Palabra de Dios, nada más

“Bienaventurado el hombre que no anda según el consejo de los impíos ni sedetiene en el camino de los pecadores ni se sienta en la silla de los burladores. Más bien, en la ley del SEÑOR está su delicia, y en ella medita de día y denoche.” Salmos 1:1-2 (RVA-2015)

Hace algunos años, un hermano en Cristo con el que me estaba reuniendo regularmente me puso al corriente de los escritos de los puritanos. Hasta ese momento, siempre tuve una noción preconcebida de que los puritanos eran estas personas súper moralistas 'más santas que tú' que vivían a la altura de un estándar que yo nunca podría cumplir en esta época y probablemente escribieron de maneras que no sería relevante en los tiempos modernos. Lo que descubrí fue que escribieron sobre temas que eran y son muy relevantes y escribieron de una manera muy práctica. También fue clara y rápidamenteobvio para mí que algo faltaba en sus escritos que está demasiado presente enmuchos de los escritos cristianos de hoy.

No hubo influencia de las ciencias sociales; psicología, sociología y antropología. 

En el sermón de Paul Washer, Diez acusaciones contra la iglesia moderna, el Sr. Washer dijo esto: 

"¿Es la Biblia suficiente o tenemos que incorporar todo lo que es conocido como estudios culturales y estudios de ciencias sociales para saber cómo dirigir una iglesia? ¡Ésa es la pregunta principal! Las ciencias sociales, en mi opinión, han tenido prioridad sobre la Palabra de Dios de tal manera que la mayoría de nosotros ni siquiera podemos verlo. Se ha infiltrado tanto en nuestra iglesia, nuestro evangelismo y nuestra misiología que ya casi no se puede llamar “cristiano” a lo que estamos haciendo. La psicología, la antropología y la sociología se han convertido en las principales influencias en las iglesias ". 

En el versículo principal del Salmo 1, la mayoría de versiones en español contiene la frase "andar en consejo". Es decir, aquel que NO se basa en la sabiduría moderna del mundo, pero cuyo deleite está en la ley del Señor, es bendito. En otras palabras, se enfocan completamente en lo que dice la palabra de Dios. 

La Palabra de Dios es el fundamento. No debemos agregarle ni quitarle. (Deuteronomio 4: 2; Apocalipsis 2

Paul Washer dice además: 

"¿Qué tiene que ver Jerusalén con Roma? ¿Y qué tenemos que ver con todas estas ciencias sociales modernas que en realidad fueron creadas como una protesta contra la Palabra de Dios?¿Y por qué el evangelismo, las misiones y el llamado "crecimiento de la iglesia" están más moldeados por el antropólogo, el sociólogo y el estudiante de Wall Street que están al tanto de todas las tendencias culturales? Toda actividad en nuestras iglesias debe estar basadaen la Palabra de Dios. Toda actividad en las misiones debe basarse en laPalabra de Dios ". 

2 Timoteo 3: 16-17 nos dice que la escritura es suficiente: 

”Toda la Escritura es inspirada por Dios, y útil para enseñar, para redargüir, para corregir, para instruir en justicia, a fin de que el hombre de Dios sea perfecto, enteramente preparado para toda buena obra.” 

En el versículo 17 dice que el hombre de Dios estaría COMPLETAMENTE equipado para toda buena obra, no parcialmente equipado. No hay nada en las Escrituras que indique que debamos depender de cualquier otra cosa para estar completamente equipados. 

Ahora, algunos pueden argumentar que las ciencias sociales han sido un gran beneficio para nosotros y nos han ayudado a comprender el comportamiento humano. Puede que sea cierto, pero también han sido desastrosas de muchas otras formas. Han normalizado comportamientos que incluso hace unas décadas se habrían definido correctamente como desviados. Muchos cristianos hoy en día están confundidos por estos temas porque hemos estado escuchando a los 'expertos'. 

Ahí reside el mayor peligro; ¿Cuál es el estándar objetivo que podemos utilizar para juzgar si las ciencias sociales son un verdadero beneficio o un desastre?

La respuesta es que no hay ninguno. Simplemente estamos haciendo lo que se siente mejor. Como en el tiempo de los jueces de Israel: 

"En aquellos días Israel no tenía rey; cada uno hacía lo que le parecía". 

Jueces 17: 6; 21:25

Aquellos de nosotros que nos llamamos seguidores de Cristo haríamos bien en prestar atención a las palabras de Jeremías: 

"Engañoso es el corazón más que todas las cosas y más allá de toda cura. ¿Quién lo entenderá?" Jeremías 17: 9

La palabra de Dios nunca ha cambiado. La naturaleza humana no ha cambiado. La palabra de Dios que era completamente relevante cuando Moisés escribió los primeros cinco libros del Antiguo Testamento es tan relevante hoy como lo fue cuando los escribió. 

Para tomar prestada una expresión; "Difícilmente se puede balancear a un gato muerto en cualquier dirección sin chocar con el campanario de una iglesia". Con tantas iglesias alrededor que afirman levantar el nombre de Cristo y predicar el evangelio, ¿por qué es legal el aborto en los Estados Unidos? ¿Por qué sancionar las relaciones entre personas del mismo sexo y la confusión de género?

No estamos teniendo mucho impacto en nuestra cultura. 

Creo firmemente que es porque hemos perdido la bendición que podría moshaber tenido si nuestro deleite completo estuviera en la Palabra del Señor y meditáramos en eso en lugar del consejo impío de las ciencias sociales y las tendencias culturales modernas. Confiar en la sabiduría mundana ha producido un dualismo que, en el mejor de los casos, ha enturbiado el agua, provocando una gran confusión. En el peor de los casos, nos ha convertido en una iglesia completamente herética. 

Muchos están orando y creyendo que necesitamos avivamiento. Estoy de acuerdo. Necesitamos avivamiento. Pero antes de que pueda haber un verdadero avivamiento, debemos tener una reforma. Necesitamos un reinicio completo a las claras enseñanzas apostólicas del evangelio. Eso significa deshacernos de la sabiduría mundana que se ha infiltrado y penetrado en la iglesia y establecer la Palabra de Dios como el fundamento firme sobre el cual edificamos nuestras doctrinas y nuestras vidas. 

Entonces y solo entonces podremos estar a la altura de nuestro verdadero llamado como la iglesia de Jesucristo y realmente tener un impacto.

God's Word, Nothing More

"Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers,  but whose delight is in the law of the Lord , and who meditates on his law day and night." (Psalms 1:1)

Some years ago a brother in Christ that I was meeting with regularly turned me on to the writings of the Puritans. Up to that time I always had a preconceived notion that the Puritans were these 'holier than thou' super self-righteous people who lived up to a standard that I could never live up to in this day and age and likely wrote in ways that wouldn't be relevant in modern times. What I found out was that they wrote about issues that were and are very relevant and they wrote in a very practical way. It was also clearly obvious to me very quickly that something was missing in their writings that is all too present in much of today's Christian writing.

There was no influence from the social sciences; psychology, sociology, and anthropology.

In the sermon by Paul Washer, Ten Indictments Against The Modern Church, Mr. Washer said this:

"Is the Bible sufficient or do we have to bring in every so-called social science and cultural study in order to know how to run a church? That is the major question! Social sciences, in my opinion, have taken precedent over the Word of God in such a way that most of us can’t even see it. It has so crept into our church, our evangelism, and our missiology that you barely can call what we are doing “Christian” anymore. Psychology, anthropology, and sociology have become primary influences in the churches."

In the leading verse from Psalm 1 some versions translate the phrase "walk in step", as "walk in the counsel." That is to say that the one who does NOT rely on modern worldly wisdom but whose delight is in the law of the Lord is blessed. In other words, they completely focus on what God's word says. 

The Word of God is the foundation. We must not add to it or take away from it. (Deuteronomy 4:2; Revelation 22:18)

Paul Washer further states:

"What does Jerusalem have to do with Rome? And what do we have to do with all these modern day social sciences that were actually created as a protest against the Word of God? And why is it that evangelism, missions, and so-called “church growth” is more shaped by the anthropologist, the sociologist, and the Wall Street student who are up on every cultural trend? All the activity in our churches must be based upon the Word of God. All the activity in missions must be based upon the Word of God."

2 Timothy 3:16-17 tells us that the scripture is sufficient:

"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equiped for every good work."

In verse 17 it says that the man of God would be THOROUGHLY equiped for every good work, not partly equiped. There is nothing in scripture that gives any indication that we need to depend on anything else in order to be fully equiped.

Now some may argue that the social sciences have been a great benefit to us and has helped us understand human behaviors. This is true and we can learn much from the social sciences. The issue is not whether we can learn from them, it's whether we are relying on them instead of the word of God. While it may be true that there has been some benefit from the social sciences we must understand they have also been disastrous in many other ways. They have normalized behaviors that even a few decades ago would have been rightly defined as deviant. Many Christians today are themselves confused by these issues because we have been listening to the 'experts.'

Therein lies the greatest danger; What is the objective standard we can use to judge whether the social sciences are a true benefit or a disaster. 

The answer is there is none. We are simply doing what feels best. Just like in the time of the judges of Israel:

"In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit." Judges 17:6; 21:25

Those of us who call ourselves followers of Christ would do well to heed the words of Jeremiah:

"The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?" Jeremiah 17:9

The word of God has never changed. Human nature hasn't changed. The word of God that was completely relevant when Moses penned the first five books of the Old Testament are just as relevant today as they were when he wrote them.

To borrow an expression; 'You can hardly swing a dead cat in any direction without hitting a church steeple.' With so many churches around claiming to lift up the name of Christ and preach the gospel, why is abortion legal in the United States? Why the sanctioning of same-sex relationships and gender confusion? 

We are not having much of an impact in our culture.

I firmly believe it is because we have lost the blessing we could have had if our complete delight was in the Word of the Lord and we meditated on that instead of the ungodly counsel of the social sciences and the modern cultural trends. Relying on the worldly wisdom has produced a dualism that at best has muddied the water, causing great confusion. At worst it has made us into a completely heretical church.

Many are praying and believing that we need revival. I agree. We do need revival. But before there can be a true revival we must have a reformation. We need a complete reset to the clear apostolic teachings of the gospel. That means ridding ourselves of the worldly wisdom that has crept in and permeated the church and set God's word as the firm foundation upon which we build our doctrines and our lives.

Then and only then can we live up to our true calling as the church of Jesus Christ and truly make an impact.

Ignorance is Bliss,...NOT!!!

"My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge."

Hosea 4:6

One of my favorite scenes from the BBC series, Sherlock (based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes) is in the first episode where Dr. Watson meets Mycroft for the first time. This particular line always stood out:

Mycroft, (speaking to Dr. Watson) "Most people blunder around this city and all they see are streets, shops and cars. When you walk with Sherlock Holmes you see the battlefield. You've seen it already, haven't you?"

The battlefield is real!

But like Mycroft said, most people are just 'blundering' along, totally clueless and seemingly willingly so. 

The events of this past year and last week have demonstrated beyond the shadow of a doubt...

We are in a war! 

And much of the battle is being waged in the area of information.

This past year the world economies were crippled by the coronavirus known as COVID-19. Actually it wasn't the coronavirus that crippled the economy and shut down many countries. What shut everything down was the information we were being fed about this virus and the protocols we were told we needed to apply in order to deal with it. I am not going to go into the specifics because that would take up an entire book. Suffice it to say, much of what we were being told was contradictory or made absolutely no sense at all.

Why didn't people realize that we were not being told the truth?

I believe one reason is we've been conditioned to simply believe whatever we are being told by our news media and we simply can't be bothered to do even a little research to verify the information being reported. Often it really doesn't take a lot of research to see that things aren't adding up. But we can't be bothered.

Another reason is spiritual. Proverbs 1:7 says:

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction."

If a person has a true and proper fear of the Lord, they have no need to fear anything else. If a person does not have a proper fear of God, then they have every reason to be afraid.

The disinformation we were fed about the virus played on people's fear. Fear makes it impossible to think intelligently. That is why Proverbs 1:7 is so profound. If you have a proper fear of God you won't fear anything else. If you don't fear anything else you can think straight. If you can think straight you can process information in an logical and intelligent way. 

The beginning of Knowledge.

Unfortunately most people, including many professing Christians, simply live by their feelings. Truth to them is based almost entirely on how they feel about something. People who live by their feelings are easily manipulated. If you can make them feel good about something they will believe it. If they feel negative they won't believe it -- entirely based on their feelings. People who live by their feelings are easily controlled by fear. If you tell them that the Chinese released a virus so deadly that if you didn't stay locked in your house, maintain 6 feet of distance and wear a face mask, we were all going to die, they will do exactly what they are told. Never mind there was no science to behind any of these protocols, and there wasn't. But people believed them and did what they were told.

When I was just at the end of my teen years, if a young man wanted to try out for the girls basketball team he would have likely been expelled and possibly committed to a mental facility. Back then we still believed that if a man identified as a woman (and vice versa) that he had lost his connection to reality. That is a defintion of insanity. Today, about 35 years later we actually celebrate such people and treat them as heroes. Why? Because we have been told that transgenderism is a real thing. And we believe what we are told.

And don't get me started with politics.

Too late. (Haha)

Just a few comments:

Most people vote for an appealing personality or someone who says what makes them feel good. The average voter has no understanding of the issues, and political candidates actually count on voter's ignorance. The average middle aged individual never took civics in school. By the time I was in school it had been replaced with Social Studies. Of course it's far worse today. I know of middle school students who have never heard of the Holocaust or Gulag.

"Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it."

"My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge."

Lesson from the example of the Bereans in Acts 17:11:

"Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true."

While the Bereans were excited and eager (emotion) that wasn't sufficient. They had to look up the Scriptures to verify that what Paul was saying was true. Just as it was true then, it is still true today. There is such a thing as absolute truth! There is also such a thing as absolute falsehood!

Some things are absolutely true, whether they feel good or not.

Some things are absolutely false, whether they feel good or not.

It is absolutely imperative to verify.

Ignorance is NOT bliss. In a war of information, lack of knowledge is deadly.

Fear God and you won't have to fear anything else.

Blessings to you all.

The Rapture; Biblical or Wishful Thinking

It may come across that I am being  'Debbie Downer' here but I believe this needs to be said. I firmly believe that the doctrine of the rapture has lulled much of the modern church into complacency because we have blindly accepted the belief that we will be taken into heaven before the Great Tribulation. 

Here in the western world we have had it pretty easy because we enjoy freedom to worship and for the most part, we live in a land that is friendly towards Christianity. But in many parts of the world we have brothers and sisters who are being tortured and murdered because of their faith. God isn't sparing them. Why would He necessarily spare us?

Maybe if we knew that there was no guarantee that we would be spared tribulation we would live our lives differently before God and men.

"Proof Texts" to Support The Rapture

The first text used to support the rapture is found in Matthew 24:40-41:

"Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left.  Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left."

You may remember the old saying, "A text without a context is a pretext." This certainly applies when attempting to properly interpret scripture. On the surface it does appear to be saying people will be simply going about their day and suddenly, randomly some will be wisked away into the presence of Jesus. But is that really what this passage is saying? Let's back up a few verses. Verse 38-39:

"For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man."

Notice that it says that when the flood came the people were 'taken.' TAKEN IS JUDGMENT! That is the context of verses 40 and 41. The ones who are taken are those who are going to their judgment. You don't want to be taken. You want to be the one that is left behind.

The other point in this passage is that it says this is what will happen at the return of the Son of Man. This is when Jesus returns. There is no mention of the Great Tribulation. 

This passage has nothing to do with the rapture.

The second passage is found in 1 Thessalonians 4:17:

"After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever."

Again it is vital to look at the context of this passage and understand what Paul is actually talking about. Beginning with verse 13 Paul is explaining what happens to those who have passed away and the hope of the resurrection. 

Verse 13-16:

"Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first."

The real emphasis is that those who have passed away will rise again in glory. It is almost as if he adds that those who are still alive when Jesus returns will then join those who are resurrected. Notice that they are not taken into heaven. They rise up to the clouds. Also notice that it says we will 'meet' him. This is kind of like the welcoming committee going out to meet the king who is returning.

To put it simply, this is not about a rapture. It's about the resurrection.

(It is also worth noting that it says that we who are 'left.' Compare back Matthew 24:40-41) 

Again it is crucial to realize that this 'rising to meet him in the air' occurs when Jesus returns; not at the beginning of the Great Tribulation.

The third support of the premillenial rapture requires a dispensational view of end time prophecy. This is a rather large subject that I don't have time to adequately address here but in a nutshell, dispensational theology/view of history is the idea that God has a separate plan for his church and those who are ethnically Israelite, the nation of Israel. This view interprets the book of Revelation as being strictly about the very end. As such, it makes much of the fact that the 'church' is never mentioned again after chapter 3 and assumes that the church has been raptured.

This view is problematic for a number of reasons:

1. It assumes that because the church is not mentioned as such that it has gone missing. The fact that it is not named doesn't necessarily mean it is not present.

2. It assumes that the book is strictly about the very end times. But we must remember that the book of Revelation is actually a letter that was addressed to the seven churches in Asia Minor. It is not just the individual notes in chapters 2 and 3 that are addressed to these churches but the ENTIRE book. (Chapter 1:4,11) 

An important key rule of interpretation is to understand that the text had an original audience and to discern what it would have meant to that original audience. Almost all of modern interpretation of Revelation is centered on the very end of the age. But it is unlikely that the 7 churches would have understood it that way especially because Chapter 1:1 says, "The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place." The original audience would have understood this to mean that this was the unfolding of history from that point until the end. 

The point is, that even though the church is not specifically mentioned as such after chapter 3, the church has existed for the entire time since then. Much of what is described in Revelation has taken place and is continuing to take place, and the church has been on this earth the entire time. 

The church was not raptured before the events in Revelation took place. And there is no place in this letter that describes the church being raptured. The church will rise at the time of Jesus Christ's return. 

But God Promises that His faithful Ones Would be Spared From The Tribulation

Revelation 3:10:

"Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth."

It is important to realize that this verse is specific to the church at Philadelphia. His message to the church in Smyrna was quite different. 

Revelation 2:10:

"Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown."

Not every believer will be spared from hard trials and persecution. Some will be spared and others will be given the grace to endure it.

In the Bible we see examples of people who were spared catastrophe because of their faithfulness. Methuselah died and then the flood came. King Josiah was told he would be spared the calamity that would fall upon Judah. How? He would die first. Daniel was told he would die before the events he described. Even wicked Ahab, because he humbled himself when confronted by Elijah regarding Naboth's murder was allowed to die before the destruction of his house. Even during the church age St. Augustine died and a few months later Hippo was sacked. Martin Luther died before the wars broke out in Germany. Isaiah 57:1-2 explains:

"The righteous perish, and no one takes it to heart; the devout are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil. Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest as they lie in death."

Death for those who are in Christ is completely different than for those who are not. As John Flavel mentions in his book Keeping the Heart, death for the believer simply means you have completed your race and now you receive the victor's crown and hear those coveted words, "Well done, good and faithful servant."

So What is The Point

My point is that many have been lulled into a false sense of security believing that we who follow Christ will not have to endure the tribulation of the end times. But there is nothing in the Bible that suggests that. We who are God's people need to be busy about our Father's business. Matthew 24:46-47:

"It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns.  Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions."

Our hope is in Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. It is not in a pre-tribulation rapture. As followers of Christ we are to be about our Father's business as long as we have breath or until he returns. May it be that when he returns he will find us so doing.

Blessings to you all.