It is All About the Message

Posted on May 21, 2018 by chfordenterprises

In this series of blogs, I will be going through the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 4:25-7:29) to show how Jesus used different teaching techniques to help his audience get and remember his message. By using these techniques in your teaching, you too can help your audience get and remember your message.

“And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain…” (Matt. 5:1). Jesus did this so that his voice would carry farther. In other words, he wanted to make sure that everyone heard his message.

In your teaching, you must remember that it is all about the message, not the messenger. The point is not to draw the audience’s attention to yourself but to your message. The purpose of everything you do (where you stand, how you stand, the gestures you use, your tone of voice) should be to get the message to your audience. Avoid doing or saying anything that distracts your audience from your message, such as playing with the keys in your pocket, which I subconsciously used to do until my son pointed it out to me.

Of course, your audience will not get your message if you don’t know what it is. Know your message. What is the main point that you are trying to communicate to them? Gear everything in your teaching to getting that point across. Anything else is a distraction.

I once had a pastor who would “wing it” when he taught. He would start off with his intended subject, A, but his mind moved so fast that something he said would remind him of something else which would remind him of another thing and before you knew it, he had touched upon subject H and every subject in between, without completing his thought on any one of them. If you were to ask people what he had said, quite often they would say, “I don’t know!” He finally disciplined himself by outlining his teaching and putting the outline on an overhead for all of us to see.

Know your message. Stick to it. Don’t confuse your audience by going down rabbit trails.

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A Popular Christian Worship Song that Denies the Trinity

Posted on May 21, 2018 by chfordenterprises

One of the basic doctrines of the Christian Church is the Trinity. If one does not believe in the Trinity, one is not a Christian. The Church has consistently taught for the last two thousand years that there is only one true God in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. These three persons are distinct from one another and each person has his own role and function within the Godhead. The Father is not the Son, the Son is not the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is not the Father. The Church has also consistently taught that any confusion or combination of the persons is a heresy. For example, modalism, which teaches that the one true God is also only one person who sometimes takes on the mode (appearance or role) of the Father, sometimes the mode of the Son, and sometimes the mode of the Holy Spirit, is a heresy.

But combining the persons of the Father and the Son is precisely what Elevation Worship does in its song, “Sing Forever,” which they released in 2012. As I wrote in an earlier blog, Elevation Worship is the worship band of Elevation Church, which is headed by Steven Furtick. Here are the lyrics to the song:

We were lost but then you rescued us
Through your son, on earth you came
You took our guilt, you took our shame away
With our hands raised high
We shout your praise
Because it’s by your blood, by your blood we have been saved

We will sing forever to you God
Because of your great love
We’ll lift our lives

On the ground we bow before our king
Lifting up our hearts to you
The one who saved the one who took our blame
With our hands raised high we sacrifice
Because it’s by your blood, by your blood we are alive

We will sing forever to you God
Because of your great love
We’ll lift our lives

Our God is an awesome God he reigns
From heaven above with wisdom
Wisdom, power and love
Our God is an awesome, awesome God

The person to whom the song is addressed is simply called “God,” but the phrase “through your son” in the second line shows that the “you” in the song is God the Father. Yes, it is true that through his Son the Father took our guilt and shame away. But he did not save us by his blood. The Father did not come to earth; the Son did. The Father did not take on flesh and blood; the Son did. The Father was not crucified; the Son was. The Father did not shed his blood to save us; the Son did. By saying that we were saved “by your blood,” that is, the blood of the Father, the song is combining the persons of the Father and the Son.

This demonstrates that Elevation Worship has strayed so far away from the truth of the Scriptures that they do not understand one of the basic doctrines that the Christian Church has taught for two thousand years. How much further they will go astray remains to be seen.

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Does History Confirm that Jesus Christ Existed?

Posted on May 18, 2018 by chfordenterprises

Atheists often argue that there is no historical evidence outside of the Gospels that Jesus Christ ever existed. However, at least one atheist is honest enough to admit in this two-part article that history does confirm that Jesus Christ did live in first century Israel:

An Atheist Historian Examines the Evidence for Jesus (Part 1)

An Atheist Historian Examines the Evidence for Jesus (Part 2)

Since he is an atheist, the author does not accept the Gospel accounts as completely historical and tries to interpret them from a naturalistic viewpoint. However, he does show that the Gospel accounts make sense only if Jesus actually existed and was not made up by early Christian believers. He also shows that there is more non-Christian testimonies that Jesus existed than there is for some other historical figures. I hope these articles prove useful to you.

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Fasting

Posted on May 17, 2018 by chfordenterprises

“Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly” (Matt. 6:16-18).

I once took a journalism class in high school. I was taught that a good newspaper article answers six basic questions: what, who, when, where, why, and how. In today’s lesson, I will answer those six basic questions about fasting.

What is fasting? The Greek word for “fast” is nesteuo, which means “to abstain from food or food and drink.” That is all fasting is. It is simply not eating for a certain period of time.

Who should fast? All believers should fast. Notice that Jesus said, “When you…”, not, “If you….” Jesus assumed that his followers would fast. In fact, he said that they definitely will fast once he leaves: “Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast” (Matt. 9:15). However, we will no longer need to fast once he returns.

When should we fast?  There is no requirement in Scripture as to when we should fast. That is between you and the Lord.

Where should we fast? In secret. Jesus said we should make it a point to not let others know that we are fasting. That does not mean that we have to lie to people. If they ask whether we are fasting, we can tell them the truth. But we do not have to broadcast it either. If someone asks you to dinner during a time that you are fasting, you do not have to say, “I cannot come because I am fasting.” You can say, “I am not available at that time. May we schedule that for a different day?”

Why should we fast? We should fast for two reasons. First, fasting is a spiritual weapon. When the disciples asked why they were unable to cast out the demon in the epileptic boy, Jesus’ answer was, “This kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting” (Matt. 17:19-21). This means that prayer and fasting can be used as weapons against demonic activity. Notice, however, that Jesus did not say to the boy’s father, “Come back in three days so I can fast and pray about this.” No, Jesus cast the demon out immediately, which suggests that Jesus had already been praying and fasting. In other words, Jesus had a lifestyle of fasting. He fasted regularly so that when situations like this came up, he was ready for it.

Second, fasting is used to seek God’s favor. The believers fasted and prayed for God’s favor when someone was about to start a new ministry (Acts 13:2-3; 14:23).  Jesus fasted at the beginning of his ministry (Luke 4:1-2). Ezra and those with him fasted to seek God’s direction and protection (Ezra 8:21-23). Esther asked the Jews to fast to seek God’s protection for her (Esther 4:16). Others would pray and fast to seek God’s favor on others, that is, they would fast when they engaged in intercessory prayer (Deut. 9:18-19; Ps. 35:13).

However, fasting ALONE does not procure God’s favor. Notice how prayer was also included in these Scriptures. But even fasting and prayer do not automatically procure God’s favor.

Thus says the Lord to this people:

“Thus they have loved to wander;
They have not restrained their feet.
Therefore the Lord does not accept them;
He will remember their iniquity now,
And punish their sins.”

Then the Lord said to me, “Do not pray for this people, for their good. When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I will not accept them. But I will consume them by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence” (Jer. 14:10-12).

Fasting and prayer must be part of a righteous lifestyle (Is. 58:1-8). Or else it must be a part of repentance (Joel 2:12-14). When the people of Nineveh heard Jonah’s warning, they repented by fasting and by putting on sackcloth, which means that they also humbled themselves (Jonah 3:5-10). David said that he humbled himself with fasting (Ps. 35:13).

The point of fasting is to humble ourselves before God. Its purpose is to get the focus off of us and onto God. As God asked the Israelites through the prophet, Zechariah, “Did you really fast for Me—for Me?” (Zech. 7:1-10). That is why the Pharisees got it all wrong when it came to fasting. In their pride, they made it all about themselves. They fasted to show God and everyone else how righteous they were. But the point of fasting is to humble ourselves before God and spend some time alone with him in secret.

So why do we fast? Because sometimes spending time with God is more important than eating.  We fast not just for the sake of doing something spiritual and maybe earning brownie points with God. And we do not fast so that we can have more time to watch TV or read books or do what we like to do. We fast so that we can spend more time with God. The believers fasted and prayed because spending time with God to make sure these new ministers got off to a good start was more important than eating. Ezra fasted and prayed because having God’s protection for the trip to Israel was more important than eating. The Ninevites fasted and prayed because avoiding God’s wrath was more important than eating. David fasted and prayed because seeing his friend get well was more important than eating. In each case, the need was so urgent that everything else, including eating, was set aside while they sought God and his favor. Not that fasting is a way to twist God’s arm and get what we want. It is a way to humble ourselves before him and submit to his will. Besides, sometimes we fast and pray just because we want to spend more time with God.

How do we fast? There are different kinds of fasts:  vegetables only (Daniel fast), juice only, and no food at all. Which fast you choose to do is again between you and the Lord. I would suggest that no matter which fast you choose you start with one meal, then one day, then one week. And during your fast, unless the Lord tells you otherwise, drink plenty of water. Moses did not eat or drink water for 40 days twice (Deut. 9:9, 18), but that is not the norm.

An elder in one of the churches I used to attend took some teenagers to a youth conference. They knew that there would be a call given at this conference for the youth to fast and pray, so on the trip to the conference the subject of fasting came up. One of the teenage boys said, “I tried fasting once for two whole hours. Man, was it hard!” That may be hard for a teenager, but most adults should be able to go for two hours without getting hungry.

In my experience, the first three days are the hardest. Your body is constantly reminding you that you should eat. You may find yourself thinking about food all the time. You may have the urge to visit every restaurant in town. Foods that you have not eaten in years may suddenly become the foods you desire the most. Fight your way through it. It gets better after three days. That’s when your body finally realizes that you are not going to feed it, so it starts to feed off itself. The cravings stop and food is no longer the foremost thing on your mind. However, after 40 days, your body really does need food. No one in the Scriptures fasted more than 40 days, so your fast should also last no more than 40 days.

Those are the answers to the six basic questions on fasting. I hope this has been helpful.

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Blaspheming the Holy Spirit

Posted on May 10, 2018 by chfordenterprises

“Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come” (Matt. 12:31-32).

The primary subject of these verses is the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, also known as the unforgivable sin, since Jesus said that this was the one sin that would not be forgiven. There are four views on what the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is:

  1. You permanently reject the testimony of the Holy Spirit concerning Jesus Christ. This is blasphemy because in essence you are calling the Holy Spirit a liar.
  2. The work of the Holy Spirit is to lead you to Jesus Christ. Hence, you blaspheme the Holy Spirit when you die without receiving Jesus Christ as your Savior.
  3. We do not know what the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is since Jesus did not specify what it is.
  4. You blaspheme the Holy Spirit when you say (out of an evil heart, not out of ignorance) that the work of the Holy Spirit is in fact the work of Satan or of a demon.

As we study this passage, we will determine which of these views is correct. However, let me say up front that this is not a salvation issue. You will not lose your salvation if you believe any of these views.

Before we get into the study, let me say this about view number 1. That view is based on John 15:26: “But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.” But John is also the one who said that if we do not believe in Jesus, we are rejecting the testimony, not of the Holy Spirit, but of the Father and we are calling the Father a liar (1 John 5:9-12). That is because the testimony which the Holy Spirit gives of Jesus came from the Father. So those who reject the testimony of the Holy Spirit are not blaspheming the Spirit but the Father. And Jesus said that every blasphemy (including blasphemy of the Father) will be forgiven.

Let us begin with verse 31. Jesus said, “Every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men,” which raises the question, “When are sins forgiven: before or after death?” Heb. 9:27 says, “It is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.” Rev. 20:13 says that the unbelieving dead will be judged according to their works on Judgment Day. If God says to a man on Judgment Day, “You are guilty of murder,” can that man then say, “You’re right, God. What I did was wrong. Will you forgive me?” No. Once a person dies, all unforgiven sins become unforgivable. Sins can be forgiven only before death.

So, if a person commits the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit when he or she dies, why would Jesus single that one sin out as unforgivable if all sins become unforgivable upon death? What he is saying is that the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is the one sin that becomes unforgivable before we die.

To better understand what the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is, we need to know the definition of blasphemy. The Greek word for blasphemy in verse 31 is blasphemia (bla-sfā-mē’-a), from which we get our English word. It is ultimately derived from a combination of two other Greek words: blapto, which means “to injure,” and pheme (fā’-mā), from which we get our word “fame” and which means “news, report.” So blasphemia literally means “an injurious report.” Thayer’s Greek Lexicon defines it as “slander, speech injurious to another’s good name.” It is possible to blaspheme (speak slanderously against) beings other than God (which is what Michael the archangel refused to do concerning Satan in Jude 9), but in the New Testament, blasphemy is usually directed to God.

The point is that blasphemy is spoken. In verse 32, Jesus says, “Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him.” Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is speaking against the Holy Spirit.

When we place verses 31 and 32 in context and look at what follows (verses 33-37), we see that Jesus is still talking about speaking. He calls the Pharisees a “brood of vipers,” and then says, “How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” We must remember that verses 31 and 32 are part of a speech Jesus gives in verses 25-37. And what prompted that speech? The Pharisees said something.

Most of this story is repeated in Luke 11:14-26. Luke left out the part about the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, but, according to Luke, Jesus did bring it up later, in Luke 12:1-12. Notice that in the context Jesus is again talking about speaking (“whoever confesses Me,” “anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man,” “do not worry about…what you should say”). Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is spoken.

So what did the Pharisees say that prompted Jesus’ speech in Matthew 12? In v. 22, Jesus healed a blind and mute man who was demon-possessed, presumably by casting the demon out. The multitudes in v. 23 offered an explanation for this miracle: “Could this be the Son of David?” The Pharisees could not accept this, so they offered an alternative explanation, in essence an argument to refute the multitudes’ explanation: “This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.” Jesus cast out the demon by the power of the Holy Spirit, but what the Pharisees said was that Jesus actually cast out the demon by the power of Satan. This is what prompted Jesus’ speech.

Jesus’ speech consists of five rebuttals to the Pharisees’ argument. The first rebuttal is, if I am casting demons out by the power of Satan, then Satan’s kingdom is divided, which means it cannot stand.

The second rebuttal is, if I am casting demons out by the power of Satan, then your exorcists must be casting demons out by Satan’s power as well.

The third rebuttal is, “if (a better translation would be “since”) I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.” In other words, the fact that I am casting demons out by the power of the Spirit is evidence that you are witnessing, not Satan warring against his own kingdom, but the kingdom of God warring against Satan’s kingdom (v. 28). And I could not have cast out this demon unless I had first overcome “the strong man,” Satan himself (v. 29), which means that I am winning. So you had better join my side (v. 30) because if you are not with me, then you are against me.

The fourth rebuttal is, “Therefore,” since all of the above is true, since I am in fact casting the demons out by the power of the Holy Spirit, you had better be careful what you say, because if you pursue this line of argumentation, you will blaspheme the Holy Spirit, which is unforgivable. You can say what you want against me, but don’t you dare blaspheme the Holy Spirit.

The fifth rebuttal is, your argument comes from an evil heart. So repent, because you will be judged for everything you say.

In context, therefore, Jesus brings up the subject of the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit because he is answering the Pharisees’ argument that he is casting out demons by the power of Satan. Mark also records this argument between the Pharisees and Jesus in Mark 3:22-30 and he specifically says that Jesus brought up the subject of the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit “because they said, ‘He has an unclean spirit.’” So view 4 is the correct understanding of what the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is.

This means that when the Holy Spirit performs a miracle, a blasphemer would say that the miracle was performed by Satan. A born-again Christian who is filled with the Holy Spirit would not blaspheme the Holy Spirit. Only a person with an evil heart who is in outright rebellion against God (like the Pharisees) would be capable of doing this. But this is also why we do not want an evil heart of unbelief to rise up within us or in our fellow believers (Heb. 3:12-13). We want to stay as far away from this as we can.

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Continue in the Faith

Posted on May 4, 2018 by chfordenterprises

All of this concerns the day we got saved and where we spend eternity. How does all of this affect our lives today? What does all of this have to do with the verse I quoted at the beginning of this lesson: “The just shall live by his faith”?

Salvation, like sanctification, is a process. The Scriptures speak of salvation as a past event.

Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began (2 Tim. 1:8-9).

The Scriptures also speak of salvation as a future event.

Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life (Rom. 5:9-10).

So Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation (Heb. 9:28).

That is why the Scriptures speak of us as being saved.

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God (1 Cor. 1:18).

For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing (2 Cor. 2:15).

That is also why Jesus says that those who endure to the end will be saved.

“And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved” (Matt. 10:22).

Notice that Jesus did not say this to unbelievers but to believers, his disciples.

Those who support Calvinism believe that the believer will endure to the end, that the believer cannot lose his salvation. They believe in the perseverance of the saints. Since God in his sovereignty chose who would be saved, and since the will of God cannot be thwarted, all of the chosen ones will endure (persevere) until the end and be saved. The believer’s perseverance, therefore, depends on God’s ability to make him or her persevere. Even some Arminians believe that once a person has freely chosen to be saved, God will make sure he perseveres. And there are Scriptures to back this up.

Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it (1 Thess. 5:23-24).

“This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day” (John 6:39).

“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand (John 10:27-30).

However, the majority of those who support Arminianism believe that the believer can lose his salvation. They believe it is possible for a believer to fall from grace. Since the believer freely chose to be saved, he or she can endure to the end only if he or she continually chooses to do so. The believer’s perseverance, therefore, depends on the believer’s ability to make himself or herself persevere. And there are Scriptures to back this up.

“Fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matt. 10:28). (Notice again that he said this to his disciples, which means that it is possible for the disciples of Jesus to end up in hell.)

You will say then, “Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.” Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either. Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in his goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off (Rom. 11:16-22).

For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. And again, “The Lord will judge His people.” It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Heb. 10:26-31).

See also 2 Pet. 2:20-21 and Heb. 6:4-8.

When it comes to enduring to the end, therefore, the Scriptures teach both: God helps us to persevere but we must choose to persevere.

Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Pet. 1:10-11).

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure (Phil 2:12-13).

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time (1 Pet. 1:3-5). (We are kept by God, but through faith.)

And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight—if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister (Col. 1:21-23).

These verses from Colossians tell us how we can lose our salvation. Eph. 2:8-9 tells us that we do not gain our salvation through works, so we do not lose our salvation by works. Those verses also tell us that we gain salvation by grace through faith. Therefore, we lose our salvation through unbelief. That is why Paul admonishes the Colossians to “continue in the faith.”  That is also why the writer to the Hebrews warns us not to develop “an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God” (Heb. 3:12-4:11).

Salvation is a process, but we can choose to drop out of the process. Suppose that you have a brain tumor and the doctor says, “I can remove it in an operation, but first you must take these medications, change your diet, and go through six weeks of chemotherapy.” If you do all of those things and you are cured of the tumor, who gets the credit? The doctor does, because he knew what to do. But if you die from the tumor because you decided that it was too much trouble to take the medications, that you weren’t going to change your diet because you really like the food you eat, and that you weren’t going through the chemotherapy because you don’t like the side effects it produces, so the doctor was unable to perform the operation, whose fault is that? It’s your fault. God has set things up so that if we make it to heaven, he gets all the credit, but if we do not make it, we get all the blame.

The point is that we should not take our salvation for granted. Salvation is a precious gift which only God can give, but we can throw the gift away. Salvation is a process which only God can accomplish, but we can choose to drop out of the process.

Let me end this with this quote from Heb. 10:38-39:

“Now the just shall live by faith;
But if anyone draws back,
My soul has no pleasure in him.”
But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.

Do not be one of those who draw back to perdition. Be one of those who believe to the saving of the soul. Continue in the faith.

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Predestined to Hell

Posted on May 1, 2018 by chfordenterprises

By the same token, God, and only God, knows how to predestine people to hell without violating their free will. In the story of the plagues, the Scriptures tell us that the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart (Exod. 9:12; 10:1, 20, 27; 11:10). In fact, the Lord told Moses before he returned to Egypt that he, the Lord, would harden Pharaoh’s heart (Exod. 4:21), which means that God had predestined Pharaoh’s heart to be hardened. That was God exercising his choice (election). This did not preclude Pharaoh’s free will, for the Scriptures also say that Pharaoh hardened his heart (Exod. 8:15, 32; 9:34). That was Pharaoh exercising his free will. Both election and free will were working at the same time. I have heard it said that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart because Pharaoh hardened his heart, but that is not what the Scriptures say. And, as we shall see, that is not the conclusion Paul drew in Rom. 9. The Scriptures simply say that both God and Pharaoh chose to harden his heart.

We understand that people can freely choose to spend eternity in hell by refusing to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior; however, many people balk at the idea that a loving God could predestine people to hell. Yet logic says that he does. Since there are only two places in which a person can spend eternity, if God does not predestine a person to heaven, then, by default, he has predestined that person to hell. Calvinism accepts that logic; Arminianism does not. But even if we adopt the Arminian position that God looked down through history and saw who would choose to be saved and so predestined them, does not that also mean that he looked down through history and saw who would NOT choose to be saved? So why did he create them, knowing full well that, by creating them, he was automatically condemning them to spend eternity in hell? Whether you are a Calvinist or an Arminian, the fact remains the same: God could have avoided sending anyone to hell by simply creating only those who were predestined to be saved. But he did not. Why not?

The Scriptures not only clearly teach that God predestined people to destruction, they also tell us why he did:

The Lord has made all for Himself,
Yes, even the wicked for the day of doom (Prov. 16:4)

What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.” So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.” Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens (Rom. 9:14-18).

What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory, even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles (Rom. 9:22-24)?

The Scriptures say that God created the wicked for himself, meaning that he created them for his own purposes. His purposes include making known his power, his name (that is, his character), and his wrath. Christians lately have been emphasizing one facet of God’s character, his love, at the expense of another facet, his wrath. He predestined some, “the vessels of mercy,” to heaven to show everyone his mercy and his love. But he also predestined others, “the vessels of wrath,” to hell to show everyone his wrath.

He also created them to show the vessels of mercy “the riches of His glory.” If God had simply created only those who were predestined to heaven, then telling us that we could have spent eternity in the lake of fire would have been meaningless. And living a life of righteousness here on earth would also have been meaningless since everyone was going to get saved anyway. The only way to make salvation meaningful was to make the possibility of not being saved a real possibility. That meant a real lake of fire, a real outpouring of his wrath, and real vessels created to receive that wrath.

But if God predestined people to hell, why does he hold them accountable for their sins? He does so because, as we saw with Pharaoh, they can still exercise their free will. Yes, God chose to send them to hell before the foundation of the world, and yes, they freely chose to go to hell. Election and free will worked together in condemning them, just as election and free will worked together in saving us.

At least, that’s my answer to the question based on pulling some Scriptures together. The Scriptures themselves address this question head on and give us an even harder answer:

You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?” But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, “Why have you made me like this?” Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor (Rom. 9:19-21)?

We keep forgetting that God is God and he can do whatever he wants. He does not have to answer to us for what he does. He predestined some people to go to heaven. That is his prerogative. He also predestined some people to go to hell. That is also his prerogative.

Some people, when confronted with the truth that God has predestined people to hell, either doubt God’s love or reject this truth altogether, for how can a loving God send people to hell? But that is not the Scriptural response to this truth. When we realize that God did not have to predestine us to spend eternity in heaven with him, that God could have chosen to predestine us to destruction but did not, our response should be thankfulness and praise: “Thank you, God, that you chose me even though you did not have to do so.”

Praise the name of the Lord;
Praise Him, O you servants of the Lord!
You who stand in the house of the Lord,
In the courts of the house of our God,
Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good;
Sing praises to His name, for it is pleasant.
For the Lord has chosen Jacob for Himself,
Israel for His special treasure (Ps. 135:1-4).

But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy (1 Pet. 2:9-10; italics mine).

To be continued…

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Reconciling Election and Free Will

Posted on April 27, 2018 by chfordenterprises

So which doctrine is correct?

The two doctrines have existed since the first century and the supporters of the doctrines have been arguing with each other also since the first century. And so far, no one has been able to convince the other side. The problem is that both sides have Scriptures to back them up, which suggests that the Scriptures actually teach both.

In fact, there are instances where both doctrines show up in the same Scriptural passage. In Jer. 18:1-10, the Lord tells Jeremiah to go to the potter’s house. There the prophet sees the potter make a vessel, only to squash it and make it into another vessel. The Lord then says that he can do the same to Israel, that he can do whatever he chooses. That’s election. That’s God making his choice. But then, in that same speech, the Lord tells Jeremiah that if he says he is going to destroy a nation but that nation chooses to repent, he will spare that nation. Conversely, if he says he is going to bless a nation but that nation chooses to do evil, he will relent from blessing it. That’s free will.

Acts 13:14-51 tells the story of how Paul and Barnabas came to Antioch in Pisidia to preach the Gospel. They started at the synagogue of the Jews and were asked to return the following Sabbath to preach again. But the Jews became envious of all of the Gentiles who also came to hear, so they contradicted Paul and Barnabas. Paul said to them that he and Barnabas would therefore turn to the Gentiles, “since you reject it” (v. 46). That’s free will. The Gentiles were glad to hear Paul say that, and the Scriptures say, “And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed” (v. 48). That’s election.

But if the Scriptures really teach that both are true, why do we argue so much over these doctrines? We do so because, logically speaking, we cannot reconcile the two. We cannot understand how we can freely choose to be saved if God has already chosen who would be saved before the foundation of the world. We see the two as logically opposed to each other and therefore cannot reconcile them in our minds.

But the Scriptures are full of mysteries like this one. Trying to reconcile these two is like trying to reconcile how God can be one God, yet three Persons. And it is like trying to reconcile how Jesus can be both God and man at the same time. Yet, the Church stopped arguing over these truths long ago because it simply accepted that reconciling them goes beyond our limited human understanding.

So, too, reconciling election and free will goes beyond our limited human understanding, which is why the Scriptures teach both without once trying to explain how both can be true at the same time. C.S. Lewis acknowledged this decades ago. In Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer (p. 49), he refers to Pelagius and Augustine, who debated each other over this very issue in the fifth century. Pelagius supported free will; Augustine supported election. Lewis refers to them in his discussion of “the whole puzzle about grace and free will. You will notice that Scripture just sails over the problem. ‘Work out your salvation in fear and trembling’—pure Pelagianism. But why? ‘For it is God who worketh in you’—pure Augustinianism. It is presumably only our presuppositions that make this appear nonsensical. We profanely assume that divine and human action exclude one another like the actions of two fellow-creatures so that ‘God did this’ and ‘I did this’ cannot both be true of the same act except in the sense that each contributed a share.”

Perhaps an analogy will help us understand what he is saying. Suppose that I have a flat tire, but the nuts are on so tight that I cannot loosen them by myself. So you grab one part of the wrench and I grab another part. We twist it together and the nuts come off. The question then is: who loosened the nuts? You or me? The answer is, we both did.

Who chose to save us? Did God choose to save us before the foundation of the world (election)? Or did we choose to save ourselves (free will)? The answer is Yes. Yes, God chose to save us before the foundation of the world and yes, we freely chose salvation. We and God did this together.

In fact, the Scriptures teach that everything we do, we do together with God. As Jesus said, “Without Me, you can do nothing” (John 15:5). We cannot even choose to be saved without him. Perhaps we do not understand how that works, but God does.

Through the prophet Isaiah, God reminds us that he is in control of everything, including the future:

“Remember this, and show yourselves men;
Recall to mind, O you transgressors,
Remember the former things of old,
For I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like Me,
Declaring the end from the beginning,
And from ancient times things that are not yet done,
Saying, ‘My counsel shall stand,
And I will do all My pleasure,’
Calling a bird of prey from the east,
The man who executes My counsel, from a far country.
Indeed I have spoken it;
I will also bring it to pass.
I have purposed it;
I will also do it” (Is.46:8-11).

God sees the end from the beginning, which means that God has a predetermined plan. God is so wise and powerful that he can give all of us free will and still pull it off. His counsel shall stand. As an example, we are told that Ruth just “happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz” (Ruth 2:3). We know, of course, that she did not just “happen” upon Boaz’s field. It was God’s plan for her to get to that field and he fulfilled his plan without violating her free will. God predestined us to be saved, but he did so without violating our free will. God, and only God, knows how to make election and free will work together.

To be continued…

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Election and Free Will

Posted on April 25, 2018 by chfordenterprises

“But the just shall live by his faith” (Hab. 2:4)

In The Emperor’s New Groove, the emperor, who has been turned into a talking llama, and his peasant pal, Pacha, are being chased by his evil advisor, Yzma, and her henchman, Kronk, both of whom end up being locked in a closet in Pacha’s house by Pacha’s family. Yzma says to them, “Tell us where the talking llama is and we’ll burn your house to the ground.” Kronk says, “Don’t you mean ‘or’?” Yzma sighs in frustration, then says, “Tell us where the talking llama is OR we’ll burn your house to the ground.” Pacha’s daughter says, “That is a pretty crucial conjunction.”

It is a pretty crucial conjunction. I have entitled today’s lesson “Election and Free Will.” In most churches, the title would have been “Election OR Free Will,” because most Christians believe that the Scriptures teach one or the other and that anyone who believes the other is, at best, sadly mistaken or, at worst, a heretic.

The doctrines of election and free will are an attempt to answer two important questions: Did God choose to save us before the foundation of the world? Or did we choose to save ourselves?

Those who would answer yes to the first question believe in the doctrine of predestination (election). This doctrine has existed since the first century, but it was most ably defended by John Calvin (1509-1564), a French reformer who headed the church in Geneva, Switzerland. Because of this, the doctrine is also known as Calvinism. This is the belief held by the Southern Baptists and the Presbyterians.

Calvinism emphasizes the sovereignty of God. Before the foundation of the world, God in his sovereignty chose who would be saved and who would not be saved. That decision was not based on anything any person would do but on the purposes and will of God. People choose to get saved because God has already chosen them to be saved. Each person’s choice to be saved or not to be saved, therefore, is determined by whether God has already chosen to save that person or not. In other words, you chose to be saved because God chose you to be saved from before the foundation of the world.

There are, of course, Scriptures to support this doctrine:

The Lord has made all for Himself,
Yes, even the wicked for the day of doom (Prov. 16:4)

He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God (John 1:11-13).

“You did not choose Me, but I chose you…” (John 15:16).

For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren (Rom. 8:29).

See also Rom. 9:1-21 and Eph. 1:3-11.

This is why the Scriptures sometimes refer to the believers as the elect (1 Pet. 1:1-2; Col. 3:12).

Those who would answer yes to the second question believe in the doctrine of free will. This doctrine has also existed since the first century, but it was first systematized by Jacob Arminius (1560-1609), a Dutch professor and former pastor. Because of this, the doctrine is also known as Arminianism. This is the belief held by the Methodists and most Pentecostal churches, including the Assemblies of God.

Arminianism emphasizes the responsibility of man. Each person is free to choose to be saved or not to be saved, and therefore, each person is responsible for the choice he or she makes. If a person ends up condemned to spend eternity in hell, it is because that person chose to be condemned. God certainly does not predestine anyone to condemnation. The Scriptures that speak about predestination mean that God, before the foundation of the world, foresaw who would freely choose to be saved. Those are the ones he predestined for salvation. God’s choice to save a person, therefore, is determined by that person’s choice to be saved or not to be saved. In other words, God chose you to be saved from before the foundation of the world because you chose to be saved.

There are, of course, Scriptures to support this doctrine:

“I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live” (Deut. 30:19).

“And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve…” (Josh. 24:15).

“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believe in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:14-16).

And the Sprit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely (Rev. 22:17).

So which doctrine is correct?

To be continued…

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“I AM WHO I AM”

Posted on January 27, 2018 by chfordenterprises

Moses, therefore, is not asking for God’s name because he does not know what it is. He is asking for God’s secret name. But notice that he is not wanting to learn God’s name for himself. He is picturing the Israelites in Egypt as wanting to know God’s name. He sees himself coming to the Israelites and telling them that he has met with God. He sees the Israelites as figuring this to be their golden oppor­tunity, for if Moses has really met with God, then perhaps he has learned God’s secret name. So he sees their first reaction to his news not as rejoicing that God has finally answered their prayers but as wanting to extract information so they can force God to do their bidding.

This is why God’s answer, “I AM WHO I AM,” is so appropriate. In English, it sounds like a tautology, a statement that is true but gives us absolutely no new infor­mation. Of course, God is who God is, but that does not tell us who he is in the first place. It sounds like God is trying to evade Moses’ question, even as Re tried to avoid Isis’.

But God is not Re and he is not evading Moses’ question. In Hebrew, this syn­tax is used to express determination. Thus, when Moses returns to this very moun­tain, God says to him, “I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion” (Exod. 33:19), that is, God will determine to whom he will be gracious and on whom he will have compassion. What God is saying to the Israelites, therefore, is, “I determine who I am. I chose to have this personality and this character, which means that I chose my own name. Unlike Re, I was not given a secret name by someone else. So your attempt at manipulat­ing me through the use of my secret name will be in vain.”

His answer subtly—or perhaps not so subtly—reminds the Israelites that because he, and only he, determines who he is, he is a God who does not change.  Ever changing circumstances do not determine who he is. Fleeting emotions do not determine who he is. And certainly their puny attempts at magic do not determine who he is. Nothing can make him change except himself. This fact may cause con­sternation among some of the Israelites who think he is not moving fast enough to free them from slavery, but it should also comfort them. For a God who does not change is a God who can be counted on to be there when you really need him and who can be counted on to follow through on his promises. He is not the kind of God who one day promises to do something and the next day changes his mind. He is an unchanging God, which means that he is a faithful God.

He reminds them of all of this in the next part of his answer to Moses when he says, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.'” …”Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, “Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you” (Exod. 3:14f). He is the same God who introduced himself to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He has not changed since then. He was faithful then, he is faithful now. But this answer is also a mild rebuke, for when he answers Moses’ request to reveal his secret name by giving him the name the Israelites already knew, he is telling them, “I have already revealed to you who I really am. I have already revealed to you the deepest, innermost part of me. You should have already known that my heart belongs to you and that I would be faithful to you. You should have never doubted me.”

Thus, God recalls for the Israelites not only his chosen name but also the meaning of that name. The name Yahweh does not simply mean “He is,” but “He is unchanging and therefore faithful.” And it is his faithfulness, more so than any other aspect of his character, that he wishes everyone to think of when they think of him: “This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations” (Exod. 3:15).

This is also why in Exodus 6 (and in Genesis) he emphasizes the name Yah­weh over his other name, El Shaddai. To be sure, God is El Shaddai, the Almighty One, which means that he is capable of delivering the Israelites from slavery. But just because someone is capable of doing something does not necessarily mean that he will actually do it. What the Israelites needed to know was that God is faithful, that he can be counted on to do what he said he would do. The actual deliverance was going to be a long process, and the march across the wilderness was going to be perilous. They needed to know that he could be trusted.

And so, he emphasizes his name again and again in his speech to Moses in Exodus 6:

And God spoke to Moses and said to him, “I am Yahweh, the Faithful One. I allowed myself to appear to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as El Shaddai, for did I not let Myself be known to them by My name Yahweh, the Faithful One? I have also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, in which they were strangers. And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel whom the Egyptians keep in bondage, and I have remembered my covenant. Therefore, say to the children of Israel: ‘I am Yahweh, the Faithful One; I will bring you out from under the bur­dens of the Egyptians, I will rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. I will take you as My people, and I will be your God. Then you shall know that I am Yahweh, the Faithful One, your God who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. And I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and I will give it to you as a heritage: I am Yahweh, the Faithful One’” (Exod. 6:2-8, with some modifications).

There is no need to manipulate a faithful God. One can simply trust that he will do what he said he will do.

Thus, an understanding of the Hebrew (and Egyptian) culture and language reveals that the contradictions are merely illusions. There is no contradiction between Exod. 3 and Genesis or Exod. 6 and Genesis.

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