Some have asked me or wondered what I believe pertaining to certain popular or theological topics. Now, when I’m checking out a church’s website, they’ll always have a broken down list of their beliefs and stances, but if you check out a bunch of churches, you’ll find that some are so similar that it’s almost as if they’re just generic answers. “We believe the Bible is the infallible Word of God…” Yeah, all churches should. “We are a Bible-believing church…” If you weren’t then I’d be concerned. But the issue isn’t whether or not a church believes or follows the Bible, but WHAT they believe about what’s in the Bible, HOW they follow it, and in what context they read and follow it, you know? Because that’s one of the main reasons we have denominations, isn’t it? So how do you pick out one Bible-believing church from another if they both say they do so, but do so differently?
So anyway, instead of giving a similar list on here, I thought I’d do something a little different. All my posts here on DefendingTheLord.com are as according to my beliefs about that topic, and sometimes the best way to know what somebody believes is to ask and listen to how they respond. That’s basically what this site is – my responses to such questions and preaching based on what I believe the Bible says.
So below, I’ve listed some topics:
Baptism
One common argument about baptism, which I continue to hear churches (or read their websites say that they) stand on, is believers’ baptism over infant baptism. Another stance they take is the (mis)understanding that Baptism is simply an “outward symbol” of our “inward decision” to know Christ. This is an argument because I continue to say that there’s so much more to baptism than that. I mean, if there wasn’t, and it was just an outward symbolic gesture, then why is it so important that believers be baptized when they accept the Gospel, and why did Jesus need to be baptized? Here, I answer that and more to help you understand where I stand on Baptism.
The Bible
When explaining to students about how to read the Bible, I like to explain that there is in fact a right way and a wrong way. The right way includes keeping everything in context with why it was written, the culture of the times, the target audience, what the original language is saying, and taking out of the scripture what’s actually being said (obeying what it says, not what you want it to say). The wrong way is to go into it with an agenda and taking things out of context for it to match your agenda (unfortunately, this is all too common among Pastors, Christians, and non-Christians who have a point to make and want to use the authority of the Bible to back them up).
Christianity and Religion
Christianity is not a religion — it’s a RELATIONSHIP with God through Jesus Christ. That’s what makes Christianity stand out among the world’s religions.
Religions are all about “what I need to do” in order to be “happy”, be at peace, obtain righteousness from God (or a god), to be a “good person”, or to change. But the Bible tells us that righteousness can only be obtained through faith (which is also entering into a relationship with God through Christ), not works. There is religion in Christianity, but it’s how we behave in response to the relationship we already have with God, not something we need to do in order for God to like us. But that’s what religions are about–working in order for God to like you and accept you. So when faced with the Truth of God, as revealed in Christianity, anything else can only be false.
The Church
The Church is not simply a building that we gather in to worship God, but the full Body of Christ, compiled of those everywhere who follow Jesus and acknowledge Him as their Lord and Savior. We are not separated by denominations, but united in Christ through His blood, baptism, and observing the Eucharist. When I write about the Church,
- The capital C (Church) represents the universal church, or the Body of Christ.
- The lower-case c (church) represents, say, a congregation, or church building (when not being named).
Communion, Eucharist, and the Lord’s Supper
I believe there’s also much more to communion that is most often not touched on in many (most?) churches, nor a real good understanding of the elements, meaning, reasons for doing it, etc. I believe that there’s an importance of being “in Christ” to partake, for communion is an act of worship, and not all who were in the upper room joined in the feast, but only those who were with Christ and of Christ.
When I partake, I see it sort of like a renewing of the spirit, fellowship in the community of my brothers and sisters within the Body of Christ, and acknowledgement of Christ’s reign in me. Any conflicts we may have with another brother or sister could only be spiritually-dangerous for the believer and his/her fellowship with the rest of the Body, as well as the Head. In my writings, I also often look at the original style of celebration and purpose of partaking, and of meals.
Confirmation
I believe confirmation is connected with infant baptism, actually the 2nd part of it. When a child (or infant) is baptized, it’s obvious that there wasn’t an individual choice that they made (which is actually the largest part of the argument against infant baptism). But, at this moment, the Pastor asks the parents, the family, and the whole church if they will participate in bringing the child up knowing the Lord Jesus, and whereas everybody answers, “we will”. So now we treat their faith journey more so as a Jewish child grows up in his, and confirmation is like the Bar Mitzvah, when the child has come to an age when they decide if they will or will not make that individual choice of following Christ or not.
Discipleship and Holiness
God demands that His people be Holy, just as He’s Holy. To be “Holy” means to be “set apart” for God – separate from the world and its culture. But how do we know what that means? How does one become holy? That’s where discipleship comes in. It’s sort of a training time (boot camp?), only it’s after we’ve accepted Christ as Savior and Lord. These are some posts and links to help you understand what I mean.
Evangelism, Missions, and Outreach
The need for evangelism, missions, and outreach are talked about all throughout the Bible. One place in particular though is Matthew 28:19-20, where Jesus commands His disciples to go out everywhere and make disciples, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. It’s not our job to make converts, for God does that through His Holy Spirit. Our job is to make disciples from people everywhere, sharing with them about Jesus, what was accomplished on the cross and His resurrection, giving them the chance to choose Him and be saved from sin and judgment. However, it’s not the responsibility of just Pastors and evangelists, but everyone who belongs to the Kingdom of God through Jesus Christ.
Faith
There’s a lot to say about faith, for instance, it’s needed to come to Christ in the first place, and to live for Him from then on; we live by faith and not by sight; if we have even the tiniest faith, we can command a mountain to move and it’ll move; we’re saved through faith in Christ, not by works; it’s a form of trusting God fully, not knowing the outcome but trusting what He does with it (and us) regardless (and this includes miracles).
Faith is also what’s needed in order to live for God. For example, it takes faith to trust God to handle justice issues; it takes faith to forgive someone who’s wronged us because we’re putting it into God’s hands, asking Him to work on the heart(s) of the other party, and trusting Him with ours; It takes faith to stand up for what’s right. Faith is like the battery of our faith.
Forgiveness
Jesus said that if we don’t forgive our neighbors, then God won’t forgive us. This is tough to stomach, especially when somebody’s hurt us. But I think it also helps us understand, or even explore God’s character by remembering everything God’s already forgiven us for, though we didn’t deserve it, either, and what that forgiveness did with our relationship.
Not forgiving others is also a heavy burden, and often fills our hearts with bitterness and grudges. So in order to prevent the evil one from taking hold of our hearts, it’s necessary to forgive. However, forgiving someone does not mean we allow the other person to continue abusing us, nor that they don’t need to serve the time, if such is the case.
I suppose forgiving someone, even if they don’t deserve it, or even if they don’t believe they need it, is a means also of putting the situation into God’s hands, and letting go of something that could consume us if we hang onto it (which brings us back to faith). I talk more about this with examples from my life, too.
Grace and Mercy
These two terms often get mixed up and misunderstood. Mercy is when somebody in control of a particular situation does NOT give you what you deserve. For instance, eye for an eye. If you poke out somebody’s eye, the Mosaic Law says you have the right to poke out the other person’s eye. If you decide not to do that, you’ve given mercy to that person, because they deserved to have their eye poked out, but you refrained from carrying out the action, or your right, given to you. In the sense of sin, we all deserve death, because the Law says that the punishment of sin is death. When we fully accept Christ as Savior and Lord, God grants us mercy from that punishment, and instead rescues of from our sin.
Grace, on the other hand, is when you receive something you don’t deserve. For instance, second chances. It’s similar to mercy in that you don’t get what’s deserved, but instead, you get something you don’t deserve in place of what you do. In the sense of salvation, when we fully accept Christ as Savior and Lord, we are not only rescued from our sin (mercy), but also given the free gift of eternal salvation from God.
Heavy Metal (Worship Music)
I added heavy metal music not only because of its image of evil, but also because of the great need to introduce people to the heavy metal genre of Christian worship music. In these posts, I often explain what I consider a true Christian metal band, along with links to some that I like and support.
Heaven and Hell
The Bible seems to talk more about Hell than Heaven. You’d think it’d be the other way around so that we might have more of an idea of what we have to look forward to, versus the “fire & brimstone” approach by telling us how bad Hell will be. I wonder, though, if maybe this is because Heaven is so unexplainable, or even comprehensive to us from our viewpoint that the only words used are such as “paradise” and “new”.
Hell, on the other hand, is talked about many times throughout the Bible. Peter explains that it’s an actual place (not a state of mind or the like) that was created not for man, but for Satan and his loyal demons. However, we humans are given 2 choices for where we want to spend the rest of eternity: with God or without God. Jesus explains Hell as a place with unquenchable fire 10 times hotter than anything here on earth; a place of regret, torment, and gnashing of teeth; a place where “the worm never dies”. So if you died from a disease, such continues with you in Hell, and continues to torment you throughout all of eternity; and a place of torment for Satan and his demons. He won’t be king or prince of Hell, he’ll be a prisoner there, also. So you have to figure, for something to be so bad that the most evil being that exists will be tormented there, if you and your friends end up there, it won’t be an eternal party.
Marriage, Relationships, and Love
I believe in marriage between 1 man and 1 woman. I also believe that Genesis gives a good idea of what God intended on marriage between each to be: Equal companions (God took part of Adam’s “side” – not his foot that she should be under him and not his head that she should be above him, but his side that she should be equal, with him). I also believe the Bible teaches that sex was not created for man and woman, but husband and wife.
Prayer
The Bible describes prayer in a much different view than what many people think of it. Some people yell, or shout with joy singing, or shouting praises to God; King David showed us in psalms that we can actually cry out to God in anger, frustration, and/or confusion; some followed along with a template; sometimes prayer is about being silent or in a dark room. But prayer is so much more than something you can regulate or limit to just one way. Prayer is communication WITH God, which means that sometimes we talk, and sometimes we listen for God to talk, and we don’t always have to have our eyes closed (so you can pray while driving!).
Salvation / Life After Death / Eternal Life