Author Archives: Delight in Truth

Apr 9 2013

To Be or not to Be… Born of God

That is the question…

More than a question asked by Hamlet about the meaning of life, for the Christian this is a question about the status of the soul.

This is a test of faith.

In this case the test of faith rests on what apostle John writes when he fights Gnosticism and heresy in the early church.  One of the pearls of John’s first letter is found in 1 John 3:9

No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God.

A clear line can be drawn between those who live in sin continuously (make a practice of sinning), and those who do not persist in their sin but repent of it.   That line is a division between those who are born of God and those who are of the devil (1 John 3:8).

This is a radical concept.  Could it be that there is no in-between?  Is there no such thing as a lukewarm position of transition between these two polar opposites?

The answer is no.  One is either saved or unsaved.

Being born of God does not mean and we are completely free of sin in this life.  But we are not slaves to it.  We do not live in a pattern of continual sin.  The Holy Spirit convicts us and leads us to repentance when we do sin, and He points us to the cross where we find forgiveness.

The presence of this work of the Holy Spirit in our lives is what sets believers apart from non-believers.

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Apr 8 2013

Do Christians Who Commit Suicide Lose Their Salvation?

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In a somewhat superficial way, in one of their blogs, the Christian Post is asking this question in the wake of Matthew Warren’s suicide by a self-inflicted gun shot wound.

The following questions are put forth to show that a Christian cannot lose his or her salvation:

So since suicide is a result of mental illness, then the question is whether or not God holds illness against a person when deciding whether or not to allow them into heaven?

Does He hold it against cancer patients that die of cancer?

Or heart disease patients who die of heart attacks? Is that reasonable?

The blogger who wrote this for the Christian Post is taking a dangerous position with the assurance of salvation.

First of all he groups all mental illness with other illnesses such as cancer and cardiovascular disease.

Then he classifies suicide in the same way as death from a heart attack as a result of cardiovascular disease, and death from complications of cancer. He cites Romans 8 where it states that nothing can separate us from the love of God, and he implies that even taking our own life is subject to this declaration made by apostle Paul.

The big difference is that unlike suicide victims, cancer patients and heart attack victims for the most part do not premeditate their death, and they do not carry it out by volition.

There will be cases where believers have completely lost their mind as a result of some medical or psychiatric illness, and they are effectively unaware of the consequences of the suicidal act. They do not have the reasoning capacity to discern the gravity of what they are doing. In those cases, their actions cannot be held against them. But those cases may be more rare than we imagine.

Most suicides take place after prolonged suicidal ideation, and some of these victims have an elaborate plan on how to accomplish the act. Euthanasia is an example of this type of premeditated assisted suicide.

In those cases of suicide where the person is aware of their actions and understands the consequences, and more so is a professing believer, and THEN proceeds to destroy the temple of the Holy Spirit by self-murder, there is no excuse.

Such an action actually may be evidence they are not believers. One who has the Holy Spirit living inside him will not destroy the temple of the Holy Spirit willingly.

There is one other possibility. Gabe Bogdan brought this up in a previous comment. Depression and suicide may not be a sin in themselves, but they may be the consequence of unrepented sin. One’s refusal to be convicted by the Holy Spirit may lead to depression and then suicide, and in that case the spiritual devastation is evident.

Now… It is not appropriate for us to say in which group suicide victims belong. Whether they have lost their mind and are victims of lack of understanding, or whether they have premeditated and meticulously carried out the act.

We cannot speculate whether they go to heaven or hell, because that is the domain of the Omniscient.

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Apr 7 2013

Depression: Physical and Spiritual Perspectives

Major Depression is a state of sadness and apathy which lasts at least two weeks, and typically longer, and is severe enough to interfere with daily life.  In order to have the diagnosis of major depression, five of the following must be present:

(1) depressed mood

(2) markedly diminished interest or pleasure in all, or almost all, activities most of the day, nearly every day

(3) significant weight loss weight gain

(4) insomnia or hypersomnia nearly every day

(5) psychomotor agitation or retardation nearly every day

(6) fatigue or loss of energy nearly every day

(7) feelings of worthlessness or excessive or inappropriate guilt

(8) diminished ability to think or concentrate

(9) recurrent thoughts of death  and suicide

A medical doctor can make the diagnosis after a careful physical and mental status exam.

These are the physical and emotional aspects of depression and a way for us to diagnose it.

What about the spiritual aspects?

I ask this question because to this day we only have THEORIES with respect to the pathophysiology of depression.  There is no concrete lab test, neurodiagnostic test, imaging test, or any other type of medical test accepted into standard practice TODAY which can diagnose depression.

There is not any palpable, measurable physical test accepted as standard to help with this problem…

Could it be that this particular psychiatric disturbance has a spiritual cause?

I do not endorse the idea that every illness is caused by an evil spirit.  Most of the diseases we are facing whether genetic, infectious, or others, are based in our broken bodies, a brokeness we have carried with us since our fall in the garden of Eden.

But in the case of depression (and other psychiatric disorders) something dark is at work.  In medicine we theorize about neurotransmitter imbalances and impaired synaptic transmission; and we have developed drugs to flood brain synapses with these deficient neurotransmitters with some success in treatment.

But the emotional and spiritual darkness associated with depression raises the possibility of demonic influence over the victims of depression.

This explanation will not be found in the DSM-V, the diagnostic manual for psych disorders.

But the Bible gives us some clues.

The absence of the fruit of the Spirit from one’s life may lead to a state of depression.  Galatians 5 gives us the list of the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace…

Without the fruit of the Spirit in one’s life, it could be that the person may not have the Holy Spirit and His power of regeneration.  We can make this judgement based on the evidence at hand since we cannot know for sure what is in that person’s heart.

The absence of joy and peace are mainstay characteristics of depression.  The absence of the fruit of the Spirit could indicate the absence of the Holy Spirit.

This is key to the demonic influence over the persistent emotional state in the setting of major depression.

Christians are not immune to doubts, trials, illness, even feeling down.  But losing hope and losing the fruit of the Spirit in a persistent depression brings into question the presence of the work of the Holy Spirit in their life.

The Holy Spirit is our Intercessor, the One who stands in the gap for us, based on Romans 8, and as His subjects we must appeal to Him when we are down.

Depression must be fought against “by the Spirit.”

Christians have an eternal hope they cannot lose.  They should not persist in a state of depression.

Psalms 42:11 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.

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Apr 6 2013

Everything Else Matters Not in the Matthew Warren Tragedy

Losing a family member, especially a young son or daughter is the most painful event one can go through.  Our condolences go to pastor Rick Warren and his family who lost their son to suicide after a long struggle with depression and suicidal ideation.

Delight in Truth is a critic of Rick Warren and some of the positions he has taken over the years with respect to controversial social issues, but this tragedy makes everything pale in comparison.

Doctrinal points, accuracy of biblical teaching, styles of sharing the Gospel and their controversies matter not at this time.

The only thing that matters is the comfort that God can provide to Rick Warren and his family via the Holy Spirit, our Comforter.

There will be time to talk about mental illness, suicide, antidepressant treatment, and salvation issues in the setting of suicide.

Now we grieve with the Warren family for their loss.

Psalm 18:2  “The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”

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Apr 5 2013

The Media Loves the Lukewarm Church

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I  rarely watch TV, but for the first time in a long time I flipped through TV channels recently.

An interesting title caught my attention on Lifetime: “The Preacher’s Daughters.”

Being a PK myself (for those who are not familiar with Christian slang, PK stands for pastor’s kid) I immediately asked if this show will present the good, the bad or the ugly.

I was stunned by what I saw.

The short story is that the show tells the juicy reality drama of teenage daughters of pastors. Some of these are young women who attend their father’s churches, who put on a nice face at church, who lead worship, but who ARE NOT born-again Christians.

They crave the things of the world, mainly the sexual immorality and the acceptance of their worldly friends. As a consequence they are unhappy with the struggle resulting from the preaching they hear at church and what they want to do in their life.

They are ashamed to be seen in public with their church group, and some keep their church friends and “other” friends separate. The show highlights disobedience, issues of premarital sex, drugs, teenage pregnancy, peer pressure, etc… all the things that make reality TV trash.

Some of the girls come from divorced parents and mixed marriages (yes, divorced pastors) and some have sisters who themselves have struggled with sexual immorality.

I cannot help but ask if this is an accurate portrait of the lukewarm church at large. I pray and I hope that it is not. But it is important to realize that the media is quick to point out the bad apples in order to mock Christians and our backwards biblical beliefs about marriage and sexual abstinence.

The main problem I see in the behavior of teenagers in the show (and in general) is parental disobedience. Circumventing parental controls becomes an elaborate scheme, and it shows the rebellious nature within children and their need for Jesus.

Watching the show for 10 minutes answered my the original question: it was the bad and the ugly, without the good…

But hope is not lost.

These kids attend church where they hear the Gospel, and I pray that the Holy Spirit will do His work on them and regenerate them.

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Apr 4 2013

To Grieve the Holy Spirit

Isaiah 63:10 may be one the most shocking verse in the entire Bible.

“Yet they rebelled
and grieved his Holy Spirit.
So he turned and became their enemy
and he himself fought against them.”

Can a believer who has the Holy Spirit living inside of them fathom this truth!?

The people of Israel have made an enemy of God and His Holy Spirit by their idolatry. And the Holy Spirit Himself fought against them.

What a terrifying thought for a true believer.

This is why Paul gives us a stern warning in Ephesians 4:30

“And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption”

How can we grieve the Holy Spirit?

Under the NIV heading “Instructions for Christian Living” in Ephesians 4, Paul mentions the things that grieve the Holy Spirit: sensuality, impurity, greed, deceitful desires, falsehood, stealing, unwholesome talk, all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.

Should a believer ever fall in sin, he must not persist in that fall as John explains in 1 John 3:9

“No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God.”

Conviction of sin is the work of the Holy Spirit and repentance quickly follows for the believer. Should that repentance not immediately follow, the Holy Spirit will be grieved.

Other than blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, grieving the Holy Spirit may be the biggest spiritual disaster in one’s life.

To listen to the Holy Spirit is the work of the Holy Spirit in us… And we must always thank Him for His presence and guide in our lives.

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Apr 3 2013

Abortion Survival: A Miracle of Life in Ohio

In a classic case of Romans 1 suppression of truth, the irony of ironies has taken place.

In a case of darkness, death, and abortion, God has ordained that life will defeat death.

Ariel Knights is a pro-choice 22-year-old woman who sought to abort her second pregnancy due to a medical condition where the uterus is separated into two compartments.  This condition makes the pregnancy high risk due to increased likelihood of preterm labor and other possible complications.

She underwent the brutal procedure in an abortion mill in Akron, Ohio only to find out in a later emergency room visit that she continued to have a baby in her uterus.

And the baby was alive! And unharmed!

This is an absolute physical miracle.  One has to wonder, even with a divided uterus, how can a tiny, fragile life survive the slaughter of the suction cannula and the forceps of the abortionist?

Blinded by the belief that this baby was a threat to her, Knights sought abortion again, but no clinic would take her complicated case, so she opted to carry the pregnancy and eventually deliver a baby who is doing well.  She calls the little girl her “miracle baby.”

Given the amazing miracle this mom experienced, she continues to be pro-choice and open to the idea abortion.

The Bible tells us that God speaks “many times in many ways” (Heb 1:1) but people “in their unrighteousness suppress the truth.”  (Rom 1:18)

This young woman was asked about the irony of the failed abortion, and she revealed that she is turning a blind eye to it:

“That’s a sore subject to think about. I mean, it’s just hard, thinking she’s here and thinking, if they would have done their job. … It’s just something I don’t like to think about.”

Ariel Knights is suppressing the truth by refusing to be convicted by the miracle that has taken place in her life.

She knows that abortion is murder, but she is not willing to think about it.  This would identify her sinful state which she is currently suppressing, as apostle Paul explains in Romans 1.

Judgement and conviction in our hearts with respect to sin is the work of the Holy Spirit.

I pray that God will use this amazing, awesome miracle to make Ariel realize her need for a Savior.

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Apr 2 2013

DOMA, the Entropy of Marriage, and Revelation 22:11

Everything around us is in a state of flux.

The second law of thermodynamics tells us that everything evolves toward breakdown, equilibrium and entropy.

This physical fact is not unlike the moral decay or moral entropy we see in our modern society.

I have come to realize that the moral code of a godless society is subject to a moral and spiritual decay or a moral entropy as presented at the end of the Bible:

“Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy.  Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay everyone for what he has done.” Rev 22:11-12

In a couple of months there is an excellent chance that the Supreme Court will repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).  This act was passed with overwhelming support in the legislative and executive branches and a repeal will normalize gay marriage and will make state laws against gay marriage unconstitutional.

Approximately 60% of the American public now support the idea of gay marriage, contrary to biblical teaching.

Just like the law of entropy dictates order to disorder, so morality is going from bad to worse in our culture.

“Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy.”

The unrighteous are in a state of continuous moral breakdown according to this verse, while the righteous are heading in the opposite direction.

There must be a clear separation between them.  There is no middle ground because there is only one absolute moral standard: God’s Law.

The spiritual entropy will continue, as it must.

But righteousness will continue as well.

We are in the world but not of the world.

 

Mar 31 2013

The Seeker-Friendly Church and Chreasters

Pastor Ed Young of Fellowship Church in Grapevine, Texas, holds a lamb near a cage with a live lion during his Easter Wild sermon on April 8, 2012.

First off, lets define the terms.

“Chreaster” – an urban neologism meant to designate those who attend worship services only on Christmas and Easter.

The seeker-friendly church – a movement that tries to reach out to the unsaved by using unorthodox methods to attract them into the church environment.  These include state of the art audio-video technology, grand stage presence, entertaining shows, and rehearsed concert type worship; very common in larger churches with deep pockets.

The problem with the seeker approach to evangelism is that the Gospel is not always the epicenter of the affair.  The unsaved are targeted using elements from the world to draw them in: a great show, a rock concert, a motivational speech, etc.  The Gospel is then squeezed in hopefully at an opportune moment, but unfortunately, in many seeker environments the Gospel is diluted due to its unpopularity.

A message of repentance becomes one of love, and it is true, God is love, but He is also a consuming fire.  A message that should denounce sin becomes one of acceptance, and so forth.  And exclusivity via Jesus is rarely preached.

Here are some worrisome examples.

Controversial mega-church pastor Ed Young who is the author of the book Sexperiment, is also a trend-setter in the world of fashion and a contributor to pastorfashion.com.  During last year’s Easter show he wore a metro-sexual outfit while showing a live lion and a lamb on the stage of his church.  Needless to say animal rights folks were not happy.

Is that how the Gospel should be preached?

In another shocking example, Bay Area Fellowship, the largest church in Corpus Christi, was giving away flat-screen televisions, skateboards, Fender guitars, furniture and cars a couple of years ago at their Easter service.  Image how many were drawn to that kind of giveaway.  I sincerely hope they heard a message of repentance somewhere in there.

I’m not saying that giving away free stuff is inherently bad.  I’m saying that Chreasters and people from the world are drawn to these churches for the wrong reasons.

Many of us are worried that these churches are not ministering to Chreasters in a Gospel-directed way.  If the church competes with the world and its lights and sounds, the church will always lose.  There is no competition when it comes to performing worldly things… the church makes itself look foolish when it tries to one-up the world by putting on entertainment shows.

Delight in Truth friend and follower Gabi Bogdan said it best on the topic of seeker friendly churches when he said that rock n’ roll is made for the world and Christians are terrible at rock ‘n roll!

There is no sense in using elements from the world to present the Gospel.

Chreasters know the message of the Gospel, but this message may have not yet fully convicted them.

A seeker-friendly approach will not help convict them either, it will just draw them for the wrong reasons.

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Mar 30 2013

Who Raised Jesus from the Dead?

The straight forward answer is that God raised Jesus from the dead as Acts 2:24 states: “God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.”

But I love the trinitarian implications found in Scripture with respect to Christ’s resurrection.

Most references to God raising Jesus up refer to God the Father.  Even the mockers testified truth when they said in Matthew 27:43: “He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” The Father-Son relationship was validated by the resurrection, and God the Father proved to be faithful in resurrecting Jesus.

Scripture also gives us evidence that Christ’s power was involved in the resurrection, as Jesus is the Second Person of the Trinity.  In John 11:25 Jesus makes the powerful statement “I am the resurrection and the life,” assuming to Himself the power to life.  Jesus also said in John 10:17-18, “I lay down my life that I may take it up again…  I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

The Father has assigned the task of life to the Son.

The Holy Spirit is also closely implicated in the greatest and most important event to ever grace the face of the universe.  Romans 1:4 says that Jesus “was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead.”  And Romans 8:11 makes it clear that the work of the Holy Spirit in bringing us to life is similar to the work of resurrecting Jesus: “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.”

The Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit have achieved the greatest and most glorious act in this work of redemption when Jesus was resurrected.

And we rejoice as we look forward to God resurrecting up His saints in a similar fashion!

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