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December 17, 2014

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What’s so important about the virgin Mary?

Every Christmas, we are confronted with images of a manger, a little baby, loving parents, a few miscellaneous men in the background, an angel or two and a collection of miscellaneous farm animals. Otherwise known as a nativity scene. Of course, the baby in the manger is the central character, but one other person gets nearly as much attention. The loving mother, the virgin Mary.

In our day of sexual freedom, being a virgin is not generally considered a praiseworthy thing. To identify someone as “the virgin Charlene” would most likely be viewed as an slur. So why do we call Mary “the virgin”?

The answer to this question is found in Biblical prophecy, angelic pronouncement and the character of Jesus. Over 700 years before Jesus was born, the prophet Isaiah  wrote, “Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14) The prophecy of a virgin birth is one of many included in the book of Isaiah that describe the coming Messiah. God promises through Isaiah that the sign of the Messiah will be a son born of a woman who had never enteree into sexual relations with a man.

About nine months before Jesus birth angels visited the loving parents from the nativity, Mary and Joseph. Luke 1 tells of the angelic visit to Mary. The angel declared to her that she was going to give birth to a son. To which declaration Mary asked a very pertinent question, “How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?” “Know not” is Bible speech for never had sexual intercourse. Since Mary understood the process by which children are born, her question is very logical. Mary, being a virgin, knew she could not have a baby. Except, as the angel goes on to explain, by God’s power which would cause her to miraculously conceive a child without any male input.

Matthew 1 tells of the angelic visit to Joseph. When Joseph discovered Mary was pregnant he intended intent to put her away. Before he could act on his intention an angel came to him and declared that Mary was not pregnant through any immoral act on her part, but “that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.” The angels declared that Jesus was conceived in the womb of a virgin.

Most important to this question is the character of Jesus. Jesus was God who took upon Himself human nature. Jesus remained fully God while also becoming fully human. The one thing Jesus did not take to Himself is man’s sin nature. Romans 5 teaches sin has passed to all men from Adam. The implication is that the sin nature is passed from one generation to the next by the father. For Jesus to be born without a sin nature, he must have been born without a human father.

Mary’s virginity is important because it is the fulflillment of the promises of God. The virgin Mary is not important because of her own purity and goodness, but because through her God keeps His Word to give His people an unmistakeable sign of the coming of His Messiah. Mary is important because her lack of sexual contact makes plain that the child born of her was not Joseph’s or some other man’s. Mary’s viriginity leaves no room for the baby Jesus to be any but the Son of God.

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December 15, 2014

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Death, Sin, The Bible

Why did people in the Bible live so much longer than we do today?

Anyone reading through the book of Genesis will soon notice people lived a whole lot longer than they do now. A little math in Genesis 5 will reveal that Adam died at the age of 930. His son Seth lived to be 912. Methusaleh died at the age of 969. All but three of the first ten patriarchs lived over 900 years. After Noah’s flood human lifespans dropped dramatically. The first death recorded after the flood is of a man 239 years old. For the next several generations, most of the men lived 175-250 years. By the time of Moses, the recorded life spans were much closer to our own. After Moses no generation had an average life span significantly longer than those of modern man. For the first quarter of human history, man appears to have averaged a life span of nearly 1,000 years. (Genesis 5) Over the next 1,500 years man appears to have averaged a life span of around 200 years. (Genesis 11) Throughout the second half of human history, up to today, the life span seems to average around 70 years. Why the changes? What happened to man?

The Bible does not give us any definite answer to this question, so we are left with speculation. It seems that two things are the primary factors in the incredible decrease in human life span. First is the destructive effect of sin on the world and the human body. When man sinned he immediately fell under the penalty of death. Man was separated from God who is the only source life. (Genesis 3:8) This separation from God results in physical death. (Genesis 3:19) Not only did man’s sin bring death, it also brought a curse upon the entire world. As man moved farther and farther from God, the effects of sin upon his life would have become more and more pronounced. Romans 8:22 says, “For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together.” All creation is in agony because of sin. The human body has been devastated by sin and the effects continue to wreck our health and strength today.

The agony of sin’s curse includes an environment that is inimical to human life. The other factor in man’s shortened lifespan is the radical changes in the world after the flood. We do not know for certain anything about the world before the flood, but we can be confident that the world immediately after the flood was a world ravaged. The living conditions after the flood were much less conducive to life than those pre-flood. To add to the harsh conditions of the flood shattered world, at the tower of Babel the language of mankind was confused and population scattered. The population became divided in small groups and driven by God out of the area, isolating pockets of people from the rest of humanity. The difficult conditions brought about by man’s continued rebellion against God would have horribly diminished man’s life.

All speculation aside, we know that death is the result of sin. No matter how long men may live, death is inevitable. Death is not the result of errors creeping into our DNA, or certain proteins no longer working properly. Death is the result of man’s separation from God. Only reconciliation to God through the forgiveness of Jesus will remove the spectre of death and give men eternal life.

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December 12, 2014

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The Bible

How do I tell the difference between Biblical truth and Hollywood fiction?

Another epic Bible based movie is arriving in theater’s near you. This time it is a remake of the classic “The Ten Commandments”. The popularity of such movies is at first gratifying to those who believe the Bible. However, upon further reflection those who believe the Bible to be the Word of God do well to be troubled by the many fantastic and fictitious elements added into the movies.

Every film treatment of Biblical stories is going to inevitably add some things in that are not part of the Biblical account. Sometimes these are details that are just not recorded, like the color of Jesus’ robes. However, many times these movies also add a lot of dialogue, people and events and that are not found in the Biblical accounts. They are pure fantasy. To some this may not seem like a big deal, but the additions often result in a message communicated that is very different from the message of the Bible. This makes it imperative that those who watch these movies be able to separate truth from Hollywood fiction.

To separate truth from error, the first and most obvious and most obvious place to start is the Bible. Open it up and read for yourself what the Bible actually says about a person or event. However, if you are wanting to find out about the life of Moses, you have to know where to start. There are many tools available to help you, but a simple search online will give you a pretty good idea of where to start reading to find out for yourself. This is a great starting place, but I know that even if you know where to look in the Bible to find the information you want the task can be pretty daunting. For example, if you want to know the truth about the life of Jesus, you would need to read and compare four entire books of the Bible, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Now, I of course highly recommend you read and study all four of the gospels, but I realize not everyone is going to dig into books of the Bible like to discover the facts for themselves.

To help speed you along the process of discovery, I recommend a couple other handy resources. The easiest and most useful way to find out what is Biblical truth is to find a good church in your area that teaches the Bible (and by that I mean that reads the Bible during the service and then clearly explains what it means). Meet the pastor and ask him to explain to you the truths of the Bible and the differences between the movie and the Bible.

If you know someone who attends church regularly talk to them about the movie and see what things they noticed that were different from the Bible. Another option is to submit a question here or on our Facebook page. One of our pastors will be happy to answer the question and any other follow up questions you may have. If you look, you can find someone nearby who will be glad to talk to you about what the Bible really says.

Finally, don’t believe everything you see in the movies. I know, that seems kind of obvious, but sometimes people tend to believe movies about the Bible as if they are straight from the Bible. They never are. Don’t imagine that you know what the Bible says or what it teaches because you have seen a movie. Sometimes the facts are added to and embellished some for the sake of making a movie. Many times movies make major changes that end up changing the entire story or the whole purpose of the Biblical account. Don’t believe everything you see. Even if you don’t care to find out the facts for  yourself, don’t believe the movie.
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December 10, 2014

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Apostles, Church, The Disciples

Was Peter the Leader of the Disciples?

Peter is never identified in the Bible as the leader of the disciples. We have enough clues in the Bible about Peter’s personality to expect he was not going to be bashful or afraid to speak his mind on a matter. Peter was a leading figure among the disciples and the early church. Peter, with James and John, was a part of Jesus’ closest inner circle. Peter did play the role of leader on occasion. One example of Peter taking the leadership after Jesus’ death can be found in Acts 1. The disciples went back to Jerusalem after Jesus returned to heaven. The and over 100 others gathered together in prayer. While the 120 believers were together, Peter stood up and spoke about Judas’ betrayal and told them that they needed to appoint another to be the twelfth apostle in Judas’ place.

We then see Peter acting as the chief spokesman to the people of Jerusalem and the leadership of Israel. In Acts 2-6 Peter is in the forefront of all the events that happened in the first few years of church history. Peter is unmistakeably an important figure in the history of the church. Peter is the one who God chose to send to the house of Cornelius to first preach the gospel to the Gentiles. Peter was one of the two apostles sent to Samaria when Philip preached the gospel among the Samaritans. Peter was imprisoned for his boldness in preaching the gospel. He did great miracles as part of his apostolic ministry. Peter was a leading apostle, but he was not the leader of the apostles.

We know of several occasions in the Bible when Peter was not treated as the chief apostle. When the church in Jerusalem appointed a pastor, they did not pick Peter. They chose the apostle James. When James was beheaded by Herod, the church picked another man. They again passed by Peter to choose James the brother of Jesus. When a great controversy sprang up in the church, Paul sternly and publicly rebuked Peter for his actions in the matter. Later, when a group of elders and apostles met together to discuss the issue, Peter was not the leader. He spoke but it was Jesus’ brother James that led the church in making the right decision.

Peter can be found as one of the leaders among the disciples and in the early church through most of the gospels and the first part of the book of Acts. However, after Acts 12, which is about 15 years after the church began, Peter drops out of the history of the building of the church. He appears one more time in the book of Acts and that’s it. Peter is the author of two books of the Bible, 1 and 2 Peter, both written to Jewish believers. After the book of Acts, Peter is only mentioned one other place in the New Testament, and that reference is far from a positive one. If Peter was the leader of the apostles, one would expect him to show up more often in the later New Testament history of the church. It would be wrong of us to assume that any one of the apostles was considered their leader. They were men gathered together in allegiance to Jesus and followed His commands to go into the whole world telling of Him. Peter was a leading figure, but he was not the leader. He was one of a group of men used by God to start His church and spread His gospel across the globe.
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December 8, 2014

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Church, The Bible

Was Mary Magdalene a disciple?

The recent Bible miniseries that showed on cable television and it’s sequel, the movie Son of God, gave the very definite idea that Mary Magdalene was one of Jesus twelve disciples. She is seen with Jesus shortly after the calling of Peter and then is visible with Him throughout his journeys and during His years of ministry. She is give as much importance in the film as any of the disciples. Was Mary a disciple? Did she travel with Jesus during His ministry? Was she there among the twelve as another close disciple of Jesus?

The gospels give absolutely no indication that Mary traveled around, participated in Jesus ministry or sat under His long term teaching. Mary Magdalene was a follower of Jesus. She was probably one of the 120 disciples that gathered together after Jesus’ death and resurrection. She was probably part of the first church in Jerusalem. We know she was one of the ladies who went to Jesus’ tomb on Sunday morning and found it empty. She was one of the ladies who first told the disciples about the resurrection. She was the first person to see Jesus after He was restored to life. Mary Magdalene was definitely one of those who loved Jesus and worshiped Him as God the Savior.

However, Mary Magdalene was not a disciple. The Bible gives us a definite list of the twelve disciples. Matthew, Mark, Luke and Acts each give a list of the disciples. Mary is not mentioned in any of those lists. Mary isn’t mentioned in the next anywhere close to those lists. Instead, Mary Magdalene is mentioned in only three Biblical scenes. Mary Magdalene first shows up in the gospels about a year and half into Jesus’ ministry. She is not in the picture for at least the first half of Jesus’ public ministry. The earliest reference to Mary is in Luke 8:2-3. She is part of a group of ladies that provided food for Jesus as He preached throughout Galilee. The only other direct references to Mary Magdalene are found in connection with Jesus’ death and resurrection. She is most likely a part of the group of believing women mentioned in Acts 1. Aside from this, we have no other direct information about Mary Magdalene.

Mary Magdalene loved and served Jesus. He healed her, driving seven demons out of her. She worshiped Him and believed Him to be God and the promised Savior. She was not one of the twelve. She had no special position or relationship with Jesus other than that held by every Christian.
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December 5, 2014

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Christian living, Salvation, The Bible

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What happens to a Christian who dies without having been baptized?

Imagine for a moment that someone is in the hospital, days from death when she turns to Jesus trusting Him to forgive her sin and give her peace with God. Her impending death makes baptism impossible, so what happens to her when she dies? What about in the case of a healthy young man who gets saved and refuses to be baptized. He goes his entire life showing all the signs of being a genuine Christian but is never baptized. What happens when he dies? In both cases the answer the same. They go to heaven. One of the key components of true, Biblical teaching is that salvation is in no way dependent on anything the person does. None are ever saved, or kept saved, by any ritual, good deed, regulation or lifelong habit. Salvation is fully given to one who trusts Jesus. No other things are necessary. In the book of Galatians Paul says that any attempt to add anything else as necessary to salvation is a denial of the gospel. One who is saved, is saved by Jesus regardless of whether or not the person has been baptized.

A portion of the account of Jesus’ death on the cross highlights this truth. When Jesus was crucified, two other men were executed alongside him. Luke 23 tells us about these men, and the response of one of them in particular. “ And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.” The criminal beside Jesus was not going to come down from that cross alive. The Roman soldiers surrounding the crosses would have killed him themselves before letting him come down (in fact, the Bible tells us the soldiers broke the legs of the two criminals to speed up their death so they could be taken down that day). This man was never going to be baptized. However, what did Jesus promise him? Jesus assured the believing thief that he would enter into heaven with Jesus. The lack of baptism was not going to keep him from heaven, because baptism does not save. The thief was saved because he believed Jesus to be God and Savior.

Should a Christian be baptized? Absolutely. To refuse baptism is disobedience to the commands of the Bible. However, salvation is no more necessary to anyone’s salvation than attending Sunday School or giving in the offering. Salvation is completely accomplished by Jesus apart from any work an one does.

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December 3, 2014

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Christian living, Christianity, The Bible

Are Christians forbidden to eat pork?

image1The above graphic was emailed to me with a request for my thoughts. At first, I am a little amused by the image. For the sake of full disclosure, I am an avid carnivore. I delight in consuming a myriad of mammalian and avian life. I have no qualms about hunting, killing, gutting, butchering, cooking and then eating a critter. I have no desire to give up my meat eating ways, nor restrict them in any fashion. That being said, if the Bible commands me as a Christian to stop eating a particular animal, I will obey the Word.

The question implicitly answered in the above image is that modern day American Christians do not have license to eat porcine food products (and I assume that also includes other foods prohibited in the Old Testament). The statements made by the graphic designers are factually accurate. Peter’s vision in Acts 10:9-16 was not given to lead him down the path of bacon and pork chops. Peter’s vision prepared him for ministry to the Gentiles. God was giving Peter a poignant object lesson to break down the barriers of prejudice that were still in the hearts of many Jews- the disciples included.
However, to us the above truth as evidence we should not be eating pork would be to overlook or ignore a number of other very clear passages. We have to draw a clear line between the Jews of the Bible and the Gentiles of today. The question at stake is if believing Gentiles are under the dietary restrictions of the law of Moses. That question was answered clearly and definitively in three distinct places in the New Testament. Acts 15 is the first time the church addressed this specific issue.
As the gospel spread throughout Gentile regions a group of men began teaching that Gentiles must also keep the laws of Moses to be saved. In Acts 15, church leaders from Jerusalem and Antioch met together to address the matter. Peter was one of the leading voices at that council. After mentioning how God used him to first take the gospel to the Gentiles he said, “Why tempt ye God, to put a yoke on the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?” Paul and Barnabas spoke after Peter and declared much the same thing. James, the pastor of the church in Jerusalem, stood and concluded the meeting by affirming that Gentile believers are under no obligation to keep the ceremonial and civil restrictions of the law of Moses. This conclusion was later affirmed by the entire church, and was a major part of Paul’s correction of the Galatian and Colossian errors. In fact, in his first letter to Timothy Paul declared that any one who forbade eating meats was teaching a demonic doctrine. The New Testameny explicitly teaches the Gentile Christian has no obligation to obey the laws given to the Israelites, including dietary restrictions.
American Christian’s today can enjoy or abstain from all varieties of meat. We are under no specific command to imbibe or forsake any kind of meat. Instead, we give thanks God who has made us clean through Jesus. We rejoice that because of Jesus, diet plays no part in our standing with God.
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December 1, 2014

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Church

Why are there so many different kinds of churches?

In my small community one can readily find a wide selection of churches are fitting into the broad category of Christian. Within a 20 mile radius serving a population of less than 5,000 people there is a Bible Church, a Methodist Church, a Pentecostal Church, a Foursquare Gospel Church, an Episcopal Church, a Seventh Day Adventist Church, a Presbyterian church, two Baptist Churches, two Lutheran churches and a Congregational Church. I may have missed some, but you get the idea. There are a lot of different kinds of churches in our small community. In larger communities there are even more churches with an even greater variety of denominations.

Why do we have so many churches? The reason is simple, each church believes differently than the others. Even between those sharing the same denominational name (like Baptist or Lutheran), different churches have significant differences. The differences vary, some churches have more in common than others, but all have noticeable differences from all the rest. The differences between the churches are not just differences of outward forms and denominations. The differences between the churches are differences between what is being taught about the Bible, salvation, Jesus, God and other things. These differences are very, very important.

While I think most of the churches described as Christian would use similar descriptions of their beliefs, they really don’t believe the same things. Sometimes the differences are hidden under the same word. All may teach that you have to be saved, but they do not all teach that salvation is received in the same way. Some may teach salvation is acquired by asking Jesus for forgiveness, being baptized, attending church and participating in the sacraments. Some may teach salvation is acquired by asking Jesus for forgiveness and being baptized. Some may teach salvation is acquired just by being baptized. Some may teach salvation is acquired just by asking Jesus for forgiveness. Some may teach that you are not really saved if you don’t speak in tongues. Some may teach you are not really saved if you don’t observe the Sabbath. Some may teach that God loves everyone and that in the end everyone is going to get saved. Though all can say that you must be saved through Jesus, they are not all saying the same thing about how salvation is received. What the churches teach on salvation are obviously not the same. These differences cannot be glossed over under a fine gilt of “we all love Jesus”. If one church teaches that to be saved you must trust in Jesus and be baptized that teaching directly contradicts the church that teaches that to be saved you must trust in Jesus alone.

The reality is, there is already a genuine division between the churches that cannot be papered over by ignoring the differences. The differences are significant, not mere semantics, which is why there are so many different kinds of churches.

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November 24, 2014

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Jesus, The Bible

Why does it Matter if Jesus was Married

Another book has been recently published that claims to have discovered new evidence that Jesus was married and had children. Claims such as this one have popped up over and over again in recent years. They are certainly not new claims, dating back to within a few centuries of Jesus life. Those who propose this theory today declare it will have a huge impact on the church. According to them, once people realize Jesus was married and lived a normal family life everything we think about church will be changed. Some people look at this issue and wonder what the big deal is. Who cares if Jesus was married or not. Why is it such a big deal if Jesus was married?

The ones claiming to have discovered evidence of Jesus’ marriage actually have no sound historical evidence on which to base their conjectures. At best they are dealing with ancient documents written several hundred years after Jesus with an agenda to teach a new doctrine about Jesus. The claims of Jesus’ marriage always begin with a number of presuppositions about the Bible. Most importantly the originators of such claims have already concluded the Bible is not the Word of God and Jesus is not who the Bible says He is. Despite their errors about the Bible they are correct in recognizing that if it were proven to be true that Jesus was married then it would change everything we think about Christianity. This matter matters because if Jesus had a wife and kids, then He is not the person described in the Bible. If Jesus is not the person described in the Bible, He is a fraud and all Christianity is a tragic hoax.

I am not saying this important because it would have been sinful for Jesus to be married. Nor am I saying this is important because it helps support certain ideas about the role of women in the church. This issue is important because it affects the credibility of the gospel writers and the truthfulness of the New Testament. The gospels give no hint, no indication, not the slightest inkling of a notion, that Jesus was married. Despite some modern day fanciful imaginings about Mary Magdalene, the Bible gives no suggestion that He had a relationship with her that was different than his relationship with any of His other female followers. The Bible tells us of Jesus’ parents, siblings, aunts, uncles and cousins. Why would it say nothing of a wife or children? We know that Peter, the other apostles and Jesus’ brothers were married and that Paul was not. Why do we have declarations of the marital status of all these other individuals but not Jesus? The Bible is silent on the matter and in this case the silence of the Bible speaks volumes about Jesus’ marital status. He was not married.

Jesus could not have been married. Besides the problems inherent with the sinless Son of God fathering children who would have been born free from sin and not under Adam’s curse, for Jesus to have been married would have distracted from His purpose. Even as a twelve year old boy, Jesus knew He was to be about His Father’s business. Jesus was never distracted from His purpose. Throughout His life He was on a direct collision course with the cross and never let anything turn Him from that. The time He spent preaching, doing miracles and teaching His disciples was all in preparation for the cross. A wife and children would have not furthered His work of redemption.

The Biblical impossibility of Jesus being married puts the claims of Jesus’ marriage in a serious category. These are not just idle claims that have little impact on the gospel or the truth of the Bible. If Jesus was married, then the history of Jesus presented in the New Testament can not be accurate. If Jesus was married, the entire New Testament is worthless. If Jesus was married, the gospel is a fraud and the gospel writers charlatans. This issue matters because the silence of the Bible on Jesus’ marriage seriously undermines it’s believability in all other matters. This is not just a difference of opinion between Godly men about a secondary figure in Christianity. We are talking about the spreading of false teaching concerning the One who is central to all Scriptures and on Whom our faith rests.

Those who insist Jesus was married have already decided that the Bible was not written by the men the Bible says wrote it. They have already determined that the Bible is not the Word of God. They have rejected any possibility of the Bible being historically accurate or, more importantly, spiritually accurate. Their conclusions about the Bible lead them to seek means to discredit the Bible, no matter how ridiculous those means become. Despite their unbelief, a normal reading of the New Testament reveals that Jesus is the Son of God who became human to die for the sin of men. He was not just a good man. He was the God-man who bore the wrath of God for the sin of mankind. Jesus never married. He never fathered children. To teach otherwise is to deny the reliability and accuracy of the Bible.

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November 21, 2014

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The Bible

Why Four Gospels?

The New Testament begins with four books collectively called “the gospels”. Each gospel, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, tell the story of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. The first three gospels are so similar in content that they are often lumped together in one bunch called “The Synoptic Gospels.” Since all four gospels tell of the same person, and since they cover similar events, why do we need four of them? Why couldn’t one gospel have told us everything we need to know about Jesus?

The question fails to take into consideration one very important fact. The gospels were first written to a specific audience of people. The gospel of John is the only one that may have been written with a more worldwide scope. The gospel of Matthew was written to the Jewish people. The gospel of Mark was written to Gentiles. The gospel of Luke was written to a single person, probably a Roman and possibly as part of a prepared defense of Paul’s ministry. Matthew, Mark and Luke were probably written within 5-10 years of each other. The gospel of John was written 20-30 years after the other three gospels and was probably written for distribution among a group of churches in modern day Turkey.

Though all four gospels share a similar purpose, to show Jesus as God and Savior, they each have different emphases because of the audience to which they were written. For example, Matthew was written to show the Jews that Jesus is the Messiah. This different purpose means Matthew, while giving very similar information as Mark and Luke, emphasized certain things and communicated some things in a different fashion. Mark’s gospel is a brief gospel presentation intended to confront the readers with Jesus and call them to faith in Him.

We also have four different gospels that the testimony of one man will be confirmed by the others. The Bible provides two or three witnesses as the standard for verification of a claim. The four gospels verify the testimony of the others, especially the synoptic gospels. Some have speculated that Matthew, Mark and Luke look so much alike because they all borrowed from one another or they borrowed from another gospel that has since been lost to us. Matthew, Mark and Luke look so much alike because they are factual accounts of the same events. Accurate eye witnesses are going to agree together. Collusion and conspiracy is not necessary, just honesty. The gospels confirm the truth of one another, assuring us anew that the facts recorded are historical and reliable.

We have four different gospels because God used four men to reach four specific groups of people with the truths of His Son. The entire church today benefits from having all four gospels. We cannot look back and speculate that one gospel to everyone would have been better than four gospels tailored to the education, religion and needs of four different audiences.