Author Archives: Dave

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September 9, 2015

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Current Events, Life Questions, Salvation

Can I be forgiven for having an abortion?

Abortion has recently been a major topic of conversation in the Everlasting Truths ministry. The Biblical view of abortion is that it is always the willful murder of an innocent human life. Abortion is a horrible thing, the slaughter of one of society’s most innocent and helpless. These truths should sting, but they should not drive anyone to despair. The tragedy of abortion is not exhausted in the extermination of unborn babies but also in the guilt, shame and emotional turmoil of millions of women who have had abortions. Many of these women wonder if she can ever be forgiven. To that anguished heart, Bible shouts a joy filled answer. The resounding cry echoing out of the pages of the Bible is, Yes, you can be forgiven. Whether you have had an abortion, talked a partner into having an abortion or performed abortions, forgiveness is not out of reach.

The Biblical promise of salvation is not limited those individuals who have been basically good. There is no such thing as a sin God will refuse to forgive, nor a level of sinfulness beyond God’s grace. The promise of the Bible is clear, “Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.” Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy. He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.” (Micah 7:18-19) The Israelites were guilty of a wide range of wicked sins, including sacrificing their infants and young children to idols. Despite the greatness of their sin, God offers a blanket promise. He will give full forgiveness to those who turn from their false worship to Him. He gives the same promise to all men today. No matter the magnitude of your sin, if you will turn from your sin to Him, He will have compassion and cast all your sin into the deepest seas. In Isaiah God promises, “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be like wool.” (Isaiah 1:18) You may have a scarlet letter emblazoned in fiery letters on your heart, always reminding you of the wrong you have done. You may feel as if there is no way you can ever atone for your sin. The promise of God is you don’t have to make atonement or purge your guilt. Atonement has been made. The judge stands ready to erase all your guilt.

The promise of Jesus is that your abortion will never be remembered by God. You do not have to live in shame or guilt. You can be fully forgiven. When you turn from your sin to Jesus, God promises to remove all your sin. Jesus took on Himself the entirety of the punishment you deserve and gives His righteousness to all who believe. When you place your full dependence on Jesus, the Son of God who died, was buried and rose again for your sin, God will look on you differently. No longer will you be condemned. You will be a righteous daughter of God who is covered by the blood of Jesus. Despite the awful tragedy of abortion, it is not the unforgivable sin. Penance is not required, shame can be set aside, guilt is removed because the full penalty has been paid by Jesus.

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September 4, 2015

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Church

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Does God look at the “saved” Christian’s denomination, or their heart on judgment day? (Part 2)

In continuing to answer the question, “does God look at the saved Christian’s denomination or their heart on judgment day”, it is worth considering the judgment of the unbeliever that is coming at the end of the world. As was said in the last article, at death the saved person enters immediately into heaven. The unsaved one enters immediately into hell (Luke 16:22-23). One’s destination after death is determined in this life. To borrow from the American legal systemn, in this life sentence is passaged and upon death judgment is executed. For the unsaved hell is a holding place while this age is brought to its conclusion. There is a coming judgment which is described in Revelation 10:10-15. During that judgment the lost will stand before the throne of God and be judged for their lives. In the course of judgment books are opened which contain the record of the person’s life. The judged will be condemned based upon the content of those books. All who come before the Great White Throne of God’s judgment will be condemned. They will be cast into eternal fire and punishment because their names are not written in the book of life. The book of life is the record of all those who have trusted Jesus for salvation. The ones whose names are written in the book of life are those who have trusted Jesus for forgiveness of sin. The unsaved one is not condemned because of his wrong denomination or even his wrong religion. The factor which seals the fate of the unsaved is his disbelief in Jesus.

No one is saved because of the denomination or church of which he is a part. Salvation is not refused to those who are part of the wrong denomination. Though salvation is not at all dependent on one’s denomination, this does not imply that denominations are unimportant or that denominational distinctions are invalid. A saved person needs to be part of a church which helps his growth in Christ not which hinders it. Some churches teach things that are contrary to the teachings of the Bible. Some churches make unBiblical demands of Christians. Some churches don’t make any Biblical demands of the Christian. The distinctions between churches and denominations are not like different flavors of the same ice cream. Denominations exist for a reason. In most cases the differences between denominations are much more than differences in worship services or whether the guy up front is called father, reverend or pastor. The differences between denominations are ones of doctrine. One denomination teaches something signficantly different than another The attempts to blur the lines between denominations does a disservice to Christians and to denominations by acting like important differences aren’t important at all. For further information you can read this article.

Salvation is accomplished fully by Jesus. All those who trust only Him for forgiveness will be saved regardless of church background, church attendance or denominational affiliation. Though one’s denomination has no impact on salvation, it will have great impact on the Christian life. What church one attends is important. Those who are saved will be best served in churches which clearly and accurately teach the Bible, applying it effectively to the Christian’s life and helping him to grow in service, obedience and imitation of Jesus.

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September 2, 2015

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Salvation

Does God look at the “saved” Christian’s denomination, or their heart on judgment day?

This question touches on topics that need a lengthy explanation for the reader to have a sound understanding. Consequently, though at first glance the question may appear to some to be emminently easy, a simple answer will not do. The answer that might be most popular, and tweetable, is to say, “When you stand before God, He is not going to ask to what denomination you belonged.” Such an answer, those possibly accurate, skips over some crucial truths. A sound bite answer will not suffice. The most Biblically accurate answer to this question is neither. When the saved person stands forth for judgment, his salvation is not based upon himself or his church. When God looks at any one to determine his fitness for heaven, God looks at the finished work of Jesus and if that work has been applied ot the individual’s heart. The saved person’s heart is righteous because it has been made new by Jesus. The saved person’s heart is clean because all guilt has been washed away by Jesus. If God were to base salvation on the sincerity of the person’s heart none would have hope of salvation. When God looks at the saved, He looks at Jesus. Salvation has nothing to do with sincerity of heart or denominational affiliation, but on Jesus’ work and if that work has been applied by faith to the sinful heart of an individual.

No saved Christian will face judgment to determine if he will enter heaven. At a person’s salvation, Heaven is secured. At death the believer goes immediately into the presence of Jesus. Paul points to this in Philippians 1:23 when he says he desires to depart this life and be with Christ. When Jesus speaks of the death of the righteous beggar in Luke 16, the righteous man enters immediately into heaven. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:8 that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. These verses all imply that at death the saved immediately enter heaven, without any kind of trial to determine if they deserve to be there.

Though the believer enters directly into heaven without an entrance examination, he does face a judgment. The judgment faced by the believer has nothing to do with salvation. The judgment of the Christian is not a judgment of guilt or innocence, but a judgment of service. 2 Corinthians 5 says every Christians will stand before the judgment seat of Christ and will be rewarded according to the service he has rendered in this life. 1 Corinthians 3 says the Christian will be rewarded or lose reward based upon his service, but all believers will be saved though some may have no reward in heaven. What will be the subject matter at that judgment? The passages in 1 and 2 Corinthians say the believers judgment will be one regarding service and good works. This author thinks it plausible that such judgment will consider church involvement, but cannot say so with certainty. What is certain is the believer’s judgment will be one of accountability for the way he has served his Master. Those who have faithfully used the resources entrusted to him for the increase of God’s kingdom will be rewarded. Those who have squandered the resources will be rebuked. Such rebuke is not condemnation to eternal punishment but is the loss of potential reward for misusing the Master’s resources.

Lest this article run over long, the answer will be continued in the next article.

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August 26, 2015

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Current Events, Humanity, Life Questions

Why do Christians insist abortion is murder?

The news has been buzzing with reports of secretly recorded video showing abortion providers discussing the best way to dismember a baby to maximize the possibility of getting salable parts. The apparent callousness has stirred up intense conversation about abortion and Planned Parenthood. The callous treatment of such a barabarous practice has shocked many. The abortion industry’s hypocrisy is made evident by these videos. One defense offered for harvesting organs from the unborn is that the material is not from a living person, but a mass of tissue that has the potential to become a person. Many Christians respond that the “product of conception” being aborted is a living human being who possesses all the necessary traits of personhood. To kill the baby in the womb, even if it somehow results in saving lives by furthering medical research, is just as murderous an act as killing the infant in the crib.

Why do Christian’s make such a claim? Don’t scientists disagree about when life begins? Don’t philosophers and psychologists disagree about what makes a person a person? Despite the appearance of a lack of consensus about life and personhood, the Christian declares abortion is murder because of the teachings of the Word of God. The abortion debate does not center around whether it is legitimate to kill an innocent, defenseless person. Very few argue it is right to kill someone for convenience sake. The abortion debate centers around the origin of life and the beginning of personhood.

The origin of life is not an easy topic to discuss, but one point is most defensible as the true beginning of human life- fertilization. When the mother’s egg is fertilized it begins the journey that will naturally end in the birth of a human baby. From that point on a myriad of things happen, but each event is just the next step in a series that begin at fertilization. Some have argued the baby is not really alive until after birth, but modern science, including ultrasound technology and surgical procedures on infants en utero, has show the impossibility of that argument. Defining life based on a stage in the pregnancy, whether it be weeks, trimesters or developmental milestones are all equally specious. Why is a baby at the very end of the first trimester not life, but the next day is a life? All marks are arbitrary except one. Life begins at conception and grows progressively until it reaches maturity. The Levitical passages regarding the protection of the unborn child show the Bible definitely views the baby in the womb as alive.

The harder question is that of personhood. When does a life in the womb become a person? Several Biblical characters evidence marks of personhood in the womb. Jacob and Esau fought together in the womb. While still in the womb, John the Baptist leapt for joy when Mary, the mother of Jesus, visited Elizabeth. Other individuals, including Jeremiah, were called out by God for ministry before their birth. All these actions and emotions- jealousy, anger, joy, spiritual awareness and calling to ministry- are evidences of genuine personhood. The strongest Biblical statements on the personhood of the unborn are found in the Psalms. Psalm 51:5 says, “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.” The Psalmist was declared by God to be a sinful creature though still in the womb. God does not hold a lump of tissue guilty, only persons. God does not hold a collection of cells as sinful, only a person. Indvidual and unique personhood is declared by God in His Word.

The fetus is a living human being who possesses all the attributes of personhood. Abortion is murder because it is the immoral destruction of an innocent human life. Abortion crushes the life of a person made in the image of God. Abortion rips apart the life of the most innocent persons on our planet. Abortion is murder most heinous.

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August 19, 2015

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Current Events, Politics, Sin

What can be done about racism?

Racial differences are surface differences of color and culture. Beneath the trivial external variations all men are created in the image of God. The American religious landscape is dotted with perverse teachings claiming certain ethnic groups are not created in God’s image. Some have said the curse of Canaan is why black people will be slaves or poor. Some have said that blacks are not actually descended from Adam but from another group that was created by not given a soul like Adam and Eve were. Similar stupidities have been spouted about Indians, Mexicans and Eskimos. No teaching of racial superiority or inferiority is found in the Bible. The Biblical reality is that every person who has ever lived is a descendant of Adam and Eve. As a result, every person of every color and culture bears the image of God. Every person on this planet carries within the unique mark of the semblance of the Divine. All men share a common origin, common heritage and common created representation of God. Racism is not only an attack on others, it is an attack on the image of God.

The problems between ethnic groups are not caused by the intrinsic differences between groups. The problems between the races are caused by the intrinsic similarities between all people. Men do not hate others because they are different. Men hate others because of the sin, pride, selfishness, jealousy and hatred that resides naturally in every human heart. “For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.” Romans 3 describes all men, “Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Destruction and misery are in their ways.” Racial violence and tensions are not because a few men are racists. The problems between races are just one expression of the universal selfishness and hatred that characterizes all mankind without Christ. As long as men are without Christ they will find an excuse to hate others. The solution is not found in taking down all nationalistic or tribal symbols. The solution is not fostering dialog between different groups. The solution The solution is replacing the commonality that divides with a commonality that unites. The solution is the transformation of the heart and relationships that can only be produced by Christ.

This transformation and unity is to be modeled withing the church. Jesus prayed that all His disciples would be one, even as He and the Father are one. The church is a community that is characterized by it’s cross cultural communion. In the church station, privilege and importance are not defined by familial heritage, personal income or political power. In the church “there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free:” In the church all the redeemed are “all one in Christ.” The work of Christ on the cross has removed all national, language and culture barriers between people. In Christ, Christians are made members of a new people group. Christians are now a “holy nation, a peculiar people.” Surface diversities are nothing when compared to the essential unity between men. Racism will end when man’s sin nature is replaced by the new nature of Jesus.

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July 29, 2015

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Uncategorized

How should the church respond to the legalization of homosexual marriage?

The individual Christian’s response to the Supreme Court’s recent decision to nationally legalize homosexual marriage is not identical with that of the local church. The local church has a unique function and has been Divinely limited in its operations. Individual Christian’s have the opportunit ot band together in organizations to combat this decision. This is not an option for the church. (For the sake of clarity, I am defining the church as an organized assembly that regularly meets together and is comprised of Christians in a committed fellowship with one another. In other words, the visible local churches, not the invisible body of Christ comprised of all the saved.) Individual Christians may band together in political action committees, pro-marriage organizations and other lobbyist groups to use all legal means to overturn the supreme Court’s decision. Christians have the liberty, Biblically and nationally, to use all legal means at their disposal to correct the court’s egregious error. However, churches do not have that same liberty.

The Bible gives a very narrow definition of the functions of the church. The church does not have liberty to seek to operate outside those Biblically described boundaries. The church must continue to preach and teach the Word as has been done since the very beginning of the church age. The ministry of the church is far to important to be sidetracked into pressing political matters. To the local churches a large part of the response to the decision in Obergefell v. Hodges is to carry on as normal- or at least carry on with what the Bible defines as normal for the church. The church’s task is to prepare Christians to minister to one another and to the unsaved. This task has not changed. While the church may need to provide some specific instruction on how deal with difficult questions unsaved friends might bring up, the ministry of the church has not been altered by the recent ruling.

The message of the church must remain solidly grounded in Biblical truth. The gospel is the only hope this nation has. Stopping homosexual marriage is not the answer for America’s moral malaise. The answer is the transformative work of the gospel. The church must clearly preach the Word of God every single Sunday. The culture is not going to be changed by politically driven ministries. The culture is going to be changed by the Word of God. Churches must be preaching the Word and equipping their members to go into the community proclaiming the Word.

Churches also need to be prepared for the challenges that are coming. Seeing the warning signs of religious persecution in this most recent decision and making wise preparation is not alarmism but realism. The deliberations and dissenting opinions before the Supreme Court gave strong hints of future troubles. Churches will face loss of tax exempt status, lawsuits and fines. The church needs to prepare itself to stand with grace and conviction in the legal fights to come. Churches need to prepare themselves to support those members who lose jobs and assets because they have refused to support the mandate of this new America.

Prayer for the nation and individual leaders must echo through the halls and from the sanctuaries of churches all across our nation. Prayer for the salvation of the lost and for righteous leaders. Prayer must not be joined with fear. Students of the Bible and church history are not at all surprised to find America turning against Christianity. America has been against Biblical Christianity for many, many decades. The church has for the most part been a group without power in this world, outside the favor of governments. The history of the church in America is not typical of church experiences across the globe or throughout history. Normal for the church is marginalization and opposition. Persecution and suffering are common. Churches must steel themselves to remain joyful in their faithfulness, no matter how intense the coming persecution becomes.

Though the temptation to bow to immoral dictates will be very strong, churches must remain steadfast. The temptation to live in fear and sorrow is great, but churches and Christians must remain joyful. “Consider Him who endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself, lest ye be wearing and faint in your minds.”

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July 22, 2015

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Christian living, Christianity, Current Events, Life Questions, Marriage, Politics, Sexuality

How should Christians respond to the recent Supreme Court ruling on same sex marriage?

By this time Christians all across America have heard about and responded to the recent decision by the Supreme Court. Tens of thousands of words have been written on this issue, before and since the decision to make same sex marriage legal for the nation. A wide range of responses have been suggested. For some professing Christians, the response has been joyful. For many others, the response has been anything but glad. Those who have followed this ministry know that Everlasting Truths affirms the Biblical position that homosexuality in all forms is sin. Same sex marriage is not something to be celebrated but mourned.

A full discussion of the Biblical response would need to address several different levels of relationships. A few hundred words does not allow for a full discussion, so this article will consider the response of a Christian to a government which has completely run off the moral rails. Before getting into the Biblical instructions, it is worth noting the historical setting of the books of the New Testament. The Roman Empire was filled with depravity the level of which America has not yet reached. Things that would today be seen as heinous and criminal were accepted as normal throughout the Roman Empire. To those who opposed the wickedness of Rome, very few options were available. Dissent could easily result in imprisonment. Christians found themselves persecuted throughout the empire. The instructions of the Bible were not written to a Christian people in a Christian nation. They were written to Christians in the middle of an empire full of immorality and persecution.

To the individual Christian the Bible makes a number of very clear statements. Two passages summarize the main points of how a Christian should respond. 1 TImothy 2 teaches that Christians are to pray for the government. The Christian must pray earnestly and diligently for every level of governmental leadership. The Bible does not teach the believe to pray for power or prosperity in the nation. The prayers of the Christian are prayers for the promotion of peace in the nation and peace for the Christian so he can live a Godly life without opposition and so the gospel can be spread without hindrance.

Romans 13 teaches that every government, even a vile, wicked government, is of God. Therefore, submit to the government. Though in this matter, and maybe others down the road, the Christian will have to disobey the laws of the land, this does not excuse the Christian from obedience to the all the rest of the nations laws. A Christian cannot justly refuse to pay his taxes because the government promote wickedness. Submit to the government in all areas save those which would directly cause the Christian to violate the Word of God.

Honor the government. Every individual in leadership in the nation has been given his authority by God and is to be treated with respect and reverence. Though Christians should abhor certain morals, must oppose some decisions and will disagree with many policies, all such differences must be expressed in a respectful fashion. The Christian is commanded to show honor and respect to the individuals entrusted with rule in our land.

While the Christian must at all times honor the nation’s leaders and in most cases must obey the civil laws, the Christian cannot obey the mandates to support same sex unions. No Christian should support same sex marriage, regardless of the dictates of justices or the consequences to Christians. Fines and imprisonments are real possibilities. No matter the threats, Christians cannot go along with the flow. The Christian must continue to speak the truth, no matter the consequences. “Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king.” (1 Peter 2:17)