15 Aug Christianity is not a religion
CHRISTIANITY IS NOT A RELIGION, IT’S A REVELATION, AND THE REVELATION LEADS YOU TO A PERSONAL LOVE RELATIONSHIP WITH THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE THROUGH HIS SON, OUR GREAT GOD AND SAVIOR, THE LORD JESUS CHRIST!
I personally enjoy the art and the science of defending the Christian faith known as apologetics. The latest discoveries from science, for example, are wonderful for the edification and the building up of the saints. Certainly, these intellectual arguments can and do play a part in helping those people who have legitimate questions and concerns about Christianity. Furthermore, I do believe it would be wonderful if we were all well versed in Hebrew and Greek grammar, Bible interpretation, Bible prophecy, church history, comparative religion, archeology, philosophy, creation science, logic, and debate! However, when it comes to communicating the gospel, the simplest child armed with Scripture is greater than the mightiest Ph.D. without it! In Jer. 23:29, and Heb. 4:12, the prophets and the apostles agree:
Is not My word like fire? declares the LORD, and like a hammer which shatters a rock?
For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
The Bible says,
“. . . always {being} ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you” (1 Pet 3:15), not for the denial that “lies” within them. The fact is, in most cases, the “intellectual concerns” that most “intellectuals” have, are only smokescreens (fig leaves) to cover the real issues which are moral.
On the other end of the spectrum, intellectual ascent is not Biblical faith. There are many people who are intellectually convinced the Bible is true, yet continue to live as pagans! See Matt. 7:21-23
The difference between intellectual assent and heart knowledge is the difference between knowing of someone and knowing them personally. Anyone who will take the time to examine closely the underlying principles Jesus used in evangelism will realize that He was appealing to the mind through the heart (conscience) and never the reverse.
THE GOSPEL IS SPIRITUAL AND AS SUCH, IT TRANSCENDS THE HUMAN INTELLECT
The truth of God’s Word is not something the human intellect can analyze and synthesize apart from divine intervention by the Holy Spirit. Only He can open a man’s heart and mind to “see” the glory of the Gospel. Christianity is not a religion, it’s a revelation. The book of first Corinthians chapter two, is crystal clear on this:
This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 1 Cor. 2:14
So, if I want to communicate spiritual truth to a worldly-wise man who is incapable of understanding spiritual things, how do I reach him? Romans 2:15:
For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law . . . they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness, and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them.
There is the contact point between mortal man and the Eternal Creator! The moral Law is written on every man’s heart. Every man, from the beginning of time until the end of the world, whether or not he has ever read a Bible or even heard of Jesus Christ, knows in his heart it’s wrong to murder, it’s wrong to steal, it’s wrong to lie, and it’s wrong to have another man’s wife. Every man knows there is a God, because the Heavens declare His glory (Psalm 19:1-7)!
So, rather than trying to prove Noah’s flood, or showing the inconsistencies of other religions, or anyone of a million other things, try telling a man for example, that the seventh commandment condemns looking at women with lust or viewing pornography! Have you ever had a dentist hit a nerve with a drill? I have seen many men break out in a cold sweat, others begin to shake, and still others literally break down in tears of repentance after seeing themselves in the mirror of God’s Law!
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In Christ,
Phil