Tilling and Planting

Tag: Sin

  • Jesus’ Triumph

    Jesus’ Triumph

    Intro

    After my last post I wouldn’t blame you if you felt a little depressed or defeated. The Son of God betrayed, beaten, crucified, died, and buried in a borrowed tomb. That’s rough. The disciples certainly felt depressed and defeated. They scattered while Jesus hung on the cross. Fearful for their lives, they dared not stick around. What they didn’t seem to recognize (despite Jesus’ predictions) was that Jesus was supposed to die, but that His death was not the end. In fact, with Jesus’ death came the greatest triumph in all of human history. Come explore Jesus’ triumph over death with me. (I realize Easter is over, but there’s much more to talk about.)

    Importance of Resurrection

    Thinking about the resurrection, what makes it so important? After all, Jesus’ death accomplished the sacrifice needed to pay for all our sins and satisfy the wrath of God. Furthermore, none of the animals from any sacrifices came back to life, they all stayed dead. So, why should Jesus come back? What makes His resurrection so necessary? While many reasons can be given, I’ll only present four here.

    Proof of Sufficient Sacrifice

    Jesus’ triumph over the grave by coming back to life was proof given by God that He accepted Jesus’ sacrifice as sufficient to cover our sins. God vindicated Jesus by bringing Him back to life because “the wages of sin is death” and Jesus lived a sinless life, therefore He didn’t deserve to die in the first place. And to make this argument stronger, Paul relates that without the resurrection, our faith is useless and in fact, we are still in our sins.

    And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith….And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 1 Corinthians 15:14, 17 (NIV)

    So, Paul saw the connection between the resurrection and the forgiveness of our sins. That’s a pretty big argument for the resurrections importance!

    Proof of Deity

    In addition to proving the sufficiency of His sacrifice, Jesus’ resurrection also proved His deity. Psalm 16:10 claims that God’s Holy One would never see corruption (or decay). By rising again, Jesus’ body never saw that corruption. Thus proving that He is God’s Holy One. Time and again, Jesus declared Himself the “Son of God” and equated Himself with God (don’t believe Jesus ever claimed that? check out my post on who Jesus is). And to take it a step further, Jesus predicted His own death and resurrection. So by rising again, He proved to everyone that He was indeed the Son of God. The long-awaited Messiah and Savior of the world.

    Death Has No Power

    Here’s a fun reason. When Jesus rose from the grave, death lost it’s power and was forever defeated. As Peter proclaimed in his sermon on the Day of Pentecost:

    But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. Acts 2:24 (NIV)

    Notice he said that “it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him”. This actually goes back to the fact that Jesus lived a sinless life and death had no right to hold Jesus.

    To make this even better, Jesus’ triumph over death extends to us as well. As His followers, He defeated death for us too! Hallelujah! If you keep reading Paul’s discourse in 1 Corinthians 15, he says that because Christ was raised, we too shall be raised from the dead. Now all believers who die a physical death will immediately go to be with the Lord in Heaven, but someday God will raise these physical bodies and recreate them into something glorious.

    So hold on, sickness, suffering, and death do not have the final word. Jesus does. And He defeated all those things on the cross and through His resurrection.

    Matter Matters

    This might sound confusing but let me explain. The resurrection means that this physical world (matter) matters to Him. And this is hugely important since just a few decades later, something called Gnosticism would start spreading. This teaching claims what we do in the physical doesn’t matter. Our spirits are perfect so we can live how we want and we’ll still go to Heaven. However, by rising again in a physical body, Jesus refutes this by proclaiming that the physical creation matters. It’s important to Him. This also gives us hope that creation itself which groans under the weight of sin (Romans 8:22) will be redeemed (Revelation 21).

    Resurrection Foretold

    The triumph of Jesus recorded in the New Testament as His resurrection was prophesied a number of times. Most people recognize that Jesus prophesied His own death and resurrection on several occasions (I’ll cover some of those later), but not everyone realizes that the Old Testament records prophesies of Jesus’ resurrection as well. They acknowledge OT prophesies of His death, but don’t always recognize the resurrection ones as well. I wish to open up your eyes to these prophesies and show you yet more evidence that Jesus was who He claimed to be.

    Old Testament Prophecies

    David utters a line in Psalm 16 that really makes no sense at the time he wrote it. I imagine it confused a lot of people. At least until more prophets started prophesying about a coming Messiah, then people might’ve started connecting it to the Messiah.

    because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful one see decay. Psalm 16:10 (NIV)

    I referenced this verse earlier and noted that the Messiah would not see any physical decay. Nor was His spirit left in the realm of the dead (called Sheol by the Jews). A pretty clear picture of rising from the dead here. And Peter in his Pentecost sermon makes reference to this very Psalm.

    Less specific than this one are simply various prophecies about the Messiah that demand His resurrection. What do I mean by that? Various prophecies place the Messiah as sitting on the throne of David, ruling the world, establishing peace and justice throughout the ages. He can’t do that if He’s still in the grave. Zechariah, for example, offers different images picture of a suffering Messiah who comes in humility and lowliness (think riding on a donkey) who is pierced and a Kingly, Ruling Messiah. These differing images demand a resurrection takes place between piercing and ruling.

    I don’t have time to go into all the prophecies of Zechariah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, or the other prophets, but they are all littered with these contrasting images of suffering Messiah and conquering Messiah that demand a resurrection.

    Jesus’ Prophecies

    As I mentioned already, you may be more familiar with Jesus’ prophecies about His own triumph over the grave by rising again. Real quickly I’m going to list some of them out here.

    From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. Matthew 16:21 (NIV)

    When they came together in Galilee, he said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men. They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised to life.” And the disciples were filled with grief. Matthew 17:22-23 (NIV)

    “We are going up to Jerusalem,” he said, “and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise.” Mark 10:33-34 (NIV)

    Jesus saw that they wanted to ask him about this, so he said to them, “Are you asking one another what I meant when I said, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me’? Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. John 16:19-22 (NIV)

    Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”

    They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” But the temple he had spoken of was his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken. John 2:19-22 (NIV)

    Wow, that’s quite a few times Jesus states that He’s going to die and rise again! And this isn’t even all of them! Makes me wonder how the disciples missed it. But sometimes when we get certain ideas in our heads, everything else just flies right over our heads. The disciples had the Kingly, conquering Messiah image in mind and thus couldn’t comprehend a suffering, dying Messiah.

    I’m going to go in a different direction for the next section. Get a little more apologetic if you don’t mind. And even if you do mind, I’m still going to do it.

    Contradictory Accounts?

    One of the greatest criticisms from skeptics of the Bible and the resurrection is the stark differences between the resurrection accounts found in the 4 gospels. None of them are identical and they even appear to contradict each other on some of the details. While I noticed the differences, I also inherently understood that the different writers recorded different pieces that they had available. Maybe they talked to different people or at the time of their writing only certain people were available (or alive) to get their account. Or perhaps the gospel writers wanted to focus on specific people or aspects of the resurrection. As you can see, just off the top of my head I listed several possibilities to explain the inconsistencies. And I’m sure there’s more.

    Harmonizing the Accounts

    However, this isn’t good enough for the skeptic. So, I found a harmonization of the 4 accounts. I can’t take credit for this so here’s a link to the original article.

    In Summation

    As you can see, we have a pretty strong example of a consistent, non-contradictory series of events that make up one cohesive resurrection story. And it’s very likely that this isn’t the only one out there. But regardless, what’s important is that despite the inconsistencies between the 4 gospels, it can’t be proven that the accounts contradict.

    Wrapping Up

    From everything I’ve said in these last couple of posts, it’s pretty clear that Jesus’ suffering had to occur in order for His triumph – the greatest in human history – to take place. Let us keep these things in mind with gratitude and rejoicing all year long – not just during this season.

    Outro

    If you enjoyed this post, please consider doing one or all of these things. First, subscribe if you haven’t. If you have, thank you! Second, spread the word. Send these to everyone you know and encourage them to read and subscribe. This blog is purely word of mouth right now. I rely on you, my readers, to help me get more readers. And third, please consider donating. It’ll enable me to continue to offer regular posts.

    Feel free to leave a comment with any questions about what I’ve written, any additional comments about the post, or if there’s a topic you’d like me to write about. Before doing that though, be sure to check out all my posts here and see if I’ve covered it already. And if you find I’ve done it already but aren’t satisfied or still have more questions, let me know!

    Thank you for reading this! I greatly appreciate each one of you. Until next time, God bless you all!

  • Jesus’ Suffering

    Jesus’ Suffering

    Intro

    Easter season is upon us. We all know what that means. Easter candy!!! Lol, in all seriousness, though, we know this as the time Jesus suffered and died a horrible death to pay the penalty for our sins. We’ve heard it said that Jesus’ suffering bought us right standing with Father God. Kind of crazy to think about, right? Just thinking about all that He endured humbles me. I don’t feel like I’m worth it. Do you? But that’s the love of God on full display right there. No matter how much any of us have messed up, He died for us. While we were still sinners (see Romans 5:8); still lost and not caring at all about knowing God.

    I do wonder, however, how many of us fully comprehend Jesus’ suffering. Or how many of us take this time of year for granted (guilty). Here I wish to open all of our eyes to His suffering in two distinct areas: His physical suffering and His spiritual suffering. But before I do, I’m first going to show you how Jesus fulfilled Scripture by going to the cross. (All Scripture here comes from the NIV.)

    Prophetic Suffering

    The Jewish people looked for a Messiah. However, the Messiah they searched for was a kingly Messiah. A conqueror who would free them from Roman oppression. That’s why no one expected Jesus. And when He hung on that cross, most of His followers thought they got it wrong. And it is true that Old Testament prophecies speak to a conquering, kingly Messiah. However, there are also many prophecies that point to a suffering Messiah. But because of all the oppression that the Jews went through, they all clung to the conquering Messiah. In another post I’ll reconcile the two and how Jesus did and will fulfill these.

    But for now, I’ll focus on how Jesus’ suffering fulfilled the suffering servant Messianic prophecies found in the Old Testament. And these prophecies cover both the physical and the spiritual suffering. As well as some other details such as His betrayal.

    Betrayed By Friend

    These prophecies include the prediction and fulfillment of Jesus’ betrayal by a friend and the prophecy of the money the religious leaders paid said friend to betray Him.

    Prophecies

    Psalm 41:9, “Even my close friend, someone I trusted, one who shared my bread, has turned against me.”

    Zechariah 11:12-13, “I told them, “If you think it best, give me my pay; but if not, keep it.” So they paid me thirty pieces of silver. And the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—the handsome price at which they valued me! So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the potter at the house of the Lord.”

    Fulfillment

    Matthew 26:14-15, “Then one of the Twelve—the one called Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests and asked, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you?” So they counted out for him thirty pieces of silver.”

    Matthew 27:5-7, “So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself. The chief priests picked up the coins and said, “It is against the law to put this into the treasury, since it is blood money.” So they decided to use the money to buy the potter’s field as a burial place for foreigners.”

    Sham Trial

    These prophecies include the false witnesses that appeared as well as Jesus not responding to any accusations.

    Prophecies

    Psalm 27:12, “Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes, for false witnesses rise up against me, spouting malicious accusations.”

    Isaiah 53:7, “He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.”

    Fulfillment

    Matthew 26:59-60, “The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for false evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death. But they did not find any, though many false witnesses came forward.”

    Mark 15:3-4, “The chief priests accused him of many things. So again Pilate asked him, “Aren’t you going to answer? See how many things they are accusing you of.” But Jesus still made no reply, and Pilate was amazed.”

    Forsaken

    These cover the prediction of all who forsook Him in some way.

    Prophecies

    Zechariah 13:7, “‘Awake, sword, against my shepherd, against the man who is close to me!’ declares the Lord Almighty. ‘Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered, and I will turn my hand against the little ones.’”

    Psalm 22:1, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish?”

    Fulfillment

    Mark 14:50, “Then everyone deserted him and fled.”

    Matthew 27:46, “About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).”

    Misunderstood

    These prophecies include the mocking Jesus endured and the fact that He was counted as a criminal rather than the Messiah.

    Prophecies

    Psalm 22:7-8, “All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads. ‘He trusts in the Lord,” they say, ‘let the Lord rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him.’”

    Isaiah 53:12, “Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.”

    Fulfillment

    Matthew 27:39, 43 “Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads…’He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, “I am the Son of God.”‘”

    Luke 23:33, “When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left.”

    Lots Cast For Clothing

    Even what happened to His clothing was prophesied!

    Prophecy

    Psalm 22:18, “They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.”

    Fulfillment

    John 19:23-24, “When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom. “Let’s not tear it,” they said to one another. “Let’s decide by lot who will get it.” This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled that said, “They divided my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.” So this is what the soldiers did.”

    Family & Friends Witnessed

    Have you ever considered that Jesus’ suffering was witnessed by His own family and closest friends (not just the 12 disciples)? Awful when you think about it.

    Prophecy

    Psalm 38:11, “My friends and companions avoid me because of my wounds; my neighbors stay far away.”

    Fulfillment

    Luke 23:49, “But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.”

    Physical Body

    A lot happened to Him physically. Whether it was the injuries or even just being given vinegar to drink. All these forms of Jesus’ suffering were prophesied centuries before.

    Prophecies

    Isaiah 50:6, “I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting.”

    Isaiah 52:14, “Just as there were many who were appalled at him – his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any human being and his form marred beyond human likeness.”

    Psalm 22:16, “Dogs surround me, a pack of villains encircles me; they pierce my hands and my feet.”

    Zechariah 12:10, “…They will look on me, the one they have pierced.”

    Psalm 34:20, “he protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken.”

    Psalm 69:21, “They put gall in my food and gave me vinegar for my thirst.”

    Fulfillment

    Matthew 27: 26b, 29a, 30, “But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified….and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head….They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again.”

    John 20:24-25, “Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, ‘Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.’”

    John 19:33-34, “But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water.”

    John 19:29, “A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips.”

    Suffered for Sins

    Isaiah made clear that sin was the reason for Jesus’ suffering.

    Prophecy

    Isaiah 53:4-6, “Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

    Fulfillment

    Romans 5:8, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

    1 Peter 2:24, “‘He himself bore our sins’ in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; ‘by his wounds you have been healed.’”

    Spirit Committed & Burial

    Prophecies

    Psalm 31:5, “Into your hands I commit my spirit.”

    Isaiah 53:9, “He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death.”

    Fulfillment

    Luke 23:46, “Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.”

    Matthew 27:57-60, “As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away.”

    Physical Suffering

    I realize that this post is already getting pretty long. Bear with me a while longer. I now want to turn from the prophesies of Jesus’ suffering to what He actually endured physically. And not just restating what the Bible says He went through. I want to comment on what Roman Crucifixion actually did to the body and what the person went through. I’m using extra-Biblical sources in this research and I’m sure you’ll recognize many of them since the Bible directly references much of what the Romans actually did when crucifying people.

    Flogging

    Romans flogged every person slated for crucifixion – except for Roman senators, soldiers (except for desertion), and women. A typical flog consisted of a short whip with several single or braided leather thongs of variable lengths, in which small iron balls or sharp pieces of bones were tied at intervals. The iron balls and bones dug deep into the skin and underlying tissue and literally tore flesh off bone. People were flogged just short of death. Roman soldiers often taunted the people during and after the flogging took place. Per the law, Roman soldiers whipped a person at a maximum of 39 times, though it’s unknown how often they broke that law simply because they wanted to. Especially when the person was slated for execution anyway.

    The Art of Crucifixion

    Odd heading, I know. But truthfully, the Romans perfected crucifixion. They didn’t invent it, but man did they perfect it to maximize pain and suffering while delivering a slow death. The Romans couldn’t have selected a worse way to bring about Jesus’ suffering and death.

    The physical cross consisted of a vertical post with a horizontal crossbeam. The condemned man carried the crossbeam from the flogging site to the crucifixion site outside the city. (So all the images/movies of Jesus carrying both parts…probably not accurate.) The upright posts outside the city were permanent structures and reused from person to person. The posts often had a crude seat-like thing for the sole purpose of prolonging the person’s death.

    The Romans affixed the victim’s arms to the crossbeam through either nailing or tying the wrists. Nailing seemed to be the preferred method. Once attached, the crossbeam and victim was raised up and attached to the vertical post. At which point the Romans nailed (or tied) the feet to the post. Above the head of the person, a soldier attached a sign with their name and charge(s) written on it. (Any of this sounding familiar?) Interestingly, law dictated that bitter wine mixed with myrrh (gall) be given to the victim as a mild pain reliever. In addition, the soldiers commonly divided the cloths of the victim amongst themselves.

    If the Romans desired to hasten the death of the victims, they would break their legs below the knees. And they used a spear to stab their victims through the heart to check to see if they were dead (and to ensure it if not).

    The Medical Side

    Any medical students, nurses, or doctors reading this? Ever thought about what Jesus’ body went through during the crucifixion process? Here’s a short list of different things I found when researching what Jesus’ body went through.

    • Hematidrosis, aka “sweating drops of blood”. This occurs through great stress, anxiety, and/or fear.
    • Flesh torn from his body as a result of the flogging. Not to mention the extreme pain here.
    • The crown of thorns brought even more bleeding around the scalp. Furthermore, the soldiers hit his head multiple times with a staff – driving the thorns deeper into him. And more pain.
    • The robe that the soldiers put on him likely stuck to clotting blood and when ripped back off opened those wounds back up and caused excruciating pain. (Are you seeing a painful theme here?)
    • Shock. The human body can endure only so much before going into shock. Jesus likely experienced it before the soldiers attached the crossbeam to his back.
    • Once on the cross, the shock lowered His blood pressure and increased His body’s demand for oxygen. Problem is that breathing caused intense stabbing pain throughout His body.
    • The blood and water. Blood and water-like fluid pouring out of Jesus’ side fits with rupturing the sac around the heart.
    • Likely cause of death: cardiac and respiratory arrest, due to shock, due to crucifixion.

    Spiritual Suffering

    Jesus’ suffering wasn’t limited to the physical. It extended to the spiritual as well. I promise to be brief here.

    • Jesus took on all the sins of the world for all time. That means all sin from every person since Adam & Eve. And all the people that have yet to be born.
    • Isaiah 53 says that Jesus paid for our healing. The word imagery here indicates He paid for our spiritual healing, our mental/emotional healing, and our physical healing. That means that Jesus took upon Himself all physical disease, mental disorders, emotional disorders, etc.
    • The wrath of God. God literally poured out His wrath upon Jesus. As painful as that was for Him to do, He had to in order to open the way for us to Him.
    • Lastly, and perhaps the worst thing of them all, separation from the Father. For the first time in His eternal life, Jesus experienced separation from His Father. The pain of such a separation must’ve been awful. Technically, God stayed by Jesus’ side through it all, but there had to be a short term spiritual separation once all sin and God’s wrath was placed on Him. I say that because the Bible says sin separates us from God (Isaiah 59:2) and it also says Jesus became sin so we could become righteous (2 Corinthians 5:21). Therefore, a separation between Father and Son must’ve occurred. Gut wrenching, but true.

    Jesus’ suffering encompassed body, soul, and spirit. It happened this way so Jesus could be the perfect sacrifice and could relate to us in every way. This enables Him to be the perfect High Priest for us.

    Wrapping Up

    Just researching for this post and writing it makes me more appreciative of Jesus’ suffering. I’m also once again humbled by it. I hope you are all too. I hope you see with new eyes what Jesus endured physically and spiritually. Let us all go through this season with a gratitude that we’ve never had before.

    Outro

    If you enjoyed this post, please consider doing one or all of these things. First, subscribe if you haven’t. If you have, thank you! Second, spread the word. Send these to everyone you know and encourage them to read and subscribe. This blog is purely word of mouth right now. I rely on you, my readers, to help me get more readers. And third, please consider donating. It’ll enable me to continue to offer regular posts.

    Feel free to leave a comment with any questions about what I’ve written, any additional comments about the post, or if there’s a topic you’d like me to write about. Before doing that though, be sure to check out all my posts here and see if I’ve covered it already. And if you find I’ve done it already but aren’t satisfied or still have more questions, let me know!

    Thank you for reading this! I greatly appreciate each one of you. Until next time, God bless you all!

  • Fellowship: Skip?

    Fellowship: Skip?

    Intro

    Do I need to attend church every Sunday? Do I need to do this thing called “fellowship with other believers”? Can’t I stay home from church and do my own private thing with my family? And hang out with who I want and still have a deep meaningful relationship with God and be a “good Christian”? These questions have been asked for a long time. And more people ask them every year. And having known more than a couple of people in my life who have thought this, I wish to communicate why I believe that it is difficult to maintain a deep relationship with God when you neglect to fellowship with other believers.

    Reasons and Dangers

    There are a lot of reasons why you shouldn’t skip attending church on a regular basis. And many dangers and risks that you subject yourself to. The list I’m going to go through isn’t exhaustive, but I think will convey my point well.

    Disobedience to God

    Right off the bat, not attending church regularly disobeys the command of God found in Hebrews.

     And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. Hebrews 10:24-25 (NIV)

    Here the author of Hebrews makes clear that we are to not give up fellowship with one another. In fact, it even gives a good reason to meet with other believers: to “spur one another on toward love and good deeds” and we are to encourage one another.

    Worthy of Worship?

    If someone tells you that they love God and follow Him, but they don’t prioritize going to church to worship Him, what would you think? I see two possible impressions you might have. 1. Does this person really love God? and 2. Is God truly worthy of worship? The first impression is a form of hypocrisy. The second impression is a form of trivializing God and denying Him before men. And there’s a serious danger in that according to Matthew.

    But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven. Matthew 10:33 (NIV)

    God calls us to proclaim His name to all. But, if we give them the impression that God isn’t worthy of worship, then why should they listen to us?

    Can’t Minister

    Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. 1 Peter 4:10 (NIV)

    Did you know that attending church is more than going to get your own spiritual needs met? It’s true! When we get together to fellowship, we are called to minister to one another and serve each other in accordance with the gifts we have. So, by skipping church, not only do you lose out on your spiritual needs being met, but you lose on being able to minister to fellow believers. And there are studies that show helping people releases endorphins and thus make you feel good as well. It’s a fantastic mood booster and motivator!

    Along with this is missing out on community. The community of believers in a church opens up opportunities for building deep, meaningful friendships and getting encouragement and healing for yourself and encouraging others. We also learn from each other how to live out our faith and hold each other accountable. God gives gifts to all believers for the purpose of ministering to one another. But you can’t exercise it when you skip church. In fact, without attending church and being in fellowship with others, you (and I) will likely be ill-equipped to know how to properly exercise our gift or feel comfortable using it. After all, we need to learn and practice somewhere. What better place than at church?

    A Foretaste

    Did you know that worshipping with other believers is a foretaste of Heaven? God created us to worship Him and Revelation gives us pictures of Heaven being filled with people worshipping God. So, here on Earth when we gather together to worship God, we are joining with those in Heaven already; thus, giving us a glimpse of what Heaven is like. That’s pretty incredible.

    Spiritual Growth

    Attending church allows for spiritual growth to take place. Whether it’s through hearing something in the sermon that you take to heart and implement or being touched supernaturally by God during the worship or talking to someone about a struggle you have and receiving prayer that heals and encourages you. Attending church and prioritizing fellowship with other believers allows for spiritual growth to take place – the way God intended.

    Unequipped

    So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up. Ephesians 4:12 (NIV)

    In Ephesians, Paul writes that all the offices we recognize today (evangelists, pastors, teachers, etc.) have the job of equipping God’s people (you and me) to do the work of the ministry. What does that mean? It means that you and I are called to go out into all the world and preach the gospel! The pastors, missionaries, and evangelists can’t reach everybody. You and I must do the day-to-day work where we are at. Our places of work, home life, friends outside of church, etc. And in order to be properly equipped, we learn at the feet of those God calls to preach and teach.

    Character Development

    Ever hear the saying “show me your five closest friends and I’ll show you your future”? This saying demonstrates that the people we spend the most time with have the greatest influence on how our character develops. As a Christian, our desire should be to reflect the character of Christ. In order to do that we need to spend time with Him, both privately and corporately. Doing so corporately allows for you to fellowship with people who might be a bit farther along in life and their faith and can pass you wisdom for the roads you walk. You learn to become godlier when you spend time with people who are godly. I find it truly amazing just how much I grow from spending time with other believers.

    Loss of Discernment

    A big danger of not attending church, is not having a proper understanding of the Word of God. This opens you up to believing in heresy and allowing false doctrines to skew your view of God and consequently, dictate how you live your life (in a less than godly way). I’ve known people over the years who have fallen for things that they never would have just a few years prior to quitting church. It’s a big risk you take not attending church regularly. And if you have any questions about the importance of believing the Bible and its infallibility, here’s a link to my blog about that very subject.

    The worst part about falling into heresy is that it’s usually a slow process. And apart from attending a church that preaches heresy, the process often starts by not attending church at all. This often moves to thinking that the Bible doesn’t have it all right. Then you start picking and choosing what parts of the Bible to take seriously and what parts to ignore. Before you know it, you’re believing something that the Bible explicitly condemns or denies.

    What I’m Not Saying

    I don’t want you to come away from this thinking that you can’t have non-believing friends that you hang out with. Truly the Bible calls us to be witnesses to the unbeliever. And most people come to the Lord through relationship with a believer. Whether that relationship is familial, friends, coworker, etc., having meaningful relationships with people is one of the best was to witness.

    Secondly, if you are physically incapable of getting to church, I’m not condemning you. In those situations, being able to watch services online would be good and having fellow believers come to you and spend time with you and pray and worship with you are all good substitutes.

    Wrapping Up

    If you got to the end with a better understanding of the importance of fellowshipping with other believers, than I have done what I set out to do. It’s my hope that you all prioritize this and help others to do the same. Don’t forget that popular saying found in Proverbs 27:17, “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” This verse greatly sums up this entire post.

    And one final thing, don’t just willy nilly go to a random church and believe everything the pastor says. Talk to people you know who attend church. Do research and find a church that preaches the Bible and holds themselves to the standards found in it. And most importantly, read the Bible yourself to know if the church is preaching it or not.

    Outro

    If you enjoyed this post, please consider doing one or all of these things. First, subscribe if you haven’t. If you have, thank you! Second, spread the word. Send these to everyone you know and encourage them to read and subscribe. This blog is purely word of mouth right now. I rely on you, my readers, to help me get more readers. And third, please consider donating. It’ll enable me to continue to offer regular posts.

    Feel free to leave a comment with any questions about what I’ve written, any additional comments about the post, or if there’s a topic you’d like me to write about. Before doing that though, be sure to check out all my posts here and see if I’ve covered it already. And if you find I’ve done it already but aren’t satisfied or still have more questions, let me know!

    Thank you for reading this! I greatly appreciate each one of you. Until next time, God bless you all!

  • What Age?

    What Age?

    Intro

    If you’ve been around the Christian community long enough, you’ve likely heard the term Age of Accountability. And even if you never heard it put that way, I’m sure you’re familiar with the idea. The basic idea stems from the question, “When are you old enough to be accountable for your sins and thus need Jesus as your savior to go to Heaven?” But where does the innocence that starts at birth end, 5, 10, 12? Let’s take a look.

    The Question

    Most people would agree that infants would have no business going to Hell because they don’t have the ability to grasp simple concepts let alone complicated ones such as theology. This naturally leads us to wonder what happens to infants and other very young children who die. And when they cross that line to needing a savior. As always, we shall turn to the Bible for guidance, but be forewarned, the Bible doesn’t discuss this topic directly. So, we won’t have clear-cut answers.

    Too Young

    I’m sure we’ve all heard the phrase “Too young to die.” Whether in a movie or real life, it’s pretty common. And for us as Christians, it creates the question that we need to be ready to answer: What happens to infants and toddlers and other young children when they die? Many a sobbing mother and father have asked some form of this question. And God called us to mourn alongside those who mourn (Romans 12:15).

    God gave us the Bible to lead and guide us along life’s journeys. And to answer our questions about life. So, we should first turn there when we have questions to see what it says. In this case about where these young children go, there isn’t a lot in the Bible that is explicit. But don’t despair! There is hope. There is evidence in the Bible that young children go to Heaven when they die.

    David’s Son

    When David committed adultery with Bathsheba and got her pregnant, God told David that the child would die. And he did. Look at what David said after that.

    But now that he is dead, why should I go on fasting? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me. 1 Samuel 12:23 (NIV)

    Notice the phrase “I will go to him”. Here David acknowledges that he will see his son again someday. David was a man who frequently looked forward to the Kingdom of God and eternity with Him. And here David is confident that he will see his son in that eternity. And we have reason to trust David’s faith since he frequently spoke prophetically through the Holy Spirit.

    God’ Character

    Another solid reason for believing in children going to Heaven when they die, is the character of God and His compassion. All throughout Scripture we see God and Jesus loving on children. In various places, God refers to young children as “innocents” (see Jeremiah 19:4-5 for an example). God’s tender mercies and compassion lead to these children being safe in His arms since they cannot understand or comprehend sin.

    Jesus also displayed immense love for children. The most famous example comes from the story of the disciples’ rebuking children and their parents for getting too close to Jesus. And Jesus rebuked His disciples and blessed the children instead.

    Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there. Matthew 19:14-15 (NIV)

    Furthermore, also in Matthew (18:14), Jesus makes this statement “In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these littles ones should perish.” Clearly Jesus and His Father have great love and compassion for the children. And the loving hand of God is the safest place one can be.

    Condition For Salvation

    Yet another reason we can know from Scripture what happens to young children: the condition for salvation. What does Romans say we must do to be saved? We must believe in our heart God raised Jesus and confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord (Romans 10:9). Thinking about an infant, they haven’t even learned their own name yet, so how could they confess Jesus as Lord? No, children that are too young to even comprehend simple things are too young to be held accountable for their actions.

    When talking to the Pharisees in John 9 Jesus put forth a truth that can be easily applied here and sums up this position very well.

    Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.” John 9:41 (NIV)

    In other words, if you don’t have the capacity to understand or recognize sin, you are not guilty (or held accountable) of it. This applies very well to infants and other young children who haven’t quite grasped right from wrong or the ideas of Heaven and Hell.

    What About the Unborn?

    How about those who haven’t been born yet? Not to worry! The unborn children fall into the same reasons already listed above. How do I know that? Jeremiah says that God formed him in his mother’s womb (Jeremiah 1:5) and Psalm 139 declares that we were “knit together” in our mother’s womb and are “fearfully and wonderfully made” and God saw our “unformed body” (vs 13 and on). From these passages and more we can confidently declare that God sees the unborn as human children – even in a physically incomplete stage of life. Therefore, they fall under all the same protections and rules laid out before. This is a great comfort for anyone who has had a miscarriage or an abortion that they regret.

    What About the Mentally Disabled?

    Many people who ask the question about where young children go when they die also ask similar questions about those who have severe mental disabilities, such as Autism and Aspergers and other similar disorders. Personally, I believe that they are covered by all the same things I’ve already talked about. When you think about it, these people have the same mental capacity as very young children and often display those same behaviors. Their ability to grasp complex concepts are severely limited. Consequently, God would grant them the same grace, mercy, and compassion He grants to the children. As someone who has interacted for many years with a couple of different people on the severe end of the spectrum, this brings comfort to my heart.

    The Accountable Age

    So, ultimately, there is no definitive age. It can vary from child to child when they reach the point of understanding and choose to reject God and knowingly choose to do wrong despite knowing and understanding what’s right. While that can sound difficult to hear since some of those kids can still be young, is it any different when that child is all grown up? Every person is a child to someone. No matter the age, a parent has a hard time losing their child.

    Wrapping Up

    Hopefully I answered some of your questions by reading this. Let us remember that one of our chief duties on earth is to spread the message of the gospel to the ends of the earth.

    Outro

    If you enjoyed this post, please consider doing one or all of these things. First, subscribe if you haven’t. If you have, thank you! Second, spread the word. Send these to everyone you know and encourage them to read and subscribe. This blog is purely word of mouth right now. I rely on you, my readers, to help me get more readers. And third, please consider donating. It’ll enable me to continue to offer regular posts.

    Feel free to leave a comment with any questions about what I’ve written, any additional comments about the post, or if there’s a topic you’d like me to write about. Before doing that though, be sure to check out all my posts here and see if I’ve covered it already. And if you find I’ve done it already but aren’t satisfied or still have more questions, let me know!

    Thank you for reading this! I greatly appreciate each one of you. Until next time, God bless you all!

  • Salvation Defined

    Salvation Defined

    Intro

    I’ve mentioned several times the concept of salvation. Especially in my last two posts about Heaven and Hell. At the time I said that I wasn’t going to get into the details about salvation and what it means, etc. However, since I teased it so many times and since it is a foundational concept in Christianity, I think now is the time to address it.

    The Basics

    When it comes to the word, salvation. What does that mean? According to the Oxford Dictionary, the word salvation means “preservation or deliverance from harm, ruin, or loss”. To be saved from drowning is deliverance from death and the preservation of your life. And when it comes to Christianity and Biblical salvation, it is deliverance from sin, Hell, and oppression from Satan. And it is an eternal preservation of your spirit to dwell with God in Heaven. Now if that were all, this would be a very short post. But there is so much more to salvation. Especially the questions of “Who’s saved?”, “How are you saved?”, etc. So let’s get started.

    Why Do I Need Salvation?

    The first question to answer is why. Why does mankind need salvation? I hinted at it before in my definition of salvation from a Biblical perspective. But I’ll expand upon that here.

    To put it simply, we have sinned. Mankind lives in open (and closed) rebellion to God and His commandments. The Bible teaches that all have sinned. Nobody can make the claim that they have not sinned.

    If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 1 John 1:8 (NIV)

    And being a holy and just God, He cannot allow sin to go unpunished. The punishment for sin is death and eternal separation from God in the Lake of Fire.

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

    Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire. Revelation 20: 14-15 (NIV)

    Can’t Save Ourselves

    In addition to pointing out the main problem, I also need to point out that we are wholly unable to save ourselves. No amount of good works or money or whatever can save us. The Bible declares that “all our righteous acts are like filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6) and all “fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). It doesn’t matter what we do, we can never measure up to the holiness of God – which is the only standard that can get us into Heaven. Only perfection gets us into Heaven. And I think we all can agree that none of us are perfect.

    Now that I’ve established the problem, let’s take a look at God’s solution.

    The Plan of Salvation

    The Bible says that before the foundations of the world were laid, Jesus was chosen to die (1 Peter 1:19-20). That means that God knew that mankind would sin and reject Him and He still created us. All because of His great love. That alone is mind boggling. But God also planned out how to buy us back from the devil.

    The What

    God’s plan entailed coming to Earth as a human being (Jesus) (John 1:1), living a perfect life (2 Corinthians 5:21), and sacrificing Himself to satisfy the righteous requirements of God to cover all sin for all humans for all time – past, present, and future (Hebrews 10:10). The fact that He lived a perfect life is key. Because of that, Jesus did not deserve to die. He deserved to live forever. However, because He died a willing, sacrificial death, God could place upon Jesus the sins of all people from the past, the present, and the future and consider all of them atoned for. And God demonstrated His acceptance of the sacrifice by raising Jesus from the grave. Furthermore, His sacrifice and resurrection defeated death, Hell, the grave, sin, and Satan.

    The How

    “That’s all well and good, but what do I have to do to ‘get saved’?” The process is very simple. While Jesus did all the heavy lifting, He does ask you to do one thing. Believe. Yep, that’s it. In Acts 16, a man asked Paul what he must do to be saved, and Paul responded with “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved.” (Acts 16:31 NIV).

    Many religions have lists of things to do in order to get to their version of paradise. Biblical Christianity says, “God already did it, just believe.” God only requires that you have faith in Him and His sacrifice. After you’ve prayed a prayer of faith to receive salvation, the righteousness of Jesus covers all your sin and brings your spirit back to life and places Holy Spirit within you. After that, you are a new creation, and you will find yourself living a new life. A life pleasing to God.

    And before you ask, God offers salvation as a gift. He doesn’t force it upon anyone who doesn’t want it and won’t receive it. Think about a gift for a minute. If you give someone a gift, they have to open their hand and accept it in order to benefit from it. That’s why Jesus’ sacrifice didn’t automatically make everyone saved for all time. Everyone can still choose for themself whether they want to accept the gift or not.

    This actually leads into a heresy that I wish to briefly address.

    Universalism

    I don’t intend on spending a lot of time on this topic, but I do feel like I need to address it. And that’s this idea of Universalism. Universalism claims that all people will go to Heaven. No matter which religion you subscribe to, you end up going to Heaven. People come to this belief usually through one of two ways. To some, the thought of people being tormented for all of eternity makes them uncomfortable and search for an alternative. Or they emphasize God’s love and goodness while downplaying His righteousness and justice. But the Bible clearly teaches that people go to Hell when they die. And they will ultimately be thrown into the lake of fire for all of eternity (see my post on Hell for Biblical evidence of that).

    I agree that God is full of love and compassion. In fact, 2 Peter 3:9 reveals that God doesn’t want anyone to perish. But God cannot allow sin into His presence so the sin must be covered. And that’s where Jesus’ sacrifice come into play. For that love and compassion drove God to send Jesus (and made Jesus willing to go along with it) to Earth to die so that we may live. Jesus declares in John 14:6 that “no one comes to the Father except through me.” Time and again, the Bible reveals the exclusivity of the road to Heaven. It’s a narrow path and few find it. The way to Hell is broad and many more walk that path.

    From this, we can conclude that Universalism doesn’t exist as a Biblical truth. It’s a dangerous heresy that we must not fall for and must be ready to demonstrate – in love – the truth of the gospel.

    Wrapping Up

    I did my best to explain in simple terms what salvation is. I hope you find it useful as you explain to others the wonderful news of the gospel. It’s especially important to understand salvation when talking to the lost. A lack of understanding leads to people not actually being saved but believing they are. That’s a bit scary to think about.

    One last note, the Bible doesn’t talk about a “salvation prayer”. The Bible says to “declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead” (Romans 10:9) in order to be saved. So, we do need to open our mouths and profess to God that we believe and accept His sacrifice. How that prayer looks varies. The specific words don’t matter so much as the heart behind them.

    Outro

    If you enjoyed this post, please consider doing one or all of these things. First, subscribe if you haven’t. If you have, thank you! Second, spread the word. Send these to everyone you know and encourage them to read and subscribe. This blog is purely word of mouth right now. I rely on you, my readers, to help me get more readers. And third, please consider donating. It’ll enable me to continue to offer regular posts.

    Feel free to leave a comment with any questions about what I’ve written, any additional comments about the post, or if there’s a topic you’d like me to write about. Before doing that though, be sure to check out all my posts here and see if I’ve covered it already. And if you find I’ve done it already but aren’t satisfied or still have more questions, let me know!

    Thank you for reading this! I greatly appreciate each one of you. Until next time, God bless you all!