A very interesting concept about people today is that we constantly talk about world peace and harmony. If we fight for peace, it makes more war. If we love for peace, it makes more peace. There is always some sort of war that America is fighting. People do not enact anything peaceful in their own lives when they want to see world peace. Do you know what this is called? It's called hypocrisy. Gandhi once said, "Be the change you wish to see in the world." Peace has to happen domestically before we can even begin to implement it on a global scale. Everybody supposedly wants peace, but we all refuse to exemplify just that in other peoples' lives. If we can learn how to love for peace, maybe people will stop dying for it because if you have to fight for peace, world peace is impossible. So the question is: How can we live in harmony with one another? Fortunately for us, the tools are given in Scripture: Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep. Be in agreement with one another. Do not be proud; instead, associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own estimation. Do not repay evil for evil. Try to do what is honourable in everyone's eyes (Romans 12:14-17).
There it is: how we are to live in peace and harmony amongst each other. When I first looked at this passage I thought to myself, "Wow, no wonder it's so hard." When somebody persecutes us, our primitive instinct is to attack back, not to say something nice in return, let alone bless him or her. That's just human nature, but the thing with the Holy Spirit is that with Him you can act against the natural occurrences of the flesh. It's easy to celebrate with others who are celebrating, but it's much more difficult to cry with those who cry. We'd rather speak our mind instead of avoiding conflict — the "agree to disagree" principle. We easily allow our pride to consume us and become conceited. So few of us are humble; we love the praises that we receive from others, which are fine, but only to a certain extent. We think that because something may have worked out well for us in the past that it's the only way, no other alternatives, so we assume that our supposed wisdom is plausible and will con others into doing what we want them to do instead of what's actually best for them according to what God wants them to do. The common trend is to fight evil with evil — to fight fire with fire. This is incredibly stupid. Rather, we must fight evil with good — fight fire with water. With water we can extinguish fire, and so with good we can extinguish evil. Do all these things against the natural occurrences of the flesh and you will be considered honourable before man and blameless before God.
I've listed seven principles taken from the aforementioned passage in the book of Romans, but let's take each of these tools one at a time. (It's interesting how I broke down this passage to seven basic principles, for in the Bible the number 7 symbolises perfection and completion. I did not plan to break it down to specifically seven at all.) The first principle is: "Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse." As I said before, our instinct is to curse someone who curses us first because that's the immediate, natural response as part of the human psyche. We don't put the childhood principle, "think before you act" into play. I could apply Jesus' "turn the other cheek" principle here, but that's not what I'm going to talk about. I'm going to identify who the persecutors are and the actions we're supposed to take when they attack us.
Psalm 10:2, In arrogance the wicked relentlessly pursue the afflicted; let them be caught in the schemes they have devised. In many situations we have seen gatherings of unwavering evil. One example would be Hitler against the Jews, and anyone who wasn't a "perfect" German, for that matter. Also, the countless wars in Africa of tribes murdering inferior tribes, as well as rape and mutilating women's bodies. I can go on, but let's continue. In this prayer and psalm of David, we will see a little later that this prayer is fulfilled.
Psalm 31:15, The course of my life is in Your power; deliver me from the power of my enemies and from my persecutors. David is very right in this psalm for the fact that the course of our lives are in God's hands. He has the ability to deliver us from our enemies, or hand us over to them. The question is: What have you done to earn deliverance from your enemies with God's help? Of course, there are the significant few whom God delivers from their enemies without them asking for it. An example would be in my own life. If you read my blog entry, "How I Came to My Faith," this will be reiterate for you. But if you have not, I'll try to keep this brief. I was 5-years-old in Detroit and facing immense brutality from much older Caucasian kids because of the colour of my skin. Of course, at this age, I wasn't very aware of God's existence, so because of the plans He has for me He delivered me from my enemies. My dad found a new job and we moved to Pennsylvania. However, it wasn't all hunky dory after that. I suffered from depression for the next twelve years of my life, which jeopardised my faith in God. I claimed to be atheist at the time, but I was technically agnostic and put blame on God at the same time. So, after twelve years, I got saved at the age of seventeen. I was fortunate enough to have a stubborn father to take me to church every Wednesday and Sunday, and the father I was given was part of God's plan long before I was born. I began to pray, and I was eventually saved and my life became wealthy in Christ and needless to say, I lead a good life. So you see, God really does have the power to set the course of our lives, even when we don't deserve it. I have no doubt that if I decided to hate and reject God instead of embracing and loving Him, I would be in a much worse place right now. Sine I was too young to know of God's existence and vitality of faith at the age of five (as well as my oblivious nature and personality), God took the course of my life into His own hands. However, after that, He left the decision completely up to me. I chose Jesus, and now He's setting the course of my life towards His kingdom — the deliverance from my enemies and from my persecutors, even though as a sinner, I don't deserve it.
Psalm 119:86, All Your commands are true; people persecute me with lies — help me! This is very common today. There are an over abundance of people who criticise, demean, and persecute Christians based on our beliefs and faith alone. Most of us do our best to follow God's true commands, and so the unbelievers tell us otherwise of our beliefs with lies. I find hilarity in that atheists get upset when we try to convert them to Christianity and demand respect when they themselves try to convert us to atheism. Respect goes two ways. When this happens, we Christians naturally get upset and defend ourselves, but that's the wrong reaction. In our minds we plead for God's help, and that's the right thing to do, but not to magically make our enemies disappear, or to make them fall off a cliff or get hit by a car. I once prayed for God's wisdom and boldness and knowledge so I could know how to respond to the persecutions of unbelievers, and He answered me. That's the action I recommend each of us to take. Due to a lack of knowledge of Scripture, many Christians have no idea how to respond to an unbeliever's "rationality." If you don't know how to respond, ask for God's help to give you more wisdom and boldness and Scriptural knowledge, but you have to actually do that by reading His Word. And with these three assets, you can then bless our persecutors and not curse them, which will hopefully bring them to Christ eventually. Or you could just say nothing and walk away; this is a better alternative than going into dissension and arguing. You may be accused of cowardice, but it takes wisdom to know that sometimes, no words are better than a lot.
Matthew 5:11-12, 44: "Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and falsely say every kind of evil against you because of Me. Be glad and rejoice, because your reward is great in heaven. For that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you... But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you..." Verses 11 and 12 are the passage I mentioned earlier that I paraphrase to unbelievers who persecute me. Because of Jesus' promise here, never allow peoples' persecutions to bring you down or damage or even question your faith. Despite all belief, it's a good thing that these people are demeaning you. If they're persecuting you because of your faith, you've obviously done something to shed God's light on them and for some reason they're upset to have witnessed it because it's against everything they believe in — it's what you call a paradigm. So what's their defence mechanism? To attack the believers. The apostles and other billions of Christians before us were persecuted in the same exact ways and even worse ways. And by worse I mean absolute carnage and bloodshed (the many, many Roman emperors who've murdered millions upon millions of Christians). So we have it easy. However, this is no excuse to persecute them in return. As Jesus has said in verse 44, we must love them and pray for them. And do so with love and compassion, not obligation.
Matthew 10:23, "When they persecute you in one town, escape to another. For I assure you: You will not have covered the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes." We can never escape from persecution. No matter where you go, there will always be someone to persecute and hate you because of your faith. You can try and run all you want, but you'll keep running into persecutors until the day Jesus comes. Jesus did tell us that people would hate us because of His name in the prior verse, after all, and He also told us that people would persecute us and even kill us because of His name (Matthew 24:9). God Himself said that this would happen: "Because of this, the wisdom of God said, 'I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and persecute,' so that this generation may be held responsible for the blood of the prophets shed since the foundations of the world..." (Luke 11:49-50). But what does this mean? Some of you may be wondering, "Why would God do this? Why would He send His prophets and servants out just to be killed?" Well, why would God send His only begotten Son to be killed? For the benefit and salvation of mankind. In this verse Jesus was quoting Himself from Matthew 23:33-34 with a more black and white answer: "Snakes! Brood of vipers! How can you escape being condemned to Hell? This is why I am sending you prophets, sages, and scribes. Some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will flog in your synagogues and hound from town to town." Jesus is referring to the wicked that persecute and kill Christians, and He provided the answer as to why this is to happen: to expose the wicked who will not escape their condemnation to Hell (unless they accept Christ, of course).
John 15:20, "Remember the word I spoke to you: 'A slave is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My Word, they will also keep yours." As Jesus Christ's servants, we are no greater than Him, so we receive the same punishment from our enemies that He received, nothing greater nor less. (This even includes imprisonment and death. See Luke 21:12 and read Matthew 23:34 once more.) There is quite a distinction here: Those who don't keep His Word will persecute us and those who do keep His Word, they will also keep ours. The question is: Will you be able to keep your faith and stand during persecution and tribulation (see Revelation 6:16-17)?
Saturday, November 16, 2013
The Armour of God
There is a pattern of unbelief that I am most
curious of and is rather fascinating. Most unbelievers I come across have
such a strong desire to persuade me away from my faith whether they decide to
exercise the theory of evolution or other typical atheistic "logic"
(i.e. if God is an all loving God and does not save people from massacres and
famine and such, then He must not exist). The fallacy of their childish
logic is understandable to an extent because each of us are faced with these
doubts at some point in our lives, and there is a psychological term for such fallacy:
rationalisation. What separates the Christian from the
unbeliever is that we defeat the fallacies and starve the doubts fed by
the Devil and evidently overcome the doubts by feeding our faith. How do
we do that? I'm afraid that cannot be explained but rather experienced.
What I find increasingly interesting is that most unbelievers I come
across feel that it is a necessity to express such hatred, persecution, and
angry "logic" towards me and fellow brethren. There are guilty
Christians who bring about the persecution and judgement in the attempt to
persuade them into the faith first and therefore having the unbeliever become
defensive and attack back as a result. It is a simple defence mechanism
to attack when the very basis of your beliefs are threatened or challenged,
Christian or not. These very wrongful Christians may be the very reason
why most unbelievers attack innocent Christians — they feel judged and
persecuted by a Christian in their past and therefore assume all Christians do
this and so decide to attack us, whether we instigated the argument or not.
I am certainly guilty of this in my past when I first became a Christian,
but once I realised the foolishness of my behaviour I stopped it. Keep in
mind that as Christians we are not to instigate arguments and debates. It
is unbiblical. When such things happen, be become defensive and attack offensively; but we are to defend our faith that is threatened by people with defensive measures, not offensive.
The Word tells us that we are to "reject foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they breed quarrels" (II Timothy 2:23). And Titus 3:9 says to "avoid foolish debates, genealogies, quarrels, and disputes about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless." What it means by "genealogies" are speculative interpretations of the Old Testament. The Word of God says that arguments and debates are unprofitable and worthless! Indubitably, we can all agree on this, because in arguments and debates, especially with unbelievers going back and forth listing opinion after opinion for hours, what are you accomplishing? Above all, what are you accomplishing for God's glory? How is this argument or debate bringing any glory to God? This is a rhetorical question because it's obvious that such quarrels dishonour God's image. Being made in the image of God, we are dishonouring what He created us to become — His children in His image. "Ah," someone may say, "is it not right to resolve a dispute?" Proverbs 20:3, It is honourable for a man to resolve a dispute, but any fool can get himself into a quarrel. If you can peacefully resolve a dispute without including yourself in a quarrel, it is honourable.
I often say that we are soldiers of Christ, and some may argue that as soldiers it is our duty to defeat hostile arguments with our own logic and Word of God. If that were true, then such heated arguments would end each and every argument with the unbeliever as a believer without failure, but such does not happen. I have two points to make here. First, and shortly, as a veteran of the U.S. Army, a soldier knows that honour, respect, and mercy are more essential than taking out the enemy. As Christian soldiers, our values are the fruit of the Spirit, which are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, meekness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). And secondly, as soldiers of Christ, we wear the armour of God whereas those of the world are exposed with their weak flesh. They're missing the armour of God, and so their flesh is exposed and they are weak. They are not our enemies; Satan is the enemy. In the military, anyone not clearly wearing any hostile gear are considered non-combatants and it is considered both illegal and unethical to fire upon them. And with the Geneva Convention in effect (initiated by the United Nations), anyone who fires upon us and subsequently drops their weapon is also considered a non-combatant. We don't like that rule, but it's an international law and we are obligated to obey it. When we debate and argue with unbelievers, we are firing upon non-combatants, even if they attacked first. Always going on the offensive is the world view of a soldier, but as a Christian we are to remain in the line of defence against people.
I'm going to use Ephesians 6:10-17 as support for this, which is the passage that discusses the armour of God. In verse 11 it says to "put on the full armour of God so that you can stand against the tactics of the Devil." This is the vital key! It says we are to wear the full armour of God in order to stand against the tactics of the Devil — his battle strategies. This is a defence tactic, not an offence. One of his tactics are the persecutions and arguments we face from unbelievers in order to create doubt within us and to dissuade us from believing in God. But we are to stand our ground in defence! "Ah," someone may say, "is coming back with a rebuttal not a form of defence?" It is a form of defence, yes, but this defence includes a tactic of offence in the which you attack back while defending. You are attacking and defending simultaneously — a counterattack — but the armour of God is simply defence against people. (The armour of God is only used offensively against Satan. I will explain this soon.) In your mind you may think you are simply defending your faith but you are doing so by attacking them. Verse 12 then goes on to tell us that "our battle is not against flesh and blood," which can be unbelieving people, "but against... the world powers of this darkness, [and] against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens." Our battle is not against these unbelievers but against the darkness and evil of the words they're speaking, which is Satan working through them. Satan formulates the tactic and these unbelievers are just the means to an end, and so I repeat: the enemy is Satan, not these unbelievers. And verse 13 tells us "this is why you take up the full armour of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day" — the day(s) these quarrels occur — "and having prepared everything, to take your stand." This is exactly what defence is — preparing yourself to stand against the forces of evil, not marching directly into it (that's offence). The use of the word preparation is very important here because as you'll see, all these forms of defence that Scripture gives us can only be strong enough if we prepare against the attacks of the dark forces, which comes with experience as well as making mistakes.
So now the question is, "What is the composition of the armour of God and how do we utilise it?" Well, it's given to us in verse 14-17, which I'm going to walk you through. It tells us to stand "with truth like a belt around your waist." Anyone can use this to argue that truth is to speak it against unbelievers in their debate because they speak lies. No, they are wrong. And again, our enemy to be offensive against is Satan, not people. It says to stand with truth "like a belt." What does a belt do? It supports your foundation so that you won't fall. Like a belt, we are to utilise what we know about the truth of God's Word to support the foundation of our faith so that we don't fall. Don't take the belt off and start beating people with it; that's not what it was designed to do. When we are faced with these persecutions and arguments, we are to exercise our knowledge of the truth of God's Word in maintaining the foundation of our faith — our faith unwavering.
Next, it says to stand with "righteousness like armour on your chest." Armour on the chest takes a heavy beating, but you still stand firm in your chest plate. Likewise, our righteousness takes a heavy beating, but we are to stand firm in it. However, we have to be careful not to be self-righteous; that is always a danger, and many Christians fall into it. There may be some questions in your mind right now, such as: "What is righteousness," and/or, "How are we righteous when we are guilty of sin?" Righteousness is "God's righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ, to all who believe, since there is no distinction" (Romans 3:22). By believing in Christ and having faith in whom He was, is, and is to come while being cognisant of your sin but not remaining shameful of your sin due to the graceful forgiveness through our Lord Jesus Christ, you are righteous. If you allow these words spoken by unbelievers to penetrate the armour on your chest by making you not believe anymore or doubt and feel guilty and shame for your sin, you damage your righteousness and risk destroying it. It's not just what these people say that puts your righteousness in danger, but mostly the doubts you create and ruminate upon as a result of their slander. Also, another note, Christians are called to judgement, contrary to popular belief, but not the judgement we all think of when we hear or read the word. When Jesus teaches, " 'judge not, that ye be not judged' " (Matthew 7:1), He is not talking about simply judging people by sizing them up in one glance. He is saying that we are not to judge (condemn) people to Hell. The word that is used here in the Greek for the word "judge" is κρίνω (krinō). It means to "separate, select," or "choose" and hence "to determine," and therefore "to pronounce judgement." In its use here, the use of this verb means to assume the office of a judge. If you're a judge, what do you do? You sentence someone to death or imprisonment. This is what Jesus is telling us not to do. Do not put yourself in the position of a judge and sentence someone to the death and imprisonment of Hell. This is why Jesus said in John 7:24, "Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgement." But what in God's name (literally) is righteous judgement? Jesus tells us in Matthew chapter seven with His "speck in the eye" parable. Righteous judgement is to examine your own self first — your own sins and imperfections ("the log that is in your own eye," verse 3). Look to God's Word to see what it says about your own sins and fix it ("first take the log out of your own eye," verse 5a). Then after you have completed that self-examination you can then examine somebody else's sins and see what Scripture has to say about their sin ("and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye," verse 5b). Jesus calls people who don't do this hypocrites (v. 5a). The judgement you are to come up with, after self-examination, is this: "They are a sinner just like me. Scripture says this about their sin, and I must love them and help them to overcome it, just as I have suffered in sin."
I got a little sidetracked there, but it was a necessary digression. Let's move on with the next piece of armour. In verse 15 it says to stand with "your feet sandaled with readiness for the gospel of peace." This is a lot simpler than the subject of righteousness. It simply means to always be ready to tell others about the Gospel. Now, anyone can say here that this contradicts everything I've said up to this point. That's not necessarily true. If you tell somebody about the Gospel and they just choose to argue, that's not your problem and so you are to move elsewhere to somebody else who is willing to listen and discuss it maturely, leading to their possible repentance and their acceptance of Jesus Christ. You're not giving up on them because there is still the power of prayer. Spreading the Gospel is not for the sake of argument and debate. By debating with people and pointing out how sinful they are, you are simply preaching Law, not Gospel. The Law is still applicable in some regards, but you cannot preach the Law without offering the Gospel; the Gospel is the whole point of Jesus Christ. The Gospel is grace. God did not give us His Word to debate with people; He spoke to us in order that we may lead people to Christ so that they may be free from the bondage of sin and that they might know Him and in turn inherit His kingdom as co-heirs and as God's children. However, if somebody is sincerely intrigued and is asking you questions simply out of curiosity and intrigue and wishes to know what Christianity is all about, then answer them accordingly in the Spirit. There is a huge difference between a mature, gentle discussion and a raging quarrel. If an unbeliever is arguing with you, he or she is not interested in being saved or having their mind changed; they've already made up their mind so you would just be wasting your time and their time. This is why you must pray for them on your own time. Jesus commands us to love our enemies and to pray for those who persecute us (Matthew 5:44). If an unbeliever is asking you questions without argument and is looking for answers, then they're obviously looking for a change that only God can offer that they wish to understand. So put on the sandals of the gospel of peace and always be ready to teach others of the Gospel.
In verse 16 we are told: In every situation take the shield of faith, and with it you will be able to extinguish the flaming arrows of the evil one. First, let me emphasise that it says "the evil one," which is Satan, not people. A shield is the most used form of defence, and what is this shield? Our faith. I find it very interesting that the very thing we have to protect is also one of the greatest forms of defence, and it is because faith can be that strong. It is imperative that we get to the point where our faith is so unwavering that we can deflect the flaming arrows of Satan. So basically our faith has to be so strong that the tactics Satan decides to attack our faith with are ultimately ineffective. This is a true challenge, and it takes a very long time to get there, but it is very achievable. Next, in verse 17 we are told to "take the helmet of salvation." Our salvation is our inheritance in God's kingdom with Christ Jesus, and we are to use that knowledge of our salvation to protect our minds from dark and evil thought patterns. You have the ultimate inheritance to be with our Lord in God's kingdom! That is a glorious thing! Wear that knowledge and keep your chin up and keep looking forward to that moment! Therefore, do not allow the words of unbelievers to sizzle in your mind and distract you from that promise. They don't have that promise, but you do. So put on the helmet of this inherited salvation and protect your mind against these vile, insidious words that unbelievers speak — do not allow yourself to lie awake at night thinking of these things that the unbeliever said. If you find yourself in this situation, pray. Talk to God. Be absolutely sure of your salvation and what the Word of God says about it and who you are in Christ, as God the Father sees you.
Lastly, it says to take "the sword of the Spirit, which is God's Word." Here, someone may say, "Ah! A sword! You use a sword for attacking!" That is one use of it, yes, but you can also use a sword to defend yourself by blocking out attacks — cancelling them out. We attack Satan with God's Word, but we defend ourselves against people with God's Word. Allow me to explain. We are not to use the sword of God's Word to attack others because when we do that it always leads to condemnation that comes from the Law instead of the grace of the Gospel — doing so is using God's wrath against them. Rather, we are to defend our faith against the words of the world that Satan puts into action in order to block them from puncturing our faith, cancelling them out; and we are to do this by remembering and reading God's Word. Use Jesus as an example when He stood against the temptations of Satan when He was in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-11). Yes, Jesus actually used the Word of God to physically speak against the Devil, and that's exactly the point. He attacked the Devil with God's Word, not a human being, and the end result was that Satan fled from Him. Sure, at times Jesus made known to the Pharisees that they were hypocrites and sinners, but He also made very known to them that He is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). They just refused to believe, and there are many reasons why, which I won't get into right now. I'll use a personal example as well. Usually when unbelievers start to insult me with numerous profanities, I simply tell them that they're actually doing me a favour because by their persecutions and insults, they are blessing me, according to Matthew 5:11-12. I have that Scripture memorised, and I quote it to them. They either have nothing to say to that or they continue with their rude and spiteful remarks, which is my cue to walk away. That's all you have to do. Memorise Scripture; it really helps. When I paraphrase or quote that passage to them, it is not in argument or in condemnation; I'm just simply making it known to them that their words neither offend me, confuse me, nor change my mind. I have made up my mind just as they have made up theirs, and there is nothing they can do about it.
Remember in verse 12 that it says our battle is not against flesh and blood, which are people. Do not attack people with the sword of God's Word. Their words (and our own thoughts) create doubts in our minds and that's when we attack with the sword of God's Word against Satan, and he shall flee (James 4:7). Attack the lies that you allow Satan to form in your mind with the sword of God's Word. When you speak the Word of God against peoples' accusations and "logic," they are so arrogant and ignorant that they just keep on attacking; they don't run away. This is why I make the wise choice to walk away because it just simply isn't worth it. What's the point in arguing with someone who refuses to be objective and have a mature discussion? There is no point. Since they keep on attacking, we then have to use God's Word as a sword to block and cancel out their blunt blows on our faith by reminding ourselves in our mind what the Word of God says against their purported and perpetual logic and accusations. In case you haven't figured it out yet, the purpose of putting on the armour of God is not just to be capable of fighting against Satan, but also to remain defensive against His wiles through any means he uses, protecting your faith. Since our battle is not against flesh and blood but against these dark powers and forces, doing everything I just described is our only form of offence in battling against these spiritual forces, as well as the only form of defence against flesh and blood — the wiles of Satan. As they say in sports, "Your best offence is a good defence." How true that is for the Christian faith! By defending your faith against Satan's dark forces you are also fighting against it, for he runs away (remember James 4:7). But remember, after Satan had tempted Jesus, "he left Him until an opportune time" (Luke 4:13). So be careful; he will come back and try again.
The Word tells us that we are to "reject foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they breed quarrels" (II Timothy 2:23). And Titus 3:9 says to "avoid foolish debates, genealogies, quarrels, and disputes about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless." What it means by "genealogies" are speculative interpretations of the Old Testament. The Word of God says that arguments and debates are unprofitable and worthless! Indubitably, we can all agree on this, because in arguments and debates, especially with unbelievers going back and forth listing opinion after opinion for hours, what are you accomplishing? Above all, what are you accomplishing for God's glory? How is this argument or debate bringing any glory to God? This is a rhetorical question because it's obvious that such quarrels dishonour God's image. Being made in the image of God, we are dishonouring what He created us to become — His children in His image. "Ah," someone may say, "is it not right to resolve a dispute?" Proverbs 20:3, It is honourable for a man to resolve a dispute, but any fool can get himself into a quarrel. If you can peacefully resolve a dispute without including yourself in a quarrel, it is honourable.
I often say that we are soldiers of Christ, and some may argue that as soldiers it is our duty to defeat hostile arguments with our own logic and Word of God. If that were true, then such heated arguments would end each and every argument with the unbeliever as a believer without failure, but such does not happen. I have two points to make here. First, and shortly, as a veteran of the U.S. Army, a soldier knows that honour, respect, and mercy are more essential than taking out the enemy. As Christian soldiers, our values are the fruit of the Spirit, which are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, meekness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). And secondly, as soldiers of Christ, we wear the armour of God whereas those of the world are exposed with their weak flesh. They're missing the armour of God, and so their flesh is exposed and they are weak. They are not our enemies; Satan is the enemy. In the military, anyone not clearly wearing any hostile gear are considered non-combatants and it is considered both illegal and unethical to fire upon them. And with the Geneva Convention in effect (initiated by the United Nations), anyone who fires upon us and subsequently drops their weapon is also considered a non-combatant. We don't like that rule, but it's an international law and we are obligated to obey it. When we debate and argue with unbelievers, we are firing upon non-combatants, even if they attacked first. Always going on the offensive is the world view of a soldier, but as a Christian we are to remain in the line of defence against people.
I'm going to use Ephesians 6:10-17 as support for this, which is the passage that discusses the armour of God. In verse 11 it says to "put on the full armour of God so that you can stand against the tactics of the Devil." This is the vital key! It says we are to wear the full armour of God in order to stand against the tactics of the Devil — his battle strategies. This is a defence tactic, not an offence. One of his tactics are the persecutions and arguments we face from unbelievers in order to create doubt within us and to dissuade us from believing in God. But we are to stand our ground in defence! "Ah," someone may say, "is coming back with a rebuttal not a form of defence?" It is a form of defence, yes, but this defence includes a tactic of offence in the which you attack back while defending. You are attacking and defending simultaneously — a counterattack — but the armour of God is simply defence against people. (The armour of God is only used offensively against Satan. I will explain this soon.) In your mind you may think you are simply defending your faith but you are doing so by attacking them. Verse 12 then goes on to tell us that "our battle is not against flesh and blood," which can be unbelieving people, "but against... the world powers of this darkness, [and] against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens." Our battle is not against these unbelievers but against the darkness and evil of the words they're speaking, which is Satan working through them. Satan formulates the tactic and these unbelievers are just the means to an end, and so I repeat: the enemy is Satan, not these unbelievers. And verse 13 tells us "this is why you take up the full armour of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day" — the day(s) these quarrels occur — "and having prepared everything, to take your stand." This is exactly what defence is — preparing yourself to stand against the forces of evil, not marching directly into it (that's offence). The use of the word preparation is very important here because as you'll see, all these forms of defence that Scripture gives us can only be strong enough if we prepare against the attacks of the dark forces, which comes with experience as well as making mistakes.
So now the question is, "What is the composition of the armour of God and how do we utilise it?" Well, it's given to us in verse 14-17, which I'm going to walk you through. It tells us to stand "with truth like a belt around your waist." Anyone can use this to argue that truth is to speak it against unbelievers in their debate because they speak lies. No, they are wrong. And again, our enemy to be offensive against is Satan, not people. It says to stand with truth "like a belt." What does a belt do? It supports your foundation so that you won't fall. Like a belt, we are to utilise what we know about the truth of God's Word to support the foundation of our faith so that we don't fall. Don't take the belt off and start beating people with it; that's not what it was designed to do. When we are faced with these persecutions and arguments, we are to exercise our knowledge of the truth of God's Word in maintaining the foundation of our faith — our faith unwavering.
Next, it says to stand with "righteousness like armour on your chest." Armour on the chest takes a heavy beating, but you still stand firm in your chest plate. Likewise, our righteousness takes a heavy beating, but we are to stand firm in it. However, we have to be careful not to be self-righteous; that is always a danger, and many Christians fall into it. There may be some questions in your mind right now, such as: "What is righteousness," and/or, "How are we righteous when we are guilty of sin?" Righteousness is "God's righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ, to all who believe, since there is no distinction" (Romans 3:22). By believing in Christ and having faith in whom He was, is, and is to come while being cognisant of your sin but not remaining shameful of your sin due to the graceful forgiveness through our Lord Jesus Christ, you are righteous. If you allow these words spoken by unbelievers to penetrate the armour on your chest by making you not believe anymore or doubt and feel guilty and shame for your sin, you damage your righteousness and risk destroying it. It's not just what these people say that puts your righteousness in danger, but mostly the doubts you create and ruminate upon as a result of their slander. Also, another note, Christians are called to judgement, contrary to popular belief, but not the judgement we all think of when we hear or read the word. When Jesus teaches, " 'judge not, that ye be not judged' " (Matthew 7:1), He is not talking about simply judging people by sizing them up in one glance. He is saying that we are not to judge (condemn) people to Hell. The word that is used here in the Greek for the word "judge" is κρίνω (krinō). It means to "separate, select," or "choose" and hence "to determine," and therefore "to pronounce judgement." In its use here, the use of this verb means to assume the office of a judge. If you're a judge, what do you do? You sentence someone to death or imprisonment. This is what Jesus is telling us not to do. Do not put yourself in the position of a judge and sentence someone to the death and imprisonment of Hell. This is why Jesus said in John 7:24, "Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgement." But what in God's name (literally) is righteous judgement? Jesus tells us in Matthew chapter seven with His "speck in the eye" parable. Righteous judgement is to examine your own self first — your own sins and imperfections ("the log that is in your own eye," verse 3). Look to God's Word to see what it says about your own sins and fix it ("first take the log out of your own eye," verse 5a). Then after you have completed that self-examination you can then examine somebody else's sins and see what Scripture has to say about their sin ("and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye," verse 5b). Jesus calls people who don't do this hypocrites (v. 5a). The judgement you are to come up with, after self-examination, is this: "They are a sinner just like me. Scripture says this about their sin, and I must love them and help them to overcome it, just as I have suffered in sin."
I got a little sidetracked there, but it was a necessary digression. Let's move on with the next piece of armour. In verse 15 it says to stand with "your feet sandaled with readiness for the gospel of peace." This is a lot simpler than the subject of righteousness. It simply means to always be ready to tell others about the Gospel. Now, anyone can say here that this contradicts everything I've said up to this point. That's not necessarily true. If you tell somebody about the Gospel and they just choose to argue, that's not your problem and so you are to move elsewhere to somebody else who is willing to listen and discuss it maturely, leading to their possible repentance and their acceptance of Jesus Christ. You're not giving up on them because there is still the power of prayer. Spreading the Gospel is not for the sake of argument and debate. By debating with people and pointing out how sinful they are, you are simply preaching Law, not Gospel. The Law is still applicable in some regards, but you cannot preach the Law without offering the Gospel; the Gospel is the whole point of Jesus Christ. The Gospel is grace. God did not give us His Word to debate with people; He spoke to us in order that we may lead people to Christ so that they may be free from the bondage of sin and that they might know Him and in turn inherit His kingdom as co-heirs and as God's children. However, if somebody is sincerely intrigued and is asking you questions simply out of curiosity and intrigue and wishes to know what Christianity is all about, then answer them accordingly in the Spirit. There is a huge difference between a mature, gentle discussion and a raging quarrel. If an unbeliever is arguing with you, he or she is not interested in being saved or having their mind changed; they've already made up their mind so you would just be wasting your time and their time. This is why you must pray for them on your own time. Jesus commands us to love our enemies and to pray for those who persecute us (Matthew 5:44). If an unbeliever is asking you questions without argument and is looking for answers, then they're obviously looking for a change that only God can offer that they wish to understand. So put on the sandals of the gospel of peace and always be ready to teach others of the Gospel.
In verse 16 we are told: In every situation take the shield of faith, and with it you will be able to extinguish the flaming arrows of the evil one. First, let me emphasise that it says "the evil one," which is Satan, not people. A shield is the most used form of defence, and what is this shield? Our faith. I find it very interesting that the very thing we have to protect is also one of the greatest forms of defence, and it is because faith can be that strong. It is imperative that we get to the point where our faith is so unwavering that we can deflect the flaming arrows of Satan. So basically our faith has to be so strong that the tactics Satan decides to attack our faith with are ultimately ineffective. This is a true challenge, and it takes a very long time to get there, but it is very achievable. Next, in verse 17 we are told to "take the helmet of salvation." Our salvation is our inheritance in God's kingdom with Christ Jesus, and we are to use that knowledge of our salvation to protect our minds from dark and evil thought patterns. You have the ultimate inheritance to be with our Lord in God's kingdom! That is a glorious thing! Wear that knowledge and keep your chin up and keep looking forward to that moment! Therefore, do not allow the words of unbelievers to sizzle in your mind and distract you from that promise. They don't have that promise, but you do. So put on the helmet of this inherited salvation and protect your mind against these vile, insidious words that unbelievers speak — do not allow yourself to lie awake at night thinking of these things that the unbeliever said. If you find yourself in this situation, pray. Talk to God. Be absolutely sure of your salvation and what the Word of God says about it and who you are in Christ, as God the Father sees you.
Lastly, it says to take "the sword of the Spirit, which is God's Word." Here, someone may say, "Ah! A sword! You use a sword for attacking!" That is one use of it, yes, but you can also use a sword to defend yourself by blocking out attacks — cancelling them out. We attack Satan with God's Word, but we defend ourselves against people with God's Word. Allow me to explain. We are not to use the sword of God's Word to attack others because when we do that it always leads to condemnation that comes from the Law instead of the grace of the Gospel — doing so is using God's wrath against them. Rather, we are to defend our faith against the words of the world that Satan puts into action in order to block them from puncturing our faith, cancelling them out; and we are to do this by remembering and reading God's Word. Use Jesus as an example when He stood against the temptations of Satan when He was in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-11). Yes, Jesus actually used the Word of God to physically speak against the Devil, and that's exactly the point. He attacked the Devil with God's Word, not a human being, and the end result was that Satan fled from Him. Sure, at times Jesus made known to the Pharisees that they were hypocrites and sinners, but He also made very known to them that He is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). They just refused to believe, and there are many reasons why, which I won't get into right now. I'll use a personal example as well. Usually when unbelievers start to insult me with numerous profanities, I simply tell them that they're actually doing me a favour because by their persecutions and insults, they are blessing me, according to Matthew 5:11-12. I have that Scripture memorised, and I quote it to them. They either have nothing to say to that or they continue with their rude and spiteful remarks, which is my cue to walk away. That's all you have to do. Memorise Scripture; it really helps. When I paraphrase or quote that passage to them, it is not in argument or in condemnation; I'm just simply making it known to them that their words neither offend me, confuse me, nor change my mind. I have made up my mind just as they have made up theirs, and there is nothing they can do about it.
Remember in verse 12 that it says our battle is not against flesh and blood, which are people. Do not attack people with the sword of God's Word. Their words (and our own thoughts) create doubts in our minds and that's when we attack with the sword of God's Word against Satan, and he shall flee (James 4:7). Attack the lies that you allow Satan to form in your mind with the sword of God's Word. When you speak the Word of God against peoples' accusations and "logic," they are so arrogant and ignorant that they just keep on attacking; they don't run away. This is why I make the wise choice to walk away because it just simply isn't worth it. What's the point in arguing with someone who refuses to be objective and have a mature discussion? There is no point. Since they keep on attacking, we then have to use God's Word as a sword to block and cancel out their blunt blows on our faith by reminding ourselves in our mind what the Word of God says against their purported and perpetual logic and accusations. In case you haven't figured it out yet, the purpose of putting on the armour of God is not just to be capable of fighting against Satan, but also to remain defensive against His wiles through any means he uses, protecting your faith. Since our battle is not against flesh and blood but against these dark powers and forces, doing everything I just described is our only form of offence in battling against these spiritual forces, as well as the only form of defence against flesh and blood — the wiles of Satan. As they say in sports, "Your best offence is a good defence." How true that is for the Christian faith! By defending your faith against Satan's dark forces you are also fighting against it, for he runs away (remember James 4:7). But remember, after Satan had tempted Jesus, "he left Him until an opportune time" (Luke 4:13). So be careful; he will come back and try again.
Friday, November 15, 2013
How I Came to My Faith
So I decided to make this blog entry about me for those of you who don't know me very well.
People today look around them and formulate reasons why God does not exist — or rather why they refuse to believe in Him, on a more personal level. When I observe my surroundings, however, I cannot help but see reasons as to why I must believe in His palpable existence. Let us journey back into my post-toddler stage, 5-years-old in the ghetto of Detroit, Michigan. It may be difficult to imagine, but in 1995 it was still difficult for people to grasp the diversity of being biracial, at least in the ghetto of Detroit, which was my unfortunate predicament. It was a very dangerous place for me to grow up. Neither white nor black people accepted me because my father is Caucasian and my mother is half Puerto Rican and half African American, making me a multiracial anomaly; so needless to say, my shortage of friends was not very substantial. From what I can remember, I can only recall having one friend of whom I seldom saw. So I was a very lonely child, in spite of my close connections I felt with my older brother and my mother. (My father worked a lot for the benefit of supporting the family, so I didn't quite have a connection with him, but I don't blame him for it. In fact, I highly admire and respect him for his hard work.) Anyway, what I recall the most is getting beat up by a Caucasian 5th grader on the walk home from school every day, as well as being called African racial slurs. Mind you, I was a tiny kindergartner (my small physique has been a curse for most of my life) compared to this tall, much more menacing 5th grader, so I was completely incapable of defending myself. However, God was there for me even though I was oblivious to His existence. This was actually before I ever learnt of God's existence, and He was still there for me. He assured that I was not harmed in any life-threatening ways, which would've been very probable had He not been there. He was there for me because He has always had an important plan for me ever sine He created this earth. God eventually set my father up with a better job in Pennsylvania in 1996, where we moved to for a year, then back to Michigan in a safer area in the town of Canton in 1998. Then we moved to Canton's neighbouring community, Plymouth, in 2006. Throughout twelve years of my life (1995-2007) I suffered through major depression, and it was an insidious demon of the mind, growing worse and worse throughout time. However, God was still there in spite of my professed atheism during that time. (Let me tell you: being atheist in a Christian raised family is no easy task. Although technically, I was agnostic because you cannot blame all your problems on a Being that you claim doesn't exist.)
At age sixteen my parents divorced, and my depression and professed atheism sank even deeper. A year later in 2007 I somehow found the fortitude to be saved through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ the Messiah, the Son of God. I have my father to thank for that. Were it not for his persistence in my attending church every Sunday, I would not have associated and socialised with Christian peers and thus inspiring me to attend that year's Acquire the Fire (ATF) Battle Cry — an enormous Christian conference with concerts for adolescents held annually in large cities around the country. This particular one was in Detroit during March of 2007, and this is where I got saved. The bands we got to see perform were P.O.D., Unhindered, Kutless, Hilsong United, Superchick, Skillet, and other bands, including Philip Joel and Jeremy Camp the following year. But it wasn't just concerts at this large event. A famous pastor, Ron Luce, would preach in between worship times as well as there being very well acted drama skits to portray a biblical message, all of which contributed to my encouragement of being saved. I find it beyond coincidental that I lost my faith in Detroit in 1995 (or more accurately the cause of never forming it) and regained it back in Detroit in 2007; it's what God had always intended it to be. However, I could have easily decided to ignore the love from my Christian peers (ultimately God's love, which I almost did ignore), refused to go to church (which I did not want to attend on many occasions but did anyway in obedience to my father), and I could have therefore chosen to instead fill my heart with hatred and rebellion against both my dad and my heavenly Father. Thanks be to God that I made the right choice! I still have no idea why I went through all the depression and heartache I suffered through, but perhaps I will find the reason by the end of this entry, if not at a later time. Since that very moment I got saved, I have been on a wild journey with God, and He has gotten me further than I ever thought possible — achievements and blessings I never foresaw. Where therapy and Prozac medication has failed, Jesus Christ prevailed. Therapy was completely ineffective (I don't discount therapy after my experience; it just didn't work for me, for it does not work for every patient, which is actually rare). I wanted help in therapy; it was just ineffective. And the medication I had to consume just made me worse, which only happens to 2% of people who take the medication. The receiving of the Holy Spirit is such a powerful and ineffable feeling — what I like to call "that sweet emotion." It will be the understatement of a lifetime that I should say: God is truly amazing.
People will ask me, "Why do bad things happen to good people?" Usually, I would rightly respond with, "No one is good," paraphrasing from Luke 18:19. Besides, who are we to decide who's "good" and who's "bad?" You can't really decide that unless you know every single aspect of the person — the heart is different than their outward appearance, which is what God examines (I Samuel 16:7). We always bring God down to our level of thinking, but He is at a completely different vantage point than we are (Isaiah 55:8-9), which for us is unattainable and unfathomable. I think we would be more right to ask why bad things happen to people in general, which we do but not because of the realisation that not one is good. To only care about the well-being of "good" people and ignoring that of "bad" people is inconsiderate. Each of our opinions of "good" versus "bad" varies from person to person. Anyway, let's be more analytical about Jesus' saying, "Not one is good." Romans 8:28, We all know that all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose. But do YOU know that? God can easily transform our bad things into something good, but we have to believe and trust that He can. How do you think people become motivational speakers after a tragic incident? I am confident that God gives them their strength, even if they don't admit it. Second Corinthians 1:4, He comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction, through the comfort we ourselves received from God. God will comfort us in our troubles, which gives us the ability and willingness and humbleness to sympathise with and comfort others who've experienced the same thing, or lesser things or even greater things. However, it doesn't matter how less or great a tragedy is; in God's eyes the suffering of His child is the same.
In a perfect world, good things will happen to all people all the time, but we don't live in a perfect world; everyone will inevitably face bad and terrible tribulations from time to time, even excessively because of the sin in the world as a result of the Fall of Man. We need to face and recognise this reality as opposed to dwelling in a wishful thinking world that good things need to happen to everybody on this planet all the time, especially "good" people. For claiming to be in the "Age of Reason," we sure do illustrate an over abundance of fallacies. For the longest time I blamed God for everything that had happened to me, and I blamed Him for my depression. I blamed Him for twelve years! That's an awfully long time to blame our almighty God for something that He wasn't even responsible for, yet He still forgave me and protected me. This is when I realised that for atheists claiming to not believe in God, they sure do blame Him for a lot of things and put many accusations upon Him. Everybody needs a scapegoat, and for some dastardly strange reason we like to use our invisible, powerful, perfect, wise Creator as the scapegoat for all the faults in the world when it was Satan and man who brought it upon mankind. That's just one of Satan's fanciful tricks that we often fail or even refuse to recognise.
Two years after accepting Christ, at age nineteen, upon graduating high school I enlisted into the United States Army Bands as a professional saxophone specialist. I auditioned and passed in May of 2009 and signed my contract on June 16th; left for basic training on February 11, 2010 and graduated early on April 23rd. On that same day I left for AIT (Advanced Individual Training) to the Armed Forces School of Music located on the Littlecreek Joint Expeditionary Navy Base in Virginia Beach, Virginia and graduated AIT on June 4th. I deployed to the 2nd Infantry Division Band at Camp Red Cloud in Uijeongbu, South Korea of the Gyeonggi-do province on July 13th; and served my next and final duty station at Fort Sill in Lawton, Oklahoma on August 2, 2011 (and what a dump it was). And now here I am today, honourably discharged from the army (I got home January 5, 2013) and am now attending Concordia University in Ann Arbor, Michigan doing my pre-seminary studies with a minor in theological languages while pursuing a secondary degree in theology. All of this happened in a span of just four years, and already I've accomplished so much. I'm 23-years-old now, and I already had a full-fledged career and about to pursue another. I hope you see what I see here: that from the beginning of my life until now, God has been with me in seemingly impossible ways (and a lot more left unmentioned that may later be unveiled in this blog), and it is absolutely breathtaking. It leaves me in awe every time I ruminate upon it.
I began this entry with seeing reasons as to why I must believe in and love God when I observe my surroundings. Everything mentioned above is that first reason why. I examine my life from the beginning to where I'm at now and I cannot deny that there is a God who is with me. Not everyone can examine their life and draw the same conclusions I have; that isn't the point of this blog entry. This is simply my own personal beliefs due to my very specific life experiences. If God hasn't been there for you, little faith may be the reason and if this is you, you need to earnestly pray and accept Jesus Christ as your Saviour and recommit your life to God, which is achievable through baptism and/or self-discipline. I'm not saying this is definite, but it is very probable. The other possibility is that He actually is there; you're just failing to recognise Him.
Keeping all that in mind, my second reason is my family, more specifically my immediate family. When I look at them or even think of them — my mother, my father, my stepmother Deanna, my older brother Daniel, and my younger sister Julia — I cannot help but be filled with so much love and joy for them, even though my brother and sister are having a crisis of faith at the moment. I still love them very much and would sacrifice my life for them if I had to. Both my parents have sacrificed a lot for this family, including their own happiness. (The specifics of their sacrifices shall not be unveiled due to family privacy and respect.) When I remember what my parents have done for my siblings and me (even what they did before I was born), I cannot help but feel immensely blessed to have such loving, caring, and sacrificial parents. And seeing the sincere efforts my stepmother puts into being there for us and loving us, treating us as if we were her own but not trying to take the place of our mother (for she is still around and active in our lives) while taking the time to understand and know each of us, I feel immensely blessed to have her. I'm not sure if she knows this, but at some point in my life I will let it be known to her when I'm comfortable enough to do so. I'm not the type of person who readily expresses their deep emotions like that. If I am to have my own children, I don't know if I can be half as good a father as my own father has been. Because of how fortunate and blessed I am to have the family I have, I cannot deny that there is a God. As I'm sure you can already tell, I do not hold the divorce against my parents either. Most would hold it against their own, but my parents are truly happy now, which makes me happy. It is simply for the better. I was devastated, of course, when I first received the news, but it didn't take me long to realise that they were becoming happier than they've ever been. This pretty much hit me when my father almost broke down in tears (which is extremely rare of him) because he thought I hated him, which was completely untrue, so I got over it; and due to the portrayal of my actions at the time I can't blame him for thinking that. Because of the divorce I have grown closer to my father and continue to grow closer to him. And because of the divorce I can sympathise with and comfort others whose parents get divorced, especially since the divorce rate in America continues to increase exponentially (remember II Corinthians 1:4).
My third and probably last reason why I cannot deny that there is a God is the nature of this beautiful planet that we live on. That may sound odd, but that's fitting because I'm an odd person. When I go out and do photography (a great and expensive hobby of mine), I observe the wild animals, the trees, the flowers, the sky, the mountains, the hills, the waters, the stars, and the rest of the mysterious space. I see all of this and I just cannot accept that everything — known and unknown — were created by sheer, dumb luck. Scientists call life a "lucky" coincidence. Luck is the most quintessential human delusion. I ignorantly don't believe in luck for the very same reason people ignorantly don't believe in God: I can't see it. "Luck" is gambling and black jack, which is all just mathematical probability and exactly why mathematical geniuses can cheat and learn to count cards. Anybody with sense will know this if they've seen the production film, "Rain Man." Slot machines, as an example of gambling, also function mathematically, for a skilled mathematician can calculate the likelihood of the machine selecting certain symbol combinations. And "luck" is also something very fortunate happening at a very abrupt moment in our lives without any warning (or "bad luck" for the reverse effect), which is also mathematical probability when considering the time of all the little things you did (and/or opposing parties did) to get to that "lucky" or "unlucky" moment. This is not luck or bad luck; it is purely mathematical whether it was affected by divine intervention or not. People utilise "luck" to replace the absence of God in their lives.
I just refuse to believe that everything I see and the rest of the universe that we can only speculate upon were caused by some cosmic coincidence, but rather that there is an infinitely intelligent and loving Creator who desires to know each and every one of us intimately. To me, if God didn't exist and everything in existence were created by sheer, dumb luck, then what's the purpose in living? I have heard this rationalisation by unbelievers and agnostics alike: "Well, life is what you make of it — doing what makes you happy, cherishing those you love, and being a good person to the best of your ability" (in a nutshell, that's what they all similarly say). Okay, sure, that's justifiable to an extent, but once you die all of that will be forgotten throughout history and will no longer matter — you will no longer matter. You can only be remembered in peoples' memories for so long before your memory just fades into the obscurity of history. Nowadays, only if you're famous or a celebrity will your memory last longer, but even they will be forgotten. I can tell you right now that the human race will not live forever, whether it's because of Christ rapturing His Church and those left behind still not choosing God after the end and being dragged to Hell, or if the earth just decides that she can't support life anymore. This may sound depressing but that's because it is! Life without our loving God is just far too depressing to even imagine. Because of how depressing that is I just cannot accept that there is no loving Creator who deeply desires to adopt us all as His children. Humans becoming a fading memory just seems an impossible and purposeless fate; our fate is to become God's children through Christ and to dwell with Him in His kingdom for all eternity. With God, you always matter for all of your earthly life and all of eternity after this life. Life as a believer is not an easy one, but did God ever tell us it would be easy? No! He never said that. Anyone who expects the Christian life to be an easy, soothe sailing life has believed a lie, and should they choose to believe in and love Christ and come into the faith with these false and unrealistic expectations, they will live a miserable Christian life when we are called to joy, praise, faith, and hope. God, Jesus Christ, and the apostles have taught time and time again that we must expect tribulations, and plenty of them. Necessary tribulations, too. If we think times today are hard, just wait till after the Christians today (and those already dead) disappear to Heaven, and those left behind (including the new believers after the Rapture of Christ's Church) will have to face tribulations that will be a hundred times more sufferable, and that is no hyperbole. They'll realise that they will desperately need us to teach them and guide them after already having us, but we'll be gone. I'm not trying to scare anybody; I'm just giving an urgent warning about something stringently realistic. If your'e scared, you probably should be. Use that fear to desire Christ and live for Him in servitude and that fear will quickly, if not instantly, turn into peace and comfort. However, fear God reverently, not penitently. Living a life in commitment to Christ is not supposed to be a comfortable lifestyle; it's supposed to be challenging and difficult.
I want to conclude this entry with Hosea 4:1-3. It delineates perfectly how we are today: Hear the word of the LORD, people of Israel, for the LORD has a case against the inhabitants of the land: There is no truth, no faithful love, and no knowledge of God in the land! Cursing, lying, murder, stealing, and adultery are rampant; one act of bloodshed follows another. For this reason, the land mourns, and everyone who lives in it languishes, along with the wild animals and the birds of the sky; even the fish of the sea disappear. Sounds a lot like us, doesn't it? This is not a prophecy of modern times; it was one of God's case against Israel. This is an ancient time, yet in modern times we are identical to what Israel was like for a time, and we like to think we're predominant because of the technology we now possess. This hilarity amuses me. So those who complain about how the world is today, it is nothing new! The world has been like this for millennia. Human behaviour that sets itself apart from God is unchangeable and primitive.
People today look around them and formulate reasons why God does not exist — or rather why they refuse to believe in Him, on a more personal level. When I observe my surroundings, however, I cannot help but see reasons as to why I must believe in His palpable existence. Let us journey back into my post-toddler stage, 5-years-old in the ghetto of Detroit, Michigan. It may be difficult to imagine, but in 1995 it was still difficult for people to grasp the diversity of being biracial, at least in the ghetto of Detroit, which was my unfortunate predicament. It was a very dangerous place for me to grow up. Neither white nor black people accepted me because my father is Caucasian and my mother is half Puerto Rican and half African American, making me a multiracial anomaly; so needless to say, my shortage of friends was not very substantial. From what I can remember, I can only recall having one friend of whom I seldom saw. So I was a very lonely child, in spite of my close connections I felt with my older brother and my mother. (My father worked a lot for the benefit of supporting the family, so I didn't quite have a connection with him, but I don't blame him for it. In fact, I highly admire and respect him for his hard work.) Anyway, what I recall the most is getting beat up by a Caucasian 5th grader on the walk home from school every day, as well as being called African racial slurs. Mind you, I was a tiny kindergartner (my small physique has been a curse for most of my life) compared to this tall, much more menacing 5th grader, so I was completely incapable of defending myself. However, God was there for me even though I was oblivious to His existence. This was actually before I ever learnt of God's existence, and He was still there for me. He assured that I was not harmed in any life-threatening ways, which would've been very probable had He not been there. He was there for me because He has always had an important plan for me ever sine He created this earth. God eventually set my father up with a better job in Pennsylvania in 1996, where we moved to for a year, then back to Michigan in a safer area in the town of Canton in 1998. Then we moved to Canton's neighbouring community, Plymouth, in 2006. Throughout twelve years of my life (1995-2007) I suffered through major depression, and it was an insidious demon of the mind, growing worse and worse throughout time. However, God was still there in spite of my professed atheism during that time. (Let me tell you: being atheist in a Christian raised family is no easy task. Although technically, I was agnostic because you cannot blame all your problems on a Being that you claim doesn't exist.)
At age sixteen my parents divorced, and my depression and professed atheism sank even deeper. A year later in 2007 I somehow found the fortitude to be saved through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ the Messiah, the Son of God. I have my father to thank for that. Were it not for his persistence in my attending church every Sunday, I would not have associated and socialised with Christian peers and thus inspiring me to attend that year's Acquire the Fire (ATF) Battle Cry — an enormous Christian conference with concerts for adolescents held annually in large cities around the country. This particular one was in Detroit during March of 2007, and this is where I got saved. The bands we got to see perform were P.O.D., Unhindered, Kutless, Hilsong United, Superchick, Skillet, and other bands, including Philip Joel and Jeremy Camp the following year. But it wasn't just concerts at this large event. A famous pastor, Ron Luce, would preach in between worship times as well as there being very well acted drama skits to portray a biblical message, all of which contributed to my encouragement of being saved. I find it beyond coincidental that I lost my faith in Detroit in 1995 (or more accurately the cause of never forming it) and regained it back in Detroit in 2007; it's what God had always intended it to be. However, I could have easily decided to ignore the love from my Christian peers (ultimately God's love, which I almost did ignore), refused to go to church (which I did not want to attend on many occasions but did anyway in obedience to my father), and I could have therefore chosen to instead fill my heart with hatred and rebellion against both my dad and my heavenly Father. Thanks be to God that I made the right choice! I still have no idea why I went through all the depression and heartache I suffered through, but perhaps I will find the reason by the end of this entry, if not at a later time. Since that very moment I got saved, I have been on a wild journey with God, and He has gotten me further than I ever thought possible — achievements and blessings I never foresaw. Where therapy and Prozac medication has failed, Jesus Christ prevailed. Therapy was completely ineffective (I don't discount therapy after my experience; it just didn't work for me, for it does not work for every patient, which is actually rare). I wanted help in therapy; it was just ineffective. And the medication I had to consume just made me worse, which only happens to 2% of people who take the medication. The receiving of the Holy Spirit is such a powerful and ineffable feeling — what I like to call "that sweet emotion." It will be the understatement of a lifetime that I should say: God is truly amazing.
People will ask me, "Why do bad things happen to good people?" Usually, I would rightly respond with, "No one is good," paraphrasing from Luke 18:19. Besides, who are we to decide who's "good" and who's "bad?" You can't really decide that unless you know every single aspect of the person — the heart is different than their outward appearance, which is what God examines (I Samuel 16:7). We always bring God down to our level of thinking, but He is at a completely different vantage point than we are (Isaiah 55:8-9), which for us is unattainable and unfathomable. I think we would be more right to ask why bad things happen to people in general, which we do but not because of the realisation that not one is good. To only care about the well-being of "good" people and ignoring that of "bad" people is inconsiderate. Each of our opinions of "good" versus "bad" varies from person to person. Anyway, let's be more analytical about Jesus' saying, "Not one is good." Romans 8:28, We all know that all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose. But do YOU know that? God can easily transform our bad things into something good, but we have to believe and trust that He can. How do you think people become motivational speakers after a tragic incident? I am confident that God gives them their strength, even if they don't admit it. Second Corinthians 1:4, He comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction, through the comfort we ourselves received from God. God will comfort us in our troubles, which gives us the ability and willingness and humbleness to sympathise with and comfort others who've experienced the same thing, or lesser things or even greater things. However, it doesn't matter how less or great a tragedy is; in God's eyes the suffering of His child is the same.
In a perfect world, good things will happen to all people all the time, but we don't live in a perfect world; everyone will inevitably face bad and terrible tribulations from time to time, even excessively because of the sin in the world as a result of the Fall of Man. We need to face and recognise this reality as opposed to dwelling in a wishful thinking world that good things need to happen to everybody on this planet all the time, especially "good" people. For claiming to be in the "Age of Reason," we sure do illustrate an over abundance of fallacies. For the longest time I blamed God for everything that had happened to me, and I blamed Him for my depression. I blamed Him for twelve years! That's an awfully long time to blame our almighty God for something that He wasn't even responsible for, yet He still forgave me and protected me. This is when I realised that for atheists claiming to not believe in God, they sure do blame Him for a lot of things and put many accusations upon Him. Everybody needs a scapegoat, and for some dastardly strange reason we like to use our invisible, powerful, perfect, wise Creator as the scapegoat for all the faults in the world when it was Satan and man who brought it upon mankind. That's just one of Satan's fanciful tricks that we often fail or even refuse to recognise.
Two years after accepting Christ, at age nineteen, upon graduating high school I enlisted into the United States Army Bands as a professional saxophone specialist. I auditioned and passed in May of 2009 and signed my contract on June 16th; left for basic training on February 11, 2010 and graduated early on April 23rd. On that same day I left for AIT (Advanced Individual Training) to the Armed Forces School of Music located on the Littlecreek Joint Expeditionary Navy Base in Virginia Beach, Virginia and graduated AIT on June 4th. I deployed to the 2nd Infantry Division Band at Camp Red Cloud in Uijeongbu, South Korea of the Gyeonggi-do province on July 13th; and served my next and final duty station at Fort Sill in Lawton, Oklahoma on August 2, 2011 (and what a dump it was). And now here I am today, honourably discharged from the army (I got home January 5, 2013) and am now attending Concordia University in Ann Arbor, Michigan doing my pre-seminary studies with a minor in theological languages while pursuing a secondary degree in theology. All of this happened in a span of just four years, and already I've accomplished so much. I'm 23-years-old now, and I already had a full-fledged career and about to pursue another. I hope you see what I see here: that from the beginning of my life until now, God has been with me in seemingly impossible ways (and a lot more left unmentioned that may later be unveiled in this blog), and it is absolutely breathtaking. It leaves me in awe every time I ruminate upon it.
I began this entry with seeing reasons as to why I must believe in and love God when I observe my surroundings. Everything mentioned above is that first reason why. I examine my life from the beginning to where I'm at now and I cannot deny that there is a God who is with me. Not everyone can examine their life and draw the same conclusions I have; that isn't the point of this blog entry. This is simply my own personal beliefs due to my very specific life experiences. If God hasn't been there for you, little faith may be the reason and if this is you, you need to earnestly pray and accept Jesus Christ as your Saviour and recommit your life to God, which is achievable through baptism and/or self-discipline. I'm not saying this is definite, but it is very probable. The other possibility is that He actually is there; you're just failing to recognise Him.
Keeping all that in mind, my second reason is my family, more specifically my immediate family. When I look at them or even think of them — my mother, my father, my stepmother Deanna, my older brother Daniel, and my younger sister Julia — I cannot help but be filled with so much love and joy for them, even though my brother and sister are having a crisis of faith at the moment. I still love them very much and would sacrifice my life for them if I had to. Both my parents have sacrificed a lot for this family, including their own happiness. (The specifics of their sacrifices shall not be unveiled due to family privacy and respect.) When I remember what my parents have done for my siblings and me (even what they did before I was born), I cannot help but feel immensely blessed to have such loving, caring, and sacrificial parents. And seeing the sincere efforts my stepmother puts into being there for us and loving us, treating us as if we were her own but not trying to take the place of our mother (for she is still around and active in our lives) while taking the time to understand and know each of us, I feel immensely blessed to have her. I'm not sure if she knows this, but at some point in my life I will let it be known to her when I'm comfortable enough to do so. I'm not the type of person who readily expresses their deep emotions like that. If I am to have my own children, I don't know if I can be half as good a father as my own father has been. Because of how fortunate and blessed I am to have the family I have, I cannot deny that there is a God. As I'm sure you can already tell, I do not hold the divorce against my parents either. Most would hold it against their own, but my parents are truly happy now, which makes me happy. It is simply for the better. I was devastated, of course, when I first received the news, but it didn't take me long to realise that they were becoming happier than they've ever been. This pretty much hit me when my father almost broke down in tears (which is extremely rare of him) because he thought I hated him, which was completely untrue, so I got over it; and due to the portrayal of my actions at the time I can't blame him for thinking that. Because of the divorce I have grown closer to my father and continue to grow closer to him. And because of the divorce I can sympathise with and comfort others whose parents get divorced, especially since the divorce rate in America continues to increase exponentially (remember II Corinthians 1:4).
My third and probably last reason why I cannot deny that there is a God is the nature of this beautiful planet that we live on. That may sound odd, but that's fitting because I'm an odd person. When I go out and do photography (a great and expensive hobby of mine), I observe the wild animals, the trees, the flowers, the sky, the mountains, the hills, the waters, the stars, and the rest of the mysterious space. I see all of this and I just cannot accept that everything — known and unknown — were created by sheer, dumb luck. Scientists call life a "lucky" coincidence. Luck is the most quintessential human delusion. I ignorantly don't believe in luck for the very same reason people ignorantly don't believe in God: I can't see it. "Luck" is gambling and black jack, which is all just mathematical probability and exactly why mathematical geniuses can cheat and learn to count cards. Anybody with sense will know this if they've seen the production film, "Rain Man." Slot machines, as an example of gambling, also function mathematically, for a skilled mathematician can calculate the likelihood of the machine selecting certain symbol combinations. And "luck" is also something very fortunate happening at a very abrupt moment in our lives without any warning (or "bad luck" for the reverse effect), which is also mathematical probability when considering the time of all the little things you did (and/or opposing parties did) to get to that "lucky" or "unlucky" moment. This is not luck or bad luck; it is purely mathematical whether it was affected by divine intervention or not. People utilise "luck" to replace the absence of God in their lives.
I just refuse to believe that everything I see and the rest of the universe that we can only speculate upon were caused by some cosmic coincidence, but rather that there is an infinitely intelligent and loving Creator who desires to know each and every one of us intimately. To me, if God didn't exist and everything in existence were created by sheer, dumb luck, then what's the purpose in living? I have heard this rationalisation by unbelievers and agnostics alike: "Well, life is what you make of it — doing what makes you happy, cherishing those you love, and being a good person to the best of your ability" (in a nutshell, that's what they all similarly say). Okay, sure, that's justifiable to an extent, but once you die all of that will be forgotten throughout history and will no longer matter — you will no longer matter. You can only be remembered in peoples' memories for so long before your memory just fades into the obscurity of history. Nowadays, only if you're famous or a celebrity will your memory last longer, but even they will be forgotten. I can tell you right now that the human race will not live forever, whether it's because of Christ rapturing His Church and those left behind still not choosing God after the end and being dragged to Hell, or if the earth just decides that she can't support life anymore. This may sound depressing but that's because it is! Life without our loving God is just far too depressing to even imagine. Because of how depressing that is I just cannot accept that there is no loving Creator who deeply desires to adopt us all as His children. Humans becoming a fading memory just seems an impossible and purposeless fate; our fate is to become God's children through Christ and to dwell with Him in His kingdom for all eternity. With God, you always matter for all of your earthly life and all of eternity after this life. Life as a believer is not an easy one, but did God ever tell us it would be easy? No! He never said that. Anyone who expects the Christian life to be an easy, soothe sailing life has believed a lie, and should they choose to believe in and love Christ and come into the faith with these false and unrealistic expectations, they will live a miserable Christian life when we are called to joy, praise, faith, and hope. God, Jesus Christ, and the apostles have taught time and time again that we must expect tribulations, and plenty of them. Necessary tribulations, too. If we think times today are hard, just wait till after the Christians today (and those already dead) disappear to Heaven, and those left behind (including the new believers after the Rapture of Christ's Church) will have to face tribulations that will be a hundred times more sufferable, and that is no hyperbole. They'll realise that they will desperately need us to teach them and guide them after already having us, but we'll be gone. I'm not trying to scare anybody; I'm just giving an urgent warning about something stringently realistic. If your'e scared, you probably should be. Use that fear to desire Christ and live for Him in servitude and that fear will quickly, if not instantly, turn into peace and comfort. However, fear God reverently, not penitently. Living a life in commitment to Christ is not supposed to be a comfortable lifestyle; it's supposed to be challenging and difficult.
I want to conclude this entry with Hosea 4:1-3. It delineates perfectly how we are today: Hear the word of the LORD, people of Israel, for the LORD has a case against the inhabitants of the land: There is no truth, no faithful love, and no knowledge of God in the land! Cursing, lying, murder, stealing, and adultery are rampant; one act of bloodshed follows another. For this reason, the land mourns, and everyone who lives in it languishes, along with the wild animals and the birds of the sky; even the fish of the sea disappear. Sounds a lot like us, doesn't it? This is not a prophecy of modern times; it was one of God's case against Israel. This is an ancient time, yet in modern times we are identical to what Israel was like for a time, and we like to think we're predominant because of the technology we now possess. This hilarity amuses me. So those who complain about how the world is today, it is nothing new! The world has been like this for millennia. Human behaviour that sets itself apart from God is unchangeable and primitive.
Thursday, November 14, 2013
I Have A Dream
Over 5,000 years ago, a baby was born. An angel came to Joseph in a dream, telling him that his soon to be wife, Mary, would immaculately give birth to a son, and that they were to name Him Jesus Christ because He will be the Saviour of His people, saving them from their sins. It was this boy who grew into a man, the Son of God, who became the most momentous decree from God in human history as He became the beacon of salvation, and of hope to the entire human race. Even after we have been pulverised in flames and murdered by the sword of the ancient Roman Empire and the early Catholic Church long ago in history, we still stand against the injustices of our iniquitous enemies who belong to the synagogue of Satan. Christ descends from heaven with all the angels, every eye on earth witnessing His coming, including those who have despised Him, and they will mourn. His hair is white, His eyes ablaze, and His firm bronze feet to touch this earth once again. And we who have served Him ascend, from the grave first to the living.
We do not know when this time will come, for not even Jesus Christ Himself knows. That proof has been written in Matthew 24:36, spoken with Christ's own mouth. So there is no need to use our feckless mathematics, philosophy, and astrology to discover the destruction of our species. We must face the tragic fact that we do not and cannot possess the complete knowledge of the universe and divinity, for only God is omnipotent. We must also learn to accept God's omniscience, no matter how impossible it may seem. By human standards, it is impossible because our small minds can only hold such limited information and knowledge and comprehend just as much; but it is not impossible for the Deity, for He far surpasses our weak, soft flesh and inferior minds, yet He loves us above everything else in this infinite universe that He created. Man still suffers under the manacles of sin and the chains of deceit, just as it has always been since the Fall of Man. Five thousand years or so after man's creation, there still remain civilisations that live in poverty and have never heard the name of Jesus Christ and the Good News of whom He was, is, and is to come. And as we followers of Christ still live to save these people, there are still those who remain to be appalled by our selfless condition and Godly character.
Jesus Christ has entitled we who believe and follow as co-heirs of His throne, and as His co-heirs we attain eternal life in God's paradise. It is obvious that Christendom — the global population of Christianity — is defaulting from Christ's promissory acknowledgement. Instead of holding fast to God's divine promise, Christendom has regressed to a lukewarm condition, and ergo insufficient to be co-heirs of His throne. In Revelation 3:15 Jesus states that He'd rather have us be hot or cold — on fire for Him or cold against Him, rather than content or "lukewarm," as the text states. Complacency makes you indolent and incognisant, which then only palliates your faith. It is far easier to change the mind of a cold person than one who is completely content, for the content individual has already made up their mind and has no desire to move from where they are. As Paul writes in First Thessalonians 5:14, we are to warn the lazy, but we are too lazy to warn others. Ergo, we must urgently help ourselves first. One may ask me, "How do we do that?" The answer is simple: Get off your lazy behind and continue walking on the path to Jesus Christ's throne, which we are co-heirs of. We refuse to realise that the Christian Church's faith is bankrupt. We accept attributes that God declares as abominations and intolerable, and we are complacent in our faith. How, then, as a Church, is our faith strong?
God created me so that I may establish hallowed grounds in His Word, even reëstablishments. Now is no time to live in our materialistic luxuries and inject ourselves with the drug of self-gratification. Now is the time to rise from darkness and indolence and the desolate wastelands of sin, and onto the illuminated path of righteousness. Now is the time to open the doors of our hearts and completely submit our hearts to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ as God's beloved children. Now is the time to lift up the souls of the people of the earth from the devouring pits of Hell and into the love and mercy of our God, our Solid Rock. It would be unwise and foolish for us to underestimate the power of Satan, for I would not be writing any of this were it not for the effectiveness of his power that we have underestimated. Satan's deceit and evil will not rest until Jesus Christ's Glorious Appearing. Peace and harmony will never exist until Jesus the Messiah returns.
My faith in Christ is inextricable, and I cannot allow others to walk their path alone. As I walk, I pledge to God that I will march others towards His kingdom, for I am a soldier under the command of Jesus Christ, my Commander. I will never turn back, and I will never leave a fallen brother or sister. Those of you who are content in your faith, I am utterly disappointed and I am in grief. How can you be satisfied? How can you be so indolent? As long as there are people living in poverty, malnutrition, and bloodshed, you should never be satisfied! How dare you rest your polished feet upon your riches and ignore the beaten, the lost, and the damned under the reign of man's cruelty. I will repeat what Jesus has said to us all: We, children of God, are the light of the world. Nobody lights a lamp and places it under a blanket, but rather, we place it on top of a nightstand so it will brighten the darkness. Likewise, we must let our light shine before man, illuminating their darkness with the light of Christ. This is in Matthew 5:14-16. But as you sit here in your pathetic complacency, you place your lamp underneath a blanket and you begin to become enveloped by darkness. I am not satisfied, and I will never be satisfied until the day that I die. Even in fatigue and illness I shall continue to breathe God's Word, for my faith is never satisfied, and neither should yours be.
I am not unaware that many of you have faced various trials and tribulations, but I tell you: Your self-pity is no excuse to sit in your complacency and anger at God. Your self-pity will not serve you well. What do your complaints, blame, and anger accomplish? That is why you're still miserable, because you have accomplished nothing in your complaints, blame, and anger. Stop whining and begin to starve your doubts and feed your faith. Sitting there and doing nothing about it with a lack of prayer only fuels your misery and anger, allowing it to continue boiling. As Scripture tells us in First Peter 1:6-7, it is necessary to face tribulations so that our faith may result in the praise, glory, and honour of Jesus Christ. For if we are not tested and therefore incapable of enduring, how can we bring Christ praise, glory, and honour? It is this proper testing that builds strength to our faith, and our faith cannot grow in strength without the proper testing and training, for then it will always remain weak. And as First Corinthians 10:13 tells us, God does not allow us to be tempted by anything that we are unable to overcome and control. You may think you are overwhelmed, but it is your faith that is weak and capable of being strengthened. You cannot overcome sin or trials by your power alone, but with the power of Christ invested in you. So the lesson to take from it is that there is some necessary and dire building that you need to add upon your faith. It isn't God who has given up on you; it is you who has given up on God and on yourself.
In spite of this complacency that we Christians find ourselves in, I still have a dream. It is a dream that we all Christians share in unification as God's children. I have a dream that one day, a great multitude of Christians will rise up from their complacency and become on fire for Christ once again. I have a dream that one day, the sons and daughters of my brethren will love the poor and the lost and teach them of the Lord, Jesus Christ. I have a dream that despite the unwavering heats of Africa or the colds of the North and even the South, we Christians will not mind it, for the transforming and renewing of our minds have disciplined us to ignore our fleshly desires and comforts and inspire us even more to go as far from the east as to the west so people may hear the glorious name of Jesus Christ and to personally know Him. I have a dream that my own children and wife will live this vision that God has given me. I have a dream that every knee shall bow down to God and all tongues will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, every people and language and nation of the earth exalting our Lord and Saviour. This is my hope, for as Scripture says in Romans 5:3-4, my afflictions produce endurance, which produces an improved character, which then produces hope. This is the faith that has returned me to God, and must return others to Him as well. With this faith we will be able to transform the abhorrence of our minds and renew them into love. With this faith we will be able to coöperate together as united brethren, able to pray in fellowship, worship together, comfort one another through our struggles, and consummate our salvation together, for we know that on the day of the Lord we will be free for all of eternity.
We do not know when this time will come, for not even Jesus Christ Himself knows. That proof has been written in Matthew 24:36, spoken with Christ's own mouth. So there is no need to use our feckless mathematics, philosophy, and astrology to discover the destruction of our species. We must face the tragic fact that we do not and cannot possess the complete knowledge of the universe and divinity, for only God is omnipotent. We must also learn to accept God's omniscience, no matter how impossible it may seem. By human standards, it is impossible because our small minds can only hold such limited information and knowledge and comprehend just as much; but it is not impossible for the Deity, for He far surpasses our weak, soft flesh and inferior minds, yet He loves us above everything else in this infinite universe that He created. Man still suffers under the manacles of sin and the chains of deceit, just as it has always been since the Fall of Man. Five thousand years or so after man's creation, there still remain civilisations that live in poverty and have never heard the name of Jesus Christ and the Good News of whom He was, is, and is to come. And as we followers of Christ still live to save these people, there are still those who remain to be appalled by our selfless condition and Godly character.
Jesus Christ has entitled we who believe and follow as co-heirs of His throne, and as His co-heirs we attain eternal life in God's paradise. It is obvious that Christendom — the global population of Christianity — is defaulting from Christ's promissory acknowledgement. Instead of holding fast to God's divine promise, Christendom has regressed to a lukewarm condition, and ergo insufficient to be co-heirs of His throne. In Revelation 3:15 Jesus states that He'd rather have us be hot or cold — on fire for Him or cold against Him, rather than content or "lukewarm," as the text states. Complacency makes you indolent and incognisant, which then only palliates your faith. It is far easier to change the mind of a cold person than one who is completely content, for the content individual has already made up their mind and has no desire to move from where they are. As Paul writes in First Thessalonians 5:14, we are to warn the lazy, but we are too lazy to warn others. Ergo, we must urgently help ourselves first. One may ask me, "How do we do that?" The answer is simple: Get off your lazy behind and continue walking on the path to Jesus Christ's throne, which we are co-heirs of. We refuse to realise that the Christian Church's faith is bankrupt. We accept attributes that God declares as abominations and intolerable, and we are complacent in our faith. How, then, as a Church, is our faith strong?
God created me so that I may establish hallowed grounds in His Word, even reëstablishments. Now is no time to live in our materialistic luxuries and inject ourselves with the drug of self-gratification. Now is the time to rise from darkness and indolence and the desolate wastelands of sin, and onto the illuminated path of righteousness. Now is the time to open the doors of our hearts and completely submit our hearts to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ as God's beloved children. Now is the time to lift up the souls of the people of the earth from the devouring pits of Hell and into the love and mercy of our God, our Solid Rock. It would be unwise and foolish for us to underestimate the power of Satan, for I would not be writing any of this were it not for the effectiveness of his power that we have underestimated. Satan's deceit and evil will not rest until Jesus Christ's Glorious Appearing. Peace and harmony will never exist until Jesus the Messiah returns.
My faith in Christ is inextricable, and I cannot allow others to walk their path alone. As I walk, I pledge to God that I will march others towards His kingdom, for I am a soldier under the command of Jesus Christ, my Commander. I will never turn back, and I will never leave a fallen brother or sister. Those of you who are content in your faith, I am utterly disappointed and I am in grief. How can you be satisfied? How can you be so indolent? As long as there are people living in poverty, malnutrition, and bloodshed, you should never be satisfied! How dare you rest your polished feet upon your riches and ignore the beaten, the lost, and the damned under the reign of man's cruelty. I will repeat what Jesus has said to us all: We, children of God, are the light of the world. Nobody lights a lamp and places it under a blanket, but rather, we place it on top of a nightstand so it will brighten the darkness. Likewise, we must let our light shine before man, illuminating their darkness with the light of Christ. This is in Matthew 5:14-16. But as you sit here in your pathetic complacency, you place your lamp underneath a blanket and you begin to become enveloped by darkness. I am not satisfied, and I will never be satisfied until the day that I die. Even in fatigue and illness I shall continue to breathe God's Word, for my faith is never satisfied, and neither should yours be.
I am not unaware that many of you have faced various trials and tribulations, but I tell you: Your self-pity is no excuse to sit in your complacency and anger at God. Your self-pity will not serve you well. What do your complaints, blame, and anger accomplish? That is why you're still miserable, because you have accomplished nothing in your complaints, blame, and anger. Stop whining and begin to starve your doubts and feed your faith. Sitting there and doing nothing about it with a lack of prayer only fuels your misery and anger, allowing it to continue boiling. As Scripture tells us in First Peter 1:6-7, it is necessary to face tribulations so that our faith may result in the praise, glory, and honour of Jesus Christ. For if we are not tested and therefore incapable of enduring, how can we bring Christ praise, glory, and honour? It is this proper testing that builds strength to our faith, and our faith cannot grow in strength without the proper testing and training, for then it will always remain weak. And as First Corinthians 10:13 tells us, God does not allow us to be tempted by anything that we are unable to overcome and control. You may think you are overwhelmed, but it is your faith that is weak and capable of being strengthened. You cannot overcome sin or trials by your power alone, but with the power of Christ invested in you. So the lesson to take from it is that there is some necessary and dire building that you need to add upon your faith. It isn't God who has given up on you; it is you who has given up on God and on yourself.
In spite of this complacency that we Christians find ourselves in, I still have a dream. It is a dream that we all Christians share in unification as God's children. I have a dream that one day, a great multitude of Christians will rise up from their complacency and become on fire for Christ once again. I have a dream that one day, the sons and daughters of my brethren will love the poor and the lost and teach them of the Lord, Jesus Christ. I have a dream that despite the unwavering heats of Africa or the colds of the North and even the South, we Christians will not mind it, for the transforming and renewing of our minds have disciplined us to ignore our fleshly desires and comforts and inspire us even more to go as far from the east as to the west so people may hear the glorious name of Jesus Christ and to personally know Him. I have a dream that my own children and wife will live this vision that God has given me. I have a dream that every knee shall bow down to God and all tongues will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, every people and language and nation of the earth exalting our Lord and Saviour. This is my hope, for as Scripture says in Romans 5:3-4, my afflictions produce endurance, which produces an improved character, which then produces hope. This is the faith that has returned me to God, and must return others to Him as well. With this faith we will be able to transform the abhorrence of our minds and renew them into love. With this faith we will be able to coöperate together as united brethren, able to pray in fellowship, worship together, comfort one another through our struggles, and consummate our salvation together, for we know that on the day of the Lord we will be free for all of eternity.
Monday, November 11, 2013
Marijuana and the Bible, Neither Supported nor Condemned
What does the Bible say about marijuana?
Absolutely nothing. One of the greatest problems of today is that
whenever a controversial political dilemma arrives, many people turn to the
Bible and interpret the Scriptures to support their specific argument.
Both sides sound compelling because they both do what is
called proof texting, which is to find a verse in the Bible
that supposedly supports your belief and you make it support your belief. This is done by not reading the context around the
verse to see if your belief is accurate with what the Word of God actually
says. For example, one group says that the Bible supports legal marijuana
whereas another says that it does not and that it's a sin to smoke it in the
first place. However, from my findings by approaching Scripture
objectively and examining the context, Scripture neither
supports nor condemns marijuana.
Not once does Scripture mention the inhalation of drugs or vegetation and whether it is right or wrong. It's much different when it speaks about alcohol where we read that it's against excessive drinking, not drinking alcohol altogether. Besides, in biblical times the people of the Ancient Near East drank wine as if it were water because the water in those times was extremely dirty and despicable. However, there is not a single mention of inhaling any type of substance. First off, Jesus said to keep the Church and state separate. Luke 20:25, "Well then," He told them, "give back to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's." At this time and place Jesus gave a proper recognition of the legitimate role of the human government in God's plan (which Paul expands on in Romans 13:1-7). When Jesus says "to God the things that are God's," He is not segregating life into secular and spiritual, which implies that God is indifferent about certain aspects of human existence. According to Romans 13:1-7, we need to respect and obey our government's laws, and above all we need to honour and respect and obey God's commands. Thus, because God commands that we must obey our government's laws, when the government says that smoking marijuana (or anything else for that matter) is illegal, we must obey the law, not disobey it and debate over it nonsensically. We need to stop utilising Scripture for our silly, political squabbles, especially when most people who debate about such controversial topics aren't even spiritual, let alone having any theological knowledge or studious experience in it. You have to know how to study the Scriptures with the proper principles of interpretation and if you don't know how, you'll interpret it erroneously. The groups and individuals who proof text are not intellectually honest with themselves because they don't allow the text to speak for itself, which is the first principle of interpretation, so they have no right in interpreting Scripture to use in political debates, or in any discussion, for that matter. And secondly, to reiterate, the only drug that Scripture mentions is alcohol, and even then Scripture explicitly says not to misuse this drug. Isaiah 5:11, Woe to those who rise early in the morning in the pursuit of beer, who linger into the evening, inflamed by wine. This is a basic description of alcoholism, but it doesn't only speak against alcoholics; it also speaks against drunkards (people who practise inebriation frequently) and that they will not inherit the kingdom of God (I Corinthians 6:9-10). There is also Ephesians 5:18, And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit... We're so focused on marijuana in the Bible when it doesn't even mention it when we should be more concerned about the excessive use of alcohol because Scripture does discuss it and from my personal observations, I believe that we abuse alcohol much more than marijuana. So, since the Bible does not specifically slander all drugs, I believe it is safe to assume that God does not support the mistreatment of drugs (or anything else non-drug related, like food, which would be gluttony).
As we know, marijuana originates from a hemp plant called cannabis. Now, God did indeed create all vegetation on earth and saw that it was good (Genesis 1:12). God's intention of vegetation was to be used for food (Genesis 1:29-31). Of course, with man's active and creative imagination to invent new purposes in everything while living in sin, we discovered other ways to use cannabis. Just as the aforementioned passage dictates, God created vegetation for us to use, so I don't think He minds what we use it for so long as it's not misused (like smoking large amounts of it that eventually damages your body that He created, for example). In biblical times, cannabis was used for other things besides food like clothing, paper, cord, sails, fishnet, oil (ointment), sealant, incense, and even medicine. Today, people use it for their own selfish pleasure, which causes some major problems to the brain.
Honestly, if marijuana has the potential to improve somebody's life through medicinal purposes, I really don't see the harm in it. God blessed us with the intelligence of medicine so that we may save lives within our own powers, so it only makes sense to make the best of something that we have made into something harmful. Marijuana is not the only drug that can be both detrimental and have the potential to be beneficial. All legal drugs function in the same way. Think about it: if a person's body needs a drug, it will help them; but if the person's body does not need the drug, it will harm them. For example, I had to take acetaminophen/codeine for intense shin and groin pain at one point in the army after an injury, which was a narcotic. We always think of narcotics as bad, evil things, but this legal narcotic helped ease my pain when it was necessary for me to use it. However, at the same time, I could have easily abused the drug if I had no self-control and as a result damage my body even more or even kill myself; but the wise, intelligent, self-controlled individual will not do that when given the opportunity. It is the very same thing with a drug called Norco, a pain reliever that I needed after my spinal condition (spinal stenosis) caused a herniated disc to pinch my sciatic nerve, causing sciatica. If I were taking that drug when I never needed it, then it would adversely affect my body. Smaller things such as aspirin can be detrimental and beneficial to a person's body as well. Aspirin helps to ease headaches and muscle soreness, but if you overdose, it can kill you. Something as simple as aspirin can do that! And it's on the shelves of your local pharmacy! So, if marijuana can help with medicine, I say go for it, so long as it's used properly by the patient, which is solely dependent on individual responsibility, not the doctor's.
Let's take a look at a passage that pro-marijuana believers use: They forbid marriage and demand abstinence from foods that God created to be received with gratitude by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing should be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, since it is sanctified by the Word of God and by prayer (I Timothy 4:3-5). A lot of people mistake this as a support for legalising marijuana. However, that is not what the Apostle Paul is talking about in this first letter to Timothy at all! Nowhere in this passage does Paul mention the good use of any unhealthy substance, let alone illegal because marijuana was not an issue then. That's another problem with people today: they think the Bible was written to us. Scripture was not written to us. Everything we read was written or spoken to a very specific audience in a specific culture at a specific time. Once we understand this and how the audience was supposed to apply the Scriptures and why, then we can understand how to apply it to our lives today. In this letter to Timothy, in these particular first five verses of the fourth chapter, Paul is writing to him about combating false teaching. When Paul writes, "they forbid marriage and demand abstinence from foods that God created" in verse three, he is literally referring to Genesis 1:29 where God granted man permission to eat plants and Genesis 9:3 where God granted man permission to eat meat. Because cannabis falls under vegetation and cannabis is the origin of marijuana, people believe that using it in any sense makes it right. But Paul is literally talking about FOOD because that's literally what God was talking about in Genesis! To illustrate the stupidity of this line of thinking further, God created the materials that eventually led to the formulation of different types of metal and alloy. Since we have created objects from such materials such as knives, through this line of thinking one could say that murder someone you don't like is also right. But of course, that is both absurd and stupid, and it would also be pathological. So is thinking that Scripture supports smoking marijuana and legalising it on this basis, especially since Scripture does not mention it directly. Saying to abstain from either of these two food categories is not in line with God's Word, because "everything created by God is good" (v. 4)! Some vegans and vegetarians, for example, use the Bible as an excuse for their diet, but in Genesis 9:3 we see just the contrary — God granted us permission to eat meat. Saying otherwise is clearly false doctrine. Contrary to pro-marijuana beliefs, this passage in First Timothy does not support the legalisation of it. I cannot say that enough! The very thing that Paul is warning Timothy against in this letter (false teaching) is exactly what pro-marijuana believers are doing, interestingly enough. But just as this passage does not support marijuana, neither does it condemn it. Scripture only supports and condemns something if it exists in the texts and is specifically mentioned. I also want to point out that God created cannabis; we created marijuana. In our sin we took something good that God created and made it into something entirely different. We took a manmade, deadly chemical called THC and combined it with God's good vegetation, cannabis; ergo, marijuana is not good.
It is not the Church's responsibility to involve herself with political dramas. This is exactly why God wants the Church and state separate. With a unified church and state, it creates a spirit of persecution and animosity, and persecuting others is exactly what we're doing right now from both sides with these futile, political debates that bring in religion. (Just look at the history of the Catholic Church when they were practically the government in Europe, honing a spirit of animosity, self-righteousness, and judgement.) The con side are viewed as superficial idiots whereas the pro side are viewed as naïve idiots, but both sides are being idiotic. Let me pose a question: When was the last time a law was passed based on moral grounds? Think really hard about this. Was there ever a single law that you can think of that was passed based on moral grounds? I truly believe that the laws passed in this country have nothing to do with morality, even if it appears that way. Every law that has been passed was because the American society was ready for it — they wanted it, and since they pushed hard enough they got what they wanted. Most of the people who debate about this issue have no theological credibility whatsoever — they don't know how to study Scripture while utilising the principles of interpretation. If we knew how, we wouldn't try to involve the Church with state time and time again, which God clearly does not want. The six principles of interpretation are as follows:
Not once does Scripture mention the inhalation of drugs or vegetation and whether it is right or wrong. It's much different when it speaks about alcohol where we read that it's against excessive drinking, not drinking alcohol altogether. Besides, in biblical times the people of the Ancient Near East drank wine as if it were water because the water in those times was extremely dirty and despicable. However, there is not a single mention of inhaling any type of substance. First off, Jesus said to keep the Church and state separate. Luke 20:25, "Well then," He told them, "give back to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's." At this time and place Jesus gave a proper recognition of the legitimate role of the human government in God's plan (which Paul expands on in Romans 13:1-7). When Jesus says "to God the things that are God's," He is not segregating life into secular and spiritual, which implies that God is indifferent about certain aspects of human existence. According to Romans 13:1-7, we need to respect and obey our government's laws, and above all we need to honour and respect and obey God's commands. Thus, because God commands that we must obey our government's laws, when the government says that smoking marijuana (or anything else for that matter) is illegal, we must obey the law, not disobey it and debate over it nonsensically. We need to stop utilising Scripture for our silly, political squabbles, especially when most people who debate about such controversial topics aren't even spiritual, let alone having any theological knowledge or studious experience in it. You have to know how to study the Scriptures with the proper principles of interpretation and if you don't know how, you'll interpret it erroneously. The groups and individuals who proof text are not intellectually honest with themselves because they don't allow the text to speak for itself, which is the first principle of interpretation, so they have no right in interpreting Scripture to use in political debates, or in any discussion, for that matter. And secondly, to reiterate, the only drug that Scripture mentions is alcohol, and even then Scripture explicitly says not to misuse this drug. Isaiah 5:11, Woe to those who rise early in the morning in the pursuit of beer, who linger into the evening, inflamed by wine. This is a basic description of alcoholism, but it doesn't only speak against alcoholics; it also speaks against drunkards (people who practise inebriation frequently) and that they will not inherit the kingdom of God (I Corinthians 6:9-10). There is also Ephesians 5:18, And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit... We're so focused on marijuana in the Bible when it doesn't even mention it when we should be more concerned about the excessive use of alcohol because Scripture does discuss it and from my personal observations, I believe that we abuse alcohol much more than marijuana. So, since the Bible does not specifically slander all drugs, I believe it is safe to assume that God does not support the mistreatment of drugs (or anything else non-drug related, like food, which would be gluttony).
As we know, marijuana originates from a hemp plant called cannabis. Now, God did indeed create all vegetation on earth and saw that it was good (Genesis 1:12). God's intention of vegetation was to be used for food (Genesis 1:29-31). Of course, with man's active and creative imagination to invent new purposes in everything while living in sin, we discovered other ways to use cannabis. Just as the aforementioned passage dictates, God created vegetation for us to use, so I don't think He minds what we use it for so long as it's not misused (like smoking large amounts of it that eventually damages your body that He created, for example). In biblical times, cannabis was used for other things besides food like clothing, paper, cord, sails, fishnet, oil (ointment), sealant, incense, and even medicine. Today, people use it for their own selfish pleasure, which causes some major problems to the brain.
Honestly, if marijuana has the potential to improve somebody's life through medicinal purposes, I really don't see the harm in it. God blessed us with the intelligence of medicine so that we may save lives within our own powers, so it only makes sense to make the best of something that we have made into something harmful. Marijuana is not the only drug that can be both detrimental and have the potential to be beneficial. All legal drugs function in the same way. Think about it: if a person's body needs a drug, it will help them; but if the person's body does not need the drug, it will harm them. For example, I had to take acetaminophen/codeine for intense shin and groin pain at one point in the army after an injury, which was a narcotic. We always think of narcotics as bad, evil things, but this legal narcotic helped ease my pain when it was necessary for me to use it. However, at the same time, I could have easily abused the drug if I had no self-control and as a result damage my body even more or even kill myself; but the wise, intelligent, self-controlled individual will not do that when given the opportunity. It is the very same thing with a drug called Norco, a pain reliever that I needed after my spinal condition (spinal stenosis) caused a herniated disc to pinch my sciatic nerve, causing sciatica. If I were taking that drug when I never needed it, then it would adversely affect my body. Smaller things such as aspirin can be detrimental and beneficial to a person's body as well. Aspirin helps to ease headaches and muscle soreness, but if you overdose, it can kill you. Something as simple as aspirin can do that! And it's on the shelves of your local pharmacy! So, if marijuana can help with medicine, I say go for it, so long as it's used properly by the patient, which is solely dependent on individual responsibility, not the doctor's.
Let's take a look at a passage that pro-marijuana believers use: They forbid marriage and demand abstinence from foods that God created to be received with gratitude by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing should be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, since it is sanctified by the Word of God and by prayer (I Timothy 4:3-5). A lot of people mistake this as a support for legalising marijuana. However, that is not what the Apostle Paul is talking about in this first letter to Timothy at all! Nowhere in this passage does Paul mention the good use of any unhealthy substance, let alone illegal because marijuana was not an issue then. That's another problem with people today: they think the Bible was written to us. Scripture was not written to us. Everything we read was written or spoken to a very specific audience in a specific culture at a specific time. Once we understand this and how the audience was supposed to apply the Scriptures and why, then we can understand how to apply it to our lives today. In this letter to Timothy, in these particular first five verses of the fourth chapter, Paul is writing to him about combating false teaching. When Paul writes, "they forbid marriage and demand abstinence from foods that God created" in verse three, he is literally referring to Genesis 1:29 where God granted man permission to eat plants and Genesis 9:3 where God granted man permission to eat meat. Because cannabis falls under vegetation and cannabis is the origin of marijuana, people believe that using it in any sense makes it right. But Paul is literally talking about FOOD because that's literally what God was talking about in Genesis! To illustrate the stupidity of this line of thinking further, God created the materials that eventually led to the formulation of different types of metal and alloy. Since we have created objects from such materials such as knives, through this line of thinking one could say that murder someone you don't like is also right. But of course, that is both absurd and stupid, and it would also be pathological. So is thinking that Scripture supports smoking marijuana and legalising it on this basis, especially since Scripture does not mention it directly. Saying to abstain from either of these two food categories is not in line with God's Word, because "everything created by God is good" (v. 4)! Some vegans and vegetarians, for example, use the Bible as an excuse for their diet, but in Genesis 9:3 we see just the contrary — God granted us permission to eat meat. Saying otherwise is clearly false doctrine. Contrary to pro-marijuana beliefs, this passage in First Timothy does not support the legalisation of it. I cannot say that enough! The very thing that Paul is warning Timothy against in this letter (false teaching) is exactly what pro-marijuana believers are doing, interestingly enough. But just as this passage does not support marijuana, neither does it condemn it. Scripture only supports and condemns something if it exists in the texts and is specifically mentioned. I also want to point out that God created cannabis; we created marijuana. In our sin we took something good that God created and made it into something entirely different. We took a manmade, deadly chemical called THC and combined it with God's good vegetation, cannabis; ergo, marijuana is not good.
It is not the Church's responsibility to involve herself with political dramas. This is exactly why God wants the Church and state separate. With a unified church and state, it creates a spirit of persecution and animosity, and persecuting others is exactly what we're doing right now from both sides with these futile, political debates that bring in religion. (Just look at the history of the Catholic Church when they were practically the government in Europe, honing a spirit of animosity, self-righteousness, and judgement.) The con side are viewed as superficial idiots whereas the pro side are viewed as naïve idiots, but both sides are being idiotic. Let me pose a question: When was the last time a law was passed based on moral grounds? Think really hard about this. Was there ever a single law that you can think of that was passed based on moral grounds? I truly believe that the laws passed in this country have nothing to do with morality, even if it appears that way. Every law that has been passed was because the American society was ready for it — they wanted it, and since they pushed hard enough they got what they wanted. Most of the people who debate about this issue have no theological credibility whatsoever — they don't know how to study Scripture while utilising the principles of interpretation. If we knew how, we wouldn't try to involve the Church with state time and time again, which God clearly does not want. The six principles of interpretation are as follows:
1.
Stick with the plain and obvious meaning of the
text. (Read Mark 5:21-43. This text is very obvious. It's obviously not metaphorical, so take it
literally.)
2.
Scripture interprets Scripture. (Read Matthew
25:31-46. If you read the rest of Scripture — the context —
later on in Revelation 20:4-6, 11-15, this is interpreted by Scripture itself.)
3.
Pay attention to context. (Read Isaiah 5:1-6.
When you first read this, it sounds like God is literally talking about
an actual vineyard, but if you continue on in verse 7 you will see that it is
not so. So pay attention to context.)
4.
Interpret Scripture in light of the rule of faith.
(Read Hosea 6:6. To many readers this may seem that Scripture
contradicts itself because in the Old Testament, God does require sacrifices to
be made under the Law. But read Psalm 51:17. This verse describes a
people who make sacrifices with "a broken spirit" — a people who do
the sacrifice but their heart and spirit are not into it. In Hosea, God
is saying that He delights in loyalty to Him and knowledge of Him over offerings done in apathy. When Scripture appears to be contradicting, it
is simply a misunderstanding of context, so it is required to go back and read
the context. If you can't figure it out on your own, get help. Have
faith that God's Word is not contradicting itself and that it's actually
describing something very important.)
5.
Interpret Scripture Christologically. (Read
Isaiah 52:13-53:12. For the reader who does not know that the Old
Testament points towards Christ, these passages will not make any sense to him
or her whatsoever, so it is very important to think about how a passage relates
to Christ when you are reading it. These people are like the Ethiopian eunuch who didn't know how to interpret a prophecy about Christ, whom the Apostle Philip ministered to and taught him what it meant [Acts 8:26-40].)
6.
Law & Gospel. (Read Ephesians 2:8-10.
The Law was through works, and Jesus has fulfilled the Law and we are no
longer under the Law but under grace [Matthew 5:17; Romans 6:14]. The Law
points out your sins and when you recognise them, you are then able to
immediately ask for forgiveness because of grace, which is a gift not a result
of our works, "so that no one may boast.")
These principles of interpretation are exactly what
people fail to follow when they use the Bible to make it meet their agenda.
Jesus said, "It's not what goes into the mouth that defiles a man, but what comes out of the mouth, that defiles a man" (Matthew 15:11). Again, this has nothing to do with consuming certain drugs, food, or drink that defiles a person. Believe it or not, if somebody smokes marijuana, he is not spiritually defiled, unless it blocks his relationship with Christ. Whatever in your life that you put above God, whether it's drugs or money or anything else, that becomes your idol — your master; and you can only have one God (Matthew 6:24; Jonah 2:8). Doing so jeopardises your relationship with God, which makes it a sin. But the mere act of indulging it does not make someone spiritually defiled or a sinner. It may be hard to believe, but that is exactly what Jesus is saying here. In the time and place of Jesus' saying here, Jesus was speaking to the Pharisees. The Jewish laws regarding the cleansing of the hands were concerned with ritual purity, not sanitation. After all, the Jewish law permitted the water to be drawn from vessels made of cow manure. The Jewish law went so far as to permit the water to be so filthy that even cattle refused to drink it. It's no wonder the people drank wine instead of water back then. Jesus argued that food consumed with unclean hands does not spiritually defile a person. His argument was also that the words that come out of the mouth defile a person because they show the sinful condition of the heart, which He tells us in verse eighteen. So, in effect, there is no doubt that marijuana harms the body (if it didn't, it wouldn't be illegal in the first place), but the spirit of the individual remains intact and it is not a sin unless it hinders your relationship with God. If marijuana (and this goes with anything else in the world like money, video games, pornography, sex, etc.) blocks one's growing relationship with Christ, that of course makes them spiritually defiled. I cannot stress this enough. Leaving aside addiction, marijuana is incapable of separating the individual from his or her salvation. Nothing is capable of doing that (Romans 8:38-39). In this Romans passage, all those things that are greater than marijuana cannot separate us from our salvation and the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord, so thinking that marijuana is capable of doing so is not what God's Word says at all.
If people want to smoke marijuana chronically and become unhealthy and kill their brain cells (which do not regenerate like other cells in the human body once they die, by the way), then that's their decision. Again, unless it blocks one's growing relationship with Christ, I honestly believe that God could care less. Smoking marijuana only a few times in your life does not bring your spirit into danger. It is addiction that we must be cautious of, just like addiction with other things such as food, sexual temptations, materialistic desires, and you can build this list almost infinitely. When Jesus raises His followers from the dead at His rapturing of the Church, the ones who died and the ones who still live will have eternal health in Heaven. This may be why God did not touch on this subject because ultimately, it doesn't matter, unless you put it above Him. Also, I must reiterate that it was never a problem during biblical times so why would the apostles write about it? God is not going to let the Christian who died of lung cancer, for example, live with that for the rest of their eternal lives in His kingdom because death, grief, tears, and pain will no longer exist (Revelation 21:4)! And that is likewise never going to be a reason for God to condemn somebody to Hell. This is no excuse to drink and smoke whatever substance excessively, though, because as I stated several times already, putting anything above God idolises that thing instead of God, which is a sin (idolatry). If you want to be healthy and live longer, then abstaining from these substances would be a great start.
If you think legalising marijuana is right or wrong, then it comes down to this: that's just your simple opinion — that's how it is in your world. Romans 14:14, I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; but to him who thinks anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. Just because you may think legal marijuana is wrong, or eating meat is wrong, or anything menial like that does not make it an ultimate fact and in line with God's Word (unless it's in His Word, which they are not). To you, and to you alone, it is wrong and unclean. This truth was not Paul's own thinking, but of divine revelation, hence "in the Lord Jesus." The word "unclean" in the Greek eventually evolved into meaning "immoral" or "evil." This verse simply means that if someone is convinced that a certain behaviour is a sin — even if his assessment is wrong — he should never do it because if he does, he will violate his conscience and experience guilt, driving him back into the condemnation of the Law as opposed to freedom in grace. So, if they're convinced that something like marijuana is a sin, even though they're wrong, it's better for them not to commit that "sin" simply because they truly believe it is and doing so would cause them guilt when the goal is our freedom in the grace of Christ.
So, by taking the verses that political debate teams always use in their silly arguments and actually observing the context of the verses, we can see that those verses have absolutely nothing to do with smoking marijuana, let alone the legalisation of it, but rather discuss something entirely different. Whether you want to believe this or not, you have to accept it, but I can't force you to. So whether you have the same belief as I do or not, I don't care, because I know the truth. When I came into this study, I had a firm belief that legalising marijuana is wrong and that the Bible really does speak against it. But once I actually studied the Scriptures objectively, let the text speak for itself, and paid attention to the context, I found that I was wrong. Scripture neither supports nor condemns the use of marijuana in medicinal or inhalation forms unless it becomes something that you put above God. I firmly believe that the chronic inhalation of it is both foolish and unhealthy; however, if it has the potential to save peoples' lives, go for it.
Jesus said, "It's not what goes into the mouth that defiles a man, but what comes out of the mouth, that defiles a man" (Matthew 15:11). Again, this has nothing to do with consuming certain drugs, food, or drink that defiles a person. Believe it or not, if somebody smokes marijuana, he is not spiritually defiled, unless it blocks his relationship with Christ. Whatever in your life that you put above God, whether it's drugs or money or anything else, that becomes your idol — your master; and you can only have one God (Matthew 6:24; Jonah 2:8). Doing so jeopardises your relationship with God, which makes it a sin. But the mere act of indulging it does not make someone spiritually defiled or a sinner. It may be hard to believe, but that is exactly what Jesus is saying here. In the time and place of Jesus' saying here, Jesus was speaking to the Pharisees. The Jewish laws regarding the cleansing of the hands were concerned with ritual purity, not sanitation. After all, the Jewish law permitted the water to be drawn from vessels made of cow manure. The Jewish law went so far as to permit the water to be so filthy that even cattle refused to drink it. It's no wonder the people drank wine instead of water back then. Jesus argued that food consumed with unclean hands does not spiritually defile a person. His argument was also that the words that come out of the mouth defile a person because they show the sinful condition of the heart, which He tells us in verse eighteen. So, in effect, there is no doubt that marijuana harms the body (if it didn't, it wouldn't be illegal in the first place), but the spirit of the individual remains intact and it is not a sin unless it hinders your relationship with God. If marijuana (and this goes with anything else in the world like money, video games, pornography, sex, etc.) blocks one's growing relationship with Christ, that of course makes them spiritually defiled. I cannot stress this enough. Leaving aside addiction, marijuana is incapable of separating the individual from his or her salvation. Nothing is capable of doing that (Romans 8:38-39). In this Romans passage, all those things that are greater than marijuana cannot separate us from our salvation and the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord, so thinking that marijuana is capable of doing so is not what God's Word says at all.
If people want to smoke marijuana chronically and become unhealthy and kill their brain cells (which do not regenerate like other cells in the human body once they die, by the way), then that's their decision. Again, unless it blocks one's growing relationship with Christ, I honestly believe that God could care less. Smoking marijuana only a few times in your life does not bring your spirit into danger. It is addiction that we must be cautious of, just like addiction with other things such as food, sexual temptations, materialistic desires, and you can build this list almost infinitely. When Jesus raises His followers from the dead at His rapturing of the Church, the ones who died and the ones who still live will have eternal health in Heaven. This may be why God did not touch on this subject because ultimately, it doesn't matter, unless you put it above Him. Also, I must reiterate that it was never a problem during biblical times so why would the apostles write about it? God is not going to let the Christian who died of lung cancer, for example, live with that for the rest of their eternal lives in His kingdom because death, grief, tears, and pain will no longer exist (Revelation 21:4)! And that is likewise never going to be a reason for God to condemn somebody to Hell. This is no excuse to drink and smoke whatever substance excessively, though, because as I stated several times already, putting anything above God idolises that thing instead of God, which is a sin (idolatry). If you want to be healthy and live longer, then abstaining from these substances would be a great start.
If you think legalising marijuana is right or wrong, then it comes down to this: that's just your simple opinion — that's how it is in your world. Romans 14:14, I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; but to him who thinks anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. Just because you may think legal marijuana is wrong, or eating meat is wrong, or anything menial like that does not make it an ultimate fact and in line with God's Word (unless it's in His Word, which they are not). To you, and to you alone, it is wrong and unclean. This truth was not Paul's own thinking, but of divine revelation, hence "in the Lord Jesus." The word "unclean" in the Greek eventually evolved into meaning "immoral" or "evil." This verse simply means that if someone is convinced that a certain behaviour is a sin — even if his assessment is wrong — he should never do it because if he does, he will violate his conscience and experience guilt, driving him back into the condemnation of the Law as opposed to freedom in grace. So, if they're convinced that something like marijuana is a sin, even though they're wrong, it's better for them not to commit that "sin" simply because they truly believe it is and doing so would cause them guilt when the goal is our freedom in the grace of Christ.
So, by taking the verses that political debate teams always use in their silly arguments and actually observing the context of the verses, we can see that those verses have absolutely nothing to do with smoking marijuana, let alone the legalisation of it, but rather discuss something entirely different. Whether you want to believe this or not, you have to accept it, but I can't force you to. So whether you have the same belief as I do or not, I don't care, because I know the truth. When I came into this study, I had a firm belief that legalising marijuana is wrong and that the Bible really does speak against it. But once I actually studied the Scriptures objectively, let the text speak for itself, and paid attention to the context, I found that I was wrong. Scripture neither supports nor condemns the use of marijuana in medicinal or inhalation forms unless it becomes something that you put above God. I firmly believe that the chronic inhalation of it is both foolish and unhealthy; however, if it has the potential to save peoples' lives, go for it.
Saturday, November 9, 2013
The Meaning of Baptism
There are many beliefs on baptism. Most tend to be traditionally biased, while few remain unbiased. Most people get baptised because they feel that they're obligated due to the Church's faith — to become accepted by their pastors and/or congregation because of baptism's supposed traditional necessity. Baptism is an acceptance and necessity, but not into the will of man. Baptism is many things, which I will be covering. If you get baptised merely out of traditional obligation, what good does that do? There is no meaning to it in your heart if you do it just because you feel obligated and pressured to do it. The purpose of baptism is to publicly acknowledge to all people and to God that you are committing your life to Christ, and because of this your sins are justified, and I will explain all that in just a moment. If you do it out of obligation, you first of all don't have a clear understanding of what baptism is (which is the purpose of this blog entry), and it secondly does not mean anything to you and the baptism therefore becomes ineffective, for it was not you who chose to become baptised. Christian teachers who teach baptism often teach what they want to believe about it, at least from my experience. Or they simply don't fully understand its meaning. Here, however, I will strictly be using Scripture, which is indubitably unbiased and truthful.
Don't think of baptism as a tradition because it's not a tradition; it is a holy acceptance into the will of God. God has no traditions. Man, not God, mandates traditionalism. God simply has commands that we all must strive to fulfil. As Jesus said to the Pharisees about their traditionalism, "But you say, 'If a man tells his father or mother: Whatever benefit you might have received from me is Corban' " (that is, a gift committed to the temple), "you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother. You revoke God's Word by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many other similar things" (Mark 7:11-13). Jesus is speaking against the rabbis' teachings that have been against God's Word. This custom of Corban that the rabbis initiated allowed a person to devote all of his material goods to God. The rabbis allowed this Corban tradition to excuse sons from meeting the material needs of their aging parents, which is unbiblical. When Jesus says that they do "many other similar things," He was emphasising that the Corban practise was representative of their other hypocritical Pharisaic practises. Jesus described this as hypocrisy when He said, "Isaiah prophesied correctly about you hypocrites, as it is written: These people honour Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. They worship Me in vain, teaching as doctrines the commands of men" (Mark 7:6-7). In the case of baptism, don't get baptised just because man says it's necessary for your faith in the Church. By doing so you worship Him in vain, not really getting baptised through truthfulness — you don't really mean it. One must not feel vain or shame when doing so either. To reiterate, baptism is the public testimony and confession of your inward, private, spiritual identification and commitment to our Lord Jesus Christ. Rather, get baptised when you know you're ready to fully commit yourself to Christ in your renewed sanctification.
Now, the real question is: What is baptism? To put it simply, baptism is the purification — the cleansing — of your sins, as well as a further commitment to God, as I've said abundantly already. But what does that mean? You may be wondering, "How can I be purified from sin when I still have the tendency to commit sin, and haven't I always been committed to God?" If you've gotten this far to become baptised, then yes, you have always been committed to God. However, getting baptised is the public acknowledgement of it — letting everybody know that you are going to completely submit your life to the lifestyle of Christ. Baptism is telling God that by the coming of the Messiah, every sin that you have committed — from the least to the greatest of them — will be forgiven. Baptism represents that you believe with all your heart, mind, and soul that your sins will be forgiven through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ at His return — all past, present, and future sins. Here is the ultimatum of baptism:
Or are you unaware that all of us who were baptised into Christ Jesus were baptised into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in a new way of life. For if we have been joined with Him in the likeness of His death, we will certainly also be in the likeness of His resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that sin's dominion over the body may be abolished, so that we may no longer be enslaved to sin, since a person who has died is freed from sin's claims (Romans 6:3-7).
When you're baptised, your old self — all your sinful lusts and other desires — were crucified. You nailed your flesh — your old life — on the cross so that you may be able to walk in a new life (verse 6). And by doing so you will be resurrected when the Messiah comes just as He was resurrected when His flesh was nailed on the cross (verse 5). Your old life having been crucified, sin is no longer able to control you as it used to. When you die, your sins will be justified (verse 7).
What this is saying is that baptism is the promise of your resurrection with Christ. Colossians 2:12, Buried with Him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with Him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised Him from the dead. As always, everything is based on your faith. If you faithfully believe this will happen, then the promise will happen through baptism. You cannot heartlessly get baptised. Baptism is the repentance of your past and future sins. But just because your future sins will be justified and forgiven does not mean you can take advantage of that and that you can do whatever you want and get away with it, otherwise I have no doubt that your judgement will be more stringent than originally planned. This isn't just any kind of repentance. This sort of repentance is the only way to receive the Holy Spirit. Jesus will help you turn from your sins and help decrease the likelihood of the same, and newly, committed sins. Philippians 2:13, ...for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.
Consider this: When you're baptised, your body is now dead. Galatians 2:19-20, For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me. Pre-baptism is the life of the flesh. Post-baptism is the life of the Holy Spirit. You will certainly know the difference when you experience the full effect of baptism. When Paul says that he has been crucified with Christ, this goes hand-in-hand with Romans 6:8 (that our old selves are crucified with Christ). Your old self — your flesh — is dead. You now live and walk in the Spirit. However, keep in mind that it wasn't you who did this. God does it to us. It is God who crucifies our old self and who gives us the Holy Spirit, God and Jesus now fully in us. This is why we are baptised in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, for we receive them all simultaneously (Matthew 28:19). When you're baptised, you are dead to the Law, which is the law that Moses had established to the Israelites. That is no longer an obligation, and it hasn't been since Jesus' crucifixion. When you're baptised, God confirms your own confirmation of Christ's crucifixion, and because of this you don't have to merit your salvation or sanctification. It is a true gift from God. You are now dead to the self and are alive to Christ. You are literally a new person because you are now in Christ. Second Corinthians 5:17, Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. Baptism is acknowledging our inability to save and sanctify ourselves through our own works — that only Christ can do so (Titus 3:5).
Keep in mind that just because you were baptised, it doesn't mean that it's impossible for you to commit a sin and that you can't be guilty of that sin. Romans 6:11-13, Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to its lustful desires. Do not let any part of your body become a tool of wickedness, to be used for sinning. Instead, give yourselves completely to God since you have been given a new life. And use your whole body as a tool to do what is right for the glory of God. In other words: Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the pledge of a good conscience toward God) through the resurrection of Jesus Christ (I Peter 3:21). So the desires of your flesh are not gone, but your conscience towards God (being steadfast from committing sins) is now much more active. If you say you have no sin or that it's impossible for you to sin now, then God and the truth are not in you (I John 1:8). Therefore, the baptism would be meaningless.
If you want to have the full and complete experience with Christ, you have to deny your flesh — your way of life. Luke 9:23, Then He said to them all, "If anyone wants to come with Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me." In order to follow Him completely, you must deny all the desires you want because face it, you don't really need them, do you? That's pretty much what Ecclesiastes illustrates. After all, it is God who gives us the desires of our hearts if we take delight in Him (Psalm 37:4). To pick up your cross daily you have to constantly deny your lusts and materialistic desires and keep pounding the flesh with God's Word and His will. This is very hard to do; no one can do it perfectly. But it is your perseverance that God delights in. Matthew 10:22, "...but he that endureth to the end shall be saved." (Other translations utilise the phrase, "stand firm in the faith.") Denying your self — your old way of life — is what baptism is all about. You deny and destroy your old self, walking in the new self with Christ, picking up your cross daily. First John 2:6, ...the one who says he remains in Him should walk just as He walked. To go with Jesus — to be with Him — you have to walk just as He walked, and this includes baptism, for Jesus was also baptised:
Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptised by him. But John tried to stop Him, saying, "I need to be baptised by You, and yet You come to me?" Jesus answered him, "Allow it for now, because this is the way for us to fulfil all righteousness." Then he allowed Him to be baptised. After Jesus was baptised, He went up immediately from the water. The heavens suddenly opened for Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming down on Him. And there came a voice from heaven: This is My beloved Son. I take delight in Him (Matthew 3:13-17)!
Because of Jesus' personal baptism, we can receive the Holy Spirit in much of a similar way that Jesus made it possible for us through His baptism, and God delights in us doing so. That's why Jesus allowed John to baptise Him: to illustrate to us how we receive the Holy Spirit through Him and that it pleases God. Again, baptism is not a traditional necessity. It is, however, a spiritual necessity — it is a command from God Himself. John 3:3-7: Jesus replied, "I assure you: Unless someone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." "But how can anyone be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked Him. "Can he enter his mother's womb a second time and be born?" Jesus answered, "I assure you: Unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I told you that you must be born again."
When Jesus says "born of water and the Spirit," He is talking about baptism, for the submersion of the water with your willing commitment to Jesus Christ is the receiving of the Holy Spirit. It's not the submersion of the water that gives you the Holy Spirit or your own work; it is your sincere, personal choice of making the decision to commit yourself to Christ that enables God to gift you with the Holy Spirit.
And now I urge you all with Acts 22:16, " 'And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptised and wash away your sins, calling on His name.' "
Don't think of baptism as a tradition because it's not a tradition; it is a holy acceptance into the will of God. God has no traditions. Man, not God, mandates traditionalism. God simply has commands that we all must strive to fulfil. As Jesus said to the Pharisees about their traditionalism, "But you say, 'If a man tells his father or mother: Whatever benefit you might have received from me is Corban' " (that is, a gift committed to the temple), "you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother. You revoke God's Word by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many other similar things" (Mark 7:11-13). Jesus is speaking against the rabbis' teachings that have been against God's Word. This custom of Corban that the rabbis initiated allowed a person to devote all of his material goods to God. The rabbis allowed this Corban tradition to excuse sons from meeting the material needs of their aging parents, which is unbiblical. When Jesus says that they do "many other similar things," He was emphasising that the Corban practise was representative of their other hypocritical Pharisaic practises. Jesus described this as hypocrisy when He said, "Isaiah prophesied correctly about you hypocrites, as it is written: These people honour Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. They worship Me in vain, teaching as doctrines the commands of men" (Mark 7:6-7). In the case of baptism, don't get baptised just because man says it's necessary for your faith in the Church. By doing so you worship Him in vain, not really getting baptised through truthfulness — you don't really mean it. One must not feel vain or shame when doing so either. To reiterate, baptism is the public testimony and confession of your inward, private, spiritual identification and commitment to our Lord Jesus Christ. Rather, get baptised when you know you're ready to fully commit yourself to Christ in your renewed sanctification.
Now, the real question is: What is baptism? To put it simply, baptism is the purification — the cleansing — of your sins, as well as a further commitment to God, as I've said abundantly already. But what does that mean? You may be wondering, "How can I be purified from sin when I still have the tendency to commit sin, and haven't I always been committed to God?" If you've gotten this far to become baptised, then yes, you have always been committed to God. However, getting baptised is the public acknowledgement of it — letting everybody know that you are going to completely submit your life to the lifestyle of Christ. Baptism is telling God that by the coming of the Messiah, every sin that you have committed — from the least to the greatest of them — will be forgiven. Baptism represents that you believe with all your heart, mind, and soul that your sins will be forgiven through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ at His return — all past, present, and future sins. Here is the ultimatum of baptism:
Or are you unaware that all of us who were baptised into Christ Jesus were baptised into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in a new way of life. For if we have been joined with Him in the likeness of His death, we will certainly also be in the likeness of His resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that sin's dominion over the body may be abolished, so that we may no longer be enslaved to sin, since a person who has died is freed from sin's claims (Romans 6:3-7).
When you're baptised, your old self — all your sinful lusts and other desires — were crucified. You nailed your flesh — your old life — on the cross so that you may be able to walk in a new life (verse 6). And by doing so you will be resurrected when the Messiah comes just as He was resurrected when His flesh was nailed on the cross (verse 5). Your old life having been crucified, sin is no longer able to control you as it used to. When you die, your sins will be justified (verse 7).
What this is saying is that baptism is the promise of your resurrection with Christ. Colossians 2:12, Buried with Him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with Him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised Him from the dead. As always, everything is based on your faith. If you faithfully believe this will happen, then the promise will happen through baptism. You cannot heartlessly get baptised. Baptism is the repentance of your past and future sins. But just because your future sins will be justified and forgiven does not mean you can take advantage of that and that you can do whatever you want and get away with it, otherwise I have no doubt that your judgement will be more stringent than originally planned. This isn't just any kind of repentance. This sort of repentance is the only way to receive the Holy Spirit. Jesus will help you turn from your sins and help decrease the likelihood of the same, and newly, committed sins. Philippians 2:13, ...for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.
Consider this: When you're baptised, your body is now dead. Galatians 2:19-20, For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me. Pre-baptism is the life of the flesh. Post-baptism is the life of the Holy Spirit. You will certainly know the difference when you experience the full effect of baptism. When Paul says that he has been crucified with Christ, this goes hand-in-hand with Romans 6:8 (that our old selves are crucified with Christ). Your old self — your flesh — is dead. You now live and walk in the Spirit. However, keep in mind that it wasn't you who did this. God does it to us. It is God who crucifies our old self and who gives us the Holy Spirit, God and Jesus now fully in us. This is why we are baptised in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, for we receive them all simultaneously (Matthew 28:19). When you're baptised, you are dead to the Law, which is the law that Moses had established to the Israelites. That is no longer an obligation, and it hasn't been since Jesus' crucifixion. When you're baptised, God confirms your own confirmation of Christ's crucifixion, and because of this you don't have to merit your salvation or sanctification. It is a true gift from God. You are now dead to the self and are alive to Christ. You are literally a new person because you are now in Christ. Second Corinthians 5:17, Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. Baptism is acknowledging our inability to save and sanctify ourselves through our own works — that only Christ can do so (Titus 3:5).
Keep in mind that just because you were baptised, it doesn't mean that it's impossible for you to commit a sin and that you can't be guilty of that sin. Romans 6:11-13, Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to its lustful desires. Do not let any part of your body become a tool of wickedness, to be used for sinning. Instead, give yourselves completely to God since you have been given a new life. And use your whole body as a tool to do what is right for the glory of God. In other words: Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the pledge of a good conscience toward God) through the resurrection of Jesus Christ (I Peter 3:21). So the desires of your flesh are not gone, but your conscience towards God (being steadfast from committing sins) is now much more active. If you say you have no sin or that it's impossible for you to sin now, then God and the truth are not in you (I John 1:8). Therefore, the baptism would be meaningless.
If you want to have the full and complete experience with Christ, you have to deny your flesh — your way of life. Luke 9:23, Then He said to them all, "If anyone wants to come with Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me." In order to follow Him completely, you must deny all the desires you want because face it, you don't really need them, do you? That's pretty much what Ecclesiastes illustrates. After all, it is God who gives us the desires of our hearts if we take delight in Him (Psalm 37:4). To pick up your cross daily you have to constantly deny your lusts and materialistic desires and keep pounding the flesh with God's Word and His will. This is very hard to do; no one can do it perfectly. But it is your perseverance that God delights in. Matthew 10:22, "...but he that endureth to the end shall be saved." (Other translations utilise the phrase, "stand firm in the faith.") Denying your self — your old way of life — is what baptism is all about. You deny and destroy your old self, walking in the new self with Christ, picking up your cross daily. First John 2:6, ...the one who says he remains in Him should walk just as He walked. To go with Jesus — to be with Him — you have to walk just as He walked, and this includes baptism, for Jesus was also baptised:
Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptised by him. But John tried to stop Him, saying, "I need to be baptised by You, and yet You come to me?" Jesus answered him, "Allow it for now, because this is the way for us to fulfil all righteousness." Then he allowed Him to be baptised. After Jesus was baptised, He went up immediately from the water. The heavens suddenly opened for Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming down on Him. And there came a voice from heaven: This is My beloved Son. I take delight in Him (Matthew 3:13-17)!
Because of Jesus' personal baptism, we can receive the Holy Spirit in much of a similar way that Jesus made it possible for us through His baptism, and God delights in us doing so. That's why Jesus allowed John to baptise Him: to illustrate to us how we receive the Holy Spirit through Him and that it pleases God. Again, baptism is not a traditional necessity. It is, however, a spiritual necessity — it is a command from God Himself. John 3:3-7: Jesus replied, "I assure you: Unless someone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." "But how can anyone be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked Him. "Can he enter his mother's womb a second time and be born?" Jesus answered, "I assure you: Unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I told you that you must be born again."
When Jesus says "born of water and the Spirit," He is talking about baptism, for the submersion of the water with your willing commitment to Jesus Christ is the receiving of the Holy Spirit. It's not the submersion of the water that gives you the Holy Spirit or your own work; it is your sincere, personal choice of making the decision to commit yourself to Christ that enables God to gift you with the Holy Spirit.
And now I urge you all with Acts 22:16, " 'And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptised and wash away your sins, calling on His name.' "
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