It seems like Christianity and Jesus are increasingly under attack. What's going on? What we'll be looking at is what happens when Christians use human wisdom to interpret the Bible, twisting scripture away from its intended message. This blog is dedicated to using Scripture itself to interpret and help us understand Scripture. You are welcome to add your comments and thoughts. Other viewpoints are welcome. Disagreements are welcome.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
I've Made Some Mistakes - God Forgives Mistakes
When people realize they have disobeyed God (realize they are sinners) a common response is to say, "I've made some mistakes, but God forgives mistakes."
Is this true?
It is true that God forgives, but God is also just. This means there is justice. Justice means there are consequences resulting from our actions. The consequence of disobeying God is the death penalty. This is spiritual death or what we call hell.
Let's say someone has broken the law. It's a serious crime. This person has raped and murdered a small child. They are now standing before a judge. They say to the judge, "Yes, I did this crime. But you are a loving judge. You are a good judge. You are a forgiving judge. Because of this you will let me go free." What is the judge going to say?
He will say, "Yes, I am a loving judge and I hold no grudge against you. Yes, I am a good judge and that is why I am sentencing you to life in prison." The parents of the child may have forgiven this person. He still goes to prison. When you break the law there are consequences. For there to be justice there is a penalty that must be paid. That is true with civil law here on earth, and it is true with God.
"But", people then say, "I've never done anything as bad as that. After all, I've never murdered anyone. Sure I've made some mistakes, but God would never send anyone to hell for a few minor mistakes."
Have you ever been angry with someone? For example, when you are driving in traffic? Or when you are in a store and someone cuts in line in front of you? Or if someone says something really stupid? Jesus said that if you have been angry at another person, that is the same as murder.
God looks at your heart.
Have you ever looked at another person with lust? Jesus said that if you look with lust, that is the same as committing adultery.
God looks at your heart.
Have you ever told a lie? The Bible says that all liars have a place in the lake of fire.
When you break God's law there are consequences. Yes, God is loving. Yes, God is forgiving. Yes, God is justice and justice demands that there be consequences for breaking the law. When you break God's law the consequence is that you deserve to go to the fires of hell. And we all have broken God's law.
In a comment to a previous post about Are Mormons Christians, a Mormon had this to say about being "good enough" to be acceptable to God.
"Oh, and yes I am good enough. I am not perfect, but I am working on it, and that is what my Heavenly Father wants for me."
"With that last comment, I now realize why you are so quick to disprove the doctrine of the LDS church. If in fact someone made you feel as though you were not good enough, they were wrong, and clearly did not understand LDS doctrine. The doctrine is perfect, the people are not."
I had asked this anonymous Mormon whether or not they were a good person. Then asked some questions based on the Ten Commandments. Have you ever told a lie? Have you ever taken something that does not belong to you (that includes downloading music from the internet and fudging a little on your taxes)? Have you always honored your parents? Have you ever looked with lust? Jesus said that if you look with lust that is adultery in your heart.
The Ten Commandments are like a mirror showing us how God sees us. What He sees are law breakers... people who disobey Him.
What happens if you break a law, get caught and are standing in court before a judge? Can you say, 'Yes I'm not perfect. I've broken the law. But I'm basically a good person, judge. So you should let me go." Will the judge let you go? Not if he is a good judge. You've broken the law and must pay the penalty.
God, is a much better judge than any human judge. He is just, and He will always see that justice is done. You've broken the law, you must pay the penalty. The penalty for breaking God's law is death hell).
What can you do to avoid the death penalty? Nothing.
Let's say you are in a human court. You are guilty. The penalty is $1,000,000 or prison for life. You don't have $1,000,000. But then someone you don't know walks into the courtroom, opens a briefcase, and it has $1,000,000 in cash! They offer to pay your fine. What happens to you now? Your penalty is paid you go free!!
That is what Jesus has done for you. He has died in your place, paying your fine so you can go free.
Let's say you a month later you walk into the same courtroom and say to the judge, "Let me tell you about all the good things I've been doing." Does that do you any good? No. What are you saying about the person who paid your fine for you? "I don't think what you did is good enough. I must add some of my "good works." What an insult to Jesus!
Besides, you can't do any works that are good compared with the goodness of God. Isaiah 64:6 says that the VERY BEST we can do, our most righteous deeds are like filthy rags to God. Ephesians 2:8,9 makes is clear that there is nothing we can do that is good enough to gain us credit. We will never be able to boast in heaven, saying "I did... " My dear Mormon, it's all about God and not a bit about you.
Ephesians 2:8,9 - "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that NO ONE MAY BOAST."
What is one of the foundations of Christianity? It is truth.
"Jesus said, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me." - John 14:6
"Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak truth each one of you with his neighbor..." - Ephesians 4:25
How can a church call itself Christian, if lies are regularly used as the best arguments to say this church is Christian?
I'm also reminded of 2 Timothy 2:25 which tells us to gently teach those who oppose the truth. So how do I gently tell Mormons they are believing in a lie? How do I tell Mormons to stop putting problems they see with the LDS church on a shelf, and recognize it is a lie? Plus when you point out something such as this, Mormons take it as persecution and they take it as further proof they are right. My question then is... what if the LDS church is wrong? What if God is trying to reach YOU? But you ignore Him, put the problem on a shelf, and call yourself persecuted?
What has got me started on this topic is the book 'The Mormon Faith." This book, as do many other Mormon apologetic books, supports the LDS belief that God's grace is not sufficient by quoting great Christian evangelists such as C.S. Lewis. I just happen to also be reading C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity right now.
Here is what is going on...
The LDS church teaches that in addition to grace, human works (obedience) is also necessary for "salvation". This a quote from the book "The Mormon Faith" (page 74):
"The theological debate over whether we are saved by grace or by works has continued for centuries. In reality, it is a fruitless argument that generates more heat than light. It is in the words of C.S. Lewis, 'like asking which blade in a pair of scissors is most necessary.'" (the C.S. Lewis quote is from 'Mere Christianity').
It sounds like the C.S. Lewis believes, as the mormon church does, that both grace and works are necessary. So the Mormon church must be a Christian church since C.S. Lewis agrees with their doctrine!! But this is a lie in the great tradition of Michael Moore presenting real quote, but ripping it out of context so the quote says the opposite of its original meaning. Yes, C.S. Lewis did write those words. But here is the context...
In the previous paragraph in his book C.S. Lewis writes about the need for us to "throw in the sponge". What this means is that we need to know that there is NOTHING we can do to save our selves. in that paragraph C.S. Lewis writes, 'The difficulty is to reach the point of recognizing that all we have done and can do is nothing." Throwing in the sponge means that we give up trying to attain salvation through works, and we trust in God's grace... trust in Jesus Christ alone. The works C.S. Lewis refers to in the quoted used in the Mormon book are our vain and useless efforts to be good enough. Until we stop trying, we can not be saved. It is through our failure to be good that we come to recognize our need for a savior. (See the Good Person Test, which is one way we use to show people they are not good and they need a savior.)
My dear Mormon apologist you are trying to trick people into believing the LDS church is a Christian church. And by doing that you prove the LDS church is not a Christian church.
"Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, 'Did God really say, You must not eat from any tree in the garden?'
The woman said to the serpent, 'We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.'
'You will surely not die,' the serpent said to the woman. 'For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.'"
We all know what happens next. Eve ate some of the fruit, offered to Adam and he also ate the fruit. They disobeyed God. For the first time disobedience of God entered the world... sin.
What if God never told us about the events recorded in Genesis 3? Let's say the history recorded in Genesis 3 was not included in the Bible. It's not very long. Only 24 verses. Would the Bible still make sense?
No.
If God had not told us that sin entered the world, we would not understand the need for Jesus to pay the penalty for our sin. What sin? I'm a good person! that's what you'd hear. Actually that is what you do hear today. When I ask people why they think they'll go to heaven, and most people think they are going to heaven, the #1 answer is "because I'm a good person."
What about Genesis 3? People don't know about sin. They don't understand they are sinners, heading for the just consequences of their sin, the firey pit of hell. It's just as though Genesis 3 did not exist. And that is why we must tell people about sin when we are witnessing. No in a mean or angry way, but in a loving way. People need to understand their situation. That's why God gave us Genesis 3. So we would understand our situation.
What if God had not given us Genesis 3? We'd be in the same situation as the people I witness to. We would not know our need for a Savior.
"Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned---" - Romans 5:12
Would you consider yourself to be a good person?
Okay, maybe not a perfect person, but at least good enough to get into heaven?
How good do you have to be to get into heaven? That's a question we answer on our web site. I've asked people around the world this question, and the answer is same everywhere. "I am a good person... at least good enough to get into heaven."
How good is good enough?
It is perfect. If you disobey God just once, that's it. You're headed for hell. But we don't disobey God just once. You and I regularly disobey God... every day. As Romans 5:12 says, we have all sinned. And that means we have earned the penalty for breaking God's law. Hell. Death.
But, God so loved the world... God loves us so much, how could He send us to hell? I though God was forgiving.
God does love us. He loves you. Imagine you have committed a serious crime and are standing before a judge in a courtroom, and you are obviously guilty. The judge is a good judge. The judge really cares about you. What does the judge do? Does he let you go free? No. You must pay the penalty for breaking the law.
God loves you. But you've broken His law and the penalty must be paid. That penalty is death, what we call hell. But God loves you so much that He did something very special. He paid you penalty in your place. He paid the death penalty so you can go free.
Do you want to go free? Do you want to be free of the penalty for sin? Turn from sin and trust that Jesus Christ did die to pay the penalty you owe for disobeying God.
John concludes the list of characteristics with love:
#10 - "We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death. Anyone who hates his brother is a murder, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him." 1 John 3:14
Understanding what love is... what love looks like... is a problem in American culture today. What our culture defines as love in many cases is not truly Biblical love.
In my previous post I used homosexuality as an example, and it works well as an example here. Many in American culture today, in particular young people, think that to exclude a practicing homosexual from the church (for example) church leadership is not loving. The truth is, to include a practicing homosexual as a part of the church is a very hateful thing to do. It shows no love at all.
Our culture is very much oriented toward not hurting any one's feelings or their self-esteem. Notice the word used here: self-esteem. Almost anytime you see the word "self" you can be sure it's not Biblical. The Bible is not about "self" it is ALL about God.
What is the most loving thing someone can do for another person? Think about something that lasts forever.
To include someone in the church is to tell them, and the world, that they are okay. God accepts you. That's not true. Look at Matthew 25:31-40. In these passages Jesus separates the sheep from the goats. The sheep and the goats are those people who lived in obedience to God (sheep) and those who rejected God (goats).
1 Corinthians chapter fives describes a situation in which a man who is involved in sexual sin is accepted by the Corinthian church, and the church is proud and boasting about its acceptance of this man. This sounds like the "Christian" churches that call themselves reconcilingchurches. They accept sexual sin in their membership and not only that, they are proud about it and they boast about it!
What did Paul say to do about this situation? He says to hand the man over to Satan and tells the church their boasting is not good. Paul writes: "But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother, but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler." - 1 Corinthians 5:11
This sounds very mean spirited, to kick someone out of the church. But in reality it is the very best thing you can do for them. While they are in the church they are thinking they have no problems. After all, they go to church regularly, so they must be saved. But the truth is they are heading for hell and the lake of fire. Instead of leading them to Christ the church is blinding them.
By "turning them over to Satan", they will then be able to see their sin and their need for a saviour. Yes, their feelings get hurt, but they get eternal life. That truly is love.
I need to be clear that I am not claiming that Christians in church are pure, free of sin and they sit in judgement over others, deciding who to let in and who to keep out of heaven. There is not one person in the church who does not deserve to go to hell. Everyone is a sinner. The difference is that Christians struggle with sin, knowing they are doing wrong and struggling to do what is right. The difference is that Christians are trusting that Christ died to pay their penalty for sin, so that when God looks at them He sees the righteousness of Jesus not the sinfulness of man.
Have you turned away from sin (repented) and trusted that Jesus has truly and fully paid the penalty for your sin?
But as I pointed out in that post, it is impossible for any of us to obey God's commands perfectly. In fact, the law was not given to us so that we can learn to obey it perfectly, the law was given to us so that we will know we are unable to obey God's law (Romans 7:7) and as a tutor that leads us to Christ (Galatians 3:24).
"I would not have known what sin was except through the law." - Romans 7:7
I explained in that previous post that while Christians do sin, it is because they fall into sin, they do not dive into sin. Christians struggle with sin, they do not accept sin as being good and right.
Here is today's verse:
#9 - "He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work. No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God." 1 John 3:8,9
If we look at the original Greek for this verse, it has a deeper meaning than we get from the English translation. This verse is talking about having a continuing lifestyle of sin without repentance... without a struggle with sin.
The example that jumps right out is that of homosexuals being ordained as ministers, priests and bishops. To be a leader in a Christian church you must be a Christian. A homosexual who has turned away from homosexuality, and who is no longer practicing homosexuality can be a minister, priest or bishop. That person may even fall back into the sin of homosexuality... that is something that happens with fallen people such as us.
On the other hand, a homosexual who says, "I'm gay and I'm proud of it." is not a Christian and thus can not be a church leader, or even a church member. Instead of repenting of their sin, turning away from, and struggling with it, they are embracing their sin. That's what this verse is saying. If we embrace our sin... plan our sin... and do not struggle with our sin... then we are not a Christian.
One point I'd like to be very clear about: I said that a homosexual may not be a member of a church. This is true. The church is the body of Christ. If you are not a Christian you are not a part of the body of Christ, you are an enemy of God. However, that does not mean homosexuals are not welcome in church. Everyone is welcome to attend church services, classes and events. The doors are open to you. Come learn about Jesus Christ and how he died on the cross to pay the penalty you owe for disobeying God.
"By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me [Paul] also..." 1 Corinthians 15:2-8
This characteristic of a non-Christian is very easy to understand. If you deny that Jesus Christ is the Savior, then you are not a Christian.
#7 - "Who is the liar? It isthe man who denies the Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist--he denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also." 1 John 2:22,23
1 John 4:2,3 repeats this:
"This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world."
Recognize that "Jesus Christ" is not a name. The term "Christ" is a title. It means savior. It is synonymous with the Hebrew word Messiah. If you deny that Jesus Christ is the savior, then you are not saved. This makes sense because:
"Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." - Acts 4:12
