Category: Ramblings

Both the church and civil government are institutions ordained and accountable separately to God.

The responsibility of the church is to preach the gospel, teach and nurture the souls of the disciples.  The responsibility of the civil government is to govern society and enterprise, raise and spend taxes accordingly, protect the life and property of her citizens, and also protect against foreign aggression.  The state is given the power of the sword by God so we can say the government is also a minister of God, while the church is given the power of the gospel to transform lives.  Rom 13:1-7.

Problem starts when the state behaves as God and tamper with God’s universal laws.  And the church behaves as the state in deciding how the state should spend the taxes responsibly or irresponsibly, or how the state should administer this program or that.  Both are accountable to God for their given roles so let God hold them accountable separately.  The church will be making a wrong turn to act on behalf of God to hold the state accountable for her given roles.

Christians honor their Lord by obeying His commandments to submit and obey the civil authorities and pray for them so that all can live tranquil and quiet lives. 1 Tim 2:2.  The only exception is when we are made to obey laws denigrating God’s honor and glory.  Daniel and his 3 friends served well in the government and were commended and they only disobeyed when they were forced to dishonor or disobey God.

Will God’s laws be changed and we end up prosecuted for non compliance; and our religious freedom to share the gospel be curtailed ?  These are concerns we weigh on in praying and voting for the civil government, as they affect our quiet lives to discharge our Christian duty.

Rom 2:5-10 NLT
“… For a day of anger is coming, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. He will judge everyone according to what they have done. HE WILL GIVE ETERNAL LIFE TO THOSE WHO KEEP DOING GOOD, …BUT HE WILL POUR HIS ANGER AND WRATH ON THOSE WHO LIVE FOR THEMSELVES, WHO REFUSE TO OBEY THE TRUTH and instead live lives of wickedness…”

If we preach only expiation, which is just the covering or putting away of sin that obstruct the fellowship of man with God, that is only half the story. For propitiation, which is the appeasement of God’s wrath against all unrighteousness of men, is at the heart of the gospel.

The wrath of God is still operative till the final judgment of all sin. If we do not preach the true gospel including the understanding of God’s wrath and propitiation, the repentance of sinners to accept the Lord Jesus as both Savior and Lord will be found short. That is, unless the sinner understands he has sinned against God and God alone which David Pawson called it the “God dimension” of repentance,  repentance will be found short.

Till we understand and fear God’s wrath, we will not appreciate how just He is and His amazing grace towards us. We will fail to understand His eternal will for us (a PURIFIED people for Jesus zealous for good works) and we are likely to trivialize obedience and doing good works in our training journey on earth. Eph 2:10.

(Jesus) who gave himself for us to REDEEM us from all lawlessness and to PURIFY for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for GOOD WORKS. – Titus 2:14

The hyper grace false gospel twists the gospel at its heart by saying repentance is just a change of mind and not the heart (Rom 10:9-10),  So it is not surprising that this false gospel trivializes obedience and doing good works.

Rom 5:3-5 NLT

We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. ⁴ And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident HOPE of salvation.⁵ And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

Titus 2:11-13 NLT

¹¹ For the grace of God has been revealed, bringing salvation to all people. ¹² And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God, ¹³ while we look forward with HOPE to that wonderful day when the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be revealed. ¹⁴ He gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds.

The Christian Hope is not wishful thinking but confident expectation that God’s promises will definitely come true. As some incredible prophecies have been fulfilled beyond our imagination, we can trust future prophecies will be fulfilled just the same.  It is rooted in faith in the salvation of Jesus Christ and culminates in His Second Coming.  Because of this Hope, the Christian is zealous for good works for the love of his Lord.  And it also brings peace and joy to him or her through the power of the Holy Spirit.  The Christian looks forward to this heavenly city built by God and lives as an exile because nothing on this world can satisfy his deepest desire and he is sensible enough to give up all worldly pursuits in exchange for this greatest treasure of the Kingdom of Heaven.   Heb 11:13-16.

The non believers can laugh at the “silly” belief of ours imagining heaven as a place where angels play harp or just whiling the time away flying around.  We should ignore such detractors and not to take such imageries of Heaven literally.  Otherwise when our Lord tells us to be like doves, we have to lay eggs (in CS Lewis’s words).

Heaven will realize our greatest aspirations and we can handle all such aspirations then as sin is no more.  Science, art, culture and technology will be limitless because the new “kairos” earth is a resurrected glorified earth.

Matthew 23:8-12

8 But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and YOU ARE ALL BROTHERS. 9 And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. 10 Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ. 11 The greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

Going by our Lord’s instruction that we are all brothers and royal priesthood, a hierarchy of priesthood should not exist in the Body of Christ.  If we are to obey our Lord’s instruction that the greatest among us shall be the servant to all,  having honorific titles to be addressed will go against His instruction.  It is effectively elevating one’s worth over another in His church.  Though we are to give double the honor to deserving and humble ministers,  the humble ministers will know better how unworthy they are to deserve such flattering titles and will surely repudiate.

I see a difference between being addressed as office or ministry bearer, such as pastor or evangelist, and the above-mentioned honorific titles.  One is to make known one’s ministry by way of quick introduction; while the other is meant entirely as an honorific title.  But as in all matter of conscience in which we resolve in all love and humility,  we should all be addressed as brother or sister for our Lord had made it clear we are all brothers.

(Sadly on another note, the offices of apostle and prophet, which I believe the primary sense of bringing God’s special revelation through them have ceased, are usurped as honorific titles by the New Apostolic Reformation movement solely for the purpose of creating a hierarchy with authority concentrated in the hands of these false apostles and prophets as they push the agenda of Christian dominionism.)

Comments by the ministers John Newton, Charles Spurgeon and Arthur Pink are self explanatory.

(John Newton)
Dear Sir,
I have been grieved by several letters directed to Doctor Newton. I beg you to inform my friends in Scotland, that if any letters come to me addressed to Doctor Newton–I shall be obliged to send them back unopened. I know no such person–I never shall, and I never will, by the grace of God. Do not think I am displeased with you, or any of any kind friends, who mean kindness and honor by such an address. I only beg for my peace sake, that it may not be repeated. I have been informed that a college in America, I think in New Jersey, has given me the honorary degree of Doctor. As to the title itself, I renounce it heartily–nor would I willingly be known by it, if all the universities in Europe conferred it upon me! My youthful years were spent in slavery in Africa, and I ought to take my degrees (if I take any) from thence. Shall such a compound of misery and mischief as I then was–be called Doctor? Surely not!

(Charles Spurgeon)
I very much object to the designation, “To the Reverend C.H. Spurgeon”–for no ‘reverence’ is due to me! Assuredly, ‘Reverend’ and ‘sinner’ make a curious combination.  And as I know I am the second–I repudiate the first.  To me, it is surprising that such a flattering title should have been invented–and more amazing still, that men should be found who are angry if this title is not duly given to them.

(Arthur Pink)
In ourselves we are poor, sinful erring creatures–and daily do we have occasion to blush and hang our heads in shame. Therefore we respectfully request that none will address us as ‘Reverend’. No worm of the dust is due such a title.

“It is the Lord your God you must follow–and Him you must REVERE.” Deuteronomy 13:4

“When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his HEART…” – Matthew 13:19

“As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good HEART, and bear fruit with patience.”  – Luke 8:15

It is clear from our Lord’s explanation in the above verses that the seed sown is the word or good news of the kingdom of God (Luke 8:10,12) and the different types of soil condition referred to the different receptivity of different hearts towards the gospel.

The Lord always cautioned how we should hear His message referring to how our hearts are going to receive His word. “He who has ears, let him hear.”  (Matthew 13:9).

That is the crux of this parable – the right response of the heart to the gospel – and bearing fruit is the evidence of hearing and responding with our heart correctly.

And it is not about bearing fruit by changing the quality of seed as in introducing watered down and feel good gospel message such as the false hyper grace gospel, or improving the technique of sowing the seed as in sharing the gospel in great amphitheaters or concert-like worship service.

To say that repentance is just mere change of mind about the Lord Jesus and not include the right response of the heart as taught by false hyper grace teachers is a false gospel.  (Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and BELIEVE IN YOUR HEART that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  Romans 10:9.)

First Type Of Soil Condition

“When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path.” – Matthew 13:19

Jesus was telling the parable not to atheists but to Jews who believed in God. The first type of soil were hearts that were totally hardened. To them, our Lord said, “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires…”. John 8:44.

Today, these are the hardcore cheap grace or hyper grace believers. Because their hearts are so hard to really listen to the words of Jesus, the devil will be so quick to snatch the truth away. They simply love worldliness and so they will only hear feel good messages and not hard truths from our Lord.

Take this simple example. Jesus said life does not consist in the abundance of possessions. Luke 12:15. Yet these believers choose to believe a lie from the devil that abundant life is an abundance of every good thing in life.

Or take another example. The word of God said in 1 Pet 4:12 that we should not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon us to test us, as though something strange were happening to us. Yet these believers simply allow the devil to snatch this truth away and replace by this lie – that only good things happen to those who believe God loves them.

Second Type Of Soil Condition

“And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away.” – Luke 8:13

This type of soil has only a few inches of soil but underneath all the way is a bed of rocks, ie, mostly hardened ground. These are believers who believed initially with joy but it is sad that they will have no root for their hearts are mostly rock-hard actually and they will only believe for a while.

It is not a question whether their faith will fail but when their faith will fail. Because of lack of root, they will wither eventually.

These are believers who come to Jesus for a certain selfish motive that He will fix all their problems or make their lives easier. Today, these are the majority of the cheap grace or hyper grace believers, unlike the hardcore ones. They feel so relieved of the guilt of their continual sin and overjoyed when they hear the false teacher teaches that they need not worry anymore about sinning for their past, present and future sins are forgiven. And that the Holy Spirit will not convict them of their continual sins while still living in those sins. I believe they have never really repented at all in the first place because their hearts are mostly hardened towards the word of God. As expected, they will either trivialize or demonize the Law.

Third Type Of Soil Condition

“And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature.” – Luke 8:14

The third type of soil is the weedy soil with much weeds and thorns infested that choke the plant not to be fruitful. They represent believers who actually try to walk the way of faith as they “hear and go on their way. “ But the cares of the world (as in fame, worldly ambitions, achievements and prestige), riches and pleasures of life so infested their hearts and choke their walk and cause them to be unfruitful.

Riches and pleasure are not inherently wrong and may be God’s blessings but what is wrong is the inordinate priority of such things that actually reign in their hearts.

Today, these are the believers in the denominational churches whom I call the “respectable Christendom”. In James 4:4, Apostle James called such believers, who love the world, adulterers because adulterers not only have one lawful spouse but several unlawful ones and they love the unlawful ones more than the lawful one. Apostle John in 1 John 2:5-7 even said there can be no love for God in this kind of hearts which are at enmity with God instead. The love of money and the world cover more ground in these hearts than the love of God. They think they can have both masters.

Their main preoccupation is cares of this world, riches and pleasures of life. They make sure everyone notice their lofty position in society, their wealth and their achievements, building multi-million dollar homes and living in dissipation rather than be fruitful in doing good works, generous and ready to share their wealth. 1 Tim 6:17-19.

Truly, those who cannot give up the stranglehold of family, worldly ambitions and possessions in their impure hearts cannot be Christ’s disciples. Luke 14:26,27,33.

Fourth Type Of Soil Condition

“As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit…” – Matthew 13:23

“As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.”  – Luke 8:15

The fourth type of soil is well cultivated good soil. Such a heart hears the gospel, understands it and accepts it (Mk 4:20). And hold it fast HONESTLY and will not let go. This is the heart that will endure to the end. It will bear fruit and bear it abundantly with patience or endurance.

Such hearts will bear the following fruit :
1. Fruit of the Spirit. Gal 5:22
2. Fruit of the lips in genuine worship in spirit and in truth. Heb 13:15
3. Fruit in every good work. Col 1:10. Eph 2:10. (Doing good and sharing what they have is their worship sacrifice. Heb 13:16.)
4. Gathering fruit (souls) for eternal life. John 4:35-38.

Left to ourselves, we are unable to bear any such fruit as our hearts will get even harder and much entangled with the world. God needs to cultivate the heart to receive the gospel. Thus we can only be saved by His grace. He will pour love into our hearts. He will cleanse us and gives us a new heart and a new spirit. And even gives His Spirit to indwell us to help us to obey His commandments. Ezekiel 36:25-27. When we ABIDE in Christ, and His words abide in us, then we can eventually bear fruit with patience. John 15:7-8. Apart from Christ, we can bear NO fruit. John 15:5.

“They received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scripture daily to see if these things were so.”  Acts 17:11

God on occasion in Bible times communicated with some people by supernaturally telling them what to do, and He has not said He will never do so again.  Some at least of the glowing stories that are told about guidance of this kind can hardly be doubted.  Some see reason to deny that God ever did, or will communicate this way now that the canon of Scripture is complete, but that view seems to us to go beyond what is written and to fly in the face of credible testimony.  It is not for us to place restrictions on God that He has not placed on Himself !

Certainly, no messages from God of this kind could be regarded as canonical in the sense of carrying authority for universal faith and life in the way Scripture does.  This, however, is not to deny that “private revelations” as the Puritans used to call them, ever take place nowadays.  On that question we keep an open mind.  Though we know that self-deception here is very easy, we would not short-circuit claims to have received words from God; we would instead test them, as objectively and open-mindedly as we can, in light of the teaching Scripture itself.

Scripture teaches the principle of testing in such passages as Deuteronomy 18:22 where God’s people are told to listen to supposed prophets with discernment: “When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord,  if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously.  You need not be afraid of him.”  Similarly Paul instructs the church at Thessalonica in 1 Thessalonians 5:20-21, “Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good.”

• Dr JI Packer, “The JI Packer Classic Collections”

Very glad to note that another theologian, Dr JI Packer, shared about testing such “private revelations” instead of denying them altogether.   For morally neutral events like calamities such as famine and economic crisis, there is no reason to deny that God can warn His people who walk intimately with Him.  The law of probability can be used to test and ascertain if the prophecy is from God by verifying whether the prophecy comes true against very slim odds.

John 5:39-40.  “You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.”

What is typology or types in the Old Testament ?

“Typology is the idea that persons (e.g., Moses), events (e.g., the exodus), and institutions (e.g., the temple) can — in the plan of God — prefigure a later stage in that plan and provide the conceptuality necessary for understanding the divine intent (e.g., the coming of Christ to be the new Moses, to effect the new exodus, and to be the new temple.”  –  Graham Cole.

“A type is a shadow cast on the pages of Old Testament history by a truth whose full embodiment or antitype is found in the New Testament revelation” – Wick Broomall.

“A type is a real, exalted happening in history which was divinely ordained by the omniscient God to be a prophetic picture of the good things which he purposed to bring to fruition in Christ Jesus.” – paraphrased by Wayne Jackson.

The Greek New Testament uses several words such as shadow, pattern, copy, likeness, figure to denote what is defined above as type.

Types in the Old Testament are grounded in real history – the people, places, events were deliberately chosen by God to prepare for the coming reality of the work of Christ our Lord, His redemptive plan according to His predestinating purpose and the Kingdom of Heaven.

Below are 2 illustrations.

1 John 4:1

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.

It is actually not that difficult to test the spirits.  Here are some major tests :

1. Does the spirit exalt Christ ?

John 16:14.  He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

2. Does the spirit guide to all truth of our Lord Jesus Christ ?

John 16:13-15.   When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come…he will take what is mine and declare it to you.  All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

3. Does the spirit promote loving God and men more than gifts ?

1 Cor 13:1-2.  If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

4. Does the spirit oppose worldliness ?

Gal 5:17.  For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.

If you see any minister who exalt the Holy Spirit over our Lord Jesus (though the Spirit of God deserves the same worship but as stated in John 16:14, His ministry is to exalt Jesus.); elevate experience as authoritative over Scripture; and embrace worldliness; thereby diminishes the glory and deity of Jesus and undermines the true saving gospel on the contrary, we can safely say that he or she belongs to another spirit other than of the Holy Spirit.

1 Cor 10:23-33

²³ “I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but not everything is constructive. ²⁴ No one should seek their own good, but the good of others. ²⁵ Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience, ²⁶ for, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.” ²⁷ If an unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat whatever is put before you without raising questions of conscience. ²⁸ But if someone says to you, “This has been offered in sacrifice,” then do not eat it, both for the sake of the one who told you and for the sake of conscience. ²⁹ I am referring to the other person’s conscience, not yours. For why is my freedom being judged by another’s conscience? ³⁰ If I take part in the meal with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of something I thank God for? ³¹ So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. ³² Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God— ³³ even as I try to please everyone in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved.

Although Paul talked extensively about food offered to idols, the issue regarding Christian liberty is not limited to just food and drink but whatever we do.  1 Cor 10:31.

On one extreme, we have believers that believe they have the right to do anything which may deteriorate to license.  On the other, we have believers with weak conscience which may also lead to legalism.

On talking specifically about the issue of food offered to idols, Paul cited two examples of such situations in which believers might eat such food : the public meat market where food was purchased for home consumption and private meals in a non-believer’s home.  And he continued to explain the issue was not the food itself but the situation in which it was eaten.

Likewise regarding Christmas celebration for an example, we should not focus on the apparent inappropriateness of the background or arbitrary chosen date, but on the situation it is celebrated.

In situation where Scripture is silent on matter of conscience, this saying regarding biblical response is true :

Essentials (matter of truth),  unity;

Non-essentials (matter of conscience);  liberty;

All things, charity.

(On Scripture being “silent” on matter of conscience, I mean Scripture does not mention that it is specifically forbidden and I believe one has the liberty to act or not to act on the matter of conscience.  Allow me to illustrate.  For some countries, if there is no U-turn sign, the cars are not allowed to make U turn.  But in most western countries,  if there is no “No U-turn allowed” sign,  the cars are free to make the U-turn.  It is the latter situation to which I am referring.)

Whether to celebrate or not is up to each believer according to his conscience.  If one chooses to celebrate, he shall do it for the glory of God and shall not stumble a brother with a weaker conscience.  But he will be taking a wrong turn to judge others on whether to celebrate or not.

When the angel announced the birth of our Lord to the shepherds, he said,”…I bring you Good News that will cause great joy for all the people…” I celebrate because it is Good News. And I express my great joy through celebration.

Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. – Colossians 2:16

1 Cor 10:29b-32a summarizes the biblical response for matter of conscience :

For why is my freedom being judged by another’s conscience? If I take part in the meal with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of something I thank God for? So whether you eat or drink or WHATEVER YOU DO, do it all for the glory of God. Do not cause anyone to stumble…

Obviously Grace and Law are vastly different principles.  In some ways, they contrast starkly.  Though both are found throughout Scripture, Law was the dominant theme in the Old Testament; Grace is the central message of the New Testament.  “The Law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (John 1:17).  The Law judges sinners guilty, but Grace grants believers forgiveness.  The Law pronounces a curse; Grace declares a blessing.  The Law says,”The wages of sin is death.”  Grace says,”The gift of God is eternal life.” (Rom 6:23)

…The Gospel is not a call for sinners to save themselves.  It is not advice about something the sinner must do to gain salvation.  It is not about the sinner’s own self betterment.  The gospel is a message about God’s work on behalf of the sinner.  It is an account of what God does to save sinners.  It is about how God justifies the ungodly.

…That is why the gospel is good news.  It is a glorious message about liberty from the Law’s curse and condemnation (Rom 8:1).  It sets us “free from the law of sin and death”.  (Rom 8:2).

…But if you imagine that Grace establishes a NEW STANDARD of righteousness that CONTRADICTS the Law, or if you think of the law itself as an evil influence, then you have not listened carefully enough to what Paul and the other apostles taught.  “Is the Law sin ?  Certainly not !  On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the Law” (Rom 7:7).  After all, “sin is lawlessness” (1 John 3:4) – meaning the Law shows us what sin is.  The Law also defines righteousness for us (Deut 6:25).

…And don’t imagine that the principle of justification by faith renders obedience unnecessary for Christians.  The fact that Christ’s righteousness is imputed to believers does not give them license to live unrighteously;  it motivates them and gives them a constant desire to pursue practical righteousness.

Although our own good works, obedience, and holy living are not in any way the ground of our justification, they are nevertheless inevitable fruits of genuine faith and one of the vital tests by which saving faith can be distinguished from mere pretense.  “Every good tree bears good fruit…Therefore by their fruits you will know them” (Matt 7:17,20)…Believers are saved “for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them”.  (Eph 2:10)

• The above article is an excerpt from Dr John  MacArthur, “The Gospel According To Paul”.