Goal Planning or Presumption?

Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit - yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this and that."

                                                                                                                                       -James 4:13-15

I believe it is a fair supposition that most people in the world do not heed the above admonition. Why? Because they presume on their lives - that they are going to be around to fulfill all their dreams and desires. Please do not get me wrong, I realize everyone is not arrogant when it comes to planning their lives for the future and how they desire for it to go, but I am talking about those that believe that just because they "spoke positivity into the universe" that the universe will return that "positivity" back to them. There is no such thing. Others refer to this as good and bad karma; a brainchild of Hindus and Buddhists. 

Anything anybody does whether they realize it or not is 1) a gift from God or 2) an allowance by God. Anything that is good is a gift from above (James 1:17). God provides good gifts to all despite our sinfulness.

So, back to the idea of goals. Goals are good because it allows us to challenge ourselves so we can work hard to meet certain benchmarks we have set for ourselves. It is wise to plan for the future even though we do not know what the future holds. For me personally, the best type of goals are short term goals not long term. The writer James is warning all against arrogance and presumption on our lives because we do not know what the day will bring. That is why he said we should say, "If the Lord wills we will do this or that."  The opposite of that is arrogance which is evil.

Where do you see yourself in five years?

That question irritates me. Why? Because I do not know what is going to happen an hour from now let alone five years! To me, this is boasting even if it is not with malicious intent. God says this type of boasting is evil. So, how would one answer it? I would answer it this way, "Lord willing If I am fortunate to still be around, hopefully, I will be doing..."

For me, that would be the best reply - it submits our wills to the will of the Father. To ignore God in what we do is once again is presumptuous and evil.

For those of you that believe you can of your own corrupt will plan your life are in for a divine reckoning from God. While it is never wrong to plan ahead, it is indeed evil to do so ignoring the Lord in the process. We are not the ones that cause the night and day to come, so who are we to determine how long we are going to be here? If the Lord will we will do this or that.

The sovereignty of God and the sovereignty of Man - A second look.

This subject will always be full of tension. Unfortunately, the tension is usually negative. Why? Because of man's distorted worldview of both matters. That is why I want to analyze it again. You may recall that I wrote an article entitled, "The will of God vs. the will of Man" some time ago. This will be an addendum to that article. This matter is so crucial to the nature of God and man that it deserves more treatment. My goal is to get you closer to the nature of God and the nature of man through this article - to provide Biblical insight so the tension we feel can become a positive instead of a negative. 

Is that possible? Can tension become positive? With clear Biblical explanation, I believe it can.

So, let us start with man since that is who we are. 

God at the beginning of time created man and gave him dominion over everything He created. Man had the absolute power to do anything he wanted within the confines of God's will. In other words. man was the sovereign of the earth. A sovereign is one who has absolute rule, total control. Where man tragically fell was when his sovereignty clashed with Almighty God's authority. We must remember man's rule has limits - meaning we cannot do anything we want without penalty. Our problem is that we do not want limitations. We do not like law and order. Because man is a usurper, he was kicked out of the Garden of Eden. Adam wanted to be like God, in every way. That is the reason he took the devil's lying words over God's and ate the forbidden fruit (Genesis 3:6). The reality was Adam and Eve were already like God. I am not saying they were God or little gods, but they were like God in this sense: They had intelligence; they had a moral compass; they had emotions; they had the ability to make choices and reason; they had the gift of communication and relationship. These are some of the things that made them God-like.  

The scripture said, "let us make man in our image after our likeness (Genesis 1:26). So when we see and relate to one another, we are looking at the made-image of God. Here is our problem: because of sin, God's image - that is mankind is ruined and depraved. Man no longer has the perfect beauty and innocence  he once had. That is why there is an ongoing war between God's will and man's will -  God's rule versus man's rule. Man has forgotten that the earth is the Lord's and the fullness of it (Psalm 24:1). God left man as the manager of His world.  We see that has turned out tragically. 

Now, let us look at the sovereignty of God.

As I have mentioned in the past, God's rule is autonomous - meaning His rule is absolute, no limits. God can do whatever He wants to do. Psalm 115:3 says, "our God is in the heavens. He does whatever He pleases." When God created the heavens and earth, He did not ask for permission from anyone - no one was here! When He decided to create man, He did not need anyone's consent. God always fulfills His own will without apology. Unlike us, God has no authority He is accountable to. God is judgment proof - no one can ever successfully accuse God of evil. 

All the things that God is, man covets in an evil way: that complete dominion and total worship. And because he can never obtain "god-hood", he will forever be in conflict with his Maker, losing every time. 

So, how is the tension resolved between God and man? It starts with correctly recognizing the roles of each which I have explained above. See God is perfect so He does not have to adjust to us - we must submit to His Lordship. We are the offenders in the relationship so it is incumbent upon man to repent and humbly bow before the Lord of all the universe.

When one views the relationship of both the right way, then the tension dynamic is positive - Man understands his role, and he understands God's role. While we can never understand God fully, we can praise Him and trust that He is in control of the circumstances in our lives.

Concluding, our sovereignty is a gift and a trust God has granted. Since time began, man has continually abused that trust. We see that in our government and police forces. Since most men do not fear God, sin has run wild - it is the sovereign the world happily serves. This is an affront to God, and for His holiness' sake He must judge it. Like the devil said in Isaiah 14:14, "I will be like the Most High", man in his heart utters the same blasphemy to his own doom. 

The love God hates

”Love not the world neither the things that are in the world. Anyone that loves the world the love of the Father is not him.” 

                                                                                                                                     

                                                                                             - 2 John 2:15

As believers, it is absolutely imperative that we think as much like God as possible. In order for us to do that, we must know God’s word. As His children, it has to be our lifelong pursuit - the practical pursuit of holiness. Only then will we have the knowledge and awareness to conduct ourselves right in a world gone wrong. 

John commands us not to love the world. What does that mean? Does it mean we hate this current life? That we hate the planet and this creation? Are we to hate people? No. Rather we do not love this evil world system. As a matter of fact, the Bible says that to be friends with the world makes one an enemy of God (James 4:4). 

A terrible position for one to be in.

So, we all have to ask ourselves this question, do we want to be a friend of God or an enemy? Tragically there are many in this world who believe God is their friend when He is, in fact, their enemy.

We cannot be conformed to this world but we must be transformed the Bible tells us by the renewing of our minds so that we can prove what is good, acceptable and perfect will of God (Romans 12:2).  What it boils down to is that we have to get rid of the sin in our lives that is weighing us down like heavy baggage.

Sin is a master deceiver in that it tricks people (if they allow it) into thinking that what they are doing is not bad, but actually virtuous. Really? Absolutely. How do I know? Well, let's take homosexuality for example. There is now at least one commercial where a young girl is crying with joy that she is gay. Now, in the world's eyes that is a reason for celebration, but in the eyes of God that is reason for condemnation. Homosexuality is sin. It is part of this evil worldly system that He hates. People that celebrate the evil in this world loves the world's system. So guess what? You have made yourself an enemy of God. Only a lunatic wants to be an enemy of God Almighty!

In Isaiah 5:20 we read these words, "Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter."

And why are thoughts of the world totally upside down?

Jesus Christ speaking to Nicodemus declared these words, "And this is the judgment: light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil" (John 3:19).

This is why Jesus had to come, to bring the light of the gospel of truth so that He could expose the darkness of evil men's hearts, reveal to all their true sinful nature. Give them the ability to repent and believe the gospel truth and be saved.

So we all need to examine ourselves (2 Corinthians 13:5). Are we truly in the faith, or are we deceived? Do we love the world's system of evil? Because if we do, the love of the Father is not in us. Are we living just for the now, or are we laying up treasures in heaven (Matthew 6:19-21)? Hopefully, this article is a good litmus test for all of us to see where our affections lie.

Bottom line, we are NOT to love this world's system, but rather we should have compassion for it, pray for it, and share the truth of the gospel with it.

God's Steadfast Love

Podcast originally recorded April 13th, 2018


https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wpu8Jz0DfFacDTk5iSPaut28gGT3UElV/view?usp=sharing

The unfairness of God

The word unfair is an adjective. It means: not based on or behaving according to the principles of equality and justice.  Also means to be unkind, inconsiderate, or unreasonable. I would add that being disrespectful is also unfair - we can not expect to receive respect if we are unwilling to give it. 

The writer would be fair in saying many in this world believe God is unfair in His dealings with man.

Why is that so? Because in man's perception, when things go wrong in our lives or in the lives of others that we know and love, and even sometimes those we do not know, we make a judgment. In our minds, that person or that group of people did not deserve to have their house burn down. Or for the young child to die of cancer who never harmed anyone, or that family to end up homeless on the street - that honest hardworking man to lose his job, etc. 

So based on the definitions I mentioned above, is God, any one of those things: unkind, inconsiderate, unreasonable? For anyone to even hint of God being any of these is actually unfair, inconsiderate and most disrespectful. 

It is utter foolishness and irreverent to charge God with any wrongdoing. What one is saying is that God is no better than any sinner walking this earth. Why else would sinful man have the audacity to put God in a sinful tribunal and levy charges of injustice against Him. 

Man's view of God is too low at best, and non-existent at worst. What man has to remember is God is NEVER accountable to us! Rather, we are accountable to Him. Romans 9:20 says, "But who are you O man to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to the molder why have you made me like this?"

This is the problem with all of mankind: We do not understand the holiness of God, nor do we fully understand the depth of the wickedness of man. They are eternally mutually exclusive. What all men need to do is for the rest of our natural lives is to study both subjects in depth to at least get an inkling of both to an understandable degree. Once a person does that, then they are on the path to understanding the dynamics of the utter holiness of our Creator versus the utter depravity and the hopelessness of man. 

The writer also understands that a sinful man will never do that without divine intervention. Man is too proud to humble himself and admit he is a wretched sinner headed for hell.

You see, we all know that we are not perfect - we all do wrong. The problem is man sees himself as good as well which is a universal misdiagnosis. Because we do not see our wrong as sinful and an affront to God, we minimize it. For the natural man, our wrong does not fit the punishment God is giving us - God is too harsh. Jesus told the rich young ruler, no one is good but God alone (Matt 19:17; Luke18:19).  David said in Psalm 51:5, "Behold I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me." 

This is what that means. At the moment of conception, God sees the embryo as a living person. As a living person although not fully developed is a sinner. Why and how? The why is due to the fact we have a sin nature. The how is because of original sin. Scholars say original sin is not the first act of sin, but rather the result of the first act of sin by Adam and Eve. When they sinned they inherited a sin nature which has been passed down to each of their descendants right up to today. 

Man is a sinner not because he sins, but because of his nature - that is why we sin. In other words, man did not sin (with the exception of Adam and Eve), to become a sinner, rather man sins because he is a sinner. I hope the explanations are clear.

Due to the universal curse of sin, all of us will die for the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). That is an appointment none of us can escape (Hebrews 9:27). What bothers us I believe the most is we have no control over when and how we will die. That is a sovereign decision determined by God. What is our responsibility then? Repent of your sins and believe the gospel so that you can be saved. That way you will be adopted into the family of God and escape His wrath and enter into His eternal rest. 

So, is God unfair? No. Man's evil has blinded his perception so that instead of acknowledging his sin, he wants to shift the blame for this world's evil on the one he hates, God Almighty.  Not realizing that by accusing God of unfairness he is being unfair himself toward God. The universal curse of sin in the world is an unforgiving global judge on us all. Guess what? It's our fault. What would be unjust of God is if He never punished evil doers - God would be unfair unto Himself.

Did Jesus die for the sins of those who die in unbelief?

This is a most critical question. If Jesus died for the sins of those who die in unbelief, then Jesus' death for them was ineffective. Why? Because in the final analysis to die in unbelief is to perish, forever separated from God. If Jesus died for your sins, that means he paid your sin debt on the cross - He was punished for your sins. That means your sins can never be counted against you, ever! That is wonderful news.

The common belief is Jesus died for the sins of the whole world, without exception ( I John 2:2). Even those who go to hell. I have mentioned this before, what good is an atonement that does not save the sinner? It is only a potential or virtual atonement where the person is potentially savable if he or she has the willingness to believe.

God is not going to leave it up to us to determine if His plan of salvation is effective or not. In other words, He did not send Jesus to the earth to die the most horrible and tragic death ever and leave the final decision to man to cast the deciding vote - that is say yes to the call of gospel and actualize salvation. God is the one who ultimately determines who is saved and who is not. 

Those who God chose before the world was created according to Ephesians 1:4 are the ones who will be given the willingness by God to believe and be saved once they hear the gospel message.

Jesus did not die (in the same way or salvifically) for the sins of those who die in unbelief. A person who dies in unbelief did not have any of their sins forgiven. How do I know that? If you say that all their sins were forgiven except unbelief, then one has to admit that Jesus did not die for all sin. One would also have to say that unbelief is not a sin which is untrue. Why would Jesus leave the sin of unbelief out?  

Answer? He did not. For those who are His sheep, He died for every one of their sins including the sin of unbelief. This frees those whom God chose to believe. God gives them the right to believe in the name of Jesus (John 1:12-13). 

It is important to realize that not a drop of Jesus' blood was spilled in vain. In other words, Jesus did not die and shed His precious blood for those who would never believe. Jesus said this to the Pharisees, "The reason you do not believe in Me because you are not my sheep" (John 10:26).  Translation, those who do not believe in the Son do not belong to Him. When Jesus died it was a one hundred percent effective atonement. He did not just die for people and hoped they would believe. He literally saved His people from their sins (Matthew 1:21)

Who secures our Salvation?

Another way to phrase the title question is The preservation of the Saints. It should be obvious that God secures our salvation. Since that is true, then why do so many people believe and teach that man has to secure it? 

I have said this before in previous articles, but it bears repeating if God leaves it up to us to secure the salvation that he provided to us as a gift, then He might as well have thrown it in the trash. Why such harsh language? Because man cannot secure what God has already secured. The moment man was adopted into the family of God, that was a permanent adoption. We do not get in, and then get out when we choose to. 

Why?

Remember the Bible says we (the elect), were chosen before the foundation of the world (Ephesian 1:4). Meaning that God pre-determined that some of fallen mankind would be recipients of His saving grace. Why? Because it pleased the Lord to do so (Ephesians 1:5).  Those that know the wonders of God's grace in saving them and keeping them saved would not dare desire to leave the security of God's loving arms. It just doesn't make sense to believe that man's sin is greater than God's grace (Romans 5:20).

The absurdity of teaching the loss of salvation 

Think about it for a moment what benefit is there in believing and teaching that God's salvation can be lost or given up? There is nowhere in scripture that teaches this heresy.  I want to point out some problems this presents for believers who are young in the faith or struggling with their walk with Christ:

1. It destroys the grounds of a person's assurance

If someone believes that every time they sin that God is going to revoke His love toward them and kick them out of the kingdom, then they cannot live the Christian life with any confidence. They are in constant looking-over-their-shoulder-mode. In other words, they are in perpetual fear of losing what God promised them. It is important that we have a fear and awe of God in that we honor and worship Him. God does not want us to have a paralyzing fear of Him though. That paralyzing fear should be reserved for non-believers. 

2. Lack of assurance produces a joyless experience

This amounts to legalism. This is a false man-made religion. A Christianity that requires works to produce joy and appease God is not Biblical Christianity. This is modern day Pharisaism. True salvation is never based on works. How many works would it require to appease God? There aren't enough. That means that works can never be the means required to have joy in Christ. Remember, we do not perform good works to get saved, we perform good works because we are saved (Ephesians 2:10). 

3. Teaching the loss of salvation makes God out to be a liar

This is the most offensive indictment. Why? Because it assaults the Lord's holy and perfect character. The scripture tells us, "Let God be true and every man a liar" (Romans 3:4). God is not capricious - meaning that just because we sin after we are saved, God decides to revoke our salvation and decides that we are hell bound after He promised to save us. Remember, those of us who are God's children are punished when we sin (Hebrews 12:5-11). Any loving parent will discipline their wayward children to make sure they get back in line and on the right track. A good parent, of course, will never disown their children and neither will our Heavenly Father disown us. Remember what the writer of Hebrews said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you" (Hebrews 13:5b). 

To those of you who doubt your salvation you need to examine yourselves to see if you are truly in the faith (II Corinthians 13:5). You need to get back to the basics - immerse yourself in the Word. Trust the Word of God and not your feelings about it. What God said in His Word is always true no matter what our emotions are screaming at us. If you are in a Church where the preacher believes that you can lose or give up your salvation, then leave that Church. Pray earnestly that God will lead you to a Bible teaching Church. That is something that you can guarantee God will do for it honors Him.

Finally, I'll add this, salvation is of the Lord (Jonah 2:9). It is God's gift from heaven to man. We have to remember the pains and lengths the Father went through to deliver this precious gift to us. Before time began, the Triune Godhead devised the plan on how mankind would be saved from their sins.  The Father would send His only begotten Son the Lord Jesus Christ to come to earth as a man to die for those whom the Father identified to Him to save - these are His sheep. When Jesus was crucified according to the Father's will (Acts 2:23), and raised Him from the dead, all those who put their trust in Christ receive eternal life in time and space. Jesus gave us the Holy Spirit to dwell within our temples (our bodies). It is an invisible reality, but we know the Spirit is there because those of us who are saved are not the same. It is impossible for one to remain the same because we are new creations in Christ (II Corinthians 5:17). We can not serve sin anymore for we have been delivered from its mastery. This is where a lot of Christians miss it. Many believe they can continue to live the unholy lifestyle they lived even after professing Christ. Why would you want to frustrate God's grace like that? Remember what Paul said in Romans 6:1, "What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?" 

Answer? We can't! 

The Holy Spirit abides within the believer so we MUST serve God and hate our sin. We can not be comfortable with it anymore. We must struggle and fight against temptation that often leads to sin. 

If you're truly saved you will be convicted if you continue in sin. Be glad you feel guilt and shame when you sin. That is the check and balance system (i.e. the Holy Spirit) to let us know we can humble ourselves and repent.

Salvation is eternal. It can never be lost.