February 2008 Archives

There is a strange fact about the world, which few will agree with: there are no good people. Years ago, I had a friend who once told me that she thought she would go to heaven because she was a "good person." I knew how to counter this same strange fact then and tried to explain it to her, but she could not hear me because of this very fact: she was not a "good person." What do I mean?

Let me clarify the concept of "good." In some ways, I cringe away from the contrast of "good versus evil." While these are opposites in principle, they are not opposite in essence. A thing can be perfectly good, but it is impossible for something to be perfectly evil. Why? Because no matter how evil a thing is, it still has some good in it.

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. — Romans 8:28 (emphasis added)

If you go to your local Christian bookstore, you can find a half dozen or so books written to answer common questions about Christianity. If you examine each, you will probably discover a few very common questions. One of these will certainly be something to this effect, "Why would a good God allow bad things in the world?" This question is interesting in that it reveals one truth everyone with a conscience realizes. It also reveals a common lie that many people believe to be true---it happens to be the same lie that causes them to think there are good people.

For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. — Romans 1:19

They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus. — Romans 2:15-16

The truth is: we all know, on some internal level, what is good and what is bad. There may be some exceptions where someone's conscience has been damaged or destroyed. There may be some disagreement about some of the details, but, ultimately, everyone has a little nagging sense of good and bad. We have two choices about this "voice" that whispers within our skull. We know from this voice that "bad things" happen. People commit crimes and atrocities. Natural disasters strike down many. Lives can be destroyed in millions of different ways and everyone has felt some amount of harm due to some of these things.

The lie is that the presence of good automatically cancels the power of evil. That is completely false. That isn't to say that an act of good cannot help in the face of evil, but good cannot undo evil. If a man commits murder, no amount of good is going to bring the victim back to life. God is the ultimate good. However, He has not chosen to stop evil from occurring altogether because of these very facts.

If I wash myself with snow water, And cleanse my hands with soap, Yet You will plunge me into the pit, And my own clothes will abhor me. — Job 9:30-31

If a person does evil, that person cannot undo that evil with any amount of good behavior. If you lie to a friend, that lie continues to exist. If you punch someone in the nose, the nose may heal with time, but the pain that was caused cannot be taken away with any amount of kisses in return. Evil is a contamination that persists despite whatever good a person may do. The smallest amount of evil corrupts a person completely and that corruption is what prevents the existence of good people. Every person has succumbed to this corruption. There are no good people.

For there is not a just man on earth who does good And does not sin. — Ecclesiastes 7:20

How did this happen? Well, in the very start of things, this was not the state of the universe.

Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. ... And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. — Genesis 1:26-27,31a

Almost everyone knows the rest of the story. The first man and the first woman, Adam and Eve, had one rule. That rule was that they must not eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. This rule provides the test of man and proves man's free will from God. Man is given the choice to either obey God or to turn aside from God and choose to rule himself. At this point, the devil came in and tempted Adam and Eve to disobey and Adam and Eve chose the exhilaration of rebellion over the contentment of obedience. Every man and woman since that day has been born into the corruption that has resulted.

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. — Romans 15:13

This, then, begs the question, is there no hope? If good cannot undo evil what hope is there for us that desire to be good people? The good news is that there was exactly one man who was able to live on this planet and yet be free from the corruption of evil. He was able to do this because he is the Messiah, Jesus Christ. He is God in the flesh. He came to earth to invoke the "deep magic" C.S. Lewis allegorizes in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. The "deep magic" is this, that if one who committed no sin is sacrificed on behalf of those who do sin, the power of sin will be turned backwards for all who are covered by this sacrifice.

because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, "everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame." — Romans 10:9-11

I said that good does not undo evil, but when the Good Creator chooses, he can make it as if no evil ever occurred through this sacrifice. The evil exists, but God has provided a way for it to be forgiven. If you choose to submit to God, accept this sacrifice, and honestly pray for forgiveness for the evil you have committed, you too will be covered by Jesus Christ's sacrifice. You too can hope to follow Christ into the resurrection and life in heaven.

For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? — Mark 8:35-36

The wicked shall be turned into hell, And all the nations that forget God. — Psalm 9:17

Yet, if you choose not to consider or accept this, I will not lie to you or gloss over reality. It would be better for you to have never been born than to die. The evil you have committed requires some amount of compensation. You will experience the forever torment of hell because evil demands an answer.

Amen.

The longer I have been a Christian, the more I have been convinced of the preeminence of the Word of God as revealed in the Bible. In Psalm 19
, David tells us, "The law of the Lord if perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple." I think much of this passage is forgotten today in many churches today.

Each and every Christian should see it as his highest priority in life, above work, above family, above children, above spouses, above home, above fellowship, above politics, above hobbies, above all things to search the Word of God and pray to know Jesus Christ more. Some of scripture is hard and beyond understanding, but nearly all of it is able to "1 Peter 4:11

Do not mishear me. I am not saying that the Bible is the only thing. In fact, by saying the Bible is most important, I am unable to say it is the only thing. To read and apply the Bible with guidance from the Holy Spirit demands that we work hard, we fervently serve our children and wives, we manage our home well, we seek fellowship, we influence others, and we maintain our bodies and health. The Bible holds an impossible standard to follow, but by making it our chief focus we hope to attain something of the prize it describes.

I have, unfortunately, heard Bible study referred to as a "toxic" environment. I have seen it said that Bible study alone can be compared with the filling of the Dead Sea: without an outlet the water becomes toxic and no life can survive in it. In theory, I can suppose that it is possible for Bible study to degenerate in this way, but since this contradicts the clear teaching of scripture I must assume a contradiction has occurred in such "Bible studies."

A Bible study may be a Bible study in name only. If the true purpose of a gathering is actually to share personal experience or fellowship or prayer or singing or acts of service (all good things, I do not malign them) with a Bible present in the room: This a "Bible study" does not make.

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work. — 2 Timothy 5:16-17

If you have a "Bible study" that does not engage in teaching the Word but focuses on experience or personal beliefs or fellowship or anything else, you do not have a Bible study. If you have a "Bible study" that does not use the Word to reprove false teaching but merely provides positive applications, you do not have a Bible study. If you have a "Bible study" that does not use the Word to expose error in personal belief and behavior but elevate individual experience over the Bible, you do not have a Bible study. If you do not use the Word of God to train believers as if they were studying hard for the most important final exam of their lives, Final Judgment, but just have a "holy huddle," you do not have a Bible study.

Let us not confuse terms here. A Bible study is focused on the Word of God. Anything else may be excellent, but Bible study must be greatest among all the pursuits of Christians. Everything else may fall into place when this pursuit is realized. Sharing our lives will become an outpouring of our wish to show God's glory exposed in our failures and His miracles. Fellowship will become an opportunity to build one another up. Prayer will become ever more important as the Bible exposes our shortcomings and the Spirit convicts us more and more. Evangelism will become the natural mode of our speech and actions as the Word fills us and breaks down the dams of comfort and convenience we build up in this modern society.

Any attempt to develop programs or man-made systems to enforce rigorous Bible study will ultimately fail. Men and women of God will either pursue scripture and apply its precepts to their life, as difficult as it is to do so, or they will not. The Spirit will lead this process, not men. Men may provide guidance and wisdom to others, but only the Spirit changes lives and attitudes. It is not an easy standard to live by and its teachings work against many modern innovations in psychology and social behavior and science that seem improve our lives, but the truth is the truth and these things will be found to be man's folly sooner or later. Attempting to use these modern innovations of strategy and community building will prove to serve as a false hope that replaces the true hope found in scripture.

I ask that any Christian that reads this and agrees with it, do not allow compromise on this issue anymore. I pray that God will harden my resolve in this matter so that I will not compromise as I have unfortunately done too often, to the detriment of myself, my family, and those within the realm of my influence. I have gone with the flow of liberal doctrine and allowed man's experiences and learning and "wisdom" to cloud my understanding. I must not allow this disease to persist in my life. I recommend the same in yours.

The Word is the Word and the truth of Jesus is always good and satisfying to those who know Him. If we only take it and use it to its full advantage, there is no task that God can set us to that we will fail. Though, we might find ourselves doing tasks that we would not have sought ourselves. Yet, if we are doing God's work and building up eternal treasures it will be worth it.

Amen.