Year: 2018

Categories
Salvation

Exclusive vs. Inclusive – Aren’t All Religions the Same?

Many people get “put out” with the exclusive claims of Christianity.
They indicate that Christians ought to be more inclusive. They may hold to the personal idea that “No matter which religion I choose, as long as I’m sincere, each one will lead me to heaven.”
But is this true? The answer from the Bible is a resounding, “No.”

Chess pieces with one off to the side symbolizing the idea of one being exclusive and set apart from the others
Exclusivity – Does One Stand Alone?

Alistair Begg and Peter Cotterell point out:

Truth simply is not a matter of pride or humility. Truth is a matter of fact.

Islam says Jesus wasn’t crucified. We say he was. Only one of us can be right.
Judaism says Jesus was not the Messiah. We say he was. Only one of us can be right.
Hinduism says God has often been incarnate. We say only once. Only one of us can be right.
Buddhism says that the world’s miseries will end when we do what’s right. We say you can’t do what is right, the world’s miseries will end when we believe what is right.

The fact is, the world’s religions may agree about the peripheral matters, but they disagree precisely about the most important matters of all.

Any intelligent person could decide that all religions are wrong.
Any intelligent person could decide that one is right and the rest wrong.
But no intelligent person can seriously believe that all religions are essentially the same.

The simple logic that Begg & Cotterell use clearly points out that in each of the cases above, only one religious group can be right. These ideas are not compatible with one another. They are mutually exclusive. Upon the most cursory of investigations we find out that these different religions disagree with each other on major points. Therefore, all roads cannot lead to Heaven.

And so I encourage you to investigate the truth claims of Christianity. As you do so you will find that Christianity stands the test of scrutiny. As you test it, you may find what many others have… That God is drawing you to Himself.

Alistair Begg again:

You may be a Prodigal Son or Daughter who has been running away from God.
Now He is drawing you to Himself because of His love for you.
The Father is saying to you: “Come on, son; Come on, daughter.”
And then He starts to issue instructions:
Get him a robe for status;
Get him a ring for authority;
Get him sandals for his feet, for only slaves are barefoot, and all of God’s children have shoes.
And let’s go have a feast and a celebration!

I want you to receive that pair of shoes from the Father and for you to join the celebration with us! But that requires you to realize that the claims of Christianity are exclusive, but that they do lead down the only path of salvation.

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Categories
Christian Living

Is My Physical Pain a Punishment From God For My Past Sins?

So the title above was the question I received from a friend a while back. The full question with some extra comments was posted yesterday. And I want to thank those of you who shared some of your responses with me.
a man holding his head in his hands, symbolizing pain - could such pain be a punishment from God?
It’s a serious questions, and one that many people wonder about. Here was my Response:
There is not much theological support for us having God continually punish us for past sins. Paul was a persecutor of the church, but when he repented, God used him greatly. He did end up having a “thorn in his flesh” to contend with, but God did not tell him it was because of punishment for past sins.

Yes, God does discipline His wayward children, but it is used to bring us to repentance and restoration. As you pointed out in the opening of your question, much of what we contend with in the areas of pain are simply consequences of our own making, which God allows us to experience.

A person who chooses to get drunk habitually may lose his family. This would be a consequence of his poor choice of behavior. But we also often are dealing with the consequences of someone else’s sinful behavior. For example, the person who loses his family to an accident caused by a drunk driver is suffering the consequences of someone else’s bad behavior. We live in a depraved, fallen world that makes life tough. That does not mean it is God’s punishment, but rather just the consequences of our inviting sin into this world which has caused continuous and growing damage.

In the same way, when Adam rebelled against God, he invited disorder into God’s perfect world. Sickness and disease have come to us due to this continued disorder and decay. And so we don’t typically look at the cancer that someone gets as being a direct punishment from God for a specific sin, but rather as a consequence of the decaying world that we (humanity) caused by our sin as a human race. So we find that our sin has even affected life on the cellular level.

Therefore, I wouldn’t look at an injury that is causing pain as punishment from God today for sins from your past. Rather I would look at the physical pain that you are experiencing as a consequence of living in a world that should have been pain-free, but is not due to our sin. Now we must live with pain while we long for the day when we can enter the eternal Kingdom where God will wipe every tear from our eyes.

Could God supernaturally heal us of the pain we are suffering in the here and now? Yes. And sometimes He does. But usually we are allowed to continue walking through the pain with our hand in His. Enduring the consequences of our own bad behaviors, the consequences of others’ bad behaviors that affect us, and the consequences of those “thorns in the flesh” – all of these help us learn as Paul did – that when we are weak in and of ourselves, we are able to find our strength in our relationship with Jesus.

And so to all who are struggling through pain or illness, may you place your hands in His, may you find your strength in Him, and may you continually look forward to celebrating together in eternity at having healed bodies and no more tears!

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Categories
Ramblings

Is My Current Physical Pain a Punishment From God For My Past Sins?

Here is a question that came to me from a friend a while back:

Is my current physical pain a consequence of my past sin?
I know that sins have consequences we may have to bear naturally. For example, I know that being drunk all the time can have physical consequences later in life such as cirrhosis of the liver, and that having an affair can lead to the consequences of divorce. These are natural consequences to those life choices. But what about something such as chronic pain that isn’t the direct consequence of a specific sin? Is God punishing me for some sins in my past with unrelated physical pain now?

Before I share my response, I’m just wondering – How might you answer this question?
(Don’t worry, you won’t have to wait long as I’ll share my response tomorrow!)

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Categories
Christian Living

Follow Up Thoughts on Persecution from Albert Barnes

In my previous post, I asked the question – If I’m not persecuted can I be a “good” Christian? Today, I want to have a short follow-up on this idea of persecution.
two goats butting heads - symbolizing standing against persecution
Albert Barnes helpful definition of persecution indicated that it comes in many forms, including ridicule, insults, or even simple exclusion from a group due to your Christian beliefs or behavior. Not only did he provide a defintion of persecution, but he also provided some practical thoughts about the issue:

(1.) Christians should prepare to be persecuted. One of the proper qualifications for membership in the church should be our willingness to bear persecution and to resolve not to shrink from any duty in order to avoid persecution (which included ridicule, insults, or even simple exclusion).
 
(2.) They who are persecuted for their opinions should consider that this may be an evidence that they have the Spirit of Christ, and are his true friends. They should remember that, in this respect, they are treated as the Master was, and are in the good company of the prophets, apostles, and martyrs; for they were all persecuted.

However,
(3.) If we are persecuted, we should carefully inquire, before we avail ourselves of this consolation, whether we are persecuted because we “live godly in Christ Jesus,” or for some other reason.
      For example, a man may embrace some absurd opinion and call it religion; he may adopt some mode of dress that is unbelievably ludicrous, and may call it conscience; or he may be lacking in his manners, and rude in his demeanor with others, outraging all the laws of social life, and may call this “standing against the world.” For these types of behaviors, he may be condemned, ridiculed, and despised. But let him not believe that he is to be enrolled among the list of martyrs for this exclusion. The persecution which will properly furnish the evidence that we are the friends of Christ must only be that which is “for righteousness’ sake.”
 
(4.) Let those who have never been persecuted in any way inquire whether it is not an evidence that they have no religion. It is easy for a professed Christian to avoid persecution, if he yields to others at every point in which his religion is opposed to the world. But he needs to consider that if he finds himself yielding at every single point, then he may not be entitled to the Christian name.

—Albert Barnes (from the mid-1800’s)

Are you standing strong for Christ where others would have you bend?

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Categories
Christian Living

If I Am Not Persecuted Am I Not A “Good” Christian?

The Bible indicates that Christians will be persecuted. And therefore, you will occasionally hear a pastor say that if you aren’t being persecuted, then you might want to consider how well you are living out your Christianity.
picture of a fist symbolizing the idea of being persecuted

This used to concern me, because I didn’t sense a heavy amount of persecution toward me. As much as it is possible, I strive to live at peace with everyone (Romans 12:18). I know other Christians who try to do the same. And that means not much persecution has come my way. So does that mean I’m a sub-par Christian?

I certainly don’t believe you have to be highly persecuted to prove your Christianity, but I do believe that if you faithfully live for Christ and speak for Him, then you will have people around you who will not always appreciate what you have to say. At the very least, those people will probably seek to avoid you. In those instances, we must be willing to remain true to our Christian beliefs and not shrink from them in order to win the approval of others.

In studying this issue, I ran across the following information from a commentary that was helpful to me in getting a better definition of persecution. It is from the 1800s, so I’ve tried to modernize the language to make it a bit more readable:

Devoted Christians who live as the Savior did and who carry out His principles will always experience some form of persecution. By persecution, we mean that a person will be subjected to a disadvantage on account of his opinions. This is more than just arguing with him about his opinions, it is inflicting some injury on him; depriving him of some privilege or right; subjecting him to some disadvantage; or placing him in less favorable circumstances, because of his beliefs.

This may be an injury to his feelings, his family, his reputation, his property, his liberty, his influence. Or it might be by depriving him of a position which he held, or preventing him from obtaining one to which he is eligible. It could be by subjecting him to fine or imprisonment, to banishment, torture, or death.

If, in any manner, or in any way, a person is subjected to disadvantage on account of his or her religious opinions, and deprived of any rights to which he or she would be otherwise entitled, this is persecution.

Now, it is doubtless as true as it ever was, that a man who will live as the Savior did will be subjected to some such injury or disadvantage. On account of his opinions, he might be ridiculed, or treated with neglect, or excluded from part of society. The person who lives as the Savior did may be shunned by those who might otherwise value his or her friendship.

These injuries and slights may be expected in the best times and under the most favorable circumstances; and it is known that a large part of the history of the world, in its relation to the church, is nothing more than a history of persecution.

—Albert Barnes (from the mid-1800’s)

So now that we have a broader (or better) definition of persecution, we realize that we do not have to be physically threatened to consider ourselves persecuted. Just the fact that some people exclude you because of your Christian beliefs falls into the category.

(But let’s also not mistake the fact that if we are arrogant or condescending about our beliefs, then that might be what is excluding us! So don’t get confused and indicate that you are being persecuted for your Christianity, when you are actually being persecuted because you are being a jerk to others. The label “persecution” only works if you are striving to be a good friend and yet you are still being excluded.)

So the follow-up questions after getting a better definition are: How should we respond to such persecution? How should we respond to being excluded because of our Christian beliefs and behaviors?

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