<< Joel said... Ray, I have a few questions. Firstly, what do you mean by "Living God?" Are you saying that god is alive? I assume that's not what you mean, but I can't figure out what you do mean. >>
Mankind is prone to idolatry. Idols are anything in our affections that replaces God as the Supreme Being. For example, atheism is a form of idolatry. It replaces the True and Living God (the source of life), with the god of “Time.” Time is the creative force behind evolution. Time brought everything into being. If time didn’t pass its magic hand over evolution, nothing would happen. Evolution is dead without the life of Time.
<< Secondly, I can't puzzle out how you can so easily dismiss other religions and their gods but find it impossible to do the same with your own. Almost all other religions have their holy books, their devoted followers, and the same certainty that they are correct and everyone else is wrong. What makes your certainty different from theirs? What makes your faith correct while theirs suffers from some obvious fallacy? Why are your sound arguments against the other gods and religions somehow not valid when applied to Christianity? What sets Christianity apart? >>
That is a very good question. Here’s the answer in a nutshell. All “religions” are man-made, and they are based on something called “self-righteousness.” They say that there are certain “things” (righteous deeds) that each of us must do to get to Heaven and to escape Hell. Moslems say that you must pray five times a day, fast, accept Mohammed as a prophet, etc. Hinduism says you must do things to try and escape the hopeless spiral of reincarnation. Mormonism and Jehovah’s Witnesses say the same thing. They say that man’s salvation is based on what he does. The reason they believe that is because they are ignorant of the standard that God requires of them. They think His standard of righteousness is the same as theirs. It’s not. God’s standard is absolute perfection, in thought, word and in deed. He considers lust as adultery, hatred as murder. Lying lips are “an abomination” to Him. He is so holy that His justice requires that all liars will have their part in the lake of fire. It is only when His Law comes into play (the Ten Commandments) that we begin to understand that we are desperately wicked criminals in His sight. We are standing guilty in the courtroom of Eternal Justice. It is the Law that shows us that our “good works” (religious deeds) are in truth attempts to bribe the Judge of the Universe, and that the catalyst of religious works is a guilty conscience, or what the Bible calls an “evil” conscience. However, God will not be bribed. We are guilty criminals against God, Law-breakers, and we are awaiting capital punishment. But the Bible tells us that this perfect and holy Judge of the Universe is “rich in mercy.” If we fling ourselves on the mercy of the Court (through repentance and faith in Jesus), God can dismiss our case, and let us live. He can commute our death sentence, and save us from damnation in Hell. And he can do that because He paid the fine for us in the life’s blood of His Son. The Living God created for Himself a perfect body and filled that body as a hand fills a glove. Jesus of Nazareth was the “express image of the invisible God.” He came to suffer and die in our place; to take the punishment for our sins. He came to pay our fine and defeat death. That’s what separates Christianity from man-made religions. This is explained a little more clearly in my booklet, Why Christianity?: www.livingwaters.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=512
Friday, January 11, 2008
