A Jehovah witness said this:
`Jesus did not give any indication that his followers would be of the highest numbers, such as is found in Christendom. If that were fact...the road to life would not have been referred to by Jesus as `narrow`. Although a large crowd.....it is not the mass majority of people who will be considered as followers of Jesus, and survive the end of this `system`.....they will still be a minority religiously speaking. AND yes, JW`s have made an impact.`
Can you help me with an response to them?
Answer:
Jesus said in Matt 7:14, "Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who will find it." The statement here is referring to the narrow way of salvation - the only way which is through Jesus Christ. People seeking it through any other way will not find life. The emphasis here is on the narrowness of the way that God has ordained for salvation rather than the number of people getting saved.
Metaphors in the Bible have to be interpreted carefully. There are verses in the Bible which talk about multitudes of people who will be heaven. For instance Rev 7:9 says, "After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands." This gives us an assurance that there will be so many people who will walk in the narrow way that God has ordained!
Having said that, it is true that a number of people are not going to make it to heaven. I don't know whether we need to speculate who will make it to heaven and who will not. Our duty is to proclaim the gospel message faithfully and leave the results to God.
Even if it means only few people make it to heaven according to Jesus that is not going to justify the claims of Jehovahs Witness that they are on the right track. The argument has its fallacy because any group or cult or denomination can justify themselves saying they are minority and therefore they are right. Smallness in number is not a criterion to be used to measure truth.
Friday, April 25, 2008
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Does God need man?
How Come God create people if he was experiencing perfect love in the trinity.
- Scott Davidson
God did not create human beings because He needed them. God is the only independent being; His existence is not contingent upon anything else outside of Him. In that sense, God did not create man because He had no other option or He needed fellowship desperately because He felt lonely. There is perfect love within the Trinity and God is satisfied in the fellowship that exists in the Trinity. That is why the Christian understanding of a Triune God is so critical. Religions like Islam and Judaism believe in Theism (belief in one personal God) but don’t have the concept of Trinity. The problem will be if God is personal then He needs fellowship. The question they cannot answer will be “With who was God fellowshipping with before He created man?” As Christians we who believe in Trinity can affirm that fellowship always existed within the Triune God and thereby we can maintain the fact that God is also a person. Belief in Trinity is an imperative in order to defend the existence of one personal God.
So God did not create man because He needed him. Revelation 4:11 says, “Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created.” God created all things for Himself, for His pleasure, and for His glory. God loves us but it is not the same as He desperately needs someone to love. God will be God even if He didn’t create us!
- Scott Davidson
God did not create human beings because He needed them. God is the only independent being; His existence is not contingent upon anything else outside of Him. In that sense, God did not create man because He had no other option or He needed fellowship desperately because He felt lonely. There is perfect love within the Trinity and God is satisfied in the fellowship that exists in the Trinity. That is why the Christian understanding of a Triune God is so critical. Religions like Islam and Judaism believe in Theism (belief in one personal God) but don’t have the concept of Trinity. The problem will be if God is personal then He needs fellowship. The question they cannot answer will be “With who was God fellowshipping with before He created man?” As Christians we who believe in Trinity can affirm that fellowship always existed within the Triune God and thereby we can maintain the fact that God is also a person. Belief in Trinity is an imperative in order to defend the existence of one personal God.
So God did not create man because He needed him. Revelation 4:11 says, “Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created.” God created all things for Himself, for His pleasure, and for His glory. God loves us but it is not the same as He desperately needs someone to love. God will be God even if He didn’t create us!
Friday, April 18, 2008
Does God Smell?
When it says God smelled the sweet savor of a burnt sacrafice is that literal? Is he really smelling it and enjoying it or is he enjoying the symbolism that one day Jesus would die for us to be saved. Thank YOu, Charles Castillo
The Bible uses number of human characteristics to describe God. When the Bible talks of God`s eyes or hands it does not mean God has literal eyes or hands like we do. The theological term for this usage of language is Anthropomorphism. Such lanaguage is used in the Bible for our benefit and understanding. God is beyond our full comprehension but He has chosen to reveal Himself in terms we can comprehend. This necessitates the use of human language in order to describe attributes of God. So human actions, emotions, and physique is used to describe God. When it says God smelled the burnt sacrifice it doesn`t mean he smelled it like we do. It is a literary way of saying He was pleased. The fact that the sacrifice was offered in obedience to His word pleased God.
The Bible uses number of human characteristics to describe God. When the Bible talks of God`s eyes or hands it does not mean God has literal eyes or hands like we do. The theological term for this usage of language is Anthropomorphism. Such lanaguage is used in the Bible for our benefit and understanding. God is beyond our full comprehension but He has chosen to reveal Himself in terms we can comprehend. This necessitates the use of human language in order to describe attributes of God. So human actions, emotions, and physique is used to describe God. When it says God smelled the burnt sacrifice it doesn`t mean he smelled it like we do. It is a literary way of saying He was pleased. The fact that the sacrifice was offered in obedience to His word pleased God.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Is God Harsh?
Question:
Hey! I have a question about something in the Scripture as to what God said. Why would want something so harsh to happen? Since God`s a God of love and doesn`t want to force himself upon people, why did He say this?: The LORD then gave these further instructions to Moses: `Tell the people of Israel to keep my Sabbath day, for the Sabbath is a sign of the covenant between me and you forever. It helps you to remember that I am the LORD, who makes you holy. Yes, keep the Sabbath day, for it is holy. Anyone who desecrates it must die; anyone who works on that day will be cut off from the community. Work six days only, but the seventh day must be a day of total rest. I repeat: Because the LORD considers it a holy day, anyone who works on the Sabbath must be put to death.` (Exodus 31:12-15 NLT)
Answer:
It is very important we have a right conception of God. The danger of over emphasizing some attributes of God more than other would mean we have a distorted picture.
The Bible clearly affirms the love of God when it says in 1 John 4: 8 “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love”. Love is an attribute of God that we widely talk about and rightly so. But Love is one attribute of God. The other important attribute of God is His justice. God is holy in the very essence of His person. The idea of God’s Holiness is a central teaching of the Bible. Professor R.C. Sproul says the word ‘holy’ calls attention to all that God is.
God’s holiness and justice demands that He cannot take sin lightly. God’s Law requires that death is the punishment for our sin. A rebellion against His commands cannot be taken as a joke because it is a violation of God’s character. In light of the seriousness of sin and the punishment it requires, God’s mercy, love, and grace appear all the more sweet to us.
In the passage in Exo 31:12-15 we must understand Sabbath in order to know why God demanded death sentence for the defaulters. Sabbath was a sign of the covenant between God and Israel. When some one takes the command casually, it showed his lack of regard for the covenant God made with them. (Sabbath is applicable to the Israelites and not for the church.) So God demanded death sentence because of the seriousness of the offence. This shows the justice side of God. It is this justice side of God that demanded a sacrifice of atonement for our sins and necessitated the coming of Christ into this world. The love of God and His justice are two sides of God’s character and they need to be seen in balance.
Hey! I have a question about something in the Scripture as to what God said. Why would want something so harsh to happen? Since God`s a God of love and doesn`t want to force himself upon people, why did He say this?: The LORD then gave these further instructions to Moses: `Tell the people of Israel to keep my Sabbath day, for the Sabbath is a sign of the covenant between me and you forever. It helps you to remember that I am the LORD, who makes you holy. Yes, keep the Sabbath day, for it is holy. Anyone who desecrates it must die; anyone who works on that day will be cut off from the community. Work six days only, but the seventh day must be a day of total rest. I repeat: Because the LORD considers it a holy day, anyone who works on the Sabbath must be put to death.` (Exodus 31:12-15 NLT)
Answer:
It is very important we have a right conception of God. The danger of over emphasizing some attributes of God more than other would mean we have a distorted picture.
The Bible clearly affirms the love of God when it says in 1 John 4: 8 “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love”. Love is an attribute of God that we widely talk about and rightly so. But Love is one attribute of God. The other important attribute of God is His justice. God is holy in the very essence of His person. The idea of God’s Holiness is a central teaching of the Bible. Professor R.C. Sproul says the word ‘holy’ calls attention to all that God is.
God’s holiness and justice demands that He cannot take sin lightly. God’s Law requires that death is the punishment for our sin. A rebellion against His commands cannot be taken as a joke because it is a violation of God’s character. In light of the seriousness of sin and the punishment it requires, God’s mercy, love, and grace appear all the more sweet to us.
In the passage in Exo 31:12-15 we must understand Sabbath in order to know why God demanded death sentence for the defaulters. Sabbath was a sign of the covenant between God and Israel. When some one takes the command casually, it showed his lack of regard for the covenant God made with them. (Sabbath is applicable to the Israelites and not for the church.) So God demanded death sentence because of the seriousness of the offence. This shows the justice side of God. It is this justice side of God that demanded a sacrifice of atonement for our sins and necessitated the coming of Christ into this world. The love of God and His justice are two sides of God’s character and they need to be seen in balance.
Is it possible for a Christian to lose salvation?
The distinction between our Christian faith and other world religions is seen in the area of salvation. None of the major world religions give an assurance of salvation. Instead it is seen as something that will be decided in the end on the Day of Judgment based on our performance in this life. In sheer contrast the Bible gives every Christian believer the assurance of salvation from the day we put our faith in Christ. While the full effect of salvation will be realized in the future, the assurance we have is that we will all have a share of it.
Even some genuine believers have misunderstood the biblical teaching on whether a true Christian can lose their salvation. The end result is a life of needless insecurity which arises out of our lack of willingness to believe in the keeping power of God.
Salvation is given to us at the time we put our faith in Christ and it cannot be lost. We call this doctrine in theology as Perseverance of saints. Once we are justified by God of our sins we can be sure that God will not go back on His promise. Jesus dispelled all doubts on whether we can lose our salvation in John 6:37-40 and John 10:27-30. In the former passage the Greek uses a double negative – “and him who comes to me I will never, never cast out”. Once we have been received by Him the promise is that we will never be cast out. Will the Lord not be true to His promise? In the second passage again Jesus so affirmatively says in John 10:28,29 that no one can snatch them out of His hands or His Father’s hands. What an awesome promise! We don’t have to worry every time whether the Lord who has so graciously given us His salvation is going to strip it from us. Rather we can be secure in the hands of our Lord knowing that He is able to keep us safe. All our anxieties will be stripped away when we receive the blessed assurance that we are safe in His keeping power.
Apostle Paul also confirms that our salvation is secure in the majestic passage in Romans 8:33-39. Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. No one will be able to change the relationship we share with God as our Father. It doesn’t mean we have a license to sin as often people misconstrue. It gives us all the more responsibility to live as God’s children and express our gratitude to the One who not just saved us but promises to keep us to the end until the work He begun in us is completed (Philippians 1:6)
If I have to persevere in salvation by my own efforts then I lost it. But thank God we persevere not because of our effort but because of His promise to keep us safe!
Even some genuine believers have misunderstood the biblical teaching on whether a true Christian can lose their salvation. The end result is a life of needless insecurity which arises out of our lack of willingness to believe in the keeping power of God.
Salvation is given to us at the time we put our faith in Christ and it cannot be lost. We call this doctrine in theology as Perseverance of saints. Once we are justified by God of our sins we can be sure that God will not go back on His promise. Jesus dispelled all doubts on whether we can lose our salvation in John 6:37-40 and John 10:27-30. In the former passage the Greek uses a double negative – “and him who comes to me I will never, never cast out”. Once we have been received by Him the promise is that we will never be cast out. Will the Lord not be true to His promise? In the second passage again Jesus so affirmatively says in John 10:28,29 that no one can snatch them out of His hands or His Father’s hands. What an awesome promise! We don’t have to worry every time whether the Lord who has so graciously given us His salvation is going to strip it from us. Rather we can be secure in the hands of our Lord knowing that He is able to keep us safe. All our anxieties will be stripped away when we receive the blessed assurance that we are safe in His keeping power.
Apostle Paul also confirms that our salvation is secure in the majestic passage in Romans 8:33-39. Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. No one will be able to change the relationship we share with God as our Father. It doesn’t mean we have a license to sin as often people misconstrue. It gives us all the more responsibility to live as God’s children and express our gratitude to the One who not just saved us but promises to keep us to the end until the work He begun in us is completed (Philippians 1:6)
If I have to persevere in salvation by my own efforts then I lost it. But thank God we persevere not because of our effort but because of His promise to keep us safe!
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