Why I'm A Christian (Acts17Apologetics)

Arminianism Dilemma

The main problem with arminianism, the doctrine that man is the sovereign decision maker in regards to salvation, is that it makes the omnipotent God of all reality, a colossal failure.

The sanctification work and intercessary prayers of the Holy Spirit is a failure.

The promise of Jesus not to leave or forsake the sinner becomes a broken promise.

The payment for the sins of the sinner by Christ is acceped by the Father, becomes rejected.

The intercessary prayers by the Son are failures.

The Son, whose very purpose for becoming incarnate, is a failure, as He ends up not fulfilling everything that the Father sent Him to do.

The Son becomes not being able to please the Father.

The Father's plans that were created while having all knowledge become worthless as He is not able to accomplish the things that He not only wants but set out to achieve.

For Jesus to be God, all of the above must be false and therefore arminianism is also false.

If arminianism is true, then the God of the bible must also be false as He is not omnipotent, omniscient, trust worthy, and able to save people to the uttermost.

That is all.

Twitter Thoughts

Those who truly seek to walk according to the Spirit are those who pay close attention to the His written word

Twitter Thoughts

Being an atheist dramatically reduces ones ability to read the bible in context

- Dr. James White (The Dividing Line) via Jeff Durbin (Apologia Radio)

Twitter Thoughts

Deuteronomy 10:17
For the LORD your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward:

Faith Workout (part 3)

Awhile ago, I had a the opportunity to spend some time talking abouy the things of God with a brother in Christ.

I thoroughly enjoyed the conversation which seemed, for the most part, to be focused on what is called "Reformed Theology" or the "Doctrines of Grace".

It's usually summed up using the acronym T.U.L.I.P.

T=Total Depravated. Every part of man has been touched by sin so that nothing he does is good.

U=Unconditional Election. The only way someone can be saved from the wrath of God for being evil, is for Him to grant it to you. And since we are evil, this salvation is not based on anything we have done. It's completely undeserved and an act of grace and mercy.

L=Limited Atonement. God actively chooses who He will and will not save.

I=Irresistable Grace. All those who God had chosen to be saved, will be saved as He will draw them to Himself.

P=Perseverance of the Saints. Everyone who God saves will stay saved.

Although many people disagree with these doctrines, they are clearly taught by Jesus Himself, and the apostles. They are also taught by God and the prophets in the Old Testament.

Since this is the case, someone who takes the word of God seriously must be obedient and believe them.

However, these doctrines clearly go against our fleshly mentality, and so leaders teach their followers the opposite of what the bible plainly says.

This causes many people mis-represent the doctrines of grace as "easy believism" or giving people a "license to sin".

It also causes people to automatically put up a "mental wall" when they hear the doctrines as they've been taught that they're not biblical.

So even when Jesus clearly says these things, their firsr inclination is not to consider and believe but to try and discredit Jesus, while at the same time not discrediting Him, by trying to put other verses of scripture, out of context, against Him.

So many people are against the doctrines out of ignorance and mis-information.

In the last two posts, I talked about some topics that came about during the discussion I had.

Another topic that came up was the idea of man's free will.

This is also taught in a different way. That God is a gentleman who would never force you, but puts life and death in front of you and asks you to choose.

This idea is used to go against every element of the t.u.l.i.p. acronym.

What it does, without many people not realising, is to set man above God. God can't do anything without your input.

Now, the free will argument is always initially used to attack limited atonement.

It's not that the people believe in universalism, the idea that God will save everyone at some point, but they believe that the reason people go to hell is because they choose to.

In a sense they are correct. The people who go to hell do choose to. They don't want God at all, and would rather choose hell if they actually had a choice.

But there's the rub. The reason they go to hell is initially because God doesn't choose them to be saved.

This is the logical conclusion from Jesus' words.

One of those passages that I like using so often...

John 6:36-40
But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not.
All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.

And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.

And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.
-------

According to Jesus' words, everybody who the Father gives Him, will believe. He won't lose any of them either.

Notice that they are given to Christ before they come to Him.

Since this is the case, what is the reason that Jesus gives for people not "choosing" Him and ending up in hell?

They were not part of the ones that the Father gave to Jesus.

This isn't the only time that the Lord tells us what's going on behind the scenes regarding those who "make a decision" for Him.

But there should be no need to go to anymore as it takes one wrong declaration for Jesus to not be God.

Another aspect of the "free will" argument is that it denies that man is totally depraved.

In other words, man has some kind of innate goodness left that enables us to choose Christ when the opportunity presents itself.

As stated in a previous post, we are told exactly where we stand with God outside of Christ.

Romans 3:9-18
What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin; As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.

They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: Their feet are swift to shed blood: Destruction and misery are in their ways: And the way of peace have they not known: There is no fear of God before their eyes.
-------

Paul tells us clearly that outside of Christ we don't care about God at all.

We want absolutely nothing to do with Him. And if we happen to want a god, we will either make ourselves god, or make for ourselves a god.

None of us does good.

Paul even says this about himself too.

Romans 7:17-18
Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
-------

Is that not what Christ tells us?

Luke 11:13
If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?
------

You see, outside of Christ, God calls us evil.

What about the good that we do?

Isaiah 64:6
But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
-------

With such a mountain of evidence against us, how can we claim we have any goodness in us?

So, because of the above, some people believe that what happens is that God gives people the ability to choose.

In other words, it's not an internal goodness but an external goodness. If i remember correctly, it is called Prevenient Grace. God gives all man this grace in order for them to make the decision themselves.

Of course, for this to be true, Jesus would have to be wrong about the Father giving a certain amount of people to Him, and that being the reason they believe.
----------

So far we've seen the “free will“ argument go against Limited Atonement by God's choice, and Total Depravity.

It also argues against Unconditional Election. This is not to say that the people who believe in man's free will to choose God won't verbally affirm that man doesn't deserve salvation and that it's all by God's grace and mercy.

They will affirm this in word but deny it in action.

You see, if man has free will regarding salvation, then its not based on grace at all, but His decision. It's man that saves himself.

Salvation becomes a rope that man must make the decision to grab.

However, from what Paul and Jesus tells us, man is not able to do that.

Remember, no one does good. no one seeks for God. We are dead in sins and unable to grab the rope.

We must first be made alive (born again), and then we will seek God and do good. In other words Jesus lassos your dead corpse with the rope and in doing so brings you to life. You then grab the rope because your eyes are now open to see that He's drawing you to Himself.

Because the argument attacks unconditional election, it also attacks Perseverance of the Saints. After all, if by your decision you can grab hold of salvation, then it makes sense that by that same decision, you can let go of salvation.

And so, out of everyone that is saved, not all of them will be in heaven as some will choose to let go.

Again, a complete contradiction of what Jesus clearly tells us about not losing anything that the Father gives Him.
-------

Lastly, the free will argument also attacks Irresistable Grace. The reasoning is the same as above. Man can, by our own will, push back the drawing of God and cause those who God intends to save to not be saved.

In other words, man is stronger than God.
---------

Seeing as how the bible trounces the free will argument, the next question is usually, “so does man have free will?“

And the answer is yes.... and no.

The bible teaches us that we are free to choose what is consistent with our nature.

For example, outside if Christ, we are dead in our sins. We can't do good or please God. We are slaves to sin which dominates us.

Our nature doesn't provide us with the choice to please God. When given the option, we will always reject Him. Even if it's an inward rejection while outwardly we seem to be doing things that please Him.

We don't have the choice to reject sin altogether. Instead, we'll reject one sin for another.

This is the picture that the bible paints.

But this is not only restricted to unbelievers and sin. When it comes to the direct revealed will of God, even believers can't thwart it.

The bible gives us plenty of examples other than salvation.

There is the direct teaching given by the apostle paul in Romans 9. The story of jonah, esther, joseph. Noah and the door of the ark.

In other words, overwhelmingly, we are taught that God's will, will come to pass.

We have no option that we can choose that would cause God's will to be stopped.

Even our prayers are only granted once it is subjected to the inspection by the will of God.

So then, how do we have free will?

Well, the christian has the choice to walk in the spirit or the flesh. We are told constantly to take off the old man and put on Christ. We have the ability to say no to sin and choose righteousness.

Now we are not making these decisions completely independent of God. We are told that the Holy Spirit helps us make these decisions and that He is sanctifying us. And because of the new heart we have been given, we actually want to walk in the spirit.

Not only that, but we can be obedient and do good. We can reject sin outright. We can repent.

Those who aren't made alive by the Spirit of God are not able to do these things.
-------

Well, that's all i have for you. I can't remember any more of the discussion.

I encourage you to open your bibles and search the scriptures regarding the doctrines of grace.

Christ is indeed the author and finisher of our faith.

Amen

Faith Workout (part 2)

Last time, I was talking about a long conversation I had with someone I knew about theology.

The discussion seemed to centre around the doctrines of grace, aka reformed theology.

Last time we looked at whether or not Jesus died for everybody in the world, simply making salvation available and leaving it up to the individual to apply salvation to themselves or if Jesus died for certain amount of people whom He actively saves without the individuals consent.

We saw that Jesus clearly teaches that salvation is completely of God with man having no part in it. He gives us faith, opens our eyes, draws us to Himself, makes us believe, keeps us saved and all of that without asking for our permission.

One of the other things we discussed was how God chose people for salvation.

We know that the choice is entirely God's, and we also know that the decisions were made before the foundation of the world...

Ephesians 1:3-6
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.

The argument was made that God looks into the future to see who would choose Him, and based on that He chooses them first.

Now, there are a number of problems that culminate in making God... not actually God, however, I didn't bring all the possible objections forward during the discussion.

So before I get into what I said, let me talk about the real problem with this.

The bible teaches that God is omniscient. That He is all knowing or knows everything.

Well, if He has to look into the future to know something, then He is no longer omniscient.

Add the uncountable number of people who will be saved and you have a large number of things that God simply doesn't know the answer to and needs to look into the future to find out.

And, if He doesn't look into the future then I guess He would never be able to save anybody since He would never know who would choose Him.

This belief basically makes a person an open theist.

An open theist is a person who believes God is not omniscient, doesn't know the future at all (even what will happen 5 minutes from now), makes guesses for all future events, and can actually be wrong when it comes to future events since God doesn't really know.

This is not how God is portrayed in the bible.

God's omniscience seems to be part of His very nature. He knows everything that will happen by default without looking into the future.If there was anything that God needed to learn, then it wouls seem that He would no longer be God.

Now, during the discussion, this wasn't the argument I used against the idea. What I did say, although is valid, I would say, is not as strong or hard hitting as the above.

The above brings into question the very nature of God, where as my argument didn't.

My argument was that if this is indeed how God chooses people to be saved, then our salvation is indeed based on our works. It's not based on grace at all.

Scripture tells us clearly...

Ephesians 2:8-9
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.

Titus 3:4-7
But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

2 Timothy 1:8-11
Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God; Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, but is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel: Whereunto I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles.

Romans 11:5-6
Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.

And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.

-------

Now some might say, "if God is still choosing first, then how can I call it works?"

The issue here is that, if God looks into the future and only chooses those who will eventually choose Him, then salvation is clearly based on the work we will do in the future.

But we're told over and over that it's not based on our works at all.

And if it is based God learning what we will do, then salvation isn't based on grace at all, as paul clearly tells us in Romans 11.

A third problem with this idea is that, man will never choose God.

Romans 3:9-12
What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin; As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.

They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

Paul clearly tells us that no one seeks after God. No one does good.

For this to be true, it would mean that no one would choose God.

It's quite clear that in this scenario, the thing that causes God to choose us is because of the good we will do, namely choosing Him.

But again no one does good.

Our situation though is worse than that.

1 Corinthians 2:14
But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

Here we are told that we could never even know God or anything spiritual on our own.

So not only would not choose God, we literally don't have the ability to do so.

This is actually doctrine that Jesus taught.

John 3:3
Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

Salvation comes first, then is a person able to see and understand.

So then, we know that God doesn't look into the future to see who will choose Him.

But if all these reason why He doesn't is true, how does He choose?

Well, the bible doesn't actually tell us.

We know that those who are saved will respond to the gospel. They will recognise that they are sinners, have sinned, and rightly deserve God's wrath. The will also recognise that Jesus is God, and has died on the cross so save people just like them from the Father's wrath. They will turn to Christ, confess their sins to Him, and beg Him to forgive and save them.

They will further recognise that this has actually happened, pointing to the cross, and they will set themselves to now obey Christ in all things.

This is the fruit of those who God has elected to salvation from the foundation of the world, according to the scriptures.

But we are no where told how God makes the decision to save this person and not that person.

It seems to be something that is none of our business.

Now, that might catch people by surprise, but if God told us how He chose wouldn't we try to make sure that people do or say whatever in order in order to bend God's arm somehow to save then?

Do we not do that anyway? We declare those who answer an altar call as saved. We declare someone saved if they repeat the sinner's prayer.

Some even go so far as to say someone has lost their salvation if they leave one local congregation to go to a different one.

We even try to bend God's arm to answer our prayer by getting a bunch of people to pray too, thinking that more people praying will make God bow to peer pressure and obey our command. Even going so far as to twist His word to make it say something it doesn't (Matthew 18 - Where two or more are gathered...).

In all sorts of ways, we go much further than scripture intended and even allows. But when it comes to salvation, God has always told us the means. It's always been up to Him.

Romans 9:6-33
Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called.

That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.

For this is the word of promise, At this time will I come, and Sara shall have a son.

And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac; (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;) It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger.

As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.

What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.

For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.

So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.

For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.

Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.

Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?

Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?

Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?

What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?

As he saith also in Osee, I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved. And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God.

Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved: For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth.

And as Esaias said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sodoma, and been made like unto Gomorrha.

What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith. But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness.

Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law.

For they stumbled at that stumblingstone; As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
------------

So, we know that God saves some and doesn't save others.

We know that salvation is entirely upto Him, and there is nothing we do to play a part in it.

We know that, because we are sinners, God would be entirely just to send all of us to Hell, and so His not choosing some is entirely just on His part.

And lastly, we know that we have no idea why or how He makes the decision to choose one person over the next.

These things deal with the first 4 of the 5 part summary known as the acronym T.U.L.I.P., aka reformed theology.

T: Total Depravity - all are sinners destined for hell, and will not and can not choose God

U: Unconditional Election - God alone chooses who will be saved and it's not based on anything the person does.

L: Limited Atonement - God choose some people to be saved. It's His decision to save some and not others/all. Christ only died for His sheep.

I: Irresistable Grace - All those who the Father gives to Christ, will come to Him. God makes/causes people to come to Him.

P: Perseverance of the saints - all those who are saved, will stay saved. They can never lose their salvation.

These are the things that not only Christ Jesus teaches directly, but the totality of scripture shows.

When we take Jesus' words seriously, and pay attention to what it is He's saying, we can't help
but come to these conclusions.

Of course these things go against our sinful sensibilities. We think that we must repent, or be baptised, or cry out for God, in order to be saved.

Jesus tells us that it's actually the other way. He saves us first, then these things happen.

Join us next time when we look at another idea that was discussed.

Maranatha

Twitter Thoughts

Don't be deceived, being able to do "miracles" does not prove someone is of God
- Deut 13, Matt 7, Matt 24, Mar 13, 2 Thes 2, Rev 13

Faith Workout

The other day, I met up with a brother in Christ that i've known for awhile.

We spent about 3 hours talking about the things of God.

I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

The majority of the time seemed to be spent discussing certain aspects of, what is often called, reformed theology.

This is also known as the doctrines of grace.

It is usually summed up using the acronym, T.U.L.I.P.

-------

The T stands for total depravity. Every part of man is touched by sin. Although we aren't as bad as we can be, this causes us to be completely dead in our sins. Even our good deeds are seen as sinful to God.

We are completely and utterly doomed, and have no ability to save ourselves.

The U stands for unconditional election.

Scripture declares that there is nothing we can do to earn salvation. It also declares that there is nothing in us that causes God to save us. No inherent goodness or beauty. So the choice to save is completely up to God.

The L stands for limited atonement. God does not save everyone, but some. He chooses who He will show grace and mercy, and to whom He will judge.

The I stands for irresistable grace. This is not to say that one can't resist God or make attempts to do so, but that those who He has chosen, elected, to be saved, will be saved. His will, will be done.

The P stands for perseverance of the saints. That is to say that all those who God saves, given eternal life, He will keep saved. They will persevere until the end.

-------

These doctrines are clearly taught in the bible and are directly spoken by Jesus Himself.

Those who disagree with these either don't understand them, and therefore don't understand what they are saying, or... they fully understand what they are saying and don't care that they no longer hold to the core tenets of the faith.

In other words, they aren't christians and don't care.

Most, I would say, are in the former camp. It's this position that I took when I was discussing these things with my brother. He was unaware of the position he was taking, as he didn't fully understand the implications of his stance.

So, I thought I would run through some of the ideas and objections he brought.

One of the things we talked about was whether or not Jesus died for the sins of the world... as in literally everybody in the world.

In his mind, by doing this, Jesus is making salvation available, not actually saving anybody.

There are two problems with this.

The first is that if Jesus actually paid for the sins of the entire world, then no one should go to hell.

We know this to be the case because the cross is where our sins have been paid for.

Colossians 2:13-14
And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;

The punishmemt for our sins were poured out on Christ at the cross.

Our sins were paid for back then. If this was indeed for everybody in the world, then there are no sins for those in hell to be punished for.

This would make God unjust as He is punishing someone for sins that have already been paid for.

This would also reduce the value of the sacrifice as it would mean that the blood can't cleanse our sins. Something else needs to be done/added in order for the sins to be forgiven.

This, obviously is not what scripture shows.

The second problem is that the bible doesn't say that the crucifixion made salvation possible, but that it actually saves.

Let's look at some scriptures.

John 1:29
The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

Here, we are told that Jesus will actually take away the sins of the world. Not just make it possible, but will actually do it.

But, we know that not everyone will be saved. So how can john the baptist be correct?

Well, this isn't to be taken in the sense that Jesus would take away the sins of everybody in the entire world.

How do we know that? If this isn't the case, then Jesus has failed. Not only that but God has lied. As it was God that told John that Jesus would do this.

So in what sense does Jesus mean the world?

There are either two options. The first one is that He meant it as in a large amount of specific people. So the term "world" can mean the entire group of people that is in mind.

The book of Revelation tells us that the amount of people who will be saved id innumerable.

We also get an example of this usage.

Luke 2:1
And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.

Did caesar literally tax the entire world? No.

The other option, which is what makes more sense, is that the term world means both jew and gentile.

Jew and gentile comprises the world. Jesus takes away the sins of both jew and gentile.

With that settled, there are other scriptures to look at.

John 3:16-17
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

Here we have Jesus saying that He was sent so that the world might be saved.

Again, we know that there will be people in hell. Doesn't that mean that Jesus failed?

If He was sent to save everybody, and didn't, that means He failed.

Although it wouldn't be a problem if He was simply a man, but He is supposed to be God in the flesh.

He is supposed to be the same God that turns the hearts of kings like a river however He sees fit.

He is supposed to be the same God that always brings to pass the things that He has declared.

So, to say that Jesus died for the sins of the world, meaning everybody in the world, and some people go to hell, ultimately means that Jesus is not God.

Since this is the conclusion, this is why people say that He came to make salvation possible, not to actually save people.

In this way, Jesus isn't failing as salvation isn't based on His work but on the work of man.

However, this is clearly not what scripture teaches. There is nothing man can do to earn or deserve salvation. If salvation is up to man to choose, then there is something they can/must do in order to obtain it. And without them doing it they won't be saved.

They bible calls that works.

What is interesting is that Jesus seems to make the proper understanding quite clear. That, in His taking away the sins of the world, that He is not talking about literally everyone in the world.

John 12:47-48
And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.

Here we see that even though there are those who don't believe, them not believing doesn't nullify Christ's saving of the world.

Now, someone might use those previous verses to say, 'see, it doesn't nullify Christ's saving of the world because He saves by making salvation available, and we have to commit to Him', but here's what Jesus also said...

John 17:9
I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.

Jesus says He isn't praying for the world, but only those that the Father has given Him.

For someone making salvation available to the world, isn't it counter-productive not to pray for them?

Doesn't Christ want everybody in the world to be saved? But He won't even pray for them.

The obvious answer here is that the world doesn't mean everybody in the world.

Jesus declared exactly who would be saved before He went to the cross.

John 10:14-16
I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.
As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep. And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.

The only people who Jesus died for,
are His sheep.

He came for a specfic people, and He will be victorious in saving them. These are those whom the bible says are elect. Their names have been written in the lambs book of life from the foundation of the world.

So a person can be a staunch atheist at this moment. If they are one of the elect, eventually, God will save them.

Now, this may be hard to comprehend. How can I say that God doesn't want everybody to be saved?

The problem is that it's not me just saying it, but it's the testimony of scripture.

Jesus tells us that the reason He started speaking in parables was so that people wouldn't be saved. Doing this even fufilled prophecy.

Mark 4:10-12
And when He was alone, they that were about Him with the twelve asked of Him the parable.

And He said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables: That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them.

The parallel passages are found in Matthew 13 and Luke 8.

The question we should ask is that if Jesus really wanted everybody to be saved, why woule He speak in parables and, by His own admission, prevent people from being saved?

If saving everybody is His goal, then speaking in parables is actually going against the will of the Father.

Jesus tells us in no uncertain terms who He has died for (i.e. who will be saved)... His sheep.

John 10:26
But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.

Here, we see Jesus saying that only His sheep will believe. Notice, He doesn't say we will be His sheep if we believe.

Only His sheep will be granted saving faith. Remember, God gives us the faith to believe. We don't generate this faith at all. But the eye opener here is that Jesus identifies those who are His sheep before they believe

He also says...

John 6:64-65
"But there are some of you that believe not". For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him. And He said, "Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto Me, except it were given unto him of My Father".

If our faith is given to us by God, and obviously we aren't asking for this faith before this point, then it's clearly God who detemines who will be saved and who will not.

Since we can't come to the Father except through Christ, while at the same time we only come to Christ because the Father gives us to Christ before hand, it's painfully obvious that God chooses who He will save and who He will not. We are not told how He chooses, but we

John 6:37-39
All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.

For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.

Here, we see Jesus telling us that this is exactly what He came to do. To pay the price for all those whom the Father has chosen and given to Him.

God actively chooses who He will save. He doesn't make salvation available and leaves it up to man to ultimately make the decision.

If He did, then Jesus could not be the author and finisher of our faith. Either He would be the author but not the finisher, or the finisher but not the author but not both.

Now, some may ask, is it possible that this could be wrong? What other options are there?

There is no possibility that this could be wrong, and this is specifically due to the options left.

The first option is that we're misunderstanding the verses in the same way people misunderstand the term "world".

The problem with this option is that, unlike the term "world" where there is scripture that specifically identifies and deals with the objects of salvation (i.e. scripture interpreting scripture), there is no other verses that change the meaning of what Jesus says.

He says it more than once, even in parables, and actively doesn't try to save everyone.

He also says it very plainly so no other meaning could be taken from it.

The second possible option is that the bible is wrong in ascribing these words to Jesus. However, this means that the bible isn't the Word of God and can't be trusted.

The third option is simply that Jesus was wrong or lying.

This would obviously make Him not God, and our faith futile.

None of those options are viable.

So, since Jesus is God, and He speaks the truth, and the bible is inerrant, then God is indeed the one who chooses.

A sinner repents because God draws Him and causes Him to repent. God takes out the person's old heart and gives them a new one without the person agreeing to it. He gives the dead person life without them asking for it.

The Father gives us to Christ while we are steeped in sin and are His enemies.

And this is done so that God gets all the glory for the entirety of salvation, from start to finish.

Join us next time as we go through some other ideas that were discussed.

Twitter Thoughts

The best test of a christian's obedience to God, is for them to come across scripture that completely contradicts what they believe

Twitter Thoughts

The best test of a christian's obedience to God, is for them to come across scripture that completely contradicts what they believe

Not That God, That God

In the quran, it is recorded that mohammed, after he was convinced he was a prophet, went to a jewish group to proclaim that he was a prophet sent by their mutual god.

They asked him to give the name of their god.

Of course, he didn't know, so they didn't accept him as a prophet.

Today, its very common for believers to use the generic title... God... for Yahweh.

Although there is technically nothing wrong with that, after all... Yahweh is God, the problem is that there are indeed many gods.

In the bible, when dealing with other gods, people define the one true God so there could be no confusion as to who was being referred to.

Many muslims will say that they worship the same god the christians worship.

They will say that the term allah, means god.

However, if you say that Jesus is the God that christians worship, they realise very quickly that we don't worship the same god at all.

The fact that their jesus is not the one in the bible is irrelevant as saying that Jesus is God shows the stark difference in our beliefs.

However, if you say that Jesus is God to a jehovah's witness (jw), they will agree.

Obviously they don't believe He's
God in the sense that we do, so we have to define Him in a different way by saying He is the eternal God. No God was before Him and there is none after Him.

You see, we've become too comfortable with the generic term, God.

We've forgotten how to describe our God. We've forgotten that He's describe as the God of gods. That all throughout the bible He gives us ways to describe Him that would separate Him from all other false gods.

It's similar to asking if someone is christian, them answering with a yes, and then leaving them alone without giving the gospel.

There are ways to identify a real christian, just as there are ways to describe the true God, the I AM.

How are describing the God of gods?

Are you so vague that people can mistake some random idol for Yahweh?

Do you have trouble distinguishing between Jehovah and allah?

Adonai invites you to get to know Him.

He didn't prepare a historical record of His dealings with men for over 4,000 years in order for us to be ignorant.

The God of Love

If God was a God of love, then there couldn't be a hell.

This is the claim that many people lodge at bible believing christians.

From atheists to universalists, the claim is made in order to cause the to bible contradictory or to cause us to read all the verses about eternal punishment as a metaphor.

If God is love, as the bible claims, He couldn't send anybody to hell.

They will even go as far to take Jesus' own words to say "if we being evil know how to give good gifts", or in this case, wouldn't want our loved ones to go to hell, "then how much more will The Father give", or in thise case, wouldn't want His loved ones in hell.

Many uninformed believers hear this, and in their mind, it seems very logical.

After all, the bible doesn't just say that God is a God of love... but that He is love.

That's even stronger.

But those same uninformed believers know that there is stil a hell, so how can the two be reconciled? Isn't this a contradiction?

Those who pose the "inconsistency", see it as a gotcha.

Here's the problem though. The "God of love", that they describe... doesn't exist.

How do we know? Our first clue is that hell exists, and people are put there by God.

If there was an "all-loving" god, a being that was all about loving people, then of course there wouldn't be a hell. Hell isn't loving anyone at all. Hell is all about punishment. Receiving the full wrath of God for eternity.

God makes it quite clear the bible that He is not a one dimensional being. He is not this omnipotent love boat.

In other words, those who pose this supposed contradiction actually can't stand the true God because they intentionally strip Him of His other characteristics: holy, just, gracious, merciful.

They actively state that God shouldn't have no other emotion, no other driving force, other than love.

God shouldn't have righteous indignation.

When the caananites literally burn their children alive as an offering to the false god molech, the real God who created them and their children shouldn't feel nothing but love.

This is the god that they say exists.

This god isn't holy, just, merciful nor gracious. Neither is their god overly concerned about these as well.

In other words, they have created an idol, a false god.

They openly show their disdain for the creator and upholder of the universe, by not only saying He doesn't exist but replacing Him with nonsensical image.

They tell God that He's wrong when He declares that His name is Jealous.

When God says He is merciful, in other words, He isn't treating you the way you deserve... and when He says He is gracious, in other words, you don't deserve the things He gives you... these people say that God is lying about Himself.

When we explain to people who God is, if we leave out attributes or characteristics about Him, we end up giving people a false description/understanding of Him.

Is God love? Yes. But God is also Just. If you leave out the justice, then you are wrong. And if you leave out the love, you're also wrong.

Often, however, this error is made by believers who don't really know God very well.

And usually, it's the believers that give the unbelievers the false descriptiob of God.

Let us love God for who He is. Let us put aside all our false ideas of God and find out the truth by studying the scriptures He has provided for us.

Misguided Evangelism

Once Upon A Time...

I was at work evangelising to a muslim.

He was a work colleague and we were in the same team. As such, we often talked about our religious beliefs.

Of course, he was a moderate muslims.

Moderate muslims are strange. They mostly live in non-islamic countries, don't believe everything that the koran says and yet still call themselves muslim.

Of course, if they were in an islamic country they would probably be put to death for disrespectic mohammed, the koran, or allah.

There are also "moderate christians", but they aren't under threat for losing their lives at the hand of other believers.

But I digress...

Having read the koran, I would ask my teammate whether he believed certain things to be true. He would say no, then I would tell him what the koran says.

I even told him where the koran has Jesus saying He will sacrifice is life, when the koran at a later point says it never happened... making Jesus a liar.

In all our discussions in me telling him what the koran says.... even quoting the surah address, he didn't believe that is what it actually said.

So, one time, a became so frustrated at the fact he not only didn't believe me, but wouldn't even go look up the verses himself at home, I asked him what would cause him to believe that what I was saying was true.

He said he'd have to read it in the koran himself. I told him that at lunch i'd go a buy a koran and show him. He agreed.

During lunch, I went to the book store, picked up an english koran, and was just about to head to the cashier, when something told me not to buy it.

I took this as God speaking.

I was conflicted. I even asked why not, but I didn't get a reply. I was thinking that I should buy it anyway so I can show it to my muslim colleague, but then I thought... clearly God doesn't want me to buy it... but why?

I left the book store feeling frustrated and a bit annoyed. Why wouldn't God want me to buy it?

Here I am, evangelising a muslim. I'm at the point where all I have to do is show him where the koran has all these inconsistancies and with islam knocked down it should be easy for him to accept the gospel (this was my thinking pattern at the time, and my level of theology).

When I got back to the office, I didn't say anything. I was actually embarrassed. Here I was boasting at the problems that the koran has. And even though my team mate didn't believe those verses were there, he said he would agree with me if he read them himself. He knew the book store was there. He knew they sold korans.

But now, i'm sitting here with no koran, looking very embarrassed.

Him: "so where's the koran?"
Me: "i wasn't able to get it"
Him: "how come?"
Me: "God told me not to"
Him: stifling a laugh... "why did he do that?"
Me: very sheepishly... "i don't know"

In my head, I could just hear him thinking that I didn't buy the koran
because I was lying about everything.

After awhile of working, he broke the silence by asking if i'd ever read the koran. I told him that I had, I have a copy of it on my pc, why else would I be willing to buy one to show him the verses.

Then he asked if I speak arabic. I told him that I didn't. I asked if he did, as i'd never heard him before. He said he couldn't read or speak arabic.

That struck me as a bit weird.

I then asked him how he reads the koran, and he said that its read to him by people who can read and speak arabic.

He then says that the koran should only be read in arabic and that if it was in english then it wouldn't be the koran.

That's when it dawned on me. The reason God didn't allow, me to buy the koran wad because he wouldn'y have accepted it anyway as it was english.

I couldn't have bought an arabic one either as neither one of us could read it.

I brought this to my colleagues' attention and it made him think for a good while.

... The End

Until I Pass Out - Uncle Reece

Atheist Morality

Do atheists have morals?

A lot of christians tend to ask this question. In their mind, an atheist couldn't possibly have morals if they don't believe in the one who, by His very existence, defines morality.

This is wrong thinking though. Atheists, just like every other ungodly sinner, do have morals.

They're just not grounded in the living God, but in a variety of other things.

Some christians believe that because atheists don't have their morality grounded in the unchanging law giver, that there is nothing stopping them from say... murdering people.

This though, is only partially true.

You see, it all depends on where they ground their morals. And because atheism has no creed or set of beliefs that defines its "adherents" apart from believing there is no God, you'd have to speak to every self-identifying atheist to find out what morals they have and what they're grounded in.

The atheist the average christian thinks of is a person who lives with absolutely no restraint. They think of a person who has no regard for anyone and anything. A person who does whatever they want at any given time.

Although the logic behind this description of an atheist is sound, it only defines someone who takes atheism to its final conclusion.

You will be extremely hard pressed to actually find an atheist who fits that description.

The reason for that is because most self-proclaimed atheists are not serious about their non-faith.

As a matter of fact, a great majority of them are "theological atheists" but "social christians".

In other words, even though they reject the foundation of the christian faith, namely the God of creation, they affirm societal affects that take place when people obey they christian God.

Of course they don't agree with everything, but for the most part, they are in agreement.

Not only that, but it's only under christianity where the various forms of atheism would be allowed to thrive.

Even under a truly atheist regime, Richard Dawkins could be killed for no reason at all, especially if he disagreed on some point held by the atheist leader.

While under christianity, a person would have to disobey the commands of God to murder someone, and the penalty would be that they inturn would be killed by the government.

Sometimes atheists clearly see this. Richard Dawkins has gone on record as saying he is glad he lives in societies where "christian morality" is the foundation, as all other belief and non-belief systems would never allow him to promote his views.

"But how can an atheist have morals?"

The answer is quite simple. Their morals come from themselves as well as governmental/societal "norms".

A "true" atheist can not say that something is inherently evil or good. And because of that, any moral judgement they make can only be grounded in their perception. In other words, it's only bad to them. They can't say that someone should feel bad for doing something as there is no objective standard. So another individual can see the exact same thing as being right and the atheist can't balk at their judgement.

Some atheists realise this and so what they do is attempt to wrap their moral opinion up with government laws and societal norms.

Although this bolsters their opinion a bit, it's still shaky ground. Atheists often disagree with the government and societal norms change.

What it boils down to is that someone who professes to be an atheist has to be completely inconsistent with their atheism in order to live.

It is impossible to live without absolute moral values.

An atheist will say it is ok to lie, but they don't want people to lie to them or about them to other people.

With every moral opinion and every moral expectation they place on others, their hypocrisy increases.

Yet they continue to maintain this position as they don't want to have God above them. However, their very inconsistency shows that there is an absolute morality and therefore an absolute being from which that morality comes from.

This is also a clear indication of a biblical truth. There are no atheists. There is no one who really believes that there is no God, no matter how much they make the claim.

The proof is found in how they live. They live by a moral standard that is not based on how they feel. They also expect people to not violate this moral standard when people deal with them.

Again, they expect people to not lie to them or about them to other people. And when this moral standard is broken, they are offended and hurt.

Yet at the same time they claim that that moral standard doesn't exist. If they truly believed this, they wouldn't be offended and hurt.

The bible tells us that everyone knows that there is a God.

Romans 1:18-23
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.

For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.

We see that the issue is not that there may or may not be a God, but that there is a God, they know there is a God, and they seek to hide the truth in unrighteousness.

The bible calls this foolish.

Psalms 14:1
The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.

Not only that, but because they disregard the most obvious truth in the universe, their character is worse off as they don't want Godly instruction or care about Godly righteousness.

Proverbs 1:7
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

So, does an atheist have morals?

A true atheist does not. But as there are no true atheists, they do.

The Christian Vote

Does a christian have a duty to vote? If we don't vote are we sinning?

When voting season rolls around, many pastors will teach that we should vote. That it's our duty to do so and if we don't, we've missed an opportunity to make positive changes in society.

The general concensus among christians is that we should vote... after all... our vote counts... right?

This is not that view a believer should take when making a decision on whether to vote or not.

Many christians feel they can make a stand for Christ by voting but don't realise they can nake the same stand by not voting.

You see, the christian should be concerned about the character of the person running for office.

The christian should be concerned about whether or not the person will uphold ongodly principles.

And lastly, the one who should get the christian vote should be the one who doesn't openly go against the bible.

The problem christians have today is that they don't consider none of those things.

The main concern is never biblical but usually financial or even social.

The excuse usually given is that since this isn't a vote for the church, we shouldn't apply biblical standards to the voting.

This contradicts the bible as we're told these things:

Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

Colossians 3:17
And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.

Psalms 119:105
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

Psalms 119:133
Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me.

Scriptures tell us that we are to put God first before everything we do. Even in casting a vote we are to heed the word of God.

But many christians reject God's word when it comes to voting.

They play the hypocrite because these same people wouldn't work for Playboy. And if you asked them why, they'd give you a biblical reason.

By pushing God and His wisdom aside, we do the very thing we're told not to do.... we lean on our own understanding.

And in so doing, the solution we come up with is that we vote for the lesser of two evils.

So, if all of our options are ungodly, we seek to vote in that which is less ungodly.

This might sound like a good option to many but it's not biblical.

2 Corinthians 6:14-17
Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,

Because we are christians... children of God... our standard shouldn't be that which is less ungodly... it should be no ungodliness period.

This is not to say they we only vote for someone if they're perfect, but that the person we vote with is primarily concerned about godliness... and there are very few people in politics who are.

Often times, you can't even count on those who name the name of Christ to be concerned with godliness as they more often than not publicly declare that they will not govern according to the bible (i.e. God's righteous), but instead, will separate their faith from the decisions they make (which is actually detrimental to the spiritual growth of a believer).

So then, with both believing and non-believing politicians not being concerned about godliness what are we to do?

I don't know about you, but as for me and my house, we serve the Lord.

So if there are only two options, the first everything is good except they want ti legalise gay marriage and the other claims to be a christian but will not make decisions based on their faith, it is my biblical duty to not vote for either one. I should not side with those who go against God.

Now, does voting for someone mean you agree with all their policies? of course not.

The issue is that you side with someone who wants to put in ungodly policies period.

You actively choose people who are happy to put governmental policies that undermine the authority of God.

What a lot of believers do is aftee voting the politician into office, they then lobby and rally and protest in an attempt to get the politician to change the unbiblical stance that was part of their campaign and got them voted into the office.

Out of all the political voices that exist, the christian one seems almost non-existent.

There is no christian vote. Democrat/Labour and Republican/Conservative affiliations have superceded our christian identity.

When a christian votes, it should be done with biblical precepts in mind. All hose whom the believer recommends should rule should be people of a godly character.

And if there isn't any such person to vote for, then the believer shouldn't vote.

After all, the believer shouldn't be putting their trust in the person that is voted into the position but the omnipotent God.

And if the beginning of wisdom is the fear of God, why does the believer think that the ungodly people they vote for will be beneficial when those people don't fear God?

Let's strive to be a people who will put the Lord God first in everything we do..  including voting.

Let's strive to be a people who show our allegiance to our God by not backing those who are opposed to the Lord God and His ways.

When Does God Love You More?

Te Amo: Israel Houghton & T-Bone

Evolving in Christ

As we run the endurance race of faith, we should be evolving.

Not only should our spiritual man should be getting stronger, but our understanding of God and doctrine should be getting deeper.

If we are not seeing this type of change, at the very least, year to year, we can be sure that something is wrong.

Hebrews 5:11-13
Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing.

For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.

For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.

For those who are following Christ, there is an expectancy of spiritual growth.

One of the things that contributes to our healthy growth is the bible.

1 Peter 2:2-3
As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: if so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.

The word of God greatly contributes to our spiritual growth.

Because of that, all throughtout the bible we are encouraged and commanded to do three things... read, study, and meditate on God's word.

It's sad, but many believers today are not spiritually healthy due to a lack of doing those things.

Many are malnurished. Many have stunted growth.

And although we like to lay the blame at the feet of the, often times, imcompetant leaders of the local church, they are not where the blame should be laid.

In reality, it's our own fault. Instead of reading, studying, and meditating on the words ourselves, we set aside the brain that God gave us and just accept whatever we're told.

We know that the bible says to test all things, but we don't.

We know that the bible says we should be convinced in our own minds about what ww believe, but we can't be bothered.

When this bad habit is prolonged over time, of course we won't grow.

How can we expect to speak and expound on the wonderful treasures of God which we have inherited when we won't take the time to understand it?

Let us seek to read, study, and meditate on the word of God.

Why settle for walking in the dark when we have in our hand... the light to our path... the lamb to our feet...

F.Y.I. (update)

I've managed to get a new hard drive, so my blog posts should be starting to be a bit more regular.

I am working on the next book, and i'm hoping to publish it by the end of this year.... perhaps around christmas... but we'll see how it goes.

If you watch my twitter feed, you'll see that i've joined a podcast called The Reformed Pub (http://reformedpubcast.com/). It is very interesting. Check it out.

I'm hoping to start doing some short videos sooner or later, but we'll see how that goes.

There are so many things that i've been wanting to blog about. Can't wait to get back up and running.

Your Average Christian

Looking Young For My Age

At this moment, there is a debate that is raging in the church... well... the portion og the church that is located in the states.

What's being debated?

The age of the earth.

On one side, you have the young earth creationists (YEC)... and on the other side are the atheists, agnostics, anti-Christs, christians...

That's right. Christians have sided with those who are unashamedly anti-Christ to go against their brethren.

The are known as old age creationists (OAC).

Ultimately though, as these things typically go, the argument is not really about the age of earth... but the authority of the scriptures.

You see, the YECs teach that if you start from the bible, you will see that the earth... indeed the universe as we know it, is relatively young.

In the YEC camp are scientists and inventors who back up their claim with scientific results.

The OECs on the other hand believe that not only does the bible not teach a young universe, but the findings of the anti-Christ scientists are actually true... regardless of whether or not their scientific results contradict the scriptures.

The response from the YECs is that the anti-Christ's results are not just false, but are made up but promoted as though they had sound scientific proof when they clearly do not when scientifically scrutinised... and they give the theory of evolution as proof of this.

The YECs say that the OECs actually hurt the credibility of christianity with their... not only unscientific but unbiblical stance.

And although the OECs have rejected that thought, the anti-Christs have gone on record to agree with the YECs on this point.

The anti-Christs believe that thei scientific findings completely undermine the entire bible and reduces it to the level of imaginary tales by Dr. Seuss.

Whether or not you understand the evidence provided by both sides or not...

Whether you believe the earth is billions of years or not...

If you are a Christian, then you are someone whose primary goal is to obey the word of the Lord... to live by every word that proceeds from God.

A christian must believe that the bible is true... everything in it is true... else the very salvation they claim to have is false... or at the very least... suspect.

Jesus sums it up for us...

John 17:17 
Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

If the word of God is not true... then it is not the word of God.

Converted to Atheism

In these last days, we see more and more people throwing away their Christian faith and converting to atheism.

From your average joe on the streets to celebrities to well-known/famous preachers, atheism seems to be gaining a lot of converts as time goes on.

This, obviously, gives many atheists reasons to rejoice. To them, another person has given up their fantasy world for reason... or so they think.

There are many atheists who describe themselves as ex-christians.

Some are even pastors of christian congregations.

The general population of Christians, on the other hand, will shake their heads wondering how someone could turn their back on God.

They will label those people as back-slidders, and request for prayers for that person to come back into the fold.

The problem is, however, that these people were never in the fold to begin with.

These people were never christians at any time.

Some people, atheist and christian alike, will take offense at that statement... but it's true none-the-less.

Some might even see it as an excuse or cop-out to pacify the minds of believers as to why so many are leaving christianity... but that isn't true either.

By definition, a christian is someone who has an intimate relationship with God.

We speak to God and He speaks to us.

To a christian, God is as real and personal to us as our own parents.

Now, for someone to live in a home with their parents who loves them, and claim that they have no parents, is either joking or a liar.

In other words, for someone to claim that they once had a relationship with God and now God doesn't exist is proof that they either never had a relationship with God in the first place (they were deceived) or they are lying.

The bible even gives us a number of examples on both sides.

During the trial of Christ Jesus, Simon Peter was asked 3 times if we was one of Jesus' disciples. He lied all 3 times and went so far as to say that he didn't know Him.

Here we have someone making they claim that they have no relationship with God in order to save their life, but they were lying.

Jesus tells us that on that day, many will come to Him saying 'Lord, Lord, have we not done this and that in your name', and Jesus will tell them that He never had a relationship with them.

So those who are being converted from christianity to atheism, were never christian to begin with.

If they insist that they were then they are lying to people by saying there is no God because they did have an actual relationship with the God they now claim doesn't exist.

Anti-gay law in Uganda

Uganda president set to sign anti-gay bill into law

- original article -

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni will sign into law Monday a controversial bill that will see homosexuals jailed for life, despite international pressure, a government spokesman said.

 

The Ugandan anti-gay bill cruised through parliament in December after its architects agreed to drop an extremely controversial death penalty clause, although the bill still says that repeat homosexuals should be jailed for life, outlaws the promotion of homosexuality and requires people to denounce gays.

"The president will sign the anti-homosexuality bill today," presidential spokesman Tamale Mirundi told AFP.

Museveni, a key African ally of the United States and the European Union, has already been under fire from key Western donors over alleged rampant corruption, and had been under pressure from diplomats and rights groups to block the legislation.

"The president cannot be pushed by the international lobby groups... he has made it clear whatever he does will be in the interests of Uganda and not foreign interests," Mirundi said.

"Uganda is a sovereign state and the decisions taken must be respected."

The lawmaker behind the bill, David Bahati, praised the decision to sign the bill.

"This is the moment the world has been waiting for," he told AFP.

Museveni, a devout evangelical Christian, earlier this month also signed into law anti-pornography and dress code legislation which outlaws "provocative" clothing, bans scantily-clad performers from Ugandan television and closely monitors what individuals watch on the Internet.

"We thank our President for taking such a bold move despite pressure from a section of foreign organisations," Bahati said.

"The law is for the good of Uganda, the current and the future generations."

Gay men and women in the country face frequent harassment and threats of violence, and rights activists have reported cases of lesbians being subjected to "corrective" rapes.

The Atheist Thinker

A lot of times, I see Christians with a burning desire to see atheists saved... and that's a good thing.

However, those same Christians do not understand the mindset that an atheist has.

F.Y.I.

Just thought I should do a quick update.

There haven't been any blog posts due to my hard drive dying.

Although I can post via my phone (which is what i'm doing now), my blogger app doesn't have the functionality for me to edit my posts properly.

As soon as I can either get a new pc or a dedicated laptop, posts are going to be few and far between.

Hopefully everything will be back to normal sooner rather than later.

Your Average Christian

Once Saved, Always Saved? (part 17)

Thank you for joining us once again as we continue our series regarding the doctrine of Eternal Security.

Today, we'll be taking some time to look at another parable regarding salvation.

Once Saved, Always Saved? (part 16)

Thank you for joining us for part 16 of this series entitled - Once Saved, Always Saved?

Is it possible for a believer to lose their salvation?

Even though Jesus tells us that it's not possible, there are plenty of professing Christians that believe they can.

This group usually doesn't deal with the things the Lord says about salvation and when they do, they never think about the implications of Jesus being wrong about salvation.

Instead, they give equal weight to the words of everybody else in the bible when compared to Jesus.

These people invariably believe that a person can be saved more than once, even though the bible never shows this to be the case.

However, there are some people in this group that don't believe that is the case.

Better Is One Day: Matt Redman

Once Saved, Always Saved? (part 15)

Welcome back to our series regarding the doctrine of Eternal Security or, as some call it, Once Saved, Always Saved (I prefer to say, once God saves you, He keeps you saved).

Today, we find ourselves in the book of Romans.

Once Saved, Always Saved? (part 14)

Thank you for joining us for part XIV of the series... Once Saved, Always Saved?

If you're joining us for the first time, this series is looking at the doctrine of Eternal Security.

Can a believer lose or give up their salvation?

Jesus tells us no, but many people say that Jesus is wrong and give numerous scriptures to back up their claim.

They don't realise that if Jesus is wrong, then He is no longer God. Their faith is in vain as Jesus can't save them.