Any thinking person should ask and answer this question: why do atheistic agnostic apostates maintain that their former faith was genuine? If their new-found truth is real, that there is no God, why should it matter what one believes? Why doesn’t the atheistic agnostic apostate just say, “My former faith wasn’t of the biblical saving type?”
There is one primary reason that this type of apostate will never concede the truth that he never had the belief that saves – he would knowingly establish the veracity of the Bible and its Author. This he could never do because it would prove his present worldview false and the Bible and its Author true.
Therefore, the apostate MUST maintain that his former faith was genuine or else the Bible is true. Specifically the Bible says concerning this type of apostate, “They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us” (1 John 2:19). If he admits that his former faith wasn’t genuine he would now knowingly establish the truthfulness of the Bible.
So the apostate attempts to make people believe that there is nothing different from what he believed and what those who are genuinely saved believe. The reason is too obvious – if he admitted to not having believed then what reason would you trust his current belief? Therefore the apostate plays the “sincerity” card. He was sincere in believing and as such should have been just as much saved as anyone else. This means that his basis for salvation was his sincerity and not that God had actually shown him that these things are really true.
Now the apostate has double trouble. He wants you to believe that he was sincere when he claimed faith and love for Christ, faith and love for God’s Word, and faith and love for God. But now he admits that he was sincerely wrong then. How does he know that he isn’t sincerely wrong now? He doesn’t!
Be sure to get this – the apostate admits to being sincerely wrong about his former beliefs and wants you to believe him on his current beliefs because of his sincerity.
The apostate cannot and will not admit that his former faith was not of the biblical saving type because he would then establish the veracity of the Bible and its Author. The apostate can only claim that he was formerly sincerely wrong which means you have absolutely no basis for believing him now.
The apostate is unbelievable!
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Unwittingly Establishing the Veracity of the Bible and its Author
This is a response to Ken Pulliam, Ph.D. over at Why I De-Converted from Evangelical Christianity about his unwittingly establishing the veracity of the Bible and its Author in his post about Ken Daniels, A Former Missionary with Wycliffe Translators is now an Agnostic Atheist.
There are several problems in this post that are working against Ken Pulliam's truth claim rather than for it. Unwittingly he is establishing the veracity of the Bible and its Author instead of nullifying it. Both his testimony and Ken Daniels’ testimony are perfectly and accurately described in the Bible.
Ken Daniels said, “If I could patch things up by forcing myself to believe again, I would do so in a heartbeat. Unfortunately I have tried that several times, only to be besieged again by doubt, and have come to the conclusion that attempting to will myself to believe that which in my heart I do not believe is futile.”
The Bible declares that no man can will himself to believe – “Who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:13 NASB). This verse not only does away with Daniels’ false notion that a man can believe of his own accord but also does away with his false credentials that you have put forward as evidence that Daniels was once a true Christian.
Daniels is right in this conclusion – “attempting to will myself to believe that which in my heart I do not believe is futile.” And what is necessary to be a genuine Christian? The Bible says, “That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9 NASB). The word confess, means to speak the same and be of one mind (same logic), which means that confession of Jesus as Lord is to say the same thing about Him that God says about Him because of illumination and not imitation. It’s the difference between a parrot saying that Jesus is Lord without understanding what it is saying and a person saying that Jesus is Lord with full understanding and logic so that the truth he is declaring is inline with what he believes in his heart.
The part of Romans 10:9 that says, “And believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead”, is the part that gives rise to the confession of Jesus as Lord. There is no confession of Jesus as Lord without the accompanying belief in the heart that God raised Him from the dead. The only alternatives are for one to say, “If God raised Jesus from the dead then Jesus is Lord”, or, “I sincerely know that the resurrection of Jesus from the dead is false.”
For the person that says, “If God raised Jesus from the dead then Jesus is Lord”, there is no belief in the heart that God raised Jesus from the dead and therefore there is no confession (speaking the same thing and being of the same mind) of Jesus as Lord but only parroting Jesus as Lord. The person that does not confess Jesus as Lord and believe in his heart that God raised Jesus from the dead is not a genuine Christian. He or she may profess saving faith but does not possess saving faith.
One who professes faith but does not possess faith may be sincere in his belief that he is a true Christian and as such would classify himself a “sincere Christian” but would nonetheless not be a true Christian irregardless of his sincerity.
So the combined testimonies of Ken Daniels and Ken Pulliam are this: Ken Daniels, “Attempting to will myself to believe that which in my heart I do not believe is futile”, and, Ken Pulliam, “You cannot force yourself to believe something that you sincerely know is false.”
Now if either one of you claims that your confession of Jesus as Lord was a result of believing in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, how did that belief in your heart come about? Did you will yourself to believe for a while against all sound reasoning? On what did you base your belief in the heart that God raised Jesus from the dead?
There are several problems in this post that are working against Ken Pulliam's truth claim rather than for it. Unwittingly he is establishing the veracity of the Bible and its Author instead of nullifying it. Both his testimony and Ken Daniels’ testimony are perfectly and accurately described in the Bible.
Ken Daniels said, “If I could patch things up by forcing myself to believe again, I would do so in a heartbeat. Unfortunately I have tried that several times, only to be besieged again by doubt, and have come to the conclusion that attempting to will myself to believe that which in my heart I do not believe is futile.”
The Bible declares that no man can will himself to believe – “Who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:13 NASB). This verse not only does away with Daniels’ false notion that a man can believe of his own accord but also does away with his false credentials that you have put forward as evidence that Daniels was once a true Christian.
Daniels is right in this conclusion – “attempting to will myself to believe that which in my heart I do not believe is futile.” And what is necessary to be a genuine Christian? The Bible says, “That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9 NASB). The word confess, means to speak the same and be of one mind (same logic), which means that confession of Jesus as Lord is to say the same thing about Him that God says about Him because of illumination and not imitation. It’s the difference between a parrot saying that Jesus is Lord without understanding what it is saying and a person saying that Jesus is Lord with full understanding and logic so that the truth he is declaring is inline with what he believes in his heart.
The part of Romans 10:9 that says, “And believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead”, is the part that gives rise to the confession of Jesus as Lord. There is no confession of Jesus as Lord without the accompanying belief in the heart that God raised Him from the dead. The only alternatives are for one to say, “If God raised Jesus from the dead then Jesus is Lord”, or, “I sincerely know that the resurrection of Jesus from the dead is false.”
For the person that says, “If God raised Jesus from the dead then Jesus is Lord”, there is no belief in the heart that God raised Jesus from the dead and therefore there is no confession (speaking the same thing and being of the same mind) of Jesus as Lord but only parroting Jesus as Lord. The person that does not confess Jesus as Lord and believe in his heart that God raised Jesus from the dead is not a genuine Christian. He or she may profess saving faith but does not possess saving faith.
One who professes faith but does not possess faith may be sincere in his belief that he is a true Christian and as such would classify himself a “sincere Christian” but would nonetheless not be a true Christian irregardless of his sincerity.
So the combined testimonies of Ken Daniels and Ken Pulliam are this: Ken Daniels, “Attempting to will myself to believe that which in my heart I do not believe is futile”, and, Ken Pulliam, “You cannot force yourself to believe something that you sincerely know is false.”
Now if either one of you claims that your confession of Jesus as Lord was a result of believing in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, how did that belief in your heart come about? Did you will yourself to believe for a while against all sound reasoning? On what did you base your belief in the heart that God raised Jesus from the dead?
Monday, March 15, 2010
God's Plan for Suffering (Romans 8:28-30)
Romans 8:28-30 are part of the unfathomable riches of the Word of God. They are overflowing with riches that we cannot get to the bottom of; that we cannot get to the corners of; and that we cannot get to the top of. The wonderful things that are revealed here are the source of greatest conviction, certainty, and comfort for the Christian. Another way of saying the same thing about these verses is that they are the source of greatest faith, hope, and love for the Christian. Here we see what God has done, is doing, and will do for us for the sake of His own Son.
I’ll give you a brief summary for now and later we will look deeper into these matters. God has elected us for salvation in eternity; He has predestined us to become conformed to the image of His Son; He has called us to salvation according to His purpose through the gospel of Jesus Christ; He has justified us through faith in Christ; He speaks of our glorification in the past tense because He cannot fail (don’t forget that God calls the things which do not exist as existing based on His unfailing ability to bring it about- Romans 4:17); and as a result God is causing all things to work together for good to those who love God.
All this means that nothing can cause us to lose salvation; nothing can cause us to fall away; and nothing can stop God from bringing us to glorification which will be our full and final rescue from our bondage to corruption caused by sin. This means that for the children of God, suffering works for us and not against us.
In the context of this passage the primary interpretation of “God causes all things to work together for good” is the negative things that would condemn us and cause us to fall away are used by God to work for us and not against us. It is the negative things that test our faith and would cause us to fall away not the positive things. Now we don’t deny that there are good things that work for our good – that’s why we would call them good things. Bible study, worship, prayer, fellowship with the saints, and a host of other good things will encourage us and equip us and help to bring us to the measure of the stature which belongs to Christ. But clearly the “all things” in Romans 8:28 is in the context of suffering with Christ so that we may also be glorified with Him (Romans 8:17ff).
This means that God has a plan for suffering and that what others mean for evil, God intends for good. This means that for the child of God and the child of God alone – God says, “I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11). So God is going to cause our suffering to work for us and not against us.
“We know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God….” How do we know?
First, we know because of the testimony of Scripture. Over and over as we study through the Bible we see how God has always and without fail worked out the suffering of His people for their good. Take Joseph for an example. He was hated by his brothers; thrown into a pit; taken out and sold into slavery; carried down to Egypt and sold to Potiphar; lied about by Potiphar’s wife; thrown into Pharaoh’s prison; left in prison for years; and then exalted to the right hand of Pharaoh. And we read Joseph’s words to his brothers when they had to come to Egypt for food and Joseph revealed himself to them, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good…” (Genesis 50:20).
Take Job for an example. Satan used every form of suffering in his power against Job to try to get Job to fall away and deny his faith. And yet we know the outcome – that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful (James 5:11).
Take the suffering and patience of the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord as an example. We know that those who endured were blessed and that their reward in heaven is great. Instead of their suffering working against them and causing them to stumble, God caused it to work for them and to be that which proved and strengthened their faith.
We could go on and on about the sufferings of the men and women of faith but time would fail us if we attempted to tell of them all and see how God caused all things to work together for their good and how their reward in heaven is great.
We know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him because of the testimony of Scripture.
Second, we know because of the testimony of our own experience. Suffering for the sake of righteousness is inevitable for the child of God. It is God’s will that we suffer with Christ so that we may also be glorified with Him. It is God’s will that our faith be tested so that He can prove Himself to be faithful. What have we discovered in and through our suffering? I would say that we have discovered two things in and through our suffering: God is faithful and our faith is real!
Let me illustrate how God causes our suffering to work for us and not against us: When we are falsely accused of all sorts of evil or persecuted and afflicted for the sake of righteousness, do we run away from God or draw near to God? Do we go deeper into His Word to be sure that what is happening to us is exactly what happened to the men and women of God who were before us or do we quit Bible study altogether? When we are suffering do we pray or do we pout? When suffering causes us to draw near to God, to go deeper into His Word, and to pray then we must conclude that God is causing it to work for us and not against us.
So God causes suffering to work for the child of God by causing it to work for our sanctification. Everything that the devil would use against us to harm us chips away more and more of our self-reliance and brings us into more and more reliance upon God so that we are being conformed to the image of Christ – which is God’s ultimate goal for all His children. Anything by the devil that is intended for evil against us, God causes to work for us! “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us” (Romans 8:31)?
I’ll give you a brief summary for now and later we will look deeper into these matters. God has elected us for salvation in eternity; He has predestined us to become conformed to the image of His Son; He has called us to salvation according to His purpose through the gospel of Jesus Christ; He has justified us through faith in Christ; He speaks of our glorification in the past tense because He cannot fail (don’t forget that God calls the things which do not exist as existing based on His unfailing ability to bring it about- Romans 4:17); and as a result God is causing all things to work together for good to those who love God.
All this means that nothing can cause us to lose salvation; nothing can cause us to fall away; and nothing can stop God from bringing us to glorification which will be our full and final rescue from our bondage to corruption caused by sin. This means that for the children of God, suffering works for us and not against us.
In the context of this passage the primary interpretation of “God causes all things to work together for good” is the negative things that would condemn us and cause us to fall away are used by God to work for us and not against us. It is the negative things that test our faith and would cause us to fall away not the positive things. Now we don’t deny that there are good things that work for our good – that’s why we would call them good things. Bible study, worship, prayer, fellowship with the saints, and a host of other good things will encourage us and equip us and help to bring us to the measure of the stature which belongs to Christ. But clearly the “all things” in Romans 8:28 is in the context of suffering with Christ so that we may also be glorified with Him (Romans 8:17ff).
This means that God has a plan for suffering and that what others mean for evil, God intends for good. This means that for the child of God and the child of God alone – God says, “I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11). So God is going to cause our suffering to work for us and not against us.
“We know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God….” How do we know?
First, we know because of the testimony of Scripture. Over and over as we study through the Bible we see how God has always and without fail worked out the suffering of His people for their good. Take Joseph for an example. He was hated by his brothers; thrown into a pit; taken out and sold into slavery; carried down to Egypt and sold to Potiphar; lied about by Potiphar’s wife; thrown into Pharaoh’s prison; left in prison for years; and then exalted to the right hand of Pharaoh. And we read Joseph’s words to his brothers when they had to come to Egypt for food and Joseph revealed himself to them, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good…” (Genesis 50:20).
Take Job for an example. Satan used every form of suffering in his power against Job to try to get Job to fall away and deny his faith. And yet we know the outcome – that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful (James 5:11).
Take the suffering and patience of the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord as an example. We know that those who endured were blessed and that their reward in heaven is great. Instead of their suffering working against them and causing them to stumble, God caused it to work for them and to be that which proved and strengthened their faith.
We could go on and on about the sufferings of the men and women of faith but time would fail us if we attempted to tell of them all and see how God caused all things to work together for their good and how their reward in heaven is great.
We know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him because of the testimony of Scripture.
Second, we know because of the testimony of our own experience. Suffering for the sake of righteousness is inevitable for the child of God. It is God’s will that we suffer with Christ so that we may also be glorified with Him. It is God’s will that our faith be tested so that He can prove Himself to be faithful. What have we discovered in and through our suffering? I would say that we have discovered two things in and through our suffering: God is faithful and our faith is real!
Let me illustrate how God causes our suffering to work for us and not against us: When we are falsely accused of all sorts of evil or persecuted and afflicted for the sake of righteousness, do we run away from God or draw near to God? Do we go deeper into His Word to be sure that what is happening to us is exactly what happened to the men and women of God who were before us or do we quit Bible study altogether? When we are suffering do we pray or do we pout? When suffering causes us to draw near to God, to go deeper into His Word, and to pray then we must conclude that God is causing it to work for us and not against us.
So God causes suffering to work for the child of God by causing it to work for our sanctification. Everything that the devil would use against us to harm us chips away more and more of our self-reliance and brings us into more and more reliance upon God so that we are being conformed to the image of Christ – which is God’s ultimate goal for all His children. Anything by the devil that is intended for evil against us, God causes to work for us! “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us” (Romans 8:31)?
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
The Comforter Groans (Romans 8:26-27)
All the suffering that Christians have to endure so that they may be glorified with Christ could easily make a person give up and say that there is no hope or to compromise and attempt to take the easy way out, both of which would prove his profession of faith as phony - “The one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away” (Matthew 13:20-21).
To show that we are not alone in this suffering and groaning while waiting for what has been promised, Paul wrote of the reality that the creation groans and that Christians groan. So we are not alone in this suffering.
We are being encouraged to be the imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises (Hebrews 6:12). We are to consider all the sufferings and afflictions that the men and women of faith endured and all that the Lord Himself endured so that we will not grow weary and lose heart (Hebrews 11:1 – 12:3). We are also to know and understand that there are others who are God’s children who are suffering in this world and yet they continue to trust Christ and they gladly endure reproach for Christ’s sake. “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world” (1 Peter 5:8-9).
And that brings us to our text where we find that not only does creation and other Christians groan and suffer but also the Comforter, the Holy Spirit joins us and helps us in this suffering (Romans 8:26-27).
“In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness” – is referring back to the groaning of creation and Christians both of which patiently endure, trusting that God who has promised to deliver us cannot fail. But here we see that the Spirit comes alongside us and helps our weakness. When we would give up in times of trouble the Spirit helps our weakness. He is a very present help in times of trouble – “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1). So in our weakness the Spirit is abundantly available to help and we know that when we are weak – then He is strong!
Through the Spirit who helps the true Christian’s weakness we are guaranteed that we will not stumble and we will not fall away – “I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; from where shall my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to slip; He who keeps you will not slumber…” (Psalm 121:1-3). We have this great assurance concerning the help of the Spirit in our weakness – “Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4).
“For we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings to deep for words” – In our weakness, or you could say in our suffering we do not know how to pray as we should – but we are to pray and when we do the Spirit Himself will help us and intercede for us. It is written, “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach and it will be given to him” (James 1:2-5). And we also read, “Is anyone among you suffering? Then he must pray” (James 5:13).
When we pray because of our suffering we do not know how to pray, but the Spirit intercedes for us with groanings to deep for words. This is intercessory prayer by the Spirit who unites with us in our desire to be freed from our slavery to corruption into our adoption as sons – the redemption of the body. This is wonderful news because this means that the Spirit is communicating to the Father things beyond what we could ask or think – “Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen” (Ephesians 3:20-21).
“And He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” – God the Father is the one who searches the hearts of men. This gives us a clue to how the Holy Spirit intercedes for the saints – those groanings that are too deep for words are placed by the Spirit in our hearts and when the Father searches our hearts He knows exactly what those groans mean because He knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
Because the Spirit’s will and the Father’s will are identical and because God is one, the Spirit will never ask for something out of the will of the Father but will always do the Father’s will. This means then although we do not know how to pray, that the Holy Spirit who intercedes for us always intercedes in the will of the Father and therefore those prayers are always answered. “This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us” (1 John 5:14).
What the Holy Spirit does for us is the same as what the Lord Jesus did for Peter – “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded (obtained) permission to sift you like wheat; but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail” (Luke 22:31-32). Because of the intercession of the Holy Spirit who is a very present help in time of trouble our feet will not slip and our faith will not fail – He will keep us and bring us safely home!
To show that we are not alone in this suffering and groaning while waiting for what has been promised, Paul wrote of the reality that the creation groans and that Christians groan. So we are not alone in this suffering.
We are being encouraged to be the imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises (Hebrews 6:12). We are to consider all the sufferings and afflictions that the men and women of faith endured and all that the Lord Himself endured so that we will not grow weary and lose heart (Hebrews 11:1 – 12:3). We are also to know and understand that there are others who are God’s children who are suffering in this world and yet they continue to trust Christ and they gladly endure reproach for Christ’s sake. “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world” (1 Peter 5:8-9).
And that brings us to our text where we find that not only does creation and other Christians groan and suffer but also the Comforter, the Holy Spirit joins us and helps us in this suffering (Romans 8:26-27).
“In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness” – is referring back to the groaning of creation and Christians both of which patiently endure, trusting that God who has promised to deliver us cannot fail. But here we see that the Spirit comes alongside us and helps our weakness. When we would give up in times of trouble the Spirit helps our weakness. He is a very present help in times of trouble – “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1). So in our weakness the Spirit is abundantly available to help and we know that when we are weak – then He is strong!
Through the Spirit who helps the true Christian’s weakness we are guaranteed that we will not stumble and we will not fall away – “I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; from where shall my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to slip; He who keeps you will not slumber…” (Psalm 121:1-3). We have this great assurance concerning the help of the Spirit in our weakness – “Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4).
“For we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings to deep for words” – In our weakness, or you could say in our suffering we do not know how to pray as we should – but we are to pray and when we do the Spirit Himself will help us and intercede for us. It is written, “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach and it will be given to him” (James 1:2-5). And we also read, “Is anyone among you suffering? Then he must pray” (James 5:13).
When we pray because of our suffering we do not know how to pray, but the Spirit intercedes for us with groanings to deep for words. This is intercessory prayer by the Spirit who unites with us in our desire to be freed from our slavery to corruption into our adoption as sons – the redemption of the body. This is wonderful news because this means that the Spirit is communicating to the Father things beyond what we could ask or think – “Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen” (Ephesians 3:20-21).
“And He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” – God the Father is the one who searches the hearts of men. This gives us a clue to how the Holy Spirit intercedes for the saints – those groanings that are too deep for words are placed by the Spirit in our hearts and when the Father searches our hearts He knows exactly what those groans mean because He knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
Because the Spirit’s will and the Father’s will are identical and because God is one, the Spirit will never ask for something out of the will of the Father but will always do the Father’s will. This means then although we do not know how to pray, that the Holy Spirit who intercedes for us always intercedes in the will of the Father and therefore those prayers are always answered. “This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us” (1 John 5:14).
What the Holy Spirit does for us is the same as what the Lord Jesus did for Peter – “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded (obtained) permission to sift you like wheat; but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail” (Luke 22:31-32). Because of the intercession of the Holy Spirit who is a very present help in time of trouble our feet will not slip and our faith will not fail – He will keep us and bring us safely home!
Monday, March 1, 2010
Christians Groan (Romans 8:23-25)
The apostle Paul has already established the truth that the creation groans – that the creation longs for and groans for its promised deliverance from the destructive consequences of sin which is tied to the glorification and deliverance of believers from the presence of sin (Romans 8:18-22). The creation is eagerly waiting and watching for the redemption of God’s children which will result in its redemption from its slavery to corruption. The creation has a hope that is sure that causes it to patiently endure suffering while eagerly waiting for what has been promised.
Not only does the creation groan for and long for deliverance but we ourselves, that is, believers, groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body (Romans 8:23). The reason we groan is because we have experienced “the first fruits of the Spirit” – a foretaste of the glory to come. We have been justified by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and He has given us the gift of the Holy Spirit. We are being sanctified by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and we are being led by and comforted by the Holy Spirit through the Word of God. We will be glorified by our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ when He appears. “When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory” (Colossians 3:4).
This gives us biblical hope which causes us to groan within ourselves waiting eagerly and patiently with perseverance for what has been promised and especially for the One who will bring it about – namely the Lord Jesus Christ. This is why we read, “Looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds” (Titus 2:13-14). Just as the creation is groaning for and longing for its glorification and freedom from corruption by waiting and watching for the glorification of the children of God so we too are groaning for and longing for our glorification and freedom from sin’s presence by watching and waiting for the appearing and revealing of the Lord Jesus Christ.
What is biblical hope and what is it based on? To answer that question I want to start off by offering to you what hope is not and then we will look at what hope is:
Hope is not an uncertain wish or a wish that is not firmly grounded in absolute truth. Many people have a false hope because of their false theology. They wish to be saved but not on God’s terms and in God’s way. “Alas, you who are longing for the day of the Lord, for what purpose will the day of the Lord be to you? It will be darkness and not light….Will not the day of the Lord be darkness instead of light, even gloom with no brightness in it” (Amos 5:18, 20)? There are many whose hope is only a wish that is not firmly grounded in absolute truth.
There is no hope either for those who have twisted God’s Word to their own destruction or for those who have not heard of the only legal and righteous way that God can and will save – “When the Lord Jesus Christ will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power” (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9). They may have a false hope but they do not have biblical hope.
Biblical hope is based on the promises of God and therefore it is based on the certainty and truthfulness of God Himself who cannot lie – “For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, ‘I will surely bless you and I will surely multiply you.’ And so, having patiently waited, he obtained the promise. For men swear by one greater than themselves, and with them an oath given as a confirmation is an end to every dispute. In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor to the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek” (Hebrews 6:13-20). Biblical hope is not wishful thinking.
Where there is no communication of God’s promise of rescue and refuge in Jesus Christ there is no hope – “Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called ‘Uncircumcision’ by the so-called ‘Circumcision,’ which is performed in the flesh by human hands – remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world” (Ephesians 2:11-12). Where there is no promise of rescue there is no hope!
Those who are not rescued in this lifetime will spend eternity with no hope because hell is a place of no hope. There is no promise of deliverance for those in hell so those who die without having taken refuge in Christ have no hope (1 Thessalonians 4:13).
Without the promise of God that He will rescue you on His terms and not your own – there is no hope because there has been no communication of the promise of rescue. Without the communication of the promise of the rescue plan which enables men to take refuge in Christ, there is no hope – no reason to long for and groan for the deliverance that has been promised; no reason to believe that He is going to rescue you instead of destroy you; and no reason to look for His appearing.
Let me illustrate this truth with a real life rescue story: On Friday June 2, 1995, Captain Scott O’Grady and his wingman Bob Wright were patrolling a NATO no-fly zone over Bosnia in their F-16’s. The Bosnian Serbs had mapped the flight pattern of the NATO pilots and had moved a battery of Russian made SA-6 surface-to-air missiles directly below the path of the enforcing aircraft. The Serb commander switched on his radar for just a few moments in order to be able to detect the jets, their path, and their speed. He turned the radar off almost as quickly as he turned it on to avoid detection from the equipment on the jets. Bob Wright picked up the warning single for a few moments but nothing showed on O’Grady’s equipment because he was a little further out of range. The Serbs dialed in their surface-to-air missiles to intercept the F-16’s at just the right moment. Having calculated the speed of the jets the Serbs fired knowing that it would take approximately twenty seconds for the missiles to reach their targets. So after about ten seconds the Serbs switched their radar back on which would guide the missiles to their targets. The first missile exploded in the air between the two jets. The other struck O’Grady’s F-16.
When his F-16 aircraft burst into flames, O’Grady ejected from his disintegrating plane and parachuted to earth, landing deep behind enemy lines in hostile territory. With armed militia hot on his heels, O’Grady dove into the undergrowth. Moments later his pursuers passed five feet from his head. O’Grady’s situation was grim. His survival kit only contained eight 4 ounce packets of water, a first-aid kit, a few flares, a 9 mm pistol, a survival radio barely larger than a walkman, and some radio batteries.
O’Grady was undetected by the initial search conducted by the enemy to find him. Under the cover of darkness he began to slowly move to try to get to higher ground where he could have a better opportunity to make radio contact. O'Grady's efforts to establish contact using the survival radio were thwarted at first by bad weather, which kept allied planes away for several days. O’Grady’s radio not only transmitted his voice it could also transmit a beacon to notify the military of his position. The military was in fact picking up the radio beacon but thought that it might be an ambush by the enemy – they didn’t know if O’Grady was alive or not.
So far there has been no communication and no promise of rescue – there was no hope based on the certainty and truthfulness that the military was coming to get him. “This is Basher five two. Is anyone out there?” No reply! Then early Thursday morning, O’Grady’s sixth day on the ground, Captain Thomas O Hanford and his wingman were coming to the end of their patrol. Hanford wanted to go deeper into enemy territory to see if he could possibly make contact and communication with O’Grady. Running very low on fuel Hanford pressed on as his wingman urged that they should head back. But Hanford didn’t give up. Then at 2:08am Captain Thomas O Hanford broadcasted from his jet, “Basher five two this is Basher one one on Alpha.” And sure enough he hears O’Grady responding, “This is Basher five two – I’m alive”! Listen to this actual cockpit recording.
Now communication has taken place, the military knows that O’Grady is alive and they have given him a promise that they are coming for him. O’Grady now has hope. He is groaning within himself for the full and final rescue that has been promised. But he must wait. Captain Hanford has radioed the military and gone back to his base where his shift is over. But he refueled his jet and went back out so that he could comfort O’Grady while O’Grady waited for the rescue operation to be put in place. O’Grady would have to wait eagerly and persevere with his eyes on the skies looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of the rescue package.
While Hanford was circling in the sky and comforting O’Grady the US military was readying the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit and two of their CH-53 helicopters that would carry a total of 43 marines to go and get O’Grady. At 6:12 am the first of the big cargo helicopters lifted off, followed by two AH-1W Cobra gunships and two AV-8 Harrier jump jets. At 6:44 the rescuers contact O’Grady. His eyes are on the skies – and then he hears it – the sound is building and it’s getting closer and he sees as the helicopters touch down.
At 7:07 am the helicopter's side door had been open for all of three seconds when O'Grady tumbled across its threshold. He had two words, “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
The US military could have failed in its mission – but it didn’t and we are grateful. However, God will never fail in His mission. We have a hope that is steadfast and sure and is an anchor to the soul. If God is for us, who can be against us?
One of these days and it may be very soon, as our eyes are on the skies and we are groaning for, longing for, and looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds – we will hear it – the sound is building and it’s getting closer – it’s the trumpet of God and the Lord Himself will descend with a shout and the rescue will be complete – the redemption of our bodies.
Not only does the creation groan for and long for deliverance but we ourselves, that is, believers, groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body (Romans 8:23). The reason we groan is because we have experienced “the first fruits of the Spirit” – a foretaste of the glory to come. We have been justified by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and He has given us the gift of the Holy Spirit. We are being sanctified by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and we are being led by and comforted by the Holy Spirit through the Word of God. We will be glorified by our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ when He appears. “When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory” (Colossians 3:4).
This gives us biblical hope which causes us to groan within ourselves waiting eagerly and patiently with perseverance for what has been promised and especially for the One who will bring it about – namely the Lord Jesus Christ. This is why we read, “Looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds” (Titus 2:13-14). Just as the creation is groaning for and longing for its glorification and freedom from corruption by waiting and watching for the glorification of the children of God so we too are groaning for and longing for our glorification and freedom from sin’s presence by watching and waiting for the appearing and revealing of the Lord Jesus Christ.
What is biblical hope and what is it based on? To answer that question I want to start off by offering to you what hope is not and then we will look at what hope is:
Hope is not an uncertain wish or a wish that is not firmly grounded in absolute truth. Many people have a false hope because of their false theology. They wish to be saved but not on God’s terms and in God’s way. “Alas, you who are longing for the day of the Lord, for what purpose will the day of the Lord be to you? It will be darkness and not light….Will not the day of the Lord be darkness instead of light, even gloom with no brightness in it” (Amos 5:18, 20)? There are many whose hope is only a wish that is not firmly grounded in absolute truth.
There is no hope either for those who have twisted God’s Word to their own destruction or for those who have not heard of the only legal and righteous way that God can and will save – “When the Lord Jesus Christ will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power” (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9). They may have a false hope but they do not have biblical hope.
Biblical hope is based on the promises of God and therefore it is based on the certainty and truthfulness of God Himself who cannot lie – “For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, ‘I will surely bless you and I will surely multiply you.’ And so, having patiently waited, he obtained the promise. For men swear by one greater than themselves, and with them an oath given as a confirmation is an end to every dispute. In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor to the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek” (Hebrews 6:13-20). Biblical hope is not wishful thinking.
Where there is no communication of God’s promise of rescue and refuge in Jesus Christ there is no hope – “Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called ‘Uncircumcision’ by the so-called ‘Circumcision,’ which is performed in the flesh by human hands – remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world” (Ephesians 2:11-12). Where there is no promise of rescue there is no hope!
Those who are not rescued in this lifetime will spend eternity with no hope because hell is a place of no hope. There is no promise of deliverance for those in hell so those who die without having taken refuge in Christ have no hope (1 Thessalonians 4:13).
Without the promise of God that He will rescue you on His terms and not your own – there is no hope because there has been no communication of the promise of rescue. Without the communication of the promise of the rescue plan which enables men to take refuge in Christ, there is no hope – no reason to long for and groan for the deliverance that has been promised; no reason to believe that He is going to rescue you instead of destroy you; and no reason to look for His appearing.
Let me illustrate this truth with a real life rescue story: On Friday June 2, 1995, Captain Scott O’Grady and his wingman Bob Wright were patrolling a NATO no-fly zone over Bosnia in their F-16’s. The Bosnian Serbs had mapped the flight pattern of the NATO pilots and had moved a battery of Russian made SA-6 surface-to-air missiles directly below the path of the enforcing aircraft. The Serb commander switched on his radar for just a few moments in order to be able to detect the jets, their path, and their speed. He turned the radar off almost as quickly as he turned it on to avoid detection from the equipment on the jets. Bob Wright picked up the warning single for a few moments but nothing showed on O’Grady’s equipment because he was a little further out of range. The Serbs dialed in their surface-to-air missiles to intercept the F-16’s at just the right moment. Having calculated the speed of the jets the Serbs fired knowing that it would take approximately twenty seconds for the missiles to reach their targets. So after about ten seconds the Serbs switched their radar back on which would guide the missiles to their targets. The first missile exploded in the air between the two jets. The other struck O’Grady’s F-16.
When his F-16 aircraft burst into flames, O’Grady ejected from his disintegrating plane and parachuted to earth, landing deep behind enemy lines in hostile territory. With armed militia hot on his heels, O’Grady dove into the undergrowth. Moments later his pursuers passed five feet from his head. O’Grady’s situation was grim. His survival kit only contained eight 4 ounce packets of water, a first-aid kit, a few flares, a 9 mm pistol, a survival radio barely larger than a walkman, and some radio batteries.
O’Grady was undetected by the initial search conducted by the enemy to find him. Under the cover of darkness he began to slowly move to try to get to higher ground where he could have a better opportunity to make radio contact. O'Grady's efforts to establish contact using the survival radio were thwarted at first by bad weather, which kept allied planes away for several days. O’Grady’s radio not only transmitted his voice it could also transmit a beacon to notify the military of his position. The military was in fact picking up the radio beacon but thought that it might be an ambush by the enemy – they didn’t know if O’Grady was alive or not.
So far there has been no communication and no promise of rescue – there was no hope based on the certainty and truthfulness that the military was coming to get him. “This is Basher five two. Is anyone out there?” No reply! Then early Thursday morning, O’Grady’s sixth day on the ground, Captain Thomas O Hanford and his wingman were coming to the end of their patrol. Hanford wanted to go deeper into enemy territory to see if he could possibly make contact and communication with O’Grady. Running very low on fuel Hanford pressed on as his wingman urged that they should head back. But Hanford didn’t give up. Then at 2:08am Captain Thomas O Hanford broadcasted from his jet, “Basher five two this is Basher one one on Alpha.” And sure enough he hears O’Grady responding, “This is Basher five two – I’m alive”! Listen to this actual cockpit recording.
Now communication has taken place, the military knows that O’Grady is alive and they have given him a promise that they are coming for him. O’Grady now has hope. He is groaning within himself for the full and final rescue that has been promised. But he must wait. Captain Hanford has radioed the military and gone back to his base where his shift is over. But he refueled his jet and went back out so that he could comfort O’Grady while O’Grady waited for the rescue operation to be put in place. O’Grady would have to wait eagerly and persevere with his eyes on the skies looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of the rescue package.
While Hanford was circling in the sky and comforting O’Grady the US military was readying the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit and two of their CH-53 helicopters that would carry a total of 43 marines to go and get O’Grady. At 6:12 am the first of the big cargo helicopters lifted off, followed by two AH-1W Cobra gunships and two AV-8 Harrier jump jets. At 6:44 the rescuers contact O’Grady. His eyes are on the skies – and then he hears it – the sound is building and it’s getting closer and he sees as the helicopters touch down.
At 7:07 am the helicopter's side door had been open for all of three seconds when O'Grady tumbled across its threshold. He had two words, “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
The US military could have failed in its mission – but it didn’t and we are grateful. However, God will never fail in His mission. We have a hope that is steadfast and sure and is an anchor to the soul. If God is for us, who can be against us?
One of these days and it may be very soon, as our eyes are on the skies and we are groaning for, longing for, and looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds – we will hear it – the sound is building and it’s getting closer – it’s the trumpet of God and the Lord Himself will descend with a shout and the rescue will be complete – the redemption of our bodies.
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