Honest Bible Interpretation: Assumptions, Humility, and Reality

Posted on 04/27/2009 by Paul Pavao

It seems that there’s always some incident making me want to talk about honest Bible interpretation.

Today it was a phone call  made to a call-in talk show. The hosts, conservatives like most talk radio hosts, had repeated a rumor I’ve heard that the lastest statistics say there’s been a 7-year cooling trend globally.

Caveat: This blog’s not about global warming. I have not yet checked whether that rumor is true. I don’t care about global warming.

I’m against polluting the earth. I am for weaning ourselves off coal and oil and using as much clean, free energy (sun, wind, tide, rivers) as possible. I like clean water and clear air.

I think if you don’t agree with that, then you’ve been blinded by politics, and you should ask God to deliver you from the world.

The caller was deeply offended. “What if,” she began, “listeners simply take a sound byte off the radio from you and assume it’s true?”

They went back and forth until I couldn’t take it anymore, and I turned the radio off. I had a question to ask her, and the hosts weren’t asking it.

Assumptions and Humility

Here’s what I would have asked. “What if listeners just took a sound byte off the radio from those hosts, assumed it was true … and it was true? Would you mind so much then?”

Or, “What if you just took sound bytes off the evening news, assumed it was true, and never checked it out? Is that a problem?”

The underlying assumption in her call was that these guys were wrong. What they said was false. Why? Not because she researched it. The other parts of her call made it obvious that she knew very little about global warming.

She was simply assuming that what she heard was true, exactly what she was accusing their listeners of doing.

Honest Bible Interpretation

Like I said earlier, this isn’t about global warming. If global warming is true, we should stop polluting the earth. If global warming is false, we should still stop polluting the earth. (What I do know is that we are polluting the earth less, especially in America. Yeah! Don’t slow down now!)

The problem is that so many Christians do exactly the same thing with the Bible. They are absolutely confident of so many doctrines that have a weak Biblical basis at best.

By itself, that’s not a big problem. You can get a lot of doctrine wrong and still be a great Christian if you obey Christ and walk by his Spirit.

However, the flip side is the condemnation and haughtiness associated with these assumptions.

Let’s pick a not-very-threatening example.

An Example: The Devil’s Rebellion in Heaven

Almost every Christian knows the story about the devil deceiving a third of the angels into rebelling against God. That’s how he became the devil, and he was thrown out of heaven.

Almost every modern Christian believes that everything from Revelation ch. 4 and forward is future prophecy.

Almost every modern Christian thus believes a contradiction.

The story about the devil deceiving a third of the angels is in Revelation 12. There’s no reason at all to believe that this happened before Adam.  It’s strange that any of us believe it at all.

Worse, the story simply says that the dragon drew a third of the stars of heaven with his tail and threw them to the ground. That could mean angels, I suppose, but I don’t know any Christians who believe that the stars which fell to earth in Revelation 6:13 are angels. I don’t know any who believe the twelve stars in the crown of the woman in Rev. 12:1 are angels.

There’s a lot of guessing and contradiction going on here.

That’s not the only place.

Honest Bible Interpretation: The Rest of Our Doctrines

I’m not going to talk about the rest of our doctrines. I don’t want to correct the rest of our doctrines. I want us to be more humble.

No, I want us to quit dividing.

We violate the Scriptures every day by telling young Christians to go to “a Bible-believing Church.” Of course, there will be 75 “Bible-believing” churches within driving distance of his house, and they will disagree on some really major doctrines, including how he is saved, how he keeps his salvation–or whether he even needs to–how he should be baptized, and what that baptism means.

Our tracts should say

Dear new believer, I am so sorry but I have to tell you to pick among our many sinful divisions of Christ’s body. I weep and cry to God every day that we might repent of our sin and unite. Until we do, you’ll have to choose from one of those divisions. Please don’t join the division. The Bible clearly teaches that it’s our unity that will convince the world that Jesus is God’s Son (Jn. 17:20-23), and Paul tells us that we’re being carnal when we say we belong to a denomination (1 Cor. 3:3-4). In fact, our divisions could keep us out of the kingdom of heaven (Gal. 5:19-21)!”

Assumptions and Honesty

I got a little off track there.

Let’s use another political example. In Hank Hanegraaff’s The Bible Answer Book (I can always count on Hank as a massive resource for presumptions and assumptions; generally I can find one on any page I look) , he writes, “The Book of Hebrews warns us that there were Jews who, like Judas, tasted God’s goodness and yet turned from grace. They acknowledged Christ with their lips, but their apostasy proved that their faith was not real.”

Really? Where does Hebrews say their faith wasn’t real?

The fact is, it doesn’t. Hanegraaff has argued the eternal security issue with people for years. He’s discussing Hebrews 6:2-6, actually, and he knows very well that whether the people mentioned there had a real faith or not is exactly what people argue about.

But he doesn’t care. He has a point to make. Who cares if it’s false or unreasonable?

Let’s quit picking on Hank Hanegraaff. What about you?

That verse you’re using to prove your point, does it really say what you say it says? Or do you just have a point to make whether or not the Bible really backs it up?

Maybe we could try saying, “You know, I think this, but I can’t really back it up well right now. Besides, you’re more important to me than this doctrine, even if I could back it up well. We’re both servants of Christ. Let’s follow him together.”

I know, I know. There’s doctrines we can’t do that with. We might be surprised how few doctrines we can’t do that with, however.

Humility and Good Works

We fight so strongly for our doctrines, and we are so offended when they are crossed. Yet, have you ever read the part in your Bible where we’re going to be judged for our doctrines?

I’ve never read it, either, because it doesn’t exist.

We are going to be judged by our deeds. The words of a Don Francisco song make the point perfectly (and Scripturally):

The thing I need to ask you is, have you done the things I said?
Do you love your wife?
For her and for your children, are you laying down your life?
What about the others?
Are you living as a servant for your sisters and your brothers?
Do you make the poor man beg you for a bone?
Do the widow and the orphan cry alone?

Now that’s some honest Bible interpretation!

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Low-Carb Christianity: How to Continue to the End

Posted on 04/24/2009 by Paul Pavao

Today, at the chiropractor’s office, I read that the problem with low-carb diets is that people can’t stick to them.

I’d heard that before. People who go on the Atkins’ diet have been tested, and the results are amazing. Not only do they lose weight, but heart-attack indicators like triglycerides are lowered. On top of this, they lose more weight that people on other diets . . .

For six months.

Yo-Yo Dieting and Yo-Yo Christianity

After twelve months people on the Atkins diet have usually lost no weight at all or very little.

The article said you would do better continuing with carbs, but making better choices. Get your carbohydrates from fruits and vegetables.

Which brings us to following Christ. This is, after all, not a health blog.

The Scriptures say:

Why, as though you are living in the world, do you subject yourself to religious dogmas? ‘Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle … ‘ are things that vanish and are misused because they belong to the commands and teaching of men. True, they have an appearance of wisdom in self-made religion, humility, and severity with the body, but they’re of no value against satisfying bodily desires. (Col. 2:21-23, wording by me)

When we get filled with zeal for God, we are prone to setting all sorts of strict rules for ourselves. We adopt strict dress codes, forbid all entertainment, and insert religious language into everything we say.

These things make us feel good about ourselves. We’re denying our natural inclinations, and we’re subjecting ourselves to God.

Or so we think.

Indulging Bodily Desires

Bodily desires do not only include food, sex, and luxury–the things against which we love to make rules. In the Scriptures, bodily desires include things like jealousy, pride, envy, and selfish ambition; they include hatred, slander, and gossip.

How often are our rules–“do not touch,” “do not taste,” “do not handle”–perfect vehicles for condemning others and then talking about those we condemn. They are great reasons for us to be proud of our Christianity and how well we do in Christ, especially compared to others. There are whole denominations founded on such strict rules, but those denominations struggle with hypocrisy and nominalism as badly as any others.

Such denominations are victims of low-carb Christianity. They’ve cut out the carbs, but it’s done no good against the indulgence of the flesh. Eventually, their desires overcome them, and those desires come out either by hypocritical violation of their own rules or by condemnation, envy, and hatred towards other Christians.

Walking by the Spirit

Do you ever wonder why the New Testament emphasizes walking by the Spirit over obeying the Law, but then turns around and says that only those who keep God’s commands know him (1 Jn. 2:3-4)?

It’s to save us from low-carb Christianity, a Christianity in which we will eventually be overcome by our cravings (Rom. 7). The problem with low-carb diets is not that they have the wrong goal. The problem is they don’t achieve the goal.

The same with low-carb Christianity. The problem is not the goal. Romans 7 warns us about the weakness of the Law, but it highly praises the purpose of the Law (e.g., v. 12). When God provides Romans 8–the sacrifice of Christ and walking by the Spirit–as a solution, it is to “fulfill the righteous requirement of the Law” (8:4).

It is good to keep God’s commands. It is not good to walk in the flesh.

Saul of Tarsus thought he was keeping God’s commands when he was killing Christians. Today, many “Christians” think they are keeping God’s commands while they hate their brother and divide Christ, and they are just as guilty and just as in need of the light of Jesus Christ as Saul was.

The Right Way to Deny the Flesh

Throughout Christian history there have been great saints of God who denied themselves in the extreme and were greatly blessed and used by God. What’s the difference between them and the low-carb Christians I’m talking about?

They denied themselves, not others.

If you walk by the Spirit, the first lesson you will get from God is that Romans 7 is true. In you, that is in your flesh, nothing good dwells. He will drive that home to you, and you will learn not to trust yourself.

If you walk by the Spirit, you will be filled with love. You will encourage your brother, not exalt yourself above him. You will consider others better than yourself, not because of your impressive humility, but because you know who you are. You won’t have to pretend you consider others ahead of yourself. Knowing yourself, seeing that nothing good dwells in you, it will not be difficult for you to do.

A Proper Diet

Just as the solution for a low-carb diet is to make modifications to your diet and lifestyle that will be permanent, so if you walk by the Spirit, you will find that you are able to walk in obedience to God. He will lead you; he will not overwhelm you with strict, ascetic rules that you can’t continue in. He won’t give you a lifestyle that causes you to look down your nose at others.

I once watched a news interview with Mother Theresa. A newscaster asked what it felt like to be a saint of God. Mother Theresa looked directly at him and said, “I am no more a saint than you are. I simply do what I can where I am, and you must do what you can where you are.”

I’m quoting from memory, so I’m sure that’s not real accurate, but that was the gist of her statement. It applies to all of us. We are not to make duplicates of ourselves; we are to make disciples of Christ. Jesus is still able to lead his people*.

*In the current state of Christianity, it is important when mentioning “his people” to point out that his people are those who have believed his Gospel. They deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow him. Those that accept Jesus into their heart on the promise of a better life followed by heaven, but who have not agreed to follow him wherever he leads them, are not his people. Sorry.

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GoodSearch: Would You Like to Help Contribute to Rose Creek Village Ministries . . . for Free?

Posted on 04/08/2009 by Paul Pavao

Good Search

GoodSearch is a Yahoo-powered search engine that donates 50% of its proceeds to charity. Better yet, it lets you choose the charity.

Their 50% works out to approximately 1 penny per search conducted on their page. Think of it! You can contribute to the kingdom of God without spending a dime. Just do what you’ve always done, but do it at GoodSearch.

Rose Creek Village Ministries

Rose Creek Village Ministries is devoted to speaking about, demonstrating, and spreading the life of God. As I write this, we have three people in Nakuru helping establish a church walking in the unity Christ prayed for, bound together by the Spirit of God.

Our missionaries stand out overseas. Unlike most preachers, they have not shown up simply to teach. They have shown up to fellowship.

The church we are starting there is based in a slum area of Nakuru, Kenya. The destitute families there are constantly astonished to find “Muzungus” (white people) coming into their houses to visit. They are thrilled, and they go out of their way to show all the hospitality they can.

Here in America and overseas, we want to bring far more than church services. We want to bring the life of God and teach the followers of Christ to live that life together, taking care of one another. Like the churches the apostles started, we teach the followers of Christ to share everything with one another, taking care of one another like we are more than family to one another–which we are. We are one Spirit in Christ.

Combining the Two

Rose Creek Village Ministries is listed with GoodSearch.

RCV Ministries doesn’t waste money. We have no paid employees, so no one profits from the ministry. What we have extra goes to orphans in India and Myanmar through Voice of Gospel’s Mercy Homes and through Orphan’s Tear.

I’m asking you to consider doing your searches with GoodSearch, and don’t forget GoodShop as well! No extra cost, you simply get to the places you’ve always shopped using GoodShop as your portal.

Thank you!

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Except a Man Be Born Again

Posted on 04/08/2009 by Paul Pavao

Have you ever wondered if someone was really a Christian?

You see regular signs that they’re not. Perhaps there’s a lack of interest in obeying Christ. Perhaps there’s situations where you wonder, “Can a Christian really be that mean on a regular basis?”

I suspect we’ve all encountered people like that.

The problem is that they’re regular church attenders. They pray. They give whenever a collection is taken. They do all the right religious things. How could they not be a Christian?

Nicodemus

Have you ever considered just whom Jesus was talking to when he said, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God”?

This was a Pharisee; and not just any Pharisee. This Pharisee, Nicodemus, came to Jesus at night to learn from him.

He was doing all the right things. How could Nicodemus not be heading for the kingdom of God?

Examine Yourselves; Whether You Are in the Faith

Each of us are told to examine ourselves. Doing the right things is not enough to know that we are born again or that we are in the faith.

Remember the rich, young ruler. Here’s a guy who had kept the commandments from his youth. Now he was on his knee, asking Jesus for eternal life. The Scripture says that Jesus loved him.

He went away sad.

Doing the right things is not enough to know that you are in the faith. You must be born again.

There is a fellowship with God that delivers from sin. It changes and transforms those who enter into it. According to Scripture, it is “his divine power” that has given us all things pertaining to life and godliness.

Religious People

Religious people abound. The fact that someone is religious does not establish that they have the Spirit of God.

You may or may not know this, but it was normal for religious Jews under the Old Covenant to be without God’s Spirit. Only priests, prophets, kings, and a certain few special people received the Spirit of God under the Old Covenant.

The promise of the New Covenant is that everyone can receive his Spirit, from the least to the greatest.

That is our goal. Our goal is not being good and having the right thoughts. Our goal is to be born again and receive the Spirit of God.

Only as we walk in the Spirit can we overcome the flesh. It is true, we must be born again.

And being religious–or even outwardly righteous–does not make us born again.

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Bible Preaching and Unity

Posted on 04/01/2009 by Paul Pavao

I responded to an email asking about Bible preaching and why the preacher was lacking success, and worse, feeling unfulfilled. Here’s what I wrote:

Small Things

Our approach to changing things has been to start small. Jesus didn’t begin a political movement to change the cultural momentum in Israel. He didn’t even try to get the Romans thrown out. He simply gathered twelve disciples around him–and a few women–and kept them with him as he preached.

He made a big impact in his country, but he didn’t change the country much by himself. His apostles, on the other hand, changed the whole world.

We would include Jesus’ 30 years as a quiet citizen of Nazareth as part of his ministry. We like to say that Jesus spent 30 years preparing to minister for 3.

The Scriptures say, “Don’t despise the day of small things.”

The Power of the Church

There is a power to the church–the gathered people of God–that will never be found in an individual ministry. Protestants have thrown the baby out with the bathwater. They escaped Rome, but they lost an understanding of the Church and the promises tied to it.

To us, it begins with two. The supply, according to Ephesians 4:16 and Colossians 2:19, comes from the joints and ligaments. In other words, it comes from the joining of the saints. It’s nourishment.

That’s why so many ministers, like yourself, feel unfulfilled. You’re not being properly nourished because you can’t get properly joined, and nourishment comes from the joining.

Keep your eyes open for whom you can join with; whose heart you can be tied to in the same way that the Father and Son’s hearts are joined. Feed each other, and thus give people something they can come into. Bible preaching is good, but in the apostolic churches there was something for those who heard the preaching to come into. “The Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.”

Remember what happened with Paul? He was knocked off his horse on the way to Damascus. There he was, on the road, communing with Jesus. Jesus was speaking to him personally, and Paul could see him.

Nonetheless, Jesus wanted him to be joined to something. He didn’t save Paul there on the road. He sent him to Damascus to be healed of his blindness and to have his sins washed away by Ananias (Acts 22:16).

Maybe that’s why Paul understood and emphasized the church so strongly.

Posted in Bible, Church | 4 Comments

The Simplicity of Christ

Posted on 03/23/2009 by Paul Pavao

In 2 Cor. 11:3, the apostle Paul says that he doesn’t want our minds to be “destroyed” from the simplicity of Christ.

You have to be careful about making too much of Greek definitions, but in 2 Cor. 11:3, I think the Greek is important.

“Simplicity” is haplotes, which primarily means “single.” In fact, even Wikipedia, in its entry on haplotypes or haploid genotypes, mentions that the word means “onefold, single, simple.”

We are to be one-minded for Christ.

What Is the Simplicity of Christ?

So what’s the point?

There’s a verse that I believe illustrates the concept well:

Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? (Gal. 3:3)

We may have lots of ideas about how to grow in Christ, but there’s only one.  We grow by the Spirit. We walk by the Spirit. Our mind is to be set on one thing–the Spirit of Christ.

What about keeping the Sabbath? Nope. Circumcision? Nope. How about self-control? Prayer? Bible study?

Nope.

Self-control is a fruit of the Spirit. Everything that is good is a fruit of the Spirit. You’ll notice that the passage about the fruit of the Spirit ends with “against these kind of things there is no law” (Gal. 5:23, my paraphrase). That list of the fruit of the Spirit is not exhaustive.

What’s the Practical Application of the Simplicity of Christ

The practical application is that you can’t do this on your own. You can’t follow Christ on your own.

You don’t know what to do. You can’t study enough to know how to behave in this life.

You can only walk in the Spirit.

This is the singleness of Christ, and it works.

If you walk by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. If you walk by the Spirit, you will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh (Gal 5:16-18.

What About All That Important Stuff You Talk About on This Blog?

I like to talk about unity on this blog. Jesus definitely said it was important (Jn. 17:20-23).

I like to talk about the fact that we need each other to grow. In fact, I’m prone to saying Jesus and the Bible aren’t enough. The Bible says we grow as each of us does our part and as we speak the truth in love to one another (Eph. 4:11-16). On the negative side, it says we’re in danger of deception and hardening of the heart if we don’t exhort one another (Heb. 3:13).

How does all that relate?

Our unity is a unity of the Spirit. We are simply to maintain it (Eph. 4:3).

If you walk by the Spirit, you will do all those things, because all those things are a product of love, and the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Rom. 5:5).

All those other things are descriptions of what should be happening if you’re walking by the Spirit. If you want to do those things, you should walk by the Spirit, obtaining Christ’s guidance and Christ’s grace by doing so.

Ours Is NOT a Religion of Rules and Principles

Our religion is a spiritual one. It is powerful because it is spiritual.

The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, and love is the fulfillment of the Law.

Yes, true religion is to take care of the widows and the orphans. But which ones?

I like to think of a “doorstep ministry.” Whom has Christ put on your doorstep? If you are walking by the Spirit, and the love of God is filling your heart, then compassion will fill your heart–as it did Christ’s–and you will meet the need of those on your doorstep.

Look at the judgment of Christ in Matt. 25:31-46. Jesus tells the goats in that prophecy that he was hungry and they didn’t feed him. They knew he was hungry, and they didn’t meet his need.

In James 2:15-16, James tells us that we can’t just hope and pray for the needs of our brothers and sisters. We have to meet them. Which ones? The ones you can talk to. The ones on your doorstep. 1 Jn. 3:17 says that we don’t have the love of God if we close off our feelings of mercy. To whom is it addressed? To those who “see their brother in need.”

Our doorstep has gotten a lot bigger. Compassion International–and favorites of ours, Heaven’s Family and Voice of Gospel–put overseas needs right on our doorstep.

Ministries like that tug at our heart. Don’t “shut up” those feelings of mercy.

You don’t have to live your life thinking about how you’re going to minister to the whole world. In fact, that can be a distraction.

Walk by the Spirit, and you won’t need a law. You will not fulfill the desires of the flesh. You will have the love of God in your heart, and you will show compassion when those needs fall on your doorstep.

And if God knows you’re there, a child of his because you are led by the Spirit (Rom. 8:14), he’ll drop those needs on your doorstep. God knows where to go for help, and he is well able to send people to you for help.

Your job is to walk by the Spirit and in this way make sure there’s a godly heart of compassion waiting for those in need.

The Simplicity of Christ

This is the simplicity, or single-mindedness, of Christ.

You don’t have time to figure out how to save the world. In fact, it’s not very smart to do so. God’s already figured it out.

He just needs tools.

Walk by the Spirit, and you’ll be one of those tools.

“Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by your (supposedly righteous) self?

Sorry, I took some liberties with the translation there. I think, though, that’s exactly what he meant.

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Platform 9 3/4: The Roman Catholics’ Nine and Three-Quarter Commandments

Posted on 03/20/2009 by Paul Pavao

I’m not sure how many of you know that the Roman Catholics have a different ten commandments than the Protestants, but they do.

I was raised Catholic, and I was stunned when I found out that “Thou shalt not make any graven images” was one of the ten commandments. I had memorized the ten commandments, and that just wasn’t one of them.

The Roman Catholics argue that the Protestants are reading Exodus 20 wrong.

They’re lying.

Ok, well, now I’m on the spot.  That’s a rude thing to say. Do I have any reason for saying it?

The Roman Catholics’ Not-So-Fancy Footwork

In order to get rid of one commandment, they had to turn another into two. The one they chose was “Thou shalt not covet.” For the RCC that one is two commandments: “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife” and “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s goods.”

Nice.

Removing the commandment about graven images from the list of ten commandments only works on people who don’t read the Bible. Even if you take it out of the list of ten, Exodus 20:4 still says not to make graven images. So Bible readers are going to notice.

In the same way, splitting the 10th commandment into two only works  on people who don’t read the Bible. Let’s look at Exodus 20:17:

You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.

Do you see the problem here?

If “thou shalt not covet your neighbor’s wife” is the 9th command of itself and the 10th commandment comes after it, then what about our neighbor’s house? Shouldn’t it be three commands? You shall not covet your neighbor’s house, and you shall not covet his wife, and you shall not covet his goods.

That’s the way it’s written! Isn’t it?

The way the Catholics read this verse, it leaves out the part about the house. That’s why I talked about platform 9 3/4. They left out one small portion of one of the commands.

Did They Really Simply Miss This?

So am I supposed to believe that popes, cardinals, bishops, and priests, who have devoted their lives to Christ and to the Gospel, have never noticed this? When Protestants argued with them and told them they took out the command on graven images, they never looked nor noticed that their ten commandments don’t fit in Exodus 20?

They did look. They don’t care. They continue to say the same thing, so they’re lying.

Simple as that, I say.

Hey, not that Protestants have a lot of room to talk. There’s a whole mess of verses we don’t believe, either.

But we’re not talking about that right now. I talk about that a lot. Today I figured it was the Roman Catholics’ turn.

Posted in Bible, History, Modern Doctrines | Tagged , | 1 Comment

The Praise of the Brethren

Posted on 03/12/2009 by Paul Pavao

Every morning at work, except Mondays, our whole warehouse–about 20 people–gets together to sing a couple songs and give some quick encouragement for the day. We take 15 or 20 minutes, but it’s incredibly refreshing.

Last week, a sister had the great idea of drawing names and giving each other some brief encouragement, talking about the good we saw in the person whose name we drew.

Yesterday, we finished that up, and whoever had my name–funny, I don’t remember who–said a couple really nice things about me. Then 2 or 3 others added to that.

Fortunately, an older and wiser brother there put a stop to that and moved us on to other things.

It reminded me of the days, however, when I used to be fooled by that kind of praise.

In Me Nothing Good Dwells

Have you ever taken praise to heart and decided that you were a particularly good Christian?

I have.

Repeatedly.

As a result, I know firsthand that the Lord disiplines, chastens, and reproves the ones he loves.

I figure the one bit of praise it might be okay to give me is that I really know that in me, nothing good dwells.

I’ve been a Christian 27 years. It took me 18 years to really believe Romans 7:18.

Giving Glory to God

I read a newsletter a couple years ago in which a minister testified that he had not knowingly sinned in 23 years.

Wow.

I must not be a Christian.

I’ve learned not to spend time worrying about that. I figure I’m just a hopeless case, and I really should be spending my time trying to help God and others. (Ok, so God doesn’t need help. However, as one further act of kindness towards us, he lets us help him fulfill his purposes.)

I don’t know how much time you’ve devoted to being a really good Christian, but I’ve devoted a lot of time and effort to being a really good Christian. As far as I can tell, it turned God’s stomach.

The word of God to me has been, “Every time you think about yourself or mention yourself to others–unless you really believe it will help them–I’m going to make you miserable. You’ll regret it . . . bad.”

Okay, I don’t think God talks like that. I’m just translating from the spiritual language down inside to inadequate English words as best I can.

I met that minister that hasn’t sinned in 23 years. Neither my friends nor I liked him. God bless him; may he be a blessing to others, but may God bless me to never be like him.

A Good Christian

God isn’t interested in you being a good Christian. At least, that’s what I believe.

God’s interested in you being a good servant. May you go to your grave never knowing whether you were a good Christian or not.

When you quit wasting your time being a good Christian, you can ask God what good works he created way back in the beginning for you to do (Eph. 2:10), and you can get busy doing them. Run your course!

Then, when you die, I suspect you’ll find out what I’ve found out. God doesn’t love me because I’m a good Christian. God doesn’t back me up when I speak his Words because I’m an excellent minister of the Word of God.

God loves me because he’s infinitely good.

When I die, I want to be found saying what Paul said. “I finished my course. I ran the race. And now there is laid up for me a crown of glory like he has laid up for all the righteous.”

How will I know there’s a crown of glory? Because I know him. Because every time I look up, he’s there. He’s berating me when I’m trying to be awesome–or worse, ignoring me–and He’s loving me, forgiving me, strengthening me, giving me lots of undeserved power, and helping people through me . . . when I’m serving.

You know what I mean. “If you want to be great in the kingdom of God . . . ” and all that sort of thing . . .

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Why Believe? Did Jesus Really Rise from the Dead?

Posted on 03/11/2009 by Paul Pavao

I heard a song on the radio announce that Jesus had conquered the grave.

Did he really? That’s an extraordinary claim, don’t you think? Do we really believe that a man got up out of the grave and never entered it again?

If that happened, it would sure be a good argument that he was the Son of God, the eternal Word of the Father.

Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus Christ

Josh McDowell and Lee Strobel have both written books with excellent historical arguments for the resurrection of Jesus.

I love history, so you know I like those arguments. Some of them helped lead to my conversion. Factual things matter to me.

However, they will never result in the conversion of anyone. Or, if they do, the conversion will be useless and temporary.

The fact is, there is . . .

Much Better Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus Christ

I once heard a Southern Gospel song that I believe was called “Please Don’t Tell My Daddy.”

In the song a young boy overheard two men saying that Jesus wasn’t real. He went up to the two men and said, “Please don’t tell my daddy Jesus isn’t real. Since he met Jesus, he doesn’t drink, and he doesn’t beat up mommy anymore.”

Who’s seen Jesus alive since the supposed resurrection?

I’d argue that little boy has seen Jesus, alive, a couple thousand years after the resurrection.

As a new Christian I watched a young lady from the streets come into a Bible study with a hardened, twisted face. Later that night, she encountered the risen Lord Jesus.

I saw her Sunday morning, and she was beautiful, though you’d never have known that on Friday. Her face was completely transformed, and it shone.

What was more amazing was her comment about the shining eyes she could see in others. She didn’t know any of the people in the Sunday school class, but she had no problem accurately picking out the real Christians from the nominal ones with a glance.

(Sorry if that’s offensive. I’m just telling you a true story.)

That girl’s name was Linda White. She met Jesus. Alive. Two thousand years after he died.

Those Who’ve Seen Jesus

Who’s seen Jesus?

Did you realize the apostle Paul never saw Jesus resurrected “in the flesh” the way that Peter, the other apostles, and Mary Magdalene did?

Yet who doubts Paul saw Jesus?

It wasn’t “better” to see him “in the flesh.” The apostles, and even dear Mary Magdalene, had trouble recognizing him after he rose from the dead. They had to recognize him every bit as spiritually as you and I do.

The Real Historical Testimony

The fact is that millions of people have seen Jesus over the 2,000 years since he died–temporarily.

In the worst of circumstances and in the best of circumstances; in situations where faith in Christ was popular and in situations where it was not; people have met Jesus, and Jesus has utterly transformed their lives in the most remarkable manner.

The recent movie “Fireproof” has one of the characters say about a Christian in the movie, “He’s the real deal.”

There is no better testimony than “the real deal.“

Yes, Lee Strobel was moved by historical evidence. Now he passes on that historical evidence to others. Thank God for him.

But you know the real reason Lee Strobel is a Christian? Because his wife is the real deal.

“Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar because he doesn’t believe the testimony that God has given concerning his Son.

“And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life . . . He that has the Son has the Life.”

~1 John 5:10-12

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Christian Unity: Practical Issues Worth Arguing Over

Posted on 03/09/2009 by Paul Pavao

I was asked in a comment about practical issues worth arguing over.  Some of those are addressed at the doctrine page on my new church history web site.

The practical issues that are worth arguing over are . . . ready for this?

Practical issues.

It’s What We Do That Matters

There’s so many Scriptures saying this that I don’t know where to start.

2 Tim. 2:19 says the firm foundation of God stands sure, and it has this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his, and let those who name the name of Christ depart from iniquity.”

This is the foundation: let’s turn away from iniquity.

Jesus died to purify for himself a peculiar people "zealous for good works" (Tit. 2:14).

What is Sound Doctrine

Paul says what sound doctrine is in Titus 2:1-10. If you haven’t read through that with the idea in mind that those verses describe sound doctrine, then you need to.

It could change your life.

Today we Christians don’t know what sound doctrine is. So it has changed our lives for the worst.

Paul describes our problem exactly. He knew what the lack of sound doctrine would cause. Listen to this:

If anyone teaches otherwise and does not consent to sound words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness, then . . .

. . . he knows nothing! Instead, he  has a neurotic obsession with arguments and debates, from which come envy, strife, slander, wicked suspicions, and empty pratter from men destitute of the truth and who suppose that godliness is a means of gain.

1 Timothy 6:3-5 (translation is mine, but it’s accurate)

Titus 2:1-10. You should read it. That’s sound doctrine, and if you do not consent to it, then . . .

Well, then you’ll end up like so many others are.

The Righteous Man Will Be Taught by God

It is not deception that you should fear. It is disobedience.

The disobedient person has no hope. God may deceive that person himself! On purpose! (2 Thess. 2:10ff)

Jesus once said, “If anyone wants to do my will, then he will know of the teaching, whether it is of God.”

I believe the ultimate example of this truth is the letters in the book of the Revelation, chapters 2-3. There, Jesus sent seven letters to seven churches. Five of them are upbraided, and every one that is rebuked is rebuked for one thing: their deeds.

Why should Jesus worry about their being deceived? He’s able to send them letters because he’s alive and real.

He’s able to speak to them because he’s given them his Spirit.

However, if they don’t obey and walk by the Spirit, then all his correction won’t do them a bit of good!

Obedience to God triumphs over everything. It is the one thing worth arguing for!

Promises that God Will Teach Us

Modern Christians worry about doctrine, and the doctrines they worry about are not the ones Paul worried about (Tit. 2:1-10 again).

If we’d worry about the right things, we wouldn’t have to worry about those things.

God has said in the Scriptures that we don’t need anyone to teach us. The Spirit will teach us (us, not me–the Greek is plural in 1 John 2:27). The context is specifically concerning those who are trying to deceive us (v. 26).

Then God adds through the apostle Paul that if we will obey and speak the truth to one another and do our part, then we won’t be blown about by winds of teaching coming from deceivers (Eph. 4:11-16).

What the Apostles Argued About

Look at what’s written in the letters of the apostles. They were concerned about the disciples living disobedient to God.

Yes, there’s exceptions. Paul was concerned about people who taught things like that the resurrection was already past. John was concerned about people who taught that Jesus didn’t come in the flesh.

There are some theological issues that are basic to our faith. You need to believe that Jesus died and shed his blood for you. We can’t have people in the church denying truths like that.

However, even in those cases, you can see that behavior was an issue, too. The people who taught that Jesus didn’t come in the flesh were also living unrighteously. John was very quick to say that those who live righteously are of God (1 Jn. 3:7-10).

Paul is concerned about people who “profess to know God, but in works they deny him.”

Restoring the Foundation

We need a restoration today. We don’t need great, insightful people. We need obedient people.

Obedient people will be taught by God, and they won’t need worldly wisdom or a high IQ. They will overthrow the wise of the earth.

That’s the foundation of God: let those who name the name of Christ depart from iniquity.

That’s worth arguing over.

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