Which Is Better: Truth or Happiness?

This is an important question to answer for yourself, especially in regards to your faith.

Most Christians, it seems, have chosen happiness. They will eliminate or ignore inconvenient Scriptures to maintain their happy notions. Although this makes you feel good in the short term, the long term will be brutal, and eternity might end up being weeping and gnashing of teeth.

I believe I side with A. W. Tozer on this question. Here’s what he said, and I support it whole-heartedly:

“I long ago decided that I would rather know the truth than be happy in ignorance. If I cannot have both truth and happiness, give me truth. We shall have a long time to be happy in heaven.”

Well said. Believing lies will sooth today, but they will absolutely destroy you in the future, only a matter of time.

Be not conformed to the deceived and fake-happy world.

Want to Enjoy God, Life, and Faith more? Here’s a Start

“When you stop expecting people to be perfect, you can like them for who they are. And when you stop expecting material possessions to complete you, you’d be surprised at how much pleasure you get in material possessions. And when you stop expecting God to end all your troubles, you’d be surprised how much you like spending time with God.”

I like this quote. This might be one of the most geniusy quotes I’ve read in a Christian book for quite some time.

If you expect perfection from people, that they won’t be wrong, or sin, or let you down, you will be disappointed. Your disappointment will make you become a resentful jerk because now you think you have reason to not be perfect toward the other person.

God is perfect. That’s it. He’s the only one. Don’t look for anyone else to be. If you do, not only will you be kept from spiritual growth, you will keep the other person from it too, because they will fail and when they do, you will grind them into the dirt. This helps no one.

Material things work the same way. Commercials promise you a perfect, happy life if you get their product. Life doesn’t work that way. Get off the treadmill of buying more stuff. None of it is going to fulfill you or complete you.

God can fulfill us, yet we hardly scratch the surface of what that means.

Instead of taking all that is available from Him and through the Gospel, we settle for health and money problems, surface issues, all things on the material/physical level.

We ask for money and for no health problems and yet we still have health problems and still not enough money. Therefore, we doubt God, doubt His love, and quit praying since it doesn’t work anyway.

You would enjoy prayer more if you used it for more than talking about everyone’s problems most of which are reaping what was sown and are not going to be magically removed.

It’s like we think prayer was invented just for that. Church prayer lists are 90% health and money requests. Maybe 10% is spiritual requests. We’re so far off in understanding what it’s all for.

So, the conclusion of these three sentences in the quote is this:

Expect less from people: no one is perfect including you. When you truly grasp this you will become more loving and forgiving and less judgy and lonely.

Expect less from material possessions: nothing will satisfy you and the more junk you have the more space you need. All is vanity. Unplug from the materialism around you. Learn contentment and peace, which only happens by letting go of material things.

Expect more from God: He is perfect. He doesn’t just exist to fix problems and make you healthy and rich. He exists to prepare you and equip you for eternity. Love Him for who He is—Your Creator, Savior, and Father.

All of this may seem trite, but it’s quite deep. The more you expect from God the less you’ll expect from people and possessions. It’s pretty much what Ecclesiastes is about.

How does one do this though?

Be kindly affectioned one toward another. Tenderhearted, forgiving one another. Walk with lowliness, meekness, forbearing one another in love. All of this stems from having a right view of humanity in its fallen state, including your part in it.

Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and He’ll take care of you. The love of money is the root of all evil. You can’t serve God and mammon. Lay hold on eternal life. Live like Ecclesiastes is true.

Getting people and possessions in their right place will create better worship of God. We don’t worship the creation, but the Creator. It’s Christ who lives in us, no longer us. Present your body a living sacrifice unto God. Walk in love as He also loved us.

It’s a package deal really. I imagine life would be way better if we actually did this. Maybe I’ll give it a try.

A W Tozer on Our Wimpy Notions of Faith

To receive Jesus Christ as Lord is not a passive, soft thing–not a predigested kind of religion. It is strong meat! It is such strong meat that God is calling us in this hour to yield everything to Him. Some want to cling to their sinful pleasures. In our churches, in this deadly, degenerate hour, we are guilty of making it just as easy as possible for double-minded people.

‘Just believe on Jesus and accept Him, and then you can be as you were before. You can do what you did before, as long as you don’t get drunk and run after women. Everything else is all right, Amen!’ This is the kind of marginal Christianity that is being passed along in too many circles. As a result, we have a religion that is not much better than paganism. I think I would rather follow Zoroaster and kneel twice a day to the rising and setting sun than to be a half-baked Christian who insists on ‘believing’ for salvation and then does as he pleases, violating the Lordship of the Savior.

—Faith Beyond Reason, page 14-15

Richard Foster and the Athletes of God, the Athletae Dei

Church History labels a group of Christians as The Desert Fathers. These guys were the early monks, leaving material comfort to go be with God in the desert.

Certainly monks went too far in many cases, and also seem to miss the point: by completely abstaining from material things, they made material things the measure.

At the same time, they knew material things were a hindrance to true worship of God. You cannot serve God and mammon. They knew this. Did they end up worshipping God truly? I guess that’s for God to decide.

These guys seem even more foreign and ridiculous to modern Christians because we are so comfortable with material things. “What’s the big deal? Everyone has this stuff.” But that’s exactly why they went to the desert!

Here are a few quotes from Richard Foster’s book Freedom of Simplicity about them:

“The Desert Fathers renounced things in order to know what it meant to have the single eye of simplicity toward God. They were the Athletae Dei, the athletes of God, who sought to strip away all hindrances. There is no question that there were excesses in the monasticism of the Desert Fathers, but no more so than the excesses evidenced in the Church of today in the opposite direction.”

Point being: They went as far into simplicity as we are into excess. Which one is better? Probably both wrong, but one at least was attempting to deal with it. We are told in Hebrews 12 to run with patience the race set before us, this is done by laying aside every weight and sin that besets us. Every weight is probably material stuff/mammon.

“Detachment frees us from the control of others. No longer can we be manipulated by people who hold our livelihoods in their hands. Things do not entice our imagination; people do not dominate our destinies.”

I believe this is true. This is especially true in terms of debt. Proverbs says that who we are indebted to, we are slaves to. Whether actually financially in debt, or in debt because of our lustful cravings for more stuff, both enslave us.

The fact that monks went too far and whatever spiritual gain they made seems mostly achieved for their own benefit not anyone else’s, doesn’t mean they didn’t have a point.

Hebrews 12:1 is in the Bible. We have made too much peace with the world, and because of that are carrying around way too many worldly concerns that are impeding our progress in Christlikeness.

Tozer on the “Jingle Bell Crowd!”

“Our hindrance, our difficulty, is our lack of desire for God. We have reduced this entire spiritual matter to a kind of mail-order, automatic acquisition; Christ died on the cross. I believe he died for me. Now I have nothing to do but wait for His return and He will give me a big, bright crown.

“Let me tell you, there will be some bitter disappointments in that coming day when we find how wrong we have been. We have tried to reduce our relationship to God to an automatic coin-in-the-slot proposition. And it will not work that way.

“I remind you that we live in a spiritually troubled time in history. Christianity has gone over to the jingle bell crowd. Everyone is just delighted that Jesus has done all of the sorrowing, all of the suffering, all of the dying.

“Christian believers are emphasizing happiness. They no longer want to hear what the Bible says about death to self and the life of spiritual victory through identification with Christ in His death and resurrection. The number is great of those who will no longer admit that spiritual victory often comes through wrestling in a long, dark night of the soul.

“‘That is not for us,’ they contend. “Jesus did all of the suffering so we can be happy. And we are going to be happy even if we have to invent new ways to happiness.'”

A W Tozer on Emotions and Christian Experience

We know that the emotional life is a proper and noble part of a man or woman’s total personality. But by its very nature it is of secondary importance. Religion lies in the will and so does righteousness

God never intended that such a being as mankind should become the mere plaything of his or her feelings. The only good that God recognizes is the willed good. The only valid holiness is a willed holiness. That is why I am always a little suspicious of the overly bubbly Christian who talks too much about himself or herself and not enough about Jesus.

Then I am always a little worried about the “hope so” Christian who can not tell me any of the details of his or her Christian experience.

And finally, I am more than a little concerned about the professing Christian whose experience does not seem to have resulted in a true inner longing to be more like Jesus every day in thought, word, and deed.

–A W Tozer
Men Who Met God, page 18

Biblical Christianity is Revolting to Humanity

Here is a quote from Jacques Ellul from his book, The Subversion of Christianity. I agree with what he is saying.

Most of Christianity is just playing a game with God’s Word. You are probably playing the game. If you don’t think so, just reflect upon how much time you spent in God’s Word yesterday.

We just go along with the flow, convinced we’re being Christians because we’re just like all the others who are being Christians. Judgment Day looms.

Anyway, I’ll stop preaching and let Jacques take over. Here’s the quote:

“If we grant that what the New Testament means by Christianity and being a Christian merely conforms to human ideas and pleases and flatters us as though it were all our own invention and teaching springing up from within ourselves, then there is no problem.

“There is however a “but,” a difficulty, for what the New Testament really means by being a Christian is the very opposite of what is natural to us. It is thus a scandal. We have either to revolt against it or at all costs to find cunning ways of avoiding the problem, such as by the trickery of calling Christianity what is in fact its exact antithesis, and then giving thanks to God for the great favor of being Christians.

“As Kierkegaard says, nothing displeases or revolts us more than New Testament Christianity when it is properly proclaimed. It can neither win millions of Christians nor bring revenues and earthly profits. Confusion results.

“If people are to agree, what is proclaimed to them must be to their taste, and must seduce them. Here is the difficulty: it is not at all that of showing that official Christianity is not the Christianity of the New Testament, but that of showing that New Testament Christianity and what it implies to be a Christian are profoundly disagreeable to us.

“Never—no more today than in the year 30—can Christian revelation please us; in the depths of our hearts Christianity has always been a mortal enemy. History bears witness that in generation after generation there has been a highly respected social class (the clergy) whose task is to make of Christianity the very opposite of what it really is.”

Jesus Did Not Bear Your Cross

I unfortunately heard a praise song the other day. Never a good thing.

I tease, I tease. It’s typically not a good thing, but there are a few exceptions. This one was not an exception.

The problem with praise songs is that they repeat common misconceptions and clichés as though they were biblical truth. I struggle singing them because they routinely don’t say things the Bible says, thus I’m not sure if I’m praising God or just repeating human nonsense.

I also know I’m cynical, so I tell myself to shut up and let people enjoy what they think praise is. See, there’s cynicism again. Anyway, here’s the line:

It was my cross You bore
So I could live in the freedom You died for

Many songs make reference to Jesus bearing my cross or carrying our cross or such things. I find this idea to be unbiblical. Here’s why:

Jesus didn’t bear my cross or your cross according to the Bible. You can confirm this fact by going to biblegateway or some such Bible searching website and search the phrase “my cross” and you will find zero verses mentioning “my cross.”

There are also zero verses mentioning “our cross”or “your cross.”

Here’s the even better part: You will find seven verses mentioning “his cross.”

Colossians 1:20 says Christ made peace by the blood of His cross. It was His cross, not mine or yours, that He carried. And, here’s the even better part, two verses say that they compelled a guy named Simon of Cyrene to carry His cross! Jesus didn’t even carry His cross that much!

Then it gets even better! Four of the verses center on this theme: “Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”

Not only did Jesus not bear your cross, He tells you to take up your cross. You’re supposed to bear your cross!

This is typically where people tell me, “Lighten up. You know what they mean though.” Maybe I do; maybe I don’t. I don’t know who wrote this song. I do know who wrote the Bible though, and the Bible never said that Jesus bore my cross and specifically says I’m supposed to take up my cross.

This cliché or lyric is just a manifestation of the theory that Jesus did everything and we just sit here passively enjoying the benefits with zero responsibility. “He carries the cross and I get freedom! Such a deal!” It’s Calvinistic, Substitutionary Atonement, Easy Believism philosophy in song form.

It’s not biblical and if taken seriously will lead to apathy, laziness, and fruitlessness.

Jesus says taking up your cross is what following Him means. Jesus carried a cross; if you follow Him you will also carry a cross. If you want to follow Him, then take up your cross.

Lots of duty and responsibility. It almost sounds like I’m supposed to do something and maybe Jesus didn’t actually do every single thing while I sit here doing nothing but enjoying perks. You would be correct, and you’d also be flying in the face of modern wimpy Christianity if you speak this out loud.

But I imagine pointing out such things and getting hostile reactions is part of what taking up my cross and following Christ is all about. So, it’s what I’ll do.

Short Ways to Think About Humility

“If you were truly humble, you would not bother about yourself at all.”

The author of this quote described the character of the humble person: they graciously receive compliments without awkwardness or letting it go to their head knowing that all goodness in them is from God. They do not fear others or themselves as they have complete confidence in the power of God.

New Testament conversion is about the believer already being dead. Your life is gone, hid with Christ in God. I decrease/He increases.

If this were true, I mean, it is true, but if we lived as though it were true, if we applied it fully as truth, wow, would our lives be different.

I got in two arguments this past week. In both cases I, of course, think I was right. The other person is obviously wrong. If this were not the case I would not waste my time arguing.

Yet why do I need to be proven right? What would those arguments have sounded like if I were dead?! If I were humble and no longer bothering about myself? What if I approached those arguments as though the other person was the only one who mattered?

How often does our ego and pride turn our otherwise rightness into evil? There are times when I actually am right and the other person is actually wrong. Remaining humble in that situation is difficult, about as difficult as being humble when I’m the one who is wrong!

Pride is everywhere. Self-pity is pride. Boasting is pride. Pride gets us on both sides.

To live a day with complete godly humility! What would that look like? Would anyone even recognize me?

False humility exists too. It looks humble and meek and lowly, but is actually done so people see you are humble and meek and lowly. It focuses on outward demonstrations of humility while the heart and mind are feeding on the glorious attention my humility gains me.

Humility has the sense of lowliness or littleness. The opposite would be the puffed up macho stuff, puffing your chest out and using your Power Walk, taking up as much space as possible forcing others to move out of your way.

Humility is not shame and cowardice. It’s a lack of self botheredness! Only a humble person would stand up for truth at personal cost. A proud person is not going to fight that battle if they will lose something.

Humble people will serve and love others, especially those that are “below” them according to external human judgments.

Humility is tough. It’s what is necessary to receive God’s grace since He resists the proud. Humility is also a part of the fruit of the Spirit (meekness). It’s all wrapped up with our relationship with God. The eternal, infinite God. A view of Him for who He is will definitely teach you how little you are and how dependent on Him you really are.

Littleness and lowliness are good one word summations. “Not bothering about yourself” is a good short summation of the practical outworking of what humility is about.

Thomas Merton on Sin, Faith, Salvation, and Hell

Thomas Merton was a Catholic monk. He is an interesting thinker. I obviously do not agree with much of what he says, but people who think often come up with things that make me think and thinking is good.

Here is a quote from his book Seeds of Contemplation that made me think:

The devil has a whole system of theology and philosophy, which will explain, to anyone who will listen, that created things are evil, that men are evil, that God created evil and that He directly wills that men should suffer evil. According to the devil, God rejoices in the suffering of men and, in fact, the whole universe is full of misery because God has willed and planned it that way.

The people who listen to this sort of thing, and absorb it, and enjoy it, develop a notion of the spiritual life which is a kind of hypnosis of evil. The concepts of sin, suffering, damnation, punishment, the justice of God, retribution, the end of the world and so on, are things over which they smack their lips with unspeakable pleasure. Perhaps this is because they derive a deep, subconscious comfort from the thought that many other people will fall into the hell which they themselves are going to escape. And how do they know they are going to escape it? They cannot give any definite reason except for the fact that they feel a certain sense of relief at the thought that all this punishment is prepared for practically everyone but themselves.

This feeling of complacency is what they refer to as “faith,” and it constitutes a kind of conviction that they are “saved.”

The Gospel and Your Behavior

I read a book titled, “What is the Gospel?” written in the early 1900’s. I was hoping this older book would be a little more serious and biblical than modern takes on the Gospel.

Boy, was I disappointed.

The author was apparently one of the early Easy Believism guys that have led to the giant mess we are in in modern Christianity. Being saved is all about faith and faith is mental assent to the facts of the Gospel.

In a chapter about how you know you are saved, the author just quoted verses talking about faith and if you believe then you are saved. He even had the nerve to quote from 1 John, which is all about the tests of your salvation. John mostly points to your behavior and never once says “you know you’re saved because you think you believe some facts about Jesus.”

In the third from the last sentence of the book the author says this:

Your behavior has nothing to do with your salvation; it is the work of Christ alone that saves, and the Word of God alone that makes us sure we are saved.

This sounds good, sounds like it’s making much of Christ and the Word, but goes too far.

To say that my behavior has nothing to do with my salvation is just goofy. Why did Jesus tell the rich young ruler to sell all he had, give to the poor, come, and follow me if behavior has nothing to do with salvation? Why does James say works has a part in justification and it’s not faith only? Why does Paul repeatedly talk about the old man being crucified, being free from sin, and serving righteousness?

Our behavior is one of the giant proofs of our salvation.

Yet easy believism pretends we have nothing to do with anything. He’s not just talking about how to be saved, he’s not just refuting the idea that you can work your way into salvation (which I agree with), he is saying the whole thing, even our assurance, has nothing to do with our behavior. The Word makes us assured of our salvation–That was his chapter about you know you’re saved because the Bible says you are saved by faith.

He eliminates you entirely. Makes obedience a non-issue. Rips the power right out of the Gospel. Makes Christ-likeness irrelevant. Makes faith into a mental exercise rather than life altering obedience to God.

It’s just sad, seeing the start of this heresy from its beginning and seeing all the people it’s completely messed up since.

We are not saved by keeping the law or being a good boy. Impossible for you to rebirth yourself as a spiritual creation or remove your sins. You need the Gospel.

The need of the Gospel is your desperate cry to God to be released from your sin, from your ways of thinking and behaving. The whole point of a person coming to the Gospel is to stop doing stupid stuff and be able to do better stuff. Behavior is a central issue to the Gospel.

We will stand before God and give an account for every deed done in the body and every idle word that comes out of our mouth. You think behavior doesn’t matter to anything? Good luck on Judgment Day.

Every time the Bible tells us what judgment is based on it always says God’s judgment is based on our works. Our works are our behavior. Your behavior matters.

It affirms my long held opinion that all heresy is an attempt to get people out of personal responsibility. To get us off the hook and allow us to sin and get away with it.

The Gospel is bigger than that. It’s not a mental game. It crucifies you and raises you up to new life. If you eliminate the new life the Gospel brings, you’ve eliminated the power of the Gospel, and do not know what the Gospel is.

A. W. Tozer on How to get Personal Revival

I was reading an article by A. W. Tozer about revival. Most people want revival but usually just pray for it. Although prayer is great and everything, Tozer thinks obedience is how revival comes. It’s not from begging God for it; it’s from pursuing a new life of obedience toward God.

He also doesn’t think revival will hit a group until it hits individuals. So, in order for revival to come it has to start with individuals being obedient. He then lists ten things he thinks individual obedience would entail. I thought the list was interesting to consider.

1. Be thoroughly dissatisfied with yourself. This flies in the face of most of our self-esteem boosting Christian rah-rah talk. Complacency is the enemy. Do all to press toward the mark and never assume you have arrived and can take it easy.

2. Set your face like flint toward transformation of life. Throw your whole soul into your desire for God.

3. Actually do stuff that leads to spiritual benefit. There are definite paths to walk that lead to green pastures. Pursue the good.

4. Take your time and do a thorough job of repenting. Until the consciousness of sin wounds us, we will never fear evil.

5. Pursue full restitution. Do all to make the crooked straight. Get out of any debts of any kind to anyone.

6. Bring your life into alignment with New Testament commands, such as those in the Sermon on the Mount. An honest man with an open Bible and a pad of paper and pen is sure to find out very quickly what is wrong with him and what to do instead!

7. Be serious-minded. Limit entertainment and stuff that makes sin funny and entertaining. You must make a serious change in habits for there to be any internal change.

8. Deliberately narrow your interests. A jack of all trades is not good in any. Close the doors of your heart to wastes of time and being busy with many projects. Throw the doors of your heart wide open to what Christ desires.

9. Begin to witness. Find something to do for God and man. If your faith is not benefitting others, it won’t do much for you either.

10. Have faith in God. Begin to expect. You are a partaker of the divine nature and all heaven’s supply for life and godliness are available for you. Use what you’ve got available.

Although some of these might sound a little floaty and out there, I think they are good things to pursue. I wanted to write them down for me if no one else! We could all use a little more reviving in life.

Faith is not Fatalistic Submission

People say a lot of things that are sanctimonious, or perhaps more fairly, people say a lot of things that I think are sanctimonious!

By “sanctimonious” I mean that they sound really good, very spiritual, but in reality they don’t make much sense and aren’t really biblical.

Here’s a recent example:

“True faith rests in God’s answer even when it’s no.”

To me this is sheer sanctimony. It sounds good, yet denies most of the biblical example of actual people of faith in the Bible.

This phrase isn’t talking about faith; it’s talking about fatalism. It’s more akin to the Islamic idea of submission to God’s will. You are not allowed to question authority in Islam. They’ll cut your head off. You submit or else.

Faith in the Bible is a wrestling with God. It’s warfare. Fight the fight of faith. It’s not this sublime, trippy, mellow, and chipper fatalism we hear about so often.

It’s fake. People who saw such things sound detached from reality. Maybe delusional.

One passage that popped into my mind immediately upon hearing this phrase was Luke 18 where the widow keeps coming to the unjust judge. She was told “no” but was not content with that answer! She kept coming and asking him to change his answer to which he finally says,

“Yet because this widow troubles me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.”

Jesus’ application is that you can come to God, who like the unjust judge, will give in to your continual begging! This passage is used to encourage persistence in prayer.

I don’t think God wants brain dead submissiveness. If He did, He wouldn’t have allowed Adam and Eve the opportunity to sin. God doesn’t like sin, but He also doesn’t like robots.

God gives in repeatedly in the Bible to intercession and the intervention of people. He listens to our complaints and adjusts what’s happening.

The idea that mindless, will-less robots is the pinnacle of faith is missing what the Bible says about faith entirely. Would you enjoy a relationship with someone who simply did everything you wanted and never had a different opinion?

Maybe for a little bit! But it would get boring. People are different and God seems to like the differences and He seems to genuinely desire to hear from us.

Don’t be a fatalistic, mindless robot. Enjoy your Creator and the freedom He’s given you. Be careful with it, but don’t bury your talent because you knew your master was harsh. God can handle your weird.

True faith looks a lot more like being honest with God about all your thoughts and feelings and realizing God wants to know you. It looks like the Psalms. The Psalms are not fatalistic submission. They are a real person dealing with a real God.

That’s faith.

Would People Die for a Lie? Yup!

A popular apologetics line says, “People wouldn’t die for a lie.” This is stated about the disciples and the accusation that they lied about seeing the resurrected Christ.

To defend the historical veracity of the resurrection, apologists say that the disciples wouldn’t have stuck with their lie to the point of martyrdom. Since they were martyred, we know they weren’t lying.

This isn’t a convincing argument to me. People die for lies every day! Not even just extreme examples like Muslim bombers blowing themselves up, but for everyone stuck in materialism and humanism. We’re all stuck in lies to some degree.

Don’t forget that the heart is deceitful above all things. Satan, our foe, is a liar and his lies fill our world system, even our churches are filled with lies and bad interpretations of Scripture.

Lies are everywhere including in our heart. We give our lives for many of these lies and until Judgment Day may not even be aware of them and the power they held over us.

I’ve seen people give their lives for lies. This argument doesn’t work for me.

A slight variation comes from Paul Little, who wrote the evangelistic classic, “How to Give Away Your Faith.” He stated it like this:

“Men will die for what they believe to be true, though it may actually be false. They do not, however, die for what they know is a lie.”

His nuance is that yes, people die for lies, but they think they are living for the truth. They think the lie is true, therefore they give their life for it. On the flip side, if they knew a thing were a lie they would check out of the charade before death took them out.

I like the clarification and think this quote is better, but I’m still not convinced!

There are a lot of people who know the truth of the Gospel, they know it’s true and it deserves their life, but they also really like sin. They will invent false doctrines to assuage the guilt and the truth they don’t like. They will indeed give their lives for a lie.

I know several people who clearly understand the Gospel and the demands it makes on them, yet they fight it with all their energy. In moments of clarity they even see what they are doing. But they can’t stop their sin, and in fact, don’t really want to.

They know the Gospel might even grant power to overcome sin and kill off temptation, but nope, sin has them trapped. They will, and some I know already have, go to the grave clinging to their lie.

There are many proofs for the historical reality of the resurrection. I don’t think this “the disciples wouldn’t die for a lie” is a strong one. It might have a small point, but in reality, I think it completely misunderstands human nature, which has knowingly lived and died for lies for thousands of years now!

Many Proof Texts Offer No Proof

I know I’m too picky when it comes to how people talk about the Bible. I’m too cynical and skeptical, but I can’t stop because my cynicism and skepticism have served me well so far!

I was reading a book and saw this sentence about Jesus:

“His perfect life qualified Him to be our substitutionary sacrifice (Acts 2:36).”

As I’ve covered many times before, I have some questions about the biblical support of Substitutionary Atonement. It sounds more like Calvinistic Philosophy than biblical teaching to me.

Anytime I come across a statement about Substitutionary Atonement with a Scripture reference tacked on, I always look up the reference. What’s the author’s biblical support for it?

Presumably, if you list one reference, that’s the verse you think supports your statement the best. When I read the sentence above I looked up Acts 2:36 to see if it said anything remotely close to what the author said.

This is a bizarre one. Here’s Acts 2:36:

Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.

I have no idea what this verse has to do with the author’s sentence. It is about Jesus, but other than that, I don’t know.

I’m used to references not saying what the author just said, but this one is out there! What does this have to do with the sentence?

Always look up references tacked on after statements trying to sound biblical. You’ll be shocked how often the verse has nothing to do with what was said.

I’m not harping on Substitutionary Atonement here either, this is just poor usage of Scripture. This is the kind of thing that burns people from listening to Christians. We just make stuff up and pretend the Bible agrees.

Make sure what you say is what the Bible says if you’re claiming to say what the Bible says. The best is to quote the Bible saying your point in its words. If your point has no Bible saying it, then your point might be wrong.

We are to rightly handle the word of truth. Let’s do that.

Humility and Thinking of Yourself Less

I’ve heard this quote many times, not always in these exact words, but definitely the sentiment:

“Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less.”

Oooooh. Deeeeep.

The quote is fine and probably true. The problem is that it’s not entirely helpful. It defines what humility is, but it doesn’t address how you get there.

If thinking of myself less is what humility is, how do I know if myself is thinking of myself less or not?! Knowing if you’re thinking of yourself less means you must think about yourself and how much you are thinking of you!

In order to pull off this definition, which I do think is essentially true, you have to run into something that makes you think less of yourself. Something else has to take over your self-obsessed brain. Something bigger and better must capture your thoughts.

Death does this quite nicely. Sitting beside a hospital bed watching your dad die has a way of making you forget about you for a bit.

I remember walking out of the hospital after he died. Cars were driving around. Horns were honking. People were bustling about. Don’t they know my dad died? Shouldn’t they stop and show some respect?

Nope. Life rushed on. Soon enough I was back to my life. My dad’s death affected me tremendously, I dare say it changed me. But the shift off me to my dad fell away within weeks of his death, if not days.

Getting married and having kids helped me think of myself less. I now had other people to think of. My choices didn’t just affect me. What I wanted fell to the wayside as I provided for them.

This was frequently annoying! Sometimes it was even tough, not knowing where the money was going to come from to provide all these needs. I sacrificed and gave up my rights so my kids could eat. On top of that, they usually had no idea and complained about what was for dinner. Oh well, it’s part of the gig.

And, let’s be honest, I got enough of my stuff during that time too. Plus all my kids are out of the house now. My selfish desires are still there and since they’ve been kept down for so long, boy howdy, don’t touch my ice cream! I’ve been waiting for 21 years to have my own ice cream no one can touch.

Some people lose themselves in a cause or goals. These can help you think less of yourself, but often your causes and goals are extensions of your selfish desires, your need for praise and accomplishment. And if by chance those causes and goals are achieved, then what? Successful people are often the emptiest people and most in need of attention grabbing causes and goals. They can’t stop. It’s like a drug.

What will make us think of ourselves less? The answer is: Jesus Christ. He’s the answer. When you see yourself before Your Creator and Savior, when you see yourself before the throne of God, before His all-powerful, all-glorious being, you lose yourself.

The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. Wisdom is only gained through learning. Only humble people learn. The fear of God is truly what wisdom is and it is also the thing which will make you humble.

The conclusion of the matter is: fear God and keep His commandments. His commandments are wisdom. You won’t keep His commandments unless you fear him. You can tell your fear of God by how much of His Word you are doing.

This is also your barometer for your humility. It’s not how little am I thinking of myself, but rather how much am I fearing God and doing what He says?

Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. This hearing is not just that your ears work, but doing what God says. Faith is complete trust in another to the point of obeying them. You don’t listen to who you don’t trust.

Humility isn’t beating yourself up and ripping yourself to shreds. Humility is thinking of yourself less, but this is only possible if you have someone else to think of more. The only someone big enough to make you stop thinking about you for a lifetime is God.

Free Salvation Has a Cost

It’s time once again for Pet Peeve Corner!

I don’t know why it’s in a corner. That’s just where I put it.

Anyway, I was surfing the interwebs and came across this statement:

“Everything has gone up in price except salvation. It is still a free gift paid in full by Jesus.”

These sorts of pithy statement always annoy me even if they might be truish. It’s not that it’s false, it’s just that it’s not entirely giving the full story.

“The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” That’s Romans 6:23, which is in the Bible. Eternal life is a free gift. Other verses in Romans 5 speak of salvation being a gift, the righteousness, justification, grace, and the whole deal are part of the free gift offered through the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

I am not arguing that point.

What I am arguing is that the gift has no cost!

Wait, what now? How can it be free and yet have a cost?

Good question, one you should ask Jesus because He very clearly said you should count the cost if you want to follow Him. Luke 14:27-32 talks about the cost, how the one who follows Christ has to deny self and pick up his cross.

A builder building a building needs to count the cost lest he fall short of completing the project and look dumb. A king going to war has to count the cost lest he mess up his kingdom.

Following Christ has a cost.

So how can there be a cost if salvation is free?

Several years ago there was a show something about Makeover, where this team would come in and build a gigantic house for a poor family or a family that had tragedy strike them. It was a nice gesture and somewhat entertaining.

Now that the show has been off the air, you can look up these houses on the internet and find out that often these families could not afford to live in these free houses! There was property tax raises as these houses were drastically improved, often the nicest house in the neighborhood driving up the neighbor’s taxes too, plus utilities went up to heat and electrify these mansions. And, as we all know, new things get old and fall apart. The happy façade of the new house soon became broken and they had no money to upkeep all the new gizmos.

The house was free. The cost was high to have that free house.

Now, this is not exactly equivalent, but it gives a good idea.

Yes, salvation is free. But if it’s free, why do so many reject it? Because the cost is high. Hebrews 11 is all about faith and how this great cloud of witnesses suffered because they had faith. You’ll be the next one in that line.

No, you do not earn your salvation or work for it. You receive it as the gift it is. But before taking the free gift, understand the cost that comes with it. The Gospel will mess with your life. You will give up your old sense of fun. You will probably ruin relationships. Standing for truth and righteousness will have a cost.

There is a reason why most don’t take the free gift: it costs too much.

I dare say the cost is getting higher in our world. Persecution is becoming an increasing possibility, one all Christians should consider as inevitable. It’s coming. Is it worth it to you?

Even if there’s no major persecution, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer for it to some degree. It’s inevitable. Is it worth it?

Count the cost of the free gift. It aint getting cheaper.

Were Sacrifices Offered In Place of the One Sacrificing?

This year one of my goals is to read the MacArthur Study Bible. Every word.

If you’ve never seen a MacArthur Study Bible, well, let me just tell you: there are a lot of words. I mean, the Bible itself has a lot of words. MacArthur has a lot of words too. When you combine the two, you get a lot of words.

On top of that, many of the words (all of MacArthur’s) are in little tiny font that is printed very lightly and my bad eyes already want to surrender. But I’m tough. I’m persevering, so far. Of course, we’re only a month into the year!

I like much of what MacArthur says, but I do not like his Calvinism. In fact, his Calvinism seems to refute much else of what he says. It’s so illogical and it really troubles me because he’s so good otherwise.

So, as I’m reading his notes, I’m conscious of his Calvinist interpretations, and expecting much humor in seeing how his note does not mean what the verse he’s noting said!

Well, today I found my first example of John’s Calvinistic note disagreeing with a verse he put the note on! Woot woot.

It’s in Leviticus 1:4, which says, “He shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him.”

Here is MacArthur’s note on Leviticus 1:4 particularly on the words “for him,” “This was a substitutionary sacrifice that prefigured the ultimate sacrifice—Jesus Christ.”

OK, so on one hand this is fine. Obviously OT sacrifices prefigured Christ’s sacrifice, no problem there. However, the idea that the animal died “for” the sacrificer means substitutionary death is where I have a problem.

Substitutionary Atonement is Calvinism. Substitutionary means that Christ dies as a substitute for the sinner, Christ died in the exact place of the sinner. If you think this is what happened, then you have to conclude the L of the Calvinist TULIP: Limited Atonement—that Christ only died for the elect.

Limited Atonement is the weakest point of Calvinism and is contradicted by many verses, as I’ve covered here many times before.

If Christ died in the exact place of each saved person, then He could not have died in the exact place of non-believers. If Christ died in the exact place of everyone, then all would be saved. Therefore, Christ only died for the elect—Limited Atonement.

So, although his comment seems innocent, it hinges on the meaning of the word “for.” I’m no expert on Hebrew, but I do remember reading once that “for” in the Greek when used in reference to Christ dying for us does not mean “in place of,” but rather “on behalf of.” That’s how the actual Greek word is understood. Nowhere is it used to be “in place of” as this is an invention of Calvinism which was invented much later than the Greek language (See Vincent’s Word Studies on Romans 5:6, Christ died for the ungodly).

So, knowing that, I decided I would look up Leviticus 1:4 and the Hebrew word “for” and see if Hebrew uses the word as “in place of” or “on behalf of.”

Guess what?

Go on, guess.

Ha.

Here is the definition as given by Brown, Driver, and Briggs, the preeminent Hebrew Lexicon for the word “for:”

upon, on the ground of, according to, on account of, on behalf of, concerning, beside, in addition to, together with, beyond, above, over, by, on to, towards, to, against

The actual definition of the word never refers to in the place of, but rather on behalf of. Somehow I knew that would be the case!

Now, of course, the Calvinist, never one to let the Bible interfere with their doctrine, will tell you it means the same thing. But it doesn’t.

And, now that Calvinism is widespread and academic, there are now new dictionaries of Bible words that will no doubt define “for” as “in the place of.” Which is why you should be careful about your Bible dictionaries, translations, and study Bibles as many are now produced by theological camps.

Stick with the old trusted and proven resources in these areas.

Christ dying on behalf of every person who has ever lived is akin to what the Bible says. Christ dying in the specific place of a certain people, the elect, because no one whom Christ died in the specific place of could be unsaved, is what Calvinism says.

The Bible and Calvinism do not say the same thing.

Thank you. Now I will return to squinting at little tiny font.

Were the Founding Fathers Christians?

One of the subjects I’ve gotten pushback on over the years is that I don’t think America was founded by Christians or as a Christian nation.

Many people think America is pretty much Israel Part II and the Constitution and Bill of Rights are another book of the Bible. Many insist that America was founded for religious freedom.

I’ve read quite a bit of history. I’ve also read the Bible.

The actual formation of America was done contrary to biblical commands. People are supposed to submit to their government and pay their taxes. The Revolution was fought so as to not pay taxes and to overthrow the supposedly oppressive regime. This was not biblical to any degree.

I’m usually in the minority among Christians with this viewpoint and people tend to get hostile about the issue enough to generally make me just shut up.

However, I was recently reading a book by Norman Geisler critiquing humanism in all its forms. I’ve learned several things.

The first thing I learned, which has nothing to do with my main point, is that C. S. Lewis is a Christian Humanist and thought the Old Testament was mythology and not to be taken seriously. He thought many of the Psalms were demonic in origin and thought David only wrote one of them. I had no idea.

The second thing I’ve learned is that I’m not alone in my understanding of American history and Christianity. Geisler also does not buy the idea that America is or was a Christian nation. Here’s a quote:

“Contrary to a myth popular among many American Christians, most of the nation’s founding fathers were not evangelical Christians. . . Actually our nation’s founders were largely humanistic (or deistic). Some prominent men in early American history were even anti-Christian. Thomas Paine for example launched a bitter attack on Christianity in his book The Age of Reason. There were few evangelical Christians among the signers of the Declaration of Independence, John Witherspoon being a notable exception. And when George Washington was asked if the United States was a Christian country, he replied that “the government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion.” It is these early humanists who saw to it that our nation is committed to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

Those three things are not Christian virtues, but they are solidly embraced as humanistic virtues.

Humanists think that religion gets in the way of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. If you don’t think so, feel free to read Geisler’s book Is Man the Measure? It is a fantastic explanation of the dangers of humanism and how we are all part of its satanic lies at this point.

I am grateful to live in America as it has afforded me many opportunities and freedoms I hope to use for God’s glory. At the same time there are many pitfalls, temptations, and dangers wired into its structure. Be aware of them or else you might be one of those who is choked out with the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches.

New Testament Christianity is not compatible with humanism, or with American politics. It just isn’t. We are citizens of heaven with a better country and a better King. We live for heaven. Use what you’ve been given here, but be on guard. Don’t compromise. Don’t conform to the world around you. You can’t serve two masters.

Why Christians Hate Nietzsche

Many Christians hate things because they think they are anti-Christian when in reality they are just anti-established church.

Christians hate things, not because they know what the thing is, but because they know they are supposed to hate it.

The reason why we’re “supposed to hate it” is often because the established church at some point decided it was evil.

For instance, Friedrich Nietzsche gets a bad rap because he said “God is dead.” There are bumper stickers and t-shirts that say

“God is dead.”

— Friedrich Nietzsche

“Nietzsche is dead.”
–God

Ha! We know that the guy who said “God is dead” must be an atheist scum we should hate.

However, Nietzsche was actually criticizing the church/professed Christians because they were not taking their faith seriously. He came after established churches and denominations. His point is that even Christians act as though God is dead.

He was not wrong, and in fact, remains correct in his observation. Here’s the fuller quote:

“God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers? What was holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet owned has bled to death under our knives: who will wipe this blood off us? What water is there for us to clean ourselves? What festivals of atonement, what sacred games shall we have to invent? Is not the greatness of this deed too great for us? Must we ourselves not become gods simply to appear worthy of it?”

Since we’ve gotten rid of God, we will replace His role with ourselves. Pretty insightful if you ask me.

So, why do Christians hate Nietzsche?

Because Fred was attacking the established church, mainline denominations. Mainline denominations have people in them that the world listens to.

Every year on Easter and Christmas the History Channel and the Discovery Channel have documentaries tearing apart Jesus Christ and Christianity. All through these they have interviews with mainline clergy: Catholics, Lutherans, Methodists, all of whom have “PhD” after their names.

People the world respects. The world respects them because they’ve ripped the life out of Christianity and the divinity out of Christ. People then hear the watered down opinions of mainline denominational structures and then go with that.

“Hey, Anglican priest guy with a PhD doesn’t like Nietzsche saying that God is dead. All Christians should hate Nietzsche.” In reality, mainline denominational smart guys hate Nietzsche because he was criticizing them!

Now, in the end, I don’t care if you like Nietzsche or not. I do care why you believe what you believe. Bottom line is: do you believe what the Bible says, or just what some PhD guys in a clerical robe said about the Bible?

Do you believe what the Bible says because you’ve read it and understood it, or do you believe what people told you the Bible says, whether they are clergy or PhD people or not? Trusting the experts is probably keeping you from truth.

Know the Bible, believe it, and show that belief by your actions.

Avenge Not Yourself

We’re all familiar with Romans 12 and how we’re not supposed to be conformed to the world. We think we do this when we don’t drink and don’t do weed and we stand against weird sexual sins.

Although that might be part of it, the rest of the chapter gives a different idea. Most of the ideas can be summed up with Paul’s command, “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves.”

This is a mighty radical statement. If you’re not blown away by it, I dare say you’re not hearing it.

When they serve your coffee wrong, do you get all up in their face? Do you use a tone of voice that conveys how stupid they are? Knowing they will throw it out if you take it back, should you just drink it?

Oh come on, give me a break! You think Paul is talking about wrong coffee orders?

No, that’s not all he’s talking about, but he’s clearly telling you to act differently than the world. I’ve seen how people treat those who serve them. It aint nice.

“Avenge” mean to retaliate, to get back at someone, to vindicate one’s right. It basically means to bless and curse not those who misuse you. We’re not just being called to not do something. Paul goes on to say we let the Lord do the avenging while we go out of our way to love those who wronged us.

It just goes from one level of insane to another.

You know you’ve heard him right when everything within you objects to what you’re being told to do. Here’s a quote from Donald Barnhouse:

“Never avenge yourself.” The natural heart will spout a stream of objections, but the answer of the Bible is, “never avenge yourself.” There is no way around it. It is a flat statement that has no loopholes. It does not say, “Never avenge yourselves except under such and such conditions.” It says, “Never avenge yourself.”

That is indeed what it says. When you’ve been robbed, attacked, criticized, cut off, interrupted, disrespected, when your rights have been trampled. It even applies to the most egregious of insults, when you are absolutely right and yet misused, even then, don’t avenge yourself.

Then the topper: let it go, let God deal with it, and show your adversary nothing but love and provision. Not just happy thoughts and a smile, but food if they are hungry and drink if they are thirsty.

Yes, give them actual things.

We are called to love people. Love goes above and beyond, even to the point of laying your life down for someone else’s benefit. Kind of like your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ did for you!

He’s our example. We all love talking about what He did for us and we love this teaching when others do it for us, but it gets real annoying when I’m supposed to let things go and do nice things for people who are clearly stupid and wrong and have accused me of false things.

Never avenge yourself.

Never.

Love all the time. Esteem others better than yourself. You can be offended by this teaching. We Americans have been inundated our whole lives about our rights. Be not conformed to the world. One huge way to do that is by giving up your rights.

I pray you understand what Christ did for you. If it has meant a lot to you, if what He did changed your life, then show others that same love so that their life might be changed by Christ too.

No one said following Christ would be easy. In fact, that’s why most Christians think following Christ is optional or at best explained away with nuanced circumstances and loopholes.

Don’t do that. Be like Christ. Commit your life into the hands of the Righteous Judge. Love. Forgive. Show mercy. Avenge not yourselves.

Asking God For Mercy

I came across a quote today that made me pause. You know how hard it is to let a questionable statement just float on by; someone must respond!

Here’s the quote:

“For anyone to pray, ‘God have mercy on me,’ is the equivalent of asking Him to repeat the sacrifice of Christ. All the mercy that God will ever have on man, He has already had when Christ died. This is the totality of mercy.”

I don’t know what your reaction is to that quote, but I immediately stopped reading and said out loud, “What?”

The larger context is about the death of Christ and the cross being sufficient for everything. Never mind the resurrection is left off. This sort of thing happens all the time. In an effort to elevate the cross, things are pressed out of measure and thus undermines the thing hoped to be elevated.

It’s similar to what I’ve heard said about forgiveness. John says we are forgiven of all unrighteousness, therefore, if you ask forgiveness for some recent sin, you are claiming that God has not forgiven you of all unrighteousness.

It’s an attempt to elevate the totality of God’s forgiveness. I get it, but to go on to say if you dare ask forgiveness you are somehow violating a rule or not understanding forgiveness, just seems goofy.

But people do this sort of thing all the time. We should say things the way the Bible says them and be content with that. When we get busy over-emphasizing stuff; heresy enters.

I’m not convinced that if I ask God to have mercy on me that I’m asking God to re-crucify Christ. That just seems weird, especially weird in light of verses like Hebrews 4:16:

Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

There is mercy available for us in a time of need. Certainly I can ask for God to have mercy on me without Christ being re-crucified. Frequently Paul and the other apostles say things like “Grace and mercy be with you.” It’s available not only for salvation but for living in general!

It’s not necessary to overstate things to make a point. You can call on God for mercy. Don’t let people intimidate you with their high fallutin extreme points. Stick with Scripture.

OK, I feel better now. Thank you.

BOOK REVIEW: Gentle and Lowly

I’ve been reading Gentle and Lowly: the heart of Christ for sinners and sufferers, by Dane Ortlund. I’ve heard this book praised by many people, not all from the same theological background either.

One of my hobbies in life is to analyze things that “everyone” likes. I enjoy being contrarian! I know that if many people like something, it’s probably wrong!

So, those are my upfront admissions! You know where I’m coming from.

The point of the book is that Jesus is a lot more loving than we think. He bases his points on Puritan writings, which I find slightly ironic. Puritans are Calvinists. Calvinists are the ones who have beaten wrath and judgment into our heads.

One of the reasons people don’t think God is as loving as the Bible says is because of Calvinism! Their stress on wrath and justice in the Gospel has diminished love. You can look at all the verses in the Bible that mention the Gospel and you will see love associated with it way more than wrath or justice. Yet Calvinism has majored on those and minored on love.

So, for a guy to use Calvinist writings to prove God is loving and not so wrathful is kind of odd. You will also notice he can’t quote a ton from most of them!

If Calvinism hadn’t taken over the Gospel, this book would not have been necessary.

At the same time, I also think people like the book because it emphasizes love and mercy. Both are fine things, but in so doing he does kind of make it sound like sin isn’t that big of a deal. I know that’s not the author’s point, I’m not accusing him of anything, I actually like most of the book as it is a needed corrective of the Calvinist wrath motif. But I do know people are hearing him that way.

“God loves to be merciful” sounds to most people like, “Should we sin that grace may abound? Absolutely yes, go for it!”

I think the two reasons people like this book are because for once a Calvinist emphasizes love, and his emphasis sounds like an ok to go sin.

Me, being a not-Calvinist, heard his Calvinism throughout the book. He never harped on it much, so it was not a hurdle to my enjoyment. Then I got to chapter 22! He let it all out in this chapter!

How much less could we comprehend what it meant for God to funnel the cumulative judgment for all the sinfulness of his people down onto one man. But reflecting on what we feel toward, say, the perpetrator of some unthinkable act of abuse toward an innocent victim gives us a taste of what God felt toward Christ as he, the last Adam, stood in for the sins of God’s people. The righteous human wrath we feel—the wrath we would be wrong not to feel—is a drop in the ocean of righteous divine wrath the Father unleashed.

After all, God punished Jesus not for the sin of just one person but many. What must it mean when Isaiah says of the servant that “the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isa. 53:6)? What was it for Christ to swallow down the cumulative twistedness, self-enthronement, natural God hatred, of the elect? What must it have been for the sum total of righteous divine wrath generated not just by one man’s sin but “the iniquity of us all” to come crashing down on a single soul?

So, there ya have it! Calvinistic wrath in all its glory.

God “unleashed” “divine wrath” on Jesus. It would be more than the wrath we would feel toward a child abuser. God views Jesus as worse than a child abuser is the idea. The “sum total of righteous divine wrath” “came crashing down on a single soul.”

There are no verses that say any of this. Yes, he includes Isaiah 53:6 that our iniquities were laid on Christ, no argument there. But the whole divine wrath on Jesus is a complete abstraction. The Bible nowhere says that God the Father had wrath toward His Son. “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” Isaiah 53 has several mentions of God being pleased with the Suffering Servant. There is no wrath. Why would God be upset with Jesus for doing the most loving, sacrificial work ever done to save us from our sin? It makes no sense.

Several times Ortlund says Jesus suffered hell. Again there is no place in the Bible where it says Jesus went to hell for us. The KJV uses “hell” sometimes instead of “the grave,” but other than that, there is nothing about Jesus going to hell. “Today you will be with me in paradise” is the only mention of where Jesus went after His death. Maybe he’s being metaphorical with the hell talk. That’s my best take, otherwise it’s all speculative.

During his explanation of suffering God’s wrath, Ortlund doesn’t quote many verses. There’s a reason for that! Here’s one snippet he throws in to give seeming biblical support:

And in venting that righteous wrath God was not striking a morally neutral tree. He was splintering the Lovely One. Beauty and Goodness Himself was being uglified and vilified. “Stricken, smitten by God” (Isaiah 53:4).

Isaiah 53:4 has more words in it that Ortlund leaves out:

Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

There are some key words in here he conveniently leaves out: “we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God.” See, that’s not saying Jesus was stricken and smitten by God; it means that’s how we viewed it. When Christ was on the cross He was being mocked. “He saved others, he cannot save himself.” This was their ultimate victory. They overcame and killed the one who claimed to be equal with God. Humanity’s view is that God was against this so called Messiah. Is God really for a guy who we just nailed to a cross? I don’t think so! God is clearly against this guy.

So, where does all this orgy of God’s wrath on Jesus come from? It comes from extrapolating a lot out of “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Ortlund talks about this passage for a few paragraphs. Allow me to quote his opening phrase about Jesus being forsaken:

“It’s speculation.” (pg. 200).

Yup, it is!

The whole God’s wrath on Jesus angle is speculation, because it says it nowhere in the Bible. If the point were clear, Ortlund would not have to speculate. But he does.

If you read the context of Psalm 22, which begins with “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” You will note that the forsakenness is dealing with physical death. As the chapter goes on you’ll see many prophecies that were fulfilled while Jesus was on the cross. You will also note that the Psalm ends with a clear understanding that he’s not forsaken by God. Yes, he’s forsaken to the point of physical suffering, but essentially he knows he’s ok. His feeling is not the full story.

For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard (Psalm 22:24).

Jesus did suffer, but God did not despise or abhor the affliction of the afflicted. He wasn’t really forsaken. It looked like He was, we esteemed him stricken, smitten of God, but in the end the Lord was with Him and heard His cries.

I guarantee you the thought of God when Christ was on the cross was not wrath against Jesus; it was sorrow. If our sin grieves the Holy Spirit, how much more must it have grieved God to see what was going on here?

In the end, this chapter refutes the entirety of the rest of Ortlund’s book. Ortlund tells me several times that God is my Father and the Father loves His sons. God only has love and mercy and compassion toward His kids. Except of course for His one Son who never did anything wrong; He blasted Him with His wrath! If God can be that upset with His one perfect Son, what chance do I have?

That’s exactly why Ortlund wrote this book, to balance out the wrathful extreme of Calvinist doctrine. I like that people like the book because he’s right when he’s right. He just can’t bring himself to admit that it’s Calvinism’s gospel that caused the problem in the first place!

Oh well. Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so.

God was never wrathful about His Son this I know, for the Bible also tells me so.

Stick with the Bible. You’ll have a much better understanding of God.

Does Grace Give F Students an A?

I’ve heard many times that law and religion say “do,” but grace says “done.”

I understand the point, and in many ways it’s true. The law was all about do, but the law was never given to save anyone. It was a covenant between God and the racial nation of Israel to abide in the Promised Land. No one was ever saved by the law. Anyone who has ever been saved has been saved by the Gospel. Genesis 3, right after the first sin, reveals the Gospel—a seed of the woman will come and crush Satan’s head. People have always been saved by grace through faith. Jewish people of faith in the Old Covenant would endeavor to keep the law still as that was the terms of the covenant they were in. Unless they wanted to get wiped out, kicked out of the land and live in slavery, they kept the law.

Just a reminder: people got saved before the Mosaic Law existed. This is a big point in the Book of Galatians.

The New Covenant has replaced the Old Covenant (read the Book of Hebrews for more details). The Old Covenant is gone. You don’t have to keep the regulations of the law to stay in the Promised Land. It’s over. You can keep those laws all day and the land of Israel is not going to flourish, especially since odds are you don’t live in the land of Israel. We are in the New Covenant. We are still saved by the Gospel. We are still saved by grace through faith. The New Covenant also has commands.

This is where most explanations of grace fall apart. Grace does say “done” when it comes to how God provides for your salvation—the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. There is nothing you can do to make a road to God other than The Way laid out in Jesus Christ.

But that grace was available just as much before the resurrection as it is now after the resurrection. No one can work their way into heaven. No one can impress God through effort. We need God Himself to intercede for us, which is what He does through Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is God and has always been in existence. Jesus Christ eventually became flesh and dwelt among us, died, and was raised again. This has always been and will always be the only way to salvation, in both the Old and New Covenant.

Here’s the big shocker: the New Covenant has things in it you’re supposed to do!

If you were a person of faith in the coming Messiah in the Old Covenant, you would demonstrate that faith by keeping the Law. Lay keeping did not save you. Lay keeping meant Israel could stay in their land.

If you are a person of faith in the already come Messiah who already died and rose again, you will demonstrate that faith by keeping the commands of the New Covenant.

Grace brings salvation and also teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, so we live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world. Grace saves us through faith and also makes us Christ’s workmanship to do good works, which God has always wanted us to do.

How do you know you have God’s grace? Because it makes you do better things.

That’s the test. Works won’t save you. They can’t. They never have and never will. If you’re saved, you will do good works. Grace gives you enough from God (all things that pertain to life and godliness) to completely transform your life. Grace doesn’t just save you; it changes you into the likeness of Jesus Christ.

Often the illustration given for grace is about taking a test. The Law tells you to study and then take the test. Your grade will determine your salvation. Grace, however, gives everyone an A whether they studied or not.

Again, I understand the point and when it comes to salvation it has some truth to it. However, I fear it goes too far and makes people think that I don’t have to do anything at all ever and God just gives me A’s while I keep living it up in sin! Sounds like a good deal.

But if this is true, if I can do everything consistent with an F student and yet get A’s, in what sense is Galatians 6:7 true: “Be not deceived, God is not mocked, for whatever a person sows, this he will also reap.” If I sow an F, I’m guessing I’m going to get an F! If I sow to the flesh I will reap flesh results; if I sow to the Spirit I will reap Spiritual fruit. Paul commands Titus to tell his people to do good works that they be not unfruitful.

If, however, I’m told that grace means I don’t have to do anything, and can in fact continue to act like an F student, how do any of those verses make sense? In fact, why would God have written a New Testament? If you read the New Testament you will find many, many commands. Why? “Well, if you really want to be a special disciple you can do all that, but you don’t have to.” Are there upper tier believers, or are their just believers all called to grow into the perfect man Christ Jesus?

There is one kind of believer. There is one Gospel. There is one body. There is one Spirit. Believers may look different as far as their giftedness and the roles they are to play in the Body of Christ, but all of us are equally in submission to the Head of the Body, Jesus Christ.

Grace is not F students acting like irresponsible F students but magically getting A’s. Grace is taking F students and making them progressively into A students doing A student things. Grace transforms us into the perfect man Christ Jesus. If this transformation isn’t happening, if instead you find yourself still acting out F student traits, there’s a good chance you have not come into contact with God’s grace.

You don’t work yourself into being an A student to get God’s grace; you humbly recognize your failings (because God gives grace to the humble), and call on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. In His grace He will save you, and then that very same grace will begin to transform you, from glory to glory, into Jesus Christ.

That’s what grace does. It’s not F students getting A’s while they continue to be F students. It’s F students being transformed, taught, corrected, instructed, and trained into being A students.

Holiness and Pastors Oprah Likes

I’m reading a book by a popular pastor. He’s been on Oprah. He’s gotten in much trouble over the years from Evangelicals. I’ve read several of his books and totally get why he’s in trouble with Evangelicals.

His take on Christianity is typical in our day. He’d rather be cool and hip and smooth over the rough edges of Christianity rather than actually deal with the Bible. He has theories and finds a few phrases from verses as backup. He mocks all those serious Christians with their hardline Bible interpretations. “Everyone should be cool like me then everything would be cool, man.”

So yeah, I’m annoyed.

Here’s one annoyance:

He’s talking about the strong divide many make between the spiritual and secular world. Why are people called to ministry but not to making tacos? He actually used that example. Taco makers are lower than pastors in this take. I’d agree to an extent. I think the whole “call to ministry” thing is a crock, but alas, whatever.

Anyway, he doesn’t stop there, he goes on to state that everything is holy, spiritual, and of eternal value. Everything. He can’t just make the simple point, oh no! He has to go all the way. So, here’s a quote:

“Jesus comes among us as God in a body, the divine and the human existing in the same place, in his death bringing an end to the idea that God is confined to a temple because the whole world is a temple, the whole earth is holy, holy, holy as the prophet Isaiah said.”

I hope that paragraph troubled you. For several reasons. First of all, at no time does the Bible say the earth is a temple. Revelation 11:19 says God’s temple is in heaven. The earth is not God’s temple.

Secondly, did Isaiah say the whole earth is holy, holy, holy? Short answer: no. Long answer: absolutely not. Isaiah 6:3, which I assume is what he’s referring to, says, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty, the whole earth is full of His glory.” In this passage, what is holy, holy, holy? Seems pretty clear that the Lord Almighty is. The glory of His holiness is seen throughout creation, but Isaiah does not say the earth is holy.

Pastors and taco makers are equal before God. Both jobs provide a service that people can value. I can go with that point. But to say that all the earth is God’s temple and is therefore all holy is just silly. In what sense are believers saints? To be a saint means to be holy, set apart. Come out from among them and be ye separate. How does that even make sense if everything in creation is holy? Why does creation need to be redeemed if it’s already holy? If everything is holy, then nothing is truly holy, since holy means set apart. If everything is equally set apart, then nothing is set apart.

In an effort to make a point in one area, he’s just completely undermined Scripture in all kinds of other points. All the guy had to do was properly quote Scripture, but he couldn’t, he had a cool point to make. He bent Scripture to fit his point and now Pandora’s Box (which isn’t holy) has been opened.

Be careful with Scripture and also with any pastor who has been on Oprah.

Does Religion Make People Hate?

Probably.

Many Christians have found it popular to say, “Christianity isn’t a religion, it’s a relationship.” This is inane because most of our relationships are religious. “Religion” just means the stuff you do regularly. Any relationship of any worth is going to have regularity in it.

Jonathan Swift said, “We have enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love one another.”

I don’t know the larger context of why Swift said this, I just saw the one line quote. I imagine it’s something like this:

Most people are half-hearted with their religion/spirituality/faith/Christianity. People are double-minded. We want the easy parts of Christianity, but not the hard parts. Just the blessings please.

When you play around with religion, never take it seriously or devote your whole heart, soul, and mind to God, you will be defensive and guilt-ridden.

Defensiveness and guilt results in attacking others. One of the most effective ways to justify yourself and feel spiritual is to attack others.

Half-hearted religion turns people into monsters.

If you were to take Christianity seriously you would grow in love. Every time it’s tried love is what happens. So if love isn’t happening, then you’re not doing Christianity right.

Don’t be half-hearted in your faith. Hot or cold, God spits out the lukewarm. The double minded man is unstable in all his ways. How long will you halt between two opinions? Choose you this day who you will serve.

Stop playing around with faith. Either do it or don’t. Half-heartedly fence sitting will just make you an angry, lonely, judgmental, abusive jerk. No one needs that.

What Does “Eye for an Eye” Really Mean?

“An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind.”

So goes the saying. It appears as though this saying came from Gandhi, or at least one of his biographers as a summation of Gandhi’s thoughts. It’s popular for many Christians to celebrate Gandhi. I am not one of those Christians who does so.

Gandhi was a fine political leader and accomplished a perfectly noble political end. I’d celebrate his political accomplishments. As far as his religious views, and more precisely his biblical views, I’ll take a pass.

Exactly how would the whole world be blind if we enacted an eye for an eye? I’ve lived for 47 years and never poked out anyone’s eye. I don’t know anyone who has poked out anyone’s eye.

The context of the edict is from Exodus 21:23-25, “But if any harm follows, then you shall give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.”

Physical harm is what is in mind. If you hurt someone, the punishment for so doing should be equal. This is the reverse of, “And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise.”

The context is also the political setup of the nation of Israel. The Old Covenant law was not a means of salvation. It was, in part, the legal code to direct the nation of Israel. This is what a Messiah-creating nation’s laws would look like if God were its King. People get punished for their sin.

The Book of Proverbs tells people to use just weights and measures, not to favor the rich and disfavor the poor, nor should you nail the rich and let the poor off the hook. They should judge with equity and fairness.

Today there are stories where people get millions of dollars for burning themselves on hot McDonald’s coffee. They do that because McDonalds has a lot of money. Let’s stick it to The Man! Make em pay! Israel’s law was written to prevent such extreme court results.

Jesus brings up an eye for an eye in The Sermon of the Mount. “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.”

Ah, so Gandhi was right! Down with eye for an eye!

Nope: context. Remember, in Exodus God is giving a nation their legal code, how to enforce the law of a nation consisting of believers, non-believers, Jews and non-Jews. Jesus is correcting the notion of individuals seeking revenge on those who wrong them.

When it comes to individuals, let wrongs against you go. It’s not your job to smite those who smite you. If you are a nation, then yes, your legal code should have a fair and consistent form of punishment for evildoers.

Jesus was correcting the personal desire for revenge that many took that verse to mean. That’s not what it’s talking about. It was specifically a command for the nation of Israel and their legal code.

So, in summation: Context is king. Gandhi is not a good interpreter of the Bible. Don’t poke people’s eyes out first or second.

How to Arrange Deck Chairs Before Hitting Icebergs

I’m not an alarmist, nor am I a guy who publicly pontificates about politics and stuff going on in the larger world. In the past 20 years the alleviation or avoidance of problems in my church and family has consumed me more than the fear mongering news.

But it has become very obvious to me that we are about to enter a time of trouble in our world and it’s going to get rough.

There are two sides to the “rough” that’s coming: Great opportunity for pleasure distracting us from faith and persecution.

It seems odd these things would go together, pleasure and persecution, but they will. Materialism and entertainment are overtaking the world. It’s already overtaken the church. The Health and Wealth Gospel is not a side note anymore; it is today’s Christianity.

The materialistic entertainment around us is removing the old standards of sin and morality. Those who will oppose the decadence will be done away with. I don’t know how exactly, it probably won’t be gulags. As government and business join forces (Babylon the Great of Revelation 18), it will be more like ramped up Cancel Culture.

I think the new persecution will look like removing your ability to make money and buy things. Here’s a quote I recently read:

“The old totalitarianism conquered societies through fear of pain; the new one will conquer primarily through manipulating people’s love of pleasure and fear of discomfort.”

As Revelation tells us, without the mark of the beast you won’t be able to buy or sell. I know many people mock the rapture and tribulation take on eschatology. You are free to do so, but I’m increasingly impressed with how exactly it is  moving in that direction!

Compensation: A Lovely Poem

In many older theological type books, authors would put poems and hymn lyrics in to emphasize their points. This doesn't happen as much in modern theological type books, perhaps because our modern songs don't contain any theology. 

Ba-dum-bum.

Typically I skip these poems. I don't know why. Probably has something to do with wide margins and being easy to skim over.

But tonight I read one and though it was quite good. I believe it's entitled, Compensation and is by Mary Frances Butts. Perhaps you'll like it too.



For the joy set before thee — 
The cross. 
For the gain that comes after — 
The loss. 

For the morning that smileth — 
The night. 
For the peace of the victor —  
The fight.  

For the white rose of goodness —  
The thorn.  
For the Spirit's deep wisdom —  
Men's scorn.  

For the sunshine of gladness —  
The rain.  
For the fruit of God's pruning —  
The pain.  

For the clear bells of triumph —  
A knell.  
For the sweet kiss of meeting —  
Farewell.  

For the height of the mountain —  
The steep.  
For the waking in heaven —  
Death's sleep. 

Monks and Other Wasted Lives

Our library is open again. Couldn’t wait to check out the New Non-Fiction section to get my latest fill of leftist politician hagiographies, weird diet cookbooks, and various other books no one in their right mind would ever possibly check out.

But tucked in the couple hundred books are at least two books that seem like they’d be worth reading.

I picked up four. I made it through ten pages of one before returning it. So I started another one I hesitated getting, I walked past it twice, but eventually picked it up because I really didn’t want to read Madeleine Albreight’s thrilling autobiography.

It’s about a guy who lived his life as a Buddhist monk in India. Buddhists are full of themselves. Buddhist monks are like, overflowing with themselves. He is massively impressed with himself.

However, from my reading, all monks are full of themselves, at least the ones who write books about their monking. He mentions what a great guy St. Francis of Assisi was. Goodness. Francis drives me nuts. He’s a spoiled rich kid who leaves home to talk to birds and make up rules for people to obey. Nice life.

Well, Mr. Buddhist Monk was also a spoiled rich kid who left his home and spent time feeding ants and not making rules because, “whatever, man.”

On Judgment Day there’s going to a lot of massively disappointed monks.

All that effort. All that discipline. All that rule keeping. “Hey, I never even told anyone to do that,” I imagine God telling them. “Yeah, but, look how impressed we were with ourselves. Surely that must count for something?”

“You have your reward.”

I also note how many famous people endorse his book on the back cover. Everyone likes Buddhists. All the cool self-helpy people in our world just love them. Their meditation, their peace and tranquility, and their pseudo-intellectual agnostic, nirvanaing. They are no threat, primarily because no one has a clue what they are talking about.

Here’s a quote from Mr. Buddhist Monk:

Every one of the sutras–the accounts of the Buddha’s teaching that have come down to us–begins with the phrase, “Thus have I heard.” That opening, hedged as one listener’s experience, implies that this is just one possible account of what happened, filtered by a human mind and the limitations of memory. As scripture goes, it’s a rather tentative beginning

So, Buddha heard some stuff and is like, “Hey man, this is cool. Do you think it’s cool? I think it’d be cool if you thought it was cool. But whatever, man.”

He says later:

They are not divine revelation, absolute and incontrovertible, but communication skillfully framed for a particular audience. It was emphasized again and again that each listener heard those words differently, according to their own capacity and their own concerns.

Well that’s enough to make a guy vomit.

If their scriptures are just things that mean whatever to whoever hears it in whatever context, then why bother with scripture?

Buddha says, “Here’s some stuff I heard.” The Bible says, “Thus saith the Lord.”

Guess which one the world prefers?

Ultimately Buddhism is about the furtherance of the individual. Thus it becomes a self-serving religion. Christians start hospitals; Buddhists sit on mountains feeling superior to sick people. Christianity wants you to get your hands dirty, helping those who are hurting, loving your enemy, sticking with truth despite opposition, and generally living life with hope. Buddhism wants you to sink into yourself and not let anyone mess with your buzz, man.

Selah.

OK, I’m done.