ProclaimtheTruth.net

This is a continuation of a series of articles about truths within Christianity.

Read the first article here: When is it Time for True Christians to go to the Mat?

Read the second article here: Truths that cannot be Compromised: Part I

There are so many amazing truths within Christianity that it becomes difficult to explore a list such as this. Ultimately, any truth is significant and worthy of our effort to defend it. However, the aim here is to defend those truths that are foundational; to defend those truths that cannot be compromised. The aim is to explore the truths that require us to draw a line in the sand and tell the world they cannot cross it – and to do so would surely mean death! The types of truths we are talking about are the truths that get at the heart of God, that draw us closer to Him, and require us to bow humbly at His feet. In continuing these articles, I am not aiming to rank these truths. Instead, I am merely going at them in as logical a way as possible. Please do not consider this a ranking, as all of these truths deserve our reverence. Instead, I am simply trying to link them together, so I will attempt to build upon each prior article.

In Part I (linked to above), I stated that we must start this understanding of truth with Jesus. We must understand Him rightly. I would like to now build upon our understanding of Jesus as God. I will allow John 1:1-18 to show us the way (ESV):

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. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.

The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

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. John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.

I highlighted a couple of key pieces of information that will illuminate our understanding of Jesus. I believe this to be hugely important, not only in our understanding of our savior, but also in our foundational thinking as it relates to how we came to be. Everywhere around us there are those who have surrendered to the logic of our day that says, “Matter plus time plus chance equals man.” However, John 1 and Genesis 1 are tied together rather uniquely to claim that Jesus is not only our savior, but also our creator. The Genesis account of creation is tied to Jesus and Jesus is tied to the creation. It is only logical, but it is often either overlooked or otherwise deemphasized by Christians not wanting to seem foolish for believing in creation. I will take the charge of a fool, be it necessary, but I cannot deny what is plain in scripture. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1). 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 (John 1:1-3). And for those who like to toy around with Genesis 1 to avoid creation, how do you deal with the statement, “and without him was not any thing made that was made”? This is not a description of a God haphazardly making man from goop. It is a description of God in control. It is impossible to mush evolution into two descriptions of God’s creation such as this. And so here is our second key truth: God is our creator. You are not a product of chance. You do not result from a cosmic accident billions of years ago. No, you were wonderfully and fearfully made by God. To deny this is to deny Jesus and ultimately, to deny God.

Now, let me back track so that I do not create a misunderstanding. I am not saying that someone has to have a full understanding of this the moment they become saved. There are examples of Christians, some key ones in fact, that did not come to understand this until later in their Christian walk. There are truths that are foundational that some people will not understand, and yet they may in fact be a Christian. However, in my experience, they are almost always ignorant on the subject. So, what I do not want to create here is an environment of antagonism. Going to the mat is not to be understood as calling out heretics (even if that is sometimes warranted). No, we should be very careful to defend the truth in love. In some cases, we will meet those who are in fact out of the faith and it is for this reason that they do not believe these foundational truths. And then there are those described above that simply have not considered these truths fully. In either scenario, we must hold our ground with love.

I posted a while back an article titled, “When is it Time for True Christians to go to the Mat?” The purpose of that article was simply to open the door to a line of articles I intended to write about specific truths within Christianity that are worth fighting for, that cause division, and ultimately, are the cause of so many branches of Christianity. At the core, these truths are the foundation for right-thinking about Christianity. And while they may cause division, they are worthy of our attention and commitment because if understood rightly, these truths lead us to God Himself. I intend now to begin a series of articles that will take some time to explore. For the most part, they will be short. However, they will take some time because as you can see, I am short on time right now to write. Nonetheless, I see it as a worthy endeavor. For those who read these articles, I sincerely hope these truths spark a passion for God within you as it has me. For those who either disagree with my beliefs expressed here, or for all intents and purposes think I am a bit of a fruitcake, I can only ask your civility in any interaction you may choose to enact.

The Truth

Any discussion of the truth must always begin with Jesus. Jesus proclaimed himself to be “the truth” in John 14:6. The manner in which Jesus described himself as the truth is truly profound. This statement is found in the context of a conversation between Jesus and Thomas. Jesus had just finished saying that he was going to prepare a place for the disciples. Jesus said, “You know the way to the place where I am going.” Thomas responded, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” It is an interesting statement. In terms of what Jesus is saying, the question by Thomas proves poignant, especially in light of the reply by Jesus. Jesus states in response, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” This is so simple, and yet so profound that I can write for ages and not understand the depths of such a truth. Jesus is linking Himself into the Father in such a way that cannot be denied. Consider the next part of the conversation:

Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”

Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me…”

And so it is, the foundation for any conversation about truth must begin and end with Jesus. We must rightly understand Jesus to rightly understand truth. It is only when we find ourselves seeing Jesus rightly that the truth becomes clearer. Since Jesus Himself is the truth, and since Jesus Himself is God, we cannot have truth without Jesus. We may have shades of it. We may glean bits and pieces of truth, but we do not have the truth.

In religion, we tend to value experience over substance. We tend to distance ourselves from hard truths and instead gravitate toward emotionalism. Jesus would not relegate Himself to such man-centered garbage. No, He drew a line in the sand and said it begins and ends with Him. Either you are to believe and trust in Him or you are to perish. Notice the phrase, “No one comes to the Father except through me.” It is undeniable that Jesus was not teaching an experience and he was not allowing for a man-centered religion. He was teaching that you must come to the one true God for salvation. Thus, the first truth that we Christians must go to the mat for is Jesus Himself. We must stand for the true Jesus no matter the cost. We cannot relegate Him to some vague concept, express Him merely as a good teacher or prophet, and we mustn’t convey Him as merely the founder of our religion. No, Jesus is God incarnate, the Word that became flesh (John 1:14). We must bow to Jesus as the God of our lives and we must proclaim Him as the true God to those who are lost. We must go to the mat for Him.

I am nothing.  As much as this world tells me to build myself up, to hold onto whatever grain of pride I have in myself, I know I am nothing.  I am quick-tempered, eager to fight, steadfast in my pride.  It might be easier to say that I am merely prone to some bad habits, but the truth is that it is so much more than that.  I perhaps had an excuse as a non-Christian, when at least I could claim ignorance.  I can do that no longer.  I know the truth and I have tasted it.  And yet, I still struggle with so many aspects of my faith.  Yes, I have been granted victory over some key struggles with sin.  So much so, that I loathe the thought of them.  Still, I struggle with so many more.  This was once quite disheartening to me.  The idea that sin would have such a grip on me was a wall I could not climb.  It hung over me with a shadow looming larger than I could stand.  Now, however, I can see that wall and do battle with it.  Knowing that I am no longer a slave to it has set me free to war with sin.  Oh, it is hard, especially in our American culture.  But, there is power in Christ.

The purpose of my writing this is simply to share the struggles.  It seems quite often that Christians try to hide their struggles, so as not to come off as inauthentic or hypocritical.  I have done this myself many times.  That was even the temptation of late, as I have felt somewhat dry and disoriented in my faith.  However, I am striving to be real in my faith and to recognize that many others have the same struggles.  The Christian walk is not one of ease and it is not for the faint at heart.  We are called to take up our cross and follow Christ into a life in which He Himself said that the world will hate us because it first hated Him.  If you find yourself struggling in your faith, don’t hide, but continue to fight, continue to seek Christ, continue to read the Word.  And on the other side of this season of struggle, you will be stronger for it.  May God bless you.

As you can tell by the date of my last post, I have not been able to write much of late. Work has been busy, which means I am both short of time and unfortunately, many times too worn out to sit down and write. I am hopeful to get going again soon, but not sure when.

When I was in my early twenties, I found myself in a place of turmoil. My religious beliefs were no longer valid. They could not sustain me. Since I was merely religious and had not yet experienced true salvation, I was trusting in a false belief system that could not help me. Because of this reality, I was being tempted by Satan to abandoned Christianity altogether. One of the lies I began to buy into was the lie that said to me, “Christianity is not true. Look at all the strife and all of the denominations. Such a confused system of beliefs cannot be true.” For a season, I struggled with this question. This was resolved the moment I became truly saved and saw the light. However, the question lingers for those on the outside and so I want to approach this question, but from a different angle. I want to ask the question, when do Christians “go to the mat” for truth?

Here is my purpose: If we can say that there are truths in the Bible that are universally true and that cannot be compromised, then we must resolve that those truths require us to fight the good fight. We must fight that fight in love, but we must fight nonetheless to reserve, to conserve, and to proclaim that very truth. The natural result is that feelings will get hurt and that unsaved people will look on with the support of Satan to question this strife within visible Christianity. And yet, what else should we expect? True Christianity is always in a struggle with the false version being peddled by false converts. It is always the lie that is closest to the truth that is most difficult to contend with. And so, true Christians are always left with the task of proclaiming a truth that the world hates and that false Christians will chastise and diagnose as being hateful. The enormous irony is that true Christians are often ostracized as some strange religious sect despite preaching truth, while false Christians are living a lie and celebrated.

Because Christianity has been, and will continue to be invaded by tares (false Christians), we must understand that this is a battle we will always have to fight. And yet, it is not easy. It is not easy calling out friends and family, and other supposed Christians when they are preaching a false gospel. So, the question remains: when do we go to the mat and when do we remain silent? That is not an easy question to answer because the danger is always present that we become divisive in the name of truth. We have to be delicate and balanced. We have to go to the mat in love. We have to proclaim the truth, but try to do so in as winsome a way as possible. We will offend people because of the gospel, but we have to try to not be offensive in the way we do it. To my regret, I have not always done this correctly. All Christians will fail at this from time to time. But, it must be always on our mind as we seek to be salt and light.

I submit to you that any time truth is at stake in general, and the gospel in particular, we must go to the mat as if our very life depended on it. We must resolve in our minds that no matter whom we offend and no matter what the consequences, we will proclaim the truth. And we must do this while in the Word, while in prayer, and with love for the unregenerate in our hearts. And when we fail to do this in the right way – in a winsome way, in a loving way – we must repent and start anew. We must love the unregenerate even when the unregenerate hates us. It is a tall order to take up our cross and follow Jesus, but it is what we are called to do. So, we must go to the mat for truth. That is a given. And we must do it whenever truth is at stake. The question now before us is what truths in the Bible are so clearly evident, so obvious, and so crucial that we do not compromise them? That is a more difficult question and one I would like to spend some time discussing. I am going to spend a few weeks considering that question and will write again on it in the future.

I want to be clear about something before you read the below poem.  The true church can be found in America, but there are many impostors out there as well.  So many of our churches are lost and seeking American materialism over Christ.  We must preach the gospel to them in love.  We must also be truthful and not mistake the church for all of the buildings we see.  If a church is not gospel-centered, does not preach the Word, and in the end, is just as worldly as the local bar and grill, then it is not THE CHURCH.  It is a group of lost people that need to hear the gospel.  This poem is about the American church as a whole.  Rest assured, there are pockets of the true church doing amazing work in America.  And yet, we must realize now that America is now truly a missions field.  The overwhelming majority of Americans are unsaved.

_________________________________________________

The American Church

Your Church was founded under the thumb of death’s solemn roar

Our church in America slumbers in the dark like never before

Your Church was built by martyrs persecuted in the dead of winter

Our American church is built by the deep pockets of greedy sinners

Your Church moves with grace and truth, not confined by walls

In America, we build huge palaces that look like shopping malls

Your Church moves with love to every forbidden and dangerous land

We in America take missions trips for only as long as we can stand

Your Church loves and obeys You, Your commands, seeks Your face

Yet in America, of You we can only find a mere fraction of a trace

Your Church consists of sinners who are “humble and contrite in spirit”

America seeks her best life now, seeking heaven through her own merit

Your Church sometimes stumbles, but repents and seeks You anew

This American imposter takes a mulligan and keeps You just out of view

Your Church preaches the gospel about Sinners in the Hands of an angry God

American Churches pervert Your love while evil observes to applaud

Your Church awaits her Bridegroom and with Him will conquer all

America will hear “I never knew you” and, “You did not follow my law.”

By Brian Dufala

______________________________________________

This poem can be redistributed and shared without hesitation, so long as proper credit is given for the work and so long as there is no charge for distributing, except to cover costs associated with distribution.

John 1:10-13:  He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God- children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

_________________________________________________________________

Let’s look first at verse 10, “He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.”  We see here again the reference to Christ as the creator, a clear indication of his deity.  And despite his coming to earth, only a small few came to believe in him during his time on earth.  We can go even a step further.  In verse 11, it tells us, “He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.”  This is a clear reference to Jesus coming to the Jews, of whom, he was not only a Jew, but as it turns out, it was YHWH himself visiting his people.  I believe you have to look at it in both contexts.  This was perhaps not as obvious at the time, but nonetheless true.

Thankfully, our merciful God had a plan that included redemption, which we find in verses 12 and 13, “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God- children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.”  We can become children of God!  What can we say to this, but wow?!  If we see ourselves rightly, we should understand that there is nothing in us deserving of such honor, and yet the God of the world came to earth as a lowly baby, lived a humble life marching towards a death on a cross, so that he could redeem us.  That’s love!

John is nearly finished with his introduction to the gospel he is pinning and has set the framework for the presentation he will make.  He has made clear references to to the deity of Christ and the redemptive plan of salvation found in him. And importantly in this verse, he has provided what has been a hallmark of Christianity that Jesus himself spoke of, that a person must be born again; hence, where we get the term ‘born again Christian.’ There is even a clear reference to the nature of this spiritual birth in the phrase, “born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.”  This birth is supernatural.

As we continue to read John, we will find the beginnings of what are later determined as Biblical doctrines.  Watch for them along the way.

Back to Bible Page

_______________________________________________________

Walking through the Bible is a verse by verse study of the Bible. A small segment of verses will be looked at each time and a brief, but relevant study of the text will be conducted.

John 1:6-9:  There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.

Here we have the account by John (the Apostle), of John the Baptist.  John provides a rather short intro to John the Baptist, so let’s look at a parallel account in Matthew 3:1-3:

In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:  “A voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’ ” (A reference to a prophesy in Isaiah 40:3)

In Matthew, we are told of the prophetic nature of John the Baptist and that he was called for this very purpose.  This is extremely important to understand.  John was called by God to announce the coming of the messiah and to identify him.  He was called to do a tremendous thing.  Can you imagine to have such a calling?  Not only are you humbled by the calling itself, but you are also humbled by the reality that your role is so shortly lived.  He was a key figure in the early stages of these unfolding events and then as we will find, he was gone.  While that may not sound immediately heartwarming to you, it actually gives me a sense of awe and thankfulness.  God has a plan for every believer.  It may be a small part.  It may not.  But there is a plan for us that God is in control of throughout time.  We hear so much in our day about finding purpose, but this is not about that.  So much of the talk about purpose and God’s plan is truly man-centered.  John the Baptist was not man-centered.  He spent much of his life in the wilderness and when he finally becomes a public figure, the only glory he gets is later when in the story we find out he is beheaded. 

We are called to conform our lives to the light, to Jesus.  And yes God has a plan to use us.  And even if that plan means a life of ridicule and possibly persecution, we should be thankful for it!

Back to Bible Page

_______________________________________________________

Walking through the Bible is a verse by verse study of the Bible. A small segment of verses will be looked at each time and a brief, but relevant study of the text will be conducted.

It has been a long week at work, so no posts this week.  However, I’ll Be Honest posted the following interview by Paul Washer on his sermon that has been dubbed the “Shocking Youth Message” sermon and I simply had to share.  I listened to this sermon a while back and it absolutely opened my eyes and it is great to see Paul Washer explain the context of the message.  I also included the video of the message below the interview video.  This is a great message for anyone who calls them self a Christian, especially youth.  It will challenge you to find out if you are truly saved or just playing religion.

About a month ago I posted two videos from a new video series on Romans that I am working on.  I wanted to provide a quick update on that project.  First, I got permission to use the ESV for the entire series.  That was great news!  Other than that, I will be working on the scripts for the next several videos.  After that, I simply have to settle on some video editing software, which I think I have.  However, just waiting for it to be in the budget.   Once I have everything together, I am going to go back and touch up the first two episodes before completing the next.  Given all of that, it will be a while before any new videos are out.

The first two videos are re-posted below: