The Bible has many, many truthful doctrines if the reader only stops to take time to consider them. The dynamics of God cannot be deciphered until they are stopped long enough to consider them; like photons of light, they are only a blur until they strike an object to reveal themselves.
Viewed in a vacuum like space, light
cannot be seen from the side. Light rays are invisible. What the viewer sees
beyond the vacuum of space, in the world, is light reflected off particles,
both microscopic and large. Otherwise, light can only be seen when it is
directed at you.
So, it is with the Word. So long as you do not stop to consider it; the Light — the Word — is fleeting. Only when you stop to consider it, does it strike you. Consider the word that stopped dead still and hit me squarely this morning:
Verily I say unto you, “If you have faith, and doubt not, you shall not only
do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if you shall say unto this
mountain, ‘Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea;’ it shall be done. And
all things, whatsoever you shall ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive. (Mat 21:21-22)
Jesus had no doubt. He knew that
He was the Son of God without question. He withered the fig tree and moved a
mighty mountain, because He had no doubts at all.
Paul wrote about faith and Christians lacking in perfect faith:
Night and day praying
exceedingly that we might see your Face, and might perfect that which is
lacking in your faith? Now God Himself and our Father, and our Lord Jesus
Christ, direct our way unto you. (1 Thes
3:10-11)
There it is — Christians do not know
that they know that they know, ad infinitum. Christians are lacking
in their faith. Why pray? Because your faith is lacking vitality, as is mine!
Jesus withered the fig tree. Your
dog has probably withered more trees that you have! Have you moved mighty
mountains? Only Jesus has done that! Are you God? Jesus was and remains so.
That you know that you
know that you know implies that you are God! Step outside and pray; pray
for even that small hill to be moved and it shall not be moved. You are thusly,
lacking in your faith or it would be done.
Jesus said, “If you have faith,
and doubt not,” There is a relationship between faith and doubt. Jesus knew who
He was and said so. Knowing that He was God, Jesus withered the fig tree, moved
the mountain, and along the way healed the sick, not like a doctor, but
instantly. He could do that because He was sure of Himself. We cannot do
that because we are not certain that He is God.
That thesis will be tested at
some point to prove ourselves if we are alive during the Great Tribulation.
Those who remain alive after the coming of Jesus will be tested and if they
pass, John saw the outcome, to wit: “I saw the souls of them that were beheaded
for the witness of Jesus, and for the Word of God, and which had not worshipped
the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their
foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand
years” (Rev 20:4).
I will not be so arrogant to
think that I know who those souls are, but Christians of all ages have always
been tested. Foxe’s Book of Martyrs reveals many who were crucified, beheaded,
or burned alive because of their strong faith in Jesus. All Christians are
tested in some manner and most of us are tested easily; are we sharing the
gospel of Jesus Christ? If not, then would you pass the test. In my recent
commentary, I called that CINO — Christians In Name Only.
Our persecution is mild compared
to theirs, yet most Christians fail.
Jesus, knowing that He was God, pointed
out what was lacking in their faith. The faith of God is knowing full well. He knows
that He knows that He knows… from alpha to omega; ad infinitum. He
has full assurance and without a doubt that He is God. The question is, do
you believe that strongly that Jesus is God? When the executioner stands there
with his ax raised would you hold fast to that belief?
Faith is trusting that God is who
He says He is. That was the crucial test at the crucifixion.
Pilate believed that and verified
that he believed Jesus, “said Pilate to the chief priests and to the people, ‘I
find no fault in this man’” (Luke 23:4). Understand that Pilate, the acting
Caesar, lost his position and name perhaps because of his belief in Christ
(Letters have been preserved from Pilate to Caesar attesting to the veracity of
the godhood of Jesus.) Pilate could have been crucified from judging Jesus because
in those days, Caesar was the supreme judge.
And don’t forget the mob of Jews.
Pilate broke their Law: “You shall have no other gods before Me” (Exod
20:3). And there was Jesus, the very Image of God that was forbidden. The
penalty for that was, “Whoever sacrifices to any god other than the Lord must
be destroyed” (Exod 22:20). The rabid Jews knew that Law, and Pilate
essentially broke that Law by trusting Jesus was who He said He was. Could you
have done that knowing full well that both Caesar and the mob had a reason to
kill you? I don’t think so!
Pilate passed the test in the
face of eminent danger. Few there that day believed Jesus. Would you have been
a Jesus denier, a Jesus doubter, or a Jesus trustee? The crowd, excepting
Pilate, his wife, the repentant thief, and the centurion who pierced Jesus;
were the faithful few. All the rest either did not believe or had enough doubt
that even the apostles stood silently by out of fear for their flesh.
Saying, “I know that I know that
I know,” is just asking for that to be tested! It tempts Jesus to test your
arrogance; that you are more certain than the apostles. All thirteen of them
were tested and all twelve of the thirteen — minus Judas — passed the test. All,
but one, were killed for the Name, Jesus, leaving John to be boiled in oil
alive. Have you that much faith?
Faith is essentially trusting
Jesus for the duration, “You shall be hated of all men for my Name's sake: but
he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved” (Mark 13:13).
Christians must endure to the end even if it means death! Salvation comes at
the end of the test. It is not endurance that day, that week, that month, or
even the rest of the church service; it is enduring the world until death do
you part.
Each temptation is a test for the
Christians. Would they do what Jesus did — resist temptation — or do what they
want to do?
Sin reveals a lack of faith. You
either doubt that He is God or that He will not judge you in the end. Sin in
the life of the Christian is a test of their faith. Do they truly know that
they know that they know or are they lying about the intensity of their
belief? Whether they yield to temptation, or not, reveals what they really
believe!
Absolute trust all the time is knowing
Jesus. You cannot just trust Him part of the time and just for some things.
Failure to trust God in all things are sins of omission. They are just as wrong
as sins of commission. Claiming that extreme degree of certainty is tested and
you can be certain that you will be tempted!
Faith can be operationalized by trust
over time. If it was written in algebraic terms, it would be F (faith) = T
(trust) / t (time), where time is from born again to the end of life. Trust
is the variable that is measured over time.
D = C – F where C is certainty, D
is doubt and F remains Faith. You can see, everyone but Jesus had some degree
of doubt, but you testify that you never doubt.
Your faith varies. The variable
reveals itself when temptation leads to sin. Anytime you sin, your faith
lessens, and doubt raises its ugly head.
Now consider the claim, “I
believe without a shadow of a doubt that I am saved.” Firstly. ‘shadow’ in that
claim is irrational. Doubts are not objects and thus have no shadow. How could
you believe something that doesn’t even make sense?
Tell me what ‘salvation’ is. Is
it your soul, your flesh, your will, your power (vitality) or what?
When is the time of
salvation and what is saved?
Paul wrote to Peter, “Receiving
the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls” (1 Pet 1:9). So,
salvation is not your flesh, but your soul and it is saved at the end of
your faith. That is not when you quit believing (apostasy) but when you are
dead and can no longer believe. In other words, salvation is at your death when
your soul goes to Paradise right then, just like the repentant thief who trusted
Jesus.
So, what is faith? Trusting Jesus
all the way to your death. Stopping short of death leaves room for apostasy.
Some do not believe in apostasy. However,
Paul wrote to Timothy, “The Spirit speaks expressly, that in the latter times
some shall depart from the faith” (1 Tim 4:1).
Departing from the faith is shunning
God — aphistemi in the Greek. And to be more direct they will fall away;
“Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except
there come a falling away (apostasia) first, and that man of sin be
revealed, the son of perdition… (2 Thes 2:6).
Apostasy (apostasia) is “defection”
from Jesus
Therefore, you do not know
that you know that you know, but trust that Jesus is who He says He is.
That trust wavers each time you sin, and if you sin without ever repenting,
then that is apostasy.
That doubt that you claim that
you don’t have; that makes you the ‘god’ for only god’s are without a doubt,
and in the case of the true God, then that is Jesus Himself. Are you Jesus, the
Messiah? Caan you wither fig trees and move mountains by merely exercising your
virtue? No, you cannot!
Paul wrote for you to be not
deceived, but Calvinist Doctrine is deceptive. You are not saved until you die,
so the question is are you even safe?
If you think you are already
saved, then you would need not be vigilant about your soul. Paul wrote to the
elders of the Church, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil,
as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Pet 5:8). The elders
were the most faithful of the faithful. Then Paul applied it to the other
Christians, “Whom (the elders) resist steadfast in the faith, knowing that the
same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world” (1
Pet 5:9).
Paul was saying that it applies
to you and your brothers — other Christians. Why watch out for the Devil if you
have already been saved? Paul would be confused, would he not? and he was even inspired
by Jesus from Paradise.
Let no man deceive you by
any means to watch out for wrong doctrines and the doctrine of eternal
security from the moment of belief is wrong!
Indeed, once you are dead, you
are secure because once in heaven always in heaven. It is not that the
doctrine of eternal security is heretical, but when security begins. I submit
that is when your soul is saved at death, and sin, death, hell, and Satan no
longer has a hold on you.
What was Paul talking about when
he said, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Phil 1:21). His
gain was salvation. It was the moment that Paul gave up the ghost — his
invisible soul and was glorified!
With that said, reformed
Christians may still be Christians, but they may be jeopardizing their faith,
as Calvinism guarantees grace rather than God. It is God who is sovereign,
not Calvin, and all the while, they make Calvin the sovereign. Jesus is not the
Grantor; they are. Why even spread the Good News if it was decided before the
foundation of the world?
Luther correcting false doctrine
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