2). "I know that I am a sinner, but I confess my sins
to God each night. I tell Him that I am sorry and that I won't
sin again." If you find yourself in court with a $50,000
fine, will a judge let you go simple because you say that you
are sorry and that you won't commit the crime again? Of course
not. You should be sorry for breaking the law, and of course
you shouldn't commit the crime again. However, if someone stepped
in and paid the $50,000 fine, then you would be free to go from
the demands of the law.
God will not forgive a sinner on the basis that he is sorry.
Of course we should be sorry for sin-we have a conscience to
tell us that adultery, rape, lust, murder, hatred, lying and
stealing, etc., are wrong. And of course we shouldn't sin again.
God will, however, release us from the demands on eternal justice
on the basis that someone else paid our fine. Two thousand years
ago Jesus Christ paid in full for the sins of the world. His
words on the Cross were, "It is finished!" In other
words, the debt has been paid in full. All who repent and trust
in Him receive remission of sins. Their case is dismissed on
the basis of His suffering death.
3). "I have broken the Ten Commandments, but I do good things for people." Hollywood Stars do similar things. They commit adultery in their youth, and then become involved in giving to AIDS research, etc., as they grow older. In their minds they think that they are balancing the scales. They have done bad, and now they are doing good. However, the Bible reveals that the motive of guilty sinners is one of guilt (see Hebrews 9:14). They are attempting to bribe the Judge of the Universe. However, the Judge in this case will not be corrupted. Good works cannot earn mercy. That comes purely by the grace of God. He will only dismiss our case on the grounds of our faith in Jesus.
4). "I don't feel guilty." People often don't feel guilty when they sin because they have "seared" their conscience. They have removed the batteries from the smoke detector of their conscience, so that they can sin without interruption.
5). "Christianity oppresses women by making them submit to their husbands!" The Bible does say, "Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands. Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself for it." A man who understands that Jesus Christ gave His life's blood for the Church will love his wife with passion. He will honor her, respect her, protect, love and cherish her as much as he does his own body. He will never say or do anything to harm or demean her. It is in this atmosphere of love and security that a godly wife willingly submits herself to the protective arms of her husband. She does this not because he is better than she is, rather, simply because this is God's order for His creation. A lion rests while his mate prepares his food. He lies under the shade of a tree and now and then roars to let everyone know that he is king of the jungle. The world stands in awe at this order in nature, but refuses to acknowledge that the same One who ordered nature, orders mankind. A godless world rejects the God-given formula to make marriage work. It thinks it knows best, and suffers the heart-breaking consequences of destroyed marriages and ruined lives. The Christian ideal of marriage is not one of an authoritarian and chauvinist male, holding his cringing wife in submission like an obedient dog. It's the very opposite. While most of the great religions treat women as inferior beings to men, the Bible gives them a place of dignity, honor, and unspeakable worth, expressed so evidently in Proverbs chapter 31.
6). "Could you be wrong in your claims about Judgment Day and the existence of Hell?" The answer to this question is that the existence of Hell and the surety of the Judgment are not the claims of fallible man. The Bible is the source of the claim, and it is utterly infallible.
7). "How do you keep the young earth theory consistent with astronomical data that says that stars are millions of light years away, yet if they are that far away, how do we see them? Shouldn't the light not yet have reached us?" No doubt God made Adam as a fully-grown man-perhaps with the appearance of being 30 years old, even though he was only a few minutes old. That would probably be the case with all of His creation, including trees (with their annual "age" rings), mature-looking birds, stars, etc.
8). "Didn't men write the Bible?" Absolutely. When you write a letter, do you write the letter, or does the pen? Obviously you do. The pen is merely the instrument you use. God used men as instruments to write His "letter" to humanity. They ranged from kings to common fishermen, but the 66 books of the Bible were all given by inspiration of God. Proof that this Book is supernatural can been seen with a quick study of its prophecies.
9). "The church is full of hypocrites." Hypocrites may show up at a church building every Sunday, but there are no hypocrites in the Church (Christ's body). Hypocrite comes from the Greek word for "actor," or pretender. Hypocrisy is "the practice of professing beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not hold." The Church is made up of true believers; hypocrites are "pretenders" who sit among God's people. God knows those who love Him, and the Bible warns that He will sort out the true from the false on the Day of Judgment.
10). "How can people be happy in Heaven, knowing that their unsaved loved ones are suffering in Hell?" Those who ask question such as these fall into the category of those who asked Jesus a similar question. They said that a certain woman had seven consecutive husbands, whose wife will she therefore be in Heaven (Mark 12:23)? Jesus answered them by saying that they neither knew the Scriptures nor the power of God. The unregenerate mind has no concept of God's mind or His infinite power. If God can speak the sun into existence; if He can see every thought of every human heart at the same time; if He can create the human eye with its 137,000,000 light-sensitive cells, then He can handle the minor details of our eternal salvation.
11). "God told Joshua to kill every man, woman, and child. If that's your 'God of love,' I don't want to have anything to do with Him!" God didn't confine His wrath to the Canaanites. He proclaimed the death sentence upon the whole of humanity. We will all die because we have broken God's Law. Every one of us is waiting on death's row. Instead of standing in moral judgment over Almighty God, come down from your throne and judge yourself according to the Law of God. You will find that you have a multitude of sins and you therefore are not in a position to point your holier-than-thou finger at another sinner, let alone a holy God.
12). "Do Christians sin?" "The great foundational truth respecting the believer in relationship to his sins is the fact that his salvation comprehends the forgiveness of all his trespasses past, present and future so far as condemnation is concerned (see Romans 8:1, Colossians 2:13; John 3:18; John 5:24). Since Christ has vicariously borne all sin and since the believer's standing in Christ is complete, he is perfected forever in Christ. When a believer sins, he is subjected to chastisement from the Father, but never to condemnation with the world (see 1 Corinthians 11:31,32). By confession the Christian is forgiven and restored to fellowship (see 1 John 1:9). It needs to be remembered that were it not for Christ's finished work on the Cross and His present intercession in Heaven, the least sin would result in his banishment from God's presence and eternal ruin." (Unger's Bible Dictionary, Moody Press, p. 377).
13). "Jesus died on the Cross, therefore we are all forgiven every sin." The forgiveness that is in Jesus Christ is conditional upon "repentance towards God, and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ." No one has biblical grounds to continue in sin, assuming that they are safe because Jesus died on the Cross.
14). "How can you know that you are saved?"
A two-year-old boy was once staring at a heater, fascinated by
its bright orange glow. His father saw him and warned, "Don't
touch that heater son. It may look pretty, but it's hot."
The little boy believed him, and moved away from the heater.
Some time later, when his father had left the room he thought
to himself, "I wonder if it really is hot." He then
reached out to touch it and see for himself. The second his flesh
burned, he stopped believing it was hot. He now knew it was hot!
He had moved out of the realm of belief into the realm of experience!
Many Christians believed in God's existence before their conversion.
However, when they obeyed the Word of God, turned from their
sins and embraced Jesus Christ, they stopped believing. The moment
they reached out and touched the heater bar of God's mercy, they
moved out of belief into the realm of experience. This experience
is so radical, Jesus referred to it as being "born again."
The Apostle Paul said if you are "in Christ" you are
a brand new creature. When Paul wrote to the church at Corinth,
he said, "And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing
words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and
of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men,
but in the power of God" (1 Corinthians 2:4-5). What Paul
was saying was, "I deliberately didn't talk you into your
faith, but I let God's power transform you." He didn't reach
them through an intellectual assent, but through the realm of
personal experience.
Suppose two men walked into the room just after that child had
burned his hand on the heater. One was a heater manufacturer
and the other a skin specialist. Both assured that boy that he
couldn't possibly have been burned. But all the experts, theories,
equations and arguments in the world will not dissuade that boy,
because of his experience.
Those who have been transformed by God's power need never fear
scientific nor any other argument, because the man with an experience
is not at the mercy of a man with an argument. "For our
Gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and
in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance& " (1 Thessalonians
1:5).
15). "Why are there so many different religions?" It has been well said that "religion" is man's way of trying to deal with his guilt. Different religions have different ways of attempting to rid themselves of sin and its consequences. They fast, pray, deny themselves legitimate pleasures or chasten themselves, often to a point of inflicting pain. This happens because they have a conception of what they think God (or "the gods") is like. They then go about to establish their own righteousness, being "ignorant of the righteousness which is of God." The "Good News" of the Christian faith is that no one need suffer the pains of religious works. His blood can cleanse our conscience from the "dead works" of religion (Hebrews 9:14). Jesus took our punishment upon Himself, and He is the only One who can save them from sin and death. See Acts 4:12.
16). "Are you saying that Christians are better than
non-Christians?" The Christian is no better than a non-Christian,
but he is infinitely better off. It is like two men on a plane.
One is wearing a parachute and the other is not. One is not better
than the other, but the man with the parachute on is certainly
better off than the man who is not wearing a parachute. The difference
will be seen when they jump. Jesus warned that if we "jump"
into death without Him, we would perish.
Our great problem is a law that is even harsher than the law
of gravity. It is the Law of an infinitely holy and just Creator.
The Scriptures warn us, "It is a fearful thing to fall into
the hands of the Living God." They tell us that we are His
enemy.
17). "I don't mind going to Hell. All my friends will
be there." Those who say such things don't believe in
the biblical concept of Hell. This is simply because their understanding
of the nature of God is erroneous. The slow-witted criminal thinks
that the electric chair is a place to put up his feet for a while
and relax. It may be wise therefore to speak with him for a few
moments about the reasonableness of a place called "Hell."
Reason with him by saying, "If a judge in Florida turns
a blind eye to the unlawful dealings of the Mafia; if he sees
their murderous acts and deliberately turns the other way, is
he a good or bad judge? He's obviously corrupt, and should be
brought to justice himself. If he is a good judge, he will do
everything within his power to bring those murderers to justice.
He should make sure that they are justly punished.
If Almighty God sees a man rape and strangle to death your sister
or mother, do you think He should look the other way, or bring
that murderer to justice? If He looks the other way, He's corrupt
and should be brought to justice Himself. It makes sense then-that
if God is good, He will therefore do everything in His power
to make sure that justice is done. The Bible tells us that He
will punish murderers, and the place of punishment-the prison
God will send them to is-a place called 'Hell.'
God should punish murderers and rapists. However, God is so good,
he will also punish thieves, liars, adulterers, fornicators,
and blasphemers. He will even punish those who desired to murder
and rape but never had the opportunity. He warns that if we hate
someone, we commit murder in our hearts. If we lust, we commit
adultery in the heart, etc."
Would you sell an eye for a million dollars. Would you sell both
for ten million? No one in his right mind would. Our eyes are
precious to us. How much more then is our soul (our life) worth?
18). "Why is there suffering? That proves that there
is no 'loving' God." Study the soil for a moment. It
naturally produces weeds. Nobody plants them; nobody waters them.
They even stubbornly push through cracks of a dry sidewalk. Millions
of useless weeds sprout like there's no tomorrow, strangling
our crops and ruining our lawns. Pull them out by the roots,
and there will be more tomorrow. They are nothing but a curse!
Look at how much of the earth is uninhabitable. There are millions
upon millions of square miles of nothing but barren deserts in
Africa and in different parts of the world. Most of Australia
is desert. There is nothing but miles and miles of useless desolate
land.
Not only that, but the earth is constantly shaken with massive
earthquakes. Its shores are lashed with hurricanes, tornadoes
rip through creation with incredible fury. Floods of biblical
proportions soak the land, and terrible droughts parch the soil.
Sharks, tigers, lions, snakes, spiders and disease-ridden mosquitoes
attack humanity and suck its life's blood. The earth's inhabitants
are afflicted with disease, pain, suffering and death.
Think of how many people are plagued with cancer, Alzheimer's,
Multiple Sclerosis, heart disease, emphysema, Parkinson's disease
and a mass of other debilitating diseases. Think of all the kids
with leukemia, or people born with crippling diseases or without
the mental capability to even feed themselves. All these things
should convince thinking minds that something is radically wrong.
Did God blow it when He created humanity? What sort of tyrant
must our Creator be if this was His master plan?
Sadly, many use the issue of suffering as an excuse to reject
any thought of God, when its existence is the very reason we
should accept Him. Suffering stands as terrible testimony to
the truth of the explanation given by the Word of God.
But how can we know that the Bible is true? Simply by studying
the prophecies of Matthew 24, Luke 21, and 2 Timothy 3. A few
minutes of openhearted inspection will convince any honest skeptic
that this is no ordinary book. It is the supernatural testament
of our Creator as to why there is suffering . . . and what we
can do about it.
The Bible tells us that God cursed the earth because of Adam's
transgression. Weeds are a curse. So is disease. Sin and suffering
cannot be separated. The Scriptures inform us that we live in
a fallen creation. In the beginning, God created man perfect
and he lived in a perfect world, without suffering. It was Heaven
on earth. When sin came into the world, death and misery came
with it.
Those who understand the message of Holy Scripture eagerly await
a new Heaven and a new earth "wherein dwells righteousness."
In that coming Kingdom there will be no more pain, suffering,
disease or death. We are told that no eye has ever seen, nor
has any ear heard, neither has any man's mind ever imagined the
wonderful things that God has in store for those that love Him.
Think for a moment of what it would be like if food grew with
the fervor of weeds. Think how wonderful it would be if the deserts
became incredibly fertile, if creation stopped devouring humanity.
Imagine if the weather worked for us instead of against us, if
disease completely disappeared, if pain was a thing of the past
. . . if death was no more.
There is a wise saying: "If it sounds too good to be true,
it probably is." That is solid advice for when you are dealing
with sinful mankind. But the promise of a new Heaven and a new
earth come from a faithful Creator, and there is no greater insult
to God than not to believe His promises. When a nation repents
and finds peace with God through trusting in the Savior, God
promises to forgive their sins and heal their land.
The dilemma is that we are like a small child whose insatiable
appetite for chocolate has caused his face to break out. He looks
in the mirror and sees a sight that makes him depressed. His
face is nothing but ugly sores. But instead of stopping eating
his beloved chocolate, he takes solace by stuffing more into
his mouth. Yet, his very joy is actually the cause of his suffering.
The whole face of the earth is nothing but ugly sores of suffering.
Everywhere we look, we see unspeakable pain. But instead of believing
God's explanation and asking Him to forgive us and change our
appetite, we run deeper into sin's sweet embrace. There we find
solace in its temporal pleasures; thus intensifying our pain,
both in this life, and in the life to come.
19). "When Jesus was on the Cross, He cried 'My God, why have you forsaken me?' This proves that He was a fake. God forsook Him." When Jesus was on the Cross, the sin of the entire world was laid upon Him. His words were fulfillment of Bible prophecy. Psalm 22:1 says, "My God, my God, why have thou forsaken me?" Then the Scriptures give us insight as to why God forsook Jesus on the Cross. "& But thou are holy& " (v. 3). A holy Creator cannot have fellowship with sin.
20). "When you are dead, you are dead." What if you are wrong? What if God, Jesus, the prophets, the Jews, and Christians are right and you are wrong? If there is no afterlife, no Judgment Day, no Heaven and no Hell, then God is unjust and each of the above are guilty of being false witness. It means that Almighty God couldn't care less about the fact that a man rapes a woman, then cuts her throat and is never brought to justice. If you are right, and there is no ultimate justice, you won't even have the joy of saying, "I told you so." However, if you are wrong, you will lose your soul and end up eternally damned. You are playing Russian roulette with a fully loaded gun.
21). "Do you sin, as a Christian?" If a Christian sins, it is against his will. He falls rather than dives into sin. He resists rather than embraces it. Any dead fish can float down stream. It takes a live one to swim against the flow.
22). "You are using 'scare tactics,' by talking about
Hell and Judgment Day." In the late 1980s, the U.S.
aired TV advertisements that asked, "What goes through the
mind of a driver who is not wearing a seat belt in a head-on
collision?" Then they showed a crash dummy having its head
crushed by a steering wheel in a collision, and said, "The
steering wheel!" Those were scare tactics, but no one complained
because they were legitimate scare tactics. That's what happens
in a head-on collision if you are foolish enough not to put on
a seat belt.
To warn of Hell is fearful, but it is absolutely legitimate,
because the Bible says that it is a fearful thing to fall into
the hands of the living God.
23). "God Sure Blew it--Creation is a Mess!"
Three million people die of mosquito bites each year. Hurricanes,
tornadoes, floods, and earthquakes slaughter tens of thousands.
We have devastating droughts, multitudes crippled with arthritis,
children dying of Leukemia, masses of other cancerous diseases,
endless suffering, unspeakable pain and death. What sort of tyrant
would create us and then give us all this grief? Then again,
could it be that "Mother Nature" has a Senior Partner-Father
God? Which puts us in an interesting dilemma: If God is an "all-loving"
father figure, as we are often told that He is, we seem to be
left with three choices. One: God blew it when He made everything
(He's creative but incompetent). Two: God is a tyrant, who gets
His kicks from seeing kids die of Leukemia. Three: Something
between God and man is radically wrong. There's our choice&
and you don't have to be a rocket scientist to lean towards number
three. Something between man and God is radically wrong. The
Bible tells us what it is. There is a war going on. We are told
that mankind is an enemy of God in his mind through wicked works.
That's not too hard to see. He is forever committing murder,
rape, lying, and stealing (watch the TV news tonight to confirm
that fact). He uses God's Name as a curse word, while "Mother
Nature" gets the glory for His creation (unless there's
a horrible disaster. Then man calls that "an act of God").
An applicable acronym for "war" is "We Are Right."
That's why any country goes to war, because it has the conviction
that it is in the right. A few moments of going through God's
Law shows us who is right and who is wrong. We, not God, are
the guilty party. If we want His blessing back on our nation,
we must make peace with Him, and that can only happen through
faith in Jesus Christ.
24). "I used to be a liar and a thief, but that was years ago. Now I try to be a good person." Time doesn't forgive sin. If a man commits murder on Monday, but on Tuesday he is kind to others, he is still a murderer. If a man lies and steals, unless he comes to the Savior, his sins remain with him until he stands before God in Judgment.
25). "What about all those people who have never heard the Gospel? Will they all go to Hell because they haven't heard about Jesus Christ?" No one will go to Hell because they haven't heard of Jesus Christ. The heathen will go to Hell for murder, rape, adultery, lust, theft, lying, etc. Sin is not failing to hear the Gospel, "sin is transgression of the Law" (1 John 3:4). If we really care about them, we will become missionaries and take the good news of God's forgiveness in Christ to them.
26). "I'm as good as any Christian!" A Christian isn't better than a non-Christian. He's just better off. A person who has to jump out of a plane and is wearing a parachute is no better than a person without a parachute. He's just better off.
27). "I've tried to read the Bible, but I can't understand it." The Scriptures tells us that the "natural man" cannot understand the things of the Spirit of God. Most Americans would find it difficult to understand the Chinese language. However, a child who is born into a Chinese family can understand every word. That's why you must be born again (John 3:3). The moment you become part of God's family, the Bible will begin to make sense.
Go back to "Defending the Christian Faith" Page.
|
|
|
Online Bible |
|
|
|