Such were some of you

Do you feel it? ... The pressure? I sure do, and it is steadily increasing. On the news, in my twitterfeed, and at the workplace. Everywhere I turn I see and hear discussion about the promotion of homosexuality and same-sex marriage. Can I be honest about something: I'm a Christian man and I don't particularly enjoy talking about this subject.

But you know what? It is being crammed down our throats, and there is no way to avoid this issue. I wish that we could; I wish there was a way to not focus on this. But as Christians we should "always [be] ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence" (1 Peter 3:15b, NASB).

Therefore, if we want to be honest and engage the people around us with the gospel then this issue is bound to come up. The issue is partially about homosexuality, to be sure, but it goes deeper than that. Our message is one of hope for a lost and wicked generation: Christ came to save sinners and has accomplished His purpose on the cross of Calvary. Going beyond the brunt issue of sexual preferences, the underlying issue is the rulership of God over the lives of humanity. 

You see, God is the Creator of heaven and earth and He has the sole right to determine what is right and what is wrong. We shouldn't deny that homosexuals have same-sex attraction. In fact, the Bible acknowledges this. However, simply because one has a desire to do something does not mean it is morally good. For example, the thief has a desire to steal from others and this is declared as sinful in Scripture. Even though stealing might bring temporary happiness to the thieving person, it can only bring negative consequences. It harms others and himself in the long run. The same is true of homosexuality.

Paul, describing the church at Corinth, says: "Such were some of you..." (Emphasis MINE). This begs the question: what were they? He explains just prior to saying this, "Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God." Corinth was a wicked city, full of wicked people. In God's free grace, He delivered many Corinthians from the consequences of their sins. Praise be to God that He did not just declare them not guilty of their iniquities! No; He then saved them from themselves and their sinful lifestyles! Notice: "Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God."

What we have to proclaim to our fellow citizens is a message that everyone needs to hear: God is just and holy, and we are not. He gave us laws to obey, and we have broken them every day of our lives. Because of this we deserve to die, face His judgment, and be cast into Hell to pay for our crimes for all eternity. But God sent His one, unique Son - God in human flesh - to live the perfect life we could not, and die on the cross in the place of His people. We are commanded to turn from our wicked ways and trust in Christ to save us from our sins. We must count the cost, because Jesus requires the utter denial of ourselves in order to follow Him.

Ironically, the world doesn't have a problem with Jesus or with Christians, until we arrive at this point: repentance. Jesus preached it; He requires it of all people everywhere because there is a final Day of Judgment coming where we will all stand before His judgment seat.

Did Jesus shy away from this issue? Surely he must have known how unpopular it sounds to the culture (then and now)! 

Now on the same occasion there were some present who reported to Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. And Jesus said to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered this fate? I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or do you suppose that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem? I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” (Luke 13:1-3, NASB). 

Faced with 2 difficult scenarios, Jesus was asked whether the murder of innocents by Pilate, or the tragedy of a tower collapsing and killing people, meant that those people were greater sinners than the rest. The Lord put things in perspective for those asking and simply said this: "...unless you repent, you will all likewise perish." This is our message - the wrath of God abides on you. Therefore, turn from your sins, towards Christ, trusting Him to save you.

I say all of this, knowing Christ's message is a hard message. Even the disciples were frustrated about Christ's message: "This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it?" (John 6:60, NASB).  Here was Jesus' response to the disciples: 

But Jesus, conscious that His disciples grumbled at this, said to them, “Does this cause you to stumble? What then if you see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before? It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who it was that would betray Him. And He was saying, “For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father.” (John 6:61-65, NASB).

The Lord of all things, however, knew what he was doing - He still knows what he is doing. Rather than appealing to worldly wisdom to persuade the culture, Christ preached a message of repentance and faith in himself. This is our message to proclaim today.

Even though many who call themselves Christians keel over at the first sign of pressure from the world, we cannot do this. We can either be friends with the world or with God. My pastor said it best recently: 

"The only power the world has over you is what you give to it by loving the things in the world." 

Amen!

We need to be a people concerned about God's truth found in His inspired Word. We need to live lives consistent with the message we claim to believe in. We need to speak to our friends, family, coworkers and acquaintances about the gospel of Jesus Christ, all in humility and love. May we not shy away from the opportunities Christ has given us, especially while we have freedom to do so.

I will leave you with this, one of my favorite texts of Scripture: "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord." (1 Corinthians 15:58, NASB). 


Thanks for reading,
Rusty

Are you salt and light or are you good for nothing?

¹³ “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.”

¹⁴  “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” – Matthew 5

So many people today who call themselves Christians are far too willing to throw God’s truth under the bus. They call things “political” or non-relevant to the gospel. They are unwilling to call sinful things wrong. I’ve heard things from professing believers such as,

 “Gay marriage is not a big deal. It does not affect me, why should I care? Let’s just love people and show them the gospel!” 

Jesus loved people by telling them they were wrong. He told them they needed to be saved, but he did not stop there, he also told people what they needed to be saved from. Lying, cheating, stealing, having no regard for the poor and those in need, the various kinds of sexual immorality, etc. You are going to have to talk about these things and call them evil and wrong if you are going to accurately represent the gospel. 

Salt is used to preserve things, and light is there to counter darkness. What are you preserving by surrendering to the culture? Does your light shine, or do you say “x sinful thing” is not a big deal? Christians should be shouting from the rooftops, “This is wrong!” We should be so unwavering in our commitment to the proclamation of the truth that the only recourse the world has is to throw us in jail. Are you salt that has lost your saltiness? I hope not, because Jesus says that you cannot be restored and that you are good for nothing. What does that mean for you?

²¹ “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. ²² On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ ²³ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ – Matthew 7

The Skeptic’s Annotated Bible and Daniel

Those that know me well know that I spend just as much time studying the “opposition” as I do studying my own views. So much so that I can probably argue against my positions just as easily as I argue for them. I also seek out the best opponents I can find, not just the famous or infamous. For instance, if I were an atheist I would not just read C.S. Lewis’ “Mere Christianity”, come up with a few simple arguments against it, and be able to sleep at night. Lewis’ work is good enough on the surface, but as my friends and family can attest, I’ve been quite outspoken about how bad it actually is for several years now. I do this not because I hate C.S. Lewis. I do this because maintaining intellectual integrity is of supreme importance if we are going to genuinely search for truth.  That is why I am regularly astounded by the blatant lies and misrepresentations found in “skeptical” works on the bible. For instance, I have started to read the often cited (on the internet anyway) “Skeptic’s Annotated Bible” which is available online for free (link). I decided to check a couple of the more potent parts of the bible to see what they could possibly say about those sections of scripture.

I started with Daniel chapter 9. Anyone who knows the bible will know why I picked this book and this chapter. It predicts the Messiah’s first coming and His death to the very day and was written hundreds of years before the events. It’s a pretty shocking display of God’s power and authority over time, and it is also an undeniable proof of the authenticity of scripture and Jesus being the Son of God. So what did these skeptics say about Daniel 9? They quote almost the entire section between v. 21-27, file it under the “absurd” category and call it “compete gibberish” from Gabriel. Well gee, I’m convinced!

So I decided to check a few other things to see if I could find some “good stuff” that stumped me and forced me to do some research. In the Gospels I came across the usual attacks on the genealogies in Matthew and Luke, the same tired arguments that totally ignore the differences in the types of genealogies that are being presented and to whom and for what purpose. As well as other such arguments not meant to convince anyone who actually knows the bible, but to make those that don’t know it and don’t believe in it feel warm and fuzzy. So I went back to Daniel and started with chapter 1 verse 1. There’s a lot of history in Daniel and I wanted to see what, if anything, they could pick apart.

1:1 In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, 

Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it.

Their issue with verse 1?

“The third year of the reign of Jehoiakim would be 606 BCE, at which time Nebuchadnezzar was not yet king of Babylon. It was 597 BCE that Nebuchadnezzar invaded Jerusalem for the first time (without actually destroying it). By that time Jehohiakim was dead and his son, Jehoiachin, was ruling.”

That seems like a pretty good one. The problem with it is that it’s a bold-faced lie. The first issue is with the 606 b.c. date. The first year of Jehohiakim’s reign was 607 b.c. according to the accession-year system (which was the system used in Babylon and would no doubt be the system Daniel used since he was living in Babylon and trained in Babylonian schools) making 605 b.c. during the third year of his reign not 606 as they claim.

That still does not get us to 597 b.c. though. But what did happen in 605 b.c.  was Nebuchadnezzar’s conquering of all of the king of Egypt’s territories in Syria and Palestine. Although, other than Daniel 1:1, we don’t have a direct reference to Nebuchadnezzar attacking Jerusalem in 605 b.c. we do know that at the time he was in fact in Palestine with an army conquering, and that Jerusalem did belong to the king of Egypt at the time because its king (Jehohiakim) had been put in place by the king of Egypt. So it’s pretty safe to assume from the historical record and the biblical account that Nebuchadnezzar did besiege several cities in Palestine (including Jerusalem) even though they are not directly mentioned. Can you blame the Babylonians for not writing down “oh and we conquered Jerusalem too!” and just simply recording the fact that they took the whole land?  For instance, when we talk about Hitler’s invasion of Poland we don’t mention every town and city he went through, because there’s no point it’s just assumed he was there by proxy of his army.

Oh and by the way, Nebuchadnezzar did invade Jerusalem in 597 b.c and Jehohiakim was dead at the time. His son Jehoiachin was somewhere between 8 and 12 years old at the time. So hey, they got that part sort of right. Good for them.

So what the people that have put together the “Skeptic’s Annotated Bible” have ended up doing is proving themselves to be, at best, embarrassingly ignorant. As I continued to examine other passages from this mess of a website it became pretty clear that this was not the best material for trying to critique the bible. In fact, it was more of the same old garbage that I read again and again. My search for decent skeptical material on the bible continues and to no avail. The pure hatred for God and the bible from Atheists is astounding. They attack it and mock it relentlessly and in increasingly creative ways, and yet none of them can offer an actual argument against it. So keep it up atheists, because the only thing you’re succeeding in doing is creating that awkward moment when your attacks don’t destroy your opponent but instead fortify their position.

Sources:

Archer, Gleason. "Daniel" The Expositors Bible Commentary. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1985

Archer, Gleason. A Survey of the Old Testament Introduction. Chicago: Moody Press, 1974.

Baldwin, Joyce G. Daniel. Downers Grove: Intervarsity Press, 1978.

The Babylonian Chronicles at the British Museum

2 Chronicles and 2 Kings in the bible