With faith comes a degree of moral certainty. This is as it should be. However, a cause for deception arises when we confuse our moral certainties with political order. The temptation is to use the gospel as a vehicle for making laws to suit ourselves. We need to be clear; moral certainty must contain the good news of salvation for all of humanity. Political order has its own set of morals because it is for the governance of a broad mix of convictions and absences of convictions. The contrast between the two moral standards is found when we compare baptism with lethal injection.
The Gospel Saves Posts
Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” On the surface, Acts 2:38 seems to be a straightforward, simple verse. Peter commands repentance and baptism in Jesus’s name. Those who obeyed in faith would receive the forgiveness of sins and the Holy Spirit. However, this simple interpretation contradicts what many have come to believe. Most of the evangelical world interprets Acts 2:38 thusly: “Receive the gift of the Holy Spirit in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins so that you can repent and be baptized.”
The knowledge of the glory of God is today revealed in the face of Jesus, as it once was in the face of Moses, but in a vastly superior way. As Moses came down from the mount with the law and a countenance reflecting God’s glory, so did Jesus—He just happened to be coming down from a much loftier, heavenly peak with a perfected law and, since He is the express image of God’s person, His glory and God’s are one.
In Matthew 12, Jesus incites the anger of his adversaries by healing a demon-possessed man in the presence of a Jewish multitude. These impressionable Jews began to wonder if he might be the King and Savior for which they’d been waiting. The Pharisees, a leading political sect of the Jews, were not so enchanted. They couldn’t deny what they’d just seen with their own eyes, but nor could they concede that this man might actually be the Messiah. Since they couldn’t believe that this wonder was accomplished by the power of God, they quickly concluded he must have done it by the power of Beelzebub – Satan himself. In his rebuttal, Jesus made this instructive statement: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.”
As has been shown in earlier entries on this site, prophecy provides proof that 1) the prophet of old prophesied truth, and thus 2) spoke of the future in a way that no man, apart from the power of an all knowing being, could. Therefore, we can deduce that if the prophets of old were confirmed by what they spoke, there must be a Higher power providing these men with the ability to foreknow.
There are seven things that are an abomination to God (Proverbs 6:16). Among them are “a lying tongue” and “a false witness who speaks lies” (Proverbs 6:17, 19). This speaks to us clearly. God hates lying.
“And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.” Rev.12:7-8 This passage is a kind of prophetic flashback providing a prelude to unfolding events.
On the surface the book of Job is quite simple. It deals with the testing of Job’s faith. But the book become much more involved once you dissect the wranglings of Job and his friends. (If I dare call them friends.) There is a passage in Job 33 that I have been pondering, and I would like your thoughts on it meaning. In Job 33 Elihu, a young man (Job 32:6), is speaking with Job and trying illustrate the point that Job has gone too far in his self justification.
By over-generalizing God’s nature or character, we can form false impressions. As an example I cite the oft stated summation, “The God of the Old Testament was a God of judgment and condemnation.” Is this an accurate statement? How would we reconcile such a statement with Hosea 11:1-4?
The Apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians 4:1-5: “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, 2 with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love,3 endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.”