Monthly Archives

October 2020

Oct 26
0

I Can’t Explain It!

By | Public Blog

Is this quote really true?  Can we understand everything so we can explain it?  Last week I shared how there continues to be a battle for the Bible.  However, today’s battle is not simply over the inerrancy of Scripture but also the sufficiency of Scripture.  It seems like every time I see someone say that the Bible is sufficient, there will be someone who will ask this question.

If the Bible is sufficient for everything that pertains to life, then how do you explain __________?

It is true that there are some things in the Bible that I don’t understand and can’t explain.  I don’t understand how this complex universe could be spoken into existence out of nothing (ex nihilo).  Nor can I explain how God’s Spirit can come and indwell every person who is born again.  However, this does not mean that I must look outside of the Bible to be able to explain or understand certain realities of life.

If I could completely understand and explain everything that is in God’s Word, it would mean that I would be equal to God.  Only God is all wise and He needs no one to instruct Him.  Man, on the other hand, is not omniscient and has limited understanding because he has a finite mind.

If I could completely understand & explain everything in God’s Word, it would mean that I would be God!

No matter how many advancements are made in science, it can never be an absolute source of truth.  This is because science can only tell us what makes up God’s creation and the creation ordinances God put into place for it to operate.  The same is true for anything that man develops in an effort to explain any aspect of life.

Job asked God why he was going through such pain and suffering.  After all, Job knew that he tried to live a life of integrity.  If he loved God and served Him, why did God allow all this torment to come into his life?

It is interesting to read the account of Job and realize that God never directly answered Job’s questions.  Instead, God asked Job a series of questions.  I would encourage you to read the exchange between God and Job in Job 38-39.  After Job’s friends tried to explain why Job was going through all of his suffering and Job had given his answers to their attacks, God spoke.  He said to Job,

Who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Now prepare yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer Me. Job 38:1-2 (NKJV)

God asked who is trying to “darken His counsel”.  What God said to Job was who is man that he would try to damage the integrity of His wisdom?  How was Job doing this?  Job was questioning the integrity of God’s wisdom with words that showed no knowledge.  The term “knowledge” means discernment or understanding.  In other words, God was letting Job know that mere mortal men can never fully understand God and His ways.  Whenever someone tries to do this, their words have no knowledge!

To prove His point, God asked Job some probing questions that no man, even a righteous man like Job, could answer.  God’s first question was enough to silence not only Job but also his friends.

Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements? Surely you know!  Job 38:4-5 (NKJV)

God continued to bombard Job with questions.

Have you commanded the morning since your days began, and caused the dawn to know its place?  Job 38:12 (NKJV)

Have you entered the springs of the sea? Or have you walked in search of the depths? Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Or have you seen the doors of the shadow of death? Have you comprehended the breadth of the earth? Tell Me, if you know all this. Job 38:16-18 (NKJV)

Do you know the time when the wild mountain goats bear young?…Have you given the horse strength?…Does the hawk fly by your wisdom, and spread its wings toward the south?…Does the eagle mount up at your command, and make its nest on high? Job 39:1,19,26-27 (NKJV)

You and I can study creation and we can see how it works.  However, we cannot answer the question, why does everything work the way it does?  That is because we are not God.  Only God can answer the questions that He asked Job.

You and I can study creation & see how it works. But we cannot answer the question, why does everything work the way it does?

After God questioned Job about his understanding of the created world, God gets to the heart of man’s inability to completely understand all of life.  Again, I encourage you to read Job 40-41.  God begins with this question,

Shall the one who contends with the Almighty correct Him? Job 40:1

God then confronts Job with this piercing question.

Would you indeed annul My judgment? Would you condemn Me that you may be justified? Have you an arm like God?  Job 40:8-9 (NKJV)

There are other passages of the Bible where one can find God letting man know that He is God and we can never fully comprehend His majesty, power and glory.  Isaiah 40-41 come to my mind.  As I read these chapters, I am overwhelmed by the wisdom and power of Almighty God.  Isaiah sums all of this up with these words from God.

The fact that we can’t fully understand & explain everything in the Bible does not negate its authority. It simply means that He is God and we are not!

For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.  Isaiah 55:8-9 (NKJV)

What am I trying to say in all of this?  It is simply this.  God’s Word is true, inerrant and sufficient for all matters of life!  The fact that we cannot fully understand and explain everything that is in the Bible does not negate its authority.  It simply means that He is God and we are not!

Oct 18
1

God’s Word Is Enough!

By | Public Blog, Uncategorized

In the mid-1900s there was a battle taking place among Christians concerning the Bible.  I remember reading Harold Lindsell’s book, The Battle for the Bible, in 1978.  Lindsell’s book addressed the issue that was at the heart of the battle at the time – the inerrancy of Scripture.  Bible scholar, J. Otis Yoder, summed up the importance of inerrancy this way.

Biblical inerrancy means the Bible contains no error. It is without error in faith and fact. If we have the self-disclosure of the holy God, it cannot be mixed with error. Error and truth cannot be contained in the same document which claims to be a self-disclosure of a holy, righteous God. If error is mixed with truth, then that is deception which violates the character of God.

The reason this was so important is that there were those in Christianity who claimed that the Bible was infallible but not necessarily inerrant.  The Bible was believed to be true and without error when it speaks to spiritual matters, but may contain mistakes in other matters such as geology, history, or science.

We do not need any more inspired, inerrant words. In the Bible God has given us, we have the perfect standard for judging all other knowledge.

Lindsell argued that if the Bible was inspired by God it had to be inerrant.  He wrote,

However limited may have been their knowledge, and however much they erred when they were not writing sacred Scripture, the authors of Scripture, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, were preserved from making factual, historical, scientific, or other errors . . . God the Holy Spirit by nature cannot lie or be the author of untruth. If the Scripture is inspired at all it must be infallible.

Over the past couple of decades, I have witnessed another battle over the Bible slowly percolating among many Christians.  This battle is not over inerrancy but over the sufficiency of Scripture.  Sufficiency of Scripture is primarily based on these two passages.

And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. 2 Timothy 3:15-17 (KJV)

Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. Jude 1:3 (KJV)

Piper puts it this way.

In other words, the Scriptures are sufficient in the sense that they are the only (“once for all”) inspired and (therefore) inerrant words of God that we need, in order to know the way of salvation (“make you wise unto salvation”) and the way of obedience (“equipped for every good work”).

When one believes that the Bible is sufficient, it doesn’t mean that we don’t have to read anything else to live our lives.  It means that we don’t and can’t find any more special revelation.  Again, John Piper sums it up by writing,

We don’t need any more inspired, inerrant words. In the Bible God has given us, we have the perfect standard for judging all other knowledge.

It is Piper’s last statement that I see at the crux of this battle over the sufficiency of Scripture.  God’s Word is the perfect, final standard for judging all other knowledge.  This means that we must look at all other knowledge through the lens of the inspired, inerrant Word of God.

A subtle shift has taken place in Christianity here in North America that I am very concerned about.  It is very similar to the shift that took place in American education over the years.  This shift was captured in a chart that I included in my book, Kingdom Education.  You will find a portion of that chart below.

In the early days of American education, ultimate truth was found in the Bible.  Any human reasoning that was taught was always in subjection to God’s Word.  Then, a subtle shift started taking place.  The Bible and human reason became equally important in determining truth.  Later, human reasoning became the primary source of finding truth and the Bible was seen as a secondary source.  Today, truth is determined by the individual and his/her experience.  If it isn’t experienced by the individual, then it isn’t true!

This same thing is happening in today’s church.  The Bible, on its own, is no longer being seen as what is needed to understand life and how to live it.  God’s Word is not sufficient; we must look to other sources in order to really understand truth.

Again, I am not proposing that we don’t need to read and study other books.  I am saying that the Bible must be seen as the only perfect standard for judging all other knowledge.  Any other books must always be interpreted through the truth of Scripture.  We should never use man’s wisdom to interpret the Bible.

However, there are growing instances taking place that indicate that the church does not really believe that the Bible is sufficient.  In order to understand the physical universe’s origin, we have to add evolution to the biblical account of creation.  One organization says its mission is to invite the church and the world to see the harmony between science and biblical faith as we present an evolutionary understanding of God’s creation.

There is a growing tendency to turn to such things as Critical Theory and books like, White Fragility, to deal with the sin of prejudice.  However, God’s Word is sufficient to teach us that God has created each and every person as an image bearer of Himself.  One’s gender, color of skin, family, etc. are all an act of a sovereign God, who is not a respecter of persons.

Even in Christian education, the temptation is to take research, or the latest methodology and then add the Bible to it in an effort to justify it.  Instead, we should build our educational philosophy and practice on the truth of God’s Word.  Then, we can evaluate data, best practices and curriculum through the lens of the sufficiency of Scripture.

The Bible is profitable for what is right (doctrine), what is wrong (reproof), how to get right (correction), how to stay right (instruction in righteousness).

If I really believe that the Bible is the inspired infallible, inerrant, sufficient Word of God, it, alone, provides me with everything I need to love God and love other people as I live to glorify Him in all I think, say and do.  Again, let me refer what Paul wrote to young Timothy.

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. 2 Timothy 3:15-17 (KJV)

Warren Wiersbe explains this so well when he wrote that the Bible is profitable for what is right (doctrine), what is wrong (reproof), how to get right (correction), and how to stay right (instruction in righteousness).  If I believe this, then I can go to God’s Word and address any and every issue that I might face in this sinful world I live in.

It is not enough to believe that the Bible is inspired and, therefore, inerrant.  We must be convinced that it is sufficient and all we need to equip us for a life of faith and service.  The question for each of us is this.  Is the Bible enough?

Oct 05
3

It’s Not About Politics!

By | Public Blog

Politics is a reality of life here on earth and, therefore, God wants to rule in this area of my life as King.

I very seldom deal with topics outside of education in my blog posts.  However, I have become very burdened about something over the past couple of months.  So, I am taking a break from discussing education and addressing an extremely controversial topic this week — politics.

 

I have been preaching a four-part series at my church called Mind Blown: Finding God’s Purpose in a Fallen World.  It has been an extremely challenging time for me as I have spent hours in God’s Word in preparation for this series.  In doing so, I have found myself very broken about what is happening in our country.  I want to share several truths with you that God has reminded me of over the past few weeks.

Truth #1

There is no sphere of my life that is outside the Lordship of Christ.  For years I have taught how devastating it is to divide life up into two compartments — the secular and the sacred.  However, God convicted me that I was doing this very thing when I look at government/politics and think that I don’t have to be involved in it.  Politics is a reality of life here on earth and, therefore, God wants to rule in this area of my life as King.

Truth #2

All human life is sacred as every person has been created in God’s image.  Every person has intrinsic value and inherent worth because they are image bearers of God, imago dei.  I was reminded of how God creates each person distinctively different from every other individual.  This truth doesn’t simply apply to a person after he/she is born.  It also is true for every unborn child.  God makes this clear when the Holy Spirit led David to write,

For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb.  I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well.  My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed and in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them.  Psalm 139:13-16 (NKJV)

Another example of the fact that life begins at conception is found when God explained His plan for the prophet Jeremiah’s life.

Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.”  Jeremiah 1:4-5 (NKJV)

We even find that John the Baptist did something amazing while still in his mother’s womb.

Now Mary arose in those days and… entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth.  And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb… Luke 1:39-41 (NKJV)

When Mary was pregnant with Jesus and visited Elizabeth, John the Baptist, who was in his mother’s womb, leaped when he realized he was in the presence of the Messiah.  This is amazing!

The sanctity of human life is not a political position.  Nor is it a personal choice.  It is fundamental to the Gospel.  This is because Jesus became a man, lived a sinless life, laid His life down on a cruel cross and rose from the grave to defeat death and sin for every person that bears God’s image.

When one ponders this wondrous truth, one sees the evil of abortion.  Again, I must emphasize that the issue of abortion is not a political one but an essential spiritual issue.  Since 1973, over 62 million babies have been killed by abortion in our country.  This averages out to more than 2,000 deaths by abortion every single day.

Truth #3

I am accountable to God for how I protect or don’t protect human life.  Most Christians who believe the Bible to be God’s Word will say that they believe in the sanctity of all human life.  However, we sometimes fail to see how much each person’s life means to God.  In my personal study this past month, God convicted me of not doing all I can to protect every human life.

In the Old Testament, we find that God’s people, Israel, were committing an abomination to God.  What was this abomination?  It was the fact that some of them were sacrificing their children to Molech.

The Canaanites had a pagan practice of offering a new born baby to their god, Molech.  This false god was usually formed in an image of a man with the head of a bull.  The idol would have outstretched arms and hands in which the people would place their little baby.  The ritual included burning hot fires around the statue that would heat the statue to a temperature that would cause the baby to actually sizzle to death.  While this sacrifice was taking place, the people would play flutes and pound drums in an attempt to drown out the shrieks and cries of the babies burning to death.

This act was so horrific in God’s eyes that he required any person who practiced this was to be put to death.  But God didn’t stop with just judging those who were practicing child sacrifice.  He also held all of Israel accountable for this horrific sin.

And if the people of the land should in any way hide their eyes from the man, when he gives some of his descendants to Molech, and they do not kill him, then I will set My face against that man and against his family…  Leviticus 20:4-5  (NKJV)

So what does all of this have to do with politics.  As Christians, we must participate in the political process. It is true that government is not the answer to our problems but God did ordain this institution.  I have also held the conviction that no one really votes for a person or a party.  When we vote, we are approving the ideas/platform that a person and his/her party stands on.

This means that I must vote in accordance with whose platform/beliefs best reflects God’s standards, especially when it comes to the sanctity of human life.  I know that this is a controversial statement but I cannot vote for anyone at any level of government who is in favor of the murder of unborn babies!

I know that this is a controversial statement but I cannot vote for anyone at any level of government who is in favor of the murder of unborn babies!

As I prepared to deliver these messages over the past three weeks, I came to realize that we are under God’s judgement for not doing more to protect the life of the unborn.  We must understand that God is immutable.  That means His ways, purposes and statues do not change.  He will set His face against us if we continue to hide our eyes to this horrific practice of abortion.

 

I am praying that Christians all across the country will not allow the loud sounds of political discourse, COVID-19, and social unrest drown out the cries of the unborn.  We must seek God’s face, repent of our sin of apathy and actually be His salt and light in a dark, wicked world.  The unborn are depending on us!