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by Jason DeZurik

In the past, we have used the phrase “For Such a Time as This” (from Esther 4:14) as our ministry theme. We used it in a way to help our prayer and financial supporters to be encouraged that we have been encouraging and equipping youth and their parents at that current time, and also that we were preparing for the future to lovingly engage people with the truth of God and His good and right ways. Then, 2020 came upon us. We truly believe, as a ministry, that we have been raised up for such a time as this. Literally, for this very moment! More than ever, people are seeking and searching for truth, but many are also seeking and searching for their own way and not Almighty God’s way.

We have been preparing for this very moment in time, and now we need your help more than ever before. We have done the hard work of preparing for this moment and building up what God has called us to do. Worldview Warriors started a blog and a podcast many years ago before they were the “in” thing to do. We stayed faithful to the work by staying faithful to the Lord and trusting in Him that the day would come when what we were offering would be so sought out by many that we eventually could be overwhelmed by people’s responses. Though we have not been overwhelmed, because I fully believe we were wise in preparing for this moment, the amount of engagement we are now receiving is very encouraging. Not only are we receiving inquiries from people about how to be in a right relationship with God Almighty, we are also receiving many comments like the following from those engaging with the ministry:

Your stance for the Word of God is encouraging. It strengthens my faith. -JH from North Carolina

I believe the Lord is telling me to contact you regarding discipling my children. Share what you did or are doing. -CK from Pennsylvania

Great message I heard from you about accountability. -KC from Ohio

Keep on keeping on. When you are discouraged. Don’t give in. I appreciate your boldness for the Kingdom of God. The work you are doing is so vital and important. You are a great encouragement to all of us. -PA from Ohio

Jason DeZurik’s passion for the Lord and his willingness to seek and engage with the truth in love is unparalleled. Your faith in Jesus is very encouraging. -IW from Michigan

You sir are, and will continue to be, the villain of this story. Because you speak against the new virtues (of the world). You are the crazy one now. But, continue, there are still some crazy people left that are seeing what you see. -A message sent to Jason DeZurik from TC in Ohio

God has been so good to us, and we thank you for being such a faithful partner in allowing us to do God’s work and to do His will in this way. We are all moving into a new year; 2021 starts tomorrow. Many of us now have seen the Church and our foundational beliefs being shredded, not only in the public square but even by those many of us may have learned from and followed in learning about Christ in the past. I know this is a hard truth to swallow, but I truly believe we need to be open and honest with each other more than ever before. I believe God is wanting His people to be unified right now. He wants us to come under His banner and proclaim truth in love. He is looking for those who are not only standing on the Word of God through prayer and petition, but also to those who are willing to act on His Word in love as well.

As Scripture states, “As far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone” (Romans 12:18). Please keep in mind, peace doesn’t mean without difficulty. I think many of us have thought that peace means being without difficulty or without disagreement with one another. I believe God is calling those in His Church to dig even deeper into His glorious and wonderful ways all in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. He wants us to grow and become mature and complete, not lacking anything. More than ever, we need to be as iron sharpens iron.

Would you please prayerfully consider giving Worldview Warriors an end of the year financial gift? We are very grateful for all of your support and love in our effort to advance the Kingdom of God here on earth! Please help us Encourage and Equip the Saints to impact this Generation for Jesus Christ. You can give online at WorldviewWarriors.org. Thank you!

This forum is meant to foster discussion and allow for differing viewpoints to be explored with equal and respectful consideration.  All comments are moderated and any foul language or threatening/abusive comments will not be approved.  Users who engage in threatening or abusive comments which are physically harmful in nature will be reported to the authorities.

by Eric Hansen

Control, power and surrender. When we play sports, we all want to be the champions. At work, we strive for that promotion or raise. We want to be liked by our peers. But what value do these add to our lives, when obtained by our own will? Once that gold is won, we have to keep fighting to keep it. Getting that promotion only drives us deeper into greed and lust. Pleasing our peers only keeps them around for so long.

It’s also easy to fall into a fallacy that if we want something done right, we gotta do it ourselves. On what premise does something truly happen by our own means? Circumstances are an interesting element of this world, where we like to think that something happened because it was in the right place at the right time. Consider how “the right place at the right time” is determined, though. We do not know prior to the event happening that it will in fact happen; we can only assume or infer. Both good and bad situations have consequences and benefits, but we can only map that out so far, if at all really.

The truth is that God loves us, and He is in control of what happens in our lives. This doesn’t mean we don’t have any say in what happens. But it does mean that regardless of whether we wear a red or blue shirt, for example, us reaching our destination or not is in God’s will, not ours.

Personally, I struggled many times this past year with spending moments with the Lord. I kept feeling like I had to control aspects of my life that I had no way of even trying to. A prime example of this is COVID. Back in June, when it really started hitting hard in the northwest Ohio area where I live, I was afraid of doing much of anything. Fear had an extremely tight hold on me, and the only control I felt I had was whether I could get out of bed or not. During this time, my wife had to go to Michigan for family business, and my pastor at the time asked if we could meet up for lunch. Initially I said yes, but later on that day I called him back and declined due to fear.

But not even 30 minutes after that, I felt like I just needed to go for a walk. Part of me was afraid, but another part was telling me to do it and to trust. If I stepped outside I had no control over what would happen. But, I stepped outside and went for a walk. A few times I stopped and just looked around, understanding there was nothing I could do or say that would fix any of this and that I had to surrender my trust to God if I wanted to be set free from these chains. Almost instantly, I felt like I could breathe, smile, and laugh again. Trusting in God’s sovereign love really did set me free.

There are 3 areas of the Old Testament I love to look at when I need a reminder of God’s sovereignty. Deuteronomy 7 gives insight on this when it comes to being His people (believers) or not. Specifically, verses 7-11 summarize the idea pretty well. Another area is the whole book of Job, where we see God’s control is through all suffering and blessing. Even Satan himself seeks permission, knowing how much in control God is in with everything. Lastly there’s the book of Ecclesiastes, where we see a constant theme of “X is meaningless.” X being things from wisdom, toil, pleasure, folly, et The author of the book highlights elements where regardless of what they did, God’s love and sovereignty was what happened. (Check out Katie Erickson’s blog post series on Ecclesiastes, starting here, for more on that book.)

As Christians, we do often speak of God’s love for us, but the true belief of what that love is exactly is quickly revealed when things out of our control happen. Young and old, weak and strong alike in both body and spirit can have the same experiences surrounding this. There are moments in our lives where we realize that whether we fret about things or not, it really doesn’t matter, and worrying about them won’t change the situation. We stare in awareness but also frustration as we watch a loved one die in front of us. In these moments, we can curse out to God in frustration, selfishness, or pity. Yet, not even a day prior we can go around to all of our neighbors and friends praising God and telling everyone just how great He is.

We should never forget how grateful we should be for His love, but also that His love is perfect, unlike ours. There’s no way we could equally love a homeless stranger and our husband or wife the same. We aren’t engineered to truly hold both to the same value. God is, though. That love does come at a price, and that’s control. To truly witness and experience His perfect love in our lives, we need to surrender control. Let go of what we can and cannot control and trust in Him to resolve it all.

Surround yourself with like-minded Christians and seek guidance whenever it’s needed. For me, this meant finding a Christian therapist. As this has been a constant theme between our times together, she once provided me with this saying on a bookmark I like to keep around for when I forget God’s love is in control: “By surrendering ourselves to quiet communion with God, by resting for a while from all our thinking and acting and serving, by leaving all things for once in our Heavenly Father’s hands, secret wounds are healed, gathering unbelief is dispelled, and displaced armor refixed.”

This forum is meant to foster discussion and allow for differing viewpoints to be explored with equal and respectful consideration.  All comments are moderated and any foul language or threatening/abusive comments will not be approved.  Users who engage in threatening or abusive comments which are physically harmful in nature will be reported to the authorities.

by Katie Erickson

As we wrap up this eventful year of 2020, God’s sovereignty should be especially important in our faith lives. If you’ve been around churches or Christians for a while, you’ve probably heard that God is sovereign, maybe even in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. But what does that really mean, and how should God’s sovereignty affect our lives?

Most simply, the word sovereign itself means supreme power or authority. The word itself originates from the late 13th or early 14th centuries in Latin, then was used in Old French, and then in English. Sovereign is often associated with the highest ruler or leader.

Those of us who are followers of Jesus Christ believe that the God of the Bible is the only true God, so He is, therefore, the supreme God of the universe. He is the highest ruler of the entire creation. Scripture makes it clear that there is no one greater than our God.

“No one is like you, Lord; you are great, and your name is mighty in power. Who should not fear you, King of the nations? This is your due. Among all the wise leaders of the nations and in all their kingdoms, there is no one like you” (Jeremiah 10:6-7).

“There is no one holy like the Lord; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God” (1 Samuel 2:2).

“Among the gods there is none like you, Lord; no deeds can compare with yours. All the nations you have made will come and worship before you, Lord; they will bring glory to your name. For you are great and do marvelous deeds; you alone are God” (Psalm 86:8-10).

Jesus, being fully God, is also sovereign: “For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord” (Jude 1:4).

That’s all fine and good, but how does that matter for our daily lives living in this world? We have the opportunity to serve the supreme authority of the universe. In our sinfulness, we often think that we humans are the ones who should be worshiped - and we often apply that to ourselves, that we’re worthy of praise. But the truth is, God is the only one who is worthy of all praise and honor and glory. “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being” (Revelation 4:11). We have fellow humans in authority over us while on this earth simply to maintain order, but the truth is that all people are sinful, just like us. Sinful people are not worthy of our worship; the one true God is. We should not desire to serve those who are sinful like us but to serve the one holy and perfect God of the universe - the supreme authority over everything. Everything.

The next aspect of God’s sovereignty for our lives is one of obedience and trust. Do you know every single thing that is happening everywhere in the world right now? How about everything that has ever happened or will ever happen to all people and in all times and places? God does. He knows everyone. He knows every detail - thoughts, words, and actions - about every single person who has ever or will ever live. Would you rather trust someone who only knows a tiny fragment of maybe a few people’s lives, or would you rather trust God who knows everything? God, being all-knowing and all-present, can fully be trusted. We are called to be obedient to Him and trust in Him because He has proven over and over again that He is worthy of our trust. Read any story in the Bible and see how God handled it perfectly, while the humans in it messed things up because they didn’t have the full picture of what was going on. We’re just like that, so we can and should trust in God and be obedient to Him because of His sovereignty.

Finally, God’s sovereignty should give us immense comfort and peace. This world is scary, there’s no doubt about that. Lots of bad things can happen to us in this world because of the sinfulness of ourselves and our fellow humans. But nothing - and I mean NOTHING - should truly scare us when we know that God is sovereign. While He does not control us, He has this entire world in His hand and under His control. Yes, very bad things can and likely will happen to each of us. But God is bigger and more powerful than anything that this world can give us. Covid-19 seems to have taken over our whole world and many people are living in great fear of it, but God is still bigger. Our loved ones, or even we ourselves, may get Covid-19 or cancer or any number of other ailments, but does that mean God is no longer in control? Definitely not! When bad things happen to us, that gives God the opportunity to show His sovereignty in our lives. We should take comfort in the fact that God is still God no matter what is happening on this earth, and He still loves His creation more than our minds can comprehend.

God’s sovereignty allows us to serve the almighty and powerful ruler of the universe and give Him the glory that He is due. We can trust Him and live our lives in obedience to Him because He is worthy of our trust. We can have comfort and peace knowing that God is always in control and His loving plans for us will be fulfilled.

How have you seen God’s sovereignty play out in 2020? How can you better serve, trust, and be comforted by Him in 2021?

This forum is meant to foster discussion and allow for differing viewpoints to be explored with equal and respectful consideration.  All comments are moderated and any foul language or threatening/abusive comments will not be approved.  Users who engage in threatening or abusive comments which are physically harmful in nature will be reported to the authorities.

by Charlie Wolcott

Today is Christmas Day, the day that Christians around the world celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. Of course, there is no formal evidence that this day is the day, but the birth of Jesus is one of the core events that changed the world. Jesus, the second person of the Trinity, one with God the Father and the Holy Spirit, came down to the earth, to live as a mere mortal man and for one primary purpose: to bear the sins of the world.

This is another central piece of the five “solas” of Christianity: “Christ Alone.” Again, this goes back to Martin Luther and what he saw with the Roman Catholic Church. They did not preach salvation by Christ alone, the one mediator between God and man. They preached salvation through Christ, but also through Mary, through the saints, through prayers/rites, and through the priests. Mary is held in an equally venerable position as Jesus Himself with her own Immaculate Conception, sinless perfection, and remaining a virgin, all of which Scripture vehemently denies and teaches the opposite. Jesus is the only Savior, the only one who could do it. Only one could open the scroll in heaven. John wept when he saw it could not be opened, but the Lamb who was slain showed up and He opened the scroll.

There is talk in numerous churches today about “unhitching” the Old Testament and only being concerned about the Resurrection. While Jesus’ death and Resurrection are indeed the central point and climax of this great epic of history, the reason He had to die is laid out in Genesis 1-3. The manner of which He would die is showcased throughout Israel’s history. The reason God waited around 4000 years from creation to the cross is to give snapshots throughout history of what Jesus would be like and what He would do, using physical images to showcase the spiritual side. Each of these snapshots, along with 300+ prophecies, make Jesus such a unique individual such that only one person could do it: someone who was God. It would be impossible for any man or group of men to intentionally plan someone’s birth and carry that person through the whole ordeal to “stage it.” God set it up that way on purpose.

Jesus is the only hope for salvation. God is a holy, pure, and righteous judge, and by His very nature and character, He must deal with sin as any good judge must issue a sentence for any crime against the state. The key difference is unlike our local, state, or national governments where there are different punishments for different crimes, the punishment for any sin against God is eternal damnation. And the key difference isn’t the level of crime. The key difference is the person or thing the crime is against. In “American Gospel: Christ Alone,” Sean Demaras put it this way. If you go outside and take a key and scratch a rock, there is no harm done. It’s a worthless rock. If you go to a junkyard and key a junked car, you’ll get fined for trespassing and minor vandalism. If you key someone’s new Toyota or Ford, that’s a higher level of vandalism. If you key a brand-new Mercedes Benz that’s still on the lot, the crime just became steeper. Why? Not because of the action. It’s the same crime in each case, but what changes is the value of that which the crime is committed against. And what could have greater value than the Lord of Glory? The reason a “finite” crime merits an infinite punishment is because the crime is against an infinite God. As a result, only the infinite God could pay that debt.

Jesus is the only one who could do it. There is a big push within Christian circles to promote a teaching called universalism. It’s very strong in the Progressive Christianity circles. Rob Bell and Brian McLaren are just two of the big names teaching it. William Paul Young (author of “The Shack”) teaches it. Joel Osteen teaches at least some notion of it. Younger preachers like Todd White and Stephen Furtick have sat under the tutelage of these people and in particular Richard Rohr who has a lot more in common with New Age mysticism than actual Biblical Christianity. They all have something in common: they refuse to teach that the only way to heaven, the only way to right that which is wrong, is through Jesus Christ. They will readily make an excuse for anyone who doesn’t believe this truth which Jesus Himself declared. And even if they do let this truth cross their lips, they deny the deity of Christ, reducing Him to a mere man who was “raised” to God-like status, all the while teaching that we sinful wicked humans can likewise reach God-like status. This is blasphemy. Jesus and ONLY Jesus can save mankind. (Check out “American Gospel: Christ Crucified” to see these claims on display.)

Jesus is not like anything we’ve ever seen. The Jews were expecting a military general who could chase out the Romans. Why would they? In part because every deliverer they had prior was a military leader who beat their physical oppressors. Instead, Jesus showed up as a humble man, born in a stable to a poor family. His father, Joseph, was out of the picture so we don’t know where Mary was living. We can only guess with Jesus brothers. And He did things totally different from anyone’s expectations. This is part of what it means to be “holy.” God is “other than.” He is not like us. He is not like anything we could comprehend other than what He has revealed to us. He does things differently than we do or would think, which is why the crucifixion of a Savior is a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles. It doesn’t make sense to the natural mind. The only way it will make sense is by the supernatural illumination of the Holy Spirit, but once you have that illumination and you can see a lot more of the facts, it all makes logical sense. What this means is we must do things God’s way. He’s got the whole thing under control and knows all the facts. He does not defy logic and is a God of order, but man is not. We have to do things God’s way, or God will let the results of our way take its toll.

Only Jesus can offer salvation. Salvation is only accessible through Jesus. We cannot replace Jesus with anyone or anything and get the same result. Muhammad won’t save you. Buddha won’t save you. Science won’t save you. We cannot supplement Jesus with anything or anyone. Jesus doesn’t ask for Joseph Smith to give final approval for your salvation. He doesn’t give Mary or any saint or any priest permission or the ability to forgive sin. Only God Himself can forgive sin. Only God can heal the paralytic, cure the incurable disease with a touch, cast out a demon with a command, calm the wind and the waves with a word, or multiply food, let alone raise the dead. Jesus is the only one who can pull that off. He is the Savior. He is the only option we have that actually can work. And unlike any other savior or hero, Jesus never fails. There is not a single person who has completely and wholly trusted Jesus alone who ever regretted it.

Next week on New Year’s Day, I’ll kick off the new year with the conclusion to this series with “For the Glory of God Alone.”

This forum is meant to foster discussion and allow for differing viewpoints to be explored with equal and respectful consideration.  All comments are moderated and any foul language or threatening/abusive comments will not be approved.  Users who engage in threatening or abusive comments which are physically harmful in nature will be reported to the authorities.

by Katie Erickson

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)

If any emotion can be considered the cornerstone of the Christian faith, it would be love. Love is why God created us. A lack of love is why humankind fell into sin and separated ourselves from God. Love is why God had a plan to redeem and reconcile us back into a relationship with Him. Love is why we will be able to spend eternity with God forever. As we near the end of this Advent season and approach Christmas Day, love should be on our hearts and minds.

This time of year, we often think of the people we love, our family and our friends. We buy them gifts to show our love for them, and we make plans to celebrate with them. Perhaps we have loved ones that we only get to see at Christmastime. Or perhaps this year, we won’t be seeing as many friends and family as we usually would due to the ongoing Covid situation. Either way, love is a key concept this time of year.

While we do love our friends and family, the two Scripture verses I quoted above show us the truest and purest form of love: the sacrificial love that God has for us, His children.

In the Greek language, there are multiple words for love; up to 6 of them, depending on who you ask. The only two of these words for love used in the New Testament are philia and agape. Philia is the type of love between friends, but it’s more like that of a deep friendship, not just the “Facebook friends” kind of love. Agape is a love so deep it compels a person to sacrifice themselves for those whom they love.

Interestingly, schoalrs believe that before the New Testament was written, agape love was no different than philia love, or even eros (physical attraction) love. The deep meaning of this word agape doesn’t come from the Greek language itself but from the understanding of God’s love that we get from the Bible. This love always starts with God, not with us; God is love and He is the source of all love (1 John 4:7-10). God loves us, and because of that love, He sent Jesus into this world to save us, when we truly didn’t deserve it. This love is shown to us in the love between God the Father and Jesus the Son, and in the love that God shows to us.

Because of God’s great love for us, our response is to love God and love others. In John 13:34, Jesus commands His disciples and us: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” 1 John 4:11 says, “Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” When we realize how fully and unconditionally God has loved us, our natural response is to return that love to God and to show that same love to one another, especially those who also love God. But we are also called to show this love to those we consider our enemies. In Matthew 5:44, Jesus tells us, “But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”

All of these references to love are the agape kind of love. This active love is defined by who God is and how much He loves us, and it should be reflected in our love for God and our fellow people.

When Jesus was born as a baby in Bethlehem as we celebrate at Christmas, love came to earth in human form. If there is ever someone who personified love, that is definitely Jesus. His whole life was lived out of love for all of humankind. The fact that He even needed to come to earth was because humanity messed up and separated ourselves from God, and Jesus needed to come to earth to live out love so that we may experience God’s eternal and perfect love with Him forever when we reach eternal life.

What are you doing as Christmas rapidly approaches to show this agape love to one another? What are you doing to not only show this love to those people you like and are close to you but also to those people you may not know, or that you may not even like at all? Jesus didn’t pick and choose; He came to earth to live a life of love for all of humankind.

In order to live out this love, I encourage you to review the other aspects of Advent that we have already discussed: hope, peace, and joy. The basis for all of these is love. We have a certain hope because of the love that God has for us. We will have eternal peace in Christ because of the love that He has for us. We can have joy because of the love that God shows us. God is love, and everything He does is all about love. Imitate God in making your life about truly loving others well this Christmas season. Merry Christmas!

For more on what the Bible says about love, check out this post.

This forum is meant to foster discussion and allow for differing viewpoints to be explored with equal and respectful consideration.  All comments are moderated and any foul language or threatening/abusive comments will not be approved.  Users who engage in threatening or abusive comments which are physically harmful in nature will be reported to the authorities.

by Charlie Wolcott

Third in the Five Solas is Sola Fide, or “Faith Alone.” We are saved by grace alone through faith alone. Grace is the gift; faith is the vehicle for how it is delivered and takes action. Now, many people have different ideas of about what faith is, so I am going to define what I am talking about here. Hebrews 11:1 gives the formal definition of faith. It is the substance of things hoped for and evidence for things unseen. Let’s break this down.

“Substance for things hoped for.” Faith is not wishful thinking. It is not blind. It has substance. Faith requires an object; it is trust in something or someone. If I promise to come and meet you at a certain place at a certain time and you come to the meeting place, you have put faith in my word that I will be there. You are trusting me that I will keep my word. You don’t know at the time if I will be there or not, but you have something to grab onto know if I will be there or not: my word.

“Evidence of things unseen.” This is just another way to say the same thing. But evidence is something concrete that you know it is trustworthy. This is usually expressed by experience. You have heard me give my word time and time again. While you do not have “proof” I will keep it this time, you have a reliable record that I do and will. There is evidence that you know and trust. That’s why we open up our computers, start our cars, sit on our chairs without wondering, “Will it work for me this time?” We don’t actually know if it will do it this time, but we’ve done it enough times to know it likely will. The less we trust it, the less faith we have it will work. But the more we trust it, the less we’ll question if we can use it.

Whole chapters and books have been written on this. If you want a good study on faith and what it looks like check out one of our books from former blogger Logan Ames, Heroes of the Faith. He did a full study on Hebrews 11 and what faith is and what it looks like. But now to our focus of study: our salvation, our hope is through faith alone.

It’s a “game of trust” if you could call it that. God isn’t asking us for works, good deeds, or great acts of heroism. All He really asks of us is to trust Him. Yes, it’s that simple. All God asks of us is to trust Him. That’s what faith is: trust. But there are works and deeds that come with it. James 2 is about demonstrating your faith through works. So, let me add this: faith requires action. Anyone can believe anything, but it’s not faith and I wouldn’t call it “belief” either until you take action that proves you believe it. You can mentally agree that an airplane can fly. You can sit at the airport watch every plane take off and land and know every detail about how a plane works. But you do not have faith in the airplane; you do not believe in the flight ability of an airplane until you get inside the airplane and go flying.

Christianity is like the airplane. Many people know all about God and they know about Jesus and they know the doctrines. It’s easy to play the intellectual game. Don’t get me wrong, you better know what it is you claim to believe. Many people claim the faith but don’t have the foggiest idea of what it is they have attached their name to. It shows not just on the intellectual side but also the practical side. You can know all about Jesus, but the only way it works is to “get in Him.”

Biblical faith requires complete reliance and dependence upon Jesus. It’s a child-like faith. As a child implicitly and naturally trusts his parents, so we are to trust God. This means you don’t pray for Plan A and then have Plan B in the back of your mind if Plan A fails. God does not honor back-up plans, because there’s no trust. There’s no dependance upon Him. God wants you to trust Him enough that you are putting your life on the line. That means you trust God so much that if He fails, you’re dead. That said, we are not to be presumptuous. God is only responsible for upholding the promises He made, not ones we proclaim “in His name.” That’s what Jesus addressed with Satan in the wilderness when He said, “Do not put the Lord thy God to the test.” You cannot force God’s hands. If you want to intentionally throw yourself off a cliff claiming God will save you or throw yourself into a pit of snakes and scorpions saying you’ll be safe from poison, God has no obligation to answer that. That doesn’t make God unfaithful; it makes you stupid. We should instead be as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, where we know full well God can save us, and we will take a position that even if He does not, we will still follow and trust Him.

Our salvation is acquired by believing Him. We may not have it in our hands just yet, but we are going to step forward, moving and acting and speaking as though it already is in our hands. Jehoshaphat demonstrates this. He was surrounded by three armies and cried to the Lord for help. A Levite, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, said that God would deliver them, and they would win without having to raise a sword. What did he actually have? Just a promise of victory. What did Jehoshaphat do? He brought his army out to the battle but led with singers and worshippers. He believed God. He had faith that the battle was already won, even though the three armies were still out there. He walked in faith that God’s word was true. And he got to see the three armies all defeat each other and never had to draw his sword.

Do we trust God? Is our faith truly in Jesus? Do our lives reflect such faith? It’s easy to claim, but here is how you can tell where your faith lies: by who you listen to. Is your faith in Jesus? Or is it in the scientists of our world? The media? The politicians? A pastor? Again, easy to claim. Whom do you trust to get you through Monday? What is your source of authority? What is your sustenance? Where does your energy come from? Your answer is where your faith lies. Do you have the right Jesus? The right God? Or is your faith in a figment of your own making?

The saving faith isn’t a mere, “I believe Jesus died for my sins.” It’s much more than that. It is complete submission to Christ. Now none of us are perfect, but are we in process? If Jesus is just Savior and not Lord, then you don’t trust Him. You only use Him as a “get-out-of-jail-free” card and that’s not Christianity. The faith that God wants us to have is wholly, completely, nothing held back, no reserves, no second-guessing, full confidence that He is who He said He is and He does what He says He does. There can be fear and trembling and “uncertainty” to a degree, but it’s stepping out, trusting God, asking Him to help our unbelief, and obeying Him. The great thing about God is that when we trust Him, He can take us where we never could go on our own. He’ll take us through the fog at times, but when He does, it is either to protect us from the enemy (because if we can’t see him, neither can he see us in that setting), or it’s to position ourselves to do the impossible. And to this day, I have never met, heard, or read of a single person who ever devoted themselves completely to God, walking in true Biblical faith, who ever regretted it. I never will hear of one such case and by the grace of God, I’ll be yet another example for other to follow.

Next week is Christmas Day, and then we’ll examine the centerpiece of it all: Christ Alone.

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by Eric Hansen

While theology will always be contested until the end of mankind and the correct one is shown to us all, there have always been movements to demonstrate why this theology is correct over that. We see this even back in the time of Jesus (and well before that), where he had to prove against the Pharisees’ theology of old law that you no longer need to sacrifice animals, burnt offerings, etc. He was the final sacrifice, and it took believing Him and in His sacrifice to be saved, not your own works.

Fast forward about 1500 or so years, and we see a major explosion happening between the Roman Catholic church, government, and greed. What was once meant to stand for unity and uniformity had become corrupt with power, greed, and money. Various people broke away from this practice and tried to re-establish a Biblical foundation of faith, not one driven by man.

One of the more noticeable of these was Martin Luther (whose teachings founded the Lutheran church). He posted his 95 Theses on the front of the Catholic church which was both incredibly brave and awe-inspiring and potentially life-threatening. This document or manifesto tore the church to shreds, destroying all of its practices as heretical at best. However, this also laid the groundwork years later for another man to help draw attention to the fallacies: John Calvin.

While Calvin never wanted "Calvinism" to be a thing, it's synonymous these days with the Reformation. One of his greatest works, Institutes of Christian Religion, has been influential in many areas of Christianity as both a relic and symbol of lies, depending on which side of the fence you're on. But one of his principles would be later called "TULIP.” Each of these 5 elements can be an article in themselves, but we will cover the basics here and let you determine if they still hold true to this day.

Total Depravity
Total depravity, or the T of TULIP, is a fancy way of saying "we are sinful by nature and cannot save ourselves." There are many spins on this, but as a framework we can see this truth in John 14:5-14. This includes the famous line of "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

We need Christ because we cannot get rid of our sins. This is why unless we come to Him, we are destined for damnation (i.e., hell). The sacrifice of holy pureness on the cross was the only way to extinguish our sins once we truly repent and believe.

Unconditional Election
Under what grounds do we ascend into Heaven? Is it by our own works that God sees us as righteous, holy, and good, or is it by God’s sovereign decision, love, and most importantly grace that we are granted entrance to eternal life?

Unconditional election answers this by stating that it is not by our works or deeds that we enter into Heaven but by God’s righteous judgment of whether we are holy or not. This is why it’s called unconditional election, because God elects or chooses who will be entering Heaven based on no conditions set by us - unconditionally.

Often the rebuttal to this is if us doing no good deeds at all or a boundless amount doesn’t guarantee us Heaven then why do good at all? The book of Romans 9:10-13 tackles this. God chose Jacob to continue the line that would ultimately bring us Jesus Christ. As He did that, He also chooses who of us to this day will enter into Heaven. Ephesians 2:8-10 addresses this as well, stating that we do good deeds to glorify God and His love for us.

Limited Atonement
This is one people tend to struggle with. Did Christ die on the cross for everyone, or just the believers? Calvin states that Christ died only for the believers. The reason being is that if Christ died for the unbelievers as well then it was wasted blood. Another way to look at it is God placed us where we need to be, where we may never learn of Him or may be surrounded by His word (Acts 17:22-31). However, that does not mean that we are saved just because God placed us. Once again, it all circles back around to Christ and needing his blood.

Irresistible Grace
Irresistible grace is often attributed to being given God's grace regardless whether we want it or not. Before we explore this in a little more detail, let's take into account Heaven. It's a place full of holiness, purity, and righteousness. Total depravity essentially makes us full of sin and no desire on our own will to be holy, pure, or righteous. Yet, these do not contradict each other and also exemplifies the free choice God gave us.

An example of this is Paul (named Saul before his conversion). He was a vile man who hated Christians, taking pleasure in arresting and killing them. There was no reason for Jesus Christ to come to him and seek his existence to spread the gospel by our means, but he did (Acts 9). But if we look at Acts 9:4-9, we see that God never forced Paul, not commanding him to do anything. But God knew he was needed to further the kingdom, thus true irresistible grace.

Perseverance of the Saints
The last element of TULIP is the perseverance of the saints. This separates Reformists from Arminians as this teaches that you can never lose your salvation if you are truly saved (emphasis mine). Arminians teach that you can lose your salvation.

The distinction gets lost in translation as the Reformation teaches the key component of true salvation, meaning you are not confessing Christ to please people but you truly accept Him as your Lord and Savior.

This also doesn't mean you can't fall from grace, but it does mean you won't achieve total fall (loss of salvation). We all go through highs and lows during our spiritual walk, some more frequent than others. I can count on 2 hands and a foot how many times I struggled with salvation and such. But at the end I know that I am saved because if I wasn't, I would not have cared to begin with. We are able to equate this part of TULIP similar to the phrase "when you get knocked off the horse, you get back on.”

I hope this has been a good introduction to these core teachings of Calvinism to help you determine what you believe.

This forum is meant to foster discussion and allow for differing viewpoints to be explored with equal and respectful consideration.  All comments are moderated and any foul language or threatening/abusive comments will not be approved.  Users who engage in threatening or abusive comments which are physically harmful in nature will be reported to the authorities.