Can A Christian be Holy? Can a christian be Sick? (Updated)

Here is a question that has been going around for quite sometimes in Church circles. Christians have always wondered about their status as saints or holy people. Is it true that Christians are saints or holy? This question is not novel or new, and it will always be around for as long as Christians will be living lives that betrays our understanding of holiness and sanctity.

However, what is novel and new - at least for me - is the claim that i recently heard that because Christians are holy or saints,  this means a Christian is incapable to sin or to exhibit any type of unholy behavior. This latter one is an extreme view that i never encountered before. But since things changes, we should expect more and more strange claims and never heard before doctrines. We need to accept that time has changed and that answers are once again needed for the new generation of converts.

The usual understanding of people about Holiness is that to be holy or to be a saints mean to be perfect and sinless. If we define holiness on those terms, then it becomes understandable why Christians keep doubting about their status as Holy people.

The easiest way to answer the question: "ARE CHRISTIAN HOLY?" is to do a thorough exposition on sanctification and Holiness. But this can't be done in this post, for it will make the post extremely long. So what I'll do is to take few verses and try to comment on them. So this is not a post about Understanding Holiness. But rather a post that respond to the question while helping people avoid extreme views.

I. Define and Explain:

Sanctification and Holiness are two words that are basically synonymous. In Greek Sanctification is "Hagiazo" and Holy is "Hagion" (cfr the eSword Hebrew and Greek Dictionary). They indicate the same idea. And the idea is what is Holy is by definition "set aside" or "put apart".

"What is holiness? Many people think we become holy by the eradication of something evil within. No, we become holy by being separated unto God. In Old Testament times, it was when a man was chosen by God to be altogether His that he was publicly anointed with oil and was then said to be ‘sanctified’. Thereafter he was regarded as set apart to God. In the same manner even animals or material things—a lamb, or the gold of the temple—could be sanctified, not by the eradication of anything evil in them, but by being thus reserved exclusively to the Lord. “Holiness’ in the Hebrew sense meant something thus set apart, and all true holiness is holiness “to the Lord” (Exodus 28:36). I give myself over wholly to Christ: that is holiness." - The Normal Christian Life by Watchman Nee. Chapter: Presenting Ourselves To God. page 46

In this same mind, a Christian is holy in the sense that he was 'set apart' for God usage and from things that prevent them to be used by God. Matter of fact, that is why when Christian gather together, the bible refered to that gathering or that community as a 'Church'. The word 'Church' comes from the Greek word 'Eklesia' (cfr Math16:18 Esword Dictionary) which means to "call out". Hence the Christians Church is a community of people who have been call out of something. Here again the notion of separation from the rest of the crowd is once again linked to the Christian community - thus sanctification, holiness, set aside from.

II. Understanding our holiness:

There are two way a person can be Holy.

1. The first one is by birth like it was the case with Jesus:

"Then Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I do not know a man?" And the angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit shall come upon you, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy Baby which is to be born shall be called the Son of God." Luke 34-35 EMTV

2. The second way to be Holy is by becoming a saint through a process called sanctification. Just like the word 'justification' means to make someone Righteous, sanctification means to make someone Holy.

First, Christians were made Holy (read, set apart) from the immorality of the world by the activity of the Holy Spirit.

"... thieves, greedy people, drunks, slanderers, and robbers will not inherit the kingdom of God. That is what some of you were! But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of our Lord Jesus the Messiah and by the Spirit of our God." - 1 Corinthians 6:10-11 ISV

Second, Christian were made Holy (read, separated) from the first (old) covenant through the sacrifice of Jesus' body

"[Jesus] takes away the first in order to establish the second. By God's will we have been sanctified once and for all through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus, the Messiah."  Hebrew 10:10 ISV

The separation with the First refers to the Old covenant sacrificial system. It was done once and for all in history. It happened two thousand years ago. It will never be repeated again. (Cfr Hebrews 9-10) 

Third, Christian were made Holy (read, separated) from the rest of the world for one purpose, to obey Jesus.

"the people chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father through the sanctifying action of the Spirit to be obedient to Jesus, the Messiah," - 1 Peter 1:2  ISV

In summary, all Christians were made Holy, were put aside from the darkness of the world and away from the Old covenant sacrificial system of righteousness for one purpose. The purpose is that so they will obey Jesus. There should never been a conflict for a Christian between a demand made by Jesus versus a demand made by the world or by the Old covenant law of righteousness. As an example, if an Old (the first) covenant Law for example command something and then Jesus happens to command something else than that old law, the sanctified Christian should then listen and obey what Jesus is saying rather than someone else (Mathew 5:38-38).

Fourth, Christians who have been made Holy - set aside- are commanded to keep being separated in the way they behave

"Instead, be holy in every aspect of your life, just as the one who called you is holy." - 1 Peter 1:15  

This last one is important to understand, because although Christians are separated from the filth of the world through the activity of the Holy Spirit, the human nature within them has always the desire to express itself. This verse above raises the point of holiness in our behaviors. St. Peter introduced the request not as a suggestion but as a command by the use of the imperative "be Holy". In the same line, St. Paul also warned Christians in all his letters to walk by the Spirit so that they may not have to walk by the carnal behaviors of the world. This is a task that a Christian has to do everyday. A christian is exhorted and commanded to watch out his/her daily behavior and to have a separated, a set aside lifestyle than the one found in the world. As it is written: "Pay close attention to your life and your teaching. Persevere in these things, because if you do so, you will save both yourself and those who listen to you." - 1 Timothy 4:16 ISV" (See also Galatians 5 and Ephesians 4)

III. Reflection about divine Healing

I like the biblical case about divine healing because it illustrate well why doctrinal things should be taken with caution and not in a rush.

1. There is prophecy and a divine promise that guarantees us that we are healed by the work of the Cross:

a) From the old testament: "But he was wounded for our transgressions, and he was crushed for our iniquities, and the punishment that made us whole was upon him, and by his bruises we are healed." - Isaiah 53:5 

This prophecy is repeated twice in the New testament:

b) First in the epistle of Peter:

"'He himself bore our sins' in his body on the tree, so that we might die to those sins and live righteously. 'By his wounds you have been healed.'" - 1 Peter 2:24

c) and the second one in the Gospel of Mathew: 

"This was to fulfill what was declared by the prophet Isaiah when he said, 'It was he who took our illnesses away and removed our diseases.'" - Matthews 8:17 

I mean this is a serious guarantee that something has been done about our illness and diseases many centuries ago. It is interesting that in Peter it is written in the past tense as a phenomenon of the past. So here is the question: "can a Christian be sick?". Our experiences proves us that Christians can and do get sick despite the wonderful work of the Cross. Just like our experiences proves us that Christians can and do sin despite the wonderful work of the cross.

And let me remind the reader that I do believe in divine healing and the finished work of Jesus. Jesus has sealed his work by saying that it was finished. Remember:

"After Jesus had taken the wine, he said, "It is finished." Then he bowed his head and released his spirit." - John 19:30  

But we still see people getting sick around us, even in our churches. In case, you'd like to object that we should not take in account modern experiences of people, i then suggest that we look at old folks experiences then:

a. The case of Epaphodities - a Brother

"Epaphroditus—my brother, fellow worker, and fellow soldier, but your messenger and minister to my need—back to you. For he has been longing for all of you and is troubled because you heard that he was sick." - Philippians 2:25-26  

Din't Epaphroditus or St. Paul the apostle knew that Jesus was bruised so that we may be healed? Of course they knew it.

b.  The Case of Trophimus

"Erastus stayed in Corinth, and I left Trophimus in Miletus because he was sick." - 2 Timothy 4:20  

Why did Paul literally leave Trophimus sick in Miletus? Din't he knew that Jesus healed him at the Cross? Of course they knew it. But you see, unlike some extremist views nowaday, those Christians of the first centuries understood that things do not just happen to Christian automatically just because it is a divine promise or because it was acquired for us at the Cross. 

c. The case of the Corinthian church

"That's why so many of you are weak and sick and a considerable number are dying." - 1 Corinthians 11:30  

It is important to understand this. Just like sins were dealt with at the cross as read in the book of Isaiah, the same also goes with illness and sickness. They were dealt at the cross too. And Jesus said that his work was finished, it was completed. However, if we are not careful in our analysis of the Scriptures, we may go astray into false doctrines and false teachings by assuming that a Christian can not sin or can not be sick, because it was written that he bore our sins and sickness at the cross. Unfortunately, a Christian can sin (1 Peter 1:20) and a Christian can get sick as already shown above.

Even though He bore them at the cross, these things did not disappear. What Jesus did at the Cross, was that he made available the cure for our spiritual and physical maladie. These cure are not automatic - unless commanded by God when He decides.

Usually, It is up to us to take those benefice of the cross, and to appropriate them by God's grace. Because it happened at the Cross does not necessarily mean that it will automatically be experienced by all Christians. No, it will not. We have to be willing to apply the remedy of the cross on our daily lives. We have to daily be obedient to Jesus - for this was after all the reason we were made Holy (sanctified). And this is how we keep ourselves holy - by obeying Jesus. 

So yes, a Christian can and is Holy through the divine activities of the Spirit on his/her behalf. And a Christian even holy is not exempt to keep practicing holiness for s/he has been commanded to "be holy" by St. Peter because of the possibility of reverting into unholy behaviors by abandoning the practice of the holy life: 

"For if, after escaping the world's corruptions through a full knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus, the Messiah, they are again entangled and conquered by those corruptions, then their last condition is worse than their former one. It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than to know it and turn their backs on the holy commandment that was committed to them." 2 Peter 2:20-21 ISV 

It was not a suggestion, but an imperative statement. It was a command - "Be Holy". 

P.S: Check out my book - Help Me Understand Jesus. Check My Book by clicking here or more here.

Should A Christian Ask For Forgiveness?

I never thought it would occur to me to even answer such question - namely, CAN A CHRISTIAN ASK FOR FORGIVENESS after a sin have been committed? If you asked me that many years ago, i would have been shocked even by the nature of that question. But since time changes, and a new generation of questioners arise, we will have to cope with those kind of questions and try to answer them, even the most bizarre questions among them. People - particularly young folks - come up with new questions, unbelievable questions that still needs to be answered. For failure to do so, would unfortunately give some of them the false pretext that they have the right to believe anything they want to believe, even if they hold to the most unbelievable and strangest doctrinal beliefs that has ever crossed a human mind.


So let me proceed ...

In order to answer this question, we need to define few words and then give a brief background about the very reason of the this question.


I. Definition & Explanation:

a) A Christian is a word used since the first century to refer to anyone who became a disciple of Jesus. As it is written in Acts 11: 26:  "And the disciples were first called Christian in Antioch."

b) Forgiveness is only necessary where an offense or a wrongness has been committed. We do not forgive good actions nor proper behaviors. It is only where an improper behavior or an offense (aka sin) has been done that the need to forgive becomes a necessity.

II. Background on the Question:

It appears that there have been some teachings going around claiming that once a man has been forgiven his sins by God, he can not receive again the benefits of God's forgiveness in his/her future Christian life. Why? Because - so goes the argument - once saved a Christian can no longer commit an action that necessitate divine forgiveness. They become perpetually sinless or something like that. So forgiveness is only a benefit that non Christians can enjoy according to that view.

Fortunately for anyone interested in the truth about what the Bible actually says, this doctrinal fault / mistake can be readily and easily corrected. keep reading if the truth about this interest you.

III. Let's Answer It:

First, Our Father forgive Us

Jesus taught his disciples that when they prayed they should ask the Father to forgive them their trespasses (aka sins):  "[Our Father]... forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who have sinned against us." Mathew 6:[9], 12 - ISV.

However  since some people may feel the desire to object to this verse because Jesus taught this before the event of the Cross, then let's look at some texts that convey the same idea after the event of the Cross.

Second, John the apostle teaches the acquisition of forgiveness to Christians

The apostle John taught the first century Christian community that if they confess their sins, God will forgive them.

"If we confess our sins, he [God] is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 1John 1:9

 It is interesting to note in this verse  above that   1) John uses the plural form of the pronoun "OUR" as if to indicate that he himself as a christian is included in that beneficial process of receiving forgiveness when it is needed.   2) John does not use the past tense such as "if we confessed our sins" or "God was faithful to forgave us our sins" or "cleansed us from" when he wrote. But He used the present continuous tense in lieu of the past tense, which means that he was not referring to their past lives before they became Christians but rather he was giving them a present solution while they were Christians.   3) John shew that unfortunately sin could still negatively affect Christians. Hence the need for confession and forgiveness.

Thirdly, John gave the reason for our continued reception of forgiveness

Just after chapter 1, the second chapter of the first epistle of John starts as this:

"My little children, I write these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He is the propitiation concerning our sins, and not concerning ours only, but also concerning the sins of all the world." - 1 John 2:1-2

It was important to add this follow up commentary in case, some people manages to miss the obvious points highlighted in the prior discussion. In this chapter, the same John that informed us that if we confess our sin God will forgive us, also inform us why God will do it. God will forgive because by His side we have someone - namely Jesus - who is advocating our case. And in verse 2 the Apostle John attracted our attention to two categories of people benefiting Jesus advocacy. The first group is the Christians and the second group is the world. We know that the first group is the Christians, because John who is a christian write "OUR sins", meaning the sins of Christians including his own sin. Then he also find it important to make a distinction between "OUR SINS" and "SINS OF THE WORLD". This makes sense, because in the language of John, Christians are not of the world even if they are in the world hence making two separate groups of people (see Gospel of John 17).

Fourthly, A Practical Story - Meet Simon

a) Simon became a Christian through the ministry of the evangelist Philip

Act 8:12  "But when Philip proclaimed the good news about the kingdom of God and about the name of Jesus the Messiah, men and women believed and were baptized."
Act 8:13  "Even Simon believed, and after he was baptized he became devoted to Philip. He was amazed to see the signs and great miracles that were happening."

b) Later, Simon (the Christian) exhibited an offending behavior (Sin) - St. Peter was angry at him

Act 8:18  "Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money" 

Act 8:20 "But Peter told him, "May your money perish with you because you thought you could obtain God's free gift with money!" 

Act 8:21 "You have no part or share in what we're saying, because your heart isn't right with God." 

c) St. Peter the apostle advised Simon (the Christian) to pray for FORGIVENESS

Act 8:22  "So repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, your heart's intent may be forgiven you." 

Act 8:24  "Simon answered, "Both of you pray to the Lord for me that none of the things you have said will happen to me." 

With these i end my post on divine forgiveness as being accessible also to the benefits of Christians as well as non Christians when they happen to unfortunately sin. So the answer is an absolute YES. A Christian can and should ask for forgiveness in prayer when s/he sadly sins.

P.S: Check out my book - Help Me Understand Jesus. Check My Book by clicking here or more here.

Be Filled with the Holy Spirit

Be Filled with the Holy Spirit

By W. Frank Walton

Christians are commanded, "be filled with the Spirit" (Eph 5:18). The phrase "filled with the Holy Spirit" is found several times in Acts (Acts 2:4, 4:8, 6:3, 7:55, 9:17, 13:9, 52), as well as other parts of Scripture (Ex 31:3, Lk 1:15). How this applies is an exercise in contextual Bible study, since there are various manifestations of the Spirit's work, either miraculous or non-miraculous, by influencing men.

In the Bible, various individuals being "filled" with: anger (Acts 19:28), jealously (Act 5:17), unrighteousness (Rom 1:29), joy (Acts 13:52), knowledge (Rom 15:14) or comfort (2 Cor 7:4). This "filling" is being overcome, controlled, or strongly influenced by the aforesaid responses to various external sources. It was a self-chosen reaction to allow oneself to be so controlled. Ananias' heart was "filled" by Satan when he gave into temptation to lie and deceive (Acts 5:3-4). This "filling" was nothing miraculous but a free-will choice to be overcome by an external inducement.

In the Spirit's filling (controlling, influencing) someone, the Spirit acts either (1) miraculously or (2) providentially. This means He acts either (1) immediately (directly) by miraculous power or (2) mediatorily (indirectly through a medium) by providence. God has always chosen various methods or means in order to do His work, but it is not less powerful because God is acting either directly or indirectly.

1. Miraculous Power and Direct Guidance From the Holy Spirit. In the Old Testament, artisans on the tabernacle where given direct, divine aid to perfectly craft the tabernacle (Ex 31:3; 35:31,35). They were said to be "filled with the Spirit and wisdom." In the NT, prophesying (miraculous direct revelation from the Holy Spirit) is called being "filled with the Spirit" (Lk 1:67, Acts 13:9). The Spirit, as part of process of "inspiration," controlled the very words they spoke (2 Pet 1:21).

The apostles particularly were promised this guidance "into all truth" by the Holy Spirit (Jn 16:13-15). This was fulfilled in the preaching of Peter (Acts 4:8) and Paul (Acts 9:17). Also, this "filling" of the Spirit is the miraculous gift of tongue-speaking given to the apostles to speak "the mighty deeds of God" in foreign languages (Acts 2:4,6,8). The miraculous "filling" of the Holy, either by the direct baptism of the Spirit power on the apostles or the miraculous gifts bestowed the apostles' hands, was predicted by the Holy Spirit to cease after the passing of the apostolic age (Zech 13:1-2, Jn 16:13, 1 Cor 13:8-13). One should not expect to be miraculously filled by the Spirit today. The Spirit's revelation in the NT is complete and stands confirmed without the need of further miraculous attestation (2 Pet 1:3, Ju 3, Mk 16:20).

2. Direction by the Holy Spirit's Written Revelation. All Christians receive a common or ordinary measure of the Holy Spirit at baptism (Acts 5:32, Jn 7:37-39). This simply is a close, spiritual relationship with the Spirit, which by metonymy stands for all blessings and privileges as a child of God. This "gift of the Holy Spirit," by parallel construction in the blessing of conversion, is also called "times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord" (Acts 2:38, 3:19).

The Spirit is the "seal" (mark of divine ownership) and "earnest" (down payment to insure future blessings) of our salvation (Eph 1:13-14). Stephen, before he began performing miracles from the apostles' laying their hands on him, was already "full of faith and of the Spirit" (Acts 6:5). He was "full of the Spirit
and of wisdom" (Acts 6:3), which indicates practical application of spiritual truth. The Gentile believers, upon receiving the gospel revealed by the Spirit, were "filled with joy and the Holy Spirit" (Acts 13:52). This was their response to the Spirit's revelation through the preaching of Paul and Barnabas (Acts
13:46-49).

Instead of being controlled by alcohol or drunkenness (Eph 5:18), Christians for all time are commanded to "be filled with the Spirit." How is this done? Paul explains that is by engaging in the spiritual exercise of "singing...and making melody in our hearts unto the Lord" (Eph 5:19). The parallel passage in Col 3:16
makes clear that "be filled with the Spirit" is the same thing as "let the word of Christ dwell in your richly." Hence, as the Word revealed by the Spirit "dwells" in or influences our life, then we are being filled or controlled by the Spirit. This is the same thing as being "filled with knowledge of the will of God" ( Col 1:9). The disciples were filled with the "comfort of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 9:31), which is the comfort and strength from the Spirit's revealed promises and direction (Acts 16:4-5). The person of the Spirit dwells
in us (has a close, personal relationship), in conjunction with how His revelation influences and controls us. The Spirit's sword or instrument by which He works in the conviction, conversion and sanctification of people is by the medium of "the word of God" (Eph 6:17).

3. Spiritual Dedication to the Holy Spirit's Work. Interestingly, we note that John the Baptist was "filled with the Holy Spirit," while in his mother's womb (Lk 1:15). This was before he could speak or act, but he was marked for dedication to a divine work. Although this prophet and forerunner of Christ was "filled with the Spirit," he did not perform miraculous signs (Jn 10:41). This to mean he was "dedicated" or controlled from birth by the Spirit in doing his God-ordained work. The Holy Spirit's main work is to point men to God's will and to glorify Jesus' saving work (Jn 16:13-15).

Practically, we have the Spirit's divine revelation in Scripture, which was first given to men miraculously by the Spirit's filling them with prophetic oracles. Also, we can be "filled with the Spirit," as well as "worship in the Spirit" (Phil 3:3) and be "led by the Spirit" (Rom 8:14), as we are guided by the means or instrument of the Spirit's revelation of truth through the apostles (Jn 16:13, 14:17). "God has chosen you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and through belief in the truth" (2 Thess 2:13). Here the Spirit works in our growth in holiness, in conjunction with our belief in His truth revealed. Carnal, shallow, worldly-minded Christians are "devoid of the Spirit" (Jude 19). Deeply spiritual Christians follow the Spirit's leading through His Word, which how we "walk by the Spirit." Therein, we wondrously bear "the fruit of the Spirit…love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control…" (Gal 5:22-25).
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I Predict Again: This Is Not The End of The World

I have been reading here and there, as well as watching Youtubes concerning the end of the world 2012 for quite a while. It never cease to amaze me, how people who would doubt the Biblical prophecies which has shown time after time to be accurate with regards to historical event - will believe on other form of end of the world stories coming from exotic sources. This is really bizarre.

Since the year 2000, when folks around kept predicting the end of the world, i have been informing those around me what a joke that was. I remember last year i wrote on a yahoo forum about the predicted end of the world of 21 May 2011 and then of the 21 October 2011 by Mr Harold. I still think that my response then is as relevant today:

"Now just as i have said in 1999 before the supposed end of the world l'an 2000, Jesus ain't gonna come on the 21st May 2011. He could have come before the 21st or after the 21st but not on the 21st of May 2011. The logic i am using is simple. He said His advent would be (He'll come as a thief) at an hour when He is less (or not) expected. And just like for l'an 2000 and this new funny date, His return is just too much publicized for Him to come and produce the intended surprised effect. Everybody i.e skeptics, believers and deniers (like myself) of this rapture date, are focused on this date of the 21 May 2011. There is just too much attention on this day related with His person for Him to show up. 

So sorry guys, if you were growing your wings and taking flying lessons to rival superman in the air during rapture, you can remove your feathers because you ain't going anywhere!
And for the sons and daughters of the blessed new covenant in Christ, we won't be surprised by his return since we live everyday of our lives in expectation of His blessed return as we walk in the light of His love. We are after all supposed to be faithful servants that the master of the house will find performing his/her duty as s/he should be even in the absence of the master, right? (Math 24: 45-47 '"Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions.')

"Now, brothers and sisters, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, "Peace and safety," destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness." 1 Thessalonians 5:1-5. So enjoy the craziness ... as for me, i'll be waiting to hear the explanation of Mr. Harold Camping, the promoter of this fury, on Sunday 22 May 2011. Something tells me that it is going to be fun to watch and hear the concocted explanation! I can't wait for tomorrow. lol"

Remember, Jesus informed us that his coming and the end is supposed to be a surprise! A highly profile date such as the 21st December 2012 will definitively not do the trick, it won't  help the surprise. Hence, as you forgot about the 21st May or 21st October 2011; forget also about the 21st December 2012 of the supposedly Mayan prediction.

I have read this somewhere on the net an i found it also interesting:

The numeric predictions of the Mayan calendar are based on the computation of the Mayan value of pi whose value is possibly more reliable than any European pi. This makes the Mayan calendar remarkably accurate. However, it does not predict the end of the world in 2012. To some the assumptions of world ending events is just another doomsday prediction on the level of Y2K born out of the human need for a cosmic change or a solution to human suffering on this planet, and revenge against those who impose such sufferings. So what are the Christians response to this doomsday prediction? Christians can be classified as the group most likely to believe in such doomsday predictions based on their understandings and acceptance of end time events as described in the book of Revelation. However, most mature Christians conclude that this is just another bogus assumption born out of a lack of Biblical knowledge. They cite one text from the Bible to justify this position which is found in the book of Matthew 24:36. “But of that day and hour knows no man, neither angels of Heaven nor the Son, but my Father.”

December 21, 2012 will definitely be an interesting day...and so will December 22, 2012 when the earth will rotate around the sun - just as it has being doing for over six billion years - give or take a few centuries.

So Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2013 to you and your loved ones.
P.S: Don't forget to check out my book - Help Me Understand Jesus. Check My Book by clicking here or more here.

The Argument For God's Existence From Creation

This conversation started on a Facebook page where someone got stuck with logic in his effort to write a defense for God's existence. So with a lady acquaintance we exchanged a bit on that long post and this below is what i essentially told her.

...............

Hi A.,

Hope you doing well in this festive season. Well, this is an interesting argumentation but it is poorly done. It sounded more like an excuse for God's existence or a plea of exception for the existence of God than a well argued case for His existence. The mistake the writer made is easily found in his introductory statement: 

"Everything comes from something. Every effect has a cause. This is a law of logic and a fact of science." 

This isn't neither true nor a law of logic. The better formulation of it is found in premise one of the Kalam cosmological argument as presented by Dr. William Lane Craig: "Everything that BEGINS to exist has a cause for its existence". Now this makes more sense - it is true and logical since it is a recurrent observable fact.

Now that we have made this important correction, we can proceed. 

The first thing we need to prove is the claim that everything that we know of in the universe begun to exist. With the Big bang model and the evidence of physics from the cosmic microwave background radiation - it is believed now that the universe begun to exist. Hence if the universe begun to exist, it then needs a cause for its existence.

Step two. What could reasonably be its cause? Logic dictates that whatever the cause of the universe is, it should have properties that transcends those of the universe. For example, if the universe is made of matter, and that the universe begun to exist - then matter also begun to exist. And if matter begun to exist, then whatever the cause of matter and the universe is - it can not be made of matter. It is by necessity non material in nature/property. We call it spiritual because it is non corporeal and cannot be quantified like matter.

Second, Time and Space also came into existence at the Big Bang according to the logic of the model - hence the cause must then also be non-temporal and spaceless in its property/ by nature. We call it Eternal because it is not subject to time and space.

Third, since the universe Cause existed prior to creation in an eternal state as per the argument above and that the effect (creation) did not exist in the eternal state but begun to exist at a given moment 'in history' - it implies that the Cause chose to bring its creation at such a given moment - hence giving the universe Cause the property of choice making. Since the reaction of the effect is not automatic to the existence of the Cause, it means that the Cause is not an automatic entity. If the universe Cause was not imbued with a choice to cause to universe but was automatic, then the the universe would have existed simultaneously with its Cause for all time (infinite).  But the universe begun to exist - hence the universe existence is not a necessary effect of its Cause. The Cause of the universe hence has a personality to make a choice to make or not to make a universe. Hence, the Cause is a conscious entity and not an unconscious entity.

Fourth, by the engineering of the universe (including biological life) and the specific laws that govern it, we can deduce that the Cause of the universe is an intelligent entity.

If we only take these few line of arguments above, we can come up with these attributes for the Cause of the universe: 1) The Cause is eternal (spaceless and timeless), 2) The Cause is spiritual (non-material), 3) The Cause is a conscious being (with obvious capacity of choosing to create at any given moment), 4) The Cause is intelligent (this is also called the teleological argument of God's existence). 

These lines of arguments are far from being called a proof but it can be called evidences and reasons of God's existence.

All these evidences point to what theologians and philosophers refers to as GOD. We are far from proving the existence of the Christian God because these attributes above is shared by believers of other religions - monotheist religions that is.

However, the arguments above can also be equally applicable to the Christian God, but not exclusively applicable to the christian God. If we assume the existence of the christian God then these arguments are also valid. The follow up question would be how do we move from the God of natural theology to the God of Christian theology? 

The easiest books that helped me to understand the transition from natural theology to christian theology are the excellent books of Drs. Norman Geisler and Frank Turek 'I dont Have Enough Faith To Be An Atheist" as well as the more technical one by Dr William Lane Craig 'Reasonable Faith - 3rd edition'. C.S Lewis also does have quite an insightful approach in his book "Mere Christianity". These literatures help make a case for the Christian faith from Natural Teology.

Happy New Year in Jesus' name.

P.S: Don't forget to check out my book - Help Me Understand Jesus. Check My Book by clicking here or more here.

HAPPY THANKS-GIVING 2012 TO ALL!

This is thanksgiving day, and we all know that the world that surround us is dark. Financial difficulties, wars and rumors of wars keep murmuring ominously our end around us. Troubling thought of uncertain future never stop to creep in our minds. However, in all these things, we can still look at the Lord Jesus and have hope.

I still have a reason to be grateful to God. I am grateful for His salvation  that i have kept by the Holy Spirit for the past two decades, for my family which i have kept enjoying their toxic laughter and contagious joy, for my friends who keep encouraging me and provoking me to good works and for my relative success over this year. Twice i took honorific places in two Governmental competition: First, by holding the Silver Medal of the 2nd best Business Plan with BDC - 5th cohort (in August 2012) and second, by being selected among the Top 3 Young Entrepreneur of Rwanda 2012 at the BPR Award (November 2012). I am definitively grateful to God for these two relatively small blessings.

The year is dragging to its end, i am unaware of the future but i advance toward it with confidence and hope and still fixing my eyes on Jesus - the author and the perfecter of my faith.

Thank you to all my readers for keeping this blog alive. You have been visiting it from more than ten countries and many other Islands. All continents represented.

Happy Thanksgiving 2012 in Jesus' name.

"Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus" - 1 Thessalonians 5:18

P.S: Don't forget to check out my book - Help Me Understand Jesus. Check My Book by clicking here or more here.

AFLEWO 2012 - PRAISING WITH PURPOSE

There has never been a better time to worship God and celebrate his gift of life and salvation as this Friday night 23rd November 2012 at CLA (Christian life Assembly). This is not a denominational gathering. It is a inter-denominational Christian gathering, where all Christians regardless of their personal ecclesiastical doctrine preferences are invited to share the brotherly and divine love through singing and dancing in the presence of the Lord. People are coming from different countries to join us in this Night of Worship. 

IF YOU MISS IT - YOU'LL MISS OUT!

What are you going to miss? More than mere songs and dances. Singing and dancing are mere expressions of a deeper spiritual truth. It is more than what meets the eyes. What happen when we praise is abundantly more powerful than most of our little plans of victories over the prince of darkness.

“Yes,” replied Jesus, “have you never read, “‘From the lips of children and infants you, Lord, have called forth your praise’?” Matthew 21:16 - NIV

"Through the praise of children and infants, you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger." Psalm 8:2 - NIV

God's strategy is to bring praises out of His children mouth - because those praises are what defeats the enemies (foe and avenger). Thus, do not miss out of this great night of victory for YOUR LIFE!!!

P.S: Don't forget to check out my book - Help Me Understand Jesus. Check My Book by clicking here or more here.

Top Young Entrepreneur of Rwanda 2012

It was a great and a humbling experience to have been initially among the Top 10 young Entrepreneur of Rwanda 2012. And then among the Top 3 young Entrepreneurs of Rwanda 2012. My company El Puente ltd. that i co-founded with Maurice Masozera has seduced more than one during the selection and the competition process.

May God be glorify for that!
P.S: Don't forget to check out my book - Help Me Understand Jesus. Check My Book by clicking here or more here.

Manuscript Evidence for Superior New Testament Reliability

Since my exposure to historical Apologetic through the writing of Josh McDowell classic: "More than a Carpenter", i have shown great sympathy to the "evidentialist position" although i still believe that many things in my faith should be received by faith.

Two years ago, I had found a new apologeticwebsite and i kind of liked their approach on the manuscript of the New Testament. This paragraph below sums up the whole argument of the link below:

"If the critics of the Bible dismiss the New Testament as reliable information, then they must also dismiss the reliability of the writings of Plato, Aristotle, Caesar, Homer..."

Read more by clicking on this link:

http://www.carm.org/questions/about-bible/manuscript-evidence-superior-new-testa\
ment-reliability

P.S: Don't forget to check out my book - Help Me Understand Jesus. Check My Book by clicking here or more here.

The Habits of The First American Millionaire

The First Millionaire

I have started to re-read Brian Tracy book, 'The Million Dollar Habits' and i find it refreshingly new again and informative. I'd like to share with you a short story found in its pages.

Much Success to all!

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During the same period, Benjamin Franklin, who began as a printer’s apprentice and went on to become the first self-made millionaire in the American colonies, adapted a similar process of personal development [As explained the book].

As a young man, Benjamin Franklin felt that he was a little rough, ill mannered and argumentative. He recognized that his attitudes and behaviors were creating animosity toward him from his associates and coworkers. He resolved to change by rewriting the script of his own personality. He began by making up a list of 12 virtues that he felt the ideal person would possess. He then concentrated on the development of one virtue each week. All week long, as he went about his daily affairs, he would remind himself to practice that virtue, whether it was temperance, tolerance or tranquility, on every occasion that it was called for. Over time, as he developed these virtues and made these habits a part of his character, he would practice one virtue for a period of two weeks, then three weeks, then one virtue per month.

Over time, he became one of the most popular personalities and statesmen of the age. He became enormously influential, both in Paris as an Ambassador from the United States during the Revolutionary War, and during the Constitutional Convention, when the Constitution and the Bill of Rights for the United States was debated, negotiated and agreed upon. By working on himself to develop the habits of an excellent person, he made himself into a person capable of shaping the course of history.

The fact is that good habits are hard to form, but easy to live with. Bad habits, on the other hand, are easy to form, but hard to live with. In either case, you develop either good or bad habits as the result of your choices, decisions and behaviors.

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P.S: Don't forget to check out my book - Help Me Understand Jesus. Check My Book by clicking here or more here.