If
someone claims to have a message from God, on basis would
God expect us to believe such a person? Mohammed claims to
have had a message from God, why not believe him? Is
simply the claim that one has a message from God
sufficient? What is proposed in the Bible is
counter-culture with regards to this issue. There's an
expression, "Let's raise s flag and see if someone
salutes it!" In fact many will pledge allegiance to
ideas, whether they be religious ideas or otherwise, with
little more basis than that. Many pledge allegiance to
religious ideas based upon their culture, what their
parents believed, how they were raised and such. In
contrast the Bible gives reasons to believe which have
nothing to do with such things. It gives reasons like
those given in a court of law; Forensic evidence upon
which one can base their faith. We'll see that Biblical
faith is not blind faith. It doesn't cater to the gullible
nor to the indoctrinated, but rather to the reasonable
mind. The message in the Bible is about what is actually,
factually true and requires us to think about it and to
consider the implications.
Now how do we know that Jesus is a teacher who has come
from God? Nicodemus tells us the answer in John 3:2.
He said to Jesus, "Rabbi, we know
you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one
could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God
were not with him." Likewise Jesus himself said,
"Do not believe me unless I do what
my Father does. But if I do it, even though you do not
believe me, believe the miracles, that you may know and
understand that the Father is in me, and I in the
Father." John 10:37,38 Jesus tells us
not to believe someone who claims to speak for God, but
has no miracles to show for it. Mohammed is disqualified
as a prophet. Miracles are necessary to affirm such a
person is speaking for God, though not alone sufficient.
Peter said, "Men of Israel,
listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited
by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God
did among you through him, as you yourselves know." Acts
2:22 John records some of Jesus' miracles in his
gospel saying, "Jesus did many other
miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which
are not recorded in this book. But these are written
that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son
of God, and that by believing you may have life in his
name." John 20:30,31
The
eyewitness testimony of the miracles of Christ recorded
in gospels are presented as the rational basis for faith
in Christ. The miracles of Christ including his
resurrection from the dead are almost always included in
the examples we find of the gospel being preached
throughout the New Testament. Much of the New "Testament"
is devoted to eyewitness testimonies of Jesus' miracles
and of his resurrection from the dead which validate his
message.
Jesus'
Credentials
As mentioned
previously, Peter spoke of miracles in his first sermon as
Jesus' credentials. Jesus' miracles are his credentials.
We need to present Jesus' credentials when we present the
gospel of Christ, so that people have a rational basis for
believing in him. In his second sermon in Acts chapter 3,
having healed a lame man, Peter says among other things, "You killed the author of life, but God
raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of
this." Acts 3:15 Jesus' resurrection from
the dead provides forensic evidence validating his claims.
And it was this claim that got them into trouble. For just
after this it says, "As they spoke
to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple
and the Sadducees came to them, being upset
because they taught the people and proclaimed in Jesus
the resurrection from the dead." Acts 4:1,2
So Peter preaches his third sermon and says among other
things, "know this, you and all the
people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of
Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised
from the dead, that this man stands before you
healed." Acts 4:10 The basis for faith
was miracles. Indeed even their enemies admitted, "Everybody living in Jerusalem knows
they have done an outstanding miracle, and we cannot
deny it." Acts 4:16 People believed on
the basis of miracles, and for those who didn't believe,
it was not due to the lack of such evidence.
And it is appropriate to demand such evidence, such
credentials, from those who claim to speak for God. When the Jews demanded of him, "What
miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority
to do all this?" Jesus answered them, "Destroy this
temple, and I will raise it again in three days." John
2:18,19 Jesus gave them the necessary evidence.
Shouldn't we?
And again Peter preaches in Acts 10, this time to a
Gentile and among other things says, you know "how God anointed Jesus of
Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went
around doing good and healing all who were under the
power of the devil, because God was with him.We are
witnesses of everything he did in the country of the
Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on
a tree, but God raised him from the dead on the third
day and caused him to be seen." Acts 10:38-40
And these things were apparently common knowledge, even to
Gentiles. These things were not done in secret.
Did people come to faith in Christ back then on the same
basis as many do today? Is the resurrection of Christ and
the miracles he did included in gospel presentations
today, or if so are they utilized in the same sense as
when the gospel is preached in the New Testament?
A Proven
Gospel
What of Paul's
presentation of the gospel? In Acts 13 in Pisidian Antioch
on Paul's first missionary journey to Asia Minor Paul
preaches in a Synagogue and says among other things, "Brothers, children of Abraham, and you
God-fearing Gentiles, it is to us that this message of
salvation has been sent. The people of Jerusalem and
their rulers did not recognize Jesus, yet in condemning
him they fulfilled the words of the prophets that are
read every Sabbath. Though they found no proper ground
for a death sentence, they asked Pilate to have him
executed. When they had carried out all that was written
about him, they took him down from the tree and laid him
in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead, and for
many days he was seen by those who had traveled with
him from Galilee to Jerusalem. They are now his
witnesses to our people." Acts 13:26-31 And later in preaching to the
Athenians he says among other things that "he has set a day when he will judge the
world with justice by the man he has appointed. He
has given proof of this to all men by raising him
from the dead." Acts 17:31 Shouldn't we
give proof? And what was of first importance to Paul in
his presentation of the gospel? He says to the
Corinthinans, "Now, brothers, I
want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you,
which you received and on which you have taken your
stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly
to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have
believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you
as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins
according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he
was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve.
After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the
brothers at the same time, most of whom are still
living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared
to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he
appeared to me also" 1Cor 15:1-8
How to be certain of the gospel
Luke mentions
proofs of Jesus' credentials, not only in his gospel but
in the book of Acts. "After his
suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many
convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them
over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom
of God." Acts 1:3 And both Acts and the
gospel of Luke were letters written to a man called
"Theophilus". Why? Luke tell us why at the beginning of
his gospel saying, "Many have
undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have
been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down
to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and
servants of the word. Therefore, since I myself have
carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it
seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for
you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know
the certainty of the things you have been taught."
Luke 1:1-4 It was to impart a sense of
certainty.
The reason why faith comes from hearing the message is
because the message itself provides forensic evidence,
evidence in the form of eyewitness testimony of miracles,
evidence which gives a sure foundation for faith, evidence
of validating Jesus' testimony, evidence constituting
Jesus' credentials.
"Believe me when I say that I am in the
Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the
evidence of the miracles themselves." John 14:11
"if you confess with your mouth,
"Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God
raised him from the dead, you will be saved." Rom
10:9
Miracles
Alone Not Sufficient
However, as I
mentioned, while miracles are necessary to establish the
credentials of a prophet, they of themselves are not
sufficient. And this in fact was the basis for why the
religious elite rejected Jesus despite being well aware of
his miracles. For it is written in the Law, "If there arises among you a prophet or
a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a
wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of
which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other
gods’ —which you have not known—‘and let us serve them,’
you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or
that dreamer of dreams, for the LORD your God is testing
you to know whether you love the LORD your God with all
your heart and with all your soul." Deut
13:1-3 Jesus' enemies reckoned him a false prophet
not due to the lack of evidence of a miraculous nature,
but because they viewed his teachings as heresy.
Conversely even the anti-Christ performs what appear to be
miracles. "The coming of the lawless
one will be in accordance with the work of Satan
displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs
and wonders, and in every sort of evil that
deceives those who are perishing." 2Th 2:9,10
So miracles are necessary, but secondly what is also
necessary is for the prophet's teachings to be consistent
with what God had already said through prophets prior to
him. (Which is yet another reason to conclude Mohammed,
among others, is a false prophet)
However today, as we can read through the whole Bible free
from the prejudices which blinded the religious elite of
Jesus' day, while it's easy enough to view Christ's
teachings as being consistent with the rest of the Bible,
does the miraculous nature of Jesus credentials hold the
same weight today? Though the evidence is old, it appears
we are to treat it as not any less valid. In fact Jesus
said to his disciples, "Because you
have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who
have not seen and yet have believed." John
20:29 We believe not because we see, but because we
hear. The written eyewitness testimony of the apostles is
apparently sufficient such that on the judgement day
people cannot excuse themselves claiming that it was not
sufficient. This means also that to become a Christian a
person must not only believe in Christ, but even prior to
believing in Christ, they have to believe the apostles.
They have to come to the conviction that the gospel
accounts are reliable historical accounts.
Rational
Faith versus Wishful Thinking
If one is
expected to come to faith as the Bible appears to
indicate, through a forensic analysis of the evidence,
reasonable doubt should come into play. Faith in Christ is
not to be a presumptuous thing, like wishful thinking. It
is reasonable in the process of considering such claims,
to think through how difficult it would have been to
fabricate such accounts. As in any court of law one
neither presumes an eyewitness claim to be true on the
basis of the claim itself, nor does one simply discard it
outright. But I think if one were to subject the
eyewitness claims contained in the Bible to such scrutiny
as one would in determining the factual nature of any
testimony in a court of law, one would conclude that it is
beyond reasonable doubt that these were in fact true. Few
actually need help in thinking these things through.
Reasonable people who read the accounts will come to see
that they are convincingly historical. While for skeptics,
nothing is ever sufficient because they're blinded by the
implications of what Jesus said.
But unbelief is not limited to such skeptics. For why
don't Christians include the testimony of Jesus's miracles
and of his resurrection from the dead in their
presentation of the gospel? It's one thing to present
God's plan. But making historical claims of miracles is a
different matter. Unbelievers may be entertained at your
presentation of God's plan. Oh what an interesting idea!
But if you claim that such ideas are validated by Jesus's
miracles and by his historic resurrection from the dead as
testified by eyewitnesses, they'll think you're just plain
nuts. Consider Paul's speech to the Athenian
intellectuals. They liked hearing about new ideas. "(All the Athenians and the foreigners
who lived there spent their time doing nothing but
talking about and listening to the latest ideas.)" Acts 17:21 So he began to
tell them the gospel. But when he said, "He has given proof of this to all men
by raising him from the dead." When they heard about the
resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered. Acts
17:31,32
And perhaps this is why many Christians, indeed even
preachers today, avoid including Jesus' miracles and his
resurrection in their presentation of the gospel. One
wonders if such people actually believe the accounts
themselves.
The
Lordship of Christ
Again it says, "If you confess with your mouth,
"Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that
God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." Rom
10:9 What does it mean by "Jesus is Lord"? What are
the implications? And what constitutes confession?
To be saved one must accept Jesus as more than just a
prophet. No prophet refers to themselves as Lord. One will
not be saved by accepting Jesus merely as a good teacher
or prophet. One must accept him as Lord. There are two
aspects of Jesus being Lord, and I would argue that one
follows from the other. The first is that to
confess Jesus as Lord is to pledge our intention to
obey him. Jesus said, "Why
do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?"
Luke 6:46 So what is Jesus saying here
about the implications of calling him Lord? And likewise
he says, "Not everyone who says to
me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but
only he who does the will of my Father who is in
heaven." Mt 7:21 There's an obedience
that comes from faith. Paul writes,
"Through him and for his name’s sake, we received grace
and apostleship to call people from among all the
Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith."
Rom 1:5 And "He will punish
those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel
of our Lord Jesus." 2Th 1:8 And
Peter writes, "For it is time for
judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it
begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who
do not obey the gospel of God?" 1Pe 4:17 So
believing in Christ involves obedience to him, which is
why we call him "Lord".
However there is a subtle difference between pledging our
allegiance to Christ as Lord and our intention to reform
our lives. For a person, entrenched in habitual sin, may
desire escape from the corruption the world has had on
them, and may reform their lives to a degree. But while
those who pledge to follow Christ do likewise, the former
may not have the same attitude, viewing Christ only as a
savior not really as Lord. Peter writes of such people, "If they have escaped the corruption of
the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are
worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. It
would have been better for them not to have known the
way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to
turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed
on to them. Of them the proverbs are true: 'A dog
returns to its vomit,' and, 'A sow that is washed goes
back to her wallowing in the mud.'" 2Peter
2:20,21
Likewise there are those who have no intention of
repenting from sin, but view Jesus simply as a savior who
gives them a license to sin. Jude writes of them saying, "Certain men whose condemnation was
written about long ago have secretly slipped in among
you. They are godless men, who change the grace of
our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus
Christ our only Sovereign and Lord." Jude
1:4
Paul writes, "The acts of the
sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity
and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred,
discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition,
dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and
the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those
who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God."
Gal 5:19-21 And "of this
you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—
such a man is an idolater— has any inheritance in the
kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no one deceive you
with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath
comes on those who are disobedient."
Eph 5:5,6 For a person to be saved they must
pledge their intention to obey Jesus as Lord.
The Deity
of Christ
Jesus'
Deity: New Testament Propositions
Now a second
aspect of the Lordship of Christ is the very foundation of
the first. Jesus is to be obeyed as Lord because he is the
LORD. "Through him all things were
made; without him nothing was made that has been made."
John 1:3 For "In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and
the Word was God." John 1:1 Of Jesus it
says, "Jesus has been found worthy
of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a
house has greater honor than the house itself. For every
house is built by someone, but God is the builder
of everything." Heb 3:3,4
You see, "in the past God spoke to
our forefathers through the prophets at many times and
in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to
us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and
through whom he made the universe. The Son is the
radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of
his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word."
Heb 1:1-3 This same passage also goes on to
say of Jesus, "In the beginning, O
Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth, and
the heavens are the work of your hands." Heb
1:10
Jesus' Deity: Old Testament References
In fact consider
the context of the verse we've been looking at Romans
10:9 "That if you confess
with your mouth, 'Jesus is LORD,'
and believe in your heart that God raised him from the
dead, you will be saved." Just a couple of verses
later he says, "For there is no difference between Jew
and Gentile-- the same LORD is LORD of
all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, 'Everyone
who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved.'"
Romans 10:12,13 That
phrase, which Peter also uses in Acts 2:21 in
preaching the gospel, comes from the prophet Joel.
Consider Joel 2:27-32 "Then
you will know that I am in Israel, that I am the
LORD your God, and that there is no other;
never again will my people be shamed. 'And afterward, I
will pour out my Spirit on all people ... And
everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be
saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there
will be deliverance, as the LORD has said, among the
survivors whom the LORD calls." In quoting
from this passage in Joel, Paul is saying the Jesus is the
LORD your God.
Likewise consider what John says of Jesus in John
12:40,41 First he quotes Isaiah 6:10 "He has blinded their eyes and
deadened their hearts, so they can neither see with
their eyes, nor understand with their hearts, nor
turn--and I would heal them." Then he says, "Isaiah
said this because he saw Jesus' glory and spoke
about him." What he's saying is that prior to
Isaiah 6:10 Isaiah saw Jesus' glory and spoke of him. Look
at Isaiah 6:10 and then go back from there. What do we
find? This is what Isaiah saw in Isaiah 6:1-3 In the year that King Uzziah died, I
saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted,
and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above
him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings
they covered their faces, with two they covered their
feet, and with two they were flying. And they were
calling to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the
LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his
glory." That was the LORD Jesus he saw and
spoke of. Jesus is the LORD Almighty according to the New
Testament.
Jesus' Deity: Analogies
Now granted that
Jesus is not God the Father. The two are as distinct as
one's body is from one's soul. "Do
not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill
the soul." Mt 10:28a One can suffer
death, the other cannot. And likewise one is
subordinate to the other - the body being subordinate to
the soul. And yet the body is considered essential as to
what constitutes the person, as is the soul.
Or Jesus is as distinct from the Father as the light that
comes from the sun is as distinct from the sun. And "He is the radiance of God’s glory and
the exact representation of his being" Heb
1:3 And Jesus said, "He who
has seen Me has seen the Father" John 14:9
For just as one refers to the light that comes from the
sun "the sun" and yet the light is not the sun, so we call
Jesus "God" though Jesus is not God the Father. For he is
like unto God's body - what can be manifest of God in
exactness. Nor is Jesus the Holy Spirit. The two are
distinct as one's body from one's spirit. Even after his
resurrection Jesus said, "Behold My
hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and
see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you
see I have." Luke 24:39
Nonetheless, just as a person has a spirit, soul and body,
so does God. "May your whole spirit,
soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our
Lord Jesus Christ." 1Th 5:23b
Jesus' Deity: Evidence from the Greek
More evidence is
found in examining verses in the orginal language that
contain phrases like "our Lord
Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father
", that is "A and B" and then followed by a verb. One
difference between Greek and English is that in Greek, the
person and number of the verbs are specified by the greek
endings. So if I say "He went to the store", in greek I'd
have to use a singular ending for "went". But if I said
"They went to the store", I'd have to use a plural ending.
Whereas in English I use the same word "went". Thus when
we read the Bible in English, there are some details
clearly showing in the Greek which we can't see in
English. Now consider this verse from 2Thess 2:16,17
"Now may our Lord Jesus Christ
Himself, and our God and Father, (who has
loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good
hope by grace,) comfort your hearts and establish
you in every good word and work."
In Greek would
you expect the word "comfort" to use the singular or
plural ending? Well since he's referring to person A AND
person B you would expect it to be plural. But it's
singular as is "establish"! For to Paul the apostle
"our Lord Jesus Christ Himself AND our God and Father" are
one person. Here is another example where this is
true:
1Thess
3:11 Now may our God
and Father Himself, and our Lord Jesus Christ,
direct (singular) our way to you.
Counter
examples:
1Tim
3:8 Now as Jannes and
Jambres resisted (plural) Moses, Rom
16:21 Timothy, my
fellow worker, and Lucius, Jason, and
Sosipater, my countrymen, greet
(plural) you.
Jesus'
Deity: Essential to the Gospel
Now getting back
to Rom 10:9 which says that it is necessary to
acknowledge that Jesus is Lord to be saved. Yet as
we have seen both from the context of that verse and from
other verses, its is apparently that by "Lord" it is
saying that Jesus is the LORD God. Must a person believe
in and acknowledge that Jesus is the LORD to be saved?
Yes, in order for a person to be saved they must accept
the diety of Christ. And it's also logically necessary in
order to understand the value of his blood. If a person
doesn't accept the diety of Christ then neither will they
really accept his atoning work on the cross. For even the
scriptures argue that if Jesus were merely a man his
sacrifice would not be of saving value. "No man can redeem the life of another
or give to God a ransom for him— the ransom for a
life is costly, no payment is ever enough" Ps
49:7,8 Thus you will find that those who reject the
deity of Christ also reject the value of his atoning work
on the cross.
The Essential Attributes of God
For a person to
be saved, they must first realize that they are lost. But
they can't realize that in the sense the Bible speaks of
it unless they first accept that God exists and that he
has certain attributes.
When Paul preached to the Athenians in Acts chapter 17
he first brought up these attributes of God.
- vs 24 God made the world and everthing in
it - this in contrast to their polytheistic
ideas. God's existence itself is self-evident as Paul
also wrote in Romans 1:20 "For since the creation of the world
God’s invisible qualities— his eternal power and
divine nature— have been clearly seen, being
understood from what has been made, so that men
are without excuse." People are without
excuse because God's existence is self-evident.
- vs 24 God is Lord of heaven and earth
- "Lord" means that he demands our obedience and
compliance and consequently we will be held
accountable for our actions.
- vs 24,25
God does not live in
man-made temples or in need of human assistance
- This in contrast to the Greek gods and such idols as
are contained in temples in need of human assistance.
And perhaps Catholics also need to know that God does
not live in ornate church buildings built by human
hands.
- vs 26 God is sovereign, involved in human
affairs - like when each individual would be
born and where they would live.
Paul's
elaboration on this point is very significant. vs
27 God did this so that
men would seek him and perhaps reach
out for him and find him. This is in
contrast to the fatalistic philosophies such as what
some Christians preach today in conformity to the
fatalistic aspects of Reformed Theology in which men
are viewed as incapable of seeking God, let alone
reaching out for Him, but rather are viewed as mere
puppets. Why is it that God had you born at such a
time and at such a place? It was so that you would
seek God and maybe reach out and find him. "Seek the LORD while he may be
found; call on him while he is near." Is
55:6 The significant point is that God wants
you to seek him. But if you seek God it doesn't
necessary mean that you will find him. "You will find Him if you seek
Him with all your heart and with all your soul."
Deut 4:29, but not necessarily
otherwise. Thus if we go back to Paul's
sermon, the word in the NIV used in Acts 17:27 is
"perhaps". In the NKJV more literally it's "in the
hope that". God in his sovereignty limits his
sovereignty on this point. (And who are those
Calvinists to say that God is not allowed to do
that?) God's sovereignty grants people free will to
seek after Him and to reach out for Him. Reach out
and you will find Him.
- vs 27 God is not far away - Realize
of course the sense in which Paul is speaking.
Afterall even Jesus addressed his Father as being in
heaven. But Paul's point is that unlike the Greek gods
who were more like glorified humans, they couldn't be
everywhere at the same time, whereas God is
omnipresent. Furthermore, yes God is transcendent in a
sense, but he is also knowable to the degree to which
he allows himself to be known. For God has given us
His Word so that we would know him.
- vs 27-29
God is personal -
that is God's nature is reflected more in human nature
than that in material objects - Paul alluding to
idols. This is of course somewhat an understatement in
that God's nature is much more than even super-human,
let alone human. But Paul was merely trying to show
them the folly of idolatry.
These are some
aspects of God which Paul found to be necessary to grasp,
but somewhat foreign to his Greek audience. These
attributes of God are likewise foreign to many today. But
they are necessary to grasp to be saved. Paul goes on to
propose another essential attribute of God, namely
God
is Lord God
Acts
17:30b-31a "Now he commands
all people everywhere to repent. For he has set a day
when he will judge the world with justice"
There's a difference between believing in God simply as a
Creator than believing in him as one who will judge us.
For there are many who believe in a Creator who places no
demands on us and to whom there is no accountability. The
Lord God as portrayed in the Bible is not simply the
Creator. A person cannot be saved if they only acknowledge
God as Creator. For what would they even have to be saved
from if that were the case? Such a person may only think
of salvation with regards the corrupting effect of sin,
but not consider the judicial guilt that sin incurs and
thus disqualify themselves from accepting the gospel.
God will Judge and God is Just
"You
have come to God, the judge of all men" Heb 12:23 And "everyone must die once, and after that
comes judgement" Heb 9:27 For a person to
realize that they are in need of salvation, it is
logically necessary for one to accept the idea that God
will hold them accountable for their actions. But unlike
the viewpoint of some Christians, God is not arbitrary or
whimsical in his judgement. "God is
just:" 2Th 1:6a And since God is just, he
will hold people acccountable only for those things over
which the person has control. For to do otherwise would be
unjust. As such this disqualifies some historically
popular heresies from a legitimate presentation of the
gospel. For example to say that God hold's people
accountable for Adam's sin presents God as unjust, and as
such is contrary to the gospel. Likewise to say that God
has made us in such a way that we have no choice but to
sin, again portrays God as unjust. For in these cases he
would be condemning those who had no control over what
they are being judged for.
Besides being contrary to the Bible, to present God as
unjust makes the atoning work of Christ irrelevant. For in
such a case Christ's death would not be appeasing God's
judicial nature, since in this case God would have no
judicial nature to appease. Like many concepts of God
today, God could just whimsically forgive sin without
require any compensation, which is contrary to the gospel.
The Bible says, "God presented
Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his
blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice,
because in his forbearance he had left the sins
committed beforehand unpunished— he did it to
demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to
be just and the one who justifies those who have
faith in Jesus." Rom 3:25,26 Otherwise
God would be unjust according to the Bible.
It is
an essential part of saving faith for a person to accept
the idea of God being just and as such acting
judiciously, and that we are to be held accountable to
him.
God's Wrath -
Hell
Eternal Suffering
is hell is clearly preached in the Bible, especially
by Jesus.
Luke 12:5 But
I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who,
after the killing of the body, has power to throw
you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him.
Mt 13:41,42 The
Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will
weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin
and all who do evil. They will throw them into the
fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and
gnashing of teeth.
Mt 18:34,35 In
anger his master turned him over to the jailers to
be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
"This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of
you unless you forgive your brother from your
heart."
Jude 1:7 In
a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the
surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual
immorality and perversion. They serve as an example
of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.
Despite the fact
that eternal suffering would seem contrary both the
God's judicial nature and his mercy and would seem
to portray God the Father as the God Father, Jesus
didn't shy away from portraying his Father in this
manner because first of all this is the way God
actually is. And secondly, from God's perspective,
this a just sentence. Now as for the eternal nature
of hell, or more precisely the lake of fire into
which hell transitions at the final judgement, God
sends people to hell to satisfy the demands of
justice in light of their many sins. They remain
there because they don't stop sinning, adding on to
their sentence indefinitely.
Rev
20:10 And the devil,
who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of
burning sulfur, where the beast and the false
prophet had been thrown. They will be
tormented day and night for ever and ever.
Rev 20:15 If anyone’s
name was not found written in the book of life,
he was thrown into the lake of fire.
Now there are
those who would say that it's ineffective preaching
hell. It turns people off. And so we hear little of
hell today. But this is not an issue of
effectiveness. This is an issue of what constitutes
the essential elements of the gospel. To remove the
wrath of God from the gospel is to preach a
different gospel. If people won't accept the idea
that God sends people to hell, if people can't
accept that such judgment is condoned by the Lord
Jesus Christ, then they have yet to believe the
gospel of Christ.
"Then
he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me,
you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared
for the devil and his angels." Mt 25:41
"But the cowardly, the
unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually
immoral, those who practice magic arts, the
idolaters and all liars— their place will be in
the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the
second death." Rev
21:8
People are Guilty
It
may not be necessary to belay this point as it is
rather self-evident to most who grasp the character of
God. In fact most people recognize that they fail to
live up to their own standards, let alone God's.
However this is where the Law is effective. The Law is
a necessary part of the gospel in this sense. "through the law we become
conscious of sin." Rom 3:20b In this
sense "the law was put in
charge to lead us to Christ that we might be
justified by faith." Gal 3:24 For
even if a person is aware that God exists and that God
will judge them and that God is just, they may not
feel they need to be saved if they have no conviction
of sin. The fact is, "all have
sinned and fall short of the glory of God" Rom 3:23 And the
gospel teaches us that when people sin, they incur
guilt. So when the gospel is preached, one of the
first points concerning salvation is to convict people
of sin. For this reason John the Baptist came
before Christ. He came preaching repentance from sin.
The angel described John's purpose quoting Malachi
4:6 'to turn the
hearts of the fathers to their children and
the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous-- to
make ready a people prepared for the Lord.'
This is how to prepare
people for the Lord - by convicting them of sin.
Make
no mistake about it, "The acts
of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality,
impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft;
hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish
ambition, dissensions, factions and envy;
drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I
did before, that those who live like
this will not inherit the kingdom of God."
Gal 5:19-21
But there are
also allegedly "good" people who feel they don't need to
be saved. If a person is indeed "good" he need not be
concerned. Jesus said, "It is not
the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have
not come to call the righteous, but sinners to
repentance." Luke
5:31,32 But then again there are many who deceive
themselves about their "goodness". Jesus spoke to such a
man in Luke 18 where A certain ruler asked him, "Good
teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" "Why
do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good—
except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not
commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not
give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’"
"All these I have kept since I was a boy," he said.
When Jesus heard this, he said to him, "You still lack
one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the
poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come,
follow me." When he heard this, he became very sad,
because he was a man of great wealth. Allegedly
"good" people need to be humiliated to show them they
are sinners so that they may see that they need to be
saved. It is for this reason Jesus speaks of the
hypocrisy of religious elite of his day in places like Matthew
chapter 23 so that they may be saved.
However God has so orchestrated the way to salvation as
to bar the proud from the kingdom of God. This is the
primary hinderance to being saved - one's pride. The
Lord says, "This is the one I
esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and
trembles at my word." Is 66:2 And as
we read how the proud are spoken to, both in the New
Testament by Jesus and his apostles and in the Old
through the prophets, little if any concession is made
to accomodate the proud. Consequently I would argue that
in our preaching of the gospel, we should make little
concession to accomodate people's pride. Entering
into salvation in an undignified manner is really the
only legitimate way to enter. Luke 18:17 "Assuredly, I say to you, whoever
does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child
will by no means enter it." One enters lowly in
fear of condemnation, shamefully placing the guilt of
their sin at the cross. This is no place for proud
dignitaries but for humble sinners in need of salvation
from the wrath of God in view of the guilt they have
incurred due to personal misbehavior. This is not a
place for those who blame their sin on someone else,
like Adam. The foot of the cross is for those who
have taken personal responsibility for their sins and
seek reconciliation with God in accordance with God's
plan for salvation revealed in the gospel.
God's Plan for Salvation
Preaching
God's plan for salvation is an essential part of the
message for people to be saved. However it tends to be
the only thing which is shared today by Evangelical
Christians, as if the audience were pre-churched. While
that may have been the case more in the past, today's
audience needs a more comprehensive presentation. In
fact even in the New Testament times you ask John to
share his gospel and he would go on for 21 chapters.
God's plan for salvation would seem to be very simple to
understand. But there are implications which may be
difficult to grasp for those who weren't brought up in a
Christian environment. As I had mentioned earlier Paul
summarized his gospel by saying, "that
Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
that he was buried, that he was raised on the third
day according to the Scriptures" 1Cor
15:3,4 He then goes on to mention eyewitness of
Christ's resurrection. The eyewitness accounts of Jesus'
miracles culminating in his resurrection from the dead
constitute the forensic proof validating the message.
And what is the message in a nutshell but that Christ
died for our sins.
What does it mean that Christ died for our
sins?
Very simply,
God's judicial nature demanded sin be penalized and as
such sin had to be paid for. It would be contrary to
God's nature to simply forgive sin without satisfying
His sense of justice. Even among human judicial systems
there is the common expression, "Justice must be
satisfied." Christ paid for the sins of the world on the
cross so as to allow God to forgive sin, having
satisfied the demands of justice. "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 3:14-16
God sent his Son on what may be classified in a military
sense as a suicide mission in order to save people. "Christ died for sins once for all,
the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to
God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by
the Spirit" 1Peter 3:18 For "All have sinned and fall short of the
glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace
through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God
presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through
faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his
justice" Rom 3:23-25a And "since we have now been justified by
his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s
wrath through him!" Rom 5:9 "In him we have redemption through his
blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the
riches of God’s grace" Eph 1:7
"Grace"
is an important concept here. We see the word used
abundantly in the New Testament. "Grace" is that
virtue whereby one shows mercy to the undeserving.
"Because of his great love for us,
God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ
even when we were dead in transgressions— it is by
grace you have been saved." Eph 2:4,5 In
the gospel we learn that God is gracious to his enemies
by providing them a way to be saved from his wrath. "God demonstrates his own love for us
in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for
us." Rom 5:8
"For if, when we were God’s
enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death
of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled,
shall we be saved through his life!" Rom
5:10 One implication here is, as I said, to
be saved one must first recognize that they are God's
enemy, a sinner in need of reconciliation with God.
How Christ's Death Justifies
Now there are
those who may want to go deeper into the issue as to how
Christ's death atoned for sin, in view of certain
implications. And in fact it is helpful to understand why
God needed to do it that way.
Of course God was under no obligation to save people.
God implemented his plan out of a sense of grace and not
out of a sense of obligation. However seeing as in order
to save people he had to satisfy the demands of his
judicial nature, he was limited to working within the
bounds of justice. This is important to understand
because God cannot arbitrarily violate his judicial
nature.
God could not simply create some being and use that
being as a sort of substitutionary sacrifice on behalf
of sinners. "No man can redeem
the life of another or give to God a ransom for him—
the ransom for a life is costly, no payment is ever
enough" Ps 49:7,8 But Jesus was more
than just a man. He was the Lord Almighty, the Creator
of heaven and earth. Born but not created. As such his
value was of infinite worth compared to created beings.
Salvation could only be accomplished through Jesus
Christ.
Secondly, because God is just, he is not going to
condemn the innocent. Jesus was innocent. Even his
enemies, Pilate and Judas, admitted that. And Peter
writes of Christ being "a lamb
without blemish or defect" 1Peter 1:19,
analogous to a sacrificial lamb. What God did was to
orchestrate the circumstances such that out of their own
free will Jesus was murdered by evil men. So Jesus died
as an innocent victim of a crime committed against him.
It was God's will to cause him to suffer in order to pay
for sin. As I said, he was essentially sent on a suicide
mission. But actually "wicked
men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross." Acts
2:23 This occurred in accordance with God's set
purpose and foreknowledge. And Jesus knew this. He said,
"The Son of Man is going to be
betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him,
and after three days he will rise." Mark
9:31 Jesus was a willing sacrifice. He had the
option of opting out. But he prayed, "Now my heart is troubled, and what
shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it
was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father,
glorify your name!" John 12:27,28
But how did his death actually atone for sin? When the
Bible speaks of Jesus dying for sin or paying for sin,
it's talking about the end result. The judicial process
I believe to be the following. When the innocent suffer
they are entitled to compensation. This is understood in
human judicial systems. Justice demands that victims of
crime be compensated. Now consider this. On the one hand
God's judicial nature demands that people's sins be paid
for. On the other hand God's judicial nature demands
that Jesus, being an innocent victim of a crime
committed against him, be compensated. So you can see
how this goes. These two demands of God's judicial
nature cancel each other out. And thus in essence we can
say that Jesus' death paid for the sins of the world.
This is how God's judicial nature was satisfied.
What must we do to be saved?
What is the
necessary and essential response which qualifies us for
salvation. Jesus paid for sin. He could have made
salvation automatic and universal, having satisfied God's
judicial nature. But the gospel tells us that he made
salvation conditioned upon our response to it. In fact someone asked him, "Lord, are only a
few people going to be saved?" He said to them, "Make
every effort to enter through the narrow door, because
many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able
to." Luke 13:23,24 "Enter
through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad
is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter
through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road
that leads to life, and only a few find it." Mt
7:13,14
The Philippian jailer asked, "Sirs,
what must I do to be saved?" and Paul and Silas
answered, "Believe in the Lord
Jesus, and you will be saved." Acts 16:30,31 There
is volition involved in being saved, but more than just
one's volition. One cannot simply will oneself to believe
something. They have be convinced of it. They first have
to hear. For "faith comes from
hearing the message". Rom 10:17 The
message itself contains the forensic evidence validating
its legitimacy, as I mentioned previously. One has to
hear; one has to reason; one has to embrace the message
with conviction. And also one has to consider the
implications of the message.
Peter preached the gospel in Acts chapter 2. When the people heard this, they were
cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other
apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?" Peter
replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in
the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your
sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."
Acts 2:37,38 And Peter went on with many other words he testified and
exhorted them, saying, "Be saved from this perverse
generation." Acts 2:40
Evidences of Saving Faith
The requirement
to be saved is faith in Christ. But what kind of faith?
The faith that saves is application oriented. It takes the
message to heart and considers the implications. Thus
repentance and baptism are natural outworkings or
expressions of such faith. As is a lifestyle geared
towards devotion to Christ as LORD. For "he died for all, that those who live
should no longer live for themselves but for him who
died for them and was raised again." 2Cor
5:15 Paul noted the effect the gospel had on the
Thessalonians saying, "We
continually remember before our God and Father your
work produced by faith, your labor prompted by
love, and your endurance inspired by hope in
our Lord Jesus Christ." 1Th 1:3 Notice
he mentions "endurance". This is another attribute of
saving faith. Paul said, "By this
gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I
preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain."
1Cor 15:2 Vain belief does not save.
Concerning perseverance in faith, Jesus likewise said, "he who endures to the end shall be
saved." Mt 24:13 and he was speaking of
enduring in faith in the midst of severe trials, severe
opposition. Persevering in the faith is so characteristic
of saving faith that John writes of those who fall away, "They went out from us, but they did not
really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us,
they would have remained with us; but their going showed
that none of them belonged to us." 1John 2:19
Thus "we have come to share in
Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we
had at first." Heb
3:14
Repentance
"Seek the LORD while he
may be found; call on him while he is near. Let the
wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts.
Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him,
and to our God, for he will freely pardon." Is 55:6,7
Paul preached to the Athenians saying, "God commands all
people everywhere to repent. For he has set a
day when he will judge the world with justice" Acts
17:30b-31a In
describing his ministry to King Agrippa Paul says, "First to those in
Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea,
and to the Gentiles also, I preached that they should
repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by
their deeds." Acts
26:20 A call to repentance is an essential part
of the gospel. But in terms of a condition for
salvation, it is the INTENTION to conform one's deeds
to God 's which is a part of saving faith. The
actual deeds, the carrying out of one's intentions, is
not the condition for salvation, but rather the evidence
that one has been saved. Thus changing one's behavior is
as a saved person. Doing good works is as a saved
person. This in contrast to those who view deeds as a
precondition for salvation. Salvation is not by works,
but intention is not a work. It's an attitude. And it is
an attitude which is inherent in saving faith.
What are examples of deeds indicative of repentance?
Jesus visited a tax collector named Zacchaeus. It is
written that "Zacchaeus stood up and
said to the Lord, "Look, Lord! Here and now I give
half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have
cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four
times the amount." Jesus said to him, "Today salvation
has come to this house" Luke
19:8-9a Well
there you go! John the Baptist also commanded, as the
apostle Paul did, "Produce fruit in
keeping with repentance." Luke 3:8 "What should we do
then?" the crowd asked. John answered, "The man with
two tunics should share with him who has none, and the
one who has food should do the same." Tax collectors
also came to be baptized. "Teacher," they asked, "what
should we do?" "Don’t collect any more than you are
required to," he told them. Then some soldiers asked
him, "And what should we do?" He replied, "Don’t
extort money and don’t accuse people falsely— be
content with your pay." Luke
3:10-14 And
again - there you go! These are examples of proving ones
repentance by their deeds.
Public Confession and Baptism
Paul writes, "If you confess
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 confess and are saved." Rom
10:9,10 If
a person has an alleged faith in Christ, but is not
willing to make a public confession of that faith, such
faith is not saving faith. "And since we have the
same spirit of faith, according to what is written, "I
believed and therefore I spoke," we also believe and
therefore speak," 2Cor
4:13 The faith that saves is the faith
that leads one to publicly confess Christ. And this is
also largely the purpose of water baptism.
When the gospel was preach, baptism was included as a
sign of one's new allegiance and as a pledge of a good
conscience of one's intention to treat Jesus as Lord.
When Peter preached the first
Christian sermon in Acts 2, he ended saying, "Repent and be baptized
..." Those who accepted his message were baptized, and
about three thousand were added to their number that
day." Acts
2:38,41 Philip
preached to the Ethiopian starting with the prophet
Isaiah, it is recorded, Philip opened his
mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus
to him. Now as they went down the road, they came to
some water. And the eunuch said, "See, here is water.
What hinders me from being baptized?" Acts
8:35,36 How
would the man have known about baptism? It was included
in Philip's presentation of the gospel. So if you are
preaching the gospel and the person comes to believe,
and then happens to see some water, they should respond
just as the Ethiopian. And for those who claim to
believe in Christ, but have yet to get baptized, what
hinders you? Likewise after Peter preached to
Cornelius, a Gentile, and he and his family became
believers, they were baptized. After Paul preached to
the Philippian jailer and he and his family believed,
they were baptized. When a person comes to believe in
Christ, they are to be baptized.
Those
who get baptized are pledging to have a good
conscience before God. Peter writes that "the
baptism that now saves you also— is not the removal
of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good
conscience toward God." 1Peter
3:16 Baptism
is symbolic of our being buried with Christ. "Or
don't you know that all of us who were baptized into
Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?" Rom
6:3 So
if you've come to believe in Christ, get baptized.
What Salvation Incorporates
Forgiveness
of Sins
This is the
most essential aspect of salvation. And it is
guaranteed. Eph 1:7 "In
him we have redemption through his blood, the
forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of
God’s grace." Sin is not only forgiven but
forgotten as God has promised, "Their
sins and lawless acts I will remember no more."
Heb 10:17 And yes this forgiveness comes apart
from any works, for "to the man
who does not work but trusts God who justifies the
wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.David
says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness
of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart
from works: 'Blessed are they whose transgressions are
forgiven, whose sins are covered.'" Rom
4:5-7 For while good works are an outworking of
faith, the Christian is forgiven even prior to taking
any actions, though of course the intention to repent is
inherent in saving faith.
Consequently we are saved from God's wrath. "Since we have now been justified by
his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s
wrath through him!" Rom 5:9 Jesus said, "I
tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes
him who sent me has eternal life and will not be
condemned; he has crossed over from death to life." John
5:24
Adoption
into God's Family
Having
believed in Christ, one is given the right to become a
child of God. John 1:12,13 "Yet to all who received him, to those
who believed in his name, he gave the right to become
children of God— children born not of natural descent,
nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of
God." and "Everyone who
believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God" 1John
5:1a
Citizens of
Heaven
"Consequently,
you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow
citizens with God’s people and members of God’s
household" Eph 2:19
A Promised
Inheritance
One aspect
of this sonship is the promise of an eternal
inheritance: "Praise be to the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his
great mercy he has given us new birth into a living
hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from
the dead, and into an inheritance that can
never perish, spoil or fade— kept in heaven for
you, who through faith are shielded by God’s
power until the coming of the salvation that is
ready to be revealed in the last time." 1Peter
1:3,4
Rewards
for Services Rendered
God would
not have been obligated to hand out rewards seeing as
we pledge allegiance to Jesus as Lord and therefore
reckon ourselves slaves of God. And this is what Jesus
spoke of in Luke 17:7-10 of parable of the
unworthy servants. However out of his graciousnes God
has promised rewards nonetheless for services
rendered. For example Jesus said, "if anyone gives even a cup of cold
water to one of these little ones because he is my
disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly
not lose his reward." Matt 10:42 And
he said, "Sell your
possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for
yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in
heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief
comes near and no moth destroys." Lk
12:33 And "love your
enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without
expecting to get anything back. Then your reward
will be great" Luke 6:35a
The Reception
of the Holy Spirit
Gal 4:6 "Because you are sons, God sent the
Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls
out, <"Abba>, Father." Peter
declares, "Repent and be baptized,
every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the
forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift
of the Holy Spirit." Acts 2:38 When a
person comes to faith in Christ, they receive the Holy
Spirit. "And if anyone does not have
the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ." Rom
8:9b And all have been baptized by the Spirit. "For we were all baptized by one Spirit
into one body— whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—
and we were all given the one Spirit to drink." 1Cor
12:13
By the Holy Spirit we are regenerate, which affects our
behavior. This is part of the New Covenant. "This is the covenant I will make with
them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws
in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds."
Heb 10:16 Consequently, "No one who is born of God will continue
to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go
on sinning, because he has been born of God."
1John 3:9 The Holy Spirit works in concert with the
Word of God. "For you have been born
again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable,
through the living and enduring word of God." 1Peter
1:23
There are many roles the Holy Spirit plays in the
Christian's life. Among other things, He helps us to pray,
"We do not know what we ought to
pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us" Rom
8:26b He gives us spiritual gifts to serve God
effectively. "Now to each one the
manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common
good." 1Cor 12:7 And he sanctifies us to
become better Christians. "So I
say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the
desires of the sinful nature." Gal 5:16
