God Doesn't Need to Prove Anything

"...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." - Romans 3:23

"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." - Romans 6:23

I see so many things on Facebook. Some of it is good, some of it is not, and then there are things like this:

I don't want to take issue with Compassion International; neither is my intent to slam Shaun Groves who is a Christian musician. But I do want to take issue with one-liners that seem to express a Biblical truth. I want to encourage others and remind myself that all things must be tested against Scripture. Christians must be diligent and accurate in expressing the "mission of God", which is the Gospel, by the way. We need to think before we speak. We need to be diligent about presenting the whole Gospel, not just spout one-liners to grab attention. The world does need to know about God; the people of the world also need to know a few things about themselves.

First, God doesn't need to prove anything. Second, although God is good and He can be trusted, He is also holy and righteous. God demonstrates that He is God and we are not, He is holy and we are not, and that He should be obeyed and loved and trusted by us. However, because of our sinful nature we do not obey Him let alone love Him or trust Him. Third, the mission of God was to destroy the devil's work of introducing sin into the world. (1 John 3:8) My friends, the Good News is that God did destroy the devil's work and this was accomplished through Jesus' sacrifice on the cross and his victorious resurrection.

If there is anything that needs to be proven it is this: We are sinners. We have rebelled and turned away from our holy, loving, righteous, and good God who is our creator. Because of our rebellion, we deserve God's wrath and eternal damnation. BUT, because God is good, and just, and kind, and gracious, and loving, and merciful, He has provided a way for us to escape our well-deserved punishment:

"...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished - he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus." - Romans 3:23-26

This is what needs to be preached to the world: We are sinners who deserve God's wrath. But because of God's great love for us (John 3:16), we can trust that God has given us a gift that we could never earn and certainly don't deserve - God sent His son, Jesus, who paid the full price for our sins by dying on the cross, and that he rose again on the third day. We can trust that our Savior lives and that we will one day be with him in paradise. The reverse however, is also true. We can trust that God will do what He says to those who reject Jesus, which is send them to their deserved eternal damnation. Friends, don't settle for one-liners. Be diligent. Preach the gospel. With words. Because the world so desperately needs to hear the Good News.

Word and Deed

I saw this meme on Facebook the other day. Like so much of what we see and hear, it takes seemingly moral truth (often based on Biblical truth) and tries to boil it down into an attention-grabbing slogan. In this case, this meme is expressing the idea that it doesn't matter how many Bible verses you know; the only important thing is how you treat other people. That's all that Jesus really cares about. But is it?

Christians should make it a habit to compare what we see and hear with Scripture, especially when what we see and hear seems to be expressing a Biblical truth. We should be asking ourselves, "What does the Bible say?"

Friends, this meme is another subtle attempt to undermine the word of God. It is another attempt to diminish the first and greatest commandment by overemphasizing the second greatest commandment. What are those, you ask?  

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” -Matthew 22:36-40

Was Jesus giving brand new commandments? No. These statements are a summary of the Ten Commandments given to the prophet, Moses. The first four commandments deal with how we are to love God; they come first, by the way. The last six commandments deal with how we are to love our neighbor.

We are commanded to love the Lord our God, first. This is the first and greatest commandment. If we love the Lord our God - we acknowledge Him as our Creator, Redeemer, King, and Lord - then we will love His word. Why? What does the Bible say about how we are to regard God's word? Let's find out.

I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. - Psalm 119:11

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. - 2 Timothy 3:16-17

Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.” - John 6:68-69

Friends, I don't want you to be discouraged if you don't have many Bible verses memorized. The point is not about how many Bible verses you have memorized; the point is, your attitude toward the word of God is what really matters. Like so many things, this is a heart issue. What is your attitude toward the word of God? Is it casual? Sincere? Is the Bible merely good advice? Is the Bible the inerrant word of God? If you agree with the apostle Peter that Jesus is the Holy One of God and that he has the words of eternal life, then why wouldn't you be eager to hear what he has to say? If you haven't given much thought about Bible reading, I encourage you to start by reading Psalm 119. It is a beautiful Psalm that lifts up God's word.

Now, I would be remiss if I didn't make another point. Earlier I mentioned that memes like these often present seemingly moral truths. Friends, it is true that Jesus does care about how you treat others. We are commanded to love our neighbors as ourselves. This means that we should put into practice what we read in God's word:

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. - James 1:22

Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. - James 215-17

This point in the Book of James agrees with Paul's second letter to Timothy when he said, "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." (2 Timothy 3:16-17) God's word equips us to do good works. Once we read God's word, we should take it to heart and do what it says. Our good works do not save us. Our good works are evidence of our faith designed to bring glory to God, not to ourselves:

Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. - Matthew 5:15-16

Further reading from GotQuestions.org: "Is salvation by faith alone, or by faith plus works?"

Begin to store the word of God in your heart, not so you can earn merit badges from God or so that you can impress your friends with how much Bible you know. Store the word of God in your heart so that you can be thoroughly equipped for every good work, and more importantly, so that you will begin to learn and to know more about your Savior. In a previous post, I encouraged you to read through the Bible. There are many ways to begin doing this: start with a verse a day, read through the four Gospels in 40 days, read through the New Testament in one year, or read through the Bible in one year. All of these reading plans and more are available on BibleGateway.com. God has revealed much about Himself in the Bible and we would be wise to read and to study what He has said so that we will be thoroughly equipped.

One of These is Not Like the Others

So I saw another Facebook meme a few weeks ago. (I did some editing, but I think you can get the idea of what it says.) It's on the Facebook page entitled, I'm not "Spiritual". I just practice being a good person. This meme had to do with how all of the world's religions teach basically the same thing, which is do unto others as you would have them do unto you. In Christianity, this is called the Golden Rule, and is found in Matthew 7:12.

While I think it's a little simplistic to try to boil down all of the teachings of all of the world's religions into one common catch phrase, this isn't the focus of this post. My question is this: Is this - the Golden Rule and its variants - the primary teaching of Christianity? My friends, the answer is No. The primary teaching of Christianity is the Good News or the Gospel. Let's take some time to explain what the Good News is and why we need it, because if there is Good News, it logically follows that there is bad news. Walk with me down the Romans Road to Salvation, which is a collection of verses from Paul's letter to the Romans that outlines the plan of salvation.

My friends, here is the bad news:

1. "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." - Romans 3:23
Yeah, OK, so no one's perfect. God understands, right? This isn't really such bad news, is it? Yes, it is, because God demands 100% perfection for 100% of the time. There is no one who is perfect. The bad news gets worse.

2. "For the wages of sin is death..." - Romans 6:23a 
Yeah, but we all die, don't we? So how is this news? This is not just about our physical death, this verse is referring to our eternal death or damnation. But now, here's the Good News:

3. "But the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." -Romans 6:23b 
How is this Good News, you ask? Because God is love, He demands that our sins be punished. This is just, right, and loving. The Good News is that God sent His son, Jesus, who was fully God and fully man to die on the cross and pay the penalty for our sins so that we wouldn't have to.

4. "If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." - Romans 10:9
If by faith you believe that Jesus died on the cross in our place, to take the punishment that you deserve, and that God raised him from the dead to show his victory over sin and death, you will be saved. You will trust in Jesus and not yourself.

5. "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." -Romans 5:1
By placing our faith in Jesus' death and resurrection, we will have peace (as in the opposite of war) with God.

While on the surface, it seems that the world's religions have at least one thing in common, the fact is that Christianity is the only religion where God came to earth as a man; to live the perfect life that we can't live; to be humiliated and condemned to death on a cross, so that He could provide the perfect sacrifice as payment for our sins; to be raised from the dead on the third day to demonstrate His victory over sin and death. Jesus died so that you could be forgiven of your sins and have eternal life and be with God forever.

You fall short of the glory of God. You are not perfect, and that is the problem. Because of this, you cannot earn your salvation. You cannot work your way to Paradise. You cannot do enough good to outweigh the bad. Only the grace of God can save you. I do not know what the other religions teach, but Christianity says that salvation is a gift from God:

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. - Ephesians 2:8-9

My friends, listen to the words of Jesus:

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God." - John 3:16-21

You are a sinner in need of a Savior. We all need a Savior. That Savior is Jesus. Place your faith in him and not yourself, your works, or your rituals. If you would like to know how to become a Christian, here is an article for further reading, "How to Become a Christian". May the Lord open your eyes to the glorious truth of the Gospel.