Remembering on Memorial Day

They fell, but o'er their glorious grave

Floats free the banner of the cause they died to save.

The Five D's of Unbelief. A Formulaic Review of Genesis 3

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God actually say, 'You shall not eat of any tree in the garden'?" And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, 'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.'" But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. [Genesis 3:1-6]

I've written before that a belief in evolution is an obstacle to coming to a saving faith in Jesus Christ. It's not so much that I believe a person can't be Christian unless he's a creationist. Rather, I believe that when a person begins rejecting the word of God, it is typical that he will also reject God. It occurred to me that we see a sort of formulaic outline of the process occurring right in Genesis 3.

Pastors often use acronyms and similar mnemonic devices to help people remember some particular point. I never was too keen on these types of messages but in this passage, the “Five D's” leaped out at me so strongly that I can't resist using them.

DOUBT

The first step in unbelief occurs when we begin doubting the word of God. In Genesis 3, the serpent begins sowing seeds of doubt in Eve by saying, “Did God actually say...?” It's sad that many people who claim to be Christian have very little understanding of the Bible. Many Christians are unable to answer the simple question: Where did Cain get his wife? Such ignorance opens the door to all sorts of false doctrines. Hosea 4:6 says, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge:”

DENY

In Genesis 3:4, the devil said, “You will not surely die.” Of course, this denies the commandment of the LORD in Genesis 2:17: “for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” We can assume Eve believed Satan and denied the clear words of God because she eventually ate the fruit apparently believing she would not die.

It's a short step from doubt to denial. When some people have doubts about a difficult passage, rather than study and pray, they opt for the simpler method of denying the truth of the passage. We hear this often when people say things like, “Adam and Eve weren't real people; Genesis is just an allegory.” When the Bible presents something as a fact, we are ill advised to suggest it is not a fact. It is no different than when Satan said, “you will not die.”

DIMINISH

When we deny the truth of what God has said in His word, then we diminish God's authority and make His will subservient to ours. In other words, we elevate our opinion above God's. In Genesis 3:6 says, “the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise.” Eve should have understood that God knew best when He commanded they not eat of the fruit. Nevertheless, she thought of reasons why she should. Romans 1:25 talks about people “Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator.” These foolish people rejected the Creator of the universe and worshiped instead the lesser things of His creation.

DISOBEY

Genesis 3:6 says, “she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.” After Eve had denied God's commandment and decided for herself that the food was good to eat, what was left then but to disobey Him? Judges 21:25 says that when there was no king in Israel, “every man did that which was right in his own eyes.” If we do not recognize an authority greater than ourselves, there is no need to abide by that authority. To reject God's word will always lead to disobeying God's word because His ways are not our ways (Isaiah 55:8-9).

DEATH

Proverbs 14:12 says, “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” Death has always been the punishment for sin (Romans 6:23). When Adam and Eve disobeyed God, they were cursed with death. We are descended from Adam and so we have inherited his body of flesh. Because of this first sin, we all die physically (Romans 5:12). However, those who die without Christ face the second death which is the lake of fire (Revelation 21:8).

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So there you have it – the Five D's of Unbelief. It begins with doubt and ends with death. Again, I'm not saying that people who believe evolution are doomed to hell. I will say that to begin doubting God's word from the very first verse is a dangerous road to be on!

Congressman Grayson Compares GOP to Al Qaeda

There's a lot of buzz this morning over Rep. Grayson's (D-Fl) remarks that liken the GOP to Al Qaeda. You can hear his remarks on this short video.

Frankly, I don't see what the big deal is. I mean, I can understand why this is being covered but demonizing conservatives is a tired, old tactic of liberals. For decades, liberals have called us “Nazis” but in recent years they've changed it to “Al Qaeda” or “Taliban.” Grayson may have just made these remarks recently but this is actually old news.

Something occurred to me just the other day that I had been meaning to blog about. I'm sure many of you have seen Eric Holder refusing to acknowledge a possible link between radical Islam and the recent terror attempt in NY. Here's the video again.

Here's what I think is funny: why is it that liberals frequently demonize conservatives by calling them Al Qaeda, Taliban, radical-right-wing-extremists, etc. yet these same liberals won't condemn radical Islam terrorists out of fear of offending them?! Liberals are such hypocrites that it's hilarious.

Thanks, Mr. Grayson & Mr. Holder for a good laugh. Thanks also for a never ending supply of blog-fodder. If it weren't for crazy liberal comments like these, what would us conservative bloggers do? I guess I'd have to start a cooking blog.

Jesus is Jehovah

A while back, I wrote a brief post discussing the tetragrammaton. Just recently, while I was in a Christian forum which discussed the tetragrammaton, I came across a very interesting post written by a brother who goes by the screen name, Old Shepherd. He listed 26 verses from the OT that use the name YHWH (יהוה) and then paired them with NT verses showing how they are actually references to Jesus. I saved a copy of his post and it's 5 pages long so I won't cite all of the passages here. However, I wanted to share a few of the most significant ones.

Isaiah 40:3, “The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD (יהוה), make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”

Most Christians will immediately recognize this verse as being cited by John the Baptist in Matthew 3:3, “For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.”

As is characteristic of Matthew, he actually cites the book of Isaiah in his gospel so we know without a doubt that was thinking specifically of Isaiah 40:3. Furthermore, it cannot be credibly denied that John the Baptist was sent to prepare the way for Jesus. The conclusion is inescapable that the LORD (יהוה) in Isaiah 40:3 is the Lord Jesus in Matthew 3:3.

Another very compelling example comes from Joel 2:32, “And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD (יהוה) shall be delivered:”

Of course, in Romans 10:13 we read, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

From Romans 10:9 we can be certain that the “Lord” in Romans is Jesus. Again the conclusion is inescapable: we are saved by calling on the Lord – who is both Jesus and Jehovah.

The last verse we'll review is Isaiah 45:23, “I (יהוה) have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.”

Now compare this to Romans 14:10-11, “But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” This same point is expressed again in Philippians 2:10-11, “That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Time and time again we see that what is said of the LORD (יהוה) in the OT is also said of Jesus in the NT. Verses that clearly identify Jehovah in the OT are mirrored in the NT when discussing Jesus. Some people go to great lengths to deny the significance of Jesus' “I AM” quote in John 8:58. I have no doubt they will do the same to distinguish the LORD (יהוה) of the OT from the Lord (Jesus) in the NT. In my opinion though, the meanings of these verses are self-evident. A clear reading of the verses in question will reveal just how desperate the critics' arguments are. Jesus is Jehovah!

Further reading: What is the Name of God? A Look at the Tetragrammaton