Among the doctrines of the Christian faith, one of “the most puzzling and least understood” is said to be the doctrine of predestination — and understandably so. Over the decades people have debated, often heatedly, issues involved in this doctrine.The doctrine has polarized those who, on the one hand, smugly believe they have been “predestined” by God for salvation while others [“Tough luck, man!”] have been “predestined” to damnation, and those who, on the other hand, cannot believe in a God who seems incomprehensibly capricious and arbitrary, showing “favoritism.”
Is Jesus Your Lord — Really?
Today almost a third of the world’s population professes belief in Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord. How sure are these people — and those who watch their lives from different religious angles — that Jesus is indeed their Lord? If you say you are a Christian, how sure are you that Jesus is really and truly your Lord? Only a few questions are as important to your salvation as this one!
Spiritual Dyslexia
“Impairment of the ability to read, often as the result of genetic defect or brain injury,” thus Webster’s New World Dictionary defines “dyslexia.”
Dyslexic or dyslectic persons often misread words by interchanging letters or combinations of letters — or even whole words and phrases. Thus, for example, such a person might read “not” as “ton” (or vice-versa), “hobo” as “boho,” etc. Or this one-liner by Stewart Francis: “I read that ten out of two people are dyslexic.”
When it comes to spiritual matters, there is also impairment in man’s ability to read the Word of God, the Holy Bible. That is, with man’s natural reason alone, man often misreads God’s Word. The irony is that most people read books on such matters as the sciences and are generally agreed about what the books mean. But not so with God’s Word. It seems like some spiritual “genetic defect” or “brain injury” has been passed on to all mankind from our first parents, Adam and Eve. [See: “Your Eyes Will Be Opened!”]
Beware of False Prophets
Long, long before Jesus warned that false prophets would arise during our time (Matthew 24:11, 24) — and long, long before the apostle Peter warned about the same threat to true Christian believers (2 Peter 2:1-2) — there had been many false prophets in Israel (and in the world, for that matter).
“But there were false prophets also among the people [the ancient nation of Israel] even as there will be false teachers among you [God’s Church], who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber” (2 Peter 2:1-5, NKJV throughout, unless otherwise stated).
No Walls, No Ceiling?
“No walls, no ceiling…,” cried a plaintive 1970s song. It expressed a longing for freedom from restrictions and inhibitions that many in our modern world feel hemmed in by. Indeed, the words “liberty” and “liberation” have been used to explain some definition of “freedom” which people want, or which Jesus Christ is supposed to have brought to sinners. “Limitless” or “unlimited,” a word bandied about by mobile phone service providers and by some restaurants, expresses the idea. So does the wish or boast: “without borders” or “beyond borders.”
The question is: Is there never a place for walls and ceilings – for limits or borders — in our lives? What is God’s Word on this?
No Such Thing as Sin?
Some years ago an urgent Internet message was forwarded to me separately by two persons via e-mail. The message carried a warning about the alarming teachings being actively promoted by a popular female TV host.
One such alarming doctrine is that there is no such thing as “sin.” That means that whatever one does is OK — even if it hurts oneself or others; one doesn’t need to feel guilty about it.
And, since there is no such thing as sin, there is no need to repent. Nor is there anymore a need for a Savior to forgive us of sin because sin, according to this belief, does not exist anyway.
The Two Laws in Hebrews 10
The author of the Letter to the Hebrews [in all probability the apostle Paul; see: Who Wrote the Letter to the Hebrews?], in Chapter 10, continues his theme about the law of God. In 7:12, he had talked about a “change of the law” being made of necessity because of the change in the priesthood from Aaron/Levi to Jesus/Melchizedek.
The author then proceeds to explain the law being changed in regard to the tribe of Israel assigned by God to the priesthood: from Levi to Judah (7:14-17) — in Jesus Christ, who was a Jew (short for Judah).
Transgressions Under the First Covenant
And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. (Hebrews 9:15, NKJV)
There is a prevailing understanding among many Bible students that, with Christ’s coming and ushering in the new covenant, the Law in the old covenant which God struck with ancient Israel is now all done away. After all, Hebrews 8:13 says that, when Christ ushered in the new covenant, “He has made the first [or the “old” covenant] obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.”
Law Added to Law Transgressed
“What purpose does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions, till the Seed should come to whom the promise was made; …” (Galatians 3:19, New King James Version)
Some — if not most — people who read the above Bible passage assume that “the law” mentioned here is the law of God that defines what sin is and what righteousness is [see: Barking up the Wrong Tree]. They understand this verse to say that that law of God was added only because man had — beginning with Adam and Eve — “transgressed.” That, before that, there had been no other law. Now that Christ (“the Seed”) has come, that law, supposedly, is no longer necessary.
Barking up the Wrong Tree
Some people say that there is little love in the world because there is so much focus on, or preoccupation with, “lists and duties” to do, instead of simply “loving” God and neighbor as oneself. This preoccupation is often called “religion” as opposed to true “spirituality.” And because such a religion has often caused pain and heartache – even alienation among family and friends because of judgmental and perfectionist attitudes – it has been labeled as “toxic religion.”