Is the Bible Immoral? Part 2: Did God Order a Genocide?

Now go and strike Amalek and utterly destroy all that he has, and do not spare him; but put to death both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey. (1 Samuel 15:3)

As we consider critics' claims that the Bible is immoral, one of the most cited examples comes from 1 Samuel where God commands King Saul to destroy the city of Amalek along with everyone and everything in it. Critics typically use words like “genocide,” “atrocity,” and “infanticide” to describe the account. It's a clever use of loaded words to make God seem capricious.

Critics usually quote verse 3 out of context. 1 Samuel 15:2 says, “Thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he set himself against him on the way while he was coming up from Egypt.” Critics don't include verse 2 because they intentionally want to omit God's motive for His command to Saul. Israel's encounters with Amalek began back in Exodus 17. After their flight from Egypt and during their wandering in the desert, the Jews were a nearly helpless people. They had no city, no walls, and no forts. They had to rely upon God daily for food and water. Deuteronomy 25:17-18 described it this way,

Remember what Amalek did to you along the way when you came out from Egypt, how he met you along the way and attacked among you all the stragglers at your rear when you were faint and weary; and he did not fear God.

At one point, while they were camped at Rephidim, the Amalekites came and attacked them. Moses told Joshua to lead armed men to resist the Amalekites and God gave the Jews the victory after a hard fought battle. Afterward, God made a promise to Moses:

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Write this in a book as a memorial and recite it to Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.” Moses built an altar and named it, The LORD is My Banner; and he said, “The LORD has sworn; the LORD will have war against Amalek from generation to generation.” (Exodus 17:14-16)

God could have rained fire down on Amalek just as He had done with Sodom and Gomorrah, but it was many generations later, after the Jews settled in the Promised Land and Saul had become the king, that God fulfilled His promise.

So God's command to destroy the Amalekites wasn't arbitrary but rather was His judgment on that city for their crimes against Israel. Critics call the event “genocide” because that sounds more effective to their cause than calling it “justice.” Here's something that might put this into perspective: we need to consider the attitudes of Americans right after 9/11. Do you remember the calls that we should bomb Afghanistan and the Taliban back into the stone age? Were we interested in genocide or justice?

Of course, some people aren't satisfied with this explanation. Some have asked, “Why would God command the babies to be killed?” There are a couple of other points we need to keep in mind.

First, we have to remember that not only did all the people of Amalek die but Saul also died. Every one of Saul's soldiers died too. Every Jew in Israel died. Every prophet mentioned in the Old Testament has died. The Bible says that it is appointed unto a man to die and then he is judged (Hebrews 9:27). Some die old; some die young; some die violently; some die quietly. The mortality rate among people is 100%. Death has reigned since the Curse and just like it came to the Amalekites, it will also come to all of us. To say that God was cruel in His treatment of Amalek is to deny that God judges all of humanity fairly.

There is still another point we must consider, a point which relates to God as our Creator. Read this passage from Jeremiah:

Then [Jeremiah] went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, making something on the wheel. But the vessel that he was making of clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter; so he remade it into another vessel, as it pleased the potter to make. Then the word of the Lord came to [Jeremiah] saying, “Can I not, O house of Israel, deal with you as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel.” (Jeremiah 18:3-6)

No one can credibly deny that the vessel a potter makes belongs to the potter. If the potter doesn't like how the vessel turns out, it is his right to scrap it and start over. In this haunting passage, we are reminded that we are created by God and so are subject to His will.

Words like “genocide” and “atrocity” are misleading characterizations of God. The Bible gives us a complete picture of Him. He is not a tyrant who smites innocents on a whim. He is not a pacifist who will shower grace on vile, unrepentant sinners. He is Holy and Just. We all face the same fate – a grave. We all have the same opportunity – eternal life through Jesus. I will have to stand before God and give an account for my sins; my only plea will be the shed blood of His Son. Critics are welcome to tell God He's not being fair.

Predestination: A Series on Election, Part 2 – The Total Depravity of Man

As I discussed in my last post, the 5 points of Calvinism are summarized with the acronym, TULIP. The letters stand for:

• Total depravity of man
• Unconditional election
• Limited atonement
• Irresistible grace
• Preservation of the saints

Fundamental to Calvinism is the idea that mankind is totally depraved. He is a hopeless sinner who is not only completely unable to do good works but also lacks even the desire to do good. Therefore, a man is totally without any power to even call on God to save him. According to Calvinism, a man lacks the ability or desire to be saved in the same way a dead person lacks the ability or desire to come out of the grave. It's impossible.

There are some verses in the Bible that support this concept:

John 6:63, “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing”

Romans 3:10-11, “as it is written, “There is none righteous, not even one; There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God.” (Paul is paraphrasing Psalm 14)

Jeremiah 17:9, “The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?”

John 6:44, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.”

If I read only these verses and nothing else in the Bible, I would have to agree 100% that a man could not and would not come to God by his own will. However, there are other verses that we must consider.

Joshua 24:15, “If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

1 Kings 18:21, “Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.””

Isaiah 1:18, ““Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the Lord, “Though your sins are as scarlet, They will be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They will be like wool.”

As clearly as the first passages seemed to say we are unable to come to God, these other passages seem clearly seem to say we have a choice. I admit that it seems to be a dilemma. I think the key to understanding all verses in harmony hinges on the realization that God is sovereign but even the sovereignty of God is a difficult subject to grasp.

My point here is not to establish which verses are “correct.” The fact of the matter is that all the verses are correct. Neither am I trying to suggest what is the more likely understanding. Like I've already said, I only intend to discuss the different points of view. As we can see, Scriptural support for either view can be found. It would be rather narrow minded of us to cling dogmatically to one or the other and “explain away” the opposing verses. A better course of action would be to trust that God is loving, merciful, and just and know that He will always do what is right.

We need to simply trust in Jesus as our Savior without worrying about whether or not we were predestined to do so.

A Bible Study in Discernment

Recently, my Sunday School class has been studying the book of Job. Much of the book details the conversations Job had with his three friends who had come to “comfort” him but actually spend more time accusing him. As you read through the conversations, though, in many places we find that the friends weren't too far off from sound doctrine. In many cases, their only error was attributing Job's tragedy to some unconfessed sin of Job. Much of what they said was correct but a little bit was garbage.

As we live our lives day to day, there is no shortage of opinions we hear about God and the Bible. Some of what we hear is correct but some of it is garbage. As Christians, it is our responsibility to identify what is right and what is wrong. The Bible refers to this as “discernment.” 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 says, "But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil."

For some people, discernment is a spiritual gift. When discussing gifts of the Spirit, Paul said, “to some [are given] the discerning of spirits” (1 Corinthians 12:10). For others, it must be learned. Job says that wisdom and understanding comes with age (Job 12:12). Even so, I believe there are six steps we can follow to help us gain discernment.

TRUST THE BIBLE

The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. (Psalms 19:7)

We don't have to be geniuses or scholars. Psalms tells us that with the Bible, even the simple become wise. If we base our thinking on the Bible, we can never be very wrong on any subject.

STUDY THE BIBLE

Even if you sincerely trust the Bible, what good does it do if you don't know what the Bible says? What if someone said, “I believe the Bible when it says, 'The Lord helps those that help themselves'”? Do you say, “Amen!”? Nothing resembling that verse appears in the Bible but you can't know that if you don't study the Bible.

I worked in a bank for many years. Before the Federal Reserve issued any new currency, we would get detailed descriptions of what the new bills would look like. The best way to spot a fake bill is to know what the real bill looks like. Likewise, we can easily spot false doctrine if we know what correct doctrine is.

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15)

Let's look at this passage in reverse: This passage says we need to study to show ourselves approved. So what does it mean if we don't study? Obviously it must mean we aren't approved. Furthermore, if we don't study, we should be ashamed. Finally, if we don't study, we will not be able rightly divide the word of truth.

SEEK THE ADVICE OF OTHERS

Most people have heard the expression, “Two heads are better than one.” This is based on a sound, biblical doctrine.

Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety. (Proverbs 11:14)

There are abundant resources available today that Christians can turn to to find answers to tough questions. Also, a Christian can seek the advice of godly men or women.

BE SKEPTICAL

Though we should seek the advice of others, we must never mistake their opinions for Scriptures. In your study Bible, the notes written in the margin are not part of the text. You need to compare whatever advice you receive to the Scriptures to make sure it is sound.

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. Acts 17:11

Paul is normally someone whose opinion I would trust. Yet the Bereans were even skeptical of him. As he preached the gospel, they compared his words to the Scriptures to confirm what he was saying was true. We should do the same.

BE OPEN MINDED

There's a difference between being skeptical and refusing to believe. Sometimes, we are wrong in something we believe and we need to be available to the truth. The Bible uses the term “stiff-necked” to describe certain, stubborn people who won't listen to the truth.

But they hearkened not, neither inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear, and might not receive instruction. (Jeremiah 17:23)

BE PRAYERFUL

Finally, we should always remember to seek understanding from God.

If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. (James 1:5)

Answering the 10 Questions Every Christian Must Answer: Part 3

#2) Why are there so many starving people in the world?

#6) Why do bad things happen to good people?

These questions seem to be making duplicate points so my answer to both would be essentially the same. Therefore, I'm including both questions in a single post. If the video sees a difference between the two, the narrator has failed to explain how they are significantly different. Incidentally, we could possibly include question #1 in here as well. Why there is suffering is directly related to why there are also amputees.

By asking these questions, the video is demonstrating either a gross ignorance of Christianity or is intentionally ignoring the obvious answer that has been given so often already. Given that the video uses so many fallacious arguments (as detailed in my first post in this series), I suspect the ignorance is intentional. A baseless or oft refuted claim is called a canard – especially one used deliberately.

Perhaps I'm being a bit too rough. Even some Christians have wondered about the so called, “problem of evil.” The supposed dilemma is this: if God is good and if God created everything, then why does evil exist? The study of this “problem” is called “theodicy.” It has been my experience that most Christians who stumble over this are typically those who compromise on the creation account given in Genesis. If one believes that God used the cruel process of evolution to create, then that would mean that death, disease, and suffering are intentional and they are part of God's creative process. However, if one reads Genesis 1-3 with the understanding that the events are factual, questions like this practically answer themselves.

For anyone not inclined or not able to read the Bible, I'll briefly recap the creation account: God created the entire universe in six days. On the 6^th day, God created Adam and Eve. God looked at everything He had made and saw that is was all “very good” (Genesis 1:31). The world was a paradise and Adam and Eve could have lived forever, free of worry, if they had only obeyed God. Unfortunately, we all know what happened. Adam disobeyed God and received God's judgment. Death entered into the world at that time (Romans 5:12). God's judgment, however, was not only on Adam but also on the entire creation. The Bible says that God cursed the ground for Adam's sake (Genesis 3:17). It further says the entire creation groans and travails in pain (Romans 8:22). The Curse continues even today. Death, disease, pain, suffering, famine, natural disasters, etc., are all products of the Curse and the result of our own sin and rebellion. Additionally, men continue to disobey God and inflict man-made evil upon their fellow man. This is why bad things happen.

Immediately, the critic might suggest that it is unfair to curse all of the creation for the sin of one man. It is not unusual for the condemned to feel his sentence is too great but it is reasonable to expect the curse on Adam extended to Adam's domain. Consider this: something cannot be perfect if it contains even one small blemish so Adam's one sin literally spoiled the entire, perfect creation. In Jeremiah we read the analogy of the potter and the clay (Jeremiah 18:4). If the potter's work is marred by an imperfection, it is the right of the potter to cast it aside and remake another as he sees fit. As the Creator of the universe, God would have been perfectly just to destroy the entire creation after Adam sinned. Similarly, God would be perfectly just to destroy any one of us at the moment we sin. The fact that He doesn't is demonstrative of His mercy.

The critic might next ask, “Why doesn't God do something about it?” Well, God has done something about it – He sent His Son to die as an atonement for our sins. Furthermore, God also intends to restore the creation. We are told in Revelation 21:1 there will be a new heaven and new earth because this sin stained world will be passed away. In that place, there will be no more curse (Revelation 22:3). Revelation 21:4 gives us this wonderful promise, “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” Amen!!

I know the critics won't be satisfied with my answers and will continue to call God cruel. I would ask them then, “What should be the alternative?” Given that God is not only perfectly loving but also perfectly just, how should He handle a rebellious people? Should there be no judgment? Do they want God to make this world a paradise? This is why we don't let the guilty set their own sentences. I can just imagine a criminal asking the judge if he can spend his sentence on a beach. The critics, of course, will say that the judgment should only be on “bad people.” The problem arises though that there are none who are good. We tend to excuse our own failings by comparing our sins to other people's. The critic might excuse his own lies, greed, blasphemies, and lusts but arguing that at least he's never murdered anyone. By that reasoning, though, Jack the Ripper could excuse his own crimes by saying he wasn't as bad at Hitler. What's more, if the doubters had their way and God only punished those who fit the critics' definition of “bad,” then the dilemma still exists: in their utopia, where only the “really bad” people are punished, who would a guilty person commit his crimes upon? Even if they had their own way, they still would not be able to say that bad things no longer happen to good people! To accomplish what they want, God would literally have to restrain them; He would have to force them to obey His laws. Somehow I don't think skeptics would think that was fair either.

Finally, what sound, logical argument exists that would conclude that since bad things happen, God is imaginary? It's totally non sequitur. It would be like saying that since there are poor families in America then the President is imaginary. It's not even close to convincing. One could try to make the argument that God is cruel and not worthy of worship but to say bad things prove He is imaginary is an absurd premise. I know that logical fallacies abound in this video but this is just intellectual laziness.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Part 8

You Don't Have to Teach Kids How to Lie

I have two kids. As I write this, my daughter is 17 and my son is 7. I've helped them learn to walk, talk, read, ride a bike, and many, many other things. One thing I've never taught them was how to lie; they seem to have figured it out all by themselves.

My daughter was on hand to witness one of my son's very early lies. I used it as a lesson for her how people have an inherent nature to sin. It happened when my son was only around 3 years old. I was off work one day and my wife had gone out leaving me with the kids. It was a usual practice when I was home with the kids to take them to eat at McDonald's. At lunchtime, I had fixed my son a sandwich but he didn't eat it. After not having eaten his sandwich, he kept following me around asking when we were going to McDonald's. I told him every time that we would go to McDonald's, “later.” My daughter and I sat watching TV while he persisted.

At one point he got right in my face and said, “Dad, take us to McDonald's.”

I looked him square in the eye and said, “Kyle, I just fixed you a sandwich and you didn't eat it.”

He thought I was punishing him for not eating his sandwich so he said, “I'm not hungry.”

To that I responded, “Then we'll go later when you're hungry.”

There was a sudden pause in the conversation. I could see the little gears turning in his head. He had misunderstood why it was significant that he hadn't eaten. I wasn't punishing him; I was waiting until he was hungry to go. After he figured this out, he looked at me again and said, “I am hungry.”

My daughter thought this was hilarious but I'm glad she saw this first hand. He had just lied to me. As cute and seemingly innocent as kids are, they are sinners too. The Bible says that “the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9). People may think it's awful for me to say this but I believe babies don't lie only because they lack the ability to speak. Sin is like an instinct.

We don't need to teach our kids how to sin. Rather we need to help them understand what sin is. They need to understand that lying isn't just about violating polite social norms. When they lie, they've violated the law of the God who is the Judge of the universe. When they break God's law, it makes God very mad and very sad. No age is too young to begin teaching our kids the need for a Savior.

Romans 10:14: How shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? Are people who never heard of Jesus saved?

The question has been often asked, “Why would a just God condemn people in other countries who live and die without ever having heard of Jesus?” This has been asked by both the critic and the believer. Opponents of Christianity sometimes raise this argument as though it is somehow evidence against the existence of God. Such a position is absurd; if something is an affront to our sense of “fairness”, that is hardly evidence that the thing doesn't exist. At the very least, unbelievers use it to argue that God is certainly not good nor worthy of worship. As believers, we ponder this question so that we might better understand the nature of God.

Before we address the question directly, it must be understood that God is under no obligation to save anyone. We are given a sobering analogy in Jeremiah 18:3-6. There, God compares Israel to a clay vessel in the potter's hand. If the vessel is marred, the potter may simply chose to destroy it and create another. As the Creator of the universe, God can exercise this same right over everything and everyone. At the very moment Adam sinned, God would have been perfectly just to discard His entire creation then and there. The Bible says that there are none who are righteous (Romans 3:10). We are all guilty before God. And since the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23), we each deserve death at any moment. The fact that God doesn't condemn us the very instant we sin demonstrates that He is loving and long-suffering.

Not only does God not blot everything out of existence but, even before the creation of the world, He already had a plan to redeem His creation. He could have laid upon us a tremendous burden where we must earn our own salvation. If God had said we must perform a million good works in order to be saved, it would be fair because, again, He has no obligation to save us at all. But rather than placing any burden on us, God Himself provided the means for our salvation. At great cost and sacrifice to Himself, He gave His only begotten Son so that whoever believed in Him would be saved (John 3:16). The same God who is slow to judge is also loving and merciful. Salvation is a precious gift given at a great cost to Him. It is completely undeserved and unearned. It is grace!

As we turn now to the question at hand, we can see how it might already be answered. No one deserves salvation yet God has provided it anyway at a great personal cost to Himself. How then can we say that He is being “unfair” unless He gives everyone an equal opportunity to hear the gospel? Under what premise can one argue that God is somehow obligated to give the gospel to everyone when the truth is that He is not obligated to show mercy to anyone? It is vanity on our part to pretend to tell God what He must do in order to be just.

Remember too that the various peoples in all the world are all descended from the three sons of Noah. They also are descended from those rebellious people who conspired against God at the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11). They at one time were fully aware of God's wrath and His mercy but now many have fallen into false religions. Satan works to perpetuate the ignorance of these lost people. He is that crafty bird in Matthew 13:19 who snatches up any seed that might have fallen by the way lest any take root. His desire to thwart any effort to evangelize the world should not be underestimated. Raising up a communist regime that imprisons Christian missionaries is not beyond his purpose nor ability. Political entanglements are as real a challenge as geographic remoteness. Do not forget also that missionaries have often been met with strong resistance by the very people they have come with hopes to save - sometimes even costing the missionary his life. Certainly none of this is God's fault.

Of course, it cannot be said that God doesn't care about people in remote areas who have not heard the good news. Quite the opposite is true. God has commissioned His people with the task of preaching the gospel to every creature (Mark 16:15). Knowing that there are millions, or perhaps billions, of people in the world who have not heard of Jesus should create within us a dire sense of urgency.

For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! (Romans 10:13-15)

The Five Solas Part 3: Sola Gratia

Sola Gratia means “grace alone.” In my last post on this series, we talked about Sola Fide (faith alone) and how we receive salvation simply by believing and not by works. In that post, I mentioned how faith is sometimes viewed as a work – that is, we believe God must save us because we believe. More simply put, it is the mistaken belief that we “earn” our salvation by believing.

Sola Gratia is the simple understanding that salvation is only available by the grace of God. “Grace,” by definition, means “unmerited favor.” God is not obligated to save us. In fact, God, who is perfectly just, would be justified to condemn us for our sins. He makes salvation available only because of His love for us. Furthermore, He only loves us because of who He is – not because of who we are or because of anything we’ve done.

To understand this fully, we need to consider the Biblical description of the condition of man before Christ’s sacrifice for us.

Consider these verses:

“And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Genesis 6:5

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” Jeremiah 17:9

“But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” Isaiah 64:6

“As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:” Romans 3:10

Because of our hard heartedness, we have become like potsherds that strive against our Maker (Isaiah 45). The Potter who shaped the clay surely has the right to undo it. Likewise, how can we fault God, who made us, if He should decide to destroy us for our rebellion? But here is where the grace of God is shown:

“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8

“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9

The holy God, who would be just to pour His wrath on us because of our continuous rebellion against Him, instead sent His Son to suffer the wrath in our place. The chastisement of our peace was upon Him (Isaiah 53:5). Now that’s grace!

Another interesting verse to consider is Romans 6:23:

“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Ask yourself this: what are “wages”? Normally, wages are something you earn. They are what you deserve after you’ve worked for someone. But Romans says the “wages” of sin is death. The thing we “earn”, the thing we “deserve” for our work, is death. And what is a “gift”? A gift is given only by the grace of the giver. You don’t work for it. You don’t deserve. You only receive it.

That’s God grace for us. He doesn’t give us what we deserve. Our works have only earned us death. But instead, He gives us the gift of eternal life.

Sola Gratia – grace alone!

Further reading:

The Five Solas Part 1: Sola Scriptura

The Five Solas Part 2: Sola Fide

The Five Solas Part 4: Solus Christus

The Five Solas Part 5: Soli Deo Gloria

Some More Comments About Sola Scriptura

They say to wood, "You are my father."

There’s a fellow young-earth-creationist (YEC) who posts along with me defending creation in an online debate forum. He uses the screen name Junkyardboy and his profile links to his church, Valley Bible Church. I really enjoy reading his posts and he always makes some great points. Anyway, the other day he made this insightful point that I wanted to share here..

"As a thief is disgraced when he is caught,
so the house of Israel is disgraced—
they, their kings and their officials,
their priests and their prophets.

They say to wood, 'You are my father,'
and to stone, 'You gave me birth.'
They have turned their backs to me
and not their faces;
yet when they are in trouble, they say,
'Come and save us!'

Where then are the gods you made for yourselves?
Let them come if they can save you
when you are in trouble!
For you have as many gods
as you have towns, O Judah.
Jeremiah 2:26-28

Now, in the context of the passage, these verses are specifically dealing with Israel’s sin of idolatry. The people worshipped idols of stone and wood as though these were their gods. They rejected the Creator God and replaced Him with gods of their own choosing and God is chiding their foolishness for believing a tree or a rock created them.

Today, secular science believes there was once an event dubbed, “abiogenesis.” Abiogenesis is the belief that non-living chemicals somehow arranged themselves to become the first living life form – the supposed common ancestor of all living things. There are many different theories as to how such a thing could happen but it’s important to note that abiogenesis has never been duplicated or observed. Even though there is no scientific evidence that such a thing is possible, they still believe it happened because,… well… here we are!

So tell me, what exactly is the qualitative difference between believing we came from a rock and believing we came from a fortunate arrangement of chemicals? Some people ridicule me for believing in creation. I think it’s far more incredible to believe life just happened by itself. The latter looks to me like a modern version of believing a stone gave us birth.

Is God Cruel?

It’s brought up all the time: "Look at the atrocities ordered by God in the Old Testament." One passage often cited is 1 Samuel 15:2-3, where God said to Saul (via Samuel):

“Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt. Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.”

Wow! That sounds mean. Why did God have to order every man, woman, and even every infant child to be killed? He even killed the animals to boot! This is one example yet there are other passages like this. Critics will latch onto these passages as evidence of the cruelty of God. But is there any merit to their argument?

There are a few logical fallacies in arguments like this. First, even though God did these things, does that somehow prove the Bible isn’t true? Hardly. This is what is known as an “appeal to emotions” or the "argument of outrage." That is, God can’t be God because He’s so mean. Even if God were “cruel,” that’s not automatic proof that He’s not God.

But this does raise the issue of God’s character. Is God guilty of murder? Is God worthy of worship? The answers respectively are “no” and “yes.”

It started back in the Garden of Eden where God commanded Adam not to eat of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. God explained the consequences to Adam:

“And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” Genesis 2:16-17

You know the story – Adam did that which God commanded him not to do. When he did, he exchanged his immortal body for a body of flesh; he went from a body that would never die to a body that would die. We are the children of Adam and we have inherited his body of flesh.

According to the Bible, there is precisely one penalty for sin - death (Romans 6:23). All have sinned; all die (Romans 5:12). The mortality rate among people is exactly 100%. Some people die in their sleep; some people die at the point of a sword; some people die very old; some people die very young; but everybody dies!

God is the author of life and He decides when it ends. He is like the potter and it's His right to shape clay however He wants (Jeremiah 18:1-6). The Bible says it is appointed to man to die (Hebrews 9:27). We are not in a position to say to God, "This person's death is OK but this other death is murder!"

My grandfather died when he was 90 years old. My father died when he was 50 years old. I had a nephew that died at birth. Is that "fair"? Are we going to say that God "murdered" them? Is God not God because we think He's cruel?

We all have the same destiny - a grave. We all also have the same opportunity - salvation through His Son. When we stand before God in judgment (and we all will), I'm going to receive mercy because I have believed in His Son. Others are welcome to tell God you think He's a murderer and that He's being unfair.

Is Jesus God?

There are some people who deny the divinity of Christ. The typical argument goes something like, Jesus is the Son of God; He is not God. To justify their position by pointing to the many references where Jesus calls Himself the “Son of God” and further point out that Jesus never said, “I am God.”

So what are we to believe? Are there any verses that claim Jesus is God? There are actually more than I can list in a single blog. But we’ll look at a few of the most obvious examples. For the sake of certainty, I picked some verses from the OT which clearly describe God and compared them to some verses from the NT which clearly describe Jesus. See what you think:

The heavens are the work of God's hand and He laid the foundation of the earth. (Psalms 102:24-25)
The heavens are the work of Jesus Christ's hand and He laid the foundation of the earth. (Hebrews 1:8-10)

God is the Creator of the earth (Jeremiah 27:5)
Jesus Christ is the Creator of the earth (John 1:10)

God Himself is judge (Psalm 50:6)
Jesus Christ judges the quick and the dead (2 Timothy 4:1)

Only God is our savior (Isaiah 43:11)
Jesus Christ is our savior (Titus 2:13)

God is the first and last (Isaiah 44:6)
Jesus Christ is the first and last (Revelation 1:17-18)

To God, every knee will bow and every tongue confess (Isaiah 45:22-23)
To Jesus Christ, every knee will bow and every tongue confess (Philippians 2:1011)

Forgiveness is with God (Psalms 130:4)
Forgiveness is in the blood of Jesus (Ephesians 1:7)

Jehovah is God Almighty (Genesis 35:11)
Jesus Christ is God Almighty (Revelation 4:8)

Are you convinced yet? And as if these weren’t enough examples, consider this: When Moses asked God His name, God answered, “I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you” (Exodus 3:14). So I AM is a reference to Jehovah of the OT.

In the New Testament, Jesus often referred to Himself as, I AM. The most famous example is in,John 8:58 where Jesus said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.”

But John recorded many instances where Jesus used the name I AM even though it was not translated as such. Another very good example is John 8:24, “I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.” In the KJV, italicized words (such as “he” here) are not in the original Greek.

So any attempt to deny the divinity of Christ is easily refuted. Christ is the Son AND He is God. I’ll leave you with this final verse:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” John 1:1

Matthew 8:5-13: Faith that can move Mountains

The account of the Centurion is one of my favorite passages in the Bible. The Centurion had asked Jesus to heal his servant. When Jesus offered to come to the Centurion’s house, the Centurion forbid Him and said he wasn’t worthy to have Jesus come into in his home. But he knew if Jesus just spoke a word, his servant would be healed. Jesus marveled at the faith of the Centurion and said, “Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel…. Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee” (Matthew 8:10,13) [bold added for emphasis].

When you pray, how would you feel if Jesus answered, “As thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee”? If I sincerely believed, I would be very happy. But if I were plagued with doubt, I guess I would be disappointed.

Nothing is impossible for God (Jeremiah 32:27, Mark 10:27, et al). Yet, we often become so caught up in our worries that we cannot imagine that God can deliver us. We pray to God, but sometimes we pray “hoping” God can help us – not necessarily "believing" that He can. Or worse yet, perhaps we feel so hopeless that we do not even ask – “ye have not because ye ask not” (James 4:2).

Jesus said that if we just have faith the size of a mustard seed, we could move mountains (Matthew 17:20). When you accepted Christ as your Savior, did you not sincerely believe God was able to save you? Didn’t God remove a mountain of sin when he saved each one of us?

God is waiting to bless each person who asks Him. Consider Malachi 3:10, “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.”

Wow! God promises us more blessings than we have room to receive! In Malachi He is literally saying, “Just try Me.” All we need to do is ask, believing.