One Gets Very Upset

When one reads things like this that people write.

God was never a bigot

Consider the claim that the crucifixion of Jesus Christ is a righteous yet merciful God’s solution to His wrath against mankind for their sins.

Proponents of this view say that God being perfectly righteous and holy cannot leave sin unpunished; He has to punish mankind with eternal separation from His presence and damnation in order to be consistent with His own code of righteousness.

They propose that God was somehow at pains to carry out His righteous decrees because He did not want to condemn mankind to the fate of eternal destruction.

But He could not simply leave them unpunished; let them get away ‘scot-free’ as it were. If He did that, it would be unrighteous of Him, so they say.

And so He thought up of the perfect solution that would both satisfy His righteousness and enable Him to bestow on mankind His richest mercies.

In the midst of all this, a very questionable, basic assumption has been made: namely, that the fact that God is righteous means that He has to punish every sin. It is not only His right; it is a demand that even God cannot ignore and has to ‘work around’.

This is not an issue about criminal justice, where every criminal case should be dealt with an adequate measure of justice; God’s righteousness is closer to morality, for lack of a better word. It has to do not simply with outward physical actions of murder, adultery and stealing; it has to do even with the innermost feelings, thoughts and plans of the mind.

Since that is the case, and keeping in mind that morality cannot be legislated as criminal action can, to assume that God has to punish every wrongdoing as a court punishes a criminal is no less than to assume that He is a divine bigot, which assumption is extremely suspect.

God did not plan the cross to save mankind and borrow the hands of sinful people to achieve His greater purposes; to do His ‘dirty’ work as it were.

If that were so, God could be rightly charged with ‘divine child abuse’ as a leading in the emerging church movement called it, or at least schizophrenia.

Yet while God did not plan the crucifixion of His Son, He certainly knew what would happen if He sent Jesus into the world; He could foresee the cross. And foreseeing that tragic event in eternity, God did not hold back from sending His Son, for all the people who would accept Him, even if it meant that those who rejected Him would kill Him.

God’s is the love that is willing to suffer any loss for the sake of those who love Him and even those who do not, in the sense that His revelation is given to one and all. And so God did not foreordain the cross, but He foresaw it, and He foreordained His salvation through the cross. It's the same with every incident of human suffering; while God did not foreordain that suffering, He through His foreknowledge foreordained His salvation through that suffering.

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23 When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them.
24 And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, "Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them,
25 who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit,

"'Why did the Gentiles rage,
and the peoples plot in vain?
26 The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers were gathered together,
against the Lord and against his Anointed'—
27 for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel,
28 to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.
29 And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness,
30 while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus."
31And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.

- Acts 4:23-31

All emphasis mine.

Don't Expect Perfect Repentance - Paul Washer

James White on Heb 4:1-11

The Question of Reason

Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But, as it is written,

"What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
nor the heart of man imagined,
what God has prepared for those who love him"

— these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.

The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. "For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?" But we have the mind of Christ.

- 1 Corinthians 2: 6-16

How is it that two similar people may be exposed to the same Truth and yet have two completely opposite responses to it? Both may be very intelligent people, but when faced with who God is, one responds in fear and adoration while the other dismisses any notion of God with disdain. What separates the one from the other?

Sometimes I wonder at the use and effectiveness of reason in apologetics and/or evangelism today. This is not to say that one should not use reason nor that Christianity is an unreasonable Faith, but do we place too much trust in the use of reason?

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

- Romans 1: 18-23

God's works are plainly seen. From the largest galaxies in the universe to the smallest components of the atom; from the amazing complexity of the human body to the tiny crystal-like structure of snow-flakes, there is much in the natural world that will and should fill the human mind with awe and wonder. Who could create such things in all their myriad shapes and sizes and beauty. Such is the sin of men that they would do everything in their power to disown the God who made them rather than bow the knee in worship.

Why does one believe and the other disbelieve? Why does one who, upon seeing and hearing of the sinfulness of men and of their utter depravity and hopelessness, turns and throws himself upon the mercies of Christ while the other does all that he can to convince himself of mankind's "inherent" goodness and lack of need for a saviour? Is the one who disbelieves "wiser" than the who believes? Is the one who believes of a more gullible nature? Surely not, for there are men with great minds and mighty intellects that have responded in faith to the Gospel and there are multitudes of men of low learning who have spat and trampled upon the Blood of Christ.

So what then separates those whom respond in faith and those who do not but grace?

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.

- Ephesians 1: 3-6

This was done so that no man should boast of himself, but that if he should boast, to boast in the Lord (cf. 1 Cor. 1:31)

How then do men believe? No doubt God is a God who uses reason (cf. Isa. 1:18) and the Apostle Paul himself reasoned with those in the synagogues or marketplace (cf. Acts 17:2,17, 18:4,19), but I've come to realize the limits of Reason. One could provide 101 reasons for the resurrection of Jesus Christ or for the infallibility of Scripture, but they can no more turn a man to Christ unless God, in His Mercy, opens his eyes and understanding to spiritual things.

And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

- 1 Corinthians 2: 1-5

To Him who is able to save and save to the uttermost.
Soli Deo Gloria

I walked in the sunshine with a scholar who had effectively forfeited his prospects of academic advancement by clashing with church dignitaries over the gospel of grace. “But it doesn’t matter,” he said at length, “for I’ve known God and they haven’t.” . . . [Not] many of us ever naturally say that in the light of the knowledge of God which we have come to enjoy past disappointments and present heartbreaks, as the world counts heartbreaks, don’t matter. For the plain fact is that to most of us they do matter. We live with them as our “crosses” (so we call them). Constantly we find ourselves slipping into bitterness and apathy and gloom as we reflect on them, which we frequently do. The attitude we show to the world is a sort of dried-up stoicism, miles removed from the “joy unspeakable and full of glory” which Peter took for granted that his readers were displaying (1 Peter 1:8). “Poor souls,” our friends say of us, “how they’ve suffered”—and that is just what we feel about ourselves! But these private mock heroics have no place at all in the minds of those who really know God. They never brood on might-have-beens; they never think of the things they have missed, only of what they have gained. . . . When Paul says [in Philippians 3] he counts the things he lost “dung,” he means not merely that he does not think of them as having any value but also that he does not live with them constantly in his mind; what normal person spends his time nostalgically dreaming of manure?

- J I Packer from Knowing God (Bold mine)

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A recommended article on 2 Cor. 12: 1-10 to be read.

Thanksgiving

I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge— even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you— so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

- 1 Corinthians 1: 4-9

For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers,

- Ephesians 1: 15-16

I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.

- Philippians 1: 3-5

We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven.

- Colossians 1: 3-5a

We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing.

- 2 Thessalonians 1:3

I really thank God for the internet, even though it is abused,corrupted and all manners of vile stuff is placed in it. Why so? Because through it one can read of countless stories and testimonies to the manifold grace of God. In (nearly) all of his letters to the churches, the Apostle Paul begins in offering thanks to God for the grace given and displayed in those churches even though some were in great disarray (Corinth) or were churches which he had never visited and of whom he has heard of their faith only through hearsay (Colossae).

In that day and age when communication from one end of Asia Minor to the end could take months, the Apostle Paul was ever ready to glorify God for even the smallest evidence of His Grace and Power working in a people. How much more than should we, who through the mere click of a button are able to read and know about the mighty works of God from across the globe, give Him even more praise.

I was reading this story from the HeartCry Newsletter that made me stop and marvel at the beauty of a simple child-like faith.

It has been a joy to receive an uninterrupted flow of testimonies about how God has shown Himself strong on behalf of our HeartCry family in Eastern Europe. In spite of high taxes and a rising cost of living resulting in privation, our brothers and sisters have been supernaturally sustained. Earlier this year, one of our missionaries from Moldova wrote:

“One evening when the children had the flu we decided to have a vapor inhalation. I remembered the way we did it when I was just a little child. We took a brick and made it very hot in the fire. We placed it under a table on which we had put a blanket and we poured tea on the brick and breathed the hot air. We did the same with the children. We even prayed under the table. My little son Felice prayed and thanked God for the day. When he finished, the other children whispered ‘Amen’. Then he continued: ‘Lord we thank You for the brick’.”

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

- 1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18

Oh how ungrateful we are of God's exceedingly great mercies and Grace which He has given unto us. We sing that His mercies are new every morning, but do we consider them with reverence? Every breath of air that we breathe, every beat of our heart. The sun that sets in the West returns to rise in the East once again. The rains that fall, not to wipe out sinful humanity, but to bring life and produce from the earth.

Lebanon would not suffice for fuel, nor are its beasts enough for a burnt offering.
- Isaiah 40:16

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A dedication to those whom through your blog writings and your life, I am very much encouraged and spurred in much (godly) jealousy to desire to know more about Christ and the Power of His Resurrection.

I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge

- 1 Corinthians 1:4-5

Nick Is

Really busy busy busy these 2 months.

29He gives power to the faint,
and to him who has no might he increases strength.
30Even youths shall faint and be weary,
and young men shall fall exhausted;
31but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.

- Isaiah 40: 29-31