Recently in Myths of Christianity Category

There are many sects that base their view of the world on the fact that Christ is not God. There are a number of different strategies for attacking Christ’s deity. Some reinterpret the Scriptures to shade the meanings differently than the context indicates, sometimes even going so far as inserting new words into the text. Others use a rational argument that attempts to first oversimplify belief in the trinity to make it seem that Christian’s believe in three Gods (a “straw man” argument, since we believe in a singular God) and then attack it from Scriptures, such as Deuteronomy 6:4, which point out that God is one. Regardless, of the attack, however, I’m not moved by the argument. God is one and Jesus Christ is God.

A passage that does not stand on it’s own, but is what I consider to the be summary passage for Christ’s deity is found in John 1:1-3,14: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. … And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” The book of John is about the Word, who is Jesus Christ. In the words of J.C. Ryle in his commentary on John, “[Jesus] is not merely a created angel, or a being inferior to God the Father, and invested by Him with power to redeem sinners. He is nothing less than perfect God,—equal to the Father as touching His Godhead,—God of the substance of the Father, begotten before the worlds.”

Some have tried to say that it would be more appropriate to translate the passage, “the Word was a God.” According to John MacArthur, this isn’t correct. “The Greek construction emphasizes that the Word had all the essence or attributes of deity, i.e., Jesus the Messiah was fully God.” The MacArthur Bible Commentary refers us to Colossians 2:9, where Paul is attempting to clarify just this point, starting with verse 8: “See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.” Jesus Christ is God.

Yet, this is not the end of the story. Jesus Christ also “became flesh and dwelt among us.” God didn’t stand outside the creation after the fall, but entered in to it in order that he might rescue it. In the words of Jesus in John 3:16 and forward: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”

Jesus Christ is God and came to earth at the pivot point in history. He came to demonstrate what a good religion is, to share the truth about God and the utterly sinful nature of men and women, to minister to those in need, to rebuke those who pretend to good religion, to give his life up on the cross to take away that sin, and to resurrected himself to demonstrate his power over death and sin.

One of the marvels of God is this: You don’t have to accept any of this. It is clear that such a decision is yours to make as you are led to make it. I plead with you to consider belief in Christ as the God-man who can take away your sin very carefully. As Joshua gave a choice to the people of Israel, so we too have a choice: “And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve… as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:15) The choice to believe is yours to make. I pray that if you are led to believe, that you would pray for true belief and seek out others that believe to help you grow in that belief. If you already believe, I encourage you to cling ever tighter to the faith and I look forward to worshiping beside you in the eternity before us.

Cheers.

During grad school, I was working in a research lab and chatting with some of my fellow students/co-workers. I don’t remember what I was saying, but something having to do with church when one of my colleagues proudly said, “Yeah, I did the youth group thing, but I don’t do the Christian thing anymore.” He went on to give sage advice about what Christians are and how he’s outgrown them. I told him I thought he was mistaken, but left it at that if he didn’t want to pursue the topic, which he didn’t. What I wanted to tell him is, “You may have hung out with Christians and may have considered belief in God, but you were never a Christian.”

I have heard this said a few times, but have, as in this case, usually not responded to it directly. I can here. I must start by saying most emphatically that there is no such thing as a “former Christian.” Some Christians might debate this, but I think the Bible is pretty clear that once God “picks” you for salvation, He doesn’t change His mind.

How do I know? Because the Bible tells us that Christianity is something you either have or do not. It is something you have gained or not. It is like a ray in math. Christianity has an origin and a direction, but no end point. All of life’s bumps and even death is just an event along the ray, but nothing will ever terminate that ray of faith.

Evidence of Salvation

Perseverance is defined by scripture to be the evidence of salvation. Job 17:9 says, “Yet the righteous will hold to his way, And he who has clean hands will be stronger and stronger.” Proverbs 4:18, “But the path of the just is like the shining sun, That shines ever brighter unto the perfect day.” John 8:31, “Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, ‘If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.’” Colossians 1:21-23, “And you, who were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight—-if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.”

Powered by God

This perseverance is not something we provide, but God provides. If you are a child of God, you will persevere because He upholds you, not because you want to follow him. Psalm 37:24: “Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; For the Lord upholds him with His hand.” Philippians 1:6, “being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.” John 10:28, “And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.” Jeremiah 32:40, “And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from doing them good; but I will put My fear in their hearts so that they will not depart from Me.”

Lack of Endurance

Finally, the lack of salvation that lasts a life time is a sign of damnation. Christians will one day be resurrected to join with God when the universe itself is finally reborn. Those who never knew God or who courted God and did not endure will spend eternity excluded from heaven. Hebrews 6:4-6, “For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened [learn of God], and have tasted the heavenly gift [tried out Christianity], and have become partakers [acquainted rather than friends] of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.” John 15:6, “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.” Romans 11:22, “Therefore considered the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you [true believers], goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off.”

Good News

The good news is that it is never too late to come to Christ again. I added the additional notes regarding translation in Hebrews 6:4-6 above because that passage is often misused to say that a person that tries Christianity, but leaves, cannot come back. However, that’s not what the passage indicates at all. It says that if you learn all there is to learn about God and know his salvation is right, but then reject it as not enough, there’s nothing left to convince you and you are without hope. However, anyone who does not know God’s own saving grace still has time to take hold of it as long as you still have a breath to breathe.

All in all, there are no former Christians, but there are many who pretend to be. Once you become a believer, your faith will be preserved by the Holy Spirit and that is assurance indeed in a world that is so messed up. This isn’t a free ride, but even the worst Christian is better off than the best otherwise.

Cheers.

A great many myths are perpetrated regarding Christianity that I sometimes run into. I’d like to counter some of the more common ones.

The source for most of these myths is three-fold. First, by simply calling himself “Christian” a great many men seem to assert authority on subjects which have no relationship what being a Christian actually means (as defined by our church fathers in the New Testament). Second, those who are not Christians spread a certain amount of FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt) in an attempt to discredit us or simply because they don’t understand us. Third, the more subtle myths are actually held true by some believers when they have no basis in the Bible (or even other lesser authorities such as the councils and other historical writings).

These are in no particular order and I am just picking them out as I go. I may or may not add more posts to this as a series in the future.

Myth #1: Christians Hate People

This is sometimes a myth stated against all religious people. The premise I have heard stated is that because we believe in some sort of specialized, organized religion we spread hate against those that disagree with us. In reality, however, it is Christian principles embodied in the U.S. Constitution (and other documents that have since been derived from it) that protect the freedom to express beliefs other than Christianity. Christianity fully supports each individual’s right to believe anything she wants to believe.

There certainly are haters who name themselves “Christian.” There have been horrible and hateful atrocities perpetrated under the name “Christian.” That does not mean that these perversions of the truth represent the truth. A man could sit on a committee to find ways to work against domestic violence and yet still go home and beat his wife and children. That doesn’t mean that the committee itself is a bad idea.

Myth #2: Christians Must Never Judge

This myth is a little confusing because the term “judge” can be applied in two ways. It is true, that Jesus said, “Judge not, that you be not judged.” (Matthew 7:1) Or in Romans 2:1 Paul says, “Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things.” The point here being that condemning others on the basis of whatever you don’t like about them is not good. This is not what Jesus called us to do.

However, the flip side is that we are supposed to judge ourselves and know right from wrong. “But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged.” (1 Corinthians 11:31) In a sense, we are required to judge the actions of ourselves and even others to make sure we do not follow after the sins of others. If we never judged, we’d believe in nothing. The hard part for every Christian is to not turn that judgment of action into a negative opinion of the actor. We are all sinners, every single one of us. We’re all equal in this way.

This returns us to Myth #1 about hate. If we hate others, we have judged them in an inappropriate way. If we’ve judged someone’s actions as being something not to follow, but still love the person, we have done right. This is something difficult for anyone to do since it is very human to distrust, suspect, and even hate someone just for being different. This kind of judgment we must make as Christians seeks to identify those differences. It is necessary. It is good. It is difficult for Christians to do the right thing in the process, which is why Jesus and Paul labor to point out how such judgments really condemn ourselves.

That’s it for tonight. Cheers.