2 Tim 3:16 - What do you believe?

Faith comes from hearing the Word

2012-01-15T01:44:00.000-08:00

2 Tim 3:15, MKJV "and that from a babe you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus."

Gals 3:24, KJV "Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith."

Rom 3:20-22, MKJV "because by the works of the Law none of all flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law is the knowledge of sin. But now a righteousness of God has been revealed apart from Law, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets; even the righteousness of God through the faith of Jesus Christ, toward all and upon all those who believe. For there is no difference,"

Rome 10:17, KJV "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."

Faith is not something you just get. No, faith comes from hearing the Word of God which in turn consists of both the Law and the Prophets. Holy Scriptures is what makes us wise to our inability to become righteous before God. The Law bring the knowledge of our sins. None can follow the Law. No one can gain their own salvation. Both the Law and the Prophets speaks of salvation through the blood of Christ alone.

Look around you every day. How many of the people who cross your path knows Christ? Not many I would guess.

So, how are they going to find out about salvation through faith in Jesus Christ?

Are you aware that you are the messenger that must bring them knowledge of their sin and knowledge of salvation provided to all by the grace of God?

Saturated like a Red Silkworm

2011-11-09T01:26:00.000-08:00

When I was still in school, each year one of the typical crazes running through the school during the warmer months, was the simple hobby of raising silkworms. After a while I got pretty good at it even though it was pretty basic stuff. Make sure they have a good supply of fresh mulberry leaves, and you will end up with some big fat healthy worms. After about a month they are ready to spin their cocoons.

One time I was told that if you feed silkworms beetroot leaves, come spinning time, and they will spin red colored silk. So it goes without saying that I simply had to try this. The trick is that you have to start a silkworm on beetroot leaves from day one. Once they've tasted mulberry leaves chances are they will die and not take to alternate food. Other than that the worms on beetroot will grow up all the same as those on mulberry leaves. But, come spinning time, their silk clearly distinguishes the beetroot worms from the mulberry worms.

Time to apply this little lesson to God's Word.

Luke 6:45 MKJV "A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth the good. And an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth the evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks."

How should a Christian live?

2 Cor 5:17 MKJV "So that if any one is in Christ, that one is a new creature; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new."

Rom 8:29 MKJV "For whom He foreknew, He also predestinated to be conformed to the image of His Son, for Him to be the First-born among many brothers."

Rom 12:1-2 KJV " I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."

A Christian is a changed person through the regenerative power of Christ and the Spirit. This change is total to the extent that the person is considered a new creation and that is incidentally also why baptism, as an act of obedience, symbolizes the rebirth of the person through the grace and blood of Christ. The change in the believer continues and is an ongoing process.

Phil 1:6 MKJV "being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ,"

What does it mean to conform to the image of Christ?

It means being different to the rest of the world. This difference is not a hidden attribute. You cannot be a Christian in secret. Your faith should saturate your life to the extent that every thought is brought under the authority of Christ (2 Cor 10:5). YOU, as a whole, YOU in total, all of YOU should be a holy, living sacrifice to God (Rom 12:1).

1 Thess 2:12-13 MKJV "that you should walk worthy of God, who has called you to His kingdom and glory. And for this cause we thank God without ceasing, that when you received the Word of hearing, of God, you welcomed it as the Word of God, not as a word of men, but as it is, truly the Word of God, which also effectually works in you who believe."

This transformation is fueled by the Word of God to the extent that your "walk" is worthy of God. Therefore what you say (Luke 6:45) and how you live (1 Thess 2:12) testify that you are a Christian.

If you measure yourself against the world, and your word and your deeds conform to the world and not to Christ, you have reason to doubt your salvation. Like the beetroot leaves permeated every fiber of the silkworm to the extent that even the silk changed color, so the Word of God and His Spirit should permeate your life, so that everything you do is colored by your faith.

You cannot be a lukewarm Christian. You cannot act like a Christian part of the time and other times continue with the things of this world. NO, it is all or nothing.

Therefore, measure yourself today. If you could become an outsider - looking into your life, what would you see? What does others see? People at work and people at home. Would they see someone who conforms to the rest of this world or would they see someone who conforms to the image of Christ?

The final identification, the final sign of which silkworm lived on a diet of beetroot leaves, is when the silkworm transforms from his life as a worm, in his silky cocoon. The normal, "rest of the world" silkworms will end up in a light colored cocoon, but the beetroot worms would be hard to miss in their red colored cocoons.

John 15:5 MKJV "I am the Vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing."

The Bible says we will bring forth fruit. This will be a sign of our true salvation. This fruit is the fruit of the Spirit:

Gal 5:22-23 MKJV "But the fruit of the Spirit is: love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control; against such things there is no law."

James 2:17 BBE "Even so faith without works is dead."

Works cannot save you, but true faith is characterized by works in the believers life and these works matches the fruit of the Spirit. Without works there is no real saving faith.

So, take what you do every day, the things you spend your time on, and see to what extent you are saturating yourself with things of the world, and then compare to what extent you are allowing saturation through the Word of God.

If you find it difficult to do the things of Christ, if you find it difficult to pray, read the Word, go to church, be with fellow believers, praise God in song etc. you must ask yourself if you are not maybe struggling because you are trying to walk like a child of Christ, while still saturated and feasting on the things of this world.

True regeneration comes through faith and repentance through the power of Christ in you. You only get His Spirit when you've been born again. Continual change in your life, comes through constant saturation of your mind with the Word of God. Spiritual growth comes from callused knees spent praying and talking to God.

Luke 9:23-25 MKJV "And He said to all, If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me. For whoever will save his life shall lose it, but whoever will lose his life for My sake, he shall save it. For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world and loses himself, or is cast away?"

Make the decision today, to loose your old sinful life for Christ's sake - gain so your salvation.

How much is too much?

2011-10-31T01:57:00.000-07:00

Have you ever asked yourself the question of "How much you are willing to sacrifice for your faith?"

In other words "How much is too much to sacrifice?".

Mark 8:34-38 HCSB "Summoning the crowd along with His disciples, He said to them, "If anyone wants to be My follower, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of Me and the gospel will save it. For what does it benefit a man to gain the whole world yet lose his life? What can a man give in exchange for his life? For whoever is ashamed of Me and of My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.""

So if you claim to be a follower of Christ (v34), have you really fully given yourself to Him (v35)?

Christ wants total commitment to Him. He does not ask a little bit of your time on a Sunday morning only. He does not want a quick bed time prayer at night. He is not asking for strict conformance to the 10% tithe rule still being enforced in churches today. No, He wants all of you. Everything you can give.

In Christ through faith and repentance, He will change you into a new person - this is to be born again.

2 Cor 5:17 "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation; old things have passed away, and look, new things have come.

So, to what extent is your life now, as a born again person, the same as your life pre-Christ? If you do a stock take can you clearly see the difference in you? Have you changed or are you still the same person?

If you have received Christ as your Savior, but you have not sacrificed the old YOU, you must stop and ask the question if you we're really re-born originally. Have you not become just another part of the statistic of false conversions. This is important to know and to make certain of since your ETERNAL SALVATION is at stake.

Why does Jesus set this high standard and indeed high expectation of us?

Rom 12:1-2 "Therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God."

God expect us to be and live holy lives as we are empowered to do in Christ. Why? Because you are to be a living sacrifice to Him.

This you do, by putting of the old carnal man, allow Christ to transform you so you no longer conform to this world, and to take up your cross every day, no matter what personal sacrifices is required, to praise and honor God every second of every minute of hour of every day of you life.

So I ask you again: "How much you are willing to sacrifice for your faith?"

How much do you love Christ?

The Modern Holocaust

2011-10-04T21:04:00.000-07:00

What is your view and your opinion about abortion? Do you hold on to arguments such as:

Any person has a right to choose and it is unfair to restrict the woman's choice
It is not a baby but simply a bunch of cells
The fetus is part of the woman's body and she controls her body
etc.

Where does such arguments come from. What standard is used to define these? Are they based on truth or are these arguments based on varying and individual "moral" standards and opinions?

I would like to suggest that as long as we live in ignorance to the damage society is causing, we will not face up to the ultimate standard we all will be held to one day. But more about that later.

First some statistics to put it all in place:

Since 1922 there have been a reported 862,695,400 abortions which comes to an estimated figure of 949,479,786 abortions including non reported abortions
According to the World Health Organization every year in the world an estimated 40-50 million women faced with an unplanned pregnancy decide to have an abortion
This corresponds to approximately 125,000 abortions per day globally
Or one abortion every 0.7 seconds of every minute of every hour of every day

Compare this in turn with the Holocaust during World War 2. The Holocaust took place over a period from January 30, 1933 to May 8, 1945. Somewhere in the region of 11 million people were killed in the Holocaust and this figure includes Jews, Soviet POWs, ethnic Poles, Romani, handicapped, homosexuals and Jehovah's Witnesses. Every year millions of dollars in TV air time is spent broadcasting and investigating the horrors of the Holocaust. But I have to say, they are missing the biggest holocaust of all time playing off as you read this post.

950 million deaths due to abortion makes the Holocaust pale by comparison!

Does that shock you? Well, if you are still pro-choice I would like to ask you one question. Please complete the following sentence:

It is OK to kill a baby when ...

You see, all arguments for justifying murdering that little human being, that should be cared for and protected by its mother, falls to pieces once you really consider the above question and the typical pro-choice arguments in all honesty. Instead of answering each and every possible argument in this blog I would rather like to take a less conventional approach. Allow me to make use of two resources to explain further.

The first is a documentary recently released. It can be viewed for free online (180movie.com) and has seen 500 000 views in 9 days. I would suggest you have a look for yourself:

The second resource I would like to use is a trustworthy one, where we can find absolute truth. One that does not vary from person to person. A moral standard that has remained the same over thousands of years. That is the Word of God. God values life, He made each and every one of us and cares for us:

Jer 1:5 HCSB "I chose you before I formed you in the womb;I set you apart before you were born."

Gal 1:15 HCSB "God, who from my birth set me apart and called me by His grace"

Psalm 139:13 HCSB "For it was You who created my inward parts;You knit me together in my mother's womb." 16 "Your eyes saw me when I was formless;all [my] days were written in Your book and plannedbefore a single one of them began."

Job 10:8 HCSB "Your hands shaped me and formed me."

Children are a gift from God, Psalm 127:3 "Sons are indeed a heritage from the Lord,children, a reward.".

The decision of life and death is in the hands of our Creator, Job 12:10 HCSB "The life of every living thing is in His hand,as well as the breath of all mankind." and He forbids us from taking the life of an innocent person, Deut 27:25 HCSB "The one who accepts a bribe to kill an innocent person is cursed.", and Ex 20:13 HCSB "Do not murder.".

Taking the life of an innocent unborn person is murder, Jer 20:17 HCSB "because he didn't kill me in the wombso that my mother might have been my grave", and God will not let such a person go unpunished, Amos 1:13 HCSB "The Lord says: I will not relent from punishing the Ammonites
for three crimes, even four,because they ripped open the pregnant women of Gileadin order to enlarge their territory.".

To end, if you have committed murder through abortion, repent of your sins. Go down on your knees and reach out in sorrow to the One you've sinned against. With Him lies true forgiveness.

If you are a Christian, and otherwise not directly impacted by abortion, I must ask you, how can you stand around and do nothing while millions goes lost every year. YOU are the salt in this dark world. Go out and proclaim the Gospel of salvation. Open peoples eyes to the horror they are committing.

Scriptural Accuracy of Infant Baptism - Point B

2011-03-10T18:44:00.000-08:00

In the Introduction of this series I've highlighted 7 key points with regards to infant baptism and adult baptism in the Reformed church and I would like to encourage you to take each, dig deeper, and measure it against the Word of God for yourself. So, today, let's tackle the second point.

Point (b) – Baptism seals the membership of the adult/child in His church

In typical Reformed church baptismal services, the promise is made that the child or grown-up being baptised in the practice of covenant baptism, receives through baptism membership to the covenant community of God, that is - the church of Christ.

So the question is what is the church of Christ, who belongs to the church and who is the head of this church? Is this baptismal promise found in scripture?

Eph 1:22-23 "And He has put all things under His feet and gave Him to be Head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all."

Eph 5:23 "For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body."

Col 1:18 "And He is the Head of the body, the church, ..."

The Bible refers to the body and church as one and the same in a spiritual context. So, in the remainder of this post, keep in mind that as I refer to the body of Christ, or the church, I am speaking of one and the same as defined in the passages above. Christ remains the Head and Redeemer of the body/the church.

Who are the members of the body of Christ?

Acts 2:46-47 "And continuing with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they shared food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved."

Acts 5:14 "and more believing ones were added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women;"

Eph 2:12-22 "and that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who were once afar off are made near by the blood of Christ. For He is our peace, He making us both one, and He has broken down the middle wall of partition between us, having abolished in His flesh the enmity (the Law of commandments contained in ordinances) so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, making peace between them; and so that He might reconcile both to God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity in Himself. And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off, and to those who were near. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. Now therefore you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God, and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom every building having been fitly framed together, grows into a holy sanctuary in the Lord; in whom you also are built together for a dwelling place of God through the Spirit."

The above three texts clearly show, as we've already proven in Point (a) - that only through faith in Christ can a person belong to God. Only faith provides the key to membership to the body of Christ. Since the Bible refers to the body of Christ and the church as one and the same, only faith will make us part of His church. This is the heavenly church and not earthly church organisations that the scripture refers to.

It does not matter if you are Jew or Gentile, that which will reconcile us through Christ with God - is and will always be - faith. And this is the faith of the individual in Christ and not the faith of his/her parents.

Baptism served through covenant theology, in other words infant baptism, is NOT the scriptural means to obtain membership in the body of Christ. The simple reason for this statement is that such baptism never goes with true saving faith. Where faith is missing there cannot be reconciliation through, and with the body of Christ.

With regards to Point (b), it is unscriptural for the Reformed Church to make such false claims when baptising children.

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Scriptural Accuracy of Infant Baptism - Point A

2011-01-09T19:20:00.000-08:00

Point (a) - Through Christ the adult/child now belongs to God

The statement made by the Reformed church "In baptism God now claims us in Christ marks us as his own people" in terms of infant baptism implies that through baptism and baptism only, that child now belongs to God through Christ.

My first question is, can baptism only make us part of God's people?

Rom 7:5 "For when we were in the flesh, the passions of sin worked in our members through the law to bring forth fruit to death."

Rom 8:5-9 "For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his."

The Word is very selective in these verses. People in the flesh, that is people who do not believe in Christ, does not belong to Him. Only people who are in the Spirit belongs to Him. Not only does such people belong to Christ, but through Christ they also belong to God.

1 Cor 3:16-23 "Do you not know that you are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? ... Therefore let no one glory in men. For all things are yours, whether it is Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours, and you are Christ's, and Christ is God's."

These verses just confirms what we've read in Rom 8:5-9. Non believers walk in the flesh, but believers walk in the Spirit. All belongs to the believer, and the believer is in Christ and through Christ belongs to God.

Therefore, do we have the Spirit in us since childbirth so that we can claim to be God's children as promised in infant baptism?

John 7:37-39 "And in the last day of the great feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes on Me, as the Scripture has said, "Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water." But He spoke this about the Spirit, which they who believed on Him should receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified."

Only people who believe in Christ will receive the Holy Spirit. The promise that the Spirit will be poured out on believing people, to live in such people, was made by Christ before the Spirit (the Comforter) was poured out the first time:

John 14:12-26 "Truly, truly, I say to you, He who believes on Me, the works that I do he shall do also, and greater works than these he shall do, because I go to My Father. ... And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, so that He may be with you forever, the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive because it does not see Him nor know Him. But you know Him, for He dwells with you and shall be in you. ... But the Comforter, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance, whatever I have said to you."

The same promise was made back in Old Testament times long before Christ came (Isa 44:3, Ezec 11:19, Joel 2:28-32). This promise is that the Holy Spirit will live in believers. Believers will be filled with the Holy Spirit, see Eph 5:18 and 1 John 2:20,27. This therefore mean that non believers will not have the Spirit in them, only believers will.

We must then ask the question: Is the statement of the Reformed church correct - that through baptism we belong to Christ?

In light of the verses quoted above, this statement does not match what the Word is clearly teaching us. According to scripture only believers filled with the Spirit belongs to Christ and through Christ to God. And the Word is very clear, the Spirit is only given to believers in Christ.

Does the baptism give the infant this saving faith so the child can receive the Spirit? Can the baptised infant possibly belong to Christ? No, saving faith is required. Faith, a believing heart, is the key to Christ. If you do not have saving faith, you will not have the sign of the Spirit in you, and you will not belong to God.

To state that baptism makes us part of God, is totally wrong and can cause a misguided sense of salvation. Baptism does not generate faith. Water baptism does not fill the child/person with the indwelling of the Spirit.

The above holds true for adults as well. Without true faith, adult baptism will also just be and stay an empty sign, empty tradition.

In terms of Point (a), the Reformed view of baptism fails the test against God's Word. Please, if you've help on to such a viewpoint as I myself have, please go to the foot of the cross and ask Christ into your heart. We are all awfully sinful since birth (Psalms 14, 51:7, 53, Rom 3:9-18,23) and the punishment will be death (Rom 5:12). Without true repentance and saving faith in Christ who has died for your sins, you will be judged and sent to Hell. Baptism cannot save you.

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Scriptural Accuracy of Infant Baptism - Introduction

2011-01-09T18:07:00.000-08:00

I am writing the following set of articles to anybody in any of the Reformed churches, as a study into the scriptural validity of infant baptism as defined in covenant theology, where infant baptism has been the tradition for many years. This is not an attack on any church nor am I trying to force believers baptism on anybody. Rather, because of the confusion in terms of baptism my aim is to compare a number of key points related to infant baptism and compare these to the Word of God using the Word as the only trustworthy and final guide to what baptism should be.

I would like to encourage you to take your Bible and work through these articles to discover for yourself what the Word says regarding baptism.

The foundation of the discussion in this series of articles is the typical Reformed church infant baptism service and parental vows of which an example can be found on: http://www.crcna.org/pages/1991_baptism.cfm

The above mentioned service for baptism guide is based on Calvinistic doctrine and therefore also the confessions contained in the The Heidelberg Catechism, The Canons of Dort and The Belgic Confession. These confessions forms the foundation of the belief held by Reformed churches world wide and by implication this article series will therefore address key shortcomings in the Calvinistic doctrine and in these confessions.

Allow me to quote some key points from the above mentioned baptism service guide, and since baptism in reformed churches is mostly served on infants, keep in mind the impact of the following quotes with relation to infants:

"Baptism means participation in Christ's death and resurrection."
"Baptism involves conversion, pardoning, and cleansing from sin."
"Baptism signifies anointing by and life with the Spirit."
"Baptism is a symbol of incorporation into the body of Christ."
"Baptism is a sign of the covenant and kingdom of God. "
"In baptism God now claims us in Christ marks us as his own people, and seals our membership in God's covenant community, the church."
"From the beginning, God graciously has included our children in his covenant. All his promises are for them as well as for us."
"We are to teach them that they have been set apart by baptism as God's own children so that as they grow older they may respond to him in personal faith and commitment."
"In his death on the cross our old self is dead and buried; in his resurrection we rise to a new life and look forward to a new creation. When we are baptised in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, the triune God seals our adoption as his children and writes his name invisibly on our foreheads."
"Christ instituted this outward washing and with it gave the promise that, as surely as water washes away dirt from the body, so certainly his blood and his Spirit wash away my soul's impurity, in other words, all my sins."
"To be washed with Christ's blood means that God, by grace, has forgiven my sins because of Christ's blood poured out for me in his sacrifice on the cross."
"To be washed by Christ's Spirit means that the Holy Spirit has renewed me and set me apart to be a member of Christ so that more and more I become dead to sin and increasingly live a holy and blameless life."
"Therefore, by baptism, the mark of the covenant, infants should be received into the Christian church and should be distinguished from the children of unbelievers."

I think you would agree with me that those are very powerful statements and promises to make to the person or child being baptised. It is important to note that Reformed churches only baptise children of believing parents and by implication the faith of the parent is attributed to the child.

Why is it so important to make sure these statements and promises are valid compared against God's standard? Well, simply put, these statements will give a person a sense of salvation since "Baptism involves conversion, pardoning, and cleansing from sin". If infant baptism therefore fails the ultimate check, it means people professing the faith taught through tradition in Reformed churches may very well not be saved and may very well be on a direct route to Hell. And this thought make my heart bleed with worry.

To make life easy, I will summarise some key statements the Reformed church makes and take each in turn to the Word to test if each matches against God's standard.

Thus, since the bulk of baptism in the Reformed church is served on infants, infant baptism together with adult baptism in the Reformed church promises the following:

(a) Through Christ the adult/child now belongs to God

(b) Baptism seals the membership of the adult/child in His church

(c) Baptism sets the adult/child apart as God's own children

(d) Baptism involves conversion, pardoning, and cleansing from sin

(e) Baptism signifies that in His death on the cross our old self is also dead and buried

(f) As a member of the church of Christ I must increasingly live a holy and blameless life

(g) Baptism distinguishes the child from the children of unbelievers

Now that you understand the teaching of the Reformed church I would like to challenge you to follow the remainder of this series as we measure each point (a) to (g) against God's Word.

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The heresy of Calvinism - Introduction

2010-12-20T17:56:00.000-08:00

Calvinism forms the basis of the belief system of Reformed churches world wide. It is said that a 1999 survey found 746 Reformed denominations world wide. It is therefore safe to assume that millions of people belong to churches in these 746 denominations. Reformed churches holds close to their hearts, a belief system not based purely and only on Scripture but rather one where Scripture is pre-interpreted and redefined through the doctrines of John Calvin (1509-1564).

In light of this we have to stop and test these Calvinist doctrines against the Word of God. Why? Simply because if these doctrines are found inaccurate or not true to Scripture, we potentially have a very large group of so called Christians who may believe they are saved but maybe are not. This is a very serious statement on my part, but with people's eternity at risk we can not do anything but listen to the Bible when it commands us to test everything for validity against the Word of God.

1 John 4:1 "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but try the spirits to see if they are of God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world."

For more than thirty years of my life I was part of the Dutch Reformed Church and if you've read my background (About me) you will find that during this time in terms of church beliefs and traditions, I've crossed all T's and dotted all i's so to speak, but, spiritually my walk with Christ was going backwards. But this behaviour was not limited to myself. Around me I could see a lot of fellow "Christians" from the same church background who exhibit the same lack of conviction, fruits and love as I did.

It was only after a lot of soul searching, Bible study, and prayer that I've found that the doctrine my faith was rooted on was more based on human opinion and beliefs, than it was grounded on actual sound Scriptural doctrine. Through the grace of God I've come to see where my faith is in error compared to His will and His Word, and He has led me on a spiritual walk with my hand in His, along which He is the one cleansing me of everything not from or of Him.

So, I hope to help you through this mini series of posts focused on the various beliefs expressed in the doctrine of Calvin, to also discover the truth for yourself .

Here are some of the items of the Calvinist theology I hope to discuss:

Unconditional Election - God is sovereign and He alone has selected, before the foundations of the earth, who He will save according to His own purposes and who he will condemn to the eternal fire.
Limited Atonement - Jesus died on the cross to pay for the sins of only the limited elect.
Irresistible Grace - The saving grace of God is effectually applied only to the elect whom He has chosen for salvation. In God's timing, this will overcome their resistance to accept the gospel. Therefore it is God that will bring the elect to saving faith.
Perseverance of the Saints - This teaches that the true elect, will continue in their faith until the end. True believers, the true elect cannot fall from grace.
By Baptism we are included in the Body of Christ - I will not go into the subject of infant baptism at this stage but would like to focus on the Calvinist viewpoint that infant baptism includes that baby or child in the Body of Christ.

As you can see these theological items are central to the definition of true salvation. A lot of my Reformed friends are of the viewpoint that they do not need to come to Christ, they do not need to repent, the do not need to turn from their sin, and because through infant baptism they "are already included" in the body of Christ, He will "force down the door" of their hearts so to speak, to make sure they accept the gospel and persevere to the end.

I will end this post with the following verse, and I would like to invite you to come back to this blog at a later stage and follow the remainder of my posts related to the heresy of Cavinism.

Rev 3:20 "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him and he with Me."

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Who is your Father?

2010-12-20T15:21:00.000-08:00

In the run-up to the Christmas season each year, it is striking how children and adults all over the world manage to mix the so called Christian feast, with the fictional figure and story of Santa a.k.a. Father Christmas. Since I am active in Christian youth ministry I cannot help but hear from these kids how they perceive Christmas and how Christmas is celebrated at their individual homes. It is really worrying how Christian parents are teaching this fable to their children and even worse - how this is creating serious confusion with children in terms of their faith. I was also raised in a home where we celebrated Christmas every year, and most likely so were you.

I do not wish to go into the details of the impact Christmas had on my family. To me, Christmas was about what I could get. I can recall praying to Santa begging for a certain toy or item I wanted. And then I tried my best to be a good boy so that I can please Santa and get what I asked for. Believe me, very frequently I did not get what I wanted and I cannot start to express the unhappiness, jealousy etc. it created in my heart! Do you observe the same behaviour with your kids?

Is Christmas day and Father Christmas nothing but innocent stories or is there something deeper and darker behind it all? Have you ever stopped to wonder if our actions during Christmas is in contradiction to the will of God, and that we are sinning because we expose our kids to this untruth?

Now I need to ask, have you ever thought about why that are so many similarities between Father Christmas and God? Let's look at some of these similarities:

Father Christmas:

a. Has white hair as wool
b. Has a beard
c. Appears at night when not expected
d. Comes from the north where he lives
e. Comes as a thief at night and gains access to homes like a thief
f. Super powerful, almighty since he can deliver all presents to the whole world in one night
g. Knows everything. He knows if kids are good or bad
h. Omnipresent, since he has the ability to know when kids are asleep to deliver their presents
i. Lives forever
j. Lives in the hearts of children
k. Brings presents
l. Sits on a throne
m. Kids must come to him where he sits on his throne to ask for what they want
n. He tells children to obey their parents
o. Children must come to him
p. Judges if you are good or bad
q. Children can pray to him for what they want
r. Calls out, "ho ho ho"
s. Symbol of world peace and symbol of Christmas
t. Wears red clothes

God/Jesus/Holy Spirit:

a. Rev 1:14 “His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow”

b. Jesus had a beard - Isa 50:6 “I gave My back to the strikers, and My cheeks to pluckers;”

c. Luke 12:40 “Therefore be ready also, for the Son of man comes at an hour when you think not.”

d. His city is in the north - Psalms 48:2 “Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King.”

e. Matt 24:44 - “Therefore you also be ready, for in that hour you think not, the Son of man comes.”

f. God is almighty – Rev 19:6 “... For the Lord God omnipotent reigns!”

g. Knows everything – Heb 4:13 “Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in His sight, but all things are naked and opened to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.”

h. God is everywhere – Psalms 139:7-8 “Where shall I go from Your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from Your presence? If I go up into Heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.”

i. God was, is and will forever be – Rev 1:8 “I am the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the Ending, says the Lord, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

j. Lives in people – 1 Cor 3:16 “Do you not know that you are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?”

k. Brings presents to people – Eph 4:8 “Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men”

l. Sits on a throne – Rev 5:1 “And I saw a book on the right of Him sitting on the throne ...”

m. We must bodly come to Him – Heb 4:16 “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”

n. He demands that children obey their parents – Ex 20:12 “Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God gives you.”

o. He wants us to bring the children to Him – Mark 10:14 “But when Jesus saw, He was much displeased and said to them, Allow the little children to come to Me and do not hinder them. For of such is the kingdom of God.”

p. He is Judge over good and evil – Rom 14:10 “But why do you judge your brother? Or also why do you despise your brother? For all shall stand before the judgment seat of Christ.”

q. We must worship Him only – Matt 4:10 “Then Jesus said to him, Go, Satan! For it is written, "You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve."”

r. God calls ho ho – Zech 2:6 “Ho, ho, come forth, and flee from the land of the north, saith the LORD: for I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the heaven, saith the LORD.”

s. Jesus is the Prince of peace – Isa 9:6 “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”

t. God is pictured clothed in red – Isa 63:2 “Why is Your clothing red, and Your garments like one who treads in the winepress?”

Do you think of this as mere coincidence that we have a list of almost all alphabet letters of similarities between God and Father Christmas? Or would you say this is more than mere coincidence, maybe even a full impersonation of God?

The Bible states in Matt 23:9 “And call no one your father on the earth, for One is your Father in Heaven.”.

What are we therefore doing by teaching our children about Father Christmas? Are we not, through our actions, in direct violation of this commandment? By teaching our children about Father Christmas we are teaching them about a substitute to God. Are our actions innocent in the eyes of God or are we bringing His wrath on our families because of our sin and direct violation of His second commandment. How dare we take our kids to go sit on the lap of Santa on his throne in the local mall, to whisper their desires in his ear.

Ex 20:2-5 “I am the LORD your God, who has brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make to yourselves any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in the heavens above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow yourself down to them, nor serve them. For I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the sons to the third and fourth generation of those that hate me,”

An idol is any image, person or item that receives our worship and by that action takes the worship due to God, away from Him. It is a false god.

How much do you and your children love Father Christmas? Are you willing to sacrifice Santa and false things related to Santa in preference and subjection to God?

Please do not think that the second commandment was only applicable to the Old Testament times. It is repeatedly mentioned in the New Testament as well.

1 John 5:21 “Little children, guard yourselves from idols. Amen.”

1 Thess 1:9 "For they themselves witness what kind of entrance we had to you, even how you turned from idols to God in order to serve the living and true God,"

Who do you choose? Will you turn from idolatry?

You have a choice to make - Who is YOUR Father?

Test your Christmas knowledge

2010-12-20T01:00:00.000-08:00

It is that time of the year again. So, as a quick example of how tradition and circumstances can overshadow and even corrupt our knowledge of the Word of God, answer each of the following questions:

Question A: How many wise men went to search for Jesus in Bethlehem?

Question B: Where did they find Jesus and His parents?

Question C: How many presents did they bring to Jesus?

Question D: What is the biggest Christian feast or celebration in the year?

Question E: When was Christ born?

Maybe you've answered all these questions correctly, but maybe, like myself, you've not answered all of them right simply because stories told over time tend to twist some of the facts, so that these stories are no longer told from the Word but rather from fallible memory. Just as these basic stories and basic facts gets distorted and therefore no longer represent fact, so are there more important Biblical facts, concepts, and teachings that have been distorted over time and through tradition so that they are now more representative of falsehood
and therefore can lead to our faith being based and grounded in the same false beliefs.

I hope this simple example to show you how easy these untruths creep into our beliefs, will motivate you to keep an eye on this blog for new articles for a more in depth examination of these and other points in the Word of God. Ultimately your salvation could be on the line...

Answers:

Answer A: Not 3 wise men. In Matt 2:1, the Word does not specifically state the number of wise men. In general we are being taught in Sunday school and through popular hymns that there were three wise men, but this false understanding came because of the number of different types of gifts these wise men brought Jesus. Over the years this got changed, so to speak, to represent the number of wise men as well.

Answer B: In Bethlehem in a house. According to Matt 2:11, by that time Jesus and His parents were living in a house.

Answer C: Not 3 gifts but 3 types of gifts – Matt 2:11 “gold, and frankincense, and myrrh”. The wise could have given Him a lot of gold, and frankincense, and myrrh. The Bible does not specify how much, or what quantity of each were given.

Answer D: Not Christmas nor Easter. It is very simple, Christmas cannot be found in the Bible. Easter is an Old Testament feast expected of Israel and was a sign pointing to Christ (1 Cor 5:7). The greatest feast so to speak, expected of Christians according to the will of Jesus, is communion (Matt 26:27-28, John 13:14-17, 1 Cor 11:26).

Answer E: Christ was most likely born in the warmer climate of summer or early fall, but He was not born in the middle of winter, for two reasons. Firstly, Joseph and Mary went to Bethlehem to partake in the taxing decreed by Caesar Augustus (Luke 2:1-5) and secondly, the shepherds that came to Him after He was born at that time still stayed in the field while tending their flocks (Luke 2:8). According to wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bethlehem#Climate) Bethlehem is cold and wet in the winter with temperatures between 1 and 13 degrees Celsius. The winter would therefore have been way too cold for the shepherds to stay outside with their flocks and it is known that their habit was to bring their flocks home at the first rains (beginning of winter). Also, keep in mind that Caesar Augustus would not have held a taxing in the winter because it was expected that people travel to their places of origin.

Since general society and also most churches celebrate Christ's birth in December, which would coincide with the middle of winter in Bethlehem, I must ask, where did this tradition come from? This time and this feast - Christmas - is nowhere expected of us in the Bible. To therefore teach people that this time is the celebration of the birth of Christ is a lie. Furthermore there is no Biblical commandment to celebrate His birth, but still in our churches we elevate Christmas to be the most important and most celebrated feast or celebration of the church year.

Do we honour God when we celebrate Christmas? Or are we kneeling in worship - in front of our Christmas trees - to something or "someone" else?

Jer 10:3-4, 17:2 "For the customs of the people are vain; for one cuts a tree out of the forest with the axe, the work of the hands of the workman. They adorn it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and hammers, so that it will not wobble. ... while their sons remember their altars and their Asherahs by the green trees on the high hills."

Ex 20:2-5 "I am the LORD your God, who has brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make to yourselves any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in the heavens above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow yourself down to them, nor serve them. For I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the sons to the third and fourth generation of those that hate me,"

Who do you and your children bow down to?