Fighting Against God

I have been told that the best way to determine if what someone believes is true is to question it because that is how you measure its validity. One of my favorite passages in the Bible is found in Acts 5. This is where we find a Pharisee named Gamaliel respond to the preaching of Peter and the apostles by saying that "if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God (Acts 5: 38-39)." It is with that thought in mind that we can address the a few of the serious issues which face Christianity.

He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not

The other day I wrote about Calvinism and its teaching that man does not have free will. This is one of those topics, that if we're not careful can end up separating the Body of Christ. I guess there are those individuals that think that since God knows the end from the beginning that He orchestrates all that goes on in between. Thus, you have a God who says He loves the world, but shows His love by creating some for Heaven and some for Hell. "I love you, but you can't come to Heaven to spend eternity with me because I created you to burn in the Lake of Fire for all eternity." Some God of love. Here are a few questions I asked myself about this belief that helped me realize that man does have a free will.

"Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name." Genesis 2:19

Why would God bring all the animals to Adam to see what he would name them if He was going to give Adam the names of the animals or knew what Adam would call them beforehand? It would appear that God gave Adam the choice to name the animals whatever he desired. Adam was allowed to exercise his free will. If God gave Adam the names of the animals there would have been no need for Him to see what Adam would come up with as names for the animals.

"And he said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?" Genesis 3:11

If God is directing every facet of our lives, wouldn't He have known how Adam and Eve found out they were naked and if they had eaten the forbidden fruit? Besides, if man does not have free will, then God is the author of sin and confusion. He tells Adam and Eve not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and then makes them eat from it. That doesn't make sense to me at all.

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— " Ephesians 2:8

How can salvation be by grace, through faith, if God doesn't give us the choice to respond to His offer? Faith is our response to the truth presented to us. Yet, if we don't have free will, and if God picks and chooses who is saved and who is not, there is no salvation to have faith in. It is forced upon a believer whether they want it or not. Maybe we should be called "acceptors," rather than believers, since we have no choice, but to accept the salvation forced upon us.

From the Goo, to the Zoo, to You

Unfortunately, the belief in evolution has taken over the world. In many ways, it has become the religion of the lost and, especially, those who don't believe in God at all. What is even worse is that many Christians have accepted evolution as if it is perfectly compatible with the Bible. They don't realize that what they are doing is giving credibility to a belief that destroys the scriptures and, ultimately, the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

"And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food." And it was so." Genesis 1:30

Since evolution teaches that nature was red in tooth and claw, meaning there was violence, death and bloodshed before the Fall, how is it that God gave the animals plants to eat instead of each other? Christians must remember that first sin entered the world and death through sin. When God made His creation, He said it was good. I don't think He would have said that if you have death, sickness and decay infesting the world.

"Altogether, Adam lived 930 years, and then he died." Genesis 5:5

If Adam was born on Day 6, lived through Day 7, of creation week, how could he had live to only 930 years of age if the Days of creation were anything other than 24 hour periods? In order for evolution to work, it must have time. That is why you have ever increasing ages of the earth and universe. Presently, the earth is supposed to be about 4.5 billions years old! Without time, the claims evolution makes such as man evolving from apes and ultimately from some sort of primordial soup could not be made. Evolutionists always try and turn the Days of creation into millions of years or more in a desperate attempt to undermine the Bible. However, if the Days of Creation were millions, billions or just thousands of years, then there is no way Adam could have lived less than 1000 years. It doesn't fit!

"Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned—" Romans 5:12

How could Jesus have died to take away the sins of the world if death was in the world before the Fall? Before God could restore His life, lost in Adam, to those who accept His Jesus Christ by faith, He had to deal with the sin that caused that life to leave in the first place. Therefore, without Adam's sin bringing death into the world, the death of Christ to pay the price for that sin is nullified. In other words, the Gospel is destroyed.

No Rest for the Weary

A legalist will never admit that they are, in fact, a legalist. Yet, they promote and or adhere to rules, lists, laws or traditions all designed to determine what is good, what is evil and trying to live within those tenants. The word for it is religion. Your average Christian will say that the goal of the Christian life is to stop sinning. While a believer should experience a decrease in the amount of sin in their lives, the Christian life is about trusting the Lord. We don't live by laws designed to modify our behavior from the outside. A Christian lives by trusting the indwelling Holy Spirit to change them from within by leading them into truth.

"Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect." Matthew 5:48

How does a Christian, who is in a fallen, sinful body, that will not inherit the Kingdom of God, ever expect to be as perfect as God? Now, your average Christian will not come right out and say they are trying to be like God, but they say things that, effectively, say the same thing. "I am trying to be more Christlike in my walk, " they'll say. Well, isn't Jesus God? Of course He is, and if we could be like Him, there would have no need for Him to come. A Christian needs to realize that we are perfect in God's eyes through our faith in Christ (Hebrews 10:14). The Sermon on the Mount, where this verse was taken from, was not about Jesus encouring us to be as perfect as God the Father, He was trying to bury us under the impossible standards of the Law so we would turn to Him by faith.

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9

If there is no forgiveness without the shedding of blood, how does confessing our sins achieve forgiveness? The short answer is that confessing our sins doesn't grant us more forgiveness. First of all, Jesus took away all our sins at the cross. Second of all, God no longer requires any sacrifice for sin. And thirdly, what consitutes a legitimate confession anyway? You see, that is where religion and legalism get their hooks in you. We sin constantly. Therefore, we feel we must do something to get forgiven. Thus, you can pick whatever sacrifice you wan to get forgiven. Confession booth, altar call, short accounts and many more. A Christian needs to realize that they are forgiven already and learn to trust the Lord to teach them to say no to ungodliness as they walk in thankfulness.

"Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself." James 2:17

What are the works that show us our faith is not dead? This passage can easily be spun to include any religious activity created by any religion out there. It ends up with you having to decide which laws you want to live by in order to prove your faith is not dead. But, I realized that the fruit of the Spirit is, just that, the fruit of the Spirit. It is not my fruit. I only bear the fruit produced in me by the Vine, Jesus Christ. Remember, His yoke is light and we are called into the Sabbath rest. The Christian life is lived by Jesus Christ for us, not by us for Him.

Therefore, test the Spirits by asking questions. This can help avoid conflict, you could also learn something and you might even get a person to realize if their claim is biblical or not. As they talk there answer either comes together or falls apart. Topics like free will, evolution and legalism need to be discussed thoroughly despite the emotion that may accompany the discussions. But, just remember. if what you believe is of God, it will stand and God will do the convincing. If what you believe is not of God, be willing to be tought and not be found fighting against God.