On Law

"The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul;The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether"
 Psalm 19:7–9

"Surely I have taught you statutes and judgments, just as the Lord my God commanded me, that you should act according to them in the land which you go to possess. Therefore be careful to observe them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes, and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people"
Deuteronomy 4:5–6

^" But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully, knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God which was committed to my trust"1 Timothy 1:8–11

"For as many as have sinned without law will also perish without law, and as many as have sinned in the law will be judged by the law (for not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified; for when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them) in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel"
Romans 2:12-16

There is much sociological and bioethical brokenness in our world. And, not claiming to know the answer, just some speculation.

A.E. Wilder Smith speculates the reason for the deteriation of law and order in the US is "simply because for many years it has been commonly taught that life is a random, accidental phenomenon with no meaning except the purely materialistic one. Laws are merely a matter of human expediency. Since humans are alledgedly accidents, so are their laws." 

Sarah Sumner, dean of A.W. Tozer Theological Seminary, has been quoted saying " In a democracy, Christians can love others best by voting for laws that uphold the truth as revealed by God. When a law lies by saying something forbidden by God is permissible in society, people are set up for long-term hurt. God's universal laws are for the benefit and welfare of all people, not just Christians. It's just as harmful for an unbeliever to be involved in ... sin as it is a Christ follower."


Deuteronomy 6:24 says "And the Lord commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our good always, that He might preserve us alive, as it is this day,"

Do we really believe this?

On Pluralism

"You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve"

Matthew 4:10

"He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him"

John 3:36

"and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation"

John 5:29

"Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved"

Acts 4:12

"He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life"

1 John 5:12

Absolute Truth

There is a belief that there is no such thing as absolute truth. That two people could define truth in totally conflicting ways, but both could still be correct. This would imply that there are no absolute standards that apply to everybody in all situations.

Let's just think about that for a minute... I am starting to get a really chaotic and dangerous picture in mind. You?

"How long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him"

1 Kings 18:21

"Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me' "

John 14:6

"When He, the Spirit of Truth, has come, he will guide you into all truth"

John 16:13

"For the wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has show it to them"

Romans 1:18-32

"He is the Rock, His work is perfect; For all His ways are justice, A God of truth and without injustice; Righteous and upright is He"

Deuteronomy 32:4

On Bioethics

The Abolition of the Person

I will not atempt to paraphrase the above article, it would not do it justice. So read it.

"The fact that we have human rights doesn’t entail that the state is there to ensure that we live: rather, they are there to safeguard us from the deliberate and intentional taking of our lives by another human person" Matt Anderson

Christian Philisophy

"The task of showing the relevance of the Christian realistic philosophy to a world is one which requires eternal vigilance" Dr. Young

"Now faith [most solid possible conviction] is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence [divine assurance] of things not seen" Hebrews 11:1

"Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind"

Matthew 22:37

"For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. ¹¹ For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. ¹² Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God."

1 Corinthians 2:10-12

"But sanctify the Lord God in your hears, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you" 1 Peter 3:15

"And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God"

Romans 12:2–3

^"Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ"

Colossians 2:8

"but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God"
1 Corinthians 1:23

The Church Body

"Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood"

Acts 20:28

"that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel, of which I became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of His power.

To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ; to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places"

Ephesians: 3:6–10

"There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.  There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills. For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. For in fact the body is not one member but many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased. And if they were all one member, where would the body be? But now indeed there are many members, yet one body. And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary. And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor; and our unpresentable parts have greater modesty, but our presentable parts have no need. But God composed the body, having given greater honor to that part which lacks it, that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it"

1 Corinthians 12:4–26

 {Emphasis my own}

 

"Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector"

Matthew 18:15–17



"But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—not even to eat with such a person"

1 Corinthians 5:11

 

  

On Bonhoeffer

For the sake a organizing, remembering, and capping...I'll be filling the next few posts with regards to the Conference with Summit Ministries in Colorado Springs, at Glen Eyrie.

Our first speaker was Eric Metaxas , author of Bonhoeffer and Amazing Grace ... I also learned out about Socrates in the City which I cannot wait to get my hands on.

Some of my favorite quotes from the famous German Theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, 

“I'm still discovering, right up to this moment, that it is only by living completely in this world that one learns to have faith. I mean living unreservedly in life's duties, problems, successes and failures, experiences and perplexities. In so doing, we throw ourselves completely into the arms of God.” 

“Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”

I don't want to ruin it for you, so check out the video below...




An Evening with Eric Metaxas from Woodmen Valley Chapel on Vimeo.

A few weeks earlier, Eric had a chance to speak at the Nation Prayer Breakfast, in front of all of our political leaders. Check it out here.