These verses confirm that unbelievers can't spiritually discern scripture. They're blinded by the 'god' of this age, Satan, who is blinding them to the light of the gospel, because he knows that if they see, then they'll be saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Unbelievers can't understand the deeper meaning of scripture, because the words are dead to them. To them, it's just, at best, a religious book of rules, at worst, a bad fairytale. It's the Holy Spirit that breathes life into scripture, making it come alive in our spirit.
Philippians 4:13 is a great example: "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me." How many unsaved individuals have ridiculed born again believers over this one? They come up with a list of ridiculous tasks for believers to perform if they can truly do "all things." What they've done is they've taken this scripture out of context, understanding it with their own limited human mind, and are using it to try to belittle and embarrass believers. That's when the education begins. We can say, "This scripture, in context, means that through Christ's empowering presence, we can face trials, hardships, and suffering with perseverance and peace. We can do all things through his strength. It has nothing to do with Jesus being a genie in a bottle that will grant us our every wish. It's a statement of faith about our reliance on God providing the strength to endure life's challenges and maintain peace and contentment in any circumstance."
Another example of an unbeliever's limited understanding of the word is when they ask why God, who's supposed to be all loving, sends people to hell if we can't help but sin. There are two major flaws in this argument, but I'll address the "God is love" issue further on. The issue I'm discussing here doesn't pertain to one particular scripture about judgment as much as it is about this person's error of omitting scripture that explains God's plan for salvation, and how it's the rejection of this plan that determines someone's eternal condition. We could respond by saying, "Through Adam, sin entered the world and one of the consequences was that the human race became spiritually dead. We lost that precious spiritual connection with God, and the human race had to deal with living in a body with a sin nature. That's why God created the sacrificial system for the Jews, so that the blood of innocent animals could temporarily cover their sin in God's eyes. Eventually, that temporary system was replaced with a permanent sacrifice, providing a perfect and everlasting payment for our sin when Jesus offered Himself as an offering for our sin. He became the sacrificial Lamb, taking the full force of God's punishment that was meant for us. His blood doesn't just cover our sin, it obliterates it, never to be remembered. God's perfect solution was offered to mankind. Repent, believe, and have your dead spirit be resurrected by His blood and through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. By His Spirit, your spirit is made alive again. That's what makes us a child of God and heals our relationship with Him. That's where the term "born again" comes from. True, we will continue sinning, but we sin less and less as we grow closer to God. What sends us to hell? Rejecting that solution, rejecting that free gift of salvation, rejecting that covering for our sin. That's what sends us to hell. It's actually a decision we all make. Who have you chosen? God or yourself? Heaven or the Lake of Fire? If you're going to lay blame on anyone, lay blame on the one making that decision, and that decision is yours. It's that simple."
Some unbelievers will bring up the fact that the bible mentions the existence of unicorns. Again, they're speaking out of ignorance. "The word unicorn didn't mean the same then as it does now. Over a few millennia, the definition as changed. When we mention unicorns today, we're thinking of a more modern day creature that looks like a horse with a spiraling horn planted right in it's forehead. The modern interpretation of the word isn't what the scripture is referring to. In fact, it's only the KJV that uses the word 'unicorn.' The 1828 edition of Noah Webster’s dictionary defined 'unicorn' as 'an animal with one horn, the monoceros. This name could be used to describe any one horned animal, but it's often applied to the rhinoceros,' indicating that the term was historically used to describe real animals, not mythical ones. So when you hear or read the word 'unicorn' in the KJV bible, it's actually from a Latin translation and it's referring to a one horned rhinoceros, a monoceros."
Another method of attack is to reject the deity of Jesus. They'll say that Jesus never declared himself to be God. Many born again believers don't know how to answer this attack on the gospel, but with a little preparation, and a few scripture references, it won't be difficult to respond to. Here are my thoughts:
"Although Jesus never said, 'I'm God, worship Me,' it does say this in scripture: "And the high priest said to Him, “I adjure You by the living God, that You tell us whether You are the Christ, the Son of God.” 64 Jesus said to him, “You have said it yourself; nevertheless I tell you, hereafter you will see THE SON OF MAN SITTING AT THE RIGHT HAND OF POWER, and COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN.” Matthew 16:63-64 (NASB) "So Jesus is saying He is the Son of Man, and admitting He's the Christ, which means Messiah, and that he's going to be sitting in a co-equal place of authority and power in heaven with the Father, and that he's going to return on the clouds of heaven. He's essentially made himself equal with God (because He is God).
Scripture also shows that Thomas worshipped Jesus as God: "After eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst ("So Jesus doesn't use the door, but miraculously and instantaneously appears in their presence") and said, “Peace be with you.” 27Then He said to Thomas, “Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing.” 28Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” ("So here Thomas is calling Jesus "Lord" and "God" and Jesus doesn't make any effort to correct him.") 29Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.” John 20:26-29
Then there's Luke chapter 5, where it states, "Seeing their faith, He said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven you.” 21The scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, “Who is this man who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?” 22But Jesus, aware of their reasonings, answered and said to them, “Why are you reasoning in your hearts? 23“Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins have been forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 24“But, so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,”—He said to the paralytic—“I say to you, get up, and pick up your stretcher and go home.” 25Immediately he got up before them, and picked up what he had been lying on, and went home glorifying God. 26They were all struck with astonishment and began glorifying God; and they were filled with fear, saying, “We have seen remarkable things today.” Luke 5:20-26 (NASB) (bold and underline mine) "So Jesus is proclaiming he is God by forgiving sin and to prove that authority, He heals the paralytic man.
Just in these three examples alone, Jesus has made Himself equal with God and has accepted the title of 'Lord' and has accepted worship as God and has claimed that he can forgive sins, something only God can do."
Here's the part that I mentioned earlier and promised to get to. People will often say that God is love... period. That's always a go-to for those who want to serve a generic universal 'god' of love that doesn't expect too much from anyone. Just be good (in your own eyes) and you're fine. "It's true that one of God's divine attributes is love, but scripture tells us that He has other divine attributes. He's holy, He's righteous, He's just, and scripture talks of His judgment and wrath. A 'god' whose only attribute is love is no real 'god' at all, because he's a 'god' that people create in order to avoid the more negative aspects of sin. They want love, but not accountability. They want love, but not obedience. They want love, but not feel compelled to live by God's objective standards, which is perfection. People don't want to give up self in order to become more like God, so they create a different 'god' in their head that agrees with own subjective moral standard. He's love, so it doesn't matter. As long as they live the life that they subjectively label as 'good,' then they're okay with that. What they're doing is building up for themselves a false sense of peace and a false belief that they're living a life that's pleasing to 'god' because they find no fault with how they're living. As long as they're good, for the most part, then they have a ticket to whatever heaven they've created for themselves in their own mind. What they lack is the understanding that they're actually following a false 'god' of their own making, and therefore have no covering for their sin. The hard truth for them is that sin cannot inherit the kingdom of God.
These are just a few of the things you may hear from people when talking with them about Jesus. They all have questions. Believe me, the more you talk with people about Jesus, the easier it gets. Sure, they'll be some tough questions that you may not know the answer to, but just be honest... "I don't know. That's an interesting question. That'll make for an interesting bible study." God doesn't expect you to know all the answers. If that's what's holding you back, you may want to rethink that. I honestly admit that there are a whole host of people who are way smarter than me. They use words I don't understand and talk about people who I don't know, but you know what? I know the most important person, Jesus, and He's sent us the Holy Spirit to lead us into all truth and to guide and help us when we're out in the world telling others about Jesus.
I encourage you to step out of your comfort zone, because the blessings and benefits are great. Even if you aren't great at sharing the salvation message, maybe someone will see a little bit of themselves in you and your "imperfection." People are often intimidated by "professionals," and your simple way of sharing Jesus may be just what they need to feel comfortable and willing to open up to you. So, take your imperfect self out there and talk to people about the perfect Jesus. If God didn't want you there, He wouldn't put you there. Start now, and then when you look back 6 months down the road, you'll realize how much you've grown in your evangelizing skills, and that will encourage you to keep sharing the good news!!!
"But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance." Luke 8:15 (NASB)
REPENT, AND BE FORGIVEN!
BELIEVE, AND BE SAVED!
TRIBULATIONHARVEST.NET
No comments:
Post a Comment