Category Archives: Bible Study

Never heard of Christ?

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Question: If you have to accept Jesus to be saved and to go to heaven, what about people in some remote part of the world who have never heard of Jesus?

This post is in response to a question from the Got Questions? page of this site.  The answer was a bit too long to publish on that page so I’ve responded here.  Please feel free to submit additional questions to timvoelz@hunger4truth.com.

Does this person want to know God? This question only becomes tragic if the person in question has a desire to know God and spend eternity in Heaven with his Maker. The Christian claim is that the only way to Heaven is through Jesus Christ.

“Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” – Acts 4:12

“Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” – John 14:6

But don’t fret. There is hope. The Bible also tells us this;

“From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.” – Acts 17:26-27

And God made it possible for all of us to know Him.

“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities–his eternal power and divine nature–have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” – Romans 1:20

More than that God desires that we all come to faith and take hold of the promise of Heaven.

“The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” – 2 Peter 3:9

So knowing our hearts the way He does;

“I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.” – Jeremiah 17:10

He won’t let any who desire Him to be lost.

In practical terms, this means that this person who has never heard the message of Christ will not escape that message. God will move a missionary to his village, cause a drought that will force her to move to a town with a church, or knock a crate of Bibles off a truck that will float down the river and come to rest right outside their home. I have even heard a number of stories of people coming to faith because they had a dream about Jesus. Consider this story from the Bible;

“Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake (which means “queen of the Ethiopians”). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet. The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”

Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.

“How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

This is the passage of Scripture the eunuch was reading:

“He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,
and as a lamb before its shearer is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
In his humiliation he was deprived of justice.
Who can speak of his descendants?
For his life was taken from the earth.”
The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.” – Acts 8:26-35

So don’t worry about the seeker living in the deepest jungle or the darkest cave. Christians are commanded by the Lord Jesus to find these people and share the good news about the Christ. And by the grace of God they will, for no one is beyond the reach of The Lord. Worry instead about the person who has heard but still doesn’t believe. If you are a Christian, pray for these people. If you are not, pray for yourself. Ask God, “If You are Who You say You are, reveal Yourself to me.”
Amen.

 

A Couple of Goats… (4 of 4)

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‘The Bible says a woman is worth two goats and a donkey.’ This is the comment that inspired this series of posts as well as the title. As I mentioned in part 1 of A Couple of Goats, the Bible does not in fact say anything about a woman being worth any kind of livestock. Or does it?

Wait actually it does. Now that I think about it, it say she is worth a lamb. In fact she is worth The Lamb of God. The Lamb of God, is Jesus. Jesus is God’s only Son. So a woman is worth God’s only Son.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” -John 3:16

“The World” includes women. It includes all of us, but it definitely includes women. The truth is, no other religious text in the world elevates women like the Bible does. God saw fit to include women like Sarah, Ruth, and Mary in the Messianic genealogies (the line of Christ). The Bible calls out numerous female heroes like, Esther, Deborah, Jael, and Rahab the prostitute. Consider the following verses from the Gospel of Luke:

“When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them. When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.” … Then he [Jesus] turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet.” – Luke 7:36-39 & 44-47

This is one of the few stories which is shared in all four Gospels. Matthew and Mark add this comment from Jesus;

“Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.” – Mat. 26:13 & Mark 14:9

What honor Jesus has given this woman. He never said anything like that about anyone, not even his disciples.  Another example of  Jesus honoring women was right after He rose from the dead.  He made his first appearance to a group of women. In their culture, women could not even be called as a credible witness in a court of law, but Jesus honored them as first witness to His resurrection.
Finally, consider this verse in the first chapter of the first book of the Bible:

So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. – Genesis 1:27

God created woman in His own image.  He didn’t just arbitrarily make a creature; He gave her His image.  Now you can speculate as to full implications of that verse, but let me tell you one thing it definitely means.  To be born a woman is a sacred thing.  Her sex is sacred. This distinction is unique to the Judeo-Christian worldview and it’s fulfilment is only reached in the Christian.

This shared image or likeness with God means she was made for a relationship with God. Now because of her sin (for we all sin -Rom 3:23) her relationship with her Creator was broken. Because He loved her so much, He was willing to sacrifice His Son on a cross to mend that relationship (Rom 4:25). And as a sign to affirm this, Jesus was raised from the dead after three days, giving her the hope of eternal life (John 11:25). If she but believes in this, she will live forever in the presence of her loving Creator.

A Couple of Goats… (3 of 4)

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Today’s subject is Ignorance
As with context, Biblical ignorance is rampant among non-believers and believers alike.  The Bible may be the best selling book of all time, but I wonder if it is not the most unread.  It is so easy to quote something out of context when you haven’t read that from which you are quoting.  I suspect that most people who abuse the Bible, when challenged, will probably tell you that they are simply quoting something they heard from someone else.  And those that have cracked open the Word of God, probably have only read a handful of verses from here and there and never read a whole chapter, a whole book, much less the whole Bible.

For those who have not read it, let me tell you what it is.  The Bible is a collection of 66 books divided into two sections; an old and a new testament.  (A testament is an agreement or a promise.) These books were penned from about 1500 B.C. to 95 A.D., a period of more that one thousand five hundred years.  There were at least 40 different people who wrote these books.  The writers included shepherds, landowners, a tent maker, prophets, scholars, a doctor, priests, soldiers, a cup bearer, fishermen, and kings. It was written primarily in three languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek) on three continents (Africa, Asia, and Europe). And the singular message of this book from beginning to end is the redemption of mankind by its Saviour, Jesus the Christ. It’s amazing. It really is.

Like any book, these books should be read contiguously from beginning to end, except perhaps, the book of Psalms and the book of Proverbs; these should at least be read contiguously by chapter. What author in the world expects his or her readers to start reading in the middle or the end and only a sentence or phrase at a time?

But mainly, the underlying point is that a book is meant to be read and the Bible is no exception. Which writer (except perhaps me) expects their works to be left unread? So if you have one, for what are you waiting? I know they look pretty sitting on your shelf, but let me assure you it is far more beautiful on the inside. Actually there is beauty and terror, love and hate, poetry and prophecy, life and death and the death of death. You will never read a more fascinating book than the Bible.

For those who have read, let me apologize for coming off the way I am. If you continue to read my posts, you will recognize a common theme. Read and Pray, Read and Pray, Read and Pray…. This is probably why I have no friends. But if you have read the Bible, read it again. I won’t let a day go by without reading His Word. If I go blind, I’ll have it read to me. If I lose my hearing too, I’ll learn Braille.  Every time I go through it I learn something new.  This is the only way to combat Biblical ignorance.

Listen.  I’ll be the first to admit that I am not the sharpest tool in the shed. But there is no better way for me to flaunt my ignorance than by quoting from or voicing my opinion about a piece of literature I have not read.  In a situation like this it is far better to keep my opinions to myself.

“Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding.” – Proverbs 17:28

One of my favourite verses.

So probably next week I’d like to address the comment that started this post in the first place.  Let’s find out exactly what a woman is worth.  Stay tuned for A Couple of Goats part 4.

A Couple of Goats… (2 of 4)

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So today I want to talk about CONTEXT
This is something that non-believers and Christians are both guilty of abusing all the time. Christians use it of course to defend their position. In effect they try to make God say what they want Him to say. A great example of this is found in Exodus 21:24 “an eye for an eye…” We’ve all heard this. It’s justification for us to get even with whoever offended us, right? Wrong! First of all this was written in a historical context. This is meant to be read descriptively not prescriptively. Second, this is legislative or judicial. This is not a free pass for revenge. Taken in context this had to do with the fair treatment of an offence that was properly judged by the Hebrew’s governing body. Today in the United States, we still use this to deal with capitol crimes in 32 of our 50 states.

However, historical context aside, Jesus raised the bar for believers. Consider His words in these verses:

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.” – Matthew 4:38-42

Christians, this is a command. You don’t get a pass on this one. So taken in context what does “an eye of an eye” mean? Well, if you obey the Word of God it means be gracious, merciful, and loving to everyone, even your enemies.

Taken out of context you can make any piece of literature say what ever you like. Take this example from Charles Darwin’s book “The Origin of Species,” Chapter 6:

“To suppose that the eye with all its inimitable contrivances for adjusting the focus to different distances, for admitting different amounts of light, and for the correction of spherical and chromatic aberration, could have been formed by natural selection, seems, I freely confess, absurd in the highest degree.”

Whoa! Wait. Did Darwin just say that even an eye could not be formed by the processes of natural selection!?! Mr. Evolution himself? Well that is what it says because this isn’t the whole context. He goes on to defend his theories in the following passages and in fact the whole book is about how eyes and everything else are formed by natural processes.

So this brings me to my next topic; Biblical ignorance.  Look for A Couple of Goats part 3 where we will dive deep into that vast pool of the uninformed.

Saved From What?

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How many of us have heard the statement “Jesus saves!” Or has anyone ever asked you, “Are you saved?” I don’t remember how old I was when someone asked me that question. I think I was in high school. I really didn’t know what to say. At that time I understood that a certain group of people liked to go around and make sure everyone was “saved”. I kind of felt an annoyance toward these people and considered them religious nut-jobs who ought to mind their own business. Well lets face it, some of these people could be quite pushy. On top of that I had no idea what they really meant by “saved”; “saved from what?”

Now I wasn’t completely ignorant of what they meant; or so I thought. I had heard that Jesus was a good man who died on a cross to save us from our sins. I didn’t really know how this helped us, but I knew that because He died, we didn’t have to worry about hell or something like that. Decades later I would come to understand more fully what this “saving” was actually about.

For starters, I learned who Jesus is. I assumed, like many, that Jesus was just like other prominent religious figures in history, like Gautama Buddha, the Prophet Muhammad, or Confucius. This was wrong. Jesus is, has always been, and always will be God.

Jesus says, ” I and my Father are one.” – John 10:30

“Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, before Abraham was even born, I am!”” – John 8:58

“No one can see God, but Jesus Christ is exactly like him. He ranks higher than everything that has been made.  Through his power all things were made—things in heaven and on earth, things seen and unseen, all powers, authorities, lords, and rulers. All things were made through Christ and for Christ.  He was there before anything was made, and all things continue because of him.” – Col 1:15-17

Jesus made Buddha. He made Muhammad. He made Confucius. He even made the molecules of the very nails which held Him to that cross. He is not just a good man who died hanging from some timber.

The second thing I learned was why Jesus had to die. This was really a mystery to me until I understood that Jesus is God. He came to earth, giving up His glory, the majesty of His position as God, to be human.  He could not give up his deity yet He was human for a time. Jesus lived a perfect life, without sinning, and then willingly and fully aware of what He must endure, went to the cross to suffer and die for us.

“For our high priest [Jesus] is able to understand our weaknesses. He was tempted in every way that we are, but he did not sin.” – Heb 4:15

“Christ had no sin, but God made him become sin so that in Christ we could become right with God.” – 2 Cor 5:21

He had to do it because we could not. If any other man went to the cross that man would not be paying for our sins, but his own. And once that man was dead, he could never raise himself to give us the hope of eternal life. It had to be Jesus.

The Third thing I learned is how Jesus could pay for our sins. I’ve heard this question in the past; “How could one man pay for all of our sins?” If the price of sin is an eternity in hell, how could one man suffering for a few hours pay for an eternity of hell for even one person much less millions of people? The answer is because the worth of that Man is so much more than everyone and everything else put together.

“For this man was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who hath builded the house hath more honour than the house.” – Heb 3:3

“Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.” – Rev 5:12

If you took all the people who ever lived and ever will live, all the sand from the shores, all the trees from every forest, all the water from the oceans, all the planets, all the stars, and every piece of cosmic dust in the universe and placed it on one side of a scale and then set Jesus on the other side, His worth would fling it ALL out of existence. That’s how He could suffer for our sins.

The final thing I learned is from what He saved us. Jesus suffered a lot at the hands of the Romans on the day of His crucifixion. He was beaten, He was mocked, He had His beard and hair pulled out, He was was scourged almost to the point of death, and He was nailed to a cross and left to die an excruciating death. In fact the word excruciating comes from the word crucifixion. But all this was nothing compared to the suffering He endured in the three hours of darkness that fell over the earth.

“And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.” – Mark 15:33

I’ve heard people say this is the time in which the Father turned away from the Son. But this is not so. This was when the Father in full measure poured out His Almighty wrath upon the Son for every sinner that ever was and every sinner that ever would be.  He unleashed hell and fury as nothing that ever was or ever will be again. Even Satan and his daemons will never know the enormity of the righteous judgement exacted on Jesus that day.  This is that from which we are saved. We are saved from God.

“Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!” – Rom 5:9

Because we have been saved from God, we can now enter into a loving relationship with God.  It was His love and grace that paved the way.  He knew it from the beginning.  This was not plan “B”; this was the plan all along.  Before Adam, before even time, He knew He would need a way to redeem us.  That way is Jesus Christ, the worthy Lamb Who was slain.

I want to credit Ravi Zacharias and Paul Washer for two of my illustrations.

Which Came First, the Chicken or Love? (Part 3 of 3)

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So we are at the point now where we are asking ‘What difference does it make if love preceded life?’  ‘Why are you spending any time on this topic at all, Tim?’  Please  bear with me and I will try to reveal something quite meaningful and definitely life changing. The fact that God was content in a holy loving relationship before He created the universe means something quite terrifying and at the same time quite wonderful.  It means that He does not need a single one of us.  ‘Whoa. Wait… You lost me, Tim.  You’re saying God doesn’t need me.  How is this helpful?  And, I see how this statement is a little scary, but how is this “wonderful”?’ Yes.  Think about that for a minute.  ‘God doesn’t need me… He doesn’t need me.’  So a logical conclusion to this thought is ‘If God doesn’t need me, He must not care about me.’  But that is actually the wonderful part.  In fact He does care about you.  He doesn’t have to care one little bit, but He does!  You see, this is where I’m going with this thought about love preceding life.  It fully demonstrates God’s love for us. God was in a perfect, complete, loving relationship long before you and I and everyone else, but He, in love (not because He needed love), chose to make us.  And He made us so that we might experience HIS love, not the other way around.   This is perfect unconditional love.  He made us knowing that we would not all love Him and that many of us would hate Him, but He loves us none the less.  How do I know this?

“While we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son” ~Romans 8:10

“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. ~John 3:16

Think about this.  God could have saved Himself a lot of pain and suffering by not creating mankind.  But knowing full well how we would turn from Him, He made us anyway.  And for our benefit,  He lowered Himself to be born of a virgin woman and live among us facing every evil and temptation this world has to offer and not once falling short of God’s perfect standards.  And then He willingly went to the cross and suffered death and worse the wrath of the Father; which is our due for turning away from Him.  And on the third day of His death, He rose Himself from the grave to show us that in Him there is no death but eternal life.  He, God, the Son, Jesus did this for you.  This is true love from eternity past.   If you believe that, your eternal life is secure.

 

Which Came First, the Chicken or Love? (Part 2 of 3)

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To answer the question  ‘Who did God love before the beginning, before the creation?’ the Monotheist might say ‘God loved himself before he created life.’  But that doesn’t really work if you think about it.  Can you really truly love yourself?  The Bible tells us what love is.

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”
~ 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

So no, you really cannot love yourself.  Or wait… Can you?  Someone with a mild knowledge of the Bible (including myself) might say, ‘Whoa whoa whoa!  What about when Jesus says;

 “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
~ Mark 12:31 

‘Love “YOURSELF”!  See!  It says it right there!  What about that? Huh?’  Okay, okay.  I had the same question.  So lets look at this verse in context.  ** TANGENT ALERT!  TANGENT ALERT! **  (I do this a lot.  Sorry.)  Jesus is asked a question; “Of all the commandments, which is the greatest?”  To which Jesus answers;

“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’  The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
~ Mark 12:29-31

It is important to note that Jesus is telling His listeners to 1) Love God above everything and 2) Love others.  There is no command or suggestion or hint anywhere in the Bible that teaches anyone to love themselves.  The only thing He is saying here in verse 31 is that instead of putting yourself first, you must put others before you.  And so I still hold firm to the belief that you cannot truly love yourself.

Still not convinced?  Ask yourself  this question.  ‘Would I die for myself?’  Is there a greater act of love than to give your life for someone else?  Jesus says;

“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”
~ John 15:13

I doubt anyone would disagree with that.  Without belaboring the point any further I think it is safe to say that the Monotheistic god could not love himself before creation.  In fact I believe a more realistic answer from this worldview would be that ‘God created, that he might love what he created.’

So we come to the Trinitarian worldview which is the Christian worldview.  One God in three distinct Persons.  I can go into the mind numbing conversation of a Triune God some other time, but let me assure you, dear reader, the God of the Bible is unquestioningly a Triune God.  As I mentioned in my last post this means He is one God in three Persons.  God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.  Each equal and each distinct and all God.  In this case and only in this case it is possible that God was loving before there was a creation.  The Father, Son, and Spirit loving Each Other in a Holy, eternal Community before there ever was a creation.  Do you see this? Only in the Christian worldview can love precede life.

So that begs the question; ‘Who cares?  What difference does that make?  So what?’  Well, I’m glad you asked.  I will save the answer to that question for my next post.

Which Came First, the Chicken or Love? (Part 1 of 3)

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Take any major worldview (that is, any major religious or philosophical stand through which one views the world) outside the Christian worldview, and you will find that in every case, life precedes love.  This is no slight or defamation toward any worldview, it is simply the truth.  Ask anyone true to their faith, be they Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Atheist, etc. and he or she would have to agree.  Only the Christian worldview can claim that Love precedes life.  This begs two questions; How is this possible and more importantly; Why does it matter?

I borrowed my title from an ancient philosophical question; “Which came first, the chicken or the egg?”  The question is meant to stimulate the mind as one ponders origins or ‘first cause’.  The answer to that question can easily be found in the Bible; Genesis chapter 1.  The answer to my question is also rooted in the beginning but may not be so obvious.    It goes back in history a little bit further.  It goes back to Genesis chapter 1 verse 1; “In the beginning God…”  The word for God here was originally written ‘Elohim‘.  This is the Hebrew word for God in it’s plural form.  You see Christians worship the Triune God.  God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.  One God.  Three persons.  Each equal and each distinct and all God.  This is how it is possible that Love preceded life.

If God was there at the beginning one could ask this question, ‘Who did God love before the beginning, before the creation?’  Look at the answer to that question from these viewpoints.  The Atheist would say ‘There is no sentient cause or god who created life, so of course life preceded love.’  In fact they might even say ‘Love is simply a bio-chemical reaction to certain environmental stimuli, so again, naturally life must precede love.’  The Pantheist would say ‘Nature or the universe is god, therefore life had to precede love because before there was anything, there was nothing that could love.’  The Monotheist might have a better answer which I will explore in my next post.

Stay Hungry,
Tim