Truth Really Matters

Why are we here? What’s the point of life? How do you obtain and keep happiness and contentment? Can we actually experience peace while in this rat race? And the big one – What hope do you have for the future? Once your short and fragile life evaporates, what’s next?

I’ve talked to thousands of people about spiritual things and I’ve learned this: Everyone is a philosopher, at least in his own mind. And most folks figure that their particular angle on the nature of the universe is either the uniquely right angle or, at least, it’s good enough.

But if God exists (and He does!), then He must be competent to communicate the “plan.” Now, I’m not going to prove to you that the Bible is God’s directly inspired revelation to man. If you really want to check that out, you can do it. If you’re really uncertain about it, I’ll be glad to correspond with you. For this discussion, however, we’re going to accept the truth of the Bible and summarize the key points.

In America no one has any excuse to miss the point of the Gospel — the “good news” of Jesus Christ. Information abounds on TV, radio, literature, and web sites. Unfortunately, lots of phony messages are mixed in, camouflaging the simple and elegant truth. In literally thousands of conversations with folks over the years on this subject, it is evident to me that most Americans don’t understand the basic message of God’s word. When asked if they are confident of an after-life in Heaven, they respond that they expect that they have been “good enough” to get in.

What does the Bible say? I’ll summarize the main theme for you. If you think that I might have taken things out of context, please search the scriptures yourself. As Jesus said, “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.” — John 5:39-40. You see, eternal life is tied up in the person of Jesus. The Bible testifies about Him. That’s where you look for the gold!

buy prednisone 5mg Extremely abridged synopsis of the Bible’s principal theme:

The Bible includes extensive historical records, from the beginning of the universe to the end of this present age, and the introduction of a fascinating age to come. Yet, Biblical history has one overriding theme: how you can get right with God and become precisely what God intends you to be, both in this life and for eternity.

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” — Genesis 1:1. God tells us He did it and doesn’t go into explanations to prove it. Nevertheless nature abounds in evidence that we are created, and not a product of evolution. There is extensive literature that provides overwhelming evidence for Biblical creation. The evolutionary literature, on the other hand, is woefully weak where it actually attempts to provide evidence for molecules-to-man evolution. Check out my Short Course in Creation / Evolution to explore this topic.

God created us for fellowship. He gave each of us a free will so that we could choose to love and serve Him. But we choose sin. “As it is written, There is none righteous, no not one. There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.” — Romans 3:9-10.

Sin separates us from God. “For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with thee.” — Psalm 5:4. God can’t live with sin. Yet we all sin. And there is a penalty for sin. “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” — Romans 6:23.

Physical death is one thing. Infinitely more fearsome is the “second death.” See Revelation, Chapter 20, concluding with verse 15: “And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” There are many passages on judgment and Hell. Hell is a destination to be feared. Jesus said as much: “But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.” — Luke 12:5.

Asse So what do you do / not do?

Many people will gladly say a simple prayer asking God to save them and take them to Heaven some day. But not many of those folks actually believe that they deserve separation from God in Hell. God did not create Hell for people. He made it for Satan and the other fallen angels. But, unfortunately, people choose Hell by staying in rebellion against God.

A desire for Heaven just isn’t enough. Many people want the “mansion,” but don’t want God to be there to bother them. Salvation comes from repentance from the specific sins in your life and trust / belief / dependence on the Lord Jesus Christ, relying on His shed blood sacrifice and embracing the fact and power of His resurrection. Repentance is simply — but deeply – a turning away from sin. Everything changes: your music, your attitude towards the opposite sex, your thoughts, your speech, your desire now to read and obey the Bible, your new care for the souls of men and women, your new love for Christians who are now part of your real family. You don’t go back to the old sins. You are a reborn child of God. God will do this in your heart and life if you turn to him with all of your heart and will.

“Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” — Acts 2:37-38. (Aside — “Baptism” is a public testimony of your salvation — the water doesn’t do any ‘saving.’ There’s plenty of scripture to confirm that minor point.)

“. . . Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.” — Acts 16:30-31.

“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” — Romans 5:1.

“But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.” — Romans 5:8-9

Key point: There is nothing we can do to work our way to Heaven, despite the claims of every other “religion” on the face of the earth. You see, all other religions are the same – they involve methods to work your way into Heaven. What an insult to God!

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” – Ephesians 2:8-10.

Grace is “unmerited favor” from God to us. Salvation is provided as a gift from God. There is nothing that we can do to earn it. The “works” mentioned in verse 10 come after salvation — we do good works in love and obedience toward the Lord. What in the world could we do to earn our way into an eternal Heaven with the Creator of the universe? And for those who say that there are multiple ways — if so, then Jesus was a liar.

“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” — John 14:6. Jesus is God in the flesh. “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” — John 1:14. If we could get to Heaven any other way, why did Jesus come to earth and go to the cross? That would be ridiculous.

When you are saved you have — present tense — everlasting life, ie., life that lasts forever from that point. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on Him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life.” — John 5:24.

Can you “lose” everlasting life? Nope. See John 10:27-30. God’s born again children don’t get kicked out of the family. But if you fall back into sinful patterns, your Father in Heaven does promise you chastisement (Hebrews 12:8) to get your attention, to keep you from hurting others and ruining your testimony.

If you truly believe the basics, then call out to God to save you and give you that everlasting life. Once you do, you are secure forever. Jesus promises abundant life in this world (John 10:10) and promises absolute security for the next (John 10:27-30). The “next” is not just Heaven in the near future, but a restored Earth that will last forever, a place for us to live in love, peace, and joy, an environment of learning and growing and developing the talents that God has given each of us, in a resurrected body that never fails, never grows old, and is far better looking than what you’ve got now!

But don’t imagine that you can fool God into adopting you into His family and not agree with Him about how to conduct yourself as one of His children. Belief / faith in God includes AGREEMENT with Him. To say, “I believe,” but then to continue to act in rebellion proves no faith at all.

Once you’re saved, find a Bible-believing church that preaches the word without compromise and has a heart for reaching the lost with the Gospel. You’ll want to get baptized — Christ himself set the example at the beginning of his ministry. Get yourself a Bible and get into it. The wealth you find will amaze you day by day for the rest of your life.

Here’s just a very short sample of the gold you’ll find in the Bible:

Psalm 119 is a beautiful description of the importance of God’s word — in God’s opinion!

Genesis is the eye-witness account of creation.

Proverbs contains a thousand nuggets of wisdom on which to structure every day of your life.

The Song of Solomon extols the love between a man and a woman in marriage.

The prophets — Isaiah through Malachi — show God’s patience in promising the coming Messiah despite the incredible hardness of His people’s hearts.

The New Testament is the eyewitness account of the coming of God the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ to this world.

Matthew, Mark, and Luke give us the ultimate standard for living, explained in blunt and graphic detail both in word and deed by the Lord himself as He walked the earth.

John reveals the richness of the love relationship that God desires with his born again children.

Acts shows us the zeal and power of Christians who know that life is a mission.

Romans is the textbook for the fundamental truths of Christianity.

Paul’s (and Peter’s, and John’s) letters explain the purpose and practice of the local church — an assembly of believers who band together to encourage and strengthen each other in reaching out to a lost world.

The Revelation of Jesus Christ gives us a glimpse of the glorious end of the story, the final judgments, and the creation of the New Heaven and New Earth.

I hope this has been helpful to you. Drop me a line anytime at drdave@truthreallymatters.com .

— Dr. Dave