The Cult of Personality

1 Corinthians 4:15-16, “For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel. Therefore I urge you, imitate me.”

What do you label yourself, or do you? Are you a Methodist, Presbyterian, or Evangelical? Are you a Thomist, Calvinist, or Arminian? Maybe you instead go to the church you went to since you were a child and that is the church you will go to till you die, but have you looked at what you are following?

Some say we should wrap our arms around all these differences and enjoy them, but the problem is that many of those differences are the difference between sin and purity. Should you be part of a denomination that allows out right sin in the pastors’ lives, even if your particular church does not support it? Aren’t you still giving your acceptance by being part of the denomination, regardless of what your particular church is doing at that time?

We all follow something and many times someone, even though many would try to say they are just following Jesus, but they get their interpretation from a personality who has written a book about the Scriptures. Is this wrong? Should we make sure that we do not get anything from anyone at all or align ourselves with a particular person or church?

I believe we can follow someone or a personality in the right way for the right reasons. In many places it is called mentoring, discipleship and accountability. The goal though is to follow those people and churches that follow what the Word of God says. Follow those that are following Christ and will teach you to do the same, just as Paul was saying to the Corinthians. He was telling them to follow him because he followed Jesus and if they wanted to know how to follow Christ then they could watch him and know.

How many of us could say that? How many of us have those people in our lives? If you do, then who cares if people criticize you for following them, as long as they are following Christ and teaching His inerrant Word of God. You need to align yourself to a church and people who love Jesus and long to follow Him both in His doctrinal requirements and social requirements found in Scripture. Those that become upset are just jealous or upset because they do not have the courage, don’t want to rock the boat, or want to rationalize the sin in their lives or the churches. So, instead of looking at what they are doing or what the church is doing they try to make you feel guilty for moving to a Biblical church or following someone who you trust to lead you in a Biblical fashion.

It should not shock us, as those who are in sin always want to keep others down with them and try to keep those who are seeing the truth blinded through guilt. We are to follow Christ, and in doing that we should be aligning ourselves with those people and churches that are sound in their doctrine, because if they are sound in their doctrine then they will be doing the social aspects naturally.

Take a look at who you have chosen to follow and what church you have chosen to sit under. Why have you chosen so? Is it because you have been going to that church all your lives and will continue to do so, even if the church moves away from the Word of God? Do you attend because of the person preaching, even if they do not teach the entire Gospel or change its meaning and context? Or have you chosen your church because they are following the Biblical Standards set before them and the person standing in the pulpit is preaching all the truths in Scripture regardless of how it might offend the congregation?

The end result I guess is whom are you trying to please: God or man? If God, then we need to continually look at what our church believes and who we are following, and who they are following.

Mark 8:34, “Summoning the crowd along with His disciples, He said to them, “If anyone wants to be My follower, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me.”

The Importance of Premillennialism

The Importance of Premillennialism
by Norman L. Geisler2009

Introduction
Premillennialism is the belief that Christ will physically return to earth (Acts 1:6-11; Rev. 1:7), set up a throne in Jerusalem (Matt. 19:28), and reign over the whole earth for a thousand years (Rev. 20:1-6). Amillennialism (no-millennium) denies this literal future reign of Christ and claims that Christ is currently reigning over the world spiritually. Postmillennialism holds that Christ is coming to earth after the Church brings in the kingdom by progressively Christianizing the world before Christ’s return.

Arguments for Premillennialism
There are many arguments for premillennialism. Contrary to the opposing views, the premillennial view is based on a consistent use of the literal historical-grammatical interpretation of prophetic passages of Scripture. There are many good reasons for believing in a literal millennial reign of Christ are noteworthy.

1. Without a Millennium God Lost the Battle in History
God started human history by creating human beings in a literal Paradise (Gen.1-2). It had trees, plants, animals, and rivers (Gen. 2). It had a specific geographical location on earth, by the Tigris and Euphrates rivers (Iraq). There was no sin, evil, or suffering there. Our first parents Adam and Eve lived in a perfect physical environment.

But this Paradise was lost by sin. Being tempted by the Devil, Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit (Gen. 2:16-17), thus bringing pain, suffering, and death on themselves (Gen. 3:14-19) and on all mankind (Rom. 5:12; Rom. 8:18-25). They were expelled from the Garden which was sealed off and guarded by an angel (Gen. 3:24). So, the Tempter won the first battle. He brought death, its results, and its fear on mankind (Heb. 2:14).

If the Paradise lost is never regained, then eventually God is the loser and Satan the winner. If physical death is not reversed by physical resurrection (Jn. 5:28-29), then Satan gains the ultimate victory (Heb. 2:14). And if a literal Paradise is not restored, then God lost what He created. But God is omnipotent (Rev. 19:6) and cannot ultimately lose. Hence, there must be a literal Paradise regained such as we have in the premillennial view of the End of history. Otherwise, God did not reverse the curse and gain the victory over Satan, the damaged earth, and the fallen human race.

But God will regain the Paradise that was lost. This He will do this by a literal resurrection (1 Cor. 15:12-19; Luke 24:39-43) and by the literal reign on earth of Christ the Last Adam. He will reign until death is actually defeated (1 Cor. 15:24-27. But this will not be until the end of the millennium (Rev. 20:4-6) and the beginning of the New Heaven and Earth of which John says, “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away” (Rev. 21:4). So, only by a literal reign of Christ on earth, such as the millennium shall be, will the true Paradise be restored.

2. Without A Millennium History Has no Climax
It is widely acknowledged that a linear view of history (that history is moving forward toward a final Goal) is the result of the Judeo-Christian revelation. History is said to be His-story for God has planned it and is moving it (Dan. 2, 7) forward toward its End (Eschaton). But without a literal historical millennium on earth there is no real End to history. According to a traditional amillennial view, human history merely stops, but it never really comes to a climax. It simply ends and then the eternal state begins. However, on the premillennial view, the millennium is not the first chapter of eternity; it is the last chapter of time. It is the time when, by Christ’s reign, sin, suffering, and death will be finally overcome. For only “Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power” (1 Cor. 15:24-25). But Christ only does this through His millennial reign which ends in the final resurrection (Rev. 20:5). So without a literal millennium there is no real End to history.

3. Without a Millennium God Would Break an Unconditional Land Promise to Abraham.
God promised the land of Canaan to Abraham and his descendents forever. This Land covered everything west of the Jordan River from Egypt to Iraq. “The Lord made a covenant with Abram saying: ‘To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates’”( Gen. 15:18). God said to Abraham: “I give to you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession” (Gen. 17:8). “For all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever” (Gen. 13:15).

This land promise was also unconditional since only God sealed it by passing through the split sacrifice while Abram slept. God said to Abram, “Bring Me a three-year old heifer, a three year old female goat, a three year old ram...and cut them in two.... Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram.... And it came to pass when the sun went down and it was dark, that behold, there was a smoking oven and burning torch that passed between those pieces. On the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, to your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates...” (Gen. 15:9-18).
The Bible declares that “The gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable” (Rom. 11:29). God’s promises don’t depend on our faith but on his faithfulness. For “If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself” (2 Tim. 2:13). God’s promise was immutable. For “When God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself.... Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation” (Heb. 6:13-18).

But this land promise to Abraham has never yet been fulfilled. However, according to the Bible it will yet be fulfilled (Matt. 19:28; Acts 1:6-8; Rom. 11) in the future in the thousand year reign of Christ (Rev. 20:1-6). Even after the days of Joshua (21:43), the land promise was yet future (Jer. 11:5; Amos 9:14-15). Without a literal national fulfillment, such as the millennium, God would have broken an unconditional covenant-which is impossible (Heb. 6:17-18)!

4. Without a Millennium God would Break an Unconditional Throne Promise to David
God promised David that he and his descendents would reign on a throne in Israel forever. He declared, “When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and...I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.... My steadfast love will not depart from him.... And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever” (2 Sam. 7:12-16).

This was an unconditional promise to David and his descendants for God declared that: “My steadfast love I will keep for him forever, and my covenant will stand firm for him. I will establish his offspring forever and his throne as the days of the heavens. If his children forsake my law...then I will punish their transgression with the rod and their iniquity with stripes, but I will not remove from him my steadfast love or be false to my faithfulness....I will not violate my covenant or alter the word that went forth from my lips. Once for all I have sworn by my holiness; I will not lie to David. His offspring shall endure forever, his throne as long as the sun before me. Like the moon it shall be established forever...” (Psa. 89:28-37).

However, no descendent of David is now-nor has been for over 2500 years-reigning on a literal throne in Jerusalem. But Jesus promised that Christ, a descendent of David, would do so in the future (Matt. 19:28). So, this unconditional and everlasting promise has not yet been literally fulfilled. Without Christ’s return and perpetual reign God would have broken this unconditional promise. But this is impossible (Rom. 11:29). Therefore, there must yet be a literal Messianic reign of Christ on earth such as is promised in the millennium (Rev. 20:1-6).

As hymn-writer Isaac Watts put it,
Jesus shall reign where e’er the sun Does its successive journeys run; His kingdom spread from shore to shore, Till moons shall wax and wane no more. To Him shall endless prayer be made, And endless praises crown His head. His name like sweet perfume shall rise With every morning sacrifice.

5. Only Premillennialism Employs a Consistent Hermeneutic
To deny premillennialism is to deny the consistent application of the literal historical-grammatical interpretation of the Bible. For the non-premill view fails because: 1) It takes parts of the Bible literally but not all (e.g., prophecy); 2) It takes part of the prophets literally (First Advent) but not all of the Second Advent texts; 3) It takes part of the Gospels literally, namely, Christ’s death and resurrection (Matt. 26-28) but not all of Jesus’ predictions made in the Gospels, namely, His statements about His Second Coming (Matt. 19:28; Matt. 24-25); 4); It takes part of a verse literally but not the rest. When quoting Isaiah Jesus stopped in the middle of a sentence and pronounced it literally fulfilled (in His First Coming), but the rest of the verse speaks of His Second Coming which must be taken literally too (cf. Isa. 61:1-2 cf. Luke 4:18-21); 5) It takes one resurrection literally but not the other (Rev. 20:5-6; John 5:28-29). But the two are listed together in the same texts. Both are said to involve people coming out of graves (Jn. 5:25-28) where dead bodies reside.

Further, if the non-literal (spiritualized) interpretations of amills and postmills were applied to other sections of Scripture it would undermine the fundamentals of the Christian Faith. If applied to Gen. 1-3, it would deny the historicity of Adam, the Fall, and the Doctrine of Creation. (If the End isn't literal, then why should the Beginning be literal?) If applied to the texts about the Cross, it would deny the atonement. And if applied to the resurrection narratives, it would deny Christ’s victory over death. In short, applying the same hermeneutic, which non-premills apply to prophecy, to other parts of the Bible would deny the fundamentals of the Christian Faith. This is why premillennial-ism is based on a kind of hermeneutical fundamental of the Christian Faith. There are three kinds of fundamentals: 1) Doctrinal fundamentals (e.g., the Trinity, Deity of Christ, Sacrificial Atonement, and Resurrection). These are a test of evangelical authenticity. 2) Epistemological fundamentals--Inspiration and inerrancy of Scripture). This is a test of evangelical consistency. 3) Hermeneutical fundamentals (a literal hermeneutic and premillennialism that results from it). This too is a test of evangelical consistency. So, to deny the foundation of premillennialism, is logically to undermine salvation fundamentals as well.

6. Premillennialism Adds Urgency to Evangelism.
Premillennialism, especially in those who hold the imminency of Christ’s return, creates a certain sense of urgency not generated by the other views. For if Christ is coming before the millennium at a time we know not, then believers should live in a constant sense of expectation. Jesus said, "Occupy till I come" (Luke 19:13) and “Night is coming, when no one can work.” If one believes his time is limited and Christ may come at any moment, then he will have more of a sense of urgency about evangelism. This, of course, is not to say that there is no sense of urgency in the other views for everyone is going to die and some will die at any given moment. But there is a far greater sense of urgency if one believes it could be our last opportunity to reach anyone at any moment.

It is no coincidence that many of the modern missionary movements (William Carey, David Livingston, and Adoniron Judson) and evangelistic efforts (John Wesley, Billy Sunday, D. L. Moody, and Billy Graham) were headed by premillennialists. For the belief in an imminent premillennial coming of Christ gives a great sense of urgency in reaching the world before he returns.

7. Premillennial Imminency Adds an Incentive for Holiness
It is not that there are no other incentives for godliness, but certainly the imminent premillennial expectation is an added one. For no true believer wants to be caught in sin when Jesus returns. The apostle John declared: “But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure” (1 Jn. 3:2-3). Paul declared that this “blessed hope helps in “training us to renounce ungodliness” and to set apart a people “zealous for good works” (Titus 2:14). So, the sense of imminency has a purifying effect on one’s life. It also has a sobering effect. As Peter said, “The day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives” (2 Pet. 3:10-11).

Answering Some Objections
Opponents of premillennialism have offered many objections. Some have already been answered above. Others are trivial and do not warrant the time necessary to answer them. However, a few deserve comment here.

Objection One: The millennium is mentioned only once in the Bible (Rev. 20). Thus, it is argued, that it cannot be an important doctrine. If it were, it would be mentioned more often.

Response: First of all, one mention in the Bible makes something true since God cannot err (Heb. 6:18), and the Bible is God’s word (2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Pet. 1:20-21). What is more, the word “millennium” occurs six times in the Bible which makes it not only true but important. John wrote: “And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for [1] a thousand years...so that she might not deceive the nations any longer, until [2] the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while.. They came to life and reigned with Christ for [3] a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until [4] the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for [5] a thousand years. And when [6] the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison” (Rev. 20:1-7).

Second, the length of Christ reign is only mention in Revelation 20, but the fact of his reign is mentioned numerous times in both Old and New Testaments (See Isa.11; Zech. 12, 14; Mat. 24; Acts 1:6-8; Rev. 19, 20).

Third, while premillennialism is not one of the essential salvation doctrines (see our Conviction without Compromise, Part One), nonetheless, as mentioned above (in Point 5), premillennialism is based on an interpretation fundamental. And denying the literal interpretation of prophecy (which is the basis of premillennialism), logically leads to denying salvation fundamentals as well. For if Genesis or the Gospels were allegorized or spiritualized in the manner that opponents of premillennialism do, it would undermine the basic salvation essentials of the Faith too.

Objection Two: The promises to Abraham and David were said to be “forever,” but the millennium is only a thousand years. How can a thousand years be a fulfillment of these promises that it will be forever?.

Response: The Hebrew word for “forever” (olam) or “everlasting” can mean a long period of time, not literally without end. The mountains are called “everlasting” (Deut. 33:15). Psalm 89 seems to designate that “forever” (vs. 28, 36) will be as long as the sun and the moon last (vs. 36-37), and they will not shine in eternity (Rev. 21:23). Since the Bible says there will be and end of the millennium (Rev. 20:4-6) and Paul said there will be and “end” of Christ’s reign on earth (1 Cor. 15:24), then the limited meaning of “forever” as a long period of time (i.e., a thousand years) would explain the problem. However, once Christ reigns and delivers the kingdom to the Father it will literally go on forever (1 Cor. 15:24). So, in this sense Christ’s reign will be eternal.

Objection Three: Premillennialists are not Consistent It is objected that even the premill view takes some prophetic passages symbolically and figuratively, such as the seven “stars” (angels),“lamp stands” (churches), and “beasts” (world powers) in the book of Revelation. If so, why should not “a thousand years” be symbolic of a long period of time and “144,000” from the “twelve tribes of Israel” (Rev. 7, 14) be symbolic of the Church, and so on.

Response: First, figures of speech are not contrary to a literal interpretation since even they are based in a literal meaning. For example, just because there is a “key” (a symbol of secure containment) to the bottomless pit where the Devil is consigned for a thousand years does not mean there is no real Devil. Second, the Book of Revelation identifies many things as symbols, but it gives their literal meaning (cf. Rev. 1:20). Third, all these symbols represent literal people, things, and events. Fourth, the worlds “tribe” and “resurrection are never used figuratively in the Bible. Even symbols have a literal meaning (Rev. 1:20). Fifth, the rule of thumb still stands: “If the literal sense makes good sense, then seek no other sense lest it result in nonsense.” Finally, amillennial interpretations are inconsistent for in the same passage (Rev. 20) they take one “resurrection” literally and the other one spiritually. “They came to life [at first resurrection] and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life [at the second resurrection] until the thousand years were ended.” John goes on to say, “Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power...and they will reign with him for a thousand years.” (Rev. 20:4-7). But if the second resurrection is literal (as amills admit), then so is the first resurrection literal since it is described by the same phrase in the same passage and it is called “the first resurrection” (Rev. 20:5-6).

Objection Four: The Prophecies about Israel are fulfilled spiritually by the Church. According to this “replacement theology,” Israel was disobedient and lost the conditional promises God made to them. Thus, God replaced Israel with a new “spiritual Israel” (Gal. 6:16) known as the Church who fulfill the “new covenant” made with Israel (Jer. 31 cf. Heb. 8).

Response: First of all, the Abrahamic and Davidic covenants were not conditional, as shown above (in Points 3 and 4); they were unconditional (cf. Rom. 11:29).
Second, nowhere in the New Testament is the Church called “Spiritual Israel.” The passages in Galatians 6:16, which uses the term “Israel of God,” is equivalent of “the true circumcision” (Phil. 3:3 NASB) who worship God in spirit and put no confidence in the flesh. Both of these mean literal Jews who have accepted Jesus as their Messiah and are living in his grace, not trying to attain salvation by keeping the law (cf. Rom. 10:1-4). Second, although the new covenant was made with Israel, its benefits were not limited to Jews. Even Abraham was told “through you all the families of the earth will be blessed” (Gen. 12:3). And the prophets often spoke of Gentile salvation (Acts 15:17 citing Amos 9:11-12).

Third, the New Testament Church (where Jew and Gentile are in one spiritual body) was not known in the Old Testament (Col. 1:26-27) but “was not made known to the sons of men in other generations” but only in the time of the New Testament “apostles and prophets” (Eph. 3:5-6).

Fourth, the New Testament refers to a future literal kingdom for Israel, even after the time of Christ. Jesus disciples asked when he would “restore the kingdom to Israel” (Acts 1:6-8). Even after the Church began (in Acts 2), Peter promised to “the men of Israel” (Acts 3:12) the “restoring of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago” (Acts 3:21). Romans 11 speaks of national “Israel” being reincrafted after “the fullness of the Gentiles as come in” (Rom. 11:25-26). This he says in the context of reminding them that “the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable” (11:29). Nowhere, does the Bible affirm that God’s unconditional land and throne promises to Israel will be fulfilled by the Church. To be sure individual believers receive the spiritual salvation benefits (Rom. 4; Gal. 3) promised to Gentiles in the Old Testament (Gen. 12:3; Amos 9:11-12), but never does the Bible affirm that the irrevocable promises to national Israel will be fulfilled in the church. These promises are yet to be fulfilled in a literal millennial reign of Christ on earth (Acts 19:29; Rev. 20:1-6).

Conclusion
Our spiritual forefathers did not put premillennialism in our doctrinal statement because they thought it was unimportant. To the contrary, premillennialism is based on a hermeneutical (interpretation) fundamental. The literal historical/grammatical fundamental on which it is based underlies all the salvation fundamentals of the Faith. Giving it up belies to serious problems for the future of the church. First, we are giving up the very basis for all the fundamental Christian doctrines. Second, there is the underlying tendency to sacrifice important doctrines for the sake of unity, fraternity, or multiplicity (growth). Yielding to this tendency sets a bad precedent for future deviation on even more important issues. One final thought. It is of more than passing significance to note that few, if any, evangelical groups ever move from premillennialism to liberalism. However, this is not true of amillennial and postmillennial views. So, it is not without good reason that premillennialism is a safeguard against liberalism.

*Dr. Geisler has a BA, MA, ThM, and PhD (in philosophy). He is an author of some 70 books and has taught philosophy and ethics at the College and Graduate level for fifty years. He is currently Distinguished Professor of Apologetics and Theology at Veritas Evangelical Seminary (www.VeritasSeminary.com). His articles and materials are available at www.normgeisler.com.

Gaming Contest

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Work It Out!!

Ephesians 2:8-10, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”

Christianity is the most different religion in the world, because it is the only one where Salvation is not based on your works. The problem is that some denominations and other factions have tried to make it a works based faith for one reason or another, but there is no Biblical evidence for such a belief. As seen in the verse above we are saved by faith, not by being the “best” person we can be and hope that is good enough. That is what the Pharisees and Sadducees were turning Judaism into, and Jesus was never happy with that. All one has to do is read His many encounters with them throughout the Gospels.

One of the best examples I have found for our Salvation being by faith is the thief on the cross. Jesus in Luke is first mocked by both thieves being crucified next to Him, but one then through the time on the cross comes to realize who Jesus is and this is what is said, “But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise” (Luke 23:40-43).

Jesus makes a strong promise to this man who admits that he was being justly crucified for his actions. He admits he is not good and was not doing good works, because he was on the cross, saved for the most heinous people and criminals. Romans found it so bad, that they did not kill their own citizens this way. Jesus tells this criminal, justly being punished by his own words, that he will be with Christ in paradise that very day. What? What did he do to deserve Heaven? What did this criminal do to deserve the favor of the Son of God? Nothing, he believed in faith in who Jesus claimed to be. He would have heard about the trials and what was going on, as he walked to Golgatha with Christ, so he would know, as he was mocking Him just moments earlier.

Does this mean though that we don’t have to do anything then? No, finish reading the verse, and it says that when we become Christ’s, we are His for His good works. Meaning our salvation is seen by our actions. We do good works because of our love and knowledge of what Christ did for us on the cross; He died for our sins and then defeated death on the third day through the resurrection. Jesus says in John 6:35-40, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”

What about the book of James, where it says in James 2:18-22, “But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect?” This is works, right? We have to work for our faith?

This is not talking about Salvation in becoming saved, but those demonstrating their salvation to the world around them by listening to what God tells them to do. Today that is through the Bible, the inerrant, infallible Word of God. Our salvation is by grace. Paul demonstrates it in Romans and Jesus demonstrates it with the thief and the verses above and many other places in the gospels. The book of James, and I use this because this is the book a lot go to in order to point to works, is talking about justification before man. We are showing those around us that we love Jesus by our works of love through attitude, helping the poor, following the great commission and telling others about Jesus. We don’t do it because we have to, we do it because we want to because we understand what Jesus did on that cross in order to save us from eternal hell.

Then the question becomes, ‘What about good people like Ghandi?’ Don’t they get into heaven or are they in hell because they did not accept Christ? No one likes to handle these questions and many back away from them, but the Bible is quite clear on this point: John 3:16-18, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” Acts 4:12, “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Acts 16:31, “So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” Lastly Romans 10:9-13, “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

None of the verses above, and there are many more, mention any type of work for salvation, but they do express an explicit belief in Jesus Christ as Savior. Do “good” people go to hell? Not to be philosophical, but who is good and what are you basing it on if not God? Because if you base how good you are on God’s standards then none of us are good and we deserve hell, because we have all sinned and fallen short, which is why we need grace (getting something we don’t deserve). So, in one sense there are no good people, just those saved by the grace of God through belief in Jesus Christ. To the question of Ghandi, if he did not accept Christ as Savior and Lord then he is in hell, just as everyone else that has that choice. We are accountable for what we know and Ghandi knew, by his own admission, about Christianity and made the mistake of basing it on Christians (which by the way should not be that way) and it turned him off. Did he at the last minute change his mind, maybe? Who knows? We have to base it on Jesus and Ghandi should have kept looking at Christ to make his decision.

We all fail each other. We will all hurt one another, as we are born in sin. Those that are Christians are saved by faith, but not yet perfect and will still do dumb things, and unfortunately some use Christianity to rationalize doing bad. That is why we have to look at Jesus and who He is and what He said about attaining heaven through belief in Him.

I leave you with this question and challenge: Did you ever notice that every religion does something with Jesus Christ in their faith, whether prophet, good teacher, etcetera, but not every religion does the same with every other religious leader? There is power in Jesus and that is why false religions have to deal with Him. Study Jesus and look at the truth and pray to let God open your heart to see the truth of Christ and He is faithful, and then you have to choose, as God gives us that. He does not want to force us, but let us choose. So you too will have to choose, but choose quickly, as we never know our time.

My prayer is always that anyone reading these will come to know Christ as Savior and Lord.

1 Corinthians 1:18, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”

Inter-Culturally Relevant

Matthew 12:30, “Anyone who is not with Me is against Me, and anyone who does not gather with Me Scatters.”

Galatians 1:9-10, “As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed. For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.”

I have been thinking upon this subject for a long time and still have a hard time finding any reason for Christians to be part of any Interfaith Council on any college campus. As a matter of fact I think there is more reason not to, but maybe I am wrong and you can help correct my analysis.

I know what you are about to read is going to ruffle feathers, but I just cannot hold my tongue any longer. I have held it for 3 years, and God has tugged at my heart and I have ignored it, but with going through what I have been going through with my sickness, I no longer fear what people think, but what God thinks. I have been known to write some controversial stuff before, and then stopped because of politics, but I am no longer walking that road. If God places it on my heart then I am going to write about it, whether or not people like me for it. Once you have had the fear of a disease that can kill you, you realize that what others think is not quite as important as what God thinks. I will have to stand before Him one day and no one else.

My goal is to challenge the Christian in my writings and to protect those young minds out there that are trying to wade through the truth of religion and what is true. This is about eternity and not tomorrow or the next day. Below in the quotes are the basic premise of the Interfaith Council at the University in the town I live in. Read them and see if you see anything wrong with it.

“The IUP Interfaith Council exists to serve the spiritual needs of the IUP community. Specifically, it seeks:

To be a forum for communication among various faith traditions at IUP and between these traditions and the university.
To foster mutual respect among religious groups on campus.
To be a forum in which to come to agreement on guidelines for on-campus religious practice.
To foster personal contact among members of different religious groups.
To be a forum in which to explore possibilities for cooperative religious programming.
To advocate spiritual growth and religious life. (emphasis mine)
To be a liaison between local churches and the IUP community.
The IUP Interfaith Council will be composed of one or more representatives from each recognized student religious organization approved for membership. Membership in the Interfaith Council is open to all duly recognized religious organizations of the IUP community”(http://search.www.iup.edu/search?q=interfaith+council&entqr=0&output=xml_no_dtd&sort=date%3AD%3AL%3Ad1&entsp=a&ud=1&oe=UTF-8&ie=UTF-8&proxystylesheet=IUP&site=IUP&client=IUP ). "

All I come up with are questions about Christians participating in such a program, and at best find that doing so is because either they feel forced, or are using it to attain a free room. At least that is what I hope, because for any other real reason would be to truly go against, in my opinion, the core of Christianity, Jesus Christ being the only way to Heaven.

How can Christians cooperate with another faith in programming? What will you promote with a Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim or Wiccan? Good morals? That will not get you into Heaven and that promotes a works based faith, which Christianity is not. We are saved by grace alone, where all the others are works based. Maybe we could teach all to love each other? But the problem is we cannot truly love unless we know Jesus Christ and the love He showed us on the cross. It is because God loved us first that we are able to love and that needs to be taught, and not “God” in general, but the true Triune God. Our love would be in vain if we were not presenting the Gospel of Christ. You would just “love them” to hell if they do not know Christ. If in your collaboration you are not allowed to present Christ then what is the point? What program could Christians possibly ‘hold-hands’ or ‘cooperate’ with another religion? Please give me Biblical evidence for it. Show me where we are to partner with other religions, and I will point you to 1 & 2 Corinthians when Paul is talking to them about doing just that and bringing outside religious aspects into the church. Not only that, he was calling out those who were sinning within the church.

Why do we think God is going to move in our communities when we hold hands with the Devil? Any religion that is not Christianity is designed by Satan, or the sinfulness of man who was probably encouraged by Satan or his demons. Basically, to say you are cooperating with another religion on a project is like saying you are going to work with an anti-Christ to get something done. I wonder if the Angels and Demons get together around a table to discuss how they can work together for the betterment of the community? I can very much doubt it, since they hate man and anything that is Heavenly. So, why do we do that as leaders?

2 John 7-11, “For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. Look to yourselves, that we do not lose those things we worked for, but that we may receive a full reward. Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him; 11for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds.”

Some will say they get to then witness to the other leaders. Really? All you get to do is give your testimony. You are not allowed to proslytize at these meetings, which is what should be happening. If you are sitting with a bunch of non-Christian leaders, your goal should be their salvation and not how you can show the University campus that you are in bed together. That is hypocrisy at its finest and a slap in the face of God to say that we can use the means of Satan to help students find their way in life. Again, if it is not for God then it is against God.

We are to love and be tolerant to allow people to choose sin, which includes joining other religions, but that does not mean we promote that we think they are the same as we are, because we don’t. We believe Christianity is the only way to eternal life. What does it say in the end when students see leaders of Hindus, Muslims, and any other religion meeting each week, month or whatever to join together in cooperation for helping students? It says that there really is no difference and one is not better than the other.

Rom. 1:32, “who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.” For the leaders out there, would you as a Christian send someone to the Wiccan leader, the Muslim leader or the Universalist leader if they said they were looking for that style of worship? If so, why? You should be witnessing to them and keeping them as far away from those places as possible, because that is sending them into the domain of Satan and not God. You are hurting them if you do that and sinning, because you are sending them away from Christ.

Why are Christians then part of this worldly program, when we are not to be part of the world? Why do we get frustrated that the Holy Spirit is not moving when we hold hands in projects with faiths that deny Christ as Savior and Lord?

Revelation 22:14-16, “Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie. I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.”

Exodus 20:3, “You shall have no other gods before Me.”