May 28, 2012

God loved. God gave.


“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” – John 3:16

It seems that, wherever people gather, there is always a sign that reads “John 3:16”. From sporting events to protests and gatherings of support for a particular cause, this verse is the most commonly used “goto” verse in all of scripture and rightfully so, for, in this particular portion of scripture, the way is marked. In John 3:16, we read what is necessary for all people, at all times for the purpose of salvation and the implications of hope and relief from uncertainty. It is fair to stop there and most do indeed, but what is this really saying?

The latter half of the sixteenth verse in the third chapter is the consequence of the first half, in that we can be saved by trusting in that which has happened. Jesus did not stop there, for, in the following verse, He speaks that He did not come to the world to condemn it; instead, He came so that we might have life and be saved through Him. Going further, warning that, while they who truly believe would be saved, those who do not stand condemned, because they did not believe in the One who would be the ransom for our sins. He judged that the world was dark, yet He was the light that had come into the world and those who loved the truth would come to Him from the darkness.

Of the first half, however, we read the most fascinating and crushing truth: God loved the world and God gave His only Son. How hopeless, indeed, would life be if we had to come to God for our sins! No, instead, God moved to man. The infinitesimal gap between God and man could not be crossed, except by He who could not be contained or thwarted. Where man has proven himself to be wicked and sinful against a holy Creator, one in whom there is no sin; God sought reconciliation with His beloved creation. God moved to man. It is not even enough to leave it at this, for the sheer magnitude of what sin really is has not been observed.

God is holy, yes, but what does this really mean? Isaiah, upon seeing the LORD seated upon His throne, cried out (Isaiah 6), “Woe to me! I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” God’s holiness was sang of by His very creation and, upon seeing Him, Isaiah saw his inadequacy – his hopeless and desperate state, that is his utterly despicable sinfulness. He cried out, “Woe to me!” because he knew his just reward for his sin from even the sight of his holy God.

The wages of sin are death, yes, but the act of sin is against a holy God, the Holy of Holies, who loves us for some inexplicable reason; who, despite our constant sinning, sought us out for reconciliation. That is what Jesus is really saying here: God loved us and God gave a way for us to be reconciled to Him, while meeting the requirements of His justice. We did nothing and could do nothing where which we could ever be saved or reconciled to our Creator and He, in His glorious and limitless mercy and grace, offered us a way when He was perfectly just to let us remain condemned and hopeless.

What do we say of this, then? “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved” (Rm 10:9-10). For those of us who have surrender to Christ, trusting in His work on the cross, we should be encouraged and beyond thankful for we could never have accomplished what Jesus did, not to mention the incredible love displayed for us. For those who remain, that is the ones who have not, know that the One who formed you in the womb loves you so much that He gave what was eternally significant to Him for your reconciliation with Him. God loved you so much that He gave the way for you to finally live with hope and to be in fellowship with Him for the remainder of your days. Do not let this day pass without surrendering your life to Him.

To the One who sits on high, all praise and glory forever and ever. Amen.

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May 25, 2012

Eternal Security


Several years ago, despite a desperate desire to live a sin-free life, I became overwhelmed by the notion that I could have kicked myself out of God’s grace or that His grace towards me could have run out because of my own sin – no matter how much I prayed or genuinely confessed. It came to me, after a lengthy study of the matter, that I was not the only one who had gone through such conflicts. Indeed, one of the biggest torments to the Christian is the underlying fear that their salvation could be rescinded because of something they did; this comes from the few who hold to the belief that there are things a genuine Christian could do which would forever condemn them to eternal damnation. The matter has actually become quite the topic in the Christian community and I whole-heartedly place myself in the defense of the belief that what was given could never be lost.

In this issue, I typically take the concept of “once saved always saved” from the negative, as in: “not saved, never was”. All in all, I hope that, in this quick defense, those who find themselves desperate to know whether or not they have done so much to negate God’s grace and forgiveness would be comforted enough to know finally that God’s grace is truly unfathomable and limitless.

First, what we have in the position that a true Christian can lose their salvation is a life of complete uncertainty or a misguided certainty that one is truly saved. From disobeying the just laws of the land (even slight speeding) to lying (lying by omission is still lying) and countless other things we can and will do, we will sin and stumble as we are conformed to the likeness of our Lord. This inevitably leads to a futility not unlike the idea that a Muslim can do enough good works to overcome the bad deeds they have performed. Essentially, no person can be assured that all of their sins have individually been answered for if, for each one, they are merely a spider held over a fire by the hand of a greater power.

Secondly, Jesus taught that all of those who were given to Him by the Father would not be lost (Jn 6:37-40). It is sufficient to say that they would never be lost; this is what is being said. If we see that there is one Christian who sins, but does not seek a repentant heart – does not seek out God in genuine confession, were they ever truly saved? If one Christian sins and seeks God with a penitent heart and confesses their sins, were they any more saved than they were before they confessed their sins? Certainly not to both. Those who were given to Jesus by the Father were never lost, which is why I choose to write it as “not saved, never was”.

Finally, despite common belief, this is not a license to sin. Paul wrote, “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?” He goes on to write that we are no longer mastered by sin, for we are not under the law, but, instead, under grace (Rm. 6:1-14). Christ’s blood is great enough to cover over every sin, those we have committed and those we will commit, even the ones we are ignorant to see.

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May 20, 2012

Sunday 5/20/12 Q&A: What is evil?


After a short hiatus to finish up work in the several classes I was taking, I have brought back the Q&A. If you have a question you would like me to address, please send it via email, Twitter, or Facebook listed on my Contact Me page. Thank you all for your interest. God bless.

Phillip,

I’ve heard many people say that evil proves that God doesn’t exist and others saying that there is no such thing as evil. Can you help tell what evil is?

Anonymous         

 

Certainly. When a person uses a term like “evil”, they are referring to a moral alignment where the individual (or actor) performs deeds which are opposed or contrary to the standard expectation which has been given. Many will use “evil” as a term to describe an especially heinous action or one who performs misdeeds or especially heinous actions, which is based on a scale using human expectations as the source or foundation. With respect to human expectations, we would say that speeding in a vehicle is “bad”, robbing a bank is “worse” or “awful”, killing or raping someone is “evil”. These terms in their typical usage are only varying levels of abstraction which are given varying grades of seriousness based on how we perceive the heinousness of the action itself. This slight subjectivity often leads people to believe that there is no objective basis for morality outside of societal or cultural preservation and, even then, some who believe that it is irrelevant and does not truly exist in the first place as part of the natural expression of life itself (usually a concept of some of the more intellectual atheists; think Nietzsche).

The claim that God cannot exist or truly be good because there is so much evil is actually pretty common. Many hold that a “good” god would not allow evil in the first place because of his goodness. Of this particular issue, the answer is pretty straightforward: evil is contingent upon the existence of good and morality only exists objectively enough to make a universal claim (one which is true of all people at all times) if there is an objective point of comparison for all people, one which transcends cultural, ethnic, societal differences. To say that evil disproves God is to make a universal claim about the moral alignment of a particular action or set of actions without having the universal standard from which the comparison could be made in the first place. Without the objective lawgiver, moral positioning is irrelevant.

Finally, evil can be properly thought as the absence of good and, similarly, the contrary of good itself. From our perspective, we hold that God gives us the specific standard from which we are to act and interact with others and humanity is completely incapable of choosing good; instead, we instinctively choose wickedness. Whatever terminology is used to define the action, the end result is still the same: humanity is naturally sinful/wicked/evil and this results in the moral and eternal separation of man from God. It can also be said that this eternal separation from God is, specifically, a separation from all but God’s wrath unless the individual is under the redemptive blood of Jesus.

Peace and love to you.

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March 30, 2012

Confusion and oversight


I saw an advertisement recently which drew reference to the silence of Christian leaders in the tragic killing of Treyvon Martin and how deafening it was. In the midst of the media frenzy and the racial battlefield that has sprung once more, what is there to be said? Does the church pick sides – should we? Do we, through brilliant words of eloquence, inspire people to burn effigies of this man or condemn him to death or the far greater punishment of life imprisonment? Certainly not, yet the expectation seems to be quite the opposite.

The information we have indicates that Treyvon was targeted for simply appearing suspicious and, to make matters worse, emphasis was placed on the fact that black people “always get away”. In my review of the countless news stories and the inflammatory comments of the readers, I cannot count how many times I have read how white people are merely part of the problem by virtue of the fact of the color of their skin and I have relatively little interest in involving myself in a matter that has made me and will likely continue to make me the enemy or a part of the problem because of factors outside of my control. While word has it that I am partly descended from the Blackfoot tribe, I identify with my European ancestry and, as such, these words have no other choice but to sting. Before this event, though, we were taught as children that the only difference between us is the color of our skin and, as we grow up, the media and comedians teach us that this is untrue and our worth or position in life is defined by our very color. When combined by the influence of centuries’ worth of expectations and stereotypes, it is no wonder that we cannot seem to get past the intellectual and emotional segregation to unity and equality. Dare I say that Dr. King would be saddened by the superficial changes in the culture only to belie the overarching and growing racism in everyone’s heart and, much more than this, how rotten we must look indeed to the Lord Jesus Christ?

What is the response of the church to any event, much less the killing of this young man; indeed, what should be the response? It is written that “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female”, for we are all one in Christ (Galatians 3:28; Colossians 3:11). Paul is bringing us into conflict with the very human trait, which misjudges and castigates others for perceived weaknesses, statuses, and characteristics which are less than what the judges perceive in their own hearts. He offers and teaches the way to true freedom and equality through Christ, but there is more. What do we say, then, of those who are not in Christ Jesus? Is there only equality to be found in Christ? Absolutely not, for, while there are those whose sins have not been forgiven we all are equally sinners, worthy of the worst kind of wrath which could be poured out from our just God. It is not merely that there is solely equality in Christ, but there is equality among all mankind in their need for Christ’s redemptive blood.

There is the sinner alone. We are neither white nor black, neither American nor foreigner, nor are we rich or poor; instead, we are sinners, depraved and in desperate need. To all, equally so, forgiveness through Jesus is offered, whether black or white or brown or pink or blue or red. Is human life so worthless that one can freely assail it with weapons with the intent to ravage it? Is a human being’s worth based on color alone? We trivialize the senseless death of a young man by ignoring the senselessness of it to argue about race and to segregate one another because one person or group of people will “never” understand. There is not one person who has not had one moment in their life where a loved one was taken from them. Though we reflect different shades, pain unites us all. How dare we make ourselves so shallow to not mourn the loss of a young man who will never have the opportunity to celebrate another Thanksgiving or Christmas with his family or to discover and work at his dream because of the actions of another, whether malicious or just careless.

The Scripture teaches us that in God is comfort and relief for our pain, that His name is a refuge to all who run to Him, and that we are neither greater nor lesser than one another for we are unified by sin and the offer of forgiveness alone. I close this by offering that I know what it means to lose someone whom I loved and cared for far more than myself and crying myself to sleep for months – to be stuck on the memories of that person because another decided to end her life when I spoke to her just before. Treyvon deserves to be remembered and mourned as much as his parents need to mourn and, being unified by our sin and understanding of pain and discouraging ignorance and hatred for one another, we should mourn also, seeking wisdom and guidance from our Counselor. To the mother and father of this young man, I will pray for comfort and justice, for Mr. Zimmerman, the truth and repentance, and for us all, forgiving and loving hearts towards one another that our Creator God would be glorified through the praise given to His only begotten Son.

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February 5, 2012

Flee!


“‘I have the right to do anything,’ you say—but not everything is beneficial. ‘I have the right to do anything’—but I will not be mastered by anything. You say, ‘Food for the stomach and the stomach for food, and God will destroy them both.’ The body, however, is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, ‘The two will become one flesh.’ But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit.

Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.” (1 Corinthians 6:12-20)

At the market, the eyes of a child will often find another and, when they observe the parents of the other child buying them candy or any other treats, they will ask for the same. It was once said that “hell hath no fury like a woman scorned”, but, perhaps, the one who uttered these words never knew a child who had been denied what the other children were having. How similar, indeed, is the heart of man to the heart of a child! For the Christian, it is no small task to overcome the eyes. We are instructed in one way – that is to say the way – and when we see the rest of the world living in a contrary manner, enjoying the pleasures of life which we must, even if for a time, deny ourselves we become discontented and many rationalize in such a manner as if to say, “But they get to do it!” Maybe that is the way with us all, even if for a time.

Paul presents the Corinthian church with a saying, which obviously garnered some popularity. The common belief is that the specific text here is confronting issues of eating food which had been sacrificed to idols and the connection with sexual immorality – the latter, of course, is a bit clearer in the following verses. Essentially, it appears, some within the church were suggesting that, because of the forgiveness found in Christ Jesus, they were permitted to do anything, for their sins would be forgiven. Furthermore, it speaks to the worldly legalities in relation to the Christian worldview, which is to say that, though they were permitted to act in such a manner as given by the laws of the land, they were bound to follow the commands of a holy God and live as though set apart. Certainly, they had “the right to do anything” and the unfathomable grace and mercy of the Lord granted forgiveness for their sins, but not everything was beneficial to them and one is a slave to what they obey (Rm 6:16).

Is there any greater threat to the life and growth of a Christian than sexual immorality in its countless forms? Such a greater threat, such a greater temptation, I have not seen.  For as long as the church has been in existence, our lives here have not been made any easier to this end; in fact, the temptations and the ability to fulfill the temptations, to the contrary, have gotten much easier. With the arrival of the World Wide Web, pornography and other enticements can be accessed in mere seconds! In the States, two people can gather together for the sole purpose of having intercourse without any other consideration and sexual intimacy solely within the confines of marriage, between husband and wife, has become such a rarity. We are yet exhorted to flee from sexual immorality and this should immediately bring to mind the story of Joseph, who, after having been sold into slavery to the Midianites, was sold to the Egyptian, Potiphar. Joseph was placed in charge of the household and, while Potiphar was absent, his wife beckoned Joseph to go to bed with her. After refusing her advances day after day, she caught him by his cloak to indulge in her offer, after which Joseph ran from her, leaving his cloak behind (Gen 37; 39).

The example of Joseph should not be overlooked! Should one in Christ unite with a prostitute, a sexually perverse man or woman? Never. Nor should such a one lift such things in their heart, for, as Paul wrote, quoting Genesis, “‘The two will become one flesh.’” So he writes that we must flee from sexual immorality, because the sexual sin is the sin against one’s own body and the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, which is in us.

A parent warns the child that the candy will ruin their teeth or make them unhealthy for no other reason that they love them and know what is best for them. How much more does the Father know what is best for His children? In His amazing love for us, He gave His only begotten Son to be as a ransom for our transgressions. Indeed, we have been bought at a great price; therefore, it is all the more important that we honor God with our bodies through obedience. May we, by His Holy Spirit, be strengthened to obey and commit ourselves to Him all the more, day after day, seeking Him through unceasing prayer.

_______________________________________________

Dockery, D. S. (1998). The Pauline Letters. In D. S. Dockery (Ed.), Holman concise Bible commentary: Simple, straightforward commentary on every book of the Bible (D. S. Dockery, Ed.) (554). Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers.

Henry, M. (1996). Matthew Henry’s commentary on the whole Bible : Complete and unabridged in one volume (1 Co 6:12–20). Peabody: Hendrickson.

Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., Fausset, A. R., Brown, D., & Brown, D. (1997). A commentary, critical and explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments (1 Co 6:12). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

Prime, D. (2005). Opening up 1 Corinthians (56). Leominister: Day One Publications.

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February 4, 2012

The Trinity: Ignorance and Misunderstandings


Among all of the targets of dispute in Christian theology, the doctrine of the Trinity is one of the biggest. Throughout the last 1800 years or so, the nature and characteristics of God have separated one from another depending on the respective viewpoints of each. The most brilliant of the modern arguments against the Trinity, however, rests with the reality that the specific term is not listed in the Bible – that is not saying much about the totality of the arguments; this is where thepathoftruth comes in.

While time and kindness does not permit a complete dismantling of what is approximately thirty-three pages of nonsense, there are a few primary points which need to be addressed and they provide the framework for the whole. To start, Paul Cohen, while specifically addressing gotquestions.org, argues that the fairly incomprehensible nature of the Trinity is actually an argument against it (In a manner of speaking, saying that it is false because it is incomprehensible). His explanation amounts to the argument that the true children of God know all things and he provides Scripture as means of a defense through John 16:13 and 1 John 2:20 (KJV below):

“Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth.”

“But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.”

The problem here rests initially in the misuse of Scripture. In the context of these verses, we are not really told that we will know all things, but how these things relate to Jesus, His work, and presumably the Church. 1 John 2:20 specifically is an outright misrepresentation of the truth, for the provided context addresses the Church’s knowledge of what the truth about Christ really is in relation to those anti-Christs who went out from them [because they were not of them]. More to the point, though, there are many things we don’t know yet about God, heaven, and what specifically it will be like when we are brought home! Consider Paul: in his second letter to the Corinthian church and what is now the twelfth chapter, writes of a man who was “caught up to the third heaven” and “he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter” (v. 1-6). To delve further, what of John? In Revelation 10, John was told to “Seal up what the seven thunders have said” and “do not write it down.” To say that the true children know all things is to employ a grotesque, scriptural error.

Next, Cohen attempts to explain that the incomprehensible nature of the doctrine itself is used as a means to convince that it is true and, in fact, states it outright. He writes, “Yet you are called to bow down with them to this mystery, worshiping what they ‘know not’”; this, he relates to the text in Revelation, which speaks of “MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT” (Rev 17) and ignores the related Scripture which helps qualify what John is writing of (this deserves to be treated separately, but think: Ezekiel 16). The reality is that there was much which was still a mystery to the church and Paul helped to explain by the knowledge imparted to him through the Spirit of the Lord. To begin to say that there is no mystery or knowledge which exceeds us is absurd.

The next area of importance involves another curious statement. Cohen explains, first, “knowing Jesus Christ is knowing God,” which is easy to accept and, for this, the truth, as small as it is should be applauded, yet this does not exist alone, for he continues, writing, “If the Father is the only true God, then Jesus Christ cannot be a separate Being Who is also God. Jesus Christ is either God, the Father come in the flesh, or He is not God at all.” If only it had been left with the single assessment about Christ in relation to God! The first couple of verses of the first chapter of the Gospel According to John certainly help here, for John writes:  “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.”

John points out both the unity and the distinction between the Word and God; this is important because, as Cohen would argue, there is no distinction with respect to anything related to God alone. This distinction can only exist sufficiently when there is a particular to distinguish from another, as in the case between the separate “Persons” of the Trinity. More than this, Jesus is repeatedly distinguished as the Son, specifically, the incarnate Son!

Next, in response to the claim of the Trinity being one God with three “persons,” Cohen exclaims, “What twaddle! How are ‘three Persons” not “three Gods’?” We are in a small agreement with respect to the concept that God is one, however, the misunderstanding or, rather, the twist is the confusion regarding essence. God is, in essence, one God, yet, throughout Scripture, He has revealed Himself to us in three Persons, which all take distinct actions in unity with each other; this is not to say that there are multiple Gods, nor is this what we teach. In the spirit of saving time, this point can be sufficiently made as follows: the Father gave the Son for our salvation and the Son gave the Spirit for our guidance and as the seal of our salvation and all are called God (Mt 6:9; Col 2:9; Acts 5:3-3).

These issues eat away at the foundations of thepathoftruth’s argument against the Trinity and, consequently, every other exception they took with the concept itself. These are not complete without adding a most absurd assessment. It is the contention of Paul Cohen that “Trinitarianism treats Jesus Christ like the Koran does…[they] presume to honor Christ by calling Him ‘the second Person of the Godhead’ while denying He is the One True God and Father” – errors often beget further error. Peter warns us about these things in the fifteenth chapter of his second letter, wherein he writes, “There are some things in them [Paul’s writings] that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.” Let all who find rest and peace in the Lord remember that it is the Spirit which guides the faithful to discern truth from error. May the everlasting God be praised forever and ever. Amen.

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January 15, 2012

Q&A: Debating Atheists about Scripture


Hey, I was wondering, how do you debate with atheists about Scripture? I have been doing it and they always come back with some kind of nonsense. I can show them facts and they’ll just “blah blah blah.”

Any advice?

Thanks,

J

Hello J,

Thank you for your question! The answer is not easy, but I do know, first-hand, the difficulties of trying to reach the “atheist” mind and it can become quite tiresome to be laughed at incessantly. When holding a discussion with an atheist, it is essential to start with certain things being realized (you may already know some of this and how it applies):

1) There are essentially two types of atheists:

a. The introverted atheist: these essentially say, “I do not believe in God.” They make no proclamation of assault, but instead they simply turn away.

b. The proselytizing atheist: this type of atheist proclaims that “there is no God.” They do not simply turn from God, but they wage a war against the very notion of a Higher Authority to which they are to be held accountable. The proselytizing atheist commits a great fault in logic and rationality (quite humorously, for they claim a monopoly on rational thought). I can go further into this if you would like – I would not be put out in the least, but the general fault itself is what I will call the “fault of the Universal Negative,” which is a fallacy and quite a massive one, at that.

2) The atheist can also be labeled a “naturalist,” for this is all that is and ever will be in their perspective. What this means is that the atheist will claim justification for their lack of belief on a lack of evidence for the existence of God (they will use words like “empirical”), which is to say that they deny on the basis of no physical evidence; this is just silly, though, for they demand physical evidence of a supernatural Being (God).

The aforementioned argument is similar in heart to “argumentum ad ignorantiam.”

3) Christianity is not, “Salvation by belief through reason,” but is, instead, “Salvation by grace, through faith” (Eph. 2:8). What this means is that the unbeliever cannot be beaten into faith through logic, fact, or reason. This is relevant only because they will attempt to draw out proof against God on the basis of science and philosophy – falsely, might I add – and will say that their belief or lack thereof is for the sole reason that they have not the evidence to substantiate a reasonable belief, but if this is not possible for the very reason above, then it leads to the next point.

4) Most of the time, the one who is impacted the most is the one who is watching the debate/discussion on the matter of faith in God. Most proselytizing atheists will fight for the sake of fighting and will argue on the sole basis of the fact that they are the opposition, yet those watching from afar – those observers – are those who are weighing the statements and the intent of the adherents.

5) Some people refuse to believe – just because.

That is quite a lot of information and I pray that it is retained well, but the matter is not complete. If you wish to effectively use scripture against an atheist, read it avidly: start with the beginning of the New Testament through Revelation and then through the Old Testament. If you have done so, already, then continue to read through it in either its complete text or in varying sections, but never stop. Next, pray for an effective witness to those who have established themselves against God. To go further, remember Paul’s words to the Corinthian church (1 Corinthians 1:18-25),

“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. For it is written: ‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.’

Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.”

Our faith is frustrating to them for they seek wisdom and evidence; we are foolish to them for this very reason and, as hard as it can be to accept, some, it could be, were just not meant to believe. Paul discusses this, in a way, I suspect, in Romans 9:22-24,

“What if God, choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction? What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory— even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?”

Finally, approach the matter with love. If the individual battle cannot be won with love, patience, and humility, then it is not being battled appropriately. Atheists, i.e., those who establish themselves against God, can only effectively be won over through the fullness of love. Do not repay their evil with your wrath and remember that the persecution you will face is supposed to happen…

If you need anything else, please let me know.

With great love and peace in the risen Lord Jesus,
Phillip Nicewaner

 

If you have any theological questions for me, you may contact me @ ministeringinlove@gmail.com or through the Ministering in love Facebook page and Twitter links on the left-hand side of this page.

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