The bible is speaking about God in this instance. If someone asked me the score of Super Bowl 50 and I said the Broncos won 24 to 9....and I said 24 to 9 because I heard a sportscaster say 24 to 9..would I be lying?
You wouldn't be telling the truth. You decide.
I have no problem with that..but it's not across the board. Some Christians believe a lie because they never heard the truth.
Well, of course for me, this becomes part of the dividing line between 'christians' and those who are 'born again'. Christians today are just people who go to church. Donald Trump says that he is a 'christian' and he's a man that, as far as I know, isn't often found in worship. In a public interview he denied that he needed forgiveness for any sins and then mocked the act of communion. I'm sorry, but there just isn't anyway that someone who near constantly denigrates and disparages others as he does can be born again. He may be a 'christian', after all, all that takes is for the mouth to say the words. But to be born again is something that happens in our spirit with His Spirit. To be born again means that we actively have the Holy Spirit living within us to convict us of sin and righteousness. To be born again is a steadfast requirement of being a child of God.
However, according to Paul's words, all men know the truth. A christian, who is more than 6 months down the narrow and straight path, and hasn't felt compelled by the Holy Spirit living within them to read and study the Scriptures for themselves, but rather relies on what others tell them, has no excuse.
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet is one of the first truths that the Holy Spirit compelled me to understand and seek knowledge from. I'm always listening to pastors, teachers, etc. and constantly running through my mind is a check system. Verifying what I am hearing with what the Scriptures say.
Sad to say but there are christians today who don't believe in miracles.
There are 'christians' today who believe about anything. They have been taken captive by vain philosophy that is based on the traditions of men and the natural properties of this world. Setting aside all the knowledge, wisdom and truth of Christ for the knowledge, wisdom and truth of men. The question that each and every one of us needs to answer, if eternal life is what we seek, is: Have I been born again?
Nicodemus was a great man of God before Israel. He was a part of the lawgivers and enforcers in all of Israel. He was, just as we look to scientists today for the answers to the natural properties of things, who the people looked to for guidance and wisdom of the things of God.
Yet, Jesus said that he (Nicodemus) was amazed when he told him that he must be born again. He even chastised him for being a leader in Israel and not understanding these things. Then he clearly told him, "I tell you the truth, you must be born again to enter the kingdom of God". John writes to us that only those born of the Spirit have the right to be called children of God. All others may claim to be children of God just as the crowd in Israel claimed of themselves, but Jesus was also clear to them. "Your father is the devil! You seek to do his will."
When Jesus spoke of the day of his Father's judgment he told the disciples, "Look, not everyone who says to me Lord, Lord, will be saved. Only those who do the will of the Father in heaven". He also told them that on that day there would be many, let me repeat please, many who would be crying out to him, "Lord, Lord. Did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and perform great miracles?" These were obviously people who had checked the religion box on their census: Christian.
Yes, there are many that have been deceived and exchanged the truth for a lie.
What makes it difficult is that the lie is force fed to our students in our schools.
That is why God instructed the parents in Israel to teach their children the truth about him. My son went to a christian school for his first 7 years of education. It was a sacrifice that I was happy to make financially and I realize that not everyone can do it, but...
I reinforced and taught him the things of God at home. Instead of reading fairy tale bedtime stories, we'd read some of the Scriptures before he went to bed. We'd talk about the things of God when we got up and when we laid down and as we traveled.
Today, he's bright and intelligent. He graduated with a 3.54GPA from a top notch college with a bachelors in computer engineering and holds down, less than a year after graduating, a job that pays him in excess of $70,000. But if you ask my son about the creation of this realm, he'll faithfully tell you that it is a relatively young creation that has existed for about 6,000 years by the will and the power of the God who created it for a home for man and that same God will also judge us in the due course of time.
Do all of his friends believe it? No. But I have often explained to him that God isn't interested in whether you are in agreement with the general thinking of the world. As a matter of fact, God says that being like the world is anathema to Him. So, I've told him, you need to make a choice. Is it more important for you to be in step with the world or following after God's own heart?
Any parent, who is born again, who allows the school system to be in charge of their child's spiritual knowledge and understanding -- isn't.
God bless you.
In Christ, Ted
