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“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”- Romans 12:1-2

“Oh, what a conquest will he [Satan] think he hath got, if he can make a minister lazy and unfaithful; if he can tempt a minister into covetousness or scandal! He will glory against the church, and say, ‘These are your holy preachers: you see what their preciseness is, and whither it will bring them.’ He will glory against Jesus Christ himself, and say, ‘These are thy champions! I can make thy chiefest servants to abuse thee; I can make the stewards of thy house unfaithful.’” - C. H. Spurgeon

Key takeaway(s):

1. Everyone and everything witnesses to the Truth - Jesus Christ.

2. The primary cause of Christ should never become the secondary purpose of His church or His people - Declaring the truth of the Gospel is that purpose.

3. Every moment, every decision, every action testifies to your allegiance to Jesus or Satan.

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Question:

What can we learn about worship through the book of Revelation?

Answer:

Before I begin I must humbly submit that I find this book to be most difficult to grasp. I will quote John Calvin who himself did not choose to write a commentary on this book for fear of err. In his commentary on Galatians, Calvin said the following about the interpretation of Scripture: “Let us know then, that the true meaning of Scripture is the natural and obvious meaning, and let us embrace and abide by it resolutely.” He even goes so far as to say “Let us not only neglect as doubtful, but boldly set aside as deadly corruptions, those pretended expositions, which lead us away from the natural meaning.”

I present this merely in humble agreement as to my abilities to understand Revelation in its entirety. That being said we can begin by simply looking at the examples of worship we see through John’s (son of Zebedee (Matthew 10:2)) apocalyptic accounts. Interestingly, if we err and think we may more clearly understand these visions if we witnessed them first hand (as John had) this may not be the case as John’s purpose was indeed to write down what he experienced in order to share it with others (Revelation 1:11) so we should be able to take this account and glean what God had intended for us.

What we see through Revelation (perhaps not coincidentally a vision that occurs on the Lord’s Day) is this constant veneration by all for the One – God. We see the breadth of the creation (Revelation 5:13) that worships the One who truly spans from “alpha to omega” (Revelation 1:8). We see the finite worship the infinite. We see that we, as once dead, (Ephesians 2:1) will worship the “Living One” (Revelation 1:18). Although we see the Trinity (Revelation 1:4-5) we see the focus of all worship is towards the Lamb of God which brings the Father glory.

As we continue to read, in chapters 4 and 5 we see the constant reverence towards God. Some have presented that this is only a future state of worship that we have yet to grasp. However, it is possible that since Jesus in Revelation 1:19 states that John should write this down based on “what is now and what will take place later” that this has both a present and eternal significance.

When I read through Revelation and ask myself what it teaches me about worship I come to two conclusions. Firstly, that all of creation is purposed in venerating the Lord of All – it is all about His supremacy and that of His Son. Secondly, that the repeated command for John to “write” conveys that we must take this understanding of reality as it is now and live it out. John saw these great visions and was told to write them for our benefit and understanding so that we may act/worship in accordance with the fullness of Truth (John 4:23-24). (Note: We do not worship by emotional sentiment or concert-like temporal euphoria but in accordance and acceptance of Truth lead by the Holy Spirit – notice again all three persons of the Trinity have a role in this process). As a side note as we read Revelation 19:10, we see John bow down to worship an angel and that angel tells him to get up and that they are both fellow servants and they should worship God - we can clearly see that worship must only be directed to the one true triune God.

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Question:

What is your understanding concerning the Triune God?

Answer:

The concept of the Trinity is one that can’t be answered in a few short paragraphs but I will provide a brief initial response and at a later date post more on my web site on this important and oft misunderstood and underappreciated doctrine. Firstly, we must define the term Trinity as it comes from the Latin “Trinitas” which means three in one. The word Trinity was first found in a reference text in the writings of Theopolius of Antioch in AD 180. We see expansion of usage of this term by Tertullian in AD 200 when he accurately refers to “tres personae, una substantia” (three persons, one nature/substance). The value in understanding the textual usage in history is because some have incorrectly claimed the Trinity is a recent invention of Christians.

Additionally, as we look to the Trinity it is important to understand the Trinity as one and not three. Often the term Trinity is mistaken for tritheism where one mistakes it for stating there are three Gods (as the Muslims mistakenly understand Christianity). Another common mistake is that of understanding God playing 3 roles which is referred to as Modalism (or oneness theology) – God does not change roles (Malachi 3:6).

Muslims often vacillate between tritheism and modalism or even Arianism. Arianism is an ancient theological error that appeared around the year 320.  It taught that God could not appear on the earth because he was too pure, that Jesus was not eternal and was created out of nothing as an “adopted Son” (some Arians believe Jesus created the Holy Spirit). This theological fallacy is equivalent to idolatry since Jesus was a created thing and worshiping Him (as they stated we should do) would mean we violate the 1st and 2nd commandment. It was condemned by the Council of Nicea in 325.

So how do we understand God’s nature? It becomes a two-fold question of what and who. The “what” is the ontological question that speaks to God’s nature and the “who” is the economical question of how they relate to one another. The Ontological Trinity is understood as God is one in nature but three in Persons (e.g. 1x1x1=1 or 1³) with each Person having equal attributes. The Economical Trinity communicates how the three persons in the Godhead relate to each other and work in creation. The Trinity (should be referred to as He and not the impersonal “it”) is 3 distinct Persons that are co-eternal, co-equal, and co-substantial (meaning they share the same nature).

Further study will be posted to see the role of the Trinity and His presence throughout Scripture. A post on Jesus in the Old Testament can also be referenced as it begins this discussion from the vantage point of the Son of God being ever present throughout eternity and documented even in the Old Testament.

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Key verse(s)/quote(s):

“Do you know why it is so crucial for us to recover such a respectful understanding? Because a shallow view of God leads to a shallow life. Cheapen God and you cheapen life itself. Treat God superficially, and you become superficial. But hold God in profoundest respect, and it is remarkable how deep the roots of your spiritual life grow.” - Charles R. Swindoll

“Can you find out the deep things of God? Can you find out the limit of the Almighty” - Job 11:7

“Again, our eyes frequently cannot look upon the nature of the light itself—that is, upon the substance of the sun; but when we behold his splendor or his rays pouring in, perhaps, through windows or some small openings to admit the light, we can reflect how great is the supply and source of the light of the body. So in like manner, the works of Divine Providence and the plan of this whole world are a sort of rays, as it were, of the nature of God, in comparison with His real substance and being. As, therefore, our understanding is unable of itself to behold God Himself as He is, it knows the Father of the world from the beauty of His works and the comeliness of His creatures.” - Origen

Key takeaway(s):

1. Understanding God’s awesomeness is critical to how we live our Christian life
2. Not understanding the “bigness” of God results in idolatry
3. If we do not have a “big” view of God we end up having a “big” view of ourselves

Overview:

By nature of who God is, He will always remain indescribable and finite beings using a finite language will never be able to express who He is in a complete way. This is what we call God’s ineffability - “transcendent characteristics of God that cannot be adequately expressed in human language”. As one approaches this concept of ineffability, it is easy to confine it to the realm of theological or philosophical discussion. However, I would suggest that it has a defining place in the Christian walk. Our understanding of God and His sovereignty, love, justice, omniscience, omnipresence, omnipotence and many other characteristics serve as a foundation for our relational interaction with God and our practical interaction with this world.

If we understand God’s “bigness”, we can begin to appreciate our place in the world and why we can and should place our trust in Him. If we understand God’s “bigness”, we can begin to value His love and control in our lives and truly worship His magnificence. If we understand God’s “bigness”, we can begin to learn how to live as a Christian who can approach life with a sense of peace and make decisions in line with an accurate yet incomplete view of God. We understand enough of who God is to begin to live how God wishes and reflect upon His greatness, incomparability, wisdom, majesty and ultimately His beauty.

Check out this great video on the beauty of God (performed by Blair Linne, Official Trailer from Shai Linne’s fourth album, “The Attributes of God”):

I would even go so far as to suggest that the answer to many of life’s questions and day-to-day decisions would change if we began to reflect on God’s ineffability each time we drop to our knees in prayer, come to our church on Sunday mornings, or simply open our eyes in the morning and close our eyes at night. If we were to develop an appropriate intellectual and emotional posture for true worship, it would begin with an understanding how awesome God is. The question then is - Is your view of God too small? and perhaps even more penetrating - Are you too big?

Suggested Reading(s): B = Basic, M = Moderate, A = Academic

• Geisler, Norman L. Systematic Theology, Volume Two: God, Creation. Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House Publishers, 2003. (A)
• Piper, John. What Jesus Demands from the World. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2006. (B)
• Tozer, A. W. and David E. Fessenden. The Attributes of God, Volume 1: A Jouney into the Father’s Heart. Camp Hill, PA: WingSpread, 2003 (B)

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Question:

Give five reasons to support your view of the divine inspiration of Scripture.

Answer:

I am uncompromising in my stance of the Bible, as originally inspired, being the inerrant Word of God. I can base this statement on many facts (for a much more detailed study on this topic please see my post entitled “Validity of the Bible”) but in summary we can rest assured it is divinely inspired because of the following:

1.    Jesus Himself spoke of the Scriptures’: Authority – Matthew 22:43, Reliability – Matthew 26:54, Finality – Matthew 4:4, 7, 10, Sufficiency – Luke 16:31, Indestructibility – Matthew 5:17-18, Unity – Luke 24:27, 44, Clarity – Luke 24:27, Historicity – Matthew 12:40, Facticity (scientifically) – Matthew 19:2-5, Inerrancy – Matthew 22:29; John 3:12, 17:17, Infallibility – John 10:35
2.    Third-party verification – a plethora of external sources and facts outside the Bible corroborate what is found in the Bible.
3.    Historical reliability – The Bible’s message is a sharp contrast to the pagan fertility religions and philosophies of the ancient world as revealed through history. It isn’t shy about mentioning dates and places that have never been proven false (or if they seemingly had later evidence has uncovered these claims to be false themselves thus proving the Bible true). Additionally, the multitude of manuscripts and breadth of textual criticism has brought us much closer over time to understanding the truly amazing accuracy of the Scriptures.
4.    Fulfilled prophecy – Events demonstrate that the Biblical prophets accurately predicted events hundreds of years before they occurred.
5.    Archaeological evidence – Physical evidence demonstrates the historical and cultural accuracy of the Bible.
6.   Life changing – I will add a sixth as I believe we can often get lost in the academic dialogue and although this intellectual approach is in partnership with the Scriptures and God we must understand the truly unique, powerful, and real verification of Scriptures as a transformative book. As D.L. Moody, the American evangelist, stated – “The bible wasn’t given to increase our knowledge but to change lives.” And it is experiencing this personal change validated by the objective realities of points 1-5 that allow me to thank the Creator of all for creating His wonderful perfect Book.

Copyright 2010. Theology in Sneakers. All Rights Reserved.

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1. Validity of the Bible
2. How did the Bible come together and how much trust can we put in it?
3. Different analogies used in Scripture to describe the church.

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Question:

The Epistle of 1 John was written (among other things) to combat the heresy of Gnosticism. Please give the basic tenets of Gnosticism and how I John answered this system of thought.

Answer:

Firstly, the term Gnosticism is derived from the Greek word “gnosis” translated “knowledge”. It is this term that helps us begin our understanding of the positioning of the value found in its beliefs – that is in salvation gained through “special knowledge” (gnosis). So what is this “special knowledge” that supposedly helps us gain salvation?

We must begin with exploring the worldview of the Gnostics which removes the element of a personal God and makes Him unknowable. This is concluded from a simple and flawed logic based on the fact that God is by nature too perfect and pure for us. The origins of our being are also very different than the Christian worldview as Gnostics believe that God created lesser gods called emanations and in turn one of these tried to know the unknowable God via Wisdom. This mistake that seems to mark a loose parallel to Satan wanting to have God’s nature and humanity’s original sin of wanting to seek knowledge from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (God’s domain) seems eerily familiar. Out of this faulty goal came an evil god (demiurge) who created the universe and beings known as the archons who subdued us “mortals” to prevent our souls from returning to our intended state with God. Indeed, this is all extremely fascinating mythology but mere myth it is.

A shared view of the transitory nature of our existence is similar to Christianity but similarities quickly depart in all linkages and descend into a new age/old age/mystic/Buddhist concept of attaining self-enlightenment (special knowledge) to then return back to God. All these teachings to help learn the knowledge needed was to be dispensed by the Gnostic teachers in much the same fashion Buddhist grand masters do so today.

Along with all of these fundamental differences on the origins of the universe and humanity comes the fundamental disagreement on the identity of Jesus. They view Him as a great Gnostic teacher and deny His deity and sonship and therefore His entire work (death on the cross and resurrection unto the Father). 1 John begins by dealing with our identity in chapter 3 as children of God and goes on in chapter 4 to attack the false teachings that did not “[acknowledge] that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh from God”. Interestingly, as we continue to read from verse 7 to the end of the chapter we see Scripture clearly explaining what it means to truly know God and how that must start with love, action, and the Spirit. John is making a direct attack on the “special knowledge” that seems to have found an elite intellectual or righteous level and brings it down to a practical expression – almost resonating as a call that religion isn’t meant to be lofty it is meant to be real and it begins with understanding who we are, who Christ is, why the Father sent Him, what He has done for us, and what the Spirit continues to do in us.

For more information of this topic please see my post on “Testing the Spirits”.

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Key verse(s)/quote(s):

“The philosopher puts his glass to his eye, looks at the cross, and then says, “I cannot see anything so very wonderful in it, — even with this splendid glass of mine, which more than can be seen by that poor, humble peasant; I do not care about such a system of religion as that; any simpleton can understand the cross.” So he passes by, and merely sneers at it.” - C.H. Spurgeon

“For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” - 1 Corinthians 1:18

“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” - Romans 3:23

Overview:

A few months ago, I was given the utmost of pleasures by being asked to preach my first ever “official” gospel message – it was also the first time I preached a message from the pulpit at my home church. We held an evening event for which we had established a theme of “It starts and ends at the cross”. It was an oddly nerve-wracking endeavor to prepare this message as I felt a weight from hosting such a lofty privilege as to handle a most poignant message carrying such extreme importance. Although there is an element of the Gospel in much if not all that I preach, it was different having a singular mandate to make the case for Christ and Christianity clear.

Please feel free to flip through the slides below or listen to the audio or simply watch the video to listen to the message while watching the accompanying slides.

Feeling blessed to be used by God as such an unworthy vessel of the most worthy of purposes - proclaiming the message of Christ,
- Sumair

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2. Did Jesus Die on the Cross? Ahmadiyaa Muslims say “No! He just fainted.”
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Question:

Define the nature of sin and discuss its consequences both temporally and eternally.

Answer:

When evaluating sin we must understand it in the context of our humanity. John 8:44 says “You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”

We can understand that by nature we are objects of God’s wrath (Ephesians 2:3) and this is so because our father is the devil until God adopts us into His family (Ephesians 1:5). We also understand that since the origin of sin is the devil and our identity is initially found in him we must strive to examine the characteristics of Satan. In the above passage (John 8:44), we can clearly see that the natural implications of our hereditary makeup in the devil is to carry out his desire and inherit his other traits (sin). With this understanding of the origins of sin we can then posit the contrary premise that if our God is our Father than we must “carry out [His] desire” and this would be the opposite of sin. Thus, sin is doing something that is contrary to God our Father’s will – in effect aligned to Satan’s desire/will.

Additionally, as we would inherit the traits of the devil (once our father) we would then inherit the traits of our new Father or specifically His Son Jesus Christ as we are to be transformed into His likeness (1 Corinthians 11:1). In short, sin becomes that which occurs when we do NOT follow God’s will – an extension of this is when we violate the law of Christ (Galatians 6:2) that is in alignment with His nature and will for us. The consequences of this sin are both immediate and eternal. We must understand this since the Father blessed His people in the Old Testament when they obeyed and disciplined when they didn’t by expelling them from the land. Thus hardship is a possible and real consequence for sin in the present day. From an eternal standpoint, although our salvation is secure as it is God’s work from beginning to end, we will still stand in front of the judgment throne of God and be accountable for all that we do. Not a fun story but a real story that exposes our true nature (Romans 3:10, 3:23).

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1. Please discuss both the original and current nature of humanity.
2. Discuss the meaning of being “saved by grace”.

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Question: 

Please discuss both the original and current nature of humanity.

Answer:

In order to understand the original and current nature of humanity, we must venture right to the beginning of our creation. In Genesis 1:26-30, we see the creation account where God decides to create man in His image and provides for them everything that is needed. Interestingly, in Genesis 1:31 we see God’s proclamation that “it was very good”. This is not just a simple classification but an escalated declaration of God’s assessment of His created works. If we look to just prior to the account of man’s creation in Genesis 1:25, we see that preceding our creation God has declared his works “good” not “very good”. Something special had occurred and that was the entry of man a unique element of His creation that shared in His image (more information on what this means in this post on being made in the image of God).

Original state:
Man’s nature contained an intrinsic resemblance of God’s divine nature. Both male and female were made with God’s hands and thus no lack of equality is present. Some even have cleverly presented that woman was created after man as God’s final creation act and thus in verse 31 declares it all “very good”. At this time free will was given to man and a command was given to not eat of the tree.

The fall:
Interestingly, Eve makes a mistake even when confronted by Satan saying that God said not to touch it (Genesis 3:3, Genesis 2:17). In fact, God did not make this provision – He only says not to eat of it. Eve is enticed by the serpent to taste of the tree and share in God’s wisdom – greed and pride are at the heart here. This is where we begin to understand that pride is the father of all sin or as C.S. Lewis accurately articulated “According to Christian teachers, the essential vice, the utmost evil, is Pride… Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind.” The fall happens from the disobedience of Adam and Eve in Genesis 3 and this starts a chain reaction that reverberates at the core of humanity since we share in this original sin in some mysterious way (Romans 5:12, 5:15; 5:19).

I would like to quote from a message embedded within a song by Shai Linne entitled “In Adam all die”, as it captures the heart of our predicament in an insightful and powerful way:

“The problem with the human race is not most deeply that everyone does various kinds of sins. Behind all of our depravity, behind all of our guilt, behind all of our personal sinning, there is this mysterious connection or union with Adam our father who sinned and we being in him in some mysterious way also sinned and died and are condemned. What Christ has done for all who are in Him is far greater than what Adam did for all who were in him. It is all about the superiority of the work of Christ for those who are in Him over against what happened to all who were in Adam!”

The current state:
As we proceed through the repercussions of this original sin we see that our image is tarnished (Genesis 5:3; 1 Corinthians 15:48-49) as sin and death (spiritual and physical) has entered into the world. This inherited sin is not without evidence when we honestly reflect on our humanity. Many in the New Age movement (really old age mysticism Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, etc.) would like to present our nature as being good and yet I can honestly say I feel Adam’s sinful nature in my heart and mind if I take true stock. I do not dare clothe myself in a self-righteous image as the New Age or many religions do but understand the reality of the birth of sin in humanity (Job 15:14; Job 25:4, Psalm 51:5, Isaiah 48:8, John 3:6).

Our current state as children of wrath (Ephesians 2:3) is derived from this ancestry and begets the evil that is within us (Genesis 6:5; Genesis 8:21; Jeremiah 16:12; Matthew 15:19). We are completely fallen – mind, body, soul and we have all missed God’s mark (Romans 3:23) resulting in an estranged relationship with Him (Genesis 3:8; Psalm 58:3; Ephesians 4:18; Colossians 1:21). Not only are we estranged but we are now in the bondage of sin (Romans 6:19; Romans 7:5; Romans 7:23; Galatians 5:17; Titus 3:3) enslaved to the devil (2 Timothy 2:26; Hebrews 2:14-15). This estrangement begets enslavement which begets death (Ephesians 2:1; Colossians 2:13) and it is this evil chain that defines the current state of humanity.

The solution:
To close, we are not left in this most dire of states (Job 21:30, Romans 5:18, Romans 5:21, Romans 6:2) set for a crash course for eternal death. Praise God, we have absolution! We understand that no man can remedy this greatest of calamities (Proverbs 20:9, Jeremiah 2:22, Jeremiah 13:23). Many will claim to do so and many will teach and discuss virtue but Christ was unique. Jesus did not just teach and present knowledge/awareness as the solution but rather said that - He is the solution. He is The Way, The Truth, and The Life (John 14:6). It isn’t about teaching. It isn’t about being good. It is a God-based remedy (Genesis 3:15, John 3:16) for our current state of death and is a penalty paid by Jesus Himself. All teachers taught about precepts and died and stayed dead. Jesus didn’t just talk or teach; He died personally, rose again and is alive today!

If you’d like to learn more about this please feel free to ask a Christian friend or email me and we can chat.

Copyright 2010. Theology in Sneakers. All Rights Reserved.

Related posts:

1. Define the nature of sin and discuss its consequences both temporally and eternally.
2. Discuss the meaning of being “saved by grace”.