"For 'Who has known the mind of the LORD that he may instruct Him?' But we have the mind of Christ" (1 Corinthians 2:16).
David L. Wolfe has
written, "We all know dogmatists who are more concerned about holding
their opinions than about investigating their truth. ("My mind is made
up, don't confuse me with the facts.") The worst feature of the
dogmatists' malady is that
if they are mistaken, they will never discover it; they have condemned
themselves to perpetual error." Everyone has a world view. It is developed early in life without any intentional planning. It is this world view which helps us make sense of it all. It is upon the basis of our world view that we make our decisions. It is a basic human need to find a framework through which life can be interpreted. Through this framework bare facts and raw experiences of life are given a connectedness and meaning. Through a world view we interpret what our senses tell us, which in turn guides our thoughts, actions and attitudes. What we see depends on how we see. Most people are not even aware that they have a world view. It's not something most people examine, let alone question. If you are like most people, you sometimes find it difficult to see things from another persons perspective. This is because we look through our perspective not at it. In other words, we're talking about our viewing of the world and not the world that we view. The fact that we are not consciously aware of our world view means that our perceptive is unexamined and unproven. Now this might be all right if our world view is in harmony with reality, but what if our perceptive is twisting our perceptions. What if our perceptions are out of line with reality? How is it that two different people can look at the same ink-blot and come up with two entirely different interpretations? The answer is that it's all in the perspective. We tend to arrange what we see into a pattern that is in line with our perceptive. An auto mechanic may see an oil pan, while a doctor might see a heart. Each of their perspectives determines what they see. Reality is like that ink-blot, it is open to a variety of different interpretations. These interpretations will likely be drawn from the culture in which you live. In a sense, world view are more often caught then taught. Who can deny the influence of society on the way we view life. We might also compare a world view to a sweeter. Each experience in life adds another thread of yard, each interweaving with the others, becoming more and more complex and less and less likely to unravel. World views are like than in that every experience interview with others to make a increasingly complex system. The more complex our system of belief, the less likely that one will change it. Some would rather produce a mutilated sweeter than to go back and start over. Another way to look at a world view is to look at is as a game in which you have to discover the rules as you go along. The rules are like one's world view, while the game is the game of life. The hard part is knowing whether we are discovering the rules or inventing them. The trick is to make sure the rules are the games' rules and not our own invention. If the rules that you learn are wrong, than you'll end up losing the game because you were playing by the wrong rules. Life has rules, discover them and you win, invent them and you lose. A world view is like a map which guides our activities, gives us direction, and leads us to the most important thing in life. Maps come ready made, we must choose which one to follow. World views are like maps guiding us through life. And like maps, world views come ready made. The only problem is deciding which one to follow. Most of us follow the map which we were given in childhood. We take it and depart without question or concern. But like different maps, not all of them can be right. Do you have the right map? My favorite illustration is a pair of colored glasses. If you have blue colored glasses and I have red ones, are we going to see things the same way? Everything I see will be effected by what I see. Likewise, everything I see in the world is tainted by my world view. That's the reason that people with different world views will often look at the same facts in totally different ways. The truth is that facts without a system of meaning, makes the facts meaningless. Meaning is something attributed to the facts from one's world view, for they do not arise naturally out of the facts themselves. This is vitally important to remember. Experience is not self interpreting. We place our interpretation upon the facts of reality. So in order for the facts of reality to be meaningful, they must be interpreted from within a world view. It is our world view which systematizes the facts of reality. Knowing that all facts are "theory laden", and that bare facts are entirely meaningless, should help us approach the examination of other world views with humility. Indeed, communicating with someone with a different world view might be more difficult than one might think, for the same fact can have vastly different meanings when viewed by different people. The colored glasses also illustrate some other things. Glasses are things we look through and not at. World views are also things we see through and not at. Furthermore, colored glasses change our perception of things. And world views also alter our perceptions, perhaps making us see what's not really there, or causing us to miss what is there. Reality can both influence our world view and our world view can influence the reality that we see. All our views and values are closely connected series of beliefs which are rooted at bottom to our basic assumptions. There are few things that are more powerful than our world view. A world view is like a science model. A model is one of the ways in which scientist unify observed data into a meaningful pattern. A world view might be considered a ultimate model, attempting to explain, not just a part, but all of reality, not just some aspect of it. Other examples could be given. It is time for the body of Christ to form a philosophy of life based upon and derived from the Bible. Too often people read into the Bible their opinions. This is because we have not taken the time to re-evaluate what we assume to be true. It is time to think with the same presuppositions that Christ thought with, for only then can we truly say that we have the mind of Christ.
"All Scripture is inspired of God and is useful for teaching - for reproof, correction, and training in holiness so that the man of God may be fully competent and equipped for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:16-17 NAB). The question of whether or not the Bible is the only Divine authority has divided Christedom. The Protestants hold that the Bible is the only authority, while the Catholics deny this. According to Vatican II, "both Scripture and Tradition must be accepted and honored with equal feelings of devotion and reverence. . . ." Now either some of the popes were wrong when they spoke ex cathedra, which would mean that the pope is not infallible, or God just couldn't make up His mind. I would hate to put the blame on God, "who cannot change and who is never shadowed over" (James 1:17 NAB). Consistency is one test of truth. A contradition simply cannot be true. Since the popes have countradicted themselves (and this is only one of many examples), we can safely conclude they do not always speak the truth. Pope Adrian VI admited that, "In truth, many Roman Pontiffs were heretics." Their word, then, should not be teated as equal with the word of God. Even though the Bible tells us to daily study "the Scriptures to see whether these things [are] so," the Roman Catholic Church discouages it. The council of Trent said that, "no one, relying on his own judgment shall. . . presume to interpret them contrary to that sense which Holy Mother Church. . . has held or holds. . . ." "The corruption of power reaches its greatest height," notes Dave Hunt, "in Catholicism's bold claim that its members cannot understand the Bible for themselves but must accept unquestioningly the Church's interpretation." In fact, the Church didn't even want the people to have the Bible in their language. Pope Pius VII said, "It is evident, from experience, that the Holy Scriptures, when circulated in the vulgar [common] tongue, have produced more harm than benefit. . . ." They were so against the Bible being in the language of the people that act of translating the Bible was a crime punishable by death. Only the Bible is said to be "inspired of God and is useful for teaching - for reproof, correction, and training in holiness" (2 Timothy 3:16 NAB) Every Evangelical church proclaims what the Bible clearly teaches, that the Bible alone is "our standard of faith and practice." Hence, what we believe and what we do and say should be derived from and in harmony with the Holy Bible.  "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (John 1:1).
To believe in the
Deity of Christ means that one believes that Jesus Christ is God. Who
believes this,
you might ask. While, the Roman Catholic church believes this, the
Methodist
churches believe this, the Lutheran churches believe this, the
Presbyterian
churches believe this, the Episcopal churches believe this, the Eastern
Orthodox
church believes this, Pentecostal and Charismatic churches believe
this,
the Anglican church believes this, the Disciples of Christ churches
believe
this, the Mennonite churches believe this, and the Adventist churches
believe
this. The fact is, the only churches that deny the Deity of Jesus
Christ
are the cults. One of the distinguishing marks of a cult is that they
deny
this truth. Now to claim that Jesus had no beginning may seem strange to some. "Of course Jesus had a beginning," they will say. Was He not born in Bethlehem as "a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger" (Luke 2:12)? Now it is true that Jesus entered into the human race as a baby in Mary's womb, but He existed long before that. In the prophecy quoted to the wise men concerning the place of Christ's birth, it says, "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth have been from of old, from the days of eternity" (Micah 5:2 NKJV Lit.). The New Testament clearly applies this passage to Jesus (Matthew 2:6; John 7:42; Luke 2:4, 11). So Jesus existed before He was born. His "goings forth" were "from the days of eternity." Jesus existed as God before He took on human flesh. This time before Christ became a man is referred to as His pre-existence. That means that Christ existed as God before He existed as man. This is why Jesus is called the God-man. He is both fully God and fully man. There are several passages that teach that Jesus existed before He was born. At one point Jesus says, "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I Am" (John 8:58). Abraham lived thousands of years before Christ was born, yet here Jesus says that He existed before Abraham existed. The only way for that to be possible was for Christ to have existed before He was born. Notice that Jesus calls Himself "I Am." The importance of this should not be overlooked. In the Old Testament God sent Moses to free the Israelites from Egyptian bondage. So Moses asks God what His name is. Moses wants to know what he is to say when the Israelites ask him the name of the God who sent him. God says to tell them, "I AM has sent me to you" (Exodus 3:14). Hence Jesus is claiming to be the "I AM." In other words, Jesus is claiming to be God. At another time Jesus is praying to God the Father saying, "And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was" (John 17:5). Here Jesus is talking about the glory He had "before the world was." In other words, before the world existed Jesus shared "the glory" with the Father and is asking to be restored to that former glory. Now clearly Jesus had to exist "before the world was" in order to share the glory He had "before the world was." So Jesus existed, not only before His birth, but before the creation of the world. Now only God existed before all created things. So Jesus is God. Again Jesus is talking to the Father, "Father, I desire that they also who You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world" (John 17:24). Here we see the Father loved Jesus "before the foundation of the world." Again it shows that Jesus existed "before the foundation of the world." But only God existed then. So Jesus is God. In our text it says that "the Word was God" (John 1:1). Who is this Word? It is not talking about the Bible, but about a person. "He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men" (John 1:2-4). Notice that the Word is referred to as "He" and "Him". Clearly referring to a person. So this person, called the Word, existed in the beginning and "was face to face with God; yea, the Word was God Himself" (John 1:1 Williams Translation). We know is person as Jesus Christ. But before Jesus became a human He was known as the Word (Greek Logos). In the Book of Revelation, when Christ returns on a white horse, it refers to Him by saying that "His name is called the Word of God" (Revelation 19:13). The apostle John calls Jesus the Word in his first epistle, saying that he and the others had heard, seen, and handled "the Word of life" (1 John 1:1). So Jesus is the Word. As the Word He existed "before the world was created" (John 1:1 TEV). And the reason He existed before all created things is because He "was God" (John 1:1). So Jesus was and is God. That is what this passage clearly teaches. Jesus is the Word and "the Word was God" (John 1:1). So Jesus was God. The Living Bible paraphrases it this way, "Before anything else existed, there was Christ, with God. He has always been alive and is Himself God" (John 1:1). Jesus is eternal. "He has always been alive." He existed before creation, because "all things were made through Him" (John 1:3). He is without beginning and without end. Jesus is God. This naturally leads us to the point at which Christ entered into human history. "And the Word [Christ] became flesh (human, incarnate) and tabernacled - fixed His tent of flesh, lived awhile - among us; and we [actually] saw His glory - His honor, His majesty; such glory as an only begotten son receives from his father, full of grace (favor, loving kindness) and truth" (John 1:14 AMP). Jesus Christ is the Word. And as the Word He "became flesh." In the beginning of the Gospel of John we learned that Jesus "was God" (John 1:1). Now in this verse we learn that the Word that "was God" also "became flesh" (John 1:14). Paul refers to the same truth when he says that "God was manifested in the flesh" (1 Timothy 3:16). Jesus was God and He became human. We are flesh, but He became flesh. This means that existed as something other than flesh before He became flesh. He existed as God and then became human. The Bible repeatedly tells us that Jesus had to come down from heaven to the earth to take on human form (John 3:132, 31; 8:23). He took on human flesh when He was conceived in the womb of the virgin (Matthew 1:18; Luke 1:35). Jesus, who was and is God, became a man. He was one person with two natures. He was both God and man. Paul speaks about this, "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did no consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a servant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He Humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross" (Philippians 2:5-8). Paul is clear that Jesus was "in the form of God." But He became a man "taking the form of a servant." Here we see one person with two natures or forms. One Divine and the other human. Jesus is the God-man. If it can be shown that Jesus created all things, then it would mean that Jesus was the Creator of the universe. And if Jesus was the Creator of the universe, then that would make Jesus God. For the Creator is God and God is the Creator. Let us return to the passage in John concerning Christ as the Word. After stating that Jesus "was God", John says that "It was through Him that everything came into existence, and apart from Him not a single thing came into existence" (John 1:3 Williams Translation). How many things came into existence through Christ? All things. That is, "all creation took place through Him" (John 1:3 Phillips Translation). And "not one thing in all creation was made without Him" (John 1:3 TEV). He repeats this same truth again a couple of verses later, "He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him" (John 1:10). The One who created the world came and lived "in the world" for a time. This can only refer to Christ as the Creator who "became" a human being. So Jesus is God the creator. The apostle Paul taught that Jesus "is the image of the invisible God," he declares that it was "by Him [that] all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist" (Colossians 1:15-17). Here Paul says that Jesus, who is God, had an active role in creating "all things." Not only were all things "created through Him," they were also created "for Him." Therefore Jesus is the Creator and Owner of all things. He existed "before all things" and is therefore eternal. And "in Him all things consist," that is, everything is held together by Christ's power. Such statements can only refer to God. Paul repeats this idea in another epistle. Here explains that God the Father "created all things through Jesus Christ" (Ephesians 3:9). Here we see that the Father and the Son were joint Creators. The Father created everything through the Son, by the power of the Holy Spirit. The only way to accurately understand this is to realize that there is one God manifested in three persons, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19). The Christian church refers to this as the Trinity. But an examination of the doctrine of the Trinity is beyond the scope of our present article. Let us look at one more passage, "God. . . has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power" (Hebrews 1:1-3). Here we again see that the Father "made the worlds" through Christ. Showing again that Jesus was an active participant in the creation of the universe. So "the Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of His being" (Hebrews 1:3 NIV). So Jesus is God, the Creator of the universe. First, the Bible teaches that Christ has the Divine attribute known as omnipresence, that is, that He is everywhere present. Jesus said, "For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them" (Matthew 18:20). Here Jesus plainly teaches that He can be present in more than one place at the same time, Hundreds of thousands of people gather in Jesus' name every Sunday morning, and according to this passage, He is "in the midst of them" all. In the great commission Jesus assures His followers, "and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:20). The word "you" is in the plural. What He is saying is, "I am with all of you all the time." This is only possible if Christ is everywhere present. And since Christ has an attribute of God, an attribute only God has, He must therefore be God. Second, the Bible teaches that christ has the Divine attribute known as omnipotence, that is, that He is all powerful. Paul says that Christ can not only "transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body," but "He is able even to subdue all things to Himself" (Philippians 3:21). Or as one translation says, "He is able to bring all things under His rule" (Philippians 3:21 TEV). Now only God can "subdue the whole universe" (Philippians 3:21 Jerusalem Bible). And yet it claims that Christ can do what only God can do. In the Book of Revelation Jesus says, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. . . who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty" (Revelation 1:8). He claims to be "the All Powerful One" (Revelation 1:8 LB). He considers Himself "the sovereign Lord of all" (Revelation 1:8 NEB). To claim to be Almighty is surely claiming to be God. Isaiah calls Jesus the Messiah, "Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of peace" (Isaiah 9:7; cf. Luke 2:11). And since Christ has an attribute of God, an attribute only God has, He must therefore be God. Third, the Bible teaches that Christ has the Divine attribute known as ominscience, that is, that He knows all things. The disciples attributed omniscience to christ, "Now we are sure that You know all things, and have no need that anyone should question You" (John 16:30). They were "sure" that Jesus was all knowing. They were sure that He possessed this God attribute. The apostle Peter had no doubt that Jesus was all knowing. He said, "Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You" (John 21:17). Again, a clear indication that Peter and the other disciples believed that Christ possessed the Divine attribute of omniscience. And since Christ has an attribute of God, an attribute only God has, He must therefore be God. Now since Jesus was and is all knowing, all powerful, and everywhere present, and since only God possesses these attributes, theregfore we must comclude that Jesus is God. There is simply no other way to fully explain why He possessed the attributes of God, unless He was God. There are so many passages that we can only summerize them here. Christ is called Jehovah of glory (Psalm 24:7-10; 1 Corinthians 2:8; James 2:11). Christ is called Jehovah our Righteousness (Jeremiah 23:5-6; 1 Corinthians 1:30). Christ is Jehovah above all (Psalm 97:9; John 3:31). Christ is Jehovah, the First and the Last (Isaiah 44:6; Revelation 1:17; Isaiah 48:12-16; Revelation 22:13). Christ is Jehovah of hosts (Isaiah 6:1-3; John 12:41; Isaiah 8:13-14' 1 Peter 2:8). Christ is Jehovah the Shepherd (Isaiah 40:11; Hebrews 12:20). And there are many more.
"Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you, depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'" (Matthew 7:21-23).
These are the words
of Jesus. He is speaking about an event that will take place in the
future. This
is not guess work, this is history told before hand. These verses will
be
fulfilled "in that day," that is, on judgment day. Learning Christianeeze doesn't make you a Christian. You must do what is right, not just say the right words. Talk is cheep. You may have a wonderful Christian vocabulary, but do you have a wonderful Christian life. Would your wife, husband, kids, and friends describe you as Christ-like? Or are you so worldly that one would have a hard time telling the difference. Are you so worldly minded that you are of no earthly good. Do you lie, tell dirty jocks, drink, smoke, and party. Do you surf the net to fulfill your addiction for pornography. Do you lust and fantasize about other women or men. Do you honestly think such things befit a follower of Christ? Believing that you are a Christian will not save you. I can believe I'm a hamburger, but that doesn't make me one. I really do not care what your pastor has taught you or what you have seen on TBN, Jesus is clear, obedience is not optional. "They profess to know God, but in works deny Him, being . . . disobedient. . .” (Titus 1:16). If you talk the talk, you better walk the walk. Beware of self-deception. Listen, obedience is required. It is NOT optional. Obedience is the only safe test of true commitment to God. “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word. . . . He who does not love Me does not keep My words” (John 14:23-24). If you don’t obey God, you don’t love Him. And if you don’t love Him, you have broken the greatest commandment, to love God with all your heart (Matthew 22:37). Now surely you can not be so blind as to think you can go to heaven breaking the greatest commandment. Disobedience results in punishment, continued disobedience results in endless punishment. Making Jesus Lord means that you make Jesus the Controller and Master of your thoughts, attitudes, words, and deeds without reservation. “Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams” (1 Samuel 15:22). It is better to obey. We cannot substitute sacrifices for obedience. The blood of Christ only covers forsaken sin. You can not live in sin and be in God. “And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever” (1 John 2:17). Only doing the will of God is acceptable to God. Only the obedient may expect to receive forgiveness. If you want to abide forever with God, then do God's will. Obey the Bible. Quite playing religious games. Quite substituting words for deeds, and talk for action. Jesus asks you, “why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46). Why do you say you are a Christian but live like the rest of the world. Why are so so caught up in building you own little kingdom on earth that you have so very little time or money for His kingdom. You are a dishonor to the name Christian. Furthermore, the number of miracles does not matter. Notice Jesus said that they claimed to have done “many” miracles. Really only God can do a miracle. Let's give credit to God. And let us not forget that the devil has his counterfeit miracles as well. I am not against miracles, I am just against judging people by the wrong standard. Miracles mean nothing, Jesus said you will know people by their fruit (Matthew 7:15-20). Judge your fruit. Do you have the fruit of the Spirit? Are you loving, joyful, peaceful, long-suffering, kind, good, faithful, gentle, and self-controlled (Galatians 5:22). If you are not, then you fail the fruit inspection and are deceived if you believe that you are a Christian. The Bible says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourself; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:8-10). You are saved by faith alone, but the faith that saves is never alone. Faith is the will’s reception of truth. It is a whole hearted trust and confidence in God’s goodness, wisdom and faithfulness. You are not saved by good works, rather you are saved for Good works. You need to know the difference between outward obedience and inward obedience. The Lord God said, “This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me” (Mark 7:6). Where is your heart? You may fool me, but you're not going to fool God. Are you obeying God because you truly love Him and desire with all your heart to serve Him, or are you obeying because you have to, because you don't want to go to hell. Your heart is not really in your obedience. You are deceived. God will not accept a mere show. He does not want your things, He wants you. The terms of surrender are unconditional. You must give all you are, all you have, and all you desire to God. There will be no compromise on the terms of surrender. It is all or nothing! Period. A relationship begins when we choose to attach ourselves to another person. We then do things together. There is a mutual sharing of thoughts and feelings. Jesus talks to us primarily through the Bible, while we talk to Jesus in prayer. Jesus talks to us through the Bible by having the Holy Spirit quicken Scripture to our minds. He brings to remembrance the words of God (John 14:26). Jesus speaks to us when the Bible speaks to us. But we must be people of the Book in order to be hearers of His word.. Jesus promised, “And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him” (John 14:21). Has Jesus revealed Himself to you? Maybe you need to fall in love with Jesus. Or maybe "you have left your first love" and need to fall in love with Jesus all over again (Revelation 2:4). To know Him is to love Him. Listen closely friend, Jesus is speaking to your heart, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me” (Revelation 3:20). Christ invites you to lay down your weapons and become friends with Him. “Check up on yourselves. Are you really Christians? Do you pass the test? Do you feel Christ's presence and power more and more within you? Or are you just pretending to be Christians when actually you aren't at all?” (2 Corinthians 13:5 LB). Test: WorldView I Lesson 1 Lesson 2 and 3 Lesson 4 Q1. Do all who profess to be Christians be
saved You must include the following information: Your Name, Course Name, Your Email Address. We will send you the correct answers as soon as we hear from you. We expect to provide certificates: Certificate In Theology to those who complete 10 courses together, and Diploma In Theology to those who complete 20 courses together. For more information contact us via email. If Answers@ApologeticsCourses.Com does not work due to any reason, send all mail to calvin@satyam.net.in |
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