Comparing Christianity with Other Religions
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What is Religion? Dictionary.com tells us:
A set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs.
Notice the “especially” in the dictionary definition. Religious or not, we act on what we believe, we base our actions on faith in something. We drive cars in faith that bridges won’t fall. Some people are wrong about that; faith can be misplaced.
More than 40,000 Americans die in traffic accidents each year. Those people drove on in faith that things would go smoothly. If those dead people knew when they started their last mile, they’d stop. They died because of misplaced faith that what they’d been doing would continue.
Belief and faith are not limited to religion; we all act on faith whether religious or not. Thus, religion means belief in one God or in many gods as the superhuman agency of creation. Secularism is the opposite of religion and holds that the entire universe and all its wonders came about through chance.
Comparative Religion Made Simple
There are 5 questions about religion: TC or ID? IF or CG? B or Q? C or L? and GBI? What we believe determines what we do. The critical religious question is, are we free to do as we like or should we take God’s views into account? What we believe about God determines what we do. Do we follow our plan or do we base our lives on doing our best to follow His plan?
1) TC or ID? Total Chance or Intelligent Design. How did the universe come to be? Was it made through Total Chance or by an Intelligent Designer? If you believe in randomness, in Total Chance, there’s not much to say. You study physics to find out how the universe chanced to be, but you don’t think about God.
Atheists prefer Total Chance because it lets them believe that there is no God. If there is a God, you should follow His program if He has one, but if there is no God, doing as you like makes no difference.
To make it easier for His people to believe Him in this time of unbelief, God has allowed many scientific discoveries which show how difficult it is to believe in Total Chance to explain creation.
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the tRuth in unrighteousness; 19Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. 20For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Romans 1:18-20
Some philosophers and scientists understand the obvious reality of a Creator which is “manifest in them” but don't want to accept the fact that God exists and that He created all things.
"To believe in God is impossible, not to believe in Him is absurd." ~ Voltaire (1694-1778)
Science has made many discoveries since Voltaire’s day which make Total Chance less and less believable:
"When it comes to the origin of life on this earth, there are only two possibilities: creation or spontaneous generation (evolution). There is no third way. Spontaneous generation was disproved 100 years ago, but that leads us only to one other conclusion: that of supernatural creation. We cannot accept that on philosophical grounds (personal reasons); therefore, we choose to believe the impossible: that life arose spontaneously by chance." George Wald, winner of the 1967 Nobel Peace Prize in Science.[i]
The more scientists study the genetics of various critters, the less they know about how different species “evolved.” Non-Christians have written many books showing huge problems with current evolutionary theory. Evolutionists stopped debating creationists years ago because the creationists had the better arguments. To sum it up, everything they learn about how critters are born, live, reproduce, and die shrieks of intelligent design, with is another way of saying “God.”
God expects us to live by faith (Ro. 1:17, Gal. 3:11, Heb. 10:38), so He has been careful to make sure there can never be proof of His existence. We must accept Him and His Word on faith.
2) IF or CG? If the universe and the world came about through Intelligent Design, that is, there was some sort of God involved, was the designer an Impersonal Force (Star wars, Buddhists, Hindus, maybe 20% of world population) who made the universe but doesn’t care what happens to it, or a Caring God with personality and desire to communicate? The IF God is sometimes called the “watchmaker God” in that He wound the universe like a clock and let it go. Christians believe that God so loved the world, that is, He cared about His creation, that He gave His Son’s life to save everyone in it (Jn. 3:16), so He’s a Caring God.
If God is an Impersonal Force, if He doesn’t care about you, you can do as you like except that you ought to think about getting in line with His plan, “May the Force be with you.” If a Caring God loves you as an individual, what you do matters to Him and you need to know what He wants for your life.
3) B or Q? Assuming a Caring God, did God reveal Himself in the Bible or in the Quran? Christians and Muslims are 54% of the world’s population. The Bible and the Quran describe totally different Gods with totally different plans that cannot be brought into agreement.
4) C or L? Assuming that God revealed Himself in something written, are you a theological Conservative or Liberal? Do you think that your scripture gives rules to live today or is it a collection of general principles from long ago which may no longer be relevant? Is your Bible accurate and relevant or mythical and historical? If it’s mythical, you don’t have to take it seriously, you can do as you like. If it’s literal, you must read it closely and do as it says in order to follow God’s program.
5) GBI? The last question: is God Good for you, Bad for you, or Indifferent to you? If God is Good for you, if God loves you, if God wants the best for you, then what the Bible says works for your benefit.
If you think God cares about you as an individual; if you think He gave the Bible for your benefit, if God wants what’s best for you, you’ll read the Bible looking for keys to happiness and obey it for your good. If you think God is Bad for you, if He wrote rules to keep you from having fun, you’ll read the Bible for loopholes. You’ll find excuses for ignoring what the Bible says so you can do as you like without worrying about God’s view of what you do, “It doesn’t say anything about TV!” If God’s Indifferent to you, you’ll ignore the Bible because God “understands” your sins. That’s another way to convince yourself you can do as you like.
Why Religion Matters
Many articles have discussed the decline of religion in European and American society. Leadership elites on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean are dismayed that so many Americans cling to religious beliefs which Europeans have abandoned as obsolete. During the 2008 Presidential primary, Barack Obama criticized rural Americans for clinging to guns and to religion instead of following modern secular diversity. As the resulting furor showed, this view of religion as obsolete and irrelevant is almost unanimous on the left. It also exists on the right, but enough people disagree to make a lot of noise.
The Washington Post published an article[ii] by a Roman Catholic professor of religion. He said that our leadership elites have no real understanding of faith, which is the basis of any religion.
It's not that we don't know about religion; it's that we don't understand faith and its life-shaping power.
The majority of people I know in higher education would argue that there is nothing wrong with religion for people who feel they need it. Their sentiments come down to something like this: "You have your religious convictions, I have mine. Let's acknowledge our differences and agree to disagree with one another within the confines of polite debate." That makes sense, of course, but it is not enough to prepare a new generation of diplomats who will be asked to engage the Muslim world in the decades to come.
This willful ignorance of faith at the top was OK when our elites led our fight against the Soviets during the Cold War. The Soviet ideology of Communism was profoundly atheist. Our irreligious elites could deal with their irreligious opposite numbers in the Soviet Union and understand them pretty well.
We won the Cold War because our economic system was greatly superior to theirs. We beat them the same way we beat the Japanese and Germans - we out-spent them. This worked because, as Reagan discovered of Gorbachev, neither of them really wanted their grandchildren evaporated in a nuclear Armageddon.
If you're an atheist, you get one shot at life and when you're dead, you're done. The Russians didn't want to die any more than we did. They wanted to win and would spend as much as they could to win, but the leaders wanted to live, everybody on both sides wanted their grandchildren to live, and the common people wanted decent lives. This mutual desire to survive and to live comfortably formed a basis on which their leaders and our leaders could agree that it was desirable not to annihilate the world in a nuclear war.
We face two different, much harder problems in dealing with terrorism.
First, terrorism is cheap. We can outspend them, but that won't win the war, or even a battle.
The second is a much worse problem - the vast majority of terrorism is motivated by religious faith. Abdelrahman al-Rashid, managing director of al-Arabiya TV, said “It is a certain fact that not all Muslims are terrorists, but it is equally certain, and exceptionally painful, that almost all terrorists are Muslims.”[iii] Our irreligious elites can’t deal well with highly-religious terrorists.
If someone truly believes that he gains a huge number of points from God if he dies while killing you, it's hard to persuade him not to kill you. The Japanese Kamikaze had the same willingness to die. They didn’t think it would make any difference because Japan had already lost WW II, but they died out of duty anyway.[iv] That made the Kamikaze very hard to fight.
The sad thing about our leaders is that whether they admit it or not, they live by faith just like everybody else. Their faith is in themselves and in their ability to run the world, not in God. Will this work? Are they smart enough to tell everyone what to do? They seem to think so.
What God Expects of His People
Once people start thinking about God, Bible verses can show what God wants from us.
Total Chance or Intelligent Design? Impersonal Force or Caring God? The Bible teaches that God spoke the universe into being:
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. Genesis 1:1-3
Genesis 1says 8 times, “And God said … and it was so.” God not only created everything; if God says something, it’s so. Jn.3:16 teaches that God cares about His creation; He also cares about you as an individual:
Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. I Peter 5:7
Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows. Luke 12:6-7
In contrast to the Bible, the Quran teaches that Allah doesn’t care about people at all.
Lo! Those who believe and do good works, the Beneficent will appoint for them love. Sura 19:96
First, love is conditional on good works; it’s earned love, not unconditional love. Second, it doesn’t say that Allah the Beneficent loves believers; it says they will be loved by others. In other words, good works earn you the love of others, but not the love of Allah.
Quran scholars state that love is a sign of incompleteness and of weakness. Allah is complete, so he can’t love anyone. Resalah-L-Berkawi says, “If all infidels became believers, [Allah] would gain nothing. If all believers became infidels, he would suffer no loss.”[v] Allah doesn’t care what anyone believes, he’s indifferent to his creation. Does the creator care about you or not? It makes a difference how you act.
Most Christians are happy to say that they believe that God loves them and cares about them. The Bible gives a number of tests whereby we can see whether we have true faith or not. We’ll go into that later.
B or Q? Bible or Quran? The Bible states over and over, “Thus saith the Lord.” It repeatedly claims to record the very words of God.
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: II Timothy 3:16
“Inspiration” comes from the Greek “theos peneuf,” literally “God-breathed” as God breathed life into Adam and breathed life into His Word. Muslims believe that the Quran is the words of God given through his prophet Mohammad. The Quran supersedes and replaces the Bible. God, that is, Allah, gave the Bible, but Christians and Jews corrupted it. Now that the perfect Quran is here, the corrupted Bible has been corrected and replaced by the Quran. Devout Muslims believe that the Bible has no validity any longer.
The Book of Genesis teaches that Adam lost his relationship to God when he sinned. Muslims say that Adam lost nothing when he sinned because Allah doesn’t relate to anyone.
Muslims teach that Jesus was a great prophet, but the tale of His resurrection was made up by Christians seeking power. Allah is unapproachable; thinking of Him as “father” is blasphemy. Jesus said He was the resurrection and the life and said that God is our Heavenly father.
Jesus was either the Son of God or He was a liar, a blasphemer, and a madman. Jesus is liar, lunatic, or Lord, pick one. Muslims say the Gospel writers lied. The Bible and the Quran contradict each other. Islam and Christianity can’t be reconciled. Only one can be true, people must decide which is true and which is false.
C or L? Conservative or Liberal? Do you take your entire holy book literally, or do you discard certain parts and say that other parts were OK for when they were written but aren’t relevant today?
Literalist Muslims point out that the Quran requires Muslims to kill non-Muslims. There can be no argument; the Quran does indeed say that. Therefore, to a true Muslim, anyone who claims to be a Muslim and doesn’t kill non-Muslims is an apostate. That’s why suicide bombers don’t mind killing Muslims – those whom they kill aren’t true Muslims. If they were, they’d also be committing suicide bombings.
The Bible commands Christians to love their enemies. That’s clear, but do Christians obey well enough that non-Christians would believe that the Bible commands that we love our enemies? There are parts of the Bible such as when Jesus said, “This is my body…” which are to be taken symbolically, but do you generally try to take the Bible literally?
GBI? Is God Good for you, Bad for you, or Indifferent to you? Deists believe that God created the universe and He’s now standing back watching it go. Some believe that although He cares about the affairs of nations, He’s made so many billion people that He doesn’t care about individuals. The Bible teaches that God cares about nations. When Isaiah and Jeremiah warned the Jews of impending disaster around 760 BC, God told Jeremiah how He planned to bring disaster to them:
Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the LORD, and Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual desolations. Jeremiah 25:9
God foretold that when their punishment was done, Cyrus, another of His servants, would send them back:
That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid. Isaiah 44:28 see also Amos 6:4
God said Nebuchadrezzar and Cyrus were His servants! God would bring His servant Nebuchadrezzar against Israel and have him carry everyone off. God would then have His servant Cyrus send them back.
God cares about nations, and the Bible says that He cares about individuals. He numbers your hairs. You are worth many, many sparrows to God.
Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? 7But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows. Luke 12:6-7
God cares about you but is God good for you?
If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? Matthew 7:11
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. James 1:17
O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever! Deuteronomy 5:29
The Bible teaches that God gives good and perfect gifts and that He wants to do us good. He also improves us through trials as we attempt to improve our sons and daughters through chastening:
For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Hebrews 12:6-8
Is God good or is He not? There is a child’s grace, “God is great, God is good, let us thank Him for our food.” Christians say that, but do they believe it? Do they act as if they believe God is good? Jesus asked,
And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? Luke 6:46
If God is good, wouldn’t obeying Him be good for you? When your mother made you eat your broccoli, wasn’t it good for you? What about your spiritual broccoli which God has prepared for you?
Wheat or Tares
Wheat or Tares is the last step in our flowchart – how can we tell real Christians from fakes? How do we tell wheat from the tares? Many claim to be Christians, they claim to have accepted Jesus as master and Lord, but they don’t follow His commands from the heart. This is an old problem:
This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. Matthew 15:8
The Bible teaches that churches always have saved and unsaved people mixed together. Both Wheat and Tares claim the name of Christ and say that they love God. Here’s a way to tell – do they build the church or do they tear down? Do they bring peace? Do they advance the cause of Christ or hold it back?
Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Matthew 7:15-16
The Bible lists what we see in Christians who let the Holy Spirit guide their lives and in those who don’t:
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23 see also I Corinthians 11.
Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 20Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations [jealousies], wrath, strife, seditions [divisions], heresies, 21Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Galatians 5:19-21
But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. Revelation 21:8
Here’s another test to help you tell God’s People from fakers. Do they obey? God values obedience:
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king. I Samuel 15:22b-23
Idolatry doesn’t always mean worshipping an object of wood or stone. Ezekiel told his group of exiles why Jerusalem was about to be destroyed:
Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them? Ezekiel 14:3
The Jerusalem leaders had given their hearts to idols which they valued over God. We aren’t told whether they were pursuing other goals such as money (1 Tim. 6:10), but there was something in their hearts which they thought was more important than God; that’s what an idol is. This was so serious that God would no longer hear their prayers for guidance; He would no longer “be enquired of at all by them.”
God rejects anyone who won’t walk His path. Here are a few points of obedience you can consider:
Telling Tales or Following the Bible
The Bible commands that when someone does something questionable, you’re to go to that person alone:
Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican. Matthew 18:15-17
God commands you to discuss unfortunate happenings between “thee and him alone.” Most Christians would rather pass complaints around than obey God. If someone tells you something juicy someone else did, do you listen, or do you say, “I don’t want to hear that until you’ve discussed it with him. I’ll come with you if you need a witness, but you’re supposed to go to that person alone first and then involve someone else.”
This is a clear teaching in the word of God. I’ve seen two ministries damaged badly and two destroyed by breaking this command. If someone who knows the Bible persists in breaking this command, do they truly love God? Or do they love gossip more than they love God? Maybe they’re ashamed of the Bible:
Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels. Mark 8:37-38
Do you want Christ to be ashamed of you? We’re commanded to submit to the Bible:
If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness; He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself. I Timothy 6:3-5
Christians are supposed to withdraw from people who won’t follow the Bible. For that to work, we ourselves must follow the Bible, of course, or we label ourselves hypocrites. Complaining about people instead of making up with them is a common human temptation, which is why Jesus commands us not to do it.
Schofield put his words “Church Discipline” in that section of God’s Word so people don’t want to use it for minor trespasses. Jesus never said it was for church discipline. It comes after the parable of the lost sheep. Jesus taught that we’re supposed to make up with people who offend us. No matter how upset you are, you’ll often find the other person has forgotten all about it and hasn’t a clue that you were upset.
This is particularly important between husbands and wives. Men and women get upset for different reasons. If they shut each other out, if they don’t explain their feelings, it’s hard to for them to dwell together contentedly and hard to teach their children how to get along.
Sometimes, you may be upset without knowing why. In such cases, it’s particularly important to talk about it. Once you figure out why you’re upset, you’ve learned a lesson for the future. That takes much open-hearted conversation where each party supplies at least 1/3 of the words. It’s a sacrifice to open your hearts that much, but it pleases Him. Do we want to please God?
Loving Wives
God created marriage as He created salvation. Having created marriage, God got to write the rules.
Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, and said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. Matthew 19:4-6
In order to be one with your wives, guys, you must die to your former lives. You have to give up your wants, your desires, and your ambitions in favor of your new one-flesh family. You have to stop taking care of yourself and take care of your wife. This is not new - you stopped belonging to yourself when you accepted salvation. You died to your former life, were born again, and belong to God (I Cor. 6:19). Having married, you die to your bachelor life, and God now expects you to belong to Him and to your wife.
Your wife knows you should belong to her and serve her as you belong to God and serve Him. Song of Solomon 2:16 “My beloved is mine, and I am his: he feedeth among the lilies.” Serve God by serving her!
The Bible commands husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the church. Christ not only gave His life for the church (Eph. 5:22-33), He nourishes the church, He cherishes the church. He thinks of all of us as gifts to Him from God (Jn. 10:29), and He thinks of us as perfect (Ps. 103:12, I Cor. 6:11).
Proverbs 18:22 says, “Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favor of the LORD.” A wife is a gift from God, guys, and like all of God’s gifts, a wife is a good and perfect gift for her husband. The Song of Solomon teaches that a man should tell his wife and her friends that she’s perfect for him. If a man knows this and doesn’t do it, does he love God? Does he think God is good for him? Does he belong to God?
Men say, “Some gift she is!” How can a man say a wife isn’t a gift from God? Men are pretty clueless about women, but along about age 14, certainly by age 18, every man knows in his bones that a woman can give him a taste of the joys of Heaven. Every man knows a woman should be wonderful for him. Men hang around women because they want the joy that only a woman can give. This is a gift of God. Every man knows it.
Men don’t want to admit it, but God’s gifts come with conditions. When God gives you a musical gift, you have to work to develop it. Your gifts have conditions too. I’ve heard parents say, “You left your bike in the rain, you can’t ride for a week.” When the child abused the gift, the child lost the blessing of the gift. When a man abuses God’s gift of a wife, he loses the blessing because she doesn’t like belonging to him.
Christ gave His life for the church. God expects you to give your life nourishing and cherishing your wife.
I hear “She doesn’t deserve it.” Of course she doesn’t deserve you giving your life to nourish her and cherish her! You don’t deserve God’s grace in saving you; you don’t deserve God’s grace in telling her to submit to you. Submission is God’s undeserved gift to you through her. Having you nourish her and cherish her is God’s gift to her through you. She doesn’t deserve that, it’s a gift of God’s grace. If a man won’t give God’s grace to his wife, does he have God’s grace to give? He might not be saved.
This is more important than Christians admit. We’re supposed to minister God’s grace to each other:
As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. I Peter 4:10
Men, as you received the gift of God’s saving grace, you’re supposed to minister God’s undeserved grace to other Christians, especially your wife and children. We’re to minister as we have received the gift. You can’t give what you don’t have. If you don’t give God’s grace, do you have God’s grace?
God forgot about your sins when He saved you. When He looks on you, and on your wife, He sees the perfection of His Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. How can He do that when we’re so imperfect? That’s what God’s gift of grace is, God sees us as so much better than we are that He sees us as perfect! What does it mean to be a steward of the manifold grace of God? You treat everyone else as though they were perfect. The grace God flows through you as you pass it on! The more grace you pass on, the more grace you get.
I Prayed the Prayer
When I challenge someone’s salvation, I generally hear, “But I prayed the prayer!” Does saying a prayer save you? Not necessarily. Luke 20:47 says of the scribes that, “for a shew make long prayers.” Their prayers were all show! They meant nothing! What did Jesus say of the Scribes and Pharisees?
Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. Matthew 15:7-9
These people made long prayers. They said they belonged to God, but their hearts weren’t with God. Their worship, prayers, going to church, giving to the church, it was all vain! It meant nothing! Prayer is important:
Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. Matthew 10:32
That’s why people put such faith in “the prayer.” It’s true that prayer is important, but there’s more to it:
But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Romans 10:8-10
God’s words must be in your mouth, but they start in your heart. Christ’s confession starts in your heart and flows from your heart to your mouth. If it’s just in your mouth, it’s as vain as the long prayers of the scribes.
It’s not what you Say, It’s what you Believe
Words don’t save you. Ephesians 2:8, “For by grace are ye saved through faith.” Your words express your faith. If there’s no faith, your prayer is empty words and you go to hell when you die. This is serious:
When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Matthew 25:31-40
Jesus welcomes His sheep into the kingdom “prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” They’re surprised – they weren’t expecting it. They asked, “When did we do all this?” Jesus explained, “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” What about the goats?
Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal. Matthew 25:41-46
God doesn’t want to send anyone to Hell, the everlasting fire was prepared for the Devil and for his angels (Mt. 25:41). The goats are surprised to be rejected. They don’t know why! The Pharisees said long prayers. They praised God. They followed the law, but their hearts weren’t right towards God. Jesus said, “not to one of the least of these,” they didn’t take care of the needy, not even one of the needy.
Jesus said “least of these.” Men, husbands, I Peter 3:7 says, “Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honor unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel…” Your wife is generally physically weaker and emotionally weaker than you are. Jesus said, “Ye have done it unto me.” Whatever you do to your wife, you do unto Christ. On the right hand, if you nourish her and cherish her, you nourish and cherish Christ. If you praise and appreciate her, you praise and appreciate your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
On the left hand, if you criticize your wife, you criticize Christ. If you neglect her, you neglect Christ. Are you one of His sheep? Or are you a goat? You know which you are. So does God. So does your wife.
Young men, think about your mothers. In Pro. 31:28, God commands, “Her children arise up, and call her blessed.” If you don’t praise your mother, if you don’t bless your mother, you’re in disobedience to God.
Things which Jesus praised His sheep for doing and condemned the goats for not doing, these are the “good works” the Bible commands. These “good works” are signs of salvation; they’re the product of salvation. When God saves you, He makes you into a new creature. You die to your old self.
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:10
You walk in good works after you’re saved. Good works don’t save you, they’re the result of accepting salvation. Good works are what you do after you let God turn you into a new creature. Not all faith saves. James 2:19 says, “The devils also believe, and tremble.” The devils’ belief won’t take them to heaven, they’re going to hell. If you have true, saving faith, it shows in what you do. James explains it:
What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? James 2:14-20
James asked, “can faith save him?” It depends on the faith. You say you have faith, but if you have real faith, saving faith, it comes out in what you do. Children understand this, what’s the matter with adults?
If you’re saved and you know it, then your life will surely show it,
If you’re saved and you know it, pass it on!
If you’re truly saved, guys, your faith in belonging to a loving God shows in how you treat your wife. Lots of people I know claim the name of Christ. They say they’re saved, they may think they’re saved, but the Bible teaches that there will be tares, that is, weeds, or false Christians, in the churches. They hang around the church, but they’ll end up in Hell. Jesus explained, “Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them (Mt 7:20).” We know the tares by what they do and by what they don’t do.
A Final Thought for Men
I don’t have to tell you that a woman can give you the joys of Heaven, you know that. Whether you’ll admit it or not, you know that you don’t deserve this. A wife is a gift of God who has to be appreciated according to His rules. Let’s look at the down side. What was Delilah’s complaint against Sampson?
And she said unto him, How canst thou say, I love thee, when thine heart is not with me? thou hast mocked me these three times, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lieth. And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, so that his soul was vexed unto death; Judges 16:15-16
Sampson was a big, strong guy. It’s the story of the football captain and the cheerleader, it’s been told a thousand times. He said he loved her, but he didn’t open his heart to her. He wasn’t hers, so what good was he to her? Why not get a few bucks selling him to the Lords of the Philistines?
She got what she wanted because she “pressed him daily with her words.” God gave women the power to vex a man’s soul to death with the power of her tongue, but He also gave women the power to speak words of health and kindness. How can you expect a woman to treat you well when you don’t belong to her?
Don’t tell me it’s because you feed her. A man should provide for his wife, but it’s not a business deal. You provide for your wife out of love, and not for what you can get. What do we call it when a man pays a woman for her favors? We call it whoredom. Works-based marriage – I’ll do this for you if you’ll do this for me – makes life Hell on earth just as works-based salvation takes you to Hell when you die.
If you don’t love your wife enough to take care of her cheerfully no matter what she does, do you love God? If you aren’t willing to belong to your wife, do you truly belong to God?
Guys, the book of Ecclesiastes teaches that everything a man does for himself is vanity. Read the book. Solomon did it all for himself. He owned 1,000 women, yet his soul was empty. Ecclesiastes 7:28 says, “but a woman among all those have I not found.” What’s tragic is that he himself gave the solution:
Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun, all the days of thy vanity: for that is thy portion in this life, and in thy labor which thou takest under the sun. Ecclesiastes 9:9
Supporting your wife joyfully and belonging to her instead of working to please yourself gives joy and meaning to your life. That’s all there is, guys, your work and your wife. They’re both gifts of God. Taking care of your wife gives meaning to your work just as taking care of you gives meaning to her life.
Submitting to Husbands
The Bible teaches that wives should submit to their husbands. This is hard to do; the Bible says four times that it’s humbling to open yourself to a man. Also, ladies, you’re to call your husband “Lord.” You’re to reverence him as you reverence Christ (Eph 5:33). If a woman knows that and won’t do it, does she love God? Does she think God is good for her? If she won’t belong to her husband, does she belong to God?
My wife and I discussed this with a married woman. She told us, “I don’t want to hear any more about this submission stuff.” She soon left that church and went elsewhere.
She knew the will of God. At the very least, she didn’t believe that God is good for her. If she believed that God was good for her, she’d believe that submitting to her husband would benefit her as nourishing her and cherishing her would benefit her husband. She doesn’t believe God is good. Does she believe enough to be saved? I doubt it. I’ll find out – when the roll is called up yonder, she may not be there.
A woman challenged me, “Are you saying I have to submit to my husband?” I asked her what the Bible said. She and I agreed that that’s what it said, twice:
Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. Ephesians 5:22
Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord. Colossians 3:18
Then I asked her, “Do you know how your husband is commanded to lead you?” She didn’t.
But Jesus called them to him, and saith unto them, Ye know that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and their great ones exercise authority upon them. But so shall it not be among you: but whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister: And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all. Mark 10:42-44
“If your husband wants to be great,” I said, “he’s supposed to minister to you. If he’s to be the chiefest, he’s to be the servant of all. How would that be? Would that be OK?” She thought that would be fine.
Then I asked, “Are you willing to follow your husband? Servant leadership works only on those who’re willing to be led. If you won’t follow, your husband can’t lead you by serving you. It’s up to you, not him.”
She went away sorrowful; I never saw her again. You see ladies, men know they’re supposed to lead; it gets difficult when you won’t follow. What can a man do if you refuse to follow, beat you? Some men do.
Modern women are taught to be independent, to be their own persons, to please themselves, and not to follow anyone. This is an old temptation. Eve liked Satan’s idea because she would “be as gods,” and not be so dependent on her husband or on God. Eve’s sin was motivated by independence. She refused to follow God’s perfect leadership, so God commanded women to follow their husbands’ imperfect leadership.
Do you believe that God is good for you? Do you believe that obeying God would be good for you? What about submission? Submission and obedience are very hard which is why they’re commanded several times.
Few women know what submission is; older women aren’t teaching them. Submission includes the kitchen in that you should cook what your husband likes. It means submitting your desires and your will to his. The Bible says “submit yourself,” so submission starts in bed. Belonging to your husband as the wife in the Song belongs to her husband starts in bed. Submission means opening yourself to your husband when he wants you, offering when he hasn’t asked, and thanking him afterward from time to time. Don’t you want him to open his heart to you whenever you want to talk to him?
This is important, ladies. Adam said of Eve, “This is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.” Adam expected Eve to be part of him, that’s what Jesus meant by “one flesh.” There’s more:
A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband: but she that maketh ashamed is as rottenness in his bones. Proverbs 12:4
Nothing shames a man like having a woman who won’t submit to him, who won’t obey him. Nothing. Ladies, lack of submission rots your husband’s bones. That’s not good for his health. God said it’s not good for a man to be alone. He meant it – men generally die before their wives. Shortening your husband’s life by rotting his bones means you’ll be a widow that many more years. Is that what you want?
Signing Up
People complain, “I didn’t sign up for that!” Women didn’t know their husbands would want to do the same old thing over and over, men didn’t know their wives would want to talk about the same old thing over and over. Tough! When a teenager joins the military, he or she swears to follow orders. Do they have any idea what they’re promising? No, but the army expects them to follow anyway.
Malachi 2:14 says, “the LORD hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth.” When you vowed “until death us do part,” you vowed to God; He was in on it. You should keep vows to God:
When thou shalt vow a vow unto the LORD thy God, thou shalt not slack to pay it: for the LORD thy God will surely require it of thee; and it would be sin in thee. Deuteronomy 23:21
What did you sign up for in your marriage vows? You promised to treat your spouse as perfect for you:
Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. Ephesians 4:31-32
God forbids you to speak to your spouse unkindly. God commands you to forgive your spouse in the same perfect way that God forgave you when He saved you. Do you have God’s forgiveness to pass on? James taught that works didn’t save you, but if you have saving faith, good works come out of your faith. Forgiveness is one of God’s “good works.” Forgiveness shows your faith:
For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. Matthew 6:14-15
God won’t forgive your sins if you aren’t His, if you aren’t saved. When I see husband or wife being unforgiving, holding anger, speaking evil about each other, I doubt if I’ll see them in heaven.
A Testimony
Let me illustrate the joys of obeying God’s simple, but oh, so difficult, command that husband and wife die to themselves and belong to each other. On our wedding night, Roberta opened herself to me and I took her to wife with joy and gladness. She was filled with fear; her heart knew God wanted her to be mine; her head wanted to stay independent. She couldn’t belong to me in her own strength. She prayed; God gave her the strength. She’s been mine since Aug. 21, 1971, and God has honored her obedience. Belonging to me gives her confidence that she belongs to God, but what of me?
Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; Ephesians 5:24
Can I love Roberta with the love of Christ in my own strength? Of course not, but I asked Jesus’ help; He channeled His love through me to Roberta. This isn’t John 3:16 which says God loves the world, it says “as Christ also loved the church.” Jesus has special love for His very own people, for His very own church.
Wives know men are possessive; what about Jesus? Is Jesus possessive of His Own? John 10:28 says, “neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” Ponder this. Jesus gave Himself for the church. He leads us, He nourishes us, He cherishes us, but what about the lost? What about those who aren’t His? He loves them, He longs for them, He has compassion for them, but He can’t nourish them as He nourishes His own. There are people in the church whom Christ can’t love fully because they walk their own way, they won’t ask Him for leadership or guidance. They walk in the flesh, not the spirit. They don’t act like they’re His.
Woman, how can your husband nourish you and cherish you if you aren’t his? Through God’s grace, he can in part, but not fully. Roberta made it easier for me to give my life for her by belonging to me. Through God’s grace, I’ve given my life to nourishing her; I belong to her as she belongs to me, it’s mutual. People see when husband and wife belong to each other; a couple can’t be one flesh without belonging to each other. Couples who walk in the flesh instead of belonging to each other give little if any light to a lost and dying world.
Men, think about this. Lost folks sing, “Stand by your man;” how can your wife stand by you if you aren’t hers? God wants married people to belong to each other and become one flesh in Him (Mt. 19:5-6).
I Cor. 11:8-9 teaches that women are made for men; Roberta felt a very strong surge of wanting to belong to me after I took her to wife. I know many women who try to belong to men who won’t belong to them. When a man won’t belong to his wife, it’s nearly impossible for him to believe that she belongs to him; he usually tries to rule her by crushing her. The woman dies inside; you can see death in her eyes and she often dies young.
Roberta didn’t tell me of her fears for 10 years after becoming mine, but she did want to talk about it. She said, “I’ve been thinking about being married to you.” I thought, “We’re married, what’s to talk about,” but she had told me before our wedding that talking to me would be important to her, so we talked. “The Bible says God wants me to belong to you, obey you, and submit to you,” she said. I thought, “We’re on the same page!” but she wasn’t done. “I’ll do my best to do that,” she said, “but I’m not doing it just for you. I’m doing it for God because He told me to. I’m serving God by serving you because God wants me to serve you.”
Whoa. I thought about that for a long time and I still think about it. The next day, I told her, “I’ve been thinking about what you said. God wants me to lead you and take care of you. The Bible also says that anyone who would be first of all must be least of all and servant of all. If I’m to lead you as God wants me to lead, I’ll have to serve you. You said it very well–I’ll serve God by serving you because God wants me to serve you.”
Roberta had known that women are made for men but she hadn’t expected her heart to want her to lose her independence and belong to me. Being mine was humbling and scary, but she was saved, she knew that she belonged to God and trusted God to take care of her. She chose to humble herself and let God give her to me.
I knew I loved her but I hadn’t realized how much God wanted me to serve her nor did I know that God wanted me to become hers by opening my heart to her. I was saved, I trusted God with my life, it was OK with me for God to tell me to humble myself by belonging to the woman He gave me to be my wife. Serving God in the past made it easier for us to humble ourselves, belong to each other, and become “one flesh.” A wife wants her husband to be hers as much as he wants her to be his, but most married people keep their independence and choose not to become one. Obeying God by belonging to each other is humbling but it has brought us great joy.
John 10:29 says, “My Father, which gave them me.” Christians are God’s gift to Jesus as a husband is God’s gift to his wife and a wife is God’s gift to her husband. It’s mutual belonging; the Song of Solomon says twice (2:16, 6:3) that the husband belongs to his wife and that she belongs to him. Lost people speak of “my husband” and “my wife.” Everybody knows a man should belong to his wife and that she should belong to him.
My wife also belongs to Jesus. She knows that Jesus’ love is not oppressive or demanding, Jesus’ love is for her good. Watching how Jesus nourishes her and cherishes her as God’s gift to Him teaches her how to nourish me and cherish me as God’s gift to her; she cherishes me for my good. God gave women a desire to take care of their husbands, but your wife can’t care for you fully unless you belong to her.
I belong to Jesus. I watch Jesus take care of me; I see how He takes care of me for my good. When Roberta became mine, I knew I had to care for her for her good, not for my good. We knew how we should care for each other from watching Jesus care for us, but neither of us can nourish the other fully without His help.
A woman can belong to a man for a while even if he isn’t hers, but unless he belongs to her, he won’t realize that she’s his. It’s difficult for a woman to continue belonging to a man who refuses to belong to her.
Some may think I’m less of a man because I belong to a woman, but consider this. I’m hers, so my happiness belongs to Roberta; making me happy makes her happy. Giving herself to me gladly makes me very happy. She gives herself, not grudgingly or of necessity, but cheerfully (II Co. 9:7). Belonging to a wife who’s glad to give herself to me makes me more of a man; seeing my joy in her makes her happy and she’s more of a woman.
God expects me to give my life for her. I earn so much an hour; when she spends that much, she’s spent one hour of my life. I give my life, not grudgingly or of necessity, but cheerfully (II Co. 9:7). Roberta is mine; her happiness belongs to me. Spending money on our house or children makes her happy; her happiness makes me far happier than spending money on me. If you’re married, your joy lies in making your spouse happy.
You don’t marry to get, you marry to give; it’s just like the Christian walk. We come to church to edify, to build up, to encourage, to minister, we don’t come to church just to get. Coming to church blesses us just as God meant marriage to bless us, of course, but blessing comes more from giving than from getting.
How can you die to yourself and be saved without God’s help? You can’t. You can’t save yourself without His strength, you have to ask. How can a man and a woman die to themselves and belong to each other in their own strength? You can’t. Roberta couldn’t, she had to ask God’s help, I couldn’t, I had to ask God’s help. But as we ask God to help us belong to each other, God continually reminds us both that we belong to Him. For with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again (Matthew 7:2); we reap what we sow. As Roberta and I sow forgiveness to each other, God reminds us that He forgives us both. As we nourish and cherish each other, God reminds us that He cherishes and nourishes both of us because we both belong to Him.
The Flowchart
We’ve gone over a simple flowchart you can use to find out what your friends think about God. If you end up with someone saying that they believe in God, and that God is good, the bottom line is,
And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? Luke 6:46
If you don’t believe, you won’t do God’s good works. If you don’t believe, you’ll die and go to Hell. Jesus said, “Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels” and sent the goats to Hell. What they did showed their hearts. They didn’t believe in their hearts, so their works were evil.
They were surprised. They’d said many prayers. They expected praise. What are you? Why bother to call Jesus “Lord” if you don’t do the things He says?
Husbands, wives, how can you claim salvation if you keep bitterness in your hearts and won’t forgive one another? You can’t treat your spouse as perfect the way God does without forgiving imperfections as God does.
The Key Differences
There are two unique differences between the Christian God and all other gods:
1) Jesus came to earth, lived among us as a man, died to take the punishment for our sins so that we could spend eternity in Heaven (Jn. 3:17), and rose again from the grave to show His power over death and reigns in Heaven. All other religious figures – Mohammed, Joseph Smith, Buddha, Mary Baker Eddy – are dead.
2) God the Father loves the entire world (Jn. 3:16-17) and His Son Jesus Christ offers His special love to anyone who asks Jesus to wash away his sins and to give him the strength to repent from his sins, which means to stop doing them. Other gods have no love for people, take from people, and never give.
Altar Call
It’s time to obey God; I speak to the saved, I speak to God’s people. If you’ve never felt the forgiveness and love of God, you probably aren’t saved; you need to see someone and learn how to be saved. You can’t give what you haven’t got; you can’t pass on God’s love, grace, and forgiveness unless you first have it yourself.
We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain. (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.) II Corinthians 6:1-2
Paul reminded the Corinthians that as we work to build the church, we work together with God, we’re God’s co-workers. He then begged them not to receive God’s grace in vain. If you let God’s grace just sit in you, it’s in vain; you have to pass God’s grace on by forgiving other people. Verse 2 reminds us that God helped us by giving us His grace in our day of salvation; He will help us by giving us His grace in our day of forgiveness.
I speak to God’s People who haven’t forgiven. Now is the time to forgive. You can’t do it by yourself, I couldn’t, but God can forgive anyone who wronged or offended you as God forgave you. If you channel God’s forgiveness to someone else, you’ll remember how God saved you; if not, bitterness and fear consume you.
If you won’t do it for your own sake, if you won’t forgive to restore the joy in your own salvation, what about your children? You want your children to accept God’s salvation. Accepting God’s offer means believing God forgives them. How can your children believe God forgives if you won’t forgive?
If you’ve said anything bitter against anyone in the church, your children know you won’t forgive. When God draws your child, Satan whispers, “God won’t forgive you-your parents don’t forgive. What makes you think God would forgive you?” Here’s another of God’s commands:
Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: and be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. Ephesians 4:31-32
Husbands, wives, what if there's adultery, fornication, or anger in your lives? What if you won't forgive? Your children know. Your children may not know how you've hurt each other, but they know that there is hurt that you won't forgive. Your children know whether you belong to each other. Wife, if you won't forgive your husband enough to call him “Lord,” how can your children call God “Lord?” Husband, if you won’t nourish and cherish your wife, how can your children believe God will nourish and cherish them? If you won’t praise and encourage her, will your children learn to find praise and encouragement of the righteous in God’s Word?
Husband, if you're bitter against your wife, if you won't forgive her, if you won't honor, praise, or appreciate her, you'll teach your sons to treat women as toys and you'll teach your daughters to let men play with them instead of treating them as treasures. If either of you use your tongue as an evil-speaking sword against the other, you'll likely drive each other to the sins of the flesh, be it pornography or adultery in men and gossip and slander in women. Your children will learn to use their tongues as swords and to fill their eyes with lust. Your house will be filled with conflict, and your children will learn to find pleasure in speaking evil one to another.
Let’s stand, we’ll beg for strength to forgive one another. I know it’s hard. If you have to come to the altar to ask God’s help, come, but remember the command, “As Christ forgave you, so also do ye.” Remember, too, that if you refuse to forgive others, God will seem unforgiving to you.
For with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again (Matthew 7:2). If you won’t forgive, you won't feel forgiven. God is a forgiving God, God doesn’t do this to you; you do it to yourself, but you also do it to your children. If you don't forgive, if you don't see God as a forgiving God, your children won't believe in His forgiveness either. If you want God to show Himself to you and to your children as a loving, forgiving God, you have to love and forgive. Let’s forgive and rejoice in the joy of our forgiveness!
I know you can’t forgive by yourself, nobody can. God can forgive through you; God will forgive through you if only you ask. It may take a while. Some sins stick with you, but God will do it if you ask in faith because it's His will that you forgive. When He does, you'll feel rivers of living water flow through; it will be like when you first felt the joy of forgiveness in salvation or when you first felt the joy in marriage.
If you really want to forgive someone, if you want God’s love and forgiveness to flow through you, if you want God’s living waters to flow out of you, you have to pass it on. Pray that God will give you the strength and humility to tell the other person of your forgiveness so you can enjoy the love and grace of God together.
[i] Lindsay, Dennis, "The Dinosaur Dilemma," Christ for the Nations, Vol. 35, No. 8, November 1982, pp. 4-5, 14.
[ii] https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/18/AR2008071802558.html
[iii] http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3632462.stm
posted by Bill Taylor at 11:11 AM
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