The Bible: God's Word? by Jim McGuiggan

https://web.archive.org/web/20160426090825/http://jimmcguiggan.com/nonbelievers2.asp?id=29

The Bible: God's Word?

I believe the Bible is God's word. I believe the whole Bible is God's word. Precisely what that means and how it should be fully expressed is another discussion for another time but I need to make my conviction clear that in my view the Bible we have is the Bible the Spirit of God wanted us to have.

A host of non-believers can't accept that. There are many who won't commit to Christ though they accept the truth of scripture--they simply don't wish to follow Christ. Some non-believers (like some of us believers) just like to hear themselves talk so in ignorance they weigh in against scripture because it's fashionable in some quarters. Others, more serious, see difficulties of various kinds in a text claimed to be the word of God and just won't allow the Bible to be the end of all argument. They believe (with some justification) that man's religious and moral views have evolved and since the Bible, so they tell us, is the repository of man's religious convictions millennia ago, we should expect it to bear the marks of evolving religious and moral thought. Consequently, they tell us, we should expect to find outdated views and unsatisfactory ethical judgements. This makes sense but like everything else, it needs to be examined carefully and modified in light of the Bible we have rather than the Bible a lot of people think we have.

It's a shallow view of the Bible that sees it as nothing but a book of moral maxims. It's a mistaken view of the Bible to see it as an exhaustive blueprint for ethical and moral behaviour. The Bible records the shallow and erroneous views and the abominable behaviour of many of the people it deals with and on occasion it promotes the regulation of an evil rather than the immediate obliteration of that evil. (See the regulation of divorce in Deuteronomy 24:1-4 as a single illustration of this and Jesus' comment on it in Matthew 19:3-9, especially verse 8.)

I'd like to make two observations, close this piece and take it up again at another time. The first is this: Even if the non-believer can't accept the Bible as "the inspired word of God" it makes no sense to dismiss it as shallow and of little account. On anyone's estimate it is a profoundly influential volume that has shaped nations down the centuries and enriched their understanding and pursuit of social justice and personal transformation. I confess it irks me greatly to hear talk-show hosts silence those who quote scripture and then ask for Freudian opinion for some other guest. One doesn't have to believe in the verbal inspiration of scripture before he or she can recognise that the Bible is the most profound book in Western literature. (Thomas H. Huxley, the agnostic, was a perfect illustration of this truth.) And to dismiss scripture as though it hasn't changed the world for the better but give (almost amusing) credence to the latest psychological theorising is little short of ludicrous. (The most trenchant criticisms of the whole psychology enterprise these days come from professionals within the field. They're helping no one, they say, and least of all the practitioners.) So we should let the Bible be heard because, at the very least, it has earned that right as surely as Freud or Maslow or Fromm. (That last sentence strikes me as amusing on the one hand and stupid on the other. Imagine putting these men in the same league with the Hebrew-Christian scriptures, even for comparison sake?)

The second observation is this: I would urge non-believers to read the Bible in light of its central thrust. However one might phrase it, it's this: God is our Holy Father who created us, we rebelled against him and instead of obliterating us he began the work of redeeming us and this work of redemption has come to its fullness in Jesus Christ. This redemptive work is now ongoing and will be completed in a coming day when all wrongs will be righted and creation in totality will be set at rights. Whether the non-believers can ever swallow this Story is another question but it would mean (in my view) that they would be hearing the Bible's own message rather than a reduced version that isn't adequate for our needs.

Christ is the End of the Law of Moses by Alfred Shannon Jr.

https://biblicalproof.wordpress.com/2011/07/page/2/

Christ is the End of the Law of Moses

We are no longer under the law of Moses. We are no longer bound to remember, rest, or worship on the Sabbath day. The 10 commandments, (the covenant) is no longer in force. Jesus redeemed us from the curse of the law, and nailed it to the cross. Those who desire to be under the law are bound to keep the whole law, and failure to do so makes them guilty of all of it. If righteousness came by the law, then Christ died in vain. Those who justify themselves by the Law of Moses have fallen from grace, for Christ is the end of the law.

Today, we are under the perfect law of liberty, the law of Christ. Christ’s law states we must preach the Word of God in season, and out of season. We must speak only what the bible speaks, and be silent where the bible is silent. We must worship on Sunday, and attend the church Christ built, the church of Christ.We must remember the Lord’s death each first day of the week. We must sing, and make music in the heart to the Lord, and not with instruments. We must sing, and pray with the Spirit, and understanding. We must obey the gospel of Christ, and remain faithful until death.  If there be any other that the law of Christ contains, it is fulfilled with this: That we love one another as Christ also loved us. If we believe in the Man, we must also obey His plan, the man Christ Jesus.

Amos 8:5,9; Heb 4:3-11; Ex 34:28; Heb 8:6-13; Lk 16:16; Rom 7:1-6; 2 Cor 3; Gal 3:24,25; Eph 2:15,16; Col 2:14; Rom 3:19,20,28; Rom 6:14,15; Rom 10:4; Gal 3:10,13; Jam 2:10; Gal 2:21; Gal 5:4; Jam 1:25; Gal 6:2; 2 Tim 4:2-5; 1 Pet 4:11; Acts 20:7; Mt 16:18; Rom 16:16; Heb 10:25; 1 Col 11:24-26; Eph 5:19; 2 Thess 1:7-9; 2 Jn 9; Jn 13:34; Lk 6:46

Our Triune Nature (Part 2) Our undependable Flesh by Ben Fronczek

http://granvillenychurchofchrist.org/?p=1435

Our Triune Nature (Part 2) Our undependable Flesh

Our Triune Nature    (Part 2)     Our undependable Flesh

There is an amazing story in Matthew 26 which tells us what Jesus did on the last day before He died on that cross for us.

Before He was arrested we read the moving story of Him going to the garden of Gethsemane with His closest friends and disciples to pray.

He knew what was about to happen. He knew that He was going to be betrayed by Judas. He knew that He was going to be arrested. He knew that He was about to be mistreated. And He knew He was going to die a cruel death on a cross. I believe He knew full well He was the suffering servant of Isaiah 53.

And so of all things that He could have done that night He chose to eat the Passover meal with those closest to Him, (His Apostles) and then takes them out to one of His favorite spots to pray, in a garden of olive trees.

The last thing He asked them to do before He was arrested and put to death was to watch, and then to watch and pray so that they would not fall into temptation.   Read: Matthew 26:36-46 (click on verse to read)

He wanted His friends to be by His side to support Him, but they could not even do that. Not once did He find them asleep, but rather three times after asking them to watch and pray.

He also states a profound truth, “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

So in our text today we see where Jesus makes a distinction between what our spirit wants and how weak our flesh can be at times. He also gives His disciples some advice on how to overcome and press through the weakness of our flesh and the temptations that may come our way.

But before we get deeper into this text, I’d like to review what we began to talk about last week concerning our spirit and our flesh. We began a new series of lessons and I mentioned the fact that we are a triune being. We are a spirit, we have a soul, and for the time being both our spirit and soul live in a body, a body of flesh.

I would like to describe each of these parts a little more because each of these part are different as Jesus mentioned here in this text. As a matter of fact last week we read in Galatians 5:17 that     “17 the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other”

Let’s begin today by talking about the most obvious part, our body of flesh. When I think about the body, our flesh, there are many things that come to my mind:

– It doesn’t like to experience pain or discomfort

– It never wants to hurt, thirst, feel hungry, or cold or too hot.

– Rather if the truth be told, our body always wants and seeks to feel good and have a continuing flow of good and pleasing feeling and experiences.

– The flesh loves to be pampered.. It craves and enjoys rest, comfort, tasty food and drink, whatever we can do to make it feel pleasure and momentary satisfaction, even if it’s not the best thing to do for our overall health.

And when the body of flesh doesn’t get what it wants or craves, well it nags us, it has a hissy fit because it wants what it wants, when it wants it.

How many of you realize that your body of flesh will try to boss you around because it has strong cravings?  – Like a piece of chocolate would taste good right about now…  or as you drive by and ice cream stand on a hot summer day, and the flesh lets you know, ’Mmm, that sure would taste good on a day like today.’ Or coffee   – Or the flesh says, ‘Oh man I like the buzz I get when I drink a lot of alcohol, it relaxes me, make me feel good and I laugh a lot.’

The bodies of those apostles said I am tired… sleep, sleep, sleep.

Many times our bodies crave things that are not in our best interest.

Our Soul is a bit more complex. It is who we are as an individual. It is the seat of our personality, not necessarily our physical brain, but rather our mind, our heart. It is the seat of our emotions. It is where we determine what we want, what we feel, what we think, its where we actually decide to do, or not to do. Ultimately it should control the body and do what’s best, but if we are not careful or disciplined enough, it’s the other way around.

Now your soul does not necessarily tell you anything about God, rather it tells you about you. It tells you what you want, not what God wants. It tells you about how you feel, not about how God feels. And it tells you what you think, not what God thinks. And as you know, what we want and think and feel can be quite different that what God wants and thinks, and feels.

Sad to say, for most of us our soul is more closely linked to what our body craves than what the spirit wants, and know is best.

Our Spirit is even a more complex and a difficult to describe. In Genesis 1:26, we are told that God created us in His own image and likeness. I don’t necessarily believe that God was referring to our physical body being like His.

Rather, it is with a soul and spirit that we are created like Him, in His image. Our soul being our individual personality and our spirit the very essence and life force of our existence (both of which are from God Himself).

In essence, God is a spirit, and so too are we in essence (a spirit). We are a spirit created to be like God. But at present and for the time being our soul and spirit are now in this body of flesh.

Now God’s own Holy Spirit communes with our spirit. Our spirit is the part of us that hears from God. God’s spirit helps us believe, and have faith, and know things, giving us intuition and revelation. Often many refer to our spirit as our conscious.

But unfortunately, it is this part of us we seemingly ignore the most. .

Why? Because our body wants what it wants, when it wants it. And our mind of flesh listens to the flesh and sometimes just thinks w a y too much, thinks or reasons why we should give the flesh what it wants.

In 1 Thessalonians 5 Paul said that he hoped that our whole being, body, soul, and spirit would be sanctified or set apart for God’s holy use.

God can do so much with us if we just let Him.  As a Christian, we can actually allow a Holy Spirit invasion to take place in our being and in our life, where we can be so filled that every room of our soul and our life will be influenced by the Spirit of God, … that is if we let Him….

– Where He gets into and influences our thoughts

– And where He get into and effects our emotions

– Where He gets in and has an effect on our will and the fruit of that will be seen in our flesh and in our life.

As a Christian, that should be our goal; to bear good fruit just naturally or just because of who we are and what we have become in Christ.

As we learn to listen to our spirit which is now being guided and led by the Holy Spirit of God, our soul’s mind can be empowered to do what is right rather than listening to what the flesh wants all the time.

Just because the body doesn’t feel like doing something it doesn’t mean we have to give into it. I’m sure there are many days you don’t feel like coming to church or going to Bible study, but something in your gut, in your spirit has convinced your mind that you should go; not only for your benefit, but others as well, your brethren need to be encouraged by you as well.

You may feel like you should throw more in the collection plate on a particular week, maybe double or triple your regular contribution. Your flesh cries out and says ‘Hey wait a minute, think a little more about this. You could use that money to get something nice for yourself.’  And depending on who you listen to, it will determine what your soul’s mind decides to do.

Just a side note: I believe God tell us to give stuff away all the time (food, clothes, stuff in our homes and not just that old stuff you don’t want, even money) But all too often we don’t want to hear that. We don’t want to give our stuff away. As a matter of fact the mind of flesh tells us that it would be even better if you gave you your stuff to me so I could have even more.

So there’s this battle going on in us all the time. But in reality if we want to have more peace and be blessed by God, then we have to obey what God is telling us to do.

If God is prompting you to give something away, maybe a piece of jewelry, clothing, or maybe even that nice set of dishes, or a tool, or even a cow or a vehicle or a piece of land.  Do you know what happens if you don’t give that something away especially if you think God is telling you to give it to someone? If you don’t give it, every time you see that object you just don’t feel right. God will no longer enable or anoint you to enjoy it. Did you ever feel like you should have given something to someone and when did you felt good inside (maybe more blessed than the one you gave it to. But if you didn’t give it the it kinda haunts you?)

I don’t always have to know why God wants me to do something. The lesson here is we just need to learn to do what He tells me to do, that is what it means to walk in the Spirit, you do what God tells you to do; then you feel good. If you don’t you won’t have that peace.

Can you just imagine how Jesus’ disciples felt the next day after they buried Jesus. What He said in the garden probably haunted them; “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?”

What advice did He give them? He told them, and it a lesson for us today. He said, “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.”

“Watch”  in other words be alert, be prepared because you will be tempted. Expect to be tempted. We need to be ready because our flesh is weak.

And He also told them to pray, to do what He was doing. In Luke’s account it tells us that as Jesus agonized in prayer an angel came to Him and strengthened Him (Luke 22:43). No angel went to the apostle to strengthen them because they were sleeping.  I wonder many times God sends His angel to help us sight unseen when we cry out to Him in prayer of faith?

So the lesson for today, Jesus said that if we watch and pray it will help us when temptations come (and they will come). The flesh is weak and wants to give in, but the spirit is willing to do what’s right… choose who you are going to listen to.

(Sermon series based on material produced by J. Myers)

For more lessons click on the following link: http://granvillenychurchofchrist.org/?page_id=566

All comments can be emailed to: bfronzek@gmail.com

A Prayer for Unity by Trevor Bowen

http://insearchoftruth.org/articles/a_prayer_for_unity.html

A Prayer for Unity

Although we concern ourselves with unity of those we fellowship as members of the body of Christ, many people exist outside our fellowship, who call themselves Christians. Some of these may find confrontational and challenging Bible study a waste of time, because "We are all Christians already!", as they might say. Temporarily laying aside the necessary implications of our division upon our personal relationship with God, let us consider another undeniable reason for Bible study that questions our differences - unity. Unity was very important to Jesus. Let us consider, "Why?".

The Need for Unity

One of the dreadful consequences of division is lack of successful evangelism. Division depletes and diminishes our ability to reach the lost. In Jesus’ prayer for unity, he asks:

"I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me." (John 17:20-21)

Unity enhances and extends our influence to the lost, which creates more opportunities to teach and possibly convert sinners to Jesus. If we care about reaching the lost, then we will also care about being unified with others who call themselves Christians. One who does not so care for the lost neither hopes nor loves as God hoped and loved (Romans 5:6-8; I Corinthians 13:7; I John 4:7-11; Romans 8:20).

AGREE TO DISAGREE?

In addition to describing the benefit of unity, the above prayer also provides us a qualifying imperative: It must be a true unity, which exists only in Jesus Christ and the Father. Some have adopted the notion of "unity in diversity" as a means of solving our differences. The philosophy is "Let us agree to disagree". Although division is certainly evil, unity should not be obtained at the price of compromising truth:

"This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy." (James 3:15-17)

Division originates and is maintained wherever carnal desires reign. This occurs wherever man's will and wisdom are followed. However, if we submit our will to the "wisdom from above", then we will find peace. Yet, peace is not the most important goal of this divine wisdom. It is "first pure, then peaceable". Therefore, unity must never be achieved by sacrificing purity. Truth should not be sacrificed for a compromising peace accord (Jude 1:3; II Thessalonians 2:9-12; John 17:17).

What good is unity in error? Such unity only accelerates our rush into error, away from God, and into its consequential destruction. Only by seeking to unify on a pure, solid foundation may we find true peace (Philippians 4:13).

THE POWER OF PRAYER

How much power does Jesus’ prayer hold? James said that the prayer of a righteous man "avails much" (James 5:16-18). It is difficult to find a prayer uttered by a man more righteous than Christ; therefore, to those who esteem Him a righteous man, this prayer will hold great sway as it outlines Christ’s will for us. Never mind its influence on the mind of the Father as He provides for His children. The question for us is, "Do we feel any need to do our part to recognize the fulfillment of the Lord’s prayer?"

See also: When Jesus Prayed, The Gospel Guardian, vol. 6, num. 43, p. 5. March 10, 1955.

Author: Trevor Bowen

Pray Always! by EE Healy

http://www.eehealy.com/commentary/page12.shtml

Pray Always!

How many times each day do you pause to draw strength from prayer to God? If your spirit and closeness to God seems dim it may be that you have failed to keep open your line of communication with God through prayer. Jesus received much strength this way after many arduous hours teaching and working with his disciples. The men closest to Him often observed how much prayer meant in Jesus' life. It should be of no less value in our lives.

Will prayer really change things? Yes. It is not naïve to expect life to be far richer with prayer than without prayer. Some of the wisest people in the world depend upon prayer to receive the power of God they need to sustain the strains of life. The Christian believes prayer can keep him safe from harm, help heal the sick, feed his spiritual man. Scriptural? To be sure. [1 Pet 3:12] For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil." Or [Phil 4:6-7] Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (NIV)

Peace of mind is the most sought-after commodity today. Prayer yields the peace of God. Prayer is our contact with God and His grace, for unless we pray we have no direct contact with God in this vital way. In contact with God we receive the power to make our lives full and always glowing and growing.

Prayer can be a formality, a habit or a conformity that one yields to or it can be a product of faith that makes one believe God is his Father and hears and cares and acts.

We may not know always how to ask God for what is best for us…we might even foolishly ask God for things that are wrong, but we can be assured that if our prayers are in accord with His will we shall see them answered.

Ask in Christ's name and it shall be effective. [I Jn 5:11-15] And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us-- whatever we ask-- we know that we have what we asked of him. (NIV)

Jesus' influence with God the Father is used to the benefit of the one who prays in His name, or by His authority.

"God’s Not Dead": A Movie Review by Eric Lyons, M.Min. Kyle Butt, M.Div.

http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=12&article=4828

"God’s Not Dead": A Movie Review

by	Eric Lyons, M.Min. Kyle Butt, M.Div.

On March 21, 2014, the movie God’s Not Dead was released in 780 theaters across the country. Since then, more than 1,000 other theaters began showing the film, which grossed over $41 million in less than one month—pretty good for a movie with a budget of only $2 million (God’s Not Dead, 2014a).

Though many Christians and pro-Christian organizations around the country have been fairly complimentary of the film, general reviewers have not been so kind. RottenTomatoes.com rated the movie with one star, as only 15% of the Web site’s approved critics gave the movie a positive review (God’s Not Dead, 2014b). Although the Hollywood Reporter had a few positive things to say about the movie, in their “bottom line” they referred to it as a “simple-minded sermon” (Farber, 2014). Claudia Puig of USA Today has alleged that “the contrived premise of God’s Not Dead is anything but credible.” Puig dismissed the idea of a professor at a respected academic institution ever criticizing religion as “primitive superstition,” saying, “Even if a teacher believed this, it’s highly unlikely he would declare it to a class full of students” (2014, emp. added).

The fact of the matter is, belligerent criticism of theism and Christianity has been occurring on college campuses all over the country for years, and it is very appropriate for God’s Not Dead to raise awareness of such bullying from various intolerant, liberal professors. Sometime ago a gentleman, who had been a student at a well-known university in the southeastern United States, visited with us after one of our lectures and recounted how, at the beginning of one particular semester, a science professor asked students in the class to stand up if they believed in God. Seven individuals out of a fairly large class rose from their seats. The professor then went on to say that by the end of the semester not one of them would stand up when he asked that question. Sure enough, toward the end of the semester the professor posed the question again, “How many of you believe in God?” Only one student stood up. Several months later, another student from the same university confirmed that the same thing happened in one of her classes. There was obvious bullying and intimidation taking place. The often-overlooked fact is, theistic, creationist, and Christian-oriented students and professors are frequently the target of liberal, atheistic, and/or evolutionary professors and department heads (e.g., Kingkade, 2013; Bergman, 2008; Stein and Miller, 2008; see also Miller, 2011).

Perhaps the most powerful and pervasive message of God’s Not Dead is that any person who calls himself or herself a Christian must be willing to sacrifice everything for Christ. The hero of the movie, a young university freshman named Josh Wheaton, is willing to sacrifice his relationship with his fiancée, his university career, his future job, and his reputation to stand up for God’s existence. In a subplot, a young Muslim student is willing to sacrifice her family relationships for her belief in Christ. A freshman student from China is consistently urged by his father to stop thinking about “foolish” religious ideas and concentrate on his grades, but the young man refuses. And the girlfriend of the antagonistic atheistic professor breaks off their relationship because of her religious convictions.

This message of sacrifice is both biblical and extremely important in our increasingly self-centered society. Jesus said: “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me…. For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels” (Mark 8:34,38). In all of our years as Christian apologists, we have seen countless “Christians” bowing to the secular standards of our day, afraid to stand for the truth of the Bible and God’s existence. We could recount stories of college freshmen too afraid of ruining their reputations or of getting a bad grade to stand up for their belief in God. We could tell of university professors who were so very concerned about tenure, their salary, or their teaching positions that they refused to speak or write about their faith in Christ because of the possible repercussions. How many school teachers have allowed their Christian influence to be silenced because they might lose their job? It truly is a shame to see the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross and the complete dedication of His early followers who “rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name” (Acts 5:41), and then witness certain “Christians” today who will not even acknowledge in public that they believe in God or His Word. Any faithful Christian would have to say “Amen,” to the movie’s main message that following Jesus requires complete sacrifice to His Will.

Unfortunately, the main message of the movie is overshadowed at times by the failure of the movie to accurately apply it. For instance, although Josh, the hero, is to be commended for his study and some of the effective arguments he used in class, at times during his defense he affirms error. For example, he implies that the Big Bang is scientifically and biblically credible, and that God could have used evolution as the process by which all life (including humans) came into existence. Not only is the Big Bang an unscientific idea (May, et al., 2003a), it is an unbiblical idea as well (May, et al., 2003b; Lyons, 2003). Additionally, the idea that God directed the process of evolution to produce life is equally unbiblical and antiscientific (Houts, 2007), though it is very appealing to our secular culture. In their attempt to make belief in God more palatable (by not making Josh, what Screenit.com calls, “a simple-minded believer who thinks the Earth was created…in just under a week”—God’s Not Dead, 2014c), the producers of the film fail to stand courageously against the foolish theories of cosmic and biological evolution and stand unashamedly for the truthfulness of the biblical account of Creation.

Furthermore, the movie completely misrepresents how God has commanded people to be saved. The clearest example of this false teaching comes at the end of the movie. In a tragic accident, the atheistic professor is struck by a car and is about to die. It just so happens that a denominational minister is on the scene. The minister begs the atheistic professor to call on the Lord, say a version of the “sinner’s prayer,” and receive Jesus into his heart. Yet such teaching is never found in the Bible (Lyons, 2004; Jackson, 2014). God requires faithful obedience to the Gospel plan of salvation in order to receive the gift of salvation (Lyons and Butt). Paul informed the Thessalonians that at the end of time Jesus Christ will be revealed from heaven “with His Mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thessalonians 1:7-8, emp. added). What the atheistic professor did in the movie to be “saved” is not what the New Testament means when it says to “obey the Gospel” (cf. Romans 6:3-4; Matthew 7:21). Thus, in the very process of claiming to teach that people should be willing to sacrifice everything for Christ, the movie producers failed to heed their own message. Not only must we be willing to sacrifice our reputations, careers, and families, we must be willing to sacrifice any manmade doctrine that is not taught in Scripture. We must be willing to leave any group or teaching, even if it goes by the name “Christian,” if and when we find it does not correspond to God’s will found in the New Testament.

Overall, we believe that God’s Not Dead effectively highlights a serious problem in universities across the United States—showing some of the challenges that many Christian students face. We also believe that Christians should take to heart the overall message of the movie: the ultimate sacrifice for the sake of Christ and the cross. We would greatly caution viewers, however, to understand that the producer’s application of the theme is occasionally lacking. Yes, the movie’s approach to a defense of God’s existence is rational and biblical at times, but then at other times it is both biblically and scientifically unsound. What’s more, the film’s presentation of how God has instructed people to become Christians is at odds with the Bible. We all need to be reminded of the importance of sacrificing everything for Christ, including compromises with the world and any long-held false religious ideas.

REFERENCES

Bergman, Jerry (2008), Slaughter of the Dissidents: The Shocking Truth about Killing the Careers of Darwin Doubters (Southworth, WA: Leafcutter Press).

Farber, Stephen (2014), “God’s Not Dead: Film Review,” The Hollywood Reporter, http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/gods-not-dead-film-review-690393.

God’s Not Dead (2014a), Box Office Mojo, http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=godsnotdead.htm.

God’s Not Dead (2014b), Rotten Tomatoes, http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/gods_not_dead/#contentReviews.

God’s Not Dead (2014c), Screen It, http://www.screenit.com/ourtake/2014/gods_not_dead.html.

Houts, Michael (2007), “Evolution is Religion—Not Science [Part 1],” http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=97&article=2299.

Jackson, Wayne (2014), “The Sinner’s Prayer—Is it Biblical?” https://www.christiancourier.com/articles/368-sinners-prayer-is-it-biblical-the.

Kingkade, Tyler (2013), “Deandre Poole Keeps FAU Job After ‘Stomp on Jesus’ Controversy,” Huffington Post, June 24, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/24/deandre-poole-fau-stomp-on-jesus_n_3490263.html.

Lyons, Eric (2003), “Man Has Been on Earth Since…,” https://www.apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=9&article=538&topic=56.

Lyons, Eric (2004), “Calling on the Name of the Lord,” http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=11&article=775&topic=379.

Lyons, Eric and Kyle Butt (n.d.), Receiving the Gift of Salvation, http://apologeticspress.org/pdfs/e-books_pdf/Receiving%20the%20Gift%20of%20Salvation.pdf.

May, Branyon, Bert Thompson, and Brad Harrub (2003a), “The Big Bang Theory—A Scientific Critique,” https://www.apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=9&article=1453&topic=57.

May, Branyon, Bert Thompson, and Brad Harrub (2003b), “The Big Bang Theory—A Biblical Critique,” http://apologeticspress.org/apcontent.aspx?category=12&article=56.

Miller, Jeff (2011), “Expelled—Again,” https://www.apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=12&article=3655.

Puig, Claudia (2014), “In ‘God’s Not Dead,’ Message is Lost Amid Melodrama,” USA Today, April 8, http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2014/04/08/review-gods-not-dead/7457995/.

Stein, Ben and Kevin Miller (2008), Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed (Premise Media).

"Jesus Gave Him No Answer" by Jeff Miller, Ph.D.

http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=12&article=5463

"Jesus Gave Him No Answer"

by	Jeff Miller, Ph.D.

"To err is human," the poet rightly said, and apologists are humans. But as apologists, it is also inevitable that the writers and speakers for Apologetics Press will be unjustly criticized, viciously and publicly attacked, brazenly misrepresented, unethically plagiarized, or even outright lied about—and not infrequently. After all, Jesus predicted that persecution will come to those who attempt to speak the truth (John 15:18-20). From time to time, individuals will witness examples of such shocking behavior and ask us with incredulity, “Do you guys respond to that kind of behavior? And if so, how!?” Answers range from, “The best we can, though not always perfectly” to “sometimes better than at other times” to “not always in the wisest ways, but always with the desire to defend the faith and trying to speak the truth in love.” The real question in our minds, however, is not “How do we respond?” but how does God tell us to respond to that type of persecution?

Jude 3 tells us that we are to “contend earnestly for the faith,”¹ but how? Jude 3 is a mandate, but it does not prescribe a manner. Scripture certainly has a lot to say about the attitudes we should have when we are publicly mistreated and the ways we should respond to people, making it clear that different people and situations often call for different approaches. While we should always speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15), it is also true that sometimes love demands different approaches. The New Testament tells us repeatedly that agape love is fundamental to Christianity.² Without love, one simply cannot be a Christian (1 John 4:7-8). That single motivation—to love—would govern every decision and action that a Christian takes, if he would be perfect. After all, according to the New Testament and Jesus, Himself, sin ultimately boils down to a lack of agape³—love towards God and our fellow man.

Gathering all of the relevant passages on agape, we learn that it can be defined in the following way:

Having such concern for the well-being of someone else that I am willing to unselfishly act on that concern for that person’s well-being, no matter who it is or the cost to me.⁴

Notice, then, that love is not a feeling, but a choice (1 John 3:18). If we were to summarize the definition of agape in one word, it would be unselfishness, and it is always manifested through some form of a selfless act.⁵ That attitude encapsulates Who God is (1 John 4:7-8), while the opposite—being self-serving—is described as being demon-like (James 3:14-16). Truly, if we wish to be like God, we will unselfishly put ourselves aside and do what’s best for others, even when they are mistreating us.

Jesus faces Pilate.

That said, a common misconception about biblical love is that it can be defined solely as being gentle, tolerant, and without judgment. If one were to be anything else in his evangelism or defense of truth, he would be unloving and guilty of sin—according to the common misconception. In truth, biblical love is not always manifested gently,⁶with tolerance,⁷ or without judgment.⁸ In truth, different approaches are appropriate at different times. Sometimes rebuking—an approach we would not generally deem gentle—might be necessary (Luke 17:3), while at other times admonishing/warning (Romans 15:14), edifying/building up (Romans 14:19), or exhorting/encouraging (Titus 1:9) are appropriate. Notice, however, that in all cases, love is the motivation: a desire to do whatever is necessary to help others be pleasing to God—whether through gentle pleading (Galatians 6:1) or through “tough love” (Hebrews 12:5-11; Titus 1:13). Further, boldness is certainly encouraged for evangelists (Acts 4:29), but it is to be tempered with humility (2 Timothy 2:25), prudence (Proverbs 22:3), and being slow to speak (James 1:19), as Peter learned the hard way on more than one occasion.⁹ Knowing the best response for each situation would require more wisdom than any single human could have, which is why humbly gaining knowledge through experience (Proverbs 16:31), study (Proverbs 10:14), and counsel (Proverbs 11:14) is emphasized in Scripture.

Preparation for the day of persecution and challenges to your beliefs is also emphasized in Scripture. Peter reminds us to “always be ready to give a defense” (1 Peter 3:15), since there will be a day when a person will ask us why we have hope in God, if we are living as we should before them. So we should strive to “be ready, in season and out of season” (2 Timothy 4:2) to use whatever tactic might be appropriate in various situations—whether it be merely convincing them of the truth, or rebuking, or exhorting another Christian. Such readiness takes diligence—incessant study and preparation (2 Timothy 2:15; Acts 17:11).

That said, Who better to study to learn how to respond to public persecutions and challenges than the Chief Apologist, Himself—Jesus Christ? After all, it is He Whom the Christian must emulate. Reading through the gospel accounts, watching how Jesus chose to respond to His critics, is a fascinating practice. Jesus was never looking for a fight, but was always prepared to contend for the Faith and defend Himself when necessary, and chose to do so many times throughout His ministry. Typically, He did so seemingly dispassionately—using pure logic and reason.¹⁰ The word used to describe Him in 2 Corinthians 10:1 is “meek”—the word often used to describe, not a wild bull in a China shop, but a trained war horse: strength and fearlessness that is bridled or under control. Jesus recognized that He had ultimately nothing to lose by teaching the truth and, therefore, did not get “riled” up and respond defensively to skeptics and antagonists. That is not to say, however, that He never showed passion when the circumstance called for it; but He was always controlled in His responses, being fearless of the possible consequences. Oh that we all could emulate our Lord in this regard.

At times, we at Apologetics Press have been criticized for not responding to every comment on our Facebook page or choosing not to debate every person who wishes to engage us in a public debate (which apparently some do not realize happens often and would require several more full-time representatives than we have on staff). Of particular interest to those of us that study apologetics is the observation that, though Christ was always ready for a debate, He also knew when not to do so—whether because the timing was not right for a response, a response would be pointless (e.g., Matthew 21:27), or a response would even be detrimental to His ultimate cause. Just because a person challenged Him did not mean that He felt He needed to respond. Since the human inclination is to respond to every person, lest we be perceived as not having an answer and, hence, “losing the debate,” Jesus’ wisdom is awe-inspiring. In Matthew 7:6, while preaching the greatest sermon the world has ever heard, Jesus warned His audience that some people do not care about the truth and are like “swine”—unworthy of the valuable information we might wish to impart. If we choose to proceed and reason with the “pigs,” they are likely not only to stamp on the valuable jewels we have given them, but they will likely stampede us as well. In Proverbs 26:4, Solomon admonished the wise, “Do not answer a fool according to his folly, lest you also be like him.” The principle is clear: if the person or people to whom we are talking are not genuinely interested in the truth, to spend time trying to convince them of the truth would be wasteful and potentially even dangerous or counterproductive.

In Matthew 10, Jesus again warned His apostles that there will be those who “will not receive you nor hear your words” (vs. 14). In such cases, they were not to continue pressing the issue, but rather, “shake off the dust from your feet” and move on—a practice which Paul and Barnabas implemented in their evangelistic journeys as well (Acts 13:51). With that principle in mind, it is noteworthy to see Jesus’ implementation of that principle in His own life. At times, He chose to respond to challenges, depending on the audience, but at other times, He chose not to do so, in spite of how He might be perceived. For instance, when challenged by the chief priests and elders in the Temple to announce who gave Him authority to teach, after posing a question of His own, Jesus chose simply not to respond to their question (Matthew 21:23-27).

Surely the most notable example of Jesus practicing what He preached about remaining silent at times was what was prophesied about Him in Isaiah 53:7 regarding His crucifixion: “He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth.” All four gospel records highlight Jesus’ refusal to respond to various attackers in the illegal trials leading up to His crucifixion.¹¹ Again, His willingness to remain silent when most would respond defensively was a manifestation of such superhuman self-control that Pilate “marveled greatly” (Matthew 27:14).

The principle is clear: there are times when not responding to attacks is the best course of action. We would do well to gain the wisdom necessary to recognize those moments. We pray that God will grant to all Christians in the perilous times in which we live the wisdom to know when to fight and when to remain silent, as well as the boldness to fight when the time calls for it.

ENDNOTES

¹ In 2 Timothy 2:24 the text says that “a servant of the Lord must not quarrel,” which commentators clarify as meaning not “striving contentiously” [Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary (2012), WORDsearch Corp, Electronic Database.]. The ESV, therefore, translates the word “quarrel” as “quarrelsome” (i.e., looking for a fight). One can “contend” without being “contentious.”

² James 2:8; 1 John 3:13-18; 4:7; John 13:34-35; 1 Corinthians 13:1-3; 16:14; Colossians 3:14.

³ Matthew 22:36-40; Galatians 5:14; Romans 13:9-10.

⁴ Galatians 5:23; Romans 5:8; 1 John 4:10; John 3:16; John 15:13; Matthew 5:43-48; cf. Endnotes 2 and 3.

⁵ Matthew 7:12; 16:24; Philippians 1:15-17; 2:3-8; 1 Corinthians 10:24; 2 Corinthians 5:15.

⁶ Hebrews 12:6; Titus 1:13; Proverbs 15:10; 20:30; 27:5; Hosea 6:5. Consider Jesus’ behavior in John 2—overturning tables and making a whip of cords to drive the moneychangers and animals from the Temple. Consider also that sometimes loving a child involves physically striking him (Proverbs 13:24). Note that the term translated “gentle” in 2 Timothy 2:24 (apiov) means to be “kind toward someone”—a significant distinction in this case [William Arndt, F.W. Gingrich, and Frederick W. Danker (1979), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press), second edition revised, p. 348]. The ESV, NIV, RSV, and NASB renderings capture this meaning. One can be kind to someone and simultaneously not necessarily be gentle, as the above passages indicate.

⁷ 2 Thessalonians 3:6,14; Titus 3:10; Romans 16:17; 1 Timothy 5:20.

⁸ John 7:24; 2 Corinthians 5:10.

⁹ John 13:5-9; Matthew 16:22-23; 17:1-5.

¹⁰ Dave Miller (2011), “Jesus Used Logic,” Apologetics Press, http://apologeticspress.org/apcontent.aspx?category=11& article=3755; Dave Miller (2011), “Is Christianity Logical? [Part I],” Reason & Revelation, 31[6]:50-59, http://apologeticspress.org/apcontent.aspx? category=12&article=3869; Dave Miller (2011), “Jesus Was Logical,” Apologetics Press, https://www.apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=10&article=653&topic=71; Dave Miller (2011), “Jesus Was Rational,” Apologetics Press, http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=10&article=1245&topic=71.

¹¹ E.g., Matthew 26:62-63; 27:13-14; Mark 14:60-61; 15:4-5; Luke 23:9; John 19:9.