The Holy Scriptures: True

It is popular these days to postulate that the Holy Scriptures cannot be fully understood, that there is a cloud of mystery surrounding them that keeps us from there full value. A claim to that end is that they are not true, historically speaking. Some make claims that although the Scriptures contain many great "truths" they are not themselves "true." Some have gone so far to say that the Scripture actually makes no claim to "be true" but just that it is "truth". The clear dangers of such a post-modern, relativistic view of Scripture is easy to see and depending on how far one would take such a notion, could in fact dismantle the entire Gospel itself.

Does the Scripture make claims that it is in fact fact? I think it does. In the Gospel According to Luke, the author Luke plainly states that he has "undertaken a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us" just as they were delivered to him by the "eyewitnesses and ministers of the word". And that he had "followed all things closely...to write an orderly account". He said these things that we "may have certainty concerning the things [we] have been taught" (emphasis added).

It was Luke's purpose to make sure that we understood that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, as he recorded it for us, was true. A clear problem that arises from a Truth not True position is that you have to pick and choose what you are going to believe is true and what is not. The Corinthian church, for example, wanted to believe that Christ was raised from the dead, but that there would not be a "resurrection of the dead." They started to slip in their understanding of the Gospel. They believed the the Gospel had Truth but they stopped believing that is was True.

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all...he appeared also to me...Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. (Emphasis and underlines added)

Notice Paul's emphasis of the facts. If certain facts about Jesus' life aren't true then we have no hope, for this life or the next. Our hope does not lie in some theoretical truth that applies to our lives in only some meta-physical way that we can then apply to our lives. No, our hope lies in the fact that Christ lived the life described in the Scriptures and that He died the death described in the Scriptures and that He was raised according to the Scriptures. Without it we have nothing.

The very reason the Scriptures were written is so we can have full assurance that Jesus was and is who He said was. This is certainly not a comprehensive argument, by any means, and it wasn't intended to be. It's simply a reminder, to myself as much as anyone else. A reminder that God is and God has spoken and that His words are True.

Love, Love Changes Everything

"Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you."

The transforming power of choosing to love your enemies is unbelievable. The other day I was listening to a sermon series by John MacArthur and he spoke on what it truly means to love your enemies and what it looks like to bless those who curse you and why. Luke 6:27-38.

And I realized, while listened to him expound upon the words of Jesus, our Lord and Savior, that I hate all my enemies. I hate the guy that cuts me off in traffic. I hate the guy at work that tells me I don't work hard enough to make himself fell better about his own short comings. I hate the guy that's constantly antagonizing me and makes my job harder by being intentionally lazy. All of them, too many to count.

There was a lot in those three sermons and every bit of it was piercing my heart. The Spirit was there with me, speaking to me more clearly than I have heard in a long time. People outside the Kingdom hate their enemies. God loves his enemies, I was his enemy, he loved me to the cross. After realizing that I was actually hating my enemies I was liberated to have the choice, the choice not to. I am free. I am free from hating my enemies. I can still choose to if I want, and I'm sure undoubtedly that I will. But I have been set free. It was for freedom that Christ set me free. I feel like my heart is brand new!

"Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you."

Thank you for reading!
Scott.

SBE #1: The Forgiveness of Sins

(originally published THURSDAY, MARCH 17, 2005)

As for me, I am not one to think to highly of my own opinion... well, not too highly anyway. You might disagree if you know me, but I have been through a lot lately. Not anything I will go into presently, but I assure you, real change is taking place.

Not long ago, forget about how long exactly, it does not matter, I realized that forgiving people, of wrongs they have done to us, is about the hardest thing we might ever have to do. For some, admittedly, it does seem come easier than for others. But for those whom it does come easy, we might tend to question the depth of that forgiveness. It is not enough that we tell someone that we forgive them while still harboring resentment, all the while playing well the part of a friend. Nor is it enough that we are just "okay" with them, tolerating them, so to speak; we must forgive as our Father forgives.

When our Heavenly Father forgives us of our unquenchable debt against Him, He does not simply say "Well, I'm okay with you, but I can't lose that wisdom of what you did!" No, He is willing to separate our transgressions as far from us as the east is from the west. "Wait," we reply, "you mean, that when we forgive others, that's it?" Yes, when God forgives His children, it is as if they have never sinned at all. He keeps no record of past wrongs. And that, for us, is where the real challenge lies. Can we forgive someone as if they never trespassed against us? Just try to imagine, God the Father, Knower of All, Omni-everything, Perfect beyond Perfection, without even the smallest trace of blemish, whose very being defines Purity, and exemplifies Truth, the One who has numbered the hairs on our heads! yet HE is willing to quite literally forget that we sinned against Him. How?! Why?! Is it the only way He could stand to be around us, if He must (eternally speaking). Or is it just one more great example of how huge the pool of His Grace and Mercy really is. If God held on to that past wisdom, what would it be like. I have ran it over and over again in my mind, a scenario:

"Hello my child. Welcome to my throne room"
"Thank you, Mighty One."
"Well, I see that you have trusted in my Sons sacrifice for the forgiveness of your sins..."
"Yes, Your Worship."
"Well, that's all well and good, however..."
"...However?"
"Yes well, you see, I just can let go of the wisdom that I acquired through out your life time, how horrible of a person you were to me and how untrustworthy you were, I mean, I do forgive you, I'm okay with you and all, I just I don't really want you around me or my Family. Talk to y..." And there he cuts Himself off, because, He was about to say, "talk to you later," but He does not intend to. And with that He bids you good-bye.

Could you imagine the horror. "But I was forgiven!" Our cry falls on deaf ears, because: He forgave us as we forgave those.

This is not to say that by any means I have perfected forgiveness, in of myself. I think myself to fall into that "easy forgiver" category. But I have tasted it. It's just a very subtle taste, but do not miss my meaning here, one that is small, yet very powerful. Like when you have just the smallest fragment of peppercorn in your mouth, no bigger than a grain of sand, and then when you bite it, this little thing sets your whole mouth afire! I know that God has forgiven me, of that I have no doubts, but I do not think we ('we,' here, being those of us whom have accepted His forgiveness) can completely, and truly understand what that means, not until, at least, the Glory.

Here we must realize that our debt to Him is beyond self reconciliation, there in nothing we can do to pay it off. But what is this? He pays the debt for us! How absurd! from a human point of view. Only when we realize this is that seed of Forgiveness planted. And this is where we must make a choice, to nurture that seed, and see it grow into full maturity, like a mighty redwood, or just to let it sit there within us, never germinating, never sprouting, never peaking it's first little leaves above the top of the soil. Our choice, really, is no choice. How much more is our debt to God than another's could be to us. The concept of not forgiving others, when weighed against that, is utter foolishness. We must pay the debt of others ourselves, or at the very least absolve it completely.

Forgiveness is not easy, not for people anyway. I do not know, nor will I make any assumption as to the degree of difficultly God has with it. All things are possible with Abba, but does that mean all things are easy? Who knows?! But for us, as we live on Earth, forgiving is a challenge, and one we must face, and conquer. Our only hope lies in the empowering of His Spirit dwelling inside of us. We must learn to rely on God to be our strength to truly forgive others. We cannot do it on our own. Praise the LORD! that he has sent His mighty Helper.

"For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return." Luke 7:38(b) NASB

Thank you for reading!
Scott.