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FAITH OR DELUSION?

Apologetics, ,

We humans are incomplete in ourselves. We are not self-sufficient and self-sustaining. We need someone or something greater than ourselves upon which to lean for meaning, purpose, and support. Babies need mothers; children need parents; adults need a higher power to guide and sustain us through life. In whoever or whatever we choose to trust will either meet our needs or fail us when we call for help.

Faith and its opposite, unbelief based on a delusion, has both a broad and a narrow base. What do I mean?

Let’s first examine the concept of faith. What is faith? Faith is confidence in the reality and reliability of a person or object, i.e., anyone or anything that can do what it says it can do and what we expect it to do.

The object of our faith must be real. It must exist even if it is unseen. If what we believe in and trust does not exist, faith is not faith. If we choose to repudiate what is real in favour of what cannot be proven to be real, we are deluded. If faith has no legitimate object in which to trust, it cannot be real faith. It is a delusion.

Legitimate faith, then, is the broad base upon which we function, our confidence in a person or thing that is able to sustain us in the context of everyday life. This faith forms the basis of our spiritual experience. The object of our faith must have both the  authority and power to perform as expected. This object, then, in whom we trust, is a god to us, one who has real authority and power.

The narrow base of faith is the trust we exercise in the one with whom we can communicate when we need help. We call on His name and He responds with intervention and action. We speak to Him and He speaks to us. This communication is not a figment of our imagination. What He says and does can transform our thinking and behaviour.

Hebrews 11:6 NLT
[6] “And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.”

Those who want to interact with God (or a god) must be convinced that He is real and that He responds to those who communicate with Him.

Delusion, on the other hand, is based on someone or something that only exists in human imagination. People have, since the fall of the first man from faith to delusion, created gods in their own image to evade the true God and their accountability to Him.

David concluded…

Psalms 14:1 NLT
[1] “Only fools say in their hearts, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, and their actions are evil; not one of them does good!”

The reason for and purpose of their delusion is to make their own rules to accommodate their sinful desires and to escape accountability to the God who (they know) created and owns everyone.

Psalms 24:1 NLT
[1]”The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it. The world and all its people belong to him.”

Despite man’s every attempt to escape from God, in the end, He really does exist, and He will call all people to account for their thoughts and actions.

How do we know that God is real and, therefore, our faith is faith, not a delusion? Since God’s existence cannot be proven scientifically, those who believe in Him base their argument from signs that are real.

The Bible gives us several signs that point to the existence of God. These are not scientific “proofs”, only clues that point us to His existence and, consequently, our faith in a legitimate object. Only when we are convinced that what the Bible says about Him is true can we bridge the gap between Himself and us by the gossamer thread of faith.

At least four clues have no explanation outside of a real God.

1. The natural world.
There is evidence of both design and unity in diversity in the natural world. Ecosystems everywhere point to the actions of a designer with their evidence of interaction and delicate balance that sustains their continuity. When humans interfere, this balance and continuity break down.

The Bible recognises that the human body is a miracle of intricate design…

Psalms 139:13-14 NLT
[13] “You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. [14] Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.”

Despite the theory of evolution, if we remove or try to change a single function in the intricacy of a human body, that part will be dysfunctional. How, then, can every detail of the body function efficiently when it is, supposedly, evolving and in the process of change?

The universe and the natural world are a cosmos of splendour and beauty which suggest the work of a supreme artist…

Psalms 19:1-4 NLT
[1]”The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. [2] Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known. [3] They speak without a sound or word; their voice is never heard. [4] Yet their message has gone throughout the earth, and their words to all the world. God has made a home in the heavens for the sun.”

So powerful and so glorious is this created universe that Paul declared…

Romans 1:20 NLT
[20]”For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.”

2. Miracles point to the intervention of a Divine Being.
Miracles are events that either speed up or cut across natural functions. Outside of the Biblical narrative, humans have experienced miracles that have no natural explanation. There can be no other conclusion than that a Being greater than man has intervened.

3. The evidence of prophecy.
People try to predict the future but mostly in such vague terms that fulfilment is difficult to recognise. Only God Himself claimed to be able to foretell the future in such detail that no one could doubt its origin.

“The Bible is the only known religious document with historically verifiable prophecies that have consistently been fulfilled…

…That the Bible has dozens of prophecies that can be verified by historians as having been accurately fulfilled is very strong proof that God is its Author…

…The Old Testament prophets foretold the coming of the Messiah in great detail. According to the Old Testament, the Messiah would:

be a descendant of Abraham (Gen. 12:3; Gen. 22:18)
be from the tribe of Judah (Gen. 49:10)
be a descendant of David (2 Sam. 7:12 and 13)… (and many more)…

…Jesus Christ fulfilled all these prophecies and even more. With such amazing accuracy about the first coming of the Lord, why would any reasonable person doubt the prophecies that have not yet been fulfilled? And why would any reasonable person doubt that Jesus Christ was the man the Old Testament prophecies referred to? The fact that the Bible has been accurate in its prophecy time after time should make it easy to believe God is its Author, and that its prophecies concerning the return of Jesus Christ, the battle of Armageddon, the coming Judgment of all people, and saved people’s living forever, are all true.”

(Source : https://stfi.org)

4. Personal experience
The Apostle Paul experienced a personal transformation so radical that there can be no other explanation than that a divine encounter stopped him in his tracks and turned him around. He told his own story…

Acts of the Apostles 26:9-10, 12-18 NLT
[9] “I used to believe that I ought to do everything I could to oppose the very name of Jesus the Nazarene. [10] Indeed, I did just that in Jerusalem. Authorized by the leading priests, I caused many believers there to be sent to prison. And I cast my vote against them when they were condemned to death…
[12] “One day I was on such a mission to Damascus, armed with the authority and commission of the leading priests. [13] About noon, Your Majesty, as I was on the road, a light from heaven brighter than the sun shone down on me and my companions. [14] We all fell down, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is useless for you to fight against my will.’ [15] “‘Who are you, lord?’ I asked. “And the Lord replied, ‘I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting. [16] Now get to your feet! For I have appeared to you to appoint you as my servant and witness. Tell people that you have seen me, and tell them what I will show you in the future. [17] And I will rescue you from both your own people and the Gentiles. Yes, I am sending you to the Gentiles [18] to open their eyes, so they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God. Then they will receive forgiveness for their sins and be given a place among God’s people, who are set apart by faith in me.’ “

Could anyone invent a story like this and spend the rest of his life following through on his invention, including the hardships he endured,  on a delusion? Millions of people throughout the generations can testify to transformation when they believed in Jesus.

Faith in this God and the experiences of His love and care that faith makes possible, has provided enough evidence that this God, the God of the Bible, is real. He exists, and faith in Him is not a delusion.

What of the many gods people have invented to replace the one true God in their experience? Characteristically, all other gods resemble humans and glorify the worst of human nature. They are mostly evil, unpredictable, vengeful, and malevolent in their attitude toward their devotees. They demand to be appeased and call forth fear in the hearts of their “worshippers”.

Who are these gods that demand obeisance? The Apostle Paul identifies them as demons masquerading as gods.

1 Corinthians 10:19-21 NLT
[19] “What am I trying to say? Am I saying that food offered to idols has some significance, or that idols are real gods? [20] No, not at all. I am saying that these sacrifices are offered to demons, not to God. And I don’t want you to participate with demons. [21] You cannot drink from the cup of the Lord and from the cup of demons, too. You cannot eat at the Lord’s Table and at the table of demons, too.”

Sacrifices and rituals offered to false gods are really offered to demons. Thus, “faith” in these gods is not faith but a delusion since they do not exist. Any religion based on gods created in the image of humans is a delusion.

People who are lured away from the worship of the one true God presented to us in the Bible by false teachings, also follow the doctrines of demons.

1 Timothy 4:1 NLT
[1]”Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away from the true faith; they will follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons.”

Satan will do whatever it takes to deceive people into worshipping him, even when he is disduisedcas a god. When humans refuse to acknowledge and worship the only true God, they will fall for any delusion that lures them towards eternal death.

Isaiah 45:18 NLT
[18]” For the Lord is God, and he created the heavens and earth and put everything in place. He made the world to be lived in, not to be a place of empty chaos. “I am the Lord,” he says, “and there is no other.”

1 Timothy 2:5 NLT
[5]”There is one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus.”

Thus we must conclude that God is real, that faith in Him is real, and that all other “faiths” are false. Every follower of a false god or gods is deceived and destined for eternal judgment. This truth cannot be classified as “hate speech” since it points to reality and offers hope to those who embrace this God as real. This is the only “love speech” that calls people away from delusion to the truth that offers them eternal life.

John 3:18-19 NLT
[18]  “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son. [19] And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil.”

PRAYING GOD’S WAY – 6

Prayer, ,

FAITH – THE KEY

‭Hebrews 11:1, 6 NLT‬
[1] “Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see….
[6] “And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.”

We have already discovered that each person in the Trinity has a part to play in this work of prayer. However, to the place and work of the Godhead in prayer, we must add one more person to the circle and one more ingredient to prayer for prayer to be the most powerful way in which God works to fulfill His purposes in the His kingdom. We are that person and faith is that ingredient!

No human can figure out why God has chosen to work this way. We can only conclude that God is so magnificent in His love and grace that He has chosen both to initiate and to work through our prayers.

How does He initiate prayer? He either sets up situations that need His intervention in individual’s lives….personal needs, family issues, local or national situations, etc., or He reveals His intentions through His promises.

Take, for example, His promise to David.

‭2 Samuel 7:11-12, 16, 18, 25 NLT‬
[11]… “‘Furthermore, the Lord declares that he will make a house for you—a dynasty of kings! [12] For when you die and are buried with your ancestors, I will raise up one of your descendants, your own offspring, and I will make his kingdom strong….
[16] Your house and your kingdom will continue before me for all time, and your throne will be secure forever.’”…
[18] Then King David went in and sat before the Lord and prayed, “Who am I, O Sovereign Lord, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far?…
[25] “And now, O Lord God, I am your servant; do as you have promised concerning me and my family. Confirm it as a promise that will last forever.”

On the basis of God’s promise to David, David said the “Amen!” and God kept His promise despite the unfaithfulness of some of his descendants. God’s promise to David was eventually fulfilled when Jesus was born, son of David, to be the King of Israel forever.

Faith plays a pivotal role in our prayers.

‭Hebrews 11:6 NLT‬
[6] “And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.”

Faithless prayer is one of the Bible’s impossibles. Without faith in God and His promises, prayer has no solid foundation. James says that, without faith, we are tossed about like a wave on a stormy sea.

‭James 1:6-8 NLT‬
[6]”But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. [7] Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. [8] Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do.”

So, what is faith?

‭Hebrews 11:1 NLT‬
[1]”Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see.”

The Bible’s definition of faith is not easy to understand. I think that faith is like this… Say I want to knit a garment. I choose my pattern and follow the instructions, keeping the picture of the completed garment in front of me as I work. If I stick faithfully to the instructions, my finished work should look exactly like the picture.

God’s promises are our hope, like the picture of our finished garment. Faith is like keeping the picture in view so that we make a replica of the garment in the picture. Faith is anchored to our hope, what God has promised, the unshakeable assurance that God will do what He says. Without this trust in the reliability of God’s Word, we are doubting God Himself, thinking that He might be lying to us. How can He respond to us if we don’t trust Him?

Therefore, without faith, prayer becomes nothing more than empty words.

This brings me to an important part of our hope. Hope, the picture of the finished ‘garment’, is provided by God’s promises. If we don’t have a promise, we have nothing on which to anchor our faith. Our prayers, if we have no promise on which to base our hope, are like shooting in the dark.

How important, then, that we soak in God’s Word so that we learn His ways. Then we will understand His will and learn to pray with Him to achieve His purposes.

‭Romans 12:2 NLT‬
[2] “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”

‭1 John 5:14-15 NIV‬
[14] “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. [15] And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.”

AN IMPOSSIBLE IMPOSSIBILITY

Bible Study, ,

AN IMPOSSIBLE IMPOSSIBILITY

It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss, they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting Him to public disgrace (Heb. 6:4-6).

A much-misunderstood and a much-feared passage of Scripture! With God there are very few impossibilities. Only that which is contrary to His nature is impossible with Him.

But what the writer is talking about here is not something God cannot do. It is something we cannot do. When a human being renounces the truths God has laid down as the foundation of his walk with Him, he cannot return to the path of God’s grace and mercy. Jesus is, categorically, the only way to the Father and, to repudiate Him is to remain lost, forever, in the wilderness of sin and death.

The writer clearly enumerates the blessings and benefits of believing in Jesus and in His atoning sacrifice as the foundation of our response to God. There is no other way to return to the Father but by the way of the cross. It is the Holy Spirit who opens the eyes of our understanding that Jesus is the only way back to God. Though faith in Jesus we are fused to Him, we are in Him and He is in us. We are given our status as God’s sons and daughters, spiritual brothers and sisters of God’s Son (Heb. 2: 10, 11).

The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple (Psa. 119: 130).

God’s word becomes our daily bread – the manna from heaven which feeds and nourishes our souls as we journey from this life to the next.

How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! (Psa. 119:103).

We have tasted of the powers of the coming age, the victory that Jesus won over the devil, and the hope of the resurrection. The benevolent rule of God is here. We are no longer subject to the devil; his deception has been exposed. He is not God and he no longer has the power to hold us in slavery to his will.

For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins (Col. 1: 13-14).

To fall away means to apostatize – to renounce and turn ones back on the truths one once believed. This is not about wandering off the path through sin and getting lost in the wilderness. This is about a deliberate choice to repudiate the work of Jesus and all the benefits and blessings of His salvation. Once someone has done that, there is no way back because that person has effectively put Jesus back on the cross.

For those who have wandered away, there is always a way back but for those who have deliberately chosen to take a wrong turn, knowing that the deviation will lead to another destination, there is no way back to God; as I heard an evangelist say, ‘There are many gods, but only one Jesus.’ Jesus is the only way to the Father. He said:

I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life’ (John 8:12).

Can you see how impossible it is to return? Faith is what pleases God. It matters in whom you place your faith. Like the Bedouins in the desert who need to anchor their tents lest the wind blows them away, you need to fasten your “tent” to the “peg” that will not be moved when the winds of false teaching and the howling gales of life threaten to blow you away. God and His word are the only reliable and immovable anchor.

The writer of this letter urges us to make sure that we are anchored to the only “tent peg” that will never shift or come loose in the winds of life. To change metaphor, God has given us a solid foundation upon which to build the superstructure of our lives. Without that foundation, like Jesus’s foolish builder in Matt 7: 26-27, our house will crash when the storms of life blow against it.

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Anchored In Hope

Bible Study, , , ,

ANCHORED IN HOPE

God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever in the order of Melchizedek (Heb. 6: 18-20).

When God makes a promise and seals it with an oath, we have the assurance that what He has promised is of great significance. His promises are all unbreakable, oath or no oath, because He is God and He cannot lie. However, the oath is for us, not for Him, to reassure us that He means every word He has spoken.

Our hope of receiving what He has promised is anchored to Jesus, who has taken His own sacrificial blood into the Most Holy Place in the heavenly realms as an atonement for our sin. His blood guarantees that God has forgiven and blotted out everything that was written against us. Our high priest is neither a weakling nor a sinner like the Levitical high priests and the blood He presents is not animal blood which cannot atone for sin.

To go back to the old religious system, which was only a picture of what Messiah had come to do, was as unthinkable and impossible as adults returning to infancy. Why would his readers want to throw away an unshakeable hope that their salvation was secure, to go back to rules and rituals that did not bring them the peace of sins forgiven – forever?

What does an anchor do? It secures a vessel to something immovable so that it will not drift off course and be dashed to pieces on the rocks during a storm. These Hebrew Christians were in the midst of a violent storm – such hatred from the authorities that their lives were in constant danger.

Their circumstances offered them no security. Where did their security lie? It lay in God’s promises – nothing that humans could do to them could separate them from God’s love. Whether they lived or died, their eternal destiny was sure because they had a high priest who spoke for them. This high priest did not enter an earthly sanctuary which was only a model of the heavenly sanctuary. He entered heaven itself to present His own blood to the Father.

Those of us who have believed and received this promise are anchored in hope to the mercy of God in the Holy of Holies in heaven. Jesus is not a Levitical high priest who will die and be replaced by another mortal man. He is a high priest in the order of Melchizedek.

The writer had tried several times to introduce his readers to Jesus’s high priesthood in the order of Melchizedek but he was aware of their immaturity and inability to understand the “meat” of the word. This time he plunged on because he wanted them to understand how Jesus fulfilled the entire system of Judaism, so that they were no longer bound by its rules and rituals. There was no more need for animal sacrifices and all the rigmarole that went with them. These were a reminder of the instructions and teachings – torah – of Yahweh which were intended to show them, in practical ways, how to fulfil the greatest commandment both to love God and to love their neighbour, and how to make atonement when they failed to love.

Unfortunately, what was intended to be a provision for sin had become an excuse to sin. Sacrifices and rituals became a way out for them so that they could go on sinning with impunity. Instead of teaching them the heinousness and infectiousness of sin, they became hardened to sin’s seriousness because their sacrifices were always a way out, so they thought.

When God laid all the judgment for sin on His own Son, and then raised His from the dead as proof that sin’s debt had finally been paid, He showed us just what sins does to human beings. He ordained Jesus to be the eternal and never-to-die-again high priest who is at the Father’s right hand making intercession for us, presenting His blood so that we might be forgiven and so that we might turn away from sin and live according to His word.

Can we have an anchor and a hope more secure than that? Absolutely not!

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

 

An Impossible Impossibility

Bible Study, , ,

AN IMPOSSIBLE IMPOSSIBILITY

It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting Him to public disgrace (Heb. 6:4-6).

A much misunderstood and a much feared passage of Scripture! With God there are very few impossibilities. Only that which is contrary to His nature is impossible with Him.

But what the writer is talking about here is not something God cannot do. It is something we cannot do. When a human being renounces the truths God has laid down as the foundation of his walk with Him, he cannot return to the path of God’s grace and mercy. Jesus is, categorically, the only way to the Father and, to repudiate Him is to remain lost, forever, in the wilderness of sin and death.

The writer clearly enumerates the blessings and benefits of believing in Jesus and in His atoning sacrifice as the foundation of our response to God. There is no other way to return to the Father but by the way of the cross. It is the Holy Spirit who opens the eyes of our understanding that Jesus is the only way back to God. Though faith in Jesus we are fused to Him, we are in Him and He is in us. We are given our status as God’s sons and daughters, spiritual brothers and sisters of God’s Son (Heb. 2: 10, 11).

The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple (Psa. 119: 130).

God’s word becomes our daily bread – the manna from heaven which feeds and nourishes our souls as we journey from this life to the next.

How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! (Psa. 119:103).

We have tasted of the powers of the coming age, the victory that Jesus won over the devil and the hope of the resurrection. The benevolent rule of God is here. We are no longer subject to the devil; his deception has been exposed. He is not God and he no longer has the power to hold us in slavery to his will.

For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins (Col. 1: 13-14).

To fall away means to apostatize – to renounce and turn ones back on the truths one once believed. This is not about wandering off the path through sin and getting lost in the wilderness. This is about a deliberate choice to repudiate the work of Jesus and all the benefits and blessings of His salvation. Once someone has done that, there is no way back because that person has effectively put Jesus back on the cross.

For those who have wandered away, there is always a way back but for those who have deliberately chosen to take a wrong turn, knowing that the deviation will lead to another destination, there is no way back to God; as I heard an evangelist say, ‘There are many gods, but only one Jesus.’ Jesus is the only way to the Father. He said:

I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life’ (John 8:12).

Can you see how impossible it is to return? Faith is what pleases God. It matters in whom you place your faith. Like the Bedouins in the desert who need to anchor their tents lest the wind blows them away, you need to fasten your “tent” to the “peg” that will not be moved when the winds of false teaching and the howling gales of life threaten to blow you away. God and His word are the only reliable and immovable anchor.

The writer of this letter urges us to make sure that we are anchored to the only “tent peg” that will never shift or come loose in the winds of life. To change metaphor, God has given us a solid foundation upon which to build the superstructure of our lives. Without that foundation, like Jesus’s foolish builder in Matt 7: 26-27, our house will crash when the storms of life blow against it.

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.