truth;  the truth of who he is and what he did.

4.  All whom believe in this truth, of the person and work of Jesus Christ, will be made new, spiritually alive, right before God, and given eternal life.  Why?  Because this was God’s plan for all those who believe. God desires mercy.  Willing to forgive.  Grants the free gift of salvation and eternal life.  And did it all through his Son.

5.  But, God, in his love and justice; gives people exactly want they desire.  Either life with him through his Son, or life without him.  Either way, the issue of unholiness and imperfection still has to be addressed at the end of this life.  Why?  Because God is perfectly Just and perfectly loving. BUT through his perfect GRACE he offers everyone the gift of his Son’s life for theirs so that they may have eternal life with him.

Explaining these 5 truths in light of God’s Sovereign Grace is the most loving conversation anyone can ever have in this life.  Period.  Debating evolution verses creationism, church worship styles, and if having a beer is a sin or not are SECONDARY to the gospel message. 

HOW TO BE PREPARED

Its not always how prepared you are but how confident you are in these truths.  We need to study the gospel for ourselves as often as possible.  We need to examine ourselves so that KNOW the person and works of Jesus Christ.  Through this reinforced understanding and emboldened faith; we are confidently equipped to proclaim the gospel to others.  In simple terms; study the gospel message.  Know it.  Preach it to your self.  Study the following:

• 1 Corinthians 15:1-8
• Romans 1:1-5

THE ROMAN ROAD

This is a good string of verses that express the Gospel:

1. Romans 3:23
2. Romans 6:23
3. Romans 10:9
4. Romans 5:1

1 Peter 3:15 states “but honor the Messiah as Lord in your hearts. Always be ready to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.”

NATURALLY ADDRESS OTHER ISSUES

Discussing the Grace of God and The Gospel will naturally be lead to addressing other issues like SIN or Jesus’ Divinity.  Sometimes these side conversations can help shed more light on the gospel, but in some cases can distract from giving a full gospel message.  It is important to address all questions but also to ensure that a full gospel message is heard.  Some times it is best to first give the 5 primary truths, then go back and address questions. 

A REAL LIFE SETTING

In a public setting, strive for more personal side conversations with someone who seems obviously interested.  Pull people aside or get contact information with the agreement to discuss this deeper in a more private setting.  If its an open public debate, keep in mind of the audience and everyone else who is listening and not just the person arguing and debating.  In more local private settings, having personal direct conversations is most effective.  

CHURCH ATTENDANCE

Inviting people to church won’t hurt and can be good; but church attendance has never saved anyone.  Keep in mind the person who you are talking to, don’t invite them to church if they already made it clear they are not willing to attend church.  Instead, host the spiritual conversation there at that time or at a later time at a location they are willing to go.  The location is not important really, it is the conversation that is of utmost importance.  Go wherever the Holy Spirit is leading.

THE HOLY SPIRIT 

It is critical that we be sensitive to the leading of The Holy Spirit.  He will lead us who to talk to, where to talk to them, and what to talk about.  As we proclaim the gospel we NEED to understand that it is NOT us who are leading them to salvation.  WE DO NOT lead anyone to salvation; God does.  The Holy Spirit works through us as we are willing to be lead.  Regardless, God’s Will is going to be done in that persons life whether we are willing to participate or not.

NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT

Because God’s Will will be done and we are just serving him and being used by The Holy Spirit for God’s Glory; we can’t mess it up.  We may give the worst gospel presentation ever given but in what ever way God sees fit, may use any word we have spoken for the hearer.  We may give the greatest gospel presentation ever given, but if God’s Will is not to draw that person to Himself, than there is no amount of perfectly elegant words we can use to change that fact.  We are just a servant of The Lord seeking the best for our neighbor while seeking to Glorify God.  We serve through proclaiming the gospel, the results of our service are completely up to God.

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

There may be a lot of questions left unanswered, there may be no one who seemed to be impacted by the gospel message; regardless, proclaiming the gospel is a success.  How so?  Well, we do not know the hearts and minds of all those who heard it.  We can not be sure that all those who received it or rejected it truly feel that way on the inside.  But all the possible results is NOT for us to know and decide.  Our calling, purpose, and mission is to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ.  Once we have done that; we have done exactly what we were called to do; mission complete.  Once his message is proclaimed in a kind loving way that reflects the glory and honor of God; God is glorified through us and that is a chief end in this life, to Glorify God.  We can be completely satisfied that God’s Will will be done, He is glorified, we truly love our neighbor, and we have be a faithful servant! 

JESUS’ WARNING

Everything sounds good and dandy; except, Jesus already warned us that proclaiming his good news comes at a cost.  People will hate us.  He did not say may hate but WILL HATE.  Because they HATE him (John 15:18-27).  This is why he described himself as a sword that will pit father against son and mother against daughter (Matthew 10:34).  Why?  Because, ultimately, his message is divisive and exclusive.  HE is THE ONLY way to God.  HE is THE ONLY LIFE. He is THE ONLY TRUTH.  And NO MAN can come to God UNLESS through HIM.  Period.  End of story.  Sound negative?  Well, given the 5 primary truths stated above; this is a GOOD THING.  Good thing he is the only way because he is the only one who can; we cant no matter how hard we try.  It gets exhausting, trying hard to be super religious- Jesus gives rest  Its hard following rules and laws that we can’t maintain perfectly anyway- Jesus gives freedom.  Good thing the price of sin fell on HIM and not you or I?  Either He pays for our sin or we pay for it for eternity.  That’s a nice free gift from God, if we are willing to accept it and believe it.  Pray that we and our neighbor are drawn to The Son of God who is our Lord and Savior.

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The Positional Creed of The Universal Christian Faith

I believe in the human right to worship The One Triune God alone:
Who made male and female equal but unique for his glory:
Who made the human race equal but unique for his glory:
Who made mankind good, not perfect:
Whom sinned and all offspring birthed with a sinful nature:
Who grants the free gift of salvation from sin, only through His Son:
Whom will be judged by holy justice for sin:
I believe in Holy Marriage as originated by God:
Between one male and one female:
Male bodily born male and female bodily born female:
I believe mankind is a person, known by God, before birth:
The unborn child from conception is precious and living:
I believe my body is not my own but for God’s glory alone:
To abstain from all sexual immorality outside of God’s originated marriage:
To remain pure and holy for God’s good work:
I believe in the truth in scripture:
The righteous judgements of saints:
And gracious correction and merciful discipline:
Until The Son’s return and the resurrection of the dead:
Until judgement and reward:
I believe then I will be granted my perfected transcendent body:
Not male nor female, not married nor unmarried:
But unified with Christ in the eternal presence of God almighty: 

23 lines, 209 words.  This ‘Positional’ Creed addresses more common issues in cultures that the church has had to experience throughout history.  From Roman culture, to European and American culture, the church has faced the issues of human rights, religious rights, racism, sexism, sexuality, genders, abortion, and accountability.  A sound Creed founded in scripture and validated through early church history to have your family memorize, research, and meditate on.  Also read and memorize the broad and essential Creed of The Universal Christian Faith.

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The Creed of The Universal Christian Faith

I believe in the One true God, who is in three persons:
The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit:
Who is eternal, holy, and perfect:
Almighty, all knowing, and always present:
Just, merciful, gracious, good, loving, and unchanging:
I believe in God the Father, Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth:
And in Jesus Christ, his one and only begotten Son, our Lord:
Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary:
Having two natures; fully God eternal, and fully man incarnate:
He lived the sinless life, fulfilled prophecies, and proven with divine miracles:
Suffered under Pontius Pilate; was crucified, dead and buried: He descended into hell:
The third day he rose again from the dead:
He ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty:
From thence he shall come to judge the living and the dead:
The faithless to eternal hell, and the saints to the new heaven and new earth:
I believe in the Holy Spirit:
Who convicts mankind of sin and is the counselor and perfect helper of saints:
I believe all mankind is sinful and unable to save themselves:
Those who are chosen by God are unconditionally elected by God the Father:
Their sin atoned for once and for all by the work of the Lamb of God on the cross:
And brought into faith and eternally sustained by The Holy Spirit:
The new life of grace and truth in Christ Jesus:
I am saved by God’s grace through this faith in His Son:
I believe in the holy universal church:
The communion of saints:
The symbol of baptism and remembrance in The Lords Supper:
Submission to the elders and deacons who are of the saints ordained by God:
The forgiveness of sins:
The resurrection of the body:
And the life everlasting.
All revealed in Holy Scripture that which has been made complete:
Declared by The Holy Spirit through the Prophets and Apostles:
Which is God’s Holy Word, sufficient for Salvation and sole Authority of the faith:
All for God’s Glory, in all, and through all:
All for His Will to be done for all time, Amen.

36 lines, 358 words. Combining key statements from the disciples of the Apostles, their disciples, The Apostles Creed, The Athanasian Creed, The Chalcedonian Creed, and main doctrines from the Three Forms of Unity; which came down from the Apostles of The Lord as recorded in Holy Scripture.

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What did Aristides of Athens teach?

Aristitdes was a greek philosopher and then converted to Christianity.  He is known for a letter he wrote to the Roman Emperor Hadrian that is estimated to have been delivered around 125AD.  He died around 134AD, only about 44 years after John The Apostle died after writing Revelations.   It is suggested that he also wrote Epistle to Diognetus.  Eusebius and Jerome both having knowledge of his letter to Hadrian and Jerome supporting the soundness of his doctrine.  The comprehensiveness and subject matter is still very relevant to modern society.

In the letter to Hadrian, known as The Apology of Aristides, he goes through and breaks down the errors in the local predominate religious systems of the Greeks, Egyptians, various barbarian groups, Jews and then explains how Christianity is true.  A common error highlighted throughout the letter are sexual immoralities practiced by cultures and their gods.  At the end he explains who hates Christians the most in the Roman society and it is those who practice sexual immortality.  It almost sounds like history is beginning to repeat itself.   In the letter, you can see essential characteristics of God, the Gospel, and how the early church lived in a immoral society.  An important thing to notice is the comprehensive key points of Christian doctrine in this one letter that was written around 125AD; only 35 years after John wrote the last book of the Bible.

Key Teachings:

• Morality is universal and transcendent
• Monotheism
• God is eternal
• God is spirit
• God is perfect
• God is omnipotent (All-powerful)
• God is sovereign over all creation
• God is immutable (Unchanging) 
• God is holy
• Jesus is the Mesiah
• Jesus is the Son of God
• Jesus is God
• Jesus was born from a virgin birth
• Jesus was killed, and buried 
• Jesus rose from the dead 3 days later
• Jesus ascended to heaven
• Sexual Immorality includes incest and same-sex sexual acts.
• Same-sex redemption and regeneration
• Equality

Read the letter here

Sections from the Letter:

Transcendent Morality 
CH13.  the Greeks made laws they did not perceive that by their laws they condemn their gods. For if their laws are righteous, their gods are unrighteous, since they transgressed the law in killing one another, and practising sorcery, and committing adultery, and in robbing and stealing, and in lying with males, and by their other practises as well. For if their gods were right in doing all these things as they are described, then the laws of the Greeks are unrighteous in not being made according to the will of their gods. And in that case the whole world is gone astray.

Monotheism 
CH13.   God is one in His nature. A single essence is proper to Him, since He is uniform in His nature and His essence;
Ch2.  God is not born, not made, an ever-abiding nature without beginning and without end, immortal, perfect, and incomprehensible.

Perfection of God
Ch2.  he is “perfect,” this means that there is not in him any defect, and he is not in need of anything but all things are in need of him.

Eternity of God
he is “without beginning,” this means that everything which has beginning has also an end, and that which has an end may be brought to an end. He has no name, for everything which has a name is kindred to things created. Form he has none, nor yet any union of members; for whatsoever possesses these is kindred to things fashioned. He is neither male nor female. The heavens do not limit him, but the heavens and all things, visible and invisible, receive their bounds from him.

Immutability of God 
CH4.  God is imperishable and unvarying, and invisible, while yet He sees, and overrules, and transforms all things.

Sovereignty of God
Ch2.  Adversary he has none, for there exists not any stronger than he. Wrath and indignation he possesses not, for there is nothing which is able to stand against him. Ignorance and forgetfulness are not in his nature, for he is altogether wisdom and understanding; and in Him stands fast all that exists. He requires not sacrifice and libation, nor even one of things visible; He requires not aught from any, but all living creatures stand in need of him.
CH5. For they were created by God for the sake of men, in order to supply the necessity of trees and fruits and seeds; and to bring over the sea ships which convey for men necessaries and goods from places where they are found to places where they are not found; and to govern the quarters of the world.
CH14.  God is one, the Creator of all, and omnipotent

Jesus as the Son of God
CH2. The Christians, then, trace the beginning of their religion from Jesus the Messiah; and he is named the Son of God Most High.

Jesus as the Messiah 
CH2.  The Christians, then, trace the beginning of their religion from Jesus the Messiah; and he is named the Son of God Most High.

Divinity of Jesus 
Ch2.  that God came down from heaven, and from a Hebrew virgin assumed and clothed himself with flesh; and the Son of God lived in a daughter of man.

Virgin Birth
Ch2.  that God came down from heaven, and from a Hebrew virgin assumed and clothed himself with flesh; and the Son of God lived in a daughter of man.

The Gospel
Ch2.   This is taught in the gospel, as it is called, which a short time was preached among them; and you also if you will read therein, may perceive the power which belongs to it. This Jesus, then, was born of the race of the Hebrews; and he had twelve disciples in order that the purpose of his incarnation might in time be accomplished.  But he himself was pierced by the Jews, and he died and was buried; and they say that after three days he rose and ascended to heaven. Thereupon these twelve disciples went forth throughout the known parts of the world, and kept showing his greatness with all modesty and uprightness

Sexual Immorality
CH9.  much evil has arisen among men, who to this day are imitators of their gods, and practise adultery and defile themselves with their mothers and their sisters, and by lying with males,  …For it is impossible that a god should practise adultery or fornication or come near to lie with males, or kill his parents; and if it be otherwise, he is much worse than a destructive demon.
Ch17.  the Greeks, O King, as they follow base practises in intercourse with males, and a mother and a sister and a daughter, impute their monstrous impurity in turn to the Christians. But the Christians are just and good, and the truth is set before their eyes, and their spirit is long-suffering; and, therefore, though they know the error of these (the Greeks), and are persecuted by them.

Unwanted Same-sex attraction repentance
Ch17.  the Greeks, O King, as they follow base practises in intercourse with males, and a mother and a sister and a daughter, impute their monstrous impurity in turn to the Christians. But the Christians are just and good, and the truth is set before their eyes, and their spirit is long-suffering; and, therefore, though they know the error of these (the Greeks), and are persecuted by them, they bear and endure it; and for the most part they have compassion on them, as men who are destitute of knowledge. And on their side, they offer prayer that these may repent of their error; and when it happens that one of them has repented, he is ashamed before the Christians of the works which were done by him; and he makes confession to God, saying, I did these things in ignorance. And he purifies his heart, and his sins are forgiven him, because he committed them in ignorance in the former time, when he used to blaspheme and speak evil of the true knowledge of the Christians. And assuredly the race of the Christians is more blessed than all the men who are upon the face of the earth.

Legalism
Ch13.  they say that He receives sacrifice and requires burnt-offering and libation and immolations of men, and temples. But God is not in need, and none of these things is necessary to Him;
Ch14.  as when they celebrate sabbaths and the beginning of the months, and feasts of unleavened bread, and a great fast; and fasting and circumcision and the purification of meats, which things, however, they do not observe perfectly.

Righteous Judgement
CH15.  whenever they are judges, they judge uprightly.

Public Sexuality
Ch15.  their women, O King, are pure as virgins, and their daughters are modest; and their men keep themselves from every unlawful union and from all uncleanness, in the hope of a recompense to come in the other world.

Equality
CH15.  if one or other of them have bondmen and bondwomen or children, through love towards them they persuade them to become Christians, and when they have done so, they call them brethren without distinction.

Persecution
CH15.  And if they hear that one of their number is imprisoned or afflicted on account of the name of their Messiah, all of them anxiously minister to his necessity, and if it is possible to redeem him they set him free.
Ch17.  the Greeks, O King, as they follow base practises in intercourse with males, and a mother and a sister and a daughter, impute their monstrous impurity in turn to the Christians. But the Christians are just and good, and the truth is set before their eyes, and their spirit is long-suffering; and, therefore, though they know the error of these (the Greeks), and are persecuted by them

The Poor and Needy
Ch15.  they love one another, and from widows they do not turn away their esteem; and they deliver the orphan from him who treats him harshly…. And if there is among them any that is poor and needy, and if they have no spare food, they fast two or three days in order to supply to the needy their lack of food.

Humility
Ch16.  And they do not proclaim in the ears of the multitude the kind deeds they do, but are careful that no one should notice them; and they conceal their giving just as he who finds a treasure and conceals it.

Age of Accountability 
Ch15.  And when a child has been born to one of them, they give thanks to God; and if moreover it happen to die in childhood, they give thanks to God the more, as for one who has passed through the world without sins.

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