jesus – Page 2 – Believers Armed and Dangerous

LDS Archaeology – Book of Abraham

The Book of Abraham is a part of the Pearl of Great Price, one of the four sacred Scriptures of the LDS (Mormon) church. Here is the statement at the introduction of the Pearl of Great Price telling us portions (including the Book of Abraham) were translated and are “sacred scripture:”

“The Pearl of Great Price is a selection from the revelations, translations, and narrations of Joseph Smith, first prophet, seer, and revelator to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Portions of it were translated from ancient records and are considered sacred scripture by members of the Church.”
— Pearl of Great Price, Introduction (current LDS edition, 2013).

So, this is a sacred and inspired book to the LDS. But what exactly is the Book of Abraham (BOA)? I think we need to understand some foundational events first. Archaeology was in its infancy in the early 1800s but American interest was growing about Egyptian history in particular. The Rosetta Stone had only been discovered in 1799 enabling scholars to translate Egyptian hieroglyphics. Around 1820, some mummies and papyrus rolls (see image above) were discovered near Thebes in Egypt and found their way to the shores of America. These were sold to Michael H. Chandler who began touring America exhibiting the artifacts for profit.

In 1835, Chandler’s exhibit passed through Kirtland, Ohio, where the LDS church was headquartered at the time. The exhibit piqued the interest of Joseph Smith who, with the finances (about $88K today) of some friends, purchased some of the mummies and a few of the scrolls. Smith soon claimed the scrolls had been written by the very hand of the Bible’s Abraham some 4,000 years earlier and began to miraculously translate these scrolls into the Book of Abraham.

The “translation” describes Abraham’s life in Ur and Egypt and contained a supposed vision of the cosmos, including a teaching that the stars and planets are governed by great spirits.

The doctrine of the pre-existence of souls (that humans existed before this life) is also taken from the BOA. This is a controversial teaching historically used by LDS leaders regarding priesthood restrictions based on race (though the LDS church today rejects that application). These doctrines appear only in the BOA. If it isn’t what Joseph Smith claimed it to be, there is no other “sacred” source for these doctrines.

After the “translation” was completed, the original scrolls disappeared. For many years, they were thought to have been destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. However, in 1967, portions of the papyri were rediscovered in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and returned to the LDS Church.

“On November 27, 1967, the Metropolitan Museum of Art presented to the Church as a gift certain Egyptian papyri once owned and studied by the Prophet Joseph Smith. This was a far more momentous transaction than might appear on the surface, for it brought back into play for the first time since the angel Moroni took back the golden plates a tangible link between the worlds. What we have here is more than a few routine scribblings of ill-trained scribes of long ago; at least one of these very documents was presented to the world by Joseph Smith as offering a brief and privileged insight into the strange world of the Patriarchs. It was such a strange world that the Egyptologists who were asked to express their opinions of the Prophet’s teachings could only snort and sputter with disgust. And they will probably do the same again, for the Lord plainly does not intend to let the matter rest there.” (Prolegomena to Any Study of the Book of Abraham, BYU Studies Winter 1968, p.171)

The ecstatic church leaders ran to Egyptologists to examined the papyrus. What they found was the fragments are common Egyptian funerary texts (the Book of Breathings and Book of the Dead), written about 1,500 years after Abraham. The Book of Abraham was a fraud. The Egyptian texts do not mention Abraham at all. Joseph Smith’s “translation” of the hieroglyphs does not match what modern Egyptologists know the papyrus tells us. This is a major issue because Joseph Smith claimed a divine gift of translation. If his translation is not accurate, it challenges and disproves his claim to prophetic authority.

Why is this important?

The foundation of the LDS church is based firmly in thin air. There is absolutely no evidence at all of the claims of their faith. This is most plane when looking at the Book of Abraham. It is not at all what the LDS prophet claimed it to be. It does not say what the prophet said it said, and yet it is a part of “sacred scripture” of the LDS church.

By contrast, Christianity is founded on a real historical person, Jesus. His bodily resurrection is the best document event in ancient history. Dozens of characters mentioned in the Bible have been proven to exist through archaeological digs and by non-believing writers of the times.

The LDS church claims the Book of Mormon is an accurate description of great civilizations living in the Americas, of huge cities, and great battles fought over centuries of history. Yet there is not one shred of archaeological evidence to support their claims. The LDS church owns the very property where the golden plates were supposedly hidden centuries ago. Their archaeologists have examined that very land where the last and greatest battle took place. They have found nothing.

In the Broadway play The Book of Mormon, there is a song titled I Believe. That song lists some of the odd doctrines the LDS Church teaches without evidence. There is a repeated line in the song that well describes the LDS faith without facts: “A Mormon just believes.”

The Significance of the Resurrection

I’ve always heard, as I’m sure you have, “Jesus died for our sins,” but I don’t often hear much about the significance of the resurrection. Sure I’ve heard “Jesus showed His power over sin and death” or “It showed His victory over Satan,” but I’ve never really read a systematic study of this. After all, the focus has always seemed to be we’re forgiven through His sacrifice. That’s always been what we share when we offer the gospel to others. What’s the significance the resurrection? So, I decided to see what I could find about this, and here are six significant points:

1. Jesus’ resurrection Confirms Jesus’ Deity

Rom. 1:4 (ESV) and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,

It was the resurrection that declared Jesus to be the Son of God. We know to be God’s own Son is the same as being God the Son and equal with the Father:

John 5:18 (ESV) This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.

So, the bodily resurrection of Jesus declared to the world of mankind that Jesus is God the Son.

2. Jesus’ resurrection validates the atonement

Rom. 4:23-25 (ESV) But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, ²⁴but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, ²⁵who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

Jesus was “delivered up for our trespasses.” He was raised to show His sacrifice has been approved and we are justified. Not only was this sacrifice approved, the approval is shown to have been endorsed by all three persons of the trinity: Father (Gal. 1:1), the Son (John 2:18-22), and by the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:11).

3. Jesus’ resurrection guarantees our resurrection

1 Cor. 15:20 (ESV) But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

Jesus is the firstfruits, the first of many who will die in Christ, so we will be raised as He was raised:

Rom. 8:11 (ESV) If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

4. Jesus’ resurrection grounds our future hope

1 Cor. 15:14 (ESV) And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.

This is a form of negative affirmation. Paul is arguing against those in the church at Corinth who believed the dead would not be raised. He says the resurrection is the center of our faith. Without it our faith is pointless, empty, worthless. But because Christ is raised, our hope is secure. We are justified and will spend eternity with Him in His kingdom.

5. Jesus’ resurrection establishes Christ’s Lordship

Phil. 2:8 -11 (ESV) And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

One day every knee will bow to our Lord, Jesus, every tongue will confess that He is Lord. This could only happen if Jesus did not remain in the tomb but was raised in power and glory, His lordship there for all to see.

6. Jesus’ resurrection empowers the believer’s new life

Rom. 6:4 (ESV) We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

We Christians carry that same power that raised Jesus from the dead (Rom. 8:11) within us. Because of Jesus resurrection, we have new life. We have peace with God and are justified to approach His throne unafraid.

Why is this important?

Ours is a wonderful God. He died horribly for our sins and has risen from the dead to show His love for us. He then raised that same body from the dead, to assure us of our hope, our permanent and guaranteed place in His kingdom. He has done this by a public display, His public execution on Calvary and His gloriously rising bodily as seen by at least 500 people at one time (1 Cor. 15:6).

Unshakable Faith

Daniel 3:15-18 (ESV) ¹⁵Now if you are ready when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, well and good. But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?”

¹⁶Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. ¹⁷If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. ¹⁸But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

While I was reading this this morning, I thought “What is it about the faith of Shadrach, Meshack, and Abednego (Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah) that they were willing to stand against the king with such boldness? Maybe these:

These three had seen their God working in their own lives. Their friend and compatriot, Daniel, had answered an impossible call. God, their God before Whom they stood, had not only given Daniel the impossible task not only to interpret the dream of the king, but to tell the king what the dream was in the first place. The king had kept the details of the dream to himself to test the wisemen of the land. None could say what the dream was. They recognized this when they said “There is not a man on earth who can meet the king’s demand, for no great and powerful king has asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or Chaldean. ¹¹The thing that the king asks is difficult, and no one can show it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.” (Daniel 2:10b-11) But they didn’t know the God of Daniel, Shadrack, Meshack, and Abednego.

God gave the interpretation of the dream to Daniel, and Daniel was placed high in the king’s government. Because of this, the three young men knew their God was true and powerful. The experience they had witnessed assured this.

They also knew because that God dwelt within them. What else could have emboldened these three men to stand before Nebuchadnezzar, the king of the great empire of Babylon and say in modern terms, “Either through our dying in the fiery furnace or by God’s joining us and protecting us, our God will still deliver us from you O king.”

You have to admit that was pretty gutsy. But as believers we know the God of the interpretation of dreams, the God of the impossible. He lives here inside of us. He loves us and supports us in all we do for Him. We have the witness of His indwelling to rely on as well as the witness of His work in the world and in our lives.

Shadrack, Meshack, and Abednego knew God’s will in the matter. They had been told not to bow down before idols. The second of the Ten Commandments had something to say about this:

“You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. ⁵You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, ⁶but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. (Exodus 20:4-6)

Why is this important?

Theirs was an “even though” sort of faith. Even though Nebuchadnezzar could kill them, they would still be delivered into the arms of the God who loved them dearly. If we’re seeking the boldness of Daniel’s three friends, boldness to even stand before the king and defy him, we need to be sure in our hearts and minds of at least three things: 1. Ours is the God of the impossible. 2. The God of the impossible lives in us and will be with us in our bold stance, and 3. We are following His Word in command or promise. If we have these three, there will be a Fourth: Daniel 3:24-25 (NKJV) ²⁴Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished; and he rose in haste and spoke, saying to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?”

They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.”

²⁵“Look!” he answered, “I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.”

You Are Charlie Kirk

2 Tim. 2:24-26 (ESV) And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, ²⁵correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, ²⁶and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.

1 Peter 3:15 (ESV) but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect

With the assassination of Charlie Kirk ten days ago and so many wanting to take his place, I thought I would make share some Biblical points to help us become as effective as he was in sharing the gospel.

Don’t be quarrelsome. We need to flavor the conversation the same attitude we want to taste from the other side. Now we may not often get that same attitude back, but Scripture still tells us not to be quarrelsome.
Be kind to everyone. That means everyone from the kindest person we speak with to the most belligerent. Being kind doesn’t mean we can’t be firm in our position. The Bible simply says we are to show Christ to them.
We need to be able to teach, to know our subject well enough to express it clearly and succinctly. I often tell my adult Bible classes they need to understand a topic well enough to be able to explain it to others. That’s what it means to be able to teach.
We need to patiently endure evil. Some people are in a debate or discussion for no other reason than to combat the gospel. They have no intention to hear what we have to say or what the Bible says. They could care less. They are just there to try and stump us or make us look foolish. The best way to handle these folks is let them talk, ask pointed questions, and let them finish. When they see they’re getting nowhere, they will usually move on. When the discussion is in a group or on social media, our intent should be to convince the others watching.
We are to correct our opponents with gentleness. Many of the debates I find myself engaged in are the result of bad information. Sometimes this is me, and I’ll address that below. When it is our opponent’s mistaken belief, we need to be gentle pointing this out to them sometimes explaining the logic of their mistake or asking them for the evidence they can provide to support their view. So much of the Charlie Kirk discussion/debate is with people who were told he was a fake Christian, racist, misogynist, or hater. His most effective response to this has been to ask for evidence of this. I’ve watched hours of Charlie Kirk’s debates and seen none of the things he is accused of. Often opponents have been given half-truths about a subject or quotes taken out of context and they try to present these as facts. If the conversation is worth pursuing, find the original quote in full and show it to them.
Our discussions as with our walks with Christ, should be with a heart that honors Him. The old What Would Jesus Do model holds true here. Think of what you’re sharing and how. If it is not with a desire to honor Christ, we’re out of line and should correct yourself. We also need to learn how to say “I don’t know” or even to admit when we’re wrong.
Last of all, I’d like to mention respect as Peter does. Be respectful. Be quiet and let them speak their piece. In doing so, you’ll earned their attention when it’s your turn to talk. Respect means to treat the other person as you would like to be treated yourself. That’s the golden rule after all:

Matt. 7:12 (ESV) “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”

Why is this important?

I was speaking with some cultists at the Los Angeles County Fair quite a few years ago. After a few minutes, they came closer to hear the discussion I was having with one of their folks because we weren’t shouting. We were having a civil rational discussion. One remarked that I wasn’t yelling but was treating them as equals. My attitude helped in the discussion. They were more open, more willing to share because the discord and contention simply wasn’t present. They were safe to present their views and evidence they used to support them.

In our discussions, we need to do this if for no other reason than to let our opponents know we are thoughtful, reasonable, peaceful, and Christian. It also paves the way for the next Christian they encounter.

Condemnation

John 3:16-21 (ESV) “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. ¹⁸Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. ¹⁹And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. ²⁰For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. ²¹But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

We’ve had a lot of darkness in our country lately. On August 22^nd, a man stabbed a young Ukrainian woman to death on a train in Charlotte, North Carolina. On August 27^th, a shooter killed two young children and wounded 17 others (mostly children) during Mass at a Catholic school in Minneapolis. On September 10^th, two high school students were shot near Denver, Colorado and at the same time, Christian speaker and political commentator, Charlie Kirk, was shot and killed at a university in Orem, Utah.

These events and others like them have become much too common. They make us angry, hungry for justice for the perpetrators. We seek to condemn them, but Jesus said the condemnation has already been made. What He wishes for these people, and for all people, is for them to come to know Him personally.

Jesus did not come to condemn, so how are we qualified to do so? If Jesus came to save but not to condemn, shouldn’t we follow His example? The Great Commission says to go and make disciples not to go and condemn others. According to the passage quoted above, that has already taken place.

In the above passage, Jesus had divided all people into two categories: the lost and the saved. The lost don’t believe in the name of the Son of God. The saved do. The lost do evil works, the saved to works pleasing to God. So, what do you suppose that looks like, doing works that are pleasing to God?

On January 8, 1956 five missionaries were killed by the Huaorani (Auca) Indians of Ecuador. The missionaries had guns and even fired them in the air to scare off their attackers but refused to shoot these natives because they felt it was better that they die themselves and join Jesus in heaven than to kill the non-believing tribal warriors intent on ending their lives. The warriors didn’t know Jesus and would be condemned to eternal punishment.

Three years after the massacre of the missionaries, others including the wife of Jim Elliot, one of the missionaries killed, brought the gospel to the Aucas, and their mission was explained.

“Thus, the Huaorani realized that the visitors were indeed their friends, willing to die for them if necessary. When in subsequent months they heard the message that the Son of God had come down from heaven to reconcile men with God, and to die in order to bring about that reconciliation, they recognized that the message of the missionaries was the basis of what they had seen enacted in the lives of the missionaries. They believed the Gospel preached because they had seen the Gospel lived.” (DAVID YONKE, Toledo Blade)

Why is this important?

Our job as Christians isn’t to condemn others. They are already condemned if they don’t know Jesus. Our job is to share the gospel with those who haven’t taken advantage of it whether it’s the kindly 84 year old lady who lives down the street, an angry man who has taken the life of a young Ukranian woman, or those who have celebrated the murder of a man who held differing views from theirs. Jesus didn’t come to condemn the world. He came to save the world, and these people are among those for whom Christ died.

Let’s pray for Decarlos Brown Jr. who stabbed 23 year old Iryna Zarutska to death, for Robin Westman who shot all those beautiful children at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis killing two, for 16 year old Desmond Holly who shot up Evergreen High School in Colorado wounding two, and for Tyler Robinson who ended the life of Charlie Kirk at an event at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. We need to pray for all of these people, and we even need to pray for those celebrating these terrible events. No matter how differently we view the world, they are still people Christ died for.

Is Christianity Reasonable?

Mark 12:28-30 (ESV) ²⁹Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. ³⁰And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’

Christianity is a unique religion in several ways. For one, it presents a loving God Who has reached out to His creation with grace and unconditional love while other faiths teach one must earn their way to God through good deeds. The one aspect of Christianity I would like to address today is Christianity is reasonable. It makes truth claims that can be checked – it can be tested.

In the passage in Mark’s gospel quoted above, Jesus tells us in the greatest commandment to use our mind, and in the Greek this means with our intellect. We don’t see this command in other religions, only in Christianity.

So, what are some of the claims Christianity makes that can be checked? Let me answer this with a true story of a man named Dr. Hugh Ross. Dr. Ross is an astrophysicist who studied the universe intently and came to the conclusion it couldn’t have arisen through chance. It was too orderly. It showed too many signs of design. So, Dr. Ross realized there must be a God who created it. This being must have been greater than the universe He created, intelligent enough to have created it, powerful enough to have created it, and so on.

Dr. Ross then thought a God who is this intelligent and personal may well have tried to communicate with His creation. This communication probably wouldn’t have been a one-time thing since that communication might be distorted or lost over time. No, this God would have most likely have communicated in some sort of writings which could be preserved over centuries and read by His creation. So, Dr. Ross began to read original source documents from the major religions.

He was very disappointed through most of his research as the writings of most major religions didn’t match what Dr. Ross knew of God’s creation. He was disappointed, that is, until he began to read the Bible. In the Bible Dr. Ross saw the creation story which matched the story he saw in the universe itself. The creation order matched what must have taken place for the universe to make sense. Dr. Ross became a Christian because he used his mind to check out what God has said. As a result, he began Reasons To Believe, an apologetics ministry.

The other day, I was in a large group of Christian men and made the statement “I find Christianity to be extremely logical and rational.” I was very surprised to find the room went silent.

Now, I’m no Hugh Ross by any stretch, but I find ideas like “There is only one God who exists in three persons” to be very logical. For a loving God to love, there must be at least two persons so one could love the other. Otherwise God’s loving nature could not be fulfilled. To make His love perfectly complete, though, requires the love of two for another like parents for their children. The love between two who are in love is wonderful but is not really complete until they can love someone together.

I find the idea of an infinite God taking on finite human form to save mankind to be very logical. What better mediator between God and man than Someone who shares the essence of each – has a foot in both camps, so to speak?

God’s justice is consistent and logical as well. God is absolutely just as we saw in a recent blog. His justice is consistent. His standard that blood must be shed to pay for sin does not change through the thousands of years from Adam and Eve to the present day. He sent His Son to save us and not to condemn us. He did this by shedding the blood of the perfect man. Logically, if we are held responsible for the sin of Adam as our perfect representative, then the sacrifice of another perfect representative but without sin was necessary to put things right. And this is where our logical consistent God really shines: there is no requirement for accepting this sacrifice and be cleansed. There is no creed to memorize, no test to pass, no personal payment that must be made. All that is needed is to ask Jesus to apply His blood to your sins.

Why is this important?

We as Christians should never wonder if our faith is rational. Have you ever wondered why there are no books on Hindu apologetics or Buddhist apologetics? It’s because those two religions no not present themselves as reasonable. How about Islam? Have you ever wondered why there are so few Muslim apologists? It’s because their arguments cannot stand the test of logic. Islam is inconsistent. Their god can change his mind, send the devout to hell, reward evil. Inconsistency cannot be defended logically. Philosopher Rene Descartes said we can tell truth from a lie by looking for consistency. Truth is consistent, falsehood is not.

Our faith is not a blind faith. Christians write books like Reasonable Faith, Evidence that Demands a Verdict, Cold Case Christianity and hundreds of others showing the truth of the claims of Christianity. We need only look.

Christian Looking

Romans 12:1-2 (ESV) I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. ²Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

The early church took verses like these very seriously. For a few years after Christ’s resurrection, the church was fairly small. We were mostly unnoticed by the world and were usually mistaken for Jews since the early Christians were mostly Jewish and the whole movement started in Judea. We were trying to figure out how this whole Christianity thing worked. Was it just a sect of Judaism? How did the Gentiles fit then? Was it a whole new religion? How did this Messiah idea fit, then and why were the Jewish Scriptures so important? How were Christians different from everyone else?

Well, the early church became dedicated to follow the words of Scripture and display evidence of the Spirit within for all to see. Once Emperor Nero came on the scene, this was pretty easy. The Christians were the ones being killed in the arena, many of them proudly and willingly.

It wasn’t until 313 and the Edict of Milan that Christianity was legal in all of the Roman Empire and the persecutions all but ended.

Before this, Christians didn’t have a lot of trouble standing out. We refused to worship Roman gods and emperors. This alone was enough to be sentenced to death. It wasn’t so much the Romans saw us as against Roman gods so much as antisocial. They were a very social society. Romans like to have parties, attend plays, worship together. Since their parties were usually immoral gatherings, the plays were often obscene, and the worship of other gods was blaspheme for Christians, we stayed away from social gatherings.

The Romans heard instead that we gathered with our own fellow Christians in secret love feasts. We married those we called brother and sister. We spoke of eating the body and blood of Christ. Is it any wonder the non-believers saw us as an incestuous bunch who married our family members and were even cannibalistic? As a result, the love feasts were thought to be orgies. There was even a widespread belief we ate babies. Yes, the Romans had low moral standards, but this sort of behavior was even below them.

When Rome burned (July 18, 64), Nero pointed to us to take the heat (pun intended) off of himself. We were an odd bunch anyway. We were the perfect scapegoat.

So, the Romans started to persecute us. This made us easy to spot. We were the ones being fed to wild animals, burned on stakes to light Nero’s garden parties, and sliced up by gladiators.

It was after the persecutions ended in 313 it became more difficult to stand out. The Emperor claimed to be a Christian. It was legal now, so even the elite claimed Christ. The rank and file Christian found it more difficult to stand out, though, so they looked for new ways to let people know they were believers. Jesus said there would be no marriage or giving of marriage in heaven, so some became celibate to identify with heaven. Some went into the desert alone as hermits to spend time growing in Christ with no distractions. One of the earliest of these was Anthony the Hermit who heard a sermon on the Jesus’ words that touched his heart:

Matt. 19:21 (ESV) Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”

Anthony sold all he had and slipped away to a cave in the desert to seek Christ through fasting and prayer. Soon people who admired his faith would seek advice, inspiration, and healing from him. They would bring food, and that’s how Anthony lived until his death.

Why is this important?

When I look at the things Christians over the centuries gave up to be identified with Christ and how little I give to do the same, I’m ashamed. I catch myself wondering if it would be “appropriate” to wear a Christian tee shirt somewhere, or I hesitate before bowing my head at a restaurant before I eat. Maybe I should think more about those who gave up their lives or their chance at families, or their human comforts just to be identified as Christians. What am I afraid of?

I live in a country where Christianity is much more acceptable than it was for most of these people. Why is it so hard for me to do such petty displays when people gladly gave their lives before thousands in the Roman Arena. Yes, it’s the Spirit within us what needs to be on display, but maybe we should be more obvious in our faith. Maybe the baptismal description of “an outward display of an inward change” shouldn’t just be about baptism.

God is Just

1 John 1:9 (ESV) If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Our pastor has been teaching through 1 John the past few weeks, and though I’ve read and recited 1 John 1:9 for the nearly 50 years I’ve been a Christian, the word just really hit me during his exposition. What struck me is God didn’t save us only because He loves us:

John 3:16 (ESV) “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

Nor was it only because God is merciful that He saved us:

Titus 3:5 (ESV) he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit

Putting His love and mercy aside for a moment, think of this: God was still justified in saving us. So when Satan comes to accuse the brethren (Job 1; Rev. 12:10), he can’t accuse God of being a loving old softie. God – the Judge of the universe – has a just, a legal, reason for forgiving us of our sins: the sacrifice of His Son. The penalty has been suffered in full for our transgressions.

This thought led me to some questions I have long had in Romans 8:1-2 (NASB) There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.

What are these two laws mentioned in verse 2? Well, I think the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus is in verse 1 and elsewhere in Scipture, that Christ has released us from the penalty of sin. And this relates directly to 1 John 1:9. God is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins because there is a law requiring this: Romans 8:1 and in other places.

So, what is the law of sin and death? I used to think this was the Mosaic law, but I think now that it goes farther back all the way to the Garden when God basically said to Adam and Eve: “If you sin, you die.” This death, of course, is spiritual death: separation of fellowship with God.

Because these are God’s laws they are absolutes, they cannot and will not change. They are the same throughout the universe because God is infinite and infinitely consistent.

These are not laws as we often think of them. They are not civil or criminal laws. These are laws in the sense of how things work.

There are laws of logic for instance. The first law is the Law of Non-Contradiction states that A cannot be non-A at the same time, in the same way, and under the same conditions. In other words, an object cannot be an apple and not be an apple at the same time, in the same way, and under the same conditions. Now this seems obvious to most of us. It’s like the Vulcan proverb Spok quotes in Star Trek 4: “Nothing unreal exists.” Of course it’s true. There can be no argument against it. It’s important, though, to know there is certainty in the universe, absolutes, things that only sound true but things that must be true or reality itself would crumble.

God’s laws of sin and death and of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus are just as certain as the Law of Non-Contradiction and Spok’s Vulcan proverb if not even more certain since they originate with the God who is the standard of truth and justice.

Why is this important?

God doesn’t just love us, He’s not just a God of mercy. He has good reason to forgive us of our sins. He is justified beyond all question to forgive us of our sins. We only need to confess our sin, and we’re forgiven. This is more certain than the law of gravity. So, when we approach God to confess our sins, we’re not just asking for His love or His mercy, we can ask for justice, and He will apply the sacred sacrifice, the righteousness requirements of the law (Rom. 8:4) to our plea and judge us holy.

Another 10 Questions Christians Can’t Answer?

A while back, I said once in a while I’d offer some answers to the questions atheists say Christians can’t answer. Here is the second installment of that quest.

Why will God allow people to be born with defects?

The “Why questions” are often difficult ones since we are asked to read God’s infinite mind with our finite minds. I think this one, though, is fairly clear: we have sin in the world. Suffering is a result of the fall, of our own poor choices, sometimes it just has a specific purpose. It can cause us to grow in Christ, for instance:

James 1:2-3 (ESV) ²Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, ³for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.

John 9:1-5 (ESV) As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4 We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

Why can’t dead sinners’ sins be forgiven?

I suppose for the same reasons dead murders can’t confess. God’s requirement for salvation is to give our lives over to Jesus. If we aren’t alive to do so, it seems clear we can’t ask forgiveness. Death is separation. The dead sinner is not just separated from his body but also from God due to his sin. If he can’t connect with God, he can’t ask for forgiveness.

Is God a tyrant for wanting everyone to worship Him alone?

No. If He is the only God, and people are worshiping things or myths which are not the true God, it is only right to want them to act in line with the truth especially since the benefit is so great. Are teachers tyrants for insisting 2 + 2 = 4? Of course not. Same reason.

Since God knows and sees all, why did he deceive Eve?

I’m not sure why the questioner thinks God deceived Eve unless it is when He said she would die if she ate the forbidden fruit. Death means “separation” in the Bible. Eating the fruit was sinful. Sin separates us from God. Eve didn’t die physically but died spiritually at that moment. Restoration was available through sacrifice and repentance, though.

Since God is merciful, why can’t we all go to heaven?

Because God is also just. It would be unjust for God to save those who spit on or even just ignored His Son and never repented. We are accountable for our actions while here on earth. This is also true when He forgives us of our sins: He must act justly. The blood of Jesus makes it possible for Him to do this:

1 John 1:9 (ESV) ⁹If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

If doing evil for evil is wrong, should God be punishing us for our sins?

This is another question I’m not clear about what is meant. Maybe they think God’s punishment is sinful. God cannot sin since He is holy and He is the standard of righteousness. Loving punishment is meant for correction or rehabilitation, good things.

If God loves only those who love him, does that make him a sinner?

There is no human being God does not love. The premise of the question is flawed.

Why do daily atrocities exist?

Daily atrocities exist because man has the free choice to do as he wishes. We can choose to follow God, to align with God’s nature, or we can choose to do ungodly acts: atrocities.

How did Noah get all the various species of living organisms into the ark?

Interesting question. First, the animals were not separated into species but into kinds. A kind is a category of animals that can interbreed. So, two of the horse kind, two of the dog kind, two of the rabbit kind (not for long, probably), etc. were all that would be needed. Also they don’t need to be adult animals. Fish or other water wildlife wouldn’t need to be on the ark. The ark was pretty big: at least a football field and a half long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet tall. That’s at least a million and a half cubic feet (169,000 cubic yards). It could hold a lot of creatures. According to Creation Ministries International, John Woodmorappe’s book, Noah’s Ark: a Feasibility Study, says there would only need to be about 8000 kinds on the ark: 16,000 since two of each were needed plus those needed for sacrifice.

Why does the Bible give the earth only about 6000 years while scientific research has found objects to be millions of years older?

The Bible doesn’t say the earth is about 6,000 years old: another false premise. Some men say the Bible says that. By the way, it is also men who says the earth is older. Even within the church this is a controversial topic.

These questions were taken from this site

God’s Plain People

God’s Plain People

1 Cor. 1:26-31 (ESV) ²⁶For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. ²⁷But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; ²⁸God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, ²⁹so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. ³⁰And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, ³¹so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

Abraham Lincoln once said “God must have loved the plain people; He made so many of them.” I think he had something there. According to Paul’s quote above, the church is made up of plain regular people.

I’m sorry there has been such a long gap since my last posting. As some of you are aware I had a heart attack June 28th. As a result, I learned heart attacks mess with you mentally as well as physically. For about a week, I couldn’t read and had the attention span of a hyperactive squirrel.. Now that all that has settled down, I’m going to pick up where I left off on my blog.

A lot of Christians, I find, feel like they are the smallest cog in God’s “great machine” called the “Church.” They feel like they can do nothing of consequence, that their life compared to say, Billy Graham, is insignificant. That simply isn’t true. Look again at the list of Christians Paul describes in the opening passage. We are common, plain people. Yet, when we add God to the mix, extraordinary things happen. Let me share something I think I stole from Greg Laurie’s website:

Ed Kimball was a Sunday School teacher, who in 1858 led a young Boston shoe clerk in his Sunday School class to give his life to Christ. The clerk, Dwight L. Moody, became an evangelist and the founder of the Moody Bible Institute of Chicago which still stands today (moody.edu).

1876, D. L. Moody brought to Christ a student named J. Wilbur Chapman after an evangelistic meeting.

Several years later, Chapman, engaged in YMCA work, employed a former baseball player, Billy Sunday, to do evangelistic work. Mr. Sunday spoke to 80 to 100 million people before his death in 1935. In 1934, Sunday held a revival in Charlotte, N.C.

A group of local men were so enthusiastic afterward that revival they planned another evangelistic campaign, bringing Mordecai Ham to town to preach. During Hamm’s revival November 1, 1934, a young man named Billy Graham heard the Gospel and yielded his life to Christ.

Billy Graham is estimated to have spoken to 215 million people in person and 2.2 billion people through radio and television.

All this because God used a plain local church Sunday School teacher to share the gospel with a shoe clerk.

Why is this important?

We all have our part to play in God’s plan. It could be that God has something great, evangelizing millions like Rev. Graham did, or it may simply be He wants us to share the gospel with a simple shoe clerk, and He’ll do the rest.

Never think God doesn’t use plain common people to do exciting uncommon things. We are exactly who He uses.