The Righteous versus the Wicked

Proverbs 11:21 “Be assured, an evil person will not go unpunished, but the offspring of the righteous will be delivered. “

Before we get into this topic. I believe we need a definition of righteousness. “Dictionaries 1 define righteousness as “behaviour that is morally justifiable or right.” Such behaviour is characterized by accepted standards of morality, justice, virtue, or uprightness. The Bible’s standard of human righteousness is God’s own perfection in every attribute, every attitude, every behaviour, and every word. Thus, God’s laws, as given in the Bible, both describe His own character and constitute the plumb line by which He measures human righteousness.”

We also need a definition of wickedness. “Wickedness in the Hebrew and Greek Languages2

The Hebrew word for wickedness we find in dozens of Scriptures (e.g. used twice in Ezekiel 18:20) in the Old Testament is typically “rish`ah” and means “guilt” and when used as an adjective is “rasha`” which means “criminal” or “guilty one” or “guilty of crime”. So ultimately, all wickedness is described in the Old Testament as someone who is guilty of committing a crime and is considered a criminal act worthy of punishment in God’s eyes because sin (crime) is against God for, in the end, all sin is against God even though it hurts the person committing it and others around him or her.

Now the crux of my argument here is that many folk in the West today have little biblical understanding and simply don’t know that they are sinners. More, they wouldn’t accept that particular truth if you shared it with them. It seems that the devil has often shared some other truth that sounds more appealing with them.

For instance the Star Trek story where man grows steadily more intelligent and travels the galaxy, travels the universe; becomes like God and eventually ascends to become a spirit being. Kind of like the bible but instead of having a creator God you become God.

It is pertinent to comment about most of these types of narrative, that they are found in most of the major religions except Christianity. Most of the religions are about looking inward to find God. This at its core is a false teaching that will keep many from meeting Yahweh and ultimately most who follow this route will discover too late that they have ceded control of themselves to World Forces of Darkness as mentioned in the bible (Ephesians 6:12).

Others will rebel and refuse to hear the truth about themselves. They will say of themselves that they were good people. Lacking the understanding that their righteousness is as filthy rags before God and that there is nothing of value in their own works. The truth is that God so loved you that He sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, to make the sacrifice for the sins of all men. In the certain understanding that you need to believe on Him and ask Him to come into your life.

I think personally that many people who don’t tend toward accepting Christ Jesus also don’t acknowledge a spiritual realm at all. Those into Atheism would tend to fall into this camp as well. Other people that tend toward other religions, or spiritism, often do so because they have been brought up in that type of spiritism or religion. Which brings us to the overarching truth about finding salvation.

Satan is very devious and just as he found a way to pitch to Adam and Eve which led them to decide to disobey God and eat of the Tree of Knowledge. So he has spun lies and half truths which have led to wars and disaster for humanity down through history. He will hide the truth from those who don’t believe in demons or religion. He will spread lies and disinformation to misled our political leaders and at times all of society. Nazi Fascism in pre World War II Germany is an example of Satan leading a whole nation to a societal disaster that had consequences for all of the World at the time. Truly doctrines of demons.

You only have to look at the media narrative against Christianity today to begin to see a direct attack against the Church at this time. Look toward Israel and you see the people of God under attack from Islam and the United Nations. I know many would look at that situation and blame Israel. However, Israel is being regathered by Yahweh and the Arab nations created this situation decades ago by refusing to resettle the Palestinians then. Ultimately, God will protect Israel and care for them through the coming World War. But Satan will not make it easy and his aim is to destroy all of the people of Yahweh (God).

So what about you friend? Are you one of those who don’t believe in spiritual things? Are you getting into heaven under your own steam. You know, you’re a good person. Well we’ve already discussed this and you know that you are dead in your sins. Sins which separate you from God. You have to accept that you are a sinner and born into sin just like all of humanity. You need to humble yourself before God and ask Christ Jesus to forgive those sins. You need to get baptised for the forgiveness of those sins and in order to receive the Holy Spirit. It’s the only way out of wickedness and into the righteousness of God. Out of darkness and into His glorious light.


1https://www.gotquestions.org/righteousness.html

2 https://www.whatchristianswanttoknow.com/how-does-the-bible-define-wickedness/#ixzz8Sb38JEcf

 

Grace Challenged, Convicted and Confronted...

Often the lost are oblivious to their state. They are unaware that they are trapped. Dead in their sin. If you asked them about sin many would not understand the question. Life has its rewards and is often exciting, especially when you are young. There is the attraction between the sexes and the lure of a family, a career and the fulfillment of a life well lived.

However, so often that is all that they know. They have no awareness of a spiritual life or a connection to God the Father through the Holy Spirit in the name of the Savior, Jesus Christ. No knowledge of righteousness or the sin debt they have acquired being descendants of Adam and Eve.

No understanding of the possibility of immortality or the certainty of the second death. Completely unaware of the depraved state in which they exist as they are unable to even avail themselves of the gift of eternal life purchased on their behalf by Christ Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross through the shedding of His sinless blood.

So, when they hear the gospel how is it that they find themselves convicted of their sins. Challenged to the point of repentance and finally confronted by the depth of their sins. How are they able to believe that Christ has paid their sin debt and that they can ask him to forgive those same sins and to come into their hearts, minds and lives. How are they able to decide that they have a need and then to get baptized, that their sins may be washed away and they might receive the Holy Spirit who writes God’s Law onto their hearts and puts it in their minds?

To the practical bible theologian there will be a pragmatic solution based around those who are the elect and those who are not. A small group of humanity that God has seen fit to draw to His Son, Jesus Christ. There has been considerable debate among Christians as to whether the Calvinist view is the correct one in this case or are those who have a more sympathetic view of the access of the lost to salvation through choice, the correct one here.

It seems to me that people hear the gospel, or some part of it, and have to make a decision. Many are challenged but don’t seem to be convicted. Their sin doesn’t confront them. Hence when the apostle Paul said in Romans 1:20 “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, being understood by what has been made, so that they are without excuse.” It seems those who aren’t convicted of their sins know in their heart the truth of creation and sin but are not drawn to Christ Jesus and choose to walk away.

They can hear the gospel and reject it a number of times in their lives and yet at some point they may come under conviction and repent even after having rejected the gospel on a number of other occasions. Yet if we listen to those who believe we are elected by God then this decision should not be possible because the human soul is so depraved that God must force us to make that decision to choose salvation.

What if as John Wesley believed, the human soul is totally depraved, as the Calvinist believes, and man must be saved by Grace but that Grace is enacted by the Holy Spirit of God in the heart of the lost. What if in Grace the Holy Spirit enables the hearer of the gospel to make a decision. To accept or reject the redemptive work of Christ Jesus. So that the lost person hearing the gospel is either challenged, convicted and confronted by the gospel of their need for salvation and to have their sin debt paid by Jesus Christ. Else they feel nothing and reject the gospel walking away having make a decision against salvation enabled by God’s Grace.

Whatever the case, we as the faithful believers on Christ Jesus have a job to do. Being aware of the Great Commission of Matthew 28: 18 -19 “And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit...”

We go into battle for the souls of the lost. With a heart filled with love we approach the unbeliever as gently as Jesus did the adulterous woman in John 8: 1-11 “...but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”

How does God challenge, convict and confront the sinner of their sins. Simply through His Grace my friends. He does it through Grace.

Neopaganism - The Valley of Megiddo

It is interesting that the hook the devil is using to draw so many people of faith who should know better into the new paganism is support for indigenous races garnered by the United Nations. You would think Christians would know better and yet they seem drawn like moths to a lamp.

Sadly, I think that many people fail to perceive the threat of a trap that may well see them standing on the Valley of Megiddo with the followers of the Beast as they face certain doom at the soon return of Jesus Christ.

In New Zealand we drifted through the 1990’s into the early part of the twenty first century somewhat unaware that Māori were on a crossroads that led to either of two decisions. As incredibly open and spiritual people they could take up the cross and receive the sovereignty of their nation back as a gift of Yahweh or they could meander back into the old paganism and worship of their old Gods and join a global renaissance of all things pagan.

It seems that now the decision is made, and many Pakehas are joining the new Māori switch back and becoming connoisseurs of all things Māori culture. Applauding kapahaka and waiata and every nuance of Māori culture at every opportunity.

The problem with this is you can’t serve two masters. Māori culture as we know it is pagan in essence and quite like most other naturalistic religions which focus on a spiritual force through all things in nature and the worship of various naturalistic deities. Yahweh is the creator God and the issue that all humans face is that the creator has a problem with sin which is disobedience of the Law of God (Ten Commandments). The only solution to the sin problem is through the redemptive work of Jesus Christ on the Cross at Calvary.

John 3:16-17 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” NKJV

Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Acts 2:38-39 “Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”

This is what it will ultimately come down to for every man, woman and child to have ever lived on the Earth. If you reject God’s Grace and follow the ways of the Prince of this World (Satan). Then God’s judgement will fall upon you, and you will reap eternal separation from Yahweh and the saviour Jesus Christ. If you follow the new paganism, then you will end up becoming embedded in the New World Order and become followers of the Beast in his 666 System. You will stand beside him in opposition to Christ Jesus as He returns to the Earth to establish the Kingdom of Heaven.  

If you consider the modern approach to this issue I mentioned above. The Globalists prefer to call native races the indigenous or first nation people. They are also hailed as the victims of colonisation. In recent times they have given generous amounts of money to governments to settle land claims and to recognise injustices perpetrated against them. Mostly though they seem interested in supporting the pagan religious aspects of these cultures to the detriment of other secular groups, and particularly Christians.

Yet many American Indian, Australian Aborigine and New Zealand Māori citizens manage just fine in modern societies which have already enacted considerable work to remedy inequities in society relating to injustices perpetrated, land restorations and educational anomalies. The result being that many of these folk are now doing better than the average person from the colonizing races and those who follow Christ Jesus are doing very well due to receiving God’s Blessings in their lives. Evidence of this may be seen daily on the SDA Television Channels where it is apparent that these folk have much to contribute to society and require no assistance from the government at all to succeed in every regard.

They might be poor, but the reality is that they have God’s wealth. They may not have lovely modern houses, but they have a home, a family and a faith in God that sustains them and through Christ Jesus will ensure the forgiveness of their sins and the gift of eternal life. Often these humble Christian folk have escaped from drugs and the traps of wanton sin that can take a person to prison or into slavery. Delivered in Christ Jesus to a life that counts and brings family out of spiritual destitution domination by the principalities that rule this world.

Meanwhile many in the United States, Australia and New Zealand have either forsaken Christianity or have no knowledge of the gospel of Jesus Christ. They may seem to be doing well but it is doubtful that they have a hope of salvation or can claim to know anything of the sin that separates them from God. They know nothing of the life filled with hope and God’s blessings that their grand parents lived only fifty years ago. Such is the rampant spiritual destruction dished out by atheism and Hellenistic secular paganism. Those grandparents wouldn’t recognize this world if they saw it today.

The key truth here is that the truth found in the spiritual beliefs of the indigenous nations or in the interfaith religions like Buddhism is all about experiencing the God within. Whether through pagan religion, clairvoyance, occultism, new age spirituality, transcendental meditation, astral projection druidry, witchcraft or the martial arts. The result is always the same. Satan is the father of lies and will seek to possess you and destroy you. You need the Prince of Peace – Jesus Christ and salvation through His name. The only name under heaven by which you must be saved. Stay away from paganism!

Religion. Atheism and All That…

 
I think in these times many people pride themselves on being irreligious. You know what I mean. I can’t see the hand of God in the world around me. It always has been as it always is. It always was as it always will be and so forth. Evolution and millions of years. It all started from nothing and everything we see is the result of millions of years of development.

Even though we can see in human endeavor that it takes tens of thousands of years just to get to where we are today. The ceaseless determination of thought and striving with unending experimentation to arrive where we are in the world of today. This informs us that nothing comes from nothing, and development is driven by intelligence whatever the source of that intelligence may be?

 Of course, all of mankind is inherently religious and even the most ardent atheist believes in that atheism and usually is a proponent of the Man is God theory as well. They won’t believe in the Creator. In their selfish tiny selves, they look, hopefully, to the future of mankind where man is immortal, and humanity have conquered the stars and wield the science of avarice.

Issac Asimov envisaged in his Foundation Trilogy a future where science became the religion. The Council of Science become the Vatican of the future in its endeavor to guide humanity into its successful conquest of space and the galaxy. Scientists are foreseen as being like priests. Ultimately, he foresaw the rise and fall of civilization and the establishment of a Science Foundation that would use science  and probability to calculate and model the future. Asimov theorized that scientists would even be able to predict the rise of certain individuals and what to do to mitigate their impact on the rise of the next civilization.

As the apostle Paul wrote in Romans chapter one verses 18 though 23: “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, being understood by what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honour Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their reasonings, and their senseless hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and they exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible mankind, of birds, four-footed animals, and crawling creatures.

So, it has been with the scientists. Regardless of whom we think of, from Darwin to Asimov or from Attenborough to Dawkins. Paul’s description in Romans casts their thinking in sharp contrast to the truth of God’s word and the futile and vain speculation that have taken them and a large portion of humanity captive to Satan’s carefully wrought falsehoods. As he did in the beginning with Adam and Eve, he has done to greater humanity on many occasions throughout the aeons. Deceiving mankind with clever speech and a ready turn of phrase. The foremost being “Be Ye as God’s!”

Thus, claiming to be wise they became fools worshiping man instead of God even they knew in their hearts that what they were doing was wrong. The worst of this is that we as Christians are tasked with trying to share the truth with these misguided people who really do think they know it all and refuse to listen. Yet in the end God has a purpose and His will is going to be enacted on Earth as it is in Heaven. These men are wrong and vain in their speculations. Their hope for a future where man is God will never come to pass and the Kingdom of God is only a matter of years away.

So If you haven’t heard the gospel, it is based around John 3:16 “For God so loved the World, that He gave His only Son, Jesus Christ, that whoever believes on Him shall not perish but inherit eternal life.” This is God’s Grace and is an appeal to all men that you might believe that Christ Jesus bore your sins on the Cross and paid your sin debt, that you might seek His forgiveness and have everlasting life and a place in the Kingdom of God.